Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions » Column

How to Host a Tweetup

Jeff Cutler — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:08:04 +0000

I’ll admit it, this isn’t a topic that really requires much writing – unlike my first book on mountain biking. So I spent about 37 minutes tonight writing the attached eBook before settling down to watch Downton Abbey on PBS.

This shot taken by Derek Peplau at Nogup3 - a Boston Tweetup - you can find more of Derek's shots at http://www.flickr.com/photos/peplau

The title is self-explanatory. If you don’t know how to host a tweetup, this is the book for you. Just click on the link below and it will download for you. You will know how to host a tweetup and you’ll be the envy of all your friends and business colleagues. This is really Tweetups made easy, and the mystery of successful Tweetups will be solved.

I welcome your comments and ideas for future books. Enjoy!

How To Host A Tweetup

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Post tags: book, Boston, boston tweetup, ebook, fun, how to host a tweetup, parties made easy, social media, tweetups made easy

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Girl Bloggers and Boy Bloggers

Jeff Cutler — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:06:09 +0000

Right now, everyone in social media is doing content marketing. They’re either getting paid well for it or they’re struggling to find work and keep getting fired because they overpromised the returns companies would see from social. I fall into the former category, but I still consider myself a struggling author/content marketer/SocMed Guru because I’m doing the cobbler’s kids routine. I don’t write enough on my own sites to keep people coming back – some people say you need to do something daily and do it well every day to get people to notice…like what the sun does over the water each evening.

Maybe you’ve done it too. You write some magnificent posts that get people thinking. You get some comments rolling and think you’ve got it made. Then you wander away for a few minutes and suddenly months have gone by and the blog is stagnating.

Happens to everyone. But the approach upon return is dictated by your gender. Seriously. Think about men and women and how we cultivate and maintain our friendships. We’re drastically different and I posit we’re the same way online. To wit…

Women agonize over seeing old friends again. They bear the weight of the world on their soul when trying to figure out the right things to say and the right way to break into conversation with friends from ages ago. Maybe these women have shared secrets and fears and more…but separate them for a while and it’s like recreating the relationship.

Men are not that complex. Separate us for four minutes or for four score and you get the same result. “Hey dickface, your Astros still blow. How’s work? Want a beer?” That’s it. If men are real lucky, they’ll get a man hug and maybe some chicken wings…but the angst isn’t there when guys reconnect.

That brings me to my point about blogging hiatuses. When a woman abandons her blog for a bit, she apologizes like a repentant mass murderer when she returns. A guy just jumps back in and says, “here’s what’s going on, enjoy!”

So, read the above one more time so you didn’t miss any nuance or sarcasm and then hear me clearly, “Here’s what’s going on, enjoy!”

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blogging, content marketing, men, relationships, social media, women, writing

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Customer Engagement – Wegmans Style

Jeff Cutler — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:50:30 +0000

Some of you might know Gretchen, my better, smarter and seemingly more socially influential half. Recently, she was spurred by her love of the Wegmans grocery store chain to organize the #wegupma event – essentially a rented van full of friends and family that arrived and reveled in the grand opening of the Northborough, MA Wegmans store.

She wrote a blog post about her experience at the grand opening and also included in that post a little sadness. During our trip to Wegmans (the grand opening was also attended by 24,994 other rabid fans), she forgot to purchase plastic wrap and paper towels.

Well, Wegmans is on the social media ball. They tweeted at us all day, followed and retweeted our photos of the grand opening. Engaged with us about our experiences. And when they saw that Gretchen forgot her paper towels and plastic wrap, they called her.

Actually, Kevin Russell, store manager at the new Wegmans called her. He left a message saying that he felt sorry that our Wegmans experience was incomplete and was sending a delivery to our house in Hingham. Seriously. TO OUR HOUSE, 47 miles away. Here’s the video of what we found on the porch when we got home today…

So, if you run a company that might be having some trouble understanding the right and wrong ways to engage using social media, I urge you to take a lesson from the Wegmans team. They spend time paying attention to what people are sharing about them on the Web (active listening), and they actually think about what matters to people – being heard and being valued.

If you don’t think this type of activity pays off, ask yourself if your business could benefit from 25,000 people coming to your next grand opening.

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: customers, engagement, groceries, northborough, paper towels, shopping, twitter, wegmans, youtube

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Books We Don’t Need to See. Social Media Musing.

Jeff Cutler — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:17:26 +0000

Just back from the #bbf2011 (Boston Book Festival), I sat down to think about my books. While this connects peripherally to my girlfriend’s new job at Raising a Reader, it was more of an angst-ridden veiled confession that I have too many books.

And I do. Just take a quick look in this shelf among the “Dummies” books and the books I’ve written (see poster on top), there are multiple social media, classic literary and just plain fun books. But are they really all useful? Should they have been published at the expense of wasting paper, inflating egos and eventually filling landfills and wood stoves?

I say not. But it’s too late for the selection of books on these shelves – I’ll gladly pass some of the good ones along to friends and family who want to read them. Today, I’m going to give you a quick list of fictional social media titles that should never be written (even though some publishers will feel compelled to do so).

Bear in mind that some books that are already out there have some very real value. I’ve even had session attendees ask me for the best books on Twitter – so there is a market for more than you realize. Here we go…

Facebook Status Updates 101 – How to Leverage Facebook to Gain Friends and Influence People

Checking In – Using Foursquare to Get Your House Robbed

Wijacking Your Way to the Top – Using Free Wifi to Save $60 a Month on Fios

Tweetups – Using Twitter to Invite People to a Party

Hashtags and the Rules to Follow

NSFW! The Most Popular Videos on YouTube

Always Be Charging. Why Dead iPhones Happen to Good People.

The Social Media Fishbowl and How to Avoid the Toilet

So, what are some of your favorites of the books already out there? What book would you buy to demystify the Internet – or would you just Google it? And what are some of the subjects and tools you think need no special explanation in today’s socially connected community?

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: book fair, books, Boston, common sense, excess, NPR, Raising a Reader, social media, WBUR

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Speaker Wanted? Call Me. Social Media and Content Road Trip.

Jeff Cutler — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:43:38 +0000

If you’re familiar with the business environment, companies are increasingly getting on board with social media communication tools. They’re becoming motivated to learn about social media and by extension, they’re hosting more on-site and peripheral training events where their entire organization can learn how to use new media communication methods.

People who host radio broadcasts and podcast marketing shows are also familiar with this pattern. They know that social tools are just a new way to communicate – but there’s no denying that people need to know how to use them before jumping into the pool.

According to a few recent articles, there are advantages and disadvantages to jumping into social media too soon…and especially if you’re looking to perform social communication for your business.

The premise of Marketwire’s article from last year is that companies should jump on board. For example…

Social media is more than just a fad, and for many companies, it is becoming a bigger, more integral part of their overall marketing mix. Social media presents numerous opportunities for businesses that might otherwise cost a company thousands (if not millions) of dollars in marketing and advertising spend. According to eMarketer, in 2010 social media spend for B2B industries is projected to increase 60 percent over last year. But, what does this have to do with you and why should your business use social media?

And this is probably why I’m getting a lot more calls for training sessions. Managers and C-suite folks are trying get a handle on social media tools and how they can be used to deliver ROI for their business. In fact, in the course of the past two months, I’ve been all over the country performing training for SPJ and RTDNA, the Cable Communicators of America, the NLGJA and more.

Further, I’m excited to be speaking later this month and in early November at The Boston Globe, the Journalism Interactive Conference in College Park, MD, the interesting and amazing Tech Day Camp, at a Tweetup in Las Vegas and then co-hosting a session with Kate Brodock at Blogworld Expo in Los Angeles.

These sessions are going to be fun and they’re going to help bring a lot of professionals up to speed on today’s latest social media tools. Want to get on board? Send me an email or leave a comment on this post.

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: book, communication, guest speaker, Marketing, marketwire, social media for your business, training

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