Jeff Cutler™ – columns, essays and opinions

Hi, I’m Jeff Cutler from JeffCutler.com. I am sometimes Jeffrey Cutler to my parents and my siblings when they’re annoyed with me. My first name is actually something different than Jeffrey and a bunch of people know what it is. But this isn’t a column about who I am. It’s a commentary on who I am not.

In early December 2009, I saw a tweet go out (a tweet is a 140-character missive that is carried on Twitter.com) saying how excited someone was about a meeting I was scheduled to attend. I panicked and played the skilled investigative journalist.

Sending back tweets like, “Where are we supposed to be meeting?” and “Who are we having the meeting with, again?” I was able to ascertain that Jeffrey Cutler was going to be speaking to the Greater Boston Food Bank about social media later that week.

I didn’t remember making that appointment, but chalked it up to having thousands of Twitter followers, a social media career that went back to 1999 or before when I started blogging, and an increasingly packed training schedule (as I regularly give talks to corporations, learning institutions, nonprofits and even national conference groups on how to leverage social media tools in their jobs, study and operations).

So, I made a phone call. The gentleman at the Greater Boston Food Bank was thrilled to hear from me. We chatted for three minutes before I decided to clear some things up for him.

“No sir. I have not received ANY of the scheduling emails you’ve sent out.”

“Yes sir. I am Jeff Cutler, the social media journalist and new media trainer. But I don’t think I’m the Cutler you have scheduled to speak to you.”

“Yes sir. I do this for a living, but don’t work in PR. I actually am a 21-year journalist and have run my own writing services firm for 18 years.”

“Yes sir. That may very well make my career older than the Jeffrey Cutler who you are meeting with this week.”

Once we clarified that I was NOT Jeffrey Cutler from Fama PR we compared notes. It was decided that the meeting with the other Jeff Cutler would go as planned. Then, if the Greater Boston Food Bank wanted some additional help, they would contact me and I’d come speak to them about social media tactics. That call came quickly.

This past Tuesday, Gradon Tripp and I went to the GBFB offices and spoke for about 75 minutes on the topics of social media, community, listening, marketing and more. Fun stuff. But it hasn’t helped stem the flow of Jeffrey Cutler incidents.

In fact, tonight I was at the #140Conf Tweetup and meeting at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge. I was approached by my friend Alexis who thanked me for agreeing to come speak to her company. Turns out they got the Jeffrey Cutler with 140 Twitter followers to help them mold their social media strategy.

So what should I do? I could send Mr. Cutler a tweet with a link to this post and start a conversation. I could monitor the Internet and see where “I’m” speaking or training next and just show up. Or I could worry unnecessarily about the damage the other Cutler might be doing to my brand and public image by selling people his social media training sessions. Then I could write about it on Things To Worry About and then go get something to eat.

What do you think I should do? He’s not (I don’t think) purposefully presenting himself as me to land jobs. If he is, Jeffrey Cutler deserves at least some credit as a salesman. But if his clients are hiring him based on my experience, prominence and aptitude, that’s a fraudulent path and maybe something the courts would suggest he be careful about clarifying when he signs on to train folks.

Or maybe it’s just caveat emptor. He has an impressive list of PR and marketing coups. He’s done something right to build up his list of clients. And he’s also been in startup land for a while – having been with Going.com from the beginning.

Maybe there’s room for two Jeff Cutlers….errrr, one Jeff Cutler and one Jeffrey Cutler…in this social media space. Only time will tell.

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A few things most people in the Boston social media scene know about me:

• I want to see social media help nonprofits extend their marketing message.
• I love architecture and interior design.
• I have the coolest 10-year old in the world.

But here’s something most of my social geeks don’t know: I’m a huge car nut. It’s probably because I haven’t owned a car in over two years, so most of my transportation talk consists of my opinions about the MBTA, but I’ve had a long fascination with the car. Before most of us were on the internet, I read car magazines: I have every issue of Road & Track from 1989 to 1996.

My first foray into online communities, way back in the Web 1.0 world, was on auto-enthusiast forums. For my design blog, I had a chance to sit in the Chevy Malibu hybrid before it was released, and got to do hot laps in the Saab Turbo X. It’s a very fun job at times.

So you imagine my disdain when I found out that Jeff, along with Christine Koh, was helping Ford organize the Summer of Taurus, a Tweetup celebrating the release of the 2o1o Taurus. After all, Jeff’s a scooter guy.

After I got over my self-righteous pity party, I thought about how cool this is? A little over a year ago, Ford stole away one of Boston’s biggest social media minds to lead up their online media efforts, and now, they’re giving us a chance to drive a new car before it hits dealer lots.

When we meet at the Asgard, we’ll not only have chances to drive the cars, but we’ll be able to use whatever tech we know how and want to use: photos, audio, video, or any combination thereof. And we’ll get a chance to meet and talk to David Lietch, Ford Motor Company’s General Counsel and Group Vice President. We’ll all be shooting, interviewing, recording, and making content to document our time in the new Taurus.

It’s a great way for Ford to kickstart a viral marketing campaign, and a brilliant way for a social media car geek like me to get a fix.

(Photo credit: Justin Wright)

Gradon Tripp is the founder of Social Media for Social Change, an organization that uses the tools of online media to raise awareness for nonprofits. He is also the founder and chief blogger of DesignBoston. He writes about ways organizations — both non-profit and for-profit — can benefit from using social media at GradonTripp.com.

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As you know if you’ve been to my professional site, I’ve been training businesses and individuals in the use of social media tools for almost a year.

Some of my clients have included the National Association of Women Business Owners, the Society of Professional Journalists and even local chambers of commerce.

I just ran across something a colleague of mine is doing and I love it. Truly.

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Monday – June 29

Boston Wordpress Meetup – 7-9PM
Microsoft Cambridge, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA
RSVP Appreciated

Tuesday – June 30

MediaBistro – 6-8:30PM
The Vault, 105 Water Street, Boston, MA 02109
RSVP and Preregistration Required

Realize the ROI of a Social Media Community – 6PM
FELT Boston, 533 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111
Eventbrite Link – Preregistration Required

Girls in Tech – 6-10PM
38 Cameron Gallery, 38 Cameron Avenue, Suite 100, Cambridge, MA 02140
Eventbrite Link – WOMEN ONLY (”Issues involved in being a professional women in today’s world”) – Preregistration Required

Subversive Supper Series at BetaHouse – 6:30-10{M
BetaHouse in Central Square
Eventbrite Link – RSVP, Payment and Preregistration Required (Sold Out as of Mon. June 29 – Waiting List started)

Wednesday – July 1

Open Coffee – 8:30AM-???
Cafe Andala, 286 Franklin St, Cambridge, MA 02139
Meetup Group – RSVP Appreciated

Thursday – July 2

Unemployed Networking Meetup – 4PM
Bloc 11 Cafe, 11 Bow Street, Somerville, MA 02144
Eventbrite Link – RSVP Appreciated

Sunday – July 5

Boston Media Makers at Doyle’s Cafe
3484 Washington Street Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA, 02130
Link – RSVP Appreciated – Bring Cash for Brunch

Please share events I might have missed in the comments.

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Have you ever had to edit a Word doc with a group of committee members? If so, you know that by the time you get the original document back, it’s every color under the rainbow and all shred of continuity has been extinguished.

That’s usually the power of collaborative tools. And that’s why there are so many jokes about large committees not being able to accomplish anything.

In fact, there’s a town north of Boston where the school committee chair allows everyone from the crossing guard to the custodian to give their thoughts on policy before making a decision. In that hamlet, the meetings regularly go for 90 minutes longer than scheduled and it’s taken them years to agree on topics as menial as school naming procedure.

But I digress. Technology now makes it possible – and has made it possible for years – for large groups to work together without being at the same table or even in the same hemisphere, and actually accomplish real work.

These tools, on display at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference at the Westin Waterfront Hotel this week, are proving to be the lifeblood of doing more work with fewer staffers.

For example, RollStream has a product that allows companies to build networks like Facebook for their clients. Essentially, the software creates a closed social network where teams can work together online, safely and easily.

Also at the show is a company called ThoughtFarmer. They’ve created a tool that’s used internally at companies for collaboration and information exchange. One interesting way people are using this software is to put up company alerts, HR info, and other internal forms and data – all inside the walls of the firm and presumably safe from prying external eyes.

Walking around the exhibit floor, I saw a dozen companies with similar products and that made me realize it might be the wave of the future. But why?

I think it’s got the promise of financial savings and ease of use. People are increasingly comfortable sharing their updates on Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook, so why not leverage that familiarity to create tools that work the same way at the office?

Are we hearing the bell toll for shipping, hard media forms like CDs and DVDs, and for business travel?

Well, products will still have to be shipped and people will still want to look at larger documents in hard-copy (architectural drawings, etc.). But as these tools get more popular, we are going to see fewer people jetting around the world to sit in a room with a useless committee. We’ll see less spending on shipping if people can just click and see a product or contribute their thoughts. And we’ll continue to see companies tightening their belts on resources.

One can only wonder what’s going to happen to conferences like this one when everyone finally buys into distance learning and collaboration. Why would you ever need to go anywhere to be AT a conference if you could be there just by sitting down at your desk?

What’s your take on new media tools for business? Are you marketing, collaborating and interacting only on line these days?

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The other day I was a panelist on the Skeptical CMO radio show. We regularly put out broadcasts exploring the challenges, perspective and solutions applicable to C-level executives and specifically those in a Marketing Director or higher role.

Well, Wednesday’s discussion got lively when a listener asked the panel about ROI measurements when it comes to using social media.

We all realize – if we’ve been using social media for any length of time – that ROI is elusive because of the lead time these tools require. What I mean here is that if you tweet something today, it may have a measurable impact either NEVER or after a significant period of time. Rarely is a social media approach immediately effective.

That said, let’s talk for a second about ROI and Impact.

If my clients ask me to show them ROI on a social media campaign that I’ve implemented for them I counter with a request for financial and customer service logs. If I’m allowed to look at month-over-month stats in these areas, from before the campaign began to the present, I can at least show impact figures.

I would further do my work and scour the media world for mentions of my client’s brands.

Then I would collect this information and show the client that our efforts together had a measurable impact and that a likely ROI would soon follow. Some impact specifics you can look for and share are…

Blog posts by influential writers
Media mentions of your brand and your messaging
Site metrics including critical ‘where from’ information
Customer service logs that track reasons for calls
Inbound communication (email and other calls not routed to CS)
Changes in site ranking
And of course, sales figures

Once you compile this information, the skeptical client (who must already have released some of that attitude if they’re paying you to leverage social media tools on their behalf) will be even more convinced that a marketing campaign that uses all tools properly is the correct strategy.

Finally, feel free to share this one example when confronted with social media challenges…

The billboard a client just paid $50,000 for is probably going to generate fewer calls and less traffic to their Website than half a dozen well-placed messages and links in the social media space. And the cost to do that is 1/50th or less than the sign by the side of the highway.

What can you share about measuring ROI and Impact in the social media sphere?

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