5 Reasons to Join a Tribe on @Triberr

September 29, 2012

Introduction

Over a year ago, Jenise Fryatt (@JeniseFryatt), the Master Connector, invited me to join a tribe that she organized on Triberr – a “community-building platform for bloggers” and “reach multiplier.” Jenise had organized a tribe of meetings and events professionals and thought that my blog (on virtual events) would be a good fit for the group.

The idea is that you share (promote) tribe members’ blog postings on Twitter and they do the same in return (for you). When you join the tribe, you supply your blog’s “feed URL” (also known as the RSS feed URL) and every time you publish, the rest of the tribe “sees” your new post.

From there, each tribe member can click “Approve” to auto-publish a link to your post via Twitter. If you approve multiple posts at once, Triberr staggers the schedule, so that the tweets don’t all go out at once. When I first joined the tribe, I figured it would be a nice way to receive additional traffic to my blog. That’s been a given, but Triberr has provided me with a whole lot more.

So here are five reasons to consider finding (and joining) your own Triberr tribe.

1) Expands the reach of your blog postings.

Before Triberr, I’d publish a new blog posting, tweet a link to it, then repeat that tweet a few more times during the week. I’d hope that others would see my tweet – and if I was lucky, retweet me (thus sharing my link with their followers).

With Triberr, I get a “built-in endorsement network,” a set of people who see (and may choose to share) each and every post that I publish. The tribe brings a quantity and quality of reach. Combined, they have a significant quantity of followers on Twitter. But it’s the quality that’s more important to me: the tribe brings a diversity in followers that’s impossible to achieve alone.

2) Find interesting posts and articles to read.

I love to find interesting and thought-provoking articles to read. Twitter (and related apps, such as Flipboard) have helped in the discovery process, since a prominent activity on Twitter is the sharing of links. Triberr helps in my quest to discover great content.

On a daily basis, I’ll check the “New Posts” area of Triberr to see what my tribe has recently published. And this ends up becoming part of my reading list for the day. If you find the right tribe, they’ll constantly feed you great content (their own!).

3) A community assembles and grows.

I love how Triberr calls itself “a community-building platform.” It’s so true. Going in, I knew a number of my tribe members already (mostly via Twitter!). But being part of the tribe has helped build a sense of “team” and togetherness.

I’ve gotten to know my tribe-mates better, as we’ve bonded via our collective writings. And by extending my blog’s audience by way of the tribe, I’ve found and discovered new contacts in the industry – and they’ve discovered me as well (i.e. subscribed to my blog, followed me on Twitter, etc.)

4) Provides great content for you to tweet.

While some may find this hard to believe, there are times when I don’t have much to tweet about. Consider it a 140-character form of writer’s block. That’s when I turn to Triberr. Sometimes when I forget to check “New Posts” for a day or two, there will be 5+ posts queued up there. And if I’m short on tweets that morning, I’ll review, read, then approve the posts and wha-la! I’ve just scheduled 5 tweets to go out that morning.

5) Spark ideas for new blog posts.

When my writer’s block moves from Twitter to my blog, I can look to my tribe and consider what they’ve written about recently. That can give me topic ideas for my own blog. I consider it “food for thought” to help feed my own blog’s editorial calendar.

Conclusion

Triberr, and especially the “Got Your Back” tribe to which I belong, has been fantastic. Between “blog promotion” and “being part of a community,” I value the latter the most. Whether you’re just starting out or have been blogging for years, consider finding a tribe to join. If you can’t find one, create a new tribe and invite your network to join!

Useful Resources on Triberr

  1. “How Triberr Works,” from WikiMommy.
  2. “A Guide to Getting Started on Triberr,” from AllTriberr.

Note: I invite you to connect with me on .

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

The Role of Connectors (like @JeniseFryatt) in Social Networks

September 22, 2012

Introduction

In “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell, there’s a chapter called “The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.” Gladwell introduces us to the concept of a Connector, “people with a particular and rare set of social gifts,” and he describes the most famous Connector in U.S. history: Paul Revere.

On the evening of Paul Revere’s famous ride (“The British are coming!”), a fellow revolutionary named William Dawes set out on a similar ride, but along a different path. Dawes’ ride, however, didn’t alert the community in the way that Revere’s did.

Local militia leaders were not awoken and compelled into action. It was a Connector like Revere who stirred people from sleep and rallied them to action.

10 Characteristics of Connectors

In the rest of the chapter, Gladwell tells the stories of modern day Connectors. By way of these stories, we come to learn common characteristics of Connectors:

  1. “An instinctive and natural gift for making social connections.”
  2. “More of an observer, with the dry, knowing manner of someone who likes to remain a bit on the outside.”
  3. “Simply likes people, in a genuine and powerful way, and he finds the patterns of acquaintanceship and interaction in which people arrange themselves to be endlessly fascinating.”
  4. “Connectors are important for more than simply the number of people they know. Their importance is also a function of the kinds of people they know.”
  5. “People whom all of us can reach in only a few steps because, for one reason or another, they manage to occupy many different worlds and subcultures and niches.”
  6. “Finds everyone interesting … have some instinct that helps them relate to the people they meet.”
  7. “We rely on them [Connectors] to give us access to opportunities and worlds to which we don’t belong.”
  8. “Gregarious and intensely social.”
  9. “An uncanny genius for being at the center of events.” [in reference to Paul Revere]
  10. “They see possibility … while most of us are busily choosing whom we would like to know and rejecting the people who don’t look right…”

The Social Web’s Paul Revere: Jenise Fryatt

Chances are you know this person. Her name is Jenise and she’s a Connector. I “met” Jenise via Twitter – she’s quite active there (@JeniseFryatt), but also connects with people on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and elsewhere.

If the “British are coming,” I’d want Jenise to be the one on that horse, shouting from the rooftops (and of course, she’d probably go on Twitter first, where she’d immediately receive 100 retweets).

When I got to “The Law of the Few” chapter while reading “The Tipping Point,” I said to myself, “Connector? You’ve just described  Jenise.” Coincidentally, Jenise recently wrote a piece on the Cvent blog about ways to think like a connector.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jenise (“in real life”) at PCMA’s Convening Leaders conference earlier this year. Prior to that, I had developed a friendship with Jenise entirely online. All ten of the Connector descriptions (above) apply to Jenise. Here are examples of how Jenise connected me to others (people, opportunities, etc.):

  1. Received mentions on Twitter (by Jenise) for #EIR. At first, I didn’t know what “EIR” stood for. Jenise was interviewed on Liz King’s blog and provides the background behind “Engage, Inform, Retweet.”
  2. Was asked by Jenise if she could re-publish some of my blog postings on Engage365.org (at the time, Jenise was that site’s Community Manager).
  3. Connected me with other users on Twitter, whom I otherwise would not have met. One example: Michael Eliopoulos (@TheReelMJE), with whom I exchange thoughts on the world of sports.
  4. Invited me into a “tribe” of event professionals on Triberr (a neat service that allows our “tribe” to share and promote each other’s blog postings).
  5. Jenise has an active and widely read blog called “Sound n’ Sight” and she often publishes guest posts from industry professionals. Jenise recently published a Q&A with me about blogging.

The Role of Connectors in Social Networks

For me, Twitter would be a far different (and less enjoyable) experience without Connectors. It’s through Jenise that I’ve met so many people on Twitter, both in our industry and outside it. In fact, when I met Jenise at Convening Leaders, I decided to join her group for dinner one evening, as I knew I’d have the chance to meet a bunch of other interesting conference-goers.

Let’s consider the role that Jenise (and other Connectors) play in social networks.

Makes the social fabric stronger.

Connectors are the ties that bind our social fabric. Like the ligaments in our body (that connect bone to bone), Connectors introduce people to one another – and from there, it’s up to those people to further build and nurture that connection.

Keeps participants engaged (and coming back).

If Twitter was just about sharing links (and, sharing what you had for lunch), it wouldn’t be as enjoyable. It’s the interactions and the connections to new people that make it exciting for me. When I first access Twitter, it’s the “Interactions” that I check first, not the tweets. And that’s what keeps me coming back, more than anything else. Without Connectors, we’d all have less Interactions.

Recruits future Connectors.

For those who are inclined to be Connectors themselves, it’s existing Connectors that serve as role models. For instance, Jenise’s #EIR (on Twitter) helps to acknowledge people who are actively interacting with others. This, in turn, causes some to share their own #EIR lists (much in the same way that #FF / #FollowFriday took off). And those who compile their own #EIR lists may become full fledged Connectors some day. And the more Connectors there are, the stronger the social fabric bonds.

Recruits from outside the network.

Social network Connectors help evangelize the service (e.g. Twitter) and encourage people to join (I bet Jenise has done this). They explain the benefits of having a Twitter account (for example), but it doesn’t stop there. They’ll provide guidance and mentoring on how to get started, along with a hearty amount of encouragement. Later, they’ll connect these new users to others. And once again, the social fabric bonds tighter.

Conclusion

Connectors play a critical role in social networks. If Gladwell were to re-write his chapter several years from now, perhaps he’d analyze the Arab Spring, rather than the American Revolution. With the Arab Spring, I’m sure that Connectors played a central role in rallying their peers to overthrow governments. Ironically, Gladwell would write that the revolution will not be tweeted. But I disagree.

Note: I invite you to connect with me on .

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

The 5 Things I Do in the First Hour of My Day (Before Breakfast)

September 13, 2012

Introduction

Complete serenity. Early morning is my favorite time of the day. The coffee is brewing while the sun has yet to rise. There’s not a sound in the house (besides the slow drip of the coffee) and I’m basking in solitude. I suppose it’s “me time.” The first sip of coffee gets me started and I’m off to the races. I don’t try to solve the world’s problems in the first hour of my day, but I do just enough to set up the day for success.

Here are the five things I do in the first hour of every day.

1) Check on things that require an immediate response.

Sometimes, I’ll wake up (fully rested) before my alarm goes off. That’s usually a sign of a very productive day to come. More often, I’ll waken to the sound of my iPhone alarm. Then, without turning on the light, I’ll spend the next 5 minutes checking work and personal email.

It’s mostly a quick scan through the emails that arrived overnight, to see if there are any matters requiring immediate attention or response. Once I’ve completed the email check, I’ll get out of bed and fire up the coffee maker.

While the coffee is brewing, I’ll check Twitter. I don’t check on tweets, but I go specifically to “Interactions” to look at mentions, retweets, new follows, etc. Based on that, I suppose you could call me vain (and I’d admit it). I usually don’t check Facebook this early in the morning – that will come in the second or third hour of my day.

2) One word: COFFEE

The morning serenity is great, but nothing is more enjoyable to me than the morning cup of coffee. And I don’t do just a cup, mind you. I fill up a Thermos with about 14 ounces of fresh brewed Joe. My daily grind is two third’s Starbucks French Roast and one third Peet’s Major Dickason’s blend.

Call it a French Major, if you want – it tastes great. I like to savor the coffee, too – I’ll find myself taking the last sip more than an hour later. So coffee, if you will, completely comprises the first hour of my day.

3) Determine what to read, but I don’t actually read it.

Next step: grab the newspaper off the front stoop. Whoops! All of my newspapers are online. I have a set of 5 core web sites that I check every morning. If I’m ambitious, I’ll also peek at my RSS subscriptions in Google Reader.

The goal is to cobble together the interesting articles that I should be reading. At the same time, I’m identifying whether there are time-sensitive articles that I need to read right away. For the most part, though, I spend the first hour of my day curating, rather than consuming.

For each article I find interesting, I paste the content into a text document using Notepad on my Windows laptop. After I’ve completed my curation, I’ll paste the entire text document into Google Docs. From there, I can read all of the articles when my schedule permits – on laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. – without all the banner ads, site navigation, pop-ups and web site overlays.

4) Create a short list of things that must get done (today).

There are more things to get done than the day is long. So I try to be realistic. I’ll prioritize my task list and figure out the handful of the most important things (that must get done today).

Of course, as time permits, I’ll get to other items on the list, but I find that narrowing the list is quite effective. It ensures that I’m focusing on what matters most (that day) – and, I find that I do a better job on the smaller bites that I’m chewing.

5) Set up the rest of the day for success.

Like my approach to curating the morning headlines (rather than reading the articles entirely), I don’t try to accomplish everything in the first hour of my day. Instead, my goal is to get the framework in place to make the rest of the day productive.

I’ll scan my Outlook Calendar for scheduled meetings and mentally prepare for them. I’ll do some research to get me prepared for an upcoming meeting. I’ll also do some mental preparation around the short list that I’ve compiled. If I need to write a blog post or a product sheet, I’ll start thinking about headlines and outlines.

Conclusion

Right about now, I’m finishing up the last few sips of my coffee. I’m an hour into my day – and while I haven’t taken the world by storm, I’ve gotten the pieces in place for a good one. And with that, it’s time for … breakfast!

Note: I invite you to connect with me on .

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Posted by Dennis Shiao

What “Inside Apple” Teaches You about Product Marketing and Product Management

September 4, 2012

Introduction

While reading “Inside Apple,” Adam Lashinsky’s book about “how America’s most admired – and secretive — company really works,” Apple Computer became the most valuable U.S. company in history. Apple’s market capitalization reached $623.5 billion, exceeding a record set by Microsoft in late 1999.

“I’m a PC” aptly describes my lifelong experience with computers (aside from college and post-college years with assorted variations of Unix). Recently, however, Apple devices have made their way into my household. There was the iPod Nano (for me, in 2005), the iPod Touch (for my daughter, in 2009), then the iPad and Macbook for my wife.

Some evenings, I’d peer across the family room to see all family members using Apple devices: daughter on the iPod, wife on the iPad and me on the iPhone. Apple has made a large dent in corporate America as well. At my workplace, many users have moved to the Macbook. And, emails sent during the evening hours typically say “Sent from my iPad.”

So with all that in mind, I wanted to read Lashinsky’s book, not only to discover Apple’s secrets, but also to gain insights into their product marketing and product management.

Insights on Product Marketing

Build anticipation and suspense around your product launches.

Well before Lashinsky’s book was published, we all knew how insanely secretive Apple is, with just about everything. Apple has clearly demonstrated, however, that secrecy works wonders as far as product launches go. Apple’s product launches are like The Super Bowl, the Oscar Awards and the Election: monumental, “must see” events with a massive amount of coverage.

Why Apple does this:

  1. The build-up of anticipation creates heightened excitement and intensity when the big announcements (i.e. new products or product features) are made.
  2. Minimizes deferred purchases, which affect sales of existing products (e.g. “I’m not buying the iPhone 4 because the iPhone 5 is due out soon.”)
  3. There’s a danger to pre-announcing products or features that you don’t end up delivering. HP pre-announced the sale of its PC business, then later changed its mind.
  4. Pre-announcing product details gives the competition a head start in responding.

While reading the book, in fact, TechCrunch published a piece about a Silicon Valley start-up whose product launch was ruined by a broken embargo. While Apple never would have done this, it must be said that Apple’s position affords it the ability to do “big news” product launch events.

Start-ups, on the other hand, face a chicken and egg problem: they need to brief reporters on their new product in order to get the coverage (to some day be as prominent as Apple).

Tie each and every deliverable to a single owner.

Chapter 4 describes Apple’s approach to event marketing planning. The event marketing group creates a document called “At a Glance,” a detailed schedule for the event. “Each item, along with the time and place it will occur, includes a DRI.” (DRI stands for “directly responsible individual”).

DRI’s are used not only in event marketing, but throughout Apple. Every single task, no matter how small, would have a DRI assigned to it. Jobs “made committee a dirty word at Apple.” With DRI, you knew whom to contact when the signage never appeared at your trade show booth. You don’t contact the event marketing team, mind you – instead, you contact an individual.

Insights on Product Management

Product development process.

Apple uses a repeatable process to build product. It’s called ANPP – the “Apple New Product Process.” Once the design of the product is under way, two parallel tracks begin: the supply-chain team (who determines how and where to source the component parts) and the engineering team (who figures out how to build and assemble the parts).

Related to the DRI concept, the supply chain effort is headed up by a Global Supply Manager (GSM) and engineering by a Engineering Program Manager (EPM). Based at headquarters, but spending most of their time in China, these individuals head up each team.

Most companies will follow through on a product development process until the product ships. Apple is different. “But once Apple is done designing, building, and testing a product it starts designing, building, and testing all over again.” This process happens every four to six weeks.

An extreme focus on the user experience.

User experience not only defines the ease with which end users operate your device or application, but it can also create emotional bonds. The user experience is a key reason why Apple has an adoring fan base of intensely loyal users.

This segment from the book tells it all: “.. the modern obsession with user experience has created a shorthand for how Apple employees communicate .. At Apple, thirteen of fifteen topics get cut off after a sentence of discussion. That’s all that’s needed.”

Pillars of Simplicity

Image source: User JoshSemans at flickr.

In the building housing Apple’s marketing and communications team, a large wall reads “SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY.” And a line is drawn through the first two SIMPLIFY’s. Apple is all about simplifying, from product design straight through to product marketing.

Simple is hard.

You may be inclined to think, “simple is easy.” Simple means less things to include, less to say, less to do. That’s easy, right? Wrong. Simple is hard and doing simple right is even harder. That’s part of Apple’s competitive advantage: they do simple well.

What makes “simple” challenging:

  1. Adding more features is far too easy.
  2. Saying “no” to particular features is hard.
  3. Simple means less – and when you have less, what remains (the features, the design, etc.) must be world class.
  4. As such, simple raises the bar on every nook and cranny of your product.

Simplicity in the product line.

You can see Apple’s simplicity in its product portfolio. You could once fit their entire product line on a conference room table (this may no longer be possible). Even with a company of Apple’s size and stature, they focus on a few key things at a time. “The minute you’re doing a hundred things, you can’t possibly do things the Apple way,” said a former executive there.

Simplicity in product marketing.

Think about doing product marketing for the iPhone. A conventional approach may be to list all the amazing and unique features that it has. You might list this out in a matrix, alongside competitors’ phones, showing all the areas you beat the competition.

If you ask Bob Borchers, who ran product marketing for the iPhone, “the best messaging is clear, concise and repeated.” Apple boiled down the iPhone messaging to:

  1. A revolutionary phone.
  2. The Internet in your pocket.
  3. The best iPod we ever created.

The approach here is to highlight what makes the iPhone stand out, then give “consumers only as much as they needed to get excited.” According to Borchers, “Just use the same words over and over again. That will turn into the same words that the consumer hears, which ultimately will turn into the same words that they then use to define the product to their friends.”

Conclusion

Lashinsky’s book provided interesting insights on the Apple Machine. Some insights can be applied directly to your product marketing and product management, while others are completely unique to Apple (this post attempts to distill what you can apply directly).

To summarize some of the key points:

  1. Product launches are hugely important events. Figure out how to best manage the information you provide around them.
  2. Assign deliverables to individuals, rather than groups or committees.
  3. Develop, refine and continually re-use a product development process.
  4. KISS (keep it simple, sir).

Buy the book at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Apple-Americas-Admired-Secretive-Company/dp/145551215X

Note: I invite you to connect with me on .

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Posted by Dennis Shiao