Comments by Brian Solis Subscribe

Thank you for the post and for coming to my defense. The most interesting thing about Alan's post is that it voices a frustration that served as the inspiration for the Engage. He's not wrong, he's exactly right. I couldn't find meaningful advice or instruction. And I believe I share your view in the beginning of the book...at 300 pages, it makes no apologies for the amount of information within, as there really are no shortcuts.

You're reading Engage and I'm not sure whether or not you read that chapter on metrics yet, but as you'll see, it gives you the framework on how and what to measure to capture everything necessary for KPIs, ROI, and also action that has a pre-defined impact on any effort. But you can't measure what you don't know to track. I believe that programs inspired by insight, data, and objectives (before you start experimenting) set the foundation for a program that might share some attributes with many of the "how to's" that are out there, but are unique in their content, context, execution, support, and measurement - and that's the point.

Much of the information online is helpful for inspiring creativity and direction. But, it's up to each one of us to get the answers through the hard work necessary to see how any of this applies to our unique challenges and opportunities that exist in each of our worlds. Meaning, we have to become the very experts in our space that we once sought to answer our own questions.

Great post Chris...thank you again.

My work will continue to focus on empowerment, placing place the responsibility of leadership and direction on us. Once we have the answers, we decide whether or not we can or want to capture that experience in a post such as "Top 10 Ways to Get from Here to There" or whether the real help lies in our ability to teach individuals to become self sufficient.

For the context, here's the comment I left on Alan's post:

Interesting article...I have to say however, that my greatest frustration when publishing guest posts is the amount of data and information stripped out in favor of punch, views, and shares. I also must share the sentiment you observe is that many of these posts raise more questions than they do answers.

When I write A-B-C "how to" articles, they're dramatically edited down or new angles are requested...and quite honestly...even if they weren't, they would only apply to certain circumstances. For example, I just met with a handful of small businesses as part of a Citibank initiative to help companies get started in social media (with specifics.) It was very different than anything I write, and in each case, the steps they would take the next day shared very little in terms of execution.

I spend every day experimenting with new media in marketing, advertising, communications, business, service, and I can assure you, that there is no "top 10 guide to do X" that will apply across the board. I answer my own questions in every case I work on and I share much of "how to get those answers" in my book and the blog.

I'm a champion of self-empowerment and the only replicable process that I've discovered that consistently works, is the processes used to obtain, interpret and implement insight into programming that's custom to the dynamics and challenges of the matter at hand - one company at a time.

Sometimes it's easier to think outside the box, when there isn't a box to begin with...

So the simple answer is, "I do know..."

May 30, 2010 View Comment

On Its Time to Think Differently about CRM

Frank, seriously...a wonderful post. It's thinking like this that will rally collaboration and ultimately change.

Esteban, well said. When I discuss removing the "C" from sCRM, I truly don't expect it to change in this direction. My only motivation for introducing the discussion is to show that as CRM systems adapt to social, we must realize that influence is distributed and as such, the systems and methodologies we put in place are much different when we humanize them. The infrastructure can extend well beyond its current footprint today and in doing so, we should open our infrastructure beyond the "C" in order to manage the internal processes and external activities that revolve around it. More here: http://www.briansolis.com/2009/10/the-future-of-the-social-web/

March 29, 2010 View Comment

On Social Capital: The Currency of the Social Economy

Mike thank you. As I've always said...going back before the first book back in the day, social networks were more about sociology than they were about technology. Each network and the sub communities within each boast unique cultures, governances, behaviors and in order to thrive within each, we must become part of that culture in a way that invests value back into it...now and over time. Your post is spot on.

March 4, 2010 View Comment

On FTC Values Sponsored Posts at $11,000 Apiece

I had an insightful conversation with the FTC yesterday, here's the official response:

When asked if the FTC views bloggers equally and whether or not it recognizes levels of authority on par with traditional media, Mary Engle, Associate Director for Advertising Practices, clarified its position and perspective, â€œAll bloggers arenâ€™t the same and we are not saying that all bloggers are marketers. Most of them are ordinary folks musing or sounding off. The question as we put it in the notice we published today is whether, viewed objectively, the blogger is being sponsored by the advertiser. (We list a number of factors to consider.) Independent product reviewers, whether offline or online, would not be viewed as sponsored by the company whose products they are reviewing.â€

Engle further observed the distinction between expert and consumer bloggers, â€œBut if bloggers regularly receive free products from a company, the blog audience might view their reviews differently than if they went out and bought the products on their own. Under those circumstances, bloggers should disclose they got the products from the company. This is consistent with the WOMMA code of ethics. And, companies who use bloggers to generate buzz about their products by sending free merchandise should have a policy that their bloggers should disclose.â€

October 6, 2009 View Comment