"Learn how we is smarter than me..."
Years ago the former director of the Door County Chamber of Commerce told me that cross-country skiing was a fad, much like the hulu hoop. I was campaigning to get them on board with what I thought was a very important change in winter time sports and the overall behavior of people seeking natural recreation. I was ignored and proceeded to work with all of the State Parks on the Peninsula to develop individual trail systems, open a ski touring facility, teach Nordic skiing to kids at all of the public schools in northeastern Wisconsin and perhaps you know the rest of the story…
That was 35 years ago yet, in some ways nothing much has changed – regarding what is now known as the Door County Visitor Bureau (DCVB). Like a slow moving brontosaurus, I keep trying to get their full attention to the fact that something really, really big is happening right under their nose(s) and they are missing it. That something is social networking, a shift from 1.0 top-down-central-command leadership to a 2.0 grassroots social grid, where everyone is a leader.
I am not intending to bash the DCVB, as they are doing a tremendous job within their field of focus, but now we all need to widen our horizons. Every one of us is going through a very significant cultural transformation as we adapt to life in the information age. Some people mourn the loss of newspapers, but when I want the latest news, I Google it – and I have it fresh at my fingertips all day long. I no longer watch TV. I rarely mail a letter. The Times They Are a Changin’.
Using a variety of social media tools like Twitter, among many others, is rapidly becoming an essential component in developing an effective marketing campaign strategy. It’s hard to call it a fad when Nielsen stats like these keep eclipsing each other: “Unique visitors to Twitter increased 1,382 percent year-over-year, from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009, making it the fastest growing site in the Member Communities category for the month. Zimbio and Facebook followed, growing 240 percent and 228 percent, respectively.” (Click for interesting demographic details in the Nielsen trends report.)
What? I never heard of Zimbio. Must be just another fad… like Facebook.
Zimbio bills itself as, “An Interactive Magazine With 15 Million Readers A Month,” so I just created an account, then I linked my blog and imported my stories into their/my new magazine – while writing this article! Live and learn is my mantra.
I have just now accidentally created a simple demonstration of how to use what is now known as “inbound advertising.” Zimbio will link each and every article I publish here to my own site: Door County Style Magazine and it’s free. With 15 million monthly readers I will surely get some inbound traffic sent my way.
Night School…
If you want to learn how to develop and undertake a plan to incorporate social media into your marketing campaign we have an evening session of the Door County Social Media Boot Camp launching on Monday, May 18, meeting daily M-F at 9 pm for 5 days of initial training followed by a 3-month membership which includes personal ongoing coaching to help you expand your social media footprint.
Because I want to see Door County rise to the top this season, the cost to enroll is still discounted $100 – training in using all the tools in the box: Twitter, Facebook, Blogging, Google, YouTube and much more for $197. Check out the details of our 5-day live training curriculum delivered to you via teleconference and live screen sharing at the WebSchoolhouse.com.
