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“Can I Welcome You to the Kirby Family?”

August 6, 2011

On December 26, 2008 a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman came to my door, offering to give a “free demo” of their latest product — the Kirby Sentria.

Having experienced such an event literally six months prior (without purchasing the vacuum) I was a bit hesitant. However, considering I teach marketing courses, I agreed to let him in so long as I could video tape his presentation for educational purposes. We set a time and I “set the stage” in my house.

His entire presentation was over an hour-long and the video of his presentation is a considerably shortened version of his lengthy sales pitch. The salesman went to great lengths to demonstrate the difference between his vacuum and mine.

His main argument was that, due to the way by which most traditional vacuums are designed and the ineffective way by which they function, I would eventually spend more on new carpet and replacement vacuums than I would if I bought the machine from him that day.

Kirby’s vacuums are expensive — $2595 was the retail price I was given, as much as my first car! So, the salesmen are trained in very “old school” sales tactics to convince prospective buyers that the product’s benefits outweigh the exorbitant cost.

Overall, I was impressed with the salesman’s presentation, despite my decision to (again) not purchase the product. He was informative, friendly and professional. He successfully demonstrated the value of the machine, but there was no way, despite his cleverly crafted pitch, that I would ever spend that much on a vacuum.

In closing, I just have one question: “Can I welcome you to the Kirby family?”

Posted in Business, Marketing | Tagged "Can I Welcome You to the Kirby Family?", door to door, in home demo, Kirby, Kirby Sentria, sales, salesmen, vacuum | Leave a Comment »

Send Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Twitter Auto DM’s Yearning to Breathe Free!

March 30, 2009

Since the beginning of the year an interesting online etiquette issue has arisen on Twitter: the use of automatic direct messages (private messages for those unfamiliar with the popular micro-blogging service).

Basically, a person on Twitter signs up for a third party service — SocialToo and Tweetlater are the top two that come to mind. These services automatically send a scripted message to people who follow them.

Once activated, these service send out messages created by the user ranging from the banal (“thanks for following me”) to badgering (“click my junk”).

The general consensus is that using automatic direct messages is bad form. Since social media is all about being, well, social, using an automated script to say the same thing to everyone is disingenuous at best and downright rude at best — especially if all you are doing is promoting a product or service.

Twitter heavyweights Chris Brogan and Loic Lemeur have expressed concern about this issue. Even The Busy Brain discouraged the practice (and you better listen to your brain, no matter how busy it is!).

Long story short: don’t auto DM.

As I was watching this year’s SuperBowl, I realized that the main character in the following Taco Bell commercial faithfully communicates the essence of an automatic direct message: he is awkward, way too forward and, basically, socially inept.

I’ve received several dozen automatic direct messages. For the most part I’ve found them to be bothersome, but also humorous. I deleted most of them and almost immediately unfollowed the person sending the message.

I wasn’t terribly bothered by the posts, but their use communicated to me that the person I elected to follow was not willing to make the personal investment in social media I feel must occur. In some cases, where there was a less “salesy” pitch it was clear the person was sending out the auto messages in a misguided effort to be polite.

If nothing else, the sheer “infomercial” nature of some of them made me wonder how truly effective any of them could possibly be. My three favorite automatic direct messages (of those I saved) include:

“You totally ROCK. Since you’re following me I’ll be sure to check out your profile. What made you follow me?”

“Thanks Mathew for following. Here’s your gift. Get 1 Million Double-Opted In, Daily Verified Leads For F*R*E*E !!Come get it before they close this free offer ! [Link to website]

“Thanks for following me doctorious. Need a FREE Twitter Background/Theme? [link to website] We also do custom themes.”

Fortunately, a “hero” arose in the midst of this madness: the Twitter account “@optmeout.” However, the relief offered by this account only turnzs off automatic direct messages from people using “Tweetlater.” But something is better than nothing, right? Here is how the process works:

Go to @optmeout on Twitter and Follow it.
Receive a DM from @optmeout indicating it has followed you back.
Send a DM back to @optmeout.
Unfollow @optmeout.
Rejoice!

After completing this process I realized there must be many “awesomely bad” auto DMs out there. Therefore, I invite you to post in the comments box below as many automatic direct messages you received or of which you have become aware. My goal is to amass a centralized list of automatic direct messages.

In closing, embracing the spirit if the Emma Lazarus poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty, I hereby say to you: Send me your tired, your poor, your huddled Auto DM’s yearning to breathe free!

Posted in Business, Frivolity, Marketing, Social Media, Technology | Tagged auto follow, automatic direct messages, awesomely bad, click my junk, culture, DM, Emma Lazarus, etiquette, Loic Lemeur, myspace, online etiquette, reduce automatic direct messages, Send me your tired your poor, Social Media is No Place for Robot Behavior, social skills, SocialToo, SocialToo.com, Statue of Liberty, superbowl, taco bell, Tweetlater, Tweetlater.com, Twitter, Twitter Robots Killed Me (And Why I Apologize I May Not Be Following You Anymore) | 9 Comments »

Inaugural “Gravity Summit” Attracts Social Media Leaders and Learners to UCLA Campus

March 25, 2009

If you consider that gravity is a natural force which causes two separate particles to accelerate towards each other then the inaugural “Gravity Summit,” which was held on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at the UCLA Faculty Center, was perfectly named.

Attracting a sold-out crowd of senior executives and decision makers from over 60 Fortune 500 companies and small businesses — more than 120 social media leaders and learners in all – the event gave attendees a forum through which they could share knowledge in person. It also gave attendees an opportunity to create new online connections following the event using the Gravity Summit network on Ning.

Gravity Summit seminars are designed to educate, inform and empower marketing professionals, small business owners, advertisers, and c-Level executives about social media.

This unique educational event was launched by Rodney Rumford (author, consultant and CEO of Gravitational Media) and Beverly Macy (the managing partner of Y & M Partners and a UCLA Extension instructor specializing in social media classes).

“The goal of Gravity Summit is to help bridge the gap between the new social media marketing tools and the business community, “ Rumford explained. “And we continue to educate and share information with our Gravity Summit alumni through an exclusive online social network community where they can continue sharing and building on the relationships that formed at the event with trusted peers and industry thought leaders.”

This was the first of several similar events to come that will take place on other college campuses nationwide. At each event individuals representing top brands are invited to speak based on industry expertise and their potential to provide unique insights into their social media marketing strategies.

Speakers at the UCLA event included:

Rodney Rumford, CEO, Gravitational Media
Beverly Macy, Managing Partner, Y & M Partners
David Reis, CEO, DEI Worldwide and Founding Member of WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association)
Justin Goldsborough, Social Media Manager, Sprint
Ann Glenn, Senior Web Producer, Sony Pictures Imageworks Interactive
Tony Adam, SEO Manager, Yahoo
Ricardo Bueno, Blog Director, Real Estate Tomato
Renée Barrett, Principal of Awareness, Action, Accountability
Karl Kasca, CEO, Kasca & Associates

Of those listed above, PowerPoint presentations are available online from the following individuals (via SlideShare):

Beverly Macy, Managing Partner, Y & M Partners

Social Media Marketing for Business

Rodney Rumford, CEO, Gravitational Media

David Reis, CEO, DEI Worldwide and Founding Member of WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association)

Honestly, Social Media Has Evolved and Marketers Need to be Savvy about Brand Authenticity

Justin Goldsborough, Social Media Manager, Sprint

The Million Dollar Questions

Ann Glenn, Senior Web Producer, Sony Pictures Imageworks Interactive

Fan, Friend, Now What?

Tony Adam, SEO Manager, Yahoo

Social Media & SEO: Get Traffic Now!

The event presented a tremendous opportunity for attendees to learn with and from each other.

I actually tweeted a good portion of the event live as it happened while sitting alongside Justin Goldsboroughfrom Sprint who was doing the same (as were several other attendees — all using the official Twitter hashtag: #gravsum).

This generated complimentary online discourse while the presenters simultaneously shared their information in person. Warren Sukernek of Radian6 engaged me at one point and I also connected with Carol A. Stevenson, a public relations professional and fellow Santa Clarita, CA resident who introduced herself to me from across the room!

By all accounts, the inaugural Gravity Summit was considered a great success — especially by co-founder Beverly Macy.

“We were able to build a brand in 60 days,” she noted. “We started planning the Gravity Summit event in late December 2008 and after the event we were quoted in the Wall Street Journal online. That’s the power of social media and specifically Twitter. We ‘tweeted’ our way to the Wall Street Journal.”

The next Gravity Summit will be held on May 5, 2009 at Stanford University and another is in the works for Harvard University in the fall.

Notably, the Stanford event was originally planned for June but it was moved ahead one month due to significant demand.

“At the conclusion of the UCLA event, we realized the overwhelming need for social media marketing thought leadership in the business community, so we moved the date up by one month,” Macy added.

Importantly, registration for the Stanford event is extremely limited: less that 100 registrations will be accepted. However, a new option for this session is live online participation!

For more information and to register for Gravity Summit Stanford go to http://gravitysummitstanford.eventbrite.com. And, for additional information about Gravity Summit in general, please read the following articles:

“Entrepreneur Uses Twitter to Drum Up Cult Following” (Wall Street Journal Online)
“Tweeters Use Twitter For Business” (Media Post News)
“4 points to consider when tackling Twitter” (iMedia Connection)

In closing, I feel quite fortunate to have attended this event. Although I had to leave early at 3 p.m. to teach a class at DeVry University in Bakersfield (a three hour adventure), the learning from this experience continues online and in the personal relationships that I created.

I also want to personally thank both Rodney and Beverly for making special accomodations so I could participate despite some significant personal limitations. I am definitely looking forward to future Gravity Summit events!