Employee Evangelism - What would you call it?

November 29, 2007 | 1 Comment

I have a question for you today. 

I define Employee Evangelism as - creating an organizational culture where people know what is buzz-worthy about the organization and are encouraged to spread the word. 

 This could include Internet or word of mouth - depending on what is right for the organization and comfortable for the team member.

The problem with the words Employee Evangelism are:

  • Sounds too extreme and difficult
  • Has a religious overtone, even though the word Evangelism’s root is based on spreading good news.
  • Using the word employee is very us against them - When it should be about group benefit.

I have played with terms like

  1. Employee Advocates (Sounds too much like a union rep)
  2. Employee Ambassadors - this is used by Kodak to describe their efforts
  3. Team Buzz Marketing - sounds cliche

What do you think?  Do you have a good name for this kind of effort?  One that appeals to the employee members and the management team that has to sell the cultural shift in the organization?

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Employee Evangelism with Phil Gerbyshak

November 27, 2007 | 2 Comments

I have scheduled a variety of experts for our upcoming Employee Evangelism Worshop. 

Phil GerbyshakThis post is asking some tough questions to Phil Gerbyshak, the make it great guy, on why he is participating and what is his role. 

1) What do you contribute to the Employee Evangelism Workshops?

Phil: As a full-time employee in corporate America, I live employee evangelism every day. Additionally, as a full-time solopreneur, I live personal brand evangelism every night. The techniques I use to talk about my day job cross over into the things I do to build my personal brand; being authentic, making it easy for folks to talk about me, and repeating the same message over and over again.

I’ve also been blogging to develop my personal brand since March of 2005, with varying degrees of success. I can share my successes and my struggles, and help you cut years off your personal branding learning curve.

2) Phil, you have a good full time job with a large company and you are not in sales and marketing. Why have you worked so hard building a great personal brand?

Phil:  Great question Ron! To borrow a term from Daniel Pink, we live in a “free-agent nation,” and aren’t guaranteed of anything from our companies, only an offer of what might be. If I’m going to be successful in this world, it may or may not happen at my day job. What I can do is build myself to be the best me I can be, by continuing to learn more about my passions and my strengths, and not let myself get boxed in by the typical definition of an IT guy, a manager, or even a guy from Wisconsin.

Most of all, I don’t want to be defined by anything not of my choosing.

3) What have been the biggest advantages of building your brand?

I see the biggest advantage being folks know me as Phil Gerbyshak, helpful guy, and few think about me as an employee in a faceless corporation.

I’d bet if you asked folks where I live (Milwaukee), many know my name, but few know where I work or what I do. That’s been a very intentional brand building part of my life. This helps folks see me in a very positive light, and don’t equate my success with the success of my company.

To be clear, I love my job and my company and my team. I just don’t want to be pigeon holed as an employee of company x.

4) Phil, how do you juggle a full time job, time with family and building your personal brand?  Do you have a social life?

Phil: Very carefully Ron. Seriously, I do it by making sure that instead of living 3 distinct lives, I interweave them all into 1 great life. When I’m at work, I am the go-to guy people turn to when they don’t know who else to ask. Though I’m an IT manager, I’m seen as a leader who folks can turn to for personal development, management advice, and just an overall helpful guy. You could say many of these same things about my personal brand as a solopreneur, and in my family.

Social life? Sure, I go to movies with my wife, go to sporting events and house parties with my friends and family, and find time to mentor a 16 year old boy with Big Brothers Big Sisters, in addition to giving back with several other non-profits locally in Milwaukee.

The key? It’s all congruent with who I am, and it makes it part of the brand that is Phil Gerbyshak.

5) What are the biggest advantages of having a strong, online personal brand?

One of the biggest advantages I see is folks can easily find me in the way that I want them to find me. If you search for Phil Gerbyshak,  you will find items I created or interviews with me, so the message is directly from me. My message is consistently spread because I took the time to build my brand. If you don’t take the time to build your brand, you run the risk that someone else will. And I don’t want someone else to say who I am, I want to be part of that story!

The other advantage I’ll mention is having a strong online personal brand easily translates into a strong OFFline personal brand. I’ve gotten to meet some really amazing people (like you, Timothy Johnson, Priscilla Palmer, Kevin Eikenberry, Steve Farber and Rosa Say, to name a few) all because I’ve taken the time to share my brand with others.

6) Where are the best places to see your personal brand in action?

Phil: Right now the best places to see my personal brand in action are at Make It Great! (http://makeitgreat.typepad.com) and at Slacker Manager (http://www.slackermanager.com). You could also pick up a copy of my book 10 Ways to Make It Great! at http://makeitgreatbook.com if you wanted a practical  workbook to improve your life.

Thanks Phil.  Come join Phil and me in Las Vegas in January, 2008.  Everyone can build a personal brand and everyone is a buzz marketer.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzzoodle, Blog 

This is not Dean Hunt week!

November 27, 2007 | 1 Comment

Dean Hunt is an Internet Marketing Guru that uses Buzz Marketing to increase website traffic.  Yesterday I encouraged you to download his excellent buzz marketing white paper.  Several people have thanked me for pointing it out to them, which makes me happy.

Today, Dean politely pointed out a post that has more information on how to write a post that gets Buzz & Viral success.  It is a live demo of how it is doing and it just launched.  The article is funny and the information on how it is going viral is interesting.

So at the risk of making this Dean Hunt week, here is his article about self improvement from the devil. - and all the details on how it is spreading across the Internet.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Dean Hunt - Web Traffic Orgasm

November 26, 2007 | 3 Comments

Dean Hunt has just put up an excellent & free Buzz Marketing paper for download.  The title may not be what I would have chosen, but it does get your attention.

Free Buzz Marketing - Web Traffic Orgasm

To get the paper, you have to sign up for his email list, but you can always take yourself off - and honestly, his newsletter is one I usually open and read.  Very valuable stuff.

He also gives away all kinds of statistics - which I love.  You can see the buzz effort he makes in real numbers, and he does not overhype it.  He does not claim that it is highly targeted traffic, only that it is a lot of traffic and explains how it adds value.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Anatomy of your Online Presence - Part 5: The Ear

November 23, 2007 | 1 Comment

The Ear:  This is part 5 of a 13 part series on anatomy of your online presence.

Anatomy Internet Marketing EarIt used to be that when you left the room and people started talking about you, you would never find out - unless someone else told you about it. Idle chatter was not documented and archived for your convenient review later on.

That has changed.  People are talking about you, and as you build a more robust online presence, they will talk about you event more.  Your ear is your ability to hear what is being said.

There are two types of communication to pay attention to. 

1) Messages directed at you
2) Messages about you but not intended for you

Direct Messages

Direct messages may seem obvious, but this is a big issue for many people.  Surf around a few blogs and look for basic contact information.  It is sometimes hard to find, and many times non-existent.  You must make it as easy to contact you as possible, and ideally through a variety of means.

Do you have an email clearly listed?  Your full name?  Your phone number?

If you are worried about SPAM, set up a free email account at one of the big search engines.  They do a good job of filtering out SPAM and that way you do not junk up your main email address.  Plus, if you change jobs later, your alternative email goes with you.

Other ways you can let people communicate with you:

  • Skype
  • Comments on your website/blog
  • Forms for specific requests
  • Mailing Address
  • Instant Messaging

I do not use all of these, because they can interrupt your day if you get contacted all the time.  However, if you are using them already, why not publicize the additional ways people can reach you?

Indirect Chatter

Now it is time to open the can of worms.  What are people saying about you, but not to you?

It is an incredibly good thing if there is a lot of positive chatter online about you.  This means you are being noticed and being talked about.  This is one of the ways marketing experts measure word of mouth, which is an important factor in your success.

Here is a list of tools that will help you see what is being said.

Google Alerts - http://www.google.com/alerts - This great tool will email you a list of new things said about you each day.  You can monitor your name, your company name, products and general industry terms you care about.  The more specific and unique your name, the more effective this is at sending you only relevant stuff.

Google Advanced Search – Did you know you can use the advanced search features of Google and see only new pages where your keyword appears?  Click here to see new talk about Buzzoodle in the last week.

To do that, you just go to www.Google.com, choose advanced search and set the date range.

Technorati and Google Blog Search – Both of these sites are excellent for just looking at blogs, which is where you are going to find a lot more idle chatter about you.

Reporting – Another way I frequently find out people have linked to me is keeping an ear on my stats package.  Whatever good traffic tracking you are using will have a referring site report, and if someone links to you, it will show up in your stats the first time someone clicks one of those links.

Keeping your ears open will help you hear what people are saying, where they are saying it and who is saying it.  With this information you can fan the flame of positive discussion, address the issues around negative comments and feel good about the progress your online presences is making.

Read the rest of 13 part series on anatomy of your online presence.

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Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Internet Marketing, Word of Mouth Marketing, Blog 

10 Excuses to Come to Vegas in January

November 21, 2007 | 4 Comments

As many of you know, we are putting on our first big Employee Evangelism Event in Las Vegas in January, 2008.  You want your boss to send you because it will be fun and warm and informative.  But how do you convince your organization to send you?

  1. You will be like a rebel PR agent, creating buzz with the masses.
  2. You could win big at a casino and later invest some of that money in the place you work.
  3. You have a better chance of landing Paris Hilton as a client for the firm in Vegas.
  4. It is a quiet place to relax after the Christmas rush.
  5. This is the first step on your road to fame, and your boss will be able to say she used to know you.
  6. Phil Gerbyshak is a presenter - How hot is that!
  7. Vegas is in need of water - and you are mostly made of water.
  8. Company needs to recruit an Elvis impersonator.
  9. Outside escalators
  10. 2008 can be your best year ever if you put buzz to work for you!

Visit http://www.buzzoodle.com/vegas-2008/

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzzoodle, Employee Advocates, Blog 

Make Money with eBooks

November 21, 2007 | 2 Comments

Buzzoode is reference in this excellent blog post: Make Money with eBooks and Clickbank

While making money with eBooks is not a topic I would normally write about, it is an interesting read and I know some of you will find it valuable.  It is also very lengthy, and when someone puts a lot of effort into writing a valuable post like that, they get a lot of repeat readers.  Extensive, valuable resources like that do not get posted every day.

So even if you are not interested in Making Money with eBooks, take a look at the article and think about the effort that went into creating that one post and the fact that many people are bookmarking it, writing about it, emailing the link to friends….

And even if you have a blog mostly aimed at building your brand - there is nothing wrong with making a little money on the side selling eBooks, as long as you are comfortable that you are selling a valuable product that adds value for your readers.

Again, the Make Money with Clickbank (via eBooks) is located here.  You can see from the comments that he has a lot of people visiting, talking and stumbling.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzz with Blogs, Blog 

Teaching Sells | Buzz Through Education

November 20, 2007 | 1 Comment

I joined a program a while back called Teaching Sells.  It has helped me start putting together an online learning community around employee evangelism and buzz.

If you are interested in how to create a reoccuring income via teaching on the web, go check them out.  I find the message boards and the community especially helpful - after I take the courses.

Note: http://teachingsells.com?ref=c2e46f76 is an affiliate link: I do recieve compensation if you sign up.  However, I do pay for this course myself and would never recommend something that I would not (or do not) use myself.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Are You Careful, Fearful or Full Throttle?

November 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment

When it comes to Internet Buzz, are your careful, fearful or full throttle?

If you make the argument that the Internet does not matter to your organization, then you are just in denial.  The three options above are your only real choices with how you approach your online image.

Careful:  Careful companies control internally who can say things and what they can say.  They plan for worst case situations and they do not enter into the wild world of social media without a lot of preparation and a solid game plan.

Fearful:  Fearful companies are afraid of what customers and employees will say, so they have a basic website and avoid attracting attention.

Full Throttle:  Full Throttle companies fully expect some negative comments and reactions.  They try lots of things and see what works.

You might think that I favor Full Throttle, and I do for my own business.  But my business is the type that people expect to have that attitude.

What businesses should be careful businesses and why do they still need employee evangelism?

Careful businesses are usually businesses that have a long and established brand identified.  They need to first do no damage, and if they get a little buzz, great.  These organizations should have a core team of employees that act as evangelists online.  They should be trained to carefully represent the core message and brand of the company while still putting a personal touch to what they do.  This will help companies create a more personal connection with the public.

Fearful Companies - These companies are probably afraid to get publicity because they know that their product, services or support are not as good as advertised.  Another type of fearful company could be one that would easily attract negative comments and publicity.  Maybe a heavy polluter or a controversial service.

Limited employee evangelism is still critical to these companies.  If there is going to be negative publicity at some point, you can proactively (yet quietly) be publishing the good things associated with your name.  The more good things that are out there, the less damage a bad story can do.

Full Throttle companies are going to be your start up companies or trendy companies.  They can make a mistake or get some bad publicity and will laugh it off, because it is a small part of who they are.  People will forgive a full throttle company faster because they feel like they know them, are connected to them and they are the little guy taking on the big (careful) guns.

- Not that I am saying anything goes - You still have to be smart about it.

These companies can get every employee involved with evangelism.  You should be everywhere you can and stirring the pot.

There is no right answer here.  The question you have to ask yourself is: Do the negative risks to the company and brand outweigh the positive benefits of big time Buzz?

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzzoodle, Employee Advocates, Blog 

Buzzoodle Employee Evangelism Brochure

November 19, 2007 | 2 Comments

For those of you that are thinking about going to Buzzoodle Employee Evangelism in January in Las Vegas, please use the PDF Brochure to help convince your boss.

The best choice of people to send to this are enthusiastic employees that would create buzz but do not know where to start or are intimidated by the 1000s of options out there.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Employee Advocates, Blog 

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