One thing I’ve realized in the last year is that online networking does not replace face-to-face networking. In fact, offline and online networking actually go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Rather than try and explain how it works, I’ll show you how it does with three examples:

Jill Whalen, SEO goddess — I first learned of Jill back in 2001 or 2002. I found her Website, High Rankings, and subscribed to her newsletter. I would catch glimpses of her at Search Engine Strategies conferences but was always too shy to introduce myself.

When she started SEMNE, I joined, and when I opened a Twitter profile, she was one of the first people I followed. We exchanged emails here and there and then met for the first time last year. We’ve since gotten to know each other more — in fact, I even follow her daughter, Corie Whalen, on Twitter.

What all of this networking online and off has resulted in is 1) a rewarding relationship with someone who is smart, out-spoken, and a personal inspiration to me and 2) a paying gig as Jill introduced me to someone at a company (that I’ve been trying to get into for a while now) at her last SEMNE meeting. Wow! I was rather blown away by this, to be honest, as it all happened so effortlessly.

Lois Geller, Direct marketing expert — I have “known” Lois since I started my business in 1998, although she never knew me. I used to read her Target Marketing column every month. Smart, funny and insightful, Lois always presented information I could use immediately.

I don’t remember how I found out about it, but I knew Lois had published a book, SOLD! Direct Marketing for the Real Estate Pro, and when I needed someone to interview for an article about direct marketing and real estate, she was the person I called.

Of course, she graciously gave of her time and expertise, and I ended up with a meaty article that pleased my client.

As with Jill, once I learned Lois was on Twitter, I started following her, and since then, she and I have traded DMs back and forth — and she’s even sent me brownies simply because . . . she’s a fabulous person. I’m sure I’ll meet her face-to-face one day and really look forward to it.

Matthew Nelson, Web Designer — I met Matthew while giving a presentation at the VT-NH Marketing Group meeting a few months ago. He started following me on Twitter (and I him) and just the other day left a comment on this blog as “Matthew Nelson.” Because I know him by his Twitter name, “nhwebdesign,” I didn’t “connect the dots” until I clicked through to his site.

Even better, I learned via a Tweet by Lois this morning that she had given him a scholarship years ago. On top of that, Lois and Matthew have connected on Google Wave and have invited me to connect with them. Is that cool or what? Not only do I now have a new connection with Matthew, but he also knows Lois!

These are just three examples of how I use online and offline tactics to expand my networking base — and this post doesn’t even address how I’ve been able to uncover relationships between people . . . Debra Helwig who knows Ardath Albee who knows Brian Carroll, Jill Konrath and Laura Ramos . . . whom Ardath told about my Smart Women on Twitter post, which then prompted Laura to write about me on her blog.

And Debra “met” me through Michelle Golden’s blog, started following me on Twitter and then hired me to speak at her IGAF Worldwide conference.

Do you see how this works? It’s about building relationships and trust over time, not posting “hit and run” Tweets or posts on LinkedIn Groups that say, “Hire me! I’m for sale!”

It’s about getting to know people, being genuinely interested in them and when possible, giving back in the form of quoting them in articles, books, or blog posts.

It’s about sending cookies just because (which is something I actually do myself), hand-writing thank you notes, meeting for lunch even when you’re swamped, and remembering to ask about spouses, kids and pets.

And yes, it all does take time, but trust me, it comes back to you in spades.

Why? Because people do business with people they trust.

“I use the word engagement as the new metric, as opposed to viewing.”

Albie Hecht, CEO of Worldwide Biggies Company, a digital entertainment studio that creates content for young adults (think Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon), is quoted as saying the above in the new book, Googled: The End of the World as We Know It, by Ken Auletta.

For months now I’ve been struggling with social media. No, not how to use it or how to derive value from it but how to measure it.

Simply gunning for more followers or page views or click-throughs wasn’t cutting it for me as this type of measurement is based on the old rules of passive viewing of traditional media (reading print ads, watching TV, listening to the radio).

I’ve been asking myself, “how do I measure the value of social media and how do I show this value to my clients dynamically as opposed to presenting meaningless numbers in flat reports?”

I mean, really, just what does “one thousand Twitter followers” mean to anyone and are these 1,000 followers any better than 100 followers?

Some days it seems that social media, with its emphasis on numbers of followers and friends and RTs and page views, is just high school all over again.

Hecht, however, nails it. In the same conversation in which he’s quoted, he talks about the Web as a platform where people can tell their own stories. He goes on to say:

If we can move someone so they love this character, and they’re moved through a story, and they’re playing a game, and they’re collecting objects in that, and at the end of this experience they have created their own video of this experience, we’ll have moved them into a different type of storytelling.

Brilliant.

Throughout the Googled book, the point is hammered home repeatedly that we, the people, are now in control of the story. As David Meerman Scott has repeatedly said, companies no longer control their stories (i.e. messages), we the people are doing for them via social media.

What does this mean for marketers?

It means that instead of coming up with new stories and devising campaigns around them, marketers (myself included) need to figure out how to compel people to interact with our companies / products / services and then tell their stories about this interaction.

Waters Corporation figured this out with their Customer Testimonial video campaign, to name just one example.

Engagement versus page views is a new way of thinking about marketing, one that requires a complete mind shift. But I really believe that if you want to bring value to your clients or your company, it’s a shift you have to make — like now.

Do you agree or disagree?

B2B email marketing seems to be a hot topic these days judging by the number of articles and reports I’ve been reading.

In its cover story for November 2009, E-Mail Marketing’s Future . . . Right Now, Website Magazine editor-in-chief Peter Prestipino and Senior Editor Mike Phillips report that:

“According to a June 2009 Marketing Trends Survey by StrongMail Systems, 42% of nearly 1,000 global business leaders polled plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2009. Of those, 81% intend to increase their e-mail marketing spend.

“Spending on email marketing . . . shows no signs of slowing down, even as social networks and search engines continue to dominate the marketing headlines.”

Exact Target, in its new white paper, Is Email Marketing Endangered?, reports that according to Forrester Research, investments in email marketing will grow from $1.2 billion in 2009 to $2 billion billion by 2014.

In the same report, Exact Target also notes that the DMA reports that email marketing’s return on investment is greater than $43 for every dollar spent.

Wow! That’s some ROI!

Reasons why email usage is growing

You would think that due to social media, texting, and email inbox overload, people would use email less. I certainly find it easier to connect with people quickly through Twitter, for example. And my son, who has multiple email accounts and a phone, texts me versus calling or emailing me.

I also find texting much easier now that I have an iPhone.

However, it is precisely due to smart phones and social media that email use is up.

Exact Target reports that those who own a smart phone “are significantly more likely to increase email usage than those who don’t,” with 43% of BlackBerry owners using email more often and 41% of iPhone users increasing their email usage.

This is mostly likely because it’s so dang easy to get email on your smart phone versus having to log into a computer.

And all types of organizations and businesses are using email more. Based on my own personal experience, I now get email from my bank, my temple, my gym, and my son’s school. Plus, I get all my regular business email.

On top of that, improved email technology is adding to email’s increased use. Exact Target reports that due to Gmail’s rapid innovations, Gmail users are increasing their use of email by a ratio of 6:1 — versus 2:1 for Yahoo, which has innovated at a much slower rate.

Thanks to Gmail’s integration of its Task application, for example, I can now create a task based on something I receive via email — and connect that email to the task. This means I can clean out my email box faster and not have a bunch of “pending” emails hanging around.

Even better, I added Google’s Task app to my iPhone, making it super easy to keep track of things at literally the press of a button. (No more paper sticky notes!)

Relevant messages still king

Although email appears in our inboxes and we read it, email is not a passive medium — or at least it shouldn’t be.

To be effective, email must engage readers . . . and to this end, it’s really important that email marketers think long and hard about their opt-in policies, campaign frequency, and content.

I realized this truth last week when I spent over three hours cleaning out my Gmail inbox — and unsubscribing from tons of email marketing messages that I’m not sure I ever asked to receive and that I had been simply deleting without reading for months.

Email marketing is so *not* about developing massive email lists (to which many of the people on the list didn’t exactly opt-in) and then sending out *stuff* and hoping something sticks.

Email marketing should be about giving people content they need to positively interact with your brand company and its employees (yes, real people).

And, given that many people like me are on total email overwhelm, ensuring that your messages get read is going take much more effort and strategic thinking than developing some lukewarm content and hitting “send.”

What do you think? Do you agree that email is still a “killer app”? Do you have a case study or story you’d like to share about how you’ve used email marketing to connect with customers? If so, please leave a comment below or send me email at “info@dhcommunications.com” with “email marketing” in the subject line.

photo credit: www.istockphoto.com/Gewitterkind

So I just walked into a United Red Carpet lounge and watched while a gentleman next me handed the customer service representative his Member card.

She took one look at it and said, “Sorry, we’re not accepting these cards.”

The gentleman said, “But US Airways said it was good after October 31.”

“Sorry, sir,” was her reply. “US Airways mailed those cards out prematurely. Next!”

The gentleman said, “You guys really need to get your act together,” and stomped out.

Can’t say I blame him.

I had a similar experience yesterday when I tried to check in online. United conveniently allowed me to upgrade my seats (how nice of them!), so I dutifully entered my credit card info — only to receive a screen that read, “Sorry. We can’t process your request for this type of upgrade.” What?

When I tried to get back in to download my boarding pass, the United system said it couldn’t “find me.” Argh!

According to Kenneth J. Weiss, who wrote the new book, Slightware: The Next Great Threat to Brands, it’s this kind of technological snafu that really ticks people off — and that ruins your brand.

It doesn’t matter that US Airways mailed their member cards prematurely.

Instead of rudely turning customers away, US Airways should work with United and other carriers who honor these cards to graciously accept them — and thank customers for their business.

And United can easily fix its online check-in snafus by hiring IT people who understand how to simplify the online check-in process.

Hint: if I were the IT/marketing person at United, I’d study the Southwest e-ticket check-in process and make United’s work the same way. Just how hard can that be? Apparently, too hard.

While giving a presentation on social media at Margie Dana’s (@margiedana) 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference, I stressed the importance of asking for Recommendations via LinkedIn. One gentleman raised his hand to ask, “Aren’t Recommendations artificial?”

He based his assumption on the fact that sales people from other companies were asking for his personal Recommendation — and he felt uncomfortable giving it because he didn’t think they deserved a Recommendation.

He brought up a good question — one that we in room spent a few minutes talking about, with the consensus being that like testimonials, Recommendations go far in building credibility.

So what are the “rules” when asking for LinkedIn Recommendations? And, if you work in corporate, can or should you ask for Recommendations from co-workers and others?

Yes, you can ask for Recommendations no matter what your job. What follows are a few simple rules regarding asking for – and giving – LinkedIn Recommendations:

1. Don’t be afraid to ask!

The beauty of LinkedIn is that it has become perfectly acceptable to ask for Recommendations. In fact, I find it easier to ask for a Recommendation than I ever did asking for a testimonial. (Now I simply cut and paste Recommendations from LinkedIn to my Website’s testimonial page.)

2. Ask for a Recommendation anytime you finish a project

If you’re in corporate, ask your co-workers, vendors, and customers (if applicable) for Recommendations when you complete external and internal projects. Also consider asking former co-workers and supervisors for Recommendations, too.

The same advice applies to small business owners, consultants and freelancers. I will often connect with people on LinkedIn once they become a client. When the project is finished, I’ll contact the person via LinkedIn in order to ask for a Recommendation.

If you volunteer, don’t forget to ask board or committee members for their Recommendations -– and if you speak, ask conference managers (or whoever hired you) to give you a Recommendation. I even had a workshop attendee give me an unsolicited Recommendation!

3. Offer to Recommend others

If someone provides you with wonderful service or completes a project that exceeds your expectations, write a glowing Recommendation for this person. One, this person will be eternally grateful to you, and two, you’ll spread goodwill, which will return to you at some later time.

4. Ask for Recommendations regularly

Instead of waiting until you’re laid off to build out your LinkedIn Profile, do it now –- by asking for Recommendations. I’ve heard too many hiring managers say that one of the first things they do is look at people’s Profiles when perusing resumes. Having solid Recommendations placed on your Profile over time (versus all in same time period) shows you’re a team player, an active networker –- and someone who “gets” social media.

5. Don’t be afraid to say “no”

As I stated in my Print Buyers presentation, it’s ok to say “no” to requests for Recommendations, especially if you feel the person doesn’t merit a Recommendation or if you and the person doing the asking have a weak connection. You can simply write back, “I don’t feel comfortable giving you a Recommendation at this time.”

Whether you work for a company or for yourself, Recommendations are a great way to build credibility and trust with others. If you have other tips about LinkedIn Recommendations, be sure to add them in the comments section below!

Other articles about LinkedIn:

Using LinkedIn’s Groups to Build Community

Seven Tips for Getting More Out of LinkedIn

How to Be a LinkedIn Superstar by Larry Weintraub

If you’re a Twitter user, you either love or hate Auto DMs — those messages that people automatically send to new followers.

Sometimes people use Auto DMs to greet new followers or to say something along the lines of, “I’m looking forward to reading your insights.”

Other times people use them to promote their products or services.

Whether you love or hate Auto DMs, I’d like to know what you think. Please take my very fast (and simple) Twitter Auto DM Survey.

If you use Twitter Auto DMs, I’d like to know if you’ve found them to be an effective part of your social media marketing strategy.

If you don’t use them, I’d like to know why.

Please retweet this blog post and get the word out — I’d love to get some real data!

Thank you!