Recently Andrew Warner of Mixergy.com interviewed Robby Berthume, CEO of Epsilon Concepts, about his remarkable start a teenage entrepreneur and how to build profitable websites. They discuss the art of talking up your business, the benefits of entrepreneurship vs. school, turning down business to create opportunities, using contests, having a profit-oriented mindset, and starting small.
“In 2000, when he was 14-years-old, Robby Berthume started building web sites for local businesspeople. When he turned 22, the LA Business Journal featured him in its “Twenty in Their 20s” report because his company was earning healthy profits on about seven figure sales by building web sites like WhereToGetEngaged
I invited Robby to Mixergy to talk about what he learned about building profitable sites.”
Recently Robby Berthume of Moon Berthume and Epsilon Concepts sat down with Andy Koehn, Jeff Haden, and Andrea Knight to discuss how social media is affecting business models, particularly in jewelry and bridal related industries, over a series of eight webisodes. The series was produced by Where To Get Engaged, an engagement and wedding social network designed and developed by Epsilon Concepts, and directed by Josh Gooden. What follows is episode four.
Recently Robby Berthume of Moon Berthume and Epsilon Concepts sat down with Andy Koehn, Jeff Haden, and Andrea Knight to discuss how social media is affecting business models, particularly in jewelry and bridal related industries, over a series of eight webisodes. The series was produced by Where To Get Engaged, an engagement and wedding social network designed and developed by Epsilon Concepts, and directed by Josh Gooden. What follows is episode three.
Recently Robby Berthume of Epsilon Concepts and Moon Berthume sat down with Andy Koehn, Jeff Haden, and Andrea Knight to discuss how social media is affecting business models, particularly in jewelry and bridal related industries, over a series of eight webisodes. The series was produced by Where To Get Engaged, an engagement and wedding social network built and operated by Epsilon Concepts and directed by Josh Gooden.
Moon Berthume was launched this month by partners and digital business gurus Sam Moon and Rob Berthume as an offshoot of their digital agency, Epsilon Concepts. Rob Berthume founded Epsilon Concepts in 2000 and Sam Moon joined in 2007. Epsilon Concepts is a profitable digital agency based in downtown Los Angeles, California that provides design, development, and consulting for web, print, mobile, branding, and social media. Through Epsilon Concepts, the partners completed over 250 web production and marketing projects for start-ups, small businesses, and Fortune 500s and they saw the need to build out a separate, focused agency specializing in search engine and social media marketing. Having produced numerous successful web projects in a variety of industries, the partners knew the time was right to create the Moon Berthume brand and put their names on the line with each marketing initiative accepted.
Moon Berthume effectively leverages the economies of scale and talent pool available through Epsilon Concepts. Backed by Sam Moon, Robby Berthume and a group of diligent and experienced marketers including link builders, copywriters, search engine optimizers, social media gurus, bloggers, and PPC managers, Moon Berthume can and has provided quantified results for numerous start-ups. You can read about the Moon Berthume Paradigm here.
Moon Berthume specializes in search engine marketing, social media marketing, and traffic generation for social media related start-ups as well as established brands and web properties. They can also handle other various aspects of digital marketing. Acting as consultants, if they can’t do it, they probably have an expert within their network and can find the right support for your needs.
Last week I wrote about what exactly Twitter is. Despite how popular Twitter has become, believe it or not there is still a large group (we’ll call these the “late bloomers”) who have no idea what’s going on. I know, hard to imagine. So we defined Twitter and discussed who started it, why it’s popular, how I personally use it, and the love and hate going around about it, complete with a video mocking the concept of twits and tweats.
This week, I want to continue the discussion by attempting to answer the following question:
Why should I care and how can I use it?
You may not be an early adopter, but the fact of the matter is that you’re sleeping at the wheel. Even many of the “early majority” has been on Twitter for a few months now. It’s time to sign up, if only so in conversation or while watching a news report you know what the heck “Twitter” is when you hear about it and don’t sound like an ignorant fool. I mean, come on people, it’s not that hard of a concept to understand (if you still don’t get it, re-read my first post and/or watch the video at the bottom of this one). If you’re already on Facebook or MySpace, you have no excuse. It won’t take much extra time and it integrates well. If you don’t like it, just cease the tweats, simple as that. Before you spit out the brussels sprout maybe you should let your taste buds decide their opinion first, it might be personally and/or professional healthy and perhaps even enjoyable in the process. So stop waiting around for a formal invitation, point your browser to Twitter.com and get on it.
Here’s 10 valuable ways you can use Twitter immediately
2. Follow your favorite celebrities, athletes, and brands
There are countless celebs on Twitter, to the point where some are predicting the fall of tabloids due to Twitter. Brands and wanna-bes have flocked to Twitter in droves as well. From C-list to A-list, from Athletes to Musicians, from JetBlue to Whole Foods Market, Twitter is exploding with fame and hot air. Twitter provides celebs like 50 Cent, MC Hammer, Ashton Kutcher, and John Mayer with an easy to manage, easy to run platform for fan engagement. It’s far less hassle than MySpace and a lot easier than Facebook for celebs to use and not screw up. It’s a simple, portable way of staying engaged with the largest group of people while not creating a management headache and without sacrificing direct content control or paying hefty fees in the process. Therefore, to Simon Cowell’s dismay, Twitter is tearing it up amongst today’s celebs and you, the user (unless you’re famous) benefits. Now you can openly stalk your idols. Maybe instead of the NBA fining Cuban for tweating about the refs they should instead think about paying guys like him and Shaq to keep up the free promotion and for keeping the NBA in the news and in conversations. After all, any press is good press, right? Not exactly…
3. Kill your boredom and maybe even learn something in the process
Bored? Twitter takes web surfing to a whole new level – it’s like moving from surfing to windsurfing. Suddenty you have a sail and some wind to guide you. What a difference! Track conversations and content, snag fresh and hidden links, and get a feel for the undercurrent of opinion and rhetoric. Your eyes my glaze over at some point, but until then you can justify the screen-staring by thinking about the educational value all of those links and ideas are going to provide you with.
4. Arrange local “TweetUps” easily What’s the easiest way to meet up with peeps? Call out a TweetUp or announce when you’ve arrived somewhere. You can leave it vague, invite everyone, or pick and choose. Either way, no more lonely nights whether it’s a pick-up game or Thirsty Thursday. Mobile, geo-centric tweats make it easier than ever to prevent solo movie theater nights.
5. Integrate Twitter with your existing social media persona without any substantial extra work Before you reject Twitter because you’re already on social media overload, hear me out. Twitter won’t take that much extra work. Do you change your Facebook status or post links to mySpace or delicious? Tweat these! Better yet, connect the platforms and eliminate all manual labor from the equation. With your tweats hooked up to Facebook, you can update both at the same time. With your blog hooked up to Twitter, you can post each new blog post as they come, automatically. You get the idea – Twitter is a screwdriver in your toolbox. You still need the hammer and nails, but boy does a screwdriver come in handy.
6. Expand or detract relationships There is a difference between followers and friends. Some of us reserve “Facebook friend” status for real friends we have an offline connection with. Others accept and seek out friendships and think of Facebook friendship in much looser terms. To them, a hobby, group, or friend in common is plenty an introduction. Many of us open ourselves to lots of friends, but still limit certain sections of our profile, like drunken photos. Twitter gives you a second option in expanding or detracting relationships. Think about it. If you send out frequent tweats, it’s a great way for loved ones to really peer into your life and stay in touch with your thoughts and happenings. Or maybe it’s a profile you can give out to those you don’t want to be Facebook friends with, like a second skin for the strangers (or customers, you get the idea).
7. Build a personal brand and platform Why do you need a personal brand? You may have a job or company now, but you never know when shit might hit the fan (pardon my French). Whether you’re a nobody, an aspiring author, or maybe a 15 year old musician, Twitter can help you begin to build your personal brand. Building a personal brand involves creating a story (and it should be authentic or risk flopping) and promoting it. Building a personal brand has never been easier with the Internet and social media. Maybe your ideas are lame or you don’t need the book contract or record deal now, but why not leave the door open? By building a personal brand and platform via Twitter, it’s there when and if you need it. Twitter is like a megaphone. Imagine yourself in a large, empty opportunity with an open mic. Now fill those seats with followers and let it rip, but make it meaningful. Remember, reputation is build in a lifetime and lost in a tweat-second.
8. Promote your business, broadcast sales, and engage in market research Twitter is all the rage for businesses. Whether you’re a small business (like this chiropractor or this restaurant) or a Fortune 500, your peers are either already there or are moving in for the kill. Become a “vocal point” in your industry. Post sales, promotions, and events. Distribute links, reports, and articles. Be a voice. Answer questions. Learn from customers, prospects, and market segments.
9. Stay abreast of your industry in real-time What’s going on in the bridal industry? Perhaps if you were following a few hundred voices in the industry you would have a better answer to this question? Whatever your industry, followers find you based on what you post. So focus in on your hobbies and market and unite with others who care about the same things. It’s a great way to keep tabs on the ever shifting sandstorm of professional and public opinion.
10. Stay more closely connected with friends and loved ones As opposed to weekly or monthly calls where you catch up and skip the details, Twitter allows you to engage and be a part of their day-to-day lives, whether the thought of it peaks your curiosity or irritates your senses.
Twitter isn’t all peaches ‘n’ creme, though. Here’s why, in 3 points
1. Clutter, Spam, Abuse & Misuse What would Simba be without Scar? Batman without the Joker? Everyone needs an enemy. Spam and clutter, unfortunately, is the enemy of the web. Whether it’s e-mail, links, social networking, videos, you name it – spam affects it. Wherever there is freedom, there is abuse. Where there is a system there is an abuser of a system. Before getting too deep into philosophy, just take heed. Not every Twitter profile is legit, not every tweat is meaningful, and not every follower is worth following. Get Rich Quick schemes aren’t limited to e-mail.
2. The Fat, F’ugly Fail Whale
Twitter gets overloaded every now and then. With its breakneck growth rates and ever-multiplying traffic, it’s not always online to accept your tweats. When it breaks, I introduce you to the “Fail Whale” as it’s known. While this happens rarely, it still happens more often than all of the other websites I frequent. It’s a bit annoying sometimes, after all, what if my plane crashes and I’m not able to tweat about it? It’s a problem Twitter is no doubt working hard to address. Meanwhile, the whale calms me and enrages me at the same time. Not sure how that works…
3. Stupid Tweets & Tweet Overload
It’s easy to get carried away. There is a heck of a lot of garbage and downright lame tweats out there in tweat universe. People spew really boring crap either because they are trying to reel in new followers, are that full of themselves, or are simply boring, dull, and uninspired to begin with. I don’t want to always know what you are doing, right now 24 hours a day. I want to hear what you are doing, in general (for more on this, re-read Part 1). Is that really such a hard concept for people to grasp? On Twitter, it’s too often quantity over quality and not the other way around. Keep your twitter-holicism in check, will you? Didn’t your mom teach you to think before you tweat?
Still hung up on the concept?
I present to you “Twitter in Plan English” courtesy of CommonCraft
Twitter has rapidly grown into an Internet phenomenon with countless geeks, journalists, and twentysomethings jumping on board. So is it really useful, over-hyped, or both? Is it a colossal waste of time or the greatest thing since sliced bread? Should Twitter really have a place in your social media toolbox?
I admit, I wasn’t the first to join this “microblogging platform.” But I did realize pretty quickly that Twitter wasn’t all hype. I determined it deserved a place in my social media arsenal months ago after realizing that it wouldn’t really take me much extra time and it would be a valuable tool and resource that could easily be integrated into my existing social media presence. To me, Twitter + Facebook + Delicious + Blogging is the holy grail of social media. The best part is that they all work together remarkably well. In my case, instead of changing my “Facebook Status” I tweet my status and it automatically updates my Facebook account. So it didn’t really create any additional work, but opened up my rants, raves and riffs to a wider audience. And when I write a good blog post (or at least when I think so), I can tweet it and it broadcasts the link to my Twitter followers and Facebook friends. And if I run across a helpful link or want to note a blog post I wrote, I add it to my Delicious bookmarks, which automatically shows on my blog (using a WordPress plugin) and Facebook account (Facebook app). It’s easy to see how these things can work well together. The web is truly like legos at this point, it’s just a matter of putting them together. It all helps expand my sphere of influence and opens myself to feedback and new ideas without creating a management nightmare in the process.
I think Twitter gets made fun of a lot because it famously asks the question “What are you doing” before giving you 140 characters to explain (just see the video below). It’s important to remember that “tweeting” (posting a message on Twitter) isn’t simply about telling your followers what you’re doing (e.g. getting ready to take a shower, eating M&Ms, listening to Phil Collins, etc…). I like to think it’s also talking in much more generic, broad terms. As in, what are you doing with your life, your business, your passions. What are you thinking, seeing, feeling and finding? If Twitter was only made up of a bunch of people sharing the mundane factions of their life, I doubt it would be elevating in fame like it is. It’s not always about sharing for the sake of sharing, it’s about sharing when it’s remarkable, when it’s worth talking about. Tweeting is like sending a text message to a large group of people, instantly. And sometimes getting texted back. But it’s portable (you can tweet from your computer or cell phone and the service can be utilized via various apps, SMS, RSS, etc..), free and provides a platform for a wide audience. Following people like Shaq, Lance Armstrong, Ryan Seacrest, and 50 Cent is like getting a live feed of text messages from them. Pretty cool, if you’re a big fan.
Moving on…
So what is it, exactly?
Technically speaking, Twitter is a microblogging platform launched in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. The service allows anyone who creates an account to write and read 140 character updates, also known as “tweets.” These tweets are shown on the author’s profile for all to read (unless the user only allows followers to read his tweets) as well as on the home page of the user’s followers. It allows you to search and follow other Twitter users, send direct private messages and broadcast public replies. It’s not only about 1 person, it’s about a community, conversation and feedback. Twitter is often referred to as the “SMS of Internet.”
Why should I care and how can I use it?
We’ll answer this question and more in next week’s post! Stay tuned!
Below is a recent funny video mocking Twitter. It’s entertaining and brings up some funny points, but keep in mind it’s oversimplifying a lot of things rather than highlighting the complete story around why Twitter is valuable. Obviously, this is because it’s a video mocking Twitter not a documentary explaining value propositions. There is a reason Twitter is considered to be worth more than a quarter billion dollars at this point and why it’s 3rd behind only Facebook and mySpace in traffic. After reading next week’s post you’ll understand why this video isn’t a reason to stay away from tweeting. Remember, there is more to Twitter than what you are doing, in the narrow sense of that phrase. And keep in mind this video’s success was no doubt propelled when numerous users spread the link through Twitter.
Although I haveuseditbefore, I detest the word campaign in the phrase “Social Media Campaign”.
Conversations trump campaigns and the word “campaign” has a military undertone I’m not comfortable with. The people you’re supposed to be having a conversation with are not enemies to be raped, pillaged & plundered.
Although I will continue to use the phrase, it would be nice to find a more accurate way of describing how brands initiate conversations with true fans (see also: Seth Godin’s Tribes)
Until that happens, I will continue to use the word campaign because:
1. It’s pretty much a standard phrase when social media is a part of the marketing strategy, which means that:
2. It is the most efficient way of having conversations with other people involved in the social media landscape
I realize I’m deviating from the original reason these words began to be used in this context to begin with; and that is exactly what I’m saying we might need to do.
One conclusion I’ve come to so far is that although the Sun Tzu route may work in a certain context, there’s a need to draw a line somewhere so that that hawkish mindset doesn’t carry over to the conversations brands should be having with their fans.
Otherwise, we would just be paying lip service to the social in “social media”.
I will now proceed to shut up & return to looking for a word to replace “campaign”.
Here’s a quote from the interview to get you started:
“Goldberg has stated several times, “Our model at SocialMedian has been: small, fast, and listen to users.” You have probably noticed that you do not see any advertising or many press releases plastered all over the major news sites. Essentially, SocialMedian has been built through its user base. The only “press coverage” you tend to see are reviews from various blogs, including here on Mashable.”
I’ve used the site long enough to know that
SocialMedian actually pays attention to user feedback
Don’t work without a system
Although it’s easier to see the connection between creating media and art, code too is an art. Managed chaos is required so they can all work well together: each creative process should work within a framework with defined ways of going about it. A lot of it maybe uncharted territory so at the very least, clearly communicate the big picture.
Don’t set unreasonable goals
This is worse than setting no goals at all. Stretching the team too far guarantees that Monday through Friday, everyone’s simply showing up to put in their time and go home. That attitude has eerie ways of showing up in online communication and people have a second sense for these things.
Don’t implement changes lightly. Or slowly
The only thing we know about change is that it will come. We don’t know how or when, but we do know it will happen (for example, blogs are now officially “old school”). Think hard before you adopt a (small or large) change. If you do decide to accept it, go after it like your life depends on it because while you were thinking, someone else started going for it.
Don’t get greedy
The effect of a well executed idea has a way of multiplying in significance, but it’s also the same thing with mistakes. Dream all you want, but make sure your focus is on what can be achieved in the short term (along with the lessons you’re going to be learning constantly).
Don’t assume you can “catch up” later if you get off schedule
In the same vein, don’t expect you’ll stay ahead of schedule later because you’re ahead of schedule now. In fact, you’re probably better off without a schedule altogether. You’re dealing with people and they won’t always keep to your well-organized schedule, no matter how great your intentions are.
Don’t take shortcuts or relax standards
I’m going to assume you know all about this so there’s not much to add here.
This is the 3rd, and last, post on what it takes to have successful social media campaign (you can read the 1st one here and the 2nd one here).
1. Create & follow a Social Media Campaign Plan
Obviously it is important to plan out any project before starting out. At the very least, establishing a basic idea of what you hope to achieve means it’ll be easier to keep everyone involved on the same page.
(In a similar vein, don’t overdo the planning or it’ll end up hurting more than helping. Be like water.)
2. Empower campaign personnel
Who manages your communication channels? What tools do they need? Do they work in an environment that actually helps them work better? Thankfully, the tools needed to run social media campaigns are well priced (read: virtually free) and you don’t have to break the bank to get a top notch toolkit.
3. Minimize red tape
Bureaucracy slows things down, which is always ugly. Always. If you’re starting from the top, a successful social media campaigns will require contributions from a wide variety of people (design, writers, customer service, marketing, PR and a host of other little pieces. Please think carefully before you clog the channels of communication with unnecessary (and pesky) obstacles.
4. Establish baselines & manage changes to it
“Social media campaign” is just a fancy term that basically amounts to allowing people to communicate with others online. Because the keyword in that sentence is people, there are certain goals you cannot establish as requirements because people can (and will) make up their minds for themselves. Social media isn’t a magical pill that will change minds in 2 days, 6 months or even 5 years. Nothing in real life does (except maybe fear, but that’s another story).
5. Take periodic snapshots of the campaign’s progress. Replan if necessary
Things happen: a new tool comes out you can’t get into (just yet), the “competition” comes up with a better feature, etc… In other words, real life happens and you’re better off learning from what did or didn’t work right now. Make sure you don’t go overboard on this one. Points #3 & #4 are your guiding principles on this one.
6. Re-estimate size, effort & schedules periodically
Yes, this is related to taking campaign snapshots (#5 above) and although they are similar on the surface, reestimating or replanning without first finding out why you need to do so waters down the effectiveness of your great re-organizational effort.
7. Foster Team Spirit
Content is king only when people enjoy it so pay attention to how happy the team creating the content is. Google provides world class food, 37signals give their employees credit cards and others use the time tested “Thank you” to keep the team spirit alive. Regardless of how you choose to do it, just make sure you are doing it.
This is the 2nd of 3 posts on the general framework of a social media campaign. Read the first one here and come back next week for the last post. Better yet, subscribe to our RSS feed and get posts automatically delivered to your RSS reader.
The next twoposts are going to outline what it takes IMO to get a successful social media campaign started so that it can keep going on its own.
The list is based on three pieces of literature and I’d like to tell you a little bit about so we can establish some context:
The first is the article from Alternet, The Growth of Talking Points Memo: A Case Study in Independent Media, which has gone from teeny-weeny personal blog to independent media empire (which is what every well run blog really is). The article is an in depth case study of how technology & journalism can work well together. We can dabble about the semantics of “journalism” later.
The second is a list of Dos & Don’ts for building software productively from NASA’s Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL). I first came across the list in Steve McConnell’s Software Project Survival Guide, which has an excellent summary of the whole list. The next two posts were inspired by, and lean heavily on this list.
In short, the SEL list lays out the foundation for building sound software. And it works well: it increased the quality of their software 10 to 20 times at the same time it allowed SEL teams maintain comparable productivity levels.
Not only is software one half of the social media landscape, it is also the platform where online relationships are built on. It’s not too difficult to see how faulty software can affect the quality of the relationships (think Facebook vs. Myspace).
The third is Seth Godin’s best book yet, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. It’s hard to describe & communicate the potential of the Internet + people & the good ideas they keep coming up with. At it it’s most basic, this is what social media does and Godin puts it all into perspective in this book.
The main ideas in the book that have to do with the following posts are:
Movements: the only way viable way to turn customers into fans is to start a movement. The fire of revolution dies, people get tired of causes, but movements are a head thing and it’s hard to throw those away. Just ask any Obama fan (better yet, ask a Bush fan and if you are that Bush fan, please let me know).
Platforms: Movements need a platform, a place to call home. TPM, Google and Apple (to some extent) are places like that. These days, the Internet has the platform part covered so virtually anyone can start their own movement or ind one that fits into the context of their lives.
Admittedly, not much of it is new: the same people that are online are the same people you run into at the coffee shop or at home so the basic rules still apply. The Internet is just another context for these relationships.
Click on the numbers to read the 2nd & 3rd post in the series.
The following is a guest post from Bob Sale and if we had our way, there will be more to come from him.
In order to illuminate why social networking sites such as Myspace might be misleading to employers, let me paint you a mind picture:
You’re an employer. You received a resume that caught your attention because it was really good……a little too really good. You become suspicious and decide to research the person’s personality by googling their name. You type in Rob Jansen into the search engine and up pops two profiles of Mr. Jansen. One is on Myspace and one is on Linkedin. Because HR is the only department allowed to access Myspace at work and because you love taking advantage of the advantage to have advantages, you look at the Myspace page first. At first glance of the page, you think, “Woah! This must be a mistake. This isn’t Rob’s page. This page belongs to Donny Drinksalot. You glance up at the URL that reads Myspace.com/Robjansen. O.k. it is Rob’s page. You start to browse the page to learn more about Mr. Drinksalot. After some very intricate detective work, you conclude that Rob is an alcoholic, womanizer, and has a weird infatuation with Rosie Odonnell. Then you remember the Linkedin page. You check it. You find out Rob has some pretty influential contacts, and he knows Joe Snodly. You and the Snodster had a pretty wild time in Boring, Oregon two years ago. You contact Joe and ask him about Jansen. After talking to him you decide to give Rob a chance. When you ask Donny Drinksalot why his myspace page is so risqué, he replies with confidence:
Rob: “Mr./Ms. (your last name here), I know I don’t speak for myself when I say there is a difference between my social life and my work life. If everybody acted the same with their friends as they do at work, everybody would have a 168 hour work week. I believe in having two social Networking sites. My Myspace page is for my clan, My Linkedin page is for my plan. And if you were at work two years ago when you were with the Snodster, You would have never done what you did with a latex glove and a baby elephant sticker.”
. It’s hard to describe & communicate the potential of the Internet + people & the good ideas they keep coming up with. At it it’s most basic, this is what social media does and Godin puts it all into perspective in this book.