Lena West: Transcript from Blogging and Beyond

Blogging and Beyond: Lena West (audio)

Announcer:  Blog Talk Radio.

Denise Wakeman:  Hi, this is Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad.

Patsi Krakoff:  And this is Patsi Krakoff.

Denise:  And you're listening to "Blogging and Beyond," the show about how to leverage the Internet to attract, sell and profit, and we're back. This is our first show on Blog Talk Radio and we are going to a new format which is 30 minutes, and we still plan on bringing you the best expert information on how to leverage the Internet for your business so you can attract, sell and profit.

Today, during our show we're going to be talking about the state of the blogosphere and our guest expert is Lena West CEO of xynoMedia Technology and she's going to be showing information on what's working and what's not as well as how to manage the overwhelming amount of social media tools sprouting all over the web. Patsi?

Patsi:  Yes. A few words about Lena first. Lena West is the CEO and Chief Strategist at xynoMedia Technology affectionately known as the "geek with speak." Lena understands complex technology concepts and then distills them into easy to understand strategies for you. xynoMedia helps growing businesses make sense of their place in the online world by developing customized, progressive Internet strategies that consistently increase thought leadership, online revenues and visibility.

She communicates her expertise about social media, web 2.0 and online technologies through regular writing for Jupitermedia, her new InfoWorld.com blog and soon her upcoming Entrepreneur.com column and blog. She is also on the BlogHer Business Advisory Board and a member of the Women's Presidents' Organization, TENG NY and the Downtown Women's Club. Welcome, Lena!

Lena:  Thank you so much ladies! It's great to be here, I'm honored.

Denise:  Well, Lena, I want to welcome you also, and also tell our listeners that we met you in person. I've been hearing about you for a long time through various colleagues, but we met you in person at BlogHer Business Conference last month in New York City. And, since I've met you I could feel like all this incredible great energy and I saw that you were really, you know, you knew your stuff for sure, so we had to get you on the show.

Lena:  Thanks so much. It was great. I mean c'mon you guys were the BlogSquad, it was great to meet you too. You're like legends. It's like meeting Batman...

Denise:  Well Patsi does say we swoop out of the blogosphere to rescue boring blogs, but you know...

Lena:  And you do a great job of it.

Denise:  OK. Well, thanks. Well, let's jump in. You call yourself an Internet strategist. Could you tell us a little bit about what that means for you and your clients.

Lena:  Yeah, anyone kind of gets this thing, I'm sure you've encountered this, when you're talking to potential clients or just people in general, when you start talking about technology they get this very "frightened deer in head lights" kind of look on their face and they do a mental shut down. And you can almost hear the gears in their heads grinding to a halt.

Lena:  So I try to, you know instead of saying, "Yeah, you know I'm a certified technologist, bla, bla, bla," I try to make what I call myself a little bit more user friendly, that's the "geek with speak" stuff again. So I said, "Well what is it that we really do?" We are Internet Strategists. So essentially, in a nutshell what we do is we help companies profit from the power of the Internet and Social Media in whatever form that happens to take. Sometimes it's a blog, sometimes it's a podcast, sometimes it's a web community, we never know, we take each client on a case by case basis. So, that's to us what Internet Strategy is.

Denise:  And, of course, there is no one size fits all solution when it comes to the Internet and a client.

Lena:  Oh, Good grief no! But, I think, [laughs], the mass media has done such a great job of giving such hype that it seems almost like it's magic in a box, like ooooh, you know, start a blog and be rich tomorrow and it's so "not that."

Denise:   Right. Now, if that were the case I would be on a beach somewhere.

Lena:  Yeah.

Denise:  OK. So we build this as a sort of the state of the blogosphere discussion or conversation, so I'd be curious to know what you're seeing with your business clients about how they're leveraging the blogosphere and what's working and what's not.

Lena:  Well, you know, what I have to say to the credits of clients that are coming to the door is that everyone has a genuine curiosity. I think that it's becoming, although it was in the very beginning a lot about "well, the competition has a blog and we want one too," "the competition has a podcast and we want one too," the very "keep up with the Johnses" but now what's happening is there's genuine curiosity about "OK, what is this stuff and what do we do with it" and not just mimicry but "what can we do that's unique and original." So the trend that I'm seeing with small business and also with some mid sized companies that we're working with too, believe it or not, is genuine curiosity and really stepping up to the plate and saying, "OK, we're ready to play ball now."

Denise:  OK. Now that's good. So they're looking at ways that they can actually use it to promo.., not promote their business, but to grow their business let's say.

Lena:  Yeah. Use it to grow their business, absolutely. But what I'm loving that I'm seeing is also the willingness to come to the table with a unique take. So, it's that leadership stuff again. It's that "here's what we have to say that's unique and this is the message we want to get across and it's not the same rehashed material." So I think they're taking a little bit more time now to think about things a little bit more.

Denise:  Good.

Patsi:  Lena, I hear you saying that they're coming to you maybe already knowing what a blog is, already knowing what a podcast is.

Lena:   I wish.

Denise:  OK. They think they know.

Lena:  Yeah. Some have heard of it. Some have even listened to a podcast. I actually spoke to about a group of 70 local business executives earlier today. And you know, I would say about 2/3 of the audience had listened to a podcast, several of them had their own blogs, almost every one had a website. So, I'm really starting to be more and more impressed and you know, as a friend of mine says "I'm always willing to be surprised."

Denise:  Good. Good. So what's in that realm of educating and people to you with what they thought about at least, what's not working for them when they start to learn about, you know, their options.

Lena:  Well, I think that what is not working is the jumping in without figuring out what you need to do first. I don't think that that's working.

What I'm finding is that the more they take the time to step back and say, "OK, what is this," and develop a plan and develop a strategy and, "What are we really going to do, and who is going to do the work and who is not, and what are we going to say and what do we have to say," the more they can do that, the better. But what I'm finding is they will say, "Oh, this is about technology." And everyone thinks that just because technology is ubiquitous, and because Microsoft and Apple have done such a great job at making things user friendly, that "Oh, I should be able to do this on my own, and quick snap in a hurry it's done."

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  And it's just not that. So the "I'm going to dive in headfirst" approach is not working. But in terms of specifics, I'm finding  I don't know what you guys are seeing, I'd be interested to hear as well  online video is working really, really well. Video casts are really, really working for a lot of companies.

Denise:  Yeah, we haven't moved that far into video yet.

Lena:  OK.

Denise:  I mean, a little bit. We've dabbled our toes in it, but not for our clients so much. But I do find that from my point of view of what I'm seeing and hearing, that people want to explore that.

I was talking with a client this week who said "Well, we could do videos!" and they have a retail store and it would be perfect for them because it would allow people to see how  it is a retail bakery and restaurant  how people, how a cake gets made or something like that. It could be actually interesting, you know, rather than just a talking head. So they were really willing to embrace that; and a year and a half ago they didn't even want to have a blog.

Lena:  And then also keep in mind, I think it is important for people to understand how bigger news stories can affect them and affect their businesses. So everyone says "Well why do you think online video is really taking off the way it is?" Well, if you look at it like this: everyone knows that recently Google bought YouTube, right? I mean that's the deal; it was a huge deal, billion dollar deal, whatever, right?

Denise:  Yes.

Lena:  A whole bunch of hoo hah around that. But what they also need to know is that subsequently  which was like, duh, surprise, surprise  Viacom then sued Google because of copyright infringement and all kinds of uses of their content that were completely illegal, against the rules, whatever.

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  But what that means now is  Viacom content made up a substantial part of the content on the YouTube network  so what happens now that all the Viacom content is gone off of YouTube, off of the YouTube servers and the YouTube network. What happens now is Google is really looking for video. They need to, in order to be competitive with AOL Video and Yahoo Video, they need to really start to get some video in their coffers.

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  And they are also a search company, so they need to have search results to return when people search for videos.

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  So it just only stands to reason. OK, Google needs videos, so that means it is high on their priority, so they are going to index videos faster. That is a priority for them right now.

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  So that's the kind of driving factor.

Patsi:  Let me ask you this: For videos, besides it being just a fad, to me the major benefit of doing any video is you create such a connection with your reader or viewer, which goes a long ways towards creating trust and converting to sales. Do you find that to be true?

Lena:  Absolutely. I mean, video adds a different element than just audio or text. There is something about seeing a person. It is kind of like  I don't know if you guys remember this, I vaguely do  when you used to read the story about Cinderella and then you saw it on TV or at the movies, and it was just like, "Whoa! That is the same story?"

Patsi:  Right.

Lena:  So that is what happens to companies when they really start to use online video strategically, if that's what happens to work for them and what works best for them. The people that they were just gabbing at and talking to before, now this target market says "Oh! Is that the same company?" and it's that Cinderella effect all over again.

Denise:  Right. Right. OK, well let me ask you this: I've heard you talk about the four way fabric of conversation, and maybe that is kind of what you are getting at right now, could you talk a little bit more about that?

Lena:  Yeah. Up until now there has really only been one way or two way communication that businesses can have with their target markets. So for example, it is the business talking to the potential client or customer, and then it is the potential client or customer talking back to the business. And so it's that one way conversation and then you have got that return conversation, so it's that two way.

But what social media does a great job of is expanding that conversation to three and four way. So now not only are you talking back to your customers, your customers are talking back to you, but also you are able to now talk to groups of your different target markets.

If you happen to be a company that serves two or three different target markets, two or three different types of businesses or industries, now you can talk to groups of these people for that three way conversation.

And then the four way conversation is now these groups and these customers can talk to each other about your products and services. And who doesn't want to be in on that? That is what I call the "fabric of conversation" around your company.

Denise:  That is a great explanation.

Lena:  Thank you.

Patsi:  Fabulous. And I'm sure our listeners are getting some great ideas here, Lena. But this is show business, and as they say, we need to take a station break.

If you have just joined the program you are listening to "Blogging and Beyond" with The Blog Squad on Blog Talk Radio. You can get more information about The Blog Squad at www.blogsquad.biz and get information about the show at www.bloggingandbeyond.com.

Today we are speaking with Lena West of xynoMedia Technology, and you can visit Lena's website at xynomedia.com. If you have a question for Lena you can call in to (718) 508 9559, I'll repeat, (718) 508 9559. Or you can send an IM message via Skype to dwakeman. Now back to our conversation with Lena.

Denise:  Well, speaking of calling in, we do have one caller on the line. So are you open to a question, Lena?

Lena:  I'm always open to questions; I love them.

Denise:  All right, let me open up the line, just a moment.

Lena:  OK.

Denise:  OK, caller from area code 336, you are on the air. Do you have a question? Hello? Caller from area code 336, are you on the line?

Patsi:  We might have dropped him.

Denise:  We lost that person. OK, we'll move on. All right, Lena. We were talking about the trends that you're seeing in business, with your business clients and how they're dealing with the blogosphere and we talked a little bit about, you know, the four fabric conversation and video, how do you work with business owners to manage what I've heard you call social media spaghetti?

Lena:  Don't you love that?

Denise:  I love that term, because that's truly what it is, there's just so much. What can you share with how to help people avoid the overwhelm of everything that's going on out there?

Lena:  Well, the first thing that I hear is, you know what, Lena? This sounds great but, as you know, we were at the blogger conference together, I've got enough trouble with my first life, don't talk to me about second life.

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  And where is this time going to come from, because I said earlier, it's not, you know, magic in a box, social media is not magic in a box, you really do have to have a concerted effort, some time set aside, and that's always the initial concern. Number One, do I have enough to talk about and am I going to be able to come up with enough stuff to talk about and enough material, interesting material, engaging material, and Number Two, where am I going to find the time? And my answers to those questions are Number One, what are you going to talk about? OK, what we do when working with clients is we help them create what I called an editorial social media calendar. So that's just like how magazines have an editorial calendar and they tell you "OK, in March we're going to be talking about Health and Wellness, in April, we're going to be talking about finances" and they have this kind of guideline that guides them throughout the year. Well, why not you? You can have the same thing, too.

Denise:  That's fascinating.

Lena:  So what we do is we sit down with them and we work out "OK, well, what do you want to talk about in this month, what do you want to talk about in that month," if it's a customer focused business, we start looking at national holidays to see if we can do some tie ins for possible media coverage, et cetera, et cetera, but what mainly we do is we sit down and we create their social media editorial calendar so that they know what they're going to be talking about, exactly when, what they're going to be writing about on their blog, what they're going to be saying in their pod cast, so they're not sitting there looking at a blank screen.

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  Nobody likes that.

Denise:  Right, and that's something that Patsi and I have on some level is that we have a calendar, that's like "you're going to post on this blog on this day," you know, et cetera, so we know what we're doing.

Lena:  Absolutely, and you know, for everyone, for everyone who's listening, if these guys are doing it, it's a pretty safe bet that it's a smart deal to do...

Denise:  Yeah.

Lena:  ...so, they're walking their talk. And the other piece is, how am I going to find the time to do this?

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  And the big thing is, it's all about trade off. You have to figure out what you're not going to do anymore so that you can do this. But before you do that, you've really got to tap into why you're engaging with social media in the first place...

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  ...what is it about social media, blogging, podcasting, that's attractive to you as a business owner, as a person, so that when things do get tough, and trust me they will, this ain't no crystal stair, as they say, when things get tough, you can tap into that little reserve area like "Oh, yeah, this is why I'm doing this."

Denise:  Mm hmm.

Lena:  I met a gentleman today, he is a buyer's agent for people who are selling their home, and what he said was, "There is nobody out there rooting for the buyer. Nobody helps the buyer; everybody helps the seller. And I want to help the buyer so that they don't get the short end of the stick."

And here is someone with obvious passion, so that is his "why" that he is doing it. So you've got to have that. And then once you have that, you have got to figure out what is less important  based on that emotion that I have just unearthed, what is less important than that emotion? Whatever that ends up being, that's what goes. And that is how you make room for social media.

What I do is I have a day where I do nothing but write. Every single Monday I write my entrepreneur column, I write for my InfoWorld blog, I am a guest blogger on other blogs. I write all of my content and I keep a stable of content, so that when I want to go on vacation, like I am going to do at the end of May, beginning of June, it is not a problem because I have things in my stable, my writing stable. But you have to be disciplined.

Denise:  Right, right.

Patsi:  You do.

Denise:  That is for sure. Now that is about talking about writing and producing content. How do you decide which social media tools to use? I mean, at BlogHer everybody was Twittering. You know, I've looked in to Twitter and I just think "How in the world could I possibly add that to my day?"

Lena:  Well, I mean you have to have... I have a certain amount of time that I dedicate every week to   it's almost like reading your trade journal, your trade pub's, right?

Denise:  Right. Right.

Lena:  So if you pick up, if you normally read "Strategy and Business" or "Business 2.0" or "Fast Company" and that is your trade journal that you happen to read, well, it's the same thing. So I have time that is dedicated to just reading the blogs in my trade  what's happening in social media. My clients rely on me to stay abreast of what is going on, what is happening. And I have time.

I don't spend a lot of time on Twitter, but I can tell you that for the right company with the right profile, Twitter might be a great business intelligence tool. You can mine it; you can see what people are saying about your product.

so in order to figure out what social media tools you need to be using, you ought to really figure out what your business goals are. So if you say, "Listen, I want to be invited to more conferences. I want to speak. I want to do more writing. I want to have more opportunities to showcase my expertise," well, you might want to look at a blog or podcast.

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  But if you say, "Listen, I am a buyer's agent. I'm tired of buyers getting the short end of the stick, and I want to create a battle cry for every single person in the United States who is looking to buy a house," well, that sounds like a community to me.

Denise:  Right. Right. Right. Well, I think you are absolutely correct in saying you really have to look at what your business model is and who you are trying to reach and what your goals are, because there are so many tools out there now. I mean, we are in a similar position, because it is up to us to know what is going on out there so we can filter it for our clients. And you know, that can overwhelm ME.

Just trying to keep up with it. Because, I like to try everything out first. But you do need to really be clear. We often advise our clients that you find the one that works for you.

Lena:  Absolutely.

Denise:  If you like to talk, it's going to be a podcast probably. If you like to write, it's going to be a blog.

Lena:  I always tell our clients, "Listen, if you won't speak, write. Do something."

Denise:  Right, exactly. Another thing that you talked about a blogger that I really liked, and I can't remember what session it was in. But the conversation was around ROI.

Lena:  Oh yeah.

Denise:  And you made a great point about ROI. Can you talk a little bit about that? You really focused on the I.

Lena:  This is kind of it gets me on my soapbox. It gets me all riled.

Denise:  OK good.

Lena:  I think, as I said, I keep saying this. Social media has had such mainstream media hype. That people think it is magic in a box. They are so focused in the R of ROI the return, that nobody ever stops to think of the "I" the investment. Everyone wants to, oh me, what can I get from this audience? What can I make? What is going to be my return? What is going to be my income? How is this going to increase my revenue?

I mean they are quick to talk about the return, but my question is, what about your investment? What are you willing to do to get the return that you say that you want? What kind of time are you willing to invest? What kind of energy are you willing to invest? What kinds of organizational staff, the resources are you willing to invest to get the return that you say that you want?

I'm sure this has happened with you guys when you talk to a potential client. You say what are your goals? What do you want? If we could waive a magic wand what would you have happen? I want to have a million visitors. OK, well what are you willing to do to get that?

That's not just time resources and energy. Your investment is also your message. Having something unique and interesting to say about whether is going on in your industry or whatever your area of expertise is. That is part of your investment too, because no one wants to hear the same rehashed material over and over. That is laziness.

Denise:  Right, right, and investments resources you talk about money too. A lot of people say I want to do this but I do not have any time. Well, OK.

Lena:  You know what I tell them when they say that? When they say I don't have time. I don't have money. But I want to do social media. I say you know what, don't talk to me, call your local newspaper and take an ad out.

Denise:  Right.

Lena:  Because that is what you are asking for.

Denise:  Right exactly. Patsi, did you have any questions that you wanted to follow up on that with?

Patsi:  I just want to say this is all very interesting. What advice do you give to companies or clients who are just new to the blogosphere?

Lena:  My advice I would have to say, would be, the one thing is to talk to people who are doing it. Before you do the head first thing. Try to get in touch with why you are doing it. Have some sort of an interview with companies that you see are doing things the right way. They are having some success. You are seeing a lot about them as it relates to social media. There blog is kept up. Give them a call. I can tell you, I can talk about myself forever, So if anybody ever calls me and says how is this working for you and how did you do it. I would love to have a conversation with them. So start having conversations with your peers about what they are doing. You know, being the first one to have a support group on Thursdays to just talk and bounce ideas off. If you're part of a mastermind group, bring it up as a topic, see who else is doing it. Ask the hard questions.

And if you're in a company and you must   if you hear nothing else that I say today   if you're in a company where it's more than just you, if you've got a team that you're working with, the top down 'this is what we're going to do' push change management doesn't work. Social media is all about community and conversation. And the way that you foster that to the public is by having that as a foundational element in your business.

So if you are the decision maker in your business and you decide this is what you want to do, talk to your team. Get them engaged, get their ideas. Because study after study has shown that when you get your team engaged prior to getting them on board before you launch your initiative, your initiative is more likely to succeed.

Denise:  Write a contest, ask them their opinion.

Lena:  Exactly.

Denise:  Buy in.

Lena:  Sure, absolutely. Buy in.

Denise:  OK. Well, for a final question, Lena, because we know you're time is valuable. What do you think is next for the blogosphere? Where should we be paying our attention?

Lena:  You know, I think what's next for the blogosphere, or all of these alternative realities, these new publics, as they're called. So, the second life there, all of these kinds of new worlds, alternative universes, I think, are really coming up to something.

What I'm not so sure, every week, I take some time away from the office and I just think about, "Hmm, what could be next? What do I see? How can I connect the dots, in terms of the trends that I'm seeing?' And I really do believe that the lines are going to be blurring more between business and e business   I should say business and social media   just like they did with business and e business.

Denise:  Mm hmm.

Lena:  So before, it was, "Oh gosh, it's all about my Internet sales!' Now, it's like, "Revenue is revenue." [laughs]

Denise:  Right. It doesn't matter where it's coming from.

Lena:  Exactly. So soon, it's going to be left without social media and brick and mortar and it's going to be more about, "OK, market share is market share, mind share is mind share."

Denise:  Right.

Patsi:  Yeah. Right, well said. Well, thanks so much, Lena.

Lena:  Thank you!

Patsi:  This has been fun!

Lena:  This is great, I love this! I can chat with you ladies forever.

Denise:  Well, you know it's amazing how fast 30 minutes goes by.

Lena:  Oh gosh, yes.

Denise:  And I believe you're going to be at Posticon, right?

Lena:  I sure am. June 1st and June 2nd.

Denise:  Right. So we will have a chance to chat again.

Lena:  Love it.

Patsi:  All right, well we've been talking with Lena West of xynoMedia Technology. Coming up next Thursday at 6p.m. ET, that's 3 p.m. Pacific Time on "Blogging and Beyond," we'll be interviewing Nancy Marmolejo about leveraging MySpace for marketing your business.

If you have questions you'd like us to address next week on the show, please go to www.bloggingandbeyond.com and use the "comments" link on any post to submit your question.

Denise:  And on behalf of the Blog Squad, we thank our listeners for tuning in once again and we look forward to seeing you around the blogosphere. You can find us at blogsquad.biz and information about future shows at bloggingandbeyond.com.

And remember: the time is now, it's happening now. Don't wait to get started. You can learn how to leverage the Internet to attract sales and profit. So, until next week, blog on!

Patsi:  Blog on!

Denise:  Thank you, Lena.

Lena:  Thanks.

Patsi:  Bye bye.

Lena:  Bye.