Pulse Legacy Archive January / February 2013 | Page 22

conversations

What’s in a conversation? It’s the beginning of new ideas. A sharing of personal stories.
A start of meaningful relationships. This Pulse section called Conversations
highlights opinions, ideas, visions and personal anecdotes of CEOs and leaders from across industries.
Join the conversation. Send your questions and suggestions on leaders you’d like Pulse to profile.

B Y M A E M A Ñ AC A P - J O H N S O N

I

t’s hard to introduce Chris Brogan, especially since—according to his
website chrisbrogan.com—he is not a fan of pompous introductions. But
Brogan, who is known in the social media world as an expert, wasn’t an
overnight success. Now the CEO and President of Human Business Works—
a business design company using publishing and media “to help professionals
work better, do the work they want, and to be brave”—Brogan spent a good
eight years before he eventually earned his 100 social media subscribers.
What have he learned about those early blogging days? Don’t write for yourself. “Things changed for the better when I wrote for my buyer and my
community at large,” he says. In this Conversations, he shares
great insights on how to do social media right.

CHRIS BROGAN

PULSE: Can you name at least three social media
trends that, in your opinion, would continue to
change the way we do business today?
Brogan: With the rise of social networking and social media
usage, it’s harder than ever to make your idea stand out, spread
across an adequate platform, and connect with people who
actually care about it. I call this [trend] the “Attention Wars.”
Though over 68 percent of web traffic reaches businesses via
mobile browsers, most websites are not optimized for mobile
viewing; thus, businesses are throwing away potential clients.
App-based social networks are starting to overtake laptopand/or desktop-based social networks. Look at the uptick of
users on sites like Instagram, which is a simple app-based social
network. That’s why Facebook bought them, by the way.
TWEET Pulse. Want to pick social media expert Chris Brogan’s brain?
Send your question to @ISPADoYou and we'll tweet back his answers.

P: What advice can you give to spa business owners
when it comes to using social media and making it
stick?
B: Forget the words. These tools are built for lead generation,
prospect nurturing, sales, and post-sales support and referral
enhancement. Your strategy is simply the recipe for getting
that done. Thus, you have to ask the question: “How can I
best use these tools for lead generation?” And work from
there. “How can I use these tools to nurture my prospects?”
And work from there.

P: What are the most common mistakes marketers or
business owners commit when using social media as
an engagement tool?
B: Most small business owners don’t use the tool for engagement. They use it for shouting. “Here are my coupons! Here’s
my deal! I’m doing this! I’m award-winning at that.” That’s
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 22)

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January/February 2013