Mom Central's 5Q's: Charlie McEnerney - Marketing, Branding, Production and Passion
Mom Central's 5Q's: Charlie McEnerney
Marketing, Branding, Production and Passion
This week I chat with Charlie McEnerney who, when not launching a new website for ArtsBoston, producing an online music interview show, or using social media to crowdsource ideas, spends some of his free time creating new revenue models for independent musicians.
MCC: What or who do you read on a daily basis?
CM:I find I don't really read a lot of blogs about social media becausethere's too many people who have never done any marketing before theystarted doing social media marketing. Marketing is a lot about yourinstincts and smart ways to reach the right audience. I think thosemarketers who were doing it long before broadband and javascript andwifi have a lot of offer with regards to "how" we as humans behave, notjust how we behave online. I've read most of the social media books,but often find they focus on obvious and pretty common sense things. Iwant to know more about specific success stories that will inspire meto look at social media in even new ways--and will both educate us andsurprise us in how they work.
MCC: On a daily/weekly basis, what are your strategies for managing your social media life?
CM:I stopped worrying about staying on top of everything a few years ago;like an email inbox that is bursting at the seams, I find social mediato be more relaxing than stress-inducing and want to keep it that way,so sometimes I'll be heavily into Twitter or Friendfeed, other timesit's all about podcasts and video, other times it's about collaborativeprojects happening online that integrate social media. Much like reallife, variety is the spice...
MCC: What's your fave social media site right now and why?
CM:Facebook, because they are smart enough to keep evolving andchanging and haven't stalled in several years. Lots of companies camebefore them and many have launched since Facebook opened itself up tothe masses, but I find it amazing how they keep growing and, surpassingcompetitors who had an initial lead, and not being beat by even biggerentities like Google. It's also because what they do is a real mix ofstaying "lightly" in touch with people, being an outlet for news, andconnecting people with their passions--and then connecting them withother people with the same passions.
It's fun to watch peopletake every little change they make so personally, but it tells youexactly how much people have invested themselves in the service...andthat's a very good thing for the folks running Facebook.
MCC: Who have you connected with via social media that you would not have met otherwise?
CM:A lot of people. I know a lot of people feel like all our onlineactivities is distancing us from each other, but social media hasconnected me with many people I never would have met otherwise andconnect with. I always make it a point now to meet someone face-to-facefor coffee or lunch or drinks after work after you've gotten to knowthem online.
MCC: What about social media currently keeps you up at night?
CM:That those of us that are so immersed in it will burn out on it! Ithink, if it's going to change the way we interact with each others andwith organizations, companies, etc., it has to just become a part ofthe fabric of our lives, but maybe not something that takes it over asmuch as it has for many. Not me, of course...
MCC: What's the one intriguing social media trend you're keeping an eye on?
CM:Crowdsourcing for funding projects, like www.kiva.org, www.fundable.com, www.microfundo.com, www.kickstarter.com, etc.
Also,the Twitter economy, with so many companies started around the Twitterservice...utterly fascinating! I believe a new channel forcommunication has been born.
MCC: Do you see tension within companies as to who manages SM?
CM: Socialmedia is often being passed down to interns or junior members of a teambecause many people don't think it's worthy of their attention. I thinkthis will continue to change as companies see there is a positivereturn on investment. I haven't seen the conflict as much, but in thearts realm I have seem a handful of the "creative" types getting intoit while most of the other participants are "marketing" types. I hopethis continues, as I think consumers of all types like to talk directlywith "the creatives" and can only help a company bond with who pays thebills.
MCC: How should a company best prepare to respond to a social media crisis?
CM: Myadvice is very similar to how I've acted years ago when I worked inretail or customer service settings: the customer isn't alwaysnecessarily right, but you have to be open minded enough about anyone'sexperience so that whatever they say, you don't get defensive about itor take it personally. If someone is out there bashing your company,you need to treat it like you're talking one-on-one to an unhappycustomer and show them (and everyone else participating in theconversation as voyeurs), that you, as a company, are always looking toimprove. You want customers to know that their complaint or criticismwill be taken with seriousness and you'll work to correct such thingsin the future. The recent case in Chicago with the real estate companyis a great example; they could have turned it into a great PR play, butinstead they got defensive and now everyone's talking about them...andnot in a good way.
MCC: How would you explain the value of social media to a brand/company just testing the waters?
CM:You can't overestimate the value of simply listening to your customers.Once you "catch" someone talking about your company, whether it's goodor bad, you quickly realize this is all about having the opportunityfor conversation. You realize how different of a medium it is from TVor radio or print or direct mail. You're not talking at your customers,you're talking with them. The value here is making points of contactwith some (or many) of them and turning it into a win for both of you.Frankly, I love it and it makes "the marketing" that much more fun.
MCC: In a spend on social media, what do you consider the most powerful measure of success?
CM:Of course it depends on what your goals are, but I think it's going tobe thinks like inbound traffic, increased sales, and "time spent onyour web site." As analytics get more advanced, the measurements willkeep looking for more specifics and what it means in terms of sales.
MCC: Where do you see social media heading in the next year? 5 years? 10 years?
CM: Ithink these first 7-8 years really been about all of us who are engagedwith social media just experimenting and trying things out, but we'realready hearing people feel like they are overloaded with choices andactivities and I'm sure some of it will burn people out. We're alreadyseeing things like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube winning out whileother ideas fall away, but I think the coming 5 years are going to behow we use these tools to simplify our online lives vs. making it morecomplicated than they are becoming.
Obviously services likeFacebook are a step in that direction and smart phones that aggregateyour contacts' information and turn it into something usable feel to melike how this can become both simple and useful.
MCC: What's the most exciting social media initiative you've been involved in?
CM:I think it would be my own podcast project,Well-Rounded Radio, which I started as a hobbyproject in 2002 because as a musician who loves music, I feltmainstream radio had stopped offering in-depth interviews and so, in avery "punk rock" fashion, I decided to produce it myself. My initialthought was to pitch to to NPR, but quickly learned getting on NPR ismore competitive than getting on commercial radio (because peopleactually want to be on it!). Then, broadband came and I realized Ialready had the distribution system with the internet. 7 years and 80+interviews later, I now have 18,000+ listeners per month around theworld and have a a dynamic relationship with many fans. I've alsolearned that a lot of social media is about being of the moment andlifestreams, but the nature of the web is that ideas take time tospread and be shared.
MCC: What do you most want folks to know about you?
CM: I'vebeen doing traditional marketing for 20 years (at HBO, Fast Company,WGBH, ArtsBoston, MovieMaker magazine, Seattle International FilmFestival, and more), but due largely to an online music interview show I produce, I've been involved in social media channels since it all started up around blogging and podcasting.
MCC: What’s the most exciting stuff you’re up to?
CM: Wearing an Executive Producer hat, I recently launched a new web site for ArtsBoston at http://www.artsboston.org.It's an online arts and culture calendar for Greater Boston (andincreasingly for most of Massachusetts and cities over the state lines)and it's already been a huge hit. With print listings ceasing, Bostonneeded a better tool and we got it through licensing the Artsopolis software platformand the site already has more than 3,900 events in the database. Andnow that the site has launched I am onto my next challenge!
Weare using Twitter as a way to direct our users to relevant arts newsand reviews coming in from mainstream media and bloggers. The interfaceis easy to use for both searchers and browsers, but I think the citizenreviews will ultimately be the most powerful feature here. As we areall now used to turning to Amazon, TripAdvisor, or Netflix forrecommendations, ArtsBoston.org is connecting arts lovers in ways we've never had in the city before.
I'vealso been working on a new idea for the music community where musicianswho have become successful from the models that made them money overthe last 50 years can help fund music discovery-related start-ups thatcan send traffic to independent musicians until we can determine therevenue models for the next 50 years. I am not sure if it's anincubator or a venture fund or a foundation or a network, but it'scalled Musicians for Music 2.0 and you can read information about it onour Facebook group. It is aninteresting example of using social media for crowd-sourcing ideas andpushing it forward. I can't imagine doing it any other way now.
MCC: Finally, where can our marketing/social media peeps find you online?
CM:LinkedIn: http://www.wellroundedradio.net/linkedin
Facebook: http://www.wellroundedradio.net/facebook
Twitter: http://www.wellroundedradio.net/twitter
Web: http://www.wellroundedradio.net
Email: charlie@wellroundedradio.net
ArtsBoston's twitter feed is http://twitter.com/artsboston
