Mike Maney

Tag: Tips

  • The Do’s and Don’ts of Evangelism

    A good friend of mine who runs enterprise marketing for a top tech company recently asked me for advice to help counsel one of his executives on the differences between marketing and evangelism. The list below includes some of the top-of-mind tips I provided based on my experience:

    DO

    • Be human. Nobody wants to engage with a marketing droid. Be yourself. Don’t worry if a few warts show.
    • Educate and inform. Be a good source for people who may eventually buy or recommend your product to turn to.
    • Have a point of view. Make people pay attention and engage with you.
    • Know your stuff. Your community will smell fluff from a mile away.
    • Pick up the tab if you can. You’ll be surprised how far $200 at the bar or picking up pizzas for a hackathon or meetup goes.

     

    DON’T

    • Sell. Selling is the job of your sales team. Your job is to be an engaging human.
    • Overly worry about being loyal to your brand. Great evangelists help their community first, even if it means saying a nice thing or two about your competition.
    • Engage only when you need something. Influence is a two-way street.
    • Attend conferences only if you’re invited to speak. It’s not only conceited, but you’ll also miss out on great content and relationship building.
    • Expect anything of your community. Earn it.

    This is by no stretch of the imagination a comprehensive list. What do’s and don’ts would you include? Add them to the comments.

    (For more, check out my Influencing the Influencers deck on Slideshare.)

     

  • Don’t Be a PR Fluffer

    Video of my talk closing out day one of Monktoberfest 2012.

  • If you write, William Zinsser’s book is your bible

    Writing is a big part of what I do as a PR professional. I read William Zinsser’s “On Writing Well” in college and re-read it every year to keep my writing as sharp and tight as possible. If you write you owe it to yourself to pick up this book.

  • I Didn’t Know That: Checking a jalapeno’s heat

    Stumbled across this tip today. For most, it’s a tip that will save them from burning their mouths; for those who like their jalapenos hot, it will help them pick the perfect pepper:

    Tip: How to Check for the Hotness of Jalapenos

    Ever take home a jalapeño chile pepper from the grocery store and have it either be so lacking in heat it may just as well be a bell pepper, or so hot a speck will create a raging inferno in your mouth? Here’s a quick tip for choosing jalapeños that can help you decide which ones to pick. Jalapeño chilies start out mild and progressively get hotter the older they get, eventually turning bright red (and quite hot). As they age, they develop white lines and flecks, like stretch marks running in the direction of the length of the pepper. The smoother the pepper, the younger, and milder it is. The more white lines, the older and hotter. Red jalapeños are the most hot, because they’ve been maturing the longest.

    Continue reading ‘Tip: How to Check for the Hotness of Jalapenos’ » (Via Simply Recipes.)