Esther: This is the BusinessMakers Overtime Show heard here and online at TheBusinessmakers.com. I've Esther Steinfeld and my guest today is Paul Chaney, author of, The Digital Handshake and Internet Marketing Director at Bazooka. Paul, welcome to The BusinessMakers Show.

Paul: Well thank you, I appreciate the opportunity.

Esther: Absolutely. It's great to have you. My cohost, Katie, and I came across you at the Houston Social Media Breakfast and everyone, you know, seems to be talking about social media but not that many people are actually talking strategy, which is the basis for your new book, The Digital Handshake. So can you give us kind of a brief synopsis of what your book is about?

Paul: Sure. The book is really divided in three parts, the first of which really focuses on the why question, you know the why of social media and focuses on consumer behaviors and attitudes and how that has been amplified by the social Web. And it suggests that social media is an antidote to what I refer to as a marketing malady. And that is not to suggest, however, it is a replacement or be-all, end-all for everything marketing related. It has its place as do other forms. But the first part of the book really does talk more in terms of strategy and what I refer to as the mindset of social media.

Esther: Okay.

Paul: The core of the book, which, if you look at the subtitle, Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media, the core of the book are those seven strategies. But really what we're focusing on in the middle section is more the how question and we deal with, at that point, with the tools. Some of the more what I would refer to as proven ones. Things like blogs, video. And then the third half of the book is a three pronged plan of action. Listen, engage, and measure. And it takes all of that that is led up to it and basically says, "Okay, here's how you put this into play. Here's where you start. Here's how to make this stuff work."

Esther: That's awesome. It sounds really interesting. So, what inspired you to write this book?

Paul: Well, this book has really been in me for quite some time. You know this message sort of just evolved over time and at first found its original form in a presentation, accompanied by PowerPoint slides.

Esther: Uh huh.

Paul: And yet obviously, there was much more content that was available in just an hour long presentation. But really, it was the message that was inside me that was just really crying to get out. And it is my philosophy, it's how I try to approach the use of social media, you know, in a real-world setting.

Esther: I see. So what kind of research did you have to do to get this book going?

Paul: A lot of it was already written in the form of blog posts and articles and –

Esther: Uh huh.

Paul: - you know, just various and sundry things like that that I was able to collect that information and then, as all publishers do, they want you to create a table of contents, right, so again, working for my presentation, just gathering this information that had been there, going back, some of it, literally four and five years, if not more, and pulling that together and that formed, sort of the substance of the book. But obviously, you know, that wasn't enough to fill 200-plus pages, so beyond that, that's where the research really kicked in. So it was strictly a lot of reading on topics related to the various chapters. I interviewed quite a number of people over the course of several months getting their input. And people, again, who to some degree or another, like me are using this stuff in the real world sort of situation that could be everybody from, you know, very small business owners, even to individual real estate agents for example, all the way up to, you know, Fortune 1000 companies and the people who are social media strategists and managers and directors in those environments. So there was a lot of that and I think, really, what makes this book, I don't wanna say unique, but certainly special, is it's not just my voice, my philosophy, my ideas. I mean because really there's nothing new under the sun, is there? You know –

Esther: That's what they say.

Paul: - it is the input from all of these various people that make this book, I think, rich.

Esther: I think it sounds what a great concept and part of what is great about the book is you do talk about the tools that you can use.

Paul: Uh huh.

Esther: And what would you say to those people who are new to the social Web? What would be – other than reading your book, of course –

Paul: (Laughter)

Esther: - what would be the first thing that you would recommend that they do? What action should they take?

Paul: It's sort of some common sense kind of principles, is – I would say to them, "Don't focus on the tool set. But there's on the mindset."

Esther: Ah.

Paul: You got to understand the mindset of social media, which has its basis in things like authenticity, transparency, and openness for the message to share, and a willingness for the message to spread freely, and understanding that it's not a controlled message. It's not a monologue, it's not even a dialogue. It is a multi-way conversation happening all over the place and –

Esther: Right.

Paul: - markets are conversations and therefore participation is marketing but I would also say to them you don't have to do everything at once. Don't have to jump on your horse and ride off in 16 different directions. You can take this piece at a time. You know, if I were able to talk to them one-on-one, I would try to discern, really, what might be the better approach for that particular person. For some, it may be blogging. For others, it might be Twitter and I think Twitter – kinda once you get over sorta the initial home of understanding what it's all about, then the other thing I would say, too, is start with listening. Because that's your key to engagement. And I would also say it's not about the technology. Technologies really easy, comparatively speaking, to what it was ten years ago. To build a webpage ten years ago as opposed to using a blog, for example, to be your website, now. It's worlds apart and so it's not about the technology, it's about people. It's about sociology and people's use of technology. And so I would say to them don't either get overwhelmed by the technology and don't get enamored with it. And you know, just the idea that these tools allow you to build relationships with people that you'd never ever, in your life would ever come across or me, most likely.

Esther: So true.

Paul: Uh, you know and to me, that's cool enough in itself.

Esther: Right.

Paul: That to know that it enriches your life. But then to say, "Okay, how do we take this a step further and apply it to my business?" and you know, I think there's a disconnect there, too. I think some people sort of look at, you know, all of this stuff as the ROI factor and the, you know, the whole spreadsheet kind of thing and they, they sorta miss the organic component –

Esther: Right.

Paul: And I think social media has brought us somewhat back around to this real personal, one-to-one almost, form of marketing that to me has a very human quality about it, unlike what we've known, you know, in this, sort of his industrial and post-industrial age that we've come through, you know where it's all mass media and mass marketing and all we are is a number on somebody's spreadsheet, you know, or flow chart or something and, and to me there's, again, I refer to that sort of intangible power that social media has, or the capacity that it has to make business very personal, very human again. And that, to me, is the, really the sort of secret sauce in using it in a marketing framework.

Esther: Well you just are so passionate about it. I mean, if somebody isn't already using these tools then after listening to you, they definitely should – they should jump onboard. I mean, it sounds like you've had a lot of success, obviously you have. I think it's very clear, especially from visiting your website – your website is The Social Media Handyman and I went to your website and I started reading some of your blog content. What I found interesting was some of the stuff you talk about, you raise a lot of questions and you challenge some of the standard things that we consider to be, maybe best practices in social media and you are a very experienced blogger, obviously you've been doing this for a long time.

Paul: Yeah.

Esther: Are these the kinds of things that it takes to make a good blog?

Paul: I think frequency of updates is certainly crucial. I think keeping your blog very topically relevant – you know, if you've honed in on a particular topic, a niche or niche, then that's what you consistently hit, over and over and over again. And then obviously, you know, realizing that you have two audiences, really, reading your blog. You have human beings, whom you obviously need to write for, but you also have machines, you know, Googles –

Esther: Right.

Paul: - or Google spider that you've gotta, I think, to some extent think about. I don't think you need to become an SEO and all the – everything just get, gets keyword oriented – but I think you have to keep, certainly, Google in mind. You know, so I think those are some things that make for good blogging. I think also, just, you know, really, obviously having something to say that is worth people's reading and very often, it's much more about what's of interest to them, right –

Esther: Of course.

Paul: Than rather what's of interest to you. And it's a little bit of a fine line to walk. You know you are impassioned for you feel strongly about something, you wanna talk about it, but is it really something that's gonna be of interest to your readers? Well, you would hope so. He would hope there's a strong enough connection and, you know, they would enjoy that. And those who stay with it over the course of weeks, months, years, even, the proof is in the pudding. It does pay off.

Esther: It definitely does. And I really appreciate you being with us today. This has been so much helpful information. I think that people who haven't necessarily gotten into the whole social media thing, just from reading a book and listening to this interview, they're gonna get a really good overview of what they need to do to get started. So thank you for being here today.

Paul: Well thank you for having me.

Esther: Really appreciate it. And that wraps up our talk with Paul Chaney, a/k/a The Social Media Handyman and author of The Digital Handshake. I'm Esther Steinfeld and you've been listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show. Heard here and online at TheBusinessmakers.com.