Currently the Chief Social Marketing Officer at Collective Bias and Social Marketing Strategist for MARS Advertising, Ted be will taking part in  the Keynote Panel discussion ‘What is Social Reputation and why this should matter for your business’.  With less than a month to go until SMWF N. America, we caught up with Ted for a chat about his experience in the world of social media.

1. How did you get your start in the industry?

In 1997 I was looking for something exciting and new and was determined to move back to NY from South Florida and get back into the action. I decided this new thing called the “Internet” was the way to go. I read an article about Seth Godin and since he mentioned he was always on the lookout for talent I was determined to work with him at his start-up Yoyodyne. I sent resumes to probably 100 companies and when Yoyodyne called I knew it was meant to be.

2. What is the biggest challenge facing your industry?

The biggest challenge facing the industry is integrating accountability and measurement with an understanding that the true value of Social Media is the ability to engage, interact and build long-term relationships for brands.

3. What is the method to your blogging success? What inspires your blogs?

My blogging success it totally due to the emergence of this unique and extraordinary publishing platform call Twitter… maybe you have heard of it  . Twitter helps me to think things through, express, and wrap my arms around ideas before writing a post. It also allows me to express myself and my thoughts at a moments notice and preserve and develop ideas as they come to me.

4. What’s your view on how social media will evolve?

The marketing paradigm is shifting with much greater “power to the people” facilitated by social media. If you want to continue to reach your market, it’s not about advertising any more, but about building relationships. Just activating your audience, however, is not enough. A brand always needs to be working to keep these valued influencer and advocate relationships alive and strong and build an emotional connection. Always remember that brand loyalty declines due to lack of relevance — this has been evident for years and is clearly a direct result of not listening… and NOT hearing when you do listen. When building a social media presence, building relationships through engaging as many people by truly interacting with them, and doing what I call “looking them in the eye digitally,” is what will build value and loyalty for the long-term. Always keep in mind that Social media’s incredible power is in allowing us to instantaneously connect to, interact with, and build relationships with our audience of thousands to gain high-value end results… but if you do not make them feel valued and speak to them on their terms, and bring value to the table, the results will be underwhelming and you will not be utilizing social for its true value. It will just be another tool in the marketing toolbox.

5. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out?

Get started now. Do not wait to develop a comprehensive strategy… just jump in and start engaging and interacting.

6. Where can we find you on the web/on Twitter/Facebook/etc.

Finding me is easy… just look for Ted Rubin: @TedRubin, TedRubin.com, Facebook.com/TedRubin,LinkedIn.com/in/TedRubin, YouTube.com/TedRubinUSA and of course TedRubin@gmail.com.

Hear more from Ted at this year’s Social Media World Forum N. America on Nov 1 -2 at the Javits Center. Ted will taking part in  the Keynote Panel discussion ‘What is Social Reputation and why this should matter for your business’  alongside:

• Garth Holsinger, VP of Sales and Business Development, Klout @garthsklout
• Chris Heuer, Specialist Leader,Social Media Club and Deloitte @chrisheuer
  
• Paul Papadimitriou, VP + Principal Analyst, Constellation Research @papadimitriou
  
• Phil Guest, Chief Commercial Officer, PeerIndex.com @PhilGuesty

To secure your place at this year’s event please click here.

Originally posted at Social Media Forum blog

There are some guiding principles to Relationship Commerce.  None seem drastically different on their own; though they seem radically new when applied to the realm of commerce:

Relationships matter.  Discovering something you love is great, learning about it from someone you trust is even better. 

Buying from someone you like is way more fun than buying from a BIG-BOX robot. 

Shopping can be better. 

Relationship Commerce is simple yet novel, it’s buying from people you know and trust. 

But in a fast paced, digital world, defining and maintaining our relationships has become unexpectedly difficult.  Social Media has enabled us to connect with an infinite number of individuals; it has given us the tools to extend relationships that years ago would have been impossible.  Yet make no mistake: “Social Media is a facilitator of relationships, but it is not the relationship itself.”  You have to give to get.  No relationship can survive without trust; it’s so simple in concept yet not always easy.

With effort, a relationship may begin from the request of a Facebook friend or following someone on Twitter; but make no mistake – that initial request or follow will never create the relationship.  Trust is built upon interaction, when you’re true to your word, authentic, and genuine.  To build relationships online, you (as a brand or individual) have to offer value in return.  Be it via valuable information or personal introductions, engagement and interaction will remain key. 

By asking questions and proposing ideas, you can engage your followers in such a way to give them the ability and reason to respond.  Then when they do respond, interact with them to solidify your relationship, lest it fade away.  Directly acknowledge their response, ask follow-up questions and share their insights with others.  Follow me on Twitter (@tedrubin) and you’ll see what I mean.  The more responsive you are to your audience, the more responsive they’ll be to you.  And that’s where relationships are born.

It is this interpersonal exchange, the relationship, which differentiates Relationship Commerce.  Life is not just about financial exchange, and neither is commerce. 

The way I see it, we’re overdue for a revolution in retail.  So many of us have been sharing our passions and discoveries, it’s about time we acquired tools that empower us to share in the economic benefits.  I believe that our economy is experiencing a monumental shift towards an era of increased self-sufficiency.  We all need to learn to earn… to provide for ourselves.  We can’t continue to live dependant upon the (one time) security blanket of big corporations, parent companies and traditional jobs.  They may not always be there.

How many of you spend more than 10 hours a week on your online presence? 15 Hours, 40+? How many times have you recommended something to a friend and how many times have you made a purchase based upon the recommendation of a friend?  How many of us wish that our passions, our energy and our influence could evolve away from pure hobbies and into a revenue stream?  Relationship Commerce, sharing what you love with others and facilitating their ability to buy it, easily can be a piece of that puzzle.  That’s how it can make shopping better.

This is truly what I call ROR: Return on Relationship, and I believe it’s what the future holds for shopping, for commerce and the economic wellbeing of each and every one of us.  It’s Relationship Commerce.

I agree wholeheartedly with Drew and appreciate his addressing such a timely topic. “Dog Days,” my ass!  We are only scratching the surface here of social media potential!  And even if your audience does abandon a platform “en masse”… so what?  Scalable social platforms are not going away, migrations will happen — they always do eventually — but if it is not Facebook or Twitter it will be somewhere else you can still reach out, engage your audience, and interact with them.

So we need to keep in mind that, going forward, long-term brand success will not be dependent on a specific social media tool; it will be relative to the depth and breadth of the relationships built using the tool.  Building relationships and interacting with consumers is where the commerce of the future is heading.   Yes, real relationships = brand interest & loyalty  = success (money).  In fact, at OpenSky (http://shopopensky.com), we believe so strongly in the power of relationships as commerce that we have built an entire platform and business model around it. 

Remember, though, that social media is a facilitator of relationships, but it is not the relationship itself.   Use whatever combination of ways to interact works best for you and your brand.  In other words, experiment!   Use Facebook, Twitter, blog posts,  and YouTube (don’t forget YouTube!), and use them each in several different ways.  Notice what tactics engage your audience so much that they interact not only with you/your brand but with other people loyal to your brand.  That’s where the magic happens!

Once you find what works for your audience, drive a truck through that opening.   It’s not enough to drive that truck through and keep on going.  You need to park that truck, and get out to interact with your audience.   “Listen” to your market and you will be able to relate to and engage your customers, evolving with them as they evolve and change.   Remember… relationships are never static, so your brand must be able to move along with the relationship or be left behind.

Bottom line: the more responsive you are to your audience, the more responsive they will be to you.  Don’t wait for them to make the first move.

It depends. Any one of us obviously does not have time to keep up thousands of face-to-face relationships at a time, but with the help of social media, we can certainly build and keep substantially more relationships going.  However, it takes more than simply sending a Facebook friend request or clicking the “follow” button on another Twitter user’s profile.

To build relationships online, you (brand or individual) have to offer something in return, such as valuable information, personal introductions to your already-established connections, or even part of yourself through engagement and interaction.   

It’s no longer enough to just suggest that someone should be interested in your product or service. You need to engage your market — ask questions, propose ideas, or simply communicate through social media in a way that gives your followers a chance and a reason to respond. 

Then when they respond, interact with them to solidify the relationship, or it will just fade out. Directly acknowledge their response, ask follow-up questions, and share their insights with others. Don’t simply be responsive, be incredibly responsive.  Always acknowledge those who reach out or spread your ideas. Follow me on Twitter (@tedrubin) and you will see what I mean.  Bottom line:  the more responsive you are to your audience, the more responsive they will be to you. 

Online relationships will not survive without trust. The key to building trust is simple, but not always easy: Always be good to your word (true to your brand), always be authentic, and always be genuine. Remember, most of your social media interactions are public and very much interconnected – let a positive, trustworthy reputation be the only thing out there to spread!   

One final point in this post – although Facebook and Twitter are fantastic tools for meeting and engaging with your audience, don’t forget that you can use them in combination with other relationship-building tools. Email, phone, and in-person meetings are all essential tools for bringing the virtual world closer to your “real world.” Use whatever combination works best for you, and you will quickly turn your connections into raving fans and outspoken advocates!

As you can see, Relationship Commerce is not just about financial exchange; it’s about interpersonal exchange, aka the “relationship.”

Now it’s a whole different world with social media, with almost instantaneous personal connections to people all around the world.  Instead of just one-to-one connections, we get one-to-very-very-many connections as we can now tap into the extensive networks of everyone on our own social graph. 

If I need a contact in a particular company, or city, or country, all I need to do is post a question on Facebook or better yet, Twitter, asking if someone has a trusted contact in that company or location, and I will soon have a name and contact information.  If a colleague across the country needs help in their own town, a quick tweet will likely reach at least one person who can either directly provide that assistance to my colleague, or at least provide the right connection.

We also need to remember that bloggers are an important part of social media’s reach.  Just recently, I had two different situations of helping bloggers reach other bloggers in another part of the country – due to the broad social media reach I have created by putting relationships first, I was able to help them connect and get the assistance they needed within minutes by simply tweeting out a request for a contact in a very specific community. Complete strangers tied together through one trusted connection, and time and distance were immediately condensed through the use of social media.

At OpenSky, we are all about the relationships and social reach of our trusted influencers (bloggers, authors, editors, celebrities, social media mavens) and their communities (networks).  Instead of just offering products for sale, we offer connection and community to influencers who have products they believe in (from innovative suppliers) and want to share with (sell to) their network. This is the new way the world will connect, where relationships matter. 

The world is now your oyster, use social media to find the pearl(s)!

But what about true relationships that already exist online as the basis for commerce instead of the other way around? Bloggers, authors, celebrities, and any internet personalities who have a deep relationship with their followers can now get what I call ROR – Return on Relationship, with a new kind of Relationship Commerce. The company for which I am on the Board of Advisors and Chief Social Marketing Officer, OpenSky http://theopenskyproject.com, connects people with existing relationships, we call them Influencers (sellers), to people who make great products, we call them Innovators (suppliers). OpenSky provides a means for our “sellers” to connect their trusted followers to the products they write about, and are passionate about! All this happens in the OpenSky Distributed Cart without taking the users away from the site where the content about the product and relationship originated and exists. We help Influencers enhance their relationships and provide Innovators with a new means of distribution. Think of it as a Relationship Commerce ecosystem.