Social Media Rules of Marketing and PR blogger David Meerman Scott of WebInkNow an Interview WebInkNow.com

What is the most important reason for people to read WebInkNow?

We’re going through a revolution. The revolution is in the way people are communicating. Everyone has always gone to search engines, and that’s the old way of doing things. My blog provides valuable information and case studies to help people use the web in a new way.

Congratulations on the New Rules of Social Media Book series. What can we expect from the series next year? What will keep this series relevant?

The book I wrote that originally came out in 2007 is called The New Rules of Marketing and PR. It’s been one of the top books in the social media marketing space. It’s a very good overview of what is changing.

The series allows us to provide more detailed information in various fields, for instance online video. The series provides much more detail that I myself could ever write. Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah know a heck of a lot more about Inbound Marketing than me, and Steve Garfield knows more about online video than I do. It seems only natural to have the best people out there write these books.

In your blog you talk about the “light bulb” moment when people realize there is more to Twitter than answering, “What are you doing now?” Where should people start their “Learning” once they have that light bulb moment?

It’s a matter of understanding why you are on Twitter.

Too many people go on Twitter wanting to turn it into something they know.
Salespeople go on Twitter and want to use it for sales. Marketing people go on Twitter and want to use it for marketing. But Twitter is none of those things.
They think, “Well shoot, I’m used to knocking on doors, and that’s what I’m used to.” But the same things they are used to don’t work on Twitter. There is a whole set of etiquette rules that exist on Twitter, many of them unwritten.

After people use Twitter for awhile and understand it, they need to think, “Well, how can this benefit me? If I’m going to use it with my business, I can’t try to shoehorn it into what I’ve always done.

What was your first experience of social media?

I’ve been doing social media since 1983. Nobody called it social media then.
I was at a bond trading desk that used Telerate and Reuters. It was real time electronically created information that connected people all over the world.
There were components that allowed information to be sent all over the world, to one person or to a group of people. I then worked in Asia for Knight-Ridder and built similar products.

I was fortunate to use what we now call social media, electronic information that could travel the world.

What was your first blog?

I started my blog WebInkNow in 2004.

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?

Really simple: Don’t start blogging- Until, you’ve done 2 things.
First, actively monitor the blogs in your field and start commenting. Spend half an hour a day and spend at least a month if not two months commenting on other blogs. If you are not leaving at least a comment a day, (and enjoying it), you are likely to fail at blogging.

I think it is critically important to build the community, to read the blogs and know what you like commenting on, then you can start your own blog.

What do advertisers do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Advertise.

I think that what people who have an advertising background tend to believe is that you have to buy attention. An advertiser is very skilled at buying attention. The web, done right, isn’t about buying attention. What works so well is not buying attention but creating something interesting that people want to consume. Advertisers are good at buying attention but not at earning attention. There is a different way to get attention on the web- by creating interesting content.

Where do you see growth in social media?

What I’m seeing is that we are reaching critical mass.

I’ve been writing about what we now call social media for 10 years, using it for 25 years. Until last year I was a heretic, to the point when my book came out many people ignored it and dismissed it.

Now, I’m sensing that we are finally reaching a point where the vast majority of people realize there is something going on. The future is that these ideas of social media is what’s going on. When I first started there were only a few people using it. Now, we’ve got people everywhere using it and it’s becoming a normal thing.

What is one thing people can do for you?

If there is anyone who has done anything very interesting, especially with the result of going viral, I would love for them to ping me with that.

Thanks to David Meerman Scott of WebInkNow and Social Media Rules of Marketing and PR WebInkNow.com