Bob Cargill, Author at Bob Cargill

03Aug 2011 by Bob Cargill

4 Lessons Marketers Can Learn from Local TV News Reporters

This post was initially published on BostInnovation on July 28, 2011. To read the original post there, click here. Today – thanks to social media, smartphones and other new digital communications platforms and tools – what the savviest of consumers are asking of their favorite brands is almost as much as they’d expect from their best friends and family. They want your time, support and undivided attention – and they want it at their convenience. It’s not just due to modern technology, though. It’s a bold, new sense of entitlement that’s been enthusiastically adopted by those on the receiving end of your messages. In this era in which the corporation has ceded control – albeit reluctantly – to the customer, businesses can’t afford to be seen as out of touch, behind…

10Jul 2011 by Bob Cargill

Talking about Social Media in Sudbury, Massachusetts

Business, Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter

I've created a lot of lists on Twitter, including one for copywriters, another one for New England social media professionals and even one that I call All Star Bloggers. But out of all of these lists, the one that's been on my mind lately is the list which includes the people and companies (38 and counting) I've found on Twitter from my hometown of Sudbury, Massachusetts. You see, while I really only know personally a handful of these Sudbury-affiliated account-holders, my goal when I created this list was to get to know as many of them as possible. So little by little, I've retweeted them and reached out to them, thinking that you never know what might come of this small community within, well, a small community. But it wasn't until I recently sat down…

27Jun 2011 by Bob Cargill

Do You Whistle While You Work?

Business

A few weeks or so ago, a colleague of mine asked me what song I was whistling as I walked by her office. As I recall, it was Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor," but as much as I like that song, it doesn’t matter what I was whistling. What really matters is that the occasional whistling I do around the office had caught her attention and made me think twice about just how much our body language says, for better or worse, to those around us. Whistling, of course, is usually a sign of happiness and a cheerful disposition. Even though I do it almost without realizing it, I don't think I'd be able to whistle if I wasn't feeling good about something. In fact, it’s almost impossible to whistle with a frown on your face. And like smiling,…

16Jun 2011 by Bob Cargill

Social Media: It’s Personal

Blogging, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube

Don’t tell me social media isn’t personal. Sure, it’s not the same thing as actually sitting down and talking to someone in person, face-to-face. But it’s often the next best thing. And in some cases, it’s the only thing. Using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like is a great way to connect with people who otherwise might not give you the time of the day because they’re either too busy or have reason to believe they have little in common with you. Social media is also perfect for keeping in touch with people who it’s impossible to meet up with in person because they simply live or work too far away. For example, my friend, Amelia, is situated some 3,000 miles away from me in Seal Beach, California. We’re both…

02Jun 2011 by Bob Cargill

The 10 Qualities of the Professional Freelancer

Advertising, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing

For about seven years in the 1990s, I was self-employed, doing my thing as a freelance copywriter and creative director for my own small business, Cargill Creative. It was the time of my career, a period of exhilaration and entrepreneurship I'll never forget. As challenging as it was to have to fend for myself, it felt good to know that almost everything I achieved was dependent on my own abilities and actions, not necessarily on any outside factors. I was working on a high wire without a safety net and I liked it. As I wrote here on this blog back on June 1, 2004, about this experience... Cargill Creative was a “virtual” agency with unlimited potential but resources that were only so deep. Schooled as a creative, I recast myself out…

17May 2011 by Bob Cargill

Guess Who I Met at AMA Boston’s Connect Community Tweetup

Marketing, Social Media

If you haven’t joined the AMA Boston Connect Community yet, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. Created on the Ning platform by Myles Bristowe, AMA Boston Past President and CMO at CommCreative, this popular online network recently celebrated the fact that over 2,000 marketers – including yours truly – have now established a presence there. Indeed, to commemorate this milestone, a bunch of us pulled ourselves away from our desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones for a couple hours of good, old-fashioned socializing recently at the Connect Community Tweetup held at Performable, a marketing automation and analytics company in Cambridge. I was happy to catch up with a few good friends in the business, including Jamie Bradley and Lew Sabbag, as well as to meet a handful of people for the first…

01May 2011 by Bob Cargill

The Importance of LinkedIn Recommendations

LinkedIn, Social Media

Given my outgoing personality, my obsession with the latest news and the fact that I've always been an early adopter of new communications tools, it's no surprise that I've been enamored with social media from the get-go. I can't tell you how excited I was to launch my own blog in early 2004, where I've written nearly 100,000 words on almost anything and everything that has to do with marketing. I became a member of Facebook in late 2007. I joined Twitter on May 8, 2008. I've bookmarked over 4,800 blog posts and articles on Delicious. I use Google Reader on a regular basis. And I have my own YouTube channel, which I use to share my thoughts on what's important to me – and, hopefully, others – in the industry in which I earn my livelihood. But…

18Apr 2011 by Bob Cargill

How a Tweet Led to a Sale

Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter

Even though Twitter recently celebrated its fifth birthday and there are now some 200 million users of this micro-blogging site, there's still plenty of skepticism among marketers regarding its viability as a sales channel. I understand. After all, those who are most successful on Twitter are those who are listening intently, sharing great content and engaging with others, not pitching their own products and services. And all that, well, socializing requires an investment of time and resources that many businesses have trouble justifying. But apparently not The Quaker Oats Company. Let me explain... One of the people I follow on Twitter is Dianna Huff, a very talented web marketing expert in the B2B world and someone I know quite well from my involvement in the New England Direct Marketing Association. After reading her March 27…

20Mar 2011 by Bob Cargill

Facebook, Twitter and Sudbury

Facebook, Social Media, Twitter

The older you are, the more accustomed you are to satisfying your need for news, entertainment and conversation via newspapers, magazines, books, television, radio and good, old-fashioned face-to-face interaction with others. Imagine. Many of us even grew up looking forward to reading the mail at the end of the day. But that was then. This is now. This is the age of the Internet and instant messaging, smart phones and even smarter notebook computers, laptops and tablets. This is the era of newfangled social media communications tools and technologies that are already well on their way to changing the way we create, share and receive information forever. Take Facebook and Twitter, for instance, two of the most popular social media sites today. If Facebook were a country, its user base…

Author: Bob Cargill