JumpStart: IdeaExchange Blog

Ever read Groundswell? I’d recommend it. The sub-head sums it up: “winning in a world transformed by social technologies”. Like most business books, this one doesn’t exactly tell you much that you won’t already know, but it offers a structure which organizes the insights and conclusions in an easy-to-follow framework. 

The main premise of the book is the attitudes companies should adopt — and how they can thrive — in the world where control and power over messages and discussion are owned by consumers and community members, as opposed to old-school ways of companies managing those themselves. At some point in the last four years, I adjusted my comfort zone from the latter to the former…at least intellectually.

Message boards are one tool mentioned in the book, and in our community, one of the biggest is Cleveland.com (the message board of The Plain Dealer). Have you seen some of the recent discussion on Cleveland.com about JumpStart? (If not, search for JumpStart and you’ll see a number of articles and tags with JumpStart…look around for the comments to the articles). 

Honestly, the discussion there has occasionally and instinctively brought out the Mama Bear in me. I just want to snarl and fight. Am I asking for trouble by admitting that? Probably. But I think it’s a really human response to want to defend that which you absolutely, passionately support.

But a few moments later, I remember my training and fundamental beliefs as a marketer, along with the words in Groundswell (and every other social media blog, book, and article that I’ve ever read and heard). And I remember this stuff is GOLD. Absolute GOLD. How else can you get real feedback on delivering your promise (or not)? How often do people tell you honestly, in an uncensored way, what they are thinking about your brand and the value proposition you are delivering? To get to listen and participate in that conversation? More valuable than gold. And it’s all free! It’s feedback that you’d more typically pay a lot of money to get (vis a vis a formal research firm) and might not be so honest.

So blogosphere, message board writers, everyone else interested, passionate about or critical of our work, talk to us. Tell us what you think we need to consider, could do better, or need to change. And if there’s anything we are doing right, tell us that too. But most of all, be honest. We are 100% listening.

(Stay tuned for part 2 of this post to hear some of the feedback we’ve gotten!)

Cathy Belk is the Chief Marketing Officer of JumpStart. She specializes in branding, marketing communications, and business management. She brings 16+ years of experience in a variety of marketing and business roles, but gets her energy from working daily with entrepreneurs and their growing companies.

Tags: blogs, JumpStart, marketing, social media

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Big Ideas in Economic Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.