Jim has a high-energy interview with author, speaker, and social media pro Krista Neher.

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This week I had a great interview with with author, speaker, and social media pro Krista Neher.

As usual, for the full interview — and trust me, we had great energy and lots of fun sharing stories — make sure to download and play the podcast. The summary below highlights what we cover:

Krista’s background
- Her start at Proctor and Gamble
- Working on marketing for brands like Tide and Folgers Coffee
- Her transition to a startup
- The founding of Bootcamp Digital, which teaches companies how to use the web and social media to build their business

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Jim interviews Byron Bennett, owner of a NYC chocolate shop about how a small business uses Facebook, Twitter, QR codes, Websites, and his experience with Groupon.

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It’s one thing for media companies to be on social media, but lately I’ve been fascinated with how small businesses are doing this. I met with Byron Bennett, the owner of The Chocolate Library, a small-business in Manhattan’s East Village and we discuss the challenges he faces.

Besides, he just happened to bring along some of his amazing inventory of chocolates from around the world. He tells me that 97% of people enjoy chocolate.

Count me in as one of them.

Summary of Topics covered:

BACKGROUND
- Byron’s background at a wine store before he started this business
- Why wine stores and supermarkets need a kiosk to help shoppers
- The similarities between wine and chocolate
- The effect of luxury goods during a recession
- The story behind the “library” classification in his store, and how he ended up on The New York Times.

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Today I interview Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn and self-published author of the religious thriller, Pentecost.

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For the full interview — a must-listen for anyone wanting to self-publish their own book — please listen to the podcast.

Summary of Topics covered:

Joanna’s amazing journey
Joanna Penn has had quite an amazing journey from the UK and a Theology major at Oxford (hence the religious thriller), all the way to New Zealand and Australia, and now back to the UK.

As a full-time IT employee, she started her writing career with non-fiction books such as How To Enjoy Your Job and the basic ways of marketing.

She once tried to do the full-time author route and take an extended period of time off in order to write “The Great American (Australian?) Novel,” and tried signing on with traditional publishers, but it didn’t pan out.

Intrigued with the rise of digital publishing, print-on-demand, and using social media as a marketing platform, she started a blog and podcast called The Creative Penn. Joanna immersed herself in everything going on in the industry, and became a trusted source for information, while also interviewing dozens of authors.

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Today I question the spread of social media to every last place on earth.

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Hey everybody… big announcement on the podcast today.

To be honest, I’m not *quite* ready to make it. There are still details to iron out, marketing aspects I want to finalize, and just so many other things i want to do before I’m ready.

But today on the podcast, I wing it. Why? Three reasons:

1) Right before heading home to record the podcast, I met up with Wired’s NY Bureau Chief, John Abell. When I mentioned it to him, he said “Just write it… my new goal for my personal blog is 15 MINUTES. Sure, I may go back and make some edits later, but I don’t agonize over it anymore… I put down the best thoughts I can in 15 minutes and roll with it.”

2) My friend John Murch, who replied to a long, hand-wringing dilemma e-mail over a fairly big decision I sent him last last week with just four letters: JFDI. You can substitute the F for what you want, but loosely translated, it’s Just Freaking Do It.

3) It’s the entrepreneur’s way. I’m Type A. I’m an extreme perfectionist. I want to wait and wait until everything is just right before moving forward. In fact, that’s why it took nearly 3 months to get this podcast off the ground… I wanted the name perfect, I wanted the sound perfect, I wanted the icon perfect. But that’s never the case. So better to get it out there at 80 or 90%, vs not getting it out there at all.

So as you might have guessed from the title, the announcement is:

I got a book deal.

When I started this blog and podcast nearly three years ago, I ran it by one of the Executive VPs here at the office, Dan Shar, to make sure it was appealing to the Wired audience, I didn’t offend anyone, there weren’t any sales or advertiser conflicts, etc. After 3-4 weeks, he said, everything is fine, just use your best judgment and push it live without me.

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It’s easy to jump on the latest trends, but do you know when to exit the old ones?

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The tagline of this podcast is “The marketing trends that matter,” which means I’m usually looking forward at what is coming up.

But I read an interesting article in one of Wired’s sister publications, Details Magazine. The story is by David Amsden, and is called: ‘Introducing the First Dropper: Say so long to the Early Adopter. Today, the most influential guy in the room is the tastemaker who senses when a trend’s 15 minutes are up.’

He describes the First Dropper as someone that not only knows trends — whether it be a hot TV show, what jeans to wear, or the certain type of drink in the certain type of bar — but more importantly, he knows when these trends are overvalued.

Amsden says “Unlike most consumers, the First Dropper seems to be immune to peer pressure and the sway of marketing gurus; he’s propelled instead by an instinctual feel for when a trend has become overvalued. Think of him as a slyly influential arbiter of taste – one who operates as a covert counterweight to his better-known cousin, the Early Adopter.”

With the advent of worldwide blogs, tight social networks, and up to the millisecond trending on Twitter telling you what’s hot, it’s almost easy to be an early adopter. Is there anyone on the planet that does NOT know a month in advance when the latest iPod, iPhone, or Macbook is coming out?

Amsden makes it clear that you shouldn’t mistake the First Dropper with The Hater, who takes pride in never jumping on a new trend.

Don’t even mention your 65″ slimline 3D TV… you’ll get an earful that The Hater hasn’t even owned a TV since 1997.

Here are a few social media, tech, and pop culture items, and where I think they stand. In fact, it’s a little like Wired’s famous Wired/Tired/Expired feature.

Early adopter or safe to stay

Here are the items it’s still safe to jump on
(listen to the podcast for my reasoning on each)

- iPad, Kindle, and other eReaders
- Tumblr
- Twitter
- Facebook (Yes, even though I talked about a potential fall of Facebook)

Gone or ready to be dropped
- iPhone (see the great article by Wired Gadget Lab editor Dylan Tweney, talking about how he’d love a feature phone tethered with an iPad)
- Cable TV
- Untucked shirts and baggy hoodies (here’s a novel idea… why not grow up a bit, add some style, try some clothes that fit)
- Foursquare
- Cupcakes

What does this mean to marketers?

One prominent school of thought is to target these early adopters. After all, they’re dialed in, have influence over purchase decisions, and can help get your product on the radar. If you’ve used them successfully, congratulations.

However, better keep your eyes out for the First Dropper. Because if they start abandoning your product, that could be the sign of things to come.

I have to run, I only have one cupcake left, and I want to tweet about it from my iPad.

You can follow me on twitter at @hopkinsonreport

Can a broken arm kill Jim’s love for technology and social media? Stay tuned:

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Loyal listeners of The Hopkinson Report know a few things about me:

- I never miss a week (once in the last 118 episodes)
- I love technology, being online and all things social media
- I love mountain biking (I compared the ‘flow’ of biking to a business in Episode 113)

So when I was away for the first part of my vacation while mountain biking some epic trails in Seattle, the capable Brandon Werner filled in. But then the unexpected struck when I came back to the east coast to go biking in the rocky trails of the Pocono mountains.

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On this special edition of The Hopkinson Report, Jim is on vacation, so I, Brandon Werner (Intern 1.0 for long time The Hopkinson Report listeners) guest-hosts. I explain why Social Media is the new dividing factor between Generation Y and their Baby Boomer parents.

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On Hopkinson Report Episode 102, Jim interviewed me on my research on my generation, the millennial AKA Generation Y. This group is also called the echo-boom, as they are the children of the famous Baby Boomers. Since recording that episode, I had a revelation that will be the topic of this episode.

When I was a child, I remember my parents (baby boomers/teens of the 60′s and 70′s) used to tell me stories of how their parents ‘just didn’t get it’. Their formative teenage years were filled with Woodstock, the anti-Vietnam movement, Nixon… These were the years of Rock ‘N Roll and there was a sharp divide between the baby boomers and their ‘Greatest Generation’ parents.

Through my teenage years, I never really felt that level of misunderstanding between my parents and I. In fact, my parents ‘got-it’ almost too well.  I wanted to learn drums and be in a band, my dad taught me how to do it from his own experiences, If I tried to dye my hair, my mom would show me how. The classic parent/son anti-piercing or tattoo fight? They actually encouraged them (so I didn’t really have any drive to get them). I would say I wanted to go to a Green Day concert, and my dad would ask to come with me.

From talking to my friends, this is pretty standard. Where was our rebellion or revolution?  Where was our Rock ‘N Roll? Recently, after a few failed attempts to communicate exactly what I do for a living, I think I found it. Our Rock ‘N Roll is Social Media.

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This podcast was recorded on Tuesday July 6, 2010, and it was a historic day for Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Superstar LeBron James. No, it was not the day that he announced which team he was going to via free agency. It was the day that LeBron joined Twitter.

Let’s look at the lessons learned from LeBron James’ first day on Twitter.

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1) Major brands need to engage in social media

Let’s face it, LeBron James is a brand. He is worth millions, is recognized worldwide, and generates revenue and profits on everything from ticket sales to merchandise. Until now, he has poked fun at Twitter, but he has finally broken down and signed up. Any major brand looking to engage with fans that does not have a social media presence does so at their own peril.

2) Your social circle strongly influences your decisions

What is the goal of nearly every company’s marketing department? To build a product with strong word-of-mouth marketing. Did you start using Google or Facebook because you saw a TV commercial about them? No. You found out about them because someone you know said ‘Hey, you need to check this out.’

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Jim’s guest is Deanna Zandt, author of a social media book. They talk about how she got a book deal, raised money to fund it, and how she got free pizza.

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Deanna Zandt is the author of the new book, “Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking” which you can find out more about at her website, DeannaZandt.com.

During our interview, we talk about the following topics:
- How the former corporate employee and self-proclaimed ‘webmonkey’ went from independent consultant to author
- The process she took to turn her training seminars into a book idea
- The “Jedi Mind Trick” philosophy her publisher uses, and how she used “the force” of social media to raise funds in order to work on her book
- How she used crowdsourcing on everything from the title to the cover — and how people reacted to it
- The free software program she used to dramatically ramp up her productivity during the writing process

And yes, she explains how she scored a free eye exam and free pizza along the way.

Give a listen.

Twitter: Deanna | HopkinsonReport

How does a company turn their email file into a list of powerful social media influencers? They go to Flowtown.

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Podcast Episode 101 is an interview I did at SXSW with Ethan Bloch of Flowtown.com, a service that turns email addresses into social profiles. After discussing the best way to survive the festival on no sleep and Green Tea, Jim gets down to business to find out Ethan’s story.

Topics covered:

About Ethan
- Ethan’s amazing start as an entrepreneur, importing video game components and driving $13,000 worth of revenue — at age 13!
- How marketing, finance, and technology have been the three pillars of his career thus far
- His move to San Francisco, subsequent job loss, and founding of a new business

About Flowtown
- A platform that allows businesses to connect with their customers
- Starting with their email list, Flowtown generates a list of the social networks their customer base is on, allowing them to write better posts, send better tweets, and more easily target their customers
- Not only does Flowtown return age, gender, networks, and the top 50 locations, but it then creates a sort of “iTunes Smartlist for Marketers,” showing the top 50 influencers that really move the needle

The Marketing Angle
- What is Flowtown’s approach to marketing their business?
- Where does Flowtown get their customers?
- Is all this a good thing? What about user’s personal information being exposed?
- Is email dead?

Advice for Startups
- What are the challenges of being a startup?
- What is the main advantages of being a small company?
- How the “lean startup” process enables them to make quick advances in technology
- Lessons learned through a failed project, which led to 3,500 new customers on their next project

Try it yourself
Check out flowtown.com and enter your e-mail address (it’s not stored) to find out which networks you’re on.

Follow us on Twitter: Ethan | Jim