Interview with Mark Schaefer
Mark Schaefer is one of my favorite marketing thinkers. He’s smart, pragmatic and incisive…and a thoroughly good human being. I had the pleasure of interviewing him recently on a range of integrated marketing topics, including a deep dive look at the hot button topic of “online influence.”
In Part One of our discussion, we discuss his new book Return on Influence. Take a peek at the questions I asked him:
- In your book “The Tao of Twitter” you say “Even if you are playing a business ‘role’ on Twitter, there is no reason you can’t be yourself, unless you are a mean and naturally sucky person.” After I finished chuckling, I started reflecting that it’s sometimes truly difficult to be completely genuine online. I think we have all had the urge to compartmentalize and show only two dimensions in social communities…We want to show the edited “best version” of ourselves. Is “being yourself” truly possible for businesses who want to use social media?
- In your new excellent book Return On Influence, you (re)tell a Malcom Gladwell story of Paul Revere and a little known fellow Revolutionary William Dawes. Will you tell us a little more about why Revere is lionized and Dawes is forgotten?
- Can you define “authority” and its role in generating influence?
- What role does “likability” play for businesses?
- Why is “content” the “7th weapon” of influence? What do you mean when you say “we create content, but in a way content is also creating us?”
Go below to watch the video of our discussion and click here if you’d like to order a copy of Return on Influence. If you want to see Part Two, head over to PRBreakfastClub on January 3rd. You can follow Mark on Twitter here, or better yet, subscribe to his excellent blog grow here.
Mark is a wonderful teacher, so I hope you’ll take an opportunity to get to know him better. You won’t regret it.
Connect with Elizabeth:
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Email: Elizabeth@blissintegrated.com
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