Search Marketing Conference Antics SMX Sydney 2013
By Chris Hogan
I'm sure I learnt a lesson very early in life, "Not to take myself too seriously." And at the most recent Search Marketing Expo in Sydney, I'm joined by many birds of the same feather.
We (digital marketers and community managers) are all evangelists. Our mission is to assist every person and business who require the best online marketing ideas and through the course of this mission we must always sway our audience to our way of thinking.
In the course of these evangelistic conversations with our new client, we come across a little nuts, crazy, excitable and most definitely enthusiastic.
One regular SMX Sydney Speaker, Marty Weintraub from aimClear is most definitely one to lead by example when it comes to these psychological traits. Marty lives and breaths community management, psychographics, social media and paid amplification and is seriously excited about it! And why shouldn't he be. Digital marketing and advertising would have to be one of the most exciting industries to be in due to its ever changing nature and challenging projects.
Working within this fast paced environment is not for the faint hearted and its easy to see why many of us can come across as completely eccentric. Marty even says, "I don't care if you think I'm funny. I crack me up! CONSTANTLY!" Once again making me feel normal as an Eccentric Psychographic eCommerce Evangelist leading a team of Community Managers, Web Designers and Developers.
Another unique trait of a great community manager is their ability to be loved. Marty says, "I can walk into any crowd and come out with friends. Know Me. Love Me!" Any person managing your business social profile should therefore be the same. They should know your target audience persona's and be able to become friends with your clients.
This statement resonated so well with the MeMedia crew attending SMX that we couldn't help but rejoice in this, 'Know Me. Love Me.' Mentality. So, a shirt idea was born and MeMedia casually asked for a photo of Marty Weintraub's head and then frantically went to work on producing a t-shirt to be delivered 24hrs later.
We couldn't stop sniggering every time we saw Marty from then on and it was quite difficult to keep our little secret. The morning of Friday 4th April, Chris Hogan from MeMedia walks casually up to Marty. Waits for Marty to finish his conversation with a 3rd party and then BAM! Marty puts down his half eaten morning tea, wraps his arms around me and says, "OMG. That rocks. I love you!"
The shirt was a hit. And I think another amazing lesson in how to be amazing. I felt amazing, Marty was stoked and so was his off-sider Merry Morud.
We at MeMedia really hope that more laughs are had over this simple display of affection for our (digital marketing) rock star, Marty Weintraub. Oh and by the way. Don't think that's the last you've seen of these SMX antics.
Marty Weintraub recently co-authored a book with Lauren Litwinka called The Complete Social Media Community Manager's Guide: Essential Tools and Tactics for Business Success. MeMedia suggest you read it. It's gold.
On a final note. Marty has donated is beloved quote, "Know Me. Love Me." to MeMedia. We feel very blessed. Thanks Marty.
