Frank Zappa school of marketing

Either Elvis Costello or Frank Zappa (opinion is split) once said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."  It's a great quote, no matter who actually said it. 

I'd like to add, "Or like presenting PowerPoints about social media."  None of these things make any sense and, at the end of the day, are pointless exercises.  No?

OK - I'm being intentionally provocative to make my point, but bear with me. 

Of course, I understand that formal presentations have their place in educating clients and colleagues about new topics and I've certainly presented more than my fair share of slide decks.  But when talking about new marketing strategies and channels, don't our most traditional forms of presentation seem a bit (well) old school?

The beauty of social media, of course, is that anyone can do it.  And isn't rolling up your sleeves and giving it a go the best way to understand what social media is all about?  That's why I started blogging in the first place -- so that when I spoke to clients about it, I could speak from personal experience rather than simply regurgitate published stats and some pundit's point of view.  In the process, I feel like I've learned more than a few lessons -- how to build and support a community, the importance of commenting on other people's blogs, what types of posts attract readers and what types of posts don't, and more -- that I never could have learned from a book.  It's why crayon publishes the weekly crayonCast and why many of you blog, podcast, hang out in Second Life, belong to Facebook, Twitter, Jaiku or Pownce -- to make sure you're eating the dogfood that you're feeding to your clients and colleagues.

So next time someone asks you to educate them on blogging, don't just put together a presentation about it.  Why not hop on their laptop and actually help them set up a blog?  If they want to know more about podcasting, download some free software and record an episode with them.  If they want to know what it takes to establish and nurture an online community, ask them what they're passionate about and help them set up a Ning social network for people that share that passion.  If they ask what a wiki is, or want to understand the power (and perils) of crowdsourcing in general, establish a wiki and work together to come to a shared understanding.

I could go on but you get the point. So next time, leave the Powerpoints at home and go for a less conventional approach.  When it comes to social media (or music or architecture for that matter), it actually makes more sense than the more traditional options.