On November 16th I’ll be in a secret location near Manchester…

“What kind of Special Agent piffle is that, Bird?” I hear you ask. “Have you lost the last of your few remaining marbles, you mooncalf?”

Not quite. I’m going to be there because everyone keeps telling me you can make scads and scads of cash from social networks, and I ain’t – but there’s a man who says he knows how it’s done and promises he’ll tell me.

In fact he seems to know how it’s done to such a tune that he’s been all over the media like a rash. Also he seems to have good taste in wine, so why not?

His name’s Mark Attwood and the only thing I really have against him is that he’s been interviewed by Chris Evans. But then we all have out own little career troughs, don’t we?

Anyhow, if you too are failing to make scads and scads of cash from blogging, twittering, linking-in, you tubing and facebooking, why not look at http://markattwood.com/ArtOfBlogging2009.html? As you will see it’s all blessedly simple stuff.

The other reason to be there is purely that I want to learn more from Ken McCarthy who will also be talking. If you know anything about internet marketing you know Ken’s the man who taught most of the people who’ve made squillions in outer space.

But what might also appeal to you is that Mark’s thing is not expensive. (Maybe he’s holding it in a field somewhere).

Anyhow, if you decide to go, sidle up to me and say, “Hello, Sailor, it’s all your fault.”

Seriously, though, the train is leaving. If you don’t understand how social media work, you’re in danger of becoming a marketing dinosaur. You wouldn’t want that, would you?

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

7 Comments

  1. Bully for you, Drayton! As I've been telling you for quite a while, the train is well down the tracks now. You can even get “certification” as a social media “expert,” whatever that entails.

    However, measuring ROI is the largest sticking point so far as I can see. That and the time element. Nobody wants to spend hours and hours squishing around in the Twittersphere when they have a business to run–but thankfully, there are these little miracles called “applications” which help manage that nicely, once you get the hang of them.

    Another big problem is that people tend to want to treat social media as just another advertising medium and try to “sell” on it, which is a big mistake.

    You find out once you've immersed yourself that this is not a place for push marketing at all–rather better to use it as a relationship builder and to monitor your reputation online.

    We old dogs have to learn to use the new tricks or we'll end up being RUN OVER by the train.

    Here's a helpful new website/blog that features articles on the different aspects of social media very well. Sadly, I'm not writing for them (yet), but I do have friends on both sides of the pond that are. 🙂 http://www.sodcialmediaexaminer.com

  2. I'm hoping your post is bit of a joke. Social Media is being entirely over hyped by PR and advertising types who have generally been baffled by the web until something came along they think they “get.”

    Not my work, but worth a peek:

    http://www.socialmediadouchebag.net/

  3. Bloody hilarious, Dave – especially the first testimonial. To be honest, I have mno idea, so I'm going to find out. I suspect Apryl has it about right. I'm going to find out and will report back. The only things I know are that 1. If you're spending all day writing about how you felt the last time you farted you won't get much work done. 2. Ken McCarthy who is speaking there is a genuine expert. Since he ran the first ever internet marketing seminar in 1994 his students have made millions. 3. Mark who is running the thing is doing very well in some extremely down to earth businesses – like renting skips.

  4. Drayton,

    Looking forward to seeing you again in Manchester. I already used your headline copy ideas in my new sales letter for my credit repair site.

    See you in Manchester!

    Mark
    http://www.crushingthecreditbureaus.com

  5. Alas and alack! A bit of diary chaos. I won't actually be there. I am scheduled to talk in Belgium that day. So if anyone there was expecting a free drink (that means you, Mark G)it'll have to be next time …

  6. Drayton,

    Looking forward to seeing you again in Manchester. I already used your headline copy ideas in my new sales letter for my credit repair site.

    See you in Manchester!

    Mark
    http://www.crushingthecreditbureaus.com

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