Danny Brown Called Me a Dilhole Or How to Find the Secret Sauce

@bhas thanks for the comment! I think I explained my view on this. It isn't that they are dumb or don't have good ideas. But EVERYONE knows their insights. So knowing their insights in my view gives no competitive advantage. And since this is social media with so few big success stories I can count them on two hands what value are people getting?I have been to social media club breakfast events where almost no one is marketers all looking for the silver bullet' to make it easier. I think where my viewpoint diverges is most of the A-Listers are uber successful personal brands but businesses are not personal brands. Twitter, Facebook doesn't drive your business. It never will. Blogs can to a degree (more to B2B in my view vs B2C) numbers aren't there. Definitely not for big business. Many people and agencies made a killing the last 3 years selling 'Social media' while their clients didn't. For a small business I still say product, service, price trumps all marketing every day 1000%. Even location and store front if you have one. And traditional marketing still thumps social. But these people have an incentive to have you think otherwise. They don't make money off you if Product, Service and Price has you succeed?They aren't teaching marketing 101 they are pitching 'solutions' and most people need marketing 101 not a Guru. These folks probably have high impact secrets. And you can get the secrets from them and many companies do. But it costs more than a book or a seminar. It will cost big bucks.

@HowieSPM True about that. But look at it this way- you won't go to a trainer who's flabby and looks like a couch potato. If you want to learn the guitar, your teacher should be able to play a few tunes. Why is it so different with the A-listers who spout about specific business tactics and strategies but display the opposite behavior in their own professional capacity? Can't they eat their own dog-food?

Can I just like this post? Better yet, I'm like +-ing it. Great job Howie!

Can I just like this post? Better yet, I'm like +-ing it. Great job Howie!

Shame on me for not knowing this term! My husband is a 1/2 Scottish 1/2 Irishman born in New Zealand. Thanks for enlightening me! @HowieSPM

@HowieSPM Exactly. I think it's possible that fortune 500 CMO's have aliases that allow them to quietly monitor what's going on online without getting 'outted'. Either that, or they just don't participate and try to ignore anything other than traditional marketing/advertising. Either/both scenarios are possible.

@bdorman264@barryrsilver@DannyBrown@ginidietrich when I was 12 a pack of wild dogs wanted to eat my rabbit which was outside in a rabbit hutch. There were holes tore through the wiring and they tried gnawing through the wood of his house (when was the last time the word Gnaw graced this blog?) Anyway my Dad decided to see if the dogs were coming back the next night. And he waited in the basement with his BB gun (he is a liberal long island teacher BB guns were like M16's to him) and sure enough the dogs came back. And he pumped the Lead Dog with 3 lead pellets and all the dogs ran away. And of course the Lead Dog got lead poisoning and died. So the moral to this story is the Lead Dog always.......

@Marya | Writing Happiness Hy Marya. I am pretty sure Danny will thank you since I often am stumped for a quote and then come up with things totally unrelated to Danny (or anyone's for that matter) blog post. Thank you for the kind words!

@DannyBrown@ginidietrich I am telling you when we can craft our own DNA from scratch using an Easy Bake Oven humans will have all the advantages us aliens do. I think what concerns me (and I mention Lemmings on my website) is how people are constantly thinking the silver bullet can be found easily. Reminds me of the old BC comic strip where the guy would climb the mountain to see the Guru and wind up ridiculed for thinking the guru has his answers. One thing I do everyday is look for stuff that works. Vs what people are telling me should work, or they 'think worked'. While I want small business coming to me for help, they should realize they have tons of successful case studies all around them in peer business owners doing the right things and often it comes down to product, service, price vs marketing.

@ExpatDoctorMom LOL! It really was a term of endearment that drunken (or sober) Scotsmen call their friends and loved ones. 8)

@JenFongSpeaks Hi Jen! Funny how I notice my Twitter time decreases when I have more client work to deal with 8)

@bhas I know we use the term A-Lister very loosely. We forget this is capitalism. Televangelists don't care about saving your soul. They want your money. Politicians don't care about improving the country or your life. They just want your vote. And the personal brand A-Listers often really only care that you buy their book, pay to see them speak etc. And if you don't they change their message until you do. Really to me it is the same person all three examples. Just different industries. Funny in 2007 I had a roommate we were like fire and ice. He drove me crazy. He liked to say 'Don't believe anything you read or hear on TV, Online, etc' And I would say 'But this is a trusted source like the NY Times' and he would say 'Don't believe it' In hindsight he has much validity to his statement.

@SocialDenise I always wonder why most fortune 500 CMO's are not active on the Twitter. Or at least I never see them. Same with most of the biggest Ad Agencies, while I consider them hucksters too, until brands get clue they have these big agencies hard at work vs promoting themselves. Thanks for the comment Denise!

@bhas Your paragraph about life-work balance made me chuckle, Bhaskar. I watched a TEDx video from someone once that talked about that very thing (stepping back). And then that person promptly continued to travel away from home on the speaking circuit and spending a large amount of time on Twitter... ;-)

What a great post! Generally the people who are actually making money in media/marketing are those who are the most quiet....

What a great post! Generally the people who are actually making money in media/marketing are those who are the most quiet....

Some A-listers don't take their own advice, both in business and their personal lives. You had Neicole blog about this topic a few days ago. Funny thing is, I used to respect that A-lister a lot for his content (still think the early content is good). But that gentleman's behavior when it came to responding to professional criticism left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. However I was not surprised- just do a google search for Scribe SEO review and see what comes up. Bullying and threatening makes you look pretty weak. But even more sad is how some A-listers who seem all rah rah about relationships and life-work balance and taking care of family actually do the opposite of what they preach. Just yesterday, a female A-lister who advises small businesses wrote a very poignant post about cyber bullying which went viral on twitter. However, a bit of research indicated that there was a lot more to the entire story than it met the eye. Suffice it to say, this lady, along with a third prominent blogger totally lost my respect yesterday because they turned out to be hypocritical and lying types. Not what you would expect from high priests of relationship marketing, staying authentic and taking care of people who matter (like close relatives and customers).

Some A-listers don't take their own advice, both in business and their personal lives.

You had Neicole blog about this topic a few days ago. Funny thing is, I used to respect that A-lister a lot for his content (still think the early content is good). But that gentleman's behavior when it came to responding to professional criticism left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. However I was not surprised- just do a google search for Scribe SEO review and see what comes up.

Bullying and threatening makes you look pretty weak.

But even more sad is how some A-listers who seem all rah rah about relationships and life-work balance and taking care of family actually do the opposite of what they preach. Just yesterday, a female A-lister who advises small businesses wrote a very poignant post about cyber bullying which went viral on twitter. However, a bit of research indicated that there was a lot more to the entire story than it met the eye.

Suffice it to say, this lady, along with a third prominent blogger totally lost my respect yesterday because they turned out to be hypocritical and lying types. Not what you would expect from high priests of relationship marketing, staying authentic and taking care of people who matter (like close relatives and customers).

So true. The more time I spend on client projects, I wonder how A listers have time to do all they do out in front of everyone. I know all my time is spent doing the job. And that's where you learn the job...doing it and finding out what works. The noisiest people are not necessarily the experts. They are, instead, the ones with the most time on their hands. :)

So true. The more time I spend on client projects, I wonder how A listers have time to do all they do out in front of everyone. I know all my time is spent doing the job. And that's where you learn the job...doing it and finding out what works. The noisiest people are not necessarily the experts. They are, instead, the ones with the most time on their hands. :)

@HowieSPM@marianne.worley Oh, yeah I guess you are right; damn, I should have had my glasses on...........

@barryrsilver@DannyBrown And I think I would rather be the lead dog; you know what 'they' say about that.............

@DannyBrown@barryrsilver You bro, Barry might not get my humor yet................now we wouldn't want to be offensive, would we?

Thanks for guest posting for Danny! Did he call you a dill hole? Gross photo but great at the same time.

I have been pondering this: what is it about my services that is unique and sets me apart from the others for a long time. I mostly have it figured it and now just to improve upon it and sell it for $25 or NOT!

cheers,rajka

Thanks for guest posting for Danny! Did he call you a dill hole? Gross photo but great at the same time. I have been pondering this: what is it about my services that is unique and sets me apart from the others for a long time. I mostly have it figured it and now just to improve upon it and sell it for $25 or NOT! cheers,rajka

@ginidietrich I don't think anyone can do what @HowieSPM does - we're the wrong species, for a start. ;-)

@ginidietrich@barryrsilver Speak for yourself - my teeth are shit. It's called "being a Brit".

@Soulati | PR And I would define it by the blogs I visit daily (ahem, you, Shonali, Marcus, Danny, Falchetto, etc.). Maybe the industry has an A list, but that doesn't mean it's the right one for you.

@DannyBrown @barryrsilver Oh we're the A list alright. The A list of dorkdom and great teeth.

Is it Heinz 57?

The thing is, we're all unique. It's kind of like having my grandma's homemade bread recipe. I make it. Really well. But it's somehow better when she makes it. We use the same ingredients. Follow the same diriections. But hers is always better. Same thing with us in the business wold. You can have my secret sauce, but you'll never do it as well as me. And I'll never do what you do well as well as you.

Is it Heinz 57? The thing is, we're all unique. It's kind of like having my grandma's homemade bread recipe. I make it. Really well. But it's somehow better when she makes it. We use the same ingredients. Follow the same diriections. But hers is always better. Same thing with us in the business wold. You can have my secret sauce, but you'll never do it as well as me. And I'll never do what you do well as well as you.

Hi Danny & Howie. I am trying my darndest to come up with something clever to say here but my brain is a no go zone right now - will blame it on the kids. Great post, really enjoyed reading it. :)

Hi Danny & Howie. I am trying my darndest to come up with something clever to say here but my brain is a no go zone right now - will blame it on the kids. Great post, really enjoyed reading it. :)

@DannyBrown@bdorman264 I'd rather be a hammer than a nail, etc.

@bdorman264@barryrsilver Are you saying that to me or Barry..? ;-)

@DannyBrown@barryrsilver Somebody told me you were a tool, but I think they were saying it in a good way because they were smiling..........

@barryrsilver HA! I rest my case, mate :)

@DannyBrown My use of tool in this particular reference was in regard to inanimate objects. I won't argue with you, but feel free to reclassify.