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Posts tagged as:

web strategy

Nic Lucas Digital Media Strategist

by Nic

I was in a meeting the other day with a person who has a stack of expertise and a high profile in their particular area – and they asked me what I was doing now that I’d sold my practice and ventured out into ‘the internet’.

They were trying to get their head around what I did – was it advertising, selling stuff online, using facebook (“how do you use facebook!?”) – what is it that you do Nic Lucas?

They were also trying to get their head around my PhD in diagnostic medicine and where it fits in – because “internet” and “diagnostic medicine” seem like totally separate fields – well at least on the surface.

I explained that I wasn’t really an “internet marketer” although I do use and consult on “internet marketing strategy”.  And I’m not an “advertiser” although I do use and consult on “internet advertising”.  And while I’m not really a social media consultant, I do use and consult on social media strategy.  And while I do have “online businesses” and consult on “online business strategy”, I also do stuff in the not-for-profit sector and the “just for fun” sector.  And yes I do have a search engine optimization (SEO) business, but I do more than SEO – way more.

So, I needed a term or phrase that covered all of it – and by doing this I didn’t end up in a ‘niche’ that’s easily understandable – like SEO consultant.  Instead, I ended up in a top level category that’s a little vague and hard to define in 30 seconds – and that’s digital media strategist or web strategist.

Digital Media Strategist

Digital media consists of things like digital text, digital images, digital audio, digital video and other digital content that can be created, referred to and distributed using computers and over the internet. Digital media represents a profound change from previous (analog) media.  (Source Wikipedia)

A strategist is a person who is skilled in designing and planning the necessary actions to achieve a major or overall aim. (Source Wikipedia)

So, a digital media strategist is someone who is skilled in designing and planning the necessary actions to create, refer to and distribute digital content over the internet to achieve a major or overall aim.

Yeah – I quite like the sound of that.  And, it does sum up what I do these days.  So, what does Google have to say about “digital media strategist”

What is a digital media strategist?

Well, at the time of writing, I’m sitting at number 1 in google for this search term.  Now, full disclosure here about this result.

  • First, I was not signed into my Google account when I made this search and took this screen shot.
  • Second, I had not been searching for it over and over again – it was the second time I had searched for it on this computer and in this browser.
  • Third, this search was performed in Australia and is likely to yield different results if performed in the USA, UK or Canada for example.

For the fun of it, I also did a search for “social media strategist” and found this result.

what is a social media strategist

I’m hanging out here at position number 5.

So, according to Google, I am recognized as being a relevant person in this space.  Thing is, when you check out my twitter or Facebook accounts – I’m not teaming with followers or friends.  I’ve been very selective with my connections – especially on Facebook.

Why else might Google think I’m relevant?  Well, recently I’ve been working on a project called Election 10 – it’s all about social media and the Australian Election in 2010.  Here’s a screen shot that reflects my moves in the political media space:

Social Media and the Australian Election Discussed by Nic Lucas

What’s fascinating and encouraging about this is that we’re in the company of major Australian television channels, formal educational institutions and mainstream journalism.

And further, for this particular site, I haven’t used any ‘fancy’ or ’secret’ SEO tactics.  I’ve stuck to good quality on-page SEO combined with some social media stuff.

And there are a whole bunch of other keywords that I rank for on the first page of Google that demonstrate my active participation and success in this ‘web strategy’ space.

Moving into the digital media space

Now, here’s the cool thing – and something I think is a point of encouragement for people who want to move into digital media.  I’m not a journalist.  I’m not a university trained or industry trained ‘marketer’.  I’m not an IT specialist. I’m not computer programmer or tech geek.

What I am, though, is a medical researcher with a background in neuroscience and public health.  And I am drawing on these skills and experiences to move into the digital world and they give me a unique spin on things.  They’re the same skills – with a different application.  Admittedly, I’ve dived pretty deep into this digital media space – and with gusto – but that kinda goes without saying.  If you really want to do something, then be passionate, interested and persistent with it.

Some Strategic Thinking

When is a rock, not a rock?  When it’s a paper weight, or a weapon, or jewelry, or an ornament.

When is a medical researcher, not a medical researcher?   When they’re a digital media strategist.

Learning to look at your skills and experience – and to consider their most valuable and interesting application – now that’s a recipe for some imaginative thinking and problem solving about how you might move to the next step in your plan.

So, digital media strategist – or web strategist for short – I’m happy with either of those terms for now.  But what about the stuff I do offline – the stuff that’s not digital?  Well, that’s for another post.  Let’s just say that it’s pretty damn hard to categorize people these days … so I’ll argue that you don’t want to fall for the trap of categorization, lest it limit your thinking.


Related posts: Hardware for a Web Strategist, Advanced Social Web, David Bullock,

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Web Strategy and Internet Marketing: Hardware

by Nic

I was looking at my desk the other day reflecting on all the bits and pieces I now have at my disposal to run my growing online portfolio of businesses – and this is just the hardware.

Web Strategist Nic Lucas shows the tools for Social Media

See, what happens is that you start out on this internet journey with a laptop and standard software, and then you keep coming across better ways to do things, necessary tools, and absolutely stacks of software.

The software is particularly useful because it’s what sets online business apart from offline business – software is the magic that holds all this together.

I thought I’d run through the stuff I have in my Web Strategy Den and explain (or is that justify 8-) ) why I have these tools.

Tools for Web Strategy and Social Media

The first and most central piece of hardware is my MacBook Pro.  It’s pictured on the stand with the screen closed, because I use an external screen when I’m hanging at home for the visuals – I can simply see more stuff on the big screen (OK – this was a want, not a need – but having the big screen sure has made for a more enjoyable experience!).

The MacBook Pro has all the necessary software and I can pretty much run my business straight from that laptop – which is what I take with me when I hit the cafes for some light relief.  I have it on a stand for two reasons:

  1. to create more space, and
  2. to get it off the desk for ventilation.

You’ll also see me giving away my age with the white iMac.  This is what I started out on – but couldn’t take to a cafe – so it really didn’t suit my lifestyle.  I use it now as another back-up and I can record screen casts on it while I’m using my MacBook Pro to run webinars (which are a great social media strategy).  This is also the kids computer – so they surf the net and do homework on it, which I like as it get’s them in the room with me, rather than me being shut away from them.

Rhoda also uses this computer for her digital media strategy stuff – which is starting to pick up now as we’re working on a joint project together.

The small white Macbook – well, that’s just a roaming browser basically.  And a useful DVD player!

The PC – which I wish wasn’t there.  I only use it for two programs that are still not available for the mac.  One has to do with internet marketing and the other is a stats program for my PhD research.  I’m hoping that soon I’ll be able to clear that thing off the desk for good.

Computer Back Ups

You’ll notice quite a few back-up options on my desk.  I already use the iMac as a back-up.  I have three external drives visible in the photo and two others that you can’t see.  I rotate these and back-up regularly (I’ve scheduled back ups into my iCal with audible reminders).  Why so paranoid?  Well, I’ve had two hard drives crash, so it’s once bitten twice shy, twice bitter, freakin’ paraniod!

The Smart Phone

Also featured is my iPhone – never very far away from me at all.  Of course, it’s not really a phone and I can almost run my business from it.  What do I use my iPhone for besides the phone?  Well mainly, it’s this stuff:

  • text / SMS
  • facebook updates and social networking
  • twitter updates and networking
  • skype chat
  • foursquare location updates (sent to facebook)
  • reeder (a really cool app for my Google Reader and recommended by Ed Dale)
  • google (the full suite, using primarily Buzz and Maps,)
  • qik for real time streaming video to the web
  • proprompter which turns my iPhone into a telepromter (for the videos I do)
  • HT Recorder (for audio and podcasting)

You might also note that I have a USB hub, which gives me a whole lotta extra USB ports for all my peripherals.  It’s a powered USB hub so I can plug anything into it that needs power to work.  This was a time saving purchase … very useful.

Web cam and microphone

You’ll see that next to my screen I’ve got a web cam – it’s got a DV in and so I can use it for things like screen casts.  It’s just more flexible than using the display camera – because I can change orientation, zoom, effects, exposure etc.  I need to use a fire-wire connection for this.

Almost there …

Next is a good quality microphone – you can see it sitting in the box.  Fact is, I often just use the display audio and have found it works just fine.  Other times I use a Sony lapel mic and that also works really well.

Paul Smith

The last thing I have tagged in the photo is my “Cool Paul Smith Play Thing”, which I bought in the UK when I was over there launching my Advanced Social Web course.  It’s a block made of 8 smaller blocks which fold and unfold – with each configuration creating a different surface image.  … yeah … I know … you kind’ve have to see it to get it.  In any case, you should just know that it’s very cool and that it’s important to have very cool things on your desk when you’re a groovy web strategist.

Now, having all this stuff looks good – but I’ll let you in on something.  Most of it is unnecessary and you can make a huge dent in starting an online business with just a great laptop, camera, mic and back-up system.  What I do when I get together with my internet marketing mates is check out the software they’ve got – that’s where the real money is hidden.

Did you enjoy this light hearted edu-post?

If you did, it’s easy to share and spread the love around.  Simply share the link with your friends on facebook or twitter (or wherever you hang out) and let them know to come and check this out.  Someone else who has an awesome setup at home – earns stacks of money – and who I ask for advice is James Schramko – you should check out his Facebook page too!

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Advanced Social Web: The London Launch

by Nic

I get this email.  It’s an invitation to give a presentation to a group of new online entrepreneurs based in London.  “Cool”, I think to myself, “I’ve presented to business groups in Australia and New Zealand – why not the UK”? And I needed to visit the shops in Covent Garden and on Oxford St.

The email also presented the opportunity for me to be able to take on mentoring or coaching students from the event – something I’d already been doing on an individual basis with various experts – helping them with their web strategy.

So, I had the system.  I just needed to develop the presentation and formalize my coaching program – not too hard when you’ve been a lecturer for 15 years.

Advanced Social Web for Online Authority and Online Business

And so this is how Advanced Social Web came about.  It’s all about the web – the web is a social machine – and to win at this game you have to have an advanced strategy.  So, I decided to get serious about this and booked myself a secret hide-away and for four days I put together the basic outline and then spent the new few months filling in all the gaps.

London was a huge success.  I had a great crowd at the Novotel, St Pancras.  I presented the concepts of the Freeconomy and the Socialconomy.  I talked about how the internet is a brain and how understanding this can help people earn an income online.  I talked about what it takes to become an authority and based these steps on my own experiences.  I talked about the opportunities available online for people who become an authority – or trusted guide – in their field or market.  I talked about how to make all this happen efficiently and strategically, with systems and software.

And I hit the mark.  The feedback I received was amazing – so good that I should have asked for testimonials.

The best thing about that whole process, however, wasn’t my talk, my information, my anything.  The best thing was that a group of highly talented people with a diverse range of experiences, decided to take action and allow me to help them move forward.  That was by far the coolest thing.

Anyone can dream.  Anyone can crap on about how they’re going to do this and that.  But this represents the sea of people who never take that dream forward.  Who never actually do “this and that”.  And after speaking to thousands of people over the last year, this lack of decisiveness and lack of action has become incredibly boring to me.

And this is why – when faced with a group of people who are actually prepared to step up and do something – I feel the opposite of bored.  I feel excited.  Enthused.  Joyful.  I want to see them succeed.  I want to be a part of that.

So my Advanced Social Web program is running right now.  I’m not, as yet, promoting it anywhere else.  But watch this space – there are going to be some great success stories.

If you’re interested in learning more about what I’ve learned and what I’ve got to say about all this stuff, then grab my comprehensive free guide – you just enter your email at the top of this page so I know where to send it.  And yes, the word ‘grab’ is a verb – you actually have to do something to get something.

So grab the guide – I dare you.

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My meeting with the rainmaker: David Bullock

by Nic

david-bullock-nic-lucas

Last year, I met the renowned social media expert and profit engineer, David Bullock. I was sitting at a sushi bar in a hotel in Orlando, Florida where I was attending one of the best internet marketing event EVER, and he showed up looking for food and and drink. He was a keynote speaker at the Rainmaker Event being hosted by Jerry West. I’d never met David before, although I had heard him speak.

David is larger than life – and just by hanging out with him at the sushi bar over a crab bisque, I learned more than I’d hoped to learn. He was talking the language that I wanted – and needed – to hear. David has a background in robotics engineering and moved into sales and sales conversion optimization before then moving into the internet marketing industry. He has developed expertise in the Taguchi method of multivariate testing for sales, advertising and business development.

David is also well-known for his coverage of the Barack Obama Web 2.0 social media campaign.  When Barack Obama was running for president in the United States, David Bullock teamed up with Brent Leary and wrote a book about how the Obama campaign was using social media as a strategy to connect, engage and communicate with millions of people.  Listening to David speak about his experiences with this project got me so fired up about the potential of the internet to connect people together – something I talk about in my presentations.  I learned a lot from David about web strategy.

The main rapport I felt with David was that he has reinvented himself a number of times – and this is the journey that I am on since selling my businesses and letting my employment contracts lapse without renewal.  I related to David as a professional who has made the shift into online media and I wanted to know what he was doing and how he was doing it.  In his presentation the following day, he was again smacking me right between the eyes with good solid advice – advice which has motivated me to stick to my guns and continue even more strongly on my path of reinvention.

I recently wrote a blog post about Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, in which I said we need to focus on creating opportunities – those ‘lucky’ opportunities that can take us in directions we’d never have imagined.  Meeting with David was one of those ‘opportunities’ – if I hadn’t traveled to the US to study, I wouldn’t have had the opporutnity to hear him speak live and ask him questions.  If I hadn’t stayed out late to hang out, I wouldn’t have met him in the sushi bar and had the chance to get to know him a little more personally.

The key lesson here is to get out there where the people are – the kind of people that can help take you to the next level.

David is a fascinating individual and someone I’m keeping close tabs on – check out his site at davidbullock.com

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