As we’re into the new year and everyone is full of lists or predictions of what they want to achieve I thought I’d take a different slant and look at  people I want to spend more time working with, meet, engage & collaborate in social media and marketing; or at least hold a really decent conversation with across 2010. You can click on each name to find out more for yourself (twitter name at the end of each as well)

Here’s my list

1. Scott Gould. Scott’s a thinker, strategist and a planner. He understands how things affect not just small areas of an organisation but the whole thing; all those who are in it. His frameworks are intelligent and unique. I’ve never met someone so passionate, and at the same time knowledgeable about what he does. His site says ‘ a thinking blog for thinking people’ and that sums him up. I’ve been lucky enough to meet Scott, and I hope we continue to talk, collaborate and engage across 2010. @scottgould

2. Trey Pennington. A man who seems to have an amazing skill of saying the right thing at the right time. Very considered, intelligent and a leader in social media. A true gentlemen. We could all learn a lot from him and not just his business and social media skills. He’s the very essence of the ‘social’ in social media. I hope to have some great conversations, across all mediums, throughout 2010. A marketing expert. @treypennington

3. Andy Sowards. Brilliant conversationalist and always engages well on Twitter. Areas of expertise are wide reaching and include web development, design and social media.He was also one of the very first people to say Hi on twitter to me and continues to do so to this day. @andysowards

4. Marta Majewska. I have only recently been engaging with Marta but her tweets and her approach to her work seems very similar to mine. Subjects we talk about, type of things we’re reading – all in the name of marketing and social media – seem to be very similar, as do the people we collaborate & engage with. She also has a great cooking blog (which isn’t my thing, but hey)! @princess_misia

5. Craig Deakin. Craig Deakin is an Social-Web Strategist, Social Media Marketing Consultant, Entrepreneur, Blogger, Aspiring Web Developer, Early Adopter, Idea Evangelist & Web expert. I look forward to working with him and hopefully meeting him one day. I think we would be able to share knowledge and provide new things in the same business environment. @deakaz

6. Kristi Colvin. I have had hardly any contact with Kristi, apart from following her on Twitter and reading her blog/website. This is a bit of a curve ball but from what i can see she’s a leader in business communication and online. This mixed with a background that includes design, software development and marketing she is someone I hope to meet, talk or communicate with across 2010. @kriscolvin

7. Julie Rickson. Julie doesn’t work in the same sector as me, but whenever she’s online, through social media, we always seem to communicate. Helpful, friendly & great to have around. Really hope we continue to talk across 2010 on a regular basis. @juliaerickson

8. Jackie Ng: Jackie always involves herself in discussions across blogs and twitter. I love the way that she sees areas that interest her and if she feels she has something to add then she will. Just what social media is all about. A brilliant engager and has collaborated with me recently. @Jacoutofthebox

9. Ciaran Norris. At media140 last year Ciaran gave the best presentation I saw on social media. He’s concise, easy to follow and above all really interesting. Some of his tweets are crazy too. Ciaran knows his stuff, and I hope to meet him, engage and collaborate across the year. @ciaranj

10. Gemma Went. What Gemma has achieved in the first year of Red Cube is astounding and a model for all. Her level of expertise and her approach to social media and other strands of the marketing mix is how it should be done. No flashy gimmicks, no bullsh*t, and no false promises about being a social media messiah; just hard work and great results for her clients. @gemmawent

11.Chris Brogan. I don’t need to say too much about him. It’s a long shot but you have to aim high. He’s going to be at Likeminds next month so fingers crossed. @chrisbrogan

12. Joanne Jacobs. A social media consultant & expert with a great personality – simple as that. Confident in her own abilities with a track record to back it up. Brilliant speaker and thought leader for social media. I hope to talk with engage on & offline across 2010. [note - see my interview with her late last year here]. Again, she’ll be at Likeminds next month as well. @joannejacobs

13. Dickie Armour. He just says it how it is. Never dresses things up with any kind of fluff or over-complicated jargon. Very genuine and a pleasure to share and collaborate with. @dickiearmour

14. Daren Forsyth. Always involved in conversation and meetings with interesting and informative people. Often at events as a speaker and seems able to cut through the jargon and myths surrounding social media and the role it plays. @darenbbc

15. Richard Baker. I met him whilst I started this post a few weeks ago and he turned out to be as open, friendly, interesting and knowledgeable as expected. He keeps it straight-forward whilst able to share in depth and detailed thoughts. I hope for more conversation across 2010. @richard_baker

16. Steve Bridger. We’ve met. Top Man! Very knowledgeable and interesting guy,  one people and organisations (especially charities) should engage with. I really don’t need to say anymore. @stevebridger

17. Mark Jennings. I love the way Mark moves from humorous, to serious, then personal to work related comments across each day. Always varied subjects which makes him not only interesting and informative but a great guy to have around online. @MarkOfRespect

18. Caroline Bosher: Caroline’s been recommended to me by many. “Follow her” they say, “interesting, different approach, fun, intelligent”, was what I’ve been told. Hopefully I’ll engage with her soon or meet at an event. @carolinebosher

19. Gabrielle Laine Peters: Follows the same pattern as Caroline. From what I can see she’s quirky, is a source of great knowledge , fun, always talks and involves herself in online chats/discussions. Gabrielle was recommended to me too and so far from my twitter experience she’s met expectation. @GabrielleNYC

20. Sarah-Jayne Gratton: Sarah Jayne describes herself as “Screenwriter, Producer, Actress, Wine Lover, oh and good fun too!”. I love her early morning tweets describing breakfast or coffee (often coffee) and they seem to have an energy and lift to them. Always seems to have a smile in what she says. @grattongirl

21. Olivier Blanchard: ‘The Brand Builder’, as he is also known, is an expert with social media and in particular the ROI debate. I urge you to follow his discussions and online precence @thebrandbuilder

This one’s for free.

No number required… My family… Working hard and for long hours is all very well and good, but it has to be for a reason. So I’m going to make sure I spend as much time as I can with family and friends. I don’t know about you but I ‘work to live…not to live to work’. Keep smiling. Those who know me well know why.

…So that’s my list. I’ve met some already, so for them I want to grow our relationships. For those I haven’t met – I want to start them.

What about yours? It’s worth thinking about because it’s the people who are the essence of social media, not the technology; and meeting people is what life is all about. After all it hasn’t got the word social in it for no reason. For that reason alone I’m sure they’ll be more to add to this list soon.

Why not add yours to your own blogs and tweet them or send me a link.

Let’s face it, for most of all this modern marketing stuff is at best confusing and often dismissed as a fad or over rated .

But after reflection most realise that all this ‘twittering’, ‘face-booking’ & ‘googling’ is here to stay … And for good! But where does it all fit in with our previously cosy and comfortable marketing techniques.

The answer to that is simple; It’s part of 2010′s marketing mix. Marketeers can no longer ignore this as temporary or something that’s going to go away. The facts prove this is here to stay (see video from last post). If people want results then they have to ‘engage’ and ‘collaborate’ in a marketing arena with some new animals to master.

Just because you’ve mastered the art of killing the lion you’ve had around for ages doesn’t mean that you can simply ignore the tiger that’s been in the vicinity for a while; sooner or later it’ll come and bite you. That is unless you’ve decided that it’s got so much power that it cannot be ignored, and you’re going to build up a skill set which helps you to tame the tiger.

A simplistic analogy perhaps but you get my point. Yes it means spending some time getting used to these new tools and understanding their power, but don’t be fooled into thinking that you can just open a Twitter account and then go and demonstrate how you’ve single-handedly increased profits or brand awareness for your company or clients – It’s not going to happen! You either need time to understand the new world and how best to act; or help and support to do this.

As a rough outline the following should be adhered to:

• knowledge: understand what, how, why, where, which social media tools are best for you. Work out how to play in each arena before jumping in and what you want to achieve
• listen: don’t get too ahead of yourself and start throwing your weight around. See what people are talking about. Get a feel for what they’re saying in your sector. Gauge reaction to your company/brand (all accessible through the social media world)
• Look at your current activity and see which areas can be used. Multi-purpose content. A press release posted on a web site can be sent out to the right twitter community in seconds & may encourage traffic and lead generation
• Understand: It’s a communication tool, one that marketing has been craving for some time. How many other tools in your armoury allow you to engage one-to-one with your audience? Which other marketing mechanism lets you collaborate & engage with such ease? But remember conversations are 2-way. Let others speak and make sure you listen to what they say; Good & Bad

To give yourself the best chance of success the following must be implemented:

• Objectives/Goals
• Strategy
• Tactics
• & Analytics

If you don’t plan then the journey is over before it began. We’ve created two methods to ensure there’s the best chance of reaching those objectives. The first is the ‘Tigerfish Inverted Pyramid Decision Process’© which forces you to answer key questions in order to make sure the right parts of the marketing mix are used. This may mean that different strands form part of a strategy; as long as we answer the questions then we will be able to determine which are the correct routes to take.

click image for full size ©Tigerfish ™

The second is the ‘Tigerfish Cascade Principle for Marketing’ which shows the relationships between the different marketing methods. We have created the Cascade Principle© to explain the importance of 4 key components of online marketing in a diagrammatic form. This demonstrates the importance of the initial building blocks and how activity in these key areas can automatically cause a cascade effect to produce an “economy of scale” in the online marketing arena.
The diagram also prioritises the level of effort for content creation from low to high. High effort, towards the base of the cascade is harder to generate and usually requires a formal sign off which dramatically slows the process.

click image for full size ©Tigerfish™

More detail to follow on both and by all means get in touch by posting comments below , or if want to discuss any of the article on twitter or other links on my contact us page above please do.

I found this fascinating quote today:

″Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff may only be a little over a year old, but much of the advice feels like common sense now. Part of that feeling comes from the fact that some of the advice is actually just common sense that seems to be ignored when dealing with social media. Regardless how obvious some of the information may seem, there is still plenty to learn in the book.”

Rob Diana in Business, Social Media, Regular Geek, Sep 2009

A recommended read for those who take social media seriously (that should mean everyone)

You should read the whole article – click here