"For some reason that time it clicked," he says. "I started blogging based on my insatiable curiosity about all things Internet technology related. By that time, I was reading a few blogs and found the medium fascinating. Though my initial efforts were based more on experimentation, it wasn't long before I was thinking of blogs as a tool for marketing and business communication and began to focus my blogging in that direction."
His blog, Conversational Media Marketing, reflects Chaney's passion and knowledge of the brave new world of social media. As marketing director of Bizzuka.com, he is now focusing on the concept of using personal branding to help build or reinforce a company brand, much as bloggers like Chris Brogan, Jason Falls and Paul Dunay have done. To that end, he is now offering his services as a speaker and consultant in the belief that the goodwill will come back to the company. He is sanguine on the future of conversational marketing.
"I think we'll continue to see companies/organizations paying greater attention to the grassroots conversations taking place everywhere. Tools are being created to easily facilitate this. Also, since there is growing awareness that the company no longer owns its brand (or at least no longer maintains single ownership) it makes sense for them to listen to what consumers are saying.
"Smart companies will not limit themselves to listening, but will find ways to participate in the groundswell more proactively. That may mean participation within already existing social networks and communities or it may mean creating their own. I use the analogy of going to a restaurant and getting a seat at someone else's table or setting a table of your own. I think there is room for both approaches.
"I also think that the future is in the niches. I'm reminded of what the "godfather" of Internet marketing, Dr. Ralph Wilson, said years ago: The future of Internet marketing is in the niches. I believe we'll continue to see a rise in niche social networks and online communities. "
Chaney was recently elected president of the International Blogging and New Media Association (IBNMA), a trade association founded last year to promote blogging, podcasting and new media as an industry. He says the organization is casting a wide net and encourages anyone who participates in one or more of those disciplines to join up.
"Blogging has changed my life," Chaney says. "It opened doors to a new career path, the opportunity to write a book (on blogging) and, more importantly, allowed me to meet new friends who are now without a doubt the best and dearest friends I have on the planet."