#144 - It's time to embrace social media for business - no more excuses!

Have you heard enough from your colleagues, kids, friends and the "talking heads" about the importance of social networking? Are you finally realizing that Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Search advertising (and much more) are here to stay? It's time to stop fighting the inevitable change and learn how to use this new media to your advantage, regardless of your current status. Whether you are a college student, stay-at-home mom, business professional, consultant, freelancer, company owner or employee, you still need to understand these new communication technologies and how they affect our world.

And, you're not alone.

Armed with the right tools and information, anyone can master the basics of social media for business and professional purposes. Relax. Start celebrating the sea change. With the right attitude, your use of social media can become your best professional asset and a source of prosperity and personal growth.

Certainly, social networking and Internet marketing have changed the ways we communicate, even how we conduct marketing and public relations. However, many businesses and owners are just now beginning to see that the social media train is already packed and it's departing the station - without many people on it. The new grad, professional, or entrepreneur who doesn't jump at the chance to start learning the new media landscape is destined to lose touch with valuable consumer bases and necessary tools for life in the coming years.

If you plan on working or being in business a decade from now, you've simply got to start drinking the Kool-Aid now. If you're still reading, then you're already ahead of the game. You've taken those first steps toward embracing, harnessing, and ultimately, leveraging social media for personal and professional gain.

You can do this.

"All too often today, business owners are being lured in by what appears to be the simplicity of many social media sites. They jump in without any formal plan or strategy, never considering how or if this particular new media fits the company. Many flounder, start then stop, then start over with nothing. Or, they lose patience and simply give up too quickly which can do more harm than good for a brand."

Make no mistake - social media offers a variety of benefits for business owners, but it can also be an enormous time waster if it's not implemented with a specific strategy in place.

How to get started - successfully

Be realistic. Know who you're talking to and why. Put it down on paper. If you're an entrepreneur or consultant, this is simple. But if you are a player in a larger company, the person best suited to create, manage and monitor social media may not be you, your assistant, the marketing director or the CEO. Take a hard look at who within the organization is best qualified to speak directly to prospective and current customers about your services or products in clear, clean, simple language - as opposed to ''marketing speak."

Choose the right tool for the right job. Who makes up the audience you wish to engage with? What social media platforms do they use? To work well, social media requires participation, engagement, conversation and relationship-building. Visit the major sites - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Squidoo, MySpace, FourSquare, related blogs, etc. Observe for yourself the types of content and activity in each venue and select no more than three to four sites or platforms that make sense for your audience (and your corporate culture).

Create a time line. Again, be realistic. As with anything new, you'll have to start slow and work social media into your existing routine. A simple way to move forward is by clocking off a set amount of time on the calendar, as much as an hour or as little as 10 minutes twice daily. Schedule and then dedicate this time to visiting social media sites and engaging in conversations. Just 15-30 minutes consistently is far better than blocking off a number of hours or days you may never actually have available. Next, establish this time as you would any healthy new habit...one day at a time, with commitment.
Give yourself permission to enjoy it. It genuinely helps to put your social media in its proper perspective. It's called "social" media for a reason. Think of a visit to your Facebook Page, responding to blog comments or reading your Twitter stream to be like attending a business networking event - like a cocktail hour - only this one never ends. It's "always on." Real social engagement works best when it's fun for everyone involved. Get to know the people behind the profiles and let others get to know you, your brand, the way your company works and cares. Talk to new people you enjoy conversing with. Share parts of your personality, and start new discussions with interesting people you actually want to know better. You'll be very surprised at how quickly you can build a following - and your business - but only if you plan first, listen second, and finally, engage consistently!

"The more things change, the more they stay the same"

We've all heard the familiar adage. The bottom line is that nothing has changed about the way people view or select companies, products, brands or services. Everything you know about marketing, PR, promotions, events and sales still holds true - on some level - but if you continue business as usual, with only the traditional communications tools, the fact is the competition will continue to surpass you. Many will become dinosaurs. Relax. Only the medium has changed - not the message.

Ask and you shall receive!

Fortunately, there's still plenty of time to learn what you need to know about these new communications channels and how they can work for you, your company, your career, even your personal life. Start asking questions. What do you want to know right now about getting your social media strategy or campaign started? Ask away. This is as good a place as any. Comment below and I will respond privately or in my next post with some solid input, source materials, direction and answers (based on experience and training). If I don't know the answer, I'll admit that, too. Then, I'll find someone who does.

Like so much information online, this resource is free - use it!

Are you wondering how to start a Facebook Page, Group, Event, or Cause? Confused by Facebook's "Community Pages?" Think Twitter is useless or wonder why anyone really needs a blog? The answers are here if you're only willing to ask. Just think, by engaging with the dreaded "social media," this blog, you can (proactively) find answers you need.

#134 - Where to find all the news that's "fit to print"

Social media is the talk of the town...and the blogosphere...and my grocery store checkout lane. I can't seem to escape it anywhere these days. I am often reminded of the famous line by Marshall McLuhan: "The medium is the message." Never have the words rung so true as they are for these times and this new "socially engaged" world. From Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn to The New York Times, Mashable, and far beyond, there is so much information out there on social media - possibly more on the medium itself than anything else. Hard news is getting harder to find while reality TV, meaningless gossip and talk of the blogosphere is all over the place. I fear the medium is becoming the only message.

As I work on developing a series of workshops to help teach journalism students the importance of and techniques for leveraging social media into effective advertising, public relations and news campaigns, I find myself devouring hundreds of pages, sites and articles. I'm learning more every day about just how much there is to learn about the medium. Where would the average non-journalist even begin? I have some advice on that. You start by reading and you only read the best. Toward this end, here's a handy link to the current Top 10 Social Media Blogs, as published by one of the best - the Social Media Examiner (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com), and reprinted with permission.

Take it from me, if you want to learn what's going on in social media today, then these are the online sources you should be following. Just click the link!

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-social-media-blogs-of-2010/

Life Lesson: To be better, start studying the best!

#102 - Social Networks: A Marketer’s Perspective

Corporate marketers around the world have been nothing short of amazed by the explosive growth and power of today’s social networks, although many have been disappointed by their own ventures into this area. More significantly, even the most successful social network with a massive audience can have a very hard time making money.

Why Social Media has cause for concern
Reason #1 - Lack of Confirmation: While many successes online are obvious, the failures are often quite obscure. Everybody notices big deals like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter; but there is almost no public (or private) documentation of the thousands of other sites and networks that have failed. This hurts our learning curve. Classmates.com, for example, has been around since the ‘90’s. Yahoo! 360 was a very early entrant that got a lot of attention. But, neither of these has ever gained traction. How many others like them are out there? The truth is, we really don’t know. This is still a crap shoot for many marketers as the paradigm shifts slowly and media reorganizes. For businesses, it’s time to “turn on” to the "always-on" generation.

Reason #2 - Low Value Audiences: An impression on a social network can be worth as little as 1/20th the value of an impression at a top content (brand) website. While this may seem confusing, there are good reasons it is true.

Reason #3 - Eyeballs do not equal consumers: Consumer value is derived not just from identity, but also from intention. While an affluent mother of three might be an avid Metallica fan or an enthusiastic snowboarder, but when she’s at the PTA meeting, she’s focused on her kids - not her hobbies.

Reason #4 - Intrusion: On sites that carry “branded content,” consumers understand and expect to see advertising. But the new social networks are consumer-driven and advertising intrusion on them is resented (just ask the owner of Facebook ). People accept ads on TV (unless their DVR remote is handy) and in newspapers, but they but don’t want advertisers breaking into their homes. Facebook is where many people “live” today.

Reason #5 - Engagement: A media brand is only valuable if people believe in it. Part of what advertisers pay for is an association with a believable brand. So, while social networks are powerful, basing business on or in social media is far from a sure thing.

How today's businesses can improve the odds
They can use more "Cluster" targeting. The biggest successes have started out as small communities. Facebook was initially limited to a single university; MySpace became popular within the LA rock scene. For a social network to succeed it must saturate one entire community before it can spread effectively to others. Open network architecture allows people to keep their friends - even on competing social networks – and in allowing this, the networks does consumers a favor and increases its own value. By effectively integrating social components into their brands, marketers get the best of both worlds.

As audiences become more engaged, they actually start adding to the discussion, which can help to decrease customer service requests and lower advertising costs.

Source: "The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited," by Emmanuel Rosen.

Day 78 - What you need to know about Web 2.0

Web 2.0, also known as social media marketing, is the term used to describe the second generation of the Internet. In this second wave, you don’t have to be tech savvy to create an Internet presence. Anyone can do it. And, if you are in business in 2009, you have to be online. There is no choice.

As any smart business person will tell you, you want to be wherever the buyers are. Right now, there is a massive wave of people moving onto social media sites. So, that is where businesses think they have to be to connect with prospective buyers. But just dropping the net (pun intended) in the right water doesn’t mean you're going to “catch” anything. Corporate America now needs the people and technology to create a functional online presence that translates to sales success. Do you know how to connect? If you do, and especially if you’re currently studying social media trends, you are gaining a highly marketable skill. For students (of any age) who are about to enter or re-enter the job market, Web 2.0 is as important to you as any class you'll ever take.

Social networking is merely at the beginning of its development. However, it is growing more sophisticated every day. Huge companies like Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Target have established a presence on social networking sites, and they've also shown small business owners that opportunities exist for them. Web 2.0 has effectively leveled the playing field. It's essentially free and you don't need much technical skill to participate in this game. I think it's time for all of us to start paying closer attention to the ways Web 2.0 is changing our work and our lives.

Social media marketing is the revolution that is changing the way business is done. Business owners are learning to leverage the Internet to attract new consumers. But how many of these new social marketers are doing it well? Go to any social networking site and you will find examples of companies that do not get it. They plaster their replicated corporate websites everywhere without ever “branding” themselves or creating an experience for the people who live on these sites. They pitch you their products and services without creating any added value for the user. As a student, I am learning that the time to understand branding is now. YOU are your most valuable commodity, and learning to create value is the new name of the game. How do you do this? Easy, by offering helpful content and being a real person.

Have you started your own website, blog, wiki or Facebook Group yet? Do you write product reviews or contribute to online discussion forums?

Imagine a cocktail party in a great big room, filled with interesting people. There are many conversations all happening at once. People are talking about themselves, asking questions about whomever they are conversing with and so on. Soon, a common thread is discovered. Something changes when people learn what they have in common. That's when the conversation gets lively. That is how people connect.

It’s no different when you, your company or a brand enters the social media. Forget the old broadcast methods of marketing and communications. For instance, here on my blog, I talk about what I’m studying and learning, and issues that I think may be pertinent to others like me. I sometimes talk about myself and what matters to me, but not constantly. If I start trying to sell you things (I know this because I tried), then you will tune out or find the nearest exit.

Straight marketing doesn’t work at a cocktail party or on Facebook, a blog or any social media venue.

If you want to become part of the community or build brand loyalty, then do so exactly as you would do it offline. Mix and mingle. Share things you have an interest or expertise in. Share your connections and give your attention freely. Before you know it, you’ll be the life of the party and the people you connect with will be ready to listen!

Day 57 - Should employers prohibit use of social media?

Does your boss really care if you're on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace?
In the news today is a report from Robert Half Technology indicating that over half of corporate managers do not allow employees to visit social networking sites - for any reason - while they're at work. The information comes from a survey of 1,400 US companies with 100 or more employees.

Granted, it's only 1,400 companies, but this likely presents a picture of the divide in corporate America on this topic. I believe the percentage of businesses prohibiting social network use will soon decrease as more CEOs figure out the benefits of allowing social media use for business purposes. More and more companies will understand that they can measure return on investment (ROI) very effectively by employing social media. They can also engage vocal consumers and turn them into their companies' best evangelists. These are good reasons for employees to get involved. Better yet, I am hopeful that larger companies will create a new marketing position - the SMO or Social Media Officer - someone who can fully engage with social media on a full-time basis and manage the employee "Intranet." This person would strike a balance between what is perceived as wasting time on social media and using it to promote corporate goals.

And the winner is...
It's been a very interesting week in the world. The top news story, of course, being that President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. If you listen to TV news, you would think that he won, basically, for not being George Bush. I found an online poll in which 85% of respondents said the award was undeserved. Yet, clearly, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to spur a peaceful momentum in the past. Why can't this be the case today? I, for one, am proud that the world sees America in a far better light as a result of our President's diplomatic efforts. I'm happy for us. It would have been nice if the talking heads would have rejoiced (even a little bit) over this recognition of our leader. Isn't anything that fosters world peace a good thing? As usual, the same few conservative wingnuts wouldn't let the president (or the country) catch a break.

C'mon people. I refuse to give up hope that we will one day start to pull together - as Americans. Comments?