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Wednesday 27 October 2010

5 Twitter Tips You Probably Haven’t Thought Of

If you want to succeed on Twitter – with your website – you need to explore all avenues. The many traditional pathways are frequently explored, so it’s in your best interest to find ways to break the mold and create differential increases that give you the advantage – establishing your brand and promoting your website in ways many had thought undiscovered.

The following 5 tips you probably haven’t heard of – and even if there’s only one that you aren’t utilizing, that’ll give you the competitive edge you need.

1. Use “Please Retweet” – occasionally. When you have a post that needs RT, use the “Please Retweet” tag at the end. Statistically, this has shown to increase RT counts by a non-trivial amount. Use it sparingly, though, or your followers will start to notice and view this request as non-authentic. I suggest you use it most for those posts that aren’t RT friendly – such as non “How-Tos” or simple commentary pieces. The “Please Retweet” function will help provide a good boost.

2. When you notice your content being spread, jump in. Your link works just like a brand works – the more times it appears, the more likely someone is to read and/or retweet it. If you’re lucky enough to have someone tweet your stuff out before you promote it, and they’re in your area of expertise, jump in. Think about how you view tweet streams.. if you see a tweet mentioned multiple times, you’re bound to view it – if multiple people you follow think it’s good, it must be worth reading, right? So, even if it goes off your normal promotion times, fly in there and contribute to the stream of your link being spread.. it’s even more likely to get picked up again.

3. Schedule your tweets for another continent’s prime Twitter usage period. If you’re in the US, find the time where the U.K is most likely awake and ready to spread your content, and schedule it. I’m not a huge fan of automated tweets, but there’s nothing you can do here and it’s not that bad to promote your tweet one time. Similarly, if you’re in the UK, schedule some tweets to appeal to the US while you’re asleep. If you don’t, you’re missing out on a valuable market that still will read your stuff.

4. Find those who have engaged with your content more than once – and work with them. There has to be some way you can mutually benefit with someone who has worked or liked your stuff in the past. This means they respect you and they’re engaged with you, so they’re way more likely to link to you or be willing to cross-promote or something else of that nature. At very least, ask to guest post on their blog for some links/cross-promotion – you’ll get some extra love.

5. ReTweet when people mention you in a positive light – the “MeTweet”. When other people talk about you positively, retweet that information. This is seen as way less egotistical to the normal tweeter, but it still promotes your brand – so take advantage of every opportunity to do it. Some of the most popular people make a killing do this, where solely linking out from their own account eight times really wouldn’t have worked.

Friday 22 October 2010

Tweet your way to a job? Maybe

Mitchell Strobl is your average college junior at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., but the way he landed his new job is distinctly 21st century.

“I came across this Web site [through] a link that was posted [on my Facebook wall],” said Strobl, 20. The site lined up with his interests perfectly, and after contacting the president of HuntingLife.com, he was soon hired to become a writer and then a product reviewer for the hunting and conservation news site.

Stories like Strobl’s are rare, especially in a job market as tough as this one. The U.S. economy lost 95,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate is 9.6%, according to the Labor Department. As a result, new graduates and young professionals are trying new tools to improve their chances of finding work. Read more on U.S. economy sheds 95,000 jobs in September.

“Social media is a great way to learn about different employers as well as build professional networks that will help create opportunities and open doors,” said Holly Paul, PwC’s U.S. recruiting leader. “I do think now that social media is so prolific and being used by students that…it’s an additive to what they’re doing to connect with other individuals that can help them in their job search.”

A month ago, the buzz about finding work via social-media sites hit a new high. After creating YouTube Instant, a replica of real-time search engine Google Instant for searching videos on YouTube, a 19-year-old Stanford student received a job offer via Twitter — even less than the 140-character limit — from Chad Hurley, co-founder and chief executive of YouTube.

While the success stories generate a lot of excitement, and may prompt some job seekers to rely solely on social media, career experts say that’s not a smart move.

“You really have to be careful with Twitter or Facebook, because it can seduce you into an informality that can really backfire,” said Lonnie Dunlap, director of career services at Northwestern University. “I do think that the traditional methods have to be there. And they have to be very well done. You can get someone’s attention through LinkedIn, but your goal is to get an interview.”

And keep in mind that the hard-copy resume and cover letter are far from obsolete. Mary Spencer, director of career placement at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, said she’s seen an increase in employers asking for paper rather than electronic portfolios at job fairs.

Also, a problem with social media such as Facebook and Twitter is that they may reveal too much personal information to potential employers. Paul, of PwC, oversees new hires and she said social media can cause an unnecessary mix-up of work and personal life. Her suggestion is to keep certain types of social networks completely personal — she says that’s how she uses Facebook — and other types completely professional, such as LinkedIn.

She said job candidates who don’t use social media aren’t likely to be penalized for that by prospective employers. “I personally don’t think that we’re there yet. The employer isn’t there yet,” she said. “The issue with students not using those [methods] means that they are not using a channel and an avenue right there in front of them for free.”

Tips to improve your chances
The degree to which your job hunt on social-media sites is successful may depend on the type of position being sought. For instance, most public-relations firms already connect to people through Twitter and have designated Facebook pages. Same goes for corporate communications positions. However, Kevin Nicols, the chief executive of a small publishing company, said that a search for any job — entry level and professional — can be enhanced through social media.

Three years ago, Nicols started two LinkedIn groups in the San Francisco Bay Area; they now have about 1,500 members. He said social networking is a tried and true method that has worked for him, as well as many of the people in his group. With social media, applicants are able to connect with people within certain companies who can act as an advocate for them within the company.

Nicols offered the following tips for using social media to enhance your job search:

•Become an active participant on a social network.

•Find people within your desired industry and let them know you’re searching.

•Once you become introduced to someone online, even though that might “soften the blow of cold calling,” don’t forget that meeting people face-to-face is still the ultimate goal.

•Practice what Nicols calls “good job karma” — rather than just asking for help from others, do your part to give back and help others out.

Finally, don’t forget that it’s not always as easy as some make it seem. Brittany Sykes, a recent graduate of Penn State University, has been on the lookout for a public-relations job in the entertainment industry since May. Sykes, 22, said she hasn’t had too much luck, although she follows many PR firms on Twitter and has seen a fair amount of job postings.

The job search can be challenging, she said, but the use of social media is bringing a little hope in her search. “I get stressed out sometimes when my parents drive me crazy [about finding a job]”, she said. “But I get really excited when I make some type of connection.”

5 Steps To Social Product Marketing

Social media experts hope to leverage Facebook and other networks to increase awareness, but that only focuses on awareness and disregards the other phases. By melding traditional marketing and social media into a single strategy called "Social Product Marketing," companies can increase the percentages of transitions and as well as increasing the speed at which they transition.

It's been more than a decade since the publication of the The Clue Train Manifesto -- a business classic, well ahead of its time.

Rich with both insight and foresight, it still amazes me that it was written before Twitter, Facebook and YouTube -- and, as business leaders, as marketers and as technologists, we can greatly benefit from revisiting its themes.

One line that caught my attention recently was this: "Corporate firewalls have kept smart employees in and smart markets out. It's going to cause real pain to tear those walls down. But the result will be a new kind of conversation. And it will be the most exciting conversation business has ever engaged in."

This is what we have seen flourishing in the open source world over the past decade.

What's Been Going On?
Remarkably, in a business culture where corporations grapple, merge and separate around the possession and protection of intellectual property, the open source world has thrived through the economic downturn by running counter to this norm. It is a market without walls where information is publicly shared and where communities have organically grown around the sharing. It has created interconnected ecosystems of developers, end users, channel partners and system integrators. These networks exist well beyond any one company's firewall or control.

Successful open source projects like Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), OpenOffice, Terracotta, MySQL and Liferay learned early on that there was great value in their communities -- these masses of potential consumers with unsolicited interest in the quality and success of their project -- and by communicating the right value propositions alongside a quality product, there could be a real, powerful business model for them.

Meanwhile, as open source gained popularly, a new social phenomenon grew in importance for the regular Internet user. Individuals gained new capabilities to publish status (Twitter), pictures (Flickr), blogs (Wordpress), Q&A (multiple forums), text (Wikipedia), and videos (YouTube), and were able to create friend or business social networks (Facebook and Linkedin). The available knowledge on the Internet and the ability to find the information desired increased dramatically. Where in the early part of the decade, many people began to research their purchases searching using Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), reading company website information, today they are searching for peer reviews, friend recommendations, and they have begun to add their recommendations about products into the general knowledgebase.

Buying patterns have changed-has your marketing?

Where Are We Today?
Today, big consumer brands are wisely leveraging social media like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. The social launch of the 2011 Ford Explorer, for example, created a product launch on Facebook, allowing consumers to view information, comment, and "like" the launch, re-posting messages through every participant's own social network, spreading virally, awareness of the product launch.

Many companies today hire social media managers whose goals are to grow awareness of their products through social media, by creating Facebook or Twitter accounts for their products, publishing information on Wikipedia, and so on. The main objective is to encourage individuals to "follow," to "like," and to encourage participation such that each individual then rebroadcasts information through their social networks. This "viral" growth provides a trusted method to spread awareness -- people tend to trust information coming from their network of friends rather than from unsolicited advertisements.

But is there more that Ford and others can do with their communities beyond just simple awareness building and counting Facebook "Likes"?

What Is Social Product Marketing?
The Awareness-to-Revenue Customer Lifecycle includes a set of psychological transitions where customers become aware of, evaluate, like, advocate, and purchase a specific product or brand. A wise marketing team can track the number of individuals who transition through each phase and know how to implement programs that help increase the number of people who transition from one phase to the next.

Social media experts hope to leverage Facebook and other networks to increase awareness, but that only focuses on awareness and disregards the other phases. By melding traditional marketing and social media into a single strategy called "Social Product Marketing," companies can increase the percentages of transitions and as well as increasing the speed at which they transition.

Social Product Marketing allows a company to use social collaboration to build communities of interest focused on their product or service and to build marketing programs to transition community members through the purchase lifecycle. The key is to build a social media hub focused on their product.

Instead of simply posting information to Twitter, a company should build their own hub with blogs, wikis, forums and Web content. This provides a single place for the company, its engineers, its customers, and its advocates to find or contribute information. This content should support Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to ensure consumers can find the correct information from Google or Bing.

The information should additionally be posted throughout external social media sites to capture the viral growth of awareness explained above and drive individuals back to the company's hub.

Lastly, the services should be wrapped with well-structured navigation and additional Web content to simplify the experience for new users and to ensure the company can position their alerts and advertisements to visitors (rather than Facebook's advertisements).

For the Ford example, Ford could have created a community hub that provided blogs, a wiki and a forum where engineers could post additional product suggestions, where consumers could publish questions and answers, or could provide tips and tricks. Ford's Facebook group could then have been used to drive people back to the hub, which would include Ford content and advertisements.

How Do You Implement Social Product Marketing?

1.Define Your Awareness-to-Purchase Lifecycle: Every market has a unique set of psychological transitions that individuals go through from first learning about a product until they purchase the product.

The most common are

1.Awareness (an individual learning a specific product meets a known need)
2.Evaluation (an individual actively considering the product's features for themselves)
3.Preference (an individual developing a preference for a given product over others, even if they are not in position to purchase)
4.Advocacy (an individual promoting the use of a product to others even if they have not purchased it themselves)
5.Purchase (an individual purchases a product or more of the same product or from the same brand).
Each team should understand the phases for their market as well as the motivators, which cause people to transition from one phase to the next.

2.Develop a Social Media Hub: Any company that has a product or a service has a community of interest who will participate in a social media hub. The social media hub allows a place for individuals, regardless of their phase within the purchase lifecycle, a place to learn, collaborate and contribute. A social media hub provides services like blogs, wiki, forums, search, user ratings, Web content and more.

The site must provide intuitive navigation and allow end users to either search for or contribute information. Often, individuals can additionally define a network of other users with whom they wish to collaborate or follow. Last, the entire site should be indexed within major search engines, and information posted to social media sites like Facebook to help draw people back to the social media hub.

3.Develop Great Content: Individuals will visit and contribute to your social media hub if there is great content. When looking for new sports cars, an individual could use Google to look for "American muscle cars" and find a link to an article about a new turbo technology located on your social media site. They may also find a blog written by the engineer who developed the technology and a forum post by a mechanic who has used the technology.

In the past, only content developed by the company would be available to found through search, but with a social media site, the company, its' employees, and it's entire community can contribute information creating thousands of touch points to draw individuals into the site.

4.Facilitate the Transitions: Individuals who participate in your social media hub will be at various stages in the purchase lifecycle; therefore, marketing teams need to define strategies to help people transition from one phase to the next. This increases overall revenue but also quickens the pace of transition.

While SEO and links from social media like Facebook can increase awareness, developing proper navigation on the social media hub can increase the awareness to evaluation timeline. For example, a person may come to your website because they see a post on a friend's Facebook page; and when visiting your site they may see an advertisement in the left column which says "Free Webinar This Thursday -- Click Here to Register." This helps to drive people with initial awareness to evaluate the product.

Companies can additionally implement a gradient of incentives by presenting end users with various offers that require increasing commitment. Example: A new visitor could be presented a link to a Web video demo, a past visitor could be presented with an offer for a webinar that requires registration, an existing customer could be presented with a two-for-one coupon. Each offer is based on the phase of the end user determined by past tracking.

5.Measure Progress and Set Goals: Companies can measure various touch points throughout the purchase lifecycle to understand success and to set future goals. Example, a company with 10,000 new visitors per week, with 25,000 Twitter followers, with 1,000 white papers downloads per week, and with 100 new leads each week, resulting in five new sales each week, could compare these results to last month and decide they want to increase the number of new website visitors, or increase the number of downloads of white papers, etc. Each requires resources to implement, which can be weighed against the eventual outcome.

Buying has changed; it is time to change our marketing methods and tools.

As The Clue Train Manifesto said more than a decade ago, the walls between smart employees and smart markets have been torn down. Smart companies are changing to their advantage

Killer campaigns: Using social media successfully

"Need a break? So does the rainforest."

This was the message behind Greenpeace's social media campaign last March against Swiss chocolate giant, Nestlé. The environmental organisation criticised Nestlé for using palm oil suppliers that allegedly destroy Indonesian rainforests and threaten the Orangutan habitat.

Just days after posting a one-minute commercial parody on YouTube featuring an office worker taking a break with a Kit Kat bar made of orangutan fingers, Greenpeace and hundreds of thousands of people across the globe watched the video go viral. They also watched Nestlé's reputation take a beating.
The company, largely unprepared for the ensuing social media PR battle, was "wall bombed" with complaints on its Facebook page. Nestlé asked YouTube to remove the video due to copyright, and even tried to censor the negative comments on its Facebook page. But outgunned by critics, Nestlé's moderator later issued an apology stating: "This was one in a series of mistakes for which I would like to apologize. And for being rude. We've stopped deleting posts, and I have stopped being rude."

On April 13, 2010, Nestlé sent an open letter:
Greenpeace_letter_Nestle_Chairman.pdf
to Greenpeace, writing that the company was deeply committed to protecting the Indonesian rainforest and that it has since "stopped all purchase[s] of palm oil from [supplier] Sinar Mas."

Ironically, before Nestlé's brash reaction to the campaign, the YouTube video was reportedly viewed by so few people that it may have otherwise just languished in obscurity. But Chris Eaton, Online Community Organizer for Greenpeace USA, explains, "Because Nestlé was trying to suppress the video, it added to its popularity."

"Greenpeace was using social media well," he says. "But it could be said that Nestlé was using social media really badly, and that kind of blew up in their face."

Indeed, the organisation has a history of using social media well. Working across the core networks with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube, Greenpeace first jumped on the social media bandwagon in 2005 after seeing the success of MoveOn.org, a progressive online group focused on community organising.

"Social media allow us to build a community, and get people connected and involved," says Eaton, who anchors the organisation's new media networks. "It can really be used as a campaign tool to put pressure on our corporate and political targets." And, he adds, it allows Greenpeace to rally support for its offline campaigns as well.

Putting pressure on Nestlé was clearly a sweet victory for Greenpeace. But critics say the organisation went too far. Richard Telofski, an analyst specialising in anti-corporate activism, says Greenpeace lost total legitimacy in its assault against Nestlé. He argues, "These people were present to attack the name of the corporation. Period."

Still, Eaton insists that if given the chance to do it again, Greenpeace wouldn't change a thing. In fact, his colleagues in Amsterdam recently launched another online campaign against a multinational company. This time, targeting Facebook, the social networking site that has been the very engine of Greenpeace's online campaigns.

This "Unfriend Coal" campaign calls for supporters to "unfriend" CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook unless the company drops its plans for using coal to power its massive new data centre in Oregon.

Telofski argues, "Greenpeace has no compunction about using Facebook, when it suits them, as a social media battle space in their anti-corporate campaigns. A free social media battle space, mind you." And he asks the pertinent question, "If Facebook doesn't accede to Greenpeace's energy usage demands, will Greenpeace call upon its Facebook supporters to boycott Facebook in the same way Greenpeace called upon Nestlé customers to boycott the Kit Kat bar?"

Unlikely.

Eaton admits Facebook is the organisation's most successful tool. In fact, he's spent the past two and a half years developing Greenpeace's presence on Facebook. But, he says, "Critics aren't looking at our campaigns holistically. We have our Cool IT campaign, which asks the whole technology sector to adopt vigorous clean energy plans. We're asking Facebook to be a leader on clean energy within the IT sector."

For an organisation that has limited resources but depends so heavily on spreading its message, Greenpeace is leveraging social media to its great advantage. Could the organisation be as successful without it? Eaton admits, "I don't think so. Our social media networks are a great place to build the movement, get people trained, and really connect with people that want to make a difference."

Although critics argue that Greenpeace is unjustly attacking corporations that are vulnerable in the social media sphere, others see this tactic as a new trend in digitally savvy activism.

A tactic that actually seems to be working.

Thursday 21 October 2010

How To Personally Brand Yourself On Social Media

Personal branding is the topic of a presentation I will be giving this week and it got me thinking how social media has changed everything.

We used to be able “tell” a future employer, client or customer about ourselves with a resume, a college transcript and/or a list of references.

Today we are more likely to “show” them a little about ourselves with all our online presences (whether we intend to or not).

I’m not saying the old way is dead, but it may well be on life support.


Let’s start with Five Personal Branding Basics in Social Media:

1. Have your avatar be the same across all presences: That little image of you needs to be instantly recognizable. We recognize a face before we recognize a name. And, even if you have a common name, your face is distinctive. Also, make sure your face is what dominates the space. Anything less makes it hard to recognize.

2. Have your name be your real name OR a consistent name with a consistent bio: Your name on your social media presences should be the same. This may not be practical if you have a very common name or a long or difficult-to-remember name. In that case come up with a memorable name for your account and be sure your real name is prominent. For example, I am mikefixs on Twitter, but my real name is right there at the top of the bio. In the bio say concisely who you are and say it consistently across platforms. This consistency will ultimately help with the search engine optimization (SEO) of your name.

3. Have all your social media presences linked (as much as is practicable): Reference all of your social media presences (as much as you can) from each of your social media pages. There is a whole blog post in how to do this for SEO value and that will come later. For now it’s enough to say that anyone finding you on one social media platform needs to know all of the other places they can connect with you.

4. Have a consistent stated reason for being in social media: It says a lot about some people who are on Linkedin to find their next job but on Facebook to recall all the partying. It may reflect your true nature, but it sends a mixed message. Decide why you really need to be in social media, spell it out in your bio spaces on each page and stick to it.

5. Have a clear vision for how you add value in social media: This is trickiest part if you’re relatively new to social media on many platforms. Do you know how you are adding value to others by being here? It may be to answer questions from others. It may be to share great stuff you find. It may be to help others connect. How you are perceived on the “giving” side of social media will have a huge impact on the likelihood you will be on the “receiving” end of good things in social media. What kind of good things? Introductions to new networks, tips on great jobs, leads on the latest information in your field … the list does go on. The important thing is that ultimately this may be the real reason to be in social media.

So, does this list do a good job getting you started? To the more experienced out there: What did I forget from my list for social media newbies?

Monday 18 October 2010

Will people ever tire of Social Media?

You can say many things about Social Media but most assuredly you cannot say it's boring, lifeless; standing still. No, Social Media moves along at a breakneck speed.

To answer my own question - is that allowed?... I don't think we will ever "tire" of Social Media per se. There will be times in our lives of course when we all collectively say "enough is enough" and the need for more platforms and apps, etc will begin to wane.

And during the course of a given day I think all of us Social Media evangelists feel the need to step away from the proverbial cookie jar.

That's what I think... but I wanted to find out what others think; what others would say to the query: "Will we ever tire of Social Media?"

So I posed the following query on LinkedIn...

Will we ever tire of social media?
Like everything else, things come, things go... personally I dont think social media and acrt of being social with folks will never truly ever go away.

But I can see the time when folks en masse start saying 'enough is enough.'

How about you?

What do you think the future holds for social media?

Here's some of the far ranging and fascinating replies I received...

"When the next big thing comes along, social media will be tossed aside... Until then, for many, it's a great way to market one's business... Time for humanity to start communicating with one another verbally or we'll end up with a new bunch of workers who have no idea what it means to actually talk with someone..."

"...blogs are likely to never go away....We have a new medium for the masses to be heard....but then, never say never"

"If by Social Media you are referring to web sites and tweets, then yes we will eventually get tired. Just as we did with communicating thru newpapers or fax machines. The art of being social won't go away. The tools that we use will change."

"No, what we will get tired of is social media that at the end does little or nothing to our social and professional life."

"Social media will be mature (and maybe we will be, too) when we no longer think about it, use a name for it, break into a cold sweat worrying if we understand it, pretend we understand it better than anybody else does, or salivate with anticipation about the riches it will bring us."

"People haven't tired of television, and I see no reason people would tire of social media."

"I tire of it weekly. So I take a few days off and when I return, it's kind of fresh again."

"Was Radio tossed aside for TV?! Was TV tossed aside for Internet?! Ridiculous."

"Social media has always existed it just had another name "word of mouth" the internet only broadened the boundries and increased the speed of the info..."

"Hey - I get tired of working - but still do it. Get tired of being a mom - but still there:) Tire and doing don't always go hand-in-hand:---)"

"Nothing is constant except change. And people are already asking what next? No sooner the next medium pops up the social media will go in hibernation. Having said that Social media ( networking by fingers) should get replaced by Telepathy - networking by minds in not so distant future.."
Hands down that last one was my favorite answer. Networking by minds is a very scary proposition because it all depends on which minds are doing the networking. Of course if Mr. Spock can do the vulcan mind-meld anything's possible.

But I digress...

What do you think?

Will YOU ever tire of Social Media?

Are you tired of it already?

Sunday 17 October 2010

10 Controversial Twitter ‘How To’ Issues

1. Update frequency

How often should you tweet? Do you wake from the dead only when you have big news or do you try to maintain a regular heart-tweet? Many people suggest regular (but not too regular) tweeting. However, I don’t tweet at specific times and I sometimes skip an entire day. Nobody has complained yet.

2. Linking to your own blog

Personal promotion is frowned upon in one corner and expected in another. Should you broadcast your own links? If so, how often? Is this self-promotion like spam or is it simply a way of letting followers know when you’ve posted something new that should be of interest to them? Not everybody will subscribe to your site via RSS feeds, so I happily link out to my new blog posts. I tend to promote no more than once or twice and have no specific method.

3. Thanking for retweets

Do people expect to be thanked? Would they rather you didn’t bother thanking them? At what point does your following get too much to send out personal thanks each time someone retweets you? I thank those who retweet my own posts and links. I try to thank in other ways too.

4. Expecting to be followed back

If they don’t follow you, what’s the point in following them? If you value their content, does it matter if they don’t follow you? Are you looking for great content, personal communication, or both? New followers boost the ego, but you have to realize that not everyone will want to follow back. Reasons for not following don’t have to be personal or concerning, but it easily plays on the mind.

5. Using retweets

Where you should put the ‘RT’ in a tweet? Should you edit the retweet? Is it awful to you the official Twitter ReTweet button? Should you use ‘RT’, ‘rt’, ‘r/t’, ‘via’, ‘HT’ or something else? As Twitter has evolved, users have developed their own ways of communicating content. Even the simple retweet doesn’t have a clear right and wrong.

6. Too much of a single thing in your feed

Perhaps you only provide links, only copy quotations, only promote your own content, talk to yourself and not to others, say the same thing over and over again, and so on. Some users enjoy the reliable flow of the single element you bring to the table. Other users would prefer some variation. Do what feels comfortable to you. By all means surprise or change your game occasionally; just don’t surprise too often!

7. Gaps in tweeting

Should you spread out your tweets, or send them all at once when you’re on? Are automated tweets impersonal? Do people get upset if you don’t tweet at the weekend, or you miss out particular days? As with update frequency, nobody is going to complain of inconsistency.

8. Injecting personality

Should you talk about your personal life or should you provide value (unless you’re a celeb and can do both at the same time)? Should your personal life stay personal? For some, Twitter is a mere communication tool, not a lifestyle decision. For others, anything lacking a ‘human’ feel is too distant.

9. Going off topic

Will people unfollow you in droves if you suddenly write about something outside your field? If you mention a cause that you feel strongly about, is it asking for trouble? For some professional users, some care is necessary. For most, a bit of off topic banter is unlikely to shake someone’s confidence in following you.

10. Tweeting at particular times in the day

Is it best to tweet at peak times, all day long, during working hours, or whenever you like? Are you missing out on the best times for your followers? I tweet mainly to students and academics in higher education. I try not to tweet a study tips link at 3am, because most students will either be sleeping or partying. The link is more likely to be missed at that time. For greatest exposure, understand what hours best suit you. 3am may be wasted for me, but it’s perfect for someone tweeting sleep tips to insomniacs.
What next?

The use of Twitter brings up more questions than answers. There is no single way of using the service effectively.

The one piece of advice I’d give is this: Don’t panic about each unfollow you get. For every user who doesn’t appreciate your content, there are loads of users who will be happy with your output. Focus on developing a unique presence, not a concoction of what one or two users demanded. Your job is to listen and respond, not to roll over and obey.

You’ll never know exactly what everyone wants. Enjoy creating tweets that work for you. Eventually, you should enthuse, engage and inform others in the process. Genuine output is not only accepted, but also the most likely way to get you loyal, engaging followers.

Tuesday 12 October 2010

10 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page

10 different methods you can use to promote and grow your Facebook community:

1. Promote your page with a widget

It sounds easy enough but I can’t tell you how many people still don’t do this. You can integrate facebook with your site using the “Like” widget. People who visit your blog won’t know that you have a fan page until you tell. Don’t miss out on this prime opportunity to convert your blog readers into facebook fans!

2. Put up a featured discussion in your LinkedIn group

If you don’t have a LinkedIn group for your industry, make one. It’s your way to demonstrate your expertise, thereby driving business to your company.

This discussion can lead to opening the doors to a higher level of customer service that you might not have otherwise had.

3. Link to your Facebook page on your LinkedIn profile

One of the best places to promote your facebook page do that is in the description of your current position. When you describe your position and the company, put a hyperlink to the fan page at the bottom of the description.

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, you should get one. Linkedin is one of the best ways to network on a global basis and draw business to your company.

4. Put your Facebook page on all printed (Outbound) Marketing

You wouldn’t send out marketing without your company name would you? So don’t forget a mention of your facebook page. All it takes is one line in a prominent location.

5. Put your Facebook page on all Social Media (Inbound) Marketing

The same reasons apply here as your Outbound Marketing. It’s a way of “covering all your bases” and making sure that you reach the widest group of people possible. A great way to do this is by sending a tweet out every so often on Twitter asking your followers to also become your fans.

6. Leverage your video blog

Video blogs are also one of the hottest ways to connect with clients and prospects. YouTube allows you to annotate your video with links that you can use to link back to your facebook page. If your video starts to gain traction on YouTube this link can translate to significant inbound traffic to your fan page.

7. Link to your facebook page from your info box

It makes me sad to see the many people that fail to use this valuable facebook real estate for any good. Instead why not throw a link in there to your facebook page.

Don’t be afraid to include a call to action as well, something like: “Join me in the facebook flow facebook page! http://facebook.com/fbflow

8. Email your way there

Build awareness about your facebook page in your email signature by include a hyperlink to your fan page. Now every person you email will have a link to your facebook page, and over time you this will effect an increase your fan base.

9. Create a welcome tab for your facebook page

To create a landing page for your facebook page you will need to know some basic html, and you will need to use the static fbml app.

10. Let your website do the talking

You’re already adding value to your company website by having a blog section, so up the ante and mention your fan page in directly within your content. Don’t be afraid to come right out and ask people to join your facebook page. By the way, you really should join the facebookflow fan page. ;)

When all is said and done, think outside the box. Facebook Flow has a facebook page and even I have a Facebook Fan Page. What is your facebook page? Let us know in the comments below and feel free to share your tips for getting more people to join your page!

Friday 8 October 2010

What Facebook’s new groups feature means for media

In a press conference at Facebook HQ today, the social media giant unveiled a new feature (that’s just beginning to roll out) that allows people to create groups of friends. By creating a group, you can invite people, limit sharing to a group, open a group chat, and even group-edit documents with wiki-like collaboration.

Groups are different than pages in that they’re designed for small groups of up to 250 people or so — and can be set as “secret” if desired — and email will play a central role in alerting group members to shared content. (You can even create a “vanity” group email address.) So in other words, they’re not really recommended as a place for media companies to build audiences, but a place for friends to connect in new ways.

Facebook says it’s a “new organizing principle for the social graph,” as a way to create more relevant connections between family, classmates, co-workers and teammates, for example. Founder Mark Zuckerberg said the new groups functionality “blows away” Yahoo Groups, Google Groups and other group providers, and “is a pretty big step forward.”



So what does it mean for journalists and the media? It strengthens Facebook’s grip on community, adding new types of social connections that will likely encourage people to use the platform in new ways: organizing with co-workers, creating “mom” groups that have historically lived in email, keeping tabs with neighbors, and on and on. In many ways, it makes Facebook more constructive. You could imagine it attracting people who are overwhelmed (or never have time) to parse their news feeds, but may want to participate in a couple groups, mostly through email, without even looking at their news feed.

A functional Facebook? That begins to sound a little like what journalism should have become — the home for a constructive community. But Facebook has become the de facto home of the community, and news sites will be able to integrate aspects of it via the API — which will include the new groups feature.

Update: Whoa! The new feature kicks out a LOT of email. Many folks woke up this morning to find their email inboxes jammed full of messages after they were added to one or more groups. (Each message posted to a group sends an email.) You can change this in settings, or set up a filter on your inbox.

Monday 4 October 2010

Watch out for these social networking scams

Social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Bebo have changed the way we and our families keep in touch with friends and share information online. The problem is, scammers know exactly how we use these types of sites and are constantly developing malicious software and other swindles to take advantage.
While websites have a responsibility to keep users safe from scams, you can stay safe by learning to spot the most common scams before they spot you.

Dodgy Facebook applications
Facebook applications, or apps, such as movie quizzes and Scrabble games sound harmless enough, but remember that Facebook does not approve third-party apps. A recent app scam that went viral was the Facebook ‘Dislike’ button. Users were encouraged to install this tool but, by doing so, gave the rogue app permission to access their profile page and post spam messages. Victims were also asked to complete an online survey, which generated money for the scammers.
The best way to avoid falling victim to these scams is to give Facebook apps – or, at least, those developed by third-party websites – a wide berth.
You can also adjust your Facebook privacy settings to control which apps have access to your data and which of your friends can see information from apps, or simply turn off apps altogether.
And remember, this isn’t the only way Facebook can end up costing you money. Read Why Facebook means your bills will rise to find out more.
Spam messages
What would you do if you received a Facebook message or a tweet on Twitter from a friend claiming they had been robbed while abroad and needed money in order to get home? You know the sender, so you might be tempted to offer your help.
But before you do, try to contact your friend via email or telephone because the chances are their account has been hacked and someone is trying to extort money from their associates. If you aren’t able to contact your friend, then try replying to the original message with a personal question that only they know the answer to.
Read Stop spam and spot scams for more tips.
Fake links
The sharing nature of social networking websites means it’s fairly easy for scammers to dupe their victims into accessing malicious websites. To stop this happening, you need to be vigilant against links posted on your profile page or sent within an instant message, even if these appear to come from a friend.
Before you click on a link in your friend’s Facebook or Twitter status use a little bit of common sense. Is it likely your conservative work colleague will have posted a link entitled “OMG: funniest drunk car crash ever”? Young users are particularly susceptible to these scams so make sure you warn your children or grandchildren to be on their guard too.
Phishing emails
Hackers are increasingly using well-known social networking website brands in phishing emails to elicit personal information from you. The scam works like this: an email purporting to be from the site asking you to follow a link, which takes you to an official-looking log-on prompt. Enter your personal details, and this information is stored and used by the scammers to hijack your account.
One of the most common Twitter scams sends messages such as “Just saw this photo of you” or “See who’s been checking out your profile” to tempt users to follow a link to a website that either attempts to steal their log-on information or uploads malicious software on to their computers.
As with any phishing email scam, the best way to stay safe is to enter the website address manually so you can be sure the site is genuine.
Read Three scams to avoid! for more help on how to deal with phishing messages.
Promises of thousands of instant followers
Building up followers is the Holy Grail for many Twitter users. However, if you receive a message promising you thousands of instant followers then don’t be fooled.
This scam claims it can increase your followers by identifying Twitter users who automatically follow anyone who follows them. It sounds plausible, but this service comes at a cost. Some victims pay only to see the scammer vanish from the site, while others see their followers increase but are accused of trying to send spam themselves – an offence that could see them banned from the site.
Oversharing information online
Last month I changed my Facebook status to “Rebecca Atkinson is off on holiday for two weeks”. While this seemed harmless enough at the time, it was effectively an open advertisement to burglars that my flat would be empty for a fortnight. Although not technically a scam, oversharing on social websites makes life far too easy for crooks.
As well as thinking about your status updates before you click the “Share” button, remove personal information such as your home address, phone number and full birthday from your profile. Facebook allows you to decide who can see your profile – as long as there are spammers about, it’s probably a good idea that you play it as safe as possible.

Sunday 3 October 2010

Social Media Benefits

If your not using Social Media you should know that it is growing and growing quickly. What is Social Media? There are many social platforms the most popular are YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I know what you are thinking I don't have the time, I need to run my business. Did you know that women between 20 to 30 years of age check their Facebook daily? The number of people using Facebook to connect with friends and family is rising quickly.

Did you know that you can hire an Assistant and pay them to help? You can have them make sure that your ROI is within your budget? Generate exposure for your business - 85% of all business implementing a strategic Social Media Campaign have generated exposure for their business

Increase in traffic, optins and subscribers - More than half of companies have reported an increase in traffic due to getting social. By increasing traffic they were able to create more qualified leads.

Increased business partnerships - 56% of all companies created increased business partnerships because of social media

Rise in Search Engine Rankings - 54% saw a rise in their search engine rankings as a direct result of becoming active on the Social market

Qualified Lead Generation - 52% of the companies saw qualified leads increasing the opportunity for sales.

Helped to Sell Products and Services / Close Business - 48% of companies were able to determine that getting social increase their bottom line by selling more products. Getting social gave them a platform to discuss the benefits of current products, alert customers to new products and find out what their customers want.

Reduced My Overall Marketing Expenses - 48% reported a decrease of marketing expenses last year.

Find Out What the Competition is Doing - Social experts can help you figure out what your competition is doing. What is hot and what is not.

Getting Social will take time and effort to achieve results it is becoming more and more main stream. Companies like IBM, Pepsi to name a few have already jumped into Social Media Marketing. Budgets for getting social can be small at first and build as your ROI starts rolling in.

Need help with Social Media Marketing contact us. Remember the time spent on this type of marketing will not be wasted. Get out there and get social before you find yourself playing catch up with your competitors.

All statistics were taken from the 2010 Social Media Marketing Report.

Facebook Employees take trip to watch "The Social Network"

We’ve received independent reports that the Facebook staff has essentially rented out the Century Cinemas 16 in Mountain View, California, where upwards of 1,200 staffers will be seeing the film.

According to the Facebook Pages (how apt) of some Facebook employees, the film will be followed up by a trip to some Palo Alto-area bars for post-movie discussion.

The Mashable crews in New York and San Francisco got to see the film on Monday night, and you can read our review and see the discussion we had with some tech entrepreneurs after the show.

Facebook CEO and Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly uninterested in seeing the film (even if our own CEO and Founder Pete Cashmore thinks he should like it), so we don’t expect him to join his employees. Still, that would be a pretty epic screening party.

Are you going to see The Social Network this weekend? Let us know in the comments.