One of my favorite shows on TV is House, and last night, the case to be solved involved an interesting blogger. The show overall was good, the case solving unique and what you would expect from House…what I want to discuss is the way that they portrayed the blog world.

If you missed the show, the blogger is a woman who shares every detail of her life with her readers, from her fights with her boyfriend to her food choices, and later on, her medical choices as well. As soon as something new happens, she must blog, and tell the whole world (or at least her readers) what has changed. She explains to her boyfriend that if she chooses what to share, and censors what she says, she isn’t being honest, and the readers expect honesty. In one scene, she finds she needs a new liver, and blogs about it. One of the doctors later informs us that they received a call from Singapore asking about how to donate for the blogger. Basically, the show paints her as a woman who isn’t herself without her trusty laptop and blog. So what is the big deal?

My frustration with the show was the fact that they chose to take blogging as only one thing. There was no discussion of blogging other than the type that this woman did - considered ‘life journal-ing’. First, yes, there are probably plenty of women who have blogs and use them just like the woman in the show. They share every detail, some very personal, and use it for publicity. Unfortunately, this paints a poor picture of the blogging world and makes it difficult to help people to understand the other sides of blogging. For me,  this type of blogger is nothing more than a bored woman who can’t deal with intimacy in her own life so she chooses to share it with the rest of the world instead. By the end of the show, I was not only irritated with the woman, but disappointed with the show itself in that it would allow such a poor version of ‘bloggers’ to be broadcast to millions of viewers. Blogging obviously can be just a journal of your thoughts, but that is a stereotype that I fight against every day. When we discuss blogging, most of our clients (and unfortunately friends too) think we mean the type of blogging portrayed in the show. They have a hard time separating the fact that while there are ‘life’ bloggers, that business bloggers are just as important, and can make a huge impact in their industry with the right strategies. In fact, were one of the top business bloggers to share that they needed a liver, they would probably get the same response this woman did. You make connections with your readers through your writing, but that doesn’t mean it has to be personal writing.

On a side note, I found it funny that the blog service she used was a fake - I figured wordpress, blogger or typepad might have jumped at the opportunity to be featured on a hit show…wonder if Fox even reached out to them…

Did you see the show? What do you think about the way it represented bloggers?

If you’re anything like me, I never have enough time to read all the articles that I would like. So, I bookmark ones that I want to read and hope that I will get back to them at some point. In the last few weeks, these 6 articles were worth reading, and definitely worth sharing:

1. How to bring your brand to life. This article from the Fox Small Business Center provides great insight on what it really takes to bring your brand to life. Now if only more companies would follow these instructions!
2. Everything you wanted to know about Chat Roulette but were afraid to ask: Good Blog did a great video, covering the facts and figures of what really happens on CR. Despite the site being NSFW, this article is safe to read.
3. 10 Popular websites and how they have or have not changed: I find it very interesting to watch branding evolve, especially on the web. This article from Wake-up Later was well put together, but the pictures are what the story is all about.
4. Performa Skateboard adds warning labels: Just a really creative way to get your brand visible by those who use it!
5. Digital Ad spending may eclipse print: This article is interesting to us since we offer both types of advertising to our clients. We are curious to see if the may be becomes reality.

What great articles have you seen in the last few weeks?

One of the advertising magazines that I read is Advertising Age - they have great stories from behind the desk of advertising execs and from in front of our screens. This month’s digital issue caught my eye for a couple reasons.

First, how can you miss a cover like this!

Yes, you’re seeing it right, that is Lady Gaga gracing the cover - the caption to her left? “This is the face of social-media marketing”. Want to know why they think so? According  to AdAge, “Lady Gaga, with her army of nearly 2.8 million Twitter followers and more than 5.2 million Facebook fans, can move product. Since fall 2008, her digital-single sales have exceeded 20 million and her album sales hit 8 million, all at a time when no one under the age of 60 buys CDs anymore (see Susan Boyle breaking the record for highest first-week album sales last year). Now, she’s being courted by marketers to do the same for their products”.

Second, were the inserts the magazine held. The two inserts discussed the staggering statistics and money being spent in the digital age. Details included:

• The top sites in social networking (Facebook, Myspace and Twitter)
• The most used cell carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile)
• Top video game of all time (Call of Duty: MW2 at over 9 million units)
• Total internet advertising spending ($23,600,000,000 - yes, that’s billion)
• And total online consumer spending (over $279,000,000 - billion again!)

If you don’t get Adage, it is only $99 a year to get all their print and online stories…I definitely find it worth it

If you own a small business, your business is not your brand. You are your brand. People are coming to you for advice and support because of who you are and what you have done, not because of the product itself. Most services are sold by more than just you, so make sure that you are able to stand out above the noise and work to build conversations, not just talk. Your brand should be more than just a what your business is but who you are, and what you bring to the table. People do not want to be part of a fly-by-night company; they want history, experience and the trust that the product is effective and worthwhile. During all conversations, you need to focus on the facts, not speculations. We only promise what we can deliver, and we create a consistent message through all channels. By using this method, your followers, fans and readers will trust that they can come to you for help and advice.

When you create your profiles on each social media site, make sure to always use the same name, same picture, same url and same details. You want people to be able to find you easily, and making them consistent will help with searches, as well as strengthen your brand. Also, on sites that allow you to pick colors/designs, try to stick with the same theme as your main website. Visitors like consistency and when they see the same things on all sites, they will feel more comfortable and willing to connect with you. Finally, make it easy to contact you. The largest part of your brand is what you do after people have used social media to find you. If they can’t figure out how to call or email you easily, they won’t. Don’t give away all the time you’ve spent building relationships by not giving them the opportunity to take it offline.

Do you have a brand or just a business?

How many advertisements do you watch with your significant other where one of you absolutely loves it and the other can’t stand? Probably most. But recently, I have seen a few companies that have created ads that both my husband and I find entertaining and creative. The most recent? Volvo’s ’switch’ advertisement.

Creative. Funny. Unique. Very well put together. And appeals to both sexes. Volvo nailed this new creative direction!

What do you think?

On twitter, people chose to follow you or not based on who you are. The first glimpse that they see? Your twitter profile. To maximize your positive impression, you should make a top notch profile. The following 4 pieces make up your profile.

1. Username -Do not pick something “unique and creative.” People want usernames that are easy to use. The case does not matter in searches, but I recommend either all lower case or only upper case on the first letters of the names. Some good options:
   1. Firstname and lastname: JohnSmith
   2. First initial and last name (if you have a long first name): gsmith
   3. First name and last initial (if you have a really long last name): JohnK
   4. A couple usernames to be careful of:
      1. If your first name ends with the same letter as the start of your last name, it can look weird, ex: SarahHart
      2. Your combination forms a word by mistake; ex: SIckley
      3. Creating a name with numbers in it: sarah408. Even if you did it because it is your zip code or area code, it looks spammy. Anything you can do to avoid looking spammy is a good thing.
2. Biography - We will start with your more info URL. This is the link to your blog or website. Make sure that it is correct and goes to a page that you want them to see…maybe even create a special page for your twitter followers to find! The second piece is your actual biography. The biography is the little snippit people get about you before they choose to follow you back. This should include both business and a bit of personal detail. It has to be fewer than 160 characters, so make it short and sweet.
3. Picture - This is the first way you will be judged. This picture should be of you, your face, in a business manner. Make sure it is easy to see and reflects you in a good light. People notice the effort you put in, and your picture is a great tell. Good pictures are easy to notice, they are smiling, it is a bright photo and the focus is on the face. If you don’t have a good headshot, have one taken. Once you have decided on the photo that you want, open it with a photo program like Microsoft picture viewer. Crop it to be a square photo. Save the picture as a square. Go back to your twitter page and click browse and select the file from your computer you want to use.
4. Background - Your twitter background should be creative, unique and give people a good glimpse of who you are. Much like a website design, it should be well thought out and shouldn’t be generic. We recommend talking with your web designer and working with them to create a perfect look for you. If you want just a simple design, you can either upload an image or choose colors from the options. We recommend changing it from the generic one right away.

If you follow all these steps, you will be on your way to having a great twitter profile that people want to follow!

We get questions from our clients all the time about social media - why you need it, what it does and how to make it effective. There are thousands of different social tools, but most are very specific or unique to an industry. To avoid the specifics, the social media tools I will be talking about are twitter, facebook and a blog. I will refer to them in general as “social media” although each has its own role in the overall strategy.

As far as answering the questions…none of them have simple answers,  but there are a few ‘in generals’ that we want to share:

1. In general, social media provides an outlet for conversation between you and your potential customers. They can ask questions, share experiences and learn more about your services in a less pressure filled environment.
2. In general, social media builds stronger SEO for your website and your brand. There are more people talking about you, more pages to your site and more links to you.
3. In general, people want to talk with real people and creating social media platforms to allow them to do so will improve your customer service.
4. In general, social media will expand the number of people who know about your services and your company as well as who you are as a person.
5. In general, social media is like a conference. People know that you are there to sell something but don’t want it shoved in their face. If they want to know, they will ask.
6. In general, social media can help any business with exposure in their local market.
7. In general, social media can help any business with exposure on the global scale.
8. In general, social media can provide answers to questions, a testing ground for new ideas and a live version of a focus group for online programs in beta.
9. In general, people involved in social media are more likely to look for services or companies through recommendations from their online friends rather than real life friends.
10. In general, social media is here to stay, and businesses who start participating sooner will have the edge over companies who don’t.

While some of these will fit, others won’t. For a more detailed analysis on the point of social media for your company, contact us today!

What other generalities about social media can you share?

If you want to become a better blogger, you have to grow, change and adapt. You also have to know these four tips.

• Remember your overall goal: The blog should have a theme, whether it is all about your business or a combination of business and personal, your readers need to know what to expect. By creating a main goal for the site, it will be easier to develop content and stay on theme.
• Be honest but not overly personal: Even if you want to keep this as a business blog only, you still need to be honest with yourself. If you struggle with certain areas, do not claim to be perfect at them. On the same token, if you are going to include some of your personal side, make sure that you don’t reveal too much. It should never be more than you want strangers to know about you.
• Be consistent: Without consistent content, your readers will not stay interested. The best number of posts is 3-5 per week. Bloggers who can stay consistent with this number of posts will see success with subscriptions and participation. This consistency can be achieved through a good calendar process.
• Use good titles and keywords: Your title is important for your readers, but also important for the search engines. Make sure to use words that you know people will search for when looking for your content in both the title and the post.

What advice can you add to be a better blogger?

Superbowl Sunday. It means one thing: Football. Unless of course you are in marketing, then it’s Football and commercial critiquing! I swear, I spend every Superbowl Sunday yelling more about the commercials than the games themselves. Most are just an absolutely pathetic waste of money, but there are always a few shining stars.

I know that I am looking forward to seeing what the big brands do…and although I know the commercials are all taped, and there is nothing I can say to help them to make better commercials, if I could, here’s what I would tell them:

1. Make sure that I know what your product is after the commercial is over. Just because it is funny/sexy/stupid does not mean that I can remember your product. No remember, No buy.
2. Stop with the obnoxious songs. If I have to mute my TV because the song you choose as your background music is absolutely torture, I am not going to be paying attention to your ad. No watch, no buy.
3. Don’t try to be clever. Funny is funny when it is simple, easy to understand and makes you laugh. Clever is confusing, and usually fails to make anyone laugh. Funny failure, no buy.
4. On that note, don’t be stupid. Are you trying to sell your product to the woman of the house? Don’t show half naked women. Know your market, and make them happy. Unhappy customer, no buy.

What would you tell the commercial creators if you could?

By the way, if you’re feeling sentimental, and need a little humor from the past, superbowl-commercials.org has a great collection of the ads from past years!

Are you on Facebook? 250 million people are, and you should be too. If you aren’t, get signed up now…and then come back and read the rest of this blog. Already on Facebook? Read on:

Use a current profile picture
You can have as many photos as you want on Facebook - in your albums and that you are tagged in. But, you only get one profile picture. So, your profile picture should be professional, match the rest of your social media icons and be a clear picture of your face. You want people to be able to find you easily and recognize you when they see you. Oh and while the funny meme’s and changing your picture to fit the mood of the masses can seem fun, it makes it difficult to find you if you are constantly changing your picture. And, unless you plan on keeping your profile 100% private, do not use a photo that is inappropriate for business.

Make your interests honest
Do you adore Voltaire and volunteer to save dogs, elderly and plants in your off time? No? Then don’t put that in your interests! You need to be honest in your interests if they are going to work well and give people a true view of who you are. Remember, this can be changed, so if you grow, learn or add new interests, you can update it here.

Write on the Walls
Sharing conversations on Facebook is one of the easiest ways to build stronger relationships, and writing on walls is a fast way to get these conversations started. People like feeling special and involved, and leaving your friends and business contacts quick notes is a great way to provide this feeling. But, if you plan on sharing personal information (phone numbers, addresses, inappropriate discussions), you should reserve those for messages or email.

Update your status
There is no perfect rule for when or how to update your status, but you should try to update it at least once a day (assuming you aren’t just updating it for the sake of updating it). We all have something to say, ask or discuss…say it, ask it, or discuss it here! But one note of warning, please do not tell us your every detail or be assured we will tell you how little we care.

Access Facebook from your phone
Working without a computer? Doesn’t mean you can’t check facebook, respond to comments and send messages. Just like Twitter and other applications, you can have Facebook on your phone too. Make sure you do, and know how to use it. If you can’t find an application, you can still access the more phone friendly Facebook through their mobile site at m.facebook.com.

What other tips do you have to add for Facebook? Tomorrow, we will cover 5 tips for Twitter!