With twitter and blogging, I was first in line. I got it instantly, and loved them. I completely understood when and why to use them, and was involved in every aspect that I could. With Facebook, I was slower to join the trend, a little concerned about connecting business with personal life. But, after some convincing, I delved into Facebook as well, and now have seen the light.

I have tried tons of other social media tools, some I have kept around (linkedin, stumbleupon) and others have faded to the background (friendfeed, digg, reddit). The problem I find is that I am very wary of adding a new tool to my arsenal without really understanding what it can do for business. We have enough on our plates already, that adding another tool must also add to our business instead of taking our precious time. Twitter, Facebook and blogging are all strong examples of adding vs. taking. They deliver stronger connections and great business results. Since Twitter, I have struggled to find a new site that can add value like these three.

About 8 months ago, a new site launched. They called it Foursquare (no, not the game you played in elementary school), and it is a geo-targetting tool to allow users to ‘check-in’ to the locations that they visit.

When I heard about this site, I was very wary. First, it was only launched in a few places. Second, it was only launched as an application for the iphone. This left me (a blackberry user) a little put off. But, never one to shut something down without research, I learned more about it and watched friends use it. After a few months of seeing people “check-in” at locations and earn ‘badges’ for being at places a lot, I still didn’t see a huge value. If the company or place I was at was on twitter, I could basically do the same thing just referencing their twitter name. While I didn’t earn ‘badges’, I didn’t feel like I was missing much. But recently, as foursquare has become more popular, and more and more businesses are getting involved, I have noticed something new. When some of my friends that use it check in at places, they get a surprise – a free drink, 5% off their bill, etc…and ones that check into the same place a lot? The rewards are even better. Also, they have now released an application for the blackberry, making it accessible to me, and more intriguing to try.

So, after seeing the results that some friends have had from using it, and talking with a few businesses about their experience with it, I have decided to download it for my blackberry. Over the next week, I will be testing it out, checking in everywhere I go and seeing how it works. Next Monday, I will write about my experiences and let you know what I think.

If you have tried it, what do you think? If you haven’t, I invite you to try it with me and share your thoughts next week!

The most common questions we get from our clients are regarding the ‘why’ of social media…and most often, on blogging. Blogs are the largest time commitments and therefore bring the most questions. We have a variety of answers, depending on the industry, but there are a few common answers that all our clients need to know.

You need a blog for many reasons; the most important is a place to start building your business. Your blog is the center of your social media tools; you will use the content that you share here to promote through Twitter and Facebook. In addition, your blog is the largest branding tool that you have on the web. Because the site is all your own, you control the content and the participation. It is also a great way to start building your networking lists, the people whom may be potential clients. You will be able to get to know your readers through comments, will have access to their email addresses and can start to gain trust in the community. It is slower pace than either Facebook or Twitter which allows you more time to develop the relationships in your own way.

The second reason you have a blog is to develop your online brand. The blog is all yours, your style, your content, your experiences. 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. 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. All of these details put together will create a picture of you, that others can see and will help you to build a stronger network. People connect with other people like them, and giving them a glimpse of you will help them to determine whether you fit what they need.

Finally, your blog is an educational channel for your past client, future clients and colleagues. Just like this blog post is an educational tool for our readers, this could also help someone interested in working with us to learn more about our services. Rather than answering the same questions to multiple people, you can write a blog post about it and then send it out to the entire group. It is an effective way to share thoughts and ideas and allows the readers to participate in the posts as well. They can contribute more content in their comments, or ask questions for you to answer in the future. The bottom line is to open a communication channel between you, your clients and your potential clients.

What other reasons do you have for starting your blog? Or what questions do you have about blogging?

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?

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?

WordPress is our blog software of choice – easy to use, simple to maintain and has great funtionality. To improve this functionality, we also use plugins (tools that do a specific task in your blog). The plugins we recommend are:

• Akismet – The amazingly powerful spam blocker! Protects us against all the garbage that the spammers send through and rarely makes a mistake.
• All in One SEO Pack – Out-of-the-box SEO for your WordPress blog. Easy to update and allows you to create seo friendly titles and keywords for each post.
• BackType Connect – Show related conversations (from other blogs, Twitter, Digg, FriendFeed and more) inline with your own comments.
• CommentLuv – Plugin to show a link to the last post from the commenters blog when they leave a comment. Rewards your readers and encourage more comments.
• FD Feedburner Plugin – Redirects all feeds to a Feedburner feed. Enables easy tracking through Google.
• Google Analytics for WordPress – It automatically adds Google Analytics with extra search engines and automatic clickout and download tracking to your  blog.
• Google XML Sitemaps – Creates a new sitemap every time your blog is updated which is compatible with  Ask.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO.
• Gurken Subscribe to Comments – Allows readers to subscribe to comments so they can follow a conversation.
• WordTwit – Posts updates to Twitter about entries automatically. Includes many configuarble options, statistics and more.

We use these because they have been successful for us, and are easy to use. Which plugins do use use and recommend?

Everyone has their list of tools they use: twitter, facebook, linkedin, google wave, youtube, stumbleupon, digg, technorati, whrrl, foursquare, (want to see the full list?)… but, the ones that you choose to use are up to you.

I would love to use all the social media tools that look like fun (LibraryThing? Awesome!) but the reality is, I just don’t have the time. Luckily, I understand that I don’t have the time and can choose properly the right way to spend my time and which social media tools I need to use to improve my business. I use a lot of tools sparingly: stumbleupon, digg, youtube; they are used when I need them and not kept in regular rotation. But, there are 3 that I love, and swear by, using every day:

1. Twitter: I use it because of the ease of connecting with anyone else who is on twitter. I can find people who share my interests, oppose my interest (sometimes just as fun!), are in my area, or can help me in some way. I can share quick conversations, build them into real friends and create amazing real life tweetups where I can meet them all. I gain business. This isn’t why I use it, it is just a side effect of strong connections and the relationships that I build. Business is slowly being gained through twitter because I am referred to tweeters looking for someone like me by tweeters who know what we do, and so business builds!
2. Linkedin: I use it to answer questions, ask questions, and connect with current and past clients and people whom I know through business alone. This is specifically used for business – not personal. I gain referrals, recommendations and access to people and their updating resumes as we need people to work with or to work for us.
3. Facebook: This one is tricky because I use it for both business and personal. I like this one because I can create a stronger bond (longer conversation, more sharing, etc) with people quicker than I can on twitter. But, I also talk with less people because it is so much more intimate, so I limit who I become friends with to those I have met in real life or have become friends virtually. I gain details of life. I do not get to see all my friends and family in person as much as I would like – facebook allows me to keep up with what everyone is doing.

Which tools do you use? Which ones would you like to use but don’t have time?

Last week, Chris Brogan wrote a great article discussing what you should do if you find yourself with an extra half-hour of time. He had many great ideas, but didn’t do much more than just list them out and ask for our thoughts. Unfortunately, if you are just getting started in the social media game, just a list of things to do isn’t as helpful as more detailed descriptions of how to do them. So, I picked out a couple that I think deserve more detail and outlined how to use these steps:

1. Reading and commenting on blog posts
   1. Find new blogs to read by checking out sites like alltop, stumbleupon, and google blog search and searching topics you are interested in. Once you have found ones you like, subscribe to them so that you see new content. It is easy to unsubscribe if you no longer are interested.
   2. When you comment, make sure to always link back to a page on your site or blog that is similar in topic to what you are discussing. If none exists, just link to your homepage.
   3. Add to the conversation – ask a question, pose an opposing idea or add more details to a thought. Just putting “good post” doesn’t benefit anyone.
   4. Comment on bloggers who have less comments. You are more likely to get a response, noticed an appreciated than if you are commenter #100.
   5. BUT…it is also good to comment on extremely popular blogs if you have something important to add for the search engine optimization.
2. Writing a recommendation for someone on Linkedin.
   1. Make sure that you only add recommendations for people you have actually worked with personally.
   2. When you write the recommendation, include specific points, not just generalities. People want details, not fluff.
   3. It is okay to ask for a return recommendation, but it is up to the other person what they choose to do. Do not expect a returned recommendation.
   4. Be picky about whom you recommend, and it is okay to turn down someone who asks, just make sure to have a valid reason why you’ve said no.
3. Investigating websites that may or may not help your business.
   1. Is there one area of your business that you struggle with? Pin-point one area to improve and search for just that.
   2. Too wide of a search will mean you can never filter through all the sites that are there, narrow focus means better results.
   3. If you find a site that may help your business, make sure to check out the company thoroughly before becoming involved, there are a lot of disingenuous people online.
   4. If you find a site that can’t help you, but may help others, pass it on! They’ll return the favor down the road…

What other ways can you improve the time you spend online?

We haven’t gotten a post up in a week – not for lack of trying, actually there are about 6 posts that have been partially created sitting in our drafts right now, waiting for the light of day. We have just been so busy that even sleep has been a chore. This happens every year around this time – people  in a rush to get projects finished so they can launch January 1st. Unfortunately, instead of planning in, say, September, for a 4 month long project, they start in in late October and then wonder why with all the holidays, it is hard to get it done! This means our focus is on our clients, the projects and everything that we do that brings money in the door.

But why does blogging get ignored? And what can we do to make sure that it doesn’t happen again?

First, blogging gets ignored because it is usually the final thought of the day – after email, phone calls, client meetings and everything else that comes to mind. So, when we finally have a chance to sit down and get writing done, it is tough, tiresome and just not worth it. But, this is the worst mentality to take, and one that I really work hard to avoid (although I let it happen this past week).

Here are 5 steps you (and I) can use to make sure this doesn’t happen again:

1. Write a bunch of extra posts during September and October to prepare for November and December. This way when you need them, you can just click post and go!

2. Create a series just for the holidays that allows for shorter posts with just as high quality content. It will take less time, but still deliver the valuable information.

3. Put it on your calendar. You schedule meetings, phone calls, lunches, why not schedule your writing time? When things get busy, just make sure you have time scheduled in each day and don’t let yourself skip it.

4. Write at night. While I hate taking too much of my work home, my husband understands that things are especially crazy during the holidays, so I will take some time in the evening while he watches TV to write and prepare for the blog posts of that week.

5. Remember the benefits. Businesses can’t stop building if they want to succeed. Writing blog posts are huge way to gain interest, create stronger seo and promote your business. If you just remind yourself why you need to blog, it will make it easier to do so.

What else can you do to make sure that you are consistent with your blogging?

Social media, social networking, web 2.0. Whatever you call it, it is here to stay and those who figure out how to use it and capitalize on it will be better off in the long run. But before you can use it, you need to understand it, ask questions and figure out the details. So, let’s get started with the 3 top questions we get asked about social media.

1. What IS social media/networking? The technical definition from Wikipedia is, “Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction with technology, transforming broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.” But really, social media is the tools that you use to communicate with a large group of people very quickly. Social networking is the creation of a group of people who want to know what you have to say, and listen when you create content. It is a combination of marketing, communicating and listening to each other to build a stronger web base. For some great insight on the power of social media, check out the social media revolution.
2. What are the most popular social media channels? Depending on your goal with social media, this answer will shift a bit. We have talked extensively in the past about the benefits of each of these tools, and what you can do with them. But, for the majority of businesses (whether B2C or B2B) the top tools to take a look at are: blogging (wordpress is the most used platform), twitter, facebook, linkedin and youtube. These 5 tools will be useful for almost all companies, regardless of who you sell to, it’s just the way they are used that will change. For example, if you market to consumers, you may use twitter as a channel to connect with your buyers and tweet about sales. If you sell to businesses, you may use it to ask questions, share links and create a brand. You can have a blog that goes out to the public, or use a blog internally in your business to promote within.
3. How much time should be dedicated to social media? This answer is a little more difficult, as the amount of time that you spend is going to be directly correlated to the results that you want and in the time frame you want them. Looking for fast results and have the financial capacity? Many companies will hire an internal person that’s full-time job is to manage their social networks and create content. If you don’t have the time to dedicate to find the perfect person, it can be a full-time job for your marketing agency (like us) who has a staff that will take care of all the details and just provide you with the results. If the problem is the financial capacity, you may have to start on a slower scale, and once the results start to come in, you can dedicate more time to social media. The point, whichever you choose, is consistency. Stick with it, and the results will be there.

Have more questions about social media and how you can use it? Post them in the comments!