Social Media and the Homecoming Queen

Homecoming week is upon us and the honor of being chosen to represent one’s sorority or fraternity on homecoming court comes with great fun and great responsibility (but seriously. It does.) As I received my homecoming packet on when and where I am allowed to promote , I forgot all about the poster stipulations and turned to the internet for my main campaign.

Promptly at 5 pm Eastern Standard Time on the Sunday before homecoming, queen and king facebook campaigns were in full swing. Profile pictures were changed to promotional images of contestants, Facebook groups and events were made (and all of the college network was invited, of course). TwitPics were uploaded and status updates included Facebook tags with sayings such as “______ pities the fool who does not vote him for Homecoming King” and other Chuck Norris-like sayings. While I must say it is a bit odd to see 80 of my Facebook friends with my face as their profile picture, it proves a vital point: visibility is key, and what is more visible to a college student then a social media post?

With over 85% of college students on Facebook and other popular social media sites, the need to reach mass quantities in little time is met through postings, events, tags and more. However, an open profile can do more damage then intended. Feelings are hurt when the “not attending” button is checked, friends are divided when an opposing status is “liked” and wall-to-wall conversations can be read and interpreted to a meaning far from their own. Does bringing a friendly competition into the social media world cause more harm then good? The pros and cons are questionable on both ends, however the fact is here: social media is so integral into today’s collegiate experience that it is impossible for this competition to remain off the internet. Facebook has become the ultimate procrastination tool, StumbleUpon is often seen pulled up on a classmate’s screen in class, and Gordon Hayward was a trending topic on Twitter feed after his #9 draft pick to the Utah Jazz. Jobs can be found via LinkedIn connections, students are checking into academic buildings with Foursquare or Facebook Places, the list continues on and on.

So as my fellow Homecoming court participants and I continue our viral campaigns, we may not even acknowledge the fact that we are reaching more students quicker and with more information than ever before. Yes, we’re living in a digital age and yes, we know that social media has changed our communication methods. The truth lies in a simple event feature that Facebook offers: the “Invite all of the _______ network” button. One click separates us from a fan following. I may not be completely savvy yet on my marketing skills, but reaching over 1000 people instantly sounds pretty good to me.

——-

Steph Gray is a Senior Theatre-Arts Administration major and Public Relations minor at Butler University. She is a performer with Butler Theatre and heavily involved in her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. Interests include social media, audience development, Shakespeare and her family.

Separating Our Lives and Social Media. Is it Possible?

I’ve been thinking about our lives and social media. Since the two seem to be one in the same…

I got to thinking about the time before social media. Do you realize that most children to be born within the last five years will have their lives completely documented online? They will literally will have no idea what being “off-line” actually means… what it represents.

Let’s take a trip down my memory lane. I can distinctively remember when AIMchat was the obsession…When computers were a want versus a necessity…When only college kids were on Facebook…When e-mail was never going to work….The plug-in carphone (gasp!). The children of today’s generation will be brought up in a world full of advanced technology. They will never truly experience being turned off. (unless your Madonna’s kids who aren’t allowed to use the Internet) From the time they are newborns their parents post, share pictures and document their child’s life online. Our identities… the way people define us… are being determined by our online activities, profiles and what we share to others, which for many are mostly people we’ve never actually met. It’s funny I remember growing up and knowing all of my friends personally.

How interesting is to consider that theoretically 10 years ago the average person had 20 friends and now they have 200? Granted it’s all in how one defines a friend but some of the “friends” on my profile I have never once had a conversation with.

I’m just curious to know where people drawing the line…if they do. What constitutes as too much information? It’s something to chew on. If a child has had their life documented online before they even “know” who they are does it affect how they later define themselves? You can argue that posting a picture or a sharing a story is the same as showing everyone you know your child’s picture and so forth….however, in that case you at least see and know who you have shared this picture/story with…Essentially, our future of tomorrow will be able to track entire lives online. Can you imagine that?

When do we let our online presence rest and our real life exist? Do you ever actually separate the two? Or are you only relevant when your online?

Social Media: Number One Tool for Lead Generation

We can all agree that social media is here to stay (at least for now)…but do we know why? Research indicates that many professionals implement social media to increase lead generation. In a new social media study, eMarketer stated:

“According to virtual events provider Unisfair, social media is the top emerging channel for lead gen among technology marketers surveyed in May 2010.”

The definition of lead generation alone is argument enough for using social media. Social media can and does make finding new customers so much easier…and fun. Not only can you find potential business demographically but you can base it off interest. This information will save you time, energy and money. A strong social media plan can introduce to potential customers that up until now you didn’t even realized existed.

This ever evolving concept of social media can have powerful effects for you (or your company). Are you familiar with Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn? Hopefully, the answer is yes. These are all social media channels that are at the forefront for the lead generation. These channels give you valuable information for finding your brands lead generation. Most places, events people are going online and social media in all it’s many forms grants you exclusive access to it all. What is imporant to potentially new customers? What interests do they have? Do you have offer something that they could benefit from? Socail media has the power to answer these questions and more without ever having to leave your desk.

This may seem like shameless marketing tactic but it’s not about attacking potential leads with information..it’s about spending your time and energy on someone who would be interested in what you have to offer.  Social media has literally created a bridge between the product and its consumers. Before it was a guessing game in determining future leads now we can eliminate most of that.  So, it makes sense that social media has become a new wave for the future. You can connect with customers in a whole new way, monitor brand awareness, form relationships and find new customers. What’s not love?

Is Avataritis Killing Your Brand?

Leigh Caraccioli considers herself a hybrid, a social-write-tographer spending most of her time doing brand, portrait and wedding photography for her company fleur de leigh photography as well as social media consulting. She is passionate that her lifestyle photojournalism tells an authentic story for her clients and their brand. Leigh also blogs regularly, helps companies geo-target social networks and speaks on social media. Website: http://atfleurdeleigh.com/ Main blog: http://blog.atfleurdeleigh.com/.

Let’s face it. The first brand message you offer up in social media comes from that little square icon that represents you in cyberspace, your avatar. Whether you know it or not, everyone who sees your image forms an impression of you and/or your personal brand instantly. What do your brand images say about you?  Are you one of the millions afflicted with…Avataritis?  Take this yes or no test to find out:

Do you have half of your ex-girlfriend’s arm around your neck in your cropped down image?

Was your image snapped on a smart phone by your overserved BFF at last week’s big kegger?

Does you photo scream 1995?

You use the boilerplate Twitter birdy or Facebook silhouette.

Is there a greyish, orangeish, yellowish swishy backdrop and a contrived smile on your face?

Is it just your eyeball?

Do you looked even a little bit wasted?

Is your image actually not you but instead an image of your fluffy dog, porche carrera or new born babe?

Are you masquerading as a celebrity or Homer Simpson?

If you answered yes to any of the above you’re not alone. Say it with me… “Oh Crap!! I have Avataritis!”  Prognosis: your social media picture is crap.  Worry not. There is a remedy.

Know your brand. 
Take a critical minute to define your personal brand. This exercise it very important and is the first step to curing Avataritis if you have it. Many people find that their personal and professional selves have morphed into one, myself included, so only one brand is represented. You may represent your professional self differently and therefore may need to make two lists. Describe yourself in three words.  You avatar should say those three words about you.  If it doesn’t, scrap it and start anew with your three personal brand words in mind. While the majority of these avatars work and are impactful, can you see a few examples of the afflicted?

Be clear
. When creating your new avatar, opt for simple. Crisp, close-ups, black and white or vibrant color work very well.  Don’t worry if the top of your head is cropped off. (Bonus: maybe this is a way to fix a poofy hair day or thinning top.)  There are no points awarded for being within the bulls-eye in the small square.  Don’t be afraid to crop in closely. I prepare client’s avatars to 250 px by 250.  Many avatars include company logos bolstering company reach and brand cohesion. Others are graced with causes the person promotes like 12 for 12K, a charity near and dear to my heart.  Be careful not to overdo your logos/causes/political stances on your logo. Create a blog if you have that much to say.

Quick change. Don’t be afraid to change it up every now and then.  New avatars can generate some much needed buzz if your social media experience feels a little stale.

Heck, @armano has a revolving door of cool avatars which represents his highly relevant brand well.  

Hire a photographer
Your message is worth it really.  Brand Photography is growing but it’s still not a common term. Unlike portraits, brand images carry an intentional message about the subject that helps you understand it more clearly. A thousand words are not needed, but an immediate good impression is critical. I help individuals and businesses properly represent their brand in images clearly and succinctly knowing that with the speed of social networking their avatar has to grab someone tightly less than 10 seconds.

Savvy people are investing in professional photography for social media brand impact. 

So now that you know how to recognize Avataritis, don’t let it kill your brand. Remember that when choosing to follow or friend you, your audience has a fleeting few seconds to size you up.

Make yourself clear, brand aligned and marketable and do the same for your avatar photo.

5 Social Media Tips for Small Business

Today’s guest post is by Beth Hrusch, Senior Editor at Interact Media, a business blog writing service that teaches writing tips and best practices.

A recent study by Employers indicates that over half of small businesses believe in social media as an important marketing tool.  Yet, only 16% of those polled use their social media accounts to communicate directly with customers.  So, what are they actually doing with social media?  The average small business uses it to promote, much in the same way they use ads, direct mail and other forms of traditional marketing.

Social media for business promotion is fine.  But, the real leverage comes through engagement with people who are interested in you.  Your fans and followers are the real catalyst for your success with social media, so keeping in touch with them is critical.

Why?  Social media, much like content marketing, is all about building customer relationships.  In fact, businesses can take their cue from the origins of social media as a primarily “social” tool.  Sites such as Twitter and Facebook were really designed to help people communicate with each other, share resources and stay in touch.  Businesses can do the exact same thing with their customers, using the same sites.

Using social media sites to engage with current and potential customers takes a commitment of time. However, the tools are already built in, so you can simply think of your company account as another way to connect with your target market, just as you would with friends, colleagues and relatives.  Here are 5 tips for building the relationships that lead to sales:

1. Listen- There are a lot of conversations going on out there.  Some of them may be about your company, your industry or other topics that affect you.  Take the time to listen to what is being said before deciding how to respond or add to it.  You’ll learn more about what is important to your target market when you put your ear to the ground.

2. Participate- By becoming part of these conversations, you show that you’re interested in what people have to say.  This is also your opportunity to show how much you know about your topic, which helps to establish your authority.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions, encourage debate and even stir up a little controversy now and then.  It gets people talking and gives you more information you can use to connect with them.

3. Add value- Your comments should always add something of value to the conversation.  If you’re too self-promoting or don’t add any useful information, both you and your company will lose credibility.  Think of your efforts as conversation rather than as a push for sales.

4. Evaluate your goals- At some point, preferably at the beginning but also along the way, you should think about your objectives.  What you trying to achieve with your social media efforts?  Some businesses want to increase brand awareness, others are more interested in what their competitors are up to.  Honing in on your primary goals will save you time and energy in the long run.

5. Look at the big picture- Think of social media as a community rather than a place to sell your products and services.   People on these sites, just like the Internet in general, are not necessarily looking to buy something.  Most of the time, they want information they can use, and they want to connect with the sources of that information.  Make sure your efforts keep this in mind.  Don’t lose sight of the fact that you’re here to talk to people, invite them to join you, offer them your expertise, etc.  Design each individual post to make an overall impression that, over time, reflects your business objectives.

So, if you’re thinking about using social media to promote your business, or already are, remember to put some time into customer engagement!  It’s the best way to get those friends and followers to convert into customers.

20 Ways to Build Trust and Leads in Social Media

In the new economy there is one major truth that stands above the rest. Trust equals revenue. If you are a small to mid-sized business it is the amount of trust you can build between clients that strengthens your brand.

With trust comes happy clients and with happy clients come referrals. Trust is a fundamental block of building business. Marketing is built under the assumption that stories can create an emotional bond between a consumer and a brand… a client and a service. Can you tell a story… create a service and en experience that builds trust?

Social media can help you build that trust.

1. Content

Content is the number one way you can build trust with potential clients. By creating meaningful and thought provoking content you are building a bridge to later sell that person on your services. Talk about what you do on a daily basis. When I  say you.. it means you are writing and communicating stories that happen to you on a daily basis.

2. Tell A Story

The stories surrounding your company are the only thing that creates differences between the competition. It is extremely important that you allow for your clients to tell your story for you. The people who love what you do… and the people you serve… are the best people to tell the story of your company. Forget about mission statement and vision statements… ASK your clients.

3. Transparency

This can also pertain to content or how you use a specific social network. Be human. The people who are interested in your thoughts and suggestions want to know about you as a person. They could care less about a sale you are having or the amount of money you can cut off their bottom line. They want to know how you helped LARRY the plumber or Susan the account.

4. Picture of Your Day

When you are using social networks make sure you put up pictures of your daily life. If you have a cell phone with a camera takes some pictures of your daily routine and share them with your connections. Just don’t over do it. We can only look at so many professional business or glamor shots in a day.

5. Picture of You

Use your real picture. I don’t know how many times I have said this. Don’t use your logo. There is only one exception to this rule. If you are using Twitter for your business and personal (see my company @Brandswag for an example). Also, do not use a glamor shot from the 1908s. We ALL know you are lying… the only person you are trying to fool… is yourself.

6. Saying Thank You

If somebody helps you share information or decideds to retweet a post.. make sure you thank that person. They are helping you spread the word… they are your online evangelists.. If you miss a thank you.. don’t let it kill you.. but try to make the most of the people that help you out.

7. Do Not Auto-DM on Twitter

See my post… I hate Twitter Auto-DM

8. No Hard Selling

I don’t care about your enewsletter or the new lotion you are selling. Also, just because I reply to a tweet or a message does not mean you can message me back and sell your wares. Social media is a long sell process. You are developing content in order to gain an order of trust with people in your area of influence. We are now experiencing a relationship driven economy… get on the train.

9. Time is Important

Remember that you are building relationships.. do not trust the people that tell you to add 1023920 friends and make $10,000 a month. It is a load of crap. Build your following slowly… create relationships in an online environment that can be transferred offline.

10. Criticism is Important

You will be criticized. It is a truth of open communication. Take it with stride and respond. If you are debated… make sure you debate back. Stand up for what you believe and you will gain trust with the people who are listening…. and watching.

11. Have fun

Good Lord… is it that hard? You have the ability to connect with thousands… and thousands… and thousands of people from every nationality… and life experience. Just imagine your ability to expand your knowledge base and learn?!

One thought: If you are not enjoying and having fun with what you do… quit… go find something else.

12. Send a Handwritten Note

People are thanked and communicated with on a daily basis through social media. If I need someone to thank… I usually send them a message or an email. It is very rare that I will get a thank you card in the mail from someone on social media. Talk about building trust and setting yourself apart!

13. Guest Post on Another Blog

There are times when you can write different posts for other blogs in order to reach a new audience.  It can help you build trust and brand awareness if your content is shared on other sites other than your own blog. This shows other people believe in your content.

14. Send Out Random Surveys to Your Clients and Readers

There are plenty of sites that have services for survey design and distribution. It is important that you ask your readers and clients to contribute to the business planning process through social media. It is important that you know what they are thinking… you also want them to understand you care.

15. Be Aware of Your Search Engine Rankings

If a client or potential client is researching social media and your name is ranked for the search terms… you are building trust. Check out Slingshot SEO if you are wanting some help in the world of search engine marketing.

16. Comment on Other Blogs

Comments on blogs and websites allow for your name and ideas to be spread at a faster pace. This is old news in terms of marketing on the Internet… it is known around the world that if you post comments… you will receive more traffic. Post 1-2 a week on your favorite blog.

17. Get Involved in Your Community and Share on Social

Community development and participation is key when building a business. It is the community whether online or offline that drives business for every small business owner. Get involved in your community and share your involvement on social media. This could mean that you share a picture of attending a fundraising event on Twitter or Facebook. You can also get involved with Causes via Facebook.

18. Be Responsive in Your Social Media Use

From the Science of Building Trust in Social Media post from Mashable:

Olson finds that when only text is available, participants judge trustworthiness based on how quickly others respond. So, for instance, it is better to respond to a long Facebook message “acknowledging” that you received the message, rather than to wait until there’s time to send a more thorough first message. Wait too long and you are likely to be labeled “unhelpful,” along with a host of other expletive-filled attributions the mind will happily construct.

It is important to remember that being responsive is huge. When a problem is happening on social media… it is happening.. NOW.

19. Do Not Over-share Your Content

We want to know what you are doing but we REALLY don’t what to know what you are doing…. does that make sense? There is only so much content you can share on a daily basis. Unfortunately there are no true laws (or rules) that apply to each social networking site. In my book Twitter Marketing for Dummies, I write about the 4-1-1 rule… for every six pieces of content you share (4 should be from other people, 1 should be your content, 1 should be content from your industry).

20. Be Findable

It is important that your social profiles and your accounts are findable whe

Qualifying and Quantifying Your Social Media Strategy

Corvida has an awesome post on Chris Brogan’s blog called Decreasing Our Connections While Increasing Our Networks. The basic rundown of the post (which you should go read) is her exasperation over the amount of “friends” she has over various networks and the lack of a deeper and real connection between the two.

From the post:

Maybe growth on some of these networks isn’t the best thing in the world. Should there be self-imposed limits on how many people you befriend? No because in the end, while your network growth may increase, your connection with your network still increases. However, the rate at which the connection can increase actually decreases. Did that make sense? Unless your friends are constantly questioning you or keeping tabs on you, it’s going to take a lot longer to make deeper connections the more your network grows.

We have been talking a lot about creating deeper relationships through social media. When you are adding hundreds of people on networks like Twitter, Facebook, and other networks it is hard to make the same connection as before! Iwrote recently about turning friends, followers, and subscribers into a deeper connection. After all the purpose of sharing in a community driven environment should be relationship building whether for business or personal use.

The question has been presented: How do you take the massive amount of users on social networks and par them down to create meaningful relationships online? Quantify and Qualify.

Quantifying Your Social Media Experience

There are some networks where a huge following is necessary to gain the full experience of the site. FriendFeed is where I quantify my FriendFeeders for the ultimate experience. Quantifying in a social media world basically means I gain an increased quality of experience based on the quantity of the people I am following.

Qualifying Your Social Media Experience

I qualify my niche networks in social media. I have found that I have an increase in quality without necessary having a huge quantity of followers on my geographically direct communities. Smaller Indiana and LinkedIN have been my niche quality sites for my social media experience. Smaller Indiana is a geographically located social network for people in Indiana. And for LinkedIN? I only tend to add people I have met in an offline environment on LinkedIN. My niche networks tend to be the place where there is a direct form of quality conversations.

How do you manage your networks? Do you find you get more or less quality based on the quantity of your friends or subscribers?

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25 Ways to Engage Contacts in Social Media

What is it? What is it good for? Engagement.

One of the primary selling points of social media is the concept of engaging a potential customer or partner in your product or service. So how do you accomplish engagement on a personal level?

25 Ways to Engage a Potential Customer Using Social Media

1. Start a blog. This seems like an obvious one. This should be one of the first things you think about doing when contemplating using social media as a marketing tool. There should always be a hub where your contacts can interact. The so called “hub.” WordPress is a great tool to start blogging. Get on it!

2. Join Foursquare and Use it during the business day. Foursquare is a service that allows you to update your location to the people following you on a regular basis. I do not recommend using this tool after business hours (could turn a little creepy) but it can help your contacts get an idea of what you do on a daily basis. Even if you are just sitting in your office for most of the day.

3. Join LinkedIN and recommend your partners. Most of us are already using LinkedIN (if you are not click thislink for great information on LinkedIN). When you start to recommend the people you love working with it will help spread the goodwill that your business partners deserve. What happens you spread goodwill? Ever heard of pay-it-forward?

4 and 5. Start an RSS Reader and Find 5 Blogs to Follow. It is important that you use an RSS Reader to help with the organization of the blogs you read. For more information on starting and maintaining an RSS Feed check out this link. By using a Technorati or Google BlogSearch you can find 5 blogs that are industry “blog leaders” in your dedicated profession. By following and commenting on the blogs you will start to engage other readers.

6. Place a Poll on Your Blog or Website. There are plenty of tools available for polling on your website or blog. Wp-polls is a great resource if you are connected with wordpress. Ask a question to your audience. How can I make my content better? What are you wanting to read or learn about? This will help in engaging your more loyal readers and followers. Formstack also gives you the ability to create forms and polls for easy content access and building.

7. Ask a Loyal Reader  to Guest Post. There is value in having your loyal readers do a guest post for your blog. They will feed your link to their subscribers and it also gives them a pride in ownership of your blog. This allows for the strengthening of a relationship in the long run.

8. Identify Your Strategy. This should have been number one because it is the more important thing you could be doing before online marketing. If you do not have a strategy in place to lead the charge into social media you will be at a lost when it becomes overwhelming. A strategy allows you to measure success points in your social media journey. This only helps when it comes to YOU engaging THEM.

9. Focus. Really Focus on Your About Page. What is the second most read page on a blog? The about page. People want to know who they are communicating with. The last thing you need to do (and I am also guilty of this on my personal blog KyleLacy.com) is to create a boring about page. Spice it up. Add some details that will create the best about page you could possibly want! Also.. enable comments on your about page. Allow people to comment on yours likes and dislikes.

10. Use Twitter on a Daily Basis. Now this might be a little overwhelming to the young at heart in social media but Twitter is fast becoming the ideal means of online communication. For a detailed explaination of Twitter check outDiTii.com’s video.

11. Add Your Social Media Information to Your Business Card. I have written a ton about this in previous posts. If you want to truly engage with the people you meet offline… add your social media sites to your business card. I have my LinkedIN, Twitter, and Blog URLs on my business card.

12. Be open to collaboration. You may have run your small-to-mid sized business for years by yourself but social media is built on the art of collaboration. People will be giving their opinions on a daily basis and it is in your best interest to take those opinions with stride. Collaborate and join in on discussions surrounding ideas related to your industry and your life. Collaborate. Learn. Listen.

13. Start a Facebook Page and Add in Your Family Life. Facebook is an extremely personal tool that can be used to connect with individuals on an emotional basis using pictures. You have to be open in sharing some of your family life with the outside world. There is a reason why PR companies have used the idea of “family man” to save many tarnished CEOs. Add pictures of your family, your dog, your vacation. People will connect. (New to Facebook. Check out this link on getting started as a company).

14. Pick 4 Social Sites and Maximize. You will become anti-social if you become overwhelmed with the multitude of different social media sites in which you are a member. We teach a 4-touchpoint theory of choosing four social media sites to spend your time. With a limited amount of time you will find that 4 sites benefits you in two main ways:

1. You will have more brain “bandwidth” to communicate on a deeper level.

2. The same people will pretty much be on all the sites you choose. (I say this loosely)

15. When someone comments on your blog email them a thank you. I learned this from the famous Gary Vaynerchuk. If someone is joining into the conversation on your blog and adding content make sure you thank them for your support. The people who show a vested interest are key to growing your readership. Don’t be alarmed if you don’t have time to email people the moment they comment. It sometimes takes me weeks before I send a follow up email.

16. Write About Personal Experience. We talk a lot about this. Write about the way you see life. Write about the way you experience your business on a daily basis. TAlk about how you are helping people. Talk about how you are solving the problems on a daily basis. Use Twitter. Use Facebook. Tell stories on your blog. People engage in stories. They connect with stories.

17. Try to Keep Yourself Within 450 Words or Less on Your Blog. It is important to keep blog posts concise and to the point. If you have trouble writing this will help you in the long run. As you can tell by the post you are currently reading, it is not essential that you keep it to 450 words. If you have advice and knowledge to send out to the masses.. . please do so. If you keep blog posts short it helps to keep readers and that is the goal.

18. Remember Quality vs Quantity. Quality is always better than Quantity. I have always said that 100 extremely engage readers are infinitely better than 4000 quasi engaged readers. Quality allows you to truly form relationships with the people you are dealing with on a daily basis. You can build your base anyway you like but make sure you always come back to quality over quantity.

19. Monitor the Conversation around Your Brand both Personal and Professional. For more on this read:25 Tools and Tips to Following Your Brand Online. Why is it important to follow your brand online? You need to be involved in all the conversations surrounding your product, service, or YOU.

20. DO NOT HARD SELL! I am going to repeat this again: Do Not Hard Sell. This means you are not sharing about sales and detail after detail about your company. It means you are concentrating on listening to the people who are investing in your writing and social media prescence. Nobody cares about your 50% sale. They care about who will be greeting them at the door of your store or place of business. Personality rules and if you want to act like a used-car sales man… go work at one.

21. Handwritten Notes Go Places. If you have an individual refer you business through the online environment.. we encourage people to use the old method and handwrite a note to that person. You would be surprised how far a handwritten note will get you!

22. Setup Columns in Tweetdeck or Hootsuite for Use in Twitter. In order to follow the conversation surrounding your industry, clients, competitors, and your business… the tools provided through Tweetdeck and Hootsuite allow you to manage and organize tweets based on keywords or search functionality. Follow up to 3 columns and get involved in the conversation!

23. Use Rapportive to Connect with Your Email Database. Rapportive is a service that gives you the ability to connect with different contacts in your Gmail Inbox. A profile picture will appear to the side of the email and give you different information facts about the sender of the email. For more information on Rapportive read the LifeHacker post on the tool.

24. Try to Answer All Comments on Your Blog. It can be a daunting task. I felt guilty typing out this step because I am extremely bad at replying to comments. In all reality, the people you care about most…. should be the people who comment on your blog.

25. Use Rapleaf to Produce Segmentation Reporting for Your Email Database. Rapleaf is a reporting company who helps you better understand who your customers are and their social personalities. This service can give you some SWEET data on user engagement and cross platform marketing.

Are You Going to the YouToo Social Media Conference?

I wanted to let you all know about the YouToo Conference in Akron, Ohio on April 16th. I am going to be opening for Phil Gomes of Edelman Digital (Chicago).  theI can’t wait for this because it is going to be a fun time and AWESOME!

Check out the information and be sure to check out the YouToo Social Conference website.

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It’s not just Web sites and e-mail anymore. The use of social media in marketing and business communications exploded during 2009. In 2010, social media are being used in all phases of operations for companies and non-profits.

Business and non-profit communicators and students can learn how to tap into this vital network at the Third Annual You Too Social Media Conference to be held Friday, April 16, at Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Franklin Hall, itself a national model for communications education.

The all-day conference, co-sponsored by the Akron Area Public Relations Society of America Chapter and the PRSSA Kent State Chapter, will include hands-on sessions with expert presenters in such branding tools as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. There will also a dessert reception for professionals and students to network.

Who: Akron Area PRSA and PRSSA Kent

What: Third Annual YouToo Social Media Conference

When: Friday, April 16, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Franklin Hall
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
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Social Media for Lead Generation? Maybe Not

I came to a conclusion about lead generation and customer service while I was reading through “The State of Small Business Report” from Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. The report focuses on the development of small business and a section of the report talked about social media adoption. Social media adoption has actually doubled for small business over 2009 from 12% to 24%. However, that is not the interesting stat.

Based on the performance of Social Media image to the left it was rare when social media actually met the expectations of the business owner. This could be chalked up to higher expectations but there is an interesting dynamic that I recognized in the stats. The one stat that actually received higher than expected results was the collaborating more externally with vendors and customers.

This further supports thoughts I have had with Jason Baer and Brandon Prebynski... we talked about the concept of people laughing about social media being used for lead generation. The true value of social media is ingrained in communication through stories and customer service. We are talking about a communication medium where sharing, customer retention, and customer communication are absolutely… positively… king.

This also supports the concept of enterprise systems developing more social capabilities in the software helping corporate cultures market and communicate. Every facet of customer communication needs to be looking towards social as another way to speak values across a subset of people.

It is hard to imagine a world where every social media consultant is NOT talking about lead generation. However, we may be experiencing another shift in the way we look at social media.

By the way… small business is still increasing spending in social media. Let the games begin.