The Black Plague of Twitter and How To Be Vaccinated

There is a black plague sweeping across the Twitter world… a force threatening to destroy the very piece of personality that we all love..The black plague fills up your inbox with dank… meaningless fodder and then throws your account into a chaotic mess. We are all infected with this disease… at least once or twice a day.

We have all experienced it.. The Hard-Sell Auto DM

The virus looks something like this:

BoyIwantMoney: Welcome, thanks for following me. Generate A Massive Following On twitter..http://www.thinkpowerfulnow…

We are just not getting to the bottom of the HS-ADM virus. Unfortunately there are some 25 million people infected with this virus on a daily basis. What are we to do? Well… let me tell you my friend… you are lucky that a vaccination has been developed to help rid you of the HS-ADM virus. We have developed a 5 step method to help. If you receive an Auto-DM that has anything to do with multi-level marketing, power juice, or building your following you 60,000… the following steps are for you.

5 Steps to Ridding Yourself of the HS-ADM Virus

1. Respond to the “infected” by replying (@BoyIwantMoney) to them in the open Twitter sphere. Make sure the world knows that they are using Auto-DM. Also make sure you are very clear to the culprit that you would appreciate them NOT using HS-ADM. This may not deter other individuals from sending an Auto-DM but it will help.

2. Send an DM back to the culprit and tell them that you do not appreciate them spreading HS-ADM and you would be grateful if they STOPPED!

3. After receiving an HS-ADM un-follow the infected IMMEDIATELY and tell them why you are un-following them.

4. Send the infected this link from TweeterBlog: Tweetlater Opt Out Instructions. And please… do it yourself.

5. Sign my Auto-DM Petition here. Click here to sign.

There are a few strands of HS-ADM that are okay. If the infected tries to sell you something via direct message… you need to enact the 5 steps. Now, if it is a welcome message that says hello and thanks for following.. it is okay… even though they are still infected. Make sure you judge accordingly.

Hopefully we will all be able to rid ourselves of the HS-ADM. If not.. God help us all.

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29,000 Reasons To Use Video for Social Media Marketing

According to Mashable there are 20 hours of video uploaded every minute to Youtube.

Hold on one second..  Let me rephrase that for you.

Approximately 29,000 hours of online video content are uploaded to YouTube every.. single.. day.

This rising trend in uploading of video content is showing a transition with how people are communicating. We are demanding more visually stimulating information other than the blog posts, twitter tweets, and facebook messages.  The truth of the matter is this…

You are not going to be uploading video to YouTube in hopes of people searching for and finding the content inside of the site… You are going to be uploading the content to YouTube in order to broadcast it on other communication mediums (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Myspace, and more importantly.. your website).

So what is the best way for a business to use online video? There are two steps:

1. Find a video production company that can help with filming your video or buy a Flip Cam and record it yourself.

2. Call your best clients and ask them if you can feature them on your website.

Get your clients excited about becoming referral sources for your business and use video to push that message.  We are stimulated by the visual representation of the emotion WE want to feel.. Give your potential clients that feeling.

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Redefining Your Customers with Social Media

There are many applications for social media when it comes to your business. We can talk about everything from content sharing, increase of qualified search traffic, or content creation. There is still one way that ranks in the top 5 reasons to use social media…

Turning Your Customers into Evangelists

We all hear the term… customer evangelists and to be honest, we have no idea what that truly means. Social media tools and the medium itself has finally created a way to truly reap the benefits of global communication with your best clients and friends.

You have the ability to use social media to empower your customers. You are creating a medium that turns your customers into the sounding board for your business story… and ultimately your business growth.

The next time you start to define your social media marketing plan… remember to include turning your customers into evangelists… one link at a time.

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Social Media Marketing to Increase by 48%

Thanks to Chris Baggott at Compendium Blogware for pushing this data at me. I have seen the graph before but not the updated version. Chris’ post talks about the merit of SEO and email marketing being at the forefront of the increases in online marketing budgets over the next year… I wanted to focus on the third one..

Social media marketing.

It is encouraging to see social media marketing and SEO sliding into the top three spots in the online marketing budgets of companies all over the world. It shows that businesses owners from all over the world are taking a closer look at sites like Twitter and organic search engine optimization in the form of blogging (guessing there).

What does this mean to the business owner?

In my opinion, you should follow the trend or get left in the dust.

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Top 5 Reasons B2B PR Practitioners Should Embrace Social Media

Today’s guest post is by Paige Holden of BlissPR. Bliss PR specializes in creating and promoting thought leadership, using a variety of public relations and marketing communications techniques. They help their clients develop points of view, predictions, trend commentary and insights, positioning them as experts in the media and category leaders in their markets.

Top 5 Reasons B2B PR Practitioners Should Embrace Social Media

If you’ve seen any B2B public relations professionals recently, you may want to give them a gift certificate to a spa treatment or at least a pat on the back.  They’re feeling more than a little shell shocked.

I was, too.  Social Media is just beginning to hit B2B PR and our industry is scrambling to find our footing and help our clients. But it’s time to stop stalling and start learning.  Here’s why:

Traditional media is dying. It’s not a secret that traditional media is either dying or going online. This presents a slew of new challenges for public relations practitioners who rely on the media to help communicate clients’ messages. In our firm, we don’t throw splashy events or launch exciting new products. We clarify and refine complex stories for niche audiences. With business publications folding, our small universe is getting smaller and, unless we find new ways to communicate, we won’t be sustainable.

Know the news before it breaks. News breaks faster online than anywhere else. When the plane crashed in the Hudson River, the story was discussed ad nauseum on Twitter before it even hit television. Monitoring breaking news for my experts is a huge part of my job. I find that Twitter, and other networks, keeps me ahead of the media time curve.

Networking online is more efficient. PR is an industry fueled by networking, but who has time to go to out every night? Between Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs, there is no excuse to be a stranger. Every day I touch base with peers, thought leaders and the media which helps me not only develop stronger relationships, but also become a smarter professional.

Social media belongs in the PR bucket. Public relations professionals have an opportunity to learn it, embrace it and start building services around it before another industry steals it. There has been some debate over which “bucket” social media should fall into, but I adamantly believe public relations should own it. Sure, the implementation is different, and it does get “techy” at times, but social media is first and foremost a communications vehicle. The principles inherent in using social media – creativity, transparency and responsiveness – are the same philosophies that we use in PR every day.

“Tribes” have replaced traditional audiences: As Seth Godin explains in his new book, the online community is actually composed of millions of smaller groups of “tribes” – people who are passionately devoted to their own interests. Whether it’s shoes, personal finance or accounting law, there is a group of people waiting to be found and activated. Understanding how to serve these new communities must be part of every PR professional’s “tool kit.”

Counseling nervous clients. Clients see social media as a PR tool, so they will ask you about it.  Because clients are likely nervous about social media, it’s important to “get” it before you sell it. Unfortunately, market demand for social media has incented people into selling it as a service before they are ready, which is not only dishonest, but it can also yield poor results that will send clients packing. Surely let your clients know that social media is all about testing and learning, but you shouldn’t be mastering the basics on their dime.

What do you think…what’s holding you back from using social media tools? Or do you have some “getting started” lessons you can share with us?

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Betweeted: A New Form of Twitter Advertising?

There was a new service released upon the Twitter world a couple of weeks ago from a firm in Indianapolis. Betweeted.  Here is the scoop from their website.

There’s not much to tell, really. Carter and Company, LLC is a marketing firm based out of Indianapolis, IN. We started down the path of blogging for clients several years ago, then that evolved into other areas of social media. Most recently, we decided to come up with a faster, better way to help companies be heard through social media while still keeping spam to a minimum. I think we’ve struck gold.

Yeah, you might have a lot of questions spinning through your head. Is this acceptable? Is it spamming? Can I, in good conscience, introduce my followers to links that I get paid to share? I would encourage you to read our FAQ. If you have any more direct questions, by all means, email us. Believe it or not, we read them.

I have been checking out BeTweeted for two reasons.

1. I know and like the owner and developer of the app and company
2. I’m skeptical of paid advertising and sharing on a social platform.

I wanted to send this out over the waves of social media to get some feedback about what people thought about the new service. I think it is a good idea and could amount to some pretty terrific marketing.

As long as you keep the personality involved.

So what do you think? Is the business model viable? I think so.

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#1 Reason Why Small Biz Should Use Social Media

Catchy title huh?

There has been plenty of talk from social media and small business consultants about the importance of fusing traditional networking with online “social” networking. It is one of the more important things you can do as a business development head or owner of a small to mid-sized business.

Networking has always been at the core of sales for small business owners. Since starting my company two years ago… networking (both online and offline) have driven business to my firm…But do you know what released the flood gates?

Combining my offline networking with my online networking.

John Jantsch hit the nail on the head when he said in his recent post about becoming a social company:

“(social) firms are much easier to refer because they are more deeply connected and socially involved in every facet of their ecosystem”

We can talk for hours about selling online but the real value for business owners is becoming social company and working hard to network both in an online environment and offline environment.

The main thing to remember is that you have to BELIEVE in networking. You have the opportunity to becoming involved with hundreds of people in your immediate location.

So what are the steps to networking online and offline?

1. Join an offline networking group. (I personally use Rainmakers and Confluence here in Indianapolis)

2. Join a locally based online networking group (ie Smaller Indiana)

3. Join a national network and use search functions to locate users in your area. (Twitter and Twitter Search)

You will be pleasantly surprised and remember… it is a way of life and a tool for your business.

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Twitter Changes Rules on Users. No Auto-Follow.

(hat tip to ZDNEt and Chris McEvoy for the lead)

From ZDNet:

“With no notice, Twitter yesterday “pulled the rug out from under its developers” one developer says, by discouraging auto-following and imposing 1,000 person-per-day following limits.”

Now… this is not news to me because of the “pulling the rug out from under its developers” thing or the 1,000 person-per-day following limit… The news to me as a Twitter user… I don’t really remember getting a message or alert that the new limits were going to be enacted. I use Twitter on a daily basis. It seems fairly odd that I would not know about the change.

Other than me having a selfish ego trip… what do I really think about the change?

I think it is excellent that Twitter is keeping people from using an Auto-Follow feature. It adds personality into a website that is growing by leaps and bounds and has the potential of turning into another worthless spam whore. By keeping people from auto-following each other you force people to really think about who they are connecting with, which in my mind makes the site more valuable.

What do you think about the change?

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I Don’t Care If You Are On Facebook and Twitter

There are hundreds of thousands of ways you can use social media.

Facebook… Twitter… Vimeo… YouTube… LinkedIN… SmallerIndiana… Plaxo…
They go on and on and on and on and on.
The tools are becoming universal. They are becoming secondary. The learning curve is dissapearing. 

Frankly… it isn’t unique anymore to just be on Facebook and Twitter. The world is hitting social media with a force and with that force comes millions of people using the same tool. How do you set yourself apart? How do you make a difference using the same site (Facebook) that upwards of 250 million people are using?

Put your heart into the content. Create an extreme value that PEOPLE and the masses cannot ignore. Only then will you cut through the noise. 

Gary Vaynerchuk has an excellent video blog that talks at length about the vale of content and the “2.0 hustle.” Do two things: 

1. Watch the video below

2. Follow the link above and subscribe to every little ounce of Gary Vaynerchuk content your little mouse pointer can handle..

Guest Post: Twit-O-Rama – Social Media Bug Bites Kathy Ireland, and Me

Today’s Guest Post is by Jeff Timpanaro is the president of Oberata Consulting, a 2009 Certified Total Integration firm, based in Kingwood, TX. Oberata is a consulting firm founded on the principles of strategy, process, and transformation, and utilizes the Total IntegrationTM system of business consulting. This system has helped business owners and professionals in the Fortune 100 with definitive, measurable operating strategies that produce unprecedented growth and profitability.

———–

(from the Honda Auto Repair Shop waiting room)

As I write this, supermodel and supermom (self-nominated I presume) Kathy Ireland is busy touting Twitter on the Today Show. “I just love my TwitterBuddies!” she beams, with annoying enthusiasm.

Interviewer Ann Curry is mindlessly heaping sugar onto an already hyper-happy conversation. “IT-WAS-SO-GREAT-TO-TALK-TO-YOU-KATHY!” she spews. “THANKS, ANN, replies Kathy, exceeding Ann’s volume. “IT’S BEEN SO GREAT TO TALK TO YOU . . A REAL MOM . . THIS MORNING!”

Kathy’s amped up about her new book (forget the name) – but it’s something about real solutions for real moms.

Kathy’s spunky energy aside, what was more noteworthy about the interview was the continued talk of Twitter in everyday parlance. You can’t throw a pebble these days without hitting Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Plaxo, or the glut of other social media out there.

Even though many consumers – and business owners – are still wondering what all the fuss is all about, Kathy has apparently guzzled the social media Kool-Aid, and is banking on a successful campaign for her new book.

SOCIAL MEDIA and YOUR BUSINESS

Why is this bikini-hottie-turned-entrepreneur so excited about Twitter? Is she looking for meaningful relationships? Insert LOL. Her comment about “loving her TwitterBuddies” is pretty disingenuous, because the simple reason for her excitement is that zillions of solution-hungry moms are spending a zillion hours on Twitter today. Do you think that might impact her book sales?

Kathy’s message – and bubbliness – have become viral through Twitter (viral is good, folks – it means the thing you’re promoting is spreading like wildfire). To date, Kathy has 4,481 followers – moderate by Twitter standards – but numbers will certainly spike after her Today interview (and Twitter mention).

Mrs. Ireland’s celebrity, relationships, and ample budget notwithstanding, social media is part of her master marketing plan. I don’t have her sales projections, but I bet they would be paltry compared to pre-social media forecasts.

PART OF YOUR REINVENTION

If you’re not at least curious about Twitter and other social media as it relates to promoting your business, you are “ostriching” (a Kathy Ireland word I just learned).  Yes, that’s burying your head in the sand.  Historically, other breakout inventions that the experts “ostriched” about include the computer, the automobile, and the drive-thru window.

“In a world of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” – J.P. Kelley

I am not saying Twitter is a silver bullet or a marketing savior for you.  I am also not saying that you should engage social media.  I am saying that if you keep yourself in the dark, you may be missing a huge swath of prospects that you serve best . . . who until now haven’t been able to find you.

I’m doing a 12-month trial to see what the use of social media holds for my own business.  It’s too early to tell, but my website traffic has tripled since January.  I’m working on a better net (or conversion strategy), but for the short term, I’m excited about the hike in traffic to me.

Oh dear I’m starting to sound like Kathy Ireland.