For the morning of May 11, 2011

7 Reasons Replacing a Website With Social Media Is Stupid http://flpbd.it/IBcQ

I don’t agree with all of these, but it is probably my age – How to Hire a Social Media Expert http://flpbd.it/GyMi

How to Overcome the Overwhelming Nature of Social Media Marketing http://flpbd.it/Olx2

Google Announces Movie Rentals And Music Service http://flpbd.it/ESc3

3 Big Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Essential for Your Business http://flpbd.it/arFe

How to Build a Free Social Media Monitoring Dashboard http://flpbd.it/7Rgg

Half of UK businesses ban social media at work http://tnw.to/18Din

Microsoft: We Promise Not To Screw Up Skype http://Dthin.gs/6018R8W4

As Twitpic Signs Picture Agency Deal, Mobypicture Hands Control Back http://tcrn.ch/myxik4

These may be reoccurring blog posts if I share a bunch of links again. If you want to follow me between 7am and 8am PST you can find me sharing useful links I find.

A lot of businesses don’t think that they can actually be social, therefore they give up quickly. Or they don’t put in the time. This example shows how a small little business found social in what they do.

I love to think how I can make any business social. I like to come up with ideas about how they can drive traffic to Facebook and Twitter, how they can have conversations there, and how they can become the most likeable business in their niche.  So when I saw with this pizza joint was doing, I thought it was wonderful. Not only for followers of the pizza joint, but how this pizza joint was thinking outside of the box.

photo © 2009 Thomas Quine | more info (via: Wylio)

Here is what they propose: as a busy delivery evening was about to take off, whoever managed their Twitter and Facebook account got on their and posted a similar message to this ” whoever takes a picture of our delivery van while not in our parking lot and posts it on our Facebook wall will receive a free pizza.”

This instantly creates a social challenge for everyone who follows them on Twitter and Facebook to go out and try and find their delivery van. This is genius because every time one of the people that follows them posts a photo of the delivery van it would show up in their timeline as well and therefore show up to all of their friends. What better advertising is there than that, you have people posting photos of your delivery van with your company name plastered all over.

I can’t comment on how well this campaign worked, but it sounds great and is very creative. So if you ever think you don’t have an idea worth doing, just give it a shot and see how it goes, and if you need help that’s why I’m here.

Have you seen any other creative Facebook campaigns, from small local businesses? Let us know below.

Potentially this proposal was saying that if someone wanted to complain about your business or something that is associated with it they would come to your Facebook Page or Twitter account to do it. People would basically come right to you to complain.

photo © 2009 Aitor Calero | more info (via: Wylio)

They say this is a threat because what business wants their customers complaining on their page for all other customers to see. Agreed, but I see this is an opportunity and I will tell you why, with an example first.

Years ago before Social Media and potentially the Internet, if a person wanted to complain about your business they would just tell their friends and maybe their friends would tell their friends and so on. Yes the process was a lot slow back then, but no where in there do you have the opportunity to possibly fix the issue from the businesses point.

The reason I say this is an opportunity is because now with Social Media, a business has the opportunity to respond to a complaint, publicly, and show that they want to right a wrong. They want to change that complainers opinion of the business and they want everyone else on that page to see that they reached out to this customer to help them.

You see this humanizes your business, you show to your customers and everyone else that you are real people just like them that want to help. I’m telling you, if I see something like this I’m much more likely to go back to them in the future knowing that if I do have a problem they would be more likely to help fix the issue.

What is your take. Do you see this as an opportunity or a threat.

I wont write to much about everything that he discussed but I will break some of the main points in to Parents and Students.

Students

The biggest things I think Jesse was trying to explain to students was 1) most students Facebook profiles are public and 2) the consequences of posting certain things. He speaks about how almost every employer will Google potential employees before even calling them for an interview. Another point he makes is the risks of these networks, although most of these threats have been around since the early days of online chat rooms.

From the sounds of it the students he presented to during the day actually learned something from what he had to say, some even scared.

Parents

I attended the parents awareness meeting later in the day, which was to make parents aware of what their kids might be up to online. Granted, Jesse didn’t know exactly what they kids were posting, but he shared that within a few Google searches he could see the entire network of people around the North Peace Secondary School in Fort St John. He again shared some stories about teenagers who got caught up in scandals that either wound them up dead or is serious trouble.

It seems like parents were starting to understand these networks and what their children might be up to. Jesse also offered some methods of handling students accounts, it being built on trust.

My Take

Okay so I probably didn’t capture the meeting very well, but I think a lot of it was showing off some of the scaring things about what kids might be up to on Facebook. What I was a little disappointed about was the lack of the positive sides. I understand the shock factor and how it may be the only way to scare people into being smarter online, but I truly believe there is a positive side to students using Social Networks.

I wont get into the story of how I got a job through Social Media, but I will let you know about a scenario which happened at one of my workshops a couple weeks ago. A couple highschool students were in attendance and I wanted to let them know about the positive things they could do with Social Networks. I explained to them about the fact that no matter what your interests are or what you want to do after highschool, chances are someone is talking about it online. I shared that if they were to join those communities, get to be a trusted person amoung those people and build yourself a positive Social Media footprint, than the opportunities just might start coming quicker. Now I explained this a little better to them and I could tell they were taking it in. Their eyes widened as they though about the possibilities.

My point is, yes there is a downside to these networks for students, but there is also a huge positive side. It is just showing students and parents that it is there. A person wouldn’t walk around naked in the street, because someone might see them, if they knew that about the Internet do you think they would still do it?

Business aside, I’d love to work with some of the local schools about working with students to understand some of the beneficial things they can use Social Networks for. That aside though, what is your take on Students using Social Networks and how should parents handle their children on these networks?

I’m finding a lot of articles on how “they” are “late to the game” but no one seems to be offering good advice for potential agents to get on Social Media.

See:

• http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2010/04/26/109259.htm
• http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/04/26/insurance-industry-explores-social-media-but-nothing-to-write-home-about/
• Then there is this… http://www.socialmediaforinsurancepros.com/

Personally I see a big opportunity for these agents to get on to the networks like Facebook and Twitter and share information from their industry as well as building relationships with people within the community.

What I think I may produce is a post on tips and tricks for Insurance Agents on Social Media.

Mashable does still create content worth reading and I still recommend it, but I don’t find myself reading the site much anymore. I’m fairly certain it is purely because of all the chaos that is also happening on the site at the same time. Today for example I landed on the site to read an article on some of the influential Social Media Marketers in the industry today, but I couldn’t unless I scrolled below the fold. I find this unacceptable, personally.

As you can see from the photo above, none of the articles actual content is showing. The only reason I know I’m on the right page is because thankfully the title is there. There are Google Ads stuffed into every cranny of the site and what isn’t a Google Ad is most likely Mashable promoting other stories on their site. I find this funny, because wouldn’t they want me to read the article and then navigate to another.

Maybe it is because they are becoming more corporate and need the ad money or maybe they think I’m smart enough to scroll down. Another possibility is, maybe they think anyone that would write about it reads Mashable from a Feed Reader and doesn’t have this problem, only less smart people actually go to the site and therefore don’t know the difference.

I’m not intentionally trying to rip into Mashable just trying to point out some basic blogging practices people drove into my head. Then again I could be totally wrong, and Mashable in the right and making the millions because of it. What do you think?

These infographics are always neat to look at and give us a good idea as to what is happening around us. Whether it be Online Information, Population or Food, it gives us a different view.

Every time I see an Infographic like the one below, that is pertaining to my line of work I am always facinated. I like seeing the information, but often times it is inaccurate for clients I work with and the area I’m in. Northern Canada, whether Yellowknife or Northern BC, is different. Local is different here, and I am working hard to figure it out.

It would be easy for me to work in a bigger area where Social Media is already embedded into peoples lives, but I don’t think we are at that point yet. I still need to tell people what Twitter is and why it is beneficial. This is fine, because I know a year or two, from now when it comes come around up here, I will be on the front line.

So my contribution to educating people in the area I live in is by sharing information like this.

[Via HubSpot]

So this got me thinking, what is it that interests me? Well I am fairly certain it is Social Media. But it is even more than that, there is Social Media Marketing and Social Media the tools/sites.

I have found many Social Marketing type podcasts out there, one good one being Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel (also has a book by the same name) but nothing with the mix I am looking for.

I guess you could say I am looking for a good roundtable discussion on what is happening in the Social Media Industry as well as bit of Marketing talk mixed in there.

I’m not sure if such a podcast exists but that is why I need your help. We are a community and collectively we can find this kind of podcast. Or, they is always an or, we could always start our own, but I wouldn’t be able to do that alone.

Let’s find this podcast then we can listen together. Help me out here.

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
The Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Nine Yahoo Buzz ups,
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Ten MySpace Tom’s a-leaping,
Nine Yahoo Buzz ups,
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eleven front page Diggs,
Ten MySpace Tom’s a-leaping,
Nine Yahoo Buzz ups,
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Twelve more SM months ahead,
Eleven front page Diggs,
Ten MySpace Tom’s a-leaping,
Nine Yahoo Buzz ups,
Eight gains on Technorati,
Seven Scoble gadgets,
Six BackType comments,
Five brand new friends,
Four Facebook apps,
Three Brogan blog posts,
Two Magpie tweets,
And the Twitter bird in a pear tree!

Merry Christmas Everyone

Getting into Social Media is not like buying a Radio ad. Getting into Social Media is more like going to a conference. Social Media is a networking tool, hence “social network.” Chances are this person has a certain set of skills or knowledge base, well why not share it. That is what Social Media is, the sharing of what you know and joining other conversations on that topic.

For example, if I were a mechanic I would watch keywords about automotive problems and such. Car, broken, brakes, noise, AAA, CAA, and so on. I would then start answering people who are asking about those potential problems. Over time I would build trust with people and would start to see a community being born. As other people see that people trust me, they are more likely too and would join in. Then it is like a snowball effect. Eventually, instead of me having to go out and search for questions, people would come directly to me. Finally, as you gain peoples trust you will start and see an increase in actual business, because you have shown that you are not just out for their money, you are out to help get them back on the road.

Many more example can be stated, but the key to this post is that if you want to get into the Social Media space you have to be willing to.