Go Elf Yourself. Again.
You can go elf yourself. Again. Courtesy of Office Max.
Last holiday season, the elfyourself program proved wildly popular. This year, you can elf your entire family, office, or cell block.
With new dance moves — including Disco, Country, and the Charleston — you can spread mischievous 2008 elfin fun on email. Or you can get all social media with FaceBook or MySpace and let your video spread like influenza in December.
Give your boss a new look for the new year. Let the elfification or elfamorphisis begin. If you haven’t already, go Elf Yourself. Or go elf a friend.
A fine use of technology. It’s what Grace Hopper dreamed of, I’m sure.
Social Media Squatting: How to Protect Your Brand + Reputation!
Harrowing Social Media Squatting Story: Last year, I sent a LinkedIn invitation to a thrilled client after I completed a short project for her company. She never accepted.
After a few weeks, she called to talk about another small project. As we chatted, I asked her if she received my LinkedIn invitation.
“What’s LinkedIn?” she asked.
Although she had never heard of LinkedIn, her profile was up there, showing only her current position. I showed it to her.
“I’ll be,” she said calmly. “Yep, that’s me all right.”
How did this happen?
She surmised that her boss had posted a LinkedIn profile for her.
“Oh, he’s like that,” she explained. “It’s important for him to know who employees are connected to and what we might be saying about the company. I’ll bet it’s just his nerdy little way of spying on us.”
Get Smart. Her lack of concern freaked me out. The idea that someone might be posing as her and communicating with her connections struck me as abusive and wrong. Who knows how her boss might be hurting her reputation? Recruiters are all over LinkedIn — job inquiries might be handled crassly. Her customers and prospects are also on LinkedIn — how is he communicating with them? And vendors — me, for example! — are simply ignored.
The importance of social media squatting. Even if you have no interest in participating at LinkedIn, FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter or a hundred other popular social media sites — you will be interested in protecting your brand and reputation. If you don’t snap up your name now, some jerk may.
Who knows what they will do — as they pretend to be you!
It may not be your boss. It may be a competitor. Or just some opportunistic lowlife that wants to sell it back to you for profit. There’s a rife of name squatting going on in social media — leading many to believe that social media name squatting is the new domain name squatting.
Is your name taken? To find out, visit user name check. Enter your company name, brand names, and of course, your own name. This easy-to-use site will instantly tell you if your handle is still available at over 60 popular social media plays. If your name is still available: snap it up. You may not currently have plans for using MySpace or Twitter: but at least hold your name until you do!
This is not a “when I get around to it” kind of thing. Do it now! I talked to a company owner last month — her name was already taken. Don’t let social media squatting destroy your personal repuation — or your brand(s).
FaceBook Profile V. FaceBook Page: There’s a Difference!
Confusion abounds! There is a difference between a FaceBook Profile and a FaceBook Fan Page. My most-oft question this month concerned creating a FaceBook Fan Page for a business. First, let’s explain the difference between FaceBook Profile and Fan Page:
FaceBook Profile: This is strictly for humans. Hey, that’s you! You’re putting your “Face” on facebook! It’s your picture! It’s your name! It’s your profile! Posting this info makes it easy for you to connect with your friends! You’re posting your status updates, videos, pictures, sending messages, writing on walls, and socializing within the FB environment. For example, here’s my FaceBook Profile Page.
FaceBook Fan Page: Now that you have a FaceBook profile, use it to create a Fan Page for your business. This is where you can post business information: events, videos, photos, specials, promos — and encourage your fans to post testimonials and help spread your business stories. (Since I’m also my own business, I started a FaceBook Fan Page. I also create & administer Fan Pages for other folks & businesses, too.)
Got it? One FaceBook account can create several Fan Pages and assign administrators for different businesses. No need to create separate accounts for each business you rep! But now you want to know — what’s the business advantage of a FaceBook Fan Page?
Energizing and Supporting. A FaceBook Fan Page can help a business find its best customers. The business can then energize its best customers to engage in word-of-mouth marketing. Further, a Fan Page can also be a place where customers can support each other.
Here’s a favorite example of how a FaceBook Fan Page lets the customers of a small business:
a) energize the business with powerful word of mouth marketing and
b) support each other with after-visit care.
The Dolphin Journeys Energizing + Supporting Example. About 14 weeks ago, I helped create a Fan Page for my client, Hawaii-based Dolphin Journeys. Here’s how the customer self-support function of a FaceBook Fan Page works: when you go on a dolphin or whale tour in Hawaii, you often don’t get a great shot from the boat — maybe you’re too excited or having too much fun! But chances are, someone else on the boat captured a terrific video or photo. When you become a fan of Dolphin Journeys, you can upload your terrific shots — and share them with other folks on the boat.
When customers share photos or videos on a Fan Page — they can also spread stories to THEIR friends and families when they return from vacation. And people who didn’t get the shot? They become fans, too — and share the videos, photos, and stories with their friends. And of course, there’s a Wall on the Fan Page where people can write about their experiences — authentic stories that can help spread the word that Dolphin Journeys is a terrific vacation experience.
But wait, there’s more! A FaceBook Fan Page also lets you track metrics, so that you’ll know the number of visitors to your Fan Page and their demographic data. You can also incorporate reviews, events, notifications and more into your FaceBook Fan Pages. Worried about administration? Don’t be. You can assign several administrators, so that when you go on vacation, someone else can be in charge of the Page.
For many businesses, a FaceBook Fan Page may make a great deal of sense. It depends quite a bit on a) how ready your audience is to participate and b) your business objectives.
How has a FaceBook Fan Page helped YOUR business?
A Horrifying Tale of Social Media Ghosts
All at once, I am flattered + horrified.
Flattered, because a public figure asked me to manage her online reputation.
Horrified, because she wanted me to “ghost write” her blog content, accept social media invitations, and interact with her fan base.
Without (much of) her involvement.
The horror!
I have nothing against ghost writers. After all, I write speeches and design presentations for others. It’s a collaborative process. Framing, shaping, editing, and polishing always goes on behind the scenes.
Collaboration is a huge part of ghosting. Without collaboration, it’s not really ghosting. It’s sort of like fiction. But not the good kind of fiction that leads you to deeper universal truths. No, social media fiction of this nature is completely made up junk — with no social value.
photo credit: Sérgio Savaman Savarese
I asked my would-be client about her motivation for getting involved with social media. What are her goals? If the goal is to grow or deepen her fan base, perhaps reaching out to fans through various social media plays can help. Or if the goal is self-expression — maybe social media involvement can provide a vehicle and an audience for creative ideas.
Or maybe not.
But neither of these goals is likely to be achieved through “faking” relationships and stories.
So I made my “no ghost posties” position clear in my pitch. Crystal clear. Transparent, as the social media types say! But my would-be client pushed back: if I wouldn’t do it, she would have to find someone who would.
My arguments about the value of authenticity and truthfulness seemed to fail. Perhaps one argument hit a nerve — the likelihood that she would eventually get caught. Imagine it: a publicist pretending to be a client might ghost-post about how groovy her new nail polish looks. But at the exact same moment, the client is actually getting a traffic citation. Something as simple and inevitable as a simultaneous Twitter/Arrest would definitely brand a public figure as a fake and disgrace.
Getting arrested? No big deal.
Getting outed as a liar on YouTube, FaceBook, or Twitter? That’s hard to live down!
So when it comes to social media, what’s an appropriate role for the publicist? I asked pals on Twitter to share their insights. Here’s their Twittery response:
Perhaps Twitter pal Charity Hisle said it most succinctly: “Set-up, Monitoring, Advice.”
That’s it. In essence, those are the only 3 appropriate social media publicist roles.
- Set up. This can include developing a social media strategy and response framework, as well as navigating the client through technical set-up and initial content creation (profile pictures, resumes, background, schedules, etc. “Publishing Data” as Dennis Stevenson put it. But definitely no character or voice pieces… )
- Monitoring. Listening and responding to online buzz is a huge part of social media publicity. The publicist should stay on top of breaking stories that can impact the reputation of the public figure. That’s where than can offer…
- Advice. A great publicist will put a client’s reputation first and recommend effective practices for navigating the sometimes tricky tributaries of social media channels. Embracing and engaging an online fan base requires authenticity: anything less is likely to be a disaster.
Where do you stand on the ghost-post? How many times have you interacted with a public figure online and thought, “I wonder if I really connected with person — or just their army of advisors?” What’s your trust factor when it comes to public figures and social media? Who have you connected with that seems authentic — and who falls into the “fakin’ it” column?
What is RSS and Why Do You Care?
If you know all about RSS, skip this post. You won’t need it.
Otherwise:
RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. If you see this icon in your browser address bar — or anywhere on a site — it is RSS enabled.
So what, you say. Big deal. Why the heck would you care? Two reasons:
- If you’re interested in saving time and absorbing more relevant information, more quickly than ever before, then yeah. You should care.
- Oh. And if you market a business or an organization online, then yeah. You should care.
Otherwise, seriously:
Skip. This. Post.
RSS is For Smart and Creative People. People who are passionate about spreading ideas are acutely interested in RSS! These kinds of folks love new ideas. They don’t just have new ideas or read new ideas: they also often want to share their ideas. So these creative, inspiring folks add fresh content to their sites. Specials maybe. Or perhaps they’re smart business folks who answer late-breaking, gotta-know questions. Or they clear up misconceptions. Or upload how-to videos. Or keep their public informed with an updated media area…
The point is: with RSS, smart people everywhere are interacting and responding with their online audiences of prospects and customers. The RSS-savvy build a base of subscribers who elect to hear more about what they have to share.
They’re participating in quality conversations that lead to trust. And relationships. And sales.
They’re not “marketing to” prospects.
They’re “talking with” customers. Interacting.
And that’s the power of RSS over static, do-nothing, portfolio / brochure websites.
So: if you don’t understand RSS, get hip quick.
Here’s how to get hip with RSS, in five ridiculously easy steps:
- Get your bad self a free RSS reader. Try Google Reader. There are others, but Google is a trusted brand, so go there. Sign up. Start the account.
- Find a site you like that is RSS enabled. This is not too tough, since most savvy businesses know to RSS enable their sites these days. This site, for example, is RSS enabled. You can see the icon in your browser bar. If you can’t see it there, it’s because you’re using some kind of weirdo browser. It’s OK. Just look for words like “Subscribe with RSS” or the icon that stands for “RSS” on a site. Once again, it often looks something like this, only smaller:
- Click the RSS icon. You’ll get led to what’s known as “the feed” page. Often, this “feed” page will ask you if you want to subscribe. You do. Say yes by clicking the icon that says “Add to Google Reader”. If that’s not available, just copy the URL in the address bar and paste in into Google Reader where it says “Add Subscription”.
- Ta-da. Consider yourself subscribed with RSS. Notice: you didn’t enter an email address, so subscribing with RSS is 100% spam-free! Hurray! You give up zero personal info to subscribe via RSS! You get all of the content you want, with no irritating side effects.
- So go find more RSS sites to subscribe to. There are many ways to do this, but for starters, go to Alltop.com. This site is like a big magazine rack with “All Top” RSS feeds arranged by subject matter. Whether you’re interested in Autos or Zoology — you’ll find an RSS feed for topics you truly cherish.
OK, so at this point, you’re still saying “SO WHAT?” What the *#@%$$!! did I just do, and why do I care? Two BIG FAT RSS benefits:
First benefit: you just saved oodles of time while boosting your intelligence by the power of 100. Don’t believe me? Read on:
When you subscribe to the RSS enabled sites you’re interested in, you don’t have to waste time visiting every site trying to figure out if anything has changed! You visit your Google Reader. You scan your list of subscriptions. If your subscribed sites are un-bold, nothing new has happened. You move on. You don’t waste time. However, if something is bold, it stands out. Something’s new. You click. If the headline hints at something interesting, you read further. (Hint to business owners: learn to write compelling headlines and mouth-watering copy. Otherwise, you’re dead.)
Second benefit: it hits you like a high-voltage spark from the snappiest synapse in your noggin — your online survival depends not on having a flashy, gimmicky website, but one that provides compelling, relevant, helpful, and frequently updated stories and useful information for your visitors.
After you spend a few weeks scanning your RSS feeds, you really start to “get it”. The sites you trust are the ones that consistently give you quality, relevant, timely, and/or entertaining information. The sites that “market at” you are invisible. They’re little more than tired brochures that haven’t changed since 1999. And if they HAVE changed, you don’t know — because they aren’t on RSS. They aren’t on anyone’s radar!
And slowly but surely, these sites will die. Will the businesses they represent die with them?
Marketing 101: People don’t care about you — your product or services — until you’ve established what you can do for them. Use RSS to find and listen to experts you can trust. Then, think about how your own business can harness the power of RSS to spread your own expertise and authenticity.
How Flash Websites Can Be Like Cologne
What does wearing cologne have to do with web design for businesses?
Read the following 381 words.
Every time you read “cologne” — substitute “Flash”. Here goes:
photo credit: Adriano Agulló
Cologne was invented to cover up bad hygiene or mask a foul stench. Many believe that cologne is an attractor, but it isn’t.
You’re attracted to someone long before you experience their cologne.
Whenever I experience cologne in public, I often wonder:
“What’s this person trying to hide?”
or
“Whew! I bet their B.O. would smell better without the heady cologne!”
If I experience your cologne in public, I will try to escape as quickly as possible. Before I become nauseated.
I write this, because lately, I’ve been exposed to people using too much cologne.
Way too much.
Never, ever use cologne under these two circumstances:
- Don’t use cologne at the gym… or where people will be working hard. While working out on the ellipse machine, a guy starts working out next to me. Within a minute, he starts exuding a sweet-smelling stench. I’m breathing hard, so I have to inhale his sick odor. I get a migraine. I have to leave. If you’re using cologne where people are trying to work hard and fast, hard-working folks will get upset and flee.
- Don’t use cologne on the airplane… or where people can’t easily escape. You’re trapped in a small space with others, so show courtesy. Practice good hygiene. Shower. No one should be forced to sit through an unwanted, lingering cologne stench that never seems to end — even after the ride is over.
If I can smell your cologne, you’re wearing too much. Your cologne is for you alone to enjoy. And maybe someone you are already intimate with. That’s it.
It doesn’t count if you WANT to develop closer relationships! Cologne isn’t going to help you attract! Most likely, cologne overuse actually repels. If you want to attract: try being a good person. Have a sense of humor. Keep yourself clean and comely. Work on telling interesting stories.
These tactics make a much better impression than cologne — no matter how expensive the cologne is!
Don’t force your cologne on others. Remember, you might like the smell of your own cologne — but honestly. No one else wants to experience it.
Microsharing is for Morons
The problem with the term “Microsharing” is that no one has really, truly defined it.
The best definition I’ve read of microsharing is:
Microsharing (def) : “you know, applications like Twitter and Pownce.”
Seriously, people. That’s the “best” definition I’ve found!
Fail!
The bigger problem with the term “microsharing”, of course, is that it’s inherently stupid.
We all know what real sharing is. We learned when we were three years old. With one cupcake and two siblings, Mom said,
“Share!”
And we knew, instantly.
“Share!” meant that we tried to divide the cupcake into two equal pieces, and give an equal piece to our brother. Or sister.
“Share!” also led to arguments. Debates. Fits of pique.
But it’s nice to share. After a little bickering over who scored the bigger half, we both came to realize that the act of sharing bonded us together. It created conversation. It created discussions about fairness and harmony and values.
It’s didn’t happen right away. It took time. One little act of sharing didn’t do the trick — but a repeated culture of parent-enforced sharing ultimately deepened our familial relationships.
That’s the Basic Tenet of Learning the Value of Sharing! It takes time. Appreciating the value of sharing didn’t happen right away, but eventually, we learned that participating in a culture that values sharing makes us better people. More polite. Mannerly. Gracious. Richer.
Less likely to call people “Morons!”
So, it’s not nice to “microshare”. The term “micro” sharing seems stingy. Like we’re giving a measly crumb.
And the worst part about the microsharing term… it pretends that a platform that supports multiple conversations is somehow a tiny, little, insignificant thing — instead of almost everything there is to fostering and nurturing valuable human relationships!
If you’re using the term “microsharing” — please stop. It’s demeaning.
And can we come up with a better term? And a better definition?
How about:
Public Conversation Platform — or PCP?
Many people say that Twitter is like crack, so why not PCP?
And as for a definition, how about:
PCP (def.): online sites that
a) support multiple public and private conversations and collections
b) enhance networking, communications, and relationships; and
c) encourage brevity, the very soul of wit?
Whew! That’s a lot for something “micro” to do!
But hey, I’m open to other terms and definitions.
Comment away!
What’s a better term — and definition — for the utterly offensive “microsharing”?
Face the Top Two Website Findability Facts!
Three business people asked me the same internet marketing question within a month, so I reckon this warrants a blog post! The question, roughly translated, is this:
Hey! My stats show that I’m not getting as much search engine traffic as I did a few months/years ago! I’m still in the top 10 for most of my favorite keyword terms, so what gives?”
What gives at the search engines? Generally, a decline in search-generated visitation (when your search positioning hasn’t changed!) can indicate one of two situations:
1. Your industry keywords aren’t as popular as they were before. This can be seasonal — a quick look at Google Trends for the keyword phrase “tulip festival” shows that searches for this term tend to spike in spring and all but disappear in autumn. Naturally!
Other than a decline from seasonal search, you might have to face a harder truth: your products or services may be in market decline. For example, as new technologies become more popular, searches for the term “iPod Shuffle” became less popular. You’re still likely to see “iPod Shuffle” searches spike during the holiday shopping season — but probably nothing like what we saw in 2005.
So ask yourself: is your product seasonal? Or is your product or industry in decline? Because if the answer is “yes” — of course you’re going to get less visitation from the search engines for your search terms!
But if the answer is, “no” — you’ll have to face findability fact #2…
2. People are expanding internet search far beyond Google. Vertical search is certainly becoming more popular. By vertical search, I mean search by industry or topic area. For example, back in 1999 or 2000, you might have thought of “Google” to begin an online “used car” search. Not anymore! Today, you might be more likely to think, “Autotrader.com” to begin your online search for a used car. Notice how the gap narrowed — then crossed. Autotrader.com did not squander its search engine capital — and successfully branded themselves as a top site in automotive vertical search.
Aside from vertical search, social media and other valuable information/networking sites are also fragmenting the amount of searching that your audience performs at Google. When I want to get advice about new products, for example, I find that I am more likely to ask my friends on Twitter or FaceBook or LinkedIn for their advice on where to go and what to try. Google has become my second choice.
Google is becoming the second — or third — choice for many online researchers and buyers as they look for information to help make purchasing or business decisions. If you notice that you’re spending more of your budget and time on search engine marketing for your website — and getting less of a return — it’s certainly time to take a look at your overall findability strategy!
It’s not 1999 anymore! There’s more to findability than Google and Yahoo! Update and diversify your findability strategy for 2008. Vertical search and social media may become an important part of your overall findability and engagement plan.
Six Seconds That Cost Billions
Here is a 6 second audio file. Please listen carefully.
| Make your own at MoreCowbell.dj | ||
You’ve probably heard this six-second message before. I just added “more cowbell” to make it less annoying / more beautiful.
In case you don’t have speakers, here’s what the six-second message says,
When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press pound for more options.
You likely hear that loathsome message every time you roll into cell phone voicemail. You stare vacantly into outer space while listening to this insipid bit of weirdness.
It’s just so wrong, for so many reasons.
American productivity diminishes during that six seconds. Our collective level of stupor raises.
When I’ve finished recording, I can hang up? Really? It’s not like I was planning to just hold on the line indefinitely!
I’ve probably heard that six second bit at least 39 times today. Add it up. It ain’t cheap. Who profits from this?
If you pay by the minute, the cell phone company is lapping up some lavish coin — on both ends of the phone line. Your productivity is diminished. Your intelligence is assaulted.
How can we make this nonsense go away? Or make it optional? I can put it on the end of my voicemail — if I really want it.
But I don’t, because people who call me are smart enough to disconnect after leaving a voicemail. (Note: they don’t “hang” up anymore. What’s to hang?)
Archaic, inaccurate, annoying…
Who’s with me on this?
Or am I totally off base?
Social Media Requires Social Graces
Who is the Emily Post for social media? Not me! But I’ll take a shot at answering a question from my e-mailbag that seems more apt for Emily Post or Miss Manners than yours truly.
Here’s the Q:
I’ve had a few people contact me in Facebook asking to be “friends”, whom I have never met, but I think they found me because we have similar/the same interests, political views, etc. How do you handle such requests? -Puzzled Palster
Here’s my new age Emily-Postish, Miss Manners-y Answer:
Dear Puzzled Palster:
When I get FaceBook and LinkedIn requests like these, I usually ask,
“Please refresh my memory. How do we know each other?”
Nine times out of ten, the person writes back something like, “Oh! We don’t know each other. Never met. But I read your blog/ follow you on Twitter / think you’re interesting / notice that we have similar passions — and thought you might like to connect.”
You see what happened here?
It’s called a conversation. And it’s a key skill to hone when participating within social media channels.
Remember the “social” part of social media. Good manners and providing conversation starters are a big deal, socially.
Personalize first. Of course, it is far preferable if the person who wants to become your friend includes a bit of personalization in the first place. A conversation starter, so to speak. Both FaceBook and LinkedIn let people personalize invitations to friend or connect.
If you want to be social, be personal & personable. Be polite. Get the conversational ball rolling.
Not just once in a while.
Be personal and polite, 100% of the time.
Here’s how personalization looks in LinkedIn:
…and here’s how it looks in FaceBook:
You’ll notice that my FaceBook request to Guy also lets me add him to a “Presentation” list. Now, I’ve never met Guy Kawasaki in person, but I’m a fan of his work. And I’m happy that he chose to add my other blog (More Than PowerPoint) to the public speaking category of his Alltop site. So, if Mr. Kawasaki chooses to accept my friend request, it’s filed under my “Presentation” connections. My high school chums, local gal pals, college buddies, and business associates each get different personalized requests, and are filed quite differently.
Now, the personalization feature isn’t the only way to make your social media invitations personal. I’m often quite pleased to get phone calls from friends. They go something like this,
“Hey, Laura. I see that you’re on LinkedIn. If I send you an invite will you connect? And how about getting together for lunch or coffee?”
Some folks just aren’t writers, you see. They’re talkers and drinkers and eaters.
They’re social.
So, if you’re going to use social media tools to connect, don’t forget to use your real life social skills! Conversations are key — and good manners count for quite a bit in social media. Personalization isn’t tough or time-consuming: and it helps build and nuture relationships.
But just who IS the Emily Post for Social Media?
