Now you may or may not have dated recently, but we all have had experience with someone who comes on too strongly or is self-centered.  Let’s say you are at a bar and someone approaches you with the following:

I’m new in town.  Can you give me directions to your place? I can drive us there in my hot new bmw.

Even delivered as a joke, statements like that will probably put you in a negative frame of mind towards deliverer.  What if, instead, they said something like:

Hi.  How are you doing today?

Polite and seems interested in someone other than themselves.  The difference between two alternatives seems pretty obvious, but we see similar approaches in social networking (or even regular networking).  Here’s some comments I’ve gotten on various social networking sites:

Great to see you here!  I invite you to stop by my profile, sign my guestbook and check out my blogs! and while you’re there please add me to your list of friends I look forward to networking with you.

or

I’m not trying to sell you anything, but here are my areas of expertise: ____, ____, ____

I don’t know about you, but those types of introductions are real turn offs.  Information about yourself and your business should be in your profile.  If someone wants more information about what you do, they’ll look it up.  If you want to explore the network to find connections, don’t carpet bomb the place with what are essentially advertisements.  Take a few minutes to find people who might make a good connection and leave a more personal comment asking about their business, blog or website.  Read discussion posts, help people out and learn more about people from what they post.  If you think of social networking like dating, by being more personable and polite, I think you’ll find much more effective contacts and not annoy everyone.

Do you have any social networking horror stories you’d like to share?  Please do in the comments section below.

(photo by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com @ Flickr CC)

Technorati Tags: social networks, social media, internet marketing, social media marketing, social media strategy, internet business strategy

Want to know what’s hot on Twitter right now?  TwitScoop gives you a quick snapshot of the top words in a tag cloud that updates every 20 seconds.  Hover over any of the words to get a view of the last 5 tweets with that word highlighted.  Click on a word to get a graph of its usage over the past 6 hours, day or 3 days.  If you see an interesting tag cloud, click the “Tweet this cloud” button to save a snapshot of the page,  with the option to send a link to Twitter (its kind of like freezing time).  Here’s a link to the snapshot I saved of the twitter cloud.  A widget is also available to add the hot trends tag cloud to your blog or website. Or subscribe to TwitScoop on Twitter to be updated with links to top events.

For more in depth results, choose a keyword or username to search for.  Twitscoop will give you an overview of the tweets which you can click on to get more details - the last 20 tweets with the keyword highlighted and a graph of the usage over the past 6 hours, day or 3 days.  If there are new results, Twitscoop will periodically update the page with a reminder to refresh to see new results (which doesn’t interupt your current research). Click the “Tweet these results” button to save your results, giving you a link or an option to send a link to Twitter.  For examples, this is a link to the results for “social” that I just investigated.

TwitScoop is good tool to get a quick view of what’s going on or for research into what has been said about a certain topic (if it was within 3 days).  Unlike TweetScan, there isn’t an RSS feed to subscribe to results for periodic updates, but TwitScoop’s graphing capabilities can give you good information of how a topic is trending.

Technorati Tags: twitter, social networks, social media, internet marketing, social media marketing, social media strategy, internet business strategy

Twitter can be a powerful tool for getting your message out, but it also can become part of your business intelligence arsenal.  TweetScan can help you keep track of what is being said about your company and products and get updates via email, rss or on their website. You can scan up to five phrases for daily or weekly delivery.  Best of all, there are no ads or spam in the emails. It also can be used to check for lost replies and direct messages. TweetScan’s homepage has a keyword cloud representing hot topics on Twitter.  You can also search for specific keywords by particular users.

Using TweetScan for business intelligence may take a bit of experimentation.  Obvious keywords are your twitter username, company name and any brand names for products or services.  Less obvious keywords are those which may represent hot topics in your particular industry.  For those, try looking at industry blogs, forums and publications to see what’s hot and then use the TweetScan search functionality to see what people are saying about it.

Obviously this type of business intelligence works best if your industry has a large number of Twitter users.  But it can still be useful for keeping track of general industry topics.  Twitter’s usage is also growing fairly quickly since it easy to tweet from mobile phones, browsers and desktop applications.  From a business intelligence standpoint, it is a rich environment for research because Twitter users tend to be actively engaged in the community (even if they are only broadcasting and not interacting).

If you use Twitter for Business, please share in the comments how you keep track of conversations and important topics.

Technorati Tags: twitter, social networks, social media, internet marketing, internet consulting, internet business strategy

If you’ve decided to Twitter for your business, you may now be a bit overwhelmed with the influx of tweets.  How do you filter through them and keep track of contacts and conversations that matter?  TweetDeck is an excellent tool for business twittering that will bring some order to the chaos.

The genius behind TweetDeck is multiple panels that can be configured to make it easy to keep track of conversations.  First you have a panel that has the feed from all the people you are following.  Next there are panels for replies and direct messages, respectively.  To keep track of certain people, you can create groups and quickly add anyone to a group.  Lastly, to see what is hot in the Twitterosphere (Tweetosphere?), you can add a TwitScoop panel which will give you a tag cloud of the hot topics.

Managing contacts is also easy.  Clicking on the name under a tweet will bring up a user’s profile right inside a panel where you can see all their information and tweets, follow/unfollow them, or add them to a group.  There’s also a little plus sign under a tweet which will allow you to quickly add a person to a group.

Twittering (tweeting?) is easy with a update section that includes a way to shorten urls and add twitpics. With each tweet you have the option to retweet, favorite, direct message or reply, making having conversations a cornerstone of TweetDeck’s functionality.  And using Twitter for business is all about having conversations.

Technorati Tags: twitter, social networks, social media, internet marketing, internet consulting, internet business strategy

I spent the day at the Marketing Symposium at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.  In these tight economic times, many of the companies are spending a little more time in deciding where to allocate resources (both personnel and money), but the message that permeated all the presentations and panels was the need to innovate.  Here are some thoughts on how companies are driving innovation and tying it into their marketing strategies:

• Insights from one person are sometimes deeper than quantitative data
• Consumers don’t always know what they would want to buy
• Customers are evolving in their expectations of companies
• Link technical aspects of a product to brand identity and marketing
• Don’t ask customers “greed” questions (would you buy this if it was cheaper?)
• R&D is key to meet numbers and show growth
• Look for “weird and wonderfuls” - leaders in their niches for ideas and innovations
• Act like a “startup” without the rules of a big company to spur innovation

How is your company driving innovation?

Technorati Tags: innovation, marketing, internet marketing, internet business strategy

Yesterday we discussed some issues you should consider when deciding whether or not to twitter for your business.  Once you’ve decided to go forward, here’s how to get started:

Choose a Name

You’ll need a twitter name so that people can find you.  Usually businesses choose a name related to their company name or a particular brand.  If your name isn’t available, contact twitter.  According to their TOS, companies can gain control of names they own.

A little about you….

The bio and website information will give people an idea of what you do and why they might want to follow your updates.  These are especially important when people are searching for people to follow by keyword.

Publish your tweets

Setup your twitter feed on your blog and website, add your twitter address to your emails and other correspondence.  Twitter is a great way to quickly add snippits of information to your websites and keep in touch with your customers.

Welcome tweet

Even without any followers, make sure you at least have a welcome tweet.  People won’t follow you don’t have any tweets.

Find people to follow

You can use the twitter search to see if your customers already are on twitter, or find people to follow on blogs you read.  Many people will also follow you back when you follow them.

Listen & Respond

Listen to what’s being said and monitor twitter for mentions of your company and brands.  Politely respond to any concerns people have and to any questions you can be helpful with.

Be Relevant

Share relevant information with your customers via twitter.  Links to articles or posts of interest can be twittered.  Retweeting information others find can be a great way to connect too.

Keep Tweeting

You probably won’t find a twitter audience overnight, so keep sharing relevant information and use Twitter as another tool to connect with your customers.

Don’t Spam

While you need to keep providing good content, don’t overdo it.  Tweets should only be every so often else they get really annoying.  How often you can tweet depends on the tolerance of your audience, so it’ll take a bit of trial and error.  A few tweets per day should be safe.

Be Patient

It takes time to realize the benefits of Twitter.  Keep at it, keep listening and stay in the conversation.

What Twitter tips do you have?  Please share in the comments.

(photo by Lin Pernille Photography @ Flickr CC)

Technorati Tags: twitter, social networks, social media, internet marketing, internet consulting, internet business strategy

Twitter has become fairly popular over the last year and is a powerful tool for communicating with your customers.  However, as with most business decisions, you should consider some things before you make your decision:

• Is Your Audience on Twitter? Search for some of the keywords important to your industry to see if your audience is on twitter.  Even if there are only some, it may be worth at least monitoring twitter.
• What’s being said? - If your customers and industry is on Twitter.  What are they saying?  You can use tools such as Tweetscan, Twitscoop and Twist to take a look at conversations and keywords.
• What will the effect be on your brand and reputation? For some brands, their reputation may be negatively affected if they are not actively participating on Twitter.  Everyone should be aware that anything said on Twitter will be around in the future via search engines.
• Who will tweet and monitor? It may be helpful to have multiple people using Twitter, but they should have a general idea of what is ok to say and what the plan is for using Twitter for the company.
• What persona will you use? Does your brand or company have a mascot or other persona you should use?  If multiple people are tweeting, make sure they aware of any personas.
• How will you integrate Twitter with your website and other marketing efforts? Twitter makes it fairly easy to include your tweets on other websites.  Where will you include it?  How will you let your customers know about it?
• To follow or not to follow? When people start following you on twitter, will you follow them in turn?  This may make it easier to follow conversations (and it is a nice gesture), but following unsavory feeds may not be a good idea either.  Deciding on a follow policy beforehand can make it easier.

If you are already using Twitter for your business, what did you consider beforehand?  What advice would you give to others who are trying to make the decision?

Technorati Tags: twitter, social networks, social media, internet marketing, internet consulting, internet business strategy

Now that you know a little more about what social media are, how do you use them for your business?

1. Listen to what your customers are saying, not just about you, but what their concerns and problems are.
2. Network with other companies and customers in your industry.  Get to know people.
3. Connect with potential customers and partners.
4. Share your expertise and information valuable to your niche.
5. Answer questions and help others.
6. Leads, for your company, but also for others in your network.
7. Market subtly within your areas of expertise by being a part of the conversation.
8. Reputation building, both for your company and for your personal brand.
9. Content to add to your website, blog, resources, etc.
10. Research what people think, what the next big thing will be, how to position yourself for the future.
11. Traffic being directed to your blog and website.

How do you use social media for your business?  Please add to this list in the comments section.

(photo by seier+seier+seier @ Flickr CC)

Technorati Tags: social media, social media strategy, social networks, social networking, social media strategy, internet marketing, marketing

I had an interesting conversation recently about social media.  It seems that a lot of business owners kind of know what it means.  If you ask them about it they’ll say “oh is that like facebook or something?” or “it’s media that’s social”.  But if you try to dig deeper into what that actually means you’ll get a mixture of answers.

Social media is media that is social.  But it goes beyond Facebook or MySpace.  Social media is any type of media in which there is, at least, a two-way conversation - usually a multi-way conversation.  Social media is about engaging the audience and having them respond to you and to each other.

Social media is also about a philosophy of listening (instead of shouting).  Just using media that is social does not make it that way.  If you have a blog but never reach out to your readers and never respond to what they are saying, you’re not being very social.  Even if you don’t have a blog, you can listen to what your customers are saying on their blogs and respond to their concerns.

Social media are primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences. - Wikipedia - Social Media

Let me highlight the most important aspect of this definition:

“building” of shared meaning among communities

Social media is not just about your story or your company’s story.  It’s about the shared meaning you create with your customers as you interact with them and they with each other.

What story are you building with your customers?

(photo by victoriapeckham @ Flickr CC)

Technorati Tags: social media, social media strategy, business blogging, business blog, blogging strategy, internet marketing, marketing

You have to stop thinking like a marketer, an advertiser and a communicator and start thinking like a publisher. Create information your consumers want, and they will share it, this is the idea behind creating the World Wide Rave content. “On the web, you are what you publish.” - Online Marketing Blog - The New Rules of Marketing & PR

Sound familiar?  Customer-centric design is about creating a site that works for your readers/customers.  Content is one of the most important aspects of a successful online presence.  Branding is now influenced by everything that is said and done by your company online (and said about you).

There are many opportunities for good content online:

• Information about your products and services
• Customer service frequently asked questions
• Discussion boards
• A company blog for continued education of your customers
• Interaction with your customers
• Social media
• Commenting on other blogs and websites
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Photos

Keep in mind that content online doesn’t always mean formally written articles for your website.  Content can be more informal with blogs and social media.  Content is also interaction with customers on social networks and discussion boards.

What content do you provide for your customers?

(photo by mandj98 @ Flickr CC)

Technorati Tags: content, content strategy, pr, public relations, customer-centric, internet marketing, marketing