Because, surely, you want to know, right? Plus, I’m seeing a trend for blog posts that offer lists…so why not? Here ya go…my Top 5 iPhone Apps for “Social” Business:
1.) Facebook App: This seems almost too obvious. But there might be one human in a cave somewhere who hasn’t downloaded it yet who I’d like to enlighten. This app offers a great opportunity to stay connected with your contacts/network while you’re standing in line somewhere, sitting in a waiting room or stuck in a car (as a passenger of course).
2.) Analytics App: If you blog, this is handy when you’re feeling lonely or unloved. It gives you mobile access to all of your Google Analytics data. (No guarantees that seeing your stats will turn your mood around.)
3.) U.S. Postage App: But this isn’t “social,” you’re saying to yourself. Sure it is. Ever send things out to your network via snail mail? This helps you do it without having to stand in line at the post office. Tell your friends. I love this app. Seriously. If I had a stamp for every time I used it…
4.) Mashable App: All the cool kids have it on their iPhones. (The uncool ones, like me, have it on their iPod Touches.)
5.) E! Online App: How else is a busy businessperson supposed to keep up with pop culture? Besides, what makes for better small talk before a meeting?
Why didn’t I list other social business apps on my iPod Touch (that’s right, I STILL don’t have an iPhone because of my stubborn refusal to be told which service provider I must use…take that Steve Jobs), like the Hootsuite App, Tweetdeck App, AP Mobile App, LinkedIn App and the like? The truth is — and please don’t let this get around — I find them cumbersome to maneuver through on that tiny little touchscreen.
Is it possible that the only solution to my problem is an iPad?
Until then, there you have it…a Top 5 list in 60 seconds or less. I aim to please. In case you don’t already have them installed, here are the links to download these babies:
Oh, and yes, I realize that technically these are not my top 5 “iPhone Apps,” but using “My Top 5iPod Touch Apps” as a title sounded way less sexy, so be a sport and go with me on this. Thanks.
When discussing social media for business with clients, three questions inevitably arise regarding business risk. I’m certainly not the first to post about them, but it’s info that bears repeating, especially for the uninitiated. You know what they say, “the best defense, is a good offense” or something like that. Without further ado, here are my answers…
1.) How will we maintain control over our brand in the social sphere?
The most cited answer to this is: You don’t own your brand in the social spheres – you own the ability to share your brand in the social spheres. You won’t have control over what people say about your brand, but you can control how you respond to what is said about your brand. Control can also come in the form of a continuous commitment to publishing your own new content. Quality content that is industry-specific, keyword-rich, relevant and recent can help you rank better in search results, so in that way you can leverage some control over what comes up in organic search results. Another question a business might consider is, how can we lose control over our brand in the social sphere? The answer to that is to jump in without a strategy, without a community manager and with a hyper acute need to “control” your community. If you deliver value, your community will reward you – for, online, it is they who are in control. But that certainly doesn’t mean you shouldn’t participate. And, as already mentioned, make sure you have a social media policy firmly in place before you publish. For legal considerations, read what Cobalt Law has to say.
2.) If we allow broad employee access to social sites, how will we manage threats to productivity?
Before you can address this concern, another issue should be addressed post haste, if it has not been already: Does your company have a social media policy in place? Even if you have blocked Internet access and your brand is not engaged in social media, it is likely your employees are on the socialwebs in their off time. It’s been said, there’s no such thing as free speech in the workplace. If they work for you, you need to provide clear policies about social media conduct (I’m sure legal would agree – for more on legal considerations, read this blog post about legal issues and social media from Houchin & Associates). Here is a Social Media Policies Superlist that can provide insight into how other companies manage their social media policies. Productivity concerns should be addressed in your social media policy (and the training that should follow it) in the same way you address/manage employee conduct/usage of phone and email. You need to legally protect your company, its proprietary information and logo usage. Abuses should be managed/addressed should they occur. This post from Guy Clapperton provides additional considerations about social media and productivity concerns.
3.) How will we manage negative comments?
The same way you manage them offline – professionally and politely. It really is that simple. Read more about handling negative comments in posts by Matt Collier and Amber Naslund, or google it. This is where your customer service skills should (and will surely) kick in. Fear not.
Thinking about starting a corporate blog? Here’s a look at the business blogging landscape from the marketing and operations viewpoints. This is a “back to basics” post to assist those who’ve been asking me about corporate blogging offline. Hope it’s helpful.
Why Create A Corporate Blog?
An organization publishes a corporate blog to meet its defined communication objectives and goals, which can include relationship building with target groups, positioning itself (or one or more of its employees) as industry experts, providing industry news/education, recruitment and media relations. Corporate blogging has evolved as an increasingly useful business technology over the past several years (as shown below in Gartner’s Technology Hype Cycle) and is becoming increasingly valuable as a communication and marketing tool for businesses who are willing to make the commitment – and it is a commitment.
Here are some key considerations…
Objective
What is the purpose of your blog and how will it deliver value/interest to your target audience?
Voice
Who is going to write it? Will the CEO make/have the time? Does accommodating/managing multiple contributors make sense for your business (i.e. employee contributors, guest contributors)? Who will manage the online community that forms around your blog (and other related online “outposts” in the social spheres that can work to help promote your blog and support your objectives)?
Protocol
Once objectives are defined, blogging guidelines and a commenting policy will need to be set up and the company will need to be prepared to set up interdepartmental response channels to manage comments that require follow up. (There are a variety of free and paid tools that can support this workflow.)
Content / Editorial Calendar
Content is king in that if your content isn’t of value, the traffic will not come. If you deliver valuable content, your community will rise up and help promote your content and boost your WOM (word of mouth). Strategic (and ongoing) discussions around content frequency, quality, resources, workflow and purpose are critical to successful blogging.
Benefits
“Corporate blogging is the best way to get information into the hands of your prospects. Those who benefit most from your services are those who are actively searching for your solution.” (Source: Compendium Blogware, Third Generation Corporate Blogging) Traditional marketing “pushes” or broadcasts messaging and information to targets in mass markets, whereas niche blogging “pulls” targets to your content. Traditional marketing is one-sided, whereas blogging can work as a two-way communication platform, enabling greater opportunities to build relationships with those most interested in your industry, your products/services and your ideas – and to create lead generation opportunities. (Consumers often seek your blog out online – and subscribe to it – because it provides them with a “solution” to whatever they are searching for online.)
Challenges
In short, it is my opinion that the biggest challenges to corporate blogging are time, traffic and legal. The internal operational logistics behind blogging can bog some corporate workflows down – from content generation to blog post approval processes to real-time responsiveness (when it comes to comments or other online mentions of your brand). Issue number one (time), drives issue number two (traffic). Without consistent, quality content (posts at least once or twice a week), the traffic you’re hoping for won’t be there. And in some cases, legal likes to take a look at content before it posts, so that can slow things down a bit – but it’s also critical to include legal early on as you establish rules, policies and guidelines. Ultimately, you want to empower and provide your community manager with the flexibility to respond to comments in real time without legal or management approval. Guidelines need to be set first so as not to hinder prompt responses to your community, who will expect it of you.
Comment Management
Some businesses might feel concerned about managing negative comments. The first question to consider is, what volume of negative comment traffic are you currently getting via traditional mediums? The next question is, how much negative content is there about your brand online right now (you should be monitoring for this regardless of whether or not you are blogging)? Many businesses feel it is more important to be proactive in addressing negative content should it occur online. As part of your online strategic plan, you can prepare for negative comments and you can address them professionally as they may occur. If people have really negative things to say, they’ll say them regardless of whether or not you have a blog, so the perceived risk can alternatively be considered an opportunity to address issues should they arise. In this way businesses can work to nip problems in the bud. If you’ve done a good job at building a good rapport with your community, you may find that they are willing to respond to negative comments on your behalf, as well. Negative comments may very well be surrounded by positive comments; businesses should be prepared to trust their community to spot “complainers” in comment threads and only give serious weight to serious concerns that may (or may not!) be raised on your business blog.
Corporate blogging can create or extend opportunities for cross-channel marketing, organic SEO, email marketing, lead generation, brand awareness, brand loyalty, multi-channel customer service — you may even benefit by working with an affiliate marketing program to monetize your blog. The marketing case is easy to make, but it’s important to ask — and answer — the strategic and operational questions first.
Over the past year, I’ve had countless conversations with people about online privacy (or the lack thereof). What does the vast amount of information that we put online every day mean for us as individuals and as a society? Why does it feel like nothing is private anymore? Is it generational? Is it cultural? What does it mean for getting hired or fired? How can you protect yourself in today’s VERY transparent world?
I’ve been writing, rewriting and rethinking this post since last year (yes, it’s caused me a bit of blogger’s block). Here’s what started the ball rolling: I wrote a post about how I used social media to connect and reconnect with things I care about. I received a comment expressing deep concerns about such online transparency and referencing a site called 123people.com. (This website is actually one that I list as a link on my Resources page. It aggregates both real-time and crawl search data on people. In short, when you type in a name, you get a picture of that person’s digital footprint.)
Now, 123people.com is doing what every business should: monitoring their brand online. Following the best practices of online brand monitoring — which, FYI, can be as simple as setting up a Google Alert for starters — a gentleman from 123people.com received an alert that his brand name was mentioned on my blog. Upon further review, he realized that the mention included misinformation, so he posted a follow-up comment to correct the false assertion that 123people.com purchased individuals’ private information. The presence of an information industry professional on my blog gave me the opportunity to ask some specific questions about privacy to someone from one of the very sites that are often vilified for the search/data services they provide.
The next thing I knew, I was on the phone interviewing Russel Perry, CEO of 123people.com, who was generous enough to take the time to answer my questions. What I learned during the call was eye opening and it encouraged me to read more about the topic myself.
This is, of course, an ENORMOUS discussion, so I’m just going to tackle a few points here that seem to speak most directly to major fears and concerns:
Guess What? Privacy Laws in the U.S. Do NOT Protect You.
What does all of this mean for Americans? Well I’m no privacy law expert, but if we want to catch up with the EU in terms of online privacy protection, we need to contact our lawmakers and tell them that this is important to us. Perhaps we can even use our social networking sites to contact others of like mind! We can tell them that in Europe a citizen has the right to his or her own data and that we want the same ownership in the U.S. There’s been some recent movement on this in regards to reforming the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which is from 1986 and is in need of some serious updating. But I’m not sure it stops there (if that reform even happens). Here’s a quick video on that (click here to see it on YouTube if it does not appear below)…
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – How People Search is Actually Used
We all know that if we leave our valuables unattended in the “real” world, we open ourselves up to risk. The same is true in our online lives. We wouldn’t write our cell phone number on a bathroom stall (I hope…), so leave it off your “about me” page. If you wouldn’t put a photo from a bachelor party in a frame on your desk at work, there is no place for it on your Facebook or MySpace page either.
This being said, if you have protected yourself, a website that does a quick search of everything about you online could be as useful to you as knowing your credit score. It can be a way to monitor your online reputation.
But why would anyone but the most nefarious ever search someone else’s name, you ask? Well, “people search” can be used in beneficial ways and I’d be remiss if I didn’t provide a few scenarios:
For Human Resources purposes
To learn more about docs/lawyers/specialists
By respected news organizations to find experts in various fields
Education (research and references)
To check into an online date (to see if Mr./Ms. Wonderful is who he/she promises to be)
You should know what is out there about you and know the source. Also remember that a name search in and of itself is not harmful.
How Can You Protect Yourself?
So what are you supposed to do until the U.S. gets with the privacy program? (And there’s no guarantee that they will!) Get educated and smarter about monitoring your important information. Check the privacy settings on all of your social networking sites. These sites provide their users with control over their information, but don’t just rely on the default settings. If you do, then political opinions, in-jokes on a friend’s wall and “funny” pictures may be open not only to your friends, but also to your networks – sharing that information with hundreds or thousands of strangers! Don’t tell people in a post when you’re about to leave your house unattended — PleaseRobMe.com recently ran an important awareness campaign about this potential risk. (Read more about LOCATIONAL PRIVACY and CONSUMER PRIVACY.)
Is Privacy Dead Or Does It Just Require More Effort?
For as much as is out there about me, with this blog and my social profiles, I still maintain a strong awareness and boundaries around my privacy. How is that? Well, I follow a few basic personal posting policy guidelines (which is not to say I don’t occasionally stray). Those personal posting policies will vary from one person to another based on one’s comfort zone with information-sharing. Bottom line: set up alerts on your name and do an occasional search on yourself to ensure that any data about you “out there” is accurate. (At least then you can correct misinformation giving you a sliver of control in an online world that may feel out of your control.)
Second, and I know it seems obvious, but enough people have gotten themselves into trouble with an inappropriate tweet or post…THINK before you POST and IF YOU DON’T WANT IT OUT THERE, DON’T POST IT! Get to know your internal editor. If you don’t have one, conjure one up if you plan to sit in front of a keyboard and type something to the masses (even if you think you’re only sharing it with a small group of friends). Want to turn off your editor? Pick up the phone or go meet for a beer. Take your unedited self offline. It’s not about pretending to be someone you’re not online, it’s about being SMART about your reputation when you’re online.
What Are You Afraid Of?
I had to ask myself this question when I decided to get on my very first social network, and then again when I decided to start blogging. Fear is not a terribly useful emotion, but it sure can be a rampant one. Education usually overpowers (and quashes) fear. Once I learned about my options and did everything within my power to protect my personal data and set up tools for monitoring my name (and my brand) online, there wasn’t much left to my fears. Hope the same holds true for you so that you can enjoy the rewards of using today’s online technology to strengthen our offline relationships.
Thanks for your time and I urge you not to be afraid, but instead, to be smart online.
A special word of thanks to Cameron Barryand Colleen Hughes for helping me edit, rewrite and (repeatedly) revise this post. I’ve sat on it for many months because it feels like such an overwhelming topic to tackle. I know this post is longer than it should be…frankly, this topic is worthy of a white paper, and if I could find a few more hours in a day, I’d be busy about turning it into one.
Why Denote? You can comment, track & interact with your clients & web dev people - all on a live web page. Simplified communication. What's not to love?
Without further ado, here are my answers…
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