The pressure to post an all-encompassing review/recap of 2009 or a big social media prediction/pronouncement for 2010 was not lost on me.

However I opted to step aside and let it pass me by. (Traffic schmaffic.)

When I look back and consider my time in social media in 2009, it’s not the cool marketing tools I’ve experimented with, the great content that I’ve consumed or even the new business opportunities it has created — it’s with complete humility that this anti-social curmudgeon confesses (with uncharacteristic optimism and utter embarrassment at my public display of “joie de vivre”) it’s the people I’ve met and reconnected with that made my 2009 brighter, more interactive, more professionally rewarding and, even, more entertaining.

So as I look at 2010, I hope to continue to experience all of the spectacular and unexpected side effects social media, social business and social networking put before me each and every day.

We are all of us so much more than the sum of our work and it is the people with whom we work that make the work itself more pleasant…or unpleasant.

Social business provides more consistent, personal and direct access to people we like — people we want to be around and work with — which can bring greater value and meaning to how we spend our workdays.

If you’ve interacted with me here on this blog, on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, meetup.com, blip.fm, slideshare.net, at a local Panera, at a conference, at a seminar or event, through email, on google wave, by phone, at one of my presentations, on a sailboat or through Social Gets Local… I just want to say thank you.

You have enriched my life — online and off.

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Been waiting for the post where I summarize my experience at TEDx MidAtlantic? The wait is over. You’ll be most impressed, I hope, with how uncharacteristically brief I am in my recap.

TEDx was an inspirational “conference – concert – workshop – performance – therapy.”

That’s it. That’s my recap.

It was simply great to be in a room with so much positive energy floating around in it. I’ll leave the lengthier, more in-depth TEDx reviews to others. If that’s all you’d like to know about TEDx, that’s my very best summation. If you want to see what you missed, click here to view the TEDx MidAtlantic videos. Now I’d like to seamlessly segue into a question:

What inspires you?

After listening to the speakers cover a vast array of topics at TEDx, I felt as though there was absolutely something there for everyone to walk away with…the odds were highly in your favor that someone there said something inspirational at some point in the day with enough gusto to inspire you for weeks to come, so no one had to leave empty-headed…er, handed.

What inspired me?

Simply put, bones and eggs inspired me to get a cow.

My TEDx takeaway turned out to be a fusion of two ideas from two different speakers.

1. Naomi Natale, a TED Fellow, is the founder of a new project titled “One Million Bones.” To me, what was most striking about Ms. Natale’s TEDx talk was that she saw a problem and did something about it. What she’s doing is amazing, and you can read about it here and follow the project on Facebook and Twitter. The connection she created in my mind was instant. She reminded me of how I felt after I read The Translator by Daoud Hari this past summer (I even wrote about its impact on me in a blog post). After reading the book, I felt impotent because I now have all of Hari’s stories in my head (TEDx MidAtlantic was about “The Power of Stories”) and I didn’t see where in my world I would be able to do anything about it. Naomi, however, has found ways to do something about the problems she sees or hears about.  I’m pretty sure that’s what TED — and life — is all about. Doing.
2. Joel Salatin is an organic farmer. Many will remember Mr. Salatin’s TEDx talk for how he described how he helped his chickens achieve their complete “chicken-ness” which then turned into a highly successful agri-business. As it turns out, I raise backyard chickens — Polish crested hens. (Didn’t know that about me, did you?) So I thoroughly enjoyed and understood what he meant when he described the “essence of an egg.” But what I will remember most from his talk is one very simple thing he said that should be on a bumper sticker or T-shirt or something, “If it’s gonna be, it’s up to me.” I like that. It’s a personal call to action and I dig it.

Voila! Together, those ideas gave shape to my TEDx takeaway.

You may not think you can change the world, but I think what matters is that you think you can change your world. Your day to day. Your life experience.

I’m on it. You see, it occurred to me that there are a lot of people who speak at all of the TED events who are busy about changing the world. And thank goodness for them! But that is a tall order: change the world. I mean some days I’m lucky to remember to change the sheets, let alone the world. Now as a rule, I generally like to set “achievable goals” for myself. So here’s what I’m doing with all that TEDx inspiration I soaked up.

I want to buy a cow.

More precisely, I want to facilitate the purchase of a heifer through Heifer International leveraging the power of social media and the inspiration I drew from TEDx MidAtlantic.

I’ll post about this in more detail in a few days as I suspect few people have read this far down into my thought-thread. But here’s the general idea:

100 People, $5 Each, 1 Happy Cow

I plan to use Twitter and Twibbon.com, my blogs, ChipIn and Facebook to spread the word and mooooove (sorry) my little social network community toward a collaborative gift for another little community in the world.

So, thanks Naomi. Thanks Joel. Thanks TEDx MidAtlantic speakers all.

Inspiration is a happy little thing — regardless of whether you’re giving or receiving.

And it need not begin — or end — with a cow. There are people you meet and stories you hear every day that can serve as inspiration — to influence your ideas about your job or your personal life or a goal that you might finally see a path to achieve. Might be a big thing, or it might be a tiny, itty-bitty step in a different direction. What inspires you and what you do with all that inspiration is uniquely yours. With all of the new ways we have of connecting with people these days, it seems one could never run out of inspirational resources.

I say, we milk them for all they’re worth.

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Written by Cameron Barry, senior communications specialist at Strategic Conversations.

The fourth and last Blog Potomac, a social media marketing event organized by Geoff Livingston and Debbie Weil, was held on Friday, October 23. From the time this event was first announced, Livingston had made it clear that it would be his last. Livingston has since announced the sale of his company Livingston Communications to CRT/tanaka and his subsequent plans to take time off before launching a new venture (as yet to be disclosed) later next year.

Geoff Livingston (Flickr photo by: lunaweb)

Livingston further explained in his opening remarks that since the first Blog Potomac was held, the social media community in the D.C. area had become well established and that there were lots of other events to attend. The title of this post, by the way, is taken from the “primer on new media” that Livingston wrote with Brian Solis. Published in 2007, the book is still worth reading.

More of a taste of what was to come was evident from the agenda, which divided the day into two parts:

1. Traditional Social Media Keynotes
2. The Future of Online Media Sessions

Greeting the attendees, Livingston said we were not a “101 crowd,” but for anyone who’s just starting to get their feet wet in social media (and that’s way more than the 100 or so people at BlogPotomac), the idea that we can already consider some of it “traditional” may come as a surprise.

I agree with conference co-organizer Debbie Weil: Social media is not yet widely adopted, but it is widely discussed.

To further this discussion, I’ve organized my review of the conference into seven key takeaways:

1.) Pass the Rhizomes, Please

The day’s first speaker was Beth Kanter, a consultant to non-profits in the area of effective technology use and scholar in residence at the Packard Foundation.

While Kanter’s focus is on non-profits and “movement building,” her approach – working in a networked way, network weaving, creating social cultures within organizations, and transparency – is equally relevant for the private sector.

KEY TAKEAWAY: While for-profit businesses may not be focused on movement building per se, they are (or should be) creating a culture around their brands and fostering connections with and among internal and external communities with shared interests.

Think beyond a blog and the blogging community, Kanter urged, think beyond what technology can do, think beyond what you as an individual can do. Focus instead on “network weaving” to make a culture of creating connections and spreading ideas.

Within an organizational setting, however, this can only be done within a “social” culture where the spread of ideas is supported by open leadership (like rhizomes, which are underground, horizontal stems that send out roots and shoots from their nodes). Transparency doesn’t mean a lack of respect for what’s confidential or violating privacy; it does mean being open to comment or criticism – “being comfortable with discomfort,” as Kanter said. She urged organizations not to view a social culture as one where employees are “wasting time on Facebook,” but rather where the sharing of ideas is seen as beneficial to the cause or brand.

2.) Tools Change, People Remain the Same

Flickr photo by: elstudio (www.elstudio.us)

Shel Israel, author of the newly published Twitterville, was next on the agenda. He says he first realized the power of Twitter in 2008, when he heard about James Buck, a photojournalism student who was arrested in Egypt and subsequently released, largely owing to the efforts of his Twitter network. Shel’s book is about “how businesses can thrive in the new global neighborhoods,” but he gave examples of social media success that went well beyond traditional business, from San Francisco’s BART public transportation system to a village in England that uses Twitter to update residents on weather conditions and school closings far faster than the BBC.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Asked for some ideas about the future, Shel said he thinks we are at the end of the “beginning era” of social media, a period of enormous innovation and disruption that has forced people to do things differently. As the best practices of social media become the norm, we will enter a long steady period of slower growth that may lack the excitement of the early days.

Where will Twitter’s next million users come from? Will Twitter still be around in another year? While these are reasonable questions to ask, the point is more about listening, responding and connecting. The rise of social media has shown us that these are things we all long for because, as Shel said, “the tools change, but people remain the same.”

3. ) Social Gets Mobile

Two very different speakers, Natalia Luckyanova from Imangi Studios and NPR’s Andy Carvin were up next.

Luckyanova’s company develops iPhone games and applications. In such a competitive market, she has to think of ways to get her message out quickly and effectively. Pre-launch publicity is crucial, because after the actual launch, Imangi has just a few hours before the market turns its attention to something else. Not surprisingly, she uses the full range of social media tools to promote her products, from YouTube videos to gaming forums, to encourage connections among players.

KEY TAKEAWAY: According to just about every BlogPotomac speaker, mobile is major, with gaming just one of many uses — some potentially groundbreaking — of this rapidly evolving technology.

4.) It’s Still About Who You Know

Andy Carvin, who describes himself as “NPR’s social media guy,” is also an activist working to bridge the digital divide.

Stephen Ambrose (Flickr photo by: bgrax)

The public can play a role in reporting news, using tools like Twitter that allow people to share information. Stories and details that fall through the cracks are often kept alive using social media channels. However, just as genuine dialogue has become harder to find on increasingly crowded social networks, so too has separating truth from fiction.

The same can certainly be said for traditional media, especially broadcast, which increasingly reports on rumors and then is forced to make corrections. Twitter, Carvin said, can easily start rumors, but it is also a place where rumors go to die.

KEY TAKEAWAY: The issue, as Beth Kanter noted, is knowing whom to trust and that brings us back to the most time-honored connection of all – human relationships.

5.) Social Gets Local

The afternoon’s first speaker, Crayon’s Jane Quigley, turned the discussion to the future in a presentation that focused mostly on the localization of the web.

Ironically, as the “world wide” web continues to grow and change, the excitement most of us felt at having greater access to a larger world is now becoming highly localized. Local, however, can mean anything from using foursquare to explore our neighborhoods, building communities of interest on Ning or using Groupon to drive customers to local businesses.

KEY TAKEAWAY: According to Quigley, social media is dead from an innovator’s standpoint. It’s becoming widely adopted, and in her view tech tools tend to foster shallow relationships. Verticalization and specialization are two trends to keep your eyes on, she said, suggesting, “instead of having more relationships, focus on the depth of those relationships.”

Now, doesn’t @usegraymatter always tell us to get off our duffs and meet each other IRL? (Also see how GrayMatter Minute is working to make sure Social Gets Local in Baltimore-Washington-Annapolis.)

6.) Map It!

Fortius One

Maps, said FortiusOne CEO Sean Gorman, personalize data. As technology and location become more tightly linked, there seems to be no limit to the meaningful things that can happen in the real world. This is especially true of developing countries, where the powerful combination of social media and geo-location has led to improvements in education, agriculture and housing.

KEY TAKEAWAY: In the developed world, where monetizing opportunities abound, the challenge for consumers will be getting smart about privacy versus convenience. As businesses engage in more efficient and effective targeting, at least some of us are going to want tools that help limit constant access to where we are.

I’m directionally illiterate, but I love maps. If you do too, check out FortiusOne’s blog, Off the Map.

7) Local Is Wherever You Are

According to Ning’s Peter Slutsky, the last speaker of the day, the next generation of social media will be social platforms that bring context to people and their interests and passions.

KEY TAKEAWAY: If Facebook connects you to people you know, LinkedIn connects you to professional colleagues and Twitter connects you to real-time news and events, the next generation of media (remember, it’s not “new” media any more) will offer platforms for creating community.

Ning’s research indicates that there is a less than 50 percent overlap between people you know or work with and your interests and passions. In my view, that’s why local can mean more than just your location and what might be nearby; it can mean the neighborhood of cyclists, activists or gardeners that you want to live among.

Ning can be branded, and unlike Facebook you own your data. You can create custom data feeds, and there are already opportunities for monetization in gift stores or using a new virtual gifts platform.

You can find out more at www.ning.com or follow @ning on Twitter.

That’s All Folks

All in all, BlogPotomac offered an inspiring mix of ideas and tools that can help us create, curate and share information that, used to foster connections among real people, could help make the world a better place. So why has Facebook decided to aggregate my news, without asking what I want to see? That seems pretty old media to me.

Cameron Barry, a regular contributor to GrayMatter Minute, is a communications specialist at Strategic Conversations. You can follow her on twitter at @cameronbarry.

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Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who voted in the Baltimore Sun’s Mobbie Awards for Maryland’s Outstanding Blogs (and to my “mob,” in particular).

If you are local to the Maryland area and want to find some great local blogs, all of the nominees on the list are worth a peek.

Categories included: foodie, humor, pop culture, music and nightlife, neighborhood, news, politics, sports, Ravens, Orioles, Terps, family, personal, photography, art and DIY, business and technology, as well as a category for those blogs that defy categorization.

I thought this awards event did a great job of raising awareness about Maryland’s local blogs and bloggers. (Hat tip to the brainchild on this at the Sun.) It was great to see people rally around the blogging community here and I was thrilled to discover a few new finds to add to my RSS feed reader.

Congrats to all of the winners in each of the categories and to everyone in the top 10 best overall list.

Click here for a full listing of all Mobbies nominees and here to learn more about “the Social Sun.” Oh, and if you want to check out The Baltimore Sun’s list of news blogs, just click on through… http://www.baltimoresun.com/about/blogs/

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Coming soon…

I’m working on a post about privacy online to address the many, many, many, many questions and concerns people have brought to me over the past few months during presentations I’ve given and subsequent to some of my blog posts. It’s a big topic to tackle — but I’m on the case.

I invite you to send in your “privacy questions” now so I can incorporate them into my article.

In the meantime, I have this pearl of wisdom to share: if you don’t want something made public, don’t post it — EVEN IF you have all of your “privacy settings” on lock down on any given site or social platform. That’s just one woman’s opinion, but it’s a good preemptive privacy policy, no?

I’m going to take a closer look at the laws, the culture, and the best practices so that, together, we can figure out how to maneuver comfortably in the transparent, social online world without losing our individual senses of privacy.

Until then…

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of GrayMatter Minute. Just another day to many, but a milestone to little old me. First up is a thank you to everyone who has supported me, from my original designer to my blog programming gurus to my virtual mentors, influencers, subscribers, Twitter pals, guest posters, commenters, linkers, proofers, interviewees and other participants.

You are one rockin’ community.

This blog is focused on social media, yes…but I’ve come to realize more and more that it’s really about time — my time, your time, our collective time using social tools to communicate with each other.

So what has the year taught me about time? About blogging? About social media?

Let’s start with time:

1. It flies. I try to make the most of it by doing what I enjoy doing whenever and as often I can – at work and at play.
2. If you think there’s a faster way to do something online, there probably is — just ask someone. (Wish this had occurred to me sooner.) Or simply google it…anything you want to know is only ever just a few clicks away.
3. Social media and social technology, when used properly and with discipline, can maximize your time in 1,000 different ways, personally and professionally. But you’ve got to be willing to accommodate the time it takes for the learning curve to run its course.

What have I learned about blogging?

1. It’s bleepin’ hard (because it’s so time-consuming).
2. It’s an amazing creative outlet.
3. It’s a great way to meet new people and learn new things. I’m doing what I can to share this part of my experience through my Social Gets Local (social media case study) directory, which remains immensely important to me, even as I struggle to find the time to work on it.

And what pearls of wisdom can I share about social media as it has evolved all around me over the course of the past year?

photo by Michael Dawes via Flickr

1. Input equals output. Period. If you’re not getting anything out of your time in social media, then you either need a quick lesson on a few basic tools (you surely know someone you can ask!) or you’re simply not putting the time/effort into it. At the end of the day, what is it all about? What’s in it for you? Information. Education. (Which is why my Social Media RESOURCES page is the most visited page on my blog — people love learning new things, my list just makes finding what they want to know a bit easier.) If you have the right disposition, then you’ll earn new friendships and business connections, too. But at the very least, there is something to be learned on the social webs. Every day. I kid you not. And that’s just if you’re a regular civilian! If you’re in marketing, then it’s like being in the green room of a great wave that never closes out. Now if you’re a business owner and you haven’t dipped your toe in the water, I’m telling you, you’re missing the “opportunity boat” altogether.
2. We learn the most from our mistakes. In this case, I owe Mr. Peter Kim a thank you, (a humble and sincere thank you), for unknowingly teaching me an important online life lesson through the course of 1 tweet, 1 email and 1 phone call — lessons that have stayed with me and guided my personal social media policies and best practices ever since. Through his blog, he is also responsible for shifting my approach and thinking about social media toward social business. As a marketer, this idea remains critical to leading with and leveraging the power of the social technologies currently being developed.
3. Go online to get offline. It’s not about sitting in front of your computer every day, posting what you had for lunch to your Twitter account. The point is to move your conversations offline. Get out and about on your terms. Social media has led me to attend some great events, like the Ignite Events. (These are not your grandfather’s networking events. They’re the most fun I’ve ever had in a room full of strangers…well, unless I count that hostel in Budapest — but that’s another story altogether.) BlogPotomac was also fantastic. And, if you haven’t heard, TED is coming to Baltimore. This is HUGE! (Thanks for the head’s up Mr. D.) Because of social media, “networking” has been forever redefined for me and the bar has been irrevocably raised for “networking events” in general. The “cold call” is dead (with the social tools available to you today, you can warm almost any lead or call effectively) and the content and appeal of a networking event truly needs to skyrocket past the quality of the venue and/or the hors d’oeuvres.

It just keeps getting better.

This blog has been a remarkable tool for me, for my business, for my creativity and for networking on my terms. I have been empowered. And I love giving talks and presentations (something I would not have even considered before I started this blog) because I love watching that glimmer of empowerment light up in someone else’s eyes. When I share what I have learned with others, be it businesses or individuals, I am not ever pitching to do the work for anyone…rather, I’m teaching other people to do the work for themselves. THAT has been the biggest reward this blog has brought to my life.

With your valued support, I look forward to continuing to expand my gray matter in the years to come.

Naturally, I don’t think Social Media is a fad anymore than the telephone, the fax machine or email. The communication tools and platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) we use may evolve and change but the concept of social connectivity that is “social media” is here to stay.

Rise Up Right-Brain Thinkers!

The fact is, we are still in the very early stages of a period of virtually unfettered creativity in how we communicate — whether it’s with friends and/or business prospects. Opportunity is everywhere and accessibility is only increasing via the Internet. I’ve been reading a book that, astride the following video (below), make for a compelling look at the future for creative, right-brain thinkers…A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink (Audible.com link, Amazon.com link). And while I know there are many people struggling right now with unemployment rates so high, I also know many people who are seizing this very moment in their lives to reinvent themselves by way of reinventing their career identities by engaging their right-brain thinking.

The Right-Brain Revolution Is On!

It is with that spirit of optimism and opportunity that I post today’s FileShare, “Social Media Revolution.”

If you are unable to view the image above, you can watch the video on YouTube. Here’s a link to the original Socialnomics blog post which provides sources for the stats in the video. Shout out to Kyle Lacy who featured the stats from this video in his recent blog post. If you’re not a subscriber of Kyle’s blog, I highly recommend it for high-quality content if you’re interested in social media for business.

Are you a left-brain thinker or a right-brain thinker?

Here’s a fun little test to see which hemisphere of your brain is more dominant (source: The Herald Sun).

The Right Brain vs Left Brain Test

Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS	RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic detail oriented facts rule words and language present and past math and science can comprehend knowing acknowledges order/pattern perception knows object name reality based forms strategies practical safe	uses feeling “big picture” oriented imagination rules symbols and images present and future philosophy & religion can “get it” (i.e. meaning) believes appreciates spatial perception knows object function fantasy based presents possibilities impetuous risk taking

I’m back. Did ya miss me? (Don’t answer that.) Been off the blog for almost 30 days.

Where did the time go?

Well, I’ll tell you. I was still plugged in, but to a bunch of new stuff…spent some time exploring tools and technology I hadn’t before so as to expand my social repertoire. I invite you to walk with me for a minute to see where I’ve been, in case you’d like to go a-wanderin’, too.

Sailing Out Of Twitter
Would you believe I have Twitter to thank for reconnecting me to a love of sailing that I lost track of more than a decade ago? A Twitter contact put the idea back in my head. And, as these things do, the cosmic connections started to stir around me. Twitter sailors started popping up everywhere, and the next thing I knew I was back on a boat trying to remember my topping lift from my twing. Because of Twitter, I rediscovered a little piece of me I thought was gone forever. Cool, huh? (And people think it’s just full of people talking about what they ate for lunch.) And then…

CafePress
I needed a red shirt to wear for the next sailing race. So I figured, why not get one with the name of the sailing team with whom I was racing on the front pocket? Of course I’ve known about CafePress for quite some time, bought from it and recommended it, but I wanted to figure out how it worked from a creator’s standpoint. So I set up my own storefronts at www.cafepress.com/GrayMatterPress and www.cafepress.com/GrayPicturesLLC for no other reason than because I could. And then…

A Very Social Snow Cone
As serendipity would have it, I got together with an old friend and fellow entrepreneur to chat about life and biz and sailing-thanks-to-Twitter, and before I had finished my snow cone (coconut flavor with marshmallow in the middle), she had decided to start a new networking group and a blog to boot. The first event she hosted was a smashing success. It is my pleasure to introduce www.FreeBirdsUnited.com/blog, a blog for women entrepreneurs. (Go Betty, go!) As I scraped the marshmallow from the bottom of my cup, I suggested she set up a store at CafePress (having just done so myself), so we could buy FreeBird stuff to showcase our affiliation. And then…

Flip Mino HD
I thought I should go back in and actually add some products to my stores on CafePress, and that’s when I saw that you can put your logo on those cool little flip mino HD digital video cameras. So, naturally, I did. Then I bought one. And then…

YouTube
With my hot little (branded) flip mino HD cam in hand, I realized how easy it would be to shoot and post something to YouTube. So I did that, too. And it was fun. Fun, I tell you. So much fun that I decided I could have even more fun if I had a little something (and I do mean “little”) to sail myself, from which I could shoot more fun stuff. And then…

Craigslist
As with all other things in my world, I realize that hands-on experience (whether you’re building a blog or sailing a boat) is the best kind. I was always a bit of an eBay snob, but search results for little sailboats kept churning up Craigslist links (anyone who has heard me talk about social media, has heard me talk about the power of “search”…this being a case in point). And, it turns out, I ended up having a very positive Craigslist experience. Saw a good listing, chatted with the seller by phone, met him and then bought a little tiny itty-bitty Sunfish.  And then…

Audible.com
I had to go pick up the little itty-bitty boat, so I downloaded a book — a memoir — to my iPod to listen to on the drive that broke my heart and reminded me, yet again, that life is short and every day is a gift. It also reminded me that you never know where new connections may take place or where those connections may take you. It’s hard to put the power of this book in the context of anything else because it tells a story that is more important than anything I will ever say or do in my lifetime. I will carry it with me in my mind forever, count my blessings and continue on…

Facebook
I then posted a wall-to-wall “thank you” to the friend who recommended the abovementioned book, and then I joined a few sailing groups on Facebook in case I have questions while fixing up my little Sunfish. I also connected with the new sailors I have met racing so we can stay in touch on shore, virtually speaking. Facebook has helped me get to know each of them a bit better beyond our chatter between tacking and jibing. And then…

I realized it’s been a month since I posted to GrayMatter Minute!

So as I settle back down into blog business, I’m looking forward to refocusing my efforts on Social Gets Local, where I am sharing case studies about how local Baltimore-Washington-Annapolis area businesses are using social media successfully. (Ping me if you’d like to be added to the directory.)

Why do I think any of you care about what I’ve been doing over the past 30 days?

Well, I don’t. However, I do think my adventure presents an interesting example of how social media connections you make online can move offline and then back online again and take you to places you might not otherwise have traveled.

Meet online. Move offline. Maintain your network.

Technology doesn’t have to be overwhelming or all-consuming. It’s what you make it. All of these social tools are there to make it easier for you to connect to the things that matter to you — from business to blogging to boating to books or whatever moves your needle. I LOVE being plugged in because doors keep opening all around me. So if you aren’t getting anything out of Twitter or you think Facebook is stupid (and that’s cool if you do…it’s your dime), I just want to suggest that if you explore them in earnest you can learn a lot about whatever you want.

I was in this for the FYI, not the ROI.

We’re each the skipper of our own little boat and that can be rather empowering. I’ll save the “ROI of Social Media” discussions for Social Gets Local. In this post, I just wanted to make the point that when you make the investment in filling your own social sails, you may be surprised (and delighted) to see where the wind might take you.

Sometimes the journey itself is the destination — and the reward.

No time for social media? Not interested? Overwhelmed? Think it’s a fad? Too busy? Prefer not to be “friended”? Nothin’ to tweet?

I’ve heard it all.

And I’m not here to convince you otherwise unless you ask me to…so feel free to sidestep social media if you’d like, but there’s a 3-step strategy that anyone who has a name, social security number, personal or professional interest, and a resume should know.

These are 3 simple steps that will keep you in step with “the latest technology,” even if you want to sidestep social media.

I always bring these three things up when I speak to a group about anything that’s going on online, and the pens/pencils always come out. (Oh, who am I kidding? No one uses pencils anymore.) These are pearls of Web 2.0 wisdom folks, three easy essentials that will cover you on the basics until you accept the power of social technology into your hearts and minds (and businesses).

1. MONITOR: Set up Google Alerts. This is so easy; I almost didn’t include it but for the fact that it always surprises me how many people haven’t done it. If you want to be alerted ANYTIME your name (or your family members’ names or any other keywords that are important to your personal security or professional development) is published online, anywhere in the world, set up an “alert” using Google’s FREE Google Alerts tool and you’ll get an email notification. THE QUESTION: I have been asked, “Why would I want to know when my name is published?” THE ANSWER: My response is always the same, why wouldn’t you? Always a good idea to do regular vanity searches by googling yourself so you can see what other people would see if they googled you, but even better to set up an automated system to alert you and keep you informed and aware of your digital trail. (And these days, we ALL have a digital trail.) While you’re at it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some kind of identity fraud protection on your SSN. It would cost less per month than what you might spend at Starbucks and delivers peace of mind without the caffeine.
2. MANAGE: Set up an RSS feed reader. I’ve talked about this before. I even put together a handy “how to set up an RSS feed reader” step-by-step guide that you can download for free. Gratis. That’s how much this means to me. It’s my little gift to you. THE QUESTION: How do you get the information that interests you most? THE ANSWER: You do an online search. Everything is about SEARCH these days. THE NEXT QUESTION: Are you controlling the flow of information in your life or are you overwhelmed by noise, a slave to pages and pages of search results? THE REALLY IMPORTANT QUESTION: Do you only seek information when you need it, or have you set up an RSS feed reader so the information you desire most comes to you AUTOMATICALLY and is thus available to you to peruse or share at your convenience? THE DRIVE-MY-POINT-HOME QUESTION: In the Web 2.0 world of information overload, are you a victim of the volume or in control of your content consumption? THE EASY ANSWER TO ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS: Manage the content, kids — set up an RSS feed reader and live a happier online existence.
3. MAINTAIN: Set up your LinkedIn profile. Got a phone? Got email? How about a job or a desire to have a job? THE QUESTION: How can you have all of that and not have a LinkedIn profile set up in the year 2009? THE ANSWER: Sorry, but you’re going to have to tell me the answer because I cannot come up with one! I’m not saying LinkedIn will revolutionize your life, but gee-whiz, it sure can serve to make your life easier. (Yes, I still say “gee-whiz.”) There are lots of ways to use LinkedIn. Use it as an online, access-from-anywhere Rolodex of contacts; use it as an online resume you can refer people to quickly and simply; and use it to throw your hat in the virtual ring because people who you liked once upon a time and lost track of might love to send some business your way. You don’t have to post status updates if you don’t want to in this space. (Though it is recommended.) You don’t have to post photos of your kids. You don’t have to connect with anyone with whom you don’t wish to connect. You don’t have to post what you ate for lunch on anyone’s “wall.” You don’t have to tweet anything. But you do have to be there and properly maintain your presence and your profile. It’s your online “web cred” and, all things considered, it’s pretty low maintenance. Seriously, not being there is like going to a meeting without a business card. You can sidestep Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, YouTube, etc., but I can’t figure out why one would opt out of LinkedIn if you’re in business. IF someone looks for you there for professional purposes and you’re not there, you miss the chance to make or enhance an impression. Being there is one more way to make it easier for business contacts to reach you if they haven’t seen you in a while or refer you to people within their networks in a few simple clicks. How is this a bad idea? I don’t see LinkedIn as being about social media as much as I see it as being about good business. Furthermore, should you ever find yourself in a position of needing to change jobs, LinkedIn ensures your network is quite literally at your fingertips. The big question here is: what impression do you think it leaves on prospects if you’re not on LinkedIn?

These are technology basics that EVERYONE in these curious times should consider, IMHO.

You can snub the social media mania for a while longer, if you’d like. As it was with the telephone and email, new communication tools are scary to some folks, and I’m down with that. But I swear by my Technology 3-Step.

Monitor, Manage, Maintain. It’s the very least you can do — for you.

Not literally. Figuratively, of course.

The fact is, I don’t get out much during the week. Monday through Friday is a tumbler of parenting, working full time, managing two businesses, running a household and maintaining our zoo of domesticated animals.

So when I do venture out, I have incredibly high expectations.

Repeatedly, Ignite Baltimore has delivered, as has Ignite DC. And I’m counting on nothing less than total satisfaction from Ignite Annapolis (now in early planning stages).

The palpable energy at these events lights me up every time.

Haven’t been to an Ignite event? Let me quickly tell you what it is: a cross between a stage performance, networking event, block party, lecture series, improv show and a local mixer. More specifically, it’s a collection of 15 or so people from any given city, each allotted 5 minutes on stage with 20 slides behind them that are automatically rotated every 15 seconds, ready or not.

Who are the speakers?

Every man and every woman. Artists, technologists, thinkers, entrepreneurs, employees, personalities, professionals, unprofessionals and students, to name a few – and all of them brave enough to stand up in front of the Baltimore-DC-Annapolis-Etc. communities and share something.

Ignite events (started in Seattle in 2006 by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis) are the most valuable organized events I’ve ever attended, professionally speaking. I’ve been to three and walked away from each equally energized and entertained by people who weren’t trying to sell me anything, but just had something cool to share.

It’s NOT all about social media – it IS all about your local community.

While the local Twitter population came out in force, there were plenty of non-twitterers amidst the presenters and spectators at the Ignite events I’ve attended. It’s amazing to have the chance to see what other people in the community are doing as opposed to hearing what someone is pitching, proposing, or otherwise “pushing.” These events are absolutely about sharing interests and ideas. They also avoid the awkwardness that can occur at more traditional “forced networking” events (you know, the ones that start with “Hello My Name Is…” badges and end with a pocketful of business cards that you’re unlikely to follow up on).

For example, I was fascinated at Ignite Baltimore #3 last week to learn about “The Archimedes Palimpsest,” now on loan at The Walters Art Museum, from Curator of Manuscripts, Will Noel. The guy and the topic that ignites him were fascinating. And Matt Castner, a blogger and recent college grad made “the case for being a generalist” with a polished, practiced and perfect delivery that also included one of the best impromptu and spontaneous laughs of the night. Jim Kucher, Melody Hildebrandt and Peter Corbett dazzled in their ideasharing about capitalism, the bailout-free web and crappy web apps (respectively), Amanda Schwarz has me rethinking my relationship with tea (black, green, oolong and herbal!), Debra Rubino encouraged me to do more eavesdropping, and Anne Draddy forever changed the way I’ll look at the tree canopy in downtown Baltimore.

It was a pot-luck of information and entertainment.

And it was an absolute delight to be exposed to such bright and interesting people in such a unique and lively format. Even the most “offbeat” presentation of the night was interesting in its, well, “offbeatness.”

Tickets are free. And you can do as much or as little actual socializing as you want.

To learn more about the Ignite event in your area, visit ignite.oreilly.com or wikipedia. Find out if your city has one and by all means give attendance some serious consideration. DEFINITELY worth your time, IMHO.

Local to me? Check out:

• Ignite Baltimore (Next event on 10/22 at The Walters)
• Ignite DC
• Ignite Annapolis
• Ignite Philly
• Ignite Wilmington

You can follow Ignite events on Twitter, as well:

• @IgniteBaltimore
• @IgniteDC
• @IgniteAnnapolis
• @IgnitePhilly
• @IgniteWilm

Oftentimes these events are webcast live, in case the workload, laundry and litter box keep you housebound. Just check their respective websites for the deets.

Bottom line? Ignite events are good for anyone’s gray matter.

I appreciate inspiration wherever I find it – I bring the energy from Ignite events right back into my work, into my personal interests and into my creative pursuits. So I want to issue a formal thank you to Mike Subelsky and Patti Chan, Ignite Baltimore co-founders, for lighting things up for all of those attending the event on June 25.

I look forward to getting lit again…hope I’ve adequately communicated why I think you should, too!

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• Ignite YouTube Channel (Best of Ignites from around the world)

On Friday, June 12, I attended BlogPotomac, in Falls Church, Virginia. BlogPotomac is a social media marketing event held for the greater Washington, D.C. community. Attendees enjoy a one-day event with nationally renowned speakers and advanced discussion of best social media marketing practices.

Thought I’d share my top five takeaways from the day.

1. It’s Not About The Technology.

Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford (and on twitter @scottmonty), spoke in the morning and this particular statement of his turned out to be highly “tweetable.” He talked about how social media is not about any given technology, but about a culture shift. It’s a shift we watched take place when the telephone entered the business world and then again when email entered our every day experiences. To paraphrase, technology, he said, will continue to evolve and change; it’s merely a tool to facilitate conversation and an opportunity to leverage more communication channels.

2. If The Leadership Doesn’t “Get It,” Don’t “Get In It.”

This one’s a Scott Monty paraphrase, as well. Bottom line? His success in social media at Ford is owing to the commitment of the company’s leadership to “listen” and “become a better company.” He’s not online “to sell cars” but to build a reputation. He was very clear that he could not have accomplished all that he has without the absolute support and backing of Ford’s leadership. (To read more on this, visit: Buzzcast #71: Scott Monty / Ford Motor Company (Video) and Scott Monty, Ford’s Agent of Change or simply google scott monty and settle in for some good biz-reading.)

3. Don’t Fear Negative Comments; Trust Your Community.

Can I help it if Scott Monty said so much good stuff? His point here? Know when it’s appropriate to respond to negative comments and when it’s not. Once you’ve built a community, you will see that when someone says something negative or untrue about you (or your brand), your community will oftentimes step up and respond for you to set the record straight (because you’ve taken the time and effort to build those positive relationships). I would append to this a comment from the next speaker at BlogPotomac, Liz Strauss. Liz is on twitter @lizstrauss and she blogs at LizStrauss.com. I tweeted at the event that Liz was worth the price of admission. To this end, she made the point that it’s easier “to trust” when you know who you are as an individual and a business. As a small business owner, I get this. And I’ve watched companies (and individuals) with a strong “sense of self” make a smooth transition into the social webs, so the point was well taken. Liz drove it home by adding that “social” should be INTERNAL, first. That is, “you can’t be truly social with customers if you’re not an open-conversation company on the inside.” Think on this one for a sec: Is your company social internally? Is there a strong communication and relationship-building effort between employer and employee? It’s a GREAT question and has never been more timely. (And it speaks to a company’s cultural preparedness to engage in the broader culture shift that social media is ushering in.)

4. Do You Need To Get On An Airplane, Or Get On Twitter?

Well, it doesn’t have to be twitter…it could be a video phone, skype, email, or any other tool. (It’s not about the technology!) At BlogPotomac, Liz Strauss reminded us all that “you don’t lead with the tools, you lead with the relationship.” With social media, you can build those relationships in a handful of different ways these days. (Whereas 10 years ago, you might have had to get on a plane, repeatedly, to build a quality relationship, you can often do more online these days to reduce the time you spend flying the friendly skies.) No one is saying the vis-à-vis isn’t of value, but the virtual can do a heck of a lot for you in between those meetings, if you use it appropriately. If this statement doesn’t resonate with you, then you might ask yourself how you use the telephone or email to build, maintain and support relationships (they’re “virtual,” too) and consider that social media offers similar opportunities to “connect.” If it feels unfamiliar, it’s only a matter of spending the time to learn how to use them well to pull – and push – value.

5. You Don’t Own Your Reputation.

Okay. I like this one. So the same thing we say about a company’s brand can be said about your own reputation. What do we say? Well, we say that “you don’t own a brand, you earn a brand.” So, too, with your reputation. YOU don’t define your reputation – your COMMUNITY/NETWORK does. You know who you are and you live it. They affirm and share it. This was the topic of discussion when Amber Naslund (who works for Radian6, blogs at Altitude Branding and is building her reputation @AmberCadabra) and Aaron Brazell (a.k.a. @technosailor, blogging at technosailor.com) took the stage. Fascinating stuff to consider. Brands are managed by businesses, but “controlled” by customers. To this end, you can’t control what gets put out there about you. You can only do what you do and do it well. The reputation follows. I focused on this portion of the dialogue, though much time was also spent on the notion of “personal branding,” as well as the balance between the personal and the professional brand. To me, it all goes back to reputation – whether you’re a business or an individual working on building relationships – all you can do is be your best you, every day. (Oh, and if you don’t want something showing up online, don’t put it there!)

Blog on!

Thanks to Geoff Livingston for a putting on a really great BlogPotomac. If you missed it, there will be another held in October. I think I heard October 23rd, but you should check the official website for official deets.

One final thought for business leaders and marketing veeps…

When you consider that you “allow” employees to communicate with clients on the phone and via email every single day, “allowing” them to communicate on the social webs (with best practices guidelines in place, of course) is simply a matter of evolving and extending your trust in your employees. An inappropriate email could easily be made public and a phone conversation could be easily converted to an mp3 and posted online for all the world to hear. Employees don’t do those things (typically) because most don’t set out to betray the trust of the company that employs them – or jeopardize their own reputations.

If “fear” feels like a barrier to social media, remember that businesses once feared email and, before that, the telephone. It’s simply not about the technology, it’s about trust and reputation. Social media is giving us all an opportunity to examine and extend the reach of both.

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Give a listen to this commencement speech given at Tulane University’s 2009 graduation. Why? Because it’s about taking chances. It’s about being true to yourself…being who you are, no matter who that is. It’s about not knowing, trusting and leaps of faith. It’s about passion. It’s about fear, overcoming fear and embracing personal freedom. It’s about success and failure and success again. It’s about what we all do every day: we take chances. And if we don’t, it’s about why we should.

Live every minute of your life with intention and share a laugh whenever you can.

Congrats to the graduating classes of 2009 and the parents who believe in you.

(NOTE: YouTube has pulled the video, however you can listen to the audio version at http://www.entertonement.com/clips/wfxbjlpnnh–Ellen-DeGeneres-Commencement-Speech-at-Tulane-University )

Tiffany Thomas Smith, who works in the strategic communications and public affairs unit of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, has enthusiastically taken on the challenge of introducing social media to one of the nation’s largest and most respected philanthropies.

In this (very first) “Social Gets Local” post, an interview with GrayMatter Minute contributor @cameronbarry, she shares the successes and challenges of adapting new communications tools in an organization with a social mission.

Q: How has social media impacted your marketing efforts?
A: The biggest change we’ve seen to date is in public relations.  Social media is where the journalists are. Sites like Twitter and Facebook are the new bridge to our media contacts and the answer to the question of what’s the best way to get in touch with them.  They also give us insights into the stories that journalists are talking about and covering. However, we’re about to launch a new social media campaign that I think is really going to change the way we communicate.

Q: What social media tool do you use the most?
A: Twitter, where I have both my own account and one for the Foundation.  We also have a Facebook page and I’ve been working with my colleagues on the benefits of using LinkedIn, but between listening and posting and answering questions about what it is and why my colleagues should care about it, Twitter definitely gets most of my attention.

Q: How much time each day do you spend using Twitter?
A: I worked with our IT department to install Twhirl on my desktop. Since then, I’ve been able to keep an eye on our accounts and post or respond quickly.  I can’t put an exact amount of time on it because it’s always kind of a low hum in the background.

Q: Do you consider your time on Twitter “time well spent?”
A: That’s a lot like asking a PR person if there’s a value in building a relationship with a reporter if the story you pitch doesn’t come out right away.  In other words, yes, especially in maintaining and managing relationships with journalists.  The Foundation tends to keep a low profile and now, because I’m in regular communication with reporters, they remember us.  We don’t have to constantly restart the conversation every time we have a story to share. In the area of policy and communications strategy, we see more and more members of Congress using social media to take the pulse of their constituencies.  They’ve discovered that there’s more than one way to have a conversation and maintain relationships and we’re going to be taking a look at social media from the policy perspective as well.

Q: Is the leadership of your organization supportive of your use of social media?
A: They are supportive and curious.  All foundations are on information overload, but as tools like Twitter get more and more mainstream media coverage, our leadership is realizing that we have to make an investment in learning about how to make good use of these tools to engage with all of our audiences.

Q: Do your colleagues use social media?  How and in what ways?
A: Yes.  In addition to the basic networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, we’re also using social media to help our grantees across the country stay in touch with each other.  The Foundation awards grants to address specific issues and our grantees have been asking for help in setting up their own smaller social networks.  We use ning, an online platform for creating, customizing and sharing your own social networks.

Q: How are you gauging “ROI?”
A: Right now, we’re being modest, but we’re getting smarter as fast as we can.  We’re still evaluating what success means, but we’re tracking how often bloggers write about us and how many tweets we get and of course, our website traffic. Our new social media campaign is going to give us a much clearer idea of how we can make social media engagement work for us.

Q: How is social media working for you on the…
Local level?
A: Our success is most visible locally, probably because I’m here in Baltimore.  I can see our message getting out via local channels, I hear from our grantees, the media can see our local programs at work….
Regional level?
A: We have offices in several cities around the country and from our headquarters here in Baltimore, we view a regional rollout of our social media efforts as a next step.  We’re going to take what we’ve learned here and share it with our offices in Atlanta, Seattle and New Haven so they can use social media to support their efforts.
National level?
A: Nationally, there’s a lot of internal recognition for our efforts, but extending our social media efforts nationwide is still a goal.

Q: What would you say to other area philanthropies about social media?
A: I would say that social media engagement is totally worth the effort if you’re willing to take the time to build relationships.  Social media is great for taking the pulse of what people are talking about, thinking about and listening to. It’s easy to get insulated – we all have a tendency to think that because we want to say something, people want to listen, but that’s not always the case.  Social media encourages you to listen and it gives you the quickest return on being a good listener.

Q: What question do you have about social media that you’d like to ask your local community?
A: I go right back to the question of ROI.  Even with the phenomenal growth of social media, how are folks out there figuring out when it’s worth doing?

Click here if you’d like to be a part of Social Gets Local, a FREE local directory supporting businesses located in Baltimore, Washington DC and Annapolis that are using social media effectively.

Content. It’s everywhere. Tons of it. Anytime you open your web browser, you are opening a virtual vortex.

You search. You learn. You connect. You are in control of your Internet adventure and you can type, click and link your way to anywhere. Sometimes you know where you want to go and sometimes you happen upon an new place after following an unexpected trail of clickthroughs.

The networking possibilities online are mind-numbing. The educational opportunities,  abundant. The chance to make quality connections simply rests in HOW you consume, manage and distribute content. Period.

There is so much information out there…you can truly get lost in it.

Or…you can do your best to manage it.

As the Internet grows and new content is published at incomprehensible volumes, how on Earth can you maximize your Internet experience—and your time? I think it all starts with a 3-step approach.

1. Search. EVERYTHING online comes down to search. That is, it’s all about how you find things and how you can optimize your own content so it can be found easily. There are search tools for everything. Use them. Want a list? Start here.
2. RSS. You guys, I’m telling you…this is the secret sauce to content management. If you do not know what an RSS feed is or if you DO NOT HAVE AN RSS FEED READER, PLEASE learn what it is and how to use it TODAY. Information is currency…whoever finds the best information (and shares it) WINS on so many levels. Find good content, automate its delivery, organize it and distribute it to your network. How? RSS. It takes WAAAAAAY less time than you think, if you take the time to learn how to use it. Speaking of your network, this brings me to my third key to being your own best content manager….
3. Networks/Communities. Still poo-poo the “social media craze?” Be my guest. But what good is having information if you don’t USE it. Write a book, tell a story, pass on a bad joke…whatever. The point is, you distribute content, somewhere and somehow. Every day. You know people – online and offline – you are connected to people. When you have a phone call to chat…there’s content in that call. When you send an email…again, you’ve created new content. When you have a face-to-face chat, your conversation is content. So, you see, you’ve been managing content your entire life – sharing it with your friends, family, coworkers…um…you know, your social circles. You don’t have to “join” a community, because you’re already part of one, or two or three. The question is, how are you managing the sharing of that content with those communities and how much time does it take you. You add an Internet connection to all of the content you were creating and sharing anyway, and you are suddenly positioned to share more content with more people in less time.

This all seems obvious, right?

Well if it were, I wouldn’t STILL be having discussions with people about why I don’t think twitter is stupid and why facebook is about so much more than “information I don’t care about from people I’m not really friends with…” Baloney, I say. I don’t care if you think twitter is a waste of time or if facebook is juvenile. You can use them or not. The fact is, if you have an Internet connection, you consciously or subconsciously manage the content you consume online in one way or another.

So pick your platform(s) – online or offline – and pay attention to managing your time and your content.

Doesn’t matter how you communicate, as far as I’m concerned. But recognize this: the web has put the power of information into the hands of anyone with an Internet connection. There’s content all around you. Do you feel overwhelmed? Or empowered? If you’re dismissive of “social media,” could it be because it overwhelms you? It doesn’t have to…just remember it’s all about three things, IMHO: 1) Search and the tools that enable quality search, 2) RSS automation, and 3) Sharing your content with your network.

Social Media is a contact sport. Get in the game and find out what’s behind door #3. You have nothing to lose…except some really great content.

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Image via Wikipedia

They’re not at odds. Nor are they even.

Differentiating between Corporate versus Small Business social usability may seem obvious to the trailblazers of Web 2.0 and the social media sphere, but it was a bit of an Oh 2.0 epiphany for me.

Lions, Tigers and Scales. Oh my!

“Does it scale? Does it scale?” Walk into a conference-room conversation about social media and the question of scale is bound to pop up. But what exactly does “does it scale” mean? Simply put, it’s a question of how a company (or an individual, for that matter) personalizes interaction with large-scale (tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions) “fans,” “followers,” “friends,” “visitors,” “commenters,” etc. It’s a fundamental challenge in social media. I mean, how can you possibly keep up with that many conversations?

Well, that’s what the big companies are asking when they talk about “scale” in social media.

And it’s a great question, which I’d like to follow with another: Does social media scale a bit easier for small businesses because they’re a little lighter on their feet and better positioned to move/react more quickly? That is, if you’re a large corporation, with a national or international presence, the question of scale and how you can build 1:1 relationships with ever-growing audiences remains a weighty one, if you’ll allow me the pun. But if you’re a small business, do you have an edge maneuvering around in the socialspheres?

Small Business + Social Media = Perfect Scale?

I’d like to say I’ve done the math, but I don’t do math. So what I’m suggesting here, is that the smaller size of a small business, in comparison to larger corporations, enables more scaled down and targeted local (or even regional) efforts. I don’t want to suggest that it’s an easy or effortless process, but I truly believe that it’s refreshingly manageable when you can make a move without it requiring the approval of multiple departments or a Board of Directors.

Leverage your smaller size to build a more manageable community.

C’mon! This is exciting, no? Social media is something you can get your head (and your small business) around with a few less worries than the Fortune 500 folks. That’s something to feel good about in these trying economic times! You’re a small business. You’re nimble. You’re quick. You don’t own any red tape. It’s you and your customers. Oh, and your passion, (fantastically pre-built into most small businesses). Okay, now you’re all socially psyched. So what’s next?

Here’s my shortlist of small business social action steps.

1. You need to start with a strategic plan. Need help? Someone you know in your local community is surely über-motivated about social media. Find that person. Talk to her about what you want to do. (I might know a gal…)
2. Assess your current social presence and those of your competitors. Again, not sure how? Ask me. I know people. Heck, start with a good ol’ fashioned google search.
3. Identify your goals and objectives in entering the socialsphere. Not sure what they are? Hire someone to help you. Seriously. Do it right from the beginning. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to muck things up along the way…but at least get off to a good, solid, running start.
4. Do your homework! Find the right dot-com platform(s) by taking a look at them. Spend some TIME in the space. This isn’t for fun…this is for your business. (It’s just another plus that you’re likely to find it fun.) Check out twitter, linkedin and facebook for starters. Pick one or two to get your feet wet. Put your business hat on. Listen to the conversations taking place. Figure out how each space can work for your business before you start posting.
5. Set yourself up properly when you open up an account. Build solid profiles – if you write yourself a bio, give it some serious thought. Impressions are made quickly online. Be professional. Protect your brand. But, by all means, be you.
6. Identify your target audience within each platform. Use search tools to find the right people. (My Resources page offers a solid list of Twitter tools…just scroll to the bottom and take your pick.)
7. Engage and respond. Don’t be a lurker for long.
8. Learn, (MEASURE!), adjust and grow your network. Move those online conversations offline!
9. Do not be afraid to try.
10. Do not be afraid to try again.

    

    Image by edkohler

When your corporate ladder is a stepstool, it’s easier to make the move into social media.

I know I’m speaking in general terms here about “small business.” So let’s be clear: There’s nothing in social media that is “off the shelf.” No matter what size your business is, you still need to customize anything and everything you do to fit your brand, your products and services, as well as your employees, whose participation you may well want to enlist. Chances are they’re already engaged in the social Interwebs and might be able to bring some valuable intelligence to the conference room table.

Still not sure social media is for you? Or unclear about what it can do? Well, I’m on the case…

With the gracious help of @cameronbarry, I’m preparing a “Social Gets Local” directory of small business social media success stories. Any small business in the Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington, D.C. areas that wants to participate can share its social media success story in a quick interview that we’ll then turn into a blog post here on GrayMatter Minute. Meanwhile, I’ll compile all of these local case studies into a directory that should prove to be a really great tool for all of us to reference as we build our online communities.

If you’d like to participate, please click here to learn more or contact me on LinkedIn or Twitter. I’d love to talk with you and hear your story. Because I think any small business that’s made the leap into new media, deserves BIG kudos on every scale.

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Times sure have changed. But have the rules of social engagement?

What would Dale Carnegie say about all of this virtual networking and online social interaction. Does his methodology work in new media?

Sure it does. With a few minor updates, of course.

I broke Mr. Carnegie’s rules today in a comment thread on a prominent blogger’s post. (No links; that’s not the point of this post.) I let my guard down and my unpolished opinion out. And I spoke far too frankly. (Oddly, something I’d never allow myself to do on Facebook, where “everybody knows my name”…at least everybody with whom I’m “friends.”)

In an effort to be thought provoking, I provoked. And then I got called out on it. On twitter.

Welcome to REAL social media.

But here’s the turn: getting “called out” turned into an actual call. A phone call. With yet another very prominent blogger. And there was a real dialogue. A clarification. A new understanding. That very kind person reached out a virtual hand to me.  And we talked on the phone as we would in person.

Welcome to the POWER of real social media.

I learned a huge lesson today. Where I thought I saw a lack of humility, I found my own. My approach to commenting when I disagree with the content of a post will change. I will imagine that I’m standing right in front of that person speaking the very words I’m typing.

We all should. THAT is how you truly “friend” friends and twinfluence people.

Or at least I think that’s what Dale Carnegie would say.

What do you think?

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Whether You’re An Individual or a Business, Engaged in Social Media or Not, You Need to Consider the Quality and Consistency of Your Content.

Never Underestimate the Power of a Shower.

image via Wikipedia

If you’re like me and read other bloggers’ blogs, receive regular Webinar invites, get a weekly e-newsletter, or listen to a weekly podcast, you may sometimes think to yourself, “My word! When do they have the time to come up with all this CONTENT?”

Well, I have figured it out.

In the shower.

All great ideas come to you in the shower, no? Is it just me or is it being in perfect isolation with your thoughts, as warm (or scalding hot, as is my preference) water beats down on your head that really gets those inner content molecules colliding? I don’t know. But I do know there are a few other places where you can generate some really good ideas…

Twitter: the BirdBath of Idea Sharing.

Practice makes perfect, (approximately 10,000 hours of it according to Malcolm Gladwell). And while I’m no blogging “Outlier” and I’ve clearly spent my 10,000 hours with reckless abandon, I’m wise enough to know that in between blog posts I still need to preen my brain a bit. That’s why I twitter. It’s the birdbath of idea sharing, perfect for the time in between those high-shower-powered posts, so you stay engaged in the conversation and keep your thoughts percolating. If you’re using twitter effectively, you’re sure to see, hear, discuss, link to, tweet and retweet some really great ideas.

Showertime Fail Whale? Take another!

Twitter Fail Whale: image by Techcrunch

During stressful times, when the creative pressure is really on, I sometimes take a second shower, should the first result in a total Fail Whale. If a shower doesn’t do it for you, a few folks far more committed to water conservation than I am have created a handful of really helpful ideas to refresh your thinking and get you going again:

• 200 Blog Post Ideas for your Company Blog
• 101 Blog Posting Ideas
• 40 Sites for Writers
• Blogging Secrets Revealed
• A Blog About Getting Blog Ideas
• Time-tested, proven story ideas for your employee newsletter
• 31 content tips and ideas for your B2B email newsletter
• Small Biz: Know when to outsource your email marketing efforts

Good Conditioning for Your Business…

No one says you have to blog or tweet, but if you’re in business, you need to be connecting and conversing with your clients/customers/vendors/etc regularly, whether it’s in traditional media or new media (preferably, both). So whether you develop your content in-house or you outsource, take a minute to think about all of the “content” your business generates, in any/every medium, and ask yourself:

• In what ways are you maintaining meaningful business relationships?
• Do you have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in place?
• Do you have a process in place for internal or external communication that all employees are familiar with?
• How accessible are you and in how many different ways are you accessible to clients or employees?
• Do you broadcast messages or invite two-way communication that’s not always sales-driven?
• Are you letting your client base know you’re on top of the latest industry trends (even if you haven’t implemented them)?
• Have you empowered your employees to be ambassadors of your business or your brand? After all they’re out there developing content, too! What are they saying about you? Are you monitoring your “reputation” on the Internet? For example, is your business using Google Analytics and if so, who outside of IT is reviewing the data regularly?
• What is your Reputation Management strategy?
• How effectively are you using email and could your email be doing more?
• Is your business always ready to “pounce?”

So As Not To Water Down My Point, Here’s EXACTLY What I’m Trying To Say:

1. The best business communications often involve elements of two-way conversation (that is, a “call to action” is useless if you’re not ready to “respond” to it).
2. Creating truly valuable conversations requires a communication and CONTENT strategy.
3. Coming up with new content takes time and dedicated thought, and possibly multiple daily showers.
4. (NOTE: This is the big one.) If you’re not generating valuable content, are you at least monitoring the content being generated about you?

Rinse and Repeat.

The demand for new content is continuous, so I’ll never underestimate the power a shower will have on my creative process. And now that you know where I came up with this blog post idea, I would love to hear your favorite ways (or favorite place) for coming up with new content for your communications.

For those who have yet to try their hands at commenting, this is a great opportunity to get your feet wet. (Ba-dum-bump.) I’m not looking for any kind of huge comment-commitment here. Just the name of a place where you do some good thinking. It’s a word or two. No biggie.

Think about it. Your comment to this post could be the fastest, easiest and yet most thought-provoking content you’ll ever have to create.

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I have. And it feels as comfortable as an old piece of new media. (Well, you know what I mean.) So here’s what I call my social media network trifecta and what I think you can get out of each of these three venues. (Because I keep getting asked “what do you get out of those three venues?”)

In particular order:

Facebook: Personal Connections

MYTH: All people post is stupid stuff about baking cupcakes, I don’t care about those kinds of things.

FACT: I have never posted about baking cupcakes on facebook. (No matter that I don’t bake.)

BENEFITS: “What’s in it for you?”

• Connect with friends you can’t find time to talk with more often because life is so crazy busy

• Reconnect with old friends you didn’t realize how much you missed

facebook login page

• Find out what all of your friends are up to without having to get on the phone (because who of us has time to get on the phone “just to chat” when you’re over 30)?

• Share life/work happenings that are interesting, but would otherwise not warrant an immediate phone call or email to one (let alone all) of your friends. Example? “You’re leaving tomorrow for a biz trip to Okinawa.” Or “you just found out you’re pregnant with your 5th child.” These “status updates” are unequivocally interesting and each are likely to illicit some feedback from your friends, like, “watch out for the poisonous Habu snake” or “haven’t you two figured out how babies are made yet?”

• It’s fun. And I say this as a longstanding, regionally renowned, anti-social curmudgeon. It’s been great to have quick and easy chats with people that matter to me with whom I would not otherwise have been able to manage keeping up with due to the business of life. It connects you with your “inner circle” of friends AND your “outer circle,” too, in a highly efficient way: you can just listen in or join in the conversation. Either way, you remember how many lives intersect with yours and it turns out that’s pretty cool. (Though I’d prefer you didn’t mention I ever said something so blatantly uncurmudgeonly.)

LinkedIn: Professional Connections

MYTH: People just like to show off how many people they know.

FACT: Some people, maybe. Others are simply what you might call “power users.” But the truth is, in my opinion, most people really just want to bring all of their professional connections under one, easy-to-reference, access-from-anywhere roof.

BENEFITS: “What’s in it for you?”

• It’s EASY. Easy, easy, easy. This one is a no-brainer, I swear. If you can send email, you can set up your Linked In Profile lickety-split.

• It’s low-maintenance. You don’t need to be a power user. You don’t need to “update your status” daily (or at all, for that matter). You can set up your profile and chill. Your local network will build itself organically. I guarantee it. Once your network grows, you may want to revisit your profile for a good spit-polish every now and again.

Click here to vote in my LinkedIn poll

• It’s like having a web-based, open-access digital rolodex. LinkedIn is a great tool for keeping up with other professionals with whom you might otherwise lose track of over the years. You may also be surprised to see the people you and your own contacts know in common in your local network.

• It’s an at-a-glance resume. Think of it as a resume that is easy to maintain and will get a lot more traffic than the one you have to type up and perfect when you’re looking for a new job or a job change. This gives you a nice, easy-access “backup” resume, one that’s always current and ready to go.

• It keeps you top of mind. As people dip in and out of their contact lists on LinkedIn, your name is going to pop up. When you add a new contact, your name pops up. If you join a group and make your involvement public, your name will pop up. As a matter of fact, if you do end up joining any of the Linked In groups, you might find yourself engaging in conversations with other professionals outside of your “firsthand” network, thus building a whole new set of connections and a more “robust” network. Me? I’ve made some nice linkups with people (I did not previously know) from my college alumni group. Probably wouldn’t have otherwise met them. So I think that’s pretty solid networking in action.

• LinkedIn Apps. If you want to go really crazy and pimp your Linked In profile, you can incorporate some of Linked In’s applications that enable you to display your blog feed, post a poll or showcase your slideshare presentations, among other things. There’s more, but that’s all I have to say about that at the moment. The apps are relatively new as of this writing and I’m still playing around with them.

Twitter: The Personal-Professional Connection Conduit

MYTH: “I have nothing to tweet about.”

FACT: Sure you do. You know something about something. Tweet that.

BENEFITS: “What’s in it for you?”

• Speed-networking. Yes, twitter is like a networking function that takes place in the backseat of a Formula 1 race car. Gazillions of conversations happening in 140 characters or less. The twitterstream flows fast, but that doesn’t mean you’ll drown.

My Twitter Homepage

• Options. Here’s one example of how it works: you get an email that so-and-so “username” is following you on twitter; you click the link and go to username’s twitter page; you look for a real name behind “username;” you read username’s bio (a whopping 160 characters); you thank username for the follow via DM (the “direct message” function in twitter); you decide if you would like to follow username back; you click “follow” if you’re so inclined; you’ll now see username’s tweets in your twitterstream… and usename, will thus, see yours, if you chose to followback, of course. It’s that easy to “meet” someone and that easy to “move on” if a followback doesn’t feel appropriate for you. Personally, I also always glance at the person’s list of tweets to see if username is a “broadcaster” or a “converser.” If you don’t see any @other_username tweets, (tweets directed at another username), then they’re just broadcasting which I find to be less useful, generally speaking.

• Web traffic. Twitter also provides the option of including your web site in your profile. This can work to generate traffic to your blog or corporate site that you might not otherwise attract. You can also occasionally (and not spammingly) promote your accomplishments (again, sparingly) which could drive traffic back to your blog or your business.

• Retweetability. Okay, this is pretty cool. When you see an “RT” at the front of a tweet, that’s called a “ReTweet.” This is when you read the tweet of someone you are following and think it’s so great that you want to share it with your twitter followers. So you RT it. Now imagine if you tweet something and someone else RT’s it. Think about how far your tweet could go! And this all happens with a velocity behind it you won’t find anywhere else. It’s Word of Mouth (WOM), done RT-style.

• New Tweeps. Again, I am anti-social. So don’t think it’s because I’m some kind of impassioned extrovert that I say this…but you can actually “make friends” on twitter. That’s right. AND, you can make them, as I’ve pointed out, faster than in most other venues. This is a forum like no other. A party where you make your rounds repeatedly (or “retweetedly,” you might say) in only 10-15 minutes a day (if you’re disciplined). [NOTE: To make this opportunity work at its best, I highly recommend Tweetdeck and Tweetbeep as key support services to help you enhance your twitter experience. There are many others, as well. But these two are essential, in my opinion.)

• The Twappetizer Effect. (Twitter Appetizer, I’m herein creating the term.) Because I love food, I’ll make it the center of my analogy:

Twitter is like a conversation appetizer. You may then decide to make an entree out of the conversation and move it on over to Linked In, giving your connection more substance. And for dessert, you might decide to move your connection and your conversation on over to facebook where you may see each other more often and in a definitively more relaxed light.  THIS is what makes twitter such a great connection builder. If birds of a feather, flock together, they all probably met on twitter first.

So that’s it. There you have it. That’s my perfect social media trifecta. A perfect balance of engagement venues, each perfect in its own right and even more perfect in triplicate.

Now I ask you, (“tri” as I may to get you all to quit being so shy and leave a comment already), if you had to keep it to three, what’s your social media network trifecta?

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Alright people. Party’s over. Time to dig into 2009. Set the course. Adjust the steering. Power ahead.

Up until now, my posts have illustrated my obvious enthusiasm about engaging in various communication platforms which we’ll call “social media” for the time being. And doing so has made my world so much bigger, so very quickly.

Consider That Networking Now Means Getting the ‘Net Working For You

The very fact that most of my subscribers are NOT friends and family tells me (and thus, you) how much bigger a person’s world can get when you put yourself out there. This was not how I thought things would get going. Believe me, I’ve been doing virtual handstands to get my friends and family to jump on the party bus with me. I finally had to pay a few of them off, although I think they would have been willing to pay me to leave them alone…could this be a new strategy for monetizing my blog? (Hmm, may have to give that strategy some serious thought.)

You Learn Something New Every Day.

How could you not? At any given time I know that if I have a question about something, I can Tweet it to HUNDREDS of people and they will share their answers and ideas. I know that by using my RSS feed to follow the blogs of DOZENS of businesspeople, designers, artists, authors, up-and-comers, motivators and innovators, I will get the content I’m most interested in delivered right to me, automatically.

Social media is about opening the door to one-to-one conversations, but it’s also open to the masses.

If my efforts thus far have inspired you to take a new look at your LinkedIn profile, join facebook or sign up for a twitter account, then a big “Ta-Da” goes out to you, right here and now. If you’ve invested the time to understand how these platforms work, you’ll probably agree that they enable us to converge, en masse, only to organically and, rather efficiently, find other people who share common interests and can enhance your/our thinking. I mean people you really want to talk to…people who are happy to share information and expertise.

I’ve had my “Ta-Da” moment.

After much, much, much, much ado, GrayMatter Minute is designed, coded, redesigned, recoded, tweaked, recoded, tested, recoded, officially launched, live and fully functional, even in blankety-blank Internet Explorer, (hence the need for all the aforementioned recoding).

“Ta-Da!”

Now it’s time to move my conversation forward. Please join me. This is going to be fun. So…what would you like to talk about next?

Ask a question. Go ahead, I’m serious. Or am I going to have to break out that “triple dog dare” again?

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Friends don’t let friends use Internet Explorer.

After a year of listening to people saying, “sit down and talk to me” (about social media), I have put forth this blog to make the discussion easy, fast and fun. Efficient for all, really.

In the process, I can only hope that my friends will forgive my shameless self-promotion on Facebook and Twitter (and anywhere else that offers the opportunity) as I work over every last one of them to subscribe (YOU KNOW, VIA THE BOX IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER…THE ONE THAT SAYS “SAVE TIME!” AND HAS THAT CUTE LITTLE SUBSCRIBE BUTTON?) to this fascinating and flexible information-sharing platform so that I may build a base of blog readers who will hopefully enjoy my posts and perhaps even provide me with valuable feedback. You never know, this blog could be almost as much fun as a conversation with me in person.

Now others might suggest this blog is MORE fun than a conversation with me in person, to which I will admit only that it will be more succinct. (As promised by its name.)

So help a social media enthusiast out. Feign a little support or go crazy and subscribe to the darn thing.

Go ahead. I dare you.

After all, it only takes a minute…

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Having been entrenched in the redesign of this blog for the past month, I was suffering “blog-posting withdrawal.” And while I recognize that starting off here by “reposting” Darren Rowse’s TwiTip guest post by Jenny Cromie (“8 Ways that Twitter Can Grow Your Freelance Business“) isn’t quite as rewarding as getting original content on the boards, it does give me a chance to test my rockin’ new template, as well as remote posting using ShareThis.

It also provided me with the light bulb that I now have a TWITTER FOR BUSINESS case study to tout (or tweet, if you like).

Before I dive into that, I want to take this opportunity to thank Shane Poteete at BUILT CREATIVE for his collaboration, patience, dedication and determination in what started as a “little blog-building project” that wasn’t little at all, it turns out. (After all, blogs often do build big communities.) So a deep-hearted thanks to Shane and his team for their design and (far-beyond-the-initial-scope) code work.

I also want to thank the folks at We Fix WP, a business I met on TWITTER!!! (Thus begins my case study on how Twitter can help your business!)

The folks at We Fix WP saw a post I made on Twitter about WordPress, the platform for this blog. (Well, it was actually a post about how Internet Explorer is destroying the universe, which resulted in a contact from a website dedicated to freeing the web from the ruinous force that is IE6, but I digress.) We Fix WP returned a tweet offering assistance. We moved our discussion offline and they rounded out our effort swiftly and seamlessly. After working with them, I now consider them my go-to WordPress resource.

But the story doesn’t end there!

Along the way, I reached out to a few other Twitter friends (@rjleaman, @jamesdickey, @niknaz, @discocowboy, @afhill, @atwookie, @mousewords, @calebhays, @jaskeg, @coreymade, @afhill to name a few) and received valuable feedback and support throughout the redesign/recoding phase of my blog relaunch—all communicated via Twitter. I then twansmitted (sorry, couldn’t help myself) their feedback along to the team at Built Creative and, together, we processed it all accordingly.

So the next time you see me and ask me what Twitter has done for my business…sit down and make yourself comfortable, because my answer will be anything but brief. But that should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever chatted with me, online or off. Which reminds me, if you’d like to share the gift of gab, my twitter handle is @usegraymatter.

Thanks again to everyone who supported my design, technical, creative, branding and social media objectives. And especially to Shane who NEVER got mad at me for messing with the code. Even though, he was given VERY good reason to—often.

I promise not to touch it. Much.

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