There is a social media position open in Rhode Island. Here are the details: Job Description: Put your social media skills to work with an organization that is looking to increase their visibility through an expanding social media presence. Using tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, manage community relationships for a major software organization that focuses on making the life cycle of product development easier. Companies like IBM, Microsoft, and HP use their technology to assist in the process of developing consumer and busines materials. Here’s... [Read more]
BusinessWeek recently published an article titled “Beware Social Media Snake Oil” about self-proclaimed social media experts who don’t deliver on their marketing promises or, worse, actually do more harm to their clients than good. The article has prompted a number of responses from the social media blogosphere, including those from David Armano and Mitch Joel and Jordan Kasteler. A while back, I wrote my own list of questions for companies looking to evaluate social media marketers and avoid the snake oil salesmen. However, I wanted to make a few... [Read more]
It’s been tough to find time to blog lately, between a new job (with a long commute) and the holidays. I have, however, squeezed in a couple of social media seminars over the last several weeks, including one for the New England Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and another for Bryant University. All of which got me thinking about how much I enjoy teaching the principles of social media marketing. Now that I am relocating to Boston, I would love to find a local university that would have me as a guest professor for a semester to teach a course on... [Read more]
Unlike Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, the relationships on Twitter are not reciprocal. While both parties have to agree before a connection is established on Facebook (you send me a friend request and I approve it or vice-versa), the same is not true on Twitter, where I can follow you regardless of whether or not you are following me (and vice versa). As a result, when you repeat (or “Re-Tweet”) a message on Twittter, it is forwarded on to an entirely new set of people. The retweeting meme was quickly and spontaneously adopted by users of Twitter, and... [Read more]
I get asked this question in my seminars a lot, so I thought I’d put my answer into writing for all to see. Once you create a Facebook page, how do you get word out to potential fans? Here are some ideas: 1) Give Your Facebook Page a User-Friendly URL: You can give your Facebook a customized URL, such as www.Facebook.com/NewEnglandSocialMedia, to make it easier for people to remember. Simply go to www.Facebook.com/UserName to register your URL. (Note: You must have at least 25 fans before you can register a customized URL.) 2) Add a Facebook Fan Box to Your... [Read more]
Exercise daily? Yes. Floss daily? Maybe. Blog daily? Hmmm… I write this blog with a particular eye to what is both actionable and practical for the modern business. I want to give my readers specific steps that they can take, but not give them so much that they are overloaded. Sometimes the most useful information I can offer is telling them where they don’t need to spend their time. Given that social media is still in its infancy, it should come as no surprise that its practitioners are not of a single mind. Every once and I while, I respectfully... [Read more]
Last night, I was fortunate enough to partake in Yelp!’s Passport to Kendall Square at the Microsoft Research & Development Center in Cambridge. The event showcased over two dozen local businesses, including restaurants, coffee shops and gyms, who were sampling their wares as an introduction to the neighborhood. Yelp! invited a select group of their power users in the Boston area and also other users chosen at random. The event’s conception and execution was handled by Clearly Creative. As somebody who both enjoys social media and has produced events... [Read more]
These days, businesses want to be continually engaging with their customers. This requires the constant creation of content. Some of this content can be self-promotional in nature, but the quickest way to find yourself ignored in the social media universe is to repeat yourself like a broken record. I recommend that companies looking to engage customers without overloading them with advertising find ways to position themselves as an expert in their industry, either by creating original content or passing along useful content from others. For example, I work with... [Read more]
As social media continues to explode, businesses are realizing that they must adopt an official policy regarding their employees’ use of social media. Lately, it’s been a topic everywhere from The Washington Post to the NFL. The real question is not about when and where employees should be allowed to access social media (obviously, if your time on Facebook is impeding your productivity it’s a problem) or how they should conduct themselves while acting as an official representative of the company (on the company’s Twitter account, for example),... [Read more]
In some social media circles, there is an inclination to lecture public relations experts on the social media revolution. Public relations professionals are told that if they don’t learn the new rules they’ll be cast aside. I certainly believe that social media represents a fundamental shift in the relationship between companies and their consumers, and that public relations agencies will need to adapt accordingly, but in many ways I think this makes the skills of PR pros even more important. After all, when few people have the tools to reach an audience,... [Read more]
