Infographic Characterization

Fun with infographics! I am what I tweet.

Pining for Pinning

The latest social media creating a stir with social networkers? That would be Pinterest. What is Pinterest? The site which is nearly a year post-beta, self-describes as a "virtual pinboard." Essentially users are socially sharing photos (called pins) they find across the web with their followers on virtual boards they create and customize to their liking.

There are countless, creative ways to organize pins on your boards to share your interests and tell your story. A couple of my favorite examples include both individual and enterprise pins. Speaking of a couple - what a loving and lovely example using pins to share the story of a successful marriage proposal! And, these SxSW survival guide pins from advertising agency, GSD&M are clever, useful and well-executed.

A word of caution - like any other social network - avoid out-and-out self promotion. It's still about being social, and not about broadcasting your brand. So, how can you use pins to enhance the context of your online community and brand story?

• Follow other users. Comment on and like the pins of users that are in your other social networking communities and new users, too.
• Generically speaking, pin images that are complimentary to your business, products and services.
• Obviously, use keywords in your tags to describe the images your pinning as they relate to your business, products and services.
• Customize your board names to reflect what's important to you and about you as a brand.
• Is there content on your website that you want to make shareable? Consider adding the "pin it" plugin to your site.
• If you can, go "behind-the-scenes" at your company and share photos of the experience. Your followers will enjoy seeing aspects of your business operations that aren't immediately obvious to them when they patron your business.
• Did you know you can pin videos, not just static images?
• Give credit, give credit, give credit! But, don't pin copyrighted images.

Before you get started with individual or enterprise pinning, educate yourself on snags that you may run into. Pinterest even offers idiot-proof etiquette recommendations for users. Are there copyright concerns with pinning and socially sharing other people's photographs and work? Of course there are! A recent post on Hubpages gives a clear explanation of the dangers and what to be alert for when you're pinning. It is a tenuous balance that all users (both individual and enterprise) need to be cognizant of in order to pin safely and avoid litigation.

Will we be pining for social pinning long-term? Only time and pins will tell...

Are you likable?

So you're like innumerable other brands and businesses with a Facebook fan page in their social media arsenal. Good for you, it's a step in the right direction. But, only if you're doing it right.

• Do tell a story.
• Don't broadcast.
• Do be friendly.
• Don't ignore feedback.
• Do be personable.
• Don't try to control the conversation.
• Do contribute to the conversation.
• Do be transparent.
• Don't forget to post content.
• Do be honest.
• Don't automate content.
• Do take action when you can.
• Don't waste the time of your fans.
• Do say thank you.
• Don't forget your manners.

Yes, you're a business, but you're a person or people first. We're inherently social, so be a person when engaging and curating content that is valuable to your fans. Make it worth their while to like your fan page. Keep them coming back for more!

Do Business, Socially

Are you still asking the question, 'what is social media?' A concise and on-point answer, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Social media is information content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It’s a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologue (one to many) into dialog (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers.

We're social beings by nature, you can translate that innate ability into the way you're doing business. Be part of the discovery and dialog.

Google+ - Changing Small Business

A short, but effective explanation of the benefits of Google+ for small business by Chris Brogan. Thanks to Social Media Examiner for dropping this clip in my inbox this AM.

Your Take: 2012 Social Horizon?

What do you foresee to be the social game changer in 2012?

Social Media: Rules of Engagement

Every social media professional will guarantee you that their "rules of engagement" are the best. If you boil it down to the nuts and bolts all prescribed rules are basically the same repackaged core principles. I've combed the web and assembled my favorites.

1. Be Transparent. Your honesty (or dishonesty) will be picked up right away in social media communities. (src: www.marketlikeachick.com)
2. Embody the attributes you wish to portray and instill – operate by a code of conduct. (src: www.briansolis.com)
3. Listen before you talk. (src: www.usemyhead.com)
4. Stay relevant. (src: Charlene Li, author of Groundswell)
5. Keep the conversation going. (src: www.britopian.com)
6. There's not much, if any room, for automation in social media. (src: blog.webdistortian.com)
7. If somebody goes out of their way for you in social media make sure you reciprocate the gesture. (src: www.kunocreative.com)
8. Travel with your networks. Go virtually with your friends, followers, subscribers, etc on their adventures...take part in their lives via social networking. (src: me. I like to "do life" with the people I engage with.)
   
9. Be cautious. Protect yourself and your privacy. (src: www.talentzoo.com)
   
10. Always, without hesitation, say thank you. Show gratitude even in the simplest of scenarios. It goes a LONG way. (src: common sense)

Pack light, virtual travel doesn't require a lot of baggage.
Did I miss anything you think should have been included?

Mechanics of Social Media

I like social networking, but what do I like even more? Learning about it from professional strategists that have full time hours to immerse themselves in all aspects of the various media. I pay close attention to a number of the "big names", in hopes of finding the golden egg, the silver lining, etc that I sometimes miss due to not having 50, 60, or even 70 hours a week dedicated to strictly tweeting, facebooking, blogging, etc. My job responsibilities are a blend of the traditional, new media, public relations, communications, and more.

I've sat through many webinars, am a member of the Inbound Marketing University graduates, know the ins and outs of SEO/SEM, have a love/hate relationship with Google, and other miscellany know-how that you'll hear shared by those making a career out of social media. You can know all of this, be credentialed with the best of them, but if you don't know how to build relationship and function as a member of a community, you've not got much of a foundation.

All of this to say, there are a few tenets that were shared in a recent webinar I attended, that I'd like to share with you. The host of the webinar was Peter Shankman, an internationally known social media strategist. I've read the books & blogs, taken the classes, and picked many a brain over a cup of coffee, but think these points from Shankman are the clearest communication I've heard on the mechanics of social media, to-date.

• Now anyone, thanks to social media, can have a soapbox. problem with this? Not everyone is interested in listening. Be relevant.
• Social Media Rules of Engagement: transparency. relevance. brevity. connect with your audience.
• Remain top-of-mind by finding 10 different people in your network everyday and saying "hello" to them.
• Be a provider of "Finders Candy": finding something interesting and posting it to twitter and Facebook.
• Limit the number of posts, tweets and content that start with "I".
• Everything you post increases or decreases the credibility of your personal brand.
• It's never anyone else's fault if you're not perceived as you want to be.
• Your personal brand is your professional brand nowadays. There's little difference any longer in this digital age.
• Ask yourself: What value can you offer in everything that you post?
• Say thank you! Thanking people is the most underrated action in the world.
• If you don't have passion for what you're doing, don't bother promoting it.

The emphasis on the latter two points is because I find these to be the two guiding principles that most businesses forget. Don't use social media just to keep up with the Joneses, and avoid being status quo. People will follow your content, and it's your privilege to have those followers. Remember to thank them!

What do you think is missing from the mechanics and tenets of this post? How do you insure that you're not just vanilla in your approach to social networking?

What to be and what not to be? That is the Social Media Question.

Practically speaking, social media platforms are designed to be communication forums. Communication is an interactive, two-way, organic process. If it's forced, it's obvious; if it's natural, it can produce modicums of trust and insight that can eventually manifest phenomenal relationships with time. Here's the real kicker, investing time and building relationship can be fun. Yes, fun and rewarding.

To reap the rewards of natural communication, I'd recommend the following:

• Listening
• Learning
• Conversing
• Sharing
• Researching
• Following
• Investing
• Trusting
• Relating
• Acknowledging
  
• Doing
• Engaging
  

In reading this list, you should notice a common theme...did you catch it? These are all verbs, that require action on your part as the person behind the tweets, podcasts, updates, whatever form of content generating you are doing. This list involves organic engagement on your part.

If however, you're not a fan of engagement and wish to alienate those persons that could have potentially followed, become a fan or friend, subscriber or any other term that indicates them as consumer of your content, than try this assembly on for size:

• Dismissing
• Ignoring
• Automating
• Refusing
• Assailing
• Boring
• Tiring
  
• Repulsing
• Preaching
• Annoying

Yes, these are all active verbs as well, but the difference... your content is contentious, dry, and impersonal. Sure you'll find some folks that follow, friend, subscribe, etc; but they're usually a carbon copy of what you're doing. They're other businesses and individuals also pumping out link after link after link, brand blasting, all tools of the marketing and self-promotion machines.

So have you decided that social media is an arena in which you want to engage? Then when you step into that arena, you should do just that, engage. Yes, social media can be a waste of time, but on the other hand, it requires time of those followers, fans, friends, and subscribers. So don't waste their time. Make it worth their while, and yours too.

So, what to be? Be all that you can be, and more.