Social Media Posts That Are Igniting- 8/29
August 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
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These are some of our top picks for social media related blog posts this week. Enjoy! 
How to Build a Community of Twitter Followers for Your Company
Ellie Mirman gives some great advice on how corporations and employees can jump into the world of Twitter.
How to Find Statistics on Social Media
In this post, Aaron Uhrmacher has created a post chock full of our favorite studies and statistics on social media. In our opinion, this post has all the right information to make the case for social media marketing (with very little effort on your end )
12 Tips To SNAP Readers Out of Passivity with Calls to Action
Darren Rowse gives us practical ways to drive reader involvement. These are simple, yet often forgotten tips into creating simple and acheivable “call to actions” that drive, rather discourage engagement.
50 Social Sites That Every Business Needs a Presence on
I love this list. Most people are interested about social media, but need a starting point when it comes to the social media sphere. This list details what social media tools can accomplish what goals and it gives not-so-social-media-savvy people a way to get their feet wet in social media. It also lists great new networking sites for the social media enthusiast.
Common Social Networking Mistakes
What is funny about this post by Rebecca Beasley is that I first found it on The Wall Street Journal Blog. The full post on her site, however, is much more beneficial. I would point someone to the Wall Street Journal for great comments though.
How to Use Social Media Marketing to Promote Yourself as a Brand (part 3)
August 27, 2008 | 1 Comment
Congratulations! We’re trucking right along on turning you into a Social Media Marketing success story, and you’ve already gotten through the hard part. Well, really, you’ve barely scratched the surface, but don’t worry—it just gets more fun from here.
Know Your Competition – You’re likely familiar with the adage: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and as it turns out, there is a lot of truth behind that statement. Not that I necessarily advocate considering your competition to be the “enemy,” but it is important to know that who you probably consider to be your “competition” can be your greatest asset. Remember, this is social media, not war. So, now that you’ve established your identity and made some friends, it is time to get some clout and sit with the popular kids. Here are a few tips to get you there:
- Make an Impression – I’m going to drop a quote on you right now, and you can use it, but just remember where you heard it first:
“It’s not about who you know, it’s about who you impress.”
Even if you don’t have an ounce of talent in your little finger, you can still do great things. Someone out there is impressed with you already: you. If you followed step 1, you have by now gotten a sense of whom you are, and with that, you hopefully gained the confidence necessary to know that you are worthy of doing what you are doing.
- Get a Reputation – You can’t start a reputation, you have to earn it. You can seed your content and send it to the people who you’ve impressed (or would like to), but because of the fickle nature of social media, you won’t be able to assure the fact that people will hire / book / pay you until you have the clout it takes to let them know you are playing with the best of them. Here is an article from Attraction Renegade that explores some methods of building your reputation with social networking. As something to avoid, be careful about shilling your own content. No one likes a spammer. For more on that and other “unwritten rules” of social media marketing, check out this article on MelodyThacker.com.
- Learn From Their Mistakes – Others have tried, and others have certainly failed before they got to where they are. You can always learn from them. Don’t be afraid to ask how others got their start, and what they did to get the opportunities they have. Whereas in a world that confuses us to believe that others in our fields are the ones to be wary of, social media is a much different playing field. Use your contacts to get in touch with your idols and influences, and find out what makes them tick. Be transparent as always, and don’t forget to let them know how and why you admire them. Who knows, those people could be the right ones to impress after all.
- Scratch Backs – Another adage you are probably familiar with is “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Well, in the world of social media, it might be more beneficial to start scratching first. Nothing tells another blogger / writer / artist / musician that you appreciate what they are doing than by helping them promote their work. It will get you noticed by them, and also help your own credibility amongst your peers. Endorsements can be a very positive, and that is an asset in the sometimes aggressive and cold world of marketing.
- The site itself is slow. Now that I have a Mac I can attest it isn’t my computer, but rather the loading of the advertisements on the site and the graphics required. My MacBook literally revs up everytime I visit the site. For a social network to be interactive and engaging, it must quickly load profiles and new pages. Instead, I found myself having to wait between every movement I made. This is a problem that could prohibit new members from coming back.
- Disney is my friend. Many social networks die because there is no internal interaction kee
ping members involved. I have to say that Disney is encouraging and nurturing this interaction by creating contests for members with the highest involvement, as well as employing community managers to welcome new members. This is great, however one thing that the site is lacking is a way to easily find or invite personal friends to the network. Instead of allowing me to search my email contacts, the site only allows me to invite friends by typing in each email address individually. Since this adds an extra step, this means my only two friends right now are Disney - which is slightly depressing. - The site gives back. The concept of the site is about providing parents the resources for their families, and it does just that. It has recipe sections, coupon sections, and other relevant content that is accessible by members. My only improvement to this would be to allow members to clip and save information from these articles. This would entice readers of Family.com to join the network, and provide an extra value to existing members, who can use the site to manage their homes.
- The site allows creativity/personalization. In typical Disney fashion, the site has particular features for personalization. One of these, is the family portrait, in which members choose and personalize characters to represent themselves and their families. In my opinion, personalization within social networks allows members to express themselves and feel ownership over their presence within the network. As you can see, I was able to choose branded Disney clothes for my portrait (a smart branding option for Disney), as well as create my own “Social Media Geek” badge.
- That’s part of the secret of Wine Library TV. You feel like you’re friends with Gary Vaynerchuk.
- That’s part of the secret of Will it Blend? You feel like you’ve discovered this neat little behind the scenes video at a blender company.
In order to know your competition, you have to also know how to be competitive. So tune in next week for another insightful and inspiring post to let you know how to Do What You Do (And Do It Well!). Cheers.
A Review of Disney’s Social Network for Parents
August 26, 2008 | 1 Comment
Over the summer, I had heard from Mashable that Disney was introducing social networking functionality on its existing site Family.com, but it took me until now to finally make my way over to join the network to see what it is about. Since everything that Disney touches is seemingly magical in the world of marketing, I decided beforehand that the social network itself would be this way too. Instead, I feel as if I’m still on the fence. At one moment I think that it could be the newest network for parents (moms especially) to blow up, and at yet another moment I think it will fizzle.
This being said, the following sums up my mixed feelings about this network that I wanted to share:
To sum it up - I think my overall consensus is that the site still needs improvement before it can become a competitor to an existing social network like CafeMom. It needs to improve internal interaction, and it should position itself against other existing social networks by becoming a social network that is “the resource” to help parents manage parenting.
In order to do this effectively, Disney should employ a few mom bloggers to join the network and provide insight. In general, these moms are insanely-connected (which would help build the popularity of the site), and would help the site become more intuitive and useful for parents.
What are your thoughts?
4 Social Media Tools for Travel
August 25, 2008 | 5 Comments
Last week, I drove 3000 miles in 3 days — from upstate South Carolina to Northern California. During the trip I used a number of social media tools to share my trip progress. From twittering mini-location updates and interesting factoids about Route 66 to sharing images on Flickr, because of social media, this trip was different than many of the trips I’ve taken in the past.
Below I’ve detailed 4 social media tools for travel. Whether you’re jetsetting from London to Bangladesh, just driving a couple hours down the interstate, or moving across the country, these tools can make your trip a little more interesting and a lot easier:
1. InsideTrip - I didn’t fly on this trip, but if I had, I would have used InsideTrip. InsideTrip not only alerts you to the cheapest fare by tracking ticket prices, but also rates flights by “TripQuality.” These ratings are determined by an algorithm that factors in travel duration, number of stops, aircraft type, legroom, connect time, gate location, and more. The site even lets users customize their own TripQuality score by selecting which factors are most important.
2. Dopplr - Dopplr bills itself as a “online service for intelligent business travellers.” The site lets you share travel plans, then plugs into cell phones and other web services to become an information hub for travelers. For instance, if I link Dopplr with my Flickr photos account, Dopplr will automatically pull photos tagged with my destination and link them to my trip journal on the site. Dopplr will also alert you if you and a fellow traveler have a common destination and a common time frame.
The value of Dopplr increases exponentially the more you travel, and also increases with the more friends you link to that are also traveling. I travel a few times per month, so the service is somewhat valuable for me. The current target audience of Dopplr seems to be the group of globetrotters that travel multiple times per week (like Jan Chipchase of Nokia), but I think the company is betting on the fact that the number of people traveling often will increase in the future.
3. Twitter - Many people use Twitter to update friends on “what they are doing”, but the service is also extremely useful when traveling. Instead of calling three or four people as soon as I arrive at my destination when traveling (usually to announce that I am still on time or running late), I now direct friends, family, and business colleagues to my Twitter account. Instead of making several different phone calls, I now send one text update from my cell phone to my Twitter account. Anyone that wants an update on travel progress can check the Twitter feed at a time when their schedule permits.
4. TripAdvisor - Before I land at a new location, I always scope it out on TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor has “15,000,000+ traveler review & opinions of hotels, vacations and more.” I used the site to find a running trail in California and something to do during the couple hours I stopped in Albuquerque, NM.
No matter where you’re going or where you end up unplanned, a quick check on TripAdvisor can provide plenty of ideas for things to visit and experience. And for iPhone users, there’s even a TripAdvisor application (link to iTunes App Store) that will automatically read your location and suggest local restaurants to check out.
Social Media Marketing Posts that are Igniting- 8/22
August 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
These are some of the best posts we read this week. Enjoy!
Social Media Powers Better Advertising
Amber brings it back to the basics by reminding marketers that social media can effectively drive better advertising by building brand awareness and loyalty. This article also reviews how Dell has put this theory to practice by developing the ReGeneration project : a project that allows them to show their customers what kind of company they are instead of telling them.
Social Media Analysis for Workgroups
Nathan Gilliatt gives a great list of monitoring and analysis platforms and explains how helpful they could be to in-house social media people like yourselves.
Hopefully you can excuse the title, because this is a very visually pleasing slideshow created by Marta Zagan with lots of great information and stats on the topic of social media.
Using AideRSS to Help Identify Hot Topics to Cover On Your Blog
ProBlogger does an excellent screencast of how to use AidRSS to identify hot blog topics for your blog. This is a unique way to begin to learn how to generate more effective content by analyzing current content, as well as existing trends in your own blogging.
Social Media Can Be a Backstage Pass
August 20, 2008 | 1 Comment
This weekend, I went to see Collective Soul, Live and Blues Traveler in concert. I’m not a big music buying guy. I like 90s Alternative music (among other stuff), so I usually just click a QuickMix on Pandora and let it run. That means I’m not a giant fan of most any band these days, but I knew I sort of liked Collective Soul’s music.
Through a friend, though, I was given a backstage, all access pass, so I could go wherever I wanted, and I could go hang out with the band for a while after the show. To make sure I didn’t sound like an idiot when I talked to them, I started checking out the songs that they’ve put and realized that I liked a lot of them. At that point, I started to get excited about going to the show.
Before we headed backstage, I bought their latest CD, had the band autograph it, yada ya. All in all, it was a pretty neat experience, and Ed Roland, the lead singer, could not have been a nicer, more mellow guy.
So, what does this have to do with social media marketing? A lot.
I got a peak behind the curtain, and I went from being a casual fan to a real fan. I went from never spending money on their music, to downloading 17 iTunes songs and buying one of their CDs.
With social media–through videos, through podcasts, through blogging–you now have the tools to give people a peek behind the curtain and make them feel a connection with you personally and therefore your product.
So as you do social media marketing, don’t just think about the products you want to talk about. Think about the things that go on behind the scenes at your company, and how you can share them. Give people their own All Access passes, and you’ll increase their affinity toward your brand.
How to Use Social Media Marketing to Promote Yourself as a Brand (part 2)
August 19, 2008 | 2 Comments
Welcome to part 2 of my epic masterpiece on self-branding and promotion by utilizing social media. Last time, I wrote about how to think of yourself as a brand. Sit that lesson on the back burner for a little while, and lets talk about our audience.
Know Your Audience – Before you can start selling yourself, you have to know whom you are selling yourself to. A lot of people might be thinking, “Well, everyone, of course!” A lot of people are likely wrong in thinking this. Here’s a tip: The world doesn’t give two poops about you or your brand. Sorry, kiddo, but it’s true. 
As I noted before, you have to know who you are and what your brand is to start getting out there, but if you want to market yourself to people, you have to know what they are into. The best way to do this is to find the closest niche to the things you love and explore what people are saying in that niche. Chances are likely that there are forums, social networks, and specialized sites that cater to all sorts of groups. Once you find out where the people are who have similar interests to your talents, listen to what they are saying. Get in the conversation, but don’t push yourself on them just yet. At this point, you should be listening and joining in conversations you feel passionately about. You can also use this time to set up profiles on various social networks and, if for some strange reason that you haven’t already, start a blog. It might also be a good idea to create YouTube and Flickr pages.
After you think you have heard enough of what people are saying, listen some more. Stay in the conversation and speak your mind, but don’t be the expert. Find out what others have done to improve their own careers, and definitely learn from others’ mistakes. It also helps to know what tools, services and or products surrounding your niche are important to the people you want to connect with. There is no better form of advertisement then word of mouth, and social media is word of mouth in its finest incarnation.
The problem with finding what people want and what they are paying attention to in the world of Web 2.0 is that everything is fleeting. What is popular one day within a niche can be completely destroyed the next. It is important to remain flexible, and still be able to get your brand out there. I’d love to know your thoughts on these ideas, as I often hear the argument that you can’t successfully promote yourself online. In fact, here is a great article via Pandemic Blog, which tackles the Paradox of Self-Promotion with Social Media.
Stay tuned for next time, when we examine the next step in the process: Know Your Competition.
Twitter Meets Product Reviews: Blippr
August 15, 2008 | 5 Comments
Can product reviews be limited to 160 characters? Blippr is a new site that is testing that very theory out. Upon a brief review, I realized that the quality of these reviews is questionable, mainly because this limitation lends itself more to reviews that are short and snarky, or somewhat unhelpful reviews like “This rocks”.
At the same time, this is exactly what I love about the site, and is the reason I’d go back. By narrowing its focus on entertainment categories like books, music, games, and movies - it doesn’t attempt to review electronics or high value durable good purchases (products that for most would require more thorough reviews). Instead, the site opens the floor to conversations and disagreements that make the site worth passing to friends and family, which for me is entertainment in and of itself .
What do you think of the site? Is it something you’d come back to?
And the winner of the free “This is My Profile Face” t-shirt is…
August 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I know you’ve been waiting breathlessly to find out if you’re the lucky winner of the “This is My Profile Face” t-shirt, we’re giving away. It’s the first of our new, limited edition collection of social media shirts. 
Congrats, you’ve won! That is, if you’re name is Erica DeWolf. We’ve created an “artist’s rendering” of what Erica will look like wearing her brand new, free, no-pay, t-shirt. (We grabbed her profile image off her blog and then, pow, PhotoShop. I know, you thought it was real… We’re tricky like that…)
If you entered, but did not win, you can still get your t-shirt by ordering one from the Ignite store on CafePress if you want one. (See what I did there?)
Alas, the decision of the random number generator is final. And thank you for your comments. They were really, really funny.
Buy your “Profile Face” t-shirt today (they are online for sale in August, limited edition! oooohhhhh….), then watch for our new Twitter stalking shirt coming soon…
How to Use Social Media Marketing to Promote Yourself as a Brand (part 1)
August 11, 2008 | 6 Comments
Not everyone interested in Social Media Marketing is a big company or start-up business. There are a lot of freelancers, artists, and performers out there who can really get some great benefits from utilizing all that Social Media has to offer when it comes to marketing.
You as a Brand - The first step is thinking of yourself as a brand. If you love doing what you do enough to market yourself, you have to treat yourself as your most important client. Despite whether or not you are working for other people, you should always come first. If you can’t help yourself, then how can you help others? Whether you are a musician, actor or street mime, you have to believe in the product you’re putting out there.
Think about your attributes and what makes you different than anyone else in your genre. It takes a bit of confidence to know that what you’ve got to give to the world is worth their time. Once you figure out just who the heck you think you are, it’s time to recognize what makes you unique. What makes you tick? What makes you special? Chances are likely that what you do is something someone else is already doing, so find out what makes you stand apart. You might not even have talent, and you can still market yourself as an individual. Look at Tila Tequila for crying out loud.
It takes some work and some self-examination to get through this part of the process, but once you realize the things that you can give to the world, you can begin to know how to best sell yourself. Don’t rush, because your craft will likely change as you become more accustomed to promoting you as your brand, but this is the first step in getting your name out there—knowing what it means to you. This is just the first step of many, so stay tuned for the next installment, which is equally as important—“Know Your Audience.”
For more on establishing yourself as a brand, check out this article from Fast Company, or this video with Gary Vaynerchuk. Inspiring.