Tag Archives: Digg

The great thing about the Viral Video Phenomenon is that you don’t need a professional film crew. Let your imagination be Director and your “sense of fun” do the scripting.

Although it is virtually impossible to create a Web marketing program that is guaranteed to go viral, according to David Meerman Scott and other pundits, you can stack the deck in your favor by (a) following some guidelines and (b) avoiding the pitfalls.

PR student Synang Chhan wrote this guest post on “Helpful Tips for Going Viral on YouTube” as a result of her classroom research:

Give People Something To Talk About

by Synang Chhan

The whole point of going viral on YouTube is to create a piece of content that goes beyond mediocre videos. The focus is to get people talking about and sharing the content. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to make that happen:

The Nine DO’s

1) Define the audience: Think about the types of viewers that your video is trying to reach and give them something to talk about with their friends, family, and peers. Keep in mind their thoughts and feelings to create positive feedback. Top Ten Videos list

2) Generate a viral trigger: Pick and choose an element that will “hit the spot.” Start with something shocking and/or hilarious and/or completely unique to get the buzz going. Manhattan Bridge sways with subway traffic

3) Stay homemade: Make sure to be yourself. The best way to gain the audience’s trust is to show a natural and organic personality, so the audience sees a real person, not a robot. Fellow student Christine Ferraris promotes “‘new” company

4) Mimic a public figure: Involving a celeb-inspired imitation may lead to viral success. People take pleasure in getting a kick out of their favorite stars goofing off antics; better yet, people enjoy watching celebrity imposters because there is the added element of checking out how close the copier can get. Also, the high publicity value of public figures makes them especially easy to search for. Who can forget Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

5) Take it to the Max: With more than a million videos uploaded worldwide, you have to give yours something extra to even get noticed. Yours needs to be TEN TIMES BETTER — 10 x Funnier — 10 x More Exhilarating — 10 x More Original — 10 x More Inspirational! The Law of Attraction

6) Bring the exposure to your audience: The purpose of the viral video is to share the content. On the other hand, DO NOT WAIT for people to find your content. Even the most creative videos on YouTube can go unnoticed as a result of lack of exposure. Seeking a platform approach to viral sharing is a good idea. some suggestions are Digg, StumbleUpon, HeySpread, Facebook, Twitvid, and TubeMogul in additiaon to YouTube. Viral Video Blog

7) Make it portable: Allowing the video to be shared easily is to make it portable, downloadable, and obtainable. Moreover, allocating friendly links to your video will make it simple for people to spread it effectively. A site for the funniest videos

8- Timing is necessary: Keep in mind that luck and timing is essential because most videos are often “stumbledupon” by someone who then passes it on to another person who passes it on, and so on. Basically, you will need to be in the right place at the right time in order to have the potential for that viral spread. In the meantime, you can acquire lots of views to happen fast after upload by making the front page of Digg or as a YouTube Video of the Week. Top rated videos on Digg

9) Track the viral activity: Since your video has hit the web, you may want to track where all the downloading activities are coming from. many sites such as Unruly Media, Google, or YouTube Insights can tell which keywords people use to find your video, which then helps you effectively advertise it. Unruly Media and YouTube Insight

And NOW what you should NOT do if you really want to go viral

1) DON’T create a fake campaign: Being REAL is essential. If you act insincerely, people can tell. You will be misrepresented in a way that will hurt, not help. Be who you are, not someone you are not.

2) DON’T be a commercial: While a few companies have been able to produce viral commercial videos, most do not make it. Audiences are looking for something to talk about, not something to buy.

3) DON’T post bad quality: While your videos don’t have to be professional, if the quality is too poor, that can be a big turn-off. Keep the style of America’s Funniest Home Videos as a model, not The Blair Witch Project.

4) DON’T make the video too long: When videos play more than five minutes, viewers will stop watching and look elsewhere — in most cases, but not all. Susan Boyle and the Battle at Kruger both went on for more than 7 minutes but were so great that viewers keep coming back.

5) DON’T mislead the content with an SEO title: Keywords in a title will not guarantee viral success and may backfire by misleading the viewer. No one wants to waste time clicking on a video for one reason and then seeing something totally different. You will lose credibility and earn a bad reputation.

6) DON’T pick an unappealing background: If your background is all plain, it will give your video a plain vibe. If you film in a home office with a messy desk, most people will think you are lazy and unorganized. First impressions do count.

7) DON’T keep your videos to yourself: Distribute to EVERYONE you know and to all the social bookmarking sites.

8- DON’T be negative about competitors: Keep your videos classy and sophisticated by avoiding trash talk, which will only be viewed as rude, disrespectful, and in bad taste.

9) FINALLY, DON’T Stop Having Fun!: Although you may have serious messages to get across, adding fun can make all the difference.

Now Just Do It!

Next post: Future of Advertising AND YouTube

Blogging, Facebook, Sharisax Is Out There, Twitter

How am I doing? My online presence roadmap 2-week checkup

August 9, 2009 Shari Weiss 11 Comments

Two weeks ago I made a commitment to manage my online presence. Discipline is key, but broadcasting intentions into cyberspace has a way of keeping one on the straight and narrow. Too many people to make excuses to if objectives aren’t met.

So how have I done?

Below is my “roadmap” list, followed by my actions:

1) Make a list of WEEKLY goals {I believe I can hold to that) and check off my accomplishments EVERY Sunday night.

OOOps, I didn’t exactly write the list — except on my blog. But I am checking this Sunday night.

2) Prioritize those goals to make certain that the ones on the top of the list are done for sure.

The priorities were in my head since I didn’t write the list . . . except on the blog. Is this admission helpful to anyone? Maybe it’s a way to show the importance of ACTUALLY WRITING DOWN the list, especially if it’s a “check off” list.

3) My original intention, way back when I first posted on April 23, was To Become an A-List Blogger — and that continues to be my Long Term Goal —

Blogging is my NUMBER ONE priority; the first week I only got to write two posts. This week, though, I’m doing well . . . one-a-day since Friday.

🙂

4) Next, because I really believe that Twitter will become all that its creators are envisioning, my goal will be 3-5 Tweets Every Single Day! I will continue to follow my own advice on What to Tweet.

I went to check on my exact progress by looking at my profile page @sharisax: That was actually Cool as it reminded me of some of the “insights” that I’d tweeted, especially one that was RT’d several times: “If success=receiving, then first comes giving.” Anyway, I met my goal of at least 3 Tweets a day.

Most of my Tweets are posted via Friendfeed, but not always. Even though both are “microblogging” platforms, I don’t personally feel they are “interchangeable.” Friendfeed’s capacity for conversation makes some updates more appropriate for that site.

5) Facebook is a HUGE priority, especially since my partner Les Ross and I are building our Social Media/Internet Marketing consulting business Performance Social Media, which recently set up a Fan Page. We’ll be including the opportunity for small and large companies to find social media interns through us, so I’ll be monitoring and updating both my Facebook Profile and my Facebook Page EVERY Day. That means NEW content on the Facebook page at least four days a week.

Check 🙂

I’m even adding more Business Apps to the Page, and I’ll continue reading everything I can on “Facebook for Business.”

6) I may be running out of time for Daily Tasks, but I thinking checking in and updating LinkedIn is essential. So besides that commitment, I plan to contribute to at least two LinkedIn Group Discussions every week.

OOOOps, I really did want to engage with LinkedIn groups, and TSK TSK . . . have not gotten to that yet. 🙁

7) Finally, my new Road Map will highly suggest that I check out at least one New social media tool, strategy or app every week; by checking out, I do mean more than reading about it.

HOORAY, this one I did in spades. My previous blog post is the proof: 15 social media sites my students and I checked out last week.

Looks like I get a few gold stars and a few TSK TSKs. But the great thing is that I’m traveling faster along Revolutionary Road. And I hope I’m pulling some of you along with me. Anyone else want to report progress in managing online presence? Let us know.

Next post: Viral videos – the future of advertising

Blogging, Twitter

With 100’s of social media platforms, which do you choose to use?

August 9, 2009 Shari Weiss 25 Comments

Every day we hear of “new” or “new-to-us” social media tools and platforms. How is a person, or a company, to choose what to use?

The Top Three: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are “no-brainers,” i.e. you really do need to sign up and start experimenting and/or incorporate your participation into your daily routine.

But what about the rest of the dozens and dozens and dozens [100’s] of sites?

We ask this question a lot in PR class, so the students worked in teams to examine 15 online sites: Google Reader, Zemanta, Flickr, Technorati, Squidoo, Ezine Articles, Del.ici.ous, Stumbleupon, Friendfeed, Digg, RSS, BlipTV, Hub Pages, Truveo, and Vimeo.

After brief team reports, the class as a whole voted on one of three options; (a) They would definitely check out the site for personal use; (b) They “might” check it out; or (c) They had NO intention of seeking out more details about the site.

The most popular platform by far was Flickr, followed by Delicious and RSS, with Technorati and Google Reader also scoring high in the (a) option. The lowest scoring sites included Ezine Articles, Truveo, and Vimeo.

Below [in the order seen by the students] is a brief description of each site, with a student comment, and the reported “scores”:

Google Reader: Helps you follow all your favorite sites by managing RSS feeds on one page. Free and easy to use: “Google Reader is a great site with sharing capabilities. You can subscribe to blogs and other sites on a regular basis, which reduces search time considerably” – Jason Khorge.

Class vote on Google Reader: (a) 13 will definitely check it out. (b) 31 said they may check it out; (c) 4 voted against.

Zemanta: This free Firefox add-on download that offers related web content — both text and visuals — that can help bloggers link and use valuable online information. “Zemanta is a great assistant for bloggers because it is easy to use, cuts down research time and enables content producers to enrich their publications with just a few clicks.” — Alisa Guan “I’m interested in checking out Zemanta to help me upgrade my blog. The suggested articles could help me give a more informed and useful opinion.” — Angelica Maduell

Class vote on Zemanta: (a) 14; (b) 24; (c) 13

Flickr: Online photo management and sharing web community. “”In my eyes, Flickr has garnered a lot of attention from reputable photographers and amateurs alike. It’s definitely a haven for people who want to share their passion for picture-taking and connecting with others of similar interests.” — Sarah Awang Razali “I personally thing that Flickr is really useful because of the quality of content provided on it. There are personal pages and professional pages, and all users are equally respected within the community. A lot of the photos are also the basis for much online content. They say, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ so thousands of pictures must be worth a lifetime of endless content.: — Frank Lin

Class vote on Flickr: (a) 31; (b) 18; (c) 2

Technorati: Top rated blog search engine that indexes more than 1.5 million blog posts in real time. “I’m always looking for new blogs to follow and I think Technorati can really help me enlarge my collection.” — Petya Somleva

Class vote on Technorati: (a) 17; (b) 15; (c) 18

Squidoo: Content publishing on steroids: Free community website that allows users to publish pages [lenses] on line in a wide range of topics, virtually anythinhereg a person is passionate about. “Squidoo appealed to me the most, and I believe it has the greatest opportunity to grow. Providing such a diverse collection of material means it can reach a wide variety of interests.” — Liz Looney “I like the free Squidoo community website where content you’re interested in is easy to find. It is easy to use, simple to post comments, and you can earn money for charity.” — Brandon Wong

Class vote on Squidoo: (a) 13; (b) 31; (c) 4

Ezine Articles: Publishing site for original articles including tips, strategies, techniques, analysis, and case studies. Great for sending links back to a website. Sadly, no students chose to write an opinion about this site.

Class vote on Ezine: (a) 2; (b) 14; (c) 27

Del.ici.ous: A social bookmarking service that allows uses to save websites online, share them with other people, and see what other people are bookmarking. “You can build a mountain of information before ever adding a single bookmark. You find Del.ici.ous users who have saved articles you enjoy reading. Add their names to your network and with a single click, you can save all their bookmarks. That was amazing to me.” — Sarah Awang Razali

Stumbleupon: An Internet community that allows users to find, share, and rate favorite websites. “I was really impressed by Stumbleupon, particularly when someone said it was ‘a good site to waste a lot of time on the Internet.’ That being said lightly, it did strike me as the kind of site you could go on and be entertained by by topical content. I could see this website becoming part of my daily routine.” — Anna Rahnvonih

Class vote on Stumbleupon: (a) 5; (b) 20; (c) 16

Friendfeed: This microblogging site offers users a stream of updates which, unlike Twitter but similar to Facebook, allows comments and conversations to attach to updates. “With the decreasing popularity of MySpace and the growth of Twitter and Facebook, I think Friendfeed may just be the next best platform, using features from all three of these social networking sites.” — Sheena Diaz “I like the added Friendfeed feature of receiving feedback underneath your post.” — Ashley Dordan

Class vote on Friendfeed: (a) 12; (b) 27; (c) 5

Digg: A user-driven sharing site that is divided into categories for easy search. It also allows you to connect with Facebook and Twitter to share sites. “I am considering Digg because it filters news and other topics by what is important to other people.” — Caroll Vongsouthi

Class vote on Digg: (a) 6; (b) 35; (c) 7

RSS: Stands for “Really Simple syndication” and simplifies the process of getting information. It is a data format used for supplying frequently updated content. “RSS feeds allow you to easily get the latest information that you are interested in and they build Google Juice for shared sites.” — Bo Zhang

Class vote on RSS: (a) 22; (b) 21; (c) 3

BlipTV: Website for video distribution intended for anyone who wants to create a webshow to share with the world. “This site offers free hosting in any video format and tells you who is looking at your page and how they found you. I will definitely check it out.” — Ashley Hall “It’s interesting that you can find sponsors and earn revenue.: — Diedre Moseley

Class vote on BlipTV: (a) 10; (b) 28; (c) 4

Hub Pages: Website is designed for sharing advertising revenue for high quality, user-generated content. Members create individual pages on narrow topics based on the users interest. Not as popular with students as Squidoo.

Class vote on Hub Pages: (a) 3; (b) 25; (c) 18

Truveo: Video search engine that allows users to embed videos through a third party site like YouTube. It has a rating feature, and you can save favorites. “Truveo has many ways to search, e.g., by categories like business or comedy, by TV stations, by name of show. You need to become a member if you want to rate videos and add them to your favorites.” — McKenzie Hanson

Vimeo: Video file sharing and uploading site specifically for noncommercial content.Caters to a high-end artistic crowd. “Users can share or embed. Other options include title, byline, and portrait of the video listing beofre it starts playing. Videos can be enhanced with site tools.” — Riciaig Panlaqui

Class vote on Truveo & Vimeo: (a) 11; (b) 11; (c) 23

Student comments after the two-day experience:

I’ll be honest, I’m not a blogger. I don’t use Twitter and at times I don’t understand all the hype about these forms of social media. However, after seeing these presentations, there is no doubt in my mind the importance of these new media platforms. It’s plain and simple — if you want to spread the word, you MUST use these forms of social media. — Liz Looney

It was interesting to see how social media has exploded in recent years. Seeing all the sites — big and small — showed how each has its unique features. A lot of people do not realize that a small not very well known site today might in fact be the most popular six months from now. Anyone starting to use social media for business needs to check out many of these sites. — Eddie Neyman

From these presentations, I learned a lot of useful tools that will come in handy when I start looking for a job. Some of my favorites were the ones that help you find related articles on certain topics. Too often, I have the hardest time finding good information. — McKensie Hanson

With all the information presented, I feel like I’m already falling behind in the online social media world. To really be able to participate in all the social media sites, I will have to invest an outrageous amount of time. I plan to get involved by signing up for a handful of sites that I can keep up with. This was a great opportunity to learn that many sites can bring news and articles I like, rather than for me always having to search. — Caroll Vongsouthi

Next post: I evaluate my Online Presence Management

Sharisax Is Out There

Listening Redux: First rule to success in business

August 7, 2009 Shari Weiss 45 Comments

My SFSU Business Communication students learn three rules to Business Success in their first class session:

(1) Listen Carefully

(2) Read Carefully

(3) Follow ALL Directions

The suggestion to students — and everyone — that active listening is a skill can be easily disregarded as many people simply hear the tip and move on.

That is, they get ready for the next “rule” without really understanding the implications, and the difficulty, of what it means to really listen.

An earlier post of mine When communication adds up to a big fat zero proposed that all the new technology and accompanying tools and tactics were of little value if strategic planners did not first begin by Listening Carefully to online voices in their community.

This advice reverberates through the web in social media blog posts countless times every day. Today, in fact, a Brian Solis update on my Facebook stream pointed to PR 2.0 guest poster Michael Brito‘s rant against companies that listen but don’t act.

Rule Number One: LISTEN CAREFULLY

Last evening’s rigorous SFSU Business Communication class [we were learning to write business reports] was sweetened with an anecdote from one student who had really learned the power and rewards of LISTENING CAREFULLY at work that very afternoon.

New to his position in a downtown business, my student was invited to a meeting featuring a high level executive from headquarters. He [we’ll call him Adam, not his real name] had heard that this exec was noted for long, sometimes very dry speeches. But Adam was determined to pay close attention and practice all the “active listening” tips we had discussed in class.

“It was hard because lots of my coworkers were chatting and not paying attention, but just the same I wanted to focus on what was being said. I kept thinking about how important that was,” Adam told me.

The speaker did go on and on. And as hard as it was for Adam to keep his focus, he managed to do it . . .

And then the speaker stopped, looked around the room, and asked “Who heard what I just said?”

There was silence.

Adam cautiously raised his hand and repeated the last few facts related by the speaker, who acknowledged the response and asked Adam to stay behind after the meeting.

Adam was terrified, but not for long. After the meeting, the executive shook his hand, asked for his name and position, and said:

Good job, Adam. I’m going to be looking out for you. You are bound to go far in this company.

Adam was overjoyed and naturally was bursting to tell me. I was overjoyed and bursting to tell my audience — both Adam’s classmates and my blog readers.

What would our business and personal lives be like if we ALL made even small efforts to listen carefully when people were talking to us and with us?

Next post: Networking Tips

Blogging, Twitter

What to TWEET about — Part Two

June 13, 2009 Shari Weiss 15 Comments

Best Practices for Using Twitter

Since Twitter will be changing all our lives, according to Time magazine’s recent cover story, I was thinking about how my use of Twitter differs from other Tweeple — and whether anyone could really publish a Best Practices for Using Twitter.

Don’t most of us think we are right most of the time?

If I, personally, was “right” on Saturday, May 23, when I posted my first tips on What to Tweet About — a blog entry that has so far been my most popular [732 views to date] — then I’d like to re-visit one of my Tweeting suggestions, i.e. “Share an insight that you’ve gotten all on your own and are dying to share.”

Today’s post will feature a dozen of the personal ideas I tweeted since joining Twitter this past March. My hope is that readers will find at least one of these thoughts that resonates with them in a way that invites validation through a personal story.

So tell me if any of the following ring true for you:

About Business in particular:

1 – People are NOT numbers. When businesses fully understand this, their strategies and tools will adjust.

2 – Participation is today’s Marketing & tomorrow’s Loyal Customer Base

3 – To be an effective manager: Realize that you are smarter OR wiser OR more knowledgeable than your staff . . . and coach accordingly.

About Blogging in particular

4 – Quality of content wins over fitting into someone else’s box.

5 – Content-rich means both “key words” and total substance.

About Life in general:

6 – Multi-tasking is vastly over-rated.

7 – Motivation often comes after the Hard Work is done

8 – A Work in Progress: doesn’t that describe Everything?

9 – One cannot give from a depleted state

10 – We are what we think about

11 – We like doing what we do well: when we focus our efforts on our strengths, we build our reputation and loyal followers.

12 – The more I learn, the more I want to know.

Got an experience to share? Or an insight to add?

And Follow Me on Twitter @sharisax

Next post: Marketing success will depend on tapping into Today’s New Resources

Blogging, Facebook, Twitter

10 Reasons Why Baby Boomers Like Me Should Embrace Social Media

May 30, 2009 Shari Weiss 24 Comments

The Future is NOT just “in the future.” The Future is NOW!

Just after New Year’s, a friend told me she was spending three hours a day on Facebook. “How could you be wasting so much of your life!” I’d asked her — genuinely concerned that she was “stupid” for getting caught up in all the silly buzz.

How dramatically my own life has changed in four months!

That’s the purpose of this blog — to help my Baby Boomer generation, and my retired friends, and my career-contemplating students all discover how this major New Media revolution is changing Everything — and for the betterment of all.

Here are 10 reasons why we — Baby Boomers in particular — should “Dive In”

1. Something “out there” for everyone: It’s not just Oprah, Demi Moore, Dave Matthews, and Barack Obama on Twitter. Thirty million other Tweeters plus around 300 million users each on MySpace and Facebook . . . and the list of social media participants goes on. A host of different platforms with a variety of advantages for people from widely different walks of life with a huge diversity of different interests. There is something “Out There” speaking to you — if you listen.

2. “Fountain of Youth”: Ask yourself what you “want” — to make you happier, more fulfilled, more connected, more ________________ [fill in the blank]. If you are one of the “elder” Baby Boomers like me, then one possible response might be: “I’d like to feel younger and, perhaps, more hopeful.” After having spent these several weeks learning/experimenting/engaging with the New Media and the communities of folks using them, I can appreciate the “Fountain of Youth” properties associated with being a young person just embarking on a new, exciting adventure.

3. DO something New: Laziness is not next to Godliness. Get off the couch and do something NEW.

4. Get “famous”: Think about someone like Susan Boyle – a 48-year-old Scottish woman with a magnificent voice, who thanks to the magic of YouTube and Twitter is now known worldwide and will get a chance to bring joy to multitudes. You, too, can be famous if you’d like. Read my first blog post.

5. Find answers: Is there anything you don’t know? I’m talking here to the men (who occasionally don’t like to admit lack of knowledge) as well as the women (who usually do know “everything,” right, ladies?) Not only are answers to your questions all over the internet, but you can discover new friends who share your interests by asking questions on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms.

6. Be creative: Speaking of Twitter, it’s a very simple technology with tons of “applications.” That means any of us can shape the medium in creative ways. Lots of people may merely “text-message” friends and family, but some of us use it to discover new information available on the internet. It’s also a cool way to share personal insights that may be helpful to others. And its a great place to ask questions. On a more creative note, as an English teacher I found it useful in having my students frame a message of “substance” in 140 characters or less. I’d love to hear other creative uses people have for Twitter.

7. Keep in touch: Then there’s Facebook: you don’t have to spend three hours a day for this site to prove its value. Here are some of the ways it works for me: (a) keeping in touch with close friends and new acquaintances who don’t require phone calls; when you connect up with people on this site and they “update their status” you can make a comment and carry on a mini-conversation; (b) showing photos of your grandchildren; (c) letting family members know about the plays you saw on Broadway during your vacation — all at one time if they are on Facebook, too.

8. Start a blog. Set up your own soapbox and proclaim your views and knowledge to the world — online and, even, offline about any topics that excite you.

9. Be an explorer: Then there’s Friendfeed, Del.icio.us, YouTube, Digg, Flickr, Ezine, Squidoo, Technorati and the entire Blogosphere to explore.

10. Make Great New Friends: I made a new friend on Twitter one afternoon, and she said something that rang true for me, as well: “Honestly, nothing as exciting as this social media revolution has happened to me in decades.” Try it, you may feel the same.

Readers, do us all a great service: write a comment and share some of the reasons you believe Baby Boomers . . . of all ages . . . should embrace social media.

Next post: My comments on 15 Maxims for Social Media Marketing

Twitter

Twitter for Business: Beyond Twitter 101

May 29, 2009 Shari Weiss 6 Comments

Today’s Twitter Lesson: How Microblogging Builds Community

Social Media is all about People: Connecting, Engaging, Listening and Helping One Another. Twitter technology can do all that!

ONE: 32 million Twitter users according to WSJ article Ten Ways Twitter will Permanently Change Business. [As of Dec 2009 68 million Tweeters]

TWO: Twitter creator Jack Dorsey has told us Twitter WILL one day [probably sooner rather than later] be as ubiquitous as email.

THREE: The only question, then, is HOW to use this amazing and “simple” technology to ReShape and ReVive Business in America [and all over the Globe]?

The BEST ANSWER is by Reading, Listening, Talking, Thinking, and DOING!

(A) Try search.twitter.com — put in “twitter for business” and VOILA! real-time URL’s to check out

(B) Study the Tweet Streams of progressive companies like @wholefoods, @jetblue, @homedepot, @SouthwestAir and “team” members at places like Dell, e.g. @ChrisBatDell

Twitter will help marketers get measureable results

Because Twitter updates in real time, you can reach an audience on the spot. It’s a great platform for asking for assistance, getting opinions, and answering questions. Much less expensive than a focus group — and so much more personal.

Twitter builds communities, and this will be especially fruitful for retailers — both local and global — as companies have the opportunity to tell customers about attractive sales and new products.

Use Twitter to engage with customers and create advocates. It really is all about People Helping People.

Blogging, Facebook, Twitter

What should U TWEET: Twitter 101 Lesson 4

May 23, 2009 Shari Weiss 31 Comments

What’s so cool about Twitter is that there are NO rules: it’s like the “Wild West” where anything goes — as long as you use 140 characters or less.

Q: Why devote an entire post to this subject?

A: The 19th century poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “We are always looking for someone to tell us what to do” . . . and many typical Twitter users [see previous post] “forget” to Tweet.

So here are my thoughts:

1 – Jack Dorsey, Twitter creator, told my class that his mom likes to hear his day-to-day activities whether he’s meeting friends at a restaurant or getting off a plane in Iraq.
2 – Remember there are NO rules.

3 – That being said, you might want to consider WHY you are on Twitter: Do you really want the “world” to know you had a pizza for lunch? [Actually, I’m in NYC right now and called one of my brothers, whom I hadn’t told about my trip. He knew I was in New York because I’d put the word out on Twitter.]

4 – Personally, as someone who teaches public relations — and, thus, reputation management — I like to think about what my “Profile,” i.e. my Twitter Stream, looks like to someone who is deciding whether to follow me or NOT

5 – Therefore, in most cases I write personal comments using the DM [Direct Message] function — or simply send an email — so that my Tweets are more “thoughtfully” targeted to all my followers.

What makes a Tweet more respectful of your followers? Here are some of my suggestions:

(A) Passing along a cool blog entry or website I’ve come across, e.g., Adam Singer’s “What if?
(B) Retweeting [RT] an informative link that I’ve read from someone I follow on Twitter — see the previous post to find out about Tweetdeck which makes Retweeting so easy.

Quipsandtips asked: I’m in a lull, waiting for mag assignments & book contracts. How do you know when it’s time to revamp goals or change action plan?
I answered: @quipsandtips how do you know when it’s time to make new plans? When you ask that question 🙂

(D) “Reading” a book and sharing a short insight from it, e.g.,

Reading Putting Public Back in PR by Brian Solis & Deidre Breakenridge #PPBinPR : PR 2.0 creating new toolkit 2 reinvent market conversation

(E) Sharing an insight that you got “all on your own” and were dying to tell someone, e.g.,

People are NOT numbers. When businesses fully understand this, their strategies and tools will adjust.

Just remember, there aren’t any rules Unless You Make Your Own, so TWEEPLE – please tell us your rules and share your favorite Tweets. The conversation is what Social Media is all about.

What to Tweet About – Part TWO

Twitter

Life on Twitter made easier than Life on Mars — Try Tweetdeck

May 20, 2009 Shari Weiss 5 Comments

If you love getting organized, you’ll love Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck is the key that not only opens the door to greater accessibility but can make your entire Twitter experience so much fun — especially for those who love easy organization.

How Tweetdeck works:

1. Download Tweetdeck (TweetDeck runs on the Adobe AIR runtime. To use TweetDeck, you will need to install Adobe AIR first.)

2. Login and you will see THREE COLUMNS: One column is a list of the Tweeple you follow [ALL FRIENDS] with the most recent 100 tweets (including your own). The second and third columns are likely to be empty.

3. One of the empty columns is called DIRECT MESSAGES. When you SEND one of your followers a DM [direct message], it will appear in this column.

4. The other empty column is called REPLIES. Here you will see messages that mention your twitter name, i.e., @twittername, e.g., @sharisax. [An “advanced move” is to change this column, but that can wait for a later post from me or you can read about it within a blog called Twittercism.]

5. Now you are ready to take a look at the boxes that run along the top, beginning on the left above your columns. The first box TWEET will open up the text insert line that allows you to write your 140 character message. [The box turns red if your message goes over the limit.] The input line below the tweet line is used for shortening a long URL: simply type in the complete URL, click SHORTEN, and your smaller URL is inserted into your message. The TWITPIC box next to Shorten allows you to add picture files. When your message is complete, click your enter key and the message will be sent to Twitter.

6. Tweetdeck has many additional features, but you may want to play with just two of them before you begin further investigation. The sixth box from the left [after the Tweet box] is called GROUP. When you click on Group, another column pops up: ADD A GROUP. You are asked to name the group.

Many Tweeple use a column to separate the most interesting and important people they are following from the rest of the pack, so often this column is identified as A-List. You will see a “drop down” listing of ALL of the people you follow, and you click on those you wish to be in your “A-List” or whatever you choose to call the group.

When you are finished selecting group members, simply click on SAVE GROUP at the bottom, and then you will have a separate stream of tweets from group members. This makes it easy for you to “follow” a lot of people and not have to read through all their tweets to get to the ones you want.

7. The final “beginner’s tip” is the box to the right of Group. This is TWITTER SEARCH. When you click here, you will get an input box asking what you are searching for. You can try any topic, even your name. When you hit enter, another column is added with the Tweets mentioning the word or phrase (just as if you had gone to the Twitter Search site.

HINT: When I set up my first additional group and search columns, I thought some had “disappeared” because I couldn’t see them. Then I discovered the movable bar below the columns that allows you to move to the right or left to access all your columns even when they extend past your screen size.

NOTE: Additional sources: Chris Spagnuolo’s EdgeHopper, and here’s a site that answers Tweetdeck FAQ

FINAL SUGGESTION: These tips listed above are just to get you started. The Real Fun begins when you discover some of the functions on your own — So Download Tweetdeck and Enjoy!

Next post:What to Tweet About

Blogging, Twitter

Twitter 101: Be Choosy when selecting first Tweeple to Follow

May 19, 2009 Shari Weiss 18 Comments

The REAL, intrinsic, not-so-secret value of social media in general — and Twitter, particularly — is the desire to help others by sharing information.

Expertise, whether in the form of “raw knowledge” or super-research skills, is on the Net for the taking and, of course, the giving.

Lesson TWO: How to find people to “follow” on Twitter

1. Your first step, of course, should be your “plan” for Twitter. Is this platform just another way to text-message friends and family? If that’s the case, you don’t need my help. Simply convince your friends and family to get on Twitter and then you all follow each other.

2. HOWEVER, if your desire is to Explore the Technology and the Web at the same time, you will want to find Tweeple [i.e., Twitter users] who (a) know what they are doing on Twitter, (b) “tweet” about subjects of interest to you, and/or (c) have the kind of celebrity that you want to get close to.

3. WARNING: In the beginning, you ought to be as selective as possible in choosing people to follow. The more people you follow, the more messages you will receive — and, consequently, the more confused you may become. [Stage One of Twitter Use is Confusion. See previous post.]

4. NOW FOR MY FIRST SUGGESTION: Access a Twitter Directory. You can Google “Twitter Directory” and find pages of directory listings, but for starters, why not go to Twellow, the Twitter Yellow Pages.

Look at the categories. Want a newspaper or reporter or blogger who Tweets about current events, for example? You’ll find hundreds.
Find a name that looks familiar or interesting and click the word “follow” on the left side of the listing.
The next screen will show you the latest Tweets from this source. If you want to follow this person’s tweets, you will need to be logged on to your Twitter account. If you forgot to log-in first, No Problem, simply go to the login box on the upper right, put in your name and password, and you will be returned to this Tweeter’s page.
Then simply click on the word “follow” below the photo or icon. And so forth . . . add as many people as you want, but as I suggested above, you might want to be choosy at first.

One “surprise” is that many people will automatically follow you when you follow them, but not everyone. I got a charge when Barack Obama followed me, but neither Hillary nor Al Gore did. You live and learn.

5) SINCE YOU’VE GOTTEN THIS FAR in today’s post, your next step might be to follow me.

You can see the kind of comments, i.e. “tweets” that I make BUT you can also see whom I follow. In the right sidebar where it tells you how many people I am following [353 today], click on the word following. Your next screen shot will list those Tweeple and you can follow the advice above to see any of the tweet “stream” of any of these people.

6) LAST TIP OF THE DAY: Try search.twitter.com. When the search box appears, write down a word or phrase like “dogs” or “future of advertising” or “project manager” or “employee engagement” or “Adam Lambert” — what or whoever interests you. Up will pop ALL the Tweeple who are Tweeting about your topic in Real Time, i.e., who may be posting about that subject right NOW.

If you like what you read, you may click on their icons and check out their tweet stream. If you like the stream, click follow.

POSTSCRIPT: Once you get going with Twitter, you’ll notice daily posts on How to Find Followers, and/or you can check out some of these sources: 14 Twitter directories to find new friends; 5 ways to follow good people on Twitter; Show this to friends who want to get started on Twitter.

Please let me know what works for you — follower-wise. And stay tuned for tomorrow’s lesson on Tweetdeck

Twitter

Twitter does NOT have to be STUPID: Twitter 101 – Lesson ONE

May 17, 2009 Shari Weiss 39 Comments

Stupid is such a loaded word: you never know how someone else will react if they hear the word

So let’s begin TWITTER WEEK 101 with an agreement that 10 million+ users can’t be All Wrong. They’ve learned it’s all about How You Choose To Use The Power of Twitter. [BTW, as of Dec 2009, the total Tweeple is now at 68 million!!]

Start by acknowledging that as “simple” as Twitter is to use, to really understand its power will take time and participation. I recently read a post on the Four Stages of the Average Twitter User:

(1) Confusion — and the feelings that it is “stupid” to read about someone going to get a pizza;

(2) The first “AHA moment” when you realize there’s more to this than first meets the eye, e.g., for me, it was when I thought about using the technology to have my English students write something of substance to me in 140 characters AND THEN when I found out how easy it was to gather tons of information on the future of marketing;

(3) Remembering to Tweet was listed as a stage when users simply keep reading and reading without adding their own content. Actually this didn’t happen to me exactly. Rather, I was so excited about the things I was reading, that I immediately “RETWEETED” — in other words, copied the link and broadcast it to my followers.

. . . which reminds me that these “Stages” did not include the All Important Terms: Update, Followers, and Following:

UPDATE: Your Home page begins with the question: “What are you doing?” When new [and old] users simply answer that question, you do find out personal info that may or most probably won’t be the “Best of Twitter.” However, most people do NOT answer that question; they simply disregard it and write about an interesting discovery online, in the news, OR BEST . . . to my mind . . . is a personal insight they want to share.

FOLLOWING: These are the Tweeple [i.e. people who use Twitter] you will choose to follow because you either know them, know of them, or have found out that they like to talk about things of interest to you. More about Who To Follow in next post.

FOLLOWERS: This is “cute.” Either you can invite people you know to receive your Tweets [that was how I first got on Twitter] or people will simply find you in cyberspace, and that can be Really Cool — when absolute strangers all of a sudden start following you, it’s a real charge! You’ll learn that there are myriads of ways to collect 1000’s of followers — but the jury is out on whether that is a good or bad thing.

4) Final of Four Stages: You’re hooked. And I was — to the point that I could barely pull myself away from my Twitter Page, to the point where my husband called me Tweetie Bird.

. . . two more points in Stage Four:

Tweetdeck – an application that you can download to help you categorize your actions on Twitter [more about this only after you’ve had some initial experience.[ See my Tweetdeck post]

The power of search.twitter.com – where you can look up just about anything whether it is “future of advertising” or “Adam Lambert” or “dog grooming” and find out what people are saying about that subject Right Now — it’s also a good way to find people to follow who like the subjects you like.

5) My Stage Five: I learned that I can still get a lot out of Twitter even if I happen to miss an “important” Tweet. Most of the good ones are Re-Tweeted. And I, personally, am ready to find out how to Use Twitter for Business.

So, if you are a budding Social Media Marketer like me, stay tuned for reports on Hints, Tips, Tools, and Strategies for using Twitter for Business.

In the meantime, you can check out Novice Primer for getting started in Twitter and Top Ten Twitter Tips

The REAL SECRET is Just DO it! And if you have any questions and/or good tips for beginners and/or your own great Beginner’s Stories, please add them to this post.

Next post: Whom to Follow

Blogging, Twitter

Personal Branding is Powerful Strategy in Social Media

May 15, 2009 Shari Weiss 8 Comments

The last class of the semester will not be the end of studies for many SFSU marketing students.

What a wild ride –

Jumping off the PR 1.0 trail and on to PR 2.0!

And I’m happy to report that many of my 90+ students will be continuing our trek down Revolutionary Road. Below is a sampling of their semester wrap-ups:

Consumers create the buzz:

“I learned that people are changing the way information is given and received. Today Social Media is influencing all of us in ways never thought possible 5, 10, 20 years ago. Websites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are evolving into powerful tools. And companies are seeing this as consumers are now the ones creating buzz about products and places.

Today we all have the opportunity to use the Web to tell stories, to educate, to entertain, and, most importantly, to engage in conversation. We are only beginning to explore the many ways to communicate.” — Alice Ng

Social Media is our future:

“It is not only a way for people to connect and maintain relationships, but the Future for marketing and business, as well. Most of the population has hit their limit with mass advertising. People have figured out that everything is a selling gimmick and they have become immune. Marketing has become Word of Mouth — and what better way to facilitate the discussions than through social media.

If I am interested in a new TV, I want to hear real-life reviews and opinions — and with just a few clicks I can find them with Twitter. Or, if I want to know more about a person or organization, I simply go to LinkedIn or Facebook. As more people are realizing that everything is available online, more companies and people are adding valuable content to be discovered.” — Natalie Leadbetter

What’s just a fad?

“The number of social media websites id mind-boggling. The question is which ones are here to stay, and which ones will be merely fads. It’s frustrating that more and more aspects of life are moving to the Web. Personally, I find that staring at a computer screen for longer than a couple of hours at a time can induce headaches. Also, social media is killing privacy, and I have always considered myself a private person. I haven’t felt comfortable putting myself on the Internet for anyone to Google.

One of our speakers told us, ‘If I Google your name and nothing comes up, then you can forget about a job1’ I still have a hard time getting myself to put my name out there and start the multiple social networking profiles that are required for this class — and what now seems, required for life in general. Is there another niche out there for me to avoid this whole Web 2.0 thing? I DOUBT IT. I guess it’s time for me to bite the bullet and join the massive conformity that we call Social Media.” — Emilio Siqueiros

Personal Branding 101:

“I’m personally appreciative to have been immersed in the New Rules of PR. Communication has been revolutionalized and one of the most important lessons for me has been about Personal Branding. From everything I post online to my contributions to others’ web conversations, being Proactive is the Key. I now understand the importance of contributing to other people’s blogs as well as creating and maintaining online profiles — to connect with others and to contribute to the Worldview of Knowledge.” –Alvin Lee

Be careful online:

“When I first began this PR class, I hadn’t known what to expect. All I’d ever heard about PR were statements about making a company Look Good. But now my understanding has changed to the view that PR is more of a process of having a company do the kinds of things that will make it look good and earn that good reputation. And I can see how the internet — and everything we post online — can affect our reputation for the bad as well as for the good. Before this class, I’d tried Twitter when it wasn’t all the rage. I thought it was interesting, but it would fade away.

Now, though, I’m surprised that I’m Tweeting on my final — social media has grown so powerful that wherever I look, someone is bombarding me with some sort of advertising cleverly disguised as Tweets. Every action we take, we have to know that a potential client or contact is watching, and what we write online can make or break us in the Business World.” — Victor Atilano

Share your experiences with us. How has your life changed? Most of us believe that ours has improved? How about you?

Next post: http: Twitter 101

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