Social Media Breakfast at the Fair

OK – I need to show up on the Social Media Breakfast with the device that allows participating in… social media   We had quite interesting quiz, and I was right a few times!  Unfortunately, I could not twit the correct answer   Next time… next time.

One of the sponsors of the event introduced BusinessCard2  – an online form of a business card. I absolutely had to create my card http://vanessabright.businesscard2.com/ , however, I am not sure how this new product would compete with LinkedIn, that already has most of the same information.

It is interesting to watch new web sites for creating business cards, online resumes, and online portfolios… My guess: LinkedIn smartly integrates other social networks (SlideShare, Blogs, documents, etc.) and can function as a “primary” resume/business card online. However, new, niche applications will probably continue to appear.

 Another interesting note: though most professional job seekers are online, there is a difference between the places where specific demographic tend to look for a job. Younger demographic is more likely to start from Facebook – a more familiar social network than LinkedIn.

Though this event was fun and very appropriate for the Fair, I hope to see more traditional presentations or panels in the future.

Nonprofits and Social Media

Quite interesting panel of social media practitioners working for non-profits (Social Media Breakfast 17) concluded that right now… “we are still learning.”

Points from the discussion:

• Some organizations reach the same audience through social media and use it as a different channel of communication. Others, however, are reaching different audience (usually younger or not local).
• No good practice yet on managing local/national brunches of the organization (one Twitter account, or one per location, or one per […]?)
• Fundraising: online is a good channel for low-level donations.
• Getting an organization’s leadership on-board with social media might be difficult. In a political office, giving a camera to the politician was successful. However, “over-analyzing” can lead to delays… for one organization, thinking too long about setting a page on MySpace resulted to a lost MySpace opportunity; while the decision was discussed Facebook replaced MySpace as the most attractive channel.
• Nonprofit organizations have the same concerns as for-profit organizations about social media. Nonprofits worry about message control and may not consider the new channel as anything more than a fleeting fad. However, the response is the same: the conversation is already happening… are we willing to join?
• Separating (or not separating?) personal and organizational brand is still in discussion. The brand is often merged… but the leadership of the organization should be supportive. From personal perspective: maybe better to have a personal account? “Do you want your own brand to be what your job is?” However, the blurring is happening in practice.
• Idea for promotions of non-profits in social media “20 things you may not know about [….your organization…]”
• An emphasis on making sure that channels/technologies need to be appropriate for the target audience (MySpace is used by African-American community, teenagers like texting).
• If the organization has different brunches, sharing successes in social media can be effective (the channel is changing quickly)
• Accessibility should be important for nonprofits: not everybody might have access to latest technology – the services might need to be duplicated via other channels.
• Twitern (twittering intern) position – do not give somebody temporary manage you social media strategy
• What is difference between nonprofit and for-profit organizations? Nonprofits are generally less controversial “everybody loves libraries!”  The motivation behind becoming  a fan of a nonprofit on Facebook might be different; a person might want to be seen by friends as a supported of a certain cause.
• Some non-profit social media successes: library created a social catalog allowing commenting on the books and creating a reader profile, surprising success from fundraising through causes Facebook page, giving congressman a flip camera (camera is used, content is interesting for the voters). 

Kay Roseland took a few wonderful pictures from the event   one of which I used. However, I need to learn to smile when I happen to be among those who are photographed  ;-)

Social Media Breakfast – Online Reputation Management

Enlightening event with the presentation that could be considered a treasure of facts and numbers (Wow! 65 slides!)  I wish Greg Swan and Christopher Lower had the rest of the day to continue

The most curious points and links from the presentation:

Free reputation monitoring services:
http://www.google.com/alerts
http://technorati.com/
http://w.moreover.com/
http://alp-uckan.net/free/monitorthis/
http://www.blogpulse.com/
http://www.twittermeter.com/  (try Firefox; issues in IE)
http://www.tweetvolume.com/  (love it!)
http://backtweets.com/
http://monitter.com/
http://tweetbeep.com/ (free Tweeter alerts by e-mail)
http://blogsearch.google.com/ (Google Blog search)
http://www.backtype.com/ ( Comments monitoring)

Paid reputation monitoring services:
          Small business
http://www.trackur.com/ (starts from $18 a months, free trial)
          Enterprise
http://www.buzzlogic.com/
http://www.radian6.com/
http://www.factiva.com/ (seems to have free trial)

How to respond to online reputation issues:

• investigate complains
• respond at the same site / same platform
• respond as quickly as possible (after the comment was investigated)
• you may need legal assistance (make sure legal team has a specialist in the area)
• host the conversation (complaints on your own site are easier to control – make them possible)
• make sure your brand is reserved at various sites http://www.usernamecheck.com/

Why all of it is necessary?

60% of Americans use social media
85% of Americans say social media presence for a company is not enough; the company should interact with its customers

Social media can amplify poor service very quickly  – FTD’s Mother’s Day Mishap (by TechCrunch)  

70% of global executives fear for their corporate reputations as online risks grow

66% of global executives are either unaware or do not want to admit that employees are badmouthing their companies online

Domino’s case study
The infamous video taken a tall on Domino’s perception – it changed from 81% positive to 64% negative. Cost to Domino is estimated over $50,000,000. Interesting: Domino’s PR agency suggested initially ignoring the video (now Domino has a different PR agency   ).

Domino’s video response

Shevron case study

What did Chevron do when it learned that “60 Minutes” was preparing a potentially damaging report about oil company contamination of the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador?

It hired a former journalist to produce a mirror image of the report, from the corporation’s point of view.

The number of views was much smaller, but – it was an attempt by the company to create its own media.

There are many industry–specific sites featuring reviews

SEO can be a temporary fix to promote positive online reports and push back negative results. But…as soon as the complainer refreshes his or her post – it will move straight to the top. The problem needs to be addressed.

Bacon was sponsored by Concordia University MBA program.  :-)

Social Media Breakfast – Personal Branding

Mykl Roventine  gave a wonderful overview of personal branding.  Oh, yes, I will be busy after this presentation… defining and correcting my personal brand online. Now I have an excellent ever-changing “instruction,” but – what is more important – an understanding of the “big picture…” Social Media Breakfast is “must attend” event from my perspective.

Personal brand is important:

• You want to stand out of the crowd
• Is your digital footprint exactly what you want to portray?
• Now is the window of opportunity
• Yes, you are a brand!

Examples to check:

• Chris Brogan
• Rick Mahn

So, what should you do to build your personal brand?

1. Identify your personal brand

“You are not defined by your job title, and you are not confined by your job description.”  Brand is authentic – what makes you different

• Goals?
• Audience?
• Value of you to others? (if not clear – ask others)

Create a brand statement.

2. How are you branded?  Chose the name (better real name; be consistent)

3. Change all your accounts to the name

4. Change your photos  to one consistent image (that hopefully recognizable)  – get Gravatar

5. Create your brand story

Create a story, which would be easy to add to different accounts and social networks

• super short
• short
• long (a few paragraphs)

Might make sense to ask for proofreading help. Then go back to social media sites and fill out all information (it should be consistent).

6. Create a destination

• Decide on a destination. Most logical “About” page on your blog.
• Point everything to this page.
• Long version of your story should include links to your other networks
• Make sure that you have simple contact information
• Fill out your Google profile 

7. Tie is all together – link everything to your destination. Be consistent.

8. Share.

Comment using you first and last name, link to your destination. Thank commenters on your blog.

9. Monitor your brand

• Google alerts 
• Social too

Your personal brand is always evolving.

The video from the event was posted on ning.