Facebook Photo Changes

If it’s Monday (substitute any day here), then its time to check for Facebook changes in the night….This actually rolled out late last week, but with the Father’s Day weekend holiday, I’m a bit behind in sharing it. The change is with Photo Album Viewing in Facebook and applies to both Profile and Page albums. Facebook has added some options that make it easier to view not only album photo contents, but also the all important photo comments.

You now have two view options (Album/Comments) that look like this (see below) when you are in the album section of your account. Managing photos with the Add Photos & Tag Photos buttons makes it really easy to organize your albums and get the comment conversation party started!

Facebook Album Changes

These screen shots are taken from my personal profile Album of New Media Cincinnati events.  I think this is a great change and adds some functionality to the albums. My guess is that Facebook added this feature with the belief that picture sharing will become more prominent with the facial recognition tagging ability that was recently rolled out.

New Media Cincinnati founder, Daniel Johnson Jr. has a great post on the facial recognition roll-out. Read it and let us know your thoughts about enabling vs. disabling the capability.  Love to know what YOU think!

Album View

Comment View

 

 

Visual Social Media Policy

One of the most creative ways I have ever seen to share a corporate social media policy with employees. It captures your attention and is clear and to the point. The intended audience was for a government agency in Victoria, Australia. Thankfully,  fellow Xavier University Alum and social media colleague, Matthew Dooley was kind enough to share it on the Cincinnati Social Media Facebook Group Page.

Love to know your thoughts…..

Social Media Policy

Facebook Faux Pas: Why English Majors Need Apply

Cookies by Design via Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpowers65/

A recent experience with online shopping brought me front and center to today’s blog post. I was searching for a unique birthday gift to send to a family member and after perusing the website for Cookies By Design (CBD), thought I would check out their Facebook Page for special discount Fan offers. Their landing tab deposited me to a brightly printed page announcing a Father’s Day Sweepstakes and a nice reminder to “Like” the Page, but as my eye traveled down the copy, my vision was hit with bold, black single-spaced (and in some areas, all CAPS) print outlining the CBD official sweepstakes rules. I copied the sweepstakes verbage into Word and discovered that the copy amounted to 831 words. Total turn-off. Would have been much better to make the copy less of an eye chart or include a link to a page on their website with full details.

I’m not going to critique their iFrames app use or custom profile pic, you can do that on your own and look here for comparison sites. Just wanted to point out how, as a potential customer, I was a bit turned off by all the print on their custom Welcome tab.

I next checked out their Wall to see what kind of engagement was gong on there- ok, I was really looking for that elusive coupon special……but what I found was the underscoring of my belief that the English major will rise again to be in demand in today’s online marketing world.  So what does that mean?

In order to have engagement between a brand and their customers/clients, one needs to have a social media community manager that is fully capable of sustaining that engagement. This includes content that is meaningful and sought after by Fans and potential fans as well as the back and forth conversation that occurs within the exchange of information.  The community manager must seamlessly become one with the brand message so that consistency is maintained.

Who better to be a social media community manager than an English major: a person for whom words are pearls. A person who has studied the art of dialogue, sentence structure, essay writing and for whom feedback is part of the experience of writing.

I was reminded of this need for English majors when I spied this post on CBD’s Wall. In case you can’t read the circled portion of the post and the subsequent fan response in the photo below, here it is:

CBD: “Ok I’ve received your email and contacted the Franchise Business Consultant about this matter. Someone will definitely be in contact with you shortly and work something out to remedy the situation. We value your business and appreciate your patients.“

‎Fan: ” *patience! hopefully no “patients” from your cookies “

 

The marketing side of me is scratching my head wondering why the Page Admin still has not responded 48+ hours later……Tying the idea of patients (illness, etc,) with the ingestion of their product is just not good business. Perhaps they need a subscription to Hyper Alerts, as there is more recent admin activity on the Page.

So about those cookies…..unfortunately, no matter how tasty they are, the impression the company leaves me with via their Facebook Page is enough to send me in search of another present for my Dad. Perhaps a virtual gift card???

(note for the record, I am NOT an English major)

Cincinnati Social Media For Business Intermediate Level Workshop

I am very excited to be back next month (April) with another installment of the Social Media For Business Workshop Series in partnership with the Warren County Career Center, a University System of Ohio Provider. The next workshop will be held on April 12th from 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. and is an intermediate level workshop: Building Your Business/Non-Profit With Social Media: Welcome to the R(E)volution!

March showcased two courses for local businesses and non-profits: an introductory social media course and a hands-on LinkedIn Lab training class. March participants ranged from professional practices in the health and wellness fields, traditional retail businesses, mortgage companies and  educational institutions: quite a variety of backgrounds!  All desired the same outcome: to learn more about the various social media platforms that exist today.

The introductory class was a broad overview of seven platforms, while the April class takes participants to a more in-depth view on four key platforms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google.  We will be examining important strategies and measures for each tool and discussing the integration of social media into a full marketing program.

If you are ready to go beyond mere familiarity and want to gain a true understanding of how these tools can impact your business, then this class is for you.  Space is limited and many of the March workshop participants signed on for this next level after having a great experience in the introductory workshop, so register soon if you want to secure a space.

Here’s what some of the Intro to Social Media participants had to say about the program:

I enjoyed both of your presentations and am looking forward to the next two!  Thanks again for your expertise and enthusiasm….”

~Jim F.

“Great job! Great information! Thank you.  I plan to be a pioneer, and I think your seminars are going to be what gets me there.  I’ll see you next month!”

~Julie L.

So what are you waiting for?

Follow this link for additional information and registration for the April 12th workshop:  Building Your Business/Non-Profit With Social Media: Welcome to the R(E)volution!

Bonus Video below discusses recent Facebook changes to Pages (Business Profiles):

Life Unplugged: Make the Most of Your Off-line Relationships

I just followed a tweet by Julie Niesen (@winemedineme) to an article written by Cincinnati Enquirer Sports Columnist, Paul Daugherty, that is not only exquisitely written, but it will break your heart. He writes about the death of his good friend Joe Acito and what happens when there are no more tomorrows.  (The Joe Acito Line, 3/25)

Paul’s column applies to everyone, but I believe even more so to we, digital media early adopters and social networking enthusiasts who tend to remain plugged in 24/7.   Paul’s advice to us is this:

“Take the time. Make the time. Do not let work or errands or trivia get in the way of seeing your friends. Don’t let anything get in the way… There will always be… another Traditional Media column, another piece for SI.com. There will never be another round of golf with my friend Joe Acito”.

Words to heed. Words to live by. It’s Friday- go unplug and connect with your friends and family. Trust Paul, you won’t regret it…..

No Such Thing as a Social Media Expert

Stock Photo

If you have spent some time cruising around LinkedIn profiles, you will find that there are many people working in the social media industry who define themselves as Expert in their headline or position descriptions:

• “Social Media Expert”
• “Social Media Master”
• “Social Media Guru”

The irony of the situation is that no one can be an expert in a rapidly evolving industry. You may be on top of a particular social media platform or third party application only to have the latest update knock the socks off your world and you are back in novice mode.

I have found that the media likes to label people.  I have done several radio (WKNU) and t.v. news guest spots (Fox 19/WLWT Channel 5 News) on various social media topics and the reporters always want to plug me as the ‘Social Media Expert’; I can usually get them to back down to the more palatable Social Media Guru title which seems to fit the situation a bit more appropriately- their label, not mine.

In the grand scheme of the knowledge scale, there are many of us who do know an awful lot about social media. Perhaps we were early adopters and have become complete enthusiasts constantly working to stay on top of the information game. We just may seem like experts to those making their entree at a much later stage of the industry development, but we have to realize that there is no end point. We can’t get to point B and state that we have arrived and lay claim to an Expert status.

The road to point B is a never-ending one and the best we can do is to continue to learn, to test, to fail and to continue on down the path of digital connectivity, all while leaving that Expert hat in the corner.

‘Cus the beast known as the Social Media Expert just doesn’t exist. If you think that you find one, make sure you aren’t dreaming….

Thanks to my good friend and fellow XU alum, Daniel Lally for an invigorating conversation that prompted me to write this post. You can hear more from Dan on 3/12/11 as he visits the New Media Cincinnati group to discuss Social Media Tragedies. Should be a sell-out crowd; stay tuned for ticket details.

New Media Cincinnati: Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Imagine being at a point in time where a revolution is occurring around you. Perhaps you were an early entrant in the community; one of the early adopters of digital technology. Maybe you happened to work for a company or agency that had the proverbial crystal ball on the Web 2.0  Tsunami that was coming. Or maybe you were a person who heard the chatter and wanted to increase your knowledge for personal use.  Add in an evangelist with knowledge, passion and guts to dare differently who extended invitations to people from all points above to come together to share and to learn. Imagining that scenario would put you at ground zero of the digital community: New Media Cincinnati.

That evangelist would be Daniel Johnosn, Jr.. Every month for the past three years, Dan has organized and extended invitations to people all across Cincinnati from various walks of life to come share and learn with each other.  From these monthly meetings, great friendships have been born; clients and service providers have connected and companies incorporating digital/social media have been launched.

The best way to describe attending an NMC meeting is to conjure up the image of the ‘80s t.v. show Cheers. NMC at the Pub is the place to go because everyone knows your name (especially if they check the Eventbrite list for the Twitter handles and follow prior to coming!!). Seriously though, it is a place to come to be among friends.  There is no competition, no snarkiness, no prima donnas- just a place to share what you know and ask questions without feeling like you’re a misplaced Web 1.0 jockey.

Banning Social Media: Can You Do It?

Ban on Social Media

“University Declares a Week without Social Media“……This NPR article on the Harrisburg University of Science & Technology social media ban prompted a question from friend and colleague Lori Schafer that appeared initially on Twitter and later as an automatic LinkedIn status update where it was met with much online discussion. Lori’s question:

“What if… there was no social media. Would you miss it?”

I didn’t have to think twice about my response. I truly would suffer withdrawal symptoms for about a day, but then the forced (ok, voluntary) separation from my Droid, PC and laptop would be rather freeing.  I will admit that I am a social media addict and this has nothing to do with the fact that my entire consulting business is built upon advising companies and individuals on the best social media  strategy practices.  This choice of career just keeps me submerged in my addiction.

I love social media because I am an extremely social person and an information junkie. I love to truly get to know the inner core of a person: their passions, their hopes and their dreams. If I make a connection with someone, it is deep and lasting and loyal; unless my faith in the person is marred by their lack of integrity or some other moral character flaw.  I use social media as a start to develop genuine off-line relationships that have come to mean a lot to me professionally and personally.

Having the shiny toys severed from my life would be akin to going on one of those silent monastic retreats. You know they are good for your soul and give you time to meditate, reflect and pray, but you also know that it is a temporary situation.

It will be interesting to see how the students at Harrisburg Institute of Science & Technology fair with their week-long campus social media black-out. They are the Millennials who grew up with this technology; I’m just part of Gen Y that hitched on for the ride.

What about you, would you miss social media if it suddenly disappeared?

Do you know what the world is saying about your brand?

World of Mouth: Are You Listening?? image via Vagawi on Flikr C.Commons

A great line taken from the infamous Social Media Revolution Video on YouTube (based on Erik Qualman’s book Socialnomics) really showcases where our universe has gone in terms of marketing.  No longer,

“word of mouth, but WORLD of mouth”.

Today companies understand that it is the consumer who is speaking out loudly about their brand. The consumer voice is amplified on the pages of Facebook, texts and IMs between friends, tweets on Twitter, posts and comments on blogs and good old fashioned person to person conversation.  In fact, Qualman states that “25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content.” With all of that amplified chatter, it is imperative that companies have some type of a monitoring force in place to track and deal with conversations, both positive and negative.

Some companies who have done an outstanding job of tracking their online brand voice are Cincinnati-based P&G and Ford.  P&G’s Pampers Brand was recently hit by an onslaught of negative publicity concerning diaper rash and waged a social media campaign to set the record straight. Ford social media head, Scott Monty, became infamous for his now case-study-chronicled handling of a 2008 firestorm with Ford Fan site TheRangerStation.com.

These companies can afford to have Social Media Managers and departments focusing staff on listening and interacting with their communities, but what about the small businesses and solopreneurs? There are some free tools available to the small business that is lacking staff and/or budget. This article will share two tools that are very easy to use.

Google Alerts: Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results. You need to have a Gmail account, which is free, to set them up.  You identify which search terms you would like to have monitored by Google. Some ideas:

• Your business name in every form
• Your domain name
• Your brand(s)
• Your industry
• Your competitors

You determine if you would like the Google web-crawlers to comb all information on the web, or you can select from the following categories

• News
• Blogs
• Updates
• Video
• Websites
• Discussion

You choose how often you want to receive the updates and how many separate entries will be attached to each email.

Kurrently: This free monitoring tool entered the scene in the spring of 2010. It is a real time search engine for Facebook and Twitter results. Kurrently lets you tap exclusively into the social networking arena to see what people are saying about you, your company, your brand, right now. The real time display allows you to act quickly to capitalize on news, good and bad.

Kurrently gives you some options in using the site. It allows you to select stream speed and gives the choice of monitoring just Facebook, just Twitter or both. In order to keep your stealth headphones on, Kurrently includes other traditional search engines/sites like:

• Google
• Bing
• Baidu
• YouTube

Screenshot of Kurrently

Reputation Management is important for every business and brand. In this world of mobile marketing and smart-phone reliance, companies need to be on top of  “World of Mouth” as best they can. To refrain from monitoring your brand is akin to reputation suicide.

Tip for the Day:  Set Google Alerts to your personal brand as well; your neighbors may be talking about you!!

*Cross-posted at:    Cincinnati Social Media Examiner

Copyright Michelle Beckham~All Rights Reserved~2010

Creating International Connections

I love meeting new people and speaking to them in a deep and intentional way.  I tend to ask probing questions that go far beyond surface talk, because I truly am fascinated with people and want to know their inner core.  I want to know what they think, what they feel, and what their dreams are. I want to make a connection.

I recently met someone quite famous in a really weird, ‘no one would ever believe it’ kind of way.  The thing is I had no clue of who he was when we met.  As I spoke to him, I automatically began assessing his characteristics, qualities, etc. and I gave him my candid impression of his “personal brand”: rocker, writer, sensitive guy, yada, yada. These were all characteristics that he did not mention himself. Apparently, I was dead on because he was a little freaked by my description and asked if I knew who he was.  Considering that he was from another country, I was quite certain that we had never crossed paths in any way before and he certainly didn’t look the least bit familiar to me.

He told me that he was indeed a musician and a songwriter and gave me the name of his band and one of their biggest hits. I was so clueless that I had to ask which was the band name and which was the song.  Being the skeptic and ardent Googler that I am, I quickly did a search and came up with a very slick video on YouTube for the song in question. Yup, the guy I was talking to looked like the guy in the video sans dark black eyeliner and tight leather pants.  Still slightly skeptical, I half-joked that if he was a celebrity, he probably had a Twitter account.  I assumed he would tell me that he didn’t, instead he promptly gave it to me and suggested I send him a Tweet later.

We could have left it at that and gone our merry ways, but curiosity got me and I later found the Twitter account he mentioned and sent an @message to him. He immediately followed me and fired back with a response. Did some research and discovered that he was truly the lead singer and front man for the group that he mentioned. Apparently they were very hot in the 90’s, disbanded for a time and reunited in 2007.  They have released 4 albums; received two Juno nominations; and one of their albums has received platinum and gold awards.

Their music has been described as Industrial Alternative Rock which means, according to a musician friend of mine: “..a mix of techno and heavy metal. See Nine Inch Nails and/or Marilyn Manson.” They have a pretty keen social media thing going on: MySpace, Facebook Page, Twitter and a very cool engagement campaign on Indie GoGo where fans can contribute dollars to the band’s next EP release in exchange for a hierarchy of fan goodies (signed CDs, limited edition T-shirts, personal phone call, show tix, etc.).

My new Twitter friend comes across as being very intelligent and creative with a keen sense of what is important to him: entertaining audiences and sharing his creativity vs. a focus on purely making money.  He is sensitive and articulate and was a pleasure to bump into. Really glad I did.

And the mystery Tweeter is?

Meet Trevor Hurst of Econoline Crush

Be part of the action on their new EP

Listen on MySpace

Check out the EC vid below: