Category: Guest Posts | Page 18

This is a guest post from social media consultant Jacob Morgan.

The best way to get involved in social media can be summed up in one word – act. Spending 6 months researching and planning your social media campaign is not the best thing to do. Now I?m not saying don?t have a plan – I?m saying have a plan that you can put together and act on quickly and effectively and make it actionable sooner rather than later.

It?s always a good idea to start listening and getting a feel for your landscape and surroundings, I consider this a part of acting as it involves engaging in the social media space. Every day you spend ?planning? is a day where you are potentially missing hundreds or thousands of conversations/relationships that you could be engaging in.

You have to remember that social media is very dynamic.

New tools emerge daily
Your competition isn?t going to sit still
Brand/company sentiments can change rapidly
You are going to miss out on the conversations that are going on now if you wait
Part of succeeding in social media is about trying new things, it won?t be ?perfect?
There is no formula for success

Your plan is most likely going to change once you actually engage in social media and begin interacting with your users and customers. In fact, your users and customers SHOULD dictate some of your plan; they will tell you what they want, how to build it, who they want to talk to, and what they expect (among other things).

The best thing to do is start small (even while you are still formulating and constructing your plan) because at least you can begin engaging in conversations and building relationships. For example, you may want to create a Twitter account for a customer service representative that can monitor conversations and engage in them. Maybe you want to create a customer facing blog that the company can use to provide some unique company or industry information.

While these conversations and relationships are building you can think of larger more strategic ways to engage with your users, i.e. building microsites, creating your own social network, promoting products/services via social media channels, etc.

Creating a plan is good – acting is better.

Jacob Morgan is a social media marketing consultant and runs a team of Technical SEO’s. Jacob has founded a start-up in the social media space and has worked with brands such as Adobe, Conde Nast, Sandisk and Salesforce. He is an avid and passionate blogger on all things social media and marketing related. He also loves meeting and building relationships with people so say hello and let him know if he can help you! You can connect with Jacob on:
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

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This is a guest post from my wife Jacki. I thought it’d be interesting to get the views of someone who has no real interest in social media and let them explain why. And one thing I love about Jacki is her no-nonsense approach to everything. To learn more or connect with Jacki, please visit her blog Just Kickin’ It.

I was recently asked my views on social media and all the glorious tools therein. Truthfully, my mind went blank. I couldn’t tell you the difference between Twitter and Stumbleupon.

I understand Google as a search engine, so when someone says ?She found me on Google? ? well, that makes sense. But what the heck does ?She sent me a tweet? mean?

This is a hypothetical question, don?t answer it ? I don?t care and will likely forget what it means anyways. If I need to find something I Google it. If I?ve read something I liked and am able to comment I will, if not, well my opinion doesn?t mean a whole lot anyways. I?m not overly devastated if I don?t get to share it.

I recently started a new blog. I still don?t fully understand what that even means. What I do is I write a virtual journal, I rant about the latest current affairs, I discuss in great detail all of the things that irritate me and what the world could do to improve. Mostly it?s social etiquette and common sense.

When I?m bored and feeling creative, I might tell a story or two, involving a little bit of research on my part. I assume since it?s on the Web, anyone can read it. Great, go for it. I just learned what it meant to ?tag?, something which makes sense, but I still don?t know how to do it. So if you can?t find me, well I guess that?s my fault too.

For this I use Blogger. I tried to post a couple of pictures on my recent blog and what a pain that was. I think I?ll stick to journal format from now on in. It?s a personal blog, not professional. It doesn?t have any business purpose, so I?m not trying to draw in any clientele.

My other blog, I run with a couple of other ladies. This is a virtual book club. It?s a bit different than the regular book clubs but it suits its purpose. We use WordPress for this. I can honestly say that after playing with it a bit, it?s far more user-friendly than Blogger. And I?ve mastered the art of adding pictures. I think that deserves a pat on the back right there.

Facebook is a given. But someone listed a bunch of other nonsense:

Twitter
Stumbleupon
Digg
Friendfeed
LinkedIn
Delicious
Reddit
Google Alerts
Google Reader
Monitter
Technorati

What is all of this? It?s a foreign language to me. If you want me to read something, send me a link. I really couldn?t care less what you use to spread the word, or what format you put things in. I?m glad it works for you, really I am. But are all these things really necessary?

Take Stumbleupon for example. There was probably about a month where my husband went nuts with sending me a bunch of things he stumbled upon. One day I watched him send out an email. He had to cut here, paste there, click a few buttons and voila! Seems simple, right? Why the heck couldn?t he just paste the link in a normal email and send that out? Why go through Stumbleupon at all?

And Twitter? This one I can?t get over because it?s all the new rage amongst Social Media Experts and PR Gurus. I guess I don?t understand the Internet world, and what is the point of learning it when it changes on a daily basis?

I use Blogger, WordPress and Facebook. But really, if I want to write something and share it, is there any difference if I use Microsoft Word or Notepad? Couldn?t I just use that and send it off to whomever I want to read it?

If I want it to go public, then using some domain might be an idea, but does it really matter one way or the other what the heck I put it in? Can you tell the difference between Blogger and WordPress, as a reader? Maybe one is more appealing to the eye than the other but it?s more of the same.

So go on and speak your language. But in plain English, you could just tell me, ?Here? read?.

Thanks for listening.