Insights

Rocks, Foundations and Immediate Communities

One of the things we always talk about in this space we share is support.

How we can encourage our online communities to rise to challenges and how the players on the field encourage others. Yet what are we doing offline with our ?immediate communities??

Are we offering the same support and encouragement to them? Or even thanking them for their support and encouragement to us?

Often we take this support for granted ? after all, they?re our friends and family and? well, that?s just what friends and family do, right? We?d do the same for them so there?s no need to recognize it.

But there is.

Every day we get through problems or tough times because of our support networks.

It doesn?t matter if it?s just an email to ask how our day is going, or a helping hand at a challenging time ? it?s the presence and thought that offers the actual support, even if we don?t realize it. They?re the rocks and the foundations on which we stand and grow.

My rock is my wife.

She does incredible things every day without realizing she?s doing them. She takes the stress out of my life just by being there, and I probably don?t tell her that enough. If I?m ever backed into a corner and I can only choose one person to have my back, my wife would be it. Every time.

If my wife is my rock, then her mum is the foundation on which she?s built.

There are many mother-in-law stereotype jokes that do the rounds but my wife?s mom couldn?t be farther from them. She was one of the first to be there for my wife and I and she?s never been far from us since then. It?s clear to see where my wife gets her strength and beauty from, both inside and out.

We build online armies every day. Our communities are the rocks and the foundations on which everything stands. We support people we?ve never met (and likely never will) simply because we can.

Yet as strongly as we and they connect, we do so because of the foundations already behind us.

Are you keeping yours strong?

image: zoompict

Introducing Social Media to Your Business

Fact ? too many businesses still need to wake up and realize that social media is not ?one of these Internet fads? that will disappear.

Fact ? because of this mindset, too many businesses are potentially missing out on extra business that could mean the difference between staying afloat and going under. So why the problem?

One of the main reasons is that businesses ? whether it?s the CEO, top-tier management or otherwise ? are looking at social media as an individual medium, much like PR or marketing.

This is where the cracks start to appear. Social media benefits companies the most when it?s used as?part?of an?integrated?campaign.

Social media is also perfect for reaching out and connecting with your audience, as opposed to just selling them something. Sure, you?re still selling your brand or product ? but this time, it?s in an ?encouraging to ask questions? approach instead of ?this is us and you?ll like it? one.

Accepting that social media needs to be approached as an integrated strategy rather than a standalone campaign is the first step businesses need to take. After that, the job gets a little bit easier.

Define Your Audience

Just like any market or product, social media is made up of different audiences. As a business owner, you wouldn?t launch a new product onto a more traditional marketplace without some in-depth market research first ? don?t ignore this on social media.

Knowing your audience is key to succeeding in business social media. You need to know if your audience are participants or promoters. Why the need to differentiate? Simple –

Participants?are social media users that may use numerous social media sites and applications, but don?t really ?take part? in the medium. They?re like the visitors to your business website that may purchase something and then interact with you no further. There?s nothing wrong with this ? but as a method of expanding your brand, you may need to look elsewhere.

Promoters?are the users that like to share information ? whether it?s recommending something via Twitter or their blog, if they come across something they like they will pass that information on. This is where your use of social media can help build your name. Just remember that social media works both ways. Don?t try and cheat the system ? give back just as much (more, even) as you receive.

Have a Clear and Defined Goal

Another area where businesses are failing to adapt social media to their needs is that they don?t have a clear goal on what they want to achieve. Many hear the phrase ?social media? and immediately feel they need to be a part of this buzz, jump straight in without any forward thinking, and are then disappointed with the (lack of) results.

Ask yourself who you want to connect with and why, and then research the areas of social media that are most relevant to your needs. Demographics are one of the key points of knowledge for any campaign ? make sure you know where your demographics are playing online. A?social map?can help here.

Again, though, don?t try and play the system ? cheaters will soon be found out, and your brand can suffer irreparable damage if seen as merely a self-promotional company on social media.

Tools of the Trade

Once you have your audience and your goal set out, you need to use the tools that will help you the most. There are numerous available, and this is where building your social media connections can help, by advising what ones they use and what results they achieve.

Some of the best free examples of business tools include?Monitter?(which allows you a view on Twitter discussions of keywords);?Google Alerts?(giving you insight into what?s being said about you); and?Social Mention?(letting you gauge social reactions and reach to your topic or keywords and allowing you to jump in on conversations elsewhere).

Getting into social media shouldn?t be a hard decision for businesses to make ? it?s either right for you or it isn?t. Social media is a long-term strategy, not? a short-term fire sale.

Understand that, and you begin to understand social media.

Image:?fredcavazza

On Moving On and Jugnoo

So, if you ever read my bio (whether here on the blog’s sidebar, or on any of my social networks), you may have noticed that I recently updated my professional description.

Whereas before it was for Bonsai Interactive, as of last week it became Jugnoo, Inc. So, what was the change?

Simple – I’ve stepped down from my role at Bonsai to become Director of Retention and Social Media at Jugnoo, Inc.

While my time at Bonsai was fun, and we were lucky enough to work with some great clients, the direction began to change in the last few months and I felt it was time to move on.

Enter Jugnoo.

I’ve known the VP of Marketing at Jugnoo for a while – Hessie Jones – and we just got chatting about a few things. She told me about Jugnoo and my interest was piqued. Cue some more conversations, and I was delighted to join the team.

So what the heck is Jugnoo? Well, here’s the official blurb:

Making Your Business Social is Our Business!
As an internet media technology company, Jugnoo gives both consumers and businesses the tools and services they need to stand out on the social web. Up to now, it’s generally been larger corporations that have had the time, resources and knowledge to truly benefit from the social web. Jugnoo intends to level the playing field for the benefit of all.

In the bigger picture, Jugnoo is a technology and media company that has an umbrella of products for both consumers and businesses. The first product is JugnooMe, which is currently in beta phase for launch early 2012. Its primary goal is to make social media easier to add to the marketing mix for small-to-medium businesses.

There’ll be a lot more information coming from both this way and the Jugnoo team soon, and I’ll be reaching out to folks in our target audience with some more details shortly.

For now, my sincere best wishes to Troy and Bonsai on their success ahead, and my gratitude to the clients that I’ve gotten to know over the last two years – it’s been a blast, and I wish you well.

In the meantime, feel free to connect with Jugnoo on Facebook and Twitter, and look forward to sharing more details soon.

Cheers!

Be Brilliant at the Basics

A lot of the time, we look at ways we can be outrageously creative.

We think of ways to outshine that viral video our competitor lucked out with. Or we look at the craziest competition we can offer that ties social media, mobile, print and online marketing all into one kickass promo.

Or we think of how many cool features our new product has, and then think how it’d be even cooler to multiply that number by ten and use that as just the starting point.

Even on our blogs, we look at how we can make our design the one that stands out from the rest and look like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

But do we need to?

Does outrageously creative lead to more sales? Is that viral video one our audience will react to? Is our multi-platform marketing based on audience demographic or internal silo thinking? Does our blog’s content live up to the look and feel surrounding it?

There’s no question there’s a time and a place for the outrageous – but there’s also a time and place for the basics, too. Usually even more so.

Be brilliant at the basics – the rest will follow.

Is Klout Using Our Family to Violate Our Privacy?

First, apologies to anyone suffering Klout burnout here – but sometimes a topic has more than just a simple viewpoint. Especially when that topic is something like online privacy. And that privacy has (potentially) been broken by Klout.

I was on Facebook today, and my friend Tonia Ries?asked about Klout’s ability to make profiles, when users haven’t connected their details with the service. I pointed her to the response from Megan Berry, Klout’s marketing manager, where she says if we don’t want to be tracked, then to make our social feeds private.

Even though I feel having to make your social feeds private to stop any service from accessing it is commercial suicide, especially for a business whose primary custom is online, at least there was an option to stop Klout from grabbing your information.

At least, until Tonia pointed out the example of her son.

He isn’t on Twitter, and he’s not super active on Facebook. He hasn’t given Klout permission to access his account, and he has his Facebook privacy settings at private. Just like Megan advises.

And yet here he is on Klout, with a profile and score of 38. However, that’s not the issue. The bigger issue is this. As you can see from the image (which I’ve blurred to protect his identity), you can clearly see that his Facebook icon is a live one (i.e., not shaded out), which means people can visit his Klout profile and be taken to his very private Facebook profile by clicking the Facebook icon.

So, a private Facebook profile with no access allowed to Klout is now on their system and, worse still, allowing any public visitor to Klout to be taken directly to Tonia’s son’s private Facebook account?

Doesn’t something smell incredibly rotten here?

When looking into the issue more, Tonia mentions that her son commented on her Facebook wall about something. Tonia’s account is public – so does that mean Klout has activated an account for Tonia’s son, based on her being an “influencer” of her own son? All from one single wall post?

Sorry, Klout, but if that’s the case, that’s bullshit, and you’re treading on very slippery ground.

If you’re going to activate accounts for people who have their feeds set to private, and justify it by saying, “But they spoke to someone who has a public account”, that’s crap. That’s like saying, “Well, we’re going to telemarket call your son’s private phone number because we overheard you asking for his new number on your public phone.”

Seriously, Klout?

So, a word of warning to everyone. Your friends and family, who have absolutely no interest in social media, may be getting hawked as an active contributor to the Klout userbase, whether they have a private account or not, simply through their interactions with you.

Something to keep in mind when hooking up your own information to something like Klout….

Updates:
~ Check out Tonia’s own take on the issue in this post?at The Realtime Report.
~ Check out Brian Carter’s take on this post over at All Facebook.
~ Marian Heath from Facebook Safety has advised they are investigating Klout to make sure they’re complying with Facebook’s Privacy Terms.
~ Fernando Fonseca has posted instructions on how to be completely removed from Klout legally.
~ Jure Klepic has published a great resource on how to get completely disconnected from Klout.
~ Update: As of November 1st 2011, you can now delete your Klout account.?