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Social Media and Traveling Actually Have A Lot In Common

Why do people travel?  Besides practical reasons like visiting friends and family or traveling for business, people travel because it fulfills our inner desires.  We yearn to connect with one another.  We want to find people that we can connect with, perhaps even our soul mate.  This inner desire to connect with others is so strong that it even causes many of us to develop what’s known as the “Travel Bug”. Ultimately, learning about others and different cultures through traveling may actually help us understand ourselves and our purpose in life better.  Social Media operates on these same principles.

The secret to understanding Social Media networking is to understand people and their needs.

For instance if someone says they want to be wealthy, perhaps the underlying desire is actually security.  Similarly, if a business’ goal is to increase sales, the underlying desire is to engage more people.  By understanding the fundamental values behind our goals, we can begin to use Social Media to fulfill our inner desires and those of our audience.  And just as easy as it is to develop (more…)

 Always rebellious, plus just not geeky enough, I did not have a cool iphone or a cute apple laptop (my laptop is now embarrassing) to tweet from, so I went old school and took real written notes. I thought they all made sense at the time, but combing through, not so much. Nevertheless, I could easily enough pull out my 140 words of wisdom and observations that were worth writing down and now typing out in a list. Actually, it almost follows the overall wisdom of Twitter; if you can say something worthwhile in 140 characters then it’s just not worth saying. It had to be really worth it for me to write it down by hand!

I should add: some are direct quotes, some are my jumbled version of quotes, some are my observations and some are just notes to me! I don’t claim to know anymore where the grand wisdom can be quoted from as I mangled too many names!

Hence, I give you my 140 bits of wisdom gleened from the #140 Twitter Conference in NYC.

They are, of course, all under 140 characters!

1. The world is beginning to suffer from ADD: nothing but talking points, sound bites, 2 minute of YouTube Video clips, 140 characters!
2. Risk is the basis for all things worthwhile.
3. “Expect the Unexpected and whenever possible, BE the unexpected.”
4. The secret of social media is to add value to a community. Ones role is to be active and weave a community.
5. Links are the currency that drives the internet.
6. The power of passed links is growing at an exponential rate of speed.
7. Organic search has passed its heyday.
8. Google, Facebook and Twitter are the Holy Trinity of the internet.
9. I don’t know what Google Wave is and I should.
10. Bit.ly is my friend because it can measure the clicks.
11. The web has new meaning because of real time now; no longer static.
12. Real time streams are a new form of representation of data.
13. The governments of the world are leaning to be more personal by bypassing traditional media and talking directly to people.
14. Human connections happen one person at a time ( but I knew that)
15. Twitter helped change the perception of public diplomacy.
16. Israel’s General Consulate is a very cool guy and I love the way he says “Twitter”.
17. Much like in interior design, eclectic collections work together because of the interests in them.
18. You become the center of your community because you are the center that holds it together
19. First new word to throw about and sound good saying: community ecosystem.
20. All ecosystems should be diverse, but can fail if one part of the whole leaves.
21. Humans like to be on the computer while they watch TV.
22. Second new word to throw about and sound good saying: Electronic mob.
23. I’m still confused by chaos theory and it always makes me think of Jurassic Park.
24. Amusing statement: Human beings have been confused since Nimrod.
25. The internet is reversing the curse of the Tower of Babel. Will God be angry?
26. Eavesdropping is the new babe watching.
27. Conversations go in patterns.
28. Twitter is a quarterback.
29. One should listen for the point of need.
30. It’s better to offer solutions than point out problems.
31. Conversational listening is a good skill to have.
32. We need to give the speaker value.
33. You can gather information or tell people that you care.
34. Bet no one asked for the ROI of the telephone.
35. The social contract has changed.
36. Rick Sanchez has a very loud voice.
37. Ann Curry is way way more than a “happy face pretty anchor”
38. “The world is changing and we are not keeping pace.”
39. The United States and Iran have experienced the same movement for change.
40. Fact checking verses reporting on pure social media; the question remains of how does it all come together.
41. Reporters have an obligation to check facts.
42. Video needs much less fact checking.
43. OMG I freaking love Ann Curry.
44. A brand can be authentic. Diva Discount is authentic. Authentically me. Or one of me.
45. Twitter is the tool to reinvent journalism.
46. Journalism is not a product, but a process.
47. The audience is becoming a collaborator.
48. Third new word to throw about and sound good saying: Crowd Sourcing
49. No needs the critics anymore to tell them what is good, or do they?
50. “The tragedy of the commons”; I still think human beings have the tendency to act like lemmings which can be a bad thing.
51. Critical mass equals the millionth monkey which can be a good thing.
52. Google is one giant transaction engine.
53. Google destroys relationships because people do not care where their information comes from.
54. Fourth new word to throw about and sound good saying: Behavioral Advertisement.
55. Measure the cost to reach people.
56. People want breaking news constantly.
57. Are the coders at the New York Times the new journalists?
58. Trust in sources equals truth in most people’s eyes.
59. There is no 240 West 57^th Street.
60. “If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space.”
61. 140=SMS=Mobile=Micro reporting.
62. Conversations happening on Twitter, but the facts are NOT going on Twitter ( but I am not sure what this not means!)
63. If you only follow 140 people, you make sure they are 140 experts.
64. I like it when other people use the word “gleen”.
65. Spell check does not like it when I use the word gleen.
66. Christopher Weingarten is crazy funny! And worth listening to even if Rolling Stone gives him the boot.
67. Companies need to hear all the stuff people say about them, especially the bad.
68. I know brands need to acknowledge the bad, but they still resist and annoy me at times.
69. Someone needs to be the chief listener.
70. I guess I can fit the definition of a professional Twanker.
71. It is no longer good enough for advertisement to get the eyes and ears of the people, now we must reach their hearts and souls.
72. By 2012 physical sensors will create 20% of all non video data!
73. Sensors just produce.
74. Sensors are streamy.
75. Twitter is streamy.
76. Plant sensors tweet.
77. Sneakers can tweet.
78. Laundromats tweet.
79. Mobile things tweet.
80. The space shuttle tweets.
81. The Tower Bridge and the river Thames tweet!
82. Twitter is powerful because it is mobile.
83. I am not mobile.
84. Danica Patrick has the first Twitter sponsor.
85. Passion and community make sports live much like Twitter community.
86. Low-key product placement is acceptable on Twitter..maybe?
87. I need to check out the #girlsnightout on Twitter.
88. “Isolation leaves people alone and without power”.
89. I think power still comes from truly having a choice.
90. I don’t know how I feel about Twittertanment.
91. The power has shifted to digital feudal lords.
92. Personally, I think the power of Mommy Bloggers is the validation of feelings.
93. More moms should admit how mental draining and freaking boring caring for a young child is.
94. We need to continue to rip down the mommy pedestal and the harsh judgment of other mother’s choices.
95. I do not find a threat from being real about your children’s names online.
96. Apparently the Rodgers Smith Hotel is the coolest hotel in NYC.
97. Fifth new word to throw about and sound good saying: Trust Agent.
98. Complete perfection in the art of copywriting: only 140 characters.
99. Number #87 goes against what everyone English teacher use to say!
100. Using the leverage of past experiences creates success.
101. Using the word “secret” denotes a “trust agent”.
102. In adoptionland, I think I might be considered a Trust Agent!
103. The ideal is to be the ONE trust agent in 150 groups.
104. That’s still a lot of groups!
105. Reducing friction creates relationships.
106. Money creates friction in relationships.
107. Openness and vulnerability creates conversational intimacy.
108. People want to do business with people they like.
109. Brands need to move to meet the needs of a new generation.
110. An “exit strategy” for Twitter is just too much IMO.
111. A home page is where a community exists?
112. Interesting parallel: Getting to know someone to date online is like the traditional courtship rituals.
113. The restaurant that made @Marlooz stop filming her date was really stupid!
114. Sixth new word to throw about and sound good saying: Citizen Journalism.
115. Newspapers, TV, etc are “controlled media”.
116. Controlled media has no conversations, no comments and no outreach.
117. New media has no control.
118. I know that is what scares so many clients.
119. “A planned life is not worth living” and also a recipe for failure.
120. I want a picture of The Conversational Prism for the office wall.
121. Exquisite Corpse is not what it sounds like at all.
122. I have newsheimers.
123. Twitter will not save publishing
124. We are replacing volume with Value in writing.
125. We are entering an “experience economy”
126. UX = user experience.
127. Seventh new word to throw about and sound good saying: Ambient awareness.
128. Our clients need us to act like personal social media trainers.
129. One third of all tweets come from Apps.
130. We should shoot film, interact, write about and interview all people like they are our mothers, sisters, and children.
131. If it’s global then it is consider true.
132. All business should have a social media hour.
133. Seventh new word to throw about and sound good saying: Silo.
134. Kodak should give one of those cool cameras to The Adoptee Rights Protest!
135. I am proud to be a Twanker as I am a damn good Twanker!
136. Eighth new word to throw about and sound good saying: Amplify.
137. Publishers find interesting people and amplify them
138. The internet has made us addicted to traffic.
139. Personal news equals news.

And the one hundred and fortieth thing I learned at the Twitter Conference:

• No one still has any idea how to monetize Twitter.

I should be tired from two whirlwind days in NYC at the 140 Character Conference on Twitter, but so much is running through my head, I am all fired up. I have pages and pages of notes, but half of what I wanted to write, I don’t have to! You could literally follow the whole thing on Twitter by searching for #140conf !

Everyone at #140conf was Tweeting like mad!

Overall, it was really really good. While I am a self proclaimed adoption conference junkie, I have not done a Tech conference yet. Oddly enough, I head back to New York for the OMMA Social conference in NY in less than a week! So I might be more of an expert next week, for a Tech conf, this time, I was a newbie.. though NOT a newbie on Twitter!  I did find it kind of interesting that some of the folks who were on panels really, based on my timeline, were; though I am not holding that against anyone at all! This is the year that Twitter has exploded.

The morning of the first day was very energizing.

Everyone seemed to speak of the power of Twitter and that was very inspirational. 

I was personally blown away by Journalist Ann Curry who had just a great manner and her philosophy of ethical Tweeting was to be commended. She is way more than “just a pretty face” and had the patience of a saint as some other newscasters were in the habit of speaking over her. The discussion on the CNN failings of covering the situation in Tehran was very powerful. Unfortunately, she was gone before I could personally tell her, but I loved that she believed in the Truth, with a capital T. I really resonated with that.

Some of the discussing, I did find myself conflicted about however. There was great emphasis on being real, making connections and building communities, all things, for the records, I do strongly believe in, but as a marketer, who manages like 30 separate and branded Twitter accounts, the general feeling I got was that the business end was sort of looked down on.  In fact, by the end of the two days, I was proudly calling myself a professional Twanker, a name coined there by JeffreyHayzlett of Kodak.  It was basically a funny term for the people who DO Tweet badly: spam, stupid stuff, etc. While, I took the name on, I don’t think it fits at all, because I did begin this all as part of a very strong online community,  the adoption community.  Plus personally I am a very ethical blogger, so I take all the internet etiquette I know and bring it to our work here with our clients.  What seemed to be missing sometimes was that one could be authentic and ethical and real and still be very branded for a client with the purpose of driving traffic and making sales. I m proud of the work we do and while I personally did not feel dismissed, the concept of our social media work at DragonSearch did in theory.

Other things were sort of odd at times:

Like the idea that it is Twitter that allows people to connect on that personal level.

I guess maybe Twitter has made it easier for many people, but that is something I have been mulling about for sometime previously.  To me, the beauty of the internet in general has always been that it lets you find and reach out to people who you might never have known about previously. Back in the day, there was too that true anonymity online. People recreated themselves and their internet personality was far removed from who they were in real life and there was a freedom to say whatever, to be whomever, to not have to be accountable. I think that help create so much interaction at first, but things have changed. Now we really ARE who we are online and we are totally accountable and traceable and it is part of our real life. Way before I knew what I was really doing and way before “social media” I was actually branding myself and making sure that who I was online in adoptionland was connectable because I wanted to be found. It was always part of my internal workings to never write anything that I felt I had to hide and to be 100% real and truthful and never to delete anything.  

What I have seen in the “tech” areas, as people online have become real,  are the rise of the internet GODS.. who people have worshiped from afar and almost built walls around.  There gets to be that weird fear that puts other people on pedestals and then one becomes afraid to reach out to them  as if we forget that they are people too and our own self esteem takes a weird nose dive and we things: “They don’t care about little old me, he is so much more important!”. I think I felt that way a long, long time ago with adoption people, but I have been over that for so long.  

I guess maybe people forgot that they could connect before Twitter?

I never unconnected, so I found it hard to relate to as if Twitter was this thing that changed it all. Not for me.  It’s a great tool, but it did not reinvent my wheel and since it has always been like that for me, I carry that over to DragonSearch which is supported by the company’s belief in best practices ALWAYS! For me, that amazement was a hard bandwagon to jump onto.  I feel real and authentic when I am twittering for a client. Maybe it is a belief in what we do, maybe it is a belief in the power of the internet overall, maybe it is that I am a closet actress, but when I comment and tweet as DivaDiscount, I AM Diva Discount and she is me.

There was talk of Twitter bring intimacy online and people discussing personal and vulnerable sharing.

Again, that was nothing new. My overall feeling was that no one in the land of tech knew anything about the adoption community! You want to talk about reveling and being vulnerable? Most adoption folks I know online, including myself, are so open that I think we would have blown the whole conference away! What was missing, especially I though from the Mommy Blogger panel, was the discussion of validation. I know I am open and share so much to both process my own feelings, but also because it does validate the same feelings for other people. I know because I frequently get either comments or emails based on my personal blog posts thanking me for helping other moms like me feel “normal”. Yes, being a stay at home mommy is boring and mentally draining. Yes, you want to make money have friends you can relate to, but blogging can be really much deeper than that.

Part of that concept, and conflict, also was tied into the power of Twitter.

The ideal was put forth that Twitter, alone, made every voice count and every person could be heard. Again, I have to say, no, it isn’t just Twitter. I found that power online a long time ago. Comments allow that to happen on news sites. Forums let those discussions evolve. Blogs have made everyone who has something to say relevant. I KNOW that the internet has the power to change the world because I have seen it, I have felt it, I have been part of it. And yes, it is incredible, but it’s not just Twitter..it’s the WHOLE THING. Yes, I agree that sometimes the most powerful changes happen on a true one to one level as we allow ourselves to truly touch another human being and be connected and I am not putting down a tool like Twitter that obviously helps others do that in a new and easier way, but it’s the same wheel, it’s the same connection, it’s the same changes.

There was finally, on the second day, discussion on the actual act if branding and using Twitter for business and promotion.

Sometimes, there was still a small nagging feeling that the “right” way to Tweet was not as free as I feel it is. With so many different accounts to manage, and with so many different industries and client needs, I know that what works for one client and their market is different than what works for another. Some of the things that were seemingly  ”bad” at #140conf, I know work for certain markets and are desired Tweets by the people who choose to follow that brand! In the end I feel that the work we do in Social Media and on Twitter was validated by hearing what other folks do and I am full of new ideas.

I’m not complaining here, but processing my feelings, which are different than my thoughts.

There was some odd paradoxes and sometimes I did feel overlooked and frustrated, but the whole experience was great and defiantly time well spent. I do have to say though, for the price, I wish I had gotten a T-shirt included or one of those cute string bags. There were no goodies, though the food was great and I applaud that they didn’t kill trees with printed programs.

I have to make sense still of my notes so there will be way more to come; some great new facts and terms for sure! Plus new apps and tools and the very valuable real physical people connections. So stay tuned!

I guess the “Call for Characters” for London and Los Angeles was just announced.  I wonder if they would fly a professional, yet authentically ethical and very reveling Twanker out to one of those? I love LA and have never been across the pond, plus I have stuff to say and I do know how to Tweet with the best of them! I know that for sure!

After a recent project, I converted a spreadsheet I’d created into a web-based Social Media ROI Calculator, thinking it would be a good start, and that I might elicit some feedback. Feedback has poured in, both positive and negative.  Obviously, I failed to emphasize the notion that I was posting something that was not meant to be definitive, but as a starting point.  Out of this, though, a few thoughts come to mind.

One Size Does Not Fit All

I’m frequently asked if I think Social Media is a worthwhile endeavor for an organization. And I’m always discovering just how beneficial it is for some, while not for others. So, how we measure the Return on Investment is going to be different for each organization.  At the end of the day, the details of your ROI calculations are going to rest on what assumptions are acceptable by the stakeholders – thus, the calculations need to be based on the organization’s culture, and how the organization defines itself. (more…)

Video search engine optimization is like a kid going through puberty - weirdly awkward, unsure and growing like hell

 The first song MTV ever played was “Video killed the radio star.” Well, depending on who you talk to, video might just be ready to kill again.

Internet, online, or web video marketing…whatever you want to call it, it’s banging on the door. The thing is, it seems like no has figured out which key opens that door.

When it comes to viral online video marketing, YouTube is a radical game changer, but can it survive with what amounts to a choose-your-own-adventure business plan? Quality video cameras are so cheap to make now, even your crappiest of crappy cell phones shoot decent footage. But do people respond to more polished, produced video or lower-quality, grittier footage? Traditional organic SEO techniques prove quite effective when it comes to optimizing web pages through text-based meta-data and page content, but will search engine optimization for video actually work? Video SEO tips

In the PPC business you learn something new every day. Whether that new knowledge just rolled off the production floor or has been out there some time with you just finding out about it now, every tool and piece of data can ultimately help a client.

Something that has likely been around for awhile is the “Days to Purchase” report in the Ecommerce section of Google Analytics.  I first heard about this report the other day while listening to a webinar discussion lead by Analytics guru Avinash Kaushik and have become fascinated by its potential ever since. (more…)

I will admit that I haven’t finished actually reading “Groundswell” yet, but I do understand the ideals behind it. 

I will admit that reading things about the power the internet has given to people and to see that rising up as one makes me a wee bit teary eyed.

And sometimes, when you see it in action it is an incredibly moving force that can trully make changes.. and then ..sometimes.. you just got to scratch your head in wonderment, sit back and enjoy a big laugh. (more…)

You may be at risk.  Have you or someone you know experienced any of the following symptoms…

• Have you developed an uncontrollable curiosity in things like blogs, Twitter and YouTube?
• Do you dread the question, what is your company’s online strategy in the Web 2.0 era?
• Have you asked your child casually about Facebook, then listened intently to his response hoping he would tell you in detail all its inner-workings?

If so, you may have what authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff refer to as “groundswell approach-avoidance syndrome” …but fear not, there is hope for you!  The book Groundswell takes the approach that the key to prevailing in this situation is to first understand the groundswell and then use its power to your advantage.

The groundswell is a “social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of from traditional institutions like corporations.”

How has the groundswell become so powerful?

The groundswell comes from the collision of three forces - people, technology and economies, which are explained below:

1.      People have an innate desire to connect and to draw strength from each other

2.      New interactive technologies have made this easier, faster and cheaper.

3.      Online economies are driven by “Traffic equals Money”!

So when members of the groundswell decide to pull together for better or worse, they create an extremely strong movement because of the advanced collaboration tools now available.

What is the key to mastering the groundswell?

First, “Know your objective” and second, “Concentrate on relationships, not the technologies”.

Remember, the basis of the groundswell is person-to-person activity.  If your objective is to learn more about your consumers, a blog is an effective tool to be using.  If your goal is to stimulate conversation, consider posting a video.  If your objective is to energize your consumers, using technology such as ratings and reviews can help.  This also stimulates word-of-mouth marketing.

Word-of-mouth marketing is a force to be reckoned with.  Think of it this way.  What do you trust most? Recommendations from friends, Online reviews from strangers or Ads?  Oftentimes it’s a combination of all these that influence your decision, however when you can get your groundswell members talking to and supporting themselves, that’s when you’ve attained the Holy Grail!

So what’s the best way to help garner support?

The best way to encourage your customers to help each other, thereby thriving in the groundswell is, interestingly enough, by letting go of control.  The authors of groundswell offer the following suggestions:

• Listen to your customers and let them lead you
• Start with small steps
• Build in a reputation system
• Your most enthusiastic customers are out there already, so let’s find them!

“The moment you open your doors to your community, here’s what will happen…nothing.”

• Plan to drive traffic to your community/website through advertising or Search Engine Optimization.

Whether you have accepted it or not, the groundswell is upon us.  Knowing this, you have two options.  You can wait and see if this spells fortune or disaster for your company. Or, you can go out there and start listening to your customers, to other people in your company and to those creating the technology - that’s groundswell thinking.  You’ll have nothing to fear, because you’ll be prepared.

I have come to quickly realize that many clients WANT to have a social media presence, yet since they have no idea HOW to have one, they turn to us. Still they don’t understand often, so much of my time as Director of Social Media is explain what I know how to do and qualify why am I doing it!

Hence, the Social Media FAQ……

What is the value of what we are doing on FaceBook and Twitter?

The question of how to measure the value of social media is huge within the marketing community. Some experts say you cannot measure it and some say that you can.  Googling “roi social media” will give you a whole slew of conflicting opinions. Of course, the debates have even cause the creation of the Social Media ROI Calculator!

This is my favorite quote today:

Part of the problem with trying to determine ROI for social media is you are trying to put numeric quantities around human interactions and conversations, which are not quantifiable.

We can put numbers on some aspects, however:

Facebook just reached the 225 million user mark.

As of 5/09, Facebook’s user base is larger than the populations of all the world’s countries except China. While the 5 million new users a week increase has quieted down somewhat, they continue to offer increased services such as this week one can sign into Facebook with their Open ID credentials, so the numbers will continue to grow. What’s more, Facebook growing most quickly among women older than 55 and is seen as a “stepping stone” to the internet. Many people still have a certain wariness of the internet, but the peer pressure to join Facebook and the concept of the controlled privacy allows formally hesitant folks to be exposed to brands for the social media marketing for the first time. Facebook has become the prime comfort zone for millions of people. Having a presence on Facebook is bringing your website to your consumers as opposed to waiting for them to find you. They might never. I like to think of a building a page on Facebook as “bringing the Mountain to Mohammed”.

Twitter’s growth rate is even more staggering. 

The latest numbers (3/09) from Nielsen Online indicate that Twitter grew 1,382% year-over-year in February, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the US for the month. Not only is that huge growth in one year, but in one month as well, as in January, Twitter.com clocked in with 4.5 million unique visitors in the US, meaning the service grew by more than 50 percent month-over-month which has been said to be double the speed that Facebook grew when it was at the same age. Talk has been said that Twitter will somehow be the next search like Google.

The importance of social media has yet to be fully realized.

But, if you would like to wait around until you have a pure calcualted risk for your effort, you might just miss the whole thing.

“Ultimately, the key question to ask when measuring social media engagement is, ‘Are we getting what we want out of the conversation?’”

 And then, of course, we have to ask the client what it is that they really really want.  That’s another post!