Social Media + Business = ROI

I think it is safe to say that businesses can benefit from Social Media Marketing.  Our company already does SMM for some of our clients and they are seeing good results.  I have, however, heard the argument that retail stores and companies with products benefit more from a social media presence rather than the B2B companies that offer services.  What are your thoughts?  Does your company use SMM to reach your clients/customers?  If so, what do you do?  We encourage our clients to have a Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn account, and sometimes a YouTube channel.  These are the ‘big dogs’ of social networking and seem to be the best outlet for companies to reach new leads and potential clients.

Lack of Posting

I haven’t written a blog post in over a month!

And here is a quick photo explanation of why…

Inbox overload

Too many notes and 'to do' lists

Social Media Sum-Up

Social Media Sum-Up

I didn’t realize it had been well over a week since my last post, but moving our office location put me behind. So, this post will be a summary of what’s been happening this week in the social media world. 🙂

Facebook

As if Facebook didn’t already have millions ‘like’-ing this and that, the company recently added the ability to ‘Like’ users’ comments. That’s right. Now when your friends leave a witty comment on another friend’s status update, you can let the world know you like their comment enough to ‘Like’ it on Facebook.

Twitter Places

Twitter launched their new ‘places’ feature last week.

After months of rumors and hinting, Twitter has unveiled its major new foray into the world of geolocation, Twitter Places…

…Twitter Places can be explored and will reveal a list of recent, public tweets from that location. Twitter will also show you nearby locations and points of interest, including restaurants and shops.

Twitter Places will be integrated with Foursquare and Gowalla as well.

For more info on Twitter Places, read Jolie O’Dell’s post on Mashable.

Google Voice – “in short, less annoyances and more awesomeness.”

Google Voice is now available to everyone in the U.S., which means you don’t have to wait around any longer for your invitation to arrive. I’ve been using Google Voice for a couple of months now and have really enjoyed it. What I like most is the fact that I can miss a call and immediately receive a text and email of the missed caller’s voicemail transcribed a la the Google Voice robots. Sure, some of the transcriptions come out a little botchy, but they usually make me laugh.

There’s a great video about Google Voice, as well as more details on this great tool, that you can check out over on Mashable in Christina Warren’s post.

Public Libraries using Social Media

Public Libraries using Social Media

Four libraries in our county will be closing by the end of this month due to pending budget cuts.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is moving forward with preparations for the closing of four libraries due to the pending 45.5 percent budget cut proposed by Mecklenburg County.

Charlotte will still have plenty of branches open, however, this is still a terrible thing for any county. I never thought I would hear about libraries closing. Why I can remember going to our local library every summer to get books and take part in the summer reading challenge. Once summer I even read 100 books and got a special library card, which celebrated 100 years of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

In a News Release that went out last week, the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) discussed the closings and what they have been working on to save other libraries. Advocates can check out the PLCMC’s CALL TO ACTION page for ways to get involved.

One area that the PLCMC has been reaching many advocates and citizens concerned about the future of our libraries is through social media. That’s right, even the public libraries are using social media today! The aforementioned News Release ends with the following:

For more information about the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, visit our website at http://www.cmlibrary.org. Also look for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

If you visit the PLCMC’s Facebook page, you’ll find almost 4,000 fans and a message to “KEEP LIBRARY FUNDING INTACT!” While 4,000 fans is excellent, Charlotteans better spread the word to the other 683,000+ people in our city who have yet to ‘like’ the PLCMC.

Keep up the great work though, PLCMC! And keep using your social media channels to reach more people who like to read!

Stuff I Like

Stuff I Like

I love reading tips from bloggers who have ‘made it’ in the blogosphere. You know, the ‘big guys’ like Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki and my favorite social media blogger, Pete Cashmore.  These guys (and many others) know what they’re doing and their blogs are read by millions every day.

While working on a couple of blogs for work this morning, I came across several posts from Chris Brogan that were very useful. The first post offers suggestions and helpful hints on how to blog almost every day. Brogan offers tips like:

Find 20-40 minutes in every day to sit still and type.

Get the post up fast, not perfect. You can edit if you have to, later.

Mix things up by sometimes blogging on paper first.

As the sole person responsible for my company’s in-house marketing, I am in charge of posting on several blogs and have been working on a better schedule for my daily blogging efforts. Brogan’s thoughts on this, as well as his blogging secrets are great for people like myself who sometimes hit blogger’s block.

I also like peacocks, but that story is for another day…

The Congo in Color (via Exodus)

These photos are amazing! Thank you for sharing this with the WordPress world, Alexis!

Richard Mosse, an Irish photographer, was interviewed by The New Yorker recently on his strange yet beautiful photo project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While in the Eastern provinces, Mosse used an obscure film called Aerocrome to cast the country in a dazzling red-hued array of colors. The photo technique puts the militarized region in an unexpected light. The result is a softer, almost fantastical touch to a place that has been cha … Read More

via Exodus

Photo Uploads Coming To Foursquare

SFGate.com Business Insider writer Nicholas Carlson, reports that photo uploads are coming to Foursquare.

I love posting pics on Facebook, but I’m not sure if I would be as apt to put photos on Foursquare. If I could share pics through something like TwitPic, however, I may enjoy doing that and see how it could integrate with Foursquare easily.

[Foursquare CEO] Dennis [Crowley] didn’t tell us when to expect the new feature.

It might be a while. We get the feeling there’s white board somewhere at Foursquare HQ with a list about four feet long of features Dennis’s team is planning to build.

If we were designing a photo tool for Foursquare, we would build it to integrate with Facebook’s photos application. It would be fantastic for Foursquare’s growth if users were able to upload geo-tagged photo-albums to Facebook through the Foursquare app.

Read more on SFGate.com here.

Facebook CEO: “We’ve Made a Bunch of Mistakes”

Facebook CEO: “We’ve Made a Bunch of Mistakes”

What? Zuckerberg is admitting they made a mistake concerning Facebook’s repeated privacy changes? No way!

In his first comment since the privacy controversy of recent weeks, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that the company “made a bunch of mistakes” and wants to “get this stuff right this time”…Today’s concession isn’t a public apology; rather, Zuckerberg replied to a private e-mail from tech enthusiast Robert Scoble, who then requested permission to reprint Zuckerberg’s response on his blog.

Zuckerberg’s reply has some merit to it: Facebook wants to respond to the dust-up with a product fix. Rather than simply telling users what he intends to change, he’d rather go ahead and make that change.

Check out Pete Chasmore‘s post on Mashable for Zuckerberg’s full reply.

Posted using ShareThis

Foursquare Gets Mainstream Exposure on “The Today Show”

Foursquare has scored itself another partnership, this time with NBC’s The Today Show. Foursquare users who head to 30 Rock this summer for the Toyota Concert Series on Today will be able to check in, earn badges and compete for mayorships. The Today Show has its own branded Foursquare partner page that you can also visit to get music tips and other assorted information.

Check out the show clip and Christina Warren‘s full post on Mashable.

Social Media STATS

Erik Qualman‘s update of his excellent “Social Media Revolution” video includes some great stats, especially for business-owners debating on whether or not they need to get involved with social media.

For example…

34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands.

Do you like what they are saying about your brand? You better.

People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them.

78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust advertisements.

Check out the updated “Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh)”:

We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.
~@equalman