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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Practical Social Media Knowledge

Victorinox - Swiss Army Knife originally uploaded by Delox - Martin Deak
Victorinox - Swiss Army Knife
Back on Bastille Day 2009, I got to share Practical Social Media Knowledge with a room full of savvy professionals.

Inevitably, during these type presentations I am challenged with tough questions about social media and its worth -- all questions I love as they allow me to tell my story and demonstrate the value that these new and digital tools have to offer. I get to literally bridge from traditional approaches to new ones, and create meaning based on attendees' practical observations and insightful questions. I also get to to learn from my audience. Can you tell that I love these sessions?

In this case, participants came specifically to learn more about social media and how to use digital social tools to rebrand themselves and research companies, brands and market segments of interest.

My goal was to demystify and simplify using a practical approach so that - even if no one in the room decided to take say the blogging plunge - everyone would feel comfortable exploring, experimenting and appreciating how the various tools can help in the marketplace.

At the onset of the session, we identified why participants had come:
+ to understand marketing aspects of social media, especially personal vs. business
+ to get new ideas and embrace the unknown
+ to find out how to use social media for networking
+ to expand knowledge
+ to stand out
+ to understand how to use social media in business
+ to figure out how it fits in with corporations
+ to determine whether social media is useful or not and here to stay or not?
+ to figure out how to promote services to a younger customer base
+ to connect with the marketplace

Based on the feedback forms, everyone seemed to have left the session with a sound overview of what social media can offer and a few action items. Needless to say, I was thrilled to pieces and rather surprised when the 1:30 hour session [which turned into 2 hours] was over.

In case you find yourself in a similar situation, I share with you the resources we discussed as well as links for further exploration. If you have any additional questions, or see something missing, please do let me know!

During the session, I referred to:

Google:
www.Google.com
www.Google.com/alerts
www.Google.com/insights
www.Google.com/trends
www.Google.com/reader

Blog Resources:
http://blogpulse.com/
http://alltop.com
http://technorati.com
http://bloglines.com

Twitter Resources:
http://twitter.com
http://search.twitter.com
Useful Twitter Searches:
Near:City within:25mi
@username
#eventname
www.twellow.com
www.twellow.com/twellowhood/
http://wefollow.com
http://bit.ly/ [to shorten URLs]
TweetDeck: download to desktop
http://www.meetup.com
http://twtvite.com
http://TweetBeep.com for Google like alerts
http://TwitPic.com - for pictures

My Twitter handle: @cbwhittemore

New Twitter Tip from @SocialMediaComm: Help others on Twitter. Start by answering questions. Do a Twitter search for: topic ? -filter:links

And, based on questions that attendees asked in the feedback form, here are additional resources:

More about Twitter and social media:
+ Blogs Are Now Mainstream Media
+ You Can No Longer Ignore Social Media
+ Practical Twitter Primer
+ Execunet Presentation: Social Media 101
+ SMUG, Social Media University Global
+ Twitter Power Tools For Health Activists [added 8/19/09]

Examples of how social media fits into the marketing mix:
+ Sandy Carter Integrates Social Media Into The Marketing Mix
+ Steven Berlin Johnson At MarketingProfs B2B Forum
+ DC Goodwill Fashion Blog: Simple Marketing In Action
+ Mayo Clinic's Lee Aase: Simple Marketing In Action

On setting up blogs:
+ Building A Blogger Toolbox
+ Blogger Must Haves: Backups And Tags

For advice on really good blog habits: A Mack Collier Blog Review

On how people have used social media to market themselves successfully, I suggest reading Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog. In the ‘about’ section, you’ll notice many resources listed. Although he approaches personal branding from the perspective of a millennial, Dan offers excellent and practical advice.

Many personal thanks to Marian for making this session possible, and many thanks to all of the session participants who made this such an interactive session. I had a blast!

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