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How to Build Offline Relationships with Bloggers

March 1, 2010 - Posted by Shama

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I recently had the pleasure of being invited to a dinner party hosted by Bing – yes, the search engine. Bing invited 13 Dallas bloggers to a great Dallas restaurant to demonstrate their search engine. I’ve attended a few events where companies strive to connect with bloggers. Tres Generaciones did a good job, and so did Bing. In fact, we (at the Marketing Zen group) have also hosted events on behalf of clients who want to connect with key local influencers. I find that all these events have five key elements.

1) FOOD. Is there anything more universally pleasing? Food is a great incentive to attract people. Good food gets people talking. And really good food makes them want to stay. What can I say? If you want bloggers to take time out of their busy schedule and attend your event, be sure to have food. (I hate eating in the car.)

2) Enable Networking. I loved the fact that Bing demonstrated their search engine but allowed us plenty of time to connect with each other. I finally met Cali Lewis (great gal – and we both live in the same neighborhood!), re-connected with Zane Aveton, and met some great folks from Microsoft.

3) Have your KEY players present. If you host an event, be sure that it isn’t just your PR folks handling the bloggers. It is important that someone from the company be there as well. Bing’s PR firm was represented at the event, but I also got to meet Duane from their SEO team and their online community manager. It was nice to hear the good things about Microsoft. For example, I never knew that Microsoft had a division devoted to helping people in a crisis. I learned about how they are helping with Haiti. It was truly a nice moment.

4) Follow-Up. You can have a great event, but if you expect bloggers to blog about it, follow-up. Not in a pushy way, but in a helpful way. The day after the event, I got a very nice email from Eric Berto asking for my feedback on the event. He did NOT ask me to write about it.

5) Partner Up! Bing teamed up with Central 214 to host the event. It was a great move. I experienced a new restaurant and was able to see how Bing’s visual search works. If you decide to host an offline event, partner with a complementing business to do so. You both will benefit!

Articles About Using Social Media as a Marketing Tool

February 23, 2010 - Posted by Shama

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The wonderful thing about a blog is that you can compile all your thoughts in one place. The downside is that key articles sometimes get buried after a while. I decided to do a round-up of our most read articles on social media. So, here are the most popular articles I’ve written about using social media as a marketing tool:

10 Reasons NOT to do Social Media Marketing – For all the wonderful reasons there are to do social media marketing, there are also reasons not to partake. This post lists the top 10 reasons to not participate just yet.

So, you want to be a Social Media Marketing expert? – Let’s face it, it is a hot industry. While some may scoff at the many newcomers to the field, I wanted to point out that for those genuinely interested, there are resources out there.

3 Reasons you shouldn’t use Social Media Marketing - Partaking in social media marketing without a strategy or plan in place can cause more harm than good.

10 Steps to creating a Social Media Policy for your Company – If your company is partaking in social media marketing, you should have a policy that provides some guidelines on usage.

Using Social Media Outlets for Marketing - How social media can be utilized for different purposes.

101 Ways to Rock and Be Rocked by Twitter - One of our most popular articles on Twitter. It provides 101 ideas on how to use Twitter.

How to Navigate the Facebook Design - Facebook just changed their design. Where did that go? Find out. = )

Top 7 Facebook Hacks for Business – Fun applications that help you leverage Facebook for business.

Top 10 Ways to Use Facebook for Business - The most popular article ever on Facebook marketing. This one may have more comments than any other on the blog!

10 Things to do after a Networking Event – This combines social media and offline marketing. How can you use social media tools to stay in touch with people after an offline event? Read and find out. = )

What Parents Must Know about Kids and Social Media

February 22, 2010 - Posted by Shama

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I usually speak on social media as it relates to marketing, but I often run into parents who ask me how they should handle social media as it relates to their kids. So, I wanted to share a few tips. Now, I am not a parenting expert. I don’t have kids yet (unless you count Snoopy the dog). But, I do know a fair amount about social media. And, high school isn’t (yet) a distant memory. Here is what I think parents MUST know about social media.

1) Admission Counselors are Looking. Heck – camp counselors are looking! I know employers are looking – I speak to them on a regular basis. You have to explain to your kids that their status updates are not for their friends’ eyes only. You have to teach them that a diary is personal. The internet is not. Kids these days (for the most part) are smart. They know perception matters. They just don’t know WHO is accessing their profile. And, don’t let them comfort you with a “it’s private mom!” Privacy settings on social networking sites are notorious for glitches. And, remember the six degrees to Kevin Bacon joke? It still applies. More so now than ever before. The list of “mutual friends” who can access your child’s information is a mile long.

2) Blocking is Not Going to Help. I’ve seen a few parents (and employers) go this route. Just block it! Can you? Sure. Do I think it will help? No. Computer access is everywhere. You can only block so much, and the forbidden is a lot more tempting. It is much better to set boundaries and regulations. Then, monitor usage.

3) Talk about the Tweeting Birds and the Bees. Sort of. Remember how you had to have that discussion with your kids? You have to have this one too. What’s appropriate on social media sites and what isn’t? How can they still be “cool” and use their Facebook profile proactively? What’s Twitter REALLY good for?

4) Teach your Kids about Personal Branding. Personal Branding is not taught in schools. It should be taught, but it isn’t. You have to teach your kids that. How many jobs will your child hold in his or her lifetime? Just look at how many you’ve held. You had to learn about managing your reputation online. Your kids have to learn to build their reputation – offline and online. Teach them that. The most powerful skill you can teach them is authentic personal branding.

5) It is not Bad Etiquette to Manage your Profile. It goes like this – “My friends tagged me in the note. And, I don’t like it, but I don’t want to offend them by untagging myself.” Peer pressure just went to a whole new level. It is not bad etiquette to un-tag yourself from notes, pictures, or essentially anything that you don’t agree with. It isn’t bad to request someone to completely remove your pictures if you don’t want them there. As adults, we can feel uncomfortable doing this. For kids, its even harder because they risk looking “uncool” with their friends. But, you can empower them to take full responsibility and act proactively.

Image Credit -http://geekandpoke.typepad.com/geekandpoke/2008/04/20-savvy-kids-1.html