What?!?

I understand what is said in the article (Un)Social Networking, but I cannot agree with it entirely. The article covers that people are basically losing interest in real conversation face-to-face and would rather turn to social network sites like Twitter and Facebook. Conversations are considered more shallow within the social streams.

As a person that writes for TwitterWatchdog.com, I have connected with quite a number of people. Some, I talk to via email, or they visit my site.

Some of the comments that I receive as well as the ones I give at other sites would be enough to write a blog entry alone. Some of my social networking conversations, especially on Facebook are lengthy and can go on for days.

So, here is what I am coming to as the point.

NO – Social networking does NOT break down real communication.

If you are finding yourself unsatisfied with shallow conversations in your social networking circle, then you have failed to know how it works, especially if you are also trying to attract visitors to your website to hopefully continue a conversation on your blog.

You need to find better conversationalists. You can also look up Tweetups in an area near you at TwtVite and meet these people that you have been talking to online.

I actually had a conversation with a guy at my local library while he was using Twitter. He expressed the same concern as Ian’s post that I linked to above. When I explained how he could enrich his social networking experience, his doubts were gone. He now actively meets some of tweeps from the area and hang out.

So, if you are looking to connect or influence others, you need to step out of the box and find people who might be interested in speaking more than a 140 characters.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think social networking encourages less real conversations in person?

Hesham asks on his site “is blogs like plants and cars?!”

I felt that my response could be better stated in an article rather than a long comment. I tend to get winded in my comments.

Blogs can be very similar to plants. Your design is the soil- the foundation to prepare for your plant. The seed is the content itself that needs nuturing. You can nuture your site by bring in people to read and comment. Each comment quenches the seed’s needs in order to grow.

As more seeds are planted, the blog becomes like a garden of various flowers.

Is that a cheesy analogy? For me… no.

It is important that you find out how to make your blog grow. Some methods work better than others, and some work hand-in-hand. Some great places to find people who are interested:

• Social networking sites
• forums
• relevant blogs in your niche

In return, you can help nuture other sites too by leaving comments. It only takes a minute to do and can prove to be valuable to the website owner. Do not be afraid to ask how you can improve your own site and what you should do to promote it?

How do you nuture your blog?

I was talking to a local business owner about social networking and websites. In fact it was my son’s karate instructor who has been in business for many years and has a very good reputation in his field. He has trained with the best too! His name is Lyle Huff and he manages the 5 Rings Mixed Martial Arts dojo in Centralia, Illinois.

We got to talking about businesses who believe that just having a social network handle alone would not cut it. He said and I paraphrase “Whoever thinks that is crazy.”

I laughed because even though it was funny… it was TRUE!

I love to meet new people, especially business owners and this was a true joy to hear from someone who has been doing business for a while, passionate about what they do, and have made an honest reputation.

It is hard and takes work to build a dojo, especially in small towns. In fact, any business can be difficult. However, bringing it online gives a face to the business and the surrounding community. However, having just a Facebook account alone or even a Twitter account will not cut it! A blog is also a tool. You should have a website. You should also connect at forums and communities relevant to your field.

Only using a social network is like “cutting off your nose despite your face.” You have the opportunity to tell people about your business, why not find out how? There are so many people online, including myself that give free advice on how to do this.

Is social media that intimidating to some? It is just another form of marketing.

You do not have to have loads of money to do these things. However, you do need to invest your time and some money. A well rounded presence online will increase your chances of being heard and possibly be the person that others will want to know, even do business with.

Have you heard people talk about it this? Or have you talked to anyone who has a business and has not made that next step?

[This is a guest post by Gagandeep Singh. Gagandeep Singh is a freelance writer and mainly writes on social media, making money online, affiliate marketing, web 2.0 and conversion rate optimization. Feel free to contact him on twitter at gagan4687 ]

More than 70% of online buyers visit social media websites before buying anything and around 50% of them take the decision on the basis of the information they get from these websites.* As the impact of social media on consumer behavior is growing at rapid rate it is very important for every business owner to have a presence on these social media websites.

What follows next are the seven tips which will help you in building your presence on social media from scratch.

Defining Objectives- Before working on your social media presence it is very important to figure out what you’re trying to accomplish from it. Are you joining these websites for taking feedback from your customers or for reputation management of your brand or just to increase your brand awareness or to increase your sales? Having clear goals at the beginning will help you to track the effectiveness of your social media campaigns.

Be everywhere– Whenever we talk about social media only few popular websites like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin comes to the mind. But there are hundreds of websites out there which means that there are hundreds of ways which your customer can use to find you. Try to get listed on as many websites as possible. Use same profile name on all social media websites so that it becomes easy for your users to find you. Connect all of your social media accounts to each other, so that updates in one website appear on your other profiles too and each profile shows the latest information about your company.

Listen first – It is always good to listen to your target audience for few weeks in beginning before participating in conversations with them. Set up alerts for conversation relevant to your industry. You will definitely learn something about your industry from each conversation you listen.

Contribute regularly – Try to be consistent on social media websites. Keep your Twitter and Facebook profile updated with current information. Contribute interesting and useful information to community regularly. The more consistent you will be on social media website, more influence you will have in the community and more quickly you will be building relationships with your target audience.

Be patient- Don’t expect overnight results. It takes time to get noticed on social media platforms depending on the amount of efforts you are putting into it. Don’t get discouraged with failures and learn to deal with negativity. Remember that you are using social media to build relationships and credibility for your brand and it takes lot of time, dedication and hard work to build them.

Launch Contests – Organizing exclusive contests or offering discount coupons is a great way to connect with your target audience. Organizing such contest not only help you to create a buzz amongst your community but also provides you with a great opportunity to interact with your customers and to earn some credibility.

Track results – According to survey by Mzinga and Babson 84% of companies don’t measure results of their social media campaigns which mean that they are making their strategy on the basis of mere predictions. So don’t do the same mistake. It is very important to find out which social media sources are sending you most of the traffic and why? Why you are getting poor results from few? Each social media platform has its own ecosystem and rules. Monitor results and continue your campaign with the top performers.

Creating a presence on social media websites is not difficult but it demands lot of time, effort and patience from you. I hope that these seven tips will help you whenever you jump to social media bandwagon.
* – Related Resource: Marketing Vox, Nearly 70% of Online Adults Use Social Media, Often Research Products

Don Power askes a great question: Going Local – How do You Use Social Media to Boost Local Business?

Teaching social media can be a tough when it comes to teaching small town local businesses. I know because I live in such an area. A lot of these business owners want immediate results and even though the prospect of having a presence online might light a bulb, it can be downright scary.

(And not to be boastful or make anyone feel bad that does live in smaller towns, I rarely find a person that is as savvy or resourceful online unless I go to larger cities. I remember going to Chicago and the gals at the conference would ask me if I planned to move to a larger place because they were interested in what I had to offer. However, down in Centralia, Illinois, if I do not speak in layman’s terms, then I pretty much have lost them.)

When speaking to these business owners, they are passionate and want to succeed. They are not big businesses, so they may even be family owned and operated. Always remember that. These are people you will encounter locallly on occasion at the store or library. It is important you are honest with them too.

When approaching, be friendly and simply ask them if they ever thought about being online. You might find out a few do have online presences, but they will honestly say they have not done much with it and really do not know how to apply it in order to attract people.

Be brief with them and tell them a little tidbit of information on how you can help them. Then, leave your card, and you might find them calling or emailing you. You have to be brief because they are obviously working and you speaking to them in front of customers might not be a great idea. Or, you might not get a call right away until they have a social network handle or website and have no idea what to do.

Make sure they know that having an online presence not just gets attention their business but the community too! There are new places popping up online everyday and even small towns have a virtual face.

It takes a lot of work. I cannot say that enough. In a way, social media consultants can sometimes be like cheerleaders because they try to encourage business owners that they can make more success with an online presence.

With local businesses, you never know. Some events might be local and because people are jumping on more these days to search what is available at their destination, an online presence just might make that business the place they go to first.

How have you approached local business owners about social media marketing?

I was reading an article called The Clock’s Ticking: 10 Steps to Social Media Business Integration by Andrea V Lewis and though I recommend reading it, it is probably nothing new that has already been said here at Blondish.net or from top dogs in the social media industry. However, it is good to read articles online from others who are on the right path in social media.

I have worked with a lot of clients who want instant results. I have even seen this happening in the freelance sites where people ask others to seek out and invite thousands of followers to their social network handles for a very minimal amount. For one, a lot of these sites have made auto-following APIs null and void. Another is that it takes a lot of time, so expecting 1000s of followers on several social networks within one month for $250 is just insane and very unreasonable. ALSO, it is the WRONG way to go about building a sturdy following. The steps between are missing.

You can invite and people will probably join because they do not care, but for those who do, you really have to work to become reputable enough for them to trust and in the end purchase whatever you might be selling. While you could have a blog for your business, and you could share those posts for your followers to see, you also need to step in and engage in a conversation with your followers. Try to provoke them into giving feedback about scenarios including your product or involve them in contests. Offering coupons or discounts might be nice, but it does not always work.

Going back to the freelance positions available out there, the person hired is to get followers, not to engage them. That is for the business to either hire them full time to engage for a decent rate, or step in to do it.

There are social media consultants that charge thousands of dollars to step in and offer hands on training, but even they will tell you, it takes investing time and effort to reap awards.

Have you worked with people who expect immediate results? Have you tried to explain or refer them on how to go about the right way to conduct a social media marketing plan?

——
Note: Here is another good article to read called Just stop faking it already! by Walk Talk Chew Gum that I have found carries on a good chunk of thoughts I agree on related to this article.

McDonalds (and by the way, someone tell McDonalds, that users get a 500 Internal Server Error for visiting McDonalds.com, but can see the site perfectly fine at www.mcdonalds.com – as of February 1, 2010) was founded in 1948(see McDonald’s History.) Since then, McDonalds has expanded from one restaurant to a franchise that is around the world. Literally McDonalds is one of the most recognizable brands. Even children know McDonalds by just seeing the golden arches for their signs. How to I know. My own son right before he was 2 years old, he knew exactly where I was going and would get really excited about it.

How did they do this? Well, it certainly was not a one man army through the years who worked on marketing McDonalds. Word of mouth, television advertising, radio advertising, gimics, and more. McDonalds pulled out all the tricks. Today, they can be seen on banner advertisements across the Internet. And of course, they have their own fun-filled and fact-filled website.

McDonald’s has pulled marketing of new products out into the Internet world, and even attracting more people to buy their meals during their October Monopoly month and play Monopoly online. Some other marketing plans to drive in more customers were Beanie Babies, Collector Cups from various popular movies like Star Trek, Barbie, Free Wifi at restaurants, and much more. The have even given back to the community through the Ronald McDonald House and much more.

They have different social network handles, and have even a McDonalds team of tweeps for their Twitter handle.

Of course, in these times compared to their early days, McDonalds has the money and then some to work out any marketing strategy. However, what can the regular person do?

Well, here is what:

1. Establish and brand yourself in a clear way that people will recognize and remember.
2. Be open-minded and willing to invest in new things to expand your business. (Be hungry for new information.)
3. Have courage to employ new marketing tactics that will boost your company’s reputation.
4. Be open and honest.
5. Be active and encourage conversation with your clients and colleagues. Do not be afraid to ask them for advice or suggestions on how to improve.

What other things can we learn from McDonald’s growth and their harnessing of social media in being a successful business and brand?

Oh goodness… please let this not be true. If Yahoo! can kill great sites efficiently without a reason, AOL can do it just as well. I was reading an article on Inventorspot called Is “Mashable” Cashable? and I was angry – like angry I wanted to beat someone.

I do not care if Pete Cashmore is the “Brad Pitt of the Blogosphere”… selling Mashable to AOL is just insane. And yes, I am that passionate about saying that it is insane.

Pete, please keep Mashable longer until you can find someone that will not drive the site into the ground. When Mashable goes from its own writers and is bought by a bigger company like AOL, here are things that will eventually happen:

1. They try to open up writing positions to their own staff, who may have limited knowledge or interested in what the current writers of Mashable have done.
2. AOL buys Mashable and the current writers of Mashable slowly lose interest because AOL, a big company will take them for granted, and not even offer compensation. AOL has stocks, and Mashable could actually boost it.
3. AOL might enforce their own requirements on contributions.
4. AOL removed current Mashable writers, replaced them with their own employees, and then the site slowly dies out.
5. AOL gets an idea to combine Mashable with another site and it fails, and the site slowly dies out.
6. AOL fires everyone because their stocks drop, and well – their product SUCKS! (I was an AOL user YEARS ago, and it was just the worst choice in an ISP.)

The only way Mashable could survive from going from a startup that has become successful to being a successful section of a larger company is that AOL actually decides to pay any Mashable writers. The site is solely driven by people who volunteer there time. I am sure there are people getting paid.

AND… why is this even be consider, especially when even Mashable published AOL: We Need To Fire 2,500 Employees. Any Volunteers?

Does that make any sense?