blogbrevity’s posterous

Chris Lake from Econsultancy, Digital Marketers United, posted a blog on the Vodafone UK tweet that turned into a PR disaster.  You can read what happened here.  Following is my comment in response to Chris's post. If you are not aware of TweetFunnel, it is now evolving into MediaFunnel, and is a great solution for managing social including multiple tweeters and twitter accounts. 

The enterprise level requires systems of checks and balances.  The weight of an entire organization cannot fall on one person especially in regards to communications in a socially networked world.  Too many rely on "technically" savvy staff when a huge amount of reputation and influence is based on "content."  The collaborative opportunity afforded by social should extend internally to a team of people from multiple departments in a company with varying degrees of authority.  I am consulting for a hospital at the moment for whom we will be utilizing MediaFunnel.com, recently renamed from "TweetFunnel," for just this purpose.  Not only can you get input for content from a variety of sources encouraging internal engagement throughout an organization, and better, more relevant content, but before something is published, it must pass editorial review. At least two people's eyes on a tweet are necessary to avoid such a disaster.  In addition, I think individuals twittering on behalf of organizations should be identified, either in the bio, if it is one person, or with the caret and initial style, if more than one, i.e. see @Tweetfunnel. (I have no personal interest in TweetFunnel/MediaFunnel.  I just think it is a great product.)

I also agree an apology is best done once.  Recent example is the TechCruch intern who allegedly was involved in some impropriety.  An apology and explanation was posted on a blog and tweeted once, a very effective way to address a situation without becoming your own negative PR machine.  All subsequent media referenced the apology.

Best,
@blogbrevity

I first met the charming Andreas Wilkens, Co-Founder, and Nathalee Ghafouri of TweetFunnel at TWTRCON in San Francisco last May.  I wanted to engage TweetFunnel as soon as I had the right size client that would benefit from their solution.  Recently, a hospital client planned on launching Facebook before Twitter. I recommended TweetFunnel anyway to start gathering content from across the organization for Facebook status updates. Voila! It only makes sense that TweetFunnel is now evolving into MediaFunnel and will also include Facebook.  How this solution is different from Hootsuite and Co-Tweet warrants another post!

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Amber Naslund or @ambercadabra of Radian6 wrote an interesting post on her site, altitudebranding.com, entitled "Why Not to Do Business in Direct Messages."  You can read her post here.  The following is my reply and suggestion for the benefits of managing your Twitter account, DMs and more through a gmail account.

Thanks, Amber! Always enjoy your posts. This time I agree with Jen Grant and will also play devil’s advocate. You probably do get considerably more DMs than most! However, I find Twitter DMs tied to a gmail account along with blog comments, facebook notifications, etc. to be a very effective way to manage the process. This works extremely well as the gmail account is also tied to google alerts, RSS feeds and social media mentions. Individuals and small businesses cannot usually afford to pay for fee-based social media monitoring tools, although I am a huge proponent and fan!

By keeping social notifications segregated from “regular” email, social can be managed separately. Plus, if you have your Twitter DM notifications sent to your gmail, you can easily search your gmail by Twitter username and organize an archive of historical DMs. You can then delete your DMs on your Twitter account, which is then also more organized, and still have the email copy saved in gmail.

I agree that DMs are best used as nudges and pings, and a more detailed conversation is better continued through email. As a relationship develops, you can “promote” someone to your regular email. (However, I still use DMs for quick messages.)

I hope this provides a useful perspective, and thank you for another engaging post!

Best,

@blogbrevity

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Walk 10 minutes.  Jog slowly for 2.  Walk 5 minutes. Jog for 2.  Repeat until uncomfortable.  Walk 5 minutes to cool down . . . how I started.

A new pair of running shoes.  A new notebook. The first crocus. Some things that inspire me.

I am back running.  It has been a long time.  Recently, I was inspired by Marie Gier who ran her first marathon at 76-years-old!  Next month, at 82, Marie will run the15K Gate River Run here in Jacksonville.  If you need some inspiration to start running, read Marie's story.  It's never too late to start, or to start again.*

When you start a new exercise routine, you have to remind yourself to start off slowly.  It feels sooo good, you may be tempted to overdo. Do too much, too quickly, or set your standards too high, and you set yourself up for failure or injury.  Zen Habits has a great Beginner's Guide to Running.

Running is not just good for your body, it clears your mind and and is good for your spirit. I forgot how good. I feel alive, like a crocus in the snow.

@shellartistree and @mginagomez are my virtual running support group on Twitter.  Join us for blips and daily motivation; use #run182.5 to follow our tweets and to let us know you are running!  *Please consult your physician before starting any exercise program.

For more inspiration, you might enjoy:

No Resolutions! 6 Guiding Principles for 2010  

Making a List, Checking It Twice

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People increased their time with social technologies threefold in 2009 over 2008.

For the first time, all social software leaders from Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Ning were in one room at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss how social is changing society.

Loic le Meur of Seesmic facilitated the session that looked at three questions:

1. How are social networks changing society?
2. What are the most important risks for society?
3. What should we all do, individuals and institutions, to leverage the power of social networks in the future?

If you don't want to view the entire video, you can read key points from the World Economic Forum's Session Summary on the Growing Influence of Social Networks.

Leaders of the discussions included:
Gina Bianchini, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Ning, USA
George F. Colony, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Forrester Research, USA
Reid Hoffman, Executive Chairman and Founder, LinkedIn Corporation, USA
Amr Khaled, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Right Start Foundation, United Kingdom
Mousa Musa, Global Changemaker, British Council Global Changemakers, Iraq
Owen Van Natta, Chief Executive Officer, MySpace.com, USA
Don Tapscott, Chairman, nGenera, Canada; Global Agenda Council on the Future of Government
Evan Williams, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Twitter, USA; Technology Pioneer

Seesmic Look displayed live reactions on Twitter with the hashtag: #davossocial. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 can be viewed on Livestream and runs through January 31st.

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Bill Gates joined Twitter yesterday, and streams were filled with well wishes from all over the world.  When I followed @BillGates, about 3,000 were following him, 8 minutes later that number had doubled.  Just like when @Oprah joined, the numbers are increasing exponentially.

However, I hope Mr. Gates will engage with some regular folks, remember my post on @Oprah?  He responded to @aplusk as a thank you to all who are sending him warm wishes and welcoming him to twitter, but it will be responses to people like "@Kovshenin" that will determine if people will engage with him for his foundation.  Wishing Mr. Gates the best on Twitter and in the work he does to make the world a more connected place!

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<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/8174685" ><p>

An innovative approach to developing content:  Start by asking your customers to describe what you do!  Maria Umbach calls it "The Reverse Elevator Speech."  It is what customers say about you when you step off the elevator.

Video from Maddock Douglas, an innovation agency in Chicago, Illinois.

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My friend, Heidi Cool, @hacool, and I enjoy exchanging social media marketing tips and ideas.  As you all know I am a big fan of Posterous and have been the catalyst encouraging many individual and collective Posterous sites.  So, I was very excited today that Heidi finally took the plunge and launched a couple of posterous sites including:  http://dearnewfollower.posterous.com.  Now, Heidi is an expert in many areas, but what I like about sharing with Heidi is we both admit what we don't know to help each other get more savvy in the social media world. Social media is a constantly changing landscape.

There are many simple things you might have missed, and that is the point of my blog as well. So, this post contains a simple little tip on adding twitter buttons. I plan to do an interview with Heidi when I am in Cleveland at the end of the month and give you some more of her tips from "Dear New Follower," her new e-book for Twitter followers!

To add a cool "Follow Me on Twitter" button to your Posterous site, click on http://bit.ly/twitbutt (lol, I created this custom bit.ly!) and copy-paste the code on your profile page and save.  That's it!  Voila!

See the side bar on my http://blogbrevity.posterous.com home page to see my ""Follow Me on Twitter" button, and if you are not yet following me, please do! Thank you.

P.S. You need to be signed into twitter to access:  http://bit.ly/twitbutt.

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20. tangible personalization

19. unservice

18. peacocking

17. rental culture

16. half formal

15. prodependency

14. nor-so-tricky-picky

13. DIY healthcare

12. nostalgia marketing

11. crowdsourced campaigns

10. exposed vulnerability

9.  emotionology

8.  simpletising (visual clarity) My favorite!

7.  ecopolitan

6.  greenpliances

5.  nomadabodes

4.  pop-uptailing

3.  life-swapping

2.  DIY decor

1.  next besting

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