Google+. One network to rule them all?
I used to think that what Facebook was doing ‘wrong’ was not giving people more control over their audiences, what they share with whom.
Is Twitter random?
I agree with most of Mitch Joel’s points on Twitter, but for the reason that Twitter is [not] random. People use Twitter for:
- Easy IM chatting tool with friends, share Tumblr posts.
- Lifestream to anyone or no one listening, except us slimy marketers of course.
- Business pros like to connect with other like-minded professionals, quickly and simply.
- Marketers want to pimp their wares and spammers want to give me free iPads and cheap Viagra.
I have a personal Twitter account that is interest-specific. Some nice friendships have developed as my friends and I chat, get to know each other. My 3HatsComm about is about networking with peers and potential clients. Nothing random about them.
Facebook is the reunion
Tisha Berg wrote something to that effect in a comment. Once the initial rush of connecting with old school chums, far flung family members, the fervor dies down. Fun to play your BFFs in some games, but after a while it’s about you: where you’ve been, posting what your kids are doing. Look at me.
When you open up Facebook to ‘Friend’ anyone – unless you put them in a List via the labyrinth of privacy settings – you run this risk of your boss seeing that nekid keg stand picture your idiot roommate from sophomore year decided to upload and tag. Beyond the embarrassing and career damaging, there’s the irrelevant… too many updates that have nothing to do with what interests me right now.
Google+ tries to Circle the ‘problem’
In creating its network Google counters the Facebook List with a Circle. The concept – other than to attract folks to its cloud and gather data to perfect search, sell ads - I think is to give me control so I can:
- Write any old thing I want to share with anyone.
- Post the ‘hey look at my EPIC World Changing blog’ link for everyone to ignore at their leisure.
- Maybe chat up with friends about my favorite TV shows with only those people on that page or hangout having access, other personal and professional connections being none the wiser that that’s really how I spend my time.
Emoticon for accessory. Or not: - Share the ‘cruising vacation wackiness photos’ with the few friends I trust enough not to rebroadcast or tag it, with privacy settings that mean it’s not findable anywhere else. - HA! Believe that, I have THE real estate deal for you; there’s a big SHARE link under everything.
Different is good
I do this already, separate work (LinkedIn, Twitter) from play (Facebook, other Twitter).
Google+ is very nice, but I’m not using it differently. Yet. First thing I did was create a Twitter-Business-Blogging friends circle. When it’s more open to the general public (see also, everyone else I know – none of whom give a rat’s ass about being ‘social’) I’ll still have different circles.
What’s still missing?
If it’s not the networks that are broken, then it’s the way I use them? Or rather the way I think of using them. TEHO. We’ll always use these our own ways, so what I may want to filter may not matter in any way to others. I’ve already liked how I’ve used G+ for some discussion, how it’s not being programmed or gamed – yet; just curious about control, what will be searchable and shareable to others, not to mention what happens when the API opens up as it evolves.
Are you using social networks differently? Do we need ONE network to rule them all?
Of Facebook, Freebies and Fan’s Choice
I’ve liked movies and bands, TV shows and websites as part of establishing my Facebook ‘profile’ – a means of letting friends see some of my current interests, the stuff I like, places I’ve been. I don’t however spend a lot of time (read: ANY) on brand fan pages, but do see their activity in the scroll.
Two updates caught my eye, both from brands I’ve “Liked,” both offering ‘deals’ that came dangerously close to separating the money from my wallet.
The Fan’s Choice
- Clinique has an online only special that is very tempting, which adds a twist to their in-store “free gift with purchase” special: I decide. I get to go through and select a series of options, customize it to be exactly what I want. Wicked tempting.
- Despair has been letting the fans decide new Demotivators for a while and just when I thought my latest choice won out, they wrinkled that twist with a new one: put your money where you vote is. See the top vote getters in the latest poll were thisclose so they’ve decided to let us cast a final vote with our product orders, then get our ‘vote’ as a free gift with that purchase. Sneaky little shits.
Give to Get
Discussion of freemium business models, play to pay, loss leaders and other marketing ploys, I think SMBs sometimes forget the most simple of option: listen to the customer. Give them the choice, let them decide what is of value, what’s a gift or have them participate by selecting the promo or latest product they want to buy.
One of my favorite wine shops has free tastings during the week, often sponsored by the wine distributors. By giving out free samples not only does the shop owner make money as most people like something and therefore buy, she gets valuable market research data: a more accurate profile of her customers’ preferences so she knows what to keep in inventory. Smart.
Pay to Play
I’m still not sold on Facebook as a ‘must’ for all brands, think giving away services for free sets a bad precedent and yet the “Free with PURCHASE” is something different. I’m buying something I like and feeling I’m getting a ‘deal’ because of that gift, I’m assigning greater value to it based on that perception.
Thoughts? Anything you’ve bought because of the ‘freebie’ that came with it? Some way you can add that to your marketing mix?
The Random Me blog post
Reading Michael Hyatt’s take on writing, the discipline to just sit down and do it, I thought: I must blog. Today!
About what I had no idea, but then it hit me. Last week I let folks put a voice to my Twitter picture via a video. Except that video was all about my business so in a way, it was less personal and less social.
The Random Me 
Work: I am a bad businesswoman, or at least there are times it feels that way. It’s the admin (accounting, billing, etc.) stuff I don’t like to do, as it takes away from the real marketing and PR work: writing, reading, pitching, designing.
Life: I don’t like putting away the laundry. Wash, dry, hang in the closet is fine, but fold and put in drawers seems to be an issue. And the fitted sheet gets rolled into a ball.
Mixology: I say “no” to mixing the personal and professional too much. Keeping Facebook for personal play and LinkedIn for professional networking helps me strike that balance. Twitter is where they sometimes collide.
Technology: I am a MAC user, but don’t consider myself a fangirl or geek, though family and friends do. When AT&T says I’m upgrade eligible, I’ll jettison my dumbphone for an iPhone.
Play: I don’t live to work, I work to live and play.
Entertainment: TV > Movies. Not sure why but each year, fewer movies seem worthy of $10 and a trip to the theater. Maybe it’s because I have overpriced cable, but I have bought fewer DVDs as most movies aren’t rewatch worthy.
Even with the DVR losing regulars like 24 and LOST, on TV I still can find plenty to really entertain. I still like vampires with True Blood and The Vampire Diaries — not that horrendous Twilight shit — replacing Buffy and Angel. Mad Men is on the Someday DVD marathon list.
Music: The strummy alt-rock noise that kinda all sounds the same dominates my iPod but it’s mixed with everything else: R&B, classic rock, soundtracks, cross-over country, hip-hop, oldies, classical, even showtunes like Wicked.
Hobbies: Time and money permitting, my go-to distractions are travel and food & wine.
Sports: Watching not playing. The Atlanta Braves, the Cotton Bowl bound LSU Tigers and by birth, the New Orleans Saints are my teams.
Dream Vacation: Paris. The one in France. Never been but it’s on the SOMEDAY Damnit! List.
That was a little attempt at walking the social talk. Do you know me better? Does reading about my human side make me seem more approachable, more hireable?
Photo credit: Despair.com gets the snarky side of social media. That Random t-shirt is on sale.
Who’s Minding the Store? Vacation and the Solo Pro
You run a small business or are a solo practitioner, lawyer or PR pro like myself, there are times you’ll be out of the office. Happens.
Small business owners need breaks and vacations like anyone else, maybe even more. We all know the recooperative benefits of vacation: you unplug, unwind, let your hair down and do nekid keg stands with random strangers, and hope no one drunk and dials, slaps the photos on Facebook. Ahem. 
I’m going on vacation next week and have already thought about it, how I’ll disconnect from the world. I’ll go into technology withdrawal and hit DTs by the 2nd day, so a mid week email check is my standard M.O., but it’ll also be good to be off the Twitters and Interwebs for a while.
Fast Company has good advice for executives taking vacations, applies to anyone. Here’s my advice for a Solo PR taking much deserved vacation time:
Mind the Store
- Prepare. I’ve already let clients know my schedule, advanced projects to give them things to review while I’m gone so that nothing gets delayed. Double checked all the calendars and deadlines, making sure I am covered.
- Delegate. I have a design colleague who can step in for emergencies while I am gone. Maybe it is a virtual assistant or intern but assign a go-to person if you can, or give an employee a chance to shine.
- Email. Turned off a few subscriptions and alerts and set my auto responder, to reply only once per address (hopefully), so I’m not some idjit who does it wrong.
- Social Media. Should you maintain presence in social media in case the stalkers miss you? YMMV.
- Twitter. I’ve decided a placeholder tweet will do, a simple announcement that I’m off the Twitters.
- Blog. I’ve arranged for a guest post but if that didn’t work out, I’d have just announced a haitus a la John Stossel’s blog. Luckily for YOU dear readers, the fantabulous Jenn Whinnem will be stepping in for me. Look forward to reading what she has to share, as she brings the guest blogging awesomesauce. Play nice kids.
A little prior planning and preparation will make your vacation more relaxing, so you’re not worrying about things back at the store. That and lots of umbrella cocktails. Later!
Photo credit: National Lampoon’s Vacation. © 1983 Warner Bros. For a nice breakdown of the illustration, check out this post.
You’re Just a Tool, Social Media
Twitter may be Gini Dietrich’s favorite social media tool, but she’s also seeing the power of video and YouTube. Unless you’ve been in hiding, chances are familiar with these Big Dogs including Facebook and LinkedIn.
What else is out there? A lot.
Tweet Better. Show someone the standard web interface, they don’t get Twitter. That’s why you need a client.
If you manage multiple Twitter accounts, and want to make sure to not accidentally tweet from the wrong account, use different Twitter clients. I use Seesmic and Twhirl for other accounts, makes it much easier.
After trying Twhirl, Seesmic and Echofon for Firefox, TweetDeck is probably still my favorite Twitter client. All of them work okay; I just like the organization and integration of TweetDeck.
Other Twitter gems:
- Twitter Grader: are you engaging enough or just bragging about yourself? Check your score here.
- Twitter Background Checker: Test how your personalized background looks at different resolutions.
- Need help creating a background? Here are 3 sources.
- For multiple Twitter searches, check out TweetGrid.
- Directories: WeFollow and Twellow and Listorious.
- Mr. Tweet: Updating as of this post, good tool to find new people.
- Want more? Augie Ray has 19 other Twitter tools and Mashable, these 10.
Google Knows. Sure Google is set to go self-aware, annihilate us all in a few years, but until then it offers great tools. Did I mention they were FREE?
- Google Profile. Vanity searching aside, the minute you set it up your profile is out there. Plus you can add links to your blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Nice SEO.
- Google Alerts. Smart people like Gini and Sarah Evans have blogged about using alerts for monitoring, with good reason: quick, easy and free way to monitor the web.
- Google Docs. In case you hadn’t heard, there’s this Cloud thingy and you don’t even have to email files back and forth. Genius.
- Google Translate. Get a comment on a YouTube video in a different language, need a quick translation will traveling, this works. There’s also a website tool.
Blog Posting Power Ups: It’s Good to Share.
- Add to Any, Share This, TweetMeme are great services to let people forward your wonderful musings to their networks.
- Issuu. Time picked it as one of the best websites last year. It’s an easy way of sharing and publishing graphic, stylized documents like newsletters. Lots of potential a la SlideShare.
- Disqus. Even if you don’t use it to manage comments on your own blog, it’s worth registering and creating a Disqus profile since it will make it easier to share your two pennies.
- LinkedIn Applications. You take the time to blog or develop presentations; these apps can add your WordPress or Typepad blog automatically, make it easier to enhance your profile.
Former favorite. Somebody please save this!
BackType is a social media analytics firm, that helps track the conversation in real time and they used to offer one of my favorite social media tools, a blog commenter profile.
- It collected almost all of my comments on other blogs. Fab. Now my Disqus profile has saved those, but I don’t always use that tool to comment.
- Via WordPress plugins BackType Connect and My Comments Elsewhere, I could show my blog comments in a great sidebar widget. Better than a blogroll.
In April they retired collecting user comments on other blogs, which I really miss.
Overload Much. Too much of a good thing.
- FriendFeed. It’s linked to most folks Twitter feeds, so it’s redundant. Unless Twitter is down, of course.
- Plaxo. An electronic address book. I use LinkedIn more.
- Technorati. Could never join, technical issues. Fail.
- Yet to try: HootSuite, Digg, Delicious or StumbleUpon though I see them used quite a bit.
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There are plenty of lists like this one from Jay Baer. Anything great I must to check out, if I had to add just one to the arsenal, what would you pick? Share your tips here.
Atlanta Public Relations, Marketing and Social Media