I have resolved to get back to posting to a couple of blogs that I have neglected lately.

Trying to understand how I got there.

Was I lazy?  Sure, always a bit, but that is not it.

Did I run out of things to say?  Unlikely.

I blame Twitter.

Now, I am no 7×24 mad tweeter, but I have had several people mention lately… “Are you on Twitter ALL the time???”

I am not, but I also NEVER had a similar question asked of me regarding blogs.

So, why?  Here are some initial thoughts…

• Twitter is easy and quick.  I love easy and quick
• Twitter is short.  I find most of my insight can indeed be executed in 140 characters
• Twitter seems to connect me to others better – I have more regular tweet readers than blog readers

That being said, this was kinda nice.  Got to use multiple sentences… spell check… even bullets!!

Worthwhile considering this in a business context.  You want people with good thoughts in them to share them.   They might be willing to do that, but will want the easiest path.  It is probably not and either/or thing, but matching the right person to the right tool could help you succeed.

Kelly
(@kthul on Twitter)

Internal Social Networks are starting to appear inside some organizations. Early adopters are finding positive business results by helping employees connect through “internal Facebooks.” By effectively harnessing these new networks, organizations are seeing positive impacts on internal brand building, as well as employee engagement, satisfaction and motivation — which leads to higher levels of productivity, revenue, and profit.

But the world of the internal social network is the opposite of command & control. That said, reasonable guidelines, a group of informal influencers, and a posse of community managers who help keep the dialog lively and the network on track.

It’s clear that no matter where your company is on the social media ladder, social networks and Web 2.0 skills are becoming a part of today’s work landscape. All businesses need to be aware of how to deploy networks for higher ROI, collaboration, innovation and customer service.

Join the Communitelligence Webinar, Building Employee Branding And Engagement With Internal Social Networks on March 17. You’ll come away with a much clearer idea of what works and what doesn’t in this brave new world of internal social networks from companies that are already figuring out the path to success. The webinar is led by three experienced experts:

• Lee Aase, Manager, Syndication and Social Media,Mayo Clinic
• Polly Pearson, VP Employment Brand and Strategy Engagement, EMC Corporation
• Paul Pedrazzi, Vice President, Product Strategy, Oracle
  

To help attendees get immersed in the subject, Paul Pedrazzi provided a brief overview of Oracle’s journey to social networking.  He is also quick to say:

“There isn’t a magic bullet.  It depends on the organization.  Some do it for engagement and retention (Best Buy). Others do it for knowlegde sharing (Boeing).  I think the best reason is the one that matches what matters to your business.”

To give a flavor of what will be discussed in this webinar, Jake Kuramoto of Oracle AppsLab has written a brief history of Oracle’s Connect.  Since this is an exerpt, you may want to go here for the complete story, including a description of Connect’s Third Version.

Oracle’s Connect began in July 2007 as the IdeaFactory. We were collecting ideas from teams in Applications Strategy, and none of the usual ways (email, spreadsheets, wiki) worked for a team whose sole purpose was to (ahem) innovate.You can see the legacy of the original IdeaFactory in Connect today by paging through Ideas.

Here’s a taste of what it looked like:

Connect 1.0
Ideas were great and pretty successful, but we’d always planned to add social networking into the mix. Aria has always been the corporate directory, and we love it. We wanted to add a dash of social though, so in August 2007, Rich debuted Connect, which was IdeaFactory plus social networking and some other nice features.

Traffic went through the roof. We quickly realized there was strong demand for networking inside the firewall, and with Connect 1.0, we were off and running.

Here’s what the first version of Connect looked like.

That 1.0 version underwent several UI makeovers. The next version added the short-lived Connect logo and removed the AppsLab branding and centralized the navigation a bit, teasing features to come.

The last 1.0 UI went from gray to white with a more Oracle standard logo and look/feel. I think Connect 1.0 had this UI for the longest amount of time. People were really accustomed to it.

Connect 2.0
After a long break to build and start up Oracle Mix , we turned our attention back to Connect, armed with even more ideas that had sprouted from Mix. Connect 2.0 went live in June 2008, adding SSO integration and a fully revamped architecture and infrastructure.

The big new feature in 2.0 was Groups, which we had built into Mix first. Now people could collaborate in ad hoc ways for work or personal interest.

The blue was a shock to many, and we got more than one negative comment about it (as compared to the white/red).

So, that’s the brief UI history of Connect over its 18-month existence. We’re back to the white in Connect 3.0, and I think we’ll stay with a clean look in the future. We’re already kicking around mockups of the 4.0 version, which is taking shape now.

The latest Forrester Research study on how few people trust corporate blogs (16%) sent Communitelligence looking for good advice.  Read these excellent articles and at least you won’t make the biggest mistakes.

A Blog Should Feel Like a Gift: 10 Ways to Improve Your Corporate Blog – Kami Huyse – Communication Overtones

Corporate Blogging: Go Real or Go Home -Mark Logic CEO Blog

Forrester: Consumers Distrust Corporate Blogs – New Forrester Research study

15 Companies That Really Get Corporate Blogging – Sitepoint

People don’t trust company blogs. What you should do about it. – Josh Bernhoff, Forrester Research

Ten rules for effective corporate blogging– John Berg’s Future Visions

Seven rules for corporate blogging – Nicholas Carr’s rough type blog

7 Habits of Highly Effective Business Bloggers – Mario Sundar

Policies compared: Today’s corporate blogging rules – CorporateBlogging.Info: Archive

Corporate Blogging: When, Why and How – Kate Brodock (Slide presentation)

GETTING REAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA was a far-ranging and very timely webinar today, covering the state of social media (“That train has already left the station”), to the social media crisis program of GM, to the very successful social network communities SAP is running. And the online seminar spilled over to Twitter, as is often the case these days (see graphic and posts below).

The webinar was led by three of the best experts: BL Ochman, President, whatsnextonline.com, Inc.; Christopher Barger, Director, Global Communications Technology, General Motors; and Mike Prosceno, VP, Marketplace Communications, SAP.  Moderator was Lee Hornick, Business Communications Worldwide. If you missed this great excursion into the state of social media today, you can purchase the CD here.

Because the webinar coincided exactly in the midst of the auto industry’s battle for financial survival, Christopher Barger’s presentation was especially intriguing.  He described the background for all GM’s social media efforts to win public support for Congressional support, and the huge challenges:

• Public fatique with governmental assistance to business
• Unanticipated and severe levels of public hostility and antagonism toward the domestic auto industry
• Damaged reputation over 25 yers
• High percentage of audiences unwilling to separate distaste for federal involvement from discussion of industry

Barger said GM’s crisis response via social media channels is characterized by an:

• Intense sense of urgency; there is no tomorrow
• Let nothing factually inaccurate go unchallenged
• Be humble and acknowledge mistakes and past sins — without simply falling on a sword
• Remember the goal: to win affinity, not just self defense

Barger answered this attendee question after the call by email: Do you think this episode will help or curtail GM’s social media efforts after this campaign goes away?

Barger: “Internally, this episode will almost certainly help our social media efforts.  The depth of the hostility to us, and the reputational fix we need to embark upon, has been well noted by both comms management and business management.  We know we need to engage more deeply, we know we have a LOT of conversations to join, and we have a lot of work to do to undig a hole it took us 30 years to dig ourselves into.  So I am hearing internally that our social media efforts are going to continue and even expand going forward.

“Externally, I don’t know.  I would like to think that people would appreciate our willingness to converse even in these times; that most people are open to new information and other points of view; that people would be willing to look at our efforts as part of being a “new GM.”   I think that it’s incumbent upon us to keep joining as many conversations as we can. I think we don’t have any other choice; if one of our biggest reputational challenges is the perception that we are aloof or out of touch with the consumer market, then I think one of the most effective ways we have to change that is to continue to converse as often and as openly as possible with those consumers.“

For further insights into the session, here is some of the posts on Twitter during the webinar:

Twitters by @BL Ochman

Mike Prosceno, SAP “Luckily the business community has moved past hostility to social media.”

Mike Prosceno, SAP speaking at Getting Real About Social Media, but sounding unbelievably corporate and full of corp buzzwords. sigh

aha! GM uses @GMBlogs on twitter. i NEVER would have looked for them or found them that way!

Christopher Barger – wonders if maybe it’s a little bit corporate to use the blog name and not the names of people like ford’s @scottmonty

GM – “we’re using twitter to answer questions as well as to put out information. .. way to early to determine if we’ll be successful”

Christopher Barger of GM says “there is no tomorrow” – changing of minds has to happen now

participating in webinar w/GM and SAP – if GM had done for the past 5 yrs what they are doing now, they might not be in this mess. too late?

Twitters by @CommNtelligence

CommNtelligence: Keep in mind primary benefit is to give as much as you take. It’s a dialogue, and that’s the true value for everyone. GETTING REAL webinar

CommNtelligence: Don’t start by plugging in tactics. No one size fits all. Depends on your audience and goals and figure tools then. GETTING REAL webinar

CommNtelligence: It’s not about having a blog, Twitter, etc. It’s about business goals. Mike Prosceno, SAP on GETTING REAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA webinar

CommNtelligence: Took 3 years to reach 1st million posts, 6 months to double, now 6 weeks. Mike Prosceno, SAP on GETTING REAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA webinar
Purchase the Replay:

CommNtelligence: Took 3 years to reach 1st million posts, 6 months to double, now 6 weeks. Mike Prosceno, SAP on GETTING REAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA webinar

CommNtelligence: On hindsight, might have made our info videos less apocalyptic. Chris Barger, GM on GETTING REAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA webinar

CommNtelligence: 1.4 million developer participants on SAP social network, proving value. Mike Prosceno, SAP on GETTING REAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA webinar

CommNtelligence: Must remember the goal: win long-term affinity, not just self-defense. Chris Barger, GM on GETTING REAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

There’s no doubt that Twitter and “micro-sharing” are making huge inroads into the workplace.  If you’ve been hanging on the sidelines, here’s 10 good reasons to jump in and start swimming with the Whale:

• How to Use Twitter as a Twool – Guy Kawasaki’s How to Change the World Blog
• Yammer 201: Yammer as Internal Podcast Platform – From CI Social Media Community Leader Lee Aase 
• TWITTER STRATEGY BLOG SERIES #8: INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS – From Ogilvy 360
• How Companies Use Twitter to Bolster Their Brands – Business Week
• How Twittering Critics Brought Down Motrin Mom Campaign – Advertising Age 
• Twitterspeak: 66 Twitter Terms You Don’t Need to Know – Mashable
• Corporate Twitter Accounts and Online Reputation – Social Media Today, Niall Cook 
• The Long Tail of Twitter – Social Media Today, Marc Meyer
• How to Measure Engagement on Twitter– Kari Rippetoe, The Caffeinated Blog
• Is Twitter a Waste of Time? No, Says Busy CEO – Debbie Weil

Have you used Twitter? Do you even know what Twitter is? If not, you may be missing out on some great ways to incorporate this communications tool into your business. Companies from Zappo’s to Home Depot to Comcast to Southwest Airlines are using it and quite well for a number of reasons.

Here is a blog report on just a couple of ways that your organization might benefit from having a paln to integrate Twitter into your communication / marketing plans. 

Kyle Lacy pointed us to the Wave.3 Presentation from Universal McCann which included the following facts relating to the power of social media.

1. 394 million people watch video clips online
2. 346 million reaqd blogs/weblogs
3. 321 million Read personal blogs/weblogs
4. 307 million visit a friends social network page
5. 303 million SHARE a video clip (viral marketing anyone?)
6. 272 million manage a profile on a social network
7. 248 million upload photos
8. 216 million Download a video podcast
9. 215 million download a podcast
10. 184 million started a blog or weblog
11. 183 million uploaded a video clip
12. 160 million subscribed to an RSS Feed

Read the other 8 reasons you shouldn’t ignore social media for business.

yson Foods is making a a real world impact through its social media participation.

Tyson offered to donate 100 pounds of food to a food bank in Austin, TX for every comment left on its Hunger Relief blog. They filled the truck in less than 6 hours and the post has more than 650 comments to date.

According to Ed Nicholson, Director of Community and Public Relations at Tyson Foods, Tyson measures its social media success “by the people with whom we’re building relationships and engaging in conversation.   I personally believe social media attract a greater concentration of the people Seth Godin refers to as ‘sneezers,’ people who have the credibility, the networks and the capacity to spread stories far and wide.  I want to see our company engaged with these people.”

Read the full article on Disruptology Blog.

A composite of posts to Twitter by Alicia Staley (@stales) and John Gerstner (jgerst) during Paul Gillin’s HOW TO BE AN INFLUENCER Communitelligence Webinar, now available on CD.

Here’s a glimpse of what Gillin covered:

• 
  stales: @pgillin tap into ready made networks – do you really need to start your own social network? Take a look first #influencer
  1 day ago · Reply · View Tweet · Show Conversation

   

• 
  stales: @pgillin Podcasting is evolving as a very effective b2b platform #influencer
  1 day ago · Reply · View Tweet · Show Conversation

   

• 
  stales: @pgillin Listening to your webinar – awesome stuff! thank you! #influencer
  1 day ago · Reply · View Tweet · Show Conversation

   

• 
  stales: Paul Gillin – start with an objective, not a tool. #influencer
  1 day ago · Reply · View Tweet

   

• 
  stales: Paul Gillin – dive into the conversations in order to provide value. #influencer
  1 day ago · Reply · View Tweet

   

• 
  stales: Paul Gillin – cheaper to keep information than throw it away… #influencer
  1 day ago · Reply · View Tweet

   

• 
  stales: Paul Gillin – niche market social networks: great opportunity here. #influencer
  1 day ago · Reply · View Tweet

   

• 
  stales: Paul Gillin – “Don’t boil the ocean.” re: social networks: yes, there’s a ton out there, but don’t need to be on every one #influencer
  1 day ago · Reply · View Tweet
  

Purchase webinar replay:

A very nice resource and one I will continue to follow. Lisa Baziel of Ignite Social Media took 26 companies that she liked from Peter Kim’s more extensive list of corporate examples of social media use to take a closer look at and review. Here is her starting list to look at:

1. Animal Planet
2. Best Western
3. Clorox
4. Del Monte
5. ExxonMobil
6. Fandango
7. Graco
8. HomeGoods
9. Ikea
10. Joffrey’s
11. Kraft
12. Library of Congress
13. Miller Brewing Co
14. National Geographic
15. Open Table
16. Patagonia
17. Quicken
18. Rubbermaid
19. SELF Magazine
20. Taco Bell
21. United Kingdom Government
22. Victoria’s Secret
23. WhirlPool
24. Xerox
25. Yoplait
26. Zappos

Here is her post on the project and where you can find some of her reviews.

The Global Social Media Network has reconfigured Peter Kim’s list of what companies are doing with social media to make it useful if you want to look at examples based on category:

• applications
• social networks
• online video
• blogging
• podcasting
• widgets
• crowdsourcing
• bookmarking/tagging
• microblogging (i.e twitter)
• photosharing
• blogger/vlogger/general outreach
• wikis
• virtual worlds
• mashups
• word of mouth
• PR
• sponsorships
• ratings and reviews
• discussion boards / social polling; And
• brand monitoring

See the list here.

Paul Gillin wrote the book on influencers (The New Influencers).  His new book,Secrets of Social Media Marketing continues the exploration of what’s different about the new world of social media. You can hear what this social media deep thinker is thinking about these days is during the upcoming webinar, HOW TO BECOME A THOUGHT LEADER FOR $0.

What do you think is the single most important concept most marketers miss when they start thinking about adding social media to their traditional marketing programs?

Gillin: Viewing it as just another channel. Social media requires an entirely different view of marketing, one that emphasizes give-and-take instead of messaging. If you see it as just another way to deliver a press release, you’re missing the whole point. This is about conversations, not messages.

Why is important to consider becoming a thought leader as a way of helping to market your brand?

Gillin: People buy brands that they trust, so what better way to establish trust than to position yourself as a visionary and a thought leader? Show prospects and customers that you have a vision for where a category is heading and that you can help them realize the optimum value from their investments. Advising them and helping them is a much more effective way to gain their trust than messaging them.  

Funny place to put this in a blog, but ran across an article called “Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004” from Wired Magazine. Here is the article for you to check out.

What do you all think?

Q&A with BL Ochman, President, whatsnextonline.com, Inc., and Christopher Barger, Director, Global Communications Technology, General Motors. They are panelists for the December 10, 2008 Communitelligence Webinar: GETTING REAL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA. You can purchase the replay here.

What do you see your biggest social media hurdle you face today, and why?

Christopher Barger:  It’s a combination of three things.  One, legal departments haven’t quite gotten their heads around instant — and “human” — interaction; well-intended but overbearing interference from legal could do anything from stifling potentially useful conversations to damaging an organization’s reputation online.

Two, there are still (inexplicably to me!) some holdouts within the communications profession who still really want to live in the world they know — print reporters and occasionally broadcast media — and who resent and resist the emergence and inclusion of social media in corporate communications programs.  Yes, they’ll eventually either retire, be forced by reality to adjust their attitudes, or be left by the wayside of our profession, but their attitudes remain a current hurdle.

And three… just to be a little controversial here… there are a few bloggers who have begun to get a bit heady with their newfound importance, and have started getting a bit exploitative in their relationships with companies. A small but vocal group of bloggers is emerging who suddenly believe themselves entitled to treatment that traditional media doesn’t even get — and then will write negatively about you if you don’t coddle and cater to them.  I believe that these few bad apples overplaying their hands could end up hurting everyone else… if industry is still looking for a reason to be dismissive of social media, they’re being handed one.

BL Ochman: Companies are overwhelmed by the changes brought about since everyone has the tools to make his/her voice heard and they don’t know how to respond. There is a lot of fear among CMOs and CEOs.

What advice do you have for those just launching social media efforts for their organizations?

Christopher Barger: First, develop a policy on social media engagement, and make sure to distribute and disperse that policy across your organization as you launch your program.  Doing so protects your employees and your organization… you can’t ask people to engage without giving them parameters for doing so, and you can’t discipline anyone for writing or doing something you didn’t tell them not to do.

Second, recognize that you’re going to make some mistakes “out there” — and that’s okay.  We’re all experimenting a little bit; not everything is going to take off or do as well as we all might hope when we dream it up.  As long as you avoid the egregious mistakes that go against what social media is all about — transparency, openness, dialogue — your audience will forgive you a misstep or two.  Don’t be afraid to try something new — nor to take lessons from a flop and see it as a positive.

Finally, understand that social media is not about the technologies of “Web 2.0.”  In some respects, the medium (blogs, podcasts, vlogs, social networks, microblogging networks) is irrelevant — or at least is nowhere near as relevant as the audience dynamic behind these technologies’ emergence. Audiences expect organizations to be in two-way, dialogical conversations, and to eschew safe corporate-speak or spin for “real” talk. Grasping that expectation and executing it is far more important than the technology you’re using to do it.  I sometimes see a tendency to become distracted by whatever the new “in” technology or medium is, and to lose focus on what drives the adoption of these technologies in the first place.  Most of all, organizations must understand that social media channels are not just new collections of eyeballs, new channels on which to engage the tactics we’ve always used… these audiences don’t want to be messaged to.

BL Ochman: Everyone and her dog says they are a social media marketer. Look for ones who have a track record with real clients. Do not turn social media over to your ad agency under any circumstances.

For those of you who claim social media cannot help you due to the niche you are in, I highly doubt it. Here is a list of the top social media sites per their niche. Check them out and start using them to your benefit, these sites can generate a large amount of traffic when used properly. Don’t Forget To Bookmark!

List on SMMGuru Blog

“A PR Professional’s Guide to SEO” offers insight into ways PR professionals can successfully build their company’s reputation, create an online library of news and impact sales.

The free Vocus white paper covers:

•    How media and consumers are looking for news and information about products and services
•    Traditional press releases vs. Search Engine Optimized press releases
•    How to write your press release to ensure visibility and profitability
•    Benefits of integrating all of your PR and marketing messages with optimized content

Download the white paper at http://www.vocus.com/seoguidewp 

Nathan Gilliatt (moderator of next week’s Executing Social Media Conference, Atlanta, October 15-16, has compiled an excellent list of free social media monitoring tools.

“If you’re a manager trying to make the case that your company should listen to social media, these free services from social media analysis vendors will help you justify the budget to keep going,” writes Gilliatt.

Check out the list.  

The Blog Council’s Disclosure Best Practices Toolkit is a draft series of checklists to help companies, their employees, and their agencies learn the appropriate and transparent ways to interact with blogs, bloggers, and the people who interact with them.

“We believe in the principles of transparency and openness, and this document is a way of making this real on the inside. Our goal is not to create or propose new industry standards or rules. These checklists are open source training tools designed to help educate the hundreds or thousands of employees in any large corporation the appropriate ways to interact with the social media community.”

http://blogcouncil.org/disclosure/content/