“I can only understand one out of every three words you said.”
- Recent attendee at one of my speeches on social media.

Yes, fear kills social media. And perhaps the biggest creator of fear in this business is the actual terms we use to describe conversational media. Nomenclature presents a significant barrier for many just trying to figure out what all the hub-bub is about.

Recently I bought a T-1 line for my new office. The terminology in buying a commercial grade switch and phones was so bad I had to keep asking the service provider to explain to me what the equipment was in English. And I sued to work in telecom five years ago. Wow!

It reminded me of the horrific barrier to entry that we, the social media community, create. Consider these words:

and on and on. If you are a normal person, this will read like Chinese:

There is a real need for Mike Sansone’s glossary of social media terms. Is it any wonder those not indoctrinated look at social media and want to run away? Is this what we really intended when we were coming up with all of our cool words?

My final thought as we the social media community develop the next BrightKite: Are we really creating something new and special for society? Or is it by its very nomenclature exclusive and antisocial. Maybe that can reverberate in the echo chamber for a little while.

Per my good-bye post on Friday, this will be my last appearance on Now Is Gone. You can continue to read my marketing posts on the Buzz Bin.

Several keynotes and presentations at least week’s SNCR NewComm Forum, including more than four case study presenters, highlighted the importance of listening as a fundamental pre-cursor to social media success. Of course, listening makes sense because it allows you to understand your business community’s preferences and needs (image by sel). In many ways, this represents market research.

Many businesses are not used to listening. In a mass communications world, they’ve done most of the talking.

Yet new media presents a different set of rules. In social worlds, two-way communication is inherent allowing stakeholders to have equal footing with businesses and organizations. Failure to listen creates situations where stakeholders either act with anger, or simply turn deaf ears on the company.

Listening is not hard. It simply requires a biological sense of proportions: We all have two ears and one mouth. Something to consider.

Shel Israel took time at SNCR to discuss this important aspect of social media, including Dell’s example. Here is what he had to say:

Photo in movie was taken by Chris Heuer at SxSW

Does your company have core values? A mission statement?If so it likely has a corporate ethos, a statement of ethics and integrity that the company believes in. Hopefully, the statement isn’t  propaganda, instead reflecting the living culture of the entity. If it’s real, your company may already have an advantage.Companies struggle with personality and tone when going out to communicate in social worlds. At the heart of the issue is getting away from propaganda and spin, and embracing the necessary authenticity of social communications. But you don’t have to look far. Consider Nuts About Southwest (recent flack on flight groundings aside). One of the things during our interview for Now Is Gone that became apparent was the blog’s tone exuded the corporate culture.  Not only the fun, but the way the company reacted to comments and other issues.When a company or social media effort exudes an ethos it attracts that same type of person back. In theory, cultures are developed around customer bases or a defining principle that caused the birth of the entity. So by communicating that clearly, a company attracts the type of potential customers and followers it wants. This can swing both ways, too (image by soldiersmediacenter).Consider the recent popularity of 1938 Media’s videos at Shel Israel’s expense (note: Shel is a friend).  This hard hitting “humor” has in many people’s minds crossed the line into personal attacks. At the same time, 1938’s generating business from this. But what kind of business is it?  If it is dollars you want, dollars you get.  But perhaps a deeper evaluation of the larger brand impact is needed. Gossip attracts gossipers… What does attack-style mockery do? Is this really a long-term play for Loren Feldman?It’s important to note that in both of these cases the actual actions determined the entity’s ethos. You can’t just say you have a certain set of values. Actions in social media unintentionally reveal ethos and values.Social media is really no different than real life. It’s just a different scene with a new ambience. But corporate actions demonstrate true values. So when you consider what you want to do in social media, think about who you are first.

Rohit Bhargava’s excellent book, “*Personality Not Included,” was just released. At Blogger Social this week, Rohit took some time to do a video interview with me on his new book (photo by the amazing Jason Falls). It has several key themes that are of interest to Now Is Gone readers:

• Personality infused in marketing
• Social media integrated as part of a larger marketing mix
• Challenges businesses face with personality

Here’s what Rohit had to say about it.

Otherwise know as Participation is Marketing.

Today’s PR and marketing professionals really seem  bent on botching social media. Whether its blindly pitching bloggers or simply publishing a blog without any regards for how that effort fits into a community, the attempts to fit social media into one-way models don’t work! All in all, it’s a general push mentality that companies can’t seem to get over. 

In a one way, mass communications world outbound controlled communications can work. In a two-way fractured media environment, companies need to understand that they are not the center of a customer’s world. Far from it. In fact, a customer probably couldn’t give a damn about Company X UNLESS it’s an active member of their community, a member who understands them and tries to resolve particular needs. Companies must become part of the larger whole.

Getting a blog out there is great. But so what?  It’s not special anymore.  People that say folks will flock to your site are operating off old marketing information from last year. 

How are people going to find out about it unless you are participating in the larger discussion?  Which social networks do you play in? Why will they care without relevant context to their problems. Ditto for blogger pitches.  Don’t treat bloggers like media!!!! Why bother unless you really know what the blogger wants, writes about and cares about? 

Consider the traffic sources for the Buzz Bin over the past year. Note that ten of the top twenty referrers by far are social networks rather than other bloggers (thanks to Pam Sorensen and Kami Huyse who are the only two bloggers in my top twenty referral list).   Community first works! Especially if the content is geared for them.

Do your homework, and participate! Then you will attract people to your social media. Corporate social media becomes what is called in advertising a capture mechanism or call to action.  On the Buzz Bin the very first call to action is the RSS subscription button on the right. And the #1 source is Google Organic, or repeat visits from RSS readers who have subscribed to the blog.

By interesting parties in your larger network on relevant issues, blog posts, white papers, podcasts, videos, webinars, events (note a mix of 1.0 tools in here), etc., become more compelling. Community members are more inclined to engage and subscribe. A social marketer pulls customer interest through attraction rather than demand it by pushing.

Yet this push attitude prevails throughout the industry. Consider Richard Edelman’s comments 10 days ago:

That means we must help clients provide their own original content and enhance the dialogue with credible and creative material. We need to continue to convince clients about the importance of including bloggers in the outreach to media, of allowing their own executives to speak spontaneously, because there is a clear dialectic between control and credibility.

Edelman runs one of  the largest PR companies in the world.  His attitude reflects his company’s approach and probably 90% of the industry. 

What we as an industry must come to understand is that two-way media forms are different.  To succeed as a PR pro or marketer, participation needs to happen.  Social media has its own unique nuances that inherently social because of two-way communication.  This change is as big as when TV introduced video to the media environment in the 50s. So much of Now Is Gone revolves around this concept. My only regret is we didn’t reinforce it with more social network discussion. 

Stop playing by the old rules, and learn the game.

An extensive piece on the future of business social media was published yesterday on the Buzz Bin. While a little too futuristic for the average marketing exec just trying to figure out social media, there was a very relevant section, which was a carry over from previous conversations about business social media and personality:

Like Shel, I also disagree with Forrester’s Josh Bernoff that companies can act as an entity in socialized worlds. Because of the very nature of social media, it will be much harder for companies to diffuse their messages as an entity… Instead, personality must be infused into social environments. Identifiable people that work inside companies must represent the entity.

This strong stance finds it basis not in purists as Josh would state it, but because the social environment itself is inherently relational and community based. Without identifiable people to associate with, companies become inherently monolothic, relying on the brand identity to communicate. By its very nature, this is antisocial relying on something to build trust that even political pollsters know just doesn’t work - that’s corporate identities.

At bare minimum, corporations need to use an avatar or a personality to associate with the social media effort. For example, Nokia’s Mosh uses Russell the empty shirt and Goodwill of Greater Washington uses the Fashionista. In short @richardatDELL works a lot better than @DellCorp.

Here are some examples of personalities and why they work and don’t work…

The Bad

Ah yes, the suit. Mr. Safe and Corporate. Who trusts this guy (geez, these are my book photos)?

Point being, this shot was intended for book promotion to a community of business managers just trying to figure out what social media is. I mean, if its the Rayhteon blog targeted towards defense buyers, maybe, but otherwise, where’s the soul? It in its own right this photo is not ideal for social environments because its too stiff and formal.

Let’s be frank, would you rush to go talk to this guy in his office on your coffee break?


The Ugly

Oh yeah! The prototypical crazy blogger! This meets the general executive perception of a blogger, a member of an unruly horde. People are afraid of this guy. While it may get fans in some social media circles, this type of avatar is not likely to appease executives trying to bridge the gap between formal corporate communications.

The Good

Finally, a happy medium. Turkish coffee in Aswan Egypt is quite good.

This is the persona of a real person, an identifiable person, the fellow next door, that you would talk to on a coffee break. Real enough to socialize with, yet refined enough to engage in a conversation.

There is no one-size fits all approach to corporate personalities in social worlds. What’s most important is that conversational marketing include it. With personality comes a sense of authenticity, rather than an ivory tower that people think may screw them over for a profit.

Rohit Bhargava has an excellent book coming out on this topic, “*Personality not included.” Parties interested in this topic should pre-order it today.

To start the week I will be speaking and liveblogging on WordPress.com for my client the Human Capital Institute in Phoenix (see picture of summit host The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa). The 2008 Human Capital Summit covers the movement from traditional HR administration towards fostering talent management  as the new lever for market success. Liveblogging has its unique role at such an event.

First and foremost, liveblogging can create an air of excitement at an event, not only for attendees, but also for extended members of the HCI community. Other benefits liveblogging offers:

• Google juice for the event
• Recorded history of the event
• Helps an organizations and companies see social media at work
• Better retention of information for the liveblogger (I personally hope to gain a lot as an exec who runs his own companies. HCI revolves around reinventing the organization around talent and to communicate the value driven by cutting-edge talent practices to investors and other stakeholders.).

Their are many philosophies and beliefs on the best ways to liveblog. Here’s some of my favorite tips based on my experiences as a sole liveblogger.

1) Pre-identify who and what you want to cover. For example, after the keynote and first session, I will crash the video interviews of many speakers and give readers an inside scoop on their thoughts. Also do a little research on speakers in advance.

2) Have camera, will travel. Make sure you have comfortable gear for your camera so its readily accessible and can be used easily. My neck strap was bought for just these situations. Also be sure to have all of the necessary cables and pretest your equipment. Visuals are critical to great blogging, and you must be able to quickly add photos to each story.

3) Write, read and send: Don’t overthink the writing. You are a scribe in the ancient Egyptian sense, analysis is great, but in reality people just want to know the prescient points. Read through the script after writing, and send. Don’t over-edit. You come back that night and clean it up. If you are truly liveblogging, your job is to get the posts up almost as quickly as events happen.

4) Be flexible: Livebloggers get called into all sorts of weird situations. “Cover this, write that, don’t take my photo.” Just roll with it, and have fun.

5) Headlines matter. Like any blog post, be creative and try to get folks interested. Liveblogging can be an entry point for larger engagement with the subject matter and/or organization.

6) Don’t kill yourself. After three or four posts, you’ll be tired. Take that break. No one needs to be Brett Favre.

7) Limit your tools. Don’t overdo it. You can’t vlog, podcast, blog and tweet an event. Or at least you can’t do all of it well. Choose your most comfortable tools and execute well. For me, writing, photos, and maybe a couple of podcast chats.

Ethan Zuckerman’s right (any real liveblogger should read this excellent treatise). Sit in the back or on the side. Make sure you scope out where the outlets are so you can keep optimal battery levels throughout the event.

Like every other aspect of business communications, the new trend we see is the incredible impact social media is making on human resources outreach. There are three main thrusts to this trend (image credit: seniorserviceamerica):

1) Searching candidates history has been a controversial topic. While Google (and other search engines) can reveal a lot about a person, some cultures and conservative legal teams are rejecting this kind of intelligence as transgressing boundaries.  But around the country background checks are considered legal.

SMB Finance magazine recommends online checks as a way to avoid fraud from potential employees. In addition to formal services, employers often use Google, Facebook and other applications to determine character.  Strange college incidents, cursing, personality attacks and other negative comments can really hurt someone’s ability to successfully integrate into a culture, especially if those searches become public knowledge in a company.

2) Blogs and social networks have turned into fantastic recruiting mechanisms, demonstrating some of the exciting activities a company can offer potential candidates.  One of my local partners and friends, Brian Williams at Viget Labs, always says one of the biggest benefits of Four Labs is its ability to attract great talent. In Great Britain there’s a new site called Vlog, which allows employers to video blog their site.

LinkedIn has become its own art for both companies recruiting and job seekers alike.  LinkedIn in has great potential to be a hyper-local recruiting tool. Facebook seems to have become a millennial version of LinkedIn, a necessary place to fine entry level talent.

Another aspect of this specific trend is the use of social media by end users to find and locate new jobs. Increasingly, savvy people use social networking to get themselves in front of potential employers. 

3) At the same time, social media reputation management becomes increasingly important for companies who must be ready to deal with disgruntled and former employees that use blogs and other social media outlets to attack and criticize the company.  Consider how rapper/media mogul Jay Z’s 40/40 club in Las Vegas has garnered a bad reputation for abusing its employees. Or Shell Oil’s treatment of its North Sea workers.

It’s essential for companies to build monitoring programs so they don’t get blind sided by such events.While legal action may be the obvious recourse, blogs can be great mechanisms to counter disgruntled employees and tell your side of the story. Further, a blogger can provide a voice of reason in other blog’s comment sections, while not attacking said employee, the company’s policy and position can be equally represented.

Chapter Six of Now Is Gone features a strategic approach to social media called Think Liquid. Yesterday on Marketing Profs, I published a new, amended version of Think Liquid which features three examples of this strategy applied.

Those examples were:

• Goodwill
• Ford’s use of SMRs
• ACDSee

It’s great to see strategic approaches and movement in social media worlds. Hats off to Brendan Hurly, Maggie Fox (and team) and Connie Bensen for their work in these initiatives.

Social networks are not always an easy thing to approach for B2B organizations.  Engaging a more conservative professional set — particularly outside of IT buyers — online takes intelligent use of social networks. 

First of all, you absolutely have to know where your community gathers online.  Otherwise it’s going to be a failure.  For example, Facebook may not be a good gathering point for copier buyers in large enterprises.

Unlike Jeremiah, I don’t think every company should go out and create their own social network. In fact, very few should.  There’s already quite a few established social networks. Unless your social network adds to the mix with something completely new for the marketplace, then you wil just be adding to the noise. This is particularly true for B2B organizations with their relatively smaller customer bases.

A recent conversation with GM’s Christopher Barger revealed that the nation’s #1 automaker understands this.  They are actively engaging communities within established social networks.

Some Specific Uses

A good place for B2B companies to look is within their own profession. Many professions are starting to develop their own micro-social networks particular to their niche.  IT Toolbox is the big hit for IT professionals. While I personally don’t use MyRagan, a lot of communicators have found this to be a comfortable place to engage in social media. How about LawLink for lawyers?

If there is no profession or vertical-specific social network, then there might be an opportunity to create one.  For example, there’s no social network for federal IT buyers. Yet. Consider if this significant investment is worthwhile (image from Google’s Social Graph).

LinkedIn provides interesting asymmetrical relationships, and is more trust oriented.  As a result, it has become a preferred business social networking tool over other networks like Facebook.  Some top LinkedIn uses include:

• Recruitment
• Networking
• Sales prospecting

Facebook can also be quite a recruiting tool for Gen Yers and Millenials as well as some professions (like PR).

Second Life has been a great meeting place for some companies trying to reach buyers externally as well as internal constituents.  Examples of Second Life usage include crayon and IBM.

Facebook can be a great place to start a community surrounding a subject matter.  Communities on these groups have to have fantastic value, so be sure to think about the real issues the market faces, then create your group. If it’s all about you, publish a PDF brochure online instead. You’ll save some money.