Top Social Media Blog Posts of 2009

Here is a list of 99 blog posts from 2009 relating to social media.  This list was originally created by Compiled by Adam Vincenzini, Paratus Communications, London. I have made a few modifications, but his initial list is bascially in tact.

Social Media (General) (20)

1. 30 top Blogs for social media updates
2. 20 social media best practice tips*
3. 33 hot social media tips
4. 5 ways to fan the viral flame*
5. 10 reasons why you should use Hootsuite
6. How to make time for social media*
7. 3 quick tips to connect your website to social media
8. Top tools for social media monitoring*
9. 10 ways to improve your social media karma
10. 3 Tips for better social media management
11. Video: Social Media Revolution*
12.Social Media tactics for non-profit organisations
13. Why foursquare is the next big social network
14. 5 ways to make your site more social
15. 10 essential social media blogs you should follow / bookmark
16. Top 10 Freebies for Social Media Marketing
17.Simon Mainwaring’s special interview with Rishad Tobaccowala On Advertising’s Digital and Social Media Future
18. What you need to know about running a social media programme – The client*
19. What you need to know about running a social media programme – The product*
What you need to know about running a social media programme – The audience*
20. 25 Social media marketing tips from Dell, HP, Ford and more

Twitter (10)

21. 10 Twitter tools to help you track and perform better*
22. The ultimate Twitter applications list
23. 5 Twitter rules for business
24. Discover who ‘favourites’ your Tweets
25. 8 photo and video sharing tools for Twitter you may not have seen
26. The three E’s of Twitter*
27. 5 must do Twitter style tips
28. A twitter mini guide: 60 useful twitter resources (basics)
29. How to be a useful Twitter user and receiver
30. 62 ways to use Twitter for Business

Blogging (10)

31. 101 ways to promote a new blog*
32. 11 ways to increase your RSS subscriptions
33. 58 ways to build a better blog*
34. 10 ways Blogging will simplify your marketing programme
35. Why guest Bloggers are great for a Blog
36. 10 great corporate blogs
37. 9 vital statistics for tracking site traffic
38. How to put your blog / website on google news
39. 101 blogging tips I learned in 2009
40. 10 ways to think up new post ideas*

PR (10)

41. 15 ways PR can help social media*
42. How to pitch to Mashable
43. A media relations tool for Twitter
44. The best social media tools for PR professionals*
45 PR: From begging to earning attention
46. 15 ways to measure return on engagement (ROE) of Social Media
47. 6 PR Facts Every Marketer Must Know
48. 6 indicators of hope in PR measurement
49. 5 new online tools for PR pros
50. The top 100 PR websites of 2009

Facebook / LinkedIn (10)

51. 20 facebook tips and tricks you might not know about
52. 10 steps make your facebook page shine
53. How to create the perfect facebook fan page
54. 5 tips for optimizing your facebook page
55. 5 tips for getting more from facebook*
56. 5 tips for getting more from LinkedIn*
57. 6 ways to use LinkedIn
58. 33 ways to use LinkedIn for business
59. 8 tips for managing LinkedIn Groups*
60. A collection of ten more great Blog posts about LinkedIn

Case Studies / In Action (10)

61. Case studies of four brands using social media
62. 9 marketing lessons of the pink ribbon Cancer campaign
63. Video: Burger King Whopper Sacrifice (Facebook Campaign)*
64. Video: The clever launch of the Seat Ibiza in Israel
65. Social Media Policies of 113 Organisations
66. Video: Cannes PR Lions Finalist: The £10m Tongue (Costa Coffee)*
66. 30 UK Social Media case Studies*
67. Dairy queen: how it uses social media
68. 6 Social Media Marketing Case Study Lessons
69. HBO’s integrated campaign for True Blood
70. Peter Kim’s comprehensive Wiki of social media marketing campaigns *

Mobile / Content / Measurement / SEO / Other (20)

71. 50 top creative Blogs*
72. How to determine your internet marketing budget
73. The 75 best business blogs of 2009
74. 5 easy ways to optimize your site for Bing
75. Companies Engaging in Social Media Have Higher Financial Performance
76. Ways to influence people online
77. 5 ways to beat the SEO competition in Google
78. 100 useful bookmarklets for better productivity (ultimate list)*
79. 40 Search / SEO Case Studies
80. 10 Tips for Writing bokkmarkable content
81. 15 best places to get free stock photos online*
82. 5 simple ways to create a content culture at your company
83. The five factors of compelling content
84. The benefits of the very under-rated DABR mobile Twitter app
85. 30 iPhone apps reviewed
86. An early look at Foursquare and Gowalla
87. A ‘B’ listers first thoughts on Google Wave
88. 3 financial dangers of social media
90. How to achieve audience participation in 2010 (customer engagement research report)

Do What You Do Best & Link To The Rest! (if you can convince them…)

In Jeff Jarvis’ book, What Would Google Do, he discusses many items.  My favorite, is the idea “do what you do best and link to the rest”.  While seemingly simple and straightforward, it is maddening when trying to get corporations to adopt this philosophy.   In a current assignment with a consumer products company, we have developed a thorough digital strategy for the firm.  Given their current technology infrastructure and strategy, this is fairly remedial stuff.

• Make site easier to navigate
• Integrate user comments and thoughts
• Replace multi-page text pages with graphics and images
• Start a blog
• Start a Facebook fanpage
• Allows users to review products
• etc.

The frustration is in their belief that they maintain some sort of control over everything on the site.  Once you invite your customers in–which is a requirement in today’s marketplace–you loose some control.

We are trying to convince the client to focus on how their product fits into the consumers’ lifestyle.  They are experts on their product and probably even on the category, but all other aspects of their customers’ lives fall far from their comfort zone.  Our recommendation for this “outside information”–curate great, high quality content from other sites.  They continue to balk.  They believe they are better of re-creating the content.  Not only is that expensive, but it is foolish.

Users are adept at finding the right sources of information.   By integrating other’s information into the site, they can help users navigate through overwhelming amounts of information.  Their belief in owning everything extends to their nervousness around full integration of users opinions.  They like the idea but “what if someone says something that is not exactly true”?  Our response, you can participate in the conversation as well, but you can’t stop the conversation.

The only sure thing I know about this process is that Jarvis (the author) is making money as we have now sent all the top executives copies of his book.

Socialnomics–The ROI Is Here

Socialnomics.com has been compiling statistics on the success of Social Media and produced another great video, released via YouTube (of course), that makes a compelling case for Social Media.

The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Media to Grow Your Business

The Whuffie Factor is one of the first books I’ve read that clearly explain the value, benefit, hazards, and opportunities of social media marketing.  For anyone who is not currently “in the conversation” it should be required reading.  While I personally not a fan of Tara Hunt’s writing style, particularly for the first 50 pages, the information is presented in a clear and useful way and provides nice balance between “telling stories” and providing information and analysis.   I have read a number of the other books on this subject, this book does not expect you to have already mastered consultanteze in order to comprehend.

The term Whuffie “is the ephemeral, reputation-based currency of Cory Doctorow’s science fiction novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. This book describes a post-scarcity economy: All the necessities (and most of the luxuries) of life are free for the taking. A person’s current Whuffie is instantly viewable to anyone, as everybody has a brain-implant giving them an interface with the Net.

The term has since seen some adoption as a synonym for Social capital, including its use in the title of the Tara Hunt book The Whuffie Factor.” (Wikipedia)

The book is divided into 10 chapters:

1. How to be a social capitalist
2. The power of community marketing
3. Turn the bullhorn around & create continuous conversations with customers
4. Building whuffie by listening to & integrating feedback
5. Become part of the community you serve
6. Depositing into & withdrawing from your whuffie account
7. Be notable: 11 ways to create amazing customer experiences
8. Embrace chaos
9. Find your higher purpose
10. Whuffie “in real life”

Throughout these chapters, Hunt provides useful examples of all the different tools and current strategies being used.  Obviously, the tools are changing rapidly, but her basic message, we have changed from broadcast to engagement, is well illustrated and persuasive.

One of the most important messages, particularly for people who did not grow up with this level of connectiveness, is that everything online is always “beta”, the speed of development of new tools and strategies, and the ridiculously low costs of most of these tools, means that nothing is static.  By the simple method of engaging others and opening yourself and your business up for feedback and engagement, your message, tools, and strategies will be changing and evolving constantly, but your Whuffie will be growing (or shrinking) in relationship to your authenticity and your willingness to engage with others.  Once one accepts this reality (it initially feels like being out of balance), then one engage authentically and manage their Whuffie.

The Whuffie Factor is recommended to any and all, particularly to those who are still trying to “figure this social media thing out”.

Tweeting for Dollars- Do You Care?

In today’s NY Times article Tweeting for Dollars, Pradnya Joshi introduces and reviews  Izea’s new service allowing people to tweet advertisements and get paid.   This follows Magpie & Friends service creating new advertising networks on Twitter.  With Izea, they require the tweet to use a hashtag with #ad, or something similar, at the beginning of the tweet.  So now we can promote other brands and make some  money.

Twitter users who sign up to send ads to their network of friends and followers will get paid based on various individual metrics, such as a person’s reach on Twitter, the ratio of friends to followers, length of time on Twitter and, of course, the number of followers. An active Twitter user with 10,000 followers could make $25 to $35 per commercial tweet, Mr. Murphy said.

Neither of these services matter.  One of the beauties of Twitter is that it is an open network (unlike Facebook which requires me to accept you as a Friend or LinkedIn with the same policy).  Each of these structures has its uses.  The open platform of Twitter creates a great deal of churn, but that churn is the beauty of the service.  If someone is sending lots of Spam (make $1 million on Twitter, my secrets for just $59.99), you just “unfollow”.  As many people have articulated, social currency is build upon trust.  If I offend , spam , don’t engage, or simply don’t interest a follower, they will abandon my tweets quickly enough.

The critical issue is consistency.  If you regularly tweet about your life and loves and then start tweeting me about your brilliance as a social media expert, your lack of consistency results in zero credibility.  Alternatively, if you regularly send out tweets with coupon and discounts (check out the new CheapTweet’s service that aggregates all these tweets), I know what to expect and I am following you for a reason.  It is my choice!

If someone regularly tweets advertisements, and they do so authentically with products they truly support, I won’t be offended.  If someone is jsut trying to make money off of their list of followers, they will be abaondoned quickly enough.

Social Media and My Public Personas

For those of us of a certain age (anyone who grew up with a their own phone number before their own email address) social media can be intimidating.  Many are particularly nervous about putting everything in public.  As a social media enthusiast I made a decision early on that has served me well.  I view each tool (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious. FriendFeeder, etc.) not as another arrow in my quiver but each as their own quiver.  In some, I keep many arrows (I have three separate Twitter accounts), in other only one (one linked in profile) and try to remember not only which quiver I want to use, but also which arrow.  When I Tweet on anything relating to social media, my consulting practice or other items relating to my business I use one Twitter handle, when I tweet about my life, family and friends, I use a different Twitter handle and when I tweet for one of the operating companies that I run (totally separate from my consulting) I use a third Twitter handle.  The same goes for Facebook.  I have a public persona, corporate fan page, and group.  I also have a personal Facebook account to connect with friends and family.  This allows me to get past one of the biggest obstacles older facing users of social media, not wanting to share our life with strangers.  It also helps be stay more productive, I know what hat I am wearing and can remain focused on the task at hand.   I also can switch that hat quickly.

When Do We Jump In (to social media)?

Speaking with a friend over the long holiday weekend, he, like many, was trying to decide if his company should “jump in” to social media.  They are a real estate service provider and currently get over 70% of their inquiries from SEO and SEM with the remaining 30% coming from referrals. One should note, they are doing very well in the current environment and a growing.

My friend was legitimately worried about the two key questions we all ask:

1. Is there a real ROI?
2. How much time is it going to take?

He questioned whether he would see any incremental business and whether such a time and monetary investment might not be better served in another area.

I asked him if anyone was talking about his company on the web?  Are there reviews of his service, mentions in blogs,  associations beginning to rank providers?  If the answer is yes, then he needs to move fast.  Although he can not control the conversation, if he is absent, he has not ability to influence or learn from the conversation.

My basic advice was to begin.  Maybe a simple blog, or maybe a Facebook group or fan page, but they need to start, because I was asking the wrong questions, the real questions needed to insert “yet” at the end.  Of course there will be people talking about, reviewing, ranking and otherwise impacting the perception of his company through digital touch points, if they are leading the conversation, one day they will be racing to catch-up.