As you work towards monetizing LinkedIn we’d like to offer some tools to help you work more effectively.

Non-LinkedIn Tools

LinkedIn Presence Scoring Tool
Ever wondered how your LinkedIn efforts compare to the average user.  The Linkulator grades your LinkedIn activity on a scale from 0 to 100, and shows you the average score among those who have graded their profile.  The results also include tips on what you can do to improve your score and presence.

Google Alerts to Track Topics
This isn’t a LinkedIn tool but it can be used to track LinkedIn related information.  Set up a Google Alert to track LinkedIn related topics to keep up to date with changes and information about LinkedIn.

Xobni Email Plugin
This Outlook plugin opens a summary window that displays information on each email sender and how you connect to that person.

LinkedIn Tools:

Outlook Toolbar
The Outlook toolbar is an excellent way to have full-time access to your LinkedIn contacts and information even when you are not on the LinkedIn Web site.  The tool integrates your LinkedIn data with Outlook, provider you instant access to en email sender’s profile.

Browser Toolbars (IE & Firefox)
The LinkedIn Browser Toolbar allows you to directly access LinkedIn, it allows you to search from anywhere, and also get the scoop on inside job connections. With easy one-click access to LinkedIn, you can easily see the LinkedIn profiles of everyone sending you Web mail.

Jobs Insider
The Jobs Insider comes with the LinkedIn Browser toolbar.  With it you can see how you connect into a job listing and see how you are connected to the position.  The tool works with Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, Craigslist, SimplyHired, Dice, or Vault

You can request an introduction to the hiring manager, get your resume to the right person, or find out more about the company

LinkedIn Widgets

Company Insider
Let your users discover how they are connected to companies on your site. You pass a company name and we’ll show how many people the user knows and a few sample names. This widget works great for news sites and blogs, letting readers connect to people at companies you mention. It also works well on jobs sites where job seekers can see who they know at hiring companies. Use it anywhere to inject professional networking into your site.

Profile
Show LinkedIn profiles on your blog, website, or application. The Profile widget shows the public profile of anyone in LinkedIn. Use it to show your own profile on your blog or website. Or use it in your business application to show profiles of people. The Profile widget takes a Public Profile URL and shows the public profile for that person. Your users can then click through to see the full LinkedIn profile page, including how they may be related and communication options.

Share on LinkedIn
Add a Share on LinkedIn link to your website or blog allowing your users to share your content with their LinkedIn connections or networks. This gives your content legs: one user visits your site and can notify literally tens, hundreds, or thousands of others. Works great for news sites, blogs, and other content rich sites.

I would also consider the various LinkedIn applications tools as well.  Down the road I’ll add a post reviewing these but for now you can access them from the LinkedIn site.

Which tools have you found useful?  And what are some LinkedIn tools that I missed that you think everyone should know about?

Most people are familiar with the basic features of LinkedIn such as connecting, groups, answers, applications, etc. There are some cool features that often get missed by the average user. Here we look at five under-utilized tricks you may not be familiar with.

One of the benefits of writing a book (in my case two books which were released on June 1st) is that you reacquaint yourself with some features that are not always top of mind. These five feature won’t make or break your LinkedIn experience but they are useful. Drum roll please…

Add a You Tube Video to Your Profile

You can do this with either Slideshare or Google Presentation. My perspective was that Google Presentation was a little faster, but you should try both to see what works for you.

Here is how you would add a video using Google Presentation:

~Add the Google Presentation application
~Go into Google Docs and create a new presentation
~Click on Insert (top link) and click on Video
~Search for your video on YouTube and choose your video
~Click on File (top link) and choose Rename – rename your presentation
~Go back into Google Presentation from your Profile
~Click on your video and Post to Profile

When the slide show is clicked the video will play.

Create an Email Signature on LinkedIn

You can use LinkedIn’s Email Signature Tool to add a LinkedIn signature to your Outlook (2003, 2002 XP, and 2000), Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Yahoo email accounts.

To create your signature do the following:

1. At the bottom of each LinkedIn page there are three rows of text links. Click on ‘Overview’ at the bottom of your home page in the ‘Tools’ row.

2. Click on the ‘Try it Now’ button in the ‘Email signature’ area at the bottom of the ‘LinkedIn Tools Overview’ page.

Once you fill in the information you would like to include click the text link “Click here for instructions”. This will open up a pop up window with the html code and instructions.

Customize your Search Views

When you conduct a people search or a Group member search you get a list of the results. At the top is a drop down to choose how to view the results. You can choose Basic, Extended, or Create a New View. Choosing the New View opens a pop up window that allows you to include what you would like in your view.

This is a Premium feature that is available for a time to all types of accounts. Use it while you can and don’t be surprised if one day it disappears if you have a free account. LinkedIn wants to suck you in and once enough people use it, it will become a carrot to get you to upgrade to a paid account

Have new questions emailed to you based on a topic

Track topics based on keywords and categories in LinkedIn Answers to review and respond to questions posed by other LinkedIn members. When you look at a category on the right side at the bottom of the Browse box is a text link to “Subscribe to new questions in” whichever category you are currently viewing.

Add Personal Contact Information to your profile

At the bottom of your Profile Edit page is a space to include the following information:

~Phone number
~Instant Messaging ID
~Address
~Birthday
~Marital Status – do I see an eHarmony tie in coming down the road?

There a lot more relevant information that LinkedIn should allow you to share so let’s hope they expand this down the road.

I look forward to your comments and connecting with you! If you need help with your social media strategies or tactics feel free to visit our website or give us a call. SONARconnects helps businesses leverage social media to create communities, build trust and connect with their target markets.

Also, I would like to thank Sean Nelson from SONARconnects for his time, energy and input on this post!

I often write about things you should do on LinkedIn to maximize your effectiveness. Today we’re going to look at the other side of the equation…the mistakes. The five mistakes listed here are related to your ability to eventually monetize LinkedIn.

1. Not Having a Purpose or Not Understanding Why You Are On LinkedIn
Quite simply if you don’t know the answer to this question then how do you know what actions you should be taking on LinkedIn? There are numerous reasons to be on LinkedIn and you may have several. The actions you take should be done to support your purpose.

My ultimate goal is to grow my business (make money) so I focus on growing my networks and communicating my message as often as possible. Because I know my purpose, have determined what actions support this purpose, and implement my strategy on an ongoing basis, I have been successful in developing new business clients.

Action Steps:

• Write down the top 3 reasons why you are on LinkedIn
• Determine what actions will support each reason

2. Failure to Participate
There are 41 million people on LinkedIn and a large majority does not interact with others on a consistent basis. This is a direct result of mistake number one. Without understanding your purpose you can’t know which actions to take that will produce a positive outcome.

There are only so many hours in a day and people tend to repeat what works. Social media marketing rarely provides quick results. Most often success is built over time only after people get to know you, like you, and trust you. You have to have the patience to continue participating when you’re not seeing the results.

There are no guarantees that your efforts will produce results, but if you do not participate consistently, I guarantee that you will not find success.

I spent almost a year providing value and interacting before I started seeing results.Now I can count on several inquiries each week from potential client’s looking to engage my services.

Action Steps

• Commit to taking action on a weekly basis
• Schedule these activities
• Post them next to your computer or in your electronic calendar

3. Presenting an Incomplete Picture
On LinkedIn people get to know you through being connected, belonging to common groups, the information your share, and your profile. People want to look at your profile and have a clear understanding of who you are and how you might be of service to them.

If you don’t provide enough information for them to know those two pieces they are unlikely to go looking for the information. You need to make sure you have a detailed profile. You need to include a professional photo. You need to have links to your websites, blogs, etc.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to get them to view your profile, you’ve accomplished the hardest part. It would seem a shame to lose them for simply failing to provide enough information.

Action Steps

• Look at 20 profiles to see how others are presenting themselves
• Spend an hour each month working on your profile
• Personalize your profile–add keywords, personalize your public URL, and Change your Web URL’s to the name (go to edit and choose “Other”)
• Look at the LinkedIn application to see which make sense to add

4. Not Sharing Information or Providing Value
Mistake number three is about people getting to know you. Number four is all about getting people to like you. It’s a simple fact: If you provide value to others without asking for something in return people will start to like you.

The quickest way to generate goodwill on LinkedIn is to provide value to others.Directly this might be responding to a connection or introduction request. You can also build goodwill by providing thoughtful responses to questions in Answers and in group discussion posts. Another great way to provide value to others is through writing recommendations for those who have provide great service or assistance to you.

Everything you do on LinkedIn either adds to or subtracts from your online brand so make sure you put some thought into what you say. Participate consistently and you’ll notice that your profile visits increase and people will start interacting with you.

Action steps

• Find at least two connections to introduce each week.
• Answer at least three questions each week
• Identify connections that deserve a recommendation and write it. Try to find at least 15 people to recommend. Make sure these are 15 people that deserve it.If you can’t find 15 now, build this up over time
• Failure to Build Credibility

By addressing the previous four mistakes you will have reached a point where people know and like you. You may have even started to build some credibility. There are six ways that I document to build your credibility. These include:

A. Your Profile: first impressions count.

B. Answers: In number four we addresses answers from the perspective of providing value. This is also a great way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. Whenever you answer a question it is available for anyone on LinkedIn to view. Your Direct connections are also notified that you answered a question on their Home page.

C. Recommendations: Nothing beats having another sing your praises. I have found that my client recommendations have been a huge part of building my online brand.

D. Your connections: Who you are connected to can have an impact. When I seek to connect to others I will often reference a common connection in the invitation.

E. Your Groups: With groups you have something in common with fellow members. I reference common groups in invitation requests as well.

F. Providing Value: This will help others grow to like you but it also is very helpful in building your credibility.

Action Steps

a. Answer at least three questions each week in your field of expertise

b. Try to get 10 recommendations. You can request recommendations but only do so from people you know that you have provided great service or help to. If you don’t have 10, keep providing great service and you’ll get there. When you do, join The “Top Recommended People” group on LinkedIn.

c. Grow your connections based on your connection strategy

d. If you don’t belong to 50 groups find 50 that are relevant and join.

e. Seek out every opportunity to help others.

Wrap Up

There are many other LinkedIn mistakes I could mention including avoiding typos, having multiple accounts, etc. These 5 though are fundamental mistakes that will impact your ability to monetize LinkedIn.

I’m a firm believer that the true value in LinkedIn as a vehicle to add to your bottom line. You may have joined to network, to find a job, or to advance your career…all are great reasons… and all that at the end of the day are about monetization.

It’s OK to be on LinkedIn to make more money. It’s what will keep you coming back and participating, which in the end helps every other person on LinkedIn.

Sean Nelson

I recently was asked to speak at a workshop on LinkedIn by a connection of mine. A week or so prior to the event I received an email from her to use to promote the event. The description headline stopped me in my tracks…”Sean Nelson the King of LinkedIn”

It took me about two seconds to fire off an email telling her to ditch the royal reference ASAP. A lot of people would call me an expert on LinkedIn, its their opinion so they can think or say what they like. I have a different different way of describing what I am. “I’m simply a small business owner that learned how to use LinkedIn and Social networking / media in order to network more efficiently and to drive new business.”

The word “expert” is thrown around way too often these days with little to back up the claim. What does a LinkedIn expert look like? How do you determine that they are an expert? The same goes for “social networking/media expert”.
I was looking at my home page the other day and noticed an updated profile for a connection of mine and someone I’ve known for the last couple of years. Curious about what changed I took a look at his profile and immediately noticed that after years in another field he was now a social media expert.

Now anyone can learn a lot about social media and be seen as an expert or extremely knowledgeable even if they’re not in the marketing or advertising field. I’m a prime example of that. I learned LinkedIn and social networking/media through trial and error trying to drive business for my insurance agency.

In this case the person had attended a couple of my LinkedIn workshops, a few other social media workshops, and was partnering with a company jumping from Google Adwords to social media. It takes more than attending a couple of workshops and working in the industry to be an expert.

So what is an expert and how do you determine if you’re one? Is it valid to claim that you are an expert or does that title have to be conferred upon you by another person? I’m not certain what the official definition is but here are some thoughts about what I think it takes to potentially be considered an expert:

Knowledge:
Without knowledge we’re not even having this discussion. You have to know the subject to claim expertise. But there’s a difference between knowing something and knowing how to use it effectively.

To be an expert you have to know both the strategies of your subject and the tactics to accomplish them. There are many people out there teaching others what LinkedIn is, not as many teaching people how to specifically use it to accomplish specific goals.

Be a Teacher:
Some might disagree with this one, but if you want to be an expert you have to not only know your subject but be able to communicate it to others so that they understand it. One of the interesting parts of conducting workshops is there is often a range of different experience levels in terms of using LinkedIn or social networking/media. Making sure each walks away with value is a challenge that requires understanding the subject from multiple perspectives.

Create not Regurgitate:
An expert is someone who takes the current discussion and advances it a couple of steps further down the road. They don’t simply repeat what they have heard or read. I think if you want to be considered an expert you have to bring a new perspective or approach to the table.

There are many people who are experts at conducting workshops on LinkedIn or social networking/media but they are not LinkedIn or social networking/media expert. You can still learn a lot from these people. Not being an expert isn’t a black mark; unless you’re not and you claim you are.

Put a Target on Your Back:
The final piece of the puzzle is that a LinkedIn or social networking/media expert needs to do is to publish their ideas for review, discussion, and disagreement. This might be done through a book, a blog, or other media. The key is that they are staking a claim and giving others an opportunity to dissect their ideas.

Wrap Up
So back to the original question…”What is a LinkedIn or Social Networking/Media expert?” Who cares. It’s not about what you say you are it’s about those who have relied upon your information and expertise say.

To some I might be an expert. To others not. My perspective is that I’m simply a small business person that began learning to use social networking/media to make money. What I’ve been able to learn simply now is a knowledge base to help other’s do the same.

In boxing, Ali was an expert and one of, if not the greatest. How would you define a Social Networking/Media expert?
SONARconnects is a full service advertising and marketing agency. We help our client’s by showing them how to develop strategies and tactics to build communities of people, communicate their message, and monetize their social networking/media presence. Our client’s includeLenny’s Sub Shop, Copeland’s New Orleans Style Restaurant (ATL), Action Business Coaching (ATL), Aussie Pet Mobile (ATL), The Frederick Group, and MyCustomDay.

If you’re struggling to understand how to use social networking/media to build brand awareness and drive new business call us and join the conversation or visit our site: sonarconnects

Sean Nelson

PRESS RELEASE

Alpharetta, Ga.,—SONARconnects announced today it was chosen to be the social media agency of record for the Lenny’s Sub Shop franchises. SONARconnects will develop, execute and leverage the social media strategy for the 160+ restaurant franchises nationwide, including writing and posting blogs, developing and distributing tweets, and managing the company’s Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

“SONARconnects has a heavily-referred track record of success in the social media realm,” said Holly Baker, director of marketing, advertising and public relations at Lenny’s Franchisor. “Lenny’s Sub Shop continually strives to exceed our guests’ expectations, and SONARconnects will enable us to reach them in a rapid, highly-effective and cutting edge manner.”

While the basics of selling remain the foundation for SONARconnects’ advertising and marketing efforts, the organization has cornered the social media market with a strategic format for turning marketing tactics into dollars. SONARconnects creates content for clients and helps them build trust and communities within their target markets. These efforts are monetized when the content is distributed through social media outlets.

“Our diverse client base that ranges from hospitals and medical personnel to restaurants to lawyers demonstrates our ability to leverage our social media strategy into almost any industry,” said Scott Dunn, president at SONARconnects. “Our expertise at incorporating traditional communications tools into this new world of social media gives our clients a leg up when it comes to building their brands and increasing visibility.”

About SONARConnects
SONARconnects is a total communications agency offering traditional advertising and marketing services, social media marketing and social media training. The organization prides itself at being the expert in every phase of the new marketing scene. The basics of selling are still the company’s foundation, but its knowledge of the new Social Media sets it apart. Blogs, micro-blogging, pod casts and video can help clients connect and build relationships with their customers. For more information, visit SONARconnects.

About Lenny’s Sub Shops
Since the beginning, Lenny’s commitment to quality and attention to detail has gone into every restaurant and sub sandwich. This dedication has helped Lenny’s to become one of the fastest growing sub sandwich chains in the country. Today, Lenny’s Sub Shop continues to expand throughout the United States by offering franchise opportunities. Authentic Philly Cheesesteaks & The Deli Fresh Experience™ are reasons why our loyal guests say they prefer a Lenny’s sub hands down to our national competition. Why? Lenny’s puts back what has been missing in the sub sandwich business—More Food, More Taste, More Personality!®   Lenny’s Sub Shop

Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to speak on Social Media and even been fortunate enough to help clients leverage it and make money. Anyone who has been in the field for a few years has seen social media go from a “No way this will work in business, my kid uses it” to a legitimate sales tool that generated three million dollars in sales.

Yes, we do live in exciting times!  Media companies are merging, magazines are closing and the newspaper industry is in a fight for their life.  Do I believe social media is the end all be all?  In a word…NO!  Do I think it is another way to connect with millions and millions of people who are either your target market or are your customers?  Yes, I do.

If you have ever been to a networking function you know exactly what I am talking about. At a typical function, you can meet anywhere from 20 to 50 people through the course of the event.  Not bad for a few hours of work and out of those contacts you may or may not find someone interested in your products or services. Note I said interested in your products or services.  Your company still has to add this prospect to your sales funnel and work through your individual sales process.

Using social media is really like going to a networking event that is on steroids.  Think about it.  With social media you can connect with thousands or hundreds of thousands of people.  The only limits you have are the limits to the number of people in the space.  Like networking in person, there are still “best practices” to networking in the social media spaces.  As is the case in any group, you can quickly alienate yourself in the social media spaces as easily as you can face-to-face.

The easiest way to avoid being ostracized in the social media world is have a strategy.  Yes, a strategy.  You have a twitter account, a Facebook account and a LinkedIn account, so how are you using them to connect with your target market?  Better yet, why does your target market want to connect with you in these spaces?  This is where strategy comes heavily in to play.  Next, you need to have sound tactics.  What message are you putting out and should it change depending upon the social media space?

Below you will find a chart (developed by our own Sean Nelson) that SONARconnects uses when we discuss social media with our clients.

I look forward to your comments and hearing how you are using social media in your business.

How is your company using social media to connect and monetize?

I speak one language. I did learn a few word of Latin in my freshman year of college. And growing up in New Orleans and spending time in Lafayette, La I learned a few choice words in Cajun French. But for the record I claim just the one.

I don’t know a single shortened word of Text (as in to txt). No desire to learn the first. But Twitter is simple enough that even I can figure it out. For those of you still working on speaking the native language of Twitinese, I offer this basic primer course.

Tweet
A tweet is simply a statement, message, or string of words composed of a 140 or less characters. It’s a slightly elongated headline, but like a headline, the more interesting the tweet the more likely someone will react and take action with it.

@username
This is your handle on LinkedIn. I’m old enough to remember when CB radio’s were the hot thing (Think Smokey and the Bandit) and every trucker and some other interesting people had creative handles. “That’s a big 10-4 Big Momma, I’ll catch you on the flip flop”. CB’s were the Texting of the 70’s.

Want to send a tweet to someone use their handle. Respond to a tweet and it adds the @ of the person you are replying to.

Unfortunately there’s a downside too. @’s done solely for the purpose of getting your marketing message are @ssinine. There enough to make me unfollow someone. If your message can’t gain traction in a regular tweet what makes anyone think it will do better by adding my @seanenelson.

Direct Message or DM
A good idea, that isn’t much use if you have a couple of hundred followers. When I first started on Twitter I tried to look at and reply to direct messages. Now the only time I do is when I’m waiting for an oil change and have nothing better to do with my iPhone.

Automated replies when you follow someone pretty much killed DM. If you want to send someone a message you’ll have better luck putting a message in a bottle than sending a DM on Twitter.

I speak one language. I did learn a few words of Latin in my freshman year of college. And growing up in New Orleans and spending time in Lafayette, La I learned a few choice words in Cajun French. But for the record I claim just the one.

I don’t know a single shortened word of Text (as in to txt). No desire to learn the first. But Twitter is simple enough that even I can figure it out. For those of you still working on speaking the native language of Twittinese, I offer this basic primer course.

Favorite
This is Twitter’s bookmark function. If you want to save a tweet to reference at a later time simply highlight the tweet and click on the star to the right. Now you can reference a past tweet. It’s also a great way to quickly find a profile.

Retweet or RT
Gold. Money. Bullseye. Retweets are one of my favorite parts of Twitter. When I write a new blog post I can somewhat judge it’s effectiveness by the number of Retweets. This is a great way to share information and recognize someone for putting good tweets out there. The viral nature of Twitter rewards interesting tweeters

Hashtag (#)
This is the Dewey Decimal system on LinkedIn. When you tweet there isn’t a category that you assign to your tweet. So if you want your tweets to be viewable based on specific searches use a hashtag.

I try to keep up with tweets about LinkedIn. At least once a day I search the term LinkedIn. I also add the #LinkedIn hashtag when I release a new LinkedIn related blog post.

TweetUp
An excuse to hit the bar on the way home from work. A TweetUp is simply a meeting of folks that see an announcement and show up at the designated location to network and share a beer .

Tiny URL
This is simply a service that allows you to shorten a URL so that you have more characters to convey your message. I’ve seen URL’s out there that wouldn’t fit on Twitter without a trim. There are several different services that will create these shortened URL’s.

Spam
The universal word for garbage. It means the same thing here as elsewhere. Another good definition of spam is “an ineffective marketing message that actually decreases your brand value and results in being unfollowed”.

That’s the basics. Learning to speak Twitinese is easier than learning Pig Latin. Now that you can speak the language fluently get busy building your community, communicating your message, and interacting in 140 characters or less.

I’m sure I’ve missed a word or two so feel free to share.

If you need help learning another language such as LinkedIn”dia”, Facebook”en”, YouTube”ish”, Flickr”oan”, and Blog”istan” call me at (404) 663-3997 or visit the SONARconnects site for more info on how we help our clients become fluent in social media/networking.

Sean Nelson

Gone are the days of idle teens and all night web-dwellers posting petty comments alongside relevant articles. Blogging is a sensation that businesses turn to as a method of smart, relevant, and budget-friendly advertising in a careful attempt to navigate their growth and survival. Today’s savvy business owners use blogging as a method of communicating carefully planned and enticing information that is designed to reel in customers.

A shop may communicate a new product, a restaurant–live band night, a bookstore–book signings. Professionals, too, can use blogs to establish credibility or relevancy among their consumer base. Doctors may use it to communicate useful information to their practice such as medical opinions concerning vaccination and autism, or to communicate timely information such as symptoms that should prompt a medical visit when the Swine Flu was spreading throughout the U.S.

But effective blogging takes time, a keen sense of business, and an intuitive approach to what customers need to hear. Hiring a professional to maintain your blog can do wonders for your business and reputation.

The benefits of maintaining a business blog are:

• Search engines will rank you higher based upon your readership and how recently your content was updated. Higher rankings mean more visitors, resulting in more clients and more dollars.
• You can communicate instantly and effectively with your client base, many of whom will come to rely upon your blogs as their information source.
• Clients can reach you about topics relevant to them, providing feedback they may not offer in person.
• You establish credibility and create a connection with your consumers, showing you are an astute and thoughtful human versus a big, inaccessible corporation.
• The casual nature of blogging allows your company to gain recognition for things that may have no place in mainstream advertising. (I.e., charity work, employee profiles, product reviews, industry advice.)
• Blogging communicates the culture of your organization and builds both trust and authority with your readership.

Blogs should always contain:

1. Relevant Information
2. Accurate Communication
3. Timely News
4. Frequent Updates
5. Proper Grammar and Spelling (limited abbreviations)
6. Text that is Casual and Friendly in Tone

Do you have a business blog?  How are you using it as part of your social media strategy?

Leave a comment and include your business blog and I will add it to my blog roll.

Shelly Kent

Iran couldn’t keep the news out. They blacked out the airwaves, banned reporters, jammed the internet, and crushed heads.

But the new tools of technology—the Social Media—prevailed, and the whole world watched and listened as the Iran Thugocracy was revealed.

The information age is here, and there was nowhere to hide. Twitter, cell phones, Blackberry and all the rest put an unyielding spotlight on the evildoers.

The genie was out of the bottle and the tyrants couldn’t stuff it back. Social Media is a tool for freedom. It gave everybody a voice.

The Iranian people were heard, not just because they protested, but because their message was powerful. The message was not about the election: it was about freedom.

There are lessons here for marketers. First is a new definition of “transparency.” Now the beams you send come right back at you, reflecting your warts. No make-up can hide your blemishes, no spins can deflect your misstatements.

Second, the sounds you utter are amplified, and you’re in an echo chamber.
Marketers aren’t on a stage any more; they’re out in the audience.

And third, no matter how new the media, the message is the key.

Social Media gives people a new voice, and it’s virtually free. Freedom of speech can’t be denied, but there’s no guarantee that anyone will listen, or react. Why should the audience give attention, why should they care? The Iranian people had something powerful, interesting, and universal to say: we are oppressed and we demand our rights.

What is the key benefit that a marketer wants to convey? Why should anyone pay attention and care enough to buy their product? Social Media can make new connections, but by itself can’t deliver new customers. The Iranian protesters had a worthwhile cause to communicate, and they did it. What is so important about our product, and how can the new Social Media connect to new users for us?

George Lemmond

Great news. You woke up this morning and a video produced about your brand has over 760,000 views in a 24 hour period. Twitter is a buzz about your brand, your video is being translated in every language imaginable and your brand has truly gone global. You now know what it means when a video goes viral. Congratulations are in order, right?

Wrong!!! See, the problem is this.  All of the hype about your brand is negative. Yes, you read it right, negative. Neither you nor your ad agency produced the buzz. Instead, a couple of employees with a little bit of time and a $150.00 camera made the video about your brand, posted it on You Tube and the world watched.

Think it can not happen to you and your brand? Do you still think social media is a fad or something your kids do for hours on end? This is exactly what Domino’s thought until it happened to them.

Last week, Donino’s Pizza faced a truly trying time when a video was posted on You Tube showing two employees defacing its food. In a 24 hour period, the video went viral and social media sites were a buzz. With 760,000 views on You Tube, it is enough to make any marketing executive shutter.

Another case in point is Aston Martin.  Someone on Twitter decided to set up an account using their name and started tweeting (sending out messages) as Aston Martin.  To make a long story short, the tweets were not all good.  Aston Martin found out their brand was hijacked and contacted Twitter to have the account shut down.  How many tweets did Aston Martin (the hijacked brand) send out?  Enough that people took notice and objected to the comments.

Bottom line:  Social Media has arrived.  Will it have the same look and feel next month, next year or ten years from now? No, it will not.  Social Media will continue to evolve as we will.  These are exciting times to be in the advertising and marketing world as the industry is being turned on its heel.  Change is inevitable; how you handle it is up to you.

What is your plan to protect your brand?  Do you have a process in place for what to do when your brand comes under fire?  Your brand will come under fire.  Will you be prepared when it does?

Take action today and put together a list of the major social media sites and actively monitor these sites.  Google has some great tools that will help you to do this.  Find out who you need to contact at each of these sites and what the process is to have your hijacked brand removed from the site.  How can you leverage the same sites to help you in your campaign?

It is up to you to protect your brand!