The title  of this post, Work Smart: Mastering Your Social Media Life, is the title of a great article by Gina Trapani, of Lifehacker.com fame, that I just read over at Fast Company. I’ve been thinking about putting together an article like this myself. In fact, I was just talking to a co-worker about how I fuse together Wordpress, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and how I’m looking forward to integrating Google Buzz into the fold.

It’s no simple task coming up with fresh content, doing the postings, cross-posting, etc… and being, basically, a one-man media empire; it takes a heck of a lot of work, and that explains both why so many people start and give up, and why the persistence of doing it is often rewarded with followers, comments, links, etc… in many ways it’s self-regulating. Don’t do it, no love lost… keep it up, and people become interested, you can become a taste maker, or a critical voice.

Having a good social media workflow in place allows you to get more bang for your, content, buck by getting the message to more people right away. So instead of just posting and hoping that something goes viral, or you’ll be found in organic Google searches, you’re taking the message to the people. Some might forward it, some might not read it, some might not care at all, some might really enjoy it, but either way it’s out there, and getting the message out there is what it’s all about. We can only take it that far. After that it’s left to go as far as it can on merit and value alone.

I’m going to post Gina’s video here, as well, because it’s a nice addition to reading the post. Enjoy.

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Reading about Gutenberg, movable type, and printing in general always makes me think about just how far we’ve come in the realm of communications and the ability to disseminate information. As many of you know, I’m a letterpress printer, using machines that aren’t much different from the ones Gutenberg himself worked with five hundred, yep, that’s 500! years ago!!!

On the other end of spectrum, though, is the work that I’m lucky enough to do every day in the realm of electronic communications. Read the Wired, This Day In Tech, article, and allow your mind to wander, thinking about, imagining, the world of lead type, and heavy cast iron that was needed to get a message out there. Then think back a bit further to a time of hand scribes, and no dissemination at all except what could be passed word-of-mouth.

It’s kind of hard to imagine especially in a world rapid-fire tweets, Facebook status updates, RSS feeds, and blog posts just like this one, that not too long ago there was no Web, or iPhone, or Blackberry or anything else that permitted such awesome real-time, in the moment, communication. Just sayin’… pretty awesome.

Our struggle now isn’t the media, but finding the attention to dedicate to it all… Exciting stuff.

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Found an interesting article here, called The 11 Rules of Social Media Etiquette at the Digital Labz Web site, and thought that I really should share it.

With social media, or any platform, it’s super important to know the etiquette. Kind of like the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do…” same thing applies with social media. You learn about culture and etiquette from participating, but this site is a good primer.

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I’m constantly trying to grow my circle of “friends” whether it was in the old days on MySpace, where I mostly focused on promoting my music, or whether it’s Facebook, where I just want to be in contact with like minds and some not so alike for a different worldview. In either case, it’s not so much about people you’re actually friends with, but following interesting people, seeing what they have to say, and what kinds of interesting things they’re posting. MySpace never perfected this, though, they’re trying now, but their ship has sailed, whereas Facebook has mastered that. Which brings me to something I always find amusing.

As any avid Facebook user knows, Facebook is constantly trying to get you to grow your sphere of “friend”ship by showing you “friend” recommendations on the sidebar. Often times these are people I don’t know, but I’m willing to get to know them because Facebook’s “friend” algorithm says I should…. Ok… but implicit in that is that these folks might do nothing but post about dinners, bowel movements, and various other aspects of daily minutiae that just makes me want to un”friend” them. BUT, and this is what I’ve learned about Facebook, sometimes, you’ll be amazed by what folks can find and post that might not have otherwise found, or seen for yourself had they not posted it.

I’ve come to call this ambient information. Ambient information, in the case of Facebook, is information you wouldn’t have gotten had you not been there participating, in this case as a “friend”.

What brought this up for me was an email I received through Facebook. It was a user that I had “friended” and they wanted to know who I was because they didn’t recognize or know me by name. I get these emails infrequently, but frequently enough for me to wonder about them. These Facebook users, sadly, don’t get what social media is about. I would submit that they’re probably one of the early Facebook users, from a time when Facebook was more exclusive, and less inclusive. Social media is about inclusion, from folks you know intimately, to friends of friends of friends to people you don’t know, but might like too.

There’s nothing private or secure about Facebook, no matter how carefully you choose your friends. What you put out there, you put out there for the world, and rightfully so, that’s the point, that’s why it’s called publishing. Therefore, it’s important that you rely on yourself to make good judgment calls about what you’re posting and not rely on a for-profit software system to be your personal filter.

Anyway, my points are kind of mushy today, but what it comes down to is “friend” people, and use care when publishing information about yourself and your life don’t rely on Facebook, MySpace, or whatever comes next to do it for you!

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For entrepreneur’s, small business owners, and self-starters of any kind I would say that you should get started using social media. In fact, this should have been the first post in the Social Media Take Away series, but hey I’m improvising and making things up as I go here…

What is social media?

Social media is any web tools that allows groups to generate content and engage in peer-to-peer conversations and exchange of content (examples are YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc…)

Social media is particularly valuable for entrepreneur’s, small business owners, and self-starters in-general, I’m thinking artists – painters, musicians and the like, because it gives them low cost, high value, far reaching exposure for whatever they’re doing. As I write more about the social media value, I’ll cover some of these. For starters, I would say see this post on Twitter or items tagged with social media on this blog. Though, I’ll be covering stuff more in-depth, and high level, alike as I develop this feature of the blog.

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I found the PR News Digital PR Next Practices Summit to be highly informative. It was a good chance to brush up on theories of social media in application, but it was also good to see some different things that people were doing. For me, though, there were a couple really great stand out presentations. The first one that really stuck out for me was:

Social Media Relations: Getting Positive Coverage in the Conversational Age, which featured the folks below, with their names being links to their respective presentations. This one was great:

Johna Burke (@gojohnab)
Vice President
BurrellesLuce

Julie Crabill (@julzie)
VP, Consumer Lifestyle Practices
Shift Communications

Monte Lutz (montelutz)
SVP of Digital Public Affiars
Edelman

The next one that I thought was really great, and I would say, possibly the best one, because the presenter, Paula Berg, was a great presenter, with a lot of enthusiasm and a real sense of humor about what she’s doing, was YouTube and Other Video Tactics to Advance Your PR:

Paula Berg (@PaulaBerg)
Manager of Emerging Media
Southwest Airlines

Here are some highlights from PR News Digital PR Next Practices Summit as posted on Twitter by attendees:

@montelutz #prnsummit – reporters are setting up spam filters for phrases like “great story idea” to weed out bad pitches –> @gojohnab

@gojohnab #prnsummit @julzie SM release preso old releases no longer applicable too much marketing speak not enough community and conversation

@cericwright @julzie says your brand belongs to the community at large #prnsummit

@montelutz “your brand’s already been hijacked. it doesn’t belong to you. it belongs to the community” #prnsummit ht @julzie

@nduhoski Check out Microsoft, Cisco, Ford for good social media newsroom site examples. #prnsummit

@nduhoski Google is as much a reputation engine as it is a search engine. #prnsummit

@nduhoski RT @DenverPRguy Your brand has been hijacked already. Its not owned by you but by the community. Be part of the community’s convo #prnsummit

@nduhoski When it comes to SM Best Practices: Beg, Borrow & Steal, then give back, credit. #prnsummit

@FlightpathNY Coke did not start their facebook page, even now they co-manage it with fans of the brand #prnsummit

@Rat_Race Lots of talk about engaging employees as brand advocates. Wonder how a work life balance fits in… Is there a balance? #prnsummit

@julzie @paullyoung “hits: how idiots track success” #prnsummit

@DenverPRguy Social Media users are 83% more likely to be brand loyal than non-users (from Paull Young, Converseon at #prnsummit)

@FlightpathNY Relationships with community members is the most critcal element & the most difficult to measure. Transparency remains paramount #prnsummit

@kdpaine RT @DenverPRguy: Relationships are what makes SM successful. UR measurement plan should track what those relationships look like. #prnsummit

@paullyoung says that the most powerful analytics tool is the human brain, use common sense #prnsummit

@mtkiefer @leeodden “if content can be searched on, it can be optimized” #prnsummit

@MerrittPR Incorperate links within online content and don’t have link read: click here but rather imbed within content of release or copy #prnsummit

@DenverPRguy Amen. “One of the biggest dangers of social media is not getting involved.” #prnsummit

@gojohnab Good #CEO ’s recognize smart people no matter what level in the organization and will engage when appropriate #prnsummit

@gojohnab: #prnsummit Matthias Preschern: Content is king. Participate by linking in vs. Trying to build communities on your own

@MerrittPR Why does the blogosphere matter? B/c 71% of all journos read blogs for content #prnsummit

@MerrittPR Engage the blogosphere BEFORE, during and after a crisis! #prnsummit

@DallasLawrence Great comment by Southwest at #prnsummit – no link between quality of video and views. In other words, content and authenticity rules

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I talk to a lot of people about Twitter. I was a serious non-believer in Twitter, for a long time. I registered an account not long after they opened up shop, and I just didn’t get it. I mean, I got it, but the idea of micro-blogging, and “What are you doing now?” seemed to be creepy and narcissistic, actually I still feel that way, but I have found value in it.

It’s not that I care so much about what somebody just ate for breakfast, or that they’re stuck in traffic, or “so excited for the weekend!” which may have some value among groups of Twitter users, but next to none for the general Twitter pool. However, it’s the quick blurbs of information with links to articles I’m interested in, interviews, and other information that has really pulled me into being a user.

The take away: If you’re looking for articles, information, breaking news and the like, I would say that Twitter has a lot of value. I would also say that if you tweet about your work, your interests, etc… and it caters to the sort of PR and tech folks that are on Twitter then they might get the message, and you might be able to build interest in what you’re doing locally; eventually making real-world, physical contacts.

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It used to be that you would find special niche businesses with an exceptional online presence. This was especially true with record labels, niche book publishers, used book sellers, such as Powell’s and a variety of other businesses that found great growth opportunity through the interconnectedness of the Web when they couldn’t find sustainable means in their respective locale. However, things have begun to shift in recent years as energy and sustainability issues have become more and more of an issue.

Scientists, universities, and businesses alike are all investigating sustainable means for producing energy and/or just making less expensive and less environmentally toxic means of transport. However, on all accounts we’re a long way from the energy silver bullet. What’s happened because of this is that local has become the new exotic. As we move towards this emphasis on local goods and services, including locally grown food, locally made goods, local entertainment, stay-cations and the like, small business is faced with huge opportunity on the Web.

Historically only a precious small percentage of small, local, businesses have bothered with the most basic Web presence. The thing is as more and more folks are using iPhones, Blackberries, Twitter, Facebook, and Google to find family restaurants rather than national franchises, and small boutiques over big-box stores, or just trying to find something unique and different in their locale they’re turning to the Web. More and more, I’m telling small business owners and would-be small business owners to get their company online before you worry about the Yellow Pages and the like. Even a basic, professionally done Web presence is better than no Web presence at all, especially if you’re doing something truly local and truly unique to your community.

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Quote that came to my phone today, from my friend Steven Cohen:

“Never hope more than you work.”

Nice truth…

Thanks Steven!

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I’ll be doing a live re-interpretation of Huronic Minor, Images and The Phantom Light featuring saxophonist Michael Teager, Friday September 11th from 6-9:30 pm at SCENE Metrospace in East Lansing, as part of the 3 Cities in 3D opening – Flyer is here. SCENE Metrospace is located at 110 Charles Street in East Lansing, Michigan. There’s a map here.

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