Measuring Your Social Media Influence

I admit, I'm more of a doer than a measurer, when it comes to social media.

And the reason is my original intent.

I started blogging as a way to express myself, share some stuff and a blog was a good way to do that.

I started using Twitter nearly 3 years ago as a communication tool.

Same thing with Facebook.

LinkedIn was like an online resume until I started posting daily updates.

None of these intentions were designed to be famous and influential.

And yet, somehow due to my level of activity, quality of content, interaction with others, and my sense of humor, I started getting a following online.

Basically, I'm the same person online as I am face to face.

Recently I was invited by Lorraine Ball, the owner of RoundPeg to participate in a discussion on Klout, which has become the prime measurement of your social media influence.

I was honored to be one of the 5 participants which also included Allison Carter of RoundPeg, Randy Clark of TKO Graphix, Kevin Mullett, my co-worker at Cirrus ABS, myself, Scott Howard and our host Lorraine. The 30 minute live program aired on BlogTalkRadio and I've included the edited version below.


If you haven't registered with Klout yet, please click here.

While Klout is one way to measure, especially if you dig into the details of what it says about you and not just the big overall number, I prefer how my social media influence carries into offline relationships.

I have met dozens of wonderful people thru Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and my blogs and there have been several life changing moments due to those relationships.

A recent example was being invited to promote the 2011 Fort Wayne Museum of Art Trolley Tour along with a few others who were hand picked to be influential in Fort Wayne Social Media, which I'll gladly do on my Really? website soon.

That's how I measure, how about you?

Listen to the podcast here:

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ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

Being Social Online & Offline

Welcome to the 2nd half of 2011!

So far I have posted 130 times on this site about my Social Media Adventure and I'm looking forward to continuing on Monday.

Yes, Monday is a holiday in America, but since this site has been getting visitors from around the globe, I'll continue my tradition of posting 5 days a week at noon Eastern time.

Today I want to encourage you to take your "social self" offline and also connect face to face.

I've been doing a lot of that this week, and I've done a lot of it in the past too.

Tuesday morning, I attended our local Social Media Breakfast Fort Wayne.

Wednesday I woke up extra early for a 2 hour drive to Indianapolis to attend the Social Media Breakfast Indy, then we did several more face to face meetings with Social Media folks.

Thursday I started my morning another breakfast meeting, this time it was with the Summit City BNI group, and ended up back in Indianapolis meeting other Social Media friends, including some face to face for the first time.

Next week, I will be attending a couple of lunches with the Advertising Federation of Fort Wayne, and doing another breakfast meeting are all planned in a short 4 day work week.

Last Sunday, I was honored to be included on the list of 101 Community Connectors after being one of 241 locals who were nominated.

So, while it may be fun to connect online, and it may be profitable to connect online, connect face to face too.

Enjoy your weekend!



ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS. You can contact him here:

Social Media is Mainstream

Friday I posted a story about the Online Revolution extends beyond Social Media. Click here to read more.

But Social Media continues to explode as I'm sure you'll agree after watching this 4 minute video:

Digging Deeper

A story from Mediapost today highlights a problem with using statistics only to measure success.

I've been saying this for years, make that decades, since my early days in the marketing/advertising business in Detroit.

You need to dig deeper.

Not just numbers, but the why's and how's and who's.

The Stories behind the raw numbers is the peoples stories.

These are the stories that will help you connect with your clients, customers and friends.

This is the basis of Social Media, not announcing 10% off deals on your Facebook page.

Read more:

What Your Customers Aren't Telling You In Social Media by Alan Zorfas

The emergence of social media has greatly changed social behavior. Instead of pulling the manager of a restaurant aside after a bad meal, people now write one-star reviews on Yelp; instead of asking a friend a question in person, people now outsource their queries to Quora; and instead of providing feedback on a product or experience, people are turning to Facebook and Twitter to divulge what's on their minds.

Social media has also changed the face of marketing forever, but capturing the "conversation" isn't quite the Holy Grail of consumer intelligence. Discovering the motivations on "why" consumers "like" you on Facebook, tweet about your brand or forward information about your products to friends is what marketers should be striving to understand. Simply put, marketing needs to be driven by the connections that brands establish with consumers. These connections aren't the physical interactions that occur between consumers and their brands, nor are they the likes and dislikes about product features, or even the so-called "levels of engagement" used to observe and frame online behavior.

Building a brighter future. Fitting in with co-workers. Becoming a more interesting person. Consumer connection occurs when an individual consumer emotionally "connects" with your brand as a means to realize these ends. Combined with the right rational messages about your brand and its products, consumers can connect to your brand beyond the Web 2.0 level. These valuable connections drive steep increases in purchase, loyalty and advocacy, which is what every brand tries to achieve.

Connection. The Missing Link

Unfortunately, what's measured by social media as well as traditional market research largely misses the upside of consumer connection. And without tangible, data-driven intelligence on connection, marketers and their agencies will be more reluctant to go out on a limb to recommend emotionally driven creative ideas.

For example, satisfaction has been a measure of customer loyalty for decades, but it alone doesn't explain why a customer becomes a brand advocate. Nor does it really address what may attract a prospective customer to the brand in the first place. New consumer connection data from Motista illustrates this.

We recently analyzed the levels of connection for social media moms and non-social media moms in two disparate categories: banking and eReaders. We looked beyond what moms were saying in social media to focus on what was truly motivating them to advocate for their eReader or bank. We found that moms who feel emotionally connected to their eReaders and banks are far more likely to advocate for their brands in social media, recommend their brands directly to friends, be more loyal and purchase additional products.

While connected and non-connected moms both give their brands almost identical scores on satisfaction, features and quality, connected eReader moms are significantly more likely to feel that their eReader brand helps them be closer to loved ones, express who they want to be and fit in with friends. The same kind of emotional connection was revealed in the banking study with all segments and categories across the spectrum.

Can't You Draw the Same Conclusions about Connection from Social Media?

A lot has been riding on social media and sentiment analysis to derive insight into consumers, because knowing what consumers are saying about your products is, of course, important. However, consumers do not readily reveal their true and personal motivations in this forum.

People do not always admit how a product really makes them feel about life or themselves, and unconscious motivations that lie beneath the surface just don't come across naturally in social media conversation. A consumer may tweet: "I love my new white iPhone 4," but they may not divulge that the reason behind the purchase was because it made them feel cool and hip.

Facebook may be a great way for people to express themselves and share "what's on your mind?" However, marketers working on campaigns need to know what's in the consumer's heart -- what's really motivating them to act in the first place? This deeper "why" is how marketers can put a real jolt into their marketing results and take full advantage of social media's power.

4 Questions to Ask Yourself

One of the things I've noticed is that I have a huge variety of friends.

They have come from different places.

Since I moved back to my home town in 1998, I made a few from the places I have worked, but even more from reaching out due to my involvement in a variety of "things".

8 years ago, I returned to the advertising world as an advertising sales guy for a group of radio stations and that led to my meeting lots of business owners.

I also was really active in some local in-person networking groups, involved with a few non-profits and sit on a board or two. (As in Board of Directors, not a piece of wood!)

What does this have to do with Social Media?

I'll let Heather Schoegler explain in her recent article on her personal website. By the way, I don't recall how I originally met Heather, but we keep bumping into each other even though she is closer in age to my kids...

Online, Offline. It doesn’t really matter.

I’ve observed some conversations online lately centered around what social media channels/tools to use, how to use them, when to use them, etc. I don’t really think it’s that difficult. Here’s why…

Are you concerned about being “successful” at social media? (First, you need to define success for yourself.) I don’t think you should be. Ask yourself a few questions before you become concerned:

• Are you good at offline relationships?
• Do you have a wide circle of friends?
• Are you a connector for those in your network?
• Is your network diverse in industry, age, gender, etc.?

If you can answer yes to any (better yet, all) of these questions, you’ll be successful with relationships online. After all, that is what social media is at its core - relationships.

So, if you can do relationships offline and online, you should behave online as you would offline. Don’t overlook this simple point. For some reason, people get stuck here and it can hinder their success.

Say things online that you would say offline. And not the reverse. You may feel a sense of liberation and/or anonymity when online. Don’t. You are actually more accountable for information that is placed online. Don’t say (or post) something online that you wouldn’t say in public.

Form connections online with those you may connect with offline. Determine how and why you make these connections, but remember that you are in control. You get to choose who you connect with, what you share and how you use the information you exchange.

For example, do you need to be concerned about how and why to use a tool like Foursquare? Not really. Yes, most people do not want to know where you’re eating lunch. So don’t share it. But if you’re interested in promoting local business, do share it. You get to opt in to information sharing but of course you don’t have to share. You also don’t have to connect with any and every one on Foursquare. Remember, if we behave online as we behave offline, why would you “friend” someone on Foursquare that you wouldn’t meet in person at the location or even worse, someone that you’ve never met in real life.

What’s the old adage….keep it simple stupid. I’m not calling anyone stupid, but let’s try to keep it simple. Behave online as you would offline. And if offline sharing of information and growing your network are not currently part of your life, you may find it a struggle to grow relationships online. And that may be ok. It’s all about how you define success.

Read more about Heather on her site by clicking here: http://hschoegler.tumblr.com/

Who are You, Where are You?

This question includes social media and goes beyond social media too.

When I get a friend or follow type of request on Facebook, Twitter, 4 Square or any of the other social media channels I use, I don't auto-add, I want to know who these people are.

I check their profile, I want to know if they are local, what they do, why they want to connect and in some cases it is for classification purposes.

(Everyone I follow back on Twitter, goes on a list or two.)

So this morning I asked on Twitter:

ScLoHo Scott Howard

Should a company website include what city they are located in? Pros/Cons... What Do U Think?

Almost instantly I got some responses. Here are a few:

bodaciousgirl Heather ツ

Depends on the type of business.

tyler_allen Tyler Allen

absolutely. i like to know who i'm dealing w/, where they are (to judge shipping, etc) & to know they have a "home base" not to mention it shows pride in being local to their community.

jstalter Justin Stalter

I would say it depends on the industry and target market.

bethannbud Bethann Buddenbaum

Contact info should always be on a website. Is the question about the city being featured prominently? If so, depends on target.

patmcgraw patmcgraw

physical location means 'real' 4 many

jonathantullos
To me it makes sense to let people know where you are, especially of the co doesn't do e-commerce.

LAzuber Lauren Zuber

Yes. Not including location would look sketchy to me.

JeanBansemer Jean Bansemer

One con to consider is your city, state, or country's stereotype- especially if your audience is larger than the immediate area.

All of these are good answers. No one is right or wrong, except this one which pretty much sums it up:

ajuliano Anthony Juliano

This is always the answer: only if it's relevant to audience. Most of the time it will be, if only for contact info, but not always.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I want to know as much as possible about someone before I decided to connect with them. And as Anthony said, "if it's relevant to audience."

I am revealing information about myself on these social media channels. I am also deciding if I should follow back.

On my own home page, I give my direct phone number. Some folks warned me against that saying it was crazy, but I've challenged my own clients to forward their business lines to a cell phone for 24 hour emergency customer service. Rarely do I get weird calls and a few times I have been able to take care of a client because they could reach me on the weekend.

One more thought on the matter:

fredcannon Fred Cannon

I think if you're a brick and mortar business, yes. Internet based, less so-do I really care where amazon.com is physically located?

Thanks Fred, that was where I was beginning to go with my thinking too.

If giving a physical location is required to make a business real, then I have plenty of examples to prove that theory wrong which mirrors Fred's question.

Where is You Tube?

Where is Twitter?

Where is Google?

Where is 4 Square?

Where is Angies List?

(answers below)

Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

You Tube: 1000 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA, 94401 Twitter: 795 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Google: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043

4Square: Somewhere in New York City

Angies List: 1030 E. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46202

Social Spam is Real..

Spam.

The junk mail of email has gone social.

I hope you are not falling victim to it,

But I really hope you are not contributing to it.

When the mail man delivers junk mail to your home or office, you probably glance at it and then throw it away.

Email can filter most of the spam that is sent to your inbox. I receive about 900 spam emails per week, which I glance at, (but don't open) and simply delete it. It's the price we are willing to pay for a free service.

But Social Spam is a little different.

With Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and all the other social channels, you get to select who to follow, friend, like and subscribe to.

There are a few people that I used to follow on Facebook that I learned to ignore or unfriend because they were simply pushing stuff at me to buy, instead of engaging me.

If you are simply pushing your products or services without engaging or conversing you are not being social.

You are Spam.

Avoid These Social Media Marketing Mistakes

It can be very difficult for an established company to tap into the online and social media world if they don't understand:

1. What the strengths of their company are according to their customers.

2. What the strengths of social media are that they can tap into.

Laura Ries shared this recently:

Social Media is a Tactic not a Strategy

It’s the headline of our times “Brand X Moves to Social Media.” It’s the hottest trend in marketing with executives from the corner offices at Coca-Cola to the front lines at the local barber shop talking up Twitter, Foursquare, Groupon and Facebook.

Since the Great Recession hit, we have been forced to do more with less and what better way to accomplish this than with social media. Compared to traditional advertising, a social media campaign is cheap. But is it effective? It all depends.

After we wrote the 2002 book “The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR” a lot of companies got excited about PR. They ran out to hire PR companies and to launch PR campaigns. This resulted in a lot of lame and ineffective PR campaigns.

Any company can run an advertisement, but with PR there are no guarantees. You can hire an agency, host an event, run a contest, pay a celebrity, launch a website, pitch reporters and bloggers alike and sometimes the media doesn’t cover it, nobody notices it, nobody tells their friends or hits the “like” button on Facebook.

And the same is true with social media campaigns. What is social media anyway? It is an evolutionary development of PR and word-of-mouth marketing. The internet has allowed people to interactively communicate in real-time, 24/7 on a global basis. Both PR and social media are tools but to be effective they need the right brand strategy first. That was the point of our book. We didn't talk about why "doing" PR was good for any brand, we talked about how PR gives new brands credibility and how to develop the right brand strategy to help make a PR campaign effective.

The goal of marketing is to get your brand into the mind of the consumer. To own a word or a category in the mind. Starbucks owns high-end coffee shop. Google owns search. Twitter owns tweets. BMW owns driving.

The first question any company must ask itself is, what does our brand stand for? Unfortunately, that question rarely gets asks. Instead, the focus is on what social media can we get into? Too many companies get PR, social media or advertising campaign all wrong. They forget that the brand strategy should come first and the execution should follow. Doing it in reverse doesn’t work.

A typical example is a headline in today’s NYT “The Tupperware Party Moves to Social Media.” The Tupperware Brands Company has decided to greatly increase its presence in social media like Facebook and Twitter. They will have a Facebook page devoted to the theme “Chain of confidence” and feature women who will be confidence counselors. The company hopes to use social media “to reach out to a younger demographic in a more interesting and dynamic way.” The goal “is to find more disruptive methods to dispel perceptions that we are your mother’s Tupperware,” said Rick Goings chairman and chief executive of Tupperware.

First thing first. What’s a Tupperware? It’s a party your mother bought plastic tubs at. Changing that perception in the mind is going to be difficult. A Facebook page and a few YouTube videos about confidence are unlikely to change that perception at all.

“Chain of Confidence” what the heck is that? Since when do confidence and plastic tubs go together? Sure, I get what they are getting at: Women who work for Tupperware gain confidence and skills. But Tupperware doesn’t own confidence; it owns plastic tubs sold direct.

Broad ideas like confidence and quality aren’t specific enough to be ownable. And even if you want own something like “great customer service,” you don’t do it with a “we love our customers Facebook page.” You do it with a specific and tangible concept like: “Free shipping. Both ways.” The concept that put Zappos in the mind and gave Tony Hsieh something to tweet about.

What Tupperware needs to do first is focus on the idea. What idea can Tupperware own in the mind? They have to start from where they are at and slowly shift that. Plastic tubs save food. People are eating at home more, bringing lunches to work and school more. I would start with that. There is also the idea of saving the environment. Instead of throwing cheap plastic containers away, you buy Tupperware and keep them around a lot longer.

Nothing is going to help overnight. The problems at Tupperware have been brewing for a longtime. And many of these ideas would have been better implemented years ago. Nothing works better than pioneering an idea or movement.

Instead, most brands muddle along and introduce brand extensions like Tupperware stainless-steel pots and pans and rush to do social media not because it makes sense for the brand but because it is the trendy thing to do today.

Marketing isn’t trendy. It’s simple.

Focus. Own a word in the mind. Then decide the tactics.

And if your brand is yesterday’s news, consider the possibility of launching a new brand.

Social media actually works the best for new brands that are (1) focused (2) appeal to a new generation and (3) have news value.

Merging Online with Face to Face

Before the Wii, there was a lot of criticism that video games were creating a fat and lazy generation of social and physically inept kids and young adults.

I've also noticed concerns about social media creating non-social hermits who can only communicate by text, tweet, or updating their Facebook status.

I'm sure there are a few of those around, but my experience has been the opposite.

Last week I took a road trip to Indianapolis, about 120 miles from my home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The purpose?

I wanted to attend a mini-tweetup that was an informal gathering over dinner organized by Randy Clark.

The first time I met Randy face to face we were both panelists for a Social Media Fort Wayne Breakfast and he made the trip to town in blizzard conditions the night before. Randy, Kevin Mullett and I grabbed a late dinner the night before and formed a real traditional friendship.

My travels to Indianapolis last Thursday were in bright, sunny weather. I decided to combine business with pleasure and scheduled some meetings during the day with a couple of clients and future clients.

That evening as the 5 of us gathered and ate fried pickles and other goodies from Scotty's Brewhouse, I was thinking about how Randy was merging the online world with the offline world and keeping it real.

The focus of our conversation was, how can each of us help the others, or as Randy would say, what do you need, how can we (as individuals) help.

Several ideas and thoughts were exchanged.

This was not a bragging or competitive gathering, although for a few minutes we compared Klout scores.

(I found it surprising that others knew my Klout score and theirs and I had no idea what mine was since I had not checked for a few weeks.)

My challenge to you is to use social media to expand your world, not just for money, but for relationships.

I will be taking another trip to Indy next month to hang out with a few more of my twitter friends and make some new ones, and like this trip, I will combine it with some business meetings before hand.

And I also want to introduce you to people I've mentioned in today's update.

First the 5 who met for food and friendship:

Randy Clark. http://twitter.com/randyclarktko/

Allison Carter. http://twitter.com/AllisonLCarter/

Don Kincaid. http://twitter.com/DonKincaid/

Kit Wessendorf. http://twitter.com/KitWessendorf/

and me, Scott Howard. http://twitter.com/ScLoHo/

I also need to mention the place we met, Scotty's Brewhouse, in downtown Indy http://twitter.com/brewhouse

Two others:

Kevin Mullett http://twitter.com/kmullett Kevin has volunteered to keep the Social Media Breakfast Fort Wayne organized and is the one who introduced me to Randy.

The April #SMBFW is tomorrow morning. Click here for info: http://twitter.com/smbfw

And Amy Stark. http://twitter.com/AmyStark/ Amy is one of the first people in Indianapolis that I met through Twitter, and we grabbed lunch and while I was in town last week.

Coming Tuesday, I've got a chart that lists the pros and cons of the most popular social media platforms so you can decide which is best for you and your purposes.

Stop Trying to Sell Me Stuff!

Just a little rant from me and a few, okay make that a lot of others:

I don't want a sales pitch from you EVERY TIME you try and connect with me on Social Media.

It's as annoying as a 2 year old that won't stop asking, "Why?" to everything you say.

There is a line between letting me know what you can offer that I might want to buy, and starting every conversation or interaction with a sales pitch.

If you are using Social Media as a Megaphone shouting to as many as you can get to follow you to buy your stuff, you lose, I lose, and the image and perception of Social Media loses too.

There are much better ways to get me to buy your stuff and it is to let me know what you have to offer and also form a relationship through interaction and interesting content that you share with me and others.

This has always been true in real life, face to face relationships, and is even more true in the cyber world.

Be Genuine.

Your comments are always welcome. MLM invites? No thanks.

Which one are you?

More than likely, you are a combination of a couple of the Social Media personalities as described recently by Brian on his PR 2.0 Blog:

Behaviorgraphics: Discovering the “Me” in Social Media

Posted: 25 Feb 2011 08:53 AM PST

Social media is a deeply personal ecosystem that I lovingly refer to as the EGOsystem. As such, there is a “me” is social media for a reason. It is quite literally a world in which we are at the center of our online experiences, a place where everything and everyone revolves around us.

Placing ourselves in the role of this emerging social consumer for a moment, brands, businesses, and media aren’t sure how to see or reach us directly yet. We’re lured through creative attempts to follow them on Twitter or “Like” them on Facebook. But for the most part in social media, we are faceless consumers brought only to life through avatars, bios and a history of our online activities and connections.

Sometimes we’re part of demographic studies where we’re grouped by age, income, gender, education, etc.. Sometimes, we’re part of psychographic studies where we’re grouped by commonalities, shared interests and passions, and themes. And often, we’re lumped together through keyword mentions or online influence scores. But the real question is, who are we online and what makes us connect, share, and live online? Finding these answers is revealing and hopefully, inspiring.

If ignorance is bliss, awareness is enlightening…

Behaviorgraphics

Last year, I teamed up with my good friends at the JESS3 creative agency run by Jesse Thomas and Leslie Bradshaw to capture the essence of how and why people were “living in public.” The characteristics of online behavior were diverse to say the least. However, I documented recurring traits and organized them into 18 categories.

I’m happy to share that Behaviorgraphics is now available as a free high resdownload and also as a 22 x 28 poster.

Click below for various sizes(free):

1. Presentation/Slide

2. High Resolution

3. Poster

Which one/s are you?

At the center is Benevolence – The unselfish and kindhearted behavior that engenders and promotes recognition and reciprocity, and in doing so, earns the goodwill of those around them. This is the hub of social networking with a purpose, mission, and a genuine intent to grow communities based on trust, vision, and collaboration.

Problem Solvers – One of the most common sources of conversations and updates in social media are questions…people seeking information in the hopes that commenters will respond with resolution or direction.

Commenters – Providing thoughts, opinions, observations, experiences, and sometimes, unfiltered reactions to the information shared online. They are less likely to produce original content, but are compelled to share their views based on the introduction of content by others in and around their social graph.

Researchers – Peer to peer influence is prominent in social networks and researchers rely on their social graphs for information and direction to make qualified decisions. They are also active in championing polls and surveys to truly learn about the thoughts and opinions of those connected to them.

Conversationalists – Participation in conversations through proactive updates seeking responses or direct responses to other content, conversationalists fuel threads within and across networks.

Curators – In the context of behaviorgraphics, curators carry a different role. This group works diligently to find and only share what captivates them as filtered by what they believe will interest their followers.

Producers – Among the more elite group of online participants, their stature is earned by the amount of content they generate within multiple networks.

Broadcasters – Social media is proving to be both an effective broadcast and conversational platform. Broadcasters are mostly one-way communicators who either intentionally or unintentionally push information to followers without injecting conversational aspects into the mix.

Marketers – Profiles dedicated to marketing ideas, products, or services and may or may not include content outside of their portfolio, unless the account is focused on funneling beneficial and value-added solutions to specific audiences regardless of origin.

Socialites – Individuals who have earned varying levels of weblebrity, these new internet famous personae earn recognition and attention in online networks which is increasingly spilling over in real world fame.

Self-promoters – Unlike broadcasters and marketers, self-promoters are unconcealed in their intentions through constant updating of activities, events, and accomplishments.

Egocasters – Contribute to the “ego” in the egosystem and represent the evolution of self-promoters. Through constant promotion and the activities and responses that ensue, promoters graduate to a position of perceived prominence and collective unawareness. What they think and say is what they believe to be the reality for one and for all. They lose touch with perspective as listening gives way to telling…

Observers – Often referred to as inactives, lurkers, or simply consumers, Observers represent the majority of the social Web today, defined by those who read and also share information in the backchannel, including email, and also in the real world.

Social Climbers – Social capital is not only something that is earned in social networking, it is something that is proactively pursued by those whose sole mission is to rise to the top. These individuals intentionally climb ladders on the avatars, profiles, and social capital of others most often misrepresenting their purpose and stature to earn an audience based on disingenuous intentions.

TMI – The things some share in social media continue to blur the line between what’s relegated to inner monologue versus that for sharing with others in public. The state of sharing “Too much information” is dictated by those on the receiving end of the update, not those who publish it.

Spammers – Those accounts and profiles that are created to push messages blindly and without regard for those with whom they come into contact. Often times they’re tied to current events (using trending keywords or hashtags) or targeting influential voices to lure them into clicking through to their desired goal.

Leachers -Not included in the graph, but an important category to recognize as leachers take the good work of others and channel it into their own accounts almost exclusively for the sake of promoting their cause.

Complainers – When we love something, we tell a few people; when something bothers us, we tell everyone. Complainers are often sharing their discontent as a primary ingredient in their social stream. And, as customer service takes to the social web, these complainers are only encouraged to share their experiences to achieve satisfaction and earn recognition for their role as the new social customer.

Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook

Moving from Online to Face to Face

Social Media can create celebrities.

As you share your knowledge, your humor, yourself; you might create a Following.

Some of this Following includes friends that knew you before you were active on Social Media.

Some will include friendships that started online.

Some of this Following will never meet you face to face.

But there will be times when that happens.

Perhaps you are at a Social Media Meet-Up or Tweet-Up.

Maybe you will be asked to give a presentation or sit on a panel discussion.

Other times it will be more spontaneous, as what happened last week with me when I was busy running around town and a couple of friends decided to try and do ScLoHo sightings. Amber (@arecker1704 on Twitter) caught up with me for a couple of minutes on St. Pat's Day and snapped a picture to prove it.




Chris Brogan wrote about this last week with advice on how to be handle being a part of the Following and how to handle having a Following:

Meeting

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 07:19 AM PDT

I get the opportunity to meet people all the time. It’s one of the best parts of my job. Sometimes, I feel really awkward when I’m meeting other people. I figure that I’m doing it wrong quite often. I’ve been thinking about what one might consider doing and not doing when they meet someone for the first time. I’ve failed at some of these moments myself. I get just as guilty at doing some of this at one point or another. Don’t look at this as me telling you how to meet me. This is me telling you what I’m thinking when I’m given the opportunity to meet someone.

There’s one experience that I observe more often than not when meeting people at events, and it’s a split one. On the one hand, people don’t talk enough about their main point enough for someone to get a read. On the other, people talk WAY too much about themselves and scare people off. It’s pretty tricky to figure out the balance, I’m thinking, when meeting folks. I have some thoughts on it.

Air

Often, when people talk to me, they seem to have the sense that they’ll never ever get the chance to talk with me again, so they work on cramming in everything they’ve ever thought to tell me. They speak as if every word gives them air in their lungs. Have you had that experience? It seems like the person is quite literally going to die if they don’t get out all their thoughts?

I think this is more real than not. I talked to a guy once a few months ago, and I think it was probably the first time in years that anyone ever gave him the time of day. It was cathartic, really, listening to him get his autobiography out into the air. Have you had that one happen to you?

Some Do’s and Dont’s

If it’s you who has the chance to talk to someone else, here are some thoughts about the blend of how you can say “just enough” to get your presence across to someone else. I’d love you to agree or disagree in comments or posts.

• Confidence is EVERYTHING. You are good enough. You are important enough. You are worthy. Everyone is just someone. The biggest names in the world that I’ve met (people like Glenda Watson Hyatt, Ed Shahzade, Jon Swanson) have all been regular people when you get down to it.
• Never ask someone to remember your name. That moment when you re-meet someone and you say, “Do you remember me?,” it’s just a chance of putting someone in a bad spot. I’m actually pretty decent at remembering names (kind of supernaturally so at most points). But when I’m meeting others, I lead with my name. It just takes it off the table.
• Lead with the strongest point you hope to make. If you’re going to say, “I’m here to ask about a business partnership,” then start with that. Most people want to start with soft things like the weather, but in most cases, what’s really important gets buried in trivia. Don’t do it. Believe me.
• The backstory is almost never important. I hear so much exposition explaining the main question or point and it takes paragraphs of language to try to warm up to what ends up being one sentence. Here’s the thing. One sentence is usually enough. And at least, it lets the other person ask, “Can you tell me more?”
• Assume neither of you have lots of time. Try to keep the conversation moving and tight. This one is tricky, and you have to read the signs. Is the person you’re speaking to giving you the “I need to move on” signals? Are their shoulders turned away from you? Are they looking around instead of making deep eye contact? There you have it. Smile politely and make your exit.
• Finish with action. Because you’ve kept it short, because you are letting this person go on to the next thing, your goal now is to decide whether there’s some “there” there. If yes, then move on to business cards and next steps. If no, then be clean and wonderful about it. Just say thanks and pleased to meet you, and move on. Believe me, that’s a great way to move on. I’m definitely fond of NOT moving forward more often than not. It’s the better way to figure out your business.
• Business cards are for continuing business. If you’re done talking, exchanging a business card is great only when you have further business to do. Send your message quickly. Within 24 hours is probably the best way. Do you agree?

Your Mileage Will Vary

Okay, first, all you shy people who have been clenching your jaw while reading this, it’s okay. I get it. I know that it’s a lot easier to do this when you’re not shy. Hint: I’m always shy. I just push really hard to NOT be shy when it’s important.

Second, sometimes, things don’t follow a formula. This is a recipe, but you’re making leftovers sometimes. That’s okay. Do what makes sense in the moment.

Finally, I want to re-stress that this isn’t a post about how to meet me. It’s a post filled with thoughts on what works best in meetings. I’m thrilled and honored when you say hi to me at events. It’s the best part of my job. When I get to meet people (like you), the above is what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

Finding Love

Nearly 11 years ago I met my wife via an online matchmaking service. Neither one of us remember which one, but at the time it was considered a novelty.

Not anymore.

Here's some recent numbers regarding what we are finding via Social Media:

Social Media Not All Good All The Time

Results of The Harris Poll of 2,331 adults surveyed online between December 6 and 13, 2010 show that 40% of Americans have received a good suggestion for something to try as a result of their use of social media, 15% say they have made a connection regarding a job opportunity, and 9% say they have found a new apartment or house through their social media use.

Had Positive, Tangible Benefits, From Being Active On Social Media (Base: All Adults; % Of Respondents)
	Yes (Net),	Yes, frequently	Yes, on occasion	No, never	N/A do not use
Received a good suggestion for something to try	40%	7	33	25	35
Made a connection regarding a job opportunity	15	3	12	50	35
Found a new apartment or house	9	3	6	56	35
Source: Harris Poll, January 2011

While 65% of U.S. adults are using social media and say they have received a positive benefit from its use, younger Americans claim positive benefits as a result of their social media use much more often than do older adults. 59% of Echo Boomers (those 18-33) say they have received a positive suggestion for something to try from their activity on social media, compared to 44% of Gen Xers (those 34-45), one third of Baby Boomers (those 46-64) (34%), and just one in five Matures (those 65 and older) (19%). Similarly, one quarter of Echo Boomers have found a job opportunity through social media (24%), while only one in ten Baby Boomers say the same (11%).

Positive, Tangible Benefits, From Being Active On Social Media (All Adults By Age Group; % Saying "Yes, Frequently" Or "Yes, On Occasion")
		Generation
Benefit	Total	Echo Boomers (18-33)	Gen X (34-45)	Baby Boomers (46-64)	Matures (65+)
Received a good suggestion for something to try	40%	59	44	34	19
Made a connection regarding a job opportunity	15	24	19	11	4
Found a new apartment or house	9	17	9	5	2
Source: Harris Poll, January 2011

Despite all of the benefits people are receiving from their social media use, 43% of social media users say they have been offended by posts, comments or pictures they've seen, and 26% say that unintended persons have viewed links or comments they've posted. Only 7% of social media users say they have suffered the consequences of getting in trouble with school or work, or losing a potential job opportunity because of comments or pictures they posted online.

Had Negative Experience As A Result Of Being Active On Social Media (Base: Social Media Users; % of Respondents by Group Saying "Yes, Frequently" Or "Yes, On Occasion")
		Generation				Gender
Offense	Total	Echo Boomers	Gen X	Baby Boomers	Matures	Male	Female
Been offended by posts, comments or pictures I've seen	43%	51	39	43	28	38	48
Unintended persons viewed links I posted or comments I made	26	37	29	17	13	30	22
Got in trouble with school or work because of pictures posted of me online	7	12	9	3	-	10	4
Lost a potential job opportunity because of pictures or posts I've made online	7	11	8	3	-	10	3
Source: Harris Poll, January 2011

Social media networks are increasingly offering privacy settings to combat negative experiences, notes the report. 78% of social media users agree that potentially negative experiences can be prevented through the use of these privacy settings, with three in ten strongly agreeing.

In addition, 71% of social media users are confident that their own privacy settings operate in the way they intend, but only 18% say they are very confident, while 25% say they are not confident. Only 5% of social media users say they do not use any privacy settings at all. Younger adults who use social media feel more strongly both that privacy settings can prevent negative consequences, and that they are confident in their own privacy settings.

Confidence In Privacy Settings Selected On Social Media Account(s) Function As Expected (Base: Social Media Users; % Of Respondents In Group)
		Generation
	Total	Echo Boomers	Gen X	Baby Boomers	Matures
Confident (NET)	71	78	76	61	68
Very confident	18	24	22	11	8
Somewhat confident	53	53	54	50	59
Not Confident (NET)	25	19	20	33	27
Not very confident	18	16	15	23	17
Not at all confident	7	3	5	10	10
Source: Harris Poll, January 2011

The report concludes by noting that social media services have brought both good and bad for users, but there is a possibility that as more people use social media, and do so casually, that they will become less careful with their settings and the 7% who have suffered more serious consequences will grow.

For more information please visit Harris Interactive here.