Yes, We Meet in Second Life

Part of the challenge of a virtual team is finding ways to bring connections and cohesiveness to a group that spans the globe. We use web-based project management systems and collaborative apps such as Google Apps and 5pm. We’re testing out Socialtext as our internal “social network.” We use Skype video, voice and text as well as Gtalk.

And yes, we meet in Second Life.

While our “watercooler” gatherings (yes, we do have a virtual water cooler in our virtual office are optional at the moment, I’m going to argue that we need to have them as permanent “must-attend” meetings starting 1 Jan 2010. Why? Because I think there are several major things to be gained by making them mandatory for our team:

• we’re challenging our team members to “think out of the box” and outside their usual 2-D computer screen
• we’re helping our team members hone their 3-D skills in design, building, communicating, participating, and just moving around
• we’re getting something much closer to “face-to-face” than we can get with pretty much any other application out there for holding meetings between disparate parties
• we need to have regular weekly team meetings so the entire team has a sense of what others are working on – and conference calls just don’t cut it

I’m a firm believer in pushing our comfort zones to try new ways of communicating because technology is changing rapidly all around us. Yes, I know that other companies used to meet in Second Life (many still do) and gave it up as they moved on to new shiny objects and initiatives. But Second Life has not gone away despite their naysaying. And it is still one of the best environments for virtual meetings I’ve ever seen.

Visit our offices in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Athena%20Isle/51/48/23

What are YOU doing in Second Life?

Call for Speakers: Digital Marketing

Dear Smart People:

I am the Programming Chair volunteer for the Colorado American Marketing Association Digital Dynamics 2010. Digital Dynamics 2010 is a series of Webinars on digital marketing topics. Our audience is client and agency marketing people from AMA chapters across the U.S.  The audience will lean toward Colorado, but we have had a much higher than expected interest from nationwide AMA chapters, so it is likely that these webinars will likely be highly attended. Our audience will likely have an intermediate level of digital knowledge level.

We’re looking for best of breed speakers on the following topics and months:

Social Media ROI and Delivering Value– Jan.
Mobile Marketing – March
Either Integrated Online/Offline or Digital Dashboards – April
What Does the Future Hold for Digital Marketing? – June (this one will be held in Denver.)

Once we find the appropriate speaker or panelists, we will solidify the topic and logistics (Panel v. singular speaker, etc.) Speakers can be anywhere with a quality internet access connection, but they must be familiar with speaking via a Webinar. The one exception is that the speaker in June must be present in Colorado. So, please forward me names, suggestions, etc. of people whom you regard as top of class in digital marketing.

DEADLINE: Oct. 9th.

I have to provide a consideration list by Oct. 10th for the committee to review.

Thank you! Monique

Monique@Conversify.net 720-897-6089

Exploring Enhanced Facebook Pages

Have you been implementing Enhanced Facebook Pages (EFPs) into your or your clients’ Facebook Pages?

I’m finding a dearth of discussion about the enhancements that are now possible within Facebook Pages such as:

• Custom Tabs
• Custom Pages
• Enhanced Wall Pages

But almost too quietly, companies are rolling out beautifully augmented Facebook Pages that thumb collective noses at the weak, poorly-branded default Page programming options.

Why have a company information page like this:

When you can have a branded, action-oriented, compelling and engaging landing page like this:

Am I missing something here?

I mean is there a reason why more people aren’t taking full advantage of EFPs and FBML to build out more clearly branded and interactive Pages to take a Facebook Page from a plain-vanilla, moderately interactive billboard into a visually-appealing, dynamic space? Even if we treat your Facebook Page as a gateway to your site, blog or other forum, shouldn’t we be leveraging the best creative options and features at our disposal to give a great first impression to our potential (and existing) customers and clients?

I’d argue that one reason for the slow and quiet rollout of these pages (Facebook did announce these capabilities in Q1 2009) is because it does take a certain degree of skill and understanding of FBML and Facebook Apps to develop these. But I think the real reason we aren’t hearing about these enhancements yet is because while there are awesome programmers out there with the capabilities, they may not be marketers. Seeing these EFPs warms the cockles of my marketer’s heart, and I sure other marketers – when shown the differences between default FB Pages and EFPs will be equally as giddy.

What we need to do is to get the awesome programmers together with the savvy social media marketers to best leverage these technical developments. Throw in a great designer in the mix, and we will no longer have to suffer through boring and confusing default Facebook Pages.

Pros of EFPs

Quick thoughts on the benefits of EFPs:

• Strong branding
• Enhanced visuals and multimedia placement
• More prominent calls to action
• More familiar – and less confusing – interfaces
• More positive emotional impact upon landing
• Ability to target an enhanced landing page to non-fans and the interactive Wall to existing fans

Cons of EFPs?

Here are some things I think naysayers might say about EFPs. Worth discussing.

• Could turn your Facebook Page into more of a destination which could split your audience away from your main destination so there might be an impact on traffic referrals from Facebook.
• Increases time of production and cost of Facebook Page development.
• Requires additional strategic planning, and design discussions to create truly effective EFPs.
• Just because something CAN be done might not mean that everyone SHOULD do it. You need a strategic reason to invest the extra time and money to execute.

So why am I talking about Enhanced Facebook Pages?

Shouldn’t I be hoarding the information within my own company to set us apart from other SMM firms? Of course not! We as an industry are better off as a whole by sharing knowledge and establishing a higher standard of best practices in social media marketing. As we all improve our services and offerings – and our understanding of the tools and tactics which constantly change – we create a bigger and more enticing pie as we prove that SMM is coming into it’s own and cannot be ignored.

Will you help me spread the word? Let’s talk about and compare EFPs – pros, cons, best practices, and the worst.

By the way, don’t look at our company FB Page – Cobbler’s Kids’ Shoes, know what I mean? But we’ll get there because we know we have to in order to remain competitive and to best leverage available technologies and tools.

Who do YOU think has a great EFP? Do YOU?

Getting Real With Social Media

I recently listened to some PR and marketing professionals discuss social media on a podcast geared toward a PR audience, and I was struck by the commentary about social media consultants. One comment was that too many social media consultants hype social media tools to their clients at the expense of good, solid strategy. I can agree with that statement. I cringe when I see people jumping on the bandwagon of social media marketing with little experience and nothing more than the ability to talk a good game, flash shiny objects in front of people and fail to be strategic. They are ruining it for the rest of us who have been in the trenches pioneering this stuff and thinking through the strategy for over a decade.

But the comments in the podcast that irked me were the ones where the PR and marketing professionals were saying that social media marketers are out of touch with what “real people” want or need and that they need to get back in touch with reality.

What?!? Let’s get REAL here.

Since when are PR people the holders and distributors of reality? Since when is PR and marketing based around what “real people” actually want? The entire premise of public relations, marketing and advertising isn’t “give people what they actually want and need” but rather “convince people that they want and need what we’re selling.” Public relations isn’t about “getting the truth to people” but instead is about “spinning the message to OUR truth so people buy it.”

The day public relations, advertising and marketing actually get REAL and are based in REALITY is when all those industries convert to journalism or what we all wish journalism would be – actually reporting on what is happening and giving voice to real people who are experiencing those things. As long as you are selling something, you are mostly inventing your own reality and repeating your message as often as you can in order to get others to believe in your reality to buy what you are selling.

So what the hell is social media marketing then?

Just using the term “marketing” at the tail end of social media creates a misnomer. Social media is about conversations, collaboration and community – it is the sets of tools and applications that facilitate conversations, collaboration and community. What we do isn’t really Social Media Marketing. It is Social Media Engagement. We’re not trying to push carefully crafted marketing messages and spin out to the public for their consumption. We are listening to what people are saying, and we’re seeding conversations to see what people have to say about issues. We take the best practices and smartest teachings from the old ways of doing things and apply them to an entirely new landscape.

Yes, we are listening to what people are saying on behalf of clients who have products or services to sell. And yes, we are seeding conversations to see what people have to say about issues that are somehow related to what our clients do. However, we aren’t convinced that the push, push, push PR/advertising/marketing methods of yesterday work anymore. The “dumb” consumer of the ’50s and ’60s is a skeptical grown up now and smarter than ever about the products they consume. The consumer of the 90s? They take all this social media stuff for granted – they were born with it. They’re even more skeptical than their parents.

This is not your mama’s marketing. Social media engagement is something entirely different. Social media is actually for, by and about the very people that PR folks, marketers and advertisers are trying to reach.

If you’re in PR, marketing or advertising, I know you’re getting nervous – maybe even scared – about the new way your audience is empowered and how the old way of communicating at them is not working anymore. But if you really want to GET social media, you’ll get out of your old comfortable worn-out box and stop deluding yourself that you are in touch with what “real people” want. Roll up your sleeves, get into the social media trenches, and actually find out what they. I think you’ll be surprised by what you find.

How are YOU getting real with your consumers? Or are you?

Conversify is hiring!

We have two contract positions (that we hope will go permanent in 2010) open — a Social Media Specialist and a Social Media Assistant.

Please see the descriptions below and contact us if you are interested.

Also, make sure to read through the entire post as there are important instructions about applying for these positions toward the bottom.

Thank you!

SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

We are looking for a person with a great attitude who is extremely organized and has a genuine passion for social media.

This position is a part/half time contracted position for the months of September and October. Our plan by the end of 2009 is to provide closer to full time contract work and possibly bring this position on as a permanent employee in 2010.

This position reports to Conversify Project Manager, Nik Hewitt.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Must have superb organizational, prioritization and communication skills.
• Implementation: Setting up and maintaining Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts, blogs, and other social media tools and assets for clients. Familiarity with using RSS feeds for content integration and syndication a plus.
• Research: Carrying out consumer, marketing, and sales research assignments.
• Site Maintenance: HTML and CMS work for various client blogs. Familiarity with a variety of blog publishing tools and CMSs a must. Graphics skills a plus.
  
• Community Moderation: Monitoring and moderating client communities utilizing best practices.
  
• Outreach Communications: Carrying out one-to-one outreach to bloggers and within social networks adhering to detailed instructions and best practices as well as keeping track of results.
• Process: Communication with Conversify Project Manager, personal book-keeping, and following client briefs/requirements as specified.

====================================

SOCIAL MEDIA ASSISTANT

We are looking for a person with a great attitude who is extremely organized – perhaps a former administrative assistant – and someone who has a passion for social media. This position is a part/half time contracted position for the months of September and October. Our plan by the end of 2009 is to provide full time contract work and possibly bring this position on as a permanent employee in 2010.

This position reports to the co-owners of Conversify, Monique Elwell and Aliza Sherman.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Must have superb organizational, prioritization and communication skills.
• Implementation: Managing company general email, Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts, blogs, and other social media tools and assets.
  
• Site Maintenance: Light HTML and CMS work to keep company external and internal sites updated.
• Community Moderation: Monitoring and moderating client communities.
• Research: Carrying out consumer, marketing, and sales research assignments.
  
• Measurement: Regularly monitoring, tracking and recording metrics for company and clients.
  
• Administrative: General administrative tasks including data entry, responding to or redirecting emails, managing calendars and appointments, light phone work, and related tasks.

THE CONVERSIFY CULTURE

Conversify is a 100% virtual Social Media Marketing agency. That means we all work from our homes, a coffee shop, our friend’s homes or even a hotel. Our team members are professionals, and our focus in on the deliverable. There is no micromanaging here. As such, anyone and everyone we hire will need to be a self-starter who is highly motivated to make deadlines and be hyper communicative. If you are the type that panics if the phone is not answered or goes into withdrawal if you have not checked your email and if you never, ever, ever miss a deadline, then welcome to our world.

We are growing into a fully global company with “offices” spanning from Derbyshire, United Kingdom to Anchorage, Alaska and everywhere in between. As such, the concept of a 9 to 5 work day is no longer valid. Depending on where you are, you might need to have a 6am conference call or a 7pm conference call. That said, there is virtually no face time. If you stayed up late the night before getting something done for a client and all of your work is done, go play the next day. Have fun (but take your mobile communications device with you just in case!)

Playing hooky on a Tuesday does not mean we are not productive. The expectation at Conversify is that you are available when the client or your Conversify team members need you. You are a team player who communicates well to teammates via email, phone, video, chat, Second Life, etc. You work well collaboratively, but you are also able to work independently and are motivated to get the job done. A professional attitude is a must. The technology you have (phone, computer, email, etc.) must work without fuss. When on the phone, you take care to eliminate all non-professional noise (traffic, babies, barking dogs, etc.). But we also encourage interaction with our internal Conversify team including weekly watercooler gatherings in Second Life.

OUR VALUES:

Happiness.

Treat people the way you want to be treated.

An open source ethos.

Flexibility leading to optimal productivity in work and in life.

Imagination and Creativity.

Empowerment.

PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS WHEN YOU SEND US YOUR RESUME:

• Please share URLs of your own social media sites.
• If you have produced social media sites for others, please include a few examples and explain what they were trying to achieve and how you helped them achieve those goals.
• What is your philosophy on organization and getting things done?
• How do you specifically prioritize and manage the daily demands on your time?
• What are your favorite online tools to get things done?
• What qualities do you have that will be well suited for being part of a virtual team?
• What work have you done for others that has provided you with relevant skills to be part of our team?
• Why do you want to be a part of the Conversify team?
  

Please send your resume with answers to our questions above to Jobs [AT] Conversify [DOT] net. Please specify your fee for monthly contract work.

Facebook Apps That Work on Facebook Pages

Image via Wikipedia

In my desperate attempt to learn what Facebook Apps had upgraded to compatibility with the new Facebook Pages, I finally went scouring the Apps list myself. I kept in mind applications that would enhance a brand’s company page. I didn’t look at more niche areas like a fun sports app for a sports company page. I tried to make more general selections to serve a wider group of businesses.

Here is a short list that I hope to add to over time – and that will be easier to augment as more programmers catch up.

Slideshare – I like this application on my LinkedIn profile and think Slideshare can be an asset to a Facebook Page.

Social RSS – Brings in RSS feeds and supports both RSS and Atom.

Testimonials – I haven’t tried this one but if you have or use testimonials for your work, you can add this app.

Causes – If your company gets behind social causes, this is a great app to add as long as you’ve been actively recruiting to and supporting your causes.

LinkedIn Contacts – See and share your LinkedIn Contacts but note that it isn’t affiliated officially with LinkedIn. You can also use another app, Share LinkedIn Profile to do just that. Yet another, My LinkedIn Profile, puts a LinkedIn badge on your Page. Using the app Professional Profile, you can sync with your LinkedIn Resume and recommendations.

EventBrite – Publishing and managing events via EventBrite on the Web? You can add this app to your Page.

Ma.gnolia – If you like using Ma.gnolia, you can now add their Facebook app to your page. Personally, I am still trying to get in the habit of using my Delicious account. I’ve seen Chris Brogan use Delicious really well for links to case studies – a great business use of a bookmarking site.

Polls – Add interactive polls to your Page.

Memorable Web Addresses – If you can’t get your direct Facebook URL this weekend on the massive Facebook Username Grab, you can still use this app to simplify your Page’s URL. They show up as www.profile.to/yourname.

Call Me on Skype – We use Skype for Conversify so this is a great app to add to our Page.

Selective Twitter Status – Depending on how you use Twitter versus Facebook, there could be some redundancy in status updates, however, you can select which Tweets should be published to your Page. Just tag your tweets with #fb to post the tweet to your Page as well.

There are also multimedia apps – will cover that in another post!

Apps I’d like to see compatible with Facebook Pages (these are already regular Facebook profile apps):

1. SocialToo

2. Delicious

3. Seesmic

What apps do you use on your Facebook Page?

Fishing for Fans on Facebook

Image via Wikipedia

A recent promotion was brought to my attention where a services firm was holding a giveaway of some really desirable items to build their company’s Facebook fan base on their Facebook Page. I had never seen this type of promotion before, but I guess it isn’t surprising that people are starting to fish for fans on Facebook for their Pages. A lot of fans means that a lot of people like your company and what your company offers, right?

Wrong. I’d be hesitant to use the number of fans – large or small – on a professional services company’s Facebook Page to measure how good a company might be. Why? Because not all companies are the type of businesses that people would fan. Think about it. Why do people fan a company’s Facebook Page anyway?

1. Because they are customers and like the product(s) or service(s) - but what if they are a very small, rural company with a small customer base. Does that mean that if they only have 100 fans they aren’t successful?

2. Because they like the people who run the company - but not everyone who runs a company puts themselves out there in the public eye so does this mean a company with a more quietly productive, behind-the-scenes team isn’t a good one?

3. Because they know the people involved with the company - but how do you discern who of the fans are really real-life friends or family members of the company team?

4. Because they want to define who they are by the companies/products/services they like.

But how valuable is it when people are fanning your company’s Facebook Page because they want to win a prize? If I were to see a small consulting firm – like Conversify, for example – with 500+ fans on Facebook, I’d actually be pretty suspect.

Why? Because we can’t realistically service 500 customers at this stage in our company. I’d venture to guess that over the 20+ years I’ve been doing consulting, I’ve probably had over 100 clients, but in any given year, maybe 15-20 tops. This year to date, we’ve worked with about 15 clients and probably will work with another 10-15 before year’s end. I haven’t asked them to fan our Facebook Page, but maybe I should ask if they’d be willing to do so. Even with an invitation, I would consider those legit fans.

I think there are many companies that do lend themselves to many fans such as any of the Web apps companies developing great tools via the Web. That’s scalable. Products companies that are national or international can realistically have a large fan base. But small services companies just aren’t the type of company to organically get a huge number of fans, and I don’t think that is a bad thing.

If you want a lot of fans on your Facebook Page, create a page for something that people want to rally around, support or align themselves with but that doesn’t mean give away valuable gifts as an incentive. Once the gifts are given away, what do you have? A lot of disinterested people who have no more reason to follow you unless you run another contest. Or they will “un-fan” you toot sweet.

Sure, there could be the arguement that even though you are getting a lot of empty fan connections because people are only fanning you to try to win a prize, the very act of them connecting with your company Page means that their friends on Facebook will see that action and might – just might – link over to your Page out of curiosity. And then a few of those people might – just might – need your services and contact you.

I say that’s a lot of work and wasted effort to reach people indirectly. And when they get to your Page and see an announcement that you’ve built your fan base by offering prizes – what then?

Having 500 or 1000 fans on Facebook should not be any company’s goal. Having meaningful connections with happy and loyal customers, interested potential customers and people willing to be evangelists for your company even without your prompting is far more valuable – even if those numbers are in the double digits.

Quality fans matter far more than quantity.

What do you think of promotional tactics to build up a Facebook fan base? Is it authentic? Sustainable? Desirable?

10 Golden Rules of Social Media

I’m always thinking about social media or more accurately about the Internet and how it affects our work and our lives. Recently, I composed a post for Web Worker Daily that I called the 10 Golden Rules of Social Media. I was quite self-conscious about publishing such a list, but at the same time, I knew these were things I’ve thought about, talked about and wrote about for over a decade. The post clearly struck a chord with people as comments are over 80 and still rising.

Here’s the list of just the rules. Explanation really shouldn’t be necessary, although if you want further definition, you can read the full post.

1. Respect the Spirit of the ‘Net.

2. Listen.

3. Add Value.

4. Respond.

5. Do Good Things.

6. Share the Wealth.

7. Give Kudos.

8. Don’t Spam.

9. Be Real.

10. Collaborate.

Social media tools are only that — tools. The real energy, spirit and power of social media is people. We are social media.

What would YOU add to this list?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Social Media in Sixty Seconds (micropersuasion.com)
• What Do You Need to Know About Social Media? (chris.pirillo.com)

Latest Posts Around the Blogosphere

In addition to being avid bloggers, Conversify offers problogging services to clients. Below are some of our latest posts on various sites.

10 Golden Rules of Social Media (Web Worker Daily) by Aliza Sherman

Second Life is Social Media (Web Worker Daily) by Aliza Sherman

Tooting Your Own Horn (WorkitMom) by Maia Nolan

How to be a Super Woman without Being a Superwoman (WorkitMom) by Gina Blitstein

Learning Through Podcasts (Anchorage Daily News) by Aliza Sherman

When You’ve Got Connectivity (Anchorage Daily News) by Aliza Sherman

Bad Blogger Outreach Techniques

One of the things we work hard at here at Conversify is our blogger outreach initiatives. As a longtime blogger, I’m often on the receiving end of emails from PR folks and anyone with something to market, and I have to admit I’m still floored by the messages I receive. So instead of complaining about it to anyone who will listen, I thought I’d be productive and provide some ideas about blogger outreach best practices.

Here are some of my thoughts. I welcome your input on these as we’re all still evolving the way we handle this more intimate and conversational outreach.

1. Don’t you know me? Today, I received an email from someone I know personally pitching an event that they’d like me to promote – or attend – that was totally impersonal. I understand the complexity of sending out a bulk email and have it list everyone’s name (that’s what third-party e-newsletter or email marketing services are for like Constant Contact and Mail Chimp), but if you have people you actually know on your list, the least you can do is personalize the message.