Don't "Get" Twitter? Could be your own fault.

Several (actually more than several) people have said to me things along the lines of "I don't get Twitter - why do I want to know what people are doing all the time?" "Twitter is stupid, it's a waste of time." Ok - while I'll agree that Twitter can be a time-sucker, I absolutely don't think it is stupid, because MY Twitter isn't.

That's right MY Twitter. Lot's of folks don't understand that the beauty of your Twitter feed is that YOU build it yourself. You decide who to follow. You decide who you want to hear from. My Twitter is completely unique, to me. If I'm following someone who is uninteresting to me, or adding too much "noise" to my feed, I un-follow them. I'm sure plenty of people have un-followed me. No big deal, doesn't hurt my feelings. I don't see Twitter as a popularity contest.

How do I use Twitter? For me, I follow primarily 4 types of tweeters.

#1 People in my business - specifically in Internet marketing, search, social media. The links shared and questions answered are immensely valuable in keeping me on top of changes and new ways to be effective in the interactive space.

#2 Funny, witty or cool tweeters - My life requires comic relief - my tweet stream brings me some every day. I love @roland_hedley, the uber-correspondent from the Doonsbury cartoon. Cool - like @Astronautics - keeping up with what the astronauts are doing on the space station.

#3 Friends and inspirational folks - Inspiration and connection are also a requirement for life. (But even friends may get un-followed if their tweet streams become only noise for me.)

#4 News outlets - local news like @TVAmy , @wmbfnews, @gcemd (my county's emergency management division) national & world news @breakingnews etc. Also, since I live on the coast, weather feeds @HurricaneAlerts @usoceangov (NOAA's feed).

So, that's what Lauren Cobb's Twitter looks like. Tomorrow, I'll post about the best tools to use to sculpt your feed into something that is valuable for you.

By the way - if you want to follow me - I'm @llcobb. Go ahead, if you decide to unfollow me later, I understand. ;-)

Website or "Blogsite" for small business? Revisited.

The beginning of this is a post I wrote in back in March of 2005- I've added to it for today.

One of the biggest problems with company websites is they are boring and many seem to be out of date. I have visited many sites and clicked on a "news" tab to find that the "news" was last updated an average of 2.6 years ago.
OK - I didn't average them all, but that feels about right.

What's the answer for small business? A boring, seldom updated website - or a "blogsite?"

----------- jump to 2009----------

Now more than ever, I believe a "blogsite." Not to the exclusion of an informational website, but a blog of regularly updated, relevant, and interesting content is essential. A blog can be a stand-alone, it can link to your website or it can be incorporated into your website. It isn't an either/or question, it's the "you can have it all" answer. Your blog content gives people a reason to come back to your online space.

I work with many Realtors and I've been a Realtor. (in one of my many past lives - another story or 1000) The big news back in the day (read mid to late 90's) was this thing called the Internet. It seems that every real estate services vendor was selling website design and hosting packages - and they were pretty expensive for a new agent on a commission-only-I-don't-think-these-sales-will-ever-close budget.

The blogosphere has changed all that. Low or no-cost entry to the Web has democratized the Internet. And in my opinion, made it better and much more interesting.

Social Networking and Corporate Rules? How does that work?

Many businesses I talk with are worried about having their employees involved with social networking because of the concern over inappropriate content, or that they will say something detrimental to the company, or even the time they spend on the "social web" while at work.

I encourage businesses to have guidelines for social media use. Including blog posting, "tweeting", Facebook, MySpace, Digg - wherever people are interacting. Now, I'm not saying that companies should be able to censor their employees - but that employees should be aware of appropriate ways to mention who they work for and times that it isn't appropriate to represent their business lives.

The Mayo Clinic has an excellent set of guidelines for their employees, that encompasses personal and professional social networking.

I think this is a great place to start from to develop your organization's social media guidelines.

Anyone have any others to share?

Facebook Group vs. Fan Page?

I've been working with several different organizations on Facebook pages, and the question has come up - "should I have a group or a fan page?" They have different strengths, and in some cases both may be appropriate for an organization.

With the new look for fan pages, one big plus is the ability to post a status update that will show up in your fans' home page feeds. It's a great way to get the word out about something new, put a personality on your brand or share a blog post link with your fan base.

Groups have a super easy way for a group member to invite their friends into the group - making the viral marketing part of Facebook much easier. Fan pages lack this ability, but you can use Facebook pay per click advertising to build your fan base.

Here's a link to a post from Search Engine Journal last October that also discusses the issue and their experiment. For search geeks (like me) it's particularly interesting that the fan pages are indexed by the search engines, and groups are not.

Now, as to what I said about some organizations needing both, one reason is I think it makes sense to use a group to virally build membership and then invite your group members over to your fan page. I don't see a downside to having two ways for someone to find your organization! Any thoughts?

Rankings are dead?

Here's a video interview from PubCon 2008 with Bruce Clay, CEO of Bruce Clay, Inc.,  in which he explains the current problem and the future problems with depending on rankings to measure SEO ROI. To sum it up in one sentence - everyone's search results are going to different and as search engines get better at targeting search behavior - the SERPs will be even more unique for each unique search user.

So, how to judge the effectiveness of your search efforts? Back to the basics - traffic and conversions. 

What's it all about, Twitter??

There's been ton's of talk around my world lately about Twitter. What is it? Why? Isn't that freaky, all those people "following" you?

I love Twitter, I admit, I'm addicted. It has been a great way to meet people in my industry, learn, share ideas. I also follow some folks just for fun. Friends, interesting people, funny people, people who are interested in the same things as me (NASCAR fans!). But how does Twitter help a business? How can I use Twitter for our clients?

Here's a good post by Jenny Cromie, 8 Ways that Twitter Can Grow Your Freelance Business

Everyone likes a good list, right??

A commentary on Viral memes

Anyone who doesn't understand the power of a viral Internet meme should take a look at this clip from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade today. There was a float for Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, they were all singing their little songs, and suddenly - ba ba ba - Here comes Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up."

"Rick Rolling" has been a main Internet practical joke for a couple of years now. You post a blog post or send an email with a link that you describe as anything you want - but the link goes to the old '80s video of Rick Astley singing his signature song.

This Internet meme has only been propagated through word of mouth. Today - the Macy's parade recognized that the majority of their audience would "get the joke" and put a live, nationally televised Rick Roll out there.

Within two minutes of the live Rick Roll, Twitter was all abuzz about it. A search of Twitter shows, by my count, well over 1000 tweets about the Fosters float Rick Roll.

And that, is the power of the viral web.