Because our phone keeps ringing (and that takes us away from actually building the site!) we are holding some live classes here in Honolulu in the interim.  Please join our mailing list to stay informed of updates and go check out the three classes we are offering in July 2009 for your education and business benefit!

Please use promo code “bfs” and receive a free eBook on Online Identity when you join the list. It’s the first place to start when getting active on the social web. Or as The Week would say, “Boring but Important.”

We can also bring private, targeted classes to your office or association too.

A Reason to Visit Hawaii?
Maybe this would be a good time and reason to book a trip to Hawaii. Airfares and hotel rates are down; I would be happy to connect you with my many tourism colleagues who would be delighted to personally assist you. Here are just a few:

Hawaii-Aloha.com - Ask for Bruce Fisher; or on Twitter
Starwood Hawaii - Ask for Candice Krauto; or on Twitter
Hawaiian Airlines – Follow them on Twitter too
Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio

But when you are new to something? It’s like a child copying their parents: a lot of it sounds right, but fundamentally you don’t want that kid building your house. The best teachers know how to explain to you the logic behind a task as well as the most efficient order of events to launch your project.

Copying (as compared to learning) when you are a newcomer is often not the ideal route to take. Though I know, it is incredibly appealing, especially if you feel like you are in a hurry. But if time is truly an issue, you will be better served to learn it well the first time. It’s worth considering if a penny saved will quickly become a pound foolish.

Copiers are more than likely to:

• learn bad habits;
• create hacks that seem to work but actually misuse some of the key elements that could make your life easier;
• waste a lot of time doing, undoing, and redoing when you could be making money and building relationships;
• experience low success rates and blame it on the tool instead of your lack of learning;
• quit before you’ve really given it a fair chance.

It’s very important that you look at their assets and Google them for proof of past work. Ask for client referrals and contact them. Look for evidence of their membership in professional associations and examine those associations too. You will be taking the first step in educating yourself just by going through this process.

Then by all means work with a professional instead of trying to figure all this out yourself! I used to say to reluctant businesses, “Don’t stress; the internet isn’t going away and you have time to figure things out.” Now I say, “Get on it! The learning curve of new tools and core changes that are taking place in the business culture are growing too fast to stay on the sidelines. Every day you wait, just makes it harder for you once you decide to get started on the social web.

With Aloha,

I’ll also be moderating a panel of four local restauranteurs who have started using the social web:
Ed Morita: @nctrnlbst, Longhi’s, www.bakershours.com; you can also watch a short video here as Ed explains how he uses Twitter and Flickr to attract customers
Sean Priester: @TopofWaikiki and @pacificsoul, Top of Waikiki
Bill Tobin: @tikisgrill, Tiki’s Grill
Monica Toguchi: @HighwayInn, Highway Inn Restaurant and Catering

Mark (mostly!) and I put together these links for the attendees and all of you readers to be able to explore more. Pull up a chair – there’s a real reading list here.

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT:
Real Time Search – Social Mention
Track what people are saying about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across the web’s social media landscape in real-time. Social Mention monitors 80+ social media properties directly including: Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google etc.

Find, Follow and Share Comments — BackType
Unlike Google alerts, it tracks blog comments.

New Media Chatter: People Are Talking…Are You Listening?
List of tools and strategy to monitor your brand/company online

OTHER TOOLS:
Social Media Club – Hawaii Chapter – free monthly meetings to learn about and share best practices in social media

KnowHow Cafe – Online and live seminars on using the social web; get a free eBook on “Online Identity” by joining the email list. Essential information before you start signing up for various social networks.

Lots of links here for social web restaurant review sites.

Check here to see if your desired screen name is available on several web sites at once.

Facebook Toolbox 101 with additional supporting links.

Google’s Local Business Center

A Social Media Glossary » The Buzz Bin – Common terms in social media

Sarah Austin’s True Beginner’s Guide to Getting the Most Out of Twitter – Free ebook PDF

ESPECIALLY FOR RESTAURANTS:
Choosing from the Social Media Menu for Restaurants – Branching Out: The Maples DMG Blog –

Social Media for Restaurants – Social Media Explorer; Good list of tools/resources for restaurants starting in social media

The Hawaii chapter meets on the second Friday of each month. The next meeting is June 12th. Be sure to check the web site for details on the upcoming event.
www.smchawaii.org

Please join the mailing list of you would to receive meeting announcements. You can unsubscribe at any time and your email will not be sold or shared.

It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of online marketing, but Lu said it may be beyond calculation.

A lot can be measured ex post facto but some of the more critical elements require set-up in advance, not least of which is doing some baseline measurements “in the space” to compare pre and post data. The better social web monitoring services also cost real money, in addition to the time it takes to set them up.

The Hidden Costs of Social Media Campaigns
I am really proud of Christine’s persistence and the state’s willingness to dip their toes in the water. The additional collaborators (hotels, Hawaiian Airlines, Avis & the bloggers) all gave from their pockets to support Hawaii tourism – of which they are a vital part. This was a low-risk venture and hopefully a terrific learning opportunity for people new to social web marketing. This model may not be replicable or scalable though. My concern is that since it was done on the fly (and on the cheap), it may be hard to truly get a sense of what is possible on the social web.

Nonetheless we produced Podcamp Hawaii last year on the fly and on the cheap with outstanding results! (It’s how Christine Lu came to meet Nathan Kam who represents HVCB and David Uchiyama of HTA.) We had over 400 live attendees, thousands more who joined us via live video stream from around the world, and our “tag” – the short label referring to our event (#pch08) – was the #1 trending topic on Twitter for a day (in the world!) and #2 on Flickr (in the world!). We made a huge dent and had people all around the world dreaming about being in Hawaii. We had the support of HVCB, the HCC and many other local businesses. We gave them each a custom landing page on our site – a place to talk directly to our audience – and hundreds of additional blog posts, twitter messages, videos, live stream banner ads, etc.

There is no Podcamp Hawaii 2009 though – despite the hugely positive response. It’s a lot of work for a group of volunteers. I personally logged over 200 hours of my time producing the event – 100% volunteer for this community service. The tools are often free, but the time commitment is substantial with social media.

It is an age old dilemma – people want to try “new” things with very little investment. If it’s successful, it is part luck and part skill. If it’s not, pessimists think they prevail when in fact not enough was invested to make a dent. Remember, blogging has been around for 10 years now; CNN uses the same software Christine used to build the blog; etc. In reality, these are not “new” technologies.

We Are Beginning to Understand the Value of Online Networks
The Harvard Business Review has been covering the social web for years now. I tripped across this article from 2001 (!) today, pointing out the exponential value that is accrued within self-organizing, peer-to-peer online networks. Author David Reed, who called them “GFN’s” for group-forming networks, actually began his research in 1997 and states:

I’ve been studying GFNs for the last four years and have come to realize that they require a whole new way of measuring network value. Indeed, I think companies that can capitalize on the power of GFNs will gain the strongest competitive advantages that the Internet has to offer.

Caveat: I know Christine Lu and several of the bloggers personally and have been trying to persuade various tourism entities to learn more about the social web, Here’s just one recent example. The interactive web is not easy to understand from the outside, just like most foreign cultures. In this “place” there are people issues as well as software and technology issues, thus making “understanding” a daunting task to be sure. OTOH (on the other hand) it is a very open, embracing environment though and “newbies” are always welcome!

Want to Learn More?
Our local chapter of the global Social Media Club meets once a month and our meetings are free, open to anyone, and feature informative speakers and excellent networking. Our next event is Friday, June 12th at the ING DIRECT Cafe in Waikiki. Come join us, and learn why the Club’s tagline is, “If you get it, share it.” This month’s topic is “Online Reputation Management.”

Shane and I are also launching KnowHow Café – a place to learn more about the social web, online productivity, audio and video podcasting, blogging, Twitter, and more. Join our email list to be notified of upcoming online and live, in-person classes. Use the promo code “bfs” to help us know where you heard about us. We are mid-way through a six week course called “Getting Started on the Social Web.” I’ll be posting more about that in the coming week, time permitting! Once again, time is a critical resource on the social web.

With Aloha,

If you are a “solo-preneur” aka one person band, you can easily have a talking head show filmed from your desktop. If you are a larger company, you have tremendous assets at your fingertips, not to mention stories to be told, brands to be built, and customers to be educated and entertained.

Here is some newly released data to continue the discussion:

From Podcasting News: Internet Video Platform to grow 400% in 4 years

Worldwide shipments of devices that support Internet video consumption will nearly quintuple by 2013, according to electronics industry analysts iSuppli, spurred by an increase in consumers’ broadband Internet access.

Edison Research has been studying the internet podcasting phenomenon (this applies to audio and video content), and their data have demonstrated continuous growth. (See bar chart above.)

Consumers Expect to Find Their Content Online • Broadband access is now the norm, and weekly online audio and online video usage have reached critical mass • Media not meeting consumer expectations will suffer as their brand-loyal users will find other options far more easily

If you think online video is not applicable for traditional brands, consider that CBS News today has launched a live stream channel on uStream, and the traditional health care company, Johnson & Johnson, has had a YouTube channel for over a year. Thanks again to Rob Halpert for being a guest speaker at Podcamp Hawaii. And for you audio and/or CSI fans, the F.B.I. has several audio podcasts. That’s the official Federal Bureau of Investigation – not the guys “From Big Island” as reads a popular t-shirt here in Hawaiʻi.

Aloha,

Please read: This is Not a Sponsored Post by Brian Solis

My post now is in response to Brian and the discussion taking place over at WebProWorld.com – where the opinion of bloggers among web managers and SEO experts is not too positive.

On a blog you never know as there is no way to know. Google warned about this a long time ago, likely because they remember how the FTC reatced [sp] to sponsored links when Se’s tried to disguise they were paid advertising, It is the law… bloggers aren’t above it.

These new brand ambassadors are almost the perfect instruments for surreptitiously sparking and cultivating groundswell within desired and vital target markets.

Consumers look to experts and trusted peers for guidance and insight when making decisions.

Who’s to say that the information they’re receiving from their trusted sources is indeed truthful and honest, if they’re unaware that these authorities are actually directly or indirectly compensated for their opinions and insights.

To me, blogging has become a big enough industry that it now replicates behaviors that humanity has gravitated towards “naturally.” Some travel bloggers, like some travel writers for mainstream press, now receive paid fam trips. We all like to think we are free thinkers – but when we are being paid, that does change things. We are not as impartial. Nearly impossible for all but the crankiest among us.

When a beloved blogger gets laid off from her job and appears to serendipitously take a trip to Hawaii to get her life sorted out, her readers responded with support and compassion. How would they feel if they knew it was an all expenses paid trip, courtesy of the tourism industry?

The really good news is that all parties stand to gain more by tweaking this relationship a little bit, and doing business in a more transparent manner.

Problem:

• Advertiser pays blogger for specific reviews or specific trips, knowing that they will get better than blind coverage.


• Blogger hides said compensation to maintain appearance of independence and not taint the story with “pay per post” energy.


• Google is aware of this and is working diligently to find a way to ignore “advertorial” postings.


• Blogger has to hustle on a case by case basis to cover costs and receive just compensation fro the incredible work being done building a targeted and loyal audience.


• Advertiser has to jump from blogger to blogger in search of hidden paid endorsements.  


• Both run the risk of being outed with the ensuing backlash.


• Readers do not get the whole truth.


• The problem holds true even if there is a page hidden away somewhere on your blog that says you got paid for something.

• A statement of acknowledgement belongs on every post not just in the back of the blog.


• I’d like to see a generic icon developed that indicates some form of compensation was received for the item(s) mentioned in this post. It has become very popular to nuance the language these days, “no one was paid for their time” – yeah, but they did get an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii with access to countless not-so-obvious products, services, and people right? That dear readers, is compensation to me. Is it to you?


• Advertisers are better served by developing a relationship with bloggers who have an audience in their desired space. They should step up and provide ongoing paid support for that blogger, so s/he can continue to do the fine work and build the audience. This goes for the people developing social media campaigns too. There is a lot of effort that goes into creating these campaigns, effectively.


• This means not paying for specifics on a per trip or per product basis, but by being a proud sponsor of said blog. Create some distance. Get your banner ad, write the check, participate in the comments, and otherwise stay out of the way.


• Let the blogger pay for their own products and services unless each mention of said item is disclosed.


• Blogger can thank the sponsors at any time; it’s good etiquette. They can be transparent about the help and the money they are getting. There is nothing to hide here when it;s being handled ethically.


• The NPR model works so well. “This blog/this post is brought to you by ABC.” Then everyone knows the deal and can make their own decisions.


• I know the loyal viewers of our BeachWalks.tv internet show would be thrilled for us to get a sponsor who truly grokked the value we bring to people’s lives. They often even suggest sponsors they would like to hear from, who they think are a good fit for our show. How many instances do you know of that happening?

The agency should be proud to support aka sponsor bloggers and bloggers should stop pretending they are immune to editorial standards of disclosure. If a big company did this – like Walmart did with its fake videoblogger/RV across America tour a few years back – they would (and did!) get nailed for it in public.

There really is a win-win-win in here! But advertisers and bloggers have to remember one of the fundamental rules of the social web: TRANSPARENCY. We can move business ethics forward, support the companies and the bloggers and the audience. Really, it’s not that hard. I am confident it will get worked out sooner than later.

Aloha,

Leave a comment (on the right side of the video window) and they
might read your comments live during the show.

Rox’s appearance broke all previous viewership records! You can watch the archived episode here.

A couple of years ago this really hit the fan with one of the first “official” PayPerPost blogging services launched. Bloggers who had earned a decent or better Page Rank saw their status tank to zero once Google realized they were being being paid for certain posts by advertisers.

To its credit, Google also penalized its own Japan division who used the pay per post tactic in an attempt to compete against Yahoo.

Bloggers who are compensated can use the “nofollow” tag within their outbound links to keep those links from being tagged by Google as paid content. I wonder how many bloggers and paying advertisers address this detail specified in their contracts? I love the convenience of logging in to my blog and finding links bout us – so I can go and thank them! The nofollow may well make that harder, but then again, if you are under contract I think it’s the buyer’s responsibility to track the postings of the paid blogger.

With perfect timing, the Social Media Club Question of the Week  (#SMCQ10) has been about “Free Content.” This goes hand-in-hand with the problem of paying people to talk about you. 

The early citizens of the internet have been providing free content of varying value (some of incredible value to be sure) without compensation. “Bloggers” and “Coders” are actually penalized the more popular they become, as they still have to pay for the web servers who connect all those readers/listeners/viewers to their content. Web users have become increasingly more savvy to advertising, and banner ads rarely compensate for the costs much less the value on certain blogs.

I think we are at one of those very klunky places in the transition from an old system, an old ethic, an old set of practices (largely defined by what was mechanically possible) and all new ones. In any transition there are going to be those who hang on to the old, as old is somehow always better in their minds. And of course there are the early adopters who favor the new just as strongly. 

This is further complicated by all of the psycho-emotional issues around “value” and around “what does it cost me.” It’s well established that people do not make rational or logical decisions when in purchase mode. I have a hard time with that as I personally do not like a lot of the gamesmanship that makes up so much of the sales process. I love the social web as it celebrates truth and transparency, as compared to truthiness and manipulative tactics. I am also very supportive of people doing what works for them – the crowds be damned. That means of course if you are someone who likes to kink things, you have the right to do that.

As awkward as things are right now, I think we are moving toward a marketplace where buyers and sellers have more even footing and therefore more responsibility and options. Readers can vet the bloggers to find out if they are paid or not for their reviews – though it should be much easier IMO. There are bloggers who think they are so independent, that they are not influenced. But hello, the very fact someone gave you something, is what started this discussion, now isn’t it? That’s worth sharing too – it only enhances your independent reputation for people like me.

I would prefer that companies who want to get in front of a blogger’s hard-earned audience, consider a more neutral and background NPR-style of true support, ongoing support, rather than a short term “we’ll wine and dine you to talk nice about us then c ya later.” That is largely self-serving (which I know, is not a bad thing per se) but it does not promote the long term sustainability of that high quality blogger. We all benefit from the independent blogger being able to keep telling it like it is – serving up not just the truth but the wide range of stories and connections and insights to her/his readers.

If the truth is getting harder to hide (because so many are recording and tracking so much) then surely truth as a strategy is becoming more efficient, if not yet more appealing.

Aloha,

]]> http://www.barefeetstudios.com/2009/05/19/paid-bloggers-still-get-google-downgrades/feed/ 3 http://www.barefeetstudios.com/2009/05/19/paid-bloggers-still-get-google-downgrades/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BareFeetBlog/~3/vtTZEE4ja7M/ http://www.barefeetstudios.com/2009/05/18/twitter-roi-is-it-too-popular/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 00:12:10 +0000 Roxanne Darling http://www.barefeetstudios.com/?p=998 This is not Pick on Twitter month – I am just posing some questions to get the attention of those who see things for what they are, not how they should be. I’ve been thinking a lot about the effects of Twitter’s popularity and just did a phone  interview with Janice Magin of the Pacific Business [...] This is not Pick on Twitter month – I am just posing some questions to get the attention of those who see things for what they are, not how they should be.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the effects of Twitter’s popularity and just did a phone  interview with Janice Magin of the Pacific Business News on how many local businesses are getting on Twitter. Twitter has become incredibly popular, and so that does by default lower the value proposition. I am thrilled that small business is embracing social media. Being on Twitter is becoming a new normal. However that also raises the challenge bar for how to use it innovatively.  If everyone is offering a coupon, then a coupon is no big deal. Same is true of traditional coupons.

Dell was a leader in selling $1M worth of used computers on Twitter on 6 mos last year; they now offer exclusive discounts to their followers. When people have thousands of others in their stream, more of your messages will be filtered out. The people with the longest experience on Twitter know about these filtering tools, and many only respond to ”@” messages or “DM’s” ignoring the general stream from their followers.It’s not rudeness or snobbery; it’s just math.

My colleague, Robyn Levin, stated it well on her blog:

On a whole, I think this is a good thing, but here’s the problem: whenever technology becomes fashion, return-on-investment (ROI) tends to get lost in the excitement of the latest .com catwalk.

My “here and now” mind says that this explosion of connectivity and creativity is producing “wins” from many unlikely sources – just like the story of Ed Morita’s Twitter Case Study at Social Media Club Hawaii we recently profiled. It says that people are able to filter themselves too and proactively signup for things that are if interest. 

My consumer mind is sick of the automated robots, spammers, and auto-DM’s on Twitter. Please go away and join me in supporting #noAutoDM.

I do think there is a some incredible creativty to be tapped there. Just keep in mind that much tactical advice for “how to use Twitter” gets out-dated within 3-6 months at this current pace. The place just keeps morphing in new directions. One thing that seems to be a constant is the desire for authentic conversation. Getting one of those ”@” messages directly to you sure does get your attention now doesn’t it? It’s just not that practical for mass marketing.

If we look at the photo in this post, you might see lemmings jumping blindly to their death or you might see cliff jumpers taking the fast and exhilarating ride down into the sea. Much of social media is what you make of it.

If you are someone who uses filtered groups and keyword search notifications to manage your Twitter stream, I have a question for you:

What percent of your filtering is for friends vs. business competitors vs. tracking companies from whom you buy things?

If it all gets to be too much noise for you, you can do like Loic Le Meur did: unfollow everyone and start over.

Aloha,