A few years ago I wrote a column about finding a job in the Internet age. One of the tips – “Resumes and Cover Letters Still Matter” – generated a lot of controversy in the comments.

Many people felt resumes were inadequate and outdated. LinkedIn was much better.

A few years later, the Wall Street Journal reports résumés aren’t relevant for some employers. They are looking at job candidates’ social media profiles and interactive tests.

I talked last year to a healthcare professional who said every job opening she saw required a video cover letter.

It’s obvious that technology is creating new ways for employers to evaluate job candidates. So what’s a job candidate to do? Whatever the human resources department wants.

Here’s the point. I wrote that column based upon advice from a recruiter. The key part of that advice was “Who’s life are you trying to make easier?”

Competition for job openings is intense. And if you have a moral objection to a traditional resume or a video or a social media profile, then that’s one less person that the recruiters need to consider. If you can’t follow that directive, what are the chances you will be a good employee?

Hey stick to your principles! But don’t complain about the requirements you choose not to fulfill.

(Photo: Getty Imagves via Wall Street Journal)

PressBooks wants to do for book publishing what WordPress does for website updating: Simplify it so anyone can do it. And it aims to do that by creating a book-publishing tool out of WordPress.

The idea is that WordPress is a content management system that is easy for millions of bloggers to use. So Hugh McGuire  and his team tweaked a multi-user WordPress blog that creates books not blogs. The framework is hardwired to organize the blog by chapters. Tools are available to help writers format the book pages and cover.

The beauty in this system is that once writers are ready to publish, PressBooks will export the book in HTML, Kindle, print-on-demand-ready PDF, or ePub – the standard for electronic book publishing. There also is an XML output that can be imported into In Design. But PressBooks notes that is an experimental feature, and other XML formats are in the works.

PressBooks is an elegant solution for writers who don’t have the desktop publishing skills needed to format manuscripts for self-publishing platforms such as Amazon. It uses formatting tools and language that many bloggers already find easy to use. The cloud-based nature of WordPress facillitates collaboration among writers and editors.

The service is free for writers and publishers. PressBooks hopes to make its money from customizing ePub designs and page templates.

There isn’t a lot of documentation. To be fair, anyone with WordPress experience should be able to work with it. And there is a forum to ask questions.

I’m not a stickler for fine print but would like to see a Terms of Service statement to make sure issues of copyright and other intellectual property issues are clear.

Test run

I tried it out by creating an eportfolio comprised of a cover letter, resume and “reprinted” blogging samples. To be honest, I just wanted a PDF version to distribute as a promotional tool.

The results were ugly. Images were repeated and out of alignment. Formatting was nothing like I wanted. The whole PDF was unusable. But here’s the good part. I got an email from McGuire asking for feedback – which I gave. He was interested and promised improvements were coming.

Remember, this is a free service. And I have to appreciate the genuine effort to solicit feedback.

Worth a try

This is a promising work in progress. There are obvious areas this tool (or any other system) can’t address such as style, grammar, editing and marketing. But as a WordPress aficianado, I love this idea and execution. If finding the time and inspiration to write isn’t a problem, PressBooks can help you become a self-published author.

The blog paidContent notes that “E-Books Outsell Print For Majority Of Titles On USA Today Bestseller List.”

This is just a look at a couple weeks of one list so it’s not fair to call this a trend. Plus the sales are recorded right after Christmas. The assumption is that new Kindle and Nook owners quickly started their electronic libraries.

But it’s worth watching.

It also raises a couple questions for me. As ebooks become more popular, they’re going to replace deadtree versions. What are readers going to do with the free space on bookshelves?

Will the sale of bookshelves be affected? What effect will this have on sales at Ikea?

Last week I examined a battle between a blogger and his former employer about who owns a Twitter account. I didn’t think it was shaping up to be a landmark case. And it looked like the former employer should have owned it.

That opinion is base upon my experience as @MaineBusiness. Or to be more accurate: My experience giving up the @MaineBusiness account.

I started the account many years ago while managing and blogging for the site @CarlNatale. Here’s why:

• The account was branded MaineBusiness. Couldn’t really argue it was a personal account.
• The company paid me to create it and maintain it. It was my job.
• Someone else could replace me and keep it up as @MaineBusiness.
• I didn’t want the reputation as being the guy who stole my former employer’s social media account. Especially since I was going to try to make money maintaining social media accounts for businesses.

Like I said, there were only 1,300 followers. And they signed up for a certain type of information. Too change the name and content on them felt dishonest. Kind of like a politician who switches parties. Plus I felt I could rebuild that audience.

Here’s the kicker. Since I abandoned that account, it has remained mostly dormant. But @MaineBusiness has not tweeted in more than a year and a half. In that time, it has grown by 1,000 followers.

Just how valuable is an audience that signs up to not receive updates?

Here’s the thing. A Twitter audience is a weak connection. They are not committed to your cause or your customers. There is a small chance of converting them. You need to do more than tweet.

For that reason, it’s stupid for anyone to hire attorneys to fight over the ownership of a Twitter account.

Noah Kravitz is fighting a lawsuit from a former employer that wants its Twitter account back.

If your employees are running your social media accounts, do you really own those accounts? If the answer is obvious, why is PhoneDog.com suing former employee Noah Kravitz?

PhoneDog.com is an ecommerce site selling mobile phones that also has a blog. Kravitz wrote for the blog and the Twitter account @PhoneDog_Noah. While tweeting, he gained 17,000 followers. When he quit the company, he changed the Twitter account to @NoahKravitz. He also told the New York Times that PhoneDog.com was OK with that and wanted him to promote them occasionally.

But now they’re suing Kravitz for $340,000. They claim those 17,000 followers were a customer list and property of PhoneDog.com.

The NYT is positioning this as a landmark case that can decide who owns social media accounts. I doubt it. Too many factors can be avoided for this case to have a much wider affect. And I don’t like the case. Too many mistakes were made.

Your followers are not customers

I don’t see how they can argue that Kravitz took a customer list. The followers don’t necessarily have a relationship with PhoneDog.com. This argument may fly when a sales rep tries to take his Rolodex to his next job because there is a certain proprietary knowledge contained there. But Twitter followers are public lists that any competitor can see and “poach.”

And Kravitz was a writer not sales rep. His job was to engage in a public forum. There was nothing proprietary about what he did.

The name was @Phonedog_Noah

When you name a social media account after your employer, who do you think it belongs to? Seriously. This account was created to promote PhoneDog.com. And Kravitz tweeted as part of his job.

This why you need a social media policy

A simple memo spelling out responsibilities, naming conventions, best practices and ownership could have solved the problem.

Just how valuable are Twitter followers?

If you buy my first argument that followers aren’t as valuable as customers, why do you want to take the account with you? By transferring the audience to his personal account, he assigns value to it.

And just how many of those followers would PhoneDog.com have kept with the account? One of the problems with letting an employee’s style and personality dominate a social media account is that attracts an audience that isn’t interested in the employer’s voice and message. That 17,000-follower list becomes less valuable when Kravitz stops writing.

Why Kravitz should have started over

A list of 17,000 followers sounds impressive. It’s not celebrity impressive. But it’s worth bragging about.

Except when you consider how many of them actually are engaged with Kravitz. How many retweets, responses and clickthroughs did he get? How many of his tweets were lost among the thousands that each follower got?

If that 17,000 helped Kravitz get his new gig at TechnoBuffalo.com, then power to him. But how much did that help TechnoBuffalo.com? I bet hiring him didn’t create a 17,000 bump in unique visitors.

It would be much more honest to start over. Maybe he won’t reach 17,000 followers for awhile. But that new number will be people very interested in him. They will be more engaged and valuable.

Google Maps is no longer free if your map gets very popular.

UPDATE: Google Maps is making it less costly to use its API.

There are two problems with free services:

1. You are at their mercy. Unilateral changing terms of service are a lot easier than changing the terms of a contract.
2. There is no guarantee that they will remain free.

And Google Maps illustrates the second problem nicely. If you create a map, it cannot be loaded more than 25,000 times in a day unless you pay for a license or pay for the extra loads. While for many users, this is not a problem. But for developers who dream of mashing up incredibly popular data and maps, it’s going to cost money.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. Google has the right to charge money for using its resources. Although I suspect it’s a way to reduce the traffic load on its map servers rather than a profit making attempt. Either way, Google is doing what we wish we all could do: Charge money for a popular and useful service.

Here’s how the Google Maps FAQ describes the limits:

What usage limits apply to the Maps API?

Web sites and applications using each of the Maps API may at no cost generate:

1. up to 25,000 map loads per day for each API
2. up to 2,500 map loads per day that have been modified using the Styled Maps feature

If your application exceeds these usage limits you must respond in one of the following ways in order to continue using the Maps API in your application:

• Modify your Maps API application such that the number of map loads generated per day is below the usage limit for each API that your application uses;
• Enroll for automated billing of excess map loads; or
• Purchase a Maps API Premier license

Non-profits and applications deemed in the public interest (as determined by Google at its discretion) are not subject to these usage limits. For example, a disaster relief map is not subject to the usage limits even if it has been developed and/or is hosted by a commercial entity. In addition we recommend that eligible Non-profits apply for a Maps API Premier license through the Google Earth Outreach program. This provides a number of benefits, including the right to opt-out of advertising, higher quotas for Maps API web services, and technical support.

A precise definition of what constitutes a ‘map load’ is provided here. Details on pricing can be found here.

The FAQ has pricing information.

This may not be a big deal. There’s no word on how much money this would generate. But I take it as a warning shot. If you rely on Google services for your business, prepare to pay for it.

What does this mean for businesses?

I know I said QR codes are stupid. That’s because all they can do is link to content. Now that use of content can be smart. And linking QR codes to ecommerce is even smarter.

That’s why I like how some retailers are creating interactive shopping walls. The shopping walls are posters of pictures of products with QR codes. Use your smartphone to scan the QR code and you will get an ecommerce page to order the product. Here’s how a Marketplace story on how shopping walls work. describes the strategy:

“Marketing consultant Tracey Chapman says shopping walls are popping in bus stops, subways, movie theaters — places where people have time to kill. Making shopping easy and fast is paramount these days. After all, the faster you buy, the less time you have to think about your budget.”

Here’s what I like and don’t like about the idea:

‘Can you scan me now?’

The reporter in the Marketplace story said she couldn’t connect to the ecommerce pages because she didn’t get good cell reception. Almost a fail. At least the retailers got the brand in front of people.

Shopping wall optimization (SWO)

OK, I’m being a bit snarky. But these walls will need designers who  understand how to make compelling display advertisements that prompt passers-by to do more than glance at a wall.

Empty storefronts

Branding unused store windows on Main Street and in shopping malls already is happening. Those spaces offer a lot of room for shopping walls.

‘Your QR Code Here’

Renting space to shopping walls or merchants can be a new revenue stream.

Street vendors, flea markets & craft fairs

Portable shopping walls can extend exhibitors’ inventory or let customers purchase items for delivery instead of carrying the purchase. Maybe even arrange shopping panels to create “unstaffed” booths.

It’s not perfect

But well planned shopping wall campaigns can help extend the brand and bring in more sales.

Is Scroll trying to solve a problem that no one wants fixed?

Scroll is an app that lets non-coders make webpages look like what they would design for a print page. Never mind that doesn’t always work from the users’ point of view.

Megan Garber at the Nieman Journalism Lab is right that newspaper web pages are bland and templatized. She seems to argue that newspaper web pages are in the state they are in because not enough people know HTML. And Scroll allows print centric designers to build web pages without knowing that HTML.

Here is a video showing how a page is made:

Scroll MKR Demo from Cody Brown on Vimeo.

But she misses the real problem. Newspaper websites depend on templates and content stored in databases because that’s what is efficient. In other words, the automatic nature of content management systems (CMS) allows stories to appear on the web almost automatically. Paying for the time to design these pages is not affordable in online business models.

Yes it would be wonderful if newspaper and magazine websites are designed like print editions. But that comes at a cost that makes it hard for those editions to survive.

It looks like a good tool. And it can help everyone make more interesting web pages. But it’s not going to migrate the print-ethos to online. Which I’m not sure is a problem that readers want solved. They’re looking for more useful and engaging content. Web pages that look like magazine pages isn’t going to make them fall back in love-hate relationships with newspapers.

Learn how to leverage your brand and ask questions about social media.

I am very proud to introduce to you this panel of experts on social media today at the Social Media FTW Fall Conference.

First off we have Tobin Slaven, owner of Mobile Marketing Maine. He has an interesting perspective on how small businesses can use social media to present their personal brands. It can give the Main Street businesses an unfair advantage over national brands and big box stores.

Second, Sean Wilkinson, a principal of Might & Main, can speak about brand authenticity in social media. It’s not so much about the tools but using voice, tone and personality. You know this is really important because you’re not going to gain anyone’s trust unless you have that authenticity.

And third, Allie Munier, the blogger who brings us Broke 207, has some valuable insights on interacting as a human being in social media. Her perspective makes social media more accessible. The way you already interact with clients is valid online.

All of this boils down to branding. And like it or not, we all have brands. Some personal. Some professional.

Business people have been using personal and professional brands for centuries. But what’s different today is that you can project that brand all the way around the world. Or you can focus it onto your neighborhood. Either way, social media can communicate your brand.

How does that work for your business? Come find me at 2:45 p.m. and find out.

You don't need bacon to make a social media event worthwhile. (Bacon Beer by uosɐɾ McArthur, on Flickr)

Two kinds of people go to social media events: The usual suspects and the learners.

I’m one of the usual suspects. Not really there to learn a lot. (Although I usually have a takeaway or two.) My main goal is to network. Maybe do some prospecting. The learners are trying to figure out how to use social media at work.

It could be a symbiotic relationship between the two types of people. The usual suspects might catch some business by impressing some learners. And the learners could get some expertise to help their businesses.

This month, the usual suspects like me are going to be busy.  We’re going to be bumping into a lot of learners.

Social Media FTW Fall Conference

Did I mention that I will be moderating a panel of social media experts at the Sept. 22 Social Media FTW Fall Conference (FTW)? It’s a full day of presentations on what your business needs to know. Some very smart people will be sharing their knowledge.

Social Media Breakfast

Social media and bacon. What could be better? Social media and beer?

One way to find out. The next Social Media Breakfast (SMBME) actually is scheduled at 4:30 P.M. Sept. 23. There will be panelists talking about using social media to market local beer. I’m not sure if there will be samples.

But there will be Chris Brogan. He will be moderating the panel, and hopefully adding his ideas. He’s smart and funny. I’m going to learn a lot.

What I hope to accomplish

I love talking about blogging and social media. That’s incentive enough for me to be at Social Media FTW. Although I don’t plan to pitch my services, I do see it as a chance to present my expertise. Then  I can build upon that reputation when I do make my pitches.

And there’s the opportunity to learn something. I don’t have enough ego to think I know enough. There are a lot of people doing good stuff that I need to learn more about. I’m looking forward to hearing them speak and meeting them.

And Brogan is one of those people. I have heard him and talked to him briefly. He makes conversations easy and fun. Being in the same room as him is worth way more than the $16.36 it costs for SMBME.

And I’m looking forward to learning more about beer marketing. It’s an industry that can be fun -not just because it’s about alcohol. But marketing can be edgier. And because it’s lucrative and competitive, there is a lot at stake. So these people need to take more risks. Yeah, I’m going to learn a lot.

My secret agenda

Here’s the reason I’m really going. The justification for every penny and minute spent networking, listening and speaking.

I want to know what are the questions people are asking. Because each question represents a need or a problem. People will be asking questions because they need help.

And those questions could be a sign of a market. In other words, enough questions could help me create products and services to sell. These events are my focus groups.

I hope to see you at either event. And I will be listening for your questions.

If youre wondering what works and doesn’t work in a social media campaign, you’re going to want to hear Jenna Lebel, managing director of account strategy at Likeable Media, speak at Social Media FTW.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Her workshop, Social Media: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, will show examples of how brands are using and misusing Facebook and Twitter.

LinkedIn is one of the most valuable business tools you will find on the Internet. And there is a workshop planned at Social Media FTW to help you get the most of it.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

I have seen Carole Mahoney, president & CEO of Mahoney Internet Marketing, talk about LinkedIn and am looking forward to hearing more. She’s smart and has a lot of useful things to say. I don’t know Rick Roberge, a networking guru and sales coach, but am looking forward to what he has to share also.

I’m not new to LinkedIn. This is why I’m such a fan:

• It’s my address book on steroids: It’s a great way to keep my contacts up to date. It also has a ton of information on everyone and what they do.
• The Groups are good communities: These are good places to make new connections, learn about a subject and promote my content. If share a link to relevant, useful content in a group based upon a narrow niche, I get good traffic from it.
• Answers rock: It’s a great Q&A forum that lets me research what I want to know and share what I do know.

I’m looking forward to learning how to take LinkedIn to the next level.

[Read also: 16 Smarter Ways to Use LinkedIn to Build Your Business]

Check The Unauthorized Guide to the Social Media FTW Fall Conference for information what you can learn and how to get a discount.

I’m looking forward to Rich Brook’s workshop on YouTube Marketing at the Social Media FTW Fall Conference.  Because I have a lot to learn.

That became obvious when I made a video to plug the social media panel that I’m moderating at the conference. The conference organizers asked presenters to make a video promoting the Social Media FTW. Smart. It’s a good way to get the word out and demonstrate the value of video.

After 17 takes, this my video:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Let’s call it a learning experience. And maybe it wasn’t so much about learning as much about remembering some things I already knew.

A lot of those takes were redone because of slips of the tongue, weird eye movements and creepiness. I had to stop judging myself so harshly and trying to be perfect.

These are sins that I often preach against while covering blogging and public speaking. Why are they sins?

Because these are selfish goals that are used to create excuses for not writing or speaking.

Your audience isn’t expecting perfection. They want to learn something. And I admit that during those 17 takes I was more worried about how I looked than what the audience can learn.

Now that I got that out of the way, I can concentrate on learning more about how to reach people with YouTube marketing. Check out Rich’s video to see how much I have to learn:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Check The Unauthorized Guide to the Social Media FTW Fall Conference for information what you can learn and how to get a discount.

Tobin Slaven is the founder of Mobile Marketing of Maine and one of the Maine experts who will be part of the panel I’m moderating at Social Media FTW Fall Conference.

I’m really interested in talking to Tobin about how businesses can use social media and marketing. You can too. Join us for an informative panel discussion Sept 22. Hope to see you there.

J. Trevor Hughes will talk about protecting privacy. But you will learn about building trust.

I have heard J. Trevor Hughes speak at the Social Media Breakfast on social media in highly regulated industries and look forward to hearing more from him at the Social Media FTW Fall Conference.

Hughes is president and CEO of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). And he has solid advice for any business using social media.

Basically, you need to build trust. Respecting your customers privacy – online and in real life – is a key part of building that trust. Here’s one of the key takeaways I had from that session on social media and privacy:

“It comes down to helping people and protecting their interests. Focus on that. Shape your messages accordingly. That’s what will make you or break you.”

This is going to be a good session that will be about more than privacy.

Check The Unauthorized Guide to the Social Media FTW Fall Conference for information what you can learn and how to get a discount.

You should also know

I will be moderating a panel of social media experts at Social Media FTW. Let me know what you would like to learn at the conference.

Check The Unauthorized Guide to the Social Media FTW Fall Conference for information what you can learn and how to get a discount.

This is cool. I’m going to be moderating a panel of social media experts at the Social Media FTW Fall Conference.

These are three people who will present their unique perspectives on using social media and answer your questions. Let me introduce the panel to you:

• Alexandra Munier is the blogger responsible for Broke 207 and writes for many other online publications about what it’s like to live in Maine. She can show you the value of being more human in social media.
• Tobin Slaven is the founder of Mobile Marketing of Maine, which focuses on using mobile, social media, and video marketing to help businesses build an audience, rather than rely on buying advertising. He has a lot of expertise in using mobile in social media.
• Sean Wilkinson is the principal of Forge (which is becoming Might & Main), a Portland design and branding firm, the president of AIGA Maine and on the board for PICNIC Music & Arts Festival. So he’s a great resource for learning more about branding and social media.

And then there’s me. I will be guiding the discussion. I’m interested in using social media to share expertise. That’s something that all three of the panelists can help explain.

What do you want to know?

The four of us are in the introductory phase. Getting to know each other. Figuring out how much time we have. Soon we will be tackling what we will be discusssing.

This is your chance to let us know what you want to know by:

• Asking your questions in the comments.
• Contacting @CarlNatale on Twitter (Use the #FTW2011 hashtag to get attention from other conference presenters and attendees)
• Posting it in my Inspiring Commerce Facebook page

Do you want a discount?

You will be able to see a lot of great presentations. So I’m going to help you get a cheaper ticket. When you register for Social Media FTW 2011, click on the link “Enter Discount Code” and type “carlnataleFTW” in the box to get $25 off the price of admission.

I hope to see you there.

Lab42 figured out how consumers are using QR codes.

Again, I don’t hate QR codes. Just the stupid ones. And If you want to make sure I don’t hate yours, then you need to read this list of 5 QR code mistakes.

Matthias Galica put some good thought into the list and is CEO of ShareSquare, which is in the business of mobile marketing and QR codes. And I’m going to agree with his list:

1. Not Testing the Code
2. Getting Too Fancy With Text
3. Serving up Non-Mobile Pages
4. Putting QR Codes Where There’s No Data Signal
5. Not Offering Enough Value

To me, the biggest sin on this list is linking a QR code to a non-mobile page. It’s like no one realized that people will be scanning these boxes with cell phones. It shouldn’t top the last item. But offering value is a tricky thing and is highly subjective. It’s easy to get wrong.

But Galica recognizes the challenge and offers this spot-on advice:

“The best advice is to put yourself in the shoes of your target fan. Would you bother pulling out the phone for your campaign? Would you be happy with the pay off?”

I would encourage you to take it one step further. Step into the shoes of your target while they are standing in the spot they see your code. Trying it in your office is a very different experience than waiting on a crowded sidewalk for a YouTube video to load on a phone.

Make QR codes smarter

Cynthia Fedor sees QR codes becoming a marketing gimmick. She sees the same problem and solution:

“Before using QR codes in any campaign, marketers need to stop and think. It is important to see campaigns and the use of digital marketing technologies from the perspective of the average consumer.”

So Fedor suggests using QR codes to link direct mail campaigns to video reviews made by local customers. There is so much smart in that idea. And it’s more than a QR code. It uses targeted direct mail (old school yes but still effective), video and social proof. There is nothing easy or cheap about the idea. Which makes it the opposite of a lot of QR campaigns.

Fedor also recommends linking QR codes to coupons. Research shows discounts are the most popular reason why consumers scan. (Which is what the graphic on this page is all about.) That’s not too much of a surprise. But beware of the dangers of discounting.

Make QR codes more productive

Now here’s an idea that takes it in a totally different direction. Boxmeup is an online service that helps you organize your stuff. You can use the website or mobile app to list your boxes (or containers) and what’s in them. Then print a label with a QR code that links to the inventory of what’s in the box.

It’s in beta. Which I think means that there’s more potential than utility right now. I would love to use my phone to take photos of my stuff and send those images to the container inventory. (If I have to type out an inventory of what I have, it’s not going to happen.) Or import a list generate from other apps.

In any case, it’s a way to use the codes as something other than marketing. I bet Evernote could add QR scanning to its mobile app. Link the codes to useful information or shareable notebooks.

The QR cheerleaders are right. There are so many possibilities. Just choose the smart ones.

Make QR codes obsolete

Even if you create incredibly smart and engaging QR campaigns, the QR code may be doomed. Smart Scanner is a mobile app that recognizes text and URLs you scan. So you can scan a magazine ad and be taken to more information or video – no QR code required. Google Goggles is worth trying too.

This doesn’t mean you can go back to being stupid. You still need smart and engaging campaigns. You still need to put yourself of the consumer holding the phone. You still need to avoid those five mistakes.

It’s just that the Smart Scanner technology is very easy to use. Wait for a cell phone to include it in a way that doesn’t require you to start an app. Just point and click. You get a photo and a page with relevant content.

 The Takeaway

QR codes are just a tool that can be replaced by other tools. The key is to create useful content for customers and link them to mobile calls to action.

QR code for deja vu all over again.

I know I said that QR codes are stupid. But I never declared a death sentence for the “those square, mobile barcodes.”

That would be Dan Frommer on BusinessInsider.com. His argument is based upon two parts.

First, the process is cumbersome and probably non-intuitive.

Second, there are smarter, easier technologies that will make QR codes look so 2010.

And he sums up the whole complaint thus:

“Big picture: Yes, obviously, barcodes have a place in the world. They are simple and cheap for commerce and logistics, and barcodes are widespread. There are cool consumer experiments where people use QR mobile barcodes for shopping in virtual supermarkets in Korean subway stations. And for now, they seem to be a novelty for some U.S. advertisers. But as far as the future of advertising goes, particularly in the U.S., it’s hard to see them really taking off. Their utility hasn’t yet made up for their awkwardness.“

I agree with half that last sentence (which I emphasized). I don’t think using QR codes is as awkward as Frommer details. But marketers are not putting enough utility into QR code destinations. What kind of utility? Mitch Joel  nails it when he talks about how QR codes are failing to help mobile users:

“Mobile – in and of itself – is a unique experience, so if you can’t take the time to creatively think about how a QR code component to your campaign can really be something special for those who walk the extra mile with your brand – especially taking into account where they are when they access it – you may as well drop it from your marketing mix.”

Joel’s post is a must read for anyone who wonders what they should do about mobile.

Related Posts on QR Codes

I have more on what you need to consider when creating QR codes for your business:

1. How to use QR codes to tell a story
2. Why Google Places isn’t a smart use of QR codes
3. Why I’m bored with QR codes already

Probably my biggest takeaway from Friday’s Social Media Breakfast was the realization you are going to become journalists. Or at least be held to held to a pretty high standard when it comes to social media.

I know this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with social media in highly regulated industries. But many presenters made the point that regulations were just the baseline. We’re subject to much more stringent standards from our customers and employers.

That’s not a new concept to me. News organizations have been working on social media standards on journalists for a while. In a nutshell, these are considered best practices:

• Share content that drives traffic to the news site.
• Do not debate the readers
• Do not damage the news organization’s reputation in anyway
• Do not editorialize – even when using a private account.

Note these standards apply to any activity that a journalist does. Even when using private accounts on computers at home. Journalists always are representing their employers and need to watch what they do.

What does this have to do with you – the average social media user who never has worked for any publication or broadcaster?

According to J. Trevor Hughes, president  and CEO of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), that standa

rd is becoming very common. The distinction between private citizen and employee is disappearing in more industries.

Employers want their people to proudly represent their workplaces. Until they do something online that can reflect upon the employer.

In other words, can you get in trouble at work for what is published on your private Twitter account?

There’s a chance. Depends on your contract situation and labor law.

Welcome to my world

Actually I’m a recovering journalist. I don’t have an employer imposing restrictions on what I post, tweet or update. But I do have customers, prospects and audiences who judge me based upon my social media activity.

Will social media reveal all our Fragile Truths?

That’s fair. I choose to represent myself.

But do I represent the people I work for? Whether I’m a contract worker or employee, there’s a chance someone is monitoring me and judging if I’m appropriate.

And you too.

Which seems kind of fair. For more than a decade, I’ve been hearing that the Internet is making everyone a publisher. And then there’s the debate about who becomes a journalist. It looks like the people who are signing checks are imposing some journalistic standards.

Is it fair for employers to monitor their employees and prospective employees? Good question. But it’s becoming common. So it looks like we’re going to have to behave.

“This is a business soley based on trust.”

That’s what Scott Whytock, owner of August Wealth Management, LLC, an investment advisory and financial planning firm, said about financial planning at Friday’s Social Media Breakfast on social media in highly regulated industries.

That’s probably the most valuable thing I heard in the morning. Yes, all the speakers had good insights.

But Scott’s words stand out because they need to apply to every business. No matter what you sell, you’re not going to succeed unless people trust you. Luckily you can earn that trust with social media.

This isn’t mandated by law or regulation. Yes there are a lot of rules about how certain businesses need to conduct themselves. How social media fits into those rules is what fueled Friday’s presentations.

But that’s just the beginning. “Trust requires more than legal requirements,” says J. Trevor Hughes, the president and CEO of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).  I say people are pickier than lawmakers and regulators. You need to satisfy their expectations.

And it’s not social media that’s going to get you in trouble. It’s not understanding your customers expectations of privacy and appropriateness. Social media is just the way everyone will learn about your mistakes – and strengths.

It comes down to helping people and protecting their interests. Focus on that. Shape your messages accordingly. That’s what will make you or break you.

Thus you can’t build a reputation on social media. You build your reputation – online or offline – on trust.

Social media is just a tool to make it happen.