It may be ironic, but I’m not a big fan of statistics when it comes to blog readership.  Not because I’m not interested, but because I’m not convinced the average person understands exactly what a blog is. Even many of us who think we DO understand what a blog is have a hard time agreeing with one another on definitions.

Case in point: Seth Godin. He disabled comments on his blog long ago, yet some say comments make a blog. On the other hand, The Chicago Tribune has comments on their articles. Is The Chicago Tribune a blog? Others still refer to forums or message boards as blogs. Do they qualify?

A recent study by Mediamark Research & Intelligence (pdf) found that 10.1 percent of U.S. adults reported to having read a blog in the last 30 days.

And, if you think that number’s small, only 3.4 percent of adults actually wrote a blog post in the same period. There goes the theory that blogging democratizes the web. It seems there’s still an equation of the few influencing the many, but just who comprises the few has shifted a bit. If you’re curious, I heard about the study from a Marketing Charts email newsletter. Good stuff here.

I tend to think the number of people reading blogs is actually much higher. However,  I’m prone to believe the statistic on the percentage of bloggers is right on. Why, you ask? Because I’m willing to accept that someone who’s blogging probably knows they’re blogging.

The irony for me is even though the reported number of blog readers seems relatively small, the press release for this study notes blogs relatively sizable impact on consumers:

“This is the latest evidence of the impact a small group of people can have on society at large,” said Anne Marie Kelly, SVP, Marketing & Strategic Planning, at MRI.“The influence of blogs on mainstream media reporting has long been clear and now the government is taking steps to ensure consumers know the motivation behind blog product endorsements and recommendations. Yet, relatively speaking, very few consumers read or write blogs.”

Wait… I’m confused.

If you missed that part in the middle, read it again: “The influence of blogs on mainstream media reporting has long been clear…” Really? So many people working in social media struggle to make this case, why is it such a given for the FTC and the organization behind this study?

If the numbers are so small, why do blogs have such an undeniable impact to those conducting the study? Especially if we consider that the same 3.4 percent who write blogs probably  make up the 10.1 percent who read them.

Math isn’t my forte, but if I examine the numbers, this means that 3.4 percent of the population are very influential over a remaining 6.7 percent. So one third of a very small segment of the population is very influential over another relatively small segment of the population not even twice its size. Big deal! Yet, this press release from the study announces the “broad” impact of bloggers.

For the record, I believe the impact of blogs goes way beyond what this study indicates for a few reasons I’ve written about before, but I would really like to hear from you.

Am I missing something here? What do you make of these numbers?

And, perhaps more importantly, how can we ask better questions to understand the true impact of blogs on culture as well as consumer behavior?

How should we really measure influence?

Photo by Dave ®

Caution: This post could be construed as gratuitous self promotion because I work for We Seed’s parent company, PEAK6 Online.

I don’t even own a television, but tonight I’ll be camping out in front of someone else’s set to watch We Seed on 20/20.

I know a lot of us in social media circles like to focus on the interest and influence of social media in the way information spreads, but the growth patterns differ greatly. Social media is great for long-term growth and facilitation of word of mouth, but mainstream media (especially national mainstream media) still packs a wallop and has the ability to get a lot of people talking about something all at once.

I’ve used this graphic a lot in the past, but it’s still very relevant. One of my favorite images from David Armano is one that shows the ripple effect in online conversation. To get a better look, click the image and check it out on David’s Flickr profile. If thousands of people throw small rocks in a pond all at once, it can equal and surpass one very large rock thrown into the same still water. That doesn’t mean we should discount the power and force of the huge rock.

We Seed is a great example of a company that has relied mostly on social media and grass roots outreach to spread the word about its mission of providing a fun way to learn about the stock market, but I’m excited to see where this level of attention will take the company and the very talented team of people who work to make the site a success.

A big congrats to everyone on the We Seed team!

Got beef with the influence of mainstream media? Don’t just take my word for it – read these posts:

Mainstream Media Relations, More Important Than Ever

Smart Targeting: Influencers or Fans?

This is the name of a round table discussion I’m getting ready to lead at this year’s Product Camp Seattle (search on Twitter for #pcs09 to follow the conversation from today). The discussion is set to kick off in about an hour and I’m getting my thoughts ready to go.

It’s the second time now that I’ve been the first person inside a company to drive social media communication and like anything that’s brand new to an organization, this can create a lot of upheaval. One of the areas where things get tricky is in communication with product managers, developers and engineers. This is exactly why I chose to attend this particular event. :-)

Let’s face it — there’s often a huge communication and experience gap between people with marketing backgrounds and people with engineering and development backgrounds. Social media integration requires that we have something to share beyond messaging. That something to share should be something that’s valuable to THEM – the user or the customer.

In the social media community, we’re very accustomed to using the hell out of the sites we love. We engage, we post, we pick things apart, we critique, we share, we tag… My friend, Andrew Hyde refers to people like us as the “Posting Economy”. We’re a culture of posters — we post our status, ideas, what has our attention, etc.

The problem is that this kind of critique doesn’t always mesh very well with established business processes and procedures. Developers are often very knowledgeable and talented, but the business cases they’re presented with don’t often include social media requirements.

As communication professionals, how do we insert ourselves into the development process without creating havoc, friction and upset? Maybe we can’t — at least not at first, but I’m trying to learn how to approach this process with more finesse and understand how to bridge this gap.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned so far:

1. Social media and marketing types tend to gather ideas from other existing products or solutions. This can create problems because developers and engineers see it as their role to identify products or solutions — it’s your job to define the problem or list requirements.

2. Social media and marketing types don’t usually understand how to define requirements in terms that developers and engineers can readily implement.

3. Job satisfaction for developers and engineers  is typically derived from a sense of accomplishment — from crossing action items off their to-do list. Social media is never ending. How can we give positive feedback and help them with this sense of accomplishment in a state of perpetual beta?

Just some early thoughts on this subject. I think a lot of existing web-based products and businesses could greatly improve their value proposition and market share by identifying opportunities to make their products more social.

An example of this in my mind is this: How cool would it be if Amazon product reviews were more discoverable through search? What if Amazon product reviews could be posted to Facebook or had a unique URL so I could post my review on Twitter? Just at thought…

What products do you see that could benefit from a little more socialization?

Photo by shortlake

Social Business Design by David Armano

Social media interaction may have started with marketing and public relations, but as the public facing elements of our businesses started engaging in a dialogue with customers and other community stakeholders, we started to realize something very important: true social media engagement transcends marketing.

Enter Social Business.

For the social business, silos don’t work if you need to communicate and adapt quickly. Plus, what happens when there’s no one to analyze all of the feedback? Word of mouth can’t happen with just one person owning social media if your company is larger than a hundred employees or so and farming it out to an agency doesn’t really work without a strong internal commitment.

My friend Mona and I were having a conversation about this the other day and she compared business’ understanding of social media to the early days of the IT department when executives thought one person could handle all the technology needs. Twenty years ago companies thought one person could fill the role of Systems Administrator, Web Developer, Systems Architect, Help Desk, Project Manager, User Experience, etc. I thought this was a good analogy. To be successful, we need to grow beyond relying on a single person or department to own the use of social media.

Listening is always the first step to social media communication, so please keep in mind that listening, monitoring and gathering data should take place from the very start and continue along as you ramp through the process I’m going to describe below.

Once you have a high-level strategy in place you’re ready to start

I. Building capacity (in 3 steps)
II. Building an army
III. Managing tactics…

Build Capacity in 3 Steps

1. Insert Social Media Consultancy Into the Web/Product Development Process

Identify opportunities to add social components to any website or web-based products. A lot of user experience people are great at doing this, but their focus is typically on making sticky sites. It’s your job to make it so sticky they take a piece with them – voluntarily of course – I’m not talking cookies.

Examples of Product Opportunities include:

• Make the cool stuff portable through unique URLs for each bit of content. This includes images, videos, etc.
• Syndicate content – RSS isn’t just about individual subscribers, it enables aggregation and all sorts of other really useful things, including widgets.
• Widgetize content – what tools or features on your website would make a great widget?
  Hint: If it would make a good widget, it would probably make a very useful mobile application as well – think beyond just making an app for the entire site. What are the best parts?

2. Define Overall Metrics

Metrics can always be tweaked as you go, but if you’ve already started listening, you should already be thinking about the best ways to measure.

I think of it as connecting dots. Think of your company’s overall objective (this will most likely be sales or profits) and how social media engagement helps this.

If your business is web-based, traffic and incoming links are valuable. If not, there are other things like sentiment change, increased mentions over time and larger trends that can be correlated with sales and other initiatives.

3. Redefine Culture

I’ve become convinced that pioneering social media integration needs more than a strategy – it needs a story.

If you’re a typical social media evangelist, you already know the story, but you probably already know it so well you forget to start at the beginning. Chances are if you’re in a fairly large organization that’s been in business for more than a couple years, the culture isn’t conducive to transparent, real-time communication.

You’ll need to include the philosophical stuff in every strategy document. While you may be sick and tired of hearing social media buzzwords like transparency, community, collaboration, humanization. They are still radical concepts to most business people. Learn to love them – they help rally the troops to your cause.

Then, speaking of troops…

Build An Army

Social media success is not a solo endeavor. The one common element in every successful social media strategy is that there are several people to support the effort – typically in an official capacity.

Sure it helps if one person can own the overall social media health of the organization, but pulling it off requires that several people integrate elements of social media outreach and our fluency into their regular job description.

Push to have job descriptions and commitments altered so they’re included in performance reviews. Part of changing culture includes measuring individual performance on these tasks. A volunteer army may work for the U.S. military, but even they collect a paycheck. It’s important that what they’re doing be seen as a valuable contribution to the business – not just something fun to do on the side.

Half-assed commitments kill momentum and social media engagement is almost always dependent on momentum to ensure real ROI.

If you’re in charge of social media or community, that means it’s your job to educate and coach just about everyone around you on how they can help facilitate word of mouth inside and outside the organization.

Note: Chris Brogan and Julien Smith talk about the how and why of “building armies” in their very excellent book, Trust Agents.

And finally:

Manage Tactics to Support Initiatives

Every good marketing team needs to run fast toward their goals. Having the above in place should enable your team to do this. With a solid foundation in place and several accessible representatives for your brand, you can begin to make a bigger impact each time out of the gate, whether it’s responding to a crisis, sponsoring an event or building excitement for a promotion.

My Experience

I’ve had all this stuff in my head for awhile, but getting focused and honing things into easily digestible steps isn’t always my strong suit. I tend to have a very intuitive approach to all of this stuff, which makes me a fantastic do-er and a poor manager an aspiring manager.

Many thanks to Brad Goldberg for drawing the diagram on the image pictured on the right, and for helping me sort out my many thoughts into something I could articulate.

Your Turn

I realize every business is different so maybe share some of the things you’re doing to forge a new path in your company. My hope is that others will find this process useful. I’m invested in the success of social business, so despite my often-sassy demeanor, this means deep down I am invested in your success, too.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? They’re all welcome here.

Don't Call Me a Guru

Let’s do an exercise where you fill in the blanks:

Social media gurus say ____________,
but I think _________________.

I see and hear this all the time and I’m going on the record to denounce this as intellectually lazy and even a bit cowardly.

Who are You Calling a Guru?

Believe it or not, when someone says social media gurus, I don’t know who the hell they’re talking about. I see a lot of diversity of thought and experience amongst people I consider guru-worthy.

I don’t think there are any closed guru meetings, or guru alliances or a guru bot that goes around infecting people involved in social media.

Yes, Intellectually Lazy…

Who says what? Prove it. Where’s the link? Can you quote or paraphrase at least? If someone really says something you disagree with, there’s probably a link to substantiate your claim and your counter position. If it’s something they said in conversation, ask them if they don’t mind whether you reference that discussion in a blog post.

Tell Us How You Really Feel

You can’t exactly pride yourself for going against the grain if you don’t call it out like you see it. Don’t fall back on the old guru say what routine. When you disagree with someone, own it. Otherwise, we’re having debates with no real substance or reference point. Maybe this goes back to my roots as a student of journalism, but this type of argument with a hypothetical group of individuals would never fly in that scenario.

I’m going to put myself to task here and tell you I started thinking about this after reading a blog post from Mitch Joel Sunday morning. I left a comment in line with the discussion on the post, but I kept mulling over the use of the “social media gurus” line and I had to come clean.

I have a lot of respect for Mitch and his work, so I’m hoping he understands where I’m coming from. I also realize he was using it as a bit of a joke – hence the quotation marks. However, I think as this space continues to grow, a lot more people are not going to necessarily understand the underlying humor.

Some may even assume he’s talking about the people at the top of their game – real community appointed experts like Beth Kanter does in this post. Her list of  social media gurus includes David Armano, Rohit Bhargava, Pete Blackshaw, Chris Brogan, Todd Defren, Jason Falls and Ann Handley among a few others. There’s no sarcasm here – these are very well respected people at the top of their game.

My point in writing this is I think we can all do better. We also need to realize that we’re not just talking to each other anymore. Lumping a group of people together under the “guru” heading gives others the impression that an unnamed group of people is out of touch with my reality.

This isn’t personal. A lot of people use this type of phrase to describe a certain set of unnamed people. Some other blog posts where the phrase is used:

Biggest Mistakes Made by Social Media Gurus

Expulsion of the Social Media “Gurus” – Impacts of the Recession

SEO vs. Social Media Gurus

My point in showing other posts that use the phrase is that we’re not all using it to describe the same group of people based on an agreed-upon set of characteristics.

Some use the phrase to describe the sort of self-proclaimed carpet-bagger type “expert” who is simply hopping on the social media trend, but others use it to describe the sort of community appointed gurus or people who really know their stuff.

Plus, is it totally impossible for someone can hop on the social media bandwagon for all the wrong reasons and intentions and still end up becoming a valuable contributor in this space? I don’t think so.

When we start grouping people into the guru and non-guru category, it stops feeling like a community and a lot more like every place else in the world. Besides, despite our motivation, aren’t we all still learning?

Your Thoughts Here

I’m interested to know what you think of this. Maybe I’m way off base, but isn’t it time we learn how to respectfully disagree with enough fortitude to withstand a little conjecture on a personal level without relying on sweeping generalizations?

Without links, the Internet would simply be content without context.

Before the advent of search engines, the first blogs weren’t much more than a simple collection of vetted links.

Whether we realize it or not – this forever changed the way we consume information.

The interesting thing is, even though I’ve been churning about this subject for quite some time, I happened to encounter two pieces of information on the same day (today) that got me all fired up about this:

1. Darren Rowse’s post on ProBlogger questioning whether outbound links were a “endangered species”.
2. A late encounter with a situation between Gawker Media and the Washington Post that led me down an extremely compelling link trail that all started when I read an excerpt from the story on The Licensing Plate.

In his post, Darren condenses several responses from people he received on Twitter as to why bloggers don’t seem to be linking so much anymore. To be fair, some answers indicated naivety to the general practice and etiquette of outbound links and this makes sense since so many newcomers are joining the party.

However, one of the other answers irritated me beyond belief:

SEO? Really?

Some admitted that they were saving their best link juice for the links that would either generate the most income or pass on the best link juice to partner sites. Um, okay. But:

1. If you’re a blogger, doesn’t this really dilute your credibility as a resource? I’m not saying don’t link to your own stuff, but linking out to others is probably what got you where you are today if you’re really that important.
2. Isn’t the power of people to provide human context to all of this information really what’s killing old-school journalism? If the Washington Post can’t afford to exist in a vacuum, how can you?

By the way, please go read Darren’s post on ProBlogger, especially if you’re one of the people who profess ignorance or naivety to the whole practice of outbound linking.

Now, onto the debacle between The Washington Post and Gawker Media.

Long Story Short

Ian Shapira wrote a feature story in the Washington Post about a consultant who teaches companies how to deal with Gen Y employees and clients. Hamilton Nolan from Gawker Media picked up the story and put his own snarky spin on the story.

Ian Shapira then posts an article titled, The Death of Journalism (Gawker Edition) with the title tag, How Gawker Ripped Off My Newspaper Story.

In it, Ian admits:

• The story on the Gawker site was the second highest source of referring traffic for his lengthy feature.
• He was at first gleeful over the attention his story was receiving from Gawker and (Washington Post-owned site, Slate.com), but later changed his mind after being deflated by his editor’s claim that Gawker stole his story and punctuated with a deflating “where’s your outrage, man?”

Deja Vu

At my age, this whole thing feels ridiculously familiar and much like all the outrage from musicians over sampling their original recordings in hip hop. Like hip hop artists and other artists like Girl Talk do for aging and forgotten recordings, sites like Gawker are actually keeping crumbling journalistic institutions like The Washington Post relevant for a whole host of online readers.

Most of the people who clicked through to the Washington Post would never have read or cared about the story in the Washington Post without the framing and context the link from Gawker provided.

Gawker Bites Back

Of course, Gawker retorted brilliantly with a post by Garbriel Snyder outing the communications person from The Washington Post who regularly sends stories with pulled quotes and links to make writing about them easier… hmmm, PR  comes full circle (but that’s another post altogether).

Where Am I?

The human-shaped web is much more than disconnected strangers each standing on his or her soapbox. We provide context and relevance for one another and we keep each other honest (I hope).

If you really want to understand what all this Internet stuff is about, follow the links. We may live in uncertain times, but there’s one thing you can definitely count on: Links Matter.

by Randy Son Of Robert

The worst advice I ever received working in PR was a communication technique called the “Doppler Effect”.

The story goes like this; a senior professional I worked with at the time was preparing me for a meeting with one of our clients.

Rather than delivering an accurate update on the account, she decided instead to rely on a communication technique she nicknamed the Doppler Effect which, she explained was how bullshit, when delivered at rapid-fire speed, would actually sound like the truth.

I decided on the spot I never wanted to be like that. That was how she chose to conduct herself and I’m sure it worked for her – it would never work for me.

Sure there are other ways of being less than honest on the Internet, but I’m glad that bullshit posted online usually reads like… well, bullshit. This is one way the Internet actually helps keep us honest.

I think we all have experiences like this, but it can be helpful to share them so we know we’re not alone.

It’s sometimes difficult to know when bad advice is bad when we look up to the person dishing it out. Plus, it might just be good for a laugh.

So, what do you say… What’s the worst professional advice you ever received? How does it ultimately make you better at what you do?

Photo by slworking2

Identifying and Responding to Criticism Even When it’s Dressed to Look Like Feedback

Criticism and feedback are not synonyms. They each have very different meanings and implications and require a different approach if you’re responding in a professional capacity within the social web.

Yes, feedback can be critical and it’s possible someone will deliver criticism when you ask for feedback. This is where it gets tricky, but what matters here is that your response is appropriate.

Bear with me – I’ll get to the tactical part very soon, but in this instance, I think it’s important to note the differences in the definitions of each of these words:

crit⋅i⋅cism –noun

feed⋅back –noun

See how the definition of criticism implies judgment and intellectual assessment while feedback has more to do with resonance and reaction (both literal and figurative) than with judgment?

Feedback gives information that allows us to assess the quality of our own product.

Criticism judges the quality of the product.

See the difference?

Why This is Important

If you’re looking to represent a brand or company online and engage in comment marketing or any one-on-one outreach, it’s extremely important to understand which one you’re dealing with in order to respond in a way that builds and sustains relationships.

Feedback helps customers and stakeholders feel they have a voice that can affect the quality of future experiences. Feedback can also help inform companies as to how best to grow into better, more profitable companies.

Criticism can also be helpful when you’re dealing with assessing the value of some type of product or service, but when criticism is levied against individuals in organizations, or a general manner of doing business, it’s important that it be addressed differently.

Personal criticism, or criticism that attacks a company’s way of conducting business indicates a deeper issue than the particular instance or grievance noted in the language.

If companies take criticism at face value and respond to the specific argument rather than the underlying issue, they miss the chance for real communication and relationship building at best, and devolve into angry discourse at worst.

Steps For Identifying and Responding to Criticism Online

1. Listen CAREFULLY – look for words that indicate judgment of merit – positive or negative (criticism can be positive, or neutral, too)

2. Sort Statements – Criticism is often buried in feedback and vice versa. Feedback can be taken at face value, but criticism should be addressed on par with what is actually being communicated below the surface.

3. Extract Meaning – What is really being stated here? Make sure you’re clear on what about your business is being criticized. Don’t be afraid to ask questions that seek clarification – this is perhaps a new development with social media – take advantage of this. Try your best to retrace the steps to discover this person’s pathway to judgment. Connect the dots between his/her experience and the resulting judgment.

4. Respond with Empathy – Even if the person doing the criticizing has a legitimate point, arguing specifics will only cause trouble and strengthen the firmness of the criticizer’s position. Empathize with their judgment: put yourself in their shoes and they’ll likely return the favor.

REMEMBER: Criticism always says more about the criticizer than it ever does about the criticizee. This is the nature of judgment. Our own experience provides a lens through which we view the world and everything in it.

5. Dodge Dogma – When you find the origin is a dogma that conflicts with the mission of your business, it may make sense to agree to disagree. Vegetarians will likely criticize manufacturers of meat products, those who feel strongly about environmental preservation will likely remain critical of the mining industry and so on. When dogmatic differences arise, own them. In most cases it will behoove you to be respectful of their beliefs, but don’t feel the need to placate them. Your critics with opposing dogmas will remain your critics and sharpen your appeal to others more aligned with your mission.

Don’t Just Say What You Mean, Explain

I had a realization recently about how the Internet encourages us to find information and derive meaning as an independent activity. The good part news is that this breeds a lot of diversity of thought. The bad news is we’re relying less on real definitions and instead relying on context and a general intuitive sense of what a word actually means.

If we’re confusing basic concepts in communication, what else are we confusing? Think about this the next time you talk with people about social media.

If familiar concepts like feedback and criticism can become confused, just think how different your definitions of terms related to social media or the social web in general can seem to your clients and colleagues… chances are, your definition of a blog isn’t theirs.

Your Feedback and/or Criticism Welcome Here!

Does knowing the definition of each of these words help you understand how to interpret and respond to critics, or am I simply splitting hairs?

Photo by andyi

It was a pretty exciting morning for me – one of the companies I work with at PEAK6 Online, ONN.tv, actually broke an important financial news story this morning on its site about increased margin requirements for a specialized type of investment called leveraged ETFs. If you’re curious, you can check out the article here: FINRA 09-53 Boosts Margin Requirements for Leveraged ETFs

The interesting thing I thought I would share with you here is that anyone with a blog or a site posed to publish content can do this now. Rather than focusing on selling, what if your business became the resource?

An Example Worthy of Trust Agents?

There’s been a lot of talk lately about sponsored conversations and monetary interests when publishing content, but isn’t integrity and trust important to building a business?

Chris Brogan and Julien Smith seem to think so. I’m about halfway into their new book, Trust Agents, and it seems that this is exactly the type of thing they’re encouraging businesses do – become a resource and build trust in your community.

Is breaking your industry news a path to becoming a Trust Agent with your customers as well as the rest of your community?

Photo by just.Luc

I admit it: I’ve shrugged off the idea that I have a personal brand, I’ve decried being labeled a “social media specialist” and my mood has seemed to dictate my level of involvement with any of this much more than any drive to achieve professional success.

In some ways I feel badly about this.

The truth is I’ve become jaded in some ways about the whole subject of social media and I’m hoping by writing this I can shake a bit of that off.

Social Media Is Very Important

Social media participation is still one of the most important things for businesses to be learning right now.

Social media isn’t dead and it isn’t dying. The idea that harnessing the power of word of mouth through people, technology and good content is still downright revolutionary and I’m proud of the fact that I get to work in an industry with so many fantastic people leading this revolution.

Some may dismiss this as the position of the “gurus”, but let me tell you I have never worked at integrating social media into an industry where participatory communication isn’t anything other than absolutely revolutionary. Almost every detail of integration is something that needs to be patiently explained in ways that continue to surprise me. This doesn’t mean others are dumb – only that my ability to articulate things that come natural to me needs to increase.

If my point of view on the subject doesn’t convince you – check out this really great study from Razorfish titled Fluent: The Razorfish Social Influence Marketing Report.

Take Me to the Echo Chamber, Please!

Echo chambers exist in every industry. If you read sports journalists every day and don’t think that’s an echo chamber of sorts, you’re sadly mistaken. Most sports journalists care more about asking questions that will impress the coach and the players more than any random fan. The tech industry? Oh please. The same can also be said about automotive news, fashion news, music, finance and the list goes on.

I love talking with like-minded people when I can because it helps push my ideas further and provide a little validation that the rest of the world doesn’t seem interested in providing quite yet. This is why echo chambers exist.

On the occasions I can engage one of my peers on a particular subject, it helps me grow. I’m sorry, but it gets boring feeling like an outsider all the time and it gets even more boring feeling like the smartest person in the room with respect to some of these ideas.

Echo chambers exist for a reason and they’re not some separate part of the universe that is totally out of touch with your much harsher reality. The nuances might differ between industries and between peer groups, but it’s all real and it’s nothing new.

What’s the ROI on THAT?

Social media engagement leaves a trail that most traditional media engagement still doesn’t provide: links. Most traditional media still exists in a vacuum that does not link to sources it cites. Calculating the ROI on that sort of engagement is next to impossible and full of all kinds of arbitrary math that rely on art more than science.

Social media engagement on the other hand leaves a digital trail and things like links and traffic can be measured and quantified in a lot of different ways.

The only problem is that the effect will always be larger than what can be captured. For instance, it someone sees a mention on a blog or social network and chooses to search for the company name in a browser rather than click the link directly – that will not be captured. Or, if someone reads something online and speaks to a friend at a party and that friend decides to Google the company name later on – that won’t be captured either. However, we always know that our effect is at least as large as what we’re measuring. Granted, this can become more complicated with different types of business models, but I think you catch my drift.

The stories we empower others to tell for us have a much greater impact than littering the web with a lot of one-way advertisements or begging for coverage in publications that refuse to provide a link as a point of reference for its readers…

The good news is that many mainstream publications are finally getting this. This great piece on Daddy Bloggers in the New York Times is one such exception.

When the news industry finally catches up to blogs in this respect, won’t all media be social anyway???

Enough with the RockStar Stuff

One of the thing that makes Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker’s SOBCon conference so great is Liz’ insistence that either everyone in attendance is a rockstar or nobody is a rockstar. I know we like to prop each other up and I love that about the social media community. But, the truth is we’re all learning.

Sometimes I think when we say someone’s a social media rockstar, we’re somehow saying that what they do is a result of anything other than hard work and determination – and that’s wrong.

This isn’t easy. The good ones try to make it look easy, but it’s not. It’s work – very difficult work that means your personal life and professional life are forever fused in ways that almost never make rational sense, but still never really sound impressive to your family (at least not mine).

Say it Loud, Say it Proud

I love the promise of social media, or participatory media, and what that means for the empowerment of individuals and the evolution of business.

Is it okay if I admit I love this before I get back to work? :-)

Photo by Denis Collette…!!!