What type of social media personality are you? Do you join in the fun? Or are you one of those that likes to sit on the sidelines and take it all in?

Which answer best fits you below? Leave a comment and take the survey to see what others vote too!

1. Middle Lane:
-Likes to be the middle of all the action.  Not too fast, not too slow.  There to help the newbies, yet still keep up with the social media rockstars and jet to the fast lane when needed.

2. Fast Lane:
-You know who you are. You know how to tweet, retweet, hashtag, already got the new Facebook “like” down good. You have mastered how to use social media for both biz and pleasure! Social media is your name and your game.  Watch out slow pokes…out of the fast lane as here I come!

3. Slow Poke:
-You may be a bit overwhelmed with all the social media noise. You don’t know where to start. Or is it you’re just happy hangin’ in the slow lane. To you could be all those crazies speeding by need to take time to enjoy life!

4. Mini Cooper:
-Don’t really care what lane you’re in as you know you’re stylin’ in your Cooper.  You got your iPhone, your bling and tweet at just about anything. Hashtags, retweets that’s old news… you’re chillin’ and grillin’ in your new found social media lifestyle.

5. Volkswagon Beetle:
-Life and social media is just another day at the party for you. Your car smiles so why wouldn’t you? You don’t care how fast you go as long as you’re in the fast or middle lane. You have tons of friends and don’t care if you lose followers who think you’re nuts. There is more where those came from who will laugh with you!

5. Bike or Hike:
-Forget the car! You like the bike, the rocks and anything that requires a backpack, ropes or an extra tube. You mostly like to blog and only use Twitter so you can grow your already thriving blog biz! The only reason you have Twitter on your cell phone is so you can tweet your friends in case they get lost or fall off a mountain!

6. Bench Sitter:
-You’re not too sure what to think.  You are sitting there watching it all go by and deciding if you are ready to jump in or not. You really don’t see what all the fuss is about.  You may even be thinking “Social Media… I’m Cool Without IT!”

7. Walker:
Need we say more? Come on… life is too fun not to jump in.  At least get yourself a unicycle!

So what kind of driver are you? Don’t be afraid. Just answer! It’s anonymous… I promise!

Social Media: What kind of driver are you?

Katrina Sawa is known as ‘The JumpStart Your Biz Coach’ because she literally kicks her clients and their businesses into high gear. She works with highly motivated entrepreneurs who want to maximize their business to make more money, enjoy more free time and fully embrace their happiest life ever.

On Tuesday, April 27, ISMA members will have the opportunity to be part of a free teleseminar with Katrina. She explain how you can use online and offline strategies to leverage your resources, contacts and your expertise.

Katrina is an author, speaker, and coach and she has been featured on the “Oprah and Friends XMRadioNetwork.” She also is featured regularly as a Business Expert on News 10 in Sacramento, CA.

Learn more about Katrina by obtaining her free Entrepreneur’s Success Kit online at www.JumpStartYourMarketing.com — then register and be part of the ISMA teleseminar on Tuesday.

You will learn and be able to implement IMMEDIATELY:
·   The absolute BEST way to attract more clients in this (or any) economy
·   The easiest, quickest ways to build an effective follow-system
·   What exactly you should be sending, mailing, emailing and saying
·   How to delegate and automate the majority of it so it all gets done

ISMA Membership Means a Social Media Learning Opportunity

And this is only one of the many learning opportunities available to you with your free ISMA membership. Visit www.ismaconnects.com and learn more.

Thanks to Kentucky Sports Radio blog for their facts and insights.

For those of you who do not follow collegiate sports, you may not realize that the NCAA is the governing body over all college sports for some 1200 colleges and universities that choose to be a part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The NCAA makes the rules—a lot of them—all of which are intended to improve the sports participation experience for student athletes. One of the purviews of NCAA rule making has been the guidelines that cover recruiting of future athletes to a school.

To quote Kentucky Sports Radio, “(per the NCAA) Fans are not supposed to have any contact with recruits, especially to tell them to come to their school.” But how can the NCAA or anyone else stop what goes on via

Social Media Breaking the Rules of the NCAA

Twitter, Facebook or any of the other social media platforms that are ablaze with fans urging young sports stars to “go to my alma mater” or “don’t go to this rival school.” The communication goes beyond urging and opinions being voiced and often becomes conversations and direct messages between the young athlete and ardent members of a school’s fan base.

But as Matt Jones points out on the Kentucky Sports Radio blog, although neither the NCAA nor the schools involved are likely to be able stop fans from engaging with recruits and prospects via social media, fans really should think before they tweet. Once the novelty wears off, do you think these athletes appreciate their mail filling up with hundreds of comments and messages daily? In Matt’s words, “…most of the time you are just making the players roll their eyes and not doing anything helpful. As I learned a few years ago, I am not 17…and you probably aren’t either. And the communication and cultural and generational gap is large…don’t try to cross it.

The NCAA will try to do something…but I am not sure what they can do. We have entered a brave new world and for better or worse (and its mostly worse) fans are now part of the recruiting process. God help us.”

Profound thoughts and interesting insights. Whether you think social media is the bee’s knees, cool, groovy, phat, sweet, or sick, there might be lines we shouldn’t cross. How much influence should strangers have on a young person’s education and career decisions, when they don’t know the person, have no authentic thoughts on what is right for him or her, and are voicing their opinion only because they are trying to increase the likelihood that their favorite team will make it to the National Championship?

Social media can be a really powerful tool, which means it has a much potential to do harm as to do good. The number one rule of social media might be: Respect others!

Thanks again Ky Sports Radio Blog for your insight.

Do you have a celebration you want to share with the world via social media? Coke is creating powerful platform for you to use as part of its new marketing direction.

Coke launches Social Media Campaign for World FIFA Cup

With the upcoming FIFA World Cup football games (known as soccer or European football in the US), event sponsor Coca-Cola is launching its single largest, integrated marketing campaign. The campaign will run in 150 worldwide markets and will include multiple ads, some of which will appear only on social media sites. The shift toward social media marketing is based on a marketing decision made by Coca-Cola earlier this year.

The flagship ad, named the “History of Celebration,” will feature legendary footballer Roger Milla, in his famous goal celebration dance during the 1990 competition. With a montage across the years of other footballers in celebration, the ad includes a smiling and nodding Milla today, sitting in the stands, enjoying the celebrations and drinking—of course—a  Coke.

In a further ad designed specifically for online channels, an animated African child seeking his own celebration, encourages users to upload video of their personal celebrations to YouTube. Joseph Tripodi, chief marketing and commercial director for the campaign calls it Coca-Cola’s ‘best campaign,’ explaining that it asks fans the question: ‘What’s your celebration?’

Emmanuel Seuge, group director, worldwide sports, and entertainment marketing for Coca-Cola say, “Our entire football campaign was designed to amplify the global, Open Happiness campaign for Coca-Cola. By tapping into the joyous feelings that are expressed in goal celebrations, we bring to life that moment of happiness and uplift that is at the heart of our brand.”

The 150-market outreach will focus on countries with a well-established football (soccer) fan base, such as England and Brazil. Emerging fan bases, including India and the United States, will also be targeted. All of the ads feature a music soundtrack created by Somali-born musician, hip-hop artist K’NAAN.

Yes, the Social Media Blog was down for a couple of days last week, and even though it is back, we just don’t look like our old self yet.

Thank you for your patience. Please keep reading, keep posting, and keeping adding your comments as we work out a few technical problems.

Following up on the idea of using your social media platforms as a springboard for doing something that is greater than yourself, (see blog: Who Inherits Your Facebook Fans and Your Twitter Followers?) is this insight on what actor Kevin Bacon is doing.

Bacon put the energy behind the idea of “six degrees of separation” to work in a meaningful way. Founding the nonprofit organization, SixDegrees.org ™ Bacon used the cultural familiarity of the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” as the groundwork for his charitable focus.

Working with the nonprofit group, “Network for Good,” SixDegrees.org  encourages people to give a Good Card to benefit their favorite charity, to set up a regular donation plan, and to create a badge for their website, Facebook page, or blog, where donations can be tracked, and the message shared.

Watch the video below. Maybe you will want to get involved … Maybe you be inspired to find ways to start a movement of your own. Whatever you feel, be sure you translate it to some type of action. All those fans and followers you are accumulating are great, but they become far greater when they unite with a purposeful objective.

“They” say that you can’t take it with you. The implication here is, of course, that the wealth and possessions you amass in this lifetime, stop at the gate, and don’t follow you into the afterlife. It’s a fair observation and a particularly meaningful  reminder in a world so focused on amassing automobiles, electronics, gadgets, and the  collective of “things” we think will make us happier, smarter, cuter, or more admired by the world.

Along these same lines is the philosophy that one should, “do your giving while you are living, so you are knowing where it’s going.” –You just can’t argue with this type of fundamental logic, can you?

But in the world of probate, wills, inheritances, and estate planning, there is absolutely nothing put in place for what happens to all your fans and followers on your social media platforms once you are gone. Okay, that’s a bit morbid but it is a reminder to all of us that life is short, days are precious, and the minutes, hours, days, and months of your  life you spend on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn,  MySpace, blogging and other social media sites shouldn’t be only about you and your business objectives.

Instead, seek ways to make your social media outreach be about all of those people who are following you. Social media is a powerful tool; use that power to make the world a better place, lives better, and days brighter. Put social media to work for you as a way to give to others, to share your insights, knowledge, facts, and smiles with those people who have honored you by listening.

On your marketing plan, draw a line through the words, “Use social media to make more money and get more clients.” Replace it with, “Use social media to help others.” The results will definitely turn out better for you—and ironically, probably for your business as well.

So did you do your job today? Or did you spend a day providing for your family, building for your future, putting food on the table and a roof over your head.

Those who follow me know I am a “your glass if half full” kind of nut.

So wouldn’t take you long to guess what my answer to the first question is. Yes, I tweeted today, I met with clients, I worked more than 10 hours and am still working. However, was it just a day at the job? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Check out this guy. His name is Robbie. He works for a local hot dog and sub shop called “Franks & Subs”. He has become somewhat of a superstar in our little town.

Why you might ask? He is just a kid holding a sign?

Wrong… he is somebody who is doing more than a job. He is making it his personal passion to make people smile, notice he is standing there and most importantly get people to his store!

He even has a Facebook Fan Page with 800+ Fans in his name loaded with pics and videos. Many have tried Franks & Subs because of his smiling face including my husband!

With each car he smiles, takes the time to look at them eye to eye and has this cute little move he does where he points at the sign and the store.

I have said each time I drive by… “I would hire that kid.. train him and give him an opportunity of a lifetime.” Why? Because he can tweet like a mad hot dog? Nope, because he can inspire others! Heck if he can make himself an overnight success with a hot dog and a sign, imagine what he could do at the Hands of a TweetDeck, Flip Camera and our portfolio of small biz’s needing marketing attention!

I have seen many in the same position for other stores and restaurants stand like a bump on a log. They look at it like a “JOB” and certainly don’t encourage you to visit the advertising store. In fact they often do the opposite.

So tonight when you rest on the couch to watch the favorite TV show of the day..or you are still sitting working….don’t fret and complain about still having one more day tomorrow. You can state you’re tired of course! But be thankful you are putting food on the table, have the hands that can type, the eyes that can see and the mind to do it for so many hours of the day.

If you can’t be happy about anything with your day of work… then find something where you can. Doesn’t always have to be the security of corporate walls, 401k plans or fat paychecks. Instead go buy yourself a half cup of coffee, a hotdog, read the paper and find yourself something you can do with passion! Won’t be long before you’ll see the cup half full and the hot dog foot long

It’s all how you look at it.

Thoughts!?

Joel Spolsky is the CEO and co-founder of Fog Creek Software and until very recently, a dedicated blogger, as well. Earlier this month, in making the decision to focus on other aspects of growing his business, Joel announced he would cease blogging.

Making the decision to start blogging can be difficult, but for many bloggers, making the decision to STOP blogging is far more traumatic. Consider Spolsky’s situation. Joel began writing “Joel on Software” some ten years ago (www.joelonsoftware.com). He started the blog even before he started his highly successful software company. While I must confess that my interest in the language of C+ +  and the art of crafting code is minimal, I am sure that if writing software mattered to me, Joel’s would have been  the blog I followed avidly, going there eagerly with my morning coffee, just in case there were new bits of wisdom shared that the RSS feed had yet to discover .

What is it about this particular blog that so attracted me, a non-programmer?

“Joel on Software” possessed all the qualities essential for a good blog. It is (or was) personable, well written, factual, opinionated, extremely thoughtful, mildly edgy, and visually appealing. Joel on the subject of software managed to make even those of us outside the world of programming interested in what he had to say.

Because he posted regularly and had a demonstrated history of posting with commitment, I never felt as though by engaging with this blog, I was setting myself up for a one-night stand. Instead, as someone who was clearly not Spolsky’s target reader, I could go weeks, even months without reading his blog, confident that when I went back he would be there, continuing to do what he promised to do, which was purely and simply: to blog in its highest form.

And I am hardly alone in my admiration of Spolsky’s style. In his own words, Joel’s blog had, “… quickly become a popular hub for programmers who wanted to discuss all sorts of things—how to write elegant code, how to deal with unreasonable deadlines, to get paid more. As the blog grew—eventually, it surpassed one million unique visitors a month in traffic—it also drove interest in my start-up, Fog Creek Software, and our products.”

Spolsky had built the type of visibility platform we all dream of creating. His blog attracted massive readership, he was a widely sought public speaker, he broadcast regularly on StackOverflow Podcast; he ran the Joel on Software discussion group, and was a columnist for Inc. Magazine. All of which I listed in past tense, because, just as he is pulling the plug on blogging, he is also curtailing or wrapping up these other engagement efforts. While this might be a poor course of action for some, for Spolsky, I feel confident he has other directions planned for his time and energy that will prove to be equally as fruitful for him and his business efforts.

So is he cremating his blog, taking it down, leaving only an empty hole behind?

Not a chance! Expect “Joel on Software” to live on in cyberspace for as long as Spolsky feels it has something to offer. This blog has a tidy archive and categories list that will keep it meaningful as reference material for a very long time. And in case he ever does get tired of his blog—no longer breathing –but living like a cryogenically frozen brain, continuing to provide his market with what will rapidly become historic content and his other ventures with priceless back links and references, Spolsky has cleverly preserved his blogs for posterity in  the form of the printed word. (See more on Joel Spolsky’s published books below)

What to Do with a Dying or Deceased Blog

For many people who blog, the process of blogging ceases to be a chore and becomes an outlet. And when your business direction changes, cutting off oxygen to your blog can be an extremely difficult decision. First you have to convince yourself that your blog truly does not contribute to your business direction in a meaningful and positive way. Once you have come to terms with this, you have to decide whether this blog will ever contribute to your business in a valid and justifiable manner.

You can take your blog down, essentially cremating it as if it never existed,  if, and only If, you are absolutely certain that you blog will never be of value to you again, either to potentially redevelop, as an archive of content for your market, or for the back links  it provides and the internet history it establishes. When this is the situation, then removing your blog from the internet helps eliminate any brand confusion it might cause among people who accidently wind up there instead of where you now want them to be. And taking it down eliminates its specter that sits out there like a bruise on your creative psyche, waiting to remind you of its painful demise anytime you accidently wind up there.

I have personally been part of a blog that lives on today even though most of its purpose and partnership is long abandoned and no one has posted there in over a year. To me, because I birthed it and nurtured it with my blogging partner for nearly three years, I am emotionally vested in it. I would like to bury it, mourn it, and move on, but it does in fact contribute to the internet visibility of a book I co-authored and for that reason alone, it lives on in a frozen state, haunting the internet, like a once loved pet preserved by taxidermy  … both sad and creepy every time I see it.

In the end, every blogger has to choose what is right for his or her situation in dealing with the death of a blog—take the defunct blog down forever or preserve its former self for the wisdom (and other benefits) it provides.

Never an easy decision.

Blogs that Became Books

Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity (Published in 2004)

AND

More Joel on Software: Further thoughts on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity (Published in 2008).

Joel On Software (A Blog that Because a Book)

More Joel on Software

Each month, members of ISMA, the International Social Media Association, nominate charities for the “Charity of the Month”. This month’s charity is the Save The Children foundation.

You probably are already familiar with Save the Children because they use sponsorship as one of their primary fund-raising tools and for years have featured photographs of winsome and endearing children in their marketing material.

What you may not know is how social media savvy they are. Here are some of the places and ways you can get involved, spread their message, and even generate donations to Save the Children:

Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/savethechildren

Twitter: http://twitter.com/savethechildren

MTDN (Make the Difference Network) http://www.mtdn.com/savethechildren

GiveClicks.com, where your online shopping can generate a percentage of your purchases (at no cost to you) as a donation to Save The Children:  http://www.savethechildren.org/get-involved/more-ways-to-help/shop-and-give.html

GoodSearch.com, a downloadable search tool where your search efforts translate to donations to Save the Children or other causes: http://www.savethechildren.org/get-involved/more-ways-to-help/goodsearch-search-engine.html

Amazon.com. When you click on the Save the Children Amazon shopping link, your Amazon online purchases mean a percentage of the sale is donated to the charity. http://www.SavetheChildren.org/shop-amazon

Five for Fighting, a website where watching selected videos can result in donations to Save the Children. http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/

First Giving, lets you create your own fund-raising webpage to raise money for Save the Children. http://www.firstgiving.com/savethechildren

Create a Squidoo Lens on a topic you care about, and Save the Children benefits. http://www.squidoo.com/savethechildren/hq

Join the Causecast group page at: www.SavetheChildren.org/causecast

Sell on eBay and designate Save the Children to receive all or a portion of your earnings. http://donations.ebay.com/charity/charity.jsp?NP_ID=4980

Buy The Band from TV CD/DVD and a portion of the proceeds go to Save the Children. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IDZGCU?ie=UTF8&tag=savethechil-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001IDZGCU

This is a remarkable list and provides each of us with many avenues for getting involved and supporting Save the Children. But it is also a remarkable lesson in how diverse your efforts can be using the tools of social media to build or grow your cause.