Rachel Levy: Social Media & Marketing

Facebook launched a MAJOR new feature on their iPhone app yesterday, called “Places.” It’s a location based service (“LBS”) where you “check in” to locations, letting your friends know where you are.  If you use Foursquare, Gowalla or BrightKite, you are very familiar with these types of apps.  Or, if you have friends who cross-post their Foursquare updates to Facebook and Twitter, you may also know what they are (and may not have a positive opinion of them!).

Since I just got the feature enabled on my phone, I haven’t had too much of a chance to play around or think about it, so this post has just a few of my initial thoughts.  More to come soon, and I’m sure Facebook will be making a lot of changes along the way.

Basics

When you’re on the Facebook iPhone app, where you normally type in your status update, you’ll now see a “map pin” icon, that you can click and it brings up nearby locations for you.  Just click the location, or tap the plus to add a new one, and then click “check in.”  You’ll notice that there is also a “Tag Friends With You” button, so you can say who you’re there with.  And, you can make a comment about what you’re doing there.

Once you check-in, it automatically posts your check-in to your Facebook profile, and tags the people you’re with.  In addition, it creates a “community page” for the location you have checked in at.  A community page is similar to a Fan Page, but is automatically created by Facebook from information on Facebook.  Eventually businesses will be able to “claim” these pages, and manage them, but for now, you can’t do much with them.  BUT, your post shows up on that community page.

So, why would you want to check-in?  Well, it’s an easy to tell your friends where you are.  And, many Facebook status updates are about people’s location, so it’s a more descriptive way to do it.

Privacy

Always a biggie with Facebook… they assume you will share you’re information, until you turn it off.  In Twitter language, we call that #FAIL :-)  They’ve assumed 3 things:

1. You want to share your check-ins with all of your friends
2. You want to be included in “People Here Now” (shows who is at the location even if you are NOT friends with them)
3. You give your friends permission to check YOU in to a location

Those are some pretty big assumptions, Facebook! To change them, do this:

Account –> Privacy Settings –> Customize Settings (small text link in middle) –> Under Things I share, the last 2 settings should be looked at.

AND

Account –> Privacy Settings –> Customize Settings (small text link in middle) –> Under Things Others share, the last setting should be looked at.

The other consideration is what I mentioned above about Community Pages — your check-in ends up on the community page, essentially making it completely public information.  I don’t like that at all (stalkers can see where you hang out), but there currently doesn’t seem to be an option to change that.

Update on 8/24: There’s one more privacy setting…

By default, Places is set to share your location information with applications your friends use. If you want to change that, go to your privacy settings page –> edit your settings (under the “Applications and Websites” title, in the lower left corner of the screen) –> edit settings (next to “Info available through your friends”) and uncheck the box.

Will Places replace Foursquare?

It’s too soon to tell at this point. Why did people use Foursquare in the first place?  There are a number of reasons, and not all of them are currently satisfied by Places:

√ – Find out about new places

√ – Share your location with your friends

√ – Meet new people who go where you go

NO – Earn points and badges

NO – Get deals from local businesses

But, one of the biggest complaints I hear about Twitter is “I just don’t  have time to use ONE MORE social network”.  If that’s true, many people would not have wanted to use Foursquare, but since Places is integrated into the most popular social network, they may just be more likely to use it.

Apparently Places will be integrating somehow with Foursquare and Gowalla, but how that will happen exactly is yet to be determined.

Other random thoughts

For me, the biggest downside is that your Places check-ins automatically post to your newsfeed.  I’d rather just have it visible if someone goes to my profile, but not clutter their stream with all my check-ins. I didn’t like it with Foursquare, and I don’t like it any more here.  In addition, unlike other Facebook apps that you can permanently hide, you CANNOT hide Places.  So, you will see everyone’s check-ins, whether you like it or not.

I think eventually, probably sooner rather than later, Foursquare will die.  They have a good lead on Places now in terms of the deals and badges, but unless they keep innovating faster than Facebook, they’ll lose out quickly.

As with Foursquare, I was most intrigued about how it would be used from a marketing perspective, and it is proving to be a great way for companies to interact with customers. I think Places will start to serve the same role, but more on that in the next post!

What do you think of Places so far?  Will you use it? Why or why not?  Do you think they approached the privacy correctly this time?

Now that Tweetdeck is integrating more social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Buzz, Foursquare, MySpace), I’m guessing there will be a name change soon. Ideas? Take this poll!

Click here for the results so far.

If you haven’t heard, the past few weeks have not been good for Facebook.  They’ve made a number of changes in how the privacy settings work, and have not been completely clear in explaining the changes. They’re not respecting people’s privacy.  “Facebook changed the rules and this information was unexpectedly shared with perfect strangers. That is, simply stated, a profound invasion of privacy.” (Gizmodo, 5/10/10). Rather than reshashing all of the issues, I’ll direct you to a few articles:

Facebook: The ‘Evil Interface?’
10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account
Facebook keeps crossing lines and the last one may be a line too far
(Thanks to Derek Peplau for the list of great articles)

People are in an uproar about this. There’s even a formal revolt for people to quit Facebook on May 31st.  I understand why people are mad.  Facebook hasn’t been clear about what they’re changing, and people don’t trust them to keep their data safe.  I agree that Facebook should have some backlash for this, as they are not keeping promises made to consumers, and are playing around with potentially sensitive information.

So What?

On Facebook, I do protect my privacy (unlike on Twitter).  I only friend people I know, I put people I don’t know very well into lists so they don’t see certain things (status updates, photos of my nieces) and I don’t use my real birth year or high school graduation year to protect against identity theft.

But as someone who is also VERY public with my online life through my blog, Twitter and LinkedIn, my question is, what should I be worried about? (note that I’m NOT asking why is it wrong that Facebook is doing what they’re doing.  I get that they are wrong). What are the risks to me? In the worst case scenario that ALL of my data is exposed, what’s the problem?  I see a few possibilities, none of which concern me enough to quit Facebook:

• Facebook’s advertisers have more information to target me with –> I don’t really care about that, if I get ads that are more appropriate for me
• People will see photos of my nieces –> OK, not great (and my brother-in-law would not be happy), but not the end of the world
• People see information about my work history –> It’s all very public on LinkedIn and my website anyway
• People will see my private status updates –> I’ve probably posted something similar on Twitter anyway!

So, is it just me being naive, or are there other security risks I”m not seeing?  Identity theft?  Using my information in a way that could harm me?  I’m really trying to understand this, so comments, as always, are encouraged!

(Photo credit: Facebook Trash)

This week I was in  NYC for the 140 Characters Conference, which is a conference about the “State of Now.” It’s my 2nd year here (recap from last year), and a lot has changed for me in the past year. Below is a stream of all my tweets from the conference. The schedule is here if you want more information on the speakers, and there are videos of each of the session on the site too.

If you’re looking for a shorter summary of my highlights from the conference, see my post Top 30 Highlights From the #140Conf

DAY #1 Morning

9:00:13 AM: Politicians who use social media to get elected and not on an ongoing basis will not get elected using SM again ~@jeffpulver

Up next @jayrosen_nyu ” I teach journalism at NYU, direct the Studio 20 prog there, critique the press and try to grok new media.”

9:10:45 AM: I’m known in NY as a “cultural jew”. Wondering where this is going @jayrosen_nyu. Oh, speaking at 92Y is like my barmitzvah

9:12:34 AM: The scale on which we live changes, that’s what brings journalists into the news picture

9:13:34 AM: Know @jeffreyhayzlett? Go to his book signing! Info attached http://yfrog.com/efxwdwj

Up next @johnborthwick from betaworks. Evolution of the realtime web

9:24:26 AM: Real businesses ae doing business on facebook. 70% of groupon’s business is driven from FB

9:43:55 AM: The half life of a tweet is 4 minutes, and falling – wow!

9:44:15 AM: 740K bit.ly links clicked on in the last 8 minutes

9:44:32 AM: barak obama is the most mentioned individ in the tweet streams and the underlying pages

10:00:31 AM: the most used hashtag ever was about michael jackson

10:00:44 AM: Really really really need coffee. Not cool that we had to dump coffee at the door :-(

Up next… Dan Harple (@dharple) – Executive Chairman, GyPSii, Evolution of Location and Places

10:02:02 AM: Interesting choice to print the “yearbook” given such a digital crowd

10:12:02 AM: Click a button — what’s happening around me?Tweets, news, etc.- Gypsii app. It’s about who you are, who you know & where you are.

10:12:25 AM: Location is just another data point in the real time ecosystem

Up next… Real-Time News Gathering – @acarvin (NPR), Eric Kuhn @CNN, @NYT_JenPreston (NYT), Ryan Osborn (@todayshow)

10:13:10 AM: When did you realize that social media made something different in your business

10:13:26 AM: For news orgs, Twitter lists prove to be valuable; share info on the ground as they were learning it ~@NYT_JenPreston

10:13:44 AM: Not a great idea to auto-location tag tweets as a reporter :-)

Up next… Chris Lehmann (@chrislehmann) – Principal of the Science Leadership Academy
Social Media + Education

When did you realize that social media made something different in your business

Technology needs to just be ubiquitous.

Children are learning and soaking in things all the time. “My fear is that school will break them of that habit” ~@chrislehmann

Best speaker so far is @chrislehmann. Inspiring

Sometimes, the teacher is the one adult in a kids life who make a difference. Never forget our teachers.

Kids got to remember, but they need to remember that they learned to think in my class

Empower the kids, it’s about them empower the kids, it’s about them

Up next… The Story Behind @TheKotel, Alon Nir

People can tweet there prayers, I print them, and put them in the wall ~@thekotel (I LOVE this idea!!)

Do you read the prayers? Are DM’s accepted too? @thekotel

Even the mere act of writing the prayer can change someone’s life

OMG, he actually has an automated prayer spooler (rigged up sewing machine)

Iphone app too.. missed the name – probably called The Kotel?

This is UNBELIEVABLE. What an incredible use of technology. Taking online to offline spiritual world.

I may need to live on the salary of a kitchen assistant, but it enriches my life. alon@tweetyourprayers.com

Up next… Jeffrey Hayzlett (@JeffreyHayzlett) – CMO, Kodak

Why are you doing so much social media? Because it works. ~jeffreyhayzlett

We want to change the way people relate, and I can’t think of a better way to do that other than twitter

I tweet to connect with people. It’s changing the way we have relationships.

People don’t take pictures, they capture memories, moments. That’s what Twitter is like

Every tweet you send out is sharing a part of yourself

Up next… Donny Deutsch (@Donny_Deutsch) – Television Host & Chairman, Deutsch Inc. – Yea!

even if there’s a new way of selling, the basics of communication and rules of engagement are the same

Don’t forget the brand. Always reflect your brand value in everything you do. Don’t let the technology get in the way.

Any selling that’s self-serving will fail

Any great piece of marketing speaks to humanity

Up next… Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) – EVP of Development and Acquisitions, The Trump Oganization

“I’m a blatant promoter.” ~@jeffreyhayzlett (love hearing that vs. “i don’t mean to be promotional, BUT… “

Up next… (@AndreaSyrtash) – Author of ‘He’s Just Not Your TypePrincipals of Effective Relationships – in love and in social media

While you’re at lunch, take a min to enter the @WebinarListingssweeps for $125 iTunes gift card http://bit.ly/WLsweepsT

Up next… (@AndreaSyrtash) -Author of ‘He’s Just Not Your TypePrincipals of Effective Relationships – in love and in social media

Worry more about being impressed rather than impressing. Women say that about men in dating a lot (she said that, I didn’t!)

I respond to everyone who writes me, because they took the time to write me (I wish everyone did that, but they don’t)

You can’t have intimacy without vulnerability. In dating and in Twitter. Ask questions, admit you’re wrong.

People want to be challenged, not changed.

“People want the 2nd screen experience” – online while they’re watching tv. It’s been around for years (“living room experience”)

People in backchannels aren’t necessarily talkign to the speakers, they’re talking amongst the audience

The more you can engage people, the more they get engaged

Up next… Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) – News Anchor on NBC’s Today Show and host of Dateline NBC

Haitian resident crying on stage “Lives have been saved because of Twitter”. Wow.

OK, up to date on all my off-line tweets when i couldn’t get online!

There’s a core “goodness” in Twitter… they want to do good ~@anncurry

DAY #1 Afternoon

Up next…The real time web and brands @someecards @jbell99 @CatchUpLady @AmericanExpress @JNJComm @rje7- great brands!

3:11:59 PM: Amex card “members” are already part of a community, so Twitter is a natural fit

3:23:09 PM: “We thought Twitter was really dumb when we first saw it” ~@someecards

3:23:21 PM: Risks of engaging and being able to communicate in a more human way,are not as problematic as not engaging. ~@jnjcomm #pharma

3:24:08 PM: It’s exciting to see that people are using our products every day,and sharing their experiences ~@rje7

Up next… Jessica Gottlieb (@JessicaGottlieb) – Wife, Mom, Blogger

3:52:27 PM: This is a magical place, and you never know how it will pay off @jessicagottlieb

Up next… Where Am I? How location changes everything @redshane @jw @dens (wow, didn’t know how young he was!) @cc_chapman

3:55:17 PM: Sometimes you’re at a game and want to tell ppl.Other times, you’re at dinner, & there’s no need to push that to Twitter ~@jw YES!!

3:58:36 PM: It’s not a game, it’s a utility to help ppl learn about places. The game is just the tool to do that. ~@dens

4:08:50 PM: Is sharing our location data not going to be an issue in a couple of years!

4:38:07 PM: A “ghost” tweeter? that sounds like the basis for a new album right there. ~@mchammer

4:38:31 PM: You can’t take care of telling Twitter that you’re going to buy new shoes? ~@MChammer

Day #2 Morning

10:53:00 AM: “You’re only a stranger once” ~@lizstrauss

10:53:37 AM: Monitoring aggregates the data. Listening is a 1:1 thing.

10:54:06 AM: Bring your community in, open your heart, and listen. Align your goals together.

10:54:51 AM: If they help you build it, not only will they come, but they’ll bring they’re friends back to help you build it too

10:55:27 AM: Wow, I haven’t had anyone sign a yearbook in years! (many more than I’d like to admit)

10:56:40 AM: cool…. @hashtagart - creates art using the tweets from or other hashtags

Up next… Mo Krochmal (@Krochmal) – Professor, Hofstra The State of Now in Journalism Higher Ed Students Look to The Future

10:59:04 AM: “Panel is ‘estrogen based’ ~@krochmal Nice!! :-)

11:01:12 AM: Ning, you’re really naughty. Don’t let the free thing go ~@krochmal

11:02:38 AM: From student — Future of social media — Embrace change, Twitter isn’t going nowhere, Journalism isn’t dead

11:03:11 AM: No need to be worried @kmcneil27, you were great

11:05:43 AM: “Journalism is NOT dying, it’s changing” ~@msholman (I couldn’t agree more… so sick of hearing that phrase)

11:08:09 AM: Cool twitter name…. @SMEnginaction

Up next…. Melinda Emerson (@SmallBizLady) – Host of #SmallBizChat. author, speaker, smallbiz coachtwitter and Small Business

12:08:05 PM: 5 tips to grow your business on twitter: 1) Know your target customer — make sure your stream communicates consistently with that cust #140

12:08:28 PM: On Twitter you have to give to get. You should use a 4:1 ratio of promoting others to promoting yourself.

12:09:05 PM: 2) participate in twitter chat (#smallbizchat) – end small bus failure by learnign how to avoid the failure

12:09:32 PM: 3) Use @replies… don’t just RT, tell them why you liked content

12:09:59 PM: 4) Auto-DM’s are OK. Don’t tell me to go to site or FB, but tell them why I should care

12:10:12 PM: If you use Twitter the right way, it can grown your business

12:10:39 PM: Twitter has leveled the playing field. You can have more power than @garyvee and @chrisbrogan if you harness it the right way

12:11:06 PM: You can have power on Twitter if you use it the right way. You have to communicate consistently

12:11:25 PM: Today is 1 year anniversary of #smallbizchat – tonight at 8pm

12:12:03 PM: 5 reasons why small businesses fail: 1) ppl don’t realize what running a biz is going to be like

12:12:29 PM: 2) Ppl don’t save enough money before you start your bis. Need no paycheck for 1-2 yrs

12:13:03 PM: 4) No network; Network = net worth — twitter is great for that

12:13:18 PM: 5) Financials/budget – know your financials

12:13:34 PM: 3) They don’t focus on target market

12:14:48 PM: Get your music people. Get your own personal theme song to keep yourself motivated

12:15:09 PM: Wow, @smallbizlady kicked butt. Awesome!

Up Next… Media Roundtable @benjamenwalker @ffishkin @mattbish @nickbilton

12:20:45 PM: Radio and Twitter have a lot in common

12:22:13 PM: Comments exploded. No one was talking to the host,they were talking to each other.

12:23:45 PM: “I don’t want to live in a world with no negative comments”

12:28:04 PM: Porn was at the forefront of social media way before Twitter. Communicating with the community

12:32:08 PM: Does that sell papers or give it away? We don’t see content, it’s the experience (talking about newspapers). Hmm…

12:43:43 PM: Like crack, the only way to get someone into comics, is to give them a sample

12:53:53 PM: Hysterical! RT @Story_Jon: If they are “Futurists” shouldn’t they have known to take an earlier flight?

Up next… Augmented Twitter: A convo w Three Futurists – 2 panelists missing b/c of volcano (s/h skyped!!!) @TishShute

12:55:43 PM: Frog concepts, an AR app

12:56:39 PM: We’re in a place where the LBS apps and social media appls are all running in parallel. Will tie in better eventually

12:58:03 PM: AR is real time and interactive

1:00:51 PM: YES!! He was most inspired by the @kotel - the act of taking a tweet and having to do an action

You may have noticed that Facebook made a change this week from calling the action of joining a Facebook page “Fan” to “Like.” What does this mean, really?  Nothing!  It’s really just a name change.  Instead of clicking “Become a Fan”, you now click “Like.”  In Facebook’s words, “We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.” (from their FAQ).  As an example, here’s how it looks:

So, why don’t I like “Like”?  There are a few reasons:
 

It’s Confusing

“Like” is being used here in a very different way from what people are used to.  I feel that Facebook is taking a very common word that means something specific to people, and already has a common way it’s used on the internet, and they’re changing it.

For example, on YouTube, to show that you like a video, you click on the “Like” button.  That doesn’t mean you’re “joining” that person’s YouTube channel, you’re just saying you like the video.  VERY different from how Facebook is using Like.

Even within Facebook, “Like” is used in different ways.  For example, you click “Like” on a status update or on something someone has done on Facebook.  But you’re not “joining” anything, you’re just indicating you like it.

Here’s another example… see the ad to the left.  What is the “Like” button there?  I would assume it means I like the ad, but it actually means that I’m joining their Fan page.  VERY unclear.

And, I saw this at the bottom of a ReadWriteWeb article:

What do you suppose that “Like” button does?  I clicked it, and I’m still not sure if I became a fan of their page (because I already was) or if it’s just showing my support of the article.

Call To Action

The “call to action” for getting someone to join your Fan page used to be ”Fan us on Facebook” or “Become our Fan on Facebook.”  What is it now?  ”Like us on Facebook!” “Become a liker on Facebook!”  That really sounds silly.  And, while this is just semantics, it’s important, as this language is used EVERYWHERE!

Research

I really wonder if Facebook did any research on this. Their rationale for the change says “We believe…” — did they really make that change on what THEY believed?  Or did they ask consumers?  The old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” keeps coming to mind.. were people really complaining about “Fan”?  Do people feel that “Like” is more lightweight?  Will it change their actions?  I’d like to see that research, if they actually did it.

What do you think of this change?  Is it confusing to you?  Do you “like” it?

Most people who know me, follow my blog or talk to me on Twitter know that I’m not a big fan of cross-posting, where people post updates in one social network and have it automatically post to other social networks. If you missed my post, check it out “To Cross-Post or Not to Cross-Post.”  So you won’t be surprised to know my opinion is the same when it comes to Foursquare,  a location-based service where people “check-in” at places they go to.

With Foursquare, you can set your preferences in a few ways: so it automatically tweets or posts an update to Facebook (called “updates” throughout this post), so it updates when you become a Mayor/earn a badge (doesn’t update very frequently) or so all your activity stays solely on Foursquare.  For people who are out and about a lot, they may check-in up to 10-20 times a day. So that means if they have their settings set such that each Foursquare check-in updates, 10-20 tweets and Facebook updates per day appear!

My hypothesis was that the majority of people on Twitter and Facebook do NOT like seeing Foursquare updates on Twitter/Facebook.  I don’t.  If I wanted to know where someone is, I would probably connect with them on Foursquare, so I can see where they are in that application, and I don’t need to clutter twitter with constant messages such as “I’m at Starbucks” or “I’m at Trader Joe’s.”  I occasionally like seeing if people are at a special location (i.e. Fenway) or become a mayor or earn a badge, but not for every check-in. To prove or disprove my hypothesis, I ran a poll — results are below:

As you can see, the poll doesn’t exactly support my hypothesis.  But, when looking at the comments, I could easily reclassify 5 (or even more) of the Other votes based on the comments to be “Dislikes”, which brings Dislikes up to 58%.  It makes the point I was trying to make, but not by as much of a landslide as I was expecting.

So, the question is… as someone who posts ALL (or close to all) of you check-ins to Facebook/Twitter,  why do you do it?  What do you get out of it?  Do you not get the same benefit from just checking in on Foursquare and letting your connections know your status there? Knowing that 25% of people dislike it, will that change actions?  And, for people who like seem the stream of check-ins, why do you like it?  Do you not find it to clutter your Twitter and Facebook stream?

I’m pleased to announce, that in addition to my Marketing and Social Media consulting business, I have now launched a new venture called WebinarListings.  Through hosting a few of my own Webinars (online seminars), I noticed that there was no central website for hosts to promote their webinars, or for people to find out about them.  So, I created one!  Today is the beta launch of my site, and it will eventually be FULL of a variety of Webinars for all interest areas (business, health, technology, etc), in any part of the world. Right now it happens to be focused on marketing, social media, technology because that is where my connections are, but that will soon change. Webinars are a great way to learn new things right from your computer AND are free most of the time.

So, if you’re interested, I invite you to check out the site, and connect with me in any way you choose (many options below!), especially by signing up for the weekly newsletter.  During the beta period, the more traffic and registrations/followers I build, the more interest hosts will have to list their webinars with me… so I’m counting on you! If you hear of any Webinars being put on, please pass them my way so I can contact the host. And feel free to tweet, blog, facebook update, talk, or spread the word in any way.

I’m also running an introduction promotion for this week only (through the 14th) — use promo code “intro50″ for your Featured Webinar listing and get 50% off your Webinar.

I’m really excited about this, as it is really putting to use the skills I have in social media, marketing and Webinars. I’m looking forward to seeing where this takes me!

WebinarListings contact info:

Let me know what you think!  I’ll take all the feedback I can get.

I asked one simple question of my followers on Twitter, and got 20 responses.  Here are their answers.

JoeManna: The people I have conversations with.

acraKA: Relationship building

alliemiami: Making great business connections is simple I start a conversation with someone of interest & it takes off

joewaters: The strength of weak ties.

econwriter5: Useful exchange of info

dmeiselman: An easy way to connect with new people that share an interest. Twitter lets me start relationships I would not have otherwise.

cargillcreative: Learning from others and making new connections…those are two ways I’ve benefited from using Twitter.

JoeCascio: I get connected to smart, friendly, creative people. I make friends. I don’t have to listen to asshats. Does one need more?

Dawn_Migliore: Getting news before it breaks and great links on topics you’re interested in

LevelTen_Colin:  Networking, hands down.

michaelflint: Reach and search.

jensjewellery: Publicity for my Etsy store.

abarcelos: Definitely for two-way valuable interaction, both personally and professionally.

fairminder: Meeting new friends, maintaining friendships and finding clients and colleagues to complete client projects, all on Twitter

rsomers: A radio-like stream of ideas in the background as I work

melwebster: Links to interesting stuff and a good laugh at all of the blatant self-promotion

Notice, not one person said to “find out what people are eating for lunch” (a big misperception of Twitter!).

What are your thoughts on this?  Anything to add to the list?

I had coffee this week with a fellow marketing consultant like me, with one big difference: she’s an SMS (Social Media Skeptic). We spent much of the hour we were together talking about the merits (or lack thereof) of social media. Since I’ve already written a similar post about Twitter, Why You Shouldn’t Use Twitter, I thought I’d focus this time on blogging.  So, here are some of the objections she had, along with my thoughts on the topic.

• SMS: Blogging takes too much time — it’s a full time job.
  • Me: It doesn’t have to be a full time job… if you commit to write one post per week, that’s a great way to get started, and that will only take a few hours per week.  If you have a few people blogging on a rotating schedule that shares the workload across people.
• SMS: Even if you only write one post per week, you still have to respond to all the comments.  Who has time for that?
  • Me: Yes, it’s important to make time to respond to comments, but think about it in a positive light… if your customers (or potential customers) are engaging with your brand and what you’re blogging about, isn’t that worth the additional minute you spend responding to them?  What other form of marketing can you engage customers like this? (a lot, but many of them are in social media!). Isn’t the point of marketing to engage with your consumers?
• SMS: Not everyone is a good writer, so they shouldn’t be blogging.
  • Me: There are so many ways to blog.  You can use video, audio, photos, short paragraphs, etc.  Not all of these require 4 hours to write a post, or good writing skills.  In addition, you can rotate your bloggers on a schedule so not one person is carrying the load, or also use guest bloggers on occasion to mix it up a bit.
• SMS: I’m not technical, so I could never figure out how to put together a blog.
  • Me: Just over a year ago, I didn’t even know what WordPress was (it’s a Content Management System that allows you to easily put together a blog/website in a very user friendly way), and now I know it very well, and even train others on using it.  Sure, occasionally I get stuck, but 95% of the time, I can manage it on my own.  In addition, there are some VERY user-friendly WordPress themes out there, such as Headway, that allows you to drag and drop boxes, and edit the design elements by just clicking.
• SMS: Blogging (and social media) are fads, and will not be around for much longer.
  • Me: I do agree that there are some social media tools that might not be around in a few years.  But, I think that the overall categories such as blogging, micro-blogging, etc. are here to stay.

Once I had responded to all of her objections, I pointed out some of the other positives of blogging:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - The more you write, the more activity and comments you get on your blog, and the more inbound links you get.  This is exactly what the search engines look for when analyzing websites.  All of this activity is viewed very positively, so will positively affect your search engine rankings.
• Interact with customers – As mentioned above, isn’t it a POSITIVE thing to be able to interact with your customers?  To hear their feedback, get them engaged, get them asking questions?  All of that happens on a blog, and it’s all on YOUR website.
• Establish yourself as an expert in your area - Writing blog posts in your area of business allows you to establish yourself as an expert, and display what you know in your area.  It may or may not be directly related to your product, which opens people up even more to hearing your message.
• Low cost - For the cost of $10, you can buy a domain name and build a blog.  If you want a premium theme such as Headway or Thesis, that will run you $90. So, for $100 you can have a blog.  True, the biggest cost with blogging is time, but the actual budget outlay is less expensive than most other forms of marketing.

(Photo credit: No social media, Blogging sucks)

So, what do you think?  Is blogging a good idea?  Are there any other objections you’ve heard?  Or benefits I haven’t mentioned?

Are you wondering why I’m writing a post about how to cross-post, when I JUST wrote one about how I’m not a fan of cross-posting? Well, for starters, some of these tactics are temporary, meaning you turn them on and off for each update, so it’s not just a flow of ALL of your updates.  And, second, I thought it would be helpful to have all of this in one place to keep track of it! And third, to me, even some of the “permanent” cross-post tactics (such as Blog to LinkedIn) can be useful. So, if you do decide to cross-post after reading my post here’s how:

Twitter to Facebook Profile

• Individual updates
  • Tweetdeck Desktop – Add your profile to your Tweetdeck account by clicking on the plus at the top of the screen.  Once your account has been added, you can toggle each account on and off by clicking on the account name.
  • Tweetdeck for iPhone – Go to the settings page and add your Facebook account.  When updating  your status, select your Facebook account.
  • Selective Tweets – Install the Selective Twitter application in your Facebook account.  Once you’ve done that, any Twitter update you make with #fb, will also update your Facebook status.
  • There are many other mobile and desktop applications that do this, such as Seesmic Desktop, Hootsuite, and many more.
• Permanent
  • Install this Twitter application in your Facebook account.  Once you’ve done that, EVERY Twitter update you make, will also update your Facebook status.  CAUTION, this can be annoying to your Facebook friends.

Twitter to Facebook Fan Page

• Tweetdeck Desktop – see above.  Hootsuite and Seesmic also do this.

Facebook Fan Page to Twitter

• Individual updates- There is currently no way to update Twitter from your Facebook Fan Page on an individual update basis.
• Permanent 
  • Install this Twitter application in your Facebook account.  Once you’ve done that, EVERY update you make on your Facebook Fan Page, will also post to Twitter.

Twitter to LinkedIn

• Tweetdeck Desktop – see above.  Hootsuite also does this.
• Adjust your settings in LinkedIn.  Once you’ve added your Twitter account, you can choose to have all or some of your updates flow to LinkedIn.  Again, I CAUTION  the use of permanent update cross-posting.  For individual updates to flow to LinkedIn, simply use #in or #li when you update your Twitter status.

LinkedIn to Twitter

• This functionality is built right into LinkedIn now, so each update you make on LinkedIn, you can select if you want it to also post to Twitter, by checking the check box below your update.

Twitter to Blog

• Add a widget to your blog that displays your recent tweets by installing the “Twitter for WordPress” plugin on your blog. Your tweets will stream into a widget on the side of your blog, similar to mine on the bottom right.
• You can also install the Wibya toolbar (see mine at the bottom of this page) which shows your Twitter updates.  If you want to know more about the Wibya toolbar, take a look at my post on the topic.  Another similar toolbar is the Meebo Bar.

Facebook Fan Page to Blog

• This is possible using the Wibya toolbar or the Meebo Bar.  See above.

Facebook Profile to Blog

• This is possible using the Wibya toolbar or the Meebo Bar.  See above.

Blog to Twitter

• Twitterfeed - You can easily automate the posting of your blog to Twitter by setting up a feed on Twitterfeed.
• Ping.fm – Newly added feature allows you to add your feeds to be automatically sent to a variety of social networks.

Blog to Facebook Profile

• Create a Facebook note for each of your blog posts by following these instructions: In the “Applications” menu (in the bottom bar), choose “Notes.”, under “Notes Settings,” click on “Import a blog” and enter your feed address.  For more detailed instructions and screen shots, see this post.
• Wordbooker – This is a WordPress plugin that imports your blog posts to Facebook.  The difference in this versus using Notes, is that your posts get a separate area on your profile, and any comments are imported back into your blog.  (Thanks to @tpapi for the suggestion!)
• Ping.fm – See above

Blog to Facebook Fan Page

• Wordbooker – see above
• Social RSS – Install this application on Facebook, and your blog posts will feed directly as updates to your Wall.  You can also create a box that will show your posts in a box on your Fan Page.  See WebinarListing fan page for an example.
• Ping.fm - See above

Blog to LinkedIn

• Install the WordPress application on LinkedIn or BlogLink onto your LinkedIn profile and have all your blog posts flow to your profile.
• Ping.fm - See above

Not possible at this time (if you know of a way to do these, please let me know in the comments!):

• Facebook Profile to LinkedIn
• Facebook Profile to Twitter
• Facebook Profile to Facebook Fan Page
• Facebook Fan Page to Facebook Profile
• Facebook Fan Page to LinkedIn
• LinkedIn to Facebook Profile
• LinkedIn to Facebook Fan Page
• LinkedIn to Blog

You may also be familiar with Ping.fm, which allows you to update 50 social media sites at once.  You just post it once, and it updates the sites you choose.  So, obviously this is a great way to cross-post.  A few weeks ago, Seesmic acquired Ping.fm, so the Ping.fm functionaility will be incorporated into Seesmic in a few weeks, making it a great option to cross-post.  Ping.fm is currently incorporated into Hootsuite as well.

Did I leave anything out?  I plan on keeping this updated over time, so please let me know if I have missed anything!