Nice new post from Todd Schorle at our company site ...

The following article, Unclutter Your B2B Social Media Sources provides some great advice on tracking content to share with your networks.  I actually use many of these sources — and this article offers suggestions on how to use them without getting too cluttered.

Just posted this up at our company's blog...

Does each one of your tweets require a multi-step approval process within your company before posting on Twitter?

Are all of your Facebook status updates products of rigorous review processes by your communications, legal and policy departments?

Does the above result in social networks in which you’re only posting one or two times per week?

Then maybe social media isn’t for you (or your company.)  Or, more to the point, maybe your organization needs a communications climate change.

We feature this new post up at my company's Web post about the increasing use of social media by senior citizens:

The AARP spent some time last month interviewing 1,360 adults over the phone. They found that more than a quarter (27%) of Americans age 50 and older use social networks. Facebook is the most popular — in fact, 23% of all survey respondents said they preferred it to sites such as MySpace,  LinkedIn and Twitter.

When it comes to general web surfing, 49% of respondents between the ages of 50 and 64 and 40% of all adults age 50 and older, said they consider themselves extremely or very comfortable using the Internet. In other words, we’re very close to seeing the majority of senior citizens embracing the web as a content medium and communication tool.

Todd Schorle's latest post up on our company site...

as the popularity of Facebook and Twitter rise — are companies forgetting about the importance of E-mail as a social networking tool?

From Todd Schorle's latest post up on our company Web site ...

A recent study from Econsultancy found that of the companies surveyed, 35% of companies managed their social media resources under the digital marketing team.  PR/communications departments managed only 21% of respondents, with 19% say that social media was managed by a cross — functional team.

New post from Todd Schorle up on our company Web site...please check it out.

Don’t Turn Your Online Community into the “Wild West

Please check out the latest post from my colleague, Todd Schorle, over at our company site. In this post, Todd discusses the best way to engage your Facebook fans -- and why you shouldn't "treat them like a comic book" collection:

Here are some ways to activate and engage your fans:

• Content, Content and More Content: Provide content that your customers can use as tools to help promote your business for you.  Something as simple as a printable coupon, brand stories and content that you have already created for your newsletters, advertisements and other businesses promotions.

• Tie it All Together: Make sure all your media channels know about each other.  It is like a “cocktail party” and you need to introduce your Twitter fans to your Facebook fans, YouTube videos and Flicker photos.  Make all these media efforts work together and not unrelated.

• Interact and Converse: Our company’s principal, Curt Mercadante, has discussed how companies need to stop using online tools as a one-way communication device — and start engaging in conversation, networking and providing real value.  Curt terms this the “Benefits of Engagement” (BOE).   Start to understand your fans/followers and read what they are saying and engage with them – by creating content or messages that are relevant.

• Exclusive Content: That’s right, more content!  Give your fans and friends access (via link on Twitter or Facebook or your blog) to sneak peeks at your new product. Or a new website. Or your companies new TV ad. Just making them feel like part of the team will go a long way.

 

Here's a brief video excerpt from my presentation to the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Business Expo a few weeks ago. I provide my take on the question, "Is social media just a fad?"

When Commissioner Tony Peraica was a client of ours, I was proud to play a lead role in pushing for this great victory for government transparency...a rare victory in corrupt Cook County.

From fraud and bribery to blurred ethical lines in government circles, Illinois has a political history smeared with corruption. It's a system that historically has been known more for trying to keep secrets than pushing for transparency.

But amid the cries from the public and the call from President Barack Obama, a Chicago native, for governments to be more open, local leaders have launched initiatives for citizens to see where exactly government money goes.

The latest effort comes from Cook County, Ill., which put its check register online at the county's Web site, www.cookcounty.gov, a move that will not only allow the public to track local tax dollars, but could create a wave of similar transparency measures across the state.

"It's ironic that Cook County, which has probably been the most criticized unit of local government for corruption, is among the first to take a major transparency step," said Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association. "This should be a model for other branches of local government."

The resolution was introduced in 2009 by Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, who has been a key proponent in the push for open government in the nation's second most populous county. This initiative bolsters other local measures that give the public online access to data such as meeting minutes, budget information and employment applications.

Following neighboring DuPage County, which started posting its checkbook online in 2009, this new online portal allows citizens to see every transaction that involves a payment by the county comptroller.

Having spent nearly eight years on the county board, Peraica said he is "keenly aware of the perception and reality in the public's mind about the level of corruption and inefficiency that exists here."

With that knowledge, he embarked on a mission to put various pieces of government operations online. In 2005, he launched www.cookemployees.com, a searchable database that lists the names, titles, salaries and hire dates of employees and vendors of Cook County government.

"When we launched, the site crashed for the next three days," Peraica recalled. "The site couldn't handle the demand because there were so many people signing on. It caused a bit of a revolution in 2005."

Peraica promotes efforts for transparency so citizens can follow the money, and blow the whistle on political leaders linked to funds that have been diverted, stolen, misused or abused.

"We want to empower people who have that talent and knowledge base to use these systems to assist the law enforcement community," Peraica said, "and tie the loose ends into a campaign of public shame, used by authorities to investigate, prosecute and convict those who are stealing our money."