Presented by @briansolis.

It’s 2011 and we have lots of new tools. If you took all the advice we wouldn’t have a life.

The big TV networks have captured our attention for years. Now that’s happening online. Now we have to deal with G+. What’s next? Everything is changing, there will always be a new challenge, a new network.

Consumers have a lot of decisions to make. They need help.

Google went to 20 million users in 3 weeks, and that wasn’t at the expense of other networks.

Digital Darwinism is changing business. Companies fail to see how disruptive technologies might affect them.

We know this is a new game, it’s time to create our own rules.

Use the tools we have to listen and learn how we can help others.

Clients are confused, they need clarity and direction.

People want information to come to them. They don’t want to go to a destination to find it.

Consumers occupy different places on the adoption bell curve.

Weight where your best off spending your time and money. Find out your path to relevance.

Traditional consumers get info through paid TV and print. Digital consumers. Connected consumers is enthralled in their own egosystem .

Word of mouth is shifting to digital, to mobile, to social.

The traditional marketing funnel is gone has replaced by a decision ellipse. It’s a process that doesn’t end. They use technology to confirm their decision.

5 I’s
Intelligence – finding the answers, getting insights
Insights
Ideation
Interaction
Influence

What happens after we engage people? There is no box to think outside of.

An online survey, conducted by Postling, of more than 500 real estate professionals in the USA has found:[tweetmeme]

• 84% of real estate agents use social media.
• 79% use Facebook and 48% use Twitter.
• Most (55%) feel comfortable using social media, while 26% are only somewhat comfortable.
• Agents are missing opportunities by not using video for property marketing.
• 29% of internet searches result in a prospect contacting an agent.
• 45% of searches lead to a prospect walking through an open for inspection.
• Real estate agents are ahead of other industries in the use of Facebook but they’re behind in the use of Twitter and WordPress.

These stats demand agents rethink their web and video strategies.

• On 1000 Watt blog, Brian Boero offers some suggestions about writing blog posts based on content that agents already have. They’re sitting on a goldmine, he contends, and it’s time to step up to the plate and start delivering.

Right now you’re like a New York City department store with no windows, a Sushi place without the little plastic food in the window.

Hiding your goods from the marketplace. Failing to use their power to engage.

If you’re a brokerage of any size, you have tons of content to play with. You have access to an IDX feed. And, I would imagine, a camera.

There’s no excuse. No, not even MLS rules.

Come on agents, it’s time to get busy!

• Max Kalehoff provides a short explanation of content delivery networks (CDN’s). They’re used to deliver web content faster. And with Google including page load speed as part of their ranking algorithm it makes sense to look at using one, especially for high traffic sites. According to Max:

A good Web hosting provider with dedicated servers and clean coding are critical to website speed. But so is a content delivery network, especially if your site is subject to visitor spikes and geographically dispersed traffic, and contains large multimedia files (like video). The largest online publishers have already made CDNs part of their online infrastructures.

It’s probably not something I need to look at for this site but I wonder what the portals, franchises and marketing groups are doing.

• Jay Baer is right; we’ve seen this social media movie before. Where? Email marketing. Opt-in, subscribers, open rate, impressions, CTR: they all mean the same thing only just in a different setting. He concludes:

For more than a decade, the world of email has hoped to send messages of such vigor and verisimilitude that recipients would be compelled to click a “forward to a friend” button to send the message onward to their compatriots, who would surely benefit from its contents. That F2F rate has historically been tracked by email marketers, although it’s accuracy is poor since it’s easier to just click “forward” in your email software, than to click the button within the email itself.

In social media of course, this sharing behavior is the coin of the realm. Retweets, Facebook shares, Diggs, Stumbles, and now Linkedin shares are badges of honor, displayed proudly atop each blog post like family crests of feudal lords.

That’s a lot of similarities. Does anyone else feel like we’ve seen this movie before?

In short it’s time to stop thinking of social media as a special case. It’s not. It’s just a different horse in the same race.

• On the Geek Estate blog Drew Meyers recommends blogging about local free wi-fi hotspots. It’s a cool idea. He suggests doing more than just grabbing information off the web but actually going to the place (café, library, restaurant) and interviewing the owner or manager. Then he poses the real kicker:

To really maximize your time and effort, don’t just write about wifi options based on what you find on the web — go there, talk to the staff, and write from first hand experience — and send the owners of those establishments the link to your blog post once you’ve written about them. Better yet, use that email as a conversation starter and convince the owners to blog for you on your local blog (that’s the holly grail)!

Great idea, huh? Bet there’s no-one doing that in your patch. Know what that means? You could be the go-to person and carve out a niche for yourself. Much of this post was written at Rifo’s in East Victoria Park. They have excellent free wi-fi and even better coffee. So what are you waiting for?

• Finally, Kristin Rawski from Excite Media provides an analysis of the Oreo’s Facebook page. She explains that they could be more responsive about the content they share but praises their World’s Fan of the Week contest. That contest encourages fans to upload a photo of themselves in exchange for the chance to be featured on the page avatar. I wonder if they got Facebook’s permission to run that contest.[tweetmeme]

Social, without the media.

I can write on walls and comment on posts but nothing will ever match turning up, in the flesh, and being present with and for another human being.

Nothing will ever beat hand-delivered flowers, ones that say ‘I love you’ and ‘thank you’.

Nothing matches a smile that makes the corners of your eyes wrinkle. It’s a gift that lifts and inspires. All the ’s ever written will never beat just one beaming, happy face.

Nothing comes close to a hug. ‘*hugz*’ is nice but will never match the real thing, one that says ‘I’m with you’.

And nothing makes magic like the sound of joyous, happy laughter. Smilies never will, nor will emoticons and LOL’s. In comparison they’re but cheap facsimiles of the real thing.

That’s my take on social media. It’s just media. And media means putting something between us. It’s always the second option. [tweetmeme]

Photo credit: whologwhy on Flickr

If you’re thinking of hiring a social media firm/expert/agency to run your social media there are some important questions to ask before you do. I found this list–52 questions to ask when hiring a social media company–on Outspoken Media. It would amount to a comprehensive grilling for all but the best social media agency but well worth selecting at least some of the questions from each category.

Here’s a few, taken from the list, that I’d expect to be asked:

What tool(s) do you use to monitor brand mentions?

What is your approach to responding to mentions, positive or negative?

What services do you provide as part of an online reputation management campaign?

Do you write content/press releases/guest posts for us or will we have to hire someone else to do that?

What social media marketing channels do you have the most expertise in?

Are my customers on social media? Do I even need these services?

Do they take time to answer our questions and explain rationale or do they seem fearful of going into specifics of what they’re doing?

What questions do you ask your social media agency?

There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to social media marketing. There are plenty of ways to get it right; and wrong. Treat these 10 mistakes as ways to think through your social media tactics. They may even serve as useful guides for your marketing more generally.

Mistake 1 – Don’t listen

Listening is social media skill number one. If you’re not listening to the  community chatter about your company, products or industry your making a big mistake. That mistake will lead to a two-fold risk. First, you risk ignoring legitimate complaints about your service and that can really piss people off. Second, there’s the real risk of missing opportunities to create connections that could generate more business opportunities.

Mistake 2 – Don’t respond

Your Google alert has identified a blog post that’s a scathing attack about the quality of your service. Do nothing and you’ll appear ignorant at best or arrogant at worst. A better course of action is to leave a comment on the post. Optus does that regularly.

Mistake 3 – Be overly sensitive

There are other times when it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie. If you see a tweet and it gets your blood boiling don’t respond. Take a day or two. And a chill pill. If you’re thinking of suing someone about a single tweet think again. Just ask Horizon Realty how their “sue first ask questions later” strategy turned out. When it comes to PR on the Internet suing is rarely a wise strategy.

Mistake 4 – Ignore people who help you

Social media thrives on reciprocity. When someone tweets your blog post or shares your content on Facebook say thanks. Or return the favour. It takes no time at all and builds a bank of goodwill. But if you want to annoy the good folk who are trying to help just ignore them. Pretty soon they’ll go away so you can play in the social media sand pit all on your own.

Mistake 5 – Be unclear about with your intentions

Facebook and Twitter are THE places to waste lots of time. And that’s what will happen if you’re not clear about what you want to achieve. To avoid this mistake connect your social media efforts directly with your business goals. Being clear about your intentions will help you avoid wasting time on networks that don’t add value to your business.

Mistake 6 – Be a fake

If you’re faking it you’re going to be found out so don’t try to be something you’re not. Some of the biggest companies in the world have found this out the hard way. Sooner or later your fake “I became a millionaire in 15 minutes a day” blog is going to be exposed as a sham. The ferocity of the community backlash will be in direct proportion to the degree people felt let down.

Mistake 7 – Don’t put social sharing buttons on your site

If you don’t want your blog posts or articles shared or bookmarked don’t put social sharing buttons on your web pages. If you do want people to share your content – and let’s face it, that’s probably the case – then get them on their pronto. And a Twiiter and Facebook logo on your home page isn’t what I’m talking about. Share buttons. Every page, Now.

Mistake 8 – Use social media as a broadcast medium

Ever walked into a party and used a megaphone to introduce  yourself? Probably not, so why do it on Facebook or Twitter? Let’s face it, advertising is an important part of any marketing budget but please, mix advertising and social media sparingly. If you want to advertise use Google Adwords or Facebook’s advertising platform. Social media works best as a conversation, not a broadcast platform.

Mistake 9 – Focus on the numbers

Anyone can have lots of Facebook friends or Twitter followers. Getting big numbers is easy. Just keep clicking the Add of Follow buttons and soon you’ll have big numbers. But so what? if people aren’t listening. What really counts in social media is relationships. If your message is concealed behind the Hide button or tucked away in a Tweetdeck group what’s the point? Relationships thrive on conversation and deep relationships make good business sense.

Mistake 10 – Be a Lurker

Lurking in social media is like people watching at a party. Sure it may be fun for a while but you’ll be going home alone. That’s no fun. It’s much better fun get known, so get out and start connecting. Say “hi” through a blog comment, the Like button, an @ reply or an email. Whatever you do, don’t lurk.

Mistake 11 – Abandon your Twitter account (or blog or Facebook Page)

Want to look super uncool? Start tweeting, tweet like there’s no tomorrow, then stop. For 6 months. It’s the fastest way to show the world your management team has the attention span of a gnat or they you’re adept at backing the wrong horse. Either way, not a good move.

There they are, the top 10 mistakes to not make in social media marketing. I’ve made several. Be ye not so foolish.

11 Social Media Mistakes That Will Turn Your Brand Into a Train Wreck was originally posted on The Real Estate Marketing Maven

Gartner: Top 10 technologies to watch over the next three years | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: “They say: Your organization is an entity in the broad Social Web. Get to know Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn and other social sites and applications. Listen to the language of social media, before starting to speak.

I say: Beyond just looking to send out marketing messages via social networks, companies need to look at the ways social networking can allow them to better listen to customers and to empower employees to become better connected in their industry and specialty. But beware, social networking can become a time-sink and a productivity killer when not used in a disciplined way.”

The 7 best ways to build your business now: Put social media in your mix | poweredByProfit | Canadian Business Online: “No matter what your industry, don’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to social media. Businesses “really can’t ignore this stuff,” says Fox. Besides its effectiveness, she says, “It’s extremely cost effective to participate in this space.””