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Eight Great Social Media Reads

Out of all of the thinking, blogging, tweeting, posting, and speaking on the subject, here are some of the most practical – and thought-provoking articles on the topic. 1) When users defect:...

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What’s your 365?

January 11, 2006 holds a special significance.  Over a decade before that date I had put the Toronto Star online, as well as completed substantive work with the Globe and Mail and several major book...

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17 Ways to Great Social Engagement

Have you ever been disappointed with the engagement level of your blog?  Have you decided that this year something “better happen”, to make it all worthwhile?  If so, you’re not alone.  Here are 17...

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Viewpoint: Social Media – Going Out of Business

Before Social Media really took off, the number of tools for engaging stakeholders online was very, very small.  You could create a bulletin board on your site.  An interactive calculator. A...

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Social Media Planning Calendar

How do you organize your Social Media activities?  Most people have a system – whiteboards, excel documents, Google Calendar, or often, scraps of paper.  Unfortunately, none of these are particularly...

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Scenario Planning: Social Response Strategy

What do you do when you are disappointed with a product or service that you have purchased?  Most people turn to the web: a quick check on Google solves many problems.  And a few choice words on...

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Social Relevance: Improving Your Signal-to-Noise Ratio

No one cares about you – they care about how you can solve their problems. Write for your readers. These two expressions epitomize the most important marketing (and social media) concept: relevance....

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Social Over-Indulgence

Social Media is here.  It’s everywhere.  In fact, the absence of it sends a signal that the sponsoring organization is completely disconnected, un-hip, and behind the times. Unfortunately, this zeal to...

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Twitter Strategy, Take Two

Are you one of the millions who remain mystified about Twitter? While I’ve written about this before (Twitter Strategies), I thought it might be worthwhile to boil it down again, but from a different...

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Back-Stories, Lessons, Ali, and Hymie

Perhaps you know an Ali or a Hymie. Ali is just finishing his degree in biology. Hymie is 92, and sits on a stool in a restaurant all day, watching people come and go. Both Ali and Hymie share two...

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When Sharing is not a Good Idea

If you have spent any time on Facebook (and now, sadly, LinkedIn), you may have been the victim of over-sharing. You are subjected to pointless, and often narcissistic postings, often from people and...

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Protecting your Digital Cargo

Every organization owns intellectual property: in fact, this recorded knowledge is often key evidence of expertise, capability, and fit. So if it is that valuable, how do you protect it from being...

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Time for a Twitter Wall?

Have you ever been responsible for a meeting and a conference, and you’ve thought to yourself – or you’ve been told – that it is time that your meeting incorporates Twitter?  Or the young keener in...

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Time for a Twitter Wall? (Part Two)

Looking for the fine print on successfully using Twitter at your event?  Here is Part two:  [Read part one] 1) Choose a hashtag:  Choosing a unique hashtag is critical; if you choose one that another...

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Four Steps from Social Strategy to Successful Sales

With all of the focus on social media strategy, wouldn’t it be nice to actually use social media to grow sales? Not improve awareness, develop the brand, help with marketing, or “continue the...

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Selling Products using Social Media

Forget likes, shares, retweets, and comments: how can you use Social Media to actually sell products?  (Here’s a post on selling services.) To do so effectively means understanding two key concepts:...

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Lipstick on a Pig: Is this the new Social Media?

You may be one of those unlucky individuals who cannot “do” any social media at work. Not because you don’t know how, or don’t want to, but because your workplace policy prevents you from doing so. Or...

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Viewpoint: The End of Social Media

Here’s a bold prediction: The End of Social Media. Yes, despite the success of the Twitter IPO, and before that, Facebook’s public offering, social media is quickly moving to its end. Consider the...

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Built for it

Why are some things easier to do, and others so hard?  Yes, knowledge is important – but this can be improved through training.  Yes, attitude is crucial: if you don’t enjoy doing something, there is...

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Twitter Strategy, Take Three

“Blogs are like articles that people can comment on.  YouTube is like TV, but with voting.”  But what about Twitter? Many leaders are not yet convinced that Twitter makes sense to them. (Or that...

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Testing the Social Conversation

Have you ever put your social influence to the test?  Or said another way, do others find you half as interesting as you do yourself?  If you’re not sure, here are seven ideas that might spur some...

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Seven Reasons to Skip Social Media

If you read anything, anywhere about marketing, sales, customer service, recruiting, IT, or executive leadership, you can’t help but notice that Social Media seems to have become mandatory – full stop....

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An Optimal Twitter Schedule

After participating in a recent panel discussion, I was approached by David Shlagbaum, a senior partner in a downtown law firm.  He reminded me of a lunch we shared, where he had asked me how often he...

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Social Media Slimming Down: Costly or Gone

There is no question that LinkedIn is one of the most powerful networking platforms around. It connects, credentializes, and recruits. It provides a glimpse into the professional lives of those we...

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20 Year Internet Anniversary

What were you doing on the Internet 20 years ago, circa 1993/1994?  At that time, there were only between 200 and 2000 websites, depending on how you counted.   Most people had no idea what the web was...

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17 Ways to Reduce Engagement

Is Engagement at the center of your social media strategy? Likely yes.  But is it possible that you are working at cross-purposes, spending time and resources on negative activities that actually...

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LinkedIn Groups: to join or not?

“You have been invited to be part of the LinkedIn group ABCDE.”  With millions of groups available and more created every day, it is tempting to join – but should you? There is nothing wrong with a gut...

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Real World or Digital

Despite the near ubiquity of Social Media, you can’t say hello to your Starbucks barista there.  You can’t see your team’s body language during a meeting.  You can’t celebrate with friends and family...

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Social Media: Buy or Rent?

What do houses, cars, and Social Media all have in common?  For one thing, they all share a primary question:  Buy or Rent.  Buy a house, or look for a rental?  Buy a car, or lease it?  And should we...

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Growing Social Legs: Event-powered Communities

I recently had the opportunity to briefly meet Lixin Fan, director of the film, I Am Here, at TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival.  A documentary film maker, he described the challenge of...

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Four Tests for Auditioning your Posts

Have you ever considered whether you should comment on a post that mentions you or your organization? As a leader, have you ever been concerned that someone in your organization might choose to respond...

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Three Social Strategies

Most organizations invest in their social footprint.  They start with a strategy, then execute it, monitor it, and if they are good, they feed these results back into the strategy.  A feedback loop is...

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Social ROI: Connecting Community to Commitment

Do you have a creeping feeling that you will never get an adequate return on your Social Media investment?  If so, you’re probably right. To improve Social ROI requires three key ingredients: the first...

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Finding the Social Media Tipping Point

How do you know the “right” amount of Social Media? Too little Social Media is like spitting into the wind: no traction and no impact.  It also leads to discouragement: if the efforts are not making a...

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LinkedIn Connection Policies

Must you be everyone’s friend?  Or perhaps from a practical perspective, must you accept everyone’s LinkedIn connection request?  The answer for most people, and for many reasons, is a resounding no....

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Building Downstream Capacity

Have you ever heard the expression “you’re only as strong as your friends?”  No where is this more true than with digital marketing, and particularly with Social Media. Too achieve a particular...

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Building engagement and community

Engagement and community both seem to be the ultimate goals for those involved in the Social Media game. Yet building it seems shrouded in mystery; ask many successful community managers, and it is a...

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Building a collaborative culture: seven internal social media tactics

With so much focus on public social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc), many are now questioning how these same social media concepts might be used within the organization. The fact is that...

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Identifying and reducing Facebook risks

While many people enjoy Facebook for personal use (connections to family and friends, posting photos, playing games), does it really have a role in business? Whether the answer is yes or no, one thing...

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23 Reasons to Skip Social Media

There are many reasons why an investment in Social Media makes sense, but precious little about why it may not.  After advising on digital strategy and online engagement for over 23 years, here are 23...

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Instant Messaging: Channel of Choice?

When you reach out to your members, clients, suppliers, regulators, or other stakeholders, how do you do it? In the olden days it was the telex.  Today, we choose between courier, the postal service,...

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Social Media Mistakes: Back to First Principles

With all of the fancy tools and sophisticated strategies, sometimes we forget how easy it is to make a mistake – and not of the typographical variety. From time to time, it is a good practice to go...

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Reputation Rescue

Have you ever been in a situation where your personal reputation has been called into question online?  Or your organization’s brand is under attack from a special interest group, and it is emerging...

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Digital Efficiency and Findability: Anchors and Outposts

Where do you call your social home? Likely it includes LinkedIn and Facebook. Perhaps YouTube and Twitter. But what about Instagram, Pinterest, Vimeo and Flickr? Or, the 500+ other social networks that...

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Viewpoint: The End of Twitter?

Here’s a not-so-bold prediction: Twitter is in its death throes. It won’t be around in just a few short years. And when this happens, there will be no shortage of pundits who: “saw it all coming”, or...

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Facebook as a Leadership Tool – You Be the Judge

For many individuals, Facebook is a way to connect with friends, family, and just possibly, play a few games. For professional marketers, Facebook is a way to grow the brand, nurture a community of...

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LinkedIn Connection Policy

Do you accept every LinkedIn connection request that comes your way?  Or are you somewhat selective? More importantly, is there an overall approach that can help you make this decision in a somewhat...

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Eyeballs and Friends: A Social Media Crash?

What do eyeballs and friends have in common with each other? Except for the fact that your friends have eyeballs, not much. Or do they? Let’s go back to the year 1999, the time the unshakeable belief...

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Customer Service: Automated, Templated, or Customized

Many organizations struggle with setting up a social media (or email) response strategy.  How do you trust front line staff to answer properly, if they don’t know the policies?  How do you have a...

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Checklist: 20 Top News Sharing Ideas

When there is important news, how do you share it?  At the 30,000 foot level, the answer is simple: send an email and put it on Social Media.  When it comes to execution, however, many organizations...

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