Pop Music Reflects Pop Culture on Social Networks

I just completed a blog posting about how The Killers song Human reflects the evolution of social networks today. The article entitled "Social Media 2009: Are we human or are we dancer?" can be found on the BOSSdev, Inc. blog.

Many bloggers have recently written about the maturing social web and what defines meaningful social connections online. I found that this particular song represents the emotional ambiguity of the digital generation as technology blurs the lines of our connected nature.

I'm interested to hear your opinions on the subject, so check it out and comment away over at the BOSS|talk blog.

In the meantime, enjoy the song Human by The Killers.

3 Free Web Metrics & Analytics Tools

Article #2 in the series “Simple Steps to the Social Web”

Exciting new tools for measuring web traffic and analytics are constantly emerging. A great thing about them is that you don’t need a big budget or expertise as a web analytics specialist to use these tools. So don’t be intimidated by the fact that this post is about web analytics, remember that Social Made Simple is all about making the social web accessible.

Let’s say you’re a marketer at a slow-to-change company. The down economy is putting the squeeze on your budgets. You need to convince management about the importance of online marketing. In order to do so, you’d like to show some statistics about the traffic on your company’s sites. It would be ideal if you could have data such as who’s visiting your sites, how long do people stay on your site, what are the demographics, what other sites do these people frequent and the competition stacks up.

Here are some key tools that can be used to collect this kind of information quickly and all it costs is your time.

1. Quantcast – a measurement service that provides audience reports for millions of web sites. Used by media buyers, the free component of this service provides data on traffic, demographics and lifestyle. Take note of the detailed demographics broken down by this source. I've tested it against client provided data - and the alignment is impressive.

2. Compete – provides free web site data including site traffic, engagement and competitive analytics via their Site Analytics and Trust Scores tools. I particularly find the engagement metrics displayed in the second image below to be quite useful - as all the site traffic in the world won't due you any good if everyone bounces after one or two pages.

3. Forrester Groundswell Profile Tool – provides a free Social Technographics® profile of your target audience based upon their age, gender and location. While this tool does generalize in broad strokes, it is useful in understanding your audience and what kind of experience resonates well with them.

I encourage you to bookmark each of these sites and to begin using these tools. Try them out by inputting your company's web sites and comparing the statistics to those provided by your internal resources. See how the data aligns; as well as where descrepancies exist. Then look into your competition - or relevant examples across industries. This will certainly help you understand some strengths and weaknesses of your online properties. 

I believe you'll find yourself accessing this data often - and sharing it with your associates which will help your organization make more informed decisions.

YouTube Live - The Long Tail Effect

Come Monday, November 24, 2008 bloggers worldwide were judging YouTube Live as a marginal success. Yet, truth be told, their judgements were mostly based upon antiquated perceptions of success from the broadcast industry. The real truth was yet to be told.

The Long Tail was first coined by Wired Magazine editor Chris Anderson circa 2004. His book of the same name taught us about a million channels for a million people. The era of the superstar had given way to the digital generation.

Perhaps that's what surprised me most about YouTube Live - the simple fact that most media types didn't get it. While the actual live event was viewed by roughly 900,000 - the event lives on via a classic expression of the Long Tail. Just take a look at the most viewed clips from the event. Just weeks after airing, dozens of these clips have six - even seven - figure viewership.

My initital response to the event is covered in detail in this posting on the BOSSdev blog. And a further discussion on the topic occurs on Mark Cuban's blog. As time passes in this case, the true impact of YouTube Live becomes more apparent.

Social Rant: I Need Twitter Channels! What’s taking so long?

My Twitter obsession started with my profession: social media. Now I’m officially connected with over 600 of the world’s most innovative social media mavericks. That’s all fine and dandy, but there’s a lot more to life than work. I want to discuss travel, entertainment, food, wine, exercise, parenting, marriage, politics and more.

The burgeoning social web brings with it expectations. Requirements even. I don’t want all of my interests and passions blended into one giant social mix that’s shared with every Tom, Dick, Harry & Sally that surfs the social web. The knowledge and technology exists today to solve this problem and damn it, I’m growing impatient. Sure a lot of people are talking about Twitter channels, but why is it taking so long?
+ People discussing Twitter channels on Twitter http://budurl.com/xpej
+ Google search on “Twitter channels” http://budurl.com/4tch

I need to be able to quickly switch between work, sports, food, news, traffic and family channels on Twitter. I’ll take main navigation tabs for a thousand Alex. Enough with birds, ratings, tracking followers, leavers and the like… give me something truly useful. Give me Twitter channels.

Social Light: Profile Photos

Profile photos are necessary all over the social web. Every time you create a profile on a web site, you will likely have an opportunity to upload a photo. Profile photos are usually displayed as small squares less than in inch in size and formatted as a .jpeg or .gif file. The most common profile images are close ups of one’s face. I keep a folder entitled “Profile Pictures” in the “My Pictures” folder on each computer. This gives me a variety of good images to choose from quickly. If you need help preparing your profile images, I suggest you either ask a friend who’s savvy with digital photos or Google “how to crop a photo online.” The results will include a variety of free online photo editing tools.

Social Light: Reciprocity

The social web is a mutually beneficial environment in which people help each other in an altruistic manner. To be a good friend or associate online, you must interact in ways similar to the real world. If someone helps you by giving you a positive recommendation, help them by doing something beneficial to them in return – whether it is by writing a recommendation for them or making an introduction to a business associate. Essentially, be a good person online.

Simple Steps to Social - LinkedIn.com

Step 1: LinkedIn – The Social Network for Professionals
Article #1 in the series “Simple Steps to the Social Web”

LinkedIn is the leading network for business professionals. It has over 30 million members. Membership is free, but the benefits could be worth millions. That’s because there’s a good chance your next job will come through a LinkedIn connection.

Profile: All you need to get started is your resume, a digital photo of yourself and about an hour. Start by creating an account and then look over a few existing profiles to get familiar with the terrain. Now start filling in your profile by cutting and pasting information from your resume. There will be some new categories for which you will need to write text. You should also upload a photo for your profile^. I suggest you find a friend or colleague who’s a member and ask for their feedback once you’ve completed your first draft of your profile.

The good news about the web is that you can update your profile at any time. In fact, there are actual benefits to updating your profile often. It is noted as recently active by the LinkedIn system and will be more highly promoted to your network.

Connections: Now that you have a LinkedIn profile, you’re ready to begin the process of building your network. Click on the green “Add Connections” button about half way down the page on the left. You will see that you can add connections in four different ways: email invitation, importing from an email account, finding professional colleagues or classmates. You can do this a little at a time, so as to not be overwhelmed. Over time, your network will begin to grow almost naturally.

Recommendations: To truly have an effective LinkedIn profile, you need recommendations. In fact, some job postings now even request applicants with LinkedIn recommendations. Begin asking people you’ve worked with to write a recommendation for you. Simply click on “Recommendations” under “Profile” in the left side navigation. Now click on the “Request Recommendations” tab and follow the simple process on the page.

When you send a request for a recommendation, be sure write a few thoughtful sentences explaining some specifics about what you would like them to write about. I’ve included an example below. When you request a recommendation from someone, be sure to reciprocate by offering to write a recommendation for them.

“I would greatly appreciate it if you would write a recommendation for me. I am trying to build credibility in my professional profile; and I felt we worked together very well. It would be ideal if you could highlight a few specific things, such as my initiative, work ethic, attitude, and my communication skills that helped us succeed on various projects.”

Groups: Groups on LinkedIn are a great way to connect with people in your business discipline, industry and community. For example, I am a member of groups related to marketing, technology, sales and Austin. You can elect to receive email updates from these groups. My preferences are set up to receive one weekly update from each group. These updates include information members post about industry news, new business opportunities, recruiting, and questions for discussion.

LinkedIn groups can also be used to seek out new connections, such as recruiters. You can join a group relevant to your expertise and then view the group’s members to see if you know anyone or would like to get connected with a new contact. You can also create a group for your business. Invite your company’s employees, suppliers and customers to join the group. Within the group, members can discuss topics, ask questions and share insights. Each member can leverage the collective knowledge and connections of the entire group.

Messaging: The messaging functionality of LinkedIn is contained in a section entitled “Inbox.” It is very simple to use. You can send “InMails” to your connections and make introductions. One of the most useful features of the LinkedIn messaging system is the Q&A. You can ask a question to all or part of your network. An example would be if you’re looking for people to recommend a specific kind of a supplier, such as an ad agency. Of course, you can also answer questions posed by a connection.

Conclusion: LinkedIn is a great first step to the social web for today’s business professional. It features an intuitive interface, benign interaction and content that is familiar - as it is basically an expanded online resume. Yet, unlike job sites like Monster or CareerBuilder, LinkedIn enables you to build a network of human connections.

The real power of LinkedIn kicks in after you’ve built your profile and network base. Then you can leverage the collective knowledge, resources and connections of your network and groups. This lets you see in real time what is hot in the market and what is working for others. I use this knowledge to share insights with my closest connections, such as business peers, prospects and clients. The resulting effect is that I am a key member of a network that is always becoming collectively smarter and better connected.

Simple Steps to the Social Web

The social web can be an overwhelming place: MySpace, Facebook, blogging, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Yammer, Yelp, OMG WTF?  If you don’t “get” all this stuff, don’t worry you are not alone. I know countless people who don’t work in technology or marketing and are thus not exposed to what my wife refers to as “all that social stuff like Facebook” in their daily lives. I also often find that a lot of people over forty aren’t naturally comfortable in the new online social environments.

 

I’m writing a series of articles for these people - those who want a basic understanding of the social web and how they can use it for business and their personal lives. If you’re already a social maven, these articles may be useful as online resources you can forward to your less digitally astute connections.

 

While writing the “Simple Steps to the Social Web” series, various topics will arise that are important across the entire social web. I will cover these topics in short call-out tips entitled ^Social Lights.

 

I look forward to helping you better understand today’s online world; and I hope to help you start leveraging the social web to your benefit. I encourage you to be patient and not get overwhelmed. Remember that all great journeys begin with a single step.