Questions to ask about your business on social media

Social media is not a one-size-fits-all. Every user and business is different, and its communications strategy, including social media, should be different.


Questions to ask about your business on social media: We're now on question 5 in this series. Previously we've asked What does our business hope to accomplish? and What social media accounts do we now have, how active are they, and what problems do they have? and Who's going to maintain, feed and grow these accounts? and What are the communications skills and weaknesses of the social media leaders in our company? Today we move on to the next question:

How will we integrate social media into the overall communications strategy of our company?

Initially, Facebook, Twitter and the rest were often referred to as "social networking." Then we moved on to the term "social media." The first phrase is actually more accurate in the business world. You're trying to connect with customers and other companies. Think of this the way you do email and phone calls, not the way you do a TV commercial. How do you want to communicate, and how does social networking fit into that plan? Are you mostly a business-to-business company? Do you need to increase sales? Do you want to promote your personal profile? That information should shape all your communications -- including face-to-face. Social networking should dovetail into what you already do. It's not a prefabricated media; it's part of your communications. Make it yours, and connect it to your other approaches.

Ideally social networking should work like an accordion, pulling you together for face-to-face, and keeping you connected as you pull apart.

Top YouTube vids, Panthers, BofA's new stud

All my columns have a gimmick. Glad You Asked had the reader quiz. The Insider had the "whisper" photo. This one has Who Would Play You In The Movies. For a closer look, click on the photos. Send me your star and photos and I'll put you in.

Looks like you can't tell Panthers QB Matt Moore on Twitter that he was a rock star (he looks like one) in Sunday night's victory over the Vikings. The account @MattEMoore has been removed. Too bad. Teammate and pal Rhys Lloyd still rocks the Twitter, though, better than any other athlete in town. You can hear his British accent in his tweets. ... Terrible that robbers who took the valuables of three people in East Charlotte at 3 a.m. this morning then shot two of them. Give those guys the harshest sentence. ... How many of the top five TV shows involve any kind of screenwriting? Try none. "American Idle," "American Idolatry," "Dancing With No Real Stars," "Dancing With Stark Unreality," and "NBC Sunday Night Football." (Where the Panthers rocked last night.) ... Today's Wall Street Journal sez hedge fund boss David Tepper made $7 billion for his hedge fund and $2.5 bill for himself by better big on banks, including the big one based here. He scooped up BofA stock when it was at $3 a share. It's now at $15. You gotta like that new BofA chief Brian Moynihan was a rugby stud at Brown. ... I WANT TWO TIX TO THE NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY AT THE BECHTLER. There, how's that for subtle? ... Ouch. Stephen Jackson's bad back hurts the Bobcats, who have shows signs of real promise this year. I still think they'll make the playoffs. ... So, how'd ya fare during the great blizzard of '09? The only flake around near my place was me. ... Budding R&B and gospel star Rudy Currence of Rock Hill absolutely killed it Friday night at Whitehead Manor, the genteel conference center and biz-coaching joint neatly tucked away at Sardis and Rama. Social media stud Jim Deitzel let is slip Friday night that his Rubbermaid outfit is up for a commercial of the year award for its cool TV spot of a woman being avalanched by her closet. Spouse Susanne, also a social media hotshot and one of the hosts of the Currence concert, looked absolutely stunning Friday night. ... Check out Huff Po's best of 2009 YouTube vids here. Love those babies. ...

In case you didn't catch this, Facebook's new privacy policies are a sham, aimed at you giving up more privacy to marketers. You can check out screenshots of Facebook's redesign here. ... Why is Caribou on East so packed, and far more likable Dilworth Coffee just up the road a calm little nook of caffeine and Wi-Fi? ... Saw Mike Collins' Android phone on Friday when I was on "Charlotte Talks" talking Christmas gadget gifts. It's pretty fast on surfing, I must say. How about Verizon hammering smart phone users who bail on their contracts (for the iPhone, I assume) with a $350 penalty? (I only paid $140 two years ago to do the same.) ... Speaking of Mike, he leaked to me a very funny and locally star-studded Julius Peppers number for the upcoming "Charlotte Squawks." ... Texas Pete, you're better than Tabasco. Duke's mayo, you're better than Hellman's. And that's not just me being a homer. ... ... Snoop Dogg was on Martha Stewart's show making brownies on Friday when the notoriously stoned rapper joked about dropping a special "green ingredient" into the mix. ... Accenture consulting has pulled its billboard ad of Tiger Woods looking into a gloomy sky with the headline "Tougher Than Ever To Be A Tiger." ... Yay French courts for pushing Google back on book copyrights. Yay Yelp for rejecting Google's bid to muscle in for a takeover. Is Google actually finishing any of its projects these days, or just expanding?



Questions to ask about your business on social media: We're now on question 4. Previously we've asked What does our business hope to accomplish? and What social media accounts do we now have, how active are they, and what problems do they have? and Who's going to maintain, feed and grow these accounts? Today we move on to the next question:

What are the communications skills and weaknesses of the social media leaders in our company?

If a younger employee will be your main social media person, does this person need to grow up some and into a more professional online demeanor? If your point person is an executive, do they need to loosen up some and brush up on tech skills? Chances are, this person needs to do one or the other. Knowing their drawbacks in advance can prevent public embarrassment.

BofA chief, wintry mix and tech toys

All my columns have a gimmick. Glad You Asked had the reader quiz. The Insider had the "whisper" photo. This one has Who Would Play You In The Movies. For a closer look, click on the photos. Send me your star and photos and I'll put you in.

First the good news: The Big Bank is staying. Now the surprising news: Young buck Brian T. Moynihan, 50, new chief, gave five times to John Kerry campaigns. Really? A pinstriped liberal? ... An inch or two of wintry mix to hit Charlotte area tomorrow? Buy bread and milk, and remember: If your car goes into a skid, drive like a Southerner and slam on the brakes while twisting the wheel madly. Actually, what you're supposed to do is pump the brakes slightly and steer in the direction you want the car to go, which is also probably the direction the back of the car is skidding. See a video demonstration here. ... Insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan hacked U.S. drone planes with off-the-shelf, $26 software? Oh, I feel safe. ... My last girlfriend and my ex-wife both thought Tiger Woods was really hot. They probably didn't realize they had a shot with him. ... Bill James, you're an idiot for your "homo" comment. But The Observer readers voting against same-sex benefits online need some educating, too. ... You gotta like the Spangler Foundation giving so much to schools, especially since it lost two-thirds of its assets in 2008, thanks to heavy investment in BofA. ... Man, is this town suddenly hot for the arts, or what? A spot at The Bechtler private New Year's Eve party is the invite to drooooool over.

I'm talking tech toys with Mike Collins Friday morning on "Charlotte Talks." Weird: An old-timey German board game called Settlers of Catan made popular in the '90s is sweeping high-tech circles, says the Wall Street Journal on Page 1 today. ... The worst holiday tech gift you could possibly give someone is the iPhone. That's not a gift. It's a lifestyle decision. (And one I've made three times.) They need to do it themselves. Besides, then they'll want to play with it on Christmas, but will have to fight through the AT&T bureacracy to get set up. Get 'em an Apple Gift Card. They can get whatever they want. This is crazy, and smart, you can get one for "any amount" in a retail store. No price limit. Millions? Billions? ... Best tech toys? It's a great time to get a game console. Wii, PlayStation and Xbox are all super cheap now... The Beatles Rock Band is supposed to be a winner. I mean, everyone knows the songs. ... The Kindle II is apparently cool, although I don't want to read the paper on an Etch-A-Sketch, myself. ... Casio sent me the High Speed Exilim camera to play with. It's the size of a thin bar of soap, and shoots 1000 frames of video per second. A typical video camera shoots 30. This thing gives you super slow-mo with vectors so you can study your golf swing.

Questions to ask about your business on social media: We're now on question 3. Previously we've asked What does our business hope to accomplish? and What social media accounts do we now have, how active are they, and what problems do they have? Today we move on to the next question:

Who's going to maintain, feed, and grow these accounts?

If a social media account isn't sustainable, it will slowly wither. (As most Twitter accounts do.) It just doesn't make sense for a business owner who doesn't speak social media to set up an account, get bored, and hand it off to a nephew who "gets this stuff." That's why so many businesses have doubts about Return On Investment: They've invested time, energy and attention that they don't have or want to give. Starting a social media account is like getting a puppy. You've got to ask: "Who's going to take care of this thing?"

What are your favorite gadgets and apps?

All my columns have a gimmick. Glad You Asked had the reader quiz. The Insider had the "whisper" photo. This one has Who Would Play You In The Movies. For a closer look, click on the photos. Send me your star and photos and I'll put you in.

I'm on "Charlotte Talks" on Friday morning talking tech toys, gadgets and apps. Got something on your wish list this holiday season? Leave me a comment below, or click the Contact form and let me know. I'll try to mention your toy during the show. You can also tweet me Friday morning with thoughts.

Pics are up from the fun StudioBanks holiday party at Dil Bill last week. Dil Bill has its own holiday shindig Thursday night. ... Among Fortune's Dumbest Business Moves of 2009? "Ken Lewis Leaves BofA Hanging" in which the mag says: "Lewis packed up his golden parachute last October and bailed." ... Anybody else noticing that the Bobcats are, uh, pretty good? They've won 6 of 9, and Gerald Wallace might be the most unrecognized superstar in the league. ... Rabid Avett Bros fan @crystaldempsey points out that howl-at-the-moon local blue grass-rock geniuses are posting giveaways in a 12 Days Of Avett campaign on their site. ... Chamber sez big eco devo announcement there tomorrow (12/16) at 11 a.m. ... WCNC's Jeremy Markovich posted on Twitter that his newsroom argued proper tipping today. 15%? 20%? Guess I go 20% and above usually. ... Is last-minute cancellation the new black, or is this a holiday thing? (I'm guilty, too.) ... You can drop one of the arguments for a moral victory over China: The Wall Street Journal reports today China is quickly becoming a green-tech leader. ... What's the worst holiday gift you've ever received? Mouthwash? Anti-snoring strips?

Questions to ask about your business on social media: Many businesses plunge into social media without knowing what to do. So they end with accounts that are half-hearted, sporadic, or junked by the side of the road. If you're trying to focus your business's social media strategy, it's important to take stock. Do you have a Facebook page you love, where all your friends and customers engage with you, and also a boring, empty corporate page no one seems to care about? (Guess where the juice is?) Did you slap up a LinkedIn profile you never visit? (That's a big mistake.) Last time I gave my first question to ask about your business on social media: What does our business hope to accomplish? Today we move on to the next question:

What social media accounts do we now have, how active are they, and what problems do they have?

Who'd Play You In The Movies? Part 2

All my columns have a gimmick. Glad You Asked had the reader quiz. The Insider had the "whisper" photo. This one has Who Would Play You In The Movies. For a closr look, click on the photos. Send me your star and photos and I'll put you in.

What you're doing: Justin Ruckman just posted the first of a series of monthly video podcasts on innovation in Charlotte. ... Observer buddy Rogelio Aranda posts this ad from a local mag on Twitter. What's a Brazilian Butt Lift? ... WFAE is hosting a blood drive today from 10:30-1:30 in Spirit Square. ... Ray Romano is on Bob & Sheri tomorrow at 7:10. ... Social Fresh organizer Jason Keath debuted on Mashable yesterday. ... Brandon Uttley just wrapped up the year as PRSA President. ... Lunch meeting Wednesday at Jillian's for Business Marketing Association Carolinas. ... Harry Hoover of My Creative Team throws out this gassy site just developed for a client. ... Lake Norman Holiday Tweetup Dec. 22 at Red Rocks Birkdale.

What they're doing: Business Insider's list of 21 Things That Became Obsolete This Decade -- Maps, Video Rental Stores, Dial-Up. ... Check out this hilarious version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by 21 of the most annoying voices in music. ... Can Google concentrate and focus on anything? The behemoth will will sell a phone, the Nexus One, as soon as next year. ... Robert Kelly isn't so sure about taking over the top spot at BofA because the pay might not be enough. He's made $13 mill and $20 mill the past two years, the Wall Street Journal reports.

What I'm doing: Really enjoyed talking with Bruce and Jill Hensley about Queen's Feast, Charlotte Restaurant Week, coming up again in the end of January. ... I'll be on "Charlotte Talks" on Friday, talking about gizmos and apps for Christmas. ... Enjoyed putting up the tree this weekend: Here's a pic. ... Looking forward to cool holiday dinner and concert at Whitehead Manor starring emerging R&B star Rudy Currence. ... Looking forward to speaking at the Charlotte chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management on January 20, and at the social media conference hosted by The Observer and Queens U on January 30.

10 Questions To Answer About Your Business On Social Media

Facebook grew by 200 million users in 2009, from 150 million to 350 million. That's about 550,000 new users every day. Many of them don't know why they're on there. "Because everybody said I had to" seems to be a popular answer. That's fine for personal accountants: Folks can get on, meddle around, and make goofy mistakes as they go. (Everyone should, however, deal with privacy concerns.) But this is a major problem for businesses.

Social media is where Web sites were a decade ago: Businesses are slapping up accounts in a rush to get on the space. Then many business owners run out of steam and expertise, hand the accounts off to a nephew (because this is "kid stuff") and the problems begin. Social media is communications with a broad and very public reach. Inexperience and lack of judgment can embarrass your company in a hurry.

So, first question: What do you hope to accomplish for your business on social media? I'll look at 10 more questions every business should consider when launching a social media presence.

Who would play you in the movies?

Facebook was born when Mark Zuckerberg broke the rules and posted photos of Harvard students for his friends to compare in a hacked game of Hot Or Not. Recently the camera has focused in still more on the comparison of faces on social networks. Google Goggles has rolled out: The application attempts to identify the subject of your mobile photo photos through image search recognition. And Thread.com lets you give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to your friends' friends in the search for a romantic partner. If you deem someone "cute," and they do the same for you, voila, your profiles pop up for one another.

All of which got me thinking. Would Google Goggles mix you up with lookalikes? What if you were thrown up against your double in Hot Or Not? And, finally: Is all this an excuse to pull together one big game of Who Would Play You In The Movies?

Twas.

I asked my Facebook friends that question, and they supplied me with their movie star double. Others I approached with possible casting. Here are four pairs of Charlotteans and their movie star doubles. You can click on the photos for a better look. I'll roll out a couple more every day. And if you'd like to play, send me your movie star double.

Why Charlotte is like Tiger Woods

Gatorade has canceled its Tiger Woods Focus drink, while denying this is in any way because he hasn't appeared to have been focusing much, at least in matters of the heart. But over in the river of the real-time Web, Tiger is a huge hit right now:

"God bless Tiger Woods," -- Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, gushing that the scandalized golfer has fueled more recent traffic than Michael Jackson's death. Classy.

There is some debate about whether Tiger should have plunged into that river of information to address the furious Twitter traffic that initially carried new of his car crash and affairs. But one thing is certain: He has not been able to hunker his way out of this mess, to hold onto his privacy, or endorsements. It's impossible to control the river.

I'm guilty of the same thing, and so are you.

When my friend Matthew Vincent, the Charlotte innovative blogger behind Minimum Failure, unfurled a petition to The Charlotte Observer's Twitter directory the day after I met with him for coffee, I was horrified. "Allow me to return the knife you misplaced in my back." But that was my attempt to control an understandable flow against big media trying to control social media, or at least to shape it. The Twitter directory has sputtered, not because of the petition - "I don't think even I signed it" Vincent told me Monday night - but because its ambition was to pin down a rush of information. I do credit my former boss, Steve Gunn, the mad scientist of The Observer's innovation, for trying.
Joshua Benton, the head of Harvard's Nieman Lab, a journalism and technology think tank, spoke about this Monday night at Queens U, noting that the real-time Web is a "river of news you can dip a toe in." A great turnout drew DavidsonNews.net online journalist David Boraks, WCNC's Stuart Watson, The Observer's Jen Rothacker, Catch Creative's marketing director Art Henson, and Queens U's Mac MacArthur, one of the area's top social media thinkers, and the Dean of the School of Communication's Van King, who played host and introduced Benton.

It's all in flux. You can't hold onto your information. Paddle your kayak in the river, whitewater-riding public art expert Sarah Gay might say. The Blumenthal, where dashing Douglas Young has always sought a dynamic buzz around events, has plunged into the river by adding a healthy social media strategy to events.

What I'm doing

Dinner with good friend Rick Bainbridge last night at Mickey Schmick's in South Park. ... Speaking to Dilworth Rotary on Friday at Byron's SouthEnd. ... Meeting with favorite PR duo Bruce and Jill Hensley about social media and their cool eat-out-well-at-a-discount event Restaurant Week. ... On "Charlotte Talks" with Mike Collins on Friday the 18th to talk about tech toys for Christmas.

What you're doing

Sarah Hada, Compass Group PR star, jokes on Facebook about starting a Charlotte Complaint Choir - the NYT featured groups like this. It's a funny idea, along the lines of "Charlotte Squawks. ... Susan Hilger has posted a political edge to her cool "green" eco cuffs wooden jewelry - "peace cuffs". ... Looking forward to holiday parties in the next few days at two of my favorite local tech out fits, Banks Wilson's StudioBanks and Jon West's 3tailer. ... Counselor Kevin Lock is looking to complete charlottecounselor.org soon. ... Davidson's Lisa Gray is trying to round up digerati who love classical music for WDAV. ... Steve Knight is exploring the niche of faith-based not-for-profits (knows his stuff). ... CLT Blog's Desiree Kane has a fascinating new story on the masked marauder behind a puppet theater of Charlotte Twitter bots that skewers the unsuspecting.

What they're doing

The season's hottest toy is Mattel's Mindflex, which lets you move balls according to the electrical activity in your brain. Discovery Place has a creeky old version of that. ... Facebook will soon allow you to control who sees each thing you post. So you can gripe about your boss and hide that from her. ... Google's real-time search aspect is cool, and somehow unnerving, to watch it updating as you're trying to glean information. ... Kids aren't collecting beer cans anymore, the Wall Street Journal reports today on the front page. That's the world's oldest beer can, at top.

Want something in What you're doing? Tell me in the contact form.

A new way of doing business

David Kyle, Dani Burns and Roy Morejon at Thursday night's Search Engine Marketing Charlotte party at the Charlotte Chamber. Photo by Charis Pope.

It's not what you know, it's who you don't know. That's where your next big deal, partnership and trusted connection are waiting, wondering where you are. Let's get you there.

I'm a connector, and as we emerge (we hope) from the recession, networks online and off have never been more important, especially in Charlotte, a city going through a significant change, from old to new, from banking and NASCAR (cash 'n' crash) to much more. (And the fact is, the city has always been about much more.)

Get out to face-to-face events and you see this.

Last night I moderated a panel on innovation and starting tech companies in Charlotte at Area 15 near NoDa. The talk will soon be posted as a podcast on CLT Blog. On the panel were City Councilman Warren Cooksey, Josh Lippiner of the new project Charlotte 2.0, Scott Nedderman and Chris Beck of Netphase, Philip Dodds of The Cloud Market (who organized the podcast), and Desiree Kane of CLT Blog. Dodds and Justin Ruckman of CLT Blog will use the monthly podcasts to explore the impediments to tech growth and innovation in the city.

The takeaway? Charlotte is not an incubator of innovation or adequate at inviting and nurturing startups.

Thursday night I moderated a panel at The Charlotte Chamber on social media. On that panel were Duke Power social media specialist Lisa Hoffmann, Chris Harrington of Luquire George Andrews, Jim Deitzel of Rubbermaid and Roy Morejon of B2We.

The takeaway from that panel? Many companies, large and small, for profit and nonprofit, and many self-employed professionals, need help and guidance on social media.

I'd like to help on both fronts.

Moderating panels is much like interviewing people, which I did for years as a columnist at The Charlotte Observer. But now I'm not interviewing to hit a deadline, I'm interviewing to discover your needs and connect you with the next person that can help you in business. Some of this is how I'm built: I'm a born networker. Put me in a room with 100 people whom I don't know. No, I'm asking. Please put me in a room with 100 people I don't know. That's where I'm happiest. Then I can introduce those people to you.

Know Nathan Richie? You should. He's a broadcast pro and keenly insightful about social media. Jim Mitchem? An adman who breaks all the norms. Kara Schwab? One of Charlotte's funniest and most artful writers. Bruce and Jill Hensley? The longtime Charlotte PR pros are doing innovative things with their project Restaurant Week. Get to know them. Adding them to your circle is fun, productive and good business.

This is one of the biggest needs today in Charlotte, and in the world. In their new book, "Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives," Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler write:

"Social networks have value precisely because they can help us achieve what we could not achieve on our own."

They're not just talking about online social networking. Social networking means face-to-face, as well as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Online connecting means next to nothing if it doesn't draw us together. The two forms are best when they work like an accordion, pulling us together and keeping us connected as we pull apart. And Christakis and Fowler aren't just talking business, or that it's nice to know people socially. They found that your friends' friends' friends can help make you fat or thin, happy or unhappy, single or happily married.

I hope you'll connect with me here. Tell me what you're doing with whom in the Queen City, how I can help, and who you'd like to reach. I'll put you in this blog, and I hope I can put you in my iPhone contacts, too.

This is what makes me happy, it's a great way to do business, and it's what I believe on a fundamental level. Just remember what the Zen Buddhist said to the hot dog vendor:

"Make me one with everything."