Month: July 2009 (Page 2 of 2)

@: At reply. A public tweet directed at a fellow Twitterer, such as @Barack Obama, that shows up in their Twitter stream.

DM: Direct Message. A private message that appears in a Twitter inbox. You can only direct message people who follow you.

RT: Retweet. A tweet that you like so much that you are resending to your followers. Usually includes credit to original tweeter, such as RT @BarackObama, followed by the tweet.

Whale Icon: The iconic blue whale that pops up when Twitter is down. It appeared frequently in Twitter’s first year and a half.

#: Hashtag. Used to designate a topic such as #SanDiegoFire so that people can easily search for tweets on a topic. (It is totally unnecessary, though, because a search on a keyword without the # returns the same results).

Nudge: A feature that lets you send a note to a Twitterer encouraging them to tweet more frequently. You can only nudge people who are tweeting from a mobile phone.

Virtual World: Immersive social experience
Facebook / Myspace: Social Networking
LinkedIn: Career-focused networking
Viral: Leveraging pre-existing social networks in self-replicating process
Serious Game: New way of education and enablement
Widget: Mini-web app
Wiki: Users freely create and edit web site content
Blog: Web-based discussion tool
Twitter: Micro-blogging web and mobile-based
Yammer: Corporate micro-blogging, segmented by enterprise domain name
RSS: Web-feed format used to publish frequently updated content
Podcast: Series of digital media files distributed over the internet for playback on portable devices
Videocast: Online delivery of video clips
Survey Monkey: Online Survey & Polling platform
SEO: Search engine optimization – maximizing exposure on search engines

While on Maui, we also went to see the sunrise at the Mt. Haleakala ! You get up super early — yes, 2AM — and drive up a very curvy road to see a breathtaking sunrise over a crator. But a sunrise? Haven’t you seen a sunrise? (Take a peek!!)

The beauty of this sunrise was amazing to me. As I talked to my tour guide, he was busy snapping pictures. I asked him why? Doesn’t he see this same view everyday? He said something impactful .. while he does see it everyday, it was that consistency of beauty (Haleakala’s brand!) that attracted him and made this tour what it was today! One of the most popular in Hawaii!

So while we tend to think that consistency is boring, his view was it was that consistency that made him intrigued. As I watched this glorious event, I thought again about my passion of Social Media. All of us have a multitude of tools, but the consistency of our brand in each is appreciated and celebrated. In a way, the consistency makes us unique.

For example, is your picture — part of your brand — consistent in Twitter, your Blog, your Blogher profile, your LinkedIn account. What’s the value of that consistency? Well, your brand is repeated. That consistent repetition makes your brand known — in this case, for your first impression! As I walk into a room to keynote, people know me from that repeated pciture!

What elements should be consistent?

As you look at your social media strategy, note your common “branding” elements. Things like taglines, pictures, resumes, should be consistent so that you are instantly branded.

What do you think? Anyone disagree?

Kīlauea is the youngest and southeastern most volcano on the Big Island of Hawai`i. Since 1952 there have been 34 eruptions, and since January 1983 eruptive activity has been continuous along the east rift zone. Many believe that Kīlauea ranks among the world’s most active volcanoes.

Because of its activity, it happens to be the most visited, and most photographed volcano in the world! I went to the park to see the volcano and was hit by the hot steam, and smelled the sulfur (in fact it got shut down for a while I was there due to the dangerous levels that day). Since we were on a cruise, we saw at night the flowing lave into the sea! Pretty cool!

How does this relate to social media? Well, Kilauea is so super cool because it is active. The same is true with blogging, twittering etc. As I was on vacation and offline, my readership declined, my interest waned and fewer people read what I had written because it was old.

Activity breeds interest and sharing — like I did with the volcano picture. You feel compelled to share that which is cool, interesting and relevant. To be cool, interesting and relevant you really need to be contributing on an active basis.

The more activity, the better. But be aware. It is not just meaningless contribution, but contribution that is cool and matters!

I will also be taking more of my advice and ensuring that I contribute here more!!! Many thanks!

I was just in Hawaii and will feature a series on the relationship of those sidetrips to Social Media! Too much vacation? Tell me what you think!

While in Paradise, I went to visit the 7 Sacred Pools in Hawaii’s Maui Island! These “7” pools are beautiful — and there are more than 7 for sure! They are freshwater but touch the sea! The Seven Sacred Pools are near the burial site of Charles Lindbergh, as well as over Jim Nabors’s macadamia nut farm!!

The assorted pools vary in elevation and size and are most pronounced when rainfalls are heavy. In 1967, He Chas agreed to donate a 58-acre tract to the Valley of the Seven Sacred Pools ‘Park. Then in 1987, in a bid to attract tourists, a few local businessmen apparently concocted a “legend’ that there were seven pools leading to the ocean, and that they were considered sacred. While there are debates, my tour guide said that there is no evidence of any religious affiliation. To get to the end of the road and the hotel the business men built, you have to go through 617 twists and turns on the 53-mile road to the village!

While I am not going to debate whether these pools are sacred or not, the 7 Sacred Pool story is an interesting one. And yes I did go!!!!

A story can make a huge difference. My favorite quote is
“Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” It changed a little town that was too hard to get to, into a major Maui tourist attraction.

In Social media marketing, we tend to think it is the tool — Twitter, Blogs, Facebook — is the key. Not the story when in reality it is the story you are telling, that will make all the difference in the world. Is it compelling? It is relevant and enduring? Those are questions all need to ask before they JUST jump into the tool!

What do you think?

I was just in Costa Rica – a beautiful country – to meet with GBM — our key partner there and several customers. Also I attended the OMG meeting.

While there Richard Soley had a guest speaker at the event — the President of Costa Rica. He is an amazing man with a Nobel Prize and vision for his country around skills and technology.

I was amazed at several companies — including Credomatic — who are lplanning to be the leaders in Social Media for the region. Watch this space for more energy around Social Media!