Webinar and Conference Call, Wednesday, July 29, 5:00- 6:00pm PST – with Ian Griffin and Jim Carrillo begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Make sense of Social Networking with practical tips you can implement today. Tech wizard Jim Carrillo and I will present a roadmap to the most useful Social Networking tools: Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and podcasting.

Jim is a fellow member of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association. He’s a self-proclaimed “Geek Whisperer” who has a knack for being able to relate technical obscurities in everyday language. His mission is to make technology meaningful to real people. Jim will cover the technical details and I’ll cover the content creation side of Social Media.

By attending this webinar you’ll learn how an integrated approach between all the Social Media tools can help grow your brand and your business. Don’t be intimidated. Learn practical strategies that maximize business results. This one-hour overview will explain the basics of Social Networking and clearly show you what you can do to get started.

Plan to attend the class and you’ll:

• Understand differences between a Blog, a Website and a Social Network Profile.
• Set up and refine your own LinkedIn and Facebook Profile.
• Prevent yourself from making the same mistake 90% of others always make.
• Learn what to post, and what to keep private.
• We guarantee you’ll be online, or we won’t sleep till you are!

Register today for only $29.99.

Patrick Schwerdtfeger: The Tactical Execution Guy

Here’s edited highlights from a presentation to the SING Networking Group, Danville CA, June 29, 2009.

In this presentation to an audience of 50 job seekers Patrick discusses:

• How to rise to the top of the rankings when someone Google’s your name
• How to develop your unique Value Proposition
• The importance of recording a Video Resume
• Why you should post videos of yourself to YouTube
• Ways to tune-up your LinkedIn profile
• How to demonstrate your expertize by writing online articles
• The importance of niche marketing
• The value of being a published author

Patrick is the author of Webify Your Business, Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed as well as Make Yourself Useful, Marketing in the 21st Century

He is a professional speaker and corporate trainer focusing on the Social Media Revolution and how companies can leverage platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to build their businesses.

SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate

Postman tells it like it is when it comes to the bind in which social media has placed many corporate communications managers. He addresses the challenge that “Inside companies, people are clearly confused about social media” (p. 160)

This book goes a long way to dispel any confusion. It’s chock-full of checklists, questions to consider, case studies and options to review. The guidance he gives is grounded in what is clearly first-hand experience of the corporate world. For example, this advice on selecting who should represent a company on an officially sanctioned blog is right on the money:

“Choose your bloggers well, counsel them, monitor them, and if need be, shut down their blogs if they are not posting in a way that helps you meet your communications objectives. But try not to censor them ahead of time.” (p. 65)

If you work inside a corporation and need to encourage co-workers or the suits in management to consider the options presented by social media, this is the book to leave lying around the office to stimulate discussion.

From the politics to the technical details and the straightforward PR and communications counsel the book covers a lot of ground. It also manages to be a complete inventory of social media, circa January 2009.

One inevitable problem any book on a subject as fast-moving as this will face is a limited shelf-life. In a few years it might seem impossibly quaint. But for now, there’s no better guide to new territory. As Postman says on the last page “Start Now!”.

What are the liabilities governing blogs and other social media vehicles? Does the risk mean you should prohibit blogging by corporate officers?

With the rise of blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media, communications professionals have a wide range of options to connect with audiences. These extend beyond that of delivering a speech in an auditorium or sending an e-mail or press release to a distribution list.

Web 2.0 makes it easy to reach a worldwide audience, but the heady possibilities come with potential liabilities. Any errors in communication will be amplified. This is why many companies find the concept of social media pretty scary.

Allowing employees to blog, tweet or post Facebook updates is obviously more risky than not permitting anything outside the standard channels. Especially if those employees are C-Level executives or the CEO, where regulations exist which govern the disclosure of information by publicly traded companies.

When Web 2.0 rubs up against the staid world of investor relations, finance and legal departments there will inevitably be some friction. But rather than implement a blanket prohibition against any and all communication of corporate information, we need to be aware of the regulations and plan accordingly.

The surprising fact is, social media are often more congruent with regulations than not. Consider the Securities and Commission (SEC) and their Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD).

Reg FD — now a blog friendly regulation

Reg FD prohibits the selective disclosure of “material information” by senior executives. This means communications must be available to all interested parties (such as investors) and not limited to specific sub-groups (such as favored analysts). In August 2008, as a result of a dialog between Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, the SEC approved the use of Web sites and blogs as compliant with Reg FD.

This means that a company that maintains an up-to-date, freely accessible Web site which is a “recognized channel of distribution” can post updates on a blog without requiring safe harbor statements or other restrictions.

Blogs of publicly traded companies are probably more accessible to the general public than traditional channels of communication such as BusinessWire and PR Newswire. The new ruling could disintermediate them.

There is, however, a challenge for companies with inactive, out-of-date Web sites. It might be argued that posting important information to a moribund blog makes the disclosure ‘selective’. The moral is: blog frequently and make it easy for people to subscribe to your RSS feed.

Avoid anonymous postings

In the world of social media, commonsense rules still apply. It’s not wise to make hidden or anonymous attempts to influence the public perception of your company in any forum. The same considerations apply with online content. Michael Sebastian covered this topic on Ragan.com in December 2008. Attorney Bruce Johnson’s advice was to avoid false advertising or the use of fake identities or anonymous postings by executives.

Prepare for curbs in online advertising

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reviewing new guidelines for bloggers and social networking site users who advertise or engage in ‘viral marketing’ for a company’s products. The Financial Times reported on April 2 that giving free samples to bloggers and people who tweet favorably about your product might be curtailed:

If a blogger received a free sample of skin lotion and then incorrectly claimed the product cured eczema, the FTC could sue the company for making false or unsubstantiated statements. The blogger could be sued for making false representations.

It’s a small world

Since social media are available on the World Wide Web, you need to be aware of regulations outside the United States. European Union (EU) regulations apply to companies doing business in the EU. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive guards against false representation. EU privacy rules also impact the collection of personal information and email addresses on your website.

Always check with your attorney

This article does not constitute legal advice. I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. Your responsibility is to develop a sound social media policy which is then approved by your legal department. It’s beyond the scope of this article to review all aspects of such a policy. I recommend taking a look at chapter six of Joel Postman begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting’s new book SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporatewhich includes sample social media agreements and policies which can be adapted for use in your company.

With a little courage and a lot of common sense you should find the rewards of fully engaging with social media outweigh the risks.

(This article was originally published on ragan.com)

As I noted in February, word is that presenters now need to be aware that audiences might be using Twitter to discuss their speech while it is in progress.

There’s more on the implications from Mark Ivey who has a useful article on How Speakers Can Manage Twitter- and Live to Talk About it.

The goal, of course, is to channel the Twitter discussion into a force that works for your speech. For speakers (and communications managers) it’s time to reassess presentation styles and start planning to adjust.

Mark advises specific ways to mitigate the potential disruption Twitter can cause.

My good friend David Murray has done a brilliant job advertising his freelance writing services with a YouTube video that takes you all the way back to the golden days of the silent movie. See the thrills and spills as David saves a damsel in epistolary distress.

Brilliant job, David!

NSA/NC Meeting Report: Saturday February 28, 2009

Marketing expert and larger-than-life character Ford Saeks flew in from Wichita, Kansas to share his ideas on how to use Social Media to make money.

Ford is best known for positioning people and their products and services for profit through proven marketing and innovative publicity campaigns.

The sold-out crowd at the National Speakers Association Northern California Chapter meeting were treated to four hours of Ford’s high-intensity ideas on how to start making money on the internet and leverage Social Media Marketing to build influence, reputation and brand within communities of potential customers. Some core principles:

“What problem do I solve that people will pay to make go away?”
“The purpose of business is to generate a customer. The purpose of a customer is to generate a profit.”

‘Nuff said. Here’s some of what Ford shared.

Creating an online cash machine

Speaking and training + Digital and physical products + consulting and coaching = a fully-rounded revenue model. Web 2.0 places a dialog with customers and prospects at the center of business today. Sharing opinions, comments, and other content in the form of audio podcasts, video, links, bookmarks, articles and slides makes a site successful.

Research the top keywords for your niche and use them relentlessly to help the search engines find your site when a customer is looking for your solution to the pain they are feeling. Learn the all-important modifiers that people use to focus search results.

Know the answers to three core questions about your business:

• Why should someone pay attention to you – what is your message?
• Who are you trying to market to?
• How are you getting the word out – what is the method?

It’s a FEATURE if it’s about you, your products or services or your company. Ask “Which means…” and you get the BENEFIT that describes an emotional or intangible result the customer gets.

Social Media Marketing

• Helps you expand your internet footprint
• Makes it easier for prospects to find you
• Improves your search engine ranking
• Establishes you as an expert
• Improves communications and feedback
• Builds relationships and networks
• Drives a steady stream of prospects to your online business

There’s a gazillion (or so) Social Media sites listed at go2web20.net. Ford recommends you start by:

1. Building a blog with WordPress.org – hosted on your own website to optimize SEO
2. Establishing your Channel on YouTube – peppered with relevant keywords
3. Building a profile on Facebook and LinkedIn – with posts from your blog and YouTube videos
4. Experiment with Twitter. Start by reading Randy Gage’s recent assessment of the uses of abuses of Twitter.

If you’d like to see the slides he used, Ford has kindly made them available. What you won’t get from the slides, or this report, is any of his incredible energy and specific insight into the ways these tools can work for you today to make money on the Internet.

For that, you had to have been there.

And thinks he that the chirping of a wren,
By crying comfort from a hollow breast,
Can chase away the first-conceived sound?
– Henry VI, Part ii, Act 3, Scene 2

Speaking while people Tweet

Olivia Mitchell has a useful article on Pistachio’s Touchbase Blog about the growing phenomena of members of your audience using Twitter to comment on a presentation in real-time on laptops, Blackberries and iPhones.

She advises audience members on the best way to engage in the conversation. She also advises speakers on how to deal with this new ‘back-channel’ of information.

Presenting while people are twittering is challenging. But isn’t it better to get that feedback in real-time when you can do something to retrieve the situation – than wait till you read the evaluation sheets a few days after the conference – and find that you bombed?

The 92 comments (to date) highlight the many implications, including this from Morriss on the way Twittering instantly repurposes a speech beyond the confines of the room:

You left out a huge bonus to the presenter: key highlights of your presentation are being sent out to an audience much bigger than those in the room. If you have something truly insightful or newsworthy to say, your message may be retweeted far and wide.

Twitter is just one aspect of modern technology that is changing public speaking.

“Everything we do is around Social Networking.”
– John Chambers, CEO, Cisco

Building the Next Generation Company: Innovation, Talent, Excellence

MIT World Lecture, Oct 15, 2008

Cisco CEO John Chambers gets Social Networking.

MIT reports:

In the 1990s, he predicted that networks would transform the way the world works, becoming platforms for communications and other IT, and Chambers placed Cisco at the center of that transformation. Today, he envisions a Web 2.0 premised on collaboration and social networking that will similarly transfigure all business life. Since 2001, he’s been positioning Cisco to catch this massive market transition, and indeed, is “betting the company’s future on it.”

In “phase two of the Internet,” says Chambers, “Content will find me; I will not search for it.” Any device, anywhere, will be able to receive any kind of content. We will be dealing with licenses for things like music, rather than worrying about compatibility issues between our digital tools and what’s streaming through them. Web 2.0 will also bring “effective collaboration,” by which Chambers means network-enabled visual tools, which will make “working together for a common goal truly possible.” Expect much faster business processes and revved up productivity, says Chambers.

Based on Cisco’s own experience in the past several years, organizations will completely restructure around these new capabilities. Indeed, he offers up his company as a paradigm of this vision. Once a hierarchical, command and control-based organization, Cisco is now much flatter, a company running “off of social networking groups.” Councils with cross-functional responsibilities suggest and take on many more projects (from emerging markets, to video, and smart grid boards); from one to two major ventures per year, to this year’s 26 launches. The next generation company is “built around the visual.” Cisco employees do non-stop teleconferencing with collaborators around the world. The company hosts 2500 such virtual meetings per week. It also employs Webex, Wikis and blogging to move work along.

With this kind of communication and carefully managed process to match, “operations can be turned on a head,” says Chambers. It’s the recipe for market-dominating speed and scale. Chambers is “loading the pipeline” with projects that assume other companies will want what Cisco has and makes. “If we’re right, we’re developing a huge wave of revenue opportunity.” Perhaps this is one reason why he’s “an optimist on global productivity, global economy and our ability to handle the challenges.”

This video supports the December 2008 Fast Company profile painting Cisco as a Revolutionary San Jose company – a socialist enterprise at the level of a democratized style of decision making; probably less so with compensation packages or an iron rice bowl.

Highlights of the video are when Chambers describes upper- and mid-level management resistance to the new culture of collaboration (17:40) and reveals that 20% of upper management left because they could not let go of the command and control mindset they learned in B-School (43:00).

Chambers reveals how the company used to be run by the top 10 executives who reported to him. Now it is the top 500 who make the decisions, soon to be the top 2,500 (24:00).

His evaluation of the effect of the radical introduction of Social(ized) Networking is that after a period of initial resistance, a balance has been achieved between command and control and self-managed boards and councils using collaborative technology (54:23).

The question, as Fast Company asked, is if Cisco-style collaboration really works elsewhere? They used to ask that about web pages and email when Web 1.0 was taking off in Silicon Valley. Would it play in Peoria? I’m not betting against Web 2.0. It’ll just take a little longer to catch on.

See Chambers in action and decide if these innovations are right for you.

I gave a 20-minute presentation on podcasting at the BiztechDay event held Saturday October 25th in San Francisco. I recorded the class on podcasting as a podcast (duh!) using my trusty Olympus DS330 digital recorder and a lapel mic.

The presentation covers the basics of recording, editing and publishing podcasts.

Here’s the step-by-step guide to podcasting handout.

Here’s the slides on podcasting 101.

To hear what I said, click on the podcast icon below. (Since this is a 20 minute podcast, you might prefer to choose the Download option and save it for later.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:38 — 4.5MB)

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