She said,

I think this helps us to remember that social networks are a constantly evolving process. It’s not just a case of setting up a profile once and hoping it will manage itself.

You change the people you want to converse with, start using it in different ways and want to get more out of them, the more you use them. We’re so constrained for time now and need to optimise our consumption of content.

This is such a great point about the long term view of social networks.  Everybody that uses social networks uses them in the way they want and need.  Those wants and needs are going to change over time as things in their lives change.

In the Beginning

When I first logged onto Facebook in college, it was used to connect with classmates and find a great party on the weekend.  Now, I use it to stay connected with my family and closest friends and to promote my blogs on my fan pages.  If I hadn’t kept a tidy profile, it would have been harder and more time consuming to move to this new way of using Facebook.

The same can be said for Twitter.  Originally, I used Twitter to find some new links about social media and marketing.  Now, I send out my blog updates and use it as a networking tool.  If I had gotten too caught up in mass followings or other Twitter strategies, it would have taken much longer to change my ways.

Change is Hard

You can still switch directions and change how you use your tools no matter how clean or messy your social house is.  I just think it is easier to see when it is time to make those transitions, because there is less change that needs to take place when you have a clean social house.

Change is hard, and I can get set in my ways.  Anything to help me stay flexible is something I value in an industry that is constantly changing.  How clean do you keep your social house, and how have your social strategies changed over time?

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This image is starting to pop up all over the web as more and more people are getting on board in supporting Conan.  It’s a fantastic example of how an idea can spread quickly through the use of social media.

To show your support, you can throw up a blog post or go join the I’m with COCO Facebook Fan Page.  That leaves me with just one question.

Who’s with COCO?

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I thought this was such a great quote that I’m turning it into a blog post.  So what did I actually sacrifice for social media?

Some Things Don’t Change

First, let me tell you what I didn’t sacrifice.  I didn’t sacrifice time with my wife and family.  The time with the people that are most important to me stays no matter what.  I’ve needed to set a schedule in order to keep this promise.

I also don’t sacrifice some of my down time.  Everyone needs a little time to unplug and zone out.  Staring at a computer at my job all day and then staring at one when I get home at night can get a little rough.  I’ve made sure to take the time to get away from the ringing iPhones and emails that need answering.

The Sacrifices

Now, it’s time to discuss what has changed.  I’ve limited my paintball playing to once or twice a year.  That’s down from once or twice a month.  It’s an expensive and time consuming hobby.  I did make a trip this past summer to a big event, but that has been the only time I’ve played in the last year.

I’ve also reduced my time playing video games.  I used to play most of the hit games and some of the not so great games.  Now, I have to really pick and choose which games to play.

I mentioned previously about making sure you have downtime.  I really believe in this, but I will say that blogging has impacted my downtime as well.  I would be lying if I said I kept the same amount of downtime.  It’s still there, but it is less than it was before.

Where I Stand

This may not seem like the most positive article so far, but I will tell you that all the sacrifices I have made have been worth it.  The hobbies I’ve had before have just turned into this new hobby of blogging and social media.  I really enjoy the challenge and am always excited to work on my blog when I get the chance.

If you are considering starting a blog or getting more into social media, I really recommend it, but just keep in mind the sacrifices that will have to be made to get truly involved in the space.

What things have you given up or changed in order to devote more time to blogging or social media?  Are you like me and think it’s worth it?

Image by Brainware3000

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Zappos

This is a fear, because returning things to an online retailer can be a big hassle.  I was in for a big surprise.

First, the return policy was great.  I had 365 days to return them.  This is great for someone as lazy as myself that likes to procrastinate.  They also left easy instructions in the box about how to print off a return label.  Suddenly, I was way less worried about sending something back.

The trouble wasn’t over yet.  When I finally went to print off the return label, my order wasn’t showing up in my account.  Here was the trouble I expected.  I was preparing myself for the dreaded answering service tree and the 2 hours I would spend on hold to get this figured out.  Right before I was about to call, I decided to change things up a bit.  I wanted to try out Zappos’ instant chat customer service feature to see if their customer service really lives up to the hype.

I was very skeptical to say the least, but after I clicked the button to get in line, I only had to wait a minute or so until I got someone to talk with me.  They quickly diagnosed the problem and emailed me a return shipping label.  They did all of this and were still extremely nice to me.  This isn’t the customer service experience I’m used to.

After my interaction with the customer service rep, I went and posted how happy I was with this experience on Twitter.  Within just a few minutes, I got a response from Zappos saying they were glad I had a good experience.  It feels great to just be listened to.  The customer service rep listened, and one of their Twitter users listened.  This shouldn’t be an amazing experience.  It should be a common occurrence, but it isn’t.

These little things have motivated me to write a post about my experience.  Now, the legend of great customer experience with Zappos will continue to move forward, and I am happy to help it move that direction.  How have brands interacted with you in the digital space?  What did they do right or wrong?  Let me know in the comments.

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The cleaning was needed badly, because I kept adding recommended friends, friends of friends and local friends.  I thought I was only adding people that could add value to my network, but there comes a time when you no longer have the time to see the value they add.  Their thoughts and links just got lost in the rest of the stream of data that is constantly hitting me in the face.

How did this happen?

Fast Expansion

I see recommendations everyday from friends and influencers about new people to follow.  It is great to follow all of these recommendations, but I quickly got overwhelmed and never got to meet or introduce myself to the new people I was becoming friends with.  That’s not a good thing.

It’s called social networking.  Not introducing myself or joining the conversation with new friends meant that I wasn’t doing a very good job on the networking side of things.

Cleaning Up

In order to clean up, I did a few things.  First, I made lists on the social networks that allowed for it.  The process of making the lists helped me go through all of my friends and see which ones I really know.  If I didn’t know them, I just unfriend them.  The unfriending part of list making is almost as good as making the lists themselves.

Lists give me the power to filter my friends’ updates into nice buckets, so I can easily switch from list to list and keep up with only the stuff that is most important to me.

Future Prevention

Going forward, I am making a better effort to not recklessly expand my network on any social site.  I need to be more strategic on certain sites than others, but as a rule of thumb, anyone that I add I want to interact with them in the first week.  If I don’t, they will get axed.

That’s my new rule, but you can make your own as long as it keeps you organized.

Conclusion

It takes time to clean up your profiles, and I know that we all don’t have much of it.  However, it is really worthwhile to go through your networks from time to time and just clean them up, or I guess you could just manage them better from the start.  Either way, keeping your network manageable lets you build better and stronger connections with the people you friend online.

Image by juhansonin

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The content is good, but that isn’t what makes the blog great in my mind.  Let’s hear a little story about how acknowledging and thanking readers can convert a casual browser into a blog evangelist.

While browsing a few articles, I decided to comment on an article to show a little support and invest in the community of a fellow Problogger forum member.  I thought it was meaningless and would just work like every other comment I’ve ever made.  I might get a response on the blog, I might not.  No biggie.

To my surprise, I opened my email inbox the next day and found a personal email from the owner of the blog.  Needless to say, I was amazed, shocked, dumbfounded.  This acknowledgement was amazing.  I felt like I was part of something.  It was a great feeling, and the following email is all it took.

Hey Kyle Judkins ,

I was browsing through my blog today and I happened to noticed you commented on the blog. So I decided to send you a quick email saying thanks for taking the time to comment on the blog and keep the community alive!I look forward to reading more of your comments. If you have any questions, feedback, or comments feel free to comment some more on the blog or hit the “reply” button and email me back!If you haven’t already, would you mind taking the time to subscribe to the blog? This way you can stay instantly updated with new articles.

You can subscribe by going to www.robswebtips.com and entering your name and email under the “subscribe now” section and hitting “enter” a simple 30 seconds of your time makes a big difference!

Or you can subscribe by RSS: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/robswebtipsThanks for joining the conversation! Hope to hear more from you soon.

All is good,

Bilal Rammuny

He thanked me for my comment which was great, but the best part is how he gave me actionable options to get more out of his blog.  He offered to answer any questions I might have and told me how to subscribe to his blog.  He laid everything out in front of me, and it felt great.  I wanted to subscribe, and I wanted to tell people about it!

Have you been acknowledged by a blogger or company in this way before?  How did it make you feel?

Image by kevindooley

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I like to share my favorite links around the Internet to promote other bloggers in my niche.  This method of linking helps get you noticed and passes on some great information to your readers or followers.

The best part about getting noticed by sharing a link is that many bloggers will find a way to link back to you in the future.  It’s almost common courtesy among certain bloggers.  I know that I like to acknowledge a link to my blog with at least a comment if not another link.  In addition to links or comments, I might also connect with them on Twitter or other social networks if I really like what their blog is about.

I have gotten more out of sharing links than I ever imagined.  I’ve made great connections with other bloggers and added extra value to my readers.

At the end of the day, there are so many positives to sharing links.  I can’t see why you wouldn’t do it.  Go spread the love!

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The real reason those people follow you is that they are looking for those golden nuggets of information that you share every so often.  These great pieces of information are buried among all the other noise in your stream.  This is the reason people follow your lifestream.  Sometimes sifting through the excess is worth it just to find a great article or application.

I recently wrote a post about Louis Gray being my filter, and I do follow lots of his activity online and really respect how much he helps me stay up to date on all things tech and social media.  However, I don’t read every little thing he does.  I mostly follow him through his Google Reader shares or filter down his Friendfeed lifestream.  I have found this to be the most efficient way to keep up with what Louis is looking at around the Internet.

Exceptions

Steve Rubel changed his blog to a lifestream not too long ago, and he appears to have found some success with it.  Why would he succeed if no one cares about his lifestream?  Well, like every rule, there are exceptions.  Steve has built up a great enough following from his previous blog and keeps his lifestream focused on certain topics.  This allows him to add value by not making his readers search through a lot of extra information.  So really, his lifestream comes pre-filtered, so is it really a lifestream then?

How many other people could do what Steve did and find success?  Very few is the answer.  Most people don’t care about what you have to say, as a whole.  They will probably only like a few links or facts here and there.

Focusing on Lifestreaming?

My final advice is that if you are thinking about making lifestreaming a focus, don’t do it unless you have a devoted following.  Twitter is as close to true lifestreaming as you need to get.  Keep your blog going strong and build your audience.

What do you think about lifestreaming?  Do you agree or do you think I have understated its importance?  Let me know in the comments.

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Some days I don’t have time to look at all my RSS feeds or everyone’s messages on Twitter, but I do make time to check out what Louis Gray thought was important.  He is one of my trusted sources.  He is an influencer.  Whatever you want to call him, I really appreciate what he does.

Online Influence

One story I like to tell is about how everyone has a handyman in their neighborhood that they ask for advice on what tools to buy.  He has a shop and makes all kinds of stuff.  He built his own fence and reroofs his house.  You know he is going to give you good advice about the tools you are looking to buy, and you listen to what he has to say.

I like this story, because the Internet is finally getting to that point.  I can find people like Louis Gray to tell me about new products or services, and I trust their opinion and want to know what they have to say about new trends around the net.

Louis Gray isn’t the only person I have found that provides me great content all the time, but he is one of the best at it (in my opinion).  Depending on what type of information you are looking for, you will find different people who influence that area.  This means you might have to dig a little to find the influencer in your area of interest.

How To Get Influencers’ Updates

There are many ways to get updates from your favorite influencer.  A lot of times it depends on what services they use.  FriendFeed is the best place to start (although it may not be soon), because anyone worth following their updates should be on there.

The other great thing about going to FriendFeed is that links to all their other profiles are there.  You could follow their Twitter, Google Reader shared items, FriendFeed links or whatever you see fit.  I recommend the services I just mentioned as the best place to start, but different people are active on different services, so be open to other networks as well.

Conclusion

Finding a great influencer like Louis Gray can make you much more efficient.  I always feel up to date by checking his updates.  Influencers are great at keeping you up to date on any topic you like.  All you have to do is find the right person in that space.

Who do you follow?  Who is important to you?  Who influences you on a regular basis?

Image by gadl

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The Social phone is ringing, is anyone picking up?

Where can I get the new James Bond DVD?
Hey, I have a problem with my iPod.
I heard Macaroni Grill has a great new dish, should we go there?
Will avocado affect my blood pressure?

Where’s the closest CVS?

Every Google search is a hand being raised.  So is a blog post, Facebook or Twitter with a complaint or question.  How are brands and retailers recognizing this fundamental shift in consumer expectations?

I think of the old adage “if a tree falls in the woods…”, the problem is, people are hearing the tree fall and if no one is responding (or even aware), the effects on the brand can be detrimental at best. These kinds of comments are visible, relevant and actionable and brands of all kinds need to have a plan to engage.

Try this, search your favorite brand (or your brand) on Twitter (several easy and free tools including Twitter Search, Twitalyzer or socialmention make this easy). See anything interesting? Now try the name of your favorite retailer, what do you see? Some good, some bad and some that need immediate attention.

Here’s a recent Twitter comment about a large grocery chain, Totofigo90: Cashier at Vons got pist because I asked her “Why isn’t Vons just called Safeway, they’re the same?” she answers “Because it’s Vons”.  I wonder if that person got a response or an inquiry? In a 12 hour period, there were 6-8 comments among the 20-30 about Safeway that like this, deserve some sort of response.

What great brand engagement opportunities to build a relationship and grow loyalty. We know from multiple studies that an unhappy consumer will influence 5-10 others on average but what about a consumer who had a problem fixed? Many times that person becomes an amazing brand advocate.

Google and many free and paid tools make these conversations easy to identify and potentially to help.  Search any restaurant or retailer on Google maps and you’ll receive local level ratings and reviews.  How should your brand be engaging with its advocates and detractors?  After all, there are many tools that make hand raisers of all types easily reachable.

To help them, companies should radically transform their customer service departments from passive to pro-active extensions of their marketing departments. Brand’s 866 numbers and help@mybrand.com email address are not enough, consumers expect them to be listening to their conversations when and where they are happening.

Google search of Raleigh area Walmart stores with consumer ratings and reviews.

Not only can companies help hand raisers but so can other customers, suppliers and even non-customers.  This collective many helping the many provides a richer more valuable context as well. Some companies are already far along with this endeavor. Zappos, Dell, Comcast and Crocs are great examples of brands that are answering the social phone call by empowering their associates to monitor, engage and react to customer interaction.

Six Steps to Better Engagement

1. Listen & Learn – Simply being aware of what is going on is the best first step. Set up a monitoring plan that extends across multiple functional areas (Marketing/PR, Operations, Legal and Customer Service). Have the team discuss potential ways to respond/react to various issues.
2. Build a listening platform – Start with Google reader and a few free tools and build a daily listening regimen. Multiple input streams will allow you to monitor quickly and efficiently and even send you alerts.
3. Look for trends – Large scale deficiencies with products and services can usually be identified rather quickly. Identify larger issues and develop a plan to address.
4. Connect With Some Advocates (and detractors) – There are some natural advocates for your brand talking about you right now. They are most likely highly aware of issues and opportunities and can be invaluable at alerting you to problems and ideas. Your brand advocates will probably enjoy being part of the process as well and develop a sense of brand ownership.
5. Empower self-help – Ratings and reviews and question and answer are great tools for customers to help themselves and each other. Turbo-tax does a great job of enabling its customers to help each other and even rate the advice being given leveraging the wisdom of crowds.
6. Put a face on your help stream – Richard at Dell is widely known across the social-sphere as someone who can help you with your CS issues making Dell much more approachable and authentic. Have a face (or better yet many faces) for your help.

With some relatively simple tweaks, marketing and customer service departments can be aligned to answer the call and even extend brand engagement by involving groups of brand passionate customers.  The social phone is ringing, pick it up!

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