Make Your #ContentMarketing de-Vine! @HootSuite @HootUp

Have you heard about Vine, Twitter's mobile app that lets you record 6-second looping videos to share with your friends and followers? Vine has been referred to as "Instagram on steroids" or "tweeting out loud." It's a quick way to document just about anything.

5 Actionable Quotes to Power Up Your 2013 Social Media and Content Marketing Plans

It's 2013. Do you know where your online marketing plan is?

Check out the following quotes from five marketing books about social media and content marketing. You might discover the perfect inspiration to rethink your marketing plans and expand your influence.

Is Twitter Left Twiddling Its Thumbs?

All the buzz about Google buying Jaiku has users wondering if Yahoo will grab Twitter. The big players have tapped into social media, especially the kind that has a "Flavor of the Month" sensibility like 140-character IMs. Is anyone really surprised at how the microblogging world is playing out?

Twitterisms - Random Observations

I guarantee you'll get sick of this topic long before I do. Yep, I'm blogging about Twitter again. Don't worry. I'm sure I'll get it out of my system eventually.

I caught myself on Twittervision recently. It's like walking by a row of TV sets at Sears. Sure, you're trying not to notice a camera is pointed at you, but you can't help yourself. Gee, is that broccoli in my teeth?




The Twitter spam has started already.

You knew it would, so stop pretending it wasn't going to happen.

Hey, Twitter head honchos. Now would be a good time to put some user-optional filters in place. Or not.


I've noticed lots of people using facial parts for their Twitter profile images...like Yours Truly. Ever wonder what happens in the public timeline when two face parts appear together?

So much for originality on my part. Funny, I never thought of myself as a "lowest common denominator" type of person, but I guess we all have our moments. Ironic how part of the other screen name matches my real surname.


And speaking of moments, the following Tweets -- found courtesy of Twittersearch -- fit in the category of "Too much information."

I draw the line at Twittering while on the toilet. Not gonna happen. Nope.

48 Hours in Twitterland

Twitter allows employees to live a day in someone else's cubicle, so to speak, and share learnings less obtrusively.

I am addicted to Twitter. Twitter is a "service that allows you to post short little posts under 140 characters," according to an Ask.com-retrieved definition from blog.zemote.com. This week, I've been using Twitter frequently, just to experience for myself if there exists any real business apps potential here. You see, I just joined a new project team and I decided I needed some high-tech, fast on-boarding. Twitter is a great way that co-workers can shadow each other and learn. I asked co-workers to sign up and Twitter about their day, so I could get a feel for their hour-to-hour activities. Meg accommodated me and signed up immediately. She Twittered about meetings and conversations and I soon realized that people-to-people interactions take up a good portion of her day.

As for me, I Twittered tweeted about a combination of one-sided MeetingPlace calls and Web slide presentations, amidst intermittent tasks like customer care by email, software training, and little unrelated observations. I tend to be more "heads-down," burrowing into the guts of the work like a tech-loner. I'd make a lousy manager that way.

Sometimes conference calls are the background noise I need while I dual and triple process. I rarely pick up a phone to chat with a colleague, because email is just an extension of my whirling fingers. Maybe that's not so great, especially since I work remotely much of the time, and my over-dependence on technology makes me a corporate wallflower -- invisible too often. If my co-workers in other cities were on Twitter, perhaps I wouldn't feel so isolated.

Two co-workers in the same company or group can have and act upon different concepts of work day effectiveness. After comparing our Twitter posts (Meg and mine) for the past 48 hours, I felt like my day was fragmented. It made me think about better ways to organize my tasks around bigger chunks of productivity and, of course, people. So, in a way, being on Twitter caused me to up my game, mainly because I was broadcasting to the world. Now if every person behaved that way...

As a side note, while reviewing emerging presidential candidates, I found myself gravitating toward certain candidates for technological reasons. Now I'm wondering if I can separate the medium from the message. I noticed that Barack Obama and John Edwards both have MySpace.com & Twitter pages. No, I don't think having a "cool" Web presence is necessarily a requirement of U.S. leadership. They're just tools (she tells herself), not qualifications for vote-getting or indications of competence. But I'm getting sidetracked again.

Anyway, back to the business hook for Twitter. Twitter allows employees to live a day in someone else's cubicle, so to speak, and share learnings less obtrusively. For WAH workers or those in another city, Twitter can also help convey ideas and atmosphere in real time -- something most distance workers wouldn't normally experience in such an informal manner.

So...if you've questioned whether or not Twitter has any real use, I can answer that. There are real time implications for corporations interested in adding more social media tools to their internal communications mix. It's giving me a better perspective on how I can best work on this new team, too.

Here's a list of business applications for Twitter:
· Attracting event sponsors - whether planned or spontaneous
· Media outlet news feed
· Event channel - i.e. film festival mini-reviews, sports play-by-play and so on
· Informational and real-time updates for users - system outages, server issues, product releases, and product updates
· Radio station play list - with updates on what track is now playing
· Team updates for a geographically diverse workforce
· Marketing or PR ticker directed at journalists or analysts
· Feedback channel for customer care purposes
· Blow-by-blow notations of usability studies for PD teams
· SEO strategy tool for enhancing an online community presence

Can you think of more? Comment on this blog post and/or add a link to Twitter Fan Wiki on Business Uses.

~ Kim

TurboTax Gets a Bad Rap

First, let me disclose that I work for Intuit. You can decide for yourself whether or not my comments are unbiased.

This American Idolesque contest by TurboTax is the single, most hilarious thing I've seen come out of marketing since I started working here. It's so bad, it's got virality written all over it. How I wish I'd thought of it!

The middle-aged mama rapping in her kitchen made me laugh so hard, I almost fell out of my chair. TurboTax has a channel on YouTube for submissions, so if you want to shill for TurboTax, write and enter an original music video, and compete for the $25,000 grand prize (rap legend pretender Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle picks the winner), get out your digital video camera and start rapping. The contest ends March 30.

~ Kim

P.S. You get free TurboTax software, just for uploading an eligible rap video so you've got nothing to lose but your dignity. Give it a shot! (Yeah, I'd do it, but I'm not eligible. Darn!)

Millions of Sites and Nothing to Read

Question: How does one get read today, or even noticed, when there is so much content available? Tons of sites and blogs have launched, hoping to bring fame and fortune to the Web-entrepreneur or would-be pundit. Most of these are worthless; each new digital page is yet another fly in the soup of useless Web drivel.

I guess my Dad was lucky in his day. Dad's writing was most often peer-reviewed. Nothing got past the gatekeepers without a good "going over." Too bad the same can't be said of today's bloggers. Sadly, I'm no exception. On the Web, no one holds my hand and saves me from myself. Hardly anything but sweat equity prevents me from writing too much, saying the wrong thing, or saying it badly. I suspect I'm not alone.

A blogger is like an amateur photographer who takes hundreds of pictures each month with a cheap digital camera. No, he doesn't plan to print these photos out. Most of the shots are blurry and poorly-composed snippets of time anyway. But that won't stop him. He enjoys the daily click and whirrrrrrr, knowing he didn't spend a few days and dollars waiting to develop the results. It's the freedom that attracts him, not the promise of a great framed print.

The next time you search through Google or Technorati for something wonderful to read, keep that in mind. There are thousands of free articles and millions of blog entries. Most of them are not worth the digital paper they're posted on. They're just there, because it's the act of composing that attracts most bloggers, and not the paycheck.

In spite of our love for writing, there will always be poor composition. It's a long, hard road -- mastering style, focusing thought and gaining a loyal readership. I write because I love to share my opinion and knowledge, and I'm content to leave it at that.

Of course, if your writing is terrible, or worse, nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to sell goods and services, you'll fail, and fail miserably. Whether it's writing to build recognition as an authority or writing to fill a creative void, empty advice with the hope of selling something is worse than not writing at all. The real challenge is making your blog stand on its own, with actionable content...if you can do that, you've got something. It's likely the reader won't mind seeing a short tagline with a link to your other Web presence, if you give them something to think about.

Having said all that, I'll admit that I write because I truly enjoy the act of thinking and typing simultaneously. No, your approval or admiration is not required...and I'm not trying to be dismissive or arrogant here. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm just being transparent about what I expect out of this blog.

Yes, I'll keep writing long after you've left my site, never to return. If you happen to like something I've written, post a comment. I'll revel in it and feel like someone out there is appreciative. If you don't like it, well, check out Technorati. I'm sure you'll find a blog or two more to your liking and probably less self-serving.

Your Reputation Precedes You...Forever and Ever

Social computing is a pretty hot topic lately.

"There's been a lot of interest recently in the social aspects of Web 2.0 experiences because of their tendency to alter the communities that use them. A lot of folks call these pull-based interaction systems, which value reputation and trust above all other things..." ~ The shift to Social Computing by ZDNet's Dion Hinchcliffe

I'm excited about the future of social computing, while at the same time, somewhat apprehensive. I like to imagine "What if..." just to see where it takes me. Bare with me while I dream about a possible future.

Here's the deal. I didn't really dwell on the negative side of social computing until a colleague suggested to me that individual users should all have Internet reputation scores. These could be logged in a central repository, accessible by all users, sites and ISPs. He was so blindingly excited about this Orwellian concept of identity and wanted to start driving its adoption, that I almost threw up.

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

A portable identity and reputation standard is a wonderful idea...for eCommerce, as in consumers and businesses engaged or to be engaged in a transaction. As a buyer of goods on eBay, I want to know if customers have had good experiences with sellers. As a seller of goods, I want to know if customers are prompt payers and willing to resolve any issues in a reasonable manner, if needed.

But apply a universal rating to private individuals in all their online social endeavors? Come on. Wow. Nothing like institutionalized bigotry...oh, wait. I forgot about some fly-by-night religious groups.

It's not like we don't have enough social caste systems in place already. My daughter doesn't wear Prada or drive a Hummer to school, so she isn't hanging out with the kids who do. Not that it matters. And I'm not the CEO of a big corporation or a brilliant engineer being courted by Microsoft, so you won't find me playing tennis with Bill Gates. Not that it matters. My significant other is not a political pundit or powerhouse, so the White House won't be calling him anytime soon to prep him on Iraq. And again, not that it matters.

It's reality. We all get it. We are human and we make choices. And sometimes, we make mistakes.

On the Internet, we each have a wonderful opportunity to discover new friends, learn new things, and perhaps evolve into a smarter and different person, regardless of our current status in the physical world or any past foibles. An Internet-wide user reputation system would change all that forever, severely and unnecessarily limiting our online freedoms.

Users who frequent user-generated communities, enjoy gaining favor on selected sites for the quality of their posts. What if you never had a chance to erase, hide or transform your online identity, even after you'd become a better online person?

I reminded my colleague that there are too many nutjobs online who spend all day plotting revenge on some poor newbie who mistakenly typed IN ALL CAPS in a favorite forum. And for some reason, self-appointed Net police seem to run in packs. Over the years, I've seen users gang up on someone for one indiscretion, just because it was good sport. A user judged by one community as a scoundrel could be a hero in another...but he might not get the chance, should new technology be misused to assign a "Human Value Score."

I can only begin to imagine what injustice will be served by an overreliance on a technical standard not meant for cataloging human beings. Why we continue to substitute technology for good old neighborliness is beyond me. Ubiquitous online ratings would have the potential to stalk users for the rest of their natural lives...can't we just give individuals the benefit of the doubt?

Much of the Internet's value comes from an ability to gather info and participate anonymously, devoid of superficial barriers like universal personality systems attached to one's ankle like an boat anchor. With many aspects of SciFi a bold reality today...intrusive direct marketing, identity theft, and domestic spying...I don't want to live my live in a fishbowl. There's a reason I'm not rushing to become a contestant on a reality TV show, with insensitive strangers deciding whether or not I can stay or go. And I value my privacy. I don't want everyone to know everything about me, especially if I had a bad hair day and posted in haste.

So, while I whole-heartedly support the development of social computing standards, merchant ratings and earned reputations, let's make one thing clear...portable ratings are best used for consumer protection and business development, not for Scarlet Letters.

Wiki See, Wiki Do

I've been dabbling in the Wikidom a lot and someone just asked me my top tips for Wiki administration. So I'll take a shot at it. These thoughts are coming out in no particular order. Here goes...

1. Log into your Wiki every weekday and add value, even if it's just a new category to make things easier to find. You can spend 15 minutes every day or you can spend 5 hours on one long frustrating day trying to clean up the messes left behind by various users -- the choice is yours.
2. Frequently browse the "Recent Changes" page to make sure some knucklehead hasn't done something awful or stupid. If so, fix or revert the page then move on. Don't dwell on it. The contributing user will get the picture soon enough. If anonymous, lame edits become a pattern, see the next tip.
3. Minimize the acts of wise-ass egotists, inexperienced Wiki doodlers, and drive-by spammers by forcing a log-in before allowing someone to edit. Talk to your Wiki Sysop to enable this.
4. Don't sweat the small stuff. You can go crazy editing other people's prose for teensy-weensy grammatical errors, when it adds nothing to your Wiki's value. Unless your Wiki is some Doctoral Dissertation on Grammar and Punctuation and you have a very dedicated and highly skilled user base, give it a rest. Focus on more important matters, like good overall content, ease of navigation, and attracting credible contributors.
5. Spend lots of time on mastering the Wiki basics yourself before you start judging others' contributions. The only way to lead by example is to lead by example.

More thoughts later as I have the time...