Influence Metrics: What Can Klout Do For You? An Interview with Megan Berry of Klout

August 25, 2010 By Jeremiah Staes 1 Comment

Our semi-regular podcast called “Conversate” is glad to have a special guest this week, Megan Berry (@meganberry) from Klout (@klout). In this 16-minute episode, we get into what are some of the benefits of Klout and also challenges – as well as way to use Klout and ways that maybe you shouldn’t.

Not to mention, we ask why with some apps like Hootsuite why those scores aren’t in sync with the Klout scores on the Klout main site. Also, there’s a short bit on what she happened to get out of #140conf (140 characters conference) San Francisco and what we might be able to expect in Detroit.

Inside, you’ll also find a case study of how Virgin America used measuring influence to make solid decisions on reaching targeted influencers that are right for your vertical.

If you don’t know what Klout is, it’s a San Francisco based company who has a tool to help businesses and organizations find influencers and measure their influence online across 25 variables broken into three categories; True Reach, Amplification Score and Network Score. Over 450 partners such as CoTweet and Hootsuite utilize their data.

So we proudly present the newest episode of Conversate. Download here or listen in the player below:

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Filed Under: Business, Conversate, Social Media Tagged With: #140conf, Conversate, Hootsuite, influence metrics, Klout, measuring influence, megan berry

Five Things The Funk Brothers Teach Us About Community

August 22, 2010 By Jeremiah Staes 1 Comment

The other week, I revisited “Standing the Shadows of Motown,” and although I’ve seen the movie a few times (including a memorable show in Campus Martius Park), this time it had a different kind of impact.

So if you’ve got the ability to play it, here’s a song to go with the post from the soundtrack…

The realization was that no matter who front-lined, the music was as timeless. As someone who generally eschews covers, I must admit I was surprised by this. But that’s because it didn’t feel like a cover.

And then I realized – with the numerous members – the Funk Brothers aren’t just a band – but a small community that made some of the best music in American history together. Don’t forget, there were, depending on your standard, between 13 and over 70 funk brothers.

What are the lessons your community (online or off – it’s the same in my book) can take away from the Funk Brothers?

1. When a community is solid, it doesn’t matter who’s lead singer. And, in fact, the best lead singer is but a servant for the community. It’s not – and can’t be – all about them. The songs of Motown prove that. In the movie, Joan Osborne, Bootsy Collins, Ben Harper, Chaka Khan took the place of some legends like Martha Reeves and Marvin Gaye – it didn’t matter that it wasn’t the original singers. It felt real, because it was.

2. You stick by each other. You call when someone’s dropped off – just because someone is not giving you three useful social media links a day doesn’t mean they’re not important or you shouldn’t talk to them. Real friends do that.

Maybe pick up the phone – it might be just what they need. If someone suddenly drops out, there’s probably something actually wrong. Communities send love, networking groups gossip.

Frankly, if the number of links someone shares or retweets they do of your stuff is your judgement of community, you’re operating in a networking mode, not as a community member.

3. People mess up. People have problems. Because, newsflash, they’re people. And when they do, you love them. Make amends. Make apologies all around. Ten years from now it won’t matter, and if it still does to you, you’re petty, and I don’t want to know you in ten years.

I’m sure almost all of us have an internal list of things from the past to right – and I’m gonna do my best in the next few months to make that happen. We all make mistakes and I’ve made my share.

4. Communities are much stronger than just networking. The Funk Brothers are here after decades not just because they’re good – lots of good bands break up. There’s love there. It’s obvious in the movie that love; the love for each other and what they do. That’s the difference. If you’re judging who you talk to by the type of car they drive, you’re missing the boat.

5. Don’t overlook any instrument or any community member. Think Jack Ashford, “the fabulous tambourine man” – it was obvious he kept the stories and at times helped keep the group together. Not to mention, can you imagine the sound without that tambourine? Just like the Motown sound is marked by the solid bass, it’s top sounds are just as important. Don’t let your tambourine men and women fall silent.

What are your community inspirations? Your tips? Leave’em in the comments.

Filed Under: Business, Social Media, Tips Tagged With: community, funk brothers, motown, networking, Social Media

Facebook Pulls A Tonya Harding On Third Party Update Services

August 11, 2010 By Jeremiah Staes Leave a Comment

Facebook has decided to Tonya Harding third party update services, like Hootsuite, as I found in my news feed today.

Not that they’ve decided to end their career, but they’ve made them way less useful. Now, if you use a third party service, like Hootsuite, to update your personal or fan page profile, what it now does is stack those updates together (much like they have for Foursquare, where now you’ll see one check-in in your feed and have to click it to see the rest of your friend’s check-ins).

There’s implications around this for you if you’re representing a brand, organization, or someone trying to get your message out. First, there’s a good chance depending on the whims of Facebook’s algorithm, your updates are going to be hidden if you use third party services. For instance, this morning, I found three updates from other people and pages completely unrelated to the friend whose update I clicked on, and the common theme was they’re all from Hootsuite (there was even a “See more updates from Hootsuite” link).

This isn’t a knock to Hootsuite per se – this is Facebook obviously choking third party interfaces in the name of “cleaning up the experience.” We can complain all we want, but the reality is, Facebook is going to do what they want and we simply have to adapt as ambassadors of the message. And that means back to the days of not being able to schedule updates, or having a central dashboard to put things into. Obviously, for a litany of logical business reasons, Facebook wants us to use their site directly.

Welcome the walled garden, folks. It’s the reality of the online world now but that doesn’t mean I have to like it :)

Filed Under: Business, Social Media, Tips, Uncategorized Tagged With: brands, facebook, fan pages, hiding third party updates, Hootsuite, organizations

The Value Of The Personal Invitation

August 6, 2010 By Jeremiah Staes Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Gary Bridgman, southsideartgallery.com

This isn’t yet another rant about spam blasts on Facebook. No, I understand why sometimes it’s necessary, and well, the promoter friends I have I half expect it. I deal.

I get all sorts of “like my page” requests, event requests, but here’s the thing. Some of them are obvious – like, I know so and so works somewhere, so sure, I’m gonna like the the page and no explanation is really necessary.

However, most times, there’s not one bit of personalization. Almost no one, especially no one who has anything to do with marketing for a job title, sends me even a shred of “hey, you should look at this, I know you’re into -insert passion here-.”

It’s not just my network, I know this. I talk with my non-marketing friends, and they seriously lament this, and in fact, have used quite a few choice words for people who don’t take the time to be considerate.

Most folks obviously can’t be bothered on Facebook, where supposedly we’re “friends” to take a minute to even include my name or even a perfunctory pleasantry. Why should I go? When I make recommendations to friends, “in real life,” I generally try to tell them why. If Facebook and these tools are an extension of that real life, why shouldn’t it be the same? And if I hear something about “scaling the interaction,” your answer obviously doesn’t get the point I’m going at.

We’re supposed to building communities where people “care” and we’re “in it together.” If you can’t even be bothered to dash off a seventy characters (the equivalent of half a tweet) why it’s important to particularly me at least once in awhile, you’re simply using social networks as yet another broadcast channel and I have to call into question your “community” intent. Or is it really, as Dan Blank says, “developing a market” for you? If it is, we’re going backward, not forward, with these tools to help build groups. And the idea that this is a “social” interaction is a bunch of BS if that’s the case.

Maybe I’m old school. But my grandma taught me over a manual typewriter (why I type so hard and loud to this day) that direct notes, personalization, and actually including something that shows you know the person go a long way because it’s not just about the party, event, or whatever. It’s about the community. We’ve got Facebook today instead of the social register, and we don’t have to type doubly hard to make an impression on the carbon copy paper, but that doesn’t mean we always have to “send to all” the same message. You might be surprised the results to take a moment and actually dash something off.

Filed Under: Business, Rant, Social Media

Put Links in Press Releases Or Your Story Goes In The Trash

July 17, 2010 By Jeremiah Staes 2 Comments

I’m finding a consistent issue. Public relations folks sending press releases or pitches to bloggers, digital news organizations, or others, that don’t even include links. Out of 100 items I see, 80+ will not have links. And this is by PR firms that frankly, should know better.

Most times, people want to help you. But I can guarantee your pitch, dear PR person, will be thrown in the trash or ignored unless you include links to relevant material. I have watched in multiple situations over the past few months otherwise good stories get chucked because it’s just too much work.

With so many things coming at once, the first revision of cuts goes to all the people who have made the story difficult to put together. And social media coverage? Provide no links and you can completely forget about it. That works in real time.

Do you have an event? Have a place where you have all the information online, and even better, a place to sign up.  A product reveal? Bloggers need to be able to easily get pictures of the thing.

No Excuses

The good news is that there is ZERO reasonable excuse to not do this. There’s free and cheap services – even some that integrate with email services like Constant Contact (disclosure – a PDM partner) that offer automatic archiving if you sent your press release via email. A press release isn’t the preferred link (a link in context to your site or blog is better) but it’s a start.

Let’s think about this logically. How is someone supposed to tweet, Facebook, etc. without a link to somewhere? They’re going to have to create all the content themselves. And that realistically just doesn’t happen very often. You’re making a for a much higher bar to get coverage or noticed.

Not to mention, even when writing their own material, journalists and bloggers want links to refer to. The links give their post credibility online, and obviously, some traffic to your site (not to mention, the easier you make the job, the better you’ll do).

So get more coverage for your clients – and look better yourself.  Put links in your communications.

I may add some suggestions, but I’d love to hear yours on ways folks can reinforce their press releases and communications with links, knowing that at times they might not even have access to their company website for changes (a real challenge in many more businesses than you may think).

Filed Under: Business, Rant, Social Media, Social Media Fundamentals, Tips, blogging Tagged With: Bloggers, links, links in press releases, pitches, PR, press releases, Tips
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