My Virtual Blog

I’ve got a very techie (geeky?) background and it’s in my nature to always look for new and/or better or more efficient ways to do things. I have beta tested lots of applications in my time, which is why I’m often compelled to sign up in many places for tools that I find appealing.   I’m forever reading Twitter posts and Mashable, which has lead me to some great new social networking sites and some sites that leave me with this word leaving my lips –  “SERIOUSLY?”  I have recently come across a couple of good sites (IMHO) as well as one that appears to have great potential.  They do seem to be worth the time to investigate. 

 Tweetimonials – I don’t think this cool Twitter tool is really new, but I wonder if you know how cool it is when you add it to your website.  The way it works is that it takes your tweets that you’ve marked as favorites (and that would be the ones where your peeps have posted kind and complimentary things about you ) and puts them into a running list.  You add the widget to your website and it’s like a marquee that runs small testimonials for you!  What a great concept.  As an example, here are my Tweetimonials for @MVPSusi on the My Virtual Project Resources page.

 GizaPage – I’ve just recently signed up for this and you can view my GizaPage at http://susischuele.gizapage.com/.  If you take a look, you can see all of my profiles that I’ve opted to publish on GizaPage.  If you’re like me, that’s a lot of profiles!  But it’s extremely convenient to give others this one link to your entire social identity instead of 40.  You can keep yourself up to date through the “My Organizer” button, and your friends can stay up to date through one site.  Not to mention that you can promote this site through email and manage privacy.  The screenshot here shows a great dashboard that creates a tab with each update you do for easy reference.  I will probably use this in combination with Tweetdeck for Twitter because although they do provide the Twitter profile, I like all of the features with Tweetdeck.

 All Of Me – Although I’ve just briefly taken a look at this and am currently beta testing it,  it looks like it could be something pretty great.  It basically provides you with an automatic personal timeline of your life from any digital assets you have, such as pictures, videos, blogs, documents, or any internet page that you can view as a kind of moving graph.  You can also view timelines on friends and family as well as other featured timelines like Mashable and even TV Shows such as Desperate Housewives.  You can also run the timelines in a slideshow, although the images don’t always come out well.  It’s great for Twitter posts though.  All in all – Pretty cool.

 Of course there are hundreds of social networking tools available, and it’s really a personal choice.  However, these 3 did stand out for me.

I was talking to a business owner last week who said “I can’t afford to keep up with changing technology while the economy is in the state that it’s in. I just finished paying off a phone system and now it’s out of date. I need to replace it but just can’t justify the expense right now”.

If your technology is outdated, but still functional, you could concentrate on increasing revenues by using Social Media Marketing techniques to drive more business to your door. In today’s challenging economic times, entrepreneurs have to leverage the most cost effective tools available. More and more companies are turning to social media strategies. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and many other sites are FREE, so take advantage of them. Make a one-time investment in someone with the expertise needed to provide a well-designed, cohesive social media marketing campaign. It will help increase your brand recognition and grow your business. There are proven methods that really work. It takes commitment on the part of the business owner to make this type of campaign effective, but if you commit the time, you will succeed. When you increase your customer base, more revenue follows and the technology cost will take care of itself.

<a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/xuprgkbevu” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>

OK, I just had to write this.  Kind of a rant.  I just couldn’t help myself.  I have been seeing tweets about Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and David Letterman being on Twitter.  So, what’s the deal anyway?  How do you know if you are REALLY following a celebrity?  Do they really use Twitter?  And, if they do, why?  I can imagine that perhaps a celebrity might want to check out social networking for curiosity, but what are they seeking in the way of relationships?  Other celebrity friendships?  Nothing to do?  Time between takes?  Goods and services? Fans?

I’m actually following “David Letterman” (because I think he’s hilarious and because everybody says my brother looks like him) although I suspect that it’s not really him at all, but a “Twannabe” David Letterman. There seem to be some tweets that are perhaps the inspiration of his comedy writer.  But maybe it is him because shortly after I started following him, his updates became private.  Perhaps he was getting “twalked”.  

I think it would be pretty cool if you did have a celebrity following you – I mean, maybe they thought you really had something valuable to say and that’s the cool part.  I’d also follow a celebrity if I thought I could provide value for them, but chances are, they have everything they need.  Except perhaps, virtual assistance??

Really though – I have no interest in becoming a “twoupie” because, well honestly, at my age, I’m just done with that.  In my younger days, I worked at a few fine dining establishments that catered to the stars.  I embarrassed myself to the point of total shame in front of Kenny Loggins while he ate dinner with his wife and producer (so not my fault – I was dragged), waited on Cher and Kiss (when they were dating) in a famous disco on Rush Street in Chicago, and got to either meet or see many other famous people including Fred Astaire, my hero. And I loved it (maybe not the embarrassing thing) and it was fun, and it was cool to tell your friends, but it’s so over.

What bugs me is that these “Twackers” posing as “Twannabes” might do this for the wrong reasons and end up disappointing some that don’t see through it.  Just like hackers that put nasty things out there to see if they can bring down networks for the sheer sport of it.  And if you celebrities are really out there tweeting – COOL!  Join the networks!  Tell me about your day – I’d love to hear it!  And if you’re not, are you watching to see who might be representing you?  Don’t give the tabloids any more fodder.

So, Question 1:  Are these people that act like celebrities doing this for fun to see how many tweeple they can spoof into to following them because they think they are the real thing?  If so, does that mean they are “twacking” your Twitter stream? And…

Question 2:  Do you think there should be a way to verify identity on Twitter?  Or is that part of its appeal – the ability to remain anonymous?  I can see how an assistant might tweet and answer questions based on their knowledge of a person or a company, but I can’t see someone doing this for sport.

What do you think?

My Virtual Project is Certified in Social Media Marketing!

My Virtual Project is very proud to announce that they have recently become certified as Social Media Marketing Specialists!  I took a great course at VAClassroom with Craig Cannings, who is not only an excellent teacher, he’s a very generous and responsive one as well.  The class that I attended was informative and fun at the same time and I have made many friendships as a bonus!  If you are a Virtual Assistant considering adding Social Media to your repertoire of services, or a new Virtual Assistant who has not yet found their “niche”, I would highly recommend taking Craig’s class.  Here is what Craig has to say on Social Media and their class offering:

“At the end of 2008, I had an opportunity to read many blog posts from Internet experts making their predictions for 2009 and guess what was at the top of their list: Social Media Marketing. It is anticipated that Social Media will grow at unprecedented rates in 2009 and beyond as more and more businesses seek to leverage this powerful new marketing channel.

A further prediction is that Social Media Marketing Services will be in very high demand through 2009! Most businesses either lack the time or expertise to effectively carry out all the necessary Social Media Marketing Activities and will be seeking to delegate these tasks to skilled Social Media Marketing Specialists.

VAClassroom.com has recently released a high calibre 7 module training program based on the seven hottest Social Media Marketing Services requested by businesses today including:

- Social Media Strategy and Action Planning

- Social Networking Profile Set-up and Management

- Facebook Marketing

- Twitter Marketing

- Online Video Marketing

- Online Reputation Management

- Social Media Content Distribution

The Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program offers a self-directed training system for Virtual Assistants and Online Professional seeking to offer these in-demand services to their new and existing client base. The program features 8 modules, 30 videos, an interactive and supportive learning community, comprehensive resource guides, assignments and a Social Media Marketing Specialist Certification.

Access one of 75 seats in the January Program and don’t miss out on one of the most important training opportunities you will take this year.”

As it currently stands, VAClassroom offers the ONLY Social Media Marketing Training Program targeting Service Providers, Consultants and Virtual Assistants. 

The Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program will be open for registration on January 15th at 11am PST. There are only 75 seats available for January’s Program and, believe me, they fill up very fast!

If you are interested in this class, don’t waste another minute – Sign up today for what is sure to be 2009’s greatest business opportunity for VAs!

There is heated debate in the Social Networking circles about those who completely “outsource” social networking response maintenance to another person or company. Recently, comments such as “I just don’t have the time to do it myself” have been made by those doing the outsourcing. Also, comments like “They pay me to do it, so I do it” came from some in the industry who perform this service and believe this is an administrative task and a way to generate revenue.  Others strongly believe that this is a core ethics issue and misrepresents the intent of social networking.

There is no law against hiring someone to represent your social networking initiatives, so the playing field is wide open to do whatever you like in this situation.  However, remember that your social networking presence is all about YOU, who YOU are and what YOU think.  Nobody else in the world can represent your thoughts, opinions, and personality like YOU can, that is, unless they dictate every word to you beforehand. 

The result is that everyone looking at your online presence will not know the real you.  They may not even like your online personality, as it is represented.  To quote Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Black Book of Connections, “All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends.  All things being not quite so equal, people STILL want to do business with their friends”.

Can you afford to take that risk?  Personally, I think NOT.

What do you think?