Some exciting news for those of you who like tracking and stats (who doesn’t?): Twitter is launching their official Tweet button this week — possibly by tomorrow. The button, meant for keeping track of retweets and sharing articles from websites, is slated to be the most efficient and comprehensive tool of its kind (so far Tweetmeme has reigned supreme).

Not the technical type? Don’t worry — the Tweet button will be a single line of code that you’ll be able to easily add to any website (or CMS, or blog post). It’ll be available in three options: 110×20, 55×20, 55×63 — and have various customization settings.

Here’s an idea of how it’ll work:

Posted under Social Media

As a social media specialist, I’ve emphasised the importance of using the platform for online reputation management and customer engagement to clients for years, but have never before been on the other end. Until last week.

To make a long, frustrating story short, I had dealt with some pretty awful customer service from two separate Comcast reps, where I felt I was being upsold to a more expensive package, and the package that was available online suddenly was not available. After what seemed like an afternoon wasted on dealing with the issue, I cancelled my order and did what any Internet-obsessed person would do these days: I Tweeted.

Though I did technically direct the Tweet to the cable company, I didn’t really think anyone would pay attention, let alone respond. It is really just more of a habit of including someone’s Twitter name, if it’s available. But, lo and behold, TWO minutes later, a Comcast staffer Tweeted me back.

TWO MINUTES! I wouldn’t have been able to reach an actual human on the phone had I called the 800 number trying to reach someone high up enough to complain to. And that hold music is not something anyone should have to listen to for longer than one minute. ComcastBonnie and I went back and forth a few times (it’s tough to explain everything when you only get 140 characters at a crack), and it ended with her giving me an e-mail address to explain the situation further, to try to get things resolved.

I e-mailed, as instructed, and couldn’t believe someone e-mailed back right away to say they’d look into the situation further. I assumed that was the end of it, that despite ComcastBonnie’s quick response and genuine concern, my case would be lost. However, I was called this morning (that’s right — someone called ME) and I can now say the issue is totally resolved and I will not be canceling my Internet (smart considering I sort of need it, you know, for work, for fun, for life …) and will be able to watch True Blood (aka @TrueBloodHBO) by next Sunday. Thank you, ComcastBonnie. Thank you, Twitter for making actual people who can make actual things happen accessible.

Let this be a lesson for all, no matter which side you’re on. Social media is becoming increasingly instrumental in reaching customers and companies. It’s easy to reach out and provide great customer service, thus maintaining a good online reputation. Don’t sit back and let people Tweet about being unhappy when you can make a difference.

Posted under Social Media

Twitter announced some major — and much needed — upgrades last night on their engineering blog. While the microblog is not promising the end of the dreaded “fail whale” just yet (much of their plan involves more long-term improvements) we can only hope this effort gets us a step closer to avoiding any more major outages, such as the one that occurred earlier this week when many users were unable to login, update or sign up for an account.

According to their blog, “Keeping pace with record growth in Twitter’s user base and activity presents some unique and complex engineering challenges. We frequently compare the tasks of scaling, maintaining, and tweaking Twitter to building a rocket in mid-flight.”

The company has more than 50 upgrades and optimizations planned to help do such mid-flight rocket building, including:

• Doubling the capacity of our internal network;
• Improving the monitoring of our internal network;
• Rebalancing the traffic on our internal network to redistribute the load;
• Doubling the throughput to the database that stores tweets;
• Making a number of improvements to the way we use memcache, improving the speed of Twitter while reducing internal network traffic; and,
• Improving page caching of the front and profile pages, reducing page load time by 80 percent for some of our most popular pages.

If that sounds too technical, just cross your fingers and hope to kiss that whale goodbye … someday!

Posted under Social Media

Why yes it was an add. Did you notice?

Yep, I got paid to have this ad run in my Twitter feed one time.

A company called Ad.ly approached me about signing up to have these ads run in my feed. After reading an article in Time Magazine about “Sponsored Tweets” about what Ted Murphy at Izea was doing, I thought why not?

Am I sell out? Am I going against everything that Twitter is about? Will you stop following people who do it? I  am very curious what you guys think about it. I have already been approached to do it again.

Here is the Ad:

Oh and it seems celebrities are doing it as well. Here look:

Now you might have noticed the (ad) at the end of the tweet. That is so people, who pay attention notice that it is an ad, not my tweet. Though I wonder how many people notice.

These are the celebs that have signed up to be part of it with Ad.ly:

Is this the sign of things to come?

Oh and Steve Coulson, remember about 2 years ago for an April Fools Joke, you pranked everyone with a company that would pay for tweets? It has become a reality….

Posted under Blog

Someone somewhere once said, “Don’t forget about the little guy.” I guess I could Google the answer, but I am to lazy to bother. It just sounded like a good opening line for this post.

Yesterday, a friend of mine who owns a local main street business here in lovely San Carlos, California. I was preaching, evangelizing , chatting about the benefits of Social Media and how it can help brands gain awareness. He quickly looked at me and said “What about the regular folks? You know the guys like me without a big budget?”  After the shock of having him finally engage me in a conversation about what I do wore off, I told him I would write a blog post with my answer. (Hey anything to get traffic.. right?” So here you go Ed. This one is for you. I would like to share with you my thoughts, in list form, cause people like lists. Here are 5 ways a local business can use social media to gain awareness.

-Have a website and a blog. Simple right? One mistake I see is that companies create the website but not the blog. You need to have a blog. It allows your clients to get more insight into what you do, your background, your history and more. If you make sure to tag your articles, use keywords, etc this will help people stumble across you on google.

-Get on Twitter. Yep, here comes Twitter again, its power can not be denied. You need to get on there and start “Tweeting” posting information, insight, background..(wait it is just like a blog! Yes it is, it is called micro-blogging!) Here is the key for success, make sure to comment back to others and engage in conversation. Shhh, this will be our secret.

-Get a Facebook page. Like you did not see this one coming right? You need to have a fanpage. Are you going to get 100,000 fans? No. Do you need a 100,000 fans? No. Will having conversations with some local people and having local people join help with awareness of you in your community? You bet. The key here is when people comment on your fanpage and you comment back, their friends will see it. It is worth its weight in gold.

-You are the expert.  So what I like to tell people is setup you are website like your the expert. So if you are my friend Ed, you are Ed The Real Estate agent. You are Ed, the most knowledgeable Real Estate Agent in San Carlos. Make sure to blog about Real Estate in our area. Your a local guy, talking about homes in New York is not going to make you money. Talking about Homes here in San Carlos, will make you  money. When that family who needs an agent thinks ” We need a bigger home, Who is that online guy from Facebook?” they think of you. You get the idea, right

-Link Love. Make sure to link to other local businesses on your website. They will return the favor. Plus it helps with your Google Page Rank

-Find ways to use online tools in a different way. Try things out. Maybe take orders via Twitter.  Offer to send pictures of products via email.  Give out coupon codes on Facebook. The possibilities are endless. I am talking about taking chances and thinking outside the box.

Bonus tip: Go to Meetups, Tweetups, mixtures or whatever they are called these days. They are all over the place and local. Get out there.

So what are some of the tips I forgot? There must be a ton.

Posted under Blog

So I have noticed a change in the request for interviews and speaking engagements over the past few months. I am getting a lot of requests for tips/tricks on using social networking to find a job. Now, with the economy is I totally can see why people are turning to this medium.  In the past 2 weeks  I have been interviewed for:

-How Facebook Can Help Job Seekers Find Employment

-Tweet, Tweet: How to Incorporate Twitter Into Your Job Search

Asked to on using Social Networking  & Linkedin to find a job at:

-International Association of Administrative Professionals

-NeCon East

So I thought it would be a good idea to share some tips and tricks that you can use to help find a job. I think I should do it in list form, as people like lists!

Using Twitter

-Post to your Twitter profile, I am looking for a job! So simple, I know some people do not event think to do that.

-Use Twitter Search to find a job based on keywords. Example: CSR Wanted, Denver got me this:

The key here is to play around with the search terms to narrow it down better to what you are looking for.

Also in regards to Twitter Search, use it to find people in your field of work and add them! You need to Network and build your community.

-Follow accounts like: @jobangels, @freelancejobs @manpower

-Use Twitterjobsearch.com

Using Linkedin
-Complete your profile, amazing how many people do not do that.

-Use SEO. Put in keywords your profile, play around with it to increase your visibility.  It is a good idea to find just the right words to describe what you do.  You will know you are on the right track when you see this box:

So lets say you are in website development, use keywords like HTML, MySQl, etc. These are words people may use to find someone with your skills.

The more times you come up in search, well..the better!!

-Save business cards. When your meeting people, chatting folks up, make sure to get their business cards. Then go back to your linkedin profile and add them.  Yes, simple.

-Put a picture up. This goes for both Twitter and Linkedin, it ads something when you can see what a person looks like.

-The Answers Section!! The most underused, yet powerful tool on the site! It is where the magic happens. This is where people in your field post questions they need help with. They are reaching out for “An Expert”. That expert is you! Get on it, respond, refer, engage, chat it up, etc. This is where networking happens. Questions in my area look like this:

Hope some of these tips help. What are some tools /tricks you use to find a job?

Posted under Tips & Tricks

I have noticed a trend lately in the social media space. Well there are several trends right now in the space.

Jennifer Van Grove of Mashable pointed out the top 5 for Twitter. Such things as:

-Real Time Search Engines

-Verified Accounts

-Sponsored Tweets

-Well you can just read Jennifer’s great post…

One trend I see picking up is what I am going to call “Social Media For Good”. Now before you say, “Dave using Social Media to do good things has been around for every.” True, but with all these different social networking sites and instant communication tools, things are changing.

Let me share with you a few different sort of ways people are using these tools to do good things. By good I don’t mean “helping me get 16,000 friends in 90 days on Twitter”.  Nor will I ask you to join a Facebook Cause. I will share this with you in list form. People like lists:

Drew, who I have known for several years was diagnosed with cancer in May and.. , instead of me explaining I will post what he wrote on the page:

“Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with cancer.  Ever since that day, Drew has blamed everything on his cancer. Losing his keys, misplacing his wallet, Twitter being slow, the Phillies losing, etc. Why? Because you have to beat up on Cancer to win… and you can help out. Blame Drew’s Cancer for anything you want by tweeting with the hashtag #BlameDrewsCancer and it’ll come here. We’ll keep a tally and when Drew beats Cancer, our sponsors will donate a dollar for every participant to the American Cancer Society and the Make a Wish Foundation.”

Sophie Azouaou is “the interior designer who gives back” as well as the 7X7′s Community Impact contributor where she gives tips on giving back that “put your mind and your wallet at east”. She is what Change Starts At Home calls a “Change Maker”.  Currently she is working on “Touching Hearts” a TV show that will look at philanthropy and The Real Stories for NBC Bay Area. They have just started a donation campaign  to help their show get off the ground and make a difference. It will air right after Monday Night Football in the fall. If you want to get involved or donate, which gets you a credit on the show, contact Sophie direct or go the the Touching Hearts site. Her goal is to use all aspects of Social Media to get the show off the ground!

The Twestival. In February 2009 about 200+ cities around the world held these events. All with one cause, to help let people know about Charity:Water. When all was said and done they raised about $250,000. The key here is that thanks to Twitter it from a local event, to a global event. Come on, that’s pretty cool…

In January of this year David Armano asked people to help a woman and her children who wanted to get out of a domestic abuse situation. He simply reached out and asked people to donate. No big party. No big event. Just do what you can. Well that request raised almost $17,000 for Daniella’s Apartment Fund!

So there you are people using the Internet, social networking and sites for good. To do good things.

I like it!

Posted under Uncategorized

First, about 2 hours ago Facebook announced they will be giving vanity urls starting his Friday June 12, 2009 at 9:01 am. This is a great thing for branding, marketing and companies. This got me thinking. There are several features I would like to see on some social networking sites. So let us step into……

In a world where I get what I want. In an imaginary place where companies listen to their customers/users.. there is one man who hopes that the: CEO, President, Community Manager, Guy Who Makes Sure Everyone Is Happy Manager listens.. ME! So listen up Facebook, Twitter and  all you others.

This is a list of things I want. Okay maybe it is more of a, wouldn’t be nice if? Kind of thing. I will share it with you in list form as people like lists!

- Facebook I want a little button at the bottom of a persons profile where I can click “Add them to a friend list?” You click it, a drop down menu lets you pick the friend list they are added to. Its easy, quick and will make my life easier. (cause its all about me!)

-How about a mouse over feature that says “Did you know?” or “Other ways to do this!” Look if you reading this post, more than likely you are pretty familiar with the “Online World, Social Media, etc (insert hot buzz term here). Great, but we are the minority here. Most people do not know you can send pictures to Facebook via email or text. Nor do they know they can update their status the same way. After they do an upload, update, etc. give them a “Hey non power user did you know?” Heck all the parents at my kids school would thank you!

-Hey Twitter. I’m talking to you. I want a friend list option on your site. It needs to work like the facebook one I listed above. Get on that.. please and thank you.

-oh, how about the option to post hyperlinks with text? That way I have a better idea what they are about!

-Since I got on the subject of the whole mouse over thing. Sure would be nice..no make that GREAT if I could put my mouse over a persons pic and see their important stats. Oh, Oh, Oh… I know let’s do that with the whole “@joeblow” thing too. I want to mouse over that and see stats in the text box.

-Linkedin, here is what I want. Now follow me on this. Every now and then I will use the “check your email” feature. I email a lot.  What happens I will do a lot of group emails with people. Some I do no know that well.  So it would be great if you could find a way to display the emails to pick from by “email a lot all the way down to emailed once”. Then I can pick if I should add them. Also, find lets have a filter/fuzzy logic on emails with words like “support, craigslist, etc” I dont want to add Support@huggies.com”

So what features would you like to see on some of these sites?

Posted under Blog

So the following comments are my own personal thoughts regarding the 140 The Twitter Conference. They are impartial   and not biased. You may think they could be biased due to the following things, which I will share in list form, as people like lists:

-I was on the “Best Practices: How to be a Twitter God(dess) panel with Tara Hunt and Ijustine.

-LSF Interactive was a Media Sponsor

-There was a press release

-There was a fancy bio about me.

-I well…use Twitter a little..just a little really!

-I got to stand on stage! Here is what it looked like from my point of view:

Okay, so disclaimer is out of the way, now back to the review of the conference.

So instead of me typing up a review about what happened who did what, etc, etc. I thought I would try something different. Ill let the links do the talking…

-Live blogging from #140tc Alex Payne (head of Twitter’s API team)

-The Twitterverse, a map of Twitter tools

-Live blog of the @anamitra keynote at #140tc

-Tara Hunts ” 40 Reasons Why Twitter Rawks”

-Heck here are some more presentation slides

-What I learned at the 140 Twitter Conference

-Pictures..we have pictures

-Mercury News Article

-140tc Search Results

So there you go, seems to have been a pretty cool event. Fingers crossed it happens again next year

If you have any links that I missed, which no doubt I did. Please share them!

P.S. Not sure who to give photo credit to at top. Let me know if it is your photo!

Read More…

Posted under Blog, Social Media, Speaking Engagements

Here a Twitter. There a Twitter. Everywhere a Twitter. It is like you can not avoid the the tweets posted by those who tweeters. . I mean some may have tweetaholism and become tweetaholics.  Im not going to be tweepish about this, nor should you when you the tweeple who twead this.  Twitter is not for the the tweepish nor a place for tweerboxes. So let me tweet-back to my point.

Well I think you get might point, Twitter is everywhere and being used by everyone. Let me give you a rundown of observations I have made just in the last 24 hours. I will do it in list form, cause people like lists.

-I watched a Desperate Housewives episode on Hulu and Tom Scavo could not get a job cause he did not know what Twitter was.

-There was a post by Domino’s Pizza asking how they can get their brand name on Twitter as someone else has both Domino’s and Dominospizza i.e squatters.

-There is @nakedpizza who uses Twitter to bring in 15% of its daily business according to an Adage article titled “Twitter Proves Its Worth as a Killer App for Local Businesses”

-Rumors are that Google will now index Twitter

-There was even a NCAA Recruiting Violation on Twitter!

-Starbucks is going to start marketing on Twitter

-Oh and Patrick Swayze is not dead, no matter what tweeps on Twitter say

So my point. Twitter is big. Its getting bigger everyday.  Then there is this post from today: Social Media Fails To Manifest As Marketing Medium, Report Likens Twitter To TiVo: More Hype Than Reality Ill give you the take away from the article which is:

“Social media has reached critical mass, with 83% of the Internet population now using it – and more than half doing so on a regular basis – according to new research being released today by Knowledge Networks. But for all the media industry’s hype and buzz surrounding social networks, microblogs, and other social networking platforms, the genre has failed to become much of a marketing medium, and in the opinion of the Knowledge Networks’ analysts, likely never will”

I’m not buying it. Not because its what I do to feed my family. Nor am I in denial because on May 26th I will be speaking on a panel at the 140 |Twitter Conference in Mountain View with @ijustine and @missrogue. (like how I did a plug right there? Use discount code: int140tc)

Nor am I saying this because I have the Peninsula Twitter and Facebook Meet-up for June 2009, that I have put together happening at the Four Season in Silicon Valley. (what another plug?)

Look people are watching less tv. If they are they have DVR’s to go past the commercials. There are mp3 players, satiellte radio and sites like Ilike.com that are replacing radio. Newspapers are dying when you can get your news online.

Look, maybe something better will come down the pipe that will blow social media out of the water. Sure, but it is not going away anytime soon.

Okay let me put my soapbox away.

Thoughts?

Posted under Peninsula Twitter and Facebook Meet-Up, Shameless Plugs, Social Media