A Social Media Therapist's Blog — a.k.a. social media consultant/blogging coach/social media workshops instructor

It’s All About The Three R’s

by Sue Rostvold on 2009/10/16

This month’s Austin Social Media Club featured a panel of nonprofit movers and shakers who answered questions from David Neff (another local nonprofit rock star) about how they utilize social media within their organizations. Although the topics vary from month to month, I noticed from the first club meeting I attended that social media for social good is always an underlying theme. Sure, people want to grow their businesses and grow their networks using social media, but using social media tools to facilitate a call to action, is what Austin Social Media Club does best. Whether you’re talking about @ConnieReece and The Frozen Pea Fund, or @MikeChapman and Mobile Loaves & Fishes, @MichelleGreer and the hugely successful Austin Charity Water Twestival or @daveiam and Lights. Camera.Help., it’s all about making a difference.

I mean, it’s really not all that surprising that my first Tweetup was a Bleedup! I gave blood for the first time in my life, summer of 2008, due to Michelle Greer and David Neff’s persistent tweeting. Their efforts helped the local blood bank double their supplies before the busy fourth of July weekend.

The cool thing about this month’s meeting is that RealNetworks, Inc. donated $1000 to the Austin Social Media Club. ASMC then forwarded the money to Mobile Loaves and Fishes to help them toward their goal of purchasing a mobile home for Peggy, a local disabled homeless woman. In return, the meeting began with a short conversation about video and Ooona Rokyta explained how their new product, RealPlayerSP, is a super easy way to play and share videos on your phone or computer. Thank you for your generosity RealPlayerSP! I hope more companies will follow their lead!

Last night’s panel included Amando Rayo, @elmundodemando, director of Hands On Central Texas, a program of United Way Capital Area.

John Turner, @southwestkey, Interim Director of Communications for Southwest Key Programs.

Courtney Clark, @CancerCourtney, Director of Marketing and Development at Planet Cancer.

Alan Graham, @MLFNow, President and CEO of Mobile Loaves & Fishes.

All of the panelists rely on grants and donations for their organizations to run smoothly and successfully. But the common theme of the night was that their number one priority was not to ask for money, but to engage and build relationships while providing quality content, resources and information. These people are passionate about their work and excited about sharing their cause, answering questions, and making new friends. And when their fans or followers DO decide to donate their time or their money, it’s because they feel involved and connected.

Mr. Mobile Loaves and Fishes said it best:

It’s all about the three R’s. Relationships, relationships, relationships. ~ Alan Graham

Austin Social Media Club is an equal opportunity, user generated, venue where you can network, learn, and be inspired. They have meetings every month and it’s open to anyone who is interested in learning more about social media. And just so you know, Social Media Club meetings take place all over the world. Check this wiki to find a club meeting near you, or you might want to start one yourself!

Technoratie code: RMK69H6Y6DUN

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Socialnomics – A Wake Up Call

by Sue Rostvold on 2009/09/03

It’s a people driven economy stupid” ~ Erik Qualman

You don’t have to join the Revolution, but it is happening, whether you acknowledge it or not.

Erik Qualman is the author of a new book called Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business. Erik is a pretty smart guy who graduated from my alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin, with an MBA just ten years ago. His compelling promotional video is a real eye opener.

Recently, Qualman spoke about Socialnomics at the Book Expo America convention, the largest book publishing event in North America. Here’s a video clip from his BEA 2009 presentation in May where he shares some interesting facts about Wiki’s and Facebook.

The fastest growing segment on Facebook is
55-65 year-old females

People find this statistic shocking, but I don’t. Most women are natural communicators and networkers, so it makes perfect sense. And you can be sure that these numbers are accurate coming from within Facebook. See the entire article from InsideFacebook.com for more facts and graphs about Facebook users.

The rest of the stats seen in the video, along with their sources, are in the book and can be seen here on the blog: Socialnomics.net. All statistics have inherent bias and are rarely exact, but they are often an excellent way to capture a trend or movement. Here’s one example; By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network. The source for this was from Grunwald Associates National Study and highlighted on Trendsspotting Blog. They did a national study and sampled 1,277 kids from age 9-17. The results stated that 96% of online teens/tweens report ever having used any type of social networking technology including IM/chat, text messaging and email. Reporting “96% of them“, instead of “96% of online Gen Y users” is a bit deceptive, although there is no denying that this trend is still very impressive.

I haven’t read the book yet, but I am really looking forward to it, despite the statistical wiggle room. I have read some awesome reviews and hear that it’s filled with valuable case studies and real world examples of how businesses are utilizing social media. Here’s a link to the Buzz About Socialnomics page.

Amazon link: Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business

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Survive, Thrive, And Get Optimized!

by Sue Rostvold on 2009/09/01

I met Deltina Hay at her book signing and talk on the Social Web at BookPeople this past July. I really enjoyed her presentation and how openly and honestly she spoke about her writing process for this intensive project.
NOTE: Video below shows some excerpts from Deltina’s presentation.

There is no shortage of social media books at my house, (ie My LibraryThing) so of course I had to get a copy of “A survival guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web” to add to my geek library. I’ve been reading it off and on for the past several weeks, and must say, I am both shocked and impressed at how much valuable information is contained within its almost 400 pages.

Most people are well aware of the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but many haven’t heard of and/or don’t understand SMO (Social Media Optimization). Deltina talks about the Social Web and explains why interacting, collaborating and sharing is vital to your social media online presence. The book is extremely detailed and perfect for anyone who is ready to take their social media understanding to the next level. It is an instructional textbook that even includes a companion cd with forms and resources to help you get both organized and optimized. Here is a downloadable pdf containing Chapter Seven complete with forms.

I have been actively studying social media tools and strategies since 2007, so most of the book’s content is not new to me. That said, I am quite sure I will use this book weekly, not only as a handy reference guide, but also at a consultant’s companion. Much of what I do is about empowering and educating others so they can understand and better utilize social media in their businesses. I work with all levels and much of my time is spent explaining concepts, tools, and strategies. I have already started recommending this book to my clients. For a sneak peek you can check out chapter seven in it’s entirety, as supplied by Dalton Publishing below.
Social Media Book Teaser

After listening to Deltina I’ve decided that she is a definitely a SMOP (social media optimized personality) and she is running two very successful SMOBs (social media optimized business) here in Austin, Texas; Social Media Power and Dalton Publishing. Hint: One of the best ways to learn about social media optimization is to study what other SMOBs and SMOPs are doing. Following Deltina on twitter is one place to start. @SocialMediaPWR

This book will not only help you survive, it will help you thrive in the Web 2.o world. If you are new to social media, this survival guide will undoubtedly save you time and anguish. And if you are an advanced Web 2.0 user, it will help you flesh out a solid strategy to harness your own social media power. And the added bonus is, when you are really busy and your friends keep asking you social media questions like “What’s an RSS feed?” etc…, you can just hand them the book and say, “Chapter 3!”

Now, please excuse me, I have to go tweet this, write a review on amazon.com, add this book to my LibraryThing and my reading list on Linkedin, and double check that my RSS feeds are successfully filtering this post to my facebook page and subscribers. Perhaps I’ll even add an image of this book cover with a link to this book review to my Social Media Therapist Flickr account! It’s all about being an authentic SMOP after all.
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Amazon link: A Survival Guide to Social Media And Web 2.0 Optimization by Deltina Hay

Publisher link: A Survival Guide to Social Media And Web 2.0 Optimization by Deltina Hay

If you want to support indie publishing and get a discounted price, click the Buy Now button below, or the publisher’s link above. Dalton Publishing offers an affiliate program discount so that everybody wins. More dollars go directly to the independent publisher, you save a few dollars, and I even make a buck or two! :) Of course it is your choice, get the book at your local book store, at Amazon.com, or buy it right here for $18.95 including shipping!

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Want Google To Find Your Site?

by Sue Rostvold on 2009/07/12

Found a fantastic little video that helped me better understand Google, SEO and Thesis.

Web designers can make some killer looking sites. And there is no shortage of free templates, that look awesome, to help you build your website. But what I didn’t understand until recently is that Google doesn’t like the cool code that makes up the cool design. Google likes clean and simple html. If you have some wild and crazy design code mixed in with the html code that makes up your content, ie your text, then Google has a hard time figuring out what your website is about. The Google robots get confused and give up. They may find and record some of your content, but they don’t do a thorough job. Then your ranking suffers. You don’t get found.

Solution? Watch the video below.

This video was made by Brian Clark of Copyblogger.

•   The Guardian named Copyblogger one of the world’s 50 most powerful blogs.
•   Advertising Age ranks Copyblogger as a top 5 blog about marketing.
•   Technorati says Copyblogger is one of the most popular blogs in the world, and a top 20 favorite among readers.
•   The editors of Performancing honored Copyblogger founder and editor Brian Clark by naming him the most influential blogger of 2007, and he came in at number 30 among the 50 most influential bloggers compiled by top blogger Leo Babauta.

Copyblogger uses Thesis.

No matter what you are using now, it’s never too late to get started with Thesis. (I can help if you like!) After all, Thesis is the most innovative and user-friendly SEO-Optimized Wordpress framework on the planet!

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I Heart Simple Websites

by Sue Rostvold on 2009/07/07

i_heart_sw I love simple websites. While in the middle of a making a website transition a couple years ago, a friend recommended Don’t Make Me Think – A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug. I found it incredibly useful. Steve gets straight to the point, and even throws in a bit of humor while telling you what you really need to know. It’s a must read for web designers and anyone who has a website. Don’t Make Me Think goes beyond web design and explains web usability, something many designers forget to consider. You want your website to look good, but more importantly, you want people to easily find their way around, i.e. don’t make them think!

In his book Steve says, “In the past five years I’ve spent a lot of time watching people use the Web, and the thing that has struck me most is the difference between how we think people use Web sites and how they actually use them.”

One of the more interesting parts of the book is how Steve explains with diagrams and details how we navigate around a website.
We don’t read pages. We scan them.

Some people get so hung up on design, that they forget about the goal of their website. You want your visitors to stay, to read, to click and ultimately to spend money. But also, you want your customers to be satisfied, interact, tell their friends, get valuable content, write excellent reviews, and come back again and again.

That’s why having a site that makes sense and is easy to navigate is so crucial. Sure, SEO is important, it’s what gets traffic to your site. But when you finally get them to land on your website, you want to keep them there and keep them happy. If they get frustrated, you may lose them forever. [click to continue…]

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I need a website! Where do I start?

by Sue Rostvold on 2009/06/30

Need a website? Well it’s never been easier! One option is to hire someone to set up a site for you, have them spend a couple hours teaching you the basics, and then you are well on your way. Below are some beginning steps to ensure a great start. [click to continue…]

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KGSR Radio, New Kid in Town, and Twitter

by Sue Rostvold on 2009/06/04

This morning I turned on the radio in my car to hear one of my favorite Eagles’ songs, New Kid In Town. I had a very nostalgic little drive to my neighborhood grocery store. This song came out in 1978, the same year I graduated from high school.

On my way back from the store what I didn’t expect to hear was “Tweet to Win!”. K-Geezer (a.k.a. 107.1 KGSR Radio Austin) engaging their listeners on twitter? I guess I don’t listen to the radio enough to realize it’s becoming the norm. I decided to do a search, and sure enough, I found a site that lists radio stations on twitter.

New Media and radio seem like a natural fit in many ways. When you think about traditional advertising, (Radio-Television-Newspaper), it’s clear who has had the edge all along. In fact, radio perhaps was the very first form of social media marketing using technology. They have been engaging with their listeners since the very beginning. I’m not saying they did it well, but they were getting feedback and engaging none the less, even way back in the early days of radio.

So it’s come to this. Tweet-to-win. Instead of caller #7, it’s Direct Message #7 on twitter who gets the JD Souther at Threadgills tickets!

Well, it worked. They got me. I came home and started following @KGSR. I plan on trying to win some tickets with DM’s too. Way to start twittering KGSR! I’d love to see you incorporate some non-profit fund raisers into your twitter strategy as well. You have the twitter power now, use it for good!

FYI: In 1978 the Eagles received two Grammy awards: Best Vocal Arrangement for “New Kid In Town” and Record of the Year for Hotel California. Ahhh… the memories.