At the end of June, search giant Google unveiled its new social networking site, Google+ (phonetically pronounced “Google Plus”). Google+ is the company’s attempt, albeit not its first, to create a social network that rivals dominant services like Facebook and Twitter. Google is trying to differentiate itself from those networks by providing robust tools for managing friends & followers and the type of content that you can share with them. This control is accomplished through a mechanism called Circles, where contacts can be categorized as “Friends”, “Acquaintances”, and whatever other custom categories you’d like to create. When you post messages or share content like photos, links, and videos, you can choose which Circles can view that content.

There are two other primary functions of Google+ that are new: Hangouts and Sparks. Hangouts is a group video chat tool that allows up to ten people at a time to have a conversation. We tried it out at the InfoTrends office last week and it is indeed a pretty cool experience. Also, if you don’t have a webcam handy (like myself), you can still participate in a Hangout via audio. Just one week after Google+ was announced, Facebook announced a partnership with Skype that enabled one-on-one video chat within the Facebook network. The general reaction has been that Google has a leg up due to the group functionality (which can only be enabled in Skype through a paid “Premium” subscription). Sparks is essentially a news feed you can add to Google+ based on your interests. If you find an interesting piece of news or content in your feed, you can instantly share it with your Google+ friends. It has been rumored that Google will integrate and rebrand its blogging service, Blogger, and its photo hosting/sharing service, Picasa, into Google+ in the near future.

Previously, Google launched a network called orkut, which is still in operation and is popular in India and Brazil. In addition, the company tried its luck with social collaboration and messaging through its Google Wave tool, but failed to gain widespread traction. The launch of Google Buzz in February 2010 was marred with privacy concerns when the company opened up Google users’ account information without warning or permission. Did Google learn from its past experiences with its new foray into the lucrative world of social networking?

For the most part, I think it has, and here’s why:

• Testing and Feedback: When Google+ launched, it was made available to Google employees and a very limited amount of journalists and analysts, with the intent of ensuring that proper, controlled testing was conducted before rolling it out to the masses. Over the past few weeks, the company has opened up invites for longer periods of time, enabling it to quickly amass over 10 million users, which speaks to the exponential inertia of the social Web.
• Content Control: Google+ is certainly not the same as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other specific social network due to the control it provides over how content is shared. Nevertheless, I think it does take some core elements from existing social networks and implements them in a unique way. There are no such things as friend requests; anyone can add you to their Circles, just like anyone can follow you on Twitter (if you have a public account) at will. Like Facebook and LinkedIn, there is a rich stream of content and information that you can view; Circles act like Twitter’s List feature, enabling you to view this information based on the way you categorize your friends.
• Preemptive Release of +1: At the end of March this year, Google released “+1″, its version of the Facebook “Like” button or the Twitter “Retweet” button. The button originally premiered in Google’s search results as a way to recommend content and make search results more relevant. In June, +1 was made available to the entire Web, enabling sites to implement a +1 button on all content for sharing purposes. The button has popped up on sites like The Huffington Post, Reuters, Mashable, and many others. The roll-out of +1 before launching Google+ was a smart move as it provides users with an instant way of sharing content on the network.

The Google+ interface is very clean; vacant of the targeted ads that exist across the social network landscape. Expect that to change fairly quickly. Google plans to soon offer brands their own tools to create a Google+ presence, which will likely rival Facebook Pages. Additionally, there’s no doubt that, over time, Google will implement contextual, targeted advertising in Google+. After all, it was calculated that it cost Google close to $600 million to build its social network. As we’ve seen, every social network needs a business model at some point or another, and advertising seems to be a winning route to take in most cases.

I’m a big fan of social networking via mobile devices, so when the Google+ iPhone app is finally approved for the App Store, I will likely become much more active on the site. I’ve already connected with a number of folks from the printing industry via Google+, and hope to see many more (you can connect with me on Google+ here).

With all the questions and mystique that seems to still exist around social networking, my suggestion is always to try it out and get a feel for it. Google+ has gained a lot of traction in a short amount of time, in part because I think it does indeed have some differentiating factors when compared to other networks. The key question will be whether the hype can be sustained. There are only so many hours in the day, and there needs to be clear value and a continually evolving platform to keep peoples’ attention. While it remains to be seen if that will happen, Google is certainly off to a good start.

In the social media marketing world, there are plenty of tradeshows and events that you can be a part of to help further your company and network with prospective partners. You can benefit your company if you attend these events. But there are some ways you can really maximize your presence at the next big event, especially if you take the right promotional steps by utilizing social media.

On your corporate Twitter account, create a special hashtag for the event. Use it a couple times a day in the weeks leading up to the event, to generate some buzz about your presence there. Hashtags categorize tweets and make it easier for users to find similar subjects among tweets. Make sure the event also has its own Facebook event page. Post on the page, tweet to the event’s account and retweet relevant tweets.

Think beyond Facebook and Twitter as well. Make sure your colleagues and peers blog about the event and have an e-mail blast focused on it, or maybe even a webinar. The more diverse the methods of distribution, the larger the audience you will reach.

Be sure to ask questions that can spark a conversation. Social media lends itself incredibly well to conversational interaction. Ask questions that will garner some responses, and field questions from followers as well. This is a great way to gauge interest in the event and for companies to have interaction with users that they can retweet and survey. And make sure to keep a countdown to the big day! No need to overwhelm anybody, keep your social media efforts business as usual with just that daily reminder of the event added to it.

So you have done your preparation leading up to the event. The day is here! Now what?

Take pictures! Lots and lots of pictures. Borderline on taking too many. Pictures can be put on all of your social media networks. Make your followers feel like they are right at the event with you. And archive everything; it all becomes great blog content down the road. Also, video is very effective in making your audience feel like they are right with you. Beef up your YouTube channel with some great video content and also use it to spice up a blog in a post-event recap.

When you are in your event, make it very clear where you are at all times. Explain what booth you are viewing, the room you’re in, and always use hashtags. Make yourself noticeable! Use the hashtags that others are creating for the event and interact with them on Twitter. Start conversations and compel people to come to your booth. And when you do meet someone, make them remember you. Exchange social media in a way you would exchange a business card. This is important because exchanging social media accounts can lead to immediate interaction. A business card can very easily slip through the cracks and a contact can be lost.

When it’s all over, make sure you write detailed blogs and use all of the great content you generated to make all of your efforts at the event translate into a great online presence.

LinkedIn has great applications that you can add to your profile that can make it very informational to your online audience.  They help mold your LinkedIn profile into an online portfolio of your past and current work, and what your business is all about.  Here are some of my favorite applications to use for my LinkedIn profile and why:

WordPress: First of all, WordPress is a great web host if you want to manage a blog and a website with little stress.  This application allows your LinkedIn connections to view your latest WordPress blog entries as soon as you publish them.  It is a live feed that syncs up with your blog.  Using this application saves me time promoting it on LinkedIn and it shares Grow Socially’s blog information instantly with all of our LinkedIn connections.

SlideShare: My team and I spend a lot of time trying to prepare great, informative slideshows for whenever we have speaking engagements.  But once the presentation is over, it would be a great waste of time and energy to have the slideshow sit on our computers without sharing it online.  This application allows you to publish it on your profile after the presentation.  So it can be used to share with people who weren’t able to make the presentation and it is helpful to attendees of the presentation because they can go back and review it again on their own time.  We also make sure it says on our presentation handouts that the attendees are able to find the presentation and view it from SlideShare.

Reading List: Some of my employees at Grow Socially and interlinkONE enjoy adding this to their profiles.  After they read a book that is related to their industry, they are able to share that with their network.  It shows their connections that they stay up to date with trends and information of their specified industry and trade.

Tweets: Just like the WordPress application, this syncs up your Twitter feed with your LinkedIn profile.  This saves time and energy for sharing information.  Rather than posting the same information to two separate social media accounts, you can update your Twitter profile which will automatically update your LinkedIn profile.

Events: This works as a public calendar for your LinkedIn profile, so your event and other business occasions can be viewed by all of your connections.  You could use this application for conferences, seminars, speaking engagements, award ceremonies and more.  Let your audience know that your business is active in educating yourself about your industry and staying on the cutting edge of the latest trends.

LinkedIn is the only major social media site that offers these great applications.  Take advantage of them today!  They are free, informative, and they will help promote your business to all of your LinkedIn connections!

I’ve been seeing some great posts lately on the The Digital Nirvana that cover many different aspects of mobile marketing and technology, including mobile 2D barcodes, mobile content delivery, and more. In light of a number of very recent events, and to build upon my last post about data security, I wanted to cover one additional aspect of mobile marketing and technology: location-based services (sometimes referred to as LBS). In the context of mobile, location-based services leverage the GPS and wireless broadband capabilities in a smart mobile device to drive hyperlocal applications.

One of the more basic applications of LBS is the GPS feature on your smartphone. Perhaps you’ve taken advantage of some of the more advanced applications built on location-based services, as well; you may have checked in to your favorite restaurant on foursquare or Facebook Places, found a good bookstore close-by on Yelp, or even found the nearest post office on the USPS app. These apps use your device’s GPS to determine your exact location and then use your wireless broadband connection to deliver localized information or entertainment to your screen, all in the matter of a few seconds. This accomplishment is pretty astounding when you think about it, and in many situations, highly useful.

If you’re not familiar with the prior example of “checking in”, it is typically a function of a location-based game or social network where a user “checks in” or submits their coordinates to prompt a location-based action. In LBS games like MyTown, your check-ins earn you points to level-up in the game. In LBS social networks like Facebook Places and foursquare, the place you are visiting is shared with your friends, and you’re even able to redeem coupons or discounts from the businesses you frequent.

Especially in major metropolitan areas, local businesses use these types of offers through something like “foursquare for Business” to generate loyalty with their plugged-in customers. Foursquare also works with brands to do location-based marketing for hyperlocal engagement. Some vendors and service providers, including Konica Minolta and Harte-Hanks (respectively) used foursquare at recent trade shows to engage with attendees and bring traffic to their booth.

While there are lots of impressive, useful applications of location-based services and significant growth is expected in this area, location data privacy has been in the news quite prominently over the past twoo weeks. Researchers recently announced their finding that Apple’s iOS tracks location data and stores it in an unencrypted file on your mobile device, which you can actually visualize using a desktop application the researchers created. Apple stated that some of this information is shared to help improve user experience over time. Later in the week, it was revealed that Android phones also track location data in a similar type of on-device cache. Apparently Microsoft does the same thing with its newest Windows mobile OS, as well.

What do these findings mean? In the end, probably not much if you’re a law-abiding citizen (these location databases have been used in forensic analyses for law enforcement). Still, with recent data breaches on our minds, and the prospect that these location caches are not encrypted in any way can certainly stir up thoughts of how this location data can be used if someone steals your device, for instance. Many users are clearly concerned about their location data privacy. Companies throughout the entire mobile ecosystem, from carriers to device manufacturers to app developers, need to be transparent about what data is stored, how it is stored, how it is shared/used, and how it can be protected. By clearly communicating this information and giving users the option to easily opt-out of location services (and make sure that opt-out actually works), the stigma around location data can be lifted.

There is immense potential still to be reached with location-based services, especially for local businesses trying to connect with their customers in new ways and for brands that want to engage with people in a unique way. Through transparency, choice, and clear value, LBS can move from a privacy concern to an effective tool for marketers and consumers. Service providers that are getting more involved with digital media need to seriously analyze if and how LBS fits within your suite of services; the opportunity is still too large to ignore.

Printers!  Have you thought about adding interactive QR Codes to your printed pieces?  If you are, then are your QR Codes leading to mobilized content?  By this I mean content that provides your audience with a pleasant experience of mobile accessible, easy-to-read content with photos, links and more.  If not, you should consider using a Mobile Content Management System.  These specific types of systems allow you to generate content that is made to be used on a mobile device:  from your website, to your personalized ID card, coupons, ads, and blogs.  The mobile user expects a mobile experience.  If you’re driving folks to a regular web page or a coupon that was made for a regular web page, it’s probably too big to use or view. So don’t blame the QR code – blame the (non-mobile) content.

If you want to use QR Codes on your printed pieces for a marketing campaign, or even customer service applications, think about how your landing pages may look on a mobile phone. Have you ever encountered a landing page that is too big so that you have to scroll around to see the page? What a pain.  That is a big fail in my mind.  Most people won’t put up with it, and will leave before getting through the whole page.   A too-big Personalized Landing Page (PLP) that gets displayed on a mobile phone?  Fail – The mobile user will leave faster than they clicked on it. You went to the trouble of creating a PLP, so why not make it compatible for viewing on a mobile platform?

Also, when you drive folks to non-mobilized content, you can’t take advantage of the capabilities smart phones have inherently built into them, like texting from the page you are on, or sharing the content instantly.   Think about those missed opportunities the next time you create a direct mail or printed marketing campaign.

Mobile Marketing is here and is expanding hard and fast.  If you want to engage with your mobile audience the right way, you must mobilize your content.  If you are producing marketing materials that direct people to a web page, and there is even a chance that your audience will be viewing them on a mobile device (and trust me, they will be), you need to make sure that your content is optimized for the mobile web.

So how do you do that? Here are some tips:

• Provide minimal and very clear navigation at the top of the page, and make sure navigation is consistent throughout the site.
• Try not to use sidebar navigation, and make sure that font size is large enough to be legible on a small screen.
• Don’t use more links unless they are absolutely necessary. You need to take into account the trade-off between having too many links on a page and asking the user to follow too many links to find the content they are looking for.
• Use clear and simple language. Save long descriptions and blocks of text for secondary web pages, don’t put them on your home page.
• Try to limit scrolling to one direction if at all possible.
• Make sure you test your content on different mobile platforms so you know that it will work when viewed on an iPhone, Android, Blackberry, or other operating system.
• NEVER use popups. Nobody likes them on regular websites, and they are even worse on a mobile device, IF your visitor can even see them.
• Make sure your site will load quickly, and works well with the memory limitations of a mobile device.

If you take the time to customize your content for mobile devices, you will get a better customer response from your campaign, and customers will be more likely to come back to your site. Mobile is the direction the web is headed – get there now!

Have you skimmed through online articles thinking, “This would be great to share with the peer group”, but then chose not to save it because you’d probably forget where you would store it on your computer?  To prevent this, you should create a LinkedIn or Facebook Group for your peer group.  It can act as an online content library for all of the information you find that you would like to discuss when your peer group meets.

Here are some of the benefits of utilizing Facebook and LinkedIn for your peer group:

Worried about privacy? Keep your group private by simply adjusting the privacy settings.

Want to share information? When you find online content for your peer group, post it on the group page’s wall. By doing this, your group members will be able to review it themselves and develop their own thoughts of it ahead of time, the content will be saved for the next group meeting, and everyone will have access to it when you bring it up in discussion.  You can share articles, photos and videos.

Interact before you meet! If you have a question or comment you would like to ask before or after meetings, announce it in the “Discussion” section of your group’s page.  Members would be able to see this any time they access the “Discussion” section and they would be able to respond.  The members would be able to see all of the responses at all times, so communication opportunities are always available.

By using Facebook and LinkedIn as an online content library for your peer group, it will allow you to store and share information in an organized manner.  You’ll be able to share information and thoughts ahead of time with your peers, which will allow them to prepare feedback of it for the next peer group meeting.  Facebook and LinkedIn groups allow your peer group members to become more interactive with each other on more of a regular basis.

While he was tramping around Peru, Peter O’Neill, a web analyst from Australia, dreamed up a blog about achieving excellence in “joined-up” marketing.

Peter concludes that the marketing management tools and web analytics that measure revenue at various online touchpoints don’t reflect the contribution of offline activities like friends’ recommendations, using multiple computers when ordering, in-store purchasing, and so on. Add in such other influences as PR, print advertising, and social media and – clearly – “What drove the sale?” becomes an inscrutable question. At least for now. But maybe not for long.

Undaunted, Peter says “The measure of success of a marketing campaign is quite simply whether the incremental profit generated was greater than the incremental marketing spend (including salary costs for people working on the campaigns) during the defined time period.”

That makes some sense, but it really doesn’t work for direct marketers who have followed Lester Wunderman since 1967, testing, measuring, adjusting, testing, measuring… and so on.

Though they didn’t admit it for years, all this weighing must have made quite an impression on TV, radio, newspaper, billboard, and print advertising folks, because — somewhere on the way to the scales — a strange thing happened. Every channel began to quietly calculate how it, too, could measure.

As extensions of traditional direct marketing, email, p-URLs, landing pages, and all other online media were naturals of course. But the guys with the scales also began to find measurable profits in infomercials, radio, publishing, television, mobile marketing, and even social media.

In fact, even though apologists had let PR and media advertising off the ROI hook for years, the first arrows shot at social media’s launch charged that nobody could measure its results.

So, is it possible to calculate ROI across multiple channels? It is. Increasingly, it is because direct marketing suggests we can.

p.s. The notion that direct mail is the only measurable non-electronic marketing media still makes it stand out in the crowd.

YouTube, the video-sharing phenomenon all began during February of 2005, and ever since, it has captured the eyes and attention of millions of viewers. The vast variety YouTube offers allows people to view anything like the latest music video premieres, instructional videos of how to play musical instruments, the latest bizarre home videos, or educational videos of a particular subject. You could easily name YouTube as the new video-encyclopedia of news, entertainment, sports- you name it!

Something special about YouTube is that it makes it easy for anyone to become “broadcasters of tomorrow”. How do they make this possible? Perhaps it is because of these two very important details- making it simple and social media.

Simplicity is the name of YouTube’s game. Once you create a free account with them, you suddenly have access to share videos with everyone who has access to the Internet. This is fantastic news for businesses who love getting their latest news out to the public in fun and creative ways. If the videos you would like to share are on your computer, simply hit the link “Upload” and you can choose whatever videos you would like to broadcast. You can add titles, descriptions, keywords, and links to any of the videos, which is great if you are trying to create a marketing campaign for a business. You can even create your own company or personal page of videos, so you can have a gallery of videos that are all together in one place.

Now that you have your videos up and running, how do you share them? Social media is the best way for videos to spread rapidly to a large amount of people quickly. If you have Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, put it in your newsfeed. Facebook has features where you can add the link of the video in your posts, which makes it possible for viewers to watch the video directly from their Facebook newsfeed. If you have a blog, specifically with WordPress, you can include the video directly in your blog posts, as well. Video-sharing across your social media platforms, especially by using YouTube, is great. It can expand your audience because not everyone prefers reading articles; some just simply want to watch a person talk about a certain topic. Creating videos can be fun, interesting and it gives you or your business a personal touch!

Before you start, read these quick tips!

1. Make them short! 1-2 minutes is all you need to be informative and memorable.
2. Give variety! Humor, company fast facts, tour your office, and interview some co-workers. Show the social side of yourself!
3. Bring YouTube with you! If you are going to an event, make a quick live clip of what event you are at and what you are there for.

Bare Deal likes to describe its coupon service as “Groupon meets Netflix.” Its founders are a couple of Northwestern grads who mail (yes, mail) coupons to consumers who’ve asked for them, requiring payment only when consumers use the coupons.

Bare Deal co-founder, Glen Andrianov, explains through an example. ”This week, we are  featuring the company, Chocolate for Your Body. Anybody who signed up for Bare Deal is able to select this specific deal on our website. A scratch off-card for Chocolate for Your Body is then sent to the person’s mailing address.”

Put another way, this is the process:

• The consumer hears about the service via Twitter, Facebook, word of mouth, or opt-in email and goes to the Bare Deal website, and “signs up.”
• The consumer who wants to explore a deal, registers for that deal.
• Bare Deal digitally prints and mails the consumer a scratch-off coupon featuring a 40- to 100-percent discount, branded with the business’ info.
• When ready, the consumer takes that coupon to the business and redeems it.

Because the recipient asked for the coupon, the open-rate is high. But there’s another – some might say better – reason to open that envelope immediately. Consumers don’t know precisely how big their discounts will be until they scratch-off in the privacy of their home. The discount could be a healthy 40%, or the discount could range up to 100%.

Andrianov says consumers have fun with the coupons. “Instead of a product focused only on savings (Groupon and competitors), our scratch cards provide variable savings, which create excitement – consumers are ‘winning’ a discount.”

Couponing is huge in the Windy City (as this Chicago Tribune article notes) so there’s plenty of competition. But coupons enjoy impressive marketing acceptance, too. So how does Bare Deal differentiate and market its coupons? Andrianov says the company set out to create a service people would love and drives traffic to the website mainly through word of mouth and social media (Facebook and Twitter). “Also, members pay businesses directly, which helps foster loyalty between consumer and their business.”

Lynford Morton, owner of PhotoTour DC, a company that teaches photography on walking tours around Washington, DC, would concur that business access to consumers is critical, but also missing in most coupon arrangements. Morton, who has a lot of experience with coupon marketers, says, “I get pitched by these coupon companies all the time. They all claim some novel differentiator…which really turns out to be yawn-inducing. Every now and then I get a couple smart ones who want to talk to me about where my pain points might be with the daily deals of the world and how they might address them. Others bring me solutions to problems I don’t have. If I understand the Bare Deal approach correctly, this business solves one huge problem by letting you communicate with your customers. To know 600 people bought your product, but you can’t communicate with any of them is nuts. Giving a business owner direct access is huge.”

Andrianov agrees. “Businesses prefer us over competitors because they are able to put their brand identity on a physical product, compared to a black-and-white printed piece of paper with no brand identity.”

Customers must love the pay-as-you-go arrangement, too? I mean who doesn’t have at least a few coupons already paid for, but unredeemed sitting in a folder somewhere? Guilt! Angst! Pressure! Ah… relief!

The delivery of branded, redeemable scratch-offs can happen only one way: via direct mail. “Because we provide a physical product that can’t be printed on a computer, we use direct mail .. This process allows us to send scratch cards only to members who are interested in a specific deal … If a member does not select a deal, they will not receive anything in the mail.”  

In short, Bare Deal’s innovative merger of a pay-when-you-use-it-only coupon with the thrill of a strike-it-rich scratch-off should add up to a model with promise.

As Netflix already proved, the U.S. mail has its advantages. In fact, some people would argue that the U.S. Postal Service made Netflix successful. So, yes, it’s good to see smart marketers still working the direct mail angle.

Who knew it would ever be possible to share a plethora of informational content, upload photos, alert every Facebook and Twitter friend where you are and tweet about what is on your mind- all within seconds just by using a phone? Today, technology is excelling at pushing the possibilities of what smart phones can do in terms of how people communicate, promote events and places, and share whatever it is they want to post to the world. Because of all of these amazing abilities a cell phone now has, not becoming a user of social media would be foolish.

Social media on a phone has become such a convenience that now it will no longer take up time to skim through your newsfeed at work, post pictures you have taken days ago or other time-consuming tasks. A smart phone now makes it possible to be interactive with your fans simply by pressing a few buttons whenever you have a few seconds to spare. When you are at an event, you can check-in to FourSquare, along with adding tips about your location and to see who else has checked in there that day. This will also simultaneously promote that event because now anyone who is following you will see you are attending and it may spike interest for them to attend. If we continue with this example of attending an event, you can also take photos and video using your smart phone’s camera. Smart phones make it possible to immediately post this content to anything, such as E-mail, text-messaging, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr- you name it! You can then add a description of the picture or video you posted. This will allow you to feature live content from anywhere you are, which makes the amount of promotional possibilities skyrocket.

We all know that a big reason for people gathering at business events is to network. Social media takes networking one step further by allowing you to interact with new contacts on a casual day-to-day basis after meeting them. This is made possible by sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Don’t exchange business cards that may get lost, discarded or added to a mile-long Excel spreadsheet of contacts. Instead, digitally connect with the people you meet through social media using your phone. It is a fresh, interactive way of staying in touch. Being able to ask, “Are you on Facebook or LinkedIn?” and then friend them using your smart phone makes networking easy and fun. Connecting with contacts through social media will allow you to exchange information in the future, see who their contacts are, gain a better knowledge of their work experience, learn what future events they are going to and more.

Cell phones are no longer just for calling and texting.  They now offer the ability for people to share their experiences with others through photos, videos, announcements, links and more. Smart phones are helping people become more connected in incredible ways, and this is just the beginning. If you have a smart phone but are still hesitant about stepping into the world of social media, jump in now. It is easy to learn and use and you would be blown away with what your smart phone is capable of doing!

Editors Note: Heidi Tolliver-Nigro posted on February 6 about SmartPhones and Phonebooks and the generational gap. John’s post is a timely reminder that we need to become users of the channel so that we can better understand how to support the channel for our customers.

Are you “Facebooking” your prospects and customers? With today’s technology and the multiple ways you can interact with your prospects and get your message across, it’s important to take advantage of the more popular social media sites where your prospects and customers hang out. Did you know that Facebook has over 200 million active users? Don’t you think your current and future customers are among them? So stop putting off the inevitable and set up a Facebook business page so you can connect with prospects and customers, promote your products/services, and also the content you put out (articles, videos, audios, etc.) about your products and services.

Personal versus Business

Keep in mind that there is a difference between personal and business accounts on Facebook. Business accounts are limited in the information they are able to access compared to the standard accounts. You can’t send or receive friend requests. However, this shouldn’t prevent you from creating a business page for your company. In fact, there are benefits to business pages, where you can designate multiple administrators to manage and post to the account. Also, the pages are public and therefore will attain rank in Facebook and search engine results. A business page can garner “fans” and you can still post events, pictures, videos, polls and other interactive ways to promote your business and build the buzz.

So remember: profiles are personal but pages are business in Facebook world. So you’ll want to set up a page (not a profile). And remember to only create one account, because Facebook doesn’t take kindly to those who create multiple accounts.

After you create your Facebook business page, you want to gain “likes” from your professional network. Here are some ways you can build that fan base:

• Make sure your page is searchable by the general public. This is typically the default setting, but you may want to double-check and look at the Settings on the Edit page. Make sure your page is “Published (publically visible).”
• Announce your new Facebook page on your website / blog with a link to your page and an invitation to become a fan.
• If you have a newsletter, be sure to include the news about your new Facebook page.
• Send out an email to all your existing contacts asking them to check out your Facebook page, become a fan and leave a post.
• Leverage your other social media profiles and invite those connections and followers to check you out on Facebook. For example, if you’re active on Twitter, you should tweet the link to your Facebook page and ask your followers to become fans.
• Post a Facebook badge or widget on your website to let your site visitors know about your Facebook page.
• Think about using Facebook ads. Yes, it costs some money, but the advertising will get your business name in front of a lot of eyeballs.

Of course, it will be easier to get more fans as you build your page and add content that is informative and engaging. Add polls, events, links and videos. Invite commentary by posting questions. Pull in the RSS feed of your blog. Post about special discounts or coupons. As you build upon your page, current fans will share the page with their colleagues and friends and your fan base will grow.

Remember, Facebook is not just about information or entertainment. It’s also about relationship building. Connect with the people who “like” your page and respond to any posts by prospects and customers. It’s important to create a dialogue with your fans, rather than just have a running monologue of business information.

Previously I hit a few high points on what issuers and responders face when dealing with Requests for Proposals (RFPs). One factor that can send the whole RFP process downhill is the issuer’s desire to get the best results with the least amount of work.

In theory, if you really want to find the best solution at the best price, you need to talk to a lot of different suppliers and be willing to review a lot of bids. But who wants to source 100 vendors – or even 20 for that matter? In the past, I have always encouraged my clients to issue a short “Request for Information” or RFI in advance of the RFP process. Some possible goals of the RFI may be to:

• Learn about new services available in the area you are searching for bids on – for example, the latest trends in direct marketing, fulfillment or variable full-color printing.
• Vet the requirements for your upcoming RFP. Are you asking for the right services or are you looking for the best price on the leading edge solution from the 1990s? (You’d be surprised how many RFP’s read like the latter!)
• Cull the list of suppliers who will receive the full RFP by asking just a few key Yes/No questions that are critical capabilities or contracting points that you will require from suppliers.

Now that you’ve read this far, let me confess that I don’t think that social media can actually replace the RFI – but, I do think it can help to make the RFI and the RFP process a lot more effective and efficient. There is a wealth of information out there that can be accessed without 16 advance meetings and a full legal and compliance review!

Let’s look at LinkedIn for example. In the Question and Answers area there are over 500 topics on Request for Proposal (from both the issuer and the responder perspectives.) It’s helpful to look at the questions that other people have asked – but it’s also a straight-out opportunity to ask questions of your own. Naturally a lot of the questions will get jumped on by suppliers trying to present their solution – but often they have some good insights on what makes a good RFP. And – you’d be surprised at how many times peers of yours at other companies log on to share their experiences, recommend suppliers, or share what they’ve learned about new technologies. Many times members will also recommend experts on a particular topic which may lead you to articles, blog posts, or even sample RFPs.

There are also discussion groups on particular topics. For example there is the Print and Procurement (International) Group which has 6,936 members from around the world. I would say that there is more Printing (3,478) than Procurement but it still posts some pretty lively topics. If you post a thread saying that you are looking for companies that can provide a specific service your likely to get a quick response. For example, the post:

“I have a 400 Pg + Cover perfect bound book live project. Quantity = 1,500 and involves spot colors. I am looking for a book manufacturer with digital and offset capabilities.”

. . . received 38 responses within a matter of days. The neat thing is, social media sites allow you to drill down on the responses you get. If someone responds to a post you can click over to their profile and see who has given them recommendations or look at the anwers they have supplied to other questions. Click again to look at the company page on LinkedIn – or go directly to the company website.  You can see who else works there and if they have any interesting presentations or recommendations as well. All of this is available before you have sent any formal communication out from your company.

Potentially, you can quickly identify many new suppliers that you might not have considered, identify experts who can help you define all of the things you should ask for in your RFP and identify ways of making the RFP process much more efficient. I still think that you will want to issue an RFI to narrow the field before you issue an RFP – but maybe in some cases you can get what you need from a bit of online research and networking. Let me know what you think.

And, stay tuned (or stay RSSed or something.) Next time I’m going to talk about why you might want to skip the RFP all together!

LinkedIn has always been a business-oriented social networking site. So it’s a natural place to set up shop and create a presence in order to connect with other businesses. It helps you to keep in touch with colleagues and customers, find experts, or show off your own expertise. LinkedIn allows you to interact and network with other professionals from across the globe. So where do you start?

Begin by building your profile; make sure it’s complete. You want to put your best foot forward and further your brand. So upload that logo and in the Summary and Specialties section, use plenty of keywords to make it searchable.

Once your profile is ready to go, it’s time to make connections. You have several different options to grow your network. First up, you can use webmail import to see who you already have in your email contact list that is already on LinkedIn. You can also upload your contacts from Outlook, Palm, ACT! and Mac Address. Then you can search for any companies you currently do business with or have had contact with in the past to see if they have a LinkedIn profile. Once you get connected, you can look at that person/company and their connections and try to get an introduction in order to widen your network. You can also send out invite emails to anyone you can’t find on LinkedIn, but would like to connect with.

Once you’ve got your profile up and some connections are made, look through your connections and see if there are any customers whom you could ask to give you a recommendation. This is basically a testimonial that will show up on your LinkedIn page. You should also take a look and see who you are connected with who could benefit from a recommendation from you. Don’t hesitate to start the ball rolling and spread the testimonial love by leaving positive feedback on the recommendation form for your connections.

Become a joiner and check out the LinkedIn Groups. You can search using keywords to find some groups where you can exchange ideas with colleagues or establish your expertise with your target market. Pick a few and prepare to be active, posting news articles or jumping into the middle of an online discussion.

You can also build credibility and display your business know-how by answering questions. Browse the “Answers” section where you can post a thought-provoking question or find a question that you know the answer to. You can check out the various categories, or use the advanced search feature to drill down for more specific categories of questions.

You’ll also want to check out the LinkedIn Applications page where you can look at the optional add-ons that can spice up your LinkedIn experience. You can add a reading list to show viewers books you suggest. Or you can embed a slideshow presentation. You can even sync your WordPress blog posts to your profile. Adding an application or three can definitely make your business stand out and draw more attention, so take some time to pick out a few that will really complement your LinkedIn profile.

To get the most out of your LinkedIn experience, make sure you log in, update your status and interact with your connections at least 2-3 times a week. You want to make sure your presence is obvious. And if you never log in and engage others, answer or post questions or update your profile status, then you’ll be missing out on the benefits of social media for your business.

If you haven’t already checked out Twitter and created a profile, what are you waiting for? Twitter is an excellent micro-blogging platform for you to spread the word about company news, special events, discounts and more. Want to connect with prospects? Want to display your expertise? In 140 characters or less you can “tweet” tips, coupon codes, links to press releases…the sky is the limit. Here are some tips on how you can set your marketing services provider business up for success on Twitter:

Setting up your profile

Make sure you complete your profile. You want to have it represent your company and further your brand, so upload your logo to use as the avatar. Choose a Twitter name that is either your actual company name, or an easy to understand shorter version of your company name. Your online bio allows for 160 characters only, so try to use keywords that make your profile searchable, rather than a vague tagline or slogan. You may want to create a custom background for your Twitter page that utilizes your logo in some way and clearly shows the URL address to your website.

Finding people to follow

After you set up your Twitter profile, you want to “follow” other Twitter users. This allows you to see their tweets from your home page. As you follow others, you will find that many follow you back. You want to build up your list of followers, because these are people who will be able to regularly see your tweets as you make them.

Finding people to follow isn’t difficult. Some of your customers may actually invite you to follow them, by placing a twitter badge on their website or adding their Twitter profile url to their email signature. You can also click on the “Find People” link at the top of the Twitter page. From there, you have four options: find people on twitter via their name, business name, brand, keyword or twitter handle; find people via other networks such as Google, yahoo or AOL; invite people via email; look at suggested users.

After you begin following people and businesses you already know of, your best bet may be two-fold: One, check out the followers of those Twitter users you admire. If you are following someone or a company and you like their tweets and admire the way they handle themselves online, then it makes sense to see who they are following and do so as well. Two, use the “find people” search option and use keywords that your target market would use in their twitter handles and profiles.

Tweet responsibly and responsively

You’ll find you have to be creative at times to get your message in 140 characters or less. In fact, you will want it to be shorter so that others can “re-tweet” your message…getting it more exposure. It’s okay to toot your own horn, but try to make sure your twitter stream isn’t a constant barrage of sales pitches. And make sure to keep an eye on your messages. You may receive private messages via the “Direct Message” system, or you may receive a public tweet when someone includes your twitter handle in a tweet. You should respond in kind when appropriate – no one likes a tweeter who only tweets about their own stuff. So keep in mind that Twitter is a conversational tool, not a one-way onslaught of your promotional tweets.

What to tweet about

There’s plenty to tweet about. Here are some ideas:

• Links to your blog posts
• Links to your video or audio offerings
• Links to other online information (stats, blog posts, news articles, videos, etc.) that you feel is relevant and useful to your followers
• Company announcements – from employee of the month to hitting your latest sales goal
• What you are currently working on
• What you are currently reading
• Events you are attending or organizing
• Retweet other tweets to cultivate relationships and help disseminate useful information
• Answers to questions that relate to your business, products/services
• Ask questions and invite commentary

Over the past few months the readership of  TheDigitalNirvana (TDN)  has expanded pretty significantly; growing, on average, 15% per month for 6 months. At the same time, the types of people following TDN has evolved. Traditionally, a lot of our followers have been people working in the print business or managing print businesses of various sizes and types but, we are seeing a lot more people in other aspects of business communications services such as designers, marketing consultants and technologists. We’re also seeing more readers from the client side of the equation – print buyers, technology buyers and in-the-trenches marketing folks from a variety of industries.

Sounds good right? Well, yes it is – but it also means that there are a lot more interests to try to cater to. With all the different perspectives on digital communications – how can we keep everyone happy?

I hope that asking what you want will help us to keep TDN fresh and relevant for all its readers – new and old. So, what’s your idea of  Nirvana (in the form of a blog of course)?

• Do you want more of a particular type of story?
• Are there bloggers you just love and would like to hear more from?
• Should we break out a few different “departments” to make it easier to find the types of stories you are most interested in? If so – what “departments” make sense to you?
• What about the categories and tagging – are they relevant?
• Is there information you would like us to cover that you don’t see?
• Any suggestions for changes to the User Interface?
• Have you subscribed to the RSS feed or the weekly news push? How’s that working?

Whoever you are – what can we do to make your job a little easier – or at least share your pain a bit (and maybe add a little humor to your day once in awhile?) I’m collecting ideas for a 2011 site update and really want to know what you think. So, post your ideas here, or find me on LinkedIn and help us keep getting better and better. I have hand-turned wooden pens to award to the two people who offer the best and most usable suggestions for improving the site. These were turned by my father in Oregon out of beautiful wood like manzanita, California olive and madrone. You can’t by them anywhere, they are only available as gifts.

I’m looking forward to some great feedback and ideas from all of you. Thanks for reading!