This is something I think many marketers forget. The art of selling your product or building your brand is a lot like making friends. If you don’t appeal to a persons natural interests then the possibilities of you staying in their memory is very low.

This is where the art of listening comes in, and I don’t just mean the type of listening you do when someone is talking to you person to person. I’m talking about learning the art of mass listening; a style of multitask listening-which includes online information, human conversations face to face, and mobile social communications, etc.

If you take the time to listen in, you may be surprise about what you can find out.

Listening includes setting up google email alerts, paying attention to the business and celebrity gossip news sites, surfing around on Pinterest and Twitter to really gather a grip on what is on the mind of your target audience.

You maybe thinking why waste your time with all the stuff that isn’t specifically about your niche? Well it’s simple, no one I have ever met has had only one interest. If you are able to speak to, or relate a popular outside topic into your branding, blogging etc. then your audience will subconsciously feel listened to and cared about.

Try it and let me know what happens for you!

Social media should never happen solo or used as a single outlet. As its namesake clearly states; it’s social! It is a part of what I like to refer to as perfect blend when it comes to utilizing in a marketing media mix.

You must have a website to connect your social media channels to in order for your target market to find something that is worth their time when it comes to contact. A “sale” is rarely made with a social post alone.

So here is a simple break down:

Content is posted in order to build your brands authority on the web so when someone searches for your brand or specialty they will see your brand name and info pop up before someone else’s – consider it as a cheaper and faster form of Public Relations however it can and should be used in conjunction with. Your brand website is them able to see increased traffic; translating into clients and allowing you to have all the components to calculate the Social Media ROI formula -

(formula courtesy of Brian Solis)

Hootesuite is a integral part of my daily social media activities, and as I do research for interacting and monitoring social feeds; Hootesuite makes life a bit easier by using a formula based auto scheduler to assist in optimum social reach.

I was skeptical at first, at the accuracy but in the last few months I have used the tool with both client feeds and my own personal and business feeds. It increased interactions and reach on multiple social channels. It is an easy tool. The only downside was that it was a bit limiting on certain days to the amount of posts sent in a feed on a specific day but it is very simple to adjust to manual posting.

I would suggest this for anyone managing high volumes of content and feeds. It is also ideal for beginners and simple enough for those with only one feed.

Let’s now jump to 1965 this time maybe you have a subscription to Time magazine or the New Yorker,so now you have the paper to read at breakfast,Time Magazine to read at lunch, and the New Yorker toround your day off. But still you’re only able to get the news that is published monthly, weekly, or once daily.

Jumping to 1975 you have made an investment in a TV, this is the year that CBS launched AM America so now you have a morning news/ talk show. They are fun and witty plus you are getting all the news you may have read in the national news section, and a delightful story about a 100 year old grandmother’s birthday. Your media options are expanding.

Your only getting about 5 channels, but here comes the 80’s the decade of cable television. It was revolutionary, there was so much entertainment, and thanks to Ted Turner we have more news andmovie stations than we can handle…or do we??? Channels get more specific and widespread throughthe nineties, with programming for food lovers, cartoon fanatics, and science fiction buffs. Mobile phones hit the airwaves at a more attainable price point, but they are very new, very bulky, and justmake calls.

I sold phones in college my freshman year; 1999. We were given a memo telling us to sell somethingcalled “text messaging”. It was free to us as employees to use so I immediately tried it out. I’m what theresearchers call an “early adopter”. My friends all thought it was weird, and called me asking what in theworld I had sent them. They also weren’t very happy when they got their bills and saw at $0.25 per msg charge.

Text messaging took off and soon, like TV, and cable – became more attainable, and then the Internetwent main stream. When I was in college the internet existed but it was not something that we went togather information, or share information. It was for emailing, and the occasion music sharing.

Now I am on the internet for all of the above. I watch Hulu, and live streaming internet TV, I read the New York Times, and my local news via their website publications, and I get the bulk of my news frommy mobile phone where I twitter with experts, I Facebook to share ideas with friends and Shutterfly toshare my photos. All of this remarkably I can do via my laptop or mobile phone. Oh and not to forget the Skype time with my husband who is in the military.

The world has changed at an amazing pace. Twitter is scoping news from local stations, and CNN. The average person is able to report what they see in the here and now. The future of news is instant and happening as I type. Twitter profiles are being created just as Ted Turner created CNN, but faster, andeasier. Plus even CNN, and TIME magazine are on twitter, along with most local news outlets. There is even a twitter profile dedicated to reporting on all earthquakes in the world, and when a sink hole ourlocal city occurred, I found out about it from a youtube.com link, via a twitter post 3000 miles away.

So I pose a few questions that I would love to hear from you on:

Where do you get your news on a daily basis?

How to you share information?

And…is your organization moving forward and keeping up with our community at large?

Here is a list of Twitter news outlets you may be interested in:

•@scoopNZ – global news

•@BBCBreaking – Breaking news from BBC

•@Mashable – Social Media, and PR news

•@nprnews – NPR news

•@cnnbrk – breaking news from CNN

•@breakingnycnews – NYC ticker of all news happening s in NYC

We can have all the technology in the world but without people to share and interact with,we would be in silence.

There is a social media platform that is solely focused on doing just that; socialvibe.com allows you to build a profile, and take part in building funds through sponsorship, and community involvement all at the click of your mouse. It’s at the root of what being “social” is all about. Connecting, sharing andinteracting with others.On social vibe you commit to a cause that you are interested in and then by connecting with brands you are able to earn real money for your cause. Brands that sponsor causes on socialvibe.com change oftenbut in the past have included Sony, Sprint, and Coca-Cola.

Social vibe currently partners with over 40charitable organizations that range from health and the environment, to arts and animal. As a brand you are able to share your concern for social good, and connect with potentially newconsumers by having them interact in activities that earn them money for their chosen charity. As  a Charity this is a wonderful way to partner up with brands for interactive support, and fundraising. Its truly social good through social media.

It’s easy to get involved; visit socialvibe.com for more information.

There are a few different products to choose from:

MyPrivacy: continually monitors the Internet and requests the removal of personalinformation whenever it becomes visible.

•  Starting at $ 4.15 per month

MyReputation: puts you in control of your online image by helping you create andpromote the positive content you want people to see.

•  Starting at $10.75 per month

ReputationDefender: is designed to help businesses control their Google search resultsby increasing positive content and blocking false, misleading or irrelevant content.

•  Price custom built by a Reputation Advisor

MyReputation Discovery: shows you how visible you are online, the perception andtone of your presence and how much control you have over information posted about you.

• Starting at $9.95 per month

MyChild: searches every corner of the Internet for any reference to your kids and is aneffective tool in preventing cyber bullying.

• $14.95 per month

Share your story; how do you manage your reputation online? Share your tips!

Do’s:

• Keep your username short and simple, something easy to remember and natural to your brandand or personality.
• Twitter provides excellent online visibility so put you best foot forward starting with your profilepicture, make it professional, yet fun. Make it full of personality, and or how you want o beremembered – like by using a company logo to create recognition with your brand.
• Make your bio short and simple – keep it to the point. You only get 160 words to describeyourself, also the keywords you use in this portion is how those searching will find you.
• Reach out to those you already know on twitter, this will help you build a base, and beintroduced to others in this space.
• If you have no one to connect with initially use a twitter directory like twellow.com
• Follow people of interest to you.
• Retweet, use @mentions, and hashtags (#)for more visibility.
• Be proactive, search stories and trending topics to share – ask questions and interact whenothers ask questions – you want to try and start a conversation.
• Build trust, this is done by being transparent, always being honest, and real. (it’s good fortwitter, and in real life )

Dont’s:

• Update your status by sharing mundane things of no real interest to the outside world like whattime you brushed your teeth – unless you are a dentist and you are posting a linked article ongood hygiene, stay away from frivolous updates
• Boast, this looks like it does in real life, and is often unwanted – it’s ok to be proud but no onewants to hear how awesome you are all the time. Mix it up, stay interesting and be informative.
• Openly asked for followers, you want people of interest to follow you – asking for followerslooks desperate and unprofessional. You may also appear as a spammer.
• Tweet sleepy or drunk, sounds silly but you’d be surprised what some people are capable of andthis will just make you seem very unreliable and looks bad over all.
• Spam, don’t do it – don’t pass along chain tweets, or links that you do not trust.
• Auto follow, if someone follows you and they seem of interest then follow them back, otherwisejust ignore them.
• Argue or tweet anything offensive, you want to be respectful.Keep to these techniques and you will be well on your way to looking good and getting your messageout on twitter the right way.However there may be things that you have done, and are not proud of. Perhaps your social networkingand email accounts had been hacked, and left you with a bad reputation.

If you have found yourself inthis situation with nowhere to turn you’ll want to read the final part to this series where I will share withyou one way to get back in the good graces of the virtual world

• Be transparent; don’t choose a fake name, or lie about your education, career, and achievements. This is a place for you to be yourself, and the awesomeness that is YOU!
• Be interactive; comment on discussion pages, photos, and links.
• Be polite. The last thing you want to do is offend someone on Facebook. When you do this EVERYBODY sees it.
• Friend people you know, and or want to get to know better.
• “Like” Fan pages to keep up with your interests, and to show people what you are interested in.
• Manage your privacy settings. You can choose who can see what, and how much.

• Friend people you don’t know at all, it is unsafe – and you never know what kind of people areon the net.
• Spam – don’t send “Chain Letter” messages to your friends, this is not only annoying but couldget you kicked off of the site for good.
• Get into arguments, or go on Rants – this will also get you kicked off, and just looks BAD – it’s like airing out your dirty laundry for the world to see, not a good idea.
• Tag or post photos of yourself you wouldn’t share with your grandma. If someone posts an unflattering photo, you can un-tag yourself, or you can ask the person nicely to remove the photo (this is where the, being nice – and knowing your friends part come in handy).

If you’re a business – I advise to be patient, Facebook is an interactive platform that takes time to build.“Fan” or “Like” pages of similar sites that you would like to connect with. Get your interactive team tocomment in discussion, and share with their network of friends. Repost links from members, or peopleyou are interested in friending that have value to your other members. It’s just like networking in anextremely large room. Take your time, get to know the person – and then you may see a “friend” turn into a true connection and real friend.

Do:

• Provide your Real Name – never use an alias or a screen name or name of your business
• Use a picture of yourself that you would be proud to frame and give to your grandmother. It doesn’t have to be professionally taken. But it shouldn’t be taken at a Bar either. I would suggest a picture of just you in a friendly setting, with a clear view of your face – your avatar is a part of your first impression so make it a good one.
• Use an application such as box.net to upload your work portfolio – resume, copy creation,photos of achievement, articles you have written, or anything you would be proud of as to mention it during an interview with a potential employer or client.
• Write your profile in the first person, this is first impression on which you are, so write incomfortable tones, and keep it informational in regards to your field, or specialty. Keep it focused. You don’t what to seem to be all over the place.
• Recommend people for their good works. They may repay you with a positive recommendation back.
• Proof read your profile, and all of your information. LinkedIn is a professional virtual setting, somake sure that you are well spoken, and free of grammar mistakes.

Don’t:

• Use information that is out dated, like high school activities – unless you are within 2 years from when you graduated; stir clear.
• Ever LIE!! Never falsify documents or plagiarize. It will be horrible for your integrity, and future digital footprint.
• Speak poorly of others; this may lead to negative feedback, and looks unprofessional to clients and future employers.

Stay tuned for my next installment when I will provide tips for looking good on Facebook.