That’s kids table stuff, right? Everyone knows that, I’m sure. It’s not like we’re asking about dynamic style sheets or to explain the QDF piece of Google’s algorithm.

Just watch.

Sheesh. Like Mitch says, maybe this explains why we get blank stares when we try to explain how Twitter fits into a business plan.

Think about that the next time you’re trying to explain why you should create value by engaging your community, activating your base, and empowering your biggest fans through one-to-one interaction and brand transparency.

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Hooray for mystery!

It’s easy to get all sentimental. But it’s way more fun to rock!

-What Community Looks Like – 2/11/09
-Too Many Chiefs… – 1/22/09
-A Brand Purpose Model – 1/12/09
-Simple Social Media Truths – 12/18/08
-Common Mistakes In Starting A Blog – 11/24/08
-Your Brands Checklist For Twitter -10/6/2008
-If You Say “Leverage” You Might Get Punched In The Face – 8/20/08
-A Definitive Explanation of Social Media – 8/3/08
-The New Marketing Chaos Theory – 12/4/07
-Believe in Halo 3 Marketing – 9/29/07
-One Line Marketing Wisdom – 7/25/07
-What They Don’t Know, Won’t Brand You – 7/17/07
-The 4 C’s – The New Marketing Mix – 5/15/07

Here’s to the future…

Be informative from an ideological standpoint.
This is where you let people know the basic gist of social media. The part where you advocate community building, engagement, interaction, and transparency. The “big picture”, if you will.

Be informative from a practical standpoint.
You can’t just leave it at ideological. No one wants to read posts that just say, “Get out there and be part of the community!” all the time. Great. Now tell us how. Be as specific as possible. Outline steps, metrics for success, ideas to take it a step further. Anything that’s specifically actionable.

Facilitate further learning.
There are no dead ends on the internet. Link out to some other people who have written great content on the subject.

Don’t get all social media is the omg greatest super ever crazy.
Trust me, I get the excitement. But you need to temper your enthusiasm with realistic expectations and understanding. If people are new to the whole idea of social media you don’t want to come off as a street-preacher.

And some good examples (and great posts)
-Finding and embracing your online evangelists in 5 minutes – Mack Collier
-Organic vs. Inorganic Communities – Beth Harte
-Humanizing Your Brand – One Customer at a Time – David Finch
-Will Facebook Be The Death of Twitter? – Alan Wolk

Clever wins.

Sure Shocking might get you that first time and you say “Gasp! I have been taken by this shocking marketing message!,” but after that it starts to lose its punch. When you know something shocking is coming, well, it’s not that shocking anymore. Remember those VW commercials? Blew my mind first time I saw it, but after a while you were already braced for impact.

But Clever doesn’t lose it’s appeal the same way. After the “Oh my!” and “Wow!” is gone from the Shocking, people are still thinking about Clever. Clever makes you smile 20 minutes later when you think “Damn, I wish I thought of that!”

So remember, if you want to get people’s attention, be shocking. If you want them to remember your message, be clever.

In honor of the Clever. Here’s a few great things you should read.
- Influencers can be MADE. Passion can’t. – Brains on Fire Blog
- The Brand is in Your Head – Conversation Agent
- My IMS08 session: r u ready? (new video) – Greg Verdino
- Unconventional Marketing – David Armano
- Facebook Group And Brand Page Best Practices – Social Media Explorer
- Please, Sir, May I Have Some More (Budget)? – Scott Monty
- Recession Brass Tacks – The Buzz Bin

Social Media on Alltop!

I’m really excited about this. Late last week I was chosen by the good people over at Alltop to be a part of their Social Media section. I’m pretty honored to be in such esteemed company. They’re the big guns, people.

Age of Conversation 2!

So pumped for the new AOC! Hopefully you’ll all rush like wild-people to pick up a copy when it comes out. And then immediately hit up my chapter entitled “i>I”. Check out the new cover by David Armano. Head here for the details.

Some posts to blow your mind.
Some of the best from this past week

-Help Us, Help You – Marketing In Traffic by Brian Branca
-Stuff that i learned on tour: workplace culture. – Darryl Ohrt at Brand Flakes For Breakfast
-Hate to tell you, but Web 1.0 was social too. – by “The Verdino”
-If You Can’t Beat Them, Be Them? – by David Armano
-Introducing The Conversation Prism – by Brian Solis
-Kids Still Love TV. (Ice cream too) – by Alan Wolk at The Toad School

10 Ways to Build Your Brand in a Weakened Economy – BrandCurve

Social Media Strategy – Aligning Goals and Measurements – Chris Brogan

Missed Marketing Opportunities – Conversation Agent

Has Web 2.0 mainstreamed? – Jaffe Juice

Brands + Amplification = Influence – Logic + Emotion

“Atomize” Your Content: Share in Small Bits – PR Squared

Who Even Are You? Facebook Friend Request Etiquette – Social Honeycomb

How well do you know your audience? – The Viral Garden

-Develop a Strong Personal Brand Online Part 2 – Chris Brogan

-How Connected Should You Be? – Brian Branca

-How to Get a Custom Blog or Website Design on a Small Budget – Blogging Expertise

-How to Write a Business Recommendation – Conversation Agent

-How To: Write a Really Crappy Business Blog – Conversation Marketing

-Social Feed Aggregators – Whitney Hess

-Twitter is the watercooler of a new era – CrapHammer

-Add Equal Parts Business and Culture. Blend until Smooth. – Alex Hillman

-The “you test” for social media agencies – Greg Verdino

-The One Video All Marketers Should Watch – David Armano

-Brand Building in the “Application Economy” – Paul Isakson

-Social Media in Plain English – Todd Andrlik

-Add Spark to Your Writing With These 3 Simple Tweaks – Copyblogger

-Potential Employers Are Watching You – Social Media Explorer

-Free Advice – Alan Wolk

-Thinking about Danny Devito – Seth Godin

Also, I highly encourage you to put your revisions/additions in the comments (oh how web 2.0 of me!)

Blogs – Like online journals that put new content first.

Craigslist – Just like newspaper classifieds, but online.

del.icio.us – Let’s you attach keywords called “tags” to sites. Like putting post-its in a magazine.

Digg – Someone submits a story, and if you like it you vote for it. The stories with the most votes end up on the front page.

Facebook – It’s like an online personal directory where you can connect with people, share photos, join groups, etc.

Feedburner – Lets you manage and track your blog’s RSS feeds.

Flickr – It’s an online photo album that you can share with other people.

Friendfeed - Makes it so your friends can’t pick their nose without you knowing.

Google Docs – Lets multiple people edit a text document that’s saved online.

Last.fm – Internet radio that plays music based on your prefrences.

LinkedIn – It’s like your business Rolodex, but online.

MySpace – You know your hot friend? Well this is her fat ugly cousin.

NetVibes – Lets you pick a home page with the content you want (also see iGoogle).

RSS – It’s like an email subscription that goes to your reader instead of your email account.

Squidoo – Easily build one page on a topic.

StumbleUpon – You pick categories and it takes you to a random page. If you like it you give it a thumbs up.

Technorati – Ranks and indexes blogs based on “authority”. Shows most popular blogs.

Threadless – T-Shirt company that relies on it’s active community.

Twitter – It’s like mass text messaging but you choose whose messages you see.

Wikipedia – Just like a regular encyclopedia, but one that anyone can edit.

YouTube – A free place people can put videos online.