How NOT to wish someone Happy Birthday

June 2nd was my 40th birthday. I had hundreds of people wish me Happy Birthday on Facebook. Some sent me a message instead of posting on my Facebook wall. This post is about one message in particular. I had to educate them on social networking, I hope they “got it”.

I’m protecting the guy’s identity here because I’m not doing this to get back at him.  I’m posting this as a “What Not To Do” so people can learn from it.

My response to the message was:

Bryan, I take it you don’t know much about me.

I liked his honest response:

Thanks Michael for your comment. I know nothing about you whatsoever please enlighten me for your products and tips. I promote Chris Farrell to help our Facebook friends learn to get started on the Internet, we have a great group of top Internet Marketers who give their help, tips and coments and trust you will join them.

The thing is, he was trying to justify what he did and that  garnered this response:

Well, just look at my profile. You would know I AM an internet marketer. I was even Editor in Chief of Internet Marketer Magazine http://InternetMarketerMagazine.com/ Also, newbie marketer mistake #1, CLOAK YOUR AFFILIATE LINKS. If you wanted to tell me about Chris’s program as a friend, you wouldn’t have given me a link like that.

Instead, it looks like you were using my Birthday as a way to make a quick buck. Not a very good impression at all.

This IS Social Media, and this IS our first interaction. You came in telling me about something that would make you money.

You should watch this short video Beginning to End. It has excellent content and will help you immensely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK_UOj7Gf1Y

That video I made 3 years ago and generally show it to people like this. Hopefully they “get it” but some don’t understand that what is portrayed in the video is the WRONG way to do things. It’s entitled “How NOT to be Social”. I also Bolded the part I hope he took note of.

He responded again but still doesn’t get it.  The thing is, if he would have spent 30 seconds on my profile, he would have noticed I am not “starting out on the Internet”.  I put up my first webpage in 1994 and have been an internet marketer since 2005 or 2006.

Here is my response to him.  This response is what sums everything up.  SOCIAL NETWORKING is SOCIAL.

The point is, your first impression was you were using my birthday as a way to make an affiliate sale. If you would have taken 30 seconds to look at my profile, youwould have known I’m not a new internet marketer.

If you were at a social gathering, would you walk up to someone and say: Hi, buy this….?

If someone did it to you, how would you feel? Would you recommend them? Would you introduce them to someone else?

In a social gathering, whether online or offline, you should build a relationship. Then offer to help.

I hope you do that today. The next person you say happy birthday to, just say happy birthday.

He didn’t reply after that.  What are your thoughts on this subject?

Social Media Success Summit 2011

This year’s Social Media Success Summit is jam packed with some of the top people in the field of social media and social networking.

Twenty-four of the world’s most respected social media experts have come together to share their newest social media strategies. They’ll reveal all the latest techniques and proven business-building tactics you need to know to immediately benefit from social media.

Location: Your home or office! Attend this live event using your computer.

When: Starting May 3, 2011 (spread over four weeks to accommodate your schedule; click here for the full schedule). All sessions are recorded and transcribed as well.

Why Attend this Conference: You’ll be able to quickly implement effective social media marketing techniques, attract great customers and prospects and gain a unique competitive advantage. You’ll also discover how to best measure the effectiveness of your social media activities and the newest social media tactics. This event will ensure your business is maximizing the full potential of your social media efforts.

Registration is strictly limited to the first 2500 People. NOTE: Social Media Success Summit 2010 sold out.

Michael Stelzner shared how Social Media Examiner has grown so quickly and how your business can benefit from social media

Here are just SOME if the presenters:
Jeremiah Owyang (Altimeter Group), Guy Kawasaki (author, Enchantment), Brian Solis (author, Engage), Frank Eliason (Citigroup), Mari Smith (co-author, Facebook Marketing), Erik Qualman (author, Socialnomics), Michael Stelzner (founder, Social Media Examiner), Dan Zarrella (author, The Social Media Marketing Book), Andy Sernovitz (author, Word of Mouth Marketing), David Meerman Scott (author, Real-Time Marketing & PR), experts from Boeing, Intel, Cisco and Verizon; Jay Baer (co-author, The Now Revolution), Hollis Thomases (author, Twitter Marketing), Steve Garfield (author, Get Seen), Mario Sundar (LinkedIn), and Ann Handley (MarketingProfs)–just to name a few.

Facebook Pages or Facebook Groups – the Big Difference

Facebook is one of the best sites used for social media marketing but there are people out there who are confused as to which they should create in order to use the social networking site to their advantage effectively. The confusion is based entirely on the Groups and Pages features of Facebook. Even senior media marketing consults are confused since both have overlapping features. Add the constant changes Facebook makes to their Pages and the whole issue becomes more complicated.

Here are some factors that you should consider when it comes to choosing which is right for your project:

• Interaction – because of Facebook Group’s security features and size limitations (under 5,000 members) they are more set for personal interaction. While Facebook Pages on the other hand do not list the names of its administrators and are thought of more as a corporate entity. The content of Facebook Groups is an extension of personal actions while content in Pages does not need to be linked back to you personally.

• Updates – for Groups, as long as they are below 5,000 members, you can send messages to the members that will appear in their Inboxes. For Pages, they can send their updates to their own Page and will also appear in the “Updates” section of their inboxes. Unlike Groups, there are no limits on how many updates you can send or how many fans you must have.

• Control – Groups have more control over who can participate. The permission settings can help you restrict access to a group or person. Access to Pages can only be restricted by age and location.

• Moderation – both Pages and Groups can be mediocre when it comes to how things are posted and who can post. If someone posts spam or something negative in your Group or Page you will have to remove it manually but you have the option to remove the member who did it.

• Advertising – advertisements can be bought to promote both Groups and Pages. But Pages have the benefit of having exposure through the fan connection that they have as they can be posted on their walls.

• One more difference that can help you is that Pages are indexed by major search engines like Google while Groups are not.

Burger King Virgins Missing the Boat?

I’m not one to sit and watch TV but I recently had a nice stay (not really) in the hospital where it was all I could do, besides trying to get better.

There’s a new add on TV from Burger King about Whopper Virgins

It’s a short ad with a high budget. It’s done very well actually. The concept is great and if it’s all true, must have been a great project to be a part of.

The ad is a teaser for an upcoming “documentary” Burger King created about people, who have never tried a Whopper or Big Mac and the results of the taste taste.

The possibility of this to be blasted across the Social Media Landscape is there. This could start a lot of conversations all over about it but come on BK! It’s already biased! YOU are the only one promoting YOUR “movie” which obviously benefits you from the results of YOUR taste test!

We KNOW what the results are before we even see the documentary.  You’re trying to tease us with something that’s supposed to be cool, but why would we go to the results when we know who they will be in favor of.

You really missed the boat here BK.  There is such potential here and it is very unfortunate that you didn’t capitalize on the possibilities. I’m a filmmaker, social media geek, and internet marketer, and while you got the filming right, the rest is sorely lacking.

If you want to get people talking about something, name it Burger Virgins with a similar domain name. Don’t brand it as your own. Let people create the conversation.

Pay the money to put the ads on TV and market them on specific Social Networks. Create the conversation or hire a firm to create it for you. Do it the right way!

Is there a way to salvage this, possibly but now the conversation is not going to be what you want it to be. You can’t stop a groundswell as Motrin recently found out the hard way.

Will it happen here, I guess we’ll see.

Is Social Media for Business?

From: Michael S. Copeland at http://mscopeland.com

I was talking to someone about a blog post where I was sort of tagged as a Social Media Maven. They asked me “Is Social Media for Business?”. To me, that’s like asking “Is oil for the car?”.

Then I got to thinking. I came to the conclusion that a lot of businesses do not know what social media, social marketing, social networking, and web 2.0 are. They don’t know what it can do for them and their business.

So I started to explain to him with a lot of questions and a story. I’ll try and retell it as best I can here.

Say like Bob decides to start a business in a town. It’s a bagel and lunch place. They close at 5pm M-F. In order to get people to come to the shop, he joins the Chamber of Commerce and the downtown neighborhood association. He decides to host the next Chamber get together. He gets a write up in the paper. The mayor was there. It was a good time. He’s at all the local events talking with people. Making sure to wear a Bob’s Bagels hat and shirt everywhere. He hands out cards to adults, balloons for kids. He’s doing it all right.

Now imagine that Bob makes the best Olive cream cheese people have ever tasted. He’s done surveys and people love his Everything Bagel with Olive Cream Cheese. It even won a county award. One of the things Bob does, which is unique for a bagel shop, is he gives recipes to his patrons to complement his cream cheeses. Like the Olive stuffed chicken breast, stuff like that.

Then someone asked if he had a website. He didn’t at the moment but was in the middle of creating one. His website would have order placement and drive by pickup. He even set up prepayment, shipping, and a newsletter. All of his recipes were on there.

You see, Social Media IS for business! It doesn’t matter what you’re selling. People buy from PEOPLE!

I drive 30 minutes to another Best Buy instead of the one 8 minutes from my house. Why? The people!

What Bob did was SOCIALIZE with the people in his town. He talked to them, shook their hand, and LISTENED to what they had to say. Since this was a brick and mortar business he did this all in person, whether it be him or one of his employees.

So now take that to the online world. What are you selling? Who are you selling it to? Where are they hanging out?

Don’t walk into the bar screaming “I’ve got the training course you want, get it now for 20% off!” That’s not being SOCIAL.

Join the conversation. If you happen to be able to help someone then tell them about yourself and what you can do. If you can’t help them, tell them where they can get the help! It’s being Social!!

I had a client who wanted more SEO work done and some training. I can get around with SEO but am not an expert. I was happy to steer them in the direction of some SEO Gurus.

Things like that are appreciated and will be returned 10fold. Because when that person hears someone in need of business building help or social media marketing help, I’m sure they will send them my way.

YES! Social Media is for Business. Just be REAL and get in touch with your peeps.