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The first rule of fight club Social Media Club is never go on after Jason Falls. He wowed the crowd with live demonstrations of Ustream and ooVoo, including a live video chat with Phillip Robertson who works for ooVoo. It was a perfect example of how quick, easy and functional video chat can be. Speaking of Ustream, this link may suck all the productivity out of your day, but it’s so worth it: Shiba Inu Puppy Cam.

Next we discussed the third party Twitter client that turns out to be both my favorite and Jason’s favorite: Tweetdeck.  We both appreciate the flexibility that Tweetdeck gives us in terms of saving searches, separating people we’re following into groups and having our entire streams, replies and direct messages all on one screen.

As Jason noted I run several blogs, including Consuming Louisville, so I briefly spoke about some of the tools I use every day: Movable Type, Mint, Google Analytics, Tweetdeck and Google Reader. First up was Movable Type, my content management system of choice. The ease with which you can maintain multiple blogs, security and having a company backing up the product and providing technical support were the main reasons why Movable Type meets my needs so well. Movable Type is not the easiest blogging software to get up and running with though. So I mentioned both Wordpress and Blogger as free blogging alternatives that get you up and running really quickly.

Mint and Google Analytics are the website statitstics packages that I consider to be a great 1-2 punch for tracking both how many people are coming to various blogs and where they’re coming from. Mint gives instant feedback which is really valuable when testing the effectiveness of linkbaiting and promotional efforts. So I use Mint to look at quick stats including day to day and hour to hour comparisons. I use Analytics to look at larger time periods and to go a little bit deeper into statistical info.

I quickly threw some more love to Tweetdeck and then brought up Google Reader. Google Reader became the jumping off point for a discussion of RSS feeds at large which led to Google Alerts, Twitter Search and other listening mechanisms.

A few other technologies were briefly discussed Tuesday evening like Presently, a private twitter client,  Ping.fm, social bookmarking tool Delicious, photo sharing site Flickr and lots of good questions from the audience were presented and answered.

Feedback after the event was very positive. Everyone seemed to have a very good time and picked up some good knowledge about specific social media tools.

Image via Wikipedia

The event minimizes formal structure to allow for maximum creativity, conversation, and productivity.  It will be coming to Lexington for the first time November 21-23, and will be held at Whitehall Classroom Building on UK’s campus.  The cost is $40 for the weekend and includes food and a T-shirt.

You can sign up here.

RSVP and get more information from the Facebook event here - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=33516827207

The Digital Dialogs presentation to the club attempted to cover much of the basics of social media marketing, search engine marketing and paid online advertising. The video of the hour-long session will be posted soon. As promised to the club here are the presentation slides, the “5 Things To Get Started” list that was used as a handout, and a Starter Kit listing of things you can use now to implement social media for your business:

Social Media Strategies

5 Things To Do

Social Media:  listening

• Set up alert services on your brand or industry as an early-warning system.
  • Technorati.com
  • Google News Alerts: http://www.google.com/alerts
• Use RSS to scour the social web for conversations about you 24×7
• Observe the conversations taking place (twitter, blogs, forums)
• Set up social media profiles on major social networks appropriate to your goals.
• Determine the authority figures in you industry and how they behave.

Social Media: participation

• Comment, helpfully and authentically on others’ conversations (learn the ropes.)
• Set up a blog on your own domain name and configure it for SEO
• Write link-worthy posts, linking liberally to authority blogs (trackbacks)
• Always add value, never SPAM or regurgitate
• Remember that hundreds may be monitoring your “1 to 1″ conversation.

Search Engine Optimization (Organic)

• Determine your “money” keyphrases
• Produce link-worthy content with terrific titles (blog works great.)
• Structure your pages properly with tags, anchor text
• Obtain links from high authority websites by adding value
• Use care with hosting and domain name changes

Search Engine Optimization (Paid Search)

• Research keywords carefully
• Structure your campaigns thematically
• Develop offer-specific landing pages
• Measure everything against your cost-per-sale goals.
• Test and refine continuously

Social Media Starter Kit

Social media strategy uses objectives, tools and outcomes to serve as your road map for navigating a journey.  Social media - much like any journey - requires attention, decision-making, and pace.  Social media should be treated not as a bolt-on solution, but more as a set of tools, ideas and methodology which combine to facilitate your ultimate goal: first-person insights and interactive dialog.   

Just as with the offline world, social media relationships and conversations can be nuanced, require undivided attention, and may ebb and flow over time.  At its core, social media makes it easier to discover, preserve, extend and interact with conversations already taking place about you, your brand, and your interests. It is not a panacea or plague of any sort., so we offer these objectives and these recommended tools to begin your journey of discovery, connection, and interaction.

Objective: Start with Listening

You’ve got two ears and one mouth, so let’s begin by getting a lay of the land.

• Google Alerts is a service that scours many corners of the Internet to find mentions of the keywords or topics of your choice.  Consider subscribing to mentions of your brand, your products, competitive and industry interests, or even more esoteric interests.  

  http://google.com/alerts

  Google Insights allows you to apply filters or lenses of time, geography and keyword context to your searches.

  http://www.google.com/insights/search/

  Perspctv.com is an interesting web tool that aggregates, compares and visualizes large flows of data from the Internet.

  http://www.perspctv.com/q/dominos,papa+johns,pizza+hut

• It is highly likely that a customer, vendor, client or prospect has already used some form of social media to mention your product, brand or unmet need for a solution you can provide. Use these simple tools to peer into the vast abyss of available content and find some gems to explore.

  http://blogsearch.google.com 

  http://www.blogpulse.com

  http://search.twitter.com

  http://www.twing.com (search the forums and bulletin boards that traditional search engines can miss)

• If you haven’t already, sign up for a new home page that serves as a customized personal dashboard.  Subscribe to snippets from virtually all of your favorite sites and major media outlets; look for this icon: [RSS]

  http://my.yahoo.com

  http://igoogle.com

  http://netvibes.com

• Explore social bookmarking sites to see how others have categorized and commented on your site, industry, competitors, etc.:

http://delicious.com
http://stumbleupon.com

• Sign up for Google Reader and begin collecting subscriptions to your favorite sites and other regularly updated content

http://google.com/reader  

Learn more about RSS and what it means to your online content consumption habits: video

Objective: Plant the seeds

G.I. Joe taught us all that “knowing is half the battle” so once we’ve taken stock of the volume, tone, sentiment, and behavioral insights of your target groups, we can start to engage our audiences in a proactive and appropriate manner.

• Join and build a profile on Facebook.  You might already know something about this popular social networking site and its well-earned hype.  Perhaps you knew that 92% of all college students in the U.S. are active members, but what you might not know is that the most rapidly growing segments are those over 25 years of age. Your fans, customers and competitors are out there: you should be too.

  http://facebook.com

   

• Join and build a profile on Linkedin.com. Think of this site as a living, dynamic version of your Rolodex and resume, all rolled into one. Connect with past, current and future colleagues and explore the many advanced features and distractions (like apps, groups, forums) to uncover more value. When used effectively, this site serves as a powerful resource for job hunting, sales lead generation, or even a knowledge base for solutions to tough questions.

  http://www.linkedin.com

   

• In your previous search of blogs, you may have found some blogs you particularly enjoyed reading. Whether it was an interesting trade rag, an annoyed customer, or a potential business partner, virtually any person that participates in the exercise of self-expression via social media will enjoy a dialog with someone that finds their perspectives interesting. Leaving a thoughtful comment on a blog is tantamount to a social media handshake which helps to build relationships on- and off-line. In many instances, authors find more value in the comments left by others than in the original content they published.

  Try http://alltop.com for a virtual magazine rack of top blogs by category

   

• You’ve used the search function of twitter when you were assessing online buzz earlier, but now it’s time to dig in and add your own two cents. Create an account and complete your profile, preferably with your real name, not your brand or agency’s – the brand you’re representing here is yourself and not your company, your pet, or some cryptic moniker. Start following other people with whom you share similarities or differences in interests, geography, perspectives and expertise. People use twitter in a wide variety of ways, but the most effective use may be the many-to-many communication style vs. the one-to-many or one-to-one interactions of more traditional media.

  http://twitter.com

Objective: Nurture your efforts, then reap the harvest

After building up your knowledge and capabilities in listening and participating, you might be ready to rip off those training wheels and start extracting more significant value from social media. Remember: for better or worse, these activities, tools and methods are designed to equip yourself with first-hand feedback from real people. What you do with this feedback is ultimately up to you and your objectives, but please understand that some of these insights may be so frank that they’re difficult to digest, may perpetuate a certain bias, or may even be extremely difficult to come by.

After first listening and then hiking through the steppes of the social media landscape, it is now time to formalize your voice and begin contributing to the larger ecosystem.

• Use a blog to give your communications a boost in searchability and reach.

http://wordpress.com

http://www.sixapart.com/products/ (paid service)

http://blogger.com

Consult an experienced pro to make sure your solution meets your techinical, business and creative objectives.

• Create your own groups on LinkedIn: if you don’t find a group in which your unique interests are discussed or your conversational needs find kindred participants, start your own Group and invite others to join and participate in the discussions. From college and workplace alumni groups to professional societies and hobbyists, many opportunities for valuable feedback and insights abound in LinkedIn group participation.

   

• Create and maintain Fan Pages on Facebook: Got a product or idea that you think others would like? Start a Fan Page and invite others to profess their love. Fan Pages offer a tremendous opportunity for brand ambassadors to talk directly to their favorite products, brands, musicians, schools, etc. Many people merely show their allegiance by joining the page, but you might also find a very vocal, frequently benevolent fan base that will provide you with invaluable commentary.  A critical mass of fans also provide an interactive channel for customer-driven R&D or product development.  Who better than your most loyal fans to help augment and refine a product?

• Consider creating or joining a pre-built social network for niche interests on a site like Ning.  Note: some content NSFW

  http://ning.com

• Ask questions of experts on LinkedIn, brand ambassadors on Facebook

• measure your impact with google analytics,

• adv: widget deployment

• adv: full-scale brand monitoring and insight solutions: radian6, Nielsen online, visible technologies, motivequest

• adv: community solutions (mzinga)

Personal Dashboard / RSS

http://igoogle.com

http://google.com/reader

http://my.yahoo.com

http://netvibes.com

http://tabbloid.com

Business-focused social networks

http://linkedin.com (group, answers,

http://www.jigsaw.com

http://www.spoke.com

Organic Search Optimization
Organic search optimization is an ongoing process that can significantly increase traffic to your website long-term.  I’d estimate that 90% of small business websites have made no effort to rank well in search and therefore have received minimal financial rewards from their websites.

How Search Engines Work (Organic Listings)

• Search Engines “Crawl” the web, but they recognize text and links more than graphics.
• Once a page has been “Crawled” - it is added to their index.
• When searches are done, the index is accessed and a search engine results page (SERP) is displayed.
• The order of sites on that page are determined by secret search engine algorithms, geography, personalization settings, and even previous searches.
• In general, the higher authority sites are at the top of the listings.

The Search Engines’ Goals Should Be Compatible with Your Goals.  Search Engines want to….

• …return satisfying results, free from SPAM.
• …win the arms race between marketers and search engine algorithms.
• …return results that are similar to what a human expert would give you in a gigantic library help desk.
• …avoid irrelevant, annoying or harmful results (such as spyware and offensive material)

Succeeding in Organic Search Requires

• Time and Initiative
• Keyword research
• High quality content that is “link-worthy”
• Well structured web pages
• Continual updates and out-bound linking
• Integration with off-line forms of marketing.

Gotchas!

• Mismanaged Domain Names, or using someone else’s domain name (e.g. wordpress.com, typepad.com, blogger.com)
• Splash Screens and Slow Loading Pages
• Poorly Structured Pages (tags, etc.)
• Hosting problems (slow site, site down often.)
• “Black Hat” Techniques (cloaking, buying links)
• Website redesigns without considering SEO (broken links, etc.)
• Overusing Flash, Javascript and other multi-media technologies.

Easy First Steps / Low Hanging Fruit

• Stabilize your hosting and domain name.

• Get rid of your “splash” or “welcome” screen.  Everyone hates them, including search engines.
• Register/Claim your business on Google Local, Yahoo Local, and Superpages.
• Set up Google Webmaster Central for your site.
• Fix website errors

Getting Professional Help

• Website SEO audit is a smart first move.
• SEO Retainer Programs - let the SEO work with your team.
• Content Development - Link Bait Development

Paid Search Optimization (Sponsored Listings / Pay Per Click Ads)

Paid search can be the most effective, least expensive advertising model available for some businesses.  But I find that more than 80% of campaigns are set up sub-optimally causing the waste of time, money, and unfortunate early-withdrawal (and lost opportunity.)

How Paid Search Works….

• Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft sell space on their search results pages
• They also have a network of sites that have “Ads by Google”, etc. on them (content networks.)
• Businesses bid for advertisement position and frequency of display.
• Search network offerings show ads near search results pages based on keywords.
• Content network offerings show ads on web pages that carry the ads and are deemed “relevant” to the ads.
• Complex bidding models based on amount of a bid, relevance to the search, and previous searcher behavior determine the costs
• Billing may be Cost Per Click, Cost Per Thousand Impressions, or Cost Per Action.

Succeeding in Paid Search Requires:

• Analytics and metrics to measure success.
• Extremely good keyword research
• Testing of every part of the sales funnel.
• A strong offer on the landing pages
• Properly organized campaigns.
• Integration with off-line forms of marketing (print, TV)

Next Steps for Paid Search Campaigns

• Set up website analytics on your site and learn to use it.
• Develop offers (e.g. specials, white papers, etc.)
• Decide what you can sensibly spend (lifetime value per customer, value per sale)
• Set up your paid search ad groupings, keywords and match types (carefully)

Asking a Pro For Help:

• Setting Up Analytics
• Paid Search Audit
• Paid Search Retainer
• Campaign Reorganization Project
• Landing Page Development

Professionals In The Space:
Scott Clark - Lexington:  859-268-0664 - http://www.websiteadvice.com
Nick Huhn - Louisville: 502-876-9148 - http://www.nickhuhn.com
Jason Falls - Louisville: 502-815-3257 - http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com

1. Monitor and listen to online conversations about your brand.
2. Use an RSS Feed Reader to browse hundreds of websites in minutes
3. Bookmark and share content on sites like Digg, Stumbleupon and Delicious
4. Manage a blog or multiple blogs
5. Use Twitter as a social network
6. Share images and videos and use them on your website
7. Live stream and record live events for us on your website

In presenting social media concepts to businesses, clients and professional organizations, we’ve found that many people still just need help learning the basics of the tools. What we hope to accomplish is to show those attending how easy it can be to use social media to enhance your business. Since several members of our audience are also active users, the event will be true crowd sourcing in that everyone will bring some degree of knowledge, a trick of the trade or useful tip to the table.

Refreshments will be served and lots of professional networking time will be allotted. Please RSVP by emailing the SMC Louisville at smclouisville — at — gmail.com.

And do invite others you know who might be interested. Our mission is to help educate people on social media tools, strategies and philosophies to enhance business and personal communications. If you know someone interested in achieving that, bring them along.

See you on Nov. 18!

See the Facebook Event Here.

Image:  Lifeline-Tool-Box-Zoom by elyob on Flickr.

O’Keefe’s web conference, conducted over video conferencing platform ooVoo, is below. The recording began just seconds into O’Keefe’s opening comments. His talk was approximately 15 minutes while the engaged crowd asked questions for an additional 25 minutes. Because of the setup - speakers feeding O’Keefe to a room - there is a bit of an echo and some instances of feedback.

Four copies of, “Managing Online Forums,” were given away as door prizes. Okeefe also blogs at ManagingCommunities.com.

The SMC Louisville’s next even will be it’s monthly cocktail hour at Proof On Main on Tuesday, Oct. 28 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.

Inspired by Let’s Tweetup, Louisville Geek Dinner and similar meetups Let Them Tweet Cake! is a social gathering for women with interests in social media, blogging, social networking and other online technologies and all manner of geekiness. We want to get together to talk about our shared interests, learn about new technologies from each other, develop new friendships and social connections and just generally have a good time. And oh yeah, eat cake.

While many meetups are held in pubs or restaurants Let Them Tweet Cake has a decidedly sweeter location: Sweet Surrender.  Not only has Sweet Surrender graciously agreed to host our meetup they have also agreed to have half slices of cake available for purchase during Let Them Tweet Cake. Half slices of cake are better for my hips and also better for my wallet. Thank you Sweet Surrender.

What: Let Them Tweet Cake!, a meetup of new media using, technology savvy women in Louisville
When: Thursday October 16, 2008, 6:30PM-8:30PM
Where: Sweet Surrender
1804 Frankfort Avenue
Louisville, KY

Please RSVP to info@consuminglouisville.com (preferably with “Let Them Tweet Cake” as the subject) by Tuesday October 14, 2008 so we can have a loose estimate of how many women to expect. If you decide to come at the last minute or forget to RSVP please come anyway, we want to see you there!

Patrick O’Keefe, author of “Managing Online Forums,” and owner and founder of the iFroggy Network, will discuss these niche communities and how to approach them as a user, marketer or potential manager, in a web teleconference presentation to the Social Media Club Louisville. The teleconference will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 21 as part of the SMC Louisville’s networking event from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at The Louisville Visual Art Association at the Water Tower. O’Keefe’s teleconference is scheduled to run from 7 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. The rest of the event will be informal networking for those in attendance.

Several copies of O’Keefe’s book will be given away as door prizes. Refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public.

Add this event to your Google Calendar here:

Patrick O’Keefe is a writer, web developer, and community administrator who has been managing online communities since 2000. Beyond just being the administrator, however, he’s spent substantial amounts of time contributing to communities from all angles, as a member, staff member and owner. He founded and owns the iFroggy Network, an Internet network featuring several communities, including SportsForums.net, KarateForums.com, phpBBHacks.com, CommunityAdmins.com and PhotoshopForums.com. He writes for multiple blogs, including ManagingCommunities.com.

For more information, contact Jason Falls at (502) 815-3257 or email smclouisville — at — gmail.com.

IMAGE: By Wendy Piersall on Flickr.

I know this is going to sound maybe a bit too earnest but it really makes me happy and excited to see so many folks  from the Louisville buisness community up so early on a Thursday morning to talk about social media. It inspires me to be even more passionate in my own business as well as even more dedicated to Social Media Club.

Thanks very much to all who attended, all who asked questions  and who have participated in Social Media Club Louisville events.

Free video chat by Ustream

And as promised, here are the slides from the presentation for better viewing.

Thanks to all who came and all who are looking here for background information. We’d love to talk to you about social media. You can email any of us at the addresses listed on the last slide or send one to smclouisville — at — gmail.com and someone will follow up with you.

————–

SolutionSet will be opening an office in Louisville in mid September and will have openings for HTML/CSS specialists and Java developers with 2+ years of experience. SolutionSet is a fast growing company and is expanding to Louisville to establish an East Coast presence. Launched in 2003, SolutionSet (http://www.solutionset.com) combines industry-leading technology with user-centered creative to deliver the latest approaches in web development, digital marketing and brand experience. As a brand technology and interactive agency, we utilize the latest technology to turn our clients’ visions into the website, brand promise, ad campaign, application interface, or email campaign they need to run their business. With offices in San Francisco and Palo Alto, we stage the convergence of brand and technology which allows us to view each client challenge with a bigger picture in mind and offer strategic solutions based on that visibility. We have a proven track record for delivering to clients like Chevron, EBay, Tivo, Verisign, Cisco, Autodesk, and LucasFilm. SolutionSet is a Webby Award recipient and is number 23 on the Inc Magazine Top 500 Fastest Growing Companies overall list and number 2 in the IT Services category.

We are looking to fill these positions:
* CSS/XHTML Developers
* Java Developer (2-7 years industry experience)
* Sr. Java Developer (5+ years industry experience)

If you are interested, or know anyone who may be interested, please contact Tom Osborne ASAP. We will be conducting interviews in Louisville this Friday (September 12). Feel free to contact Osborne after this date as well.

*NO RECRUITERS*

Tom Osborne - tosborne - at - solutionset.com
502.797.8247