I decided to conduct a mini-Twitter project last night on this topic and asked my network of friends, thought leaders and colleagues this:

• What could a Community Manager do to use Twitter as a way to connect & engage with their community?

While I was battling Twitter and their database issues (perfect timing, eh?), I received a ton of kickass responses to my question:

Mack Collier:

Community Managers could monitor Twitter to find and connect with their community…and could help passionate community members find each other here.

Mike Driehorst:

Comm Mgr could use Twitter to ask questions, seek input, get the pulse of the community he/she manages.

Tara Whittle:

I think it’s important to foster a sense of availability & approachability, esp. for bigger cos. I also think it’s important to not let questions go unanswered, and that takes a lot of commitment.

Connie Reece:

Be genuine. Add value thru info, links. Answer questions abt brand. Never resort to marketing speak. A Comm. Mgr. needs to learn the “etiquette” of each network he/she decides to engage with & really needs to enjoy people.

Deb Robison:

A good community manager knows the explanation they are giving is heard by all customers, not just the one with question.

Beth Harte:

Twitter is a great tool for a Comm Mgr. to keep the comm. connected (i.e. convos) & up-to-date w/news, videos, offers, etc.

Amber Naslund:

Great comm. managers use social media to help view and articulate their brand through the eyes of their customers.

Jason Tryfon:

By engaging in near real time people feel a sense of belonging and their voice being heard.

Eddie Soto:

Gauge pulse on what is being said. Survey. Address concerns. Immediate damage control. Initiate discussions… Tweetups!

Keith Burtis:

More important than anything is to be human. Be real and transparent.

The discussion got flowing further than just these awesome thoughts. Take a look at the entire conversation for yourself.

The last thought by Keith definitely drew my attention. BE HUMAN. It’s not that hard right? Well, unless you’re a man-eating mutant from the 3rd dimension, but that’s probably unlikely. So, be yourself to the community. If you’ve got a flair or quirky attitude that people find weird but entertaining - then do it! Community Managers are the face and voice of the company and someone who your loyal following looks to when they want to talk to a person and not a company or logo. Stand out and be heard!

These tips on how a Community Manager can connect with his/her community through Twitter are all valuable in their own right. It encompasses what being a community leader is all about and how these values can translate into a great experience with your own community on Twitter and really any network.

I had a blast getting people’s gears moving with this question and honestly, it wouldn’t have taken off without the help of my rockin’ community. This project helped show that a good Community Manager needs to know how to connect and engage his community and make it even easier to connect with one another. The CM is the facilitator that helps bring in the community but those advocates are the ones who truly make the conversation. It’s your duty to engage them, give them something to talk about and be able to show the results.

In true fashion, let’s hear from the community. What do you feel makes for a great Community Manager? What can we add to the list? Let’s get even more ideas flowing!

You’ll notice a new custom layout that gives you a featured post section on the homepage for any new or popular posts, which I’m able to keep up top as long as I want now. Also, there are new About and Career pages that highlight personal and professional points about me, my skills within digital marketing and a few random pictures (ok one of me and my iphone - seems obsessive but oh well lol).

Throughout the theme, you’ll be able to tell I’ve added a lot of design focused aspects. For those that know me, I’m a wannabe designer at heart and love great design and usability on websites. Luckily, my awesome and kickass designer Shannon Farrell was able to bring my ideas to life (she’s redoing her site as well but she’s a fantastic designer if you need work done). Not to mention, the guys over at WPCoder building the theme into what you see functioning today.

You may be asking yourself why I chose to do a redesign. Basically, it comes down to me wanting my site, which I’ve started putting a lot of time and heart into, to have its own unique design that I can call my own. I’m definitely happy with the result and hope you all enjoy it!

I definitely got caught up in the moment and felt his emotions, those that only champions feel when accomplishing the goals they’ve set out for themselves. The Celtics set their goals before the season started and put their heart and soul into reaching it and did so as they became champions.

The goal of becoming a champion is no different in business than it is with sports. Regardless of what industry we’re in and what our job entails, we all (most?) strive to be a champion in one way or another. Whether it’s the small goals we set for ourselves or that one big illustrious accomplishment that we spend our heart and soul into (eg. Celtics). Whatever it may be, becoming a champion takes heart and dedication whether it be finally getting your MBA or nailing that first big client of yours.

I ask you, what makes you want to become a champion? What lights that fire inside of you and gets you going day in and day out? What makes you want to feel the emotion that Paul Pierce felt tonight receiving his ring? I want to hear from you.

Gary Vaynerchuk is as passionate as they come and if anyone is going to give you a kick in the butt about passion, he’s the man to do it. I’ve always watched his videos on GaryVaynerchuk.com & even on WineLibrary.tv (and I barely drink wine) and am able to take his energy from the videos and into my professional and even personal life. Seeing (and gratefully getting to speak & hang out with) him in person definitely multiplied the force of his words as I’m sure majority of the people at the keynote felt. Summing it up, he makes you want to get out and do 1,000 things. Powerful, to say the least.

The main points he made during the keynote was content and community - but the underlying piece was passion as it’s the cornerstone in creating and building on those two points. If you’re not passionate about what you do or don’t enjoy it, change what you’re doing. Passion is something he’s instilled throughout his entire company and it shows. I’ve listened to Gary for awhile and his emphasis on passion, loving what you do and turning that into constant hustle and hard work, but this time his words really opened my eyes to a light that I personally am striving for.

I truly have a passion for what I do - I love social media, learning & building day after day and helping grow the community I’m involved in and the relationships that are built just by caring about the people. There are goals, short-term and long, that I’ve set for myself and hearing last week’s speakers/keynote further embedded that bird in my ear that now is the time to step my game up to the next level. Make the effort and put in the hours towards this growing industry that I love and further build my brand equity.

I’ve had great people in my life, from my parents and loving sister to professional mentors that have instilled in me values that I hold close. Sometimes, regardless if the love is there, you need a kick start through someone else’s passion and drive to get you going on that extra gear.

In the end, it’s not just about Gary or his keynote or videos, it’s about realization - pay attention and you’ll see passionate people within any industry stick out like a sore thumb. Understand where you are and what you’re doing. Are you in a place that you want to be? Are you truly happy? If not, how and what are you going to change? I know what I have to do.

Networking and meeting people is always a big part of conferences but I honestly never expected to make the types of connections that I did this past week. Sure it’s probably a gimme that you’ll get to say hi to your favorite speaker or online influence while at the event, but I was lucky enough to actually spend time with them between & after events. I already had great online relationships with some of these people through Plurk and Twitter but meeting face to face further affirmed my thoughts about them.

This event really brought out the social aspect of social media. I never thought I’d spend my free time in Scottsdale hanging and joking with the very influencers I look up to and read on a daily basis. But in the end, I got what I put into it as I sought out to meet and connect with them as real people and not just business owners.

I look forward to further building these newly formed relationships and would like to personally thank again some of the people that made this event so great for me: Beth Harte, Frank Martin, Pam Martin, Amber Naslund, Ann Handley, Mack Collier, Connie Reece, Chris Brogan, Rohit Bhargava, Bryan Person, Christopher Penn and many others!

And as David Alston would say (or do, as you see above), peace out.

Just this afternoon, I, among thousands of others, have witnessed a similar community form before our eyes. The community is taking shape on Twitter right as we speak and is reaching out to thousands of folks across the network about a young girl, McKenzie Church (@genochurch’s daughter), who has been reported missing from her home this past weekend. The report made headway on Twitter as Rob Williams (@orangejack) tweeted an Amber Alert with a post he made on his blog. Before he and anyone else knew it, it’s been retweeted hundreds of times and is prevalant through a Twitter search and the number of results that you’ll see pouring in.

It’s amazing how an online service we normally take for granted, send out links with and tweet what we’re currently doing, can help bring together the entire community for a cause of spreading the word and finding a missing child.

In the end, aside from communities and Twitter, all I and everyone else wish for is to see McKenzie back home and safe with her family. It’s an unfortunate and sad situation but with the effort of Twitter’s community and hopefully reaching the right folks in the surrounding areas of where she is missing, someone will be able to find her.

Prayers go out to her and her family.

UPDATE: McKenzie returned home safely on the morning of Oct. 14th. Great news!

Later this month (Oct 22-23), I’ll be attending the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer in Scottsdale. I’m SUPER excited to go as there’s a ton of great speakers and tracks set up that’ll greatly benefit me and my knowledge in the social media space. The part that I’m really pumped about is meeting so many great folks I’ve connected with this past year through Twitter and Plurk.

Chris pointed out some great tips on how to handle yourself at a conference but you may be asking yourself, “What can I do before then?” About a week ago I asked my Plurk friends what their ‘best practices’ are when attending conferences. I got some great ideas through our discussion and came up with a list of things to do before heading out:

• Research - Find out who’s going to your conference and connect with them. Search for keywords through Twitter Search, as well as the event site to see which speakers will be there. Shoot attendees/speakers a quick note and tell them that you’d love to meet them at the event. Call it internet ice breaking but it will help when you do meet this person as you have an instant conversation starter. I’ve already connected with several attendees and speakers that will be there and overall, my approach has been welcome and reciprocated.

• Business Cards - This may be a bit of an obvious, but DO NOT FORGET business cards! Back at one of my very first events, I, of course, forget to bring business cards and felt like a complete dope when people asked if they could have one. Deb Robison mentioned to me that she writes on the back of all cards and puts down notes about each person to remember later; great advice! I recently designed and printed new business cards this week, which will also reflect some changes happening here very soon (shh, ;)). Checked this off of my list early as it’s an important one to remember.

• Make a List - Related to your previous research, make a list of people that you plan on meeting. You may have a great memory but make note of the people you’ve connected with and even their contact info (if applicable) so you can shoot them a tweet, IM, etc. while at the event to link up. I’ve yet to do this but plan on having it organized and ready to go.

• ‘What do you do?” - The dreaded 4-word question. Sounds simple but not planning this out and reciting it a few times can make it sound more complicated than it needs. Having your ‘elevator pitch’, as they say, ready to go will be another key conversation starter. Make it sound interesting but don’t bore them with a long spiel. With the help of some good e-friends, I’ve come up with mine:

I help companies connect with their customers and build community through social media strategies.

• Plan Meetups - Social Media folks are always up for a Tweetup (or Plurk-up) but given people’s schedules and with so many things going on at the conference venue itself, it would be wise to set up (at least verbally) a meetup with people attending. I’ve connected with several people within my network and plan to have at least one get together.

That’s it; my pre-conference to-do list. A little bit of planning can go a long way in making for a great conference experience.  Are there additional points I can add to this list? Let me know what YOU do to get yourself ready for a conference.

Earlier this week, I came across a great video called 5 Friends. It’s a celebrity filled video created to urge people to vote. They take a funny spin on it that you’ll just have to watch and see but the video is entertaining and thought provoking. The title of the video relates to their lasting message: Tell 5 Friends. That’s it. Just tell 5 of your friends about the video, about voting. Great ‘viral’ spin they put on the video, which has already garnered close to 1 million views since Oct 1st (includes a censored and uncensored version - big boy words;)). Imagine if everyone who watches it sends it to 5 friends. The buzz about the video would skyrocket. So, take a look at the video and be sure to send it to your 5 friends!

I’ve tagged 5 of my friends (I would’ve added more but I’ll stick to the gameplan) so they can have a watch of the video as well:

Amber Naslund, Deb Robison, Frank Martin, Connie Reece and Beth Harte.

]]> http://www.sonnygill.com/voting-gone-viral/feed http://www.sonnygill.com/intel-pushing-their-weight-around http://www.sonnygill.com/intel-pushing-their-weight-around#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:18:51 +0000 Sonny Gill http://www.sonnygill.com/?p=71 About two months ago, a Twitter bud linked an article from EcoGeek that talked about a big issue they had with Intel and how their logo was stolen. Apparently, Intel PR released some material about one of their products that utilized a cool eco-style power button. Well, this nifty image was the EXACT image of EcoGeek.com’s logo. I guess big time corporations aren’t able to cut into their billion dollar budgets for a little design work.

Fast forward to almost a week later where Intel casually/barely/whateveryouwannacallit apologized to EcoGeek for taking their logo and were ’sorry if you were upset’. No real apology, no compensation, not even a call. Intel, their PR team, and whoever else that had their hands around this obviously didn’t care much for the little guy that they stole from and basically brushed ‘em aside and went on about their business. Fail. They handled this terribly from a communication standpoint and missed an opportunity to be transparent and fix this sticky situation. If they had shown more assertiveness in reaching out to Hank Green (EcoGeek’s founder) and amending their wrong doing, Intel could have helped their PR case and shown Hank and his readers that they actually give a damn and are truly sorry. Giving him a tour of their headquarters, small compensation, or even a call could have been enough to rebuild the trust with Hank and the EcoGeek community.

Ok, you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about a story that’s two months old. Well, my wheels started spinning this morning as I was doing my usual reading/skimming of TechCrunch posts. I came across an article about Intel and a trademark fight; oh, this had got to be good. For some strange reason, Intel thinks Intellife Travel, a small Chinese travel agency, is infringing on their name. I, along with many others who have commented, don’t see a correlation between the two and would probably have never heard of Intellife Travel if it weren’t for Intel (free PR is better than no PR?).

I won’t get into the legal ramifications of this case but the issue is Intel’s casual demeanor when dealing with small-time businesses and pushing their big dollar name around; not to mention the utter hypocrisy of these two issues. They blatantly jacked someones logo and used it for their own good and then had the nerve to claim Intellife Travel is infringing on their rights. Intel had the chance to address and even build upon their community by rectifying their mistake with EcoGeek, but they chose otherwise and are now after a small business in what seems like such a frivolous lawsuit.

What would you do in either one of these cases (Intel or not)? Is there anything small businesses can do when trying to combat high-powered corporations and their lawyers?

]]> http://www.sonnygill.com/intel-pushing-their-weight-around/feed http://www.sonnygill.com/my-best-practice-conversation http://www.sonnygill.com/my-best-practice-conversation#comments Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:30:38 +0000 Sonny Gill http://www.sonnygill.com/?p=60 Late last month, Mitch Joel of Twist Image, a marketing agency north of the border, posted a fun and educational social media writing project. The project is simple and asks the community this question:

What are your best practices for Social Media Marketing?

I thought about the question for a bit, as there were several that crossed my mind but then it became evident to me what my best practice is:

Conversation

A best practice describes the building blocks of the strategy/industry at hand, something that brings it to life. The backbone of social media, in my opinion, revolves around the conversation. Taking part in the conversation is one of the biggest things you can do to help evolve your social media presence. Opening the lines of communication within your network shows your willingness to be transparent and to learn & build from that network. So how can you effectively be part of the social media conversation? Here are a few thoughts:

• Read and Comment - visit industry blogs that interest you and comment (thought provoking not just a ‘great post’ comment). Stay active and on top of what’s going on in the industry.
• Listen - Opening your ears to what’s being said is just as important as talking. What are the hot topics, the hot people; educate yourself and provide value when you do jump in.
• Write - Encompassing what you learned - start writing! Bust out some posts and engage your readers. Ask them questions, ask for feedback, grab their interest and hold on to it for dear life (ok, maybe not that dramatic but you get the point).
• Be Yourself - Show the real you, in the posts to your readers, in your tweets, to anyone (which is everyone) that can hear you on the interwebs. Transparency gets picked up easily in social media and is appreciated.

We can probably expand this topic even further but will stick to the basics for now and keep it concise for Mitch’s project. Feel free to add your thoughts about conversation and what YOUR best practice is.

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