JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.

Can you believe that back in 1995, Newsweek thought the Internet would fail? Wow!

Of course, now folks say the same thing about social media. Social media is just a trend. Stats, composed of real humans, say otherwise.

Watch the video again. Check out the stats. Then tell me social media is just a fad, a phase, or something that’s going away.

It’s not going to be exactly the same though. Some services may go away. Some more shine more brightly.

But make no mistake: social media, things that are easy to create, easy to share, easy to understand, will not go away. We have the power, as consumers, as publishers, as people who have a real voice. Why would we give that back to a company?

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What I love about SOBCon is the Big C Community attendees immediately become part of, and that they continue to be part of, once they attend one event.

It’s an amazing thing to me, this Big C Community. There aren’t a lot of places like this in my life. I’ve been part of a lot of organizations, and few have fulfilled my need to be part of this.

What’s a Big C Community?

A Big C Community is one in which a shared sense of purpose pumps through everyone in the organization, whether it’s a formal organization or an annual conference folks look forward to attending every year.

Why do Big C Communities matter? LOTS of reasons, but none more important than the 4 I’ll share below.

4 Cs of a vibrant Big C Community:

Collaboration – Members of a Big C Community work together, sharing their ideas, their talents, their passions, their love, with other members of the community.

Connection – Members of a Big C Community have a sense of connection and feel it even when they are far apart. Social media helps keep this connection piece of Big C Communities going long after the physical connection is over.

Consistency – Members of a Big C Community expect consistent display of the shared values from those who lead the community.

Communication – When you’re part of a Big C Community, you expect frequent communication from the leaders of the community and from others who are part of the community. You don’t expect to hear from someone only when it’s time for the next conference, but you expect to hear from others in the community all year round.

And to answer Rich Hand’s question, serving customers in social media does remain the same as serving customers offline: Customers don’t want to be treated like customers. They want to feel part of something bigger, and they want, no they CRAVE, to be part of a Big C Community.

I’m planning to go to 2 conferences that are Big C Communities to me: HDI2010 and SOBCon. Will I see you at either event?

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And to dispel a myth, even if you’re not a celebrity, it’s important to know WHO is talking about you, just in case they say something nice, so you can thank them, or in case they say something bad, so you can do damage control.

So how do you find out who is talking about you, linking to you, and mentioning you on their website?

Google Alerts – Sign up for real-time alerts (via RSS or e-mail) anytime anyone mentions your name (I do last name but I am unique) or your website (use the WWW and without) or your personal mantra. It helps you find cool things like this mention of me on the Financial Times website.

Twitter Search – This is helpful for seeing who mentions you username or topics you’re interested in. I put in the search and subscribe via RSS but you can just keep coming back to it if you like.

BackTweets – This tool translates all the short URLs to your URL and helps you understand who shared your links in their Tweets. I like that you can get these via e-mail at the end of each day, so I can see who might be talking about my writing.

Do you have a favorite way to find out who is talking about you and your work?

Buy a copy of this fun onesy here.

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Sometimes it prevents me from writing an article…because I’m worried about doing it just right.

Sometimes it prevents me from sending out a Tweet…because I don’t know all the rules.

Sometimes it prevents me from making a LinkedIn connection, from submitting a comment to someone’s website, or even from investing any brain cells in thinking about a new topic.

So I thought I’d wade through all the advice I’ve gotten over the years and distill it down to one thing.

Perfect Social Media Advice

Do one thing today.

Do ANYTHING today!

• Set up a blog.
• Write a new article.
• Leave a comment on someone else’s blog.
• Respond to a comment on your blog.
• Send a tweet.
• Connect with someone new.
• Reconnect with someone old.
• Tweak your profiles.
• Upload a new picture to Flickr.
• Say hi to an old friend on Facebook.
• Greet a new friend.
• Have coffee with someone you’ve never met in person before.
• Do ONE THING today.
• Then do ONE THING tomorrow.

Don’t worry about it too much.

It’ll be PERFECT…even if it’s not.

That’s my perfect social media advice.

What’s YOUR best advice?

1 photo credit to moe

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I am delighted to share this presentation with you. It wasn’t done by me, but by someone MUCH smarter than me, and I think it’s perfect! It’s 87 slides, and worth the time it takes to click through them.

In my opinion, the biggest lesson is all the way at the end:

The Basic Rules of Social Media

Any questions?

You can click on the download file link in the presentation and if you’re a member of Slideshare (which doesn’t cost you anything), you can grab this presentation as a nice ebook in PDF form to share with those who don’t get it. You’re reading this blog, so I’m guessing either you do…or you want to get it.

Thank you for your attention.

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If I were attending the whole day, here’s what I would do:

• Start the day by registering early, so I could connect with the other participants
• 8:45 – 9:45 – Listen to Tom Snyder from Trivera Interactive talking about Social Media: Fun and Games or Business Tool
• 10:00 – 10:45 – Listen to 800-CEO-READ president Todd Sattersten teach how to go about  Blogging Your Way to Success
• 11:00 – 11:45 – Sit in as Augie Ray, Sue Marks, Joe Woelfle and Scott Baitinger talk about Social Media for Small Business Success
• Enjoy lunch until 1:00 with 3 or 4 other folks that I didn’t already know
• Get a seat early for my session that starts at 1:15 – 2:00 – Execute a Twitter Success Plan in 30 Minutes a Day
• 2:15 – 3:00 – Enjoy Find and Fuel Fans with Facebook from Sara Meaney (this looks like a definite repeat session, though I may get to give my session again)
• 3:15 – 4:15 – Finish the day with a keynote by Jay Steinfeld (CEO of Blinds.com) teaching How to  Get Your Customers to Brag About You with Social Media.
• 4:30 – 6:00  – Hang at the Networking/Tweetup with other participants and presenters.

If you can’t attend, you can follow the day’s events by following hashtag #SMUM on Twitter (or click here to go right to the Search for this tag, already populated by a few folks).

Will I see you there?

Please leave a comment if you’ll be attending so I can be sure to say hello to you. I’ll be getting there around lunch time and sticking around much of the rest of the day.

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1 – Thou shalt add value first, and sell LAST – If you have zero people in your network, and 3 articles on your blog, telling me about a joint venture opportunity I can REALLY benefit from is not going to work. Instead, leave a nice comment that adds value to one of my articles, or better, write an article on your own site that references my article, and then send me an e-mail letting me know about it.

2 – Thou shalt listen twice as much as you talk – You have two ears, and one mouth. Please use them in that proportion! Pay attention and pick your spots to contribute. You are NOT an expert in everything, no matter what you might think.

3 – Thou shalt not spam all your contacts – Just because we are connected, doesn’t mean I’ve given you permission to spam me with every time you come up with a new idea. Ask me…and I may give you permission.

4 – Thou shalt not act like a stuck up jerk, no matter how many folks are following you on any/every platform.  In fact, I would say ESPECIALLY if you have a million folks who follow you. Seth Godin is a very friendly guy who responds to email, blog posts, and other things directed at him. If Seth Godin can make time to reply to email, so can you!

5 – Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s contacts – After I meet folks in person, I often invite them to connect with me on the various social media networks I’m part of, and I am always happy to introduce you to someone who can help you, or who you can help. I always USED TO say: “If there is anyone in my network you’d like to meet, let me know and I’ll be happy to make the introduction.” I say USED TO because I had someone who went through my network and cherry picked more than 50 people to make a connection to because he thought they could all “benefit from his services.” Guess how many I introduced him to? HINT: It rhymed with hero! Instead, I now say “Let me know of 1 or 2 people in my network you’d like to meet, and what value you can add to their life, and I’ll be happy to introduce you.” That simple twists helps me weed out the spammers!

6 – Thou shall personalize every invitation I make to join any network – automated messages are for robots! Remind me how you know me and why, and it’ll help me remember why I should let you in. Especially annoying: Automated DM after following on Twitter.

7 – Thou shalt remember that 10 can be more powerful than 10000 – If someone has 10 readers to their blog, they might have a little more time to review your book or talk to you than someone who has 10000 readers and is constantly promoting the latest this or that. Therefore 10 can be WAY more powerful than 10000.

8 – Thou shalt not beg (for anything) – Don’t beg me to be your friend, to give you a link, or to connect me to so and so. Just ask nicely, tell me what value you’ll bring to the equation, and I’ll be happy to assist if I can.

9 – Thou shalt be authentic and transparent in all you do – Don’t hide anything from your readers. There’s no shame in promoting people you like, but say you like them. Also, there’s no shame in promoting stuff you believe in for a few dollars in an affiliate program, but don’t be shy about it and hide the URL in something on your domain that forwards to an affiliate link (unless you disclose it). I typically will shorten the URL if I’m doing an affiliate program, or you’ll if it’s short enough, you’ll see it.

10 – Thou shalt take the blog off the blog – Blogging and twittering is GREAT but now and then, go to a conference or two. Enjoy a cup of coffee or brew with someone local to you. Pick up the phone and call someone. Handwrite a thank you note. Take the blog off the blog.

Am I crazy?

Is this too much to ask of folks? Or are these 10 commandments of social media all you need?

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Why should you do this?

First, it’s easier to remember, especially if you have a hard to spell last name. Instead of saying “look me up on Facebook” you could make this a key place for your personal brand to live at.

Second, you can put it on a business card. http://facebook.com/philgerb is WAY more memorable than http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=682195131 isn’t it?

Third, don’t get stuck with http://facebook.com/phil.gerbyshak53202, like back in the days when AOL email addresses were all the rage.

Fourth, it’s consistent. My URL on Twitter is http://twitter.com/philgerb. Now I am http://facebook.com/philgerb. I can remember that (and so can you)

Last, it’s free. It doesn’t cost you anything to register your name RIGHT NOW. Why not go do it, just on the off-chance you might want it in the future.

And one more reason:

So someone doesn’t steal your brand name – Bad form? Yep. Illegal? Probably not.

A few interesting tidbits:

Facebook doesn’t allow you to transfer your custom URL to anyone, so folks who are thinking they will be squatting on all the “good names” are out of luck.

Also, unless you have more than 1000 “fans,” you can’t get a custom URL for your fan pages.

Last but not least, if you are a big shot journalist, you didn’t have to wait in line for a custom URL, which is pretty lame, in my humble opinion, but whatever. I’m not a Facebook owner. I might have done the same thing

If you want to be my “Facebook friend,” you can find me at http://facebook.com/philgerb. Just please tell me how you know me, and I will gladly accept your request.

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