Greg Swan

Archive for January, 2009|Monthly archive page

, ,

Social Media Breakfast MSP

In Social Media on January 30, 2009 at 10:20 am

Social Media Breakfast MSP #11
It was the 11th meeting of Minneapolis Saint Paul Social Media Breakfast this morning, and the topic was Social Media & Job Search with Paul DeBettignies.

Although I’m not looking for a job, there were plenty of tips that can help on the hiring side, plus this is easy online SEO and personal reputation stuff that anyone can implement starting today:

  • These days, there isn’t much legal issue with HR looking up job candidates online and using what they find against an applicant
  • Anything you find in a Google search, a potential employer will find in a Google search
  • Create a personalized LinkedIn URL, and if you don’t have a blog, use that link as your Web site when leaving a comment
  • Change the “name” of your blogs listed in LinkedIn (this took me a minute to figure out — categorize them as “other” and then you can change it)
  • Create your own LinkedIn invitation blurb to use rather than the default
  • Take advantage of “What are you doing” on Facebook and LinkedIn
  • Search LinkedIn via Google by searching Site:LinkedIn.com (then keywords)
  • Ladies, add your maiden name to Facebook and LinkedIn so people can find you
  • Be conscious of the line between professional and personal
  • Use Twitter for job search: tweet that you are looking, expand who you follow, use search to find users by title/company
  • Create a customized Twitter background — at least not the defaults. I created mine using PowerPoint via this.
  • Think about the terminology in setting your Location. If you’re in Richfield, it is probably better to set your location as “Minneapolis.’ However, Teresa Boardman pointed out she’s #1 in “St. Paul” and pointed out she’s found a way to be queen of a niche.
  • I asked this question: If I’ve done everything you’ve said about my online profile, do I still need a resume? Can I just send a link to LinkedIn? Can I print off my LinkedIn page and just submit that? Paul’s answer: NO. Unfortunately, human resources folks still need a traditional resume.

, , , , ,

Digital Reputation Management, Minnesota Interactive Marketing Assn (MIMA) Event, Jan 21, 2009

In MIMA, Social Media, Speaking Engagements on January 22, 2009 at 5:25 pm
photo by @tbrunelle

photo by @tbrunelle

On Wednesday, I had the profound pleasure of moderating a Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) event on the topic Digital Reputation Management, a topic that is a core focus of my company (and me personally) in 2009.

A Weber Shandwick proprietary analysis revealed that over three-quarters (79 percent) of the world’s number-one most admired companies lost their crowns over the past five years in their respective industries.

Reputation loss is also on the rise. Nearly 9 out of 10 business executives participating in our Safeguarding Reputation™ survey agree that susceptibility to reputation damage is a growing threat.

Similarly, a sizable 84 percent of global senior executives surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit reported that reputation risk increased significantly over the past five years. When executives were asked to choose among 13 risk types, reputation risk emerged as the most significant threat to global corporate business.

As company, brand and product reputations fluctuate and/or deteriorate worldwide, communicators need to proactively engage reputation radar systems to identify, track and respond to approaching reputation threats, as well as find ways to locate and empower brand advocates.

This is definitely a topic which our interactive marketing community needs to be active (especially proactive) in discussing, exploring and collaborating. What a great panel topic!

greg_mima02

Our star-studded panel constsited of Tammy Lee Stanoch, VP Corporate Communications for Delta/NWA, Lela Phommasouvanh, Senior Consultant, Search Marketing for FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters Business, and Steve Bendt, Social Technology Activist for Best Buy, Inc.

More than 250 attendees absorbed tips about tracking buzz, making the business case to leadership and the imperative “Set Up a Google Alert for your name and your clients’ names” mantras. If you missed the event, you can stream the archive here.

Gems from the discussion:

  • Be authentic
  • Be transparent
  • Be cautious, but fearless
  • Don’t be stupid
  • Don’t be unethical
  • Trust your employees and your customers
  • Realize you don’t have control, but put forth measures to proactively inoculate detractors and engage advocates

The panel put together a list of suggested reading links on del.icio.us here, and also mentioned the following resources to research, check out, use or peruse:

  • Best Buy Connect (BBY Employee Aggregator)
  • Blue Shirt Nation (BBY’s Internal Social Network)
  • Spy (can listen in on the social media conversations you’re interested in)
  • Twitter Search (Twitter search tool that includes RSS feeds)
  • RipOff Report (central place to enter complaints about companies and individuals who are ripping people off)
  • Yelp (User Reviews and Recommendations of Top Restaurants, Shopping, Nightlife, Entertainment, Services and More)
  • Radian6 (tools for real-time social media monitoring and analysis designed primarily for PR and Ad agencies)
  • Trakur (online reputation monitoring tool designed to assist you in tracking what is said about you on the internet)
  • FlyerTalk (the world’s most popular frequent flyer community)
  • LinkedIn (a networking tool that helps you discover inside connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners.)
  • ZoomInfo (a Web-based service that extracts information about people and companies from millions of published resources)
  • Spock (the world’s leading people search engine)
  • Cluetrain Manifesto (suggestion from audience that everyone should read it, and I concur)
  • Addictomatic (suggestion from the audience)

I also recommend:

If you have others to share, please include them in the comments.

UPDATE:

Steve Bendt has a recap post here.

Tim Brunelle has a recap post here.

Hello Viking has a recap post here.

Dopplr Annual Report is a genius idea

In From the Road on January 20, 2009 at 10:55 pm

dopplr_greg02

Not only am I fan of Dopplr to help track all of my trips each year and see where my friends will be, but they have a pretty great link bait strategy in the personalized Dopplr Annual Report I received this morning.

It’s a full page with all sorts of goodies based on my data, my connections’ travels and the overall Dopplr network.

Here are a few highlights:

dopplr_greg

Not only am I sharing it with you, this reinforces my desire to continue using Dopplr (and increasing my friends on the social network) in the year to come. Kudos guys.


Frozen Pipes

In Home Projects on January 16, 2009 at 2:28 pm

Yesterday I wrote a detailed guide on treating and preventing frozen pipes over the Minneapolis Metblog.

It’s written from experience. The pipes in the crawlspace of our 120 y/o house froze after 4 days below zero outside (low yesterday was -27 degrees). So instead of panicing I spent 2 hours with the blowdryer getting them flowing again. Then the trick is to keep them warm.

This was my set-up:
Frozen pipes SUCK

I reinsulated the outside access door with two layers of plastic. I have a baseboard space heater on high and a small fan heater (also on high). The cookie sheet in front of the blowing space heater was helping to deflect the air off the ironing board. I also have two heating pads wedged around the pipes, although one of them never got very warm.

I got up at 1:30 and 3:30 to flush the toilet, run the bathroom, bathtub and kitchen sink faucets, and ensure the space heaters and electric pads were working (and not starting our house on fire).

The above photo was taken last night at 3:30 a.m.

It’s a pretty good little system, but you can bet we’re going to invest in some of that electrical heating tape in the very near future.


New ultrasound picture

In Family on January 14, 2009 at 5:21 pm

baby_16
We had a great ultrasound today, which was tremendous news at my house.

It’s a boy, and his brother was thrilled to hear it!

Stupid Tree Part 2

In Home Projects on January 14, 2009 at 5:10 pm

As I was shoveling last night, I stared up at the stupid tree in my front yard — you know, the one that still has all of its leaves.

stupid tree

The high was -3 and the low was -20 degrees BEFORE WINDCHILL.

I have a feeling it’s dead, and we’ll have to take it out come Spring. Drat.

,

American Idol has money to burn

In Social Media on January 12, 2009 at 4:49 pm

americanidol
Sometimes it’s not smart at all to pay for a Facebook sponsored poll.

,

Hotel Business Chair Report: Holiday Inn Express, Coralville, IA

In From the Road on January 11, 2009 at 8:41 pm

It figures. The best hotel desk chair I’ve ever experienced in my travels was found in room 508 at Holiday Inn Express in Coralville, IA.
Holiday Inn Express Coralville, Iowa
Why am I so disheartened? Because I wasn’t here for work (note the coloring books on the floor), and only sat in the chair long enough to determine it was completely A-level awesome (incredible lumbar support, 5-spoke wheels, good arm support, tilt and height adjustment).

,

I’m moderating…

In MIMA, Speaking Engagements on January 7, 2009 at 3:20 pm

…the next MIMA event panel on Jan. 21. The topic is Digital Reputation Management.

Event Description:

Remember telephone? Where you’d say “apple” and it would come out the other end as “elbow fireworks”?

Well, these days, controlling your online reputation is akin to playing telephone. You’ve got to speak clearly. You’ve got to listen carefully. And if someone misrepresents your message, you’ve got to speak up. Sound easy enough? It’s not. With so many online communication channels – blogs, social networks, wikis – it’s getting harder to track who’s saying what.

But not to worry! We’re gathering some fine folks to talk through common problems, offer advice and answer your questions. Cool? Cool.

Panelists include:

* Tammy Lee Stanoch, VP Corporate Communications for NWA
* Lela Phommasouvanh, Senior Consultant, Search Marketing for FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters Business
* Dawn M Bryant, Manager, Corporate Public Relations for Best Buy, Inc.

We’ll discuss key issues related to online reputation management, including:

* SEO practices
* Active listening
* Response techniques
* Personal brand
* Customer and employee communities

You’ll walk away with practical tips and smart strategies you can put to use right away. If you’ve got clients, customers and competitors who A) know how to type B) have Internet connections, seriously, don’t miss this discussion.

Register here.

,

Stupid Tree

In Home Projects on January 4, 2009 at 11:29 am

As I was raking our new yard this fall, the tree in our front yard was taunting me. It still had its leaves, and as I raked up my 9 bags for the season, it seemed to be mocking me.

“Go ahead and put away the rake,” it teased. “I’ll drop my leaves when I’m good and ready.”

Then the first snow came — which was when the tree at my childhood home would lose its leaves — but they held on and on and on…

This photo was taken on Christmas Day.

Tree on Christmas

Those leaves just don’t want to let go. And I’m sure not raking now, so they can stay on until May for all I care.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

%d bloggers like this: