It was a great week at The Social Latte so I thought that I would share a couple of the ‘first time’ accomplishments that made the week standout.

First and foremost was the launch of FoxPop with 20th Century Fox that coincided with the release of Night At The Museum 2 – Battle Of The Smithsonian on December 1st. It’s a great movie and lends itself very well to demonstrating the application’s features and adding to an already great movie-watching experience.

And just as exciting as the release was being contacted by Time.com and being asked to put content together for an article they released on the same day. Although the deadline was incredibly tight, working with Steven James Snyder of @Techland and is editor Stefania was a great experience and truly a pleasure.  They created a great video explaining how the technology works which can be viewed below:

But what was even better is that the article was actually featured on the front page of Time.com which was AWESOME! Everyone involved with Spot411 was very excited to see the article there and marks a great company moment.

So if you haven’t already done so, be sure to checkout FoxPop and Spot411!

Since I seem to get asked about LinkedIn all the time, I thought I would share some of the replies I often give.  Below are some quick thoughts and ideas to consider when reviewing and/or creating your LinkedIn Profile.

• Write a headline that draws people in.  Rather than displaying your job title, tell people what problem you solve or benefit you provide to them.  How can you help them in ways others cannot?  Here is mine, “Helping businesses understand, integrate, measure and maximize social media in their business.”
• Change the system-generated URL to be your name or business name.  Rather than being www.linkedin.com/pub/jack-smith/3/76a/8b5, you can be www.linkedin.com/in/thesociallatte
• Upload a professional-looking head shot.  I tell people all the time, that the biggest thing you can do to be successful in social media is to have a picture!  It doesn’t have to be straight out of Vogue, but you can do wonders with cameras these days.  And if you want to make sure you get the best shot at the best price, be sure to check out my friend Diane Wallace.
• Add Web sites of relevance.  Not only can you use your website home page, you could create links to your services, about us, or other pages.  What about a link to your Twitter account of Facebook Fan Page?

My LinkedIn Profile - JackAlert

• Include your contact information.  If you want to be contacted about networking opportunities, jobs or whatever else, be sure you give people an easy way to do so.
• Get endorsed by others.  How do you get endorsed by others you ask?  Simple, you give endorsements yourself when they are deserved and sincere.
• Join groups of interest and post and comment about topics in your industry.  Birds of a feather flock together which is great, but also be sure to check out groups in related fields or of personal interest.  You never know what you’ll find.
• Add your LinkedIn profile URL to your e-mail signature, as well as, any other social media sites you may frequent.  Invite people to connect with you in a variety of different ways.
• Update your status – Be sure to update your profile to let people who drop by your profile know what you are up to.  Updates can inluce books you are reading, projects you are working, issues you need help with or ones you can help others with and much more – get creative!

Hope you found a nugget or two to help with your own profile.  You can find my LinkedIn Profile here.  If you haven’t already done so, consider adding me to your network.  And for more great information on LinkedIn, check out this article on How To Build Your Personal Brand at Mashable.

I am super excited to invite you to the first event/Tweetup created by The Social Latte that will combine networking, ME BARTENDING with drinks and food at happy hour pricing and great 80′s music. The event will take place at one of my favorite new ‘American Saloons’ – Sign Of The Whale at the corner of Warner and McClintock.  The Facebook Invitation is here.

We’ll have a private room with Happy Hour pricing from 5-7 for networking and socializing and then I’ll be bartender from 7p – 10p with DJ Mike in charge of the 80′s tunes.  I’m sure I’ll have some crazy 80′s outfit on, so I encourage you to do the same and pay tribute to the passing of the ‘King Of Pop’ – Michael Jackson may be gone, but the 80′s LIVE ON!

Date:	Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Time:	5:00pm – 10:00pm
Location:	Sign Of The Whale
Street:	1706 E. Warner Rd, #3
City/Town:	Tempe, AZ
	View Map Google MapQuest Microsoft Yahoo

Leave a comment below with your favorite 80′s Song and we’ll get it on the playlist!

To get you in the mood, check out the video to the right or this great Michael Jackson Twitter Mashup of Billie Jean.

The Social Latte & The Tempe Chamber Of Commerce

Are you attending the Tempe Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Luncheon?

The luncheon is themed “21st Century Marketing.” OpenRain is thrilled to be a participant with this wonderful cast of speakers. The event features lunch, exhibits, networking, and thought-provoking break-out sessions.  To register, go to TempeChamber.org.

The cost is $50 for members and $65 for non-members. The Tempe Chamber will also be celebrating their successes over the past year and introduce the incoming Board of Directors. This event will be a fantastic one. We hope to see you there!

When: June 23, 2009
Where: Fiesta Resort & Conference Center – 2100 S Priest Drive Tempe, AZ (map)

Program:
11:00 Registration & Networking
12:00 Lunch
12:20 Chamber Leadership Report
12:30 Lunch Presenters

• 21st Century Marketing, presented by John DeSantiago, OpenRain Elite Web Software
• E-Sales Secrets, presented by Martin Jones, Cox
• Finding The Time, presented by Erin Jagodzinski, Express Employment Professionals

1:15 to 2:30 Break-Out Sessions

• Branding’s Amazing Race — Driving Your Brand In Online Circles
• **The Social Media Craze — Using It Wisely In Your Marketing Strategy**  Presented By The Social Latte**
• Image Is (still) Everything— Reaching Out To Media In a World Gone Digital
• Marketing Stimulus Plan— Resources To Stretch Your Marketing Dollar

You can view the slides from the presentation below and please leave a comment or any feedback if you were at the event!

If you have been on Twitter for more than a day, then you have more than likely had a DM (Direct Message) sent to you by a site claiming something to the effect of ‘Get Thousands Of Followers In Less Than 30 Days’ or ‘Add 5,000 followers this month for free completely on autopilot.’ or something similar.  Although these may initially sound like good ideas, in most circumstances, they are not going to help you or your business and could actually do some harm.  Here is the latest example and my opinions.

The Site: NeedFollowers.com – best site online to get @twitter followers! (Really?  Says Who?)

The Promise: “Here you can get more followers on your twitter page! Its really simple, The 1st thing you will need to do is login your account above. After that you will be redirected to a page where you will click and follow all the vips and the last 20 regular riders then you are able to join and you will be place on the site to get TONS and hundreds of followers. Come visit us often! Enjoy, And watch your follower count grow!”

The Catch – Become a VIP member: “Want even more followers? Become a VIP member and receive 400-1300 followers a day, Our prices are the lowest around. How to be vip? Simply login above and at the bottom of the next page is where you will enter your twitter username and payments can be made by paypal, credit/debit. ”

The Rules: Pay careful attention to the second and fourth bullet.

* You have to add all vip users and 20 regular users to join the train.
* We may use your account to promote our services, with the exception of VIP account.
* An update will be posted on your account upon signing in, You can delete anytime.
* The fee for VIP is non-refundable.
* After payment, give us up to 6 hours to update your VIP status.
* Don’t want to use our service anymore? :[ All you have to do is sign in, then at the very bottom hit "close accout"

The Results: While reviewing my Twitter account this morning and checking out all the great comments and feedback from Ignite Phoenix 4 which was awesome, I get this tweet from a client -

Did you write this?

Thinking that it doesn’t sound like something my client would actually write, I sent a Direct Message asking if she wrote it.  Do you know the answer?  You guessed it, it was automatically generated by NeedFollowers.com and sent out through her account.  Here is another example with another client:

Four Updates Sent In Less Than 12 Hours

Did the company do anything wrong?  I guess not since it is in the ‘the rules’ that you agree to when you login.  But I can tell you that I don’t want to give access to other companies to use my account for their promotional activities.  If I like the service I’ll promote it and talk it up!  That is the whole point of social media in my opinion – the ability to provide and receive honest feedback about things I do and do not like.

I also don’t like this because it lacks integrity to me.  The way the messages are worded and delivered make it look like they are coming directly from the keyboard of the account holder, not the company.   All of these messages are short enough they could have easily added a ‘sent by NeedFollowers.com’ so at least it is clear the account holder didn’t actually approve/type the message.

The message that bothers me the most is this one:

Again, it is the integrity and authenticity issue that bugs me so much.  This one in particular is written as if the account holder is using the service AND seeing results when it wasn’t even created by the account holder. Not to mention that ‘LOOOK’ is obviously mis-spelled and the bad punctuation/grammar of the second line is an un-professional representation of both NeedFollowers.com and worse, the account holder.

When I am asked where companies make mistakes with Social Media, one of the biggest in my opinion is not being upfront about who you are and what you are representing.  Nobody likes being lied to, duped, being mis-represented or being played as a marketing pawn.  If your product is that great, there are better, and in my opinion more powerful ways to get the word out.  A great post titled Authentic Blogger Outreach by my friend Katie Van Domelen talks about just how to do that.

But of course, you can pay for the VIP Membership so they will not use your account for promotional purposes.  But what happens if the service doesn’t perform on it’s ridiculous range of followers from 400-1300/day?  Oh yeah, bullet number four, NON-REFUNDABLE.  To close your account you need to login first, and on the very bottom of the page buried in the footer, is the link to close your account.

Final Thoughts: Again, there are situations where this type of service is valuable and there are companies who do it well. However, I believe those situations are few and far between.  I do not believe that Twitter should be looked at as a popularity contest or that the number of followers makes your account any more or less effective – it all depends on why you are there in the first place.  I heard it said by Gary Vaynerchuk at the 140 Characters Conference, which focuses on Twitter, that people should be incredibly happy if they have even ONE person who cares enough to follow them and wants to know what they think and I agree.

For some truly great advice on how to grow your Twitter following, I suggest checking out this article from TwiTip – How To Increase Your Followers.

If this is something you think you really must do,

1. Be clear about your goals and the results you want to achieve
2. Be sure you research the company and that they are reputable
3. Get some feedback from people who have used it

Which are to me, some basic steps you should follow before using any new social media tool.

Use Promo Code "Jackalert" For $10 Off!

Give us 180 minutes and we’ll give you a 180-degree change in your marketing  results.  Pretty cool idea huh?  Sitewire’s sister company, Agencyside, has asked me to speak at their upcoming seminar, The 180 Series, on Tuesday, June 9th.  Here is the full agenda.

Facebook.  Twitter.  LinkedIn.  The business world is abuzz over social media and how to use it to impact the bottom line.   But for most that have tried, it turns out to be a bust.

The reason’s pretty simple:  everyone is focused only on the tools and
technologies, without thinking about why.  In other words, what’s the
outcome you want – specifically?

In just three hours time and only $39.00 with my promo code, we’ll show you how to think about what you want, whether it’s realistic for social media to deliver, and only then the tools that can help get you there.

Register for the seminar and make a 180-minute commitment to grow your business by gaining insights from social media experts and advertising agency executives who think about this every day. We’ll focus on brand names and small business examples, B2C and B2B companies.

I will be participating in the “Ask the Experts” section where we’ll take topics generated by you in our online forum and address them specifically.

Registration is only $49 and the information is going to be highly valuable and most importantly, actionable.  And if you use Promo code “Jackalert” – you’ll save $10.00 on your registration.

If you’re interested in Agencyside’s seminar series visit Agencyside or follow @Agencyside to keep up to date.

Title: Agencyside: 180Series
Location: MADCAP Theaters
MADCAP Theaters (formerly Harkins Centerpoint Theaters)
730 S Mill Avenue
Tempe, Arizona 85281
Ample parking in adjacent garage on Ash Avenue, just north of University Drive

The Social Latte Tweeting

As we get ready to teach the third class in the Tempe Chamber Social Media Serious - Intro to Twitter, I thought I would share a little about the class and how the previous classes have gone so far.

First, if you already know you are attending Friday’s Twitter Class…

If you are wondering if your business should consider Twitter, this post by Advertising Age may answer some questions as to whether or not it can be effective for business.

Please be sure to bring/review these items:

1. Bring an image we can use for your profile picture
2. Watch the video on the right of this page – Twitter In Plain English
3. Read this article about selecting your Twitter handle.

And if you are not attending, here is what you are missing.

In this class, co-presented with Nick Bastian from Rail Life, we’ll be covering:

• Basic Profile Setup
• User Name Choice Strategies
• Creating Great Bios
• Using Keywords And The Lingo Of Twitter
• Twitter Page Branding
• Twitter Etiquette and more…

So Get yourself registered for the class while there is still time.

Feedback From Previous Classes

The classes to date have contained great content, well presented and very well attended.  We should have close to a full room of 28 people on Friday which is very exciting.  But don’t just take my word for it, here are some of the comments from class attendees.

LinkedIn – Presented by Neil Chitel – Manage Staff with assistance by Jack Smith – The Social Latte

• Loved the hands on!
• It was great!
• Excellent!
• I came in having no clue what Linkedin was and came out with an account I know how to use.  Great starter crash course
• It taught me how to get started which is definitely a big step in the right direction.
• Very informative.  It made the subject simple to understand and it was a relaxed and comfortable setting.
• Very enjoyable.
• Very well done.

Facebook – Presented By Jack Smith – The Social Latte

• I appreciated the one on one instruction – Great!
• Excellent, Perfect!
• Come back and do Facebook II
• Great Experience.
• I learned how to setup a Fan Page which was something I was clueless about before this class
• I was able to setup a basic profile!  Excellent!
• I need MORE!  MORE, MORE, MORE!
• Great!  Just what I needed to know!
• Very informative.
• I enjoyed the class and feel confident about using Facebook.
• Very helpful information, Professionally presented.

OK, there you have it.  I hope to see you at a class in the near future!

The Social Latte will be working with the Tempe Chamber of Commerce to provide educational training to benefit membership.

Jack Smith and the Social Latte are proud to be working with the Chamber to provide a comprehensive training series to teach members how to take advantage of powerful new social media tools. We’ll be working with members to help them learn how to emulate the Chambers dynamic Social Media Initiative to best benefit their business during this two-month series.

Seminars start on May 8 and take place every Friday morning through June. Participants may register for the courses of their choice or sign up for the entire series. Each session focuses on a different topic and seats are limited to 30 per session. A computer will be provided for each participant. Each session will have a main special guest presenter and additional instructors and facilitators to ensure all participants enjoy a hands-on method of learning.

May 8 – LinkedIn

Participants will create their own LinkedIn profile and learn how to network using it.

LinkedIn is an interconnected network of more than 35 million professionals from across the globe, representing 170 industries, 200 countries and executives from all Fortune 500 companies. Through this incredible free resource you can easily network and collaborate with other users who can be instrumental in helping you achieve your goals. The Tempe Chamber group is accessible to all members by clicking here.

May 15 – Facebook (Presented by The Social Latte)

Participants will create their own Facebook page and learn how to navigate this ever-growing community.

Facebook is a free website where users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People and businesses can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify others about themselves. Businesses regularly create profiles as part of their overall business plan to gain recognition, brand awareness and a loyal customer base.

May 22 – Twitter (Co-Presented By The Social Latte & Nick Bastian of Rail Life)

Participants will create their own Twitter profile, learn to tweet and communicate using the hottest new trend in social media.

Twitter is a free service for communicating and staying connected through the exchange of quick, frequent updates. It’s a great way to stay informed about up-to-the-minute Chamber, business and political news in an instantaneous format. Send and receive short messages called tweets via cell phones, mobile devices, emails, online text services and more. Best of all Twitter is targeted to those who want to hear your message. Find us here.

May 29 – Blogging Part 1

This introduction to blogging will provide an overview on blogs, how to use them, and how to boost your brand awareness through them. Participants also will learn how to determine the best course of action to start a blog.

At its root, a blog is a web site where you present thoughts, news and information to the public on a regular basis. Readers can respond to you, comment on what you’ve written or contact you with thoughts of their own. Blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others. Visit the Tempe Chamber blog

June 5 – Blogging Part 2 (Co-Presented By The Social Latte & Nick Bastian of Rail Life)

Participants will learn how to set up a blog and use available resources to create an effective and engaging site.

At its root, a blog is a web site where you present thoughts, news and information to the public on a regular basis. Readers can respond to you, comment on what you’ve written or contact you with thoughts of their own. Blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others. By the time you complete this session you’ll be well on your way to taking advantage of this amazing tool. Visit the Tempe Chamber blog.

June 12 – Viral Video (Presented By The Social Latte)

Participants will learn how to make use of online video sites such as You Tube to create and market videos to initiate viral campaigns and boost brand awareness.

Streaming video sites like You Tube, hulu and many others have shown that audiences are turning to their computers for entertainment, information, news and also to further their connections with businesses. Both traditional and cutting-edge companies are capitalizing on this trend and yours can, too. With even the simplest digital camera and a few minutes of work, your promotional, marketing or informational video can be accessible to the entire globe.

June 19 – Your Social Media Business Plan

Participants will learn how to create and implement an interactive, interrelated business model using all social media techniques and tools from the series.

This wrap-up seminar will “bring it all together” and ensure that your presence in the online community is efficient and effective. The perfect ending to this series, this session will be instrumental to your success in the Web 2.0 social media universe.