The Social Path

NPR's Planet Money is social-powered news at its best.

Maybe you’re the kind of financial genius who finds it easy to digest all this talk of economic crisis and daily financial discord.

If not, you’re in the majority with “Main Street America” folks like me who just want to know what all this bailout talk means, and whether we should be loading the family into a covered wagon and caravanning west to Californie.

Thankfully, there’s NPR’s new podcast, Planet Money.

Sparked by the popularity of This American Life’s stellar report on the subprime mortgage collapse, “The Giant Pool of Money,” Planet Money is a regularly updated podcast featuring interviews and analysis from reporters, government officials and financial experts.

It sounds boring, but it’s not. And what makes it so fascinating is the show’s excellent use of social media as a way to connect with mainstream America.

Instead of taking the lame old approach of a call-in show, Planet Money answers questions sent via e-mail, voicemail or comments on the npr.org/money blog. You can also interact with the Planet Money staff in real time, thanks to their Twitter feed.

The end result of all this openness is a wonderfully educational show that brings the epic problems of Wall Street down to a common-sense level that everyone can appreciate. What are you waiting for? Go give it a listen!

How to get paid to blog.

I just finished giving a presentation on "Merging your work life and your blog life" at WordCamp Birmingham, a first-ever blogger conference here in Luckie's hometown.

Here's an online version of the PowerPoint, in case you're interested:

Merging your work life and blog life

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: media careers)

Based on the real-time feedback attendees posted on Twitter (and actual face-to-face conversations), people seemed to enjoy it. It's always heartening to see how many Web-savvy folks there are in and around Birmingham, and I hope these tips help them turn all that talent into a little extra pizza money.

Cool Tool of the Week: Election 2008 edition

It seems crazy that the presidential election is less than six weeks away. I have to admit, I’m exhausted by the relentless campaigning and just ready for this whole thing to be over with.

So if you’re like me, fighting through campaign fatigue while trying to stay tuned in to the last-minute electioneering, here are a few online tools you might find useful:

1. election.twitter.com

If you think of politics as a spectator sport, then this is the site for you. Even if you’re not using Twitter, you can just sit back and watch the new posts roll in by the second.

There’s just something fascinating about getting a real-time look into the political minds of people worldwide. (If you want to see where they’re writing from, check out this cool map.)

But the site — just launched yesterday — is also a great tool for breaking news. As I was writing this item, a flurry of comments rushed in to note that McCain would indeed be attending tonight’s debate.

2. In Quotes by Google Labs

This simple but information-packed site lets you compare quotes from political figures on a wide range of issues.

It defaults to McCain vs. Obama, but you can use a drag down list to see opinions from President Bush, Bill Clinton, Joe Lieberman and several others.

3. CreateDebate.com

Not content to sit on the sidelines? You can lob opinions of all sorts on this poll-packed site.

Create a free account, pick the fray you want to wade into, and then go bash some metaphorical skulls. Questions range from “Who should I vote for in the 2008 Alaska Senate Race?” to more quizzical topics like, “Should the U.S. return to the gold standard?”

Clicking on each poll opens up a page with lengthy comments from voters and links for more information on each issue.

If you can get past the somewhat chaotic format and the fact that a handful of obsessive users seem to dominate the site, it’s a pretty slick way to debate any issue you’re passionate about.

Any other social spins on Election 2008 you’d recommend? Drop a link in the comments.

Will a contest get you a new audience? Or just Joel?

I met "professional contest winner" Joel Moss Levinson at the iCitizen conference in Columbus earlier this year. He's a nice guy with boundless energy and a great story, but he's also a bit of a cautionary tale for marketers.

But before I get into all that, check out his new video, "Bleep for Free," which was (of course) made for a video contest for Proctor & Gamble.

This is just one of many songs and videos Joel's made over the years. It's a commitment that has landed him tons of prizes, including $100,000 from a Klondike Bar contest.

There's no doubt that Joel is a faithful ambassador to all the brands that have given him swag. Here's a sample from a recent blog post:

"My favorite brand of super-low-priced wine is the wine that send me to Australia, Little Penguin. My all time favorite snack is the one that is currently paying off my credit card debts and tastes great in the summer, Klondike bars. When I want something healthy to eat while I’m hiking, I turn to the only granola bar that is sending me to Antarctica, Nature Valley."

While that's great that these brands have won over Joel with fabulous prizes, does it really say anything about how these companies have been boosted with people beyond Joel?

There's a lot to be said for contests and marketing campaigns that encourage people to create their own content, but I've always been wary of embracing this consumer-generated approach.

Offer too little incentive, and you end up with a half-ass collection of "submitted videos" that your staff probably made anyway. Offer a big prize, and you end up getting targeted by pros like Joel, who are bound to spend more time, energy and talent on the contest than your mainstream consumer.

Joel himself kinda argues against the contest approach with his own philosophy on brand loyalty (from the same blog entry linked above):

“Give me shit for free, and I’ll use  your brand.” That’s basically it. For example, there’s good and bad shaving cream, but I will tend towards the free shaving cream over both. And guess what, no matter how good your brand is, I will probably give up on it as soon as someone else gives me better shaving cream.

That isn't really a brand-loyalty model that capitalists can embrace. Companies are in a daily struggle to prove that their products are worth their price. If that price is zero, you haven't accomplished a whole lot.

Again, I applaud Joel's initiative and creativity. He's clearly earned everything he's won. I just wonder if his very success may end up discouraging other companies from holding big-ticket contests of their own.

Hat tip to the always tapped-in Joe Niedecken.

Don't forget: WordCamp Birmingham this weekend.

Bloggers of the Southeast will be gathering in Birmingham this weekend for the region's first-ever WordCamp. This event, while focused specifically on the popular WordPress blogging platform, is a great opportunity for anybody with even a vague interest in writing online.

The registration period is ending soon, so head over now and sign up!

Event Details:

Day 1 – Saturday, Sept. 27

8 a.m.–5 p.m.
The Virginia Samford Theatre & Caldwell Park
1116 26th Street S. (off Highland Avenue)

Day 2 - Sunday, Sept. 28

Morning session:
10 a.m.–Noon
Vulcan Park
1701 Valley View Drive

Afternoon session:
1:30–4:30 p.m.
Bottletree Cafe
3719 3rd Ave. S.

Keep an eye on the WordCamp Birmingham Twitter feed for more updates.

If you can't get enough of my rambling here, you can come out to my WordCamp presentation Saturday about "Merging your work life and blog life."

I'll be talking about things like:

• Landing a paid freelance blogging gig.
• How different blogs pay contributors.
• Helping your current employer embrace blogging and other online tools.
• Forging a long-term career in social media.

I'm excited about sitting in on some of the other speakers, too, like Huntsville's media and pop culture maven, Dana Franks, and Birmingham's bitingly funny cancer blogger, Whitney Sides. Check out the whole roster here.

Congrats to Andre Natta of Birminghan's online hub, The Terminal, for all his hard work coordinating this event. Hope to see you there!

A case study in sacrifice and social success: Jeane Goforth

With so many people desperate to make money through social media, it’s almost ironic that the best case studies are often the nonprofits.

Some might think it simply comes easier for nonprofits because they’re raising awareness of something that people already want to care about. But the truth is that with money and staff always in short supply, nothing is easy for nonprofits, especially when it comes to labor-intensive projects like social media outreach.

That’s why I wanted to tell you about Jeane Goforth. A tireless advocate for two fantastic music-education programs in Birmingham — Metropolitan Youth Orchestras and Scrollworks — Jeane has used social media to raise awareness, collect much-needed donations and spark national attention.

While the organizations are well represented on Blogger, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, that’s not what makes this such an incredible story. This is a daunting tale of commitment and passion, one filled with lessons for all of us.

Jeane’s outreach work isn’t a side project. It’s a daily, often hourly effort that constantly keeps these nonprofits in the minds of potential donors, recipients and volunteers. If that wasn’t enough of a sign of Jeane’s commitment, you can look to the fact that she cashed out $37,500 from her retirement savings plans to help get these programs off the ground.

“I believe so strongly that every child deserves access to a music education that I donated my piddling life savings to get us started,” Jeane wrote on the “10,000 for Scrollworks” Facebook group.

After the jump, check out my recent e-mail Q&A with this amazing woman.

Cool Tool of the Week: iTunes Genius

I realize it’s Tuesday, a bit late for my Friday “Cool Tool of the Week” feature, but I’ve been laid up with a nasty sinus infection. Now I’m back in action and looking to unload a backlog of blog topics, starting with some guarded enthusiasm for the new iTunes Genius feature from Apple.

How it describes itself: “The new Genius feature in iTunes 8 creates the perfect playlist. Just select a song, click the Genius button, and iTunes generates a playlist of songs from your library that go great with it. Turn on the Genius sidebar and discover new music you’ll love. Preview and buy directly from the sidebar.”

How I’d describe it: As usual, Apple does a pretty good job of explaining itself, but I’ll add this: Genius is Apple’s attempt to co-opt the idea of music recommendation, which has helped sites like Pandora explode in popularity in recent years.

Getting started: If you’re a regular iTunes user, you’ve probably already noticed the addition of Genius when you upgraded to iTunes 8. If you haven’t fired up iTunes in a while, you should be prompted to upgrade for free. If you need to download it manually, click here.

Once you’ve installed iTunes 8, Apple gives you some pretty simple prompts to start using Genius. First, it’ll analyze your music collection (which can take a while if you got a Nick Hornby-esque stash of songs). Then, when you click on a song you like, you’ll see iTunes recommendations pop up on the right.

Even better, though, is the Genius playlist generator. When you have a song selected, click the atom-looking Genius icon at the bottom right of iTunes. It’ll create a playlist of similar songs, culled from your own music collection and based on similar tastes from other iTunes users.

Why you’ll use it: Chances are, you fall into one of two categories:

1. You’re just getting started with your digital musical collection. In this case, you’ll enjoy the recommendation feature in the Genius sidebar. Even if you don’t buy the songs from iTunes, you’ll know which bands to look for.

2. You have an MP3 collection so big, you’ve probably had to upgrade your hard drive twice just to contain it. This is me. I’m wary to buy any new music these days, because I couldn’t even tell you what’s on my 500 gig drive. For people like me, the Genius playlists are magical. I can pick a song that matches my mood, pick the number of tracks I want in the playlist, and fire it up. Plus, you can save each playlist for later.

Shortcomings: Apple is giving you the end result of social research without any real opportunity to be social. It would be nice if you could at least share your own playlists the way you can create book lists on Amazon. Also, I've noticed iTunes being quite a bit buggier than before the upgrade, and it's not rare to get the message that "“Genius is unavailable" for specific songs you click on.

In Summary: Genius is a wonderful addition to iTunes, although it’ll be a while before all the kinks are worked out. But if you’re looking for something a bit more social, be sure to check out blip.fm and Last.fm, two sites that let you compare musical tastes with real live humans. Or, you know, you could always go visit your local independent record store.

When viral marketing goes too far.

I could ramble about how this video raises some pretty valid criticisms of marketers' desire to "build relationships with customers," but let's not overthink it.

From Slate, via Creative Cooler.

My 'best practice' for social media? Make sure you can drink your own Kool-Aid.

If you’re a marketing or advertising person keen on social media, then you might be interested in a conversation that’s been bouncing around recently: What are the “best practices” in social media marketing?

Let me start by saying that I hate the phrase “best practices.” It’s just one of those terms, like “silos,” that have been abused by consultants to the point of disrepute. But, since I was tagged with this question by the esteemed Tim Brunelle, I'm willing to go along. So here's mine:

Make sure you can drink your own Kool-Aid.

By which I mean, don’t poison your relationships with clients and coworkers by overselling the potential for social media.

Is all this online social connection a powerful resource for marketers? Absolutely. Is it an easy resource to tap, consistently or predictably? Absolutely not.

People like me are expected to be evangelists for new technologies and trends. But in our haste to win over our traditional clients or colleagues, we can start to make promises that are almost impossible to keep.

We don’t have a silver bullet. What we do have is an incredible playground where it’s OK to try new things, to push our boundaries, to bring clients and customers together on equal footing.

Instead, what I often see are social media professionals who use jargon and sweeping imperatives to sell their services. They profess expertise, but cite the successes of others. They talk about the death of TV or radio or magazines, ignoring the fact that it’ll still be many years before those bodies are cold.

Don’t get me wrong. Now is the time for marketing folks to be fired up about the possibilities of social media. But it’s also a time for humility. We must win over the skeptics slowly and consistently, not by promising new levels of overnight success.

Similarly, when we help clients embark on social media, we must be humble with the customers. Companies are no longer speaking to the masses from pedestals. We’re talking to people one-on-one, trying to prove earnestly that we have more to offer than a sales pitch.

Know your audience, know your stuff, and know your limitations. Mix all that together, sweeten it with some personality and wit, and I’ll be the first to knock back a glass and ask for a refill.

(Ps, since the idea here is to post your own opinion, then tag other social media nerds to do the same, I'm tagging Leigh Householder and Sarah Perez. I'll let you know when/if they post their thoughts. If you've weighed in, please post a link or a summary in the comments.)

Three, count em, three cool Birmigham events coming up.

1. Social Media Meetup on Thursday, Sept. 18

What it is: A relaxed gathering for any locals who work or play online.

Why you should be there: It's going to be a veritable who's who of local social media addicts. Aaaand, it'll feature a special guest appearance by Minneapolis advertising futurist Tim Brunelle. (More on him below.)

Brought to you by: Andre Natta and his magical Bham Terminal.

Details:

Birmingham Social Media Meetup
6–9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18
Speakeasy 1920
1920 3rd Ave. N., Birmingham
http://www.speakeasy1920.com/
Rsvp with an e-mail to Andre.

 

2. "The Future of Advertising" featuring Tim Brunelle on Friday, Sept. 19

What it is: A provocative discussion of what advertising will look like in the years to come.

Why you should be there: Founder of the digitally oriented ad agency Hello Viking, Tim is a great guy with a lot of social media smarts. If you're in a marketing kind of field — or just enjoy it as some strange, sick hobby — you're sure to get a lot out of it.

Brought to you by: Birmingham Ad Fed (The event is free to members, $10 for guests.)

Details:

11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Friday, September 19
Alagasco Midtown Business Center
20  South 20th Street
RSVP with an e-mail to bhamad@mindspring.com

 

3. WordCamp Birmingham, Sept. 27–28

What it is: A casual conference for bloggers who use the tremendously popular WordPress software.

Why you should be there: Well for one, I'm slated to give a brief talk on "Merging your blog life with your work life." But if you use WordPress and you live anywhere nearby, you just need to be there among your people.

Brought to you by: Again, Andre Natta of Bham Terminal.

Details:

September 27 & 28
Location: To be announced soon.
Registration is $25 and available online.

Hope to see some of you folks at one — if not all — of these great local events.