Suitable Social Media

You want to have a social media presence for your business, but not sure which platform to use…or what is a platform?
How are you going to manage it? How much time will I be behind that computer...again??
How do I know if what I am doing, is working?
What are you going to say?

There are many reasons why we choose to go online, for anything. Generally we go on to research a new idea, the latest deal or promotion at our favourite store, dream about holidays, gift ideas...some even get online to chat to friends from all over the world.
Knowing this, and having a strategic mindset, you will come to understand that by having an online presence, you open your business up to more client channels.

What is your definition of a client?
Cli•ent (kl nt)

1. The party for which professional services are rendered, as by an attorney.
2. A customer or patron: clients of the hotel.
3. A person using the services of a social services agency.
4. One that depends on the protection of another.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

What is your definition of social media?
Social•media is an umbrella term that defines various activities integrating technology, social interaction, and construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.
This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories, and understandings.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

STOP & Breathe…
Just like any plan, your social media strategy is defined by a series of steps. Take your Marketing Strategy and integrate social media with it – this will save you some time.
In your Marketing plan your target audience has been identified (as has your brand/product/service). Apply this to your online social media strategy.
Identify social media suitability
Ask yourself, what type of information do I have right now?
1. Do you write articles?
2. Do submit product reviews?
3. Do you send out client newsletters?
4. Do you request feedback on any form of media?
5. Are any of your materials digital? Can these be stored on the internet?
All of these are pieces of information that can be used in your social media platform(s). You don’t need extra information at all! Maybe an odd quote or question would definitely not go astray (conversation starters!) – But you do need to be able to sustain and maintain your online communication. The online community will come to know your online submission trends, and watch out for your latest information. This is…online rapport building – increasing their confidence in YOU…

Start off slowly, and see what works for you – give it time to grow. Don’t expect enormous changes overnight, or within 7 days, allow at least 6 months!
Depending on your type of business, some platforms are more useful than others.
LinkedIn – for professional audiences
Facebook – Fun, viral, various age groups
Twitter – microblog
Blogger – any form of blog (such as the one you are reading)
YouTube – very useful for instructions, music/dance, health, customer feedback, “reports” – the more You Tube clips you have, the more chance you are found – as long as you always include somewhere there on your contact details (best be your website address)
My recommendation are all of these, or some of. These are the most popular social media applications that are used – and relatively easy to navigate around and use.

On a final note - upload images, links, videos and start talking to those online! Always try to think of the reader when providing information!

After a few weeks of holiday, we are back online...here is a reminder about Reputation Management for all those conducting business online.

Being aware is being prepared!
Reputation Management

The growth of business using social media is massive – the use of Internet marketing has swollen – in a fantastic way that increases online brand awareness. So who is being loyal to your business? What is your market talking about (is it you?), how is the industry comparing – state, national, global?
Growth of social networking sites enables the Internet marketer to communicate directly with their target niche audience. Despite the ease of using these readily available tools, the use of is not enough. To go one step further you need to identify what your market is saying about you/your company and others in the industry.

This basic marketing principle is another method in designing new products and services having the knowledge on the exact wants are in your market/industry.
Online tools available:

1. Google Trends: allow a user to identify real time topics and what your target niche audience searches for online.

2. Twitter Search Tool: Find out exactly what your target audience are asking. This information is like gold – to provide a new product, the designer needs to know exact needs and wants are from potential customers/consumers.

3. Reputation management tools: Conduct a Google search for reputation management – there are numerous online tools available where you can find out exactly what the market is saying about you…an example is www.marchex.com

You can also view services to compare your online reputation to that of your competitors. Some of these service vendors will provide you with recommendations on how you can increase your online persona brand.

If you are out to attract prospective customers and develop your online presence and exposure, you owe it to yourself and the financial future of your business to learn everything you can about Internet marketing.

Happy Social Networking Peeps!

Choosing social media to suit your business...

Choosing your social media strategy to suit your target audience can be simplified if you put it into different terms.

I read an article from The Art of Healing (Vol 2, Issue 27) "What does it mean really..to lose one's health". Although this article is based on the Australian Health System, Dr Mohamed Khadra stated:
"If you are dealing with a doctor who isn't communicative, who isn't able to sit down and really go through the benefits and risks of a procedure, who isn't transparent about why they are doing it and involving you in a shared decision-making capacity -- perhaps you are going to the wrong doctor,"

What do you make of this statement? I would say that in simple terms, you would not be choosing a social media platform that your target audience does not use; I would ensure that my target audience was receiving the information and 'online' comforts to keep them coming back for more. Why would your fan base 'target audience' come back to your site if they did not feel supported or getting any benefit from your posts?

When choosing your social media platform, clearly identify the who's, what's and where's. Once these have been identified you will be able to better approach your social media campaign.

Integrating social media and your marketing strategy

1. Become involved in all the social media channels you are interested in, and definitely what your competitors are in.
2. Ideas for you include:

• www.youtube.com
• www.facebook.com
• www.twitter.com
• www.orble.com
• www.blogger.com
• www.wordpress.org
• www.linkedin.com
• www.bebo.com

 Based on my experience, I have found most companies to use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – effectively.

 Sociallywirednow FORECAST: Our desktops (home and office) will have access to Twitter and it will over time replace the popular SMS/Text Message.

Remember: Software, technology is updated every day to improve its useability and functionality. Most social media sites run off open source software where additional programs are being developed to run within the further providing functions to advertise and increase word of mouth type of marketing activities.
To analyse the effectiveness of your social media campaign, you must first identify what it is exactly that you want to achieve in performing such an action.
 Some ideas include:

• More referrals from clients using the social media platform
• More demographically dispersed fan bases
• A highly active social media space – lots of comments, tags, images, etc

What would I include in a social media marketing strategy?
• Brainstorm ideas on what you want your audience to receive; what image you want to portray; what is your niche’?
• Promotion
   o What channel(s) will you use to get the word out to clients?
• Advertising
   o What media channels will you use?
   o Why do you want to use these channels?
   o How often do you want to reach out to your clients on this channel?
   o Why this mix and not some other?
• Content
   o What information are you going to use to reach out to clients?
   o (For example, quotes, what you are doing, what’s going on in store?)
   o How are you going to record your information that is being used on each channel? (Matrix?)
   o What back up will you instigate to protect data loss?
   o What is your disaster recovery plan for online media?

Considerations taken from the marketing strategy:
• Have you identified low-cost methods to achieve maximum results from your promotional budget?
• What image do you currently convey, or would like in future?
• How much will you allocate on each items listed above?
   o Before startup? (These numbers will go into your startup budget)
   o Ongoing? (These numbers will go into your operating plan budget.)
• Pricing
   o Explain your method or methods of setting prices.
For most small businesses, having a lower price is not a general rule. It decreases your chances of a healthy profit margin; clients may not care as much about price as you think; and large competitors can under price you anyway. Usually you will do better to have average prices and compete on quality and service.
   o Does your pricing strategy fit with others from competitive analysis?
   o Compare prices with competitors. Are they higher, lower, same? Why?
   o How important is price as a competitive factor?
   o Do your intended clients make their purchase decision based on price, loyalty, quality?
   o What is your client service and credit policy?

Product
When selecting an appropriate social media channel, scrutinizing to obtain a solution is most definitely required – and rewarded. When identifying stakeholders ensure you consider: yourself, social media platform(s), both current and potential clients.

List all major products/and services in your funnel:
• Describe important features required. What makes it important?
• Describe all benefits and what it provides your client?
• Are your clients using this social media space?
• How easy will it be for you to maintain?
Note any differences between features and benefits.


Clients
Identify your targeted clients:
• Describe their characteristics
• Geographic locations (demographics)
The description will be completely different depending on whether you plan to sell to other businesses or directly to consumers. If you sell a consumer product, but sell it through a channel of distributors, wholesalers, and retailers, you must carefully analyse both the end consumer and the middleman businesses to which you sell.

If you have more than one client group:
• Identify all important groups in a prioritized list;
• For each client group, construct a demographic profile:
     o Age;
     o Gender;
     o Location;
     o Income level;
     o Social class and occupation;
     o Education;
     o Other (specific to your industry), and
     o Other (specific to your industry).

For business clients demographic factors may include:
• Industry (or portion of an industry);
• Location;
• Size of firm;
• Quality, technology, and price preferences;
• Other (specific to your industry), and
• Other (specific to your industry).

Competition
What products and companies are in competition with you (direct and indirect)?
• List your major competitors (names and addresses);
• Do these competitors compete across the board or only for certain products, certain clients, or certain locations?
• What social media platforms are your competitors using?
• If they are using social media platforms, are you able to gauge its success?
• Do you have indirect competitors? (For example, video rental stores compete with theaters), and
• How do your products or services compare with competition?

Use a Competitive Analysis table to compare your company with two important competitors. The first column are key competitive factors. Since these vary from one industry to another, you may want to customize the list of factors.

The column labeled Me, state what you honestly think your client would say. Even better, reach out to one, and ask? You are able to survey your clients through online surveys (check out www.surveymonkey.com)
Identify if you believe this to be a strength or weakness for your business. Often it is hard to analyze our own weaknesses. Be brutally honest here. Furthermore, ask a disinterested stranger to assess you. This task is a real eye-opener!

Analyse each major competitor, using a few short words state the comparison.
In the final column, estimate the importance of each competitive factor to the client. 1 = critical; 5 = not very important.

               Factor   Me   Strength  Weakness  Competitor A  Competitor B  Importance to Client
Products
Price
Quality
Selection
Service
Reliability
Stability
Expertise
Company Reputation
Location
Appearance
Sales Method
Credit Policies
Advertising
Image


Analyse findings/results and write a short paragraph stating competitive advantages and disadvantages.

Making Mothers Day personable through Social Media

I have some ideas for a personable gift, that is low cost - and gets the message across effectively.  This ultimately is the very idea that hides behind social media marketing - engaging your target audience to appropriate a message, to build rapport - entwined in a low cost channel. 

So this Mothers Day, why not relay messages through You Tube?

All you need is a camera with video capture capability, along with yourself, your family, or "actors".  A script to follow would be useful, or at the very least, a "plan of attack".

Once you have recorded your message on video format, you can upload it to you tube. (www.youtube.com).  Why not go all out, and make your own channel, include a background image that represents your intended message.  This idea can be used for years to come, as you would then be able to capture various clips and create an online database filled with media that fall under the reason behind its inception. 
For example, A Mothers Day tribute, filled with film clips that your Mother loves, clips you share together.  The background image could be an image that was taken during a pivotal moment in your relationship.

Other creative social media ideas for Mothers Day:

• Tweet her a message (of course she needs to be a user on Twitter)
• Post a special photo on her Facebook page (if you are friends..if not, why not become her friend..even for the day!)
• Develop a photo bucket library and send her the link, (great if distance is a problem, and the postage system has gone POSTAL)
• Develop a photo image library of all the activities you would do for her, if she was closer (bake that cake and take a photo of it, photograph breakfast in bed, photograph you doing the washing..you get my drift..?)
• Create a Facebook Page that is a memoir (if she is deceased, tread lightly)

Remember, you are able to remove only SOME parts of your online footprint, so be aware of uploading images or writings (NEVER include personal details on line, or images that someone may find offensive)

Happy Mothers Day Strategising!

1. Notice what other Tweeters are talking about in your area/expertise?
2. Who are their followers?
3. How many follow them?
4. Are they being re tweeted?
5. How many people do you interact with use twitter?
6. If you were on twitter what information would you find interesting or want to know?
7. Why do you use twitter?
8. Does twitter increase your performance at work, does twitter motivate you?
9. Have you used twitter to share pictures?
10. If you were to use Twitter, is there a marketing purpose, if yes, what is it exactly?

New Front Page
Twitter is a work in progress. At first, the idea of tweeting only appealed to a few but then it caught on in a big way. Now Twitter is an incredibly rich and expanding information network. Our design team has changed the front page to reflect this metamorphosis and will continue to adjust accordingly.

Official Twitter Conference
The first official Twitter developer conference will be held. It's called Chirp. The event will take place in San Francisco over two days. The first day is April 14th at the Palace of Fine Arts. On April 15th, we'll be gathering at Fort Mason right along the bay. We're looking forward to meeting in person. For info, tickets, or to watch online, visit the Chirp web site.

Fighting Spam
The Chief Scientist Abdur recently published a short piece titled, "State of Twitter Spam." In it, he explained how the definition of spam is different when compared to the common email variety. Spam is inevitable on a popular system but we fight it aggressively. Less than 1% of tweets per day are spam and we work diligently to reduce that percentage.

Location, Location, Location
A new feature has been added to the Twitter web site that allows you to attach location data to individual tweets. This feature may not appeal to everyone so it requires that you activate it first in your Account Settings. You can choose to share an exact location or a general location such as neighborhood or town. This additional context is potentially very powerful.

Thought to share with you - The National Archives, in Canberra Australia reached 150 000 digitised items September last year.

http://www.nla.gov.au/digicoll/

You can explore the national library’s digital collection that contains selected items providing users easy online access to some of Australia’s most significant cultural materials.

Syndicate all of your blog posts for immediate posting on Facebook (personal page), LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Once you’ve done the initial setup all new articles will automatically appear at each platform. Below are descriptions of how it works for each network.

Make Blog Posts Appear on Your LinkedIn Profile

Let’s take a look at how you can make all blog posts appear inside your LinkedIn profile.

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile and click on Edit My Profile in the top left navigation bar.
2. Scroll down until you see a box with the headline Featured Applications. Click on the right arrow button until you see the W logo, which stands for WordPress (for those who use a WordPress.com blog).
3. Select Add this application followed by clicking on the Update Settings button on the right side of your screen. Make sure to check the box Display on my profile.
4. Type your WordPress blog address, which for most users will be http://YOURBLOGNAME.wordpress.com*.
5. Once you click on the save button your blog posts will automatically appear on your LinkedIn profile.

Sharing Articles through Facebook
Similarly, blog posts can automatically be posted at your Facebook wall once you’ve set it up.
1. Locate the panel at the lower right side of your screen once you’ve logged on to Facebook.
2. Click on the Notes button.
3. At the prompt giving you the option to import your blog, type your blog address in a similar way you did above for LinkedIn.
4. New blog posts will appear automatically on your Facebook wall. Additionally, you’ll see all your blog content under the Notes Tab in your Facebook menu.

Using Twitter to Share Your Stories
Syndicating your blog posts to Twitter require a slightly different process. Essentially, you’ll enable the distribution of links to your blog articles by signing up for a free account at twitterfeed.com.

1. Go to Twitterfeed.com to create your account.
2. Once your account is created you’ll have to verify the connection between Twitterfeed and Twitter, essentially allowing the transfer of information between the platforms.
3. Next, create a new feed by typing in your blog name. For twitterfeed, you’ll need to add the word feed, though, and the final web address you need to type is http://YOURBLOGNAME.wordpress.com/feed/*.

Once you’ve created the feed between Twitterfeed and Twitter you’ll see tweets (as messages through Twitter are called) with links to your articles.

While the concept of syndication in essence is the same for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, Facebook is the only platform that actually incorporates the entire article onto your Facebook profile. LinkedIn and Twitter instead provide links to the full articles at your blog.

Syndication allows you to effectively reach your audiences at all respective platforms without having to manually add them each time. Such a set up will help you minimize the time you spend managing your networks.


* The web addresses you use should be the ones you used when you signed up for a blog. In my case the web address for my blog is http://sociallywirednow.wordpress.com/ for Facebook and LinkedIn, and http://sociallywirednow.wordpress.com/feed/ for the connection between Twitterfeed and Twitter.

• 676,805,208 is the latest figure of users who access the internet (www.internetworldstats.com)
• There are 60 million users on Linked In within 200 different countries
• Further 8 million users on Facebook alone!
• LinkedIn Groups can be added to your social bookmark on your website

Guess who just jumped on board?

Jetstar announced this week that it was shifting 40 per cent of its $25 million above-the-line advertising budget into digital media, in particular social media, in a bid to reach larger audiences. The discount airline had previously only spent 5 per cent of its ad budget online, but after several successful campaigns on social media sites including YouTube and Twitter last year, Jetstar has decided that social media is a better investment as traditional advertising – such as television, print and radio – becomes increasingly expensive.

My thoughts on social media?

Music in the background – Black Eyed Peas – Talking about your generation

Building an online community, product development, joint ventures or affiliate programs are not something you can easily implement for immediate results. This is the same principle around social media sites. It should not take longer than 6 months to get your word out, then another 6 months to really integrate and communicate with the readers. Social media, sorry to say, is a long term operational activity for your marketing.

Top sites to get more traffic via the internet?

Traffic - not referring to cars…but people accessing your site, your information via the online channel – the blessed Internet. Anyone can access it, the only difference is which browser they chose to use.

Get more traffic and plan it into YOUR schedule, so that there is a time when you must do it, remember to do it and your online community expect it!

1. Just like you go fishing (or hubby) get your bait together and link it all up!

Use Digg, Reddit, del.icio.us or StumbleUpon. This is by the far the easiest and most powerful way to get traffic to your site during the weekends.

Social news sites usually get less news during the weekend, and it is likely that your bait will be more successful during this time!

2. Publish During the Weekend. Publishing during the weekend will get you some traffic, especially if you have many feed subscribers as some of them will visit your site to read the full article or comments. Smaller sites can also benefit as new content will bring in a small amount of long tail search traffic.
   

Set future publish dates on your post during the weekend so you don’t have to sit down in front of the computer to write. Asking a question is sometimes the quickest way to put out an extra blog post.

3. Biggest one to mention, and the least used is COMMENT on other BLOGS.
1. Why? When you reply to a blog, leave your web site subtly, or enable other bloggers to investigate YOU
2. Promote your understanding and view points, invoking curiosity!
3. Some good blog sites: Blogcatalog or MyBloglog, orble, blogger – all you need to do is search keywords about the subject you want to ‘make comment on’

4. Adwords- sign up to Google AdWords – free and you may even get paid for it too!

5. Try Blog Traffic Exchanges. Blog traffic exchanges the tools which allow you to obtain traffic by visiting other blogs. They are more useful for newer blogs and as they require more time and effort on your part, I suggest using them strategically to find new blogs within your niche as well.

The downside of all of these methods (with the exception of paid advertising) is the time-investment. Do you really want to spend time in front of the computer on the weekend? The amount of time needed for these tasks will vary and perhaps it would be better to alternate them each weekend to lessen the workload.

Another way to deal with this would be to get someone to help promote your site(s) grow much faster.

If you have the time and interest, try implementing some of the tactics listed in this article. I’ll love to hear if it helps you to get more visitors this weekend.

Of course, contact me and I can give you a selection of social media management packages to choose from (from $75)!

A retweet is the act by which someone else passes/shares your information via a tweet through Twitter.

By including a retweet inside your document, straight away the reader will have:

• your Twitter ID
• a link back to your site
• a link back to your PDF, or
• whatever you want!

This will help grow your Twitter followers, as well as driving traffic back to your site.

Let me show you how..

Retweet Button
First of all you need a retweet button.. a graphic that will be placed inside your PDF file that people will click-on to actually retweet.

Either grab one from Google or use this one:







To save this image - right-click on the image –> save image as..

Building the Retweet URL

The following steps will build upon each other resulting in your retweet URL.

Write Your Tweet
You need to write a tweet.
This is the tweet that will appear in Twitter when someone clicks on your retweet button.

Some things to consider include:
• keep your tweets to about 120 characters or less.. this allows for others to add comments to the tweet
• put your Twitter ID (eg @sociallywiredno) in the tweet.. this will help to grow your Twitter following as your PDF starts to get retweeted
• use a #hashtag for tracking purposes.. this will help you track the retweets

The tweet that I will be using is:
How to add Retweet buttons in your PDF documents | The Social Media Guide (via @sociallywirednow)

Create a Shortened URL
You will also want to include in your tweet a shortened URL that points back to the document’s landing page.. it is from this page that your PDF file can be downloaded.

It is advisable to direct people to a landing page to give them an idea of what your document is actually about, rather than pointing them directly to the PDF file itself (as they won’t know what they are downloading).

There are many URL shorteners that can be used including,
• bit.ly
• tiny.url
• su.pr – This shortening service exposes your content to StumbleUpon’s 8 million users - in addition to Twitter’s users

http://thisisthemightlylongurlintheinternetexplorerbar/2010/how-to-add-a-retweet-button-inside-your-pdf-documents
into: http://su.pr/1adj34

Your Tweet
Now you need to merge the tweet from before with the shortened URL you have just created.. to give you something along the lines of:

How to add a Retweet button inside your PDF documents http://su.pr/1adj34| The Social Media Guide (via @sociallywirednow)

You can see I have incorporated the following components into this tweet,
• the name of this document’s landing page
• shortened URL
• the name of my blog
• my Twitter ID
• total characters = 125 (which leaves room for comments, etc)

Create the Retweet URL
We want to create the actual retweet URL that invokes Twitter, via your browser, and populates it with your tweet.

We will build this up in three simple steps.
1. Copy this text
• http://twitter.com/home/?status=

2. Append your tweet to the end of the previous step

• http://twitter.com/home/?status= How to add a Retweet button inside your PDF documents http://su.pr/1adj34| The Social Media Guide (via @sociallywirednow)

3. Replace all spaces with a plus (+) sign

If you use a hashtag symbol (#) change it to %23

http://twitter.com/home/?status= How+to+add+a+Retweet+button+inside+your+PDF+documents+http://su.pr/1adj34+|+The +Social+Media+Guide+(via+@sociallywirednow)

You have just created a retweet URL!

Test the Retweet URL
You will want to test this URL works before we link it to the retweet button.
It doesn’t matter if you are logged into Twitter or not when you click on the retweet URL.
If you are not logged into Twitter the login page will display, after logging in, the tweet field will be pre-populated with your tweet.

If you are already logged into Twitter, then the tweet field will become populated with your tweet.

Create Your PDF File and Embed Retweet Button
The final step now is to put the retweet button into your document and to insert the retweet URL (from the previous step), into the retweet graphic as a hyperlink.

To be able to add a hyperlink to a PDF document you will need PDF creation software such as Adobe Acrobat (not Adobe Reader).

1. Open up your file in Microsoft Word then paste in the retweet graphic.I would recommend doing it in more than one location within the document.

2. Right-click on this retweet graphic and select hyperlink

3. Paste in your retweet URL then click

You have just hot-linked the Twitter retweet button with the retweet URL- And embedded it all into your document.

Finalise the PDF File
Last but not least convert this document into a PDF.


You have successfully added a retweet button inside your PDF document!

Did you know….Google automatically adds AND to find words together - so you really do not need to add it in there! Google will also disregards any spaces between commonly used words. For example childcare will include child care as well..

Basic Principles

Phrase search ("")
By inserting double quotes around a set of words you are in fact searching for exact results in that exact order. For example, "local dance clubs"

Search exactly as is (+)
By including a plus character, it forces Google to search exact words in exact order. For example, local+dance+clubs

Search within a specific website (site:)
Google allows users to specify that search results must come from a given website. For example, the query [Rudd:news.com.au/theaustralian ] will return pages about the Prime Minister but only from The Australian.

Words you want to exclude, NOT(-)
Including a minus character immediately before a word excludes results containing this word. The minus sign must appear immediately before the word and be preceded with a space. For example, anti-virus -software will search for the words 'anti-virus' and exclude reference to software.

Fill in the blanks (*)
The * (star character) or wildcard, is a little-known feature that can prove powerful. If you include * within a query, it tells Google to treat the star as a placeholder for any unknown term(s) to then find best matches. For example, the search [ Google * ] will give you results about many of Google's products (go to next page and next page -- many products).

The query [ Obama voted * on the * bill ] will give you stories about different votes on different bills. Note that the * operator works only on whole words, not parts of words.

Over the last few months I have been wondering exactly how to teach someone to collaborate.

Seems like a simple statement. Collaboration spaces are the tools to use, in which we teach others to use. One particular method I get best results from is:

One on one training. Guiding the user through the collaboration spaces, using specific examples within their work environment. The user will use their own documents, thoughts and structures.

Memory Joggers, quick reference guides and contact numbers for HELP. I like to provide any participant access to hard copy references so they can quickly refer to it during the working day. People like these, especially if they are small enough (and some like GLOSSY) to place beneath a keyboard.

Follow ups. I encourage any participant to contact me with all their questions, but to try and resolve it the best they can. By learning 'the hard way', i have found participants learn other useful tricks...Having said this, it is important to go through any resolved issues with the participant - incase they are doing it wrong and counteraffecting another issue highlighted!!

Person to person follow up. If the participant is in close proximity walk past and ask directly on their progress, thoughts and issues after their initial training..However, because we are discussing COLLABORATION...why not collaborate on the HELP FORUM...which will also help those trained in distant locations.

I encourage the use of collaboration, and found that by using this space to resolve issues and re-hash learning outcomes effective; it not only creates a knowledge base for future participants, but develops confidence in Collaboration (the action) itself and builds rapport via online communication.

Of course all learning methods are different to every person; there is no one learning approach that can be applied to one group. IT is the Trainer's job to understand the group and individual(s) to best develop a learning package that will be effective.

How to teach collaboration.??

Collaboration is an approach; Someone once discussed learning Email for the first time in the workplace. Though email was simple enough having many advantages, it was still a HUGE change in work practices (snail mail, telephone, fax). The same principle used then should be applied to learning collaboration.

To teach collaboration I would recommend:
Encourage the use by using it yourself
Force the use of collaboration - place all documents and discussions in the collaboration space with all users involved.
Continuous training
Create an online forum for help topics
Actively research how other departments are integrating collaboration
Old Way New Way workshops and training http://www.changetools.net/

Teaching collaboration and having the user to apply this approach is the hard part.

Many users can see the positive outcomes, there are many that dont have the time to relearn, there are alot of people that dont trust the new form of work methods.

Do you have any tips or tricks on how you have taught collaboration?

http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcloudcomputing%2Esys-con%2Ecom%2Fnode%2F1198120&urlhash=Af72

Found a snippet of information about stabilising Cloud Computing. There are people out there that are in fact on to it (why wouldnt they). There is a fantasic blog all about cloud computing, if that interests you. Below is an excerpt from their blog post late last year!

San Jose 12 May, 2009

Monitis launches industry’s first deep EC2 monitoring service. Monitis Cloud Monitor records instantiations and terminations of virtual server instances, automatically configures Monitis agents for deep fault, performance and configuration monitoring, and provisions external availability monitoring. Cloud computing enables companies to attain scale on demand and hence reduced capital investments.

Amazon’s Web Services package is the market leader for on demand dedicated server provisioning and cloud computing. Virtual machine instantiation in Amazon EC2 is a minute and click away. Both startups and established companies are increasingly leveraging EC2 in their production systems. EC2 allows companies to scale to unlimited servers and payment can be tied to actual usage instead of monthly contracts. Users can run 20 servers per 1 hour or 1 server per 20 hour at the same cost.

Software can launch additional services on demand including ability to scale when it experiences heavy load. This has potential to create the following problems for the administrator: 1) cost escalation due to uncontrolled service launch and 2) inability for monitoring service to handle dynamic server instantiation. Monitis Cloud Monitor provides control over services running in EC2 by leveraging Amazon’s API for automated service management. Cloud Monitor leverages AWS account detail to regularly poll active instances, record changes in instance (start/stop) and executes user defined rules & actions including: ability to issue alerts, and setup additional internal/external monitors for new instances.

Monitis automatically configures its agent for probing server CPU, load, storage, and processes resource utilization. Monitis service provisions external http, ping, database and/or custom monitoring. An example of custom monitoring includes notification rules such as “notify if greater than 5 instances are running”, “add an agent for every new instance, start CPU & storage monitoring, and notify if CPU utilization is more than 80%”, etc. “There is tremendous growth in on demand cloud computing and we see growing need for explicit cloud monitoring” said Hovhannes Avoyan, “with our customer first policy, we are here to address the need and we provide a fast, easy, affordable tool”.

Monitis Cloud Monitor is web centric software and no downloads are required. The service is expected to be used by both site owners and IT service providers

Cloud Computing (not physically, though I know alot of people this is one of their wishes)

Cloud computing is Internet- ("cloud-") based development and use of computer technology ("computing").^[1] In concept, it is a paradigm shift whereby details are abstracted from the users who no longer need knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.^[2] Cloud computing describes a new supplement, consumption and delivery model for IT services based on Internet, and it typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources as a service over the Internet.^{[3][4] (Wikipedia)}

Cloud Application Examples

• Peer-to-peer / volunteer computing (BOINC, Skype)
• Web applications (Webmail, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yammer)
• Security as a service (MessageLabs, Purewire, ScanSafe, Zscaler)
• Software as a service (Envysion.com, A2Zapps.com, Google Apps, Salesforce,Nivio www.nivio.com ,Learn.com, Zoho, BigGyan.com)
• Software plus services (Microsoft Online Services)
• Storage [Distributed]
• Content distribution (BitTorrent, Amazon CloudFront)
• Synchronisation (Dropbox, Live Mesh, SpiderOak, ZumoDrive)

Cloud Platforms Examples

• Services
• Identity (OAuth, OpenID)
• Payments (Amazon Flexible Payments Service, Google Checkout, PayPal)
• Search (Alexa, Google Custom Search, Yahoo! BOSS)
• Real-world (Amazon Mechanical Turk)
• Solution stacks
• Java (Google App Engine)
• PHP (Rackspace Cloud Sites)
• Python Django (Google App Engine)
• Ruby on Rails (Engine Yard, Heroku)
• ColdFusion (Adobe)
• .NET (Azure Services Platform, Rackspace Cloud Sites)
• Proprietary (Force.com, WorkXpress, Wolf Frameworks)
• Storage [Structured]
• Databases (Amazon SimpleDB, BigTable)
• File storage (Centerra Blades,Amazon S3, Nirvanix, Rackspace Cloud Files)
• Queues (Amazon SQS)

Characteristics of Cloud Computing

In general, cloud computing customers do not own the physical infrastructure, instead avoiding capital expenditure by renting usage from a third-party provider.

They consume resources as a service and pay only for resources that they use. Many cloud-computing offerings employ the utility computing model, which is analogous to how traditional utility services (such as electricity) are consumed, whereas others bill on a subscription basis. Sharing "perishable and intangible" computing power among multiple tenants can improve utilization rates, as servers are not unnecessarily left idle (which can reduce costs significantly while increasing the speed of application development).

A side-effect of this approach is that overall computer usage rises dramatically, as customers do not have to engineer for peak load limits.^[9] In addition, "increased high-speed bandwidth" makes it possible to receive the same response times from centralized infrastructure at other sites.(Wikipedia)

Cloud computing is the combining of all gadgets enabling access to all personal/work information – any time, anywhere.

The iPhone can be used to access the same files and music that the desktop machine used at home can. You are able to travel with the laptop and just pull down your data from the internet. The data remains secure, backed up in the ether and forever available.

Living the dream? Or “Living in the cloud”….

Risk 1.

Your most important files are the ones you need with you at all times, or at least at any time. But what if the internet connection is down? How do you get the spreadsheet from Google docs, or refer to the map in that email when you are offline?

The standard scenario is that you have your connection chopped of when you’re on a plane, although I actually like the relaxing offline time of a plane ride. This is a problem, but in truth you are cut off whenever you are away from home or office.

3G modems?

Work best when using small data sizes, but the networks are still too slow for shifting big files like music, photos or movies. When outside 3G coverage (possibly your next holiday destination), you may as well be on dial-up. Wi-Fi is no way for the professional to work…

Resolve this risk!

Notebook with a day-long battery life and a guaranteed, 24/7 connection that’s fast enough to stream HD video. We’ll imagine that you get a cheap plan with no crazy bandwidth caps. Would this work?

Your thoughts?

5 Social Media Secrets for 2010

Social media took a wild ride in 2009. The mainstream press fell in love with Twitter, Facebook grew aggressively and a new wave of companies starting taking social media seriously as a business tool. Below are 10 secrets to staying on top of it all in 2010

1. Pay Attention to the Metrics
You can't manage what you can't measure. Chief Marketing Officers are going to pay more attention to metrics and tie in social media more directly to overall business goals, not just web-related goals. When starting up new project agree on what the metrics should be and what goals are appropriate.

2. Scale Good Habits
As you grow, make sure you match your structure, policy and guidelines to your organization size. What works with 2 people won't work with 20 people. All in all your structure should encourage good habits. Your entire team should be motivated to respond quickly, post consistently and talk like a human. Speaking of policies and rules...

3. Have Rules, But Trust People
As your social media strategy matures, you'll add in more rules and guidelines. However, you can't have a rule for every situation. You need to trust your team. Lead by example, don't manage with rulebook.

4. Creativity & Personality Trump Big Budget
Social media is definitely one of those areas in life where more money doesn't always win. Two of the most powerful ingredients in social media are creativity and personality. They are the key to having a viral message and to being a trusted resource. They are also essential to discovering useful strategies and tactics. You can't be afraid to try something new or go against the grain.

5. Listen Listen Listen
Don't focus so much on you and your message. Put that farther down on your To Do List. Focus first on your customers. Hear what they are saying, see what they're up to. Once you've been able to connect, and figure them out, then see how you can help.

I wanted to see how everyone uses Facebook, accepting or adding friends – or not adding or accepting.

During my lifetime I have come across several types of friends. I can rattle off a few: work mate, best mate, chick friends, guys you know through friends, old school friends, old work friends…then there is the awkward one…the guy you have just started seeing. Or, wouldn’t mind dating!!

Ok, so you scope out their reaction first to Facebook. Judging by her/his reaction you get a gauge on whether they are on it, active on it, or not at all.
She is on there! Bang.

You go on and see what you can find, any photos, any comments, and best of all, who she is mates with and whether she is single! Of course you would like to improve the chances of having similar interests, so snooping in her interests is something to look at.

She is a smart one. She has locked down access to her page, unless you become friends with her. But her profile picture is intriguing.

Now this is going to drive you crazy isn’t it? What is she up to in that world? It’s something that you can’t really ask about because the simple answer is ‘you know I talk to family and friends’. Doesn’t really take a Sherlock Holmes to figure this one out.

Is it inappropriate to ask her to be your friend on Facebook when you have only known each other for a month?

And when you do become friends on Facebook..What happens then…you both will be stalking one another’s every move, to see who else is on the scene, if they are telling you the truth? And of course any photos taken of them – what are they really like when they are with their friends. You may find once you are friends it reveals so much more than what you really intended.

Dating and being on Facebook gets complicated, because dating is not a committed relationship! When you are dating, you are just that..having had no talk or mention of the future. Or you may have talked about future plans, without really thinking about the commitment level. Do you assume you are in a relationship only because you have been dating a few months? Apparently this is something ‘you’ should know. Personally, I have to be told as I am very black and white. I might have feelings, but would never assume the other person would unless told directly.

The tricky part in all of this is knowing when to add the new boyfriend as your boyfriend. Do you talk about it? Or just do it?

What do you think?

I wanted to see how everyone uses Facebook, accepting or adding friends – or not adding or accepting.

During my lifetime I have come across several types of friends. I can rattle off a few: work mate, best mate, chick friends, guys you know through friends, old school friends, old work friends…then there is the awkward one…the guy you have just started seeing. Or, wouldn’t mind dating!!

Ok, so you scope out their reaction first to Facebook. Judging by her/his reaction you get a gauge on whether they are on it, active on it, or not at all.
She is on there! Bang.

You go on and see what you can find, any photos, any comments, and best of all, who she is mates with and whether she is single! Of course you would like to improve the chances of having similar interests, so snooping in her interests is something to look at.

She is a smart one. She has locked down access to her page, unless you become friends with her. But her profile picture is intriguing.

Now this is going to drive you crazy isn’t it? What is she up to in that world? It’s something that you can’t really ask about because the simple answer is ‘you know I talk to family and friends’. Doesn’t really take a Sherlock Holmes to figure this one out.

Is it inappropriate to ask her to be your friend on Facebook when you have only known each other for a month?

And when you do become friends on Facebook..What happens then…you both will be stalking one another’s every move, to see who else is on the scene, if they are telling you the truth? And of course any photos taken of them – what are they really like when they are with their friends. You may find once you are friends it reveals so much more than what you really intended.

Dating and being on Facebook gets complicated, because dating is not a committed relationship! When you are dating, you are just that..having had no talk or mention of the future. Or you may have talked about future plans, without really thinking about the commitment level. Do you assume you are in a relationship only because you have been dating a few months? Apparently this is something ‘you’ should know. Personally, I have to be told as I am very black and white. I might have feelings, but would never assume the other person would unless told directly.

The tricky part in all of this is knowing when to add the new boyfriend as your boyfriend. Do you talk about it? Or just do it?

What do you think?

A New Year

A new job? A new home..a new hairstyle?

I can help you find ways to promote yourself and find a new job - if that is what you need!

Get yourself aquainted with LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), fill in your personal details and upload a copy of your recent CV.

Now you have done this, here are some tips and tricks:


1. Groups

Actively participate in a handful of groups related to your professional interests to expand your network. Find "Groups" on the navigation bar. From here you can search for a group to join, manage your groups or start a new one. Groups will keep you updated with industry-related information, plus they function as a forum where you can propose and answer questions, helping you become a recognizable name.

2. Company Buzz

Under "More..." choose "Application Directory". This will bring you to a page with a number of applications that you can add to your homepage and profile. The "Company Buzz" tool aggregates mentions of a company from Twitter, allowing you to discover relevant trends and comments about your company. The tool lets you customize and modify the topics to watch and displays charts to track activity. "A lot of people who use Twitter don't know where they can see what's trending, so this is a great application for that," says Eve Mayer Orsburn, CEO of Social Media Delivered, a social media consultancy.

3. Recommendations

These blurbs from your coworkers make your LinkedIn profile more dynamic and bring more credit and validity to your profile. Career experts recommend that you seek recommendations from your coworkers, former managers, direct reports and even clients. Shorter tends to be better; one or two paragraphs will suffice.

4. Events

"Not enough people use events," Orsburn says. "It's a great way to find and connect with new people." Under "More..." choose "Events". Here you can view events (including webinars) that your connections are attending, search popular events and find ones to attend. Orsburn recommends searching for a person you admire and looking through the events he or she is attending. This will give you a good sense of which conferences or events are worth attending, and will help you build more meaningful connections.

5. Advanced People Search

Try using this search method instead of the basic search when looking for new connections. The "Advanced People Search" allows you to find contacts based on geographic area, company, keyword, industry and more. Advanced People Search also gives you the option to search based on when users joined LinkedIn, which Orsburn says can be especially handy. "One of the best ways to find people who can help you is to help them first," she says. "When you use this function to find someone who's a new member to LinkedIn, you can introduce yourself, mention that you see this person is new and offer to introduce them to some of your contacts." You can find this feature under "More..." in the navigation bar.