Photo by Michael Grunow

Wall Posts
When asking questions, for which you are expecting a response, write a message. Do not ask the question on the person’s wall.

Comments
Use comments to participate in a conversation about a particular wall post. Do not talk about anything else, for two reasons: First, the person who made the initial post did not intend for it to initiate other topics of conversation, and they may find it difficult to politely redirect the conversation back to the original topic. Second, all of the other people who are participating in this particular conversation about this particular comment will receive a notice about your comment, something they may not be interested in.

If you like a post, click the like button, and if you have something constructive to say about it, leave a comment. Otherwise, the person posting will feel like they are talking to him or herself.

Application Requests
Only send application requests (Mafia Wars, FarmVille, etc.) to all of your friends once. Beyond that, only send the requests to people who actually participate in the application. (Most applications indicate which of your friends use the application.)

Group and Page Invitations
When you are inviting people to your group or page, consider that there is a difference between people who support the topic and people who want to get involved in the topic. Some people will feel obligated to join your group or be a fan of your page just because they like you and/or they support what you are doing. Do not, then, annoy those people with incessant messages that they have to delete from their inbox. If you would like to engage both groups, it may require you to create two different groups, for the different levels of involvement.

Messages to Fans
If you control a fan page, do not bombard your fans with messages. Only use messages to communicate very important information. All other information should be communicated in wall posts.

Friend Requests
Only ask people you know personally to be your friend. If you are receiving too many friend requests from people you don’t know, it might be time to create a fan page. And, if this is the reason you are creating a fan page, nobody will think your creating one is arrogant.

Do not take it personally when people don’t accept your friend request. Some people only use Facebook for their close friends and family. There is nothing wrong with this decision.

Photos
If you post an unflattering photo of your friend on Facebook, do not tag them.

General
All offline ettiquette still applies. If you shouldn’t do it in the real world, don’t do it on Facebook either.

Thinking of starting a social media platform to steal a piece of the pie from Facebook and Twitter? Not so fast. Consider the following before you do:

1. Don’t force it.  A one-sided conversation can be forced, but a real conversation will only happen organically.
2. Consider why people will participate in your particular niche. Not all topics deserve conversation.
3. People will conduct online conversations where it makes the most sense to them. Some of the most popular platforms don’t even advertise; they are promoted only through word-of-mouth (and I don’t mean radio ads).
4. Consider why the potential users of your social media platform will use your social media platform instead of one that already exists.
5. Be creative when you open the platform up to the public. Only so many people will initiate conversations to empty space.

Who benefits from well-planned social media platforms?

• The platform – strategic companies earn much more revenue when they really understand the value of their product.
• The users – people appreciate the value of interacting with others, learning from those who know more than them and teaching others about something in which they have expertise.
• Related companies – companies love to sell directly to their target audience.

According to a recent nielsen wire article, “Twitter’s Tweet Smell of Success,” written by Michelle McGiboney, Twitter has grown 1,382% from February of 2008 to February of 2009, “making it the fastest growing site in the member communities category for the month.” In February 2009, it had over 7 million unique visitors. And over 40% of its visitors are age 35 to 49, and almost 85% are over 25 years old.  In other words, Twitter is used by a large number of adults, and that number is growing every day.

Plenty of businesses have joined the bandwagon too, hoping to reach potential customers through this medium, and if the statistics haven’t sold you on the idea, here are my 5 reasons for brands to jump on the Twitter wagon:

1.    Opens Communication with Influencers: Twitter not only allows one to reach a large percentage of the public, many of these Tweeters are influencers among their network. These people pride themselves on having something to say, and their network is listening to them. This type of person is much more likely to voice their opinions of products than the average customer, making them the perfect people to introduce to your product; if they like it, they’ll tell everyone about it.

2.    Customer Service: Not only will these people share what they like, they will also share what they don’t like. But instead of this conversation going on behind the company’s back, companies can be involved in the conversation. If a complaint is made on Twitter, the company can address the problem and solve it within minutes. With Twitter, companies don’t have to wait until someone is angry enough to write a letter.

3.    Immediate Updates: Many companies don’t have the resources to send out regular press releases, and even if they do, a large percentage of their customers and potential customers will never read them. Twitter is the best way to keep these people informed of projects, improvements and anything else that you think they would like to know. According to the above article, many of these people (735,000 in January) access Twitter from their phones, giving the Tweeter direct access to people who want to read what they have to say. And, if nothing else, it keeps your brand on their minds.

4.    Initiates Ongoing Education: Successful Tweeters share interesting and current information. These people read articles, listen to other Tweeters and do whatever they can to be knowledgeable in their field. For most corporate Tweeters, this means they need to conduct their own ongoing education, which, in turn, makes them better at their business. Successful Tweeters have no choice in the matter: they must become more knowledgeable in their field.

5.    Increases Credibility: Also, by being one of these successful brand Tweeters, one not only proves that the company keeps up with trends and new technology, he also proves the company’s expertise among its competitors, which increases the brand’s credibility.

So, do some research, learn how to Tweet like a pro, lurk for a bit and jump in. The water’s fine.

Note: Photo is from FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

During this depression, companies have completely pulled back on their sponsorships because they no longer have extra money to donate. Many charities, without sponsorship dollars, have either funded their events out-of-pocket, earning nothing, or next to nothing, at their events or have decided not to put on their fundraisers at all until the economy is more stable. This situation hurts each party concerned; it’s time to reevaluate the process.

Instead of just asking for money, charities need to understand their events’ value to a sponsoring company. How many impressions will the company’s logo or product receive? Who are these people? How does the event encourage guests to subscribe to or purchase the company’s product or service? Once the charity knows the answers to questions like these (and many, many more), they need to put together a professional sponsorship deck to give to potential sponsors. To read more about asking for sponsorships, visit http://whohastimeforthis.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-to-not-write-business-plan.html. In his blog, David Cowan offers his insight on putting together an effective presentation to get funding. (In his case it’s from venture capitalists, but the format is the same.)

The second part of this equation is the corporate sponsor; the recipient of this deck needs to evaluate it as it would any advertising or marketing opportunity. Often, charity events are a much less expensive way to reach a target audience; where else could you find a whole room full of people who have extra money to donate and are completely driven by something (and you know exactly what that something is).

For example, if an environmental charity is hosting an event, which will be attended by 500 of their biggest donors from the Seattle area, green companies should be jumping at the chance to get their product into the hands and/or minds of those people. These people are the voice of their consumer base and will reach far more potential customers than the company ever could on its own for as much money.

The charity – Charities need sponsorship dollars to reach their financial goals. Many charities couldn’t raise funds at their events without sponsorship dollars. In order to maintain momentum for their cause, many charities have continued to host fundraiser events though they have brought negative event profits.

The company – Especially with the economy the way it is, companies need to see large returns on their investments. A well-thought-out sponsorship plan can give a company far more than a traditional marketing or advertising plan.

The public – The public likes to learn about products or services that are applicable to them.

Freelance photographer Andrea LaBarge Mills entered a contest online, in which the winner’s dream assignment will be funded with $50,000. Andrea submitted her proposal, and named the Guitar Center Music Foundation as the beneficiary of a component of the project.

Copyright © 2004 Andrea R. LaBarge

Copyright © 2004 Andrea R. LaBarge

Who benefits?

The photographer – She gets to experience her dream photo assignment. Andrea specifically chooses an assignment that she thinks will most affect her life, both personally and for her career. She really looks at how to make the most out of the $50,000. Also, the contest is a vehicle to reach more people and gain a greater following. She would also win a new computer as part of the package.

The charity – The charity will also gain exposure from their involvement in this project. A charity relationship is not a requirement in this contest, so it’s a great vehicle for reaching more potential donors (in that they have little competition in this venue). Because the charity will publicize this on their social networks, they will also gain some exposure on search engines.

The company sponsoring the competition – Microsoft is making a minimal investment for a lot of publicity. All they did was provide the $50,000,  put together a self-sustaining site for submissions and are going to give three computers away to the winner and two runners up. If they had given them away without a competition, there would have been no viral marketing or publicity for it. And, the $50,000 would have probably contributed to their print marketing, which is far less effective.