Social Media

How many times have you thought, “I wish I would have been a part of the Old Spice creation?” Or a part of creating any campaign gone viral? Perhaps you just wish you were creating daily content that was popular, meaningful and significant in and whatever you do.

Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe dabbling into more curation would be just as satisfying and effective?

The social space and world in general are full of people who want to create. Creating – the creative process – and fresh, new ideas make the marketing and business world go ’round. But what happens when this awesomely created content gets buried?  If no one is there to collect it all into one place, it is likely to quickly go missing. That is, unless we acknowledge the power of curation.

Curation is not something for “those who can’t create.” It should not be thought of as a B-level social task. Remember, part of our jobs as chief sharers is to save people time. Curating does this.

Here are 6 simple ways to rock curation:

1. Take your niche or expertise and curate a list of various YouTube videos around it. For example, looking for ways to “take a yoga class with free YouTube videos?” The post has curated several, all in one place, depending on which level/type of yoga you want to do. Maybe your business sells yarn, so why not curate a list of “how tos” or demonstrations on various things to make with yarn; for beginners up to a more advanced level?
2. Playlist. Curate a list of YouTube videos in a specific genre to share with your audience. Find the YouTube video desired, click “add to” and then add your “new playlist” name. Once you’ve added everything you’d like, you can grab the link to share the entire playlist.
3. Pinterest. Yes, my new Master for visual curation. Create boards surrounding any topic or theme you want. Search for images to add to them. Didn’t find the right images on Pinterest, but somewhere else online? Download the “pin it” button to enable you to “pin” to your board(s) from any site. A few examples: a curated board for the gluten free, a curated board to remind us that attitude is everything and a curated board towards the healthy lifestyle.
4. Twitter Lists. Yes, the Twitter lists you curate with various people placed on specific lists are a form of awesome curation. Whenever I’m looking to network with new gluten-free or healthy lifestyle people, I will typically seek out various lists. I always find people, and I am so thankful for these lists. I have my own gluten-free Twitter list to help others. If you are a brand, considering using this form of curation to identify other niche tweeps, brand ambassador tweeps, geo-specific tweeps and so on.
5. Blog Posts. Write a list of resources on any given subject and post them in one place, on one post. Here are two examples I did that many people told me they appreciated: On Bookmarking: Social ROI and Analytics and 51 Things to Blog About. Did they take me a while to research and write? Yes! But did it benefit someone else? Absolutely!
6. Crowdsource and Curate. Need help with a new marketing angle? How about a slogan? What about a local event idea? Ask in a creative, clever way all your social networks. Crowdsource several ideas. Then, spot the trends and find the patterns. Now curate different pieces of those trends and patterns, in combination with any stand-out crowdsourced ideas. You might be surprised with what you come up with!

Curation and creation are both important. It’s easy to think that only a handful of people can be great creators; I’d argue the same is true for curators. And in the past, you may have thought the only way to build “buzz” was to be the creator. Now, you have the power to build your own “buzz” by putting the human touch on all current content floating around.

If the goal is to provide value to your personal networks or business-related networks, then whether you create or curate is not the question. The real question is how and what will you create or curate to achieve those starting goals?

p.s. Not that I need anymore networks, but I did request for a private beta invite to scoop.it.

Which do you prefer? Creation or curation? Where have you seen some rockin’ curation?

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Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

I do not use the Twitter stream, or any other “social” site for that matter, as an outlet for complaint or negativity. It has never been my style. And even though these past few weeks have challenged that, it has been reconfirmed that I will maintain this same integrity and general stance.

In lieu of the Netflix Internet Outrage, I had to step back and challenge myself: Did I take to the Internet to voice my Delta Airlines frustration because it was just an “easy push of a button” or was there something more to it?

According to, Are Customers Really Upset at Netflix or is Internet Outrage Fake(?),

The internet allows anyone to easily give a false sense of outrage, because they know that no one really is paying attention to what they are saying. It’s not that no one is reading it, but because of the sheer amount of complaints, comments, mentions and threats, most people have learned to believe that what is said online has no reflection in reality.

I, for the most part believe that statement. I believe that much of what is said online has no reflection in reality. The “social” is oftentimes merely a venting outlet, with no real action.

Fast forward to our Delta Airlines experience:

Step 1: My husband is a loyal flyer. He used miles to purchase his flight from CA to MN.

Step 2 (THANK YOU #1): A short time later, he decided he wanted to spend more time in MN and thus needed to change his flight from Wednesday, July 27 to Friday, July 22. For that change, Delta charged not only $150 but also 10,000 additional miles. Nice thank you for being a loyal flyer.

Step 3 (THANK YOU #2): He was at the airport, when a few minutes before takeoff they cancelled the flight, due to mechanical problems. Absolutely frustrating, but clearly a mechanical problem is not reason for fault. And yet, I was not happy (due to prior events) so I took to the Twitter stream. @DeltaAssist reached out. A nice gesture, but the problem wasn’t with them reaching out/not reaching out. It was a continuous, templated response of “we can offer you a $100 voucher.” A nice (nearly) auto-thank you for being a loyal customer.

Step 4: My husband gets on a flight, only this time it’s not nonstop (the only reason for taking Delta to MN in the first place using miles). He arrives late Friday night.

Step 5: No luggage.

Step 6: Delta notifies him, “Your luggage will arrive in Minneapolis tomorrow (Saturday) on the noon flight. We will drive it to you.”

Step 7: Saturday comes and Delta now notifies him, “Your luggage will come FedEx earliest on Tuesday.” My husband cannot get through to anyone via phone. At this point, he would’ve been happy to drive back to the airport to physically pick up his luggage. “That is not an option,” they tell him. The only person sympathetic up until this point has been the customer service rep in Atlanta. But of course she cannot do anything about the situation.

Step 8 (THANK YOU #3): Automated emails. No personal phone calls. No real information as to what is going on with the luggage. A nice thank you for being a loyal customer.

Step 9: It’s Monday today. The rest is TBD….

Notice I have not taken to the Twitter stream and reached out to Delta beyond Step 3. Why? Because I realized that what Pace Lattin said in the article is ALSO tue on behalf of the “social” company, “what is said online has no reflection in reality.”

When I took to the Twitter stream I was not merely doing it because the “social” facilitated the “ease.” I am likely to never fly Delta again. That’s reality. But me complaining about it “socially,” clearly will have no reflection in reality on how Delta does business because….

“Social” is not a cure for failed policies, procedures, product and traditional customer service.

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Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

It has recently been reported that Lady Gaga is now more influential than Oprah. Thoughts? Agree? Disagree?

Is Lady Gaga more influential or is she just creating huge buzz and awareness?

Let’s be clear and distinguish between: Awareness and Influence.

I believe a “true” influencer has a stamp across their forehead which reads, “call-to-action.” An influencer doesn’t just have 100,000 Twitter followers, 4,000 friends on Facebook, a magazine ad featuring them, a published book or a blog that gets a million hits per day. Instead, the true influencer, for example, sends a tweet out that says, “I just tried Starbucks new Frappuccino.” In return, their followers go to Starbucks to purchase and try that new Frappauciono.

It can be argued that someone is an influencer who sends that same tweet out and a thousand people RT it. Absolutely that is a critical component to having influence since now, all networks of those 1,000 people are also seeing the message (and could potentially be buyers). But did the original tweet have influence or provide awareness?

Take for instance a brand who pays a celebrity to tweet to their followers that they love, “Product xyz.” As a brand, think about it –> why are you spending the money on this? Sure, your celebrity has a million followers, but are you looking for that celebrity to create brand awareness or for them to influence their followers into buying? Perhaps both, but if “influence” is any part of this equation, make sure to ask yourself:

1. Does the particular celebrity have influence?
2. If the celebrity has influence, is it relevant to your brand/product?
3. If the influence is not relevant to your brand/product, how will making their followers aware of your brand help drive sales and create a clear “call-to-action?”

From a branding perspective, I don’t believe that having an ultimate goal of brand awareness is better than brand influence or vice versa. There is no one magical potion for all brands. The only piece that stays consistent across the board is that all brands are looking for the ROI. And when it comes to ROI, my point is that I believe the term “influence” is overused. Brands want people that have “influence,” but influence is really only as good as the context it is put into.

And that very context will make or break your ROI.

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Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com

Do you Posterous? I decided to Posterous a few weeks back when I realized that many times there are quick and simple posts, pictures and information to provide on-the-go. I wasn’t looking to add another site by any means, since one website has been much less stress! But I don’t consider this a website. I consider it my outlet-on-the-go, and since I’m always on-the-go there is plenty to share!

So why Posterous? Here are the Top 3 Reasons I Love Posterous:

1. Post from Gmail: I can be anywhere and easily post. I was at the airport when I posted “Running Inspiration.” Easy steps included:
   1. Quickly snapping a photo with my iPhone
   2. Emailing the photo from my phone to “post@posterous.com” with “subject: Post Title” and “body of email: Blog Post”
   3. Hit send. Post live!
2. 140+: Posterous is my outlet for the times when I need 140+ characters, but not too much more. Twitter is my most favorite platform to use because I love things short and sweet. 140 or less is a great concept! But sometimes I need just a little more on a daily basis!
3. A Healthy, Calm & Simple Lifestyle for the Professional: People are always asking me how I maintain a healthy, calm & simple lifestyle while working so much – working behind a computer at that! My Posterous site is dedicated strictly to that -> all things healthy, calm and simple via workouts, inspiration, food, health, and anything else healthy-simple-stress free inspired! My goal is to constantly be sharing what it is I do to provide ideas for incorporating them into your own life….in short snippets, because the professional oftentimes doesn’t have hours on end to read blog posts!

So, do you Posterous? I would love to follow your site, too! Leave a comment below with a link to your site!

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Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.

http://childlike-sports.flywheelsites.com