Here are the facts: I have attended many webinars, seminars, boot camps, and teleconferences teaching the ways of PR and the new rules of social media, marketing, pitching etc.

I am a PR professional, early on in my career and I am hungry for knowledge and advancement. I have a passion for networking, learning from others and educating myself in and outside of work. This is all in addition, of course, to my love of Public Relations strategies and emerging social media trends. I don’t think I am a minority here, I think there are plenty of young-er minds out there that want to learn to adapt new practices and learn how to blog better, engage better, pitch better (whatever it may be) and ultimately grow in their industry and in their career.

Specifically I want to learn more about SEO, HTML, and social media and blogging (but not for beginners).  And the sad truth is, I don’t really have all day. I’m in the office from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm most days at an agency I love and give 100 percent to. So here’s my plea, if you’re out there and you know about boot camps, webinars, classes, or people who would be willing to sit down with me. I’m sick of going to seminars and webinars that repeat the same A, B, C rules of Twitter and Facebook, I’m looking for more.

So as I continue to dig for opportunity, and find time and vehicles to further my education in the industry I’m asking you, readers and friends…. to share your knowledge, and challenge me!

Foursquare??

What’s the deal with Foursquare? Why you no longer need a bouncy ball and a court to play…..

When our slew of Miller Brooks employees head out to lunch on any given day of the week, I’m usually on my phone within the first few minutes after we sit down at the table. My co-workers, who know me well, don’t need to ask what I’m doing. They roll their eyes because they know I’m “checking in” to our to our favorite lunch spots on Foursquare.

The growing location-based social media application trend is led by Foursquare, a service that provides real-time user location updates specific to a venue. Location-based services (LBS) like Foursquare are expected to really take flight in 2010 — providing they aren’t beat out by location-based features being added to Twitter and Facebook.

Much like the case with Twitter before it mainstreamed, many have heard of Foursquare, but very few actually use it or understand how it works. So if you’re among those who still think Foursquare is a playground ballgame played on a court divided into quadrants, I’ll help you out.

Let’s start with a quick breakdown of the application, and then I’ll give you my two cents.

What is Foursquare?

Foursquare is a location-based social networking application for mobile devices.

How does it work?
Users go to a venue (whether it be a restaurant, bar, park, retail store, office, etc.) and check in using their mobile application. When you’ve checked in, you are awarded points. Foursquare adds up the number of times you’ve been to that location. You receive more points at certain places, and when you are the person who has checked in to that venue the most, you become the mayor.

What is a badge?
When you become a regular user, and start checking in at multiple venues, you will receive badges for your check-in. From the start, there are a slew of beginner badges you receive for becoming an active Foursquare user. First, you’ll receive the newbie badge, then the adventurer badge, then the local badge, and so on. Badges and points aren’t really connected; badges are more of a reward system for interesting check-ins.

My two cents

Now that you know how it works, let me tell you what I think about Foursquare: it’s awesome!

I see two main arguments for the use of Foursquare, whether it’s for fun, for work… or simply because you’re starting to feel left out!

• Competitive gaming quality: I’m convinced that the competitive nature of the application makes it quickly addicting.  (It was for me!) I’ve only been on Foursquare for 5 months, but as a person who’s new to Indianapolis, I’m always sure to check into my new favorite hangouts.  I don’t want to miss out on the points or badges I might receive that will document the discovery of my new city. To help keep the application competitive, most mobile Foursquare applications feature a “LeaderBoard,” which shows you the amount of points you’ve earned on Foursquare each week – resetting every Sunday evening.
• Networking: The “check-in” aspect of Foursquare creates a stream of content that contains all your daily travels. Other users can then follow your stream and engage you in conversation about your favorite places. It’s another way for you to connect with someone and get to know him or her better. You can also follow other people’s check-ins to see where they have been. If your friends are using Foursquare, you can locate them in the city without ever making a single phone call. Also, as you watch your friends check in, you may discover some great restaurants and shops that you never knew existed!

Foursquare’s Challenge

The application clearly has the “cool factor.” As of early 2010, it claimed about 725,000 members — and it has only been around since early 2009. But the question is, can it be proved useful? Besides being fun, Foursquare was launched for business — and participating businesses say yes. Here’s why:

• Foursquare allows venues to provide deals and discounts to the Foursquare users who check in. Some even offer special deals to mayors. It’s another way for businesses to engage their patrons.
• As a business owner, you can learn a lot of valuable insights about your customers by monitoring their activities on Foursquare. You can find out where else your customers go, as well, to learn who your competitors are.
• Businesses can monitor their brand presence across social media mediums. You can identify both your biggest supporters and people who might be unhappy with your company. You can then engage these people and make sure they continue to be supporters of your brand, or right the wrong and gain back a customer.

As Foursquare becomes more mainstream, the application is rapidly gaining users (adding almost 100,000 in a 10-day period during SXSW in Austin, TX). But as the fan base builds, questions arise as well. One in particular: with people checking into (and out of) their homes via Foursquare updates (which can push out to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), is personal privacy at risk? This, no doubt, will be a hot social media topic throughout 2010.

Can you really weigh what you think about Foursquare if you don’t give it a try? Sign up at Foursquare.com and tell me what you think!

I think the transparency of social media can significantly hurt the many young job hunters out there. Fresh out of college want-to-be professionals in the marketing and PR industry probably assume the several social web outlets are to their advantage. (Which they can be.) However, in my opinion blogs, tweets, Facebook “likes” and Tumblr accounts serve as just another means to help companies and recruiters separate the talented from the talent-less and inexperienced. As these companies search for progressive minds — they are linking to more than just resumes and LinkedIn accounts — they are seeing tweets to best friends lamenting about a job search and Facebook posts complaining about current positions.

Unintentionally these pre-workforce enthusiasts can be reflecting work ethic and giving TMI about their personal life. Is social media an amazing tool that can put your career on the fast track when you know how to use it? Absolutely. Did my current employer print my LinkedIn account and see my tweets before my interview? Absolutely. But several newbie job seekers out there who haven’t quite mastered how to position themselves as a young-but-professional mind — have no idea how they are hurting themselves. Kudos to you for being active via the social web during a job search, but think before you tweet. Transparency isn’t always good…

1. Manage Disruptions:  Have daily priorities. Figure out what your task list is for being online.  Assuming you’re actually using your social media tools to accomplish things for work or personal success…Do you want to have a blog post done by a certain time today? Do you want to have commented on all you favorite industry blogs by the time you get up and need to be out the door for dinner? Do you want to blast out a few links to the company blog and photo reel from your latest press event..? Do these things first. Then you can go see what photos your buddy uploaded from Monday Night Football last week….

2.  Don’t overload on information: Pick a few sites that work best for you, NOT all of them. Stick with what you know… and when new strategies and applications are added learn them. Pick a few and know them well, rather than dabling with many. Better to be an expert in a few social media sites than hardly understand them all, am I right? Google Reader offers an easy way to monitor many blogs, but unles you can read them all, don’t subscribe. The truth is, you do’nt have time for it all – and you will make your head spin trying to monitor it all so pick what’s important and do away with the rest.

3. Learn task management:  There are plenty of wasy to do this and many different programs that can help. I am an amatuer and I use my outlook task list, and my gmail task list.  Don’t use your e-mail as a task list. Delete e-mails that you wont reply to, and move on. If something needs to get done.. put it on a to-do list!

4 .Get a Routines: If there are things you need to take care of once a day, or once a week. Make sure you set reminders and create a rountine for those items. (Whether it be blogging, e-mail, reporting results & updates to clients, and checking in on social networks)

5.  Disconnect: Remember to unplug occasionally. Some things just won’t get done if you don’t get off facebook and twitter for a little bit, even if they do have to do w/ social media.  Spend some time each day, or each week un-connected. Stay away from the computer (iphone, blackberry etc) while you prioritize your to-do list and get organized for the week.

What things do you do to stay organized and manage your to do list???  What don’t you do – that you could be doing?

I have found myself in the position numerous times to want to argue with corporate professionals about why social media is worth the time and effort it takes to learn to utilize these new mediums. I’ve even given a presentation to introduce how each site/application could possibly used for different types of clients. This post made me realize that the first step is looking more closely at what is is holding our bosses back.   Then we can more strategically plan our rebuttals! Here’s why the boss is scared of that little blue bird….

Here is a summary of Ochman’s post along with some thoughts of my own.

1- Companies think that employees will waste time with social media.

Many large corporations block their employees from accessing the Internet altogether. Others try to block employees from accessing personal email or social networks like Facebook during work hours.  In May, 2009, according to emarketer, there were 29 million smartphones in the United States. That’s a lot of Internet access available to workers everywhere – and employers can’t stop us from accessing the Internet – on breaks, at lunch, in the bathroom, you name it.  The value to workers of having Internet access – in terms of research, communication, and speed – is far greater than the threat of lost productivity. Companies have a right to make policies and rules about personal use of the Internet, but blocking it during work is just stupid.

This is great one. Your employees are already tweeting in the bathroom.. so you may as well them allow them to at their desk, then maybe they’ll learn enough about twitter/foursquare/facebook or whatever it may be to help you implement it into your overall marketing strategy!

2- Haters will damage our brand.

“What about the haters?” is the first question that comes up at my corporate and conference social media workshops. “What if people say bad, mean, nasty things about our brand?”  Well, there may be things you need to change about your brand, and in that case, you should thank them for letting you know what they are. Then you should make changes.  If you have built an online community that includes people who don’t hate you, that community will rise to your defense and they will handle the problem for you.

I completely agree with this one.  Criticism can make your brand stronger if you counteract it, you will learn where your brand needs to improve. You’re getting free and easy feedback through interactive sites!

3- We’ll lose control of the brand.

Listen up: every person with a computer and even a tiny skill level has the tools to make their opinion about your brand heard by other people. They’re already talking about you. Message control is an illusion. Give it up.= Your workers are talking about you in closed Facebook groups designed to keep you out so they can talk about you in peace. Your customers are emailing, Tweeting, Facebooking, and that old standby – calling – their friends about their experience with your brand. You don’t have control. You might as well join the conversation. At least that way you can influence what is being said.

Simply put… since they are already talking about you… joining in gives your brand the change to first listen, then TALK BACK and be pro-active and re-active instead of just observing.

4- Social media requires a real budget! It’s not really cheap, or free.

While many social media tools are free, knowing how to use them takes experience and perspective.  The boss’ friend’s high school or college kid can’t integrate social media into the company’s overall marketing. That requires experience and perspective. Having a large social network and a stellar online reputation helps too.

5- They’re scared they’ll be sued.

Oh puh-lese. Next!

Again, agreed.. you could be sued a number of other ways too. Crawl out from underneath that rock you’re living under… and welcome to the 21st century.

6- They’re scared of giving away corporate secrets or that information on social networks will affect the stock price.

If you don’t already have a social media policy, you need to create one.

1. Enhance yourself and think productively- If you are constantly considering post ideas while your working away at work, or considering new ideas for a project outside of work, you might stretch your productive thoughts of the day into something that can actually have take away value.  Posting in a way that seeks to encourage and/or teach other people will also stretch your thought process. Always tryign to learn for yourself and teach others sharpens your mind and keeps your intelligence active.  As much as I learn every time I dive into a new idea for a post, or a step by step process I’m wanting to learn more about… I walk away in small but real ways a more experienced and diverse person. There is huge value in that.

2. Teach yourself and learn something – My pretty knowledgeable older brother once told me that the best way to learn something is to create something yourself. Put together an article or a step by step list of how to accomplish something. Once you’ve done some research and put something together you will realize you’ve taught yourself. Blogging is extremely effective for this, and in the process others can learn from your discoveries.

Example? Why is it good to TWEET and MEET? Well.. put together a slide show on the value of connecting w/ your twitter friends, throw in some statistics you find, talk to some people who’ve had  a good experience, and by the end of the slide show, you just might have a compelling argument, and understand the value a little better yourself.

3. Become a better writer – Expand your skill set. Are you a good writer? Would you like to be? The only way to get better, and continue to expand on the comfort level of your writing is to do it more often. Sitting down w/ a blog to lay out your productive thoughts of the day or week is an extremely beneficial exercise and doing this may help you become a better writer for things you need to do at work.

4. Develop your thoughts - Did you ever have a great idea or experience a spark of interest in something, and then forget all about it? A professional blog is a place to expand on that spark rather than forgetting it.

5. Create some credibility- If you’re someone who seeks to be involved in the social media realm, someone who claims to think creatively, or someone who says they have a strong work ethic.. prove those things here (on your blog) and create some credibility for yourself. This is an area where you can push the envelope, reveal your willingness to consider, learn and explore different ideas and discuss current trends in your profession. Whether that means a political discussion, a break down how-to of a real estate agents in today’s economy, discussing the current market conditions and how different businesses are effected, sharing your struggles and frustrations with what the radio advertising industry has become, or exploring ways that new media can effect the PR industry and therefore various clients — write about it, think about it, explore it, and prove that you’re the employee that’s actively thinking about what’s next.  Become credible.

Making your Facebook page a little more private, is a great place to start. There are tons of networking sites to find people through, and Facebook is a good tool for after you have already made those connections.

Here are some tips from Drew McLellanon how to protect your privacy on facebook.

Ten Privacy Setting You Should Consider:

Use your friends lists — everyone doesn’t have to see everything.

Remove yourself from the Facebook Search results — if you only want to be found by people you reach out to — this is an easy fix for eliminating most of the unwanted friend invites.

Remove yourself from the Google search– Facebook listing seem to grab great Google juice.  So if you want to be found, leave it be.  But if you’d prefer more privacy, you can remove yourself from the listings.

The dreaded photo/video tag — this one has cost people jobs, relationships and their own dignity.  With a simple change in privacy settings, you can make it so that no one (or just those you choose — think friend lists) can see those tell all photos and videos.

Not everyone needs to see every picture — this holds true of your photo albums as well.  You can set privacy settings for each one separately.

Prevent “stories” from showing up on your friends news feed — is there anything more awkward than when your friend goes from in a relationship to it’s complicated or single?  Avoid that embarrassment with a few simple settings.

Keep your application updates from being published– do you really want people to know you’re looking for a tommy gun in Mafia Wars or that you’ve wasted yet another hour hitting a new high on Bejeweled?

Make you contact information private – for some people, their cell phone number is public information.  But for others who might have arms lengths relationships at best with many of their Facebook friends…a bit less shared would be good.

Censor your friends…keep their thoughts off your wall! – I think this is one of the most critical on the list.  You can control who sees your wall and who can write on your wall.  Do you really need your frat buddies sharing stories with your boss?  I’m guessing not.

Keep your friends private — this isn’t just about your privacy, it’s about your friends’ privacy as well.  Remember, anyone who is a friend of yours can pop onto your friends list and cherry pick them for whatever reason they’d want.

The article stated that twitter has suddenly become a priceless resource for industry professionals. Record numbers of grown-ups are now using sites like twitter to network, and get in front of new prospects, stay abreast of industry news, and promote products and services, and connect w/ like-minded professionals.

It is an oppotunity that as a business professional – you CANNOT ignore. Get to know twitter. Develop a strategy… and once you do, watch it work for you!

I have been asked several times about my experience job-searching using social media a little over 6 months ago when I was laid off from my first position out of college. Having an incredibly social web-connected brother (Ryan Graves) and having an interest in all things up-and-coming social media, I dove into twitter, this blog, and the world of networking online.  I responded to a funny tweet once from @blockgreg about people shaving their heads at San Diego State for a cancer awareness event, and ended up sitting down with Greg at a Starbucks on San Diego States Campus where he worked. Turns out we knew handfuls of the same people. Since he had also worked in public relations for years, we talked about his career path, experiences, interests, and what excited him about his current role working in media relations and new media!  I shared my situation and experiences and he was able to give me some great advice and feedback.  I had enjoyed this person’s tweets before, but who knew that it could lead to a great conversation, (and a great contact in the industry I might add)  simply because he or I suggested a meet up. Meeting him put a face to an @address and it was definitely a great thing, now he’s someone I’d easily turn to for advice or direction in my field, and I’ve expanded my networking circle. 

Lesson learned – If someones tweets interest you and it seems like they are working on or involved in something that sparks your interest… MEET them! Could lead to a great connection and/or friendship. (Now, of course you have to be safe and smart about these things  – but I’m going to assume my audience has a good head on the shoulders, and that you know to take precautions before meting anyone online. Don’t try this at home kids.)

So, is there value? Many would argue there isn’t. Many will look and you and say… “so I didn’t know you had a blog?” or “what’s this twitter thing, it’s a passing trend, why even sign up?” and then they get that look… you know the look. They are trying to be polite and interested but really in they are thinking, “what a load, this girl thinks people actually care about her dear diary via the world wide web, how nerdy.” Well here’s the thing… I beg to differ, and I know there are many of you out there who might agree with me.  But for those of you who don’t… you’ve just heard my story – I’ve got proof it’s valueable if you’re using these networking vehicles the right way. 

Here’s my break down of why you should TWEET and MEET, and connect and network using the many social media networking tools that are available today.

1. Common Interest/ Common Ground - When you connect w/ people using social media tools there is at least one huge thing you will have in common. The fact that you both use twitter and posterous and appreciate the feedback that you get via the commons on your blog posts!

2. You can easily find people outside your usual circle (but not too far outside)- You might search “public relations” in “san diego” and find someone that knows a lot of the same people as you, since they work in the same industry in the same city – but it’s not someone you would have bumped into otherwise. This is hugely beneficial because not only do you have the common ground of work place, city, industry, etc, but you can talk about the similar people that you might know, and the circles you both run in – that will most likely overlap in more ways that you could have guessed!

3. There are driven creative people out there – I’m convinced social media helps you find them! - So I’m probably wrong, and this one probably isn’t fair, but I’m convinced that the majority of pepole that are active on twitter, have a blog, and are commenting on yours – they are driven, they are interested and interesting, they are seeking to learn more, learn from you and provide content rather than the mass of people who just twitter “watching TV w/ my cat” (if you’ve seen the video Trouble with Twitter, you know exactly what I mean).  I’m not saying anyone who uses twitter has value, but many do, you just have to know how to find them!

4. Favors are waiting for you…I swear.There are so many connected, successful people out there that are online, and the fact that you find them online and seek them out to MEET will be a huge advantage for you over the next guy who is handing a resume or leaving Voicemails. you’ve got that common ground, now USE it because someone who is familiar with your blog and your twitter site is going to feel they know you better than a stranger who walks into their office in an interview suit, and once you’ve formed this bond – most peopla are going to more than willing to pass you along to someone they know, someone you should meet – and there you go. You’ve gone from a twitter friend to a valid contact/connection who’s going to refer you to their old boss who you have to meet… or their brother who works in a field a little more similar to what you’re looking for.

Bottom line -meeting people via twitter (or other social media avenues) is creating an open door for yourself, you can trust me or you can walk through it and find out yourself…

Whether it is with co-workers, friends, clients, potential clients, media, or a combination of all of the above – these are some new ways of sharing information that are rapidly becoming more common… (or at least I plan on using them more!) I think these different sites and methods of conent sharing – as they become more mainstream – are going to change the way that communication (both social and professional) is developing for future generations. So if you haven’t experimented with these yet… get on board!

Sharing workspace sites — Google documents, Amazon Docs, Zoho, and Huddle.net are all good examples of sites  that give you a solid secure online shared space along with collaboration tools.  With Huddle.net and similar sites you can manage projects, store files online, create and edit documents, have discussions online, and invite an unlimited amount of users. This brings working from home, or working internationally etc. into a whole new efficient realm. Has anyone seen the Cisco commercial for video conferencing? New Ways. Yeah…kinda like that.

With shared workspace services, documents can be shared while they are being composed. Two or three writers can work on parts of the same document concurrently.  Which brings team work to another level of productivity. The proliferation of co-authored books on business and the internet, for example, offer even more proof that collaboration is now the norm in the workplace.

 Social Networking Sites:
Sites like Twitter and Facebook mean that we can’t simply check our e-mail anymore, we’ve got to go to all outlets now. You can share images and video via facebook wall, or share a link to an interesting article or survey with hundreds of followers at once by sending a tweet. Times are changing, and it’s now so much easier to share information.

Twitter — The thing abou twitter is that many don’t realize that twitter is so much more than a “status update” similar to the status updates on Facebook but can also be used for passing along links and information, and is a very effective sharing tool. It’s more of a micro-blogging tool and can be used to post value – not just tell the world your eating mint-chip ice cream.  (Many people meaning those that don’t really get the social web, don’t freak out frequent tweeters – I know this is old news to you guys.)

 StumbleUpon – Discovers web sites based on your interests, learns what you like and brings you more. It’s described as a secret journey across the funniest, weirdest, most interesting and most useful websites on the net, and then it allows you a way to share these sites with others. StumbleUpon is different than a regular search engine because i t uses collaborative opinions on website quality. When you stumble, you see sites and pages that friends and like-minded StumbleUpon users have recommended, so you are able to find content that you probably wouldn’t have found simply googleing something.

From Discover Social Media, here is a list of what they said were the best tools to share files, music, etc!

• Delicious: Share bookmarks and tags describing any Web page or document
• Diigo: Collect and share bookmarks, tags and document collections
• FileRide: A social desktop for sharing workspaces
• Google Reader: Share bookmarks as an RSS feed
• GrooveShark: Share music as playlists accessible anywhere on the Web
• LibraryThing: Share your favorite books, including tags and ratings
• StumbleUpon: Share bookmarks and tags
• Vimeo: Share and tag your videos

Pick your favorites, learn them… and join in the content sharing!