The update was released last week and seems to only be active part of the time. So I’ve captured a search query with Google’s personal results filter turned on and off to better illustrate what this change means to overall SEO.

Logged In/Show Personal Results

The default setting when you are logged into Google populates personal results all over the page. Viewers receive a list of Google+ profiles from their circles related to the search terms shown above the search results. To the right Google highlights global Google+ people and pages they think are most pertinent to your search terms. Finally, mixed in with the results are posts from your circles that directly relate to the terms searched.

Logged In/Hide Personal Results

Here I am logged in to Google but I have clicked “Hide Personal Results” on the top right. All circle related content is removed from results, but Google’s top people and pages related to the search terms are still shown. These same results are shown when I am not logged in.

As Google remains the most popular search engine to date this in turn now makes Google+ the most visible social network in search. A lot of criticism regarding the fairness of a search engine promoting its own social results has been circulating, but Google is standing by its decision. Marketers have no choice but to follow Google’s lead and get their brands represented as soon as possible to keep up with those already on Google+.

Want help to quickly create and optimize your Google+ brand page? Contact Monkee-Boy to strengthen your Google search coverage!

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As the authority for business profiles, job posting and professional networking it is surprising more companies don’t implement the website into their online marketing strategies. Until recently marketing on LinkedIn has been nearly unexplored territory only going so far as the company profile and careers pages. Recently, however, several companies have started to delve into the unknown and it turns out marketing on the website may be a bit more covert than its social networking cousins. Companies that have created successful marketing campaigns via LinkedIn have focused less on vamping their profile pages and more on the real asset of LinkedIn: the network.

Easy LinkedIn Network Marketing Strategies:

Word of Mouth–Goshido

In 2010, Irish start-up Goshido raised over $350,000 in 8 days all through LinkedIn. Chairman Frank Hannigan simply contacted 10 people in his network and requested they spread the word. Hannigan saw an opportunity in his network of over 700 people and took a simple approach to marketing his start-up. Word of mouth, especially via a reputable contacts, can be a great way to get information out about your company. Thirty percent of Goshiod’s overall investment ended up stemming from those contacted through LinkedIn.

Niche Groups–Dell

The 2011 Social Marketing Awards was given to Dell this year for their focus on marketing through LinkedIn. Dell chose to target niche groups by focusing on the networking site’s sub-groups feature. The groups targeted IT professionals and organized them by geography and specialty. Managers were assigned to each group to answer member questions quickly and in full. This kind of personal response is ideal for building a positive reputation for your company and the sub-groups are an excellent feature for promoting that reputation to influencers in your company’s speciality area.

While most social marketing campaigns are designed to endorse viewer interaction with a company, sometimes making the first connection is all that is needed to let your network spread the word for you.

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Still recovering from over a week of sleep-deprived days this month, but it was worth it. Attendance was up this year for Interactive, rumors have been flying that perhaps it was up around 30% over last year. There were so many events and panels this year that some even spilled out of the traditional convention center to neighboring hotels, as far as 6+blocks past to the Sheraton. Which as it has also been stated is where the “real” technology panels and talks happened, away from the fray of wild crowds and parties that surrounded the convention center.

Making a broad statement off of all the panels I attended this year. I have to say most were definitely either a hit or miss…none of which fell in-between, often dependent on the quality of the moderator or ability of the moderator to draw out insights and guide the panel, and since SXSW deploys the scalable way of voting up panels to determine who will speak this leads to panels that have popular speakers (but that doesn’t guarantee the best speakers) or topics, perhaps just ones that are deemed mainstream.

One primary example, well based off my experience, that stands out in my mind is the “SXSW panel: Fan to Fanatic: True Blood’s Marketing Hook” I will admit, I am a fan…Why else would I go, right? In short all I have to say is, Alan Ball was missed/needed. I found that for a show with such vision and impact, that has become so well known, and has such a brilliant marketing team behind it, that they couldn’t carry the attention of well… ironically, their audience. Fortunately, given the vast assortment of panels, the opportunity to find certain topics is available, providing you can easily get to the physical location. I did find the SXSWi app with schedule updater so very handy in planning my day-to-day activities and was able to jump topics on certain panels that ended up not capturing my interests for very long.

I found the importance of networking during SXSW and understanding various social networks very useful and almost bordering as a complete necessity. I attended SXSW when Twitter* first launched, yet this year there were no clear rivals or new-kids-on-the-block/breakout technologies. In my opinion it is because there is an over saturation of products, currently–while innovation certainly isn’t stifled the number similar or ‘like’ products is hard to fathom let allow encourage novices to sift through. (*however that being said Twitter is in it’s fifth year, and coined at hitting over 140 million tweets a day, that’s one hell of a network. Happy Birthday Twitter!)

Among some of the coolest tools I found was SMS/app chat, GroupMe (enables intimate discussions with your most immediate circle) and to which admittedly I have been using for over half of a year now and am pleased to note that it keeps my monthly texting costs at bay within my social circle, but it is NOT new to me. However, during SX it was definitly being heavily used and promoted by this so to speak “early adopter crowd”, even the press picked up on this new trend. * Check out Group-Me Panel highlight reel for info

What about mass broadcasting panels and topics to networks like Twitter, Facebook? Well again, I congratulate the developers behind the SXSWi app, as it was not only a fantastic tool for scheduling, but also went a step further to integrate Gowalla’s location check-in and direct topic post to feed through both Twitter and Facebook. I was impressed almost more-so than with the panels I attended.

This brings me to another point. I found my off-line networking experience to be more prominent in providing me with new resources and contacts then I had experienced in quite a while. While I feel that at times some clients express that online networking can seem like a bizarre and mysterious world to traditional ‘offline’ professionals.  That world is moving at such a rapid pace, but my response is you know more than you think. All social networking leads back to you, me and our interrelation. Many social networking users are loosing site of that including myself at times. It very easy to hide behind the screen.

Upon doing a little discovery on this progression, after one of my many social networking events this SXSW I came across a neat study that boils down off-line to on-line networking to a few base principles.  Here are five ways to translate your existing networking skills onto the Internet environment and vise-versa from Pundit’s entrepreneurs a guide for social media.

*Side note, being a member I have to state my excitement, that the AIGA Launched Design for Good this SXSWi, Asking Members to Donate 5% of Their Time to Social and Civic Causes. NOTE: A positive way to promote your company through social networking is to engage your followers!

1.  Never Sell at Networking Meetings (over saturation)
On the web, forums, comments, and social media sites are your ‘networking meetings’.  Leaving shallow comments at every tangentially relevant site and only recommending your own stuff is the online equivalent to that guy working the room with a thousand business cards.  It’s better to make just a few quality contacts who don’t think you’re a jerk.

2.  Perfect Your Pitch
Offline we learn to craft our speech, a 30 second commercial so to speak to get across who we are and what we do.  On this point, the Internet is definitely your friend.  The profile is your online counterpart to this high-speed sales pitch.  The wonderful thing is you have the opportunity to get these first impressions just right and to adjust them over time.

3.  Give Before You Get
The surest way to foster goodwill both online and off is by being generous with your support.  Want more traffic?  Post lots of links.  Need help with your site design?  Give away what you’re good at.  The key is to offer without expectation of reciprocation.  When you make a habit of giving, the help you need seems to show up automatically just when you need it.

4.  Make Appointments to Network
The Internet is 24/7.  There may be some live chats or forums where people agree to attend during the same real time, but for the most part your networking is not going to be done concurrently.  In other words, you’re likely to have conversations over a staggered period of time.  In order to carve out the necessary time to catch up with online contacts, schedule networking on your calendar just as you would the business building breakfast organized by your traditional professional association.

5.  Patience is THE Virtue
It takes time to build up a network, any network.  It can be difficult at first to observe the effects of your diligent networking when you don’t see your new contacts out for drinks or in line at Starbucks.  How will you know you’re making progress?  The truth is networking is an art, not a science.  It’s difficult to measure – online or off – how your efforts are paying off.  But ask anyone who makes networking a regular part of their professional life and you’ll get a handful of anecdotes about the power of schmooze.

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South by Southwest Interactive starts tomorrow! Are you ready for a unique convergence of emerging technologies, original music, and independent films?! Well let us not forget to mention the amazing SXSW parties…

Here are a few helpful SXSW 2011 tidbits from our very own Social Monkee:

You want to attend the SXSW Interactive parties because they are the perfect place to grab a nibble of some tasty local treat, cold drink, hobnob/network, see old friends and listen to some sweet music. Here are some parties that are hosted by some of the leading heavyweights in the tech industry, so the odds are definitely in your favor to  make new friends and solid connections while enjoying endless free treats. There are an endless amount of parties to attend, here are the top five must attend tech parties.

Kickoff Party at SXSW 2011 – Hosted by TechSet

Every year, Techset opens SXSW Interactive with the must-attend party of the year. You walk into the venue and instantly everyone says you’re a rock star, so bring it! This year’s theme is “Living Rock Stardom” so you arrive dressed for the part and show the peep how it’s done. It’s highly recommend that you sign up early as the event sells out every year.

Time: Friday, March 11 8:00PM | Venue: Enzo

SXSW Interactive ‘Appy Hour’ Party Presented by BestBuzz

Guest list is limited and there will be a DJ and plenty of fun surprises at the event. You can get ‘appy’ and mix and mingle with the industry’s peeps while enjoying appetizers, an open bar, party favors, and our signature Appy Hour ‘BuzzBrew’ cocktails. www.bestbuzz.bz/sxsw

Time: Friday, March 11 @ 5:00PM | Venue: The Belmont @305 6th St

You can RSVP via iPhone or Android only right now. The oompa-loompas are working overtime on the Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and OVI versions.

NING Presents the Official Interactive Opening Night After Party

The SXSW opening night after party, featuring Washed Out, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears The Limousines and DJ Premier. Also, RAC (Remix Artist Collective)and DJ Aaron Axelsen of Popscene.

Be sure to RSVP: http://go.ning.com/sxsw

Time: Saturday, March 12 8:00 PM | Venue: The Mohawk, 912 Red River Street

Groupon Presents: SXSW Hangover Brunch for the Freely Hungover

Eat the hair of the dog after a weekend of mandatory industry parties and non-stop beeper radiation exposure at a free meal of brunch on Groupon. Enjoy a complimentary brunch buffet to fill your empty stomach and an open bar, stocked with beer, Bloody Marys, mimosas, and well drinks, to fill your empty liver. Give your ears the wake-up call they need with a performance from Slim Richey and the Jitterbug Vipers, featuring the Most Dangerous Guitar Player in Texas. Groupon tells me that their free brunch will expand your stomach with food, your lungs with appreciation, and your mind with knowledge. RSVP is required but does not guarantee entry (first come, first served basis). http://sxswhangoverbrunch.eventbrite.com/

Time: Monday, March 14, 10:00AM | Venue: Iron Cactus, 606 Trinity St

GSD&M + Google Present: The Industry Party

Google and GSD&M says join us for a night of listening, learning, drinking & networking. That includes live music from the Mother Truckers, J. Roddy Walston and the Business plus other special guests.

And you can even browse through an art gallery featuring works from Daniel Johnston, Magda Sayeg, Hugh MacLeod, Ian McLagan, Dave Mead and many more. Show your SXSW badge for entry or RSVP to sxswparty@gsdm.com.

Time: Monday March 14, 7:00PM | Venue: GSD&M, 828 W 6th St

SXSW Trade Show BLOCK PARTY

Mix, mingle and have a drink courtesy of participating SXSW Trade Show exhibitors. The Block Party is the perfect opportunity to watch that new technology demo, find out more about the coolest new startup, or simply network with some of the most plugged-in people in the industry. Be sure to get there early and bring your friends, because the SXSW Block Party is one of the hottest events of the show.

Okay…let’s make it six:
Pinpoint Music’s Party @ SXSW 2011
Pinpoint Music is headed to South by Southwest 2011 to host the very first Pinpoint Music party in Austin, Texas. This inaugural event will be held on Thursday, March 17th (St.Patrick’s day) at the Lanai Rooftop Lounge in downtown Austin and will showcase 8 very talented bands from across the country. The lineup will span our diverse interest in music genres with the bands Family of the Year, Pepper Rabbit, Inspired Flight, Slang Chickens, Pujol, Sundelles, Hi Ho Silver OH, and Solace and Fury.

The show is FREE but is by RSVP ONLY, so do that here.

Also be sure to check our Monkee-Boy SXSW 2011 Page for details on how you can win VIP passes to The Texas Music Magazine Party on the 18th! + added extras like links to daily parties and panel tips.

We will see you out there!

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SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, with tons of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders, the incredible SXSW Trade Show, which “wows” me every year and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer. Taking place March 11-15, thousands of prospective panels get submitted by all kinds of people… The trick is to weed through the panels to hone in on focused area’s of interest that can or will be applicable to your field of interest, or heck perhaps may just seem interesting.

It is near impossible to go through every panel. Here are a few that caught my eye, but I encourage people to keep their eyes on the inter-webs for helpful tips, and also take the 5 seconds to Google the speakers you may be interested in, a little Google research goes a long way. Some panels I chose because I know the presenters are good. Some I picked because the subject matter is interesting to me. And some I selected because the description well… it just seemed pretty darn interesting. For a list of all panels and locations, I have included the following links:

Click here to browse the schedule of 2011 programming

Click here for campus locations and programming types

PANELS WE RECOMMEND (and will be attending):

Design-

How Print Design is the Future of Interaction
This session is about how the history of Print Design is becoming an important influence in the evolution of Interaction Design. As a craft, design for printed media has a rich history. Several generations of designers have pushed its boundaries in countless directions. It has been shaped over several hundred years as both a functional and aesthetic discipline, with a deep foundation of principles, practices, theories, and professional dialogue. In comparison, Interaction and UI Design is still a relatively young field. Its history has largely been driven by technology and functional goals. The dialogue around it has been centered on usability, which has been its purpose in the context of technological advancement. The visual language of UI has evolved from that standpoint: that it should evoke the familiar, analog experience of tools, buttons, knobs, and dials. That foundation has led to a very specific visual language in interactive experiences. In the past ten years however, the relevant technologies that support the design of Interfaces – displays, processing speeds, and rendering engines – have matured to a point that they provide a more capable canvas for design… Presented by Mike Kruzeniski

Anatomy of a Design Decision
What separates a good design from a bad design are the decisions that the designer made. Jared will explore the five styles of design decisions, showing you when gut instinct produces the right results and when designers need to look to more user-focused research. You’ll see how informed decisions play out against rule-based techniques, such as guidelines and templates. And Jared will show you the latest research showing how to hire great decision makers and find opportunities that match your style. Of course, Jared will use his unforgettable presentation style to deliver an extremely entertaining and informative presentation.  Presented by Jared Spool, Founding Principal of User Interface Engineering.

Inclusive Design: Creating Beautiful, Usable & Accessible Websites
The concept of the Web for All is something that we hold dear, but sometimes it feels like we are holding on to it for dear life! There is plenty of knowledge sharing about Web Standards and best practices, but too many opinions about what a website really is. If you ask a designer, a developer and a marketer, you will probably get 3 different answers and this can be a tad problematic when you only have one website. Things that are designed are invariably products of some sort and it became clear that the internet is a product that people interact with using technology. Learning to apply the principles of Inclusive Design to building websites makes sense, but existing technologies and practices in order to ensure its successful implementation is where we are at now. Presented by Ian Pouncey

Creative and Effective Leadership in Design Environments
A search on Amazon shows 62,000+ books on leadership but almost nothing to help creative team leaders build and sustain a creative environment. Creativity and innovation can be delicate and emotionally fraught processes. Leadership theories are helpful, but what do you do when your star designer suddenly starts mailing it in? Or a project team is frozen in infighting? Or one of your designers just can’t find their footing in a new project? When you got your big promotion for being an amazing designer, no one told you that you needed an entirely new skill set. Sink or swim, baby. Learn tips from vision development to team alignment, from bottom-up empowerment to top-down intervention. Presented by Sarah B. Nelson, Hot Studio

Development-

Web Anywhere: Mobile Optimisation With HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript
Web apps, mobile phone apps, websites that work anywhere, SVG, HTML5, Widgets, location-aware sites, Media Queries. Beyond the buzzword assault is a revolution in the way sites are made, what they can do, and how they are accessed.Explore different methodologies for making websites that users can access on mobile phones and other devices, and how to optimize your existing website for mobile. Find out what’s coming around the corner in HTML5 and the W3C APIs that allow websites to access native capabilities on devices.  Presenter: Bruce Lawson

The Politics Behind HTML5
HTML5 is the flavor of the month. Steve Jobs thinks it will feed his cat, Google thinks it means whatever they think is good, and the rest of us are waiting to discover what (apart from video, better forms, and interoperable parsing on the web) it actually *is* when it’s done. Obviously, there is a lot of interest in the next generation of such an important technology, and a lot of discussion about what it will be, how it works, etc. Where the people go, politics follows close behind. From CSSquirrel to MrLastWeek, from the New York Times to bloggers in Kyrgyzstan, people are also watching the politics. And there is a lot of it. On this panel, the people who have been there take you on a guided tour of the (smoky backroom) discussions and deals that shape HTML5, and looks at what is happening now. Where did HTML5 come from? Who were the players, who are the players, and what do they think? Why is X3D not in HTML5 if MathML is? What happened to accesskey, and why are people unhappy? Why does HTML5 have two licenses, and two specs? This panel *won’t* answer your questions about how to include HTML5 in your website. It will explore the thorny questions you want to ask but nobody wants to answer, and we’ll maybe have a little fun along the way.

Creative JavaScript and HTML(5) Visual Effects
It’s time to get creative with JavaScript! Seb Lee-Delisle, Founding partner of BAFTA winning agency Plug-in Media, shows you how to create beautiful visual effects in HTML5 canvas in this 2.5 hour workshop. He’ll also demonstrate how easy it is to convert 3D points into 2D and show you how to make your very own JavaScript 3D engine. Bring a laptop and prepare to get coding! Presented by Seb Lee-Delisle of Plug-in Media

Social Media-

Beyond the Check-In: Location and the Social Web
This panel will look at how the “ever-present human desire to share” leads to success for check-ins using location-based services such as Gowalla and Foursquare. Josh Williams, co-founder and CEO of Gowalla, will explain how people’s propensity to share where they are and what they’re doing is changing the way we communicate.

Williams will also share insights on how geolocation has shaped mobile technology and what’s next for Gowalla and other mobile-social services. He plans to address questions that would be of interest to both journalists and news consumers, including this one: “OK, so I’ve shared all the places I’ve been and connected it with photos and videos. Now what do I DO with all that data?”

Exploring the Twitter APIs
This panel is worth going to if you want to find out how the Twitter API works, how some of its new features came to be, and how it might look and work in the future. In particular, Matt Harris of Twitter will talk about what you can and can’t do with Twitter’s API. The panel is bound to be technical, but at the very least it will help you gain a better understanding of how APIs work.

Mobile-

Designing a Seamless Web to Mobile Experience
Clearly more and more consumers and small businesses are making the move to mobile to help manage their day to day lives. With that migration comes the demand – and expectation – for seamless utility between their Web and mobile experiences. Rather than having services live separate lives via their desktop or Web applications, customers are looking for instant gratification in an end to end experience independent of what device they’re using to access their information. The problem? No one is providing this seamless experience yet – and if they are, it is not meeting customer expectations. Explore the ways that companies can and are making the successful translation of Web to mobile and how that will result in customer delight and uptake of new mobile services across the market. Presented by Omar Green, Director of Strategic Mobil Initiatives at Intuit.

Designing iPad Interfaces – New Navigation Schemas
Lynn Teo of AKQA, an agency specializing in interactive marketing, will look at trends and best practices in iPad application design navigation. Based on an assessment of more than 50 iPad apps, Teo will provide an analysis of navigation methods and will answer questions such as: “Are there specific wayfinding and browsing mechanisms that make for a satisfying and productive iPad user experience?” and “How effective are the navigation approaches? Why are some more/less effective than others?”

App, Shmapp, Tell Me What Works Across Platforms!
This panel could be of interest to publishers and developers who want to better analyze consumers’ behavioral patterns to “develop the best possible mobile application and mold the app to harness the advantages of each platform.” Aaron Forth, director of product design at Intuit’s Mint.com, will look at how mobile apps have changed the way companies interact with their companies and will explain how developers can create behavioral-based apps for the iPhone and Droid platforms.

Behind the Curtain: Secrets of Mobile Application Wizardry
Razorfish’s Paul Gelb says “tens of thousands of developers and hundreds of thousands of mobile applications have gotten it wrong” and have failed to attract active users. Gelb plans to show participants how they can do it right and will talk about the biggest mistakes that developers make when creating apps. He’ll also offer tips on how to measure the performance of a branded application.

Apps vs. Mobile Web: Which to Reach Consumers?
This presentation discusses the pros and cons of using Mobile Web and Applications to reach consumers. It draws on GetJar’s experience as the world’s 2nd largest app store with over 1 billion downloads on what works and what doesn’t to reach consumers on mobile. The presentation will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile apps vs. mobile web. It will also discuss innovative new ways to use both mediums to reach your consumers in a way that is scaleable and cost effective for your organization. The presentation will also discuss who you can communicate your mobile web / mobile apps offering to your consumers in a way that is clear, simple and easy to follow for consumers regardless of what kind of handset or platform they are using. Presented by Patrick Mork, CMO Get Jar

Personal/Self  Improvement-

Fail Big, Fail Often: How Fear Limits Creativity
It can be difficult to embrace failure when you’re working on deadline and under a tight budget. But Jeramy Morrill of Big Spaceship says failure is a necessary part of creation. During his panel, he’ll talk about how our responses to failure improve or decrease our potential as creative thinkers, and how to get satisfaction out of the process of “failing forward.”

I’m So Productive, I Never Get Anything Done
Media columnist David Carr of The New York Times will look at how technology contributes to, and detracts from, journalists’ productivity. He raises relevant questions for journalists who want to strike a better balance between consuming media and creating it: “Is your desktop a window on the world or just a view of the prison yard?” and “What specific steps have you taken to bifurcate your world into productivity and recreation?”

Miscellaneous-

*Geek Out ALERT! An Interview with Mythbuster Adam Savage
As one of the co-hosts of The Discovery Channel’s & Mythbusters, Adam Savage’s work is interactive at the most literal and basic level — yet also indicative of the forward-thinking approaches to communication celebrated at SXSW. A proponent of both DIY trouble-making and an outspoken advocate for science over rumor, Savage has to balance the enthusiasms that spring for wanting to see something for oneself with the hard facts that have been proven by others time and again. An industrial designer and special effects supervisor prior to busting myths, Savage brings an engineer’s methodology to the problems not just of urban myths and historic legends but to the larger problems of scientific illiteracy and know-nothing-ism in American culture.  Presenter: Ana Marie Cox, GQ Magazine

Q&A With Google & Bing On Website Ranking
This looks like a worthwhile panel if you’re interested in search engine optimization and driving traffic to your site. Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, will join Google’s Matt Cutts and a representative from Bing to talk about ways to increase your site’s ranking online. They’ll address questions such as: “What are best practices to do well with Google & Bing?” and “What are common design techniques that should be avoided?”

The Grand Challenges in Media
Robin Sloan is a serious media innovator, having moved from Current TV futurist to Kickstarter-funded novelist to media integrator at Twitter. He’s going to “describe the significant unsolved problems in media, and talk about why they matter,” and then offer “a starter kit” of models and ideas that point to a solution.

Tips to surviving SXSW Interactive:

1. It’s OK to skip a few panels. The numerous options of panels, book signings, speaker sessions, and meet-ups can be totally overwhelming, especially for first-timers. But definitely maintain a “must attend” list, but also take time to enjoy the spontaneous hallway conversations that often take place when roaming the convention center.

2. Ditch the lap top, but carry a charger. This tip certainly isn’t for everyone and your job may require that you carry your lap top with you everywhere. If your lap top is optional, then you may want to consider leaving it in your hotel room and instead carry pen/paper or use your phone. You’ll be doing tons of walking to/from/around the convention center and may not have a break to drop off your bag at your hotel before going out.

Between geo-location check-ins on Foursquare or Gowalla, live tweeting during panels, taking notes, and text messages/calls/DMs to meet up with people, you don’t want to run out of juice early in the day.

SXSW has a Volt Recharge Lounge on the ACC floor that will have lots of chargers & plug-in space.

3. Say hello to people! People are very friendly and approachable — even the rockstars of social media and emerging technology. Introduce yourself to people sitting next to you in panels or while walking from one session to another. At SXSW, everyone enjoys learning things such as where other people are from, what they hope to get out of SXSW, and what they think of the Texas BBQ!

4. Arrive early to popular panels. Due to the size of the convention center and number of people trying to get from point A to point B, it can take 10 – 15 minutes to walk from one session to another. Many of the sessions fill up to maximum seating capacity quickly, so if there is a session on your “must attend” list, then not a bad idea to aim to arrive 10 minutes early to that session.

*SXSW Pro Tips. The food always runs out before the drinks at SXSW, so if your only priority for the week is sustaining yourself on the generosity of blogs, publicists, and Internet start-ups, enjoy fighting through that taco-and-Sailor-Jerry’s hangover in order to get in line early enough to gulp down another aluminum-foil chafing dish full of barbecue, rethink this…projections in number of participants for this years SXSW is way higher then last year. Pack a snack or visit one of the bar/restaurants on either 4th or 6th Street like Frank, The Jackalope, B.D. Rileys, and Halcyon, they all usually have SXSW specials during the month.

The learned SXSW-attendee knows that the “free food” is a bonus, but definitely not a guarantee. A day of day panels, shows and industry parties can be quite long—so pad your wallet with a little lunch money.

Also, Block Off Some Time for the Trade Show Block Party…The Block Party will be popping this year from 4:00pm to 6:00pm on Tuesday, March 15, the Block Party is styled after a traditional pub crawl.

Instead of pubs, registrants are encouraged to visit the booths of participating companies for tasty treats and refreshing beverages, both alcoholic and non. This year will feature participation from over 30 entities, so it is sure to be a good time.

To stay up to date on all the SXSW happenings in the Trade Show and beyond, visit the SXSW Schedules often.

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A recent article entitled “How to Extend Your Customer Experience Through Social Media” offered some additional validation for concepts we’ve discussed here on The Right Click earlier – “Give It Time” “Dedicate Resources” “Define Some Goals” – but also has some interesting thoughts about social media policy development.

For companies large and small, exploring the brave new world of interactive social media can be daunting.  How should you react if someone says something unkind about your company?  How can you interject yourself into a conversation between two people about your company?  For these an other new frontiers it’s important to think through what you wish to convey about yourself, and then make sure everyone in your company understands and adheres to your vision.

Recently I saw a great example of how not to use social media.  On Yelp, a leading review site featuring “real reviews by real people”, a business owner reacted to negative comments with over-the-top angry and insulting responses.  He called the people who reviewed his business names, including using profanity, and generated a firestorm of response inside Yelp for his boorish reactions to what most felt were polite, if negative, comments about people’s experience at his place of business.  The ensuing community response was swift and sure – many people being pointed to his comments who otherwise may not have even seen them, most of them announcing their intent to not only never patronize his business but also warn others about what type of people work there, etc.

In another interesting phenomena of internet communities, some members started doing research into just who owned the business, and tried to ascertain what the exact relationship the person representing the business had.  It turned out he was listed as the “General Manager”, and the Owner’s contact information was rapidly disseminated.

I’m sure you can imagine the notes began flooding into the Owner’s inbox, all decrying the behavior of his General Manager.  Within two hours the Owner was posting apologies to the Yelp community, with assurances that all employees would be “retrained” in not only the proper etiquette of participation in online communities, but in customer service response to negative experiences at their place of business.  The Owner made inroads into undoing the damage caused by his employee, but it would have been much better to have conducted training before any of this took place.

The linked article above provides some starting points to developing some social media policies for your business.  It’s not as difficult as you imagine, most are common sense:

• Define what your company stands for and make sure all employees understand it.
• Make sure anyone with responsibility for posting to your website and social media outlets understands the importance of being polite and respectful, even when it seems most difficult.
• Honesty is the best policy – really.  If you think a complaint has merit, admit it and tell everyone what you’re going to do to prevent another occurrence.
• Be firm but fair.  Some people are just not going to be happy.  You can’t help that, but you can speak your mind and stay consistent.  Most customers appreciate consistency.

Remember, social media is a two-way street.  The best blogs, Facebook groups, Twitter accounts all get people talking.  Monitor your outlets, look to see who’s talking about you.  Get involved in the discussions in a positive way, and don’t just send out marketing messages.  Let the audience know that you’re listening, and reacting, to their thoughts.

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A new article today in USA Today discusses how social networking has made significant inroads into the business world.   What’s nice about this article is that they provide some specific, real-world results of the efforts, something often missing from discussions about effective use of social media tools in the business world.

For example, Intuit, maker of the popular Quickbooks software, launched a new small business site, incorporating Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  The result was that customers flocked to the site and shipments of their flagship product were up 57% year over year.

Papa John’s Pizza launched a Facebook-based marketing campaign and gained thousands of customers, and saw traffic on their website soar by over 250%.

Companies like Comcast and Lenovo are using Twitter to conduct elements of their customer support, and seeing a reduction in call center traffic.

It’s heartening to see some companies realize tangible benefits to their investments in social networking.  All too often you hear more about the ineffective use rather than successes.  Who cares how many Twitter followers you have if it doesn’t benefit your bottom line?  As more and more stories such as this one come out, we expect that more companies will start to evaluate social networking for their own purposes, and we are here to help.

There are the usual caveats, however, as you read stories about these companies’ successes:

• Social networking is not a replacement for other, more traditional marketing tools, but rather an additional tool to leverage.  In fact, the key to success is figuring out how to integrate between all your marketing tools to get the biggest return.
• It takes time to build an audience.  Most all of the successful practitioners have invested time and resources into making sure that their efforts will lead to measurable benefits.  You can’t use the “check box” mentality in this effort, namely just saying “Oh yeah, we have a Twitter account” but not really using it to any specific end.
• Some companies are not particularly suited for social networking.  Most obvious are any industry with tightly regulated information.  Allowing customers to freely post their thoughts could quickly devolve into an administrative or even legal nightmare in such industries.

The article closes with an important warning for those who choose to dismiss social networking in their business plans.  “Companies have no choice.  This is where their customers are going.”

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This article in Smashing Magazine outlines some of the more common flaws with many of today’s corporate blogging efforts, and reinforces many of the concepts we stress to our clients when they ask us if they should be blogging, namely:

• Your blog isn’t a one way channel, it’s intent should be to initiate a dialog
• It takes time for a blog to generate readership and activity so you have to remain committed
• Get more than one person at your company engaged with your blog
• Allow comments and expect some criticism – be prepared for it!

Successful blogs, in fact, successful social media efforts in general, are all about engaging people with your business.  Don’t fall into the trap of using your social media tools as just more arrows in your traditional Marketing quiver, it’s a recipe for failure.

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• How do I measure success?
• Which social media tools should I use?
• How much time and effort will this take?

Let’s face it, social media is an emerging force, and one which is constantly changing.  It can be difficult for companies to justify dedicating resources towards social media, especially when success is not clearly defined.  The use of social media can be a fundamental shift in corporate policy towards marketing, customer services and other areas, or it can be just another “checkbox” which gets token effort and returns token rewards.

Ask yourself some of the questions contained in the article, do the research they outline, and soon enough you’ll have clear vision of whether social media can add a quantifiable benefit to your business.

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The folks over at Wired have started a wiki topic on the matter, and the initial posts are encouraging in the sense that they are reasonable and well-intentioned.  Some seem obvious at first, but may not to be to all.

One of my favorites and one which I wish I was more diligent about is “Delete Unwanted Posts From Your Wall”.  If we are truly judged by the company we keep, it’s important to realize that your coworkers and managers may not be pleased to see some of the more outlandish entries some Facebook users seem to post.

If you are like most people, your Facebook friends list contains real (non-cyber) friends, family, coworkers and potentially even others.  The chances that some of them may post material which could offend someone else are high, so keep an eye out for the random comment which could reflect badly on you, fairly or not.

I have a friend I’ve spent a limited amount of time with who occasionally posts comments about her love life which by most people’s sensibilities would be considered crude.  The two times (so far) I’ve seen them I’ve remarked to others “I can’t believe she just posted that!”, but I did not think to delete the entries entirely from my wall.  I need, we all need, to consider the fact that others will view my wall and potentially make a judgement about me based on her crudity.

The Wired wiki has really just begun, and they are solicting entries, so if you think you have something valuable to add, we encourage you to help build up this body of knowledge.

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