I read a lot of blogs. I pay attention to a lot of websites. I watch how other companies do things and I like to see what is and isn’t working for them. It’s my business to know what’s going on in the social media world. As I look at other people’s work I find it important and sometimes difficult to stay clear of the conventional thinking trap when coming up with social media ideas.

Here are a few statements that can lead to being captured by the conventional thinking trap:

• “I’ve been doing this for years and it works just fine.”
• “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
• “But that’s not how other companies do it.”
• “That potential employee is innovative and intelligent, but they just don’t have the experience/résumé.”
• “It seems a little risky.”

What’s wrong with these statements? If it isn’t broken why would you want to fix it? Experience is a good thing. Other companies do it that way because it works. There are a lot of costs associated with risky endeavors. This is all true, but consistently falling into conventional thought can stifle innovation, growth and improvement. The conventional thinking trap stops you from being the first to do something awesome, it stops you from creating something viral, it stops you from being a leader and slowly steers you into mediocrity.

How do you avoid the conventional trap? Here are a few ideas:

1. Try it – If you have an idea for your website, your Facebook page or Twitter, just try it. One of my favorite quotes by Wayne Gretzky explains this principle: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Stop wondering “what if” and do it.
2. Establish an innovative culture – Make it a practice to come up with fresh ideas. Take half an hour each week to brainstorm on how to improve your marketing. If you manage a bigger organization then get ideas from your employees. You could even create a contest and give a small bonus every week to the person that has the best idea. If you encourage innovation your company will thrive.
3. Be different – This is a simple but powerful principle. If you conform to what everyone else is doing then someone will most likely do it better than you. If you can differentiate yourself from the norm, you become the standard. How can you be the leader if all you do is follow?

These are just a few ideas I had that help me to avoid the conventional trap. What are some of the thing you do?

This woman is dangerous.

I’ve been particularly distracted today by some really interesting tech/science news, so I thought I would share some of the day’s most fascinating “nerd” reports as my requisite blog post.

Cameron Diaz is the world’s most dangerous celebrity. That’s according to McAfee, the antivirus software and computer security company. Apparently, searching for Cameron Diaz’s name on the Internet leads to more harmful spam than any other celebrity name on the planet, beating out Julia Roberts and Jessica Biel. Parents, lock up your children!

Everyone’s freaking out over Facebook…again. The social network wants to unveil its “Places” feature, allowing mobile phone users to disclose their exact location to friends. Of course privacy is a big issue, and critics are blasting Facebook for asking for too much information from its users.

The Moon is shrinking. Its tectonic faults are literally contracting due to the interior’s cooling. Scientists say there’s no need to be alarmed, but I’m concerned the little people that live in the Moon will soon become too cold or too cramped. This leads to irritability….and a potential attack on the Earth.

iPods may be killing our hearing. A recent study suggests that one in five American teenagers now has some hearing loss, perhaps due to iPods and MP3 players. Turn down the volume, folks!

Driving with animals in the car is more dangerous than texting while driving. I mostly like this Fox News article because of the picture they used with the story (you like it too), but it’s a disturbingly interesting news piece too. Someone once told me that texting and driving is worse than drinking and driving. Using that logic, having Fido in the car with you is worse than driving plastered.

Twitter, eBay and MySpace are hitting the big screen?! Well, no. But I love these parodies of the upcoming Facebook cinematic drama, The Social Network. Enjoy.

I’m sure by now you’ve either seen or heard of the BYU “New Spice” video. If you haven’t, here it is:

When I first saw this video it had only 350 views. 12 hours later there were over 350,000 views. Within a few days the video had been viewed over a million times and is now at about 1.9 million.  Not only have millions of people viewed the video, but it was covered on CNN, Time Magazine, in all of the local Utah media, huge blogs, and even the Huffington Post. Great PR.

The question is, why? Why did this video go viral? Why does any video go viral?

Timing – The BYU Harold B. Lee Library couldn’t have posted this video at a better time. Old Spice was right in the middle of its big YouTube campaign and millions of people were already searching for things that would pull up the BYU video.

Quality – Obviously the quality of this video was very high. If this had just been a home movie it probably would not have had the same impact. You can see the effort and professionalism put into it by watching the video’s Behind the Scenes update. The quality is what really galvanized not only BYU students, but other audiences as well. Mainstream media outlets and websites saw the video as more legitimate due to its high production value, thus increasing its viral spread.

BYU Audience – The BYU audience is pretty big. There are around 32,000 students and millions of alumni. These dedicated BYU fans pounced on the video, posting it on their Facebook Walls, Twitter feeds and blogs without hesitation.

So what can we take away from this? First, be aware of what’s happening in the social media world. If you’re on top of things you may be able to capitalize on the latest fad. Second, people appreciate quality. YouTube viewers are so used to seeing poorly executed knock-offs that when they see something of true quality they’re more likely to share it. Third, even if you’ve created an awesome piece of content, it will still need a boost. That boost can come from an existing base of people or even from using the powerful YouTube promoted videos feature. Lastly, you’ll need a little luck.

What are your thoughts on what makes a video viral?

There have always been Whiners. They whine about their jobs, politics, their lack of income, school, a product or service, and World of Warcraft (beware: this video has some swearing, but it’s hilarious). Before the internet, the only people who had to put up with Whiners were those who physically associated with them. Now Whiners can gripe all over the place. They can whine in online forums, on blog posts, on YouTube, or in the comments of a news article. They can even whine on your Facebook Page or on Twitter–there are just so many opportunities to complain!  Sometimes a Whiner gets to a point where he or she devolves into a Troll. A Troll is someone who comments or posts online solely to make people mad or to offend.

So what do you do? Some person or group has invaded your Facebook Page, your blog, or some other online community, and is causing a ruckus. Do you respond or just ignore them? It depends. Here are a few pointers:

1. Delete comments if they are offensive or use bad language – It’s important that people feel comfortable coming to your online community. Generally speaking, if people come to your site and see offensive language or comments that degrade individuals or groups, they most likely won’t feel comfortable coming back. If someone posts something regarded as ugly or offensive (particularly if it’s racist, sexist or bigoted), it’s best to delete the comment. As tempting as it may be, do not delete someone’s comment just because he or she said something negative about you or your product. You’ll never have a strong community if you restrict differing opinions. Just make it clear that you delete offensive comments but encourage debate.
2. Let it be – Sometimes you’ll get a Whiner or Troll who says something that is totally irrelevant, makes no sense, or is just plain dumb. In this case, ignore it. Keep an eye on the comment to see if other people begin voicing the same concern–then you may want to consider responding. In a lot of cases you won’t need to because most will just ignore stupid or irrelevant complaints.
3. Let your fans defend you – Often the Whiner’s complaint isn’t something that you have to respond to because your fans will for you. If you’ve done a good job of creating an interactive culture in your online community, people will be used to contributing and discussing. If someone starts ranting, the community is usually equipped to take care of the situation. Your defenders can also say things that your company can’t without getting in trouble.
4. Respond directly – Sometimes the whining is warranted. Your company messed up, your product is bad, or you just made a mistake. If someone complains or calls your company out on a mistake, respond appropriately. Sometimes your response can be a simple explanation, and sometimes you may have to change the way you do things. If you let a legitimate complaint slide it can come back to bite you. Just look at how Steve Jobs is getting all sorts of backlash on how he’s handled the new iPhone debacle.

Don’t let Whiners and Trolls get under your skin. Respond when you need to. Otherwise, just let the openness of the Internet take care of it.

What do you think? Have you had any experiences dealing with Whiners and Trolls?

We just had a wonderful Independence Day weekend and in the spirit of the season I want to tell you about America’s Freedom Festival, a not-for-profit organization we have the privilege of working with. I do want to make it clear that they are one of our clients, but they are not paying me or even know that I’m writing this.

I have always loved America. I think our country is the best in the world, and I will always stand by that opinion. I’ve always celebrated patriotic holidays and honored our servicemen and women. US history was one of my favorite subjects in school and I get emotional every time I watch Gettysburg (one of my top ten favorite movies). But as I’ve worked with the people at the Freedom Festival, I’ve seen a whole new level of what love for America means.

America’s Freedom Festival is an organization devoted to Family, Freedom, God, and Country–the core values the Founding Fathers relied upon in the establishment of America. The Festival organizes around 30 annual events, the bulk of which take place in late June and early July. These events are big time. They organize a parade that attracts around 300,000 people. They organize Freedom Days, where hundreds of vendors come together to turn downtown Provo into an exciting patriotic shopping center. They put on a Patriotic Service where talented musical guests contribute to a patriotic message from a notable person to inspire the 10,000+ in attendance. They organize a massive production where thousands of fifth graders come together to put on a patriotic program that will stir your inner Patriot. And of course the main event, Stadium of Fire, where huge musical stars like Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and many more perform in front of 50,000 people and add their talents to an Independence Day production and fireworks show rivaled by few.

The question is, why? Why does this organization do it? Are they pushing some political agenda? Isn’t someone making a bunch of money off Stadium of Fire and rolling in it after the show? No. There is no monetary motivation, there is no political agenda. All of the money made off Stadium of Fire goes to pay for the 25+ other free events, which are not cheap to put on, as well as the next year’s Stadium of Fire. I’ve been in a ton of Freedom Festival meetings and I’ve worked in their offices for a year now and I am so surprised how little politics are spoken of. Honestly I can’t remember politics coming up once outside of the conversations my business partner Emory and I have.

I really wish you could spend a few days hanging out with the organizers and the volunteers in this organization. I’ve never met a group of people more genuinely in love with their country. When you see the work, the effort, the stress, the tears shed, and the volunteer time given to honoring America you can’t help but glean from the pure patriotic spirit that they radiate.

So what has the Freedom Festival taught me about what it means to love America? It means you serve regardless of your own interests. It means you give of your money, time, and even your life, for the good of others. It means you understand that freedom is not free as you try to empathize with the pain of parents and spouses who have survived the troops they sent out. It means you look and treat the American flag with respect and honor. It means that whenever you say the pledge or sing the national anthem you can’t help but think of the thousands of lives and the billions of hours that have been given to ensure freedom. It means so much more that a weekend of celebration.

So thank you to America’s Freedom Festival for opening my eyes a little more to what it means to love America. America is amazing!

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a huge disaster. I am sad for all of the damage to the environment. I’m sad for the massive economic repercussions this has and will have on the local and national economy . I’m sad that BP was not prepared to deal with something like this. It’s just a terrible situation.

While the actual oil spill has been terrible, the PR around the oil spill has been just as bad. I’m not going to talk about BP in this post; they have all sorts of problems I could talk about. Click here to read an interesting post about some things BP’s PR could have done better. Click here to see some parodies on BP’s response.

My focus today is on the Obama administration and their PR problems. People are upset, and rightfully so. They are mad at BP, they are mad at the damage to their beaches and businesses, they are mad at Obama, they are just mad. They don’t care who fixes the problem, they just want it fixed.

It’s been very interesting to watch Obama and his response. He is mad and wants to figure out whose “booty to kick” (he didn’t use the word booty, but you get the idea). He is very defensive of his administration and spends a lot of time explaining that he is very angry at what’s going on. I’m sure people are happy that Obama is mad, but the problem is that people aren’t seeing action.

So what should the government do? I believe they should better explain what they’re doing to stop this catastrophe. If they’re consulting with experts about how to clean oil spills, then tell us. If they are planning on sending resources to aid in the clean up, send out a press release. If Obama just gave an earful to the CEO of BP, then tweet about it. This is simple PR!

In this new age of communication, when people can find anything they want by typing it into their search engine, when people can vent their frustrations on blogs, Facebook and Twitter, good PR is a must. But it goes much further than having good PR. Your organization has to be willing to do and to change if necessary. If all you’re doing is talking, then people will call you out on it.

What do you think?

Why is change so hard? What is it about doing something new or different that makes people or organizations uncomfortable?

Is it fear? What if the change doesn’t work? What if people don’t like the change? What if?!

Is it pride? If I change than I’m admitting I was wrong? Does this mean I’m giving up on what I originally believed in? What about my pride?!

Is it laziness? If I change then won’t I have to work harder? Why won’t things just fall into my lap?!

I don’t know what it is about changing that’s so difficult. Every situation is different, and there is always an excuse not to change. It boils down to why you started thinking of changing in the first place…You aren’t getting the results you want.

You aren’t making any sales. You aren’t getting enough followers on Twitter. Your Facebook page is stagnant. Nobody’s visiting your web page. You’re unhappy with your job. You’re sick of the people you work with. It seems like you’re always annoyed with your family. Whatever it is, you’re contemplating change because your expectations aren’t being met.

I have potentially bad news: Your results will never improve unless something changes. Maybe your expectations need to change. If you’re a terrible basketball player, then you should stop expecting to get into the NBA. In most cases though, I don’t think your expectations need to change. There is always something you can change to improve your results. You just have to have to be willing to do it.

A few months ago I read the short, but poignant, book 212 Degrees. The purpose of the book is to demonstrate what a difference one degree of temperature, effort, thought or compassion makes. Water at 211 degrees is hot, but increase the temperature by one degree and the water boils. A one degree change in a flight plan can take you hundreds of miles from your destination. An extra degree of effort to be kind to your friends and family can take your relationships to a whole new level. An extra degree of thought in a press release can garner much more media coverage. One degree makes all the difference.

So what is the extra degree needed to take your Facebook page to the next level? What is the extra degree needed to make your YouTube video the next viral sensation? What is the extra degree that will turn your social media efforts into a strong source of revenue?

Take a little extra time to think through your social media strategy. You may already be doing a lot. Just remember, you could be one degree away from real success.

Before announcing new privacy changes, Facebook and the Death Star were synonymous.

After weeks of intense criticism and controversy, Evil Emperor Zuckerberg over at Facebook Corp. forsook the Dark Side (for now) and announced new and improved privacy settings that should arrive at our virtual doorsteps soon. Tech blogger Harry McCracken helps us by summarizing what exactly will change:

• Rather than having to wade through gazillions of granular settings, it’ll be easy to tell Facebook you want anything you post to be visible to friends only, friends of friends, or everybody. These rules will apply to future Facebook functionality that doesn’t exist yet.
• You’ll be able to make your Friends and Pages lists completely private.
• It’ll be easier to block apps on Facebook from getting at your information.
• It’ll be easier to block external sites such as Pandora which use Facebook’s new “Instant Personalization” from getting at your information. (Currently there’s no single place to go to do this, nor any way to block all sites with one click.)
• If users find these changes satisfactory, Facebook intends to avoid major changes to privacy policies “for a long time.”

So there you have it. I wholeheartedly support the new privacy settings, and I hope The Zuckster learned a valuable lesson from all this. He created Facebook to be a simple, intimate way for friends to share information. It’s grown into a ravenous information-hungry ogre. Bring the site back to its roots! Remember when U2 made that weird Pop album in the late 90s and everyone was like, Um, what band is this? Then U2 retraced its steps and released All That You Can’t Leave Behind, returning to the music that defined them as one of the greatest bands in history.

Yet again, Bono comes through with life-changing lessons.

“It’s that time again!” It’s time for another installment of “YouTube Gems.” To see other installments click here.

Earlier this week my sister reminded me of the genius show Animaniacs. When I was growing up this was one of my favorite cartoons to watch. I still crack up watching these hilarious clips.

I hope you enjoys these, have a great weekend!