Everyone is short on time, trust, and attention.  This makes it a challenge to build ANY meaningful customer, business or personal relationship — in the real world or online. In the book Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust , authors Chris Brogan and Julien Smith share their recipe for building TRUST over TIME using TECHNOLOGY.

The result? Comfort food for pitch-weary marketers.

FD Soto, an Amazon.com reader of Trust Agents, puts it elequently: “Before the social media, entrepreneurs and big businesses marketed themselves like battering rams at the gates of your potential patronage. They would hammer away via commercials and advertisements that told you of their greatness and how you needed their product like a fish needs water. Now, these same people – through the advent of social media – are no longer high and mighty intelligentsia looking for a buck, but are like-minded individuals in the same boat as the rest of us. Producer and consumer now have a new relationship of sorts – one of pseudo-friendship (and sometimes real friendship).”

Trust Agents is filled with practical hands-on tips for online marketers to apply a ‘human touch’ to thousands of people in your social network in a reasonable amount of time. The insights provided by the authors are mined from case studies and are accompanied by activities.

For example, Brogan and Smith encourage social marketers to comment and ‘comment back’ often on blogs and social networks. The team provides helpful tips for leaving comments (such as ‘Don’t explicitly mention or link to your stuff, even if its pertinent – atleast for a few comments’ and ‘make sure you are adding some value to the post’). Then, readers are challenged to leave 10 comments per day to develop good commenting habits.

When companies make mistakes (poor service, recalls, errors), readers learn to put ‘the Three A’s into motion: Acknowledge, Apologize, and Act.

“If you’re going to work as a trust agent, an element of what you do, every day, is customer service,” Brogan said. “Your role is to empower and equip the people who choose to do business with you. ”

The most valuable walk-away for Trust Agent readers is the change of mindset the book reinforces: That social media tactics are only as good as the relationships behind them.

Over time, social media tactics can be used to build deeper relationships in the digital age.  They can also sustain shallower relationships.

It’s all in how we use it.

Truth in Advertising

A cynical and humorous look at an outdated ’mindset’ in marketing. Enjoy!

It’s free. It appears ABOVE Google’s organic search results. And, it’s one of the most effective selling tools available to local business owners.

Consider these facts: 74 percent of internet users perform local searches (Kelsey Group);  73 percent of all online activity is related to local content (Google); 35 percent of all searches are local (DM News); and 61 percent of local searches result in purchases (TMP/comScore).

These stats tell the same story: Appearing in local search results in Google (on the map) gives your business a huge advantage over competitors. In 2009, according to TMP Directional Marketing, Google Maps comprised the largest share of internet local searches (26 percent).

To gain a top Google Maps listing, you just need to do a better, more complete, job of filling out your  Google local search profile than competitors. If your business is already listed and you don’t have access to it, claim it and verify it (this transfers ownership of your profile to you).

The  more complete your Google local profile is, the better it rank. The key is to populate ‘unexpected’ information with details often overlooked by competitors:

• Business Hours
• Photos (Up to 10 photos)
• Videos (Up to 5 YouTube videos)
• Coupons
• Customer Reviews
• Specialties or certifications
• Forms of payment accepted
• Website

It also helps to add your business information (business name, phone number, address, etc.) consistently on other business directory websites (such as Yelp, CitySearh, InsiderPages, DMOZ, Yahoo Directory, Linkedin, Canpages, Yellow Pages, Weblocal, Gigpark, Ziplocal etc.) Google prefers to see identical business information when it crawls all the available data on the web.

How Good is Google?

Sometimes, street-level mapping just isn’t enough. Enjoy!

Twitter is typically an easier platform for company executives to use than traditional blogs, because users exchange short, 140-character messages called ‘tweets’ instead of lengthy blog posts. This means that executives can be MORE ACTIVE with LESS EFFORT than blogging.

A typical Twitter user posts messages a few times a day – although how often they post, and the types of message they use will vary depending on their social media objectives:

• Thought Leadership. A common social media objective for company executives is to demonstrate thought leadership in their industry (insurance), industry-related topics (economy), or interests. Twitter is an ideal environment for thought leadership. Thought leaders leverage info and link sharing to keep up with the latest trends, topics and issues – and mold conversations/insight around news

• Brand Personification. An objective for some company CEOs or presidents is to publicly personify the company. In these instances, Twitter is a public platform for delivering on the ‘brand promise.’ and demonstrating corporate culture.

• Company Evangelist. Company executives can use Twitter as a public forum to motivate and inspire employees and customers.

• Industry Observer. Company executives can use Twitter as a tool to monitor customers, competitors and industry influencers. Monitoring can be conducted publicly – by following these individuals and creating lists – or privately by using private lists.

Before getting started on Twitter, it’s a good idea for company executives to become familiar with the environment. Even before creating a Twitter account, it’s easy to monitor brand and industry-related conversations using http://search.twitter.com (Twitter’s search engine).

Even better, executives can see what their peers are up to by utilizing ExecTweets.com. Created by Federated Media, in partnership with Microsoft, ExecTweets is a platform that aggregates the tweets of top business execs and IT pros and empowers the community to surface the most insightful tweets.

In the Driver’s Seat

Go behind the scenes with Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally taking questions on Twitter as part of Ford’s efforts in social media.

Google Buzz, Google’s new microblogging alternative to Twitter and Facebook, leveraged the power of Google to provide a ‘turnkey social network’ for Gmail users leveraging their address book and connectivity to Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, Blogger and Twitter.

The problem? Google didn’t anticipate the potential privacy issues that arise when you automatically connect people to others based on their email and chat usage.

This is a familiar story… reminiscent of December, 2009, when Facebook adopted a new privacy policy that declared certain information (such as friends lists) “publicly available” without privacy settings. It suffered a similar backlash.

Following a surge of recent complaints, Google has modified the service so that it merely suggests connections to users based on email use — instead of making connections automatically.

This makes Buzz more palatable for Gmail users. But will it make Buzz more popular? Not in its current state. Buzz remains an awkward adaptation of FriendFeed within Gmail.  It allows you to view a lot of information from a variety of sources — but without much ability to customize, organize or filter.

It’s filled with too much noise.

A light buzz

Enjoy this parody of Google’s Buzz ad.

Six Pixels of Separation, by Mitch Joel, challenges business owners to be ACTIVE and AUTHENTIC in online communication. The book, which reads more like a blog than a hardcover, offers good insights in short, digestible bursts.

Joel, named Canada’s “Most Influencial Male in Social Media”, shares tips to convert online marketers into effective online communicators.

According to Joel, good social media requires initiative, activity and attention.

“Most business people still think its nothing more than a time suck” said Joel. “The more people think like that, the wider the opportunity for you to do your thing, make your own noise, and grow your online community and business while they look around wondering what’s happening to their market share.”

Six Pixels is a good book. Every reader will walk away with something meaningful. For example, Joel highlights a dozen ways for individuals to lead in social media by example. The list includes things like adding comments to blogs; tagging your favorite blogs in technorati; connecting with individuals on LinkedIn; recommending others on LinkedIn; reviewing podcasts for iTunes and actively recommending blogs and podcasts to others.

And, Joel’s tips don’t end when the book does: readers can find more helpings at Joel’ Six Pixels of Separation blog.

Ask Why?

Mitch Joel, talks about the importance of asking “why?” when developing a digital strategy.

The time has come for something better: a social advertising network from Facebook.  Let’s call it “SocialSense.”

With Facebook Connect, Facebook has the capability to create the most effective online advertising network in the world.  By leveraging Connect, Facebook has the capability to target ads more effectively than Google — by a long shot.

Using Google AdSense, website owners can generate income from text, image, and video advertisements on their websites. These advertisements are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-impression basis.  While AdSense has served us well — it’s nearing retirement.

Facebook Connect allows Facebook members to log onto third-party websites, applications, mobile devices and gaming systems with their Facebook identity. While logged in, users can connect with friends  and post updates to their Facebook profile.

Facebook Connect offers an infrastruture for website publishers that allows better targeting of ads by leveraging information stored in a visitor’s Facebook profile.  This means it could be possible to target ads the same way Facebook allows:

• Location: target by country, state, city and radius;
• Keyword: target by keywords that appear in a visitor’s Facebook profile;
• Connection: target visitors based on their connection to pages, apps, events, groupd and other websites;
• Relationship: target visitors based on their marital status;
• Age: target visitors by age;
• Birthday: tee up promotions for visitors celebrating a birthday;
• Education: target visitors based on the education info in their Facebook profile;
• Gender: Tee up different advertising content based on gender;
• Workplace: target ads based on a visitor’s workplace and job title; and
• Language: target visitors based on their preferred languages.

The result will be great for advertisers and site owners.  In fact, I’d be surprised if Facebook-style advertising doesn’t perform BETTER on Facebook Connect sites — since content of sites will be specialized, with fewer distractions.

What do YOU think?

All good things must come to an end — even Google AdSense.

Credits: Facebook Connect image is courtesy of WebProNews.

DOA? TBD

Enjoy this 2008 video on the life and death of AdSense.

Wisconsin may be the 20th state to ban texting while driving.

Using mobile devices while driving leads to slowed reaction time, unplanned lane changes and more collisions.  Ironically, integrating more technology and applications into vehicles should make driving safer.

According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, one-fourth of adolescents age 16 or 17 have texted while driving and nearly half of teenagers of all ages have been in a car while the driver was texting. Nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million were injured in vehicle crashes in 2008 connected to driver distraction, including texting, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

This is why Wisconsin could become the 20th state to outlaw texting while driving for all motorists under a bill the Legislature approved this week.

When it comes to reducing driver distractions from activities that include texting, email, MP3 players, and the like, the automotive industry isn’t all talk — but talk (voice commands) remains key.

According to Ford’s research, simple tasks like ‘changing your song request’ on an iPod takes an average of 30.3 seconds for an average user.  The same task can be cut to 4.9 seconds using voice control.

Ford Motor Company presented technologies to reduce driver detraction at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas recently. Alan Mulally, Ford’s President and  CEO,  said his company is dedicated to making the safest, most tech-savvy cars possible by utilizing their SYNC technologies. According to Mulally, 32 percent of buyers said Ford’s SYNC technology is an important or critical factor to their buying choice.

Ford SYNC allows drivers to bring nearly any mobile phone and some digital media players into their vehicle and operate them using voice commands, the vehicle’s steering wheel, or radio controls.  According to Derrick Kuzak, from Ford’s product development group, the latest version of SYNC will  be an open platform for application developers. It took less than two weeks, according to Kuzak, for developers at Pandora and Stitcher to retrofit their applications to SYNC.

Techn0logy isn’t a substitute for good driving habits, but it can help.

Focus on the Road

Is it smart to put on lipstick while youre driving down the highway? Obviously, not… but we multitask all the time. We eat, text, play with music and do all sorts of things while driving. In this story, see a frightening example of why thats a very bad idea. Video is courtesy of American Family Insurance.

Microsoft gambles on Windows 7 and Project Natal at CES in Las Vegas

When I think about Microsoft leadership in the areas of cloud computing and natural user interface, it seems rather, (well…) unnatural.

Nevertheless, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer opened the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is Las Vegas this week highlighting the company’s excitement about upcoming slate PCs, cloud computing and natural user interface. I enjoyed the show, but I have my doubts.

According to Ballmer a new person joins Xbox Live every second, and talked about how people spend a third of their time doing non-gaming things, such as Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, and Zune.

Microsoft’s approach is only partly cloudy.

To Microsoft, cloud computing means being able to see the same stuff on your Windows-based PC, Zune, and Xbox. Ballmer demonstrated an HD movie (Harry Potter 6) loading immediately on the Xbox Live connected to a big TV.    If you purchase a movie, you can play on Xbox, Windows PC, or Zune.

It was a good show, but a narrow view of cloud computing, which should allow everyone to share content across technologies regardless of platform (PC, Unix, Mac and web-only).

Cloud computing is OS agnostic.

Saving (inter)Face

Microsoft shared it’s excitement about Windows 7. Ballmer boasted that Windows 7 was the work of 3,000 Microsoft engineers, 50,000 partners, and 8 million beta tests.  As a result of Windows 7, Ballmer said PC sales were up more than 50 percent year over year in 2009.

Microsoft is also expecting to boost Xbox sales in 2010 by releasing a slew of games in 2010, including Halo Reach (a prequel) and debuting Project Natal — a user interface for Xbox that is based solely on natural body movements. It uses a 3D camera (available for existing Xbox) to watch what you are doing and interpret your motions for game play.

Project Natal

I enjoyed watching the demo of Microsoft’s Project Natal technology at CES this week. However, reminds me of the same stuff I’ve seen about EyeToy three years ago. See for yourself:

To illustrate principles in his book, Adam Penenberg, author of Viral Loop provides this tool on Facebook for measuring ‘viral loop value’ in the community.  It uses an algorithm that takes into account Facebook’s estimated valuation with your level of activity, the number and activity level of your friends, and your “influence.”

Penenberg’s viral loop leaderboard shows  the value of social media celebrities like Ashton Kutcher ($630,000+), Selina Gomez ($593,000+) and Barrack Obama ($1.3 million+) and lesser-known social media power users such as serial entrepreneur Jason Calacanis (> $1000).

Penenberg’s virual loop value application does a great job itself demonstrating the value of social media: the  app (paid for by Penenberg) boasted a 13% conversion rate — and attracted more readers than the publisher’s own marketing efforts.

Unlike conventional audience members, users of social networks tend to be committed participants and contributors who create value to the network(s) they frequent. Thus, your value within the community is based on your level of participation.

I recommend Penenberg’s book. It is a tome dedicated to helping marketers understand implications of the viral coefficient. The viral coefficient can be used to track the growth, popularity and level of engagement. It measures how many new users are attracted by each existing user.  And, in the case of social networks, it represents the number of new members each additional member attracts.

“The great digital push is underway. We live in an age when the tools of self expression have never been more accessible,” Penenberg said. “Without gatekeepers to filter content, the audience attains a power never before seen.” As a result, Penenberg cites countless examples of companies that were unprepared for the scalability ‘going viral’ requires.  The ability to scale along with demand is crutial for success in a viral world…  where success is accompanied by the multiplier effect. 

To be successful in a viral world, you need to ready to lose control. As Penenberg puts it: “”The more in control we are, the more out of touch we become. But the more willing we are to let a little go, the more we’re finding we get in touch with consumers.”

Viral Videos

This parody video will teach you the “secret strategies” behind many viral videos.

Google Zeitgeist 2009 can tell you that the most discussed and TV shows in 2009 were Glee, Bones and and Fringe. It can tell you the most popular Twitter accounts belong to Miley Cyrus, Lance Armstrong, and Taylor Swift. It can tell you that the most sought after concert tickets were for Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers, and U2.

What’s popular?  What’s increasing or decreasing in popularity? How sustainable is popularity when we experience it?For these answers, we turn to the viral coefficient, which  measures the momentum behind ’word of mouth’,  referral and acquisition activity.

The viral coefficient can be used to track the growth, popularity and level of engagement. It measures how many new users are attracted by each existing user.  And, in the case of social networks, it represents the number of new members each additional member attracts.

Mathematically, it looks like this: 

x (invited friends per person)*Y%(acceptance rate)  = viral coefficient

In practicality, it works like this:

• If the coefficent is higher than 1.0, growth is rising (> 1 for 1).
• If it’s less than 1.0, it’s growth is slowing (< 1 for 1).
• If the viral coefficient is 1.0, the growth is linear (1 for 1).

With viral coefficient, it’s possible to determine whether something is gaining or losing popularity. For websites, product launches, and social networks, it can predict success. 

Credits: Cartoon by Tom Fishburne is courtesy of skydeckcartoons.com

Are YouPopular?

1950s educational short film on how to become popular. Through the help of this video we learn that parking in cars with boys certainly does not help a girl’s image.