Eric Ungs

January 24-30, 2011 – #5

Each week I want to share with you the interesting things I come across. It could be anything; blog posts, tech products, new apps, quotes, etc. If you’ve found any interesting tidbits or news, please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear about them.

1. LinkedIn Maps – “Your professional world. Visualized.” This is currently an experimental project in the LinkedIn labs that puts your connections in a stunning visual. The visual sifts through your network and puts them into clusters based on the types of relationships. Take my LinkedIn Map for instance, it generated 7 different clusters in which I had the opportunity in naming them. This is a neat way to visually understand how your connected and to which category (relationship, industry, profession, etc.). It defines who your key influencers are by the size of the dot and font. It really is a beautiful visual. Make your own LinkedIn Map. Once generated it creates a landing page of your map in which it gives you several sharing options to share with your social peers.

2. Hyper Alerts – Facebook page administrators, it’s finally here, though not within Facebook, but via Hyper Alerts. You can register to receive alerts on any type of activity that takes place on your Facebook fan page. This new free service is extremely easy to setup. Simply; open an account, add new alert, input your page vanity URL, set frequency, and sit back while your email keeps you in the loop of any page activity. Via HubSpot, this service can also be used to stay on top of what your competitors are doing within the Facebook space. There’s no limit to the number of alerts you set. Nifty tool hugh.

3. Facebook Sponsored Stories – Facebook just recently launched a new ad platform of what they’re calling Facebook Sponsored Stories. Basically, when you either check-in to a brands physical location, engage on their page, or interact within their custom app that brand is able to grab those bits of content and use them in their Facebook ads. Not too long ago I posted a tweet about having dynamic photos instead of the brand uploading their own and the only thing being personalized is if your friend liked the ad. So whomever has previously interacted with the brand their photo would appear when someone in their network stumble across it. This is exactly what Facebook Sponsored Stories is doing but instead they’re using content that users have created. I think this is a great direction for the ad platform within Facebook. It creates a more trusted and personalized advertisement (not even sure you can call it that). As always there are two sides to every coin, some preferring to have users opt-in.

January Read: Referral Engine by John Jantsch

January 17-23, 2011 – #4

Each week I want to share with you the interesting things I come across. It could be anything; blog posts, tech products, new apps, quotes, etc. If you’ve found any interesting tidbits or news, please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear about them.

1. Why Entrepreneurs Should Care About Google Suggest – Now, more than ever, brands from main street to wall street need to listen extra carefully and respond more quickly. In a recent post on Open Forum it talks about Google Suggest and Google Instant. Both basically filling out the rest of your search query for you. This may lead consumers to seeing negative ‘suggestions’ when it wasn’t their initial search intent. Leaving little to no control for the brand in its online reputation management efforts. The control; to listen intently and respond quickly. The post shows an excellent example of Google Instant gone wrong for Comcast.

2. Sean Parker Says “The Social Network” Is “Fiction” – via Mashable. Napster founder Sean Parker comments on the movie “The Social Network” during a panel conference in Europe with Paulo Coelho. Sean lashed out in saying the movie was a complete work of fiction and was dissatisfied in the way he was portrayed in the film. Sean and Paulo discuss “The Social Network” only for a brief moment, but the 23 minute video is worth finishing out. They touch on social media and the future of publishing. Quite interesting.

3. What Does Google Offers Mean for Groupon? It was only a matter of time for Google, after Groupon politely declined a $6 billion acquisition offer, to step into the group buying ring. It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out. Google obviously has the infrastructure with their existing AdSense and AdWords products in their arsenal. But, we all know Google’s social efforts don’t really take off and with not having the men on the streets to compete with Groupon’s sales force leaves a competition that will be closely watched.

So, as Mashable ends the post, is there enough room for both Google Offers and Groupon to be in the group buying space?

January Read: Referral Engine by John Jantsch

Just as I post Privacy on Facebook’s Social Graph I read Huffington Post Readers Dislike “Connect With Facebook” Feature via All Facebook. The ‘Connect With Facebook’ feature (just recently released on the Huffington Post site) allows Huffington Post to suggest articles based on your Facebook profile; likes, bio, etc.

Here’s a few comments on the users reaction to the new feature (via All Facebook post):

“I don’t want any such ‘recommend­ation’ feature to channel me away from stories or presume that my interests don’t shift,” wrote MyFatCat. “This might be good for your advertiser­s, but it’s bad for my reasons for coming here.”

A few other commenters echoed this reasoning, hinting that Huff Post readers generally consider themselves fairly well educated and read, and don’t really need stories to be “so intensely personalized” and “babyfed,” as Leviathan21 put it. “I think I’m capable of navigating my way around a website and clicking on articles that interest me. I don’t need someone to pick my articles for me,” he added.

Cdub1991 said that the move was “a rather obvious ploy to increase revenue by enhancing their ability to sell targeted marketing to their advertisin­g clients. I wish them well, but I think I’ll pass.”

There are two sides to every coin.

It’s always good to see both perspectives on issues.  I still think that having this relevancy, for majority of the user base, is an attractive feature. I for one have very limited time in consuming content (news, sports, gardening, etc.) outside of my day-to-day industry focus. Therefore, based on my Facebook profile, the articles that I want to read first show up first.

So this may leave us with two thoughts to ponder.

Facebook profile optimization.

In the future, as the social graph expands and connecting to sites via Facebook Connect, will Facebook users have to optimize their Facebook profiles? Will Facebook provide areas on our profiles where we know outside sites will capture that data first. So essentially, optimizing our Facebook profiles to better our ‘outside of Facebook, browsing experience.

Two prong approach.

When a user decides to view a site through the “Connect With Facebook” feature, would it make sense to have a subtle box appear with options? The options could include: view content based on your Facebook interests or view in standard mode, allow site to show friends activity on the site, allow to share via Facebook, etc. The idea is to give the user an option in choosing how to view the site. Granite the money making side of this approach would be against it as it would be harder for advertisers to target the users not choosing to utilize all of the ‘Connect With Facebook’ features.

What are your thoughts on this whole ‘Connect With Facebook’ approach? Do you find it becoming a nuance for your browsing experience or do you find it to be an added value when browsing, socially?

January 3-9, 2011 – #2

Each week I want to share with you the interesting things I come across. It could be anything; blog posts, tech products, new apps, quotes, etc. If you’ve found any interesting tidbits or news, please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear about them.

1. Jott.com – Jott allows you to utilize your mobile device to remain efficient all through voice activity. Jott Voicemail takes your voicemail and turns them into text and emails. With Jott Assistant you simply place a phone call and you can add to your todo lists, send emails to colleagues, update web services. The voice-to-text service turns your voice notes, messages, and updates into text and sends them where you want. Jott Salesforce uses voice-to-text and a simple phone call to allow sales professionals to input their account and opportunity updates, take quick notes, and set reminders and appointments, all on the go.

2. Foursquare losing its appeal – A recent post from Reuters.com titled “Foursquare still struggling to become more than a niche app” states that the number of unique visitors is on a downward spiral and fast. There were 1.8 million unique visitors this summer compared to less than 1 million last month. This is a pretty staggering number considering the short time frame in which it occurs. This leaves me with one question; What can Foursquare do to not fall victim to the breathing monster in silicon valley, Facebook? Although the recent upgrades with photos and comments was a great added feature, there needs to be more features that attract the user as well as the brands. Foursquare needs to bridge this gap. The ‘game’ of Foursquare is losing its appeal. I hope they can rebound and not fall into Facebook’s quicksand.

3. Ge.tt File Sharing -  “With Ge.tt you can share any number of files, no matter how large, within seconds. Click on select files. Share the files with your friends. Move on” It’s a simple file sharing/hosting tool where you can easily push out to Facebook, Twitter and email; no plugin to download, view real-time analytics and free yourself from rejected emails because of too large of files. More about Ge.tt.

January Read: Referral Engine by John Jantsch

What does Foursquare need to do to be mainstream?

This week when watching “The Facebook Obsession” (part 1, part 2, part 3) documentary put on by CNBC, of course, a hot topic was the privacy issue.

Embrace the relevant web.

When you sign up to Facebook you agree to abide by their rules – It’s free, Facebook makes the rules and has that right. If you aren’t on board with their rules of use and privacy policies, don’t sign up (though deleting an account can be rather cumbersome and difficult, but that’s a different topic). Users need to embrace the social graph and where the web as a whole is going. It’s a relevant, one of kind cloud made just for you.

Shopping via your social graph.

People find it easy and extremely convenient to utilize a login system like Facebook Connect not having to open and setup another account. The minute they enter the site they’re appalled by how relevant and personalized everything is – this scares people.This is when they feel their privacy has been breached.

Why is this an automatic red flag?

This is where I am confused. Yes, the site is taking data from your Facebook profile essentially without asking for permission (but you agreed to login with FB connect). Why is this so daunting and scary? These sites are using your data to generate an intimate experience for the time you’re logged in. Once logging out, it’s gone.

Why aren’t users on board of this approach? Why wouldn’t you want to walk into a department store having everything laid out that only you like; style, brand, color, etc.? It’s basically been built strictly for you. Why wouldn’t you want a suggestion from a close friend via their “like” or purchase whether they’re physically with you or not? Facebook’s open graph provides a shared shopping experience regardless of when your connections have been there. Friends are influential, you feel a sense of self gratification when your friends give you a bit of reassurance on your purchases. That’s what theses sites are doing, they’re providing a relevant shopping experience for YOU based on you. It’s efficient, easy, and connected.

Why waste time searching when it’s already suggesting?

Privacy on the web is a concern, but if your data is being used to create a better experience for you, embrace it. This has, and will continue, to change the way we shop forever.

Let’s open it up.

How do you feel about third party sites using your Facebook data? Does this breach your privacy or scare you?

Every other week I will share with you the interesting things I came across through my “e’s Weeks in Review” post. It could be anything; blog posts, tech products, new apps., quotes, etc. If you have found any interesting tidbits or news, please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear about them.

1.) Local SEO Clinic: This was a podcast just recently published on The Marketing Spot blog, authored by Jay Ehret, and it features Glenn Gabe of G-Squared Interactive. Glenn runs through a well executed case study, Kati’s Kupcakes, on the importance of local SEO in a small business. By making the necessary tweaks and adjustments on your website you’ll reap major benefits stemming from the search engines. Also by verifying and ensuring your business information is consistent throughout the web is key: IYP’s, local business listings, etc. Glenn discusses the four pillars of local SEO. Take a listen, you’ll want to immediately jump on your site and make the necessary changes and/or additions.

2.) 380social Podcast: 380social is a social media gathering point in Eastern Iowa. We recently just recorded our first, of many, podcasts. It was more of a roundtable discussing the ‘Founding Fathers’ backgrounds and moved quickly into the social media scene. Topics of discussion included; iPad/iPhone, the state of social media in Iowa and how our local SMB’s can utilize the online tools, ending with a Twitter (social networking) professional dashboard called Hootsuite. Look for upcoming episodes, we hope to push them out every 2-3 weeks.

3.) f8 Conference: Facebook just recently released a few game changing features that takes their existing social graph and tosses it out in the web, making the users’ entire web experience more social and personalized. Not only will you be connecting with your friends via Facebook, but also through the sites that utilize Facebook’s open graph and social plugins. For instance; CNN, when these social plugins are implemented, without you logging into their site, CNN will feed you which of your Facebook friends have liked the story without CNN ever knowing who you are. Click the ‘like’ button, it feeds that item into your profile. These are powerful new features brands will benefit from. Music, restaurants, etc. they can all be fed back to your Facebook community by a simple click of a button. Mashable also has more here.

e’s Weekly Read:
“Everyone Communicates Few Connect” by John C. Maxwell

Posted by Eric Ungs

The importance of understanding your purpose for involving your brand within each social network.

What value will your community gain from your presence. These questions must be addressed before diving into a social networking platform, or at least start with an idea and evolve it. Each platform may serve a different purpose, in most cases it does. Different people use different mediums; before diving in you need to distinguish who is where and strategize accordingly.

In most cases this is a trial and error process. If you’re not creating any type of community maybe you are seeking or approaching the wrong relationships. This is where your patience is tested, building and gaining trust to mold your tribe takes time, let it develop.

I am the voice of the Twitter handle and Facebook fan page for the Arthritis Foundation Iowa Chapter. These two different networks reach two different audiences. Through ‘trial and error’ I have found that the community I have created on Facebook doesn’t reside on Twitter, so I had to rework my Twitter strategy accordingly. I am taking the approach for my Twitter handle of building a community around other non profits, organizations, and businesses within the state. This is taking more of a professional relationship approach, partnership if you will. I also reach out to the national advocates who have strong voices for Arthritis education and funding. Building these types of relationships may/will become beneficial for future opportunities.

My Facebook presence serves as a coffee shop.

It’s a place for those whom are ‘around’ arthritis to come and chat; share stories, give advice, and mostly, to be a support system to those who live with the disease. This is also where I share scheduled events and fundraising efforts. I must add that I do have my Facebook automatically feed into my Twitter. I feel the information I provide on Facebook brings an even more authentic and genuine approach to my Twitter handle. I don’t, however, feed by Twitter to my Facebook status updates, but is viewable from the fan page. Automatic Twitter to Facebook usually doesn’t fly with the Facebook crowd because they’re feed becomes over-saturated. Your status pushes others down, more is missed. It’s crucial to find the line in the sand to know when your updates have become inconvenient, and hate to say it, annoying. Thus resulting in unfanning, unfollowing, or even hiding your status updates. You have failed in developing this relationship.

The point is…

When you’ve decided to explore different platforms you need to know why you’re there and to whom you’re wanting to connect with. If you have these answered before hand your navigation is much clearer, you’re able to set goals and define a strategy.

So what are you waiting for… mingle.

Photo source: martin.canchola