2011 was a transformation in so many ways.  And my blog “role” was one of many in transition. Thanks for  sticking around and staying tuned. Hang on tight–we are going to have a fabulous year!!! 2012, bring it on.

Warmest regards, love and light,

Elaine

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 42 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Is there a magic social media pill? We all seem to be looking for it.

As a professional riding the social media tidal wave, I’m engaged—in witty Facebook banter, of course, but I’m also digging deeper—doing some serious soul-searching about the role of social media in marketing, how best to execute it, how to manage it, and how to leverage its power to make clients and associates successful and happy. I guess taking a hard look at my path is sort of a mirror to my life—as some of my most enlightened friends would say.

Yet, it’s surprisingly tough—on all levels. With the ubiquity of mobile phones, iPads, Nooks, etc., social media is embedded in every fiber of our awareness. Personally, I feel unhinged without my Apple. (Remember Eden?) With something so pervasive, so woven into the fabric of our daily behavior, one would think clarity and monetization would be a cinch. But not so fast. It can be difficult to put the buzz back in the bottle! It is not enough to simply offer up content and post updates.

Brand advocates and marketers who want to take advantage of social media are encountering a tangled web. They are finding they need to design a fully integrated program of active and ongoing engagement, connecting customers with the actual human beings in their organizations who can meet their needs. It’s part Marketing 101 and part online alchemy, I suspect. Gosh, maybe it’s really not about the technology at all. It’s the humanity. Could it be that the stuff that happens offline is what really makes social media sing?

For instance, Dell currently engages with customers through what they call the “four pillars” of the company’s social media ecosystem:

• 100,000 employees
• Dell.com–ratings, reviews and customer feedback relating to Dell products and services
• Dell communities, such as IdeaStorm, a platform launched in 2007 that is designed to give voice to customers and enable the sharing of ideas
• External platform communities, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

That first pillar represents one of the biggest changes in Dell’s use of social networking, lately—and possibly the most powerful. Although social media initiatives began with public relations teams at Dell, employees now play the role of brand ambassador across the company, notes Buck. This requires a purposeful, dedicated engagement plan, as well as policy development and training to ensure that the employees who will be representing Dell clearly understand company guidelines regarding the appropriate use of social media.“Our employees play a vital role in our social media outreach, and, to date, we have trained more than 8,000 Dell employees to engage with customers through social media,” says Michael Buck, executive director of global online marketing. “Dell’s Social Media and Communities University is a key enabler for the company to leverage the power of 100,000-plus employees as brand ambassadors, confident that they have been empowered to use it the right way.”

Perhaps the most effective social media strategy is to train your company’s employees to use social media—whether 3 or 300,000, fully integrating the support process and empowering interaction with customers/prospects on behalf of the company. This has not only spread the marketing buzz, so to speak, it has also building the brand across the farthest reaches of the vast social media psycho-sphere. To infinity and beyond!

Where are you going?

Last week, a friend of mine sent me an article published by Slate–“Who I Follow on Twitter and Why.” It was kind of a light-bulb moment. We seem to lump Twitter and  Facebook into the same bucket, “You on Facebook and Twitter?” But they are really so radically different.

I love discussing this stuff, because we are right in the thick of such a pervasive transformation in communication. We have no concept how this moment in time we are living right now will impact our behavior, relationships, culture, and lives in the next few years–and for the rest of eternity.

Not that Twitter will stand the test of time or  be around in the year 2100, but who knows what communication will look like then? Getting back to the here and now, I really do think there are “Twitter people” and “Facebook people.” I deal in both professionally–and more and more, Linked In. But they all render fiercely different experiences and visitor payoffs. As I was exploring this “Twitter person” concept, I found this Venn diagram from BoingBoing. It provides another way to slice and understand social-media behavior.  I guess the increasing interest in Twitter is understandable–as sort of the nexus of it all.

I agree with erudite Shafer in Slate  that Twitter is most valuable as a resource and a research tool.  It’s like a custom real-time info stream that’s completely personalized.  Connect with the great thinkers and follow the interesting things they say. Plus, you have the added benefit of commanding much higher quality attention from Google–from an SEO perspective. Hey, I smiled when I received a notification that Yoko Ono was following me on Twitter — even if it’s “her people.”

I read somewhere that Facebook is like playing in your fenced-in backyard. Twitter is like playing in the street. You are much more exposed, yet the asynchronous format is much more impersonal. Following is actually much less social than friending. Except for the way Mark Zuckerberg can mine our clicks and our navigation paths, I don’t buy the security complaints on Facebook. A user can manage access. You can protect everything you post with your settings dashboard. My son Elliot is a very good example. His profile is so well hidden, the way can see it is when he accidentally leaves it up on his computer. LOL. That’s security, huh?

As to Shafer’s being nonplussed about receiving a friend request from someone who ostensibly does not like you, consider Winston Churchill’s recommendation, “Keep your enemies close.”

Are you a Twitter person or a Facebook person? And why? Let me know . . .

Notes from a social media Cyrano.

Time. A noun. Verb. Adjective.
We don’t have time. Oh, we’ll make the time.
We spend time, save time, buy time.
Are we living on borrowed time? People give us their time. Really?
But we took the time. Will I be on time? Well, at least, we made good time.
What time is it? In real time. Oh, time’s up. Is it all a waste of time?

All in good time.
But time waits for no one. Time marches on.
What’s time does it start?

Time’s ticking away. Time flies.
Time sensitive, stamp, warp– crunch.
Is it good timing or bad?
Oh, there’ll come a time.
It’s just a matter of time. Time after time. Any time at all.
Somewhere in time. They didn’t get there in time.
Is time on our side? Is there enough time?
If you could just save time in a bottle. . .
Time isn’t holding us; time isn’t after us.
But, we’re running out of time.

Does anybody really know what time it is? Is time an illusion?That’s exactly what I hear all the time.  

Time is on my mind—can you tell? It’s front and center as I face the half-century mark in a matter of weeks, in fact. Somehow 50 years on this earth is poignant and powerful—especially since events of the past couple of years have completely taxed my resilience, heart, faith and very existence. I keep thinking there is something on the other side this personal and professional chaos— a sort of rebirth or even anagnorisis, as the protagonist might have in ancient Greek tragedy. You know that frightening feeling when you get swept away in a wave at the beach—and for those few harrowing moments in time, seemingly suspended, you have no idea which way is up, nor if you will find your way to the surface?

Age 50 would be a more than poetic time to find my way to the surface, don’t you think? Gandhi discovered at 50 his real mission in nonviolent resistance, and Cervantes was older than that when he began his career as a novelist. As Nietzsche said, “You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”

Speaking of time, it’s been a long time since I wrote my own blog. Funny how it works—when you develop an expertise, especially a non-traditional one, you often end up doing it for someone else. I write for others now. I guess you could say I’m a ghost blogger – a sort of social media Cyrano. It’s an interesting role to play—creating the authentic voice of another—in particular a business—a bit like acting. The goal is to humanize the corporate persona in a social media stratosphere. Gotta admit that it’s a challenge managing the tightrope of “corporate transparency”—kind of an oxymoron–and the real time attention required in the brave new world of instant gratification.

In the early days of advertising, businesses traded money for exposure, and today, in the new media world, we trade money for time. Real time.  Some tasks are automated, but it’s difficult to automate authenticity.

In fact, so many of my clients say, “I just don’t have the time for this.” And they are right. It’s like living a double life—the online persona and the business pro.
But with more than 600 million Facebook users,  somebody has time!

So really, it’s not about time.
It’s about the value of the experience–and the joy. It’s about connection and the fun.  A recent poll by Priority Management, Inc. had an answer.  In a lifetime, the average American will spend:

• 6 months sitting at stoplights
• 1 year looking for misplaced objects
• 2 years unsuccessfully returning phone calls
• 7 years waiting in line

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs tells us that a sense of belonging is just above safety and security. And, the irony is – we can’t self- actualize alone. So, enter social media. Even if it’s electronic, it’s human connection and the ability to feel part of something. It’s a new kind of relationship reality. So, I guess time is not as important as choice.

It’s about choices we make. Personal choices. So many choices, and just where does the time go?

I’m savoring the opportunity to orchestrate the live and in-person talks as this conservative, yet thirsty, corporate employee audience drinks in the the intoxicating elixir of ideas worth sharing. Now, back to the stage. . . .

Have you experienced TED or TEDx? would love to know what you think.

Elaine

Elaine Gantz Wright is a social media coach and consultant — providing the practical tools and action plans you need to survive and thrive in the brave new media world. She is a listener, writer, blogger, speaker, actor, and mom. Contact her ellagantz@sbcglobal.net.

I was just listening to the Diane Rehm Show on NPR and KERA/90.1. The discussion was a recap of the State of the Union Speech – #SOTU on Twitter. I embraced much of what President Obama said last night – particularly his statement about celebrating the winners of the Science Fair, as well as the winners of the Super Bowl.

I just did a quick search to confirm that the discussion is still chirping around the speech, and indeed, it is. There are tweets from Obama, the White House, elected officials, listeners from all over the world, news publications—and the list goes on. Communication and dialogue are the lifeblood of a healthy democracy, and I am heartened to see the banter.

The panel on Diane Rehm was discussing some of ostensibly incendiary tweets that flew during the actual speech. Rehm posited, “Should tweeting be banned during the State of the Union Speech?” I love Diane, but I truly believe she was showing her generational bias.   Conversation ensued that questioned the appropriateness of speaking out in real time. Hmm?  The question took me aback.  Rehm was concerned about the respect level of these Representatives (no matter where they were sitting) in deciding to “tweet the speech.”  Is tweeting during a speech disrespectful? Or is it actually the sincerest form of engagement?  It’s participation without yelling out disruptively, which the infamous elected official did not so long ago.

This is where the mobile rubber meets the road. It’s the clearest indication that new media is redefining the practice of communication from almost every perspective — not just the medium, not just the message, but the mores.  Just what is acceptable behavior? How must our behavior and associated social tolerance shift in conjunction with our morphing media modus operandi? Diane, I think this IS the new political dialogue.

Here’s the rub—our media revolution touches every aspect of our lives. If we are to reverently honor freedom of speech, shouldn’t we preserve the slightly  irreverent “freedom of tweet”? What do you think?

“The moment we are living right now, this generation, represents the largest increase in expressive capability in human history.” – Clay Shirky, NYU

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,500 times in 2010. That’s about 8 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 19 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 58 posts. There were 74 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 6mb. That’s about 1 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was June 23rd with 64 views. The most popular post that day was The Price of Friendship?.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were linkedin.com, facebook.com, elainegantzwright.com, twitter.com, and socialfuse.net.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for social network movie, elaine gantz wright, the social network movie, the price of friendship, and gartner hype cycle social media.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

The Price of Friendship? June 2010
7 comments

The Social Network: Living Out Loud October 2010
13 comments

About April 2009
1 comment

Will Social Media Make the Grade? February 2010
1 comment

What’s the Next Layer on the Stack? November 2009
3 comments

Thanks, WordPress . . . appreciate the cool metrics.  To you, my charming reader, I thank you. Looking forward to continuing the conversation in 2011! What topic or question is top of mind for you this year?

Want to boost your blog? Register for Breakfast and Blogs, a very social session with Elaine to find out. Start off your New Year with real social media sizzle.  Thurs., Jan 13  — 9:30 a.m.– 12:00 p.m., $10 at La Madeleine Preston Forest.

Elaine Gantz Wright is a social media coach and consultant — providing the practical tools and action plans you need to survive and thrive in the brave new media world. She is a listener, writer, blogger, speaker, actor, and mom. Contact her ellagantz@sbcglobal.net.

What have you always wanted to know about social media but were afraid to ask? Register for Breakfast and Blogs, a very social session with Elaine to find out. Start off your New Year with real social media sizzle.  Thurs., Jan 13  — 9:30 a.m.– 12:00 p.m., $10 at La Madeleine Preston Forest.

I’m really not sure how many people do this sort of thing, but I am actually going back to my predictions for 2010 – to compare them to what really happened.  It was as daunting and perplexing a task as I imagined. Especially since social media evolution is anything but linear. One thing we do know it that Google Wave never quite hit the beach.

My most significant memory from last year’s missive was actually my delight when Chris Brogan actually chimed in. Wow. Now that’s what I call social media He wrote:
“I like and agree with the first four. I disagree with 5. Email is still the main protocol of the Internet age. I *wish* it were different, but definitely not in 2010. Great post.”

My number #5 was: “Email as We Know it Will Become Passé.”
So, I guess we’ll begin with the end – #5. Well, as Chris Brogan said, email did not go away in 2010. But, I venture to add this was probably just slightly premature. With Facebook’s Messaging Hub beginning to bubble up and mobile technology/SMS infiltrating our lives in terms of behavior, I think we are looking at more of an email mutation than elimination.  When Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made her prediction that email is “probably going away” at the Nielsen Consumer 360, many balked, but her point about teenagers is well-taken. Stats she cited indicate that only 11% of teens email daily, and as we know, teenagers are really “the beta testers” for future techno-media trends. In fact, I have my own focus group right here in my own home. My 18-year-old would rather text than talk. He has Facebook up on his laptop whenever it’s turned on, sends very few emails and never uses the speaking function on the phone. My 14-year-old son is really text only. Good thing I have unlimited texting, or I we would be under a bridge somewhere. He never opens up email or even Facebook. Should Mark be worried? Hmm. We’ll just wait and see.

The most interesting shift between late 2009 and late 2010 is that the questions people are asking have changed dramatically. People don’t seem to be asking, “Hey, what’s the next big thing?” “What’s the next Twitter?” It’s more about implementation and impact – “What’s the most effective platform for my business?” “How do I integrate this into my daily operations?” “Where’s the best ROI?”  It’s no longer “oh wow!” It’s “so, how?” Social media tools and behaviors are now a given, our modus operandi. We just need to figure out how to do it. The old advertising model of trading money for attention is the anachronism. The new formula is trading time (even  energy) for attention. The activity is just as important as the message.

“Social Media Will Become Less Social.” — hmm
I’d still like my term – “return on engagement.” It’s more active, deliberate and participatory. However, I think our trajectory has been very different from what I expected — largely due to the meteoric growth of Facebook. Engagement is now defined by the quality of the experience itself, rather than some tangible outcome. The value I spoke of last year was a slippery concept, because “value” can now be defined in brave, new terms, as well. Who knew Farmville and Mafia Wars would become the new American pastimes? Who could have predicted you can actually buy Facebook points in the grocery store? And the metric that “one-third of women 18-34 check Facebook when they first wake up in the morning,” according to an Oxygen Media study?

“More Enterprise Social Software Platforms Will Emerge” — oops
Enterprise platforms continue to exist, but boy was I wrong on this one. I did not see the mobile app locomotive, powered by Apple, flying down the track. I think the branded in-house community concept has quite literally jumped the rails. And, to think, I was once so on board with that idea.   Simply, there is an app for that – in fact, what many signify as the emergence of Web 3.0 – targeted, segmented, defined and delivered to the user on demand. So, interesting how things can change in a year. Still, we may be moving in this direction yet.  Fast Society, a new iPhone app, allows the user to create small groups to text with on the fly, and the groups last for three days. Facebook is also providing ways to communicate with smaller networks. Facebook’s new Groups Feature allows segments friends into personal, professional and interest-based communities to better manage privacy. Watch for more of these smaller, closed networks to launch in 2011 as people seek deeper connections online.

“Social Media (Engagement Media) Will Become More Integrated” – bingo
I think I get the winning buzzer for this one. Organizations of all sizes are embracing the value of fully integrated multi-channel strategies. Using social media channels alone for marketing, customer service or fundraising will not be as effective as designing coordinated campaigns and communication strategies that include traditional communication techniques. This includes email, website, online ads, SEO, face-to-face interactions, print advertising, social media platforms, blogs, events, and managed promotion to all media. This has become pivotal to social media success in general. Integrate and align with overall objectives. It’s a must.

“Relevance and Ease Will Become Increasingly Important” — yep
There is no more compelling spokesperson for an enterprise or organization a passionate customer, employee, or supporter. This is the core strength of word-of-mouth advertising and peer-to-peer fundraising. And there is a range of scenarios—from a class agent soliciting annual fund gifts for his or her school, to a customer making a recommendation for a new restaurant on YELP! The brand voice is now filtered through the customer in his or her own geographic and psycho-graphic universe.

As we look to 2011, we can’t deny or ignore the brand power of Facebook “likes,” which will become the core advertising and promotional objective for many businesses on Facebook. “Like” strategies will become increasingly sophisticated and integrated into the overall marketing strategy.  For instance, instead of doing A/B testing between two photos to see which generates more Facebook “Likes,” the savvier brands and agencies will be leveraging technology that can simultaneously deploy 10,000+ ad variations to yield the lowest CPA (cost per acquisition) of those “Likes.” The art and the science.

Finally, there’s mobile and SMS. The app has arrived and has consolidated the expansiveness, chaos and clutter of the worldwide web to the simplicity and focus of a tiny button the size of a stamp that fits in the palm of your hand.  . . . Oh, wow!

What are your predictions for 2011, infinity . . .and beyond?

What have you always wanted to know about social media but were afraid to ask? Register for Breakfast and Blogs, a very social session with Elaine to find out. Start off your New Year with real social media sizzle. Email or comment to reserve your place. First 10 are FREE and $10 after that – Thurs., Jan 13 or Fri. Jan. 14 — 9:30 a.m.– 12:00 p.m. Location details in Dallas to come. Join me at the B &B.

I never thought I would be part of the blogging brigade— leading the social media charge. “How did I get here?” as David Byrne one asked. For heaven’s sake, I ran computer programs on punch cards in a box. I trie dto make some semblance of sense of those bleeding lines of purple Fortran code on the never-ending accordion-folded pale green and white-striped paper—in the bowels of the Vogelback computer cave at Northwestern. I remember thinking, “Geez, I’m a theater major. How will this stuff ever have a practical application in my life? I guess my life has been more Lennon-esque – what has happened while I have been busy “making other plans.”

But it’s still a hard place to be–as so many are still generally nonplussed about the power and process of integrating this brave new media communication phenomenon into their customer/donor-development strategies. “The moment we are living right now, this generation, represents the largest increase in expressive capability in human history, ” proclaimed NYU media guru, Clay Shirky, also a former theater major.

It’s hard to completely comprehend the full impact somewhere in time (more great music, sigh), but I predict this period in communication media innovation will assume milestone prominence in retrospect-–similar to the era of the printing press, the telephone, photography and motions pictures. Shirky continues, “A revolution does not happen when a society adopts new tools. It happens when a society adopts new behaviors.” Can you imagine life without the mobile phone?

So, as we begin to navigate and maneuver the tools that are quite literally redefining our relationships and behaviors, here are a few solid ideas for making the most of on of your core social media tools–your Facebook Business Page. Like it or not, Facebook is the new black. Remember, to maximize effectiveness and results you should carefully customize this list for you and your distinctive business objectives:

1. Create a personal service “direct line” to the brand and paint a personality that differentiates your business.
2. Respond to your customers quickly and personally to create authenticity and loyalty.
3. Provide notice of special events – with the ability to catch RSVPs—photos, videos and after-party conversation.
4. Post quizzes: In addition to providing fantastic engagement opportunity, your page is also a rich research resource. What’s your personal style? Why do you support programs to help the homeless? What three things mean most to you in the world?
5. Present special offers – one-day-only deals, Facebook-only bonuses, “Like” incentives.
6. Register for preferred customer email and coupons.
7. Create participation and passion around your preferred cause – feature the link on your page.
8. Post how-to videos, which might be a little wacky or unconventional – to ignite viral sharing.
9. Photos,photos, photos. Tag, tag, tag.
10. Subscribe to the tip or quote of the day – stat on homelessness, inspirational quote, green tip, how to tie a scarf, etc.
11. Feature links to blogs related to your business/organization – enhancing authoritative rank in organic search.
12. Sell gift cards – online with PayPal transaction.
13. Secret sales – “Skip lunch” or “Mimosa Mondays.”
14. Enter a contest to go to Vegas with our BFFs.
15. Highlight your customer of the day – tell the stories.

The list goes on – and the very best possibilities relate to your particular mission or customer, depending on your individual objectives.

Start writing down ideas, and watch how they be gin to flow . . . and join me at the B&B on Jan. 13 or 14, 2011!

I attended the 15th annual “Food for the Soul” Stewpot Art Program exhibition at the Bradshaw Gallery at the Dallas Public Library downtown today.  Impressive does not begin to describe the breadth and emotion of this remarkable work. Such raw energy and delight for souls in such turmoil.  On view through Dec. 28, this breathtaking show is part of is a community art outreach program serving the homeless and at-risk populations of Dallas through the Stewpot ministry at the Dallas First Presbyterian Church.  But it’s really so much more than that. I think this program exemplifies a new “brand” of social initiative that not only strengthens our nation’s rapidly fraying safety net, but empowers individuals through creative expression and supports financial self-sufficiency through micro-commerce. Love it!

I must admit I’m still struggling to synthesize by own artistic voice, so my heart is full when I see these developing artists talking about their work with such confidence and aplomb. Watching a program on ADD on KERA/Channel 13 tonight, I was struck by the quote, “We have found that success is not really depend on how much we know; it’s dependent on how we feel about yourselves – our self-esteem.” Well, these artists are definitely moving in the right direction—and what a win-win-win to support them. The artists receive 90% of the sales of their work, and The Stewpot receives 10%.

I found a small piece by Charles William I could not live without – an intricate ink drawing of intertwined harlequin figures. I was mesmerized by his precision and sense of whimsy–with a disturbing edge.

Take a moment to visit the show and be part of social entrepreneurship that’s part solution, part treasure and part blessing.

Hours are 1:00 – 5:00 on Sundays, closed on Monday, open 10:00 – 5:00 Tues and Wed., 12:00 – 8:00 on Thurs and 10:00 – 5:00 on Fri and Sat.

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