This is part 6 of 6 in the series “6 Things You Need to Know About Running A Social Media Program”. You can read part 1 “The Client” here, it has a full introduction. Part 2 “The Product” is here, part 3 “Your Audiences” is here ,part 4 “The Channels” is here and part 5 “Other Professionals” is here.

I’ve created this list of “things you must know” mostly based upon very positive experiences I’ve had, but also from negative ones…things that I’ve either experienced myself or seen others do.  This isn’t a tactical post, I think I write plenty of those.  Instead, this is my advice to those that are going to lend their expertise to others, and hopefully by checking these off you will avoid some common mistakes that often result in unmet expectations, from one side or the other…or both.

Know Yourself

I bet you weren’t expecting that one, were you? Let me explain what I mean by this: simply put, you need to know your own strengths and weaknesses, and you need to know your work flow and financial needs; this is especially true if you are consulting. Since most of us actually do know our strengths and weaknesses, maybe a better way to word this is be honest with yourself.  I saw a quote online recently that really rang true with me. Unfortunately I haven’t always followed it.

Work for full price or work for free, but don’t work for cheap.

As I applied that to many situations in the past that I have had to deal with, I see how true this is.  I could probably write an entire series of posts about why this is so important, but for now I’ll just let you ponder it and apply it to your own situation. In knowing yourself, you need to be honest with what your needs (or those of your organization) are, because sometimes…no matter how much you need the work…it’s better to say no to a project.  

Part 1 of 6

Over the years I’ve run a lot of social media programs, sometimes for companies or services that I own or manage, sometimes for organizations that have hired me to consult or drive their efforts in the various online communities.  This article is primarily aimed at those that do the latter, although several points can apply to the former.  That is to say, if you are a consultant or work at an agency whose primary focus is running social programs for somebody else, I’m writing this for you.

I’ve created this list of “things you must know” mostly based upon very positive experiences I’ve had, but also from negative ones…things that I’ve either experienced myself or seen others do.  This isn’t a tactical post, I think I write plenty of those.  Instead, this is my advice to those that are going to lend their expertise to others, and hopefully by checking these off you will avoid some common mistakes that often result in unmet expectations, from one side or the other…or both.

Those of you that have been following my adventures for a while know that I put my heart, soul and mind into social media.  Since writing my own blogging platform a decade ago (the billion dollar idea that I never capitalized on…) to my almost-obsessive fascination with brand interaction on channels like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, I am constantly observing and strategizing ways to make the interaction and engagement between companies and customers better through social media. I have spent quite a bit of time over the last couple of years consulting businesses of all types and sizes regarding their engagement (or lack thereof) within these online communities.  From Fortune 100 companies that distribute hardware all around the world to non-profit agencies that are doing their best to make a difference in the world, I have worked with groups to lend insight, support, ideas and action to social media programs. Given all of that, I’m quite pleased to announce that I have taken a new role within the industry.

If you spend a lot of time traveling and need to operate your office on the go, I hope you have taken time to read my post about operating a mobile office.  Just as important as having the right tools to do your job is the ability to use those tools, and if you are a frequent traveller you know how difficult this can be, especially on airlines.  Usually your work needs to be done offline which presents a problem if the very nature of your work involves online interaction, like mine does.  The days of being stuck drafting replies to emails is behind, Virgin America Airlines is changing the game and they’re doing it well. The list of amenities includes on board wifi, easy check-in, and a great food and beverage selection; not to mention that they are typically the least expensive airfare available!

I advise companies about how to optimize social media for brand exposure, adoption and support.  Because of this I am constantly talking to potential clients on the phone, discussing their goals and desires for an effective online campaign.  If you are in the business of consulting or are thinking about moving in that direction I’ve put together a short list of tips and tricks for preparing for that phone call, because as I’ve learned the hard way, if you aren’t prepared you’re not going to get the job. With the economy in the condition it is, every call is critical.

1. Know the client.  There is nothing worse than being asked a question about the company that you are pitching and not knowing what they are talking about.  I’m not talking about obscure facts, this is about their core competencies.  Make sure you have done your research, have at least a general familiarity with the key leaders, products, services and areas of operation.

Note: I originally published this in November 2008 but have had several people ask me about backup plans since then, so it’s worth a reprint.

Have you ever had a computer crash? Hard drive failure, BSOD, an unfortunate meeting of Diet Coke and your hardware? I have. It’s painful. Trying to restore data feels like something that the U.N. should condemn as universally cruel and unusual. System failure and data recovery is such a horrible thing to go through, it used to be a nice source of revenue for my former tech company…people would hire us and pay a lot of money to see if we could recover their financials, their emails, their files and their pictures. If you have ever gone though this, you know what I’m talking about.

Have you ever had a computer crash?  Hard drive failure, BSOD, an unfortunate meeting of Diet Coke and your hardware?  I have.  It’s painful.  Trying to restore data feels like something that the U.N. should condemn as universally cruel and unusual.  System failure and data recovery is such a horrible thing to go through, it used to be a nice source of revenue for my former tech company…people would hire us and pay a lot of money to see if we could recover their financials, their emails, their files and their pictures.  If you have ever gone though this, you know what I’m talking about.

I recently started using a company that I wish existed back when I was spending entirely too much time with data recovery.  Mozy is an online service that allows users to backup data from their computer to an online storage container.  Best of all? Its basic service is FREE.  The setup is amazingly simple; just sign up with your email address (no credit card required…nice!), download the app for your PC or Mac, and start your backup.  It’s secure as heck (128-bit encryption for transfer, 448-bit Blowfish key for encryption on their server) and very easy to use.  Some of the features of Moxy Home that are so appealing:

• Backs up Outlook automatically.  I love this, I cannot lose my email or contacts. This is a non-negotiable and is critical to me.
• 2GB of space!  If you take all of your downloaded music out of the picture, 2GB is enough for most users to back up most of their critical files. Of course if you want to back up music as well, you can purchase an account with more space than you’ll ever use for just $4.95/month. That’s not bad.
• Click and go.  The interface is so easy, the first time you run it Mozy will suggest folders that it thinks you should back up.  I was thinking that I would need to go through all of my folders and choose, but it took a potential hour long process and turned it into a 30 second decision.  I appreciate that!
• Automatic backups.  Although I won’t use this too much on my laptop because it’s off and on constantly, I will for my home computer.  
• Incremental backups.  This means that after the initial full backup it will only backup files that have been changed since you last ran it.  This makes backup time almost not even noticeable.  This is very important to me.
• Options. A lot of options.  If you want to just let Mozy set everything up for you, it’s not a problem.  It’s ready to go out of the box, and everything works well.  If you are like me, you want to pop the hood and tinker a little bit.  The options control panel let’s me satisfy my inner geek by giving me enough choices to make me smile.
• If you are on Twitter like I am, you can follow the official company account here. I love it when companies are on Twitter.

I think the Mozy Home service will work for most people, but if you are a power user or company, they offer two other tiers of service with things like SQL and Exchange backup, unlimited storage space and sub-administration/department controls.  

I was turned on to Xobni at the Blogworld Expo in Vegas a few weeks back.  I’ve been using it on my laptop and primary desktop computers, and I think that I really am a little more productive with it. That, and I am a freakshow when it comes to data and graphs and Xobni has plenty of both!

This Windows-only Outlook plugin is a free download and installs quickly and easily, no headaches when I went through it. Sorry Entourage users and others, I see that other platforms are in dev right now so hang tight. So what does it do? Read on.

As a window that sits to the right of my Outlook inbox it is…if nothing else…a nice visual break from the business look of Outlook.  It is more than just another pretty face though, it adds quite a bit of useful utility to my work day.  The first thing I noticed was its incredible tie in to LinkedIn.  When I get an email from somebody that used LinkedIn it previews the email with their public profile picture and allows me to link over to their information easily.  I’ve added a few people to my LinkedIn network this way.

It actually summarizes quite a bit of information about a particular person.  When I click on an email in my inbox it shows me that person’s “network” and allows me to click through to each person.  This has been useful a few times as I’ve needed to dig a bit deeper with somebody and was able to look at their associations.

Another beautiful feature, the one I use the most, is a preview of my conversations with a person (recent emails) and my ability to click thru to them and have a preview show up in the Xobni box.  Very handy.  Although it’s easy enough to search through my inbox and folders, this is even easier.  I love this part of it.  But wait…I’m a data geek right?  Where is the firehose of data?  Xobni installs its own submenu in the main menu, a quick click and selection of “Xobni Analytics” brings me to a place of statistics nirvana.

There are a raft of useful headings here, including “Time To Respond”, “Unique Contacts” and “Follow Up Delay”.  A click on “Mail Traffic” shows me a chart of sent and received emails and time of day.  A historical chart of this is quite helpful to me in terms of how I spend my time.  Also, it helps me to get into a new habit I’m trying to develop: not always having my Outlook opened.  I’m trying to check in every hour or so, but not be a slave to the constant preview pane of new messages.  So far this has been working well for me.

I’ve only scatched the surface of uses for Xobni, you ought to download it and try it yourself.  Of course you would be interested to know that the Xobni crew is on Twitter, they just don’t update too much. Drop me a note if you find Xobni to be useful, I would like to hear about other experiences.  I think a lot of people will like this.  Heck, the Wall Street Journal even does!

A couple of weeks ago I was hanging out with my friend in his studio and we were talking about his upcoming album release. As the conversation turned naturally to social media (naturally), he showed me a site I hadn’t seen before but have seen several times since…Animoto.

Animoto looks to be a way to end the drab slide shows that people put together to share with family, friends, fans. In a handful of minutes he dragged a folder of pictures to the creation page, added his music and Animoto did the rest. It picked fades and transitions based upon the music, and I have to say it did a great job. Do you make slide shows? Stop it now. Just stop, please. Go to Animoto, sign up for an account and start creating.

Once you have created your file (and seriously, how much easier can they make it for you?) there are a number of ways to share it. Click on the push pin icon at the bottom of the screen and you will be able to automatically post it to any number of services.  You also have the option to grab the embed code, like I did here.

The Animoto crew is rocking, they recently did a bunch of videos for TechCrunch 50.  You shold spend some time considering how using this service can help you promote your own product or service…get creative!

Before you sign up, listen to Theft’s song clip below.  It’s going to be huge, and you can say that you heard it first.

Winner #1: The first account goes to Brad Ruggles!  Congratulations, Brad, you’re going to love it I think.

Winner #2: Angie Swartz! Wahoo!  Let us know how SpinVox helps your with productivity over at the Six Figure Moms Club.

Winner #3: Hurray for Los Angeles!  Jungle[8]’s wonderful Lainie Liberti gets to enjoy this one.  You can find her on Twitter here.

Winner #4: Brent Hodges from the area I grew up, Southern Oregon! You and your Twitter profile are about to love your new visible voicemail!

Winner #5: I just DM’d you on Twitter.  When you reply, the final free account is yours!

Do you want a free, no-strings-attached Spinvox account? It’s simple really, very little action required by you: I will give out a FREE Spinvox account for every 100 50 new followers I get on Twitter, starting when I hit 550. I will then use a program to generate a random number between 1 and 550 (or 600, 650, etc.) and that lucky person will get a free account.  That’s it, nothing else to do.  Simple, isn’t it? If you are already following me then you are already in the running!

These aren’t limited accounts that expire in 15 days, these are full accounts, ready to go with no set limits! A normal Spinvox account that converts 40 voice mails is $10/month, so at the very least each of these is worth $120 a year to you. No, this isn’t some cheap give away, this is the real deal!

If you’ve spent any time around me or have followed me online for a while, at some point or another you have heard me talk about the very best business tool that I have: Spinvox. Simply put, Spinvox is a service that converts your voice mail messages into text and sends them to you via email, SMS or IM. I have been using Spinvox since January 2007 and honestly cannot imagine working without it now.
Typical scenario for me: I’m in a meeting and I want to give my full attention to the person or group I’m with. A call comes in that could be important. What did they say? I don’t have to excuse myself to listen to the voicemail because it comes to my email after just a few minutes. It’s easy enough to scan the message without missing a beat in my current meeting. For me this is a priceless service.
I recently did a write-up about the new partnership between Spinvox and Ping.fm. I got a lot of response via Twitter, people saying they wanted a Spinvox account but were on the fence about paying for it. Let me assure you that the service more than pays for itself…how much is your productivity worth in dollars and cents? That’s for you to decide. If you don’t want to wait around to win, you can go sign up for a new account here, it’s quick and painless and will tell you how to set it up on your phone in just minutes.  BTW, if you do that you can STILL win, just give the account to a friend or colleage.

So…everybody that follows me on Twitter has five chances to win, so get your peeps to follow and maybe YOU will be the next winner.  The only rule is that I won’t give away more than one account to the same person, so don’t create multiple accounts and if you are randomly picked twice, well, I’ll skip you the second time and pick another number.

Questions? Comments? Sarcastic Remarks?  Comment below or email me, matt [at] mattsingley [dot] com.

A big thank you to the fine folks at Spinvox (especially Whatleydude) for the accounts to give away.  You guys rock!