For a while now, I have used Yelp.com to find new places to get good food. Although I can’t agree with every single restaurant review on the site, I do have to say that it has helped me discover some great culinary finds both in Seattle and in Phoenix. But while my consumption of the site has been steady, the production of my own reviews has been null… until today.

After setting up a Yelp account, I have managed to check into three different places, write a review, and gain a few friends. Small potatoes, sure, but I think it is a great start to something I could totally see myself getting hooked on. From the check-in statuses, to member specials, or just the sheer bliss of having someone think a review of yours was helpful.. the benefits to being an active community member on Yelp.com does have its advantages. Let’s just see how much time I can devote to yet another social network though. Honestly.. a simple review shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes or so.

My advice: check out Yelp.com and don’t just USE the system… be a part of it. Isn’t that what social media is all about? Also while you’re there… look for me: gudmundson.yelp.com

Peace

So what fluff am I talking about? To make a long story short… it’s content.

We all understand that ‘Content is King’ and that content drives links, which drives traffic, which makes us successful…  yadda yadda yadda. But have you ever stopped to think about just what kind of content people are making these days? Are we all best selling authors? journalists? or celebrity personalities? No, we’re content creators, but I think the line between us and those traditional publishers is getting finer and finer by the day. But for differing reasons than what you might be thinking.

Sure I’m not Shakespeare, but the words I say and the things I do are relevant to me, as well as a small population of individuals who get a kick out of learning more about me. Although I don’t appeal to the mass audiences of the online world, I know there is a place for me somewhere.. either a well known niche, or just my own backyard. It’s kind of a brand thing. But as consumers begin to rely less and less on mass media and more and more on specialized media, personal opinion, or voice, it is clear that our viewpoints are becoming a lot more important to the continuously increasingly educated population. Although some people might think this is a fallback on progress and the romanticism of emotion and personal feeling..  I will argue that it is the humanization of progress. A necessary evil needed to make sure we don’t end up like the workers on Metropolis. (I’ve never thought about falling in love with a robot)

Do I think my own blog or my own content is fluff content? Sometimes, but to all of you who read this, there has got to be a least one simple takeaway you can gain, right? There is no question that that vast majority of information out there has some kind of agenda to it, but I think that has kind of been the name of the game since the idea of popularity first plagued our minds. “What do I need to do in order to get this…?”

The moment when too much effort is put on the result and not enough on the execution, we will see the masses becoming wise to the publication of fluff content. But although it is not really a bad thing, it could eventually lead to the restructuring of how we make, see, and use data on the internet as we know it. Agendas are fine, but make sure you’re actually giving someone a reason to be a part of your agenda… otherwise, you’ll lose them all in the long run.

Peace

Although I know the answer, I feel that I need to persuade myself again and again the reasoning behind it.

I don’t consider myself an expert at anything, but I think the underlying purpose of blogging is primarily for personal growth. Today, social media has turned into a business of communication. While blogging is a vital aspect of this communication, the personal blog has become a strange conundrum for the working professional, especially if that person focuses in social media on a day to day basis. While we tell ourselves that the coordination between personal and professional humanizes our professional appeal, it also seems to ‘mechanicalize’ our personal appeal, which I think can be damaging. Is it too much to suggest that every one of us is a sell-out to our own personal brand? No, but then again, that is what makes our brand… personal.

So to make a long story short, I will be the first to admit my personal brand is pretty chaotic. Although it was first built on a foundation of appeasement to all those interested in listening, it began to turn into personal heartfelt story, and now is a vast juxtaposition of creativity, logic, and pure insanity. Is that really who I am? Maybe, but I think everyone one of us has to be a little insane.. it’s what makes life fun right?

So what is next you may be asking? I guess it goes back to that whole idea of personal growth. It was a sad and gloomy day when I realized I couldn’t make millions of dollars through my subpar writing skills, but that is not going to burst my bubble! Recollection, description, and logical creativity in a natural prose is really what I’m trying to produce for me and me alone. Whether other people come by and say hi, I will never know, but I do know one thing for sure… actually I don’t.

Peace

So what does this mean for Twitter as a whole? Who knows, but I can give you my two cents.. if you already haven’t figured it out by now.

Although I don’t think Twitter is losing its popularity.. too much, the idea of Twitter as the service is kind of dwindling. Sure, it made popular the actual act of Tweeting, but that act is now so widespread through other avenues (Facebook, Buzz), Twitter, as in Twitter.com is kind of seeing a loss, or at least a temporary plateau.

Is this information surprising? Yeah, I think so! Although you could say this does not take into account everyone on their phones or other local applications. Which brings me to my next point… everyone is on phones and local applications!

If Twitter plans on creating an ad network for their service, sure we can expect to see ads on the side of our tweets just like in search or whatever else, but what about people who only access Twitter from Hootsuite, or TwitterBerry, or TweetDeck, or whatever else? Do these companies need to reconfigure their applications to support Twitter’s ads.. or should we expect to see ads coming in the way of the tweets themselves? You get what I’m saying here? If we begin to see ads in the tweets themselves, I am guessing you will also see people abandon the service for Facebook or even Google Buzz!.. I know that is kind of ridiculous sounding, but as Twitter user myself, I really can’t imagine Paid Advertisements.. (from Twitter) in my streams. That’s like having Google place their Paid Search ads in and amongst your organic search results.  Because interactivity is such a vital player in both search and tweeting… I feel this plays a much larger burden on people then say sponsor commercials in Hulu or YouTube videos.

Although I use Twitter, I know my tweets to my followers mean very little to them if they really don’t know who I am in the first place, or haven’t become a Twitter celebrity. Although brands have an edge in this arena, the bulk idea of having followers is proving more and more like last year’s popularity contest… which is having less and less relevance to this year’s popularity icons. In Facebook, I know I will be able to get more discussion and more interactive interest, so why shouldn’t I focus my efforts there?

It’ll be interesting to see what Twitter does with their ads, and for their own sake.. I hope it will not be as invasive as I think it could be.

Peace

If you’ve noticed, the last few posts here at RyanJin.me have focused more primarily around the idea of content and how it is the essential life blood of everything the internet stands for. Really, it is! But as content becomes saturated with fluff, echoes, and ‘how-tos’ for idiots, the idea of content as a serious factor in success has become a hard topic marketers need to grapple with. Top Ten Lists won’t cut it any more.. except if you’re trying to target wannabe social media experts, in that case… welcome to the party. Everyone has left, or has grown up.

But honestly finding the right content and mode of delivering that content is a hurdle for many people these days. Sure you can find your niche and build your reputation organically, but where to begin?

Taking a step back, I’ve been watching Andrea lately and her habits on the internet. Every day, she visits her favorite blogs, favorite discussion forms, and favorite sites. Like clockwork, she manually updates her internal RSS feed to make sure she is up to date on everything and anything associated with what she feels is important to her online experience. From this perspective, should it seem ridiculous that every niche has this kind of network? No! It’s really a simple concept, and it is expressed in everyday user experience of the internet.

When Web 2.0 came out, I thought the concept was hilarious. But quite honestly, it has become the most important changing factor in how consumers AND producers use the internet. For this reason, blogs became the big thing, but then came micro-blogs. As if a concept for the ‘everyday blogger’ Twitter is turning more and more into the Second Life of today. As I see myself using less and less of the application, I feel like I am trying to fix this through other means of ‘reaching out’ or ‘communicating’ with others around me. This is not to say I am retired of Twitter, I just think the program as a singular entity is becoming outdated. Once private networks, or private HOSTED networks become the core of how Twitter or micro-blogging tools connect, there could be a new influx in use, but for some reason, saturation in Facebook, iPhones, or whatever else has rendered the service hard to justify. So what is next?

Even with all of the new talk of Twitter, and then this gradual fall, blogs have still remained. Actually, as people have seen they can be heard (or read) through Twitter, more and more are adopted actual blogs. I think this is absolutely great. With everyone’s blog however, simple RSS reeders are going to get their work cut out for them.

My prediction for 2010 and 2011: Organization of social media is going to become very very important. Twitter will remain, of course, but it is already evident that there needs to be an internal organizational change to make the service more enticing for new and retired users. Association of blogs and personal sites… RSS readers will become the new TweetDecks or Twitterifics. When there is something new to read that is seriously from a valid source… you know as well as me that we’re both going to read it.

Peace

As more and more websites fill our browser histories and/or fan pages on Facebook, a looming question for some becomes apparently obvious. How do I create the mass amount of content needed to stay ahead of my competitors? I suppose this kind of questions isn’t really suitable for some people who only ‘microblog’ or have some sort of physical or service oriented product. (Although I could be wrong)

When social media gurus talk, a lot of times, they speak to content. It’s like a runway for an airplane… without it, you can’t take off.. or land back on earth, but then again, without the airplane, you wouldn’t get anywhere in the first place. If only we could apparate or use floo powder.

So while content is important, how are some websites like Examiner.com, or Gawker.com coming up with up to the minute stories and articles? 6 words… It’s like open source magazine publishing. In all actuality, it’s basically what many people today think of as ‘Community Blogs’.  With a few exceptions. Remember About.com?

The content on About.com is surprisingly decent for how diverse the articles and information is. From fixing a grand piano to cooking Thai food, to learning PHP… you can basically learn or read about anything from About.com. The reason you remember it so well (or are still finding it pop up in your search results today) is because that content is intertwined with all the other content on the site. In other words… it was like the Wikipedia of it’s day.. but without the ability to freely write whatever you want. Instead of opening the editor to just anyone and their dog, they decided to ‘hire’ what are called Guides. As Wikipedia explains:

Guides are compensated with a base stipend plus bonuses for increased traffic; according to About.com, several guides are averaging over $100,000 per year, although the exact number is not disclosed.

To learn more about how Guides are paid or even how to become one.. check out About.com’s Be A Guide section.

So why is this important? – As social media becomes even more and more important to people, businesses, and organizations, the whole ‘Content is King’ deal… really becomes a forefront issue.

So should I or Jim at Jim’s Tri-Coutny Electrical Repair build our own content platforms and hire hundreds of high schoolers to write about different things? Of course not! That’s not my point. What is my point is.. these platforms exist FOR you, not BY you. If you think you’re an expert at plumbing in Phoenix, check out Examiner.com and see if you can add your own input or even publish your own works to the community. You never know exactly what you’ll find.

For those of you who ARE in the content business…

Well I think we all know it really isn’t a one person job. Try the model out sometime if you’re interested… I bet you’ll be surprised by how much more ’stuff’ you are able to put out there then when it was just you in your cubicle at work -_-.

Peace.

Although we were originally against it, we decided to take up the social network to essentially make easy work out of what would have been a timely task. So whats the big deal?

When you have friends on Facebook… better yet, a lot of friends, a certain thing happens that Facebook really has helped fuel. The return to old friendships. Although depending on who you ask, this might not be so evident with others. Why? Just look at the sentiment revolving around social networks right now. They aren’t conducive to real physical relationships… they help foster them… but that’s it.

When I joined Facebook.. in December of 2004, there were approximately 1 million active users (www.insidefacebook.com). Let me repeat that statistic for you… 1 million active users! With over 350 million registered users on the network today, it seems like forever ago when you had to have a college email address to even join.. let alone an email address from a college that was in their database.

So what am I getting at?

As more and more people find my profile on Facebook, I am continuously reminded of all the friends I have, have had in the past, or just simply family members I have yet to meet in the future. But although I might not talk to you, I am able to communicate with you. Doesn’t that make you think that high school reunions in the future won’t be as awkward as they were 10 years ago? Maybe not, but it makes a difference when you already know whether or not someone has a baby or even a spouse

On the other side of this story is the growing popularity of the commercial ideal for Facebook. Ask yourself this question… do you have friends on Facebook who you’ve never met in person? If so, about how many? For me, there is 1 person on my Friend List that I have never personally met. If that seems weird to you, then you and I are obviously using Facebook for two different reasons! – Back to my point…

So when I say I’m telling Facebook something, better yet… when you tell Facebook something, who do you think is reading it? Your networks? Your groups? Old friends? Who knows… But just remember… when you do meet that old high school classmate from 10 years ago… know that there’s a good chance they know more about your professional life (and of course, social life) then you may think. I’m constantly watching you… whether you like it or not!

And yes, we are having a boy!

Peace.

P.S. Check out www.insidefacebook.com for more cool info or visit Facebook’s Timeline

For a long time now I’ve really been thinking hard about the issues revolving around social media and brands/businesses. It doesn’t matter who you talk to, everyone has an opinion, and quite frankly, they should. But as these discussions continue to evolve and change, there is one key ingredient that keeps coming up.

Communities are the catalyst to social media.

Plainly put, communities, no matter what size, shape, or form they take on, represent the actual catalysts for how social media is played out. I know you may be thinking.. “it is the conversation”, or “it is the free give-aways”, but really, those are all what are stemming from communities. The question that comes to my mind however, is where do brands build, versus when do brands join?

Let’s take a look at ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover. Any ways, the premise of the show is centered on good will towards others who may be less fortunate, have gone through a hardship, or whatever else. Basically, Ty Pennington and his team of carpenters and designers come in, tear down your old decrepit house, and build a new one centered and personalized to your specific needs. Great premise, but what does this have to do with community? I say lots.

First, it is important to realize that this team travels every week to the location of their new project. They aren’t  just building an apartment complex and waiting for people to get up and move. They’re actively seeking families or individuals whom they can help.

Secondly, they focus a whole hour on each and every project. Now because they’re on ABC, they do have a little bit of an advantage of spreading their word and distributing their success, but still, one week, one hour, one project.

Finally, the level of personalization, makes the end-all-result, all the more special for the family they are helping. Maybe a little too personalized in some cases as the show takes every detail and every concern the family has, and somehow incorporates that into their projects. When the family returns, they ultimately feel that the house is personalized just for them.. and it is!

Coming back to the main question at hand, Extreme Home Makeover seems to be finding and reaching out to these individuals in order to help. They aren’t building the community, but joining ones that already exist. Even though they are specialized in their services, they understand that as soon as they go about building their own community, the overall impact on the outside individual diminishes. Not good!

So let’s compare this to Twitter!

Back in the day, when brands were experimenting with new approaches to using Twitter, companies would have a Twitter account and broadcast news, updates, and whatever else was associated with the brand. As this theory became a foundation for how many brands used Twitter, a new approach, a more specialized approach, began to evolve. Instead of relying on @NYTimes for your New York Times news, you now have @nytimesbooks, or @nytimesstyle, or @nytimessports… and so on. (There has got to be at least 100 NYTIMES accounts out there now) Essentially, @NYTimes had the idea that by splitting up their sources (Music, Television, Business, etc. etc) they could essentially build the communities where only certain people could be ‘fans’ of certain groups. Doesn’t this seem like that ‘we build it, you come to us’ example I mentioned earlier?

So what is the solution?

Try not to make things overly complicated! Instead of creating complex networks of Twitter accounts that people just have to keep following, go out and search for where your help is needed! If I received a Tweet from someone saying “Hey I see you’re into this, why don’t you check this out” – I would definitely go and check it out. Actually, that just so happened with a new restaurant, Smashburger, in Tempe, AZ. About two weeks ago, I received an email saying I was invited to their Social Media/Blogger’s night… In the end, I had some good free food, got to speak to their VP, and now I’ve got a new place I can eat in Tempe! It was really quite a simple, and quite an enjoyable experience. (Makes me want to write more about restaurants Any ways, when you are waiting for people to come and talk to you, you risk losing a big ‘ol heap of discussions later on. You aren’t the new kid at school anymore! New kids deem themselves successful these days by introducing themselves and explaining why ‘friending’ them would pay off in dividends. (I’m going to make sure my future son or daughter does exactly this).

Peace

Here’s a suggestion, Think of Something NEW to do!

Every day, and I mean every day, I see people on Twitter saying this exact same thing… “Want to Build your brand on Twitter? GO HERE.. to my blog!!! http://www.LINK.com” In other words everyone in social media knows how to build brands on.. social media. Do I doubt them? No, not really, but I really don’t think their idea is the end all supreme idea of brand building. Sure they may have something really really good. Or maybe they have a great system for getting followers quick and then blasting them with gimmicky ‘click here’ tweets. I dunno. But the one thing I do know, is that really successful branding initiatives on Twitter… are never copycats.

Think of it this way… say for example, I own a company. Ryan’s Magnificent French Onion Soup Co. Basically, I sell soup.. in restaurants and grocery stores. Now lets say I have a competitor… Bill’s Best French Onion Soups. Bill sells soup in restaurants and grocery stores too. Now lets say for example, Bill hires Michael, a “social media expert” and comes up with a great social media campaign which has helped him grow tremendously. Michael now says. “Want to build your brand in social media? I’ve done it!”. This is all great and good, but will Ryan really want to follow Michael’s suggestions? Wouldn’t that make Ryan look pretty stupid in the French Onion Soup biz?

Back to the social media thing. Now I could go on and lecture you about how social media, Twitter especially, is all about communication and not about the broadcasting, but I hope you’ve read some of my other posts and have a firm grasp on how I feel about this. In a nutshell, yeah, it is about communication. So what?

I could also explain why creating content or products is so important, but I hope you already understand that without content, you really have nothing to talk about other than yourself in the social networks You know who you are.

So how do you build your brand?

Darned if I know. I don’t know you, your content, or your products. Why should I (I’m not talking about me… I’m talking about people who claim they are ’social media experts’) dictate how you should sound or act on Twitter or even Facebook? I shouldn’t! Heck, maybe you’re selling something that SHOULDN’T be on Facebook or Twitter. I’m not sure what that might be, but who knows?

To make a long story short, if you think about it, there is no set rule for how companies should construct their television commercials, right? There are no set rules for how magazine ads are created right? Your brand is yours, and if you want to start or optimize your branding campaign in social, do it because you know your audience is there. Gimmicks are fine, to a certain point, but don’t come across as a spammer. In this day and age, it’s pretty dang easy to see who and who is not a spamming Spam’ophile.

I know what you might be thinking now.

But what about those brands or people who just suck at Tweeting or Facebooking..? Social will always have its place.. whether its in or out of your brand’s solution is up to you. Are you actually on Facebook? What about DMOZ? How about Yelp? Or maybe a Local Business Listing on Maps. What about Flickr? Or Youtube? Blogsearch? If you’ve hit all of those, then you’re good. (Just kidding) Find your place… and make it your own. It’s about  being different..right?

Peace.

My first real job out of college was at a company devoted towards leveraging the local search market. Marchex, BlitzLocal, and many other companies out there today see local as the blossoming form of main stream search. Essentially, they are banking on the fact that what people actually search for online will change to a more centralized and local base. Is this the case, and should we too be seizing this opportunity? Hell yeah! Well at least to some degree.

Today, applications and websites such as Google Maps and Yelp have helped pave a new local channel for people to funnel through in order to reach their destination. Local restaurants, service companies, and tech savvy independent business owners have harnessed this evolving channel in hopes of capitalizing on the trend that is local. Bring Twitter into the discussion and this shift is hugely magnified

If you browse through the millions and millions of Twitter users out there, you might just notice something. There are a lot of businesses, corporate accounts, as well as things which I would like to call community broadcast accounts. One example of a community broadcast account I personally follow is @CenPhoTV (Central Phoenix). So what do I mean by local broadcast account? With the ease and simplicity that Twitter represents, many people today are creating their own news feeds much like how a year or two ago,  RSS and other numerous technologies were helping people decide what is and what is not read-worthy. With Twitter, what was once a personal news feed for Joe who works in accounting, is now a public news feed for many other people who are interested in the same thing Joe is interested in. Even more, communication and chat can be added to the picture. Do you want to know what is happening downtown? What local restaurants are having specials tonight? Do a Twitter search and see if you can’t navigate your way through the TRAP (Twitter Crap.. I should brand the term – Look for a blog post later!) out there, to something that is meaningful AND LOCAL to you! Maybe a wine bar is hosting a tasting for $20 tonight. Entertainment on a Saturday? Sure why not. Plus… it’s local.

So why does this matter?

Let’s just say a map represents a grid. Like an X/Y grid. Oh.. this is an easy comparison. Google Maps has come a long long way in terms of shoving data into the actual maps. Restaurant locations, addresses, barber shop phone numbers (I don’t use a barber.. I use a very sophisticated beautician) and everything else you can think of is displayed on these maps. But as more and more information gets published, the more the clutter we need to sift through.

Real time statuses, reviews, and specials offers a totally different thing…

Put these two things together, and you have the capability of creating some of the most complex XYZ three-dimensional models out there. It’s like walking down the street and hearing every single person’s word of mouth blurb. … they should make an application that lists the most referenced restaurants on Twitter in a given city. Talk about word of mouth!

Alright, so while this might not be the best example, it does show a lot of what I’m talking about.

Today’s searching community is smart and can pretty much put two and two together. I know real time Twitter updates on Google Maps is just about here (maybe it’s already here and just not mainstream.. or maybe I’m totally out of the loop. I dunno), but we don’t need an application to do that kinda stuff for us! (Then again, we don’t need an application to decide on where we’re going to eat dinner tonight).

Maximizing Twitter, Maps, Yelp, Review Sites, Facebook, and everything else out there, searchers and social media users today are living proof as to why Local is now here more then ever. You know who you’re looking for. Do they blog?

Peace!