For someone (me) who is always trying to balance the online with the offline, I feel your social media junkie pain.

You Just Might Be A Social Media Junkie if…

 1. You keep dropping a note in your collection plate at church instead of a donation. The note says, “Dear Reverend Hill – why have you not yet started a Facebook fan page for Jesus?”

2. Your wife wants you to be in therapy with her, but you’ve told her you will only do it if you can find a therapist who can dispel his/her wisdom in 140 characters or less. (length of a Twitter)

3. You’ve told your immediate and extended family that the best place for them to find out what you’re up to is on Tweetdeck. 

4. Instead of an emergency phone number on your children’s school information – you’ve posted your TwitterID account and told them that is the best way for them to reach you. (The school secretary in particular does not seem hip to the tweeting.) 

5. You volunteered for the Parent Teacher Organization group but only on a virtual level and have promised you will send tweets during the school carnival when the principal is dunked. 

6. Your Mom closed her Facebook account, because she was getting too many Fan messages from you asking her to join your Fan page. 

7. Your husband has a Google alert set up on your name and occasionally searches Google images so he can see what you looked like before you became part of your office chair. 

8. Your neighborhood bunko group has unfriended you on Facebook because they don’t much cotten to you sending status updates like, “I just kicked everyone’s butt in bunko. I’m the bunko queen and these women can’t roll a triple six if it killed them.” 

9. You tell people you and Barack Obama are very close virtually because you joined his Facebook Fan page. 

10. You found your Honors English teacher (Mrs. Whitley) on Facebook and you’re sending her blog posts to redline for you (because after all once a teacher, always a teacher.) 

11. Your husband has banned twittering, facebooking, linkedin-ing from the bedroom. 

12. Your pug starts a very high pitched noise when he sees you reach for your iPhone.

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Wonderfully funny and incredibly talented people abound and the dinner this evening could not have been more hilarious. If you’ve not read anything by Laretta LaRoche, please change that and get her books.

She was the keynote speaker this evening and really delivered! Also Tim Bete (past director of Erma Conference) spoke and he was truly funny as well.

The room tonight was packed full and what a great honor to be among so many talented people.

I’m nervous about presenting tomorrow but I’m wearing my tweet-proof vest so all should be well, plus I’ve got to say the spirit here feels incredibly kind and generous.  I’m going to try very hard to have the audience at my first “Hello, Ya’ll.”

I also got to hang out with Sam Horn, who I really count as one of my mentors and just think it is incredible gift to know. You should also check out Sam’s books!

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1. Make your site a mini-magazine issue of thought-leadership. Look at your site as though it’s a real publication for both your peers and the media to source for news. Build an editorial calendar for all your online tools including Twitter, Linkedin.com (status updates), Facebook and make sure you’re congruent in your content and your expertise.

2. Make sure you’re linking outside your blog to other news sources and stories by journalists. As a recovering technology journalist (1996-2004) I can tell you that all journalists love to have their names or links to stories, surface in Google alerts and they really love to show those to their editor as well.  You’re also giving them new sources of experts to look at when you write about stories they’ve covered and what your take is on the story.

3. Build a set of Google alerts on topics you’re most interested in and let those Google alerts give you ideas for new pieces of content on your blog, your Twitter and your Facebook pages. Don’t just stop at  posting those story links, go and comment on the stories at the sites they’re on and that will help you with building link-love to your site.

4. Don’t purposely be contrarian to the news. Be the person who lends a new angle or insight to a story.

5. Make sure you’re reading the online and offline magazines in your vertical and studying how their stories are created, who they source and where you can contribute bylines.

6. Have a website that encompasses a Web 2.0 press ready page. This includes your TwitterID, Facebook, Linkedin.com, YouTube channel and one pager about your expertise.

7. Put Google alerts on journalists’ names so you can build a clip file of what they’re covering and who they write for. More and more the online media is made up of freelance writers so don’t leave them out of the mix.

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2. Understand that I don’t need a publicist, mygrandma or even my publisher to work on my behalf to get coverage for my books! I can compile a list of blogs and start participating way before my book is out!

3. Take to heart that it is an author’s job to help publicize their book.

4. Get on Twitter and start tweeting.

5. Remember that if I’m going to build a FACEBOOK fan page I’m not done working with it just because I built it. I have to post to it at least three times a week and make those messages lively, dynamic and not marketing blabbity-blah.

6. Do a search for book awards and submit my book to every single one of them that I’m eligible for.

7. Take my book and page by page I would highlight short tweets I could repurpose on Twitter, and identify what ideas I can use for blog posts to help drive more interest about my books.

8. Stop believing that by getting a ton of “friends” to compile a bunch of empty bonuses together that those are going to take my book to #1 on Amazon.

9. Commit that I’ll be conversant on the news as it relates to ideas in my book and commit that I won’t try to get my book to fit every news angle.

10. Commit to not growing hits, but reaching new communities with valuable insight and the goal of long-lasting relationships.

11. Have an active profile on Linkedin.com, participate, offer good insight and join the groups that care most about my book content.

12. Stop spreading myself too thin across 8 billion social media profiles.

13. Use Google. Use Google. Use Google. To search for new opportunities for my book.

14. Pro-actively write a reading group guide and save that as a downloadable PDF that I offer for free on my site.

15. Thank every single reporter, blogger etc. that notes my book each time they do it.

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Twas the night before social media, when all through the Web

Not a Facebooker was statusing, no new updates in sight.

The tweets all tweeted on the Twitter with care,

In hopes that St. Click soon would be there.

 The 24/7 social media gurus nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of new DIGGs danced through their heads.

And Mamma-Web in her Bing-chief and I, computer in lap.

Had just settled down for a long tweet free nightcap.

When out on the Web there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my Lazy Boy, to see what was the Web-chatter.

So close to the screen, I stuck like a flash.

Logged into my blog account and posted a blog post fast..

With a little old blog post, so lively and quick.

I knew in a moment it was definitely St. Click.

More rapid than BING, his Google-bots came,

And he whistled, and shouted and called them by name.

Now HubSpot, Now Mashable, Now Kayser, Now Guy!

On BING, on DIGG, on Alltop and FiledBy, oh my!

To the top of the search! To the top of the LinkedIn!

Now blog away! Blog away! Blog away all!

end

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• Track Social Media Engagement for Any Website With PostRank (mashable.com)
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1. You ask them about measuring metrics and they say, “Metrics, metrics, we don’t need no ‘steenking’ metrics.”

Helpful Tip: Measurement of social media activities should be happening using tools like Radian6, HubSpot Grading tools, and some from Mashable’s list here.

2. Early on, you ask the expert how often you should tweet and they say, “As much as you like, just keep in mind never to do it in mixed company.”

Helpful Tip: See Guy Kawasaki’s post on Twitter Cluelessleness.

3. You search for the profile they were tasked to set up on LinkedIn.com and when you can’t find it, they say, “LinkedIn.com isn’t cool anymore. We set up your profile on Hookedup.com but you’ll need to lower your browser security to ‘hit that.’

Helpful Tip: Keep up with the actual LinkedIn.com blog for great insight on how to empower your profile.

4. You find the Flickr.com account they created for your company, but to your surprise it is populated with photos of horses named Flicka.

Helpful Tip: Use Flickr to build your brand online – see tips here.

5. You ask for strategic insight on what you should add to your blogroll and their answer is, “I don’t know, I’ve never tried that sandwich.”

Helpful Tip: See Dave Taylor’s timeless piece on blog rolls here.

6. They send you a large box of organic pea pods the week before the debut of 1st company podcast, with a note that says, “Only the freshest peas possible will do for your first cast.”

Helpful Tip: Read “Podcasting for Dummies” and Evo Terra’s blog to keep up with everything you need to know about podcasting and how it does not involve casting peas.

7. The expert says the best way for you to build online buzz and loyalty is to give away free pairs of shoes like that Zappos.com guy because everyone loves him and shoes always make people happy.

Helpful Tip: See Tony’s presentation on building real customer loyalty offline and online here.

Bonus: They rent a dog to do tricks in the background of all the company YouTube videos they’re producing for you. When you question their judgment they exclaim, “The better the tricks, the more the clicks.”

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1. Stop being sheepish about your accomplishments and build a truly savvy and transparent profile for yourself on the Web.

(Oy vey – you’re not tooooooo olddddddd to be on the Web. Seriously.)

2. Use Twitter for good, not evil. As mega-celebs close down their Twitter accounts it just means more room for your content rich, edu-focused tweets! Don’t Twitter out something you wouldn’t want your Mom reading. Keep your tweets filled with link-love and be willing to share your knowledge.

4. Don’t hate me because I’m social. (Oops, did I blog that out loud?) – what that means is don’t kill the Web 2.0 messengers, and don’t buy into everything they tell you to do. Find a good Web 2.0 balance that works for you. Many people become power LinkedIn.com users, others just operate best on Facebook.com. Whatever you choose to use, don’t let it languish.

5. Stop wishing for the good old days of cold pancakes and stale coffee networking breakfast events. Put your butt in the chair with your favorite coffee mug and spend thirty minutes a day online using all the free tools available to you. No excuses. Just Social IT!

6. Find your tribe, your peeps, your community by using Google Search, technorati search and Google Blog Search. Ready for something new? Try BING search.

7. Be present, be YOU, be Web 2.0 brave!

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 Here are Six Ways to Expand Your 2.0 Sociability:

1. Create at least three profiles to start with on the Web: LinkedIn.com, Twitter.com and Google Profile .

2. Use Alltop.com as a great reference for how different blogs can be and how you might create new ideas or content when you launch your own blog.

3. Read Mashable.com for superb 2.0 latest news and also follow them on Twitter.

4. Use Ping.fm to update all your social networks at once.

5. Check out what Stribe can do – lets you create your own social network on any website. (it’s in beta right now.)

6. Use TweetMic if you want to do audio versions of your tweets. This is really cool – I’m going to play with it today and see how well my southern accent goes across Twitter. :>) The latest version just got released on September 27th.

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While some of you might think of Linkedin and all these other tools as pure drudgery, I challenge you to think of them as tools for changing the world.

Tackling social media really works best if you take it one step at a time. In the case of Linkedin, it’s never too late to register yourself on Linkedin – in fact, it’s one of the most powerful ways you can build and increase your reach across the Web.

Authors, artists, entrepreneurs, musicians and leading business people are all on Linkedin. (It also saves you a lot of cold pancake networking breakfasts!)

I like Barack Obama’s Summary:  The administration can’t only be about me. It must be about us – it must be about what we can do together. It is about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

Baby boomers are one of the fastest growing users of Linkedin and every Fortune 500 company has a presence on this platform.

What are you waiting for?

Not only will Linkedin increase your online visibility, but using it regularly will help you find new client engagements, connect with past partners and peers and empower your current business connections to new levels.

While it might seem daunting at first, it gets easier as you go along. The folks at Linkedin are constantly adding new functionality to the platform so there’s always something new to learn as well.

Here are 3 Tips To Rock Your Linkedin Profile to a new level:

1. Make certain you have customized your URL for your public profile. Not only does this help in terms of Google search but it also helps in search on Linkedin itself.

2. Change your status at least three times weekly. This is easy to do, takes about five minutes per update and every time you update your stats your updates also appear in the Linkedin email summaries to your groups and followers.

3. Use the Events tool on Linkedin – this helps you spread the word about your events and also gives your connections a way to attend them! Booksignings, business conferences, workshops – put them all up there!

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“It’s time to trust my instincts. Close my eyes and leap. It’s time to try defying gravity. I think I’ll try defying gravity, and you can’t pull me down.” (Defying Gravity – Wicked the Musical)

I’m writing my book fulltime on Sundays and I always try to listen to inspiring and uplifting music when I’m writing. Today my work ended with the soundtrack from Wicked, The Musical.

I’ve seen Wicked close to ten times and plan on seeing it again when I go to New York in October.  (I was doubly blessed to take my teenage daughter to it for her first trip in NY last year.)

The book and the musical help inspire me to be more. The story of Elphaba and how hard she works to stay true to her mission, what she gives up along the way, and what she gains in return is timeless.

Elphaba (the green girl) also changes the people and places she comes in contact with. That’s certainly a powerful way to live your life.

For some of us, we face this new world of Web 2.0 with great fear and trepidation, but I can tell you after having been on the Web since 1995, there’s no reason to fear Web 2.0.

It’s just another upgrade.  In fact, it’s one you can make easily and bring together  the best of yourself offline blended with the offline. As they say in the musical, ”Let the green girl go.”

You’ve nothing to lose by using these tools and you and your community have so much to gain. The only thing Web 2.0 asks of you, your company or your community is to be just who you are.

Turns out the more authentic you are, the better off you are on the Web.

Web 2.0 doesn’t have any of the old smoke and mirrors tricks. Web 2.0 has disrobed the wizard controlling the masses through fear.  For the first time in a long time, you can be who you want to be and create a highly engaged following.

You can be unlimited in Web 2.0. You might even be popular.

You might even be like me, a woman who started a career on the Web in 1995 (to stay at home with my young children) and is still blessed and lucky enough to be going strong after all this time.

You can absolutely engender success on the Web 2.0, but you have to participate. You have to defy gravity along with the rest of us. Take your hits and keep flying.

Here are five ways to “defy gravity’ using Web 2.0.

1. Build your page on Facebook.

2. Build your LinkedIn.com profile to 100%

3. Stop waiting for permission to be who you are.

4. Find the people that care about your causes on places like Twitter, Facebook and other social sites.

5. Start participating by embracing your mission and your messages and sharing them across the Web without fear.

You can do it. Sweep away all your fears of failure and start flying.

If I can do it, you can do it. If they can do it, we can do it. Just take one small leap and defy gravity.

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If you think of the Jerry Maguire scene and apply it to your signature line in your email, then make certain you will have them at “hello.”

Five Tips For Having them at Hello: (on your signature line in email)

1. Link to your TwitterID under your name – “Tweet with me TWITTERID”

2. Link to your blog – not just “See my blog here – LINK”, but rather, “See how contrarian I can be at LINK”

3. Link to your LinkedIn.com account- again, put a teensy tiny call to action – Come on you know you want to LINK up – LINKEDIN ID here

4. Change your signature line at least once a month if you can with new innovative short calls to action to your other online platforms.

5. Take your social media IDs on your sig line and make sure when you get a new batch of business cards printed they are also on there as well. It’s not just about having your website on your card anymore.

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As the success of using social media continues to rise, one of the key things to keep in mind is the “economy of effort” as it relates to the time you’re spending on all your social media endeavors.

Instead of trying to be active on all the grouplists, all the social media sites as well as on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook, you need to first take a step back and define your purpose on these sites and which ones will work best for you long-term.

As you think about the purpose for your involvement in social media keep this in mind:

If you try to be active on every social media platform, every group list, every online conversation, you’re going to run out of social media steam.

Web 2.0 is not going to go away, but you certainly should not let it drive you into a frenzied effort of trying to be all things to all social media.

Just pick out three things and commit to doing them well on the social media landscape.

Define how much time you are able to spend on each of those three things.

Block this time into your calendar just as you would any other standing appointment and block out 30 minutes three times a week to devote to this work.

If you have a blog then you need to probably block out more like an hour three times a week, so that you can incorporate what you’re doing on your blog too.

Keep track of your time spent, so that you have a good barometer of what your efforts entail.

Commit to your social media efforts for six months and you will see results.

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