Remember all that hype around the iPhone 4? Biggest product launch ever, Apple and AT&T websites being crushed by demand, long lines at the store? Well, in the world of social media, a similar thing happened last week- the launch of FlipBoard, the “world’s first social magazine”.

The hype has died down a bit, and I’ve had a chance to download this application and play with it. Here is a review, followed by a quick video.

The Basics
Flipboard is a new, free app available exclusively on the iPad (for now). The Flipboard app essentially turns your time on facebook or twitter  into a dynamic and visually stunning experience. The application turns all of those tweets, updates, photos and links from your social circle into an intuitive, easy-to-read format. Flipboard also has “channels” for lots of other content, like technology, tech influencers, food, sports, etc. These channels, like the Facebook and Twitter channels are vetted and shared by chosen “experts” and influencers in the space. If you’re confused, don’t worry, that’s what the video is for. Take a look.

(Before we evaluate Flipboard, it should be noted that Flipboard doesn’t seem like a one hit wonder. Take a quick look at their investors, and they are a legitimate offering. The co-founders of Facebook, Twitter, Ashton Kutcher and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. Pretty impressive bunch.)

The Pros
- Intuitive and very easy to use. It is the perfect app for consuming media. It fits right into the Ipad’s goal of being the “couch technology”. Something to do in your leisure time (if you have any left). On the couch, waiting to board a plane, at doctor’s office, before you go to bed, etc. I think it’s ideal for those 15-30 minute stretches of time between activities.
- Personalized for you. As mentioned before, it’s an experience for YOU. Its’ your social sphere and all of it’s related content delivered directly to you- when and where you want it.
- Advertising opportunities for “visual” brands.  If you are Hermes, the Gap, a luxury safari company, or  a gourmet food company, it’s hard to tell your story in 140 characters, blog posts or status updates. You need a visually stunning way to present your brand, and here is a perfect opportunity to do that. With the format of Flipboard, it allows big space for imagery (advertisements!) to tell a company story.

The Cons
I’ll call this “opportunities for improvement” :-)

- Content needs to be fresher. It seems as if Flipboard only refreshes your Facebook/Twitter feed once or twice a day. According to their Twitter stream- they’re working on this
- Why isn’t Linkedin involved? They should be. Maybe because of the investors? ;-)
- Is this legal? For the other “sections” Flipboard essentially scrapes the web for good content. If you are reading a NYTimes article on Flipboard and click on an a Flipboard-sponsored ad, why should Flipboard get the money? Its not their content to begin with, right?. For more on this read Joel Johnson’s excellent article.
- Other Sections need some work. When you first set up Flipboard, you can add 7 other “sections” of content. Food, NYT, TED, sports. etc. For now, avoid the Flipboard-branded channels.
For example, the sports channel I chose kept feeding me stories about tennis. Not that I don’t like tennis, but 7 tennis stories in a row, and I was immediately turned off.
- Limited interaction possibilities. It must be pointed out again that this application is for consumption, not interaction. If you want to add a new tweet, make a status update on facebook, you can’t.

What’s Next?
I think this is a watershed moment for publishers, and they should take note. Flipboard makes consuming media personal and tailored to you, which is the holy grail of publishing. If you could wake up every morning and go to ONE place for all of your personal and professional content, wouldn’t you?  This is like what iGoogle and MyYahoo was ten years ago, only much much better. It’s new content delivered to you that’s always fresh, delivered in a refreshing, “consumable” way, and now, it’s mobile.

What do you think? Is this Flipboard thing here to stay?

Today’s post is guest blog post from Jamie Wallace, a friend here in the social media space (and, as it turns out, a neighbor here on the North Shore of Massachusetts!) She’s a great writer, a well-connected marketer, and someone to keep on your radar screen…) She puts into words what so many people are trying to say, only she does it better, so read on….

Is your brand’s social avatar the company logo, or a photo of a real person? Are your social updates mostly news items, or conversations? Just how social is your brand’s social presence?

More and more companies are venturing onto the social scene, but not all of them are taking full advantage of the opportunities. The key word in social network is “social.” It’s not “broadcast” or “update” or “official” or “corporate.” When some brands start out in social media, they make the mistake of handling communications in a business-as-usual style that falls flat on venues like Facebook and Twitter.

Whether you’re just getting your feet wet or optimizing an existing approach, here are 11 tips to help you get your brand ready for a social close-up:

Complete your profile: There are few things more off-putting than an incomplete profile. It only takes a few minutes to fill out your company name, URL, and description. Do it.

Be creative: When writing up your company description, don’t just grab the existing corporate line and call it a day. Think about the audience. Tailor your company description to include how what you do benefits them. Don’t be afraid to include something a little personal or cheeky or both. Humor – when used judiciously – goes a long way.

Use faces instead of logos: There is some argument that logos are more easily recognized in news feed streams. However, I’d argue that a picture of a real person creates a faster, stronger connection. Putting a face on a social presence brings the experience one step closer to a real relationship. It also makes it easier for people to recognize you in real life – at conferences, for instance.

Be a person, not a company: Along the same lines, I recommend that your brand be represented by a person (or people) rather than an anonymous corporate entity. People are more apt to engage with an individual than with an organization, and they will engage on a different level if they feel they are dealing with a real person.

Communicate consistently: It takes some planning and diligence, but – as in life – half the battle is just showing up. The people who see the greatest benefit from their social efforts are the ones who put in the time.

Inject personality: As the name implies, the social Web is meant to be social. That means that it’s about more than just publishing information and generating status updates; it’s about sharing personal opinions. Sometimes, those opinions are about a business-related topic, sometimes they are about True Blood or the World Cup. People want to engage with real people, not publishing robots.

Add value: It’s been said nine ways to Sunday, but I’ll say it again anyway: bring something to the party. If you retweet something, add a little note of your own to explain why you think the content is worth sharing. If you leave a comment on a blog or a Facebook status, make it something more than just “great post.” Post alternate theories, conflicting opinions, relevant resources, additional examples – add a little something-something.

Focus your efforts: Using the tired analogy of social Web as cocktail party, it is often said that you can’t hope to have meaningful conversations with each person there. Instead, pay attention to which people and conversations repeatedly attract your attention and focus on developing more intimate relationships with that subset of your network. Using lists in Twitter and Facebook and pulling favorite blogs into a Reader subfolder are easy ways to isolate your core circle of friends for concentrated conversation. On the flip side, be mindful of where your intended audience is hanging out and who they’re talking with and find a gracious way to insert yourself into those conversations.

Make other people shine: One of the easiest ways to make new friends on the social Web is to compliment someone’s work by sharing it. For the highest impact, you should do this manually (vs., for instance, automatically retweeting every post from a particular account) and include your own commentary. For every self-promotional tweet/status update you publish, you should put up at least one update promoting someone else’s work. (ED. NOTE- I WOULD RECOMMEND THE 80/20 RULE HERE. 20% ABOUT YOU. 80% EVERYTHING ELSE…)

Have conversations: This is why we’re here. Don’t be afraid to get in there and actually connect! People on social networks are inherently social – they want to talk to people. Make their day – respond to a question, pose a question, reply to an update, LOL at a joke. It takes only a few seconds to make these small connections, but they can make a world of difference when it comes to building a real relationship.

Start now: Speaking of relationships, start building networks and relationships before you need them. If you are launching a project or planning an event, don’t assume that you can jump on the social scene at the eleventh hour and rally support. Social marketing is not a quick fix, it must be cultivated and nurtured. The ramp up can take some time, but the long-term benefits of a solid, responsive network are priceless.

Jamie Wallace is an independent copywriter and marketing strategist who focuses on content and social marketing for small businesses and start-ups. You can read more of her writing at the Savvy B2B Marketing blog where she has way too much fun with her 5 Savvy Sisters.

Great content, right? For those of you interested in writing a guest post here on Dialogue- please send me a quick email/tweet/message.- thanks.

Living in Boston, we’re lucky to be surrounded by some of the smartest social media minds in the biz. And, once a month (or almost) we’re lucky enough to bring all of those minds together for a Social Media Breakfast (The SMB was started by friend Bryan Person, and he has passed the torch to Bob Collins, who has carried it well.

Thanks to Diane Hessan and Geoff Hall at Communispace, we were treated to a smorgasbord of great insight from Aaron Strout, Kyle Flahery, and Edward Boches from Mullen. Unfortunately, I missed a bit of Aaron’s and Kyle’s presentation, but here are some quick nuggets to share with y’all

There are five keys to brand advocacy. Here are 5 simple things to remember….

Content: Take content from anywhere- from your company, your client, whoever. Be unique. Edward showed this great example of a fellow Mullen employee crashing into the door with a coffee cup. this simple piece of content ended up on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

Invent an Experience. So what happens when you have a passion for the Super Bowl and the brands that play in the same space? Why not record all of the real-time chatter about these brands during the actual Super Bowl. Edward and the team at Mullen created “Brand Bowl“- ending up with 310 million recorded impressions- not bad eh?

Let people have a voice. Best example of this is what Burberry is doing in the space. Let people provide their own pictures and video of their Burberry experience?

Conversation strategy. Don’t just let the conversation happen. Have a strategy about what people can talk about, how they can talk about it, and how you’ll engage and monitor it.

Have a Magic Formula: His magic formula is pretty simple…..

• Break things into into little pieces. Make it easy for some people (employees, customes, and advocates) to understand and digest
• Give them a pyschic reward. Edward brought this little robot with him, we all helped it get to the front of the room. People want to be part of the process
• Trust the community. Sure, there’s the story of United Airlines, Dominos Pizza, and Nestle, but don’t be afraid. Build your community before you need it.
• Don’t be afraid to ask. Your evangelists (if they trust you) Would love to tell your story. Ask them. Encourage them
• Have a big smile. Share your appreciation, optimism, passion amd enthusiasm

NOTE: a last minute gems from Aaron…

“Key thing is getting social media from your brain to your heart”. Once it’s there, you’ll have that a-ha moment

For any comments, gems I missed, please add in comments below!

Photo Credit: Flickr

(This blog post brought to you by friend, content strategist and speaker at this years SXSW Festival, Margot Bloomstein. You can find her on Twitter at @mbloomstein)

What’s the connection between social media and content strategy? Well, for one, you can’t have social media strategy without content strategy.

Nope, this isn’t a way to carve up more of the project budget; in fact, content strategy may just help your social media budget stretch further by reducing rework and unsuccessful campaigns.

Let’s back up to some definitions:

Content strategy is planning for the creation, aggregation, governance, and expiration of useful, usable, and appropriate content within an experience. It stems from a message architecture, or hierarchy of key communication goals. Moving forward, it comes to life through

Content audit-what do we have and how well is it working?
Prescriptive content matrix -what do we need, how much, in what structure, who will create or find it, and at what frequency?
Editorial style guidelines-what’s the appropriate style and tone to convey the message architecture?
Editorial calendar- to coordinate all the moving parts in a predictable, manageable way.

Notice how I didn’t mention copywriting? Though you’ll need copy to express your ideas, it’s just one small and tactical component of your strategy–which may also address user-generated content, imagery, and sound.

So back to social media–you know, the line item more and more businesses are prioritizing as they see the benefits their competitors experience. Positive interactions between brands and their target audiences drive loyalty, purchasing, donations, involvement, and visibility. So how can you ensure the time and money you invest in social media will result in those positive interactions? A social media strategy can ensure you’re using different channels–e.g., Facebook, Twitter, blogs, online forums–to their respective benefits. Strategy can also help you address consistency and frequency of interactions–two necessary components to ensure your brand is creating positive experiences across all its touchpoints, not undermining its own work, and building something worthwhile, not embarrassing. You know those CEO blogs that boast only one or two posts–and the last one was six months ago and didn’t receive any comments anyhow? That’s embarrassing. And depending on your industry, it may be more embarrassing than the keg stand pictures also featuring your CEO.

So where do content strategy and social media strategy intersect to benefit each other, and the clients they serve?

As content strategy first addresses the most important topics to communicate–documenting them in the message architecture–it can directly answer the elephant-in-the-room question of most social media campaigns: what should we blog/tweet/post, anyhow? As a content strategist, I often work with social media strategists (or wear that hat myself) to prioritize blog/tweet/Facebook topics and help writers evoke brand voice in an editorial style that consistently supports those themes. If it’s most important for your brand to communicate its innovation, long sentences laced with passive voice will undercut that goal. Style matters–even in the 140-character world of Twitter. I counsel my clients on how to create a unique, brand-appropriate voice they can “translate” between Twitter, Facebook, and longer-form blog posts. I’ll also explore tools like an editorial calendar to help them synchronize themes across social media channels.

In short, partnership between content strategy and social media strategy answers a lot of questions: done right, no one should ever ask “Wait–what should I be writing about, and for when?!” again.

Don’t be one of the 64.5% of marketers who say, according to a survey from R2integrated, that their companies have not increased revenue or profited from using social media. They’re doing it wrong.

MarketingProfs said 60.1% “marketing and business professionals cite lead generation as their primary source for using social media”, followed distantly by conversation monitoring at 26.9% and keeping up with the Jones at 5.1%

Generating and monitoring conversations about your business/products/brand are both good ways to be using social media, but that’s small potatoes compared to the potential. R2integrated’s survey sample was a mere 262 professionals, but I’d be willing to guess most businesses out there aren’t thinking big picture when it comes to social media. So it’s a good thing you’re here; you’re already ahead of the game.

Today, Matt from the team at 37signals posted a quote from Merlin Mann on the company blog that I think illustrates what’s going on here:

“I really feel like that combination of little, easy motor skills and clicking combined with feeling a little less bored for a minute is completely addictive to people…if you’re not mindful about the amount of your attention that goes to thinking about and consuming those things, you’re not going to be making good stuff, either for that medium or elsewhere. That’s what I got kind of hung up on, when I finally realized that all I was doing was eating and producing potato chips all day long.”

Are you producing (and consuming?!) potato chips?

Do you spend hours of your day refreshing your Google Analytics results? Are you feeling crispy from the unfocused effort you’ve been putting into your business’s social media marketing plan without many tangible results? Instead of trolling networking sites, spamming members, and scraping the bottom of the barrel for ways to make social media pay -

• develop meaningful content and
• cultivate a community that will promote it for you;
• think about ways to use social media within your business to increase efficiency, buy-in, or morale;

And if you need it, we can help…..

Content is considered the “currency” of social media. Content is made by you, your company, you favorite blogger, news outlet and more..

Now, how do you/they make the content easier to find? Read on.

The algorithms that have made Google famous may be replaced in the near future with a new indexing system that will be better for web publishers out there. According to ReadWriteWeb, the system “will enable web publishers of any size to automatically submit new content to Google for indexing within seconds of that content being published.” Sounds good right?

The system is called PubSubHubbub (PuSH), and that article explains it better than I could; you can find more technical information here, and a great explanatory video here.  The kicker is that anyone can use this method of distributing content; it is entirely free code. And people are taking advantage: WordPress has already adopted it so now, all your new content will get sent within a matter of seconds to those who subscribed to receive it.

Besides being a more efficient for Google to catalog everything, now, it won’t be just your tweets getting out to your readers in real time, but your blog posts as soon as you write them. The Web is moving to real time more and more every day, which is good news for marketers. Looking to break the latest story, lead the dialogue? Then you need your content available in real time. Stephen at Impact Media (which also reported on the PuSH announcement from Google) makes a good case that this sort of cataloguing won’t topple the search algorithims of today, but I think more people are interested in what’s happening right now than Stephen suggests and the faster you get your content into the search engines and their news feeds, the more likely they’ll see it.

Back to the continuing “7 Habits” series with Connie Bensen. I first “met” Connie Christmas Day (or thereabouts) about two years ago when testing out Skype. Social Media waits for no-one, right? We struck up a conversation online, and have since stayed connected, (or have tried to!) through Twitter. Without further ado, Ms. Connie Bensen.

About Connie
I’m the Director of Social Media & Community Strategy at Alterian. I work under corporate marketing and have two focus areas: the social media strategy at Alterian & also providing marketing support for SM2 our social media monitoring tool.

1. What one trait or *habit* got you to where you are today?
Investing many hours in learning and giving back to others.

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do and why?
My first item is to read email because I need to get centered for the day. Now that our parent office is in the UK their day is half over when I start mine, so I frequently start my week on Sunday evening.

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
I couldn’t live without Evernote. It’s amazing (and free!). It synchs across the cloud & my lists and information is always available no matter what computer I’m working on.

4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz rates very high.

5. 3 things on your desk right now /3 things you can’t live without
a mouse (I can’t use a laptop without one)
pen & paper
on my desktop I NEED evernote, skype, Thunderbird, Firefox, Digsby

6. Habit you want to kick in 2009
One habit I need to change is working too much. And I’m starting to figure out how to not work on weekends, but it’s really hard (seriously!). I have an upcoming move & look forward to socializing more with friends.

7. Habit you want to form for 2010
I plan to get more exercise on a regular basis. Although January is over & I’ve managed to avoid it so far! :)

Some data hit the interwebs last week breaking down recent trends in corporate social media use. With the amount of time we spend working with and talking about social media, it’s easy to forget not everyone thinks these tehcniques are valuable and is willing to integrate them into a larger corporate strategy. The good news is, that according to Burson-Marsteller,  most Fortune Global 100 companies are using social media platforms.

It reported Twitter as the most popular, with 65% of the largest 100 international companies having active accounts, compared with 54% on Facebook, 50% on YouTube, and just 33% with corporate blogs. That pattern was reversed in Asia. More businesses there were likely to rely on corporate blogs than Facebook pages or Twitter. The study also showed that only 20% of these companies use a combination of these platforms together.

So, progress has been made: businesses have tried these tools and sticking with them long term. The remaining challenge, then, is for companies to find a comprehensive and definitive way of defining and measuring success. That’s where Paul Gillin comes in.

Since December, Paul Gillin has been conducting his own study on multi-channel social media strategies. His quick findings are that:

• The metrics companies are using are all over the map
• Few organizations are taking a disciplined approach to measuring ROI
• There is a consensus emerging on what’s important and that companies are starting to focus on the metrics

What the Burson-Marsteller study doesn’t show(as an article on ReadWriteWeb pointed out) is if social media marketing techniques are gaining “significant corporate acceptance”. There are people at these companies using these platforms, but we’re just not sure how integrated their tactics are with the company’s overall strategy.

What interests me is the gap between the industry interest in Twitter and the low number of young users, teens and college students. According to the New York Times, and my own experience with teenagers, they prefer texting to tweeting. Will they see the light when they get older, or will we have forgotten about Twitter 10 years from now? That’s something for another day….

It gives me great pleasure to introduce interview #13 of the “7 Habits” Series. Carissa Caramanis O’Brien is a communications, content marketing and social media luminary in Boston. While she’s not running her own company, she also happens to be an EMT-B- and some of us had a chance to see here in action (Jan. ’10) during a bit of medical emergency at Jeff Pulver’s 140 Conference in Boston

About Carissa
I’m Carissa Caramanis O’Brien, or @carissao. I’m the president of Red Box Communications, a consulting firm specializing in strategic communications counsel for healthcare, non-profits and technology organizations. I help people tell their stories and connect them to the audiences that matter most.

1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
Determination. Even when work or life has dealt me a challenging hand, I’ve always found an even keel and a steady hand. Add that to a healthy dose of personal faith, a heck of a lot of hard work, continuous flexibility and just a dash of madness, and I’ve got the recipe for creating something great…it’s gotten me this far, and I’m counting on it to fuel my next successes.

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do and why?
I check my email and Twitter (via Tweetdeck, unless I’m on the road, in which case I do a quick check of UberTwitter first). Unless something urgent welcomes me there, I’ll quickly move to Firefox to pull up Google Reader and simultaneously start my daily content assault to see just how many open tabs my system can really handle.

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
First and foremost, a recognition that I’m still not as efficient as I want to be. I am a work in progress. In my quest for efficiency, I rely mostly on simple, low-tech tools…daily to-do lists (one professional and one personal) and a common kitchen timer. Each night, I draft my to-do lists for the next day, ensuring at least the top priorities are captured. I recognize, of course, I’ll add to these or adjust them the next morning, but it helps me set the stage for the day ahead and plan accordingly. I owe good friend Tim Walker (@TWalk) for the timer idea. He suggested it for better time management while writing. I’ve found it to be an incredibly simple, yet disciplined means for budgeting my time and keeping me honest.

4. Your favorite business book of all time?
I always hesitate to pick a favorite because I’m incapable of choosing any ONE of virtually anything, and my favorites tend to fluctuate over time. I’m sure others will mention the likely suspects like Godin, Carnegie, Covey and the newer hits of Brogan and Vaynerchuk, all greats. A few I’d include are “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, “Making it All Work” by David Allen (better known for “Getting Things Done,” another winner) and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. While I’m not a huge Seuss gal, that book was gifted to me by my first employer out of college, ironically the week I was planning to give notice. While I was naively struggling with the idea of the impending breakup, that book’s message was timely…“So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s a great balancing act…You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go.”

5. Three things on your desk right now/3 things you can’t live without?
My 17” HP laptop, which I love for many reasons, but will likely get replaced by a Macbook by the end of the year (especially now that I also have my Acer netbook);

My Blackberry Storm, which has served me well and keeps me connected, but will also be replaced as soon as Nexus One is available on Verizon (Spring 2010);

The very first photo taken of my daughter…my joy, my inspiration, my constant reminder of the woman I want to be.

6. Habit you want to kick in 2010?
I will find a way to ditch the guilt. Building a business, managing a household and raising a child are all tough jobs. Balance is something I’ve learned to concede. Instead, I want to be successful at flexibility, bending and shifting to match my diverse priorities and meet the needs of each. With that, I’ll find a way to let go of the guilt, of the professional that’s not with her kid, and of the mom that should be working on that blog post. I need to be a master of more than one thing, but that requires a healthy perspective of what success really looks like.

7. Habit you want to form for 2010?
Putting first things first. I’m easily drawn to the next exciting thing, but I mustn’t allow myself to be distracted from the priorities on my plate. A primary goal here is to refocus on a life-long habit by honoring my roots as a writer. After spending much of this year building a business, and helping clients craft their stories, I will get back to a regular schedule of my own content creation.

The New York Times recently announced their decision to start charging for content in 2011. Here is a quick primer on what this means for them and for you.

For You = You’ll still be able to access content
This new model allows the casual reader to access the occasional article- the question is, “how much is occasional”? We’ll find out in 2011. The Times may set the meter at 4 articles, 8 articles, or 20 articles a month. So, if you just go online every Sunday to read Thomas Friedman, Dave Anderson, or one of your favorite columnists, you probably won’t have to worry much.

For the Times
It’s a great decision for them. After years of thinking this through, the Times has finally put a line in the sand. (They’ve been hemming and hawing for a while) Here’s why it makes sense.

The Times is one of the few, probably only, publishers that can do this. Excellent content IS their entire business. There’s a reason you can get a printed copy of the New York Times virtually anywhere in the world.

Numbers
The NYT has 17 million monthly readers a month, and 800,000 paid print subscribers a year. Even if they get a fraction of those 17 million readers, they are in good shape

Access
Search! The most important reason for going with a metered system here is that you’ll still be able to find and access the Times’ content using Google/Bing/Yahoo. Using any other model, the Times content won’t be “findable”

Pricing Flexibility
Advertisers will still get their money’s worth. If you are a casual Times reader, you’ll still be exposed to advertisements. If and when the Times needs to change their pricing based on how much you read, it won’t affect their relationship with key advertisers.

So, in effect, the Times has set up a virtual toll booth for the consumer. So, while driving down the content highway, how far do you want to drive, and much are you willing to pay the New York Times?

NOTE: Some Additional Perspective about  the NYTimes from the NY Times is here
For an outsiders view on how they should really do it, click here
For an unbiased view from the Associated Press, this is a great read