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.

We are constantly refining the social media education process, and there are scores of ways to describe social media to your boss, your team, your mother and father, or your 10 year old. We like to use metaphors, examples, and stories of successful companies, right?

Yesterday, Jordan Schaffel, co-founder of “Say it Visually” shared this video with me. What do you think? Does it tell a story, use metaphors, make sense?

Would love to hear your comments.

P.S. I like the kiwi/aussie accent- good touch.

I can’t believe it is taken so long to include Ann Handley in the 7 Habits Series! When Ann’s not speaking at national events or hosting one of her own, she keeps her reader’s hanging on her every word over at annhandley.com.

Aspiring bloggers or writers, PLEASE read just one of her blog posts-I’ll think you’ll be hooked.   Conventional wisdom says you should keep your content somewhat focused, but she writes about everything, and does it really well. When you’ve come back from reading one of her posts, read below….

About Ann
Lead typist in the steno pool. Also, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs. Meaning, I like words and what they can do, when combined with intention.

1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
Willingness to work hard. (There are no shortcuts.)

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do?
Mainline caffeine, open email. (Pretty much in one fluid motion.)

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
Getting enough sleep. I am useless without 7 hours, at least, and better with 8. Downside: I’m the first to leave a party.

4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
“The Elements of Style” by EB White. Not a business book, per se, but there’s no better text for understanding the value of clear communication/writing and honing your skills, which directly relates both to your career and to business generally. Plus, it’s a small, thin volume (so it’s easy to digest) and surprisingly funny. I’ve noticed that if you write well, others will forgive many perceived shortcomings and mistakes.

5. 3 things on your desk right now
My iPhone, Twitter, MacBook Pro. Also, a photograph of my kids. Which reminds me not to take the iPhone, Twitter, MacBook Pro quite so seriously.

6. Habit you want to kick in 2010
My tendency to not walk away. A little breathing room adds a lot of necessary perspective, in any situation.

7. Habit you’d like to form  for 2010
Greater focus on What Matters. For me personally, as well as the company.

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.

In Interview #12 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Marketers” we have Scott Henderson, an Indiana native (sorry about the Colts Scotty) and someone who will soon be moving east to Boston. Will Scott join Red Sox Nation? Only time will tell.

About Scott
Scott is Principal of  Rally the Cause and CauseShift.com-Game changing ideas for causes, companies, and charities.

1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
My delusional optimism has helped me jump off many cliffs without thinking of the reasons why not to do it. Most of the time, I do pretty well. But sometimes, I’ve had to be scraped off the canyon floor.

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do and why?
I review my inbox, Twitter, and blogs to collect any action items. Then, I review the list of action items I created the night before and make sure I’m focused on the most important one before I start.

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
Scheduling my days in blocks of time when I’m not traveling. As much I can, I use the first half of the morning for planning, writing, and organizing, while the late morning is for phone calls and in-person meetings. Over lunchtime, I take about two hours to workout and eat. I structure my afternoons much like my mornings. In the evening after my son goes to bed, I will sometimes spend time writing and organizing because of the lack of interruption.

4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
I’ve learned more from reading Machiavelli’s The Prince than from any contemporary business book.

5. 3 things on your desk right now/3 things you can’t live without

MacBook Pro
iPhone
Headphones

6. Habit you want to kick in 2010
Checking email and Twitter as often as I do.

7. Habit you want to form for 2010
Spending more of my evenings away from the computer.

In Interview #11 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Marketers” series we interview Laura “Pistachio” Fitton- fresh from her first vacation in SIX years- welcome back Laura. If you haven’t already met Laura, it might make sense to listen to her tweets (disclosure, she tweets a lot) and read her book, Twitter for Dummies. Right now she’s in in the middle of her next entrepreneurial venture at One Forty.

About Laura
I am the CEO and founder of oneforty inc., which has been widely dubbed “Twitter’s AppStore.” We help people get more out of Twitter by discovering and sharing the most effective Twitter tools for their work and life.

1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
ADD. No really, I am constantly scanning the horizon and that definitely contributes to my uncanny (you could even call it excessive) luck.

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do and why?
Check email & Twitter, usually via CoTweet.  Habit. It’s just no good if I dive into the day not knowing something really important that we’re going to want to respond to.

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
I really struggle to feel efficient. It’s pretty hard. But I am also coming to some peace with some of my chaos because I recognize how powerful an engine serendipity is when it comes to being able to act on really big opportunities that would have been impossible to plan, predict & work towards.

4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
Made to Stick definitely stands out in my mind because I am fascinated by which ideas catch on and which never do.

5. 3 things on your desk right now/3 things you can’t live without

A symbol of my daughters (in this case, their Christmas letters)

A smartphone (currently the iPhone, but I’m very open to trying others)

My MacBook. I brought it on vacation to Costa Rica and pretty much only used it for planning travel logistics and Skyping with my kids. I do have the self-discipline not to work when it’s not working time, but really my whole life is on this thing.

6. Habit you want to kick in 2010
Definitely fear. I can say with 99% certainty that fear has never led me to make a good decision. It’s really tempting to be fear-driven, but for me it’s always been counterproductive.

7. Habit you want to form for 2010
Getting more comfortable and facile with the GTD parts of my personality so I can grow professionally and strike a balance with the stochastic, opportunity-catching side.

Ok, Interview #9 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Marketers” series. Today’s interview is with a new social media friend (and neighbor here on the North Shore of Boston) Libby Delana. Libby had the brilliant idea of answering these questions in the genre of the day- 140 characters or less (very Twitter-esque of you Libby)

About me
Founding Partner, in a Next Generation brand development firm named M E C H A N I C A.

1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
A sunny disposition, a fierce belief that just about anything is possible and a touch of discipline

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do?
I do a few things first…MAKE cup of tea, CHECK Twitter, HuffPo, NYT, FB, Mashable, Slate, GoogleReader,  WAKEUP teen children, RUN.

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
Old school.  Moleskine with graph paper and iced tea.

4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
Not a book but an specific moment working with Paul Hawken in the early days of Smith and Hawken “Listen openly and very carefully to your angriest customers, they are giving you very clear direction on areas for improvement”

5. 3 things on your desk right now/ 3 things you can’t live without
Hot tea, iPhone, moleskine, favorite black pen, and a pile of optimism

6. Habit you want to kick in 2010
Taking too few photographs

7. Habit you’d like to form for 2010
To create an even more wildly open, experimental, brave, human, connected, collaborative, and optimistic environment.

BONUS: A picture of Libby’s office- very cool space.

photo credit: CC Chapman

Ok, Interview #8 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Marketers” series. Today’s interview is with none other than Christine Major.  When she’s not knee deep in Social Media, she’s quite the  stand-up comic! If you have some free time, check out Christine doing her routine here at the Comedy Connection…

About Christine
I am the marketing communications manager for Awareness located in Burlington, Mass. Our social marketing software powers online communities for brands such as Kodak, ASOS and JetBlue. I like to consider myself to be a serial networker (thus the name of my blog). This means I get out there, a lot, and love to get people together through the several offline events I plan in the NH and Boston areas.

1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
Positive attitude. I truly believe that having a positive attitude through life can get you through anything. During even tough times, I always try to see the positive.

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do?
After going through my email, I always review my to-do list for the day and figure out what I am going to accomplish that day. I love lists and I love crossing things off my list even more.

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
Our marketing team at Awareness has recently implemented an agile marketing process. You may be familiar with agile if you are in engineering and we applied the same process to our marketing activities. We meet as a team on a daily basis, go over activities completed from the day before and discuss what the focus will be that day. This process helps us all stay on task while allowing us all to see what everyone else is working on.

4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
I really don’t have a favorite business book – at least not yet. I am reading several now and recently finished GaryVee’s CrushIt which I felt was a great motivational book and validated my belief that if you aren’t happy in your current situation, then you have to change it.

5. 3 things on your desk right now/or 3 things you can’t live without
My MacBook, My iPhone and my laptop

6. Habit you want to kick in 2010
I would like to try to actually get out of my chair and go to the gym at lunch time. I can’t tell you how many times I have brought my gym bag into work and said to myself “this is THE day I am going to workout at lunch” and every single time that bag just sits there. Hey look, it’s there right now….

7. Habit you’d like to form for 2010
Slowing down. Like many people, I am typically working on several projects at once. Sometimes if you just slow down a little you can actually be more productive.

BONUS: A picture of Christine’s office- what makes her so efficient!

Ok, Interview #5 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Marketers” series. Tim Walker is obviously a social media guy, but when he’s not engaging with others online, he’s a frequent contributor to Big Papelbon, a blog about Boston sports teams and some passionate sports fans.

About Tim
Tim helps Hoover’s, which has been doing business online since 1994, develop its use of social media tools and its presence on popular social media platforms.

1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
I’ll list two: First, I’ve been a writer my whole life. I edited my high school newspaper, I’ve freelanced hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, and I wrote my own blog for years before I started blogging or tweeting for Hoover’s. The short of it: I already had a ton of experience in communicating in print before I started doing it on behalf of the company.

Second, I genuinely like people, and by extension I love talking with people. My dad was a pastor, and I grew up with a mindset that any stranger is potentially a friend you just haven’t met yet. I think that mindset helps me as I constantly meet new people (online via Twitter, in person at events, etc.) who might find value in what Hoover’s does.

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do?
Check my communication channels — especially e-mail and Twitter — to see what’s come in overnight.

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
A confession: I’m not nearly as effective as I’d like to be. (Note that I try to follow Peter Drucker’s wisdom about pursuing *effectiveness* ahead of *efficiency*.) That said, I’ve developed some good habits to prevent cognitive overload in my day. Two worth mentioning in particular:
A. I keep my inboxes light.
B. When I’m at my best, I do a good job of tackling just one thing at a time (no multitasking!), and I do them in an order that makes sense based on my top priorities.

4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
“Management” by Peter Drucker.

5. 3 things on your desk right now/ 3 things you can’t live without
A. The stat spreadsheet on my laptop — by which I track blog posts, inbox load, and other key drivers that affect my mindset and performance.
B. Healthy snacks and a bag of workout clothes. (Okay, the bag is on the floor *under* the desk.)
C. A robust suite of Twitter tools, including Tweetdeck, CoTweet, Seesmic, TwitterBerry, and TweepSearch.

6. Habit you want to kick in 2009
At long last I will shed the stack of papers and files that I carry around like Linus’s blanket.

7. Habit you’d like to form for 2010
More writing. For as much as I write, it’s still not enough. Throughout my career, it’s always been true: the more I write, the more success I have. (To that end, if anybody needs a byline written . . . )

NOTE- for those who want to follow along in the Twitter conversation, and be updated when we post new entries use the #sm7habits hashtag

Ok, Interview #4 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Marketers” series. A big thank you to Todd for participating!

About Todd
I am a principal at SHIFT Communications, a national Social Media and PR agency, working with clients such as Canadian Club Whisky, J&J, Virgin Mobile, and numerous B2B brands.  I blog at www.pr-squared.com.

1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
The trait I’d point to is a competitive spirit.  Some might call it paranoia, but I’m all about the positive spin.  When I speak of a competitive spirit, it’s not in a “rub-it-in-your-face” way so much as it’s about proving to myself that I can overcome an obstacle.  On those days when I feel like I am doing my job right, it’s when I sense that my colleagues at SHIFT also embrace that sense of mission, that “sticktoitiveness” to deliver unexpected achievements.

2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do and why?
I fire up my email and my browser.  I scan email for any fires but usually am on the Web pretty quickly.  I have two starting tabs: Google Reader and Memeorandum, because my two greatest cares outside my family are my job and my country.  Google Reader is set up to show me the top Social Media/PR/Business blogs, where I scan for competitive intelligence and ideas; Memeorandum tracks the trending political topics of the day.  Basically, Google Reader makes me paranoid and Memeorandum makes me mad, so I start my mornings pretty juiced up!

3. What makes you efficient with your day?
No magic here, sorry to say.  I use ReadItLater to save articles that I want to ponder when I have more time; I use Outlook “flags” to remind me of to-do’s in my email.  I track ideas for blog posts and my business in my ever-present black notebook.

4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
I still swear by Good to Great by Jim Collins.  Concepts such as “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” and “getting the right people on the bus,” in particular, resonate with me even these many years after first reading Collins’s seminal work.  Interestingly, I’ve found that it’s also the book that comes up the most often in conversations with business leaders I respect.  Highly recommended.

5. 3 things on your desk right now /3 things you can’t live without
Pictures of my family.  Print-outs of articles that make me paranoid, i.e., they contain good ideas that I want to notate and absorb.  And, two “action figures” – one of Barack Obama and one Pig-With-Wings: both remind me to be audacious, to accept no limits, to dream big.

6. Habit you want to kick in 2009
I want to kick the habit of bundling up in the winter time: that’s why I’m planning to return to living in California this year!

7. Habit you want to form for 2010
I’ve done a pretty good job with reforming my diet over the past year or so; I weigh what I did in High School. Now I gotta start hitting the gym again.  And with our son away at college, my daughter and I plan to take up rock climbing once we’re back in Cali: though I’ll miss my boy, I am looking forward to having some adventures with my daughter…

NOTE: couldn’t resist adding this photo of the pig from Todd’s desk- thanks Todd!