I was privileged enough to have a small part of last night’s TV launch. The producers spoke with me about my views on Detroit, Michigan, and where I think we will be in 2020. Who am I and why was I a small part of this great initiative? I’m no one special really. I’m just a little girl who grew up in northern Michigan as a ward of the state. I’m wife and mother of two who currently lives in the suburbs. I am someone who is crazy enough to quit her corporation job and become an entrepreneur in the middle of a recession. I am no one, yet I represent what is within everyone. I am a survivor. I take the hard road and I learned this valuable trait from my beloved Grandmother, who also was a survivor.

The #backchannel

Historically I’ve been an NBC news kind of girl. But then I attended TEDxDetroit and I listened to Stephen Clark from local ABC’s affiliate WXYZ-TV. I learned about the backchannel. He was using the #backchannel as a Twitter hashtag to interact with the viewers of Detroit and to listen to them. Quite a different concept from the standard network policy that just pushes content to you in a one-way forum. He started a movement here in Detroit. He reached out and he created change. Ed Fernandex at WXYZ-TV continued this movement and with the help of Donella Crawford and some other key players, they are making a difference. They launched a new website at www.Detroit2020.com and began alerting people of what was coming via their TV broadcasts, Facebook, and Twitter. Many of us sat and waited with enthusiasm for the launch of Detroit 2020 and what was to come.

While I don’t know exactly how many people tuned into last night’s launch, I know it was a lot. I have had a lot of friends and family call, email, text, or reach out via Facebook and Twitter to say they saw me on one of last night’s spots. I’ve read comments on Facebook and Twitter and the Detroit 2020 website. I even checked my website’s visitor log via Google Analytics to see how many people Googled my company after the broadcast. Here is the interesting fact: everyone except for one came from outside of the core city of Detroit. My website visitors came from Allen Park, Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Clawson, Clinton, Commerce Township, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Drayton Plains, Farmington, Flint, Hamtramck, Harper Woods, Howell, Lincoln Park, Livonia, Macomb, Monroe, New Haven, Oak Park, Rochester, Royal Oak, Southfield, Sterling Heights, Taylor, Troy, Waterford, West Bloomfield, Westland, and Wixom.

But Isn’t Detroit 2020 Just About Detroit?

Well yes and no. It is about Detroit and it is about Southeastern Michigan. It’s about what we, the region, will do to give Detroit rebirth and rejuvenate our state. It is about our ability as a community to unify together, to inspire each other, and to act. It is about the survival of the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan, and each and every one of us. It is about our ability to act together and change the world.  Given the geographical placement of visitors to my website, I believe the region is interested in raising up the city of Detroit and giving her renewed life.

I am an idealist. I didn’t know this until recently. And honestly, I wasn’t an idealist until later in my life. As a child I was negative and scared and confused. But a village of good people raised me and they changed me. As adult I see possibilities and when needed, I embrace change. I believe in the theory “it takes a village to raise a child” and I believe in giving back to the community. I believe I need to help raise the village around me; just as so many helped raise me, the child, some twenty years ago.

Everyone Can Do Something

I believe everyone can do something and the key to doing something is finding and using your inner superpower. I wish my superpower was something fabulous like bringing school supplies, blankets, and hugs to the children of India like my friends Tim and Amy, but for so many reasons, it is not. I wish I could participate in a Habitat for Humanity project, but I am clumsy. My superpower is Internet marketing and I will use it to help raise my village and help bring back my city and my state.  Over the years I have used it by building free websites for organizations like food banks, community centers, or churches. In the grand scheme of things, this is so small, but it is what is within my ability. It is a use of my inner superpower. WXYZ-TV is using their superpower and they’re doing a remarkable job. So much so that they’ve converted me from being a loyal Channel 4 viewer and they’ve inspired me to ramp up my efforts within my village. I am hoping they will inspire the rest of our region to do the same.

A very unexpected person said to me this morning, “I saw you last night on TV. You said you don’t live in Detroit but it is still your city. I can’t get that comment out of my head.” While I absolutely meant what I said, I was very surprised that this little comment made an impact. It is my city, my state, and my home. I believe this with all my heart. I pledge to use my superpower to help WXYZ-TV make a positive impact on Detroit and give us rebirth. I pledge to make a difference and use the little superpower I have to do good. I pledge to raise up my village like so many people participated in raising me as a child.

This is just the introduction, but it shows you there is so much to come as this endeavor gains momentum.

What is Your Inner Superpower?

You have more to give than you think. In December our elementary school raised money to provide mittens for children at a school in Detroit. My husband always stops the car when he sees someone needing help. A few ago my daughter took her piggy bank to school to help a local family who lost their home to a fire. All of these are relatively small acts, but together they make a difference. Small acts can unify us and inspire us to make a greater impact.

Get inspired, unify within your community, and most important, find your inner superpower. Figure out how to use it do good for those around you in need.

Social media is about engaging with your audience, increasing brand awareness, and providing value to the visitors who land upon your Facebook page or Twitter profile. Notice I started with the concept of engagement, because at the core of social media is communication. Social media is about communicating with your audience in a two-way dialogue and utilizing that communication to help meet your marketing objectives.

When I hear people or companies brag about their high number of Facebook likes or Twitter followers my mind wonders back to high school homecoming and the quest to be crowned the queen. While I had no interest in becoming homecoming queen, becoming the reining queen of Facebook would be kind of cool. But I digress. We are grown ups and this isn’t about counting votes and proving to the world that you are the most popular Facebook page within your niche. It is about good old fashion marketing delivered over the world wide web.

I am on my social media soapbox because I am tired of witnessing consultants trick companies into thinking a growth in Facebook likes or Twitter followers is success. I am annoyed because the unsuspecting small business owner will believe it and will pay money for little value and virtual no return. I am on my soapbox, because I want to help small businesses and provide tangible value.  I am angry because uneducated consultants are not just providing minimal value to small businesses, they are giving the rest of us a bad name and turning some small business owners away from social media.

I’m upset because it boils down to some simple math and a look at a few real world Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Sample Facebook Metrics for B2B and B2C Pages

One might look at website #6 and believe this brand is doing an exceptional job in their Facebook effort. After all, they have the most page likes, so they must be doing something right. Ah, no. Compare the percentages for B2B website # 1 and B2C website #6. The B2B brand is a lot more social media savvy than the B2C brand. While the number of likes for the B2C website is highest amongst the sample, the active Facebook page users and inbound website traffic from Facebook is very low. The B2B website has a much lower number of Facebook likes, yet has a much higher level of engagement both on Facebook and in traffic to their actual website.  Website # 1 is doing a better job because the page provides value or actual content.  Website # 6 just seeks out people to like it, but never actually puts anything on the page itself.

Sample Twitter Metrics for B2B and B2C Pages

Now look at the same two websites on Twitter. Both websites have a respectable number of Twitter followers, yet neither have an exceptionally high amount of traffic migrating from Twitter over to their actual website. I could go further into this data by providing mentions, tweet volume, and such, but I think I’m making my point and I don’t want to bore anyone to death.

What Do All the Social Media Numbers Really Mean?

This data can be diced and sliced in a variety of ways, but knowing these accounts like I do, I can conclude a lot just from the basic data I assembled above.

1. First and foremost, the number of Facebook likes and Twitter followers does not equal success.
2. Real social media success is more about engagement and less about the popularity contest.
3. If you don’t provide content in your social media efforts, you’re going to struggle providing value.  If someone visits a Facebook page that looks exactly like it did five months ago, the chances are they won’t come back and they won’t look further at you or your brand.
4. Look beyond the numbers within your actual social media account. Look at tangible conversions to new leads, new clients, and repeat customer purchases or interactions.
5. Before you engage in a social media campaign or with an internet marketing consultant, know what equates success. Don’t go by their promise to increase your followers of fans, because it means little if no one engages with your brand.
6. Use tools like Google Analytics to provide tangible metrics on website referrals, duration or depth of visit, goals, and conversions to see if your social media activity is making a difference and providing value.
7. You your own financials to see if social media is helping or hurting your bottom line.
8. Don’t listen to or accept promises that seem to good to be true. They probably are much better in theory than in real life. I can increase your Facebook likes by 1,000 by giving someone on Fivver.com $5. This won’t mean anything unless it converts to something tangible for your brand.
9. Don’t just focus on the short-term high of a promotion, event, or download.  I believe the B2C sector does this in many cases.  The B2C sector needs to take notice of their B2B counterparts who pay more attention to getting the audience back to their website to provide more value than just the one snippet in their status update or tweet.
10. Social media is an upward battle that doesn’t just materialize into ultimate success overnight. An audience capable of delivering ROI will take time to build.
11. If you’ve hired a social media consultant, validate their success yourself and don’t just take their canned reports or updates as success.
12. Review your new social media audience to validate it against your target demographics. Facebook has excellent reports for viewing geography, age, etc. If you sell medical products to the geriatric set in Michigan, 20,000 teenagers in India are not really going to bring social media ROI.
13. Not everyone is good at social media.  If you are concerned about your ability, hire an expert.  Just do so wisely.
14. You can’t ignore social media.  As much as I’m tired of hearing about the likes of Groupon, I know the company and their deals are here to stay.  Twitter and Facebook are also here to stay, so get used to it and embrace it.
15. Integrate social media with your website to both connect long-term with your visitors and to allow them to share your promote your content to their own network.  Good content will bring likes and followers.

If you haven’t yet engaged in social media, now is the time.  Just remember not every internet marketing consultant is legit, honest, or even educated enough to provide social media marketing. If you are outsourcing your social media, then make sure you pick someone who truly understands traditional marketing efforts, your messaging, your industry, and what you consider to be social media success.

Article Resources:

• Web Savvy Marketing on Facebook
• Web Savvy Marketing on Twitter

Earlier this summer we experienced some problems with our Malibu Wakesetter. While it sat in service, by husband called the owner of Skiers Pier, our local Malibu dealership. My husband had know Ron, the owner, since he was a kid and Ron was a major factor in us buying our Wakesetter back in 2008. He had complete confidence in Ron addressing our concerns. I, in turn, vented my frustration on Twitter. My tweet was:

Skiers Pier please finish my @malibuboats Wakesetter so I could enjoy the sunny weather this week! Stuck in service hell for weeks. #fail

I did not expect any action on this, I was just venting. I spend the majority of my day on Twitter managing social media accounts for my clients. Complaining online is normal for me. My husband just about died when I stated what I had done.

But something magical happened. I say magical, because it is rare. Within thirty minutes I had a direct message on Twitter from Malibu Boats. They had already called Skiers Pier and left a message with Ron about my boat. They promised to help resolve whatever issues I was encountering.

Before I knew it, they did. In fact, Malibu Boats and Skiers Pier were so great at their customer service; my husband and I traded in our two year old Wakesetter for one that could hold three more people. Our “super cool” boat became even cooler because we could hold more people and spread our boating love even further.

While Skiers Pier may not have a clue about social media and Twitter, Malibu Boats makes great use of their Twitter account. And while Ron may not be a computer guy, my husband and son love him and he is one of the best examples of good old fashion customer service. That is a rarity these days.

After all this played out, I had to publically thank Malibu Boats for their exceptional customer service on and off the computer. Skiers Pier could not have taken care of us as well as they did if Malibu Boats was not supporting their efforts from afar. I may be quick to vent on Twitter, but I’m also quick to compliment and provide praise. My next tweets were:

Off to Skiers Pier to pick up our new @malibuboats Wakesetter! Many thanks to Ron and Malibu Boats for such excellent customer service!

@malibuboats – The new Wakesetter made the perfect Father’s day gift. Surfing in the Michigan sun is the best way to spend the day for Dad.

So Malibu Boats, I salute you and your entire team. Not only are you great at customer service, you are great at social media. You may have won my husband’s heart back in 1985, but in 2010 you won mine. And quite frankly, you’ve also won the accolades of everyone we invite to share our love for Wakesetters, lake surfing, and long summers days spent enjoying the warmth and sun in Michigan.

What does Social Search mean to you?

If you use Twitter for business, it means you’ve just had your world expand exponentially.  If you have few Twitter followers and struggle finding new Twitters to follow you, don’t despair.  Your tweets will soon be broadcasted to the world.

If you use Twitter for personal communication and you tweet about anything and everything, tweets beware.  Be a bit more careful about what you tweet, because like it or not, your tweets will reach more people than you may want.

As with anything in this Web 2.0 age, think before you type.

I tried to access CNN’s website, but our Internet lines were jammed with activity and my screen stood in an abyss of grayness. I was completely cut off from the world or at least this is how I felt. I remember walking quickly to our corporate cafeteria in hopes CNN was on the tiny TV that seemed to always display nothing of value. Upon my arrival I was relived to see the TV on and I stood watching, trying to get a grasp of what was transpiring. I stood in disbelief and in awe of the brutality, the loss, and the despair. I had no idea the magnitude of the events would have on our country. No one did.

While I personally was without loss, I knew of someone who did lose a loved one that day. While I did not lose a friend, loved one, or my own life – I was touched and I was forever changed. The world I knew was different. It felt no longer safe. The existence I knew, no longer was a reality. It took me a long time to recover and to return to normal and I live far away from ground zero. I can’t imagine what the day brought for those within New York and the other sites of chaos.

Today I remember this day clearly and I remember the feeling of helplessness. I remember the feeling of being cut off and without the knowledge I so deeply craved. It made me wonder what that day would have been like had 9/11 occurred in today’s high tech world. Today when Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube are information giants that spread data feeds at the speed of light. Would we be better or worse off with this technology? Would our Blackberries and text messages help or hinder us?

I wonder if real news would stream from these sites quickly or would panic erupt inside an electronic cloud of misinformation and self-induced chaos. I don’t have a good answer for it. I suspect we would see positives and negatives from our new obsession with social media. And while I welcome the positive aspects of life confirmations, snippets of hope, and stories of survival, I also dread the idea of those Internet lurkers and cave dwellers who might have used social media to exploit others with their own twisted versions of reality.

For the first time I am fearful of social media and what it brings to society. And why I am momentarily concerned for the future of this medium, I am also thankful for the country in which I live, the people that united in post 9/11 efforts, and the nation that became stronger and safer than it was in years past.

For all of those who lost their lives in 9/11 and for all of those who lost someone, you are remembered.

This last week brought yet another acquisition announcement in the land of social media. The MySpace folks announced their intent to couple up with iLike. No one has to wonder about who will be wearing the pants in this relationship. Am I surprised? Not really. MySpace had to do something. Facebook just announced an acquisition and MySpace has to keep up. But can MySpace really keep up with Facebook and Twitter? Or the business-focused social media giant LinkedIn? My personal belief is no. Facebook is light years ahead of MySpace and MySpace’s attempt at cutting edge social networking will still leave them at the back of the pack.

The good news for MySpace and the other social networking websites is that many of us Internet junkies are, in fact, addicted to social networking and everything fun and hooky these social media websites can deliver. While I personally do not play Mafia Wars or send out birthday requests, I start my day with Facebook and Twitter. MySpace – not so much. But others do and there are plenty of us out there to keep the four big boys churning and bringing in revenue. Which does make me happy, because if I didn’t have my morning Facebook, what would I do while I drank my coffee?

“Since I first tried FriendFeed, I’ve admired their team for creating such a simple and elegant service for people to share information,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “As this shows, our culture continues to make Facebook a place where the best engineers come to build things quickly that lots of people will use.”

FriendFeed is based in Mountain View, Calif. and has 12 employees. FriendFeed.com will continue to operate normally for the time being as the teams determine the longer term plans for the product.  Financial terms of the acquisition were not released.

This acquisition can only help catapult Facebook further into upper ranks of the web by further solidifying its position and further extending its technology.

While this last week put strain on the social media giants, it was a blessing in disguise for us Internet marketing consultants. As the world reacted to the momentary lose of Facebook and Twitter functions, the world realized just how important these websites have become over the last year. These social media sites have become mainstream and are an integral part of our daily lives. They are no longer just something your tech-savvy teenager talks about. They are now part of your integrated marketing plan and a vital part of your ongoing communication efforts.

Take note of the uprising and know this is just the beginning. The online world is shifting and the world of social networking and social media is shifting right along with it.

Does this mean you should forget Twitter?  Absolutely not!  Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds.  It can significantly help ranking of keywords and overall Internet marketing efforts.  While not everyone is on the bandwagon, many are and this number is growing daily.  As an Internet marketing consultant I am frequently amazed and also pleased at the growth of this website.

And as I read this article today, it reminded me of a question my mother-in-law asked last night.  She really did and I’m not just making this up to help my blog entry.  In general conversation she asked “What is Twitter and why do I care?”  I provided her with an answer that was long, but targeted towards her.  I will spare you all from reviewing this entire discussion.  What I did do is teach her how Twitter can apply to her life and information she may care about on a day to day basis.

While I can’t promise my mother-in-law or anyone else will be joining Twitter today, I can tell you she is asking about social networking sites more often and is getting much more interested in this area of Internet usage.  And while this is more because she doesn’t want to miss out on anything, it shows she – the general public – is listening to the growing roar of the tweets.

Check out www.hootsuite.com for Twitter assistance and consolidation of accounts.

Twitter does have capacity issues and frequent error messages, but this Web 2.0 tool is powerful. In seconds a person or company can connect will hundreds of other people that would be virtually impossible to reach via normal communication channels. From celebrities to future customers, Twitter offers an endless opportunity to share your marketing message and watch that of your competition.

Social networking (making friends and business associates through the Internet) is not science, but it is a skill. Your tweets need to be readable and either entertaining or informative. They need to draw interest. Your profile needs to grab attention. While this can easily be done by a great profile picture, cool name, or spiffy background – you need something. When you combine it all together, you get a socially cool Twitter profile that is interesting and includes tweets worth following.

Follow me on Twitter @websavvymrkting.