My Social Media Policy

More and more companies are starting to utilize social media to help in marketing, public relations, and customer service.  How the companies choose to use these tools (social media) varies by each company and what they hope to achieve.  They need to have goals and a target in mind when they start so the company can plan a proper approach and strategy in the form of a social media policy.





Most companies now have a social media policy for their employees to follow
The policies allow for a company to maintain some control in order to keep their brand image strong and achieve the objectives it wants to achieve.  Understandable they do not want employees trashing the company or its consumers  For most companies what an employee does online can be seen as a representative of their employer, so what the employee tweets or says online some may view it as what the company tweets.  The social media policy doesn't need to be long or difficult to understand.  Just a way to educate the employees that even on their personal social media accounts they are representing the company and brand. That being said the employees should still be allowed to have an online social life without having to worry about what their employer will think or do.

For a corporate social media account the policy should be more complete with more restrictions and expectations.  Especially for an account that is managed by numerous employees it would be impossible for a manager to approve of each post if you want the account to be social and engaging.  Have basic ground rules and let employees be free as long as in line with those rules.

Be prepared for something to go wrong
Mistakes happen, whether it is a rogue post/tweet that was meant to be on a personal account accidentally on the company account or an account being hacked.  Have part of your policy be what to do when this happens and handle it appropriately. A great example of this is when someone from The American Red Cross twitter account tweeted about #gettingslizzered they handled it appropriately.  They did not fire the person responsible for that tweet, instead they acknowledged it addressing the concerns some people had with the tweet and came out better for doing so.

I use social media in a way that fits me
I do not currently have to follow any corporate social media policy but I still have a personal social media policy. Overtime my social media policy has evolved from what it was a year ago (How I Use Twitter) to now.  By now if I wanted to I could have over a thousand followers, but I am not on social media for the numbers (or a Klout score).  I have started following more people, and I admit it I am no longer reading every tweet.  But what I do use now is lists, I have numerous lists, some public some private.  It is a hierarchy much like my Google Plus circles some circles and lists I check once an hour others I check every few minutes when I am online and not doing something I feel is more important.  The lists allow me to manage my social media accounts better and achieve my own goals and get what I want out of each social media platform.

Part of my policy is how I represent myself
Unlike Shelby who chooses not to swear, I think it is okay to occasionally swear on your personal account, if you feel comfortable doing so.  What I want to be online on social media is the same as I am in real life.  I do swear on twitter like I do in real life, but when I do it is for a reason and I do not do it often.  But I won't swear on LinkedIn, just like I would not swear in a formal setting.  What I do a lot of is filtering I type out a tweet reread it and than delete it.  Even if the tweet would be well received by most with my sense of humor I would rather not have it out there and possibly offend someone. I have been debating whether I should continue to filter myself online but feel it is best to continue to do so.

Does your company have a plan to achieve its social media goals? 
Does your company have a social media policy for you to follow?
Do you have a personal social media policy?
Do you filter yourself online or in real life?


Photo Credit to Webtreats

The Importance of a Timely Response

When some negative press occurs about you or your organization it is your job to address that complaint right away, and if it is a large story gaining momentum you need to stop it immediately.  The negative news is like a small leak in your boat if you choose to ignore it or take to long to fix it, the leak gets worse.  The leak will get larger and more water (negative press/publicity) will get into your boat (company) and stall your engines and maybe even sink the boat.  Even after stopping the leak you will still have to take the time to clean up the water damage caused by that leak.

Jay Culter was recently injured during the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers.  While injuries do happen the Chicago Bears took what many consider to be too long to release a statement regarding his injury. Much of his negative back lash could have been stopped if they told the media that he suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee.

While Taco Bell took an immediate and proactive approach to a lawsuit claiming that Taco Bell doesn't use enough meat in their tacos and instead it is mostly oats and other fillers.  Taco Bell used social media and the tradition press release to address the lawsuit immediately.  The action they took helped to slow the damage and more importantly let the public know the(ir) facts about their meat.

A timely response is the best action to take against any negative publicity or press.  In the current age of instant information from the use of social media a delay of a response will only make the problem worse.

How quick do you expect a response from a company?  Does a later response have the same impact to you as an instant response?  Any other examples you know of and would like to share?

Staying with the Times

This is a follow up post to When is it Time to Change the Status Quo? 

Best Buy understands the need to stay with the times and move towards selling digital so they are able to remain as an industry leader.  They also have a great understanding of social media and its importance, that is why they are one of the leading companies on social media.  There are numerous case studies available to show how Best Buy is staying current and understands the changes that are occurring in its industry and the consumers shift towards digital. One of the better ones I have found is from case studies online which has numerous case studies available.  


Another company trying to shift towards digital is Blockbuster, but it seems they have waited too long to keep up with the new competition.  They have waited until it was "broken" and needed to be fixed where Best Buy started the transition early in the digital life cycle.  


Many other industries are also seeing the need to stay with the times, while it might not be the shift towards digital.  If you are not able to stay current with the times or the industry you will face problems similar to Blockbuster.  


When should or do you make a change to how you or your company operates? Any other companies that you think are great example of staying with the times?  Any other consumer shifts occurring that could pose problems to an industry?

Photo Credit to Big C Harvey

When is it Time to Change the Status Quo?

This post focuses on only one aspect of business, change or the need for change with the introduction of social media.  Change is a difficult decision because a majority of people do not like change.  A lot of businesses are changing their approach in reaching customers and are venturing out into new social media markets.  While others are weary of this change and keep doing the same thing.  There are three contradicting approaches to businesses.

The first is don't fix what isn't broken; keep doing the same thing until it no longer works.  These are the businesses who have steady sales and wait to change something until they need to.  This is a dangerous approach where you are waiting for something to go wrong before you fix it.  Instead of repairing a small leak they wait until it bursts and turns into a flood.

The second approach is stay with the times; do what the other businesses are doing.  Once your competitor(s) is successful on Twitter or Facebook you join in social media as well.  With this approach you remain close to the competition but always a step behind.  That wait gives you the extra time to see how the new strategy is working for the competition so you can adopt their strategy, alter it, or ignore it.

The third approach is to be a trend-setter and a first mover.  This approach is being the first to get and use the latest technology or strategy.  They might be unproven and risky but that extra risk may hold a great reward.  By being the first mover you will have a step up on the competition, one in which they might never catch up.  With this or any approach it is important to not only adopt the new (social media) tools but to stay current with the changes and evolution of those tools.

So which approach works best, that will depend on your industry and companies preference.  Each approach has its pros and cons, some more than others.  But in this current environment of constant change keeping everything the same is at the very least not going to improve your business.  You don't need to make a big change, in fact it is better to continually make numerous small changes. People tend not to like change especially a large change, many small changes help ease the transitions.  There is no perfect business, formula, or strategy each and everyone can be improved and refined.  By remaining content with the status quo you are hurting your chances for growth and improvement.

A similar blog post talking about change (or lack of) from Inoveryourhead.net

Which strategy does you or your company use?  Is their another approach?  When should or do you make a change to how you or your company operates?  This post mostly applies for marketing, advertising and sales, what other areas would fit?


Photo Credit to Chapendra

My Promise to Myself

I have been neglecting this blog badly as of late and other blogs, still read my favorite few and what others linked on twitter.  This has to stop, today I went back into my Continual Education and have been watching the Inbound Marketing Summit today.  I have stopped well, slowed down, because with my new job I have less time to spend reading the latest news and posts or viewing webinars.  My current part time job is just that a job and I have stopped what I was doing before so I could get my perfect job and be ready for it, I was content.  That is until I got my paycheck and realized this would barely cover a car payment and that was the, pardon my language "shot in my ass" that I needed.  I am back on my proper path and determined once again.  What my new promise to myself includes

• Continue to write blog posts - Personal posts such as this during the weekday when I have time and the drive AND a weekly marketing related post EVERY Sunday.  I will write that post in advance to post at 5 am each and every Sunday.
• Get back to my old ways - Watch and participate in Webinars, Read and discuss marketing bogs, monitor my LinkedIn daily, continue to search and apply for jobs that suit me.
• To remain hungry -  Keep my drive and intensity until I get my perfect job.
• Determine what that perfect job would be, should have done this before but it keeps changing.

How you can help

Help me find my perfect job that is in marketing/ advertising (outside of sales, I can do sales but do not enjoy it).  I also understand that I may need to have that sales position so I can move horizontally in the company and am willing to do so.  Something that will let my creativity flourish, a copywriter, account executive are two examples of that.  Where I can utilize my current skills with Social Media.  Because of my limited experience it would have to be an entry level position.  Some of my areas of expertise and where I excel are: 

Advertising -  Consumer and B2B in Print, Social Media, Billboard, and Transit.  

Design - Branding and Identity.  

Promotions - Increasing Visibility, new product launches, Rebranding and new campaign launches.

Public Relations - Event Planning/ Management, Social Media

Planning - Strategic Development, Marketing Planning, Integrated Marketing Campaigns

I can do much more but that is where I am comfortable and have experience.  If you know of any jobs that would fit that please let me know you can email me at Raymond.Lutzewitz@gmail.com if you or your company has an opening or know of one please let me know.  

The other way you can help is by reminding me/ hassling me to make sure I wrote my weekly marketing blog.

Thank you

Continual Education: Always Learning

I graduated in December 2009 and I am learning MORE now that I am out of college. All being self taught for my enjoyment and to stay on top of the changing trends in the business world. I am putting more time and effort in now than I did during college.  I am also having to absorb a lot more because of how much information I am taking in daily.  Honestly I am not sure how long I will be able to go at this pace.  I am currently teaching myself about SEO, proper social media use for different brands and other topics.  My class load is huge right now and it is getting harder for me to retain this information.  To help aid myself in this task I am starting to teach myself like this was a class and taking notes to review later and less like a hobby.

How am I continuing my education?

• Watching numerous webinars on topics that interest me including social media, marketing, and engagement. 
• Reading numerous books on marketing. Some books I recommend are UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging (affiliate link if I did it correctly) and Twitter Works.
• I read numerous blogs every day a quick list of my top 5 because of the content, quality, and consistency are:

1. Social Media Examiner
2. The Brand Builder
3. Jim Raffel
4. UnMarketing 
5. Translator Digital Cafe

• Writing blog posts talking about marketing and getting my ideas out onto the web.
• Conversing with other marketing professionals on Twitter and Linkedin.

Photo credit: ZadorSpain

What webinars are you watching and participating in?  What books are you currently reading or would recommend that I and others read?   Which are the blogs you read daily, I read more than those 5 but they all offer consistent quality posts.

Social Media Experiment Part 1

In an effort to get some comments and increase my interaction with my online community I will be posing a question across my social media accounts to see where I get the most interaction then I will share the results with you, my readers.

The most difficult part is coming up with a good question that will invoke a response to comment. I have known for a while what I want the question to be, just not how to word it. I choose this question because I never get the same answer, and it is hard for me to answer about myself. It can be my Achilles heel of job interviews, so your input and views would be highly appreciated.

The Question:

What adjectives would you use choose to describe me (Raymond)? Or what personal impression(s) do you have of me?

If you can give a reason to why you pick or feel that way, and I will be glad to give my opinion of you as well. If you never meet me that is fine since when I write I try to insert my persona into it. It's human nature to have an opinion on anything and everything and I want to hear it. When I write want to be honest, so if you do meet me in real life you will get the same guy who is writing this blog, or sending out those tweets, or posting stuff to LinkedIn. (Is that the correct verbage for LinkedIn?) I want to come across the same on all medians, well maybe more laid back on Twitter.

Thanks for your input

If you want me to give you my opinion of you feel free to ask it in the comments.

How I Use Twitter

A few months ago I posted 5 Easy Ways to get me to follow you (on Twitter). This is a sort of follow up to that post.

I connect with my followers

Twitter is a wonderful service that has allowed me to find many people who I now would consider friends. For me Twitter is a community, we have similar interests and I genuinely care about them and in most aspects what they are doing. Twitter and the people on Twitter continue to amaze me with their generosity with all the charity events going on like #saveteecycle.

I read all the tweets and click on the links

As @TheBrandBuilder tweeted: I no longer need an RSS reader. You guys are my meta filter. THIS is my RSS feed now. Which for me is very true, the individuals I follow keep me up to date with the latest and greatest blog posts, videos, and current events. I have recently unfollowed a significant amount of individuals, why would I do that? I like to read all of the tweets, I have the time and get not only enjoyment but value from them (well most of them). I was not getting what I wanted from some people I was following and the extra tweets in my timeline were making it difficult for me to keep up on everyone else's tweets. This is different from individuals I follow with now dormant accounts. I will not unfollow them, they are not posing any problems or clogging up my timeline. As well as the possibility they will come back and start tweeting again and I will be unaware of this for some time.

Others follow an army

I know some individuals following thousands of people on Twitter, nothing is wrong with that. They are not able to read or keep up on everyone's tweets but they do manage a lot more @ replies and mentions that they are able to read. I feel that these people will miss out on an awesome tweet or link. Most of the good tweets and links get retweeted anyway right, that is true but I would rather not take the chance of missing it, or being the person to RT it. Those that follow more than they can keep up with also are the ones using twitter clients to help keep up and get the important information. I use TweetDeck as my client but also use Clusterr. My previous post on Clusterr: Is the next step in Social Media Clusterr?

For me its about quality not quantity

I follow the people who provide me with entertainment, joy, and value. I don't need to follow everyone because it is popular or they are popular. I enjoy who I am following and do add others when we have a common interest or I enjoy what they tweet.

Which camp do you fall into, do you follow a few or a lot? Do you read or try to read everyones tweets or just look a few times a day? Anything else you would like to add?

Time Sensitivity- Don't wait for the fruit to rot

Sorry if the visual is too harsh for some.
The Story

3 weeks ago I saw a Webinar on Content Curation is the Secret to Becoming a Thought Leader with Chris Brogan, which is the reason why I watched the Webinar. It was a good Webinar and if you have an hour I encourage you to watch it. I watch about 3 Webinars a week on various marketing subjects. I also spend around 3 hours a day (since I have the time) reading blog posts on various marketing subjects. I remember most of the valuable information, ideas, and points; who presented the Webinar not so much the company even less.

The Follow-up

Today I received a phone call about that Webinar and was clueless. I did, I was... umm okay. For me it was the equivalent of a cold call maybe even a telemarketing call. The individual reminded me of the topic which I recalled a little or think I did, it was something I would have watched. Then he brought up what was covered and some key points, okay now I remember, so what can I do for him?

The Problem

I have already forgotten about the Webinar and had little interest in the product, even if I could afford it. The time for the sale has passed and the sale (fruit) has rotted. You only have a small amount of time from when the sale is not ready to ripe to rotten and have to pick it at the right time. In fairness it is completely possible they went after the high profile individuals first right away when the sale (fruit) was ripe and ready to be picked. I am unemployed, with little work and attempting to do some freelance work with no success so I would not be an ideal candidate for anything. So my fruit is underdeveloped and small but those mini foods are still awesome and can fill some of the hunger. But I do remain a prospective client for the future.

The Solution

It would have been easier for them to send a follow up email, once was sent for the Webinar. On that email they could have asked if I (we) were interested in the product and a follow up phone call. That would have helped them find individuals interested in purchasing the product or finding out more information. While being still within a timely period where the fruit was ripe.

What would you suggest for the sale not to rot? Would you as a company do anything different, as the consumer?

Photo by Jacob Esben

Baseball Analogy: I am a Position Player

This is about me, and where I would and could fit in and how I see myself.

I might not be an all-star on the team or even a starter but I am there when you need me. I just need the chance to be called up from the minors to get a chance to show what I can do. I can bat (work alone) or field (work as a group) efficiently. I am a switch hitter who can bat .250 who doesn’t hit home runs often but is able to advance the players (team members, ideas) to where they are able to score. I am also able to get on base (start an idea) and let my team mates hit me home (finish the idea, make it work). I am able to play any position you need me in (with the exception of pitcher and catcher) because there are some things I don’t know, yet. If you want me at third base (for example promotions) I am there, or at short stop (Social Media) you can count on me, and the same with outfield or anywhere you need me. I will be there to get the ball and make an out or work with my teammates to turn a double play. The areas where I can’t currently play are limited but I know what they are and won’t be committing an error by playing those positions. But with a good coach and team I would be able to focus my skills to be that needed position player. With the extra experience and guidance I will be able to be a starter for the team and eventually I will become an all-star.

For those who don’t understand or follow baseball:

While I specialize in the areas of Promotions and Social Media I am able to do much more. While I am not the greatest or the best at many other business activities I know and understand them and would be able to perform them well enough to get the job done correctly. If there is something that I don’t know how to do I will learn and teach myself it. What I will do is tell you that I don’t have the experience so you don’t put me there alone before I am ready or able to meet the expectations that role requires. I am a team player able to start new ideas or help to finish old ideas. I can work alone or in a group setting proficiently. I have the skills and patience to become a valuable member of your company all I need is an opportunity. Given this opportunity I will work as hard as I can to improve your company and myself.

Where would you fit in on a team? Given and what you know about me would you be willing to call me up to the majors? What If you are a Human Resources or Hiring Manager I would love to hear what you think of this analogy.

Photo by Erin Ryan also known as Shutter Daddy

Brand Value - It changes with the tide

What do I mean that brand value changes with the tide? Simple, a brand's value can rise or fall as quickly as the tide. When something negative happens or affects the brand's value or image it often doesn't stay in the general public's mind for very long. As Americans we are quick to forgive and forget and move onto the newest story or tragedy. This can be a positive thing for brands when something negatively affects them but more likely it is a negative thing for brands. Even after a brilliant marketing campaign such as the recent Old Spice Social Media campaign mentions and thoughts are calming down to a point where people no longer think or blog about it. After one month the waves of the campaign have quieted and the waters are calm to a point where the mentions are returning to where they were prior to the start of the campaign.

My car won't stop accelerating, we are all going to die, its the end of the world!

Ok so maybe it did not go that far, but with the recent (within 6 months) recalls due to acceleration problems the Toyota brand value and image was taking a beating. Do you even remember this or how big of a deal it was and all the up roar and a congressional investigation? Those that may remember this are the few individuals whose accelerator did "stick" and a few who were negatively affected by the recall. Other companies have similar smaller recall problems, McDonalds with the Shrek Glasses or Walmart with the jewelery. Or even Apple with the iPhone 4 antenna/ reception issues or being stuck with AT&T's network.

Why this doesn't affect these companies brand value

There are many reasons why this has a limited or no impact on a brands value.

1. Only affects one product or part of a large global company.
2. The amount of people affected by these events and recalls are small compared to the overall population that uses the company. (limited impact)
3. The companies address the problem to take care of it as quickly and efficiently as possible, usually.
4. Most importantly you as the consumer don't remember the problem because of what happened just after the recall or disaster was a bigger disaster that affected far more people and caused much more damage.

The current disaster: BP

I already wrote a blog about BP which can be read here. What currently has the majority of American's attention is the BP oil spill. But with the well finally capped it looks like most of America is back to its pop culture fixation with the Mel Gibson tapes or Lindsay Lohan in jail. Unlike the Toyota recalls and problems this oil spill affected the lives of hundreds of thousands and while many Americans outside of the gulf coast will forget a bitter anger will remain with the Gulf Coast residents who lost their livelihood from this disaster. This will be almost impossible to repair (in America) but BP is a global company and outside of the US its image and brand value will bounce back and return close to the what it was. What will be the next tragedy to fulfill our fascination and make us forget about this oil spill?

Do you forgive and forget? What causes you to forget something that just a short while ago was on your mind? Why do some people remember this and others forget?

Image from http://www.aquamanshrine.com

Marketing Idea: Adidas Campaign - Inspiration

This doesn't have to be for Adidas but can be for any of the shoe companies (Nike, Reebok, New Balance....)

There are so many great people who inspire us.

For me one of these people is Anne Munkwitz or as we may know her better as @bananza. She is the main reason I have begun running again *insert cheesy movie quote here* One of the greatest reasons she is an inspiration is her story.

Another great inspiration for me is Sarah Hagen and her story. For me it is about the triumph over the many hardships and coming out on top and being better because of it.

The Campaign

A series of commercials each spot lighting a different individual of inspiration, I have given two great examples but their are thousands more. The commercial shows what that individual has overcame and shows them running, or playing soccer, or some other activity with that companies (Adidas) shoes. To fully integrate this campaign there would also be a website where you can read and see that individuals full story and nominate another person to be a part of the inspiration campaign.

Additional Steps

For any campaign to be successful it needs follow through and complimenters. With the nominations of other individuals to be a part of the Inspiration Campaign the amount of new commercials and length of campaign can continue to evolve. Encompassing all forms of media the Inspiration Campaign can utilize social media, the internet, print, television, and word of mouth to reach a greater population. This campaign can be a stepping block for active communities, like Fit Milwaukee where the company can donate or sponsor the healthier and active lifestyle.

Why this would be successful

• America loves stories of comebacks and inspiration.
• The large amount of people who could be spot lighted for the campaign and the diversity among them.
• The campaign contains real people that had real problems.
• The cost of the campaign would be less expensive then current and past campaigns, no large budget productions or highly paid actor/athlete spokespersons.

Would these stories inspire you to go out and be more active? Who inspires you? Who would you like to see in the spot light as an inspiration? Why else would this be a success/ failure?

Also thank you Anne for being an inspiration in my life and motivating me to run again.

Satire A Dangerous Slope: BP Case Study

This post has less to do with the actual BP Brand and more to do with the individual who created the fake account BPGlobalPR on Twitter.

What has BP done right so far?

In the disaster that is the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico that is a PR nightmare, BP has managed to do a few things correctly from a PR standpoint.

• Have paid for a google sponsored link that comes out on top for searches of BP Oil Spill with what BP is doing to fix the problem
• Going to their homepage auto redirects to a splash page where they show what BP is doing for a Gulf of Mexico response
• Created a twitter account of BP_America to help people speak out on the oil spill.

BP not managing or monitoring its brand.

While it is great that BP has made its brand and tried to take control of it, because if you don't someone else will. And someone else has done so, a twitter account BPGlobalPR made by someone who was upset with how BP was handing the oil spill situation. I am not the first to notice this account or how "real" BP hasn't or if it has I have yet to see anything about it. Some other bloggers have touched on this subject including Samir Balwan, John Taylor, and Mark Smith, and The Brand Builder himself Olivier Blanchard. I recommend once finished reading this blog that you read their incites on the situation. As for me this blog post is more on the Spoof/Satire point of view and what that individual is doing in response to the oil crisis.

Edit: According to Ad Age BP is aware of this account and the outrage that this person has towards the whole situation is understandable. Also looks like the account will not be taken down but might have to change slightly to make itself more clear that it is not a BP account.

Using Satire...for the good?

The fake and in my opinion hilarious twitter account of BPGlobalPR shows what social media and twitter is capable of. The fake account has over twice as many followers as the real account and many people on twitter do not recognize that it is a satirical account which devalues and damages BP and its brand. But with the over 10,000 twitter followers the individual behind the account is able to use the account and the followers to not only vent and point out how bad BP screwed up the situation but also do some good. What good could come from impersonating an actual brand. selling t-shirts. The fake account links to a site where you can get a "free" BP Cares t-shirt with $25.00 shipping. The good is the owner claims "All proceeds from these satirical shirts will be given to charities involved in cleaning, preserving, and rescuing the gulf and its animals.
We are printing shirts as quickly as possible, please allow 4-6 weeks for shipping." Now it would be great if that is true but by coming off as a fake account/impostor/con man it is hard for some people me included to believe that all proceeds will go to charity. Now they very well may which would be awesome and that individual who used Twitter to address their frustration at BP is doing plenty of good.

Edit: It looks like the proceeds will go to a charity of Healthy Gulf.

How is this a dangerous slope?

Where is the line that should not be crossed? Impersonating a brand and using their trademark and image is illegal. I am waiting to see what BP will do to the individual who made the account, and if other people who are upset with the situation also will create a satire account at BP or another companies expense.

Were you familiar with the fake BP account? What should be done to this account? What should BP and other companies do to make sure that this doesn't happen again or to them?

Is the next Evolution of Social Media Clusterr?

What is Clusterr?

Taken from The Clusterr Blog: “Here is a very brief synopsis of what Clusterr is:

Clusterr solves the information overload inherent to social media streams. The application parses the users Twitter timeline looking for Tweets that contain links. Clusterr resolves the short URLs, identifies and categorizes the media behind those URLs and then organizes & sorts the content in “Clusterrs” by type: Videos, Pictures, Web Sites and Music. Each piece of media is presented visually using a thumbnail image.

Clusterrs can be viewed chronologically or by popularity of content (number of tweets including the same media URL). Users can consume the media directly in Clusterr, as well as use Clusterr to share the content (through tweeting or re-tweeting) or by saving the media into a Custom Clusterr and then sharing that cluster with their friends. Additionally, Clusterr functions as a Twitter client, allowing users to send tweets with or without media directly from the web site.

We started Clusterr on the web, however our simple yet effective design was created specifically with cross platform applications in mind. Currently Clusterr is in development for the world wide web (Currently in Private Beta). We have also just begun cross platform development for smaller and larger screens. Cluster is the brain child of Kevin Pereira (Host and Executive Producer of G4′s Attack of the Show and Women of the Web) and Joshua Krane (Co-Founder of G4tv and formerly G4′s SVP of New Media and Interactive) and was designed and built lovingly in Los Angeles.”

What does that mean?

Clusterr takes the hassle out of your social media and twitter streams. Instead of having hundreds of links that will redirect you to another website Clusterr provides a way to view this additional information in one place without the need to click on each link. With Clusterr you can easily view all media files buried in your twitter time line, this includes videos, pictures, web sites, and music. Clusterr is similar to TweetDeck. TweetDeck has the ability to have pop ups for digital media, whether it is a picture from yfrog, twitpic, or another place or a video from youtube that when clicked on overlays it on top of your twitter stream. Unlike TweetDeck Clusterr has all the media on one screen where it is easy to view and access.

To simplify this here is a short demo video of Clusterr showing what it does and can do. I am unable to embed the video despite my best efforts.

Clusterr is not a replacement for twitter or twitter clients, yet.

Currently Clusterr doesn’t contain a feed, but maybe it will in the future? But what it is capable of doing is resolving all the links that are included in each tweet to something that is manageable. By using Clusterr I no longer need to click on every other tweet since there is a link it will show me what that link is.

An evolution? The Future?

This is not the big thing for social media, but rather it is another tool to better utilize the current social media. Clusterr makes managing your twitter feed easier similar to HootSuite and TweetDeck. But it doesn’t replace them, not yet at least. Being a beta version a final verdict can’t be stated yet but here are some add ons to Clusterr I would like to see in the future/ full version.

• Integrate with Facebook and other social media streams to be an all in one place
• Allow to tweet and update profile/status from the site
• Include a feed with the rest of the tweets not just ones with links - Now included
• Have a better preview of what Clusterr is, screen shots and a sample video
• Faster uploads, not waiting an hour from time tweeted to seen
  

I will continue to use TweetDeck because I have my columns all set up and most links and items will pop up on screen without a redirect with one click. Clusterr has a lot of possibility depending on the social media integration in the future.

Edit: Update on Clusterr

Wonderful customer service, tweeted a problem and got a response in very little time, and the response was helpful. You are also now able to tweet from Clusterr which is a major plus, still can't see a time stamp or delete seen items. Clusterr has been very helpful in saving time and allowing me to read more tweets and see more content.

Addition Edit (8/12/2010):

Clusterr has been continually updating and adding numerous features including some that I have suggested in this post. I am still loyal to TweetDeck because that is what I am now use to, but I have been logging in and checking out Clusterr almost everyday and like how it is developing and where it is going.

Are you interested in trying out Clusterr? What do you see as the next evolution in Social Media? What would you like to see added to Clusterr to make you want to use it?

5 Easy Ways to get me to follow you on Social Media (Twitter)

My followers on Twitter have been steadily increasing, mostly with spam bots and people I have no interest in following or don't know. That and my twitter time line (Twitstream) is pretty full especially when I get to it at lunch break. Usually I don't have time to read all the posts but I do click on a few of the people I follow to see what they posted. A few that I always read include Coalesce, FitMke, Tom Snyder (triveraguy), and Jim Raffel. The reason why I check these 4 before any others is they tweet great content and links about Marketing and Social Media and for Fit Milwaukee they offer great tips for running. They pertain to me and my interests and are not cluttered with a bunch of Foursquare check ins or blip songs. This list is also great suggestions for Follow Friday.

Now on to the ways for me to follow you and to get my attention

1. Follow me first- This is a basic start, but just because you are following me doesn't mean I will follow you back. I follow about 1/3 of the people who follow me mainly because I don't have time to read thousands of tweets. I also only check my followers once a week to see if I have any new followers.
2. Have a logical reason to be following me- If you are following me you should be doing so for a reason.
   A. Are in my geographic location (Milwaukee or Appleton, Wisconsin).
   B. Have a common interest whether it is video games, sports, G4, Olivia Munn (OMFG), or some other commonality.
   C. Like my awesome, witty, hilarious tweets. Which I am sorry have been lacking a lot as of late.
   D. Or most importantly are in the marketing or a similar industry.
   
3. Don't have half your tweets be from apps- I had a hard time wording this but in lament's terms don't have most of your feed be filled with foursquare check ins or similar programs (gowalla) and to a much lesser extent songs from Blip or what video you rated on youtube. Now don't get me wrong its fine to use these apps and post where you are or what you are listening to I just don't want that to be all you do or tweet about.
   
4. Have quality tweets in your timeline- This goes back to point 3 but if you are a new follow the last 20 or so of your tweets determines if I am going to follow you back. Comical tweets are great for a follow but tweets that have information and something I can learn from is best. Have a reason for me to follow you.
   
5. Have a conversation with me- Reply to one of my tweets let me know you are following me and reading what I tweet. Let me know that you exist, this is one of the main ways I follow you.

Do you have any other ways or rules for following someone? Do you agree with this list? Do you follow me on twitter? Do you have someone who I should be following?

Marketing/Dream Idea: Streetza Pizza

Be warned this will be an interesting and different post to say the least…. So here it goes:

Last night I dreamt that I was the General Manager (I know that’s for baseball but it was a dream) of a pizza shop in Milwaukee. It was part of the Streetza family but had an awesome name… which I do not remember… since it was a dream parts have been forgotten and was not a pure idea. I will describe my dream while making marketing advice and suggestions on why it would work or wouldn’t and what should be changed.

Breakdown of the place

The dream started in the middle of the “story” and had some flashbacks with what I believe was my subconscious filling in the missing parts to make it work. It was a small pizza place with a handful of tables a counter, 2 cash registers, an awesome menu display up top, and some pizza warmer racks behind the counter. The pizza warming racks had timers on them that kept track of how long the pizzas were out, I will explain this later. The back had a large oven(s) (It was one oven but changed to many ovens later, but still fit a lot of pizzas) a large chart/board on the wall with times and when the pizzas should be made and placed in the over for maximum efficiency. There was a nice prepping table a large fridge with all the fresh ingredients, some random people working on making pizzas and an office. I was usually in the office taking phone orders for a full pizza and working on the social media aspects of the pizzeria. During busy times I would come out and help with the extra demand, whether I was making a pizza or working a register.

This part of the dream made plenty of sense since it was all based on prior knowledge of restaurants. The menu over the top of the counter was similar to McDonald’s but not lit up, more closely resembling that of Bella’s or Kopp’s. It was plastic or wood that was painted and had the name of the business in the upper left… the name which I forgot. It offered the four normal slices offered by Streetza and a fifth special slice of the day. The prices were 3.75 per slice (same as Streetza) but if the slices were over an hour old they were a dollar. Not sure if an hour would be a good amount of time, might need to be shorter in real life to make it more effective. You could order a whole pizza for 18 dollars if you called it in ahead of time. If you were ordering a slice you could have it to-go or here at the pizzeria. The to-go had a nice cardboard triangle wedge that the slice of pizza fit into. The menu also offered soda in three sizes from a Pepsi machine to the side and an option of garlic bread. The cash register was very simple with an easy layout of each type of pizza with three columns, whole pizza, slice, dollar slice. Then on the right side the three sizes of soda and garlic bread. There was a sales tax added onto the purchase which angered one customer. The board in the back was a white board with magnets of each pizza and times for when they were to be in the oven. I assume this was because of the different demand for the slices so there would not be a wait on a particular slice, as well as to keep track of the phone orders.

How it began

Later in the dream I sequenced back to how it all started. I won a large lottery (wish I knew when and the winning numbers) so I moved back to Milwaukee and enjoyed myself but eventually got bored (yeah right). So I contacted Scott Baitinger of Streetza Pizza about opening up a Streetza store that operated during the day. Montage sequence later and after 3 months of planning we were set to start a business. We decided on a location (no idea where that was but I think the location was between North and Brady based on the surrounding buildings) had some interviews and stories written up and found and trained some employees. Pretty sure it took a total of 6 months before the stores grand opening and opening special of dollar slices all day.

Since it was a montage of sorts most of the exact details were skipped. The first three months would have included coming up with a solid business plan that listed the prices and procedures as well as the goal and mission of the business. Also needed to be done near the end of those three months would be proper research to find the right location, since that would be key. Either by a college or a bunch of businesses would be a prime location. Down town Milwaukee would have also been good but there is some decent competition there with Rustico and Brick 3 and the other numerous restaurants and the rent prices would be higher. But any prime location will have competition so the location would come down to some graphical equation plotting price vs. customer base/potential profits. The building would also take time to renovate the location to fit the needs of the pizzeria. Then there is the hiring and training of the employees and finding a local company to purchase the ingredients from. The final piece that would need to be done prior to opening is the buildup of awareness and social media. More information about how to create a successful restaurant (a restaurant I would go to and frequent) will be a future blog post, stay tuned for that.

Other tidbits

The dream was very unlinear much like an episode of Lost so some other key parts will be placed here since they happened “randomly” and in no real order. One of the reasons the business in my dream was so successful was not only the great brand that Scott built up with loyal patrons but because I also took a very hands on approach and was heavily involved. I am a person who gets my hands dirty and will do the work that needs to be done, even if in the example I had no real need to (lottery win). I also worked with a few groups at UWM, including CEO and AMA. I spoke to both organizations about the idea and the steps taken to make it a success. Answered some key questions about the aspects of the business, might I add I was awesome in doing so… even if I don’t remember the exact questions or answers. Sponsored CEO and AMA by providing pizza at the meetings and presenting them with fundraising opportunities. One fundraising opportunities was creation of the pizza of the day which would be sold for an extra dollar a slice that went towards the organization. Which gave birth to the AMAzing pizza, which in my dream was AWESOMLY AMAZING, I could really smell and taste it even if it was just a dream. We also helped Panther Pack out (UWM Panther Athletics) by being a sponsor for their rewards program, after attending so many games given a coupon or other item donated from a local business, for a free slice of pizza. We also catered much like Streetza does now; this would allow the truck to be open on those nights when they would be catering an event. Also in my dream there was a break in/ vandalism which was solved by social media help and the person who gave information that led to the conviction of the vandal got free pizza for a year.

And that sums up what I can remember from the dream, it would be nice if that managed to happen. One problem is I did not win a lottery so I could not invest in the business as well as the other cash flow problems that could arise. However Scott if for some reason this idea has some traction I will be more than happy to help out make it a reality and even be the(general) manager.

What location would you like to see a streetza pizzeria? What would you name it? Would you frequent a place like that? Any other suggestions or comments?