social media « Pete Reum on the Web

August 16, 2010

Review of Power Friending

Filed under: Media,social media — Tags: amber mac, pete reum, power friending, social media — Pete @ 5:01 pm

In helping clients try to understand social media I have come across many issues. These include but are not limited to such things as: what is twitter all about, should I have a facebook page, how often should I [tweet, blog], how do I build my online identity and many other questions. I have tried to convey my thoughts on social media and met with a bit of success with some clients. Recently in the Sunday paper I was reading the books section of the paper and came across Power Friending by Amber Mac. I marked it as something I might be interested in, and would get to soon. Later that week a colleague asked if I had seen the review. I decided that this was a book that I needed to read to see what Amber had to say.

I got the book from Amazon and was very pleasantly surprised. Amber really does get social media. She is very clear in her presentation and has lots of hints and links that can help anyone from a newbie to an experienced person in learning about social media. As an example she talks of podcasts with some really handy hints on building content. Not sure how to use Youtube or wiki’s she can help you out. Not sure what QR codes are — she explains them. Nervous about how to set up a strategy, let her walk you through that. Interested in some success stories (I remember and loved the #blameandrewscancer). Dissect some failures. This book has it all.

Power Friending and the Dog

My doggie just finished the book yesterday and we had a good chat about how best to show off our new found knowledge. He especially liked the use of “plethora” when talking about location based services! You know dogs, it is all about the nearest “location”, plus he really likes that word! He also suggested that I write a bit about my thoughts and thus this posting.

I also learned that she is part of the twit network. For those of you who do not know about the network it is run by Leo Laporte and he and his “peoples” have built up a very useful podcasting network. I often listen to many of his podcasts but did not realize that Amber was part of that network. I immediately signed up for her net@night podcast because I liked her style in the book and felt that through the podcast I could keep learning cool tricks from her. Upon finishing her book I let Amber know on twitter that I liked her book. She got back to me in minutes! Very cool to see someone who not only writes about her subject but also will still talk to the “little people (me)”. If you are not yet following her on twitter ambermac you should.

All in all I feel that I will be using this book to help my clients and myself to better leverage the social media thing. I highly recommend this book to all interested — regardless of skill level — in social media.

pete reum

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December 23, 2009

Advocacy

Filed under: General Information,Search — Tags: advocate, pete reum, Search, social media — Pete @ 6:08 pm

Advocacy - the act of pleading or arguing in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy; active support – according to dictionary.com. What are you an advocate for? Are you an advocate for your company? If not why not? I have been thinking about this of late. Word of mouth is so very powerful in generating new growth. I think that this is especially true in the small business community. I try to be an advocate for all my clients. I want them to grow and become better at what they do. I always am thinking of my clients first when I hear about any opportunities that might be a match for them. I would like to think that others think of me when they hear about an internet opportunity that might be a match for me.

need a handyman – I know someone
need commercial building work done – I know someone
need your carpets cleaned – I know someone
interested in home automation – I know someone

It has been my experience that the smaller a company is the more likely it is that employee’s are advocates for the company, and for other companies. Having worked in big, medium and small companies I found that my skill set was best utilized in a smaller business environment. I like doing a variety of things and have many different skills. Many times my clients do not even realize that I have a skill that they could use, until I am chatting to them about something else, and it will come up that I know how to do the task that they are in need of.

Search and social media come to mind when I think of skills that my clients might not know that I have. Social media is all the buzz right now. Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Flickr and all sorts of other sites. Ask me about it sometime and I will give you my 2 cents worth. I don’t think that just because you can means that you should — each business is unique and I try to speak to their needs. And not all social sites are a good match for all business operations. Search is a term that could have many different meanings for different people. Some might say search when they mean paid ads while others mean organic search. When clients are not sure of what they want it can be tough to speak to their needs. How do you handle this situation? I would love to hear about it.

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