It seems no matter where I go I see a sign at the check out counter that asks me to “Join Our Facebook Fan Page” or ”Follow Us on Twitter.’” Some of the places I have seen this are:

The liquor store
My massage therapist
the bakery
the coffee house

The old web was about links from one web page to another web page. Web 2.0  is about linking people. Facebook is all about Web 2.0. It is all about using the social graph to try and improve the relevance of almost everything we do on the web.

Google should be worried because I think Facebook is unstopable and they are just getting started.

Anyway. There is a huge opportunity for those interested in social media to make a killing helping these local biz develop an online presence on Facebook and Twitter. They are powerful marketing tools. If you wished you had started a web develpment company 10 years-ago then you have a second chance. Start a Fan Page development company. My personal suggestion to any biz doing this is to offer a customer a discount if they sign up and join their Fan Page right then and there. Heck, you could even keep a netbook at the checkout so they have no excuse.

Soon, people won’t be asking if you have a web page. They will be asking if you have a Facebook Fan Page. You laugh but big brands are already dumping stand alone web sites and moving over to just Facebook.

I have been told that no matter what we do as a profession we are all selling something. So, this video may seem a bit off topic but I still highly recommend that you take the time to watch Frank’s presentation. He is at the top of his game in the Internet Marketing space. Consulting fee is around $10,000 per day. He is a gifted communicator and could sell you anything. It’s a long video so get settled in.

Watch the video here:

http://getcoreinfluence.com/?ref=58vB4yOe90023K7t

————————

When I say ‘gets it’ I mean gets ‘new media’ and social media.

Earlier today I got a call from travel writer Kim Mance. Someone on the Travelwriters.com BBS was trashing her and one of the events that she is promoting (probably jealousy motivated). I rarely deleted posts because that can get you in trouble as an online publisher. I fixed her account and she sent me a ‘thank you’ email and that is when I started noticing that this writer is doing everything right.

First thing I noticed is she has her name as a registered domain name and a beautifully designed website (www.kimmance.com). That site is just for her personal brand. Gary Vee has drilled it into my head that we are all brands. Believe it people. It’s true.

Next I click over to her Twitter profile @kimmance (which is prominently displayed on her personal site). She has 7,500 followers. Now I’m the jealous one. Having this many people following you on twitter is like money in the bank. It’s like an ATM machine if you use it properly.

Next I surf on over to her video site (http://galavanting.tv)  - a must in new media. Again, gorgeous design. Great content. Tons of prompts to follow her stuff on Facebook and Twitter.

Then she has the mandatory facebook profile with Vanity URL (facebook.com/kimmance)

Anyway, Kim is on fire and probably in high demand to teach other writers how to do this. The point here is that Kim has leveraged social media to perfection to accelerate her career and brand.

Rarely does a day go by when I don’t use all of these sites at least once in a 24-hour period. I group these 10 sites into three categories: Social networks, information tools and blogs.

1. Facebook
Facebook is so useful in so many ways that it is hard to know where to start. My number one benefit from the site is in the marketing and advertising features. You didn’t see that coming did you!

2. Youtube
Again. So useful in so many ways that my head spins. Last month I used it to fix my toilet. On a day-to-day basis it rocks as a marketing and community building tool. Used properly, Youtube is like the equivalent of free advertising on television. Video is a compelling way to communicate a message to the masses. Why? Because most people are lazy and do not want to read. They would rather consume by watching a video.

3. Twitter
If you are into listing building then Twitter is like a field of gold. When I explain Twitter to people I always compare it to Facebook. Here is the difference. On Facebook you make friends. I can only follow people that follow me back. On Twitter I can follow anybody I want. They don’t have to approve me. If you are into community building you can follow people in your field of interest and then follow all their followers. Roughly 25% of them will follow you back. Keep on doing this and you can build a huge following at record speed and at no cost. If you do this on a huge scale there is software to help you with the process. This just in: You can now get paid to tweet to your followers. Check out Ad.ly. Imaging getting paid $1000 for one tweet.

4. Bit.ly
This one is so simple but so useful. Bit.ly is a URL shortener. Take any long URL, plug it in Bit.ly and it shortens it. Extremely useful for twitter which limits you to 140 characters. The other feature that I enjoy is the analytics. Bit.ly tells you instantly how many clicks you are getting to your URL.

5. Passpack
The best free online password manager. When you register on hundreds of sites per year like I do you have to have something like this to keep everything straight. It’s simple, powerful and has a great design.

6. Compete
Thank you compete.com for helping me spy on my competitors and for keeping people honest that call bragging about their site traffic and pageviews. Compete helps me sleep at night because I can see threats coming. I prefer it to Quantcast. All the other services like this charge for the data.

7. Gmail
Hands down the best online email program. And, this is only going to get better. I find Yahoo slow and cumbersome.

8. Wordpress
The most extensible blogging platform out there. If you are a writer you need to start learning about Wordpress. So, so powerful once you get into the plug-ins. Please: make an action plan and start a blog (if not just for the purpose of learning Wordpress).

9. Delicious
Still my favorite online bookmarking site. There are other out there. I just have not explored them. Tell me if you have a better option than Delicious.

10. TechCrunch
Read this blog and learn about what is going on in the online world. I ask everyone I interview if they read TechCrunch. Huge strike against them if they say no.

Share you top ten in the comments.

Responsibilities include at least one destination article monthly and attending press trips, events and conferences for JAX FAX that pertain to this region. What I am really looking for is someone to become the “Editorial Face” of the magazine for this region.

Compensation is on a “per article” basis.

Please email me and include relavent travel experience and writing samples. Looking to fill this position by Jan.1, 2009

Doug Cooke / JAX FAX Travel Marketing Magazine
doug@jaxfax.com
203-301-0255

In March 2009 my wife Amy and I decided that we wanted to share our passion for Days of Our Lives with the world. I had been watching Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV Show and was thinking that a daily recap and analysis of each Days show would be a natural way to reach our audience. A video blog (vblog) in combination with a regular blog sounded like the formula. Gary V says that if you got the chops for your subject and you want to reach the world then go out and get a cheap video camera and get started. Don’t worry about the details he says. Just start spreading the word.

Gary V also goes into great detail on how to leverage Facebook, Youtube and Twitter to build up your audience. So, with those fundamental principles and a video cam from Best Buy we got started. Basic principle is that all social media should funnel traffic to your blog.

A couple of pointers. Do not heavily edit your vlog. Try to do it in one take. This makes it seem real. If you get a call in the middle of the video just work it into the show. People love this. The easiest way to shoot is with a video cam connected directly to your computer. Some laptops already have this built in. There are vlogs on youtube that get 1 million views and are shot with nothing more than a laptop.

Anyway. Fast forward 8 months. We now have 18,000 followers on Facebook, 300+ people watch our video each day on Youtube and we have about 1,000 followers on Twitter. Our twitter play was probably our biggest mistake. It should be close to the Facebook number. We are working on correcting this situation.

So, last weekend we flew to Los Angeles to attend the Day of Days fan event and to get a chance to meet the actors from the show and to talk to other fans. Here is the scary part. Lots of people at the event recognized us and stopped us and told us how much they like our show and could they get a picture with us. It is a strange but good feeling to be recognized 3,000 miles away from home by complete strangers. Now the big shocker. Some of the actors recognized us and admitted that they watch our daily recaps on Youtube.

We followed Gary’s formula and it worked.

If you are interested in learning more about Gary Veynerchuk and his business tactics of using social media then order his book: Crush It! It’s a good overview — not tons of detail — but it will give you the big picture of what you can do and he’ll give you lots of encouragement to quit your day job and follow your passion (whatever it is).

Here is a link to his book:

http://www.amazon.com/Crush-Time-Cash-Your-Passion/dp/0061914177/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258149660&sr=8-1

note: This is not an affiliate link. I gain nothing if you buy his book.

Have you ever read a story in the newspaper that was about you or about something that you were deeply involved with?

I used to read newspapers and think that everything in them was accurate. I guarantee you, if you read a story that covers you then you will get a taste of just how inaccurate newspapers tend to be. They make stuff up and get all the facts wrong. The only time I get to fact check a story is when it is about something that involves me. I do not trust what is written in the newspaper. At least on a blog if I write something that is factually wrong you can bet someone in the comments is going to point it out.

They say that the information in the newspaper is only worth as much as you paid for the issue. In my town it’s 50 cents.

Has anybody else had this experience?

No surprise here (at least not for me). The latest circulation data for the top 25 daily newspapers shows steep declines for all but one newspaper. That lucky guy is the Wall Street Journal. And let’s not get all excited. It was less than 1% increase.  The other 24 were all down. USA Today was down a staggering 17% (ouch). I personally have not read a newspaper in years.

For a bit of good news, here is a list of the top circ gainers. Don’t get too excited. These are all tiny pubs not in the same league as the big daily papers

Here is the complete list as published by the Audit Bureau of Circulations

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL — 2,024,269 — 0.61%
USA TODAY — 1,900,116 — (-17.15%)
THE NEW YORK TIMES — 927,851 — (-7.28%)
LOS ANGELES TIMES — 657,467 — (-11.05%)
THE WASHINGTON POST — 582,844 — (-6.40%)

DAILY NEWS (NEW YORK) — 544,167 — (-13.98%)
NEW YORK POST — 508,042 — (-18.77%)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE — 465,892 — (-9.72%)
HOUSTON CHRONICLE — 384,419 — (-14.24%)
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER — 361,480 — N/A

NEWSDAY — 357,124 — (-5.40%)
THE DENVER POST — 340,949 — N/A
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC — 316,874 — (-12.30%)
STAR TRIBUNE, MINNEAPOLIS — 304,543 — (-5.53%)
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES — 275,641 — (-11.98%)

The PLAIN DEALER, CLEVELAND — 271,180 — (-11.24%)
DETROIT FREE PRESS (e) — 269,729 — (-9.56%)
THE BOSTON GLOBE — 264,105 — (-18.48%)
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS — 263,810 — (-22.16%)
THE SEATTLE TIMES — 263,588 — N/A

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE — 251,782 — (-25.82%)
THE OREGONIAN — 249,163 — (-12.06%)
THE STAR-LEDGER, NEWARK — 246,006 — (-22.22%)
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE — 242,705 — (-10.05%)
ST. PETERSBURG (FLA.) TIMES — 240,147 — (-10.70%)

Are we starting to get the picture here? When a ship sinks you jump off it.