Click the options/image below to take the poll on Facebook.

I love my DVR because I am able to fast forward through commercials. I flip through the ads in magazines to get to the articles. I also skip (when given the option) pop up ads Online. I hate being “sold” to and I bet you do too. I hate when companies directly @reply me on Twitter thanking me for following them when clearly I am not and this is supposed to be some weird way to get me to follow. I hate when businesses post their advertisements on my Facebook wall and pages I manage. I hate seeing businesses not thinking creatively.

All of the above mentioned ‘hates’ are the reasons that I think like the consumer when I am strategizing any Social Media campaign. I know exactly what I will respond to so why would I do the complete opposite when marketing my own business or someone else’s?

You already know what you want so take your own advice!

I can guarantee that by NOT thinking like your competition and taking some of this advice, you will begin to be noticed more Online with your Social Media campaign as long as you stay focused and consistent!

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Next week (Monday November 15, 2010) I will be educating kids on Social Media. My main topics and

focuses will be on the obvious, staying safe while having fun. I also want to talk about how kids have a one up on adults as they can easily begin to build their personal brands in their teens. They can research and learn so much more. They don’t have to only rely on the

local library, newspaper and news to learn new things. The sky is totally the limit for these kids. With all of this said there is so much more room for mistakes. Things that we do and say Online can stay with us for a very long time and that’s scary. Post the wrong picture and your future employer might see it.

I want to know what parents are concerned about with their children being Online. I am not a parent, I only taught Preschool for 9 1/2 years and am now seeing the kids I first started out teaching joining these sites. I cringe when they request to be friends on Facebook. Not because of what I post, but because of the other people I see them connecting with and the things that they post, how they post it and how others comment. They know no better though. Let’s face it, we are their role models and I know one too many adults that post horrible updates, pictures and do things that could in turn harm them.

So parents, please share with me some of your concerns about your children being Online. I would love to hear them!

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You have a Facebook and possibly a Twitter account. You used to MySpace and you browse videos on YouTube everyday. Does this mean that you are now an expert in Social Media? Are you a guru? I am going to share with you some ways to spot a “fraudulent expert”.

1. You actually put in your profiles Online that you are a Social Media Expert/Guru.

2. When I Google your name, I do not find you at all within the first 3 result pages.

3. Your Facebook is filled with MLM links and your fanpage links to Mashable and Social Media Examiner posts because you actually do not have a blog.

4. If you have a blog, it’s not optimized. You have no links to any of your social sites and the only clear point on your blog is that you like to let everyone know that you are a guru.

5. You just joined Twitter a few months ago.

6. You seriously only have profiles on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

7. You are not social at all Online.

8. When people ask you how to use Social Media, your first suggestion is to automate everything.

9. You don’t even know what #newtwitter is.

10. You still don’t know what “Facebook Like” for websites is.

11. You have no testimonials for your Social Media Expertise on LinkedIn.

12. Come to think about it, you don’t even have a LinkedIn account because you don’t see the point.

13. You think it’s still OK to feed everything that you say/do Online thru ping.fm.

14. You think that Social Bookmarking is a waste of time or have no clue what that is.

I seriously could (and want to) go on and on, but I really want to get to the point of this post too.

My point is that there are so many people that are self proclaimed Social Media Experts and unfortunately NO ONE can be an expert in anything Social Media. See guys, the Internet changes everyday. New sites are launched, new features are released and that means that Social Media Strategists have to spend time researching the benefits of all of it.

So……. are you a Social Media Expert?

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365 Days of Blogging Challenge | Day 38

Social Media is huge! Facebook is THE most popular network by far with YouTube and FlickR being close runners up. This is where your neighbors are. This is also where a large portion of your community hangs out. Are you taking advantage of these sites to let them know of your upcoming events? If you aren’t, WHY?!?

Here are some basic Social Media ideas that can work for ANY event

• Create an event on Facebook – invite your friends and encourage them to invite theirs.
• Use Twitter to promote that event you posted onto Facebook.
• Create a YouTube video. Use your imagination on this, but don’t forget to link to your event listing.
• Use your blog on your website to promote your event.
• Don’t forget about geographical niche based Social Media sites. This is where many members of your community are.

These are just a few ideas and tips. Make sure when you are going through your planning phase that you include Social Media promotions and if you need help coming up with a strategy to contact people that are heavily involved with Social Media.

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365 Days of Blogging Challenge | Day 28

Is that you? Do you post something without thinking first? I am guilty of this at times, but try to be very careful because let me just tell you, that good ol’ delete button means NOTHING. Well it means something, it does delete whatever you posted off of your site, but that doesn’t mean it goes away forever. you see there is this handy dandy thing called a screen shot that could become your absolute worst enemy. Anyone can go and take a screen shot of ANYTHING that they want to and this is dangerous people! I see stories on Mashable and all over the web of some crazy things that people have posted on Facebook, Twitter and even their own blogs complete with the screen shot image.

Are you ready to put the thinking first and the posting last?

If not, check out this site http://www.ultimate-fighter.ca/Forum/viewtopic.php?id=24695

I think now is the time!

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365 Days of Blogging Challenge | Day 23

Are you THAT person?

Are you that person that goes from Facebook wall to Facebook wall adding a link and a little blurb in hopes of reaching out and “advertising” to people you are not connected with on Facebook? What about on Twitter? Do you @reply someone in hopes that they are just too stupid to realize that they are retweeting your spammy message?

Do you post advertisements on blog comments hoping that the owner of the blog either allows the comments to automatically appear or that they aren’t thinking and approve it?

If you are that person, you suck!

Yes, I said it and I’ll say it again, YOU SUCK!

You suck because you are trying to take the easy route to getting the word out about whatever it is you are littering all over the Internet. You are not creative, you lack motivation and most of all you have no respect for anyone else.

Let me tell you something, Mr/Mrs. Virtual Litterer, we can spot you coming. We are smarter than you think. We have seen your game overplayed for the past few years and although you are annoying, it isn’t anything that we can’t delete, unapprove or simply block.

Instead of littering you could try:

1. Getting to know the people you are connected with.
2. Starting your own blog which will allow people that CARE about your brand to keep up with it.
3. Being social – have real conversations that do not turn into advertisements.

If  you are a virtual litterer please do yourself a favor and stop littering all over the Social Web!

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Yesterday Mashable covered a story about MySpace stating that they are “beta testing” (on select accounts) a new look. the look gives it more of a web 2.0 or WordPress site feel from the image I saw. I logged into my account (yes I still have one, don’t you?), but sadly enough my account is not one of the ones that is testing out the new look. What do you think about it? Do you think that MySpace could make a comeback or do you think it’s too late for them?

I personally am kind of excited to see what happens with this, what about you?

Picture via Mashable. Click to see original post on Mashable.com

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“Stop counting! Numbers do not define your Social Media presence!”

Sure, it looks AMAZING to some if you have 10,000 followers on Twitter, however what really matters is how many of those 10,000 individual accounts interact with you. How many of those accounts do you think just follow individuals for the simple follow back?

This is also way too true for Facebook Fan pages, groups, profiles, LinkedIn groups and contacts. These accounts may have a huge following in numbers, but if you happen to be a coffee shop in Mobile, Alabama and you have more people from California, New York do you really think that the numbers are converting to bodies through your door?

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t allow these individuals to become fans and interact with them as well. You never know when one of them might be passing through and in need of a good cup of coffee, but in all reality those numbers mean nothing.

Remember to focus on Quality over Quantity!

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KIM RANDALL SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST