Social media is free. Social media is inexpensive. You don’t have to outspend your competition. Social media saves time. Social media will save your business thousands, if not millions. These are all quotes I’ve seen from various voices recently. Each one pretty much agrees with the other – that social media is a great tool for you to implement into your business because it’s so cost-effective and will give you quicker results. Sadly, it’s not true. Yes, you’ll save on…

This is a guest post from Matt Cheuvront and is part of the Guest Blog Grand Tour over at Life Without Pants – an epic journey of over 75 guest posts. Want to learn more about Matt & see how far the rabbit hole goes? Subscribe to the Life Without Pants RSS feed & follow him on Twitter to keep in touch! I’m still a newb to this whole blogging thing. Those of you who know me might think I’m…

This is a cross-post from 12for12k, following the humanitarian disaster currently happening in Haiti. I don’t think I need to explain the human disaster that’s unfolding in Haiti. An earthquake of devastating proportions has ripped the heart out of the country, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. There are fears that there could be more than 100,000 fatalities and countless more injured and missing. This is the immediate impact. Long-term there is the threat of disease,…

I was scanning Twitter today when I saw this tweet from Frank Eliason, who’s the Senior Director for Comcast’s National Customer Service: “Is there any other perspective than the Customer Perspective in Social Media?” It was in response to a statement from Andrew Mueller regarding social media’s role in business. Andrew viewed social media as an overall tactic that includes the customer; Frank sees it as starting with the customer. While there’s no denying that customers play a huge role…

This is a guest post from Jim Mitchem. Jim is a father, husband, copywriter and founder of the virtual ad agency smashcommunications, llc. You can find him at his Obsessed with Conformity blog, and on Twitter @smashadv. One of the things I hear most often from colleagues who attempt to justify why big brands need to be involved in Social Media is, ‘Don’t you want to know what people are saying about you?’ Only, this is a very passive position….

Marketing to a law firm is very different to marketing to a butcher’s shop. Implementing social media strategy for a school is not the same as implementing social media strategy for a school for spine surgeons. Flying a kite is not the same as flying a three hundred passenger Boeing. One size fits all solutions? No such thing.  

Sometimes we make decisions based on a spur of the moment emotion. We read or hear something we disagree with, and take it to a higher level than it probably needs to go. This leads us to reacting. It could be that we speak out about what we’ve just disagreed with. It could be that we place someone on a filtered list, whether it’s email, blog comments, Twitter feeds or similar. Sometimes we continue that reaction long after the reason…

Here’s a quick thought I just want to share with you, in case you’re wondering whether you should start a blog (or even if you’re currently blogging and are thinking you need to up your content level). Stop thinking about it so much. Stop analyzing every single word you’ve just written. Stop holding your finger from the Publish tab. Stop trying to find that perfect phrase to say what you’re thinking. Stop giving yourself reasons not to post. Instead, offer…

This is a guest post from close friend and writer Christina Kingston, who blogs over at CtKingston.com and is one of my 10 Bloggers to Watch in 2010. If you’re online right now then… Who’s watching rickety, old, near-death grandpa? Who’s feeding the children? Who’s French kissing the wife? I was chatting with good friend and fellow blogger, Danny Brown, randomly discussing a multitude of topics. We touched upon one that made us both laugh. The questions above, though harrowing, propelled…

Sorry for the interruption to normal service, but I just wanted to get a few things off my chest. Hope you don’t mind, and normal service will be resumed tomorrow with a great guest post from Christina Kingston. So… To the douchebags on the train that insist on using the external speakers of their iPods, at least put some decent music on. If I must be subjected to your unplugged iPod, can it be something other than the crap you…