It’s been awhile since I wrote one of these posts. I think we have all pretty much confirmed we have addiction problems to social media and that crazy little blue bird. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse now we have pins and plusses to worry about.

So, just in case you thought you were out of luck in getting a free pass to social media addict bootcamp, no worries. If you answer yes to at least 50% of the below signs then you have an official lifetime member pass.

 

1. When and if you ever get to sleep you find yourself counting Pinterest boards versus sheep.

2. You could literaly operate Hootsuite on your iPhone with your eyes closed while talking,  jogging and chugging a bottle of water simultaneously.

3. Your garden reminds you of Pinterest and you even pinned a photo of it to your gardening board.

4. You have officially taught the grocery store clerk how to tweet. She should also now take this quiz.

5. Your kids understand social media better than most of your clients.

6. You are considering having your 10 year old fill in for you on an upcoming webinar.

7. You no longer have patience for people who tell you “my clients are not on social media.”

8. You turn down as many clients as you take on due to the “not going to sell you on social media factor.”

9. Your kids know the meaning of Tweet chat, hashtag, syndication, content marketing and edgerank.

10. You know how many tweets it takes to get thrown in Twitter jail.

11. You know the secret ninja tricks to get out Twitter jail.

12. You know who @TwitJailWarden is.

13. You participate in at least 3 tweet chats weekly.

14. You have accidently written your Twitter username on personal checks and other legal signatures.

15. You officially installed a tweet and iPad station in your family bathroom.

16. If a male family member goes to the restroom without the iPad everyone asks them what’s wrong or if they need to charge it.

17. You have received serious threats from your kids if you share a bad photo of them on Facebook.

18. You often question if you should just change your legal name to your Twitter handle.

19. Someone has stalked you at a local establishment and asked for you by your Twitter handle.

20. You have mastered inbound marketing and the automated online conversion funnel. Weekends are now yours, all yours!

21. Even though your online platform works while you’re not working on weekends, you still can’t get that smartphone out of your hand!

22. You have accepted the fact your brain now thinks in 140 character segments.

23. Everyone in your neighborhood thinks you live on Facebook and Twitter and have no life.

24. You question if your neighbors are right about #23.

25. You just thought to yourself “my neighbors are right about #23.”

26. You have too many Facebook pages to keep track of.

27. You are somewhat happy when Facebook has a slow performance day as it gives you an excuse to stay away from it for a bit.

28. Even some of your clients who started out with only 30 Twitter followers are now self proclaimed “Twitter Rockstars!”

29. You still cringe when clients and partners introduce you at speaking engagements and events as the “social media guru.”

30. You forget that not everyone you know is addicted to social media as you.

31. You no longer care if you tick off your parents or extended family with your psuedo business updates on your personal Facebook page.

32. Spammers on Twitter no longer bother you.

33. You have thought about creating a website to plublicly shame copycats and plagiarists who copy and paste your blog posts.

34. You don’t care who unfollows you. You know there are plenty more where they came from.

35. You are what you tweet and proud of it.

36. Your kids know most of the people in your Tribe on Triberr!

37. Your kids know every Facebook major update there has been the past year.

38. Your kids make fun  of you when you like your own posts on Facebook but you still do it anyway.

39. You get told daily by small business owners “you were right about Twitter at that seminar two years ago… it sure is a powerful tool.” You just think to yourself, “ya think? should have listened to me then, heh!?”

40.  You know the businesses in your local city who are less than a year away from going out of business because they have failed to adopt new media.

41. For fun you have mastered sending your bully “self proclaimed” competition on a wild goose chace of tangents distracted from their core business model with just a couple tweets or blog posts that get them spinning in the wrong direction.

42. Even though you have 50k followers on Twitter you mastered keeping private what you want private about your business and making public what you want public.

43. You are glad they didn’t have Facebook when you were in high school or else you would have never gotten away with the half the stuff you did.

44. You have mastered #cardiotweeting and can officially keep your heart rate in target zone while tweeting, reading blog posts and catching up on Facebook.

45. You leave the house for 30 minutes and come up with 5 new blog post ideas.

46. Your kids give you ideas daily for blog posts.

47. Your kids are launching a new business and already know what platforms their audiences are on and are ready for their Facebook business page.

48. You are jealous that your kids will never have to get a “real job” and can literally be successful entrepreneurs from age of 12!

49. You have at least one pet named 140, Tweetie or troll.

50. You have a hard time finding a developer who knows WordPress as well as you do.

52. You are considering dressing as a Pinterest board for Halloween this year but know most of your friends and neighbors won’t think it’s funny nor know what you are.

53. You swore you would never read another post about social media addiction.

54. You are questioning why you read this post as it already confirmed what you know.

55. You are going to tweet this post to your friends who will also agree with number #53 & #54.

Social media addiction happens to the best of us. The best you can do is accept it, embrace it and enjoy the fact your life is one big Tweet and status update!

An article published by Mashable this week, “98% of Americans Distrust the Internet,” was tweeted thousands of times in just a few short hours and could potentially ruffle many of the faithful’s feathers. The story cites a study by Harris Interactive regarding trust with findings including: 

• 98% distrust information found on the Internet
• 94% say acting on inaccurate information you find online can result in “bad things”
• Leading concerns include wasting time, getting a virus, losing money and fraud
• The majority surveyed traced their distrust to ads, outdated information and self-promotional content

You’re online. You read blogs. What do you have to say about these findings?

I surveyed myself.

And wow, I found myself to be amazingly more cooperative in this survey than those I’m asked to participate in when my phone rings. In fact, I reeled off all kinds of reactions. Let me share them with you. 

“Sweet.” This was my first reaction. I’m a copywriter. Eek. I know, I already have to deal with this trust issue because for a few hundred squid, I’ll sell your product like I invented it. But hey, wouldn’t it be fair to say the reverse of this 98% distrust issue is 2% trust the information they find online? And if so, doesn’t it make sense to follow with reasoning that would suggest a small minority of people who trust what they see online are prone to trust your pitch before you even deliver it? If 2% of Internet users bought your stuff, would you do okay?

“Too good to be true” was my next thought. An authority reports almost everyone distrusts what they find online. Why would I step in and tell you it’s good news? Because there’s so much OPPORTUNITY. Understand the reason why distrust is so high is because most of what you find online is marketing BS, which doesn’t deserve to be trusted. So we understand the problem, very good. We can work toward arriving at the solution: earn trust.

“Why would you answer otherwise?” This came to mind immediately. If I were to answer that I trust the information I find online I’d expose myself as a gullible idiot. No? Do I, or do you, or does ANYBODY trust everything they see on TV, hear on the radio, get sent in the mail, find in their inbox, read in the papers? Please. Most don’t even trust the people we’ve elected. We trust our friends. We trust those we believe to be authorities. Marketing advice: (1) make friends (2) become an authority.

“No duh” came to mind too. Here, I refer to the study highlighting how the majority said acting on information found online can lead to bad things.I struggle to even treat this as a media issue. I would hope that 100% of those surveyed would say acting on inaccurate information you find ANYWHERE can lead to bad things.

“You shouldn’t trust the Internet” entered my mind too. If the Internet’s the guilty party, how do we convict it? Do we shut it down? Bottom line: we NEVER trust a medium (or at least we shouldn’t); we trust people. Actually, I should say we trust people we deem trustworthy. 

“What we have here is a trust issue.” It’s not a brilliant conclusion. The study was about trust. If it found 51% (instead of 98%) distrust the information they find online, we’d have the same story, right? My point is this: your plan—whether it’s about marketing products, personal branding, connecting with friends, or whatever you do online—must include achieving that illusive thing called trust.

Search though I might, online and off, near and far, I can’t think of one relationship that works without it. Ask yourself: what’s the thing you buy most often? Now ask yourself: do you trust it?

Solving the trust problem.

My conclusion for you as a marketer: tell the truth. It’s the best way to get people to know, like and trust you. The truth might earn you 100% trust.

Let’s say you buy (or acquire) watches on the black market, sell them on the boardwalk, and showcase your inventory by opening your trench coat. If you market yourself as a fine jeweler, only fools will trust you. However, if you tell people what to expect from your timepieces, how you’re able to procure your inventory at low prices and then pass along the savings, you’re likely to win the trust you need to make sales.

My conclusion for you as a consumer: find the truth. You’ve heard of due diligence. Do it. Check sources. Check references. It’s not going to be that hard, and yes, the Internet will help facilitate the process. 

Consider the source. 

The survey cited here and in Mashable’s story was commissioned by Mancx, a company that describes itself as a trusted community for business answers where people buy and sell their knowledge. Convenient how the results came out, wouldn’t you say?

I actually don’t mean to be questioning the study’s validity. But I do challenge any interpretation that would suggest you should avoid going online when you need information. In fact, I am a certified inbound marketing professional and a serious advocate of publishing useful information as a marketing tactic.

It’s called content marketing. 

According to Copyblogger’s Content Marketing 101,“Content marketing involves delivering requested information with independent value that creates trust, credibility, and authority for the business that provides that value.”

Content Marketing Institute will go so far as to say if you’re not doing content marketing, you’re not marketing.

One more finding from the study Harris conducted:

• 54% say it would be an improvement if the answers always came from trusted sources.

I’ve got to say, that one sounds silly. And my response is the old cliché: don’t believe everything you read.

Consumers, find trusted sources of information. Marketers, be one.

I know, I know…you probably don’t use Bing.  I don’t use it either, but they have done something pretty darn cool with their search engine.

SEO and social are steadily becoming partners in crime and you really can’t have one without the other anymore.  Google has been dipping their toes in this realm for quite a while with their “personalized results“, but the social aspect of their SERP (search engine results page)  is powered by Google+.  Bing is taking a different route with the 800 pound gorilla (Facebook) and their implementation seems sound. It all comes down to the concept of social proof.  Watch this short video to see what I mean.

 

There is one response to this post! Join in…

Larry T. says:

June 29, 2012 at 10:42 pm

This is a fantastic post that you have put together Steve, I rarely ever use Bing but now that I see how it pulls from Facebook, I can view how many people are talking about a specific real estate website that I am looking on. I would definitely use this as a way to see how many people are talking about my site or competitive sites as well. Thank you for the fantastic post!

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Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a set of universal social media rules?

The internet is full of social media wisdom, but what if we had 10 rules of engagement?

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a writer of some kind. Whether you’re a blogger or author, social media has become a large part of our lives. The options are vast, but how do you stand out from the ever-growing crowd?

The 10 rules of social media engagement

The following tips are adapted from my ebook, How To Build An Author House.

Reading this post won’t turn you into a superhero, nor will you wake up tomorrow with 100,000 new Twitter followers. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not one of those guys.

What this post does offer is some tips to help you become a social media rock star.

1. Engage first, sell second

The clue is in the name … social media. Your first instinct might be to tweet about your book, but what good does this do?

When did you last buy a product because someone Tweeted about it?

These days, we buy from those we trust. This takes time to develop, so engage first and sell second.

2. Be consistent

If you’re a celebrity this doesn’t apply to you. You’ll be able to share a Facebook message about that muffin you just ate and receive 2,043 likes. The rest of us need to keep it relevant.

People like consistency. If they know you as that girl who shares great financial advice, keep giving them what they want. You can mix it up from time to time, but make sure you’re being consistent overall.

3. Be regular

We’re all guilty of it: we start with vigour before getting lazy.

This is social media suicide.

If you open a Youtube account, comment on 30 videos a day, and upload daily, people will begin to take notice. If, after a month you stop, guess what? People will forget who you are.

Once again, it comes down to consistency. Be regular and be consistent.

4. Look beyond your own nose

It’s not always about you. If someone follows you on Google+ they want to know what you’re doing. By all means share your stories and spread the love. Don’t, however, think you’re the centre of the universe.

Have you ever been to a networking event where someone only talks about himself? Do you want to be that guy?

5. Reply to everything

If you have 100,000 Linkedin connections, this is bad advice. Assuming you aren’t Darren Rowse, though, you should try to reply to everything you can.

If it’s spam, by all means press Delete. If it has value, make sure you reply and keep the conversation going. We’re forever sewing seeds.

6. Search, don’t wait to be found

Again, if you’re a celebrity, this doesn’t really apply. You can sit back as a million people follow you. Most of us, however, need to search, but don’t worry, it’s quite fun.

Search for conversations that interest you. These are the people you want to meet. Go find them and make some new friends!

7. Be patient

Instant social media success is hard to find. You might upload amazing images to Instagram, but don’t be surprised if it takes a few months before people take notice.

The truth is, most people are wary. They see people like you all the time disappear after a few months. Be patient and earn your stripes. It will be worth it.

8. Spend time on it

One thing I discuss often is finding the right platform for yourself. Social media is a demanding mistress. If you think you can get a way with a mere fling, think again.

Join every platform at your own peril. To get the most out of social media you need to put in the hours. Picking the right channels is key. You want time to blog, too, after all.

9. Be your brand

Chances are you’ve built a platform. This means you have a brand. This means you have responsibilities to upkeep. Represent your brand as often as you can.

Again, consistency is important. Provide a message that spreads across platforms and you’ll do just fine.

10. Remember to sell

We began this journey with the warning of selling too soon. However, don’t forget to ask the darn question. Whether it’s a book you’re selling or a blog you need people to visit, make sure you plug yourself from time to time.

It’s about finding a balance between sharing your own world, and sharing other people’s. Being social is the first step, but we all have bills to pay.

Like I say, these rules of engagement won’t guarantee you an instant hit, but they will point you down the right path. Social media can help, but only if you use it properly.

Do you follow these rules of social media engagement? Has social media propelled you in front of new readers? Share your own stories below.

The trading week has started and it’s risk off.  Markets in Asia and Europe are getting slammed on renewed fears that Greece and Spain may not meet its debt obligations.

This has sent investors and traders into low-risk asset classes like US Treasury securities.  The US 10-year Treasury note yield sank to 1.40% earlier today.

Here’s chart of the 10-year note from Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett.  It shows that the borrowing costs have never been this low.

Earnings season is well underway. 18 percent of S&P 500 companies reported earnings this last week and 34 percent more are slated to report this week.

Rather than dwell on company-specific performance, we wanted to see what these industry leaders were saying about the global economy.

We dug through earnings announcements, conference calls and presentations to get a sense of how 2012 is shaping up for companies so far.

With just the first stirrings of recovery taking shape across the nation, how could buyers, who have been scarcer than hen’s teeth since the fleeting 2010 tax credit boom, suddenly be in the market for larger and more expensive homes?

In a trend reminiscent of the explosion of the SUV and pick-up truck markets during times of rising oil prices, demand for larger homes has continued and perhaps even increased despite millions of foreclosures, negative equity over 25 percent and a trend towards greener, smaller new home construction.

Last week Coldwell Banker reported that house hunters using its site, coldwellbanker.com, are looking at larger homes. Visitors are looking at homes that average 3.31 bedrooms and 2.36 bedrooms, up 2.2 percent and 17 percent respectively, since February. The number of rooms has remained flat at 6.44.

The CB analytics may confirm to other recent reports suggesting that bigger is booming. Last month the American Institute of Architects’ first-quarter Home Design Trends Survey found that eight percent of the 500 architecture firms responding say square footage of homes increased in the first quarter, up from 5 percent a year ago. This change, the biggest year-over-year jump since the survey started in 2005, ends a multiyear march toward smaller homes driven by the housing implosion.

Another recent report, this one from the Census Bureau, reports that for ten years consumer demand for larger homes has been growing, despite the housing depression and the green movement in home construction. The percentage of new single-family homes greater than 3,000 square feet has grown by one-third in the last decade, according to data released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau reports that the average size of a U.S. house rose in 2011 to 2,480 square feet, up from 2,392 square feet in 2010.

Last year, the average new home a size was 62.6 percent larger than the 1,525-square-foot average size in 1973. Slightly more than 1 in 4 new homes built last year were larger than 3,000 square feet, the highest percentage since 2007. Larger homes include two-story foyers, twin front staircases, children’s wings, dedicated man caves, coffee bars, four-car garages, and bedroom closets large enough for a fifth vehicle.

The trend to bigger homes runs counter to the expectations of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), which released a survey of home builders in May that shows that in the future builders will be downsizing their offerings in the belief that the housing downturn has permanently changed what Americans are looking for in their next home.

Builders surveyed in the NAHB study expected homes to average 2,152 square feet by 2015, 10 percent smaller than the average size of single-family homes started in the first three quarters of 2010 and 13 percent smaller than the average size of new homes last year, as reported by the Census Bureau.

So what’s going on? Are builders missing the boat? Were smaller homes never really in vogue with new home buyers, but rather simply politically correct, a temporary change resulting from tight credit, high unemployment, and a lack of equity? Apparently, the answer is yes.

When last year’s Census report showed squarer footage zoomed to 2,522 square feet-larger than during the height of the boom-Builder Magazine took note and analyzed data from 12 metro areas around the country-including Boise, Idaho; Boston; Chicago; Denver; Houston; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Raleigh, N.C.; Salt Lake City; Seattle; and Washington, D.C.-looking at a range of data from home sizes to financing to unemployment and others, between 2005 and 2011.

Among the 12 MSAs analyzed last year, all but one saw average home sizes fall over the six-year period, and all saw a decline in price per square foot. However, builders, not buyers, determined house size and in the past year, builders ranking from KB Homes to Toll Brothers are busy building bigger.

The one metro that bucked the trend for shrinking sizes was Philadelphia, which saw a small uptick in home sizes between the years, moving up 0.61 percent to an average of 1,829 square feet among all housing types. The market also saw the smallest decline in price per square foot, which dropped only 1.4 percent.

The study confirmed that consumers are not sold on smaller homes and if they can afford more, they will buy more. In recent years, buyers must be more qualified than before, so those they do qualify often can afford a larger home. Most are getting the most that they can afford. “Nobody wants a smaller home, necessarily. It’s really what they need. In this economy, people are weighing wants versus needs,” said a Philadelphia area builder.

In other markets studied by Builder, new home size declined not in response to changing consumer demand, but to the difficulties builders have faced getting construction loans. Financing also constricts the ability of buyers to get a loan. “I do think there’s still a big market for a big house, but it’s just a problem of getting the loan,” said an Orlando builder.

However, hopes for a shift back to smaller homes are not dead. “The moment first-time buyers are able to come back into the market, and both buyers and builders regain access to credit, we expect sizes to ease again,” said a Boise builder. “That’s very odd for those jumps to have taken place in one year.”