This is serious news when it comes to business networking and social media, I see a serious win-win here for both parties. There has been some debate recently about Facebook and how seriously it can be taken when it comes to businesses using the Facebook network to extend their social media ambitions as well as advertise across it. I would argue that the LinkedIn/NYT partnership steps up the ante for both Facebook and MySpace; the NYT, one of the world’s great media institutions that has seriously embraced the internet to further its business, may be on a path to shaking off its “Grey Lady” image and LinkedIn, which, although having only 25 million registered users making it small by social network standards, is by far the doyen of social sites for serious business users. We’ll see how this one unfolds.

Kudos, once again to Marshall Kirkpatrick for breaking the story.

My Online Marketing Presentation About Radiohead from iaintait on Vimeo.

.

Studio Nemo is always hopping and it always gets the good stuff! This shoot was for Nike 6 with photographer Josh Letchworth behind the lens. The Nike 6.0 athletes were in town for Migration, a week of fun-filled activity and work all rolled into one. It’s like a giant meet and greet for all these kids from different areas of action sports.

Q. How do we reach these young people? A. You don’t, you wait for them to invite you

The social media folks and their blogs have been buzzing lately over a story that seems to have come from Deloitte but perhaps was more widely circulated by the WSJ. Josh Catone at Sitepoint drilled down further into the story from where it got picked up by Marshall Kirkpatrick on ReadWriteWeb.

Both Josh and Marshall have great points and their posts are a good read. Marshall’s post had the most provocative headline - Corporate Social Networks Are A Waste of Money, Study Finds. I thought I’d pick up the story there - A Waste of Money. Companies have a bad habit of throwing money at everything that moves, especially if it looks like “something we should be doing.”

Here are my thoughts distilled from my own writings on the subject and insights borrowed from Josh and Marshall’s posts:

Here’s an extract from my essay ‘On Social Media, Blogs and Advertising.’ - To understand and embrace social networking is to place the idea that says “technology makes this possible” to one side and embrace the idea of the basic human need to stay in touch with other like-minded people at all times. As Clay Shirky says “The desire to be part of a group that shares, cooperates, or acts in concert is a basic human instinct.” Read the rest of this post here.

With that thought what follows is:

Businesses can not “build a community” however much money they throw at the idea. They merely need to look outside of their own walls, find the influencers who are already championing their products and join the communities that already exist.

Businesses can not attract “visitors” as measured in traffic to their sites. People who enjoy their products will be talking about them elsewhere in other communities. See above.

Businesses have to realize that having a Facebook page for their products makes them look ridiculous and could actually harm the brand. See my post about Spraychel and “her” Facebook page brought to us by the folks behind I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter®

It is the way of businesses to make predictions about their market. They should not invest in software that makes predictions, or even social-networking technology, unless they have discovered a clear market need.

Positive word of mouth marketing by online communities that enjoy a businesses’ product is a far better metric than the ratio of visits to the corporate web site or its community.

Online communities led by influencers that champion a businesses’ products are doing just that, championing the products not the corporation that brought them to market.

So what should businesses do? Here’s a list that I have reworked to address businesses as it was originally written with rock bands in mind.

They should:
01. Run a blog to which actual company members post regular updates.
02. Ensure that the blogosphere is alerted to any new and breaking news or important posts.
03. Offer early access to special offers and discounts for their customers loyalty.
04. Give away free samples of their product.
05. Be active in their customers online communities.
06. Never push unwanted messages to their customers.
07. Ask their customers to interact directly with their product, for example through competitions and giveaways.
08. Allow the sharing of their products amongst a community.
09. Work closely with influencers.
10. Embrace radical transparency. Openly discuss their problems with their customers and allow negative comments to remain on their blogs.

That’s the top ten; number 11 in my list would include - have dedicated staff working on your company’s online communication 24/7.

Read more of our thoughts on Social Media here.

In his article Rich Men in Uniform, Christopher Tennant details the looks of a handful of the world’s most powerful men. Interestingly enough, these billionaires seem to stick with the same dressed-down looks, no matter the occasion.

Apple’s Steve Jobs prefers the soccer dad classics of a mock turtleneck, Levi’s 501 jeans and white sneakers while grocery store kingpin Ron Burkle looks the part of a weekend warrior in his unchanging black Ralph Lauren polo, boot-cut jeans and classic black Chuck Taylors.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned is that when you’re a billionaire many times over, you have nothing to prove to anyone. And, you probably have bigger fish to fry than trying to decide which pair of handmade Italian loafers you should wear.

If you want to have a truly great blog, transparency is a must. Yes, that’s a bold statement, but it really is the cornerstone of building a solid following.

WHAT IS TRANSPARENCY?

1. Transparency is about being trustworthy.

The easiest way to earn a reader’s trust is to tell the truth. Dave Allen states simply that ‘Being authentic means [that] the blog’s author is a “trusted source” and this trust can never be abused.’ The last thing a blogger should do is fake it because inevitably they will get caught and called out. Once your image is tarnished, it may be close to impossible to regain that former glory. The internet nearly guarantees that past sins will live on forever.

2. Transparency is about being upfront about your sources and affiliations.

If your post is influenced by a promotion or advertising agreement, always practice full disclosure. “Pay per post” takes place when a blogger is offered products or cash to promote an advertiser in their articles. Going down this road can be tricky if you aren’t upfront about it and it has the potential of alienating readers. Clearly differentiate your main content from that of which is paid (and make it clear if there’s any crossover between the two). Most readers understand that bloggers have to make a living too, but it should be an honest living.

3. Transparency is about being upfront with who you are and why you’re blogging.

Give your ‘About’ page some serious thought. After spending some quality time on your site, readers will probably want to know more about you.

Also, what are your reasons for blogging? Are you trying to make new friends? Is your goal to gain new clients for your business? Do you want to earn enough ad revenue to turn your blogging into a full-time job? Is your aim to make new connections in your industry? The more open you are with your readers about what you plan on gaining, the more trusting they will be to what you have to offer.

AVOID CENSORSHIP UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY

One of the biggest slip-ups that bloggers can make is to censor those who want to interact in a two-way conversation. The Opinionated Marketers are right when they say that “It’s one thing to write a blog saying great things about a celebrity (or a company or a product). But if you’re going to invite the public to participate, you need to be ready for the bad as well as the good.”

Dave Allen expands upon this concept by explaining that “once a company [or person] opens the doors, it can not close them. If a company starts a blog [and it should] it can not moderate the comments. And the CEO and other executives should not be contributing to the blog if they do not have the right “authority” or “voice”. By that, I mean authenticity. It’s an overused word at times but in the right context, it is completely accurate. If a CEO were to jump on the blog to blow her own trumpet non-critically about a company’s service or product, the readers would see through it immediately.”

Many of the popular bloggers today with massive followings have done so through developing a personal connection with their readers. When readers trust the blogger’s ‘voice,’ chances are that they will want to contribute to an ongoing conversation via comments, email and possibly even a follow-up article on their own blog. For a real conversation to occur, both sides need to be allowed to communicate. Silencing one of the sides won’t allow that organic conversation to develop.

There are times when the deletion of a comment should be considered, but this stance should be practiced sparingly. Obscene comments that contain no value to the conversation and attacks on fellow commenters may warrant action, but if you let everything else flow, chances are that the people who are really passionate about what you do will jump in and defend you.

Transparency can’t be bought and it can’t be earned overnight. Transparency takes equal amounts of time and honesty to develop and is worth its weight in gold. Because, with transparency comes trust and respect. And, with trust and respect, loyal fans will follow. And, with loyal fans, a tight-knit base for your brand credibility evolves.