Blogging is a profession and a passion that has been transformational.

The feedback has changed and informed me. I have written, travelled, presented and networked.

It has allowed me to learn and to communicate with a global audience that has been enlightening, inspiring and empowering.

It asks questions of you. Will people appreciate your thoughts and views? Will I be seen as funny, clever or just an impostor and interloper?

It is a place for courageous people and those who have a thirst for learning.

The Naked Blogger

Blogging exposes you to a world wide audience that sees all your ideas, thoughts, spelling and grammar mistakes.

The term the “Naked Blogger” has a certain truth.

Brian Appleyard of the “London Times” says this about blogging.

“The blogscape is not for the faint-hearted….There’s a shocking disconnect between one fact — you sitting at your computer — and the next — what you just wrote being instantly visible to the entire world. Try to think of it as like stepping out of the toilet to find yourself standing on the centre spot at Wembley on cup-final day”.

But don’t let that image stop you blogging!

I have met the most awesome people that have reminded me of how connected we are and how lucky we are to live in a time of technology that provides us with boundless opportunities.

What have I Learned about Blogging in 2011?

It continues to surprise me as the social web continues to transform society and culture.

So what some key observations for me in 2011?

• People want more Infographics
• The continuing evolution of an increasingly “visual web” that communicates quickly and efficiently with images.(Pinterest and Tumblr)
• People “love” sharing
• Social media has supercharged blogging
• People’s continuing obsession with Facebook
• Twitter is still an enigma
• The contagious leverage  of “liquid content“
• People’s thirst for learning
• The power of a competitor to drive change as the success of Google+ has increased the speed of evolution at Facebook
• The mobile Internet cannot be ignored

What have you learned about blogging in 2011?

The Bible of Blogging Survey

Technorati is known within blogging circles as the “Bible of Blogging” and once a year it surveys the blogosphere to find out what directions and trends that are influencing bloggers and the state of blogging.

Here are some key findings that I thought were worth sharing.

1. Bloggers are Influenced by other Blogs

The blogosphere is influencing itself – respondents say that the number one influence on the topics they blog about are other blogs they read, a huge jump from 2010.

2.What Content when Blogging about a Brand Produce the Most Positive Response?

Among Hobbyists and Professionals working with brands, product reviews have elicited the most positive response. Among Corporate and Entrepreneur bloggers, the best response has come from advice or consultative content.

3. How Many Bloggers are Approached By Brands to Review Products

Bloggers are being actively courted. Nearly four out of 10 overall, 59% of Professional Part Timers, and 66% of Professional Full Timers have been approached to write about or review products. Pros are approached eight times per week on average. The most frequently approached Hobbyist, Professional Part Time, Professional Full Time, and Entrepreneur bloggers report being approached more than 200 times per week.

4. Is Blogging Being Taken More Seriously?

More than two thirds believe their blogs are getting taken more seriously as sources of information, with 76% of Professional Full Timers agreeing.

5. Media Habits of Bloggers

14% of bloggers spend at least 21 hours per week visiting social media sites. About two thirds spend less than an hour watching TV shows on their computer, tablet or smartphone or uploading photos to photo-sharing sites.

6. Blogs for Ideas, Inspiration and Entertainment

This is the second year we surveyed consumers on their trust of and attitudes toward the media they consume. Compared with other media, blogs continue to outpace other social media and many traditional media in terms of trust and generating consumer recommendations and purchases. Facebook remains somewhat influential, but less so than blogs, and Twitter has seen a drop in influence over the past year.

7. Why Do Bloggers Blog?

70% of all bloggers use their blog to share their expertise and experience with others. Professionals also use their blog as a way to make money or supplement their income. Corporate and Entrepreneur bloggers are looking to gain professional recognition, while also using their blog as a way to attract new clients to their business.

8.The Impact of Blogging on a Blogger’s Life

Overall, respondents seem to feel that blogging has had a positive impact on their personal life. 54% of respondents agree that they have made friends through their blog, and the same number agree that they have become more involved with their passion areas as a result of blogging. More than 60% of Corporate and Entrepreneur bloggers have gained greater visibility in their industry through blogging.

9. Bloggers and Twitter

82% of bloggers surveyed are using Twitter, with almost all Professional Full Timers (93%) and Professional Part Timers (91%) using Twitter and having on average over 1,000 followers. Those who use Twitter say they do so to promote their blog (77%), follow friends (60%), and bring interesting links to light (59%). Professional, Corporate, and Entrepreneur bloggers use Twitter to promote themselves professionally.

10. Bloggers and Facebook

Almost nine out of ten bloggers surveyed (89%) use Facebook. 50% of all bloggers have separate Facebook pages for their blog and for their personal account, a jump from only 34% last year.

Among respondents who have only a personal Facebook page, 60% are not linking their page to their blog in any way.

The Importance of a Facebook page for the Professional Blogger

Facebook the Marketing Network

Among Facebook users, the most common reason for using the social network is to promote one’s blog. 61% of Entrepreneur bloggers use Facebook to promote their business.

11. Bloggers and Google+

More than six out of ten respondents use Google+. Of those who use this service only 13% have a separate account for their blog and personal use.

11. The Most Effective Social Media Marketing Tools

Other than Facebook and Twitter, the most popular social networking platforms among respondents are LinkedIn and YouTube. Not surprisingly, respondents found Facebook and Twitter to be the most effective social networking tools to market their blogs and drive traffic.

12. What do the Marketers Say about Blogging?

Some quotes from the marketers.

“We usually have the option to share an article and/or an entire custom unit on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Additionally, we are running a blogging placement that allows bloggers to engage, then blog about it amongst their peers.”

“Social media is the glue to the mass messages. We attempt to integrate all of our campaigns so the paid, owned and earned are all working together. We do this for all of our clients.”

“I would have to say blogging and how it is being used has been the biggest development in social media. Individuals trust bloggers, especially those who are seen as influential. Blogging can either have a positive or negative effect on a campaign, brand or product. Individuals will make decisions based on comments made by their peers or by someone they feel confident in.”

13. The Top Blogging Platforms

WordPress is the most popular blog hosting service among all respondents, used by 51%. Blogger and Blogspot hosting services are also popular (21% and 14%).

14. The Top Blogging Tools

Particular blogging tools are very widespread among bloggers, especially built-in syndication (75%) and social sharing widgets (75%), as well as site search (58%). Among bloggers who use built-in syndication, the majority (76%) support full content.

15. Why Bloggers Don’t have Advertising

Among those who do not have advertising on their blogs, 52% say they do not have advertising because they don’t want their blogs to be cluttered with ads, while 38% said they don’t have enough visitors to make it worthwhile. Another 36% are not interested in making money on their blog.

16. How do Bloggers Manage Advertising

Among those with advertising on their blog, 60% use self-serve tools, while 50% have affiliate advertising links on their site.

17. How Do Bloggers make Their Money?

Most blog-related revenue is generated through giving speeches on blogging topics and advertising.

18. Professional Bloggers Get the Most Traffic

Professional bloggers receive the most views, with over half of the blogs viewed more than 10,000 times per month.

What do think about the survey? Does anything surprise you?

More Reading

Image by Mr. Pierpy

If you are  marketer or a business owner then insights into trends and consumer behaviour can give you an advantage over your competitors.

If you are selling to a female demographic you need to know where they are hanging out on-line. If you are marketing a product to the over 50′s it is important to know if they use Facebook or social media. Where are those teenagers with that high disposable income playing online?

Understanding the digital landscape and the social web and how it is being used by consumers provides brands with the knowledge they need to increase sales and improve customer engagement.

If social media was horse race then you might as well put down the glasses as the race has been won. The dominance of Facebook is well known but it is the scale of its growth, market share and time it takes from its users is what is intriguing.

According to the latest study by Nielsen (which was conducted in May 2011) there are ten insights that are both expected and surprising.

10 Insights into Social Networks and Blogging

1. Facebook is the Top Web Brand  by Time Online

There is no need to count users (as a lot of users register and never go back). The real measurement of engagement and use is how much time is spent on-line. Facebook dominates time on-line by a ratio of  more than three to one compared to its next closest web brand competitor Yahoo.

2. Social Networks and Blogs Dominate Time Spent Online

Social networks and blog sites are where Americans spend most of their time (22.5%). In fact it is more than twice as much as the closest category which is on-line games at 9.8%

3. Females Dominate

The majority of visitors to social networks and blogs are female and are aged 18-34. (calculations show unique audience composition index)

4. Men Like LinkedIn

Of the top 10 social networks, women are in the majority on eight of the ten. Men use LinkedIn more than women which would be due to the imbalance of management roles of males compared to females.

5. Top Site By Unique Visitors is Facebook

According to Nielsen, this past May, Facebook logged 140.336 million visitors, dwarfing the second-place finisher on the list, Blogger, which tallied 50.055 million.

The rest of the list:

• Twitter (23.617 million)
• WordPress (22.417 million)
• MySpace (19.25 million)
• LinkedIn (17.786 million)
• Tumblr (11.87 million)
• Six Apart Typepad (8.578 million)
• Yahoo Pulse (8.397 million)
• Wikia (7.601 million).

6. Mobile Social Media is Booming

The growth of smart phones is changing our media consumptions habits and social media use on mobiles is the second most used feature after downloading and playing music.

7. Social Networking Apps Growing at 30%

If you use an app on a smart phone then it likely that you will be using a social network app. Social network apps ranked third on the most used app category with Games and weather apps holding positions one and two. Facebook ranks as the most popular app across all mobile operating systems.

8. The Over 55′s are Using Social Media on Mobile Phones

Many people think that if you are over 50 you are not using social media on a mobile. In fact the fastest growth of social media use on smart phone is the over 55′s with 109% growth. The 35-54 age group growth rate stands at 68% year on year and 18-34 year olds are increasing their visits to social media  sites on their mobile by 61%.

9. Social Media Users are Influential Offline

Social media networks have given influencers a platform to spread their ideas. Influencing your peers on these platforms can drive increased sales to on-line stores.

10. Tumblr Triples its US Audience in 12 Months

Tumblr is a social network that combines elements of blogging and Twitter. It is now the 8th largest social network and blog site in the US with over 11 million unique visitors in May compared to only 4.2 million in May 2010.

As these statistics were collected by Nielsen’s survey in May 2011, they do not include Google+ which launched a couple of months later. So it would be interesting to look at this landscape in a few months and see how it is developing.

What is obvious and pleasing is the continuing growth in blogging in all its formats with Blogger.com and WordPress continuing to make their presence felt and Tumblr being the surprising result and the social network to watch.

More Reading:

• 30 Terrific Twitter Facts and Figures
• 50 Awesome YouTube Facts and Figures
• 50 Amazing Facts and Figures About Google

Image By Will Lion

I have been aware of the benefits of social media for a while now and have used this blog as a pulpit and soapbox to shout from this digital hilltop. I have personally experienced the power of this new media to accelerate brand awareness and to spread my stories.

You can exhort and preach to the CEO’s and executives about social media’s power and some will “get it“, but until you start to experience it for yourself  the flame will not blaze brightly.

I look at my blog’ s Google analytics from time to time and the Global reach that you can achieve with social media never ceases to amaze me (the current analytics statistics show me that JeffBullas.com is read in 190 countries by 172,443 unique visitors). I don’t know of any other media that could achieve that in less than 2 years without spending a cent in traditional advertising or marketing dollars.

The Harvard Business Review Analytics Services recently conducted a survey of 2,100 organisations and discovered that 79% are currently using social media channels. They also asked them what they saw as the benefits of social media and here are the results and feedback from the real world.

The 12 Major Benefits Of Social Media

1. Increased awareness of the organisation

2. Increased traffic to website

3. Greater favorable perceptions of the brand

4. Able to monitor conversations about the organisation

5. Able to develop targeted marketing activities

6. Better understanding of customers perceptions of their brand

7. Improved insights about their target markets

8. Identification of positive and negative comments

9. Increase in new business

10. Identification of new product or service opportunities

11. Ability to measure the frequency of the discussion about the brand

12. Early warning of potential product or service issues

Note: Below are the graphical results of the Harvard Study

What often does scare the CEO is that as well as the benefits that social media does bring, there is a downside encapsulated in this comment by Paul Gillin the author of “The New Influencers”

“Conventional marketing wisdom long held that a dissatisfied customer tells ten people. But…in the new age of social media, he or she has the tools to tell ten million.”

The challenge is to not let the fear of this unknown overwhelm the benefits that the social media revolution can provide to an organisation.

What benefits have you experienced with  social media either for yourself or your company?

More Reading:

8 Reasons Why Social Media is Such a Powerful Marketing Medium

13 Ways to Monitor Your Brand on Social Media: Do You Know What Is Being Said About Your Company Online?

9 Ways To Convince The CEO To Use Social Media and Enter The 21st Century

The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success

30 Fascinating Facebook Facts To Tell Your Friends

Image by Cayusa

In the past marketing was easy. You advertised in the yellow pages, you sent letters and catalogs using direct mail, cold called and you placed ads in trade magazines and local newspapers.

If you were a larger company you used television, radio and national newspapers. It was known, comfortable and expensive.

The arrival of an increasingly digital economy and new media is chipping away at the familiar and known and replacing it with marketing platforms, channels and tactics that didn’t exist 5 or 10 years ago that companies and marketers are still trying to get their heads around.

The ageing “baby boomer” CEO’s and senior management are afraid to embrace it because it is new and scary.

The “Scary” New Media

We now have Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, Twitter, email and search engine marketing and they all reach out to different demographics and markets. Musicians trying to get a break and get a record or DVD deal in the past had to engage an agent to help to secure a record deal with a music label. They then waited and prayed that the agent and the record company would work on their behalf. Their future was in some else’s  hands.  Today they are going direct to the market themselves without those intermediaries in between them and their audience making their own YouTube video and going to straight to the market themselves. This web trend is called “Dis-Intermediation”

A Musician’s Case Study

An example of this trend is Kate Leahy who with a budget of $20 and with some creativity and hard work made a YouTube video from her bedroom in outback Australia and marketed herself to the world (without an agent or a record label) and ended up touring Europe for 4 months and performing at shows across 4 countries only 3 months after producing her video “The Life Raft“. Kate made a stop-motion video using over 900 compiled photos that  took her an entire month to produce but it was done on time and she didn’t go over her budget but she had control and she was able to do it herself.  If you are passionate and committed you can achieve amazing things.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Insightful and Revealing Cost Saving Comment

The cost of lead acquisition is also another reason to use the new digital media for marketing as it reduces the cost of those sales leads. A recent comment on the article “The World Is Hanging Up” by the Johan the marketing manager for the telecommunications company Telefonix.co.uk in the UK revealed that after tracking and counting the cost of acquiring sales leads that Web and Organic new media marketing was the most cost effective lead generator.

• Exhibitions cost per lead  - 1,500 pounds
• Telemarketing cost per lead – 900 pounds
• Pay Per Click cost per lead – 150 pounds
• Web/Organic cost per lead – 30 pounds

The Survey Results

So where is the smart money being spent by the top companies to make the best use of their marketing budget? StrongMail have released the results of a survey of 925 marketing and business leaders showing that the top 4 investments companies are making in marketing are

1. Email marketing is the top area of investment growth (65%)
2. Social Media (57%)
3. Search (SEO & PPC) at 41%.
4. Mobile comes in at 4th at 35% and you will continue to see mobile marketing continuing to grow strongly in the future as smartphones and high speed wireless networks and apps continue to grow strongly.

So this is where the smart money is going. Where are you spending your marketing dollars?

Image by Truthout.org

The challenge for any blogger personal or corporate is to continually come up with content that brings the readers and viewers back to the blog. The corporate blog should not be about “selling” it is about educating and solving your customers problems. Do that and they will keep showing up to learn more and to find out how they solve those day to day challenges that life and business brings.

One thing you need to keep in mind is that content is not just text, it is any type of media and includes images, video and audio and all types of reincarnations of those such as PDF’s, eBooks, Powerpoint presentations and these can all be published onto social media platforms, such as YouTube, Flickr and Slideshare to name a few. You need to think like a publisher!

So how do you find the inspiration to develop and publish content for your blog. Here are 30 ideas to get you moving.

I spent an inspiring  afternoon with Charles of Cubic Promote who is one of my clients and we discussed how he could optimize his social media marketing including his blog. He is one very savvy businessman and is using his 23 blogs to optimize his website for search engines in ways that are producing top keyword ranking results.

Just like our company his brands marketing strategy doesn’t rely on cold calling but inbound marketing by making his site so visible on the web that clients call him. ( by the way I hate cold calling, always have and  always will).

This post started with an article earlier this year on “30 Tips To Make Your Companies Blog Rock” and I had quite a few comments by readers and so added more tips on other keys to making a blog successful. I then added to that post with some ideas from readers and more of my own with a post titled “50 Ways To Optimize Your Blog“.

So here are even more ideas to add to those original articles for optimizing, writing content and promoting your blog  that will help your company be found online and hopefully admired and remarked about by your customers and prospects.

1. Write about industry News – whats happening this week, this month

2. Read and develop content on industry Trends – where is the industry going, what are the emerging hot segments

3. Find out about your customers Pain Points – Write posts that provide solutions for your customers problems

4. Write about customers successes – Write up a case study about a clients successful project, they will often let you publish their name

5. Publish content on what not to do! – highlighting where something hasn’t worked (the names shall remain anonymous of course)

6. Create a video blog post by interviewing a successful client – this can a powerful providing authentic evidence of authority and credibility for both you and the client

7. Write articles for the different types of customers that are relevant for each of  your vertical markets

8. Brainstorm blog post topics with colleagues and management and create a list for future reference and planning

9. Subscribe to the top industry blogs in your market, both company blogs and personal blogs for ideas

10. Look through your latest news releases for ideas

11. Sign up other staff to write on topics in your industry or market that they are passionate about

12. Develop a series of how to blog posts

13. Turn the “how to” blog posts into short videos

14. When you have a great idea, go straight to your “add new” button and write the headline and save it as a draft or write it down before you forget it.

15. Include a great iconic image at the start of the blog that catches the eye

16. Case Studies are always popular to write about and not just your own

17. Place Powerpoint presentations on your blog by posting  and then embedding links from Slideshare

18.  Run polls and surveys on your blog

19. Create great headlines that catch people attention and makes them want to read the rest of the article

20. Add credbility banners such as how many subscribers, number of hits, blog grade and any awards

21. Provide “share this” buttons to Facebook and Twitter as a minimum

22. Implement “subscribe” buttons via RSS and Email

23. Write in bite size chunks and use bullet points so readers can quickly and easy consumption

24. Break up large blocks of text with iconic and interesting images

25. Take screen shots to place in your post using Software like Snagit to highlight points .. a picture is worth a 1000 words

26. Be yourself even if it is a company blog.. be authentic.

27. Optimize your blog for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

28. Promote and distribute your posts on to other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

29. Make the blog easy to find on your company’s web page with a large bannner or button

30. Finally, have fun, mix up the types of posts and add some humour occasionally Gini Dietrich from Spinsucks.com contributed to the list with the following eleven additional tips

31. Ask your readers what they want you to write about

32. Let your readers pimp their own blogs in your comments section (we’re going to do this on Thursday of this week)

33. Ask questions

34. Create contests (which goes along with your poll/survey idea)

35. Install the SEO All In One pack on your WordPress blog

36. Use StumbleUpon and AllTop to increase your readership

37. Create content for Associated Content by republishing your blog posts there (it helps with readership and news outlets will republish your content on their sites)

38.Comment on other blogs and news articles to show your thinking/expertise, but also link people back to your blog

39. Make sure, when you use Twitter to promote your blog post, that you’re tweeting about it more than once a day

40. Subscribe to SmartBrief newsletters, RSS feeds, and Google alerts in order to find ideas for new content (that’s how I found this blog!)

41. Post and link your content on the Delicious social bookmarking site. (This will again help spread your content by placing it on a highly trafficked site)

42. Try your hat at a guest blogger or two, this could add credibility to your site , especially if the person is influential in his or her space. Courtney Wiley of  iNgage Networks also made this suggestion

43.In the meta tags for your photos, make sure the labels/words are what you want them to be – search engines can’t “read” photos, only the labels/meta tags. Dave Heinrich from WebTechUniverse.com also contributed with this tip which is vital and I do this with every image in my posts

44. When people write a comment actually take the time to email them directly and thank them for the comment and if they ask a question, then answer it. You will find that this will create a WOW factor and spread the word about the blog. If you took 10-15 minutes a day to respond to 5 comments via email you would make great impact on over 1,500 people during a year who would each spread the word to potentially 1000′s more. This could be the making of a tribe!

45. Comment appropriately on the top blogs ranked by Google on the major key word or phrase you are trying to optimize for SEO. This will create a a link back to your site and linking is key to increasing your own rankings with search engines

46. Write a blog post listing some important bloggers in your industry (such as the top 5) and point out how they make their blogs successful and you might find they return the love!

47. Interlink to other posts in your blog when writing a post especially those that are relevant and have been successful (this again is great for SEO)

48. Outsource content development for sections of your blog that are appropriate such as ‘resource’ sections.

49. Update an original post that provides more value to your readers (this post is an example)

50. Take readers comments and include and promote them in your blog  (like we have just done)

51. Take a selection of your best blog posts and make an ebook out of it. Then distribute the ebook on the Amazon Kindle Store and Apple iBookStore. This will find you new readers for your blog. And you can monetize it in a whole new way by charging a dollar or two for your ebook. (Thanks to Vikram Narayam )

52. Collaborate with other Twitter users within your niche to promote each others content

53. Make sure that everyone within your company has their own Twitter account and promotes the blog and company social media accounts on that account

54. When speaking or presenting, record it on video and upload it to company YouTube channel. It will be a constant resource for clients as well as adding to your websites SEO.

55.  Make excerpts of  key points on the video and turn them into short blog posts.

56. On your YouTube make sure you have optimized the video for search engines through tags, key phrase in the description as well as the link to your blog in the  description section.

57. The SlideShare account where you have uploaded your PowerPoint presentation should also be optimized for search with your blog or website URL in your public profile

58. The Slideshare account should also have your top keywords and phrases in the  ”Public Profile” about section so that search is optimized.

59. Keep most blogs short with no more than 400-500 words as most people don’t have much time and will be only spending a minute or two on your blog (average time on this site according to Google Analytics is 1 minute and 39 seconds)

60. If embedding a video in the post again brevity rules with the rule of thumb now at a 1-2 minute video

61.  Take each post and post it on the New Digg (20 million visitors a month), it is quick and easy to do and will take you only a minute or two (it involves copying the URL and pasting it to Digg, add the headline and choose the section then hit

62. Take the results of your polls or survey and turn them into a blog post. A lot of people want know the results as over time the blog post is buried in the archives

63. Use a twitter app such as SocialOomph.com (Professional edition) to schedule tweets your posts on a regular basis

64. Collaborate and communicate with other successful bloggers in your niche especially those that enhance and add to your skill set (they will encourage and support you)

65. Implement an email acquisition strategy that includes a pop over form that hovers over the screen for first time visitors (offer free eBook or video tutorial as an incentive and a gift for people giving you their name and email address) . One platform that provides this is Aweber.

66. Another email subscriber tactic includes a suggestion to refer a friend to join the email list

67. Place a video on your Facebook fan page inviting visitors to subscribe.

68. Link to your blog on your Facebook fan page

69. On your email subscriber form don’t ask people for their life history keep it short and only ask for name and email address

And one other suggestion don’t give up “Persist” and your blogging journey may surprise you!

Image by Jetson

The role of social media in spreading the latest breaking news about an emerging disaster or crisis is well documented. We have seen it with the plane crash in the Hudson river in New York where the news was broken on Twitter via an iPhone and also the monitoring, reporting and updating of the civil rights abuses when the Iranian elections were being held.

The Red Cross recently conducted an online survey to assess the role and importance of the use of social media in disasters and emergencies and here are some of their findings.

The first part of the survey established the general level of use of social media in the community

• Nearly 3 in 4 participate in at least one online community or social network.
• Respondents with children in the household are more likely to use social media (81 percent vs. 67 percent for those without children in the household).
• College graduates are more likely to use social media (78 percent vs. 67 percent for those with some college or less).
• 89% of respondents aged 18‐34 use online communities or social networks compared to 65% of those aged 35 and older.
• The majority (82 percent) participates in social media at least once a week, with nearly half participating every day or nearly every day

The second part was the potential use of social media in reporting disasters whether human or natural.

• One in six (16%) have used social media to get information about an emergency
• About half of respondents would sign up for emails, text alerts, or applications to receive any of the emergency information.
• About half of respondents would mention any of the emergencies or events on their social media channels.
• Facebook was the most commonly used channel for posting eyewitness information on an emergency or newsworthy event at 75% followed by blogs at 22% and Twitter 21%
• During an emergency, nearly half would use social media to let loved ones know they are safe.
• The vast majority would use Facebook to post information about their safety.
• More than two-thirds agree that response agencies should regularly monitor and respond to postings on their websites.
• Younger respondents (18-34) make more use of social media with 33% using social media to get news about an emergency compared to only 9% of those aged 35 and above
• Younger people are more likely to request help through social media or text messaging
• Younger respondents expect a faster response from social media requests for help

Now this where it gets interesting

In the survey three out of four would expect help to arrive within an hour which I think shows either a high level of trust in our emergency agencies or is it just a slight sign of developed world impatience.

How have you used social media during a disaster or emergency?

Social Media Marketing is often thought of as being mainly suited for B2C (Business To Consumer) marketing.

So finding a survey that takes a closer look into the role of social media in communicating with business buyers in a B2B (Business to Business) marketing environment and its role in their buying processes provides some food for thought.

This sort of information is valuable in determining how companies that sell technology products and services will engage, communicate and market to businesses. Forrester’s determination from this survey, is that  technology buying is a highly considered, collaborative process, one ideally suited for social interactions, so use of social media in this environment is important.

Forrester surveyed 1,217 technology decision makers including CEO’s in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany from SMB (Small and Medium Business)and enterprise companies with more than 100 employees and asked them

“During the next 12 months which of the following emerging information sources will you use more to inform and validate your purchase decisions?”

These are the 15 social media channels in order of  importance as indicated by the survey.

This survey highlights the importance of figuring out which channels and sources buyers prefer when they look for information or want to validate a purchase decision.

Takeaways that I found insightful from this survey:

• Forums are nearly twice as likely to be used in the buying decision
• Virtual Trade shows have become more important  due to current depressed economic conditions
• Twitter (microblogging) will still rank near the bottom of the list because consumer themes and pop culture dominate this medium
• Technical buyers prefer collaborating on wikis
• IT architects and infrastructure folks rely more on blogs
• Online ads catch the business buyer’s eye. This finding underlines the importance of integrating both traditional and online media into social media plans to not only reach potential buyers but to also guide them back to online destinations and offers placed in more conventional media.
• B2B marketers should be identifying key buyer segments (or personas) and research how customers accomplish their purchase decision-making and business buying goals, keeping in mind which social media channels the different vertical markets and persona’s prefer to hang out in.

So how are you using social media to communicate, engage and market to B2B buyers?

Social media marketing is continuing to morph and evolve so keeping up to date with the latest trends and seeing what other businesses are planning to do in the future is essential to stay ahead of the game. Last year I looked at what were the top social media channels that were being used by companies to market and promote their business and those channels  have continued to be an important part of  a marketers toolbox.

A recent survey by Social Media Examiner of  1,868 business leaders shows what that future holds for social media marketing in 2010 as well as what is currently being practiced.

The 3 standouts for me from the survey were

1. What platforms are the experienced social media marketers currently spending their time on?

2. What Social Media Channels were they going to increase their time and resources on in the near future?

3. What are the Social Media  Tools used by B2B versus B2C?

Standout One: So what are the experienced social media marketers currently focusing on?

I have certainly noticed that the use of Twitter as a promotional and marketing tool has been discovered to be very effective and I have personally found this to be the case. Experienced marketers have certainly agreed in this survey with Twitter ranking first with 96%.

The thing to take note of here is that the experienced marketers have found out what works and what doesn’t, so if you have only been using social media for a short while its worth being a good student and let the mentors give you some guidance.

• Twitter 96%
• Facebook 91%
• LinkedIn 89%
• Blogs 86%
• YouTube and Other Video 64%

Note:  This group is also a major proponent of video, significantly more so than others.

Standout Two: What channels are the business marketers going to increase in the near future?

Surprisingly, marketers indicated that blogs were the top area in which they planned on increasing their social media efforts. Small businesses were much more likely to be increasing their blogging activities at 81% saying they were going to increase their efforts in this area. Facebook was next at 76%, YouTube or Video at 73%, Twitter 71% and LinkedIn at 67% wanting to increase their activity.

Standout Three: How do the Social Media Tools used by B2B vary from B2C focused businesses?

I am quite often asked what are the best social media marketing channels for B2B and this survey shows that B2B business marketers are using Twitter more and LinkedIn and B2C are much more focused on Facebook.

Also note that B2B companies are utilizing blogs more.

So what are your plans for social media marketing for the next 12 months?

I was watching Seth Godin who is one of the worlds top bloggers, being interviewed the other day on an online video.

I had never seen him on video before or even seen a photo of him except for his blog photo which is a rather memorable partial image. What really intrigued me was that my first impression (which frankly is still embedded) was that he is the “Woody Allen” of social media both in manner, speech and great insight.

In the interview he said that he doesn’t participate on Facebook or Twitter as he didn’t want to lose his focus and clarity that he brings to his blog which is his primary focus and he then went on to say “Most people are a wandering generality rather than a meaningful specific” which from my research is a quote from Zig Ziglar which he said, indicates that people  who lack clarity about their life purpose weaken their effectiveness to a massive degree if they don’t  get clear and motivated about what they want most out of  life.

This rather insightful quote made me think about what makes the top bloggers successful and extremely influential in their subject of choice.

So here are some of the characteristics that the power bloggers exhibit that brings them so much influence and power.

22 Secrets Of Power Bloggers

1. Consistent:

If you want to build a following and create influence your fans will come to expect to read your articles on a consistent basis whether that be once a week or every day. Don’t disappoint them!

Chris Brogan posts every working day. His blog ranks “Number One” on the Advertising Age for global marketing blogs.

2. Write well

If you are wanting to do well online you need to be able to write well and I don’t mean perfectly but good enough to help position you as being articulate and well read and Brian Solis does this with skill, expertise and a dose of panache.

3. Uniqueness

If you are going to stand out you need to be unique and Gary Vaynerchuk with his video blog titled “Wine Library TV“  does that with his vigourous personality.

4. Mix it up

The Hubspot blog uses humour, webinars, text, PDF’s, Online video and even a weekly online TV broadcast for an industry that can be a touch monochromatic.

5. Focus

I have read blogs where I am not sure what their area of expertise is or if they have a split personality, Mari Smith is well known for her focus on Facebook

6. Be Personal

Your readers are wanting to see “you’ because it makes you real and authentic John Chow’s Blog goes on a trip to China and talks about food and even takes photos of bowls of food.

7. Provide Analysis

If you want to be seen as an expert glossing over the surface is not going to cut it. The readers are wanting to see that you know your stuff. Brian Solis knows how to go into some great analysis of his topic of choice.

8. Provide detail

Some real facts, figures and detail are what your fans are keen to see that allows them to see the data and the facts to back up your story. Case studies, surveys and research are often a great fan topic.

9. Be controversial or thought provoking

Be willing to be controversial. It can get you noticed!

10. Be passionate

Leo Babauta with his blog Zen Habits demonstrates his passion with his consistent theme of simplicity and being passionate in the extreme. His blog is one of the top 100 blogs in the world.

11. Teach and Instruct

Lee Odden in his Top Rank Blog gives great instructions and “How To’s” that help his readers optimize their websites and implement social media marketing for their business.

12. Break News in your niche first

Breaking a story first in your industry gives you “Cred”.  Mashable seem to be able to do this regularly and it also helps to have over 2 million subscribers.

13. Provide great depth of resources for your readers.

For me if a blog has a lot of resources that help me with my business, passion or hobby then I am coming back time and time again and the Hubspot blog does this in spades through case studies, research and how to videos.

14. Foster and Nuture your fans and tribe

Seth Godin the author of “Tribes” says Smart innovators find or assemble a movement of similarly minded individuals and get the tribe excited by a new product, service or message, often via the Internet. he also says that you only need 1,000 fans to make a difference.

15. Provide a rich media experience

Hubspot’s blog does this well with a great array of media including video, text, image, slideshare(Powerpoint) and podcasts. It has also increased its blog post from one a day to sometimes 3 daily.

16. Provide a unique design and brand name

You can make the brand your name (personal names are great for personal branding) or it can be something different such Smashing Magazine which is a great blog design

17. Have an opinion

David Meerman-Scott who has certainly influenced my path with his book “The New Rules Of Marketing and PR” is not afraid to tell corporations what his views are and has led him to be invited into the boardroom of General Motors and meet with CEO’s. His blog is called Webinknow.com

18. Be Original

Don’t be afraid to be original, so check out So Good Blog which is an absurd look at the world of  food and is not afraid of being different.

19. Write a book or two

Dan Schwabel knows how to promote his personal brand and he also knows that a well written and promoted book will make his blog rock and his influence.

20. Connect to your peers and help them out

You will find that a lot of the bloggers are unafraid to promote each others blogs through linking and commenting on their own blogs. They also often collaborate on projects and joint ventures. Reciprocation is a a very powerful tool.

21. Be everywhere even if you can’t be there

If you can’t be there personally you can participate online and a lot of the bloggers are guests on podcasts and webinars even when they are on the other side of the Globe. The power bloggers are everywhere!

22. Do presentations and public speaking

Almost every person mentioned in this post is  a keynote speaker. It helps the blog!

The top bloggers of course do not have all these characteristics but you will find that they will tick the boxes for quite a few of the ones I have mentioned.

So what other characteristics do you think are important to be an influential power blogger?