Facebookers, MySpacers, YouTubers, and bloggers of all kinds, hear this!

If you put something on the internet, people will read it. And I mean everyone; not just your friends and online contacts, but your employer, your pastor, your ex-boyfriend and maybe even your mom. Mine certainly does .

I don’t mean to instill fear, or dissuade anyone from sharing information online. I am obviously a major proponent of all things online networking-related, and there is little about me that you can’t read about online. And then there are the photos. But it’s important to remember that if you put it out there, it will be seen.

This topic comes up at just about every blogging-related conference I’ve been to (yes, several thank you very much) and those in the know tend to agree; there is “no security by obscurity,” to paraphrase Roland Tanglao (I think it was). Meaning, you can’t assume that the internet is such a massive space that the photos from your drunken exploits on that Thursday that you called in sick won’t be found by the boss you lied to, eventually.

My generation is the last that will have to experience a paradigm shift here; us “grown folks” have had to decide whether we’re comfortable with “putting ourselves out there.” The young ‘uns seem to have a reckless “devil may care” attitude with a lot of what they publish online, and my message to them is simply this: tread carefully.

Recently, over lunch with Six Apart’s Anil Dash, this very topic came up, and he said that they screen the MySpace pages, YouTube channels and blogs of every job applicant they get at the company, and anytime he talks to school groups, etc. he’ll bring up this fact, just to watch their reactions. “Shock and awe” pretty much sums up his description of the ensuing discussion and question period.

Of course, sometimes maintaining a public profile puts you at risk as well, as evidenced by certain goings-on in the blogoshpere of late (no link until the dust has truly settled). Just as in the “real world,” there are always a few bad eggs out there who seem intent to ruin the fun for the rest of us. But we shall overcome, and all that. It’s a lot of fun here on the ‘internets,’ and I want nothing more than to see everyone join the party, and be themselves, without fear.

Just remember that you are in public, and you should act accordingly.

(image credit: “New Issues of Privacy” from the New Yorker by NYCMotherPie)

I can’t remember the last time a web app got this much attention.

Twitter seems to be gaining in popularity at blistering speeds; creating massive gaps in opinion among bloggers about its usefulness, and whether or not it is worth all the hype.

The Cliff Notes on Twitter: It’s a nifty little web application that allows you to broadcast “what you are doing,” using your phone, your instant messager, or by typing into the window on your “home” page on the Twitter site itself. You can then choose to display a small widget (in your sidebar, for instance) that looks like this:

(apologies to those reading this with a feed, you can’t see it)

To me, there’s no secret why it’s so popular; once you have someone on your friends list, you can receive updates (as often as they feel like sharing them) on exactly what they’re up to. To draw a parallel, I’ve recently been wasting entirely too much time on Facebook, and just the other day I realized why this is (and what makes it vastly better than MySpace). It gives you an editable news feed, that keeps you up to date on what all your friends are doing with the site. If a friend comments on another friend’s photo, or God forbid changes their relationship status from “In a relationship” to “It’s complicated,” (for instance, of course) eyebrows get raised.

People want to know this stuff it seems, and perhaps even more surprising is that people are quite comfortable with sharing it, too.

I have yet to make up my mind one way or another about Twitter, but I would be remiss if I didn’t add the two cents that I’ve been able to collect so far on this latest social web widget phenom.

For one thing, the Twitter site itself is painfully slow. And I mean really slow. Like, if Myspace was forced to crawl uphill with Facebook on its back, it would fetch the proverbial pail of water long before Twitter could load my “friends” widget. And at the moment, I have just three Twitter friends.

Yes, that is your invitation to add me.

Mack has yet to make up his mind about it as well:

I’m going to keep an eye on Twitter, but stay on the shore for now. There’s a ton of buzz about Twitter right now, but is that due to what it provides, or that ‘everyone’s talking about it’? Time will tell, and right now time is something that I’m already running short on.

Mack and I tend to agree more often than not - and I think in this case we might be equally skeptical. But where he prefers to “stay on the shore,” I’m diving in head first. As I see it, it’s the only way for me to fairly evaluate whether or not it truly is worth all of the hype.

For more of a background on Twitter and to help get started (assuming your interest is piqued), I came upon this article, via Kris Krug’s feed, entitled “A Newbie’s Guide to Twitter,” which I have yet to read in its entirety, but seems to be a great way to get one’s feet wet with the app.

So, perhaps you’ll be reading an update in a few weeks time once I’ve formed a decisive opinion on Twitter. Judging by the sheer number of people (read: cool kids) using it, I might fall in love in spite of its incredible slow interface.

Have your own opinion to share? Let ‘er fly in the comments.

And oh yeah! Add me.

Finally, a widget that displays your online presence in ALL of your various social networks!

Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch, but most of the major online social networks that one might belong to are there. A few of the major blogging platforms are noticeably absent, but thankfully my dear sweet Wordpress is represented. Hat tip to Joel Burslem for pointing it out.

Anyway, without further adieu, here’s my new widget (soon to be featured in the sidebar, perhaps?) from “Show Yourself.”

Jordan Behan
		Digg/jordanbehan
		Flickr/jordybehan
		Myspace/jordanbehan
		Facebook/Jordan Behan
		Virb/jordanbehan
		Linkedin/Jordan Behan
		Twitter/jordanbehan
		YouTube/jordanbehan
		Del.icio.us/jordanbehan
		Skype/jordanbehan
		GMail/jordanbehan@gmail.com
		Upcoming/65906
		Technorati/Jordan Behan
		MyBlogLog/jordanbehan
		Blog/Jordan Behan
Get Your Own Widget

Perhaps the coolest feature of this is the customizable colours (I checked my CSS to make it match a bit) and the fact that it is a match with the MyBlogLog widget that many of us have already nestled neatly into our sidebars.

Update: The custom colors aren’t displaying properly, so perhaps you should ignore that last line.

Later…Upon closer inspection, it is displaying my “Trebuchet” font, and so it is actually my stylesheet overriding the customization.

Are we going widget crazy? Perhaps. But it is still fun, and that’s good enough for me.
In a side note, this exercise finally persuaded me to sign up to Twitter. Now the whole world will know when I’m working tirelessly in my pj’s with naught but coffee for sustenance.

That is, if I choose to share.

I can’t seem to get both widgets to display, so Twitter will have to wait for now

I mean, what better way to illustrate how the tools of the social web can be used effectively in marketing than to employ some of those tools to “crowdsource” a comprehensive presentation?

Here’s how it works:

• In the comment form below, leave your input as to how companies can use tools on the web to join their community of customers and start conversations.
• I will take those submissions, and from them I will build both a PowerPoint presentation and speaker’s notes. I will then publish those under a license, effectively making the presentation free for all to use, provided they attribute the contributors and blog about their talk.
• It’s truly open source, so you can edit the slides, the notes and your resulting talk to suit you, as long as you re-publish your changes under a CC license.
• Sound like fun? Well then chime in! In the comments below, give us your real world examples, ideas, case studies, recommendations, brain storms; whatever you’ve got.

I think this can be a lot of fun, and serve as a great way to help others understand the way the web is changing how companies can better communicate with their customer base, and truly join their communities.

So let’s hear from you! Here’s your chance to have your best ideas and voice heard, and to take the message to the streets, along with the ideas of your fellow marketers, bloggers and social media experts.

Comment away; make it a sentence, or make it a few paragraphs, your choice! And don’t forget to leave your link and name for the credits!

Cheers,

Jordan Behan
jordan[at]telltenfriends.com

Update: After some chit-chat in the comments, Rob Merlino has decided to buy a url for the hotdogtruck blog, at www.thehotdogtruck.com. Also, Bob LeDrew points us to his latest CBC article on this very topic, and I’ve selected a quick byte here:

All these social media have a few things in common. They are based in the idea of conversation, or dialogue between equals. A static Web site delivering tightly scripted messages doesn’t work with this new world.

Exactly.

Update #2: Cynthia has chimed in with a focus on B2B, and another gem of a quote:

Choose a select group of customers that are your raving fans/evangelists. Have a conversation with them about how/if they would like to interact, collaborate with your company. Or with each other. Then select the best social media tool–blog, online community, message board to fit your unique community.

Bullseye. Also, big thanks to Chris Heuer of the Social Media Club, who gave the go-ahead to pull bits and pieces from his previously published content, with attribution. That is, after all, what Creative Commons licenses are for.

Anybody else have an article or concept that they’d like to have referenced?

I’m sitting back at home after a long day at “Moosecamp,” day one of a two-day blogging conference here in Vancouver called Northern Voice.

Those of you who subscribe to my feed will already have seen a few of my pics trickling in throughout the day. Expect more of the same tomorrow, but I thought it would only be fair to share my observations after this first day of action.

I attended sessions all day, ranging from “Mash-ups for Non-developers” to “Photocamp.” Oh, and I got my purple t-shirt with “Bloggable” across the front. Damn, that’s clever!

(purple t-shirt photo by Kris Krug)

The first thing that always strikes me about conferences of this kind, is how I “fit in.” See, in most of the crowds I find myself in, I am a different breed; an uber-user web kid, who everyone turns to for all matters related to the in-ter-nets, and computers in general for that matter.

In a crowd like the one at Northern Voice though, I’m just a wide-eyed “noob,” all slack-jawed because I’ve just seen a live demo of feed mash-ups that never knew were possible, or because someone confirmed that it really is Robert Scoble sitting over there in the corner.

If you’re not a habitual, obsessed blogger-type like me, and you’re reading this wondering what the hell I’m talking about, then don’t give up on me just yet. My point is simply that in the world of the web, I am but a fledgling student when compared to the kind of power-users, developers, and…let’s just say it - downright A-list bloggers that tend to show up at the kinds of conferences with “camp” as a suffix.

(me scratching, as seen by Cyprien, whose NV shots are many)

The second thing that strikes me is how many familiar faces I recognize. Thanks to the presence of little 60×60 pixel avatars on many of my online haunts, I can put the face to the name for a lot of personalities in the room, even when we’ve never met. I feel like I know them, such is my familiarity with the frequency of their blog posts, or their photo feeds, or even the sound of their voice on their podcast, if that is the case. That, I don’t mind telling you, is ultra cool IMO.

Since attending Barcamp way back in August, I’ve gotten to know a few of “the people behind the blogs,” through emails, coffee meetings, lunches and various other meet-ups. In fact, Jeremy and I carpooled to UBC together, and our firms collaborate on projects as well.

I guess what I’m doing a long-winded job of saying is that the web has connected all of us in a way that was never logistically possible before, and conferences like Northern Voice were created to celebrate that fact; to organize the collective to spawn new ideas, share them, and for at least one weekend, to press actual flesh and meet the real people behind the web presence.

For this reason, I try to make a point of introducing myself to all of those people that I feel I already know. Sure, I might come off as a bit “fan boyish,” but that’s what it’s all about for me.

Strangely, I’m coming to this realization only after returning home at the end of the day (I opted not to give myself the burden of attempting a live blog this time). Thing is though, I’m back there tomorrow. So if you’re reading this and you’re attending Northern Voice this weekend, stop and say hello!

I’ll be the guy with the goofy grin and the outstretched hand, waiting to shake yours.

——–

I will add to this all weekend, but if you want to see a slideshow of my shots thus far, it’s here. Also, if you’re curious about all-things-Northern-Voice, the agreed upon tags are northernvoice for posts, and both northernvoice and nv07 for Flickr photos.

Blog on, Vancouver.

When I saw this (on the YouTube homepage) I realized I just had to post it. After all, it’s timely, relevant and serves as a great example of customer evangelism; in part because he using the product to literally sing its virtues.

Enjoy:

Sweet, isn’t it? In other love-related news, JD made a big public announcement this week. Congrats!

I haven’t said this in a while, but I love you all. Thanks for reading!

Be forewarned: My apologies for the number of times this item will appear in my feed over the next few weeks, more explanation below.

Update #1: In the spirit of full disclosure, I spent most of yesterday and today convincing myself that I didn’t have time to do any of this stuff, and then I realized how RIDICULOUS I sounded, and got down to it. This post is getting some traction, and I made a commitment. See new crossed-off items and notes below.

Update #2: After a busy week that included a PR campaign, I can cross off even more items. 

The Buzz Marketing Challenge

I’m incredibly late to the dance on this, but I couldn’t help but join in on the fun.

Ben Yoskovitz of the Instigator Blog is embarking on a buzz marketing project, pulled straight from the pages of Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing, by Ron McDaniel.

This concept is very much in line with what we do here at Tell Ten Friends, so not only did I think it would make a great blog post and experiment to share with readers, but it will also be good for business, and for generating buzz for our company.

The experiment itself consists of a checklist of ethical and effective activities to start a bit of buzz. No fanfare, no fluff, just good old fashioned conversation starting and web marketing; two of our favorite pastimes here are at TTF.

What follows is the list, with crosses through the activities I’ve been able to complete, and where applicable, a few short notes. In some cases, I have already done the activity several times over, (ie. Squidoo lens) but in the interest of the exercise, I’m making myself do them again.

I’ll update this several times over the next few weeks, hence the number of times it will be appearing in the feed.

Here’s the list of ways to generate buzz, copied directly from Ben:

1. Email an Old Friend or Acquaintance (It was great to catch up, Dan!)
2. Contact a Stale Connection
3. Email Extended Family (Annyong, Helen!)
4. Call Someone You Have Never Talked To
5. Congratulations Call or Note (haha, Rob)
6. Send a Surprise Letter
7. Any Day Card
8. Mail a News Clipping
9. Social Networking (got this one covered!)
10. Online Directory
11. Squidoo Expert Lens
12. Tag Your Website or Blog
13. Blog/Message Board Comment
14. Join/Participate in an Online Group
15. Talk to a New Person in Person
16. Contact a Reporter or Writer
17. Contact an Old Employer/Employee (Dom and Tony in one week!)
18. Customer Follow-up
19. Call/Email a Person You Respect
20. Mini Announcements
21. Digg Your Site
22. Flickr Fun
23. Personal Success Email List
24. Did You Know? - Trivia
25. Instant Messaging
26. Text Messaging
27. Email a Useful Link to Someone
28. Testimonials
29. Celebrate Success (Have a steak, has Howard says)
30. Write a Blog
31. Have a “Get To Know You” Meal
32. Host a Dinner Party
33. Arrange a Networking Lunch
34. Publish an Article
35. Meet More Neighbors
36. Send a Press Release
37. Give a Speech
38. Volunteer
39. Online Interview/Podcast (I swear, I’m getting to this!)
40. Conduct a Survey
41. Local Government Involvement
42. Open House
43. Interview a Leader
44. YouTube.com
45. Meet Business Neighbors
46. eNewsletter or Newsletter (I’m well over due here, too)
47. Produce an eBook (and here)
48. Nominate an Organization
49. Challenge a Coworker to a Buzz-Off (I challenge you all!)
50. Podcast Show
51. Host a Seminar or Training Session (more news on this one coming soon, right Jeremy?)
52. Unexpected Booth
53. Organize a Group
54. Become a Board Member
55. Conduct a Focus Group/Roundtable
56. Conduct a Customer Contest (I’ve got one of these in mind, too)
57. Organize a Charitable Event

I welcome any and all of you to join in with me, and share your experiences; either through comments, or as trackbacks from your own blogs. Some of this stuff isn’t easy, so don’t be surprised if months or even years later, the list still isn’t finished!

Any time something exciting happens as a result of one of the items on the list, I’ll publish it in a separate blog post.

The nice lads over Elastic Path (from right here in Vancouver) have put together a great white paper called “Blogging for Retailers.” (Follow link to download your copy)

If you blog for business’ sake - at all, then you should read it. They talk about retailers, specifically of the ‘large scale’ variety, but literally every word applies to any blogger who uses their content and conversation as a marketing tool; be it a service business, or any-sized online retailer. Toward the end is a glossary of terms for the uninitiated.

Also, Dave O had fellow ‘Elastic Pather’ Jason Billingsley and Bryght’s Boris Mann join him for a podcast on the same subject. A great listen to go with a great read.

Many thanks, Gents.

We are growing in numbers. We are are extremely polite, almost to a fault. We say “eh” a lot, even if we try not to. We work in Marketing and Communications and we are…

Canada’s 1% Blogging Army.

We spread the word about new media marketing and PR tactics, and we evangelize the things we love. We get to know one another through generous linking to one another, and then of course, we say thank you. A lot.

Big thanks to Sean Moffitt for creating the list of 150 ‘MARCOM’ bloggers in Canada. It’s a great list, and one that I sure am proud to be part of. Click the image above the read the list over at Buzz Canuck.

John of Obviousness.net tells us of his favourites, and I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time, so here’s mine:

Like John, I couldn’t get on without:

• Gmail- Email me for an invite: jordanbehan[at]gmail.com

• Bloglines- Although I hype Netvibes for its simplicity, I’ve been monitoring my favourite feeds in Bloglines since the beginning.

• Wordpress- She drives this site, and many client sites as well. And we love her. Code is Poetry, after all.

• YouTube- for the same reasons John gives. (Except the part about the kids) It’s the most widely used, and it has everything.

• Flickr- If you don’t love Flickr, then I’m not sure you and I can get along. Just kidding. Or not.

Also, I’m rather dependent upon:

• Basecamp- For project management, to do lists, etc.

• Pandora- So I can rock out while I work!

What are your favorites? The ones you just can’t live without…