His timing is excellent, because over the past few days I have asked by several small business bloggers about how to make their blog a better business tool.

And who better to impart that kind of wisdom than Mack Collier of the Viral Garden. Better still, you can read Mack’s condensed version of “Eight Easy Ways to Grow Your Blog” on his own site, or read the full monty over at Marketing Profs (freebie article).

A quick excerpt:

#4 - Showcase readers who make special contributions. Do everything you can to make sure that readers that frequently comment, or link to your blog, know that you appreciate them. It’s just common courtesy, and when you have a reader that’s going out of their way to be a faithful community member, you cannot do enough to encourage and reward that behavior.

I for one can attest to the fact that Mack certainly practices what he’s preaching there. Great post Mack, and a great one-stop resource for business bloggers, all.

The episode of The Lab that we taped last month will air on August 7 on G4Tech TV (news about the Google Video “release date” coming soon), and I have been invited back to tape another segment on July 12, on the subject of using social media to promote your business.

So, in the true spirit of community, I’m polling everyone (rather informally, just use the comment form below) to find out what social networking sites you like, and how you use them to promote yourself (or your company, where applicable).

I’ve already drafted some notes on:

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Virb
• Flickr
• and Bebo (which I actually know very little about. Erno? Can you help?)

Any tips or hints you want to share? Any others that deserve top billing in a lightning-fast, six minute talk on social networks? Linda, I’m counting on your input here.

I welcome any and all comments and suggestions.

Almost two years ago or so, on the advice of my boss at the time, I joined up at Linkedin.

Since then, I have seen a slow trickle of “connection” requests, but it seemed to have considerably less uptake when compared to social media powerhouses like MyBlogLog, Twitter and most recently Facebook, all of which caught on like wildfire.

At least, until recently. My list of connections is still quite modest (32 as of this writing), mostly because I haven’t actively attempted to increase the size of my network. But lately, I have seen what could be described as an influx of connection requests, with close to a dozen over the last two weeks.

Sure, that’s still nowhere near the amount of activity I see from the likes of Facebook, but it seems as though Linkedin is worth taking another look at.

What I like about it: Detailed work info about your connections (when they choose to share it), and a “degrees of separation” metric to identify people outside of your existing network. Also, the “recommendations” feature is great for conveying one’s credibility using the endorsements of others.

What needs improving: No pictures. Not only can you not put a face to a name, but you can’t identify your company with branding of any kind either. This may have made sense in the beginning, but it’s time to add that feature. I think the level of interaction with the site would grow considerably if you could see who it is you’re interacting with.

If you haven’t already, then add me on Linkedin. It’s certainly the most widely accepted “professional” online social network, and occasionally I’ve been known to pass myself off as a professional…

With Paul’s permission, I’m taking a conversation that we had via email (below), and re-publishing it here, edited for length.

Paul lives in the UK, where he says the new media phenomenon has yet to catch fire among the marketing community. There simply aren’t enough Pauls or Hughs to go around, it seems. Recently, Paul has found himself without employment, and has publicly blogged about his search, his struggle to find just the right fit, and the question of whether to publish one’s CV online.

Paul Fabretti

Paul’s Blending the Mix blog has always been a great read. Like me, Paul spent many months at the beginning reading, reflecting and commenting on the many new media marketing lessons published on the web each day, before beginning to publish his own original thoughts and ideas about marketing on the new web. All of this over a two year time span, give or take. In short, Paul gets it, and has had plenty of time to put much of “it” into practice. What’s more, he has a direct marketing background that helps him understand the dynamics of the old way of “pushing” information, and the new way of using information to “pull” visitors to you.

Since it hasn’t long since I was in a similar position as Paul, at the crossroads, I wanted to add some perspective for both him and his prospective employers about the value of what Paul already understands. And so begins a peek at our conversation:

Paul: In all honesty, most people I get interviewed by tell me I don’t have enough online experience. 2 years is nothing compared to most people I hear get interviewed so how do you show you have the knowledge without having anything to show for it?…How do you pitch what you do to clients by the way? How do you persuade the skeptics who think it is mumbo jumbo?

JB: To the sceptics who say two years is not enough, I say two years is an eternity in new media. How far have we come since we both starting blogging, etc? How much experience could one be expected to have in such a new and rapidly changing biz? Added: (Wanted: Facebook Apps Developer with 3-5 Years Experience! Joke stolen from kk+)

As for pitching clients, I sell them on what I know they want. Forget about the technology, the tools, the strategy, and first address this simple fact: The web allows them to put their already great (hopefully…) relationship building process online. And they can create and track word of mouth online, as long as they join the conversation with the best of intentions. Reaching more people, and creating lasting client relationships; that’s the return.

Web content is more important than ever, and if they have no strategy to manage it, they’ll get left behind. Years of experience managing “Web 1.0″ campaigns are less relevant, in my opinion.

Paul: You make a great point about a fast-changing environment providing little opportunity to gain experience. To be honest, I think it is one thing to use new tools (like blogging or twitter for example) but quite another and much more important, to understand how these tools should and should not be used for commercial purposes. I fear that the UK is not as aware of most of the tools I know and understand, and as such any experience i do have seems largely irrelevant! As you say, with new ideas cropping up all the time it is as crucial to keep track of it all. I also like your take on knowledge sharing on the net. There are always people out
there to share the knowledge and experience with.

JB: Paul, it sounds as though you’re in a perfect spot to help more companies discover this stuff, and your take on the fact that they are merely tools and not strategies will be infinitely helpful to the first smart employer who snatches you up.

It’s a shame that more companies in Paul’s neighborhood (Manchester) don’t already see the value in the kind of knowledge he possesses. Still, being the first with a great idea has its advantages.

Please join me in wishing Paul the best of luck in his search, and feel free to add your suggestions and comments to the discussion.

Lee Lefever has done it again. Along with his wife, on the Common Craft Show, Lee has produced another great tutorial to explain a concept that internet newbies have yet to wrap their heads around: wikis.

The concept of an editable page, as Lee explains, is easy to use but a little tricky to explain. He puts in plain English, here:

Click To Play

Well said! Lee’s original post here.

Every once in a while, I rewind to the very basics of how to catch yourself up on everything that’s happening on the web.

My readership has gone up since the last time I did a “What in God’s name is RSS” post, so it was high time I revisited the topic; if nothing else for the expanding network of Facebook contacts who will see this “imported note,” wonder how the hell it got there, and maybe even tune in to learn something new.

Well this time the job of explaining how RSS feeds work has been handled brilliantly by Lee LeFever, travel blogger, podcaster and web guru. Lee’s “live action animation” adds charm to his step by step tutorial. View his original post here.

So get to it, newbies. Watch it twice if you have to; but this is a complex and potentially life-changing concept, boiled down to the very simplest of terms, in what Lee calls:

RSS in Plain English

Click To Play

“There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don’t. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don’t know where to start.”

Well said. Hat tip to James.

Brace yourselves Canucks fans, because Game Seven goes tonight, and the fever will be at its frenzied peak. Let’s hope that the Canucks’ offense will also show signs of life.

In a follow-up to my recent post about the Canucks and their use of social media, I’m happy to report that local podcasters The Crazy Canucks were featured in a segment on CTV:

Get ready to wave those white towels Vancouver. And Dallas? Y’all can get primed for golf season.

Remember this one, Canuck fans? “Na-na-na-na…Na-na-na-na…Hey, hey, hey, Gooodbyyyye.”

Okay, so sue me. I wrote a headline that I knew would grab people’s attention. If you’ve been paying attention, that is a tactic that I recommend fairly regularly.

In actual fact, my clever little headline is a misnomer. Pardon the comparison to illegal street drugs, but if MySpace were cocaine, then Facebook would be crack. Which is to say that it is much more addictive, and has caused a epidemic of dependency. You’ll pardon the hyperbole as well of course, but ask any Facebook user and they’ll tell you; once you start, you’re hooked.

I’ve already touched upon why this is, but as the weeks and now months have rolled by since I joined (at Lindsey’s rather insistent request) I have realized that Facebook deserves the spotlight yet again. Because even though I have expressed surprise over the number of people that I have reconnected with through Facebook, my surprise has evolved to all-out awe; I simply can’t believe the people I’ve stumbled across.

I’ve said it before and I will repeat it now: The true measure of an online social network is in its users. MySpace had its time in the sun (before the spammers polluted it. Side note: MySpacer’s are still getting hacked all the time, too. Here’s how to prevent it, courtesy of Rob) but even then, when I got a friend request (from someone I actually knew) on MySpace, I half-expected to receive it.

On Facebook, all bets are off.

In the interest of protecting identities (as Facebook does from non-members) I will be vague, but since joining I have “connected” with: 7 cousins, five clients, 15 or so fellow bloggers, 14 high school mates, two fellow members of a teen youth group, nine friends from middle school, a handful I’ve known since kindergarten, two siblings, one former next-door neighbor and my Mom. And that’s just to name a few.

Perhaps the best part about Facebook (right this minute) is that so far it is still just a private party where all the cool kids have shown up. The “marketers without permission” have yet to storm the gates en masse and fill our inboxes with stuff we don’t care about. And for now, it’s a whole lot of fun.

So heavily-used is Facebook that I now write my headlines (and indeed my posts) with special attention paid to the fact that they will be imported into my Facebook newsfeed. Ironically, most won’t ever make the connection that this little blurb was published elsewhere on the web, but somehow just knowing that I have an even closer bond (I know many of them personally) with my readership, makes writing this all that much more fun.

So if you haven’t tried Facebook, maybe you should give it a go. I’m sure there’s a network or a group of like-minded folks just waiting to add you, tag you and let you join in on all of the fun.

What do you love or hate about Facebook? What would like to see changed? Are there other networks we should hear about? Ning? Virb? Speak your mind in the comments.

Nothing would make me happier.

One of the greatest brands in my neighborhood to embrace the social media concept is that of our beloved Vancouver Canucks.

Although I do follow the team throughout the year, I don’t post about them very much. I had the pleasure of attending three games this year, including Game One of the Western Conference Quarter Final against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night. For those who don’t already know, the game was a franchise-record 138 minutes long, and resulted in a 5-4 Canucks win. Big thanks to my darling wife for getting us the invite to Rod’s executive suite for the most exciting game I’ve ever watched.

Which, on its own is enough to want to write a blog post about. But the reason I’ve waited all this time to write about the Canucks is not merely because they could use the moral support as they continue after taking Game 3 in Dallas, (ahead 2-1 in the series) but because the Canucks have truly embraced social media, and it’s bringing the community of their fans closer together.

Case in point: The Fan Generated Content Challenge, which includes several categories with prize packs associated with each. View the “Round One” winners at that link, or just click one of the YouTube vids below.

In other “engaging social media” news, the Canucks almost treat podcasters like the media that they are; giving access to practices and interviews (and of course sidebar widgets) to the likes of the Crazy Canucks, who collectively host a Canucks podcast and blog, and several other fan sites and podcasts as well. Hey, Canucks front office! Give these cats some tickets to sit amongst the fans, and bask in the glory of the customer evangelism that results.

(Canucks Ultimate Fan Search sidebar widget)

Between periods and during TV timeouts, the massive screens above the ice at GM Place display some of the videos photos that have been submitted by fans.

Or take the much-debated but undeniably community-minded slogan of the Canucks this year: “We are all Canucks.” They have certainly re-embraced the fans, in the wake of an assault lawsuit and an epic lockout.

And so it is with a warm heart and a healthy dose of Canucks nostalgia that I present you with the four winners of “Round One” of the Canucks’ Fan Generated Content Challenge, followed by my own submission, at the very bottom:

The Ultimate Canucks Sacrifice

Two-Year-Old Ultimate Canuck Fan

“Trapper’s Delight,” The Canuck’s Rap

Canucks Chase Flames

And The Crowd Goes Wild!

(Shot by Alex Lee Behan at Game One of the Western Conference Quarter Finals)

We are all Canucks, etc.

It has been a good long while since I offered any updates on client work that we have done; namely because we’ve been so busy with it all. Blog post frequency has suffered as well; a sin I intend to atone for.

A few weeks ago, we launched a new Wordpress site with a Paypal shopping cart for Barbara M. Siemens, author of The Piano Workbook, a 10-part series of handbooks that helps piano teachers and students with the study of their instrument.

Rob Masefield designed the site, which seamlessly incorporates the blog, a tool that Barbara is getting great use out of. We’ve already received a ton of great feedback on the site, including a glowing testimonial from Barbara. Here’s a quick excerpt:

To say that we are merely proud of feedback like that would be an understatement. It was a tremendous pleasure to work with Barbara as well, and to see her embrace blogging like she has is also very satisfying.

We have also put the finishing touches on www.champlainheights.com, an area-specific niche real estate website for James Hampton; the top performing Realtor in the area, and mentor to my brother Wes. When you search for Champlain Heights, you find James. Cruise through the Champlain Heights tour, or see the slideshows for any one of the 22 building developments in the neighborhood. That’s right; floorplans, images and stats for all 22 of them. Smart guy!

James’ site is built with Ubertor, a real estate CMS software application that makes managing sites incredibly easy. With a number of Realtors (and one brother who’s an agent) on our client list already, partnering up with Ubertor to help even more Realtors just made good sense. Stephen Jagger, who blogs daily on the subject of real estate marketing, (see his Real Estate Channel interview here) is Co-Founder of the company, and has introduced us to such terrific clients as Mike Andruff of Team Andruff, and Ian Watt of the Ian Watt Real Estate Team.

For Team Andruff, we created one of our trademark SEO campaigns, which included a keyword-rich re-write of much of their site, and of course a number of social networking sites to help them connect on a personal level with a bigger audience using the tools of the web. Mike is an avid blogger, and has devoured every last bit of advice and strategy we’ve presented him with. Mike and the Team can now be found on their blog, on Squidoo and on Technorati. They also have their own YouTube channel for video home tours, we created a very cool photo-tagging project on Panaramio to show some of their sold properties, and Mike even has a Facebook profile he updates regularly (no link, Facebook is private folks). Lastly, we also created a stand-alone social networking site for Team Andruff using Ning, a very user friendly site that deserves a blog post of its own. We have it set up with a forum, a slideshow of images and their YouTube videos. The whole thing took just minutes to set up, and has more functions than most other social media sites out there. Watch out for this one.

That’s all for now (or all that we are allowed to talk about without being restricted by NDAs) but there will certainly be plenty more news to come, plus a newsletter very soon as well.