Here are the slides from a recent presentation we gave to the Rocky Mountain Young Professionals organization. The focus of the discussion was mostly about how to use social media channels to:

A) Network and increase your technical knowledge in order to a do a better job for your current employer
B) Use your social reach and today’s online channels to find a better employment situation

The takeaway from this was that there is a tremendous opportunity these days to build your personal brand online and network with people that far out-reach your local surroundings or work environment. Over time, these relationships and the story you tell about yourself through a blog or social biographies could have a major impact on the success of your career.

Yesterday Facebook launched the new “Send” button feature which is designed to be a more targeted way of sharing information with friends and groups.  Whereas the original “Like” button is a mechanism for aggregating information to your News Feed, the new Send button allows you to hand-select the individuals that will receive your message.

Taking a look at the illustration below you’ll see the main distinction between Like and Send.  When using the Send button you will first notice a pop-up box that allows you to select recipients from your friends, groups or by email address.  This in turn becomes a more targeted way of consumer sharing with those they think will be most interested in the link they are sharing. In fact, if you want to try it out now, please send this post to a friend now:

This new Send button is designed to compliment the Like button and is more focused on private sharing.  The messages themselves will appear in users’ Facebook messages inbox which breaks through any clutter or account settings that may prohibit Liked messages from appearing on one’s News Feed.  The implication for marketers is that messages or links shared using the new Send feature will more likely get seen and read.  Additionally, Send sharing will also count towards the overall number of Likes a web page has tallied giving more credit to those pages with heavily shared content.  The “Like” total of a URL will now be calculated by totaling the number of actual Likes along with comments, inbox messages and shares (i.e. “Sends”).

Here’s a quick tutorial I created for my information site… The Social Buddha.  This helpful tip explains how to better utilize the photos on your Facebook Wall to promote the products and services you have to offer.  Please enjoy:

In an effort to create an online community that openly shares the tips, tricks and tools of social media marketing we have created “The Social Buddha.” You can find The Social Buddha on Facebook @TheSocialBuddha and our soon to be built website at TheSocialBuddha.com. For now, we wanted to post this teaser video we created to get you (and ourselves) pumped up for the launch. Enjoy!

Ok… so you’re going to see my link at the end of this post and think to yourself: “A post about Conan O’Brien… what does that have to do with anything?”

You see, I’m constantly on the hunt for real-life examples that support the impact that social media is having on the ways we communicate and the ways we market. This is another fantastic story about how a lone American (ok fine… a Hollywood super-star) took matters into his own hands and created an even bigger following for himself.

Never before in history have the tools and opportunities for each of us to brand ourselves and achieve super-stardom been laid so conveniently at our doorstep. The question to ask as you read this story is:

How am I using social media to control my own destiny?

Click to Read: Fortune Tech – Conan 2.0

The folks at RSA Animate have done it again!  They’ve taken Dan Pink’s concept in the book Drive and explained it through animation.  This video makes me think about the times that I’ve been in charge of managing employees and how, at the time, I thought that money was the absolute motivator.

For those that run or manage their business and have team members they are trying to motivate to get results, you might find the information here extremely helpful.  As Colomark Media begins to expand and bring on new partners, this concept of “challenge and mastery along with making a contribution” will most definitely be our theme.  No longer are we simply drawn to potential partners based on the fact that they want to “kick butt” and make a lot of money.  Our focus now is to seek out lifelong learners and those that want to continue learning the craft of online marketing simply for the mastery of it.

Please enjoy:

Facebook’s NEW “Messages” features were announced this week surrounded by much anticipation and hoopla. It appears that Facebook is finally diving full-steam ahead on becoming an all-in-one communication hub which includes a complete email service.

For those that choose to create a @facebook.com email address, the new Messages area will combine your daily interactions into a central place to view and control Facebook direct messages, chats, texts and now email.

The Facebook help page goes on to explain a few of the added features that members can now enjoy. These include:

• Faster interaction: If you want, you can send messages just by hitting your Enter key, so the new Messages is as fast (and as informal) as an in-person conversation.

• Integrated communication: No matter what you’re using to communicate (Facebook, mobile or email), your conversation streams quickly and seamlessly into one place.

• Smart filtering: You’ll always see what’s important to you first – messages from the people you’re close to take precedence over mailing lists.

• Revamped search: Search for either the person you were talking with or what you were talking about to quickly find your message and all the related context.

• Adding people to group conversations: Loop new people into the conversation, giving them full access to everything that’s been said so far.

• Forwarding: Pass individual messages along to other friends.

• Unsubscribing, or removing yourself from a conversation: Leave a group conversation when you no longer wish to receive new messages.

• Sending attachments: In addition to sending links, photos and videos, you can now attach external files to your messages.

Facebook’s new email alternative is being hailed as a “reinvention of the inbox” and the“Gmail killer.” True, with over 500 million users already on Facebook, the idea of rolling in a complete email service seems like an instant win. No more having to toggle between your mailbox server to communicate with colleagues and your social media screen to contact your friends on Facebook.

However, one of the main problems that some are pointing to is that about 16% of companies who use OpenDNS, which is a security and network tools service, are still blocking the use of Facebook from work computers. One might quickly ask what good the email service is if it can’t be read or accessed from work? But one thing is for certain, this move in the direction of consolidating a user’s social networking with email capabilities shows Facebook’s general plan to be a “one stop shop” for the world’s communication.

If you haven’t seen or heard about the new face of Twitter, I found this video a bit tantalizing:

This slideshow presentation was prepared by Michael Crosson, VP of Sales at SocialTwist.com

Marketing your business and your website in today’s economy is as crucial as it has ever been. With that said, there are numerous ways to get results from any number of marketing methods. One technique that can often be overlooked is the pursuit of article marketing.

Article marketing consists of writing informative and helpful articles relating to your area of expertise in an effort to educate prospective customers and those interested in what you have to offer. By publishing this kind of information you accomplish two things:

• You earn consumer trust
• You drive direct traffic to your website from highly targeted, engaged readers

As with any type of marketing, there are simple things that you can do to positively impact the success you achieve from your article marketing efforts. Here are a few proofreading tips to remember when you begin to submit your articles to various publishing sites:

Don’t Just Write and Publish
Many of us fall into the trap of quickly jotting down what we think is useful and quickly run to get it submitted. Don’t be hasty. Write your article, give it a proofread and then sleep on it. Read it again in the morning and determine if the original intent of your article is still intact. Ask yourself if it gets your point across in the same fashion it did when you originally started to type. I’ve found that a good night’s rest will usually clear my mind and allow me a fresh proofread at a later time. I’ve been known to re-write complete sections of my articles because I wasn’t happy with the structure after I gave my mind time to cool down.

Read Backwards & Find Typos
Just like your English teacher taught you in the 7th grade, a great technique for finding your typos is to read your article backwards. Reading from the end-up forces you to focus on just the words and not the sentences. By examining every word individually this way, you negate the subconscious tendency to pass over words because you are simply skimming thoughts and ideas (and not really reading word for word).

Read Your Article Out Loud
Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But imagine yourself having to stand in front of your audience and read your article verbatim without mistakes. Once again, this practice forces you to concentrate on the written words and minimizes the potential for typos or incomplete ideas.

Show It To A Friend
If you’ve got a trusted friend or partner, preferably someone with excellent proofreading skill, have them give your article a once-over. You’ll be amazed how often something that seems perfectly clear to you doesn’t translate to another reader the way you intended. This practice will often lead to suggestions for improvement or open your eyes to ways you might better your original content.

When In Doubt, Use A Spell Checker
It probably goes without saying, but many word processing programs come with a built in spelling and grammar tool. Use it! Especially if you have a tendency to use any form of slang, these tools will guide you with suggestions for improvement. Better yet, these are the same principles of good writing that the editors at the article submission sites will be using to review your works for inclusion. If you aren’t using proper grammar, spelling or writing form, your articles will most likely be rejected with no hope of going live on the internet.

Now that I’ve given you a few tips on how to improve your articles before submission, I’ll leave you with a teaser. When it comes time to submit your article to the various publishing sites, make sure you know how to properly insert a link to your website using anchor text and a “non-sales” approach. If you’d like to talk in more detail about how this is done, I would love to speak with you!

Happy marketing… -DAVID