Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Taking-the-first-step--Connecting-business-with-Social-Media.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Taking-the-first-step--Connecting-business-with-Social-Media.html Here is a brief update as to what I have been up to over the last few weeks. I have just received formal approval to proceed with a Social Media program for one of our products. The program is centered around developing a presence on Facebook through the creation of a product page and an application. Twitter will also be used to stream updates between Facebook news feeds and Twitter. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Finding-the-10-of-your-market-already-sold-on-your-product.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Finding-the-10-of-your-market-already-sold-on-your-product.html Social Media networks are the new marketing channel of choice for cutting edge firms across all sectors. However, to use this medium, it is imperative that your marketing message reaches out to the influencers or “Passionistas”. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Blue-Print-for-change--personalizing-your-brand.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Blue-Print-for-change--personalizing-your-brand.html Tuesday I had the great pleasure of hearing a presentation from Tony Chapman founder of Capital C. Tony’s firm may be best known for the “bride has massive Hair Wig Out” YouTube video that created such a buzz a few years ago. The video was viewed 2.8 million times in just two weeks. It was brilliantly done and it help support Sunsilk’s brand of hair care products campaign. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Connecting-with-your-employees-through-Social-Media.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Connecting-with-your-employees-through-Social-Media.html Today was an awesome day! It started off with my VP greeting me at the door and showing his appreciation for my efforts in 2008. Next, it was my Director pointing out the main successes that were achieved and finally I had the opportunity to show my gratitude to my staff. What a great way to connect with your employees and build sincere relationships by recognizing them for their contribution to the overall success of the corporation. Thanks to the organizing committee for pulling off a great “Employee Appreciation” day. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Facebook-Connect-vs-OpenID-Which-will-win.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Facebook-Connect-vs-OpenID-Which-will-win.html It’s been a few days since my last post and I must say that I have calmed down considerably since my meeting on Monday. Several things that I got to do over the last few days made the week completely worth it. Firstly, I was able to give a Social Media 101 crash course to my colleagues. I always enjoy doing presentations and when I can help someone, it makes it that much more rewarding. Just to let you readers know, my door is always open if you have any questions. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Facebook-skeptics.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Facebook-skeptics.html Just wanted to post something short and sweet today. I’m still a little perturbed about my meeting at work on Tuesday, so I decided to post some opportunities the new Facebook layout proposes for businesses. My theory is that if I can potentially present sound principles that shift traditional thinking it may become easier to sway the skeptics. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Can-Social-Media-be-a-value-proposition-for-you-and-your-customers.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Can-Social-Media-be-a-value-proposition-for-you-and-your-customers.html Today I had a meeting with our external online team to present a Social Media strategy for one of our small business programs. I was basically told that Social Media cannot be used as a value proposition for our small business clients. What I have learned over my experience over the last 10 years is to never discount new ways of thinking. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new.html Common Communication Strategies It has been my experience over the last 10 years most corporate intranets are modeled in the following fashion; new information comes into the intranet group and is then coded and released for general consumption. Before information is released to the internal network it will go through a variety of checks and balances, approvals and re-edits, before finally “landing on the desk” of the intranet team. It is then coded and released in priority order. This model relies exclusively on the intranet team to get messages and information out to employees. Does this sound familiar? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Evolving-to-adopt-Social-Media.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/Evolving-to-adopt-Social-Media.html For my company it’s no longer a nice-to-have. Within the next five to 10 years, our younger workforce will expect us to match the pace of the Internet and deploy social media tools. If we don’t our messages will not be heard. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/A-Social-Media-journey-begins.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Technology/4133/A-Social-Media-journey-begins.html Today was my first day back at work after a long over due vacation and as usual it didn’t disappoint. My inbox had over 450 emails that required responses and I was booked for three back-to-back meetings. But the one thing that fired my up today was determining the future roadmap for our corporate Intranet. During one of my three meetings I met with the Infrastructure team and determined how we are going to implement our very own instance of Facebook onto our Intranet.