Social media branding

Ramsey Mohsen, social media specialist with Digital Evolution Group (DEG), describes personal branding as a “green field.”

“There are no right answers,” he said at PR Evolution, a social media workshop sponsored by the Kansas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, www.prsakansas.org. Mohsen and Neal Sharma, chief executive officer and principal of DEG, presented on the topics of personal and corporate branding using social media strategies.

“A societal shift has happened,” Mohsen said in terms of social media. We all have a digital footprint — and we can influence that footprint through smart, authentic and consistent use of social media tools. Mohsen offers his “4:1” rule for guidance:

For every one social object (content) we create, we should create four other objects that fall into one or more of these categories:

• informative
• inspirational
• entertaining
• engaging
• re (markable) – something others want to comment on or share
• promotes others

Sharma expanded on the topic of social media for personal branding with his “rules of the road” for companies and other organizations.

“Eighty percent is strategy; 20 percent is technology,” he said. Companies need to ask:

1. Can we devote the time?
2. Can we sustain the effort?
3. Is there a commitment to transparency?
4. Is there executive sponsorship?
5. Are we prepared to take action on the feedback?
6. Do we know what we want to accomplish?

Strategies must be tied to objectives, he says. “If not, don’t do it. It’s a distraction.”

Mohsen and Sharma shared valuable information with our chapter — and motivated us regarding the responsibility and opportunity social media offers.

Listen to part of their presentations here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7RD_UKgO-8.

Download their complete presentations at the PRSA Kansas site: www.prsakansas.org, along with:

• Inside the Golden Triangle Trends in Social, Real-time and Location-based Media by David Kamerer, PhD, APR, Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Loyola University – Chicago
• How to Make Great Video by Jess Huxman, director of content, KPTS

Twitter for research

I wanted to pass along this great article on harnessing the information on Twitter, 50 useful Twitter tools for writers and researchers.  It breaks down how to gain solid information based on geographic location, topic, keywords — even through a Twitter yellow pages. By the way, I believe Barack Obama sent his first tweet on May 1 regarding the swine flu. Follow him: @whitehouse.

Also found this Mashable article useful regarding integrating social media and developing a social media start page, 7 Ways to Create Your Own Social Start Page.  I started with Twhirl and am now using Tweetdeck. I think using a Twitter application on Facebook might be the way to go. Time management is the biggest challenge.

If you’d like, follow me @lynnwoolf.