Blue Gypsy Inc. Blog

There's just something about a new year that helps everyone reorganize themselves in business, in their personal lives...really in anything you can think of. Right now, in the world of social media, we get some insight into lots of goals being set by a myriad of people ranging the gambit of aspects of their lives.

One of the greatest things about this instant contact we have with family members, old friends, new acquaintances and total strangers is that we can see we are not alone in our goal setting.

There are so many communities out there to help you achieve your goals and they are all online. There are diet support groups, coaching groups, if you can think of it, there's probably an online community to help you with "it" whatever the "it" might be.

But there's something else that I like.

(Now this is the energy loving tree hugger that traveled around the world with a backpack and loved experiencing the life from the ground level.)

When I traveled I always felt so interconnected with the earth and with this amazing network of travelers who were on similar paths of discovery. There was just a kind of energy that come with opened minds experiencing amazing places and people. It's hard for me to explain, and some of you may or may not get it, but there is a positive energy that abounds in those kinds of life situations.

I truly believe that when we are around positive people with positive goals, our outlook will naturally be more positive. This energy seems amplified right now as I continually read tweets and status updates from people who are setting their goals to make positive changes in their lives.

I hope we can hold onto this energy into the new year and continue to empower each other with positive thought through social media.

I actually think that social media is one of the best ways to escape a negative vibe because you can always search out and join people who are doing positive things. Just a few positive highlights that I've been involved with or experienced this past year are as follows:

1) The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia creating their 1 in 4 campaign to raise awareness of just how many people go hungry in our area, and need the services of the Foodbank. This is a charity I always take time to donate money or canned goods to each year because I'm thankful that I'm not one out of the four that need help and am able to provide that help instead.

2) This year I participated in tweetsgiving an international event organized by the charity Epic Change to help build schools in Tanzania. This was a true social media extravaganza! Local meet ups and tweeting out gratitude during one of our most thankful holidays here in the USA thanksgiving, was such a great pairing with this event of giving and gratitude. I was lucky enough to be involved in organizing a local meet up event, and donating in honor of my father's 71st birthday.

3) Another great group I've joined on facebook is called People Wanting to Make a Difference in Others Lives. Long name I know, but locally, Mike Nishnick a realtor with a big heart, has put together a group on facebook for people doing positive things for others. This is a great way to share ideas, and uplift one another.

4) This year I surprised my boyfriend Chris with a Great White Shark I adopted for him through the Fox Shark Research Foundation. (no you don't literally get the shark...it would be too big for the bathtub) Both avid scuba divers, we have an affinity for all things underwater and he's enamored with sharks. I thought I was being creative with the perfect unique gift...until he handed me the adoption papers for a Whale Shark though the Shark Research Institute in Princeton, New Jersey! Great minds think alike. These are both amazing organizations working toward the research and protection of sharks in our world's oceans.

5) When Chris's Grandfather, who also happens to be a retired General, Celebrated his 90th birthday this past July we donated to the Wounded Warrior Project in his name. It's so important to remember our veterans, not only do they sacrifice quality time with their families but also their lives, in order to afford us our freedoms. Before knowing Chris, soon to be a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, who's family has a long history of serving our country, I was one of the millions in our country not effected directly by the war. I didn't know anyone close to me who was serving in the military and had no idea of the burden they and their families bear. So it felt good this year to fill out a couple of dozen holiday cards and send them to the "Holiday Mail For Heroes" program through the Red Cross. Every little thing makes a difference.

6) And of course my heart always gets caught up each year with the radiothon for Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, regionally the most comprehensive children's hospital in Southeastern Virginia. From common illnesses to life threatening deceases, they cover a wide range of necessary services for children. As you hear from cancer survivors and those going through treatment on the radiothon held by 94.9 the Point each December it's hard not to open up your wallet as you open up your heart.

This year I'm grateful for all the positive energy and people setting their goals, sharing their successes, and doing great things which will continue in 2010. Keep amplifying those positive thoughts and ideas through Social Media! See ya next year!

Blue Gypsy, Inc. is my newest business endeavor. After 4 years of working in the field of lead management for New Home Builders as an Online Sales Consultant (OSC) I'm starting my own business. Blue Gypsy Inc. coming early 2010 will offer professional lead management services for builders and real estate professionals.


Many people who've known me for a long time are familiar with my gypsy wandering soul. For 13 years I traveled around the world on adventures: backpacking through colorful countries, sailing on the deep blue sea and scuba diving below those same azure waters. My gypsy_leah email address has always been an appropriate title, and one people have come to identify with me. My twitter handle too is descriptive of this gypsy girl, @gypsealeah. (It's got the gypsy and the 'sea' in it!) And now you can follow @bluegypsyinc as well!


Four years ago, after a shoulder injury, I settled back on land and began working in the real estate industry. My first job was as an assistant in New Homes for a small builder out of Maryland building 3 communities in Gloucester and Deltaville Virginia. Nearly three years ago I moved down to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area to work as an OSC for Chesapeake Homes. One of the largest local builders in the Tidewater Area.

It sounds crazy after the adventurous life I've led, but I love helping people make one of the most important and expensive decisions of their lives. I think people who meet me online, over the phone, and in person, know that I'm genuinely excited about assisting them. While I work for the builder, I'm really there to help the prospective home owner to the best of my abilities. By doing my job right, everyone wins.

I've seen much success building relationships with online clients, assisting in narrowing their home searches to the right communities and home types, and have seen a higher than national average in turning appointments to sales for the builder.


I've even seen as high as 42% in some quarters.

I attribute my success to a number of personality traits and work ethics that I bring to the table. Many of those traits come from years of working on sail boats, and patiently teaching scuba diving to teenagers. I'm used to working 24 hours a day 7 days a week. (even when you are off watch on a boat, you are still working) I've been known to answer emails as late as 1 am and people are so thrilled to receive an immediate response.


But the real key is consistent persistent follow-up. Both before the appointment, and after. Not every lead turns into a sale immediately. And that's the key as an OSC: holding on to that lead even after they've visited the site and seeing the process through as a team member with the site agents.

I have many strengths to bring to the table with Blue Gypsy, Inc. for both builder partners and real estate professionals. I'm excited to get started with Blue Gypsy, Inc. in 2010 to share my skills and enthusiasm for lead management.

In 2009 I think I've begun to embrace Social Media and integrate it with my current business.

From my own personal blog writing, to using twitter and facebook both personally and professionally for networking and building community, I've pulled my head out of the sand. I've put aside my butter churn and my oil lamp and joined the new media stream with my exploration and use of social media.

So where should I go next with New Media in 2010?

While I believe that it's important to identify a few key platforms to stick to when building your social media presence online, there is still room to expand once you master the basics. But you don't want to be all over the place without rhyme or reason. Diversifying your use of social media may be as simple as embracing new applications and adding in some automation between existing platforms in use to make it easier to carry out your social media plan. And it may mean slowly adding in more platforms to complement your existing plan. For me there are a few elements I plan on investigating and incorporating into my current uses. In the coming months I'll be sure to share with you, these further adventures into New Media.

These are a few of the things on my list for 2010:

1. I'd like to learn more about Static FBML - customizing a facebook fan page through facebook's own application.
2. I'd like to get into Vlogs (Video Blogs) and Video emails. Right now I've seen other sales agents finding much success with these types of videos and they add a new dimension to email and customer service. There are several platforms out there that will allow you to create and send these so I'll be investigating some of these in the coming months.
3. I'd like to learn more about live streaming and figure out how to utilize it for my business in 2010. I have much to learn on this front and to decide how and what kind of content I'd use on a live stream.

Now I know there's always so much more for me to learn, and I don't always even know where to start. If you've read my early blog posts, you know that I used to have my head buried in the sand hoping technology would go away.

I held out on buying a cell phone until 2001. First I traveled around the world with a back pack. Then I hitched a ride on a sailboat from Honduras, through Cuba and then on to Florida. After spending a year working in the Caymans I finally entered the mobile phone age.

Laptops were not on my radar until my return from Africa in 2003 when I finally broke down and invested in a Mac. And digital cameras? I'd been attached to my Pentax K1000, all manual camera, throughout my travels around the world shooting slides on 6 continents. I only gave in to digital cameras last year this same time, December of 2008, and purchased a Nikon D-60.

I'm finally speeding up in my acceptance that the world is changing and I must change with it. So if you have more ideas for me to add to my list to explore and investigate in 2010 please throw it out there for me!

I'd love to know where you think I should go with New Media in 2010.

Okay so this time of year I become obsessed with these cute hard to find ornaments that are no longer in production. Yes these Opus n' Bill ornaments are goofy and they make me smile.

They remind me of the little kid inside that loves cartoons and comic books. My boyfriend actually got me hooked on them, he's the biggest little kid with his Lego's, love of opus, and if you've never seen a Wish for Wings that Work... well you're missing one of the essential Christmas Movies, and I never would have known about it without Chris in my life.

When Chris and I met he actually had a couple of these guys, so I started looking for them as "gifts" for him...it soon became apparent that I was...uh...shopping for myself. And it entertains him since my father is a huge hoarder of "collectible" stuff, but I've never succumbed to the disease until Opus n' Bill happened into my life.

I know it's a bit of a disease because there were only 18 different ornaments made, for some mysterious reason they stopped. And I have to have them ALL! But now many of them are rare. While I only need 5 more of them, they happen to be the ones that get bid up the highest on ebay.

Sorry but as much as I love them, there's no way I'm paying $100's of dollars for a Christmas ornament. (After all I am Jewish!)

Well, in searching for information on Opus Ornaments, and believe me I search all over the place for these things, I came across this blog, and a little bit of celebrity in Wendy Fedan. In my eyes anyway. Let me back up. I've seen this blog post before Farewell To Opus and Bill - My Personal Heroes But there are a lot of people who show collections of their ornaments etc. This time I finally read the full post and realized that Wendy was one of the Ornament Designers!! What a cool job!

So I wrote a comment on her blog.
You designed the opus n bill ornaments? I LOVE those!!! How many were made do you know? I have 13 of them and wish there was a way to get the last 5 (I think there are only 18 but if I’m wrong please let me know!) And if you have a secret stash…. : )

And she wrote back! It's kind of like when Chris Brogan writes you back or Adventure Girl writes you back! This was an actual designer of my favorite little Christmas treats.

Then I found her on facebook, I sent her a friend request so she could see my collection. And she commented on that!

Anyway, it was a very cool connection that I never would have made if it weren't for social media. I mean I wouldn't have bumped into Wendy in line at the bank.

Who would you like to meet through social media? What's your Social Media Christmas story?

Some twitter tips, from my twitter observations on a gray Saturday in December...take it or leave it.

1) If you have multiple twitter accounts (And I mean like 3,4 or more) Don't send the SAME update from all of them....especially if you are using hashtags then there is a long stream of the same update and to be honest you aren't helping yourself, you're looking like spam.

2) Don't use the bird...if you are ready to set up a twitter account, you MUST have a picture, logo, or jpeg of interest on your computer. Even if that is temporary it's better than the birdie! (And if you are one of those above who have multiple accounts and they are ALL birdies...oh how spammy you look! Fastest way to get unfollowed (or never followed in my book)

3) Take a moment to create a bio. Don't make people guess at who you are, if you are truly on twitter to interact and create a community and interact with people then tell them a bit about who you are. twitter doesn't give you room for a book, how hard is it to come up with a couple of lines to sum yourself up so we can see if we want to follow you!

4) If you have a website, a blog, a facebook fan page or any type of contact where people can find out a bit more about who you are and what you do...then put that link in there! It's only going to grow your business, your online presence, and your brand when you link it to your twitter profile, so why wouldn't you take a moment to do it?

5) Take a second to put up a background it's not hard and there are a lot of third party tools out there to help you create a background even twitter itself will at least allow you to customize a bit. Here's a great Mashable post from Ben Parr on HOW TO: Create Custom Twitter Backgrounds.

While each and every one of these five thoughts should illicit a "Duh" from most people, the number of people out there who don't do these 5 things is astounding. When setting up a twitter account ask yourself a few questions. Why are you on twitter? What's your purpose? Why wouldn't these be quick easy ways to increase your impact and grow within the twitter community?

Last night I attended "Entering the Blogosphere" at the Social Media Club Virginia Beach. Now of course if you are reading this blog, you know I already blog and you may know that I have two blogs!

Now here's my dilemma, and I need some insight and feedback from you all if you are reading it, should I combine my two blogs?

Okay first, just so you know, the "Boss Chick" at Wave Marketing says I should combine them, that I shouldn't dilute my readership by having two blogs. Good advice, but I feel like I have two different audiences and reasons for having two!

Here's my rationale: When I started my first blog, Wanderings of a Wayward Online Sales Consultant, I wanted to write about my exploration into social media, compare it a bit to my previous travels and lessons learned, and also weave it with some information about being an online consultant. When I started blog number two, Random Gypsy Ramblings and Travel Tales the goal was to be able to...well...ramble! Mostly about travel and memories of all the places I spent my time in the past 15 years of backpacking sailing and diving.

The two seemed to have very different objectives, tones, and audiences. So here's my question to you. Do you think I can effectively combine the two blogs and if so how would you suggest I do it?

@Socialsonya (The boss chick) already asked me which I like writing about more...The truth is I like both for different reasons!

I feel like travel was an important phase of my life and though I'm not past it, I'm not as actively traveling any more but I love writing about my experiences. Now though, I work in the land of business, shoes, and offices and feel that just maybe I have something to contribute in that land!

So give me your feedback! I'll be waiting!

Tweetsgiving is tonight! November 24th at Gordon Biersch in Virginia Beach. The planning and execution have been a marvel of modern social media, and elbow grease.

When Sonya Schweitzer the "Boss Chick" at Wave Marketing (@socialsonya) came to me and told me that she wanted to plan a TweetsGiving event in Virginia Beach to benefit a great charity, Epic Change. I said, "Count me in!" We also teamed up with local event planner, Karen Clements who does amazing works with the Food Bank and is no stranger to charity work.

With less than 20 days to plan the event, It's been a whirlwind of activity getting the word out. Other great individuals and organizations jumped right in to help. Gordon Biersch donated the location and food for the event. Astro Entertainment said they'd provide us with whatever we needed for AV coverage. Shannon Rubsamen, local photographer, will be documenting our event. Great local individuals have jumped in to provide door prizes.

Town Center Fitness will be giving away a 1 month free membership and a 6 months free membership to their amazing fitness center centrally located in Town Center. Just Cupcakes is donating a 6 pack of cupcakes, Flying High Tutoring is donating a tutoring session,Wave Marketing is donating a free consultation session. Lynn Harrisberger is donating something unique and fun! Orphan Helpers is donating a coffee basket, and we'll have twitter T-shirts from Best Impressions. Katie Jenkins, a local massage therapist is donating massage gift certificates as well as a homemade cake! The door prizes keep flowing in! Everyone wants to be involved in this event of gratitude and giving.

Chesapeake Homes, the largest local builder in the Tidewater Area, and my employer, has donated a large sum and earned the status of "Top Turkey." But there is also another "Top Turkey" who is near and dear to my life, my Dad. My father turns 71 on Thanksgiving and he's always joked about being a turkey due to the auspicious date of his birth.

When I was a kid, we were in a father daughter group called Indian Princesses, the girl version of Indian Guides. As part of the group we had to choose an Indian name. Mine was White Feather (Back then I was shy) and his was Turkey Feather. He fits his name perfectly with his corny jokes, his jovial personality and his fun loving attitude. He's not a turkey in the sense that he is a very successful business man who has built companies upon respect, good business sense, and hard work. He's consulted with countless CEO's to help them grow and improve their business, and he volunteers his time to mentor individuals and companies as well.

My Dad has always been my mentor, and someone I truly respect. I'm grateful for my Dad, and I am very grateful that I was able to make a donation to TweetsGiving in his name to make him a "Top Turkey" for his birthday.

Join me tonight to celebrate an Attitude of Gratitude at TweetsGiving at Gordon Biersch at 6pm!

Get your tickets Right Here! You can spend as little as $10 a ticket and 100% goes to Epic Change, a charity doing great works in Africa! If you can't be there but you'd like to donate go right ahead! The more we can help schools in Africa the better.

If you'd like to participate in the global Tweetsgiving event tweet out what you are grateful for with hashtag #tweetsgiving and follow the social media stream.

Social Media is a great way to network, create your brand, interact with a community, and through genuine shared interests and interactions perhaps reach a client base. Or at the very least, create an environment where people want to talk about you in a positive light and refer you, your product, or your business to their friends.

Isn't that the gist of it?

Well, sometimes I find myself wondering, am I branding myself, my company, or the products I sell. (houses) When it gets right down to it the answer is all three. My reputation is tied up in the company because the service I give reflects both myself, and who I represent. In many ways the company reflects back on me because if I'm saying this is a great home, this is a great builder and it's not...well than who will trust me and how will I come across? I wouldn't sell the homes for my company or represent them if I didn't believe in what I sell. (believe me I don't make enough money to put aside my own values!) Which actually brings me to another point.

It wouldn't be easy to promote myself, tied with my company and our products if I couldn't stand behind any of those three elements. It would come across fake, and sales-y (yes I just created a new word. Check Websters for it, they now have unfriend too.) So we are not just talking about branding, but reputation management as well.

Out in the social media stream there are so many ways a brand can be affected by negative PR. Even if there are only 1 or 2 unhappy people out of the 100's and 100's of buyers, it's going to be that squeaky wheel that is heard above the SM din. How does this reflect on me as a representative of the company? I'm still working on that one because you can't please everyone all the time. You can try, and I do, and I think we as a company do, however we all have our limitations.

So with branding myself and my company wrapped up with reputation management for both of us, I come to that age old question: do I use my facebook account for friends or for networking?

I'm still having trouble crossing over. Not that there are incriminating pictures of me, nor do I drop the *F bomb on my fb page. I do have the occasional political or religious debate with my cousin and I think those elements should be kept out of business. I tend to cringe when people I'm networked with for business quote bible scripture on their fb pages. For me it seems like something that should be left out if you choose to use fb for business. But that's just my opinion.

Since using my fb page for more networking I've had to keep the occasional rant about work down to a minimum. We all have those days, but now we may not want them on display because it could effect how present and future business associates and clients view us. One day it could just jump right back up and be taken out of context at the wrong place and the wrong time.

I'm still not sure how much I like friend requests from total strangers who seem to know several people that I do in the industry, or networking community that I have chosen to let in to my facebook.

Add to that, that the majority of the time people don't tell you what their agenda is for sending you a friend request. There's space to add a personal note. If you don't know someone personally this would be the place to introduce yourself and explain why you'd like to be friends.

Cara Mandart wrote a great blog post, Friend Request Manners I highly urge you to read it if you have any questions about the proper etiquette when requesting a friend that you don't know. I still have a hard time letting go of facebook as a more intimate gathering of friends, family and acquaintances I'm willing to let into my life. And if you don't even want to tell me why you are requesting my friendship I'm 100 times less likely to accept you as a friend. Maybe facebook should create an acquaintance level...

To friend or not to friend, that is the question. The more people you let into your facebook family, the more you have to manage your brand and your reputation. Both personal and professional.

I just read a great blog post by Sara Meany of Comet Branding, 7 Surefire Ways to Sabotage Your Professional Brand in Social Media. For the most part I think these are 7 very solid points about professional branding.

When you have a social presence out in the online stream of information, both your own personal presence as well as your company's brand, you have a certain responsibility to think before you talk (Write, blog, email, tweet, fb, etc). If you want to keep your job, in this day of instant accessibility, or find a new one, people will find what you've said. Especially when people begin to associate you with your company.

I know I'm one for having a hot temper, I do things in a moment of joy, frustration, annoyance, or excitement. My boyfriend can often be heard saying, "Don't send that," if he hears me typing furiously. He knows something has me going and his theory is everything should be pondered for at least 24 hours before sending. (Try having an argument with him...doesn't work, he won't speak out of anger) However in my line of work, customer service online, I can't wait more than 10 minutes after the contact if I want to be on my game. This conditioning is hard to break, and one wrong mouse click can cause major ripples and repercussions if you are not careful.

With the intent not to sabotage my professional, nor my personal brand, I highly recommend giving a read to Sara's blog post. The only place where I differ in my belief of Sara's list of ways to sabotage your professional brand, is with Number five.

"Spend company time building your personal brand online. While you may work for an employer who allows social media or even encourages it, the intent is that you will be doing it for the benefit of the organization. (Time stamps tend to expose your actions during work hours, as you post on your best friend’s pictures of her new kitten.)"

While I agree that time stamps can reveal a lot about what you are doing on line, it doesn't always tell the real story. You can schedule tweets, and blogs to go out at anytime of the day, that doesn't mean that's when you are working in those mediums. I also don't think there is always a definitive point to what you can and can't do during "work hours." I think it really depends on what you do for the company. As an Online Sales Consultant for a local builder and the social media person, though my paycheck, and my job says I work 8 hours a day 5 days a week... that is simply not the case.

I think many people who have the "social media" job for their company, also find themselves working outside of posted hours. And being that in online sales if you don't reply almost instantly you have a much greater chance of losing the business, it's even more important to be "available" all the time.

If I take a moment to read a few updates from friends, while in the process of my "8 hour work day" and then as soon as I get home at night, I'm answering emails and phone calls that are coming in outside of hours for work, (Because they always do) I really don't think I should feel guilty that I've spent 5-10 minutes of my day on personal stuff.

In this day and age our personal hours and work hours are just as mingled as our personal profile and our professional profile. You need to have balance but you shouldn't have to worry that someone is going to realize you took a moment to breath in a calming picture of a cute kitten. And that this will effect the way your work ethic is perceived.

Just remember, your are accountable for every key stroke, and they can be just as permanent as tattoos. You don't ever want to look back, wince and say did I really do that?

Last night I attended my first MeetUp of the Social Media Club Virginia Beach! This was a great way to meet people in-person who are interested and involved with social media in the Tidewater Area. It also reminded me a bit of the time I spent internet dating...

When I embarked on my social media exploration I began following people with knowledge and expertise in several fields of interest. The great thing was I was not bound by their locality. I could follow, friend, and learn from anyone any where. At first, being such a newbie, I didn't know how to find the local social media people.

Little by little through involvement with various groups like The Hampton Roads Marketing and Technology Group, New Media Conventions and Now Social Media Club Virginia Beach, I've met some amazing people who have taught me so much in just a few short months. (Don't worry I'm still not an expert nor a guru, but I am quite a bit more informed)

Some local people I know in person, like @socialsonya of Wave Marketing -- I've learned buckets from her! Other people I've only followed through true SM channels such as facebook and twitter.

Social networking MeetUps and TweetUps remind me a bit of the 3 phases of online dating.


Phase 1: The Detective - You find out about people in online dating the same way you would in SM networking. Most people use some variation on the list below to decide if they are worthy enough for you to follow, friend, learn from...or date?

• A Picture - Funny, goofy, serious, or otherwise this is what we picture when we read posts, write responses etc. This is the vision we are talking to in SM.
  
• A Profile - Entertaining, intelligent, professional, intriguing...depending on what we are looking for profiles help us decide if we will fan, follow, retweet or contact.
  
• Sources - Once we make contact we may use different media outlets to see if people are who they say they are. Remember, Google is your friend. People do research.
  
• Followers - Do friends, fans, and followers overlap our own? Often times you are judged by the company you keep in the REAL world and online.
  
• Do Things Match Up - Does your language and the way you carry yourself online match the bio, profiles, and information on the web for public consumption? Or are you a stack of contradictions?
  

Once you narrow down the pool with the techniques used above, reading profiles, finding similar interests a couple scenarios unfold. In both SM and in online dating, you may find the person lacking and unworthy of your attention and energy. No harm no fowl. Or you may want to move on to phase 2 Getting To Know You.

Of course in both online dating and in SM we meet in virtual spaces first during the getting to know you phase. And for many reasons in both situations we never meet in person.

Phase 2: Getting to Know You - With online dating, through trial and error I devised these 3 rules, almost in complete contradiction of social media networking.

• Rule 1: Keep Your Emailing And Online Chat To A Minimum - (I know sounds crazy! Aren't we talking about socializing online?) But back in my internet dating days, when I sent too many emails and had too many chats with people online before talking with them on the phone, I'd put my own intonation on their words. It is very easy to read your own ideas into other peoples writing. Good in social networking...maybe not so good in dating.
• Rule 2: Talk On The Phone But Not For Hour Upon Hour, Weeks And Weeks - Putting a voice to the words and really listening to how they are spoken is important. But still there is the trap of pouring your heart out when you can't even see a person's face. You are missing a key element of communication. Body Language. It may be easier to bare your soul like that...but not really wise. Again you build up an image in your head that may not match upon a true in-person meeting.
  
• Rule 3: Meet Early On In The Online Dating Relationship - Okay so you've sent a few emails, had a few conversations, now it's time to set the online dater's MeetUp. While in social media and networking this 3rd rule really never has to happen it is essential for the internet dater. This is where you find out if all the words, both spoken and written, fit the body language and are compatible.

In social media you aren't necessarily preparing for phase 3 The Meeting. The point of SM is to have these rich dynamic trust filled online communities with people you may never meet. Ah if dating were only that easy, trusting, and we never had to meet in order to be fulfilled...in SM you can be caught in this euphoric loop in rule number one, never talking on the phone and never meeting.

But phase 3 does take place in both situations.

Phase 3: The Meeting - The MeetUp, TweetUp or Date can have similar -- great...or disastrous -- results.

Things we can find out pretty quickly when meeting in person is were the pictures real. This will give us the first indication as to how seriously, or truthful we take people. Then we watch their body language, do actions really match online words. In MeetUps and TweetUps this is where you know if they've just been regurgitating other people's information all along, or if they are real innovators. In dating you really find out if they are genuine.

In all reality TweetUps and MeetUps are far less pressure than online dating because there isn't that Is He Or She The One factor. In online dating you can build up so much significance upon this one meeting and that's why so many online dates fail. At TweetUps and MeetUps, unless you are coming in with an agenda, it should be a relaxing learning sharing environment. Are you there to meet people so you can sell them your stuff? Are you trying to figure out how this can make you money? Then it will show on your face and in your body language.

Most important is, that if you are who you say you are from the very beginning stages of phase one, if your message is consistent and genuine, and if you aren't afraid of letting people in you'll be successful in MeetUps and TweetUps and it won't feel at all like online dating.

But hey, even that's not so bad, 3+ years later I'm still with my match.com online MeetUp!

I've known beaches...But I never knew social media and the beach went together until recently. And never did I think I'd be involved in planning a social media event at the beach!

As a dive instructor and sailboat captain for 7 years I've known my share of beaches.

I've done Tai Chi by the sea, and soaked in the ancient aura of the exotic tropical spice island of Zanzibar. I lived on the beach in a rondaval - round clay building with a grass roof - just 15 feet from the sea. Every morning at dawn the fisherman readied their ngalawas, traditional outrigger canoes fitted with sails, to go out for the catch of the day. I'd stretch and go through my morning form. Breathe, touch the beach, do nothing extra.

In later years, after my time in Africa, I remember other beaches. While sailing in the British Virgin Islands I recall a morning anchored in the lee of a tiny island with a single palm tree. As the sun rose, I dove off my catamaran and swam through the turquoise water to the powder soft sand, welcoming the morning with some yoga.

There were many beaches between Zanzibar and the BVI's.

Back then I was thousands of miles from where I am now. A different Continent, a different profession, and a different mindset.

In Zanzibar, checking email was a chore, it was expensive and slow, and I certainly had nothing to do with blogging, twitter or facebook at the time. Email on a sailboat in the Caribbean? Forget about it! Never did I think I'd become an online sale consultant, and run the social media plan for a large local builder. Now I find myself nearby a different beach with a different life. Not one with sails and underwater adventure, but still an amazing undertaking none the less.

I've recently joined the team for New Media Conventions right here in Virginia Beach. After a successful event in 2009, this dynamic group of professionals in the Hampton Roads Area is beginning to plan the next big event New Media Conventions 2010. Together, we are going to bring Social Media and New Media to the Beach. Virginia Beach!

Come join us! For more information on New Media Conventions go to http://newmediaconventions.com/ I'll see you there!

Sometimes getting used to a new facebook layout is like changing countries while traveling.

Right now, since facebook just did another switch-a-roo there's been lots of moaning and groaning, and tips on how to "make it like it was." I too am guilty of that, when it first changed I knew something wasn't quite write, and I posted a status update grumbling.

Face it, nobody likes change.

Even traveling around the world, by its very nature was changing locations constantly. It always took some time and adjustment to get used to the money, the sites, the sounds, the accents and more. For some it can be daunting, and that's why so many people never quite get up the nerve to get off the couch and take off on that journey.

Change is difficult.

I remember living in Turkey for several months in the mid 90's. I became completely used to the Turkish accented English I'd hear spoken. I knew the cost of a loaf of bread was 1000's of lira. (just pennies to me) I'd gotten used to the Turkish bus system, one of the most efficient ways to travel Turkey, and become comfortable in the country. When it was time to move on to my next location, India, I let the uncertainty get the better of me.

Actually, I let a woman who had traveled India many times get the better of me. Her advice was along the lines of creating fear scenarios in my head. "Don't use the cheap accommodation you'll get robbed. Don't try to buy your own train ticket, pay a concierge at your hotel to go book it for you. Don't eat the local food, you'll get sick, just boiled rice and bananas...." and on and on she went. I'd been traveling in developing nations for 6 months on my own by that point, but suddenly I let this woman's crazy advice create some trepidation.

The unknown, like change, is difficult.

Once I landed in Bombay, I forced myself to discard the woman's ramblings and proceeded to dig in and get used to it. I adjusted to the rupee, the train system, the rich accents, and the sites and in no time I felt at home again.

Pushing off the fear of others is sometimes as hard as pushing off your own fear.

It's the same way with the new facebook. Everyone is so concentrated on trying to make it look like the "old" facebook that they don't realize they are missing something. I've seen many, "How to Make New Facebook look like Old Facebook" postings in the last few days. But it really doesn't. You lose some of the richness if you just simply change it to status update, you lose the spontaneous photo feeds, you lose the links, the articles people direct you to, and miss some of the social networking that's going on.

What you've gained are some of the features people complained they were missing from the old "old" facebook. If you remember back to the last round of complaints, now you get to see who your friends are friending. You get to see the groups and pages they fan, that being your friend and sharing common interests, you may want to fan too.

Sometimes we are so busy trying to keep things the way they "were" that we don't see the beauty in change.

Cross marketing and Social Media just go together like peanut butter and chocolate...

I work for a local builder who buys local, hires local, lives local and stays local. I also do all the social media for the builder. Lately I've been on a quest to promote local businesses. It just makes sense.

If you employ the 80-20 rule when using social media, you really only want to be talking about yourself 20% of the time. I don't want to bombard you with, "buy a house! Buy a house!"What do you do the other 80% of the time? How about talking about the great businesses that are locally run, the local events that are happening in and around town etc. Now it's one thing to talk about these great venues, shops and restaurants, but it's another thing to cross market.

Cross marketing can be free for the most part. Go out, talk to the people in your community and tell them you'd like to promote them for free...at first you do get looks like you might have horns or two heads. After all, since when is marketing free? But it can be.

Here are a few ideas, that may seem like no brainers to think up, but the implementation does take a little time and commitment. But very little if no money.

• Promote local businesses on your facebook page
• Talk about local events in your twitter feed
• Blog about other businesses in your neighborhood
  
• Get out and ask these businesses to do the same for you
• Have events and feature the goods and services of local businesses
• If you start doing this for them, they'll want to do it for you
• Create a link exchange page on your website "These are the People in Our Neighborhood"

None of these ideas cost you anything but time. The results create a stronger more unified community of local businesses and benefits all who are involved. Everyone has limited resources and marketing dollars in this day and age, that's what makes Social Media such a powerful tool.

How are you going to use it? Throw out some more ideas!

The current economy seems to have given people permission to lose all common sense. Especially in the realm of New Homes Sales. Apparently as long as you site "The economy" and the current state of the housing industry, you should be able to do anything you like.

New rules seem to dictate that you should be able to ask new homes sales agents to show you property at all hours of the day or night regardless of site hours, or the need for appointments. And you can now offer anything you want if you invoke the claim that the company must be going bankrupt...with of course, no facts to support this argument.

I think people have lost their minds.

First and foremost, New Homes Sites are businesses. That may sound like a no brainer, but for some reason some real estate professionals as well as some consumers have forgotten this. There have always been actual operating hours for new homes sites, just like most other businesses. Yet I've heard lately, "What do you mean you can't meet with myself and my client after 6PM on a Saturday to show a house? Don't you want to make a sale?" Not to mention those who want to meet at 7 on a new home sales site during the week... Well why antagonize and behave as if we don't want to make a sale?

Do you think if you question our work ethic that will allow you to get your way?

Do you call up a store who's hours list that they close at 5:00 pm and say, "What do you mean you won't come back in, ignore the fact that you have a family, and come in and work at 6:30 for me? Don't you want to make a sale?" Meanwhile when I ask why normal hours won't work I usually get a list of any number of other things that are taking priority... buying a home is important. If that's not your priority that day to do it during business hours how serious are you? Now don't get me wrong, we'll stay late on just about any day to write a contract, but that's not what is being asked of us. That's like saying I'm coming in to browse, why won't you hold your store open for me to look around?

In some cases we can't keep regular office hours on our sites, so these become by appointment only. We don't just arbitrarily make our communities by appointment only. It's not because of some kind of innate laziness on the part of our sales agents. Sadly, because of major downsizing we don't have full coverage for some of our communities. Now this may not be ideal, but with the current economy, and a smaller staff, that's just the way we are able to cover all our communities at this point in time. "Appointment only" shouldn't be foreign to real estate agents. After all, you can't just show up at a resale home that someone lives in and show it... you need to give people some advanced warning. Does that mean they don't want to do business or make a sale? No...that's just common courtesy to make an appointment.

My personal favorite ridiculous comment is, "I know you have to sell this house. Your company is in trouble." Really, so you are standing in my office telling me my company is in trouble? Trouble compared to what? We sell homes every week and are continuing to build. If you mean all builders have slowed down and that is troublesome to them, then true. But if you mean we're declaring bankruptcy, that simply isn't true. Just imagine someone sitting in your office or calling you on the phone and saying, "I know your company is going out of business and you need to make a sale..." Get a grip people...we aren't going anywhere. If this is your reason to offer an insanely low offer to the builder and expect that he should have to take it, you need a bit of a realty check. Then we really would be going under if we accepted some of the ridiculous offers people want to pay for our homes.

We wouldn't still be in business today if we were operating at a loss and taking whatever we could get for our homes. We are not having a liquidation sale, we are in business to make money. What do you do? If your company is not making a profit will it still be around next year? Why should a builder pay someone to move into his homes? Especially if that builder is still operating, building, and selling?

While the rules have shifted a bit for some new homes sales offices it doesn't mean we are not doing business. It doesn't mean we don't want to make a sale, and it certainly doesn't mean we are going out of business. Just because our hours of operation have changed, and some communities have become by appointment only, does that mean we should all be disrespectful to each other when we can't get that instant gratification we are used to having?

Can't we all get along in the home sales industry? Keep working toward a recovery and respect our own time as well as others. Am I asking for a Utopian Real Estate Society?

I think I'm just asking for the use of a little common sense and common courtesy from both buyers and professionals.

Youtube is crowded with entertaining mindless videos of cats caught on ceiling fans, manatees bumping into aquarium glass, and giant slides that will land you in a kiddie pool of water...but every once in a while you come across a gem that brings tears to your eyes and teaches you real life lessons. This is why social media can have such an amazing impact on our lives.

I used to teach kids team building, leadership development, self-esteem building, goal setting and so much more, all in the guise of summer camp. I had the good fortune to work for an amazing program called ActionQuest. This teen summer program was a 3 week program filled with fun and sun in the Caribbean aboard 50' yachts while scuba diving every day...what more could you ask for?

ActionQuest sounds like a luxury retreat for kids on the outside, but in reality it is an amazing growth experience. Not just for the students, but for the staff members as well. Sometimes I learned as much from the teens as they did from me. I'm sure on day one, many really had no idea what they were in for... Oh they thought it was all about sunbathing, scuba diving and sailing. Along with the cool stuff came all the responsibilities to keep a boat moving. Cleaning and maintaining the boat, cooking meals, trimming sails, checking engine oil, plotting the course, studying for the exams, and so much more made up their daily routines. It's not just a vacation, but a total life experience. Some of these kids had never cooked macaroni and cheese nor cleaned their own toilet before, let alone sailed a boat or dived in the ocean.

So much to learn...so little time. Many came back year after year because they fell in love with the program and it took them outside the every day. Now many of those teens I once worked with have gone on to do amazing things. Some are marine scientists, environmentalists, some travel the world, and climb mountains. One student I had several summers in a row, who was dealing with anger issues, turned his frustrations toward restoring an old sailboat. He pushed his limits toward growth and change and graduated with honors, aspirations and will be going on to a graduate degree working in African nations. It just blows me away when I seem many of my "kids' " (Not so much kids any more) status updates on Facebook.

I hope in some small way I took part in that ripple effect that moved them along their journey.

I loved seeing the light bulbs click on. I loved seeing those ah ha moments. I loved seeing them stretch their imagination and discover that boundaries are limitless. If you can dream it you can do it. These were always my mantras on programs like ActionQuest because these were the precepts I lived by along on the travel road.

When I stopped living a life filled with adventure and working in jobs that motivated kids, I began to get caught up in the everyday. It was easy to forget the lessons I taught. It was easy to slip into a life that accepted limitations. This can happen without thought wen you live by rote repetition -- wake-up, make breakfast, go to work, come home, sit on the couch...do it all over again--dreams are easily lost.

It's so easy to find yourself saying, "I can't do this..." "I can't do that..." "I wish I had done..." It becomes easier to feel trapped in a job, or a situation and not be able to see your way out. I know I'm lucky to have experienced what it is like to live my dreams. Thus, it's not a far stretch to recapture that desire. (but it still can be a stretch when mesmerized by the everyday)

When you begin to forget that the limits are as far out as your dreams can reach, when you begin to see the confines of your life contain you, you might be lucky enough to come across a gem like this on youtube. Then you can thank social media for connection you back to the things that really matter...at least that's what I did.


Seeing 2 short minutes can re-align your perspective.

For all those people who say they "can't..." For anyone who has ever had a bad day and let it continue for a year or more. For anyone who has ever quit before reaching their goal. For anyone who is afraid to try new things...you can't miss this short clip.

Why is it so difficult at times for buyer's agents and new home sales agents to get on the same page? We all share a common goal, to help someone find their dream home. Doesn't that makes us on the same team? Yet at times it's like we are in two completely different professions.

As an Online Sales Consultant for a new homes builder I deal with many different people all over the world on a daily basis who are searching for homes. I help individuals and I assist their agents. Since I provide information on all 14 of our communities, I try to provide the best and quickest responses I can to all inquiries.

That's not always easy. And it's even more difficult when so-called real estate professionals behave less than professionally. In our current economic condition, you'd have to live under a rock not to know that the home building industry is one of the major players taking a hit. Building companies have gone under and merged left and right. Those that haven't disappeared or become absorbed, most likely have suffered severe downsizing to weather the storm. That is our current situation. In the past each of our new home sites were manned by 2 agents, but now we have 2-3 sites per agent. With less agents there are far more fires to contend with per person.

My timing was impeccable. I joined the real estate industry just at the beginning of the downturn. Before that, I was blissfully sailing and diving in warmer climates. The only fires I worried about were REAL fires. The three scariest occurrences on a boat, are fires, sinking and man overboard. (No man falls overboard in calm seas and sunny blue skies) Working on a boat was a 24 hour affair. I worked watch rotations, 4 hours on, 4 hours off or other variations and even when I slept I was still attached to the boat. When I wasn't "working" I was still surrounded by the people with whom I worked. There is no private life on a boat, very few people are able to maintain relationships let alone families.

I thought when I left boats things would change...

Now I find myself on land. I awake in the morning, work out, and have a cup of green tea. The first thing I do is check my work email. I answer emails while eating my breakfast and then go to work... then answer more. I walk out the door at work, and when I get home the first thing I do is log on and see if I have more emails. I never quite turn off my job until I go to bed at night.

Sailing taught me a strong work ethic, one I've carried through my current existence. I'm available 7 days a week until 11 at night via email. But not by phone. I only have office numbers which are listed on the website and those are limited to office hours. Recently I had a real estate agent complain that our site agents, and myself, are not always available by phone all the time. This so-called professional, told me that he answers his phone at all hours unless he's in the shower....unless he's in the shower? I hope he's not answering while he's on the toilet!

An agent like this does not respect his own time, and in turn does not respect our time. Many real estate agents do not set boundaries and expectations. New Homes agents do have set hours, and always work beyond them to some degree. Our agents take appointments outside of site hours all the time with in reason. It is a constant balancing act of family and work. We are not always going to be available by phone. And everything does not need immediate attention. That's just a fact. Most people shopping for houses don't work 24 hours a day, so why should the expectation be set that we should? And why is it set up by the buyer's agent?

At times I feel like we are at war with the buyer's agents. Some constantly act as if we do not work hard. With my current work schedule, I'm traveling from community to community. I have messages left on several phones with the best way to reach me for quick answers, my email address. Yet I get nasty messages like the one I found yesterday. A buyer's agent accused me of not wanting to sell a house since we had such limited site hours. His voice dripped in condescension as he said,"Maybe when you decide to work on weekends you might make some sales. " Then he continued on with more complaints and insults. It was not just what he said, but the tone that caused me to snap.

I could not hold back. (Well I did hold back, but I did not ignore his rant nor did I apologize) I called him back, and very politely explained that I was the internet sales consultant working at that particular community 2 days a week, another community 2 days a week and the office one day a week however I was available 7 days a week via email to set an appointment for him. And I reminded him that all of this information was on the voice mail. I politely reminded him that he preferred to berate me rather than use another form of contact to set an appointment. I called shame on him, saying, "In this current economic climate all builders have been hit hard and we are highly understaffed. If you had contacted me through any of the numerous means left on the voice message I could have set you an appointment on the weekend." I proceeded by saying, "There is no need for you to leave a rude message, you spoke your peace and now I've spoken mine." I would not have done this to a client, but I feel that as a real estate agent going through his own struggles in the industry, he needed a reality check.

The truth is, the builder is running lean staffed. Everyone works multiple jobs within the company above and beyond their call of duty. But there couldn't be a more dedicated bunch of people keeping my builder floating.

Contrary to the less than professional voice mail I received, we do want to sell homes, and we do sell them on a regular basis each week. Most people understand the situation that has been dealt to us and work within those parameters. And I think it should be apparent to anyone who visits our sites that the last few employees standing have heart and believe in the communities, the homes and the company. We take the insults and the rude agents in stride because we know we are lucky to be one of the builders still standing.

But sometimes you need to make sure the professionals are all on the same team.

New Media and incredible vacations... I never would have thought they'd have much in common until recently.

When the Aggressor Fleet hit 1000 fans on facebook they offered a special $1000 trip on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor. For a diver, a trip on any of Aggressor's 12 luxury liveaboard dive boats is probably on the short list of trips we'd love to take. So when they offered an amazing deal of more than 50% off the normal rate in celebration of 1000 fans on fb, I couldn't pass it up!

Last week we took off to Turks and Caicos to test the waters of the Atlantic and experience a vacation filled with cruising sharks, majestic rays, soaring walls, and amazing memories of dive travels around the world, all courtesy of a great fb tip off.

For more details on the diving and travel itself, check out my travel blog, Random Gypsy Ramblings.

I'll have posts on Random Gypsy Ramblings all week recounting diving and travel from Cuba to Zanzibar. Keep an eye out for these posts. Shark Encounters of a Third Kind, Playing Chicken With A Shark, Finding the "G" Spot in French Cay, Fluffy The Lion Fish Far From Home, Aggressor: From The Caymans to West Caicos.

Social media, scuba diving, facebook fan page, Aggressor, what do all these have in common? They are the elements that make up my next great vacation...and my dream job!

During my diving days, I worked for a liveaboard dive boat called the Cayman Aggressor. Recently, while exploring job possibilities I did some preliminary chatting with a couple of liveaboard dive companies about doing their internet sales. I believe that my job as an online sales consultant for new homes, can easily translate into a valuable position selling liveaboard scuba diving.

In a nutshell, I currently find out what people want in a new home and then match their needs to one of our 14 communities and 88 floor plans. I keep in touch with them for weeks, months and years informing them of new offerings. Eventually, through a team effort with our site agents, we sell them a home. Inevitably I lose people along the way, but with a current average of 39% of overall sales for the company, I think I build more relationships than burn bridges.

In the course of talking with some of the liveaboard dive companies I found that they only wanted a social media person, and not someone to do internet sales. They wanted to leave sales in the hands of their reservationists. I found it interesting that in one breath they were ready to embrace new media, and in the next, they were stuck with their old out dated business model.

The key element of my current job is follow-up, follow-up, follow-up...it's a unique person who has the tenacity and the organization to be an online sales consultant. You continually build the relationship in the hopes that someday, when finally ready to buy, they will choose your company. Not just because of the amazing product you sell, but also because of the relationship that you have built. It was this idea that I wanted to bring to the liveaboard dive industry because I know it simply isn't their mode of operation.

Through personal experience with dozens of dive companies over the years, I know that follow-up is a key element lacking amongst almost all of them. If they don't sell you in the first week, then out of site out of mind. I never heard back from them on a personal level with mouth watering offers. They don't try to break down my armor and make me spend my money. There is no one building this kind of relationship with me. And with all the opportunities for dive vacations out there, it is the company who makes that effort that will win (39% of the time perhaps? Maybe more?)

Ironically it was this failed foray that made me take a deeper look into all things SM. I asked myself, "What is it? How is this better than what I already do?" I came to an interesting conclusion. While dynamically running across many mediums and possibilities, social media ultimately, at it's core, is a relationship building tool that compliments my current efforts. But does not replace them.

The way I see social media is that you are investing into a long term plan building recognition while hoping to capture attention and build relationships. It is great for diversifying your overall media plan, but why dismiss people who are calling in for information? Why not put them into a detailed follow-up system? They may not follow you on facebook and twitter, but they are already inquiring about your product. They just needs the right combination of factors to create a need to buy. You have no idea when the right factors will come together to make that expensive dream vacation feasible. But don't you want to be the one that built the relationship when they are ready to release those dollars to the seas? This kind of ROI is far more quantifiable than SM. While I'm enjoying using social media in my current position, I believe it's an additional layer to relationship building and not a replacement for good old fashioned follow-up.

But alas, in trying to convince liveaboard dive companies that they needed (Me) an internet sales consultant, it led me to explore and embrace Social Media. And in that effort I began following them on facebook and twitter and found the offering of an incredible deal aboard the Turks and Caicos Aggressor, a sister ship to my first liveaboard diving job a decade ago. Quantifiable ROI in Social Media! I really hope someday one of these amazing companies will change their mind, see the value in crazy detailed, personal follow-up and grant me my dream job of selling while implementing social media for a liveaboard dive company.

But for now, social media reunited me with my old family the Aggressor to take a killer vacation, at an amazing price. I can't wait for the first dive! Thank you facebook! Thank you Aggressor! Thank you Social Media!

Step away from the iphone...or any other gadget that distracts you while driving a car.

We've become such a tech savvy society that many feel the need to be connected at all times, it's like we need facebook and twitter to be intravenously fed into our veins otherwise we feel disconnected from our peeps. Or at least that's how it seems when you're out driving on the road. You look left, someone is on their phone, you look right, someone is texting. It's becoming out and out dangerous on the road, not because of the speeders and drunk divers, but because of all the technology being used while driving.

Last time I checked, there's no such thing as autopilot for a car, and even auto pilot on a boat, when used improperly will slam you into an island. (Program your way points around the island dummy!) I've seen a boat up on a reef in the British Virgin Islands for this very reason. More and more as I see red flashing lights during the evening commute I wonder how much of it was caused by social media. Is there really something that has to be tweeted while your speeding down the road at 70 miles an hour?

Yesterday I was riding through one of our new home communities, and out of nowhere, out of a blind alley, a small child on a bicycle came darting out in front of the path of a moving car. My moving car! It scared the crap out of me. And I'm sure it scared the crap out of that little girl too. Luckily my reflexes were fast and I managed to slam on the brakes just before one of my worst nightmares was realized. I'm terrified of running a child over with my car. I'm almost certain if I was one of those people who texts and twitters while driving the outcome would have been somewhat different than having my heart return to it's normal cadence as I watched her glide into the opened garage in the next alley and quickly disappear into the house. it was such a sudden and near miss that I could easily have changed lives forever with my car.

I wonder how often this scenario plays out, without the positive outcome of my encounter yesterday. It's just a split second of inattention that can cause a horrific accident that can't be taken back once it happens. Is tweeting and updating a facebook status really worth a minimum of car damage, to a maximum of bodily harm and injury? I don't think so, that's one of the reasons I don't even have texting on my phone...removed the temptation.

So put the blackberry down, step away from the iphone and pay attention to the road when you're on it. Little lives may depend on your own due diligence.

While I know I haven't hit expert status yet, I'm just itching to start a social media consulting business. That, or at the very least, I'm ready to offer some free ideas to a few businesses that I've "fanned" because I think they may be teetering on the edge of losing their audience...

I've quickly noticed that many people are getting onto facebook and twitter the same way they started web pages 10+ years ago. Once upon a time businesses were told that in order to be successful, get a website. Now, the same thing is happening with SM. But many are still a bit foggy as to how to integrate any or all of these tools into a business plan. To use them as a place marker or billboard just wont work. I believe there are many bad websites out there because of this lack of vision and incorporation into an overall company plan and now the same goes for SM sites as they start popping up in my live feed.

My company is a bit guilty of this scenario with SM. As the online sales consultant, one day I came into work, pulled up the website and all of a sudden there were facebook and twitter buttons on our home page! Great! Our marketing company managed to win the battle to move us into the SM age, but no one told me... and I quickly gathered it was going to be my responsibility to run these accounts!

I walked in to talk to my boss with a big question mark on my face, and he said, "Give me a calendar of what we're going to do with it." I'm thinking a calendar? Am I going to have to run every article I want to post and tweet by this busy man beforehand? That's not going to work with the organic quality of SM. I also had to get him to understand we can't hit people over the head with our message, that's not what it's all about. Up until this point my company relied on eblasting our database on a regular basis. Too regular! I used to send out TONS of eblasts. And they were all about us. I did not want SM to become like that or it would be a failure before it even got started.

I quickly convinced my boss that a calendar wasn't really going to happen and instead I drew up a set of guidelines on how we were going to use social media. Having been thrust into the waters of SM I've had to learn to swim quickly. Luckily I caught on fast and had some great advice from folks like Mike Lyon, one of my mentors for online sales training, and Naoma Doriguzzi a great local social media trainer. I spend a lot of time combing for helpful articles and information about the industry, verses just talking about us. I'd love our home owners to post pictures and testimonials on our facebook page, but it's a slow evolution. The best part is, I've been able to cut back our eblasts from 2 a week, to 2-4 a month.

Maybe I've just read a lot in the last several months about best practices, or maybe I just had more common sense and creativity to begin with, but now I'd love to use what I've learned to help local businesses and individuals tweak their media presence. I've already found that several pretty cool organizations have "friend" pages instead of "fan" pages. I don't know if this is because they started before fan pages existed, or because they didn't know how to go about setting up a fan site. Either way the time has come for them to migrate their contacts. The longer they wait, the more fans pile up in a system that is less than ideal. Change to a fan page as soon as possible. You may lose a few contacts, but do it, and do it now. It's too clunky to expect people to request your friendship when you are a business. I think in general people are more likely to follow through with a fan invite verses a friend request. And when someone becomes a fan it often shows up in your friends' feeds. It doesn't do that anymore when you friend someone.

I also see some great businesses out there that are right on with their fan page, and they have great information, but it's too much information. I really do want to read about what my friends are doing and not just the businesses I've fanned. One important rule I've created for myself on facebook is to LIMIT the number of posts a day, and spread them out. Really only 1 or 2 tops. You don't want to dominate someone's facebook feed, that's the best way to get yourself hidden or defanned. Twitter is a little more forgiving in volume but watch how close your tweets are too. Too many in a row look like spam.

Other businesses out there always send out the EXACT same messages on a daily basis. You need to mix it up. Find creative ways to pitch your business and not just by talking about the business itself. The 80/20 rule is all over the web. If you looked up a few articles on social media you'd find experts (real experts not just me) telling you to spend 80% of your time talking about other things and only 20% talking about what it is you are trying to sell. That doesn't mean those other things need to be mundane, "I woke up late today, missed my cup of coffee and now I'm on the move." I save those for my personal facebook updates. Your 80% can be related to your business, but it can be a lot of different things.

If your business is all about selling hammers, and you have a happy hour once a month to sell hammers, your fans are not going to want to read on a daily basis that, "back by popular demand is the Hammers Happy Hour! Come to a fun filled evening of hammers and hors d'oeuvres." There are so many other things you can write about during the month leading up to that event. You can post pictures of people who have happily purchased your hammers and found success with them. You can post their testimonials. You can post some little known facts about hammers that are interesting, anecdotal, or wacky. You can post pictures from your last hammer happy hour and show how much fun people had demonstrating hammers. Perhaps people were dancing on the bar top spinning hammers, now wouldn't that be a fun picture. You can post interesting articles about hammers that people (who are interested in hammers) will probably read. But there's no need to pound people over the head with the same hammer invite every day. That's the quickest way for people to hide you, or un-fan you and then you've lost your audience.

If I sound critical, I'm really not trying to be, I'm just trying to be helpful and share some of the knowledge I've gained from not just being in sales, but being a consumer too. I know I still have a lot to learn, and I'm always open to suggestions.

This is just a little free information as I explore and refine my own process.

After my last post about debates on facebook, I decided to see if it was possible to have a debate in 140 Characters.

The other day my cousin posted a ridiculous video in his facebook status update which sparked an intense debate between myself and one of his friends about the health care system. As usual my cousin posted something controversial but didn't, himself debate the issue. Sadly I don't believe it's because he's above having the discussion, I think it's simply because he doesn't have a concept of why he believes what he does. He follows his social circle of friends and religious underpinnings blindly, with no desire to hear anything contrary to his belief structure. Again, not to repeat myself from my last post, but if you are going to post something that may cause any discussion other than a thumbs up, I feel you should be prepared to discuss it, and not allow your friends to fight your battles for you.

Maybe it's easier in the Cyber world to throw your views up, or in my cousin's case regurgitate the sentiment of the masses, and think you don't have to defend them. That would never fly in a youth hostel anywhere in the world. When traveling, because you are thrust into a group of people from different walks of life and life experiences, you have to be prepared to have your sheltered beliefs shaken up. You do need to know what you are talking about if you bring something up that's controversial because people will challenge you. While it's easy to retreat on a computer and let your friends have at it, people will quickly find out you don't know what you are talking about when you are in an international group talking out of your @ss.

Most debates that I get into on my cousin's facebook post go something like this: I read it, I get annoyed, and I then read it to my boyfriend Chris and say, "Can you believe this crap he's putting out there!" then I begin typing furiously. Before I hit reply, I read my response to Chris, to make sure it sounds intelligent and not emotional, I get his feed back because he's one of the most intelligent, informed and rational humans I know, and then I post it. If I don't read the source of my annoyance to him first, and he hears me typing furiously, he knows it's either a reply to my cousin or an email feud with my mother on similar topics - but that's another story.

After several posts back and forth with some friend of my cousin's on health care, my boyfriend simply said to me, “Is health care a right or a privilege?” I thought this simple question was a good one. I had not heard back after my last point on my cousin's status update so I figured I'd "won" that debate. I'm constantly trying to figure out how to open up conversation on twitter, which in my opinion, is much more difficult than on facebook. In the spirit of trying to open up a 2 way dialogue I thought I'd bring the debate to twitter so I posted, “Is health care a right or a privilege? I believe it's a right. What do you think?”

I then got into this short dialogue with one of the many faceless people on twitter. (Literally she has no picture up on her twitter profile and is not someone I know, as I would say I know the people I’m friends with on FB) The first response I received was, It's ur duty to provide for ur own family - not mine or gov RT @gypsealeah: Is health care a right or a privilege? I believe it's a right. My response was @facelessfollower if it were that easy for everyone to provide health care for their family don't you think they would? So to my question she replied @gypsealeah should obama provide me college edu with ur tax dollar n give me house to - What good is health care if i'm living on the street. Why did she jump to education and housing from health care? No answer to my easy question, does she really think it’s that easy for everyone? She changed the subject from health care to education and houses.

How can I respond in 140 characters? I cheated, my response was about 280 characters and I didn’t even address the fact that health care is a lot more necessary if you are living on the street with no roof over your head, or no job. My expanded 2 tweet response was @facelessfollower/competition to inflating HC rates, a single payer option may allow money for U2 pay EDU and keep U off the street @facelessfollower U think basic health care is luxury like college edu and house? there are inexpensive ed options, + U can rent. But no cheap HC. And her reply back was, (Now don’t be surprised that she jumped back to my original question is it a right…without giving me an answer to my last query) @gypsealeah - are you saying health care is right under the constitution that the government is obligated to provide for us?

Well now come on, I’d think it obvious that I’m not saying it’s a right under the constitution. I do think we all have a right to affordable health care. So again I patiently reply not worrying about the fact that we’ve changed tangents again. (And this time expanded another 140 characters on top of my last cheat.) Triple tweet @facelessfollower no not saying right in const..saying in an enlightened society when countries less fortunate then ours have HC 4 All Y don't we? @facelessfollower I'm saying that the current system needs looking at when rates continue to rise above that of pay in this country. @facelessfollower R U saying HC is like a Yacht U shouldn't have it unless you can afford it? Plenty of hard working people can't afford it.

Well, my 420 characters were too much for the debate tactics of twitter because I never heard back. But I found it interesting that even in 140 characters the opposition still jumps to information irrelevant to the actual conversation, i.e. changing to education and housing when the questions was about health care. And there are no real answers to my questions, just reactionary garbledeguke.

I don’t know that too many people really want to debate anything. They don't want to ask questions because they don't want to listen view points of the opposition, they just want to shout or stick their fingers in their ears saying, "La La La I can't hear you." Instead it seems that the interactive dialogues many want to have through social media are either on a business level, or a very impersonal level. It is not nearly as social and interactive is sitting around a room with a bunch of international travelers and talking about real issues.

I guess you can’t have a debate in 140 characters.