Greg Atkinson

Wednesday, I spoke at Career Day at my kids’ elementary school. I spoke on my current job in social media marketing. I decided to take the angle of first teaching them what marketing is and then introducing them to how that relates to social media.

I showed these 3rd through 5th graders cards with logos from various companies and they knew every single one of them. It’s amazing to see how effective the branding and marketing efforts of major companies have been for these young kids.

What shocked me was finding out that several of these kids are already on Facebook and they all knew about Twitter. The times – they are a changing. This generation growing up knows Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and blogging. It excited me and scared me at the same time.

What are your thoughts on the prevailing influence of social media on children? What do you think about elementary school kids being on Facebook?

LifeChurch.tv (through their OPEN Network) has done it again! Known for years for offering free resources to the Church, now they are helping you with your church’s Facebook page through a series of training videos.

With training videos on how to do events, extras and configurations, fan updates, insights/metrics, moderation, notes, photos, videos and wall updates – they have you and your Facebook team (which can be made up totally of volunteers) covered on how to create, manage and lead an effective and attractive Facebook page for your church.

Check out their resources and videos HERE. Now you have no excuse for not having a great Facebook presence!

Have you heard of TheCommon.org? Maybe you should! They are my newest sponsor and have a cool service for your church that you should consider. Check out this guest blog post:

TheCommon.org started with a need.  Actually it started as a list; an extremely inefficient list of things people needed help, being communicated to a huge audience of people who “might be able to help” that led to an idea.  You see, every community has both Needs and Abilities.  And we’ve found that, generally, People want to help each other.  But the process of connecting these needs with the people who want to help is severely broken.

What if there were a better way for people help each other, and for communities to help people help each other?  Not just another piece of software or a place to share photos, but a movement and a connecting point—something that has true value to the community.  Something that can embrace both philanthropy and simplicity.

Connecting people looks like a huge, complex system in most communities.  You have an entire ecosystem that is dependent upon a central system of administration to drive service, outreach, care.  And your system is then limited by the capacity of that individual or team.

But when you open communication—allow your community to connect directly with those opportunities—those limits go away. I can really only speak from personal experience.  In the three years that TheCommon has been a living, breathing resource for people to serve, there have been connections I have been able to make, places to serve and relationships formed that flat out wouldn’t have happened in whatever you consider the “current model” without it.

And in the last few months I’ve witnessed some incredible interactions on the Projects and Marketplace as well: from baby clothes and waffle makers, to cars, refrigerators, and computers being given away to help people—all because they were made aware of a need and stepped up to meet it.

So, what happens when people have easier access to the needs in their community and partner communities through blending?  Check out our Twitter feed.  Listen to the 73 year old woman who just received help packing boxes, or the guy who just got help with his car repair.  They share the stories of connections made and the good that is right therewaiting to be done.

We would love for you to test drive it in your community, and for a limited time are extending a FREE 60 day trial to all of Greg’s readers.  Click the link HERE and be sure to enter the code “ga2011” when you create a community account.  It’s simple to get started and we have some great resources to help you along the way.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at hello@thecommon.org.

This was a guest post from Jay Kroll who works in Marketing and Relationships at TheCommon.org.  Follow them on Twitter at @thecommon.

Last night during the amazing Super Bowl commercials, Apple introduced the world to The Daily. I’ve already stated that I think this changes the game. It’s no secret that I’ve never been a fan of traditional newspapers. What say you?

Today’s question and discussion around LBS technology. Do you use it? From Wikipedia: A location-based service (LBS) is an information and entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device.

80 days ago (after 2 years of debating it), I joined Foursquare. I travel a lot and wish I had joined sooner. I’m usually an early adopter, but it took me a while to get on board with an LBS (location-based service). Very recently, I also joined Gowalla, but don’t use it regularly.

From Wikipedia: LBS services can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, work, personal life, etc. LBS services include services to identify a location of a person or object, such as discovering the nearest banking cash machine or the whereabouts of a friend or employee. LBS services include parcel tracking and vehicle tracking services. LBS can include mobile commerce when taking the form of coupons or advertising directed at customers based on their current location.

My social media marketing company (GTK Solutions) utilizes these tools for our clients, so I wanted to know what we were offering people. I see the value for businesses offering loyalty-based incentives and think it’s great. I also realize you can see friends that have checked in at a restaurant, store or business and know they’re there and stop by and surprise them. Each Sunday, I see several people check in to churches around the country.

I’m curious: Do you use an LBS service? Why or why not? If so, which one and what do you like about it? Do you see uses for churches in this area of mobile technology?

In my last post, I shared a powerful story of a young girl. You may or may not have seen this internet sensation who has a powerful story of being given a second chance. I want to share with you today: Ted Williams.

Ted gives glory to God all throughout this interview and is a living testament that you can come back from addiction and homelessness. Redemption and for that matter: all things are possible with our God.

Ted is now being courted for a major job by the NBA and NFL films. Watch the following video of  Ted being interviewed after being discovered. Unbelievable. To God be the glory.

Yesterday Facebook announced their New Messages. This is a new way of interacting with people and could definitely be a game-changer for how we communicate. Watch the video and tell me what you think.

If you’d like to sign up to be notified when this is available to test go HERE.

Throughout the past couple of years, I’ve made my pleas about giving Twitter a try. This is another plea for you to claim your “digital real estate” and get on Twitter for your church, business, non-profit or organization. We’re past the point of Twitter being a fad. Twitter now has over 50 million users and has gone mainstream. Businesses everywhere are using Twitter to be seen and get heard. They’re using Twitter to get by the roadblocks of old media and create a powerful presence online. You have the same opportunities and potential for an effective online presence with your church or organization.

The best part about Twitter users, unlike Facebook or YouTube, is that most Twitter users are over the age of 30. What does that mean for you? Paying Customers in the business world or your target for your church. Most modern churches target young couples with small kids – this is who is on Twitter. Make sense?

The 2nd reason? Laser Targeted Marketing:

When you use Twitter to build your brand online, you’re not relying on random Google searches. You’re not relying on expensive PPC methods that bring lukewarm consumers (in business) or people that aren’t located near your church and will never visit. You are using Twitter to filter out the tire kickers and bring you the people that want to hear your voice. Enter – a surge of traffic that is hungry for what you have to offer!

Now, I realize that a lot of what I just said is exactly what I tell my clients. Again, I’m just trying to share with you for free what I get paid to share with others. Please know my heart is to reach people for Christ. I’m not pushing a consumer-focused church or trying to scratch itching ears. I’m one of those, like Perry Noble, that will do anything short of sin to see people come to Jesus – realizing that it’s the Holy Spirit that draws men and women unto Himself. I’m just referring to the part where we are partners of the Gospel and work with the Spirit to share Christ and reach out to our community.

Still not convinced you should be on Twitter? Tomorrow I will blog an updated or revised version of my “Digital Real Estate” plea. Stay tuned. In the meantime, how many of you have a Twitter account for your church? How many of you update it regularly? Are you conversational and not just a broadcast mechanism? Please share.

In last week’s blog post “An Introduction to Social Media Marketing”, I referred to SMO. (SMO) Social media optimization, sometimes known as social media marketing, is a branch of search engine optimization that isn’t as mainstream as it should be. Every business and church can benefit from some form of engagement with social media networks, but not every business (or church) does engage. In the very near future, any business ignoring SMO will do so to their severe detriment. This is why I do my social media marketing company (GTK Solutions) and something I help educate business owners about.

Here’s just a few of the functions an SMO campaign serves:

*Exposure. This is the main thing most businesses aim for when they engage in social media optimisation. Many companies let increased exposure remain as the limit of a campaign’s advantages. A little thought can make social media work harder for your website optimisation campaign.

*Customer service. As more of the average businesses can be contacted through social media than in any other forum, it makes sense to use social media networks as a kind of customer service line. The publicly viewable nature of social media communication means that positive customer interactions get your business some excellent coverage, although for the same reasons negative encounters are best taken offline.

*Brand and reputation management. One of the major changes social media has wrought upon the internet is the need for results in real time. This aspect of social media comes in as an advantage when your brand needs a little support. Businesses are using social media to respond to bad press in their own words, getting in before the media does too much damage.

*Media coverage. The social media can be used as your own little media network, without the trouble of bothering with journalists.

*** I hope you know that my heart is to educate, inform, train and equip you as Church leaders. Any mention to my company (GTK Solutions) in my blogs is just a passing reference to what I do during the day. Please know that my business is not geared to churches (they can’t afford it). I’m not writing this for any other purpose than to share for free what others pay me to tell them. My clients for GTK Solutions are businesses only.

However, I do offer consulting (not marketing) to churches and am passionate about teaching and equipping church leaders and pastors about social media. Let me know if you’d like to talk with me about consulting with your church or organization for SMO. I also include social media and online strategy in my report when I do a secret shopper for a church. If you have interest in that, go HERE for more details.

I thought this was a great article/blog post by Michael R. Macias on that I came across on the Small Business Tech blog. This is what I try to get across to clients that I work with: social media marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Just like I said in my older blog post “Diving into Social Media” – you have to be in it for the long haul. Read what Michael had to say to business leaders:

Far too often in the business world the term return on investment (ROI) is used to justify actions or strategies. Though the term certainly has a place in the small business sector, it doesn’t fit everywhere. And there is one place it should never be used-social media. Imagine if all of us treated our “real” friends based on the concept of “ROI” like we do with our “virtual” ones. Chances are it would look a little something like this: “Today I hung out with Billy, but got nothing in return, so I won’t be doing that again, even if we’ve been friends for 20 years.” We’d all end up without any friends if we lived our lives that way. Well, the same rule should apply to any social media efforts your small business engages in. Using Facebook shouldn’t be about tracking ROI, or measuring the benefits of your friends.

Granted, there are metrics or insights, available to show you how effective your messages are, but that shouldn’t define your efforts. Social media is about more than just sales conversions or coupon deliveries…it’s really about relationships. Today’s consumers want to feel connected to a brand, and have a personal relationship with it. It’s about engaging people, inspiring them, motivating them, and encouraging them to appreciate your brand. When you decide to dive into social media, think about treating it exactly as you would a new friend. As you get to know them, and they get to know you, you start to like each other more, and the next thing you know, you are introducing each other to new people. I believe in the business world we refer to that as word of mouth marketing. So before you try to rate your “virtual” friends, or create a system to track their value, stop and think, “Would I do this to Billy?”

This was a guest post and thank you Michael for taking the time to write this great post. You can find out more about Michael and his business at his website www.insidethecube.com . An impressive website and it is worth taking the time visit. Also you can follow Michael and his business on twitter http://twitter.com/CreativeQube.