Does the foundation of relying on traditional media releases work in the Internet age? Josh Korr of Publishing 2.0, along with other social media knowledge leaders like Matt Thompson and Jeff Jarvis, don’t think it does. Josh says, “…The Internet’s depth and variety have made newspapers’ pool of wire sources look increasingly shallow.” He continues, “The longer newsrooms ignore this amazing universe of content, the less relevant they are for readers.” What today’s wire needs is to aggregate links for the web’s top content. Creating the “web’s newswire, version 1.0” is Josh’s initiative.

As the demand for news accelerates, we question how corporations can get more connected? Kami Huyse of Communication Overtones offers five great tips. For example, corporations must “listen and respond in real time” and collaborate “to bypass antiquated bureaucracy.” There are a lot of tools that can help corporations develop these Kami’s five competencies and improve their messages. “The bottom line,” Kami says, “is that the needs of the communication should drive the use of the tools, and not the other way around.”

Kyle of Kylelacy.com says, “The biggest hurdle in explaining social media is the issue of weighing the benefits against the time spent on social media platforms.” In the first of five posts focusing on social media’s benefit for small businesses, Kyle says that prioritizing is important – “Find four to five social media platforms that cater to what you are wanting to accomplish.” He also says to plan, stay active in your communities, and execute by joining the conversation.

With limited time, how do you manage all of your social networks? An insightful post on Louisgray.com suggests that the mobile world is helping to, “bridge the gap between ‘following friends’ and ‘real life friends.’” Louis also anticipates a unification of multiple social networks under one umbrella network, and expects to see users “blur your online persona with that you use at the office or at home.”

Jennifer Laycock offers great thoughts on how social media benefits companies during a recession on Search Engine Guide. With a creative chart, Jennifer shows you how your small business can “weather the economic storm.” Jennifer says that those companies that get in the social media game first will generate the greatest rewards. With consumers spending less, and companies doing more to understand their customers, they will use social media to meet in the middle.

Small business owners wear many hats. Additional work to an already hectic regiment is not typically welcomed. But, according to Jim Bensen, social media simultaneously “Can help [small business owners] market, improve our operations, build loyal customers, attract new sales, and better collaborate with our peers.” Jim’s post offers great insight into how social media can help small businesses mine company information, develop professional relationships, manage their reputation, and build a community. Check out details on Evolving Web.

Small business owner and want to get a better grasp of social media? Connie Benson of Solutions Are Power highlights a free event in Atlanta, Georgia on Oct 21 which will do just that. Registration is required, but the event’s sponsor (and our client), Network Solutions, is footing the bill. According to Bensen, “featured experts will share innovative and practical insights about how they have successfully used the power of social networking to increase their online presence.”

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see posts titled "The Role of Ethical Brands in a Down Economy," "The Four Social Media Questions You Must Answer During an Economic Downturn," "In A Down Economy, Tomorrow’s Leaders Are Born Today," "Will Social Media Help PR Weather the Storm," and "25 Ways Social Media Prepares You for a Social Media Downturn." All of these respected marketers have the recession in mind (image by collective nouns).

There were some great insights in these articles, most of which I liked Todd Defren’s statistical based analysis showing online marketing will be the bright spot in communications. I disagreed w/ some of Chris Brogan’s 25 ways (though I love Chris), but mostly because no one knows how social media functions and works in a recession. I think reliance on brass tacks, on hard core value building and ROI is what matters now.

What is clear: This new media world will see an even stronger focus from corporate as big ad spends get cut and marketers seek guerilla oriented tactics. But things will change, and online communicators are going to be forced to act differently.  

I’ve been through one of these before, in the telecom industry which suffered an industry specific depression from 2000-2. During that time I actually excelled and grew a book of business, keeping more than a dozen of my fellows employed. So while I will be deploying social media for the first time in a  recession, I’ve got a few experiences that are guiding my thoughts during this particular time:

Here are five ways I anticipate this recession will affect us:

1) ROI must become the song. If you can’t measure or you think page impressions represents an accurate measurement for marketing communications initiatives, mail it in. No company will engage in that anymore. Integration with calls to action must be used to produce tangible results.

2) Similarly, social media consultants will be forced to produce or they will bomb. Now more than ever it’s about ROI, not Facebook friends.  

3) Independent, positive thinkers will do better. They will not be susceptible to media driven BS and fear mongering. Consider this ridiculous CCN story that liberally uses poll terms to claim 60% of Americans say depression is likely. Talk about tabloid journalism. Yet, these stories can inspire panic and that is the great challenge.

Rich Becker makes a good point, "When economic times seem tough, you tend to want to work with those who seem largely unaffected." In his post, he was speaking about the newspaper industry, but it may as well be your company. Executives and individuals will need to wield a sober, pragmatic approach to the market, and provide actionable ways to grow their business. More than anything people and cultures that win will be the positive ones with real value to offer their employers, their clients and the world in general.

4) It’s time for millenials to grow up in the workplace. This is Gen Y’s first recession, and to date they have shown heavy demands for senior executive access and mentorship, lifestyle choices, collaboration, high salaries, plush bennies, transitory career paths, and steady, significant pay increases. More than anything it has been incumbent on employers to attract and retain them with these many cultural aspects. Well, the coin has flipped.  In tough times, it’s incumbent on the employee to prove value, not the employer. I sense that many over-privileged divas are heading for a rude awakening.

5) More noise.  As companies abandon traditional, costly tactics and crowd the marketplace with their new social media initiatives we will likely see a new nightmare of corporate crud. Social media initiatives must offer immediate, clear strong value to communities, or they will click and flee. Substance is paramount! Tolerance for BS gimmicks will evaporate. Last recession, a similar noise level occurred with email marketing, that time’s cheap marketing elixir.

A Time of Pain

Regardless of how social media fares as a sub sector, I believe from a societal perspective that this will be a widespread recession that will take a good long time to get better.  Poor fiduciary lending has affected our entire financial industry and in ways that we’ve not seen in modern times before under the Federal Reserve. This will impact all businesses and all sectors, from credit to actual sales. My prayers and thoughts are with those who will be affected.

Further, more than any economic downturn in my life, this will hurt the lower middle income and low income classes.  Consider the impact high heating costs, transportation costs, lost jobs from construction, cut state spending, etc., will make on blue collar America.

There will be great challenges ahead that supersede "making money," and I encourage readers to think about what we can do to help as individuals. It is a time for charity, a time for helping brothers and sisters regardless of race, creed, class, religion. Economic pain affects all, and no American should go hungry.

Related posts:

• Recession 2.0
• Using Social Media to Communicate in Tough Times (HR Perspective)
• Accelerating through the Recession

Looking for an application to help organize your Twitter-stream? Matt Dickman created an informative how-to video about TweetDeck – a “must have” application that will help you become more productive. Matt decided to check out TweetDeck after a recommendation from Guy Kawasaki at Blogworld Expo. Check out Matt’s video on his Techno/ /Marketer blog.

Making the point that the NHL could benefit from social media, Richard Becker of Copywrite, Ink says, “customer engagement — direct player to fan engagement in this case — is less talked about but easily the strongest counterpart to online communication.” In his post, Rich also says that part of social media’s attractiveness is that it allows people short on time to develop and better maintain relationships.

Rather than developing new product lines, many top companies implement line extension. It’s Laura Ries opinion that, “Like the losers in high school that studied and are now successful, rich and powerful; the losers that don’t line extend will be the ultimate winners in the marketplace.” Check out Laura’s “Twelve Steps of Line Extension Anonymous” on Ries’ Pieces.

Amber Naslund of The Brand Box makes several interesting points about what to look for when considering a social media consultant. Adding her thoughts to a Mashable post, Amber suggests picking a consultant that “swims” outside the “fishbowl.” She also suggests straying from those that preach social media as a singular strategy, and search for a consultant who “walks the walk.”

How do you calculate Social Media’s ROI? Valeria Maltoni says, “Just like taxes, it’s something you accrue every day and tally periodically.” Valeria’s post on Conversation Agent explains why engagement is an important component of any integrated program. According to Valeria, it’s important to focus on social media’s ROI in the long term.

Will social media provide a buffer for “forward-looking PR agencies” in a time of recession? Highlighting a study by Epsilon Todd Defren says that while marketing and communications budgets are being cut, “digital marketing” may be safe. Why? On Todd’s post in PR Squared blog he says, “It is not only helping brands spread the word; it also helps the brand to shore up support among its current customers.”

On Solutions Are Power Dave Griffin, Social Media Coordinator of Griffin Technology, explained to Steve Fisher his role and responsibility with the company. Dave is responsible for using social media to, “boost awareness of the brand and its products, interact and build community and develop promotions with equally cool partners.” Read Steve’s post, and see Dave’s top five social media suggestions for established small businesses, and how Griffin Technology hopes to use social media to develop more personal relationships between the customer and the company.

Often less is more. Jared Goralnick of Technotheory wrote a noteworthy post on how Twitter forces users into good habits. Jared says that people will think more highly of you if you talk less and “work harder on your questions than your answers.” He suggests to, “Cut yourself back to 60 seconds and see if people like what you have to say a little more.”

On Class Conflict – A Graduate Student’s Blog, Brandon Mendelson offers some uplifting news for bloggers in the midst of a gloomy economy. Citing a Jacqui Cheng post in Ars Technica, Brandon says that with the small domain name investment you can be making good money in advertisement revenue in as little as three months. Check out Brandon’s post for more details on the mean advertisement revenues for bloggers, how much money top blogs receive, and how you can get started.

Some annual social media conferences like South by Southwest offer tremendous networking opportunities, and attendees have a chance to rub shoulders with social media “rockstars.” However, social media is “…not about putting ‘rockstars’ on stage, it’s about teaching people how to use these tools to grow their businesses,” says Mark Collier. On The Viral Garden, Mark expresses why he attends and speaks at conferences where teaching and learning are top priority. Visit The Viral Garden and share your thoughts on your favorite conferences, both as a speaker and an attendee.

Kat French wrote an interesting post on Social Media Explorer about how social media is and will continue to influence politics. The reason is that more people are getting their news online. In fact, the number of people who have watched online political videos has tripled since the 2004 election. Kat says that like the Nixon Kennedy debate where television had a dramatic impact on the two candidates perceived success, “after 2008 candidates can ill-afford to ignore ‘those crazy bloggers…’”

In a great post on Search Engine Guide, Jennifer Laycock says, “social media is not about marketing, it’s about the conversations.” Laycock says that similarly to traditional business development, social media is about knowing customers and anticipating their needs. It’s also treating them with respect and doing the right thing. Check out Jennifer’s post to find out more about how your company can and should participate in social media.

At times there is a gap between those who theorize about social media, and those who practice it. On Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog she discusses why there is this disconnect, and why both the consultants and the practitioners need each other. Though both disciplines are quite different, Shannon says, “I think there’s a place for both and that the venerated experts and savvy professionals are more dependent on one another than either would like to admit.”

Doug Caverly of WebProNews relays a message on how PR departments should interact with bloggers. The message from Jason Falls at the BlogWorldExpo is to create a relationship first and deliver the pitch second. Similarly, Chris Brogan suggests to keep pitches short, and to stay human. Check out Doug’s post, and share your thoughts.

Commenting on a presentation by Julien Smith, Daryl Tay puts blogging into prospective and reminds us why it’s so important to be socially engaged. The answer – it makes the world a better place for doing it. On Unique-Frequency Tay suggests to, “think back and remember why you got into this space to begin with, and [consider] if where you are now is a far cry from that beginning.”

Beth Kanter offers an excellent case study from WeAreMedia on how nonprofits are able to use social media to better share their stories. The LOL Seals campaign was a photo contest that got participants to write humorous captions about harp seals while taking time to learn about them. Gain insight into why this project was successful on Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media.

Florida, Louisiana and especially Texas are in dire need of aid. Yet, the fundraising efforts have been drastically below expectations, with only a total of approximately $25 million raised. These figures are dwarfed by efforts for Hurricane Katrina. As a result, last Friday the American Red Cross called on the social media savvy to spread the word and help those in need. Visit Amy Sample Ward’s post on Net Squared to find out how you can help.

Kyle James of .eduGuru shares seven Google Analytics filters that will help you better track who’s visiting your site. His suggestions, such as how to use the Full Referral URL Filter and the Directory Filter, will help you get more information from your Google Analytics account. Kyle says, “It’s as easy as setting up a new profile in Google Analytics and applying one or more filter to begin collecting data in a unique and valuable way…” 

The PR industry has been under scrutiny lately. Jeremiah Owyang of Web Strategy by Jeremiah offers his analyst perspective as to why PR is valuable. Jeremiah says that having a PR firm is an indication that the company is “beyond the garage.” He also noticed, “Companies that have PR services often do a better job at communicating to me.” Jeremiah claims those companies who enlist the help of a PR firms have a competitive advantage over those that don’t.

Sarah Palin captured a lot of media attention John McCain announced her as his running mate. Taly Weiss of Trends Spotting demonstrates how social media tools can be used to track search volume for the different candidates. Weiss concludes, “We do see Palin’s potential to contribute.” However, she goes on, “it seems Obama has many things under control.”

Why blog? There are many reasons and many types of blogs. Jed Brubaker of gnovis says, “Blogging is just one way in which to assist the collaboration and dissemination of knowledge.” Brubaker argues that at a time when schools aren’t sending kids home with textbooks, it’s important to provide an outlet where information is widely available and “every voice” can be heard. 

Vindu Goel of the New York Times writes that The Wall Street Journal is taking a different approach to its revamped site. The updates are community focused, allowing the over 1 million paid online subscribers to comment and discuss every article. “If the concept works,” says Goel, “WSJ.com could find itself as a hub for all kinds of business conversation, boosting reader loyalty and those oh-so-important page views for advertisers.”

Do old marketing advertising tactics work with new forms of media? A recent post on Chris Baggott’s Guide to Blogging blog argues that they don’t. So what is the job of today’s marketing professional? Chris says it’s to listen, and it’s to be there to solve a customer’s needs when they conduct a search. Business blogging is a great way to increase “organic search,” and Chris suggests focusing blogging efforts at related and popularly searched keywords.

Amanda Mooney of Ad Rants considers a piece by Clive Thompson in Times Magazine. In Clive’s article he suggestion that “incessant online contact” creates an “ambient awareness.” This, Amanda says, can greatly impact a brand, allowing the brand to be grasped on a more “intimate level.” Building real relationships no longer means the 30-second million-dollar promotional spots. It is a two-way conversation where companies can listen to stakeholders and receive feedback on a micro level about their brands.

Comparing the use of social media during Hurricane Katrina with its use during Hurricane Gustav, Paul Chaney of Conversational Media Marketing reminds us how far social media has come in a few short years. Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter and a FEMA widget made it easier for people to stay informed and communicate with friends and families. However, Paul says, “None of Louisiana’s emergency sites offered any type of social media tools.” Clearly there is still a long way to go.

Frontline employees often function as “brand ambassadors” for their companies while online. Richard Becker of Copywrite, Ink. tackles the debate of how companies should handle separating an ambassador’s personal and professional online brands. It is Rich’s opinion that “trying to separate personal and professional brands is like arguing that you are a different person when you wear jeans or a suit.” And he also notes the importance of acting with good common sense. Rich says that it is important for companies to educate these ambassadors, because they can greatly and positively impact a company’s image.

Gareth Kay offers his “two cents” on the best practice of social media on the Brand New blog. Simply, Gareth wants “brands to stop being so narcissistic and to start being generous.” If it were up to Gareth, a brand would reward customers with something special or unique. He warns, “Don’t think that social media is the silver bullet - you need to be a social brand, not a brand that ‘uses’ or ‘buys’ social media.”

Lewis Green of Buzsolutionsplus Featuring Solutions to Grow Your Business offers his advice on “the issues that must be faced, responded to and carried out for a successful merger.” Being personally involved in two mergers, Lewis’ experience is demonstrated in his suggestions. Beyond being open and honest with employees, Lewis says that it’s important to consider corporate culture for fit.

“What does the world look like when social media becomes a commonplace, everyday activity for 100s of millions of people in the world?” asks Shel Israel. Interestingly, Shel predicts that advancements in technology such as aviators, enhanced virtual reality, and globalization will continue to open the world. Check out Shel’s post and make your own predictions at Global Neighbourhoods.

Considering Shel’s post (mentioned above), Jason Fall of Social Media Explorer says that social media has promise in the long term, but is less so in the near future. Jason suggests that social media technologies have an “explosion of hype that soon turns to a massive free fall as early-adopting businesses fail to see the promised profits or productivity improvement.” The true value of social media will be realized, says Jason, as companies see the value of providing customers a “human connection” to a brand.

David Armano of Logic + Emotion presets an intriguing prospective of “our own social solar systems.” The planets of your personal solar system are Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc, where people spend many hours developing their personal brand. David suggests, “We are the center of our own Micro-universe,” but with limited resources, we can only meaningfully maintain a limited number of “social systems.”

Social media savvy professionals are continually using their talent to improve the lives of others. Beth Kantaer of Beth’s blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media, posts a list of top recourses, including the Gustav Information Center to help coordinate volunteers helping with Hurricane Gustav. Check our Beth’s post, and see how you can help.

Though the acquisition is off, we’re still planning on some changes to the Buzz Bin.  Namely, the blog and the readers would be better served if we split the content into two blogs. We feel like we’ve got a lot of great content, some strategic and some tactical.

First would be the Buzz Bin, which would continue with 2-3 Livingston posts a week, Qui Diaz on social media for social good, and interviews of leading voices. We anticipate adding a third strategy oriented voice to the blog in the next month or two. The leaner and meaner Buzz Bin would begin in its third major retooling on September 8.

Second, Livingston Communications would start a new blog, which would focus more on tactical execution. Larissa Fair would be the lead voice, and she will be accompanied by our weekly columns from Marinel Mones and Mike Nelson, Buzz Meter and Blogs of Fire, respectively.  The second blog would launch in mid-October.

As the Buzz Bin is as much yours as ours, we definitely want to know if these changes work for you, or if you prefer to keep the blog as is. Let us know.

Looking for more information on social media? Martin Diano of Dianosphere says as, “A firm believer in lifelong learning, part of the process to keep current about social media is to read just about everything I can about the topic.” Check out his top five books on the topic, and read them for yourself, if you haven’t already.

Rohit Bhargava offers a guide to Flickr use for marketers on his Influential Marketing Blog. Rohit says, “Flickr can be a marketing goldmine for the right project.” However, marketers tend not to target Flickr because, “marketers aren’t yet good at creating the one thing they need to have credibility in Flickr … quality non-marketing images.” Check out his 10 suggestions as to how you can use flicker more effectively.

Whether you are a business blogger or a personal blogger, Sonia Simone says that the most important factor as a blog writer is, “More than admiration, money or attention, you need to earn your audience’s trust.” Sonia offers suggestions on how to do just that on Copybogger. Her suggestions include adding the human element to your blog, taking a position and sticking to your guns, and treating your audience with respect. Sonia says to “never go for short-term gains at the expense of long-term trust.”

How do blogs compare with traditional print media? Arguments against blogs are that journalism wasn’t meant to be a conversation, and that not everyone can write a compelling piece. Denis Hancock of Wikinomics argues that blogs are “simply a new form of publishing tool.” And that blogs receive more editorial freedom, and “are unbounded by word constraints associated with print media.”

Toby Bloomberg conducted a survey of 99 people as “An industry pulse check from the people who are involved in the space.” Toby recaps what was learned about blogger relations, in the fourth of a series of posts. Several of the survey’s major takeaways are that patience, respect and values are important. See the detailed recap on Diva Marketing Blog and check back in the future for the complete series roundup.