The conversation starts now - Social Media

Social media is simply about a conversation. A conversation that takes place with or without you...so now is the time to figure out how to be a part of your customers' conversation.

We presented an educational session last week on social media...and it was great. The audience was very engaged and interested. Some were currently involved in social media but most had not yet determined what worked best for them.

Social media is one of the new buzz words, as is social networking. And there are hundreds of ways to involve yourself in social media. It can seem very overwhelming. In our session, we attempted to break it down into those opportunities that are currently most relevant to doing business.

We presented what we call "custom social networking sites" using a platform called "Ning." We love Ning in our shop...in fact, I think we are borderline obsessive about it. (For more information on the phenomenon called Ning, see the May 2008 issue of Fast Company). To date, we have created 6 Ning sites....each designed as a forum of "like-minded" people - a room in which to hold a conversation about a common interest.

For example, one that is taking off nicely is icommutebetter.org. The site icommutebetter.org is simply a conversation for anyone who has come up with better ways to get from work to play. We have just 21 members so far, but they are engaged in the discussion. We post comments, photos, videos - all revolving around the idea of commuting.

Another is womenofthewilderness.com which is a community for women who are outdoor enthusiasts.

Simple idea? Yes. Conversations should be comfortable and easy. Simple to create? Most definitely yes. This is why we are so into Nings right now.... it allows us the opportunity to quickly and easily put up a "room" in which to host a conversation. Now our challenge is to drive more like minded people there to join the conversations. While I'm confident that by the nature of the topics, we will attract enthusiasts - we can not rely on a "build it and they will come" mentality.

We've built the rooms, and now we must send out the invitations to come visit, stay and chat a while. Stay tuned...we are working on that part now.