Ghost writers for blog posts and Twitter accounts are common for busy figures, particularly celebrities. There are a lot of busy figures who don’t have ghost writers too–look at the goofy antics in the news! A Wired article had a facinating interview with a ghost tweeter writer, Annie Colbert. see http://prnt.in/ZfK   Colbert’s clients include starlets, sports icons, and authors and, according to the article, even one of my favorites, Guy Kawasaki, author of business books and a noted Apple evangelist. Guy has made his name in many areas in the tech field, I was not surprised but a bit disappointed to hear he has a ghost writer but I still enjoy his thinking and his advice is spot on. What was more interesting in the article was the method of payment and how Colbert strategizes to create the voice of the client, notes who to follow, and who is following her client. She charges an unknown flat fee per month.  Not only does she send tweets but she also checks sites, registrations etc. to be sure their accounts are in order. Reputation management  most likely. Of course some of the tweets need vetting too; so the process is lengthly. Odds are some politicians and others wish they had a vetting system. (Oh yes, if a bad tweet goes out from your ghost writer or you, you can always say your account was “hacked.”  Right?)  I have heard of companies in our industry that are hiring bloggers and paying a consultant to write pithy, knowledgeable notations.  (No names of course.)  I have not heard of ghost tweeters in our industry.  Ghost tweeters? Ghost bloggers? What do you hear? Do you care if the person you are following uses a ghost author/writer?   Do you need one?  Are you a ghost writer in the industry? Please write me your thoughts about ghost writing in social media.  Regards,  Mary...

Remember when you would receive $50 for listening to a vacation timeshare pitch?  Later it became a vacation club pitch?  Remember when the $50 soared to $100?  Well now the approach is changing.  First of all, I received the pitch through the mail.  This I loved since at least a stamp was involved and the USPS would earn a few cents toward their financial woes (another story!).  OK, so here is the pitch:  I am being offered a Google Tablet with the Android Software AND $100 restaurant gift card if I meet certain qualifications AND attend a 1.5 hour program being held locally.  Of course I have only 72 hours to respond….starting when?  I can’t tell.  Anyway, as mentioned above, the giveaway is for sitting through a vacation club pitch and meeting certain qualifications; in other words, so I could actually pay for the offer.  Lastly, on the return address, Google’s name is placed on the corner–as if the offer is from Google.  Get this—even says “verification of delivery information required..”  Do you think Google would be proud of its brand being used this way?   Would I like a free Google Tablet?  Sure.  Will I go for the pitch?  What do you...

I love to watch for the new entries in the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.  It usually reminds me of my cultural awareness (or lack of awareness).  Of the nine new words added, only one was unfamiliar—parkour which “is the sport of traversing environmental obstacles by running, climbing or leaping rapidly and efficiently.” (My kids were doing that decades ago but I thought it was just playing outside.)  Now I know! The other words were: boomerang child, bromance, crowdsourcing, fist bump, helicopter parent  robocall and tweet.  See the full article...

At a Printing Industry staff meeting in Pennsylvania on Tuesday August 23, the earthquake shook the building for a few long seconds.  As most people recounted, the tremor was fast and not much happened even while buildings in DC and other places were evacuated for safety and security reasons.  We later learned that the quake made Virginian history as the epicenter while it was felt in a dozen states and several provinces in Canada. Damage was recorded; but in light of huge devastation in other earthquake sites, I will not discuss the damages associated with the earthquake.  But a different kind of history was made in the Internet realm.  Only eight minutes passed before the 2011 Virginia earthquake was written up in Wikipedia. That is amazing!   Here is the Washington Post article talking about this and the people involved. http://prnt.in/ZSa   According to the WP article, over 80K people viewed it at publication.  Newspapers can never really compete with these numbers!  Alvaro Duran is one of 88K regular volunteer contributors to Wikipedia and he was the first to write a quick sentence and a link to the US Geological Survey.  Later he and others added to the page and the Wikipedia link is over 7 pages long.  Here is the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Virginia_earthquake  While I am regularly amazed at the recent disclosures of social media’s role in flash mobs, rioting, anti-government rallies, this nearly instant update to Wikipedia gives us a continuing picture of the transformation of the Internet and communication.  I bet for Alvaro Duran, a master’s degree student, his role in this story will be one of his milestones in his career. Cheers for his role in making written history! Wikipedia shares the spotlight in this history of the VA earthquake.  ...

This is a serious decision … sort of.  My usual check on the Social Media Field Guide RRS feed or my Inbox (not sure which … it may have been both) led me to discover free content from Hubspot and David Meerman Scott who is now the marketer in residence for Hubspot. First, I find Hubspot a terrific example of content development & distribution marketing and I have enjoyed all the Meerman Scott ebooks/books. So to discover the two are working together, I knew I was on to something good to review; and, better yet, learn more on marketing. Then I received a Tweet about the Old Spice Guy vs Fabio ad campaign. Now, I was in a quandary … which should I check out first? (Full disclosure: I find Mustafa definitely cool but feel guilty checking out his videos on the job!) The Old Spice Guy ad campaign example has been used in Julie Shaffer’s and my book, Social Media Field Guide, so I am compelled to do an update on anything happening with Mustafa (p. 20 in SMFG). Did I mention that this relieved my guilt? I recall Fabio from years past, but I was not a particular fan of his. But the ad campaign pitting the two of them against one another … very, very clever.  Given that I decided to work on this project at home, my decision was to review both items for my blog entry!  Ultimate Marketing Guide by Hubspot and David Meerman Scott First things first—download this free guide which is actually an interactive PowerPoint or webinar. The guide is an excellent quick read of some major points and questions that I see/hear regularly from members. There are 15 “episodes” with easy “how to” titles and quick answers that get to the point. Since there are 34 total pages in the guide with half the pages in “titles,” you can read this fast and take a few notes. Meerman Scott encourages you to Tweet this “webinar,” and share it. I had “takeaways” on every page. Yes, it was not all new, but it is good to be reinforced with some information. Check it out. My favorite episodes were:  #7 related to “How to Learn from Companies Outside Your Industry (reinforced what I believe) and #14 “What is the Future of Social Media Marketing”… definitely liked the analogy between formerly using “e-business” and now “e” has disappeared and it is all about business. Moreover, “social media marketing” will morph into “marketing” with no distinction but social media tools will be another channel in the total marketing plan. Don’t delay, there is a “how to” episode for everyone!   Ok, now to Old Spice Guy...