Today I am grateful for my friend Sara Wilson, who is a fantastic writer with a very curious mind. Following is an exerpt of an interview she did with me on how the franchise industry is using social media (I’ve changed to businesses here for purpose of reaching a larger audience).

Gini Dietrich, CEO of Arment Dietrich, believes that, as long as employees abide by a general code of conduct, they should be free to establish their own social media presence. “I don’t advocate companies maintain control of social media, just like they shouldn’t maintain control of e-mail, phone calls, and what is or isn’t said at a cocktail party at a trade show,” says Dietrich. “If there is an online code of conduct, training, and a toolkit given to all employees on how to get started and where to spend their time, social media will work the way it’s supposed to — by allowing customers, employees, and stakeholders online access to the people with whom they do business.”

Read the entire article on AllBusiness.com.

In honor of the holiday this week, I am going to post articles I’ve written for other publications in order to thank them for their support and drive traffic to their sites.

Today is from AllBusiness.com (with a few changes made from franchising to a small business).

Immensely powerful right now, social media tools are changing the ways businesses communicate with customers and the ways customers communicate with brands. With Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Google Wave, Wikipedia, Slideshare, FriendFeed, Posterous, Delicious, WordPress, oh my!, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed and wonder how in the world you’re going to keep them all straight, let alone start using them.

But take a step back for one second. I’ll help you get a grip. There are 10 advantages to using social media. It:

1. Provides international exposure
2. Attracts like-minded people
3. Speaks directly to audiences thousands of miles away
4. Helps put out fires
5. Helps start fires
6. Beefs up your knowledge
7. Enhances partnerships
8. Exposes you to different ideas
9. Allows you to test or get feedback
10. Lets you meet and converse with new audiences

As if those reasons weren’t enough, according to the Cone Business in Social Media Study, 93 percent of Americans expect companies they do business with to have a social media presence. And 85 percent believe a company should not only be present, but also interact with its customers via social media.

The one secret about mastering communication that no one ever tells you is you must spend most of your time listening. Great communicators ask a lot of questions. They really listen to what you have to say. They inquire deeply into the answers you provide.

Social media offers another way to engage in conversation. To be a master at social media communication, you must spend most of your time listening.

Please click here to read the article on AllBusiness.com for some free tools to begin listening to what people are saying online about you, your company, your industry, and your competition.

A few weeks ago, my friend Steve McKee wrote in his BusinessWeek column about companies doing their growth a big disservice in a down economy when they cut their advertising and PR budgets. You can read the article and comments here.

Then, when I asked each of you what you’d like to read about in future blog posts, my friend John emailed me and asked, “Why is it that during tough economic times, most companies reduce marketing budgets? If marketing is of real value to a company and if marketing works for that company, wouldn’t you increase spending in tough times?”

This brings me to one of my favorite case studies: How Kellogg won the cereal wars of the Great Depression. Forbes, The New Yorker, and several other national media highlighted this story earlier this year, when it looked like the economy wasn’t likely to get better anytime soon. Following is an expert I refer to a lot when people ask me the same question John asked.

In the late nineteen-twenties, two companies—Kellogg and Post—dominated the market for packaged cereal. It was still a relatively new market: Ready-to-eat cereal had been around for decades, but Americans didn’t see it as a real alternative to oatmeal or cream of wheat until the twenties. So, when the Depression hit, no one knew what would happen to consumer demand. Post did the predictable thing: It reined in expenses and cut back on advertising. But Kellogg doubled its ad budget, moved aggressively into radio advertising, and heavily pushed its new cereal, Rice Krispies. (Snap, Crackle, and Pop first appeared in the 1930s.) By 1933, even as the economy cratered, Kellogg’s profits had risen almost 30 percent and it had become what it remains today: The industry’s dominant player.

With social media you can now heavily push your brand, your company, your service, or your product at half the cost of traditional methods. If you listen, build your communities, let your brand ambassadors spread the word, and provide value, your business will come out of the Great Recession as a dominant player, no matter your size.

So my question for you is: If you decrease your spending and no one knows you’re still in business, which creates a drop in revenue and profits, doesn’t it make sense to spend money and time on the new forms of marketing, advertising, and PR?

Today’s blog topic came from my friend Jeff Lipschultz.

There’s been a lot of talk (and action) lately centered around “Social Media Interns.” Can you share with us the parameters for having an effective program? Some work for free. Some work remotely. Qualifications? Training required? Return-on-investment (of time/dollars).

It won’t come as a surprise to some of you that I don’t think interns should be doing your social media (sorry JC Maldonado!). It’s not that they can’t Facebook and tweet for you. It’s that they don’t have business experience to set the strategy for which tools you use, how you use them, and how you engage your customers.

Can they set you on the networks? Absolutely! Can they help you reserve your names on Name Check? For sure! Can they teach you how to use the tools. Yes!

At Arment Dietrich, we don’t hire interns until they’ve graduated from college. We learned, early on, that we were training college students the basics of communication, sending them back to school, and letting them go work for another company. If we hire them after they’ve graduated from college, we have a better chance of teaching them the basics and then hiring them full-time.

Same goes for your company.  Interns do not have business experience. Just like you wouldn’t let them pitch a new business prospect, present to the board, or (in our business) call reporters, why would you have them engage and connect with your customers, your employees, your stakeholders, and your prospects?

And Jeff? If an intern works for free…you get what you pay for.

I wrote about this topic earlier this year, as well as was interviewed about it by The Big Money. You can see the blog post here, along with A LOT of comments from interns who were doing social media work for the summer.

What do you think?

Last week I read an article on Harvard Business Review called “The Martial Art of Difficult Conversations.” While the author related a personal story to reflect on how to have conflict conversations, it very well applies to business.

I hate conflict. I hate hard conversations. I have this innate need to be liked and I used to think that if I had the hard conversations, people would like me less. Turns out, people like me less if I won’t have the hard conversations and the relationship ends, be it business or personal. Continue Reading »

@mbernier I’ve just recently met Matt on Twitter, but he lives in Denver so you know we’ve become quick friends. He started a team on Movember.com, an organization designed to change the face of men’s health. The men involved are growing out their beards for the charity and women are helping to raise money and spread the word. Check out the site and donate, if you can, in the name of cancer.

@ChicagoDiane I had dinner with Diane a couple of weeks ago at my favorite Chicago-style pizza restaurant, Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder (if you come to Chicago and want deep dish, go there!). She is an absolute pleasure who you have no problem talking to because she’s so engaging. When she made @julito77’s Chicago #FollowFriday list, she was the only one on there I hadn’t yet met in real life. I saved the best for last!

@LynnKehler Lynn lives in Colorado Springs and, those who know me really well, know how envious I am of where he lives!  He also is a Vistage member and a cyclist, who also mountain bikes (who wouldn’t, living where he lives?). I love following him because I get to satisfy my homesickness with his photos and stories of being outside. Plus, he is the CEO of Westone, which makes THE BEST earphones on the face of this earth. I thought my BOSE earphones were nice. Nope. Not after you listen to your iPod with Westones. Put them on your Christmas list. Trust me on this.

@KaseyCrabtree I met Kasey through @ChicagoDiane because she was looking for some help for her dad, who is a Vistage Chair. Since then, we’ve become fast Twitter friends. She’s a salesperson by trade, but she should do social media or community building for a company; she’s that good. I’m having lunch with her today – I’ll let you know what she’s like in real life later!

@badleader Just the very name of his Twitter handle is enough to want to follow him. We all know bad leaders and have stories about them. He’s created a project allowing people to tell their stories (with a few rules) and he’s turning it into a novel. Something we all can learn from in order to become better leaders, managers, and colleagues.

@EconomyHeroes The sole purpose of Steve’s Twitter stream is to recognize people and companies who are doing things to change the economy and to continue thriving through bad times. He finds great stories about leaders at small- and mid-sized businesses who are changing the business world, one day at a time. He’s a great follow because you find very inspirational stories.

@Los2911 Carlos is just a fun guy who likes to rub it in that it’s freezing in Chicago and warm in Orlando. He’s a PR guy who gets social media and blogs about life, work, surfing, and Sammy, his dog. He’s worth the follow, just to hear about the adventures with Sammy. Not so much if you live somwhere that surfing is not an option year-round.

@KerBehr I met Kerri through @KevinVandever because they work together at Behr. Kerri is charged with their social media and has been pushing through the path of resistance to get her company on board…and it’s working! She grew up in Cleveland and is a huge fan of their sports. Try not to hold that against her.

@VemmaNewhouse Troy is another Twitter friend of mine who rides, which is how we found one another. He lives in Springfield (not too far away) and I get to meet him IRL today! He’s almost more of a health nut than I am. He sells Vemma, which is a supplement for both kids and adults and swears by its effectiveness.

@Cyclone89 You’re going to begin seeing a trend – I have lots of Twitter friends in Colorado. Todd lives in Colorado Springs and he’s a Vistage member. And he loves his Westone earphones as much as I love mine. And he likes to rub it in that he lives in the mountains, but I try not to hold that against him.

Past #FollowFriday recommendations:

Oct. 16

Oct. 2

Sept. 25

Sept. 4

August 28

August 21

August 7

July 24

July 17

July 10

July 3 (which is a culmination of the previous five weeks)

Last week I used the blog to crowdsource some ideas for content here in weeks to come. And the idea worked magically well! You each had great ideas and I’ll be using them here, which also means about 30 seconds of fame for you and a prize!

Today I’m going to give you a list of the blogs I read and why I recommend them, which is response to Stefanie Deverey, who nominated FADS for a Lovely Blog award.  So I would like to pay it forward and, perhaps, you’ll find new blogs here that you’re also interested in reading.

1. AllBusiness.com – The Small Business Blog by Rieva Lesonsky. I met Rieva at the International Franchise Association conference in San Diego this past January and was immediately blown away by her. Not only does she have an impressive resume, she knows small business – the inner workings, the mistakes all entrepreneurs make, and how to succeed in tough times. She’s my business soulmate because we think alike in how businesses can, and should, be run.

*Full disclosure – I now write for the franchise blog on AllBusiness.com, but I was a Rieva fan and reader long before that happened.

2. BusinessWeek.com – Small Business. I started reading this section of BusinessWeek in May, after I met Steve McKee at a conference. Since then, we’ve become friends (I just guest blogged for him yesterday at Find Your Nerve) and I love his style, especially because he’s an advertising guy who sees the value in PR. The blog is full of small business lessons, case studies, and ideas. His fellow bloggers on the BW site are just as smart, plus it’s fun to connect with some of their editors (like Shirley Brady) on Twitter.

3. Convenience Store Dreaming. This blog is so off the beaten path for what I read, but it’s written by someone I worked with many, many years ago and it’s a GREAT Friday afternoon read. She works in a convenience store and blogs about the people she meets. Trust me on this one – you will cry from laughing so hard.

4. Fast Growth by Doug Davidoff. I met Doug because he answered a couple of Vistage questions (he’s a speaker and past member) and then we met in real life a few weeks ago. He blogs about the sales process and how to design something that works for your customers, not for you. His theory is that customers want to know what you can do for them, not how they fit in your process, and I love this thinking. Plus he gives away so much of his own intellectual property, you’d be silly not to read what he has to say.

5. Harvard Business Review. Just yesterday, someone on Twitter asked me where I get such great content all the time. I wish I could take credit for it, but it’s all HarvardBusiness.org. You know…the Ivy League school? Yeah. Really good information here daily. I like it because it’s smart, it’s sophisticated, but it doesn’t read like a technical paper.

6. Hunting for Big Sales by Tom Searcy. I met Tom a couple of years ago when he spoke to my Vistage group about creating a process for your internal sales teams that allows you to hunt the whales in your industry. Even though he doesn’t blog often, when he does, it’s worth reading.

7. It’s Time to Lead by Randy Hall. For those of you who know me, you won’t be surprised to see Randy on this list. Even though I nag him weekly to post more often, when he does, what he writes about is fantastic. His expertise is leadership and how executives can hone their skills to get results. He is, by far, my favorite leadership blogger.

8. OPEN Forum by American Express. There is a lot of information on this blog so you have to sift through what you find interesting. For that very reason, I send this particular blog to my Google reader and expand the list so I can quickly scan if there is anything I want to read. I suggest you do the same.

9. You’re the Boss - the New York Times blog. I started reading this blog after I met Jay Goltz, who owns a few companies here in Chicago, and he mentioned he had just started blogging for the New York Times. Curiosity killed the cat and I went there to read what he had to say. Not only does he offer great and useful information, his fellow bloggers do, as well.

And, of course, I can’t forget Stefanie! Her blog is the New York Real Estate Lawyer blog, which is pretty specific, but forward her link to anyone you know in the real estate law field and help me pay it forward!

In addition, following are some blogs I try to read at least once a week because I admire the people who write them.

1. Conversation Agent by Valeria Maltoni

2. Altitude Branding by Amber Naslund

3. Escaping Medicrity by Sarah Robinson

4.  I Think, Therefore I Blog by Jeff Lipschultz

5. Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

6. The Sun Rises Today by Tim Jahn

7. Convince and Convert by Jay Baer

8. Marketing Strategy and the Law by Adrian Dayton

9. Exceed Your Expectations by Julio Varela

10. The Holmes Report by Paul Holmes

I’d love to know from you, in the comments below, which two or three blogs you read that you think I’d like, as well.

Today I have a guest blog post on Find Your Nerve, the brain child of my friend Steve McKee.

Steve runs an ad agency in Albuquerque, McKee Wallwork Cleveland, and is the author of “When Growth Stalls.” A couple of months he called me and said, “The economists claim the recession is over, but what are we, as business owners, doing to reinstate spending?” And then he threw the idea of Find Your Nerve past me.

The result is a blog dedicated to business owners who are not letting the recession keep them down, but doing what they can to change the status quo.

Rather than cannoblize our readers, I’ll give you an excerpt from my post today here and you can go check out his blog for more.

One year ago, my company had a couple of “life-changing” events. Each of them, alone, could have put us out of business. They both happened within six weeks of each other. I went into a pretty deep depression. I beat myself up. Why didn’t I pay attention to the signs? How did I not know our industry is a key leading indicator of the economy? Why did I do some things my gut told me not to do? Were people going to think that I had a good three year run, but I couldn’t grow a business beyond that? How was I going to tell my staff we had to close? How was I going to tell our clients? How was I going to pay our outstanding vendor bills? Why had I built a business only to have nothing to show for it?

Read more here and check out the other guest bloggers, as well!

B.J. Emerson is the face behind the Tasti D-Lite Twitter handle, a frozen dessert company that has a cult-like following in New York City. They’ve begun franchising, in order to bring the cult to other parts of the country, and B.J. is tasked not only with connecting with its highly engaged customers, but also finding new franchisees and building brand awareness in new cities.

I’m really impressed with the work B.J. does – he knows how to build a community and engage the Tasti D-Lite tribe -  but what’s most impressive is he is, by trade, an IT guy.  This flies in the face of the idea that IT guys don’t know how to engage. And that’s part of the reason I like him so much.

I always use the Tasti D-Lite case study when I speak to the franchise industry and CEOs about social media. They’ve been able to show how social media campaigns can drive traffic to stores, which answers the “What’s the ROI of social media?” question.

I recently asked B.J. how he handles it all and what his feelings are on outsourcing some of what he does. Following is our conversation.

Is it possible to effectively outsource relationships?

The critical item with any social media outsourced campaign is communication between the client and firm.  Successfully putting your relationships with your customers in someone else’s hands depends on how well you communicate your vision and values and how well the insights and information is being fed back to the organization how they are used to accomplish your objectives.

At what point should an organization consider outsourcing any or all elements of social media marketing?

If current initiatives are not producing the expected results or if internal resources are stretched, it may be a good time to consider a consultation with an outside firm.

There may have a specific campaign that you could test drive with an external partner and focus internal resources on other social media objectives.

What kind of things should you look for when partnering with a social media marketing firm?

Request recent case studies of effective campaigns for other clients along with references. Look for a positive presence and reputation within the same online communities that you are considering engaging in.

What could a company be missing if everything wasn’t handled internally?
If you have the resources and appropriate talent, the experience and perspective that can be gained from firsthand virtual engagement with customers is invaluable.  If outsourced, these insights will need to be carefully communicated through the partner. If you feel out of touch with the customer, something needs to change.

Are there social networks you should not, under any circumstance, outsource?

It would really be dependent on how any given online community is being used and what the objectives are.  For example, using Twitter for collecting customer insights would be different than using it for handling customer service.  The latter would likely be more difficult to effectively outsource.  Activities involving a greater level of intimacy with the customer deserve closer management and internal control.  Both client and partner should be able to recognize these situations.

Is there anything else you’d like to ask B.J. on the topic of outsourcing social media? Comment here and we’ll see about getting your questions answered.

It’s been a while since something in the news has gotten me fired up, but it happened this week. I saw the headline “Younger employees help senior executives unlock social media mystery” and clicked on the story to learn more. I expected it to be another story about using Gen Y to set up social networking, set strategy, and execute.

Imagine my surprise, then, when it started off by talking about the executives at Edelman (THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT PR FIRM IN THE WORLD) working with younger employees to understand social media. They have what they call their “Rotnem” program( which is mentor spelled backwards – in case you missed that) where 95 percent of their senior executives are mentored by Gen Y.

At first blush, it’s not a bad idea. I like that the Baby Boomer generation has decided this is not a fad and they’d better learn more about it.

What I do have a problem with is THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT PR FIRM IN THE WORLD just announced in the Chicago Tribune that the people who are supposed to be setting social media strategy in conjunction with communication strategy for their clients HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE DOING!

If you haven’t read the article, you should. It’s linked above. I met Janet Cabot a few weeks ago. She’s smart. She has a big job. She’s experienced. She knows what she’s doing. And this article makes her look like an out-of-touch bufoon. I mean, come on! Her social media experience is on delish.com?? Don’t even get me started on Kathy Kregner being “so cute” with her 500 Facebook friends.

Maybe I’m a fool to think a piece of social media belongs in the communication department and with PR firms. This article certainly set back our industry a good number of years. The scary thing, though, is Edelman will still do social media for clients. They just clearly won’t have experienced communication strategy attached because 95 percent of their leaders don’t know how to use the tools or how building better relationships online can affect business growth.

Baby Boomers. Gen Xers. Senior leadership. CEOs. Entrepreneurs. Business owners. Anyone in the c-suite. And general counsel. Listen up. Social media is changing the way you relate to your customers, to your employees, to your stakeholders, to your prospects, and to your potential talent. This is not a “cute” or “fun” thing to do. It is how we all will communicate and receive our information into 2010 and beyond. It’s changing customer service, HR, sales, communication, marketing, and advertising.

Learn how the tools can help you do just that or be left wondering how your competition beat you up and stole away all of your customers without so much as an ad campaign.