Twitter Talk Radio is recorded live in the WSRadio studios in sunny San Diego! You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the links below and sign up for our RSS feed at the bottom of the page.  

Twitter Names:   @MariSmith, @Aaswartz.

Each week on Twitter Talk Radio, we spend an hour broken up into four segments when we cover:

• A Guest Offering Great Case Studies and Examples of How People and Businesses are Using Twitter for Business and Social Media
• Useful Tips for Listeners on Twitter for Business
• Twitter and Social Media Happenings in the News

Podcast One: Angie Swartz and Mari Smith  discuss Mogul MC Hammer,  The IPhone BUMP Application and Pokens

Angie A. Swartz and Mari Smith discuss Mogul MC Hammer, his presentation at Gravity Summit, his use of Twitter, and the “bump” App.  Mari and Angie discuss how The Bump App and pokens make it so easy to collect contact information from everyone you meet.  Are we on our way to the end of business cards? There will always be a place for them. Think about your message before you start using the tools and how much time should you spend on social media?

Podcast Two:  Mari Smith on Personal Branding and What is the Proper Ratio of Marketing to Personal Tweeting?

Angie and Mari discuss Mari’s virtual b-day party, personal branding and what is the proper ratio of marketing to personal tweets? Everything that you do needs to be done with a strategic plan. Companies are worried about making mistakes but it is important to just get out there and start engaging. Educate yourself. Don’t compare yourself to how the celebrities are using Twitter. Social media is not finite.  The Facebook fan page now offers a Twitter app.   Hootsuite allows you to pre-schedule tweets.  Facebook fan pages are great for seo, unlimited fans and can send updates to certain target audiences. Static FBML allows you to customize your facebook fanpage. Volkswagen is a great example of what you can do with a Facebook Fan Page.

Podcast Three:  Mari Smith the Scandifornian Talks about Mark Zuckerburgs Goal to Connect the World Through Facebook

Angie and Mari discuss how Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerburg hopes that Facebook will connect the World, how building your brand through conscious social media can cause a “ripple effect” and have a great impact on people all over the world.  They also discuss the death of DJ AM and how his partner tweeted his raw feelings over twitter and his reactions to the sudden loss.  Mari and Angie talk about how to get fans and once you have them how to keep them and the “stickiness” of your pages.  You should think of Facebook as an extension of your website and blog.  Mari shares loads of tips so be sure not to miss this one!

Podcast Four:  Mari Smith on the Merits of Facebook Groups versus Fan Pages

Angie and Mari discuss the difference between Facebook Groups versus Facebook Fan Pages.  When should you use one versus the other?  What are the benefits?  Mari shares some great tips and some news about “secret” groups! They also discuss how quickly the industry is changing, how to play to your strengths and different social media groups.  Angie and Mari also discuss the merits of My Space.

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Angie Swartz, MC Hammer and Bob Fine

media strategy.  Just before his presentation, MC Hammer tweeted that he always gets ready for a performance or presentation by listening to the following song.  He did, in fact, have his headset on.

SOCIALIZE by MC HAMMER by MCHAMMER

MC Hammer started off talking about himself as a young adult walking seven miles to Oakland Stadium filled with 60,000 fans. He was already an entrepreneur who wanted to sell to them.

“I wish I had Facebook’s problem today. 250 million people! Man, I’d figure out something to sell them!”

MC Hammer gets it.  He’s a self professed Twitter Addict, a lover of business and an entrepreneur at heart. Music, although a very big part, is just one part of who he is today.  He and his family starred in an A&E reality TV series last summer, appropriately titled, Hammertime.

MC understands that social media is all about the conversation  and  transparency (well, as transparent as you can be when you’ve been a megastar).  He understands fundamentally that

• The consumer wants something different today.
• The days of push marketing are dyeing.
• Marketing has changed forever.
• There is no longer room for the middle man in profit margins.
• His industry, music, is a fragile one and that he’s walking a tight rope by changing his own distribution channels.  He sees that change is necessary to survive but also notes that he’s part of change that will impact many of his friends in the industry that may not yet be as forward thinking as he is.  He’s in a difficult position (my words, not his).

Hammer was asked how he has time to keep up with all the intimate interaction with his fans and followers.

“My home is wired with TV’s and Monitors everywhere that allow me to catch tweets and updates out of the corner of his eye.”

“I have an iPhone in one pocket and a G1 in the other”

“I use all the tools but I can’t talk brands because then I’m in endorsement mode but I use it all.”

He obviously lives, eats and sleeps social media and social media strategy.

Hammer is a VERY smart business man.  He illustrated his brilliance via many instances during his talk but I’ll site one: the iPhone Bump Application.  He tweeted the application out the day before Gravity Summit, talked about it during his presentation, demonstrated it at the afterparty exchanging his contact information with anyone who wanted.

“I’m not even an investor in the Bump App but make no mistakes, in the spirit of full disclosure, I will be.”

Hammer’s a brilliant guy.  Through Tweets, I learned he’s an investor in horse racing and that he made connections to talk to folks he met at the Gravity Summit Tweetup about some venture funding for deals. It would be so entertaining to get a glimpse into all of the joint ventures of MC Hammer…now that would be a TV show I’d watch!

Hammer was very generous with his time taking photos with anyone who asked during the day and he even attended the after party, Gravity Summit Tweetup.  (He drank Soda, I can vouch, I offered to buy him a drink but he asked for soda and that’s what he was drinking all night.)

But let’s be clear on why Hammer was at the Tweetup.  This is another example of how Hammer understands social media.  Yes, I believe he truly is the Real Deal and is a genuinely nice guy.  But he’s also demonstrating here that he’s a smart business man who understand social media strategy. There were over 100 people at the tweetup who are social media enthusiasts who tweet, blog, tweetphoto and facebook the heck out of everything they can get there hands on.  Hammer is no dummy

MC Hammer, my invitation stands, you can come on Twitter Talk Radio or Boost Your Business Radio anytime!

Just Tweet me @aaswartz!  I’ll be happy to spread your word.

And if you’re interested in a great social media seminar, check out Gravity Summit New York City on November 16.

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Twitter Names:  @prgully & @aaswartz.

Each week on Twitter Talk Radio, we spend an hour broken up into four segments when we cover:

• A Guest Offering Great Case Studies and Examples of How People and Businesses are Using Twitter for Business and Social Media
• Useful Tips for Listeners on Twitter for Business
• Twitter and Social Media Happenings in the News

Podcast One: Scott Gulbransen on Football, Mint and Loving Intuit

Angie Swartz interviews Scott Gulbransen of Intuit.  Scott graciously joins us this week despite his busy schedule as Intuit announces their intent to acquire MINT this week.  Angie and Scott discuss his passionate views about football (both Notre Dame and the San Diego Chargers), his love of working at Intuit, the NFL’s rules of Twitter, Intuit’s views on the personal tweeting for Scott as a Corporate Spokesperson,  Scott’s comment’s to Shawn Merriman regarding the Tila Tequila incident and Chad Ochocinco’s contest where the winner gets to tweet for him during NFL games.

Podcast Two: Intuit: Using Social Media to Listen & Improve the Customer Experience

Angie Swartz interviews Scott Gulbransen about what it’s like to be a Corporate Communications professional (i.e. one of the faces of Intuit) tweeting on his personal twitter account both personally and professionally, how social media is an integral part of his day, using TweetDeck and other listening tools to stay on top of what consumers are saying about the brand & his great team (@quickenchels and @turbotaxashley).  We also discuss how Intuit has long been a company to solicit feedback from customers for product enhancement opportunities.

Podcast Three: Intuit making taxes a little more Hip with partner MySpace & Secret Shows

Angie Swartz and Scott Gulbransen of Intuit discuss how Intuit partnered to use My Space Secret Shows for their Freeloader Nation promotion.  This campaign was designed to embrace younger users and to welcome them to the Turbotax product. The Secret Shows offered bands like Lily Allen and Tay Zonday and small venue concerts had a limited number of tickets.  Fans could friend Freeloader Nation on My Space to get tickets with 1^st 25 friends having opportunity to get VIP Seats!  Scott also discusses how all projects are measured to an ROI (return on investment) as Intuit is a for-profit company and other metrics they use to measure success.

Podcast Four: Impact of Employer Social Media Policy on Morale & A Little MC Hammer

Angie Swartz and Scott Gulbransen of Intuit discuss how a corporation’s policy on employee’s accessing the internet during working hours might have a dramatic impact on employee morale.  Could your policy of blocking the internet infer you don’t trust your employees?  We discuss  Intuit’s relatively open policy for employee’s having access to social media sites during working hours.  Additionally, we discuss MC Hammer, his speech at Gravity Summit at Harvard, his business savvy and astute insight into social media trends.  (We also discuss Scott’s not so friendly banter with MC Hammer about the Oakland Raiders .

MORE Twitter Talk Radio!!!!!

September 23 John Bernier Best Buy and Guest Co-Host Becky Carroll.

September 30 BJ Cook from Social Media Breakfast San Diego

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I attended Gravity Summit at Harvard University on August 31.   Thanks to Rodney Rumford and Beverly Macy for another terrific multimedia learning experience! This was the 3rd Gravity Summit I’ve attended and they just keep getting better every time! I promise to write another post covering the entire event in detail but I just had to write my first post about one of my all time favorites, Gary Vaynerchuk, who shared the Keynote stage with MC Hammer (yes, THAT MC Hammer! Mr. “Can’t Touch This” Himself).

In the short 30 minutes that Gary spoke, he covered social media strategy, passion & doing what you love, personal branding, the New York Jets (his goal is to buy them), the New York Jets Social Media Strategy (they are his client), his family (he has a new 3 month old daughter Misha), his new book “Crush It” (coming out in the fall), his business (Wine Library TV), business and how every entrepreneur deserves the right to hit bottom so they can have the opportunity to sell rocks.

If you haven’t ever heard Gary speak, you’re likely wondering how it is possible Gary covered all of these topics in such a short time.  Gary is passionate about everything he does.  He starts talking and leadership and business principles start spewing out like he’s a machine.

Gary focused on the importance of gaining buy in from the top decision makers when implementing a Social Media Strategy.  He always gets straight to the point,

“You can’t do social media ½ pregnant.  You’ve got to reach the CEO and keep talking about the importance of social media until they hear you. So yap and yap and yap until they fire you.”

Brilliant. Poignant. Well said. Tweetable.

I think what he meant was if management isn’t listening and they never hear what you’re saying about:

• The importance of social media,
• How effective social media is,
• How old media and marketing methods are no longer as effective as they used to be

Then you might as well just walk out the door, because:

• They aren’t going to support you theoretically,
• They aren’t going to give you the financial budgets, and;
• The support from their staffs

That you need for your social media campaigns to be successful anyway.

So, why am I choosing to write a post about this?  For those of you business owners who are thinking about whether you should stick your toe in the water and work on a Social Media Strategy, there’s a message here for you.  Don’t do it until you’ve done some homework.  There is so much information available on the web about social media.  After all, most good social media companies should be using social media strategies for their own businesses.  Thus, they should be sharing information on social media sites.  If you can’t find answers, contact us and we’ll be happy to talk to you about whether social media is right for you.

I’ve met Gary in person and listened to him speak via livecast many times.  It’s quotes like the one above that keep me coming back.  Additionally, Gary keeps me thinking long after we’ve parted company.  I love that about him.  His ability to keep my creative energy moving is a true talent.  It’s a great honor to host Gary on both Boost Your Business Radio and Twitter Talk Radio shows on October 14 so tune in to hear him!

A little  more on selling rocks…

Yes, Gary said “I’ll sell Rocks to make a comeback if I lose everything I have taking time out to be with my wife and my baby girl.”  I’m sure it isn’t Gary’s wishes to lose everything he has.  However, he was making a point that balance and his family are uber important to him.  He was talking about being a guy who’s super focused on what he does at every minute.  If he’s gotta wait 45 minutes to see his daughter smile-so be it.

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On July 15, CNN iReporter Chris Morrow visited the Cool Twitter Conference at Croces in San Diego where I was speaking. (The conference was terrific. Read Marketing Melodie’s Live Blogging coverage for more info.)

Reporter Chris Morrow came to ask a few of the Speakers their thoughts about what the future holds for Twitter.  Watch the report above and see what you think.

Now that you’ve watched the video and heard from us, what do YOU think the future will hold for Twitter?

• Will Twitter live to be older than the average age of most social networks of 5 years? (Twitter is 3 years old now)
• Will Twitter Win a Nobel Peace Prize? (You can vote Here)
• Will Twitter be Man of the Year as suggested by Bob Rice?

Leave your comments below and tell us your thoughts around these options and many others! And keep your eyes open, Chris’ video just might end up on your TV on CNN.

I’ll be interviewing Chris Morrow about her career as a freelance journalist and her use of twitter on Boost Your Business Radio with my Cohost Rieva Lesonsky on July 29 at 11am PST.  Come listen–her daily travels are fascinating! How many people do you know who interview people while traveling in a private helicopter?

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The Panel topic: Building and Managing Successful Online Communities is sure to be one of the highlights of Gravity Summit.  The importance of building successful and engaging online communities for brand awareness, revenue generation, and customer experience is becoming an increasingly important marketing and public relations tool.  All of the panelists are pioneers in building online communities and will share their real world experiences with us at Gravity Summit.

You can be a part of the Gravity Summit experience by following Angie Swartz and I on Twitter as we live tweet the event.  Follow Angie Swartz @aaswartz and Alan Underkofler @alanunderkofler on Twitter.  We will also be using the hash tag #gravsum on our tweets which are searchable on Twitter.

Gravity Summit is designed to deliver value to business, marketing and branding professionals with insights to help them make high impact changes to their online social marketing and branding program.

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