Yet there’s no denying that Google+ can elevate your brand’s digital marketing strategy, especially if you put some thought into your Google+ presence before you build it. To help jumpstart that thought process, check out a recap of the recent Focus roundtable, “Getting The Most Out Of Google+ For Your Business.”

The online discussion, moderated by Janet Fouts of Tatu Digital Media, featured the insight and expertise of Community Organizer 2.0’s Debra Askanase and V3’s own Shelly Kramer. The hour-long session explored the business applications of Google+, as well as some things to think about as you establish and maintain your brand’s G+ presence. For example, what value are you adding through your business page? And why should people add your business or brand to their G+ circles?

It’s not enough to simply recycle content that’s already appearing on sites like Facebook and Twitter to build out your G+ presence. Instead, focus on the unique strengths of Google+: the ability to send separate messages to specified circles and host interactive gatherings through Hangouts, to name a couple.

Shelly, Debra and Janet also presented some great examples of businesses and non-profits that are making an impact on Google+. After all, sometimes it’s best to learn from those who are blazing a trail, then you can refine and tweak those tactics to fit your own brand or business.

The discussion was also guided by audience questions posted through the interactive Focus dashboard. Audience questions flew so fast and furiously, in fact, that the dialogue inspired a follow-up event to take place as a Google+ hangout. Stay tuned for details, and in the meantime, check out the audio recap of the roundtable to learn more about how you can harness the power of Google+ to elevate your digital marketing strategy.

A Recap Of The Focus “Google+ For Business” Roundtable is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

If so, mark your calendar for the upcoming “Getting The Most Out Of Google+ For Your Business” online roundtable discussion, hosted by Focus. Our own Shelly Kramer joins Debra Askanase, founder of Community Organizer 2.0, and Janet Fouts, a social media coach with Tatu Digital Media, to explore the following questions, among others:

• Does Google+ have a business application?
• Should you create a Google+ business page or focus on your personal network?
• Is Google+ really an SEO goldmine for your business?

Regardless of your industry and whether you’re an individual or represent a small business, non-profit or large corporation, you’ll learn about the business implications of Google+, as well as how you can leverage the site as a component of your digital marketing strategy. Consider this an invaluable opportunity to learn about the business side of Google+.

The roundtable will be held from 1-1:45 p.m. CDT on January 12, 2012. Register online and feel free to ask questions in advance of the discussion, as well as during the event. And if you can’t participate online, Focus offers call-in information so that you can listen in by phone. If you’re on Twitter, be sure to follow the discussion and post your thoughts using the hashtag #focusGplus.

In fact, let’s get the conversation started now! When it comes to Google+ for your business, what are some of your burning questions?

How To Maximize Google+ For Your Business is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Savvy architects and other professionals are using the Internet and social media as a way to drive brand awareness, connect with people with similar passions and to do what all business owners seek – attract leads and clients.

At a recent Kansas City AIA Chapter meeting, I gave a presentation on social media with Cindy Frewen, an architect, educator, blogger, Twitter personality and fellow Kansas City dweller.

Cindy is nothing short of fantastic. She’s smart, savvy, has owned her own successful architecture firm for many years and now has a Ph.D., travels, consults, teaches, blogs about urbanism and sustainability and is a whirlwind of a talented person doing great things.

Cindy is also the personification of an architect who uses social channels to grow and develop her own brand, make new connections, and gain a reputation as a thought leader.

And that’s exactly why the Kansas City AIA Chapter asked us to speak about social media.

The Basics: Why Social Media, Stats on Usage + ROI

I started off the conversation and took the group through the basics. That included discussing how today’s business website should be the hub of all your business operations and that you should regularly “feed” that hub with fresh content from places like your corporate blog, YouTube, Flickr, social channels, etc.

I took them through some stats designed to show the naysayers that social media isn’t just for kids, and also showed them how inbound marketing can be exponentially more profitable than the traditional outbound marketing tactics that many of us have grown up utilizing. I concluded by showing them how a corporate blog – whether your business is large or small – can have a large impact on your new business development efforts and that, along with a well-designed website and use of social media channels, is the epitome of an integrated marketing strategy

Next Steps: Tactics, Growth, Research, Best Practices for Content

That positioned the audience for Phase II of the presentation, which was presented by Cindy. She took the audience from the basis and the strategic elements covered in the overview, straight to the tactics. She talked with them about how she initially got involved in social media and illustrated the growth process that it has resulted in for her, her practice and career. Ever the educator, Cindy shared tips about with how she uses social channels to gather research and to understand her diverse audiences.

She shared concrete ideas about what makes a blog interesting and how to think about what kind of content you want to create and that your audience might be interested in. Cindy provided examples of some great, industry specific yet very diverse blogs, so that the audience could get a sense as to the wide range of options that exist when it comes to corporate blogging.

Cindy is very involved on Twitter and shared examples of a variety of Twitter accounts of different architects, bloggers and architecture firms, so that the audience could see the many different ways that architects are represented in this milieu – and how they all use Twitter differently. She also shared ideas on best practices for sharing content, at which she’s a master.

Cindy wrapped up her presentation with some hints of what’s to come (after all, she’s a futurist), and our presentation concluded.

The Presentation

The SlideShare presentation is embedded below, and if you have any questions or if you would like more information about anything covered here, feel free to ping Cindy @urbanverse or me @ShellyKramer on Twitter and/or leave a comment here on the blog.

And, if you’re an architect thinking that you need to get change with the times and get on board with an updated website, a blog and a social media presence, you’re absolutely right!

Image Credit: Kansas City AIA

How Architects Can Use Social Media is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

About a month ago, Twitter slyly rolled out a new spam policy that will help declutter our feeds and hopefully get rid of annoying posts like this.

We are all familiar with them and probably have spent considerable amount of time doing one of several things: (1) ingoring them (2) blocking and reporting these people as spam or, if you’re like my whackjob mother @ShellyKramer, you’re (3) blocking, reporting to spam and publicly calling them out as spammers. What can I say – she’s easily annoyed. I’ve learned to pretty much not mess with her.

One big issue that has sprung up with these policy change is whether #FollowFriday can survive. Why? We’ll get to that in a bit.

Kim Castleberry pointed out on her blog that Twitter’s spam policy had apparently changed. She found this out when she got a message from Twitter saying, “This account has been suspended for sending multiple unsolicited messages using the @reply and/or mention feature.” In reality, she was chatting with members of one of the her online communities. It appears the spam policy has been changed to target people who post something like:

@Annoyingly @Long @List @Of @Names + http://somelinkthatnowlookssuspicious.com

Twitter’s spam policy states that you will be under scrutiny if you send large numbers of duplicate @replies or mentions or if you send large groups of unsolicited @replies or mentions. So if both are these are generally perceived as tacky, is it such a bad thing? Is it so terrible that the current iteration of #FF could be a thing of the past?

Smart people, like Gini Dietrich, argue that if you are serious about doing #FollowFriday then @dropping @bunch @of @people @in @a @list – isn’t the way to do it. It is annoying and impersonal which is counterintuitive to the whole idea behind #FF.

Other smart people, like aforementioned mother unit, think that sending large numbers of @replies or mentions is nothing short of lazy and is ecstatic as a result of these new changes. For her, having someone say:

“Good Morning @oneperson @anotherperson @anotherperson @anotherperson”

means just one thing. And it’s not good. For her, that behavior implies that you are too flipping lazy to make time to say “Good Morning @ShellyKramer” and want to be efficient with your tweetage, time, etc. Which really is kind of lame, when you think about it. Who wants someone to walk into a room and say “Hi Bob, Sara, Joe, Tom, Susie and Melissa” instead of just greeting you individually? Count me in the camp that would prefer a personal convo any day.

Perhaps this policy change – although not clearly defined – is a good impetus for change for Twitter users. It will not only help us keep spammers out of our Twitter feeds, but hopefully it will also revive a better version of #FollowFriday.

As a bonus, if people actually started talking more with one another, instead of hitting the Easy (Lazy) Button, what would be the downside? A few extra seconds each day actually being engaged in one-on-one conversation? Seems like a big potential upside to me. I suppose it’s not entirely unlikely that I’d look at it that way. Frighteningly enough, I have noticed that I’m becoming more and more my mother’s daughter. Holy crap, am I ever in trouble!

What do you think about the spam policy? Will impact how you communicate during #FF and/or if you’ve long moved past #FF, how about how it might impact how you communicate with communities you belong to?  Will it change the way you “talk” with your friends on Twitter? Do you love it? Hate it? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Will Twitter’s New Spam Policy Kill #FollowFriday? is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

@MarketingProfs The Internet. A lovely thing, or "don't lie to me kid, I'm on the Interwebs, too" )) in reply to MarketingProfs #

@MarketingProfs PS I just bought your book the other day – looking forward to reviewing it on the blog. Am sure it's fab ) in reply to MarketingProfs #

@elizweiland )) in reply to elizweiland #

@bkmacdaddy Thanks Brian ) in reply to bkmacdaddy #

@erinlynn76 No school here. I can get anywhere – so lmk if you need anything ) in reply to erinlynn76 #

@UnitedLinen I'm not advocating saying yes to everything. Just for looking for "yesses" when it's easier to say "no." Thass all ) in reply to UnitedLinen #

@thatwoman Yes! #

@fschaeffer Haha! Good luck )) in reply to fschaeffer #

@NoOneYouKnow Oh, you read the book, too? I need to buy it. It seems incredible. And yes, I do. In spite of what your handle says in reply to NoOneYouKnow #

@epwait lol … presence ) in reply to epwait #

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V3′s Social Media Digest on 2011-01-21 is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

@spurdave ) in reply to spurdave #

@CathyWebSavvyPR ) in reply to CathyWebSavvyPR #

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V3′s Social Media Digest on 2011-01-20 is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

@lizaweiner it was a good kind of almost barfing … You know what I mean . And I will!! #

@chrislovecnm not sure it's wow worthy. But it's over ) in reply to chrislovecnm #

@megfowler beer, hot wings, French fries, gadget in my hand and lilacs. Oh and if we're talking people, you in reply to megfowler #

@BerniePiekarski LOL. I'll find the good stuff, you just go sell ) in reply to BerniePiekarski #

Dear @scottporad Congrats!!–> I Can Haz $$$: Cheezburger Network Scores $30M in Funding | http://on.mash.to/fFtkgR | that rockeths #

Dear @a_greenwood Fan of hashtags much? #

@bikespoke Excellente ) in reply to bikespoke #

LOL @joefernandez Agreed. I'll be there at #unGeeked to tell my side of the @klout story, too. And keep @danperezfilms in line )) #

@redheadwriting @staceyhood @troytgf @bikespoke Thanks for the help re #Lawyers on Twitter … that was for my friend @nancymyrland #

@LissaDuty Thanks Lissa ) in reply to LissaDuty #

@randyarcher Thank you for those kind words ) in reply to randyarcher #

@disgustedcats Thank you ) in reply to disgustedcats #

@ramartijr Sure thing. It was a great read ) in reply to ramartijr #

@christinayakima Perhaps so ) in reply to christinayakima #

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V3′s Social Media Digest on 2011-01-19 is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

@RaysTLH Thx RB in reply to RaysTLH #

@TiffanyLaBanca ) in reply to TiffanyLaBanca #

@jenamiller . But she's also so interesting looking. in reply to jenamiller #

)) @agramsci @boydhilton @nolamaven #

@agramsci Haha. No. And I didn't even mention hot wings. That woulda prolly clinched it in reply to agramsci #

@lynngg in reply to lynngg #

@ericlukazewski love this new avvie in reply to ericlukazewski #

@marigabyve I need it too in reply to marigabyve #

Or 27 @lipdesign @DarleneESmith #

@Samuel_Clemons lol. Watching the golden globes and mentioning January Jones in reply to Samuel_Clemons #

@marmalime ) in reply to marmalime #

Yes. ) @RTRViews @megfowler #

@mikelking only some bewbies ) in reply to mikelking #

@RedheadWriting Good Morning back. They are lovely – spending the day with G'ma, on this day off, which is even nicer ) in reply to RedheadWriting #

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V3′s Social Media Digest on 2011-01-18 is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

@theantijared )) Noticed that! in reply to theantijared #

@DavidPylyp I know. Thankfully we have the space. Still a ridiculous amount of money in reply to DavidPylyp #

@Area224 They have an amazing team and kudos to @markraganceo for making it happen ) in reply to Area224 #

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V3′s Social Media Digest on 2011-01-17 is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

@theantijared )) Noticed that! in reply to theantijared #

@DavidPylyp I know. Thankfully we have the space. Still a ridiculous amount of money in reply to DavidPylyp #

@Area224 They have an amazing team and kudos to @markraganceo for making it happen ) in reply to Area224 #

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V3′s Social Media Digest on 2011-01-17 is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency