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I had a great conversation the other night with my close friend about Social Media, social networks, and the  the growth of this industry, sector, or whatever you want to call it. I have been lucky enough to have the interest and time to  immerse myself in the  nuances of this interesting and fun phenomena. There is a lot of things going in the world of social media and I am convinced that social networks and social media are changing the way we communicate. No longer are we telling people about how and what we do, today we are forced to listen as well. And if we aren’t, or if you aren’t you should be. That is the impact of social networking, media, or whatever you want to call it.

I just read Groundswell by  Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. This is a book that I think is a must-read. You are going to see a lot of people writing a lot of books about social media, but these authors are to be believed. They are researchers at Forrester Research and they  have really hit it on the head. This book will give  businesses a step-by-step process in developing  a strategy for social media. One thing I really like is their categorizing of the type of people who are using the internet and social media. Using this categorizing, one can determine which tool to use. Here are the categories:

• Creators — online consumers who at least once a month publish a blog or article online, maintain a Web page or upload video or audio onto sites like YouTube. These people represent 18 percent of the online adult population.
• Critics — react to online content by posting reviews and comments and participating in and editing wikis. Twenty-five percent of adult Americans online are critics.
• Collectors — save URLs, tags and social bookmarking services like del.icio.us. They vote for their favorite sites and use RSS feeds. Collectors make up 12 percent of the adult population online.
• Joiners — participate or maintain profiles on a social networking site like Facebook. Twenty-five percent of adults who are online in the United States are now on Facebook. In South Korea, the participation rate is 40 percent.
• Spectators — the largest percentage of adults online in the United States. This category consumes what everyone else creates. It requires less effort and makes up 48 percent of users.
• Inactives — forty-one percent of all Americans online remain untouched by the groundswell. And, of course, those offline are merely watching TV or reading a good book.

Understand these categories and you will understand how to use the tools that are available. Read my review on our regular website for a quick review of the book, or better yet buy the book.

Fargo is a hopping town. I went out last night instead of staying stuck in a hotel room out by the mall and ended up at the HoDo Hotel and Lounge. I went, based upon the recommendation of  new Twitter friends, especially someone who  goes by the handle @FargoMoorehead and is part of the local CVB. I love how this works. I roll into town, announce I am here and all of a sudden I have good recommendations for places to go.This, by the way, is a great example of how a CVB can be extremely responsive to the the needs of a visitor. Using social media they responded immediately by giving me information I needed. Way to go Fargo-Moorhead CVB!

The Hodo was a really cool place. Warehouse, lofty feel with big windows to the outside, a lot of original art, and a hip music background, part hip-hop, part Johnny Cash. Has anyone taken a Cash track and done a hip-hop/country mashup? Hmmm, interesting. Next time I am in Fargo I am staying at the HoDo.

Downtown Fargo as a destination looked pretty good . It was a good mix of nice restaurants, sports bars, pubs and  dives. I think they like their neon signs in Fargo, for each interesting place has a good looking neon sign that borders on kitsch art.

I met Dave the attorney and Bill the Banker at the HoDo lounge after I had eaten a really yummy Asian stir fry, and consumed a couple IPAs’. By the way I was a little disappointing that Fargo, according to the bartender, didn’t have a local micro-brew. I hope Amber was  wrong and under informed ( like the hotel clerk who scrunched her face when  I mentioned downtown). Having said that,  the IPA from some micro-brew in Minneapolis was quite tasty. Dave and Bill were two guys close to or  around my age. We had a great time talking about the differences and  similarities between Bloomington-Normal and Fargo. They were obviously well-informed and understood their community very well. They had pride in their area and it wasn’t blustery or boisterous, which was good.

By the way, no one I met talked like they do in the movie. Ok, the hotel clerk came close, but truthfully, Fargo people are full of the Midwestern charm and helpfulness one would expect. One more thing: According to those I spoke to last night and the local Arts paper Fargo apparently has a thriving art and culture scene.

I head for Omaha today. Looking a the interstate, it looks pretty long, straight and boring. I hope the worlds largest ball of string is on this leg of the journey. I will need something to break up the day.  I will travel through and hit parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. Follow me on Twitter @bnedguy, I will tweet along the way.

Recently several people I know have started using Twitter for their business. It is important to understand the nature of Twitter and the self-regulation that occurs among Twitter users. It’s kinda like burping in public or sneezing. There are certain protocols you use, and for the most part most people abide by them. In meetings, seminars and conferences on social media that I have attended and from reading the Tweets of those I follow I quickly came up with a few rules for my business friends to follow. Of course there will be more at our social media seminar on June 10, and July 11. Here are some simple guidelines:

1. For your commercial Twitter account, don’t be too crass with direct pitches for your business in your tweets. People will turn you off.

2. Be personal. Even thought it is about your company, personify your tweets. Make sure your tweets have a personal “voice”.

3. Promote your clients and the work you did for them, and not yourself directly; It’s obvious who did the work; Promote your clients and other offerings, not just the work you did for them. Consider a client a week, and promote them in your tweets.

4. Tweet about your professional area or promote some allied vendor you work with. Also promote things you are interested in and has something associated with your business.

All this will provide you credibility with your followers. The lack of direct selling is why Twitter works well for most people. Twitter is about being in a community. A community of people who like each other and want to help each other. Having direct “advertising” pitches in your face doesn’t work too well in Twitter. Other places are more acceptable (FB fan pages).

If there are other tips, comment here.