Pinterest is one of the fastest (if not the fastest) growing social networks, and I tell you what. I’m totally obsessed. I’ve found really great ideas, recipes, DIY and gift projects, and even awesome blogs. However, with any new network comes a learning period, where everyone kind of has to figure out how the whole thing works and the most effective ways to use it. Because we’re still in that learning period, I’ve put together a list of tips on becoming an awesomely repinnable pinner.

1. Pin From the Post, Not the Home Page

I’ve found some great recipes and DIY projects on Pinterest, just to click through to the home page of the original poster’s blog. And that pin that I was so excited about was no longer there. [Insert Darth Vader NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Here] So then I have to find the search bar, search for the post, and hope that it was titled in such a way that the search tool can actually find it. So spare other pinners the agony, and just pin from the post itself. If you come across a pin that isn’t properly linked, fix it if you can! Courtesy is always appreciated.

2. Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

Along the same lines as #1, make sure to link back to the right place. This goes for Tumblr – I’ve found some REALLY cute nail pins that would lead to a tutorial, but they only led to a Tumblr post. Very disappointing. If you can, try to find the original source and give credit where it’s due. (And don’t call it a tutorial if there isn’t a tutorial at the end of the link chain). Furthermore, don’t link to other pins. It becomes this endless loop of frustration and no one likes that.

3. Don’t Copy & Paste the Entire Post/Recipe/Instructions Under the Pin

Thanks to Alyssa (@inspiredRD) for this one Someone took the time to write and publish that, and you’re basically taking away their blog traffic (which could be their source of income). That’s not cool, and it’s copyright infringement. If the picture doesn’t already say it all, just tell me what you’re pinning and why I should be interested in it.

4. Caption Accordingly

I’m pretty guilty of this, but I’m obsessed enough with Pinterest that I’m going back and fixing a lot of these. And by these/this, I mean pins that are captioned “LOVE” and “WANT” and “.” and “ZOMGWTFICANHAZIDIE.” Basically, the captions are vague and don’t tell anyone anything about what they’re looking at. This means that if someone is searching for something like that, they won’t be able to find it. At least not through Pinterest, anyway. So what to do instead? Describe the pin, then comment. “Purple Peacock Feather Pumps – LOVE,” “Nicole Espresso Nail Polish – Gorgeous!,” “Cinnamon Roll Waffles – SO easy peasy. Can’t wait to make these!” Or just stick with the description: “Crock Pot Chicken Tacos.” If you MUST put on a funny or cute caption (because I know it can’t be helped at times), at least make sure you’ve placed that pin in the right category (more on that later).

5. Don’t Attack Us with Hashtags

The same goes for Instagram. Great, you want the traffic for this. But #tacos #taco #chicken_taco #taconight #tacotuesday? Redundant. Obnoxious. Please make it stop because you’re making my eyes want to jump out of their sockets. A couple hashtags like #budgeting or #fitness or #diy are fine, but stick with popular hashtags you know people are searching. Keep it concise and broad if you’re hashtagging. Save the specifics for your descriptions.

6. Categorize Your Boards and Stick to Those Categories

I love browsing the category sections of Pinterest, but when I’m browsing Hair & Beauty, I really don’t want to see Orange-Glo which “Does wonders for wood floors.” That’s not a hair or beauty product. It’s a product you like, but if the default “Products I Love” board is too broad a category, maybe it’s time to split it up like “Beauty Products I Love,” and “Home Products I Love,” just for example. Just make sure to categorize your boards as you make new ones. This way, people can find and follow the boards they’re interested in without having to sort through too much clutter (because everyone has different interests, after all).

So that’s it! Do you think I’ve left anything out? Let me know and I’ll add it to the list (with proper credits, of course).

I’m sorry to inconvenience all of you, but tomorrow (January 18), Making Geek Look Good is blacking out in protest of SOPA, which in short intends to fight online counterfeiting and trafficking of copyrighted materials in such a broad way that any and every website could be at risk of being blocked. TechDirt has a fantastic article explaining the flaws and risks of SOPA & PIPA, and they explain the issue much better than I ever could.

However, I will say that the law really has not kept up with technology in so many ways, and piracy and copyright infringement are serious issues. However, SOPA & PIPA are proof that legislators are not doing their part in trying to catch up. I think John Lilly said it quite perfectly:

I’m not convinced that Congress is at all the right body to be taking up these issues, and am 100% convinced that they don’t currently have the technical wherewithal to make informed decisions, in any event.

Ah yes, another post wherein I hop up on my soapbox. See, every now and then, a story gets me so riled up that I have to talk about it on here. Today’s edition of pissed-off-geek-rant is brought to you by Paul Christoforo, courtesy of Penny Arcade.

If you’re not yet familiar with the situation, you can read the whole thing on above Penny Arcade link, but in brief, Dave, a customer of Ocean Marketing, emailed Paul, the President of Ocean Marketing, about a set of PS3 controllers he’d ordered in early November, which he’d believed would arrive in early December but hadn’t. Paul gave incorrect dates, then gave vague answers about the shipping and manufacturing process, then when Dave (the customer) mentioned that the site is now giving new orders $10 off, Paul started talking trash, name-dropping, and talking himself up (all with deplorably poor grammar, might I add).

As this situation has unraveled (and my has it), the very names Paul dropped have publicly responded to note his unprofessionalism in their dealings, their unawareness of who he is, or that they do not support Paul or his company. Furthermore, whatever name he thought he had in the online world is.. well, just Google Paul Christoforo. Which reminds me of one line that I particularly loved:

Welcome to the Internet ? Son Im 38 I wwebsite as on the internet when you were a sperm in your daddys balls and before it was the internet, thanks for the welcome to message wurd up.

That’s directly quoted. I’d add in the [sic], but it would get redundant. And yes, that’s what Paul, the president of Ocean Marketing, PUT INTO WRITING.

Honestly, there was a very simple solution to this situation: give Dave a straightforward answer about the date he should receive the product. Honestly, a simple “We’re not sure when this will be available- the product development process hasn’t gone as smoothly as planned, but we look forward to getting it into your hands as soon as possible. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience, and as you can see, we’re offering $10 off of new purchases, so if you could please send me the necessary information, I’m happy to extend that offer to you as well as a thank you for your loyalty and patience” probably would have sufficed. IT’S NOT THAT DIFFICULT, PEOPLE! Okay, so the credit or reimbursement could get a little complicated, but it could have saved him from this whole debacle at any rate.

Honestly, how this guy is president of anything is beyond me, but he’s provided some fantastic takeaways for all you PR and marketing folk.

1. Don’t Lie.

This should be obvious, but apparently it needs to be said. If you can’t give a precise answer, be honest about it and say so. People appreciate honesty, even if the situation is frustrating. At the very least, they get to know what’s really going on and can make a more informed decision about what to do next.

2. Be Sincere.

If you’re really sorry, show it. In this case, extending that same offer that new customers are getting to the ones who are still waiting on their order is a pretty solid show of good faith in my book. In other scenarios, go back to #1. HONESTY GOES A REALLY LONG WAY.

3. Don’t Name-Drop.

Even if the name you think you have to drop is a close, personal relationship, no one likes to be spoken for. Furthermore, it makes everyone involved look bad and it’s just plain tacky.

4. Don’t Disparage Your Target Audience.

This includes assigning them a stereotype, by the way. The thing about target markets is they tend to have a lot in common if they’re buying specialized products like this, and when you isolate one member of that market, the rest of the market sees themselves in that person. In this case, you get the gamers and geeks of the internet mobilized against you. It’s not pretty.

5. Use Proper Grammar, for God’s Sake.

Your credibility drops to zero when you can’t string a sentence together… or in this case, you string eight sentences together without punctuation. Spelling counts, too. Especially when it’s the spelling of what you do. Paul’s Twitter handle is @OceanMarketting. WITH 2 T’S. No joke. How embarrassing. Furthermore, YOU DON’T SPEW OBSCENITIES OR RESORT TO NAMECALLING! I mean, come on. What a gimme.

**UPDATE: Paul changed his Twitter handle to @OceanStratagy. Still misspelled. @OceanMarketting is now tweeting for powers of good.

6. Don’t Draw False Comparisons.

When Paul asked if Dave whines about bigger game launch dates being pushed back, he made a HUGE error in a couple ways. First of all, he compared himself to a situation that he can’t hold water to. When a launch date is pushed back, usually the company will give a reason, estimated date, and apology. On top of that, those companies usually haven’t accepted the payments in full for those products. For example, reserving a copy of a game before its release usually involves about a $5-$10 holding fee, not the entire cost of the game. He opened himself up for even worse criticism, not to mention that he showed the world how out of touch he really is with his target market.

7. Keep Your Customers Updated

This entire thing could have been completely avoided if Ocean Marketing had broadcast the production/shipping delay, which could be in the form of a PR release on the product site, an email blast, a Tweet and/or a Facebook post. I’d recommend all of them, so when these kinds of questions arise, you can say “Here. This is what you’re looking for, but sorry again.”

The more I think about this story, the more I keep thinking of the white iPhone 4 situation. There were tons of delays, but at least the customers had notice about it, and more to the point, they weren’t made available for purchase or pre-order because they didn’t yet exist. They kept their potential or ongoing customers in the loop and able to make an informed decision.

A couple more highlights before I go here:
1. This guy’s Twitter description says his company is “a Premier Social Media Company and SEO Company.” I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
2. Paul promised a Penny Arcade smear campaign. Not only did he not follow through on that promise (big surprise there), but he just made himself look bad. Really. Really. Bad.
3. One of the last things he said was “you have no clue who I am.” That’s usually not a good thing, Paul. Worse yet, we all know who you are now. Again, not a good thing.

While I’m not a gamer, I’m a proud geek, and this has me seriously fired up. What would you have done in this situation?

And I’ll step down from my soapbox now. Ahem.

Yep. I was particularly excited about this one, my sister LOVED this one, and this one has essentially saved my house from being an upside-down nightmare.

Want to follow my boards? Of course you do. Either click on the Pinterest icon in the sidebar or follow my boards here. Note: I’m NOT ResaMichelle on Pinterest. Apparently, someone else (NAMED THERESA! NOT EVEN A REAL RESA!) took the username ResaMichelle before Pinterest was on my radar, so mine is ResaMichelleOG. For obvious reasons.

Ahhh, yes. The end of an entire month of blogging each and every day (okay, except for the first couple days), and it has not been an easy process. There were nights when I just wanted to freaking go to bed, days when the kiddo wanted to steal the keyboard from me and eat it so I’d have to stop what I was doing to play with him, times when I had no idea what to write about, but I did it. And I’m so glad I did.

I realized that it’s so important to stretch my writing chops and practice daily. I improved my timed writing skills, which are TOTALLY going to be reflected in my finals, and note that I don’t HOPE this will happen- it WILL happen (CAPS CAPS CAPS). I gained a new sense of discipline, and I got some great ideas on the update I’m currently working on (to be launched after Christmas!!).

But I’m TOTALLY not doing it for the month of December. Between finals, clients, my own redesign and of course the holidays, you’ll be hearing a little less from me, maybe more like 4-5 posts a week. But I do want to know something.

What did YOU like most about this month? Yes, analytics and comments can steer me in the right direction, but I want to hear it from you. So comment and let me know- I’d love your feedback!

As more and more consumers are making their way online, they’re creating conversations about the products and services they’ve been using for years. Consequently, more and more businesses are discovering the importance of being a part of the conversations that are already happening about and around them. However, a lot of businesses aren’t sure where to start. I find it’s always important to start with the basics, and frankly it doesn’t get more basic than the 6 W’s (or 5W’s and an H if you really want to get technical about it) – Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

However, I can’t just let you off that easy. You’re going to ask these questions in 2 rounds. In the first round, you’re going to consider a few questions that will help you hone in on your target audience and learn what they are already talking about.The second round is focused on you, your business goals and the way that you’re going to reach your audience.

Now keep in mind that though these questions are simple, they’re not all going to be easy to answer PLUS there are a lot of questions to consider. It may all seem overwhelming at first, and that’s totally okay! There are tons of approaches to finding the answers to many of these questions, so leave comments or drop me a line at media@resamichelle.com for an in-depth explanation.

Let’s begin!

Round 1: Ask about your audience.

WHO
Who is talking about you?
Are they clients? Are they peers in your industry? Are they potential clients? You want to know who is already talking about you and figure out if these are members of your target audience or if perhaps they should be.

WHAT
What are people saying?
Is it good? Is it bad? Are they simply curious about who you are or what you do? It’s crucial to keep up with the buzz surrounding your brand because this will determine how you will connect with your audience.

WHEN
When are they mentioning you?
Is it when you post new content? Are they responding to major events like new product launches or big announcements? This is one way of figuring out what drives traffic best for your business.

WHERE
Where are people talking about you?
Which platforms are the members of your audience using? There are tons of platforms available, but trying to spread your time and resources is inefficient and could ultimately be ineffective. Work smart, not hard. Narrow down the platforms that are most important to your business based on the platforms your audience is using.

WHY
Why are they talking about you?
Are they responding to your great customer support? Are they complaining about a defective product? Do they have questions about how you do things? Figure out why there is buzz about you – hopefully it’s a good reason. However, if it’s not, take it as an opportunity to right a wrong and rectify some poor feedback.

HOW
How are your clients or potential clients using social web?
Are they broadcasting to make recommendations and evangelize? Do they simply rant or rave to their close friends? Or are they simply lurking and keeping watch? The way your audience is using the social web will help you decide what kind of approach to take with a campaign.

Treat all of this information as your data. This is the starting point to the success of your social media campaign, because this information is going to guide your answers for round 2 and ultimately, these answers will guide your social media efforts.

Round 2: Ask yourselves about your business and endeavor goals

These questions are a bit more straightforward, so they’re in a bit of a lightning round format. Ready?

WHO
Who is your target market?
Are you a Business to Business or Business to Consumer type of service or product? What is your target demographic?

WHAT
What are your campaign goals?
Are you trying to increase your brand recognition? Are you working to enhance and improve the customer experience? Are you working to build authority in your field?

WHEN
When is the push most important?
Do you get the most buzz when you have just launched a new blog post or product? Or do you generate buzz by discussing upcoming announcements, products, service changes or deals?

WHERE
Where are you going to join the conversation?
Which platforms are you going to use? Note that these should be the same ones your audience is using..

WHY
Why are you going to engage with others?
ORM? Product feedback? Lead development?

HOW
How are you going to connect and encourage engagement?
Are you going to launch viral campaigns? Are you going to incentivize current clients to join you online? Are you going to include your social media links and handles in your traditional marketing materials?

BONUS ROUND: Metrics and Application!

Now these questions are the ones that are going to take a lot more discussion and research, perhaps even professional consultation.

WHO
Who in your organization is going to manage your efforts?
Are you going to have a single team member or dedicated team for your social media campaign (like Kodak)? Are you going to have multiple team members from various departments on board (like Zappos)?

WHAT
What are you going to measure?
Buzz? Leads? The number of customer support issues resolved? Site traffic and conversions?

HOW
How are you going to measure?
Are you going to create a budget for social media monitoring tools (like Radian 6)? Are you going to create a makeshift dashboard of free tools (like Addictomatic and Twitter Search)?

So now what?

I’m sure that by now your head is swimming with ideas and questions, and perhaps right now you’re a bit confused.

Okay, maybe you’re a lot confused.

Don’t fret! Remember, these questions are a frameworks and guide to your approach from the start. Additionally, these are questions you can always check back with if you feel like you’re missing the mark or getting off-track. Keep in mind that sometimes, things might change. You may have to go into crisis/emergency repair mode, but by having a firm grasp on the buzz around you, you’ll already be a step ahead of the game.

What questions guide YOUR social media efforts?

**Special thanks to Drew Skwarcan for sharing his editing skills in this post (and for being awesome)! Make sure to check him out – DrewSkwarcan.com

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my Twitter account. Over these last 365 days, I’ve developed a potentially unhealthy, but ultimately rewarding addiction to a rapidly growing and ever useful service.

In this time, I’ve connected with some of the most impressive, incredible people I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with, both online and offline. I’ve also been given the most incredible opportunities, from coffee shop meetings across town to conferences across the country. I learned more about the online marketing industry than any one person could possibly teach me from the people I follow.

I watched some of the most tragic and triumphant moments with millions of others, often from first hand accounts that were shared before traditional media even had time to catch wise. I’ve seen unbelievable acts of kindness. I’ve seen mind-blowing displays of strength. I’ve seen millions of people band together in the face of injustice.

I remember when I first heard about Twitter – I thought it sounded ridiculous, to be honest. Seeing people’s incessant updates on Facebook seemed obnoxious, excessive and incredibly self-involved.. even more so than Facebook stati. However, once I was in the online marketing industry, I figured I may as well give it a shot. There was a lot of buzz about it and I figured that there might be something more than what was on the surface. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Twitter has become an information source and a way to connect with amazing people. If I’m looking for a product or service recommendation, I can ask or search for current, real feedback from people who have tried it firsthand. If I’m stumped about a programming issue, completely lost on a gadget problem, or simply making sure that I haven’t done something stupid that caused a simple error, I can reach out to a ton of people who might know what to do. I keep up with my industry, the world and, most importantly, friends through Twitter. Similarly, I can share what I know, learn and do with my kicka$$ followers.

So thanks, Twitter, for an amazing platform for sharing, informing and learning. But more than that, thanks to everyone who shares their knowledge, experiences, interests, and themselves. YOU are the reason that Twitter is such a valuable communication tool.

Cheers!

Last week, Vanity Fair published an article hailstorm of insults about 6 notable women on Twitter and the rise of Twitter as a platform for massive outreach.

As though it wasn’t hard enough already to discuss and demonstrate the value of Twitter to non-users.

I have a lot of frustration left in me, but I won’t write another diatribe on the matter. Instead, I’m going constructive. You can anticipate my opinion on women in tech this week, but in the meantime, I’m sharing some links that I found encouraging and passing along a few more responses to the Vanity Fair misfire.

First:

Notable Women On Twitter

14 Power Women to Follow On Twitter

30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow On Twitter

Second:

Responses to Vanity Fair’s “America’s Tweethearts”

By a couple of the women featured:
Disappointment by Felicia Day on feliciaday.com

There’s More to a Tweetheart by Amy Jo Martin on thedigitalroyalty.com

By a few other women
Vanity Fair on Twitter Fame: Twembarrassing by Caroline McCarthy for CNET News

Hot For Twitter! Vanity Fair’s “Twilebrities” Have Sexy Legs by Rachel Sklar for mediaite.com

Why Does Vanity Fair Hate the Women of Twitter? by Kiala for GeekWeek.com

AAAANNND The Geek Girl Diva Series:
Tweethearts? Oh Vanity Fair! You Slay Me!
Less Rant, More Rationale: My Letter to the Vanity Fair Editor
and
Gawker Says the Twinternet Is Tweaking Out?

Finally…

I want to share the links to these women’s Twitter accounts, since they’re all awesome and Vanity Fair neglected to display their usernames.

Julia Roy: @juliaroy
Sarah Evans: @PRsarahevans
Stefanie Michaels: @adventuregirl
Felicia Day: @feliciaday
Sarah Austin: @pop17
Amy Jo Martin: @digitalroyalty

Don’t get me wrong: this isn’t a feminism sort of thing. I’m just not one to stand by and watch someone else take a beating because she OR he is successful.

Not. Cool.

Around Christmas time, my boss ordered a new Dell laptop for his wife. Unfortunately, on the date it was supposed to arrive, he found that the order had not been processed. Additionally, he hadn’t been contacted about the matter. WTF!?

He spent the morning on the phone getting bounced around, placed on hold and over all getting no help. He asked me to find their Facebook or Twitter and see if there was anything I could do.

I was FLOORED to find that Dell IS on Twitter with dozens of accounts, featuring information like deals, new technology, the latest in fashion and music, and their efforts in environmental sustainability. What floored me is that not ONE of the 34 accounts listed was customer support or feedback.

Sure, they list @TeamDell, an account for all the Dell team members who want to be recognized for being Twitter users. But @TeamDell doesn’t tweet. They tweeted twice in June 2008.

Now that’s not to say they don’t have team members in customer support that actively seek and converse with Twitter users who are complaining about their Dell experience/products. However, if they do, Dell isn’t doing anything to help us find them.

What does that mean for Dell?

That means I’m going to complain about the craptacular experience I just had and my apprehension at EVER ordering a product from them again.

Not that I’d ever order something from Dell anyway, but you get the point.

The long and short of the issue is they’re opening themselves up for negative public feedback instead of providing an outlet for help, support and ORM.

So I started thinking about what I expect from corporate Twitter accounts. I know that it varies from business to business, but if it’s a service or a company I buy a product from, I expect a few things.

1. Let us know you’re on Twitter!

Include a Twitter icon or a “Follow us here” or “Hey, we’re on Twitter” type of badge or a visible link SOMEWHERE BEFORE THE BREAK of your site. Don’t make us scroll down to your footer links- give us something at the top of the page. Additionally, make sure it’s CLEAR that you’re on Twitter. Saying community, in my mind, sounds like a forum or entire social network in and of itself.

2. Talk to us!

Now, responding to followers doesn’t have to be an obligatory, “every time someone tweets our name, we have to tweet back at them” type of thing. However, if you’re tweeting ONLY as a one-sided marketing tool, you’re missing the point. If someone asks a valid question, acknowledge it. Even if you don’t have an answer, we like to know you’re listening (and really, we do appreciate it).

3. Keep us in the know!

I LOVE seeing messages like:

“We’re going down for updates in a couple minutes – sorry for the inconvenience, but we’ll be back up within the hour”

It tells us the service that is going down is keeping us in the loop. They want to make the service better, of course, and though it’s an inconvenience at the time, they give a warning that it’s happening or they advise their us that there’s nothing catastrophically wrong.

Now of course there are times when we want a solution. However, if there is some information that would better help us understand what’s going on, you’re making a great start.

4. Don’t spam us!

Seriously, do I even have to say this?
This includes mass @ messages (consisting of only usernames with no message) and tweeting the same message to different people over and over, among a multitude of others.

5. Be human and be honest!

Let us know who’s we’re talking to, whether it’s a team or an individual. It’s really simple. We understand the difference between a company that says it cares and a company that actually does.

I want to be clear – these are the absolute bare-necessity basics and I’m only scratching the surface. But they are a few things that I’ve come to expect from my favorite brands and businesses on Twitter.

What do you expect from businesses on Twitter?

I just wanted to end 09 on a high note and the guys at Thymer (a product by Stunf) gave me some great fuel for it.

If you dont know what Thymer is, its an incredible new productivity tool that I was lucky enough to try out in its beta phase. Its, in essence, a simple, collaborative to-do type project manager. Ive loved it from day 1 because its SO ridiculously simple and wonderfully intuitive.

They are SUPER awesome and sent me a HAND WRITTEN card for the holidays.

From the Netherlands.

THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is customer care.

I hope 2009 was a great year for each of you and I know that youll make 2010 even better. Its a new decade and I know weve paved paths for great things. Now is the time to use them.

Make history. Be inspired.

Cheers!