I made some pretty solid personal biz cards for myself, mostly for handing out to folks I meet at Tweetups. Yeah, thats right, Tweetups. They rock. If you’re on Twitter, you should definitely try to bring the online world to the real world. It’s a great networking opportunity, and its just plain fun. Having drinks with people of like minds makes for a good time!

Speaking of Tweetups, Twitter-extroirdinaire Sarah Parker Evans has a recent post about meeting people from online spaces and making sure you do so safely.

I’ve only been on Twitter for a few months, but already I feel I have a great sense of how people and brands should be using the service. For me, the easiest thing is to model yourself after @chrisbrogan or @guykawasaki. They are very smart, offer plenty of content/links/info and are not boring. They are professional, transparent and come across as nice guys. This should be no different if you are a large corporation.

Ogilvy PR has developed a Twitter best practices of sorts, highlighting the best do’s and don’ts to being a successful Twitterer.

Here’s a little taste:

DO be dedicated to Twitter. Chris Brogan recommends having more than one employee on Twitter so ensure an ongoing presence. (@BaskinRobbins could have continued to grow their presence on Twitter, but instead lasted only 1 month)

DON’T use Twitter to tell your everyday tasks, make sure your Tweets are resourceful, entertaining and/or valuable to your followers

I wouldn’t say anything on this post is anything ground breaking, but it is definitely a good collection of practices to keep in mind, and would be a great guide for the new user/social media dud. Be sure to follow me on Twitter! @brandonzeman

Ben Parr of Mashable writes a very exciting post today for those who currently have and hope to find a job in social media, myself included. Ben discusses the current popular status of social media jobs, and his outlook for the near future. Ben writes:

“Even if the title changes, the role of the social media marketer or manager is not going anywhere. Building community, reaching out to potential customers, building stronger relationships, creating buzz - they are fundamental goals to every company. So long as people use social media to share their thoughts and their complaints, the need for people to fill social media jobs will continue to grow.”

This is good news. For one, it validates that social media as a whole is very valuable to marketers, and will figure to be increasingly prevelant as more of us social media junkies get hired and do our trade. Social media should continue to grow despite the weak economy and fact that many companies are slashing marketing spending. Why? Most social media opportunities are free, or very inexpensive. Even hiring just one coordinator to run your blogs and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook is much more cost effective at establishing relationships with consumers than blowing tens of thousands of dollars on a local cable spot, for example.

Additionally, consumers are much more price sensitive today and look to the internet for price saving information. Social media has the opportunity to inform consumers of sales and discounts via microblogging updates,(see Dell’s Outlet on Twitter) and keep loyal customers involved through blogs and social networking sites. Add the fact that people are staying at home more due to high gas prices, consumers will be spending more time online-which means more face time with your brand.

Note: Parr’s post provides a link to a Jeremiah Owyang post that is an unbelieveable resource of social media professionals and the companies that employ them. Jeremiah also has some pretty good links for job seekers and employers looking to connect; see them here.

I’ll be somewhat live-blogging during the Twebinar, but will have a more comprehensive wrap up afterwards. The Twittersphere has been blowing up with talk around the Twebinar, both involving people who will attend the Twebinar and those who are not. Follow along on Summize by searching ‘Twebinar and tweb’ in the same search.

Follow me on Twitter! @brandonzeman

UPDATE: 1:29pm, CST

First section of Twebinar complete. Pretty much a general overview of social media and how its been used. Next section to focus on online communities and the power they have.

UPDATE: 2:17pm, CST

Well the first Twebinar is now complete, and overall it was a success. Twitter didn’t collapse, and the video stream was pretty much intact throughout. So much conversation going on in Twitter, and thank god for Summize, otherwise this Twebinar would have been impractical.

Aside from learning some new things and hearing examples of what companies have used Social Media to their advantage, the cool thing I took away from the Twebinar is being able to connect with people who are passionate about the same thing; Social Media. Following tweets on Summize, I was able to check out these people on Twitter and connect with them, and through that I think even more learning and collaboration will take place.

Ok, for the summary. I was taking some notes in Notepad during the Twebinar, and I am just going to copy and paste them directly to this post. Easiest way to do this, and also ensures my memory doesn’t screw up some of the details.

Twebinar Notes

Online communities, recommendations affect
search results, rankings

Boeing Blog- CMO blog who left built
powerful blog

Dell- Richard Binhammer; Learn consumer
insights on your products and services to
help improve product development, and help
customers along the way

Even TSA has used blogs

mystarbucksidea.com; outsourcing marketing
and product ideas to customers; open
sourcing tech and marketing

Redcross engaging donors

rollercoaster community for sea world;
gave customers tools to go tell story they
wanted to tell

by nature humans are conversational, like
to share thoughts, ideas

TV changed communication model; tv told
stories, humans stopped telling stories;
online changes that, being able to have
conversations that are desired

Social Media used by young people; future
long time customers

HR Block using social media to show expertice

Listening is mucho importante

‘Crowdsourcing’

Lego embraced hacking of their product

GM Next

Gotta love Twitter. There is a hoax going around that Jared Fogel, Subway’s former fat man, has passed away. In fact, there is even an entire site dedicated to his “death”. JaredRemembered.com is full of content, from eulogies and poems about Jared’s life, to his favorite sandwiches. Not sure if Subway is behind this, although it would make sense. Not sure why they would fake Jared’s death; I guess some marketing strategies are just beyond me.

I’ve been following Tony, the CEO of Zappos (Follow him on Twitter! @Zappos) for a little bit now, and he is a totally normal and cool guy. He is also a huge fan of Twitter and is a frequent updater, which might make one wonder how much CEO work is actually getting done, but nonetheless he sees value in Twitter. In fact, he is trying to convince the President of shoe maker Skechers to join Twitter.

Not being one to just jump into the great unknown, Mr. Skechers decided to run an experiment to experience the power of Twitter. Tony sent out a message to followers stating the first 10 people to visit the Skechers shop in Manhattan Beach, Cali and say “Zappos” would receive a free pair of shoes. Results of this experiment are still to be seen, but this is such a cool way to do business.

I love this for many reasons. First, what a super way to convince someone on the fence with real interaction and physical results, rather than the usual “Oh but there are 30 million users and growing at xyz%…”

Second, its instant consumer interaction. Twitter allows marketers an active audience that are more likely to respond to unique promotions.

Lastly, I just think its great how transparent companies can be if they embrace Twitter like Tony and Zappos does. His tweets aren’t corporate BS; he is funny, honest and actually enjoys the service.

Just got online and noticed Twitter is down…again. I’m a relatively new user to the service and wasn’t sure if these outages were normal or not. A quick Google search reveals that although the company just raised $15million dollars on top of the $5 million it previously raised, blackouts are still a common occurrence. A post on Twitter’s blog admits that they really aren’t sure what the problem is, although some of the tweeps commenting sure think they have it figured out. What’s cool to see though is how many people that did comment are very supportive of Twitter and that these blackouts aren’t that terrible.

Oh man, when I started this post Twitter was down. It came back for a bit, but now as I finish this post, the ol’ girl is down again. Let’s hope they figure it out, otherwise there will be some very upset investors!

I don’t have a job that requires me to be online all day or to write blogs or browse social networks (in fact, I have no job whatsoever!), but I do all of these things anyways. Most of my online time is probably spent learning, which comes from reading blogs and news and seeing what people are talking about on Twitter. A big chunk of time is spent job searching on job boards and agency sites. Then of course I spend some time working on AdSponge and Facebook. Oh, and I am connected all the time through my internet friendly iPhone. Becoming disconnected for me can be a difficult task.

Larissa Fair from the Buzz Bin offers a list of ways to achieve balance between your online life and the rest of your life. Most of her tips are pretty obvious, like leaving your laptop at work and avoiding Twitter. I guess for me, it depends who I am with that changes my online habits. If I’m with friends or family or in a social setting, then the iPhone will stay in my pocket. Also, I try to save at least one day a week to be completely disconnected, usually Sunday.

Most of my friends will say I’m online more than anyone they know, but isn’t that a good thing?