As the social media bandwagon continues to gather momentum, Quest PR is linking up with social media experts globally to hear their forecasts on what the future holds.

In this post US social media guru Gini Dietrich – a top Vistage speaker and PR consultant –  shares her fascinating insights.

• Foursquare: Retailers are going to figure out that consumers are checking into their locations and giving them all of their information. So if I check in at, say, my local Mexican restaurant, they now know that I am there every Friday, that I like salt on my margaritas, and that I always order the chili con queso. They also know that I live around the corner, that I’m female, and that I tend to bring at least three friends with me. So let’s say they participate in Foursquare as well. Now they can send me a message inviting me to bring in friends and for every three that check in, I get $10 off my bill. Or similar promotions and contests.

• Every business will embrace social media at some level. Some may only have policies in place. Some may only lift their firewalls that now prevent their employees from using the social networks at work. And others will use the tools as part of their larger communication, marketing, customer service, HR, and sales strategies.

• Email will begin to be used less and less for business. You’ll see tools such as Google Wave used for collaboration, Yammer used for internal/employee social networks across offices, and the social tools for quick answers in real-time vs. waiting for an email to be opened, read, and response.

• Everyone (not just certain Starbucks locations, Flixster, and Amazon) will begin to accept mobile payments. Create an account to the retailer on your phone, input your credit card number, and every time you visit that location, you just enter your PIN number and pay for your purchase on the spot. No more cash. No more checks. No more credit/debit cards.

• The social media “experts” who don’t practice what they preach and pry on business leaders to get rich quick will be found out and the cream will rise to the top. Those who are at the forefront of social media will change and a new crop of thought leaders will move to the top. Expertise, thought leadership, and credibility will change constantly.

• The “return-on-investment” of social media question will continue to be defined as the tools age and agencies and companies, alike, figure out how to track efforts directly back to increased sales.

• Twitter will die because they won’t figure out how to monetize the brand.

Gini Dietrich is the founder of Arment Dietrich, Inc., a Chicago-based firm that teaches companies how to use online communication for business growth. She has a passion for Global Domination and cycling.

As CEO, Gini works with c-level executives on using online technology to develop and foster relationships for better and more efficient communication. Her team works to develop strategies that build communities, generate leads, cultivate those leads, and convert them…all while tying efforts to improved profitability.

She spreads her “communication through one-on-one relationships” message at numerous conference keynotes and panel discussions, company training, the Fight Against Destructive Spin blog, and her own intense social networking.

Gini is one of few female business owners who speak on the subject of social media and communication. She is @ginidietrich on Twitter.

Did you know the latest prediction is that corporate blogs will be more powerful and influential than websites in only two years’ time?  And, that almost 89 per cent of journalists are using them for their research.  That’s a scary thought  -  especially if you haven’t got one!

New blogs are being created every minute but not all appear to be hitting the mark. When we launched the whatifspecialist blog last year we did some research first. Here are some suggestions to help you get started.

Listen before launching

• Listen to what your customers and prospects and stakeholders are saying about you onlineUse Google’s blog search tool and type in your business name, products and competitors http://blogsearch.google.com
• search who is linking to your website and discussing it http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com
• Once you know who is talking about you and where your traffic is coming from, you can develop a plan on where to focus your online campaign.

Here are our top tips to getting started

• To Blog or Not to Blog – understand your objectives and why you want to start a blog. You can’t just divorce your blog.

• Establish a blog team – recruit key experts and executives (including your CEO) to sit on the blogging team to provide expertise and insight in several different categories.

• Define a Blogging Process – outline an editorial process and educate the bloggers on how the process works.  Someone needs to own it and make sure the content is approved before each blog gets posted so it’s within your company standards and message.

In part two we’ll outline the foundations of a good blog.

It’s fair to say that social media is not the fad that many predicted it to be. Now it’s more question of how far it can go. Because of this, I am probably one of hundreds of students this year to have chosen social media as my topic of choice for my final year research dissertation.

Before I embark upon the practical research element of my investigation, I have compiled my initial thoughts about the relationship between the discipline of public relations and the web 2.0 boom.

It seems quite clear that we will continue to see a fall in print circulations and a continued increase in memberships and participation on social media platforms. What’s more, increasingly it will be individuals who have the most influence rather than journalists and industry leaders.

This shift means that brands will be required to carefully consider their ‘personality’ and how they engage in a two way flow of information with consumers, maintaining transparency and in turn trust. It is also imperative that that all organisations have a crisis management plan in place which can respond immediately to the power of the social media community. There are now countless examples of ‘twitterstorms’ within the internet groundswell irreversibly damaging a brand’s reputation. A recent high profile example of this is the internet hype surrounding Paperchase’s plagiarism of an independent artist’s work. Paperchase’s poor handling of the situation prompted a barrage of negative tweets and blog posts about the stationary chain. Here’s the artist’s (Hidden Eliose) blog.

I am of the opinion that although social media is undoubtedly transforming the media landscape, the aim of PR will remain predominantly the same. Social media channels are purely another outlet through which to communicate information to publics and are part of mainstream media. Although currently, so called digital PR is considered to be more of a specialism in the industry, it’s important that all PR practitioners take social media into account, as this is ultimately where the industry is headed.

There does still seem to be scepticism surrounding the integration of social media into strategic PR campaigns in general, but as Harriet commented in her recent post, soon we will begin to struggle to remember a time before the internet and social media, and how we ever coped without it.

At this point I am just on the cusp of starting my empirical research so it will be interesting to see if my results support my initial thoughts.

A storm was kicked up this month when Google launched Google Buzz.

It is seen as their attempt to enter social networking, an area traditionally occupied by companies who not long ago were mere saplings compared to mighty the Silicon Valley oak that is Google.

While the web is bursting with bloggers deriding it as an intrusion in to their email, a bigger issue is privacy – and one that highlights the need to be wary about jumping in to social media.

Many were alarmed that, before they had even started to play around with Google Buzz, the system had taken upon itself the duty to add their Google Mail contacts to their profile’s buddy list. A list that is marked from the start as open to the public. I don’t have anyone on my Google account I’m ashamed of, but in my opinion this is taking intrusion to a new level.

One act of ‘digital creepyness’ includes a user reporting the system for adding photos taken from their Android phone that they hadn’t even uploaded yet.

I also have concerns about the mobile Buzz app. Users who log on to the system through the application are given the option to share their location. Thankfully this can be declined but the option to remember the choice is already checked, so anyone too eager to read the note could spend the rest of their time unveiling their current location, post by post.

The location issue is a big one at the moment with the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla meaning that social media junkies are alerting the web of their location way more than is advisable. A friend of mine recently altered Twitter to the fact that she was ‘home’ using Foursquare, it didn’t give her full address but enough that the internet now knew what street she was on. For more on these new kids on the block, see my last post.

As Google Buzz looks like being a launch worse than the iPad, how useful it is for marketing and personal use will take time to decide. What is obvious though is that if Google doesn’t change it soon they will loose the key to social media success – users.

• How much time are you investing in social media?
• Do you have a social media strategy – and if so, is it aligned with your business plan?
• Are you reaping the benefits of corporate blogging?

I was delighted to read that almost 70 per cent of businesses plan to increase their social media marketing drive and 74 per cent will give their e-mail marketing campaigns more ‘wellie’ this year.  With 89 per cent of journalists using blogs for research and more businesses attracting new customers from social media, the term ‘Return on Investment’ has been replaced with ‘Return on Engagement’ – because it’s critical that we engage with our target audiences.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be posting a series of hints and tips to give your social media journey a kickstart.

In the meantime, we suggest you ‘listen before you launch’.

• Listen to what your customers and prospects and stakeholders are saying about you online
• Use Google’s blog search tool and type in your business name, products and competitors http://blogsearch.google.com
• Search who is linking to your website and discussing it http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com
• Once you know who is talking about you and where your traffic is coming from, you can develop a plan on where to focus your online campaign.

Before venturing into the world of PR when I was in my first year at University, a friend who lived in my halls exhorted me to join Facebook.  “Please sign up,” he said “I need more friends!”  I did so – and my relationship with the social networking site began.

In 2006, when opening my account, the site was only accessible to students from certain Universities.  Many of my school friends were excluded because their institutions weren’t on the fateful ‘list’. The creators of Facebook realised they were missing a trick and over the next couple of years the website became all inclusive. It now boasts 300 million people worldwide.

At the risk of sounding like some sort of reclusive computer-reliant super geek, I really don’t know how I would conduct my personal life without Facebook.  Now all my friends (and their friends) are members, it provides an excellent tool for all things social. I can count on one hand those who don’t use it in my peer group – a couple of whom found it was prohibitive to studying. For me Facebook is undoubtedly the mother of all procrastination tools. If you have work to do, you will invariably find yourself launching into a lengthy discussion on group page about how great slankets are (FYI they are great, I don’t agree with Grazia for once), or some other equally pointless topic.

With regards to social planning, take the housewarming party we had in December.  I created an event on Facebook, invited my friends, my housemates invited theirs and I sent a message reminder out a few days before the party. The result was a great mix of approximately 60 people and the most excellent night of fun I have had for a long time. No fuss, no costly texts or calls and no confusion about where or when to attend.  All the information was easily accessible in the pages of Facebook.

For regular users, it is so useful when planning your social life, sharing photos and generally keeping in touch with your ever evolving circle of friends. A recent surprise to many (including me), was its power in airing views on a recent AQA A Level biology paper that many candidates thought was unfair. We know that Twitter can get the national media going, but Facebook, the preserve of the young and time rich? Hmm, I was not convinced.

I am the first to admit when I am wrong. On the day of the exam, a group was set up protesting that the questions weren’t relevant to the A Level biology syllabus and, crucially, what students had been taught in the classroom. To date the group has over 13,000 members and the story has been picked up by the national media. Coverage has prompted an Ofcal qualifications watchdog to call for a report on the concerns and AQA has promised that the marking and grading process will take into account the anxieties of unhappy candidates.

So, Facebook helped some disgruntled teenagers to publicly air their displeasure at the general unfairness of life, the universe and everything. Five years ago, such protests would have fallen on deaf ears because there was no forum for a collective complaint.

Now all this got me thinking. We are fast approaching a time when a generation of adults will exist who don’t know what the world was like before the internet was widely used. I feel privileged; being the age I am I vaguely remember the way things were before we relied on the web for conducting every minute aspect of our lives. I recognise the huge difference it has made, and can imagine where we would be without it (probably on holiday somewhere rubbish with a camera prone to faults – thanks).

I have said it before and will happily say it again; it is time for us all to jump on the digital and social media bandwagon, because soon enough there will come a point when our clients can’t remember a time when such tools didn’t exist. If we don’t get in on the act we risk being left behind, scratching our heads and wondering when it was that we missed the boat.

As highlighted in my previous posts, I was interviewed about covering what appeared to be a fairly innocuous story about a man reviving local cinema. The man in question later turned out to be a serial killer – and I was sent out to report on one of his gruesome murders!

I am now critically assessing my performance and referring to my own tips on how to conduct a television interview. As mentioned in a recent Tweet, more Quest clients are now seeking training in how to present a video blog. With posting videos key to attracting google’s attention, are you up to speed with filming and editing to catapult your business up the search engine rankings?

Above all, remember that content is King (and Queen!) so, whether written or spoken, produce great content if you want to reach your target audiences and open new doors to drive sales.

Back when I was doing my degree one of my first (and most basic) journalism seminars covered the subject of the ‘five Ws’. It was hardly rocket science, but it is still a fundamental part of journalism and PR and one that is just as applicable to social media.

Until recently social media has been focusing on four of these Ws:

Who – Whether it’s using @tags on Twitter or simply referencing someone on Facebook.

What – The key to most tweets, updates and blog posts.

When – Whether you pay close attention to trending topics or not, nearly all posts are time stamped.

Why – Often the question is ‘why would you post that?’ But it doesn’t take long to find social media avenues jammed with people asking for advice and opinion or in a lot of cases offering it, whether asked for or not.

As 2010 gets in to full swing the social media focus is going to move from the four Ws above and on to the fifth, ‘where’.

Two of the biggest buzz names in social media right now are Foursquare and Gowalla. More than anything they want to know where you are and both look to enter the mainstream as the year moves on.

The idea behind both services is that users (through GPS) earn rewards for being in certain places, offering advice based on where they are or have been. Say you arrive in Japan and want to find a nearby restaurant; services like these will be able to tell you if your friends have been there already and what they thought of them. This is just one example, but as with most social media, the true application of the services are decided by those that use them.

It’s not all about recommendation engines. There is also the fun and addictive (according to some) element of being rewarded with medals and items for visiting certain places. This part of the service is what will gain it mass appeal, where as recommendations could prove the most useful element.

It isn’t just a new wave of applications that is driving the ‘where’ question. Established social media application Tweetdeck recently added geo-tagging to its mobile application, allowing tweets to be mapped. If we go back to ‘snowmaggedon’ in early January the UKsnow hashtag dominated Twitter as the country tweeted about levels of snow and affixed postcodes to them.

As the latest incarnation of the iPhone starts to sell more units, the inbuilt compass should drive applications to use augmented reality, like Wikitude did last year and not only make where you are important, but what direction you’re facing too.

How quickly these services are adopted as marketing tools depends not only on the marketers and PROS but also their uptake by the public. While Gowalla, Foursquare and others are proving hot topics in media circles they will need the same kind of exposure that was lavished on Twitter in 2009 before they can become relevant.  In the meantime, it’s always good to stay ahead of the pack, so why not download some of the most popular now, before BBC Breakfast News starts talking about them.

Gowalla

Foursquare

Yelp

Wikihood

Wikitude

Tweetdeck

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.’

Charles Dickens, A Tale of  Two Cities. English novelist (1812-1970)

A classic quote over 100 years old yet so pertinent to the current economy. A time, no doubt, when there are substantial opportunities for those brave enough to seize them.

It really is a great time to start a new business, costs are low and talent is easy to attract, but before you start the journey you need to do a reality check, be very honest with yourself and don’t mistake fools gold for the real thing.

It may possibly be true that there are no new ideas left, indeed it’s the reason why someone once famously said there are only 3 original jokes and the others have been derived from them, but actually you don’t have to be completely unique to be successful. You can be very successful indeed taking an old idea and rejuvenating it.

The key is don’t be a ‘me too’ business unless you have a very low cost product. Create a differential; people who spend more usually look for speciality suppliers.

I would suggest you identify the ultimate raison d’être. Forget how anyone else has got there and work out a new route. 

Some interesting ideas that have worked include

• Mobile dentists and opticians
• Any professional product including specialist services such as car valeting
• Organic food stores
• Anything that capitalises on nostalgia

It is because we are feeling more comfortable with historical performance than future, who knows, or indeed cares. Its working, as more themed restaurants and shops open, as the average business type close all around them.

There is, of course, always money to be made where problems exist, be it health care, education or the green economy. Of course there are lots of players in these fields, some very large ones but even better as very often these giants have substantial weak spots a gifted entrepreneur can fill.

Reverting back to my opening quote, it could of course all go horribly wrong but a true entrepreneur knows the meaning of my final statement. 

• There are those that make things happen
• Those that watch things happen
• Those that ask ‘what happened!’

The real new entrepreneur fits, of course, only into one of those boxes.

About Jo Haigh
Jo Haigh is a Partner and Head of Corporate Finance for MGR a company based in London and The North of England and a partner in the fds Group, a specialist training and development business.

An experienced dealmaker, Jo specialises in putting together the right deal at the right time and in the right format for growing businesses throughout the country.  She has bought and sold over 300 companies in the last 20 years specialising in owner managed companies.

Jo is also a best-selling author and has been voted speaker of the year at the Vistage Annual Speakers awards.

For more information visit: www.jo-haigh.com

In November I finally joined the iPhone party, having previously put my money behind Samsung’s Omnia and a weighty 18-month contract. It was a mistake reiterated by Samsung themselves as they canned the phone not long after launch. Since Apple released their revolutionary device I’ve kept my eyes on its development and the impact it’s had on the way we communicate, do business, socialise and a whole host of other activities. However, it wasn’t until I became addicted to their app store that I learnt how useful it can be not only for my life but also in PR.

Here are my top five applications for PR and a further five just for fun.

For Work
Twitter/Facebook – The importance of these social media behemoths to PR goes without saying, so much so that my primary use for my iPhone is social media (over phone calls, texts and web browsing). While Facebook’s own app is by far the most effective way to use the service on the iPhone there are a host of Twitter apps out there with so little between some of them that it can just be a case of personal preference. My choice is Tweetdeck, it’s my Twitter client of choice when it comes to the desktop and the iPhone version is my number one for many reasons, the biggest being its simple use of columns.

Instapaper – All too often I’ll be reading an article online and realise that I don’t have time to finish the whole thing. The solution is Instapaper – a free application that combined with your web browser lets you read online content offline and on the move, it also syncs with your RSS feeds. The programme installs a link at the top of your browser (where your favourites live) which once clicked converts the copy from the website you are currently on into an iPhone friendly document. The document is saved online and downloaded the next time you open the app on your iPhone. A similar use is to build your own paper of chosen articles before a long journey. Choose your favourite PR related websites and get Instapaper to store some interesting stories for you before you set off.

i-Clickr – Great for presentations, i-Clickr lets you control PowerPoint presentations from your iPhone. A similar app has been available for Apple’s Keynote software for a while but for any PRO using Microsoft products this is the closest they can get. It does all you would expect, like changing slides, but also allows you to draw on the slides during the presentation (good for making a point) and manages how long you’ve been talking and got left – great if you find you talk to much or time is short.

Business Card Reader – Tired of returning from networking events with a pocket full of business cards that will probably get lost before you next have a chance to save the details? The Business Card Reader app solves this problem by using the iPhones poor, but in this case sufficient, camera to take a snap of the business card and use type recognition to read and save the contacts details such as name, number and address. It isn’t perfect (brackets aren’t recognised on phone numbers for some reason) but it’s a great way to manage new contacts.

Google – Google’s own app isn’t so much of application but more of a gateway to its mobile sites for services such as maps, news, reader, docs and many other Google products that are even more useful on the go than they are on your office computer. As someone who uses many of these services, being able to access them all in one place and well laid out is fantastic. Especially the calendar.

For Play
Beneath a Steel Sky – This is a simple (ish) point-and-click game from 1994 that has been perfectly ported over to the iPhone. Gorgeous artwork and a control system that suits the iPhone perfectly make this one of the best games on the platform. At £1.79 it a great way to pass the time on long commutes.

Sky Sports – A well designed application which mirrors its browser-based counterpart and provides updates on all the day’s matches. Brief minute-by-minute reports on games as well as everything else you could need to follow your team on the go.

UnblockMe – Available as a free and paid for version, all you have to do is slide a block through a hole by moving the others around it (similar to those old sliding tile games). Soon simplicity will turn to frustration and then to addiction.

Guardian – At £2.39 this one should be a no-brainer for anyone who spends time on the Guardian’s website or buys the paper. Regularly updated (more than daily) with the latest content (including images and audio) it’s the perfect way to consume news on the move. If you find that most of your reading is done when you are out of 3G signal you can download what you like before you set off and read it all offline too.

I Am T-Pain – The silliest app on the list but fun all the same. For those who don’t know, T-Pain is a rapper/singer famed for his use of autotune. This app allows you to autotune your own voice so you can sound as over processed and electronic as all the singers making millions of pounds despite not being able to hold a note.

What do you use for work and play? Post your top five and let us know what else is out there.