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Last night was the WITI Tampa meeting with two social media experts - IBM's VP Sandy Carter and Tampa Bay's own Shawna Vercher.  

Sandy walked the audience through some social media lessons, including some homework on your Brand 2.0: Post 2 presentations to SlideShare; join LinkedIn and Facebook and connect with 50 people; and join twitter and tweet. Your brand is about experience, connection, promise and interaction. Social media helps you to give your audience (or marketplace) that. It can't replace face-to-face, but, as Shawna put it, it's a nice placeholder for you until you see them again. It's a way to stay top of mind. It's all about what you want your brand to be - offline and online. 

Other ways to utilize social networks to boost your brand are becoming an expert on LinkedIn Answers; creating how-to videos on YouTube; and increasing your search engine results with tagged video and photos (especially with a Flickr account).

The one thing about social media that many brands haven't gotten is that social media is like dating. It should be treated just like face-to-face networking. People say stuff on Facebook and Twitter that they would never say in person. 

If you met Guy Kawasaki in person and all he did was talk non-stop about his Alltop project, wouldn't you walk away? 

If you met a blogger and all they did was discuss their blog posts, number of readers, famous people who commented, etc., would you want to run into that person again?

Then don't be that way on Twitter or Facebook. 

Shawna talked tactically about ways to use these technology platforms to gain business. It's a way to reach out to your audience and let them get to know you before you do business together.  To do that well, you need to have a social media plan.  What is Your Goal? How much time will you put into it? What will you say? Who are you talking to? Shawna recommends that "You map out your sales cycle."

Ideally, you want to give the preception that you are the best or an expert in your field. To do that well, you would ideally announce (whether on LI, FB, or twitter) about your speaking gigs, industry news, client proposals, worthy works, congratulate people, case studies, etc. It doesn't have to be about what you had for breakfast or what your cat did.

Remember that social media is the virtual date. Shawna says that Facebook is like meeting for a cup of coffee and Twitter is that blind date. Either way: dress appropriately and act accordingly. It's about interesting conversation first and foremost. You can't engage by puking marketing material on them or being all Me-Me-Me. Again would you do that in a face-to-face encounter?

Lastly, this stuff is permanent! It's like herpes, your digital history will last forever.

HyperOffice is holding a webinar about Email and Productivity. It follows up on the LinkedIn Poll that Shahab Kaviani, VP of Marketing at Hyperoffice, held last week on reducing your Inbox with Online Collaboration.

This is of interest to me because I get so much email, including listserv messages and social networking notifications. There is so much noise to filter through - Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email, IM/chat, voicemail, and text messages - it is becoming overwhelming.

There are days that it takes 6 hours to shuffle through all this communication. I think this hyper-connectivity is a bad thing. Notice how people in a restaurant or a bar spend more time on their phones than actually talking / interacting with the people right in front of them?

Crackberry was a joke, but it turned out that it is very difficult for people to unplug. I successfully did that for a couple of hours each day this weekend, but then right back online to see what I missed. It's nuts. I'm going to start a 12-step program.

Are you overloaded with email / communications? Is email bankrupt? (After getting 500+ spam messages this morning, I think the answer is obvious, except that email is primary communications tool).

Obviously, there are tools that can be used to make business communications more efficient, but some that I have tried slow down Outlook so much or eat up so much memory the laptop slows down that I had to delete them. Suggestions are welcome.

1. Are you overwhelmed?
2. Can you un-plug?
3. Do you un-plug?

A productivity consultant I know, Matthew Cornell, says that he has a zero inbox. I can't even envision that because some projects, like a fiber build, can result in over 400 emails. I leave them all in the inbox until the project is finished, so I can search in one spot. That's probably not the best way, but I also go through both my sent folder and my inbox monthly to make sure that I have contacted people regularly.  Again, I would be happy to hear of a better way.

This may be off-topic but with the number of folks that are getting the pink slip, I figured I would list a bunch of sites for job seekers.

• Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs.
• Meta search sites like Indeed.com and SimplyHired.
• Your local newspapers.
• Your local work force board.
• Craigslist.
• Recruiters like CIBER, Kforce or Robert Half.
• Mashable, TechCrunch, GigaOm have job listings as do many of your new media website properties in your industry. 
• TheLadders is pay for play. 
• LinkedIn 
• Dice.com for IT jobs and TelecomCareers.
• Jobster

Then there are Web 2.0 sites that Venture Beat and Fast Company wrote about that are turning the job search around (maybe):

• Blue Chip Expert
• NotchUp
• Jobfox
• H3.com
• trovix

Be aware that some folks don't think much of these sites.  And I am sure that there are more places to look, but I figured this would give you a start.

While job hunting, don't forget to keep networking and keep your hand in things either by donating your time to a non-profit or grabbing some projects or contract work.  (Look here for project or contract work:  Guru.com, rent-a-coder, eLance, DoMyStuff, Agents of Value, AssistU, iFreelance)

During a discussion online, some interesting items popped up.

Companies ban Instant Message. One IT Security Consultant looks at the irony of it here. Tele-Presence is all about improved efficiency in communicating -- no more phone tag, less voicemail, that kind of thing -- but how will that be implemented in a corporate environment that locks it down?

Social networking like LinkedIn and Twitter are becoming commonplace among the marketing set. Maybe instead of banning these things in a corporate environment, you embrace it and set policy. Here's an article from CIO.com on LinkedIn etiquette.

It boils down to tools. Will you give people the tools that they can use to be effective at their position?  If you are that worried about security, do an audit and train your people. Manage by walking around. Most theft is internal or social engineered. You can train against the social engineering, but if someone wants something bad enough they will figure out how to get it. It's just a shame that can't get that passionate and creative about the job.

"Nemertes Research continued to throw cold water on the future of the Internet last week, releasing a study projecting that demand for bandwidth on the Web would exceed its capacity by 2012." [PCWorld.com]

I just don't see how that can be. With 40G pipes starting to emerge. With Content Delivery Networks (CDN's) popping up every where.  The CDN's make most traffic local.  The CDN's are getting closer to the edge. Does that report mean that the backhaul traffic will overflow? Or the CDN network will exceed capacity?

Nemertes analyst Mike Jude says, "More and more applications are coming online that will drive expectations for service quality even higher," he said. "I'm not saying that the Internet is going to crash in 2011, but that people's expectations are going to be throttled. People will stop going to the Internet for those services." [PCWorld.com]

Jude goes on to say that people expect more reliability and real-time traffic from the Internet (which it was not designed for). And to get thta ISP's will have tiers of packages to deliver it. That's where the Net neutrality debate unhinges.

My skepticism tells me that it is just the Duopoly wanting to make as large a buck as possible from consumers to continue to get their 40% margins, despite the fact that their actions stall innovation and the economy. And the capacity can be made available, it is just more expedient to create a supply issue.

So on Linkedin, Neal Lachman, asked if the $100 Triple Play was Viable in today's economic molasses. Neal writes:

Bundling voice, video, data services for a higher ARPU was an obvious, great move when broadband services and advanced digital services were first introducded......  However, the market is moving more towards a lower ARPU for the triple play services. This is especially going to play a big role in future operations. The time of high ARPUs is going, and soon it will be history.

I believe operators have to lower their ARPU estimates from 2010 onward, simply because the customer won't be willing to pay as much. Today operators generate $100+ revenue per month on their triple play services. In 2010 and later, they should be happy if they can reach ARPU of $50. One example is the FTTH service in Holland, where people do not even want to pay more than €50 for their triple play bundle.

My thoughts on it are here:

Telcos like AT&T and Verizon are actually losing money on triple-play. Think about the fact that they were getting $35 for a phone line and $35 for DSL (averages for consumers 2 years ago). Now they have to upgrade the network to offer TV, which is the least profitable service. And do that for $30.

Install and maintain the network that they will be capping. Install home equipment like ONT and STB. To give it away for $100. Now usually the telcos will add taxes and fees on that to increase their profit.  But its the MSO's who are making out. They went from the least profitable service (TV) to the more profitable services of phone and Internet.

With all of the CAPEX for DOCSIS upgrades as well as FTTx and WiMax build-outs, these companies won't be able to lower ARPU for triple play.

The cost of TV content is increasing. Must carry TV channels are now asking for a bite of the pie. You have seen the battle that NFL Network and the other sports networks are having to get carried by the systems -- and to be carried in the most popular packages.

I can see how the MSO's and telcos would have to lower ARPU averages in the face of the economic tsunami we are experiencing, but they won't be offering triple play for $50.

Remember that for the Bells, RGU's include security, cellular, and now tech support. Cablevision rolled out a $350M wi-fi network in NY. The duopoly knows that to keep churn down, they have to get sticky with ubiquitous Internet Access and to get close to a quad-play. Surprisingly, while Verizon has the quad play in my town (Tampa) - FiOS TV, Internet, phone and Cell - that is not the package that they advertise to my house Every Single Day.

 The cost of customer acquisition, retention, advertising, tech support, customer care, bad debt, security, upgrades, and maintenance are too high for the triple play ARPU to drop below $99.

I don't know how many of you are on LinkedIn or Facebook but it has been a strange couple of weeks. Before I left for IT Expo West, I was getting duplicate invites from several people that I did not know. The unusual part was the duplicates. So I replied to each invite asking for information about what list my email address was on. No reply from the 7 or so folks. Flying back from LA, it's a week later, still no reply. Why invite me to your network, if you don't use it or check it?

Also, LinkedIn has started allowing anyone to create a group. And they have. 494 groups when you search telecom. Ridiculous. That's like buying a new screwdriver and hammer at Sears each time you assemble Saunders furniture. Use the tools that are there and stop creating excess noise.

It would be great if one invite would say something like: "Peter, I joined GotchaNetworks. The discussion about LTE was great and I have discovered one or two prospects." Then I can understand the invite. But the canned invite because every time someone joins a group or network they upload the whole contact list is patently absurd.  And another lazy thing is the newsletter. You join networks and people add you to their newsletter. It would be fine if there was any value to these "communications" but they come off as marketing fluff. Tell me what you are up to. What topic are you following or finding interest in (or scaring you - no politics or religion please). How about what you get from the network we are both in?

While this is some ranting, the lesson is about Marketing and Persuasion. If you want people to read your stuff, to not think that you are just interrupting them like an email tele-marketer, Respect their time. How to do that? Give value. Think about the message you are sending.

I don't know how many of you use LinkedIn, but they have groups you can join. I have not yet figured out a use for the groups other than you can contact other members of the group easily. There are now 5 telecom groups (that I know of):

1. CrossConnects: Telecom Sales Professionals Group
2. Telecom Agents
3. Telecom Business Daily
4. Telecommunications Professionals Network
5. iTelco

All have the same members MOL. My guess is that so many folks are still trying to figure out how to monetize LI and Facebook. It isn't about getting sales. It is about GIVING. Give referrals. Share knowledge. You have to give before you get. The more you give, the more you get but that doesn't mean you get want you want, but you might get what you need.