[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBPJTK1YBvs]

There's not a lot to say here other than these folks made me laugh out loud.

For the feed readers: Check out Ghost Ridin' Grandma (and Grandpa too.)

A few weeks ago comScore came out with some new online video stats that said:

• U.S. Internet users viewed 11.5 billion online videos during March, 2008, representing a 13% gain from February, 2008 and a 64% gain from March, 2007.
• 139 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 83 videos per viewer in March, 2008.
• 73.7% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• 84.8 million viewers watched 4.3 billion videos on YouTube.com (50.4 videos per viewer).
• The average online video duration was 2.8 minutes.
• The average online video viewer watched 235 minutes of video.

Now, I watch my fair share of videos every week. I've noticed my online video viewing used to only be the short YouTube variety but it's considerably more now that Hulu has come along and supplemented what used to be "TV time" in the evenings.

What struck me recently is that I'm increasingly forgetting that I'm watching a TV when in fact I am. I've become so used to the online video experience that I have to remind myself that I'm not at a computer when I'm just watching a television. I don't know how or when this transition occurred but it was like it just struck me one day when I realized these five things while watching TV...and I'm a little embarrassed by a few of them but here they are...

1. I was was expecting the screen saver to come on after 15 minutes.
2. I was expecting an instant message to pop up.
3. I wanted to have different channels open on multiple tabs.
4. I wanted to minimize the screen to do something else.
5. I double clicked a button on the remote control.

So what's my self diagnosis on this? Well, for starters I am forced to admit that I'm a computer geek. There's no denying it any longer. When I'm thinking about opening tabs on TV I know I'm stepping into geekdom. It appears I've transitioned into the multi-tasking, half attentive, mix-work-and-play kind of guy I never thought I'd be. I don't know when this happened, but it happened. I also realize that I'm just now in a place that a generation behind me has been for a while already. They already spread their attention thinly between simultaneous mediums. I'm not assuming this is all good...but I think it is reality.

I don't exactly know where this leaves us, but for me it's been a realization of my own shift in video consumption and application. As online video continues to expand both in adoption and penetration, I expect others in my age range and older will come to some similar realizations if they haven't already. The online video experience will simply be our video experience in the days to come. I think the need to even refer to "online video" will be antiquated within the next few years and perhaps at that time most of the things I wanted to do above will be commonly available in some fashion from the standard TV experience...except for screen saver and double clicking the remote control.

Twitter has had a rough week. What has been one of the quirks of a budding new communication medium (new to most people but not to those who have been paying attention for the last year and half), downtime is beginning to be a more frequent pain for Twitter and Twit alike. The micro-blogging service has admitted that there is a lot of work to do to make the system stable. But here's the deal. Most people who use Twitter just roll with it. Though I've observed more comments about Twitter's instability in the last few weeks, the overall tone isn't that they're going to abandon Twitter, rather they just want Twitter to fix what's broken and move on.

Twitter's growth is both helping it and hurting it right now. It hurts because so many more people are using it and the system keeps crashing. It helps, because more people are using it, connecting with their friends, and realizing it's where everyone is...rather than leaving to find people on a Twitter-like service such as Pownce (where everyone isn't.)

So...to all the fellow Twits (I'm not sure if that's what we're calling Twitter users but it works for this post) in waiting, here's a little something for your desktop I made using the Parody Motivator Generator.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vPYqg8nwZc]

I don't have boys but I've heard enough stories from friends who do that there is a little truth to this commercial. Thanks to Ray Sadler for recommending it.

Here's the link for the feed readers: Future Fireman

"All right stop, collaborate and listen..."

Vanilla Ice in "Ice Ice Baby"

Ever think Vanilla Ice had anything to teach you? Me either...but my friend Scott Mills jokingly pointed out at lunch recently that Vanilla Ice had a few things to say about social media marketing when he said to stop, collaborate, and listen. Scott was joking. I'm not.

Vanilla's advice is actually pretty good for social media marketers. We have to stop, collaborate, and listen if we're going to be good social media marketers. Checking out the hook while his DJ revolves it is optional.

Stop: If you're dabbling in social media marketing you need to stop. Do you have a plan or are you playing around with social media because it seems like the thing everybody is doing these days? Do you have measurable goals? Do you even have goals? The worst thing you can do is not stop and figure out how social media will work for you and then how best to move forward within it. If you don't stop first you're probably going to create a meatball sundae...and nobody wants that...so stop first. Once you stop I recommend you begin to think about a content strategy to really take full advantage of the new marketing tools.

Collaborate: In some form or fashion collaboration is at the heart of every good social media initiative. It may be the type of collaboration that involves a wiki (which Google spreadsheets even does now) or simply allowing comments, tags, trackbacks, and other forms of feedback to your social media. Collaboration is both active and attitudinal. You must convey that you actually care what other people think...and not just that you care, but allow them to participate and contribute in some form. Mitch Joel does a great job of this by allowing audio comments on his podcast, Six Pixels of Separation. Mitch actively allows people to collaborate and also has an attitude that reflects this. Collaboration is one of the biggest shifts from web 1.0 to web 2.0. It was a shift in technology that enables collaboration and it was a shift is tone and attitude toward collaboration.

Listen: Social media is as much about conversation as it is collaboration. The two go hand in hand really, but did you ever talk to someone who was more interested in talking than having true conversation? The missing piece of course was that they weren't listening. They were just looking for an opportunity to talk. Social media marketing isn't about one way communication or disruption tactics. That was the old way to do marketing. True conversation, like true social media marketing, doesn't interrupt. Rather, it engages and listens. The fact of the matter is these conversations are already happening. You just have to decide whether you're going to join the conversation or not.

So there it is...wisdom from Mr. Ice. Word to your mother.

I had the chance to borrow a Flip Video Ultra over the weekend and I'm really impressed with this little video camera. It's really easy to use but it's strength is in how small/handy it is and also how easily you can get videos online. Here's a brief review I did of the Flip Ultra with the Flip Ultra:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaFEVW2PQEk]

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFCSXr6qnv4]

Ok, so it takes a special sense of humor to like this. Some of you will love it, others...not so much. Personally I thought the original Charlie the Unicorn video was quite funny. This one is pretty good too...but like most sequels it's not quite as good as the first. Still, check it out and enjoy!

Here's a link for the feed readers: Charlie the Unicorn 2

I have observed several different kinds of Twitter users as it seems to be gaining in popularity. They are the givers, takers, zombies, and spammers. Here's a definition for each:

Twitter Givers: A Twitter Giver is the best kind of Twitter user. These are people who see the medium for what it is: an opportunity to converse with people you know, connect with people you should know, contribute knowledge with links/observations/experiences, and convey the in-between moments of life. Jeremiah Owyang from Forrester Research is good at this as is Steve Rubel. So is Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson. If you know any Twitter Givers please mention them in the comments to this post.

Twitter Takers: A Twitter Taker is active within Twitter but doesn't share much information either personal or in helpful knowledge and learning. The Twitter Taker's tweets are regular (meaning he/she is active daily or nearly daily) yet the bulk of their time in Twitter is spent reading other tweets rather than sharing much him/herself. I think I'm guilty of falling into this category but am trying to break out of it and become a Twitter Giver. I get a lot of great information within Twitter but recently realized I didn't give a lot of good information beyond sparse updates and a notification when I had a new blog post. I want to do better because I see the collective value in more Twitter Givers helping everyone learn and grow. It just doesn't seem right to me to take and not join the conversation and learning...so, like I said. I'm going to try to be a Twitter Giver from now on. There, I'm accountable. Feel free to hold me to it!

Twitter Zombies: A Twitter Zombie is someone who signed up for Twitter and gave it a shot for a while but then dropped off at some point and only rarely gets back into it. I was a Zombie for a while until several months ago when I decided to give Twitter another try (and have been very glad I did, by the way.) I heard that Leo Laporte had dropped Twitter at one point but he's very much back to life in recent months from what I've seen also. The nice thing about being a zombie is that you can come back to life and hopefully be a Twitter Giver.

Twitter Spammers: A Twitter Spammer is a person or organization that clearly just signed up for Twitter to promote whatever they're doing and not engage anyone in conversation. You can generally spot these folks by looking at two things. First, if they don't reference a website or blog on their bio there's a good chance they're a spammer. There's no way to take a step further to see who they are if they don't have a referring link. Second, if the number of people following them verses the number of people they follow is drastically different they may be a spammer. More specifically, if there's something like a 4/1 ratio of the number of people they follow to the number of people who are following them, they may be a spammer. Spammers seem to request to follow a lot of people and don't get followed back by a large percentage of the people.

If you don't know what Twitter is, start with this helpful video. If you're on Twitter and we're not following each other, you'll find me here. I'll be a Twitter Giver for you. Will you be one too?

We have another batter up for social media batting practice. Dave Delaney has recommended five tips for a pediatrician. The full scenario and his ideas are below. While we're on the social media batting practice topic...Mitch Joel included a comment from me on his most recent episode of Six Pixels of Separation. He had some great additional info to include. Here's the scenario that was pitched to Dave and his ideas follow...

Scenario: A pediatrician wants to know how she would be able to use social media to promote her practice. She's currently spending money on local advertising in multiple areas and wants to know how social media marketing would work for her. She's not viewed as the best pediatrician in her community but is widely recognized as one of the top five.

Dave's ideas:

1. I would recommend that the pediatrician create a Google Adwords campaign targeted to her local zipcode(s).
2. I'd advise that she be sure she is included on Goggle in their business search results by adding herself to Google maps.
3. Depending on her available time and interest, I would suggest developing a blog and posting to it regularly. The blog would also offer all appropriate social bookmarks and tags.
4. She should also considering posting on local parenting forums always being sure to link back to her website.
5. Finally, she should consider sponsoring a quality parenting Internet radio show (AKA "podcast") like Two Boobs and a Baby. :-)

Thanks for the ideas Dave. I'll include a similar real-life scenario I discussed a long time ago about a blogging dentist I know here in town.

I had a friend in high school who loathed the old saying, "he's just like everyone else...he puts his pants on one leg at a time." To prove he wasn't like everyone else he would jump into his pants a lot of the time. I saw him try this on multiple occasions after gym class when we were back in the locker room getting dressed. Sometimes he got it and sometimes he fell flat on his butt. This video is dedicated to him. These guys definitely don't put their jeans on one leg at a time.

Here's the video for the feed readers: Put your pants on two legs at a time.

The next episode of The New Mediology is now online (or in iTunes if that's how you like to listen to it).

In this episode, Nathan and I discuss social networking and how (and even if) new media marketers can use it well. This was a different sort of podcast for us because we're usually on the same page but we have some different views when it comes to social networking. Personally, I struggle with social networking platforms as a helpful means of promotion. I think they're great to connect people together but most people don't want to be sold or promoted to in the same space. I know I don't. I think a better thing to do is create a more focused social network in Ning, though Nathan made a great point that you don't want to miss an easy opportunity to gain awareness through the use of a Facebook group. I think I've just seen a lot of Facebook and MySpace groups that were started because it was easy to do but then there's virtually no upkeep to it. It's easy to create one but should you do it just because you can? I question whether that's a good enough reason to do so. Without a plan and intention to maintain it I don't think it's the right move.

This week's social media batting practice involves a local, upscale music venue trying to figure out how social media marketing can work for it. This "pitch" was submitted by Steve, a MicroExplosion reader and our batter was Lynn Terry of ClickNewz.com. Lynn's full list of recommendations and ideas follows the entire scenario below.

Scenario: How would a local entertainment venue (mainly musical arts) use social media to grow its fan base and increase single performance sales and season memberships? Assume the venue has a reputation of being a "black tie only" establishment, but in reality caters to music lovers from all walks of life. It recruits some of the most famous acts in classical, jazz, pops, cabaret and rock music and is known throughout the region. They sell out several shows a year for the more famous names, but want to be full for every weekend and weeknight show as well. What should they do?

Lynn's ideas: They obviously want a social media campaign that will cover two objectives: gain local interest and also create a specific impression. In order to attract people from "all walks of life", those people need to see others just like themselves.

I would recommend a photo/video campaign as the base for the online marketing strategy. They can be used to display the wide variety of entertainment available, as well as crowds & individuals (various types) that frequent the venue.

Use Flickr to host the photos and YouTube to host the videos. This serves two purposes: it saves on hosting space & bandwidth usage, and it also helps to create a broader reach. The goal is to "go wide" so that you are easily found online in a variety of places online. Not only will you be found at various social sites, but it will create more opportunity to be found in search engine results as well.

The primary web presence should be a blog, or a website + blog. Using a blog format will allow people to engage in discussions about specific shows they attended, subscribe to the calendar of upcoming events, and interact both with the business and other customers.

Elements to feature on the site/blog might include:

• About Page -written to give the impression desired
• Location/Directions -including photos and Google Map
• Entertainment Calendar -with RSS & Email subscription options
• Show Reviews -photos, videos & written reviews of recent shows
• Photo Gallery -invites visitors to submit photos as well
• Mailing List -notification for upcoming shows
• Testimonials -encourage visitors to send feedback & publish it

A great way to encourage visitors to sign up for the email list is to host a monthly giveaway. It might be a dinner, appetizer or door pass from a random drawing of subscribers. You can also use the drawing strategy to get customers to submit testimonials.

Tip: A prize of higher value could be offered for video testimonials, shot on scene.

Using the blog to feature reviews of recent shows will serve two purposes: it helps create the impression desired by featuring the variety of musical arts available, and it also allows you to optimize pages for keyword phrases such as: acts, names, music types, etc. Ranking well in the major search engines for the name of a well-known band can help you reach their fan base online.

Setting up a well-optimized blog and website, and optimizing your photos on Flickr and videos on YouTube, will allow locals and fans to find you. The next step in the marketing campaign is to find them.

Set up an account on MySpace, as their primary share in the social media market is with music. Use the name of the business for the account so that the URL is myspace.com/business. This makes it easy to find online, both by memory and by search. Use the calendar feature to display upcoming events. Search for bands and independent musicians that have played in your venue and add them to your friends list. Next, search your town and local area and send friend requests liberally.

When a band is scheduling a show, ask them if they have a MySpace account. Offer to feature them on your Top Friends space prior to the show and encourage them to send out an invite to their own friends list by posting a bulletin.

Set up an account at Twitter.com also, which is a micro-blogging service. Again, use your business name for the account. Publish updates daily that feature upcoming shows and artists, and link to the full write-up on your website. Use the search box in your Twitter account to find bands and locals just like you did with MySpace.

You now have presence on five different online properties - your own domain, Flickr, YouTube, MySpace and Twitter. Done right, you can "own" 50% of the search results for phrases your ideal visitors are searching for online. Meaning if someone searches for XYZ Band on Google, you can easily show up in 5 out of the top 10 results.

Getting them to your site is the key. Interacting with them and engaging them in your content is what will turn them into loyal, repeat customers at your local venue.

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Lynn, thanks so much for your ideas and giving us a lot to think about. Anytime a business can own 50% of the search results for the keywords or phrases they want is a big win. That's the beauty of what social media marketing can do. Interestingly enough, almost everything you suggested here costs nothing to get started but it takes time (sometimes significant time) to set up and maintain well. It just shows that in the economy of social media marketing time is the new money!

Also, thanks for the pitch Steve. All right...who's got another pitch and who's our next batter?

Joshua sent me a link to this video with a really good story. I found this video with interviews of the players involved after a quick search on YouTube. It's inspiring to hear what the opposing team's players did here. This was truly selfless on their part. They lost the game because of this...but I think you'll agree they are the real winners in the end.

Link for the feed readers: Winning by losing.