Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

According to the Inside Facebook blog, Facebook hit 200 million active users seven months after the most popular US social network hit 100 million users and only 90 days after reaching 150 million. (That’s the power of a site built from the ground up to be viral.)

On average, Facebook has added 500,000 new members a day since late August. 70% of its members are outside the U.S., which I find extremely interesting. Kinda debunks the myth that this social media phenomenon is something businesses can ignore… small, medium or large.

I like Facebook for consumer brands and causes especially, and have found it a great platform on which to blend the personal with a tiny little bit of the professional, or vice versa. (Your mix is up to you - no one should tell you how much of which is okay…)

I hear this question a lot when talking to companies about social media:

“What if someone says something bad about me?”

It’s a practical question that too many Social Media Experts take lightly,

“Well, wouldn’t you rather know they’re saying bad things?”

Um. Sure. That’s helpful. Thanks.

But seriously. If someone says something bad about you in a social media realm, take some advice from a gal who was called ‘pond sum’ by a jealous competitor…

Ignore it if you can.

Assuming the following caveats:

1. If it’s true, apologize immediately and then get to the bottom of it and take care of the source of the complaint. Then let the world (and the complainant) know via social media means - your blog, etc. - when you’ve fixed the problem.
2. If it’s not true - based on thorough research, let it go. But be mindful that (as the Social Media Experts say) you should listen for negative feedback, as you might eventually catch symptoms of internal issues you may not be aware of and need to watch for… A complaint might just be a canary in a coal mine…
3. Do not make public claims that you’ve been wronged by the social media site - like Yelp or Facebook - as they’ve protected themselves well from you and your customers. That will only fan the flames, and there’s nothing like a bully with a bullhorn, once they realize their comments evoke a response.

In my experience, if you’re in the right, it’s best to ignore occasional negative feedback, and let your loyal customers and partners come to your defense when it happens.

Never ask your PR agency to come to your defense, though, unless they do so with full disclosure. Attempts to hide a vested interest will be outed and will certainly fan the flames, and then you’ll have a bigger problem on your hands.

It’s wonderful to encourage your regular customers to write about you on Yelp and review sites like it. Let everyone know:

“We value your feedback. Let us know of your experience with us. And then let the world know, we love our customers to pass the word along.”

A Social Media Fact

The social media realm - especially communities where people vote on others’ reviews - is self-cleansing. A contrarian will likely be known (to anyone who cares to read the accumulation of their reviews) as just that… a contrarian. And sometimes it’s best to have some less than glowing reviews to legitimize a plethora glowing reviews.

A Business Fact

Your best defense against bad reviews is to deliver the products and services you’d be proud to have reviewed. The rest will take care of itself.

According to Nielsen NetView, US traffic to Twitter grew 1382% between February 2008 and February 2009 — from 475,000 unique visitors to 7 million, and it’s not slowing down. (By comparison, Facebook grew “only” 228%.)

The age 25-49 demos comprise over 60 percent of visitors, and almost a quarter are 55-plus (although I have an issue with their scale - the 50-54 year olds seem to be missing…)

Average visit time low

I found this interesting, and a low consumption use as far as those I know who Tweet:

“In January, 735,000 unique visitors accessed the Twitter Web site through their mobile phones. The average unique visitor went to Twitter.com 14 times during the month and spent an average of seven minutes on the site.”

In support of a new me, I’m going away for a few days. I’m going off the grid, I’m not taking my laptop, and plan to rest, relax and rejuvenate under the warm Arizona sun. My love arranged my trip for me as a birthday gift during a recent two-week bout with the flu.

I'm Outta Here

Taking care of myself (with a lot of help from my family) by taking regular vacations finally makes sense to me. It’s a simple answer to the question: would I rather spend four or five days on vacation, or four or five days too sick to work?

So I’m off to write (by hand, on paper… imagine!), contemplate nature, and take a moment of reflection in the midst of a whirling world. See you on the other side.

According to Techcrunch, Twitter has updated the way it displays usernames in order to come up to the top in search for any person who has a Twitter account. Check out the article here: http://smub.it/jlj/titletag.