If you haven’t heard the story about Domino’s Pizza and YouTube - here it is…two employees of Domino’s Pizza made a video of themselves doing pretty disgusting things (watch the News Report video for the full story) last year and then posted the video to YouTube.

A company’s worst nightmare…

I think the real lesson here is that technology has made the world smaller, more accessible and thrown the floodgates open to information – real, un-edited, and raw.

Whether we like it or not, this is the world of today, tomorrow and the future. There’s a lesson here for all of us – that the ability to publish and access to information is now the order of the day – and if we don’t learn how to deal with this, we’ll be seriously jeopardizing our relevance.

One of the most critical areas that I believe is falling behind here in the US, is education, and in particular, public schools K-12.

If you haven’t heard yet, blogging is absolutely fundamental to creating a strong online presence, and a key component of your website and social media strategy. This 4-part series on Business Blogging Fundamentals will explain the essentials of blogging, how to get started and what you should do to have an effective blogging strategy.

These days, it seems a lot of people are having difficulty with something or another. It might be around career or money (can anyone say Dow Jones rollercoaster?), or family issues (anyone have kids, parents, pets???), or health (I just heard of a 46-year old man who’s been diagnosed with possible cirrhosis of the liver) – whatever it is, everyone is dealing with something.

What makes us human, and I believe, fragile and strong at the same time, is how we deal with whatever comes at us. When we’re faced with something new or unfamiliar in particular, we have a tendency to try and stay with what we know. It’s difficult to step out into the unknown – we’re taking a risk, we have to learn something new, we have to push ourselves out of our comfort zone. It’s no different when we talk about technology. I’ve met a number of people this week who look at me like deer caught in headlights when I mention technology and new media, and their impact in the world of business. For a lot of business people, it’s just “one more thing” they have to deal with…

Whatever it is, when it’s familiar or good, information is easy to handle. But when it’s not so good, or presents the possibility of risk, uncertainty or change, our natural reaction is to step backwards or become defensive. As adults, we know that we need to look at our “stuff” with some degree of objectivity so we can stand back and make a better choice. But our emotions very often won’t co-operate – and therein lies the dilemma.

But ultimately, we do have a choice with how we react.

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day – thanks for the inspiration, Gerald – and he said something that has stuck with me for several days. Someone he once knew told him that (and I’m paraphrasing) – “It’s ok if you get pushed down 7 times, just as long as you get up 8 times.” I think this applies in just about any circumstance regarding change, whether it’s personal, or professional. Change is inevitable, and all change is a learning experience.

So somehow, somewhere, reach down deep and find your inner strength. It comes from knowing who you really are and what you really want in life, and hanging on to that no matter what’s happening around you. And when you get up that 8th time, and realize you’re still standing, now that’s a feeling that’s absolutely irreplaceable…

While Social Media may be “new” to most people, the concept of conversing online has been around for a long time. But a new phenomenon is emerging of people claiming to be social media “gurus” and ”evangelists” – but how do you decide if the person you’re talking to about creating your social media campaign is truly an “expert”? Just because they have a profile on Facebook or have read one or two best-sellers on Amazon does not make them an expert.

Lots of companies these days are looking around for someone to help them create an online media campaign that includes Twitter and Facebook – simply because they’ve heard this is where they should be. Before you hire that kid who’s promising to get you 10,000 followers on Twitter, or the PR guy who tells you to blog everyday without rhyme or reason, ask a few questions first.

Don’t know what questions to ask? Here are my top 5 questions to ask your “Social Media Guru”…:

1. How long have you been involved with Social Media?
a. “I write a blog…” – run, don’t walk.
b. “6 months, 12 months, 18 months” – well, Social Media is new but it’s not that new – ask some more questions.
c. “I’ve been involved with developing online marketing campaigns utilizing Social Media and other tools for several years” – this one’s a keeper.

2. List 3 references for your Social Media work.
a. “My brother, his uncle, my nephew.” – see 1a.
b. “Social Media is too new for references…” – uhuh. 1a.
c. “Here are my references, and here are their testimonials.” – nice, but contact the references anyway.

3. How do you incorporate existing websites, microsites, newsletter applications and other tools into your overall social media strategy?
a. “We only do Twitter, and get you 10,000 followers” – this is a no-go.
b. “We can talk about it, but we have to find out your needs first” – not bad, a starting point for a dialogue.
c. “We have a comprehensive view of your online presence, and part of our discovery process is to analyze your currrent online situation, including your websites, newsletters etc. against your goals and objectives. Once we’ve accomplished that, we can determine what needs to be adjusted to develop a strategy that fits your needs.” – ding, ding. Good one.

4. Can you provide a list of your company’s social media communication channels e.g. Facebook page, Twitter account, Company blog?
a. “I don’t blog, it takes too much time…” – yikes…blogging is one of the cornerstones of your online value/content/link strategy/conversation.
b. “Sure, we just set them up a couple of months ago – and don’t mind the pictures of me with the family on the beach…” – this is business, folks. Just because it says “social” doesn’t mean you should put your Great-Aunt Sophie’s pics up on your business profile.
c. “Yes, here’s the list.” – ready, set, go.

5. What tools do you use to measure ROI?
a. “We see how many fans and followers you have.” – while the number of followers is always touted, it’s not necessarily a reflection of the quality of ROI.
b. “Google Analytics” – ok, not too bad, at least you have a start.
c. “While there are a number of analytical tools available for basic statistics, including Google Analytics, it’s difficult to measure the ROI on social media – there are tangibles and intangibles, including customer acquisition and retention, customer support and satisfaction, revenue growth, branding, visibility, and so on.” – a better answer than most.

So, while these are some very basic questions to ask – at least you have a start.

According to The New York Times, Twitter is finally unveiling it’s plan on Tuesday to generate revenue with it’s much-anticipated Promoted Tweets – allowing advertisers to insert ads into twitter feeds and searches that are relevant to the user.

“The idea behind Promoted Tweets is that we want to enhance the communications that companies are already having with customers on Twitter,” said Dick Costolo, Twitter’s chief operating officer.

Best Buy, Virgin America, Starbucks and Bravo are some of the first advertisers to use the product, which is similar to Google’s ad model of purchased keywords, based on what a user’s writing or reading…

What’s interesting is how will Twitter manage the risk of having advertising inserted into someone’s personal conversation stream? Not so sure about that…and waiting to see how it develops…

Twitter has launched a new media portal site with tools, knowledge, tips and tricks for conventional media…

The site includes case studies like the OxygenLive experiment in which the Oxygen network piloted a social viewing component to it’s 4th season opener of Bad Girls Club – and significantly boosted it’s ratings.

OxygenLive is an experience for viewers which is a combination of feeds—live video from show talent alongside questions and answers in a CoverItLive widget and, of course, tweets. Take a look at it here; Oxygen is now rolling the program out across the entire network.

What’s most significant about this experiment is how television can use social media tools to boost its viewership.

The Twitter media site also includes how-tos, news about what’s happening at the cross-roads of new media and journalism and helpful information about how to integrate Twitter into various tweet feeds for different media experiences.

And of course, you can follow the new site on Twitter at @twittermedia…

Heard about Twitter’s major new re-design? Doug Bowman, Creative Director at Twitter, posted a sneak peek at Twitter’s new interface – very cool! Though the teaser doesn’t show much, it does looks like more stats on the profiles, including the number of days you’ve been on Twitter, when you joined, the average number of tweets a day you post, and the percentage of recent @replies.

While it doesn’t show a lot, it does mean that a major re-design is coming out soon – what do you think of the design so far? 

UPDATE: Lon Safko, Author of “The Social Media Bible” to speak and present at SocialBiz 2010

We’re thrilled to announce that Lon Safko, Author of “The Social Media Bible”, will be a Keynote Speaker at SocialBiz 2010 and presenting a Special afternoon Workshop for attendees at the event. In additional to authoring five innovative books, Lon is also creator of the “First Computer To Save A Human Life”, designer of the archetypes for the Apple Newton & Microsoft’s Bob Operating Systems, and has received numerous awards including The Westinghouse’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Arizona Innovation Network’s Innovator of the Year, The Arizona Software Association’s Entrepreneur of the Year, twice nominated for the Ernst & Young / Inc. Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year, and The Public Relations Society of America’s, Edward Bernays, Mark of Excellence Award, and nomination as a Fellow of the nation‘s Computer History Museum. He was recently selected by the Smithsonian to represent “The American Inventor” at their annual conference.

Lon is a professional Speaker and private Coach to numerous Fortune 500 companies, and has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, PC Novice, and Popular Science Magazines just to name a few. He is the founder of eight successful companies, including Paper Models, Inc., which uses downloadable three-dimensional models in business advertising, promotions, and education. His book “The Social Media Bible”, unlocks the mysteries of Social Media and transforms corporate and non-profit marketing strategies and how they use New Media to reach their desired audiences with power messages and efficiency.

For more on Lon Safko, please visit the SocialBiz 2010 Speakers page.

We’re thrilled to announce that Cline Cellars has joined four other wineries who will be pouring tastings for attendees of SocialBiz 2010, the premier Social Media Conference taking place in the North Bay on April 30th at the Sheraton Hotel & Marina in Petaluma, California, just 30 minutes north of San Francisco.

Cline Cellars has a rich and established history in the Bay Area. In the latter part of the 1800s, Oakley, Contra Costa County was a booming farming community with thousands of acres of orchards and healthy vineyards. Fred Cline’s maternal grandfather, Valeriano Jacuzzi of pump and spa fame, called this place home. On summer visits to his grandparents, Fred learned both the love of agricultural life and the mysteries of vinifying grapes into wine. These lessons led Fred to obtain a degree in Agriculture Management from U.C. Davis. In 1982, with an inheritance from his grandfather, Fred founded Cline Cellars near Oakley, California. Here, he preserved and r estored many ancient vine sites to their rightful reign as premier California wine lands.

In 1991, Fred and his wife Nancy relocated the winery from Oakley to the Carneros region of Sonoma County on a historic 350-acre estate with new vineyards and facilities. While much of the cool Carneros region is planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot, Fred pioneered the planting of Rhône varietals including Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne.

Fred’s innovation and experimentation led to producing rich, distinctive Rhône-style wines and intense, flavorful Zinfandels for which he has garnered enormous acclaim. In 2007, our 2004 Sonoma Zinfandel was rated 91 pts by the Wine Spectator, the 2004 Bridgehead Zinfandel was rated 90 pts, and the 2004 Ancient Vines Mourvèdre was named, “One of the top 100 values of the Year” by Wine & Spirits, June 2007 issue.

So last week, I had coffee with a friend who told me about a program he heard on NPR (our national public radio show for those of you in other lands) – and a story about a Kenyan farmer who saved his potato crop by sheer willpower. I was so intrigued by the story, I went home, got online and Googled “Kenyan farmer potato crop” – and found Zack Matere and his inspiring story…

Zack lives in Seregaya, Kenya, an agricultural community where his potato crop was in danger from an unknown pest.

“I cycled 10km to the local cyber cafe, Googled “potato disease” and discovered that ants were eating the potato stems.

“I checked again online and found that one of the solutions was to sprinkle wood ash on the crop.”

He not only saved his crop, but also found a local buyer online.

So I connected with Zack on Facebook – and he wrote back I’m now connected to a Kenyan farmer who I would never have known if it weren’t for Social Media and the power of it’s connection…

If he can save his potato crop and meet a Californian Techie, what can you do?