Today the buzzwords in the social media space are community. Everyone is interested in creating community and for good reason. Community is at the heart of human social interaction whether it is online or in the place you live. People do not thrive alone in most cases. There is a need to be connected to someone or something that is more basic than most of us ever admit. It’s an emotional thing which also makes it an elusive thing.

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In 2010, Social Media will rapidly escalate from novelty or perceived necessity to an integrated and strategic business communications, service, and information community and ecosystem. Our experiences and education will foster growth and propel us through each stage of the Social Media Marketing evolution.

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Data is great if you’re a marketer.  More data is better.  That is until you’re drowning in it.  Are you drowning yet?  A lot of us are. According to Andreas Weigend, the former chief scientist of Amazon.com, “In 2009, more data will be generated by individuals than in the entire history of mankind through 2008.”  

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Here is a recap of the top 10 ideas recommended by Morris Sim, CEO of Circos Brand Karma for brands in the travel industry (but really apply to any Business to Consumer enterprise) who want to venture into social media, 10 Ideas to Tame the Social Media Beast:

1.    Understand your true differentiators. Sometimes what you’ve identified as differentiators don’t mirror what customers think.  It’s important to monitor what is being said about you and reconcile your customers’ opinions with your story so that the brand message is consistent and credible.

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A good slide deck for a live presentation makes a lousy handout. Conversely, slides built to be referenced as a leave-behind are wrong for use as a presentation. If people can read your slides and get all the information they need, there is no need for you to waste their time talking for an hour.

But if you give a good webinar presentation that is useful and beneficial for the audience, they are naturally going to want a way to reference your information after the webinar. A good leave-behind can help you reach more people as it gets forwarded to colleagues by attendees or referenced by registrants who couldn’t make the live session.

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You can’t just walk into the middle of any conversation and know what is going on — especially if it’s a conversation between people you don’t know from an unfamiliar culture. The best thing to do is to observe. But for some people, the hardest thing about social media is shutting up long enough to learn. As in so many situations in life, you need to listen before you speak.

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There are a lot of businesses that are staying away from social media, using the excuse that it’s not the right fit. That can be true, and I’ll often tell clients that they’re not ready for the space yet.

Yet there are also a lot that are saying it’s “opposite to our plans”. Meaning that they’re going to continue with their traditional marketing, PR, advertising or whatever. The one-way dialogue where they can exert the most control. Even though there are plenty of neon signs flashing that the message and medium has changed.

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Email and I have a love/hate relationship, leaning mostly towards hate.

One of the things I’ve never been able to organize effectively is access to my  domain email from any device, especially mobile devices.

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It seems that crowdsourcing is fast becoming the “next big thing.” Whether you call it “social answers,” “help engines” or something else, there’s a growing trend of asking those in your network to help you out with advice. Heck, there’s even a new search engine being built around the concept!

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Ancient philosophers believed life could be broken down into six different directions:

1. Above, or Heaven - this reflects your dreams and hopes.
2. Below, or Earth - this is your grounding and where you are now.
3. Forward - where you want to be in your life.
4. Backward - what you’ve overcome and left behind.
5. Left - those who give you inspiration.
6. Right - the people you trust most (both right and left are interchangeable - they’re basically your “armies”).

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