Dan Hall's Sourcing Seattle Blog » social media

HOW TO: Add the +1 Button to Your WordPress Site

Dan Hall — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:02:13 +0000

I’m hacking together my latest project and needed to add a Google +1 Button to my WordPress site. I assumed (got to stop doing that) that there would be a nice easy plugin that would take care of that for me. And there isn’t (at least one I could find, let me know if you know of one). Fortunately, Mashable has some instructions on how to do this: HOW TO: Add the +1 Button to Your WordPress Site.

Scratch that. There are several options available, which I found after googling it. You need to use the search term “plus one” in the WP plugin search not “+1.” Kinda silly. I’m trying out Plus One and will let you know how it works.

****Update: Works very nicely. I will need to update this blog with it and some other features.

********Update2: Use Facebook Likes You! Instead. This handy WordPress plugin has both Google +1 and FaceBook Like buttons nicely aligned.

Quorus – helping sites connect with their users

Dan Hall — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:57:07 +0000

Had a great meeting last at Caffe Umbria with Michael Dougherty, the CEO and Co-Founder of Quorus. They are doing some very cool stuff helping sites connect with their users including a couple of tools that allow real time chat between users viewing the same page (very helpful in allowing users to discuss products in real time) and simplified member sign ups. It is a great way to add value to your site. Get in touch with them to help drive engagement and conversion especially if you are in the e-commerce space.

LinkedIn Launches Targeted Partner Messaging

Dan Hall — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 02:18:09 +0000

I received my first sponsored message from LinkedIn today, delivered directly to my inbox. The message was for job opportunites with Accenture and was actually well done. See the message below:

: LinkedIn Partner Message from Accenture

I can see this being effective for both LinkedIn and the sponsor of the message. Sponsors will be able to track the effectivness of their message as they get their own custom landing page. From LinkedIn: “Partner Messages allow for extensive marketing copy on a co-branded landing page, an ad unit, and a call-to-action element.” You can check out their partner message page here.

I also think it is smart that LinkedIn delivers sponsored to the top of the member’s LinkedIn inbox “for high visibility” while only allowing members only receive one Partner Message every 60 days, “providing impact and exclusivity.” This also means they get to charge a premium for a service that only can be used six times per year per member. It will also prevent me, the member, from getting too pissed off at LinkedIn.

I would say that Accenture, while having a nicely designed landing page, could have provided a better targeted message to the recipients. Their message was clearly targeting an IT / Tech professional. While I ran HR and Recruiting at Visible Technologies, a tech start up, I am not an IT / Tech professional. I suspect they sent the message solely based off industry without any refinement based off title, which in my case on LinkedIn, is clearly as a Human Resources Manager. Hopefully, they were not paying on per member basis.

Regardless, I think we will see more and more sponsored messages in closed social networks. I think LinkedIn, in this case, did a pretty good job creating a new revenue stream.

Beware of the Glowing LinkedIn Recommendations

Dan Hall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:08:49 +0000

I ran across a great article from The National Law Journal on the legal implications that LinkedIn recommendations might have on employment lawsuits. It is a definite read.

“Management-side lawyers are warning employers about the hidden dangers of LinkedIn, the popular business networking site that posts recommendations for job candidates. Specifically, attorneys are advising employers to be wary of giving glowing remarks about employees on the site because the employers risk having the recommendations used against them in a discrimination or harassment suit. ”

Read the full article here.

I have noticed a growing number of reciprocal recommendations between current and former employees of companies, which is to be expected to some extent. However, the danger lies in supervisors giving glowing reviews of former employees. eDiscovery is all too easy and becoming the norm rather than the exception. Twitter accounts, cell phone data, and social media profiles are now fair game in the legal arena. More and more companies are collecting this data and providing data streams to clients as a service. Lawyers are doing this same research.

Pretty soon we will see articles depicting the impact of a single LinkedIn recommendation on the outcome of a case (or maybe not, if the Company had decent counsel, they would settle out of court with a non-disclosure agreement).

Dan Hall

Why the LinkedIn iPhone App Misses the Mark

Dan Hall — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:59:18 +0000

First, let me say that I am a fan of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great professional networking site that adds value to both organizations, professionals, job seekers, and recruiters alike. LinkedIn does have its limitations but it has done a good job carving out a fairly large niche market in the Social Networking space.

LinkedIn allowed me as a recruiter to directly source senior level executive candidates for Visible Technologies. This enabled the company to recruit for very senior positions without resorting to the use of a very expensive executive search agency. That is a very valuable resource.

That being said, I recently purchased an iPhone 3GS and downloaded the LinkedIn iPhone App. There are plenty of product reviews floating around on the web, so I won’t go into the actual product specs in great detail. However, I was surprised in doing a quick Google search on “LinkedIn iPhone App”, how positive the reviews were. See the reviews at AppSafari or SocialTimes; both of which are in the Top 5 Google search results. I think LinkedIn fundamentally missed the mark on their iPhone app.

First, whenever you launch an add-on product or service, you need to design it in context of your core product or service strengths and value. LinkedIn is not a communication platform whose value relies on connection or status updates, yet half of their iPhone App is dedicated to this. Having even a couple Open Networkers (see my previous posts on Open Networking), removes any desire I have to follow my LinkedIn contact connection updates. Of the current network updates I have in my LinkedIn iPhone App, 49 of the 50 updates are connection updates. Connection Updates are arguably the least interesting type of update on LinkedIn (vs. status updates, question / answer updates, or profile updates). Of those 49 connection updates, Open Networkers comprise of 45 of those updates.

Yes, 90% of my LinkedIn iPhone App updates consist of Open Networker connection updates, which has the same value to me as the phone company informing me that the White Pages just got updated. Even worse, every connection update is listed out individually. Why not incorporate the same feature as in the LinkedIn weekly emails updates where connection updates are aggregated by person? That way I don’t see every new connection that an Open Networker, who 35 new connections in one day, has, I only see they have 35 new connections with the option to drill down further.

LinkedIn is not the place I go to understand what people in my Social Network are currently up to. I don’t feel a compelling need to check LinkedIn everyday and certainly not with their iPhone App. Twitter and Facebook have a stranglehold on that space. I have a healthy number of LinkedIn connections (238, I am selective in whom I connect with), and of my connections three, yes 3, have updated their status on LinkedIn within the last 48 hours.

LinkedIn’s iPhone App is a useful tool with its connection and search capabilities, a tool to be used in specific circumstances. That is the area that LinkedIn is strong, being a great tool for specific uses, i.e. Recruiting, Finding a Job, Professional Networking, and Researching People and Organizations. Monetize what you do well, don’t create products that service the areas you don’t.

Dan Hall

Sourcing Seattle

Social Media Policies in Government Organizations

Dan Hall — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:42:07 +0000

In my new positions, I am charged with implementing Social Media practices for a large directorate within a government organization. It is surprising (although not really since we are talking about a government organization), that many still don’t get Social Media. The image below is a perfect example of some of the challenges I face:

National Guard blocks Official US ArmyTwitter Feed

Sigh.

Dan Hall

From Twitter New User to Blogging about Twitter (with a Little Bit in Between)

Dan Hall — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:45:25 +0000

Peter Hall has a funny but largely true post regarding the life cycle of a new Twitter user. There has been a flurry of news activity about Twitter with Ashton Kutcher pwn’ing CNN on who can reach 1 million followers first. Twitter has officially become mainstream. Oprah Winfrey now has 280,000 followers. I would imagine a good number of them are first time users.

I, for one, don’t feel a compelling need to use Twitter but it already has gone in some interesting directions, such as providing real time data on unfolding events (Mumbai Attacks for example) Although, it is debatable how much relevant information was being micro-blogged, see Alexander Wolfe’s article. His opening line is poignant, “Never before has a crisis unleashed so much raw data — and so little interpretation.” For many, twitter is just one more distracting information feed in a sea of social media platforms; its value debatable. Fortunately all this raw data with little interpretation creates opportunities. A former colleague of mine, Demian Crumb, is doing some interesting stuff with data collection with Twitter. You can follow his efforts on Twitter, fittingly enough.

Dan Hall

My Interview on SEO Boy Regarding Online Reputation Management

Dan Hall — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:15:07 +0000

I had the honor of sharing my thoughts on managing your online reputation with SEO Boy. I believe that is increasingly important for business professionals to have a basic understanding of personal branding, search engine optimization, and managing your reputation (both in the traditional sense and online). There is more and more data about you on the Web, plain and simple. You can either influence and shape that data or you can let it influence your personal brand and your career.

Dan Hall

I am a producer of data and so are you …

Dan Hall — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:53:53 +0000

One of the more interesting revelations that came to mind as I was leaving my previous job as a Seattle Human Resources Manager at Visible Technologies was just how much data I had produced. When it was all said and done, I created from scratch over 3.3 gigabytes of new information in 15 months. This data did not exist prior to my existence at Visible. A vast majority of this data was flung out in cyberspace in forms of emails, posts, presentations, and so forth.

Over 50% of all Americans have created consumer generated media (AKA new data). There are over 20 million blogs from American bloggers. A million plus NEW posts per day (plus or minus varies by source).

What does this all mean? First, as if there was any question, Social and Consumer Generated Media is here to stay. Second, that is a lot of data being created daily. The future of business and the Internet is all about data. Want job security?

Learn data. Everything you can, how to manage it, how to search, how to sort, how to connect, how to digest.

How much new, unique data have you produced in the last year? Ever stopped and thought about it?

Dan Hall

Making Rypples in Performance Management

Dan Hall — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:05:44 +0000

I read a good article in The Economist about a company called Rypple, that undoubtedly will be making some splashes about how Companies think about Performance Management.

Rypple has created an anonymous, twitteresque like concept around the constant feedback that Gen Y’ers crave. You can ping your boss or co-workers to death by asking for feedback. While it may not actually prompt traditionally minded supervisors to respond with any more vigor than before, it may start making headway into more social web conscious companies like creative agencies.

I am actually a big proponent of constant feedback. I think anonymous feedback works well for peer networks. I think the challenge around Rypple is on where the feedback starts, while it could be used by managers to solicit feedback, it seems more focused on the employee soliciting feedback by others. We will see how it all plays out.

Dan Hall

Seattle Human Resources Manager