Social Mediapshere Investigates Facebook and The “Like” Controversy

There is arising a concern over the Facebook “Like” button and how big brands and business is creating a currency of the Facebook Like.  Today I get a chance to investigate what the Facebook controversy is about and talk with industry experts about their thoughts and opinions.  I have three experts today, BL Ochman, Joseph Jaffee and Michael Tchong, all have had a blog post about the latest in Facebook and “Like Gate”.

I have been online friends with BL Ochman since late 2004 and 2005 and she is a leader in the world of social media.  Best of all she loves my dog and that can’t be a bad thing!

Voted one of 25 most influential women in social media, B.L. Ochman has been helping
companies integrate emerging media into their communications since 1996, in order to
engage their audience and increase their sales. Adweek said about B.L. “A consultant
and social-media savant who actually knows what she’s talking about.”

She has created dynamic Internet and emerging media marketing and brand strategy for companies including Meijer, Transitions Lenses, IBM, Ford, McGraw-Hill, Cendant, Simon & Schuster, stacksandstacks.com, and American Greetings.

“Sightings,” a Facebook game she created for Transitions, will launch in May, as will a comprehensive social media monitoring platform she originated.

She is the publisher of the popular What’s Next Blog www.whatsnextblog.com, which tracks news and trends in online marketing. She’s also, a frequent conference speaker and a contributor to AdAge Digital Next, Business Week Online, Social Media Today, Mashable and others.

Ochman is co-founder of the pet lover’s site, Pawfun.com www.pawfun.com, and publisher of Ethics Crisis Blog www.ethicscrisis.com where readers rate anonymously submitted ethics transgressions confessions. Follow B.L. on Twitter @whatsnext www.twitter.com/whatsnext and find her online at http://about.me/BL_Ochman

Until 1995, she owned an award-winning New York PR firm that she grew to one of the 100 largest independent PR firms in the US.

B.L.’s industry citations also include: Conversation Agent: Top 20 PR Power Women, The W List, Top 25 Marketing Blogs and Top 50 Social Media Blogs of 2010.

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Century 21 and The World of Social Media

Matt Gentile directs public relations and social media content strategy for Century 21 Real Estate, the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization. In this role, he promotes approximately 8,0000 independently owned and operated franchised brokerage offices and 121,000 sales associates in 72 countries and territories worldwide.

Gentile’s career began in 1991 with The Rendon Group, an international strategic communications firm based in Washington D.C. As an account executive, he developed and executed strategic communication plans to meet key objectives of both public and private clients including: African National Congress, Bell Atlantic, IBM (Saudi Arabia), Iraqi National Congress, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. He has also worked on domestic political campaigns.

Prior to his current post, Gentile served as a senior manager in the technology marketing divisions of Arthur Andersen and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Specifically, he was responsible for developing and managing programs to enhance the user experience of proprietary software products and to increase the utilization of personal productivity tools.

He earned his (BS) in Communication from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 1991 and his (MA) Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix (Tampa) in 2000. He served as Co-Chair of the Coldwell Banker CARES Foundation, where he led an effort to sponsor and build 14 Habitat for Humanity homes throughout the state of Florida from 2005-2007. Currently, he is actively involved with an effort to raise funds for Easter Seals. He currently resides in Long Valley, NJ with his wife, Shirley, and two sons.

Social Mediasphere Takes The Entrepreneur Test With Carol Roth

I had the opportunity to see Carol Roth speak at an event here in the Denver area and I have been following Carol on Twitter for quite some time. We have many of the same friends in our community and that is my good fortune.  I had to have Carol on the show since I know that shew will be a huge benefit for those business owners or aspiring business owners in my community.  Help me welcome Carol Roth to the Social Mediasphere show today as I am excited to have her on the show.

Carol Roth is a business strategist, deal maker and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation. She has helped her clients, ranging from solopreneurs to multinational corporations, raise more than $1 billion in capital, complete hundreds of millions of dollars in M&A transactions, secure high-profile licensing and partnership deals, create brand loyalty programs and more.

Carol is a frequent radio, television and print media contributor on the topics of business and entrepreneurship, having appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, Fox Business, WGN TV Chicago and more.  Additionally, Carol’s Unsolicited Business Advice blog at CarolRoth.com was recently named as one of the Top 10 small business blogs online.

Twitter: @CarolJSRoth

Web: www.CarolRoth.com

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Postling CEO Talks To Social Mediasphere

We often talk about cool tools or ways to make social media more fun.  Postling does just that.  Today we get to speak to the Dave Lifson and he gets to tell us about how his company is making social media better!

Dave Lifson is the CEO and co-founder of Postling, a web dashboard that helps small business owners tackle the often daunting task of social media marketing. Previously, he worked at Amazon.com as a Software Engineer in the Community Group and Technical Production Manager in the Personalization group. In April 2008, he left Amazon to head up Product Management at Etsy.com, where he met Postling co-founders Chris Maguire and Haim Shoppik. The three left Etsy in November 2008. Dave graduated from Cornell University in 2005 with a B.A. and M.Eng in Computer Science.

Elisa Camahort of BlogHer Comes To The Social Mediasphere

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Social Mediasphere Asks Emily Huh – I Can Has Cheezburger?

I had the honor of speaking with Emily’s husband Ben at a couple events and he is a great CEO of an exciting company.  We get to talk to his wife for the first time about their empire known as I Can Has Cheezburger,  You can see the site here at www.cheezburger.com and follow them on Twitter at  @ICHCheezburger.

Emily Huh is the Editor In Chief at Cheezburger, the company behind popular humor sites such as I Can Has Cheezburger and FAIL Blog. She started Cheezburger with her husband, Ben Huh, in 2007 and the company is quickly becoming the new Internet media empire counting a passionate fan base of 17.5 million people who upload more than 500,000 pictures and videos as well as view 400 million pages and 110 million videos each month.

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Social Mediasphere Gets To The Harte of Marketing

Beth has been a guest on this show before and I love the way she thinks and much of our thoughts are the same on issues related to PR and marketing.  I really look forward to this interview and I hope i can help her as much as she has mentored me over the last few years!  Beth spoke at BlogWorld and New Media Expo the year I was the conference director and I think you will like what she has to say on the show.

Beth Harte  is a marketing & communications professional with over 16 years of experience that includes a passion for excellence and a pragmatic mind for business and results-oriented outcomes. Beth is also a nationally recognized thought leader and speaker that has led successful integrated traditional and digital marketing efforts for companies of all sizes (start-up to Fortune 500) and global reach including their integrated marketing communications and strategic planning efforts, including product development, marketing campaigns, branding, public relations, digital marketing and social media efforts. Beth’s blog is www.theharteofmarketing.com. Beth is also looking for her next career opportunity! Learn more: http://bit.ly/HireBethHarte.

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Anthony Morrison Talks Affiliate Marketing and Making Money

Since launching his first business in 2005 when he was just twenty-one, Anthony Morrison’s career has expanded exponentially. A self-taught Internet mogul, Morrison devised a one-man business operation while attending college full-time. The success of that venture saved his family’s fortunes, and from there Morrison proceeded to devise a systematic approach to entrepreneurial success and used it to develop another eleven companies, all of which have been highly profitable.

Raised along with his brother and sister in Mississippi by Roger and Sheila Morrison, young Anthony grew up in a family that encouraged intellectual curiosity, empathy for others and healthy self-esteem. Always independent and assertive, Anthony gave his parents a glimpse of his potential when, at the age of seven, he decided he wanted a Jacuzzi. Told by his mother that he would have to work to earn it, Anthony sold candy bars door-to-door until he had earned the money for the Jacuzzi. One year later, at age eight, he set his sights on buying his father a motorcycle and did just that, enlisting his siblings in the effort.

Other successful part-time ventures followed, setting a pattern for his later life: find something you enjoy, learn as much about that subject as possible, and pursue your goals with single-minded enthusiasm.  Whether it was selling baseball cards or customizing his prize Mustang, Anthony showed a predilection for achieving his goals and creating avenues to achieve them more efficiently and profitably. Without realizing it, he was creating the blueprint for his later success.

When financial ruin threatened his family, Anthony expanded upon a business he’d had as a teen and established his first company, Cool Blue Performance. Within one year he was working with every parts supplier in the industry; the following year he began manufacturing his own parts and dominating the industry.

Since then Anthony Morrison has started eleven additional companies, created a charity, Christmas For Kids, and now operates one of the most successful seminar tours in the United States. Anthony not only teaches aspiring entrepreneurs how to succeed in business, he helps them start their first business and provides one-on-one instruction.

The year 2008 saw Anthony expanding into the world of publishing with his first book, The Hidden Millionaire: Twelve Principles to Uncovering the Entrepreneur in You. Part memoir, part inspirational tale and part instructional tome, The Hidden Millionaire brings Anthony Morrison’s template for success to an entire new audience. With his book in the hands of thousands of people around the country Anthony hopes to share his story and inspire, motivate, and empower everyone who reads it to create their own success story.

In 2009 Anthony wrote his second book, Advertising Profits From Home, in an effort to teach people around the country how to use his techniques and strategies to create a successful online marketing campaign. Anthony has created a blueprint for a successful marketing campaign and platform for affiliate marketers around the world, and he shares these secrets in his new book. Anthony filmed a TV show with Mark Victor Hansen, C0-Author of The Chicken Soup Series, to promote his new book on a national level. The show is currently airing nationwide.

Today, Anthony Morrison travels the country sharing his story and teaching his skills to budding entrepreneurs. He is at home in Mississippi, where he was born and raised, and he remains close to the loving family and friends who supported him in his ascent to entrepreneurial greatness.

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Social Mediasphere Speaks To Social Media Leader Chris Brogan

In our business there are few people in social media that work harder than Chris Brogan and few that have blazed the social trail for others to follow like he has done over the last few years.  I am very excited to have Chris on the show and always enjoy speaking and most of all listening to Chris Brogan.  For the Social Mediasphere community this is going to be a great conversation.

Chris Brogan consults and speaks professionally with Fortune 100 and 500 companies like PepsiCo, General Motors, Microsoft, and more, on the future of business communications, and social software technologies. He is a New York Times bestselling co-author of Trust Agents, and a featured monthly columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine. Chris’s blog, [chrisbrogan.com], is in the Top 5 of the Advertising Age Power150. He has over 11 years experience in online community, social media, and related technologies.

Chris Brogan is president of Human Business Works, an online education and community company for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. His first project there, 501 Mission Place, helps nonprofits and charities learn how to grow their capabilities. Chris is also Entrepreneur in Residence at CrossTech Ventures, where he’s working to develop New Marketing Labs and The Pulse Network, among other projects.

Chris is also the cofounder of the PodCamp new media conference series, exploring the use of new media community tools to extend and build value.

He has 16 years of enterprise telecommunications and wireless experience prior to all this.

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Scott Monty of Ford Talks With Social Mediasphere

He has been called “an unstoppable force of nature,” “the best corporate social media lead on the planet,” and Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him “a visionary.” But perhaps the best way to think of Scott is as a “Renaissance Man.” Friends and colleagues that know Scott from one facet of his life are very frequently surprised to learn of his interests and talents in other areas. Scott is a marketing and communications professional focused on the digital industry and specifically on social media. His career has spanned a wide variety of industries such as healthcare, pharma, biotech, travel, automotive, tech, and communications, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business. Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon, a strategic marketing firm, and with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique B to B agency specializing in health sciences and high tech.

In addition to his consulting and agency background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog (www.scottmonty.com) and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in numerous news and business publications, in over a dozen books, and on a variety of broadcast media from podcasts to NPR to national television.

Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events. Scott received his Master’s in Medical Science from Boston University’s School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU’s Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary of English-accepted term “tweetup.”

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