What ones were your favorite?

Image - MAA.org

Glad this odd week has come to a close. Very uneventful and a times days seemed as if they were standing still. The only thing I really have to say is that the SM contest that I am running at Vistaprint will be ending next week and someone will be taking home a MacBook Pro, not the iTampon, but still pretty cool. If you haven’t entered check it out here, otherwise enjoy this week’s Five for Friday. Oh and if you missed the big news over at the PR Breakfast Club, I have officially joined the club.

The Myth of Control in New Media – This is a great piece from Brian Solis that shows some disturbing stats when it comes to companies responding to negative feedback on blogs and on social media sites. This is something that needs to be addressed as we’re moving closer and closer to having 100 percent social customers looking for transparency and help on their terms.

Why Your 4,243,564 Twitter Followers Don’t Mean Jack – Finally an article that pokes fun at the inflated follower count accounts on Twitter. Hopefully the coming months will lead away from folks focusing on the arbitrary follower counts and look at what is really important in social media – the conversations.

Help Yourself to Help Your Clients – Great post from Danny Brown on Wednesday that really puts embracing change into a new light. Sure it opens with a summary of a great scene in a movie, but the message to hammer home is helping each other to become better. Bonus – Read DB’s article on how Audi made the PR blunder of the young year. (Spoiler it includes Nazis)

18 People you are Scared of on Facebook – The title says it all. It’s a funny view that I am sure you’ll get a kick out of and be able to identify someone on your list.

How Ford got social marketing right – I don’t know if you can tell or not, but I am a fan of the Ford Motor Company and their work in social media. Working for a company finding its way in the space, there is no better company to look at than Ford – great story all around and worth attempting emulation for anyone in the field.

Bonus Video – Inside Jet Blue’s Two-pronged Twitter (click here if you can’t view)

Today’s cartoon of the day comes from @gariphic via @kottavio and this Tweet.

Why PR Should Run Your Company’s SM Efforts

Content is King ­– While this header is cliché, it is also something that flacks, by nature, do well: produce content. If you don’t believe me, think about it for a second. Who writes press releases and their quotes? Briefs executives for interviews? Script the external communications? You do. So why should you leave writing a real-time, let’s-hope-we-don’t-blow-it outlet directly to your customers to anyone else?

Click Here to read the full piece.

Image: Meredith.com

I love short weeks, especially ones where there is a hockey game leading into the Friday off-day. Only problem with this short week is that a major real-world event is now less than a month away. While this post is being auto-posted and Tweeted, I will be sitting in the bowels of the building dubbed the ugliest in the world – Boston’s Government Center filing an application for my marriage license. Hopefully the process is not as bad as the one to get a drivers’ license. Hopefully your day is as fun filled and you can find enjoyment in this week’s Five for Friday.

Nine social media Halloween costume ideas – Let’s face it Halloween is tomorrow and chances are you have a costume laid out for your night of tricks and treats. However, if you are slow to the punch or just a procrastinator, here are some great costume ideas that came way via @jessisjuicy.

The most important blog post you’ll ever read – The title sums it up. While we’d all love to hold the title of owning said post, it doesn’t reflect the post but rather the way of thinking. Thanks to the guys over at New Marketing Labs for passing this along.

Seven patty Whopper challenge – I am all for buzz-based marketing – but something that can kill you for just eating – no thanks. I love burgers as much as the next man, but seven patties is a whole lot of meat. This will go down as a Burger King and Microsoft fail.

Twitter cluelessness – Great post over on the Open Network from Guy Kawasaki. While the post is geared towards the small business owner, it can also be applied to many folks just jumping on board the Twitterwagon. Note to those on the high horse – you aren’t a guru, expert or swami – get over yourself.

Two more reasons companies need to pay attention to social media – A lot is being written and discussed on disclosure and the importance of social media. This post points out two great notions and is worth giving a read.

This week’s #followfriday is sponsored by the letter B

Here’s a Trick or Treat video to take you into the weekend.

Instead of snickering, think of ways to measure success. It can be anything, from retweets and blog comments. There was an interesting post up on the PR Breakfast Club the other day on this very topic. While the end result of measuring the success lies company to company, here is a presentation that can help you lay out the groundwork.

You may also want to check out the SIM method suggested by Razorfish. How do you track the metrics?