Flickr - Kire

So let’s start this off by saying the mild and spring-like weather was excellent this week. Aside from the fact that the change from 30’s to 70’s got me sick, who could ask for anything more. On the SM side of things, I attended a Social Media Club event last night and got some pretty good content that will be spun into a post early next week and on the viral side of things OfficeMax launched their annoying Elf Yourself. Let’s see how many impressions they get this year.

How to ask for help and not look stupid – Now this is one article I wish I would have seen growing up and coming into my own. Asking for help is one of the toughest things to do. Most times we look dumb, leave it to the snoodiest of the snoody universities to offer advice that can work for everyone.

Russia’s news agency allegedly looking to rebrand Stalin – This story was hot in the early part of the week. To be honest, from a country looking to spin its great leader into a positive light, it’s not a bad idea. While it may work in white-wash fashion in the communist country – instilling some pride in their history. The downside for them is that the rest of the world will still associate him with Hitler and WWII no matter what the spin is.

Help! My Boss is on Twitter – This one comes by way of Sarah Evan’s Commentz and offers a stroll through memory lane of bad Twitter examples and Oh, no she didn’ts. With more and more folks heading into relationships in the socialsphere the tips mentioned in the article are worth taking a look at for S&G or a brush-up.

The future of marketing – @tdefren offers some great insight into the future of marketing along with the SM space overall. Be sure to check out the examples section which has some unique insights.

Content is not king – It was only a few weeks ago that I was sitting in the IMS 09 hall hearing about how Content was the king of blogs and social media. Fast forward a few weeks and the show’s head honcho, Chris Brogan, is tossing the idea on its head with this blog posting. Short, sweet and to the point, but also revealing a flaw in the initial notion that content ruled on its own without the authors.

This week’s #followfriday was brought to you by the letter F.

Flickr - Floridapfe

Welcome to the end of the week. Is it me, or did this week simply fly? Nice to start the week with warm weather only to have it close out with flurries in some areas, cold as hell in others. I love New England winters, it will only get better.  But hey the weekend is just eight hours away and I’ve got lunch plans tomorrow with a buddy at some downtown establishments and without further adieu, here is this week’s five for Friday.

How to integrate social media into your marketing – This is a great presentation from Jason Baer that aligns with a lot of things that I’ve been pushing for inside my organization, social media is a supplement to existing marketing channels – not a replacement. This was passed along from Rachel Levy, and is definitely worth taking a look at.

Nine marketing tips from a six-year old’s lemonade stand – Who would have thought that a six-year old would hold the secrets to a successful marketing campaign. They ideas may be basic, but they are rooted in principles that work, especially in the realm of social media.

Six social media trends in 2010 – This is a great post from David Armano (a recent presentation of his HERE) that looks at the emerging trends for 2010. One of the biggest shockers (sarcasm) was the concept of companies looking into SM as a cost-savings tool and scalability.

Want retention? Integrate your Microsite into social – This post comes way of Stuart Foster over at the Lost Jacket. The idea of integration is not new, but it’s the spin that marketers are looking for. Is social media more about attracting new or engaging existing customers? From my take on Stuart’s piece it’s more about making the existing extensions of your marketing program with interaction.

Study shows social media is actually social – So the myth that using social media sites make individuals anti-social has been busted. Cue the montage by Adam and Jamie.

This week’s #followfriday was sponsored by the letter A.

Image Flickr - Waffle Whiffer

So this week was typically normal, interesting stories, a loud talk show host not being able to join the exclusive NFL owners club. Oh and there was also snow this morning. Yes I said snow on October 16. This is going to be a long winter and I still say where is global warming when you need it. Today also started with one of those kind acts of kindness from a stranger, which is always a positive. As I pulled into the gas station, dreading pumping gas, a worker at the Fresh Pond Shell station came running out opened my car door for me and said he’d pump for me. While it caught me off guard, hell I was more than happy to stay in the car listening to some tunes while talking to the guy about the weird weather conditions. So kudos to them – and with that I am done, nothing else for you – here is this week’s five for Friday.

White House’s Anita Dunn on CNN: We Will Push Back – You know, the old saying went sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. Unfortunately, I don’t think the President or his camp received that memo. In this latest volley against Fox News, the White House only comes off looking like a child calling the station the mouth piece of the GOP. The same could be said of other stations for the Dems, but they play nice so let’s not go there. It’s really a shame since the President has said he believes in the constitution why go after a news outlet; ever hear of the 1^st amendment?

Who benefits from YOUR Social Media Time? – This interesting nugget came via @DannyBrown on Monday afternoon – so much for a slow day in terms of blogs and stories. The article over on the Ideas Blog takes a look at the folks who ignore their personal blogs and spend more time building up content and interactions on social networking sites. Kind of wonder what would happen to that equity if Twitter were to disappear overnight.

End the Social Media Hype – Out of all of the sessions and presentations at the Inbound Marketing Summit in Foxboro, this was perhaps the most interesting. I couldn’t find where to embed the video from, but found Mike’s post and wanted to share. It is a little long but worth the watch – come on its Friday, don’t act like you are uber-busy.

How Social Media is changing the PR organizational structure – This piece starts out as a rant on bad pitches received over HARO, but after that is over with offers some good insight into the way that SM is changing PR overall.

Attention companies: your next big idea will come from us – This article comes from Brian Solis, who as he would tell you Is pretty Fucking Awesome. While I can neither confirm, nor deny the claim, this article puts into light the need for companies to listen to their customers. What they like should be what you are doing and if you hadn’t already known, own your brand. It’s a quick read with some good points.

#FollowFriday – In case you were wondering this week’s follow Friday was sponsored by the letter “T”