Start the new year right with better communications. Check out PR Daily’s list of the top 25 grammar and language mistakes to be sure you’re not committing any of those infractions! http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10475.aspx

Some of my favorite words ended up on this list of 15 “Unusual Words That Make Writers Swoon” featured in this PR Daily piece: (You can click the post title for the article link…)

There are some interesting insights that apply not only to journalists but also to corporate communicators in this post found today at www.edit30.com. The piece cites “Texas Watchdog writer and blogger” Lynn Walsh’s guidelines for coaching journalists on how to use social media in developing news stories then states that the guidelines have a mirror image that is valuable for communications professionals looking the other direction, pitching the media. (If the link no longer goes straight to the post, you can likely use the search box to access it by typing in the name SOCIAL MEDIA AS A PR TOOL.)

There is a free Webinar 1/18/11 at 1 p.m. EST entitled 9 Companies Doing Blogging Right and What You Need to Know with Rick Calvert, Dave Cynkin, and Michael Stelzner. You can sign up here–and even if you won’t be available at the time of the Webinar–they’ll provide you with the link to the content.

This no-obligation Webinar is a precursor to their 2011 Blogging Success Summit–but it’s open to everyone with some great content regardless of whether you opt in for the full summit. I’ve participated in one of Stelzner’s other Summits–the Social Media Summit–and it featured some of the world’s top experts and users and also granted you access to an incredibly proactive community of fellow participants through their special LinkedIn group.

I came across a good piece from Restaurant News Resource with some assessment and marketing tips for restaurants having some difficulties–okay, I used a bit of a euphemism there as the article is actually entitled “How to Save a Failing Restaurant.”

I’m putting this out there as I think that a number of the ideas, such as really assessing your clientele’s issues or concerns, e.g., having only 30 minutes for lunch, can spark some new ideas for you in almost any industry sector to help you refresh your service offerings or the way you deliver your product or service. You can read more by clicking through on the link!

Thursday, 4/15, is the last day to secure an early-bird, half-off rate seat at the online Social Media Success Summit 2010 (which includes the legendary Guy Kawasaki as the keynote presenter!). See http://bit.ly/bFrZ9w The event organizers have now added an additional $797 worth of giveaways for those who register by Thursday in addition to the 50% discount. These include high-value videos courses, e-books, and classes that the summit presenters actually sell in their own successful businesses. You can also get a free gift entitled “How to Grow and Engage an Audience on Twitter” (valued at $42) just for checking out the summit.

More than 1,100 of your peers have already signed up, including GE, Intel, Staples, Electronic Arts, Lowes, Eastman Kodak, NCR, Harvard Business School, Thomson Reuters, Liberty Mutual, American Express, and hundreds of smaller businesses.

I signed up for this as soon as I found out about it, and the two free introductory Webinars some of the same experts presented were extraordinary. As I already participated in one of founder Michael Stelzner’s other online summits and found that it far, far exceeded expectations, I’m genuinely thrilled about this one! This summit is ideal for creatives and client-side participants who want (or need!) to learn more from the world’s top experts about social media for now and in the future—and the cool thing is that if you can’t log in to participate for any of the sessions, the content will be available to you online.
Here are some of the topics the summit sessions will cover:

* Effective ways to market your company with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, social bookmarking sites, mobile marketing, and more
* How to track and measure the return on investment for social media programs
* A step-by-step method for creating a smart social media marketing plan
* How to build a loyal social media following
* How to bring more customers into your local business with social media techniques

Go here to see all the sessions http://bit.ly/bFrZ9w

At last year’s summit, 97 percent of attendees said they’d recommend the event to a friend AND attend again! That’s quite an endorsement.

Registrants are also eligible to start participating right away in the special LinkedIn group to start sharing ideas right away. Here’s more info: Social Media Success Summit 2010 http://bit.ly/bFrZ9w is the web’s largest online social media conference. Twenty-four social media gurus will reveal the secrets of their success at Social Media Success Summit 2010. The all-star lineup of presenters includes bestselling authors Guy Kawasaki (Art of the Start), Chris Brogan (Social Media 101), Darren Rowse (ProBlogger), Mari Smith (Facebook Marketing), Greg Jarboe (YouTube and Video Marketing), Kim Dushinski (Mobile Marketing Handbook) and Lewis Howes (LinkedWorking: Generating Success on LinkedIn). You’ll also hear from social media pros at companies such as Home Depot, Best Buy, Whole Foods, Domino’s Pizza, Edelman PR, Foursquare, and Groupon. They’ll tell how they use social media tactics to help THEIR organizations beat the competition.

Check the bios on these folks here: http://bit.ly/bFrZ9w

I just came across a great piece on the power of the word and how key it is to avoid “puffery” in our business and personal communications written by Michael Port, Contributing Editor for Entrepreneur, featured on the American Express OPEN Forum.

Here are just some of his observations from that article that apply to virtually any sales, staff, or client meeting as well as advertising and personal connections: “Most of the actions or activities people engage in, both personally and professionally, are carried out through conversation, so our use of language is a powerful tool for building or breaking trust. If you can’t back up your puffery or prove the generalizations you make, it’ll be difficult to engender much trust.” As Port cites in his post, “All generalities are false, including this one.”

You can keep reading here: http://bit.ly/bddrX4

I recently registered for the Michael Stelzner/SocialMediaExaminer.com Social Media Success Summit 2010 after having participated in an incredible lead-in introduction Webinar for the summit. (Michael is the guy who really did write the book on white papers!) I was blown away by how much information the participating summit experts shared and realized how powerful this online/summit conference is going to be and did not hesitate to enroll. I’ve already discussed this with some of you and was asked to provide more information when I got it as this is bound to be of great interest to many others. This post includes LOTS of info because this is a lot to share plus I’ve included a special link for the special $297 price (a 50% discount!) that is good just through April 15, 2010.

The Michael Stelzner summit I was part of in late 2008 FAR exceeded my expectations, and this one promises to be bigger and better and it’s on a subject that is changing almost daily: social media. It is anticipated to be the world’s biggest online event designed to empower marketers and small business owners to master social media marketing. And the great news is that it’s a live, online conference with these experts that you can attend from your home or office—and even catch up on the Web if you need to miss a session.

This summit offers all of us an ideal opportunity to maximize the benefits from all of the combinations and permutations of the social-media mix (including some elements and tactics that may be entirely new to many of us) whether you are on the agency side or the client side. Even though one of the services I provide is helping clients with social media strategy and execution, I really feel that almost everyone should have the information contained in this summit to help realize the potential and implement their plans.

Michael Stelzner and his team have been working for months to bring the best minds in social media marketing together in an event called Social Media Success Summit that features 24 of the world’s leading social media superstars as summit instructors with the legendary Guy Kawasaki as the keynote speaker.

The summit features Guy Kawasaki (author, Art of the Start), Chris Brogan (author, Social Media 101), Darren Rowse (author, ProBlogger), Mari Smith (author, Facebook Marketing), experts from Best Buy, Home Depot, Whole Foods, FoursquareGroupon; Steve Rubel (Edelman), Ann Handley (MarketingProfs), Brian Clark (Copyblogger), Greg Jarboe (author, YouTube and Video Marketing), Kim Dushinski (author, Mobile Marketing Handbook), Jason Falls (Social Media Explorer), Jay Baer (Convince & Convert), and Ramon De Leon (Chicago Domino’s Pizza)—just to mention some. Together, this team of “who’s who” in social media will help you succeed using practical tactics.

Last year, nearly 1,000 marketers and small business owners from around the world attended the 2009 summit, and it was a smash hit. Businesses were transformed. In fact, 97% of attendees said they’d attend again.

Click here to visit the site now…

This year’s focus is to empower you to build social media marketing plans, track your social media results and learn from other successful businesses. You’ll also discover how to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Foursquare, and Groupon to attract high-caliber customers and grow your business during this economic slump.

PROOF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING WORKS…

A few months ago, Michael Stelzner founded a site called Social Media Examiner. He relied 100% on social media tactics to drive traffic to his site.

In less than five months, he was declared the #1 small business blog in the world by Technorati, added more than 13,000 email subscribers, brought nearly 100,000 people a month to his site and is ranked as one of the top 4,700 Web sites in all of America by Alexa.

He didn’t advertise, didn’t rely on the press and almost none of his traffic is coming from search engines. Nearly overnight, his site has become a top destination for businesses.

This all took place via social media. He simply leveraged the power of sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to deliver the kind of results that would’ve cost him a fortune in the past. He didn’t spend a dime on marketing—just his time.

Not only can you gain amazing exposure for your business with social media marketing, you’ll also generate traffic, increase sales, gain qualified leads, and build new partnerships.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU

First, you don’t need to be a techno-geek or twenty-something to use and benefit from social media. You might be surprised to learn that most social media marketers are aged 30 to 60 and have only been using social media for a few months. In fact, even traditional businesses like Ford Motor Company, Clorox, and State Farm Insurance are heavily focused on social media.

Social Media Success Summit 2010 will help you discover the best ways to market your business using social media. You’ll also learn how successful social media campaigns were executed and how you can achieve similar results using no-cost social media tactics.

One thing I found valuable after I participated in the 2008 Stelzner summit was that participants were able to join an online community of like-minded women and men at no additional cost. Many of them freely shared their sometimes-remarkable experiences and wisdom with each other with a pay-it-forward type of mentality–and there will be a counterpart to that online community for those who participate in this summit.

Here’s the link to learn more and enroll: Social Media Success Summit 2010

I am looking forward to this–and I think you will, too, once you’ve had a chance to check out the agenda and the possibilities! All of the sessions, dates, and times are detailed as are the payment options, etc., by clicking through one of the links above.

P.S. As a way of saying “thanks” for checking out the summit, they’ve included a gift just for marketers called “How to Grow and Engage an Audience on Twitter” (valued at $42). It, too, is waiting for you here