5 Social Media Do’s and Dont’s

I’ve been asked to give a talk at the Western Publishers Association on October 15th (the day after I speak at BOLO). The topic they’ve asked me to cover is an introduction to Social Media for publishers, covering a broad range of topics, and specifically covering 5 Social Media Do’s and 5 Social Media Don’ts. So I could write / talk about this for a long time, but I think my initial pass below may be a good start. Keep in mind this is for a group of publishers (magazines, books, newspapers, etc) that have limited experience in Social Media. Here’s the list:

5 Do’s

Embrace the wisdom of crowds.
Be human, real and authentic.
Provide meaningful content.
Never stop experimenting.
Measure and Monitor.

5 Don’ts

Focus on the # of followers (focus on quality of followers).
Expect immediate changes (think long term).
Be ‘that’ company (we all know ‘that’ annoying spammer company online).
Do it alone, bring in help! (there are experienced people, groups, organizations – leverage them).
Go at it without a strategy / plan. (plan then execute, even if it’s in baby steps).

I also include a timeline of publishing in the world, showing the exponential acceleration over the last centuries. I cover the changing advertising models and how most ad agencies really don’t get Social Media either but they are still trying to fit the square peg (the 30 second spot) in to the round hole (online frameworks). I also showing how some publishers have adapted and are thriving (like NPR) while many (think Chicago Tribune and the L.A. Times) are doing the doggie paddle just to stay afloat.

I would love to get your input on what I should cover!

So what do you think? If you were (and perhaps you are) a publisher, what topics would you want covered in a Social Media overview? What do you think about my Do’s and Don’t, got other suggestions?

Here’s a video on the new NPR iPhone / iPod Touch Application: