The social web has changed the way people listen to, share and interact with music. Sites like Last.fm, Muxtape, Radioheadremix and iMeem put the user at the helm. They allow us to share, interact, distribute, collect and rework music.

What is a brand? Is it a logo? A tag line? A website? No, these are all a company's attempts to define the perception people have of their products or services. The brand is how people actually perceive your company, product or service. It used to be that companies were in control of their brand. They could easily attach a set of characteristics and ideals to their offerings that most people would willingly buy in to. Word of mouth of course has been around forever, it's nothing new. But the social web has created an environment of sharing and information exchange that is much more pervasive and influential than ever before. Who's in control of your brand? Individuals are. They have more power and influence than you could ever hope to have amongst your audience.

[Note, this is a repost of a post I did for bub.blicio.us]

I just got back from the Under the Radar Social Media and Entertainment conference on the Microsoft campus in Mountain View, CA. The conference series has been put on by Deal Maker Media since 2005. Thirty six startups were given an opportunity to present their companies to a panel of judges and an audience of peers, potential investors and companies interested in acquisitions.

Quick note: Kick off meeting for the Social Media Club, Los Angeles Chapter will be on June 25th. Venue is TBD. We will be gauging interest, determining format and identifying potential co-organizers.

Register to attend on Upcoming: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/730400/

Join the Social Media Club: http://socialmediaclub.org

Email me for more info: jackie \at\ heavybagmedia \dot\ com

I recently lead a round table discussion on viral content. There was much banter about what makes content go viral, how it can be encouraged and what the results are when it does take off. We were lucky enough to have Gregg Spiridellis, CEO of JibJab with us. He shared some of the experiences he has had in launching and creating a successful company with several viral success stories.

A guest post I contributed to Mashable, see the whole story here: http://mashable.com/2008/05/23/social-media-marketing/

...We realize the power of citizen reporters, word of mouth, media sharing, transparency and interaction. We have the tools, we have the stats, we have the case studies, we know how to develop effective strategies.

Our job now is two-fold: make sure the fakers who claim they get it, but really don’t, don’t screw things up, and educate clients, potential clients and our peers so they are able to make intelligent decisions in selecting an agency and implementing a social media strategy...

A guest post I contributed to Mashable, see the whole story here: http://mashable.com/2008/05/22/future-of-social-media/

I’m here at day two of the Executing Social Media conference in Pasadena, CA. Blogger, PR stuntman, and social media maven Peter Shankman gave a very energetic keynote on how the social web is changing the way we do business and make money. Peter is CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc. and has recently launched Help A Reporter Out (HARO,) a service that helps journalists connect with sources.

Guest post that I wrote for Mashable, see the entire post here: http://mashable.com/2008/05/22/social-media-marketing-primer/

Before “Will It Blend,” Blendtec was a faceless company that manufactured blenders; their consumer grade blenders run around $400. The Will It Blend story begins shortly after George began working for the company. He was walking around the factory and stumbled upon Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson. Dickson was testing the new bearings in a blender by blending a 2 X4. The company’s employees went on with their work unphased, apparently the practice of “extreme blending” was a regular occurrence there at the factory.

Studies indicate that word of mouth is the most influential and trusted source of information for North American consumers when considering a product or service.

This is going to be a short post...

Many social networks are still trying to figure out how to monetize while others are monetizing off of them. People are monetizing Facebook apps, selling Facebook apps and Twitter clients. Maybe this is a dumb question, but why not make it part of your API agreement that any company making a profit from your API needs to give you a cut? The APIs could still be free, and if an app makes money, the API provider gets a piece. After all, isn't the apps success based largely on the technology provided by the API provider? Just seems like it makes sense to me. I'd love to hear your opinion.