By MATT SCHULER, Digital Architect, Marx Layne

On Twitter or Facebook, conversations usually happen in small clusters. I’ll respond to what someone else has written or they’ll respond to me and the conversation continues. There’s increased likelihood that others will chime in if the conversation is on Facebook, but it also happens frequently enough on Twitter among friends. The important takeaway for businesses is that the conversation groups are small, so you have to think small.

Brian Sheehan writes as much on AdAge in his article, Why Big Brands Are Dominating Social Media, “the emergence of the web, and especially social marketing, now means the highway to success now has many more ‘on ramps’ for smaller companies. So why is it, then, when we look at some of the most effective forms of social marketing, big marketers are vastly out-performing smaller ones?”

It’s an important question because on Facebook and Twitter everyone has an equal footing. Everyone can drive on the “highway”, as Sheehan calls it, because of these on ramps. To take the analogy a step further, it’s important for companies to not just get on the freeway but to actually drive. If a company has a presence on Twitter, Facebook or other social networks, but isn’t actively updating then it’s about as useful as a stranded car blocking the left lane of the highway.

Sheehan points to resources playing a big factor an in an example writes, “Pepsico’s Gatorade has a group of full-time staff who man their “Mission Control” room, monitoring and participating in social media 24 hours a day. Smaller brands may not be able to afford that.”

With varying sizes of companies come varying levels of expectations. If I’m looking for a response from a major corporation, I’ll expect quicker than if I was hoping for a response from a city shop. I think most people can understand that the timing will be different, but they would like to actually get a response.

One way to overcome the resource gap is through creativity. “Big marketers may have access to more creative talent, but small brands need to demand from themselves a higher level of creativity,” writes Sheehan. “Small companies are known for their entrepreneurialism and imagination.”

He’s right. When one customer comes to a mega-corporation with one question, they’ll get one answer. That conversation is just as small as the one I have with friends, but it’s not being overlooked as insignificant because small conversations add to create a level of dominance in the social media field.

An effective social media strategy will be one that incorporates large, creative ideas into influential posts that can be shared quickly in small conversations.

By MATT SCHULER, Digital Architect, Marx Layne

Google wants to open up the debate between Mac and PC, and it’s planning on doing so with Chrome OS. Announced in 2009, Google targeted Chrome OS as “an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks.”

Today, they started the process of delivering on that promise and are even giving some lucky people a chance to get a Chrome OS Notebook for free.

So what is Chrome OS? Google explains it pretty well in the introduction video.

They want users to be able to connect to the web instantly, which is good for most businesses’ web strategies. “Chrome notebooks boot in about 10 seconds and resume from sleep instantly,” Google claims. They want users to be able to have the same experience everywhere, so apps, documents, and settings are stored in the cloud. Google says you could even lose your computer, and log into another Chrome OS notebook and get right back to work.

From a business perspective, I love the cloud concept because it’s great for strategy. If it doesn’t matter where I’m logging in from when I access my documents, then I can log in from anywhere. That’s beneficial to collaboration and to getting things done.

Google’s also getting into a little bit of one-upmanship by teaming with Verizon Wireless to offer 100MB of free 3G data every month for the first two years. I have to say I was stunned at that kind of deal. There are also contract-free plans for users who will need more bandwidth. Integrating 3G into a device isn’t new, but giving away data on a laptop is a pretty big step.

Another benefit for business that I see in Chrome OS is in the security settings and automatic updates. A lot of the in-depth security features are listed on their page, or you can check out their informational video.

Google says its Chrome OS is “a work in progress” and they’re looking for people to test it out and offer suggestions on how to make it better. They’re taking applications from people to be part of a pilot program. From the selection list, it looks like they’re taking applicants from all walks of life, including business, education, non-profits, developers and the even individuals.

I applied to test drive a Chrome notebook, and it might be worth it for you to check out their site for more information.

By MATT SCHULER, Digital Architect, Marx Layne

Over the weekend, I was stunned when I read the NY Times article “A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web.” The premise of the article was that a website owner intentionally upset its customers so that they would complain about him online, thus boosting his ranking in search results.

After the NYT story, Google responded bluntly with a post of its own, “Being bad to your customers is bad for business.” Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow wrote “By treating your customers badly, one merchant told the paper, you can generate complaints and negative reviews that translate to more links to your site; which, in turn, make it more prominent in search engines.”

Obviously, Google can’t let that happen. Search Engine Land even went so far as to say the story “illustrates the fallacy of Google’s ‘gold standard’ search results.”

Google’s answer to the problem: change the algorithm. “We developed an algorithmic solution which detects the merchant from the Times article along with hundreds of other merchants that, in our opinion, provide an extremely poor user experience,” writes Singhal in the blog post. “The algorithm we incorporated into our search rankings represents an initial solution to this issue, and Google users are now getting a better experience as a result.”

Even though we don’t have details of how Google has changed its algorithm (because as Singhal writes, “We know that people will keep trying: attempts to game Google’s ranking, like the ones mentioned in the article, go on 24 hours a day, every single day.”) Search Engine Land also followed up, saying he thinks Google is using reviews that it aggregates about merchants from across the web.

Google’s search rankings have for a long time been thought of as a barometer of success. In making the changes to its algorithm, Google is attempting to protect the people that search using Google.com. Google’s policy is even in line with the informal corporate motto “Don’t Be Evil.”

What’s this mean for businesses? How you treat your customers online matters. Creating relevant compelling content is still one of the most rewarding ways to generate client loyalty on the web. If sites aimed at gathering negative reviews are pummeling your brand and business, it could be bad for your bottom line. Facebook and Twitter provide opportunities for customer engagement in good times and in bad. Using social media, businesses can see potential pitfalls in customers’ stories and respond to them directly. It’s better to be good than evil.

By Mike Szudarek

It’s amazing at how children today are beginning organized sports at such a young age. Moreover, it is even more incredible just how sophisticated their training, practice and skill development continues to progress. For those born in the 1960s and ’70s, most didn’t get serious about organized sports until junior high. Children today, however, compete at a substantially higher level. And, by the time they’ve reached junior high, they already have had years of both organized sports activity, as well as additional “off-season” conditioning and agility training.

This trend has obviously led to the many, many training clinics and camps, as well as specialized strength and performance centers that we’ve watched creep up during the past several years.

When it comes to business development, the first place most businesses are targeting is the obvious–parents and their kids. The more sophisticated centers, however, have been capitalizing on one of the more recent “micro trends” we are now beginning to see: adminstrators and coaches.

The biggest obstacle today is not so much convincing parents that their children “should” or “need” to sign-up for specialized off-season training and development (everybody’s kid is now doing this and parents realize it ), but rather, persuading coaches that this is not undermining their internal efforts or implying their programs are inferior. Additionally, it’s convincing administrators that this is “okay” in light of the empty school weight rooms across the country.

What these business owners have been able to do is understand that this intense identity group, for the first time in years, now has “competition.” Gone are the days of the shop teacher running the school weight room. While this may still occur, parents today are far too sophisticated (and competitive) to trust anyone other than an expert to help develop their children. At the same time, school coaches don’t want to feel overshadowed or threatened, and, school administrators certainly don’t want empty facilities and wasted tax payer dollars.

Take a closer look at the emotional needs of this audience and its growing influence (as well as this trend of growing uncertainty). Tailor your messages and marketing to work with them (opposed to against). And, above all, seek support and encouragement.

The new business will come. And, the headaches will be far, far less.