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

The Internet is now as popular as TV. It’s true, according to the latest research from Forrester cited by the Wall Street Journal. “The stat marks a big shift for the country at large; this is the first year in Forrester’s survey that people have reported spending equal amounts of time on the two activities — 13 hours a week.”

The amazing thing is that Internet activity has seen such amazing growth. People are still watching TV at about the same rates as previous surveys, but they’re also finding more time to get online.

The Wall Street Journal notes that according to the survey of 40,000 people, “e-commerce and social networking have seen the biggest rise in popularity since 2007.” The number of Americans shopping online has doubled, which can be seen in the numbers of shoppers going online for holiday shopping (cyber shopping increased 12 percent over the same period last year according to All Things D.)

When creating a strategy for public relations, it’s important to embrace the web because it’s grabbing more focus than ever. Thirty-five percent of Americans are visiting social networking sites, a 20 percent jump from 2007.

The New York Times even wrote on how “The Atlantic,” a 153-old magazine, transitioned and saved itself by embracing the web. “The Atlantic, the intellectual’s monthly that always seemed more comfortable as an academic exercise than a business, is on track to turn a tidy profit of $1.8 million this year. That would be the first time in at least a decade that it had not lost money.”

How’d they make the transition? A “cultural transfusion” and “a dose of counter intuition”, the New York Times writes.

Justin B. Smith, president of the Atlantic Media Company, told the New York Times, “We imagined ourselves as a venture-capital-backed start-up in Silicon Valley whose mission was to attack and disrupt The Atlantic. In essence, we brainstormed the question, ‘What would we do if the goal was to aggressively cannibalize ourselves?’”

The strategy isn’t a cure-all template for media companies, the article reads, but web strategy and how to position one’s company and brand on the Internet should be a key part of every business strategy. Embracing the web, moving forward it’s as important as ever.

By MATT SCHULER, Digital Architect, Marx Layne

I wasn’t entirely surprised when I read the headline “Why The New York Times eliminated its social media editor position” on Poynter. In fact, when you look at how the New York Times has approached social media, it’s one of the best and that’s why the NYT’s social media editor Jennifer Preston is changing positions.

“Social media can’t belong to one person; it needs to be part of everyone’s job,” Poynteer quotes Preston as saying. “It has to be integrated into the existing editorial process and production process. I’m convinced that’s the only way we’re going to crack the engagement nut.”

This is true for everyone who’s interested in social media strategy. You have to take the Three Musketeers approach of “All for one and one for all.”

Mallary Jean at Poynter writes, “The move is part of the Times’ efforts to more fully integrate its print and digital operations. It’s also an acknowledgment that social media needs to be — and is already — a shared responsibility.”

That last part is key. If you’re attempting to drive engagement with an audience, you have to be ready to do it all the time. The same key points Jean makes for helping journalists effectively use social media, can be translated to helping brands use social media.

“What did I hear at the very beginning?” Preston is quoted. “‘Twitter is all about what people are having for lunch.’ Now, no one says that anymore.”

For the uninitiated, social media interaction and engagement can be strange and off-putting. People may think it’s just for over-sharers, but they’d be missing the larger point. Jean writes, “Times staffers regularly use social media to publish real-time news and updates for breaking stories and live events. Some departments… have started using Facebook to help seed communities around areas of content.” The New York Times is acting like a brand in that regard, because it’s seeking to group like-minded people with things they enjoy.

“Hiring a social media editor is an important first step for newsrooms, Preston said. But she sees the social media editor as more of a temporary role than a permanent one. It becomes less necessary, she said, once more people in the newsroom start regularly using social media.” Preston makes another key point there, that as everyone becomes more involved in social media aspects, it’s less vital that you need someone exclusively dedicated to it. The goal is that eventually, people won’t need to be reminded about the importance or use of social media and that it becomes natural.

Within a PR agency, the public relations work we do now links and overlaps extensively with social media. Where one used to write a release and send it out, now the message can be shared and distributed in more ways and following up can be a more engaging process.

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

I’ve been shopping for deals online since I picked up “The Matrix” DVD for pennies when some of my friends were dropping $20 on it.

The internet has been leading the shopping revolution for years, but now it’s also giving people an edge when they go in to stores as well. It’s likely you’ve been to a site listing Black Friday deals and ads. A Google search of Black Friday Ads nets more than 40 million results. Topping the results are sites like http://bfads.net, http://www.blackfriday.info, and http://www.black-friday.net. The sites even have details on deals that start on Thanksgiving Day!

Planning out a shopping strategy has become a digital endeavor. The Wall Street Journal tells the story of Debbie Young and how her quest for the best deals now includes a digital companion—her smartphone.

“I don’t know how I would ever shop without my iPhone, especially this time of year,” Ms. Young told the WSJ. A point of reference, Ms. Young is 58 years old. For the first 50-some years of her shopping life, she was doing things sans smartphone. But now, it’s making her life easier and it’s also giving stores a chance to be innovative.

The WSJ cites an October survey by the Mobile Marketing Association that found 59% of adult U.S. cellphone owners plan to use their phones for shopping and for planning parties. There’s a 25% increase in the number of people who will be using their mobile phones compared to last year.

If you know they’re going to be connected, you can target them. With apps that allow people to scan a barcode and find out what the best price is, you can be proactive and match the price. It’s something the WSJ reports Best Buy is doing, matching the price that retails are shown on cellphone screens.

Increasingly users are also checking in when they go shopping. You can incentivize the shopping experience and encourage customers to check in by offering discounts, special incentives or even free product. Gap Inc. gave away 10,000 pairs of jeans to customers earlier this month when people checked in at stores using Facebook, and according the the WSJ article, when the jeans ran out the retailer started handing out 40% discounts.

Knowing that customers will be using digital devices as they plan a strategy for their shopping means that you know they’ll have that constant contact. You can use it to your advantage and develop a strategy to benefit your business.

By MATT SCHULER, Digital Architect, Marx Layne

It’s not incredibly hard for me to imagine what life would have been like in the Wild West (or the American Old West as it’s referred to on Wikipedia) because I’ve such great examples from Hollywood. Back to the Future 3, anyone?

It was the time of outlaws, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, the Dalton Gang and Butch Cassidy. People lived life on the frontier, where the laws of the land still hadn’t caught up with the rules of the road.

The only thing that’s hard for me to imagine is how long the period lasted. From the mid 1830s to about 1920, there was a sense of adventure for those living in the Wild West.

Right now, we’re still in the early days of the web. Sure, it’s been 20 years from Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau invented it, but it’s still relatively young compared to other technologies. It’s easily comparable to the frontier life because things are still being developed. The laws of the land still haven’t caught up with the rules of the road.

Looking just at clever map of online communities created by XKCD, one can see the truly expansive nature of the web we roam. But there’s something missing from the map, and it’s the same thing Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed out on a similar map at the Web 2.0 Summit.

“The biggest part of the map has to be uncharted territory,” Zuckerberg is quoted as saying by TechCrunch. “This map makes it seem like it’s zero-sum, but it’s not. We’re building value, not just taking it away from someone else.”

Just like the Wild West and frontier life in America was building value for the U.S.A., there are hundreds, if not thousands, of companies building value on the web. 25 years ago, Microsoft released Windows. 12 years ago, Google was working in a garage. 6 years ago, Mark Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com.

Now we have more ways to share and market our ideas than ever. There are ways to use social media to optimize your strategy and get your message out in a broad way. These ways are constantly changing, and as Zuckerberg said the biggest part of the internet roadmap has to be uncharted territory.