I recently responded to an email containing a news article abotu the importance of SMO (Social Media Optimization).  There were good points but lets face it, how many of you have had someone follow you on twitter with social media expert listed as their occupation.  These are the things to look out for and just some general advice.

While I did stress the importance and great growth that is going into SMO (Social Media Optimization), there are a few things to look out for when considering hiring an individual who will take on the challenge of increasing your firms presence on Social Media sites.

First of all, and this is really important, because of the new essence of this practice (SMO), a lot of people claim to be experts but really are not.  There is no accreditation.  Anyone can claim that they are the best at what they do.  So be weary of this.

Second, it is both a very involved process not just for the web-master, but also for the individual’s in the firm itself.  A communication “one-to-one” needs, well, at least one of those people to be you.  A comunication of “one-to-many-”, like we are starting to see with sites like Twitter, need to be even more involved on the firms side.  This is not an exact science, but my suggestion is that you talk to someone who has been involved with THEIR OWN profiles on these sites(SM sites) more than the average user.

Currently, I have established myself prominently on about 15 major Social Media Sites, most of which the public at large, and especially private firms, have no idea about.  I am actively using ALL of them.  I have learned how to interact with people, what people want when it comes to brand personality, content, and overall demeaner.  Its these reasons that make me feel comfortable to say that I am a SMO expert.

The point of me writing this back is really to say, that I do not want to watch any firms get “screwed” over by a general web developer who doesn’t neccessarily interact with these social networks often.  You need to be an active user in order to fully understand the complexities of society in cyber space.  Its a social science in-itself.

So be weary, and if you ever need my help I am here with open arms.

Thanks for listening,
Evan Samek

Evan Samek is a blogger, web developer / designer, and internet strategist out of Washington DC.  For more contact info: evancsamek@gmail.com or @esamek

Let me ask you a question, why ,in the name of all that is holy, would I want to navigate through my various playlists and artist and songs by having it read to me by Steven Hawking?

How could Apple make such a major mistake?  Who in their right mind would want to use this increased price shuffle when they can still get the 2nd Generation one?  I mean, it has buttons on it for christ sake!  It’s ingenious!

That’s what they would say had this new Shuffle was released before the currently one.  I do like the design though, its maintained the ever-expanding and socially accepted aluminum finish, and seems to be seamless as well.  The one thing that just make one neuron in my brain consider buying this thing is that little clip.  I love how it is also aluminum, and quite honestly looks very solid in structure.

The next thing that just honestly sucks is just its size.  No, I don’t mean the form factor smallness in comparison with the older generation, i just mean the size reduction, to me, was a joke.

I right now have in my blackberry a 8GB microSD card, and i tell you, they could fit at least 10 of these in one of those new Shuffles.  So my question is, why?  Why are you only offerening 4GB?  What if someone wanted a small Shuffle size portable music play with a larger capacity?  Well, as it was just said, this Shuffle could easily hold that storage space.  But there is an even greater perplexing aspect to this fact.  Why not make it even smaller???

I know this goes against what already complaints about the UIC (user interface controls) for the device, but that just in-itself needs to be mended.  Just give it some RF or bluetooth wireless technology to have a small remote in the pocket of the wearer.  Or better yet, make it a simple earbud.  Now that would be impressive.

My rant has gone long enough.  Please apple, you are what surprises me every-so-often-Tuesday, but while not everything can be 100% greatest all the time, this one was definitely in my opinion, idiotic.

Evan Samek is a blogger, web developer / designer, and internet strategist out of Washington DC.  For more contact info: evancsamek@gmail.com or @esamek