It’s like the old gypsy saying: “the dogs bark but the caravan is always rolling along” – Social Media fits this scenario. Your job is to get the dogs barking as your caravan rolls by them, with the loudest dogs saying the nicest things about you. Here’s some more practical tips:

• Use the Same Identify and Picture Across All Platforms and Processes
• Recognize about 60-90% your “here” about your brand/company/product is going to be negative.
• Be Zen like on the negativity – remember the old axiom “about an opportunity for growth in negatives.
• Embrace the negativity by asking for more and you may learn a whole lot more.
• Understand that you can’t always be responsive to all Social Media interaction and you have to politely say no!
• We and many others think Twitter is very cool but it may not be good for primary research.
• Bloggers have to eat too – be sensitive to their time and help them if you can; cultivate a relationship (but see below too).
• Not all Bloggers are warm, fuzzy and nice – some have their own agenda; take their muse with a grain of salt and know that they may have an axe to grind.
• If you disagree with what is being said make your case – it’s not an absolute world (no pun) and some people will agree and support you and some will not.
• Don’t pull your Social Media Ad Campaign because your getting some negative bursts initially – some times you have to wait it out and hold your powder, or powder your nose, depending on your sexual orientation.
• Remember media trumps media – getting bad press/comments/discussions then put something out there to offset it and/or to refute the perspective – make sure your content is SEO optimized, so it “trumps” some of the negative.