Time flies. It’s true.

We have had so many of you ask about the happenings lately at Lava7. Thanks for your interest and inquiries. We have SO many good friends in the social media world—I thought we should share a quick note because we have been AWOL.

Because of the growth of our My Social Practice product, we have been devoting 90% of our bandwidth to it. It has been a very fun ride. Still is. But, we have not been able to do any fee-for-service consultive work.

However, please stay in touch with us. We value the many Lava7 relationships we have. And in the meantime, if you are interested, check out our dental product blog and Facebook page.

SO, LET’S SAY YOU HAVE AN $8,000 stereo system in your living room, and a new $4,000 HD flat screen TV. On Thursday nights you spend 30 minutes watching The Office—and that’s about it (maybe a movie on the weekend).

On the other hand, you spend 3 hours a day (over 20 hours a week) on the web using Facebook, watching YouTube, tweeting, listening to music on your tiny computer speakers, etc.

A new integrated media delivery concept called over-the-top-tv is about to change our media consumption habits—and, it isn’t going to take years and years. In my opinion, it will happen fairly quickly, given the powerhouse companies that are on board. Then, as soon as it gains tiny traction, major networks will follow and so will advertisers. Yes, this is pretty huge—and huge for social media marketing.

DO YOU OWN A SMARTPHONE YET?

Smartphones’ market share is set to eventually take over the standard phone population. At a growth rate of 30% each year, their sales are even projected to pass global PC sales in the near future. You could be wondering, “Why is this information important to me?” You may think we are just a gadget-crazed society (rightfully so)—but it more accurately signifies our need for immediate information.

The amount of information created on the internet everyday is mind boggling. If you have a question—almost any question—the answer can be found online. Even that crazy thick yellow book is becoming more and more useless…  You know, that thing that still magically arrives at your doorstep every six months or so.

With a smartphone, accessing information anywhere at anytime becomes a dependency that people are realizing they can’t live without. The only problem we see with this “over-informed” generation, is filtering. How do you find information you’re interested in? How do you trust it?

This is where friends become more useful than a person you hang out with. They know you. They refer things to you. They inform you. How many times have you asked your friend, “Where’s a good place to eat… I feel like Chinese?” Or, “Who’s your doctor? Do you like them?” Or, “What’s a good movie you’ve seen lately?” Friends act as filters in this information overload.

Having a smartphone, allows your “friend-filter” to follow you anywhere.

With that said, smartphones still have a ways to go before they rule the world. The fun infographic below illustrates the popularity of iPhones and other smartphones.

THE INTERNET BROUGHT CONTENT—lots of it. Today’s web, coupled with practical integration using sleek, remarkable tools is beginning to bring context to the content. Most importantly, it’s beginning to bring content’s relevant application to our businesses and our lives.

Meet Nelson, Coupland, and Alice—IDEO’s vision of tomorrow’s book.

AFTER MANY MONTHS OF DEVELOPMENT, we’re pleased to launch our newest product—a complete social media marketing solution for dental practices. We call it a “product” because of the unique characteristics of the program that allow us to take a semi-custom approach to helping dentists leverage community driven marketing to grow their practices. It’s an approach that keeps the costs very affordable for any size dental practice AND ALSO builds a one-to-one consultive, trusted relationship.

One of the most difficult things for small business owners (and particularly dentists) is finding the time to engage with customers (patients) and prospective customers. But even more frustrating than finding the time is knowing how to spend the little time they DO find. Most dentists feel overwhelmed by social media tools, and the learning curves to make them effective. Many simply get discouraged and end up doing nothing at all.

Our turn-key solution solves that problem. By having us 1) build and integrate the tools, 2) assist them in developing a long-term online marketing strategy, 3) provide the creative for 4 specific campaigns each year, and 4) support the marketing plan through a tight, blog post editorial calendar, dental practices can focus their efforts in one place. We take care of the rest.

You can read about all of the tools on the product blogsite.

And, take a look at how one dental practice is currently using the program:

Dr. Jared Theurer’s Blogsite

Dr. Jared Theurer’s Facebook Microsite Welcome Page

Dr. Jared Theurer’s Facebook New Patient Referral Program

Dr. Jared Theurer’s Twitter Page

Dr. Jared Theurer’s YouTube Channel

Last week, Laura Oppenheimer, Marketing Manager for Ning, contacted Jack about writing a guest post for their blog:

Hi Jack,

Your post was really interesting to me, for a couple of reasons:

1) We know lots of educators use Ning, but don’t always know how they are using it.

2) You included some great metrics.

I’d love to see a post that echoes the one you tweeted (and I retweeted)—namely, how to use Ning as part of a course and your experiences with it.

For readers of the NIng Blog, they probably want to know most “how could I do this myself”, or “what are the steps for me as a network creator/teacher”. How did you structure it? How did you initially get your students involved? What are your lessons learned.

Thanks.

Here is a link to the post, published on Ning’s site today, April 16th: Create A University Class Ning Network

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MAYBE I’VE BEEN LIVING IN A CAVE, but this morning was the first time I’ve seen this. I know that Google indexes tweets now, but I had never seen this little dynamically updating window before, based on a search term. I think it’s great. It makes Twitter a more powerful business tool. Had you seen it before? What do you think?

SHORT SUMMARY:

Powerful, intuitive social media tools aren’t just for marketing. They represent and facilitate fundamental shifts in human interaction—shifts that can improve university learning. The Ning social network we used in our BYU Comms230 class this semester was a useful tool that was wholeheartedly embraced and endorsed by class members.

>>> 43 out of 43 students said such a network would be helpful in ALL of their classes.

>>> The following few quotes represent hundreds of positive comments from class members:

“The network took class discussions and extended them into online conversations.”

“Seeing my classmates’ work sparked my own ideas.”

“The professor has talked a lot this semester about building a personal online brand. Blogging has helped me do that.”

“I got many more insights through sharing ideas on blog posts.”

“The network unified our class and facilitated communication.”

“I was motivated to submit higher quality work because I knew my peers would see it.”

“It’s simple. I don’t have to print assignments. I can get things done from anywhere. It’s quick. The communication is instant.”

“Everything I need for class is in one spot—the calendar, syllabus, class video stream, lecture slides, and quick ability to contact classmates, the professor, and the TA.”

“My questions are answered and my comments acknowledged much quicker than in regular classes.”

“Blogging forced me to think. I wasn’t just memorizing material.”

“Blogging has helped me feel like I have a jump on the industry because I’m actually in it.”

“It was really motivating to me to make my blog posts good so that others would respond to them.”

“Comments left on the posts unified the class, and we were able to bounce ideas off each other.”

“Blogging made me think, and put those thoughts into words. When you have to explain yourself to others it makes you dig deeper and find out why you think that way.”

“Yes. I recommend it for other classes. The world is more technologically savvy. Students must be too.”

“Blackboard is functional, but the Ning network is fun and so much more interactive.”

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FULL POST:

I JUST COMPLETED AN ENLIGHTENING FOUR-MONTH EXERCISE in the Comms230 class I teach at Brigham Young University.

At the beginning of the semester, I designed and built (with the help of our Lava7 team) a simple Ning social network as the foundation for class activities. My goal was to not only funnel day-to-day class functionality through the network, but to also better connect the students and enhance their learning experience.

There are 49 students in my class. Last week I asked them to pull out a piece of paper and answer three questions. It’s important to note that the students DID NOT put their names on their papers. I asked them to be candid and honest in their responses, as their feedback would be completely anonymous.

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The three questions I asked were open ended:

1. What did you like, or not like, about the Ning social network we used this semester for our class?

2. What did you like, or not like, about blogging on our Ning network this semester.

3. Do you think this type of social network would be useful in your other classes? Why, or why not?

43 students were in attendance that day and submitted their feedback below. I’ve also included some screen captures, with captions:

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Question #1: What did you like, or not like, about the Ning social network we used this semester for our class?

Nearly every answer to this question fell into one of the following two general categories:

>>> Responses that centered on subject engagement, class connections, and learning. Here’s a sampling:

“Seeing my classmates’ work sparked my own ideas.”

“The thing I liked best was that the network took the class discussion and extended it into online conversations.”

“I liked seeing other students’ posts. Normally, you only get to see your own assignments. With Ning I got so many more insights through sharing ideas on blog posts.”

“The network unified our class.”

“The Ning network motivated me to submit higher quality work because I knew my peers would see it.”

“I felt like I was always involved in an ongoing discussion.”

“I feel like the network gives me a connection to the students and to the professor outside of class.”

“I got to know people better in the class.”

“The Ning network helped me connect with the class and stay on top of things. It facilitated communication.”

>>> Responses that revolved around ease-of-use and practical application. Here’s a sampling:

“It’s simple. I don’t have to worry about printing assignments. I can just upload and get things done from anywhere. It’s quick. The communication was instant.”

“Easy to use, visually appealing, clean design, easy to save my work, customizable.”

“Makes it easy to turn homework in.”

“I only have to check the network to find assignment instructions, class notes, and when to turn things in.”

“I like that blog posting was so easy to do.”

“Everything I needed for class (except the textbook, of course) was in one spot. I knew where to go to always find the calendar, syllabus, the class video stream, the lecture slides, and to make contact with classmates, the professor, and the TA.”

“I liked being able to download the class slides.”

“Streaming the class is a very good idea.”

“The Ning network has been extremely useful.”

“The Ning network saves trees.”

“Everything was very clear and organized on the network, making it very usable.”

“My questions are answered much quicker and my comments were acknowledged faster than in regular classes.”

>>> There were four suggestions for improvement:

“With so many posts, ad files, and comments sometimes the main stream seemed disorganized. Maybe there is a way to divide that up.”

“I didn’t like that I couldn’t direct message someone inside Ning until they were a ‘friend’ on the network.”

“I would like it if Ning could send me a reminder when something is due the next day.”

“It was hard to go back and find a specific blog post without looking through a bunch of them.”

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Question #2: What did you like, or not like, about blogging on our Ning network this semester.

Nearly every answer fell into one of the following two general categories:

>>> Answers that centered around subject engagement and classmate feedback. Here’s a sampling:

“I loved blogging. It made me think creatively about advertising throughout the week. I noticed lots of things I wouldn’t have otherwise.”

“Blogging got me involved with the subjects.”

“Blogging forced me to think about what I was learning. I wasn’t just memorizing material.”

“Blogging helped me analyze the media around me.”

“The blog was a great way to get the class involved in advertising.”

“The blog made me think about what I was actually contributing—not just turning in assignments.”

“Blogging pushed me to think more about what we were doing in class. It helped me analyze things more.”

“Blogging has helped me feel like I have a jump on the industry because I’m actually in it.”

“It helped me synthesize what I’ve learned.”

“Normally, on my own blog, I feel like nobody is listening. On our Ning network I get responses and I like that.”

“It let me know what the class was thinking.”

“It was really motivating to me to make my blog posts good so that others would respond to them.”

“Comments left on the posts unified the class, and we were able to bounce ideas off each other.”

“I like the commenting that was done by classmates on my blog posts.”

“Blogging made the class more fun and interesting.”

>>> Responses related to personal branding and personal growth. Here’s a sampling:

“The professor has talked a lot this semester about building a personal brand online and I think the blog helped me do that.”

“I liked blogging because it made me think, and put those thoughts into words. When you have to explain yourself to others it really makes you dig deeper into your opinions and find out why you think that way.”

“Blogging helped me form personal opinions on many things.”

“It was great to learn firsthand how helpful a blog can be in building your personal brand.”

“Blogging made me think. It stretched me.”

“I liked blogging. Sometimes it was hard to think of something to write about, but it made me search around and think. Eventually I would come up with something cool, and then end up writing way too much.”

>>> There was one suggestion for improvement:

“One improvement, I think, would be to give a general topic each week for everyone to blog about.”

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Question 3: Do you think this type of social network would be useful in your other classes? Why, or why not?

>>> I think it’s quite remarkable that 100% (43 of 43) of the respondents answered “yes” to the question above. Here’s a sampling of the comments:

“I wish all of my classes used Ning instead of Blackboard or Brainhoney. It personalizes the class and provides an easy means to get information and communicate with others.”

“I helps me stay on top of things and is WAY better than Blackboard.”

“It’s more interactive than Blackboard. Easier to talk to people and stay up to date.”

“I liked it. I would implement it in other classes. Way better than Blackboard.”

“I wish all of my classes had this kind of network. It made my life a lot easier.”

“Yes. I recommend it for other classes. The world is more technologically savvy. Students must be too.”

“It could be useful in all my classes if the professor or TA keeps it up and does a good job of managing it.”

“Blackboard is functional, but the Ning network is fun and so much more interactive.”

“It was fun to use.”

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The following seven components of our Ning social network were especially useful in our class:

- Class Lecture Files w/ Video Stream

- Class Blog

- Embedded Calendar

- Syllabus Tab

- Assignments Tab

- Discussion Forum

- Project Groups

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Conclusion:

Powerful, intuitive social media tools aren’t just for marketing. They represent and facilitate fundamental shifts in human interaction—shifts that can improve university learning.

There are many other questions that would have to be answered before Ning could replace tools like Blackboard. And maybe it shouldn’t. Perhaps a better way to think about this is to use Ning networks for the things they do best, and leave other functions (such as managing class rolls, grades, etc.) to tools like Blackboard.

If you’d like to kick around the site, here is the >LINK.

I’m interested in your thoughts and opinions. Please respond in the comments section below. Thanks.

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, I HAD THE PLEASURE of spending a little time with Jessica Hagy at the VizThink conference in San Jose. Bright, energetic, and engaging—I had been following her on Twitter and enjoying her clever blog for a long time prior to meeting her.

Jessica has perfected the power of the 3×5 card through her remarkably simple illustrations. If you love visual thinking, subscribe to her blog and/or read her book of illustrations. Each work of art will cause you to stop whatever you’re doing for a few moments to reflect.

Here is her recent posts:

I’VE LONG BEEN A FAN OF MITCH JOEL. Back in 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. He’s a marketing visionary, interactive expert and community leader. You can read his blog >here. If you haven’t heard about Mitch Joel’s new book yet, Six Pixels of Separation, check it out now.

When it comes to the way(s) in which your company is engaging with your audience, are YOU asking the right questions? Don’t get caught up in the tools. Tools come and go. Make sure, first, that your message and objectives are crystal clear.

Agree?