Last night I spoke with a group of entrepreneurs at the Wayne County Community College in Detroit about using web analytics to make marketing decisions. Our talk included a lot of great questions, so I recrafted the presentation slides to include event-dialogue.

A lot of this is somewhat elementary information for analytical data nerds, so consider yourself warned.

Ready to engage in conversations like this before they’re sent to the masses?

Facebook Timeline publishes millions of indexed autobiographies–free–for data profitability & marketers. Facebook now dynamically (and with user help) organizes what content (data!) is priority.

Though the F8 conference wasn’t specifically speaking to marketers (it spoke to users and developers), there were more than enough clues to let you know exactly how Facebook will open up each data piece to marketers.

 ”(Facebook changes aren’t) designed to keep you out of songs you don’t own, but to open you up to (purchasing) more than you would have ever thought to buy before.” –Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg

“Because they’re engaged, they’re more than twice as likely to pay for music.” -Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek

And Facebook is now app-centric; so every run, meal ingredient, movie watched –not just Facebook “liked”–has the potential to be documented.

My Facebook Timeline Preview (unless you're a developer, you will still see the standard profile at this time)

It takes targeting “married women” “25-59″ and “have kids” to targeting (those same women who also) “has never seen Jersey Shore”, “is excited to have her daughter graduate from high school”. This means no more wasted budget paying for clicks on married women, 25-38 with kids who love MTV reality shows.

Snapshot of some new Facebook Analytics posted by Ken Burbary

But data is everywhere, in every online and offline interaction, with the potential to change the way you do business. Social media alone has billions of profiles generating exponential data by the minute. It’s running faster than human analysts can keep up with.

I’m working with a team that has the tools to, not only keep up but, let you meet your customer wherever they arrive.

And I couldn’t be more excited. (I promise to share more soon.)

Would you consider briefly explaining to my cousin (and friend) the basics of how to create a FB business page for his budding practice in “surfing therapy”?

First of all, sign me up for surfing therapy all day long!

Here’s the how to (no sense in reinventing this one): https://www.facebook.com/pages/learn.php

Here’s the why:

Offline, your business gains attraction by using advertising and ideal locations (obviously simplifying here).

Online, your website is the representation your business. You still have to drive traffic and be find-able.

Using Facebook fan pages is like renting out a booth at the world’s largest, most frequently visited fair. The fan pages allow you to directly engage one-to-many and drive website traffic.

In some instances, fan pages are customized to allow customers to convert (sign up, purchase, etc) directly on the page. But, because you’re at the “fair”, often times conversions are smaller and introductory. (Unless you’ve been there a while and you’re established with customers–then you’re maintaining and retaining relationships.)

Related: 15+ Ideas for Increasing Your Facebook Fan Page Likes

Tikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase (תיקון עולם‎) that means “repairing the world.”

How are we using social media to repair the world?

Most of the time I’m focused on using social media for marketing purposes, like building website traffic or increasing conversion rates.

But social media can be so much bigger than that. It really can be used to help repair the world.

Here are three quick ideas on tikkun olam and social media.

• Providing and share education: Access to education is, in many ways, limited to an internet connection. Innumerable online tutorials, videos, and coursework is available through social channels like never before. How can you use social media to help others without the same opportunities you may have had?
• Fundraising: Nonprofits are using social media to share stories, connect people, and raise funds in a real-time transparent way. In what ways can we share the stories of others to improve awareness and support?
• Connecting Each Other: Social media recruits volunteers in a major way. But it does more than that. It connects us to each other with little regard of race, location, or time.

More on tikkun olam on wikipedia.

What are your ideas for using social media to help others and repair the world? Feel free to share link examples!

Social currency rewards online users without cash. It provides a sense of a “gift” given to users as a “thank you” for their attention, engagement, and (ultimately) purchase.

Here are 6 ideas on creating social currency. Keep in mind these are only starters.

1. Create value: Engaging someone online needs to benefit them in some way. Create value by acting as a resource, an entertainment source, a tool, or even a great listener. See it in action: Nike does it through Nike Plus, enabling users to log their fitness goals and challenge others.
2. Facilitate stories: Stories are marketing gold. How are you enabling your consumers to share their stories? Consider what technology solutions you could use to encourage or enable these stories: contests, social media, in-store kiosks… See it in action: Carbiou Coffee’s: What do you Stay Awake For? campaign
3. Create ownership/Sense of community: Enable online community leaders to take control in creating the experience you’re facilitating. The sense of ownership provides pride. See it in action: MyFitnessPal allows users to track their diet and exercise and engage with the community. They provide the technology, the users define what it means to them.
4. Creating identity: Allow community members to use your brand as a way to express themselves or further share their own identity. See it in action: Jones Soda does it by including consumer photos on their labels. They’ve even defined their brand by this.
5. Information exchange, education: Your company relies on some sort of unique knowledge set and has brand values. How can you share this information base or value set with the world? See it in action: Blue Cross launched A Healthier Michigan, educating their target market on living healthy habits.
6. Recognition: How are you honoring your community members for their participation? Incentives? Highlights? See it in action: Foursquare Mayorships provide bragging rights and a “game” feeling by recognizing users when they check in. Companies take it a step further by incentivizing mayors with special discounts.

Consider creating deepening levels of social currency as users phase from awareness (attention) though engagement and purchase.

Once users feel rewarded brands can facilitate advocacy. When crafting ideas for social currency start logging ideas to create a “toolkit” for brand advocates to pull from.

More great information on social currency here.

Your turn:

What other ideas do you have on creating social currency? What case studies are missing?

What items do you log in your “toolkit”? How are users advocating your brand on your behalf?

It’s that time again. I’ve come across a great group of resources, great reads, and interesting pieces I can’t resist aggregating for you.

5 ways for entrepreneurs to get international press
Thought: Honestly, I just dig this concept. I’m in love with the global economy. Niche marketing is seriously impactful and real, but we’re redefining niche markets by the quarter. Global ftw.

This Tech Bubble Is Different
From the article: “Tech bubbles happen, but we usually gain from the innovation left behind. This one—driven by social networking—could leave us empty-handed”
Thought: This has been brewing in my mind for years now. Even if social media isn’t a bubble waiting to burst, it’s hype will make people feel a little awkward in the future. Focus on why we’re using the tools and consider the next evolution. Also, Becky Johns recommended this via Facebook. (She’s great so check her out.)

I Will Check My Phone At Dinner And You Will Deal With It
From the article: “…The common misconception that my parents and others have about using the phone during dinner is that it’s antisocial. But increasingly, it makes dinner even more social.”
Thought: Someone said this aloud? Phew. (Obviously not appropriate at every dinner, but norms are a’changin’.)

Social Media Infographics
Thought: The infographic is cool and all, but the fact that Dave Linabury is independently authoring his own social media blog is why it’s on the list. Just add this one to your feedburner/RSS feed.

Best Industries for Starting a Business, 2011
Thought: Steering a company? Seeking a job? Creating a career? Check this out.

An Unlikely Place to Nurture the Entrepreneurial Spirit? Jail.
From the article: “In August 2009 Jeff Smith, then a Missouri State Senator, pled guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice and resigned his seat. Five months later he went to federal prison–and found it bustling with resourceful men with shrewd business instincts.”
Thought: If you stripped your business down to brass tacks what would it look like?

BeOnScene Highlights
Thought: Video is incredibly influential–and great for SEO. Now that bandwidth is no longer a major roadblock, video is being consumed more than ever. Be inspired by Eric’s work (particularly the JewishDetroit Votes video, ha! (client)) and start thinking about how you can use video for your own business. (Connect with Eric on Twitter. He’s pretty great, especially if you work with non-profits.)