There is little doubt that social media can help even the tinniest business. One only has to look towards the mobile food trucks and carts that have attracted a following on such platforms as Facebook and Twitter. “I’m certainly not getting rich, by any stretch of the imagination, but the use of Twitter allows me to have more of an on-demand business,” says Curtis Kimball, who is known throughout San Francisco as Creme Brulee Man. (via San Francisco Chronicle).

Twitter now averages more than 800 million search queries per day, translating to over 24 billion per month–far behind Google (88 billion searches per month) but far ahead of Yahoo (9.4 billion) and Microsoft’s Bing (4.1 billion). Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, the microblogging giant’s co-founder Biz Stone said Twitter search queries have increased 33 percent since April. At last month’s World Innovation Forum, Stone argued that despite public perception, Twitter is “not a social network,” adding “That’s been a myth since the beginning. We’re much more like an information network or a source of news.”

PRSA Hawaii President’s Leadership Award

In honor of PRSA Hawaii’s 60th Anniversary celebration, the President’s Leadership Award was established to recognize an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to the success of the chapter and the profession.

This award is bestowed annually at the discretion of the PRSA Hawaii president in counsel with the chapter’s Board of Directors.

For more information and past recipients list click here.

When Oceanic wanted to have some social media people test their new Road Runner Mobile service and post their findings, who else did they turn to but our very own “SMore”, Melissa Chang (@melissa808).  In typical SMore fashion, Melissa went around town doing her own thing but also visiting clients and taking “andhere” pics at their locations where Road Runner Mobile worked.

In Oceanic’s latest email to their subscribers they used one of her “AndHere.com” pics (seen above) in which they talked about what you can expect to find at the AndHere microsite. Go to http://www.andhere.com to see where Road Runner Mobile works and for more pics from and of Melissa as well!

Full story at FierceMobileContent

While companies are starting to adopt Social Media for online marketing campaigns, and even letting employees participate, the question of ROI (Return on Investment) arises, along with doubts about what metrics to measure. How do you know how effective your social media campaigns are if you’re not measuring any metrics, let alone an overall ROI? Below, we discuss ten important Social Metrics for companies.

According to 2009 Mzinga & Babson Executive Education study, over 80% of professionals do not measure ROI for their company’s social media programs. Granted, Social Metrics and their measurement techniques are relatively new, and this might account for the lag in tracking. However, there are some organizations measuring social metrics, which enables them to eventually measure ROI. Marketing Sherpa’s survey of 2,000+ marketers shows the following three social metrics at the top of what’s being measured:

1. Visitors and sources of traffic
2. Network size (followers, fans, members)
3. Quantity of commentary about brand or product

Click here for full story.

Social networking is one of the fastest-growing activities among mobile users around the world. And as one of the primary ways mobile users communicate with one another, it is proving a significant driver of Internet usage on mobile devices.

eMarketer predicts the number of mobile users accessing social networks from their mobile devices will reach 607.5 million worldwide by 2013, representing 43% of global mobile Internet users. In the US, mobile social networkers will total 56.2 million by 2013, accounting for 45% of the mobile Internet user population.

To read the whole article click here.

Amid the endless pronouncements about social media — often shortened to “social” these days by consultants trying to sound like they know what they are talking about — is the reality that social media is not a solution, or a sure bet.

Read the full story here.

(CNN) — Sure, everyone knows that Oprah, Shaq and Ashton Kutcher are huge on Twitter. They’re famous — they should be huge on Twitter.

But Heather Armstrong? John Dickerson? Adventure Girl? These people can stroll unmolested through a paparazzi convention, and yet each has more than 1.2 million Twitter followers — enough to rank them in the top 200 overall and more than Stephen Colbert, Snoop Dogg or Paris Hilton.

To thrive on the popular micro-blogging site, celebrity isn’t always enough. You also must have something to say.

“You can’t be Moses shouting down the mountain on Twitter,” says Brandon Mendelson, a blogger who has amassed almost a million Twitter followers. “You need to be that friend everyone wants to hang out with.”

Click here for the complete article.

How many of these are you utilizing?

10 of the Best Social Media Tools for Entrepreneurs

Whether your company is just starting out, just starting to turn a profit or already on the verge of an acquisition, as an entrepreneur you’ll be constantly evaluating the tools that will help get your business to the next stage.

Even if the ink on the business plan isn’t dry yet, you want to be armed with the social media tools that will play an important role in company communication, product and brand promotions, and business development for your startup. Some of the tools in this list will be familiar, but it’s worth taking a moment to reframe how they might become power tools in a business context.

Click here for the full article.