You’ve probably heard of how social media is disrupting various industries. For example, some PR folks are adjusting the way they work and are now pitching blogs along with the New York Times. Social media is here to stay, and it’s changing the way we do business.

I’m guilty. I work with a company that’s developing social software which is disrupting the “learning” industry‚Äîfrom small business entrepreneurs, consultants, and thought leaders to corporate training and development departments.

If you’re on Twitter and you follow Kyle, you’ve tasted the future. Oftentimes, Kyle uses Twitter to point his followers to awesome articles‚Äîa form of peer-to-peer learning facilitated by social technologies.

At Bloomfire, we’re taking that concept to the next level, and you can check that out for yourself on our website. The current generation of our platform is already available, and you can Test Drive that for free. If you’re an early adopter and want to test out the alpha version of our next generation platform, you can join our Alpha Program by clicking here. Be quick though‚Äîhundreds have already signed up, and we’ve got limited spots.

So in the spirit of peer-to-peer learning, I’m going to share a list of resources that has helped me (and many others) get up to speed in social media, fast. Think of this piece as a makeshift syllabus for a social media course. I’ve created each lesson from the most popular resources on the Internet (according to retweets, social bookmarks, YouTube views, etc.).

Here we go‚Äîlet’s begin your crash course on social media! If you watch the videos and do the readings, you should be done in less than an hour.

If you find this useful, feel free to share this with clients/partners/friends who are constantly asking you social-media-related questions.

Introduction: What’s in it for me?

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably interested in how social media can build your business. Here’s the business case for social media: it generates revenue. Really.

It generates revenue for small- and medium-sized businesses—this TechCrunch article tells the story of several SMBs, including a Korean restaurant, dentist, and hotelier, who found tremendous success.

It also generates revenue for big brands. Did you know that Twitter generated $1 million for Dell? Did you know that YouTube helped Old Spice double their sales?

So if you’re interested in generating more revenue, then this course is for you. Onward!

What is Social Media?

Here’s the definition from Wikipedia: social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.

If you’re the kind of person that enjoys textbooks, then you should read the entire Wikipedia article.

Don’t like that textbook? Here are nine more, courtesy of Google’s built-in dictionary.

But if you’re like me, then you don’t like textbooks. You like videos. So here’s the best one out there, courtesy of Common Craft. It’s called Social Media in Plain English, and it’s been viewed over half a million times on YouTube. It’s fun!

Bonus assignment: read Twitter 101 and LinkedIn 101, then submit a warm chocolate chip cookie to your nearest neighbor to earn yourself a pat on the back.

Quick Start: How to Get Setup with Social Media

There are a lot of social media sites out there, so I’m going to focus on what I think are The Big Three. Here are some great step-by-step videos for getting yourself setup on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Understanding Social Media Culture: Best Practices

In some ways, entering the world of social media is like moving to a foreign country. When I moved from Hong Kong to the United States several years ago, I needed several months to adjust to the new culture.

Which hands should I use to hold my knife and fork? When I’m having a conversation, should I look into my partner’s eyes, or avoid the eyes? Should I ask people, “How are you?” even when they’re complete strangers and I don’t really care how they’re doing?

It’s the same with social media.

How often should I retweet? Are auto-DMs rude? What should be on my LinkedIn profile?

There are ways to overcome culture shock quickly:

• Find a tour guide
• Carefully observe and take in your surroundings
• Read a textbook

I can’t help you with points one & two, but I can recommend a great “textbook.”

When I read textbooks in college, I always preferred looking at the pictures instead of reading the text. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

If a picture-book could be a textbook, then this would be it. It’s free, but it’s not a physical book‚Äîit’s a great blog post featuring 35 infographics on almost every facet of social media.

Final Exam: How Well Do You Understand Social Media?

What’s a course without an exam? Alright, I know I can’t test you, but I can give you a fun way to test yourself.

Julian Smith is a comedian who created a killer standup routine about Facebook, and it’s been viewed over 2.5 million times on YouTube. For your final exam, watch his video, titled 25 Things I Hate About Facebook.

You see, jokes often rely on cultural context. That’s why Chinese jokes translated into English don’t always work. So if you’re laughing at the jokes, then you also have a working understanding of the culture.

Want to Learn More?

Congratulations! You’ve just completed Social Media 101.

If you want to learn more, here’s a calendar of over 75 upcoming social media events. If you can’t find anything there, try searching “social media” on Meetup.com.

Nehemiah “Nemo” Chu is the Ambassador for Bloomfire, a social learning platform where employees, customers, or fans teach each other. Test Drive our software today, or join Bloomfire’s Alpha Program to test our next-generation platform (launching late September 2010). For fun, he inhales TED Talks in Kalamazoo, Michigan. You can find him tweeting @bloomfire, blogging at Bloomfire’s ePublication, and speaking at DevLearn 2010, an eLearning conference in San Francisco.

Randy Clark is the Director of Communications at TKO Graphix, where he blogs for TKO Graphix Brandwire. Prior to TKO, he spent 13 years with Unique Home Solutions as Marketing Director and VP of Operations. He is an avid flower gardener, beer geek, and he fronts a rock & Roll band on the weekends. And yes, he is a Boomer.

I am a Boomer. I was born between 1946 and 1964, and I have Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and You Tube accounts. According to USA Today, Facebook has 16.5 million users, 55 or older, while MySpace has 6.9 million users. Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb, states, “More than 60 percent of those in this generational group actively consume socially created content like blogs, videos, podcasts, and forums. What’s more, the percentage of those participating is on the rise.”

So why is this important to social marketers? AARP Global Network claims, “Boomers should be just as desirable to marketers as millennial and gen-xers in the coming years.” AARP quoted Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, “Boomers are the mainstream of the country now, when you attract a mainstream audience, you’re going to attract a lot more commercial interests. Boomers validate that this is a big market, and that this is a place where commercial interests can make money.” Since Boomers are increasing their involvement in social networking, it is important to consider how to connect with them. We are here, but we may not hear. You… may… have… to… speak… slower… and LOUDER!

Five Tips On How To Connect With Boomers

Keep it simple. If you want to engage Boomers, make it easy. Remember we hadn’t seen a computer until we were older than most of you are now! If we have to jump through too many hoops, we might become frustrated and give up.

Explain boundaries. Imagine George Carlin or Richard Prior on your Facebook account. Upon receiving a Facebook friend request from his father, Will Smith (not the actor) explained to his father what was not acceptable (PCWorld.com). “Politics, sex, jokes, things you find funny but offend me, comments about family members, any combination of the aforementioned items, and pretty much every email you’ve ever sent me.”

Grammar does matter. We have watched the language devolve, u no? Understandably, many Boomers think the rules have been thrown out the window. Take the time to explain that poor grammar, misspelling, and bad writing do influence readers on social networks. It is not okay to call it “the ‘puter.”

Teach us social network netiquette. Sometimes we are so excited when we learn how to do something, we overlook what is next. Should I have mentioned them in the RT? Oh, was I supposed to thank someone for friending me? These simple netiquette cues need to be explained to Boomers.

Speak our language. Boomers may not keep up with the latest and greatest APPadohickie. We are more excited just to be in the game! If we stare at you with a glazed, distant look, be patient and explain it to us.

According to Wikipedia, “Baby Boomers control over 80% of personal financial assets and more than 50% of discretionary spending power. They are responsible for more than half of all consumer spending, buy 77% of all prescription drugs, 61% of OTC medication, and spend $500 million on vacations per year and 80% of all leisure travel.”([24])

When creating your next social media plan, do not overlook the Boomer market segment. Do a little research and find out where the Boomers hang in your neighborhood. Sites catering to boomers, such as www.eons.com, with over 800,000 members, continue to grow.
And remember, like they always say… what was it they say? There was something I wanted to share…now what was it? It was just on the tip of my tongue. Oh well…make yourself a great day! Peace.

BohlsenPR is, at its core, a traditional PR firm. Collectively, we’ve got more than a hundred years of experience among us. Some of us are even—gasp!— in our 40s. So when we talk about PR, a lot of “I remember when” and “It’s just amazing how” conversations take place. (Some of us remember copying, folding and stuffing press releases to mail them bulk rate from the post office.)

Some of us might be near-dinosaurs, but at BohlsenPR, we practice the philosophy that social media is more about sociology and psychology than technology. We need to understand what makes our clients and their audience(s) tick so we can create and conduct integrated communication plans.

Rarely do we tell clients that social media is not for them, but sometimes we do. Never do we tell clients that social media is the only way to success; we might as well put them in a chaise lounge and ask, “How do you feel?” Even though they may say, “But everyone is doing social media!” or “We don’t have the resources to do it,” we don’t always respond with a nod and an empathetic “We understand.” We tell it like it is.

More and more, we’re finding that so much of our success with traditional media outreach plays into the success of a social media campaign, and vice versa. And you don’t need expensive tools anymore. Today, you can’t afford not to afford PR.

Consider the following:

• In “the old days,” we might have suggested a Video News Release (VNR) to a client. Now, anything video-related can be cross-collateralized over traditional and social media. You can spread a message in any video quality among a gazillion broadcast possibilities and, at the same time, across many social media networks. Cost savings—check.

• Sometimes we’d recommend a client maximize the VNR by also investing in a Satellite Media Tour. No need for this anymore. All that’s needed now is YouTube, Vimeo, and some links to here, there and everywhere. Cost savings—check.

• You say subscriptions are down at local newspapers and you’re not sure who reads them anymore? No problem—go ahead and foster the story, and then post the link on Twitter and Facebook. Reaching your audience—priceless.

We always ask ourselves these same basic questions of our clients:
What kind of grassroots connectedness can we help create with a social media presence?
How can we influence their audience through a social media presence?
Do they have a slogan, concept or identity that has a high retention and repeatability factor?
What kind of tools do they have available or are willing to invest in to cross-collateralize across both traditional and social media platforms?
Can they afford to delve into social media?

Or rather, can they afford not to afford PR?

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Today’s guest post was written by President and Founder of BohlsenPR, Vicki Bohlsen

I happened across a blog post this morning by a good friend of mine, Daniel Herndon, who owns an Indianapolis marketing company. Daniel’s post entitled, Indianapolis Marketing vs Indianapolis Social Media, talks about the importance of understanding social media as part of a tool kit instead of a stand alone system.

“Buyer beware – If marketing is not one of the core services than social media is just a buzz word. No single tactic is useful without coming from the approach of marketing a product based on a targeted demographic and good messaging.”

I encourage you to read the post because it gets straight to the point and is short and sweet. This is what I am struggling with…

When are we going to quit arguing what social media actually is…. and start implementing the greatness of what social media has become… ? Social media can be used for internal communication, recruiting, public relations, loyalty programs, and even… yes… targeted demographic marketing. At the core… social media is about story telling and communication. I think that is what Daniel was trying to get across in his post.

Planning, development, building goals, and delivering on promises is fundamental to every aspect of business. This is nothing new. People have been struggling with the implementation of ideas since “marketing” was defined as a concept. If an individual (or company) has a hard time implementing an idea, Facebook Page, or direct mail campaign… either help them… or move on.

The core of your business is about delivering on what you promise. If you are developing a marketing plan… you best be sure social media is part of an overall campaign. If you are actually developing a multiple touch point marketing campaign that delivers (try HotBed Creative)… remember that it is about the numbers and not about the flair.

If a company cannot show return from case studies, with numbers, or by past clients… find some else.

Who cares how the tool (social media) is defined…