My post last week about the shortcomings of Klout got several thousand views and generated quite a bit of discussion. it also got me several e-mails from companies that claim to have built a better mousetrap than Klout. haven’t reviewed these tools in detail just yet, but it appears that influence is a red-hot topic in PR and marketing circles right now. Influence measurement is a natural evolution of conversation monitoring, a discipline that’s personified by Salesforce.com’s Radian6 tool and dozens of competitors. Sentiment analysis is devilishly difficult to get right, however. MORE >>

This is the time of year when a lot of people make predictions. ll resist that urge, though, and instead present a plea: Let’s make 2011 the year we stop talking about “social media.”. It’s not that social media is no longer important. On the contrary, today there’s almost no media today that isn’t social. The problem with much of the discussion is that it’s been focused on tools, and tools are far less interesting than what people do with them. Now that everyone knows the basics of Facebook and Twitter, things start to get interesting. Stunning. Tap, tap, click and you’re there (it wasn’t P.T. MORE >>

I spend a lot of time in LinkedIn groups and have learned a bit about maximizing their potential as conversation-starters. Here are 15 of my favorite tips. Please add your own as comments. Ask Questions. The best way to provoke discussion on LinkedIn is to ask questions. Rather than sharing a link to an article, use it to kick off a discussion. Do you agree?”. link]. Make it Personal. LinkedIn is the only major social network that doesn’t permit brands to interact as members. Only people can post content. With that in mind, make sure your posts have a personal tone. Follow Up. Mark Twain. MORE >>

I spent some time with comic video whiz Tim Washer  (also @timwasher ) at B2B Forum last week, and he followed up with a few questions about how B2B companies are using online video as part of their content marketing programs. shared some opinions with him, but why not share them with everybody else as well? I’d like to hear your answers to these questions, too. What companies have succeeded/failed at using videos for B2B marketing? There are numerous successes, and Tim’s list on SocialMediaB2B is a good starting point. would add Cisco to that list. Google also does a great job. MORE >>

A list of tips for building a quality business Twitter following that I recently contributed to The CMO Site mentioned the value of being the eyes and ears of your followers. When you attend a conference, play reporter and tell your followers what you’re witnessing,” I advised. An experience from this morning demonstrates the value of what amounts to sharing notes you would probably take anyway. attended a nearby Social Media Breakfast on the subject of content marketing, featuring several respected speakers. Within an hour after the event had ended I had 26 new followers. SMB26”. 96HPO. MORE >>