In other news, I’m going to write an article about the coming age of jet travel.

Are you kidding me? The Instagram deal has NOTHING to do with “the age of mobile,” it has EVERYTHING to do with the age of CUSTOMER CHOICE.

Mobile isn’t new. You think that just because we now have the ability to take crappy sepia toned pictures of crap, 24 hours a day, that “all of a sudden, we want to be a mobile society?” We’ve ALWAYS wanted to be a mobile society.

The only difference is that now, for the first time, we have the technology to allow us to choose to that. Understand – We’ve been a mobile society since before the invention of the automobile.

Think back on the last fifteen interesting, post-worthy things that happened to you. I’ll bet 14 of them happened outside your home. Most of the world happens outside your home, along with most of the excitement. The stuff that happens in your home either isn’t worth posting, or isn’t acceptable to post. You rarely read “Brian totally found my G-spot tonight, off to sleep.” Well, maybe you do. I don’t know what kind of friends you have. But my point stands: The majority of stuff that is worth sharing, usually happens outside the home. And for the first time, we finally have the technology to keep up with it. We can finally, if we want to, choose to be truly mobile, and share life events as they happen, in real time, as opposed to waiting for the film to develop. Turns out, AT&T was only 20 years off, even if they did think that faxing would still be here, and even if they used Tom Selleck to do their voiceovers. (Which is an awesome trivia question, by the way)

So this Instagram deal isn’t a whole “eye into how the world is going to change to a mobile society.” We already have. We choose to share, and we choose to use companies that let us share, that take advantage of the technology that now finally exists that lets us share when we want to., as things happen. Primarily, that’s going to be outside, away from a wired connection. (Hence the reason I’ve never had high hopes for GetGlue. Really? Sharing that you’re watching Glee?) Where are you reading this? On an iPad on the subway? On your Android? The technology now lets us do whatever we want, wherever we are, whenever want to do it. Hence the reason I’m writing this on the roof of the Four Seasons Hong Kong. I could be in a subway, or in the mountains of Capri. IT DOESN’T MATTER. The technology is finally starting to get good enough to let us live our lives the way we’ve always wanted to, but haven’t been able to. We can CHOOSE to share things from 600 feet under a lake in Perth, Australia, because the technology finally lets us.

No one purchase will ever encapsulate “where society is headed.” By the time the purchase happens, we’re probably there already. All we can do is hope we made the right choices leading up to it.

Remember this: We’re a society built on wanting to share what we’re doing. Offer your customers a better way to do that, and the product will sell itself.

I volunteered to give it a shot, even after being told there was no turning back – i.e., my “Fan page” would disappear, and I couldn’t bring it back.

After asking a ton of questions (and to Facebook’s credit, the person who reached out to me answered every single one, no matter how basic or stupid they seemed,) I told Facebook to flip the switch.

Within 24 hours, http://facebook.com/petershankman redirected to my personal page, and my “Fan page” was no more.

A little over a month later, here’s what I’ve learned from that transformation.

Overall, I’m happy with the change. There’s no doubt that it’s easier to update one page vs. two, and it’s most definitely easier to update Facebook via mobile, which, lets be honest, is where a decent amount of content happens. Before the merger, I’d have to email photos to a specific email address and hope they made it – I couldn’t tag or add location until I got back to a laptop. So there’s no doubt that being able to fully utilize the Facebook Droid App for all that it’s made to do (tagging, location, and privacy) is a big bonus.

Positives:

1) Probably the most important, the merger to one page means I’m more likely to post more quality content. I never truly realized the value of the Facebook App on my Droid until my pages were merged. Because there was no support for Fan Pages (yes, you could email to a private address, but nothing like what you can do with the app – tagging, location, etc.) I was more than likely to take a photo and Tweet it out, or save it to post on my fan page if I remembered later or the next day. In other words, if I was away from my laptop when I wanted to share content, those on my “fan page” got the short end of the stick. With the merged page, I have over 50,000 subscribers (formerly fans) in addition to my “friends” who now can see my content in real time, tagged and geo-tagged, as long as I make sure the content is public. As someone whose mantra is “having an audience is a privilege, not a right,” I can’t stress enough the power of this change: Facebook has taken away all the previous barriers that crippled my fan page when I was mobile, and I can truly offer my audience the best content I have, as it happens. At an event and spot a celeb? I can post and tag. At the airport with four hours to kill and want to offer anyone who knows me and happens to be there access to the airline lounge as my guest? Can do it in a heartbeat. The ability to use the mobile apps to share content and choose what level of sharing I want is definitely the best result of the new merged format.

2) Truly “owning” privacy, (to the extent anyone actually can on Facebook,) means I’m more aware of everything I post. Huh? “Of course you’re aware of it, Peter, you’re posting it!” Not quite. Think about it: You post a photo or a joke to your personal page – You can do it without thinking – “It’s my personal page, I can do whatever I want.” Posting to a fan page? Same logic applies in a different format: “My fans are a step removed from my “friends,” I can only post “this type” of content.” It’s an easy rule from both sides, and it’s easy to get into a rut with it. But there’s the problem: We’re lured into thinking in only one of two ways – “personal” or “fan.” That gets boring fast, and prevents you from engaging your audience anywhere near your full potential. Because I have to decide for who I’m posting every time I post on the merged page, I’m more likely to really think about my content. Does this content really matter to my fans? Am I just posting to show off or to hear my own voice? Will this be relevant to people who have never met me personally? All these questions come into play with every post I make, whether a status update, photo, video, or link. And while you might be thinking that it’s a pain in the ass, in fact, it’s the opposite – It makes me ask if what I’m sharing is really worth my audience’s time. And that’s how we should always be thinking about our voice: Putting our audience’s needs before ours.

Negatives:

There’s really only one negative that stands out, and I’ve learned how to compensate for it. When your pages are merged, and you have both “friends” and “subscribers,” only friends can post on your wall. On a fan page, any fan could start a conversation. With subscribers, only confirmed friends can. When I first noticed this, within 12 hours of the changeover, I was mortified – I emailed and asked why, and the answer was an obvious one, to avoid spam posts. I get it, but I was still concerned that I was stifling my audience’s ability to talk to me – to reach out and start a conversation. Over the next week or so, I realized that if you focus on figuring out the best way to communicate with your audience, them not being able to post on your wall isn’t that important. I do hope Facebook changes their logic here and lets subscribers post like they could before as fans. Even if it means you have to scrub spam daily, I think it’s worth it. But until that happens, I’ve learned that as long as I give my subscribers the ability to comment on all my content I make public, then my audience doesn’t feel stifled. I also ask probing questions that people want to answer in the comments – Anything from asking about their evening plans to asking if anyone has great images of their last vacation.

To make up for the lack of wall interaction on the part of subscribers, it does mean I have to post a bit more – But that’s not a bad thing, if you post with your audience in mind. I also believe that Facebook will offer the option for subscribers to post on walls of “merged” pages soon enough – I don’t see a downside to it. They can already do it on fan pages, and Facebook’s spam algorithms are certainly decent enough. So I think that’s just a matter of time.

Is the merge right for every brand out there?

No. The fact is, there are tons of large companies who have several people who manage their online brand, or are too big to be associated with one person. Any large company comes to mind – A car company – Any national or international brand – You get the idea. They need to keep their “fan” pages as they are. They’re a true “Brand.”

I think the problem is that with the advent of Social Media, everyone thinks they’re a “brand.” And in some sense, they are. But in the sense of a “fan page,” Facebook is right in making this change. A “Brand” of a person, a celebrity, or the like, should be “them.” A “fan page” is a misnomer – It should be a page about them – One page, they can adjust to make public the content they want public, and private the content they want private. Much like in real life, if you think about it. And that’s smart. So for every brand? No. For most people/celebrities/public figures who have “fan pages?” Yes. It’s time to convert.

End result:

Am I happy I made the change? Yes. The ability to post all my content to one place and decide on the fly who gets to see it in real time is a lifesaver – and I’ve definitely noticed my interaction and engagement from subscribers is higher now than when they were just fans on the “fan page.” Remember this, too: I’ve always said that it’s only a matter of time until the line between our “personal” and “professional” brand goes away, and it’ll be up to us to choose what gets posted in our world. I think this is another step towards that happening for those who aren’t “corporations,” but rather, who live in that mixture between who they are, and the professional brand they’re trying to cultivate. Facebook’s merger option should help anyone in that space, and as long as we’re smart enough to realize we should be there, this is a benefit, no doubt.

Thoughts? Comments? As always, I want to hear them. Leave them below. And by the way – If you’re not a subscriber to me on Facebook, you can fix that here.

Realize – Email marketing without the right training is a way to screw up to a larger audience in a shorter amount of time. What’s so great about this merger is that you now have the tools to look at email as another marketing tool – not just something alone – In other words, you can use all of the Vocus tools – The Small Business Marketing Suite, to truly grow your business, in every facet available – email, publicity, social media, you name it. Vocus really has become the small business marketing source.

The best part about the acquisition is this – The entire Vocus family will be around to help you – Email, just like HARO and PRWeb, and all the other stars within the Vocus galaxy, is simply another way to market to your consumers. But, it needs to be done right. Got a question? Ask me. Let me help you before you send those emails out – Lest they come back to bite you. The rules are below – right below this video of me interviewing the CEO of Vocus about this exciting acquisition.

4) Stop assuming that if we’ve ever met, even once, I want to be added to every list you have. There’s a great scene in “King of the Hill,” where Peggy gets some guy’s email address at a party, and says “Well, Mr. john234@aol.com, prepare to be added to Peggy Hill’s Joke of the Day List!” You just know how annoying it is before you ever get one. Let people sign up for your list. DON’T sign them up yourself. It’s just bad.

3) Email is like really good Cumin. If you use too much of it, you’re going to ruin the dish. Email marketing isn’t to reach out and bother the customer every single day. It’s designed to create compelling content for the customer. This could be a special, a discount, or even a great story. Anything else can probably be done in a less intrusive way, like a blog post or a colooscopy.

2) I don’t know anyone named DONOTREPLY@YOURCOMPANY.COM. I’m also pretty sure I wouldn’t want to talk to anyone who puts “THIS EMAIL ISN’T MONITORED, PLEASE DON’T REPLY” as the last line in their email. You’re earning the privilege to email your audience. Be a human being when you do it.

1) Much like a bad relationship, or a bad breakfast burrito, know when it’s time to part ways. Make it easy to leave, with one click. (Anything other than that is considered SPAM) – It’s awesome to be able to grow your list – But it’s just as good to be able to let people leave when they want to – Because I guarantee this – If I can’t unsubscribe from you, the world is going to hear about it – And it won’t be pleasant. One click, one away. Make that the rule you live by in email marketing.

Bonus – Do you use Auto-Responder emails? Chances are, you’re using them wrong, too. Here’s how not to.

Give me some other ideas that work for you on email marketing in the comments below! Best comment wins a free press release from PRWeb.

I responded that today, after an awesome win, I think everyone in NYC considers the Giants “theirs,” and more importantly, is that really the most important thing for them to worry about in their busy day?

To which I get this vitriolic reply, stating that I’m completely full of shit, and that I’m nothing but a braggart, who should learn to be nicer to people. Me. I should learn to be nicer to other people. The guy who invites anyone to ask me any question, anytime, about anything. Me. I should be nicer to people because some idiot told me that I’m a terrible person for calling them “My Giants.” OK.

Funny thing was, that didn’t bother me so much as the way the person framed his reply. He started with this: “Well, I have two degrees in Psychology, and I can tell you that…”

That right there pretty much caused me to tune him out. (Well that and two other things: His AOL address (I know it shouldn’t matter, but we all know it does,) and his signature file, which included his mobile number, and next to it, the words “Don’t ever text me.”) That’s fine. Between your “no texting” rule and your AOL address, 1991 called, they want you back. Go hang out with C+C Music Factory while you’re at it.

Look – I usually spend most my time explaining that our lives should be primarily about helping other people. More specifically, I suggest that if we help other people, then any self-promotion we do becomes more about “helping” and less about “self-promotion, and that’s beneficial to us. And I stand by that.

But – The problem comes when someone tries to use “help” as a way to just start shit, which is exactly what Mr. “2 degrees and don’t text me” did. His whole email to me was based on him “helping me” “I’m trying to help you better yourself.” Specifically, he informed me that (his words now) no one who reads the HARO cares where you are or that you’re wiping your ass.” So in his 2-degree mind, he probably honestly believed that he was doing me a benefit by insulting me and telling me that every way I run the HARO was in fact, wrong. Never mind the fact that I’ve built HARO into a multi-million dollar business, helped thousands of businesses grow, and made thousands of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances along the way – Because 2-degree man thought I was pompous, then of course, I must be, and every single one of you who consider yourselves my friend, is 100% wrong. Shame on you.

So I offer you this: Help, when asked for, is a benefit, a great thing, and can allow you to not only grow your business, but increase your positive brand, increase your revenues, bring you new clients, and yes, even help friends out. But – When it’s not asked for, and you present it like the way our friend did above, chances are pretty high that you’re going to look like a douche.

You’ll look like a douche if you offer non-asked for help in a douchey way, as well. Tell me that “no one cares when I wipe my ass” is something reserved for my wife to say to me, and maybe not even then. Want to help? Don’t be a douche. Be nice. Or, if someone really pisses you off that much, simply ignore them! What could you possibly expect to get out of “helping” me the way you did this morning? Did you think I’d thank you for your attempt, after telling me how much I piss you off? If we were friends for years? Sure – Go for it. Tell me to change – I’d appreciate that. But here’s the thing: I have no idea who this guy is. For that matter, I don’t know if he’s male or female, because he has an AOL address (one name, no first or last name) and the signature file was too busy telling me “DON’T TEXT ME” for me to care.

I guess my point here is this: Wanting to help isn’t the same as criticizing. Until you know the difference, perhaps you shouldn’t offer? You’d think after two psychology degrees, one would – But hey… What do I know? I just spend all my time helping people the right way – Usually via text – And from a real email account.

Thoughts?

Two of those tabs are Facebook. Facebook.com, and my (I hate this term) “like page.” I go through the people in my network, then look at any posts or comments on the “like page,” and respond accordingly. This is a daily thing. I do it every morning, whenever morning happens to fall in the part of the world I’m currently in.

This morning, though, something was different. I’d been invited to try Facebook’s new “Timeline” profile. This meant that not only did I get to see the thing they’d done this whole press conference for (hey FB, take a tip from Apple, bring Zuck on immediately, let him do his thing, and move on, the 30 minute anti-buildup didn’t help anything) but I got to see it as it would affect me personally. And for as much as I like tweeting funny, sarcastic comments during FB press conferences, I’ve got to say this: The Facebook Timeline will radically change the way you use Facebook, and the way you think about “time” as a concept.

Now before you dismiss me as a Facebook fanboy, know that I’m not. FB has done some stupid stuff in the past, (anyone remember “Beacon?”) and I’m the first to call them out on it. That’s why their Timeline is going to be so interesting. Note that I didn’t say “revolutionary,” because as cool as it is, let’s face it – it’s still just something in Facebook. It’s not discovering Einstein might have been wrong or anything.) But it’s still quite interesting.

Here’s why: When I log onto Facebook, I do so because I want to know what my friends are up to. I want to know what my colleagues are doing. I want to know what people within my world currently consider interesting. And that makes sense. Deep down, that’s the purpose of Facebook.

But, think back – That’s not why we used to log on. We used to log on to Facebook because it was cool to find out what our friends, family, and colleagues were doing, and what they thought was interesting. Lately, though, doesn’t it kinda feel like an obligation?

So last week, I checked out my profile as a timeline, and the first thing I saw was a link to “Born.” I clicked on it, and sure enough, it went back to August 6th, 19-cough, cough, and asked if I’d like to add a photo. “But Facebook wasn’t around when I was born! Why would it have a link to that,” I asked.

And then it hit me – This wasn’t about Facebook – This was about our lives. This was about a company figuring out a way for us to put our entire lives online, regardless of when we became a part of Facebook. Rather, Facebook was offering us a place to store our entire lives, from beginning to now, to the eventual end. When we became “digital” is irrelevant, we can simply add more data later. Think about it: Would we ever post the photo our parents took of us at one day old for the heck of it? Of course not. But if Facebook gives us a link on our timeline called “born,” and asks us to fill in the relevant media, chances are, we just might.
There’s a lot more about the Timeline I can share, but for now, I wont. Rather, I’ll just say this – I know that we love to complain about new changes in Facebook because, well, that’s one of those things we just love to do. But don’t. And don’t bring up the whole “Well, they can now advertise to us with even more clarity and pinpoint relevancy!” argument. Yes, they can. And that’s why Facebook is free. And the better it is for advertisers, the better it’ll actually be for you – the ads you DO see will actually be worth your while! How about that! Ads that can actually improve your lives! That, my friends, is not a bad thing, despite our overwhelming desire to automatically say it is.

Remember: As long as Facebook is free for you, you’re NOT a customer of Facebook. You’re a user of Facebook. The advertisers are customers.

If anything, the new changes, as well as Facebook’s new “frictionless sharing,” will teach us to be much more careful about what we do online. This is NOT a bad thing, at ALL. This is actually a GOOD thing, and can prevent future Congressman Weiner outbreaks by making us all smarter, collectively.

Also, 99.9% of the world won’t see these changes as a bad thing, and they won’t care that they’re giving up more privacy. Why? Because Facebook has done an amazing job of making convenience matter more than lack of privacy. They’ve always been good at that, and that’s why they continue to win. Remember that crowd-funded company that wanted to compete with Facebook last year? What ever happened to them? I don’t even remember their name.

So, in the next week or so, when the new Timelines populate into your profiles, give them a shot – Take a look, and try to look past the changes you see on the screen, and imagine what these changes mean for the future. Learn to be more aware of what you post, and realize that privacy died 30 years ago – Some of us just happen to be noticing it now.

As far as I’m concerned, the future of Facebook is pretty damn exciting.