The Boston Cool Twitter Conference was in town yesterday at the Harvard Club. It was a more intimate gathering than I expected, so it presented us with a great opportunity for everyone to get to know one another. I'll be reviewing three of the speakers from this event which I found to be most intriguing. I may do a follow up post because the the other speakers were certainly post worthy as well. Just follow (me) along.

If you read blogs about marketing small companies, you’re inundated with “social media” advice about why you need a blog and a Twitter account and everything else.

Even my 90-year-old grandmother who doesn’t own a computer and reads my wife’s healthy cooking blog on print-outs asks “What’s Twitter?” because she read about it in the New York Times.

Still, most people and most businesses don’t think they need a blog.

Whether you’re using your own blog, Twitter or Facebook — social platforms can be a real catalyst for contributing to social good. With more than 43 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is most frequently used as a way of networking with business colleagues and potential employers and employees. Just because it can be used for personal enrichment doesn’t preclude LinkedIn from being used for social good.

Creating a profile name and unsure whether to use personal name, business name or something in between? These 8 tips for creating your twitter name can help.

I’m having fun with this – I can’t believe The Business Insider’s report on Want 5,000 More Facebook Friends? That’ll Be $654.30 where it’s reported:

... folks at online ad firm uSocial are taking that a step further: Pay them money ... they’ll deliver you 5,000 Facebook “friends” for 7.6 cents per friend ($654.30), or up to 10,000 Facebook “fans” for a mere 8.5 cents a fan ($1.167.30).

Imagine it is New Years Eve 2011, just 2 short years from now and you are having a conversation with a buddy from work and you are remembering the days when your firm only had 4 people actively engaged in Social Media. Its now 2011 and everyone in your company has access to and the ability to jump and engage in Social Media.

This post looks at the gap that still exists between PR and interactive or digital marketing agencies — even as social media continues to the blur the boundaries that traditionally divide them.

An anecdote - we work collaboratively with a couple PR firms that don't fully understand internet marketing or social media. Traditional PR firms are a great lead source for any inbound marketing professional.

“No updates are permitted to be posted by the individual himself or anyone representing him during this prohibited time on his personal Twitter (Twitter), Facebook (Facebook) or any other social media account.”

Looking to gain exposure for your business? Twitter helps to create an awareness for small businesses on a large scale.

Is social media more forgiving if we are not around as much? As a small business marketing with social media, strategy include a plan for a hiatus?