Like most rock stars, Christopher Barger—who along with GM vice chairman Bob Lutz has transformed the image of GM from stodgy 20th-century manufacturer into Web 2.0-savvy innovator—is even better live than recorded. If you get the opportunity to hear him speak (an increasingly likely scenario as he expands his activity on the circuit), go for it. Here are a few highlights from his presentation at the recent Blogging for Business conference . Blogging is (officially) no longer new. 90% of Internet users in the 25-34 year-old group are familiar with blogs. 60% of those under the age of 21 belong to a (online) social network. Blogs now rival traditional media for reach. Blogging is a PR activity —a tool to build image and credibility—not marketing. In Barger's words, it belongs at the top of the sales funnel. Social media has given every consumer the opportunity to reach millions of others with his or her opinion of a brand or product. And it's given every consumer access ...

Two weeks ago I shared some online marketing/PR wisdom from GM's social media guy, Christopher Barger . Here are a few more of his thoughts to wrap things up. Most important social networking tools: Chris hates Twitter (another thing we agree on!) but recognizes that it has an impact. Following the influencers in any sphere can be a great way to learn what is important there. It can help monitor what's being written about your company, product or service, and help you pick up on which bloggers to follow. He likes Ning , Digg , del.icio.us , Reddit , Facebook , and Lee LeFever's In Plain English videos . What matters in blogging: Simplicity Two-way dialog Access (provide a method for reader contact other than the comment form) Transparency Unique value Listening Recommended books: The Cluetrain Manifesto by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls and David Weinberger (published in 2001, but amazingly prescient and still timely) Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin (I haven...

Roxanne Darling at Bare Feet Studios recently wrote an outstanding piece on the use of social media at Ford. In How Ford Can Ramp Up It’s Social Media Turnaround Story of 2009 (nicely summarized by John Cass on Social Media Today ), she outlines a social media strategy to help Ford become more transparent and connect more effectively with customers. She recommends new initiatives (such as getting executives using Viddler to answer questions directly from consumers) as well as building on the social media efforts already being led by Scott Monty . Christopher Barger at GM has also been innovative, not just at getting the company involved with bloggers, but in the underlying concept of social media in general: listening to consumers and responding with sincerity and transparency. For example, at one gathering he insisted on seating Hummer executives at the same table with green bloggers. While the two groups certainly didn't come away agreeing with each other, they did at least ...

The Blogging for Business (B4B) Conference coming up in Salt Lake City on June 6 will feature an intriguing lineup of speakers , including: Brian Critchfield of Navel Marketing on how the consumer revolution is driving transparency in marketing; Charlie Craine , Director of Interactive Media for the Deseret News; Christopher Barger , GM's Director of Global Communications Technology (who recently did a great podcast with Albert Maruggi); Cyndi Tetro , VP of Products and Marketing at NextPage and co-founder of the Marketing Executive Forum; Dave Bascom of SEO.com ; Jake McKee , Principal and Chief Ant Wrangler at Ant's Eye View , a Dallas-based customer collaboration strategy practice, and former Global Community Relations Specialist for the LEGO Company ; Jason Brown, blogger and co-founder of Brown Lures ; Intellectual property attorney and blogger Rand Bateman ; A panel discussion on "Pitching to Bloggers: What Works, What Doesn’t, and What Will Get You in Trouble...

This content has been moved to Don’t They Know Who You Are? Why Reputation Management is Crucial on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: Lee Odden, digital reputation management, Jon Rognerud, Guy Kawasaki, LookupPage, Google Knol, TechCrunch, YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Twitter, Wikio, Mixx, Digg, StumbleUpon, Wikipedia, Tim Young, Socialcast, LinkedIn, Facebook, Naymz, Jigsaw, Plaxo, ZoomInfo, CrunchBase, VisualCV, Scott Monty, Christopher Barger del.icio.us tags: Lee Odden, digital reputation management, Jon Rognerud, Guy Kawasaki, LookupPage, Google Knol, TechCrunch, YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Twitter, Wikio, Mixx, Digg, StumbleUpon, Wikipedia, Tim Young, Socialcast, LinkedIn, Facebook, Naymz, Jigsaw, Plaxo, ZoomInfo, CrunchBase, VisualCV, Scott Monty, Christopher Barger icerocket tags: Lee Odden, digital reputation management, Jon Rognerud, Guy Kawasaki, LookupPage, Google Knol, TechCru...