Six ways that TV should use social media

1. "Career freedom means starting a business."
Clients often assume they can reach career freedom only by starting a business. I know dozens of people who feel very free in a corporate setting. They swim easily in the corporate stream and learn to balance their lives. Some even return after successful entrepreneurial ventures.

2. "Don't worry, be happy."
Some advisors tell you, "You'll be great," even if they secretly believe you're following a harebrained path that is doomed to fail. Do your own research and get second and third opinions.

3. "Visualize success."
While I support visualizing and attracting, I do not believe you can attract business from a non-existent target market. Better to attract prosperity and fulfillment. You might also try to attract knowledge and discernment so you can evaluate your various advisors.

4. "If you can dream it, you can do it."
You can dream of meeting the Queen of England at your local Wal-Mart but you may have to wait awhile. The reverse is often true -- you must have a dream before you experience the reality -- but some people manage to skip the journey and enjoy the arrival.

5. "If other people can have a successful business, you can too."
Unless you strongly resemble those "other people," they're irrelevant.

1. Have a Twitter feed for the programme

Very simply - just get set up an account, follow a bunch of people, give away interesting snippets of information and tweet and retweet fast when the show is up and running.

2. Don't just make the Twitter feed a press release conduit - get the show's stars onto it

Get the chat show host and the lead actors tweeting about the show as it happens. It makes it more exciting for viewers and builds a sense of behind-the-scenes and exclusive access that gets people engaged and coming back for more.

3. Get the Hashtag out there

Post the #hashtag for the show in a prominent place on the website and Facebook pages - that makes it more likely that people will pick it up, that they'll all use the same tag and that show will end up trending.

4. Get a good website that integrates social media

Reward your witty and engaged followers - stream their tweets to your website, provide fresh behind the scenes pictures and videos and post them out via Facebook and Twitter.

5. The new iPlayer - get instant chat built into your viewer

This one is only available to the broadcasters with a lot of clout and money, but check out the BBC's new iPlayer - which integrates instant chat in a side panel next to the main viewing screen. It works with Windows messenger - hardly a much used chat service these days - but in time should be able to include g-chat among other ones. A tie-in with Facebook and Twitter means users can recommend programmes to their friends though not yet comment live via those services...

6. ABC's Grey's Anatomy iPad app - make your show into an app

A Grey's Anatomy iPad app by broadcasters ABC enriched the viewing experience with pop-up pieces of trivia, mini polls and other bits of commentary and info.

AND A WILD-CARD:

7. Make programmes that appeal to social media users and are likely to provoke hashtags and discussions...

This last one is a bit out there, but I bet we'll start to see this more and more. Of course programme-makers are always trying to provoke discussion and get an audience reaction, but now they can measure it online, I bet we'll start to see more of the kind of elements that get a good reaction on Twitter or Facebook.