Category Archives: Learning
Breaking Down Social Media : Finding a Soul in Brands
The term social media is largely misused and misunderstood.
You can’t have one social media strategy, or just decide to “do social media”. You have to realize what the term represents, that’s the first challenge I see when I speak with most people considering social for their businesses.
The Basis of Media
When you are speaking about using social media as an outreach tool in the general public the first thing you have to realize is that none of those people are reading “these” articles – the dialogue we all have about it on-line , its of no interest to them.
The people you are trying to reach are living their lives. Reaching them becomes marketing – just as you try and do in magazines or radio ads or newspapers. That’s the media part of the term.
In turn, from a business owner’s stand point, making decisions about social media use has to come from understanding deeper objectives and being in touch with your organization as a whole. Social media is not a new marketing strategy or sales vessel. It’s not a substitute for customer service. It’s not about broadcasting a new logo or flooding a channel with messages, it’s about a mindset.
What is the “Social” Really About?
Social is about this ability for consumers, employees, and all people to be connected. People using the on-line space to further their knowledge, interact with others, do research, play games, express themselves, grow, laugh, be entertained and of course throughout all this to share… The social part is about where you are reaching them and it’s the entire basis of all these pillars of social marketing success.
I think sometimes businesses, people looking into social and marketers forget the why of why you have to be genuine, or why the goal is
Social Connections | To Friend or Not To Friend : You had me at Subscribe
My friend and Social Media Consultant, Linda Bernstein came up with a good question on her Facebook status, she wanted to know if people friend people whom they do not know. It’s a great question that many people have varied perspectives on. Some people think of Facebook as a place they are building a community, whereas others keep it simple including only “real life” friends, in some cases, colleagues and co-workers.
Facebook is a very particular social network, and the way one handles it, should be different in strategy as compared to a Google +, Linked In, or Twitter.
Social Strategist and Consultant Gigi Peterkin had a great comment to add to the discussion. You can check her out at http://gigipeterkin.com
Who will you let into your inner circle?
In this post, I am going to focus on the Facebook question as it pertains to individual accounts and not pages.
The first thing I want to clarify here is that Facebook has privacy settings that allow you to keep your information private. Facebook also allows
The Enagaged Mind: 5 Reasons Every Serious Professional Should Use Social Media for Business
Your World Isn’t “The World”
If you want to know the value of social media and social networking for business, you need to be able to agree that your world is limited. That without social media, you live “in a box” – maybe it’s your box, but a box nonetheless. Don’t believe me? Keep reading.
You need to understand that to be the best at what you do, you need to be educated and knowledgeable about what is happening in your field, in the world, with your consumers and your competitors. Surely, you agree with me here.
Take a few moments with me right now, in this post I am going to share with you exactly why social is critical to the leaders in your company. Why taking advantage of the opportunities in social media is critical for you. I am not going to discuss the marketing aspect here. What I am talking about here is personal development, innovation and the tools to always stay on top of your game.
It’s Your Blog – Own it. Beyond The Usual Rules For Blogging Success
Blogging effectively takes a lot more than just writing.
If I asked you what the top most important things in blogging are, what would you say?
- Write “interesting content”?
- Be relevant?
- Keep it short?
- Use SEO?
I’ll bet you’ve heard those all before. What if I told you, yes thats important, but that being sharable and creating the easiest ways for people to interact with you and follow you are important factors to building your audience and having an impact?
Social Media Changes You and Society – The Human Connection
A knock came at my door about an hour ago while I was having a good and valued discussion with my daughter… My daughter went to look to see who it was, coming back to report she thought it might be some religious group. I got up to check for myself – I don’t really appreciate people knocking on my door – mainly because of special times like this, having a good discussion – then someone tries to just step in.
Usually I would have ignored it, but when I saw the girl on the other side, I could tell it wasn’t a “religious intervention” visit, and thought, let me see what she wants.
Changing The Buzz Words in Social Business: “The Impact Equation” Delivers #ImpactEQ
The Impact Equation by New York Times bestselling authors Chris Brogan & Julien Smith is set for release on October 25th. I was thrilled to get an advance copy for review and am so honored to be able to share my experience in reading it with you here.
First things first, a little Q&A on who should read this book. In case you’re wondering if this book has something in it for you.
Q1: I’m just a business person, not a social media expert, is this book right for me?
A: Yes. It’s perfect for you. No social media mumbo-jumbo here. Just practical, real life information that you can understand and apply to your life and business right away.
Q2: I’m in the field, I’m already a “social media expert”, why would I read this?
10 Tips for Non-Profit Social Media Success
I had the pleasure of speaking at PodCamp East today. My talk was on “Cultivating Zombies or Activating communities“. We covered quite a bit of ground, so, I thought I would highlight some of the tips we talked about the focus was strategies for non-profits to consider when evaluating a social media presence.
I will be putting up the complete slide share and additional notes and resources shortly!
This might be a good time to sign up for my newsletter by email on the right, or download my mobile app this way you will get notified whenever something is posted !
Social Media Timing is Everything: Understanding Automation’s Role in Community Engagement
Robot (Photo credit: ewen and donabel)
Are You a Robot?
We have heard a lot of talk lately about the risks of automation in social media. Many people seem to believe that automating tweets, or posts work against social media best practices. In particular, genuine communication.
I think that the key to assessing this is in knowing the objective of your social media activities. In addition, the role that your social accounts are playing for the community they serve.
Manpower is a huge issue in this as well. Do you have a community manager who is dedicated to only running social media, or do you have social media as a “part” of the person’s role?
Automation used right doesn’t mean “impersonal”
There are positive ways that automation can be used which also respect and maintain the human touch. Here are some examples:
1. Scheduling Updates that contain photos, videos or your own posts to strategically appropriate times on both Facebook and Twitter
This content should be generally in line with your objectives, and the message you want to share within your community. There is no reason not to schedule these things. It allows you to be consistent. A huge factor in establishing a strong social media presence.
2. Scheduling distribution of articles via Twitter or Facebook so that the proper exposure is attained on peak hours in multiple time zones.
3. Automation responds to various needs and can help teams work together
Automation lends a Helping Hand in Time Management
Where “Automation Is Anti-Social” – What Not to Do.
It’s all about Balance
- Time for Blogging or other content creation
- Time for broadcasting the content
- Time for dialog and interaction based on the content & Identifying Opportunities for engagement elsewhere (ex: Social Search) <;- The most important aspects
- Time for analysis of interaction and results
The Appropriate Use of Automation
Automation does not Equal Auto-Pilot
- What is the acceptable delay to respond to comments on Facebook, Twitter, Your Blog?
- This will depend on the nature of your business, and the role your sites play.
- Itemize the type of content your organization is willing to automate.
- Example, blog posts, photos, videos, status updates, Direct Messages. Make sure to answer the question for yourself, what value does automating the selected items give your public, and your company. What are the potential risks?
- Ensure that there is a regular check point to follow through on these automated posts.
- Will it be every day, every hour? Set an expectation so you don’t lose yourself in the automated process. You want to respect the whole reason you are using automation – to stay connected. Leaving it on Auto-Pilot is not acceptable, and in theory does not meet the reasons you are doing it in the first place!
Providing Value
Do you use automation to expand your capabilities in social, or were you thinking it could just put your activities on auto- pilot while you head out to the beach?
What do you think?
Do you have any tips to add?
We Are Your Competition : Social Media & Your Business – Do You Make the Cut?
What happens when you bring social into the workplace?
- Employee voices become important and heard
- Issues rise to the surface, as a result they get addressed, and things become stronger and better
- Your product quality becomes a spotlight – open to attack at any time- therefore will be reinforced by integrity
- Your Customer Service comes under scrutiny – you have to live up to your promises – you are accountable
- Your fans become advocates
- Your critics become the force turning you onto positive change
- You actually start to listen
- Feedback is real and not solicited
- You have the world to answer to. Not just your boss, not just your team or one client. The world.
- You, as a company, must define and know who you are. You don’t just recite a mission statement, you feel it and live it. (If you don’t understand this, read my recent post on Branding)
How long are you going to stand there and watch things pass you by? How long are you going to stick to what you have always done, while the world and your consumers change around you?
It shouldn’t be that way, it shouldn’t take all this to make you do all these things for your businesses, but social does do this for you. If forces you to question, to reinforce, to be greater.
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- That is why for any business who truly wants to be great (or thinks they are already) – getting into social is one hell of a great way to get your business in order!
Every aspect of your business must be aligned.
What’s Holding You Back?
All your fears of getting into social, all your concerns – I believe they all stem from your unconscious belief that you, in fact, are not able to operate in the public eye.
Maybe that’s what companies who are not yet using social, who are dabbling in the sidelines should really think about.
Do you really have what it takes?
Then get on board. Get your business in order. Start showing the world what you’ve really got. Show your employees, your clients and your community. That’s how you’ll grow. That’s how you’ll be better.
The Alternative:
Stay where you are and keep doing what you always did – but keep in mind, some of us out there are pushing ourselves to our limits, setting the bar higher, working every day to keep being the best – and guess what, we are your competition .
Good luck.
