Showing posts with label Networking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Networking. Show all posts

FORECASTING revitalization and SOCIAL MEDIA thought provocation





I was wandering around social media, as I often do.  Living a country song in real life:  married to a Hunkster Hubster, my faithful companion Buddy [my Border Collie]; a productive week of sorts [battle my demon of "anxiety" caused by the realization that BULLYING is alive and well in some toxic corporate cultures that are so cloaked in manipulation and a play on words, causing it to be very difficult to prove::... EUREKA!  After a great deal of reading, researching on a potpourri of organizations, help associations, evaluations, discussions and distinguishable by authentication by psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists or medical practitioners ] they all basically agree that IF YOU THINK YOU ARE/HAVE BEEN BULLIED you likely are/have. ]

Take a look at this YouTube post by my content source favorite:  MASHABLE [which I reSHARE their content on Twitter faithfully, with never an acknow- ledgement of even a #RT never mind a #ThankYou hashtag on the feed.  Once, I had someone who was very observant that I tended to share @Mashable content consistently asked whether I belonged to Mashable.com or an affiliate of a compensated kind:  aka Brand Ambassador ].  


HEREIN is my comment, nestled among three really stupid ones ::... which makes me ponder if only gamers pay attention to Mashable.  Here I am a white, 50something, Canadian, Lady [how unique can one get on Social Media eh?] a solid follower of Mashable's since I can't remember when?  Likely, far at the beginning when I just grooved to the beat of their vibes from their posts:  unique, coolio, informative, positive or bizarre [pick your own perception of this really cool e-zine online!! ].  It is my intent to become a Brand Ambassador of sorts:  which usually include:

  1.  Informative, helpful, unique, inspiring, bizarre content under one umbrella
  2.  A cache of intellectually stimulating content
  3. Attractive to a distinct, talented crew of writers, assemblers and ensemble 
  4. Provides a wealth of information to sop up and absorb
  5. Has created a groove and a beat that resounds among a hipster or yuppy
  6. Is unrelated to race, country, politic, faith, color, educated or economics
  7. Has the gift of the spirit of sharing by creating share-friendly buzz
  8. Is more about the name "Mashable" than any singular contributor, artist, writer, innovator, video, mainstream oriented - NOT - material
  9. Eye catching wording or visuals, it begs to be clicked on 
  10.  Appeals to the curious, knowledge junkies, innovative, creative types.


Have a look with my comment after you take a look at the video link:




Brilliant!!  [ HEY! Who are the Bozos commenting here? ] I noticed the clear tribute to Hyatt which is signifying that this was "sponsored by" Hyatt ::.... which in social media terms means:  "PAID for by" .... I think that authenticity and credibility would go a far longer way if every Brand Ambassador, Blog, Website or Social Media Brand [ think:  instaGRAM as what I consider "the universal endorsement" social media site ] ::.... if it was REQUIRED to show in Profile that u are paid by a Brand 4 what U tweet or share.  


Another gem I uncovered while letting the content follow through on the headline after garnering a click:





It's no wonder the most prolific personalities or brands online are actively followed and sought.  There is so much abundance of information that allows you to discover a deeper insight to your own being by what attracts you and then ultimately you attract in kind.  




A giving bunch who belong to the inner sanctuary of the giving kind.  Not of financial means, more often abundance thin by monetary value but rich beyond imagination by having something in common:  helping others or helping the world become a better place.  

By observing your own stats with some sort of frequency, if not any kind of regularity, you can reach and get in touch with what others want to hear from you about.  Mine have been sitting there as plain as day or the sparkle of sunshine.  Understanding what it means is a great discovery.




Take a look at the numbers.  My consistent mass hails from Brazil.  Maybe a sign that this is the place where my soul aligns.  Or, if more pragmatic, objective observation is where you're inclined, the simple fact that Google's blogspot features easily translation, that removes restriction of reach by language distinction.




Brazil loves and keeps on giving the love to "Build a 30-60-90 Day Plan".  More instructional than philosophical, it lays out how to do just that.  Even to this day, Google is often my best online friend.  As it gets to know me, successful results abound.  Closer to what I have had in mind then my mind knew.




Taking a queue from my faithful crowd:  what is the content they most enjoy or find of value?  The ingredients to a successful sales path.  Less philosophizing and more educational.  You have a feel for what you are looking for whenever you are creating the content, the report, the analysis, the research, yet until you see it emerge does it create a spotlight.

I will proceed in the coming days on writing a more instructional blog on how to forecast accurately and consistently ::.... primarily geared towards the sales professional or those that aspire to be.




cut to the chase II


I haven't blogged about sales for some time ::.... what do U think? Am I getting rusty or do U like the conscious decision to make sales about the organization not the rep for a quirky twist on my take that it is the sales organization's responsibility to provide the proper environment for sales people to flourish, grow and be rewarded for their many late late hours sweating blood and tears towards the finish line, except intercepted by "the organization" or company in the very last minute.

I think I'm onto something ~ DO U? All this time we've wasted page after page of the wrong subject to solve an age old problem of whether the chicken came before the egg mystery.

Well, from the likes of my blog this afternoon, I would say that I have indeed solved it. Finally. Case closed. READ MORE:



I recommend you read "Cut to the Chase" because I think it is one of the best blogs I've written in a while.  HERE 



This CUT to the CHASE II blog was a small blip on my social media scene but I got the timing all mixed up, trying out something new and jumping on to that before I had tested another Blog Post.  


The Chicken & Egg became a series or experiment if you will.  I was trying some new creative thinking.  A service per se of setting up social media scavenger hunts for brands.  This article is date stamped and saved as proof of idea for any copyright or trademark infringements.  Suffice to say The Chicken & Egg certainly was an extension of Cut to the Chase original.  Ironically, the clicks on II was brisk and I hope I didn't lose readers or followers because of my error posting the first one (oops).  I was panic'd at first, rightly so, breath sucking in and heart stopping, thinking I'd lost what I had spent a few hours coming up with:  and feeling really REALLY satisfied at the accomplishment.  

Not surprising, I'm discovering that writing about sales is something that I've probably attracted a few of my first supporters and advocates.  (Thank you by the way .... I usually write something dedicated to giving thanks to others who help me along the way).

A lot of times I will cut and paste what I've written on Blogspot disappears when I CLICK PUBLISH or UPDATE.

It is a really good idea to have backup of your content when you are doing LIVE posting because as any technologist, engineer, development, experts know:  with technology, it isn't that something will never go wrong, because part of the nature of the beast is having something shut down, not update, or any number of annoyances that have your CALL VOLUME and EMAIL or CHAT support skyrocket.  

Just ask any media outlet.  It is without a doubt that they would have horror stories to tell, saved usually for the after hours wine or beer energized conversation.

I've divided myself up into a number of personalities that I've shared at one place or another.  I have gravitated towards silos of interests that I can really relate to or feel that value could be gained from readers.  Not because I necessarily have the solution, but sometimes a conversation gets started and that is a lot more important.


I'll get my kicks if I start to see #bestofeverything start to trend somewhere and then it becomes a viral hashtag that can be used anywhere:  whether Twitter or You Tube or Google Plus.  Facebook lags in this area ... lacking in Hashtag clout.


Sometimes people just want information, or are surfing to read.  Challenging what is out there to jump into their conscious sphere, reading it and discovering a renewed passion or a solution to a big problem.  


You'll have to go over to The Publisher to see what I mean.  

The Publisher
The goal is to be an outlet for writers that is anonymous.    There is no fee for me to do this.  It will be a labour of love to begin with.  Then who knows what may evolve.


So, I apologize to my regulars if they witnessed someone who appeared to be scattered.  Not scattered per se.  Everyone has multiple facets to their views, has several interests, maybe one passion.  I guess mine has been uncorked.  I love communicating.  That means talking (which I've been decried long-winded many times), I did hone in public speaking with Toastmasters International for about 10 years ..... being able to communicate certainly speeds up results in sales.  I think that is one key ingredient that the super stars have.  They are strong communicators.  



#Hashtag heaven and going viral on social media

The #icebucketchallenge is absolutely #brilliant.

Unless you live in somewhere without internet connection (like where?), you may not be aware of an internet phenom that has gone viral in the past week.
As a potential social media magician i want you to participate in this. Go to Google or Bing and search the following: "Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Tailor Swift, Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga" (and just about any other famous people you want to add on that you're a fan of) separated by commas.
The results? (Putting on my magician hat, placing my fingers against my forehead, and humming 1 sec) .... Poof! Voila! The top four results fall under the "Ice Bucket Challenge".
Magic? Well, if I were on Penn and Teller's "Fool Us" they just may be social media savvy enough to know that the magic behind my prediction was the power of using #hashtags in #socialmedia.
It should explain what all the fuss is about and help explain the power of using #hashtags. What is a #Hashtag?
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A hashtag is a word or an unspaced phrase prefixed with the number sign ("#"). It is a form of metadata tag.  Words in messages on microblogging and social networking services such as TwitterFacebookGoogle+VK or Instagram may be tagged by putting “#” before them (1) either as they appear in a sentence (e.g.  “New artists announced for #SXSW2014 Music Festival” (2) or appended to it.  The term “hashtag” can also refer to the hash symbol itself.  (3) Hashtags make it possible to group such messages, since one can search for the hashtag and get the set of messages that contain it.  A hashtag is only connected to a specific medium and can therefore not be linked and connected to pictures or messages from different platforms.

Because of its widespread use, the word was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in June 2014.
Unlike most talented magicians, I am going to share the secret how this got up so far in search rankings and became a phenom this past week: when a person/company/profile/celebrity tweets, shares on Facebook, uploads a video on You Tube, +s on Google Plus using the # sign in front of the word, it creates a Hashtag. Regardless of whether it is an event, a person, insight, quote, inspiration .... if it catches on .... i.e. is shared, retweeted, liked, +d ... it will begin trending.
Before I can say "Voila!" (being in a bilingual country Canada I respectfully include my fellow patriots) .... news media outlets on radio, television, newsprint, magazines, you name it have people (this is a suspicion that I cannot verify) have professional lurkers on social media to detect emerging trending topics to a new way of sharing news versus the old way on more cumbersome production requirements while still using that old blessed competition that is striven for: being the first to scoop a hot topic before anyone else.
The old way of getting our news is not just up to the minute, it is up to the second! No professional voice overs, trusted news anchors, esteemed journalists need apply. The use of hashtags alert ALL of the search engines to the trend and OUI (YES!) it appears on the first page -- regardless of whether it is competitors Google or Bing, etc. It is there! If you just try one social media platform (hint) try Twitter, then see what is trending (it will appear on your page when you log on). Or, if you think your Tweet is subjective to a specific audience, then use it for Tweets sake: #business #Linked In #social media #sales .... tag on a hashtag and click on that hashtag (which will appear in blue) -- POOFeroni -- you will magically appear on a page of others who are using the same hashtag. Talk about speed networking!

The terminology is different and dependent on the platform but means the same thing ... it just helps some folk portray themselves as social media wizards when they speak circles around you injecting terms you are not familiar with -- another pet peeve that falls under the same category as acronyms.  I prefer to become known as an educational informant.
Yes, even you or your organization can be a magician. Watch what is trending, sprinkle in the hashtag ... you'll find yourselves cropping up also higher on search page rankings, influence scores (i.e. Klout, KRED). Now, you're a cool kid again (whoopee)! For literal telecommunication translation: The number # sign is also referred to as the "pound key" on your keyboard or phone.  

Better yet - you will be communicating with the popular kids again. Your antiquated outdated methods can be flung aside. You don't have to referee between IT or marketing any longer - YOU are now in the the KNOW! You are the magician of your own destiny.
Note: Image source: (you guessed it) Google :o)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on Linked In

"You wouldn't worry about what others think of you if only you realized they seldom do."
~Eleanor Roosevelt














Now that I await my next career pinnacle to begin with an innovative, forward thinking telecommunication company with a solid balance sheet and clear executive management direction (criteria I used when evaluating who I wanted to work for), I am better equipped to step back and think about Linked In clearly and objectively on its benefits as a professional.
THE GOOD:
  • OLD Connections: with former colleagues, clients and managers that I otherwise may have lost touch with had I not signed up for Linked In.
  • NEW Connections: with thought innovators, active Linked In participants who offer expertise, share knowledge for free WITHOUT trying to sell anything (an application, a trial, a software, a service, information);
  • RECOMMENDATIONS: I've been reminded about some of the good I've done in my career when past associates provide Recommendations. The most honorable being the ones who did it without any encouragement, or some of the ones who we faced and collaborated to overcome obstacles together. Reminding me that issues are often not self-induced, often requiring hard work, dividing and conquering, and a positive attitude. People remember how you handled it and fixed matters far longer than what the issues may have been to begin with.
  • INFORMATION: Knowledge, learning and sharpening your skills are important in this fast changing world. What mattered yesterday is not what matters today.
  • FOLLOW: Linked In makes it easy for you to "FOLLOW" companies or organizations that you are interested or involved in -- be it as a shareholder, investor, vendor, contributor. You can also "FOLLOW" those that inspire you or whom you would like to learn from -- Bill Gates, Richard Branson, to mention a couple that are obvious.
  • ENTREPRENEURS: If you are a business owner you should be on top of what is impacting business today. Even if you are ready to cross it off as irrelevant to your own business (i.e. cloud, data or social media), you may want to be informed to avoid pitfalls you may unwillingly be falling into.
  • SALES PROFESSIONALS: Linked In, to many sales professionals, is a contact grab and that is about it. Don't just use a name as a contact, title for your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to keep managers at bay or to accumulate names. You can benefit by "Follow"ing your customers/company for insight on what they are saying or sharing -- so that you can expand your insights and identify opportunities for what you are selling.
  • WEB-I-NOMICS: Linked In is a cash cow of information that allows others to gain knowledge. You can curate valuable information for your website that inform and create conversations with your customers, vendors and prospects.
  • EXPERTISE: Linked In features are continuously expanding and bringing value to its users. You can collaborate, curate, post, share information that eventually can signify your expertise on subject matters. You can write blog posts to expose your knowledge to draw advocates, followers, colleagues, managers, customers and vendors. Even sharing quotes, articles from third parties, can attract comments or shares that endorse the worthiness of what you are sharing.
  • GROUPS: One of the first features I started using was joining a couple of groups that related to my career. They allowed me to participate in discussions, answer questions ... which tested my expertise, collaborated with others, .... or pose questions from others to provide input from the same industry or professional designation (i.e. Project Manager, Business Development, etc). I have made significant contacts that have brought tremendous growth, learning, mentoring and value.
  • PRIVACY: You are in control of what others see about you because you personally create your profile. You can set your profile privacy to make it difficult for recruiters, spammers or serial sales people from pitching you (which can be annoying to some if not all). You can also see who has looked at your profile (as long as they don't set themselves as anonymous).
  • JOBS: If you are looking for work, Linked In is a superb repository of information on a variety of recruitment firms, looking up the person you may be interviewing with, connecting with those who may bridge an opportunity (i.e. referrals) look up a company, or link to website, etc.
  • COMMUNICATE: You can make Linked In what you want it to be. You can reach out, touch base with your contacts. I like Linked In feature of letting me know who has a new job to congratulate them on, celebrating a work anniversary, or even acknowledging a birthday. You can control how you communicate and not disclose your personal email by restricting and staying within Linked In MESSAGES. It does allow you to check off if you don't mind sharing your personal email or as the next step in communications.
  • PERSONALIZE: This profile is all about you! How rigid you are filling in the blanks may demonstrate just that. Give insight to your personality, whether it is gregarious or academic, think of your audience and what perception you want them to have. Use the summary if you're bursting with creativity. AND ... for heaven's sake, post a photo. I won't get into the selfies, because we all know if you are on this planet you have a phone with a camera. You may as well use it. Suffice to say, you may be a water skiing enthusiast or were the party favor at the last event, but this is not the place you want to showcase that. Photo finishing has diminished so those businesses offer photo taking services and will even have a scanned image that you can upload at a nominal fee -- think Passport photo with a smile -- smiling is never a bad idea if you want to appear friendly and approachable.
THE BAD:
  • SELF-PROCLAIMED EXPERTS: There are so many "Experts" on Linked In my head spins at times. In fact, if someone states "EXPERT" on the profile, my first reaction is to think "NOT!". Ultimately, expertise is a label that others give you. It is often demonstrated by a lot of credible Recommendations from subject matter professionals.
  • SELF-PROMOTION: If all you post is me, myself, I ... that is about all who is going to be reading what you post. Your connections will appreciate posts and shares that are interesting and relevant to a professional audience.
  • ANONYMITY: Privacy protection and security are front and center in many people and company's minds. Therefore, they will set their privacy by default to remain anonymous. On the flip side, I'm not sure others feel the same way, lurking a profile under cover can be annoying to the recipient. In my opinion, being open also relays credibility. I am certain there are a variety of reasons why persons want to remain hidden, I'm just not a fan of this practice.
  • COSTS: Nothing is ever free 100%. Linked In is accountable for its financials and creates nuggets to entice you to subscribe to additional features and benefits. At least it isn't hidden and you can see your options and determine what is best for you. Heck, you can probably write it off as a professional subscription or networking expense.
  • ENDORSEMENTS: With the added feature of "Endorsements" comes questioning (to me anyhow) how important or how much weight others play on this feature. For example, if you have a lot of connections, you may not do business with them personally -- how can they truly attest to the skill being endorsed? The user selects the skills on their profile, which is flagged in front of their connections to endorse them. However, it is cool when an associate endorses you that you do know -- it can be a signal that they recognize that ability. The user can distinguish this, while the audience cannot. Alternatively, if someone endorses you, do you feel obliged to endorse them for something that you may not have professionally experienced?
  • AWARENESS: Linked In helps entrepreneurs, executives, employees and companies have presence on its pages. I'm amazed when I suggest to someone to get a profile up and they hesitate or avoid it altogether, citing the reason as privacy. In today's world, that is hardly an excuse but certainly it is everyone's prerogative. I also suggest that if you have a company or organization, create your Company Page. Don't assume either that since it is there that it should remain dormant. Like your website, keep it updated and relevant to the audience or customers you want to attract. If you are recruiting, use the job boards, search out potential candidates profiles, their links, comments, posts to get a feel for the person. The chances are they will be doing the same of you.
  • BRANDING: Be on top of your brand, whether it is "ME, INC." or a major named corporation. Monitor what people may be saying about your CEO, HR, executive, management or culture. It may start out as a minor squeak but could erupt into a public relations nightmare. Identify and acknowledge who is responsible for this. You'd be surprised how many people stray off topic in groups to give examples of poor treatment by a professional or company. Encourage your employees to be on Linked In, leverage it for the knowledge it presents, and champion subject matter expertise by participation.
THE UGLY:
  • INVITATIONS: This is an area I've spoken to colleagues and associates about. It seems many are annoyed by invitations to connect from people "out of the blue" that they don't know. Again, this is something you can control. You can choose to ignore any invitations from parties unknown. I do suggest if you are compelled with the urge to connect with someone - send the invitation with an explanation as to why you would benefit (or better yet how they may) by connecting and exchanging information via posts. Personally, I professionally had my vision and goal to work for a specific company and searched who I perceived the hiring managers would be and sent an invitation. Lo and behold, this is the same company I will start working for at the end of August! I hardly think a company representative is going to blow you off. Everyone in every company is a customer service representative, whether they have it on their title or not!
  • MESSAGES: Theoretically, the only inbound messages you should get are from those that are a connection. However, Linked In offers a paid feature as part of subscription packages called IN-MAIL. The package you subscribe to determines the number of IN-MAIL messages you are allowed -- which are basically unsolicited messages from others. If you are a recruiter, in marketing or a social media advocate, you may have more connections than average. That can also lend itself to a larger number of virtual strangers messaging you.
  • DATING: Linked In is not a dating site. Unfortunately, some boneheads do try to use it as a soft way of introducing themselves and approaching you if you inadvertently accepted the invitation under the umbrella of business networking. I hear ya ... but they can't seem to read the "Married" part of your profile.
  • SOLICITATION: Even if you actively monitor who your contacts are or are selective, you will often find yourself a recipient of a message that solicits (or recommends) a service, software, product or site. Message to senders: This is not a wise way of prospecting, never mind cold calling a complete stranger. Use it as a tool to gather information, not send information.
  • PRIVACY: You go through all that trouble of keeping your information private, being selective on who you network with then BAM! Some nerd (to be polite) sends out a group message and you find your name muddled in with a bunch of other people. Yes, pretty much everyone is shaking their head before X-ing you out of their connections after you disclosed their name. People can look up your connections but be respectful of that information. I advise you stay clear of group messaging. That's not networking anyhow, that is broadcasting. There is an appropriate feature that Linked In offers by telling you that you have a connection within a certain company that you can reach out to and request a referral.
  • GRAMMAR: Some may wonder why I include this ... it should never get too old to continually remind people to check their spelling on their profiles -- you are promotingYOU and who you represent/work for and you owe everyone attention to detail. Even if it is just a comment, ensure that you use proper grammar and check for spelling ... heck, double check the spelling of the person's name if you are going to use it. (I have distinct spelling for my name and it is often misspelled). Run your summary or post through a Word software program and spell check it before uploading is a good idea.
  • CLUTTER: As with any website that has experienced growth, you may have noticed Linked In has a lot going on your page when you visit. It uses intuitive software to predict who, what you should know, what you are interested in reading based on past clicks. There are far more article suggestions now that populate Linked In as they opened up the ability for anyone to post. The choices you make, the clicks you enter, and the time you spend on Linked In is your own individual preference.
  • COMPETITION: There isn't much competition to Linked In on professional social networking, however, they are still competing for your attention while you are online. They will continue to navigate and update thus change is a given. They will continue to tempt you with subscription benefits in order to continue generating a revenue stream. I predict that what you see for free will eventually be eroded or what you want expanded upon charged for.  
  • AUTHORITY: As endorsements continually grow along with the number of people who are writing posts, it may be getting more confusing as to whom really has the authority on a topic. Linked In chooses a number of Followers you have on your Posts, so it is basically a numbers game. (I'm not sure how they do it, but I gather that it is a combination of your network number and how likely people are to read or share your posts and what that additional viewership entails). A higher profile is typically dependent on who you are (i.e. Bill Gates), how many followers you attract, or have the number of comments on your posts will indicate expertise based on those numbers. If you have a post that gains a lot of attention, it could be recommended by Linked In under its PULSE highlights.
  • NEGATIVITY: You can see for yourself in groups or on posts. Sometimes, heated debates erupt or I think some people say silly things to get attention, albeit often negative. You are what you post, comment, write and it is your personal brand that you are impacting. Treat it genuinely and respectfully.
  • MANNERS: Thank you are the two most powerful words in business, social media, Linked In, or anywhere. Be known for your manners. Be honest, be authentic. If someone compliments a post or shares it, thank them. Social media in all its glory boils down to "if you scratch my back, I will scratch your's". There are a number of examples, but one that maybe is not a right or realistic expectation .... if you notice you have a fan who continuously comments, compliments or shares your posts, recognize them by name and say "Thank you". If you can, even read some of their posts and comment or hit like if that is how you feel.
There you have it: the good, the bad and the ugly of Linked In. I'm sure there are a lot a great experiences along with a few nightmares. The bottom line is, it is a great repository of YOUR career information. Think of it as a tool. How well it works for you is how attuned you are.
"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends."
~Abraham Lincoln

Fear of FEEDBACK?

We all have those ah-ha moments.  One came to me this morning when I became irritated by something and itched to tweet and broadcast about it across multiple social media platforms.





However, I had to hold myself back and remind myself that social media to me represents:


  1. A format to learn new and interesting things
  2. A way to share positive news, events, people, innovation
  3. To share the knowledge I have for free
  4. Share inspiration, motivation and knowledge
  5. Support causes near and dear to my heart (i.e. anti-bullying, education, etc.)
  6. Not to use it to express displeasure based on personal experience
  7. Stay clear of controversy 
  8. Be known to be a positive person and influence
  9. Attract positive people and organizations
  10. Promote greatness 
  11. Cheer on Canada and my home city Calgary
  12. Curate beautiful photography, imagery and art
  13. Be an advocate of social media and its ability to inspire positive change
OK, I may have slipped a couple of times.  I'm prone to mistakes like anyone else.  Those mistakes are there to serve as reminders to what my goals are and why I have them.

It did occur to me based on this irritant that people or organizations may be avoiding social media for one very big reason:  Fear of feedback.  Perhaps those who are accustomed to breaking promises, being unprofessional or unpopular conduct may just become targets of dissatisfied customers or people.  

It makes me wonder.  Would some organizations or people avoid social media for that very reason?  On the flip side, if you don't put yourself or your organization how will you know?  After all, we all learn from our mistakes and from feedback.  The more negative the feedback, the more there is to be learned by it ... right?

Certainly I observe a lot of people and companies who use social media to spam (aka broadcast) what they want others to believe about them.  Unfortunately, that perception cannot always be controlled.  I would suggest stop hiding behind excuses as to why you haven't launched your social media program.



Putting yourself out there demonstrates credibility in many ways.  If you are going to put yourself in the game, you have to accept defeat and celebrate success.  Don't expect to only be able to broadcast promos, success, etc.  

Embrace social media as a means to:
  1. Monitor your reputation
  2. Maintain a positive brand (corporate or "YOU, INC."
  3. Develop a positive reputation 
  4. Be known to support a cause, philosophy, innovation, inspiration
  5. Provide knowledge and educate others
  6. Avoid me, me, me
  7. Open doors on new networks, people, organizations
  8. Avoid or minimize negative publicity
  9. Be aware of what others are thinking or saying about you
  10. Show you care
  11. Use it to learn how you can be better
  12. Get the feedback that you may not hearing from your own team
  13. Be proactive rather than reactive
  14. It can drive awareness, generate new leads, create a better brand
I would suggest that you embrace social media.  It is a tool that is free.  Learn how to use it to your advantage, whether it be by learning more about yourself or your company's identity, or developing advocates who want to sing your praises.



Unless you are a celebrity or politician, you can continue to avoid Social Media.  Sadly, you are doing yourself and your company a disservice.  Oh, and don't just set up a page or Twitter account and let it sit dormant.  That is like having a sign "open for business" with the lights off and the doors locked.

Take the time to speak to someone who has developed influence (visit Klout or KRED.com or Linked In).  There are a growing number of professionals who will and can discuss its benefits without you having to sign up or commit to anything.  In fact, there are folks like me, who are willing to curate your content like any other outsourced, sub-contracted relationship.  They will post based on what you guide them to post and create content that can elevate your reputation just by having the right content.  They usually have high KLOUT or KRED scores themselves (these are independent third parties who monitor and provide diagnostics where everyone is on an even playing field and compared based on how credible they are based on topics they have expertise on).

Whew, this has been the best reminder possible.  I am feeling better and using my knowledge for the benefit of others and creating positive vibes.  It is far better than having tweeted or broadcast on Facebook what a *^%&*&# lousy experience I had and how I wished that #*&%*(&# would have reacted better.  After all, it is my reaction that has far reaching ramifications.  Yep, I feel better about myself overall.



More than anything .... I do feel wiser.  And yes, it reminded me of my own personal goals.


How relevant you are is determined by how influential you are to your followers

I wrote this April 2011:
Upon reflection, was this advice more relevant today?

Whether a gifted scientist in Saudi Arabia, a gadget manufacturer in the United States, a successful entrepreneur in Canada, a publisher in the UK, or an investor in China, here’s what all, if not most, share:

·       A network of personal, professional or corporate relationships
·       A stable of trusted advisors, mentors
·       Interest in continual learning
·       Pay attention to your industry, its changes, your world evolving
·       A distinguished bio that makes you unique. 

How you define who/what they are, prioritize, leverage, expand and individualize is for you to decide.  More often than not, they are linked with your personal then professional goals.

We all have customers.  Our customers may be personal relationships, our boss, our patients, our clients, our shareholders, our readers ….. we all sell something.  What you sell could be solely yourself. 


What new technology does is create new opportunities to do a job that customers want done.
 Tim O’Reilly

Using the internet to expand your personal, professional or corporate relationships is key to grasping the profound impact that can unfold.

Admittedly, many perceptions relating to the internet is more often negative than positive, definitely a world with conflicting messages:  i.e. wasting time; job searching; keeping in touch, engaging in activities that you wouldn’t want your mother to know about. 

So you tip your toe into the pool to see what the temperature is like.  The temperature could really be what your pre-conceived notion of thinking it would be like, thus the reason you hesitated to begin with.  You could possibly have the same outlook towards the internet and that new term that swirls around you:  social media.    Whether you’re the aforementioned scientist or investor,  you truly have to investigate what it could possibly mean to you.

Voila!  There it is … all those things that you usually do, you still control the when, how, with who and what you learn,  all in the cost-effective (you’re not spending money attending a conference), environmentally friendly (think gas, airline fuel), informative, safe, comfortable environment of your home or office.    What about all the cool people you meet at the conference, chat with on the airplane?  Well, here’s the thing … if you could extrapolate all those benefits and call it social media, would you at least give it a whirl?


Okay, so you think you already have because you have signed on for Linked In and even use Facebook …. but aren’t you a bit more curious about uncovering what all the the fuss is about with Twitter and Blogs and Sharing?    Are you sticking your toe out now or are you a daredevil and going to swish your hand in the water?  The cool part is you’re not alone -- many start out with apprehension then discover the vast power that unfolds.  

Twitter is a powerful conduit that fuels the magical potency of social media (@optioneerjm #quote).  Think of it as graduating from high school or university with a PhD … you have your bio, but that is basically it.  You sign on, read up a bit, follow and hopefully follow back a few friends, even try a few “Tweets”  and think ok, this is boring.  You’ve tweeted and maybe even retweeted and sit there … this is still pretty boring, I should go back to Linked In or Facebook because at least there I know what I’m doing.

Think back then to networking or attending a conference.  In all likelihood you didn’t know anyone, if only a few.  I would hope you didn’t sit in a corner or just engage with those you knew.  Few of us are celebrities or have the luxury of being so controversial (if you want to call it that) you have to just announce yourself and immediately have one million followers.    Unfortunately, you’re going to have to do some work yourself.  First of all, what were your goals when you thought you’d try Twitter?

·       Expand network
·       Curiosity
·       Learn

The first thing I would recommend is latch onto someone that appears to know what they’re doing.  If all else fails, they will help you, introduce you to their “followers” and answer all your questions.  One of your first questions will be, I’m sure, when you look at your pitifull followers list, how do you get more followers?  You, my friend, have just stuck out more than a toe!  Congratulations!



Here is advice on how to magnify your experience:

·       Read what others are saying: follow their links, websites = pay attention
·       Interact with others = engage
·       Be yourself = authentic
·       Be positive, use the 140 characters to inspire
·       Value your followers
·       Be patient
·       Learn, learn, learn
·       Thank every new follower, treat them as though they’re your first one
·       Retweet articles, quotes, statements that you find interesting = helps to define who you are
·       Thank those who Retweet your quotes, statements or articles you post
·       Don’t be shy:  this is the world of equal playing field, everyone is anyone yet often someone
·       Be open minded:  the best discoveries are when you least expect them
·       Look for the like-minded:  those that share your interests, philosophy or goals
·       Be relevant:  your followers will depend on whether they share the same ideas
·       Be valuable:  Tweeting interesting thoughts, ideas, articles, sharing blogs
·       You don’t have to Tweet every hour or  day, but consistent presence helps promote engagement
·       Be helpful, solve a problem or question,
·       Click on #hastags on topics or interests = conversations on Twitter – you will meet likeminded
·       One of the biggest mis-conceptions is the amount of followers you have determines your success
·       The quality of your followers is what determines your social media influence
·       Be open to new ideas

In a nutshell, this is what you should focus on with Twitter or Social Media: 

·       Relevancy
·       Objectives
·       Engagement
·       Influence
·       Network

You may want to avoid tactics to keep your followers engaged:

·       Self-promotion (aka “spam”):  only Tweet about yourself – people eventually get bored
·       False pretense:  engage only to turn around it around towards yourself
·       Don’t focus on followers count, but on the quality of your followers

There are some no-brainers on who I would not follow or unFollow:

·       Tweet volume:  haven’t tweeted in more than a week or a month or more
·       Unfollow users who haven’t followed you back (unless they’re Donald Trump, etc.)
·       I’m leary of those with the default egg avatar instead of a profile image
·       No profile or bio information (unless you’re a celebrity you don’t have to)
·       Suggestive images or names
·       Exception:  Some applications require that you access via Twitter.

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.  
Elbert Hubbard

If your using Twitter corporately, Weber Shandwick prescribed five essential steps as a starting point for Fortune 100 companies to create true engagement and market interaction on Twitter http://www.webershandwick.com/resources/ws/flash/Twittervention_Study.pdf

·       Listen to conversations
·       Participate in conversations
·       Update frequently with valuable information
·       Reply to people who talk about issues that are important to your company
·       Retweet relevant content

A poll on MSN April 23, 2011 .... When did you get on Twitter?

Thanks for being one of the first people to vote. Results will be available soon. Check for results
  1. 2 %
    Over 2 years ago
    84 votes
  2. 4 %
    About 1-2 years ago
    202 votes
  3. 6 %
    In the past year
    305 votes
  4. 88 %
    I am not on Twitter4,363 votes
Total Responses: 4,954
Not scientifically valid. Results are updated every minute.