A social media journey

Who knew what would follow when I launched this blog optioneerJM five years ago?  I remember how it came about:  My mentor and friend Donna deMan insisted that I get on board Linked In to introduce myself, open myself to career opportunities, reconnect with those I had lost touch with, and get "with it" on social media. 


Linked In

Like anything to do with social media, you don't just be there.  You have to embrace it, blend in and become active to gain the value it presents.  So I did.  I had quite a few years experience in sales and digital printing, so it wasn't too surprising that I hovered around sales groups before I jumped in.  After all, it was pretty underwhelming.  All I had to do was write about my opinion on matters others were embraced in.  What happened was, my opinion was valued, my experiences I shared were welcome.  I started to meet people.  One of the first was Mike Lehr when I commented on career advice.  Not before long, we were messaging and exchanging information after he voted and commended my comments..... he seemed to know what he was doing and had a esteemed background in intuition and even authored books on the topic. 

Shortly after, in a Digital Printing group I connected with Sandy Hubbard.  We had similar careers with printing and magazines so it wasn't surprising that she became a mentor and champion.  Sandy was a publisher and writer and encouraged my viewpoint so I thought "what the heck" I will start a Blog about sales and draw from what I had commented on in Linked In to get started.  The thought was, if it is good enough for sales types, it may be good enough for the whole world wide web.


What drove my curiosity was why was there such a fuss about "Social Media"?  I admit I was skeptical and stubborn:  I didn't want to be associated with or thought of as a time waster online.  Donna encouraged and convinced me to get on Twitter.  I had come up with the pseudonym optioneerJM by then, getting a lot of direct questions what an optioneer was?  The explanation seemed natural and easy to answer:  "An optioneer provides multiple solutions then executes to solve the problems, while gaining buy in from others."  It seemed logical:  option with re-engineering to come up with option-eer combining both. 


Twitter

I hung my handle on Twitter, linking my blog, and primarily using it as a gateway to drive attention to my blog.  It became so much more.  Sandy Hubbard was a pro and tucked me onto her side and showed me around:  First stop was a group of early adopters on social media called #USGuys.  I was thrilled.  I was starting to get some momentum to my thinking that if you can't wrap your head around something, find out why that is.  Research, read, absorb.  So I did.  Thankfully, they opened their arms and let me into the club (it isn't a club by any stretch of the imagination).  A group of people that were not only had a large following individually, but also many had started to leverage their knowledge to launch their own expertise as business opportunities.

My dog Buddy

Facebook

Admittedly, I did have a Facebook profile for family and friends AND GAMES.  I was uncomfortable letting others know that I fooled around on Farmville and Yoville, with the exception of my sister and good friend Allison Tasker.  What amazed me was on the page, the ladies whom I connected with didn't just share crates of vegetables to expand your farm.  I noticed how they shared recipes, quotes, sayings and found causes like domestic abuse, bullying and missing children.  I was turning my head around on the expansive reach of Facebook, collaborating with my new found friends from across the globe. 

I had the optioneerJM persona established by then, thus I expanded to include a Facebook Page.  I started to think that some of my tweets that were nuggets captured and shared may be of value by encompassing them on Facebook.  I discovered that many of my awesome friends from Twitter were active on Facebook and it was more intimate.  Many of my friends, like Joseph Gier and Libby Sweiger were active on Facebook and I got to learn and appreciate more about them as people by their posts. 

I was a keener by now.  No holding back.  In fact, I was a social media enthusiast.  So much so, I became a social media Evangualist, singing its praises and the wonderment of all that could be gained.  Mike Lehr caught on, set up his profiles, with me giving him hints in the background.  Almost immediately, not only was Mike embraced, he was guest blogging for some of the gurus from #USGuys.  Mike didn't need to be convinced that it was a marvelous adventure.  In fact, Mike's Blog was my first of a select few to follow of Blogs I followed, credited as such on my blog.  He was very kind and reciprocated.  That taught me one of the first lessons:  help others while being conscious of whether they appreciate it and acknowledge it by sharing back.

Google Plus, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr

I was a late bloomer to Google Plus, but the logic stood out.  I applied the same reasoning of why I used Google's BlogSpot to host my Blog.  If you want to increase your presence in social media, you can't go wrong with putting big brother Google behind your efforts.

I can't remember how I stumbled upon Pinterest, but it became an addition for my visual appetite.  I loved looking at wonderful photographs, art and images.  There is an abundance of stimuli there.  Along with recipes, how to, decorating, quotes and a multitude of many other things.  I got on board and immediately recognized what a great way to capture the things you loved and those you admired under a synopsis called Pinterest. 

I like images and quotes.  I started to marry the two, sometimes creating my own quote, other times borrowing from the well known or obscure.  Regardless, the visuals are usually beautiful . I play with InstaGRAM a little, admittedly, mostly to see what my kids are sharing.  It is fun, flamboyant and brilliantly impulsive.  I still keep it toned down compared to the others, but there is a lot to be said about the plethora of images there.  It was a no brainer to get on to Tumblr for the same reason.  I can discover fantastic images, to be shared on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

I'm honored to have made a lot of talented and remarkable connections.  Every day I log on any of the sites, I learn something and more than likely share something else.  My reputation and brand as optioneerJM has evolved from that.  Quite simple.  Very remarkable.

I will be writing a Gratitude blog shortly to personalize and thank those that helped and inspired me to be a better social media citizen to commemorate my five years on social media, starting May 2010.

Sales top performers

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is.  A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

~ Wayne Gretzky

I'm perplexed and pondering on the direction to stay the course with my blog.  When I started blogging, it was clear to me to share my knowledge accumulated from 20 plus years of successful sales results.  I thought perhaps others would be interested in what I did or how I thought I may have done things differently to gain the notoriety and claim to fame I did in sales.  I took a look at most of the infamous sales bloggers, trainers and professional online coaches out there in 2010.

I began my journey by just telling it like it is.  Of course, attempting to take  into account, most people think sales folk are braggarts, boosted egos and smooth talkers.  I didn't think, nor did my career seem to prove,  that in order to be successful in sales you had unique and different qualities of mass perception.

The qualities of success in sales, in my opinion, in my own path, seem to prove otherwise.  I uphold my stand .. those that are successful in sales put their customer first, their organization second, and themselves last.  Ironically, they end up being first, their customer second and organizations second and their personal lives last.  Ultimately, their results uphold them first with their company, first with their customers to the detriment of their personal lives.

"Every strike brings me closer to the other home run."

~Babe Ruth

So how does one manage such a split expectation?   How do you balance the needs of your company, take care of your customers' wants while being considered among the best?  Great question.

Most top performers do it instinctively.  Even more, have a passion for serving their customers.  The top tier take care of their customers while ultimately understanding the needs of their organization.  Unfortunately, those same people are bench marked as high achievers.  To the demise of their colleague relationships, personal life balance.

What drives them?  Another great question.  The desire to be the best?  Sorta,... to be sure.  To see their name at the top of the marquee,...probably.  To have their competitors know their name,... very likely.  To be the first name their customer(s) think of when they have a problem to be solved or a need to be solved ... definitely, not a maybe, so.

Many organizations, sales cultures, try to examine their best performers into predictive metrics for hiring.  Often resulting in not achieving the ultimate utopia in sales personality or performance.  Why is it so difficult?

I would say because there is disconnect between the organizational culture, the human resources hiring process, the sales management process and the evaluation metrics.  

Call it an instinct.  Think about it.  Companies outsource the hiring to a third party "Sales #1 Recruiting Organization" with impressive power points, convincing story, with impressive credentials of the person or those assigned to deliver the perfect candidates on a silver platter. 

 I think back to asking one of my greatest mentors and examples Jim T***, when he had moved on and I asked to get together with him in panic, gasping that I had just been assigned the responsibility of hiring and managing a sales team.  

Jim's advice?  Hire em, train em and send them out into a territory, then watch them like a hawk.  That is probably the operative most organizations use for their sales force.  Some with bigger pockets will have a third party do the hiring, a third party consultant establish the metrics and then an under trained sales manager manage by metrics.  Least of their qualities is how to motivate an achiever,   (Unless they examine the best professional coaches on how to extract the highest achievement from their players.  Egos, financial reward, notoriety, distractions aside.)

I imagine if I didn't have the mentoring I had, the patience allowed me, nor brutal metrics to compare me with, I would never have tested the waters, got into the groove and figured out instinctively what questions to ask, who to speak to, and how to establish customers' evaluation and continuation of business as the true metrics.

The best of the best understand all of the matters aforementioned.  They ultimately hold the desires of their personal lives foremost.  That may be shocking to many.  The best strive to meet goals in their personal lives that they understand sales can allow them to achieve.  Besides the risk of entrepreneurship, savvy sales professionals strive to put their family and goals first, knowing instinctively that exceeding their companies sales goals, how they fit into that picture, matches their personal goals.

The ultimate achievers get it that they will not meet any of those goals without having customer advocates.  The only way they can have advocates is by asking the right questions, solving the right problems, fixing the right issues to the exceptional satisfaction of their customers.

It is like playing dominoes.  One cannot fall into place with the others without everything being held in place and then continue on in succession and with consistency.  

So go ahead, hire those consultants.  Use those clever diagnostics to predict the outcome of a candidate.  Realistically, like sifting sand to leave only a minuet grains left, that is what your sales predictably leaves you with.  

There is no magically formula.  The best of the best exude metrics, diagnostics and examinations.  They are unique.  They know who they are.  Do you?

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort."

~Franklin D. Roosevelt

All about me

"All I can do is be me, whoever that is."

~Bob Dylan

Goodness gracious, another birthday behind me.  Good times, glad tidings and all that crap.  Seriously, though .... why do we make such a major event of birthday's to begin with?  

Starting with our first birthday ... who is it really for?  Not the child who is given birthday cake without mom or dad feeding it to them with a spoon.  What else would you expect other than the child scooping it up with their hands to help themselves.  That's the beauty of being so young, if you want it, you simply help yourself.   Our memory probably serves to remind us that we were always taught and used our manners:

Those first birthday photos really are taken by and for the parents, not the child.  Who wants to be humiliated in their teens, 40th birthday or wedding day when they appear in a slideshow back drop for a big event!

I'm lucky.  I was the third of four children.  I would imagine my parents were just thankful assemble us all to celebrate!  Yeppers, that was the 60s.  Now it's about who can take the the best photo and load first on Facebook.



I do have to admit that I did get a resounding 27 messages from Linked In sending birthday wishes my way -- I like how Linked In provides its users with innovative ways to keep in touch, like birthday wishes, new jobs, new photos.  Responsible me, I personally wrote and thanked every single person who did.  Even the ones that just used the feature, it was the thought that count.  (Hint:  at least drop the last name before you send so it doesn't look so impersonal).  It was in responding I asked others why bother celebrating birthdays once you pass a "certain" age?  I decided then and there, it should be all about celebrating life!


I admit I was born in the 1960s because it was a cool time to be born.   It was time when humanity was breaking out of conformity, taking a stand on just about anything and many traditions seemed old.   Maybe that is why I adored Mad Men.   Not only is there a fixation and fascination with the 60s culture, those of us born in the era were given a gift of insight on the times and what was going on in the background.  Most likely,  I was starting to think of myself as an individual and not an extension of my parents, siblings, or teachers.  

"Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine."

~Elvis Presley

My parents were born in the 1930s, post depression. They may have been guided by needs that were more often a struggle to be met.  Then came along the 60s, when it turned around to being about wants. Many believed that the 60s was the dawn of a golden era: the future promised peace, comfort and prosperity.  Couples had larger families, drove larger cars and just about anything bigger was acceptable back then.  

The 1960s has often been defined as the "Me" generation.  I suppose it stemmed from our parents wanting to have and give us everything.  We were expected to have manners, treat elders with respect and do well in school so we went to university or college without questioning how it would be done.   We really didn't seem to have to worry about cancer, gun violence, abortion, foreclosure, unemployment and becoming pregnant before marriage was scandalized.  Even our politicians seemed to be honest --  on January 20, 1961, the handsome and charismatic John F. Kennedy became president of the United States.

"Don't compromise yourself.  You are all you've got."

 ~Janis Joplin

Women started leaving the home in droves to work and earn their own pay cheque.  Our moms wanted her children of the 60s to embrace and go beyond the opportunities they could never dream of.  Not really a wonder so many of us turned out to be perfectionists driven to succeed at all costs - our health, marriages, family relationships.  

Janis Joplin's 1965 Porsche 356 Cabriolet

Historians have said described the 60s as being the ten years having the most significant changes in history. By the end of the 60s humanity had entered the spaceage by putting a man on the moon. The 60s were influenced by the youth of the post-war baby boom - a generation with a fondness for change and "far-out gadgets".  

Let's take a stroll and  highlight inventions of the decade:

• Valium (1961)
• Nondairy creamer (1961)
• Audio cassette (1962)
• Fiber-tip pen (1962)
• The first computer video game Spacewar (1962)
• Dow Corp invents silicone breast implants (1962)
• The video disk (1963)
• Acrylic paint (1964)
• Permanent-press fabric (1964)
• BASIC (an early computer language)  by John George Kemeny and Tom Kurtz (1964)
• Astroturf (1965)
• Soft contact lenses (1965)
• NutraSweet (1965)
• The compact disk by James Russell (1965)
• Kevlar  by Stephanie Louise Kwolek (1965)
• Electronic Fuel injection for cars (1966)
• The first handheld calculator (1967)
• The computer mouse  by Douglas Engelbart (1968)
• The first computer with integrated circuits made (1968)
•  RAM (random access memory) by Robert Dennard (1968)
• The arpanet (first internet) (1969)
• The artificial heart (1969)
• The ATM Automated Teller Machine (1969)
• The bar-code scanner (1969)

There were several other major gains made in the 1960s that impact us today.  1960-64 transcended the Civil Rights movement.   Feminism and women liberation became significant.  

"Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase."

~Martin Luther King Jr.

Musically, the 60s had some of the most influential artists and music of all time.  Think back and reflect on some of our greatest discoveries:

• Aretha Franklin "Respect" (1971)
• Beach Boys "I Get Around" (1964)
• Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (1964)
• Ben E. King "Stand by Me" (1961)
• Bob Dylan "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965)
• Chubby Checker "The Twist" (1960)
• Creedence Clearwater Revival "Bad Moon Rising" (1969)
• Diana Ross and The Supremes "Where Did Our Love Go" (1964)
• Doors "Light My Fire" (1967)
• Elvis Presley "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (1960)
• Janis Joplin "Piece of my Heart" (1967)
• Jimi Hendrix "All Along the Watchtower" (1968)
• Led Zepplin "Communications Breakdown" (1969)
• Marvin Gaye "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" (1968)
• Ray Charles "Georgia on my Mind" (1960)
• Rolling Stones "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965)
• Roy Orbison "Crying" (1961)
• Sam Cooke "(What A) Wonderful World" (1960)
• Simon and Garfunkel "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1969)
• Stevie Wonder "Fingertips Pt. 2" (1963)
• Tina Turner "River Deep, Mountain High" (1966)
• The Who "I Can See For Miles" (1967)

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to reflect, research and write this post that is personal.  I have to congratulate myself -- I was able to steer clear of any whining about getting older.  I am thankful that I came from the golden generation of the 60s decade.  

Did I forget a fond 1960s memory or one of your favorite artists?   We can fix that:  go ahead and comment, have your say!