Who is the influence?

It doesn't matter whether you are an individual, an identity (music), or brand, you can carefully craft your audience based on who resonates the most with you.

Something I discovered lately:  the masters of algorithms like GOOGLE, TWITTER, LINKED IN are identifying content creators as the next big influence wave.

Maybe I had that hunch 10 years ago.  I recognized how important it was to establish an identity that could be synonymous with brand.  There was no question who was behind the brand.  It would develop a following because of integrity and authenticity.

I wrote early on, that I was putting a lot of my apples on the GOOGLE cart.  It seemed logical that the super power of information > GOOGLE SEARCH > was going to lead the pack.

If you compare that to TESLA and ELON MUSK, then we're missing the point.

The strongest voice, the most authentic voice, and the voice that resonates with the majority of people online are going to be the most powerful disruptions.

These entities are corporations with investors and shareholders that demand a return on their investment.  Fast.  No hassle.

I've watched both Facebook and Twitter evolve as they tried to drift away from a social network to becoming a viable tech stock.

The secret to longevity is going to be who lasts.

What has happened with these two startups with imposter's syndrome is they forgot the main course.

In launching any new venture, you have to be able to answer, unequivocally, succinctly, resolutely 

Who is your customer?
The ship can sail once you've anchored that

Most companies mistakenly steer the ship towards shareholders and miss the wind for their sails.

Okay, then let me ask:

Who did you have in mind when you created it?

We should all be well-versed on Steve Jobs' and Bill Gates philosophies, however, the main opportunity they uncovered was looking at who their customers were and what was available to them, and make something better, easier.

My point is that Twitter and Facebook did exactly that:  

Forgot who the customers is

The idea that resonated to allow either to grow was the adopters, users, and spreaders of word-of-mouth (still the most effective way of spreading good ... or bad news).  Social Media just trumped it up on steroids and removed barriers by beliefs, geographic location, race, culture, love interests.

As a consumer and marketing intern, it is not surprising to see the numbers.

They tell the story.

Once Facebook and Twitter tried to become corporations, they fell down the rabbit hole because they forgot who got them there to begin with.

One just has to watch not even 5 minutes of Facebook's Zuckenberg interviews in the US, and you just can't help but get the sense of a really lucky genius idea run by someone still in High School.  Someone who ignores advice or heeds wisdom from others.

The baby shoes is starting something.

The first steps is becoming an economical climate or environment with a loyal following who have trust that they have your best interests at heart.

FACEBOOK abuse of trust is a story of "how to get away with privacy infiltration".

I'm still there:  it is still one of the best homes to my loyal tribe.  I haven't cut off my nose to spite my face by deleting myself there.  I did remove the side, personal one as I wanted to focus the energy on only a few areas.

TWITTER abuse of power is a story where they are now trying to dictate who and who cannot be on their platform.  What is acceptable in their terms are not necessarily good for its users.  PURGING, SUSPENDING accounts would be an example.

ONCE users start to lose the glimmer then the answer to who the customer is becomes realized:  the users, members, audience and clicks determine the outcomes now.  What is becoming more suspect is the usual technology trick of try me, test me, but if you want this or that THAT IS better it will cost you.

That's a failed business plan
The one where shareholder price or value is where they determine the executive board's ROI return on investment of the CEO and whether they stand behind mostly him (less than 10% of executives on Fortune 500 are women).

Team work makes the dreams work

When you are collaborating on a team, use technology and tools. For example:

*Messenger ~ Group or team where everyone shows available or in meeting, a conference call, whatever yet many people multi-tasks; tip: if you are presenting facts, your team can be on standby during an online presentation, having your back, everyone sings from the same song sheet

*SHAREPoint: Meeting Minutes, Agenda, Attendance, Next Steps, Pending, Approval Processes, Process maps, org charts, roles/responsibility, defined permissions; deadlines; completion - can evolve as "Best Practices" or "Case Studies"

*INTRAnet: internal site should be slick, informative, updated frequently, avoid only blog from CEO, leadership commendations, success stories and recommendations constantly updated; include stock price, stock movements, industry news, customer awards or partnerships or vendor changes

*INTERNAL social site: focus on ideas or improvement or brainstorming, opinions or questions. ENSURE it is not next-tier supervisors who stalk people by making their presence known by answering the question or asking for clarification to a direct report~subtle form of intimidation is what that reeks of

*CRMs Customer Relationship Management systems that aid collaboration and avoids the customer having to tell the same story over and over and over again before the same person becomes accountable, does the follow up, and checks with customer on satisfaction - it could generate an email to the customer account manager - which would generate a personal call requirement - which is monitored by sales managers during weekly one-on-ones to avoid gaps or gaping holes

*GROUP Screen Share Pages work really well when sharing the screen with others visualizes and emphasizes. Group sharing is effective when the presenter is using power point slides and often allow comments as chat in boxes; it works wonder on collaboration and problem solving.

*TELECONFERENCE CALLS should be scheduled weekly or monthly with consistency, agenda sent out beforehand (or posted on SharePoint or Intranet Site), confirming attendance, a note taker or minutes scribe. When used with other share technology, it can be very effective, especially among remote workers, consultants, project managers, HR, training, etc.

Because of the foregoing selection, you may decide against a video conference call which limits multitasking and can be awkward or intimidating. (My opinion)

NOTE: If you are screen sharing, turn off your MESSENGER and email notifications as they distract viewers.

ENSURE everyone has an opportunity to speak: round table works well.

TABLE discussions that are going sideways. SCHEDULE side discussions or move to the next call's agenda, depending upon priority.

ENSURE the facilitator is organized. That's what Agendas are for and even stronger when time allotment is noted.

You should be your own voice

Original art by moi:  (c) Jeannette Marshall aka @optioneerjm @postingfromedge

EXCEPTIONAL commentary on sales and startups

EXECUTED with intellect and class

EXUDES confidence & competence

Been there, done that, myself

I just didn't nail the story as well as you just have

Keep writing, please!

@DieterDanner

LINK TO POST on +LinkedIn @LinkedIn

For #MentalStrength

Having strong coping skills helps i.e. exercise, listen to music, creative endeavors

Being able to accomplish a lot under tight deadlines because the right people are in the right roles

Stakeholder value, nor executive, nor investor, nor employee's value are greater than others.

Recognition stems from accomplishments.

People skills > team building

Communicates with authenticity >own voice

Connected > those in the know

Manages their own reputation > online and off