LinkedIn is Like Social Media Training Wheels…
LinkedIn can be like training wheels for business people who are new to online social networking.
photo credit: woodleywonderworks
Familiarity + Control. A feeling of control + familiarity can make someone new to social networking feel safer at LinkedIn than, say, jumping in to the “rougher terrain” of FaceBook and Twitter. The concept of “online resume” is grounded in the familiar, increasing the comfort level of participation. The executive who posts a profile has control over the content and the connections and recommendations he or she accepts. No one is likely to get past the gate if they say something negative or unflattering!
Where the Training Wheel Metaphor Ends. I’ve met with business people who are extremely connected on LinkedIn — they’re using this tool, and using it well. Other social networking sites hold little interest for them. FaceBook and Twitter seem frivilous and even dangerous. This is where the safety “training wheels” metaphor ends — these executives may have started tentatively on LinkedIn, but they have put their focus boldly on building and strengthening relationships within this powerful network.
Starting in Rougher Terrain… I’ve also met with seasoned business people this year who started their online social networking on FaceBook — usually at the behest of their adult children! Many of these people, surprisingly, have never even heard of LinkedIn. When I did a brief demo of LinkedIn to an executive who had been regularly interacting with his family on FaceBook last month, he exclaimed, “My Goodness! It’s Like FaceBook for Business!”
Different Entry Points. People have entered the world of online social networking from many different perspectives! Many I have talked with usually start with a technology (LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc.) instead of a business objective. They enter, play, gain experience with the technology, and then the synapses start to spark — “Hey! How can I use this to grow or strengthen my business?”
Where did you begin your online social networking journey? How has it grown? And how have you strengthened your relationships over time?
Have you left your training wheels behind? How are you navigating trickier terrains?
Move Over Blogs: Here Comes Lifestreaming
Every few years or so, a new online technology insinuates its way into popular culture. In 2003, I kept reading and hearing about “blogs”. In 2007, the world was all a-”Twitter”. FaceBook, LinkedIn, YouTube — these social media channels are all part of the pop culture landscape.
When I hear these terms to a major extent, I begin to play the part of a cultural anthropologist. I immerse myself in these online cultures, in order to better understand them. With degrees in Sociology and Telecommunication, I’ll note that I’m not an anthropologist. I only play one online. But my interest and background in Sociology and Telecommunications compel me to participate in these online cultures.
I began blogging in 2003, and immersed myself in a Twitter experiment in 2007. I have a YouTube channel, with over 25 videos, one of which has over 350,000 views and a 4.5 star rating with over 580 ratings. I also play at FaceBook, FriendFeed, podcasting, LinkedIn and a few other online channels where I can connect with people and ideas. I learn through experience.
Today, I hear much buzz about lifestreaming — and so with great fascination, I began a one-month lifestreaming experiment at bergells.com. Instead of posting here at my blog — for the entire month of July, I posted at my new Posterous lifestream. For me, this has represented something of a bend in the flow, or the stream of content.
photo credit: Steve & Jemma Copley
But, let’s back up. What’s a lifestream? If we search Google Definitions, we get:
Lifestreaming is the practice of collecting an online user’s disjointed online presence in one central location or site.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestreaming
How does that look? Let’s say you blog. And you’re active on FaceBook. And Twitter. And YouTube. And Delicious. And maybe a couple dozen other social networking sites….
That’s the “disjointed” part of the above definition. Lifestreaming attempts to bring it all together, in one online home base.
How?
At the moment, I see two different online approaches.
- Bringing it all in. If you already have a home base — say, a blog — you can bring in all of your other online activities through a widget or plugin. Every post you make to Twitter or FaceBook, for example, can be “streamed in” with plugins like the SimpleLife Wordpress plugin, which lets you aggregate your lifestream as a widget (sidebar) or separate page.
- Pushing it all out. Lifestream platforms like posterous or tumblr allow you to easily post content. When you post, you can choose to cross-publish this content to dozens of online services — and it all happens automatically. For example, every post that I publish at my posterous lifestream can update my Twitter and FaceBook Status. If I have a video attached to my post, Posterous can update my YouTube Channel. If I have an image, Posterous will post it to FlickR. Posterous can instruct Delicious to bookmark the post — and so on. In this way, Posterous positions itself as the centralized “hub” for your online content.
Of course, when I write that there are two different approaches, I’m bound to discover a mashup of the two. For example, Steve Rubel of PR firm Edelman abandoned his popular MicroPersuasion Blog. Over 5 years of blog posts remain archived online for your reviewing pleasure — but Mr. Rubel tells the world that blogging feels “old”. And that publishing today is all about the “flow“.
I’ll admit — I’m fascinated with lifestreaming. In one short month, I’ve found enormous benefits to posting at Posterous. I’m not ready to abandon blogging quite yet — but I suspect the time will come.
Already, I find — through cultural immersion — that Mr. Rubel has a point. Blogging does feel “old”. The technology backbone makes it easier to post at Posterous than through Blogger or WordPress (yes, I’ve tested it.) The sheer connectedness of lifestreaming to other online networks feels like the beginning of pulling disjointed ideas and communities together. It feels more holistic.
If that sounds new-age, hippy-trippy, I suspect that’s because it is. Don’t forget, I’m new at this lifestreaming business. I have only slightly over a month of it under my belt. To learn more about lifestreaming, I ironically recommend the following blog posts:
- Blogging Versus Lifestreaming
- The Future of Blogging Revealed
- Should People Kill Their Blogs in Favor of Lifestreaming?
What about you? What are your thoughts on lifestreaming v. blogging?
How to Build — or Erode — Your Personal Brand
A student asks a wonderful personal branding question. I’ll paraphrase:
“How can you project a personal brand online without coming off as arrogant? If all you do is go online and brag about yourself and how wonderful you are, doesn’t that make “arrogant, self-absorbed, narcissistic jerk” a big part of your personal brand?”
photo credit: probabilistic
To help answer the question, let me give you an example. Let’s say you’ve decided to project a personal brand that embodies the characteristics of “Smart. Funny. Friendly.”
How to Erode Your Personal Brand. So, what can you do to erode your personal brand online? Well, you can persistently repeat, “Hey, I’m smart. I’m witty, too. And I’m a terrific friend.”
Because, you know, that’s not smart.
And it’s not funny or friendly.
It’s jerky braggadocio.
What to try instead. So what can you do to positively project your chosen brand characteristics of smart, funny, and friendly? Why, you can publish posts that are — well, smart and funny! You can point to others’ posts that are witty, as well. You can also interact with your community in a tone and voice that exudes friendliness.
How it might play out. So let’s say that’s the personal brand building strategy you decide to deploy. You publish smart and funny posts. You point to other people’s smart and funny contributions. You keep a consistently friendly, positive, and upbeat tone. Over time, perhaps other people in your community will come to appreciate your contributions. You may find them saying,
“Hey. You’re smart. You’re witty. You’re friendly.”
After all, your personal brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what other people say it is!
Bottom line? Don’t repetitively tell me what your brand characteristics are. Demonstrate your brand through consistent thoughts, images, tones, and interactions.
How else do you build — or erode — your brand?
Social Media for Business: 8 Ways to Get Smart
When it comes to using social media for business, I often run into two camps of people. One camp views social media as a threat, and another camp views it as an opportunity.
- Those in the threat camp have an alarming tendency to put knee-jerk policies into place. “No employees will be allowed to have FaceBook or LinkedIn profiles. Absolutely no Twittering. If you blog, use a pseudonym, and under no circumstances will you identify yourself as an employee of XYZ company.” (Yes, really. Well, pretty close, anyway!)
- Those in the opportunity camp also have an alarming tendency to hurl themselves zealously into a zillion different social media activities, without any thought to potential communication, brand, employee, or reputation implications. “We just learned how to get 2,000 new followers every day! We’re popular!” (Well, popular with spammers, anyway!)
Those in the middle. Fortunately, I also come across folks in the middle of these two extremes. I meet a growing number of business people who understand that social media represents a huge opportunity for their organizations. They are also concerned about how reckless use of social media may lead to a damaged reputation or brand. They realize that without policy for acceptable use, it can be a major resource drain.
photo credit: h.koppdelaney
The Social Media Balance Challenge. These smart business people invest in growing their organization’s social media literacy. They realize a major shift is fundamentally changing the way they do business. They know that social media isn’t just a marketing thing, it’s not an HR thing, or a customer service thing — it’s an “everybody” thing. Appropriate social media use needs to be embedded into every aspect the the organization.
Here are 8 ways the smart organization proceeds with using social media for business:
- They listen before they talk.
- They do not participate in goofy social media marketing schemes.
- They update their HR and communications policies to include appropriate employee use of social media channels.
- Their brand guides include an employee section on appropriate tone and image to use in social media channels.
- They build real relationships through authentic conversations.
- They outline consequences for employees when they fail to live up to policy guidelines.
- They do not outsource social media activities to marketing agencies.
- They invest in employee training (after all, employees need to know more than how to use the technology, many also need communications training!)
Undoubtedly, there are more activities than the 8 listed here. What else does your organization do to successfully navigate the sometimes tricky tributaries of social media channels?
Listen Until It Hurts. And Beyond!
Your company’s first step with social media?
Listening.
(Listening is also known as “social media monitoring.)
And 90 days from now, guess what? You’ll still be listening! Still monitoring.
A year from now? Still listening!
Oh, you’ll be doing more than just listening in a year — maybe you’ll be interacting and energizing, too! But ongoing listening is at the very heart of your corporate communication strategy.
In fact, your first 30 days of organized social media monitoring should lead the way for developing a much tighter, stronger, and effective organizational communication strategy.
When I work with companies on developing social media strategy and communication policies, I recommend that the company listen first for 30 days. By this, I mean that someone in each business unit (HR, Customer Service, Engineering, Manufacturing, Marketing, Finance, etc.) needs to first learn the basic how-to’s of monitoring internet chatter — and then set about to the task of listening for at least 30 days.
After these structured 30 days, we can meet again to discuss what we’ve been learning. By listening first and noting comments and trends along the way, an organization is in a better position to map communication strategy and policy.
I’ve only recently used the term — “listen until it hurts…and beyond”. While the first 30 days of organized, strategic listening can enormously expand organizational learning about customers and markets — what if the company listens for 30 days and only hears good news — or no news?
Keep listening.
Listen until it hurts…and beyond.
After 30 days, one of the questions I ask is, “What have you been hearing online about your brand that you don’t like?”
Often, I’ll hear about a well-intentioned employee who is responding inelegantly to customers and prospects in social media channels. That can be painful — but this pain helps a company uncover key policy points — who are the company spokespeople? What is an appropriate tone and image for responding in social media channels?
I might also hear about a chronic online brand complainer — noisy, irritating, negative. How do we deal with online brand haters?
But I also might hear clients say, “Nothing. We haven’t heard anything bad. So we’re good.”
Hey — keep listening!
Listen until it hurts…and beyond.
PS — How your organization responds to negativity can be a defining moment for your brand. Watch for the pain. Be vigilant. Pain is not a nice friend, but pain can be your very good and helpful friend!
Why Monitor at Google Video?
When almost everyone has a video cell phone, sometimes the CEO gets caught doing something in public that needs some explaining!
Or, perhaps your brand fans are rolling out product videos and tagging them with your name. Or maybe brand haters are showcasing your product in strange ways…
Try searching for your company name, CEO’s name, and product names at video.google.com.
You’ll get more than YouTube results – video.google.com delivers videos that may be posted on 100’s of sites you never heard of in your life.
PS — what if no one has posted a single video about your company (or your social media expert!) on the entire internet? Highly unlikely! But if you don’t have at least one video about your company somewhere online — face it. You’ve got no buzz!
Go out and get yourself some online video buzz today!
Are You A Twitter Artist?
So. Are you a Twitter artist?
Twitter is a new medium. No question.
And like any medium, people can use it to create art and build community.
photo credit: Torley
What’s up with this image?
Think 1922, Paul Klee.
It’s no coincidence that Twitter came to be in an era of economic uncertainty.
Many use this simple new tool to build a community around ideas and emotions. They’re reaching out to others. They’re expressing themselves. They’re creating new social groups.
These people are the Twitter Artists.
When centralized mass media outlets cherry-pick stories to tell us how others are feeling, we are often led to believe these outlier feelings are mainstream and normal.
But when we read first-person narratives of the life that occurs in between the big stories, we tend to see a more finely nuanced portrait.
Twitter artists provide this nuance. Tweet by tweet, they create a portrait. Their perspectives provide a balance.
Are you a Twitter artist? Or do you know someone who is? Who are they?
(I really want to know! Please comment…)
Business Cards: Only One Number, Please.
Give people ONE contact number on your personal or business card. Maybe two.
But not three. Not four.
It seems I’ve read at least 3 articles this month advising people to put every possible contact number on their business cards! Yikes!
photo credit: justgrimes
Um, no. Don’t do that. Here are three reasons why:
- You have the technology. When you leave the office, transfer your phone to your cell. When you give clients ONE number to call, you reduce confusion and frustration. You make it easier for people to reach you. This demonstrates that you are customer-focused. It also shows that you have a grip on current communication technology.
- Reduce voicemail frustration. If clients get your voicemail, it means you’re not available. This means they don’t have to call yet another number, only to get another voicemail, only to leave a redundant message — that you also have to listen to — twice. With one number, everyone saves time & frustration.
- Make it simple. It’s easier for clients to remember one number. And it makes your business card look clean and less cluttered. Now, you may argue, “But Laura, now I have to remember to forward my phone every time I leave the office! That makes it harder for ME!”
Get used to it. It’s not about you, and showing off all your fancy numbers. It’s about your customers, and making THEIR lives simpler.
Capish?
Discover Your Personal Brand
Here is this week’s most oft-asked question:
“In social media, how do you separate your personal life from your professional life?”
photo credit: Kelly Hau Photography
The questioners explain that they thought LinkedIn was professional and FaceBook was personal — but now that people are using FaceBook for professional reasons — what is one to do? (And what about separating Twitter accounts: one for personal, one for professional?)
The answer: Think in terms of your “personal brand.”
What is your brand personality? Quick! Name your three personal brand attributes. Don’t know what they are? Find your personal brand attributes with an easy exercise! In branding exercises, we know that “your brand is what people say it is.” Find out what your customers, prospects, and markets are saying about you — that’s your personal brand. Balance this with the image you’d like to project to the world.
When you know your personal brand attributes cold, go to FaceBook. (Or LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, your blog, et. al.)
Before you post hastily, ask yourself,
“Is the content I’m about to post consistent with my personal brand attributes?”
If it isn’t, don’t post!
Your brand is what people say it is. You may not like it, but when you participate in social media, you have a personal brand.
Choose to present your brand wisely! Future employers are listening. Your customers are listening. Your prospects are listening.
Represent!
Be yourself!
Be your best self.
Who Do You Trust? People or Corporations?
When you’re interested in buying something online, you become an information junkie!
But where are savvy internet shoppers going to search for purchasing information? Google — or Twitter?
This 3+ minute video explains an important social media trend for customers and companies. You may not be searching for product information and reviews at Twitter yet — but many people are. And many people will.
It’s all about trust. What does your gut tell you: to trust interactive, social comments from real people and friends– or static corporate promotional content that you find on web sites?
I posed this question on Twitter and FaceBook. Specifically, I asked, “Are you more likely to ask Google or Twitter when you’re looking for purchasing information?”
Not surprisingly, those who are not active on Twitter answered “Google!”
What about you? Where do you turn when you look for online purchasing information? Where do your customers and prospects look for information? (Are you there?)
And what will the future hold?
