Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’
Social Media Random Acts of Kindness
You frequently hear of people doing the most generous things in your community, and you can’t help wondering why it doesn’t happen more often. I think it does but we don’t hear about most of them, we hear about the high profile stuff, the things that glorify individuals or an organization. In general people think you have to be a Christian or a Missionary to do acts of kindness, you couldn’t be more wrong! I can say this because I am a Christian, but I wasn’t one for 34 years and I can tell you I have seen many great people and not so great people do things that wow you.
You’ve heard on the news of people saving lives, street people jumping into rivers to save people, those heroic people. What about, well, you and me? Just everyday folks who get up in the morning, go to work and then come home and rest up to do it all over again. These individuals are caring loving people to, they may show it in many various ways but it’s in each one of us.
Our church, or should I say some everyday people held an Oil Change for Single Mother’s behind the 7-11 store at our Church location and we had some wonderful stories come from that experience. You don’t need to be part of an organization to pull these things off, even our own neighborhood holds a BBQ in the cul-de-sac around the corner from my house each summer. We get together, get to know one another and help each other when in need.It’s about people, it’s about building relationships, it’s about making a difference in the lives around you. You’ve seen it here and you’ve seen me post in Twitter and other various Social Media Networks. How Many People Are Better Off Because You Lived?
There are many of us who are trying to translate our offline activities and bringing them here to Social Media circles, raising money for various events and organizations, building one another up and help each other. It appears it’s easier to do it online than in real life, why? Why don’t have to get up off the chair, it’s easier, less work and effort. Does that means it’s any less valuable? Less effective? Is it shallow? Does it say, I really don’t care enough to go be with you?
So I leave you with a question and I hope you will share your thoughts here with us and those who read this Blog.
Does doing Random Acts of Kindness hold the same weight and importance in Social Media Networks?
The Social Media Fog Will Lift
It appears that Social Media is still in its early stages when it comes to the small to medium business circles, some haven’t heard of it or even know what it means.
This past week was filled with engagement and affirmation, discovering I truly do find value in these Social Media Networks, which means the time, I spend here and on Twitter, FriendFeed and the like, is not a complete waste of time. If you are like me, you like to surround yourself with sharp, smart, like-minded people. I love collaboration and bouncing ideas and concepts around, especially with those I consider smarter and more creative than myself, it makes waking up fun. For years I chased the Brass Ring climbing the corporate ladder, only to find I was not only unfulfilled, I was missing the opportunity to do the very thing I was supposed to do. My destiny is to help others, I have the gift of helps, I may not relate to everyone but I will relate to some. We all have the same problem of relating to others, we will relate to a certain few but not everyone. The very core of Social Media is relating and building relationships.
One of the many things I have learned this past year is, that Social Media is here and it’s changing how we do business and reshaping how we relate to clients, consumers and customers. I’ve also had to the deal with the lack of understanding business owners have of Social Media, they just don’t get what it can do for them yet. That’s yet, but they will. The early adopters are always looking for the next thing and start the trending. Here in Canada we are slow to jump on things but we do catchup at some point, there are a few of us paying attention and help start the trend so we can inform and teach those interested. Those early adopters who do feel alone do so for sometime until the enough hoopla and fan fair happens and then we are recognized as the authorities on the topic.
I was chatting on Twitter with a couple of people that (@thebrandbuilder & @treypennington, @johnlusher) I would call friends and I would even be so bold to say we are like-minded, we were scratching our heads wondering why some get Social Media & others don’t. What is it about businesses and marketing departments are trying to push a square peg into round hole? They keep trying to make traditional metrics and thinking work with Social Media and yet, still can’t figure out the ROI. I shared about a conversation I had with a local business and that’s when Olivier got wound up, @thebrandbuilder said, “Do they at least understand R.O.I. and Social Media separately? As individual topics?”. He also said, “If Marketing Departments learned this stuff, they wouldn’t have to work so hard to prove their value”. Trey, the calming voice said, “Must be patient with them”.
There are a few examples of businesses making good use of Social Media but they are merely scratching the surface, these leaders are the R & D departments for many businesses learning the ropes. The problem is, how can you tell who get’s it and who doesn’t. Who should you consult with and who can you trust. Hopefully, you will follow me and my friends as we share not only the differences but maybe even direct you to the right people.
After this chat I asked if they would participate in this article, if they had the time, afterall it is the long Labour Day Weekend 🙂 I’ll thank Trey and John here as they have provided some perspective for you to digest.
Trey:
Trey Pennington
You don’t have to be a “guru” or “expert” to realize that the world of marketing has changed. Social Media is opening connection and communication directly between companies and the individuals within their marketplaces. What hasn’t changed is the prevailing corporate attitude toward social media. Instead of embracing social media and experimenting with new ways of engaging their customers, organizations from the US Marines to the Southeastern Conference to ESPN have attempted to ban, block, hinder, or restrict social media.
Their actions are reminiscent of one going through the stages of grief. Those who try to block social media at work are in the denial and isolation phase, pretending that social media is either a plague or childs’ play. When their efforts to isolate themselves from social media fall apart, they move to anger. This is the phase mainstream media is today. You’ll see their anger when they write stories about the “cursing old man” who is now a huge celebrity on Twitter, even though he only had 28 tweets at the time of the article. The same article also gave the lowest estimate of Twitter users (six million) I’ve seen in a very long time.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/dads-quips-twitter-big-hit/story?id=8491500
(source for “cursing old man,” he now has a book deal! As of today his Twitter account @shitmydadsays only has 30 tweets).
At the moment, I can’t think of a good example of the bargaining phase, but I’m sure we’ll see it soon. It’ll probably look something like a corporate civil war with marketing and public relations silos publicly questioning why their company had to add a whole new silo for the social media kids.
Once they realize social media is here to stay, actually, when they realize social media will move from the tail wagging the dog to being the big dog, they’ll write articles and give keynotes about the “glory days of marketing” or the “glory days of real public relations.”
Sadly, by the time those within the corporation get to the acceptance phase, what they’ll have to accept is working for a boss who is considerably younger than them. The big bosses (all those famous C- level folks) will have to accept that their most profitable market segments are now being happily serviced by young upstarts who “got” social media back in the late 2000s (like IBM and Digital realized in the early 1990s when they saw what folks like Apple and Sun and thousands of other “kids” were doing to them).
Or, corporations can take a crash course in grief now, and get it over with.
John:
John Lusher
Communication tools are changing at an amazing pace and most businesses aren’t sure what to do or how to get involved. Social Media is a prime example of this situation and the Social Media Fog, in my opinion, is the uncertainty that businesses face when they try to figure out what they should be doing as it relates to these newer tools. Unfortunately, the majority of businesses in the SMB category, are not doing anything. SMB owners are so involved in the day-to-day running of their business, that they do not focus on planning for their business or marketing their business. Typically they use the old and tried but not true methods of marketing their businesses; phone books, television, radio, newspaper, print, etc., without realizing that their customers and most consumers do not use those tools to find businesses.
Social Media is the closest thing to word of mouth marketing for a business and should be evaluated as part of every businesses marketing plan. Does that mean that every business should use it? I don’t know; that question has to be answered as part of their overall business plan and marketing strategy for each individual business. I do know this, the demographics of people (i.e. consumers) using social media tools is more in the 40-45+ range than the 20+ range.
These people are the ones that have the money to spend and will consistently search for businesses and products online.
If businesses do not cut through the Social Media fog and evaluate these tools now; they will play catch up when they are forced to do so later.
In Closing:
This article is does not cover the ROI question but I’ll leave that to Olivier Blanchard @thebranderbuilder as he is the master on the topic as of this writing. Be sure to visit the website’s of these fine people, I’ll list them for you here and you can find the links on my Blog down on the right sidebar. Also, if you know others you trust on this topic please feel free to let me know so I can list them here.
1.) Trey Pennington – http://www.treypennington.com
2.) John Lusher – http://www.johnlusher.com
3.) Olivier Blanchard – http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com
As with most things in life, when they become popular everyone jumps on the wagon, it’s human nature, jumping on the wagon doesn’t mean you have a good understanding of what you are involved in, but being involved gives you a chance. As more and more considered experts are found out, the confusion will continue but those who can truly help business owners implement and maximize Social Media will give it the credibility it richly deserves.
Keep in mind, it’s just another tool in your marketing tool box, it’s not as complicated as it appears but there are some new tricks to learn before you jump in and embarrass you and your business. The other issue is, organizations having to hire someone to handle Community Manager and Communication roles, they think tradition job descriptions represent Social Media accurately. They don’t. Again reflecting their understanding of how Social Media Network environments communicate and function. This is due to old management thinking, they are doing what they have been taught and conditioned to believe, therefore, thinking they are doing the right things right fails them. Hopefully they will recognize they don’t understand it and will bring someone in who will help lift the Social Media Fog. If they do that, The Social Media Fog Will Lift.
Are The Words "Social Media" Missing From Your Business Vocabulary?
This question has been nagging at me these past few weeks like I was being pecked to death by a chicken, could it be that these words are not computing with local business owners? It’s like your smallest child learning how to read an can’t pronounce a word, they end up creating a new word because they can’t say what they are reading. No it’s not a learning disability, it’s an understanding of what those words actually mean and how to use it in this new age and environment of marketing. It’s changed, or has it? Anytime you have the word ” Social ” attached to a phrase or sentence, people think less formal, beach party, BBQ or relaxing on the deck with friends. Yes, that is a form of being social and it is somewhat related to the term in business circles as well. The problem isn’t the word, it’s the thinking that is attached to the words, and small business owners can’t seem to break how they feel or think about the word. It’s not that they can’t, they just don’t know how and it’s embarrassing enough that they won’t ask for help on the topic for fear of looking stupid. I mean come on, it’s the words ” Social Media ” how could I not know what that means! So rather than find out, they think, let’s not go there and or I’ll avoid the conversation all together. Worse yet, I’ll ask my kids. Small to medium business, all business for that matter needs to educate themselves on the tidal wave before them and how to ride that wave without being wiped out.
In my corner of the world here in Western Canada, a very small group of people participate in the formal sense of the words social media. This group is comprised of mostly people from chat rooms or FaceBook and the like, not a many are business owners trying to add this environment into their marketing mix or even their support systems. I say this because I’ve been coming up against this lack of understanding everyday and this uncomfortable feeling when you try to share with them, to help them understand what it is or could be for their business. It’s like the words Social Media aren’t even in their vocabulary or business language, it’s completely missing, and if it is there, it’s a picture of people standing around a water cooler. So in light of that, I am posting the Wiki definition of Social Media here for all the world to see.
Social Media Definition
Social media is online content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It’s a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal, political and business use.
Distinction from Industrial Media
Social media are distinct from industrial media, such as newspapers, television, and film. While social media are relatively inexpensive and accessible tools that enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information, industrial media generally require significant resources to publish information. Examples of industrial media issues include a printing press or a government-granted spectrum license.
“Industrial media” are commonly referred to as “traditional”, “broadcast” or “mass” media.
One characteristic shared by both social media and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach zero people or millions of people. The properties that help describe the differences between social media and industrial media depend on the study. Some of these properties are:
1. Reach – both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and enable anyone to reach a global audience.
2. Accessibility – the means of production for industrial media are typically owned privately or by government; social media tools are generally available to anyone at little or no cost.
3. Usability – industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Most social media do not, or in some cases reinvent skills, so anyone can operate the means of production.
4. Recency – the time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response). As industrial media are currently adopting social media tools, this feature may well not be distinctive anymore in some time.
5. Permanence – industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.
Community media constitute an interesting hybrid of industrial and social media. Though community-owned, some community radios, TV and newspapers are run by professionals and some by amateurs. They use both social and industrial media frameworks.
Here is the link from the above: Social Media Definition
The real issue isn’t what the words mean, it’s how a consultant or media firm explains them, provides a case study that reflects that a business can derive an ROI from Social Media. Thus, giving the term value and a new way of marketing and communicating with their customers, by building a deeper, richer relationship that builds a new kind of loyalty. More importantly it provides a forum where you the business owners actually cares about what your clientele think about your products and services. A place where you can give them and even better experience of dealing with you.
Another challenge for these words and business owner’s; there are people out there claiming to be knowledgeable and understand social media that just plain don’t. These individuals land high positions in large organizations, they get the position and then scramble around to figure out how to do the job when they have no business being there in the first place. A great rant on this topic is from my friend Olivier Blanchard of The Brand Builder, his video entitled, “Is your Social Media Director qualified?”, it articulates far better than I Olivier’s frustration and concern with these individuals in one short video. Take the time to view it.
As you can tell there is alot of work to be done, an educational track that needs to be articulated in a way that business owners can connect the dots, connect the words to a real opportunity and value they have not considered before. Each business owner needs to bone up and learn that the term Social Media is a new marketing environment but also a relationship they have avoided in the past. You can no longer avoid it because it is the new word of mouth, it can be your best friend or your worst enemy. You have to decide which it will be.
Twitter's Internal Google
The phenomenon called Social Media has taken the world by storm, primarily one social network called Twitter is getting the lion’s share of the press as of this writing. Are these social networks working for you? I suspect many of you use FaceBook for catching up with old school buddies but are you using it for business purposes? If you are a professional you are probably using LinkedIn to network, research projects and or your next career move. The most responsive of the networks in my opinion is Twitter and it is a primary business tool for many organizations. No matter which one you use each of us has a motive for using these networks for various purposes.
One of the best tools I have discovered is in Twitter’s search capabilities, it is far reaching and a very powerful tool for doing research within your Twitter following. I’m not referring to the Find People mechanism in your Account, I’m referring to search.twitter.com.
Play with it and decide how you might maximize this tool for your business, will it be market research, curiosity to see who is saying what about you in their updates. No matter the use it can be one of your secret weapons in your social media tool kit.
It may not replace Google anytime soon but you can see how it could be used as such in the future.
Until next time.
Whatever Happened To Face-To-Face?
Whatever happened to meeting face-to-face, is this no longer the best way to build relationships, to build trust and the best way to move products and services. I find myself spending more and more time online than I do out in the market place interacting and networking, is something broken here or is the world truly being driven more and more indoors? I have also found that it’s far too easy to misread typed words because there’s no body language or tone of voice, talk about being misunderstood! My world is getting smaller and smaller by the moment, and me being the highly relational type needs to interact with others. So how do we accept or fight this paradigm of living online to get anything done or to get what you want?
Now I’ve been a computer geek for a very long time and I embrace new technologies, even the ones that make me wonder if we should be developing them. Computers are getting smaller, TV’s are thinner, computers run so much of our electronics now we couldn’t go back to a time without them if we wanted to. You know how you can tell if you can’t live without your hand held devices or computer…do you lie in bed at night thinking about how to make so much money so you can tell your boss which bus to get back on? I know you do, because there are so many so called experts out there telling you how to do it, in your e-mail, on your phone it’s everywhere! We are bombarded by so much information now we can’t distinguish the difference between real life and fantasy, (I think daytime soaps started this) Virtual Reality is making huge strides and that’s when we’ll have a real dilemma. But I digress.
Social Media Networks have us, Ala Matrix, Twitter is as real time as you can get and you can make more friends in five minutes than you could face-to-face. Facebook gets you connected to high school buddies much like the old website called Classmates did back in the day. Like golf courses where more business is done in a day than the whole week, Social Media Networks are becoming just like those golf courses, will we want to make that shift or will we hang on to old ways?
So what’s my point, the reality is we are changing at a pace we can’t keep up with technologically, the gap between the haves and have not’s is becoming wider every minute of the day. The truth is we are becoming less connected physically, we are dependent on technology and in the very near future we will be giving control over to technology. We will come to trust the very thing we enjoy blaming for all the crashes and freezes that force us to reboot in the windows world. The shift to Linux is real, most hand held devices run it, not windows….zero’s and one’s are the base from which all things called technology are birthed. So if you think we will be able to go back to the horse and buggy days you are in for a big surprise, technology won’t let us.
Universities are using video conferencing methods and there are more learning management systems out there than ever before making it easier to acquire accreditation online. Newspapers WILL be a thing of the past, everyone is a news reporter now which means the controls for quality are no longer held by the big blues. Which increases the percentage of error but also means we will see and hear even more about events and happenings that are less important than our current global economic meltdown.
With Nanotechnology – The New Technology, we will see the likes of nanobots doing our work for us, they will learn from their environments and eventually think for themselves. Many a person far smarter than I will argue this point but I’m not convinced we will stay in control of these technologies.The question begs to be asked, who will oversee and say what is acceptable and what is not. In my eBook The New Technology – The End of Mankind? – The Beginning; I scratch the surface on why technology hasn’t saved us time and where the new technology is headed. In the future we will communicate in such a way where you & I will integrate with technology, we will become wireless devices and no longer have to meet face-to-face! If you are interested in getting my eBook please send me an e-mail: owen@owengreaves.com
I have to come to terms with the fact that I eventually will have to learn to live without, I mean human interaction. This electronic world is slowly killing human contact don’t you think? Technology killing human contact, that’s another story to be told.
I would like to hear from you on this, do you agree or disagree, do you think we are doomed and will be sentenced to our rooms to interact on the Internet. Or, will we mantain control?