Posts Tagged ‘ communication ’

The Problem With Social Media

TheProblemWithSocialMedia

Instagram now says it can republish and sell the photos users post on the platform without paying them or even notifying them, and this re-introduces the perennial problem of social media: you do not own your own channels. So you created a Facebook page for your business or organization and have spent years building up thousands of fans and populated that page with tons of fantastic content? Well, it could all disappear in a moment…on a whim of Facebook. But it’s not just Facebook. Whether you’re on Twitter or Tumblr or Pinterest or Pheed or whatever hot new social platform – a change in terms of service or a glitch or outage or a perceived violation in user agreement and you’re thrown out in the cold, content-less, identity-less.

The author/software developer Reginald Braithwaite, in translating Instagram’s new terms of service, pretty much perfectly explained social media as a whole: “You are not our customers, you are the cattle we drive to market and auction off to the highest bidder. Enjoy your feed and keep producing the milk.” I’ve talked about this before, but every instance like this is a reminder of just exactly how little control we have over what might happen to channels that we work so hard to develop and engage customers through.

But there is an easy solution: use social media as channels to engage your audience, yes, but, more importantly, use it to direct them back to your actual property: your website or blog. Those are the only places where you have control over what gets seen and how it’s presented. Almost all the content you post or share on social media should have a home on your actual website. I’m in a band, so I’ll use that metaphor: Think of social media platforms as venues where your band performs. You travel to the venue, play your show, hang out with your fans, but that’s all. You don’t store your instruments and equipment there, you don’t live in the basement of the venue. You may go play the same venue a number of times – but, if it closes down, it’s really no substantial loss to you because the venue is only a means through which you send your message. The band still has their albums, their merchandise, their band image that they can then go share (sell) at any other venue.

So, in this (only semi-applicable) metaphor, here’s what’s important: Be a rock star. Wait, no, that’s not it. The point is to have the hub for your content, your reputation, your online brand image somewhere you can control it, where you own it. Use Facebook, Twitter, etc. to go play your rock show, hang out with your fans, tell them about cool stuff – but always send them back to the hub: your website or blog.

2012
12/18
CATEGORY
Social Media
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Networking (part 2): Sharing Your Passion

A while back, I wrote a post about networking and the importance of connecting on a real human level, not just a “so where do you work” level. After continuing to go to more networking events, I’ve realized something else that is key to successfully connecting with people: sharing your passion. To be more specific, if there’s something you want, share that with everyone you meet.

A good example of this: When I was in college, I played in a band that got some attention in the Dallas/Ft. Worth music scene (yes, I’m originally from Texas…shh!). Lance, a good friend of ours who was largely responsible for getting that band together, decided from the outset to be our booking agent and band manager. When he was a teenager, he started a production company called Spune Productions with the goal of bringing concerts to small West Texas towns where the kids wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to see live music.

I noticed that every single person we met who was in the music scene – and even a lot of people who weren’t – he’d tell them about Spune and about his passion to bring great music and well-known bands to the small town where our college was. But he wasn’t just sharing his goal…he was sharing his heart, his aspirations. At the time, I saw that is a bit self-centered. But looking back, I see that he was bringing other people into his vision in a way that got them excited, in a way that made them want to join in the mission and help in whatever way they could.

Because of his networking savvy, within a year my band that he was managing had played shows with a number of really well-known indie bands at the time and even played with the Grammy Award-winning band Switchfoot. Lance moved to Dallas after graduation and several years later was named Promoter of the Year there. Since then he’s also been named “Best Booking Agent” and “Best Record Label” by local press. To say the least, he’s having continued success with his business and is doing what he always wanted to do.

He knew what he wanted to achieve, and he told almost everyone he met about it. And it worked. I want to adopt this approach in telling people about my passion to help businesses and organizations communicate effectively and authentically through social media and grow thriving online communities that lead not only to more business but also improve the lives of their customers. I want to tell them how their company (whether for-profit or nonprofit) can have a mission that can make the world a better place. And it all starts with a handshake and “Hi, my name is Matthew.”

2012
10/19
CATEGORY
Business
Social Media
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Good or Great?

One of my favorite co-workers, Andrea, came into the break room while I was getting some coffee a few minutes ago, and we exchanged the normal pleasantries. But when my response to “How is your day?” was “It’s good,” she asked why it’s not great – then inquired further, asking “What one thing could make your day great?”

The thing about Andrea is I know she actually cares about the question she asked in the first place (How’s your day?). She really wants to know. And that inspires me to care more when I ask others that question too. Her sincere questioning also made me stop and think, why isn’t my day great? – which made me realize, it is. I’m having a great day. I told her my day is probably great, not just good, and that there isn’t really anything that could make my day better, partly because I got a new lead for some freelance social media/web work and partly because I met a girl recently who I’m calling tonight to set up our first date. I got a big smile on my face when I said the second part of that, and Andrea said, “Now that’s a good smile.” It’s as if her plan all along was just to get past superficial pleasantries and get to something real, something meaningful to me.

I feel very blessed to work with someone like her who not only really cares about how my day is but will take a few extra minutes to make it even better. And that inspires me to look for opportunities where I can be that person to someone else.

How is your day? Is it just good, or is it great?

2012
01/04
CATEGORY
Life
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The medium is not the message

In the wake of the London riots, British Prime Minister David Cameron is pointing a finger at Facebook
and Twitter as the culprits, and he’s “summoned” them along with the makers of the Blackberry “for a meeting to discuss their roles during the violent outbreaks.” He wants to ban anyone from social media who appears to be using it to plot “disorder.”

So would he “summon” Smith and Wesson if there was a shooting spree or call in a fertilizer manufacturer if someone made a homemade bomb?

Cameron said, “Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill.” Sure, that’s true – but who gets to decide what is “for ill”? From my understanding, the riots in London were mainly perpetuated by a bunch of hoodlums who didn’t even understand why they were rioting, other than to steal some TVs. But what if they had a legitimate cause?

What about Tunisia? Egypt? Libya? I’m sure the ruling governments (regimes) of those nations deemed the organizing of the revolutions via social media to be “for ill.” But the rest of the world didn’t.

I heard a report about Turkey recently on how they are imprisoning reporters and individuals who speak out against the government in a negative way. And I really liked Hillary Clinton’s response. She said that, yes, in the United States she hears people speaking out against the government in ways she thinks are ill-informed, inaccurate or just plain reprehensible. But, she went on to say, the system is secure enough that it can handle such criticisms, and almost always the voice of reason from so many more citizens drowns out the nut jobs. (The use of the term nut jobs is mine, not hers.) Is the British government not secure enough to deal with some angry teenagers? Don’t you think if you ban social media, they’ll just find another way to use to organize?

So, Mr. Cameron, instead of pointing your finger at the companies who provide the medium, why don’t you use that medium yourself to persuade your citizens to do the right thing? Why not use Facebook and Twitter to drown out the fringe voices by providing solutions to their complaints or at least by offering a productive alternative to rioting? Why not show them that you’re listening to them, not just listening in on them?

2011
08/12
CATEGORY
Social Media
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Twitter Etiquette / The value of sustained relationships

So if you haven’t hung out with or called a friend in six months or so, it probably wouldn’t be very wise to call that friend to see if he can give you a ride to the airport. Obviously, that’s very self serving, and most people would agree that is not OK to do.

Apparently, a number of people don’t translate real-world relationship sense to social media. I run the Twitter account for the nonprofit I work for, and there are a lot of businesses, authors, speakers, etc. who interact with us on a regular basis by sending @mentions, retweeting and direct messaging. When those folks decide they need to promote something and seek my help, I do so enthusiastically. 1) Because we have an ongoing relationship and 2) because they promote my nonprofit without solicitation.

And that’s how it should work.

Well, our yearly convention is coming up, and it’s a great opportunity for businesses to advertise to our member base. So I’m getting businesses I’ve never heard of wanting me to retweet them and promote them via our Twitter channel just because they have a booth at our convention. They’ve never interacted with me at all on any social media or email or anything else, and now they want me to push their product? Umm, no.

So, come on people. Get your act together and realize that just because you’re interacting through a computer screen doesn’t mean that you’re not dealing with a person. A person who would love to help you if you’ve made the effort to build a relationship. A person who will scratch your back if you scratch his. But a person who will probably not give you a ride to the airport if you haven’t called in six months.

2011
08/01
CATEGORY
Social Media
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Social media and valuable communication

I just was reading an article that argues that your company’s Facebook or Twitter can’t make users feel like valued customers. I would change that statement slightly to make it more accurate: your company’s Facebook or Twitter alone can’t make users feel like valued customers. The digital marketing firm Razorfish just put out a report based on a study it conducted, and the findings indicate that “Across the board, consumers cited ‘feeling valued’ as the most important element of brand engagement,” which leads them to conclude that “companies should worry less about building out numerous channels and touchpoints and more about ensuring each customer interaction communicates value.” Social media can help customers feel valued as long as there is other value offered, whether that be service or content or whatever your business provides.

The challenge now with Facebook is that on most users’ News Feed, so many updates are coming in at such a high rate that a user doesn’t process much of that information—and even more of it the user doesn’t even see. The growing inundation of useless information and advertisements on Facebook may eventually lead to a dramatic shift in what people use the site for. It may become viewed as less reliable for important communications – and I think that’s why we should not abandon traditional websites and email.

The (Instant) Information Age has overloaded all of us, and for a business or organization to be successful, we need to give our customers less noise and more meaning. That means targeted (and less frequent) email blasts, meted out Twitter and Facebook updates, useful and continually updated content on the company web page, well-thought out and insightful videos or podcasts and an overall more intentional approach to digital communications.

Addendum 2/4/11:

In an article about entrepreneurs and their relationship to social media, I ran across an interesting quote from blogger Mark Henricks:

It’s not considered important enough to engage [entrepreneurs’] attention at this point. And I don’t believe there are sufficient success stories with social media for that to change soon. It’s interesting to speculate whether social media will remain vibrant long enough for it to be of great importance to the vast majority of small businesses. So many large corporations and sophisticated marketers are moving into the space so rapidly that it seems possible that it will become pervasively commercialized much more quickly than the Web at large.

He raises the relevant question of just how much time an entrepreneur should spend on social media. However, I don’t think that “whether social media will remain vibrant” is something to speculate about. Social media will continue to evolve, but it’s not going away anytime soon.

2011
02/02
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Your one minute commercial

I just read an article that insists a business must be able to communicate its difference in 30 seconds or less. Then, once you have someone’s attention, you need to have everything in order to go into more detail, whether that is in a conversation or through a web page or social media. I’ve heard this same concept encouraged for job searching and networking. In that case, it’s referred to as your “one minute commercial” or your “elevator speech.” The point is when you meet a potential employer, client or someone you want to network with, you should be able to concisely explain who you are, what you want to do for people or businesses and how people or businesses benefit from what you do—and all in the time it takes you to go between floors on an elevator.

When I first heard this idea, I considered it somewhat ludicrous. At the time I liked to think of myself as a very complex individual who can’t be explained or “sold” in a minute or less. I’ve grown up a bit since then, but, more importantly, I’m finally doing something I’m passionate about. And when you get to that point, you want to tell anyone and everyone you meet about what you are doing and what aspirations you have. But I think the key thing about the one minute commercial is realizing that the “who you are” part may be the least important. Sure you may need to throw out some credentials initially, but I’ve found that the energy and enthusiasm with which you tell about how you want to help others is what gets people’s attention.

After 31 years, I’ve finally started sharing what I’m doing with almost everyone—because I’ve finally started doing something I believe in. But I can’t tell you exactly what that is here because this post isn’t about that. I don’t usually like to “boil things down” to a moral, but I would say this: If you can’t think of anything to say in your elevator speech, then you’re probably not passionate about what you do. And if you’re not passionate about what you do, you’re not doing what you should be doing.

2010
12/28
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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