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On Tuesday, a client called, completely exasperated. Seems like his boss read some statistic earlier that day that commerce is migrating to Facebook. Instead of saying, "We need to develop a social media strategy and see if Facebook is the right fit for our objectives," the boss walked into my client's office at 3:45 p.m. and said, "We need a Facebook page up by end of day!"
It didn't help that my client needed to get to the daycare center by 5:30, and he was completely frustrated by his boss's tunnel vision. My client values making good, strategic business decisions, and cares deeply how customers and associates perceive the quality of his work and the public image company.
Unfortunately, his boss's knee jerk reaction is not unusual. Far too many business people think that simply having a Facebook page, a LinkedIn presence, or 400 people following them on Twitter will result in increased sales and loyal customers.
In an effort to help small businesses understand that there is much more to social media than merely the "tools", the Center for Economic Vitality at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA is hosting its second social media conference for small businesses on March 25, 2010.
This one-day conference provides small business professionals with the fundamentals required to become social media rock stars. Participants will have an opportunity to hear case studies from leading social media marketing professionals and practitioners, who are successfully using social media for marketing, customer service and PR. Participants will be able to attend small breakout sessions to learn why it is important to participate in social media conversations, and how these conversations can help businesses achieve their strategic business goals.
Due to a business conflict, I won't be able to attend the conference. However, I had the opportunity to sit down with three of conference presenters and chat about business, social media and what they plan to share at the conference.
This year's conference builds on the success of the Center for Economic Vitality's 2008 conference, which attracted over 200 business professionals from all over the United States.
Do you think your business is performing like a Social Media RockStar? The conference wants to know who you are. If you think you are a Social Media RockStar be sure to enter the conference's Social Media RockStar contest.It's open to everyone who registers, for details go to www.socialmediaconference.com/rock-star.
For more information and to register for this year's conference, go to socialmediaconferencenw.com or call 360-733-4014.
You can join the conversation on Twitter at #smconfNW.
In anticipation of President Obama's bi-partisan healthcare summit tomorrow, last night I attended a pre-healthcare summit forum hosted by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and Kerri Miller. A big shout out to Kerri Miller who did an excellent job facilitating a diverse panel represented by Mayo Clinic, Health Partners, Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, and Fairview Hospitals and Clinics.
The audience was as diverse as each opinion in the auditorium. Multiply that times 300 million people and 300 million opinions and we might begin to understand the complexity of this issue. What I learned is that there really isn't one model or one answer. With all due respect, everybody needs to "Give a Little Bit" so that we can begin to move closer towards the middle and towards something that gives the American people what they deserve: healthcare that is accessible and affordable to all.
Education came up, but only briefly. For 8 years I was directly involved in diabetes education. I understand the value of a team-based approach to educating groups of people. It works. Not easily, but as my Mom always told me, nothing worthwhile comes easily. Just about everything, especially these days, requires motivation, dedication, an open mind, a little creativity and perseverance. And of course documenting those ever important outcomes.
We'll save healthy living and healthy choices... i.e. food in the schools for another day. As Scarlett says in Gone With The Wind, "tomorrow is another day".
First, sorry about the delay in posting. I need to become better trained in the art of the regular post. I am very happy to announce that DWT is working with Denny Kemp Salon & Spa and The W Hotel Minneapolis in launching a mobile text message service for any W guest who chooses to opt on in. The mobile program is a special-offer delivery system, using SMS short-code messaging to deliver great deals on quality salon and spa services, provided both in hotel and at DK's beautiful salon in lovely NordEast Minneapolis, you betcha. Program launched today, and we certainly have high hopes for its ability to drive business and make lots of guests very happy.
A tip of the 'ole cap to Trumpia, host app for mobile text creation and distribution. They have created a sweet suite of tools to support this guest service and marketing effort. I'll post up results as they develop.
The clarion call of social media's integration into our lives grows louder each day, with each new post, Twitter and new social media application. This groundswell is as much a gift as it is a social phenomenon. We are experiencing the evolution of human communication, unlike anything before. There are very few things that affect our lives that have little or nothing to do with social media.
An often encountered barrier to an organization's decision to embrace social media is governance and policy, the rules that determine how members or employees may or may not use the vast array of social media tools. The issue is compounded by the realities of organizational stability and the freedom of expression. Does an organization have the right to totally control what is published on their network, using their computers? Do we as individuals have the inalienable and unfettered right of self-expression?
As with most issues of control and rights, the answer lies somewhere in between yes and no. The presence of reasonable expectations, civil behavior and common sense are required, but are unfortunately and quite often misunderstood or flat out ignored.
The Internet was initially developed as a communications tool between government agencies and institutions of higher learning, certainly two opposite poles concerning control and freedom of expression. Yet, the Internet has grown to become the single greatest communications tool in history. There are those who call for tighter control, as there are those who advocate for little or no control. The truth is, it's neither. It's a balance between the two, and it is our responsibility to strike and maintain that balance as well as we can.
Chris Boudreaux, who has led business transformation initiatives at several Fortune 100 companies, has compiled a list of 82 Social Media policies for your edification. It sure helped mine. Thanks Chris.
Image is a
painting by the artist Randy Dillon, "Man
Typing on Computer Keyboard". Artist's permission granted.
In the past year Twitter has become the darling of news media -- remember how the news broke when US Airways flight 1549 crashed into The Hudson?
Janis Krums from Sarasota, Florida posts the first photo of U.S. Airways flight 1549 on Twitter from his iPhone
. Thirty-four minutes after Janis posted his photo, MSNBC interviewed him live on TV as a witness (see video below). News coverage at Google. Live video at Fox News. TV reports suggest that everyone survived the crash.
Then in June, when Twitter wanted to shutdown for some maintenance, the US Government asked them to delay the maintainers because Iranians were depending on it to get out news during the Iranian Election Crisis.
So it should come as no surprise that businesses are now saying that Twitter is becoming one of the most important tools you can use to land a job.
According to the latest statistics only about 5% of the population is
on Twitter. And, yet, it is being touted as one of the best places to
get a job. In the past couple of days everyone from CNNMoney to the WSJ have run stories about the success the unemployed have when they just tweet away looking for work.
For baby boomers this means its time to take a trip to Twitter to experience its culture, learn its customs and figure out how to unleash its power to help you achieve what you want.
The Onion, America's Finest News Source, has provided us the chance to chuckle about that which we espouse everyday. A shout out to Jay Bridge for sharing this with us and you.
Mashable marketing director Marta Kagan has put together this helpful SlideShare presentation that should answer many of the questions so many have as to why they should be using social media. Many thanks to Mashable and Marta.
When most organizations step into social media the work usually begins with developing a plan. That plan will traditionally follow the structure of most typical strategies: define goals/objectives; determine what will constitute success and how will you measure it; and of course identify the tactical execution.
However, few companies begin their internal social media foundation with HOW social media will impact the organization, the brand and the people. The first question to ask might be not which tactics to use but -
Are the people within your organization aligned with your social media strategy and do they understand how social media will impact the enterprise?
By people I mean those who actively participate in social media whether through interfacing directly in blogs or social networks AND those whose job now includes analyzing how to (or how not to) integrate the information from consumer generate conversations into product development, customer service, PR, etc. etc. etc.
I also mean your customers and stake holders. Is there a disconnect between your Twitter response time and your telephone customer support hold time? Social media adds dimensions to our business relationships that go beyond negative comments. Opening the enterprise door to social media impacts the entire organization from the way communication is handled to customer service to hiring decisions
7 Tips For Preparing An Organization for Social Media
1. Create cross functional teams 2. Identify impact on specific areas 3. Determine if the right communication processes are in place 4. Determine if employees have the right skills and experience 5. Consider if new job descriptions which include new evaluation criteria are needed. 6. Identify here does social media will reside. Don't discount that there maybe multiple “homes.” 7. Determine which department “owns” the customer relationship. This maybe the most critical and the answer might hold some surprises.
Social media will disrupt the way you do business .. but if you're prepared it can be a very good thing that helps not hinders the growth of your organization
The Ginger Hop is going to be a new Thai restaurant in my neighborhood. This is great news! I was struck by their communication that the only way to find out about the job is to go on Craig's List
This is the other part of the job fair notice on Craig's List that got my attention. Resumes optional.
TO APPLY : Come down to 201 East Hennepin Avenue this Sunday. The process starts at 11:00am and will go until 3:00pm. If that does not work for you we will be doing it again on Monday, August 31st from 4:00pm until 7:00pm. Resumes are suggested but we will also be having you fill out a house application.
What I have been hearing over and over again is that the resume as we know it may be a dying breed. After all many people have their relevant information on LinkedIn. Instead of using paper simply giving the hiring company your LinkedIn info serves the same purpose.
Ginger Hop also has a Twitter presence. So far, we are the 12th follower.
they don't seem to befollowing anyone else and this is a lost opportunity. Social media is supposed to be a conversation. Using it to simply broadcast news usually becomes a failed strategy.
I was surprised that I didn't find an Ginger Hop Job Fair Events on Facebook. Missed Opportunity?
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