SOCIAL MEDIA–YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO BE FOUND

Play this 2 minute podcast 

Whenever I present to a group, I ask, “If you were to meet a person you didn’t know, how would you check her out?”  The response is always the same, “I would Google them.”

It’s said, you only have one chance to make a first impression.  The first information anyone sees about you are the first few entries on Google.

This really got my attention when I was training a successful CEO on social media.  He said, “I’m kind of a private person & I really don’t want everyone to know my business.”  However, when I Googled his name & company, the first headline was a newspaper article about his company filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy many years ago.

With the Internet, there is no such thing as privacy.  Your only option is to try to control some of the content.  And you can do that through social media. 

Google sucks up your social media entries and thrusts it to the top of the page.

To prove my point, I Googled three important names:  David Sher (me); Phyllis Neill (my partner), & WeMentor Social Media Marketing (our business).

“WeMentor” showed up in every Google entry on page one.  You would think our Web Site would be first.  It actually was fourth.  Ahead of it was Phyllis’ blog (number one & two), & one of my tweets…then SlideShare, Facebook, & few others.

When I Googled “Phyllis Neill,” her name dominated every slot on page one.  Her profiles on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, & Google topped the list.

My “David Sher” search took up five slots on page one.  A tweet of mine was first & my LinkedIn profile was second.  My podcast followed soon there after.  I thought that was pretty good since there are twenty “David Sher’s” on LinkedIn alone. 

It is said the Internet is the biggest haystack in the world.  The only way little needles like you & me can be found is through social media.

This is David Sher, your WeMentor Guy saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN YOU SCREW UP

Play this 2 minute podcast

I had just finished a call & I thought I might be late.  I actually pulled into the restaurant two minutes early to meet with a business associate I hadn’t seen in a while.

I had found him on LinkedIn & sent him an invitation.  He accepted & invited me to lunch.  I thought it would be fun to catch up.

Well, I went flying into the restaurant because I hate to be late & he wasn’t there.  I waited a few minutes & called his cell phone.  No answer.  I sent him an e-mail & a text.  Still no response.

There wasn’t anything left to do so I got a bite to eat & left.

About two hours later I got a call from him.  “Oh my goodness.  I am so sorry.  For some reason I didn’t put our meeting on my calendar & messed up.  This is so embarrassing.  I must be the dumbest person in the world.”  And so on.

Of course I explained this happens to everyone including me on occasion & every thing’s okay. 

However, when I looked on my Blackberry, he had sent me an e-mail a few minutes earlier.  It said, I noticed yesterday I had a scheduling conflict & I tried to call ‘what I thought’ was your number to reschedule. 

Now all bets were off.  It’s okay to make a mistake.  We all make mistakes but to make up a story is not acceptable.  He obviously knew he couldn’t make lunch & with a little effort he could have let me know.  I think more people mess themselves up by trying to cover up a mistake rather than the mistake itself.

And then to top it off, after my friend made his apology, he said, “We don’t have to do lunch, you could come to my office.  Call me Monday to make the arrangements.”

Now let me get this straight.  He stands me up; wants to avoid buying me lunch; tells ‘me’ to call him & meet him at ‘his’ office.  Since I was the one inconvenienced, you’d think he’d want to make it convenient for me.

Here’s what I think. If you screw up, just admit it, apologize, & then make it easy on the other guy.  This is David Sher, your WeMentor Guy saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF FACEBOOK

Play this 2 minute podcast

Facebook is a conversation.  You post on Facebook just like you are talking with a group of friends.

Yet I find many people don’t get it.

Do you enjoy people who only talk about themselves?  Do you enjoy talking to people who regularly force their religion or politics on you?  How about people who are always trying to sell you something, push their causes, or promote their events?

I promise you do everything in your power to avoid such people.  Yet that is exactly what many of your friends do on line.  Fortunately with Facebook you can hide their posts or “unfriend” them.

Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t do any of the above.  I’m just saying if you do it every day, you are not going to be very well liked.

This is all a matter of balance.  Just like a real conversation.  You talk a little about yourself.  Learn a little about others.  You comment on their lives.  It’s then okay every once in a while to say what you do for a living, discuss some of the causes you support, talk about your life.  But this needs to be a two way conversation.  It can’t be all about you. 

Ask for advice from your Facebook friends.  Seek their opinions.  Tell them jokes.  When you hear about things you think they would be interested in, tell them. 

Read their posts and make a comment.  If they have questions or a problem, try to help.  Strive for balance.  Ask yourself, would this be appropriate in a normal face to face conversation?

Don’t you want people to like you?  To be glad when you come into a room?  Then help others, show interest in them, and be of value to them.

Your goal in social media is to get others to know you, like you, and trust you…just like real life.

This is David Sher, your WeMentor Guy saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BAN SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK?

Play this 2 minute podcast

Last week I asked the question whether it is a good idea to ban social media sites at work.  Companies certainly couldn’t operate without telephones and in the future, companies won’t be able to operate without social media.  Employees can waste time on social media just like they can waste time on the phone.

Now I’m going ask the same question, but in a different way.  Not whether it’s a good idea to ban social media at work, but whether it’s even possible to ban social media at work.

Much of social media is created by cell phones and not just by computers.  I think you would agree that most employees have cell phones.  Therefore any employee who wants to get to Facebook or Twitter doesn’t have to have the company computer to do so.

So this actually becomes a matter of company policy and supervision. 

In addition, it is human nature to want to do the things you aren’t allowed to do.  This is true of the phone as it would be with social media.  Even though you might not supply a company phone to an employee, if he wants to make a call, he can always pull out his cell phone and do so.

This is summed up by a post we received on our WeMentor Facebook business page.  When asked the question, “Does your employer ban social media sites at work?”  The response was “Yes they do and I have been trying to inform and enlighten them on how much of a negative effect this has on the morale of the employees, the potential business they are losing and how if they don’t get started now they will be light years behind other businesses.  Right now I’m on my cell which is a lot less efficient than if I had just logged on, made a quick post and back to work.  If I had it already minimized on my desktop, this message would have only taken two minutes instead of five.”

This is David Sher, your WeMentor Guy, saying it’s now what you know, but Whoo you know.

SHOULD SOCIAL MEDIA BE BANNED AT WORK?

Play this 2 minute podcast

In 1876, at the age of 29, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.  A few short years later companies of all sizes were using phones in their businesses.

When phones were being introduced, do you think some bosses were saying, “We better not have a phone because some of our employees may use them to make personal calls?  Since I wasn’t there, I really don’t know, but some how I doubt it.

Now look around your office.  There are phones on every desk.  Are they sometimes used for personal phone calls?  You bet they are.  Are companies threatening to yank them out?  I don’t think so.

However, many companies are making the decision to ban all social media.  The main reason—employees may use them for personal reasons.

Is that true?  Probably.  But how is that different from the telephone?

Let’s face it.  The whole world, including business, is migrating to social media.  LinkedIn, which is primarily a business tool, is growing at the rate of 1 million new members every twelve days and now has 65 million members.  The average Linked user earns $107,000 a year, 25% are at executive level, and every Fortune 500 company is represented.

Facebook now has 400 million members and is growing at five million members a week.  Even though Facebook is primarily social, it’s a great tool for building business relationships.

Social media is how business will get done in the future.  Does every employee have to have access?  No…just as every employee doesn’t need a telephone.  But no business will survive without it.

This is David Sher, your WeMentor guy, saying it’s not what you know, but Whoo you know.