IS IT POSSIBLE TO DO ALL SOCIAL MEDIA WELL?

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I got this e-mail from a business friend & at first I was taken back.  He said, “That 164 million number you sited is HUGE.  However, I Googled Windows Live Profile ‘David Sher’, & couldn’t find you.  What’s up with that?”

Well, I just didn’t know how to respond.

To give some background, I recently published an article in the Birmingham Business Journal titled, “The Ten Things Businesses Need to Know about Social Media.”

For item number two, I stated, “Social Media is not just Facebook & Twitter.  LinkedIn has over 75 million members & Windows Live hosts 164 million profiles.”

Obviously, I wasn’t one of those profiles.  Oh, my goodness.  Here I am proclaiming I know all about social media & I’m not signed up for Windows Live.  I must be a fraud.

Then I said, “Wait a minute.”  What makes me think I’m obligated to participate in and be knowledgeable about every social media platform in the world?

In fact, when Phyllis Neill, my partner, & I work with clients, the first thing we agree upon is a social media strategy & then decide which platforms will help us accomplish that strategy.

There are literally tens of thousands of social media platforms & it’s impossible to do more than a few well.

Phyllis & I determined the best platforms for our business are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, SlideShare, YouTube, & Constant Contact.  We are fairly knowledgeable about these, but in all candor social media is changing so fast that even though we work at it full time, there’s lots we don’t know.

I guess I should feel badly not having a profile on Windows Live, but if we determine it should be part of our client’s strategy, I’m sure we will figure it out.  This is David Sher, your WeMentor Guy, saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

SOCIAL MEDIA–I FINALLY GET IT

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A good business friend stopped me before the meeting.  He knows I’m heavily involved in social media & he couldn’t wait to tell me he wasn’t going to get sucked in.

He said when CB’s were the big thing and everyone had a “handle,” he cleverly avoided that nonsense because he knew it was just a fad. 

Well, he has totally underestimated social media.  Not only is social media here to stay, it is a game changer.

I contend that the creation of the computer & the Internet is right up there with the discovery of the wheel, the invention of the printing press, & the industrial revolution.

The revolution of the Internet has come in two phases.  First came the ability to gather information & second came connecting people together.  Phase two is the more significant.

There are thousands of Social Media Sites, but for illustration purposes, let’s concentrate only on Facebook.  Facebook has over 500 million members and is adding 5 million members a week.  If Facebook were a country it would be the third largest in the world after China & India & if Facebook keeps growing at the same rate, by the year 2013 everyone in the world who has Internet access will be on Facebook.  That’s two billion people. 

You and your business have two options.  You can either be connected to all your friends, prospects, or clients through the Internet or you can be isolated.  If you are alone, how are you going to survive? 

Everyone in the world connected–that is social media.  Can you think of anything more powerful? This is David Sher, your WeMentor Guy, saying it’s not what you know but whOO you know.

SOCIAL MEDIA OUTSOURCING–YOU DO WHAT?

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It seems like everywhere I go, people ask, “Now tell me again, what is it you do?”

My partner, Phyllis Neill, & I got interested in social media a little more than two years ago and then in August of 2009 we hooked up to start WeMentor Social Media Management.

Social media for business is so new there was no business model for us to follow.  If someone tells you they have a five year successful track record with social media, please hide your belongings.

So Phyllis & I played around with our business model until we hammered out something that really works.

When we first started, we thought our role was to develop a social media plan & then turn it over to the client to implement.  This struck fear in the hearts of CEO’s who didn’t know how they would find the time, money, or resources to keep the plan going.  It wasn’t good for us either because we could develop a powerful plan, but we lost control of the implementation.

It was clear the market was telling us we should develop the plan and then provide most of the content so that the expense & time commitment by our client would be minimal.  And it is good for us too because we can insure the proper implementation.

The benefits are clear. We do the research, determine the appropriate social media platforms, set the measures, and then develop meaningful & engaging content.

This is fast, efficient, and our client doesn’t have to worry about the detail.  Then through constant monitoring & measuring, we tweak & adjust to stay on track.

It’s not a matter of whether a business will have a social media strategy; it is only a matter of when.  And a business has only two options.  It can do the social media itself or outsource it.  The outsourcing is what we do.  This is David Sher, your WeMentor guy, saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

HOW A TWO YEAR OLD TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT NETWORKING

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I walked into the room, looked around, & there was my two year old grandson playing with a toy steam engine in the corner of the den.  He looked up, saw me, a huge smile spread across his face, & he yelled at the top of his lungs…”D is here, Mama, D is here!”  Then he leaped to his feet, ran across the room, & hugged my legs.  I think he was really glad to see me.

Well, there you have it.  Everything you need to know about networking from a two year old. 

It seems like many people in life & on the Internet are only focused on themselves.  That’s not the best way to make friends & build relationships.

I have people tell me all the time that they can’t get others to be interested in them, their product, or their service.  Well, here are my grandson’s implied words of wisdom.  “If you want others to be interested in you, then you must be interested in them first.”

And one’s preoccupation with oneself is prevalent in social media.  It’s important to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.  But your posts shouldn’t be just about you.  You want to write things that will be of interest to others.

And social media is not just about what you post.  Social media is a two way conversation.  A significant amount of your time should be spent listening to what others have to say; commenting on their posts or their blogs; showing a real interest in them.  And it can’t be artificial.  You must show you really do care.

One of my favorite quotes, & repeat it often, is by Maya Angelou.  She said, “I’ve learned that people forget what you said; people forget what you do; but people always remember how you treat them.”

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