FACEBOOK–SAVE BIG BUCKS

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My business partner, Phyllis Neill, at WeMentor Social Media Marketing & I were off to visit with John Montgomery at Big Communications.  John & I have become good friends through his community volunteerism.

John is a great advertising guy & I wanted Phyllis to meet him.  I had never been to John’s office, so I was startled but not surprised to see a big mannequin of the old Shoney’s Restaurant Big Boy at the front entrance.  Big Boy…Big Communications…I got it.

We sat down with John & he told us about his varied clientele ranging from Ringling Brothers & Disney on Ice to our Convention & Visitors Bureau & the Birmingham Airport. 

But as might be expected, the conversation quickly transitioned to social media.  John said he was an early adopter of Facebook, but then he made a comment I never expected.

He said he has saved Big Communications a fortune since he’s gotten active on Facebook.  He said, “Us advertising people, we feel it’s important to be out & about…to see & be seen.  I was always attending receptions & dinners; taking people to lunch; entertaining; going a mile a minute.

Then my life circumstances changed.  I became a new dad & my home responsibilities increased.  I couldn’t be out of the house every night.  So I started spending my time on Facebook.

I found I could sit on my couch & keep up with my friends, see what was going on, and expand my Rolodex.  Then I noticed an interesting thing.  I found I was being more effective at work & saving thousands of dollars.”

John opened my eyes to some Facebook strengths I’d never thought about.  But who am I to argue with a better home life, stronger business connections, & saving money?

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

AVOID SOCIAL MEDIA AT YOUR OWN RISK

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My wife & I recently went to see Buddy—The Buddy Holly Story & had the best time.  Buddy is in his early twenties & has the good fortune to sign a recording contract with Decca Records.  However, Decca wanted him to sing gospel & Buddy wanted to sing rock & roll.  The issue was adults were afraid of rock & roll.  They didn’t understand it & thought it would ruin their children.

So Buddy quit Decca & shortly thereafter signed with a record company that would allow him sing rock & roll.  Between August ‘57 & August ‘58, Holly charted seven Top Forty Singles & became a rock & roll legend.

This is exactly what is going on with social media.  I got a call from the head administrator of an economic development agency in North Alabama.  She said the Mayor received a complaint that an employee was caught on Facebook when she should have been working.  So the Mayor banned all social media from the work place.

Actually, I understand the Mayor’s concerns.  But the same thing could & probably was said about the telephone.  We all see people waste time on phone calls at work every day.  Would any of you think it would be a good idea yank out all the phones?  It’s pretty clear no business could operate without them.

My niece, Amanda, who is a senior at the University of Georgia, asked me for help with social media.  She is in the final few months of school & is looking for a job in a bad economy.  On several interviews, she was asked about her knowledge of social media. Amanda is bright, smart, & aggressive.  She will do fine, but Georgia has put her at a terrible disadvantage not offering social media in their marketing program.

Facebook is growing at 5 million members a week; LinkedIn at 1 million new members every twelve days.  You can think social media is going away, but you do so at your own risk.  This is David Sher your WeMentor Guy saying it’s not what you know, but whoo you know.

I REALLY LIKE SOCIAL MEDIA

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I really really like social media.  I know that this should come as no surprise, but I can’t quite get over how much Facebook, LinkedIn, & Twitter have enriched my life and broadened my friendships.

Recently I had a close friend take me aside and tell me she thought one of my posts on Facebook was a little too personal.  I thought about it and decided to ask my Facebook friends if they agreed.

I posted that I had received a massage at the Birmingham School of Massage.  I had lots of responses…more than you would ever imagine and thankfully everyone thought my post was okay.  Many of my friends were just darn right indignant that someone thought my post was too personal.  One friend wrote, “I am going to hear some static about this, but it is no more personal (and a lot more interesting) than hearing people go on and on about their religious beliefs or political views.”  Another wrote, “to those critics I say ‘bah hum bug,’ of course I’m keeping my language G-rated.”

I thought these and other responses were so funny and I really appreciated everyone taking up for me. Another post I made on Facebook was a poignant video showing an adult son losing patience and screaming at his father who was losing his memory. The video not only touched a nerve with me, but many of my friends.  I received several emotional comments, thanking me for the video, and suggesting that we as a society don’t treat our seniors with the respect they deserve.

I gain insights every day to my friends and feel closer to them thanks to social media.  This is David Sher, your e-networking guy saying its not what you know, but whOO you know.

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ARE FACEBOOK AND THE INTERNET GOOD OR BAD?

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She grimaced when she warned me of the risks of teenage girls being on Facebook.  I was attending a birthday party for my three year old grandson, Eric, in Atlanta.  The woman, who works with abused children, is a friend of my son.  She explained that older men get on Facebook, prepare a bogus profile pretending to be a teenage boy… gain the girl’s trust and make arrangements to meet…putting the girl at risk.  I guess this is what we see on Dateline NBC’s To Catch a Predator.  She said she would never allow her children on Facebook.

A few minutes earlier I had been talking with her husband.  He is a doctor who is currently doing some teaching at Emory Medical School.  He was telling me how the Internet has changed the teaching of medicine.  He said when students used to work in the emergency room; they would try to memorize the protocol for any given situation, but would have indexed pamphlets to look up information. 

 Now he says, the students whip out their cell phone, Google a question and are able to begin the treatment of the patient in less than five seconds. 

 So are Facebook and the Internet good or bad?  Well, the answer is obviously some of each. 

 Here I was visiting with friends and family 150 miles from home.  Much of my interactions and conversations were the result of us following one another on Facebook.  I’ve known my son’s friend, the doctor, since he was a little boy.  But only seeing him on occasion, what did we have in common? His first comment to me when we shook hands was, “I notice you are active in social media”…setting up our discussion. 

 I follow the pictures and postings of my daughter-in-law in Atlanta and her Mom who lives in Tampa.  I feel closer to both of them because of Facebook—and I imagine they feel a stronger connection to me.  That’s not a bad feeling.

 This is David Sher, your e-networking guy, saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

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SOCIAL MEDIA–IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE

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I stepped into the shower at the YMCA after my morning swim.  There was an older gentleman there, probably in his early eighties, who I had seen at the Y from time to time.

He saw me walk in & said, “There’s this woman I see regularly in the pool.  She’s always so sad and wants to talk.  She tells me how lonely she is…that she lost her husband and has no one to speak with.  She then starts crying.  You can’t walk away.  You have to talk with her.”

Then he went on to tell me how important people are.  He said there’s nothing worse in life than being alone.  It was a sad conversation, but it reminded me the importance of making new friends and building relationships.

That is probably the primary reason I enjoy & appreciate social media.  I have friends I never would have had without LinkedIn, Facebook, & Twitter.    I share their joys, their disappointments, & their minor day to day problems.  I see pictures of their birthday parties, grandchildren, & happy occasions.

Many people tell me social media relationships are trivial & not relevant.  I disagree.  My partner, Phyllis Neill, found me on Twitter.  Last week I had lunch with a casual friend that had been strengthened through Facebook to try to help him work through his divorce.

Here are some amazing numbers.  It took radio 12 years to reach 50 million people; TV twelve years; the Internet five; the iPod 3 years.  And it took Facebook 9 months to reach 100 million people.

Facebook at the time of this post has more than 350 million members & is growing at the rate of five million members a week.  If it were a country, it would be the 3^rd largest in the world behind China & India.

Don’t underestimate the power of people.  And social media is all about people.  This is David Sher, your WeMentor guy, saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

SOCIAL MEDIA–YOUR SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON IT

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I had lunch recently with a life long friend.  We hadn’t talked in a good while so it was great catching up. 

He asked what I was doing and I told him I was working with a partner, Phyllis Neill, to help companies make money using social media.  He didn’t have the foggiest idea what I was talking about.  So I set about explaining LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, you know, all the usual suspects.

I told him about writing a profile on LinkedIn, building up your connections, joining groups, answering questions.  I explained how he could make & build new relationships with Facebook, Twitter & blogs.  I was having the best time…when he stopped me in mid sentence.

 He said, “I know this sounds negative, but this looks like a lot of work & I don’t really don’t want to learn all this new stuff.” 

I had a quick flashback to my wife’s Mom who passed away a couple of years ago.  She lived in Florida & we’re in Birmingham.  My wife & I did everything in our power to try to educate her on using the computer & e-mail, but she resisted.  She kept saying, “I’m just too old.”

 Now, here I am, sitting across from a close friend who is actually a few years younger than me & he’s basically telling me the same thing.   

 My friend is a seasoned business person.  He has always learned & grown as times have changed.  Now here we are at the dawn of the biggest communications & business revolution since the introduction of the Internet, & he’s decided to give up.

 Social Media is not optional.  No one in business will survive without it.

 We will be invisible without the Internet.  No one will be able to find us on the Internet without social media.  This is David Sher your WeMentor Guy saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

TWITTER ON LINKEDIN – A GOOD IDEA GONE BAD

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What a great idea.  Now you can automatically post your Tweets to LinkedIn & vice versa.  But this upgrade has made a real mess of viewing status updates on LinkedIn.

I get great value from LinkedIn.  I enjoy Facebook & play around with Twitter, but LinkedIn is the one social media platform that helps me every day in business. 

LinkedIn lets me tell my business contacts what’s going on with AmSher & WeMentor.  My LinkedIn posts talk about our company honors, successes, and achievements.

The LinkedIn status updates allow me quickly & easily to review my first line business connections to find out what’s going on with them.  I learn about contracts they’ve signed, speeches they are giving, & other significant business moments in their lives. 

Now, because LinkedIn allows you to send your Twitter updates automatically to LinkedIn, the LinkedIn status updates are composed of random Tweets that may or may not have anything to do with business.  Posts such as, “Don’t like your Facebook friends, blow them up with Star Wars Death Star,” or “My neighbor is giving away cute cuddly kittens, but John won’t let me get one.”  Or how about, “I woke up this morning with a hangover.”

These posts may be okay for Facebook & Twitter, but are a real nuisance on LinkedIn.

Everyone seems to want to make one single entry & post to all their social media sites.  But this is a terrible idea.  What is appropriate for one platform will make you look like a fool on the other.  This change certainly has watered down the value of LinkedIn. 

There are occasions when one post works everywhere, but not always.  Try to use good judgment when making your posts.  Remember, the idea is to make a good impression.  This is David Sher, your WeMentor guy, saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know

THE BEST NETWORKING PLATFORM…NOT WHAT YOU THINK

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I walked into the board meeting of Operation New Birmingham…looked around the room and saw the usual suspects.  I’ve been on the ONB Board for a really long time so I know most everyone.  However, when I glanced towards the front of the room, I saw a man I’ve never met talking to the ONB President.

 I walked up and introduced myself.  He told me he was a banker who works for a large bank that had just taken over a bank headquartered in Alabama.   He told me about his banking career and the other banks he had worked.  We then exchanged business cards and sat down together.

 At the end of the meeting, he asked me about AmSher…he had obviously scanned my business card.  I told him about our company and then mentioned that we are currently doing work for the bank that his bank had taken over and hoped that his bank would continue to do business with us.

 He asked me to contact him so that we could discuss further.  I sent him an e-mail and we scheduled lunch.

 I’ve had so many good things happen for me and AmSher because of my community service.  When I review my current list of clients and prospects, most of them came from relationships that were developed through my volunteerism.  Our largest client came from someone I met at a Chamber of Commerce meeting.  Last week I got some business from a fellow board member of the City Action Partnership.

 This all makes sense.  You and other volunteers have a lot in common.  For sure, you have a passion for the same cause or organization.  People respect and appreciate your efforts, just like you appreciate and respect theirs.

 I love social media and I enjoy going to networking events, but community involvement, without doubt, gives you the best results.

 This is David Sher, your e-Networking guy, saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

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DON’T BE A JERK

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He sat down next to me at lunch at the convention…a young fellow in his mid to late 20’s.  He pulled out two cell phones…one was an IPhone…and some other small high tech contraption.  I had never seen anything like it before, so I asked him, “What is that?”  He said it was a recorder that shoots videos and uploads them straight to YouTube.

 He asked me if I had an IPhone.  I said no, and showed him my Blackberry.  He asked if I texted.  I told him I didn’t text…that I thought it was a generational thing.  He said, and I quote, “the problem with you OLD people is you just don’t want to learn anything new.”  Then things got worse.  I told him I trained professionals & business owners on social media like LinkedIn & Facebook.  He told me no one is interested in that stuff because young folks like him were onto other things.  The speaker at the luncheon began his talk, so we didn’t talk further. 

 Compare my ill mannered table companion with the fellow who sat next to me at lunch the next day.  We introduced ourselves and had a wonderful time learning about each others businesses and families.  He told me he worked with financial consulting firms to build their practices.  This was a great coincidence since I serve on an advisory board of a financial consulting firm.  I was impressed with what he had to say and I promised I would put him in touch with the owner. 

 When I arrived home, I received an e-mail from someone I didn’t know.  He was friends with Bill, the financial guy I met earlier in the week.  Bill had recommended he contact me.  He was interested in hiring me for some training.

 Wow!  What a different outcome.  A condescending kid versus a really nice guy who knows how to build his business network.

 The lesson is you don’t know where your next customer is coming from…and it sure doesn’t pay to be a jerk. 

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

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ARRIVE TEN MINUTES EARLY & STAY TEN MINUTES LATE

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I got to the meeting about ten minutes early and the first person I saw was a LinkedIn friend of mine. The reason I say a “LinkedIn friend” is he is a person I only sort of knew before I asked him to join my network on LinkedIn.   

 I talked to him for a few minutes and then he  introduced me to the fellow sitting next to him.

 We shook hands and he mentioned he was a practice administrator at a gastroenterology group located here in Birmingham. I wished he had worked in a different type of medical practice because I can never pronounce gastroenterology.

 At the end of the meeting, we had an opportunity to talk.  I told him I was with AmSher Collection Services, and I asked for permission to contact him about possibly doing some collection work.

 When I got back to my office, I sent him an e-mail and he responded saying it was okay for me to stay in touch.  By the way, this is how I have made most of my sales at AmSher—through introductions.

 My point is I never would have met the practice administrator if I hadn’t gotten to the meeting early and stayed a few minutes afterwards.   

 People oftentimes go to a meeting thinking that the purpose is the speaker or the information they’re going to get, when the purpose often is to meet other people.  So it’s a good idea to get to your meeting a little early and stay a few minutes late.

 This is David Sher your e-Networking guy saying it’s not what you know, but whOO you know.

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