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Thoughts and things I care to shareThe Youth Movement
It’s an interesting time we live in. Economic turmoil, changing social norms, 100 year old publishing businesses crumbling, and new media powerhouses being established. You’d be hard pressed to give our present era a pass and claim it to be not as important as <fill in your favorite era here>.
Along with these incredible times are some challenges for every business, and everyone that works in them. The reality is that the past decade has brought incredible change in our communications and social structures because of digital communication. Included in this is the first generation raised entirely within the Internet, and mobile communication revolution of advanced technology.
This generation has experienced the freedom of wireless connections from an early age, and rediscovered the power of text communications. The “kids†in this generation have expanded their mental and reflex capacities through vigorous sessions of online, multiplayer, interactive & collaborative games. These folks have no stigma about being online, and this generation comes prewired for online social interaction. They have the ability to actively team-build without preamble and pep talks, can do business virtually without the need to meet in person and can work with folks on the other side of the globe as easily as they work with people in the next cube.
This is the youth movement of today, and they’re entering your business right now. These young folks are part of the largest workforce to enter the American business landscape since the boomers. They are your new entry level employees and they know what’s up. They’re smart, fast to learn new things, and anxious to prove themselves. With the Baby Boomers retiring and GenX/Y moving up, these folks coming out of college are bringing a revolution in relationship management with them.
Are you ready for them?
Photo credit: eddiehosa
Run a blog? You’re a Community Manager too!
So you’ve got a blog, or maybe a Facebook page, or another profile on a social network or new media site somewhere out there. Do you regularly post or update it? If so, it’s likely you have a community around it, whether or not you realize it.
You may have people who want to learn from you or share ideas with you. Are you prepared to take on that opportunity? You should because these folks are your greatest fans and can be part of your own brand/PR army that goes out doing the grass-roots efforts you would never think of.
Its especially critical for businesses in these tough times, to learn these methods and reward your community for being part of the team. They’re there to help, even more than to cheer you on – all they want is to be involved.
Microsoft figured this out over a decade ago with their MVP (Most Valuable Person) distinction. They discovered early adopters were talking about their products in forums and chat rooms. Instead of trying to control this critical group, the decided to engage them. By equipping them with additional tools and information, they were able to seed the market with knowledgeable, respected people. These people gave honest reviews, constructive criticism, and in general, useful feedback that the company then rolled into new product design.
Does your company do something like this? Have you really thought about rewarding your community? Why wait, start today by reaching out as yourself and not in the name of the company. Start sharing your experiences, challenges and success with theirs goes a long way to being part of that community, and from there, you can all do so much more.
Good luck!
Photo credit: Andy Tyler
Have questions? Want to learn more? Please feel free to contact me if you wish – my contact info is in the sidebar to the right. Email is probably the best way to get in touch, followed closely by Twitter.
What Open Really Means
It’s hard to be a medium or large corporation these days. The demands are not small, with expectations of investors, disappointing market performance, employee needs, government regulations and oversight… there’s almost no time left for the most important part of any business: customers.
Of course, that’s where the current craze around social media comes in. The expectation is that any company can use all sorts of free tools to stretch marketing and PR dollars, and maybe make the customer feel more welcome picking up your brand at Wal-Mart.
But that whole scenario is bound to bust as surely as your pick of economic bubbles.
The reality is that to really engage using social media and realize honest benefits requires more than a passing interest in new shiny things. Social media requires real openness, and if you’re not willing to be open, people can tell.
The power of this new ideal comes from the willingness to have an open culture. That means that there are no artificial barriers between departments, positions, business units, or people. It means that interacting with the public is a part of every position, not just the domain of marketing, PR, and an occasional press release from the CEO.
Openness means that the C-level is talking in public forums alongside the shipping department, or accounting, or human resources. Bringing openness to a culture means that everyone is able to talk about nearly anything.
With that being said, it’s ok to still have intellectual property and protect that. You’re right in protecting developing business plans, or new products, or several other types of information an organization holds and makes money from. However, beyond that, an organization can talk openly about the challenges it faces, or hold up a consumer enthusiast group as a model, or any such thing that shows a human side of a company.
Sometimes we, that is companies, worry too much about what the competition may think. Organizations can get wrapped up in being too professional. Being open about things doesn’t take away from any of this. When done from a position of transparency, and honest intention of open interaction, a company can grow a much more loyal consumer base, and open source their own PR army. But that’s another post.
Walk Your Walk
If there’s one thing you should always do, it’s to keep your unique individuality.
As an individual we need to recognize how and what we do differently. Protect and nurture those qualities that make us who we are. It’s important to realize that these qualities are what others see in us, and differentiate us in a crowd.
Quite a bit of this relates to your personal brand, and perhaps that context helps make the most sense.
Walk Different
Walk a funny walk, have fun, explore who you are and what others see in you. Dare to be different. In doing so, you’ll start to learn what others value in you. You’ll also be able to realize that there’s opportunity in doing things differently.
Try those new things, find ways to step out into the future and expand your skills and worldview. You may be great at what you do today, but there are other things you may be well suited for. It’d be a shame not to find out what those may be. It’s rewarding to relearn things about yourself that you may have forgotten.
Walk Tall
Be proud of where you come from, what you do, and how you accomplish your work. Your walk can be compared to your “brand personality” when you meet a person , often the first thing you see is them walking towards you. Much like the t-shirt you brand from Print My Logo, you have control over what is seen.
There are no unimportant jobs in society, and it’s what we do with our lives that’s the real testament to each of us. It’s what we do day-in and day-out that people remember, and this is the base of who we are. It’s always a good idea to start from a firm foundation, and that is what walking tall is about.
Don’t let others define your success as success is a subjective label to begin with. Only we can define what that is, because only we know what’s important, or what the next step in our path was supposed to be.
Walk Straight
Sticking to your values is what this is all about. Its when we stray from our ideals that we begin to loose our way. By following through on your plan and remaining true to your core values, its easier to reach those goals that you prize most. This is also something that people remember about us. It’s about being consistent, honest, and following through. Not always easy, but never ignored either.
Walk With Purpose
Having a purpose to things is just as important as everything else. It’s about direction. There’s a reason that we’re all good at different things and make different decisions every day. Define for yourself why you do things the way you do, get to understand what that purpose is, and refine it as time goes on. This is ultimately what drives each of us in our own way. We have some ultimate goal that we alone hold.
Stepping Up
Finally, taking the time to map out a path to walk in life is a great thing to take time to do. Plan out short and long goals, match your pace in life with your ultimate goals. Enjoy the each step along the way.
This is a post from my ‘inspirational’ list. Not sure if it really is, but I like to give it a try from time to time. All feedback is welcome! That’s one of my goals as I walk through life, to learn from anyone willing to share suggestions or criticism. It’s all good from my perspective as I just want to learn.
Enabling Trust in the Organization
We’ve all been there. You’ve got a great idea that you wish you could find a way to share with the appropriate team at your company. You’re not able to, because you’re not part of that team. Or that department. Heck, it’s not even a field you’ve specialized in or worked in much, but you’ve got that idea – a good one – and you’re sure that it’ll help in some way.
How do you share that idea? How do you get a chance to talk to folks on that team or present that idea without someone saying “gee that’s great†and then ignoring it because you work in another part of the company? How do you make your voice heard?
Unfortunately this is all too common in corporations today because of various institutionalized barriers. Different departments, protective fiefdoms, overzealous paperwork, and draconian process and procedures. These all contribute to the problem we have today of large, slow, companies that make incremental improvements rather than large bold ones.
Cut Out The Middle Man
This is where cutting through the organization from another angle is beneficial, and while it’s not a new idea, its facilitated by social media tools. Call them “Enterprise 2.0†or some other Gartner approved term if it helps you out, but it’s all web 2.0 tools and with social interactivity built into the technology.
These new tools foster that important cross-organization conversations that help promote sharing the institutional knowledge that is part of each employee. Allowing them to forge new relationships and new communities within the organization.
This lets people – the most important resource of any organization – to feel more welcome to share and trade ideas, just like sharing anecdotes and stories. The workplace becomes less rigid in it’s communication allowing everyone from the bottom up, or the top down, to be more receptive to comments, ideas, questions, and suggestions coming from other parts of the organization.
Getting There
Getting to that point is a lot of work, and simply making the executive decision to try something new is a large step in the right direction. That first step is a doozy though, because its all about trust. Not just trust in a new CFO, or in a Director of “This Or Thatâ€. Its trusting every employee at every level. Trusting that they’ll do the right thing. Trusting all those intelligent folks that were hired to do those jobs in the first place.
That’s the first step… the next is almost as hard. Accepting feedback. But that’s another post.
Photo credit: Jerry Vo
Social Media and the 40 Hour Work Week
One of the more frequent questions I hear about social media, is around how much time should a person allocate towards it. The answer is a lot simpler than it seems: lots.
For those looking at moving into a social media role, whether its a community manager, specialist, analyst, or strategist (hmm… lots of –ists in there) expect to spend quite a bit of time. Each of these jobs consist of a lot of hours, mainly because you’re dealing with a platform that never turns off: the Internet.
The speed of the Internet really has an influence on the time you need and should spend in a social media related field. Since things change so quickly, it’s imperative to be monitoring all the spaces that are relevant to your company, brand, or interests. This can take up a huge amount of time.
The bottom line on time invested in social media activities, is that you need to set boundaries, and work towards containing them. There are always things that require our attention, or distract us in some way. The trick is to be diligent in leveraging the tools and services that are available for doing monitoring and alerting you when something needs attention, or is relevant to your interests. Event then it get’s a bit difficult to stay on track.
Words To Socialize By
Ever run across a phrase or two that you’ve heard that sums up things really well? Short, simple, clear points that makes what you’re trying to say much easier to understand are always worth repeating. So with that, here are a couple that I try to share with clients as they start exploring social media and online communities.
“Don’t Be Stupidâ€
Credit for this phrase goes to Gary Koelling, co-founder of Best Buy’s BlueShirtNation. If you’ve met Gary, or have the chance, you’ll know that he cuts through the gobbledygook corporate speak phraseology quickly. Once everyone has their say, and the external communications policies are written, and the training is complete – the simple, boiled down essence is: Don’t Be Stupid.
“Don’t Shame the Nameâ€
Credit for this one goes to Brian Rogers, a colleague at Accenture. In relating stories of family and youth, we covered lots of ground. When he mentioned that one, it stuck with me. It’s simply another perspective on being responsible. It keeps a person thinking about positive actions, respect, and of pride.
So, keep these simple phrases in mind, share ‘em with friends, coworkers, and people who ask for advice about interacting online. Social media is a powerful medium, and you can’t go wrong by keeping it simple in whatever you do, either for yourself or for your company.
Living in the future
Several years ago (okay, more than a decade) there was a great keynote speech by James Burke at ACM 97 where he talked about ‘The Next 50 Years of Computing’. Now, if you’ve seen James Burke’s Connections series, you know what he’s good at. Describing the intertwining relationships of time, technology, and happenstance.
Here, a decade or so later, I’ve been thinking how true those words are. At the time, Windows 95 was still new, Microsoft Outlook was in it’s initial ‘1.0’ release, and the browser wars of Netscape vs. Internet Explorer were on, and Google was still a dream to be developed. Back then, I was waist deep in technology as a Novell NetWare and then Windows NT “expertâ€, and loving it. It was all about connecting computers together, and getting businesses connected to the Internet. Email and ICQ were HOT.
Fast forward a decade, and so much has changed. Where cell phones were a luxury that businesses could barely afford to sponsor, they’re now the de facto communication device of nearly all of us (who needs a land line). Why have browser wars when you can have 5 to choose from that all have a spot on your Start Menu? Where we used to pay upwards of $30/month for 56k dialup access, today most folks pay about that much for about 100 times that speed. Heck, we have faster connections on our cell phones than we did at home back then. GPS was a nifty gadget where you could plot waypoints to your favorite fishing hole; today, we have full-on navigation packages built into our vehicles to guide us anywhere. The list is endless.
The point I’m getting at is the change all these things have made to our culture. We’ve brought the concepts of democratization to technologies and industries that we used to think impenetrable. Through citizen journalism and social media, we’ve toppled once powerful institutions. We’ve squeezed huge entertainment companies to the point that they lash out at their own customers because they can’t find a new business model. The people of the United States felt they had a real voice that was listened to in the selection of their latest President.
All this is through the incredible advancements in technology that changes our culture.
A decade ago in that keynote by James Burke, he talked about how developed countries were 50 years ahead of underdeveloped countries, and how this pattern would repeat into the future. I believe we’ve sped up the process and are much farther down that path than we believe. We are living in a future that our parents could never have dreamt of. We have the opportunities available to us at the touch of an iPhone that a decade ago weren’t thought possible.
My question then, is what will you do with the advantage of living in the future?
Photo credit: Hometown Invasion Tour
As a note, if you follow the link to the ACM97 slide deck and videos, I just want to point out that it was compiled a long time ago and is not as polished as we see today on YouTube. Just remember that as you go through it. It’s still a great presentation, by a master at telling stories of history and technology. Oh, and I did try to find it elsewhere without luck.
A Note For SPAM Marketers On Twitter
It’s been there for awhile, quite awhile really. I’ve been able to ignore it for the most part, though it is getting a bit old.
I’m talking about those MLM types, thinking they can gain some advantage through sheer following numbers on Twitter. Fancy schemes to gain thousands of new followers in 48 hours or less.
What purpose does this serve? If your tweets/following percentage can’t even break 1%, why are you there? Why would I even care? Why are you gaming my account and others? We can see through what you’re trying to do.
Do you want to know why?
Like a bad 70’s disco LP, stuck in the past. Singing the same tune like so many previous polyester leisure suit wearing, used-car salesman before you. Am I stereotyping? Gee, sorry – there’s a reason for it. Your last-century marketing efforts are lost in the reality of the 21st century. You might as well try selling toothbrushes door to door for all the good your Twitter account does.
Take your glossy commercials with pop stars, your shiny hummer, that damn inflatable Gorilla, delete your spam account and start over. We’re not buying it.
Photo credit: Sunfrog1
Getting Along with the IT Gatekeeper
I’ve been an IT guy for a darn long time, and as I’ve said before, it was a great career. I’m sure I’ll revisit it from time to time – I’m too much a tech-geek to abandon it completely. One thing I know from experience is that IT is many times a bigger bottleneck than we tend to admit. So as I move into new areas as an advocate for and a professional in social media I understand the issues from both sides of the fence.
Some folks scoff at how IT always seems to pull the security card on attempts to do new, inventive, creative things. It’s but one of many things that corporate IT departments have to consider when someone brings up something new. Other things can range from support costs (obviously) to recovering from disasters. New systems really do consist of much more than just buying and installing software.
Interestingly, it’s not always management in IT that causes the roadblock. In fact, IT leadership is often well equipped to be advocates of change in the organization. Even with tight budgets, IT is almost always looking to help position the company for growth. However, remember they’re biggest responsibility is to maintain existing systems and provide a secure, reliable environment.
So the question is then, how can you get IT to be interested and prioritize your project?
The answer is to get them involved early. Very early. In fact, they should be among your first stops when you’re looking for supporters and stakeholders. What usually happens with many a project is that the technology aspect get’s pulled in way too late for the project’s original timeline. All this does is turn it into another firedrill project with folks working long hours and weekends to make it happen.
However, if you get IT involved at the beginning, they’ll help with estimating real costs. They’ll help figure out realistic timelines. They will be a key part of making your project succeed.
Contrary to what you may think, Information Technology isn’t just about databases, operating systems and all the computers in the office, they too get excited about learning new things. The realization that social media, and new ways of doing business is important to them too.
Photo credit: Great Beyond
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Yup, taxes are criminal and we need serious reforms. I've always said that if you want to see a tax revolt, make withholdings illegal and have Americans write a tax check every payday. They'll revolt for sure. You don't miss what you never had.
I think it’s safe to say that @GovEvers should stop blocking audits in Wisconsin and open the books…
“Only AMERICAN citizens should vote.”
Sen. @berniemoreno says voter ID and proof of citizenship are simply common sense.
“We’re talking about a very low threshold — identify who you are and prove you’re a U.S. citizen when you register to vote. I think we’re getting closer to
Wrong. Democrats are solely responsible for hours-long airport lines.
They voted to defund TSA three times and won’t even entertain a conversation about reopening it. Why?
They’re using it as leverage to stop enforcing immigration laws.