Company Policy

Guest Blogger today:

Janet Laane Effron ( @janet_frg )

She is a Managing Principal of the Four Rivers Group where she works to support businesses and educational groups in the selection and implementation of processes & technologies to enable organizational learning and informational management.

Company Policy

I was asked, recently, about the advisability of including the Blog function in a Sharepoint implementation. The answer to that lies in a question, the same primary question that needs to be asked if your business is looking Twitter, Yammer, an in-house wiki, or a host of other Social Media tools. The question is a simple one:

Is it your company policy to hire stupid people?

I’m guessing the answer to that question is “no”; that your HR policy is to hire talented, capable, highly motivated professionals who want to excel in their careers. Assuming that is the case, then there are some other questions to consider:

Do you want to leverage the talents of your workforce to achieve the greatest business results?

Do you want employees to have access to the best in-house knowledge to support their performance?

Do you want to increase efficiency and productivity?

In this case, I’m guessing the answer is “yes”.

So, if you’ve hired intelligent, motivated adult professionals, maybe you need to let them be just that. Given the opportunity, it is likely a good portion of them will have expertise and insight that they want to share. And if that expertise is shared on an in-house blog or wiki, then that means the next time someone needs input or advice they’ll be able to track down the experts in the business instead of taking Hobson’s Choice, merely asking the person at the water cooler or in the office down the hall. And as questions get asked, it’s good odds that more and more of the most needed information will end up on your blog or wiki so that the experts only have to put it out there once, not in twenty separate conversations. More efficient for the information seekers; more efficient for the information sources.

Now, of course it is not that simple. It’s easy to fritter away time on blog posts, micro-blogging or wikis. It’s easy to spend too much with social media and not enough time on projects. But you and the rest of your organization face this already, with phone calls, email, the internet, impromptu conversations in the hallway…. Wasting time is a product of people and the company culture, not of tools.

In the same way, success of Social Media tools will also hinge on your business culture. If you have a culture of information hoarding, or of viewing “failure” as worse than inaction, then the best tools in the world will not be effective in leveraging the knowledge and talents of your employees. Because, as was said before, your employees aren’t stupid. They’ll contribute and innovate in direct proportion to what your corporate culture really values.

August 4, 2010

Local Pros vs. Corporate Chains

Guest Blogger today:

Sean Redenbaugh

Sean is 30 years old, moved to Evansville in 2004, Systems Administrator for local company, graduated from Indiana University Kelley School of Business in 2002, owns and operates – Maverick Technologies and Redenbaugh Photography

Hello, my name is Sean Redenbaugh, and I’m part of a small group of local businessmen that have created a new online venture to aid the small local businesses. The venture is called Pros On The Cheap, and the website is www.prosonthecheap.com

The idea of this website will be to focus solely on the local professionals, dedicated to providing their local community with quality goods and/or services. What we are striving for is to create an online directory for people in the community to find local pros to assist them with whatever project or purchase that they may have. For instance, if someone buys a house and needs drywall, tiling, carpet, windows, etc…, they can simply search our database online for local pros to help them.

Our goal is to start with Evansville, our home town, and to have every single Evansville business or individual who provides a service or good to become listed in our directory, and for the website to become the one-stop place for local Evansville people to search for a professional.

There are many reasons why it is better for the community to shop and serve locally rather than use the large corporate chains. I think the most important reason to choose local is that your money will put wages and capital into the hands of your fellow local citizens rather than being sent out of the area. Plus, a larger portion of the money you spend locally stays local when purchasing from local businesses, not to mention keeping locally owned and operated businesses running provides your town or city with character, uniqueness, flavor, diversity, culture, and friendliness that would not be here if every store was a carbon copy corporate chain with corporate policies and standardized services or products. To assure www.ProsOnTheCheap.com cannot be overrun with large chains, we have programmed the website in a way to keep the businesses local, and keep out the large multi-state corporate chains. One way we have done this is to require each business that signs up to provide us with a single zip code. Thus, when searching for businesses, users enter their zip code and a search radius, and only those businesses will pop up. Large chains have no way of entering every zip code in the country, or selecting multiple states. This will keep the focus on the local pros.

At the present time, this is a completely FREE service. Local businesses and individuals can sign up for FREE online, create a company profile, and select which services or goods they provide to the community. It ‘s a great way to get their name out there for free into the community, and increase their business and profits at the same time. Don’t hesitate. Sign up today!

July 26, 2010

Building Brand Advocates

This article is featured in this month’s Evansville Business Journal.

How does a company build its presence on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedln? What are your customers most interested in: what you say about your company or what your friends and their friends say? Kyle Lacy, author of “Twitter Marketing for Dummies,” often says, “I don’t care about your clients. I care about their friends:’

How do you find and empower brand advocates? Start from within. Your best and most loyal brand advocates are sitting across the cubicle from you. Stand up look over the cubicle wall and say “Hello” to your next brand advocate. Wait, she’s not in sales! He’s not part of the management team! He doesn’t deal directly with customers! However, who are his friends? Or her friends’ friends?

Companies across the nation are scrambling to find and create ways for their brand advocates to show themselves and endorse their brand or product. The companies that do it best start from within. They don’t hire a single person to do all their social media. It is a team effort, built with a strong foundation in goals and strategic planning. Part of that foundation is relying upon the very men and women who make up the work force of the company to tell the story like it is. Today’s customers can spot a smooth campaign. They will trust an authentic voice – from you and your employees. Customers appreciate real engagement, with real people, in real companies.

Your employees are your biggest brand advocates. When you remind them that you believe in them, they will want to tell others they believe in you. Not only that, your employees will be more loyal and dedicated to you, their work and your company.

Put goals, policy and strategy in place before implementing any social media programs. Thorough training is essential for everyone involved so all will advocate well. After these tasks are complete, you start the process of building your advocate base.

Empower advocates from within your company ranks for your social media. The stronger relationships you build with your employees and your customers will position you to engage in the 21 st century. Oh, and it will build your bottom line sales numbers, too. EBJ

June 29, 2010

Saying Goodbye to a Hero

First let me say, this is baseball. “You win some you lose some.” That phrase is usually reserved to the game play itself. Today I want to use it to talk about the loss of a player.

Second let me say that what I am saying here is simply my perspective as an Otters fan and as a proud mother.

This year we became members of the Otters Booster Club. As part of that membership, we attended the pre-game picnic where we were introduced to the team and staff of the Evansville Otters. At that picnic the host families sat with their new players. Some of the players did not have families yet, and a few had families that could not attend due to work. We were fortunate enough to have several players sit at our table. They laughed and played with my children like they had been best buddies forever.

Over his short season, my children developed a respect for one of those players: #25 Carlos Romero. In the exhibition game he made an astonishing catch. The kids beamed, proud to know such a player. After the game, they held to tradition and ran the bases. They skipped the rest of the team and ran straight for him.

We could not be a host family this year due to space issues, but we “adopted him.” We took him to eat dinner one day before a road trip. He graciously listened to my children yammer on and on. He answered all the questions. He was kind a courteous and respectful to everyone we encountered.

More than that he was a team advocate. He encouraged the wait staff to come watch the team, talked up the history of the ball park and was proud to be an Otter.

My boys looked up to him, more as a person than a player, but as both. They insisted that we go to Sam’s to get him snacks for the road. They packed a few goodie bags with enough supplies to last him the trip, if rationed well. When we gave them to him, he looked in the bags and said “Oh good there is enough for me to share.”

During that away game two major things happened. #1 Carlos broke a bat. #2 Carlos almost broke his hand. He came home on the injured list.

That first game back we came to the field, hand drawn get well bag in hand. He said to Eric (my 6 year old) “I brought you something too!” He went into the dugout and came out with a bat all taped up. It was the bat that he broke. He had taped it up and brought it home for Eric. He signed it for him and he went into the stands beaming.

The day after Carlos came off the injured list, he was released from the team. We all cried. This is by far not the first player we have watched go. Some we knew were the right decision, some we wondered about and figured that the trade must have been worth it. This is the first time I have really asked “why?”

I am a social media strategist. I help companies build brand advocates. I help with customer service and PR, I help with that and much more under the guise of social media. I usually encourage people start building brand advocates from within.

So here is my take on Carlos.

From what we saw of him during his time with the Evansville Otters, he appeared to be a good player. Due to circumstances he was not really given the opportunity to showcase his ability.

But that aside, he is a heck of a brand advocate. He loves what he does, and it shows. He loved working for the Otters, and he told the world through his facebook, and through his interactions with the community, on and off the field.

When we went to the bank, my son would see the Otters schedule and would tell anyone within earshot how great the Otters were and all about the “best player, my friend, #25 Carlos Romero.”

In talking to him about what was next for the outfielder, he was determined to continue playing ball.

Because he was a brand advocate for the Otters, he created other brand advocates. That is a priceless value to any team. He loves baseball; he loves kids; he loves community. Add to that my opinion that he is a good player, and you have a good package deal.

I can’t do much for him right now. I offered money. He was not as concerned with money (Even though I knew he was struggling to buy his ticket home.) He was concerned about some kids he had coached, and promised more play time / lessons. He is truly a gentleman with character.

So here is what I can do: If you believe in “America’s Game” please repost, retweet, share, digg, or whatever. Help me share the news that there is a player for hire that will be more than an asset to any team.

Carlos Bats/Throws: L/L HT:5’10” WT: 190
A full information sheet can be found here if you are interested in his stats.

June 25, 2010

Hootsuite Retweet come back!!

Ok so if you use Hootsuite you will notice that it looks a lot different! The first thing I noticed is the retweet feature was now just like the retweet feature on Twitter.

#SoNotHappy

But you can change it to go back to the old Hootsuite style of RT by going to your settings (Click in the owl –whose eyeball move now) / preferences. There you will see a box that contains your preferences for language and URLs shortners. Near the bottom of that pop up, you will see two checkboxes. The top one is automatically checked, uncheck this box and you will now be able to retreat just as you always did. Adding your #2cents

June 24, 2010

A Community Comes Together

This year, the farmers market, downtown received quite a bit of social media chatter early on in the year for having a larger variety of vendors.

Last month, one of those vendors was asked to leave based on the product that they sold. The reasons that they were asked to leave in many people’s eyes were not valid reasons based out of perhaps ignorance for the products.

The owner, who had established a local e-mail database, sent out a notice regarding their situation, ending it with a call to action asking GAGE to do something about it.

That chatter quickly changed and suddenly the downtown farmers market exploded all over social media. I saw several blogs regarding the situation. One in particular was written by a newcomer to Evansville who utilizes her blog, twitter and Facebook very effectively. Through the power of social media, the particulars surrounding the circumstance of this farm being removed from the farmers market became known to a large number of people. Those people started talking, and spread that news very rapidly. (See her blog here – With updates)

This news struck a chord of emotion with those people who frequent the farm, with those people who appreciated the product, and with people who’d never even been there; based on principle.

My point is this: a well-written blog, circulated amongst the followers of that blog, that is also

promoted across multiple platforms (a link to it was place on twitter and Facebook) can have an extraordinary impact on a community.

Community can mean:

a small micro area such as your downtown area
a certaingroup of people like environmentalists
people who are traditionally stereotyped
the planet we live on and ourselves as a whole race

No matter the size or scope of your community

you have the ability to change it.

I remember thinking when I was growing up:

“How can I change the world?”

Thanks to the power of blogs, cross-platform social media, and our tendency as humans to truly want to help one another, a single person with a small physical voice can translate that voice to words and change the world. YOU have the power, you can change it.

So tell me, how are you going to change the world?

June 8, 2010

It's Showtime – Rock the Crowd!!

In a recent blog by David Huffman, It’s Showtime and It’s Not ALL about Musicianship , he described candidly his musical abilities in such a way that made you believe his musical talents will not be winning him a Grammy- this year. Instead, he focused on his ability to handle a crowd. He was quick to point out that you do need to work on your instruments and songwriting, but begged his readers: “do not discount your ability to rock a party. It really is a skill that some of the best musicians will never master. “

Let’s apply this to social media. I don’t care if you’re selling beans or real estate. If you’re in B2B or B2C, this applies to everyone using social media for business or personal branding.

He went on to question that even if you can play your notes perfectly can you:

choose a song that matches the crowds current flow.
handle that heckler standing up front flipping you off.
recognize when the crowd is ready for more. Or when they’re done.
understand the value of a very well placed cover song.

I would ask, can you:

engage in conversations
take criticism and or complaints and deal with them publicly, rather than shoving them under the rug and deleting comments
add value to the local community
understand the value of giving credit to other people

I always encourage people to learn about the social media platforms, and to watch and learn from other people. But I also encourage them to jump in there and try, especially where Twitter is concerned. Dave comments about musicians who are held back because of their perceived or real lack of skills on their instrument.

I see this in social media too. People don’t think they quite get it; they don’t feel like they totally understand every aspect. So they either ignore it, or they only watch. It is almost like they are intimidated.

Just as Dave has seen people with lackluster talents turn the show “into a rockin’ good time,“ I have seen people jump right in who don’t quite get all the aspects, ins and outs of social media. I have watched them build relationships, have conversations, and build their business and brands with immense success.

“So please don’t underestimate yourself based off your musical prowess, “ …or your ability to re-tweet, at mention or share.

“Just continue to work on your weaknesses and play to your strengths – duck your head down and buckle up for the long haul.

Do that and you’ll be alright. I promise ya.”

Dave will be one of three people on a panel discussion at this month’s social media club. Be sure to check him out!

June 8, 2010

It’s Showtime – Rock the Crowd!!

Let’s apply this to social media. I don’t care if you’re selling beans or real estate. If you’re in B2B or B2C, this applies to everyone using social media for business or personal branding.

He went on to question that even if you can play your notes perfectly can you:

choose a song that matches the crowds current flow.
handle that heckler standing up front flipping you off.
recognize when the crowd is ready for more. Or when they’re done.
understand the value of a very well placed cover song.

I would ask, can you:

engage in conversations
take criticism and or complaints and deal with them publicly, rather than shoving them under the rug and deleting comments
add value to the local community
understand the value of giving credit to other people

“So please don’t underestimate yourself based off your musical prowess, “ …or your ability to re-tweet, at mention or share.

“Just continue to work on your weaknesses and play to your strengths – duck your head down and buckle up for the long haul.

Do that and you’ll be alright. I promise ya.”

Dave will be one of three people on a panel discussion at this month’s social media club. Be sure to check him out!

May 24, 2010

Re-ignite People’s Potential by Changing the Rules of Engagement

Guest Post by Janet Laane Effron

Performance, productivity, attitude… we’d all like those to be first rate in the people we work with (and in ourselves). But sometimes we get saddled with an individual or a team who are walking definitions of the dead opposite. Sometimes these people aren’t inherently deadweight, but are talented individuals who have become under-performers. If that’s the case, the challenge is to

re-ignite their potential.

My best lessons in managing those situations came from outside the office.

Through various volunteer roles, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a few young people who had a healthy dose of non-motivation and bad attitudes. Some of them acquired those traits honestly, having spent quite a few years in what would be politely called “non-nurturing environments”. Some felt worthless and powerless; they didn’t see “change” as something that was possible. So they walked through life with a mix of bravado and apathy; pouring their energy into defiance and avoidance instead of building their abilities and achievements. When working with them, it was easy to fall into a trap of having every interaction be a point of conflict. And that wasn’t going to get anyone anywhere.

Some changes were needed. From me. So I learned to set people up to succeed. And I became hyper-vigilant about catching them doing things right and doing good things; avoiding the trap of only giving negative feedback; instead finding opportunities to praise and encourage. That doesn’t mean I relaxed standards; it does mean every effort was made to help them avoid pitfalls while trying to meet those standards.

The changes were undeniable. The impossible became possible. New motivations grew and replaced the apathy. It wasn’t all sunshine and daffodils, but the net result was a growth of ambition and enthusiasm that was well beyond the starting point.

You don’t have to look far to find people who have felt powerless and frustrated in the workplace; who spent too many years working in organizations where innovation and initiative were not welcome. There are probably some on your team right now who stopped trying long ago, and who drag everyone else down. Now, they might simply be lazy and annoying and that’s the end of it; those situations have obvious solutions. But when it’s a talented person whose potential is salvageable, it’s pretty good odds that if you set them up to succeed, and catch them doing good, they just might amaze you with what they achieve.

May 20, 2010

First Impressions – Changes in FB Policy, Again

Yesterday, Facebook abruptly changed its Facebook fan page policy. In summary, you will not be able to have a custom landing tab for your fan page, unless you have 10k fans or the page administrator works with their ads, account manager. If you suspect that that means you will have to pay to have a custom landing page if you have less than 10,000 followers, you are probably correct.

This change was announced, quietly by Facebook with an apology that no mention was made of it sooner. If you do not already have an ads account representative, you can submit a form which looks like this:

Notice the budget amounts listed. It does appear that Facebook is looking to monetize the growing trend of businesses using fan pages.

A lot of people are really upset about this change, in particular Twitter chatter and blogs from businesses that sell the service of making customized Facebook tabs. My perspective is different.

When asked, I would provide custom landing pages. However, it is not my sole business model. I did not actively promote custom landing pages as a way to gain fans.

So I am responding, not out of fear for the future of my business, and not out of the stress of dealing with past clients who may now be upset.

Personally, I’m not really upset by this change. Actually, I’m still very grateful for Facebook and what it has done to change the way that we as businesses communicate with our peers, our vendors and our clients. That has not changed.

If you have strong, engaging content on a regular basis, that shows people that you are listening, are responding, and that you care. Your business page will then get you more fans overall than a flashy well-done graphic that you paid a lot of money for people to see as their first impression.

So to you, small businesses, medium businesses, and large companies that are new to Facebook., not yet at your 10k mark: Remember that every post you make is potentially now a first impression.

Make sure you approach your Facebook strategy with this in mind.

Hint: if you post content that is informative, educational and engaging, people will willingly share this information on their own . They will be a brand advocate for you as they share your content on their pages.

Which is your ultimate goal: to have the most fans? Or is it to have the most fans who love and are actively involved in sharing your content?