#1
Almost isn’t good enough by Wayne Elsey.
#2
Branding Yourself by Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy.
#3
UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.
#4
Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
#5
The Thank You Economy
“It’s All About the People”
I’ve been reading Almost isn’t Good Enough: The Human Connection Changes Everything. This isn’t a book review. That will come soon. This book is written to people who are running or involved in not-for-profit work. The author is standing the world of not-for-profit on its ear and challenging some long standing traditional view of how a not-for-profit is run, and how it takes on the basic clear task of following a mission.
As stated, this is not a book review. Wayne Elsey is a proven man in the world of for-profit business and not-for-profit organizations. He “gets it” on such a deep level. I’m reading this book because of my interest in both worlds. So let’s look at some takeaways that I’ve gathered so far from this book that can be applied to any business.
Making a difference
When teaching in the corporate world, I ask companies about their philanthropic works. I often suggest that they strategically support those not-for-profits and the community with their online influence.
“Making a difference in the life of someone else, though, is something that everyone has the capacity to do, regardless of where one is in life and career…
It will create energy around you that will attract others, change lives and offer the opportunity to leave a legacy of change in the midst of a culture of access. “
Clarity
“Success, wealth, and impact are not philosophical ideas to be debated within the halls of academia. They are characteristics grounded in a focused effort over a long period of time that lead to transformation.”
Many times we associate the words mission statement with not-for-profit, but a business should have one too. If you’re not clearly focused on achieving that mission, you’re just working. If you find the clarity of your mission and follow it, you will be on the path of success, wealth and impact.
Valuing People
Janet Effron wrote a great post called: Company Policy in there she asked
“Is it your practice to hire stupid people?”
That stuck with me. When I work with companies, I often ask to train, not only upper management, public relations, marketing, and sales people to use the tools of social media, I ask to train support staff, and a variety of other positions within a corporation. Why? Because, people are what make your company strong. It is the people that you have trusted to represent your brand in the real world, that make your company shine. You should trust that they will make you proud online too, with proper training of you policy, goals, and a clearly defined strategy.
It is our “belief that everyone is at the table because they bring something of value. To that end they are expected to bring that value everyday” You want to “create a culture of empowerment…
It’s vital that we not create barriers to conversations but empower the experts we retain to perform at their highest levels.”’
Are you creating a culture of empowerment, and valuing the people you have chosen to be a part of your business? Do you give them a platform in which to express their knowledge of your product or service, and to become branded themselves as an expert in you field of business; and thus your business is branded thru them? Or do you simply let the PR guys get this new media stuff?Wayne “gets it” no matter if you are talking for-profit or not-for-profit :
“It’s all about the people.”
Are You Responding to Influencers?
Southwest Airlines has long been a leader and innovator in social media. They do things differently and are not afraid to step out to try new things; to be the first guy on the dance floor, if you will. They are known for their antics and humor online, in the terminal and in the air. But how do they deal with serious issues? With style and grace.
Does every complaint matter on Twitter? @SouthwestAir says ‘yes!’
The above article outlines the story one man’s response to a major renovation in the airline’s rewards program. This one man made a stink and he was not shy about publicly letting Southwest know that he was not happy about it.
Who was this guy?
It wasn’t Scott Statten, who’s lead some very successful campaigns about how airlines treat their customers, with only a few tweets and his army of almost 77 thousand social savvy followers of his @unmarketing twitter account. It was @SJCsouthpaw With is 106 107 followers that were genuinely upset with the company’s new program. He wasn’t the only one, but Southwest chose to answer him. Why? Because at Southwest “Our strategy is every customer matters, every customer’s opinion matters.”
Was that the right move?
Critics wondered. Frank Eliason, senior vice president of social media for Citi, says the airline made the right move, viewing Twitter as a customer service venue, not a PR podium.
“The number of followers is meaningless,” he says. “Today, every customer is an influencer. If your concentration is follower count, then all you’re doing is managing a PR situation. In this case it would appear to me that they are servicing their customer. Nice job, Southwest.”
Are you responding to influencers?
Frank couldn’t have said it better: every customer is an influencer. If your company ism’t monitoring and responding to your brand on twitter, you are not responding to an influencer.
Many companies today use only Facebook campaigns to promote their brand. They delete negative feedback to protect the brand. What they’re missing is that all social media can be used as a powerful customer service tool. If your brand is one that practices the above and uses it only as a promotion tool, or your brand is on twitter, but it is linked to your Facebook, and you’re not responding to comments or complaints on twitter, remember @SJCsouthpaw and @unmarketing – If you delete them on facebook, they are still influencers on twitter, where they can carry on the conversation about you – good, bad, and ugly.
You have a choice in how you use your tools in your tool box… use them wisely.
Just Start / Keep Blogging
Finding inspiration is hard
It’s 8:50 PM and I’m still trying to come up with my inspiration for blogging today. I have blogged every day with the exception of Christmas Day and Christmas eve, including the days of my procedures.
Giving other people courage
There have been more and more people telling me that they’ve been inspired to blog. They’ve seen my dedication to posting daily, but more than that they’ve seen other people, and their dedication to blogging. I don’t think it’s that we’re doing it every single day that’s inspiring these people; it’s that we’re choosing to find things that are meaningful in our lives we feel worthwhile to share. I think because we have the courage to let our guard down, and share intimate thoughts, that gives other people the courage to do the same.
Join us
If you’ve been thinking about taking the blog-a-thon challenge, but you’re too intimidated to do it every single day, just do it. Start today, make that commitment. Maybe it’s not everyday, maybe it’s once a week, or every other day. Whatever it is, make a commitment to YOU. Start up that blog, and share with us the things you need to say. Share the things we need to hear.
You Matter
If you’ve been blogging, please know the things you’re saying are reaching people that desperately need to hear your message. Please continue even if you’re struggling with it. We’d love to hear from you, feel free to share your blog in the comments, or to share another blog that has touched you.
If Today Was Their Last Day by Dan Perez
This blogger is not one of the blog-a-thon participants,
but this post moved me today.
5 things to consider before you decide to promote your brand online:
Letting go of control
Sometimes, those of us who habitually spread ourselves too thin over too many things have to let go.
We like to feel like we are in control in business, life, and relationships. We micro manage the details to the extreme. And because of this dedication to detail we seem to be successful.
It’s an illusion
The ‘control’ we think we have is an illusion. We think we are on the right path with our life and career, that we have the reigns of destiny.
One drunk driver, one heart attack, one stray bullet can bring our well crafted, well intended futures crumbling down around us. Often it’s not until then, when we are left to sift through the rubble, that we realize we never had control in the first place.
I have control of my brand, and my business
No you don’t. With the wide-spread acceptance of social media as a means of communication, a business can no longer hide behind the illusion that it’s in control of its brand by choosing to moderate comments or by choosing not be on social media at all.
Deleting negative posts
When a brand decides to maintain brand reputation by deleting negative feedback, let’s say for example on their Facebook fan page, they assume they are controlling the conversation. The problem is that the conversation stops between the brand and the consumer and continues consumer to consumer.
People will continue to speak about good and bad service that your brand has provided even if you are not willing to participate.
5 things to consider before you decide
to promote your brand online:
- Are you willing to give up control?
- Are you prepared to deal with negative feedback?
- Do you have a purpose?
- What are your goals?
- What are you willing to risk?
If you’ve not thought through your goals and laid out a plan that fits your purpose, then you’d better be willing to risk it all.
Reaching Out to Others vs. Allowing Others to Reach Out to me
As I mentioned yesterday I tried to reach out to others who were suffering in order to offer hope and encouragement. I didn’t really let me guard down, express the anxiety I was feeling, and talk about what I was going though.
Wednesday night I let my guard down. I privately DMed my pastor @DaleBeaver
“Please pray for peace/calm, starting to freak out.”
He replied within minutes with a Bible verse that was spot on what I needed to hear. I thought maybe others need to hear it too. So I thanked him and tweeted it publicly. As a side note for those who don’t know me: I am a Christ Follower, but I DO NOT post much “churchy” stuff. I hold more to the – practice kindness talk to people and show your love than the preach it method- that is just WHO I am.)
Much to my surprise this sparked several side conversations, and more DMs from other people. So I posted it on Facebook.
“THANK YOU!! To Dale Beaver who sent this to me via Twitter, at a moment of top stress about tomorrow. (I really NEEDED to hear it) Philippians 4:6-7 “
Again, this is WAY out of norm for me. What I found was more and more outpouring of love compassion and caring. Many more started telling me stories of things they have endured and things they have suffered. And more than one THANKED me. Thanked me for saying I was scared? This seemed off to me, for them to thank me for posting, I was the one who was getting what I needed to hear not them.
There is a difference
When we drop our guard, and let people see we are hurting, or in need of friendship, we find something more special than we could have imagined.
-we find true and new friends alike.
-we find a deeper understanding of people’s beliefs.
-we find out how highly we are valued as people, not for our work, but for who we are.
-we find that through our suffering we can encourage others to be brave.
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.
Are You Willing?
I was watching a video of Scott Stratten or @unmarketing as you may know him on twitter. He wrote the book “Unmarketing- Stop Marketing and Start Engaging” He is now on a book tour, really going out into the world and not only engaging with his over 66k followers. But he is doing more than that. He is taking a stand. He is like this wild, radical Canadian man on a mission to change the way people market. Why?
(Hint: cuz what your doing is not working, it is annoying and not making you any money off me cuz I am tired of this BS you try to sell me all the time.)
He is taking a stand because he, as a human being wants what we all want. He wants to be heard, he wants to be paid attention to, and he wants you to treat him with respect and kindness, as you do business with him. He is pointing out
some really obvious facts. He is sharing real life stories of how hard it was. (I love the one where he took 30 days and lived twitter. Tweeted 7000 tweets in 30 days. After those 30 days he had 10,000 followers. )
He rants on people not wanting to take the time to put in the work to create 7,000 tweets, who moan that “tweezer” does not work for them. Then he said it. That moment where if you were in a Baptist church you would stand to your feet and proclaim AMEN! He said:
Social media does not change the fact that relationships take time!
I said yes! When I teach classes people always ask me “how much time…” I hate that question. At first I assumed that it was because I was in denial about my addiction, and just did not like being called out on it. Then I started answering in a very professional way: “That’s not a fair question.” I followed it with- but this is what I do.
When Scott said that “Social media does not change the fact that relationships take time!” I realized it. I do take a lot of time to build relationships online. I do still play responsibly and work hard to get my offline responsibilities done. –I may work harder and longer, but I just do it, because to me, to my business, the time is well spent.
So if you are not seeing results by auto scheduling your tweets, or running a great promotion, or give away, if you’re still focusing on the media of the term Social Media- forget the push!
Try to find ways to really connect. Listen *Comment* Help* Show you care. The time you spend caring about the people will be time well spent that will change you.
Social media does not change the fact that relationships take time!
Are you willing to take the time to make this relationship work?
Follow a Leader
A year ago today my friend and Tweep Saundra Hadley lost her father. She turned to twitter as a way to express her grief. What she found in return was compassion.
She found that this “social media” was so much more than a broadcast channel. She was able to connect with real people in real time that were showing her compassion and caring, in her time of need. Here is her interview with Josh Breslow:
When I met her she was using it not only to stay connected with people who reached out to her, but has also found it a great way to do business.
She told me that it was the best peer- to peer networking that she has ever found.
Saundra, or @planningforever is the #1 twitter user in Evansville. She has a wide variety of topics that she posts –it is not all business. She is real, honest and funny.
So today on this #FollowFriday, I am not asking you to just follow her, I am asking a lot more:
- Follow @planning forever (No really add her to your twitter stream, but follow how she acts, watch how she engages, see how she uses it and follow her lead.)
- Reach out to her. One year ago she turned to twitter, twitter people give her some <3 today!
- Really listen to the people in your stream, reach out to someone else today who needs your encouragement.
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
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 ass
et 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.
