Journal

Personal Superheroes

Subterranean Mutants Are you a hero to someone? Do you make your business superheroes to every one of your customers, or treat them as heroes? Going that extra mile can make all the difference.

I found that out last week when two people who I already respected immensely joined the ranks of superheroes.

Michael Schechter, someone I’ve connected with through Twitter yet never met personally, is a superhero. As some of you might know, I recently won a tagline competition where the prize was a Nintendo Wii. I thought it’d be a nice idea to donate it to the local sick kids hospital when it arrives later this week.

Michael knew what I was doing, so he sent me some of his own Wii games that were gathering dust at his home. As an additional gesture, he also included three pearl bracelets and a pearl necklace for my wife as a thank you for me helping him out on his blog earlier this year. (Michael is Director of Retail Marketing at Honora Pearls).

He didn’t have to; I was happy to help. But his gesture made him an instant superhero.

John Haydon is another guy I’ve connected with on Twitter, through the 12for12k charity challenge. John has come onboard and used his non-profit experience and networks to gather bloggers that have written amazing posts for our charities. His help has been a Godsend at helping to spread the word.

Last week, I received a little Thank You card from John in the mail, thanking me for getting him involved with 12for12k. Even though it’s me that should be thanking him for all he’s doing. And he also mentioned to say Hi to my wife and hoped she was well. John is a superhero.

Even though I know both Michael and John already, that kind of thinking would immediately make me keen to recommend them to anyone. Michael didn’t need to offer games and he certainly didn’t need to send my wife pearls, and John didn’t need to offer that personal touch.

But the fact they did makes me confident anyone using either of them will always receive amazing service.

How’s your superhero status? Do you wear your cape with pride or does it need some new threads?

photo credit: Zeetz Jones

Introduce Yourself

23,29-duoprism stereographic closeup One of the things I’ve always said about this blog is that it’s as much yours as it is mine – community is everything.

I may be the bus driver, but you’re the passengers that make the journey so enjoyable.

So, just to cement our community that little bit more, I’d like to get to know you better. For the community to get to know you better. So here’s the deal:

If you had to choose one blog post to offer everyone a view of who you are, what would it be?
Why this post?
If you don’t blog, where else can we find you online? Do you mind sharing and connecting?
Tell us one thing about you that might surprise us.

That’s it. But here’s another quick favour to ask. If someone shares a blog with us, let’s make sure we visit it. And if we like it, let’s make sure we subscribe. After all, isn’t that what our community is all about?

Over to you – the comments are yours. Tell us about yourself. I’m going to get comfortable so I can enjoy getting to know you.

photo credit: Ethan Hein

One Way Streets

The way ahead Recently David Henderson was kind enough to invite me on his blog to offer my views on traditional media and its relationship with social media. I’m really grateful to David for allowing me his space – he’s an incredibly smart person so giving up some of his real estate for my ramblings was particularly appreciated.

Like any view, there will be some that agree and disagree.

And, as I mentioned in the post itself, I’m far from an expert in any of the areas I was discussing – I was just starting the conversation.

Michelle Belaski disagreed with my view and instead of taking up too much space in David’s comments section, decided to write what she disagreed about on her blog. Fair enough. She was also kind enough to let me know about this post via Twitter. Great – I read it and had a few points I wished to clarify on the post.

But I can’t. Nor can you (if you wished to).

If you check Michelle’s blog, there isn’t a comments section. There’s a little voting section that allows you to say whether the article is “funny”, “interesting” or “cool”. But no comments area.

This is a shame. I can’t respond to Michelle’s views (some of which are incorrect from a factual point of view) so instead of offering a chance for some discussion, it’s simply Michelle’s point of view that’s on show. Which, fair enough, it’s Michelle’s blog and she can run it how she feels best.

But isn’t she missing an opportunity here? Don’t points of view benefit from the debate they can open up? What’s your take – do you prefer discussion or just one way streets?

photo credit: Incessant Flux

Discussing Social Media with… Sonny Gill

A little while back, I sent out a request via Twitter asking if anyone would be interested in being interviewed for a discussion on social media.

With the medium meaning so many different things to so many people, as well as how it can be used, I was interested to hear the views of the people I connect with.

My original plan was to run a ?round table? style of blog post – raise the questions and then have a mix of views as the responses. However, the answers I received back were all excellent, and showed why social media is the mix of interesting people and views that it is. So, I decided individual posts would be far more effective in an on-going series of interviews.

Sharing his views today is social media strategist Sonny Gill. His work emphasizes community-centric strategies through the use of social media. My sincere thanks to Sonny for taking the time to reply and share his views. To connect with Sonny or find out more about him, please visit his social media blog or connect with Sonny on Twitter.

If someone was to ask you for your definition of social media, what would it be?

Ah, the elusive answer that many of us seek! Well, here?s my personal definition: Social Media is the new technological means that help us build, enhance and grow our communications channels, as well as our relationships ? online and offline.

What is your reason for using social media?

Community ? simple as that. I was intrigued by the medium a few years back as I became acclimated with the space by reading some of the top blogs in the industry. I was amazed at how a group of people, that you may or may not know, actually cared about what you had to say.

I?ve always been a marketing nerd at heart but the possibilities with implementing social media into the mix were endless ? but more importantly, it gave me a place where I could better connect with people and actually build relationships with them.

Do you feel that social media is being used to its maximum effect?

Not at all. We all have helped pave the road to get SM to where it is today, but there?s an even longer road ahead. That road consists of further education to clients, executives, naysayers ? those who don?t understand how it can benefit their company but more so, who brush it off as a fad or a shiny new toy. It?s more than that and it?s our responsibility to prove them wrong. I think we all should keep this in mind as we move forward in this industry.

What social media tools or applications do you use? Why these ones in particular?

I can usually be found on Twitter for the better part of the day, along with Facebook and LinkedIn. Twitter is my original social media stomping ground. It?s where I first ?got it? and it?s where I?ve been able to connect with hundreds of people that I would not even had the chance to speak with otherwise.

Facebook has always been a safe haven for me and my personal friends that I grew up with or went to college with. Now, it?s kind of shifted into both personal & professional as I connect with people from my other networks and further build our relationship there while having the ability to share media (pictures, video) easier than I would on Twitter.

Lastly, LinkedIn is a site that I?ve always praised and hope that all my close friends and colleagues actively utilize. It?s your online resume, your background check for potential employers or clients, your own research tool. I connect with colleagues, old and new, as well as friends. I never know who I may need to know for that next pitch or possibly for that next employer ? staying connected gives me a greater chance for an introduction, for myself or for a friend or colleague that?s in the same boat.

Where do you see the future of social media, both in general and for you?

I think 2009 will bring SM to the forefront of marketing and communication strategies across many industries. The economic times is a sometimes overworked topic but one that can be addressed with social media, as there?s low monetary cost, though makes up for with the soft-cost of time.

For myself, I see social media further expanding my knowledge in the industry and in marketing as a whole. The great thing about SM is that everyone is willing to help, grow and learn with you. There are no limitations in this industry, as it?s all a matter of how hungry you are. Personally, I hope to utilize the skills I?ve learned and implemented within SM to hone my skills into a role where I can help a company maximize their potential, by tapping into what?s most important to their business ? the people.

Are businesses effectively using social media? If not, what can they do to improve?

Some are but most don?t get it, yet. With all its glitz and glamour, social media is still slowly being adopted by the corporate world. They?re getting their feet wet as some are on Twitter or have started a blog.

What misses the boat though is how they?re conversing with their community and the amount of time they?re putting forth.

First thing for them to understand is that social media is an extension of their current strategy, which needs to be understood throughout the entire company?s culture, as it?s not an end-all or going to save a failing strategy.

Listening and then communicating with your company?s community is a great initial step but use social media to help your community, not the other way around. This topic could definitely go into an entire post of its own but listening and learning is a good start for businesses to improve their use of social media.

What do you feel are the best and worst features/uses of social media?

I think by far the worst use of social media is the implementation of an MLM (multi-level marketing) strategy through Twitter. These tactics guarantee a massive amount of followers but what then? They fail to realize the time and effort aspect of social media and that it takes a lot of both to connect and build relationships, not numbers. They?re not utilizing Twitter for the benefit of conversation or relationships; they?re using it to get tons of followers.

Though this is one of the worst uses of SM that I?ve personally seen, it?s not something that?s sustainable. It?s easily seen / avoidable and the people who?ve done it will soon realize that there?s nothing more to their communities, than numbers, when there?s no substance behind it.

photo credit: Matt Hamm

You can find more ?Discussing Social Media with?? interviews here.

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