StopThinkSocial

Social Media for Small Businesses - Getting Started

2012-02-16T01:48:02Z

I was recently asked for some advice on how to get started with social media to engage with customers for a small business. I thought I would share that advice with you...

Build a Knowledge Base

It's important you have a point of entry for your customers and with the size of it's user base Facebook is a social platform you cannot ignore. If just starting out, I would use this as your knowledge base where all other forms of social media point to.

Create a buzz about your business

There is no greater tool to create a buzz than Twitter but you need to use it smartly.

Here is what I advise:

Start with the basic Twitter web interface to build up that trust and following
Identify a hashtag associated with your business that you can use in all your tweets
Once you are comfortable with the Twitter concept then I would start to look at third party tools to help organise information, schedule tweets, search on key topics, and engage in conversations. I would recommend Hootsuite as your user interface and something like a Tweepi to help build up a following fast
Once you are using a third-party tool like HootSuite, use this to integrate your key messages across all social platforms (there are many many other tools that claim that they can integrate your messages across all social platforms but many hinder rather than help. My advice is keep it simple initially)

Some general social media hints and tips:

Use the same avatar across all social platforms
Regular tweets are better than a lot of tweets over a short period
The general rule of thumb is that if someone follows you on Twitter they will follow back so build up your following by following others. If this was a personal account then I would dissuade you from this approach but as it is a business account you are looking at then I would encourage it
Engage in conversation with other people - don't just post / tweet out your own content
To build up a following will take time – be patient
If people ReTweet your message it is good to thank them (I tend to wait til the end of the week to do this and thank 5 / 6 people in one go). They are likely to retweet it again in the future if you do

Checkout some of my other posts on using Twitter effectively:

How NOT to Get Twitter Followers
How NOT to Get Twitter Followers (The Sequel)
Twitter: Learn to Listen and Stand out from the Crowd

Other Social Platforms to Consider

Once you are more established with the above then there are other social platforms that you should consider:

YouTube – If you have some videos, create a YouTube account and upload them there. You can also use your Facebook and Twitter platforms to raise awareness
SlideShare – This is also a very powerful medium for sharing messages. If you have powerpoints that you would like to share, then SlideShare is a must. Slideshare also has its own social network as well as integrating with Facebook (i.e. people can Like your slideshares)
LinkedIn – This is much more than just a job resource tool now. With 100,000,000 professional people it is now a valuable and resourceful knowledge sharing community. Join communities that relate to your business and start engaging in conversations and building up trust. Once you have done that you can start “advertising” in these communities. It's useful to try and build up a good relationship with the Community Manager as it is the Community Manager that will kick you out if you just "advertise" your own products

There are literally hundreds of different social tools / platforms out there but don't panic! Start off small, build up that following and most importantly, engage in conversation with people. Afterall, it is people you do business with not tools.

Focus on the Easy Adopters, the Rest will Follow

2012-01-17T21:57:08Z

Social adoption strategies are not easy to implement in ANY business, and if anyone tells you differently they are lying!

The reason?

How can you convince people to change their communication and collaboration processes and implement a new social business infrastructure, when in their eyes the current model is not broken?

Let's see if any of these arguments sound familiar to you...

"What is the ROI of 'Being Social in the Workplace' anyway?"

"Social? That means I need to learn even more tools huh?"

"So you want my workforce to spend all their time on Facebook?"

"I'm already social, I sent a tweet last year"

These are what we call Social Barriers, the human instinct blockers based on fear.

Overcoming the fear of change is not easy and yes it is a generation thing. The younger generation are entering business with a good knowledge and understanding of social without the added baggage of pre-defined traditional business processes. Adoption is therefore natural and unforced.

So how do you overcome these Social Barriers in the workplace?

Focus on the Easy Adopters, the rest will follow...

There are are couple of ways to face these Social Barriers, and deliver a social adoption strategy:

Face them head on - provide use cases, and counter arguments to defend your position and show that 'Being Social' is nothing to be afraid of. Convince them that it will INCREASE the productivity of your workforce, IMPROVE the collaboration opportunities and STREAMLINE their communications
Focus on the Easy Adopters, the rest will follow - work with those in the organisation who see the vision and are ready and willing to change. This will help you refine your social adoption strategy and create new Ambassador's. The more Ambassador's you have the easier the Social Barriers will come down

The latter is an approach I have had a lot of success with, which has also helped influence C-Level buy-in.

You could choose either of these approaches or you can do both in parallel, just don't be afraid to change tactics if you find an approach is not working for you.

Every business WILL go social, it's just a matter of when, and how you approach it...

The Silent Voice of the Introvert Leader

2011-12-03T11:52:07Z

I will never be promoted....

Maybe it's my lack of intelligence? - ok, I'm never going to find the solution to world hunger or discover a cure for the common cold but I consider myself of reasonable intelligence.

Maybe my visionary skills are ineffective or I'm incapable of developing flexible business strategies to meet ever changing marketing conditions? - actually this is what I do, I love it, and I'm pretty damn good at it (so I am told).

It must be my poor leadership skills then - well no. I manage to deliver on my vision with very limited resources through influencing virtual people who have the same passion as I do. And virtual leadership is considered one of the hardest qualities to master.

Then it has to be my lack of passion and unwillingness to take on additional responsibilities - actually it's neither of these either. I have three high profile roles, two of which I asked to take on and my Sponsor keeps highlighting my passion as an incredible trait and the ability I have to just make things happen regardless of any obstacles.

So if it's not lack of intelligence, ineffective visionary skills, incapability to develop business strategies, poor leadership skills, lack of passion or unwillingness to take on additional responsibilities then why after seven years of over achieving have I not been promoted?

It's because I'm an introvert.

Introversion

I like getting energy from dealing with the ideas, pictures, memories, and reactions that are inside my head, my inner world. I often prefer doing things alone or with one or two people I feel comfortable with. I take time to reflect so that I have a clear idea of what I'll be doing when I decide to act. Ideas are almost solid things for me. Sometimes I like the ideas of something better than the real thing.

The following statements generally apply to me:

I am seen as "reflective" or "reserved"

I feel comfortable being alone and like things I can do on my own

I prefer to know just a few people well

I sometimes spend too much time reflecting and don't move into action quickly enough

I sometimes forget to check with the outside world to see if my ideas really fit the experience

(extract taken from Lisa Petrilli's eBook The Introvert's Guide To Success in Business and Leadership helping to identify if you are an introvert)

It's strange, I never realised until I read Lisa Petrilli's The Introvert's Guide to Success in Business and Leadership eBook yesterday that I was an introvert (I mean as a label). And the fact I organise social gatherings and speak at events would suggest that I am more of an extrovert than in introvert. But I do these things because I don't want introversion to hold me back, I won't let it.

Now, if you were expecting me to start slating my employer I am sorry to disappoint. I want to make it very clear this is not my employers problem, this is my problem. If I want to progress I need to first accept that I am an introvert and secondly learn how to work with it. After all I cannot join a rugby team and expect them to change to play football because it's what I prefer. The corporate playing field is set and I if I want to play then I need to adapt to their game not the other way round.

You might find it ironic that a Social Media Business Leader such as myself can hold such a position being an introvert. The very name suggests a contradiction to the fact, but I am starting to realise this is more common than you might think. See if any of the following relate to you:

You are quieter than normal in large meetings
You don't like being put on the spot to respond or provide input in a public forum without having time to digest and think of a suitable response
Attending conferences scares the hell out of you
After a conference, or all day meeting with a large group of people, you need to be by yourself and get some down time (sometimes days)
You avoid networking opportunities of any kind, and prefer your own company to the company of others
You find it hard to accept praise from others

So can an introvert be a leader?

Absolutely.

I consider myself a leader but understanding that I am an introvert and learning how to manage it with the help of people's views and insights like Lisa Petrilli can make me a better leader. And maybe one day I will finally get that promotion. But the important thing is I now realise I am not alone, that there are other introvert leaders out there and that it is possible for an introvert like myself to achieve. The important thing is to not let introversion hold you back.

Introverts have a voice. It may not be as loud as those other voices around you but even the silent voice of an introvert has something to say and we need to take the time to listen...

FOOTNOTE

Lisa Petrilli's The Introvert's Guide To Success in Business and Leadership eBook is a must if you consider yourself an introvert who wants to succeed in business or in life for that matter. But it is also essential reading for extroverts to understand how to better lead those introverts in your team. I found it an invaluable read and beautifully written.

Source: The Introvert's Guide to Success in Business and Leadership (http://www.lisapetrilli.com/the-introverts-guide/) by Lisa Petrilli

How NOT To Get Twitter Followers (The Sequel)

2011-11-07T01:10:54Z

After the huge readership of my blog post How NOT to Get Twitter Followers, I just had to do a follow up. However, I just want to clarify that I am referring to the use of Twitter for business purposes in my observations and not as a personal account.

How NOT to Get Twitter Followers (The Sequel)

1. Taking It Personally

I follow lots of people, regularly, whom I think may have something interesting to say or may add some value around my chosen subject matter - The Social Workplace. I'm always on the look out for good content that expands my knowledge or I can share with my followers.

However, if after a period of time it appears you are adding little or no value to my stream, than I may choose to unfollow you - BUT it's nothing personal, it's just business.

2. Not Listening Or Engaging With Others

In my previous post I stated that you should listen more... BUT I now think a metric is needed to guide people. Listening three times as much as you push out your own content is a good starting point, but the more you listen the more knowledgeable you will become.

There is nothing more frustrating than someone who constantly pushes out their own content ignoring the great content around them (see Twitter: Learn to listen and stand out from the crowd...).

Pie Theorem: For every piece of the knowledge pie you share you will receive two slices in return. You don't always need to be the baker...

3. Blah Blah Blah In Your Bio

Your Twitter bio should be your sales pitch of who you are if you introduce yourself to someone for the first time. If you waffle, or are too vague, then I don't have the time or patience to delve deeper to find out if you are indeed worth following.

Make it easy for people to want to follow you.

(Example Bio I saw today: "Walking tight-ropes and eating kittens. It's what I do. " - huh????)

4. Re-Tweeting The Same Content Constantly

I know a Twitter stream can be fast flowing sometimes and your followers may miss Tweets from time to time. It is therefore ok to Re-Tweet your content, but not again and again and again.

5. Expecting A Follow Back

There is this myth that if you follow someone you MUST follow them back. Why? Where does it say that in the Twitter handbook? I don't care about the quantity of followers I have, I am much more interested in the quality of content they can provide me and my followers.

If you follow me expecting an auto-follow back, go and follow someone else.

6. Putting Quantity Over Quality

Tweeting quality content infrequently is going to get my attention much more than Tweeting rubbish content all of the time. Whilst this may seem like obvious addition to the list, if you look at your own stream you will see many people do not follow this advice.

7. Not Giving Credit

Removing the original Tweeters name from a Re-Tweet is a big no no no no! This can be give the impression that you are stealing someone else's content (whether that is your intention or not) and is a quick way to get blacklisted by the Twitter community.

8. Only Re-Tweeting Other People's Stuff

If all you are doing is Re-Tweeting other people's content, why am I following you? I may as well just follow those people instead.

Be original and interesting...

9. Tweeting Broken Links

Sending out broken links can be so frustrating for the recipients of your Tweet. Whilst this is often caused by the re-shrinking of links that have already been shrunk, it is still your responsibility to ensure the content you distribute is valid.

Always check any links that have been shrunk before you Tweet your content.

10. Paying Too Much Attention To Your Klout Score

I know this is the complete opposite of the previous number 10 option in my original post.

However, there has been significant changes recently to Klout's algorithm's in the way they measure influence which has left many of us confused and infuriated. For this reason, all the credibility Klout had established has been lost and will take some time for users to accept this once again as a reasonable measure of influence.

SOME FINAL PEARLS OF WISDOM (REPEATED)

Remember, your Twitter account is just an extension of you and your business - a great social communication channel in a very public arena. Take Twitter seriously and treat the people that follow you with respect. Who knows where that next lead or opportunity will come from...

Source: How NOT To Get Twitter Followers (http://www.stopthinksocial.com/blog/2011/7/3/how-not-to-get-twitter-followers.html) by David Christopher
Source: Twitter: Learn To Listen And Stand Out From The Crowd (http://www.stopthinksocial.com/blog/2011/6/21/twitter-learn-to-listen-and-stand-out-from-the-crowd.html) by David Christopher

So long and thanks for all the fish #SWCONF

2011-11-03T23:29:26Z

The first Social Workplace Conference held by Crexia and chaired by Jon Ingham has come to an end and what a conference.

David Christopher on stage at #SWConf 2011There's nothing like leaving a conference feeling inspired, not only by some of the speakers presenting their own case studies but by some of the delegates as well.

Going on first is always a daunting task (it's a little like the comedian who goes on first to warm up the crowd for the other comedians), but it did give me the chance to sit back and enjoy the other presenters.

For the first part of my presentation people were clearly thinking "my, how that Lee Bryant has let himself go. He used to be so slim..." until they realised that we had a dodgy clicker that wouldn't change slides.

Unfortunately the speakers hall was only half full when we first started due to London traffic issues, and atmosphere was a little reserved. But as people started to arrive the atmosphere improved greatly and the two tweeting walls worked a treat to capture questions and share highlights.

7 Steps to Social Adoption (click to enlarge)There were a few ripples of laughter at my Social Media in Business: It's just a bunch of tools right? Slideshare where it highlighted that the IT department recognised the need for a social networking platform and deployed it quickly. I really cannot fathom why people thought that was funny (ahem!)...

Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity to talk more about Open Collaboration to truly engage employees through passive contribution to projects. Maybe next time.

Lee Bryant from Headshift was next on the stage talking about humanising social technologies, followed by Benjamin Ellis from SocialOptic who talked about many things including gamification. Benjamin certainly knew how to interact with the crowd and was probably my favourite speaker of the day.

Martin Couzins from itsdevelopmental grabbed myself and Benjamin just before lunch to do a quick duo interview via his iPhone which was actually a lot of fun.

After lunch we had the outspoken and flamboyant Elizabeth Lupfer from Verizon who was wearing the biggest heels i have ever seen and which probably contributed to her nearly falling over before reaching the stage. Elizabeth talked about "The House that Social Built" which was a different perspective to approaching social.

There were a couple of panel sessions either side of Jon Mell (whom did a great job providing a social insight to IBM) which did seem a little disorganised and confusing, reinforced by some of the faces of the panel. However there were some great points made, particularly the first panel on Social Media and Employee Communications.

However the fact that Jenni Wheller was on this first panel was of great disappointment to many of us.....we had lost our ferocious wall twitterer. This meant it left some of us with sore thumbs trying to tweet on our smart phones attempting to fill the twitter void she had left.

If you want to view the keynote presentations then you can view them on Slideshare:

Finally, I did meet some fantastic people at the conference which I do hope to stay in touch with and whom will hopefully be able to attend the Social Hangout event I will be hosting shortly in Reading.

Apart from the 3 hour drive back (which would normally only take an hour) it was a phenomenal day and a big thank you goes to Vic Okezie of Crexia and Adam Britten for all their hard work in setting up the event. I'm looking forward to the next Social Workplace Conference now in May 2012.

#SWCONF is nearly here...

2011-10-23T22:31:14Z

I'm sooooooo excited....

Why?

The Social Workplace Conference (#SWCONF) in London is just over a week away!

This is a great looking conference with some fantastic speakers which I have admired for many years. I am truly honored to be the opening keynote at this conference, which has made me work even harder to ensure i bring great content. And I promise NO death by powerpoint!

But what do I choose to talk about? :

The Oracle journey of Social discovery?
Why being social in the enterprise is no longer just a nice to have but a critical component of how we need do business?
How to gain senior management buy-in to create The Social Enterprise?
Is Social Media really ther right term we should be using?
How to develop Social Readiness and mature your Social Business Infrastructure?
How traditional and social communications can and need to co-exist?
The death of email is coming...

All the above I will cover but there is one topic that I am so passionate about which I have been working on for the last 3 years that I have to talk about - OPEN COLLABORATION.

OPEN COLLABORATION for me is at the heart of The Social Enterprise and it is what's going to change behaviours in the workplace.

If you don't know about this conference then check out the details over at #SWCONF and if that doesn't whet your appetite then check out my interview with Vic Okezie - Social Media behind the Firewall

If you haven't got your tickets yet for the conference and are thinking of going, then hurry there is currently a 20% discount if you quote the code TWITTER20.

Hope to see you there...

Source: Social Media behind the Firewall (http://www.crexia.com/social-media-behind-the-firewall) by Vic Okezie

The Death of Email by 2018

2011-07-07T00:45:48Z

By 2018 email as we know it today will be a thing of the past. Will I be proved to be a:
GENIUS	or	FOOL
Time Remaining:

In September 2008 I predicted the death of email as we know it within 10 years, to be replaced by something more collaborative in the social world we now find ourselves living in.

When I first made this death of email prediction people laughed in my face, literally.

Don't get me wrong I don't dislike email, it's a great linear communication tool but it has limitations in today's world particularly when we talk about collaboration.

Does this sound all too familiar?

An email arrives in your inbox that has been sent to 30+ people asking for feedback on the attached PowerPoint presentation. Person A responds with a 'reply to all' message with their feedback. Person B comments on their feedback with a 'reply to all'. Person C responds with a 'reply to all' adding their feedback on the presentation. Person C also responds with a 'reply to all' commenting on the feedback of Person A and Person B and so it goes on.... Before you know it there is a discussion going on in your inbox and you now have 50 unread emails that were not there when your meeting first started an hour ago.

Factoid: According to the Radicati Group, the average corporate user sends and receives 110 emails a day. If we say it takes on average 90 seconds to either read or write an email, that equates to 2 hours 45 mins a day or nearly 14 hours a week on email.

I spend more time on email than I do with my family.

These days companies are always looking to increase productivity of their employees and for them to be more efficient, whilst needing to communicate and collaborate more easily. Spending 14 hours a week on email is no longer an acceptable working practice.

Was the Death of Email crazy prediction really that crazy?

Let's be clear, life did exist before email and businesses did function (I know the thought of the death of email brings some of you out in a cold sweat).

If you look how technology has evolved over the last forty years since email was introduced, and how it has influenced behavioural changes in the way we communicate and collaborate, it stands to reason that at some time in the near future email will become a thing of the past.

If we only look back five years to July 2006, the first tweet was sent which begun to evolutionise how we communicate. Today there are over 200 million users generating in excess of 200 million tweets a day and handling over 1.6 billion search queries a day on Twitter. This is being used by many as an alternative communication channel (not replacement) to company emails.

Facebook was opened to the public in September 2009. Three years later it has 200 million users and today it has reached over 600 million users. It has also recently introduced an alternative to email that they brand as "definitely not email".

Google Wave came and went in 2009/2010 but the concept of an alternative to email was born. A lot of media hype around the failure of this was down to product and the fact that people didn't get it. However there are other allegedly conspiracy theories around this, one being that it was pulled by Google because they felt it was competing against it's own Gmail product. Personally, I think they just under-estimated the cultural change of such an innovative concept.

Google+ (Google Plus) is the latest social platform currently in soft launch mode and soon to be released, which could see it also competing against the standard email.

Maybe the death of email is not as far away as we think....

Check out this incredible video by Red Sky Vision who have talked to a number of companies (Able and How, CorpComms Magazine, Melcrum, Headshift to name a few) about how social media in the workplace is changing their communications:

The speed at which new social technologies are being introduced is growing exponentially and it won't be long before the replacement for email will arrive (or maybe it already has).

For me personally, I cannot wait until that day and stand by my crazy prediction that this will happen before the end of 2018.

How NOT to get Twitter followers

2011-07-03T20:37:13Z

My Twitter stream is an essential part of my business and my life (yes I have the S.A.D disease where there is no cure). I have put an extraordinary amount of time into identifying the right knowledge flows that are both inspirational and informative to me and my business.

Whilst building up my Twitter stream there were certain idiosyncrasies that instantly put me off following someone. I thought I would share these with you in the form of How NOT to get Twitter followers, as I am sure I am not alone here in my thoughts.

Disclaimer: These are based on using your Twitter account for business purposes not for personal use (though many of the idiosyncrasies would still come into effect for personal use too!)

How NOT to get Twitter Followers

1. Don't use your own Human Face as your Twitter Avatar

These are just some of the classic examples I came across:

Using your pet - People do business with people not with their pets. Am I really going to take you seriously if I am tweeting with Mr. Snuffles?
Adding funny clown hats and fake moustaches - Why on earth????
Using your company logo - unless you are a well established enterprise, then I would not recommend this. I am more likely to build a relationship with you when I see a human face than a nice company logo
Using the default Twitter Avatar - To me this shows you don't understand how social media or business works. Therefore I am unlikely to contact you....ever
Using a cartoon image - Hahahaha but I am not going to contact you...
Using a picture of your loved one or baby - Awww isn't that sweet....still not going to contact you.....
Using a provocative picture - Yes I may contact you but not for the reasons you would like me to....

2. Starting your Twitter Bio with Personal Stuff

Yes, you maybe a proud dad of two and a wonderful husband, but don't include that in your bio. Your Twitter bio has a limited number of characters - use it wisely to give a good impression of you and your business.

If you MUST add that info, add it at the end never at the beginning. I'm busy, I might only read the first 5 words of your bio before making a decision to follow you or not.

3. Having an Animated Twitter Avatar

If the thought is that you will stand out from the crowd, you succeeded. But not for the reasons you would like me to think. You want your tweets to stand out from the crowd not your Avatar!

(I saw one recently with a rotating head - WHY????)

4. Using Strange Twitter Names

Having Twitter names like "ILuvSocialMedia" or "Ifollowbaccc" is an immediate put off for me. I want a face and a name to do business with. Which leads me nicely on to my next idiosyncrasy...

5. Including Follow Back in your Twitter Bio

Adding "I'll follow you back" in your bio is a big no no. I don't want anyone to follow me back just because I follow them. I follow people because I hope they will be inspirational and informative in their tweets to me and I continue to follow when they do. I hope my followers think the same of me.

(btw If you are that desperate for friends, go down to your local pub and buy everyone a drink!)

6. Adding words like "Expert" and "Guru" to your Twitter Bio

Only other people can call you an expert or guru. If you include it in your bio it suggests you need convincing of the fact not others (bit of Sigmund Freud deep thinking here...)

7. Not Tweeting Regularly

If you don't tweet regularly you either have nothing to say or you don't understand social media. Either way why would I want you in my Twitter stream?

8. Tweeting about Personal Stuff

Some personal stuff is ok, it shows a human side to you and your business. But if you do it regularly I will unfollow you. My advice is to use Facebook for your personal stuff, or at the very least have a separate Twitter account for personal stuff so if people are interested they will follow your personal account.

9. Not Listening or Engaging with Others

If you are just constantly pushing out your own content and not listening to, or engaging with me then why would I continue to follow you? (see my previous post Twitter: Learn to listen and stand out from the crowd...)

10. Ignoring your Klout Score

Ok, this might be a contentious inclusion here whilst it is still in beta mode, but I believe Klout will play an influential role on Twitter when it comes to business (see http://klout.com/). Where there is an over-crowded market in what you and your business have to offer, what is going to make you stand out from the crowd?

Klout will show how other people perceive you and how influential you are when it comes to your area of expertise. This could be the deciding factor when all other things are equal.

Some Final Pearls of Wisdom

Twitter: Learn to listen and stand out from the crowd

2011-06-21T01:45:00Z

I am becoming more and more frustrated with Twitter. Not the technology but how people use it.

We all have to stop using Twitter just to push out our own content and start using this social platform as a great opportunity to share the knowledge and engage in conversation with others. After all, social media is supposed to be about people! In short, let's learn to listen and stand out from the crowd...

Learn to listen and stand out from the Crowd

Let me give you an example.

I have a number of SEO specialists in my Twitter stream. They have been chosen because I believe they can add value to me and my followers. I want to be in a position to share their experience and knowledge to help foster future relationships.

Today I needed some SEO advice myself. I needed to know if cached pages in search engines had to be manually refreshed if I updated previous blog posts to improve key word optimisation.

So I put a shout out.

I received only one response referencing how they made lots of money off the internet (spam). I sent a similar message again an hour or so later and no responses.

In between these two tweets of mine, one of the SEO specialists in my stream tweeted:

Get FREE SEO services today

...and a few other SEO specialists also pushed out content advertising their services.

If any of these SEO specialists had engaged with me in conversation and responded to my question, who knows where that conversation may of led. Maybe an opportunity for business now or in the future, or at the very least I will remember them as being responsive and extremely helpful and pass on their details to others.

These are missed opportunities.

So here are my top 3 tips for businesses using Twitter:

1. Learn to listen

Your Twitter stream is a valuable commodity, chosen by you because you believe the people you are following can add value to you. Make the effort to listen. I would advise spending a minimum of 30% of your Twitter strategy listening to what others are saying.

2. Engage in conversation

As you begin to listen, start engaging in conversations. Build up a rapport with those you are following and make the time to read and comment on their content. Particularly look out for "shout out's" (people asking for help) and try to help them. If you cannot help them directly, do you know someone in your stream that might? If so, connect these people. This will earn you respect and a great contact to follow.

3. Share the knowledge

Remember the Pie Theorem in my last post:

For every piece of the knowledge pie to share, you will receive two slices in return

Don't be afraid to share your pearls of wisdom when engaging in conversation. This will also earn you respect and a reputation to be proud of, which could lead to potential future business opportunities. Good reputations take time to build but bad reputations can be earned very quickly and will spread throughout your network like wild fire.

The Path of Social Media Enlightenment

2011-06-02T23:20:50Z

Do you find that some people just don't get it?

Whilst the majority of us understand the benefits of using social media in the workplace to aid business collaboration, to improve knowledge sharing, to build better professional relationships of trust etc..., there are some that don't.

In my experience these type of people fall into 3 distinct categories:

1. The Culture Shockers
These type of people are brought up in a culture where knowledge sharing and collaboration isn't natural, or are of a generation where social media is thought to refer to sharing a newspaper with a bloke down the local pub.

The GREAT NEWS is these type of people can be educated and shown the path to social media enlightenment.

Dilbert explains these type of people so well:

2. The Power Losers
These type of people believe knowledge is power and fear that if they share a piece of the knowledge pie then they become less important to the company. This I don't understand. Maybe it is just part of my DNA but I have always believed in the Pie Theorem.

The Pie Theorem states that for every piece of the knowledge pie you share you will receive two slices in return

The GOOD NEWS is these type of people can change and be redirected on to the path of social media enlightenment.

(Note: To save you the time of doing a Google search on The Pie Theorem, it is indeed a term I just made up!)

3. The Corporate Ladder Climbers
These type of people are similar to The Power Losers, with one significant difference. They hold on to all their knowledge and refuse to collaborate because they want that next promotion regardless of the harm it will do to the company.

The BAD NEWS is these type of people will never change and should be avoided at all costs. Thankfully though they are a dying breed in the new social workplace world.

So next time you come across someone who doesn't get it, try to figure out if they are a Culture Shocker, a Power Loser, or a Corporate Ladder Climber. If they fall under either of the first two categories then help them out. Show them the path to social media enlightenment. If they appear to be a Corporate Ladder Climber then show them the door, unfriend them on Facebook and block them on Twitter!