Pick up the Phone

We live in a fast-paced world. We've heard that enough. We're busy. Blah Blah Blah.

We're wearing busy like a badge of honor. We're in meetings and doing stuff and running around like idiots trying to do more faster often. It's time to get off the wheel and breathe. It's time for us to connect with each other again.

They say that infants who get a lot of love and affection, grow up to be happier people. We need connection, we need to belong, but a roomful of people staring at their mobile device screens is not collaboration. Nothing, in my opinion, beats face-to-face, in person conversations, but that's not always possible. But we can do better than simply sending another email to each other.

While you’re wondering how to better communicate with those around you and be a better leader, here are a few things to consider;

If you've exchanged three emails with someone, pick up the phone and make the call. When you meet someone online and want to know more about them pick up the phone and call them. As a follow-up, instead of sending an email, pick up the phone.

If the discussion gets heated, pick up the phone and avoid any more misunderstanding. After weeks of not calling mom, pick up the phone, she’ll be glad to hear from you. If you need some help, pick up the phone, they want to help. When discussing something personal with a team member, family member, or friend, pick up the phone. If we can’t discuss it in person, let’s not hide behind passive technology, and pick up the phone.

As leaders, our teams need to know we are connected to their goals, their challenges, and most importantly, to what's important to them. Sending a team email or giving direction through electronic means, is not leadership. Remember that device in your hand also has a phone.

You'll be amazed when you use that app more often.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and management consultant helping leaders, teams, and companies get clear on their goals and results.

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Are You Doing the Human Work?

There is a chasm between your products or services and your customers. Without strong internal customer service, your interaction with the outside world will be flawed. If you don't do the human work, the tasks and tactics will suffer.

I was buying gas a couple of weeks ago and the guy behind the counter was annoyed I had gotten in the way of his work. I apologized for interrupting him.

Entities and Enterprise

The world is shrinking. Our behavior can be viewed through non-verbal cues that lead to misunderstanding. And we often hide behind the very technology we claim is helping us communicate better. It's telling to watch some unravel on the social networks where human connections can appear to be as strong as face to face.

In the enterprise, virtual teaming is on the rise so it has become critical to be aware of all the human work we’re doing to build our companies. Leadership is more than improving a bottom line. Without compassion and collaboration, the ideas and hard work alone won’t get you there.

Their Opinion Counts

Years ago, I was working with a large corporation that conducted an employee wide survey. The top concern was management’s inability to deal with non-performance. People notice when you aren't treating them well. If the human work subsides, productivity will be compromised. If you stop caring about your people, they will stop caring about the work.

If you sense the team is off course, it may not be for reasons you think. Products, services, and strategy could all be sound but the most critical piece might be missing.

The human work is the most important element of the job.

Kneale Mann

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Pick My Brain

If you have a profile on any social site, you’ve experienced it. You friend, connect or follow someone and moments later their pitch is in your in-box before you have the chance to say hello and get to know them.

We've all had our brains picked without compensation. One of my clients lamented about it last week but there are tire kickers in every business. The challenge is to separate those who are serious from those who are just trying to sneak a freebie from the candy counter. And that's something we need to manage.

An Offer to You

I've cleared two 30-minute confidential free coaching calls for the first two visitors who email me with a legitimate business or leadership issue. There will be no sales pitch from me. We will focus on you and perhaps unlock some ideas.

If there are blind spots or snags you can’t seem to get around, let’s discuss them. If not, let’s continue to get to know each other and you can always drop by here for free. Calls will happen by June 30, 2012.

Email Here

Update: The response has been overwhelming. I received over a hundred emails in less than 90 minutes, thank-you for your trust. Clearly we'll need to do this again sometime!

Kneale Mann

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Zuckerbook and the Millionaires

Last January the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded The Social Network four Golden Globes for Best Picture, best original score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, best direction from the wonderfully talented David Fincher and best screenplay by one of the most gifted writers today, Aaron Sorkin.

This week, the founders and venture capitalists surrounding Facebook began to cash in their chips. After hundreds of millions of years of networking socially, there are more billionaires and millionaires this week due to an initial public offering that speculators are saying will value Facebook at $107 Billion or just over $100 per user.

Like all companies, the purpose of Facebook is to make money despite the well crafted Mark Zuckerberg hoodies and golly gee it's all about the sharing exterior. So when it comes time for investments to be returned, it will be on the backs of each one of us - the 900 million. Whether we stick around when our pages are littered with advertising is a whole other story. It's doubtful the new millionaires are too concerned about all that.

Some interesting posts published this week

· Tech Crunch - Twitter Sentiment Mirrored Facebook Stock Price
· All Facebook - All That For 23 Cents?
· inc - Facebook IPO Could Spawn 1,000 Start-Ups
· Mitch Joel - Leaving Facebook
· Gigaom - Facebook Gets a Reality Check
· Wired - Facebook IPO is Not The Engame

Kneale Mann

venturebeat

Internal Social Networking

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This week I was on another conference call discussing the pros and cons of social media. This time it wasn’t whether the company agreed in their power or the fact their customer base utilized all the available channels but rather how to increase the interaction inside the enterprise.

There are deliverables and emails and meetings and customer interaction and sales and planning. Who has time to develop an internal social network? Well, if you do any one of these activities, you already have one. But you can slowly create something more collaborative and focused.

There is no Time

Running a business is hectic work and a keen eye must remain fixated on revenue. To many, realizing personal potential becomes secondary to making the quarter. We spend more waking hours at work than at home. But we don't seem to spend much time, if any, finding how those relationships can positively affect the experience.

Schedule the Time

Perhaps to start, you find an hour a week where you and your team get together and have an open and honest talk about each other rather than a client emergency or project deadline. Skip one of those agonizing status meetings where you dissect every current project to the point of nausea and spend it on each other's development. Perhaps it’s too touchy feely for some people at work but this is not to suggest tears and hugs are requisite. But it can unearth monumental ideas for growth.

It's a Waste of Time

You and I have interacted with companies that have horrible internal customer service and ones where the people actually like being there. Focusing on  the relationships within your company through clearer communication will create a stronger business whether that is through an internal social network or simply better communication among stakeholders.

Digital channels have proven we have the desire to connect and share with people all over the world. Are we doing the same within our organizations?

Kneale Mann

image credit: gettyimages

700 Posts in 42 Months

It happened at a dinner on April 23, 2008. After the 5th person asked me where they could find my blog, later that night I started a blog. Like millions before me, I had no clue what I’d write about and I didn't think anyone would read it. So I started writing and I'm still surprised people read it.

I thought I'd write every now and then which turned into 699 posts in three and a half years with more than 12,000 comments and readers in 147 countries. There have been fun times and not-so-fun times in my career during that time but this space has remained the one constant. Thank-you for ensuring my thoughts aren't just fired into the abyss. If you want to write, don't wait for permission, write and keep writing.

Connect and Collaborate

Through this and other social channels, I have met literally hundreds of people I would never had met otherwise in a ten lifetimes. Some have turned into business colleagues, friends and clients. And the focus of this space continues to be to share creative ideas for business, leadership, strategy, marketing, social media and life.

My passion is to help business owners and managers become better leaders, build better teams and grow their companies. So let's keep sharing ideas and don’t hesitate to email, say hi, send thoughts, book a call or grab a coffee.

Thanks For Dropping By!

Kneale Mann

image credit: wikipedia

Let’s Connect and Get to Work

From Cave Walls to Instant Messages

Since the dawn of human existence, we have been working to improve our lives. There are better tools, advanced medical procedures, cleaner water purification, improved supply lines, more advanced urban development and enhanced communication tools.

We live in a time where there are more scientists alive than in any other time in history, combined. There are reports that the world’s population will reach seven billion this week.

The Shrunken Globe

We can send complicated documents across the globe with the press of a thumb. Our ability to share ideas is now instantaneous though some are working on improving that. And we are attempting to digest more content every day than we can ever consume.

So it’s curious when we get stuck with how to reach new customers, find new collaborative partners and share ideas with those who will want to work with us. It has become an embarrassment of riches in a time when patience is scarce.

The Best Social Network

We seem to be able to grow our personal and professional networks on the social web yet the question remains how much human connection is going on. So it is my new mantra to connect on the phone or in person with ten new people every week. If you and I haven't done it yet, let's fix that.

It's time for us to utilize the true power of social media for what they are meant to do - socialize and collaborate for real. Let's stop counting "likes" and Klout scores and get some work done. It's an over used cliche but I believe in you win/I win - not you win/I lose or I win/you lose. This is not about either of us asking for what we're not prepared to reciprocate. Teamwork is required.

So contact me and let’s find a way to utilize all these cool tools to truly connect, compare notes, do some business and help each other. Does that sound like a plan?

Kneale Mann

image credit: youthspeak

Millions Of Years Of Social Networking

The Future of Now

Centuries from now, humans will be communicating through their transponders imbedded in their mechanically perfected brains about the significance of the social interface contrivance. It will be a new shiny toy. Early adopters will be touting its importance, evangelists will be telling all while the naysayers and late majority will remain skeptical.

There will be much discussion over the fastest and best flying transport vehicles while a strong group of intellectual free thinkers will remain fixed on the importance of connecting on a bionic human level.

Know-It-Alls 

Every brief moment in time brings with it people who think they invented it all. We use useless phrases like “in this day and age” as if nothing we are experiencing has happened before us. How arrogant. How shallow of us to actually convince ourselves that we are the chosen ones who unlocked the keys to human communication.

Sure it’s fun to play with the newest gizmo and spout off on the best way to use that thingamajig but let’s remember that almost seven billion of us want the same things – to be safe, to be happy, to be warm, to be fed, to be heard, to be appreciated, to be purposeful. And over a billion of us don't have that choice.

We're Not That Different

I help companies grow. But my passion and fascination from an early age is what makes people do what they do. Social business and human networks have been around since we've been kicking around this giant marble.

So if you’re stuck trying to figure out what your customers want, ask yourself what you want. Talk with them in a human voice. Allow them to truly interact with you and see what happens.

Now where’s my flying car?

Kneale Mann

image credit: istock

Social Networking Explained in Two Minutes

Seth Godin is recognized as one of the brightest business minds on earth. His daily blog posts are read by hundreds of thousands people and he consults large business clients. He is a celebrated author and speaks in front of hundreds of thousands people all over the world each year.

In order to help business grow, we must be able to show actual growth or it’s just a bunch of scores and counters and unusable data. Godin demystifies business, relationships and the web in 90 seconds.

If you haven’t seen this video, watch. 
If you have seen it, watch it again.



Kneale Mann

The Anatomy of Social Business

Last week, my colleague Mark Schaefer was kind to ask several of his community members to guest on his blog while he was on vacation. Mark knows now to build a community and knew darn well that each of us who guested would end up forming new relationships with each other.

This is the post that ran last week on The Anatomy of Social Business. Other guest contributers were: Steven Parker, Eica Allison, Jon Buscall, Margie Clayman, Caroline Di Diego, Leo Widrich and Natasha Gabriel. Thanks Mark!
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There is increasing discussion these days about developing a “social business.” The vital word to remember in this name is business — real work tied to a bottom line.

The social business doesn’t start or end in the digital space but rather in the human universe. It includes the creation of a true collaborative, two-way exchange that embraces internal and external customer connection and service.

Labels such as social media, social networking, and social marketing are often misused. Social media are a collection of channels. Social networking is interaction between people through myriad digital and human channels. And social marketing embraces many channels to achieve social good. Channels are simply options.

So How Can You Make Your Company Social?

First it requires superior products or services. Creating an environment where it’s fun to work that has nothing to offer clients is a not a business. We can get distracted by the temptations of the social web and allow emotion to rule the day when we use words such as media and social. But without business, it’s a hobby shrouded in theory.

Our customers don’t care how many blog subscribers we have or who visits our YouTube channel. They may ‘like’ our Facebook group but that does not constitute a relationship, yet. They bought our stuff and they expect it to do what we said it would do. So we need an actual business that has customers or the potential of customers before we can build a social business.

Communications and marketing in a social business are not necessarily departments; they are tied to every function everyone does every day. Teamwork in a social business does not consist of butt covering, “good enough,” or that isn’t my job declarations. It embraces an understanding of the strengths of each and every person and how they complement the rest of the team. Building a social business is hard work but can be the single most important tactic you can employ to increase profits.

People Buy Into People

The construction of a social business requires the realization that human beings build the bottom line, not websites or slick messaging. It is also an environment where stakeholders understand we are all suppliers and we are all customers. We all live on both sides of the counter.

Have you ever been to a restaurant where the person serving you seems to have the best job in the world? Think about the last time you met a convenience store clerk who smiled, made eye contact and meant it when they wished you a good day. The little things are often the biggest things that can make your company social.

Different Things Different Results

It begins with the desire to look they do business inside and outside of their organization. It means they may feel uncomfortable for a while but they’ll be in good hands because the goal is to improve, not point fingers or increase workload simply to keep busy.

The clear focus is to create an environment where both stakeholders and customers want to be great and that is how sustained growth is achieved. Building a social business goes well beyond channels and websites.

How do you build a social business?

Kneale Mann

image credit: tutor2u

Internal Social Networking

Making the Quantum Leap

Four years ago, I saw The Secret. I watched the first half with eyes rolling and arms folded but the second half taking notes. I thought the production values were bad and the theory far-fetched. But it was one of those moments where I decided to take the leap of faith.

I did not read the book. The film is a bit cheesy but if you've seen it you know it's about quantum physics. If you think positive thoughts, make positive changes and move in a positive direction, positive stuff will happen. The opposite is true and seems to happen twice as fast. But, it’s easier said than done to just think good thoughts and turn your life around. It is why most think it's a bunch of crap and give up proving the point.

Conviction and Perspective

If you’re in a bad place, it’s tough to sit on your living room floor, smile and imagine your life in a better place. The human mind has a glitch where negative seems to flow easier than positive. But something crucial is missing from simply having good thoughts and that would be something called action.

I was embarking on a new business four years ago and was pumped after reading more material about quantum physics but I allowed momentum to slow down. Happy thoughts can be extinguished by self-doubt which morphs into inaction. It is completely self-inflicted and time wasting. If you've been there, it can feel like you're walking through wet sand. Colleagues and friends can say nice things but you can't seem to shake it.

There is no Time

During the work day, there is little or no time to examine our feelings, find significant think time or measure how closer we are to our goals and dreams. We create distractions and wrap them up in badges of honor called 'busy'.

Running a business is hectic work and a keen eye must remain fixated on revenue. To many, realizing personal potential becomes secondary to making the quarter. We spend more waking hours at work than at home. But we don't seem to spend much time, if any, finding how those relationships can positively affect the experience.

Schedule the Time

Perhaps to start, you find an hour a week where you and your team get together and have an open and honest talk about each other rather than a client emergency or project deadline. Skip one of those agonizing status meetings where you dissect every current project to the point of nausea and spend it on each other's development. Perhaps it’s too touchy feely for some people at work but this is not to suggest tears and hugs are requisite. But it can unearth monumental ideas for growth.

Waste of Time

The antiquated notion of the annual review is a complete waste of time. We need to work in real-time. We need to listen to each other. We need to pay closer attention to that desire in our gut and share it with others. If they don't want to hear it, perhaps they aren't suited to be our teammates.

Many owners and managers will think it is lunacy. There's work to be done. There is no time for feelings and bonding. You and I have interacted with companies that have horrible internal customer service and ones where the people actually like being there. And we know which ones will get our return business.

Digital channels have proven we have the desire to connect and share with people all over the world. Are we doing the same within our organizations?

knealemann | how can I help?

image credit: gdargaud

The Social Network Comes of Age

Zuck's story wins big.

Last night, the much criticized Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded The Social Network four Golden Globes for Best Picture, best original score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, best direction from the wonderfully talented David Fincher and best screenplay by one of the most gifted writers today, Aaron Sorkin.

From cave walls to profile walls. 

Social media have been around for a couple of hundred million years old. However in the last 10-15 years, we have discovered electronic ways to accelerate conversations, build relationships and conduct business. Last night, the latest incarnation of this activity won some awards. And today we get back to creating bonds with each other through the myriad means available.

A sequel is not forthcoming.

One could argue that The Social Network is a film that has very little to do with social media and everything to do with scandal and personalities. If Mark Elliot Zuckerberg had created Facebook on his own void of any of the allegations and real activities, perhaps Sorkin would not have been so keen to write about it.

Then again, harnessing a way to get over a third of the world's online community to join a website is quite miraculous. And we are fascinated by a 26 year old dropout from Harvard who has fast tracked to the billionaire set and the scandals that follow him.

We haven’t seen a film about Digg or FourSquare. The studios aren’t deluged with treatments on the rise and popularity of Wikipedia or LinkedIn. And there haven’t been any rumblings of an upcoming made-for-TV mini-series on the formation of Twitter or YouTube. This is not to take away from the popularity of those channels but we like stories and we are fascinated by people.

Is that not the essence of social networking?

knealemann | email

image credit: googleimages

Both Sides of the Counter

We are all in service, sales and marketing.

A few months ago, I had my driveway replaced. It was hot and sticky and the crew spent the first day removing the old asphalt, putting down gravel and flattening things out. It took them six hours.

A couple of weeks later the paving crew was scheduled to come and finish the job. The first date was postponed because the weather office issued a heat advisory.

All hands on deck.

The next day, eleven guys were working on my driveway: two on the paving machine, three with hand packers, three more with rakes, another guy driving a small roller machine, one guy in the truck and a supervisor.

This was not a stoic grumpy bunch, just the opposite. They were talking and laughing and cracking jokes and having a good time. They were laying 300 degree asphalt in stinking hot 90 degree weather. It was certainly good for the old perspective.

Everything you do is marketing.

If anyone saw this crew working and needed a new driveway, they’d be inclined to hire this company. It’s contagious to be around positive people.

I told the supervisor that I appreciated their hard work and that his team seem to be having a lot of fun. He quipped, “It’s better than a real job.”

It's common to hear that from someone in a more non-traditional role but this guy clearly enjoyed what he was doing as did the rest of his team. And this is what they do for six months a year and do it well.

We all providers. We are all customers.

We are often quick to forget that fact when we complain about service or lament about a difficult client. This is not to suggest there are not bad customers or bad service. In fact, most of us want great customer service but rarely do we expect it and when it happens we're still surprised.

If I’m flipping the burgers and you’re paying for lunch then we have our roles. But if later in the day, you are changing my oil and I’m paying the bill we simply switch places.

It is easy to lob complaints when we are on the customer side. But we often would like to think our customers will understand we are trying our best. Eventually we will be serving each other so perhaps it is something we should keep in mind.

What are your thoughts?

knealemann
Create experiences not campaigns.

image credit: freefoto

The Virtual Office Grows

Where Do You Work?

According to a report published back in February from IDC Research, one billion people will work in a virtual environment by December and 1.2 billion by 2013.

Through technology and social networking, we are creating alliances and partnerships across thought silos rather than geographical ones.

The notion of the office is changing rapidly. Companies are examining associate models and consultants are creating a home office/travel type work experience.

The adjustment continues as over a quarter of the world’s working population moves to home offices, web technologies and virtual work spaces.

Here are some details from the report:

• The United States has the highest percentage of mobile workers in its workforce. The U.S. will remain the most highly concentrated market for mobile workers with 119.7 million workers, being mobile in 2013.

• Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) represents the largest total number of mobile workers throughout the forecast, with 546.4 million mobile workers in 2008 growing 37.4% of the total workforce in 2013. At the end of the forecast, 62% of the world's mobile workforce will be based in this region.

• Western Europe's mobile workforce will enjoy a healthy compound annual growth rate of 6% over the forecast period to reach 129.5 million mobile workers in 2013, surpassing the total number of mobile workers in the United States.

• Japan's mobile worker population will total 49.3 million in 2013, representing 74.5% of its total workforce.

• The rest of the world, which is comprised of Canada and the emerging market countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa and Latin America, will see its mobile worker population grow to 153.2 million by 2013.

The World Gets A Lot Smaller

I hear people lament all the time that their boss won't let them do some work at home or entertain a flexible work schedule plan. The boss doesn't think the job will get done without employees sitting in their office during office hours.

How is this affecting your career and business?

knealemann
strategy. marketing. media.

image credit: apeasternpower

Are You Curious?

Curiosity is an emotion related to natural inquisitive behavior such as exploration, investigation and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species.

The term can also be used to denote the behavior itself being caused by the emotion of curiosity.
Wikipedia


Stay curious for learning.
Stay curious about improving.

Stay curious through searching.
Stay curious like a child.
Stay curious about now.

Stay curious in life.

Stay curious for you.
Stay curious through listening.
Stay curious in business.

Stay curious about others.

Stay curious for next.
Stay curious in leadership.

Stay curious always.

Are You Curious?

knealemann
strategy. marketing. media.

Asking Questions

Have you tried everything on the Denny’s menu?

For the past few days, I have been digging deep through the OMO archives. Interesting discussion has arisen from looking at what I wrote as far back as two years ago and how much of it still holds true today.

Yesterday, we discussed your social media checklist and one comment kept coming back was the importance of human contact.

Here is a post that was first published last July.

Box of Silly Questions

During my 20+ year radio career, I had the absolute privilege of conducting over five hundred artist interviews. The biggest were the most nerve wracking but for the most part the easiest to chat with once you got rolling. They had done this before.

Do you double down on 16?

They knew you knew they knew you knew who they were. It was the snotty arrogant half-song no names that were the crap shoot.

I had done this enough times that it became apparent that I needed to make the process more interesting to me and hopefully to the audience.

What was the first album you bought?

Think of the conversations you have with the people you just meet. Your drinks haven’t arrived and you have to say something. Work chat is easy but is that all you got?

How many shirts do you own?

There were some serious questions and frivolous ones. This was a place to put the topics unrelated to the artists’ work.

This was a list of those gems that brought real life in to the interview. Rock stars do live in the real world; they have families and drive cars and have dreams and all that was represented on the list.

Did your father own a train set?

Do you still have your first royalty pay stub? Are your parents proud of you? Has it turned out exactly how you figured it would? What are all those people who made fun of you at school thinking now?

Can you name your grade three teacher?

Over its lifetime, the list grew with topics that spanned as wide as the human mind and beyond. Everyone participated and the answers were priceless.

As the chatter increases around social media, something you may want to pay close attention to is your ability to navigate social situations. Once past the blogs and tweets, we eventually have to operate real human interaction.

Addendum

This is not to suggest each meeting turns in to a fuzzy discussion but rather a reminder that we are all just people. And perhaps better than weather chat.

Do you have a box of silly questions?

@knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

image credits: 3dissue.com

Five Things: Staying Focused

We are human. We get distracted by squirrels and unicorns.

The easy stuff is more fun than prospecting. Fear of success is often replaced by inaction.

Here are five things you can do consistently that will help you.

Network Socially

Despite our penchant to interact since the dawn of our existence, the social web is still in its infancy. This gives us a chance to connect to similar people from across the world or next door. Take your time, have patience, connect and contribute.

Meet and Referral

Coffee meetings are common as you start out. You need to meet people, practice, meet more people, ask for business and ask for people to refer you to others who may need your product or service. It is a community and a network that will help you best. Remember to reciprocate.

Turn It Off

With smartphones in our hands at all times, it’s difficult not to stay in touch. We return emails in an instant and we train ourselves and more importantly others that we are always available. Phone and email can be shut off once in while. It also stops others from wanting to make their emergency your priority.

Stay Off Social Networks

If you are on Twitter for eight hours a day, you may not be working on other clients’ business like what you say you will do for prospects. Block off your online time or it will consume you.

Start One. Finish One.

Do one thing, finish it, tell people to stop distracting you and get on to the next. Easier said than done but magic when you can pull it off.

Back to my five things.

What are yours?

@knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

photo credit: nextup

Social Networking Outliers and Connectors

Lend a Hand. Take a Hand.

We are not created equal. We are not all born with the same opportunities. Not everyone has a legitimate shot of making it.

This is not to challenge the religious community but rather a look at who we are and how we navigate life and business. And more important, what we're going to do about it.

Where To Start.

Malcolm Gladwell shares numerous examples in his book The Outliers to illustrate that talent alone is not enough to realize success.

It takes a lot of hard work and opportunity. Our birth date, upbringing, what our grandparents did, the people around us, the doors opened for us and what we do with all of that, shapes our path to success.

Look At Your List.

Take a moment and jot down a list of the people who have helped you – really helped you. These are the same people that connect most of the important people in your life – or another Gladwell theory – connectors.

These are the people connected to most of the people you know. They have given you those nuggets of business advice you needed to step on the next rung. They handed you that business card of a prospect that turned in to a lifelong relationship. They have helped in ways you may not even know how to measure. And you have done the same for others.

The Social Media Even Playing Field.

The opportunities are there for all of us to enjoy but we are not all made the same way. If you have met me, you know I am not a shy or quiet guy! I am no wallflower. But what if you are quiet and reserved and don’t know what to share or write or say online?

This is where Gladwell’s theory rings true again. Find those who will help you. Take your time. This is not a competition. We don’t need everyone to look and sound the same. Find your own voice. Figure out what works best for you. And despite those who claim there are no rules then complain when one is broken, there are no rules. You will eventually discover your own guidelines.

We All Get Stuck.

I hit a big snag last week and reached out to two of my most trusted advisers to kick my butt then give me concrete thoughts on how to navigate through it. I met both through the social web.

The most successful people can always point to how they got there and to the people who helped them along the way. Anyone who claims to be self-made is even lying to themselves.

Take your time, find your voice, take a hand, lend a hand. You are not on your own, you do not make it alone and neither do I.

What says you?

@knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

photo credit: scottveltkamp

Social Media? I Don't Get It.

What's Your Opinion?

Conversations seems to fall in to two camps these days. This week it happened in the same meeting.

On one side was someone having a discussion about the pros and cons of Twitter’s changes and on the other was someone who “doesn’t get it”.

You Are Right.

There are many business owners, managers, directors of not-for-profits and those in the public sector who fail to see the value of adopting channels that can be used to research their industry, decipher customers' needs and desires while direct competitors are doing it. That is their call.

If you don’t see the value, it has no value.

If you don’t understand why someone would “waste” time on all this “stuff” you are right. If your heart isn’t in it, no amount of stats will change your mind. If you want more evidence, here's an article from Fast Company.

Two conversations in the same meeting about Twitter. One person who is adamant about their feelings toward third party apps and promoted tweets while the other person simply doesn’t see the value of “wasting” their time.

Is it more important to "get it" or keep an open mind toward ways to integrate new opportunities for business growth?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: addogaudium

Pack Your Social Media Toolkit

Hittin' The Road

You’re about to head out on a trip. An oil change and a quick check of the tires is a good idea.

You should give the car a once over and top up the fluids. You need clothes, toiletries and provisions.

Then you need to put coordinates in the GPS or check a map. Then hop in the car, gas up and go.


What do you need on your digital trip?

Are you traveling online on behalf of your company or simply searching for a new car? Do you want to contribute to a conversation through a social networking site or read up on the latest recipes? Perhaps you like to just hop on board and let the ideas flow freely.

Always on the record.

It's wise to have a social media employee toolkit for the trip to navigate the online journey and keep everyone prepared for what's down the road.

The level of social media knowledge is not the same across your organization. Many may not think they need to follow any rules of engagement or guidelines. Those assumptions can hurt your company.

Social media policies and guidelines should be linked directly to the company’s code of ethics. This will cause less confusion when Jim in HR decides to post those Vegas pictures on his Flickr account while company details are prominently displayed.

Doohickeys and thingamajigs.

The online world is no longer an add-on or tactic to use for advertising. It is an integral part of your company’s objectives. Your presence online is as important as your physical location. And without a map, accidents will happen.

Does your organization have a social media employee toolkit?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

image credit: handycons