Stop Trying To Figure Out Social Media

A friend wrote today:

"Social media" is the buzzword of the year, folks, and every professional is wondering if it's here to help, or here to destroy, their business. We've seen what the internet has done to so many industries, and it's good to be wary.

In my industry, recruiters, HR people, and staffing firms on one side, and job-seekers on the other, are also trying to figure it out. Some practitioners say that all social media is good for is wasting time on the internet, while others swear by its potential.

I replied:

I suggest to all to stop trying to figure it out (that is, social media). Just start getting connected, getting creative, and getting noticed.

Sure there is a bunch of learning and growing related to using social media for business and it will take tons of time, but really no figuring out or understanding is possible from my perspective.

This idea of trying to get it, understand it, or figure it out is what can waste people’s time or can keep them stuck in their current situations.

--Tom...

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Stop Trying To Figure Out Social Media

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Social Media Adoption Process for Channel Partners (and Vendors)

There is a lot of interest in the concept of channel social media enablement, but so far there has not been a lot of action. Perhaps it is because Social Media is so amorphous and ill defined, or maybe it’s because channel managers generally do not understand the impact or potential benefits of social media themselves, but social media enablement for channel partners is mostly being left to the resellers themselves to figure out. Too bad. It’s a huge missed opportunity for vendors.

Like any other change in the market, suppliers have a responsibility to help their channel partners move forward and adapt. It’s not rocket science. We learned long ago that a defined improvement process works better than vague discussions when it comes to channel productivity. And even though social media is relatively new, vendors need to understand the adoption process and mange their channels through it as quickly as possible.

There are many ways to define a social media adoption process for channel partners, but here is a starting point. Partners need to move through these six stages of Social Media readiness.

1. Awareness – Partner understands that social media is important and begins visiting a few high-profile sites. Finds personal profiles of vendors and customers.
2. Presence – Partner creates a profile, joins the main social media sites, and observes what is happening. Understands how the sites operate and gets an understanding of participant expectations. Begins worrying that time is being wasted on LinkedIn and Twitter.
3. Engagement – Partner follows some Discussions, begins posting, and makes a few business connections. Re-purposes content for social media and starts looking for opportunities.
4. Collaboration – Partner experiences the thrill of two-way communication and begins thinking about creating brand new content in order to build a social media presence. Action plans emerge.
5. Community – Partner is clearly building a powerful business network and fully understands social media as a business tool. Begins moving away from email and encourages vendors and colleagues to do the same.
6. Productivity – Partner understands that a social media strategy must replace ad-hoc activities. Profile pictures are updated and co-creation activities are initiated.

Vendors that get their channels through this adoption curve first will, of course, have a communications advantage that may well translate into increased reseller influence. It won't be easy. Leadership is required, and social media training. Is your channel program ready for the future?

My social media spaces-http://xeesm.com/MikeDubrall

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Social Media Adoption Process for Channel Partners (and Vendors)

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Planning Your Personal Social Media Publishing

Lately, I have been talking to quite a few folks about how to setup your own personal publishing system.  There is no shortage of platforms for an individual to publish content on the web.  There is also no shortage of tools which can distribute your posts to other sites.  Without planning, the whole system becomes and echo chamber and your message gets bounced from one service to another.  Some services will get the same post multiple times, which leaves the message that you either don't know how to manage you publishing or don't care about wasting each constituent's time.   

The answer is to do an assessment of your publishing and distribution strategy. 

Publish 

Make sure you map out how you create original content.  For example, here is a generic process for publishing. 

Participate

Identify the properties that you want to participate in.  Each property has it's own audience and characteristics to consider. 

Facebook - Primary for personal interaction,  I try to only use Facebook for connecting with people that I know.  I keep the flow of business/technical items to a minimum.   Links in Facebook feed to Friendfeed. 

Twitter - Quick thoughts and links to interesting sites, feeds to Facebook and FriendFeed. 

Delicious , Digg, StumbleUpon - Quick bookmarks feeds to friendfeed

Posterous - Main blogging platform, where I post more in depth content feeds friendfeed. 

Distribution 

Social Media Information Center
Social Media Blog

Social Media Publishers and Business Owners

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Create an Account on the Social Media Information Center

Social Media Information Center offers publishing memberships. We do charge a fee to publish on the Social Media Information Center.

Why is there a membership fee to publish on the Social Media Information Center?

Social Media Information Center provides a unique publishing service and charges a small fee for it.

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Member Registration Recommendations:

* Have something good you are passionate about
* Have a business website and blog
* Participate in social networks and around the web

Create an Account

Get Connected. Get Creative. Get Noticed.
See How Publishing on Social Media Information Center Works

Get Connections To Your Web Content

Social Media Information Center puts links to your web content and web places.

If you’ve created a good website and have a good business; you can quickly and easily connect your content and your part of the web here on the Social Media Information Center and make it easier for people to discover you, your information, your business, your product, your service, and your website.

You can create an account on the Social Media Information Center and after your account is validated you can log in to your account and post as often as you like.