Nice reminder that there are other paths available that may yield a better result but may not be as obvious.
Archives for March 2011
LSU Social Media Essentials for Business
March 17, 2011 By
This is the first course of the LSU CE Social Media Certificate Program. Each course in the certificate program is intended to work individually as well as part of the series.
Social Media is a revolutionary business trend. The Essentials course lays the foundation for a complete Social Media integration effort. First we define Social Media’s origins and its usage. Then we discuss Social Media strategy extensively. My goal is to ensure that my student’s are able to lead their organization in developing an effective strategy which aligns with corporate strategic objectives.
Armed with principles for developing a strategy we dive into a practical discussion on branding and the sometimes subtle differences between corporate branding vs. small business or government entities. Regulated industries have their own unique challenges related to Social Media. Personal branding can not only enhance your career but can strategically raise the profile of almost any organization. We work through a step by step tutorial on setting up Social Media for personal branding. The course includes a detailed discussion and demonstration of over 20 important Social Media tools and usage styles for 2011.
We wrap up the two-day course with an in-depth study on listening and monitoring Social Media, reputation management, developing content, engaging your audience and measuring results.
I’m pleased to include some great national case studies and quite a few Southern Louisiana rising stars…
PACTEC
@pactec
Trish Freeman – The Insurance Lady
@insuranceladyLA
Community Coffee
@CommunityCoffee, @CCsCoffeehouse
LSU Continuing Education
@LSUCE
Holly Clegg
@hollyclegg
Louisiana Technology Council
@latechcouncil
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
@Bruceonhealth, @La_Health_Dept
The American Society for Quality
@ASQ1521
Naked Pizza in New Orleans
@NakedPizza
Here’s the course description:
http://bit.ly/LSUCESMCert
The Social Media Specialist Certificate Program:
http://bit.ly/LSUCESMSp
What do you think about mixing in diff content types?
March 17, 2011 By
Joe Pulizzi uses Angry Birds to describe why it is useful to mix and match content types. Great read. I teach my clients and students to experiment with different media and content types and I encourage to try new things. I believe mixed media will be most attractive for most audience types.
What have you tried? What works best for your audience in 2011?
Clipped from blog.junta42.com
I like to use Russell Sparkman’s publishing calendar as a good example of how to mix and match content types.
7 = Weekly = eNewsletter is a strong possibility (blue bird)
30 = Monthly = Podcasts or videos? (yellow bird)
4 = Quarterly = White Paper or eBook (white bird)
2 = Bi-Annually = Webinar or In-Person Event (black bird)
1 = Annually = Industry Research Project (over-sized red bird)
Facebook… It Just Got Interesting! New Design = New Strategies for Business
March 17, 2011 By
The new design layout for Facebook business pages come with long awaited features and strategic changes for organizations to leverage.
New Strategic Considerations…
- Switch between admin and yourself to make your brand more personal
- Like and Comment on other pages as your brand for awareness and thought leadership
- Set new category and sub-category to better define your brand
- Receive email notices to respond faster to fan / connection interaction
- Use more descriptive names for custom tabs to further engage with your fans/connections
- Make effective use of the Photo Banner to create interest
- Select featured page likes to promote your partners or benefactors
- Select featured page owner(s) for personal branding
- Use blocklists for safety
There is a lot to like in the new features for Facebook business pages. One of the most significant changes is the ability to “Use Facebook as” your business page. Once you select this option you can browse other Facebook pages as your brand, click like, and then like and comment on posts just as you would from your personal page. You can also view your “home page” and see a news feed from the pages you’ve liked.
Strategically, the ability for your brand page to interact with other brands’ pages adds a new and interesting layer for creating brand awareness. I’m sure some will try to abuse the feature but they will only hurt their own reputation. The positive possibilities are strong.
Sports teams can exchange competitive trash talk, friendly competitors can have fun with each other, non-profits can interact with their sponsors, associations can interact with their member companies, the Geico Gecko can banter with Flo from Progressive… It just got interesting!
The new challenge will be remembering to switch back to your personal account after browsing as your brand.
Here’s a great article explaining the new Facebook upgrade:
Facebook Page redesign: 10 things admins should do RIGHT NOW.
The Art and Tech of Social Media 2011
March 17, 2011 By
IT Pros have unique challenges and opportunities when considering Social Media. I look forward to speaking for AITP this week because Social Media is both technical and strategic. Here are some items IT Pros would benefit from discussing in 2011.
IT is supposed to know everything
If someone clicks a mouse, looks at a screen or prints, they assume IT must know how it works. Don’t you know everything? It’s likely that your organization will look to you for guidance on Social Media. Learn more about business applications for Social Media and be ready to provide the guidance they need.
Just say no to Social Media
The gut reaction for most organizations has been to lock out all Social Media sites. Real concerns about productivity, security, viruses and bandwidth make a “lock down” the easy choice. Consider suggesting that certain business units get training on proper business applications for Social Media and open up access for them. Like the “World Wide Web” in the nineties, you may ultimately find yourself opening access eventually anyway.
IT, “Lead the Way”
Social Media is a strategic business tool-set which can make a significant difference in the positive performance of your organization. IT can lead the way for the organization in understanding and achieving great results from Social Media.
Personal Branding
IT Pros who understand how to use Social Media personally can enhance their career and raise the profile of their company.
Implementing Social Media strategically is both an art and a science. IT Pros can instill confidence that Social Media can be done well.
Social Media is (Sort of) Free
March 17, 2011 By
This is a video I created for fun depicting a typical scenario in organizations today. Hope you have fun with it.
Social Media is Free… Sort of.
“I thought it was free!”
Quote from Jim Collins on Baldrige Performance Excellence
March 17, 2011 By
I’m was pleased to see that the new Baldrige Performance Excellence criteria includes Social Media for Customer Focus. I’m expecting 2011 to be a breakout year for Social Media across all industries including commercial (B2B). This news is just part of the rumbling as the big wave begins.
What types of questions are you hearing from B2B regarding Social Media?
Baldrige Performance Excellence Includes Social Media for Customer Focus
March 17, 2011 By
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award has been a great American institution for many years. Each year Baldrige applicants apply the excellence criteria, undergo examination and some are selected for the award. In my experience, just the process of internally assessing each area of the criteria can make a significant difference in an organization’s performance. Over 50% of today’s applicants are in the Healthcare industry.
The new 2011 – 2012 criteria includes Social Media as part of it’s customer focus excellence. More and more organizations are realizing that when applied properly, Social Media tools can significantly help companies achieve their success goals across all departments. Social Media is much more than marketing and PR.
Changes to Criteria:
http://www.baldrige.com/baldrige/baldrige_process/new-2011-2012-baldrige-criteria-available/
Complete Social Media Integration occurs when companies leverage these tools in all aspects of their business.
If you’re in the Baton Rouge area, I’m speaking on the new Baldrige Criteria and Social Media on January 13th, at the Baton Rouge Bluebonnet Public Library, 6-8 PM for the American Society for Quality. You’re invited.
Why Take the Baldrige Journey?
Excellence is a Journey, Not a Destination
Organizations everywhere are looking for ways to effectively and efficiently meet their missions and achieve their visions. Thousands of organizations use the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence to guide their enterprises, improve performance, and get sustainable results. This proven improvement and innovation framework offers your organization an integrated approach to key management areas:
- Leadership
- Strategic planning
- Customer focus
- Measurement, analysis, and knowledge management
- Workforce focus
- Process management
- Results
Read more at www.nist.gov
Social Media by Profession
March 17, 2011 By
In the 90’s much of my consulting and training work involved integrating new technologies into existing operations and transitioning from legacy to new technologies. One size did not fit all. Each project involved similar best practices but unique applications by business unit.
Social Media has started to develop some best practices however integrating it into your operation requires forethought and proper planning.
Each profession (or business unit) has specific, often subtle differences in application or integration of Social Media for maximum benefit. HR, Compliance, Legal, Communications, Operations, Sales, Marketing, et al. will use Social Media differently to achieve the best results for their organization.
Next week I’m teaching a one day course on Social Media for Sales Professionals. I’ll begin with the basics and then my colleague Carl Herrick will introduce the Sandler Sales Process. When I developed this course I included a discussion on the sales process because of the magnifying effects of Social Media. If you have a poor (or no) sales process, adding Social Media will expose and magnify your weaknesses.
After discussing the sales process we’ll spend the bulk of the course on integrating Social Media into your sales process, generating leads and referrals, and personal branding.
What subtleties have you noticed for your profession in your use of Social Media?
More Interaction?
March 17, 2011 By
Getting more interaction from your Social Media audience is tricky. I’m not a big fan of “tricks” used to force interaction. I often say, I would rather have 50 genuinely interested advocates than 10,000 empty names.
In areas where Social Media is still young you may have to teach your audience how to interact. It’s ok to occasionally ask your audience to perform an action, “please comment below”, “click like”, “subscribe” etc. Don’t assume your audience knows that these actions are desired and helpful.
The best way to teach your audience what to do is by example. Spend some “Social Capital” and your audience will see you and learn. Comment on blogs and participate in communities, click like, retweet, stumble a page, etc. The more you do it, the more interaction you will eventually get.
How knowledgeable are the people in your area or audience? Social Media participation is growing fast in Baton Rouge, LA but the participants are still learning.