Do you remember the book, “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson?  Over the last 6 weeks, I’ve been very busy and had the opportunity to speak to numerous business leaders.  Based on these discussions, it is crystal clear to me that the significant majority of these leaders today, unfortunately fall into the category of “Hem” (the one who refused to look elsewhere for cheese after his cheese disappeared) when it comes to social media.  Social media is changing the business world, and given the Hem mentality, it is causing a lot of frustration for the business exec. Why is that?

When it comes to applying social media to business, it is not intuitive, the processes are very subtle depending on the target audience, one size does not fit all and it requires not only a social media expertise but one that integrates with an operational expertise as well.  Unfortunately there is a proliferation of “social media experts” who may know the tools but haven’t the foggiest idea as to how to implement them effectively in a business setting.

So what is one to do – complain?  No – consider this simple 7 step plan to get you started.

1. Ask the most important question first – What are we looking to achieve for our business? Clearly define a goal to pursue using social media – This could be as simple as: exhibit my business expertise, build new relationships, reconnect with existing relationships, permission based communication, create more exposure to my brand, or  use it as a research tool . These are but a few examples –  there are numerous other ways to use these tools,  As a business exec it is up to you to define this, and define it first!
2. You are your brand – Clearly articulate your expertise and…  most importantly, do this concisely.  Be prepared to clearly exhibit your expertise in a variety of short, concise ways. For instance, it may be as small as a 160 character profile on Twitter or a 10 word professional headline on LinkedIn or a 2 sentence summary on your blog.
3. Determining which sites to focus on – Don’t concern yourself with understanding all the social media sites online. For the majority of businesses, focusing on the following 6 sites and tools will provide all the effective social media they require right now – LinkedIn.com, Facebook.com Twitter.com, YouTube.com, Slideshare.net and Blogging
4. Understand the core focus of each site
   a. LinkedIn – Business oriented, avg age 41
   b. Facebook – Social oriented, avg age 35
   c. Twitter – instant communication, avg age 31
   d. YouTube – Video site – one of the most trafficked sites on the web
   e. Slideshare – literally the “YouTube for presentations” – would expect to find a more business focused crowd
   f. Blogging – over 135,000,000 blogs exist, search on Technorati.com to find ones that are in line with your business
5. Where to begin – narrow the above list based on answering a question – Where is your customer right now and likely to be in the future.
6. Maximizing the effectiveness of your online presences – now that you’ve chosen your site(s) to participate in – make sure you maximize your presence on that site to (a) exhibit your brand effectively and (b) offer a path for interested parties to learn more about you.  Remember, your profile or participation online communicates for you 24 hours a day.  To get better educated on each site, you may want to read the sites’ FAQs, or observe how others participate or simply by getting training.

So is this all there is to it? Again the answer is no.  This is effectively the “Part A, the getting started”.  Without the next part, Part B – the participation”, Part A’s effectiveness will be minimal.  We will be sharing our suggestions for the Part B in one of the next blog posts. 
About the CFO Strategist
Chris is very proud to add Best Selling author to his resume.  The book he co-authored, 42 Rules for 24 Hour Success on LinkedIn reached best seller status on Amazon, hitting a high of #68 across all of Amazon! Recently the book was included in the “Top 100 Best Social Media Books, Ever” list at #77 http://blog.mellowbillow.com/2009/08/17/top-100-best-social-media-books-ever/.

To purchase the book, please go to www.LinkToProsper.com or to Amazon.
For more about us and social media info, please use our contact form to contact me.

Relationships, Social Media Conversations, Social Media for Business, Trust

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