The Pedestal Group

At a networking event last week I met a lovely woman who was excited to hear I train on social media. When I asked why, she said every time she goes to a trade meeting, she’s told she’s missing out by not using (fill in the blank).  First it was LinkedIn, then it was Facebook, then it was Twitter. What’s next?

I have to tell you, I hate hearing this.  Embracing social media for social media’s sake is just not what it is about. You have to understand who your customers are and where they are looking for information.  Then be there. It sounds too simple but that’s how it is.  I know there are stories in every industry about someone making it big through Twitter, or Facebook, or whatever. But I will guarantee for every one of those incredible success stories there are many many times more stories of people who didn’t get anything.  Because their clients weren’t there. They were somewhere else.

So when I’m working with a client, we determine who our best targets are going to be. Not by dollars or some number, but by who they really are. We include gender, family status, children, age, work, hobbies, and anything else we can find out.  It is truly being able to walk around in the customer’s head that gives us the knowledge of where they are looking and what they want to find.

So please – don’t bow down to peer pressure and get into something you don’t care about.  Instead, make sure it is where your customers are before you waste your time!

I don’t think it is any secret that I’m not a big fan of Facebook.  I’ve had many, many people tell me I’m wrong, but none of them have made a compelling argument why I should change. Now, all I see everywhere are scary stories about privacy.  The New York Times did a great job illustrating Facebook privacy information in their article on May 12th called Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options.

Now I’m not saying that people should abandon Facebook (although there is a lot of that going around), I will strongly caution people to really think before they post something. You have to assume people can find and see the information unless you are one of the 12 people in the world who actually understand all the privacy options on Facebook. And, that means you keep up with them as they seem to be changing all the time. Always be aware and watch what others post as well about you. There is no reason to mess up the brand that is YOU with something you thought was private!

(A great post on this can be found at Outspoken Media on “Zuckerberg, We Have a Problem”)

Ever watch someone work a room? They move from group to group, introducing people, setting up lunch dates, making people smile. When they leave the lights are just a little dimmer, aren’t they? Ever wanted to be that person? One of the most exciting things about Web 2.0 and social media is you can be that person on line with about two hours of effort.

Social media is all about listening to people one-on-one. It is also about individuals, not companies. This is great news for small business owners who ARE the company. All this time you have tried to look bigger than you are, conveying messages of size without stretching the truth. Now, your on-line presence needs to be all about you—who you are, what you do and why you can help someone. THAT you can talk about!

In social media, there are the big “parties” like LinkedIn and Facebook, and then there are the smaller “events” that don’t get as much traffic but are still worth checking out. Both serve their own purposes and can be useful. Just like a party, a smaller party offers more opportunities to talk to people while a larger one offers more individuals with whom to talk.

In addition to all the benefits, it is very important to “own” the information on the web that is about you. If someone met you, remembered your name but not your company, phone or email address, what would they do? Most people would throw what they knew into Google and check out what came up. So what comes up about you? Shouldn’t there be a whole page of results about a person as interesting and unique as you are?

So how to get started….. First, do just that—put your name and location into Google and see what comes up. How many results on the first page are about you? Next, make sure you have a LinkedIn profile. It should have some details about you—even if it is just former companies and titles. Your next step is to set up profiles on other sites. There are MANY to choose from so decide which ones you want to use and fill them out. The nice thing is once you’ve written a short bio, you can use it over and over again. At a minimum it is recommended to be on Plaxo, Google Profiles (google.com/profiles/me ) and Yahoo. It sounds like a lot but can be done in about two hours. You don’t have to put up much information, but once this is done, when you Google yourself the next time you should own the whole first page of results. Be sure to check that out periodically.

Now, wherever a person is they can find you. You will appear connected, technologically savvy and well-connected. Who doesn’t want to work with that person?