Someone once hacked into my facebook and posted the following status: “We’re having a baby!!” Within 45 minutes I had 14 likes, 9 comments, 2 voicemails and 3 text messages. Needless to say, my girlfriend’s mother was not impressed by the false alarm.
Social media has revolutionized the way we communicate not only with our friends but also the way in which companies and brands interact with consumers. Its value to people like myself as a blogger, marketer, or solo-preneur is unquantifiable. The ability for one to utilize social media to self-publish, instantly share with your audience, and to receive immediate feedback and enquiries is almost without comparison to any other communications medium.
I thought I’d share with you a couple of things on this topic:
1. The evolution in my usage of social media and how it has benefited me in my personal and professional life.
2. My thoughts on various social media platforms and how you can use each platform for maximum benefit and enjoyment.
Blogging
If you have not yet started a blog, my best advice is to get onto Blogger or WordPress and start one today. Initially, blogging will help you to:
- Crystallize your thoughts, opinions, and interests
- Vastly improve your writing skills
- Encourage you to educate yourself in your area(s) of expertise
- Position yourself as an authority and Thought Leader in your industry
- Get noticed by prospective employers and business partners
- Give you a means to communicate with potential clients
- Have a satisfying creative outlet
- Present your valuable knowledge to a global audience and make new connections
Facebook
I was an early adopter of facebook in Australia. I remember when I joined (around 2005) – MOST (i.e. 80% or more) of my friends laughed at me, said they’d never use it, and asked why I would use facebook and not MySpace like they did. Seriously. You can’t make this stuff up.
For all its detractors, facebook has become not just a way of staying in touch with people, but an essential part of society where one-and-all come to see what’s happening in their contacts’ lives at any time.
The use of Facebook Places (and the facebook Check-In) has become a right-of-passage on a daily or nightly basis when you’re out and about – a whole social etiquette is developing around “Who’s going to check us in?” and “What’s the status going to be?”
Some tips on facebook use:
- It’s a social and more relaxed network, so relax, share, and have fun with it
- Your facebook is an expression of your personality – the real you – be yourself and talk like you would with your friends (within reason)
- Realize that anything you say on facebook can and will be used against you in a court of law (or will be seen by your Manager) – so be selective of the friend requests you accept
- If you’re going to start a facebook fan page, do it right and load the page up with valuable content, images, and calls-to-action prior to launching (and send out a private message to your close friends first to ‘Like’ the page so you’ve got a running start)
- Not Going Home is an awesome example of how to build a fan page.
Want to see what I do when I’m not writing blog posts? Connect with me on facebook.
Twitter
As we speak, twitter is far & away my favourite social media platform. Twitter enables users to find their ‘voice’ extremely quickly. Twitter has long been misunderstood by people who think there is no value in seeing that your friend posted, “I ate Weet Bix for breakfast today”. No one writes that. Well, except maybe Metta World Peace.
Twitter is about connecting with people you would otherwise not be able to connect to, or might not normally be able to contact. You can do this because you can follow their twitter feed without them following you. You can also @mention them on twitter and sometimes get a response. Use #hashtags to follow conversations about just about anything and see what people are saying. This can be a great source of consumer behaviour and sentiment. For example, if you’re a clothing designer, you can follow the hashtag #fashion and see what’s trending. As my friend Apu would say, “Thank you, come again.”
The only way to understand twitter is to start using twitter. Start by searching for and following people who are:
- In your industry & whose opinions you respect
- Share common interests
- People you admire; or are
- Sources of valuable information (e.g. @mashable for social media news)
Give it a chance and you will come to find that it is an incredibly effective and almost essential source of information and social interaction. Why not follow me on twitter and see what all the fuss is about?
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a more professional network. Think of it as a professional facebook, only this time it’s your CV online, as opposed to those pictures of you dancing on tables in Ibiza with a lampshade on your head. It’s an extremely valuable tool for building a network of professional contacts.
Some of the many benefits include:
- Connecting with like-minded, relevant contacts
- Receive recommendations from your previous clients or co-workers and display them on your profile
- Get scouted for job opportunities and genuine business proposals*
- Join industry-groups which share up-to-date market information
- See where your contacts are now working with real-time updates
LinkedIn has well over 100 million users and is one place you want to have a presence online.
A thought on Google+
For the moment, Google+ reminds me of a verse from a favourite quote of mine:
“…the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again…”
- Blog Like You Mean It: How to Win Friends and Influence People Online
- How to Build a LinkedIn Profile that Generates Business
The Greatest Networker in the World 