Developing a Social Media Policy and Guidelines
In our book Sociable! Stephen Jagger and I talk about the importance of having a set of guiding principles and policies for your organization as you enter the social media space. We developed one for ourselves and the other people that are involved in Sociable! with us. Following is a direct excerpt out of our book of our social media policy and guidelines we call the Sociable! Code of Engagement:
#1) Treat every action as if it will be recorded for eternity.
Almost everything we say online is recorded, logged and backed up somewhere. In every restaurant, bar or conference room there’s dozens of people with mobile video, photo, and blogging apps that capture our behavior in an instant and broadcast it to the world instantly and permanently. You really can’t delete a bad blog post, a rude response. Be careful what you say, blog, tweet and do, because the impact can be permanent.
#2) Talk about what you know.
Being Sociable! is about being a thought leader, and contributor to community and being authentic and transparent. People rely on us for advice and guidance. Stating opinion as fact can hurt our reputation and it may even harm the person taking our advice. If we’re wrong, or inaccurate we can expect to be called out on it and even embarrassed in the social media space by other bloggers or community members. Always be learning, studying and fact checking in the area which you aspire to lead in, and don’t exaggerate or fabricate your knowledge or the facts.
#3) Get Engaged.
Don’t broadcast, connect. Being Sociable! is about listening, connecting, contributing. Engagement is how we make other people feel, it’s also about the lasting impact that we have on them and their success. To be Sociable! you must monitor, listen to and actively answer and communicate with the individuals in the community in a personable customized and relevant way.
#4) Give credit where credit is due
If you hear a great quote from someone, an interesting hypothesis or learn a new business process make sure you give him or her the credit. Just because something is not protected under copyright does not mean we can re-purpose it without giving credit. A quick link back to their site, a mention of them at your seminar or in your video only takes seconds. What it does though is build the trust of everyone watching, they know you’re in this for more than just personal gain and will be Sociable! with you as well.
#5) No Spam
Never send generic messages to people who have given you permission to connect. If they have added you as a connection in a social network, realize that this is not to be taken lightly. Only send information or communicate in a way that is adding value, every time. Avoid auto messages, auto blog links, or auto anything that makes people feel like a number and not a valued contact.
#6) Know when to Zip it
Be conscious of private or confidential information that has been trusted to you. This means don’t post it anywhere on the web. It also means don’t talk about it in public, someone else could hear or record you and post it online for the world to see. Know the difference between fact, opinion and slander and always err on the side of being legally diligent. In other words don’t post anything that could result in an unwanted court appearance.
#7) This is not a video game
Some people see social media as a video game. A game where you collect names and followers like a some sort of digital trophy case. This game is getting old fast. The real measure of someone who is legitimately Sociable! is impact and action. Focus on quality or relationships with people you are connected with. Focus on people doing something when they get to your blog, not how many people visit it. Think in the term of profits made, impact created or actions caused by your Sociable! activity.
#8) Be open to all feedback
The days of corporate white washing are over, so is having a dual life, everyone now knows what your up to in this digital world that lacks privacy. People are going to go after you online on your personal blog, our corporate blog or blast you with a video or a comment on a social network. When this happens, don’t hide and don’t delete their comments or the errors you have made. Engage instead. Customer complaints are branding opportunities and sometimes our critics are actually bold allies trying to set us straight. With criticism it’s important to respond strategically not emotionally and to set the record straight with a correction, the facts, or good old fashion customer service and apologies.
#9) Digital rights
We make our living from the great ideas, content and creative works we create, market and produce. Being Sociable! means our brand is one of integrity, authenticity and transparency. We need to respect others copyright and creative works just like we would want them to do for us. Always ask permission or give attribution to other people’s creations that you use, cite, or include in your work. Every photo, video, quote or audio clip we use must be posted by us and distributed in a way that respects others’ work and it’s digital integrity.
#10) Be Sociable!
Being Sociable! also means not taking our self or our brand too seriously. In order to be a true Sociable! thought leader you must have fun, be passionate and contribute to the success of your clients, peers, family and community as a whole. Most importantly we continually strive to “get real” by taking our online connections and meet them individually or as a community through events like Meetups, Tweetups, and community functions. We do this to deepen and expand relationships. Without strong Sociable! relationships we’re just another marketer or sales person pitching something.
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Momentum – Guest Blog Entry by Fred Shadian
This guest blog entry is by Fred Shadian (on twitter @fredshadian) my very best friend and mentor:
Momentum is a progression of movements that are created just like an ocean wave. You can become part of the flow of momentum and be caught by the wave and ride it to create the momentum that you desire in any aspect of your life.
The key to creating momentum, in reality, is to recognize the extraordinary movement in your life or in your organization and to take small steps each and every day towards your desired outcome. Determine where you are at and where you are going and stay focused, using your time and talent, until you feel totally congruent with your desire.
My martial arts instructor, Sensei David Harris, would always share with me the importance of daily activities towards a desired goal. If, for any reason, you feel that you are at a plateau you can continue your level of progression by reading a book on the subject that you are pursuing, or you can watch a video on the related subject, maybe you can attend a seminar or you could mentally rehearse your desired outcome for your success.
It is important is to do something, regardless of how small or how large. By taking action daily you create the motion towards your desired achievement.
Stay focused on the end result, be realistic in your approach, and take a step-by-step progression that leads you to your ultimate goal.
There is a Hawaiian saying: “When the surf is high, go surfing and when the water is calm, wax your board.”
Timing is of the essence when riding the wave of momentum. If you hop on too early, you might crash. If you hop on too late, you miss the wave. By timing the wave correctly, you enjoy the ride all the way to the beach.
To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!
Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
Why not me? #whynotme
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This podcast answers another version of the question “Why?” with the answer “Why not me?”
To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!
Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
Why? #why
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This podcast is about the question: Why?
This is an important question.
It’s the most important question.
Why?
To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!
Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
Becoming and Influencing Thought Leaders
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Ronald Lee of Man Meets Woman Happy Sexy You and Vancouver Social Board sponsored this post for the blogathon for the Vancouver Food Bank.
The topic Ronald chose was: What It Takes and/or How to Become a Thought Leader?
This is a great question, have a listen to this podcast to hear about becoming and influencing thought leaders.
To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!
Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
How long is a long term marketing goal? Are you quitting too soon.
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Jay Levinson says it takes up to 18 months for a the market to react and accept a new brand. Jim Janz says it takes 18 months it develop a leader. Fred Shadian says it takes 1000 training sessions to become a master. Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to become an outlier.
This podcast is about becoming a community building and marketing maven. How long have you invested in yourself and your people?
Can a fictional character blog? Guest Blogger Tris Hussey
Guest blog entry by Tris Hussey, author, blogger, new media maven:
Can a fictional character blog?
This was a huge question in the early days of blogging. Blogging stalwarts felt that only “real” people should be blogging, especially for a company. There were a couple notable character blogs that were pretty controversial at the time: the Denali Flavors Moose blog and T. Alexander from the Gourmet Station blog.
For a number of months this was an all-consuming tempest in a teacup, with all sorts of name-calling and unpleasantness, however when it all blew over…
Sure, characters can blog. It became clear that whether it was fan fiction or a company mascot assuming the role of “spokesperson”, it wasn’t who the “author” was pro-ported to be, but rather what and how things were said.
Businesses find it helpful to have one “person” be the voice for the entire company, but have several folks write behind the scenes because there aren’t enough people in the company to dedicate one person to blog. The hardest part of having multiple authors blogging is keeping the “voice” of the writing the same. One easy fix is to divide the tasks up. Maybe only one person writes longer posts, but others do things like a weekly post of interesting links or another do the photo of the week. Mix up the type of posts and the people writing them and you’ll have a dynamic blog with a lot less effort!
This is an excerpt from Tris Hussey’s upcoming book on blogging “6 Easy Blogging Projects” published by Pearson. Follow Tris on twitter.
To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!
Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
Twitpics Gone Wrong Part 2
Well the last post went over well, and since this is for charity I thought I’d share a few more pics that I managed to capture and put on Twitter. Nothing out of the ordinary really.
#1) Raul in his happy place (He’s blogging for charity tonight too)
#2) This guy I met in Yaletown, his daughter neglected to brush the cat until it’s hair was in knots, the poodle groomer was cheaper. He should be arrested… and shaved.
#3) Doolins Irish Pub at Lunch time. You should see dinner.
#4) This was a joke gift but he chose to wear it in public.
#5) I can’t really top #4 so this post is done.
To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!
Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
Twitpic’s Gone Wrong Shane Gibson Exposed
In a Hyper-transparent World You’ll Be Found Out
In our book Sociable! Stephen Jagger and I talk about some of the do’s and don’t's of social media. One thing we talk about is wherever you are, there’s a camera, and at 2:00 am that funny twitpic might not be so funny when your boss or your best client sees them.
Steve and I have not learned this by standing at the pulpit looking down at people making silly errors or posting things they shouldn’t have. We learned this by doing it ourselves (okay actually most of the dumb things that have been documented were done by me).
I also believe in not deleting, people will catch you and make things worse. So I leave these errors in judgment up, why you might ask? Mostly because they weren’t really errors, it was me, my real personality doing these things. Blame it on my Celtic East Coast sense of humor. So in the spirit of full transparency and for charity (please donate) here’s some pictures from the last few years that probably should not made it on the internet (better me than someone else posting these!):
#1) Kyle MacDonald (The guy who traded up “One Red Paper Clip” for a house) and I after we left a conference we were speaking at. This is is us at 3:00 am after we emptied a Keg. Kyle is really Superman because he did a fantastic radio interview 4 hours later. (Seriously itemized beer bill).
#2) Everyone who left the Mother of all Meetups at Christmas time left their tags with me (so to speak)
#3) I sorta crashed a womens’ only conference for social media after party/tweetup (invited by Colleen), this is what ended up on Twitpic. I look so sincere.
#4) This was just a bad mistake, I wanted a pic of the hat on me but the preview didn’t show the bloke in the background (nice personal branding).
#5) No man should ever walk a dog dressed like this. Yes that’s my dog.
To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here or the image below. Every bit helps!
Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
Uber Blogger Tris Hussey on Managing Blog Comments
Guest blog entry by Tris Hussey, author, blogger, new media maven:
Encouraging comments and discussion
Comments are what keep blogging going. The dialogue and feedback that helps you not only grow as a writer, but also ensures that you stay on track. Through comments you learn, interact, and gain inspiration. I’ve written entire follow-up posts based a comment from a post. I’ve also received cease-and-desist letters because of comments as well. Part of getting comments is writing to encourage comments. First step is to make sure comments are enabled (aka turned on) for all your posts. Nine times out of ten the default setting for blog engines is to have comments on, but sometimes they get turned off so just double check. Whether or not anyone can post a comment or if there is some kind of moderation in place is up to you, and I’ll get to that shortly.
With comments turned on, the next part is subtler: getting people to leave comments. There isn’t a “magic formula” for you to get lots of comments. Sometimes I pull it off, sometimes I don’t. In any case here are simple things you can do to help encourage comments:
- Leave examples out on purpose. People love to feel that they are contributing by adding to your post.
- Ask open-ended questions
- Ask for comments directly
- Take a contrary or controversial stance to the status quo
Even with these tips, including out-right asking for comments, sometimes a great post just doesn’t get any comments. Don’t worry, this happens with even the best posts. Sometimes it’s the posts that you don’t expect to receive any comments to be the one that gets the most. Sometimes you just never know.
Once you do get comments, to keep the flow going you have to respond to the comments you receive. Be open and willing to be proved wrong or challenged. Engaging in a healthy dialogue makes your blog a place where people will go for ideas and inspiration—which means that you will also gain inspiration as well. Every blog, no matter what the topic is, is made better with comments.
This is an excerpt from Tris Hussey’s upcoming book on blogging “6 Easy Blogging Projects” published by Pearson. Follow Tris on twitter.
Sales Skills are Part of a Good Social Media Strategy
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The last podcast I did was about “Getting Real in Social Media” and this is an extension of that. I’m a big proponent of the use of social media marketing and social networking in business. With that said, often social media helps us start a relationship, it can also help us nurture a relationship, but there are core sales skills needed to turn those relationships into revenues. There are dozens of core sales competencies but for this podcast I want to focus on three that social media marketers need to master:
#1) They need to master the art of Rapport Building
#2) They need to get good at Needs Analysis Selling
#3) They need to understand how to sell what people buy, and it’s not features, price or technology
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Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
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