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Why People Don’t Get Social Networking

I was talking with someone the other day about Twitter and the importance of building a social presence. Their response was, they see how it is important for some people, but for his line of work, it won’t work, especially Twitter. He had an array of reasons why Twitter, Blogging and Social Networking can’t help him. His business is too specialized he said. It’s not going to get him any more business than he already has.

He’s probably right. But thats not enough of a reason not to build an online presence. It could get him a new job in the future, it could create a relationship he may need to close a deal someday, it could get him information he needed that he DIDN’T know existed. It could do a lot of things he is unaware of today, that could help him in the future. He is not alone. His thinking is like that of most people I talk to who aren’t actively building and online presence. It’s too linear.

The problem isn’t him but humanity. We are purpose driven.

Since the cave man days our actions have been purpose driven. If you wanted something from the guy across the cave you got up and took it from him. If you were hungry you went out and killed some food. Over the years we became more civilized, but we were still purpose driven. If you wanted to talk to someone you sent a letter. If you wanted a job, you applied for it. Then the phone and T.V. came along. Still driven by purpose, you knew who you were calling and why and we knew what we were going to watch on TV and when. Communication has rarely, if ever, been done without a direct purpose. Everything was linear. We played in the known.

Social media and social networks play in the unknown. They aren’t linear. They aren’t purpose driven. When we tweet something, we don’t know who we are tweeting or if someone is even their to receive it. When we blog, we don’t know who is going to read it, or who is going to comment. We don’t know if people will like it or hate it. We put our stuff on LinkedIn not knowing who if anyone is going to find it. Social media is anything but purpose driven. It’s this reason most people don’t get social media. They are thinking from the linear brain we’ve all been indoctrinated with. If doing X doesn’t get me Y right now, I don’t have time.

Social media and social networking don’t work in a linear fashion. They operate in a broader, less confined manner. Users have to be OK not knowing, not getting what they want right away and able to handle getting what they didn’t expect. Social media and social networking give life to the phrase; we dont know what we don’t know.

Many people see it as a waste of time. To the linear mind it is. It’s not like a phone call or and email. It’s not like getting up and walking across the cave and getting what you want. What it does do, quite often is give you what you didn’t know you wanted and many times that’s far more valuable.

It’s easy to focus on getting what you want and thinking in a linear fashion. It’s measurable. It also requires you block everything out. Social media and social networking are different, they get you what you didn’t know you wanted and that’s a big deal.

Social networking and social media expand your world. They make you more accessible, they provide more information, they extend your influence. If those aren’t reason enough to “get” social media it must not be linear enough.

Social media and social networking have a place, it’s just going to take time to change 10,000 years of thinking. It’s time to get out of the cave.

The One Way to Fail in Social Media (theantisocialmedia.com)
Are You Using Social Media As Social Proof? (socialmediabiz.com)
What the Hell is Your Favorite Social Network (theantisocialmedia.com)
Older Adults and Social Media (tjwalker.com)

August 27, 2010 | Filed under: Asset of The Future,Web 2.0/Social Networking | View Comments |

Learning to Share

Sharing takes effort. I’m not talking the about the type of sharing we were taught as kids in kindergarten, but the new sharing we do online. I’m starting to notice those with the strongest online presence are good sharers.

Sharing on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or on your companies microblogging site like Yammer or Socialcast is different. It’s not an action we were brought up with.

Traditionally, sharing meant sharing”BIG” things; births, deaths, graduations, weddings, etc. We knew to share the big events, the momentous occasions. We shared mostly the big stuff because sharing was so hard. It was too cumbersome to share the small stuff. Sharing meant multiple phone calls, or a mini-letter campaign. Sharing with lots of people was difficult and time consuming. So we did it mostly for the big stuff.

We did share the little stuff, but only with a small group of people, our mom’s and closest friends, and family. We did one person at at time, by phone, or occasionally by letter.

Things are changing. Sharing the little stuff is a lot easier now. It’s a quick Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn status update from your phone or your computer. It takes 5 minutes, yet 10′s, 100′s or even 1000′s of friends and family can experience it. Sharing is different today.

Our sharing habits have been shaped over generations around the “BIG” stuff and social media requires the little stuff. Most of us don’t know how to share the little stuff. It’s uncomfortable. It’s foreign. It doesn’t seem to matter when compared to the big stuff, yet it does. In many ways, it matters more.

Sharing the little stuff builds relationships overtime. The little stuff is more intimate. It’s more personable. The little stuff is much better at creating what is most important; relationships, groups with common interests and connections.

Learning to share today takes effort. It requires we are more conscience of our thoughts. What we once saw as a fleeting observation, is now a potential idea, or thought that can be captured and shared. Learning to do this takes work. Learning how to capture our fleeting thoughts and perceptions and remember to share them is not easy.

Social media is changing how we engage. It’s challenging traditional notions of sharing. It’s asking us to share the little stuff, not just the “BIG” stuff.

We are going to need to learn to share. We need to share the little stuff, not just the big stuff. We need to be more present with our thoughts and observations. It will be critical. Our networks are moving online. They are getting bigger. They are playing a bigger role in our success, at work, at home, in our finances and more.

Sharing is going to be at the core of the asset of the future: our online presence. Sharing just the “BIG” the stuff isn’t going to cut it.

April 5, 2010 | Filed under: Asset of The Future,Enterprise 2.0,Personal Development,Web 2.0/Social Networking | View Comments |

IPhone Experiment Results

My IPhone experiment is over. I’m writing this update from my Mac. That pretty much tells the story.

My MacBook shit the bed a week ago, just before I left on a week long trip. I couldn’t get it fixed before I left, so I had to use my IPhone for everything.

For context, I didn’t have to use my phone for VPN purposes, or to tap into any corporate ERP applications, other than Exchange.

What I did use the phone for was all my social interactions, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, blogging, (posting and commenting), email, and surfing the web.

The results of the experiment are pretty simple. The IPhone is a GREAT mobile device; literally. It’s a great augment for a desktop or laptop. It’s not a replacement. It did everything I needed it to. It just took 2 to 3 times longer to do it. There was an app for everything. I blogged using WordPress‘s app. I took notes and saved info using Evernote. The Facebook, LinkedIn, and TweetDeck apps were great. Besides loading times, they were as easy, if not easier than the desktop apps. I used IPhone’s Safari browser for the web. It was SLOW! It was definitely a deterrent to browsing. Also, I desperately want to see plug-in’s for mobile safari or a browser alternative.

I used a couple of other social services, like BizSugar who don’t have an IPhone app. Using them without a mobile app was painful. Note to internet services, build a mobile application quickly, very quickly.

At the end of the day I was able to do what I do on my laptop. It slowed me down. It took me out of my rhythm. I had to change my processes. But, I was able to do everything I needed.

I missed my laptop. That is for sure. The plus, I am now better with the IPhone keypad AND like a good Swiss army knife, if I ever lose my laptop again, I know I can survive with my IPhone.

Afterthought-

What does this mean for the I-Pad? Will it close the gap?

March 9, 2010 | Filed under: Random,What I Think! | View Comments |

It’s No Longer Good to Be Anonymous

For most of history, anonymity was the goal, especially in the U.S. Americans love their privacy. We have taken pain staking efforts to protect our right to privacy. The idea that people could know things about us, without our consent goes against everything we’ve stood for. For the entire 20th century Americans, and I suspect most of the world, tried their best to control what people could know about them. Much was done to limit personal information, for fear that too much information in the hands of others could be used against us.

In George Orwell’s classic book 1984, Big Brother learns of Winston’s fear of rats and makes him betray Julia, the woman he loves, by threatening him with rats.

The door opened again. A guard came in, carrying something made of wire, a box or basket of some kind. He set it down on the further table. Because of the position in which O’Brien was standing. Winston could not see what the thing was.

” The worst thing in the world “, said O’Brien, ” varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths. There are cases where it is some quite trivial thing, not even fatal.”

He had moved a little to one side, so that Winston had a better view of the thing on the table. It was an oblong wire cage with a handle on top for carrying it by. Fixed to the front of it was something that looked like a fencing mask, with the concave side outwards. Although it was three or four metres away from him, he could see that the cage was divided lengthways into two compartments, and that there was some kind of creature in each. They were rats.

” In your case “, said O’Brien, ” the worst thing in the world happens to be rats.”

Winston was petrified of rats. Big Brother knew this and used the information to control him. For most of our existence we’ve felt this way and Orwell’s scene brilliantly portrayed those fears by highlighting the most extreme examples of private information being exposed. Our country was founded on the idea that governments were corrupt and that our right to privacy was paramount to our protection. (There is still debate in the legal world on weather there truly is a “right” to privacy and whether or not it is protected by the 14th amendment.) But despite our history, privacy will not be our legacy. Anonymity is quickly becoming a liability not an asset.

Despite the best intentions and vision of our forefathers and Orwell, they could never have seen the Internet. The internet is creating a world and a culture where being invisible will make people just that invisible.

As more and more people join social networks. As sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn grow in popularity, they are being embedded into our daily lives. Not for entertainment but as part of day to day social and work routines. We are embedding these sites and others into our lives, and our work. We are beginning to rely on social media for our news, for our jobs, and for our relationships. The utility of social networks is growing and growing fast. This mass rush to join and use social networks is creating an interesting conflict; private vs. public and private is going to lose.

With more and more people available on line, via Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, Twitter, Beebo, etc. It is becoming common place to Google someone before engaging them. People are Googling each other before going on dates. Recruiters and employers are searching LinkedIn before they reach out about job openings. College admissions are reading Facebook and Myspace pages during the admissions process. Blogs are creating new industry leaders and experts. The number of followers a person has is beginning to have credibility. We are beginning to rely on the information we get about each other before we make decisions or engage one another. And if we can’t find information online, if someone doesn’t have some sort of online presence we dismiss them. Being invisible is beginning to have a cost, a big cost.

Moving forward, holding on to your information, tightly controlling what and when people can learn about you will put you at a decided disadvantage. The need to protect ourselves from the Government and misuse of information is quickly being usurped by the benefits and need to promote ourselves in order to compete. Our efforts need to move from protecting our privacy, to managing our privacy. The focus now needs to be on developing a strategy for our personal brand. We now have to learn self-promotion. We have to learn what information to share, how often, and in what channels. We have to be able to consciously share publicly about ourselves, who we are and the value we bring. We have to learn how to build and manage our personal brands by divulging our personal information. We are moving into an era where personal brand is as important as corporate brands. It won’t be OK not to have a brand. It won’t be OK to be anonymous.

Anonymity had its purpose and it’s place. But things are changing. Today and even more so in the not so distant future, anonymity will mean invisible, literally, and nothing good will good come from not being seen.

August 17, 2009 | Filed under: Career Development,Personal Development,Web 2.0/Social Networking,What I Think! | View Comments |

What Really Motivates Sales People

You hear it all the time, Sales people are “coin operated”. Sales people are motivated by money. I’ve meet managers often who look for sales people motivated by money. They say; get your sales people spending, buying those new cars, and big houses. Get them hooked, and you’ll keep them motivated. I don’t buy this and never have. I WON’T hire a money motivated sales person or manager.

Money doesn’t motivate me and I won’t hire someone is motivated by money. Money is an incentive and shouldn’t be a motivator. Anyone who is motivated by money can only go so far. Tiger Woods wouldn’t be Tiger if he is motivated by money. He has more money than he can spend in a lifetime, literally. Tiger is motivated by accomplishment, desire to the best ever, and the challenge of cementing his legacy. Successful people aren’t motivated by money.

In a recent post, I asked what motivates sales people and shared what it is about selling that motivates me. The post created a lot of discussion on LinkedIn (if you can’t see because you are not a member of this group I’m sorry, but feel free to join. I’m hoping Disqus can find a way to bring those comments in as well.) Based on the discussion my assessment is fairly accurate. It’s not money. Rewards was a common theme. I think rewards is more about recognition than money. Only two people said money, the rest talked about accomplishment. Here are a couple of comments from the discussion.

“pat on back and recognition” - Raj Peesa

“Being able to accomplish a breakthrough sale and being seeing as someone who can achieve the impossible for others is my motivation. Money is nice but self-satisfaction, and peer recongnition, is the inner motivators. Of course a nice dollar bonus makes it easier to celebrate my success.” -Rich Delaney

“Great article, the chance to be a fixer and enhance the customer’s life is a great thrill. When all cylinders fire, there is no better feeling!” -Tom Tompson

“Thought provoking article. Often we assume that money is the great motivator, even when we know that for ourselves that is not true. For me, it’s recognition. A pat on the back, or a “job well done!” sends me back into the trenches smiling every time.” – Valerie Thomison

Money motivates few people. Despite common misconceptions, sales people are not motivated by money. They, like others, are driven by accomplishment, self-actualization, challenges and recognition.

A perfect example is the introduction and proliferation of crowdsourcing which is proving that money is an incentive and not a motivator. People in many different areas give their time and knowledge for free for a chance to participate in something bigger than them, whether it be Wikkipedia, or IStockPhoto. Money incents behavior, it steers us in one direction or another however it doesn’t motivate us to keep going. Money is an incentive not a motivator.

July 27, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance,Career Development,Personal Development,The Chase | View Comments |

Death of The Resume

Scarcity of information is what started resumes. An employer, looking for a new employee needed something to determine their qualifications. They needed this because there was no other way to get it. Information about potential employees was controlled by the applicant. It’s a nifty little dance we’ve all become acquainted with. You give the information that best “sells” you. You carefully craft a document, outlining your strengths, accomplishments, and objectives. You determined what the new employer sees, consciously leaving out information that could hurt you. The employer then culls through all the resumes looking for key words, and specific experience. The dance continues as employers have interviews trying extrapolate what you know, how you do your job and the extent of your capabilities. The dance has been created because of lack of information and the fact that we, the applicant, control it.

I think the dance is coming to an end or at the very least changing. As more and more people come online it is easier to learn more about them. I see a world where if you don’t have an online presence you won’t even be considered for opportunities. We are moving from a resume on paper to a dynamic or living resume played out online. Employers won’t be patient receiving resumes from potential employees controlling what information they see, when they have candidates who actively blog about their profession, can be found expressing their ideas and positions in groups on LinkedIn, in forums and in blog comments. Employers will be able to follow and engage potential candidates by participating in industry specific groups, networks and forums. Employers will get a view into who is respected in the group, who’s opinions, ideas, and perspectives are valued. They will get visibility into candidates philosophies, approaches to their career, their depth of industry knowledge and more. Employers will know a lot more about a candidate before they even reach out to them.

If you read this blog, you know what I think about sales. I’ve written about the sales process and what I think it looks like and how to manage it. I have shared my views on what makes a great sales person vs. what makes a good sales person. I’ve talked about motivation and sales leadership. I’ve given my two cents on negotiation. Any employer can look at this blog and quickly figure out how I think, how I go about my job and the kind of sales executive I would make. Through my LinkedIn page they can see my relative experience as well as my blog posts, what books I’m reading and have read who I’m connected to and what LinkedIn groups I belong to. They can join those groups and view my participation. What discussions I respond to, what discussions I start, what I say in my responses and more. Employers can follow me on Twitter and evaluate what I say, what links I share and who follows me. If you read my blog, check me out on LinkedIN and follow my on Twitter, there is no need for my resume. There is nothing it can give you that you don’t already know.

For years resumes were small windows, controlled by applicants, into their world. Resumes are tightly controlled documents providing employers with high-powered snippets of who the applicants are and what they did. In most cases, I think resumes are more about what people don’t say rather than what they do say. As social media becomes a core element in our lives, the resume will no longer have role. Employers and recruiters will not tolerate a narrow expression of who we are controlled by us in a single sheet of paper. If a trail of who we are, what we do, how we do it, and why we do it can’t be found online, employers just won’t listen.

As an employer, I know I won’t.

July 14, 2009 | Filed under: Career Development,Hiring/Firing,Personal Brand,What I Think! | View Comments |

The Whole Conversation

The best part of blogging is the community that is created overtime and the best part of a community, for me, is the conversation. This blog is still relatively young, only 5 months old, yet it I can see the conversation beginning to improve.

I use Disqus comments which are a killer way to create great conversation. Disqus is doing a great job of aggregating links and sites from around the web. As people talk about a blog elsewhere, it pulls the comments into the stream. You can see it here from Twitter. As folks retweet a post, the twit is placed in the posts comment stream. Fred Wilson, investor in Twitter says Disqus 3.0 is coming soon and I’m looking forward to that. One of the features I hope it has is a way to connect to groups on LinkedIn.

The other day my post “Growth Doesn’t Come From Sales” created a tremendous amount of discussion in the Linkedin group SalesBlogcast.com. It was fantastic conversation. The comments were insightful, provocative, and engaging. I really wished they could have been captured here. If you landed on the post from RSS or any other source besides the Linkedin group, you wouldn’t have known a great conversation was going on. Linking conversations from all across the Internet would make a for a powerful tool. This way the whole conversation could be captured. I like to hear what others think. I like a healthy debate. I enjoy reading others perspectives. Bringing comments and mentions from the entire Internet will make it feel just a little smaller.

If you are on LinkedIn check out join the SalesBlogcast.com group and check out the conversation. If you aren’t, I’m sorry you are unable to see the conversation here, maybe someone will make that happen soon. Disqus?

July 12, 2009 | Filed under: Web 2.0/Social Networking,What I Think! | View Comments |

Utility in Social Media

I started cre8Buzz in 2006. cre8Buzz was about accelerating exposure for the little guy. We wanted to create a way for the content of the masses to be seen. A sort of long tail accelerator. cre8Buzz didn’t make it and we shut the doors in 2008. (you can read about the buzz here) Tons of social networks have come and gone in the last 3 years and I’m seeing a trend. Like everything else in our lives, social networks that provide utility are the ones that work. Regardless of their features and functions, Social Networks need to provide utility.

LinkedIn has become the leader in professional development and networking. It’s utility lies in connecting professionals with other professionals, in helping them find jobs and connect in groups around similar professions.

Facebook, is the personal site. Yes, many companies are using it for marketing, but the majority of users are connecting with H.S. friends, finding old acquaintances and staying connected with their current friends. Facebook, to me is about the personal relationship. I don’t have a lot friends or followers on Facebook, just good friends and acquaintances. I am creating a Facebook page for my larger online network of friends and followers.

Twitter is about branding (personal or corporate), broadcast messaging and realtime search. Twitter is a great online marketing tool. Providing people looking to distributed information or get information an easy way to do it. Twitter corrals the masses. With no intended recipient Twitters lob stuff out and see what happens. Twitter has created a platform for dynamic information flow and network building.

MySpace is declining in it’s numbers. They’ve laid off 400 people. Why? Because their utility is quickly becoming niche. Myspace is the place to find cool new bands. It’s the place to discover new music and talented musicians. It’s utility as a meeting place to hang out with friends is waning, they can thank Facebook for that. I think in a few years, Myspace’s value will be strictly for fans and bands to connect. It will be a music site.

As the use of social networks grows, we will become increasingly particular on how we use them. We are going to expect that they provide some sort of value. We will expect them to integrate into our lives. Social networks will not longer be a hobby or strictly entertainment but an integrated component of our lives that we rely on to accomplish things. Facebook may become our new contact manager or phonebook, where we dynamically manage our friends and family. Twitter may become our news channel and search engine. LinkedIn may replace resumes and cover letters and become a career development platform.

Social Networks are becoming increasingly utility driven. Users on them today, look to get specific value from those they use. People not on them are asking; “why?” They are looking for a reason to invest their time. They are looking for a return on that time. They’re looking for utility. I think we will see an increase in the utility we get from Social networks. As users are going to want more meat and less fluff.

I think this trend is only going to increase. It’s happening already. Have we seen the last of new social networks? I’m not sure. Although, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace to small degree have the key area’s covered. I think we will see them look for more ways to add value. I suspect they will create more hooks into our lives making them that much more integrated and that much more difficult to for us to unhook.

I see us looking at social networks through a lens of value. We are moving into a the next phase of social networking, and this phase is not about the cuteness or the fun, but the value. Users will relentlessly ask, what can you do for me today and the answer better be good . . . or their gone.

June 25, 2009 | Filed under: Web 2.0/Social Networking,What I Think! | View Comments |