Winning Moves: Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

November 2008 • www.visionsmc.com • 410-849-8095

Editor's Note

My sisters and I talk fast. My brother can talk fast, but he also uses volume and authority as the eldest. My youngest sister probably talks the fastest. One time, she was on the phone with me at her job. When she got off the phone, a colleague was amazed that the person on the other end of the phone understood what she was saying, because he didn't. "It was my sister," she said, and that was that.

Dinner at my house growing up was a very lively affair. We had four children and two parents and everyone had something to say. You often had to speak louder or faster to get your two bits in. Whether the fast talking created the dinner dynamic or vice versa, the bottom line was that dinner at my parents' table was and still is very animated.

When I was a little girl, I spent the night at a friend's house. She was one of five girls whose first names and last all began with "L". Coincidentally, she lived in the house next door to where I live with my family now.

We sat down to dinner with more people than I was used to, and the dinner was a very sterile affair. No one spoke, except to ask to pass the butter or milk. I was shocked. There was silence as everyone ate their food. And there wasn't just silence, but a mood that permeated the room. The children, even the parents, seemed unhappy or uncomfortable at their own table, with their own family.

I was so uncomfortable that I can remember this vividly oh so many years later. It was the kind of discomfort that gets under your skin, tastes bad in your mouth, brings weird expressions to your face, and a slow shudder down your spine. It was the last time I spent the night at her house.

This issue is about a subject that gets reactions that are usually reserved for politics and religion?polar opposite reactions. Some people are excited, active, involved champions, and another very diverse group is very uncomfortable.

They don't need to be. Keep reading.

Molly Hughes Wilmer

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Feature

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks or Facebook Isn't Just for Kids

A few months ago, I needed to find someone who is somewhat younger than I am. It turned out that she was on Facebook. I had used Facebook and other online tools for clients, but I never had a personal account. So, I created one to get in touch with this contact.

As I perused her friends, I was surprised to see her parents and in-laws on her list. They are older than I am. Curiosity aroused, I searched for my sisters. They were both on Facebook. (Sorry. Dad will now know you're on there.) I searched for my sister-in-law. She was on Facebook (which I now had learned was called "fb" by those in the know). A close friend in California was on fb, too! And not one of them had "friended" me? I was shocked (and amused)!

I emailed or talked to all of them in the next 24 hours, and they had all joined fb in the last two months, and were slowly dipping their toes in the water. As my friend from California said, "I didn't think people our age did that."

I joined fb on October 7th, and none of them were much before me. My friend in California now has 99 friends (including both my sisters), my sisters have 116 and 61 friends, my sister-in-law has 75 friends, and another friend who has just gotten started has 144 friends. This has all happened in the last few months.

This wave on fb has just been hitting my circle of friends now. The fb wave hit other circles of friends earlier, and will hit new circles next. The impact of fb is spreading out, like the concentric wave circles of rain drops on a pond.

Facebook is one of many tools called "social media" a phrase I waited to use in this article because it shuts so many people down. But social media is starting to have an impact that our society cannot ignore. Motrin pulled a national ad because of "social media".

This is such an amazing story. On a newer networking site called "Twitter" a group of moms expressed their displeasure at what they perceived was an insulting ad geared toward mothers. The dialogue began on Friday night, November 17th, and by Sunday night, Johnson & Johnson had pulled down the Motrin website.

In older news, both political campaigns used multiple social media tools to get their messages out. No matter how you voted, it's not really debated that Barack Obama used social media more effectively. He raised an unprecedented amount in small gifts, and voter turnout was huge. He also won the election.

Social media has officially reached the tipping point. It can cause a national ad from a huge company to be pulled in less than 48 hours (over a weekend!). It can elect a president. It is for "people our age".

There are multiple social media tools out there. There are many different ways to use each tool. Working knowledge of the features and creativity are the only limitations. Other than the time and the ideas, these platforms are free.

And what can they do for you? Here are just a few examples: Social media can help people reinforce their relationship with your brand, creating stronger brand ties, they can create a community of people focused around your brand, they can help get new messages about your company out to more people more quickly, and they can help expand the number of people interacting with your brand. They can help you be more profitable, which anyone wants in any market, but especially now.

Most business could be using social media more effectively, and every business professional could be using it for professional development. And now's the time.

What Can You Do?

There are two things you can do: get your feet wet and get some help.

Get your feet wet. If you're not on LinkedIn, get an account. You can control your profile, who sees it, and who you connect to. Connect to me if you want to. If you're on it, do more. Join a group, look at how to leverage your contacts, answer or post Q&As, or respond to discussions. If you're using LinkedIn to the max, try checking out a new site?Twitter, Squidoo, or Facebook are just a few.

Get some help at how to use social media for your business. There are a lot of social media tools out there, many with diverse features. Rather than reinventing the wheel, work with someone who has already learned the tools. Your investment can be focused on creatively leveraging the tools to enhance your marketing.

Contact Vision Strategic Marketing & Communications at 410-849-8095.

Ask the Expert

Question
Is it better to try lots of tools, or to focus on one?

Answer
It depends. For a national campaign like a presidential election, it makes sense to use every tool you can. For campaigns smaller in scope, it makes sense to focus your message more. However, you may need to test your campaign with multiple tools in order to find where your existing audience is and how well different tools will help you reach your goals?reinforcing relationships, expanding your network, etc.

Submit your questions to the editor: molly@visionsmc.com

Want to Know More?

There is a lot out there about social media tools right now. Google "Social Media", look it up on Wikipedia, check out groups on LinkedIn. Talk to someone who's got some experience, like Vision Strategic Marketing & Communications.

You are welcome to forward this to others. Permission to reprint or reproduce any content in print or electronic means is granted provided it includes this notice: "Copyright 2008, by Molly Hughes Wilmer, Vision Strategic Marketing & Communications. From "Winning Moves", an email newsletter by Molly Hughes Wilmer, Vision Strategic Marketing & Communications. Website: www.visionsmc.com Email molly@visionsmc.com". We would be grateful for a copy of the work containing the reprint or reproduction.

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