Chip Wilson's Blog

I love using my chainsaw.  Playing Monty Python’s “Lumberjack Song” in my head, it’s fun work to go out back and clean up dead brush and timber.  The work is satisfying and creates immediate, noticeable results.  However, if you don’t know how to use a chainsaw, it’s a recipe for disaster.  You are most likely to injure yourself or others, and may even drop a tree on your house or car (seen it happen, not pretty).  Then again, every so often you find some crazy individual who actually juggles the darned things.  Why on earth would anyone do that?

Still, each day naiive entrepreneurs take foolish risks with their business when they market on social media.  Don’t get me wrong, social media can be a great tool for developing your business.  You know the case: social media is one of the fastest growing markets the world has ever seen, operates globally 24/7, and you can access it for little or no cost.  Yada, yada, yada…..

Grab the wrong end of the chainsaw, however, and you’re sure to lose.   You will most likely alienate far more people than you will ever attract to your business.  You may even find yourself lying under a Larch or mighty Scotch Pine.  Let’s talk about how to get it right.  Suspenders and high heels not required!

The Power of Social Media

Social media has emerged as one of the most powerful venues ever created for human interaction.  For the first time in human history, a person in North Carolina can engage in a dialog and share ideas with individuals on all seven continents more easily than he or she can talk to their next door neighbor.

The power of social media lies in the fact that it offers participants the ability to assume both the role of passive listener and active contributor.  Because of this, it is an incredibly effective tool for influencing the thoughts and behaviors of others.  Just witness recent elections and the national debate on healthcare.    Centralized outlets can no longer control the message. Once an idea is posted on the Internet, anyone can take hold of it and add to, subtract from, or reshape the concept.  The power to influence a discussion and opinion is distributed to all who choose to weigh in.

Social Media Dynamics and Your Business

While anyone can chime in on a discussion in a social media forum, leading discussions is where people create value.  To lead effectively, you first need to understand the dynamics of the media itself.  Then you must develop a strategic approach to positioning yourself in the community and be consistent in your approach when contributing.  This may sound heavy, like something out of a painful MBA class (sorry, its the HBS in me), but it is the difference between those who play with social media and those who succeed in using social media to achieve specific goals.

Social media outlets are, at their core, platforms for enabling human interaction and building relationships.  Sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have been referred to by many as “big cocktail parties on the Internet.”  This picture is accurate, even if it does trivialize the power of the media, and defines the boundaries for appropriate behavior.  If you are looking to use social media to drive your business, you must take this into account.

A sound strategy should provide a framework to guide your daily activities and as well as the style of your unique approach to social media.  One “killer pillar” for success in these communities is DO NOT SELL.  It probably seems counter-intuitive from a business standpoint, and it is definitely different than what you see tons of people doing every day.  Remember the chainsaw.  Think of it this way – who wants to hang out with the loser in the leisure suit trolling the crowd trying to tell everyone how to get rich.  You’ll quickly find yourself in a corner hanging out with Jugdish, Sydney and Clayton (pardon the shameless Animal House plug).

People hate to be “sold” but they love to buy.  Moreover, they will buy from those whom they trust, when they are ready.  The business purpose of social media, therefore, is to establish rapport, build trust and establish credibility.  By providing consistent, value-added social interaction, you will also stay at the front of your potential customers minds so that they will think to turn to you for help in solving their problem when they have reached the point where they are ready to take action.

A Framework for Success

With this in mind, here is a framework for using social media effectively.  Add your unique background and style to the mix and make it your own.

Introduce Yourself – Remember, social media is like a giant social function or cocktail party.  You can have a great time, and be effective building your business – but only if you are proactive.  Do not sit on the sidelines – reach out to others across multiple platforms and introduce yourself to people you don’t know or that you want to get to know.

In the long run, it’s better to be busy meeting many than spending all your time with one or two.  Relationships are important, so do take the time to go deeper than just a virtual handshake.  Just don’t lose sight of your objective of casting a broad net.

Be Targeted and Logical in Your Approach When meeting others, don’t randomly spam anyone with a pulse.  Be methodical.  Join groups with interests you share.  Use #FollowFriday on Twitter to identify prospects.  Look through friends and followers of the people with whom you already have relationships.  Follow their content and commentaries.

When you find someone with an interesting point of view, comment intelligently on their posts, Retweet their Tweets, and/or share their content with your universe of friends and followers.  When you request their friendship or follow them, send them a private message to introduce yourself.  DO NOT SELL IN THIS INTRODUCTION.  (I hate to sound like a broken record , but it is one of the biggest mistakes people consistently make.)  Keep it personal and let people know why you are connecting with them.  [Editorial Comment - When I read this to my son, he looked at me like I had a third hand coming out of my forehead.  How many people reading this remember what a broken record sounds like?]

High numbers are great, but not at the expense of high quality.  Some may not agree, but I believe that you are better off building relationships with 100 people who become your rabid fans than gaining 1,000 random followers a day.

Join in the Conversation Interact with others.  Acknowledge their presence, content and contributions and engage them in a dialog.  One of the beauties of social media is that you can jump into a conversation at any time.  If you come across something a few days old, so what.  Re-open the dialog with your own comment or a link to relevant content and you bring the conversation right back to the front.  Feel free to be controversial, but not offensive, and don’t get caught up in having to be right all the time.  Remember, you are here to interact and add value, not to prove anything.  It is as important to be interested in others as it is to be interesting to others!

Take Daily Action Share information with others daily, and make it diverse.  Share blog posts, articles, news stories, pictures, etc that interest you.  They don’t all have to be original, just valuable.  If you aren’t sure what’s valuable, use the 4 E’s to evaluate content you may share.  Is it Educational, Engaging, Entertaining or Enriching?  If so, then share it!

Provide a balance of content so that people can get a well-rounded picture of you through your tweets, posts and comments.  This will be the topic of a specific post in the future, and is critical to keeping members of your community loyal and engaged.  One great approach to throw into this mix is to share inspirational content like your favorite quotes, thoughts/excerpts from a motivational book or poem, even inspiring videos.  Doing this will usually have the side benefit of inspiring you as well.

To get started sharing information, make this a formula.  Spend a set period of time each week to surf the internet for content that interests you and then draw out a plan to share it over the next week AND STICK TO IT.  This will get you in the habit and keep you from wasting huge amounts of time trying to think about what to do.  (Sorry if I sound pedantic here, but the systematic approach really does help, especially when you are just starting out.)

Be Authentic When you are sharing your own content, don’t try to pose as something you aren’t.  My friend Scott Brandon Hoffman (@TheEntertainer on Twitter) covers this topic in a humorous fashion in his blog “Living In A Human Suit”.  When you interact with others from a place of authenticity, you will inherently begin to build trust.  However, when you’re a poser, people will sense the lack of integrity and you will lose credibility.  Most certainly, don’t “fake it till you make it”.  The Internet has a long tail, and once you establish the rep as a poser or “faker” it will stay out there for people to find for a very long time.

Having said that, exercise your creativity – be as different as you can.  In a recent presentation I heard Mike Koenigs, Founder of TrafficGeyser, use a great analogy for creating your own content.  Remember Richard Dean Anderson in the TV show MacGyver?  His character was so adept at using common items in different ways to create original solutions that “MacGyver” became a verb in pop conversations.

When you find content that interests you, do a little more research, synthesize what you learn and “MacGyver” it – present it in a fresh, authentic manner so that it is valuable to others.

Invite Appropriate Conversations Appropriately

If you follow the framework laid out above, you will, over time, significantly increase the size of your list and earn the privilege of speaking with many people about your business.  This is not, however, a free reign to spam everybody when the light turns green.  Just invite people to visit your business related site (or sites) when it is appropriate FOR THEM.  Remember, it may be your business, but it’s their life.  Your interaction must revolve around what is valuable for them, not you.

One common rule of thumb is to limit your “pitching” to 10% or so of your total contribution to social media communities.  I don’t know if it is really that much of an exact science, but it feels about right.  If you build your presence appropriately, you will leave enough clues lying around that people will be able follow you into the rabbit hole of your business when they choose, without you pushing it on them.  Those that do will be better prospects for you as well.

I hope that this makes sense to you.  I look forward to getting to know all of you out there in the forest a little better.  I’d really like to hear from you, so please leave your comments.  I’d also appreciate it if you would share this with your own friends and Tribes.  Just use the tool below.  Make sure you add your website so my readers can follow you as well.

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