All of us are trying to come up with better ways to get more quality online internet sites like Twitter or Facebook. The majority of us are simply skating over the top when it comes to the possibility these systems offer us as individual people. To understand this potential, we have to become more active and willing participants and designers of our own social media universe , setting the pace and tone and attracting others.
Practices continue to be changing, but here's some brief, and frequently counter intuitive, advice which comes from your expertise studying systems and exactly how people respond to them:
1. Be a little "selfless" and advertise others.
Far too many people look at social networks as a tool strictly for shameless self promotion of their business or themself.
If this describes your social media efforts you will find that this is a real turn off for people . A really usefull habit to develop is to promote others in your social networks. Make use of people you respect and admire and promote them like mad - this obviously promotes their success but also will also create more of an affinity between you and that "expert" in the eyes of your readers and therby increase their desire to work and connect with you.
2. Allow some overlap in your private and professional lives.
We have been conditioned to segment or compartmentalize our personal and professional lives. Social networking will continue to break down these divisions more and more. Once again, the problem is trust. It's much simpler to build trust if others have a more rounded view of what you are. Try mixing up. Yyou may be pleasantly surprised at the results.
3. Be more vulnerable.
This advice runs counter to conventional self improvement and business school knowledge. We're trained to produce "personal brands" that conspicuously feature our talents and tactfully hide our weak points. But trust demands vulnerability, if you value trust in your social media neighborhood, you might like to discuss a few of the very hard problems you're wrestling with and reach out and ask for some advice.
4. Use controversy to "provoke" stronger relationships.
In order to provide top notch customer service," we frequently bend over backwards to be sensitive to others' point of view and even temper our own opinions lest we upset anyone.
In reality, provocation does a couple of positive things: it is reassuring to other people that they're seeing you as you really are (presuming just about everyone has controversial or provocative opinion of one type or another) also it helps stimulate others to develop new ideas and thinking. Obviously, what's important is to stimulate others in productive ways, but provocations can be very useful in building strong relationships.
5. Use elbow grease AND TLC
We're frequently told that internet sites are emergent and self-organizing as in, they look after themselves. Hooey! Truly dynamic and expanding internet sites are carefully built and nurtured by the person that the network is built around. These networks require catalysts to grow. They need stimulating conversation topics and interesting people that will motivate individuals to become more and more engaged with your network and connected with you.
Those who add the most value need to be acknowledged and compensated some how. Also, the people within the social network who're producing "low or no value" negative energy and are too self-centric regarding their own self-promotion have to be shown the door, albeit as tactfully as possible.
6. Remember: What happens online stays online!
Unlike that one liner about Vegas, the internet is a global gamespace. Whenever you disseminate information online it almost certainly will remain online somewhere, even if you deleted the info. Not only that, this information could come back and bite you in the you-know-where. Most politicians are very much aware of this. So again, remember: think before you make your social networking posts.
Obviously, you should tailor these tips towards the specific conditions of your own work, company, employer etc. For instance, regulatory or other legal issues can preclude or limit some of these practices.
Even though the intended audience for this post was intended for individuals it is actually just as relevant for
companies.
A lot of companies still believe the best approach to social networking is to pay attention to talents and cautiously hide any weaknesses in most of their communications. They sanitize all statements made to the public to prevent anything that might be construed as provocative.
In the movie, "Miracle On 41st Street" Maceys promoted other department stores as a kind of reverse psychology to convince customers that they were the best store to do business with. Other than that instance have you ever seen or heard of one company promoting another just because they really were great and not because they were a partner or getting some kickback or commission? What percentage of companies are actually building a social network that includes and even nurtures customers, a range of their own employees, and a diverse array of external parties who can participate in this relationship over a longer time frame around areas of common interest as opposed to just buying or selling things from one another.
If companies as well as individuals place a high value on longer term relationships that are based on trust, then maybe management team should consider testing these five steps against its external social networking platforms....that is if it has any to begin with.
