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Don Schindler

Executive Reputation Coach & Digital Marketer

Tag: digital (page 1 of 2)

Does Your Future Depend On Your Social Media Etiquette? The Do’s and Dont’s of Social

I recently gave a presentation at School Nutrition Association’s National Leadership Conference in San Diego. I had a great time and actually got an “I love you” out of the audience (first time for that).

I wanted to share some of my notes from the presentation because a lot of it was common sense that people need reminders on. Especially when it comes to social media. I wish I could have spoken to this Concord coach before she did this.

So here’s my do’s and dont’s on social media.

I like to start a presentation like this with a video that shows how strong of an influence that digital and social play in our lives.

 

Platinum Rule

Flickr CC via Nikos Koutoulas

We rarely treat another person better than we do when we are in love with them. This is the platinum rule.  Focus on them and meeting their needs.

 

Advertising Sucks

A big mistake is that just because you think it’s important to get your message out right away – it’s definitely not the first thing people are wanting you to do. They want you to be part of the conversation and figure out if they trust you before they decide they want to listen to your message. If you’ve earned the right, then you will be heard.

 

 

be-helpful

Flickr CC via toffehoff

When you help others, they tend to like that. If you highlight them and encourage them, they like that even more. You shouldn’t be worried about it coming back to you but it usually does. People don’t remember what you say or do but they’ll remember how you make them feel. Make them feel special.

 

 

Lewis Black - The King of Rants

Love Lewis Black! He’s the King of Rants

It’s hard not to rant on social. In fact my buddy Jay Baer is writing a book on Hug Your Haters, which I’m sure will be awesome. He calls it a spectator sport.  But I say don’t do it. Two reasons:

  1. You will brand yourself as a ranter and that’s negative.
  2. These social profiles are your best stuff not your worst. What will your great-great-great grandkids think when all they know you from is your social profiles (this digital stuff is gonna last way longer than you do). You don’t want them thinking you’re a jerk, do you?

 

Flickr CC via andrew_mc_d

Flickr CC via andrew_mc_d

You shouldn’t be a robot either on social. There’s a balance to all of this but people need to see that you are a real person. If you never mix business with pleasure then no one is going to pay any attention to what you are saying. Be real but understand who you are trying to portray with this digital life.

 

 

Flickr CC via oatsy40

Flickr CC via oatsy40

What gets done during your day? If you are like me, it’s the stuff that is scheduled in your calendar. If you don’t schedule in social media, it’s not going to get done.

I try and make time for it throughout the day but if you can’t, the first 20 minutes of your day can be prime to get some social done. Especially using cool tools like Buffer. I highly recommend this. It can make it look like you are taking the time throughout the day to be productive in social.

 

be-the-expert

Be the expert

People don’t know if you are an expert or not until you prove to them you are (or not) one. But if you don’t use social media, then they won’t hear you anyway. Your title does not define your leadership – the fact that you care and are willing to put yourself out there and lead people does.

You have an audience to influence. You can try to do this one at a time via email and phone calls or you can use a blog or social profile and reach so many more. It’s up to you but I can tell you that if you aren’t out there, there are people willing to fill in the gaps. Like her below.

fraud babe

This is not HER fault.

You can blame the Food Babe all you want but she took the time to listen and then lead the charge. I can’t fault her. I could put blame on all the researchers, food experts and scientists that you should have not let her fill the gap but I won’t.

Most experts know what to do now – you need to get out there and preach the good word about good food backed by science and emotion. Most of these people are diet fads – it will fade in time but it didn’t have to be this way.

 

 

Videos win in social, photos come in second.

Videos win in social, photos come in second.

Facebook favors video. Why? Because people will stay on their site longer to view videos (common sense, right?). So what should you do? Make videos if you have a message you really want people to see/hear and upload it natively into Facebook (don’t just upload to YouTube and then share).

Video is much easier to do than in the past. One of my favorite apps for video is iMovie and it’s a lot easier to use than you think.

 

google-yourself

When people first meet, what do they do immediately afterward? Especially if they are interested in them in a business sense (sometimes romantic). They GOOGLE them. Are you happy with what Google says about you? Do you know how to change it? Tip: you can’t change what Google displays but you can fill Google with more content that hopefully pushes the bad stuff down.

Google is your homepage – not your website or social profiles. People Google you first.

 

 

talkwalker-alerts

You should know if Google has something new on you. Use Talkwalker Alerts (FREE) to monitor for your name. It’s not hard to set up and it works relatively well.

 

 

know-your-social-audience

If you want to reach people in their social areas, then you need to know which network they hang out in. If you don’t know that then stop using social until you do. How do you find out? I don’t know.

Did you ever think to ask them? Or you can use research? The graph above displays my thoughts and experience on where young and old people are at in social and what they use it for (personal or business). Most networks blend both.

 

 

dont-do-everything

Flickr CC via Wessex Archaeology

You honestly don’t need to try and do all the social networks at once. Pick one and go deeper in your use (HINT: it should be the one your audience really likes to use).

 

 

facebook-walled-garden

Flickr CC via Leimenide

Personally, I love Facebook for its interaction with my friends. I seldom interact with brands there but I know I can. The problem with Facebook is that it’s not an easy place for business pages to get stuff seen UNLESS they have money. But the groups out here can be wonderful for engaging and getting your fans to see your content.

 

tweet-reporters

The best thing about Twitter is being able to connect with people that you had no right to in the first place – like reporters. They are all on Twitter and understand the major importance of interacting and building a following. Use this to your advantage.

Twitter can also be good at getting people organized around a rallying cry. Just be careful it because it can bite both ways.

 

linkedin-groups

LinkedIn is an easy network to maintain and it’s the most professional of all the networks. It’s also one that is probably going to have the least amount of engagement – unless it’s on blog posts. I’ve seen a lot of great content there. Blogging on your own place and sharing inside of LinkedIn can give you more visibility than you think. BTW, join more groups. Groups help your profile to be found.

 

pin-good-food

Pinterest is such a hot network right now especially for food. But it lacks experts. You can be that expert pinning good food and answering questions. This is where people search for good food – not Google.

 

How To Videos on YouTube

If you want to know how to do something and you don’t know how, just YouTube it. It’s a Do-It-Yourselfer’s dream. But the videos can’t be stale and I would even say that traditional videos have a harder time being found and liked. Make every video fun and engaging.

 

 

dont-argue

Is it ever worth it to argue on a social network? Nope, not that I’ve seen. Is it entertaining to watch? Yep. Is it fun to participate? No way. You shouldn’t have to fight on these networks and I would discourage it.

Sometimes it will make you feel better in the short run but over time it’s going to eat away at you. Remember one of the first lessons about the “Platinum rule”. It’s hard to do that when you are flaming another person. Just step away from the keyboard until you can calm down.

 

evaluate-trolls

If you want to persuade someone, you must elevate who they are and the position they are taking. If you think it’s worth going after, then follow the old salesman’s rules. Never let them say “no” (always give them stepping stones they can easily say “yes” too and then you can lead them where you think it will be a “win” to both you and them. If this isn’t possible, just walk away.

 

summary

Well, that’s it. There’s always a ton of other stories and what-not that I throw into this presentations but you get the gist of it.

If you have any questions about anything I went over, just give me a holler online. I’ll be here like I always am.

 

Blowing Up: How to Expand Your Online Influence (Farmer Version)

I teach an advanced digital marketing and online influence class called “Blowing Up: How to Expand Your Online Influence”.

The deck below is part of this class. I’ll come back and fill in the text around the deck at a later time. I’m just trying to get it up for the farmers that attended.

 

Is your real personal life and digital professional life mixing?

Real life vs. Digital life.

Where should you spend more time?  Of course, real life.

What will last longer? Umm. That’s easy. Digital life.

How do you keep your personal life separate? Is that even possible nowadays.  You know the govt’s tracking you. And the credit card companies. And your local grocery with its reward card.  What difference does it make?

Where should you spend more time?  There’s a balancing act to it.

My wife and I do a lot of things.  Mud runs, motorcycles, beaches, drive-ins, etc…  It’s a busy real life and I don’t mind sharing it with the world because I get good feedback from it.  My extended family loves the photos and videos.

But it also helps enhance my professional life.  People know probably more than they want to know but that’s ok with me. You can see I’m real and have a life – not just a digital one.

I believe that your digital life can amplify and enhance your real life – but if you aren’t prepared to shape that digital life it can do some serious damage to you and your personal brand.

Of course, your real life will be over someday and hopefully you are leaving lasting memories with everyone you come into contact with – but your digital life will probably last forever so you should treat it like that.  A scrapbook that others will look through when you are gone.  Treat it accordingly.

How do you keep your personal life separate?  I honestly don’t think it’s possible right now.  Digital is so ingrained in our lives.  If you want to protect yourself, buy the right tools to do it.  What are those tools? I honestly don’t know. Everything I’ve heard of is related to scams like the Identity Theft stuff.  Here’s the PPT I shared with a group a little while back discussion your personal and professional brand and how they are blended together.

[slideshare id=15413219&sc=no]

I should have ended up on Ridiculousness after my most recent presentation.

Ridiculousness on MTV

Do you guys love Ridiculousness?  I do.  I love watching people bite it when they should have known better than to try it.  But then it happened to me.  In a presentation.  Yeah, I bit it.  Big time.

I did a talk before a group of directors for the Center and Institutes at ND.  It didn’t go as well as I hoped but there were a couple of factors that I didn’t foresee.

First, I didn’t plan well on the time. I thought I had more and I hate rushing through a presentation.

Secondly, I focused on social media but I took it from a personal branding perspective and not from a Center / Institute perspective. That

So if I had it to do over, I wouldn’t go into the nuances of Social Media and talk more about Communication Plan and show an example.  A good example is the Stanford Persuasive Lab.

Here’s how you start:

Continue reading

US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce presentation on Real Time Communications

This weekend I had the opportunity to speak at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting in Miami through the Mendoza College of Business Non-Profit Executive Programs.

My presentation/workshop was an 8-hour affair.  A long day for sure.  But I was highly encouraged by how engaged the presidents, CEOs and board members were in my presentation.

Three years ago when I gave social media presentations, most executives would roll their eyes and think that I was just there to sell them the latest and greatest shiny new object without any hope of a real return on investment. Continue reading

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