I was at the office of a friend/mentor of mine in the early afternoon a few days ago.  He is a former CEO and a leadership guru and now the President/CEO of a group called Oxygen for Organizations.  When he told me he was leaving to go ride his bike, I jokingly asked him if his boss knew if he was leaving before 5:00.  He said, “this is a ROE.” As i tried to recall all the “return on’s” that I learned in college, I failed to bring that one to memory so I asked what a ROE is.

He explained to me that this is a Results Only Environment.  The only thing that matters here is results.  That it doesn’t matter when or how much you work, but what you get accomplished.  Often times companies “rent” employees bodies from the hours of 8:00 to 5:00.  What happens then is that you pay an employee for hours, not results.  Businesses exist to create things, to make results happen.  I wonder if our teams would be more effective if we paid them for the results they achieved rather than the hours their body was present?

I think the beautiful thing about the web, social media, marketing, and the business world is that fact that everyone is different.

We would like to sit here and say that there are TONS of companies that are the same. There are 30,343 graphic design firms in Indianapolis. Not true, but you get the point. I am not talking about face value. The difference in each organization is the people behind the brand.

Each company has individuals that run every facet of the arms, legs, and head of the company. They are each an individual. They are each… different. They each have their own ideas, thoughts, and imagination on where the company is headed into the future.

This is an extremely important concept to understand. You need to utilize each individual under a common brand. We all have different ideas on marketing and that is why companies vary greatly on marketing potential… and (of course) disaster.

Utilize your employees. Utilize your customers (your brand). Create a sustainable future for your (their) company. Create a company that embraces change, ignites excitement, and takes full advantage of a trend.

Marketing is always different. Ideas are always different. It is the implementation… that moves mountains.

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I’m tired… and I do not think it is from the daily grind or the work load at Brandswag. I am pretty sure it is from all the BS that is circulating in the world of social media and marketing.

I’m tried of reading blog posts about the death of social media experts or how there is no such thing as an expert (I’ve written a couple myself)… or the rise of the new “PR” firm. I’m tired of listening to people drone on about the importance of ONLY using traditional marketing and how social media is just… not for everyone (preaching to the choir here).

Hot air. Hot air. Hot air.

There are plenty of ways to use social media (research, marketing, customer support, internal communications). There are plenty of ways to make money off of yellow pages. Yes, you should still be sending out traditional press releases and YES… you should be using traditional means to meet and sell clients.

It is all about integration… whether you like it or not… social media is going to be around and traditional marketing will still be important. They will be one… one powerful force for customer communication.

Shouldn’t the main goal of your daily routine be making money for your clients? Shouldn’t the main goal be delivering creative and strategic programs to create SUCCESS? We all like a good argument but if the argument was made 10 months ago about social media or marketing… you probably shouldn’t bring it up again.

We can play the edge for a long time and I have done it with success… but it is time to focus on the success of clients and business… not the success of an idea or ego.

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It is true… sometimes you get in a rut when debating on what you should write on your blog. The depressing thought-police come crashing through your door and stop any hint of creative musing… just because they can. How do you push yourself out of the mind block and towards creative thinking/writing?

When I personally find myself in a rut I tend to retreat to my Google Reader to find inspiration from other writers in my specific industry. It helps when there are hundreds of people writing about the same topic and feeding off each other to create content.

But that is where it stops or it should stop.

There are plenty of blogs out there that credit an author by linking to their post… but then continue to copy the content and paste it directly into the post. Be very careful when using content from another blog. Is there a right way to credit a writer and still build off their ideas while creating your own? Of course!

Linking

If you are building off of another writer’s idea be very sure that you link the title of their post in your content. By linking to their blog posts it gives the author the ability to visit your blog and comment on your idea. This is a great way to create a environment of co-collaboration. An even better thing to do is to email the author and let them know you are writing about their post.

Paraphrasing

It is okay to paraphrase an author’s work as long as you are giving them credit for the idea. This does not mean you can copy and paste their ENTIRE post inside of your blog. This does not give any credit and it just means you are lacking in the area of original thought.

Quoting

If you enjoyed a sentence or two from a blog post it is okay to quote that author if it supports your post. Be sure that you give them credit for the post and put the quote in italics.

This just happens to be a few personal ideas I have been building over the past year while writing. There have been times when I have made the mistake of borrowing a little more content than necessary and for that I apologize. The important thing to remember is judge the amount of content you are borrowing. Would you enjoy it if another blog borrowed that much content from your post?

There are many authors who could care less if you borrowed their content for a post but like mom always said, “Kyle. Better safe than sorry.”

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This thought is inspired by some comments that appeared on a blog of a friends’ today and made me revisit what might be one of my favorite blog posts in the history of blog posts.  The post “The Posture of a Communicator” is from one of the brilliant marketing and business minds there is, Seth Godin and is written below:

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I found this amazing example of kinetic typography last night and it created an idea that is not new… but needs to be rehearsed and rewritten hundreds if not thousands of times. Do we fully understand the power we have as an individual? Do we fully understand the power we have as a community of individuals?

I am not speaking of change in a political sense but change in a single… solitary way… a change in individuality that has the power to spread across the many platforms of communication afforded to us.

Smaller Indiana is just one example in the many different platforms that allow your individuality to shine through… the many platforms the allow for ONE person to make a change that could empower thousands of people toward the same goal.

“In my observation it is you that creates the change by challenging your own individuality…creating that positive atmosphere for yourself and every person surrounded by your presence. And in the end it is all in simple action… whether it is conducting by individuals as a whole or just by one person.”

Because of the tools afforded to us by the Internet and technology… we have the ability to spread our own message to hundreds of thousands of people…

What is YOUR message? Are you challenging it?

The majority of what I talked about on a daily basis is the evolution of technology. The concept of the presentation is to shed light on the ever-changing landscape of communication. How is technology changing the way we communicate? How are WE (as communication experts) transitioning into the new age? Are we allowing for a paradigm shift?

Throughout the different presentation I have realized three important principles to implementing social media into your organization.

Embracing. Educating. Empowering.

Embracing: The first step in implementing a social media strategy for your business is to embrace the concept of communication in the online environment. It is simple. It means you recognize the change that is transforming the way millions of people communicate on a daily basis. As a brand, you are embracing social media as a way to create a marketing message and tell a story to thousands of potential clients. You do not need to be particulary comfortable with the notion of open communication but you DO need to understand the concept of implement a strategy into your business.

Educating: Once you have embraced the concept of using social media as a communication platform.. it is important to educate yourself and your staff in the philosophy and practical use of the platforms. Whether you are debating on using tools like Twitter or Facebook it is important to educate yourself in the simple and complex workings of the social media world.

The first step in education? Listening. Listen to what people are saying on the Internet about your company, product, or industry. By listening to the masses you will be able to adapt yourself to the world of online communication. There are also great seminars and learning environments to immerse yourself into.. every city has them… search and you will find.

Empowering: After embracing the tool and educating yourself (and your team) on strategy and usage it is time to empower the actual implementation of a social media strategy. This could mean with money, time, and other resources. Use the strategy plan you have written (or had written from an outside firm) and empower your team to use the tools.

Remeber that pig headed discipline always wins out in the long run. Empower yourself to have the discipline to stick with the strategy you have crated whether it surrounds blogging or a use of a social network.

This is just the start to great journey that is unfolding in front of us. Use the Internet to communicate (both internally and externally). I think you could be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

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Actually, no I don’t, and you shouldn’t hate mine or anyone’s, for that matter. Some argue that there is a wrong and right way to tweet. I say arguing the matter is irrational – at least when it comes to personal Twitter accounts. People of the web have been discussing proper etiquette for years. Still forums, chat rooms, and blog comments are riddled with obscene, irrelevant, and obscure content. Even Twitter’s public timeline is littered with these indecencies. The difference between Twitter and all of the other above mentioned mediums of communication is that you can chose what you want to see.

Too many times I’ve seen someone I follow complain about the way another person tweets. I often wonder if they think calling out their followees will change the content they chose to tweet. If someone frequently tweets about something that you just don’t care to hear about, you should unfollow them. What you shouldn’t do, is expect them to change the way they use Twitter just to suit your needs.

The great thing about Twitter is that it is completely permission based. You are able to chose what shows up on your timeline and what does not. If you want to hear about the World Series, I would expect you to follow people that tweet about the World Series. I wouldn’t expect you to follow someone who tweets about Nascar if you don’t want to read tweets about Nascar. You shouldn’t expect the people you follow to tweet about what you want to hear. You should follow the people that DO tweet about what you want to hear.

You could say that I should just unfollow all of the people that complain about other’s tweets, instead of writing a blog post about it. The truth is, I really don’t mind people complaining. More times than not, their complaints are actually humorous. There are others out there, however, who might not want to hear you complaining. I understand that the last line completely negates everything I’ve said, but if you think about it – you’ll see that following users that you actually like will not only make a better Twitter experience for yourself, but also for your followers.

Note – I am not saying that people should not watch what they tweet about on their company accounts. This article was strictly directed towards the use of personal accounts. If you’re running a Twitter account for your company, there are definite do’s and don’ts that apply, but that is a post for another day.

I was recently asked by Duncan Alney from Firebelly Digital on a recent Hoosier PRSA blog post to detail how I balance client interaction with social interaction in the social media realm. Here is the question:

“BTW Kyle – perhaps you should share with those that don’t know – how you balance client and your own social media interactions. I know how you do it (now) but clearly – there are others that are dying to know ”

With such a great question posed how could I not answer it? Duncan is a great guy and an awesome social media advocate. I would encourage you to check out the blog over at Firebelly.

I am going to take a stab at this question and form my own opinion on what Duncan meant by client and social media interactions. The idea of being able to balance personal social experience with client lead generation is a valuable commodity when using social media. It is extremely hard in the long run to balance both without taking to much time in both categories. I would venture to say that you shouldn’t try and balance the two… they should be intertwined.

Time is a huge commodity when using social media. How do you take the time to truly use social media without wasting the day away… because we all know… time is money. When the importance of productivity is realized

The social world is beginning to change the way consumers look at brands. Are they viewing the brand as a logo or as an experience? In my humble opinion… the user is viewing the brand as a person… as an experience… as an extension to their daily lives.

I use social media to show my personal side… to show that life is revolving around more than just a balance sheet, an income statement, and an accounts receivable report. Social media is about giving a perspective into the daily lives of the individuals that make up a company. People buy from people and the importance of showing more than just a product is being lost by many individuals using the communication systems provided on the Internet.

When writing a blog, using Facebook, or connecting on LinkedIN… you should be making it a point to deliver a half/half balance of life as well as business. Your potential clients want to know about your knowledge in your given industry but they also want to know about your daily routine… what makes you tick.

I try to balance the two by using Facebook as my social interaction tool and my blog as my business side of my life. How do you balance the two? Do you even try to balance the two?

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I know. I know. This is probably not the best title to read early in the morning. For that matter, it is probably not the best post title to read any time of the day.

When writing your blog, participating in social media, or just communicating (period) it is important to remember that your readers and participants are consuming your data. There is plenty of regurgitation happening on the Internet… an idea is started on one end of the world and re-written hundreds of times. Where does the original content come from? Is there really such a thing as original content? Yes, there is and it happens from the personal realm.

Many would argue that there is no such thing as a new idea. We all write and read marketing, accounting, financing, and business content that has been hacked a part and re purposed countless times… so where does original content come from? Your personal experience.

Remember to write about what you learn on a daily basis in your business. How do YOU help your clients and customers? How did “Mary” feel about your product? How did an individual experience your thought leadership? How are you building trust?

We are all trying to produce content that people will read and share. The most original content you can create is through your personal experience. Write about what you learn, know, and experience and we will love you for it.

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