Social Media Private Line or Party Line

I am probably showing my age, but I remember when I was a young, the phones had what was known as party lines. Even though you had a unique telephone number, other numbers would utilize the same line. So you could pick up the phone and hear someone else’s telephone conversation. You had to be careful what you said or the gossip mill would use your conversation to your detriment. It was not until we had private lines could one be more open in what was said. Of course wiretapping can get around that.

I mention this because there are similar cautions one must take when posting on social media channels. Realize every electronic posting you make is there literally forever. You may post something today, very innocently, and it can be held against you 5, 10, or whatever years from now. Of course we must warn friends and family of these dangers but it also applies to business postings. Make sure you have everyone who posts to your social media channels know that something innocently posted now can be used against you in the future. Unlike a phone call that is not recorded, social media postings do not go away.

Does this mean you should not use social media for businesses. Of course not, but it does mean like any other business tool, if not used properly, it can hurt your organization more than it can help.

Open to New Life

On October 7th, Studio Guy got a new cousin – Charles Richard. Baby and Mom are doing fine. Some want to call him Chuck and some want to call him Charlie so Studio Dog came up with a compromise - Chucklie.

It is always amazing to see the wonders of new life. Especially when it is your 14th grandchild. With the arrival of a new life, the question can be asked: How open are we to new life? This question is not limited to just new human life. It can also be applied to the life of our organization. Just how open are each of us to new life in our company? Or is it seen as change – a four-letter word.

Chucklie’s arrival has an impact to the life of the studio. He represents new ideas, new futures, new adventures, and new challenges.

Are we ready to face the same in our company? Are we willing to take on the challenges of change and bring new life to our organizations? It will mean new ways of looking at things and trying out new ideas, going beyond our comfort zone (including our approach to external and internal communications).

The only thing I can say is that without being open to new life, you will not enjoy the pleasure of experiencing new growth.

It is important that you believe

There is a real sense of hope in the air. Every client and professional associate we talk to has one common comment – "2010 has to be better than 2009". As I had mentioned in a previous blog, “2009 to 2010 – from hell to well”. But just hoping is not enough. We must have trust in your organization that 2010 will be better. Just hoping will not make it happen.
It reminds me of a story I heard this weekend. It seems that there was this community and they were experiencing a severe drought. They requested that their pastor pray for rain. So he said that the next week there would be a prayer service for rain. Everyone came to pray for rain.
The pastor started his homily with the statement ”there will be no rain”. Someone from the back of the church cried out – “You told us to come a pray and we have”. The pastor responded – “Yes, but you do not believe that it will rain. No one came with an umbrella or raincoats, etc.”
The message behind the story is very simple – for 2010 to be a great year we must all start acting that way. What are you doing differently to make it a good year? Or are you just sitting back – hoping it will be true.

Are you communicating or dialoging?

In today’s world, we hear so much about being a good presenter and speaker. There are workshops and organizations that are dedicated to presentation skills and public speaking. There are books and lists of what words to use for a given situation. We often are told that this includes our body language and how the right body language helps one better deliver their message.

This is all well and good and I truly believe in learning these skills. This is especially true for corporate storytellers – the art and skill of telling your story. What follows is not a BUT - it is an AND

With all this emphasis on our speaking and presenting, we so often ignore the “as equal to” part of communications – listening. Yes listening ( not hearing – there is a difference!). We must stop talking and listen to what are clients are really saying ( a want expressed as a need or a need expressed as a want). We need to listen to what our professional associates and fellow workers are saying. We need to quit our self-talk to listen to the creative message that lies within us. For some of us, this means including listening besides asking in our prayers.

As designers, as a nation, as a society - we need to re-learn the art of listening. Here at the studio, one of our beliefs is: “Communications is telling. Dialogue is sharing.” Let’s start dialoguing with each other.

2009 to 2010 - From Hell to Well

Last blog I mentioned that I was getting ready for the studios’s follow-up planning session as it related to our personal and corporation SWOT analysis. First it was not as painful (personally) as I thought. It was very constructive and helpful. What was made clear is that it is important to have weaknesses and to know them – it is the best way to improve.

This got me thinking about the New Year 2010. 2009 for so many of us was a “mess”. In so many ways, it can only get better. So I guess you can say 2009 had a lot of weaknesses. It is a good way to get prepared for a much better 2010. Look at 2009 and as a year - what were its weaknesses as they related to you and your organizations. Included should be opportunities lost and threats not prepared for. Next create strategies to take your strength and opportunities for 2010 and come up with ways (strategies) to do better.

The first thing is to write down the following on a card and keep it in front of you:

2009 to 2010 – From Hell to Well

What is needed takes courage

Welcome to a new calendar year. It may not be the start of your fiscal year, but it is still a time of new beginning and change. So often we start January with new goals and a commitment to achieve those goals and we do not take time to review ways to improve ourselves (personally and as an organization).

During Christmas week, the studio held our yearly planning and off-site. This year we spent time doing a traditional organizational SWOT and personal strengths and weaknesses. Going back to known processes was very helpful. I strongly suggest if you have not performed a SWOT analysis, do one.

To prepare for the off-site, each studio member had to present what they thought was their own strengths and weaknesses. This was difficult but more difficult part is the next step. This will occur this afternoon. After reviewing each strength and weakness, each member gets to comment on my strengths and weaknesses and how I can improve. Just what I need, people telling me what is wrong with me and how I can be better.

This is not going to be easy. But if I remember that it is important to have weaknesses. That means one can get better. If no weaknesses, then one must ask “Is this all there is?”

So to improve myself and the studio as an organization, I will go into this afternoon’s meeting with an open mind and a resolve to listen. (By the way, did I tell you that being able to do this is one of my weaknesses?)

Bloggers read this – it is the law!

On Dec 1, the FTC regulations regarding aspects of social media went into effect. First of all this is a good thing (not that regulations are good). It demonstrates that the era of social media has not only arrived but is a main part of business marketing and communications.

The FTC ruling is entitled “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”. The ruling is mainly directed to online media and specifically blogging. The aim of the ruling is to provide consumer protection that is found in traditional advertising media.

Some aspects of the ruling:
• Full disclosure by bloggers, on their blog posts, when they are either receiving compensation or free products by organizations whose products or services are discussed in the blog posting.
• If a company or advertising agency provides a blogger or other online commenter with incentives the online comments will be treated legally as endorsements
• If you provide incentives to a community of “preferred users” who blog about your product or service, you may be liable for any misleading statements made by the blogger
• For customer organizations, if one of your employees receives an evaluation sample and lets say free tickets to a Magic game and the employee evaluates the sample product as one of your employees, you may be liable for any statement (positive or negative) made by the employee.

A best practice guideline is to now treat company-initiated social media and blog posts as official corporate communications. Thus it becomes imperative that all social media marketing activities of an organization come together under one policy.
Thus Social Media, previously unregulated, now is regulated.