Successful Blog

Social Networking: The Garden Analogy

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Guest Writer: Todd Jordan

Networking withPurpleConeflowers_by_Liz_Strauss

Do you take your network seriously? How do you keep it and treat it? Is it cared for like a well maintained garden, or is it overrun with half grown connections and weeds? When’s the last time you bothered to nurture and prune it?

Sounds funny at first, but the truth is our social networks are an extension of ourselves. They speak volumes about us and our attitude towards ourselves and others. Like flowers, your contacts can wither and drop off. A once vital connection, bringing you many interesting tidbits or even work, can stop bearing fruit if you don’t pay attention to it.

If the overrun garden sounds like it might be your network, then it’s time to get to work on it. It won’t be pleasant at first, but the work soon pays off.

  • drop everyone that’s not following you – this is the hardest but most productive of all the steps you can take. Yes, you love following that news anchor but when was the last time he chatted with you? Like removing the undergrowth.
  • stop following anyone whose stuff you bypass or ignore – this one often feels awkward. Chances are these are folks we actually cared about at one time or another. This one also greatly improves your network. Like removing those trees that never bear fruit.
  • eliminate the spammers – oh, you think you’ve removed all the weeds? What about Jack, that guy that sends out endless messages about his kids, but has never sent you a reply. Or Joan, the lady from work, who friended you, doesn’t reply, but manages to talk to a hundred other friends. This is the weeds of your garden. They too choke off what you really want in your network.
  • move contacts and reduce redundancy – huh? this means don’t follow the same person on half a dozen networks where they post the same thing over and over. If you follow Bud on Twitter and FriendFeed, drop him on Twitter. It’s like having two busy gardens next to one another. You’ll only really tend to one. This last one reduces the clutter, freeing up the rest of your network to breathe and be usable again.

Yes, the analogy seems silly but these simple steps are no joke. If you can implement these in your networks, you’ll see things begin to change. With the dead weight gone, the rest of your contacts will begin to stand out. Good growth will begin again. You might even find some old friends you’d forgotten. But once things start blooming, don’t forget to keep the pruning sheers handy. A good garden requires consistent tending.

How’s your garden?

The Secret to Making Money Online — or Anywhere!

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The Secret to Making Money Online — or Anywhere!

Working Plans logo

It works like this, and you don’t need to be famous.

1. If,

you have a product or service
that people with money actually want to buy

2. and . . .

you’re willing to do what it takes you to engage that group’s attention

3. and . . .

you can offer that group irresistible buying opportunities

4. and . . .

for which they are willing to pay more than it costs you to
research, make, build, buy, offer, advertise, sell, serve, and otherwise deliver
what they buy

then,

you will make money.

BONUS:

If you want to make more money:
Follow the above formula with more things they want to buy and more opportunities to buy them.

That’s the secret of how to make money anywhere.

Which step do you see people leave out most frequently?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!! SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Have a plan!! Register now!

Social Proof: The Difference Between Critics and Censors

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We Write About Others

The Living Web

Reputation is an online currency. The value of what we say is nothing without credibility, competence, and integrity to back it up. Part and parcel of online reputation has become something known as social proof. The popularity of our network and the things people say about us and our influence carry weight that affects the value of our words.

But what if people say things that are mistaken, out of context, or just made up? Even with the best intentions, folks meaning to evaluate and offer input can miss part of the story. And there’s that human trait some folks have for wanting to take down whatever person is currently at the top.

How do we tell a critic from someone who simply wants an influence to shut up?

Last night in a conversation on Twitter, the subject of critics and criticism came up.

This morning I went to Merriam Webster for clarification.

critic – Etymology: Latin criticus, from Greek kritikos, from kritikos able to discern or judge, from krinein
Date: 1588
1 a: one who expresses a reasoned opinion on any matter especially involving a judgment of its value, truth, righteousness, beauty, or technique

censor Etymology: Latin, Roman magistrate, from censÄ“re to give as one’s opinion, assess; perhaps akin to Sanskrit Å›aṁsati he praises
Date: 1526
1: a person who supervises conduct and morals: as a: an official who examines materials (as publications or films) for objectionable matter

A critic analyzes a work to determine whether it’s structurally sound and accurate. He or she sees whether it’s aesthetically pleasing within the confines of the medium it’s offered. A critic uses education and experience to evaluate whether an artist, thinker, writer, speaker or other has set out to perform a worthwhile work and has accomplished that goal.

A critic’s personal opinion of a work or the source is secondary to how well the execution of the original purpose is achieved within confines of the validity, accuracy, structure, and expression of the work.

Statements about the “goodness, morality, or personal value” of a venture or adventure are not criticism in it’s truest nature. Unsupported personal judgment about a work has to pack unquestioned expertise to be criticism and even then —

Censors judge goodness, morality, and what is right . . . or not.

The danger of censorship is that it can make statements, assumptions, and evaluations about the artist, thinker, writer, speaker or other, as well as the work. Ideas of “goodness and morality” move the converation into motive and intent and possible outcomes. The world view and personality of the artist, thinker, writer, speaker or other get evaluated as part.

It’s a delicate endeavor to do that fairly without taking away a person’s humanity and in the process losing our own. The most effective censors also leave their personal biases at home.

A person is a person, a many dimensional being — not simply a blogger, an A-Lister, a social media guy, a date last night, or a mom. I think about that when I hear folks make statements about motivations and intentions without having heard from or studied the people they are talking about.

According to the Etymology, the word critic is younger than the word censor. Maybe we need more practice.

Critics and censors — what do you see of them? How do you respond?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Lasting Relationships and 15-Second Friends — Are You a Solo in a Social Media World?

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15 Days, 15 Seconds

relationships button

At dinner last Friday with Beth Kanter, the scholar of social media and tech for nonprofits, used the phrase “a solo in a social media world.” That phrase has stuck with me. I wonder whether social media is changing the relationships I have with my friends?

Beth’s statement came at about the same time that Maki sent me to a study that explains the nature of relationships.

Some friendships are short and fleeting, while others may last years. Although a wide variety of factors go into determining the strength of our relationships, the long-lasting ones seem to share a number of the same characteristics, according to a recent study of a cell phone network.

Lasting relationships have these things in common. The most important of these is reciprocity.

  • The more often we connect with friends in a 15-day period, the stronger our relationship will be.
  • Most strong ties between two people lasted for just one 15-day interval. Only 20% of relationships lasted longer than a year.
  • The strongest factor in lasting relationships is reciprocity — returning a phone call.

It’s a simple thing. When someone calls, writes, comments, links, or asks for help, do we respond or do we let it ride? Lasting relationships last because we are persistent in nurturing them.

By knowing the characteristics of persistence, the researchers could look at the features of the network for the first 15 days, and predict what the network would look like in the future.

Now we have access to a world of online and offline relationships, but we still only have so much time for reciprocity. Does social networking put us in danger of making vast communities of fast 15-day friends — folks we meet today and hardly know in a year? Is social networking causing us to neglect the reciprocity that made our relationships last?

Social networking offers us access to start and spark incredible new relationships. People connect, relate, and do business, who would otherwise never have met. Together we accomplish, build, create, innovate, solve, fix, and nurture. Some of us even fall in love and get married. Social media can have powerful, important, and lasting effects.

BUT, a 140 character touch within 15 seconds isn’t the same as a conversation within 15 days.

Friday, Rick Wolff said, “Someday, somebody’s REALLY going to plead for help on Twitter. . . . ”

Will that tweet be recognized?

Lasting Relationships in a Social Networking World — is that the new balance we have to find?

I don’t want to be a solo in a social media world.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Check out Models and Masterminds too

Which Option for Publishing the Liz Strauss eBook Would You Choose?

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Content and Context of Relationships

The Living Web

When I got to the final edit of my eBook, I found something that surprised me. What I saw was that the Introduction makes a nice piece with 20 or so pages on blogs and blogging culture, focused on listening to the conversation with about 4-6 pages of how to say “hello.”

What I have could be an ebook on writing a successful blog with a power-packed introduction, or I could break out the introduction into a smaller book for people who are beginning to learn the Internet culture.

My brain is filtering three options. Should I

  1. Make two separate titles. One of 24 pages and one of 40-48 pages?
    The Upside: The little book could make a nice sales piece for folks who are looking to leave something with a potential social media customer. Or the little book, could lead folks to read the bigger book right after. Two books always appear to be worth more value than one.
    The Downside: Used that way, the two books wouldn’t necessarily serve the same readers. Some readers might see only one as useful.

  2. Offer the introduction as a free report to sell the longer version?
    The Upside: a free report can do a lot to promote the entire book.
    The Downside: The intro would have to change a bit to feature what else the book offers for folks to make an informed buying decision.

All else being equal, the publishing business decision would definitely be the first one. Offering two books is offering two opportunities to buy. However, publishing decision like this one need the input of people who know more than I do. I asked many folks for their opinions . . .

I’ve named the responses by the experience and clientele of the responders. Each response below represents more than one person’s insight and opinion.

The Social Media Guru Responses : This guy works works on high power social media change initiatives. His response was that the real meat is in the writing — the back end of the entire document. He suggested answer 2 — the intro as a free report.

The Social Media and Tech Scholar / Trainer Responses: She works mostly with organizations who are ready, but just starting to build a social web presence. She said she saw the need for something like it. She said 40+ more pages on how to write would overwhelm her audience. Her answer was option 1.

The Offline Communications Business CEO Responses: She and her staff plan strategies with clients who still think in terms of print. Most don’t have a blog. Her response to the idea of the document was that she could use it because her clients need small steps to get here. She voted for option 1 before she even read them.

To summarize: The guru thinks the intro is lightweight. The Scholar / Trainer thinks the people she works are overwhelmed by too much information. The Offline Business Communications CEO wants a separate document that moves in small steps. It seems the clientele we’re looking at changes the response.

Which option would you choose or do you see another one?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Check out Models and Masterminds too

The Beam Global Interview with Jason Falls Continues

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A SERIES in the quest to know more about the offline world

Part 2 in A 2-Part Interview with Jason Falls

Recently, I asked Jason Falls, Social Media Explorer. if he’d check in with with Beam Global. to see whether we might share the story of their cultural switch to a social media relationship with their customers — as it started and as it goes through it’s life cycle. I’m delighted to say that everyone thought the idea was great way to let folks see how things are working — this is part two of the first of those interviews.

Hi Jason! Can you share some of the growth of the social media ideas from conception to final version, you’re calling “The Stuff Inside”?

The great thing about “The Stuff Inside” is that the concept about who we are and what we stand for was already in place before we fully developed the social media strategy. And, as you can tell, the concept is tailor made for the social media audience. Our research told us that the adult, male consumer of legal drinking age is tired of a fake world – he is looking for something genuine and authentic to hold on to. This parallels the same quest many social media users are on and why they’ve flocked to the web to get away from the mainstream media experience. So drafting some tactical compliments to “The Stuff Inside,” which allows people to be authentic, genuine and engage with one another and the brand, was almost easy.

I can’t say how impressed I am that you offered to have your work critiqued in an focus group of social media pros at SOBCon. Were you anxious to hear what they had to say? Did they say what you thought they would?

I was not only anxious, but nervous. The folks in that focus group are my peers. They do many of the same things I do and even one in particular (Chris Brogan) is a friend and professional hero of mine. To have them look at the campaign with constructive criticism was nerve racking. To make it worse, I couldn’t be there to hear the feedback first hand since my daughter was born the week before. Needless to say, I was a wreck that weekend down in Kentucky wondering what they had to say.

The good thing is that they said what I thought they would. They had positive feedback, a few minor criticisms here and there, but generally embraced it as well thought out. Perhaps an even better result of the weekend was that, by not being able to attend, J.J. Betts and Scott Kolbe from the Beam Team went in my stead and got to hear that feedback about our social media efforts from third party folks and not just me. It allowed them to verify that my ideas weren’t crazy and know that we were on the right track from a strategic standpoint. Shashi Bellamkonda’s video with J.J. bounced around the web a few days later and literally helped the Beam Team see that just participating in the conversation is a powerful act.

Is there more that you think we should know about the story of this social media endeavor and the Beam Global sponsorship at SOBCon?

We don’t think of “The Stuff Inside” as a campaign. This really is a change in how we behave as a brand and how we market our product. Instead of pushing bourbon, we’re helping people identify the qualities of our brand in themselves and others. Instigating and facilitating a greater conversation about character, integrity is our ultimate goal. This is a journey, not so much a destination. The community that participates at www.theTheStuffInside.com will have a lot of say in where we go next.

That, and we think Liz is fabulous. Thanks for welcoming us both at SOBCon and here.

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More to come as we report what happened when we shared the Beam Global social media plans with a few select folks at SOBCon08.

Thanks, Jason and Thanks, Beam!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Get your voice into the conversation!

You can read the first Beam Global Cultural Shift Interview here:
The Beam Global Cultural Switch to Social Media: How It Began