Don’t believe me? Let me share a few examples I personally encountered within the past day–these are people I know who shared less than positive experiences online, publicly.

I was checking my Twitter stream when I saw a post from James Tudor, a local business person in Valparaiso, Indiana where I live. I saw that he posted a link to his blog entitled, “Is Courtesy More Important Than The Almighty Dollar?” Knowing James as I do, I wondered what was up–he’s normally a pretty easy going guy, but something obviously had his dander up. I read the whole article and found that he had experienced some frustration with Menard’s (a large hardware chain) during a recent shopping excursion. A bonus surprise ending was that in reading James’ post I learned that he planned to contact my husband’s company, Boardworks, and ask their help with the project instead.

Did Menard’s hear James’ story? If they had set up a Google Alert, they would certainly have known about it and hopefully taken the time to respond to the blog post with a comment. I use Google Alerts myself and consider myself lucky that so far, no negative comments have come to light; it is still a useful tool to learn of a mention and to be able to comment or otherwise respond. By the way, there is no charge to set up a Google Alert. Take a minute and do it today.

Another tool I use to keep track of important topics on Twitter is SocialOomph (formerly known as Tweetlater.) It is a multi-faceted productivity tool that can be used in conjunction with Twitter as well as a number of other social media platforms. One of the things it lets you do is set up key words and/or phrases of importance to you or your business and send you alerts when these words or phrases are mentioned on Twitter. There is a geographic radius function you can utilitize as well; so if you only care about instances of the key word or phrase within a 30-mile radius for instance, you can set it up that way. SocialOomph has a free version that is quite powerful; users who require its full utility may wish to subscribe to the paid version. They typically offer a test drive of the paid version so you can try it out and get a feel for whether you would benefit from it.

Next example…

Richard Orelup works for mu studios, a web development company in Valparaiso where I live. Richard is whip smart and has given me techical advice on several aspects of social media technology. I respect his opinion.

I was taking a look at mu studio’s blog and found an article called “Review of the Hannon Hill Cascade Server CMS.” The review is not all that positive. I am not now and probably never will be in a position to purchase the above mentioned product, so his negative review won’t influence me directly; however, because I see that it is important enough for Richard to write about, this name will stick in my awareness and I may be likely to cite it to others if and when it comes up in conversation, online or face to face.

Why did Richard take the time to write this post? Well, I won’t spoil the surprise for you–read his post and find out. In my experience with Richard, he is always looking for a way to make technology work better–he’s the one taking the lead in a group and suggesting changes for improvement. In short, he’s not a whiner–he’s a perfectionist and a doer. Big difference. His post is extraordinarily detailed and provides excellent feedback for the product developer, should they care to receive it. Most people wouldn’t take the time to offer such valuable information.

Again, these are just two examples from people I know personally that came to my awareness within the past day. (And I wasn’t really looking for them.) Can you afford not to learn what’s being said about you and your business? In a presentation by e-storm on Reputation Management: The Why, The How, the following statistics were stated:

A London School of Economics study showed that a 2% reduction in negative word of mouth press showed a 1% increase in sales growth.

A Dell Computer study on word of mouth advertising showed:
- An average consumer is worth $210 to them.
- An average detractor costs them $57.
- An average promoter generates $32.

What is your online reputation worth to you?

T – Transparency

H – Honesty

A – Authenticity

R – Reciprocity

G – Gratuity

I’d like to put the spotlight on a local business person I think does a good job of exemplifying THARG principles: Scott Swinford, Credit Repair and Mortgage Modification Specialist in Valparaiso, Indiana.

I first met Scott Swinford about a year ago at a networking event. Some time later, Scott hired me to do some consulting work for him. We took a look at his social media profiles on several sites. When we looked at his LinkedIn profile, I was impressed when I realized Scott previously worked as a paramedic. Scott asked me if his past experience “really belonged” since it “had nothing to do” with what he does today. I asked Scott who he thought a new client would rather work with–a generic loan officer with no past or someone people had trusted with their lives?

I’m happy to say that Scott embraced this advice and rewrote his LinkedIn summary of his career overview this way:

In my “previous life” I was a firefighter / paramedic with a private ambulance service, a volunteer fire department, a full-time municipal fire department and finally a busy emergency department. My focus was on saving lives, protecting property and helping others learn to do the same.

Since leaving that life behind due to an injury, I have focused on saving financial lives, protecting assets, writing mortgage loans, improving credit and helping others learn to do the same. While very different fields, I still wake up in the morning with a sense of purpose and go to bed with the feeling of accomplishment.

My goal is to provide my client with far more worth than what they pay for. While I may not advertise the “lowest rates”, my clients always get the best deal.

My motto: I do as I say, I say as I do and if I mess up, I’ll fess up and do my best to make it right.

Scott’s credit repair site similarly reveals why he is uniquely qualified to help clients who come to him with less than perfect credit. He admits to once being in their shoes–when his injury made it impossible for him to return to work as a paramedic, looming medical bills challenged his family. Scott writes,

Fast forward 18 months when I was finally released by my doctor, but had no jobs to go back to. In fact, due to complications, I could not do much that required lifting with my arm. By then, the pay had run out and I had drained all my savings including my retirement just to put food on the table. We nearly lost our home and I was returning baby gifts just to buy formula. I was thankful that we had good friends who had baby clothes to give us, and at the same time very embarrassed by what I had to resort to doing.

I wonder how others feel when they read this? For me, it is hard not to be moved and to trust someone who admits to their own challenges. I want to know the whole story of the people I meet–not just the highlight reel and the top accomplishments. Some of the best learning happens during our time at the School of Hard Knocks. Rather than try to sweep these experiences under the rug, Scott has used his personal story to reach out and connect with clients in a much more meaningful way than might be possible for someone standing upon a pedestal and preaching credit restoration as an “expert” but with no personal experience.

Here’s how I see Scott embodying THARG:

Tranparency – He’s not hiding his past–he’s sharing the good, the bad and the ugly.

Honesty – He’s not afraid to admit that he felt uncomfortable and even embarrassed about some of the situations he went through.

Authenticity – The language in his profile feels very “real” — this was obviously not written by a slick ghost blogger.

Reciprocity – Scott found a way to help himself out of his negative credit situation and now uses that enthusiasm to share lessons about how debt relief can help others. This is the passion that drives his success.

Gratuity – Scott appears to be truly grateful for the chance to start again and that positive energy infuses everything he does.

Thanks for sharing your story, Scott. I hope that those who need to find you will do so. There are many people who have been challenged by job loss and inability to keep or purchase a home. Your skills and experience are especially needed at this time. Keep up the great work!

Last Wednesday, the tweeters of Northwest Indiana came together for their monthly tweetup (a meet up for people using Twitter.) More than 30 of us met at Buffalo Wild Wings in Portage. They serve beer there and plenty of us enjoyed a pint or two. These gatherings are really not about the beer though, or even about Twitter, for that matter. They are about connections.

Many of us have become regulars and know each other quite well, meeting for business and social reasons outside of scheduled tweetups. There were a lot of new faces as well, which is always fun. First time attendee Kevin Gould of LaPorte tweeted the morning after “Thanks to the #nwindiana crew for a great #nwitweetup or as I called it, networking on steroids!” Randi Light of New Buffalo Hypnosis was another first timer and tweeted a similar sentiment, “What is fun and a powerful networking group? It’s #nwitweetup. Meet great people, make great connections.” Jerry Davich, columnist from the Post Tribune, was another first timer and later tweeted, “Had a great time tonight at my first NWI TweetUp event at BW3 in Portage, meeting people I never knew existed. What a concept.”

Another networking group that came on the scene within the last year is Northwest Indiana Business Professionals, created by Jeff Eriks of Cambridge Construction in Griffith. Jeff and his coworkers have done a fabulous job of putting together a highly professional monthly networking event, while maintaining a related group on LinkedIn. All of the events I have attended were well organized with very good speakers. When I attend other types of networking events, I inevitably end up with a handful of business cards, owners of which may or may not be on LinkedIn. At Jeff’s event however, most of the attendees participate on LinkedIn. It makes following up and staying connected much, much easier.

Cambridge Construction is an architectural firm as well as a builder. Evidently, they are also very good at building networks as well!

Social media facilitates quicker and more plentiful networking opportunities than were ever available before. In my job, I advise businesses on how to use social media tools to promote their businesses. I feel responsible for delving into this matter so I can advise them better on what to do when a social media campaign start working very, very well. The following are a few tools I’ve come up with. Please let me know if you have better ideas on how to manage data. Thanks in advance!

I use ACT! by Sage (2009 version) as my contact management database. I consider this the home base for my database. This is a good “tickler” file and I am able to sync it with Peachtree accounting software which is helpful so I avoid double entry when a prospect becomes a billable client. Just a few clicks and they can be exported from ACT! into Peachtree. (It works the opposite way too.) I am interested in what I see in the ACT! 2010 version–there are built-in connections that allow you to see information about a contact’s LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles. Seems very handy–may need to pay for the upgrade to give this a whirl…

I use Microsoft Outlook 2007 for most of my business email. I just added a tool called xobni that allows me to see social media information about people I email. I just downloaded the free version today–so far, I like what I see. How will I use this tool? I’ll give you an example. Sorting through email this morning, I saw an email newsletter from Lorraine Ball, a woman I met at the Social Media Summit in Indianapolis on December 30th organized by Amy Stark. Lorraine and I exchanged business cards; she was on the “ball” enough to add me to her email newsletter list. I read one of her last posts, a short segment with Robby Slaughter, another person I met at aforementioned event. Robby’s advice was good and Lorraine sent it to me, so I want to include this woman in my LinkedIn network. I was able to send Lorraine a request to connect on LinkedIn directly from my email. We’ll see if she accepts…

Another tool I began using recently is the LinkedIn Outlook Toolbar. This has been very helpful so far. It has some of the same features as xobni, but does some different things for me as well. Kristi Daeda wrote a nice post on how to use this, so I’ll just borrow a quote from her:

Lastly, when you’re reading an email, in the top right corner you’ll see a new icon:

When you hover over that icon, you can see info about the email sender on LinkedIn, including their number of connections, recommendations, and their LinkedIn status.

Very convenient to have this information all in one place.  My favorite feature with this add-on, however, has got to be the Grab Button. It saves me a lot of time– I can highlight address/contact information in an email, hit the button, and have the information automatically populate a new contact. Pretty cool. These contacts are now saved in my Outlook Contact database where I can now export them to ACT! if I want to.

More to come in future posts…

After the lecture, I introduced myself to Jerry. (We had previously “conversed” only on Twitter.) He recognized my name instantly, which is one of those strange phenomena with social media sites like Twitter. Your “first” meeting face-to-face is actually more like a second meeting because you’ve got some initial ground already covered. I invited Jerry to attend tomorrow night’s Northwest Indiana Tweetup to be held at Buffalo Wild Wings in Portage from 7-9 p.m. I urged him to come and check out a Tweetup to get a firsthand experience of the unique networking opportunities afforded there, due to this very same phenomena. Jerry said he’s from Portage; hopefully he can make it!

During his talk, Jerry mentioned the brain’s reticular activator. Its job within your brain is to stay on alert, making you notice some things while ignoring others. (If you noticed everything, you’d be too distracted to function.) This part of the brain explains why once you purchase a certain model vehicle you then tend to notice them on the road everywhere. I imagine this impulse partly explains the social media “first alert” about a particular person or idea.

Jerry recognized my name partly because I had sent him an unsolicited message about ideas for using hashtags in his tweets to extend his reach. He was very gracious in his Twitter reply. Jerry also thought he had heard my name before from Steve Dalton, another social media leader in Northwest Indiana. And as strange coincidences will go, he said that the Portage Buffalo Wild Wings was the first place he had met Steve. (Insert Twilight Zone theme music here… I love these small world stories!)

I started thinking about this has worked for me in my own life. Since Jerry mentioned Steve Dalton, I’ll use Steve as an example…  I first became “aware” of Steve a few years ago when I was a Realtor and active on a real estate-oriented blog called ActiveRain. Steve was one of the highest ranked participants, blogging regularly and seemingly all over the site! Steve was a builder at the time and for some reason, our paths never crossed during my real estate days.

Fast forward to about a year ago… I was busy planning and promoting the first (or what I thought was the first) Northwest Indiana Tweetup. I put out info about it on Twitter (of course), Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging, email, any way I could think of to get the word out. I finally met Steve at that Tweetup in February of 2009 and found out he had actually organized the first local Tweetup a few months prior, but it had also focused quite a bit on blogging, not just the Twitter micro-blogging service. At first I was worried perhaps I had stepped on some toes, but Steve was very complimentary about the event and gracious about turning over the reins to me.

Shortly afterward, I intercepted a tweet from Steve Dalton stating that he would be doing a lecture on Social Media for a Business Class at Valparaiso University. I invited myself and he was gracious enough to allow me to attend. It was a great lecture. Steve clearly has a depth of knowledge about many, many areas of expertise—social media, building, politics and also mortgages (which is his primary focus.) I left the lecture that day thinking, “This is what I want to do. I want to teach people—business people—how to use social media in their business.” Shortly after that, I began presenting workshops all over Northwest Indiana on Social Media for Business topics.

Fast forward again to December 30^th, 2009. Steve, along with Dave Woodson and Aaron Simac, road tripped to Indianapolis together to attend the 2009 Social Media Award Summit. Both Steve and Dave had been nominated, but unfortunately did not win. They were, however, very supportive and enthusiastic when I did win the title for the Women’s award.

Driving the few hours to and from Indianapolis, I had time to get to know Steve a little better… To be honest, I was a little unsure how this ride was going to go—I knew all three of compatriots in the car that day held views (political and otherwise) that are quite different from my own. However, the ride itself was as enjoyable as the event we attended in Indy; we exchanged ideas on many topics and never did I feel ridiculed or attacked. In fact, Steve even stated what a pleasure it was to be able to have such an open conversation with someone whose views were different.

So where am I going with all this? I think right back to the title of Jerry’s book, “Connections: Everyone Happens for a Reason.” I’m not sure I would have met Steve (or Jerry) if not for tools like Twitter. I have a long list of others I have met over the past year that probably would fall into the same category. These tools don’t replace face-to-face meetings, but in the best cases, provide insurance that you don’t miss opportunities for meeting the people you need to meet, sometimes right in your community, sometimes on the other side of the world.

There are experts (Nathan Findling?) who will probably (rightly) say this blog post is long enough for 6 or 7 updates. When I asked for feedback on a prior long post, Steve said, “That’s how you do social media. You tie everything together. It’s your natural voice and I think it works for you.” I hope so—I want to keep connecting and don’t want to alienate anyone with bad blogging practices!

Evelyn is an agent with Prudential; she began her career in real estate after spending 1993-2006 travelling the country in a motor home with her husband Larry Johnston. Larry is an artist and they attended art fairs all over the country so he could exhibit and sell his work. She and Larry now work in real estate together.

Evelyn credits much of her current success to her ability to embrace and effectively utilize social media marketing in her business. In Evelyn’s company of 130+ agents, she is one of the few who use these tools. They seem to be serving her well, as she was one of 17 Indiana Realtors named to IAR’s Leadership Academy. Evelyn claims she had no prior computer or Internet knowledge and is completely self taught. It was evident from my conversation with Evelyn that she has the flexibility and the determination to win business, even in the less-than-optimal market conditions.

Evelyn had good things to say about Real Estate BarCamp Indiana. It’s a free educational seminar for Realtors that helps them learn social media. It looks like Evelyn and I both plan to attend the event coming to downtown Indianapolis on Monday, January 25, 2010. You can learn more about REBarCamp Indiana by visiting their web site or using Twitter hashtag #REBCIN. (Send me a message if you’re reading this and will be in attendance–maybe we can meet up.)

I was a Realtor with Coldwell Banker from 2003 until 2008. I left the industry due to a challenging health crisis with my sister in Detroit. Like Evelyn, I had come to the industry from another career and was also new to the geographic area where I was selling. I sold close to $4 million in my second full year–then an office record for a new agent. I relied heavily on Internet marketing strategies to help me achieve success.

Tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs are changing the way we do business. I have spoken to several local real estate offices to advise their agents on how they can use these tools. I look forward to working with more agents this year.

If you are looking for a home in Elkhart County Indiana, I’d like to recommend Evelyn Johnston and her very comprehensive web site of the area’s subdivisions.

I’ll start with yesterday, December 30th. Steve Dalton, Dave Woodson, Aaaron Simac and I headed down to Indianapolis to attend Indiana’s Inaugural Social Media Summit Smackdown Awards Ceremony, organized by Indianapolis’ Amy Stark, a force to be reckoned with and a heck of a nice lady to boot! Steve, Dave and I had all been nominated–as well as several others from Northwest Indiana who were unable to attend: Nat Finn,Rahsaan Taylor, Laurie Griffith and Nichole. Some of us knew one another before this year, but most have met because of social media, particularly because of Northwest Indiana Tweetup. We each have different strengths and each has been generous about sharing information with one another. Making our way down to Indy, none of us knew the voting results–we were attending to support the event, but hoping to bring back a trophy for Northwest Indiana. I’m sad to report that we didn’t win in the Social Media Dude category, though Dave Woodson, Steve Dalton and Rahsaan Taylor are all winners in my book! Up and Comers Nat Finn and Laurie Griffith did well in the polls, but didn’t get a trophy either. They both deserve trophies for what they have accomplished in social media this year, but hopefully will settle for a celebratory beverage from me. The good news? I was lucky enough to claim the Social Media Most Influential Dame title. I’ll cherish the trophy, but won’t get too attached…

I feel one reason I was able to win the vote this year is because I have spent much of my time in front of large groups of people, teaching them about the basics of social media and teaching them how to use tools like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter in their business. It has been a richly rewarding experience and I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching what I have learned. However, because my speaking schedule was so busy, I didn’t make adequate time to do things like blogging, updating my Twitter status as much as I should, learning about new and emerging technologies, etc.

Luckily, my social media friends are helping me out with this… Dave Woodson and Nat Finn made a brief guest appearance at my last Social Media Bootcamp in Merrillville. They presenting more indepth information about blogging and SEO than I usually include. The information was well received and now we are making plans to develop new curricula that will include these important aspects to business marketing. Look for upcoming workshop from Nat and I; dates to be posted soon. Nat is a inbound marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) specialist with over 4 years experience. He can tell you just about anything you’d want to know about Google Analytics–and then some! He’s a sharp guy, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with him. His metaphysical musings and personal insights make what might otherwise be a dry topic pretty darn entertaining. This Renaissance Man is also busy writing a book on blues–hopefully we’ll see it published within the year?

My friend and past student Ursula Saqui of Saqui Research suggested (months ago!) to me that we form a blog accountability pact, reminding each other to blog regularly. She reminded me, but I fell down… I’m now trying out her idea with a group I am excited to be working with and will tell you more about over the coming months.

Thanks for all the support you have shown for the business I started this year. I feel blessed to be able to do work I love and have the opportunity to meet fascinating people from around our Region.

Have a safe and happy 2010!

A lot of people I encounter are interested in social media, but have some concerns about jumping in. What reservations, if any, do you have about social media? Some of the common objections I hear are:

a) “I don’t get it–why do I care what someone had for breakfast this morning?”

b) “I don’t have time.”

In my last post, I addressed “speaking the language” appropriate to the social networking site you are on. While it’s true that you may encounter an occasional Cheerios reference on Twitter or Facebook I can guarantee you (with 99% certainty) that you won’t find breakfast-oriented updates on the professional networking site LinkedIn, for example.

Determine where your target audience spends their time online and invest your time there as well. (Quantcast is a good tool to help you understand the demographic make up of site’s users.) Know why you are there and deliver your message sans updates about your dining habits; cut your potential customers some slack if they want to discuss theirs though…

In my Advanced Social Media workshop I show students how to create a social media marketing “system”– I can help you learn to make the most of your time if you will let me. Right now my seminars are offered exclusively in the Northwest Indiana area; however, I hope to have an online (video) training option available soon.

I am looking for 20-25 people to help me with the beta test of the new training site. Check back soon for details or email me at kathy@mysocialmediacoach.com if you are interested in participating.

Maybe you’re not ready to jump on the socia media bandwagon yet. Maybe you never will be, but how would you feel if someone else took your name? It’s food for thought–maybe making reservation isn’t such a bad idea…

Tip: Facebook will soon allow vanity URLs. Claim your spot!

LinkedIn is a little like an executive cocktail party. It’s pretty much all business all the time. People who are on this site are there for the most part to form business connections, period. And you better like blue, because that’s what your profile will look like. Don’t expect to find fancy “skins” that allow you to have a pink polka dot profile or some such thing. For those who want minimal “social” in their social media mix, this may be the site for you.

Facebook I liken to a backyard barbecue. Can you get business done at a backyard barbecue? Absolutely! Is it a good idea to begin passing out business cards within five minutes of your arrival? Probably not. You need to chit chat, enjoy the pace and when an opportunity presents itself, it’s fine to talk about what you do for a living. This may not be the venue for you if you are not patient with making polite talk with others and taking in interest in what’s going on in their lives–business or personal. A Facebook fan page (representing your business) is a possible compromise, though it still requires you to create a personal profile to achieve maximum functionality for your business page.

Twitter is one of my favorites. What does it remind me of? Maybe a hippie hash bash (not that I personally have any familiarity with this.) I’m just judging from period movies set in the 60′s–I’m thinking of the lyrics “You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant…” by Arlo Guthrie. This song (and the movie seemingly is a circuitous route to…it’s hard to see where it’s going, but there is an underlying message.) Sadly, Twitter may be the most maligned and least understood of all the social media platforms. It’s a microblog and it can look like a lot of gibberish to the uninitiated that don’t know how to sift through the information to find what they want/need. Maybe the hash reference also comes to mind due to the use of “hashtags“…

Before plunging in on any network, you may want to do some observation first. You can also check the demographics on who is participating on a particular site by visiting Quantcast–see if the site’s population is a good fit for your target market.

I offer workshops that help business people learn how to utilize these tools. Check this site or contact me for details: 219-405-9482.