Your Social Media – All “Activity” & No “Productivity”?

In sales we have a mantra … “never confuse activity with productivity”. This is to say that, while you have demonstrated the ability to maintain an extreme level of activity, not being able to hit your target numbers demonstrates that those efforts have not been devoted to productive pursuits. Kind of like the graphic to the left … 9 arrows (activity), 0 bulls eyes (productivity). Social Media has the great potential to become the poster child of this lack of productivity scenario. Potential? Hell, for a lot of us we have already reached that goal and gone far beyond it (smile). So, how do we turn this around? What’s missing from the equation?

Everybody has an agenda with social media but the only agenda that I am remotely qualified to discuss is my own. I’m not doing this because it is fun (even though it can be). It’s not for my ego. I don’t even expect to make money directly through the use of this medium. I look at social media strictly from the standpoint that it is, should be, another arrow in my quiver of networking weapons. As Justin Foster from Tricycle Brand Development has so correctly phrased it .. “Old rules, new tools”. Social Media is a great tool for personal branding but what good is your brand if nobody is buying? Perhaps a portion of my dilemma is that I don’t do marketing, I do sales. As a sales person I am trained to go out and get that which is mine. You only think that it belongs to you or to another company. I consider it a temporary loan (smile). I do this by creating, maintaining, and improving relationships with others. I do this in person, on the phone, with old fashioned email, or with even more old fashioned “snail mail”. It’s what works for me.

I have spent a good portion of the last 9 months studying social media and during that time have found many tools that make the activity itself more productive and less time-consuming. In terms of productive results, not so much. This is my own fault. I remember early on in my career when I was expected to make 30 plus door to door sales calls daily. I would go back to my desk with my  business cards that I had collected during the day, transfer that information to 3 x 5 cards, and place those in my tickler file for further follow-up and review. Every day I did this and my file grew. My sales did not. While I was indeed active, I was not productive. I failed to make the transition from activity to results.

Today I have over 1,000 followers on Twitter, 170 connections on LinkedIn (linking me to close to 3 million others), and about 100 friends on FaceBook. That’s a fair number of 3 x 5 cards (smile). I would venture that I actually know less than 10% of these people. And, the reason that I don’t know more of these people is that I have failed to consistently engage directly with those who I need to in order to accomplish my goals. I am so busy collecting names, I rarely take the opportunity to speak, one on one, with most of them. I’m even lamer than I had first suspected (smile).

Before I discuss my new rules for direct engagement, I did want to share with you a curious observation. I have found that many of those who are the heaviest users of social media, even power users, are loath to engage with you directly. They don’t return phone calls or respond to emails. The funniest part is, this behavior places them squarely in line with the bulk of the business community. Did somebody knock off “Miss Manners” while I was not looking (smile)? They do, however, tweet and post with great regularity. They may be quite adept at inviting you to events, suggesting you become fans of this page or that, DM you on Twitter occasionally, or communicate with you through mediums like iContact or Constant Contact. All of these have one thing in common and one thing only … through the magic of automation, you and 1,ooo of their closest friends are all receiving exactly the same message and at exactly the same time. Now, don’t you feel special (smile)?

Personally, to date, I have used none of these aforementioned automated methods or tools. I do not leave my desk at night until I have personally responded to every email and every voice message. I don’t always have the answers right away but at least I acknowledge receipt. That’s not 100% accurate. I consistently do not respond to automated communication. Fact is, those types of messages typically do nothing more than irritate me. However, they do have their proper place and usage. What those might be are left to your personal interpretation. So, here is my plan for direct engagement … And, I am going to keep this simple. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid, or salesman, your choice (smile).

1. Review my Twitter, LinkedIn, and FaceBook connections and categorize each into business or personal relationships.
2. Further subdivide those business relationships based on their potential to produce tangible results.
3. Formulate a plan and evaluate my available tools to initiate direct engagement with these business connections.
4. Directly engage with a minimum of 20 of these weekly.

Right now, I am like a kid who is so focused on collecting toy soldiers that I have no time to play with them (smile). That is about to change. If you have not already figured this out, the key element and that ingredient I feel that is most missing in social media is the willingness, and effort, on the part of most individuals to directly engage. Yesterday I created a poll and posted it on Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn. I asked the multiple choice question “What is the one element of your social media experience that is missing?”. Well, the results are in. One person took the poll and said that he or she could not figure out how to make social media work for them. I rest my case (smile).

Thanks for visiting!

Craig

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What Do You Do To Invest In Your Success?

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Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all have a money tree? Well, maybe you can. But, you first have the plant the seed and water it regularly. These are the investments that you make in order to ensure your success. The question is, how many of us are willing to make that investment and the effort in so doing? I’m constantly amazed by folks who think that this all just happens magically. It’s hard work and sometimes you need to invest some funds in order to reap even greater returns. Sorry, life is like that.

So, what have you done for you lately? Have you read a self help book about your craft or attended a seminar or sat in on a webinar to help you to become better at what you have chosen to do? Are you active in the Chamber of Commerce or any kind of service group? Do you attend networking events whenever and wherever they are offered? Have you studied Social Media and Business Social Media and maybe put some of those tools to work for you? Have you taken a client to lunch or to coffee or bought them a Christmas present or is your company too cheap to pay for those and you can’t  recognize the value in spending the money yourself despite the fact that you are at least partially directly compensated on your ability to bring in new business? It’s o.k. if the company wants to pay for it but, not me. Yikes! I guess you cannot afford the extra earnings. Would that be correct?

Do you go to out to lunch at least once a week with friends? Maybe have a frosty cold adult beverage after work with your buds? Does your company pay for that? No? Then why do you? Are these activities investments in your success? My guess would be …. no.

Membership in NetWorks! Boise is $25/week and is paid quarterly. For your $25 you also get a nice lunch and today that can add up to close to half of that $25. Additionally, you will be associating with other business professionals who are talking about business and helping you to increase yours. You will walk away with an average of 25-30 new pieces of business related leads or intelligence each week (as we did again today at our meeting). When you get back to your desk, you will log into our password protected web database of every lead that this group has ever shared in a meeting.  You may be introduced to a guest speaker who will rock your world. It’s happened to me more than once. The initial sale on one of those occasions was over $350,000. Of course, those kind of numbers are unusual but they can and do happen. They have to happen to somebody. It might as well be you (smile).

Please go to the “What They Say About Networks” page on this site and see what our members think of us. Then go to my LinkedIn Profile and scroll down the page to “recommendations” to see even more. After doing that, please tell me again why $25 a week is too much to invest in your success.

I’m feeling a little “randy” today. Feels good (smile). Must be my new Pandora customized radio station playing the background. Listening to a little Led Zep right now (smile).

Thanks for visiting!

Craig

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NetWorks! – It’s All About Results

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NetWorks! means ROI. More importantly, it means maximizing that magical equation. In order to fully understand this concept we must be first willing to accept that there is a difference between an expense and an investment. When we expense something we expect to receive something of equal value in return. However, with an investment we reasonably expect to get back much more. We anticipate the “gift that keeps on giving”. That, my friend, is ROI. That, my friend, is NetWorks!

Let me ask you a few simple questions. Do you go to a restaurant for lunch two or more times per week? If you “brown bag” it….would you like to be able to eat out (smile)? When you do go out to lunch, would you classify that as an expense or as an investment? Certainly, if you are taking a client to lunch, I would call that an investment. Even better, half that lunch date, per IRS rules, may be tax deductible.

Membership in NetWorks! is only $25.00 per week. And, that includes a nice lunch. You and I both know that a decent lunch these days will end up costing you easily over $10.00 with tax and tip. I’d say closer to $12.50. I have a client that happens to like Sushi. Me, I don’t even like cooked fish but…………he’s a really good client (smile). Sushi….. $25.00 per head.  So, even at $12.50 for a lunch, now your investment in NetWorks! is only $12.50 per week or probably three lattes. And, it gets better. Your entire dues, $1,200.00/year, are likely tax deductible. Ask your accountant and your accountant ain’t me (smile).

So, I’m getting fed and I’m deducting my expenses so my necessary investment in NetWorks! is now probably less than $10.00 per week. What do I get for that?

1. I have an opportunity to network weekly with sales and marketing professionals from other industries who are anxious to see me succeed as they are for themselves.
2. My fellow members may very well be willing to provide me with access to their valuable clientele. It’s up to me to earn that right to ask for their help.
3. I will come away with an average of 25-30 solid new leads, updates, or referrals weekly and most of those include contact names and phone numbers.
4. I am able to track, and update, these leads on our web based, password protected, CRM.
5. I am given an opportunity to promote my business weekly.
6. I can take advantage of our guest speakers, resource tools, and education programs.

NetWorking – Striking Your Balance

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If you have never been to this site before, let’s just say that I am a traditional networker trying to find his way in a new fangled electronic world. Most of this blog is devoted to that journey. And, make no mistake, I am a huge believer in networking and close to 100% of my client base is connected in one way or another to creating, nurturing, and building these types of relationships. Now, more than ever, there are a lot of ways out there to connect with others. So, how to strike a balance?

Business-Social Leads Groups (business emphasis): Perhaps the traditional networker’s most widely recognized tool of trade. I have been involved in these since the early 90′s and still maintain relationships that began that same long time ago.  I am not making this up, I have sold millions of dollars worth of signs as a direct result of relationships that began in these same groups. Relationships that continue today. I am such a huge believer in these organizations that I created one that meets my exacting specifications for the leads group fueled by steroids …. NetWorks! (smile). NetWorks! fulfills what I like to call the business-social segment of networking. We are social but, the focus is on business. Just this week, I was presented with a ground floor opportunity to further present the sign aspect of my business to a very targeted and lucrative market. The offer came from a gentleman who was a member of my leads group some 16 years ago. This type of networking is best designed for those of us who are comfortable with being considered as carnivorous by nature (smile).

Social Media – Where’s The Beef?

I’ve been doing this for about 45 days now and I find myself asking questions. One question in particular (smile). I feel that I have developed a fairly good fundamental understanding of how Social Media works (from a technical standpoint) and now… I would actually like to see it work. Not measure it. See it.

While I do find that maintaining this blog is very rewarding on it’s own level, the goal was not to provide for my personal gratification (smile). The goal is to encourage more folks to inquire about membership in NetWorks! To date, not one person has left their card requesting more info. Heck, I can get better results than that with direct mail (smile). So, I find myself asking those same questions that I know a lot of business people are asking themselves when presented with the prospect of integrating Social Media into their business and marketing plans…….Where’s the beef? I need some ROI (smile).

My gut feeling tells me that, much like Twitter, I am going to have to redefine my expectations for this tool. At the same time, I recognize the need to modify my message and to develop a plan which will leverage those gains that I know these efforts have provided.