Social Networking and Business

Many of us are using LinkedIN, Facebook, etc. but how can you use this as a business opportunity. Web 2.0 is growing in interest for businesses (e.g., social networking, collaboration). I found this article on the Business Week site. As a leader, these sites can connect you with other leaders, prospects and customers. Social networking is new and I recommend trying it as you never know who you might just meet or re-engage a previous colleague.

Are Social Networking Sites Useful for Business?
To get the most out of social networking sites, small companies should look past the hype, set concrete business goals, then start experimenting
by Karen E. Klein

Social networking online seems to be exploding: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, and so on. When I ask how these sites can help my business, the answers can be vague. I am trying to relate it to face-to-face networking, which includes sharing ideas, information, and resources with other businesses. Are these sites useful for those goals? There is only so much time in my day and I need to use it effectively. —B.H., Scarborough, Me.

You are correct that social networking is a rapidly growing, headline-grabbing phenomenon. The question for entrepreneurs is how to tap into this trend as a business opportunity, rather than simply a way to connect—or reconnect—with people, says Peter Delgrosso, strategic vice-president for corporate communications with Web.com (WWWW).

"For the most part, these social networking sites should be viewed as complementary to your online presence. Think of it as a nice-to-have, not a must-have," he says. "When used properly, it is something that can gain your business some attention. However, you need to realize it shouldn't be seen as a replacement to your traditional online presence."

Greg Sterling, of Sterling Market Intelligence, considers social network sites primarily for meeting people, asking for advice or referrals and, carefully, doing online marketing. The uses vary by application or site, he notes: "Sites such as LinkedIn can be helpful in connecting with people you want to meet for one reason or another. Twitter and Facebook can be helpful when you're trying to notify a group of people about something you want to promote or about a happening of some kind."

Find Your Networking Niche
Take a few minutes—it doesn't have to be extensive—to look over the top sites and experiment to see what works for you. Even an hour or two a week can help you figure out which sites you like best and are most effective for your particular business. "The viral nature of social networking is quite extraordinary and something that can garner a lot of attention to your efforts in a hurry," Delgrosso says.

He thinks the best site for both networking and human resources purposes is LinkedIn. "The site requires some résumé creation, then offers the opportunity to link in to other like-minded professionals. When used selectively, it can be a very powerful tool for identifying new business partners, new employees, or simply building your personal or business presence," he says.

For gaining exposure to larger audiences, he recommends Facebook: "Consider establishing or joining a network on Facebook based on your business or industry category to tap into people's affinity for the topic. By doing this, you'll cut through the clutter and clearly establish your niche, keeping the interaction focused on the specific subject matter."

Rick Julian, CEO and chief creative officer of Quo Vadis, a startup brand communications agency, says he's getting a positive return on his investment from using social media sites for the past year. "It puts a human face on your business and allows people to get an impression of what a relationship with you would be like. When all things remain equal, people want to work with people they think they'll have an interesting relationship with," Julian says.

His firm is represented on five major social networking sites, including YouTube (GOOG) and his blog, and a couple of smaller ones.

"Geometric Extension" and Search Optimization
It sounds like a full-time job, but Julian points out that you can cut and paste some of your content from site to site. "If I put up a YouTube video to create awareness, I might have some discussion on YouTube with the responders and then also put it on my blog, on my Facebook company page, and promote a link to it on Twitter. Just by generating that single asset, I've populated all those networks with content without having to come up with an original piece of content for each of them. There's a geometric extension of your reach," he says.

Robert Jenson, CEO of the Las Vegas-based realty firm the Jenson Group, takes a strictly corporate approach to social networking. "Rather than blogging stream-of-consciousness opinions or using the venue as a diary of sorts, I educate visitors on important, universal industry matters. I try my utmost to ensure the content I post is not just applicable and of interest to those in Las Vegas, where I operate, but also to any real estate consumer nationwide," he says.

He puts bylined articles he's written on his own blog and on social networking sites and uses them to establish his credibility as a real estate expert. "This serves as a 'risk reliever' for both prospective consumers and business affiliates, while also increasing my chances for media coverage by establishing myself as a reliable expert source," Jenson says.

Last, but definitely not least, is the value of social networking sites to search engine optimization (BusinessWeek, 6/20/08). The more sites that include your name and link back to your Web site or blog, the higher your profile rises in search engines, where more and more of your customers are likely to find you, Jenson says.

Leadership Gap

IBM recently released a Human Capital Study 2008, a survey of 400 leading HR Executives in 40 different countries (it is a good study, if you have time to review it, just go to their website and download). IBM does some terrific studies.

I found the figure below rather interesting (among many discussing the leadership gap).

Figure 9. Which are the most significant capability-building challenges facing your organization today?

Building leadership talent ~80%
Fostering a culture that supports learning and development ~40%
Rotating leadership talent across business units/geographies ~38%
Passing on knowledge from older to younger employees ~30%
Forecasting skills needed in the near future ~28%
Cross-training individuals needed in other parts of the organization ~27%
Rapidly getting new employees up to speed ~25%
Developing basic skills across the employee base ~18%
Measuring the effectiveness of learning and development activities ~15%

Please note that Leadership talent was the issue in two of the top three challenges. As I have said before, leadership is a key competency and it is extremely important that you retain your leaders and spend considerable time building leadership talent. This is critical for the future success of your organization. Leaders do not grow on trees, they are made one at a time.

If you are a leader, this is a great opportunity for you. If you want to be a leader, spend time investing in yourself . . . skills, career, interesting projects, also try to find a role whereby you can lead which will gain experience and hopefully with a solid track record, you can continue to take on larger leadership roles.

Being Happy

I graduated from a small high school (graduation class of 69 students) . . . to extend the graduation ceremony (otherwise, it would have been over in . . . oh . . . thirty minutes or less, that's no fun), you were able to provide a quote that would be read as you walked across the stage.

My quote was:

Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make those dreams come true!


Bottom line: Happiness and making our dreams happen are up to all of us as individuals!

Stay with your Core

This weekend, I attempted to wakeboard (for those that might not know, this is basically snowboarding behind a boat). Years ago, I was a decent water skier, but this is 2008 and wakeboarding is very popular. A family member (my sister's husband's sister's son . . . yes, we have lots of family in Central Texas) invited us on Lake Austin. After watching him wakeboard (he made it look easy with all sorts of tricks, etc.), he asked if I wanted to try . . . so, I said, why not, I can waterski, this does not look that hard . . . of course, I was not thinking he was 20 years my junior.

After many attempts and drinking two six-packs of Lake Austin, I called it quits and never got up.

Why talk about this on a leadership blog? Well, it reminds me that some leaders review the business landscape and see that some companies are performing well in a particular space, so they say "that is a good opportunity, we can do that too". They place significant resources on a new business initiative . . . only to never have success after many attempts.

The learning is to stay with your core business competencies. If you must branch out to new areas, focus on opportunities that are smart adjacencies to your existing business so it is a natural expansion, i.e., leveraging your strengths. Otherwise, you might wake up the next morning, sore and bruised, aka an old guy who tried to learn a new trick!

Joke of the Weekend XVb

Ten best things to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk

10."They told me at the blood bank this might happen."
9."This is just a 15 minute power nap like they raved about in that time management course you sent me to."
8. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the white out. You probably got here just in time."
7. "I wasn't sleeping, I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm."
6. "I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance."
5. "I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Do you discriminate against people who practice Yoga?"
4. "Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem."
3. "The coffee machine is broken."
2. "Someone must have put decaf in the wrong pot."
1. " ... in God's name, Amen."

Joke of the Weekend XV

Dilbert's Words of Wisdom

1. I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow's not looking good either.
2. I love deadlines. I especially love the swooshing sound they make as they go flying by.
3. Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.
4. Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
5. Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If he isn't there the first time you need him, chances are you won't be needing him again.
6. I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
7. On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key.
8. I don't suffer from stress - I'm a carrier...
9. Everybody is somebody else's weirdo...
10. Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Providing Workarounds

Sometimes it’s the little things that customers appreciate. Here are two events which display some thinking outside box on customer service. These real-life events show how inferior products can be used to achieve superior customer support. When did you last see this in action? And more importantly, what do clients value more, superior product or superior support?

[CASE #1] The office coffee machine was broken. The repairman came in the morning to fix it. It’s one of those fancy types which can make a coffee/expresso/cappuccino at the touch of a button. He wheeled in his equipment, and the first thing he did was to take out a little old Mr. Coffee machine (you know the kind your parents used to have). He started his work by brewing up a pot the old-fashioned way for people to use while he’s working. With Mr. Coffee perking away, he started in with his tools to get the fancy machine repaired. Even though he delivered inferior product to them (Mr. Coffee), he delivered superior customer support.

[CASE #2] A database administrator messed up a report delivery for a large client. The client had been waiting four days for the report to be corrected. The client was frantic for the data. It was a complex issue that the database administrator was not able to resolve, and the customer service person was worried that this delay would put the account in jeopardy. In desperation, the customer service person talked to the DBA and instead sent the client a spreadsheet with the report data straight from the SQL tables in a raw format. It was not very pretty to look at, but it was the data the client needed to get their analysis done. And instead of being angry that a report was broken, the client was thrilled that they had the information they needed to do their work. So again, we see an inferior product used to provide superior support. And instead of losing an account, the company was able to strength the relationship with the client.

Neither solution is ideal. But both work. And in both cases the client is happy with the service. The clients feel like they are getting special treatment when in fact they are getting an inferior product. It is the little things that retain clients. Leaders need to highlight examples like these so that it becomes second nature within their units.