| Article Headline | |
Social Media: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
 The Good
Did you notice when LinkedIn went public the stock shot up from $50.00 a share to $125.00 on the first day of trading?
Wall Street invests in the power of social media. Do you?
So friends, clients, and colleagues, you have your profile on LinkedIn. Not enough. Equally important is developing the skill to use it to your advantage. Think of the connections, new clients and possibly new jobs you gain when you're savvy about how to manage it.
If you can't manage it, get someone who can. Many firms now recruit by using social media, and not being on their online radar screen may prevent you from being considered for a new position, meeting a new client, contracting a speaking engagement, or appearing as an expert in a TV interview.
While you are napping, social media "never sleeps."
For example, last year one Fortune 500 company, hired 955 people through social media channels, including: 45 from Twitter, 226 from Facebook, 84 from text messaging and 600 from individuals by going to their career page from a mobile device.
Certainly, referrals and personal connections are still the best means of making a new contact, but social media can help connect you to people who help expand your network.
As you develop "friends" on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, you can start to build mutually beneficial relationships.
A few suggestions:
- On Facebook: Be professional; yet mix it with some social interests. Discuss your hobbies, passions and interests and create a commonality with users and possibly future clients.
- On LinkedIn: Take advantage of the "Summary" section. Tell a story about yourself. Talk in the first person-that part is not made for resume-like materials.
- Gather as many recommendations, as possible, from past employers, colleagues, and friends.
- Establish yourself as the expert in your field. Use the "Experience" section on a LinkedIn profile for the resume-like information.
- Use the advanced search options to find companies you are interested in working with.
- Search for the decision-makers. Establish a direct connection with them. If you ask for an email introduction, then take the relationship "off line."
The Bad
If you are continually interrupting your day by reading emails, tweeting, texting, checking Facebook, and answering your mobile; how much do you actually accomplish?
Attending to social media is a major brain and time drain.
PDAs are turned on at work, at lunch, the theater, movies and lunches; even people take them to bed.
According to new studies, the average company with 1000+ workers tempted by social media, email, technology glitches and cell calls cost companies over $10,000,000 a year.
Stay connected, but don't let it become a wedge between you and the people important to you.
Establish your goals each morning and set aside a time for social media interactions and stick to it. Choose when to unplug.
The Ugly
- How many "quiet moments" have been ruined by being held hostage by a person on a cell phone breaking up with their girlfriend, brokering a deal or just yakking?
- How many meetings have you lead, or attended, as attendees' read or text messages?
- How many conversations - with hard-won appointments - are derailed while your potential client "takes another moment" to answer her cell?
Far too many. It's become acceptable behavior- The New Rude.
So friends, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is not just a classic Clint Eastwood film, but it's the ethos of what social media is about.
Don't just stay connected electronically (as seductive as it is) but be humanly connected and build and sustain relationships.
Use social media for the good (helps you professionally), control the bad (over-usage) and eliminate the ugly.
Warm wishes and sunny weather to all,
Eileen  |
|
|
|
|
 | Congrats to Robyn
for her on-going advice
on The Today Show.
To contact as a speaker
go to site.
|
President
| 
| | Eileen Winnick, nationally recognized communications expert(media, performance, speaker and presentation coach) helps authors, actors, speakers, Nobel Prize winners, Olympic athletes, politicians and corporate C-level executives position their unique messages for the competitive marketplace.
|
Eileen Winnick, Dalma Heyn (host) , Tara Malone
on Tuesdays at 8:00 PM
Channel 88
Watch
The Love Goddess
|
|
Social Media
Follow us:
|  
|
|
|
