inside the office

It seems that one of the biggest things that trips up people new to the social networking adventure is the difference between an individual profile and a Fan Page on Facebook. Let’s take a few minutes to try to straighten that out.

When you sign up for Facebook, you create a profile. A profile should only be for an actual human person – not a mascot, dog, cat, iguana, or spiritual being. This is where you connect with people you know – your friends. You share stuff with them, they share stuff with you and everyone’s happy. Here’s my Facebook profile. Now, if you decide you want to be friends with me, please take time to introduce yourself and tell me you stopped by here first, so I know who you are.

If you have a business or volunteer or non-profit group or church (or WoW Guild), and you want it to have a presence on Facebook, then you need to create a Fan Page. For most, the hardest part of creating a Fan Page is figuring out how to get to them. If you look at the bottom of your browser window, just above your Start bar (for PCs) or Dock (for Macs), there’s a little Facebook toolbar. One of the last icons kind of looks like a blue speech bubble on top of a green speech bubble. If you mouse over it, it should say “Ads & Pages” – click it.

From this page, you have the option to create a new Fan Page for your business/organization/guild. Choose the name carefully, as you can’t change it once it’s been chosen. From there, just enter the basic information that’s requested and upload a picture. Then, tell all your friends (or, at least, those that might be interested) about this fabulous new page so that they can become Fans of it, as well.

Stay tuned for more info on how to use & love you Facebook Fan Page. Got a specific question about Facebook or other social networks? Leave me a comment and let me know…

I love when I hear conversations about social media that contain complaints about a lack of response to marketing messages. Too often, it seems, people tend to focus on marketing and not the social part of it all.

Social media is about building communities and developing relationships. Yes, there is currently a large commercial component to social networking but, that doesn’t mean that the expected elements of social communication are irrelevant in these web based arenas.

Think about this scenario: you’re at a networking event and someone who you’ve never met and knows nothing about you comes up to you and shoves their business card in your hand, and then walks away. How likely are you to want to work with that person, even if you need or want what they are selling? Most people would be more likely to toss that card in the nearest trash can and move on.

Networking is not (or, at least, shouldn’t be) about closing the sale and moving on; it’s about creating and developing relationships with those that might be interested in your services or are connected to and influencers of others that would be interested. People want to do business with people they know, like and trust.

If you were to just jump on the nearest social network, bombard all of your contacts with spammy sales messages and have no interaction with them, you’re not really behaving any differently than the guy that shoves a business card at you. Let your contacts get to know you, share information with them, join into their conversations (when you have something relevant to say), develop a relationship so that they trust you, and let them know that you’re there to help them.

One of the more interesting discussions at PodCamp Boston was not scheduled – which is the great thing about PodCamp. It was a mostly impromptu and ad-hoc discussion about women in social media. I joined the discussion about halfway through, as I had started out elsewhere, but was encouraged to join the discussion on the lawn by a VA associate on Twitter who wasn’t even at PodCamp. Word of the fabulous discussion had spread quickly and far.

My favorite quote from that discussion was by Christopher Penn, who said, “I don’t care what you have between your legs, be AWESOME between your ears!” Fellow PodCamper Georgy Cohen had this to say about that:

I guess I just don’t understand reactions like Sarah Wurrey’s, who was angered by Christopher Penn saying that all women had to do was “be awesome.”

I’m sorry, I was unaware that we weren’t already awesome. I can name at least 100 awesome women right now. Why is it the responsibility for changing the state of affairs all on us?

Um. I really don’t think he was saying you weren’t awesome now. But there’s a difference between being awesome in a closet and feeling comfortable and confident enough to wield that awesomeness. And really, in the realm of social media, I don’t think there’s a patriarchy waiting to beat you down. The “responsibility for changing the state of affairs” is on ALL of us, irregardless of gender. It’s called the democratization of media.

As an ironic follow up to this discussion, I atteneded the Southeastern Connecticut Women’s NETWORK luncheon yesterday, where our speaker was Teresa Younger, Executive Director for the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) in Connecticut. She gave an interesting speach about the inequalitiess of women in the work force. Some of the statistics Ms. Younger gave were astounding:

• Women earn $0.78 for every $1 a man earns
• Women stay in [job] positions longer, on average, than men
• Women CEOs are more likely to focus on long term sustainability than men
• 80% of women value customer relationship more highly than business growth and expansion
• There are 14 million people out of work & 10 million woman-owned businesses in this country – if every woman owned business hired just one person we would have the lowest unemployment rate ever!

So, the way I look at it, women are awesome. We take care of our families, our businesses, and ourselves (all too often, in that order) and we do it all for less pay. Changing the landscape of women in social media is a great idea, and maybe empowering women in just one area will push that same passion and enthusiasm into empowering women in other areas as well. Who’s with me?

(Another irony: as I write this, my Twitter stream is exploding to references with the same types of messages.)

I came across this quote the other day:

“Appreciative words are the most powerful force for good on earth.”
Dr. George W. Crane

It resonates with me especially lately because of a gift that I received the other day. A few weeks ago, an associate contacted me, asking about how she could start a blog. She had a great topic that she thought other women would be interested in, and wanted to share her thoughts with others in a similar situation. While a talented writer, she is not at tall familiar with code, and didn’t know where to start. I offered to install the blog software on her server for her and throw in a template or two to help her out. It took maybe an hour of my time, and I was happy to do it.

Last week, UPS arrives at my door with a package. I was curious to see the return address from a popular gift website. Inside I found a trio of Egglings (plants that grow in eggs – how cute!) and a card that read, “That which comes easily to you is valuable to others.” These few appreciative words put a smile on my face for the rest of the weekend. In fact, every time I look at the Egglings, which I still have yet to hatch, I smile again. I just wanted to help out a friend – I didn’t expect anything in return. And yet, what I got is immeasurable.

When was the last time you did a favor, without expecting anything in return? And what did you get? The most powerful force on Earth? I completely agree.

John Jantsch, marketing guru and founder of DuctTape Marketing, has come up with an ingenious way to stimulate the economy – an initiative he calls Make-a-Referral-Week.

Make-a-Referral-Week takes place March 9 through 13, 2009. The goal to generate 1,000 referrals to 1,000 small businesses as a testament to both the power of referrals and the power of small business in the nation’s economy. This week-long virtual event also will feature daily educational programs that show small-business owners how to put referral marketing to work for them.

According the www.makeareferralweek.com, “The week long virtual event will also feature daily education programs focused on teaching small business owners and other marketers how to tap the power of referral marketing. Featured guest experts include Ivan Misner, founder of BNI and author Masters of Networking, Bob Burg, author of Endless Referrals and the Go-Giver, Bill Cates, author of Get More Referrals Now, Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing, Guy Kawasaki, author of Reality Check, Rich Sloan, author of StartUpNation, Anita Campbell, publisher of Small Business Trends, Scott Allen, author of the Virtual Handshake, John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing, Scott Ginsberg of Nametag TV, Michael Port, author of the Contrarian Effect and Book Yourself Solid, Susan Solovic Wilson, founder of SBTV.com and Pam Slim, author Escape from Cubicle Nation.”

I have personally seen the wonder of referrals first-hand. Most of my business comes from word-of-mouth and referrals, and I am truly grateful. I’m looking forward to next week to help John in his efforts to stimulate the economy.

With that in mind, I’d love to know what kind of client or customer you are looking for. I just might know somebody that I can refer to you! I invite you to leave a comment with your target customer and to reach out to your network and see who else you can help out during Make-a-Referral-Week!

One of the many topics of discussion this week at BizBuilderCT was about beginning with the end in mind. There were several newcomers to the group, both experienced entrepreneurs and new business owners. Regardless of experience level, a common theme that we all face is how to take the steps necessary to accomplish our goals.
For example, one of the visitors today has been in business for about a month. She is a graphic designer, and has been working as an employee for others for about 14 years, as well as doing some freelance work on the side. As a function of the recent economic issues, she finds herself having to run a business that was never really part of the plan. The actual work the business performs is the easy part; it’s all the other stuff that she’s unsure about. What should she do?
The answer she received was to determine her strengths and weaknesses, prioritize which things she would have to learn how to manage and which could be outsourced, and focus on what steps needed to be taken to accomplish her goals. The best thing about this advice? It’s universal!
Sure, those are all great things to tell a new business owner. They are also great things to tell an experienced business owner. Without goals, you never know where you’ll end up. And without a plan on how to accomplish those goals, you may never get there.

I’m sure I’ve sparked someone’s attention with that post title and while not exactly my intent, it does fit more than anything else.

I was inducted today as a member of the Southeastern Connecticut Women’s Network and had the opportunity to give my elevator speech to a room full of business women at once. What an opportunity! Fortunately, I’ve practiced how to say what I love about my career as succinctly as possible.

After the speaker’s presentation, a woman came up to me to ask for my card. She said that while she wasn’t in a position to hire me right now, she was planning to hire someone in the near future. In her words, her business is “her passion” but the administrative stuff is what she “endures.’ (Does the title make sense now?) When I heard this, I immediately thought – Finally, two great action verbs to describe what I do. This is something that I know a lot of virtual assistants have struggled with. So, while I now have to reword my elevator speech a little, I have two very descriptive and attention-getting words to talk about how I help business owners and entrepreneurs.