Category Archives: King of Social Media

That’s not a misprint in the title. Medea was best known as an enchantress.

As I’m wading through the mostly inane ramblings on Facebook (“I’m hiking,” “Tried a new cat food” (personally?), quotes from John Adams or Henry Winkler, or Soupy Sales, “Tommy scored 90% in ‘How Well Do You Know Your Own Rear End?’”), I am having these thoughts:

1. If you did not view or post on Facebook for, oh, one week, to what degree would your life be poorer? What would you have missed, and to what extent would you be less of a person, a professional, an object of interest? It it weren’t there, would it make a difference, or is it just occupying time, like a game show rerun?

2. If you were off Facebook for that week, and assuming you didn’t use the time to become a potted plant, what would you do with it to enrich your life? Would you interact more in person, or read another book, or learn a new skill, or pursue a hobby, or just think about your relationships and future, or play with the dog more? How much would that benefit you?

3. The people most vociferous about social media are clearly those who stand to gain by it, giving seminars, providing coaching, and somehow making money by encouraging use. It’s almost like a huge Ponzi scheme in some respects. I’m reminded of Y2K, or the guy with the pinky ring and Cadillac who rents the hotel room for a presentation to get you to buy soap suds and “recruit new members.”

4. People actually talk about “monetizing” presence on social platforms. See point #3. Even the people who OWN Twitter, for example, aren’t making money from it! If someone can find a way to get me 50 cents from each of the 4 million people connected to me on linkedin, I’ll split it with you!

5. There are examples of just abominable taste, not merely because some oafs feel free to use obscenity or scatological references (for some reason, more women than men), but because they are oblivious to the fact that they are at a virtual public gathering and they think there’s nothing wrong with it. These must be the same people who curse out loud on airplanes and spit on sidewalks and talk back to movie screens.

6. You can start some serious conversations on Facebook and elsewhere, but they peter out. Moreover, the amount of postings that have NO responses, NO commentaries, is huge, meaning that, well, perhaps no one among your “friends” cares! It’s all about personal “air time” and being heard and seen without having to be interesting, be helpful, or have ideas.

7. When you challenge any aspect of the social platforms or act in a non-conformist way (e.g., I don’t “follow” anyone on Twitter, though I have 700 followers) you get angry ripostes from the self-appointed owners of the secret decoder rings. They want to give you etiquette lessons. How can there be etiquette standards in what is, for all intents and purposes, a social free-for-all where most people don’t care how they use the cutlery?!

I’m yanking chains here to have some fun (I don’t believe you can easily debunk something you’re not part of), but there is a fundamental truth that people will have to come to grips with. These sites are huge time dumps IF you allow them to be. They don’t “amplify” anyone’s message because they “amplify” ALL messages, meaning the cacophony is so intense that nothing stands out. The exceptions claiming business gains—I’m talking making money, not making “contacts”—are rare and, frankly, I don’t believe most of them.

But the key question, outside of spending a few minutes a day on this stuff is: Am I better off, is my life enriched by the hours I spend on virtual social platforms each week, or is there something I’m not getting to, something I’m avoiding, something detracting from my growth?

The articles are starting to appear debunking the entire scene, which is a predictable cycle. There are claims that Twitter has only a 40% retention rate, for instance (Nielsen Online). I think in a year we’ll see some kind of vast combination and amalgamation which might just make all this more practical and fulfilling. But with rare exception, right now, it’s like chewing air.

Beware the siren call.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

The following from Rob Eagar and his blog at Wildfire Marketing: http://wildfiremarketing.blogspot.com/2009/06/social-networking-unlocking-behavioral.html

Social media is getting all of the hype these days. Yet, it’s struggling as a medium to actually create significant books sales. For example, at BEA 2009 last month, John Sargent, the CEO of Macmillan Publishing stated, “Viral marketing doesn’t sell a ton of books.” He said a video based on a Macmillan book spent time in the number-one spot on YouTube in the U.K.—and wound up selling a whopping 200 extra copies. So what works? Most CEOs agreed front-of-store displays can boost sales.

Now, I’m not knocking social networking…just don’t forget about the tried-and-true methods for authors to spread a message, such as public speaking, newsletters, personal networking, alliances, etc.

As for the behavioral disorders that social networking can cause authors, check out this insightful article, Why I Kissed FaceBook Goodbye, from Anne Jackson, author of Mad Church Disease.

(Click to enlarge)

Submitted by John Felkin

This is an unscientific, undocumented, and probably unpopular analysis of what I’m learning as King of Social Media. (I’m reminded of a great review of a leading actor in King Lear by Eugene Field: “He played the king as though under momentary apprehension that someone else was about to play the ace.”)

Here are my anecdotal observations.

If people visit linkedin twice a day for 15 minutes each time, that’s 2.5 hours in a five-day week. (I’m discounting weekends, though I shouldn’t, because social media wandering is clearly a full-time avocation, but I want to be conservative here.)

If they visit Facebook four times a day for 10 minutes each, that’s roughly 3.3 hours.

If they Twitter six times a day for five minutes each time, that 2.5 hours. (Or 12 times at 2.5 minutes each—you get the idea.)

If they post on their blogs three times a week (rather important to keep a blog active and interesting), and the creation and posting of the item takes 30 minutes (and I think I’m really low-balling this one), that’s 2.5 hours.

And now I’m going to add just two hours to the week, that accommodate reading others’ blogs, replying to commentary, following up social media stuff off-line, updating profiles, uploading photos, and so on.

Drum roll, please: We now have a five-day week on a conventional 40-hour basis with about 13 hours engaged in what is somewhat inappropriately termed “social media.” I understand that those hours may well extend into evening or early morning time. On the basis of a 40-hour week, that’s 33% devoted to this stuff; but even on the basis of a 12-hour day, the percentage is 22%.

If you were devoting less than half of those 13 hours, say, six hours, to other professional marketing pursuits, I estimate you could do any one of the following during that week:

• Write 2-3 chapters in a book.
• Create and post 10-12 position papers on your web site.
• Call, at a moderate pace with follow-up, 30 past clients and/or warm leads.
• Send out a dozen press releases.
• Engage in a full day of self-development or a workshop.
• Create three speeches or a complete multi-day workshop.
• Create a new product to be sold on your web site.
• Create, and develop a marketing plan for, a teleconference.
• Create and record three podcasts.
• Create and tape a video.
• Contact 30 prior clients for testimonials, referrals, or references.
• Attend two networking events.
• Create and distribute two newsletters.
• Complete at least half of a professional book proposal for an agent.
• Respond to 50 or more reporters’ inquiries on, say, PRLeads.com.
• Seek out two high-potential pro bono opportunities.
• Contact and follow up with five trade associations for speaking opportunities.

You get the idea. Don’t forget, in my unscientific analysis, I’ve halved the hours I think are really being invested in full-fledged social media activity based on an already conservative estimate of what they truly are. And I’m not even counting other networks or platforms, just the four I’ve mentioned.

And over the course of a couple of months, you can easily do ALL of the bullet points, if you have a mind to do so. I’m just allocating six hours a week, just over an hour a day.

My current evaluation is this: Don’t confuse occupation with avocation. I’ve never said that “social media” are evil or will not help someone find a buyer somewhere at some time. Heck, I’ve become an avid blogger, and I visit Facebook and now Twitter daily. Yet I can still do all of the bullet points above and work only 20 hours a week.

If you’re serious about corporate consulting and coaching, and the blog you are currently visiting IS located at www.contrarianconsulting.com, then I’d continue to advise that you’re not going to find those buyers on social platforms. Is it impossible? No. Have some people done it? They claim so. But if you’re engaged in social browsing at the EXPENSE of those bullet points, then that’s not a good disposition nor apportionment of time. If you can do both, and still live a balanced and fulfilling life by your terms, then go for it.

I’m posting intellectual property, for free of course, on Twitter, just as I do here. I do find that these platforms present a great way to pay back, to contribute, and to share. You have to be judicious in your selections, however, since some people just want “air time” and you only have so much air.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

I’m now on Facebook, linkedin, and Twitter, and of course, I have the best blog on consulting in the universe, right here. I have fulfilled my destiny to be King of Social Media (without rotting my cerebral cortex).

My Twitter name/handle/ID/thing: BentleyGTCSpeed. Follow me (catch me if you can)!

http://twitter.com/BentleyGTCSpeed or search here:

Newest book: The Power of Strategic Commitment, written with Josh Leiber and Gershon Mader (Wiley). Book signing June 11 at the exclusive Campbell Apartments in Grand Central Station, NYC. Coming in a month: The Talent Advantage, written with Nancy McKay (Amacom). Following: The fourth edition (!!) of Million Dollar Consulting, in the fall (McGraw-Hill). Out earlier this year: Third edition of Getting Started in Consulting (Wiley) and second edition of Value Based Fees (Wiley). In progress: Thrive, scheduled completion in September/October.

I’ve now “hidden” three different people on Facebook. (Hiding a face seems to defeat the purpose, huh?) I found this feature by accident, but it’s a great device because it enables me to shut down people posting like those fake chattering teeth that sit on a table in novelty stores.

I’ve lost total interest in linkedin (though I now have 67 billion connections, or whatever), and Facebook seems like a coffee shop I might spend five minutes in once a day (make the latté to go, please). It’s effective for quickly staying in touch with some friends and colleagues, and it can be pretty funny at times. But you have to be very careful with your basic sarcasm (someone commented that they were running an effective listening program, so I responded with “What?”), though that isn’t as bad as the sheer volume of others’ inanity.

Apparently, some people continually post their twittering, links, notes, pre-cognitive mood swings, and involuntary bodily sounds, all automatically. One guy just appeared 12 consecutive times over a brief time frame, narrating tiny bits of something he’s involved in as a constant stream of consciousness—or unconsciousness. (It was either “hide” him or hide from him.)

When my son said this was a huge “time dump,” he wasn’t just kidding. How much time is this sucking out of people’s lives?

I’ll continue to hang around, though I’m growing bored. However, I do, apparently, now have 54 friends, and I plan to ask them all for money, or threaten to post something every nine minutes.

Who knows? Maybe they haven’t yet found the “hide” feature.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

I don’t know if this works if you’re not a New York Times online subscriber (which you should be far ahead of being on linkedin or facebook or mymouth), but check out Maureen Dowd interviewing the Twitter creators:

As the King of Social Media, I’ve now established myself on Facebook, following my venture into Linkedin. (Twitter is coming, but I have to limit my sugar intake or my teeth will rot.)

I find Facebook much more fun and engaging than Linkedin. (Which to me is like collecting things for no purpose, except that the “things” are people. My favorite: Someone I never heard of wanted to link with me because she “trusts me” so much. When I asked who the heck she was, she told me, “My employee sends these out daily for me, I don’t know why you were included.” You can’t make this stuff up.)

There are photos, running commentaries, and families reconnecting on Facebook. I get that. I posted some albums, kibitzed with family members, advertised my workshops. All free, all fine. I’ll have a double espresso as long as I stopped by. Heck, I visit my coffee shop with the dogs most mornings when I’m home.

However, there are people posting hundreds of times a day, often ten times an hour, sometimes two minutes apart. And that’s just in my tiny Facebook universe. Some of those people I know, and some of them are having marketing and business problems. How do you have the time to hang out in a virtual coffee shop all day? Some others, whom I don’t know and I guess are friends of friends, are “air time junkies,” who post inanities that rival Linkedin. This may be hard to understand, but I don’t care how you feel about Obama’s Mexican visit, even if it were a real bar with a real martini.

The appeal of “hanging out” during the day has traction, and it’s better than porn. (There is that great Avenue Q song, “The Internet Was Made for Porn.”) But it’s not better than building your career. I can understand this allure better if you’re freeloading on an employer’s computer, but not if you’re trying to build a solo practice and your boss is sitting in the same chair. I’d fire you.

When I first railed about social media and their lack of utility for building solo practitioner consulting business, the cultists were outraged. Seth Godin told me I wasn’t with it, implied I was just too old, and said I was missing the future. Well, I have seven books appearing over 18 months, my workshops are packed, and I’m speaking on three continents, so apparently I’m not that old and I’m enjoying the future. That’s because I don’t collapse with awe every time a new technology promises a few minutes of fun. (When people can’t argue with you rationally or intellectually, they call you “old” or “arrogant.” When people attack me personally, I know I’ve scored a direct hit.) Some people I see promoting these technologies have personal interests and investments in them, and that’s not objective advice in my book. I’m looking forward to Twitter, where one notable claims he’s following 93,000 people who are following him. That must make for a full day!

Once you’re successful, you have real wealth: discretionary time. At that point you can scuba dive in the Caymans, learn to fly, collect great art, contribute to charities, build new businesses, or spend all day on Facebook. But if you’re not there yet, you can’t do the first five things and shouldn’t be doing the last thing.

Let’s face it.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

Here is what I received today, as just one example, from linkedin. Can someone appreciate the great depth and usefulness of this stimulating, career-enhancing, business-generating value? The people mentioned are lovely, nice people. But, come on….

LinkedIn Network Updates

Feb 18 – Feb 25

FEATURED UPDATES
PROFILE
Florian Kupfer is now Owner at Cenario Marketing

CONNECTIONS
Craig Anderson is now connected to Ronnie Lu , Peter Montague Walsh , and 1 other person.

Lisa Anderson is now connected to DAVID ROGES

Kasper Zom is now connected to Mike van Vliet

STATUS
Jeffrey Summers is preparing for next weeks Restaurant University’s Service & Hospitality seminar. Reply »

Laura Stack is working on her virtual training series http://www.theproductivitypro.com/s_virtual-webinar.htm Reply »

Jackie Nagel is assisting a business start-up with developing her core business principles. Reply »

GROUPS
Craig Anderson has joined 3 groups, including Invest in Vietnam and 21st Century Governance Principles

Steven Iwersen has joined Training Specialists

Curtis Bingham has joined CCNG – Contact Center Network Group

PHOTOS
Carmen Van Kerckhove has uploaded a new profile picture

Laurent Duperval has uploaded a new profile picture

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
James Eaton asked 2 questions about Graphic Design and Web Development

Barb Semeniuk asked How can I conduct a social networking campaign targetting my target audiennce, Health & Safety Professionals on Face Book and LinkedIn?

Barb Semeniuk answered 1 question about Internet Marketing

RECOMMENDATIONS
Karen Fuqua recommends business partner Roberta Chinsky Matuson Owner at Human Resource Solutions Roberta is learned professional in organization development. Her knowledge of generational issues i… Read more

Roberta Chinsky Matuson recommends business partner Karen Fuqua President at Fuqua Consulting Group, LLC Karen is a world-class consultant who is highly regarding by those who have worked with her. Her ene… Read more

Chad Barr was recommended by colleague Mark Davis Unfortunately, I already had a website up and running when I met Chad. However, I hired his team to… Read more

APPLICATIONS
Carol Travis Tucker is about to leave on a trip to Richmond, VA for 12 days, via TripIt .

Costas Papaikonomou is returning from a trip to Taipei, Taiwan, via TripIt .

Steven Iwersen is returning from a trip to Hays, KS, via TripIt .

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