I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments. It’s such a vague phrase so casually bandied about, and so open to a variety of interpretations by everyone.

• Understand Your Professional Brand
• Develop Your Voice
• Everything Online is Public
• Listen

Today I’d like to share how I used social media to land a job here at Magnitude Media.

My first step was to take the five and a half hour drive from New York to New Hampshire and attend a Social Media Breakfast to meet local professionals. Face to face networking is invaluable, and I left the event with three strong contacts. As I drove back to New York I knew I needed to be online.

The first step was to consider my personal brand. Who was Doug Ridley? How was I going to represent myself online?

To help answer this surprisingly difficult question, I unplugged. I brainstormed, talked with myself, talked with friends, mind mapped my strengths, and evaluated my values. With so many interests and skills, I needed to focus my message.

I wanted to be seen as an energetic young professional full of ideas. I wanted to be everywhere, interested in everything social, and share as much information as possible. I chose to use certain networks professionally, while leaving others for friends and family.

Coming from a camp background I had spent the past three years developing and using a conversational tone of voice online. I knew that this voice was perfect for networking. I wanted to be approachable and not use dry, faceless rhetoric.

Setting up a presence on a social network was important. I wanted to ensure my bio was optimized correctly and that I was on the networks that would give me the most bang for my buck. Most importantly I took the time to customize my privacy settings so that I was sharing appropriate content with the correct audience. Needless to say, I spent an entire evening untagging myself from photos.

As I began entering different social networks. I listened, a lot. I sought out people’s opinions and ideas. I learned the dynamic of certain online communities and used that knowledge to met people online and in person. In the end, listening eventually turned into sharing. As someone who was looking for a job, sharing content and ideas was something that I did all the time. I didn’t worry about giving away all my great ideas. My goal was to position myself as a knowledgeable, up and coming, young professional.

By being present online and developing a presence online, I was able to move from job seeker to strong candidate for social media positions.

For an in depth look at putting these pieces together I hope you’ll join me for my upcoming class on November 30th - Job Hunting For Young Professionals. I’m thinking that the third part of this series will follow up with the conversation from that night.

Doug Ridley Live Tweets and Live Facebooks NHFF 2011

Using social media during your next event will help build attendance and awareness.

What are some things to consider when planning to use social media during an event?

Here are the top 10 things I considered when tweeting for the New Hampshire Film Festival this month. Throughout the event I was able to connect with fans, monitor trends, and share moments of the festival aimed at connecting festival goers and others. Having someone dedicated to sharing throughout the festival helped build awareness and strengthen the bond with current fans.

1. Make sure people know how to connect

It’s important to share with everyone how they can connect with you during an event. Make sure to be clear on what networks you’ll be monitoring and sharing from. Your social invitation should be shared on all event material let people know where you’ll be. For the festival this was done on Twitter using the hashtag #NHFF11.

2. Be clear about the story you want to tell

Now that your fans know how to connect with you. What is the story that you’ll be sharing throughout your event. By understanding the strengthens of the networks and how to best utilize them you’ll attract more fans that are passionate about sharing your story. For the film festival we shared film buzz as well as the social aspect of the festival such as parties, sightings, etc…

3. Let your online networks know who you are

Encourage them to come up and share with you in person during the event. This will lead to more stories that you can share online.

4. Understand the difference in how content is shared on different networks

Make sure you use the different social networks to their best capabilities. For the festival we tweeted a few times an hour, but on Facebook we posted just a few times a day.

5. Understand the schedule

Know the schedule of events and run through the event in your head so you know where to be and for what. Before an event I always run through the day in my head. I want to make sure that I know when different story opportunities will be and what type of stories I should be prepared to share. This will lessen moments where you may be caught off guard or miss something special to share.

6. Find the unique things to share

This goes back to number two about knowing the story you want share. Most of time unique moments are spontantious, but be ready to share them when they happen.

7. Make others outside of your event feel like they were there

Give the people that may be following your event the opportunity to participate and feel like they were at the event. This will build their excitement and hopefully entice them to come the following year.

8. Have a dedicated sharer

Choosing who you’d like responsible for sharing during an event is important. You need someone who understands the brand, the ins and outs of the event, and has the initiative to travel around and insert themselves throughout the event.

9. Strike up a conversation online

Some of your posts should come full circle. Make sure you’re asking your fans what they think, or to get involved in what’s happening at an event. By opening up the conversation you become less of a billboard and more human.

10. Don’t stop and plan to continue communicating with fans a few days after an event.

Make sure that you have the necessary tools to keep communicating with fans about the event for a few days after. People will continue to share photos and stories and you want to make sure that you’re present to reshare them and to thank them.

Have you used social media for a live event? What advice would you offer?

Editor’s note: Doug did not put a photo of himself on his own post – I did. It seemed apropos. -lp

As the job market continues its volatility, it’s more important than ever for students to position themselves as well-connected, knowledgeable candidates. Students today have grown up with social networks not as a tool, but an extension of their daily lives. By using these already familiar networks students can gain a head start when entering their professional field.

The natural purpose of social networks, connecting people, is the perfect tool for students to use when networking. Before starting there are a few things to consider when developing a professional presence.

Understand Your Professional Brand

Merriam-Webster defines brand as, “a characteristic or distinctive kind.”

What makes you distinct, what sets you apart from the crowd? It’s important to remember everything you post online represents your personal brand. Take the time to think about how you want to be perceived online. Everything from your bio, photo, content, comments, etc… is a part of your brand. When developing these ideas be honest; this is you understanding yourself.

Develop Your Voice

Is your voice conversational, is it whimsical, or is it straight and factual? Developing your voice will help you focus what you share and how you share it. Each element that you select will have an effect on you’re brand and who you’ll connect with. Again just like your brand, your voice is about understanding yourself and the types of connections you’d like to make.

Everything Online is Public

Even though you’ve locked down your privacy settings, assume everything you share online is public. You’ve taken the time to build your brand and develop a voice, don’t tarnish it with an unprofessional comment or photo. That’s all I’ll say on that topic.

Listen

Listening is the key element when joining an online community. Spend time introducing yourself and listening to what others are sharing. Understanding what’s important to a group of people is key for making future connections with members. By taking the time to listen you’ll also identify which groups will be the most rewarding to network with. Not all groups are created equal.

By considering these points students can establish themselves as well-connected and position themselves for job opportunities in the future. In my next post, I’ll describe how I used these points in landing my job here at Magnitude Media.

Developing relationships
Brand recognition
Customer loyalty
Marketing

But when developing your social media strategy it’s important not to loose sight of who’s communicating face-to-face with your customers in your store: your front-line staff. Make sure to include them in the conversation.

Ask for your staffs’ insight when it comes to sharable content

When it comes to the day-to-day relationships your company has with customers, your front-line staff are the stars. It doesn’t matter if they are baristas, receptionists, salesmen, etc… they know what’s important to customers. Asking them for content ideas will give them the opportunity to connect with your strategy and provide a unique insight for planning.

Educate staff on the strategy and promotions

Social media success relies on everyone. Don’t leave your front-line staff in the dark; let them help you achieve your goals. This is especially true when it comes to promotions. If you’re posting a “20% off discount for Twitter followers” or a Foursquare Special make sure that your staff knows the ins and outs of the promo and how to appropriately honor the discount. This will make for knowledgeable staff and happy customers.

Develop a system for sharing content with staff

After reading your content, front-line staff are mostly likely who customers will see first . Make sure staff have access to what you’re sharing. You want them to hold a conversation about a posted topic not give a blank stare.

When it comes to the success of your social media front-line staff are key players. Make sure they are engaged and know what’s happening.

What are ways you are including staff in your social media policy?

1) Forcing their employees to get personal accounts on a variety of social media services such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and more.  This is uncool for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that social media use is a very personal choice for people, and not the right choice for everyone.

2) Forcing these employees to then a) give the account info to customers for connecting in addition to the company account info, instead of just giving folks access to the company accounts and b) to use their personal accounts to promote the company.  No, no, no. This is all kinds of not ok!

3) Requiring password access to the employee accounts. Employees – do not give your employer access to your personal account this way. Stand your ground. By giving the employer or employer’s representative this kind of access you essentially allow them to impersonate you at will on social networks, if they are especially evil, and to see your private interactions and info if they are somewhat less evil. Even if they have it and never use it, really – how can you think this is ever ok? Defend your space and your right to a personal life separate from your workplace.

Companies, you have no right to require your employees to use social media, much less to use it in their own name then to promote you under their name.  That crosses a line.  It violates boundaries, and in some cases enables cheating on social networks, among other things.

Personal accounts are none of the business of the… business as long as the employee doesn’t defame them, and it should be the employee’s choice to represent the company in that venue and not be required to be used for the company.

Instead, simple employee guidelines should be in place as part of the company employee manual for those who do have personal social accounts how to represent the company should they CHOOSE to do so and how to handle disgruntled ex employees and other issues, and employees should be given posting access to the main company profiles and instructed to post using their initials under the company umbrella instead.

Companies if you’d like help navigating the tricky waters of bringing employees online and having them help man the official company accounts, reach out for it.  But for pete sake don’t invade your employees’ lives just to make a buck.  It’s actually worse than automating social using tools like PAL, and you all know how I (and your customers) feel about soulless automation.

While I was listening, I also turned off all of my online filters. I do that periodically to make sure I am in touch with how the internet and social media appear to someone who may be new at it.

Some of the things I saw people new to this more social, more vocal, more prolific internet struggle with include:

• Repetition
• Relevancy
• Source Trust
• Filtering
• Time Management
• Boundaries
• Data Ownership
• Legal Issues
• Human Resources Issues
• Tool Choice
• Engagement Levels
• Rate of Return

That means over the next few posts I’ll try and address these issues in such a way that you and your business can glean benefit. I want to give you steps toward being online without sinking your business from spinning your wheels.  I do this at least once every year, and I am always so happy when it’s time to turn my own filters back on.  Interestingly, I also noticed a dramatic increase in the number of web savvy people who are starting to buckle under the weight of shifting filter needs as well, so I won’t be leaving the more advanced users out of these posts.

If you or your company struggle with these issues and more, and want to know how this internet and mobile focused word can help you reach success in spite of it’s challenges, you can trust us to help you navigate your way through and build a stronger business.

Have you noticed you get distracted by the very minds who inspired you in the first place? It’s not always just a coincidence. In some cases, it’s intentional. In other cases, it’s more benign – a thought leader, as they become called, wants to keep generating ideas and sometimes simply doesn’t think of the impact it may have on the person the ideas touch. Other times, they do. A Gary Vaynerchuk or a Chris Brogan** or others say they are “redrawing” or “refocusing” or “going beyond crushing it” and “stepping up their game” or [insert other vague yet seemingly positive language] here.

It makes you feel inadequate. It makes you feel left behind. It makes you feel like you aren’t moving fast enough. It makes you feel as though you have to keep up with the Joneses. It makes you stop focusing on your goal.

Did you know that the skill I use the most in my job is my education in psychology? Did you know that distraction, envy and inadequacy are very effective techniques for sidelining the competition? Did you know that in this new economy with these new tools, at this rapid pace technology flies, you are just as much competition as the heavy hitters who have come before?

If you didn’t know that before, know it now. Listen to the “thought leaders” when it helps you, but check in with yourself daily. Make sure your eyes stay on your prize and stop thinking you have to veer off your track each time someone with a bigger megaphone tries something new. Should you stop innovating? No. Should you innovate wisely and according to what works for your resources? Yes.

Now get back to work, hustle, and stop letting me distract you.

* Yes, they are Amazon affiliate links. I read a book a day – it helps me feed my addiction.

** I adore Chris, Gary, Steve and the rest of my colleagues. They are awesome. You should still focus on what’s good for you and your business above all else.

The talk that inspired me and the Twitter friend’s blog I heard it from

If you do nothing else, make yourself aware of where you are online. We’re looking for you where we are already, as potential customers.

• Have a Facebook Fan Page, not a personal profile for your business. (And make sure you enable your business page wall to show everyone’s posts, not just yours.)

• Claim your business on Foursquare, Gowalla (and other location based services). Don’t know what I’m talking about? Google “location based services”.

• Claim your business on review sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor and more. Sure it’s scary to let people be honest, but it also gives you room for improvement to be available on these sites.

• Pay attention to your customers. Listen to them talking about what they do online. Do they love email in your establishment? Go with Constant Contact or Blue Sky Factory and do email campaigns. Do they text constantly while they sit and eat? You need JitterGram or another text based awareness service. Listen. Your customers are giving you clues.

These are what I would consider the basics right now in social media for a restaurant. Things you can do on your own with very little technical knowledge. Even with low to no engagement, doing these things will passively help your business by making it easier for those of us who do engage to share when we interact with your establishment in some way.