Twitter Guilt

When I first discovered Twitter, I was in awe of the way I could learn from reading the articles curated by the people I chose to follow. After carefully selecting a group of people I could count on to post links to interesting and relevant material, I linked my Twitter feed to Flipboard on my iPad and conscientiously read every article.

It was not enough to passively absorb this information. I also retweeted favorite articles from my feed and Tweeted new links to articles I found though my RSS feed and Google Alerts. Not long after blogging about how to Tweet to Expertise last October, I discovered a problem with the process.  As I gained more followers and followed many back, my feed gradually grew too lengthy to follow closely.

Initially, I allocated more time to following Twitter, but that time also filled up. Eventually, I gave up and focused my reading on the blogs in my RSS feed. I continued to generate Tweets and respond to mentions, but otherwise ignored my Twitter feed.

Creating Tweets, but not reading anyone else's, gave me a strong case of Twitter Guilt. It seemed hypocritical.  Even though I often Tweeted content from the blogs I follow most, I never saw or retweeted any of my friend's posts. I also discovered that the variety of my reading had dropped because many of the people I follow are better at curating content than creating their own.

The best cure for a case of Twitter Guilt is a Twitter List!  I have created a short list of people that I will follow closely.  These friends and sages are the people that share information that is interesting to me.  I will add and subtract from the list from time to time, but I will keep the list short enough that I can actually follow it and read the links in the time I have available.

Who is on your favorite Twitter List?

The Dark Side of Social Media

Today I would like to identify a new form of mental illness. Although it is not currently on the list of proposed modifications to the DSM-V* scheduled for publication next year, Social Media Stress Syndrome (SMSS) is a new and pervasive disorder that could easily turn into a pandemic.

The essential feature of Social Media Stress Syndrome is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity and  a need for admiration that begins upon joining Facebook and expands across a variety of social media platforms. Individuals with this Syndrome have a grandiose sense of self-importance which often shows in the superior tone of their blog posts. They may feel that they can only be understood by, and should only share posts from other people who are special or of high status.

Individuals with this order are obsessed with their Klout score, SEO rankings and monthly page views on their sites. They believe their knowledge and understanding is special and must be shared on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and when images are involved, Pinterest.

Vulnerability in self-esteem makes individuals with Social Media Stress Syndrome very sensitive to “injury” from criticism or a lack of retweets. Although they may not show it outwardly, a Facebook post without any likes may haunt these individuals and leave them feeling frustrated, hollow and empty. Sustained feelings of incompetence and the attendant self-criticism may be associated with social withdrawal, depressed mood and Dysthymic or Major Depressive Disorder.

Individuals with SMSS traits are encouraged to engage employment in the field of Social Media Marketing where their symptoms can be allowed to flourish full time. Those who find that they can no longer keep up with their Twitter feeds and need to spend more than an hour a day reviewing their Facebook news feed need to take the following steps:

Remember that you will receive no hate mail if you don’t tweet today!

Turn off the podcast on Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders and listen to some music!

Do not check your page views today!

Put down Steve’s biography and read some fiction!

Understand that you will never save Apple or start Facebook and that’s OK!

Keep your sense of humor about life, the universe and everything!

Don’t Panic! 

Cross Marketing in the Social Era

Handshake Drawing by Aiden Jones

In today’s complex economy, companies with complementary products can help each other by cross promoting each other on social media sites. Here are four easy ways to support and grow these relationships.

Create a Partners Webpage

The partners page on your website should link to other companies whose products complement yours and explain how they work together. Since customers who are at either site are probable prospects for the other, these links are particularly helpful.

Post a News Article or Blog Post

Use the news sections of your websites to post an article about how the products or services complement each other and how using both together benefits your customer. If you want a broader reach, consider posting the news release to a web news service like PRWeb.

Follow Each Other on Social Sites

Make sure the connection between your companies is visible on all the major social media sites. Like each other’s Facebook pages and follow each other on Twitter and any other sites that both companies use. Key members of each team should connect to each other on LinkedIn.

Share Content

Pay attention to each other’s social media posts and stay engaged. Hit the like button on articles you find interesting and make comments when you have something to add to the conversation. Articles with particularly useful information should be shared on your own feed.

These four steps make it clear to your customers that each company can work well with the other and will drive demand for each.

How are you using social media in your cross marketing campaigns?

5 Reasons You Should Be on Pinterest

If you are involved in any image or graphic centric field, you need to be on Pinterest.  Pinterest is a rapidly growing social network where people “pin” their favorite images to virtual boards to share with their friends. When people see an image they particularly like, they can “repin” it to one of their own Pinterest boards. Here are five reasons why you need to join:

1. Entertainment - If you enjoy art, photography or design, what could be more fun or refreshing than spending a few minutes each day looking at the images selected by your friends?

2. Community - Like any social network, Pinterest is a way to find and interact with people who share a common interest in a particular type of imagery. Online interactions strengthen real world connections and often lead to new real world connections.

3. Discovery - New trends in design and photography will be visible on Pinterest long before they are reported in the mainstream press. If you make a point to follow the trendsetters in your field, you will be able to see the evolution in their artistic sensibilities as it happens.

4. Exhibition - The items that you choose to post and repin demonstrate your tastes and skills to your followers. Over time, you will gather a collection of followers who appreciate your unique point of view.

5. Optimization - When you pin images from your own website or blog to a Pinterest board, the image links back to your own site. Those links and the links from every repin will lead people to your site and improve your search engine results.

Your strategy on Pinterest should be, to quote Seth Godin, to be interested and interesting. No different than any other social interaction.

Here is a link to my boards on Pinterest. As you will see, my interests include portraits, places, paintings and photo book ideas.

Hansol Kim is someone I enjoy following on Pinterest.

What are your thoughts on Pinterest?

Retweet or Retire?

 I recently listened as a sales executive described the difficulty that she is having in filling an open sales position. Her company is in a period of transition as they replace a simple and declining set of products with more complex products requiring technical understanding. She had interviewed a number of personable candidates with industry experience, but when she discussed the changes happening in her industry, they were lost with a “deer in the headlights” look.

Are experienced sales and management professionals and making themselves unemployable by refusing to embrace current business and communication methods? In today’s world, all but the most basic products are software driven and impacted by network and web connections in some manner.  A sales lead is more likely to come from a text message, Tweet, LinkedIn connection, Facebook chat or an email than through a telephone call.

Many younger workers are digital natives who embrace new technologies without fear or hesitation because they have used similar tools their entire life.  Many other people have jumped in with enthusiasm to learn and master a connected lifestyle. But what happens to those who don’t bother to keep their skills up to date.

During the 1990s, a website became a litmus test for the viability of a “real company.”  A company that didn’t have a nice website of their own was considered suspect, too small to be of any real importance.  We may be on the verge of a similar test for individuals.  Is a person who doesn’t have a complete LinkedIn profile too out of touch to employ? Is hiring someone in the 21st century without strong social network skills analogous to hiring someone in the 20th century who couldn’t use a telephone.

It’s usually not difficult to stay up to date on the latest technologies in your own industry. And the most popular social networking sites are free.  It really boils down to making a decision and a commitment.

In what areas are you falling behind the times?  What is your plan for catching up?