Category

Social Media

Jun 09
Love0

Kickstarting a Local Radio Show

By Social Media

Wendy Edwards is no stranger to radio, with a long career in broadcasting alongside others, co-hosting, co-producing, and performing as on-air talent. Wendy’s going solo, with a radio show that she’s dreamed of hosting for many years. Wendy is the host of Conversations with Wendy, an emotionally intelligent, engaging entertainer and connector of people, Wendy brings to the air a talk show that encourages people to live their best lives. The weekly, hour-long show features real people sharing their stories of overcoming adversity, celebrating unique cultures, living well in our community, and applauding individuality. With your support, Conversations with Wendy will continue helping people be heard, making community connections, and highlighting the stories that matter.

Find out more about Wendy’s Kickstarter to keep the show on the air, and please make a donation today!

 

 

Apr 21
Love0

From the Field: A Question About Accepting LinkedIn Contacts

By Social Media

From the Jaggers Communications World Headquarters Inbox:

 

What advice do you have as far as accepting/not accepting LinkedIn invites from people that one has little or no connection with? I’ve got about 15 sitting in my mailbox that I’m just ignoring. How close a connection should there be? I know some folks out there will just accept an invite from anybody, as there are folks who send invites out to all their connections’ connections. Is there an advantage or disadvantage either way?

Answer:

Definitely ignore them if you don’t know them. Here’s the test to perform: think if I ask you about the person you’re considering accepting – I see that you’re connected to them and want to know what you think of them as a plumber/CPA/math tutor/web designer and you look at your connection and have to tell me you don’t know them outside of being connected on LinkedIn. You don’t want to have to do that. My advice is to know the people to whom you’re connected enough to say that you think they are good at their job/are pleasant to work with/be in a group with/seemed to do well in school … other than that, just hit ignore.

Apr 18
Love0

How the Intersection of the Professional and Personal Makes a Bigger Impact

By Social Media

I’ve spent the last two weeks working my way through most of the executives in a single client. We’ve been, in small groups, or one-on-one, making sure that each executive has a LinkedIn profile that is complete, and represents the company in the way the company wants to be represented. I enjoy these sessions because it gives me the opportunity to get to know individuals within a client team. I’d never know what I’ve learned about the people inside the company if I didn’t have the chance to meet with them like this. It helps us get into the real story of the company and the people who create it.

When it gets down to the backgrounds of people who have worked in their industry for, sometimes, more than 30 years, it’s fascinating what you learn. One executive confessed she wished she’d become a nurse, instead. Another told me of his passion for singing in his church choir. I’ve learned about the nonprofit organizations these people support in their spare time, and the reasons why they chose their career path that led them to this point. Every single one has an interesting story.

In these sessions, colleagues end up getting to know one another better. The employees begin to share more about themselves, what they do, what they know, and what they like about their work. They become more accessible. The community notices this, particularly when those team members start sharing that information online, through the company blog, on LinkedIn, on Facebook or wherever they choose to engage.

It’s really interesting to watch it happen. As soon as the team takes those first steps they start to see the benefit — they’re delighted by the new information they have, the reconnecting of past relationships and the forming of new ones. I’m glad I have a small role in that transformation.

Apr 15
Love0

Basic Training for Businesses

By Social Media

Linkedin Fail Spelling

 

Most of my firm’s engagement with businesses begins with over-arching strategy. We work together to develop a plan for the organization’s communications so the company can achieve its goals. As we begin, an audit of the company’s online presence ensues, and it always — ALWAYS — reveals some, er, opportunities for improvement.

Basic Training for Your Business

There are a few items that are long overlooked, that most (OK, every) companies we’ve helped have needed to tackle:

  1. How does your company look online, particularly in the business networking space. Do your employees use LinkedIn? How have the represented your organization there? Is it consistent? Are they representing your business in a professional, knowledgeable manner?
  2. Do your company representatives have head shots? Were they taken, last, in 1985 in an Olan Mills studio? Time for an update.
  3. Please tell me your company has a website. OK. Who has access to it, and do they know how to update its content?
  4. What kind of traffic does your company website have — and WHY? What is attracting people to your company’s overall online presence? Is it what you want it to be?
  5. Do you know  how to monitor what’s being said about your brand, your employees, your business online? Someone needs to, and several people need to be trained in the right ways to be both responsive AND proactive.

Don’t worry — you’re not alone in your business needing to get down to these basics, but you’ll find once your leadership embraces these, and begins to take on each one, you can return to the business of strategically making progress toward your communications goals, without the kinds of obstacles that drive your audience away.