Transitioning from Play to Work

At my last job, they really didn't care how I spent my time as long as I was on target with the goals they set for me.

Social Media was not a means to an end, at least for my bosses. It was just one more thing to do, but the bigger question was, "Why social media?"

Their version of Social Media was Facebook.

And Facebook was either:

1. A waste of time spent that you should be working instead of playing Mafia Wars.
2. A competitor, but not really because who is really going to advertise on Facebook?

A couple of my bosses set up LinkedIn profiles but they were never serious about using the LinkedIn channel for business.

And Twitter? "The Twitter is really stupid and is going to die." Words spoken by one of my former co-workers.

My new employer, Cirrus ABS takes all of this internet stuff more seriously. Net-Centered Marketing is the basis for all the activity that my 30 co-workers do for our clients.

The first couple of weeks that I have been with Cirrus, I have been transitioning from the web and social media being an extra activity in my life to an essential component to my earning a living.

Yes, I will still be my usual self online, but I also now get to offer more than just advice, I get to offer online solutions as I consult with folks about their marketing.

That's why I've added the contact me info below:

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS. You can contact him here:

The Shift

I'm going to move away from just talking about Social Media today to talk about this whole Internet thing.

There has been a shift in behavior by the general population.

That shift is away from Newspapers, away from Phone Books, away from Encyclopedias and traditional books to electronic versions of each of these items.

There was no government mandate saying the publishing industry needed to conserve paper, this happened organically.

And businesses who spent money in these paper products are needing to make some changes, according to Roy H. Williams, in his Monday Morning Memo dated May 16, 2011:

The Internet is electronic print, instantly updatable and deliverable on demand. As such, it has effectively replaced the newspaper, the telephone book, the encyclopedia and the dictionary and it is rapidly replacing the bookstore. Product brochures and catalogues are becoming “virtual,” existing only as backlit images on a screen. Lost your instruction manual? Go online. You can download it as a pdf file.

Slash your Yellow Page budget and get serious about your web presence. Are your business hours and phone number easy to find on your home page? Jeffrey Eisenberg told me recently that a high percentage of visitors to the web sites of local businesses are looking for exactly that information. Don’t frustrate these customers. Put your phone number and your store hours on your home page. Do it.

What does this have to do with Social Media?

You tell me in the comments section.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Who are You, Where are You?

This question includes social media and goes beyond social media too.

When I get a friend or follow type of request on Facebook, Twitter, 4 Square or any of the other social media channels I use, I don't auto-add, I want to know who these people are.

I check their profile, I want to know if they are local, what they do, why they want to connect and in some cases it is for classification purposes.

(Everyone I follow back on Twitter, goes on a list or two.)

So this morning I asked on Twitter:

ScLoHo Scott Howard

Should a company website include what city they are located in? Pros/Cons... What Do U Think?

Almost instantly I got some responses. Here are a few:

bodaciousgirl Heather ツ

Depends on the type of business.

tyler_allen Tyler Allen

absolutely. i like to know who i'm dealing w/, where they are (to judge shipping, etc) & to know they have a "home base" not to mention it shows pride in being local to their community.

jstalter Justin Stalter

I would say it depends on the industry and target market.

bethannbud Bethann Buddenbaum

Contact info should always be on a website. Is the question about the city being featured prominently? If so, depends on target.

patmcgraw patmcgraw

physical location means 'real' 4 many

jonathantullos
To me it makes sense to let people know where you are, especially of the co doesn't do e-commerce.

LAzuber Lauren Zuber

Yes. Not including location would look sketchy to me.

JeanBansemer Jean Bansemer

One con to consider is your city, state, or country's stereotype- especially if your audience is larger than the immediate area.

All of these are good answers. No one is right or wrong, except this one which pretty much sums it up:

ajuliano Anthony Juliano

This is always the answer: only if it's relevant to audience. Most of the time it will be, if only for contact info, but not always.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I want to know as much as possible about someone before I decided to connect with them. And as Anthony said, "if it's relevant to audience."

I am revealing information about myself on these social media channels. I am also deciding if I should follow back.

On my own home page, I give my direct phone number. Some folks warned me against that saying it was crazy, but I've challenged my own clients to forward their business lines to a cell phone for 24 hour emergency customer service. Rarely do I get weird calls and a few times I have been able to take care of a client because they could reach me on the weekend.

One more thought on the matter:

fredcannon Fred Cannon

I think if you're a brick and mortar business, yes. Internet based, less so-do I really care where amazon.com is physically located?

Thanks Fred, that was where I was beginning to go with my thinking too.

If giving a physical location is required to make a business real, then I have plenty of examples to prove that theory wrong which mirrors Fred's question.

Where is You Tube?

Where is Twitter?

Where is Google?

Where is 4 Square?

Where is Angies List?

(answers below)

Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

You Tube: 1000 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA, 94401 Twitter: 795 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Google: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043

4Square: Somewhere in New York City

Angies List: 1030 E. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46202

The Ultimate Goal

...of a website is to be found.

The Ultimate Goal of a Blog is to be found.

The Ultimate Goal of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and most of the other social networks is to be found.

Not found, because you are lost, but found by others that are looking for you or what you have to offer.

Companies paid tens of thousands of dollars 20 years ago for someone to build them a "home on the world wide web".

Then the technology improved and the price dropped at the same time. It was the law of supply and demand.

While the professionals were creating and recreating all of these business websites, I discovered another way to be found.

Blogs. "Blogs" are short for "Web-logs".

By publishing a new article on a regular basis, I discovered that Google started listing me in their search results for certain topics. A few years ago I was on the first page for "Starbucks History".

As I saw these results occurring I learned a few things about how to be found.

For instance, a blog is a website.

And Google likes fresh information, which is what I present on my blogs.

As a matter of fact, I am in the process of weening myself from the term blog because it sounds limiting.

Now despite my own success, I've also discovered something else:

The more I know, the more I discover that I don't know.

So while I can help get you started in establishing your presence online, there may come a time when you need to actually pay someone to really be found.

Depending on your needs, you can pay me, or I will recommend other professionals that have established their own track records for themselves and their clients.

Just remember your Ultimate Goal = Be Found.

You Don't Have To

Despite what others might tell you,

You don't have to be online.

You don't have to be on Facebook.

You don't have to be on Twitter.

You don't have to have a blog, a website, an email address. You really don't.

You can hide from all of this in the name of Privacy.

I know this because a co-worker of mine who we hired at our radio stations 2 years ago had none of these when he started.

Heck, he didn't have a computer and never used one.

He had a successful sales career selling aerial photography for 25 years to farmers.

Then Google came along.

Google Maps and Google Earth basically wiped out his business.

Now those farmers can go online and see their spread free.

So my co-worker started a new career at age 53. Wednesday he turned 55.

He has an email address. But he is functionally illiterate in this computer/internet/social media world.

See, I respect your decision not to participate but...

You are placing yourself at a disadvantage in a world that will be using these tech tools if they are not already.

Age is not the issue. I have another friend who bought his first computer 2 years ago. He is now 69 and doing more than my co-worker with his computer and online.

We have been entering a tech world that is going to separate the connected from the unconnected. And as each year passes that gap will grow wider and wider.

You don't have to know it all, no one does and no one will.

But if you DO want to do this internet/social media thing, there are plenty of free resources, including this website to help you.

I'll be back Monday with more.