How To Create Community Using Social Media
December 3, 2009
Alright I’m the first to admit that I thought Twitter was the most ridiculous thing in the world and completely irrelevant for my business. I remember saying to my colleagues, “Don’t even tell me about it!” I wrote it off as one of those Hollywood fads that was made for those who enjoy silly snippets of conversation.
But much to my complete surprise, social media forums like Twitter and Facebook have become a central pillar of my business communications. Who knew!
What I love about Twitter and Facebook is that we can now have conversations with just about anyone in the world, about anything. Personally I don’t write those posts that tell people what I’m having for breakfast or the fact that my dog just went out and “did potty.” But those aren’t things that I talk about anyway, so why would I post them on Twitter!
Many people get put off by these kinds of conversations but what I say to you is if you don’t enjoy those kinds of conversations, then find ones that you do enjoy. Seek out what is relevant and interesting to you and then start to connect. Now how do you do that?
Well if you’re like me I get overwhelmed easily by too much data and there is no way that I want to be reading 9 million status updates a day. So I just trust that wherever I land is where I’m meant to connect, or I search out certain types of people and start to follow them. But my personal secret to fulfillment in social media is that I make all of my connections very personal, or at least as much as I can.
I’m not an anonymous type person, so why should I want thousands of people following me that I don’t care about? I wouldn’t. As much as I can, I try to connect with people individually because that alone makes me feel like I’m building community.
Personal, individual contact is the key to feeling like you’re part of something. We all want to feel connected and we need to be part of the bigger human family, so I make that my personal goal rather than just racking up the numbers.
And I’ve had great success at this. I have a wonderful following both on Twitter and Facebook but more than that, I have built connections with interesting people from all over the world.
I’ve spoken on the phone to several that I met on Twitter and in a few weeks I will be hosting a special Radio Show with two wonderful storytelling colleagues from Barcelona, Spain whom I met on Twitter. Who would have ever thought!
So can you have fun and fulfillment on social media? The answer is yes. No it’s never as good as in person contact and obviously I don’t want to be dating this way or having all of my social life online, but hey, the bigger the global family the better.
Try it today and see if you aren’t Tweeting a Happy Tune sooner than you thought and if you need any tips, feel free to contact me!
Yours in building community connections,
Annie
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The Top 10 Status Updates That Will Make My Sister Delete You From Facebook
November 20, 2009
My older sister is hilarious and tells it like it is. She has these funny rants about life that make me pee myself. The other day she was on a rant about deleting people on Facebook and it caused quite a stir. People were messaging her and saying, “You’re not going to delete me are you?”
I even got worried myself! I thought - what if my own sister decides to axe me and I don’t know about it? So I told her that she needs some criteria so we can all know if we’re on the butcher block or not. Her top ten reasons made me laugh so hard that I had to run to the little room!
you may be next!
#1 “My wonderful,sweet hubby just bought me flowers,jewelry and is taking me to dinner out at our favorite cozy,romantic bistro.”
Try being married longer than 2 months and then lets see what you post..”My husband put the toilet seat down (after I pulled my pistol on him)”! The competitive side in me wants to post my status right after hers with something like “My successful PHYSICIAN husband,just bought me a diamond bracelet,a new Mercedes,and is flying me to Paris for dinner.” So there you idiot. DELETE!
#2 “The baby kicked.”
Who cares! Why not tell us when you have your next bowel movement too. DELETE!
#3 “What did I ever do before my adorable grandchildren came into this world?”
These are always accompanied with endless photos of Patsy and Junior doing every darn adorable little thing from taking a freakin bath to picking their adorable little noses. Let’s start seeing posts about those adorable tots when they grow up-accompanied by photos such as “Spike on his way to rehab (finally)!” “Sissy graduating from beauty college!” DELETE!
#4 “Another lazy day laying on the white sands of Aruba on our 5th family vacation this year.”
How about a post such as “The family just piled into the car for a trip to I HOP,our 5th time this week!” DELETE!
#5 “Being thankful to The Lord Jesus Christ,our Savior, who died for our sins and brought eternal salvation.”
Sheesh.Where’s the humor in that? People who only bring on doom and gloom have no place in my friend list. DELETE!
#6 “Why??”
Huh?Why what? What are you saying? Why do you post this,so we all have to wonder till someone asks,and then you say to them that you will send them a PRIVATE message to explain? Leave me hanging like that. DELETE!
#7 “Lunch”
This isn’t Twitter,pal! Why don’t you start clogging up my FB with more updates since I have nothing better to do than read what you do every 15 minutes. DELETE!
#8 “My grandfather just had his yellowed,in -grown toenail removed ,but is now having issues with a recurring fungus.”
And you are giving us this detailed, revolting info so we can vomit while reading? DELETE!
#9 I just baked a glazed nut -encrusted torte,cleaned my large home,and my elderly neighbor’s too,finished pruning my prize winning roses,and am off to chair my charity group meeting.”
Forgot to mention to us that you also snuck in some time to POST all this on FB so we can feel like the lazy,computer dwelling slobs we are ? DELETE!
#10 “Tanning and working out! Love it!”
Why not tell us that all you really do is work on yourself, have no other thoughts in your head and then post about it? Love it! DELETE!
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Outstanding People Stories: Meet Chuck Hester
November 9, 2009
In the world of online marketing and networking what I don’t need is one more sales pitch - the all-too-common, “Hey, I have a great offer for you” greeting that many people on the social networks use makes me want to recycle my lunch.
That’s why I was delighted when I read the refreshing new book by Chuck Hester. In all 54 pages of his tiny treasure, he never once tried to sell me anything! He didn’t even try to sell me the book because I found out about it through my reliable mentor Bea Fields.
So friends, I’d like you to meet wonderful human being Chuck Hester. Chuck is changing the dynamics in online social networking with his pay it forward approach to connecting.
Chuck’s book, “Linking In To Pay It Forward” with the byline, “this is not your Daddy’s business book,” shares Chuck’s unique approach to creating a social network by asking the simple question, “How can I be of service to you?”
It’s a small enjoyable book that I read in an evening. But what is most outstanding about the book is not so much what Chuck says, but his philosophy to life and business. Believe it or not folks, Chuck actually believes in sharing with people in the online business world, not to get, but to give.
I’m not just talking about that kind of ‘let me pretend to give you something so I can really get something from you’ mentality. You know the one I’m talking about?
That’s not Chuck. No. When I read his book I could feel that he is genuine. I was so happy to find this philosophy that I reached out and emailed Chuck the very next morning. He says in the back of his book to please contact him and after reading his book, so I did.
Chuck wrote me right back with a lovely note and we struck up the beginning of a genuine connection. I love that!
Chuck is definitely making a difference in the world with his philosophy. He applies the concept of paying it forward, which means to do good things for others without expecting anything in return. As a master networker, he uses this in the world of social networking and he’s had amazing results.
In a world where it seems that everyone is out to get something, Chucks pay it forward philosophy stands out in the crowd. I believe that this is the wave of the future and it can’t be faked. You’ve got to truly mean it and I believe Chuck does.
Chuck and his wife Stephanie have hosted Linkedin Live Raleigh, a networking event that regularly attracts more than 350 professionals and helps others to pay it forward in person. It’s obvious that people really want and need the power of genuine human connection.
He has a wonderful blog, the Pay It Forward Chronicles where he shares his stories of paying it forward. Chuck has generated a network of 9,500 contacts on LinkedIn alone and whenever he goes to a new city, he often meets one of his LinkedIn contacts in person. He helps us to see that it truly is a small and connected world.
Chuck thank you for the difference you are making in the world of social media. You bring back the heart and humanness which we all need.
I hope you will join Chuck and I on my Radio Show next Friday, November 20th at 12:30 pm EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/inspiringchangethroughstory.
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Tackling Technology: Tips From A Former Technophobe
October 28, 2009
From Annie:
This week I wrote an article for my local paper in which I shared the story of my business success using blogging and social media. Wow, I would never have predicted that I would be a person to to overcome my fears of technology and go so far. But thanks to Bea Fields and her wonderful blogging course, I am more than happy to share this story.
From Bea Fields:
Less than 10 months ago, Annie Hart dug her heels in and told her friend Jeff Simpkins …”No way will I ever want to blog…I can’t do that.”
She then caved into peer pressure from Jeff (Jeff is a super salesman!) and signed up for the Become a Blogging Maniac program.
Not only has she become a a blogging maniac, she is now actually speaking to and teaching others in her local community about blogging and the use of technology as tools to reach a wider audience. And, she is being sought out by others for her storytelling expertise and is in the early stages of writing a book…wow…what a transformation!
So, Annie is now being sought out by the media for her story on being a former technophobe who is now a techno-wonder kid! Here you go…an article in the Chestnut Hill Local in Philadelphia, PA by the title of Tackling Technology: Tips from A Former Technophobe by Annie Hart. Congrats Annie!
If Annie can do this, so can you!
From Annie: My success was so surprising and unexpected and I feel committed to helping others overcome their fears of technology as well. I plan to write several more articles for my local paper and even launch an initiative to help my community work together for our collective business success. I hope my story inspires you to know what’s possible in your business. Feel free to contact me.
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From My Guest Blogger Greg: “Humanizing Twitter”
October 16, 2009
I posted a blog post this week about having fun on Twitter and made a new friend instantly through the post! That is one of the things that I love most about Twitter is that neat and interesting people show up. I met web developer Greg Falken who uses Twitter a lot and liked my approach, so I asked him to share a little bit about his philosophy of Twitter. I especially love his metaphor about thinking about Twitter like being at a party. Thanks Greg for the useful tips and being part of the Twitter flock!
Twitter is pretty darned geeky. It’s full of symbols and jargon and half the time you can’t even tell if you’re being tweeted by a human or a robot. People wonder, with good reason, how they can possibly get anything useful, let alone humane, out of the untold number of tweets that pass through the system every day.
The first thing that I tell new Twitter users (after, “you won’t know if it’s a stupid idea or not until you try it”) is that they don’t have to read every tweet that comes through their account. Everything prior to a few minutes ago is water under the bridge. Unless it mentions you or is a direct message to you, in which case you need to keep track of and respond to it. Every Twitter client and the web site makes this easy to do.
Next, you need to follow a group of people who you find interesting or with whom you have common interests; people who you would like to talk to. Think of Twitter like a crowded party. The conversations flow around you and you can choose which ones to focus on and where to join in. If you’ve chosen your party (the people you’re following) well, this can be both entertaining and informative. If you’re at a party with a lot of obnoxious drunks…well, that can be less pleasant. Remember, you get to choose who you follow. If someone follows you and you don’t follow them back, it’s like they don’t exist. If you follow someone who you later decide to un-follow, they’ll get over it.
When you do decide to join a conversation, knowing some of Twitter’s somewhat quirky conventions will help you be better understood.
- The @ symbol. Including @username anywhere in your tweet will cause it to show up in that person’s list of “mentions”. If @username is the first thing in the tweet (i.e. @ is the first character), the tweet will only be visible to the recipient and anyone who follows both of you. So, when you want your tweet to go into the general Twitter stream and be noticed by an individual, include @username somewhere after the first character of the tweet.
- Hash tags. Hash tags were not a part of Twitter’s original release. People using the service found that they needed a way of identifying words to search on and settled on prefixing them with a hash (#) symbol. When you include a hash tag in a tweet, you are inviting people to search for that tag. For example, if I tweet about health care reform and include the hash tag #hcr, I can be sure that my tweet will show up in a lot of search results, in addition to my followers seeing it. Use the search box on Twitter.com to find commonly used hash tags. Brand names are also commonly used. If a company is paying attention, they should be monitoring for any usage of their name in a hash tag and respond to you. Sadly, this is not often the case.
- Retweets. Another instance of the users of Twitter coming up with a convention, in this case the letters “RT” followed by the @username of the original sender (so they will know that they’ve been retweeted). You can either retweet verbatim or edit it a bit and add your own comments. I like to put comments at the end, prefixed with <–.
- Links. If you use Twitter’s web site, URLs are automatically made clickable but they are not shortened, eating into your 140 character limit. Most of the 3rd party Twitter clients, either desktop or web-based, will shorten URLs using a service (4th party?) like bit.ly or tr.im.
Once you do start talking on Twitter, be a good conversationalist. You want people’s response to your tweets to be either, that was helpful or that was interesting or both. It’s not always easy to write stories in 140 characters or less but it can be done with practice. Here are some good examples:
Rain in DC this morning is mean to all who pass. The bones in my feet will be cold all day.
@jdickersonFish communicate through farts http://bit.ly/2ybLKD
@slateDidn’t realize I flew in on the same flight as @tmonhollon from Oklahoma. Okies represent! #bwe09
@BeckyMcCrayBreaking: Tipped off by Stockholm that he was about to be branded euro-wimp peacenik, Obama ordered NASA to bomb moon.
@Roland_Hedley
Be nice, give credit where credit is due and remember, more than 20 tweets a day and people will think you have way to much time on your hands.
Greg Falken is a web developer living and working in the Central Sierras of California and is a partner in webdancers. His focus is on the intersection of computers, the Internet and communications, especially social media. He blogs at GregFalken.com.
Photo by: Eileen Maher
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You Can Have Fun Tweeting on Twitter
October 10, 2009
You Can Have Fun Tweeting On Twitter!
Several times in the last few days a friend has contacted me and asked, “How are you using Twitter? You seem to be having so much fun.”
The answer is - I am having fun. Who knew this would be the case only 6 months ago when I began my foray into the world of social networking.
Last spring I took a marketing course for independent professionals. In the room with me were 25 cool folks who knew so much more than me in just about every area. I was intimidated. I have alot of expertise in certain areas, but marketing isn’t one of them. So I was feeling pretty overwhelmed.
I heard them all talking about the latest tools of technology I remember thinking, “That just not for me.”
But when the conversation got around to Twitter I just couldn’t hold back anymore and I burst out saying, “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I will never ever be using Twitter.” I would be eating those words less than six months later.
I began using it because the people that I had made friends with in the course were using it with great success. Since they were all credible people, I got curious and decided to try it for myself.
I began slowly at first, not really having any idea what I was doing. I decided to just foray on my own instead of asking anyone how to do. I wanted to brave the wilds of Twitter by myself and discover how it could work for me.
It took me awhile to figure out what the heck I was doing but strangely I developed a good following within only a few months and they were really interesting and relevant people. How cool!
I didn’t let any porn stars follow me or any of the over-the-top-super-mega- marketers that aren’t providing anything useful. I decided that I wanted to build a network of people that I would be happy to know. That was a good decision on my part. I have enjoyed connecting with quite a few people in the Twitterverse.
I posted all my blog posts and even my Radio Show on Twitter and got a lot of traffic and many nice comments. People even wanted to talk to me and I got interviewed as a Story Expert from someone I met on Twitter!I was starting to have fun now.
My favorite moment came when I met two really special Storytellers from Barcelona - Eva and Carlos. We were kindred spirits for sure. Eva is a storyteller and fellow NLP trainer and Carlos is a filmmaker.
They are working on one of the first books for storytelling in Spain and we plan to see about collaborating. The funniest part of it is that when I built my blog I decided that I wanted to be available to work in Europe and I forgot that I had even put this out there but Eva noticed it and commented on that.
So here is my personal strategy, never before revealed, for having fun and making friends on Twitter:
- seek out and follow relevant people that you’d enjoy
- if someone follows you that looks interesting, check out their website and info and then send them a nice DM (direct message) and say hello
- be friendly and think of what you can do for others, rather than trying to push yourself or anything on them.
I like to treat people in the Twitterverse like real friends and community, not like potential sales targets. I think this has contributed most to my fun, enjoyment and fulfilling connections on Twitter.
This week I got the nicest message from Carlos. It said, “a special tweet to Anniesheart (my twitter name) for her sweetness and insight.” That took the Twitter cake!
If you should want to find my friends Carlos and Eva on Twitter, they’re at @imastranger (Carlos) and @ evasnijders (Eva). Tell them I sent you.
So my secret ingredient to happiness and success in the Twitterverse is to be yourself, reach out to others and have fun. See you on Twitter, @anniesheart.
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Annie’s Business Bursting Success Story, Get Blogging & Tweeting Folks
August 5, 2009
I published a story earlier this week about my top 5 tips for success in blogging. But I thought that I should back up a bit and tell you the full story. Because I, a former technophobe, would have been the least likely person to succeed in this area.
I hated marketing. I never did any of it, not one thing. Ok year’s ago I made a few brochures and I had a business card. Big deal. But I never wanted to market myself. I never wanted to run a business. I just wanted to help people. If you’re in a service field like mine, you can probably relate.
If someone had told me back at the beginning, what I would need to do to make a living at this, I would have probably given up right then. I had no idea it would be so hard. But strangely I was able to make a living at it and for that I was thankful. I made a living but I was not going beyond that and last year as I looked into my future, I had to face the scary facts. If I didn’t do something, something drastic, then my business was not going to be sustainable in the future. And I didn’t want that. I love my business.
I knew I had to do something, but I had no idea what. As you will learn about me, the first thing I always do is pray! Not in that silly way of begging some big daddy in the sky to rescue me, but of aligning myself with the bigger powers of the universe. I consider myself an equal partner. So my prayer was this, “Please help me find the way. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.” That was my committment and I knew that I had to mean it for the prayer to work.
So what did doing what it takes mean for me? It meant facing my fears of marketing and technology head on. The LAST thing that I ever wanted to do was to use the internet to market my business. Hours spent on the computer sounded like a fate worse then death. I am a people person and a nature girl. No technology for me! Or at least as little as possible.
But what ended up happening is that I took a HUGE leap of faith. I took a course in marketing for service professionals, led by the handsome and savvy Michael Port of Book Yourself Solid. Michael is really expert in this area.
During the course, I kept telling my wonderful new colleagues that I was not tech savvy like they were and don’t even talk to me about dumb things like Twitter! I did not even want to hear it. I specifically remember a conversation with my new buddy Jeff Simpkins, in which I told him I didn’t think I could do any of this stuff. And he gave me the single best recommendation that I’ve ever had. He told me to take a course by Bea Fields called “Become A Blogging Maniac.” I loved the name.
I liked Jeff and trusted him and the course was only $97 so how could I lose. Even though I still totally doubted myself and my abilities, I decided to go for it. I wasn’t even sure if I had the desire,but I was sure that I didn’t want to fail. I knew that I could fail at this very easily if I wasn’t careful. Technology was not my forte.
I took my NLP background and carefully thought through all the challenges that could stop me. And I figured out how to navigate around them and keep going. This is how I set myself up for success. I carved out a mental path in advance that would allow me to sidestep the obstacles and keep on towards my goal, no matter what. And I did it!
I am so proud to say that I not only finished course, but I produced a beautiful amazing website/blog that I truly love. And most amazing of all is I have had more business success in the past 3 months than I’ve had in all my years of working. Me, a former technophobe, now a shining success in the blogging world. Wow.
If I can do it, so can you. And by the way Twitter has been one of the single most attention generating media for my site. I’ve had notice from people all over the world. And as you’ll see from my results below, this Twitter and blogging thing is neither irrelvant, nor stupid. They and other social media tools, ARE the way of the future. We can pretend they aren’t there, but then we will be the ones left behind.
If you want to succeed in your business and stand out in the crowd like I have, then feel free to follow me. Take Bea’s course. She is an expert in this area. It wasn’t easy but it is possible. Here are my tangible results:
- I had several new clients just in the first 2 months
- I was featured as one of only 40 Story Experts in an ebook online.
- A business man from Japan used several of my stories to create business success with his team.
- I’ve been on the radio twice…..
And that was only in the first three months. So this is just the beginning. My advice to you is to get out and start blogging, get Tweeting and get yourself up to speed. This is all possible. That way, you’ll be on the wave of tomorrow, rather than the back seat of yesterday.
And if you want to know more about Bea Fields or her course: www.becomeabloggingmaniac.com. Or my collegue Jeff Simpkins who is using blogging for bankers at: http://www.bloggingforbankers.com/
Good luck! And let me know how you’re doing in the wonderful wide world of the bloggersphere.
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Connect With Annie Hart
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