Lip-Sticking

Cautious Friending

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

A while back I joined an organization that I believed in whole-heartedly. I liked their ideals, mission and leadership. When I met people whom I thought were a fit, I would let them know about the organization and gave them my personal guarantee that they would enjoy themselves and learn a lot in the process.

Recently, that same organization created a special program to which I invited a dear friend - actually, I insisted that he attend so that he could experience what I had experienced.

The time spent was great, but not remarkable. Something was off...and halfway through the program, we both realized what it was. It was the person they hired to lead the program. He was hard to follow, confusing and in general didn't "fit" with the flavor of this organization that I had come to appreciate. I was duly embarrassed.

Here I had insisted that my friend attend this event with me and it turned out to be almost a total bust. Wow.

Now, I still like the organization, but I'm less engaged and less likely to refer people to them. I'm also less inclined to attend events myself. A big shift.

So, what the heck does any of this have to do with social media?

It has to do with the people with whom you connect, the people whom you allow to comment on your blog, the people whom you retweet on Twitter.

I'm sure you take take and care in building your brand. You make sure your company uses the right colors in your logo, oozes sure-fire customer service and gives off exactly the right "vibe". As a result, your market loves the feeling they get when they read blog and they genuinely care about what you have to say. So much so, they tell other people!

All of this can be undone in an instant if you allow spam comments to pile up on your blog or if you retweet or "friend" the wrong person - someone who writes or spreads objectionable content. Some people have a policy of "friending" anyone who sends them a request. Be careful of this.

If you've taken my advice about managing your time with social media, you'll have time set aside to review profiles of people who want to connect with you to make sure they're not social polluters. (And, if you have an assistant, they can do this for you).

Bottomline: Don't be lazy, do whatever it takes to preserve your positive brand experience by making sure you connect with the right people.

Currency Isn't Always Dollars and Cents

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

I'm noticing a trend lately and it involves a saying that my Grandmother used to say: "You beg what you need and pay for what you want." What she meant by that is, the things most people NEED to have they're not willing to pay for. The things they WANT, they'll spend every dime they have on them. This type of behavior shows a complete lack of focus and upside down priorities.

Case in point, a couple of years ago - with very few exceptions - I stopped speaking for free. No ego; there just comes a point in your career where you have to take things to the next level. What's more, if you charge one organization a speaker's fee and then don't charge a similar organization (word gets around), you lose cool points and integrity.

In the past few weeks, I've received a couple of speaking requests from organizations that for whatever reason (economy, etc.), have decided they would love to have me speak, but could not do so due to lack of funding. By now, you know that I have not bought into the "economy" talk and Lena's economy is doing just fine, thank you very much. But, I do realize that every organization has a different outlook and a different perspective on the corrective turn the finances in this country have taken. Yep, I get it.

What bugs me most is not that the organizations don't have the moola, but that they don't bother to offer other forms of currency. If you're reading this, and you'd like to bring in a speaker whom you don't think you can afford, here are a few things you can offer a speaker that might make up for your lack of cash flow (it doesn't mean they'll accept it, but you can try):

• BORS (Back of the Room Sales) - this means information product sales and book signings and sales
• Opted-in attendee list complete with email addresses (ethical speakers know better than to spam your list)
• Laser consulting/"hot seat" sessions - this sets the stage for possible new client scenarios
• Key meeting set-up - if your members fit in the target market for the speaker (which they should), why not offer to set up a few one-on-one meetings for them while they're in town? This could also lead to a potential client scenario.
• Arrange for media coverage - if you can't pay me, at least help secure media coverage and a one-on-one interview for the event.

There are many more - and if you think of some that I've missed, chime in with a comment below.

The main point is, there's more than one way to "pay" a qualified speaker and if you know your budget is tight, plan on offering one or more of the above options to help sweeten the pot so you can pay for what you NEED.

Business Success the TPE Way: A Podcast with Mike Michalowicz

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

As a proud TPE, I've mentioned Mike Michalowicz on this blog a few weeks ago. I explained that if you haven't read his book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, yet, you were missing out big time.

It might seem like I'm a bit of a stan for Mike, but I sincerely believe in what he has to say about business success and personal development - so much so that when I took my team away for a 3-day off-site strategy meeting, his book - along with two others - were our business reference books for the weekend.

Since I first wrote about Mike on this blog, I have been wondering how many of you actually grabbed your copy of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur? Better still, if you bought it, did you read it. And, if you read it, did you put Quarterly Tacking into play (page 83)? How about Focus Five (page 57)?

If, sadly (for shame!), you've done none of the above, you're in the right place at the right time. Mike and I sat down to chat for a few minutes (ok 25 minutes and 32 seconds) about two weeks ago and he had a few choice words for Lipsticking's readers. Ok, just kidding, but seriously, in this audio he shares excellent tips, actionable advice and he keeps it real about why you should listen to him at all (hint: he wasn't always the rockstar he is today).

You should click the blue "play" button below to listen. Yes, I know it's 25 WHOLE minutes. Yes, I know you're busy and you don't have time blah blah blah. Listen anyway. See how cool it is to be a Lipsticking reader???

If a ReTweet Falls in the Woods and No One Hears It, Does It Still Make a Sound?

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

The answer to the riddle in the subject line is: to get to the other side. Get it? The Twitter bird? The chicken? Ok, yes, that was corny, but I digress (seriously digress.)

The other day on Twitter, I tweeted:

Question: if everyone is RT'ing, who's saying something?

I typed it a bit tongue-in-cheek, but as with most things; when I look back on it, I was a bit serious.

Unbeknown to many people my activities on Twitter for the past several months have been a bit of a social experiment. I've been testing out my own hypotheses about Twitter and how people act in general -- and I've been wrong about some of my guesstimations and deadly accurate about others. But, that's another post for another time...

I think we as a whole, we've taken a collective "left" as far as retweeting is concerned. Usually, it takes a marketing tactic like retweeting a little while to catch on, this time not so much. The general populace got the message that retweeting is, in general, a good thing and now everyone and their mother is retweeting - and that's both good and bad in my opinion.

Put the Door Back on the Track

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

I'm doing some redesigning of my space here in New York and things are in major upheaval:

• boxes of books to donate are piled up
• bags of clothing to donate are taking up floor space
• new furniture sits idly empty until older items are moved out of their spots to make room for the new pieces
• new furniture and design items sit in boxes waiting to be put together.

Ack! This. Is. Driving. Me. Nuts. See, I'm a clean freak. My motto is: a place for everything and everything in it's place.

But, I had an encounter with one of the workers the other day that immediately made me draw a parallel to my business.

Angie's List Does the Heavy Lifting

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

Angie's List pulls together exactly what's RIGHT about social media and women. This is how it should be done.

This week's blog post is an audio post...I'm talking about my latest social media experience - this time as a consumer. Pop the cork to listen in...only 7 minutes and 28 seconds.

Do Social Media Right, Not Quick

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

I was reading The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz while in San Fran last week attending a meeting on both of Google's FABULOUS campuses. (The thing is, if you don't have this book, you're missing out. Period. And, he's a great guy, by the by.)

On page 13 of his book, Mike says something about starting a business that absolutely, totally and 1,000% applies to social media as well:

"Launch a company to get rich right, not to get rich quick. It works."

I could paraphrase that to say:

"Use social media to market right, not quick."

So many people have fallen prey to what master heart-centered marketer Mark Silver would call the "lottery syndrome". That is hoping and wishing and praying that this latest marketing tool is "it".

Ignore the Names, Please Take Us Seriously. Please?

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

As I travel speaking to groups of dynamic businesswomen about social media, I'm always met with chuckles when I mention the names of some services like Twitter, TweetDeck, TweetBeep and HootSuite.

Even I find it hard to believe that the names of some Web 2.0 companies don't play a large part in traditional marketer's distrust/leeriness/general dismissal of new/social media. When traditional marketers say things like, "New media is a fad for kids," it's hard to refute it when you have to use company names like Twitter, Flickr, FriendFeed, Plurk and Pownce, to answer their questions.

Don't get me wrong, I think the services themselves are great...and the names are fine, too. As long as you're talking to other new media types.

It's just having to say them when talking about the benefits of social media to I-don't-know-about-all-this-new-media-stuff CEO's, CMO's, CFO's and investor relations types is a bit...weird. Even for me and if you've ever heard me speak, you know I don't hold back much. :)

If we could play let's pretend, do you think social media would be more easily adopted if Twitter was called MicroBlog, Flickr was PhotoShare, FriendFeed was New Media Dashboard and Pownce was ShareData? Or some other equally absurd, boring, easy-to-understand names?

When you first started learning about social media, did the names of these services make any impact on your ability to take the benefits seriously? Why or why not?

If you had your way, would you name these services any differently? If so, which names would you choose? If not, why not?

Jane of All Trades, Blogging About One?

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

Every now and again, I'm asked a question I think would benefit my audience as a whole. The question below is one that I get quite often so, here's hoping my answer helps other "janes of all trades" out there!

Q. My company offers a LOT of services and as a result is confused about what to blog about.  We're essentially a one-stop-shop for businesses that need web and graphic design services. We would like to start a blog, but we only want to blog about a few of the services we offer, not all our services. We don't want to confuse our potential readers, but at the same time, we are very interested in blogging about our different areas of expertise. However, we don't want our readers to think that the topics we blog about are our ONLY areas of expertise. My question for you is: Do you have a suggestion on how we can dive deep in our focused core competencies, talk about them while not confusing our readers AND let people know that we do more than just the two or three things we talk about on the blog?

It's Not About Having 2,000 Followers

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia

In case you didn't know, I'm a huge fan of Keith Ferrazzi and I really enjoyed the message from his first book, Never Eat Alone. If you haven't read the book, essentially what is says is never miss an oppotunity to genuinely connect with someone. Why eat alone when you can invite someone to join you?

So, this week finds me back at the family compound and this morning I started thinking about how important it is to connect with people in real life -- and not just connect online.