Follow, Friend, Connections…

I am positive that social media can keep us in touch with those we care about in a direct but less intrusive way than say a weekly coffee clutch with a family member/friend that after 5 minutes you wish you could show the door…I mean we love them but…

I am positive that social media can also help businesses grow.  They can educate us on items we thought we knew or didn’t think we should know.  They can be our best friends for our company’s growth and reputation.  It can talk more about our work than the actual work itself in some cases.

I am selective on who I follow on Twitter.  I am selective on who I “friend” on Facebook.  I am even more selective on my connections with LinkedIn.  Why you ask?

Because Facebook is friends and family with a smattering of people I associate with for my business.  I added professional people to this after trying to keep it just family and friends (always cautious when I mix the personal with business) but adding the professionals and “knowing” them and their “thoughts” as well as the information they share adds to my research library for the work I may end up doing for them.  I also find many of them to be really great and fascinating people regardless of whether I will ever work for them again (but please send work).

If they interview about a new drug, a celebrity, lifestyle possibility, financial opportunities, great museums, parenting topics, a new marketing strategy, et cetera, chances are they also mentioned it on FB and I can find that seemingly unintelligible word somewhere in the information they posted.

LinkedIn is just for clients or potential clients.  I certainly would not my friends and family coming on there and mentioning how they saw me at the grocery store with my hair a mess and no makeup on…it is irrelevant to the business plan I have for myself.  I like the idea my clients, past and present, can post a recommendation (or not) and I have a central location to send people to rather than request it repeatedly when necessary.  My clients are too busy to interrupt for a recommendation every month, so… I also find I can more effectively talk about my business and my business plan with other professionals without “personality” coming through from others who think they may be doing me a favor.

Twitter is a different animal.  I do follow my business associates, and theirs (as many as I can find) – I enjoy being able to spread their words and their opinions – especially if I agree although not mandatory.   I follow friends because it is a quick update one their day without having to pick up the phone and talk for hours on end.  And again, it gives me insight into their personalities better than the “watch what I say” attitude on FB.  I follow others who I have found to have similar interests, similar attitudes, and just plain interesting Tweets.

Twitter also allows me to market to a wider audience IF my tweets happen to get re-tweeted or mentioned elsewhere.  I have not been so lucky with this so far, but lucky enough I have to say.  But I Tweet what means most to me and what I find interesting and what someone somewhere might find interesting.  I certainly do not care if the world does not revolve around my Tweets, but an occasional mention here and there is enough to start.

I am also positive that there are just some things I don’t need to know…for my business or for me personally or even for my friends and colleagues.  Much of this is found only on Twitter because of the vast amount of Tweets sent on any given day – hell any given minute.  I also know that unlike LinkedIn or FB, if you don’t follow people, they can get downright offended on Twitter.  But seriously folks, why would I follow someone who just wanted to share minute by minute their day, when I don’t know them or anything about them except that they walk down this street, talk to this person, and eat this food.  And I certainly do not need to know how big their “deck” is, or who they slept with last night.  I promise I won’t share this with you either – and not because my life is so uninteresting either – just because I really don’t think too many out there will care either.

So, yes I am selective on who I follow and who I friend and who I connect with.   I am not saying you have to say something constructive to me all the time, or meaningful to me personally all the time – but something that would be interesting to others I know so I can reTweet or repost…something that may come in handy in the future, something that makes me go “hum”, something that teaches me something about something I knew little about, something to lift my day – just something about SOMETHING once in a while would be nice.   Just splash it in between the other Tweets and you will have my attention.

Oh and of course, if you need a transcription of your words – it doesn’t matter what you say, I am here to help.  I will even follow you and repost, retweet, and help in the marketing of  it for you.

Because in the end, the idea that you said it and I transcribed it MAY just get passed along as well.  Because isn’t that what social media marketing is all about anyway?  You want what you say to be talked about – positive or negative?  I know I want what I say to be talked about.  And we both want what we do to be known.  And no one needs to know that you slept with a celebrity want-to-be and regretted it.  That can be our secret.  (See my views on confidentiality)

Happy Social Media Connections, Friending, and Tweeting everyone.  Hope to read you soon.