Focusing on customers

Archive for November, 2009

Aside from doing my part in helping causes (every bit counts) like 12for12K and Tweetsgiving, this has been a very challenging year. I have never looked back and have counted my blessings. I try to make a concious effort daily to be thankful, and here are a few things that first come to mind.

1. My family – husband Al, son Jake (4) and daughter Sarah (9). I am the sum of all their parts and am thankful they are healthy and happy.

2. My job – I was unemployed for seven months this year, and even though it’s still surreal in a lot of ways, I am so grateful for having found a great job with great people that challenges me daily.

3. Friends – all my wonderful friends whom I wish I had more time with. That includes my closest friends and friends on the social networks, some whom I have met, and some not yet. Thanks for interacting. I learn something new every day from all of you, and if I can make any bit of difference whether it’s in 140 characters or an update, I hope it helps, inspires, provokes thought or is just goofy enough for a laugh.

The walk-away is that everyone, no matter what situation he or she may be in always has something to be grateful for. Focus on that and things get better. I promise.

Thanks Danny Brown for always inspiring us to be better people. You and your group are amazing, and I hope to always help in some way. I’m grateful for your efforts in helping others.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Please support Tweetsgiving and make a difference (#tweetsgiving).

There’s not a day that goes by where you will see a Tweet or receive a direct message telling you how to get more followers on Twitter (don’t make me show you). If those sending these types of messages are into that and number of followers is important to them, then my best advice is: Keep it to yourself! Folks on Twitter should have a clue by now that these messages don’t work for the social media savvy folks. We are here for different reasons. Of course, I can only speak for myself, but my greatest value on Twitter is absolutely, positively the quality conversations and relationships I discover and develop when I engage on this network! This is one of the best places to find links to some of the best content and blogs on the internet.

Another great thing about Twitter are the hashtagged chats that take place daily. Groups of smart very engaging people attend these chats and share valuable information. These are true quality conversations that you walk away with real, very useful information and make some friends while you’re at it. A few of my favorites that I frequent are #journchat (journalism, media folks), #pr20chat (PR 2.0 and marketing folks) and #smchat (social media policies, best practices, strategies). I wish I could consistently attend these chats but work and family life take priority at times.

Normally you will hear people talk about how Twitter is useless or a waste of time, but what I’ve found is those folks usually haven’t taken the time to educate themselves, engage or invest time on this social network or else they would see its true value.

Being a B2B marketer, I have experienced first-hand ROI on Twitter already including landing a great job (need I say more) and making some terrific contacts and friends I speak with frequently who know more than I do about social media or can provide some fresh insight of my world of marketing communications.

My organization is taking baby steps with social media. They realize its value, however, there are internal things at companies that need to be in place in order to jump in with both hands and feet, and that’s what I’m currently working on. Bottom line is social media is a valuable strategy for engaging with customers, generating quality leads and developing a human side to your brand. It is here to stay no questions asked.

I’ve committed most of my time to my new job (five months in) and am not blogging and engaging as much as I want to, but one thing is for sure. I’m here to stay. While almost 80% of people on Twitter come and go, I will always be part of that minority bunch who engages daily and continues building momentum in the social media space. You will always find me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn so stop by and say Hi!