Blue Helm

I read a lot of blogs. I pay attention to a lot of websites. I watch how other companies do things and I like to see what is and isn’t working for them. It’s my business to know what’s going on in the social media world. As I look at other people’s work I find it important and sometimes difficult to stay clear of the conventional thinking trap when coming up with social media ideas.

Here are a few statements that can lead to being captured by the conventional thinking trap:

• “I’ve been doing this for years and it works just fine.”
• “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
• “But that’s not how other companies do it.”
• “That potential employee is innovative and intelligent, but they just don’t have the experience/résumé.”
• “It seems a little risky.”

What’s wrong with these statements? If it isn’t broken why would you want to fix it? Experience is a good thing. Other companies do it that way because it works. There are a lot of costs associated with risky endeavors. This is all true, but consistently falling into conventional thought can stifle innovation, growth and improvement. The conventional thinking trap stops you from being the first to do something awesome, it stops you from creating something viral, it stops you from being a leader and slowly steers you into mediocrity.

How do you avoid the conventional trap? Here are a few ideas:

1. Try it – If you have an idea for your website, your Facebook page or Twitter, just try it. One of my favorite quotes by Wayne Gretzky explains this principle: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Stop wondering “what if” and do it.
2. Establish an innovative culture – Make it a practice to come up with fresh ideas. Take half an hour each week to brainstorm on how to improve your marketing. If you manage a bigger organization then get ideas from your employees. You could even create a contest and give a small bonus every week to the person that has the best idea. If you encourage innovation your company will thrive.
3. Be different – This is a simple but powerful principle. If you conform to what everyone else is doing then someone will most likely do it better than you. If you can differentiate yourself from the norm, you become the standard. How can you be the leader if all you do is follow?

These are just a few ideas I had that help me to avoid the conventional trap. What are some of the thing you do?

A few months ago I read the short, but poignant, book 212 Degrees. The purpose of the book is to demonstrate what a difference one degree of temperature, effort, thought or compassion makes. Water at 211 degrees is hot, but increase the temperature by one degree and the water boils. A one degree change in a flight plan can take you hundreds of miles from your destination. An extra degree of effort to be kind to your friends and family can take your relationships to a whole new level. An extra degree of thought in a press release can garner much more media coverage. One degree makes all the difference.

So what is the extra degree needed to take your Facebook page to the next level? What is the extra degree needed to make your YouTube video the next viral sensation? What is the extra degree that will turn your social media efforts into a strong source of revenue?

Take a little extra time to think through your social media strategy. You may already be doing a lot. Just remember, you could be one degree away from real success.

What is your target audience? Cater your posts to your niche.

Why do you use Twitter, Facebook or a blog? Are you trying to reach a specific niche, like business people, moms, teenagers or social media experts? Who do you want reading what you post? These are questions I recommend you ask yourself often to keep the correct perspective before posting different social messages.

Sometimes, as a social media professional, I find myself tweeting less of the things I find interesting (articles, videos, etc) because they’ve already been shared online by millions of people. For example, just look at the Mashable home page and you’ll see that hundreds and sometimes thousands of people tweet Mashable’s content regularly. I find myself less motivated to tweet this popular content because it seems like everyone has seen it already. But this is false! Just because I’ve read or seen a piece of content doesn’t mean the people who follow me have encountered it too.

In reality, it doesn’t matter if you post a piece of content someone may have already seen. The point is to post content that is interesting to you, and what you believe your audience will appreciate. I don’t care if some social media person sees my profile and thinks, “I’ve already read that.” Why? Because they’re not my target audience. My target audience includes the people who don’t read all of the social media blogs. They don’t have time to read the hundreds of interesting posts out there, so they come to me to read the ones I feel are the best. Why do they care? Because I consistently post things they like.

The moral of the story: no matter what industry you’re in, don’t forget that your target audience comes to you for updates. They’re not visiting all of the sites you’re visiting. They rely on you to sift through what’s good and what’s not.

It’s amazing the kind of power a celebrity holds. Conan O’Brien joined Twitter at the end of February and he already has over 630,000 followers. Okay, that’s no big deal. Conan is a celebrity. The real story is in what Conan has done to 19 year old Sarah Killen.

Here’s the short version of the story: On March 5th Conan decided to randomly follow one person on Twitter. He chose Sarah Killen, a.k.a. @lovelybutton. She immediately went from a few followers to almost 25,000 in six days…crazy. Click here to read more.

So what? Good for Sarah, no big deal right? Wrong. If Sarah is smart she will do something with this unexpected fame. If you watch this ABC report, you’ll see that she got a few things for her wedding. She is even encouraging people to donate to a cancer fund. That’s wonderful, but she needs to do something more. This is an amazing opportunity!

So Sarah, here are a few ideas on what you could do with your new-found fame:

1. Start a blog: You already have thousands of people who are listening to what you’re saying on Twitter. As a result, you would get thousands of hits on your blog. You already have people sending you free stuff for your wedding, just think of how many people would pay you to have an ad in the sidebar of your blog. You could generate a pretty good income just from advertisements. Make sure your blog has focus and isn’t just a diary of your life. Make it about something of worth and it will grow instead of fading out when all of the hype dies down. If you’re not a good writer then take a writing class ASAP!
2. Start a business: What do you like to do? What are you good at? Start a business and use your audience to help it grow.
3. Become an unofficial spokesperson for a good cause: Pick a topic or cause that you’re passionate about. Maybe it’s helping to cure cancer. I’m sure the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation would love your help and support, and may even pay you to be an official spokesperson for them.
4. Connect with other celebrities: You could try to connect with other comedians or celebrities. They may be interested in getting in on the joke. As they connect with you more people will follow you, which would increase your ability to influence.

Please be smart, Sarah! Do something more than just tweeting random stuff. You could do so much. Of course if you want more advice let me know!

In honor of Presidents Day I have to give props to President Obama for doing so well in the social media realm. Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, or somewhere in between, you can’t deny that the man has done wonders in reaching out to The People via social media. As I’m writing this he has over 7.5 million fans on his Facebook page and close to 3.3 million followers on Twitter. No one else in the political arena has anywhere near as much online support. Sarah Palin, who seems to be the next most popular political figure on Facebook and Twitter, has just over 1.36 million fans on Facebook and barely 80,000 followers on Twitter. The number of her supporters pales in comparison to President Obama’s.

In addition to having large numbers of supporters on the major social networks, Obama has done a great job galvanizing his fan base. Outside of his official pages, there are thousands of groups, profiles, YouTube videos, websites, forums and blogs supporting his cause.

Obama has proven himself a worthy campaigner. Edelman, one of the top independent PR firms in the world, wrote a great report on how Obama used social media to win the 2008 Presidential Election. Click here to read the report.

A warning to all politicians

President Obama isn’t the only one who has used social media effectively to influence elections. A more recent example can be seen in Scott Brown’s surprise victory in Massachusetts. As of Jan. 1, Brown had over 70,000 fans while Martha Coakley had just over 13,000. Click here to read this Wall Street Journal report for more telling statistics about the Massachusetts election.

If you want an idea of who may or may not win their elections this upcoming November, just compare how the candidates are doing in the social media race.

Politicians beware; do not ignore social media!