The Social Caveman

I just watched the Croods with my kids! It was such a great movie.

It was funny to watch the Crood Family move from Cavemen to being transparent and living out in the open!

The same is true for people who are hiding from Social! They are cavemen and woman!

Here's some incentives to move out of the cave!

* Determine what your brand stands for and what you want it to stand for.   Search yourself on: Google, Technorati, Twitter

*  Come up with your own tagline and ensure that you have the tagline (your brand) on all your social tools.   Make it short and sweet like:  John:  Scholar, Nice Guy, Sales leader or Sally:  Highly recognized Corporate executive  with Top Tier MBA

*  Remember every interaction and experience is a nonneutral brand experience.  Make each one count!

*Engage your core community of enthusiasts, customers & employees where they spend their time -- pick the tools you leverage based on who you are targetting
*  Build/engaging with a loyal “brand army” of enthusiasts that make your success their cause.   Social is about forming a relationship.   This is not about marketing.    Acknowledge and harness their goodwill to generate insight and return on your investment
*  Increase your engagement in important conversations.   Have a POV (point of view).     State it and add value!

*  Remember, it is not JUST about social.  It must be supported with real-world events and experiences (F2F is still the most meaningful interaction!)

Move out of the cave and get started!  Reach out if you need help!


More followers? Just ask! Follow me! sandy_carter

So I was reading this weekend -- with my broken leg, there is not a lot to do! I learned some interesting things about how to drive more from Twitter --- quite simple actually -- just ask.

In an analysis by Twitter, they found that 4 core ways to get great results from your Tweets are:

1 Ask for a download. Explicitly asking people to download accompanied by a link increases URL clicks by an average of 13%.

2 Ask for a Retweet. Explicitly asking people to retweet increases retweets by an average of 311%.

3 Ask for a follow. Explicitly asking for a follow increases followers by an average of 258%.

4 Ask for a reply. Explicitly asking for a reply increased replies by an average of 334%

So would you guys please follow me on Twitter at sandy_carter and subscribe to my BLOG! Pretty Please!


Women’s Toolbox Conference: Giving women the tools to excel in the workplace!

I’m so thrilled to be speaking at the Women’s Toolbox Conference on Friday, Oct. 18th! 

What is the Women’s Toolbox Conference? Exactly what it sounds like! It will deliver thought leadership, resources, and networking—all the tools that can help women create a lasting impact in the workplace, marketplace, and community.

Now what does making an impact mean for women? Well, not only can it translate to making more money, but also getting more clients, finding a better job, and being known for your expertise and what you bring to the table. All these things can set you on the course to living a more balanced and happy life!

I love initiatives that champion women in the workplace so I’m excited to be sharing some of my experiences and knowledge at this conference, specifically around social. I’ll be discussing how to become essential to your customers with social business by building your social presence, knowing your prospects and customers and their influencers, engaging and responding with speed, and celebrating your customers! 

Interested in attending this wonderful event and hearing from business superstars and thought leaders?

Register http://womenstoolbox.com/annualconference/registration/  for the event, which will take place Oct. 16-18th in Beverly, MA!


Social Selling! Tip #4 "Learning" Your Clients Through Social Networks

Happy Monday!

We are continuing our Monday series on Social Selling -- today focused on our Tip #4! I am to start the discussion on how you know your prospects and clients.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPtyzXUblD8&feature=youtu.be]


Sunday night! Yes, ready for Monday but your weekend should be SOCIAL!

What do I do on Sunday night besides relax ?   I ready for the great week ahead with my Social plans but don't neglect Sunday like I have done for so long! 

Did you know that the third best day to post is Sunday? (this is research from Buffer - Beth Cooper)

best day to post

 

And from the same research , the best tweets on done on weekends!!!   So don't take the weekend off !

tweeter day


Social enables stronger ways to network - an important career progression task!

According to IBM Tech Trends Report, there are more companies today doing internal Social, than external use of social with clients.  Why is that trend progressing? 

Creating an inclusive work environment should be a strategic priority for all companies. It can help your company build a distinctive and compelling reputation as a worldclass employer and foster women’s leadership talent.  Such a culture provides the social infrastructure that gives women access to the same career support as men.  A Social Infrastructure enables collaboration and networking across an organization. 

Networking is very important in career progression.  In fact, in every leadership book that I have read, networking in always in the top 3 items that help to drive someone to success.   So in leadership, being an active and politically-skilled networker is important.

Our study shows that working long hours is not directly linked to career progression. We can therefore debunk the myth that presenteeism leads to promotion.   However, working more hours is related to important careerenabling factors. When you work longer hours, whether you’re male or female, you’re more likely to focus on networking.

Social can enable you to network more effectively.  Networking really is as important as everyone makes it out to be. Find ways of building one-to-one relationships with people who are important to your career and keep them up-to-date on your progress.   And make time to Social Network -- it really is important and effective. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Women Rock Social !

Tonight I was doing a little reading on woman and men in the Social World.

Did you know that:

  • 74% of women were users of social networking sites, compared with 62% of men. (Source: Pew Research Center)
  • 25% of online US women use Pinterest, compared to 5% for men. (Source: Pew Research Center)
  • Moms are 16% more likely than other women to visit Facebook daily (85% vs. 73%). (Source: Performics)

The biggest difference in engagement that I found to date was about the type of tools that are used.  What do you think ?  Are there other differences?

social-world-2


Social Business can save lives! Check out the Boston's Children's Hospital

Yesterday, n partnership with IBM,   The Boston Children's Hospital launched OPENPediatrics!

What is OPENPediatrics?   It is a Social Learning platform that enables medical personnel to gain expertise, make better decisions, and even share knowledge to save the lives of children.  

The hospital has just started using it, but already there are over 1000 nurses and doctors in over 74 countries.

This use of Social Business will completely transform the healthcare industry!  What can it do for your industry? 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKQ7lEmPyWY&feature=youtu.be]


Are you a Social Showroomer?

What is a social showroomer?  With 70% of people trusting reviews by their "friends" than a company's own site, a social showroomer is one who leverages social before they purchase.   But they do it in a uniqure way.  They come into a real store with their smartphone and scan a product's barcode to see the reviews, and lowest prices for the item.    Then they search both online retailers to compare with those of brick and mortar.   

First a factoid, 1/3 of showroomers bought from an online-only retailer, the other two-thirds from a multi-channel retailer.

Who are these new social shoppers?    

Showroomers are more often male than female with the largest gender gap being in consumer electronics but women are still quite capable of showrooming.   In fact,women still constitute 80% of Pinterest users. (Search Engine Journal)

On  age & income dimensions, this is not an older group but not particularly young. Most likely to be 26 to 34, however in some categories like consumer electronics, home decor and healthcare, showrooming skews as high as 35 to 44. 

The showroomers are also more affluent on average but has quite a contribution from the middle-income group as well. 

And the final point,  this group is very vocal.   57%, had written a positive review of their online retailer. They are a dynamic group having positive experiences and wanting to share them with their peers.

Are you a showroomer?    Tell me about it.   What do you think about showrooming?   Is it fair to local merchants?


Social selling: Tip #5 Build your social graph!

Happy Monday!

We are continuing our social selling series and today will focus on one of the top 5 pieces of advice for strong selling in the blogosphere! 

The Blogosphere is a  connected community of all blogs and their interconnections, including micro-blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, and so on. Essentially all social tools online.

Have fun building your social graph!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR7NOuZ0OO0&feature=youtu.be]