Forgive me, I might geek out a little on this one.
For years, I’ve made a good living—along with my fellow consultants—filling the gap between how Information Services (IT) and Business communicate. It’s usually IT and Accounting, or IT and Human Resources, or IT and Sales, or IT and the business as a whole. These groups all communicate in different ways, and we Business Analyst/Project Manager types have to write documents, draw pictures, and produce graphs so everyone on all sides knows what the other sides are trying to say.
The new gap in communication is between Marketing (not sales) and IT. For years, Marketing has been using a number of spray-pray-techniques (TV, radio, print) to get their company’s or client’s message out to the public. More recently, these three media have been increasingly ignored by the public. TV, radio and print are all in a long death spiral, as far as advertising goes. They are cutting back on staff and content, which makes them less valuable to viewers, listeners, and readers, and less able to sell advertising, which is largely ignored by the consumers anyway.
What’s an advertising firm/department to do? Turn to the Internet. The problem is that they really haven’t figured out how to market effectively on the Internet yet—and it may take a while. And when they do, the Internet will morph.
Oh, yeah, and the Internet means you are involving technology, and probably IT. IT “gets” the technical side of the Internet, but most departments don’t really understand how to use the technology to meet marketing goals.
The next big thing, or current big thing depending on how you look at it, is social networking. Now you’re really in for it, because the Marketing folks have heard about and want to use it, but the IT folks don’t understand how it impacts business. Who is the visionary here—a technical marketing person?? Now there’s a gap for you, and I dare you to try to find one!
If you’re in this quandary, my new book will help you sort a lot of it out. If you need a facilitator or thought leader, I’m here for you. But remember this social networking thing is just like the Internet, a moving target. Your only chance of exploiting it before it morphs is to understand the underlying core principals. Then you can “get” any new tool or craze that comes along and decide if it’s worth using or not.
M. A. "Ryan" Yuhas
Author, Speaker, Social Networking Facilitator
InterDimension Strategies Inc.
972-841-0226
877-217-9959
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
New Book Released
Just wanted you to know about my latest book. It's The Social Networking Executive Primer--Connecting FaceBook, Myspace, YouTube and Web x.0 to the bottom line.
This is the perfect book for you (or your boss) if you're trying to catch up with social networking and how to use it to make a difference for your bottom line. If you're an IT, marketing, or business person who just can't seem to get your CEO/CFO/CIO interested in what social networking can do, give them this book. Do you have your own company? This would also be very helpful to you if you've been trying to figure out how to get free PR and build an engaged following around your business.
I've consulted with dozens of companies all over the US for over two decades. Since 2000, I've made a concerted effort to learn and utilize social networking. I've helped a major non-profit organization embrace social networking and launch their specialized sites. I've built a number of additional social networking sites on free public platforms, such as Ning.
I'm available for executive workshops, college talks on networking safety, and seminars for jobhunters who want to use the net to pump up their search.
Reach me, Ryan Yuhas, at 972-841-0226 or 1-877-217-9959.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Where do I plug in? Hyper-local social networking
It’s a fair question, and one that I ask every time I take my guitar to a recording session—but that’s for another blog. Today, I’m talking about social networking. More specifically, hyper-local and hyper-focused social networking. Where do you plug in to your social network?
I recently helped launch a social networking site for the Collin County Songwriters Association in North Texas. We used ning.com to get it going, and the speed and ease of putting it together was breathtaking. But our excitement from the speed and ease didn’t hold a candle to the rush we got from what happened next.
To put it simply the site BLEW UP, and I mean in a good way. Now, I guess I have to qualify what I mean. It’s not that we got a huge number of participants—right now we’re at 67 members and climbing. What was amazing was how much started to happen on the site. Videos, photos, discussion forums, blog posts, music posts, friending, and events. Wow. Why did it do that, and why did it happen so fast?
My answer is pretty simple. We already had a group of people who wanted to network. The social network online merely facilitated the synergy that was already happening, and put it on steroids.
Right now, people are wondering how to use social networking for their business. As I wrote in my upcoming primer for executives (and stole from Groundswell), one of the five things you can use social networking for is embracing your customers—creating a cult (think Harley Davidson owners, who spend an inordinate amount time of time recruiting people to become Harley owners). For a certain niche of small businesses, this is a perfect fit.
If I had a dance studio, music school, cheerleading school, karate school, flying club, day care, guitar shop, night club, wine club/bistro, church, hobby shop, special interest group, local political party, arts organization, or anything that is as much a club as it is a business, I’d start a social network. I’d use ning or something like it, because it’s free and robust. Set yourself up as the information broker, the expert, or the facilitator for something happening in your neighborhood. Goose it up with an occasional discussion post of a controversial subject that everyone would like to comment on. Stand back and watch it fly.
What are you waiting for?
M. A. “Ryan” Yuhas
Ryan.y@sbcglobal.net
I recently helped launch a social networking site for the Collin County Songwriters Association in North Texas. We used ning.com to get it going, and the speed and ease of putting it together was breathtaking. But our excitement from the speed and ease didn’t hold a candle to the rush we got from what happened next.
To put it simply the site BLEW UP, and I mean in a good way. Now, I guess I have to qualify what I mean. It’s not that we got a huge number of participants—right now we’re at 67 members and climbing. What was amazing was how much started to happen on the site. Videos, photos, discussion forums, blog posts, music posts, friending, and events. Wow. Why did it do that, and why did it happen so fast?
My answer is pretty simple. We already had a group of people who wanted to network. The social network online merely facilitated the synergy that was already happening, and put it on steroids.
Right now, people are wondering how to use social networking for their business. As I wrote in my upcoming primer for executives (and stole from Groundswell), one of the five things you can use social networking for is embracing your customers—creating a cult (think Harley Davidson owners, who spend an inordinate amount time of time recruiting people to become Harley owners). For a certain niche of small businesses, this is a perfect fit.
If I had a dance studio, music school, cheerleading school, karate school, flying club, day care, guitar shop, night club, wine club/bistro, church, hobby shop, special interest group, local political party, arts organization, or anything that is as much a club as it is a business, I’d start a social network. I’d use ning or something like it, because it’s free and robust. Set yourself up as the information broker, the expert, or the facilitator for something happening in your neighborhood. Goose it up with an occasional discussion post of a controversial subject that everyone would like to comment on. Stand back and watch it fly.
What are you waiting for?
M. A. “Ryan” Yuhas
Ryan.y@sbcglobal.net
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Did Fox News get it right?
I just got some coverage in Houston on the local Fox News. I was made out to be an conniving opportunist--actually that's dead on. They spelled my name right, gave me a link. All very cool.
The article is about paying someone to be friends with your friends on Facebook, Myspace, etc. Personally, I'm not sure that having someone stand in for you and answer your social networking email is all that bad. Where I've seen Virtual Assistants really help is in going out and inviting new friends to your network. Now, this does not produce the quality of following that you'd get if you went out and really had conversations with your "friends." But if sheer numbers is what you're after, this is a great way to go.
Are you after sheer numbers? May not. More soon.
Monday, December 8, 2008
What is Twitter, and Why Should I Care?
Twitter is stupid simple. So why doesn’t anyone seem to “get it”? The problem centers around what it was ostensibly designed for, and how gurus and businesses figured out how to exploit it.
Twitter was “supposed to be” a way for you to keep up with the friends in your clique. You and your friends would all create accounts for yourselves, and then you’d post “tweets”—a 160 character or less message—whenever you did something you thought was interesting, and everyone of your friends would receive your tweet. They could even get the tweet on their cell, for those over-connected folks.
This quickly degraded from, “Hey everybody, let’s all meet at Joes Bar and Grill at 6:30 tonight,” to “I’ve been working in my garden today,” to “I just gave my cat a bath.” Ouch.
In true social networking fashion, Twitter let’s you see who is following whom. Of course, that means you can enlarge your circle of connections by following (and being followed by) your friends’ friends. Now things are totally out of control, or heading exactly in the right direction—depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.
Frankly even your friends aren’t that interested in your garden or your self inflicted pet-bathing wounds. A good way to get “un-followed” is to post self-indulgent garbage when you’re being followed by people several circles out from your inner circle of friends.
However, what if you’re “somebody,” or are at least trying to be somebody? For instance, you’re a musician and you want to use Twitter. If someone is following you, they probably are interested in your latest work! Show schedules or blog links about the creative process could be nice, too. Collaborations could be pretty cool.
If you’re in business you probably want to be seen as a “guru” or key information broker. PLEEEEEEZE don’t say anything about your cat unless you tie directly into a business point—and with 140 characters, it’s unlikely that you can. However, those of us following you might be interested in knowing where you’re spending today, tomorrow, etc. We’d like to know if you’re attending a business conference that you think we should attend, too. Hey, while you’re there, maybe you could use Twitter to become our reporter on the scene—Twitter pithy quotes out from other speakers. You’ll be a hot topic in business meetings around the country for days, and the “go to” guy or gal when you get back.
Once you get more creative there are probably dozens of ways to use Twitter. Just make sure you think of the people following you. They won’t all “get” you, but if you kep sending out news they can use, your opportunity to build and keep a following increases dramatically.
Twitter was “supposed to be” a way for you to keep up with the friends in your clique. You and your friends would all create accounts for yourselves, and then you’d post “tweets”—a 160 character or less message—whenever you did something you thought was interesting, and everyone of your friends would receive your tweet. They could even get the tweet on their cell, for those over-connected folks.
This quickly degraded from, “Hey everybody, let’s all meet at Joes Bar and Grill at 6:30 tonight,” to “I’ve been working in my garden today,” to “I just gave my cat a bath.” Ouch.
In true social networking fashion, Twitter let’s you see who is following whom. Of course, that means you can enlarge your circle of connections by following (and being followed by) your friends’ friends. Now things are totally out of control, or heading exactly in the right direction—depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.
Frankly even your friends aren’t that interested in your garden or your self inflicted pet-bathing wounds. A good way to get “un-followed” is to post self-indulgent garbage when you’re being followed by people several circles out from your inner circle of friends.
However, what if you’re “somebody,” or are at least trying to be somebody? For instance, you’re a musician and you want to use Twitter. If someone is following you, they probably are interested in your latest work! Show schedules or blog links about the creative process could be nice, too. Collaborations could be pretty cool.
If you’re in business you probably want to be seen as a “guru” or key information broker. PLEEEEEEZE don’t say anything about your cat unless you tie directly into a business point—and with 140 characters, it’s unlikely that you can. However, those of us following you might be interested in knowing where you’re spending today, tomorrow, etc. We’d like to know if you’re attending a business conference that you think we should attend, too. Hey, while you’re there, maybe you could use Twitter to become our reporter on the scene—Twitter pithy quotes out from other speakers. You’ll be a hot topic in business meetings around the country for days, and the “go to” guy or gal when you get back.
Once you get more creative there are probably dozens of ways to use Twitter. Just make sure you think of the people following you. They won’t all “get” you, but if you kep sending out news they can use, your opportunity to build and keep a following increases dramatically.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Definition of Terms
Okay, this is for the new kids. If you know social networking, skip this one.
But if you’re new, you might want to understand some basic terminology.
Social networking – This is a verb, an activity that describes the use of websites and social media to find and connect with individuals who may share your interests. These interests could include professions, hobbies, health, entertainment, likes, dislikes, politics, charities, sports—just about anything that you’d talk about with others at a networking event or the water cooler. The range of interests goes from the super-serious to the downright frivolous.
Social media – This is a plural noun, and it is the over-arching term for online mechanisms that facilitate social networking. The core of these mechanisms—blogging, video posting, audio posting, virtual world gaming, etc.—are important, but not the key definition of social media. For it to truly be social, the medium in question must provide a way for people to connect. For instance, if you can write a blog, but there is no mechanism to leave comments or interact with the author—or other readers, for that matter—you can challenge whether it is a social medium at all. The “medium” is there, but the “social” is not.
Web 2.0 – This is the so-called “state of the art” of social media. It refers to the advanced capabilities of the media, and we’ll discuss some of those later. Sure, you can think of things like video—now a rather simple capability—but it refers more to things like mashups (combining data sources to provide something new altogether), Short Messaging Service (SMS), texting and virtual worlds.
But if you’re new, you might want to understand some basic terminology.
Social networking – This is a verb, an activity that describes the use of websites and social media to find and connect with individuals who may share your interests. These interests could include professions, hobbies, health, entertainment, likes, dislikes, politics, charities, sports—just about anything that you’d talk about with others at a networking event or the water cooler. The range of interests goes from the super-serious to the downright frivolous.
Social media – This is a plural noun, and it is the over-arching term for online mechanisms that facilitate social networking. The core of these mechanisms—blogging, video posting, audio posting, virtual world gaming, etc.—are important, but not the key definition of social media. For it to truly be social, the medium in question must provide a way for people to connect. For instance, if you can write a blog, but there is no mechanism to leave comments or interact with the author—or other readers, for that matter—you can challenge whether it is a social medium at all. The “medium” is there, but the “social” is not.
Web 2.0 – This is the so-called “state of the art” of social media. It refers to the advanced capabilities of the media, and we’ll discuss some of those later. Sure, you can think of things like video—now a rather simple capability—but it refers more to things like mashups (combining data sources to provide something new altogether), Short Messaging Service (SMS), texting and virtual worlds.
Adapting to the New Social Change
The telephone became widely available in the US in the early 20th century. I suspect you were too young to remember, but have you ever read about it? At first, only a few segments of the population adopted it, and then only in limited ways. The wealthy had telephones, perhaps one per household. Businesses only had one or two lines, because having a phone on everyone’s desk would tempt them to waste their time on phone calls! Watch any old Cary Grant movies—like His Girl Friday from 1940—and you’ll see the telephone positioned as a glamorous accessory. Eventually, the device showed up everywhere, on everyone’s desk, in the kitchen, the bedroom, even some bathrooms. This luxurious, potentially time-wasting item is now considered absolutely essential. A similar arc of acceptance happened with the personal computer, the cell phone, the Internet and email. If you shun them these days, you’re probably considered a dinosaur.
We’re well into the new century, and you might be feeling a little lumbering and cold-blooded, yourself, by now. With all the new gadgets, applications and Internet fads it’s hard to know what’s an important tool and what’s trivial pursuit. Gee whiz features abound, and it’s very easy to categorize them as “fun but worthless.” In some cases you’d be right.
In fact, online social networking is not a new phenomenon, nor a fad. In a technological sense, it has been around since 1969. The Internet, in its earliest form as the ARPAnet, utilized significant social aspects. It originally provided scientists an easy way to share ideas, data, and writings. In short, it facilitated collaboration—a social networking activity by its very definition. Now, thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of social networking websites, applications, and tactics litter the landscape. Your kids probably know how to “work” them better than you do. Still, few people really know how to truly “employ” them.
Stay tuned, because that’s what I’ll be talking about here.
We’re well into the new century, and you might be feeling a little lumbering and cold-blooded, yourself, by now. With all the new gadgets, applications and Internet fads it’s hard to know what’s an important tool and what’s trivial pursuit. Gee whiz features abound, and it’s very easy to categorize them as “fun but worthless.” In some cases you’d be right.
In fact, online social networking is not a new phenomenon, nor a fad. In a technological sense, it has been around since 1969. The Internet, in its earliest form as the ARPAnet, utilized significant social aspects. It originally provided scientists an easy way to share ideas, data, and writings. In short, it facilitated collaboration—a social networking activity by its very definition. Now, thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of social networking websites, applications, and tactics litter the landscape. Your kids probably know how to “work” them better than you do. Still, few people really know how to truly “employ” them.
Stay tuned, because that’s what I’ll be talking about here.
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