Social Media Podcast for Social Business by Shane Gibson Speaker and Author

I'm doing a seminar on December 2nd in Victoria and December 3rd in Vancouver and thought I would share some of what I will be talking about with you in my podcast.  Today's focus is on how to engage, lead and train Generation Y / Millenials in the workplace. This demographic is much maligned and misunderstood. More information on the seminars here: Seminar Details “Leading and collaborating with stakeholders and employees in a hyper connected marketplace.” With employees, customers and stakeholders equipped with technology that allows for mass collaboration and rapid communication we as leaders need to understand how to harness this technology and the crowds we are connected to. Today’s workplace is not a homogeneous one. As leaders we have to lead teams that are made up of Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y.  This coupled with diverse cultures and values in the workplace make leading both exciting and challenging. In this session Shane Gibson will cover core trends, leadership tools and opportunities that are associated with today’s digitally connected and diverse marketplace. Key topics include: • New rules for engagement in a digitally transparent era. • Web 2.0 collaboration and learning tools. • Creating an environment that is productive and engaging for the millennial / Gen Y. • Tips and approaches for recruiting staff using tools like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. • Using technology to break down silos and create collaboration within your organization. • How to apply timeless leadership principles to this new work and business climate CMA Testimonial “I found the seminar (Partnering & Stakeholder Relationships, November 2009) very beneficial. Shane did a great job on the presentation and communicating the message. I would highly recommend his sessions to my fellow CMAs.” Sanjeev Lal, CMA, Abbotsford Register for Victoria, December 2nd 2009 Seminar (http://www.cmabc-pd.com/index.php/seminars/elsp-4-vic/) Register for Vancouver, December 3rd 2009 Seminar (http://www.cmabc-pd.com/index.php/seminars/elsp-4-van/)

Today’s podcast is more about questions than answers, this is somewhat of a roughly formed thought at this point. Tribes (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/free-tribes-ebo.html) by Seth Godin really resonated with me when I first read it a year ago. Jay Conrad Levinson (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Guerrilla-Marketing-Official-Page/145222139602?ref=ts)’s concept of Nano-casting to small unique groups (often only parts of a tribe) has always intrigued me. On a recent trip to Florida Jay and I spent an evening talking about Nano-casting, nomadic tribalists and social media marketing. Here’s some of the core thoughts * We no longer can broadcast, or niche market, we need to nano-cast to small groups of people, often smaller than the entire tribe. * Nano-casting isn’t enough, we need to employ Listening 2.0 (http://www.closingbigger.net/2009/10/social-media-listening-strategy/) strategies and have intimate conversations. * You must be adept at being a nomadic social media tribalist, your ability to move from tribe to tribe and adapt as you market is vital. I really would like your feedback on this concept. Make a comment below, Tweet me (http://twitter.com/shanegibson), or find me on Google Wave (closingbigger@googlewave.com).

(http://www.closingbigger.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/listening_device-196x300.jpg)Listening is a core part of all strategy, military, personal relationships, sales and social media. Observing your competitors before forming strategy and taking action, or listening to your customer (http://deanholmes.me/social-company/building-conversations/) for the purpose of engagement, rapport and opportunity seeking.  It all starts with listening.  In marketing, as in battle it is often one bold stroke that wins, knowing when, where and how we hit our adversary.  Today's podcast is about Listening 2.0 and what it means to all of us.  Listening 2.0 is about making others feel listened to and understood, it's not just about nodding our virtual heads or tabulating comments in a social media sentiment (http://smartdatacollective.com/Home/21029) report. Photo Credit: Dr. X's Vintage Photo Blog (http://drx.typepad.com/psychotherapyblog/)

I was recently asked to summarize the what marketers must know about social media marketing by Jay Levinson (http://gmarketing.com). I was about to answer him when he added a stipulation in, in 3 points, only 3 summarize what marketers must know about social media. I thought I would share with you what I shared with him: * It’s a conversation - As marketers in the past we have been awarded based upon our ability to craft messages and broadcast to an audience, a niche or a market segment.  People no longer want to be talked at.  In fact their conversations with each other on Twitter, Facebook, or even the videos they post on YouTube impact and define major brands.  As social media marketers we need to get involved in those conversations if we want to effectively brand and market online. * It’s a listening tool - More than a conversation, social media marketing is about listening.  We need to be listening for opportunities to engage with people that are talking about our brand.  Social media gives us the opportunity to engage at the instant someone is talking about us (if we're listening), and have relevant, personal and authentic conversations with our customers.  Use tools like Twitter search (http://search.twitter.com/), Google Alerts (http://google.com/alerts), and SocialMention.com (http://socialmention.com) to monitor those conversations. * Social media belongs to everyone, which is good and bad, it forces you to be different to win - As a marketer you no longer have control or a monopoly on a medium.  Social media tools are in everyone's hands.  This is great news for anyone who wants to create a brand and generate revenues online.  This is also a bad thing, because it creates a lot of noise. You must have a distinctive message, offering and leadership style if you want to get noticed online.  To win you must be more engaging (http://www.closingbigger.net/2009/09/social-media-engagement/), add more value, and be more creative than everyone else if you want to rise above the noise.

There's a lot of talk about being engaged. In particular in social media we talk about engagement as one of the key benchmarks of being a successful brand, marketer, blogger or personality online.  Today's podcast is on what engagement is about. Here's a short list of what engagement is: * Complete listening, not just to hear but to make others feel heard. * Present consistently * Connected emotionally * Aligned with values * Contributing to dreams * Seeing trust as an ends not a means * Creating networks and meeting points

Yes I have consumed the social media Kool-Aid. In fact I have opened my own roadside stand.  Social media is an exciting disruptive technology.  But the ride is almost over, the hype will die down after everyone has found everyone on Facebook and when even our dog has a blog. Marketers and the community at large will ask “Now What?” Social media will come to an end.  The ride is not over yet, we have a few good years ahead of us but the writing is one the wall.  My podcast today is about the end of social media and what it means to marketers, bloggers, business owners and the community as a whole.

This podcast answers another version of the question "Why?" with the answer "Why not me?" To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here (http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=4849) or the image below. Every bit helps!

This podcast is about the question: Why? This is an important question. It's the most important question. Why? To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here (http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=4849) or the image below. Every bit helps!

Ronald Lee of Man Meets Woman (http://www.manmeetswoman.com) Happy Sexy You (http://www.happysexyyou.com) and Vancouver Social Board (http://www.vancouversocialboard.com) sponsored this post for the blogathon for the Vancouver Food Bank. (http://www.manmeetswoman.com/images/man-meets-woman-header-talk.gif) The topic Ronald chose was: What It Takes and/or How to Become a Thought Leader? This is a great question, have a listen to this podcast to hear about becoming and influencing thought leaders. To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here (http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=4849) or the image below. Every bit helps!

Jay Levinson says it takes up to 18  months for a the market to react and accept a new brand. Jim Janz says it takes 18 months it develop a leader. Fred Shadian says it takes 1000 training sessions to become a master.  Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to become an outlier. This podcast is about becoming a community building and marketing maven.  How long have you invested in yourself and your people?

This doesn't need much of an intro. The title says it all. Marketers are lying to you about social media. People are designing speeches, and marketing packages around a topic they have very little background in. Listen to the podcast to find out why this is happening and what to do about it.

The last podcast I did was about "Getting Real in Social Media (http://www.closingbigger.net/2009/07/get-real-about-social-media-its-not-a-video-game/)" and this is an extension of that. I'm a big proponent of the use of social media marketing and social networking in business. With that said, often social media helps us start a relationship, it can also help us nurture a relationship, but there are core sales skills needed to turn those relationships into revenues. There are dozens of core sales competencies but for this podcast I want to focus on three that social media marketers need to master: #1) They need to master the art of Rapport Building (http://www.closingbigger.net/2008/11/rapport-building-its-about-being-totally-present/) #2) They need to get good at Needs Analysis Selling (http://www.closingbigger.net/2009/05/needs-analysis-in-sales-day-10-of-the-28-days-to-better-selling/) #3) They need to understand how to sell what people buy, and it's not features, price or technology To Donate the the Vancouver Food Bank Click here (http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=4849) or the image below. Every bit helps!