I got a call from an organisation, the details of which I won’t go into, but because I wasn’t terribly familiar with the company, I decided to Google their name. Usually I don’t notice, but this time the suggested search terms by Google caught my attention:
When you see that the word “scam” is highly associated with an organisation, it makes you think twice about doing business with them or working for them. (On a side note, clearly brand managers don’t know how to Google their partner organisations because this particular organisation boasts pretty big partners).
What makes this worse is that many of the content creators are ex-employees of the company. While it isn’t surprising to have disgruntled employees, when so many of them around the globe band together to share similar negative experiences, readers tend to take it a little more seriously than one random guy ranting. Also, the company doesn’t seem to think that this negative publicity is hurting them because they haven’t commented on any of the blog sites to set the record straight.
While the actual name is blanked out, don’t kid yourself into thinking this will never happen to you. Think of how the suggested keywords Google throws up for Toyota changed overnight. It can happen to you and if it does you need to own it and be present to at least get your side of the story out there.
On a side note: Just as we’re doing our research on companies, they’re doing it on us as job applicants – all the more reason to be conscious of what you put out there.
I remember the first time I watched a Gary Vee video – his website had been hacked and he was explaining what happened and how he was resolving it and his character and passion just jumped off the screen (you can watch the video at the end of this post).
That same character comes through right off the page in Crush It! as well. This book is not for those who are afraid of change. What Gary presents is a roadmap to understanding yourself, tapping in on your passion and building a brand around yourself to get the job done.
While the book is aimed at the entrepreneur, there’s a lot of takeaway for big and small businesses alike. The 13 step plan he highlights in the book can be applicable to anyone but one thing he emphasises is that while monetary cost may be low, this is going to require a heck of a lot of hours. “Just Do It” isn’t a strategy that’s going to work here unless you’re prepared to put in those hours.
Crush It! is as much about knowing yourself as knowing your audience. Gary Vee makes you think hard about what you think your “passion” is, whether you’re an audio, visual or text person and what medium is best for you and if you’re really going to make it work.
At the end of the day, what Gary Vee encourages is building your personal brand first (not pushing your product in front of people’s face!) and letting that passion energise your audience, grab their attention which then you can monetise later. If you’re willing to do this, for free – it can pay back big time later.
Who should read this book?
If I had to pass this book to someone, I’d pass it to someone still in school or a fresh grad. Never before has having a personal brand and standing for something been so important. Maybe it’ll work against you in some cases – but when you connect with the people who are genuinely interested in you for who you are and what you stand for, you’ll be Crushing It.
Two days ago I posted about people being a big danger of social media marketing because of what they might say on various channels without thinking about the consequences. But on a more personal (though it can be corporate) level, inaction is equally damning.
When someone adds you (the communication professional of the company) on, say, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, and you wait a week before replying – what does that say about you as an individual, and as a representative as a company?
They add you and you accept it two weeks later – they’re not important.
You ask your community a question but then don’t respond to the answers – you’re disinterested and insincere.
In the above cases you’d be better off not being involved in the social space at all.
I have to admit this is something I struggle with personally. Sometimes people I meet once at conferences want to connect on Facebook and that might be a little too personal for me so I procrastinate and before long it’s a month and by then, accepting the invitation lets the other party know I metaphorically sat on it for a month, thus conveying the message they weren’t important enough to accept within a few days.
There’s no easy answer to this question. Some people will be comfortable accepting every invitation, others will be more selective. It’s not so much the style that matters, but being aware that whichever route you choose to take (or not take) communicates something to that person or group of people.
How do you deal with the many requests you get on social channels? Do you ignore some? Ask them to add you on a less personal channel like Twitter instead of Facebook? I’d love to hear from you.
Assuming you’ve got your product sorted out and implementing a social media programme won’t be a one way ticket to exposing all your product’s weaknesses, the next thing you need to worry about is the people who will be engaging in the social space.
Early this month there was an article in the Straits Times titled “Social networking at the workplace” where 2,008 employees were interviewed. Here’s a scan of the paper (click for larger image, pardon the poor quality, newspaper doesn’t keep very well).
Dangers of Social Media Marketing: Social Network Research
A quick glance at the statistics shows a few alarming statistics:
22% of companies have formal policies that dictate how social networking can be used – This means about 3 in 4 companies will invariably have an employee saying something inappropriate online because there are no guidelines to guard against it.
Only 40% of people “always” considers what their bosses might think when posting something online – So about 1 in 2 employees will run their mouth on channels like Facebook and Twitter to other members of your staff, your clients and maybe even your competition.
And to round it all off, only 17% of companies have a monitoring programme to manage social networking risks – 4 in 5 companies are letting these conversations go on unnoticed, and more importantly, unchecked. By the time they realise this, it will be too late.
The social space is not the place for untrained staff to “play” in. If no one is monitoring internal chatter about your brand and no one is actively educating staff how to behave on social channels, your biggest threats may ironically come from within – your own staff.
What measures would you put in place to prevent something nasty from happening?
Something I’ve been conscious of since joining BLUE is how I’m officially a representative of the company, and that’s not necessarily easily separated from being an individual. Add that to being the typical Generation Y demographic active on social media channels like Facebook, and the potential for saying something damaging to myself, my colleagues, my clients or the company increases exponentially. Brian just posted a similar post saying that a blog perhaps never really feels like yours when you’re on someone else’s payroll.
One of the best social media business books, Groundswell, talks about how blogs threaten institutional power. While most points under this section are references to external effects (ignoring copyright, inaccurate blogging etc), one point is inappropriate content from employees. As if there isn’t enough to worry about in social media’s murky, piranha-and-shark-infested waters.
Unless you have a social media policy, your employees are at best half-enlightened about what they can and cannot do. So the answer to the question is yes, you do need one. The logical next question is then: What goes into it?
Not revealing trade secrets (including financials, exclusive partnerships etc)
Not badmouthing co-workers, clients, bosses and the like
Not giving the appearance of being a spokesperson for the company (unless that’s the intention)
Not taking potshots at competitors
This is far from an exhaustive list and these will vary by your industry vertical, and there isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all policy. It will require some thinking and work, but the simple payback is maintaining a squeaky clean reputation (or at least, cleaner than your competitor’s!). For more thoughts check out Scott Hepburn’s post: How to create a corporate social media policy.
A social media policy isn’t about being restrictive or keeping employees on a tight leash. It’s about empowering them within guidelines to be active ambassadors of your brand on public platforms that could be viewed by existing customers, potential customers and even your competition.
Shouldn’t that be reason enough to participate responsibly?
What guidelines does your company have in place to ensure responsible participation by its’ employees?
Something I’ve been conscious of since joining BLUE is how I’m officially a representative of the company, and that’s not necessarily easily separated from being an individual. Add that to being the typical Generation Y demographic active on social media channels like Facebook, and the potential for saying something damaging to myself, my colleagues, my clients or the company increases exponentially. Brian just 
