I try to live these rules every day--whether I’m engaging online via twitter, blogs, or any other tools.  The rules are simple:

1. Be Real (don’t be a bot)
2. Address the Need (not just the explicit ones)
3. Be the Gatekeeper (never be the roadblock)

These rules are part of a project I’m working on to get the Dimdim support team on Twitter, directly engaging with customers.  My goal was to go beyond just teaching the tools.  Anyone can create a Twitter account and jump into the conversation.  I wanted to make sure we are consistent in our approach.

I personally have a hard time following rules if there are too many to remember.  What are your rules?  Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter (@kevinmic)

-k

[Special thanks to Matt Turner (@onmatt, www.onmatt.com) for helping to pull all the examples together for this talk, and Leslie Poston (@geechee_girl, www.uptownuncorked.com) for the opportunity to speak.  I do so love to talk.]

I’ve been thinking about the best advice I can give her — she told me that she’s shy at this type of event.  Having attended a number of events, I recommend:

Look around the room for the people who look like they want to be engaged, but are hanging back.  Chances are they are more shy than you and just waiting for someone to break the silence.

I’ve used this approach many times and found almost everyone I approached seemed relieved when I introduced myself.  I typically ask people what they do, then go from there.  I try to keep my mouth shut (which as an extrovert, is sometimes a challenge) and focus on listening to what they have to say.

Some people will answer quickly, then drop back into silence. That’s ok.  They’ll need to move at their own pace.  Follow-up questions you might want to ask are:

• is this your first _________ (insert event name)? — which can open the door to talking about how other events went, what they got out of them.  Could also be a good way to help you judge whether the mix of topics and people is the right kind of event for you to attend in the future.
• what brought you to  ________ (insert event name)? — a good way to get an understanding of what they need/are looking for.  It might be something you could help them with, or at least you might know someone they should talk to.
• I’m still new to __________ (pick your latest social media site/service/craze).  Do you use it?  What do you use it for? How have you been doing it? — this could give you good tips/pointers for your own use.

Talking about the weather is a typical fallback for many people.  Try to stick to questions that help your get to know the person better.

Remember, if it comes down to it and it’s too hard to draw them into the conversation, you can always politely say “I’m trying to meet as many people as possible today.  It was great to meet you.”  Pause for a moment, then look around the room.  There’s always someone out there hoping someone else will break that awkward moment and start a conversation.

-k

Everyone wants to stand out, but if you create more work for the person reviewing resumes, chances are you won’t be considered.

I’m doing my best to review every applicant who has contacted me, but if it takes me more than a few minutes to get an impression, I’ll admit you go on the “no thank you” pile.

Tip 1: Resumes are still used

It’s great you have a LinkedIn profile or that you keep information about yourself on your web site.  If 99% of other candidates are still sending a resume, having to go find information about you creates more work. Not good.  It may be a personal preference, but I try to stay organized and my inbox expands by several hundred a day, for me it’s easier if you send your resume as an attachment.  No need to attach your cover letter, your email can say the same thing.

Tip 2: If your resume doesn’t include links to you & your work, you aren’t presenting yourself as a social media pro

I hate to be harsh about this one, but if I’m looking to hire someone it’s because I need help.  (Meaning I’m already overloaded.)  If I have to lookup your information to know you have a professional online presence, you haven’t made it easy for me.  I’m not saying you should provide a laundry list of all your sites, just the ones you feel are key.  You want the links to point to you and your work.  It’s your portfolio, not the kitchen sink, just include the best.

Tip 3: Be easy to find

It should be a given, but just in case you’re new to this, if you make it past an initial review of applicants, expect the next step will be that someone Googles you.  Are the links that come up ones you would want a prospective employer to see?  Do you come up in the results at all?

When I get so many files, I typically save them all off into a folder.  Naming your resume ‘resume2.doc’ makes it that much harder for me to find you again later.  At a minimum, make sure your name is in the file name.

I’m sure there are many things I’m not thinking of, but I have to get back to finding the right person for this role.  Any other suggestions?  Leave a comment.

-k

I’m grateful that @AppraiserJenn took the time to let me know.  A few hours before I had tweeted a link to a blog post by Rachel Happe (@rhappe) on the Community Maturity Model using the bit.ly link shortening service.  I’ve had great luck with the bit.ly service so I doubted the problem happened with them, but since I was on the road and couldn’t look into it — I was concerned.  At another stop light I tweeted apologies, then rushed back to work to see how bad the damage was.  

Back at work I finally saw the mystery tweet, which was supposedly sent “from web”.  Problem is, it was sent while I was driving.  And I didn’t send it.

That was enough to convince me somehow my account had been hacked.  I immediately logged in to change my Twitter password (took 5 tries because Twitter was again “over capacity”).  I also went into my profile to see what applications/services I had authorized (under Settings/Connections).  Changing my password was probably enough, but I was feeling a bit violated.

I’m a pretty trusting person and love trying out new services, so I’ve very freely been entering my Twitter username and password many places.  Why copy and paste when I can just click “tweet this”?  Until I forget about this eventful Thursday (which I’m sure I will), I’m only using my desktop Twitter client, BlackBerry client, and TwitterFeed.  

What can you do to prevent this from happening?

1. Pick a real password!  Easy to remember, hard to guess (which mine was)
2. Be careful who you give your username and password to (which I wasn’t)
3. Change your password periodically (I’m very bad about this)
4. Don’t use the same password for everything (now working on changing them all)

Twitter is also trying to help us by creating OAuth, so we won’t have to give out our passwords to use 3rd party sites/services.  When you want the 3rd party application to have access to your Twitter account, that app calls Twitter and Twitter manages the login process.  Twitter remembers what applications you’ve authorized (TwitterFeed uses this service), so you can go into your Twitter settings and revoke access at any time.  No password was given to the 3rd party site.

-k

(for those wondering, my curiosity got the best of me late in the day and I clicked the link.  Let’s just say it’s about “male enhancement”. Definitely not safe for work!)

Near the end of April I started encountering an error with MilkSync.  The issue was acknowledged on April 25th by email.  Two days later I was asked to provide my logs (and they sent easy to follow instructions on how to get the logs they needed.)   April 28th, I received an email saying:

“I’ve been advised by the team that this issue should be fixed. Please let me know if you have any further issues.”

I thought, great!  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.  On May 2nd I replied to the email again to let the support rep know the issue still hadn’t been resolved.  I even sent a photo of the error.  No response.  May 28th I sent this message:

“I’m writing to express how extremely disappointed I am that as a customer who purchased I received no further response on this issue (from May 2nd.)  At thetime Krissy emailed me the issue was not fixed.  The errors stopped within a week of sending that email, but I ended up having to reset my sync for the product to work correctly again (it was reporting that sync successfully ran, but was not updating data.)  I’m not sure about you, but I’m VERY hesitant to give any product that touches my contact list another try if I lose important data.  

I’m in the process of looking for something to replace RTM with my BlackBerry now.”

It’s been almost a month since my last email to them and still haven’t received any acknowledgement.  I’m pretty patient, but that is unacceptable.  When I found the MilkSync app was showing my tasks had successfully synchronized, but they hadn’t. In the end I lost some of my task list data.  That was when I cancelled my 1-year non-refundable account, only 5 months into what I had paid for.

I think what I had the most trouble with is that the only means of contact was email, which obviously failed.  The support issue received a tracking number that was in the subject of all communications, so I’m assuming there is a tracking system behind it.  Even if the support rep had taken a sabbatical or left the company, there needs to be a process in place to ensure customer issues don’t fall through the cracks.  

-k

I submitted the issue to Evernote on March 22nd and received an automated response.  As a “premium member” I should get a response within 1 day.  The next day I received my response with a follow-up question from a support rep.  We went back and forth a few times.  The support rep was unable to reproduce the issue, so I created a Jing video to show how easy it was for me to recreate.  Two days after submitting, the issue was given over to QA to be reproduced.  They had acknowledge my issue and were taking a look at it.  

Where I get  excited is less than 2 weeks after reporting my annoying but not show-stopping issue, I received an email saying:

Hi Kevin,

this bug is fixed. New Mac version with bug fix will be released next week.

Thanks,

Evernote Support

True to form, in a week the new release fixed the issue.  

Way to go Evernote.  The entire process was handled via email, but at no point did I feel like I was forgotten or ignored.  The added touch of confirming it will be in the release made me feel that I had someone looking out for me.

• Be human
• Make your tweets inherently “retweetable”. 

It’s important to be human (or “real”), but worth noting that doesn’t mean the world needs to know you’re going out for brunch.  That’s why I keep my @kevinmic and @dimdim lives separate.  I assume people following @dimdim are there because they are interested in web conferencing, webinars, elearning, etc.  People following @kevinmic are subject to my scattered interests.

After reading Sean’s post, I realized I’ve started to look at my tweets from the perspective of “is this retweetable?”  But, I was only taking that approach with the tweets I wanted retweeted.  A few hours before reading these tips, I had someone prove the point — they retweeted a tweet I thought no one would want to tweet.

Thanks to Sean for this great advice!

-k

Background

One of the first people I met at my first tweetup in August 2008 was Alexa Scordato (@alexa). She was just moving to the Boston area to work for Barry Libert at Mzinga. Alexa and I spoke for less than a minute, but I made sure to follow her on Twitter. Since then, I’ve had more opportunities to talk with Alexa at events in the Boston area and even joined her a few weeks ago at an “Apple Pickin” tweetup in Stow, MA she helped organize. Alexa has a passion for social media and technology. She’s active in the blog community, working with some of the industry’s A-list bloggers, and has been working on “bridging the gap between Microsoft gurus and MySpace addicts.”

Tools

Alexa uses a relatively basic set tools for managing her online conversations.

• Twitter (following 414 with 1063 following her)
• Facebook (490 friends)
• LinkedIn (39 connections)
• Twitterific for following Twitter conversations on the go.

When it comes to blogs, Alexa remains very active in the blogosphere, but doesn’t rely on any feed/rss readers or Google alerts.

Usage

Alexa follows conversations on Twitter primarily using the Twitter site and Twitter Search . Her approach is a bit different from others I’ve talked to. She is very comfortable joining existing conversations and starting new ones, but views the Twitter stream as an ongoing conversation.

For the blogs she follows, she doesn’t read every single blog post. She picks up on the current conversation when she can. Alexa knows many bloggers and will often call a blogger to discuss what’s being discussed on their blog. She’d rather have an hour conversation by phone to better understand the timeline. She keeps a strong focus on the personal relationships, with the understanding that you can’t keep up with everything.

Alexa grew up with technology (as with most millenials). She has a more native use of technology, not working to follow any specific “best practices.” As an early beta tester for Facebook and early Twitter adopter, the technology is just a new platform for the same type of conversations.

On Twitter, Alexa will typically check someone’s profile to see if they are in the Boston area. As someone new to the area, she is using the platform to help her meet more people. With Facebook, she typically connects to people she knows well or meets in non-social media contexts. For Alexa, the quality of the connections is more important than the number. She goes for higher quality connections.

When I asked her about how much time she spends a day on social media, Alexa asked a great question. “Was I including interactive sites like the NY Times?” I wasn’t — though I’ll need to give that more thought for future interviews. If she just focuses on the “social media/social network” sites she uses, she is currently at around 2-3 hours per day. Before taking on her new job, she used to spend 12-14 hours per day.

Insights

The way you conduct yourself in real life should apply online.

As I mentioned already, for Alexa it’s about higher quality connections and natural conversations. To help maintain this, she keeps her use organic and doesn’t try to force connections with tools. She uses a great metaphor, “If you were at a party would you want to know what everyone in the party is saying?”

Alexa feels you lose the “connectedness” the more people you follow. It’s about understanding what people need and “give so you can get.” She brought up the example of the teenage girls who are creating wildly successful MySpace fan pages. It’s clear they understand what people need and they are willing to let it grow organically.

Alexa believes that social media as it stands isn’t scalable if you are going for quality connections and natural conversations. In real life, who has 1,000+ good friends? She defines good meaning the type of person who would drop everything if you were in need.

Advice

personal is the new professional

Alexa sees the need for more “personal” with the “professional.” She’s found there is “no shortcut” when building your relationships. It needs to be organic and we need to catch ourselves so we don’t end up being socially inept in our attempts to communicate on the web.

For those getting started, Alexa recommends Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn . Facebook because it is a more living breathing social space. Twitter because it’s hot. It’s where the cool kids are. And LinkedIn because it is your digital resume. She’s even heard that some companies are only allowing their employees to have LinkedIn profiles.

Background

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Christine Major of PerkettPR. I first met Christine in August at a Tweetup in Cambridge, MA organized by author, blogger, and Forrester Online Community Manager John Cass. Since then I’ve been following her on Twitter (@CMajor). Through her I’ve learned of several events in the Boston area I would have otherwise missed and have had the opportunity to connect with more interesting professionals.

Tools

Christine uses social media both personally and professionally. She’s quite active on Twitter with more than 500+ followers and uses it to track for news, maintain professional connections, and some personal interaction. As a PR professional, Twitter has been a great tool to help her connect with reporters and influencers. She uploads photos to Twitter using twitpic and recently joined the twitter moms group. She keeps up with friends on Facebook with 150+ friends and maintains professional connections using LinkedIn with 92 connections. To help her keep up with the conversations on Twitter, both for herself and for clients, she uses Twitter Search (formerly Summize).

Usage

Christine has been on Twitter for a year now. Initially she was resistant to jump into the dynamic Twitter conversation, but quickly started realizing its value and became more active. Through Twitter, she’s found a great blend of online and real life connecting unlike any other social networking tool.

She spends about an hour each day directly engaged with social media. Just like email is a part of everyone’s daily lives, Twitter is now part of hers to check for messages and monitor and participate in conversations. For general Twitter discussions and any replies directed towards her (called @replies), she checks them using the Twitter web site and Twitter search. This system lets her work during the day without being interrupted by the general stream of “tweets”. Any private, direct messages to her go directly to her email inbox. On the go, Christine checks Twitter on her iPhone using Twitterific (sometimes a little too often.)

With her personal connections on Facebook she uses a more passive approach, relying on the Facebook generated emails for comments and messages. Occasionally she will go to the Facebook site to check the statuses of her friends. Facebook has been good for catching up with old friends. She had tried MySpace, but wasn’t thrilled with it’s interface and ultimately found she made much better connections on Facebook and canceled her account.

She is being selective about what tools to use to keep things manageable.

Insights

Christine has found success using social media tools by investing time in helping others. Recently she was chosen to be a panel liaison for SXSW . When she tweeted about it to share the news, another Twitter user contacted her to ask how she went about it. She helped get them connected with the appropriate person to get involved. Christine has also witnessed the impact of the medium more directly. A few weeks ago, she tweeted about going for a run. She received a response that it had inspired one of her followers to go out for a run too. The tools have been great in helping her manage connections and make friends.

Using social media has helped her grow personally and push “out of her shell.” To help keep a balance, she has been careful about who she follows back on Twitter. If someone follows her, she looks to see who they are by checking out their bio and reading what they are tweeting about before she decides to follow them back. When she follows someone on Twitter, she’ll take the time to look them up on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn a bit more about them. People she has met in person are more likely to get connected with her across all her social media tools.

Using Twitter was a strategic move by her company. Once she began using it she grew to like it. Meeting people in person and connecting with them on Twitter has been very exciting. She is now working with her clients to introduce them to the space. Some of her clients are hesitant to jump on board, but know they need to do it. In Christine’s view, successful social interaction online needs to come from the client.

Advice

You can’t just feed news – you have to add value or people are going to ignore you.

• Remember it’s public. Be careful what you are putting on there. People are going to check online for you. Show your personality, don’t stifle it.
• It takes time to build up your following and your community. It takes effort to cultivate. Be patient. Grow it organically, don’t force it.
• If you are starting on Twitter, follow friends and ask them to follow you. Ask your friends to suggest to their followers that they follow you. Again, don’t force it.
• Put information about yourself in your bio so people know who you are. You are likely to receive a follow back if you seem like a real person with real interests.
• Be consistent, don’t just tweet once a week and expect a following.
• Get involved. Get engaged. Network. Meet. The best success comes from a combination of meeting people in person and extending that relationship online. It takes time and effort, but the benefits are so rewarding.

Author’s note : I want to thank Christine for allowing her interview to be the first posted to Practical Conversations. Not everyone is willing to blaze trails. It’s my hope that more interviews like this, with people sharing their experiences, will help us all to improve our personal processes for managing online conversations. Thanks Christine! -k

‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said, very gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’ -- The King, Alice In Wonderland

If only.  Unfortunately, most things in life are not that simple, including social media and online conversations.  There are so many possibilities.

Let’s start at the beginning with some basics.  I recommend these two videos to get a quick understanding:

Social Media in Plain English, from Common Craft

Social Networking in Plain English, from Common Craft

If you’re ready, now dig into these:

• Blogs in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• Podcasting in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• Twitter in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• Wikis in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• Online Photo Sharing in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• Social Bookmarking in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• RSS in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• Trackback in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• Google Reader in Plain English, from Common Craft (video)
• LinkedIn, from Common Craft (video)
• Categorizing Social Media, from MarketingProfs

More to follow soon.  If you are engaging in online conversations and have a system that works, please let me know, I’d like to interview you.

-k