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Audience: Engaging with Techies

October 22, 2013 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

Audience: Engaging with Techies

Perhaps you read my earlier blogpost about common issues with audiences, and how to figure out who your audience is on Social Media. Or maybe you’re just wondering how you, as a non-technical social media manager, will be able to talk to those more technically savvy than yourself. Have no fear: you have Google. Not only that, but you have the ability to discuss your own niche, and are a subject matter in your own right. Here are some other ideas that may work for you.

Ask Questions

People love to talk about themselves, and techies are no different. So let them shine by asking questions about their areas of expertise. Listen and then ask more questions. Dale Carnegie suggests that “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Have you found that to be true? Did you see what I did there? lol

Do Your Homework

If you need to engage more with techies, you can study what they study a little. On social media, see what your favorite techies are reading, tweeting, and discussing, and do Google searches on those topics. Read a little bit every day. I like TechCrunch, GigaOm, and VentureBeat at the moment.

Flattery Will Get You Everywhere

Without going completely overboard, why not show your favorite techy a little love by adding them to a list of your favorite people on Twitter, reposting their content, or commenting on their blog? Everyone loves attention. And if you don’t use lists (yet) you might want to read about Twitter Lists for the Power User.

Find Something in Common

Maybe you grew up in the same city, went to the same school, or like the same baseball team. Establishing some similar footing helps you gain rapport. Sharing your outlook on a technical subject or a newsworthy current event might also be a good topic of conversation.

Food, Weather, Pets

These are all easy topics to start a conversation. I often like to comment on something in a person’s profile. They might have a beautiful picture of flowers, or some funny expression that you’ve never heard before. Ok. That’s all I’ve got. Did I leave anything out?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: chat, Conversation, Engagement, flattery, Google, questions, tech-savvy, techies, Twitter

Tweeting for Engagement: Links Versus Text?

October 17, 2013 By Carol Stephen 11 Comments

Tweeting for Engagement: Links Versus Text?

You’ve been on Twitter late at night looking for conversations, and all you’ve seen are tweets with links and people broadcasting. You’d really like to have a conversation and engage like you’re supposed to on social media, but how? Here’s one idea: Why not try plain text?

Tweeting Without a Net

If you don’t schedule a tweet with a link what does that look like? Will people still respect you if you don’t include a link? Well, yes, they will respect you. In fact, they might even try to **gasp** try to talk to you! How strange and wonderful that could be! And how different from the majority of the tweets out there! This isn’t about creating the perfect tweet; it’s about using Twitter to talk to people!

@Carol_Stephen Links are a bigger commitment for new conversations.

— Riggins Construction (@RigginsConst) October 9, 2013

No Link = Less Commitment!

As Riggins Construction says, “Links are a bigger commitment for new conversations.” If you broadcast a tweet with a link, people have to click the link (if they trust it), read the whatever-it-is, think about it, and then get back to you. Without that dreaded link, people are much more likely to say hello, reply, or retweet. So it’s easier for your audience to talk to you–and for you to talk to them!

Fewer People Engaging Means You Stand Out

Listen!

When fewer people are actually listening on Twitter, you get to look like a superhero when you engage! Well, maybe not like Spiderman, but you will get to be social on social media, which seems unusual some days. Now, I’m not saying to entirely stop putting out links, but adding in some tweets without links makes your Tweetstream friendlier.

The Road Less Tweeted

With all the broadcasting there is, you will definitely be in the minority if you listen. Sometimes taking the road less traveled can be a very, very good thing. You might even make a friend or two along the way!

More Spontaneity

Text without a link is more spontaneous. You can tweet about something that just happened to you, or something you’ve been thinking about, and start a conversation that way. Or you could look at your Twitstream to see if anyone is having conversations at the moment. You could also put those talkers onto a list, so that you can check back with them easily from time to time.

How Do You Like to Engage on Twitter?

Do you have any special things you like to do on Twitter to find people to talk to? I’d love to hear from you! Really. I would.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: conversations, Engagement, engaging, links, plain text, Spam, superhero, talk, talking, Twitter

Random Pinterest Annoyances

October 15, 2013 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

Random Pinterest Annoyances

If you’re like a lot of the people on Pinterest, you’ve formed some strong opinions about the right way to use this social media platform. You’ve spent hours (or maybe weeks or months) pinning, so you have a pretty good idea of what to do or not do. (By the way, if you’re using Pinterest for a startup, here are some first steps.) These are some of my completely grouchy and random thoughts.

Using the Wrong Description

Maybe we should be happy that most spammers are so lazy that they use one picture and a completely unrelated caption underneath it. But that gets pretty old on Pinterest. For instance, a picture of a purse and underneath: “EARN MA$$IVE INCOME FROM INTERNET CALL ME NOW I MAKE $38,000 FIRST WEEK. MY BROTHER IN LAW CANNOT BELIEVE IT”

Taking Credit for Original Artwork

Pinterest has gotten pretty good about telling people to take down pins when the owner requests it. So please don’t take my pin. I’m not seeing this happen much any more, but when it does, it’s still annoying.

Spam on Shared Boards

When you (that is, I) go to a shared board all excited and then realize that it’s nothing but spam, that is the definition of disappointment. Yes, it is.

Stealing My Soul

Do not swoop in and steal all my pins without changing a single word. It’s creepy when I visit your board and every single picture and every single caption mirrors mine. Sheesh. Use some of your own ideas. What do you like about the pins? Say that.

Items with No Description

While we’re at it, why do people post things and then just put a period (.) underneath them? Doesn’t that drive you crazy? Huffington Post has a pretty good list of what not to do on Pinterest, too.

No Way to Search Your Own Pins

As Vanessa Van Edwards says in her article “Why Pinterest Will Not Be the Next Facebook,” scrolling to find that perfect taco recipe just takes too long. It’s easier to use Google.

You’ve Been There

What annoys you? Did I leave anything out?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: annoyances, no description, Pinterest, search, Spam, stealing

Audience: Use Their Language

October 10, 2013 By Carol Stephen 5 Comments

Audience: Use Their Language

Once you’ve figured out who your audience is and a bit about their demographic, why not start to use their language? There are many ways to determine if you’re using the correct language and these are just a few hints. If you still don’t know who your audience is, a survey is one way to get to know them. On social media, each platform has a different language as well.

Get Focused on Your Audience

So let’s imagine for a moment that you have figured out that your audience is mostly women who love athletic shoes. What could you assume about this athletic-shoe-loving woman? Maybe she thinks about what she’s going to have for lunch and dinner while she’s working out. She might be more willing to eat a salad than a pizza, she might love to watch sports on TV, and she might also be interested in athletic wear. She might be interested in ebooks about health and diet, buy pricey bottled water, and take lots of vitamins.

Charm Your Giraffe

If you were a zebra trying to market to giraffes, it’s entirely possible that you could succeed at that. Finding out what giraffes talk about would be a start: where to get the freshest leaves, how far the nearest and best trees are, and where the carnivores are hiding could be some big topics for a giraffe. However, having a giraffe on staff who could keep your giraffe client in mind would greatly help with your marketing efforts. Because it’s not about you! It’s about the giraffe! You know what I mean.

Don’t Use Jargon

Acronyms abound in marketing materials, and you don’t want to make your potential clients guess what those acronyms mean. If your brand is in high-tech or the medical field, be very careful to explain everything so you don’t alienate your audience. Sometimes you’ll see a brand with a social media page and have no idea what they do. When you create a page, why not ask someone from a different industry to take a look. That is, unless you only want to appeal to those in your industry.

Use Emotional Language

Find out how you can access the inner life of your audience. Using friendly language can make your brand more accessible, especially on social media. You can go farther and stand for ideas like freedom, romance, or compassion when you use emotional language in your marketing. And images can speak even more loudly than words.

Male Versus Female Lingo

If your audience is mostly men, your language will be different than if your audience is women. You can do a little research about gender differences in language. Keep a particular person in mind if you’re a woman addressing a male audience, or vice versa. And remember that the images should also reflect that gender bias.

Do You Target Your Audience with Language?

How have you changed your style to fit your audience? Or, if you haven’t, why not?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: audience, emotion, Friendly, gender, jargon, Language

Using Surveys to Define Audience

October 8, 2013 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Using Surveys to Define Audience

Your startup or company is still forming, and although you have a great product, you’re not sure who is using your product. If you haven’t read the high-level document about defining your audience, you might want to take a look. A survey is a perfect way to help figure out who your users are before you go chasing the wrong demographic. Here are a few tips.

Keep it Short

If you’ve ever answered a survey yourself, you probably appreciate the ones that are simple and to the point. Don’t make people answer 20 frillion questions! Ten questions would be about the max most people would answer before they bail on you. And keep each question as short as possible, too.

Avoid Yes or No Questions

Like a conversation around a dinner table, a yes or no question doesn’t encourage talking. So keep most of the questions open and you could get some surprising answers! Some suggest opening with a yes or no question and then following with a more open-ended one.

Eliminate Unnecessary Questions

For instance, you probably don’t need to know a person’s reading habits, where they went to school, or the kind of car they drive. So cut back on those questions so you’ll get more people to finish the survey.

Have Someone Else Rate the Survey

Have a friend take the survey and give their two cents on how successful it is or isn’t before you release it to the general public. Then go back and edit the questions. Better still, have two or three people give their opinion. If you absolutely have to edit your own work, print it and then be ruthless, as Caroline McMillan explains in her Lifehacker article, “How to Edit Your Own Writing.”

Be Willing to Hear the Truth

You may not hear things you want to hear, so be open-minded when creating your survey. If you only want to hear positive, glowing reviews of your product, don’t create a survey! So for instance, if you ask, “We’ve created the best product on the market, don’t you agree?” you’re probably not going to get feedback that will help you improve. Like Twitter and other social media platforms, a survey is a listening tool.

Give a Small Incentive to Finish

Sometimes incentives are given during a survey to encourage people to finish. If your survey is longer than average, you might consider giving a discount or a free trial of your software as an incentive. Some companies even give cash incentives (just make sure the amount is affordable!).

Do a Phone Survey

Some people respond better to hearing someone ask questions, so you might consider this option. Studies suggest that phone surveys get a higher response rate.

How Do You Like My Awesome Blog Post?

Just kidding! But is there anything you’ve found in a survey that got you riled up or that you really liked? Please leave a comment! Thank you!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Conversation, feedback, questionnaire, Startup, survey, yes or no questions

Startup Management Shuffle: Survival, Part 2

October 1, 2013 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Startup Management Shuffle

You’ve become known as the “organized one” at your startup, since you’ve started to take notes and call for meetings. People may be looking to you as someone to lead them out of the chaos and into the sunlight of a well-oiled machine. That might be a mixed metaphor, but you know what I’m getting at. What other ways can you use to help yourself survive and thrive in a management shuffle? Here are some ideas.

Be the Archivist

If you’re prepared with notes from past meetings, that will enormously help the entire team. You can use a footer to note the name of the document and whether it’s version 1, 2, 3, etc. Don’t forget to date the notes, too! If you send notes to your team, send a .pdf. In the olden days, this used to be called “version control.” You can change the version in the footer every time you make a change (and don’t let a bunch of people work on the same doc at once, unless you’re working in Google docs).

Manage Expectations

Every time there’s a new bunch of people in charge, you have to figure out what they expect from you and what you can expect from them. If you can quickly let go of past expectations that will help a lot. Learning to go with the quick change tide is what happens in a startup.

Figure out Your Job Duties

With new management, your job duties may suddenly change. You may suddenly have more or fewer duties, and those won’t always be communicated directly, so asking lots of questions can help. Your title may change as well.

Know When to Fold ‘Em

Know When To Fold ‘Em

Some degree of pushback is to be expected during any reorg. There may be a kerfuffle or two. Realize that you can have a resume ready to go in a couple of hours if you really need to bail. It’s so easy to think that where you work is the center of the universe, but there are other jobs, and many other good jobs.

What Strategies Have You Used?

If you’re at a startup, what are you doing to keep your sanity?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: changes, expectations, Management, shuffle, Startup

Unfollow on Pinterest: 3 Best Ways

September 26, 2013 By Carol Stephen 3 Comments

Unfollow on Pinterest: 3 Best Ways

My previous post on how to unfollow on Pinterest continues to get comments about how complicated this process is, so I am writing this to outline the best solutions to unfollow on Pinterest, thanks to the super-helpful Austin Geraci, and blog reader “Dani,” both of whom I’ve paraphrased.

Note: None of these procedures is very simple, and I’m still open to hearing about any alternatives.

For Mac or Windows: Excel

This idea comes from Blog reader Dani. Dani explains that you can copy the entire page (either your followers or who you’re following) and past either into notepad.

Then you copy from notepad, paste into Excel and organize the data alphabetically and you can delete all the “following” notes.

For Windows: Notepad++

As explained by Austin G, Notepad++ is an easy-to-use tool that lets you compare data (among a lot of other tasks). You can open multiple text docs in it, just like you can in modern browsers using tabs.

Open up the two docs, go to plugins –> Compare –> Pick your options (align, ignore spacing, detect moves, or navigation bar) –>Click compare and Poof! both docs show up side by side and the differences will be highlighted.

For Mac or Windows: Word

Unfollowing on Pinterest can be complicated

Open a blank Word file. From Pinterest, copy your Pinterest followers. Then go to Edit–>Paste Special–>Unformatted Text. Then Find and Replace “Unfollow” with an empty space. (Find and replace “Unfollow” first or this process won’t work.)

Why Isn’t This Easier?

Everybody wants to know how to do this. When I talk about it anywhere on social media, people go a little bit crazy. Twitter makes it pretty simple. By the way, if you want to know why I’m not following you on Pinterest, here are some possible reasons.

What’s Your Favorite?

If you have figured out a good way to unfollow on Pinterest, I’d love to talk to you! Really. I will buy you coffee. Or even a really good beer. Or you can leave a comment here.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Followers, Mac, Pinterest, Unfollow, unfollowing, Windows

Bad Social Media Manager Secrets

September 24, 2013 By Carol Stephen 11 Comments

Bad Social Media Manager Secrets

Your startup just got started up. Everything’s going great. The only problem is your social media has stalled. Or you have 3 Twitter followers and your avatar is still an egg! You spend all your time fixing software bugs, and by the end of the day, you’re exhausted. Who has time for Tweeter, Faceplant, and Pinteresting? Not to mention GooglePlex and Instacramp? Not you, that’s for sure!

Note: I’m exaggerating–most startup managers are knowledgeable about these platforms, just not all of them.

You already know the attributes of a good social media manager, but do you know how to find a terrible social media manager? Here are some ideas to get you started.

Cutting-Edge Technology

Ask your friends down at Bernie’s Bar if they know anyone who’s bought a computer lately, and more importantly, knows what a computer is. Two thumbs up if the computer comes with a keyboard. Make sure they have a CompuServe account. Write them a letter and ask them to Fax them your resume.

Massive Followers

Make sure your new best friend claims they can get you 20,000 followers the first week. Never mind that they are bots they bought. Numbers are what matter for “social proof.”

Addictions

Recruit People with Addictions

Recruit people with active addictions because they’re so interesting! They’ve got the best stories, that’s for sure. Double points if your social media manager likes to “drunk tweet!”

Me, Me, Me

Ensure that your new manager only ever talks about himself. 98% of the posts should be about the business. This includes Direct Messages that say “FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!” ALL IN CAPS.

Inflammatory Content

Your new manager should love political diatribes, sexist jokes, and be xenophobic: the trifecta of a bad manager!

Ask Favors

Get a manager who’s always asking others with good followings for favors–such as retweets, shares, and unfounded testimonials.

Many Internet Identities

Maintain Many Identities Across the Interwebz

Your manager should have lots of fake identities all over the interwebz, so all your “fans” can give you constant good reviews. There is no downside to this strategy, and it will never backfire!

Sporadic Posting

Your manager should post all at once one day a week and not spread out the posts throughout the week.

Never Thank Anyone

Good manners are prehistoric! It goes without saying that people know you’re grateful. Your manager doesn’t actually have to thank anyone.

Huge Advance

Make sure that the person wants a huge advance before doing any work or explaining any strategy. Because what could go wrong?

Account Control

Your new friend should have absolute control over the passwords and domains. They never need to show you your passwords unless you give them a big pile of money. And be sure to give them your credit card number!

What Are Some of Your Favorite Worst Practices?

Have any secrets that I missed?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Facebook, fax, secrets, Social Media, Twitter

Live Tweeting: Social Data Week

September 19, 2013 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

Social Data Week San Francisco

If the purpose of social media is to be social, then going to a social media conference, like Social Data Week, which I just attended, is a chance to really connect with those you’ve only talked to or seen online. Here are some things that have helped me to prepare for a live conference. If you’re unfamiliar with live tweeting, read You Too Can Be Guru’s excellent piece: Live Tweeting Events.

Connect

You probably already have a list of the conference speakers. Why not reach out to those you’d really like to hear before the conference? Connect on Twitter, retweet, ask a question, and tell them you’re looking forward to meeting. For Social Data Week, I reached out to several social media superstars. I was excited to reach out to Susan Etlinger, Nova Spivack, John Bell, Nick Halstead, and Rob Bailey.

Educate Yourself

Conference cheat sheet

Dig a little and find out what the speakers at the conference do. I like to prepare a little “cheat sheet,” with conference speaker titles and Twitter handles. When you’re sitting in the dark, trying to tweet, you don’t want to have to dig around for names, so this really comes in handy. It took me about 20 minutes to compile all the names. Knowing a little bit more about these people and having more of a personal connection, made their talks even more compelling.

Hashtags

The conference itself may have a hashtag, so make sure you have that ready, too, so that you can live tweet. For instance, Social Data Week’s hashtag was #sdwk13.

Say Hello

When you say hello to people, they usually say hello back: it’s amazing! So during the conference, introduce yourself. As an introvert, I don’t run up to every single person, but I do make a point of meeting a few people, and especially those I’ve connected with on social media beforehand.

During the Conference

If you’re following the hashtag, you can also reach out to those you meet online at the conference. You can retweet them, comment on their tweets, or even connect with them after the conference by looking back through the hashtagged tweets. You can ask them how they liked the conference, and of course, follow them on Twitter.

Take Pictures

John Bell explains: “The U.S. is highest in passionate advocacy”

Take more pictures than you think you’ll need. You can tweet those photos out during the event or use them later. Make sure you get a photo of a sign or two, and of course the people you’ve met.

What Do You Do to Prepare for a Conference?

Do you like to live tweet? Do you do anything to prepare for a conference? Tell me in the comments below!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: #sdwk13, Guy Kawasaki, John Bell, live, Nick Halstead, Nova Spivak, Retweeting, Rob Bailey, Social, Social Data Week, Social Media, Susan Etlinger, tweeting

Startup Management Shuffle: 5 Ways to Survive

September 17, 2013 By Carol Stephen 3 Comments

Management Shuffle Got You Down?

You just started working at a startup and you’ve already been through two CEOs, a rebranding, and three office changes. Things move fast at a startup! Maybe you already read about issues that can face startups, so you know at a high level, what the possible issues are. What can you do to survive those changes?

Hallway Talks

People won’t often commit to telling the truth online on social media or on email. The best way to get the scoop is to ask in the hallway or to grab a quick coffee. Once you ask someone face to face, you’ll have a better sense of what really happened, and be better prepared. You’ll also know who can be trusted to tell you the truth, since even small companies can be rife with politics.

Make an Organizational Chart

Chances are, if you don’t know what happened, someone else doesn’t know, either. So try making an org chart. Even if it’s just for you, it can give you a clear idea of the company hierarchy. Share it with others, and ask for their changes and clarifications. People love sharing their knowledge. I’ve found that people don’t mean to be confusing, but sometimes in their hurry to get things done, they don’t think about how their actions will affect others.

Be the One to Organize

Again, if you’re confused, others are, too. Show initiative and organize, take notes, and call for meetings to clarify what’s happening. Your language can say “I’m assuming…” so that others know that you don’t really have all the answers.

Take Notes

Hallway Talks Can Help Unravel Management Changes

Make sure to date everything, so that later you can go back and unravel events if you need to. Meeting notes can remind you and others of what happened when and with whom. Who took that action item? Who promised to fix that bug in the software? Where’s the name of that consultant again? Put it in the notes, and create a folder of notes that everyone can access. I like to send notes to the whole team and ask them to read and make corrections.

Call for Meetings

A meeting can be just two people having coffee, or the entire team giving an update. If you set an agenda, people usually appreciate that. They may want to change it, so don’t be too attached to it.

Other Issues

There are obviously tons of other issues, but for now I’m going to get in my clown car and buzz off. Another post will follow.

What Helps You?

Have you gone through management changes at your startup? How did that feel and how did you deal with it?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: CEO, Management, meetings, minutes, notes, Startup, survival