by Caroline Leach | Oct 9, 2016 | Corporate Communications, Social Media
Our incoming messages are exploding.
LinkedIn messages. Facebook and Twitter notifications. Emails. Texts. Snaps.
Just reading and responding to everything could be more than a full-time job.
You need a strategy for when you do and don’t respond.
And I don’t subscribe to the philosophy that no response is the right way to say no.
In our hyperconnected world, our humanity and good manners can too easily go by the wayside.
Sometimes it’s because we can’t help the person and we need to say no. In those cases, have a standard professional response you can copy, paste, edit and send to say you’re not interested at this time, but you’ll keep the info for future reference.
Some messages are easy not to respond to:
- Automated sales pitches, usually via LinkedIn and Twitter
- Connection requests immediately followed by a sales pitch, again, usually via LinkedIn and Twitter
- Connection requests in LinkedIn from people you don’t know and that aren’t personalized to explain why they’d like to connect with you
- Tweets that mention you as a way to draw you into an issue for which you can offer no meaningful response
Some messages deserve a response. And while it would be easy enough to ignore them, giving a response can set you apart and enhance your company’s reputation:
- Customers of your company who need help getting an issue resolved. Respond to that customer right away. Be a friendly, helpful, human face and voice. Connect them with your company’s customer care team for a rapid response.
Interesting stat: 78% of people who complain to a brand in Twitter expect a response within an hour. Another one: 77% of people feel more positive about a brand when their tweet has been replied to.
(This is where I remind readers that opinions expressed are my own.)
- People from your alma maters, past and present employers and other professional groups who ask for your advice or an introduction to a colleague for networking purposes.
- Connections, colleagues and friends who post valuable content. Read their link, give them a “like” if the content is something you want to be associated with, and leave a short and upbeat comment that adds a constructive observation to the dialogue. Social media is all about reciprocity.
And some messages fall in between.
An example? A request to connect to one of your connections, without a clearly stated reason.
Recently a LinkedIn connection asked to connect to a colleague, to invite her to an event. I suspected it was a sales pitch and didn’t want to spam my colleague. I asked the requester for more info. Never heard back. End of story.
Suppose you do decide to respond to a message to decline a request and you get a response asking for something else.
What then?
Here I take my cue from a wise colleague, Tina Morefield. She’ll send a response. One response. And after that, no more.
Unless, of course, it’s from a customer who needs your help. In that case, keep responding until the issue is resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Because our customers are the lifeblood of our organizations.
When do you respond? When do you not respond?
by Caroline Leach | Oct 6, 2016 | Social Media
What do all of your “likes” in social media say about you?
More importantly, what do you want them to say about you?
Do you think before you “like” in Facebook . . . or “heart” in Instagram and Twitter?
Do you consider how that piece of data will be aggregated with thousands of other data points about you?
Do you decide if it will reflect well on you or not?
Just as you should look before you link, you should look before you “like.”
Why? Because of something called The Reputation Economy.
Say what?
In this 2015 book, Reputation.com founder Michael Fertik tells you “how to optimize your digital footprint in a world where your reputation is your most valuable asset.”
Ultimately, Fertik sets forth a compelling case that your digital reputation may shape how you experience the world – for better or for worse.
Over the last year, for example, you may think you’ve been circumspect about your political views. But your political leanings may have been identified, based on your social media activity.
Even more interesting is seeing how your digital footprint may reveal your personality.
By analyzing just a few of your Facebook likes, the University of Cambridge’s psychometric centre will predict several dimensions of your personality. (Updated: actually, DON’T do this. Instead, watch the 2019 Netflix original documentary The Great Hack. It’s about how a data company called Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media.)
“You are what you like,” the site says.
You may think twice about what you “like” in the future.
Here are my non-algorithmic rules for liking content in social media:
- Always consider how liking something will reflect on you. Will it contribute to – or detract from – what you want to be known for?
- If you’re not sure what certain content could imply, don’t like it. And if you have “friends” who repeatedly post strange content, it might time to unfriend them.
What do you like?
by Caroline Leach | Oct 3, 2016 | Social Media
Nearly 60% of links shared in social media haven’t been read first, the Washington Post and others reported this year.
Don’t do that, if you care about your professional reputation. Take the time to read the content of every link you share in social media.
Sharing content implies your endorsement of it and agreement with it. It’s a similar principle to recommending someone for a job – your reputation is on the line.
What if there’s something lurking in that content link that doesn’t represent your views? How will you know if you don’t read it first?
Josh Ochs, a “digital citizenship speaker who teaches students how to shine online,” says it well for people of all ages. He advises to keep your social media content, “light, bright and polite.”
Here are some guidelines to assess whether or not to share a particular link:
DO share links that:
- Aptly illustrate the topics you and your social media communities are interested in
- Provide relevant and appropriate data and metrics to support key points
- Position your company and its leaders in a positive and accurate light.
DON’T share links that:
- Have disparaging information about your company or its products. For example, because my employer provides video content, I don’t share links that bash TV (this is where I remind readers that opinions are my own).
- Overly focus on your employer’s competitors. Unless you’re an official company spokesperson, it’s better to be silent on competitors.
- Cover topics you don’t want your good name associated with – whether it’s negativity, bar-hopping, gambling or other questionable topics.
- Have any content that could be perceived as offensive or disparaging to any group or groups of people. If you’re not sure, don’t share it.
Always ask yourself if what you’re sharing reflects positively on you, your employer, your family, your community, and so on, before you post. If not, don’t post it.
Here’s a good tip from Bill Duane as covered in The New York Times – ask yourself before you share if the content is true, kind and necessary. It it doesn’t meet all 3 criteria, don’t share it.
When you do have content to share that passes all of these tests, add your perspective. Briefly say what’s important about it. Include a key takeaway or a memorable quote.
And be sure you look before you link!
by Caroline Leach | Sep 30, 2016 | Social Media
Nearly half of college admissions officers look at applicants’ social media profiles.
Ninety-four percent of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates.
Seventy percent of senior professionals say leaders who are active in social media make the company a more attractive place to work.
If you’re not already active in social media in a strategic way, it’s hard to ignore stats like these.
There are so many reasons to ignore social media all together or let your participation wane. Not enough time. Nothing interesting to share. Too much downside.
Yet there are real risks to staying out of the game all together, or staying on the sidelines.
Missed opportunities is the biggest one – in the form of valuable professional and personal relationships, exciting career opportunities, accelerated learning and development, and even fun and entertainment, just to name a few.
With so much attention on avoiding the downside of social media, not enough focus has been put on how social media can make your life better.
But the time conundrum is real. How do you begin? Where do you focus your time and energy? What social platforms should you use? How do you feed the content monster?
That was something Reese Witherspoon got me thinking about. She was the surprise speaker this month at a women’s leadership conference at Fullscreen, the global youth media company.
She was asked about how she’s been super successful in social media. And she talked about social media content creation for people as being a big white space that’s not fully being filled right now.
It was almost like a Legally Blonde moment of its own. A gasp and an a-ha moment on the order of, “I think I’ll go to law school!”
In a moment of clarity, I connected some dots. I love helping people tell their stories. I’m endlessly fascinated and intrigued by social media. And I’ve been advising people, professionally and personally, on their social strategies over the last few years.
How could this all fit together in new and different ways?
by Caroline Leach | Sep 27, 2016 | Corporate Communications, Social Media
Everyone needs a great headshot.
Why? Social media profiles. Executive biographies. Email signatures. Conference badge photos.
Having a great headshot helps build your personal brand.
But sometimes being photographed is the last thing we want to do. Here are 12 ways to get a great shot and have fun in the process.
Just do it. Get a new photo taken every few years. I waited 5 years since my last headshot, which was way too long.
My colleague Roger Hyde‘s team had created such a perfect environment years ago, complete with a wind machine, that I was hesitant to do it again.
But thanks to the gentle coaxing of photographer Jessica Sterling, my husband Kevin and I finally took new headshots.
Decide what message you want to convey. What do you want your headshot to say about you? It should amplify your personal brand – what you want to be known for.
I wanted a new photo I could use in a corporate environment. It also needed to work in other contexts in my professional and personal lives.
Pick a great photographer. Ask your colleagues and friends for recommendations. Or use social media to find someone local.
On a tight budget? Find someone who’s starting out or team up with friends who need headshots.
If you’re planning a professional event, bring in a photographer for attendees to get their pics done.
The global youth media company Fullscreen did this at a recent women’s leadership event – brilliant idea!
In my case, I had the good fortune of knowing Jessica Sterling from work, and I was familiar with her visual capability with people and organizations. I personally retained her services, and so it began.
Check out other headshots for inspiration. Look at headshots of people you admire. Check out leaders and standouts in your field. Find images that express what you want to convey. Think about how you’ll express what makes you unique. Share samples and discuss ideas with your photographer.
Personalities shine through in the speaker headshots for the upcoming TEDWomen 2016 conference. I can’t wait to attend this in October and hear from these fascinating women and men.
Have your makeup and hair done. Bring in the professionals!
Whether it’s your own go-to hair and makeup glam squad, or a stop at the Dry Bar for a blowout and Sephora for a makeover, have your hair and makeup done.
Thank you, Emma Willis and Countour Fosse!
Wear solid colors. Solids photograph well and are bolder. Bright colors pop and attract more attention. Too much white can wash you out.
Bring several wardrobe options to your shoot and play around with the pieces. Have different jewelry options.
Blue is my employer’s brand color, so I chose a jewel-toned blue jacket (this is where I mention that opinions are my own). But I also love red, so I brought my favorite Nina McLemore jacket.
Try to smize. While searching for tips on taking a great headshot, supermodel and entrepreneur Tyra Banks rose to the top. Here I learned how to smize. This is all about smiling with your eyes to take a great shot.
Relax and have fun. Cue up your favorite music. Bring a friend who makes you laugh and brings out the best in you. Let your playful side emerge and enjoy all the attention. After all, how often do you get to be center stage for the better part of a day in real life?
Take “behind the scenes” pics. Among the four of us in the studio, we each got some pictures as the shoot was unfolding. These were fun to post on Instagram that day.
Choose the best image to be your personal brand. Look through all the shots on a few different occasions. Mark your favorites. Ask friends for feedback. Think about the brand you want to express. Does your selection capture that essence?
Use your headshot consistently in EVERYTHING. I used to use one photo in “professional” social media platforms (LinkedIn and Twitter) and a more casual one in more “personal” social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram). I tried to keep the two worlds separate, but the lines continue to blur.
So this time I took Guy Kawasaki‘s advice in The Art of Social Media. I picked one picture to use in everything.
Just as a business brand uses the same logo consistently, your headshot is YOUR brand. You should use the same photo consistently in your social world.
When I made a list of where I’d use my new headshot, it kept growing. Executive bio. Social media profiles. My gmail signature (another nod to Guy Kawasaki for recommending Wise Stamp). College alumni profiles. Google. Yelp. AirBNB. On so on.
My headshot is on my camera roll so I can upload it into event apps and anywhere I might need it.
Take advantage of events that offer headshots. Be camera ready to take a new pic at a variety of events that offer photography.
And don’t forget to smize!
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