Question 1

What is the relation between Social Media and the Workplace?

Accepted Answer

To most organizations, social media represents a new and different style of communication. Navigating this new social landscape can be a challenge. This video explains how the world of communication has changed and how organizations can adopt new practices that account for social media. It teaches:

Why social media is making organizations rethink external communication
How one company confronts a crisis - and learns how social media can help
Why empowering employees to participate can be a smart strategy
How policies and guidelines in social media participation can help

Video Transcript:

These days people have new powers. Not that kind. I mean on the Web. We can create websites and post messages to the world with the click of a button. Blogs, social networking sites and Twitter - all make it easy. But this power comes with new responsibilities, especially when it comes to the workplace.

Organizations often monitor what is said about them in the media and control every message that comes from the company. But these days blogs and social networking sites mean that companies can't keep up - the media has become social. New ways to understand and react to what's being said online are new needed. That's why organizations are beginning to encourage employees to understand and be a part of online conversations. Consider this:

Chair Hero had made quality chairs for twenty years. Recently something happened: one of their chair models was defective and people were falling down. Soon enough, blogs, social networking sites and Twitter were all writing about their defective chairs. Within two days, they were overwhelmed.

The company started to panic. What could they do? What will work in this new world?

At first, they wrote press releases and posted information on their website. It helped a little, but they could see the conversations were happening elsewhere. They felt powerless, like they had lost control.

A potential solution to this problem requires a new way of thinking about company communication. These days, customers want more than just another press release - they want to have an honest conversation with someone from the company - often outside the company website.

To make these conversations productive and reduce the risks, companies need to have a few things in place:

Official accounts on popular social media sites
A way to monitor what's being said about them, using services like Google Alerts or Twitter Search
Guidelines that give employees clear direction

Let's look at how this works. Silas recently went through Chair Hero's training sessions on using social media. It's now a part of his job to identify and respond to people talking about the company online. Before responding to a recent blog post, Silas goes through a quick checklist:

He asks himself, Does this need a response? In this case, Yes - he can offer valuable information.

Is he the right person? Yes - He knows the facts.

So, Silas decides to get involved. Following the guidelines at his company, he introduces himself as a company representative and provides a short disclaimer. He's careful to speak in the first person and focuses on the subject and not the person. His goal is to be personable, respectful and never angry. In this case, he may just need to provide a link to clear up the issue and an offer to help in the future. Before posting it, he quickly makes sure no confidential info has been shared. The next day, Silas receives a quick "thank you", and an added benefit - his response will now be seen by others - and even appear in search results.

Silas was able to take a risky situation and turn it into an informative message - without taking the rest of the company's valuable time. He added value and built trust with customers - and that's the main role of employees using social media, whether is a crisis like a defective chair model, every day customer support or just sharing information.

The web is too wide for a company to control every communication. But a company can understand the growing influence of social media, and create an environment where employees are empowered to participate and build trust with their customers.

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This FAQ library was created by Eran Bucai. Eran is an online entrepreneur who is passionate about helping people find success building a profitable business online without the high ticket prices and without the marketing hype.

Eran has a tech support membership which you can learn more about here: DotComTruths.com

Eran helps people choose the best software for their business which you can find out more by visiting EranFunnels.com/software.

Question 2

What is Social Media?

Accepted Answer

What it teaches:

Using an analogy of a town going through a big change, this video explains the basic forces driving the growth, adoption and use of social media. It teaches:

Why social media is different from traditional media
What makes media social today
How fans play a role in deciding what should be findable and popular
The benefits of social media to individuals and organizations

Video Transcript:

I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz. Social Media may be the next big thing. What’s it all about?

Let’s take a visit to Scoopville, a town that’s famous for ice cream. For over 20 years, Big Ice Cream Company has been making high quality ice cream with a big factory in town. A few years back, the company did focus groups and found out that they could maximize profits by offering three flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry.

The residents of the town were content. They never thought it could be different. Then something happened in Scoopville – A new invention came to town. Suddenly, everyone could make their own ice cream for only a few dollars. This changed everything.

The Smiths decided to make pineapple ice cream. The Jones’ made ice cream with pecans. Soon, every kind of ice cream imaginable was being made by scoopville’s residents at very little cost.

Of course, some ice cream was more popular than others and that was okay. Sylvia’s pickle ice cream had a very small but loyal following. That was fine. She only needed enough income to buy ingredients for her next batch. Jarret’s red velvet ice cream became so famous, he created his own store. Over time, people started to think differently about ice cream.

It didn’t always come from a factory. It also came from friends and neighbors. It became something to share, something to bring people together, something to celebrate. Big Ice Cream company still made the best vanilla around, and to their surprise, demand even grew. But it was the unique, original and authentic flavors made by the residents, that brought people to Scoopville.

When they arrived, however, there seemed to be a problem. There were too many flavors. Visitors felt overwhelmed. They needed ways to find the new, the popular, the flavors that were interesting to them.

Franklin had an idea for his ice cream. Outside his house, he erected a board and invited his customers to share their thoughts on his ice cream. They could use words to describe it, stars to rate it, and leave messages for others. People loved it.

At a glance, visitors could tell what his ice cream was all about, and learn from people like them. Over time, each resident had their own board. Sylvia’s board showed that her pickle ice cream didn’t please everyone, but was very unique and interesting. Jarret’s board overflowed with positive reviews and ratings.

Soon, a few things became clear. First, their ice cream got better because they could learn directly from customers. Second, free customer reviews were more valuable than costly advertising. And third, the boards created a way for customers to find exactly what they wanted.

The combination of new technology and new ways to work with customers helped the residents feel like a unique community. So, this is social ice cream – by the people, for the people. It turns out that ice cream and social media have a lot in common.

Today, everyone has a chance to make their own flavors, thanks to free tools like blogs, podcasts, and video sharing. Plus, we now have new ways for real people to play a role in providing feedback, organization and promotion. Whether you’re a big established company, an individual with loyal fans, or simply someone with ideas and opinions, social media means new ways to create and communicate with people who care.

New tools are arriving in cities and towns around the world. When this change comes to your neighborhood, the choice is yours. What flavors will you make?

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This FAQ library was created by Eran Bucai. Eran is an online entrepreneur who is passionate about helping people find success building a profitable business online without the high ticket prices and without the marketing hype.

Eran has a tech support membership which you can learn more about here:https://www.dotcomtruths.com/

Eran helps people choose the best software for their business which you can find out more by visiting EranFunnels.com/software.

What is the relation between Social Media and the Workplace?

What is Social Media?

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