Comfort Zone: Is comfort always a good thing?

Picture this: Saturday morning at 8.30am. You are frantically peddling and sweating in the midst of a Spinning class led by a buff  and bubbly Antonio who plays Rihanna and tells the class they have almost reached the summit. This image could evoke varying responses based upon your lifestyle preferences. Yet, one thing can be agreed – for all the physical good such a situation may deliver, it can hardly be described as comfortable.

Similarly, picture the salad you munch on that afternoon in line with your health buzz. The kale/chick pea/sunflower seed combo may be the most nutritious meal to pass your lips but is a far cry from the carb and fat rich extravaganza of conventional “comfort food”. Again, good for you but perhaps not so comfortable.

And so I come to the comfort zone. In this case I refer to the realm of professional life and personal relationships. The comfort zone frequently means you’re in your stride, in a place of familiarity where not much is challenged or challenging. This, of course, has its merits.

Yet the reality is that when it comes to personal and professional growth, the comfort zone is the obstacle rather than vitally nourishing. To learn more about yourself and enrich your social world, sometimes following up chance encounters can lead to a new and unique friendship. Equally, to extend yourself professionally, networking in your chosen field can be the key to inspiration/new skills/your ideal job.

I realize that entering a crowded room or online group of strangers with the goal of appearing supremely impressive is not most people’s cup of tea. From what I’ve seen in my career so far, the chance encounters born from networking can yield the most perspective broadening experiences.

Still in my experience getting some people to network is about as easy as getting a child to eat its vegetables. With this admission, I thought I would provide four tips to making networking not quite as nail-on-the-blackboard experience:

1) Choose groups based an a common interest: For example, your University’s alumni group. Here you have airtight conversation about the good ole’ days to ease into the “talking shop”. Even better if this is professional networking, join a group that is specifically focused on your chosen field. You will have the comfort (see I used the word!) of knowing you have similarity with every other person in the room.

2) Bring an ally: This may be an obvious one but the use of an ally is specific. They can help you enter a crowd and ease those initial daunting moments. BUT (and this is essential) you need to part once that early awkwardness has passed. Step out for a call/bathroom break and when you return you must re-enter the group without explicitly seeking out your ally. This is when you introduce yourself to someone and start working your magic.

3) (This will be one that few recruiters will advocate)

Avail of the open bar/happy hour: First and foremost, this does not mean you should get trashed. You won’t exactly exude competence and savvy if you’re passed out in the corner. That being said, there is nothing wrong with a little bit of Dutch courage to loosen you up and get those initial nerves out of the way so you can focus on speaking like the intelligent person you are.

Do you have any other tips for people new to networking? Share your thoughts  and experiences below!

Social Media making History

I came across this talk and it made me think of my erstwhile blog.

Clay Shirky’s talk shows how small steps by social media users have prompted and signaled huge change in society and human interaction.

His words touch on what my 2013 post on Is knowledge power online? Digital media shifting the balance of power. 

Take a look!

https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html

Shout loud enough & someone will listen: Turning social media Novices into veritable Enthusiasts

 

It has been a decent while since I chirped on my little soapbox (NOTE: a cardinal sin in the blogosphere that thrives on consistency!). What have I been doing all this time?

Being gainfully employed thank goodness.

 

And yes, this makes me living proof of the “day job” getting in the way. I assure you however that I have not given up my quirky regard for digital media and helping others follow along the path to social media enlightenment.

Since I last posted, I have learned a few things:

• People want to know more: In my new organization, I set up a social media lunch group, meeting monthly to discuss different topics on how people (and organizations) can use social media. The number of people interested grew from 10 to 50 in six months….
• Where there is a will, there is a (perhaps, steeply inclined) way: I can now speak from the perspective of within an organization and have proof that resources in social media tend to be low. (There is only one fully dedicated social media staff, though our Facebook audience alone is over 160K) Clearly, a remarkable amount can be done with dedicated people but the power and reach of social media has not convinced business leaders to invest.

Walking the Walk

Thus, I come to my current project. Readers of this blog know that I have always emphasized the need to get over the fear of not knowing and simply TRY STUFF OUT in order to understand them better. As I mentioned, I pulled together a group of enthusiastic learners and for the past months have been walking them through social media platforms and best practices (along with my colleague, the social media expert on staff).

We now have an opportunity to share these skills. At our annual event this week, my fantastic team of Social Media Enthusiasts will be “Ambassadors” guiding all participants at the event in participating via our hashtag on Twitter.

Armed with a Cheat Sheet and a hashtag button, these erstwhile Twitter novices will help people set up Twitter accounts, think of engaging content and draft tweets using the hashtag.

 

A conspiratorial-minded individual could hypothesize that this is simply a step toward gathering my minions for ultimate world domination. On that count I plead ignorance…for now I am simply excited to see the team trying out what they’ve learned.

I promise to report on the success of the event. And please follow the hashtag on Twitter #ANAMA14!

 

Perk up! An infographic to answer SEO & content questions

They say an image can say a thousand words – an infographic is social media’s answer to that. And when someone gives you a new way of thinking about social media measurement,  you have to perk up and pay attention.

This article clearly outlines how businesses can think about measuring success in digital marketing activities.

http://feedly.com/k/1fcT2fJ

Hashtags. Anyone still lost?

Screw the big guys: Small players get ahead online

This guy’s little…but you don’t see anyone else on the branch

I’ve said this before but it is astounding to see how business is behind the curve when it comes to digital marketing. I joined a top consulting firm a few years ago whose comms team professed to have digital savvy. Once in the door I soon realized the height of their technological prowess was using Track Changes when churning out countless templated print documents. I soon made my way for the door but even then recognized this is not a unique situation.

The market for digital marketing is growing exponentially at the moment. But rather than the Big 4 consulting firms chomping up all the market share, it is smaller boutiques that are showing real advancement. Today I read an article about one entrepreneurial business leader, Shama Kabani, who was once turned away from the big firms and went on to launch her now multi-million dollar web marketing and digital PR business.

So what is the message for those wanting to step into the digital breach? You can have first mover advantage by investing time now. Inform yourself! As I am constantly encouraging you all to do, take a few steps forward yourself into social media to learn the basics. It doesn’t take long to see how these baby steps  (see Stepping into Social Media) make a difference. Then, to ensure you maximize your resources and potential, engage a consultant who can help you with your online strategy.

The shift online means anyone can have a voice. To business owners, this can be seen as a threat or an opportunity but it cannot be ignored. And just as the market for digital marketing is growing rapidly, you too can gain a wider and more engaged audience by getting on board.

Want to step out of the marketing dark ages? Contact me today via Twitter or email for expert advice.

You wanna enter my store? Hand over your money.

I wanted a new pair of running shoes. Once upon a time, I would walk into a local store, try on a few styles, ascertain the correct size and hand over my money.

Nowadays such habits in the retail environment would be considered naive, unsophisticated and unthrifty.

Multi-channel is the retail buzz word du jour as the majority of consumers utilize more than one retail avenue before making a purchase – whether in-store or online, using tablet or smartphone.

When recently faced with the once-straightforward conundrum of finding running shoes – my retail savvy skills were tested. First, my brother directed me to a go-to blog for such topics. After reading up sufficiently on consumer reviews, I proceeded to research the best price online. Ensuring that I became a truly accomplished retail navigator I tried my hand at ‘showrooming’ by dipping into an actual store to ensure the fit was good. Only then did I select the best price online, taking into account shipping value and delivery times….

How can retailers adequately prepare themselves to meet this elaborate wilderness? Charging customers to cross the threshold of stores is just one concept retails have grasped at in an effort to keep up. This article sums up how retailers are desperately trying to keep up with this new landscape.

Online savvy, consistent branding and budgets that support retailing on several fronts seem to be the way forward for now as the consumer firmly holds the upper hand.

Bloggers Block: WTF now???

I confess I have neglected you. For nigh on three months I have starved my page thereby breaking perhaps the most fundamental of blogging rules – consistency.

I couldn’t keep away from you forever though. My curiosity and, I’ll be honest, guilt (I am Catholic after all) has brought me back to the blogosphere and I am facing the problem I imagine MANY people who attempt to keep up a blog face.

What do you do when you get bloggers block? I’m sure this is familiar to many: as each week passes the sense of guilt and sham as a digital savvy grows.  What to write about? Even the blogs you planned seem distasteful once you get out of the routine.

But it is time to take this blog by its proverbial digital horns. If you get stuck in a rut, like I did, you need to take the plunge and GET BACK INTO IT. Get back in the saddle, pull yourself by your bootstraps (and any further pull-yourself-together cliches that fit) and just get going.

Gain momentum and confidence once again. And then begin resetting your plan.

As I intend to do!

Job Hunt II: Recruiters – How not to suck.

A look chillingly familiar to anyone who’s been through interview

So how many agree that their job search has been pretty unrewarding? Last week I spoke about the need to know the right people to get hired in today’s job market and how job hunters need to overhaul their strategy to reflect this.

This week is for those in the driving seat in this scenario – the recruiters.  There are steps you can take so that your recruiting activities will complement the endless effort job hunters make to keep up with this altered hiring landscape. Your online activity, including your website and social media, will enable you to achieve this.

Two words – communicate HONESTLY.

Tell us what we need to succeed

If the best chance a candidate has of getting asked for interview is a prior history of active engagement with the company – whether because their uncle’s golf partner is the CFO or because they attended a networking event – how about saying so?

Encouraging that behavior on your careers page will alert job seekers that they probably haven’t got an icecube’s chance in hell of every hearing from you without it.

(You can use euphemisms for the nepotism part.)

Use Social Media to the finish line.

It is clear that recruiters are using social media channels to communicate with Gen Y. That is, up until the point of application. Once the application is submitted – either by CV/Resume or the vein-poppingly frustrating online application process – candidates are left in a maddening vacuum where they are lucky to receive even an automated email confirming receipt.

Creative use of those channels to communicate with your candidates throughout the application process will help maintain a positive impression with your future human capital. There is no excuse on earth in this connected world we live for not alerting a candidate after an interview that they haven’t been successful. Working with your Social Media or Community managers to streamline communication should be an obvious move. And there are automated services like Hootsuite that can help you manage all of these activities so lack of time cannot be spouted as a viable excuse. Don’t you agree?

An evolving business

The job market is different now – less jobs and a LOT more people looking for work. It isn’t just up to the job seekers to adapt their strategy to best present themselves to potential employers. Just like the music industry has had to adapt in the wake of digitized music, recruiters need to think up better ways to serve the job hunters and not leave them with a constant sour taste in their mouth.

Let’s face it, job hunting sucks.  The more advice people get the less godawful it will be so please do throw your two cents in below. 

Job Hunt I: Why your job search is BS.

I have spent a healthy portion of the last half-year in search of my next career leap and, oh my, has it been an eye-opening experience. What I’ve learned is that the traditional format – seeing a job post, painstakingly writing a cover letter, tweaking your resume & submitting– rarely works in the context of society today. The economic mire we’re in means there are far too many voices doing the same for you to be heard.

The cold hard truth is you need to know someone to get a job today. And if you, like me, aren’t so lucky as to have contacts in exactly your field of work across the globe, then you are going to have to put some serious time into getting to know people.

Here’s a few recommendations for how to build your name and get that essential “in” to a company:

At the end of the day, if people know you and like you, they are going to want to help you out. Being online can make the process of connecting with people and building that essential rapport a lot easier. So give up those hours pouring over cover letters & get schmoozing.

Go ahead and share your tidbits and job hunt experiences below. Job opportunities are of course also welcome!