Pastor Dietrich Bonhhoeffer

I just finished a biography of Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The book was written by Eric Metaxas. The title is Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Pastor Bonhoeffer was an amazing and dedicated theologian, pastor, and influential writer. He firmly believed that your love of God and accepting Him into your heart made you a better person.  However, it was not enough to be a Christian; you had to live as a Christian. Hence, the real beauty of the book is that it demonstrates again and again how Pastor Bonhoeffer succeeded, and sometimes struggled, during his life to be an active Christian. Pastor Bonhoeffer was a teacher and mentor to many students. Perhaps Pastor Bonhoeffer’s most important contribution was his book The Cost of Discipleship.  The book is a widely considered a classic of Christian thought.  He worked to move his church and fellow theologians from a passive role to a more active Christian church. He firmly believed in Scripture and its power to help one become a more active Christian. You see his weaving Scripture throughout his many letters.  All of this led to his premature death. He died fighting the Nazi regime. A major foundation of this biography was the mountain of letters and writings prepared by Pastor Bonhoeffer. You sometimes felt as though he was writing to you, the reader.  His letters to his finance were quite moving.  His commitment leading a Christian life and how he faced death is testament to his devotion to God and the choices he made as a result of such a commitment. 

Thoughts on Social Media

Earlier this morning I was on LinkedIn (a social media network) reviewing group postings. One of the discussions I ran across was from a professional economic developer. He asked in addition to on-site company visits and websites, what else can a community do?

My revised response: social media can be an effective tool. It takes considerable time to connect with appropriate people, comment on discussions, and find/post relevant information. Social media can be used to help drive traffic to your website and is one of the few mediums that allow you to tell your story. Of course you must also get readers (followers). It occurs to me that you can use your website as a comprehensive resource for your clients and social media accounts as news feeds to your existing and potential clients.  Your social media accounts are unique in that people choose to connect to you.  As you know, an invitation is issued and accepted. This makes it truly unique.

Middle School Band Competition

Yesterday I chaperoned my daughter’s middle school band to a regional competition held at MSU.  My daughter plays the oboe.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to go. 

It was about an hour drive on the school bus to MSU.  The trip was uneventful. We took about 50 people.  We had 21 kids on our bus, the second bus had 22.  Two adults were on each bus.  The kids were well behaved, but it did get a little loud. I had my trusty Kindle so I could read during the ride.  Trying to be helpful on the return trip, I volunteered to take role on my bus, but I only knew four kids. I started reading names on the list and my daughter stood up and said, Dad give it to me.  She read the names, said yes, yes, yes…It went so much faster. 

Much to my surprise the band played only two pieces.  It was a real treat for me to hear my daughter and her friends play. Yes, I go to the concerts but this was different. First, the middle school competed against high school bands. Second, they held their own. 

The process works like this, the band sets up and plays two pieces to three judges. They are then ranked. Next, they go and play a sight piece. I had to ask what that meant.  The band is given sheet music they have never read or seen and must then play it.  I could not go in and listen.

What made this so unique to me is that I rode the bus with the band director. She is a very dedicated musician and teacher.  Before the trip, I admired her. Now, I admire and greatly respect her.  She has expectations for her students and demands that they practice.  She puts in long hours.  When I think about what is right about education, it is that good and skilled people continue to be drawn to teaching. 

Side note: the band teacher asked me to go with the percussion players and wait to be called. The percussion players were separated from the rest of the band for short time.  It never occurred for me to ask why. I knew two of the eight kids. It was a lively bunch.  They seemed excited to compete.  I enjoyed my time with them.  One young man played with his phone the entire time. He had some apps I did not know about. An example is the voice app, you say something into the phone and it is repeated in a different voice.  However, he told me that some days he had to charge his phone every two hours and he had a charger with him. Does that mean chargers are the latest cool accessory?

The Age of Self Marketing

We live in an amazing age. If marketing is part of your professional job responsibilities you have far more venues than ever before. Most of the tools I write about are free and in the world of social networking.  The only investment is a computer, a digital camera, and an internet connection.

It also takes time to develop and polish content.  A good editor also helps.  Brief is good. It is a different kind of language. Think of it as texting with a professional orientation.  In these networks spelling and grammar really matter, Twitter is an exception. You will see why.

Before I get too far into this, it is important to differentiate between sales and marketing. As my sister explained it to me, marketing is creating the environment/perception of a product or service so the sales process can start much quicker.  If the marketing is done correctly then closing the sale is far easier.

For any organization that markets a product or service, the choices are formidable and allow for easier audience segmentation.  A few of my preferred avenues:

• Twitter.  Twitter is very much like a news feed. You can post updates, photos and articles that your audience may find helpful.  Fortunately or unfortunately, you are only allowed 140 characters.  It takes great discipline to write a tweet.  Anybody can follow you (so be sure you are careful what you post).
  
  The beauty of Twitter is you can actually segment your audience.  You get followers and you follow people and/or organizations that you like.  Ford's various twitter accounts are an excellent example. The company has twitter accounts for different cars and trucks. As a consumer I do not waste time with information I am not interested in. Very smart.
  
  Former GE CEO Jack Welch had the best description of Twitter. Think of it as a cocktail party. You can go around and find a discussion or commentary that is of interest to you.  He is absolutely right. That is the same way I look at it.
• LinkeIn. This is the most professional social networking site. Unlike Twitter, you are the reason people choose to connect. You must accept an invitation or you must issue an invitation to connect. 
  
  LinkedIn is the premier peer-to-peer social network. It allows the formation of groups to post questions and discuss issues of mutual interest.  Several people have posted questions or challenges and have received numerous helpful comments and suggestions.  Perhaps the best way to look at LinkedIn is to consider it as a virtual professional association.
  
  In spite of the potential abuse, most members do a very good job limiting the sales effort.  When a member oversteps the boundary of an overt sales push, other LinkedIn members usually issue a sharp response. 
  
  Generally, you find professional updates on an individual and organization. It is quite refreshing. 
  
  A new service offered by LinkedIn is the ability to follow companies. 
• Facebook. Among the first of the social networks and the only one that was the subject of a major motion picture and a CNBC profile.  The founder is Zuckerman. He is to social networks what Bill Gates is to software.
  
  Facebook was originally a way for teenagers to connect.  We parents monitored it because we were unsure about what our kids were involved with. Now, we use it too. In fact, middle agers use it so much Facebook is no longer considered cool. 
  
  For posting pictures and videos, no social network site makes it easier. It is equally easy to access photos/videos. 
  
  A key concern is privacy.  I think several people add somewhat personal data and do not realize that it can be accessed by the entire Facebook family.
  
  Facebook made a strategic move into business. Now, businesses can post profiles, cultivate followers and post items for discussion. 
• Blogs.  A blog is defined as a web log.  Most blogs remind me of a journal, the only difference is everybody can read it.  Blogs are popular when combined with Twitter and an organization’s website. On a blog you have virtually unlimited space. You can also post pictures, etc. I have a blog, www.georgeharben.blogspot.com
  

A key component of all social networks is creating content that is of interest to your target market. That is no easy or simple task. You should spend at least an hour creating content and commenting on social network discussions in LinkedIn and to a lesser degree Facebook.  You will need to ratchet up your professional reading. In addition, you will learn a new language when Tweeting (remember, 140 characters).  One key point, YOU are commenting, not an abstract organization. So you are accountable and you should exercise great caution.

Unlike other media forms (think advertising), these networks are truly a combination of your reputation, your contacts and the product or service you are marketing.  An ad is focuses on the final product; social media networks in large part are oriented to the individual.  As noted earlier, LinkedIn requires that you give permission to connect to your account. Generally, people accept invitations from people, not from a company. This is where your contacts, reputation, and relationships can really pay off.  As you participate in discussions and offer useful updates to your targets, you may receive new invitations and issue new ones.  

As noted earlier, Twitter is one where people choose to follow you.  Generally people start on Twitter by searching for people they know or respect and then follow them.  Or, people follow companies, organizations, and products. As we all know, Twitter allows only 140 characters per Tweet (or post). Fortunately, if you decide to post a link, TweetDeck automatically shortens it. Tweetdeck is a program that allows you to follow multiple Twitter and other accounts (LinkedIn and Facebook) and post updates and links. 

What types of updates are appropriate? Well, any news on an organization, announcement, self-improvement (like attending a seminar or webinar), and links to interesting and appropriate news stories. What is likely not appropriate – any update on family. Save those updates for Facebook. 

I know people mix the business and personal content and posts on their social media networks. I try not to. From my perspective, Facebook is really for family and friends. I am highly selective who I invite on Facebook.  On Twitter anyone can follow.  WIth LinkedIn, I am selective as to who I invite, but usually accept any invitation received.  My Facebook account has no work references or business contact information.  Facebook posts are almost strictly family and personally oriented.  My LinkedIn account has very little personal information and all posts are professional. 

Unlike other social networks, I have three Twitter accounts. One is strictly professional (@Harben_eco_dev). The other two are more like my news feeds (@Harben_business and @GNHarben). By far most of my Tweets are on my professional account.  In general, I offer appropriate updates; retweet Tweets I read and think will be of interest to my followers; and commentary on Tweets posted by my followers.  Sometimes I post to LinkedIn via TweetDeck.  A new service I recently discovered is that you can post updates to Twitter from a Kindle. If you subscribe to various business publications via Kindle, then you can select a small amount of text and post it directly to a Twitter account.

It can be confusing, but an important component is the ability of Twitter to segment markets and professional vs. personal interests.

A blog is used by businesses for a variety of purposes. I think the ease of use, virtually unlimited space, and link to a website are a few reasons. An interesting blog I saw was by the CEO of a start-up automotive assembly operation. I thought of his blog as receiving a small part of his annual report to stakeholders on a daily or weekly basis.

As I first wrote, we live in an amazing time.  Our ability to reach out and discover is unparalleled to any time in history.  These are not programs to be afraid of. Rather, they should be embraced. You can customize each network to fit your needs and challenges.  Come on in. Send me an invitation or follow me on Twitter. You are welcome and I look forward to reading your posts.

Postscript - March 9, 2011

I started writing this post a couple of weeks ago.  Today I read a Tweet that is on point. 

One issue that continues to nag me is who owns a social media account? The company or the individual?  I think this is an interesting question.  A recent court case in CA said a policeman's texts sent from his business phone belong to the police department. Another article I found said if you use the company WiFi network, the company has access to the data (not sure how that will work).

So, who owns the social networks?  According to the article I read on Twitter, most companies prefer that the question not be asked. Second, it is generally accepted that the individual owns the social networks.  The article notes, as does my blog, that the connections are with an individual, not with a company. Hence, the connections do will not have the same value should the primary connection depart.  I understand that line of reasoning. 

But, I have no doubt, this will soon be a very hot topic. An example. An employee attends a tradeshow, then issues invitations to every person he met to connect on a social network.  Who owns the contact?  The company paid for the employee to attend the tradeshow, the company paid of the computer, the company paid the employee. 

A second consideration.  What about people you hire and bring in their own social networks and corresponding contacts?  I think this is easier issue.  This could be a very interesting debate.