Social Media: Create An Unforgettable Presence (Part 1 of 3)

Remember the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a good impression?” These words have never been more important, especially in Social Media. In my last post, I closed with a final thought about stretching our mind to create an unforgettable presence. Today I share with you one way to make that happen.

After many years of running a personal development school, a human capital recruitment and consulting firm, and working in television and radio broadcasting, I observed many areas that created success for individuals. I found that those who were most successful had specific ingredients that when put to use, could purposefully create an impact on an audience. In my next three posts, including this one here, I will reveal three areas (of many) that help create an unforgettable presence.

How to create an unforgettable presence: #1 …

Take Action – Participate: Creating an unforgettable presence in social media is really not any different than doing it in person. It’s really about showing up authentically manifesting all of your unique potential and using your best social behavior and communications skills. When trying to create an unforgettable social presence online, first register. Half that battle is deciding to participate by signing up for a social media forum, and later understanding the potential opportunities involved for you or your company. Remember, out of sight can be out of mind. In social media, if we do not participate, we may be missing some powerful information about our company and ways to reach our market, promote our events and connect with others.

Next, decide to become a student of learning. Get rid of any expectations you may have and make some time to observe and listen to others. A good exercise to do is to get a few Facebook friends, Twitter followers, or Linked-in contacts that interest you. Look for those who are at the top of your field and see if they are involved with social media by using the search boxes to find them. Determine what interests you about your followers, friends, or contacts – and observe how they write, what they write, how often they write, and how they go about touting their business, etc.

Perhaps you are looking to expand your product or service and want some feedback, maybe you are looking for a job, or at the very least want to increase you inner circle of business contacts. Social media platforms like Linked-in can help. For example, Linked-in offers the opportunity meet many business professionals that you may not meet at an event or trade show. Linked-in offers niche groups for participation, job listings, and even introduction requests if you have a connection who knows someone you want to meet. This information alone can be of tremendous value for any company or professional looking to expand globally.

When we participate, engage and relate on a social media platform, I found the most important thing to keep in mind is patience. “Social media is a gradual, progressive, connection-building and branding process.” It’s by no means a silver bullet or replacement of traditional media, it actually enhances it in an inexpensive, authentic way. If we want to understand our target market better, social media can offer valuable information by sheer participation. In Twitter, we can plug in our key word in TweetScan and receive an email if our company name is mentioned. How valuable is that to you and your brand? Zappos, a shoe and lifestyle company, does a good job in social media by using Twitter as their customer relationship management (CRM) tool. You can read more here: http://bit.ly/11HngK. They exemplify complete transparency and create trust with their customers, especially in a time where many of have lost trust in companies and leaders. One of Zappos Twitter policies states: “Be real and use your best judgment.” This is may be great advice for new participants diving into social media and a reminder for those who have been working the social media runways for quite some time.