Am I Yelling?

While reading a recent on-line article, it pointed to a related video blog which I in turn watched. The video was very informative and I got a lot out of it. The thing that really stood out in it to me was a line that one of the people being interviewed used, "...using my social media megaphone...".

That started me pondering on whether I was "shouting" my message or simply sharing my messages.

I looked at my "me" folder under my favorites and counted thirty (that's right, 30) Social Media sites that I have accounts in, and that I keep updated. Incredible!!! Now I admit that some of these sites I personally deem more relavent than others. My twitter page, my Facebook page, my YouTube page and my LinkedIn page I find to be the most used.

But what about the messages I'm sharing in all my communities? Or the messages I'm seeing that are being shared?

Recently, I've had a lot of other people (especially those new to the Social Media world) comment to me about how they really don't understand and/or how they dislike certain posts they get. Examples given to me are how even the smallest things in a person's life gets shared: "Heading to get something to drink", "Well, off to bed", "Going to grab some groceries, BRB", etc.

Social Media is about having conversations, pure and simple.

Whether that conversation is a piece of wisdom, a great idea, a web-link reference post, a comment about history, news item, current personal event like a vacation/reunion, a blog, customer service & support, promotional item, asking a question, "how to", or simply "Hang on, I've got to go the restroom"...it's all a conversation. And just like in the real world where we interact face-to-face with people every day, there are sometimes things all of us would probably rather not have heard.

For me, I try to share items via my social media communities that I find personally interesting but at the same time I try to consider those I'm sharing with. Some of the posts I share are what I believe to be news worthy, some are what I consider humor, some are sad, some are reflective, some are targeted to a specific group within my community (for example my recent high school reunion), etc. I find most of my posts deal with personal branding, growing your leadership, growing your busines, or (hopefully) something inspirational. But I have, I will admit, shared some stuff that maybe made some of my community question their connection with me.

One that comes to mind was a twitter event of a hunt I went on earlier in the year. I tweet'd from the arrival in the stand all the way to the completion of the hunt. (But that hunt lead me to blog a message I thought important.) I've even tweet'd airplane flights from start-to-finish before (sorry everyone!!!). In the end I think we all grow into our "communication style" and people see that, it just takes a bit. I remember when I first started talking all I knew was "gah, gah, bah baddy blah boo" and stuff like that; but eventually I made it to the big time and put real words together to form real sentences and then on to tell real stories!!

So as I end, I have a few questions I was wondering if you'd answer for me:

What social media sites do you use the most?
What do you find to be the most interesting topics you see posted?
If you could pick only one social media site to use, which one would it be and why?
Does your work use social media to communicate and interact with your customers?
[Click "comment" below to answer.]

THANKS SO MUCH! And let me know if you think I'm yelling...

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business.” ™

[Note: photo from http://bobbycarroll.net/]


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Confidence

Do you go through-out your day with the confidence in yourself to know that you are a winner? Do you truly believe that you are the best partner for your customers and that your products are the best answers to their problems? Do you train yourself daily like a world-class athlete does?

I love listening to Rush Limbaugh. I’m not saying I totally agree with everything that he says, but is that guy confident in himself or what? In each show, he always states, “Talent on loan…from God”. Now if that’s not confidence, I don’t know what is. And the name of his station is EIB---Excellence in Broadcasting. Another statement of confidence.

So, get your confidence (and attitude) right and go out & sell someone on YOU!

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business.” ™

[Note: photo from http://www.fivegulf.com/]

Remembering Walter Cronkite

Last night I found a two-hour TV special on the life of Walter Cronkite. Frankly, had he not recently passed away, I probably would have keep surfing. But with his passing, I wanted to watch this special.

[Note: This may not be as sentimental of a journey for those of you born after 1970.]

As someone who grew up watching him every night on TV (my dad watched him religiously if he was home from work in time), he was a mainstay in our family, just as he was for many hundred of thousands of other American families during the 60's and 70's. During the show, I recalled all the historical events that happened during his time as anchorman for the CBS evening news (I posted the above photo of him because this is exactly how I first remember him on our small black & white TV set with rabbit ears and the traditional tin-foil wrapped ends to help reception of the three channels we could receive). I recalled watching the first man-on-the-moon (40th anniversary this past Monday), the Watergate investigations, the Vietnam war and so much more that I learned through watching Walter Cronkite each night. As kids, we would imitate his "...and that's the way it is..." I never was big on Sesame Street or the like, but I don't recall hardly ever missing the evening news.

As a WWII historian, another thing that really stands out for me was his reporting of the war. In later life he did a WWII documentary that I also enjoy. He was right there in the fight during the war years and his reports were top notch.

Something closer to home for me now was his reputation as being known as the "most trusted man in America". Now that's what I call "personal branding"!! I believe he gained that title because of the incredible customer experience that he provided. He held his profession up to the highest standards and demanded that out of not only his team mates, but from his colleagues in the profession as well. You could truly consider him a SME and guru of what he did, because it was truly a passion of his. And he delivered that passion, that professionalism, that since of responsibility of what he was providing to his customers - the American public - who "bought" his product every night for two+ decades.

What a legacy of excellence he leaves us an example of, that we have the opportunity to mimic in our careers regardless of industry.

I'd love for you to share you story of what you remember about Walter Cronkite and how he influenced your life. Please post in the comments section below.

Thanks for allowing me a little walk down memory lane.

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business.” ™

[Note: photo from http://sirenschronicles.com/]

What Stops You?

What is your ‘brick wall’? The better question is, ‘how do you get around it?’

All of us have brick walls in our lives. No one is immune to them. The people who aspire to great things are the ones who understand this, prepare for them, and then work to get around them versus letting them stop them in their tracks.

Being prepared, doing your homework, staying up on current technologies, knowing everything about your prospect/customer, being relentless about customer service, and thinking with a world-class mindset are all small parts of not letting the brick wall stand in your way.

What "wall" do you have in your life? What is slowing you down? Who can you reach out too that could help you remove that wall? I'd love to hear your stories (click comment below).

Here's a short video by Jeffrey Gitomer with some additional points for you:

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business.” ™

http://joeypeacock.com/

[Note: photo from http://www.bigfoto.com/]

Blogs...which ones?

As part of this “blogging” universe, I’m sometimes asked about which blogs I read so I thought I’d share the list here:

* Big Business Blogging Corporate Blogging
* Buildify Corporate Blogging
* Chris Brogan One of the best sites about Social Media
* Fred Reichheld’s Blog Net Promoter (customer experience) topics
* Giant Perspectives Leadership
* Great Leadership Leadership
* Hello, my name is Blog Scott Ginsberg’s thoughts about personal branding
* Hope for the Hopeless My fried Clint Singleton’s blog
* Jaffe Juice Joseph Jaffe’s world of marketing
* Jeanne Bliss’ Blog Customer Experience
* John Maxwell Leadership
* Leading Smart Keeping me focused leadership from God’s perspective
* Living Life Forward My friend Ralph Yoder’s blog
* Living Loved My friend Elizabeth Bennett’s blog
* Made to Stick Creative thinking
* Michael Hyatt Marketing & Social Media
* Never Eat Alone Networking
* Paradigm Shift Social Media
* Perceived Randomness My friend Jarrod Wester’s blog
* Personal Branding Blog Personal branding
* Power of Who Personal branding
* Power Shift A great Social Media blog
* Rise to the Top For Entrepreneurs
* Service with a Smile My friend Daniel Bennett’s blog
* SmartBlog on Social Media Another of my favorites on Social Media
* 3Connect My friend Kevin Yoder’s blog

Fortunately for me, not all of these folks posts new blogs everyday so it’s actually not that difficult to manage. I also use Google Reader to subscribe to each so that helps me keep track with what’s new.

And as you can see, my focus is on leadership, the customer experience and social media.

What blogs do you follow and why? Let me know by commenting (below link). THANKS!

Until next time, remember “Your Success Is My Business.” ™

http://joeypeacock.com/

[Note: photo from http://www.ibspro.net/]