Janeile 2.0

Lately, I have been overwhelmed with gratitude.  How appropriate since Thanksgiving is upon us, right?  I am especially grateful for the people in my life.  And this year was characterized by a lot of new people that typically fell into two groups – social media peeps and Christ-followers (there could be overlap here that I haven’t discovered yet).

That’s right.  I’m going to do a shout-out.  Yeah, it’ll be a tad bit personal…in a rather public way.  Hopefully, I don’t miss or embarrass anybody…

Social Media Peeps

• I’m super grateful for somehow ending up on Patrick Giammarco’s (@pwgiammarco) short list for the Toledo Social Media Breakfast.  He apparently had no idea how crazy I really am.  You have a heart of gold, Patrick.  Thank you!
• Many thanks for the other members of SMB Toledo for putting up with some inexperienced geekiness.  I’m so grateful for being able to mooch off your years of experience as business-owners.
• I’m grateful for Mark Pannell (@7son75) – Mr. Awesomesauce himself, whose excitement for social media is contagious.  You rock!
• And without Mark I would have never met Gene Powell (@gpowelldesign).  I have no words to describe Gene.  When I get off the phone with him, I feel BLESSED!  And smarter.  He’s way deeper than he looks…even with the cowboy hat.
• I’m thankful for Kelly Benston (@KMBReferee) and our sleep-deprived chats. You make me laugh.  And you put me on the map for being one of the few people who know a black conservative male with a girl’s name.

Christ-followers

Now for the peeps without Twitter handles who may or may not even see this blog post (My next blog post will be on social media/brand monitoring…  Just kidding!).

• I thank God for reconnecting me with the intense Joe Liggett.  You and your Bible study was an answer to prayer, brother. You don’t even know!  FIGHT!
• I’m grateful for Joe’s Bible study group – the gang at ember.  I wanted to meet real men and women of God, and see what Christ’s church really looked like and I found it in you, my brothers and sisters.  Never conform to the status quo. Never.
• More thanks still to God for the talented Carrie Jo Arndt.  Thanks for helping me through some confusing times by just being YOU.
• I’m grateful for my friendship with Charles Satchwell.  I’m glad we stuck it out so long without killing each other.  I’m proud of your growth and the milestones in your life.  Stick wit it.
• And finally I’m grateful for Carlos Parraz who came along on my last church discovery journey.  I’ll tell him about this blog and he’ll come out here and post something silly.  Watch.

Of course I’m grateful for my family and the people not mentioned in this post by name.  There are so many more.  I’m so thankful to God because it is His plans and purposes in my life that I see little by little being revealed in and through the people He has placed in my journey.  The fact that I can say that is, in and of itself, a miracle.  And for that, I am grateful.

* * HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! * *

Yeah, I’m talking LinkedIn again because there are still a lot of business people not on it.  So I wanted to post one reason why you need to be on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn continues to add applications to its social platform to make it more valuable to business owners.  I like LinkedIn because it’s practical and professional.  There are enough social networks where you can post goofy pictures, engage in virtual pillow fights and take hits out on another mafia family.  LinkedIn takes a break from the party scene to get some work done.

Crafted like an online CRM system, you can find your contacts with their contact information, send them email and refer them to others in your network.

LinkedIn allows you to recommend people – even in answers to questions others may post online.  So if someone needs help in a certain area and post that in the Questions and Answers area, your friend or satisfied client can suggest you as an expert for advice – even if you never saw the question.  There is also an easy referral link right on your profile:

It takes you to the email function, where an introduction can be made on the part of the referrer:

If networking is good for your business in any remote form (and I can’t think of one business where networking is not critical to it’s success), then you need to be on LinkedIn.  Not only is it a good place to build your professional network, but to build a reputation as an expert, get recommendations and referrals, and give some in return.

*If you need help setting up your LinkedIn profile or finding out how you can optimize your profile to reap it’s benefits, send an email to me at diva [at] janeile [.] com.

Is it just me or has anybody noticed the new age of sharing that social media has sparked?  I’m not simply talking about adding social media sharing tools on a blog or video to help it go viral.  I’m talking about a humbling and servants attitude that characterizes those that really embrace the medium.

The mantra of the day is about being a resource, listening, preferring someone else above yourself and helping each other out – including some that can be considered “competition”.

The mean kids on the playground are those that don’t want to share their toys.  They think open source is evil, anything without their logo is inferior, and look at partnerships as a position of weakness.  Curling up in the corner alone with your toy makes for a very boring play date.  The others will move on and have fun…with their own toys.  If you run into someone in social media who is always tooting their own horn, quick to bring out the “expert” title, and feeling the need to always dis their competitors run, Forrest, run.

It’s a great trend to have been renewed and become popular – especially for the business world, where everything has been built on the money-making factor.  Now we make friends, followers and networks, and we’ve gone from slick, gimmicky commercials designed to separate people from their money to loyalty-building programs and reputation management, which in the end, will bring the same (if not better) dollar result.

Look for ways to do more sharing in your business – even if its off-line.  Free eBooks, tips, service, widgets, webinars, surveys or whatever – just do it!  Promote others over yourself.  Don’t make negative comments about your competitors.  Be open to listening and learning new things from those in your industry and even those that aren’t.  And when you do, pass it on to others who may also find the information valuable.

Those that share will end up with friends and loyal customers; those that don’t will end up playing alone.

If you are a Christ-follower, you’re always trying to keep yourself pure and untainted by things that are not of God.  It seems as if there is always the pressure to secularize some part of the faith.  No doubt there are some that think churches utilizing social media and other web 2.0 technologies to be one way in which the body of Christ is succumbing to the secular and “shallowness” of the mainstream.  However, this thinking is flawed for the simple reason that social media is just a tool like other forms of media.

First let’s establish the fact that the knowledge we have comes from God.  John 1:3 says that “All things were made through Him [God], and without Him nothing was made that was made.”  So everything that has ever been made – automobiles, computers and even the nuclear bomb – was because of the God-given capacity for man to crunch complicated, mathematical formulas, tinker with engines, and create logically.  Social media is simply another result of that gift God placed in man to dream and create.  It is here NOW for a reason.

Social media is nothing more than a new communication tool.  Like radio, TV and satellite, social media is a new way to spread the Gospel.  Just like TV is not the sole marketing channel for a business, neither is it for the Church.  We need to be open to different communication channels to reach a different (or more of an) audience.  Consider these statistics regarding the reach on social networks:

• Globally, 1 in every 11 minutes are spent on a social network or blog (PCmag.com 03/09)
• Facebook has over 300 million active users (Facebook stats page at the time of writing)
• In July 2009, YouTube had 85.1 million U.S. visitors (Mashable 8/10/09)

If you’re in business and still clinging to the traditional forms of marketing to tackle the new economy in which we find ourselves, you’re looking for some near-death experiences, if not total suicide, in business.  The same is for the Church.  “Old fashion” religion still has it’s place, but if you’re not willing to tap into new tools to keep up with a changing culture, extinction might be where you’re headed.

As the gun owners like to say “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.”  While social media is not a greased slide into hell, it could be depending on what you do there.  Watching movies were once thought to be a sinful activity.  Today, showing the Jesus Film wins someone, somewhere in the world, to Christ every 4 seconds.  According to their website, that’s almost 7.8 million people a year!  Now consider the impact a film like that can have for those interacting on a social network.

With social media, you can literally now “go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15) right from your home computer.  So stop whining about the cultural shifts and the negatives that come along with it, and get busy with the Great Commission.

In my last post, I discussed a few no-no’s in email marketing that I still see showing up in my inbox on a consistent basis.  I’d like to cover just a few more.

Frequency

If most people are like me, they are getting tons of email already – some spam, some not spam.  If we sign up for your sale previews, newsletter or whatever, please don’t abuse me by sending me email every other day.  Honestly, I think once a week is as frequent as you can get before getting REALLY annoying.  Even if I wanted your email, I’d unsubscribe if it overloaded my inbox.

The Opt-in

Give full disclosure at the email opt-in.  No “uncheck-if-you-DONT-want-spam-from-our-3rd-party-partners”or other fine print.  Assume that I don’t want it and give me the option to check it if I do.  Outline email frequency so I’m not overwhelmed if your email campaign is nicknamed “Shock and Awe” at the office.

If you have more than one email campaign, don’t add me to ones I didn’t subscribe to. A nice feature that I have seen is giving those that subscribe the ability to modify their subscription.  That way, if they are signed up for three email campaigns and want to unsubscribe from two, they can do so without unsubscribing from all and then having to sign up again for the one.

CAN-SPAM adherence

Now, most people won’t catch this, but after working for an email marketing company, I have a heightened sensitivity to the issue.  According to the CAN-SPAM Act, there are some items your email campaign is required to have.  A few of the important ones are:

1. Don’t use misleading header information.  That means your business or identity needs to be identifiable in the “To”, “From” and “Reply-To”.  Social media is about transparency anyway – if you’re hiding, there’s a big chance you’re a spammer.
2. Use a descriptive Subject line to describe your email.  Don’t lie to get people to open your email.
3. Your address needs to be on there somewhere and I’m not talking about an email or website.
4. Give me the opportunity to opt-out and do it in a clear way.  Nothing is more annoying than opt-out instructions listed waaaaay down on an email in font size 2.  You do more harm to your brand trying to keep a subscriber with hidden or complicated opt-outs than if you just let them opt-out. I’m on Chris Brogan’s newsletter list and he’ll casually say even in the email that if the newsletter is just not your thing, its o.k. to unsubscribe.  I doubt too many people take him up on the offer.  Now you don’t have to encourage people to unsubscribe, but if you’re open and free about it, you’ll look better than if you’re reluctant about it.

These are just a few of the blatant email marketing mistakes I still see in my inbox or junk mail.  If you want to do it right, try to avoid these and you’ll stand out from the pack.