Less is more

Elaine Starling about her upcoming Webinar: Business Growth Through Social Media

We asked Elaine Starling, Founder of Starling Media Services, Inc. to answer a few questions about her upcoming complimentary lunch & learn webinar this Thursday November 19 at 12:00 noon Pacific Time (Business Growth Through Social Media):

1. What would you say to those who haven’t gotten into Social Media or are resistant to getting into it?

People usually haven’t gotten into social media yet because they aren’t sure how to apply it to their current business strategies.  Social Media tools offer faster, more streamlined ways to get information you need for your business – things like competitive information.  Done correctly, Social Media can save you time and money.  Learn the basics and start small.  Apply solid strategy and you’ll be successful.
 
2. How much time do you recommend that people spend on Social Media? 

You can get significant benefits from social media in as little as 30 minutes a day. 
 
3. What are the key pitfalls that you see people fall into when they start to use Social Media? 

Social Media can be addictive.  Often people find themselves spending too much time on Social Media.  They get distracted and go off strategy.  Stay focused, keep to a schedule, and you’ll see great value in it.

4. Finally, what is one of the exciting Social Medai challenges that you have helped a team or company overcome? and something that we can learn from? 

I’m working with www.InspireMeToday.com, a site designed to inspire people because inspired people are more productive and effective.  The founder, Gail Goodwin, started using Twitter about a year ago.  She now has over 30,000 followers and just got a private interview with Sir Richard Branson.  You can network very effectively using Social Media in strategic ways.

Join us this Thursday November 19 to learn more!

Is “e-mail” on its way out? And is “Social Media” taking over?

This is the first post in what is likely to become a series of reflections on the role of e-mail and Social Media today and the upcoming years.

After 15 years of internet, is e-mail hanging on by a weak thread?

E-mail is overused and even abused, and users’ mailboxes are congested--worse than traffic in the busiest metropolitan areas of the world. People are tired of scrolling up and down the inbox and many stopped looking at, and not to mention responding to, e-mail messages except for the urgent messages from their bosses or customers. Reaching people via e-mail (unless you are their boss or customer) has become quite challenging. It is “extreme” e-mail fatigue that we are suffering from. So many things fall through the cracks and so many inefficiencies are invading the work place and our personal lives. Does this sound like “chaos”? Well it is!

Is Social Media taking over?

While Web 2.0 tools (such as blogs, wikis, and Microsoft SharePoint) are emerging as the better alternatives for collaboration and information sharing, in this post, I am interested in focusing on the Social Media platforms and reflecting on their relationship to e-mail today and in the future.

Social media is the new kid on the blog (relatively new compared to good old e-mail).  People are still excited about the Social Media platforms. Even though these platforms are quite busy, they tend to be less intrusive than e-mail, and they give users the ability to scan the feed casually and jump in and respond only when they desire to do so. The expectations are less while the reach is much broader. And these platforms provide messaging functionality (similar to e-mail and Instant Messaging) which seem to get more attention and better response time than the traditional e-mail. 

And now the questions

• Where do you see the future of e-mail versus Social Media?
   
• Will it get to our work life as well (having more structured enterprise Social Media platforms that would include collaboration and social media all in one within the firewall)?
   
• Will the traditional “public” e-mail approach eventually go away?

What do you think of this hypothetical chart showing how the time spent on e-mail (and therefore the role of e-mail) will diminish over the next few years while the time spent on Social Media will increase. E-mail me YOUR  version of this chart (training@people-onthego.com):

 
Graph: Hypothetical hours spent per week on E-mail versus Social Media!

Overwhelmed by e-mail and Social Media? Check out The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook Amazon.com and what readers are saying about it.

 

How to avoid being overwhelmed and consumed by social media?

In the past, it used to be e-mail and meetings that consumed everyone’s time, and now it is e-mail, meetings, and social media, and not necessarily in this order. For years, in our workshops, we talked about the e-mail overload, and taught ways to overcome the e-mail overload, and now we are broadening the scope to include social media.

So how do you reduce the social media overload?

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Be Strategic: Don’t just be there, but be there with a clear purpose.
   
• Follow the relevant people: Those that add value and not just chatter.
   
• Stay on brand: One of Jason Alba’s advice that I keep re-iterating.
   
• Reuse: Create high value content and reuse it in all platforms, you know they now all link to each other, so you can more easily leverage your content in multiple platforms.
   
• Time yourself: Don’t just be there indefinitely, make it 5, 15, or 40 minutes (again with a clear purpose)
   
• Don’t treat it like a homework (especially twitter): You don’t have to keep up with what happened when you were gone. What happened before is mostly old news by now.
   
• Remember that the time you spend on it needs to be proportional to the number of people you have in your network (otherwise, it is better investing time to growing your network).

For more tips about managing interruptions (social media and others), refer to The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook now available at Amazon.com (check out the reviews)!

Twitter 101--Gen Y Teaches Us Twitter: The tutorial, the insights, the Gen Y (recording now on Facebook)

This is the session you shouldn't have missed! But it is okay if you did because every single tip and insight that Jenny Blakeprovided was captured and is available for your to review at your leisure at the "Accomplishing more with less" group on Facebook.

Jenny covered many topics including:

• What is Twitter and how is it beneficial.
• What does someone need to know to get started with Twitter and using it effectively.
• What are the key commands and how to use them (step by step demo).
• How much time is best spent on Twitter?
• What resources are available to help participants learn more.

Finally, feel free to connect with Jenny and myself on Twitter (@jenny_blake and @pierrekhawand) and check out #twitter101webinar to learn more about comments and notes from the webinar.

Join us every Thursday for the complimentary lunch & learn webinars at noon Pacific Time.

"Gen Y Teaches Us Twitter" wasn't just about Twitter but about the generations in the worksplace!

The session was about Twitter 101 in which Jenny Blake, Career Development Program Manager at Google, was informative, engaging, and insightful. Jenny, not only explained the benefits of Twitter and how it can be used to help streamline communication and be an effective networking and collaboration tool, but guided us through a step by step demonstration of the Twitter feature set with audience participation (that is whas Twitter is for afterall)!

We had two purposes for having this session

Back in July, we had a session with Jenny about Gen Y. If you missed that session, the full recording is on Facebook. Jenny provided some great insights into Gen Y’s work habits and priorities and their view on productivity and technology. A few weeks ago, we continued the theme of Generations in the Workplace, and Adam Christensen, CTO of HR Systems at Wells Fargo, represented Gen X and gave us his insights about Gen X. The recording of that session is also on Facebook.

Today’s session has two purposes:

1. One is to demystify twitter so if you haven’t yet ventured into this platform and wan to do so, or if you’re just curious about it, you can get quickly and easily up-to-date, learn the basic techniques, and see how people are using it, and what the benefits might be.
2. The second purpose though, which is just as important, is to continue the theme of “Generations in the Worplace” and get more insights about how Gen Y uses technology, and the role that Gen Y can play in the workplace, helping others/coaching others in becoming more familiar and comfortable with the latest trends in technology.

The session recording will be at the "Accomplishing more with less" group in Facebook next week!

Additional References

In Defense of Twitter (by Jenny Blake)

Resources about Twitter (also suggested by Jenny)

Also search for #twitter101webinar for more info!

Upcoming lunch & learn webinar: Twitter 101--Gen Y Teaches Us Twitter

Join us in this session and witness Jenny Blake, Career Development Program Manager at Google (our returning guest speaker), demystify Twitter! If you haven’t yet experimented with Twitter or been thinking that it is just a place where people post what they had for lunch and when they’re going to the gym, this session will show you how Twitter can be useful, how people are using it, and give you a step by step introduction on how to get started and use it yourself. 

Jenny, who was our guest speaker on "Generations in the Workplace: Gen Y in Action" returning to share her experience and tips on Twitter. If you haven’t heard Jenny’s presentation about Gen Y, you can check it out at the “Accomplishing more with less” group on Facebook.

Reserve your seat today!

Hope you will be able to join us!

Lunch & Learn: Successfully Managing Your Career Transition in Any Economy

Career transitions are rarely effortless and are often a challenge in any economy – though they can be especially challenging in today’s economy. Regardless of how they occur, career coach, Jerry Pico, sees these transitions as a gift. Jerry believes that career transitions allow us to change our lives in positive ways – if we are open to viewing them that way. 

In yesterday's Lunch & Learn session, Jerry shared his advice and insights about career transitions with participants. Jerry has been working with individuals and teams to define and achieve success in their own terms for over 15 years – including 10 years in his consulting practice, People & Knowledge Works Consulting. He is a Certified Career Coach, and in addition to his private coaching practice he also works as an Adjunct Career Coach with Lee Hecht Harrison (the 2nd largest outplacement firm in the world) doing one-on-one coaching with clients in transition. 

In yesterday's presentation, Jerry pointed out that most of us spend more time working than doing anything else, but surprisingly few people take the time to manage their careers so that they can enjoy their work or, at the very least, balance it with the other areas of their lives. He also explained that an unplanned change, like a layoff, can offer people the opportunity to take control of their careers.

Jerry provideed participants with the overall structure of a proven methodology and Nine Step Process to help them manage their careers in a proactive, organized, and structured way. He explained that people who use this proven methodology have a competitive advantage over other jobseekers who are less prepared, making for successful career transitions and greater satisfaction with results. 

For more insights and advice you can contact Jerry at (415) 425-7426 or jerry@pkwconsulting.com.

Also, check out Jerry's slides from the presentation:

Download Managing_Career_Webinar_4.9.09

For more career management resources check out JibberJobber.com. This is a great tool for the job source structure and keeping track of networking!

Join us for our upcoming free lunch & learn session!

Building Trust and Accomplishment through Agreements (on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 from 12:00 noon to 12:45 pm Pacific Time)

Register for Building Trust and Accomplishment through Agreements

Our lunch & learn program description and registration

Get your brown bag lunch (or snack) ready, and join us online every Thursday at 12:00 noon Pacific Time for 45 minutes to learn the latest and most innovative tips and techniques for individual and team productivity, and get the latest updates about important workplace and productivity issues.

Review program and register for our lunch & learn webinars

Lunch & Learn: Social Networking to Find a Job in Today's Economy

Social networks are communities of people who share interests and activities and are interested in exploring these interests and activities with others. Social networking has become a phenomenon and gone beyond the social aspect to become an integral part of business, especially as the lines between personal and business lives continues to blur. Last week's Lunch & Learn webinar session explored how social networking can be used as a job connection in today's economy.

Our returning guest speaker Jason Alba, CEO and creator of JibberJobber.com, author of I’m on LinkedIn – Now What??? and co-author of I’m on Facebook – Now What???, gave us an overview of social networking, explored its business applications, and explained how business professionals can use social networking tools to secure a job in tough economic times. Jason also provided some valuable live demonstrations and an overview of his JibberJobber.com platform as a career management tool.

Our upcoming session and registration

Eat Well to Work Well (on Thursday April 2, 2009 from 12:00 noon to 12:45 pm Pacific Time)

Register for Eat Well to Work Well

Our lunch & learn program description and registration

Get your brown bag lunch (or snack) ready, and join us online every Thursday at 12:00 noon Pacific Time for 45 minutes to learn the latest and most innovative tips and techniques for individual and team productivity, and get the latest updates about important workplace and productivity issues.

Social Networking Lunch & Learn Follow-up Questions

Jason Alba, CEO and creator of JibberJobber.com, author of I’m on LinkedIn – Now What??? and co-author of I’m on Facebook – Now What???, took time to answer a few questions that that lunch & learn participants had following his Social Networking in Action lunch & learn presentation. Below are the questions that participants had, along with Jason's answers.

1. You mentioned that the LinkedIn audience is more businesslike/professional. As I evaluate best strategy for audience: How would you characterize audience demographics for (1) Twitter and (2) Facebook? 

This is just my opinion, but here’s how I characterize what I’m seeing on Twitter: Lots of people who are comfortable with social technologies and interested in “conversation.” The people whom I see on and using Twitter are often bloggers and have some kind of following. They are very cool, helpful and nice people. Lots of information sharing. Lots of news broadcasting.  
 
On Facebook I see a lot of people who are professionals but are there for social/personal reasons.  Lots of newer people I’ve seen are small business owners who have some kind of money making or money saving opportunity. Many people don’t know what they are doing there, or why they are connecting with me. It’s like they are kicking the tires. Users seem to interact differently on Facebook than they do on LinkedIn. Still, don’t underestimate the professionals on Facebook.
 
2. Where do you draw the personal vs. business line with Facebook and Twitter?

I do everything onbrand for my business, or my personal brand, so I’m very careful to barely put any personal stuff up, even on Facebook. Realize that, no matter where you put your personal info, it can show up anywhere.
 
3. How do you handle people who ask you to be on multiple social sites (Facebook & LinkedIn)?

I get this quite often. No big deal… Some people want to connect in different places for different reasons and play to each platform's strengths. Sometimes people connect with me on LinkedIn for the search factor (the ability for one another to tap into each other’s network), but also want to connect on Facebook because of the social communication tools. It’s really not a big deal, but I do draw the line there. I hardly ever (never?) connect with people outside of LinkedIn or Facebook.
 
4. When will Jason's new book on LinkedIn be out? 

Guess what?! I just learned that I'm on LinkedIn - Now What??? should be shipping on Black Friday, November 28th. Very excited to get this new information out!

 

Join us for our upcoming free lunch & learn session!

The growing risk of e-mail & blog mis-use (on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 from 12:00 noon to 12:45 pm Pacific Time)

Register for The growing risk of e-mail & blog mis-use

Our lunch & learn program description and registration

Get your brown bag lunch (or snack) ready, and join us online every Thursday at 12:00 noon Pacific Time for 45 minutes to learn the latest and most innovative tips and techniques for individual and team productivity, and get the latest updates about important workplace and productivity issues.

Review program and register for our lunch & learn webinars

Sign up for the Facebook in Action online live workshop

The second workshop of our October 2008 social networking bundle is approaching, and seats are still available and can be purchased online at:

----------> Register online now ($29 special)

Workshop: Facebook in Action, Wednesday October 20, 12:00 to 1:30 pm

The workshop is made available for a nominal registration fee of $29.00. This is a special one time offer and seats are limited. You can order up to 10 seats.

PS: Please note that People-OnTheGo offers a number of public and corporate workshops. Feel free to e-mail us at training@people-onthego.com if you have questions, or if you would like to discuss bringing the workshops to your team.

We look forward to your participation!