ChaosScenario

Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Myspace: Managing Your Profile and Hedging Your Bets

As they say, the only two things that are certain are death and taxes. The rest is open to interpretation. This includes the suitability of a candidate for any given position. Therefore, whether you're looking for a job or looking for a good person to fill a job, you're putting something valuable at risk -- either your time or your money. If job hunting is a gamble, then why not hedge your bets a bit?

The following is part of an exchange between banking guru J.P. Morgan and a member of a congressional committee in the early 20th century.

Congressman: Is not commercial credit based primarily on money or property?
J.P.M.: No, sir. The first thing is character.
Congressman: Before money or property?
J.P.M.: Before money or anything else. Money cannot buy it.

Long résumés and walls full of degrees and commendations have their place, but in the pantheon of qualifications, I wouldn't rank them the highest. Like Morgan, I would put a premium on character. In fact, here's how I would rank the order of importance.

1. Character
2. Intelligence (general and specific)
   
3. Specific experience
4. Education

Why you should be all over the 'net

The problem is that character and intelligence aren't easy to put on a résumé. Some people get by with listing experience (especially pro bono work they've done) and education, but that will only get you so far. Although they're often a good starting point, companies know the story doesn't end there.

And increasingly, they know how to use Google.

Knowing this, you really have only two choices:

1. Ignore it and try to fly under Google's considerably effective radar, or
2. Embrace it and influence it as much as you can

Number 1 may work only if you have no friends or a name like "Abraham Lincoln." In the first case, even if you try to fly under the radar, your friends may have other ideas about your desire for anonymity, and if you're not actively telling your story, someone else may be. In the second case... let's face it... Companies would be hard-pressed to find information about you when they have to navigate through all the information about that other guy.

Number 2, on the other hand, gives you an opportunity to tell your side of the story before anyone else does. If you're a private person and are uncomfortable with being "out there," you have the ability to moderate your level of personal disclosure.

If you're prolific, you can ensure prospective employers (or clients, if you're self-employed) can become convinced that you may have the qualities they seek in a candidate. If they don't value those qualities, they're probably not a good fit for you anyway.

That way, if there are any issues (fairly or unfairly) that call your character into question (Remember those parties you attended when you were 25?) they will be drowned out by the story you'd rather they see.

Just make sure your online persona is consistent with the way you want others to see you. - Cam Beck

Can anyone kill the killer social media apps?

This morning I saw an interesting question on LinkedIn from José María Gil about the role of email marketing and social media platforms to "build your brand." It was a question I know a lot of people struggle with as they seek for ways to capitalize on the growing adoption of social media, so I decided to post the question and answer here.

Here's the question (modified for formatting):

In the last year I have seen a big euphoria about the opportunity that social media is for companies as a marketing tool. There are a ton of articles and posts out there lately about how to use Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc, to build your brand, establish relationships with your users, and much more. Within that euphoria, I have heard voices claming that social media y the new king, and that email marketing is dead.

However, since the moment you need an email address to sign up for any social network, that is completely false. Email and social media are good friends and not enemies. Both of them have an important and different role within our online marketing strategy.

I see social networks as a party, where you meet a lot of people and get in a lot of conversations. That is a really good way to build a community and to find an audience. But, the people that really care about what you do, is the people who are going to sign up to your email list, and the people you are going to start a more direct and personalized relationship with, engaging them with the value given through your emails.

What do you think?

The cost of entry is low, but cost of effectiveness may be steep

José -
With the current social media platforms available, new entrants into this market need to be something more than parties where people can "interact with a brand."

Typically, they don't care about the brand, and they don't care about the problems or needs of the company. They just want something that rewards them for their time, or else they'll not feel compelled to give it, email or not.

Thus, social media sites must provide some unique value that people can't get on Facebook or Myspace, and with new apps being added to these two growing platforms that generate revenue, the cost of entry is constantly increasing. It pays to be a first mover.

However, it is possible to build a reasonably priced platform that addresses the needs of a niche audience, and email marketing (if you can really call it that) can and probably should play a critical role in building relationships. The goal, though, isn't necessarily to build a relationship between the brand and the individual, but rather to help them build relationships within the platform.

This requires a lot of restraint, because the temptation is to put some backwards sales techniques to use and try to keep convincing the users that your platform is the best platform and they should abandon what they're already doing.

Instead, hosts need to be fairly passive and message users when something has happened that they've asked to be notified about. (LinkedIn, for instance, lets you know when your profile isn't complete, or when someone attempts to connect with you).

The message must be simple and to the point. Make it (in a friendly way -- or whatever way showcases a likable personality) and get out of the way.

Hope this helps! - Cam Beck

Do they know how good they have it?

Near the end of my freshman year in high school, my family moved to Berlin, Germany from Havelock, North Carolina. During my three years there, I kept in touch with several friends by mail, and through those friends several others by proxy. It was tough to keep it up, though, because the lag in communication was so long. Eventually I lost contact with most of them. Facebook and Myspace give us all the tools to get back in touch and catch up, but I wonder how many take advantage of it in a meaningful way.

Let's look at the past and the present by the numbers:

1991

• 1 - 2 hours: Time it took to draft an informal personal letter to a good friend.
• 2 weeks: Time it took to send a letter from Berlin, Germany to the U.S, using the U.S. government postal system.
• 1 month: Minimum amount of time it took to receive a written response to a letter.
• 3-6 months: Amount of time between speaking with good friends across the ocean.
• $25: The approximate cost of a phone call lasting less than 30 minutes (that's about $50 in today's dollars).

Today

• 1 -15 minutes: Time it takes to draft an email.
• 30 seconds: Time it takes for a friend to receive an email after it's been sent.
• A few minutes: Time it takes to receive a response.
• 1 week: Amount of time between speaking with good friends across the ocean.
• Free: The approximate cost of a 30 minute phone call, using the right technology (ISP fees excluded).

A word of caution:

As the cost of communication decreased and the speed increased, the frequency of trivial communication increased. Now it's easy to write a few words and send it off. While it may be quicker and more immediately gratifying, with the types of information we're typically sharing ("Hey, check out this link...What a L00ser") we can't say we're forming very meaningful interactions.

While these tools hold great promise, as Pope Benedict XVI said, they also pose risks that should not be ignored.

It's not altogether bad to keep in touch with a lot of people at a superficial level. After all, I found out years ago how hard it is to consistently hold a lot of meaningful long-distance friendships over a long period of time when you don't have the tools people have today.

However, we shouldn't forget that these tools should complement our relationships, not replace them. A status update on Facebook is good. A friendly conversation over lunch or a cup of coffee is better. - Cam Beck

Managing Negative WOM Through Twitter

For Christmas, my wife got me a Polar FT60, a cross-training heart rate monitor and general fitness computing aid. It's the first time I've ever owned anything remotely similar. This thing is a technological marvel. It's worn on the wrist like a watch, but it also has a chest strap and optional GPS aid or a pedometer. With a gazillion features and only 4 buttons to manage them, even while scanning (not reading) the manual, I was immediately perplexed, and I said as much on Twitter.

As you can see, initially I didn't even mention the brand. I wasn't trying to knock the company or the product. I was just pointing out a problem that's inherent with a feature-rich device that has by necessity only a few buttons with which to interact with the features.

Once I figured out how to capture my heart rate, I posted that I figured it out, and that my heart rate was 61. But then I saw the word "elite," and it didn't seem to match my understanding of human biology. A higher resting heart rate SHOULD mean I'm in worse shape, not better.

Because Twitter was on, I decided to solicit an explanation from Twitter, and for good measure I added a hash tag so it would be seen by Jason Falls' Twit2Fit social media fitness group (which I've written about before), even if they weren't following me on Twitter.

I mentioned the brand this time (Polar), but not because I was knocking them, but rather to provide context to what I was seeing so someone could answer my question.

Within a few minutes, I found the page in the manual that explained what I was seeing (that the number wasn't my heart rate, but an index they use to determine fitness).

"Never mind," I posted to Twitter. "HRM told me my 'index' not my heart rate. #twit2fit"

Within an hour, someone called "ChrisPolarUSA," who appears to be an employee of Polar's call center, offered to help me through whatever issue I was having.

I didn't see it that night, but I responded the next morning that I figured it out, and he wrote back to let me know that I could contact him if I needed anything. I really appreciated that his response was:

• Timely
• Useful
• Personal
• Friendly

It hadn't even crossed my mind yet to contact tech support. I wasn't soliciting help from Polar. I also didn't denigrating the brand as someone else in a similar situation may have. But even if I had, ChrisPolarUSA likely would have been right on top of it to help me through my problem.

Not everyone needs to have a presence on Twitter 24/7. I don't know that Polar does this round the clock, but the fact that he responded after 9 p.m. (and again at 7 the next morning) surely indicates that they might.

But even if they don't, they've made a believer out of me by listening. But more than that, they listened where their customers are, not where they wished them to be (such as on their proprietary fitness aid, polarpersonaltrainer.com, which I've been meaning to get around to using but haven't).

So, Polar... If you're listening (and I suspect you are), thank you. Not only for offering to help me solve my problem, but for showing the world that it is possible to deliver great customer service -- even in increments of 140 characters or less. - Cam Beck

P.S. As far as I can tell at this moment, the FT60 rocks!

What's to become of Apple evangelists?

I don't begrudge Steve Jobs for not giving a keynote address at the 2009 Macworld Expo. It had to happen sooner or later. After all, eventually Jobs will retire. Better to plan for life after Jobs while he's still around to provide advice and feedback. What I do question, however, is Apple's decision to withdraw from the Expo altogether after 2009.

Apple callously claimed that they simply don't need the Expo anymore to distribute their message. Having become more mainstream than they had been, they have other ways of communicating with their audience.

Well, maybe that's true, but how can a company turn down the opportunity to fulfill the desire of thousands of their most loyal, rabid enthusiasts to directly interact with them?

Those people, having that desire, willing and eager as they are to be seen as outliers -- as outcasts -- are enviable assets.

The Whole Truth

It makes me wonder if Apple is telling us the whole story (not that they are obliged to do so). I have no doubt that preparing for and attending these events has a measurable cost, and they can calculate the PR benefits of all the press they get from them.

Having seen all the press they've received over the last 10 years each time Jobs speaks, it's difficult for me to believe that the costs are higher than the benefits

Maybe they have reason to think that they can't consistently deliver the punch that Jobs does at these events, and it would be hard to argue with them.

Jobs has built himself into a legend. That status isn't something that can be transferred to a proxy, because he would not likely have the same credibility as the pioneer himself.

Perhaps they want to put on their own Expo and reap the profits from it themselves more directly. It's hard to say at this point.

It's important to reserve judgment until we have more information. But I'm sure the thousands of people who have held Apple's torch when no one else would are wondering what's in store for them in the future.

I am, too. - Cam Beck

Beware Navel-Gazing Straw Men on Second Life and in Real Life

Yesterday I came across this article on MSNBC that claims a bank crash that took place in the virtual world Second Life foretold the current economic crisis. The author says Second Life can provide "real-life lessons on the patterns of free markets and unfettered capitalism." Maybe it can, but be careful what conclusions you draw from those lessons. There are physical costs and incentives associated with the real world that a virtual world like Second Life cannot duplicate.

MSNBC's chief source is a highly credentialed professor out of Cornell, who also authors the blog Metanomics. However, comparisons between the real world and the virtual world to conclude financial markets cannot simply be left alone to self-regulate is a straw man.

The conclusion this straw man enables is tempting for two groups of people:

• Second Life fanatics
• Those who are inclined to believe that the problems in this economy can traced back to insufficient regulations.

So if you fall into one of those two groups (or worse, both), beware bias that might prematurely lead you to MSNBCs conclusion without a thorough vetting.

No market is unregulated in Second Life or in any other life -- especially the real world, where banks and businesses are under such stringent regulations that they hire teams of consultants and accountants to ensure they won't be fined, fired, or thrown in jail for misreporting their numbers.

On top of that, at some point in world history, before law and order were established mainstays of organized society, real life bankers really had to fear being tarred and feathered by mobs with pitchforks if they did not behave honestly. That's a pretty convincing incentive to not rip anyone off.

I won't say the same mob justice isn't possible on Second Life, but it doesn't sting as much when it happens to your avatar.

Now, at least the law gives people some recourse if they have a grievance due to fraud. And this is true no matter what life the promises are made. Then it's just a question of jurisdiction. And if all else fails, Second Life can ban access to its platform or certain types of transactions -- that in itself is another form of regulation that puts to rest the premise that Second Life represents life without regulation.

It's complicated and it makes for an interesting academic discussion, which is probably why an academic is exploring it. However, we need beware of hasty conclusions. - Cam Beck

Fit to Sell

Sometimes it amazes me that with all of the fitness programs that become fads, we have what at least one expert called an obesity epidemic in America. A lot of these programs tell us that losing weight is easy, that it requires little to no thinking--or even effort.

"Take this pill. [Insert medical-sounding jargon]. The pounds will melt away."

"Eat these pre-packaged meals. [Insert celebrity endorsement]. Watch the weight fall off."

"Eat raw foods only. [Insert conspiracy theory]. You'll lose weight and feel better.

"Eat only meat. [Insert atypical before and after examples]. You'll lose weight."

The promise is that they can work, and to some extent, most (not all) of these fads and plans may work to some degree -- if you only want to lose weight are willing to do the work (which is clearly and prominently displayed in low-contrast mouse-type at the bottom of the ad).

With an audience that frequently jumps from one fad to the next, those concerned only with selling may believe the biggest challenge is getting them to believe that this one will work better than the last one.

Actually, biggest challenge is convincing them to do the work required of them.

Coming to the end of my 3-month quest to lower my obscenely high cholesterol levels, I can now say with some authority how difficult it can be to turn away that second portion, to refuse to eat the cookies staring me in the face and calling my name, to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to work out alone when I'd rather be curled up under my blankets with my wife, and to put everything I have into it -- knowing full well that I'd be tired and sore afterwards.

During this quest, I set some measurable goals. Weight loss was not one of them. My primary goal was to improve my cholesterol levels.

Consequently, I wouldn't be able to see if the sacrifices I was making were actually producing results I needed them to produce until after the whole thing was over.

(For the record, though, I happened to lose some weight in the process -- more than I thought I could stand to lose.)

While grand promises about better health, more strength, better looks, and a better sex life may get customers through the door, setting unrealistic expectations about what it takes to succeed will not get them to sing your praises.

Giving Thanks

The impetus for improving my health was my high cholesterol, which I discovered when getting a routine physical I was required to have before going to scout camp with my son this summer.

My motivation was to be around to enjoy my family for many years.

My inspiration was Jason Falls and his efforts to help himself and others stay fit through Twit2Fit.

The program I used was P90X. My wife bought it for me, and she worked hard to make sure I had access to all of the nutrition I needed to be successful.

The program is simple, but it isn't easy. There's really no "gimmick" to it: Burn more calories than you take in (if your goal is weight loss). The workouts are structured in a way to prevent plateauing, which sounds good enough to repeat, but I didn't care about anything but my cholesterol.

Here's a little something to chew on:

I didn't even finish the first workout.

There were several occasions that I thought I wasn't going to make it through the entire thing. There were times I thought I'd eat my pre-P90X words.

"I can do anything for 90 days," I said. "I can stand on my head."

In the end, I lowered my overall cholesterol from 247 to 203.

The new number, while a vast improvement, is still a little high, so I know it's something I am going to have to continue to monitor. However, now that I'm accustomed to eating better (I was forced to in order to stick with the program), it's something I plan to continue doing -- hopefully for my entire life.

Why P90X: A Marketing Lesson

Like I explained, my wife bought the DVDs, the bands, and the weights. I can't say that I would have bought it, but only because I'm stubborn and I'm the sort of guy who thinks he can do anything for 90 days without any outside help.

Plus, P90X includes some "pansy" exercises like yoga, and I wasn't about to buy that (what a mistake that would have been!).

Like any good 2.0 consumer, she did a little Google search and found the video testimonies of a lot of people who tried it.

The folks who market P90X encourage such testimonies through community and meaningful contests. Their forums are filled with people who have done it or are doing it.

These people encourage one another. Because results are possible (in other words, because P90X can deliver on its promise), the community organically convinces new members that they, too, can do the work the program requires.

At times, the program is difficult, but they realize that and have developed a means to get people to push through it -- not by their own marketing, but through the encouragement of others -- because they understand that their advertising isn't going to work nearly as well as the testimonies of those who have done it. - Cam Beck

Lessons on Facebook -- from my wife

Working in social media and living in it are two different things. This became even more apparent to me a couple of weeks ago when my wife found Facebook.

People are surprised when they find out that, although I make my living in digital marketing, not everyone in my immediate family is as into it as I am. I guess after telling certain people about 'cool' things and getting that glassy eyed looked, I chose to only tell those who seemed to care.

These last few years I think having a spouse that is not necessarily on the cutting edge of social media and internet marketing has helped. It keeps me grounded in reality. In a lot of cases, she's the stereotypical target market. She serves as a great dose of reality.

So here's a list of things that I've learned from my wife when she joined and got active on Facebook:

1. It's about connecting with old fiends. Once she realized that she could find people she went to high school and college with, she spent literally hours looking up all kinds of old acquaintances.
2. It's about pictures. My wife is an amateur photographer but never really got into Flickr, Photobucket or even Snapfish. She's posted all kinds of photos on Facebook however because she knows her friends are logging on all the time. I guess that's why Facebook is the heaviest used photo site.
3. The best apps are the ones that allow her to connect with others in a clever way. There are a lot of apps that allow you to dress up your profile. The ones that are the most interesting to her are the ones that she help her engage with friends, give an excuse to say hi or share something about herself and encourage others to do the same.

- Paul Herring

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A New Perspective to Career Advancement

Through Facebook, someone I chatted with awhile back (through a different platform) sent me an invitation to a private beta for this interesting career-related social networking site called FDCareer.com that mixes some elements of networking, education, and gaming.

(Use invite code 11323)

It has a few bugs still, but they’ve been very responsive so far.

Despite the bugs, I think it’s an interesting approach to professional advancement that facilitates and rewards participation and learning. In particular, the “quests” include a mixture of networking tasks that help grow the community and learning tasks that both increase the participant’s status, or “level,” and at the same time, if the users take it seriously, it can really get them to think.

In addition, the participants get to review the companies they’ve worked for according to several criteria. In that way, it can also be a useful listening device to see if there might be cause for concern about employee morale.

Check it out. I’d love to see a career platform succeed that is built on encouraging self-improvement and is more than building the biggest contact list. - Cam Beck