Ins and Outs of Online Social Networking for Business

Southern Tier Opportunity Coalition recently presented a panel discussion exploring the wide and deep topic of Online Social Networking. The event was an installment of STOC’s “Networking Café,” held at the Lost Dog Cafe (the original, in-the-flesh, elbow-rubbing kind of networking, just to be clear).

( photo caption: From far end, panelists l.to r.: Cheryl Fabrizi, Binghamton University; Jamie Jacobs, Riger - a marketing communications company; Kathryn Fletcher, BiziLife Ventures; Lisa DiVirgilio, Fox40 TV; Gary Steadman, Steadmantech; Jim Willis, A-Team Group, nearest to camera. Moderating the discussion was Riger’s Pete Cronk.)

A truly broad set of tools, all involving the desire of human beings and organizations to connect and share, OSNW, if we can coin an acronym for the topic, must be taken seriously by businesspeople, the panelists readily agreed. But beyond that initial meeting of the minds, the panel members — and the audience of 50 or so attendees, too — expressed diverging views on matters like time management, privacy, credibility of content, the challenges of “listening” and tool selection for the particular application and audience. Here were some of the takeaways from the discussion:

How much time can you afford to spend on Online Social Networking?

One aspect of time management is a technical one, the panel pointed out. For your “send” mode, there are digital tools which help you synchronize your postings among the various online social networking channels you may be using, thus saving considerable time.

When you are in “receive” or “listen” mode, there are other online tools allowing you to aggregate what all is being said out there about you from a variety of sources (some are real-time, others not).

Just as importantly, there is the human aspect of OSNW time management. Business users need the discipline to “right-size” the amount of time they spend. Lest they fall intothe waiting trap of “social not-working.” The measure of “right-size” will differ with every individual, every organization. Some companies find the task so consuming that they have created staff positions dedicated 100% to “online conversation monitor” or “community conversation manager.” Unfortunately, this is not practical for the majority of small businesses.

But there may be a work-around. Binghamton University’s enrollment marketing effort, managed by Cheryl Fabrizi, enlists the school’s bright young, digitally-oriented students to lighten the load for both the “send” and “receive” sides of the OSNW coin in her department. Cheryl notes the school has a deep pool of young folks who could serve in this same capacity for interested off-campus entities.

What’s “personal” and what’s “business” in Online Social Networking?

The “dividing line” between “personal” and “business,” if indeed there is any, was a hot topic.

What emerged from the various panelists were very divergent philosophies about just where that dividing line is. In fact, it seems, there is no consensus on just what constitutes privacy. (Welcome to the wired world, you world-weary folks out there!!!)

One panelist emphasized he maintains two very separate identities for OSNW, one in which he wears his business hat, the other in which he projects some of his own personality as a citizen of the wired world. Another panelist cautioned the audience against the dangers of “LOL” (not “laughing out loud,” in this instance; but rather, “living out loud.” That is, allowing too much of your personal life to overlay your business and professional presence online. Especially in the case of job-hunting. Especially in the case of credit applications. Especially in the case of grad school applications, too.) There is no end to the “LOL” horror stories out there, she said.

Other panelists — it was clear that one’s generation can shape one’s views on privacy — had a whole different take on “LOL.” One panelist noted that her organization encourages its employees to blend personal and professional content online, as a means of “positioning” the organization’s overall brand, but also as a means of helping the individual staff person create a “personal brand,” as well. Another panelist noted that her business life and personal life had very gradually become intertwined over time, and now there may be no way to disassemble the two. Still another panelist added that “transparency” — being very clear that “what you see is what you get” and not trying to be something you are not — was a key to gaining and keeping credibility in the OSNW realm.

So, different OSNW users approach the question differently. But, before clicking the “submit” button on any OSNW update, it is only wise to ask one’s self, “is this ‘personal’? Or is this ‘business’?” And, “does it matter which?” Then, let fly.

And, finally, get back to work!!!

Listening to the “ugly” in Online Social Networking

Important things were said by audience members, as well.

One attendee, representing a financial institution, described how much effort and investment went into creating online social networking channels for her organization.Only to have things evolve, she moaned, to where her boss has directed that all these be shut down. It seems, for example, the comments from Facebook page visitors had included not just the good and the bad, but the ugly, too. Really ugly. And the ugly seemed to provoke a lot of spiraling heat really fast, like an accelerant at a fire. With the result that a deluge of negativity and misinformation flowed on the page, and out of the institution’s control, for the most part, she felt.

The panelists emphasized that Facebook and most other OSNW tools do have controls, allowing the page administrator to delete posts deemed out-of-bounds. This, of course, requires time, attention and some know-how. Without that human intervention, you risk the kind of headache she had described.

Further, panelists advised her, the astute page administrator can “turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse,” addressing the legitimate concerns of the page’s visitors and winning a skirmish here and there in the public’s perception of the institution. Again, though, lots of time, attention — and judgment — required to bring this off. But it’s in the nature of the beast when it comes to the two-way street of the social networking tools so popular today, the panel members emphasized.

Additionally, the beleaguered audience member said, her organization’s information technology people became alarmed that the wave of Facebook visits, coming as a good portion did from disgruntled individuals, potentially constituted a security threat to their IT network. One other audience member, from a local information technology resources company, stressed that there are many types of protection against such vulnerability, and offered his services to the administrator.

Hey, that kind of help is what old-time, in-the-flesh, elbow-rubbing networking is all about!

An OSNW Case History: The Power to Reach a Tailored Audience…Right Now!

One of the panelists, whose business is solely online and business-to-business in nature, described how he has used LinkedIn to define, select and reach his target audience. (He was distributing an invitation to a conference his firm was organizing.)

LinkedIn’s array of search capabilities allowed him to specify a geography for his outreach. At the same time, he could identify from user profiles their levels of responsibility, their organizations’ business category and size. The parameters of the advanced search feature also allowed him to see the network members’ areas of interest, helping him further match his target audience to the subject matter of the conference.

With LinkedIn our panelist was able to compose his message and instantaneously direct it to a very well tailored distribution list. The show of response was impressive he said, especially when compared to the effort, expense and time-lapse of other efforts his firm has used to promote conferences in the past.

For more on STOC, visit www.stoc-ny.com. And follow STOC on Facebook.

Which social media tool is right for your business? For a brief overview of the OSNW toolbox, (authored by Riger’s Jamie Jacobs), go to: http://rigermarketingcommunications.wordpress.com > “From Tweets to Blogs: Social Media Strategizing for Your Business”