-          Financial Investment Firms need an organizational or “Business Page”.  This is the official Facebook site for the business and should be ‘friended’ by all employees of the firm with their profile.

-          The goal here should be to acquire as many “Fans” as possible.

-          This is the site where official updates of the business are posted, updating your “fans”… to include:

• Upcoming events; open houses; social hour; conference…
• Blog postings, related articles, podcasts and videos…
• Pics of the most recent media training, company outing, or birthday celebration…
• Links are important.  Links to sources of information, links to bloggers, links that are of value to current and prospective clients.

-          Financial Investment Firms will then need to move onto the creation of a “Group Page”.  This is specifically targeted to the audience we want.

• This is the water cooler where topics related, but not necessarily directly related to the business can be discussed.
• This is a great site to eavesdrop on your fans discussing different topics and get an idea of what your potential and/or current customers are thinking and discussing.  Pay particular attention to gripes, moans, and complaints… These types of comments should be looked upon as a gift from your customer.  It provides insight into a potential future loss, which you are now able to thwart and keep as a customer by addressing those needs before culminating to a point of frustration.
• It’s important to facilitate in a group environment and not attempt to drive the conversation.  Allow it to travel its own course.  This is the only way you’ll be able to acquire accurate data.

LinkedIn:

-          This is a professional site for business professionals to network and “link-in” with each other for opportunities, answers to questions, jobs, and for staying abreast of the business “buzz” of the day.

-          Instead of fans, you have links, which in turn provide you even more secondary, then tertiary links to potential clients or business partners.

• The most interesting part of this fascinating Web site is where you can see who’s been looking at your profile.  For the most part, it indicates the line of work this person is in, and in some rare occurrences, it indicates the searcher by name.

1. On occasion, it’s exciting to see who’s been looking at your profile.

• Credibility is the name of the game when it comes to the social media landscape and a great way to garner this is through LinkedIn’s Answers/Questions.

1. You can ask a question, then post it for the next week or two to see what kind of responses you get.
2. Or, you can answer already posted questions.  If your answer is deemed one of the better responses, the person asking the question may stamp you with “the best answer” label, thus marking you as an expert in this particular field.

Twitter:

-          This is the most egregiously misused tool in the social media toolbox.  What began as a 140-character update (a tweet) on the most important and pertinent issues of the day, has turned into a social update tool to inform the masses that you are in line at the hot dog stand and it is taking too long.

-          “Tweets” should be focused on your area of expertise or a specific target-topic for your audience.

-          Every tweet should set you apart as an expert and thus a resource for your audience.

-          Remember not to sell.  This only turns off your potential clients.  As long as you provide information deemed pertinent to their needs, they will eventually come around.

-          Step 1.  Set up a profile and pay particular attention to “Bio”.  This will often determine whether someone wants to follow you or not.  A quick, but interesting sound bite, but once again, don’t sell yourself here or anywhere else on Twitter.

-          Step 2.  Set up a company profile and have every (this is important that EVERY single employee “follow” the company site, otherwise, potential clients will be wondering why…) employee follow it.

-          Step 3.  Begin wandering the hinterlands of Twitterville.  I.e., look up some prominent companies in similar lines of business and see who’s following them.  Then, follow them!

-          Step 4.  Monitor what’s being said by those you’re following.  What are the topics?  The buzz?  The latest news?  What stories are they linking and retweeting?  All this will direct you in the right direction, not to mention as soon as you begin tweeting your own expert opinion in the matter, tweeters will begin following you.

Networking, whether in the real world or in the social media realm takes time and effort.  The bad news is, it’s tough to get started.  Just as if you were visiting a foreign country for the first time, you will not understand the language, the culture, nor be in the right time zone.  The same can be said of the social media realm.  The language is often confusing, the mannerisms are difficult to understand, and your head is spinning with the traffic going back and forth.

Take your time and take small steps at first.  Start with Facebook, then move onto LinkedIn, and finally to Twitter.

But the question is ”should the same regulations apply within the social-media scene?”

FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) seems to think so.

Investment firms can be held liable for what their employees post to their Facebook pages, for what they tweet, and what they blog.

Therefore, it is highly advisable companies set regulations and brief their employees before the company itself finds itself with a large target painted on its backside.  FINRA is looking and it will only be a matter of weeks, maybe days before the Wall Street Journal or CNBC reports on the latest violation of non-compliance or SEC investigations.

AdvisorTweets.com, a Web site that aggregates the tweets of close to 400 U.S.-based financial advisors is a good place to begin your research and begin learning to navigate this landscape.

What are your thoughts on these restrictions?

Caveat emptor? or increased regulations?  What do you think?

Measuring your Social Media ROI

PR Newswire is but one example of how organizations can mine, filter and extract useful data.  Check it out at http://biturl.net/?9sfxmm

1. The Long Dinner
2. Reconnect and Connect
3. Get Branded
4. Wear It Right
5. Don’t Talk, Communicate!

If you forget everything, remember that in all five steps you are communicating.  The Long Dinner is setting the stage for proper communication; networking is communicating; branding is communicating… you get the idea.

Someone once said, you are ALWAYS marketing yourself.  I submit that we are always communicating something.  The boots you wear, the color of tie, even the perfume says something.

Do you carry an iPod or a Blackberry?  Do you drive a Camaro or a Hybrid?  Do you speak with an accent or a drawl?

Communication never stops.

Marketing on the other hand is wearing the loose-fitting jeans, boat shoes, t-shirt, un-tucked of course, and unkempt hair.

Marketing is wearing cuff links with slacks and dress shoes.

Marketing is selling; communicating is not.  (More on this later)

Know what to say; how to say it; and who you’re saying it to.  Be a professional communicator.  This is step 5.

As a Public Affairs Officer for the Marines, Danny is an innovative and forward-thinking executive, with a passion for leveraging effective communications to fuel employee-engagement, build community goodwill, and drive profits.

One-Upper Penelope

Are you an SNL-Fan?

Have you seen “One-Upper Penelope“?  This is the skit where Penelope, played by Kristin Wiig jumps in on everyone else’s conversations and one-ups them.  She’s a better “listener”, a bigger “nut”, and “has a condo on Jupiter”.  She is a jack of all trades.

Unless your job calls for one, DO NOT BE A  JACK OF ALL TRADES.

Define what it is you are good at, what you enjoy, and what you hope to offer your next employer.  Then refine it and brand it.

Ask yourself, what did the reader retain after looking at your resume?  Is she confused, or will he list off a slew of descriptors covering the entire spectrum.  Though you may be good at a lot of things, find the few you are really good at and brand yourself as such.

How do you know if you’ve achieved this brand?  Ask a colleague who does not know you well and ask her to read your brand statement.  Then ask her to say it back to you in her own words.  Is there a focused brand to what she just recited?

STEP THREE: IDENTIFY YOUR BRAND.

STEP TWO: Reconnect and Connect

One word: “LinkedIN“. (Click on it and you’ll see an example of what your LinkedIn page might look like.)

This is your launch pad; your starting point; your springboard into the world of connections.

Step 2.A: Register on LinkedIn.com

This is your online, professional resume website. Did I mention it’s free?

Step 2.B: Develop your professional resume.

Step 2.C: Proof-read your resume. Take a break – go out for a walk – then, proof-read it again.

Step 2.D: Post it. Now, you’re established on LinkedIn.  Congrats, you now exist.

Be advised, you will begin receiving requests to “connect”. There is an entire world of LinkedIn Etiquette that you should heed before rampantly going off and accepting anyone and everyone. But that’s for next time.