“If you had to choose social media* or 100% engaged employees for your brand, which would you choose?”

I recently asked that on Twitter and the responses were pretty interesting. The question forces a choice, which many of the people who responded had a hard time making. One person even called it down-right ’silly.’ Generally, people wanted both - engaged employees who use social media. Fair enough, but not a singular answer the question begs.

If you’re having a hard time with the answer, this might be a good gut-check.

You see, the answer gets at a deeper question - what is the most valuable asset that your business has?

We’re not denying that social media can have massive influence for a brand, or even that it can add to a brand’s bottom line if wielded correctly. But I am saying that we would bet on a business with engaged employees and no communication through social media over a business with mountains of online ‘influence’ any day of the week.

Why?

It’s pretty simple: one of the foundations of a good business is an amazing customer experience. And employees provide that experience to customers. And 100% engaged, passionate employees do that in a way that turns customers into loyal fans. So if we had to choose between an online communication tool and people who’s hearts beat to turn customers into loyal fans, the choice is clear.

“Cross Section of the Mainstream” via Lynn Greer

Sometime last year a group of people came together with the single-minded purpose of bringing a little piece of TED magic to Greenville.

Been under a rock? Haven’t heard of TED? You’re gonna thank me.

The TEDx Greenville team is an eclectic and interesting group. And like a lot of volunteer groups it was made up of really busy people. There were some hiccups and starts and stops early on, but I am so impressed with what this small team has put together in such a short period of time. Many, many people played a part in pulling this off including a great list of sponsors, but I have to give a lot to credit to these super bright and shiny folks, who took an idea and super sized it:

Marc Bolick, Brenda Laakso, Susan Sebotnick, Aaron Von Frank, Peter Waldschmidt, and Philip Whitley.

You, know…it’s easy to get discouraged when working with a large committee and these folks never did.

Check out all the details here. From what I hear, there are only about 45 seats or so left. So if you are in the neighborhood, come on. We’ll have some fun. Believe it!

BTW, here are a few of the TEDx Greenville Team’s favorite TED videos:

It is our humanity and all the potential within it that makes us beautiful.

Instead of trying to exterminate a problem, why not use the momentum of that problem to your advantage?

Often times we make decisions, assumptions, and even statements that we want to believe are based in a “hard fact” or a tangible reality when in fact we are being influenced in ways that we are completely unaware.

Now take a minute and share your favorite TED video with me and why. Come on. Spread some remarkable ideas on this Monday morning.

Okay People. This post is not going to talk about listening to your customers. Although you know how we feel about that.

This post is about listening to you.

So many of us are exploring new ways to connect. We are having fun. Sharing our thoughts and our lives. Making some new friends. Maybe even making a few mistakes along the way.

I read the most interesting article the other day in some girlie magazine, about email mistakes we make and the harm it does. Whew it had some doozies. Silly things I’m sure you’ve never done. Like replying instead of forwarding. Ouch. Goodness knows I have made some funny typos that have gotten me in trouble. And then there are these public tweet disasters.

Why is it when we type words they seem to hang around so much longer than when we say them? Where they can sting over and over and over again.

Worse yet, why do we type words that we would never really say? Can’t figure out why there is a “are you sure you want to delete this” message button on outlook and not a “are you sure you want to send” button.

Hmmmm.

Anyway. I often say this to my kids: “Never say anything on facebook or twitter that you would not want to say to me.” And it struck me that is not just true for teenagers (who might one day be looking for jobs) but that holds true for all of us. Trust me, if you would not want your daughter or wife or partner to see it. Don’t type it. Ever. Period.

Conversation is forgiving. Social media. Not always. Stop and listen to your heart for a moment before you hit the buttons for your keyboard conversations with the world.

Geno says the most interesting thing in one of his presentations. He says that Andy Warhol’s statement about everyone having 15 minutes of fame is no longer true. Online makes those 15 minutes permanent. It has changed everything.

So be yourself. Have some fun. Make a few mistakes and learn from them. But most of all just listen to your internal advisor, the one that knows you best.

Just a random thought for this day. And a pretty basic reminder I know. I know.

Still… I think it’s worth repeating.

I hope this day is kind to you. I am declaring this national tweet sweet day.

Be nice out there.

In the words of my friend Chris Sandoval, “on-line is persistent”.

P.S. The artwork above was handed to me by someone the other day. Don’t know about you, but I will take that over a retweet or an email or blog mention any ole ole day of the week.

This morning’s photo courtesy of my niece.

Yesterday’s post from Spike really got me thinking. I have to confess in a way it even has me up at 4am writing.

Something odd is happening to people. At least from my slightly skewed point of view.

We have gone a step beyond multitasking. We have started multi-sharing.

Everyone and anyone can become “famous”. Well, sort of. All you you need is point of view, a personality, a blog, a facebook and a twitter account. An interesting job helps. Sometimes.

hmmmmmmm.

I also saw a link at the end of the day on a twitter remark from @ellmcgrit (love her, she is just such a happy twitter-er). And the gist of it was this:

We all need to rest.

I am going to step out on a limb here. I am a bit tired of all the conversation. Maybe that makes me weird or anti-social, but I feel compelled to listen and participate and engage with the world for the most part. I love it really. But all this “opportunity” is driving me… well, to be up at 4am to spend some quiet time with my thoughts (No wait, I am blogging… is that quiet time with my thoughts???)

Don’t get me wrong. I love being able to stay connected with people I meet and like. Like Ellen. And our clients and potential clients. It’s really quite nice.

There are some people though, who are out there so much and so often, I have to wonder…where are their families when they are constantly online? Where are their friends?

I had dinner with a someone the other night, someone I hadn’t seen in a while. And I realized after dinner, this person had been on twitter while we ate. Seriously. Commenting on some #event.

I know this fact because I checked twitter before I went to bed. So weird. Is that anyone else’s bedtime ritual? So wonderful in some ways but so very, very weird in others.

I also attended a meeting with a group of people recently, nice people, but this one guy sat in the meeting with the sound of his key board clicking about every five minutes. Now, who was he fooling???

I know the sound of 142 characters when I hear it.

I told myself, well — it’s his job, kinda — but I had seriously been on plane all day getting to that meeting, the least he could do was give me his full attention for a couple of hours. Am I alone in thinking that kind of behavior is just odd?

Does anyone else have a love-hate relationship with online conversation tools besides me?

Makes me want to find a river and go fly-fishing. Makes me want to take up fly fishing. (Thanks Ellen for putting that idea in my head…) And thanks to Aaron for giving me my new favorite word at 5:30 this morning. “Futzing.” Good word.

See the struggle? It’s not all good and not all bad.

Now. Shhhh. Get still. Go Rest.

“You really should work on your personal brand. You need to be paying close attention to your personal twitter and you need to have a slick blog where you post regularly. You need to align all of the social media outlets you operate in for clear, consistent representation of you.”

Actually, though, you don’t.

Not that any of those are bad things to do. In fact, they are really smart things to do. But if you work for a company and clients through that company, the best development of your personal brand is devoting yourself to the success of those clients (and in turn, the success of the company). Their increased profitability will speak much, much more about you than your blog or twitter account.

So, I’m not too sorry that I don’t update my website, twitter account, or Facebook page very often. My personal brand is to be the absolute best employee possible to Brains on Fire and the clients I work with through them.

Sidenote: from experience, personal brand has played a very small role in potential employers’ consideration of me in the hiring process. Having a website and a twitter account increased my visibility, but in the end interviewers wanted to know how the work I performed impacted the bottom line for clients. Even if I had the best personal brand in the world, my ability to actually contribute to the success of a company or a client would eventually be what determined my value.