Happy Sunday Everyone:
At the tender age of 42, I wouldn’t consider myself a technology idiot, but I also wouldn’t say I’m on top of my game either. As it relates to social media, I have FB, Twitter, Linked in, etc…..I don’t know user names or passwords to any of them, aside from my personal FB. I’ve posted when Kim’s mom passed away 7 years ago, and changed my profile picture once…..that’s the extent of it. So I’m sitting at my house Friday night, watching a movie, and my phone starts going bonkers…I look down and I’ve been tagged in a photo. A very sweet woman, who has a son on Jack’s baseball team saw me in our local magazine. RPM was kind enough to put me in there for my 2016 results of finishing as the top of RPM in purchase volume….I knew it was going to be in this magazine, but I didn’t know when….so her post reads “Just flipping through my diablo magazine….saw this gem…Love Hunter, his beautiful wife Kim, and their kids, and entire family. Nicest people. Congrats and so happy for you, couldn’t be a nicer family”, and she attached my picture from the magazine….Then I start reading comments and noticing the “likes”…..This has never happened to me so excuse the excitement…..but I have 26 comments and 139 likes (and it’s been 18 hours), and it’s all about this single comment this wonderful woman posted, and its painting me in a pretty darn positive light. The people commenting are old friends, clients, business partners, family, etc…. A few things are going through my head:
1. I’ll admit, this feels good.
2. I get to understand by looking at my “likes” and “comments”, what people I’m working with are seeing this, and more important, acknowledging it.
3. I’m sure as hell not going to call all my referral partners and clients and say “hey, did you see me in Diablo Magazine”, so it’s some seriously good publicity coming from a pretty humble place.
4. I’m taken back by the leverage it gives, considering I had absolutely NOTHING to do with it.
Oddly enough (I swear this to be true), my own coaching call on Thursday, Lisa (my coach), was challenging me to get out of my own way as it relates to social media….trying to get me to realize what is in my post 40 year old head is not the same as where we’re going in the future w social media i.e. I don’t like it but much of the world does.. I’m over here in old school land playing hard to get with business partners and clients, while the rest of my younger competitors are marketing themselves left and right to the world via social media. Now don’t get me wrong….as I look on FB, I see people that post by the minute and it gets old, really old…but it’s my choice to watch them or not. There is also the question you have to ask of why am I posting this? is it to see the responses and feel important (I don’t view this as good, although it is human nature, as I find myself looking at FB more in the past day than any time in my life for additional comments), or am I trying to provide valuable content that is easily accessible to those who want to access it (door number two please).
So I have no business advising on social media but here is what I’m thinking moving forward.
1. I will provide content that I believe people would find valuable (hopefully) via social media. I’m going to give Sunday Thoughts by video. Makes me want to puke, but I’m going to try it. I’ll still be writing as well.
2. I’m getting over the ego lashing and insecurities I have as to what friends get this, what they’re going to say, and what they’re going to think. I post, if people like it, great…if they don’t, don’t watch it, and if you really hate it, unfriend me.
3. My team and I are going to study best practices of social media (I have 4 millennials on my team) and figure out the right balance of utilizing social media with our business. With 100% certainty we will incorporate social media into our business model moving forward on a consistent and purposeful basis.
4. Although I do not always like to adapt to change, I need to or I will be passed by.
5. In this particular category, do not seek advice from your elders….they will tell you why it doesn’t work.
Happy Sunday!