Perhaps its a sign that our social fabric is stretched too thin. Perhaps people don’t know how to behave when they have the cover of social media. What is happening more and more is that people are expressing hate and hateful things to strangers on social media channels.

On Twitter, haters will search for ideas that they disagree with and then attack whoever tweeted those thoughts.  On blogs, people will leave nasty comments. On news sites, people will disparage others they disagree with. Social media seems rife with haters and trolls.

How do you deal with all these haters?

First, do NOT take these comments personally.

Second, ignore the hater/troll. Most of these people are attention-seekers or enjoy getting an angry reaction from others. On Twitter, go to the hater’s profile and block him or her. On your blog, discard the comment (you are under no obligation to provide a platform for others’ ideas, especially if they are contrary to your own and expressed in a disrespectful manner).  If feasible, delete the comments on Facebook.

I am not saying to get rid of all comments that show a different viewpoint or even that question you, just get rid of comments that are obviously motivated by hate or the desire to incite argument.

Third, move on. Social media is a constantly changing landscape, and what was interesting and hot five minutes ago may not be now.

How do you deal with haters or trolls? Would you add anything?

There are marketers out there who believe that their target audience is made up of stupid people. People who will buy anything, believe anything and do anything.

These marketers are the bottom-feeder telemarketers who tend to use robo-calls or use auto-dialers to call frequently at different times on different days. They play the CALLER ID system by using non-specific identifiers such as “Card Services” or “Holiday Rebate.” (I got a call today that had the CALLER ID as “Important Call”– yes, really.) They ignore the Do Not Call List and refuse to take you off their rolls.

These marketers use direct mail with no targeting or culling of lists. They send offers that are too good to be true. They ask for sensitive information just to enter you in a drawing for a fantastic prize you have zero chance of winning.

These marketers think that by running the same TV ad or print ad over and over and over and over again you will finally be convinced to cough up three convenient payments of $19.99 plus shipping and handling.

These marketers think that by using an actor dressed as a doctor in an advertisement they are proving their miracle pill has been tested and approved by a reliable source.

These marketers think that sending spam email that says “Secure Notification” on the subject line will make you open an email from a bank with which you have no business.

These marketers think people are stupid and will buy anything that sounds great or will be scared by a letter that says this is your final notice (even though you haven’t gotten any notice before or even do business with that company).

Preying on people’s stupidity or gullibility or fear is not ethical. It is not good marketing. And marketers who engage in these practices give all marketers a bad name.

Today, I can’t use Outlook. Why? My ISP, Verizon, is not working. A colleague can’t access her email. Why? Her web host is having server issues. So we sit and wait and pressure these service providers to fix these things because it affects our business.

Although we can’t control everything, on some communications-related issues, we have more control than others. I can pressure my ISP to fix my email issues, but I can’t do a thing about Facebook and its ever changing rules and features. (Facebook has changed EdgeRank, affecting brand pages) I don’t have any control over Twitter and its decision not to play nice with Instagram (Twitter will no longer display Instagram photos on its site).

I also can’t do much about Google, Gmail or any number of Internet-based applications and software that we are becoming increasingly dependent on.

Marketers who enthusiastically recommend having a Facebook page, or an Instagram account, or signing up for Pinterest MUST take into consideration that these are services and that as a brand, you are putting yourself at the mercy of their decisions, which do affect you, often without your input or control.

Many of the most problematic outside vendors (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) are free to use. As users, we have no leverage. We are getting what we pay for.

A few years ago, a local website decided to get rid of its URL and use Facebook exclusively. Guess what, that website did not survive.

Be aware that by using the cloud, or using third-party services, you are agreeing to give up control. You may want more of that control than you realize.

Thoughts?

Everybody goes to networking events at one point or another. Some go because they feel they have to and others go because they love to network. The bottom line is that networking is an integral part of marketing, both personal and business. Opportunities always stem from personal relationships and networking is just the path to extend and strengthen your personal relationships.

December is probably the prime networking month as there are all sorts of holiday parties and end of year ceremonies. But if you don’t think about your networking, all you will end up doing is wasting time (and money).

The inspiration for this post was a woman I “met” at a party last week. I didn’t actually meet her because she was a walking networking don’t. She approached me and a friend, greeted us, but didn’t introduce herself. She babbled about the holidays (actually told us about her Thanksgiving dinner), and then said she wanted to get food, and turned around and left. Some time later, she sat down next to me and did not even try to make conversation. She wandered around the party aimlessly. Someone told me she was job-hunting. My impression was that she was slightly unhinged, and had no idea of how to connect with people.

Don’t be like that woman! You can make networking events a good marketing tool for yourself or your business if you follow some dos and don’ts.

Do this:

Have an objective in mind. You should ask yourself what you would like to get out of this event.

Work on your introduction. Have a short but complete overview of who you are, something like: Hi, my name is Jane Doe, and I am a graphic designer at XZ agency, an Anytown-based advertising agency that specializes in the tech industry.

Perfect your handshake, smile and body language.  A strong but not bone crushing grip, a nice smile and an open stance will help make you more likeable.

Think about your appearance. Match your dress to the occasion. If it’s a holiday party, be festive. If it is a morning business meeting, then dress in your business best!

Be interested in the other person. Ask questions and be genuinely interested in the answers.

Have business cards at the ready. Yes, I know people can Google you and phone tap you and whatever, but exchanging business cards is a tangible way to initiate contact.

Follow up. Make sure to send an email to people you have met soon after the event to help establish the connection.  You may even suggest going to coffee or lunch and use the opportunity to get to know the person.

But don’t do this:

Hand out business cards indiscriminately. Exchange cards with someone only after you have spoken.

Go for quantity. Some people feel they must work the room and meet everyone. I believe that quality is better than quantity, that is, it is better to meet a couple of people who will remember who you are, than a whole bunch of people than can’t place you.

Have a bad handshake. This includes the limp handshake, the overly strong handshake, the clammy handshake, and one that I experienced last week, the calloused, rough skin on the hand shake (use moisturizer!!!).

Be overly self-deprecating. Don’t diminish your accomplishments by letting your insecurity shine through.

Act weird. Some people take pride in marching to the beat of a different drummer, and that is fine. But. There is personality and then there is weirdness. Some people (like the woman I mentioned above) don’t pick up on social cues. Or then there was the guy who went to the holiday party in a kilt. Using a kilt is limited to the following occasions: when you are a schoolgirl in uniform, at your family’s Scottish ancestral ceremony or it is Halloween.  You don’t want to get attention for the wrong reasons.

Happy networking this holiday season. You may just be a party away from meeting your next employer, project or friend!

What are your networking dos and don’ts?

Last week, I read a guest post on a popular PR blog that counseled people to spend 10 minutes a year on their LinkedIn profile and to schedule one or two tweets a day “to maintain a presence on Twitter.”

Can you do social media in a few minutes a year? Sure you can.  But, the question is not whether you can, it is whether you should. And if you think you can achieve good outcomes by doing it the easy way, you are in for a big surprise.

Marketing in general, and social media marketing in particular, are not easy tasks. In fact, to achieve results, you have to spend lots of time and effort (and sometimes money too). Anybody who tells you you can do it a couple of minutes a day is lying to you (or maybe just misleading you).  Just having or maintaining a presence is simply not enough.

Your goal may be to just have a presence. But why would that be your goal? If you are marketing (yourself, a product, a cause, an idea), you probably have goal that involves movement (more followers, more buyers, more supporters). Just being is not going to move your goal very far forward.

Take Twitter. If you schedule your tweets and then do nothing else, what exactly are you achieving? Not engagement, that’s for sure. Twitter is a responsive platform. People comment and respond in real time. If you don’t participate in real time, and respond quickly, I am not sure you should be on Twitter at all. Beside the fact that one or two tweets a day will likely get missed, especially if there is something else going on (and breaking news breaks on Twitter).

Take LinkedIn. If you refresh your profile one time per year, and then don’t do anything else, you aren’t going to appear on the timeline. People will forget about you.

Perhaps what the guess blogger I referenced above was trying to say is that you have to have a minimum presence if you are going to participate in social media channels. However, you can’t and shouldn’t be satisfied with the minimum. You need to MAXIMIZE your presence if you are trying to achieve goals. And perhaps you don’t need to be on every social media channel. Perhaps you choose one or two where you can make an effort.

Social media marketing may be easy to understand, but it is not easy to achieve. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of effort. That’s a fact.

What are your thoughts? Do you think social media marketing can be accomplished easily? Do you think a minimum works? I would love your thoughts in the comments.

Chances are good that if you have a cable service,  you also have a DVR (digital video recorder).  In fact, according to a Nielsen study, quoted in Mashable.com (here),  the use of DVRs increased five-fold from 2006 to 2011. It seems that of all the devices connected to our TV, we use the DVR the most.

Like the VCR of yore, the DVR lets you record a show for viewing at your convenience. Perhaps you are at work during the latest episode of Dr. Phil or you have to attend a family gathering during the Oscars.  And unlike the VCR, DVRs use hard disk space, giving you hundreds of hours of recording time. A DVR would have been a tremendous help to me during the last episode of Felicity back in the 90s, which due to a VCR glitch ,did not record and I never was able to watch it (but I digress).

Yesterday’s New York Times has an article that says the networks are now blaming the DVR for weaker ratings ( although weaker shows may be more to blame).

There is no doubt that DVRs are affecting how we view TV. One immediate effect for most people is that we no longer view the commercials thanks to the fast forward button. Does this mean that advertisers should re-evaluate whether to even have TV commercials in the advertising mix? Well, yes, they should. Clearly, relying on TV commercials, especially on shows that people tend to record (perhaps daytime shows or late night shows), is a risky proposition.

However, keep in mind that fast forward does not mean delete. You have to watch the screen while you are fast forwarding, so an intriguing commercial may actually catch your eye and make you hit play.

The DVR Factor is that forgettable or boring commercials will not attract attention anymore, and will even be ignored. On the other hand, interesting and creative commercials will stand out and perhaps even be more memorable and effective.

We are surrounded by advertising–much of which we can skip or ignore. But we still pay attention to advertising messages that resonate with us, whether because they are eye-catching or interesting.

What do you think? Do you watch ads at all?

Yesterday, a friend posted this on Facebook:

I could not disagree more. This seems to be part of a growing (and conservative) movement, which claims saying Happy Holidays is taking the Christmas out of Christmas. In my opinion, this is a completely intolerant and ignorant view and understanding of the reality of a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic world.  Christmas is celebrated by Christians, but not by Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Zen-Taoists and others.

Wishing happy holidays or season’s greetings is a way of acknowledging the various holidays taking place at the end of the year: Christmas, New Year’s, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa.

When you wish someone a Merry Christmas, you are saying you wish him or her a happy day of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

One is inclusive, and one is exclusive. One assumes a belief and one doesn’t.

As a communicator, you have to be careful not to make members of your audience feel excluded.  Clearly, whether you wish Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas depends on who your target audience is.  A church, for example, has a target audience of Christian worshipers and supporters. For a church to wish its audience Merry Christmas would be completely appropriate. For a non-religious institution (like the government or your business) to wish its audience Merry Christmas, would be exclusionary.

With business communications, there’s the additional desire to steer clear of hot topics like religion and politics. Merry Christmas is a religious statement. Happy Holidays is not.

What do you think? Do you wish people Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas or something else?

You learned it way back in kindergarten, remember? Show and tell was when you brought something in and you told your classmates about it. Some people’s show and tell was boring and some was really good. I can’t remember anything from kindergarten but I know the lesson of showing and telling is a good one for anybody trying to communicate.

You would think something as basic as show and tell would stay with most people. And yet it hasn’t.

Today, I am searching for an online task manager. There are many (and I am not really sure which one to use). Some show you screen shots of the software. Some show you video. All of them tell you what they do (but not how exactly).  One in particular does not show or tell me anything. It asks me to sign up. I don’t know about you, but I am not signing up for ANYTHING, even if it is free, if I don’t know what it is exactly.

Perhaps this company’s principals did not attend kindergarten.

Remember, show and tell. People need to see what they are getting and they need to understand it too.

Right?

In case you haven’t signed up for my newsletter (the sign up is on the top right), you can read the Fall/Thanksgiving one right here.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving!

There are a few things that people tend to overlook or to simply not check.

Check the contact information CAREFULLY on your website/marketing materials

You want to make sure it is accurate. Perhaps have someone read it off to you. For example, in my newsletter I found the address had the wrong ZIP code.  A graphic designer I know had one digit wrong in her phone number.

And check whether it can be found easily

I just spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find where an art class was being offered–you know–the actual physical place where it was meeting. The website made you go to the About page where you had to scroll to the “where to find us” page. Why make it so complicated?

Check to see if GPS/Google Maps/Mapquest can find your address

If you are any type of location that people drive to (store, restaurant, hotel, attraction), have you checked that the address you give out  works on GPS/Google Maps/Mapquest? Sometimes street names have changed or are new and do not show up.

Check how your email and enewsletters  show up to recipients

Before you send out anything to the world, send yourself a sample. You want to make sure your name is spelled correctly, and how it shows up in the recipient’s inbox.  For example, someone I know was sending email that was coming from Email box 2 instead of her name. And just today I received an enewsletter titled “Sample Newsletter” from a well known institution. These can result in people not knowing who you are and ultimately, not opening your email/enewsletter.

Go check these things right now. Fix them if they don’t check out. You will be glad you did.