Scratch your niche: How to build your business and boost your brand through specialization ... and social media

1. Scratch your niche How to build your business and boost your brand through specialization ... and social media Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

2. Today’s agenda Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute  The move to social  Social media vs. social business  Job security vs. job adaptation  Thought leadership: Your edge  Personal Branding 101  Resources

3. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

4. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Change

5.  Hierarchy  Command and control  Experience curve  Lecturer  Push The world is changing From: To:  Network  Connect and collaborate  Collaboration curve  Facilitator  Pull Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

6. What is social media? Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Social filter Broadcasting tool Listening agent Networker Teacher

7. What do you stand for?  Take control of your brand. Own it.  Stand out from the crowd.  What do you know? Why is it important? What makes you you?  Promote yourself. Build community.  Embrace opportunity. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

8. Old school Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

9. New school Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

10. New school Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

11. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

12. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute “Social media has made new forms of leadership possible for scores of people who don’t fit the Harvard Business School mold.”  Susan Cain, author, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”

13. Meet Seth. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

14. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

15. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

16. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

17. Maddie Jamie Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

18. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

19. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”

20. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute 1. What’s my why?

21. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute “People don’t buy what you. They buy why you do it.” -- Simon Sinek

22. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute 2. Who owns me?

23. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Facebook.com/BillSheridan Twitter.com/BillSheridan LinkedIn.com/in/BillDSheridan Gplus.to/BillSheridan YouTube.com/BillSheridan SlideShare.net/BillSheridan Flickr.com/photos/Sheridan

24. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute 3. Where do I start?

25. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Social stars @TomHood @BillSheridan @CPA_Trendlines @JodyPadarCPA @JasonMBlumer @YourStateCPASociety @AICPA_JofA @AccountingToday / @AccountingWEB @CFOPub @GoingConcern @EveryNewsOutlet @DanielPink @SethsBlog @SandersSays @YourStateLegislators

26. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute 4. What do I say?

27. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

28. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute 5. What should I share?

29. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

30. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

31. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute What’s your whuffie?  Are you attracting followers?  Are they sharing your stuff?  Are you sparking debate and discussion?  Are you reaching people? Are they telling others about you? Are they linking themselves to you?

32. “Organizations that manage themselves as networks of multiple communities of practice will devote more discipline, resources and incentives to achieving superior performance than will the command-and-control hierarchies they supplant.” David Pearce Snyder Futurist Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

33. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute

34. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Questions?

35. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Scratch Your Niche How to build your business and boost your brand through specialization ... and social media Follow me:  Facebook.com/BillSheridan  LinkedIn.com/in/BillDSheridan  Twitter.com/BillSheridan  Gplus.to/BillSheridan  YouTube.com/BillSheridan  SlideShare.net/BillSheridan  Flickr.com/photos/Sheridan

Notas do Editor

THIS IS SETH GODIN ON SOCIAL NETWORKINGhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0h0LlCu8Ks
A quick look at our agenda:
So let’s talk about what’s happening today that makes this conversation worth having.It all boils down to one word – Change.Always had change, but rate of change is intense today.-- legislative / regulatory changes. Makes SOX look like a walk in the park.-- demographic shifts. 4 generations in the workplace.-- that leads to all kinds of leadership shifts and succession issues.-- biggest of all, technology shifts. Moore’s Law – processing speeds, or overall processing power, for computers doubles every 18 months or so.-- Aspen Intitute rate of change: As it relates to science and technology, the rate of change in the next decade is likely to be 4 to 7 times faster than in the previous decade. If it is 4 times faster, it would be like planning for today in 1890. If it is 7 times faster, it would be like planning for today in 1670.
It’s a different world, folks.Social media is helping us do all of that.
Well, let’s define what social media is.And I’m not talking about textbook definitions here. I’m talking about what social media can do for you.1. Social filter:Information overload. Google CEO Eric Schmidt:“Between the dawn of civilization through 2003, there were just five exabytes of information created. That much information is now created every two days, and the pace is increasing.“Clay Shirky – filter failure.2. Broadcasting tool: Cite, as examples:-- revolutions-- disasters like tsunami in Japan-- blog stats.3. Listening agent: Joining the conversation. Cite Typepad example.4. Networker: Cite Tom bringing followers into a classroom conversation.5. Teacher: Cite social learning, ability to learn from others anywhere, at any time.
We heard from Brian Kush earlier in the conference. He has a lot of important messages for today’s CPA.Conforming to your company “norm” is not valued today like it was in the past. Today, you need to distinguish yourself. Be unique.It used to be that being a CPA was distinction enough. Not anymore. Now you have to distinguish yourself from the other CPAs out there.But here’s the funny thing about personal brands: They’re being cultivated by outsiders every day, whether we like it or now. People act on perceptions, jump to conclusions, form opinions based on what they see and hear. They’re perfectly willing to create your brand for you.Brian’s message is this: Don’t let them.Build your own brand. Figure out what makes you unique, what you know that others don’t, what sets you apart from the crowd. Then promote the heck out of it. Get word out. Make connections. Build a community around what you know. Turn yourself into a thought leader.If you do that, opportunities will come your way.
How have we traditionally done all of that?Believe it or not, the answer is social networking. This is a social network. Making those contacts and promoting ourselves traditionally has involved old-school social networks. Happy hours, Chamber of Commerce chicken dinners, trading business cards, glad-handing, pounding the pavement.And it works, right? There’s nothing more valuable than meaningful face-to-face communication.But it’s hard work. It takes time, and you can only talk to so many people at once.But there’s a new way to take control of your brand. It’s still this …
… but with a heavy dose of this, too.Social media has enhanced our ability to build our personal brands exponentially.
Do you know who this is?If so, it’s probably because of social media.This is Jody Padar. In just a couple of years, she went from inheriting a rather obscure legacy CPA firm in the Chicago area to being named one of the 100 most influential people in accounting by Accounting Today.How did that happen?
So I’m reading this book called “Linchpin,” by a genius named Seth Godin. How many of you have read it?You all know Seth?Seth, of course, invented the Internet … and thought of everything before anybody else … and basically is here to make us feel worthless, then kick our butts and turn us into better people. That’s just what he does, and he’s good at it.Anyway, in “Linchpin,” he talks about how to become indispensable. It basically comes down to this:-- Ditch the rules and follow your heart. AND …-- Do work that inspires you AND others. Pretty cool idea. And if you want to know more about it, read the book.
So anyway, I’m reading this book. And on page 161, Seth starts talking about something called “the circles of gift giving.”See, Seth believes in giving stuff away – giving away our knowledge, giving away resources, adding value to other people’s lives and not expecting anything in return. That’s how we become indispensable.Pretty radical idea. It flies in the face of everything that capitalism stands for. Right? We’re here to make money. Produce something, sell it, repeat.The classic business model that me and you and our parents and grandparents grew up with was all about product and profit. Right? Make something and sell it for more. People were merely cogs in the machine that produced the stuff we sold.Here’s the thing, though. That business model? It’s obsolete. It’s been obsolete for probably 5 years. The rules have changed.We’re now living in an era in which people are at the center of everything we do. Tom Hood likes to say we’ve moved away from an era of command-and-control to one of communicate-and-collaborate. Doing that means building communities and relationships, and that takes people, it takes trust, it takes a commitment to serving others, not just making money. People first.
OK, so back to Seth’s circles of gift giving. There are three of them:The first is a circle of true gifts – stuff we willingly share with others, most often friends, family and co-workers. Someone asks for advice for a good hotel in the area. You give that knowledge away. You invite a friend over and give her a meal. You don’t charge her for it.The second is a circle of commerce – people in this circle are willing to pay you for what you produce – your consulting services, your financial advice, the book you wrote, the widget you made.Those two circles have been with us for ever.Now, the Internet has given us a third circle, and it’s kind of a combination of the first two. It consists of people who might one day pay you for what you do – but to get to that point they first need to know you and trust you and be comfortable interacting with you. These are our social networks, the folks we follow online.Here’s a quote:“Generosity generates income.”
That’s an entirely new business model, and it’s one that almost NO ONE is following yet.And how do I know that? It all goes back to social media.One of the biggest complaints I hear about social media is, “Where’s the ROI? How come we’re not making any money on this stuff? This is worthless – I’ve been on Twitter for a week and nobody’s bought anything yet.”Social media is that third circle. We’re not supposed to sell anything there. That’s where we give away stuff. Share what we know. Add value to people’s lives. Build trust, and credibility, and relationships. Then, maybe we start to move some folks over to the second circle.But ROI? There is no ROI in social media. Not if you do it right.If you do it right, you become less of a production machine and more human.
There’s another new book out now called “Humanize.” It’s by a couple of association folks named Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant. They argue that the reason so many businesses are struggling with social media is that they’re trying to bolt it onto obsolete business models.The problem isn’t social media, they say. The problem is that our own organizations are outdated and need to become more human, more people-centric.
The point is this: If we don’t focus on serving people and solving problems – if we don’t put other people’s needs ahead of our own – we are doomed to fail. The irony is, the more we give away, the more we’ll make in return.That’s the business model for this brave new social world.And that’s more than our challenge. It should be our aspiration.Or as Pablo Picasso once put it …
So where do you start? What are some logical first steps in building your brand, becoming a thought leader and enhancing your career in the social space?For openers, let’s channel Simon Sinek, always start with why – why are you doing this?
So, “What do you stand for?”-- What’s your niche?-- What are you passionate about?-- What’s the power of YOU?Once you figure those things out, it’s time for some nuts and bolts.
And that brings us to the second question: Who owns me?Your answer had better be, “I do.”
Do you own your name across all platforms? BillSheridan.com? Facebook.com/BillSheridan? Twitter.com/BillSheridan? If not, can you get them for a reasonable price?And if you own BillSheridan.com, do you also own BillSheridanSucks.com? Whether you like it or not, chances are someone is going to go looking for it.“If you don’t own your own name, then you’re leaving your online reputation in the hands of someone who does.” — Sam Richter, Social Media TodayMy problem is with the current linebackers coach of the Detroit Lions, whose name also happens to be Bill Sheridan. He has destroyed my Google rankings. But I’m doing the best I can.The point is, be consistent – or as consistent as possible. It’ll make it much easier for people to find you across platforms, and it’s much more search-engine friendly.
Question No. 3 is, Where do I start? And that is usually, means, whom do I follow?
Step 2: Follow some folks. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started.Then – and this is the important part – look at who THEY’RE following. Chances are, if you like what they folks are doing socially, you’re going to like what their followers are doing, too.
And that brings us to Question No. 4 – What do I say?The answer, at least initially, is “Nothing.”
Think of social media as a big cocktail party. And what do you do when you first arrive at a cocktail party? You don’t pull out a megaphone and start announcing to the world how great you are, do you?No, you go to the bar, grab a drink, then sidle up to a group of folks and listen to what they’re saying. If you like what you’re hearing, you join the conversation and share a few thoughts of your own. If you don’t, you head over to the next group … and listen to what THEY’RE saying.And remember: The keyword in the phrase “social media” is “social.” You will get nothing in return if you don’t first GIVE something to your followers. Give value first – content, advice, information, answers, feedback. Be social. Give more than you get. That builds trust, and THAT will convince folks that you know what you’re talking about. That builds your personal brand.People who do nothing but promote themselves never build that trust.Another great way of building your brand is to leverage the wisdom of crowds through social Q&As.-- LinkedIn Answers-- Quora-- Yahoo AnswersAll of these sites reward knowledgeable users who promote their expertise by answers others’ questions.
Now, to question 5: What should I share?The answer, of course, is, “Anything of value.Filter, filter, filter
And that brings us to Question No. 4 – What do I say?The answer, at least initially, is “Nothing.”
And one more thing: Be yourself.Don’t cloak your posts in corporate-speak. Don’t simply toe the company line. Put yourself out there from time to time and say want you THINK.But do it nicely. Be nice. Don’t flame people, don’t burn bridges. Have civil conversations. If disagreements arise, disagree – but without anger.One of the Internet’s big flaws, in my opinion, is the way it allows people to anonymously post the most vile comments you’ve ever heard. That will bury you in social media.My mom had a golden rule that I think she adopted from the old Disney film “Bambi” – If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” I think that applies in social media to a certain extent.It doesn’t mean you have to agree with everyone all the time. But you do have to do it nicely.
Now, how do you know if you’re succeeding? How do you measure your social ROI?That’s a question we’ve heard time and time again, and it’s a good one. Business leaders, in particular, often ask what the return on investment is for social media.That’s really the wrong question, in my opinion. Social media isn’t a project or a strategy. It’s a tool. Our good friend, Michelle Golden, a consultant who works deeply in the social space, says that’s like asking: What’s the ROI of your phone, or e-mail? Another friend, Don Meyer of the New Jersey Society of CPA, likes to say that there’s no ROI in putting your pants on in the morning either, but we do it anyway.There’s a lot of truth in that.Still, there ARE ways that you can measure your social capital.It starts with your whuffie. That’s a term coined in a book called “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom,” by Cory Doctorow. The book describes a time when something called whuffie has replaced money as currency. The book describes whuffie as a measurement of your overall reputation. It’s gained (or lost) according to a your actions. So the whuffie of someone who rudely pushes past others may be suffer, but a much-loved symphony would earn the composer whuffie as more people enjoy it.Today, the term has been co-opted to describe your social capital, your social reputation. And there are ways to measure that.Keep an eye on your key metrics to see if they are growing and what behavior is influencing them. According to Chris Garrett, those metrics include: ■ Followers, friends and subscriber counts — How many people you have following you is not the best metric, but it does tell you if you’re attracting versus annoying people. (Caveat in favor of fewer followers.) ■ Retweets, clicks and shares — If people want to share your stuff, it’s a hint that what you are putting out is valuable. ■ Comments, favorites, discussions — Can you spark discussion and debate? That’s value right there. ■ Key contacts, referrals, recommendations and testimonials — Are you reaching people and are they telling others about you? What do people say about you behind your back? Will people publicly connect their name, and reputation, to yours?
And this stuff goes WAY beyond just your own personal sphere. It’s all about your business, too.This is from futurist David Pearce Snyder. He’s quoting here from an article by Dr. Jim Botkin titled “Smart Business: How Knowledge Communities Can Revolutionize Your Business.”That article … came out in 2002, by the way.

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