Irecently interviewed Marcia Conner, co-author of the new book The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media
One of the overall points Marcia made during our interview is that, while every business needs systems and processes, the real differences are made around water coolers and other networking outlets (both online and offline) where people share and engage. Here are some of Marcia's tips for using social media to grow personally, professionally, and financially.
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Transcend The Glass Walls. Marcia says many fear new media because they've become comfortable behind the “glass walls” of a traditional job, or even a business run behind a website for too many years. Through glass walls, you can observe others and communicate in rudimentary ways. But you cannot really engage with people if all you can do is see them.
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What You Know Is Now Stored In The Heads Of Your Friends. When you share your passions and engage around things that matter to you, you are literally transferring those things into the minds of your friends. In the process, you are surrounding yourself with a walking, talking group of people who can work with you to create things that didn't exist in the world just a few minutes before.
Technology makes it possible, and you can make it real by using technology to create new things. New technologies and social media allow you to extend what Marcia calls “brain share,” and when that happens, there's no end to the things you can create with others.
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Mortar vs. Bricks. This point reminded me of my post about Twitter being icing, not cake. Marcia said that many people have all but abandoned their businesses to spend nearly all of their time on social media. She reminded us that, while everyone can benefit from social media, you cannot forget the “big bricks” of your business — the things that make it profitable. Marcia views new technological tools, including social media, not as the bricks, but as mortar that holds the bricks together.
The point is that you need both both bricks and mortar. One without the other is a losing proposition.
Listen to the Show
This post contains my paraphrases of the fantastic information Marcia shared. To hear it from the horse's mouth yourself, listen to the entire show, and benefit from Marcia's exploration of these topics first-hand. You'll get great tips that you can apply to your life and your business each and every day!
- You can download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
- You can stream or download it at my radio show website.
- You can stay where you are and simply click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen right now!
Coming Up Next Week!
Coming up on September 27 at 1:00pm EST, my guest Jamie Turner, author of How to Make Money with Social Media: An Insider's Guide on Using New and Emerging Media to Grow Your Business
See you then!
Question: Which of Marcia's tips most helps you to step back and use social media and new technological tools to achieve more and learn better?
