Page 165 - Free the Idea Monkey

media is a wonderful new stage for Idea Monkeys guided by skillful
(Ring)leaders. People have always responded to creativity. The “life
of the party” gets the most attention. When these people are also
genuine and respected, they are capable of movements that change
history. Companies are just beginning to dabble with social media.
Imagine what is going to happen when they put their most creative
leaders on the case.

MASTERING SOCIAL NETWORKING
So what are the fundamentals you need to

master in this new world? There are three.
Phase 1: Create the proper presence. First,

you need to identify where your target is and which
communities are important to them. You want to be
where your customers, and potential customers, hang out. Having
identified those places, you need to understand the conventions
and etiquette of those environments. Every site is different, but if

you keep the following in mind, you won’t go too far
astray. Do figure out ways to foster, nurture and
support the community you are interacting with.
Don’t even think about a hard sell. Think about
it. Your friends don’t sell you on ideas. They
don’t need to. You trust them. If they started to
sell you on something, they would likely begin to

lose your trust.
Phase 2: Gain credibility based on your target’s world view.
The information you enter in the social media arenas must be care-
fully selected and composed with that environment in mind. Your
message and content need to be all about them and what you can do
to make their lives better. This means: “Help Them, Don’t Sell Them.”
Be unconditionally generous. Visit Nike.com, one example of a com-
pany that does this well, to see what it’s done for runners.
If we are adequately entertaining and educating customers, they
will seize the opportunity to fully engage. They will share this con-
tent and perhaps even build on it—whether you invite them to or
not—because that’s what social beings do.

150 S O C I A L M E D I A : N O W A N D F O R E V E R