How I use social media by Eric Hayward

HOW I USE SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL NETWORKING BY ERIC HAYWARD
copyright and please don’t use this w/out giving us credit and such 2009 Eric Hayward

copyright and please don’t use this w/out giving me credit and such 2009 Eric Hayward
I suppose everything starts with relationships.

There’s me, for better or for worse -

Face to Face Relation-ships
- and I know some people, personally and business-wise.

With design geeks and advertising enthusiasts, I share ideas
about things like typography and taglines and package
design and brands. I use the Blogger platform.

With friends in the consumer health care community, there’s
lots to talk about as well. It’s a different group of friends.

We engage in these conversations on a LinkedIn Group.
There’s also a blog.

I post things on these sites, and they feed to LinkedIn and Facebook -

- and then I cross post them on my own sites too -

letting me introduce my different groups

of friends to each other.

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When I have time, I use free PR sites to
announce events that I post on my blogs, or posts
that might be of interest to somebody.

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Stuff starts showing up in Google searches -

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- including a Google Reader profile I have out there -

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- and the profile I created with my Blogger account -

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so if, for some bizarre reason, people

feel like meeting me, more of them can.

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Now, I try not to talk about myself +all+ the
time. That’s boring for people. It’s why Twitter
can be so annoying. So instead of just spewing, I try to focus on having, and then sharing, ideas. It manages to be good for business, too.

PR
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In place of one-way communication,
I exchange ideas with online friends like Dan Dunlop (who’s also in my LinkedIn network and a member of my Group), and I re-post his ideas on my own blogs,
where they tie into my reader’s interests -

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CDC

and I also post comments about

other posts. I found a fascinating post on, of
all places, a blog hosted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It was about social marketing in public health, which I think about a lot -

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CDC
- and when I find something of interest in
these other places, that I think people might want to know about, I’ll post them on Digg. Not as often as I could, but sometimes.

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And I create presentations like this one, summing up what I’ve discovered. I put these here, on Slideshare.

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If I’m lucky, and people enjoy
these presentations, some of those people end up Tweeting them. I really prefer it when other people do this, rather than me.
It saves me from self-promotion...

…Too much self-centeredness and self-promotion miss the spirit of social media
( an example might be a Tweet that reads, “I just ate a sandwich” ).
When your announcement is of interest to somebody, you can get this announcement in front of that person using social media, rather than just announcing it.
The message comes from someone else, expanding people’s sense of your brand, which becomes about more than just you.
PR
.com
CDC

When an announcement is of interest to somebody, I can get this announcement in front of that person using social media, rather than just announcing it.
The message comes from someone else, expanding people’s sense of your brand, which becomes about more than just you.
PR
.com
CDC

When an announcement is of interest to somebody, I can get this announcement in front of that person using social media, rather than just announcing it.
The message comes from someone else, expanding people’s sense of my brand, which becomes about more than just me.
PR
.com
CDC

PR
.com
CDC
Now, just as it was in my personal network, the loop in this public social network is complete, as the various activities reinforce each other.

PR
.com
My personal social network and my
public network start to intertwine.
My friends get in on the conversations I’m having with other people, and those people meet, and become, my Friends.
CDC

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CDC
This keeps happening.

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CDC
And various Tweets surround the
growing social circles…

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CDC
Tweet.

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CDC
Tweet. Tweet.

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CDC
…and I’m learning that Twitter can be more
about listening, and “Following,” than talking, Contrary to what my ego tells me, listening leads to leading.

The best part of social networking is having lots of Friends...
…personal Friends, professional Friends...
those two spheres have always been infinitely connected, back to that moment when two people first shook hands, after sealing a business deal.
( Historical note: this first business deal was a barter transacted in 4, BC between two Cro-Magnons: Two rocks for a club upside the head. )

those two spheres have always been infinitely connected, back to that moment when two people first shook hands after sealing a business deal.
( Historical note: this first business deal was a barter transacted in 4, BC between two Cro-Magnons: Two rocks for a club upside the head. )

those two spheres have always been infinitely connected, back to that moment when two people first shook hands after sealing a business deal.
( Historical note: this first business deal was a barter transacted in 4BC between two Cro-Magnons: Three rocks for a club upside the head. )

In summary, a piece of great wisdom:
“A bore is a person who talks when you wish him to listen.” (Ambrose Bierce).
I hope I haven’t bored you, and thanks for listening.

Your Friend,

Your Friend,
Eric.