Business professionals are using the professional social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and FastPitchNetworking to meet and collaborate with colleagues worldwide. These professionals fall into two distinct groups:
- Those for who emphasis the word “network”
- Those for who emphasis the word “social”
Those who emphasize the word ”network” seek to promote and expand their business. Those who emphasize the word “social” seek to promote and expand their contact list. Social Media Marketing is the systematic approach to using social networks and other “Web 2.0” and “Web 3.0” technologies as a part of an all inclusive marketing plan to accomplish expanding both.
“Begin with the End in Mind”
Steven Covey’s 5th habit (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) is one of the truisms of planning regardless of the purpose of the plan. The rapidity with which the field of Social Media Marketing is changing, new sites debuting, new functions and innovations make any treatise listing specific services obsolete before it can even be printed. However, when the social networks are viewed as tools the emphasis shifts from recommending specific sites to defining goals.
Step One: Define the goals then matching the tool to the purpose.
Goals vary from business to business and professional to professional, but the identification of goals is key to determining what characteristics are needed in a social network. Further, once a social media marketing program begins to meet with success, a deluge of invitations to other networks will begin to arrive. A prioritized list of goals will ensure that the social media marketing plan does not suffer “mission creep” by pursuing unrelated social networking opportunities.
Boundaries, Budgets & Bull’s-Eyes
The rule of cellular operations is that leadership sets the boundaries and budgets and allows the team charged with achieving the goal to “hit the Bull’s-Eye” on their own by any means that respects the boundaries and budgets sets. This form of leadership is used in all manner of situations that require high achievement in a rapidly changing environment. Special Forces teams, SWAT teams, corporate crisis teams, even medical resuscitation teams and Emergency Medical Services operate in this micromanagement-free manner.
Step Two: Set boundaries and budgets that govern the efforts
expended in social networking while allowing the
social networker “hit the Bull’s-Eye.”
Most professional social networks offer a free and one or more “premium” memberships. In most or all of those with “premium” memberships, it is possible to “earn” free premium upgrades by recruiting new members to the network platform. With all these incentives, it is only necessary to spend money on professional social network membership if a specific paid premium membership function or service is needed to achieve the goals set in step 1. This does not however mean that social networking is free. Most successful business social networkers agree that success requires a minimum of 40 hours per month spent building the network and communicating with network members and online contacts. The biggest area of budget bloat is time spent networking online.
Be very critical of the time spent on social media marketing. Time has a definite value in real dollars and time spent on social media marketing must provide a real and measurable return on investment. It is all too easy to spend endless hours enjoying the many “features” of social networking sites. Whether answering posted questions and earning the tag “Expert” or racking up endorsements and testimonials, every minute spent online must have a purpose, must contribute to achieving the goals and must provide a return.
Create a Cult of Personality
Once the goals, budgets and boundaries are set, it is time to begin networking. Whether online or in person, the most important tool of the social networker is dialogue. Online networking must include direct and individual communications with every member of the network.
Every time a new member joins the network, that new contact must receive a personalized email welcoming them to the network. This mandates that the new contact’s network profile be read and the contact’s interests made the focus of the email. The process of customizing the welcome to the new contact has a side benefit to the business because it forces the business to define its relevance to an ever expanding and ever deepening market demographic described by the social network developed online.
Step Three: Communicate and connect, don’t just collect.
The object of the entire social media marketing effort is to build a network with a personal bond and the ability to refer paying customers or become paying customers themselves. This means the network members must become raving fans even before they make a buy or refer decision. Those who have been networking in real life for years know this is much harder than turning a satisfied customer into a raving fan. Unlike in person networking, online networking limits the level of interpersonal exchange and thus “likability.” A social network makes the transition to raving fans because of the personality of the network leader. Use the regular communication with network members as a “personality conduit.”
It’s Called the “Web” for a Reason
The highest accolade for a business person using social networks as a professional tool is to become a “meta-leader.” Based on concepts taken from disaster healthcare and emergency management, the “meta-leader” is a bridge for communications across industries and a role modeling leader within their own business. In social networks, whether professional or personal, this is a truly pivotal role because as a “network node” the meta-leader is the point at which multiple individual networks begin to overlap. The meta-leader is the connection and the conduit for all these networks and even across social networking websites.
Step Four: Attract Like Minded People, Then Lead Them
The key to becoming a meta-leader in a market niche is to become a gathering point for other online professionals and their respective networks. All the professional social networking websites have the ability to create clubs, or groups, or collectives. By volunteering to create and manage such a group the meta-leader becomes the point of convergence for everyone interested in the topic.
Time to Get Real
Once the goals are set, the network built and the like minds have gathered, it is time to expand into the non-virtual world. The popular term for a social networking group meeting outside of cyberspace is “In Real Life” or simply “Live.”
Step Five: Make it Real in Real Life
Depending on the local culture and networking traditions as well as the subculture of the online network, a traditional “dinner and drinks” networking event may be in order, but a “picnic in the park” or a “burgers and baseball” format may be more appropriate. The key is not the surroundings, but the opportunity for people who have built an online, but nonetheless real relationship to put a handshake, or a hug, to the profile and prose.
Online professional social networks and social media marketing are the newest tool in the entrepreneur’s business success kit. Properly used, it promises business expansion and profit growth.
Whether you are new to social networking or a long time Facebooker, following the five steps of social media marketing will lead you to 21st century business success.
Griffin Works offers Pawsitive Interactions with Service Dogs During Response Operations©, an audience-customized training that breaks down barriers by offering hands-on handling training and demonstrations with working service dogs for fire departments, EMS agencies, and public safety organizations.
Part of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium and home to the National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center, TEEX has been leading homeland security training since 1998. The major TEEX programs include fire and rescue, infrastructure and safety, law enforcement, economic and workforce development, and homeland security. As a member of The Texas A&M University System, TEEX is unique in its ability to access a broad range of emerging research and technical expertise. Beginning with course design and development all the way through hands-on instruction and national certification testing, TEEX delivers comprehensive training through both classroom and hands-on instruction and as online courses.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children’s Health Act to raise the standard of care and increase access to services for children and families who experience or witness traumatic events. This unique network of child-serving professionals, caregivers and young adults, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children’s lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the U.S. The NCTSN is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and coordinated by the UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS).
The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The EMI provides national leadership in developing and delivering training to ensure that individuals and groups having key emergency management responsibilities possess the requisite skills to effectively perform their jobs.
The High Alert Institute maintains a list of reviewed courses provided by governments, universities and professional organizations. This list is geared towards the non-emergency management person who participates in disaster planning, preparedness, response, recovery or mitigation as part of their job responsibilities.
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Koi need forever homes, too! For pond enthusiasts, freshwater exotic and ornamental fish may not be available through pet stores or rescues in their area. The High Alert Institute Aquatic Pet Shelter Rehoming Program will be happy to assist you in stocking your new pond or adding a new finned friend to your school. Coming soon – when you adopt a Koi from the High Alert Institute Aquatic Pet Shelter Rehoming Program, we can arrange for delivery to your door anywhere in the continental United States.
Have you always wanted a Koi pond but don’t have the space one? Sponsor a Koi in our community shelter pond and we send you photos of your sponsored animal. Coming soon are live Koi Cameras above and below the water to enjoy your sponsored Koi anytime.
Dumping of freshwater non-native species and exotic aquatic pets into wild habitats is a man-made disaster that is truly preventable. The Institute’s Aquatic Pet Welfare Partnership works to raise awareness and reduce the impact on healthy ecosystems through education, as well as rescue and rehoming. Joined by champions of animal welfare and environmental stewardship, this association of aquatic pet rescue operations and aquatic pet shelters across the United States aims to save our finned friends and preserve our waterways together.
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Make your donation twice as nice by rehoming aquatic pets and providing a rehabilitation companion pet to a deserving person, family, or facility. Sponsor part or all of a Joy of Koi Program pond installation – complete with rehomed koi – and give the gifts of love and recovery.
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Did you know that unused patents and copyrights can be donated to charity? Intellectual Property (IP) just sitting on a shelf will lose value as it becomes obsolete. The High Alert Institute IP Donation Program seeks to rescue stranded, technology-related IP with the potential for development into marketable products. Once accepted by the program, the owner/inventor is eligible for a tax deduction equivalent to the fair market value of the IP. The Institute receives the patent licensing fees or revenue from the sale of the IP to businesses, helping us to fund our mission. In turn, businesses are able to advance their markets and create jobs for less money than starting a project from scratch.
Disasters are defined as situations in which needs exceed or overwhelm available resources. Some disasters affect an entire community, while other disasters impact individuals and families. Crises of physical or psychological health can be very personal disasters.
The therapeutic value of pets during illness, trauma, and recovery is well established. And Koi fish may be well suited for people who are not able to provide verbal pet commands or physically care for pets like dogs and cats. Koi ponds are also a source of beauty and peace, providing an ideal setting for quiet reflection or meditation.
We are working to partner with pond installers and aquatic pet rescues/shelters to offer free or reduced-cost ponds with rehomed Koi fish to people seeking this type of pet therapy.
Disasters disrupt life and impact our sense of personal, family, and community safety. Survivors and responders alike often are not aware of the emotional, psychological or spiritual challenges that they may face from disaster onset through recovery. With two decades of experience training responders and communities to prepare for the behavioral health aspects of disasters, we will continue to provide education and a curated list of resources to groups or individuals.
Non-medical factors that impact overall health are termed Social Determinants of Health or SDoH. Noise pollution, poor air quality, and poor water quality are three environmental factors known to have a strong link to overall health. And the same environmental factors that impact humans impact their pets and other animals in their care. We continue to assist in advocacy, education, and technology development to mitigate the impact of SDoH on humans and animals alike.
Our efforts in shelter and rescue are the main focus of our environmental stewardship, reducing the environmental impact of non-native aquatic animals being dumped into public waterways. The High Alert Institute also assists innovators with the design, development, and evaluation of green and renewable energy technologies. Reducing the carbon footprint associated with disaster preparedness, response, and recovery furthers our continued mission to mitigate risk and improve resilience.
We partner with public and private organizations, sharing resources and fostering partnerships to improve disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, and mitigation.
The High Alert Institute team has over a century of combined research experience in medical, nursing, behavioral health, and disaster sciences. Our team provides support to researchers and technology developers through comprehensive literature searches and reviews, as well as failure mode database searches and adjudicated reviews.
When disaster strikes, most aquatic pet owners have limited options to secure the safety of their pets. Sheltering in place may not be possible if there is no power to provide aeration and “pet-friendly” shelters do not include ponds or aquariums. Our goal is to provide an option for aquatic pet owners in need of rescue and shelter for their finned friends.
Our goal is to share our two decades of disaster readiness experience with animal welfare organizations, shelters, caretakers, and pet owners, as they implement contingency plans for natural and manmade disasters.
