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Chris Dessi Social Media

Social Media is Still a Shiny New Toy

The gap is getting wider. I see it everywhere. There are smart people, with big degrees, that work at great companies that make very good livings who don’t have the first clue about social media. They think it’s a choice.

They’re not on Twitter, they don’t use Linkedin, and God forbid if they were ever seen on Facebook. It’s still a tinker toy. It’s fun and games, and they’re real business people with limited time. Why would they add to the ever-growing pile “to-do’s” by joining these social networks anyway? They socialize with the people they want to already. They don’t need to connect with those people from High School, they don’t want to know what you had for lunch, and they certainly don’t want to share where they’re eating lunch. They want their privacy. They value one on one interaction. Face to face. A handshake. Look me in the eye. Stop looking at your iPhone and look me in the eye!

But they’re getting curious.

They’re starting to pay attention to Facebook’s stock hike, Twitter’s IPO, and Linkedin’s over performance on Wall Street.

Some of them are creating profiles for the first time. They’re dipping their toes into the game. They’re learning fast, for sure, but they’re at the beginning of the race.

For these folks, these talented, successful, corporate powerful folks, it’s 2007.

Let me explain: In 2007 I was a Director of Sales who desperately wanted to be a Vice President of Sales. I was stuck. I would meet with headhunters who would send me on interviews for other Director of Sales positions. I had to do something drastic. The only people who knew how good I was – and that I was prepared to be a Vice President was my boss, and my clients. Neither of who would get me a big new job.

So I started a blog.

I started simple. I would offer my opinions on stories in my industry, and then something amazing happened. After only a few posts, I got the Vice President’s roll. In the first interview we discussed my blog posts at length. They had Googled me and discovered my content. BOOM – I was onto something. That blog was the reason why my ugly mug is on TV now. Because of my content, a producer found my blog and put me on TV the same day he found me. How’s that for ROI?

I’ve been in digital marketing for 14 years, social media for 6, and running my own digital agency, (first with a business partner, now on my own) for 4. I’m an early adaptor. I understand this, but I didn’t really understand the impact it will have on social media as it is today, until something very specific happened recently.

I was invited to sit on the couch at Good Day New York with Greg Kelly and Rosanna Scotto and chat about Twitter. Specifically, I was asked to come on and chat about what your Twitter profile says about you – from a personal and business perspective. After getting the call to be on the show, one of my team members asked me what I would be talking about on the show. When I told her she seemed surprised, amused even. I laughed with her and explained that I didn’t have to prepare because I’d written blog posts about this very theme in 2007! Why was Good Day New York interested in sharing this information with their viewers now?

Don’t people know this?

Isn’t this common knowledge by now?

No. Not even close.

….today there are more people than ever just discovering social media.

On your mark.

Get set.

GO!
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