How much are you willing to put out there about yourself for others to see? Generally less is more but when it comes to social media more is more. In a face to face meeting pushing the right buttons will get people to tell a lot about themselves but on the internet some people are more reserved. Why? Social media is a two way conversation that gives you an opportunity to interact with others in common interests.
Here are 3 personal instances where I was wide open with positive results:
1. My son turned 4 in February and was finally old enough to play in the youth soccer league. We were so excited on sign up day and could not wait to start. First day of practice I had no idea what to expect as I had heard stories about “soccer moms.” We walked up to find that 10 of the 12 children on the team had played together before so they all knew each other. Ok, well, this cannot be so bad I thought. Within the first 2 minutes I realized that I was pushed to the back and standing alone. Then I realized next to me was the other mom whose son had not played on the team before. Being left out, we started chatting and discovered that I have a Las Vegas advertising agency and her husband is a graphic artist. We are now working together and our kids play 2-3x a week.
2. Through my love of the New York Mets, I found a blog that I really liked, theropolitans.com, and started following it. Before long there was a live blog for each game. Generally we get 15-20 people and game after game, we became friendly as we would chat about what we did for a living, where we lived, kids, etc. One of our fellow chatters is in her final stretch of receiving her PhD in Boston so I joked with her about sending along some work for proofreading during her “down time.” A few days later she said that she is also a freelance web developer. Within 48 hours we were on the phone and now have 2 projects that we are working on. Had I never joked with her about the agency and ways she could help in her “down time” we never would have connected.
3. Tom Martin posted a blog that referenced talking to yourself. I am notorious for this and I commented and said that while driving my son will say “what mom?” He referenced my comment in the blog and called me out by name. Embarrassing as it is at times to talk to oneself, I put myself out there.
I share these stories and use these examples when speaking with clients as their social media agency. There are no geographic boundaries as the internet through the social media channels has paved the way to connect with people all around the world.
Have any positive experiences to share? Any negative experiences?
Photo Credit: Nolan O’Brien
