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On Wednesday I attended a very informative panel discussion on Incorporating Social Media Into Your Business Strategy. Panelists were Ryan Adams, Director of Business Development at Intalgent, Suzanne Henry, President of Four Leaf Public Relations LLC, Scott Hildebrand, CEO, BoldMouth, and moderator Arin Sime, Senior Consultant, OpenSource Connections, LLC.

Build Social Capital
Ryan Adams stated that social networks provide the opportunity to build social capital. It’s a buzzword for being polite, generous, and interacting with people online pretty much as you would in person or by phone.
The key: RETT

Ryan also shared the concept of RETT– reciprocity, emotional attunement, trust and time as the core of relationship building in social networks. He commented on the concept of strong ties and weak ties . The networks, contrary to what you might think, actually enable strengthening of weak ties. They provide an opportunity to establish connection and good will with people you don’t know very well. He recommends that you meet strangers face-to-face at business meetings, and convert them to weak ties by connecting with them later in Linked In or another social network.

“People don’t want to be used–they want to be useful.” –Suzanne Henry

Suzanne Henry commented that you can no longer expect to control your message. Peer messaging has replaced old-style top-down corporate P.R. Now, messages are unleashed, and the best you can hope to do is to influence their direction and flow. She noted that it’s vital to plug into social media. You earn respect just for participating, even if people disagree with what you’re saying. It’s also where you learn what customers are saying about you and your competitors. She advises that you pick a topic and watch the blogs, don’t give in to overwhelm, and get help if you need it.

(to be continued in next post)…

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