Holy guacamole … I saw someone who has posted over 191,000 tweets. And they want to follow me?! I don’t even know what to think. Fortunately, I have Brooke who helps me with my tweet thinking. I love to talk, which I guess translates into tweeting in very short sentences (which I’m not particularly good at). But my word, 191,000 tweets. Who has the time?
How have you been doing with your social media communication? I thought it might be interesting to hear from the less professional member of my team about how I’m actually managing the social media side of our business.
We are blessed beyond measure to have Brooke’s brilliant mind pushing our efforts forward. In all of her brilliance, she still gives me the opportunity to experience Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube on my own. Fortunately, she covers me when I can’t figure out that people are communicating with me; and I’ve missed it completely. Also when I forget to post regularly because I’m caught up in a new center opening or training a new sales person she makes sure our presence is known. Don’t you wish you had a Brooke?
One thing I do handle on my own is to jump in and participate in the discussions on LinkedIn. If there’s one thing as a business owner (or a party manager, GM, or a group sales leader) I could recommend, it would be to listen in on some of the conversations going on out there. It’s interesting. Everyone has an opinion. Your filter will certainly impact how you read the information that’s shared.
Here are the groups I belong to; I was surprised the list was so long!
Effective and Fun Training Techniques
FEC- Family Entertainment Center/Location Based Entertainment
IAAPA Family Entertainment Centers Council Community
International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
The Business of Remarkable Groups and Parties
The Sales Playbook Reading Club! a subgroup of Sales Playbook!
Vistage / TEC – CEO Leadership
Some of these groups are closed and you have to be accepted into them. Some of the groups I just receive information. Some days, I don’t do anything with the information and some days I jump right in. I’ve jumped in and out before. I try to always follow my mother’s rule: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
I definitely know I am in better communication with people I would never have the opportunity to visit with because we talk in the same circles on LinkedIn. I’ve found some amazing articles and very cool resources from those mega tweeters on Twitter. I have a ton of fun keeping up with friends, family, and my business buddies on Facebook. I found out people care about what I say and that’s encouraging. I am surprised sometimes at what people have to say. I am educated. I am inspired. I am bored. It’s interesting that all of these things are part of the process. I have found great books to read because of recommendations from others.
Social Media takes time. I don’t handle it all myself. I can’t. But I do believe the time I have invested has really created a “return on the conversation” that has deepened my relationships with the people we serve business-wise, and has created a trust factor that would normally take many years. And when I have the time it is fun.
So what was my real thought for this week? Oh right, 191,000+ tweets … hmm, you probably won’t see that from TrainerTainment, but we will be sharing our opinion as often as possible. If there’s a conversation that you think we need to be having, please ask! I’ll probably answer in the blog or on Facebook or LinkedIn because I won’t be limited in the amount of words I can use. But for all you short answer guys and gals – TWEET AWAY!
