I work for TAL we spend out time going out in to rural & isolated communities to help them get a voice & presence on-line.
I’m politically neutral, I dislike all political parties euqually Rule of two feet, I full expect you to get up and walk out if I am boring or this isn’t what you expect I’m going to talk for a bit then you’re all going to talk.
If you are going to use social media then the best way to get started is
First thing is, see what other people are saying, how do they use social media? Search for your brand, sector or issue, you may find people are already talking about it. Don’t start rival conversations.
When you go to a party you don’t have a script you listen for a while and then gently become involved, use this principle for social media. Listen to how they communicate, how often and how? Where do they communicate, there is no point in tweeting if all your peers are in Linked In Remember to keep checking other platforms because conversations could be starting….
Now you understand how the people you want to communicate with are communicating between themselves then you can start to get involved If you see someone asking a question point them in the right direction (if you know the direction) If you see something interesting Like it, share it, retweet it, but remember give credit! Be generous, don’t be fawning and sickly but generous, quote other people signpost to them. Be human, don’t be a bot just saying ‘look at this’ if someone just stood and spoke with no emotion you would soon want to leave, On-line is just the same. Be transparent, if the Chief Executive blog isn’t written by the chief executive, but by the receptionist, then call it the receptionists blog. They are just as valuable part of the team as the Chief Exec….. Put your name to your tweets or posts if it is behind a corporate face Don’t pretend to be smart, be interested instead.
If you have tested the water then you are already doing this bit already. Learn as a team, learn together. Involve & include all staff in your organization, experience and skills could come from unexpected places. Other things to do now. Make social media part of your communication strategy Make it part of peoples job descriptions. You wouldn’t have someone working in an office who said I’m not happy answering the phone, so why have someone who isn’t happy to use Social Media Allow time for training & experimenting Constantly review what you are doing
You will undoubtedly make mistakes, Learn from them.
1876 Chief Engineer for the British Post Office Don’t ignore new platforms.
![Mike Rawlins http://talkaboutlocal.org.uk [email_address] @mike_rawlins](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)