JT Pedersen » Networking

You’re a Product Manager and NOT Doing This? Really?

JT — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:09:17 +0000

Three times this week, I have stumbled across discussions of ‘online tools’ in relation to product management. And, in each case, numerous software solutions were named, yet no one specifically discussed social media. How’s that?

At first, I noticed that social media wasn’t being included by virtue of, what seemed to me, a glaring omission. After all, in today’s world, consumers can rip a company a ‘new one’ quite readily. Don’t you think more companies would want to pay attention?

Better yet, why not engage in the discussion? If someone verbally assaulted your spouse, you’d get engaged right quick, right? And, as a product manager, you probably spend more time with your product than your spouse.

So, if you’re not already engaged in social media in relation to your product, why aren’t you?

Now, keep in mind, what I’m mentioning thus far shouldn’t be new to you. There have been numerous examples of companies like Ford, Microsoft, Comcast, and others doing just this. Personally, I like the @comcastcares story the best.

The question is, with so many good examples, visible successes (despite some early failed attempts sometimes), why are they also, well, rare?

Perhaps the crux of the problem comes down to two things. The first is that it just plain takes time to develop effective communities. It takes time to get yourself (you, your company, your product, your…whatever) plugged in, recognized, and established.

Until you’ve put in the time, it is hard to quantify any amount of meaningful return on your investment. Indeed, there’s a plethora of articles out there decrying the tremendous returns on investment of social media, and just as many (I’m guessing, just seems like it) decrying it’s a waste of time and you’re better off having gone fishing.

In its simplest form, investing in social media (selecting an appropriate medium to your needs), is to build relationships with people that care about what you’re doing. And, who wouldn’t want to do that? It is no different than the formation of “users groups” around popular software products in decades past.

These relationships, both good and bad, give you the ability to learn from others. Learn from more others than you likely could ever do in face-to-face interactions.

Conveniently enough, most of these interactions are text-based, which means you can archive, categorize, sort, and search the inputs for later use. And, with the raw data, effectively currated, begins to form the foundation for knowledge.

And, Knowledge is Power!

So, if you’re a product manager, if you’re someone in a leadership role, that needs every bit of help you can get to innovate, to fight competition, to stay ahead…then ask yourself what better you can do with social media tomorrow than you’ve done so far today.

(image credit: Rore D)

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7 Basics of Networking

JT — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:51:34 +0000

You know what the worst thing about networking is? The word itself. Really. I would wager someone’s done a study, somewhere, with results like this:

Top 3 Things People Hate Doing:

Public Speaking
Dying
Networking *

It need not be that way. The crux of the problem is many parents do not understand its importance and then teach it to their children. For many, ‘networking’ means having 299 business cards in one hand, walking into a room with 300 people, being filled with dread.

Ugh. No wonder so many fear networking.

Networking is right up there with ponzi schemes and MLM (multi-level marketing). It would be more warmly received if a better word were used instead: relationship’ng. Relationship building, making friends, contributing value to others is what it is all about.

It used to be, whenever I did public speaking, my levels of anxiety felt off the chart. What will they think of me? What if I flub? What will happen if I…? Later on, as I started more actively studying the art of public speaking (go visit www.presentationzen.com to start your enlightment), I came to a realization. It’s not about me. It’s about them! As soon as my focus changed from being about me me me, to ‘what value will my audience receive, what are their needs, how will they feel…’ anxiety levels fell dramatically.

The same is true about networking (aka relationship’ng). Too many folks look at networking as, “what can this other person do for me?” Change it to what can I do for them? And all of a sudden the stress diminishes.

Consider: 14 of my 17 professional jobs have been a direct result of people I knew reaching out to me…

The 7 Basics of Networking

Know what value you can provide to others?
Who are people that would be valuable to you?
Give first and you will always receive value back?**
Your reputation often precedes you, so make sure its good.
It’s easy – Just ask questions
Remember: Most people like to talk about themselves
Follow through on any commitments you make—and never ever have to be chased to follow-through.

These 7 will get you on the right path. The rest will come with time and experience.

* I made it up. But I expect I’m not far off
** Value in return might come immediately, next week, next year, or never. Do not go in expecting it.

(image credit: Muriel Miralles de Sawicki)

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Poor Man’s Social CRM

JT — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:35:27 +0000

Yep, if you haven’t heard it already, there’s new YASMAOT (Yet Another Social Media Acronym Out There) you may wish to pay attention to.

Let’s start with ‘CRM’ itself. Here’s the long-form definition of CRM, or Customer Relationship Management. For purposes here, the essence of CRM is essentially: (1) the process of capturing all points of interaction with a customer into a central repository; (2) enabling anyone interacting with a customer to have complete visibility into everything that has transpired between the customer and company; and, (3) improve future interactions and customer relationships.

In short: I’m going to keep track of what I do with you, better than you can yourself, so our next interaction is better than the last. That’s it.

CRM traditionally has been constrained to a tool only used by large enterprises. When salesforce.com made it’s debut in the late ‘90s, this all began to change. Now, for as little as $5-25/month, per user, even sole proprietorships can have access to these same powerful tools.

Now, we have Social CRM. With Social CRM, we now need to come to understand that the customer owns the relationship. That means as the vendor we need to become attentive to our customers, opposite the way it has traditionally been. Filiberto Selvas is so enthusiastic about the topic, he bought the domain (www.socialcrm.net) and discusses the topic similarly, here.

Michael Fauscette describes is as, “Social CRM…encourage[s] better, more effective customer interaction…leverag[ing] the collective intelligence of the…customer..[to]…increas[e] intimacy between an organization and…customers. The goal is to…better understand what [customers] want and how they interact with the various company touch points.” Mike’s explanation was exceptionally verbose, so I trimmed it.

Formal ‘social CRM’ tools are increasingly available. Yet, for the masses, there is another class of tool out there letting you do your own ‘social CRM’ without even noticing it: your various instant messaging clients.

Increasingly, popular IM clients are all giving you, the individual, the ability to aggregate the different venues you use to communicate. For instance, the new Trillian 5 IM client I like, lets me use a single tool for AIM, Facebook, Yahoo!, Windows Live, Astra, Google Talk, and more. What many users do not realize is, each of the discussions you have are (or can be) logged. This is how you have prior conversations displayed when you relaunch the application…all your discussions were saved in a log file on your computer.

Is this really a CRM? No, but as you interact with people across multiple venues, you start to gain an understanding of what they’re interested in. Further, with your conversations captured in log files, you have the ability to search for past topics as far back as you care to store them.

So even the ‘poor man,’ and woman, has the ability to centralize their points of interaction, more easily observe their contacts’ interactions, and develop more effective relationships.

(photo credit: Michal Koralewski)

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What Can I Do for You this Coming Year?

JT — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:46:01 +0000

When was the last time someone asked you that?

It is particularly true when thinking about the subject of ‘networking.’ By necessity, networking is a topic fewer people are shrinking away from now. Why? Because networking (building relationships) with larger numbers of people is increasingly important. When job markets are tight, getting hired makes the odds of winning the lottery look favorable, and people begin to reach outside their comfort zones.

Unfortunately networking is a topic all too many parents appear to have neglected teaching their children. Sometimes I speak on strategies for searching for work. Networking is among them. As I describe the stereotypical networking experience, most of the audience will bob their heads, agreeing that they don’t like doing it.

Why not? Because no one likes to keep on asking for something and being rejected.

And therein lies the problem. Networking is not about going to an event, introducing yourself to 300 people, and asking them all for something. ‘Networking’ is about building relationships. Chris Brogan’s fond of pointing out, you should do 12 things for other people before doing something for yourself. In this case, he’s talking about Twittering, blogging, and the like. And, along the way, a lot of other people remembered him and returned his generosity—in spades.

To remain successful we are all going need to become better at building relationships. It starts with turning that typical networking experience on it’s ear. If you approached networking from a perspective of what’s in it for you, try, just try, adjusting your approach to being: What can I do for you this coming year?

(photo credit: NASA Commons)

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Should You Evaluate Unemployment Rate Before Relocating?

JT — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:32:00 +0000

A bit off-target for my blog, I have seen this basic question come up at least four times in recent weeks. Many job seekers, increasingly hungry for work, have begun to adopt a, “I’ll work anywhere there’s work…” mindset.

This mindset certainly seems reasonable if you’re in Michigan. For the first time in 10 years, Michigan is expected to have positive job growth. Imagine. A new University of Michigan economic forecast, just out, is now being discussed. For a state that’s lost 855,000 jobs in the past 10 years (since June, 2000), 230,000+ last year alone, state job growth is forecast to increase for the first time. With only 20K new jobs expected next year, moving anywhere, somewhere, certainly seems a requirement for many.

The question may be where? And, how do you decide?

Should you consider the unemployment rate before jumping? The short answer is Yes. Among other things…

In my own search for work, I decided take a structured approach toward evaluating where to search. My wife and I gathered a number of statistics to support the process. For instance we obtained information on taxes, costs of living, unemployment, foreclosure rates, and likelihood of natural disasters. These were considered ‘needs’ and fully weighted (e.g. 1=1).

We also evaluated (somewhat subjectively) our ‘wants.’ These included an affinity for mountains (I’m a motorcyclist), inland waters/ponds/streams (my wife likes to fish), and so on. These criteria were half-weighted (e.g. 1=.5).

Much of the information is publicly available from places like www.city-data.org, www.bls.gov, www.wikipedia.org, as well as major online media outposts.

Everything was compiled into an Excel spreadsheet. When we looked at the ranked results, we were surprised. The top 3 states to look at were Utah, Virginia, and Colorado, in that order. Who would have thought Utah? We sure didn’t. Keep in mind, your results would vary based on your preferences.

One driver behind taking a constructive approach, were the calls we’d receive from friends, colleagues, and family pulling us in different directions. Rather than diffuse my resources too much, this has let me take a more sensible approach.

So, should you check out Unemployment before moving? Absolutely (and, a whole lot more)!!!

(photo credit: Sergio Roberto Bichara)

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Confirmation That I Kick Ass

JT — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:17:09 +0000

[Hey! They made me:)] I’m rather tickled actually. This week I received word that Alltop has added this blog (www.jtpedersen.net) to their Leadership section.

This is something of a big deal for me, personally. It shows you’re not alone in feeling there’s content here worth reading…adding value.

So, here’s my thanks to Alltop, to Guy Kawasaki & Team, for including www.jtpedersen.net in an increasingly important site.

Cheers!

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It’s a Duesy II-Manufacturing Revival Conference

JT — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:21:36 +0000

I’m pleased to let everyone know, March 17, I will be speaking at the It’s a Duesy II Manufacturing Revival Conference. You’re encouraged to come.

Dennis Jeffrey of Tekni Consulting is the event’s organizer. Heading into 2010, we begin to catch our breaths, having simply survived 2009.

Now, is the time for revival! But, not revival just as a dictionary would describe it. One definition is, ‘…restoration to use…’ We need not to simply revive, restore, or return to pre-‘09 conditions, we need to find ways to thrive, to strengthen ourselves and move forward positively. With this in mind, I was happy to accept Dennis’ invitation to speak.

My discussion is part of the event’s Management track, focusing on Change.

The world around us continues to evolve; nothing new there. But many organizations, even as they change what they look like, have largely stayed the same inside. Social, technical, global evolution has now come so far organizations simply have no choice but to finally begin changing who they are inside.

Register Now! Early Bird Pricing until February 15th! Price is only $89/ person, group rates available.

For those of you who have followed my blog, you understand that my focus is on providing thoughtful business leadership. Come listen as I discuss areas often neglected by leaders, allowed to fall by the wayside, which are increasingly important in today’s world—areas that need to change.

In preparation for this event, I am actively interviewing business leaders and soliciting input—including yours, dear reader. I encourage you to provide your input regarding how businesses need to change in order to thrive, moving forward. Feel free to Comment, or send me an email (results@jtpedersen.net).

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Why Don't We Talk About Social Media With Ease?

JT — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:38:00 +0000

Earlier this week, Isra García wrote an engaging post, Social Media With Ease. He also re-framed the title as a question, which I found particularly intriguing.

It is an interesting question and something I have previously thought about as well. Why is it, so many people feel uncomfortable discussing social media?

Discomfort discussing Social Media stems from two basic issues.

First, most folks still do not have even a rudimentary grasp as to what ‘social media’ is. Gaining an understanding is made more difficult by those ‘in the know’ professing ‘everyone is using’ a particular item. For instance, I’ve been to a number of social media presentations, or presentations having a related segment, where the presenter boldly states, ‘Everyone’s using Twitter…’ or the like. Fast Company’s November ‘09 issue discussed Twitter, saying,’…69% of U.S. adults still have no idea what it is.’

This sort of false perception development only serves to further isolate those who get it, from those who do not. If ‘everyone’ is doing something, do you want to admit being among an ignorant minority? Most people don’t. For the moment at least, we will continue to have a majority of people who just ‘do not’ get it. This leads to my second item…

The second issue is that there are a number of ‘social media experts’ proliferating all over the place now. Social Media, in the form we think of it today, has only been around for perhaps 3 years. Yes, blogs have been around for 10-12 years, but only really popular in the last 4-5. Social networking’s been around a little while as well. However only with the maturing of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, has that medium gained strength and become credible. In my view, its not until the last 24 months even, that we -really- have what we might ‘today’ consider ‘social media,’ a culmination of everything more or less working together.

So, why the unease? I believe it comes from a lack of knowledge. This lack of knowledge fuels unease with a given topic…where no one wants to show their ignorance. And, this leads to a distrust of supposed ‘experts’ since many have no way of evaluating for themselves what is real, and what is snake oil.

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How Often Should You Tweet?

JT — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:27:14 +0000

This is a question that shows up in discussion periodically. For moto-enthusiasts, it’s about the same as starting a discussion on tire pressures, what oil to use, how often to change it, and so on. There are countless answers, an endless number of experts to given them, yet they all fall short. The reason is that there is no absolute answer. It is akin to asking, “…what should be in my resume?” Once you’ve decided what it is you want to do, then what you put in the resume starts to speak for itself.

How often, or what, to tweet (or post status updates to Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) becomes more clear once you have a purpose in mind. Initially, I spent a few months myself simply experimenting, exploring, and observing. After a while I decided on how to use it for my own purposes.

Here’s one example. A friend of mine is an AKC dog breeder. Talking about Twitter, he commented he’d tried it for a bit but quit. He didn’t see any value in it for him.

In the same conversation, he talked about how as each new litter of pups was about to become available, the amount of email inquiries he’d receive would sky rocket. He ended up giving potential customers guidance on how to craft ‘special’ email for him, so he’d find them as timing got more crucial.

After hearing this, I suggested he consider using Twitter again. He’d be able to mitigate a lot of his email traffic by simply posting status/progress updates. A lot of his email traffic surrounded how many puppies were expected to be born, how many fe/male, how they were doing each day (day 1, day 2, day 20, …, day 53). A lot were simply people ‘wanting to know more.’

In his case, it certainly seemed pretty clear how to help his clients. Use Twitter as a medium to broadcast more info. For you, for others, it may not seem quite so clear…but once you pick your reason, it -will- be easier and become more natural.

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Why the Change?

JT — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:23:44 +0000

‘Removing Technical Impediments to Business Success,’ has clearly represented what I do, for a long time. In many ways it still does. But over time my focus has become more business, more leadership oriented, leveraging my comfort with technology rather than focusing on it.

Today, I am pleased to re-launch my blog, and my brand, focusing on Thoughtful Business Leadership!

The decision to adjust my branding, how I represent myself to you, came after a number of conversations with friends and colleagues. In particular, I would like to thank Susanne C., Andrew Stein, Paul Chandler, and my wife, Kimberly. Each of them were immensely helpful.

There are a couple challenges with Removing Technical… First, it was too long. A shorter message, more easily remembered, and without any potential hidden meaning was needed. Second, ‘technical’ for many folks seems to equate directly to ‘IT.’ Depending on what ‘IT’ meant to someone, I might immediately become mentally pigeon-holed as a ‘network admin,’ a ‘DBA,’ or similar.

Let’s look at the three words briefly.

Thoughtful: Having intellectual depth; paying closing attention; considerate of feelings and well-being of others (above and below).
Business: Principal activity.
Leadership: Applying knowledge, wisdom, and common sense while influencing and motivating others.

So, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while (thank you), the general focus remains the same, the tagline’s simply more well-aligned.