Becoming a YOUtility

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I went to one of those membership clubs yesterday to buy enough product in bulk to last through the apocalypse.

While shopping I stopped at a product sample stand and took more than one sample. Before I moved on I asked the sample-providing employee, “Where are the pastries?”, because you can never have too many pastries for the apocalypse. I was surprised when her response was, “Oh, I don’t know. You will have to ask a store employee. I’m an employee of the promotions company, not the actual store.”

What?! There stood this sample-providing person behind a store-branded kiosk, wearing a store-embroidered apron but she was not an employee of the store?

Now I don’t think there’s anything wrong with branding the promotions company with the store logo. It actually makes sense that a major retailer who specializes in selling bulk product at low prices would outsource the sampling of their products to a third-party promotions company.

What struck me as wrong was the fact that the promotions company had not empowered their sample-providing employees to be product guides for wandering shoppers. That’s like a pizza delivery guy saying, “I can’t give you directions because I don’t live in this neighborhood. I only deliver here.”

In Social Media Social media, Trust, Useful Content

What Churches Are Missing on Social Media

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Earlier this week I asked in a post, “Would your community miss your church?” Meaning if your church closed it doors for good, would your community even notice?

The truth is most communities wouldn’t feel a thing if a church closed it’s doors.

That’s because many churches have adopted a purely attractional approach to interacting with the community. This approach involves having church services at publicized times and attempting to ATTRACT the community to those services. Attraction may happen through any number of methods: invitation, advertisement, special programming, etc. Because many churches have interacted so long with the community using the attractional model that’s the model they try to bring into social media.

In Social Media Community, Member, Social media

Would Your Community Miss Your Organization?

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My local electricity provider does not advertise how to contact them for service.

They assume that if you want power you will “get in touch.” It’s not that they intentionally hide their contact information, they just don’t actively engage the community with the information.

The temptation that comes with offering a product or service that is extremely valuable is that you begin to expect people to come and find you.

When I lived in Cincinnati, I patroned a pizza company who always advertised their phone number in clever ways. The number was on all their print media – napkins, pizza boxes, flyers, billboards. Their commercials rehearsed the one number to call for pizza no matter where you lived in the city. They even put the phone number in their Twitter name.

The difference between the pizza company and the power company is the power company provides something so valuable they assume you will find them when you need them.

In Leading Thoughts Community, Social media

How One Client Began Their Platform Development

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Second Chair Leadership is excited to consult with Ben Smith in the development of the Ben Smith on Purpose platform and to help grow the platform’s social media credibility.

Ben is a licensed minister who is gifted at counseling. He has a passion to develop healthier families and individuals through blogging, speaking and counseling. Ben is an experienced communicator, but turning his communication into online content has been intimidating.

I sat down with Ben this week and asked him some questions about what motivated him to develop a platform and how the experience has gone thus far. Ben’s answers are in italics.

Q: What motivated you to take the dive into platform development?

Not long ago I watched and walked with a colleague who embraced platform development as the primary means to redirect his career. I watched him learn from Second Chair Leadership the different online media tools, establish a website, develop his identity, and brand that identity. I was privileged to interact and converse with him during this journey.

In Social Media Getting Started, Platform Development, Social media

Helping Churches Find Their Social Media Voice

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As a parent of teenagers, I am grateful for the moments when my teens want to converse about life. Those conversations always feel more like peer-nting than parenting and I like that.

Unfortunately I have been known to ruin the moment by slipping back into what my kids call the “parent voice.” The “parent voice” is marked by a matter-of-fact tone and a focus on informing rather than understanding.

I enjoy helping churches find their social media voice. Part of finding that voice involves teaching churches to stop using their “pulpit voice” on social media platforms. The “pulpit voice” is usually marked by a take-heed tone and a focus on promotion rather than community.

Here are a few social media “voice lessons” for churches…

In Social Media Facebook, Social media, Twitter, Voice

Alma Mater Speech Goes Viral

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“I am doing that!”

This speech by Nicholas Selby at my alma mater demonstrates how the current generation is able to by-pass the traditional “gatekeepers” of permission and promotion to advance their ideas.

If current leaders hold the reigns too tight and do not create room for up and coming ideas, this generation will not sit by and wait for permission. They will create their own platform for promotion.

In Social Media Georgia Tech, Social media, Viral

A Re-branded SCL

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A few months ago, I partnered with the Beast Social Media Group for a complete website redesign and rebranding of SecondChairLeadership.com.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of brand development with Matt Craig, Melissa Hawks and the rest of the Beast team.

Today SecondChairLeadership.com officially re-launches with new branding on all platforms.

Re-branding means…

A new logo

New photos

Consistent branding across all social media platforms (click on a platform)

Video presentation of Social Media Confusion (click play now)

Infographics Explaining Social Media Mentoring Process (learn more by clicking on the graphic)

A big thanks to the Beast Group for the great new features and images that keep SecondChairLeadership.com a place for churches, schools and non-profits to find “Help with Monday through Friday Operations.”

In Social Media Logo, Productivity, Social media

3 Signs You Don’t Get Social Media

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I remember listening to a lecture in grad school about ancient media. I honestly never thought about media existing in the pre-information age.

Turns out that media is a timeless word which best describes how people communicate information.

There was a time when books where considered new media. As the literacy of the middle class rose, a demand for the sharing of information in book form increased.

The meeting of this demand through the media of book publication allowed for something new: reading for leisure. Initially critics claimed recreational reading was a waste of time and worse still that silent reading was pointless. In that era, reading to one’s self, instead of out loud, seemed ridiculous.

In Social Media Accountability, Misperception, Social media

Social Media NOT Selfish Media

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I was recently with a friend/colleague who made the comment, “Most social media is really selfish media.” He’s right. There is a lot of “me, me, me” in the digital social world.

Here are a few ways to keep your content more social and less selfish.

1. Don’t go on and on about your accomplishments.

It’s called social media for a reason. It’s supposed to be social, and there is nothing social about a self-focused monologue.

In Leading Thoughts Content, Selfish, Social media

Archives For Social media

Here are a few social media “voice lessons” for churches…

“I am doing that!”

This speech by Nicholas Selby at my alma mater demonstrates how the current generation is able to by-pass the traditional “gatekeepers” of permission and promotion to advance their ideas.

If current leaders hold the reigns too tight and do not create room for up and coming ideas, this generation will not sit by and wait for permission. They will create their own platform for promotion.

Re-branding means…

A new logo

New photos

Consistent branding across all social media platforms (click on a platform)

Video presentation of Social Media Confusion (click play now)

Infographics Explaining Social Media Mentoring Process (learn more by clicking on the graphic)

A big thanks to the Beast Group for the great new features and images that keep SecondChairLeadership.com a place for churches, schools and non-profits to find “Help with Monday through Friday Operations.”

Here are a few ways to keep your content more social and less selfish.

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