The International Olympic Committee has a rule titled “Rule 40″ that is barring the promotion of any non-official Olympic sponsor from getting any promotion of any kind during the Olympic games from the athletes that they do, in fact, officially sponsor.  This rule encompasses social media.

What’s the issue here?  Well, their are over 10,500 Olympic athletes participating in this years games and the majority of them do not make money off of their sport especially athletes from the United States.  Social Media actually gives these athletes an opportunity to promote their sponsors during the Olympics.  This is an opportunity they have never had before.

Now, I agree that the Olympic Games are not about money.  But we are not talking about adding brands to the uniforms or making Olympic athletes look like Nascar Drivers.  We are simply talking about mostly very humble, young, quaint athletes using social media to thank some of the companies that helped get them there via social media.  I do not see the harm.

Have you ever cursed on the job?  In front of your boss?  To your coworkers?  Well…you should probably shut your trap.  Turns out a lot of people do and it’s not going to help with that raise.  According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, “64 percent of employers think less of an employee who repeatedly uses curse words, and 57 percent are less likely to promote someone who swears in the office” (Wong, para. 2).

According to the same survey, most of these potty mouths are employees aged 35-44.  The people who swear the least?  Employees aged 18-24.  Are you surprised?  I’m not.

Longer standing employees often feel more secure in their positions.  They have more years in the business and perhaps they subconsciously use that to justify the $&*! that comes out of their mouths.

In my experience, most workplace swearing happens in the lunchroom.  Employees are off the clock and ready to release their morning stress.  However, as soon as some people stop working, they seem to forget they are still AT WORK.   I’m no boss, but I certainly think less of these individuals who feel the need to dirty up my down time.

I believe the same principles apply to social media.  If you’re using social media to build a professional network, engage with coworkers, friends, family, whoever and wherever that may be, clean it up a little!  I’ve certainly done my fair share of swearing but there’s a time and place for it.  If you want to compare whose boss is a bigger a$$hole, go out to lunch.

As far as social media goes, I really don’t appreciate inappropriate tweets or Facebook posts with my name attached to them.  I don’t have time to monitor everything others say to me or about me, but at the same time, I don’t want anyone thinking less of me.  So…if you’re at work or online, keep it classy!

- H. Acito

Wong, Vanessa.  Cursing at Work Harms your @#$%& Career

21^st century has introduced dramatic changes into marketing and sales tactics. Today customers spend more time on mobile applications than on web browsers. Studies indicate that 22% of time spent on the internet is social, 24% people prefer social networks to email, and increasing number of users are active on Facebook through mobile versus desktop. The social revolution has created a social divide where most of your customers and employees are already social. What about your company?

Humans are changing, so are they ways to reach them. We are moving from the world of outbound marketing to inbound marketing. Push strategies are slowly but firmly being replaced by user initiated pull strategies. Today, the sales representatives have much less leveraging power in the process than 10 years ago. Customers can find the product reviews online, they can skip the TV ad with just a press of a button on Tivo remote, they have caller ID to screen incoming calls, etc.
The old marketing playbook is broken.

But is it really over for traditional media? Not in my opinion. Although social media usage is growing exponentially, it cannot live without the traditional media. Traditional advertising and promotion strategies, integrated with Social media marketing, will enhance the overall effect on target audiences. Alone it will be so much weaker.

There is no universal one-tactic-works-for-all. The key is how to get the right message to the right person. Who are the people targeted? What do they like? What are they saying? Where are they hanging out?

 - Kristel

Download on-demand webinar from Hubspot to learn more about The Social Revolution.

Some are using platforms like Radian6 to engage in online communication and measure the feelings and perceptions surrounding their brand. Whether to better understand consumer behavior or develop a more relationship-orientated strategy, top brands acknowledge and embrace the influence consumers have over prospective publics.

Case in point: an airline that suffered an explosively public blow to its ego from a passenger’s Twitter uproar channeled the setback into an opportunity to build a mutually beneficial social media presence. Southwest Airlines has become a leader in listening and providing solutions to customer dissatisfaction while taking positive interactions to the next level. A corporate policy dedicated to how employees respond to customer inquiries online resulted in exponential growth to its Twitter and Facebook followings, 12 million monthly visits to its Website, and over 29,000 travel guide reviews.

Tried and true, you can’t make everyone happy. Rather than being afraid of what unsatisfied customers might post to your Facebook page, counter negativity with incentivized communication, enticing audiences to think twice before abandoning your brand. I recently joined Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program for several benefits, all of which were targeted to me with the right message in the right place at the right time.

Loyal friend and social media enthusiast Randy Johnson utilized Twitter, tapping into national sentiment on a level he never expected – exposure to 18,199,953 people – to be exact. Here he describes the experience:

Why did you choose social media as the outlet for your personal contribution?

“Social media has made professional athletes and celebrities more accessible than ever. I chose Twitter because it seems to be the preferred social media outlet for athletes/celebrities to interact with each other and a great deal of their fans. A retweet or mention by an athlete or celebrity is like the ‘autograph 2.0′, especially if you can get someone to personalize their message.”

How do you feel about the process and outcome?

“I’m absolutely thrilled with the overall support I received for Tony with messages thanking him for his service and welcoming him home. I’ll admit this 7-day project spun out of control rather quickly, to the point where I actually had a hard time keeping up with the tweets and retweets coming in. I never imagined I’d have a list of 88 athletes/celebrities from all over the world by the time all was said and done. I couldn’t be happier with the result and the huge response I received from the “twittiverse”. I can’t wait for Tony to get back and see the overwhelming support that too few soldiers receive.”

Maybe you Tweet, maybe not, but I encourage you to view Randy’s Twitter Tribute in its entirety and challenge you to utilize social media in an unexpected way – what do you have to lose?

-Stephanie C.

Shopify, an Ottawa-based e-commerce software startup company, took a chance and decided to use social media to reach their employees. What a great idea! This is the way that most of your employees are communicating with the world, why not join in?

This company started by using Twitter to interact with employees. They encouraged them to share their ideas with one another and to interact with one another. Shopify sat back and watched the success, they decided why not build upon this? Now, they use social media to communicate, collaborate and compensate their employees.

Communication in an organization is key. Employees need to know that their thoughts and ideas are heard and utilized in the way the company does business. Engaged employees equal happy employees. When employees are happy, they are more productive! What a simple concept!

So what do you do? How do you engage your organization to get on track? It’s time to take a chance and put new ideas out there. Not every organization will see the success that Shopify did, but maybe your organization will see a different success. Engage those employees, ask them what they are doing, what they are thinking, what would they do different. But most importantly LISTEN, you never know what you may learn.

-Jackie

http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=676428707&ids=0MdPsScjoSdPoIejcSc34VdzgSb3sMdPwOd3oTdyMTcP4SdPsUdPoIcjoUd34Qe3sS&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-100

Sites like Facebook and Twitter provide a platform for the country to ban together and share their emotions and opinions stronger than ever before.  Some post memorial messages and notes of respect for the innocent two year old, while others question the verdict and the legal system. 

Those who disagree with the ruling found a way to condense their feelings in 140 characters or less on Twitter.  Today, there are over 90 Facebook pages titled “Casey Anthony” and even more expressing hatred towards her. 

In less than one week after the day she was acquitted, 39,000 people “liked” the Facebook page – “I hate Casey Anthony.”  In the same timeframe, more than 700,000 people had signed an online petition at Change.org in favor of a federal “Caylee’s Law” making it illegal to fail to report a missing child within a specific timeframe. 

The Casey Anthony case is often compared to when O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of murdering his wife in 1996.  The difference between then and now is that these online networks didn’t exist.

These social sites are no longer just for connecting us with people we may know or want to meet.  They have become outlets for the world to respond to current issues, a place to celebrate a life or mourn a death and a form of therapeutic release.

–Courtney

*Photo Credit: Facebook.com

I am aware of the facts about how blogging drives traffic to websites and how large companies have advanced with the utilization of social media and I know how many people are on Twitter (175 million). Despite this, I still have trouble giving advice as to the implementation of social media as a form of marketing that has direct benefit.

I have found that when I put social media in the context of public relations, I have an easier time conceptualizing results.  Companies believe in the value of having a public relations team that pushes stories, maintains relationships and is well connected within the community.  Social media platforms are the outlet for public relations and public relationships.

Two bloggers who I cross paths with regularly have very different views on this topic.  To learn more about why social media is NOT public relations click here, and to learn about why social media IS public relations, click here.  I would strongly encourage you to check out their opinions and see where it falls within your organization’s conversation.

-Kelly

photo source: designbeep.com

Several large name companies are pleasantly surprised at the positive reaction they are receiving from their customers through social media outlets. Companies are seeing an increase in brand awareness and perception, but more importantly, they are seeing an increase in sales. Does this change the way that companies will reach out to their customers? Will this have an impact on how companies have traditionally advertised? Is social media the new tv commercial?

It is an interesting way to think about how one would promote their business. Social media outlets let you get information out there, but you never really know what that means for business until you have data like this……….an increase in sales!

I believe the key to this success is customer engagement. Asking for customer’s opinions, having give-aways for customers, asking them for pictures and videos, this is the key to increasing your business. People like to feel a part of stuff, when you are asked what you think, to post pictures, to win prizes, you are a part of it.

It will be interesting to see the wave of the future. Will social media replace traditional means of advertising?

-Jackie

http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/ana-wheat-thins-southern-comfort-dominos-ragu_b24369

In the United States, when a company is hiring new sales or marketing personnel, how much value is placed in one’s guanxi? I suspect very little. In the past, one might hire a salesperson with a good rolodex and references, but in today’s economy one’s web reach should also be considered.

Imagine you own a printing company. You’re interviewing a 25 year old who comes with 1,000 twitter followers, 4,000 facebook friends, and a weekly blog titled “creativity for B2B marketers within non-creative industries.” Do you think the interviewee will just talk about conflict resolution and their skills at navigating MS Office? Absolutely not – they’ve got web-guanxi!

During your next hire, consider the following two things which I learned from my friends at HubSpot. First, create a spreadsheet that allows you to note the reach each applicant has on different social media platforms. Second, during the interview, explore how often the applicant talks about work within their social media communities. With these two simple steps, you could hire employees with web reach and guanxi your organization can leverage.

____ 

JP Anderson serves as Director of Admissions at Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, NY. He is currently completing a Master of Science in Strategic Marketing at Roberts Wesleyan College.