The Passionate Voice

Speak. Lead. Make Change.

Social Media as the New Receptionist

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Ironically, I had written this post before a client meeting earlier this week but after the conversation we had, this post became even more relevant to share.

The client I was speaking with was amazed at how social media is now an expectation by many of their customers. So much so, they’ve finally decided it is time they hop aboard the social media train and embrace it to help their brand and be where their clients are and want them to be. I shared the following analogy with them that I had written weeks ago but hadn’t hit publish on quite yet:

If you walk into any company or building, chances are you are greeted by a friendly receptionist who welcome you.

He or she sets the tone for how you feel about that company/business as soon as you enter the building based on first impressions of this person alone.

The role of a receptionist in business is a staple for some, or an expectation for most. 

You would most likely think it was weird if you walked into a head office and wasn’t greeted by anyone, right?

Similar to our expectation of receptionists as the first front-facing person for companies and businesses, our expectations have now extended to a brand’s presence on social media. Social media is the new receptionist. 

A lot of people can relate to this receptionist idea and the expectation when it comes to social media.

You go on any given social media channel expecting that the company you are searching for will be online and they aren’t. Your surprised at how a company of say their size, specialty or consumer engagement base isn’t on social media.

Or how many times have you searched a CEO, General Manager or a thought leader on say Twitter and were surprised that they weren’t engaging on social media?!

Imagine the feedback and engagement they are missing out on and the opportunities missed in showcasing their product or service and simply, their brand, both as a company and as the spokesperson and figure head for the company.

The expectation of having social media channels can be a hard adjustment for many companies and businesses to come to terms with, especially because of the many unknowns around social media:

  • The platforms are ever-evolving and changing;
  • Its hard to keep up with the technology and lingo;
  • Many companies don’t know where to begin with social media; and
  • Many businesses struggle with how to budget for social media (hire an in-house person or outsource?) and what investment is required for the social media platforms they need to reach their intended audience of loyal customers.

With millennials now the largest generation in the Canadian workforce, companies, businesses and brands need to realize that like the receptionist that is expected as soon as you enter the front doors of your head office, having a presence on social media as a brand, company or business is the new expectation of doing business in the 21st century.

“Having a presence on social media as a brand, company or business is the new expectation of doing…

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This is true not only for the millennial generation but for people from all generations who use social media to engage both personally and professionally. Most people who want to check out a product to potentially purchase; share a customer service experience; ask questions; get their news; or engage and network within their industry, go to social media now as their primary source of information.

Its something to seriously consider if you are on the fence as to whether your brand should embrace social media or not.. get with the times and hire your online receptionist because chances are, it is expected of your brand.

P.S. Thanks for those asking and inquiring, the baby still hasn’t arrived but we appreciate the kind words, thoughts and positive vibes 🙂 #Overdue

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The excitement of not knowing what’s ahead

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To say the last 48 hours has felt surreal would be an understatement.

As of Friday, I began maternity leave to begin my {next} exciting life adventure… motherhood. Baby A hasn’t arrived just yet but knowing any day now, life could change because of his/her impending arrival, is an incredible feeling. Scary yes, but exciting none the less.

Where’s the manual I keep asking? Well, there isn’t one. And that is the whole point to becoming a parent. There is no one size fits all – what works for someone may not work for another. Its something I’ve tried to embrace this entire pregnancy, especially being a woman in business.

I have to say, the feeling of not having control from here on in is … well, liberating.

Adjusting to the smallest things – only having to charge and check one phone, not two; not having an impending schedule and calendar of meetings/briefings; getting use to not being needed in a work capacity; and ensuring I have what is needed to keep a human being alive once we are headed home from the hospital is again, scary but so liberating.

For those of us in business who like to be strategic about every move we make (so pretty much every millennial.. we all know we don’t like surprises!), it is exciting to not know what is in store for us. This baby has all the control now and I’ll (try) to be ready for whenever it wants to make its arrival into this amazing world.

Until then, I’m trying to wrap my mind around spending less time behind a computer to adapt to my soon-to-be-new reality of changing diapers. Here’s to hoping Baby A gives us a few days to nest so we can get ready for this next crazy, awesome adventure ahead of parenthood.

Signed,

{soon-to-be} #MamaBoss

The Two-Way Street of Communicating

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I gave a talk at the end of March about my concept of feeding the goldfish when it comes to communicating. At one point during my presentation, I discussed just how valuable communication is as the most fundamental skill we possess as human beings.

We discussed how effective communicators, especially in agriculture in the social media age, are able to connect on such complicated topics, with audiences that have no understanding of a topic. One of the ways they are able to do this is through being relatable – they somehow connect with an audience on a mutual level. An easy way they do this is by finding common ground and finding out what the audience thinks and feels before they share their opinion and perspective.

One of the lessons I imparted with the audience of enthusiastic agriculturalists was the following idea:

Communicating is a two-way street, involving listening AND talking.

So often, we think communication is about talking, when it fact communication is a two-part process involving the most important part of the process… listening.

We all know those people who forget this concept.

The people who do a lot of talking but don’t care to listen to what others have to say. Or those situations we all have been in where you are speaking with someone and you recognize early on, they aren’t even genuinely listening to you, they are already thinking of the next thing they want to say.

You can see it in their facial expressions; their head is nodding but you can see behind their eyes that their wheels are turning, already thinking about the next thing they are going to say back to you. And you can tell instantly with their initial response, whether they sincerely took in what you said before they spewed out what you knew they were cookin’ up.

Yes, we as human beings like to hear ourselves talk.

But the best communicators are those who take in what people say and listen.

Those communicators get the most out of conversation because they genuinely care about the people they are conversing with and what they have to say. Through listening FIRST, they are able to find common ground and mutual respect so the person/people/audience listens back to them.

As I shared that day with my audience, communicating is in fact a two-way street – try and not only be the driver, but the passenger. People will respect you for it and you’ll be a better communicator because of it.

The Discomfort with Sharing in a Social Media #Selfie World

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IMG_4134Let’s have an open, honest conversation about #selfies.

Is anyone else as uncomfortable as I am with sharing anything and everything with the world? Does anyone else have trouble taking selfies like I do?

Ok, glad we’re on the same page.

Yes, you may see some selfies on my instagram account, but it still doesn’t change the fact that I have a bit of discomfort in taking selfies, pictures that seem to be a cultural norm, if not a social media expectation now [Note: Here is what Merriam-Webster defines as a selfie]

I remember seeing someone a few years ago using a selfie stick thinking, ‘I will never use that stupid tool to take a picture’ and fast forward a few years later, I celebrated a year ago this week that I was in Alberta with my family….. taking photos with, you guessed it, a selfie stick.

The photo below shows my husband so eloquently capturing a photo of me, taking a photo of myself, in Lake Louise last year, to capture the fact that I used a selfie stick.

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It turned out to be a pretty handy tool when my arm also wasn’t long enough to capture this great photo below with my family in front of Lake Louise as well last year (our first time travelling out of province altogether as a family!)

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I’m not sure if the discomfort I have with selfies is because I’m in the sandwich millennial generation as I like to call it, where we are those millennials who were introduced to the internet and social media later in our teenage years and use social media more as ‘tools’ than we do as a daily sharing mechanism.

Keep in mind too, if I’m a millennial who has discomfort with sharing information and taking selfies, imagine how people of previous generations feel about us sharing everything and anything with our tribes. I can understand their ‘frustrations’ with our millennial generation, if you will.

I am amazed at the stuff that some people share with the world – with people they don’t know, but again, as a consumer of that same stuff from some of my favourite bloggers, I can see why the personal details and touches like selfies work to create a captive audience and following.

And don’t even get my started on the latest social media platform fad, Snapchat or Instagram Stories. The idea of talking business to myself while looking into a phone just isn’t appealing yet, even though I know that it will be one of the next platforms I try and embrace for business purposes here at the Passionate Voice.

Here’s to trying to take more selfies  – and to one day doing Snapchat with #nofear! 

Food for Thought [volume 7]

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Happy Easter weekend, friends!

Most of my food for thought articles this week are more ‘sobering’ in nature, which is something as a member of the millennial generation I think we need often. I am all for the positivity of ‘find your passion’ as long as your willing to work hard at that passion.  Sometimes we need that dose of reality to put things into perspective. Enjoy these reads!

  • Loved these 20 pieces of advice from ‘old people.’ One of the lines I think would be most suitable for our millennial generation to consider is, “People always say, ’’Make sure you get a job doing what you love!’’ But that isn’t the best advice. The right job is the job you love some days, can tolerate most days, and still pays the bills. Almost nobody has a job they love every day.” So true! Its a reminder for our generation that we can try and follow our passions or try and find our dream job but the reality is, the perfect job doesn’t exist (there will always be good days and bad ones!)
  • Along those same lines, this honest article by Mark Manson entitled ‘Screw Your Passion’ has a dose of reality as another reminder when we need to ensure our feet are planted firmly on the ground. This line resonated: “But more importantly, what I want to say to these people is this: that’s the whole point — “not knowing” is the whole XXXXX point. Life is all about not knowing, and then doing something anyway. All of life is like this. All of it. And it’s not going to get any easier just because you found out you love your job cleaning septic tanks or you scored a dream gig writing indie movies.”
  • After finishing The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington, this article about ‘busyness’ and what it is doing to us as individuals and as a society is something I am totally paying attention too more personally now. What are things I do to myself that aren’t necessary to survival, both personally and professionally. What are things I can do to help myself relax a bit more and enjoy myself are things I am asking myself more often now, especially as the baby’s due date draws closer and closer (less than 2 months to go!)