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Social Media as the New Receptionist

May 26, 2017 • Communication, Social Media

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 Discomfort with Sharing in a Social Media #Selfie World

April 23, 2017 • Social Media

Let’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.

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!)

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!

Setting Boundaries

May 28, 2016 • Career, Lifestyle

Hope you are enjoying your coffee this morning like I am, how awesome are Saturday mornings?!

Something I’ve gotten A LOT better at in 2016 (there is always still room for improvement, of course!) is trying to set more healthy boundaries in both my personal and professional life. It dawned on me over the holidays at the end of 2015 that the insanity that is life, will always be this crazy and insane. Its how you manage it and decide to make it as crazy/insane (in a fun way!) that will dictate how much of the journey you enjoyed in life.

I realized that if I continually take on more activities, to-do’s, say yes to too many things, push myself TOO far and TOO hard, burn the candle from both ends and don’t refuel and recharge myself, then it is a recipe for disaster. I really am a ‘work hard, play hard’ type of person but at what point do you decide that you are over-doing everything and not really enjoying anything? Its something ask yourself.. something I’m glad I did at the end of 2015.

In an effort to try and help myself, I proactively decided it was time to set better boundaries to everything I was doing, both at work, at home, with The Passionate Voice and in my extra-curriculars. I have taken small steps to create some helpful boundaries that really do add up to more free time throughout my day resulting in feeling a lot more productive and purposeful at the end of the day. If you’re in the same position as I am and need some quick and actionable steps to feel like you’re making changes that will help, try one (or all) of these changes I’ve made and let me know what you think!

10 Steps I’ve Taken to Set Healthy Boundaries in 2016

Removing Facebook from my phone as an app
Not checking social media as often as I do (even though it sometimes kills me to miss certain conversations online, its not life or death so I’m fine!)
Use social media more purposefully – setting scheduled tweets/posts and using it in a more professional/productive manner rather than just wasting time on it
Creating a ‘To Read’ folder in my inbox and setting it up so all of the subscriptions/eBlasts I subscribe too automatically go into the folder for me to read at a determined time
Using 3 methods to capture all of my blog reading I like to do by using Feedly, Pocket, and creating a Microsoft OneNote for all the articles I want to save and reference for future use
Limiting the number of blogs I follow and read – this one has been hard because I’ve been a loyal blog reader for 10+ years to many blogs but there comes a time where only the blogs of most value and the ones that are the funnest to read are what I consider the most enriching so I’ve got 100+ blogs down to under 25!
Creating a reading schedule so I only check and use these 3 above mentioned platforms and read from my ‘To Read’ email folder once a week. I have apps on my iPhone and desktop so I can easily save articles of interest, but I only read them at a scheduled time slot every Monday morning.
Going to bed earlier and (really) making a conscious effort to not use my phone before bed
Working out more – this has seriously changed how healthy not only my body is but my mind as well – I have felt so much sharper and fresher since I started working out on a regular basis again.
Taking planned days off and getting outdoors where I don’t plan anything; don’t open up my laptop to send one last email and try and get outdoors to do something fun (since I spend a lot of my time indoors during the week)

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The Big ‘4’ of Social Media

April 4, 2016 • Communication, Social Media

A few weeks go I asked YOU what you wanted to read about and I appreciate the responses I received from those who emailed or tweeted at me! I am going to be sharing more posts relating to those questions. One of the first questions I received (and this is a question I get often!) is what social media platforms should businesses and individuals be using to keep up with social media standards? I know this is a question that many brands/companies/businesses struggle with as well as professionals who are trying to assert themselves as ‘experts’ in their fields.

The platforms I would consider part of standard practice now are platforms where a customer, who is new to a brand, automatically goes too for more information about that brand/product. These are the platforms that consumers expect brands/companies to be on. I do this often myself – when I hear of a new product, book or expert, I automatically go to certain social media platforms to engage with them or learn more about the product itself.

While some may find it hard to narrow it down to only 4 platforms since there are new platforms being introduced daily, the 4 platforms I recommended are platforms that have ‘stuck’ with the large majority of users so there is now an ‘expectation’ for brands and individuals to be on them. Disclaimer: These platforms may change depending on what industry you work in or audience you are tailoring content for depending on a number of factors, but overall, the social media platforms (or the ‘Big 4’ as I like to call them) that I would recommend include:

Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn / Instagram

There are also ‘Honourable Mentions’ – some are early(er) in their infancy or are dependent on what industry they can be best used for:

Pinterest / Snapchat / YouTube / FlickR / Google+

There are many examples I could use to showcase what platforms most businesses and individuals use for social media so I figured I would share 4 of my favourite websites/brands whose social media accounts I access often. You can see the trend that all four have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and the remaining other platforms depend on the audience they are trying to target (more professional, more business oriented, more visual, etc).

And to practice what I preach, I finally got my new public Instagram account up and going so give me a follow if your on it!