It’s your first day. A new job. You want to make a good impression. A few things you might want to consider NOT doing are:
- Turning up late
- Turning up drunk
- Asking your boss if you can leave early for the day
You know the story; the first day we all want to look good and be popular. But most of all, we just want people to like us. And not screw up. (Or set the fire extinguisher off in a freak accident.) You can’t take back a first impression.
To be most avoided in a new job situation is: pretending to be something that you’re not. Unless you are only temping and chances of returning to the same company are slim to none, the truth is going to catch up with you. And do you really want to spend the next several years wondering when you may be outed for your outrageous lies.
As in life, so online, if you create an outrageous blog/social media persona can you live up to the hype? Social media marketing has become a powerful tool for connecting with your audience and a perfect platform for dialogue. This in turn has created a panic wave amongst small businesses who all think they should have a page. But really don’t understand how to interact with their audience.
In this post I can only offer a small morsel of advice on getting to grips with social marketing and that gem of advice is; know your audience, speak their language, go follow them and listen to what they say and what they want. Then build your page with transparency and invite them to enter conversation with you. (watch out for more indepth articles on how to get the best out of social marketing.)
Please don’t post lots of fake entries and get a few friends to add comments about how brilliant their experience of you is. This is painfully see-through and the fastest way to lose respect. The user has total control of the interaction process and once you lose their trust she isn’t coming back. You’re always one click away from an abundance of competition.
You can’t make a good impression with a fake persona (unless you are a professional actor). Keep it real, be transparent and invite your customers to make genuine comments on your brand/product. Then use the feedback to improve what you offer.
I am starting this blog with transparency about who I am and what I do. Check out the about me section and the site links of my work. I am the real deal, I work very, very hard at what I do, I read a lot of other blogs and books constantly to keep on top. And there is still always something new to learn, every single day.
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