Spence Smith

Now that I’m walking into being a stepfather, I’ve been noticing a few things about me that I need to shore up. You see, I’m feeling the need, want and desire to be a much better example to these two incredible kids whose lives I get to be apart of. Not just in the real world we live in but the the virtual world as well.

I don’t want them to be embarrassed of my online presence and I want to set the right example for their online presence as well.

I’ve never known what it is to be a parent. I love kids and I love these two kids the most. I look forward to every day I get to be with them because I know I’m always going to experience something funny with them or get surprised with some sweet moments of just being together. We have those moments together where they ask questions and want real answers and there are those moments when I get to ask them questions… to get them thinking a little bit.

As I walk along side these little lives, I’m noticing something…

For all you parents out there, I know you know what I’m about to say…

These kids notice everything. Even the things I don’t think they notice… they notice. It’s eye opening for me, but also a great reminder of the man I need to be… and also the man I want to be.

So, as I have been stepping up things, I’ve been going through my life… like re-arranging my closet so that I know what I have in me that needs to stay or go away. Again… A little eye-opening for me. I’m not single anymore and I can’t live like I’m the only one I answer too. It’s amazing how much has changed in this part of my life in the past two months.

One of the big things I’m paying attention to these days is the example I set for them online.

They are on Facebook with their friends. They sit down and watch YouTube just as much or more than they turn on the TV. They are engaged in community with their family and friends online… and they see what I do, what I say… and ultimately how I live my life… even online.

If the kids are paying attention to what I’m putting out on twitter or facebook, then I figure others are as well right? So, some of the things I used to throw out there won’t be coming out in my twitter stream or showing up on facebook like they once did.

The changes will be subtle and some of you might not even notice, but I will… and so will the kids.

I think it’s important for the online world to be a place where people learn from others and are encouraged to move forward in life. Not a place to bully people. It’s not a place to air out our anger against others or to bring someone down in a 140 character statement or a blog post. I don’t want these kids thinking it’s ok to do that or that it’s even productive for anyone. Honestly, I think when people bring others down online, it’s a selfish move. I’ve seen it happen in these kids lives with their friends and it was devastating, but also an important time teach them how to be with their friends online and how to handle them in real life.

How about you? How do you view your example online and where do you draw the line?

When I first got into blogging, I found the whole experience to be fascinating. I couldn’t believe I could write about anything I wanted and that other people would randomly find it online using searchable words on Google. Then they would actually read and comment. I know, it must sound a little geeky for some of you but for me… it was a new frontier to be conquered.

So I started blogging… almost every day.

In 2007, I joined Twitter and my online life went to another level. The experience, again, was fascinating and I immediately saw the vast opportunity to connect and engage with people on a whole new level. At first, myself and my close friends who started on twitter in 2007 were made fun of and joked about around casual conversations by people who weren’t on twitter … YET … and didn’t understand at all what it’s potential was.
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Google has long been considered the mac-daddy of all things Internet and Search Engine. “Just Google it”… and you can learn about anything you want. It’s why a few years ago Google changed their search engine to scan more blogs for updated and current content than traditional websites.

The most recent content (opinion, news, tweets, etc.) wins. But wins even more if the site posting the content has a good history of posting fresh and updated content. It’s one way we teach clients how to get on the first page of Google.

So if people are searching for an answer. They are searching for answers from trusted sources. It’s in these answers where content becomes King… and who can you trust more than a friend to give you an answer?

A friend you are connected with on facebook or twitter maybe?

Not sure about a movie you want to go see? You can read people’s opinion on twitter or maybe a review they wrote and posted on facebook via twitter… which probably is on their blog somewhere.

What made you become a raving fan of Mumford & Sons? Was it seeing their name pop up in tweets on a regular occasion? Did one of your friends post a picture from their concert or a youtube video posted on a facebook wall? Did someone you like say… ‘OMG!!!! Mumford & Sons freaking rock!!!!’

This is why Facebook and Twitter ARE The Social Search Engine. At anytime I can ask a question and get a very real answer and opinion. Not that blogs or static sites don’t have the answer from a Google search, but ask a question on Twitter or Facebook and the answer will come very quickly.

In fact, Google believes this is very important. Why? Just Google something and after your results come up on the google page, look to the left of the screen and click the Realtime link. There you will see a combined feed of real time content (mostly twitter) where people are talking about what you Googled. Make sense?

The bottom line is this.

Influence comes in many forms and from many sources.

And nothing says influence like word of mouth from a trusted source… a friend on Twitter or Facebook.

How does Twitter or Facebook influence you?

When I engage someone in conversation, I’m expecting to have a… conversation. I say something… the other person responds… I say something again… the other person responds… you get the picture. Sometimes if a person is a master of conversation, I will hear… WOW so-and-so is such an engaging person; I love how they bring me right into conversation!

Engaging people online is much the same way. As much as I’m into teaching people to engage others online, I had to check myself. Am I really engaging people online or am I throwing out thoughts as a monologue and not creating dialogue?

To engage people online ultimately comes down to being willing to have conversation online.

Write a post, get a comment, writer responds to comment. If the conversation needs to continue in that forum, then it does.

Tweet out a message, someone @reply’s to your message, you reply back… and the conversation continues.

Post something on facebook, someone ‘likes’ it or leaves a comment, you reply back… and the conversation continues.

If you want to engage people online, YOU HAVE to be engaging. YOU HAVE to reply and comment back. Even if it’s to just say thanks.

This experience is a two-way street. If you have an online presence and you aren’t taking these steps to engage people (your clients, fans or friends)… then you are missing the point entirely and missing out on a better online experience… and potentially missing out on making a sale or a deeper connection to a better customer service experience for your company or brand.

So lets review:

Reply to comments on your blog. As many of them as you can. I try to reply to all comments these days. Intense Debate or Disqus are great plugins for this. You can replay back right from email.

Reply to comments on twitter. It doesn’t matter if it is an @reply to you or something you see in your stream. Reply.

Reply to comments on facebook. Again, reply back to as many as possible.

Oh… and one more thing. Commenting on other people’s blogs, twitter messages and things they post on facebook is a pretty good idea as well… when you can of course. Get the picture?

Question: How important is engaging others online to you? How does it make you feel? What results are you seeing for experience?

I’ve been cleaning up my twitter profile to really know who I’m following. I think the process is going to take a few days to get it where I want it to be, but once I get there I think it will be an even more engaging experience for me.

There’s one thing I see as I go through this cleaning process. It’s really simple actually and can make a huge difference in how people engage with you.

Here it is… ready?

Fill out your profile. THE WHOLE THING!!!

It’s not that hard.

There are on five areas that you need info for and it will only take you a few minutes to complete.

Your Name… that’s a given. Most people do this one well. Put your real name. It will be easier for your friends to use google to see if you’re on twitter.

Location… Easy. Put the city you live in. City and state. If you don’t want to put your city and state, make up something funny. It’s ok. You can do it.

Website… If you have a blog or a website of some sort. Put this here. It’s a great place to drive traffic to your site. If all you have is facebook, then put it here. If you have none of the above, just put in your twitter address. I know… it seems redundant but twitter suggests it and what could it hurt right?

Bio… again, easy. All they want is something less than 160 characters. It can be words that describe you or again.. something funny works too. Put whatever you want in there but take time to fill it out.

Photo… Anytime someone follows me and they don’t’ have a photo in their profile, I wont’ follow them back. I want to see who you are or what you represent. If you don’t like the way you look then put up a photo you do like. Just put something.

Why is all of this important?

Because most twitter users view a completed profile as a real person or a real brand trying to engage us online. When someone follows me (and if i get a chance) I will look at their profile and make a decision if I want to follow them or not. If there’s no picture, I move on. I won’t follow without a picture. If they have filled out their whole profile, then it gives me a quick glance as to who they are and the decision is much easier. If there is no information in their profile, again, I won’t follow. You probably look like spam to me and probably are spam.

But what if this is you and you aren’t spam? Then take a few minutes and fill out your profile. It makes a huge difference to those of us who hang out on twitter.

Also… did you know you can capitalize letters in your screen name? SpenceSmith looks better than spencesmith in my eyes. It helps make your name stand out just a tad.

For those of you who are on twitter, how do you view incomplete profiles? Does it matter to you?

Sometimes I get so much on my plate I don’t know what to tackle first and I feel overwhelmed.

Have you been there?

When I’m advising people on how to beef up their online presence, they tell me the same thing… This feels overwhelming, where do I start?

The first thing we talk about is taking care of the Low Hanging Fruit.

What is low hanging fruit?

WiseGeek.com says this..

“We have Mother Nature to thank for the expression low hanging fruit. A fruit-bearing tree often contains some branches low enough for animals and humans to reach without much effort. The fruit contained on these lower branches may be not be as ripe or attractive as the fruit on higher limbs, but it is usually more abundant and easier to harvest. From this we get the popular expression “low hanging fruit“, which generally means selecting the easiest targets with the least amount of effort.”

Practically speaking… “set a number of easily attainable goals, essentially low hanging fruit, and accomplish them with minimal effort.”

This is generally how I find my way to the big tasks that are going to take a little more time and energy to accomplish.

When I feel overwhelmed I need to step back and evaluate what’s in front of me and realize what my end goal should be.

For example: How do I envision my presence online? What do I want people to do when they visit my site? Then I look at the easiest tasks to accomplish and do those tasks first.

This clears the plate, so to speak, so I can make time for the bigger stuff. Designing the site, setting up SEO (keywords & description) or Google Analytics. Creating content for my site… You get the picture?

In principle, this works in business life and personal life. It’s like the cliff-note version of problem solving. Mapping things out so you take the easiest route to your destination.

Low hanging fruit for your online presence?

Here’s one thing to get you started… (Believe me, there are several low hanging fruits to go after when beefing up your online presence.)

Be consistent with your brand name. For me, my brand is SpenceSmith. Every one of my online profiles center around my name.

SpenceSmith.com

Facebook.com/SpenceSmith

Twitter.com/SpenceSmith

linkedin.com/in/SpenceSmith

SpenceSmith.posterous.com

foodspotting.com/SpenceSmith

dailymile.com/SpenceSmith

Make sense? Sometimes accomplishing the smallest task can ease the most amount of pressure.

It’s a good place to start before you dive into building that cool new site. You can already be engaging people on these social networks while building your new site.

When you feel overwhelmed or don’t know where to start, how do you take care of the low hanging fruit? Or do you?

I’m around creative types a lot. Artists, Authors, Speakers etc… and they are all trying their hand a twitter. It’s fun to see some of them really get it, but it pains me to watch others get frustrated with it and not get how to use it well.

There are several posts out there talking about what effective twitter strategy looks like and I think one of the best is from Chris Brogan (80/20 Principle). But as I read through some of these posts and teach people who to be better social networkers, there are two tips that really stick out to me as being the most important.

1. Pay Attention To Your Mentions. Practically speaking this is easy to do. If you have a smart phone (iPhone,Android,Blackberry,etc) then there are apps that will have a Mention column or @reply column. Set it up as the 2^nd most important column you look at. The 1^st being the people or lists that want to follow. There are desktop apps for this as well. I use Hootsuite on my mac and on my iPhone. It’s seamless.

Take a look at your mentions. If people are responding to your tweets, then reply back to them. You don’t have to reply back to all of them or spend all day replying back to them. Just reply back to the ones you feel like responding to. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, but not replying is not engaging and well… that is just wrong on twitter. I can’t always get to my reply’s when I would like but I do what I can, when I can.

People who reply to you are inviting small conversation. Not long drawn out conversation. If you are a celebrity who keeps your fans at an arms length, it’s ok. You can still reach out to them on twitter and not upset the apple cart. Saying thanks to a specific person on twitter is great start if they throw you a compliment or some encouragement.

I’m sure there are some people on twitter who get so many reply’s that it’s impossible to reply back to everyone. That’s ok. Just do what feels comfortable.

The challenge for us all is to set our own boundaries as to how much we reply back to people. Since I changed how I use twitter, my experience has been much more enjoyable. Celebrities… You aren’t opening a can of worms here. You can close the can whenever you want. But I guarantee, if you start having some conversations with your followers, your credibility online will grow exponentially. We are in a day when social networking can make or brake you, which means your online credibility is real currency.

2. Retweet others. I think retweeting others is just about the nicest thing you can do on twitter. It says that you are paying attention to others and that you are willing to share info with your friends from people you follow. It’s that simple… and it’s giving.

If you send out a message you feel like others will retweet, make sure you leave us all some room. You should leave about 24 characters open so we can retweet your whole message without the message getting cut off. It’s frustrating to only see half a link. Know what I mean?

Listen… these two points do something very important. They take the focus off of us and put it on engaging with others. Engaging with others helps build trust and shows a little more transparency. These have become two of the greatest allies in building a fan base or customer base… or just building friends online.

You aren’t engaging anyone or building anything if you have a constant stream of marketing messages and are giving us a monologue. Apply the top points above and this will decrease over time.

Just remember… Twitter is a great marketing vehicle but it’s the conversation that drives the engine.

If you would like high profile examples, then take a look at the twitter streams of Pink (@pink), Ben Stiller (@redhourben) Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe). All high profile in their own right and they are just a few of the great examples of people engaging others online. I use these examples to show that you can be a super star and still safely connect with people online.

How has replying to others and retweeting affected your time on twitter?

I thought I would try Chris Brogan’s idea about writing a Follow Friday post. In thinking about this, there are so many people I would recommend following but for today, I’m going to start with the four men I am around the most in my neighborhood. Randy Elrod, Michael Hyatt, Steve Anderson and Ken Davis. (Literally, we all live in the downtown Franklin area “Franklin Campus” if you will)

Michael Hyatt, Les Clairmont, Me, Ken Davis, Steve Anderson and Randy Elrod

Randy Elrod @RandyElrod

Most of you know he is my mentor, closest friend and business partner. Honestly, if he really was just all of those things in my life and nothing more then I would be completely happy but the truth is he is not. He is that one of kind friend that comes a long and really teaches you what life really is all about and his example of how he lives life is really what impacts me the most. I also love watching how he and his wife, Chris, live out their love for each other and passionately pursue one another. Randy is always challenging me to think just beyond where I think I can go which makes me move forward that much more in life. If you follow him on twitter and read his blog, you will be educated, challenged and encouraged. I always am.

Michael Hyatt @MichaelHyatt

I came to know Michael and his wife, Gail, through Randy and Chris Elrod. Michael and Gail have become a dear friends over the past couple of years and any time we get to hang out with no agenda other than good conversation, we always have the best time. But I have to say… when we all start talking social networking, twitter, blogging, publishing… the geek factor in the room goes up about 100 percent and then we all go home to try new things we learned from each other. What I love about following Michael on twitter and reading his blog is the amount of information he puts out there is enough for anyone to learn from on any level. He is constantly looking for relevant content to share with anyone who is willing to read it… By the way, Happy Birthday Michael!

Steve Anderson @SteveTN

Steve is the guy in my life who I think actually travels more than me. He speaks weekly to insurance agents on how to engage their clients more effectively. He has mastered combining the social networking world and the insurance world into an easy place for his audience to really understand the digital world we live in and is always looking for new technology to try out. In his personal life, Steve and his wife Karen are a kick to hang out with. There’s always a conversation to be had and Steve can cook some meals that have sent us all home in awe. Let’s just put it this way… You put Steve Anderson and Randy Elrod in the kitchen together and the experience would be worth it’s own TV show. In the words of Randy when it comes to a masterfully prepared meal “It’s Heaven times ten thousand!” The combination of those two is a cooking powerhouse where every taste of the final creation is worth savoring.

Ken Davis @LitenUp

Ken and I have been friends for years. He is a comedian and speaker (yes there are times he speaks that don’t involve jokes) and he has been representing the work of Compassion International for a good while. I’ve been fortunate to travel with him on behalf of Compassion, which is a blast. But again… Ken is a friend. He is someone who dives into my life and like Randy, challenges me to think and to get very real with who I am. Any time I get to spend with him is precious and the humor involved is unprecedented. He and his wife Diane are a blast to hang with as well. We’ve been on cruises together, had dinner’s on the porch and made fun of his son-in-laws for far too long. I mean… what’s not to love about that! One of the coolest things I love about Ken is in the past two years he has tackled the triathlon world and has caught the bug. It just goes to show… no matter what your age, you’re always young enough to go after anything you set your mind too. Ken is in the best shape of his life and if you hang around him, his energy will rub off on you.

So those are the four guys in my immediate life you should follow today on twitter, but really… there is a fifth. He is not on twitter and is never on the computer. I’m not even sure he has an email address. But I’m going to give an honorable mention to our friend Les Clairmont.

Les is married to author and speaker Patsy Clairmont who does know how to use the computer very well and is on twitter and has her own blog.

Les and Patsy have moved to downtown Franklin, TN in the past year and have both been an incredible addition to our little family of friends. Les is always the life of the party. He’s incredibly funny and full of one liners and little songs he sings to us. But the greatest thing about Les is through his humor and example of how he lives his life is always throwing out little life lessons. I love Les because you just can’t be around him with out smiling and walking away having learned something from him.

I’m honored that I get to share my life with these men. Every man in this post is an influencer and they are all supported and partnered with wives who are great influencers in their own lives.

You see… we all need influencers and… I think… we all need to influence others. That’s kind of the idea behind Follow Friday. Influence others to follow someone who influences you.

So tell me… who are you influenced by?

Over the past few months I’ve been trying to streamline my online world to make it more focused and easier to manage. As much as I love all things Web 2.0, I need less distraction and more interaction. This is especially true when it comes to twitter.

I started on twitter back in Nov of 2007 when the only way to engage on twitter was either through texting messaging or going on twitter.com to send out messages. It was pretty simple. Then through out the day, I’d check my email to see who is following me and then go follow them back if I wanted too.

Pretty simple right? Well… I got to missing those simple days.

Now there are so many ways to use twitter that my head spins just from thinking about it. Everyday there’s a new twitter iPhone app or desktop app to help you get on the twittering branch and believe me… I’ve tried them all!

I’ve have a lot of people follow me and for the most part I’m a huge fan of following everyone who follows me. In the past, I’ve also been a big fan of using a site call SocialOomph.com to auto follow everyone who follows me…and… auto unfollow everyone who unfollows me. I started using this service almost two years ago, which honestly… if that’s something you’re into, then go for it. They rock in this department.

Something else I used to do, which I haven’t been doing for over a year now, is send an automated DM to those who followed me and I followed back. It was simple and was a thank you for following me.

Well.. the Auto DM’s I was getting were starting to get out of control. They are completely annoying and spam filled so I decided to not add to the chatter and I stopped auto DM. DM=Direct Messaging.

Over time Twitter has changed in so many ways. There are a ton of marketers using it, which is great, but all they do is market themselves and don’t engage in the conversation.

There’s a lot of spam which twitter has really done a better job of managing recently.

And twitter is starting to punish those who don’t play by the rules.

So here’s what I’ve done…

1. Focus on how I want to use twitter. I want it to be conversational, informative, fun and a vehicle to drive people to another destination.
2. I stopped auto-following anyone who follows me and I now have gone back to vetting everyone who follows me. If I like you then I will follow you back.
3. I stopped using text messaging and finally made the transition of using just a twitter client for my iphone and desktop. I have specific people coming in on text messages to my phone, but those same people are also in a specific column for HootSuite, which I use on my phone as an app and desktop. HootSuite does everything I need it to do. So I don’t need another distraction like text messages popping up every 10 seconds. In certain situations I will turn on text messages but it’s rare now. This helps me to be more present when I’m with people to not always be looking for text messages on twitter. It’s better to get in a habit of checking messages when you get up from the table or someone else takes a call… twitter can wait.
4. 80/20 rule. I followed some good advice from the likes of @ChrisBrogan. He says to keep your twitter messages to 80% RT(ReTweet) or about others.
5. RT those who RT me. It never hurts to promote others and share the love. I don’t always do this 100% of the time, but I try as much as possible which is key… just try and do what you can when you can.

So here’s the deal. There’s no possible way to keep up with EVERYONE. So I focus on those I really like following. I interact with them and if someone I’m not paying attention to DM’s me or @replies to me then I do my best to reply back. You can do this easy with a good twitter client like HootSuite.

One thing I thought was annoying was when people would have conversations publicly over twitter when no one else knew the context of the conversation. Well… now I’m thinking that’s ok. As long as it doesn’t go on and on and on. If it’s interesting enough, you can always go look at their twitter feeds to see what is really going on. Now I don’t’ mind it and I will have conversations in the same way on occasion.

If someone chooses to unfollow me, that’s fine. It’s the beauty of twitter. If you don’t like what someone has to say, you don’t have to follow them.

In the end… twitter for me is about engaging people in conversation and sending them to another destination. With these few changes, I’m getting a little more ‘twitter old school’ and I’m really happy with how much easier it is to be more engaged.

Another plus… it’s now taking up less of my time to be more engaging! Perfect!

How do you use twitter to engage people?

If you are brand new to the internet and have no idea what it means to have a presence online or maybe you already have a presence online but you haven’t figured out how to make it really work for yourself or you business, then come spend the day with Randy Elrod and I at LifeWork 2.0 Seminar on Saturday, January 9,2010.

We will show you how to start a blog, use social networking sites like Facebook, build a following on Twitter and make it all work together in a way that doesn’t take up every minute of every day of your life, but just becomes one part of life while driving traffic to your brand and increasing loyalty among your clients, customers and fans.

If you are a CEO and you want to learn how to bring employees into your world, put a better face on your company and lead the charge into the new business model of the digital world, then come let us show you how to build a better experience for everyone in your sphere of influence.

If you are a business looking to build a more loyal customer base, we will teach you how to create a conversation with them and get the kind of feedback that gives you the ability to go to the next level in your business.

If you are an artist or author looking to build a larger fan base that is truly interacting with you, we will show you the how to build a strong fan base through authenticity, transparency and conversation.

If you are a leader in the church and you want to learn who to grow your congregation though the internet, we will show you how use blogging and social networking to create an atmosphere that brings people into the life of the church.

If you are a mom who has something to share and wants to be more involved in the mom blog community, we will show you how to get started and build a fun network around you.

We will also give you the behind-the-scenes tools to use Search Engine Optimization to bring traffic to your site without having to pay a dime for a sponsored link or ad.

All of this in one day as we show you how to manage your online reputation. Did you know you have a reputation online? The question is Who is leading the conversation? You or someone else? We will show you how to lead the conversation and rule your online world.

Its a fun day and it’s packed full of useful information. We hope you will join us.

So if you want to sign up… just click HERE for registration and more info or click on the LifeWork banner in my side bar.

Many of you have asked me lately about what it means to live on campus in historic downtown Franklin, TN. This question pops up as a result of conversations on twitter between a few of us who “live on campus”.

You see… There are a few of us who are really close friends that live within a three block radius of each other in downtown Franklin. We are all friends on twitter and we are all friends in real life. We share meals together, work together, celebrate birthdays and special occasions together… we experience life together. We are much like family and we all support each other very well.

I mean… that’s what friends do.

The whole concept of living on campus actually came from our friend Brock Gill (who visits campus often) as a few of us were sitting at Merridee’s having breakfast one day.

Brock said, “you know… if you live in downtown Franklin, then you live on campus. You can walk to anywhere in downtown Franklin right from your house. There’s a book store, places to eat, places to shop, and as you walk back and forth you get to know the shop owners like they are on staff as professors. Then you have Merridee’s – This place is like the student center. It’s not open for dinner but those living on campus come by here during the day for coffee or a quick bite and in the process you run into all these people you know. Just like going into the student center.”

As we sat and listened to Brock, we all laughed and said “you know… you are right!”

And he is… we even have a post office, 3 churches, a starbucks, 4 incredible bars, a Ben and Jerry’s, an outdoor apparel store, a round about and some of the best restaurants in the Nashville area…right here in downtown Franklin, TN. Not to mention the historic Franklin theatre, which we would all love to see open back up, and an incredible amount of civil war history that surrounds us.

All of this… in three blocks. Pipe in a little Disney or John Williams music, throw in a castle at the end of the street and who needs to go to Orlando! Main Street USA IS downtown Franklin, TN!

Campus Dwellers - Me, Randy Elrod and Michael Hyatt at one of the many festivals in Downtown Franklin, TN

For us, it’s about community and living life well.

Enjoying those spontaneous gatherings, great meals, and masterful bottles of wine. The conversations are never lacking and the friendships grow with no agenda except to live life as neighbors building a community that strives to make a difference.

Some of you might not live on campus like we do, but you live in community with several friends. What do you love about your neighbors, your community, or your campus? Are you taking advantage of growing friendships and building each other up? Are you coming together to make a difference?