Value of Social Media Marketing - Earn The Right To Be Heard

- Earn the Right To Be Heard -

     "Earn the right to be heard" stands as one of the pillars among cliches for describing what you have to do to get people to listen to you.  I first learned through a former mentor from church, and later a close friend of mine from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.  Yesterday, Tuesday October 18th 2011, Peter Pasternack from Foundations Designs LLC in Atlanta confirmed my thoughts that social media marketing provides you with the opportunity to be heard, especially among your competition.  I value Peter's opinion due to his "infectious" positive energy, and the fact that he has been on A&E with Flip This House.

     Just focusing on the present, and not my reasons for getting involved in social media marketing, this tool enables me to stand apart from my competition who seeks to get a commercial real estate position with an established company, and outstanding leadership.  How do I stand out from the competition?  Three primary ways come to mind.  One, I show my persistence in obtaining a position.  You need this trait in any position.  Two, people can see that I can sell myself.  You can measure that success by the number of followers on Twitter, and people who want to connect with you on LinkedIn.  With the later, you develop a strong "Rolodex."  (Caution:  These contacts are only valuable if they are from outside your company, and also not your competition.) Three, I show that I can attract an audience for all the right reasons.

     Remember a fundamental truth about "Earn the right to be heard"!  It is a perishable attribute.  You must continue to work at providing what people need and want to hear, and demonstrate your competency among your colleagues.  If you are absent from your pears for any period of time, do not think that your track record will qualify you to be heard by them.  For a personal example, I have been running marathons with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training since 2000.  At times I have been "dinged" up, and thus not perform at high levels.  My knowledge is valuable, especially to rookies, but they need to see me perform well.  Once I returned to that level, they started to respect my knowledge.  It has happened during the last four weeks while training for the Savannah Marathon on November 5th. http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/rnrsav11/jkobal6hjk