It’s good practice to appreciate your successes and learn from mistakes. Reviewing lessons learned and acknowledging co-workers is encouraged by such process gurus as the Project Management Institute. We were taken by a recent discovery: how Umbraco CMS is creating and embracing an asynchronous non-geolocated team of open source developers through shared “high fives” over Twitter.

Our History – You Rock Awards

You Rock Awards at Pure Visibility

We are a driven bunch, much more prone to notice and stew about the 5-10% that went wrong instead of the 90-95% that went right about a project. We started a practice to give each other public compliments and called them “pineapples” (for reasons you can read about on the Pure Visibility History page). Sometimes we even presented actual tasty pineapples to each other.

Toy porcupine, shared by eperales on Flickr

Over time, we decided to expand our practice to include “porcupines”, the inverse of a pineapple, something that was a learning event. We elected to share these to prevent teammates from going down a known dead-end path.

We like nuance rather than black and white, so we elaborated the taxonomy to include “pork-apples” (half porcupine, half pineapples) and “pine-u-pines” (half pineapple, half porcupine).

Or the more complicated and multi-faceted “yay-boo-yay,” a good thing with a bad surprise inside that has an OK resolution, or “boo-yay-boo”, a bad thing that seems to resolve but then reveals another problem underneath. These silly names got us talking about these things, and sharing solutions.

We have experimented a little with Twitter-like chat and messaging systems, where we can make these kinds of announcements to include remote team members in the celebrations and the lessons, but usage of these has faded after a short while. Institutionalizing this practice (everyone had to share a pineapple and a porcupine each week…) kind of deadened it and we got out of the habit.

Umbraco’s Approach

So, we were heartened to see this practice echoed and expanded immensely to Twitter (something many of our team members already use) by Umbraco CMS, an open source Content Management System. We haven’t actually seen an Umbraco CMS deployment, so we cannot comment on their product, but their process is fun and lighthearted.

They’re using Twitter, and the hashtag #h5yr (high five, you rock) to call out colleagues for successes. They’re also using Twitter and the hashtag #h5is (high five, I suck) to share lessons learned. What’s interesting is that instead of by reciting your errors by rote and educating the team about how to avoid your misdeed, there’s something light and positive about announcing that you rock for finding your own error.

Maybe it’s snarky  and self-deprecating when used by some, but I’m taking it at face value. I believe there is a victory in finding and correcting mistakes. I’ve always been an advocate of “making mistakes faster” – sharing work early and producing work iteratively to ensure that mistakes in understanding are corrected way before the end of the production process.

Anyway, see for yourself to interpret how it is being used by the Umbraco community by reading some recent posts on these sites:

• h5yr.com
• h5is.com

What I like is that it is shared, public, using a system that exists and is already in use, and lighthearted.

Hat tip to the Chief Happiness Officer blog.

Now that Google+ has reached 20 million users, in order to stay in the social media game you’ll have four services to keep track of. Facebook and Twitter are the obvious big dogs. LinkedIn, the business social network, has been increasing in popularity and importance. With a huge number of initial sign-ups and very positive press, Google+ doesn’t seem to be going away. Most speculate that once more people start using big G’s new network and business pages are integrated, even more growth can be expected.

So how do you manage having a presence on four different social networks? There is no universally correct way. Everyone should develop their own strategy. To help find how others created theirs, I surveyed a group of marketers in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area. All of them have a strong presence on multiple social networks. The survey asked which of the big four networks they use, what their strategy was, and what impact, if any, Google+ has had.

With these tips you can develop a social media strategy that works for you and effecively targets your audience of followers.

Facebook

Facebook Usage

With over a quarter-billion users, Facebook is the largest social network. One main difference from Twitter and Google+ is that, for both these networks people have to agree to follow each other in order to “become friends.” This fosters a more personal experience. Users tend to know each other before becoming friends.

The usage chart indicates how people surveyed use Facebook. Personal usage is on the far left in darker colors while Networking and Work is lighter and to the right. This same format is used to show usage for the other social networks. As you can see, most use Facebook for personal, family, and entertainment.

“…when I share things that are more personal or family oriented I sometimes go straight to Facebook.”

“Facebook is more oriented toward keeping up with friends and family relationships.”

“I use Facebook to post more about what I am doing and who I am doing it with.”

Twitter

Twitter Usage

Twitter is a mixed bag of sorts. Usage is spread fairly evenly except for family use. Twitter is the service that tends to “stay out of the way.” They provide a method for you to share 140 characters of thoughts or links with others. The rest is up to you. Even though it is a very simple, limited interface, people often find it the most confusing. Regular users often have found specific ways Twitter can deliver custom news or information to them.

“…I use it as an aggregator of news or stories from reporters/networks I enjoy, bloggers I read, music news I care about…”

“Twitter is just for fun – mostly just follow/tweet my hobbies.”

“(Twitter) has really allowed me to build my personal brand…”

“I often cross post from Twitter.”

People tend to find their own personal use for Twitter. Often times other services feed into Twitter so they may have personal and work topics in the same stream.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Usage

LinkedIn promotes itself as the professional social network. Its more about creating a network of business associates. People you’ve done work for, companies you’ve worked at. Content can be shared but tends to be more focused to business news or the users related industry. You can see from the usage chart that there is a heavy lean towards networking and work.

“LinkedIn is only about professional networking…”

“I’m not posting entertainment stuff on LinkedIn…”

“I use (LinkedIn) for the forums and to keep a professional network. I rarely find the feed interesting but will regularly use it to see who is reading my profile and to have professional contacts…”

Besides being marketed towards professionals, LinkedIn does not allow you to share photos. One major reason it will always lean towards the work and not personal side of the usage chart.

Google+

Google+ Usage

Do a a Google Search and you will find dozens of reviews for Google+. It combines many features from each of the other big three. So how are people using it? How should you use it?

“Try not to post the same things on each network. Google+ is the only one that may cross that line…”

“Basically it is a good middle ground between Facebook and Twitter for me.”

“…with Circles I can be more precise in who I share with and really tailor content to that group.”

“I think I’ll enjoy it more when I start following the Twitter audience, bloggers, news, companies.”

“Google+ appears to be a composite of the major social media approaches.”

Finding Your Strategy

Your strategy needs to be your personal strategy. Many of those surveyed spoke on tailoring content to your audience. Keep track of who is following you and determine what would interest them.

“Create and build a personal brand through sharing content that is relevant to the audience, while still keeping one main thing in mind: BEING SOCIAL.”

This quote brings up another important point. Be yourself. You can turn off your followers if all you are posting “seven ways to…” or “top five reasons to…” links. Engage your audience. Respond to them. Let them see who you really are while still staying with in the boundaries of the specific social network.

“Be myself and always be transparent. Also, have fun with it!”

“I definitely think transparency is important, but that doesn’t mean post everything all the time. It just means to be aware of conflicting view points and to not get trapped in an echo chamber of similar content and people. This also allows for more interaction, and much more interesting discussion and connections.

So get out there, post, share, and have fun developing your personal social media strategy.

As is often the case, when I fall in love with a product I’m not shy about recommending it! Lately, TweetDeck and Hootsuite are in my bag of commonly recommended tools, much to the puzzlement of Twitter friends who are curious about the advantage of using both. Mystery solved! Here’s why TweetDeck and Hootsuite are better together:

TweetDeck manages my Tweeps
Hootsuite manages my Tweeting

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I am frequently asked by early stage entrepreneurs what software we use, so here’s a quick list of the five online applications I can’t live without.

1. Salesforce.com. I started using salesforce back in the demo days when you could get a 3 user license that did everything for $50/month. Ah, those were the days… These days, it’s amazing we don’t scare off new employees with the mantra “it’s in salesforce” as the answer to seemingly every question. Seriously though, salesforce is where I spend my day. Every person who fills out a contact form on this website winds up in there automagically, and every person I’m supposed to call or have ever called is in there. (It’s a founders job to sell, after all.) Essentially, Salesforce.com functions as a much needed extension of my brain as our sales pipeline grows, and it’s pretty darn handy for sharing customer contact info within the company.




2. Basecamp. Yes, salesforce has project management stuff you can tack on, but lets just say it wasn’t a huge hit when we tried it. Not that basecamp is absolutely perfect either, but you know they’re doing something right when you turn it on and people start adding data without any arm twisting. Basecamp also shares something in common with one of my favorite things about salesforce: the “wish for it and it will come” feature. I suppose it helps that we aren’t shy about sharing what features we need , but we’ve happily seen things appear over time such as cross-project search and posting via email that make our lives SO much simpler.




3. Socialtext. I wasn’t exactly sure we needed a wiki as yet-another-place-to-store-data. But once again, it’s hard to argue with a technology that is easily adopted by the organization and has taken on a life of its own. In a way, it’s like a giant shared filing cabinet for everything about anything internal. (Whereas basecamp shares project-specific data, and salesforce captures the sales process. So it’s not as complicated to have 3 systems as it might sound.)




4. blist. I’m adding this to the list a bit early, as it’s still got a ways to go to get through all the bugs. However, I would will it out of beta, if I could. It’s not uncommon to need to compare a list of stuff and figure out which entries match criteria a, b, and c. Blist does this with “lenses” over an online spreadsheet with simple and/or choices; no programming lingo (ie SQL) required. I honestly haven’t seen anything similar, but let me know if you have!




5. twitter. I have been known to say we’re in the business of creating serendipity, and I think that’s what I love most about Twitter. This micro-blogging tool encourages you to share what you’re experiencing or thinking in 140 character bursts. And because people can follow either your persona OR create feeds on any word of interest, you wind up serendipitously meeting people with similar interests. People who often become instant friends, pitching in and answering questions or cheerleading when you have a breakthrough moment at 2 am. Twitter is a truly social network that I’m grateful for as an entrepreneur.

   So that’s my top five web applications – what are yours?

This was an exciting email to get, given that Chris Brogan was one of the first people I wound up following on Twitter. I’m so excited that he’s coming here, I’ll simply repost his email in the interest of getting out the word sooner than later!

I wanted to tell you that I’m coming to Detroit to run ITEC Detroit (an IT event) on the 21st and 22nd, at the Rock Financial Showplace. First, if you’re interested in tech and want to attend, it’s free, so feel free to register, and pass on to others in the area, if it’s of interest.

Second, I’m hosting a social media breakfast on Thursday morning the 22nd, at 8:30AM. You might find that interesting, and I’d love for you to come by for that.

Finally, if you’re a Twitter type and want to put together some kind of Tweetup for Wednesday night, that’d be really fun, too.

So… who’s up for a Tweetup and knows a good place to hang out near the Rock Financial Showplace?!

You have heard Pure Visibility beating the social media networking drum quite a bit lately, especially about Twitter and LinkedIn. But it’s only because we get excited about networking technologies that will ultimately help our clients expand their business.

When one of my colleagues first mentioned that I should join Twitter I was skeptical that it serve any purpose in my life. I have two kids and barely enough time in my life to watch TV let alone Twitter about it. Then it happened, over time (even though I rarely made tweets) I started to see the value in Twitter. I was able to see at a glance interesting things my friends were doing, which led to me actually talking to them about it the next day. I’d say something like, “Hey I saw on Twitter you and the family went to the Chelsea fair, I think I’ll take the kids there tonight.” Now I was connected with friends I only saw every month or so, I was a part of something bigger but on my terms. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Still I hear friends and clients not quite understanding why this Twitter phenomenon is sweeping the web. I can be a cheerleader (not a pretty sight by the way) and share heartfelt networking stories like mine, but Common Craft has video that explains exactly what I’m talking about. Take a peek and enjoy.

If you’re a Michigan resident, see how MLive.com uses Twitter to reach out and stay current with its audience. http://www.mlive.com/twitter

I just got teased today by the astute Bud Gibson of Michigan Innovators that there aren’t any obvious links to find Linda and I on Twitter from the Pure Visibility website. So here they are:

Catherine Juon: http://www.twitter.com/cjuon
Linda Girard: http://www.twitter.com/lgirard
And of course Bud’s group on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/innovators

And since the next logical question is “Why do you use Twitter?”, here goes…

Twitter, like LinkedIn (see my earlier post about Getting LinkedIn), has required effort + patience before anything interesting happened. People tend to give up when nothing happens right away. But you know what? This online stuff isn’t any different from real-world networking.

Have you ever gone to a group/association/networking event full of people you didn’t know and come home from the first one with a million dollar project? (If you have, I’d like to talk to you – email me at cjuon @ purevisibility.com)

Spending time with Twitter is much like going to a networking event.

• There are some people I know there (those are the ones I connected with first),
• some friends I invited to catch up with me there (like Catherine Buerkle in Germany – it has been a great way to feel like we’re not an ocean apart)
• and lots of new friends that I’ve made there because they know someone in one of the first two categories,
• and lots of new friends that found me because I said something that happened to resonate in some way – like talking about Detroit, or Michigan, or the Red Cross or Search Engine Optimization, etc.

And THIS is what I would argue makes Twitter cool. It’s not just that its 140 character limit creates short and digestible messages (tho that REALLY helps). It’s that it adds a whole new dimension to networking. Beyond the traditional way of finding someone through somebody who knows someone (such as in traditional networking or online communities like LinkedIn), you can randomly find people who share an interest in a common topic though tools that allow you to effectively “follow” words (vs. just people).

And for whatever reason, Twitter seems to be a community full of people that are open to this sort of serendipitous networking. People who generally enjoy reading each others stuff, and who seem to enjoy the role of being good samaritans. I could write a book full of examples, but here are a few:

• When my used but well-loved convertible got totaled while sitting in front of the house, I twittered my state of bummed-outedness and got immediate responses from people I barely know to cheer me up. (How cool is that?)
• When a Twitter friend was diagnosed with cancer, the world seemed to swell up around her and offer help in a way that has already been really well documented – just search for Frozen Pea Fund (long story, but you’ll find out why it’s so named eventually).
• When we were looking for websites designed in the Midwest for Create magazine and Twittered out a call for submissions, we got immediate answers… The list goes on.

And the best thing about Twitter is that I can network with my friends there without having to skip dinner with my family, and my friends are always there even if I’m stuck in an airport waiting for a flight. It’s networking when you have time for networking, instead of every third Wednesday night at 6 pm at yet-another-hotel.

Of course, I do both. But now that the kids are older and need help with homework after school it’s nice to have alternatives. Thanks, Twitter!

And now, a word from the Twitterati – why do you use Twitter?

I’m not an early adopter – I just hang around a bunch of them.

By November 17, 2003, enough of these early adopter types (aka friends) had bugged me about LinkedIn that I finally felt compelled to sign up and give it a whirl. For a long, long time it was mostly my techie friends there. And not much happening.

Years later, when facebook took off and I became a Twitter addict, I figured LinkedIn was dead. Unlike these other social media tools, LinkedIn wasn’t “giving back”. You could collect data (ie make connections and add resume items) but beyond that, what was the use? It seemed limited to being a virtual file cabinet for resumes – and I’ve already got enough places to file things, thanks. Read More

Last night, I watched the Democratic debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Like thousands of other Americans, I felt compelled to twitter this action. Twitter is a free online social media site that allows members to post short updates, or tweets, to their online profile and to others who have signed up to see them.

Upon logging in, I noticed something very odd. Many of my Twitter friends had Barack Obama-inspired avatars. Some were simply an image of Obama’s face, and others were unique designs based on his campaign logo. I clicked on one and a pattern started to emerge. Not only were my friends sporting Obamatars, but practically everyone had at least one Obamatars in their network.

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