Being Connected

It used to mean that you knew all the boys at the cricket club. Then it meant that all the people in the industry knew about you. Now it means that with a couple of tools, a bit of work, and a willingness to be open and giving, you can potentially reach anyone who has that same access.

But are you connected?

Reach doesn't mean connection

Reach is to conversation like connection is to conversion. It's a good start, but you're not there quite yet. While there's value in the journey, the money is on the actual spark that prompts the action. I know many use the terms interchangeably - I wanted to reach out meaning they want to connect.

It's the new terminology for an age old repositioning of desired outcome - I'd like to be connected with you.

Being connected is a process

It can start with your online presence - that of your business. If you remember, a couple of weeks ago, I introduced this diagram. It's time to take a close look at its components not just for your Web site, but for the sum total of your online presence, and define what they mean and how they intersect in execution.

As we prepare to discuss that, I wanted to run a very informal poll by you on what being connected means to you. What does it mean and how do you know you achieved success? If the answer is "I don't know, but here's what I want to know", that works well with this conversation, so chime in.

***

3 things I know about connection

1. It's on demand
2. It comes from engagement
3. It prompts us to action

Weigh in!

© 2006-2009 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Rick Simmons]

Finally - you are right on - all these "shiny objects" have folks forgetting that it is not about how many but how deep the relationship. If you buy from someone typically you want to do business with someone you trust - read the Covey book - "The Speed of Trust" - not only is trust important to the transaction but it greatly increases the speed of things all along the way - internally and externally.

Can't get trust from tools only from interaction and I advocate these new tools - actual talking, meeting, the phone - just to name a few.

[Rich Becker]

Valeria,

So, once again I see we are seeing similar conceptual models.

Place this over the environment with all those "tools" or destinations within that environment, and I think it may come very close to mapping what happens here. Suddenly, it's not so simple for people to think of social media as belonging to anyone.

All my best,
Rich

[Ryan Waggoner]

One of the issues here is that social media has really diminished the perceived value of a single connection. Many people have hundreds of subscribers and followers, but they feel like they're not really succeeding, because the top blogs and Twitter folks have hundreds of thousands or millions, and many of those were picked up overnight. If you run a social network that has a few thousand members, it can be discouraging, and part of it is because of the rise of Facebook and Myspace and other properties where anything less than 6 digits is seen as a hobby project.

But I think we need to remember that a connection is a really valuable thing. Being connected is about attention. Someone has voluntarily given you the right to ask for their attention on demand, whether it's by email, RSS, or a tweet. They're not guaranteeing that they'll see it or respond, but they're saying that you've intrigued them enough that they're willing to lend you a bit of their most precious commodity: their time. I think it's easy as marketers to focus on the end results and forget about the process and how much we value our own time. Maybe if we spent more time thinking about that, we'd recognize how truly valuable that single connection is.

[Danny Brown]

A connection is knowing someone will have your back regardless.

A connection is seeing your goals come to fruition through others because they believe in you, and your belief in them.

A connection is seeing through the hyperbole and making that touch point, physical or otherwise, that just continues to build.

A connection is the words that don't need to be said because the thought has already been shared.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Rick - as I said in the post, it's what we do with relationships that matters.

@Rich - that's exactly what we're doing ;)

@Ryan - we'll be talking more about connections tomorrow. For now, I'll say that there is a way to scale. Process is very important for social media because that's where measurement is.

@Danny - thank you. Beautiful contribution.

[David Weinfeld]

Connecting with someone needs to be genuine and authentic. It must not be done under the guise of an ulterior motive (i.e. because you need something from the other person).

Those who connect with others in order to have rich conversations and spread new ideas achieve the greatest gain. Their connections push them and the community, as a whole, forward.