Creative Mind Consulting

Social Media Tools for Trainers - LinkedIn Basics

I recently published a social media article in my professional association's newsletter - the American Society for Training and Development, Twin Cities Chapter (ASTD-TCC). Training and development professionals are curious about interactive tools, but not all have taken the plunge into the social media pool. My goal with newsletter articles is to help educate colleagues about the potential uses and challenges in using social media tools. 

With the possible exception of Facebook, probably the social media tool most familiar to members, is LinkedIn. We have a LinkedIn group for our members, and many members have profiles. But quite a few of those profiles are not very detailed, or "optimized." My article advises trainers and learning professionals how to maximize their LinkedIn profile.

Social Media Tools for Trainers

by Jane Neumiller-Bustad, Director of Interactive Communications, ASTD-TCC and President, Creative Mind Consulting

Several social media tools have skyrocketed in popularity over the last year or so. Many people are trying to decide which tools to use, and how they might be of benefit both personally and professionally. Over the next couple of months we'll examine several key social media sites and explore how training and development professionals can make effective use of each one.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a good starting point, since so many people are using this service. Here in the Twin Cities, as in most major metropolitan areas, LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) has become a key tool for people across virtually all professions.

If you choose to limit your social media exploration, you really should make an exception for LinkedIn. If there's one thing the “Great Recession” is teaching us, it's that we are the only ones responsible for our careers and business ventures. Managing one's brand, image or reputation is a key responsibility for each professional. LinkedIn is a great tool to help you with that task.

Don't Ask My Opinion If You Don't Want It

Customer service 101 story ~~ cranky customer alert!

On the recommendation of a trusted online colleague, I went to a web site yesterday and signed up for their free membership. The site has a track record of success at what they do, and they seem to offer a good value in exchange for my contact information. 

One problem - the site is dense, full of links, and while very well organized...I was left with 2 key questions:

• "How does your process work?" 

• "Where do I start?"

The first question is a central failing of many software tools and web sites. I think developers get so involved with their product, they tend to forget that customers don't have the same level of awareness of their site's capabilities...or intended purpose. 

You often find sites with lots of "how to's" or the mechanics of what the site does. The best comparison I can think of? Picture someone who's never seen a car. Now, hand them the owner's manual and let them figure out exactly what it does. At no point does anyone explain that the purpose of the car is to transport people, getting them from point A to point B quickly and efficiently. How useful is the owner's manual at that point?

The next question your web site visitors, or business customers, will ask is "where do I start?"

In the middle of all your links, lists, white papers, ads, titles, etc...how do I figure out the starting point? What do you want me to do first? Second? Third? 

In order for me to feel comfortable with your site (or membership, or social media profile, etc) right out of the box, hold my hand. Give me that clear starting point, and a roadmap of next steps. What is the typical progression of a new customer, or new member? What are the things that need to happen in order for me to successfully use your site and keep coming back?

This is even more critical when you have multiple entry points for your main site. Facebook Fan Pages offer small businesses great portals to direct customer traffic to their main web pages...as is the case with the site I joined last night. 

But - when neither the main web site or the Facebook Fan Page tells me the purpose, or where to start, then what?

Now - the customer service part....

At the bottom of every page on the site was a submission box asking me what I thought, how the site could help me and did I need any support. Cool - handy and easy to find...and I had those two burning questions I mentioned above. 

So, I typed in each question separately and submitted. I was very polite and helpful - when I've taught customer service classes before, I make a point of telling students that it's often the new employee or new customer who offers a company the best insights into their processes and how they can be improved. 

Today I received two nice emails in response to my questions...yet neither one really took the time to answer my concerns (more owners manual instructions). To top it off, one of them politely informed me that the appropriate way to contact them was a button in the top right corner of the screen, not the support form that I had used at the bottom of the page. 

Ooops - guess my "customer ESP" just wasn't working very well last night!

Sorry to sound a bit cranky, but it makes me wonder. This site is very successful at what it does (so, perhaps I'm the only one who's confused...wouldn't be the first time!)

But - what if this site could be even more successful than it is? Wouldn't the site/business owner like that?

Wonder how many folks sign up to join the site, but never really take advantage of what is being offered...and how many dollars are being lost....

Latest Client Project is Live and Online!

I am delighted to showcase my newest client website: AccidentalTrainer.com!

Offered by two wonderful friends and colleagues, Sheila Krejci and Terri Cheney, AccidentalTrainer.com provides public and customized workshops designed to help "non-trainers" create and present highly successful adult learning sessions. 

They offer a full day workshop on facilitating effective training sessions (including how to handle difficult participants), another full day on how to design those engaging sessions...and a half day on how to really evaluate those sessions to determine if your students learned what they needed to know. 

Their public calendar and workshop registration is located on their site, and they welcome the opportunity to discuss customizing the classes for a company's specific needs. 

One of the qualities making the Accidental Trainer workshops so successful is the use of cutting edge brain research to design their sessions. Sheila and Terri provide attendees with hundreds of tips, tricks, tools, ideas and techniques proven to enhance adult learning and development - based on the latest brain science. They truly are experts at helping adults successfully teach other adults.

Attendees also leave with an Accidental Trainer workshop binder filled with dozens of tools and resources...and their site will be continually adding new resources to benefit their clients and workshop attendees. 

It was wonderful working with two such dedicated professionals, partnering to create the best possible site for their business. 

Who is the next solo-preneur, entrepreneur or small business needing a great looking, highly functional web site? Please contact me if I can be of help to you or your organization ~

How Exceptional Customer Service Can Be Your Competitive Edge

The start of a new year is such a great time to review your files and clean out old items. In doing so, I discovered two customer service articles that I wrote for an international moving industry magazine a few years ago.

They are just as relevant today, so I post them for your reading pleasure.

How Exceptional Customer Service Can Be Your Competitive Edge - Part 1:

Download Mobility customer service article 1

How Exceptional Customer Service Can Be Your Competitive Edge - Part 2:

Download Mobility customer service article 2

Incredibly Useful Free Tools to Maximize Your Training Mission

My presentation last week to the American Society for Training and Development, Twin Cities chapter (ASTD-TCC) is uploaded for your viewing pleasure (SlideShare made it extremely easy to post):

Two Exciting Presentations Upcoming....

Just finished preparing presentations for two upcoming conferences -

"Lessons from History: Ethical Leadership" for the

American Institute of Architects 2009 Minnesota Convention

and

"Using Incredibly Useful Free Web Tools to Maximize Your Training Mission" for the

the American Society for Training and Development 2009 Regional Conference

Really looking forward to both. Here's the text of the workshop bulletin for the architect's conference:

Just as ancient structures or historical buildings inspire current design trends and architectural constructions, historical characters have much to tell us about modern leadership and ethical behavior under difficult circumstances. By looking at several key Revolutionary War leaders and the challenges they faced, we take away insights that inform our relationships with colleagues, building partners and clients. This program will emphasize four key concepts underlying ethical leadership development: casting a vision, character formation, overcoming adversity, and continuous learning.

The intersection of leadership, history, technology, social media and democracy is a fascinating, and I hope to do more exploring in this area.

Twittering the (job) interview

One of the people that I'm following on Twitter apparently was interviewing a series of job applicants last week.

I say "apparently" because he was twittering all of the interviews. He let us know when the person arrived, some notes on attire (appropriate or not), and how the interview went overall.

Fascinating.

I'll bet the person who arrived 10 minutes late, with no apology, might be interested to learn that several hundred people now know about that fact! Now, the person I'm following did not disclose any names or other identifying aspects of the applicants - but you can see where this is leading, right?

On one hand, it would be great to have some form of immediate feedback (he likes me, he likes me not)...on the other, it could be pretty brutal (she likes me, she really likes me NOT).

Are you prepared to have your job, or consulting/freelance gig interview broadcast to the world? We live in interesting times!

Director of Interactive Communications

I'm honored to have been asked to join our local chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD-TCC) in the newly created position of Director of Interactive Communications. This is a great opportunity to give back to an association that has done so much to help me personally and professionally.

I originally joined way back in 1990 when I lived in San Antonio and was just getting into the training biz as a Total Quality Management (TQM) consultant for the Air Force. I'm still friends with one of the people I met in that chapter and she's one of the most outgoing and dynamic presenters that I know.

The people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul chapter are equally professional. While I haven't been a member the last couple of years, it's great to see that much of the hard work undertaken by past presidents and board of directors continues today. This is a productive, polished team and I'm really looking forward to working with everyone.