by RMSorg

I attended a basketball clinic at our local YMCA this weekend and as I was watching the coaches (Y employees) and the children interacting I had a wonder thought.  I thought about Community!  In today’s viral world, everyone is talking about social media,  branding your company and building communities.  Sitting here wondering how many people have come and gone through the same doors that I came in through today?  Feeling, in an overwhelming sort of way, that these staff members like many other’s before them, are making such a powerful difference in some child’s life.  As I see children incapable of standing still, wiggly and restless, I know in my heart, this place is a Community. And this community is very much needed by every child here.

That “community” reminded me of a recent HubSpot webinar I attend which spoke of this same thing.  It was an exceptional webinar titled “How to Use Social Media to Build Your Brand.”  The webinar brought many wonderful points to light and one of many that stayed with me was “Brands are defined by what people are saying about your brand.” Many companies have operated under the out dated mindset “Our brand is defined by what we say our brand is.”  Sooner than later these companies are discovering that this mindset is outdated and obsolete!  

Branding and building Communities takes time and you have to cultivate in order to come out ahead lest you fall behind. By building communities around content you create more opportunites for your company.  By participating with people on the web, sharing pertinent information and relevant news you create a deeper sense of trust and a sense of community.   Keep in mind that the people you meet and take time to interact with can one day turn out to be clients, friends and colleagues.

By this point in the webinar I was asking myself How?  How do I build communities with people via Social Media?  Well, it’s very simple!  First, start out by Listening, then you listen some more and then based on what you are hearing Build Relationships and share your content!!  Listening is the hardest thing to do for many, trust me I know! But, if you want to hear what people are saying about your particular brand you must Listen!  If you want to build a community around your brand you must Listen!  So where do I go to Listen you might ask?  Here are some create sites that were shared with us:

Twitter Search

The Google Blog Search

Technorati

Industry Twitterers – (I follow Chris Brogan) http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan

If this blog helps just one person, I would say I have Listened and my job is done and feel free to share as you see fit!

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Before I was introduced to the wonderful world of Social Media sites like twitter.com/RMSorg  and facebook  www.facebook.com/rm.sorg , I was under utilizing my computer and the wide world of the internet.  I would go on to check e-mails maybe twice a week and I would stay on my spammy hotmail inbox and browse shopping site from here.  Because of this I did purchase online without any problems.  I never wanted anyone to download anything because of fear of viruses and worms etc. 

After I was shown the potential of the internet and all the "connecting" that was possible, I look back and can't believe I have come such a long way.  I have made "global connections" btw.  Never would this be possible without the internet unless you were a world traveler and even then I suspect that making one on one connections would be hard.  I am still cautious and would not think that I would hand a stranger my e-mail address or give them a picture of myself or share music I like with them.  It would be awkward?! 

But since I've learned a thing of two about the wonderful wideworld of the net, I do all the above and feel great about sharing little bits of myself.  It's quite amazing really.  I look back and chuckle because I am ALL over the place, on partically every social media site.  I have become so bold as to think that I can market and actually I can and I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world.  If I am not logged on visiting this site www.flickr.com/photos/rmsorg/ or that site digg.com/users/RMSorg I honestly feel lost, like I am not doing what I am suppost to be doing and frankly love doing. 

It's been a blessing getting into this crazy world.  I enjoy talking about things I think are of any value to many and enjoy filtering through all the content that is shared on so many wonderful social media sites. 

Hope my story inspires someone to jump on board with both feet and meet new people, make connections, share bits of treasures and receive them as well.

RMSorg

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