From the monthly archives:

December 2008

When LinkedIn Groups Go Awry

by Daria Steigman on December 29, 2008

When I wrote my post about the value of LinkedIn, I called it a “must have” element of every professional’s online presence. I still believe that. So why are so many people devaluing their profiles with endless drivel?

I belong to several LinkedIn Groups, and they are helpful in identifying like-minded professionals and in broadening my network. What they are not, it seems, is a forum for robust discussion.

For an overview of what’s gone awry with LinkedIn discussions, read Craig Peters’ terrific post. In it, he outlines many of the things people are doing wrong, including looking for free advice, traffic whoring, and blatant self-promotion.

I’m personally not so concerned with the free advice component, as we’re all learning every day. Plus providing value to someone else can be a good way to demonstrate expertise without giving everything away. But, like Peters, I’m tired of being bombared with constant come-ons and pleas to “please, please click on my link before answering.”

From a business perspective, I’m not sure why anyone would want their business persona to scream ”bad marketer and I contribute nothing.” From a social media perspective, they’re failing miserably on the engagement piece.

As to LinkedIn Groups, they are not now a go-to place for discussion. I think the smart conversation online has largely migrated to Twitter.

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Barclays Black Card

by Daria Steigman on December 28, 2008

Have you seen the ad for the new Visa Black Card? The spot aired at least twice during the Celtics-Lakers game on Christmas Day. It caught my attention because 1) I actually need a Visa card, and 2) after all the silver, gold, and platinum out there, a carbon graphite black credit card sounds very cool.

But then I looked at the fine print. Who’s going to spend $495/year for a credit card? That’s when I realized that this card must be targeted to the wannabe rich. Because the truly rich didn’t get that way by spending foolishly for exclusivity. Just ask Warren Buffett.

Which brings me to the business question: why is Barclays Bank introducing a high-end credit card during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression? I’m not sure who their target customer is. More than that, however, it seems a little unseemly to be plugging exclusivity when most people are struggling to keep afloat.

So what is Barclays trying to say? And what do you think? Is this smart niche marketing or an over-the-top conspicuous assumption?

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Health Care Reform: Are We Seeing the Perfect Storm?

by Daria Steigman on December 18, 2008

Is health care reform on the horizon? I posed this question last month to Business Week Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler in the context of business cost pressures and growing unemployment. Here’s how I live tweeted his answer at the time:

On health care, Adler wonders whether Obama can take this on, or move incrementally instead to make small improvements.

1:33 PM Nov 12th from TwitterBerry

I didn’t agree with his assessment then, but I understood the reasoning. After all, the health care industry is big business, and those who’ve made a lot of money on the current system aren’t going to go gently into a brave new world. In the last month, however, I’ve become increasingly convinced that we might be seeing the perfect storm for wholesale reform.

1. Big business wants reform now. Health care costs are killing big companies, and they’re pushing for lower prices, better quality, and cost transparency. (Small businesses, in many cases, have already been priced out of providing health care benefits, forcing their employees into the ranks of the self-insured and uninsured in America.) Wal Mart’s $4 prescription program isn’t just smart marketing, it’s smart business.

2. As more people lose their jobs, the numbers of uninsured people will grow. This means new strains on already-strained state and local public health systems, and more people walking around unable to access the preventive care that offers an early warning system and saves big bucks down the road.

3. The uninsured won’t be among the ranks of the disenfranchised this time. The current economic displacement is hitting all regions of the country and all income levels.

A lot of people have been looking at different elements of the health care system and how to lower costs while driving better outcomes for patients. And more are putting their stakes down every day. The Institute of Medicine just yesterday released a list of 20 key indicators of the nation’s health and health care. Business Week has a fascinating piece in the current issue that explores the question: Why can’t health care be run like the retail sector?

The Bush administration committed $700 billion to bail out Wall Street, and the Obama team will likely request at least this much for its economic stimulus package. This means that for the first time in a long time we’ll be testing new ideas on a massive scale and finding out what works and what doesn’t. How can health care reform not be part of the mix?

I’ve lived and worked in Washington long enough to know that there are no perfect solutions. But we’ve got to try something new.

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Why Social Media is Worth It

by Daria Steigman on December 16, 2008

Whenever I talk about social media, I invariably get asked two questions:

  • How do you find the time? [and]
  • Is it worth it?

I’ve been thinking about the question of time a lot since reading Marc Meyer’s Let’s Focus post earlier this month. He got me thinking about how I balance my social media engagement with my client work, traditional business development, workouts, family, friends, and the ebbs and flows of daily life.

My social media strategy has been to pick and choose the forums that work best for me. As a result, I’m active on LinkedIn but barely have a placeholder page on Facebook. I try to write at least three blog posts weekly, although my creativity drops when I’m slammed with client work. I started by reading and commenting on a handful of blogs, and have been adding subscriptions into my Google Reader at what some might consider an alarming rate. I try to do most of my blog reading in the late afternoon, leaving my mornings free for more core business activities.

And then there’s Twitter. If I came to the micro-blogging site later than most, I was lucky enough to join the party after the conversation had heated up. I love Twitter for the stream of conversation, the connectedness. I’ve added those I follow gradually, enjoying the ability to recognize their voices and understand the texture of each one’s unique contributions. It’s rare that TweetDeck isn’t running in the background, even if I’m only eavesdropping intermittently during much of the day.

Which brings me to that second question: Is it worth it? If you’re reading this, you probably already know the answer is of course it’s worth it. Social media is important to me because I’m learning each day from smart people like Chris Brogan, Jason Falls, Lee Odden, Geoff Livingston, Ann Handley, and all the others who generously share their insights and challenge us to think about how we, too, can contribute to the conversation.

Perhaps one day I’ll discover a new business partner on Twitter, or someone who finds me on LinkedIn will become my client. But I’ll leave the broader discussion about metrics and ROI to another day. For me, social media’s great value is the ongoing interaction with all of you–my readers, my friends, my colleagues, my peers–and the new conversations yet to begin.

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(This Will Go On) Your Permanent Record

by Daria Steigman on December 15, 2008

Remember that old saying about doing the right thing because otherwise it would “go on your permanent record”? I don’t know whether anyone other than TV dads gave that talk, or whether the threat of demerits kept someone from misbehaving. But it seems a good conversation to have today–with adults.

So here’s my lecture:

  • Don’t put anything in writing you wouldn’t want everyone to see. Companies make this mistake all the time, or lawyers wouldn’t go through thousands of boxes looking for, and often finding, the smoking gun. So be aware of what you’re saying, and make sure it’s something that fits both your personal and professional image.
  • The Internet is not a private space, so don’t post something on a Web site one day and hope it disappears tomorrow. If you’re not convinced of this, think about the Obama aide whose encounter with a Hillary Clinton cutout was reportedly on Facebook for only about 2 hours. I didn’t see it there, and probably neither did anyone but the lone reporter who stumbled on the photo and copied it. The point is, the aide let someone take a picture of him in a compromising position and it came back to bite him.
  • The distinction between our personal and business profiles is rapidly vanishing, if it ever really existed. When was the last time you went to lunch with a client or a prospect and only talked about business? It just doesn’t happen. Our personal lives give our business lives context, and we sprinkle our conversations with nuggets of ourselves all the time.
  • Social media is accelerating this trend. Most of us have staked out space on multiple sites and post pictures, video, links, and/or text on a regular basis. I know some people who say they use LinkedIn for business and Facebook as their personal social network, but potential clients, employers, and curiosity seekers aren’t making the same distinction when they look for data about you.

That’s my Permanent Record 101 talk. What would you add?

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