We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
These words of Epictetus are especially useful when considering social media. As in any social situation, it’s wise to begin by listening. With an understanding of conversations, we can engage in social media to make a welcome contribution, establish credibility, build trust, and long term profitable growth.
Here’s how to set up a listening station.
Step 1. Get a Gmail account
You will first need a Gmail account. If you do not already have one, set one up now.
Step 2. Set up Google Reader
Set up Google Reader, which will constantly check places on the web where you want listen in on the conversation.
Step 3. Decide what to listen for.
Make a list of key terms and phrases that you want to listen for—like your personal name, company name, brand, products, services, customer interests, and competitors.
Step 4. Let Google Alerts bring the conversation to your listening station
Open a new browser tab or window, and navigate to Google Alerts. Type in a search search terms or phrase and select the type, frequency, and other features of the search.
Step 5. Start listening
Go back to your Google Reader and start listening.
Extra credit
As of this writing, Google Alerts is just beginning to poke around in Twitter, and not in Facebook. So…
Step 1. Go find the rest of the talk.
Open a new browser tab or window, and navigate to Twitter, a Facebook page or other places on the web where your terms are likely in play.
Step 2. Search on your keywords and phrases.
Type one of your keywords or phrases into a search box.
Step 3. Copy the link.
You can either right click on an RSS button and select “Copy Link location,” or copy the link from the address bar.
Step 4. Train Google Reader
Go back to Google Reader and click on the “Add a subscription” button. Paste there what you copied from the site you just visited. Repeat these steps for all your terms.
If your Google Reader is getting crowded, you can set up folders to sort your queries.
Visit your listening station regularly, find out what’s going on, and think about how you can then make a useful contribution to the conversation.
Build, credibility and trust just as you would in any community organization like church, Rotary, school, or social club.
Be there not to sell, but to listen, and participate. Frame your contribution in terms that meet the needs of the participants, not necessarily yours.
Let people naturally discover you as a resource in your area of expertise. Make it easy to link back to you, if they want more.
