“Social Media For The Executive”: Brian E. Boyd, Sr.

Social media is fast enveloping our lives and there’s no getting away from it. Both professionally and personally, use of social media is sky rocketing by the day as more people jump into the fray to derive the benefits of a revolution whose time has come. Older people, both in business and in their own capacities, who were more skeptical a few years ago, now recognize that social media can give them benefits they had not imagined they would get earlier. Likewise, professionals and men and women in business see social media as a huge opportunity to communicate their brand and develop their business.

Brian Boyd’s, “Social Media For The Executive” has as its byline: ” Maximize Your Brand and Monetize Your Business. This just about sums it all. He writes, “Social media is not a passing fad or novelty, but an entirely new way of doing business.”

With many case studies and anecdotes from his own experience, Boyd speaks of people and firms which have cashed in by building their brands and image in the market place through the skillful use of social media.  Be it Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, executives use these to talk of themselves and what they bring to the table by way of product or service offerings.

I shall not disclose them for obvious reasons ( you got to read the book and find out for yourselves) but Boyd writes about the three C’s of Social Media Success, he teaches you to examine how your brand fits in with the social media you use, and gives hints on the kind of content you need to generate, after all as he argues, “Content is king.”

Boyd’s book is written in an easy to read format and style. The real life examples help you relate to the concepts and make you believe that you too can gain from having an appropriate social media strategy for your business, and indeed for yourself as an executive.

It is interesting to see how even nonprofit clients ( Food for the Hungry, for example) have used social media to get donors and supporters world-wide. Yes, issues like measuring your success and computing your return on investment apply here as well.  What is your social media strategy? To start with, do you have one at all? Remember the words of strategy guru, Michael Porter who said, ” Strategy is about setting yourself apart from the competition. It’s not a matter of being better at what you do, it’s a matter of being different at what you do.”

A few gems from Boyd’s book:-

• The MCP 70/30 Rule. Talk about others at least 70 % of the time and talk about yourself less than 30 % of your time.
• Choose controversial, engaging content that gets people talking and that they can be passionate about.
• Learn to build influence. Make your audience influencers for you/your business.
• Tell a story, your story. Excellent way to attract an audience.
• Learn enough about the “listening tools” to determine your social media influence.

I found this book very interesting and informative. I would heartily recommend it to those who wish to derive benefits from social media, but do not as yet know how to.