by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 25, 2011 | Job Search, job search tools, Social Networking
Greg Meyer (Photo provided.)
With the growing popularity of social media, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to monitor your connections and stay up-to-date with conversations. This need has ushered in a wave of tools that take Client Relationship Management to the next level, by integrating information from social media into the mix.
Gist is one such tool that can help you find out more about the people you know, and develop a more intelligent view of your network. Bought by Research In Motion in February, Gist seems to be a key part of the Blackberry maker’s efforts to include cloud-based services into new phones and tablets.
Greg Meyer is the Customer Experience Manager at Gist. In that role, he interacts with users, takes feedback and gets suggestions for new features, as well as acting as a social media ambassador for the company.
I interviewed him by phone May 25th, and he shared his thoughts on how tools like Gist can be used to find information about people, companies and industries in your network, to monitor your online presence, and to develop a better understanding of how you may be viewed by others, based on the types of information you are making available about yourself through social media.
Part 1: An Introduction to Greg Meyer, Social CRM, and Gist
So can you tell me more about yourself? Who is Greg Meyer, and how did your education, skills and experience lead to where, you are now?
Sure. Absolutely. At this point, I think I am a little bit over-educated. I started out doing undergrad in Fine Arts and History, I thought I wanted to be a a history professor. And then I went to graduate school and found out that the process to become a professor was a lot different from what I wanted to do, which was to read books and organize information.
Then I found myself in the computer field, and then went into a number of small companies. I was with a company called Allaire, which is now part of Adobe, and I was part of some big companies as well.And then I went to graduate school I worked for T-Mobile and Expedia, and as part of that, I discovered that I wasn’t as good at the technology part of the business as I was about seeing systems, and connecting people and information, so I went back to school again and got an MBA from the University of Washington. I actually used those skills to make my current job, because my job is a combination of three things. I’m a customer experience manager, and I do high-touch customer support. I also do some product planning and recommendations for products from the user base, and then I also do some technology work as well as some traditional marketing evangelism and social media.
Could you give the uninitiated a kind of “thumbnail sketch” overview of what Gist is an how it works?
Sure. Gist is a web service that helps you to take all your contacts and keep them in one place. Whether your contacts live in a web email like Gmail or whether you use Microsoft Outlook or whether you’d like to take those contacts and incorporate the contacts on your phone, say your iPhone, Android or Blackberry device, or whether you are interested in connecting to the people you know on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, what Gist does is take into account all of those contacts and we go ahead and look out over 50,000 news sources and 20 million blogs and build the complete social business profile for that person. What that means is that you would see news about them or their company, and you’d also see a history of your interactions, and we do that, and make it all available to you on all those different platforms.
So this is really taking that whole traditional idea of Client Relationship Management or Contact Relationship Management really to that next level, because of the way you aggregate that information from the public stream along with all your back and forth about a client. This may be a really stupid question, but what do you think the value is of that additional functionality to the CRM process?
Well, Sean, for starters, I don’t think there are any stupid questions. But I think that the value in understanding what makes somebody tick and how you can have a better interaction with that person is really, really key. Because if you find out on Twitter that somebody is talking about going on their vacation, that might be a signal that you might not want to talk to that person that day, because maybe they’re out of town, or if you find they are interested in a particular personal interest, like maybe they like baseball, maybe the next time you see them, you’ll want to invite them the a game, and you can use that information to make that interaction better. Now that doesn’t mean that you should use all the information you learn in every interaction, it means that it gives you better tools to make that interaction better.
Next: Knowing Your Network
Article first published as An Interview with Gist’s Greg Meyer: Part 1: The Power of Social CRM on Technorati.
by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Mar 28, 2011 | My Coach's ToolBox, Podcast, Site News, Who-Dos
As I’ve been building my business over the last year, I’ve had to learn a lot about blogging, marketing and business. Some of what I have learned has been from free sources, some from a great network of higher education professionals, most notably those in the #sachat (Student Affairs Chat) community. But easily, the most practical and actionable business advice I have received has been from one place. It’s called the Third Tribe.
Third Tribe is a membership site, created through a partnership between some of the best minds in social media marketing, including Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, Sonia Simone and Chris Garrett. They believe there is a “third way” between traditional hard-sell marketing and wishy-washy soft-sell marketing, which comes across as apologetic, or doesn’t seem like marketing at all. It’s built on efforts to create strong relationships with your customers based on authenticity and trust, coupled with a strong desire to offer products and services that they need.
It’s been a great place to study the tactics that these guys use to make marketing and business-building seem effortless, and to see the truth behind their businesses…hard work; dedication to the idea that building a business means selling your ideas, not selling your soul; and the ability to learn lessons from their mistakes and to teach others how to avoid them. There’s so much good stuff there, that my only real struggle has been choosing what to implement. If you like this blog, it’s because of Third Tribe. If you find it annoying or scattered, well…that’s all me. Which is why I joined Third Tribe, and why I stay a member. When it comes to non-annoying marketing, I am clearly a work in progress.
Joining a membership site is not for everyone, and if you know for a fact that you wouldn’t benefit from being a member of this kind of a place, then stop reading now! If you want to know what I’ve gotten out of it, read on, because I have some good news and some bad news for you, as well as some perspectives that might make it worth your while to consider joining Third Tribe.
What I’ve gotten out of it:
- Early looks at upcoming sites, programs, products and services from Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, Chris Garrett, Lewis Howes, Laura Roeder, and many more.
- Connections with other, lesser known, but equally engaging members, like Mike Davenport of Stick Figure Simple (who drew the great stick drawing above for his guest post) Dennis Charles of Build Your Career with Passion, Dr. Susan Giurleo, fitness expert Lisa Johnson, Shane Ketterman of TCGeeks.Com (formerly ipaddaily.com) and Hashim Warren (Career Greenlight). All of these are people that have helped me, and that I have made personal connections with and given advice and perspectives. In short, I’ve become part of a closer network and support group of like-minded business people, who want to both make money and be decent, genuine people. I’ve been able to both hear and share successes, failures, stresses, and to ask for support and ideas.
- Regular members-only seminars where great business minds of the social media era like Johnny B. Truant, Naomi Dunford, Pamela Slim (Escape from Cubicle Nation), Dave Navarro (The Launch Coach), and Mark McGuinness (Lateral Action) share how they built their sites, their businesses and their credibility. Some of these seminars also come with great discounts for Third Tribe members on their programs.
- Great guest bloggers and guests for my podcast, and invitations to guest post on other sites, including Darren Rowse’s FeelGooder.Com
- Answers to my questions or concerns in the forums and on regular Q & A calls with the founders. I don’t know what Chris Brogan charges to answer client questions beyond this pay wall, but I’m sure it’s more than my entire investment in my membership. And he’s answered several of my individual questions, and countless I had but others asked first. When I ask a question of any of the founders, I get an answer.
- I’d tell you that you can’t pay for access like that, but truthfully, you can. That’s the good news.
But…here it comes…
The Bad News
Third Tribe is closing its doors to new members on April 1st. The announcement that open enrollment was coming came as kind of a surprise to me, but with it, some other news that was probably a long time coming… a re-format and even better features are coming soon, and the price is going up. I’m still waiting for details, but have a few educated guesses that I will keep to myself for now. But since the site is run by CopyBlogger media and has great partners in Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and Chris Brogan, I know it’s going to be awesome.
So if you are entrepreneurial and struggle with marketing your business, or if you love social media and would like regular access to some of the best minds in that realm, it’s a great time to get in and get access.
Join Third Tribe Now
All of the above Third Tribe Links are affiliate links, which means that I will earn a commission for each lead resulting in a sale.
There is also a great deal going on at DailySuccessDeals.Com where you can get a month of membership at Third Tribe, plus other good stuff worth almost $1000 extra from UnMarketing, Laura Roeder, Michael Port and others. Check it out by clicking the banner below. (I am also an affiliate of this program.)
by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Sep 7, 2010 | Coaching, life purpose
Today’s post is part 2 of a series about the purpose behind HigherEdCareerCoach.Com and the different ways the site and my business are evolving to meet the needs of higher ed job seekers. Consider it a rough draft “blog manifesto” or sorts.
What you need to know about me:
- I believe that my purpose in life is to help others along their life and career journeys.
- I’ve helped many, many people get jobs and get into grad school, and to figure out where they are going in their lives and careers.
- I am mostly interested in helping educators, artists, musicians, and other creators, who keep pushing people, discussions and our culture along.
- I believe that knowing your purpose is not enough. You have to find the right way to express it. And for some of my clients, the answer is to not work in higher ed, go to grad school, be an artist or a musician, but something else. If I can help point them away from a wrong turn and be okay with the alternate route, I’ll be happy with that, as well.
- I got to a point a couple of years ago where I knew that I enjoyed doing this coaching thing more than the job I was doing, and that it was time to move on. There were other personal motivations, too, including decreasing my stress, spending more time with my partner and kids, and living closer to our aging parents and the rest of my extended family. I want to help people who may be similarly stuck know that it’s okay to change your plans and do something different.
- Residence Life is a high burnout field, and I got to a burnout point with it. Then I got over the burnout, and was happy. And people were happy with me. And I felt like I had done what I came to Penn State to do. And I wanted to leave on good terms, because I love that place, and the people there, just like I love my family (dysfunctions and idiosyncracies notwithstanding.)
- Once I set a few things in motion, before I knew what had happened, all the sudden, it was time. So I took a leap of faith. And I am happier in my life and career, and get to focus more on what I am meant to do on this Earth, and how I am going to do it. I’m read to help people explore their moments of career serendipity, so that when things come together, they can be ready to take their own leaps.
Which brings me to the whole business thing. Like I said, I have money. It’s not about money. But on principle, I can only justify following my dreams if I maintain the quality of lifestyle my family has, and have a stable enough income to retire one day. I have room to wiggle now, and to figure it out, but I really don’t want to spend my retirement (if there ever is one) living on the street.
So here are the critical points you need to know about me, my sites, and my business.
- I’m not motivated by money in the strictest sense, but I do want to have a sustainable business that delivers value and creates regular income, because (like most people), I value stability and want to give that to my family. They deserve it for putting up with me!
- The articles and advice you get on the blogs will continue to be free as long as I can manage to keep putting good content out there and justify the costs of hosting the sites. In some cases, I pay my writers, because this is a business, and their writing keeps your eyeballs on the page and gives my business exposure while actually providing you some value, through different perspectives and ideas. In other cases, I trade posts with other education bloggers and coaches, or accept submissions based on a particular topic (for example: Monday Morning Quarterback columns.)
- Other services will cost you money. (Resume reviews, coaching sessions, webinars, publications, and eventually one or more members-only sites and coaching programs.)
- I’m not outrageously priced, but I am not cheap, either. I do have “friends and family” discounts, package rates, and a variety of products and services, either currently available or in development, and I’m developing more short-term and one-time opportunities to meet the demand for low-cost services.
- I will continue to have some sorts of advertising on my site and more often than not, this advertising will be for affiliate programs I am a part of, for products that I use, have used, want badly (like an iPad) or just think are good. If you buy something from a link or an ad on my sites, chances are, I will earn some money from the transaction.
- I’m going to stop hinting and start selling, because I want to stay busy with the coaching, help people and support my family. In other words, it’s time to really move from being an aspiring businessman to an actual one.
- I’m going to enlist your help. Why? Because I believe the assistance of my readers, professional community, and other people and websites I admire can help me improve the sites and give you more of what you want and less of what you don’t, because I don’t want to annoy you and I do want you to keep coming back.
Here are some upcoming things you will see on the sites, as a result of the “course corrections” to get my sites and my business moving forward:
- I will be placing more prominent links and buttons on the sidebar to encourage people to consider working with me as a coach. No more hinting. If you are a job seeker in higher ed, I want your business. But if you only come to read, that’s cool too. But if and when you are ready, I want to be at the top of your mind. If you know me and trust me already, then that’s a good start, and I’ll take it.
- You’ll continue to see e-mail list sign-up forms in the sidebar and I do use pop-up forms as well. I’ll try to give you incentives to join the list. For the e-mail list, I am linking them to some auto-responders that will deliver free e-mail mini-courses over a set period, as well as regular newsletters, and the opportunity to get “blog broadcast” summary newsletters. New subscribers who sign up at Higher Ed Career Coach are currently getting a mini-course on “Planning Your Career in Higher Education” in exchange for signing up. This autoresponder mini-course has weekly topics and exercises to help you flesh out some of the steps as you plan your career journey. It isn’t really a “self-coaching” program, but it should help you get started. This mini-course will be available for the next month or so, but will be taken down and replaced by another topic-related mini-course, probably in early October. Afterwards, it will be offered (probably with some modifications and feedback) as a paid product.
- This month, I will begin offering some low-cost webinars on career topics and you will see registration widgets on the site, as well as articles about upcoming opportunities. Some of these will have set per-seat prices, and others will be offered as “Tip Jar Webinars.” This means that you pay according to the value you receive. There will be a suggested donation but if you think the seminar was useless you won’t pay anything. If you get something out of it, you’ll be encouraged to support the development of the series by “tipping” based on the length and format, number of presenters and value of the information. (Probably between $5-$20 would be an appropriate tip for most seminars)
- In the next few months, you will see offerings for e-books and for a book I am contributing a chapter to, called “101 Great Ways to Enhance Your Career.” The book is a cooperative book project from SelfGrowth.Com and that means I bought into the project to get published alongside 100 other career authors and to have books to use for giveaways and promotions, as well as selling them. There is a screening process, so hopefully my article won’t get rejected, now that I am telling you about it. So let me make it clear. I do realize this is a glorified ad in some ways.
- I’m going to revise my affiliate advertising strategy, and the first step will be to get feedback from you about what you would prefer to see, and what you might buy. I will only continue to participate in affiliate programs for products I use, would use, want or believe in. And if you have a bad experience with one of these programs or think I should stop my affiliation with a group or company, I want to know that, because I only want to advertise products and services that readers would actually use.
Thanks for reading. I’d love your feedback about what I can do to improve the sites, focus my business strategy, and better meet the needs of higher ed job seekers. I’ll be starting later this week with a brief survey about the site features and advertising/affiliate programs.
by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Aug 4, 2010 | Coaching, Podcast
Today it was my pleasure to be a guest on Dennis Charles’ new BlogTalkRadio show, “Build Your Career with Passion.” Dennis is a coach that works with recent college graduates to make successful transitions to the world of work. Through his Fourth Wave Institute, he is working on ways to help people build their careers upon the foundation of their passions.
I met Dennis through my involvement in Third Tribe, a great online community put together by Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, Darren Rowse and Sonia Simone, to help businesspeople learn to market themselves authentically and to leverage the potential of social media to expand their networks, find others with similar interests, and become more effective. Dennis is an amazing person and has been a guest host on my show a few times.
I hope you will listen to the episode and check out some of the other great interviews he is doing. I think you’ll find them very interesting and inspirational.
Listen to internet radio with Build Your Career With Passion on Blog Talk Radio
