Taking Social Media to the Next Level

Posted by Gabe on March 12, 2010 under Facebook, Kids are Heroes, Social Media, Twitter | 15 Comments to Read

I always get a kick out of remembering when my first day on Twitter was.  If I forget I can go to the site that tells me when I did.  For me it happened to be Christmas Eve, 2008.  I almost feel guilty for being on the computer that day and cannot recollect my motivation, but at least I didn’t tweet too much on the day I should have been spending with my family.  It wasn’t long until I was addicted to the concept of getting to know people through this platform.  As I progressed I learned a lot which I have tried to share in this blog.  Sometime mid-2009 I created a Facebook fan page for Kids Are Heroes and now I had two platforms to manage.  So what is the point of all this social networking, anyway?  Is it just to pass the time and comment on what we all had for breakfast?  Absolutely not.  It’s about connecting with people. Period.  Funny thing is that I thought I was connecting with people all along.  I would converse with them, ask about what they do, give them #followfriday mentions, help them in any way I could, the whole nine yards.  But it wasn’t until fairly recently when I took these connections to the next level.

You may know that recently we have partnered with Levar Fisher, an ex-NFL star who travels around the country motivating youth and speaking about Kids Are Heroes.  I was introduced to Levar by Mary Kurek, who works in Levar’s behalf by helping him to connect with people like me.  I watched how she works and that is how I learned to really connect with people.  Connecting means more to me now than just #followfriday mentions on Twitter.  Thanks to Mary I learned that it’s about taking action.  It’s about seeking out people who might complement you and you them.  It’s about picking up the phone and really connecting.  From those conversations both parties can then take action and actually do something to further each other’s causes. I have been on the phone for the first time with people I met on Twitter more times in the last three weeks than I have in the year I have been involved in social media.  I believe that this works just as well with businesses as it does non-profits.  I had a long phone conversation with Tom Tuohy of Dreams for Kids yesterday and the word that came up often was ‘collaboration’. I am so looking forward to seeing what unravels from that connection.  This week I also connected with Blake Raab of Bears on Patrol.  One would think that non-profits would keep their cards close to the vest and not share anything, because we are all competing for donations that are out there.  That’s the old way of thinking.  It just so happens that I love Blake’s mission and I really want him to be successful.  That is why I am trying to come up with ways that our kids can support what he does.  I have learned that a great leader is one who makes people who work with him (or her) successful.  This is what I aspire to be and hopefully something that I am working toward every day.

So take action and leave a comment. I might just arrange a phone call. :)