Twitip

By CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd. Follow her @CarolAnnB.

Don’t let social media networks stop you from face-to-face communications – facilitate this new dimension as a stepping stone to enhance dialogue.

In a growing remote-administration society, more professionals are operational from their home offices opposed to public workspaces. Much of this has to do with the fact that a lot of what can be accomplished in a virtual office setting can be administered from your personal laptop, PC, or Mac. Whether you’re the Website administrator, analyst, the online marketing sales consultant, web copy writer, or the social media wiz, most of your efforts can be conducted from the Internet window on your desk – your computer screen, that is. All of us, who have made the Internet our professional home away from home, know exactly what I’m talking about when I say, “Oh, it’s easier just to send a quick email.” Not all (of us) are “people persons” when it comes to face-to-face communicating. We stutter, clam up, or are reduced to babbling buffoons because the words don’t come as easily to us in a one-on-one or God forbid, public speaking forum. And for those of us who have had to stand affront of a large audience know what it means to have sweat beads dot the top of your lips, clammy palms, and even goose bumps down the back of your spine. Your nerves go into hyper drive just having the mere thought that you’re going to have to speak with a big crowd, or have an important one-on-one with a client, boss, co-worker, or subordinate. No, we don’t intentionally have these physical reactions, but for some of us, this magnified fear becomes so constricting that we would rather “live” on the Internet than further our professional reach and growth potential.

The biggest misconception is that because you “work on the Internet” you won’t have to physically interact with other individuals. After all, you have email, Yahoo! Chat, Twitter, FaceBook, and Digg (among other social media outlets) at your disposal – why on Earth would you need to actually speak (gulp!) in person with anyone? Well, unless you plan on staying in the same position for the rest of your life or you don’t require a profession that earns a competitive income, then you may want to reconsider your feelings…rather, your social phobia. Say what? Yes, you in the miniature cubicle at the back of the office or you in the pajamas sitting affront of your home office desk – I am talking to you. You’ve become an Internet recluse, a slave to social media, and the online taskforce. The good news is that you can facilitate all the social media networking skills that you’ve learned online in real-world work settings. How?

Here are five tips to employ social networking in real-world careers:

1. If you’re an online copy writer or content developer, much of what you write is based on multimedia research, as well as telecommunications (and some in-person interviews). You’re the brains behind the articles and publications. How do you communicate your ideas, analysis, and subject matter? If you’re like me, you try to put your new found knowledge into intelligent, but laymen terms.  No one wants to hear psychoanalytic mumbo-jumbo in everyday dialogue. So when we talk to each other in person, we try to convey our thoughts, ideas, and philosophies on the level with those whom we are speaking. Remember your audience; and focus on what their attention, wants, and comprehensive skills are. When you do, you are equipping your listeners (and readers) with interesting and empowering information.

2. Web tech? So you’re the behind-the-scene’s guy – you know the one who writes all the technical coding like CSS and cold fusion (among others). It’s one of those fields where you don’t get a lot of one-on-one contact, so it can become very tedious and lonely sometimes. Your work day is comprised of data, data, and more data. By the time your workday is complete, your brain feels like it’s been sucked from your head. This particular position can sometimes infringe on your mindset and communication methods. With all that data locked in your cranium, it’s hard to get out of code mode. Here’s a quick tip: Don’t talk about your hands-on work unless you absolutely must. Talk about the projects you’ve finished, how you’ve helped Websites function more fluidly, and the traffic that your project has gained since you’ve transformed it. Bottom line is that higher-ups are results-oriented, so when you talk in those terms, you’re more likely to communicate more efficiently than you would speaking about the day-to-day perils of Website scripting. Of course, depending on the individual to whom you are addressing, you can also put your brain power on tap. Be the answer-guy (or gal), who is the go-to person when help is needed. It’s amazing what web knowledge that brain of yours contains.

3. Web administrator? If you’re the person who manages content uploads like articles, photographs, editorials, and other content (including reciprocal links) you sometimes find that it can be quite a repetitious chore. It’s always interesting, though, to read what others have written, how they’ve written it, and the types of antics some folks use to get their content or web links published. Use these everyday scenarios to describe what you do to others. Oft times, what may seem monotonous to us is quite intriguing to others. Without disclosing private information, you can relay information on how you personally responded to individuals you’ve had to reject or approve. How you’ve strategically managed your time and what action plans have worked for you to address your daily to-do list can help others cope with their own variable time tables. Remember, there are many lines of work. Yours is unique. What would you tell others about you and the work that you do to help them understand the nature of your character and your duties?

4. Social Media Wiz? You’re the perfect candidate to speak your mind and let others know about your line of work. As the Glam-Gal of the social media community, you’re on top of your networking game. You know how to communicate online like an experienced leader would with his people. Suddenly, you’re thrown into the real world and you get a sudden case of mouth-constipation or worse, mouth-diarrhea. What happened to that charming, intelligible person who was instant messaging me about the latest brand in social networking just yesterday? She’s flown the coupe because just like other online careers that require little or no face time, she’s forgotten what in-person communicating is all about. First – let’s breathe a minute or two. Second, stop and think about what you’re going to communicate to others. You use your mind quite well while you’re online at social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, and FriendFeed (and others). Be the same superstar you are online during interpersonal dialogue. Again, know your audience. Uncover the message they want to hear. Speak. Slowly. Effectively.  Remember what your college professor told you in class about public speaking? Imagine that every one is nude. I do it all the time and it works wonders for me. Of course I might giggle a bit but that’s okay; laughter is a great anecdote to public shock.

5. Online Entrepreneur. If you’re the business-savvy chic or dude, who knows how to sell seashells on the seashore, then you probably don’t need much advice on how to sell or market your product…or do you? In most cases, you’ve already dealt with person-to-person sales in a retail setting so you’ve got the market cornered with your great social skills, right? Nope. After you’ve been selling online for an extended period of time, you may fall out of the groove of in-person communications. As humans, we quickly adapt to most environments because it’s our self-preserving nature to do so. However, when you’ve acclimated yourself to a particular way of life or situation (including eCommerce), you become complacent with the day-to-day web communications and social media networking dialogue. Being a natural salesperson, you’ll want to attract potential sponsors to your site and the best way to do that is to demonstrate that your eCommerce site is not only doing well, but that you know your brand and your product like the back of your hand. That’s where person-to-person, key communication skills come into play. Want to brush up on those skills? As with all IT careers, it’s a good idea to get out and enjoy the public. Take a walk in a local park, go skating at a nearby rink, or host a neighborly barbecue or picnic every now and then. It’s good to take a break from any Internet routine because it gives you real-live experiences and encounters that you can’t get online.