Reflection #3

Groundswell; Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.

      The end of getting to know and understand the Groundswell and the beginning of my Blog Make It Stand Out!

              Hi again! In our last reflections of the Groundswell taught us how to understand, use techniques, know our social technographics ladder, listen, talk, energized and support it. In this post we will talk about the last four chapters of the book.

Chapter #9; Li and Bernoff said “Innovating with help from your customers is such a great idea that there have already been at least three books written about it”

              Which do you think is one advantage of Groundswell?  We definitely know that initiating in it is scary and uncertain BUT… We are there. We followed each step of this amazing book and now what we need is to embrace it. So, one advantage of the groundswell is that we can work together with our customers to improve a product or even create a new product by all the feedback and ideas that our customers write on the blogs, websites, social media, etc.

              My example of this week is my own blog, Make It Stand Out. After talking about my knowledge from the Groundswell, I would like to start blogging about affordable fashion. If I follow the eight steps correctly, then I would love for us to talk what you want me to show and write about. Colors, shoes, stores, styles, and any questions you might want me to answer. How about if we start right now sharing?

Chapter #10; Transformation: take it step by step, have a plan and a vision and have executive support according to Li and Bernoff.

              Believe in what we are doing is a must in this process. We already know what our client wants and needs, but now we need the surprise factor. Hopefully, we won’t get to the point where we initiate talking to the groundswell when a crisis already started. We need to be ahead of that and make bold moves in our communication strategy.

              My blog, Make It Stand Out, would need to have every once in a while a great move. It can be like four of you guys, the followers that comment the most, get invited for a change of style. These can motivate you guys to write comments, talk about my blog with friends, and help me improve. After all, it would be a blog that we can transform together.

Chapter #11; Employees work for you and both have a common goal: your company’s success.

              As same as you or even better, employees know your company from head to toe. Why not embracing them too in the Groundswell? Internal blogs or intranets that connect all employees of the company is a great opportunity to improve. We can talk about our Christmas Party, team buildings, projects, concerns, ideas and our co-workers can comment and share their knowledge with everyone else. Executives can learn from this too, is imperative to have them supporting the intranet and letting the employees know that they are being heard. Happy employees work better but employees that feel as integral part of the enterprise, are happier and more thriven to success. (Hershey example)

              Make it stand out might get a lot of attention and it can grow. What if my employees have their own voice and opinion in the blog? Instead of only me and you guys talking, why won’t we give them a chance to talk about how it is to work in Make It Stand Out. We can do posts how we have debates and you can vote and comment the why of your decision. Ok, right now, sounds an amazing idea! Haha. But As we have learned from previous chapters its all about listening and make it happen. This scenario, my employees telling me what they want to do, improve or create.

Chapter #12; Li and Bernoff said “Social networks will connect people with groups they care about”.

             

              Groundswell won’t stop there. It has been growing and it won’t stop either. Why? We have access everywhere and anywhere, cellphones, computers, watches, tablets, screens and speakers that tell us information. Technology is moving fast, probably because some of you are helping these companies (by the way: great job), but also because people like us have embrace them and the groundswell. Now, we need to take the advice from the book and don’t forget to never stop energizing it. As a company or entrepreneurs, I encourage you guys to move forward, listen and talk to your customers and employees and work together to be better. Great work place with great ideas.

              Crazy as it may sound, for me to start a blog, took a professor to made me do it. Here I am, enjoying it and excited to continue posting and make this site a safe place, where we all can share and talk about fashion and anything you want. This project has been in my mind for many years and now is time to talk and hopefully you would listen too!

              The book: Groundswell, is amazing. I recommend it to everyone because it gives us an understanding of social media, how we customers are supporting it and how we embrace it. Also, because parents can have a larger understanding of the involvement of young people in social media.

              Do you think is a good idea to have an intranet for employees? Do you have one in your work place? Share with us!

              Thank you for reading my post.

              P.