Use What You Know

Realize and Leverage Your Best Skills to Up Your Value

Posted by Carly Rullman on 11.02.09 @ 03:35 PM

Carly Rullman

A few weeks ago my co-workers noticed that I have more than 2,000 friends on Facebook. They were shocked, and even I was a little taken back when I realized that my "friend" number had really climbed over the years. My explanation is that, as it did for others my age, Facebook quickly became my social-media dashboard -- the way I kept up with my high school friends and the new friends I met in classes, clubs and social events. Facebook had become a part of my life.

Since Facebook's introduction, of course, Twitter, YouTube, Bloggerspot, others have followed. The how-to just comes naturally to my generation, and it is habit to use these platforms on a daily basis.

But what may seem so simple to us may not be for our agencies and clients, and our value-add as employees is how we can leverage skills, such as our knowledge of social-media platforms, in our jobs.

At my agency, one of our clients asked us to build a website to serve as the central hub for an annual design challenge. The challenge is aimed at designers with fewer than seven years of experience, so we figured the best way to promote participation and voting was through social media.

Here is where I came in:

Just because the website was built, it remained important to check in and make sure everything was running smoothly. I became the point person for the agency, treating it as if I am a user and reporting any user-unfriendly problems.

Next I helped the client set up a Twitter account just for the site. Everything from giving them a user name to suggesting people to "follow" to finding people, I am their girl. I also regularly tweet from my own name about the current and upcoming contests. I also gave the client a list of 25 Twitter accounts relative to the site (designers, for example.) This way, they can follow them and tweet them as needed.

The least I could do is post as my status on Facebook that there is a great site out there available to young designers. It has been great to see the responses from friends who took time to check it out.

I was also able to identify more than 20 design blogs to share with the client and to become familiar with. With these, I can share information about the client's design site with other readers. Finally, I offered up a drafted e-mail blast to a particular audience for the client. In this case, I thought targeting interior-design chapter presidents would make the most sense.

All these things are so familiar to our generation, but I promise they can be used for great client service. So what's my message? Use what you know. Identify the skills that already come naturally to you—like, in my case, social networking, but it could be presentation skills, idea generation, organizational ability, industry knowledge—and figure out how you can best leverage them for your agency or for your client. That's how you make yourself indispensable.

7 Comments

  By Todd_Sebastian | Cincinnati November 3, 2009 08:59:11 am:

Really good, practical advice, Carly.

Agree: the goal of any client-facing professional should be to become indispensable. And the best way to do that is to proactively look for ways -- using your unique skills and qualities -- to add value in ways that exceed client expectations...every day.

Exactly the sort of practical tips offered in the book "Tell Your Clients Where to Go! A Practical Guide to Providing Passionate Client Leadership."

Great article, Carly.

LINK Training & Consulting
http://www.strongerLINK.com

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  By CarpetKat | Calhoun, GA November 4, 2009 09:19:27 am:

Great Article! What you said is so true and the service that you provided to your client was very helpful, I'm sure. It is funny how the things that become second nature to some generations are the same things that completely confuse and scare others away. Great way to bridge the gap and be an educational resource at the same time!

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  By Formula13 | Atlanta, GA November 4, 2009 02:22:49 pm:

Perfect example of where things are heading. We will see more of this type of thinking over the next year as companies, and agencies, are grasping the importance of having people who understand the medium weigh in and make a difference.

As a search consultant, I feel as if I need to be staying on top of the trends and providing an educated insight to my customers on all things social and digital. Keep up the great work!

www.formula-13.com

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  By josie.mora | Bradbury, CA November 5, 2009 04:23:00 am:

Why are the Uncouth Gourmand Girls not as popular as you? Our blog has food, sex, friendships, and Twitter. Man, are we lame! But seriously, we agree things are most definitely heading in this direction.

www.uncouthgourmands.com

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  By 1day1brand | Toronto, ON November 5, 2009 10:42:30 am:

Just yesterday I was talking with a friend about how strange it is to think that the knowledge we use daily, often hourly, throughout our lives is completely foreign to that of an different generation. What we consider to be common practice in one context is seen as being revolutionary and invaluable in another.

As someone who grew up using everything from IRC, ICQ, MSN and now FB & Twitter. I guess we take for granted the ease at which we communicate to multiple audiences. Only now that I am heading the social media efforts of a great company (www.Distility.com) do I realize the power and potential for using this skill set in an commercial context.

Everyone is good at something and what you are great at may be another's challenge.


@AndrewFstewart
@1day1brand

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  By cjrullman | Birmingham, AL November 5, 2009 12:20:59 pm:

Thank you ALL for the encouraging comments. Let's keep putting fourth what we do best. Don't let your innate and learned skills go unnoticed.

I would love to write a column sometime on public speaking, something that is HIGHLY valued but understated. I believe conquering public speaking to the best of one's ability can account for better customer service, writing skills, and even just general expression in day-to-day client and company meetings.

What do you all think? Would you read? Oh! And I'm thinking of joining my city's Toastmasters club. toastmasters.org. Has anyone ever been involved?

Thanks again for reading and the comments.

- cjr

www.scoutbrand.com
@socialtweetia

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  By Hamiltonink1 | Toronto, ON November 6, 2009 10:52:46 am:

The big challenge our agency is facing right now is defining social media for clients. Is it a channel or a strategy, an aggregator or two way connection, is it purely a digital construct or something larger? A more definitive answer to these questions may emerge in time, but for now it's all of these things and different in relevance from client to client. Both the the learning curve of the respective client, but also the immersion curve of that client's audience are key determining factors. We do as much work for Honda in the social media space as we do for Budweiser, but strategy and execution have evolved very differently for each, even though social media is the hub. For now though, I feel like Carly's dashboard analogy is a perfect entry point for clients, no matter where they are on the social media curve.

Dave Hamilton
http://bigorangeslide.com

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