With the announcement that Facebook has reached over 500 million worldwide users and Twitter is on the verge of reaching 50 million tweets per day, it's obvious to see that social media sites have moved beyond being classified as a means of friendly communications and boredom solvers, and have developed into an important means of running businesses worldwide.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube...all places to waste your afternoon when your boss isn't looking, right? Wrong!
Most people have heard of the idea: Six Degrees of Separation. It refers to the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on earth, so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. With this idea in mind, focus on this statistic: Nearly 60% of adults worldwide maintain a profile on a social networking site. Imagine not only the number of people you have the opportunity to connect with, but the number of quality contacts you can make through a friend of a friend of a friend. The possibilities are endless. One simple way to see these connections is through LinkedIn. This social media site shows your level of “connectedness” with other people in rank of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree, with 1st being a direct link, 2nd being a friend of your direct link, and 3rd being a friend of a friend of your direct link.
So how can this be beneficial to you?
Say, for instance, you are searching for a new mail shop to fulfill your monthly mailings, but don't have any direct contacts. If you know the names of a few companies, you can search those businesses on LinkedIn and see if you have any contacts. Many times, if you aren't already directly connected to someone at the company, someone you know is, and you've found your in. Social networking sites can also help you stay connected after trade shows or other industry events. We meet so many people and see new companies when attending events and we want to be able to keep in touch with everyone. Maybe you meet someone who offers a way to save your company money, but you lose his business card. Chances are, if you can remember what company or industry he/she worked for, you can find them on a social networking site. Not only can you use the social networking sites to re-connect with people, but reading and participating in discussions on both Facebook and LinkedIn can provide a learning opportunity for many different topics within the mailing industry. There are several groups you can join, both on Facebook and LinkedIn, that involve the mailing industry, including your local PCC’s, MSMA, Direct Mail Group, and Postal Forum to name a few. Currently, Kern has set up pages on a variety of social media sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Vimeo, and Flickr. By joining these online communities created by Kern, users have the opportunity to openly communicate, share experiences and best practices with other Kern users, as well as learn about new products so that you can make informed decisions. If you are not already members, we encourage you to join these social networks and to become fans of Kern USA. We encourage you to contribute to the page, start discussions, or answer questions.
For links to all of Kern's social media and social networking sites, visit www.kerncan.com/connect. We look forward to connecting with you!
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