Beyond my role as therapist/negotiator I’m also a janitor. I clean up bruised perceptions and broken hearts. Those who’ve been persuaded by a well intended social media guru touting the value of ‘personal branding’ within the org, yet have failed to yield the fame and fortune implied. They're hurt, jaded, and no longer believe the hype. That's where I come in.

Inside an organization, and outside of marketing, personal branding doesn't carry much clout. In many cases, it can build walls that separate task-focused users from meaningful adoption of the social business experience. So how can a practitioner woo these wary souls back for another round? Pragmatism.  

Step 1) Listen to the story. Know the hype, know & acknowledge the failure, be ready to tie your request for participation to real live work. Be clear with yourself. If you are asking someone to perform an extra task with no tangible (x times better than email) outcome, you've lost.

Step 2) Have a pocket full of ideas. Prepare yourself with a matrix of business goals and potential solutions. Invest time in an organizational soul searching session with yourself. Consider real scenarios, use real requests, real fears. Build an adaptable pool of solution sets that allow you to quickly respond with strategy, ideas, and answers. If the issue is so unique that it doesn't fit into your pool, offer a strategy session with your client. Respect their challenges and offer appropriate attention. A simple investment of time can go a long, long way.

Step 3) Be human. I've said this before (probably in each post at least once). You must be accessible, accountable, and a part of your client's team. You cannot come from on high or be the guru with all of the answers. If you are there for yourself it shows. If you are in this for your own visibility it shows. Incessantly talking about your blog, your Twitter activity, or other social media endeavors tells a story about you and raises a signal that the client's goal may not be what you are after.

Step 4) Stand by your man (or woman). Be there when they are off the ground. Stay there until they are flying high. Offer yourself as an active participant in their social sphere as much as the scenario allows. In many E20 spaces this could be a community, a team workspace, a commenter on a blog or a forum.. you get it. Be there to cheer them on. Know when to remove the training wheels, step away and applaud their success.

Step 5) Never forget to applaud their success. Not only should you be there, you should raise winning efforts as success stories. Often. The beauty of an organizational win is that you can connect winners to new users easily. Let the winners help you share the good word. As winners they'll be happy to stand out and support you as champion.

Much of what I tout here is authenticity and accountability. I've found these two attributes to be the lynch pin tactics of successful adoption efforts. The 2.0 world is maturing to a point where we no longer believe the snake oil hype. I think you'll find that your clients (internal to your orgs or otherwise) know that story instinctively. Thanks for reading. Tell me what you think .

 

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixmilliondollardan/3074916976/