Category: Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Techie Uses IBM developerWorks to Build Social Eminence

Nigel Griffiths eats, drinks and sleeps Power Systems. Around 15 years ago, this IBM performance guru located in the United Kingdom authored a free utility he called nmon (short for Nigel’s Monitor), which can be used to monitor and analyze performance data on AIX and Linux systems.

While never officially supported by IBM, the tool captured the attention of performance specialists throughout the world to the point where today, Griffiths estimates, it has between 20,000 – 30,000 users. As nmon’s popularity grew, Griffiths was faced with a problem: how best to support this burgeoning community. “And so to communicate with them better, rather than e‑mailing them all,” he explains, “I started to get involved in developerWorks …” Thus marked the beginning of Griffiths’ journey into using developerWorks and its extensive social media capabilities.

A growing awareness of users’ needs

Griffiths first step was to create a wiki which he used to provide documentation and downloadable binaries for nmon. From there, he started a forum to answer questions from users directly and get answers to them fast. But he soon discovered that he was also fielding questions about Power Systems performance in general, and he noticed that many users were confused about how the machines work and how to get the best out of them, “Everyone wants their machine to go faster”.

And so Griffiths began blogging on developerWorks to allow others to benefit from his AIX and Linux expertise. He even made a few embedded videos. “I have the luxury that I work in advanced technical support, so I work on new things that are happening, new machines that we are bringing out with the latest technologies,” he says. His rule of thumb in deciding what to blog about: when he comes across content of interest to him, chances are that lots of others will be interested too.

The reader reaction and comments he’s generated from his blog entries have helped Griffiths escape what he calls “expert blindness”. He points to IBM clients just starting out and how they often struggle with things that he thinks are blatantly obvious. “That makes me rethink the way that we’re putting these things over and it reminds me that … there’s always some new guys that need a bit of help,” he says.

Griffiths has also found that customer tech people value interacting with IBM tech people and are impressed when contact is made, which helps increase brand awareness and purchase consideration among IT decision makers.

Griffiths is now using Twitter @mr_nmon to get the word out about his blog postings and to follow other leading performance experts. Currently, he follows 12 other techies inside and outside IBM whose knowledge he respects. “I usually find maybe one or two things a day that I think, oh, that’s useful, that would take me ages to work out. Or, I’ll file that one away, that could be useful in a project in the future,” he says. He also likes to re-tweet those items to the 400 or so people that are on his Twitter list, so they’re aware of the good stuff that others are doing.

Finding your own way

Griffiths’ advice to others considering social media: “Find out what approach to social media works for you.” For him, it’s about spending a few hours each week sharing expertise so people don’t have to find things out the hard way.

While leery about becoming too well known, Griffiths acknowledges that his reputation as a performance guru has grown considerably since he started blogging and tweeting. And his moderated use of social media shows that you don’t have to jump in with both feet to be really effective and make a contribution.

A quick look at developerWorks

Since 1999, IBM developerWorks has been the IT industry’s most comprehensive source of technical content for the developer community, focusing on IBM software products, as well as open-standards technologies such as Java, Linux, XML, Web development, and more. Four million IBM and non-IBM developers, IT professionals, and students in 195 countries use developerWorks each month to learn about advances in IT and open standards, develop and showcase their experience and skills, solve problems, and work collaboratively with experts and peers.

Today, the platform provides an extensive and well-managed set of social capabilities specially designed for business, which include wikis, blogs, forums, bookmarks, groups and profiles. Recently, developerWorks received the Forrester Groundswell Award and the AMI SMB Social Media Award in recognition of its effective use of social media.

 

Master Inventor Extols “the Unedited Voice of the Individual”

This past May, Tony Pearson had a problem. He was visiting with a group of customers in Australia —  nearly 8,000 miles away from his home base at the IBM System Storage Executive Briefing Center in Arizona — and needed to know if the IBM XIV Storage System would work in a particular competitive environment.  And so the master inventor and senior managing consultant posted his question on Twitter and waited.

Within 30 minutes, he received return tweets from the two non-IBM hardware manufacturers involved letting him know that they both support the proposed configuration.

“I got my answer without even knowing who to call or who works in those companies,” says Tony. “I just put it out there saying: I have this question. Does anybody have an answer?”

Tony’s story is just one more example of how he’s been able to use social media to benefit IBM and build his personal brand as a system storage expert and go-to guy.

How it all began

Back in 2006, Tony was asked to create a set of podcasts to explain and promote IBM’s renaming of its disk and tape products under the IBM System Storage product line. Thinking his voice was unsuitable for a podcast, he decided instead to blog about the changes. A year later, when he was transferred to IBM’s Executive Briefing Center, he continued to publish his blog, changing its content and readership to support his new organization and job responsibilities.

Tony’s philosophy on blogging stems from a book he read early on titled Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. “They had a very crisp definition of a blog. It’s the unedited voice of the individual,” he says.

So what does he talk about? “I talk about new announcements. I talk about how to use the products. I don’t talk about conversations I have with clients, but I might say: ‘These questions come up fairly frequently at briefings … so I thought I’d clarify this position or how IBM feels about this.’”

And every now and then, he’ll write about something personal — a vacation he’s taken or his volunteer efforts.

Tony believes his blog also helps open up IBM to the outside world. “IBM in the past has been seen as this impenetrable fortress,” he explains. “And I tell everybody … if you have a question about storage and you don’t know who to ask contact me and I’ll find the right person.”

His passion and commitment to his “Inside System Storage” blog have helped make it one of the most active blogs on IBM developerWorks. “People know who I am and they can trust what I say versus someone else who they’ve never seen or heard from before,” he adds.

Tips for success

Tony likes the progressive, open approach IBM has taken regarding the use of social media by employees. “One of the things that IBM did well is develop a very robust, simple-to-follow set of social computing guidelines,” he says. He cites “don’t pick fights” and “identify who you are” as two of the guidelines that can help people starting out avoid common mistakes.

And he encourages all of his colleagues to find their voice in the blogosphere, express their opinions on Twitter, share their presentations on SlideShare.net or post photos, graphs and diagrams on Flickr.com. His recipe for social media success rests on four essential ingredients:

  1. Stick to your expertise. “I saw a great quote that I used in one of my blog posts that said that the food in museums was as bad as the murals in restaurants. It was a good reminder that you should focus on what you know.”
  2. Do your homework. “People should read before they write. You’re more credible when you can say ‘I’ve read everyone else’s writing first, and here’s my opinion’ as opposed to adding little or no value to the conversation.”
  3. Devote the time. “There’s a lot of work to create a blog post … gather the research and do all the stuff so you make a complete quality post. It’s not going to happen with10 minutes a day.”
  4. Keep active. “One person told me a great thing: blogging is like jogging. If you don’t jog daily or weekly, and only jog every now and then, it’s not going to be of any value.”

He also warns people to avoid perfectionism when blogging. “I think people are worried … that they’re going to say something that makes them look like they’re not the experts that they claim to be,” says Tony. “Just like in real life, you can edit the blog and say ‘I made a mistake. This is what I meant to say.’”

A chat with Willie Favero DB2 for z/OS evangelist about is secrets for social media success

With close to 6,000 RSS subscriptions and 14,000 to 15,000 hits a month, Willie Favero runs one of the top DB2 for z/OS blogs on the Internet. So when Willie talks … people listen.

But it wasn’t always that way for the senior certified IT software specialist. Spurred on by a friend in Toronto who had started a blog on DB2 for LUW (Linux, Unix, Windows), Willie began his blog in 2005, “… when most people I dealt with didn’t know what a blog was,” he says.

His approach, which Willie maintains to this day, was simple: frequency, brevity and informality.

  • Frequency. “If you write a blog post once every two months, no one is ever going to read it because no one is going to take the time to check periodically. But if you always have information up in front of your readers that is of interest to them, they will continue to read.”
  • Brevity. “The idea of being able to read something that isn’t as lengthy as an article is really quite nice for a lot of people. They sit down, they get their cup of coffee in the morning, they check what new blog entries are out there.”
  • Informality. “You can’t write it formally like you would a white paper or an article. You write the blog as if you were talking to the person across the table from you because that’s what they’re expecting.”

He also advocates an occasional non-technical post — “Be careful not to overdo it,” he warns. So, for example, when he bought his new motorcycle or became a grandfather for the fourth time, he blogged about that. And his readers love it.

Soon after he started his blog, Willie built a LinkedIn profile, jumped on Twitter and started using other social media platforms, such as SlideShare, through which he could further promote and explain the inner workings of DB2 for z/OS. He even developed a small Web site which ties everything together.

Making a difference

Today, Willie is constantly bumping into IT professionals, both customers and colleagues, at conferences and seminars who faithfully read his blog and tweets. He recalls sitting in sessions when the presenter “will quote something and he’ll say, ‘I picked up this item in my presentation from Willie’s blog.’”

“Now that’s really nice,” he adds, “because not only do I get the satisfaction of knowing someone’s getting some use out my blog, but I just got a free piece of advertising in front of 50 to 60 people in the room.”

The DB2 for z/OS evangelist’s blogging also caught the eye of his manager. “My manager looked at my interest in social media and said, ‘You like doing this and we benefit from you doing this, so let’s make it a bullet on your performance plan.’ Now I’m supposed to write at least one blog entry every week.”

Willie really likes having his manager’s buy-in because it takes the pressure off his blogging activity and he’s recognized for it. He believes everyone active in social media should get that same support.

Here’s how to connect with Willie:

 

“Server Chick” Uses Social Media to Set the Record Straight

Being referred to as a “server chick” on a blog post may not flatter most women, but to my IBM colleague Elisabeth Stahl, it was a sign that she had come into her own in the world of social media. It also affirmed that she was having a growing and positive impact on how people viewed IBM’s products and capabilities.

As a chief technical strategist and executive IT specialist at IBM, Stahl, focuses on systems performance and benchmarking across IBM platforms for the Systems and Technology Group.

“I make sure we highlight how great our servers and storage perform,” Stahl says, “so we can let our clients know that our products are really the ones they should be looking at, and the ones they should buy.”

From paper to blogs and tweets

In the so-called early days, Stahl would write “one-way” technical papers as her primary means of communication to clients. But as the competition increased and the use of social media in business blossomed, she realized she needed another outlet to tell the IBM story.

“I was starting to get very tired of our competitors saying things about IBM in their press releases and their blogs that just weren’t true,” she recalls. So she looked into creating her own blog as a fast and more immediate way of setting the record straight. But there was some initial hesitancy on her part.

First, despite having published some technical papers, Stahl didn’t like to write — one of the main reasons she chose math as her college major. Second, she wasn’t quite sure how much time blogging would take away from accomplishing her day-to-day responsibilities. Stahl’s first blog entry was read by two people, primarily because she asked them to. Now, her entries are read by hundreds as her contacts and social eminence continue to grow. “It’s amazing the contacts you can make with social media,” she says. “I’ve developed new relationships worldwide with clients, with business partners and with IT analysts.” Some, she adds, have responded to her posts from as far away as Nigeria and remote parts of China.

In addition to a growing blog audience, Stahl is building a Twitter following as well. She tweets whenever she comes across a paper or an article of interest she thinks would really interest her followers. “And not what I’ve had for breakfast,” she jokingly adds.

Building a reputation as an SME

Not only is Stahl convinced that her efforts are contributing to IBM’s bottom line, but, equally important, her own reputation as a subject matter expert, both internally and externally, has spread considerably — a personal and professional bonus, she says, that would never have happened so fast and so far.

What advice does Stahl have for other Subject Matter Experts who are considering social media as a way to share their expertise?

  • “Just do it!” But make sure to take advantage of the resources available. It’s also important in the beginning to ask others for advice, which Stahl says gave her more confidence and really helped her take off.
  • “Realize it takes time to do this.” Stahl remembers the pressure she put on herself in the beginning to do a certain number of blog entries, for instance a couple of times a week — which she thinks is still a good idea when first establishing a presence. But now, she only blogs when there’s really something good to write about and she feels passionate about the subject.
  • “You need to be factual, honest and engaging.” Stahl asks herself three questions before posting an article she’s written: “What would my clients say when reading this? What would my manager say when reading this? What would my mother say when reading this?”

“In the end,” says the server chick, “I found that I really loved the writing, I loved working with social media, I loved telling a story and especially interacting externally with clients in that way.”

Traits of Subject Matter Experts who are successfully sharing their knowledge and expertise through social networking

Over the last few years I’ve been working with colleagues across my company to provide them guidance on becoming more effective with sharing their domain knowledge through social networking and collaboration. Many Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) I’ve worked with often ask me “What characteristics are common amongst those that are the most effective and influential?”  The following is a collection of my observations as well as some suggestions from my work enabling the social workforce.

Be true to yourself

Always be true to yourself when you engage in social activities. When establishing a social presence it should be an expression of who you are and what you want to share with others about what you know. Consistently present yourself, using the same tone, in every interaction and communication. Know yourself and be authentic. Be Genuine. Be Real. Be yourself – only you can do that!

Putting yourself out there

I find that the SMEs who become known are those that are comfortable collaborating, commenting, and publishing in social environments in a sustained and highly engaged way. You should assess your comfort level with establishing a public persona. By nature, being active on social means you are putting yourself out in public. When doing so, being honest about who you are and what you know is critical. You need to be comfortable and have a willingness to share your name, your thoughts, opinions, and recommendations to help others who seek your domain expertise. Doing so will help build your character and establish credibility. As you think this through, know your limitations. If you are not comfortable with sharing your knowledge and expertise in such a public forum, you should recognize and respect that.

What are your goals? What do you want to accomplish?

Are you looking to monitor competitors, connect more closely with your customers, or to establish yourself as a prominent thought leader in a particular area? Think about your goals and what you want to accomplish before you get started. Establishing goals will help you to be true to yourself, know your limitations or obstacles as well as provide you context for which tools and venues you should consider as best fit to match your intentions.

Know your audience

Successful SMEs listen to their audience and are willing to leverage listening tools to gather social intelligence and identify the existing social graphs of those they most want to connect with. Consider enhancing your online professional network by:

–       Studying your target audiences wants and needs

–       What questions are they most commonly asking?

–       What issues/problems are they looking to solve?

–       Understand the knowledge sought – do you have something of value to offer? Knowing what is happening TODAY in product or technology vertical is critical

Gather social intelligence to better understand the social ecosystem

–       Pay attention to where they most often participating on-line

–       Which venues? Which communities? Which forums?

–       Who are they connected to?

–       Who are they influenced by?

–       Are you connected with them? If not, why not? Perhaps you should be

Know the rules for engagement

If you are sharing your professional knowledge about a brand or product, you should be sure that you understand the way that topic, brand or product should be represented.

– How should the technology, product or brand be referenced?

– Understand the messaging

– Understand the keywords and natural language your audience uses to discuss the topic, brand or product

– Understand what is OK or NOT OK to share

– What digital assets are available for you to share which would help you help your audience further understand?

Only the passionate survive!

Those that have deep subject matter expertise to share and are passionate believers that knowledge they possess is of interest and will benefit the community they intend to share it with, are the most successful at building a degree of influence. They are relationship builders at heart, who are comfortable with and find value in creating relationships digitally. Successful SMEs are on a quest to make connections and deepen relationships with those who are seeking and understanding of the topic that they are passionate about.

Commitment to sustained engagement

A key trait of successful SMEs is commitment. They strive to sustain engagement long term, while growing and evolving their participation over time to achieve personal and business objectives. They understand that it takes time to build credibility, trust and a degree of influence. They understand that it requires a long-term strategy.

Inquiring minds want to know

Curious by nature engaged SMEs don’t pretend to have all the answers. They know that ambiguity breads commentary and feedback. They often leave the last word to their audience. Doing so allows them to learn more about their audiences needs. It also provides them a way to be responsive to the topic/discussion in a more engaged and relevant way.

Karma

Successful SMEs understand the basic premise of cause and effect, what goes around comes around. They strive to serve the needs of others while receiving insights for themselves. They know that what they publish is permanent and can not be taken back. Remember, if you publish something inappropriate, embarrassing, or hurtful, there will be a record for years to come.

 

Do you have ideas to share on guiding and enabling SMEs? I’d love to hear them.


Targeted social media marketing engagement

How will you ensure that your social marketing engagement is on target to support your brands marketing priorities?

A lot of B2B social media marketers struggle with how to sustain the social engagement of their Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with the target audience. I’ve done a good amount of work in this area and have built an approach I call social ecosystem mapping. In this post I’ll share the inputs required for building a social map. I’ll also provide you some tips on how to organize your social coverage model, selecting the best suited SMEs for engagement and how to support them with content.

Taking the time to build a social map will position your SMEs not only to represent their expertise but also to express brand/product value in the exchange. Ultimately SMEs will be well supported to sustain social engagement long term with the target audience as brand evangelists.

Social ecosystem mapping

Here’s an outline of the steps to build an informed engagement plan based on social research and marketing priorities

Prerequisites:

1. Prioritize the idea/message for which you want to be known based on your business priorities and marketing objectives
2. Monitor the dialogue by conducting social monitoring research based on the key topics of contextual relevance
3. Analyze research findings and use the insights to inform your engagement plan and set priorities

Now you’re ready to build a map of the social ecosystem based on these insights.

By topic map out:

1. Communities and top domains for targeting
2. Influencers/Authors that are considered leading authorities in the dialogue
3. Select the best suited internal SMEs for engagement. You will want to choose those that are well positioned to provide sought after expertise and can provide business value in the exchange. (There will likely be multiple SMEs, try to map them to support the outreach based on their ability to support the progression stages mentioned in #6 below)
4. Determine the SMEs enablement requirements based on an assessment of their social readiness and develop support
5. Evaluate content requirements; determine the assets required to support SMEs in their ongoing dialogue.
6. Select assets. It’s best to map the assets out by the progression path of the dialogue. For example classify assets based on consideration stages: Awareness, Consideration, Interest, Evaluation, Final Selection, Sale and Post Sale
7. Prepare assets for digital distribution, optimizing content for search, content tagging etc.
8. Determine an editorial calendar. Timing and cadence. This will need to be built based on your content develop process.

With this social ecosystem mapping complete, you are now ready to provide it as guidance to your team of SMEs. I have found SMEs to welcome this kind of engagement guidance. It helps them to focus their time and effort in social where they will provide the most value. It also ensures that their outreach is aligned to your brands business priorities and marketing objectives. Supporting them with content at each stage ensures that they are on brand/on message. If they follow the map, they will be well positioned for effective long term engagement that will drive business outcomes.

9. Activate SMEs to establish & build relationships in targeted communities, top domains and with key influencers.

Relationship building on-line takes time. With this map SMEs will focus their efforts on nurturing the most important, high value relationships in the target segments. Ultimately, if influencers receive value from your SMEs they will become advocates & foster advocacy on behalf your brand sharing with their followers & extended networks.

10. Ongoing monitoring and measurement is imperative to ensure that you stay abreast of changes in the social ecosystem. Providing you an understanding of what’s working or not working in the engagement model. Be prepared to take action based on what the measurements are telling you. Make necessary adjustments. Measure if these adjustments have a positive or negative impact. Social ecosystems are dynamic so you will want to be fine tuning your engagement model on a regular basis.