So I have joined the world of twitter and have been exploring the vast amounts of instant information and dinner ideas for the past couple of weeks. What I have learned on my short time with twitter, it is a good way to receive massive amounts of up to date information as long as you are following the right people and or organizations. Two organizations that I obviously follow are AIA (@AIANational) and the USGBC (@usgbc). They tweet on a fairly regular basis about recent press releases, articles, and other random pieces of information related to the design & construction field. However you can receive equal amounts of useless information such as “homemade eggplant parm, steamed artichoke with sherry vinaigrette, and a mediterranean cucumber and tomato salad…rainy Saturday dinner“. But as I learned by listening in to a social media webinar by @LewisHowes & @SeanMalarkey, social media is exactly what it is called, it is another means of socializing with hundreds if not thousands of people and letting them know what you are doing. So it is a little more personalized to let people know more about you as a person rather than a company.
In this social media webinar that I attended they were presenting ways for the user to generate business and/or job leads for almost any company. But not just by using twitter, they also discussed other online networking sites such as LinkedIn and briefly touched upon facebook, which I am a user of all three. With the exception of facebook, I can see how these can be very effective marketing tools if you are active users of these two sites. However it could be difficult as an employee of a larger firm to use social media for marketing purposes. Although you do see some architectural firms creating their own twitter accounts. On the other hand, as an employee it is a great way to brand yourself and get your information out to others and try to have yourself seen as an expert, which can prove to be useful in these slower times if you happen to be job hunting. So I would like to offer my opinion on the different social networking sites.
Twitter happens to be my most resent endeavor into the world of social networking. I created the account after listening to the SocialTruth webinar by @LewisHowes & @SeanMalarkey after seeing its potential for marketing and bringing in business. However I am currently following 100 people/organizations and the amount of information (or tweets as they are referred to) that comes in every day is overwhelming. I get peoples random thoughts, links to articles, events, and the occasional question. As I stated earlier, twitter is a great way to get massive amounts of up to date information. Therefore the more people you follow, the more information you are going to receive on a daily basis. So there is no reason to wait for your monthly subscription to come in, because if you are following people of like mind and interests, there is a chance you already read the article online. And by following more people, the potential you have of more users following your tweets allowing you to spread your message. I would just recommend using a program such as TweetDeck to help you manage the people you are following.
Facebook, I find hard to swallow as a way of marketing yourself or your company with a personal account. Now maybe if your company creates a fan page like (fer) Studio did, it is possible. But really, how many fans are you going to have outside of your employees? Anyways I did not join facebook to directly market my services. I joined facebook to reconnect and stay connected with friends and family. And I must say, since joining facebook about a year ago, I am more in touch with my cousins and old friends lives than I ever was. Now yes I am indirectly marketing to my facebook friends because I post status updates about my job, and blog posts also get displayed on my “wall”. However my primary intention is to stay connected with people. Plus there are things that I do not want to share with my employer/colleagues. Such as family photos, conversations between friends, and the random drunken picture from an old college classmate that they may post on their profile. So I am sorry in advance if you happen to find my facebook profile. I will most likely not accept your friend invitation unless we have had a relationship outside of the workplace in the past.
Now I guess you could consider me an early adopter of LinkedIn. I have had my account since 2004 and have found it to be a great way to build my professional connections. It has become an extension of my resume. Now I am a little more generous with who I connect with than I am with facebook, because one of my potential connections could be my employer someday or could refer me to one of their connections because they are in the need of an architect. However I am not one to just connect with every person out there like you can or are meant to on twitter. I use the rule of thumb that if I have worked for/with or have had some form of dealings with, I will connect with them. But I will not connect with someone that is looking to build their network. On the other hand if someone is reading this post and happen enjoy my blog, I would be willing to connect with them as long as they state why they are connecting with me (i.e. I enjoy reading your blog), as I have done in the past.
This leaves me with blogging. My first blog post was in August of 2008. So I have been doing this for almost a year now. This is the last form of social media/expression that I thought I would ever get into. I hate writing and stink at it (I am getting better, I think). However I am constantly doing research in regards to the built environment and sustainability. And well, a lot of times it falls upon deaf ears in the office and my wife honestly does not want to listen to me talk about some of the technical stuff that I post. I got into the architecture profession because I love it. Therefore this is my way of educating others and sharing some of the information that I learn. So in a way I am directly marketing my services, but I am also branding myself as an expert, or at least someone that is knowledgeable about the type of issues that I write.
So I encourage you to become social, and if you are on the fence like I was about joining twitter, here are a few article I found stating the case why architects should use twitter.
Perpetual Work in Progress – 10 Tips for Using Twitter to Support Your Practice (reposted on AIA.org)
Why Architects should twitter
Joshua has a degree in architecture and is a LEED Accredited Professional that has worked in the design and construction industry for over 10 years, focusing his efforts on energy efficiency and building science. He has organized multiple events in Ohio to give young designers the opportunity to learn about “green” home design and produce actual projects. He was also a key player in Ohio’s first LEED for Homes Platinum project. Joshua is also a certified Building Analyst through the Building Performance Institute and performs home energy audits, assisting home owners in reducing their energy usage.
