Sending an Important Email? Check Social Media First

iStockphoto by BigNazik

Before you hit “send” on a critical email, do one thing.

And no, it’s not editing for brevity, spell checking and proofreading. Those are a given. For every message.

There’s another strategy that can increase the impact of your message – whether you’re asking someone for a favor, inviting them to speak at an event, requesting a reference, or making any number of asks. This simple strategy could tilt the scales toward a positive response.

What is it?

Check your recipient’s latest social media posts.

Why?

Here are 3 big reasons.

You may see recent updates that change your approach. Maybe your recipient has started a new job, been promoted, received an award, or spoken at a conference. Those are great accomplishments to congratulate the person on, in a genuine and authentic way.

For my regular readers, you know I advise never to send someone spam (a.k.a., an unsolicited pitch for business or a job) immediately after connecting in LinkedIn. These messages generally aren’t worth the time to read and respond to, especially the jargon-filled ones where it’s difficult to know what the person or business actually does.

But someone recently followed up his pitch for a meeting with a note that said, “I just noticed it looks like you left your company recently. I apologize for not checking that first. Congrats on your new venture! That sounds exciting.”

He had actually looked at my LinkedIn profile, I assume, and saw that I recently launched a business, The Carrelle Company. Born on Labor Day 2018 from this blog I began on New Year’s Day 2015, the company helps people grow their careers and businesses through digital branding in social media.

His message was kind enough and human enough that I decided to respond. His is one of the few pitch messages I’ve ever answered. The door is cracked open in a friendly way. That wouldn’t have happened if the sender hadn’t looked at my social media.

And who knows what might transpire in the future. We’re all connected and on paths that could converge in the future, in ways we can’t even imagine today.

You may learn something that helps strengthen your relationship. When someone you’ve worked with previously reaches out to you to ask what’s new, find out what they’ve been up to before you respond.

A few years ago I got a note like that from Karie Willyerd, who recently became Chief Learning Officer at Visa. She had been a fabulous speaker I’d invited to a few DIRECTV leadership events when I led Corporate Communications.

Was I ever glad I checked her social media before responding. At the time she had just released a new book called Stretch, about lifelong learning and future-proofing your career. That gave me the opportunity to congratulate her in my reply and learn more about her ideas.

In addition, you may gain insight into what’s important to your recipient, and you may be able to appropriately connect your interests with theirs. Maybe you share a passion for a charitable cause, have a colleague in common, or are reading similar books.

But don’t go overboard. Someone sent me a message recently that was over the top with praise for my blog, including examples from multiple posts. It was a bit jarring a few paragraphs later when the pitch for new business emerged. It had an inauthentic tone, and it did not motivate me to respond.

You may find out there’s a better time to send your message. Are you seeing beautiful vacation photos on Instagram? Ones that aren’t hashtagged as #latergrams? Then you might hold your message until the person returns home. They could be more receptive then.

Maybe they’re in the middle of a big work event and they’re sharing it in social media. That could mean they don’t have time to give your message the attention you’d like. When you do send your message, you could mention the event and your impressions of it, along with your congratulations.

Or maybe they’re dealing with a challenging personal issue like a family member in the hospital. That’s another reason to hold off on your message. If your message is urgent, at the very least you can acknowledge the situation and offer your support.

One caution – take a light approach in your message so it doesn’t appear that you’re cyberstalking the person or feel like you’re invading their privacy. Be friendly, sincere and brief.

There’s mostly upside to knowing your audience, what they’ve been doing lately and what’s important to them. This is what their recent social media activity can tell you.

How has social media helped you improve your email effectiveness?

What’s In a Name? The Carrelle Company is Born on Labor Day

Sometimes strategic procrastination can be a good thing.

Except in my case, it wasn’t fully strategic. At all.

Wrapping up several years in the corporate world, launching my own business, getting my children settled into a new school year and doing right by my community commitments didn’t leave much time for one very important detail …

… naming my new company.

Sure, I looked at a few articles. Jotted down some ideas. But a name is critically important. And I didn’t have one yet.

Suddenly I found myself with one day to go before my self-imposed deadline to rebrand my social media accounts.

And that one day was Labor Day.

Holidays carry a lot of symbolism for me. My husband and I got engaged on New Year’s Eve. While our April wedding didn’t fall on Easter, many of our anniversaries have. Our daughter was born on a holiday and our son was born on the first day of a new season.

Our daughter was baptized on Valentine’s Day. By comparison, our son’s September baptism date seemed nondescript. Until 9/11 happened.

His baptism was the Sunday after the world changed forever. My out-of-town family members couldn’t come because … no planes were flying. I wondered if it would be a bad idea to proceed in light of the national tragedy. But I decided to move forward.

The church was packed, with people seeking solace and answers to something that has no answers. Through tears, a few people sought me out after the service to thank me for bringing my infant son to be baptized. They said it gave them hope for new beginnings.

Fast forward to 2015. I launched a blog on New Year’s Day. As a VP of corporate communications, I began it as an exploration of the future of the field.

Later that year, the company was acquired. I had the opportunity to move into marketing analytics. So I pivoted my blog as well into a learning experience in the new field.

But that wasn’t something I ultimately found myself wanting to spend hours of my weekend and evening time on. But what about how people learn new skills? That was interesting to me. So I explored learning in my blog for a while.

Then I attended a women’s leadership conference two Septembers ago at Fullscreen, a media company for creators and brands. The actor/producer/entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon was a surprise guest speaker.

A comment she made changed my life. When she was asked about her success in social media, she talked about being authentic. And she mentioned a big white space in the area, helping people shape their images and reputations through social media.

It was an a-ha moment for me. That’s what I wanted to do.

So two years ago, I began writing, researching and speaking about how professionals can build and boost their careers through social media. It’s a labor of love I did on the side in early mornings and evenings and weekends.

It’s a dream for me to start my own business in this area. And I am very fortunate to be able to do that this fall.

But a name. A name. I needed a name. Not to mention I needed a catchphrase that my upcoming book editor Cat Spydell recommended. (And creating a catchphrase is next up on my list.)

So I started doodling ideas. I analyzed tech company names. I looked at PR company names. Ad agencies. Podcasts. Hashtags. Even multi-hyphenate lives,  also known as a “slash generation” with portfolio careers.

For further inspiration, I put all the descriptive words about me in the farewell notes from colleagues into an Excel spreadsheet. Then I made them into a word cloud, thanks to wordclouds.com. Here it is:

Traits that describe me, thanks to my colleagues and wordclouds.com

But in the end, it turned out to be a variation on a placeholder my husband Kevin put into his business plan. He’s opening a South Bay, California steakhouse with a seasoned restaurant veteran in the coming months. He asked me to manage the PR and social media. And he noted Carelle Communications would lead the work.

It’s an amalgamation of my name, Caroline Elizabeth Leach.

Yet alas, there’s already a Carelle fine jeweler.

But what about Carrelle with two r’s?

It’s been used as a baby name on rare occasions. Of English and German origin, it has wide-ranging meanings – farmer, strong, courageous, melody and song.

Strong and courageous spoke to me immediately. Initially I was puzzled by farmer. But a farmer equates to cultivation and growth. Perfect. How about melody and song? That speaks to my joy in writing, researching, consulting and speaking.

What are the other reasons I like The Carrelle Company?

  1. It’s a takeoff of my name, which is my brand in a way … as our names are now our personal brands
  2. It’s alliterative with the repeated “C’s.” I changed “communications” to “company” to keep the possibilities open for the future
  3. The initial letters are evocative of “careers,” which I help to fuel through my work
  4. There’s a slight link with the C-words related to what I do – communication, community, collaboration, consulting, critical thinking, connection
  5. The “car” evokes an automobile with motion, acceleration, speed and freedom
  6. It sounds elegant and classic … and slightly French, my chosen language of study as a teen (which comes in slightly handy now as I struggle to learn Spanish)
  7. It’s strong and it’s feminine with the “elle”
  8. It’s unique … who else but me could use this name?!?

And then there may be the name-letter effect in my dedication to the field of communications. According to research by Dr. Brett Pelham, a psychologist, people “disproportionately choose careers whose labels resemble their names.”

So just as “people named Dennis or Denise are overrepresented among dentists,” this could partly explain why I, as a Caroline, am attracted to communications.

And perhaps why, in my Google search of people named Carrelle, the two I found work in communications on other continents.

So that’s the story of how The Carrelle Company came to be.

And now it’s on to the business of writing, researching, consulting and speaking. I’m helping people grow their careers and business owners grow their companies through digital branding in social media.

A Love Letter to the Amazing People I’ve Worked With

What 5-minute action can you take at work today that will pay huge dividends and possibly change someone’s life?

Write a thank you note.

Yup, a thank you note. It can be by email, text, card or direct message. The medium doesn’t matter. What matters is taking the time to share with a colleague what you appreciate about them.

Science says so. Gratitude research is on the rise, according to Heather Murphy reporting in The New York Times. A recent study covered in Psychological Science asked participants to “write a short ‘gratitude letter’ to a person who had affected them in some way.”

Many of the note recipients said “they were ‘ecstatic,’ scoring the happiness rating at 4 of 5. The senders typically guessed they’d evoke a 3.”

The major finding of Dr. Amit Kumar at the University of Texas at Austin? “People tend to undervalue the positive effect they can have on others for a tiny investment of time.”

Dilbert creator Scott Adams put it well in his bestseller, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life.

“Adults are starved for a kind word,” Adams wrote. “When you understand the power of honest praise (as opposed to bullshitting, flattery, and sucking up), you realize that withholding it borders on immoral. If you see something that impresses you, a decent respect to humanity insists you voice your praise.”

What else says so? My own experience.

Today is my last day at AT&T, which was DIRECTV before that. (Note: opinions expressed in this blog are my own.) It’s been a great run at a great company, and I’m excited to move on to the next stage of my work life. But it’s bittersweet to leave an incredible group of colleagues.

When my departure note went out, I thought a few people might reach out to say farewell.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the outpouring of appreciation. And thanks. And love.

(And in the #MeToo era with so much bad behavior, I must qualify that to note what I experienced was entirely professional and fully within the bounds of respectful and appropriate workplace behavior.)

What caught me completely by surprise is a stack of now-printed emails with thanks and good wishes that I’m saving for posterity. I share a few excerpts anonymously here, with the hope the writers do not mind and that their thoughts might inspire you to thank a colleague today, and every day …

Thank you for making us smile and wanting to do our jobs. You are an amazing leader who leads by example. 

I always enjoyed your leadership and especially looked up to you in so many ways, hoping that I could be half of what you are in my lifetime. 

Did you hear that?! That was the sound of my heart breaking. While our work together was short lived and limited (much to my dismay), you truly made an invaluable impact and for that I thank you.

On behalf of all the people you have inspired, but are probably unaware of, thanks for all you do. 

It’s been my biggest pleasure and honor to work with you.

I’m sure you don’t remember me, but you had lunch with a small group of new hires during our onboarding. We had a lovely conversation and I was so impressed and grateful for how welcoming and inclusive you were with us.

You’ve had such a profound influence on my life and I am so grateful for that. 

Wow.

I had no idea.

And maybe the people you work with have no idea either … of how talented, valued and appreciated they are. So I encourage you, every day, to share your thanks with at least one person. It reminds me of what a wise colleague, Andy Bailey, always used to say – start every meeting with recognition.

Here’s my love letter to all the amazing people I’ve worked with over the years, from a real-estate developer to what became Northrop Grumman, and from to DIRECTV to AT&T …

 Friends,

You are the reason I enjoy coming to work every day.

You are my “why” for being at work … the purpose that is bigger than all of us. You bring the ideas, the inspiration and the innovation that make our teams a success. You make the seemingly impossible suddenly possible. You make the workday fun, yes fun.

There’s a lot of hard work behind what you do. But you take the high road every day, making your hard work appear effortless and going above and beyond to deliver for colleagues and customers.

I have learned so much from you, whether a new skill set in a new role or a better way to lead and engage people. Maya Angelou was on to something when she said that people won’t remember what you said or did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel. You make me feel like anything is possible, that there is good in the world, and that the present and future are exciting places. 

You have given me many gifts over the years. The most important ones? The feeling that I have made – and will continue to make – a difference. The knowledge that each of us leaves bigger footprints in the sands of time than we can ever know. That quite possibly is the best gift ever. It speaks to our humanity and our desire to be part of something larger than ourselves.

I am ever grateful, and I ask that you keep paying it forward.

Who has made a difference in your work life? Who will you reach out to today?

How to Increase Engagement with Your LinkedIn Posts

Do you ever wonder which people to mention in your LinkedIn posts to increase engagement through likes, comments and shares?

Here’s how to go beyond mentioning people who might be interested in your content, being more targeted in who may be most engaged.

Start by making a list of the people you’ve included in your article or your post.

(And if you haven’t included others, see how you can weave in a few people and credit their ideas. Why? That will broaden the group of people who may be interested in your content. Those who are included may want to share your content with their networks, extending its reach and impact.)

Next, look at your mutual connections. These display in the mobile app, in the Highlights section right under the person’s Summary. Choose some or all of your mutual connections to mention in your post, the area on the Home feed where you “share an article, photo, video or idea.”

This is a serendipitous discovery I made recently in my series of profiles on how professionals are boosting their careers through social media. The series began with photographer Jessica Sterling and will continue in the months ahead.

The mentions feature is currently available for posts, but not for articles on the LinkedIn publishing platform. So after I’ve published an article and shared a post about it, the next day I do a post on the article that mentions people. This calls attention to the article to people who might be interested in it and who might engage with it.

As I was doing this for a profile on YouTuber Angelica Kelly, I looked at our mutual connections. We had 78. The people we both know would logically seem to be the ones who might have the most interest in the profile. So I mentioned about half of our mutual connections, based on my assessment of each one.

And of that number, about 50% liked the article and 25% wrote a comment. All of the comments except for one came from people who were mentioned. It was exciting to see a community take shape in the comments.

This is something I look forward to experimenting with over time. As I do, I’ll share upcoming posts about trends and patterns in engagement with mutual connections. (Note: opinions expressed in this blog are my own.)

Speaking of mutual connections, here’s another article I wrote about how to make the most of them. You can understand the broader social network, get to know a new colleague or client, and discover opportunities for collaboration.

And since social media is all about reciprocity, I’m making an effort to engage in the content of the people I’m mentioning. When I see their content in my home feed, I’m more likely to like, comment on or share it.

One caution is to not mention people too often and wear out your welcome. Once a week is probably the max, making sure the content is relevant and likely to be welcomed by the people you’re mentioning.

How have you tapped into mutual connections to engage people with your content?

Angelica Kelly Profile: If I Can Do It, You Can Too

“If I can do it, you can too.”

So says Angelica Kelly, the creative force behind the YouTube channel, You Brew Kombucha. Her 31 videos shot over a single summer weekend in 2017 have attracted 11,000 subscribers. All without advertising.

Why did she do it? How did she do it? And what is kombucha?

It’s “a beverage produced by fermenting sweet tea with a culture of yeast and bacteria.” And this sweetened tea is believed to have several health benefits, including boosting energy and immunity.

Angelica shared this with me one recent summer afternoon. We enjoyed a refreshing cup of cold green tea scented with jasmine she brought for our chat.

My first memory of Angelica is a Skype interview when she was a summer intern candidate at my employer (note: opinions expressed in this blog are my own).

She hit the ground running and never looked back. Her internship evolved into a full-time job as a corporate communications specialist. That led to a series of increasingly responsible roles. And she’s now a senior manager of internal communications at a new company.

Her Instagram posts started catching my eye over the last year. I wanted to learn more about her side gig. She was a fascinating candidate for my series of profiles on how professionals are boosting their careers through social media.

What I found was inspiration about learning, about experimenting and about exploring passions.

Here’s what Angelica shared …

Tell me about this tea we’re drinking.

It’s Chinese green tea, scented with jasmine. The cold brewing reduces the astringency. Good tea can be brewed over and over.

And all tea comes from essentially one plant – the camellia sinensis. I’m fascinated by how you can make so many teas from one plant.

Tea helps relax you and bring you back to nature. You’re literally just drinking a leaf.

How do you show up in social media?

There’s an unspoken belief that your work persona has to be different from your non-work persona. I believe they are one in the same. But people are multi-faceted, so there is a time and a place for certain topics.

Social media is all about using the available resources. You can share your knowledge and help others learn in social.

I’m on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit and YouTube.

On Instagram I follow experts in fields of interest. I find them through hashtags and search. (BTW: her Instagram has the perfect summary: I strategize, I write, I read – for fun and for work. To recreate, I create. Check out one of my passion projects @youbrewkombucha on Insta + YouTube.)

My search process starts with books. Then I look online for the best sources of knowledge on the topic. I scour websites and blogs. I’ll follow my favorites’ social media handles and see who comments, who’s engaged and who’s asking or answering questions. And that’s how I connect to other learners.

On Facebook there are so many communities for niche groups. I’ve found home brewer groups for my kombucha research. There’s an interesting dynamic of knowledge sharing, and these are places to troubleshoot questions.

What else is unique about your research process?

It’s fun diving into a field where I feel out of my element. I read a lot of reference books. I borrow ebooks from the library through a great app called Libby, by OverDrive.

Learning is about allowing ourselves to be curious – to be fascinated by a topic. It’s important to be curious in all aspects of life and to go into things with a “beginner’s” mind.

Networking with people, asking questions and connecting with other enthusiasts and subject matter experts are all great ways to learn.

What are your LinkedIn rituals?

At the end of every year I take stock of the personal and professional. I consider what I’m grateful for and what I want to improve.

I use LinkedIn like a notepad and do an annual update after this reflection process. Everything professionally relevant goes into my LinkedIn profile. Accomplishments. Interests. Volunteering. Big projects that highlight transferable skills and new knowledge I’ve gained.

To understand what’s in the ecosystem, I follow and keep tabs on various companies. It’s also interesting to see how others see my company, through their comments and shares. As a communicator, understanding that external perception is crucial.

Why did you launch a YouTube channel?

This is my newest platform. As a viewer and consumer of content, I created the resource I wish existed for me. I couldn’t find a comprehensive YouTube channel on kombucha. I’m all about knowledge sharing, so I wanted to house everything I learned all in one place to make it easy for new learners.

My husband, Ryan, is a writer in the film industry. Together, we created three dozen videos over a weekend. He helped with planning the shoot, rigging the lighting, sequencing the segments and editing the footage.

Ryan understands the intricacies of video and where quality matters. For example, a mismatched quality of video and the heart of what I’m trying to convey could turn viewers off.

I’m a home brewer, not a professional expert. This is a passion project. So I wasn’t trying to make it look super polished. It has a low-budget feeling. It’s more realistic. It says “I’m one of you,” to my audience members, and that makes the topic more accessible.

In the process of shooting the videos I learned not to be camera shy. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s not about you. It’s about your audience and what they can learn.

People told me I should release the videos in phases. But I wanted to be the most comprehensive kombucha home brewer resource. So I released all the videos at once. I didn’t want any of it to be incomplete in any way. They’re like a 101 entry-level college course.

To promote them, I posted in the Facebook home brewer groups. Some groups are open to sharing of self-created resources, and others aren’t. But I trusted the information was good and that people who wanted it would find it.

And they did. In under a year, my subscribers grew to more than 11,000. I’ve enjoyed engaging with a small but zealous community of followers – or “discerning enthusiasts” as I like to call them. (I consider myself a discerning enthusiast too). Many of them are in the United States, and some are from as far away as Brazil and Australia.

What are the “do’s” you observe in social?

Be authentic and genuine. That’s the first thing. Just make it; never fake it till you make it.

Give credit. If you repost, find the source and give credit. This is important because the reason people make things is to create joy or inspire some other feeling or reaction. They deserve credit for their work.

Focus on things I’m doing and people I’m with. Those are so much more interesting than too many photos of me.

Teach somebody something or give a new perspective on something.

Let social media spark personal connections. Share your enthusiasm with others. Let it be a catalyst that leads you to dinner or afternoon tea with an old friend or a colleague.

Be careful about negative topics. But don’t sugarcoat like everything is perfect.

How does empathy guide your social involvement?

You never know what state of mind people are in when you put stuff out into the world. And I think about my own state. Rather than using social media as a venting platform that could bring someone else down, I’ll reach out to a circle of friends to talk.

This is so personal and unique to what works for each individual, but if I’m feeling negative, I don’t share in social unless it can spark a constructive dialogue or inspire positive change.

What’s next for you?

My kombucha and tea research is evolving into a focus on Chinese pottery. I’m learning about how different glazes and clays affect tea brewing. And that has led to looking into ceramics classes. That may be the next big thing. It’s all part of my personal quest to be curious in all aspects of life!

Are you as energized by Angelica as I am? Want to learn more about her? Here’s how you can connect:

YT: You Brew Kombucha

IG: @angellykellyYou Brew Kombucha

FB: facebook.com/ange.c.kelly

LI: linkedin.com/in/angelicakelly/

Web: youbrewkombucha.com

Watch for more profiles coming soon. And if you’d like to be profiled, leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!