Hey everyone welcome to Social Media Hangout Time. I’m Janet Johnson. We are here today with, of course we have Terry Bean today. So hi Terry.
Hey, how are we doing today?
Awesome, very awesome. Cold, but we’ll be saying that every week for about few weeks.
So mid west.
It’s mid-west, exactly.
So what I want to do is turn it over to you to introduce our special guest. Go ahead.
Absolutely and I am thrilled to have her on our program. This is my good friend Dafna Michaelson Jenet. I will say that a couple of times throughout because I just like the way it rings off the lips a little bit. Dafna say hello.
Hello everybody it’s so nice to meet you.
Hey Dafna!
So cool, so cool to have her. So I met Dafna a few years back, 2009 specifically, when she was in the middle of the most amazing journey. Like they should be a tv show about how amazing this journey was. So we’re going to talk a little about that. We’re going to talk about her new book that’s forthcoming and I’ll let her tell you a little about that. And we’re just going to have a conversation about how she use social media to connect with people in all 50 states, so let’s talk. Hi!
Hi!
So I tease it a little bit all 50 states. Tell us why all 50 states is even relevant in your world. What does that mean?
Oh my goodness, why is it even relevant? You know, it probably wouldn’t have been relevant had my boyfriend at that time not ask me what I would do if I won the lottery but all of a sudden it became a super relevant thing when I answered well if we win the lottery I’m going to all 50 states and I’m going to meet with every governor, I’m going to ask them what they’re doing to engage their citizens in solving community problems. That is the ultimate geeky answer in case you’re wondering.
It is. You wouldn’t follow through that across all categories. There’s full faction, there’s a nerd faction, geeks are straight up all about that. Young people love it, old people want to be it, I like it.
Yeah but then, like the dude bought the wrong lottery ticket so I’m a little furious with him. I made him marry me, by the way, so that he would have to pay off that error.
He got your help.
But fifty states really, why did it matter? Because I want to be able to paint a picture of what it looked like to be empowered in this country and for me to be able to show a picture of what it looks like to be empowered in this country I have to show the whole country. And so that means all 50 states.
Wow, wow. And what length of time did you do that?
I did it in solid calendar year. So I started first full week in 2009 and I finished the last full week of 2009. And the idea was, I don’t know if you remember back that far many of your viewers may not have been born yet, and I’m totally kidding, oh my God I can’t believe she’d said that, but 2009 was a crazy time in our country. The economy just started collapsed. Detroit probably felt it about 3 month before everybody else and…
Three years, three months.
Yeah whatever, you know, before. And as you know the economy started to play games with our heads and with our wallets, I was in a program called Leadership Denver, which I’m sure you have Leadership Detroit, Leadership everything. And Leadership Denver were the up and coming leaders of the city in Denver and these are powerful, brilliant people I admire, people I consider my peers, and people were throwing up their hands and saying okay I need somebody to get into this White House and start solving problems around here. It was an election cycle, it was the very first kind of social media presidential elections cycle. So it was different. Like we didn’t know what was going on. And we were more capable of saying somebody’s got to help me and I was saying okay, yes definitely there’s a role for a government, there’s a need for a government but how about we help ourselves. And I had this inkling that through social media I was, would be able to show people that no matter what you look like, what you sound like, how much money or education you have, that you are empowered and you can solve problems in your community. And again, it had to be all 50 states. It had to be a full picture of who we are as America.
So you’re having this idea of going to 50 states in one year, 50 and 52, as I recall.
Correct.
And you did, what’s that?
Correct!
Correct, yey! It has to 50 or 52, I think I shared that once or twice. So you start in January, when are having these conversations about going and doing this and, forget about all the people that told you you are crazy because, you know,
Everybody.
Sometimes it takes a little crazy, so go on.
By the way Terry, I’m going to answer that question but I also want to say that I’m floating around between maybe your audience to help me, the title of the book is It Takes a Little Crazy to Make a Difference. And what I would love to be the hashtag is #ittakescrazy. And I’ve flaunted it out there on social media to see what my peers got and a bunch of them were concerned about utilizing crazy in a hashtag but crazy is in the title of my book and I feel like it’s an important empowering word and I floated it out there to you audience because I’d love that feedback. What I’m thinking about it it takes crazy, it’s strong enough, it’s catchy enough and I hope that it’s empowering sounding. But in answer to your question about when was I planning this, we’re talking May of 2008. So here is a little bit of kind of the time counter. The Democratic National Convention was held in Denver in 2008. And I was a volunteer for that convention, and that was in August. And so by August I had everything in order – I had a board, I have filed for my 501C3, we had the website 50in52journey.com and I started talking to, I had business card made out. I have everything, a video we kind of talking about what we were thinking about doing was already up in the air. So I spent the entire time at the Democratic National Convention talking to everybody I could telling them this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to raise money to do it, I’m going to all 50 states, I haven’t quit my job yet, by the way. But it was on the horizon. And people did, they told me you’re nuts, right? I mean I was a mayoral appointee to the Denver Women’s Commission and I don’t know how many of your audience have heard of our, his our governor now, he was our mayor then, John Hickenlooper, total badass dude. He is a, you know, he’s a micro-brewer, okay, like let’s be clear. And you know he says to me, “Dafna do you read the newspaper?” You know, what’s going on in our economy. And that’s what people were saying to me. And yes I knew what was going on and yes I’m a little bit nuts and yes, that is kind of my brand. But here’s the thing, when we start collapsing as an economy it doesn’t mean we need to collapse as a society. And you know when I went to Michigan, you were the first person I met in Michigan Terry. And then beyond you is when I started to go around to interviewing other people in Michigan. And what I found in Michigan was what you told me I would find in Michigan was that your human capital was so powerful, far beyond the dollars that were being lost in the economy. And quite frankly I think that that economic downfall caused Michigan to really amp up. And not just Detroit, a little Detroit roughed, of course. I mean come on, but not just Detroit. Even beyond Detroit and Lansing and other places in Michigan that I went were what you saw were people helping people and coming together creatively and entrepreneurially solving problems to these curves which looked like money.
Absolutely. And exactly now it’s been because when you go to something ahead of the curve, you have to figure out how to get out ahead of the curve otherwise you stay far below the curve. So yes
Absolutely!
It’s a matter of coming together, no question, no question. I want to circle back on what you said about it takes crazy. Janet has got a huge experience in social media, in running things and programs and branding. So Janet, #ittakescrazy, is that a cool hashtag? Would you do it?
I don’t know what the issue is with the crazy. What’s the feedback, that’s the question I have for you on that?
Yeah, when I tweeted it out, a couple of people who are other social media geeks, lovers, kind of like us came back and were concerned that people would take the crazy moniker the wrong way. You know we use the word crazy when we talk about people who do bad things in our country. And really I want to take back the crazy because crazy is the word that people use to describe what it was that I was doing. And at the same time it was that step into crazy that made it possible and accessible for every person. It wasn’t, it didn’t look neat and clean and quite frankly, specially in the entrepreneurial realm, nothing is neat and clean. Everything takes crazy. I mean you have to be nuts to put your job and think you’re going to generate your own money. There has to be a little bit of crazy in you that says I believe in myself. And maybe it’s not even crazy but in our society we continue to look at belief in your own ability as crazy. We need to debunk that. And so we think the people who were responding were worried about how the word crazy is currently used. I would own crazy.
But that’s the thing, you’re owning it. If you’re trying to brand yourself, I mean, you could do, I’m looking at your book and you could do #makeadifference or something like that but it’s not as, it doesn’t stand out as much.
No.
So and it’s long and so if you’re trying to brand yourself you want something memorable and that’s memorable. So I would say, I would say as long as you’re using it in contexts with what you’re discussing, I don’t see an issue with it at all.
Alright Terry, let’s go. We’re going to go with the hashtag war #ittakescrazy, on your mark, set, go!
Anytime kid! I like it. This, isn’t one of the original Apple things all about crazy? Wasn’t Steve Jobs giving a salute to the crazy? Am I making this up and inserting words that don’t exist?
I haven’t found that one yet, if you find it please give it to me because I’m a, I’m an, I don’t know what the word is but
You’re an Apple sloppy.
An Apple-fied!
I’m just picturing Ashton Kutcher in the role, you know.
Ashton Kutcher, no, I want Sandra Bullock.
Nice.
I mean come one, she did do The Net, well before anything of us understood what social media crazy was.
Sounds right.
It’s true, it’s true.
That’s so funny I don’t, so I updated Facebook right before I come in on here and I said, “talking to one of my she-roes,” so that’s you Dafna, one of my she-roes. So now we know that Sandra Bullock is one of yours. Sandra Bullock, she’s so cute, come on.
She is.
I think I need money. You know how you get that laminated pass to be with somebody? Chick digger, guy digger, I think you know, she’s probably in everybody’s list. That’s awesome.
She’s on my list, totally, yeah, yeah. My husband says it’s totally fine.
That’s great.
Smart man, smart man. Alright, so wow, we’re off the beaten path just a tad bit. So that’s part of the reason we don’t do this things live kid, right here. Perfect. So what else, tell me three things or four things that you, that you will embraced and changed you as a result of this journey. Maybe not necessarily people but possibly their stories and how that impacted you moving forward five and a half years ago?
Well you know, I think one of the things that you didn’t necessarily ask it this way but I’m going to answer it this way. In terms of what I embrace was any opportunity that came towards me I took. So what that means is if somebody said hey we want to go show you xy and z, I said yes. It never, it was never a mistake. It made for some funny stories when I got to Alaska, for example. I interviewed and incredible man named Mal Tosy, former NFL Arizona lineback (?) I want to say. Mal, don’t kill me, I don’t remember, anyway, it’s written down. And you know I’m on this flight to Alaska, so that was supposed to be a direct flight and there was a problem with the plane. We ended up landing in Seattle and had this crazy experience where, they had just line up in order in the aisle and they had security guards lining the way. We walked off of one plane, walked on to another plane. And so the woman who was sitting next to me on the first plane was sitting next to me again on the second plane. And in the middle of the night we started talking and she said, “oh you need to interview this guy named Mal Tosy,” after I told her what I was doing. Let me see I think I can find his cellphone number. It’s like seriously this is an Alaskan flight. She didn’t know him but she gave me his cellphone number so I called Mal Tosy when I landed and he said, “yes, totally.” We met in this parking lot, so I go to this grocery store and I meet him in the parking lot. He pulls up in this huge, my recollection, is it was a Cadillac Escalade. Big black Cadillac Escalade, totally dark tinted windows filled with teenagers who are high school drop-outs. He says, “come on get in the car, leave your car here, I’ll bring you back.”
Sure, sign me up!
Totally, right! I’m a, you know, a single woman travelling by myself, nobody has a clue where I am and I got into his car.
In Alaska! They’ll find you.
And Mal, oh my God, incredible man but 6’7″ about 400 lbs, you know. Hair longer and crazier wild than mine, you know. It was amazing! And the experience I had was ultimately, part of it was trusting my instinct. I knew that I was getting into a car of a man who was not going to hurt me. I knew that I was in a safe environment. I knew that I was there to collect his story. And what I found when I got to the center where he works with these kids is this man who picks up kids off the streets because his best friend wouldn’t come to college with him and ends up dying in a jail fight. And his entire life has been dedicated since he played in the NFL and he died twice on the field. Actually dead, had to be resuscitated.
Wow!
And after the second time they said yeah you can’t so much play football. And so, you know, he stopped playing football and he went back to Alaska and his married. His wife, at that time, I think she’s still does stay at home, they have five kids and he goes around Anchorage and he picks up these kids off the street and he teaches, helps them get their DED and he teaches them how to make a living at what they love to do. And this is what it was like and part of it was that a showing of the traditional, you know, know I’ll meet you at a location, I’ll let everybody know where I am, I have to vet this done, what? Who was I to vet anything? And my entire journey was like that, you know when people nominated me, if you were called Terry, maybe you don’t but it’s in my book so that everybody else will recall it. When I met you you said, “so how many followers do you have on Twitter?” I was like 200. I was psyched. And you’re like
It looks like for estate, you were looking good.
You’re like, “I’ll help you out with that.” And Terry starts tweeting people to follow me and whatever. But I had to learn social media for this. You know and which is funny, right. I get that I’m 42, I totally get that. But I was not the little girl who slept with a doll. I literally slept with a cutout from a magazine of an Apple to see. I slept with that cutout from the magazine. I wanted that computer more than anything in the world. And you know, for whatever reason I missed the social media wagon. And so here I am about to do this and you’re like how to you find people on all 50 states. Somebody said you got to try social media. And I had to learn it. And the first pIlace spent my time was myspace. And for 3 weeks I’m banging my head against the computer saying this is the stupidest thing I ever found. And guess what, it was the stupidest thing I ever found! And so somebody’s like, oh dude you have to try the Facebook. Like oh, what’s the Facebook? And so I got on to the Facebook and for 3 weeks I’m banging my head against the computer because it’s you know, 2008, mid 08 and like nobody’s on there and I’m banging my head against the computer, this is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! And then it happened. I got a friend request from Devon Bier who was my huge crush in high school. And Devon was awesome and by the way was so totally popular that overnight all of my friends in high school who were already connected to Devon found me and I grew up in Cincinnati and nobody stays in Cincinnati. And so overnight I had a network in all 50 states. And overnight social media became very real. And I fell in love, I have a whole entire chapter on social media in my book that talks about sort of my rules that play. And I feel like as we are learning as a community what is so important for me is to remember that we only post something that we would say in front of everybody. That we learn how to communicate respectfully, that we use it as a platform for our passions and for elevating people. And we can do it but we’re all in the process learning together and it’s because of social media and it’s because of people like you Terry that taught me how to use it.
No, you know all about that, you seem to be doing just fine. You’re just a little short on people in the area, that’s all. So it’s interesting to talk about elevating people. We refer to that as shining the light on people. Janet do you have a term that you use for elevating people?
No, not necessarily, no. I like the shine, I like the elevating. I mean I can’t sit on top of them, you know. Good question but I don’t have it at the top of my head. I like both of yours.
Okay, sorry, we’ll put you on the spot again later, it will be fun.
Okay.
No, but it’s good, it’s good. Putting people on the spot makes them think, it’s really good.
I like it.
Yeah, yeah, that’s very good. Well I’m still kind of, in my mind, start thinking of myspace, too, because you brought that up. And that is funny because we’re about the same age, we’re about, you know, we started at about the same time and that’s were I started, too. And I have said Facebook is dumb. Look at this Facebook thing, you know. I mean, and Terry and I were actually the first two that I know of in our high school other than Dan Larry, I think that were on Facebook.
Oh wow.
I remember Danny saying to me I know insane, I have 550 friends here on Facebook and you just needed to know I know every single one of them. That was a big deal. I know them all. They’re all my real friends. I think he was calling me out, I’m not really sure.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Oh that’s great. So yeah, I understand your background and where you ended up having to learn it. You know I used to sell the businesses in the very beginning and go, you know, you need to be on Facebook. It’s going to be, and none of them were believing that it was going to be around for 5 years. Oh, it’s going to disappear, all be gone.
The fad!
Uh-huh and so it’s amazing what it’s all turned into and how big the power is. But I love what you’re talking about to. Can you expand even more on what you’re talking about about what to post?
Oh absolutely. So when I work with people and interestingly I do a lot of different types of work with people seek me out most for social media consulting just because we’re all still learning how to communicate on the platform. And for me it’s about knowing what you talk about. And I do something with everybody that I work with, called the social media mission statement. And I have a very on social media mission statement that is kind of my driving force. And in short it’s changing the mirror we use that reflects who we are as a society. I will not post something if it doesn’t change the mirror. And that helps guide me. I mean my other little policy is don’t post anything after you had anything to drink which made my vision trip to Napa very painful. So, but really if understanding what it is that you communicate about and if you can boil down your social media mission statement, as what I call it. But really what it is is it’s your brand. What is your brand? And everything that you post should back up and re-enforce your brand. And if it doesn’t, you don’t have business posting it. And that doesn’t mean that I don’t post pictures of my family or interactions that I have with people that are not directly work-related. Because there’s that element of authenticity, people are on social media because they want to know you and love you as the human being that you are. And I have like this 80-20 rule. 80% of the time you better be adding value. You better be adding contacts to who you are and what it is that you do. 20% of the time you want to post something up there that you have for sale, fine. And for me that 20% of the time I curate TEDx events like, you know, your buddy over there. And I will only post back about TEDx 20% of the time because to me that’s selling. I’m trying to build and audience. I’m trying to create a platform. Even though my TEDx events are all contents that is value, value, value, value. And so as you sort of establish who you are and what your personal brand is and those things that are your passion point, share them in value. I get in trouble with people because really I don’t post about politics. And I’m very involved politically but I don’t post about politics. But that doesn’t mean I don’t post about issues. So really in the context of everything, it’s all what is the dialogue and what is the conversation and are you listening? And I have people say to me of how do you listen on social media. But you better be listening a heck of a lot on social media. Because if you start listening you know how people wanted to be communicated with. You know the individual poster as a human being, not a screen name. So those are part of my policies.
Wow, so let’s expand on that a little bit more and give it an action step that our audience can actually do with this in the next 24 hours, let’s say.
Yep, ready for my secret tool?
Love it.
Pay very close attention.
We’re ready!
My secret social media mission statement tool is very simple. There are three questions, only give yourself two minutes to answer each of these questions. But right down the answers and time yourself. Don’t edit, just write them down. The first question is what is it that you do, and don’t put you title, actually get deep into the context. So for example if you’re a realtor, you don’t sell homes, you give people access to their dreams. The second is why do you do it? And I call this the Floyd moment. I want you to actually go back to that lipo smashing moment. Seth Godin and talk about that in his books – lipo smashing moment. What was that lipo smashing moment? Something happened in your life that triggers what it is that you do. My favorite story about that was an engineer. Forty year old male, nobody, nothing in particular. But when we asked him why he did what he did, he talked about the time his favorite auntie gave him a watch and it broke. He spent the next three days taking it apart, re-assembling it, learning how to use it and fell in love with systems. That’s why he does what he does. And let me tell you as a woman who’s hiring, I’m going to hire him now because I know about his auntie, I could see him as a little boy. So really reflects back to the holistic why is it that you do what you do. And then finally, what benefits do people gain by doing business with you? This is the what’s in it for them. Get in your seat for 2 minutes and answer that questions from the perspective of your clients saying what’s in it for me. And you better have a strong what’s-in-it-for-me for them, if you know what I mean. After you’re done, look at all three answers and pull out the powerful words. What are the content areas that you mentioned? What are the different components of who you are and what you do and formulate it into a 3-sentence statement. Bonus points if you can get it down to a 160 characters because that’s your Twitter bio. Hundred and sixty, it’s not hundred and forty, by the way, because you don’t have the name. Anyway, different conversation. So bonus points if you can get it down to a hundred and sixty, but three sentences will really do you well. And if you can boil it down to that three sentence statement, that’s your social media mission statement. And everything you post has to check against that. That means you’re not bashing somebody very likely. And if that could stop you from making a social media error, making a joke that you think is funny that can be misinterpreted and cause you to lose your job, as we’ve seen happen in our society,
Time and time again.
Yeah.
So many times already, this is your CYA policy and it’s also going to create relevant powerful content that your users can share.
Love it. This was a lot of, a lot of information so we, let’s end on that note because it was fantastic information. What I want to do is reiterate a little bit about you and your book and your website and details on you. This is show number 44 so you can, anybody listening can find all these notes and links and all the details on socialmediahangouttime.com/44 which will be changed soon but Terry and I are, I think Terry and I need to sit down and do this mission statement, like you just discussed for the show because we are revamping. So that is perfect timing.
Awesome!
So anyway tell us about your book, you mentioned it, tell us a little more when it comes out and the details in it.
Book comes out this week. Come to my website dafnamichaelsonjenet.com, D-A-F-N-A-M-I-C-H-A-E-L-S-O-N-J-E-N-E-T.com and all the information is right there. We’re looking for book signing ambassadors all across the country and all across the world. Click on the book signing ambassador link to find out how you can apply to be a book signing ambassador and I’ll love you forever and I’ll bring you value to your community. And we’ll donate portions of the proceeds and I’ll do a free workshop etc, etc, etc. Also it’s a great stuff and everything you need to know about me is right there on that website and I look forward to meeting you all. Thank you.
Awesome!
Thank you.
Make sure we have a link in there, too, right, because no one wants to figure out how to spell that after hearing it.
Yes, we will make sure all the links are on there. So we really appreciate your time and once again this is show number 44. Thank you.
Thank you.