Who could forget the scene in American Pie where Michelle is explaining to Jim about… well, you probably remember the scene, and if you don’t I’m sure you can ask one of your co-workers or just Google it. But the thing that stands out in my mind is how fondly Michelle recalls her experience at Band Camp. Beyond her specific reference, what was so special about Band Camp?

Urban Dictionary defines Band Camp as, 1. A strange mixture of hell and the best time of your life. 2. Where band geeks go to socialize, practice. So, I guess one could look at this from the perspective of nerdy people (geeks) socializing in one common location where they could practice their skills, of the thing they’re nerdy about (band) and while this is occurring, just have a great time. And, I’m sure, along the way, a certain humor is shared among the geeks about the thing they’re most passionate about. Which is why they’re at camp in the first place!

Well, last week in Nashville, attending the first-ever FranCamp, I was entrenched in social media with a bunch of other social media geeks. C’mon, you know we are social media geeks because even our jokes were about social media… not to mention that most of the speakers (myself included) got together for drinks and dinner after the all-day event and agreed we shouldn’t talk about social media. Which of course, lasted about 30 seconds before we started talking about, you guessed it, social media. Ok, we’re passionate about social media. There, I said it!

Many people that have yet  to “get” social media just don’t understand how anyone can be so passionate about something like social media. I believe it’s because they are afraid to embrace something they refuse to learn about. Maybe it’s that they don’t want to be accountable for utilizing it correctly and God forbid, use it to produce results. Isn’t that why many refuse to sing, or going back to the whole band thing, decided against taking up a musical instrument even though they repeatedly state that they always wished they could play the piano? How many today are wishing they could learn how to use social media, yet do little towards that end?

If this is you, or it’s something similar to the excuses you give for not embracing social media, then I highly suggest you contact one of the FranCamp speakers and ask them to give you a social media primer. I’m sure, as was the case at FranCamp, they’ll be more than happy to share their passion for the subject. You see, at FranCamp, that passion rang loud and clear.

The brainchild of Thomas Scott of Brand Journalists and Deb Evans of Social Geek Radio, FranCamp was successful because of the passion they shared in developing the event and then carried through the event by the great speakers. Passion may even be an understatement as you may soon realize when you actually view the quality of the presentations and the attention to detail given to the subject matter. And like band camps, there was a fun factor that made the event memorable and is already creating excitement for the next FranCamp.

So, if you hear me say, “This one time, at FranCamp…”, you’ll just need to attend the next one to truly understand what I mean.

And, as franchisees outside consumer-driven brands, typically within concepts providing products and services to the business community continue to flounder in their attempts to integrate social media in their B2B sales efforts, the ideal social network is being used ineffectively, if at all – Yes, LinkedIn!

Now, many will debate thatLinkedin could be improved in many areas. But from the standpoint of establishing and developing relationships, key elements in working with franchise candidates and business professionals, LinkedIn is King!

In developing LinkedIn Strategies in a franchise environment there are key factors to consider:

• Understanding the platform is a must
• First impressions matter
• There’s something to be said of truth, trust and transparency
• There’s a great deal of space within LinkedIn – use as much as possible
• Engagement is the goal, but the right to engage must be earned
• Integrating LinkedIn within marketing and development plans for optimum results
• Apps are there for a reason – use them effectively
• It’s more than polite and courteous to share

The above factors are derived from The Triple P Tripod Theory – Personalization, Participation & Patience, as developed and defined by Paul Segreto.