GETTING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING BACK ON TRACK (PART 2)

Welcome back. In part 1 (here’s the link), I talked about what social media is, and the importance of communication. People have tended to lose sight of the “social” in “social media”.

There are dozens of social media platforms out there. From micro-blogging sites such as twitter to connect-with-everyone-you-ever-knew sites such as Facebook to social bookmarking sites such as Digg or Reddit, there’s something for everyone. Blog are also social media applications, as are message boards, chat rooms and even comment section of news, sports and other sites.

But back to you. Where is your time going to be spent? As I mentioned in the last post, there’s no silver bullet. Social media is going to take resources (time, effort, money etc) of some kind. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to pay someone to do it for you, great, otherwise it’s all you, and your time is precious.

Pick a platform to look at.

Take Twitter for example. You can tweet to your “peeps” all day long. It’s easy to connect to “follow” and, quite often, it’s easy to get followers. Trouble is, what kind of followers are they, and are they just following you to get their own numbers up? My person opinion is that Twitter is great if you’ve got something that a lot of people want to know about. I hate to be the one to say it, but there’s a good chance you’re not a professional athlete, movie star or other celebrity – if you are, please send me an email If you’re going to consider Twitter, I urge you to ask yourself how you plan on using it. As with much in our celebrity-obsessed world, there are a few news makers and most of the rest of us listen. Sometimes a tweet can lead to a sudden rush of followers, just don’t bet the farm on it.

Look at the people you’re trying to connect with. What are they going to be using? Perhaps it’s Twitter after all, but then you should ask, what they’re using it for.

The same goes for Facebook to some degree, although I think the evolution of Facebook pages is changing that paradigm dramatically. If you plan on using, or already are using Facebook for business, please have a Facebook page set up for that reason. A Facebook page is much like your Facebook wall, except you have a lot more control over what goes on it, and you can keep your personal and professional lives separate (Separation of Church and State).

Sites such as LinkedIn are also growing in popularity, especially in the business-to-business realm.

So, pick an audience, and pick a couple of platforms. There’s a great Wikipedia page (here’s the link) on some of the different social media sites out there.

In the next section, we’ll look at finding the right audience to work with.

EARNING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING S-T-R-I-P-E-S

It’s all the rage. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Digg, Reddit…not to mention all the little tools and utilities out there that we can use to update all of the above.

Where does the novice start?

STRATEGY : You need a plan. A plan starts with a goal. Without a goal, how do you know whether you’re succeeding? A business goal will help you determine what social media tools will help you achieve it.

TIME : Yep, the old enemy of humanity. The old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day” applies here too. Like anything worth savoring, from financial investments to fine wine, social media is going to take cultivation, effort and time to mature. It does occasionally happen overnight, but don’t count on it.

RESILIENCE : You are going to make mistakes. You are going to try things that don’t work out. You may even invest in the wrong tools or resources. This is part of doing business, and it’s part of marketing. Learn from your mistakes, pick yourself up and dust yourself off. Then get back into the fight.

INVESTMENT : Accept the fact that you’re going to make an investment if you’re really going to try and use social media. Investment is going to mean time, effort, money or a combination of these.

PATIENCE : This goes hand-in-hand with time and investment. Understand that you’ve got some learning to do, some time to put in, before you start seeing a return on your investment.

EDUCATION : Social media can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. There is going to be some learning involved in order for you to figure out what the right plan of attack is for you. Read blogs or books on social media and social media marketing. Play with the tools, most are free. Better yet, get trained – by some like me

SINCERITY : Don’t try to make yourself or your business seem like something it’s not. Listen as well as talk. Social media is just that, “social”. It’s a two-way process. There are too many people out there treating the web as a recording studio and not a telephone…don’t be one of them.

So, if you want to earn your social media stripes, you have some work to do, some learning and some investment, but doesn’t anything worthwhile need these things?

Social media doesn’t have to be intimidating. It can be fun and rewarding. Take your time, dabble, ask lots of questions. Like any new relationship, social media will take a little time to get to know; but who knows where it may take you?

DO I HAVE A PRODUCT FOR YOU…!

• Looking for a thud-thud?
• Well, check out this whiz-bang. It does everything a thud-thud does and more!
• It’s only 10 klizzons!
• Tell your friends and we’ll even take their current thud-thud as a trade.
• How many do you want?

With apologies for my dreadful name creation for nonexistent products (stone age meets Star Trek?), the above pseudo-conversation is comprised of sales and marketing cliches. My question to you is, which of the five bullet points are sales and which are marketing.

As you sip your coffee and wonder why the heck you’re even bothering to read this post, I ask you to indulge me, if only for a minute or two.

Many people confuse sales and marketing. In fact, so many companies combine the two that they’re somewhat synonymous or interchangeable. Yet the fact of the matter is that marketing is 80% of the process that comprises "sales and marketing", the ultimate goal of which is to sell something, close a deal, agree a contract, etc.

80%…if applied to the conversation above, that would mean four of the five bullets are marketing related. If you’ve read this far, you probably know which is the odd-one out (sounds a bit like Sesame Street, doesn’t it).

Whoop-de-do Dave, so what’s your point?

My point is that by confusing, whether deliberately or otherwise, the two processes, sales and marketing can become more work for everyone involved. After all, the two require very different approaches. Marketing is, as the name applies, about bringing an item to market, letting people know it’s there, letting them know what it can do to improve their life. What it can do to address a need they have. If you’re looking for a good example of this, take any one of the pharmaceutical ads on TV. It’s a creative process. Whether you’re "dressing up" a product or service or not is up to you, but as a marketing person, you’re present your product’s best side and the benefits it can bring.

Sales is about closing the deal. It’s about negotiation, possibly persuasion. At this point there is at least a perceived desire on the part of the customer. The sales person needs to fill that desire…this making all the customer’s dreams come true.

I see many cases, especially is small business, but in larger companies too, where the desire to close the deal becomes so important that it overshadows the marketing. Consider many door-to-door solicitors. It’s about getting the quick sale before the door is closed, keeping the customer talking, persuading, charming, whatever it takes…all sales….without knowing that the customer may not even be interested. Ditto phone solicitors.

The difference…?

Marketing is about understanding the needs of the potential client and proposing your product or service as a solution. It includes advertising, feedback, market research and all those tasks that help give that the product (or service) every opportunity to succeed.

Without understanding marketing, forget the sale. If you’re like me, a person who is CEO, Janitor and everything in between, you’ve got to wear different hats for different parts of the sales and marketing process.

When wearing your "marketing" hat:

• Know your product(s).
• Learn your clients needs.
• Present your product(s) to your clients to meet their needs.
• Work to generate interest.

Then put the "sales" hat on and close the deal.

Go get ‘em tiger.

Dave Segrove is a Phoenix Small Business Web Designer and Marketing Consultant. You can learn more about Dave’s products and services at www.JDELtd.com.

10 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS…FOR MARKETING OF COURSE…

1. Resolve to learn from your marketing experience of 2009. You’re a year wiser (and, alas, older), so put the knowledge to use in the coming year.




2. Resolve to (and actually do) write a short marketing plan. Use the "GAME" or "TORCH" program methods (you can read about these on my blog or contact me). But put it in writing!
3. Resolve to try at least one new method of marketing in the coming year. This could be online, offline or anything in between (hm, that slogan sounds familiar).




4. Resolve to blog at least once a month. I know, I know…same old…but blogging is a very effective marketing tool. Don’t take my word for it, search Google for "blog marketing".




5. Resolve to network. Whether this is by joining a business organization or another method, it’s worth doing. Get your name in from of people in other industries. Make new contacts. You never know where it might take you.




6. Resolve to update your website. Hopefully it’s a JDE site, but even if it’s not, you should be updating content periodically. If you don’t have a site…




7. Resolve to try social media. It’s free and can be quite effective. It’s also very simple. "Social media" includes everything from blogging to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and more.




8. Resolve to find new ways to promote your brand. Do you have your logo and marketing message in your email signature? What about a decal on your car or truck? Lots of ideas…and potential.




9. Resolve to learn something new about your business. In most, if not all, industries, methods and technologies are continually evolving. It’s important to stay current, especially if you’re a small business.




10. Resolve to give yourself a break. The market for much of 2009 has, to put it mildly, sucked. Not your fault.

That should do it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2010!

10 THINGS TO AVOID : EMAIL FAUX PAS, ETIQUETTE ET AL

Part 1 of 2

Email is so pervasive in our lives that many people, I’m sure, wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if someone pulled the Internet plug. A few short years ago, email was considered an “unreliable” delivery mechanism, meaning that if you had something of importance to say or send, you’d better use a backup plan to be sure your recipient got it.

No more. Email is routinely subpoenaed in legal cases. It’s considered in many courts to be as good as a written contract and there are several “contract” sites that rely on email for contract execution.

People now receive mail on their cell phones and blackberry’s. While some predicted that SPAM would be a major detriment to the email infrastructure, we’ve managed to handle it pretty well, both from a legislative and technical perspective.

Yet, I never cease to be amazed by what people “do” in email. Whether it’s forwarding something inappropriate or including a vast number of people on a “CC” list or replying to “all” instead of “one”…the list goes on. So, here is the current “Dave Segrove list of things to do and not to do” when it comes to email. Some are just ideas, some are common sense and others are…well, I’ll let you decide.

“DO NOTs”, “GOTCHAs” and other things(in no particular order)

1. WORK AND PLAY DON’T MIX

Do not confuse business and pleasure. In my mind, this has got to be the most ignored and fundamental “rule” when it comes to email. There are several “sub-categories” under this heading.

• Chain Emails

  I may be on your mailing list for some reason and I’m happy to be. But if my relationship with you is business-related, I do not want to see your chain emails. A “chain email” is one that you must forward to 10 or 100 people in order to get the message out, for good luck, to avoid bad luck, to sign a petition…the list goes on. SPAM still accounts for over 90% of all email traffic and chain emails are a big part of that.

  That’s not to say there is no place for some very good chain emails, but consider the recipient. Send it to your friends and family perhaps, but not your business colleagues.

• Jokes, Cartoons Etc

  I’m always amazed at the number of these I get from people I’d never have expected to. I like a good joke or cartoon as much as the next person, and if I get one from a friend or family member, that’s very different. I don’t expect (unless perhaps in rare cases) to receive these from business associates.

  Bottom line: you don’t know whether you might offend the recipient and you don’t know what that might result in.

  Many companies prohibit this sort of traffic as part of their policy, but I see it all the time.

• Pictures, Family Stories Etc

  Sorry gang, but business is business. If we’re friends, then by all means add me to your Facebook list or send me your photos or stories. As a colleague, client or vendor, I shouldn’t be copied on these.

2. DO NOT ASSUME PERMISSION

We may have communicated in the past. I may have received your business card from you in a meeting. Please don’t assume I gave you permission to add me to your mailing list. If you want to add me to your mailing list, send me an email or call me to ask.

In most cases, people are quite happy to join your list, but don’t take it for granted.

3. DO NOT BE CASUAL

If your email is business-related, keep the language thus. Don’t assume a “tone” you would not use in conversation. Email is very subject to misinterpretation, specifically because you cannot hear the voice inflexions of the sender.

4. NEVER EVER USE PROFANITY

’nuff said.

5. DON’T ABBREVIATE

Email is not texting. Sure, you may be emailing from your cell phone or portable device, but that’s your problem. Abbreviations are subject to interpretation. Don’t assume that someone will understand what TTYL or L8R means.

6. BIG ATTACHMENTS

As Internet “pipes” get bigger, so do email attachments. Unless someone’s expecting a big file, either give them some notice or find another way (FTP for example) of getting it to them. Many corporate firewalls and routers will block big messages. You run the risk of not knowing whether it was received or not. Not all email systems will tell you.

Big attachments also fill up mail boxes and may cost money in bandwidth, for either you or the recipient.

7. SHOOTING FROM THE HIP

“Flaming” is an Internet term for an attack on another. While these tend to happen in forum settings, they can happen in emails too. It’s very easy to take offense at a message, type a quick reply and hit send before you’ve had time to take a breath.

Now what?

Remember, in most cases you cannot take it back. You cannot “un-say”. If something upsets you, be careful before replying. In my case, I’ll often type up what I want to say in a word processor. That way, there’s little chance of me sending the message by accident (or on purpose). After I calm down, I can edit or delete what I’ve typed and then copy and paste it into an email.

8. IT WILL OUTLIVE YOU

Copies of email messages are stored all over the place. Don’t assume an email conversation is just between you and the receiver. Don’t send something that might come back to bite you later. Email is legally admissible in many places as evidence. Just because you deleted it from “Sent Items” doesn’t delete it from the Internet.

9. REPLY TO “ALL” / FORWARDING

This can be amusing when it happens. It can also be deadly (business-wise). You receive an email from someone who has copied a group of people. You reply with a comment intended for the sender’s eyes only. You hit “send”.

Hang on, did you replay to “all”…? Uh oh…

I received an email recently from someone who forwarded an email from someone else and I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t supposed to see the original because it wasn’t very nice. In fact, it’s what prompted this article.

Be careful when replying to messages that were sent to a group. Ditto, be careful when forwarding a message to one or more people. Is there something that wasn’t intended for general consumption in there?

10. AN ADDRESS THAT ISN’T “PORTABLE” OR APPROPRIATE

Now, this last item may be determined by your company. If you work for a corporation and use their email system, you are probably expected to send and receive work-related emails with a company address. In nearly every case, you can’t take this with you when you leave.

So, if you are using your company address for something else, you might want to stop doing so. This may be against company policy to begin with, but if you can’t take it with you, are you going to have a problem if you leave?

Use an email address suitable for your business. If you want to use AOL or GMAIL or YAHOO, then do so, but use an address that works and that is appropriate. onehotguy@[emailsystem.com] may be cool for your personal life, but does it work for your new legal practice?

So, there you have it. I’m sure there are many other things that could be on the list. As email evolves, we need to as well. It’s no longer the casual tool a few years years ago.

If you made it thus far, you have my complete admiration. This wasn’t supposed to be a novel when it started…if you email it to anyone, you might want to just send a link…I think that’s appropriate

A R-E-C-I-P-E FOR THE HOLIDAYS

It’s that time of year. Yes, holidays, winding down – one hopes – and looking forward to the start of a new year. It’s never too early to begin laying down the foundations of a business, marketing or personal plan for 2010. Here’s a simple R-E-C-I-P-E.

Take a RETROSPECTIVE look at 2009. Look at the good, the not-so-good. You’ve lived (almost) another 12 months and you’ve experienced (almost) another 12 months. That’s a year’s worth of wisdom. You’ve probably learned much more than you realize and you can put that all to good use in your plan for 2010.

EVALUATE the successes. What were your goals at the beginning of the year? Did you have any? If not, resolve to change that immediately! How does your year end appear to be shaping up relative to those goals? What were the successes in 2009. Were they planned or unplanned? Write them down and figure out what you achieved. Plan to do it again if possible.

CELEBRATE your successes. Give yourself a pat on the back! Even the smallest achievement is step in the right direction. It’s something to build on. Experience is a success in itself, so at minimum, you’ve got that to celebrate.

INVESTIGATE the failures. I hate to use that word, but I couldn’t think of a better one. What didn’t work as planned in 2009? If you had a plan and something didn’t work out, try to understand why. Accidents happen. The unforeseen happens. The saying "the best laid plans of mice and men…" exists for a reason, as does "if at first you don’t succeed…". You now have the benefit of hindsight.

Begin your PLAN for 2010. Yes, I know 2009 isn’t over, but it’s almost December and the year end will be here before you know it. Your plan should include measurable goals (see A SIMPLE GAME PLAN). Looking back over this year, include possible pitfalls you need to watch out for. Try and add a goal that you didn’t have this year. On your calendar, put a short-term objective for each month and a method by which you can measure success. Don’t wait until the end of next year to get yourself back on track. If 2009 didn’t go as expected, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and plan to try, try again.

ENJOY yourself. It’s the holidays. Season of goodwill and time to be grateful for all the big and little things in our lives. Next year will be a challenge, but you’re going into the New Year with a plan and a whole 12 months of additional experience and wisdom. Let bygones be bygones and resolve to begin 2010 with a clean slate and a whole year of potential.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving (and Holiday Season)!

A GOAL A DAY…

What is it about that "Friday Feeling"? The anticipation of two days of no work? Having survived another week of the rat race? Sleeping in? Happy hour?

What ever the underlying cause for that slightly excited 4pm sense of excitement, many people feel a sense of accomplishment; and many wish they could feel that way every day. While this post comes under the broad heading of "marketing", it can apply to other aspects of personal or professional life.

The old proverb "an apple a day keeps the doctor (or dentist) away" has some conventional wisdom within. Take the proverb and substitute "goal" for "apple" and "apathy" for "doctor" and we’re on to something.

Last week I posted an article comparing a marketing campaign to a military one (see VENI, VIDI, VICI). In the article I illustrated that, like it’s military counterpart, a marketing campaign is comprised of a series of goals, each building on the former to achieve the ultimate goal.

Okay Dave, but what’s this got to do with-

Hang on – I’m getting there.

Take a look at your marketing campaign plan. Hopefully it’s broken down into strategic milestones, monthly or weekly goals. If not, perhaps you could consider doing so, and while you’re at it, break into daily goals too.

That’s a lot of work, Dave…

Is it really? The more detail you can break a plan down to, the easier it is to adjust the smaller components. But most importantly, you can set daily goals. This might be something as routine as "complete 10 marketing calls" or "5 ideas for flyers", but at the end of the day, it can be something you can put a line through and say "done". It’s a part of your campaign. You’re a step closer to reaching your goal and getting where you want / need to go.

Is it a "Friday Feeling"? Perhaps not quite, but you can look back at the day with a sense of having achieved something relevant to you and your business.

Happy Friday.

I write about different marketing strategies and techniques, both traditional and non in my online newsletter Webby’s Updates which you can read at www.JDELtd.com and subscribe to if you so choose. You can download this and other articles from by Small Business GENetics site, www.sbgenetics.com

LEGACY MARKETING

"Oh boy, what’s he doing now?"

Excellent question and I’m glad you asked. Let me answer with another question: how do you want to be remembered?

"You mean….?"

Yes, when you get to "the end".

Kidding aside it’s a serious question. Personally, I want people to look back and think "there was a good person, who delighted in helping others".

So, the second question is: are you practicing your legacy in marketing now?

"Uh-oh, sermon…"

Actually, it’s not.

If you think about it for a moment, if you want to be remembered, or look back one day and say "wow, look what I was able to do," consider what you’re doing today in order to be able to have that vision to look back upon.

Are you building pyramids using the strengths of others, or are you building pyramids with others?

If you truly want to be remembered as a good person who helped people realized their dreams, or someone who dedicated their lives to a cause, or a committed individual who just wanted to see people grow, then consider putting that philosophy into practice now.

You only get one pass at this life, and you’re the driver. You may not care what you think in 20, 30, 40 or more years from now. You may care even less about what others may think. But you know something? I’ll bet it shows…

f2p=f4m : A LITTLE PLANNING GOES A LONG WAY

f(2p)=f(4m)

where

f=failure
p=plan
m=motivation

A simple little formula, a variation on the better-known “failure to plan is planning to fail”. Yet many small business owners do just that. As a small business owner, whether you’re a single (self) employee or a small group, you have all the responsibilities of a Fortune 500 company, with a smaller headcount. You still have to consider:

• Human Resources
• Sales & Marketing
• Accounting, Payroll and other “Back Office” functions
• Development and Training
• Business Planning
• Support
• Infrastructure
• Etc

Larger companies have plans and forecasts. You barely have to watch TV to know that such-and-such company’s stock lost value because it didn’t “meet analysts expectations”. But the fact that a huge behemoth of an organization can predict (within a certain target area) how much it’s going to make per share is pretty amazing.

Look a little deeper and you’ll see it’s not magic, it’s just about planning.

I meet different business owners as I ply my trade. Sometimes the conversation goes something like this…

“Hi Joe”
“Hi Dave”
“How’s business?”
“It’s okay. I’m getting by.”
“You sound a little uncertain.”
“Yeah…we’re in a bit of a slump. Somehow this wasn’t quite what I’d planned.”
“Where did you deviate from the plan.”
“Well I didn’t mean an actual plan-”

If there is no actual plan, first of all, how the heck can you deviate from it? Many small business owners make this mistake. They’re intentions are pure and they know they want to build a business, but they set off with a vague notion and little more.

Many of these fail because they didn’t plan. Something doesn’t work out. Money doesn’t come in. Second-guessing begins and it goes down from there.

Your business plan doesn’t have to be elaborate. It doesn’t have to contain lots of words that you’d need a dictionary to look up. It should have a goal or two, a method for getting there and a way to measure success. (See A SIMPLE G-A-M-E PLAN)

It really is that easy.

When setting a goal, make it tangible. “This is where I want / need to be in 12 months.”

Okay, you have a goal. How do you quantify it? Do you have to do a certain amount in sales? Yes? How many? How much? You’ll probably need some clients…yes? Alright, how many prospects can you realistically turn into sales?

You get the idea. With a goal and some simple thoughts, put down in writing, you now have map. Of course, there is more you can do. Budgeting is always a good idea. Ditto marketing ideas. I work with people to help them flesh these things out.

Now, if you’re not happy because you’re not meeting your plan goals, we have something to work with. Where are you deviating from the plan?

You can change a plan. You can’t change “nothing”. You can get back on track.

Failure to plan is the first step towards losing your motivation.

YOU’RE A “PROFESSIONAL”, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU “DON’T KNOW”?

As an true "professional" in most fields, people feel as though all the answers should be right there at their fingertips; they should be a walking encyclopedia in their field, quicker than a Google search with even more relevance.

The simple fact of the matter is that the secret to being a "professional" is (in my opinion):

1. the wisdom to acknowledge that one can never know all the answers
2. the humility to admit this to oneself (and a client)
3. the intelligence to know where to look for the answers
4. the confidence to reassure oneself (and a client)
5. the desire to improve oneself

As a famous quote says (something like), "he who knows everything knows nothing". Beware self-proclaimed "experts".

You’re good at what you do. You can be even better. Professionals never stop learning and growing. That’s what careers are all about.

As a marketing "professional", I can never have all the answers. Every one of my clients is different…but between my client and myself we’ll come as close as we can and find as many of the answers as we are able. That’s what makes my work fun. People are amazing and wonderful! Admitting you don’t have an answer there and then is a small act of heroism, a big act of humility and will gain you respect in the long-run.

If we had all the answers already, what would be the point?

I say this all with true humilty…and I’m still looking for the answers. Who knows where today will go? Have an awesome week!