It has been one year and a few days since the launch of the Finding Answers Blog.  This post represents the one-hundredth post for the blog.  There have been quite a few things learned since the launch of the blog last year.  This post has the top six lessons we learned that you could use to make your own blog better.

#1 The Echo Effect of A Guest Blogger

Other articles about how to make your blog effective always talk about having a guest blogger write a post.  The key of course is to have the right guest blogger with the right post at the right time.  Having those three key elements will have a tremendous impact on your blog!

The Echo Effect From A Guest Blogger

As you can see in the nearby graph, when Shelly Kramer of V3 Integrated Media wrote about The Power of Women In Social Media , traffic to the Finding Answers Blog soared in the month of December to 1,847 unique visits.  In the day the post was launched there were 947 unique visits.  Those are some pretty cool numbers.  What has happened since is that the number of unique visitors to the blog has never dropped below four hundred.

Shelly’s post is still read and shows up in searches almost every day.

#2 Write Consistently

To maintain readership and the sharpness of your own writing skills you need to post frequently.  Not only do the search engines enjoy the fresh content that you are creating, so do your readers who have taken the time to add your blog to their feeds.

You will also learn how to fight through writers block, make arguments concise and relevant, and you will discover your voice.  If that is not enough for you, all the new content that you are creating will position you as a thought leader against your competition.

#3 Promote Your Posts Wisely

There are guides out there that tell you to “shout out” far and wide when you have finished a recent blog post.  These guides tell you to post on Twitter, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, etc. etc.  Be careful because all that shouting can back fire!

You have to send out notifications wisely and in the right locations.  The Finding Answers Blog posts to the LinkedIn groups where the post makes sense and does so sparingly.  An auto tweet is sent when the post is initially put up online.  Then, if it is appropriate, a link to post is shared on a few business websites like Business Week’s Business Exchange.

Where you announce or link to your blog posts has to match with the niche your business is trying to serve aka your audience.  The best way to be heard is to not over promote yourself!

#4 Pick A Reader Friendly Theme

When it comes to blog themes there are as many as there are manufacturers of beer.  A lot!  You have to get over yourself first.  It is not about what you like, it is about what is easy to use for the reader.  Many bloggers forget this and overload their posts with too many buttons, Google ads, and other junk.  Blog posts are like the AM/PM convenience stores: your readers want to get in, get out, and get on with their lives!

Keep your blog theme simple, easy to read, and with buttons easily visible so your readers can share your great content!

#5 Titles Open The Door; Content Means Everything

While we are all trained as children not to judge books by their covers, alas we do!  It goes with titles too.  Some of the catchiest titles that tend to grab the most readers are the “How To” “Top Secrets” “X Number of Easy”.  These titles will get you readers.  They will not stay long.

No matter how enticing your title is, you have to have the content to back it up.  There are a dime a dozen “Secrets To Social Media” and “How To Make A Tweet Cool” blog posts out there.  Some are valuable, but most are not because they only reinforce what most people already know by reading the other similar posts!

Readers (search engines included) devour content that is fresh, bold, and enlightening.  Your job as a blogger is to deliver that content.  So once you get past the coolness of the awesome title you must deliver the goods when it comes to content.  If you do not… you will not retain or attract readers!

#6 Patience Young Blogger

It has been one year and a few days since the Finding Answers Blog was started.  Has it delivered?  Yes it has.  We have built steady readership overtime through consistent valuable posts that match the mission of the blog: getting information you can use today.  Do we deliver exceptional content every time? No, we admit that we miss the mark sometimes, but we do not quit.

It takes time and patience to become the best at anything.  Even if you have talent.  People are not born immediate stars — they practice.  So you too must practice, write, edit, post, and your readers will come.

Thank You

To our readers, our guest bloggers, our commentators, and those who forward our posts to their friends… thank you!  We look forward to writing more posts and providing you with the information you need to make your business a success!

Video Blogs, of Vlogs, are becoming a new means for bloggers and other creators of content to get their message out.  It is just another medium for the message.  Just like, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, vlogs are becoming part of the fastest growing social media segment: YouTube.

In April of this year 13 billion videos were viewed on YouTube alone.  Those are huge numbers!  Why isn’t your business taking advantage of that?

You can see from the video below that with some time, a camera, and some editing software you can make a Vlog without a huge production company.

In the case I am using the Vlog to poke fun at the trend of “Hauls” and Shelly Kramer.  Total time from start to finish: 1 hour 35 minutes.

Rules for Vlogs

If you break them you might not get a lot of viewers:

• Keep it short.
• Keep it entertaining.
• Keep it informational.
• Keep it fun for you.
• Have a script – outlines work too.
• Keep an open mind and use your creativity.
• Remember that you are never too cool for school and don’t take yourself too seriously!

In my experience, I think I have violated the first four, but hey, it is just the beginning!

Watch Shelly Kramer’s Haul here.

Many companies, both large and small, have embraced social media.  It has been reported by Facebook that advertising on social media by businesses has increased 1000%.  More and more people are increasing the size and depth of the social media gene pool.

This blog, for one, thinks that is a wonderful thing.  Growth is great!  Just make sure your business is ready to handle using social media correctly.  When you fail in the social media realm everyone, including your mother, is going to know about it.

All lasting business is built on friendship – Alfred Montapert

A Tale Of Two Tweets

140 Characters or Less

There were two business leaders seeking help from esteemed customer service representatives through Twitter.  They had thrown their troubles out into the Twitter Stream hoping that some angler would snare them, reel them in, and not eat them for dinner.  No, these two tweets sought advice that only a customer service representative could provide.

The first tweet came from a fiery haired vixen of the high-plains who has a mouth that would make sailors from any nation across the centuries blush.  She had dismounted from the saddle of her two-wheeled whinny and dusted of her hands to type out a call for help.  She tweeted about her woes with a fruity phone and wanted to make a switch.  Alas her pleas (or tweets) went unanswered.  And these from some very large companies that would love to make the fruity cell phone maker blush bright red.

The second tweet came from a lion.  Granted it is a little weird that a lion would wear glasses, but hey… who is judging?  This lion wanted to participate in an online meeting.  A meeting, whose organizers successfully marketed and reminded all the attendees about, making the lion salivate with anticipation!  Sadly, when the lion went to logon he could not.  He tried numerous times.  He contacted the organizer to no avail.  The lion thought, I’ll use Twitter! To which the customer service rep – about twenty minutes after the first tweet – said, “I dunno.”

Since our fiery foul-mouthed redhead was not able to get a response, she had to hop on her two-wheeled stallion and visit a retailer.  Meanwhile the bespectacled lion was dumbfounded that this reputable online webinar provider did not even try to find out why there were problems.   Both business leaders are now even wary of using social media for their own customer service interactions.  If the big guys fail, what about us? They thought.

Quality Is Job 1 – Ford Motor Company

Customer Service Is A Brand

These two tales share the common theme of a failure to deliver basic customer service through Twitter.  Sure, it can be chalked up to the fact that it is hard to communicate in 140 characters or less, but then why use that for a customer service outlet if you believe that?

What these companies – and others – fail to realize is that by entering the social media realm they are extending the image of their brand.  That extension can be a boon or a harmful substance if it is not planned for correctly.  Customer service is part of that brand image.  Consumers are not willing to fork over their money if they get treated like crap, even on Twitter.  Your brand will suffer.

Is there customer service behind all this code?

Your 3 Step Solution

Your business can harness the power of social media to build brand awareness, create relationships, forge partnerships, and extend your reputation for exceptional customer service.  You have to invest the time to plan for a successful strategy and execution of your social media campaign.  You need to role-play the “what ifs” and plan for them.

If these businesses – whose customer service agents let our two protagonists down – where yours here is what you could have done differently:

• Monitor your competition by brand name and keywords associated with them.  This would have helped the cell phone makers hear our heroine’s plea for help.
• Break your social media teams down so that they respond to specific regions – the more localized the better.
• Have a back-up line to go to when 140 characters is not enough to solve the problem; this can be an online chat area which allows for more text or (heresy for saying this) a phone number to an actual human being.

Granted that social media is still in its infancy and the kinks are still being worked out.  With all the case studies out there for using new mediums to connect with customers, it is the expectation of most consumers that the big companies will get it right.  That is what they pay all the big money for to hire staff, consultants, and advertising firms, right?

It is amazing what the power of social media can do.

Someone in my LinkedIn network had an update about another software platform called SocialGrow. They used a video from Xtranormal, which has pre-cut computer animated scenes. All you have to do is type in a script, place some camera angles, and… you have a movie! It is even easier than iMovie.

Here is what I cam up with.

In the right marketing hands this can be a very powerful tool!

There is a cost to publishing your video but for a small business it is very minimal i.e. under $100. The downside is that there is a limit in the expressions and you cannot upload your own music or sounds. If you keep your videos short — say under two minutes — then it should not be too much of a problem.

Be on the lookout as I have found a new tool to use!

Measurement.  It is how you address the sate of your progress towards your goals.  It helps you discover new opportunities and weaknesses you may not be aware of.  In sports the ultimate measurement is the scoreboard at the end of the match.  In social media… the measurement is more than just followers and fans.  Measurement in social media is what you define it to be.

Alice – Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?

Chesire Cat – That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.

Alice – I don’t care much where

Chesire Cat – Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.

– Alice In Wonderland

What You Measure Matters

If you have developed a plan for your social media effort then you have identified metrics you are going to measure.  (If you haven’t done this then you better reevaluate your social media plan!)  These metrics can be new fans/followers, depth of conversations, new leads, response times, and possibly even new sales.  Whatever your metrics are you need to measure them against your investment of resources and time.

What you measure matters as it is where the focus of your efforts are during your social media campaign.  It is that old adage of “inspect what you expect.”  If what you are measuring is not acceptable or working, there is nothing wrong with making changes.  As you do meet your goals, your metrics will change and they should.

A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth. – Charles Darwin

Pros and Cons of Different Metrics

When building your social media plan you have most likely identified what success looks like.  Perhaps it is something like this:  Your business is rolling in business from all the hits your website gets, and these visits start from the success of your Facebook fan page and tweets.  Nice story right?   What are you going to measure to get there?

There are a number of different metrics for social media, and currently there is not really a gold standard.   That will change with the expansion of use of social media by different businesses.  Remember that what you measure matters.

Fans & Followers. This is the easiest metric to measure.  You need fans, friends, subscribers, and followers to allow your social media campaign to have any effect at all.  How fast you grow this list is a direct measure to the strength of your brand, the quality of your content, and the sincerity of your interaction.  The feedback on your efforts is instant.  This metric is dynamic and will always be changing.  Another thing to keep in mind is that popularity does not translate into business.  If you are collecting fans/followers like baseball cards then you are not valuing the real benefits of social media: conversation.

Depth of Conversation. Here is a startling statistic for you to ponder:  99% of all tweets and posts do not get a single interaction.  (Data from Yahoo R&D Labs.)  This means that no one forwards them through re-tweets, responds to the information offered, or comments on what has been sent.  This could be due to the volume of information being created on a minute-by-minute basis or that most posts lack quality.

Independent of what your goals are for your social media campaign, this metric is one of the most important you want to measure.  It is also the most difficult.  Why?  Well, what is the definition for “Depth of Conversation”?  Is it duration of interaction?  Is it how many times it gets forwarded and re-tweeted?  Is it the driving force behind a purchase?  The answer is it can be one or all of these things.  You need to decide what “Depth of Conversation” means for you and your business.

New Leads/Sales.  According to Dell, they made over $7 million in sales using Twitter.  Special deals and offers were extended only to their followers and those that had received re-tweets.   Yet direct sales from twitter and other platforms seem to be the exception instead of the norm.  Development of new leads and business relationships tends to be the result of social media campaigns.  Measurement of these two metrics is fairly straightforward.

You can measure opportunity with the same yardstick that measures the risk involved.  They go together. – Earl Nightingale

Right now the rules are being written on how to measure effect, investment, and impact of using social media.  If you are not measuring then you better start now!  Otherwise you are just grasping in the dark and that type of effort is usually wasted effort.

Additional Resources On Measurement

Impact of blogs for businesses

How To Track Social Media: Analytics

Get A Yardstick

Measurement And Analysis of Social Media

How do you measure your social media impact?

When it comes to social media there is a lot that has been written.  There are blog posts about how to create a successful marketing campaign.  There are articles about how to select the perfect social media software for your business.  Many people have written about bringing value to your conversations.  This post is going to add to that cacophony of information by discussing the tactics you should employ in each social media situation.

Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and that is the test of generals. – T. E. Lawrence

The 5 Tactics of Success

Listen.  If you have been reading about social media then you are quite aware that listening is one of the most important things you must be doing.  It is going to be talked it about in any reputable writer and user of social media.  Yet how does one listen when most of social media is written?

If you have set up searches on your brand, competition, and key words that you are interested in then you should be receiving data.  As you sift through what you are reading you need to be aware of what must be responded to, what should be responded to, and what can be ignored.  With your priorities in place, to listen you need to give your brain – or your team – time to digest the information.  Do not be too quick to respond without actually understanding what you are responding to.

Engage. Once you have made the choice to respond or create comment you need make sure that it will create engagement.  You want a response.  By response you want something that will generate a conversation where you can learn, inform, and build a relationship.  If you think it is easy to do just think about this static from the Yahoo R&D Team:  96% of all social media content never gets forwarded or responded to.

Assess. Measure your conversations and other social media content against the goals you have set out in your social media plan.  This assessment will change depending on the platform(s) you are using for your campaign.  While most people are focused on followers, you should really be assessing how people actually engage with you in social media.  You should be assessing your retweets, interaction with your fan page on Facebook, commenting on your blog, and those who are reacting to your answers on LinkedIn.

Respond. Oddly enough some companies just only respond to the negativity of their company or their brand.  If you are listening and creating engagement then you should be responding to positive as well.  This can be as simple as thanking someone for forwarding your link.  You need to respond, no matter what it is about, to be seen as a source of value.

Notice. One of the greatest things you can do is to call attention to others.  If you see something you like you should share it.  If someone has written a wonderful article, made a really creative video, or is simply a key resource… draw attention to him or her and make others take notice.  Those good deeds will be returned with more attention given to you as well.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. – Sun Tzu

Using The 5 Tactics

The five steps or LEARN should be used with every action you take in social media.  While it would be best to have them all used with each social engagement, it is not always the case.  Regardless the five steps should be used.  It makes for a richer interaction for you, your fans, and the social media community as a whole.

One of my favorite things to watch after a sporting event is the interview with the coaches.  Inevitably the losing coach talks about how they should have scored more points.  If the team just did… they would have won.  Well of course they would of won if they had more points than the other team.  That is the point of playing.

The reason for the loss is typically the failure to execute the plan.  Whatever it may have been.

Your business needs a plan if it is going to use social media.  Without one you will have wasted effort and if it were a sport you will not score.

Any idea, plan, or purpose may be place in the mind through repetition of thought. – Napoleon Hill

7 Components of A Social Media Plan

The jury is still deliberating on what form the social media plan should be.  Should it be a marketing plan?  Should it be a customer service plan?  Is it a sales plan?  Or is a social media plan really a networking plan?  How about a combination?

What is your goal and how will you get there?

If you search the Internet far and wide you will find a number of answers.  Right now not a single one of them is in the wrong.  So the correct answer for your business is to have a social media plan that meets your desired goals.

Goals

The first component of your social media plan is to have stated goals.  How are you going to keep score and know that you are on the right path?  Whatever your goal is, it must align with the goals of your business.  Otherwise you will not be achieving anything of value.

Engagement

The second component is defining how you are going to interact in the social media realm.  Will you be self-serving (not really wise), conversational, providing free help, or simply commenting?  Whatever your interaction will be it has to match the persona for your business.

Time

Third component of your social media plan is when do you plan to engage.  You have probably heard that time can be wasted in social media.  That may even be a large worry for you.  Determining the best time to be online needs to be a part of your plan.  This means that you need to know when your audience is on and what the rhythm of the conversation is.  This does not mean you will have scripted conversation, but you will be active when your desired audience will be listening.

Promotion

The fourth component is to know when and where to promote specials or sales for your business.  Not every platform is suited for specials.  Depending where you promote your specials/sales, you better have the ability to meet the demands that your efforts can make.  One key thing to remember is that when you promote these specials/sales it is best to do it in a conversation.  Just shouting it out may attract some visitors but might not be the real clients you want.

Assignment

Roles need to be assigned and executed for success!

The fifth component is to assign who will execute your social media plan.   There are some schools of thought that should be assigned to marketing or outsourced.  The latter is definitely not a wise thing to do and the traditional departments just don’t meet the holy grail of social media: engagement.   This is where your business can really blaze a trail.  The most successful businesses that have been using social media have had non-traditional roles lead the conversation.  Example:  Ford had its mechanics tweet and Starbucks has its key customer relationship experts, the barista, lead the conversation.  Who would your customers really like to hear from?

Interest

The measurement of interest is the sixth component of your social media plan.  Think of this as your milestones to measure progress towards your goals.  Measurement of interest is not just seeing who carries your message, but also about how many people actually talk about your market, products, competition, and other items that affect your business.  Your plan needs to discuss how this will be measured and what that data means. Key point: this is an active listening process.

Develop Conversation

One fear businesses have about using social media is a lack of control.  Can people post stupid things? Sure enough.  Just like someone can walk into your physical location and make a stupid comment, there is no difference.  I am talking about a free-for-all approach, but you should not be so draconian that it shuts conversation completely down.  Your social media plan should develop conversation with your business, other customers, and anyone else who is interested in your market.  By generating this conversation you will learn things you never knew about you, your competition, and your market.

A good plan… executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. – George S. Patton

Execution To Conclusion

No matter what your social media plan is going to be, you need to execute it.  Tweek what does not work and allow for team to execute the best they know how.   Failure to execute always fails 100%.

So if social media were a sporting event and you are the coach, what would your interview be at the end of the match?  Would you be talking about just needing to score, “a few more points” or will you be discussing how execution of your plan, although not perfect, kicked the other team’s….?

If you have a plan and you execute it for your business you will G.E.T. P.A.I.D.

What components would you add to your social media plan?

Mistakes.  They happen.  They are going to happen.  The best you can hope for is to avoid them as much as possible and minimize their damage.  Mistakes.  They are what make us human.

In social media, mistakes are going to happen.  There will be miscommunication, misunderstanding, and failure to recognize opportunities.  Should this be the end of the world for your business?  No, and it should not be the end of your business’s foray into social media either.

The best way to minimize mistakes is to plan.  The best way to minimize the damage from the mistakes is to learn from them.  The best way to move forward is to recognize that mistakes can have hidden golden opportunities.  The only way to do that is to have a plan.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting – Buddha

Social Media Plan

Each interaction in social media needs to be coordinated against a larger plan.  This plan is your business’ overall approach to how you are going to use social media.  This plan will be adjusted as new initiatives and opportunities to arise.

Your social media plan should have the following components:

• Determine who is responsible for initiating, monitoring, and engaging in social media.
• Determine the goal of each message.
• Develop a decision-making model for conversations.
• Develop metrics to be measured for success/failure.
• Develop time frames for each initiative, conversation, and response.

These components will have to fit with the platform you have chosen as your social media platform.  That will have a determination on how important each component is.

Planning should involve all the key actors for your business.  This should include the decision makers all the way down to the communicators that will be implementing your social media plan.  This will help your team understand their roles, understand the decision-making model being used, and have the important buy-in by all parties involved.

During the planning sessions role-playing should be used to extrapolate the diversity and breadth of potential conversations that can be had.  This time can be used to discover where mistakes can be made; test assumptions of your social media plan and help create confidence in the use of the platform you have chosen.  Role-playing will help your team be able to identify weaknesses and opportunities when they arise.

Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure.  Continue to reach out. – Benjamin Franklin

Recognizing Mistakes

What social media planning helps your company do is be prepared for when mistakes happen.  They are going to happen.  It is in those mistakes that serendipity typically reigns and only well prepared companies are able to turn them into opportunities.

If you have a plan then you can make a decision.

Without planning and practice – through role-playing – your company will not even know when a mistake has been made and how to respond to it.  Take for example when Kevin Smith, the director, was asked to get off of a Southwest Airlines flight due to his size.  He got off and tweeted it immediately.  This could have caused a huge firestorm for Southwest Airlines if it did not have a social media plan in place.  Since Southwest did have a plan in place it was able to respond quickly and get all the facts out.  The result was a healthy conversation about the policies of Southwest and questioned motives of Mr. Smith.  The final verdict was left to those witnesses this social engagement and the potential for a bad public relations day was avoided.

The mistake was on both parties.  For Southwest, it should not have allowed Mr. Smith to take the earlier flight (it was packed) because of his size and their policy of charging larger passengers for two seats.  The flight he was on did not have enough.  For Mr. Smith, tweeting about this incident near the release of a new film of his made it look like it was self-serving to get free publicity.  The result was healthy education through social media engagement on the policies of Southwest and the steps they took to accommodate Mr. Smith.  Both got exposure and both got their side of the incident out.

Without planning, the mistake by Southwest would not have been able to be forward leaning to have a conversation about its policies online.  It would have had to approach everything in a reactive and defensive mode.  Southwest would not have been able to be part of the conversation.  Southwest would not have been prepared to respond.

The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way. – Dale Carnegie

Accepting Responsibility

Having a social media plan helps your business take responsibility when there is a mistake.  In a hyper-litigious society most companies never really say sorry and take responsibility.  The British Petroleum accident in the Gulf of Mexico has a sideshow of finger pointing as part of its narrative.  While there are about 35,000 barrels (roughly 350,000 gallons or 1,400,000 liters) of oil a day spilling into the waters.  The CEO of BP even made matters worse by complaining on his Facebook page.  Talk about not having a social media plan and making a mistake worse!

Social media – which allows for companies to have a direct conversation with customers while others watch – allows for companies to take responsibility.

A perfect example is in Chicago.  The Dominos Pizza franchise of Chicago uses social media to promote specials, engage with its customers, and to own up to mistakes.  In one instance one of the stores made a mistake with an order.  In response to a complaint that was tweeted, the store manager and the employee that made the mistake owned up to it.  Instead of ducking behind policies, procedures, or even finger pointing this Dominos franchise said sorry.  They did it by posting a video and engaging the customer directly while others watched.  The result: accolades and increased business.

This could not have happened without a social media plan.  Roles are assigned, conversation is thought out and dynamic, and individuals engage with other individuals in sincere conversation.  The social media plan of the Chicago Dominos franchise is focused and involved.  Through their social media plan they are a part of the conversation and a part of the community.  A local business taking advantage of a free platform to stay engaged.

If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything.  I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes. – John Wooden

Mistakes Help You Learn

Mistakes.  They are going to happen.  As you start your social media engagement or you are already in one and your reassessing it, you will make mistakes.  It is through those mistakes that you will learn and grow.   Some may be costly and while I will not say that it is okay, how you rebound from it can be the biggest boon to your business.

A mistake made in front of the world.

If you are watching the World Cup then you may have heard about one of the largest mistakes made on the world stage by Robert Green, England’s Goalkeeper.  It was a simple mistake that allowed the United States to tie the match.  Mistakes in such a high-pressure event – especially at a key position – have repercussions for the team and the player involved.  Everyone watched as the mistake was made and now they are watching to see how Robert Green rebounds.

He and his team have learned a lot from that mistake.  He will be more aggressive to get behind the ball.  The team will clamp down to stop outside shots like Clint Dempsey’s.  Other teams are telling their keepers not to pull “a Green.”

So it will be when you make a mistake in social media.  Others will learn from your mistake and you will learn as well.  You cannot react and find the opportunities in your mistake if you do not have a social media plan.

How do you plan for your social media use?

Physics is governed by laws and theories that help scientists understand how our universe works.  There is the Theory of Relativity, the String Theory, and Newton’s Laws.  So it is with business.  While there are theories out there that you can put to use in helping make your business successful, there are also business laws that you violate at your own peril.  One of the most famous laws is the Law of Location.

Your office, your shop, your website, and you attendance at networking events are proof of the Law of Location at work.  If you are where your potential clients and customers are then you will most likely be successful.  Conversely if you are in a place where there are no potential clients then… it is going to be very hard to be successful.

The same Law of Location applies to where your business should spend its time in social media.  Your chances of having successful engagements and conversations will be best served if you are in the right location.

I want to put a ding in the universe. – Steve Jobs

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Oh! My!

Facebook and Twitter are household names.  You may have a personal profile on both of them.  There is no doubt that both are growing and being used more by businesses to communicate with their customers.  The latest stats show that the trend for the use of Facebook will most likely eclipse the use of Google.1 Yet is that the right platform for your business?

A great place for a high traffic newsstand?

Twitter is a real time streaming platform that only allows you to communicate in 140 characters or less.  Dell, Starbucks, JetBlue, and Whole Foods are considered the most successful corporations that use Twitter.  Dell is even reporting that it has earned up to $3 million in sales through its use of Twitter.2 Can your business really provide value in a rapid-fire environment like that?

The answer to these questions comes back to knowing your market, your business, and your customer.  Before you even jump into social media, you better have that knowledge firmly researched and understood.  The best way to do that is… ask your customers!  Ask them if, when, where, and how they engage in social media.  Doing this diligent research will save you the time (which always equals money) that you will invest in your social media effort.

So get cracking and do the necessary research before you even begin your campaign.  You might even discover that social media is not right for your business.  Yet, I highly doubt that.  The reality is that you will most likely discover that there are only a few platforms that are right for your business.

I like the atmosphere, the food and the beer.  The location is perfect, very easy to get to. – Arun Das

Communicate Correctly At Your Location

This sounds like that should be something that is easy to do, but sadly many businesses do this incorrectly.  Each social media platform has its own rules for engagement and the community expects you to get it right.  Otherwise you will be ignored or worse… labeled as a spammer!

It is the same when you would research a physical location for your business.  Not only would you look at the traffic that will place clients at your doorstep, but also at the rules and laws you have to follow to advertise to that traffic.  The same applies to social media, although without the official laws and codes that can land you with fines.

Shouting! The best way to shut communication down!

One of the bet ways to understand the nature of the communication of the social platform you have chosen is to observe.  Watch how your clients communicate with your competition, other customers and in other markets outside yours.  Passively observe your competition and how they communicate with your market.  By listening – which can only be active when applied to social media – you will learn what works, what offends, and what is… boring.  This information will help you create content that engages and builds a conversation around it.

Remember that business is a transaction between people.  For that transaction to take place ideas, concepts, and values have to be communicated in a means that is easily understood by all parties involved.  That means you have to listen to be an effective communicator in the real world and in social media.

I like to listen.  I have learned a great deal from listening carefully.  Most people never listen. – Ernest Hemingway

Successful use of social media is being in the right location and being involved.  That means a give and take and letting the conversation flow like a river.  To allow that conversation to flow you have to give up control and trust those you have engaged with.  Most businesses have a hard time doing that.

Yet, if you are in the right location and you trust your customers, then there is nothing to worry about.  In the process you will learn the underlying needs, ingenious uses of your products/services that would remain hidden, and of new opportunities all by being open.

Do your homework.  Find the social media location where you and your business belong.  Listen, engage, and communicate in the correct way for your social media location.  Allow for the serendipity to begin!

What other ways are there for you to find the right social media location for your business?

2 Miller, C. C. “Dell Says It Earned $3 Million From Twitter” New York Times, 12 June 2009.

If your business is online with its very own website then you most likely have a persona online, although you probably did not think about your online persona when launched your website.  You just wanted to get your business on the web.  Your website talks about your business, possibly you, and has pictures.  If you were to describe your online persona that your website puts out… what is it?

I would wager that the word professional came to your lips.

What about fun, hip, cool, classy, kicking, awesome, expert, wow, or generous?

Can all of those descriptions go with a professional look and feel?

All right I will stop with the questions.  You do not need to have an answer for them now, but what you need to do is think about the answers for them, how you perceive yourself, how others perceive you, and how you want to be perceived.  Doing all this thinking will help you define your persona.

You need a persona to attract, engage, and establish relationships in social media.

After I saw Kiss on stage, I wanted my show to look like the fourth of July. The persona of Rick James was wild and crazy, sex, drugs and rock and roll. – Rick James

Authenticity

Are you being real?

If you have done some reading about social media online then you have read about “being real” and “being authentic” when it comes to engaging with others.  This is something that you cannot be careless about.  Once other members on the social network sites feel you are unauthentic you will lose the potential of reaching large audiences.  People are on social media sites to network and engage with other real people.

To be authentic you need to know thyself.  This means asking your current customers, your competition, and anyone with an opinion to give you the honest truth about how your business presents itself to the world.  You might not like what you hear but it will be incredibly helpful.

While you might think you are one funny person – heck I’m in stitches thinking about you right now – if everyone around you does not think so then there will be a huge disconnect.  This disconnect will result in confusion, complaints, and lost sales.  Spend the time to discover who you are.

Once you have discovered what your perceived persona by the outside world is, you need to decide if you are going to embrace it or change it.  Either way your work is not done.  You need to do a total review on how you communicate with the outside world.  Does what you say and what you show match?

All of your marketing material needs to match up with the voice you are using in whatever social media platform you are using.  You want your new fans/followers to dig deeper and learn more about your business.  You want them to become experts about your products/services and rave about you to their network.  That will not happen if there is a huge disconnect between your social media account and your website.  You will be seen as not being authentic.

Who does this best?  Take a look at Starbucks.  Their website, Facebook fan page, and their tweets all have a persona that matches with their brand image: hip cool and coffee.  What makes it even better is that Starbucks has individual baristas participate in the social media discussions.  Each of them adds their individual flare to the discussion but it does not break from the overall persona of Starbucks.  Instead it enhances it, making the Starbucks social media experience 100% authentic.

Because we’re actors we can pretend and fake it, but I’d rather the intimate investment was authentic. – Keanu Reeves

Combining Personas

What Is this Persona?

You may have decided that your personal persona – the fun and whacky you – is not business appropriate.  How sad.  Why hide yourself from the world?  Is it because you feel it is not professional enough?  Afraid you might offend someone?

I hate to burst your bubble, but even the strict “professional you” is offending someone.  So why hide the real you from your business?

The first rule that you must understand and repeat to yourself everyday: People buy from people.  Repeat the mantra because it is true.  People love to buy from other people and establish a relationship that is mutually beneficial.  In fact the whole economy is based on people buying from other people.  It is the exact same way in social media.  So I ask you again, why hide the real you?

If your business is considered by everyone who has an interaction with it as being professional, I am not saying that you should burn that persona and become super crazy.  No, because that is insane.  There is some part of you that is that professional persona.  Instead, you can combine your professional and fun side.  It will make you even more authentic.

Think I am crazy?  Look up Jeffery Gitomer.  He is an author and number one sales trainer.  He is both professional and fun.  People want to be around him and he attracts a lot of business.  He made the decision long ago to combine his professional and fun loving personas.  It has been a success!

Like Jeffery, you can do it too!

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. – Dale Carnegie

Social media is becoming more than just cats playing with laser pointers, bulldogs skateboarding, or the latest stupid human trick.  Social media is a medium that allows your business to engage in authentic deep conversations with your clients, potential clients, and your community.  It is a great tool that can result in successful business ventures if you are true to yourself first.

Take the time to understand how you want to interact with the outside world.  Determine how you want that world to interact with you.  Be fearless and allow serendipity to be your guide.  You will be amazed about what you learn, who you meet, and powerful business connections you will make.

In order to do that you must be authentic.