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!

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.

In a previous post I discussed five guidelines a business should follow when it comes to engaging in social media.  They are question, plan, location, test, and measure.  In the coming posts I will be discussing each of them in greater detail.  This post will focus on the questions you need to ask yourself and your business before you begin.

Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.

Tony Robbins

The Foundation Question

Why should anyone listen to you?

Is anybody listening?

That is a pretty humbling question.  It makes you have to justify your existence in social media.  It puts you on the spot and can make you feel narcissistic in answering.  Yet, in its answer you will find the foundation for your social media plan and how you will measure your success/failure.

When you started your business you asked yourself the same question.  Slightly different in its wording – Why would anyone buy your product/services? – but basically the same.  I am sure you answered that question with a burning passion to fulfill the unmet needs of your customers.  Only you could make them be better off.

You must have the same faith in yourself in engaging in social media.  You have a profound message and that those who listen to you will be better persons, will learn something new, will find answers to their questions, etc.

My client Rocky Mountain Roots knows that their services will lead their customers to lead healthier lives.  They know that their community has a few misunderstandings when it comes to alternative medicine.  So my clients engage their community to educate them.  They hold the passionate belief that they are the best people to educate their community.  That is their why.

What will yours be?

We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been expressed is unsympathetic to us.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Voice Question

Some confuse this with persona, which is how your network perceives you.   Your voice is how you will write, post, tweet, and otherwise engage with your audience.  You need to determine what your voice is going to be and make sure that it is consistent across all social media networks your are engaging in.

Typically most businesses engage in the third person as their voice.  This only gives credence that companies are cold faceless entities that care little for their customers’ needs/complaints.  It is best to have a first person voice.

Speaking in the first person has to match with the social media persona you are going to be using.  The first person creates an individual bond with each person you are engaging with.  They feel as if they are speaking with a real person as opposed to a faceless entity.

Understand that you will not please everyone.  That is okay, because pleasing everyone pleases no one.  So define your voice that best represents your business and make sure that it is personal.

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

Ernest Hemingway

The Listening Question

If you have been engaged individually in social media already you know that some people and/or businesses are only focused on themselves.  Just like in real life.  It is all me, me, me, and more me.

One of the tenets – one would say laws – of social media for businesses is to listen.  The question that needs to be answered is what kind of listening will you do?

Will you listen just to customers and potential clients?

Will you listen to your markets?

Will you listen to your competition?

Will you listen to learn?

Will you listen to bad/good news?

Will you listen to comments about you?

The answer should be a resounding “YES!” to all of them.

I hear what your saying but I am not listening

The great thing about the different social media platforms is that you can set up searches for items you want to know about, keep tabs on, and to educate yourself.  With many social media platforms providing real-time updates, you can passively monitor and listen.

The key to listening is being active in it.  This means that you cannot listen to everything or it becomes white noise.  When you develop your social media plan you will need to identify specifically what it is that you want to listen to.  Therefore you will be more actively engaged and focused on the information that matters to you and your customers the most!

HINT: Listening is always about them, never about you.

It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.

Karl Von Clausewitz

Once you have answered these and the other questions mentioned in the previous post, you will have a strong foundation to build a social media strategy and tactical plan.  You will be able to engage your audience and create loyal fans.  You will be in position to outmaneuver your competition and grow your business.  You will become a social media success!

Additional Reading For Your Success

Make Twitter Successful For Your Business

22 Traits of Successful Happy Bloggers

13 Truths About Social Media

5 Social Media Guidelines For Beginners

What questions would you ask your business, customers, or yourself before you jump into social media? Don’t be shy; share!

The alluring call of the Siren has finally gotten you to succumb.  You are going to market your business into the social media realm.  Here are five guidelines you need to follow to be successful in leveraging social media for your business.

Answer A Few Questions

We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong. – Bono

Before you begin blogging, posting, tweeting, and linking you need to answer a few questions first.  The answers you provide will help you establish a focused effort that will result in a better use of resources.  So take your time to really answer them before you jump feet first into social media.  Here are the questions:

• Why should/would anyone listen to you?
• What is your persona?
• What is your voice?
• Where will you engage?
• Who will you want to engage?
• Who will execute your social media plan?
• What do you want to accomplish?
• When do you want to begin?
• How will you measure success?
• How will you listen?

Ten questions that you should have strong answers to before you begin your social media campaign.  All of them are weighed equally in importance.

Is your team asking the right questions?

It is has been my experience that where companies fail is in answering the first, third, and tenth questions sufficiently.  The result has been that these businesses present an unfocused approach that repeatedly misses opportunities to build a strong brand.  So take your time in researching your answers.

Make A Plan

The path to success is to take massive, determined action. – Tony Robbins

You made a business plan for your business, you made a marketing plan to market your business, and you may even have your salespeople use sales plans to beat their quota.  You know that plans keep your company focused and on target.  So why would you not have a plan for your use of social media?

This plan should layout the overall strategy for your social media campaign.  It will be particularly strong if you have successfully answered the questions above.  Primarily knowing what you want to measure and how you define success in social media are key components to your plan.   It will keep you focused and away from wasting time.

Your social media plan should be incorporated with your marketing, sales, and customer service plans.  It should not be a stand-alone entity.  Doing this will allow you to keep a

The Secret Recipe

single voice and representation of your brand not matter where your customers may engage you.

Your social media plan – like other plans for your business – should be a living document that is updated and adjusted to take advantage of opportunities for your business.  It is best to break down your tactical components of your social media plan into 30-60-90 day increments.  It is easier to execute in more manageable bites.

Choose The Right Platform

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. – Abraham Lincoln

It is important that you research which social media platform is right for your business.  Do not get caught up in the initial hype surrounding some of the platforms out there.  Facebook may not be where your customers are if you are a manufacturing B2B that sells ball bearings.  Go where your customers and where influencers of your customers roam.  This means that you might not go on to Twitter or Facebook, but set up a blog or network intensely on LinkedIn.  Business is still location, location, and location.

Test With Patience And Adjust

Distance tests a horse’s strength. Time reveals a person’s character. – Chinese Proverb

You need to measure your actions.

If you are entering into social media for the first time or coming back to it after a failed attempt, remember that patience is a virtue.  Social media is not a quick sale or a fast customer service resolution.  Social media is about being social and building relationships.  In essence social media is about what you and I do everyday at the office, with our customers, and how we make friends.  All of the things we have learned in the real world apply in social media: it takes time to get to know someone.

The great thing about that time is it allows you to test ideas, messaging, and service models while receiving feedback (that can be brutally honest) about your products.  If you enter into this medium with honest intentions you will be rewarded with insights that you would have most likely been overlooked.

Measure Your Effort

People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results – Albert Einstein

When you have established what it is that you want to measure in your social media campaign – measure it.  It could be gaining new followers, subscribers, fans, or customers.  Whatever it may be, the measurement you have selected is the best indicator of your efforts and if they are in alignment with your plan.  This is the same as how your measure your sales versus a quota or the return on a capital investment your business has made.  Otherwise how do you know what you are doing is correct?

Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.  – Ghandi

Odysseus had his crew put wax in their ears so they would not row his ship upon the deadly rocks where the Sirens lived.  Only he heard their song.  Your business needs to have the same focus.

When you decide to enter into social media as a marketing tool it can be easy for everyone to want to be involved.  That will tear you business apart and waste valuable resources.  Your effort needs to be focused.

There is no need to rush when it comes to social media.  Learn, observe, research, plan, and then execute a campaign that focuses on building strong relationships.  You will be rewarded.

Business owners, entrepreneurs, individual contractors… lend me your ears.  I come not to bury traditional advertisement, not to honor it.  It was my friend, honorable to how much I paid it, and just to me by providing clients.

If Shakespeare were alive would he write thus about traditional advertisement when compared to social media?  Probably not but it allows me to have some creative fun.

All kidding aside you should lend me a few seconds to understand why you should have your business engaging in social media: it is where your customers are already and are going to if they are not there.  For any business, like yours, to find leads and convert those leads into sales it all comes down to location, location, and location.

Don’t fret, yet.  If your business is not engaging in this new medium you still have time.

Why Now?

There are an infinite amount of posts online that can answer that question probably better than me.  They can give you some insight into why your business should be embracing social media.  Here a few:

• Should You Business Use Social Media Marketing?
• Social Media For Business – Who Is Doing It Well
• 20 Reasons Why Your Small Business Should Use Social Media

I am going to ask you why not now?  Is it a fear of time-sink?  Are you afraid of adopting something that leaves the impression that it changes quickly on a whim?  What is it that holds you back?

Customers Need To Be Part Of The Equation

You need to answer those questions honestly to yourself.  I even propose that you write those answers down – step away from them – and then comeback and read them aloud.  You will find the language that you have chosen to answer the above questions will give you clues to the real reason why you have not adopted social media.  Most of all it is out of fear of changing what already is perceived to be working.

Yes, I said perceived.  When was the last time you calculated your margin of return on the advertising dollars you have spent?  Most likely the margin has shrunk over time.  So while it is working, it is not working as well as it used to.  With dollars and budgets tight in any economy, you need to maximize your margin of return as much as possible.

Right there you have a major “WHY”.

Still not convinced?

I can see why.  You probably run a B2B business that has a special niche and most of your clients are not in the twenties or below.

Well I’ve got some bad news for your perception – one of the fastest growing demographics (and happens to be the largest) in social media is 26 and older.[1]^{, [2], [3]} These demographic statistics includes decision makers, influencers, and buyers of your products/services.  Why would you want to ignore them?

More businesses are going on social media platforms to promote their expertise, their products/services, listen to their customers, and monitor their competition.  The social activity that these businesses create online feeds into increased links to their websites, increased exposure to key clients, and increased margins of return for their investment.  They are gaining access, information, and clients.

What To Do

Determine which platform best suites your business model.  Is it Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Foursquare, YouTube, Blogging, etc?  You need to investigate which ones you are going to invest your time for your marketing efforts.  Hint:  It most likely will be two or three but not all of them.

Once you have discovered which platform meets your needs, then you need to create a social media plan.  In this plan you want to establish:

• Policies and procedures on how your business will use social media.
• Measurement of specific metrics that have meaning for your business; typically this will be leads and sales.
• One voice that represents your business across the platforms you have chosen.  Consistency is key.
• Clear timeframes for engagement and disengagement.
• Long-term vision with patience.  It will take time to build up your network if you are not a household name.

As with any plan you will monitor and adjust as needed to ensure that you have a successful campaign.

Business Is A Social Enterprise

One thing to keep in mind is that authenticity rules in social media.  This means that you have to be social and engage.  It sounds odd if you are not used to this medium but it is important to making your use of social media a success.  Failure to do so will result in wasted time, energy, and money.  (Yes, while it does not cost you to sign up for accounts on these platforms, someone is manning them and you are paying that someone.)  Engagement is a roundabout with multiple lanes accessing it.  That means traffic will be circling, entering, and exiting from a number of directions.  This is atypical of traditional advertisement and can leave you with a feeling that everything is out of control.  Breathe deep.  It is okay.  You are being social!

Fortune is merry, 
and in this mood will give us anything. – Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Your business and you will find some incredibly wonderful new fans, clients, and opportunities.  All of which you most likely would have spent a lot of capital to obtain or miss completely by using traditional methods.  If you still have questions as to why you should be using social media for your business, contact me; I’d love to demonstrate the benefits to you!

What keeps your business from engaging in social media?  What information do you need to help you make up your mind?

About the author:

Erroin A. Martin is a Business Advocate with the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, a business coaching and consultancy provider for business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs. He has fifteen years experience working within the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, natural resources, medical devices, software, technology, business services, and agriculture industries in various levels of leadership across six continents. He has led diverse teams in sales, marketing, planning, and in the Army.  He currently coaches business leaders and physicians in the tools needed, like social media, to plan for their success. Learn more about the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC at www.vongehrconsulting.com or call +1 203 433 8079.  You can follow him on Twitter at @Erroin

The Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, was founded by Erroin A. Martin to provide business coaching, business consulting, and other services to companies both large and small.  The primary goal is to have his clients be passionate about their business and reach the unachievable.

[2] Dispelling The Youth Myth – Web Business

[3] 35 Crucial SEO, Twitter & Social Media Statistics For Business People – SEOptimise

There are tons of how-to’s out there when it comes to Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Foursquare, etc.  Most of them written by much more knowledgeable people than I can possibly be on such a quickly shifting medium.  I am in need of step-by-step instructions just like the next person when it comes to setting up the accounts and posting items online.  (I – dread to even consider the notion – am slowly turning into my parents when it comes to new technologies.)  With all these written instructions there is not much about how to connect with your customers.

Besides the draw of free advertising (read Shelly Kramer’s (of V3im) article on why Social Media Is NOT Free to kill that notion) that social media brings to businesses both large and small, it is the ability to connect with customers outside the point of sale that is leading to the embracement of the medium.  If you have been reading my posts (Mom you don’t count) then you know that having a plan for any business action is a must.  So it is the same when it comes to how you are going to connect with your customers online.  Here are three steps you can use to connect:

Adopt A Personality That Fits

It Is All In The Software Code

It is important that you understand I am not talking about being a “sock puppet” when it comes to creating an account.  What I am talking about is adopting a personality that fits with your company’s culture and its representation to its customers.  As an example look at Pfizer, Inc. (PFE), they have a reputation of being professional, well dressed, dark suited, and extremely polite.  If they have an online personality through twitter or Facebook, they would not be giving “shout outs” and posting “Hey Dude!”  That would not be consistent with the public’s perception of them as a company.  They are expected to be consistent.  Whereas on the converse side of things, seeing tweets or status updates from Starbucks I would expect to find information about coffee and their locations in a barista’s tone of voice. Which would be completely different from the straight laced Pfizer.

The same will be for your business.  Make sure you have a personality that fits with how you work with your customers at the point of sale.  The customer no matter where their interaction with your business may occur expects consistency.

Be Genuine – Be Real

There are a few stereotypes when it comes to social media.  The first, everyone is spouting nonsense about his or her cats. (Guilty! Except it is my dog @KooikerExpress.)  The second, people only use it to shout out their products and it ends up just being noise/spam.  There is truth to both of these items. Let’s break it down into why your business will be different and how to get past the clutter.

The first stereotype about people blabbering on about their pets or whatever… get over yourself.  Everyone likes to talk about himself or herself.  Even you.  Heck! I love to

A Genuine Interaction

talk about me.  The reason you and your business are entering into this foray is that you want to talk about what you are doing, your product and services, and how you help clients/customers.  You are talking about yourself. The difference is: knowing when you are being boorish.  Which you do!  That means that you are willing to listen to your customers, potential clients, and whoever enters your online presence talk about themselves.  There is a reason we come with two eyes and two ears and one mouth.  If you take the time to listen you will learn so much more about your customer, their habits, and their needs and how you can meet them.

That leads into how you can avoid the second stereotype of being seen as shouting on a soapbox in Hyde Park, aka spam.  By listening and engaging with your audience you will be seen as providing value and build a bond of trust.  You will be able to break through the noise.  This means that you need avoid the temptation of scheduling tweets and only talking about your business.  This means that you have to be real and genuine in your communication.

That can be uncomfortable for some businesses.  Being genuine and real allows for you to acknowledge the bad that comes across your stream.  It means knowing that not everyone is going to care about what you offer.  It means that you must convey a real person behind each tweet and/or status update.  It means you are going to have fun!  (Which translates into a bit of a headache for the legal department but heck that is what they make the big bucks for right?)

If there is one lesson that can be learned here is from Jeffery Gitomer that, “People buy from people.” Social media is a medium of connecting people.  Authenticity will rule the day.

Be Willing To Invest In The Marathon

A Twitter Toast

Engaging in social media is not a fly-by-night process.  Nor is it a shooting star moment of the internet.  Facebook is the fastest growing platform for generations Y & Z, Twitter has maintained its growth, and Google is trying to muscle into the action with Google Buzz.  The technology sector of the global economy is investing in social media.  It is going to be here for quite some time.

It will take time to build relationships and trust in the various online social networks.  Which means that you and your business must have patience.  That does not mean you do not measure results and it does not mean that you are passive in engagement with your audience.  It does translate into being a pursuant of quality in the participation.

When it comes to your business this is a marathon, not a sprint.  Which means you have to plan for the investment of time to see a return.  Otherwise you will fall into one of the two stereotypes mentioned above.

What are your thoughts?  What did I miss?

About the author:

Erroin A. Martin is a Business Advocate with the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, a business coaching and consultancy provider for business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs. He has fifteen years experience working within the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, natural resources, medical devices, software, technology, business services, and agriculture industries in various levels of leadership across six continents. He has led diverse teams in sales, marketing, planning, and in the Army.  He currently coaches business leaders and physicians in the tools needed to plan for their success. Learn more about the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC at www.vongehrconsulting.com or call +1 203 433 8079.  You can follow him on Twitter at @Erroin

The Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, was founded by Erroin A. Martin to provide business coaching, business consulting, and other services to companies both large and small.  The primary goal is to have his clients be passionate about their business and reach the unachievable.

If you have been sitting on the fence or simply putting your toes in the water when it comes to social media, I am here to tell you that it is time to jump in.  The water is warm – heck it is actually hot! You should dive right in!  You need to for your business to survive.  Why?  That is where your customers and influencers of customers are.

Now… that being said… you need to understand the realities behind social media and control your expectations.  Here are 9 realities you must know before you begin your dive into social media:

9.  You Can’t Build Without Reading The Instructions

Directions Help

Unless you are my engineering friend who tends to through those pesky instructions out and always ends up with pieces left over, the rest of us have to read them.  The same goes for social media.  Learning where to be and how to interact is important or you run the risk of being frustrated.

Amber Naslund, who writes the Altitude Branding Blog, has done a lot of the hard work and rounded up a Best Of Social Media Learning post.  I recommend this as a must read before you even begin.  You will have better results and a better return on your investment of time.

8.  You must have a plan

Using social media for marketing your business and building a strong relationship with your customers requires that you have a plan.  Your largest investment in setting up the accounts and participating is your time.  As the old adage goes, “Time equals money.”  Just like if you were to buy advertising in a newspaper or on television, you are going to have a plan when it comes to engaging with people on social media.   This article written by Lon S. Cohen on Mashable.com, discusses seven items any enterprise should consider, makes it clear that you should have a plan.

This article by Cindy King, gives you seven ways to plan your social media so you can avoid the time wasting trap.

7.  You Need To Be Where Your Customers Are

Well it seems that you cannot escape a truism when it comes to business: Location, Location, and Location.  Just like it matters where you put your store, it matters where you choose to allocate your resources when it comes to social media.  If you are in the waste disposal industry should you be on Twitter? Well, it depends on the message

Should You Be Here?

that you are communicating, but most likely not.

This article by Redhead Writing asks the question “Should You Be On Twitter?” She has got some important questions that you must answer before you even get started.

6.  You Need A Blog

First, a blog that is tied directly into your main website is a great way to feed the search engines and helps your SEO.  (Any SEO marketing company will tell you this.)  Second, a blog helps build your authority in your particular marketplace and the products/services you sell.  You know them better than anyone so why not write about them?

If you are a small business, there is a ton of data that demonstrates how blogs help your business.  Such as:

Small businesses have a larger reach on twitter through blogs

Active business blogs increase organic search (free) by 7 times over non-blogging businesses

Businesses that blog experience a 126% increase in leads

The above articles are from HubSpot.  Before you begin blogging, you should ask yourself if you are ready to blog.  When you determine that you are, make a plan and write.  Do not worry about topics as once you start writing you will find that there are a ton of topics you write about when it comes to your business.  This article by Denise Wakeman gives you thirteen ideas for getting topics and sparking your creativity.  She also has a post that shows you how easy it is to set up a blog in ten easy steps.

5.  You Need To Measure Your Activity

Activity Is Up, But What About Profits?

Like any marketing plan you want to measure the results of your activity.  There are number of tools you can use and most of them are free.  You need to make sure you are measuring the right metrics.  Are they conversions?  Are they site hits?  Are they comments to your blog?  The list can be endless and you can end up measuring the wrong ones.  The good news is that this article by Tom Webster Social Media Monitoring 201, helps you sort out the right metrics.

4.  You Need To Incorporate Video

Most of social media is written.  Tweets, blogs, and posts to Facebook are typically written.  Yet one of the most powerful mediums that can engage a very wide audience is video.  It does not require much capital and can help your product, business, and/or brand explode into an untold number of potential clients.

Coke and Lego have embraced the power of video as they continue to engage with their customers.  This article by Peter Wylie, gives you five ways to make a video a social experience.

3.  You Will Have Costs

Social media is currently seen as a free means to advertise.  It is not free at all.  You are going to invest time.  Whether it is your time or an employee’s time, you are going to invest it.  That time equals money.  While you are not paying to place information online, you are paying.  Once you understand this, then you will be in a better position to engage with your customers.  This article by Shelly Kramer, demonstrates how a company, like Starbucks, understood this principle and increased sales.

2.  You Need To Participate

Advertising is about perfection.  Delivering the perfectly crafted message to the perfect audience at the perfect time.  The medium interrupts, speaks out, and provokes a response by the audience.  Yet, it does not engage the audience.  This article by Molly Cantrell-Kraig discusses how social media is not advertising, but instead a forum to participate in a discussion between the brand and its customers.  By participation this means that there needs to be a person behind the tweets, posts, and blogs.   This means that your company has to be open to both the accolades and the complaints.  This means that you are not going to have total control but you will learn and build up a huge balance in your relationship account.

1.  You Will Not Immediately Make Millions

Participating and engaging in social media is not a get rich quick scheme.  It is a means to build respect, authority, and a strong relationship with your customers.  Social media allows you to showcase your talents.  Social media allows you to find customers that really want to buy your services.  Social media in the end is a community that you are part of and if you are a value to… you will make an impressive return on your investment.  Like anything else it is going to take time.  Just to measure your expectations against reality you should read how Amber Naslund made $100k with Twitter.  Then you should read the 25 realities behind social media by Tom Nixon.

Are you ready to jump in?  The water is hot enough!  Your business will thank you and your customers will become loyal fans that will rave about you.  Weigh your expectations against reality and engage your customers in the social media realm!

I am sure there are other realities about social media.  What have I missed?  How would you explain the realities of social media?  What other resources are out there?

About the author:

Erroin A. Martin is a Business Advocate with the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, a business coaching and consultancy provider for business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs. He has fifteen years experience working within the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, natural resources, medical devices, software, technology, business services, and agriculture industries in various levels of leadership across six continents. He has led diverse teams in sales, marketing, planning, and in the Army.  He currently coaches business leaders and physicians in the tools needed to plan for their success. Learn more about the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC at www.vongehrconsulting.com or call +1 203 433 8079.  You can follow him on Twitter at @Erroin

The Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, was founded by Erroin A. Martin to provide business coaching, business consulting, and other services to companies both large and small.  The primary goal is to have his clients be passionate about their business and reach the unachievable.

A business to survive has to have results. Typically these results are measured by the ultimate measurement: cash. The difficulty for any business in understanding this measurement is if it is a direct relation to activity or something other. Most businesses will have the belief that cash is generated solely by activity. Therefore many sales plans, business plans, and marketing plans are created around activity and not around value.

“People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.” – Albert Einstein

Activity Is Up, But What About Profits?

At first glance any businessperson worth their salt would deride the above paragraph as being nonsense. To generate cash you have to have activity. That activity can be in the form of a sale, signature on a contract, or traffic to a particular website. The businessperson who thinks this is correct. The closing of the sale, the signing of a contract, and the decision to visit a website are all activities. The problem for the businessperson is really distinguishing if these activities are of value to the customer. Typically this is not the case when it comes to many businesses.

Let’s take, for example, the founder of Mint.com. This individual competes against Microsoft Money and Intuit’s Quicken. Both of those software platforms are major movers in the marketplace of personal finance. So what makes a web-based application like Mint.com different? Well for one, mint.com is focused around giving you “the user” quick information about your financial status. It is also designed to give you the information you need to make sound decisions for your financial future.  It is as a program providing value.  The competition to Mint.com are more focused around how long you spend on particular windows or other GUIs in their programs. The competitors to Mint.com are focused on activity and not real value to you to the consumer.

The good news is at least it’s activity driven.  The bad news is there is no value to anyone.

Still not convinced there is a difference? Well, let’s take a look at social media. In another blog post by Amber Naslund, she uses a quote from Albert Einstein. This quote states, “People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.” The same is true when a business embraces social media. The belief of the business is that social media is activity driven platform. They tweet and get followers.  They build a fan page and get fans.  The more active you are the greater results your are going to get. This is a fallacy. Why? Well what is one of the chief complaints when it comes to social media? That people are blabbing on about their nonsensical lives. That right there is activity with no value to the consumer of the information. So if you are a business and you are going to spout out nonsensical information about your business, you are just as guilty as those individuals who comment about what their cats are doing. The good news is at least it’s activity driven.  The bad news is there is no value to anyone.

So how can you as a businessperson make sure that you do not get caught and in the activity trap?

First, make sure that any metrics being measured against the plan are value driven. This is easier said than done. Any plan, whether it is for business, sales, or marketing has to have metrics to measure its progress. Yet, a value driven metric is one that returns an exponential response from the customer. For example, take a look at Domino’s pizza in Chicago. They have a social media plan to communicate deals, promotions, and answer complaints. The metrics behind this plan is to foster a strong relationship between the franchises and their customers. The value behind the activity is a strong communication from Domino’s and a demonstration that they listen to their customers. The results are continued purchases and a strengthened relationship.

Second, avoid the temptation to award only activity. Many plans measure the activity of teams and/or individuals. For sales, it can be the number of calls a salesperson makes on customers. For marketing, it can be the number of impressions and/or responses to “calls to action” from campaigns. Both of these are important, but they are not the end goal of any business. The end goal is profits.  The reward should be given to the salesperson that generates the largest margin of profit for an organization. It should be an award to the marketing team that drives business with the least amount of cost. These are viable propositions for any business. A salesperson who can generate millions of dollars of business with one or two sales calls is more valuable than a salesperson who generates 100,000 dollars worth of business from 100 sales calls. If you measure activity then the second salesperson would be awarded over the more valuable salesperson.  Award the value not the activity.

It is difficult to balance activity and value.  The temptation of many companies is to double down on their activity.  They feel it will generate a ton of results.  The reality is that it generates more activity with more costs.  When companies get caught in this trap value becomes an afterthought.  The result is a lower profit margin and a loss of highly valued customers.

How Do Make Sure You Avoid The Activity Trap?

About the author:

Erroin A. Martin is a Business Advocate with the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, a business coaching and consultancy provider for business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs. He has fifteen years experience working within the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, natural resources, medical devices, software, technology, business services, and agriculture industries in various levels of leadership across six continents. He has led diverse teams in sales, marketing, planning, and in the Army.  He currently coaches business leaders and physicians in the tools needed to plan for their success. Learn more about the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC at www.vongehrconsulting.com or call +1 203 433 8079.  You can follow him on Twitter at @Erroin

The Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, was founded by Erroin A. Martin to provide business coaching, business consulting, and other services to companies both large and small.  The primary goal is to have his clients be passionate about their business and reach the unachievable.

Many businesses and entrepreneurs are great at making plans.  While it is one of the toughest things to do initially, it is easy to create plans once you get the hang of them.  Where things go wrong is the failure in execution of those plans.  The problem is trying to execute too many things at the same time spreading resources out with no depth.  Success comes from practicing and executing on your strengths, which are only a few items, with intense depth.  Therefore you are executing a mile deep and an inch wide.

Watch Execution Is A Mile Deep Process in Educational & How-To |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

What Have been your experiences?