Think Social Media Is a Panacea for Small Business? Get real!

751 LinkedIn connections.
1,443 Twitter followers.
410 Facebook friends.

Those are my stats as of this morning.  Trust me, I know there are countless people whose numbers make mine sound limp.  And trust me again, I know the numbers don’t mean much for anybody if the connections aren’t real.

Collecting followers, fans and friends is an ultimately fruitless hobby unless something substantive happens after the point of “accept” or “approve”—or unless something substantive had already happened before the request was made.  Even as my numbers organically grow in my social networks, the most valuable online relationships are the extensions of real-life, three-dimensional, old-fashioned human contact.

As social media has taken hold in the business world, there’ve been those voices touting its use as a panacea for small business sales and marketing.  Of course, those voices typically follow their definitive proclamations with “act now” offers for webcasts, seminars or the like.  Fact is, social media is an amazing tool, but it’s not fairy dust.  Just like everything else, it takes strategy, hard work, skill and savvy to be effective.  There’s no secret formula for this stuff.  No matter how much we log on and rack up online connections, if we’re not making one-to-one connections with other people in substantive ways, it’s all for naught.

No matter all the social media, it still matters how quickly—and kindly and effectively—you respond to customer requests and concerns.  It still matters that you are in direct touch with what’s going on with your clients, hearing straight from them and nurturing the relationships established long before anybody had a LinkedIn or Twitter account.

Here’s an example…  I’m a Comcast customer for wireless Internet service, and as a work-from-home professional, I rely on that connection for just about everything I do. When a felled tree took down our line and thusly our service, I scheduled the repair with Comcast, and waited patiently during the lovely three hour block of time in which they’d promised to arrive.  As the minutes ticked down, I grew wearier and tweeted my frustration.

In no time, I had direct messages from a couple of Comcast’s Twitter watchers, stating they could help, etc.  Yet still I waited for the service technician to come reestablish the line.  When the fellow finally arrived—well out of the prescribed time window—he explained in very human terms that “there’s only one of him” and that one of him had a very full day.  In spite of the immediate response of the Twitter brigade, it was only the feet on the street that mattered.

And frankly, I much more appreciated the realness of the on site technician, than the false hope of a couple Tweets from unseen people I’ll never meet. That technician has since been out to the house to remedy another issue, and we have had positive interaction that represents Comcast well.

My point? (and I do have one…)

Yes, social media is real.  Undeniably real.  It has an ever-evolving, ever-growing role in the business world, and business people are well-advised to embrace it and determine the best ways to incorporate it into their overall strategies.  However, it’s essential to maintain interpersonal contact—great service and solutions, face-to-face meetings, phone calls, personal correspondence—to forge the kind of relationships that will sustain for the long term, through the ups and downs, over time.

I just checked my email; I’ve got three new LinkedIn connection requests:  #752, #753, #754.  But that won’t mean much if I never relate one on one.

Thanks!

Dig In! Treat Social Media Like a Full Meal

A social media plan is not an à la carte menu, so if you’re using social media to help take your small biz big time, come hungry.  This stuff isn’t for snacking.  Maybe you can get away with some à la carte, pick-and-choose in a marketing plan (operative word:  “maybe”), but you simply must order the full course meal to get a social media plan’s impact.

For example, a solitary blog is like an island—hard to get to without a boat or a bridge.  A Twitter account unto itself will serve little purpose for many business people.  A Facebook fan page without the nurturing of fresh content or interconnectivity will wither and fade all too quickly.

Social media requires commitment to a process.  One link leads to another, like tributaries flowing into a river that’s flowing toward the sea.  Ignore one aspect, and the flow is affected.  Ignore many aspects, and the flow will ultimately cease completely.

Have you been ordering à la carte when it comes to your social media?  Have you tried to sample things without investing time and effort to plan your work and work your plan?   That’s like connecting only select dots on the page and expecting to get a full picture.  There really aren’t any skippable steps here.  As I’ve recently blogged, social media is not a marketing microwave; steadiness and patience are required, but the potential rewards are great enough to merit the ongoing effort.

Of course, you can’t do everything “social” that’s out there.  But you can round out a plan that employs essential elements, to ensure connectivity and eliminate any missing links that might hinder your social media success.  Connect the main dots to reveal the big picture.  Then you’ll be able to fill in the details much more easily over time.

Here are the big picture, full-course basics you’ve must include from the get go.

- Fresh Content
If you’re going to be social, you need to contribute to the conversation.  Don’t build podiums without having something worthwhile to speak about.  Think about what you have to share, how you can add to what’s already being said and create content accordingly.  Your content may come in the form of a blog, a constantly freshened website, substantive tweets, pertinent comments on others’ sites/postings/discussions or all of the above.

- Followers, Fans, Friends
Without making connections, you’ll just be talking to yourself.  You must incorporate relationship-building into your social media plan.  You could rally your existing contacts through direct messages, initiate followings on Twitter, join groups on LinkedIn or Ning to be part of targeted communities or invite ‘fans’ via a Facebook fan page.  Also, you’ve got to be a ‘friend’ to have a ‘friend’; start reaching out to others, and they will reach back.

- Platforms for Posting
Once you create content and make friends, you need outlets and methods for staying connected, platforms for sharing what you’ve created.  This is where your Twitter account, your presence on LinkedIn, that Facebook fan page (or personal profile, for that matter), a FriendFeed, etc. comes in handy.

- Mechanisms for Participating and Sharing
Not only do you need to share, you need to make it easy for your network to share alike!  Add “share” or “add this” buttons to your blog, your website.  Ask for retweets on Twitter.  Thank anyone you find who does forward your content on.  This is the essence of social media:  one link really does lead to another.

Does this give you something to chew on?  If you need specific ideas on how to get started, ask me!  I’ll gladly dig into specifics to help you go big time!

Thanks!

New Stats on Small Biz & Social Media – Are We Telling or Selling?

What’s the real scoop on the usage and effectiveness of social media for small business?  Between information from a couple of recent research reports and real life scenarios, it seems small biz is using social media primarily for telling—not selling.

A new white paper based on a survey of 151 small businesses using social media (sponsored by Sage and conducted by AMI-Partners) states that 64% of respondents spend most of their time in social media sites answering customer questions.  57% ranked networking activities as their most prevalent, while 44% indicated “reference/education” as their most dominant activity.

Only a few businesses indicated they were using social media sites for direct sales.

These stats hold true for Lars Hundley, gardenpreneur of Clean Air Gardening, an online retailer of eco-friendly lawn and garden supplies.  (Hundley, pictured jumping like nobody’s watching above, was not part of the AMI survey.)  Because his is a web-based company, Hundley has long incorporated digital social media tools into his marketing and promotions and utilizes them daily.

“We’re not generating any measurable sales from Facebook or Twitter,” explains Hundley.

Instead, Hundley and his team have found social media to be most useful for customer engagement and product education.  The company’s Youtube channel is a simple medium for providing tips and how-to videos, and its various topic-specific microsites are hubs for customer Q & A.  The latter has proven to be an “awesome technique” for facilitating interaction.

While social media is second nature for a web-savvy business owner like Hundley, many other small biz people have been slower to dip toes into the water.  The April Discover Financial Services Small Business Index (a national, random survey of 750 small biz owners) revealed that 38% of respondents now report being part of at least one online social site, up from 22% in October 2007.  However, less than half of the 38% have used social sites for business purposes.

Likewise, it’s taken longer for them to feel comfortable using the tools.  The AMI study found that 65%  of respondents had grown more at ease with social media in the last year and that those who’d been engaged longer (over 3 years) were more open to social media use for the future. Obviously, usage over time fosters familiarity and increased skill.

(Of course, social media tools are moot points for businesses that don’t even have websites.  In the April Discover Financial Services index, 62% of respondents stated they don’t have websites for their companies.  Really?!)

On the flip side, there are some fun, inspiring stories floating around the blogosphere about businesses owners who’ve proven to be real social media mavens, integrating techniques into their companies’ inner workings or successfully instituting promotions that bring in the bling.  In particular, there’s the much-buzzed story about the Naked Pizza Twitter promo.  This New Orleans pizza purveyor did some sniper shot microblogs just to see what would happen, resulting in 15% of a day’s receipts coming straight from tweets.  Not too shabby…

Overachievers aside, it’s clear that social media use for small biz is on the rise across the board.  As for the effectiveness of that use?  Only time will tell…or sell.

Thanks!

Attention Small Biz – What’s Your Social Media “Win”?

Games don’t go from being favorite pastimes to big business by having ambiguous rules and indeterminate winners.  Nobody’d show up for the World Series if there wasn’t a vested interest in a specific outcome:  one of the teams playing is gonna win.

And so it is with social media.  I mean, let’s be honest.  Most of us aren’t motivated to be here—online, using these tools—simply for the challenge of articulating thoughts in 140 characters or less.

So why do you do this social media thing each day?  Why do you devote any portion of your day to tweet, blog, post, update, add, forward, link, bookmark, connect or click?  What’s the “win” for you?

Surely, or hopefully, you and I are here for specific reasons, for clearly defined gains.  Why suit up for the game if you’re never going to look at the scoreboard?  I contend that if we haven’t named our “win” in all this, we may as well spare the effort and go get a new pastime.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about having “one question” to help guide business decisions.  The whole idea is to identify the one thing you’re aiming for, and let everything else fall in line with that singular focus.  I learned this approach years ago from a client, and now I find myself using it with new accounts, especially as we’re incorporating social media into overall marketing plans.  Without focus and defined purpose, social media can easily be nothing more than a time zap (just like any other tactic in a marketing program).

Can you state how social media tools are helping you answer the “one question” for your business?

For any plan or proposal I create for a client, I begin by stating goals and objectives.  That way, it’s always clear that the details to follow flow from the goals, and we can be assured that everything we do—including social media—is done in context to achieve the stated objectives.

When it comes to social media, we need to be in it to win it.  I don’t mean that in a ‘high-fiving,’ competition-crushing kind of way.  I just mean you’ve got to know why in the world it’s worth it.  Of course the “win” for your business may be something very different from the “win” for mine.  The main point is that we’ve all got to know when the scoreboard is reading in our favor, lest social media become just another pastime.

Thanks!

Five Elements of Social Media – Free White Paper

When it comes to social media, do you ever feel like you’re blowing a kazoo in the middle of a marching band brass section?  Or do you feel like your occasional trumpet calls get quick salutes but no lasting results?

As with any marketing effort, social media takes strategic, sustained creativity to get attention, draw attraction, spark affinity and build an audience that will ultimately take action.  We call it “earning all A’s,” and it’s what it takes to make the grade.

I know firsthand that the “A’s” can be moving targets.  What might work during one season (or, heck, one day!) may become passé the next.  Just when you think you’ve got ‘em in your court, somebody else, with just as inviting a court, may come along.  If it’s not one thing, it will be another, and as the ever-evolving world of social media ebbs, flows and grows, those of us charged with the task of leading communications are in constant target practice.

However, it helps to keep our eyes on the A’s—to stay focused so that we go in order and  stay within the borders to effectively connect.

If you need to begin at, well, the beginning, I’m happy to give you five: “Five Elements of Social Media,” the white paper I helped pen for Social Media Connection.

Download here:  Five Elements

This handy guide helps you conquer feelings of information overload by whittling down the process into bite-size pieces.  And you can refer to it anytime you feel like you’re drifting from all A’s down to the B-team.

So put down the kazoo, and get your A’s in order.  It’s time to take small biz big time!

THANKS!!

Attention Small Biz – Get Ready for New Technology & Social Media Tools

I come as a messenger, and I come in peace.

Please remember this as I now announce to you that there is yet more stuff you’re going to have to learn about, adopt and maybe even embrace in the world of technology and social media.  There’re new search engines, communications platforms, gadgets and an endless array of applications on the horizon, some of which you won’t be able to ignore.

I know, I know…

You already attempted Twitter, and the endeavor involved three simple steps:  open account, get confused, abandon quietly.  Maybe you can ditto that cycle for the blog you were briefly committed to for your business.  You can’t even remember the password for your LinkedIn profile, and you’ve decreed Facebook a mind zap for adolescents.  Heck, you may even secretly harbor the opinion that texting is a misuse of opposable thumbs.

Nonetheless, as the messenger it’s my job to provide fair warning that there is more to come.  It’s a Web 2.0 world we live in (yes, there was a Web 1.0, and 3.0 is on its way; at least the chronology is easy to follow), and technology is evolving at he speed of, well, technology.  You’d be well served to invest some brain power on the current iterations; it’ll make for a good prep course for the next round.

So you know how to brace, here’s a quick list of some up-and-comers.  Trust me, there’s more where these came from, but let’s ease into this…

Google Wave:  real-time communication platform from Google; synthesizes and aggregates a bevy of work functions, social media feeds and core communications functions; created to be a one-stop command center; will have its own lexicon of terms and icons; in previews now–coming later this year

Mobile readiness:  setting your sights on standard sites is no longer enough; you’ve got to join the move to mobile technology; plan now for communications and functions that are mobile-device friendly, including site redesign and payment capabilities

Hulu desktop:  the new Hulu desktop-ready interface is not so much about the joys of TV watching combined with computer usage; this newbie spotlights the reality that TV and Internet are melding even more; we’re watching and getting entertained in new, more definable ways—a fact biz people and communicators cannot ignore

Group mentality:  email becomes less necessary as the Twitter model infiltrates the workplace in customized platforms such as Yammer.com or socialcast.com; this allows for real-time interconnectivity within defined environments; we’re breeding new generations of employees attuned to communicate and percolate via microblogs

Even if you averted your eyes or skimmed over those items, your avoidance won’t lead to the list’s disappearance.  This stuff isn’t going anywhere, and if you don’t keep up, you may not be going anywhere either.

But hey, I’m just the messenger.
Thanks!

Car Magnet or Facebook Fan Page? Old School Meets New Technology for a Rural-Based New Biz

I recently took a road less traveled to meet up with two fellows who’ve launched a new business.  I interviewed them for the next webisode of “Small Biz Big Time.”  Scott and Joe want—and need—their business, Eco-Clean, to succeed, and since they’re both go-getting and hard working entrepreneurs, they’re already making strides and booking biz just a couple months in.

Eco-Clean is an environmentally-friendly cleaning service (commercial and residential, primarily for hard surfaces), and Scott and Joe’s initial geographic market is a blend of small city and rural areas.  It’s so rural, in fact, Scott can’t get high speed Internet connection at his own home; he uses a connection through his cell phone to get online at the house.  Not to mention, many of the potential Eco-Clean customers may not tend to be Internet users, even if they’ve got reliable service.

All that said, how can this new business benefit from new technology and social media?  What role does online marketing and virtual relationship-building play for a business located in a rural area, targeting a customer base with hit-or-miss connectivity and usage?

This is a very interesting case study for someone like me.  I live with fingers affixed to computer keyboard.  For eight+ years, I’ve worked from home, successfully serving clients across the country thanks to seamless technology.  With the onset of social media, I’m now absorbed in discussions about web-based communities, and my daily life is a swirl of tweeting, status updating and online marketing.

My interview with Scott and Joe was a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Life still happens at a local level.  Scott and Joe are using online and social media tools—most certainly.  Yet they’re also making cold calls, shaking hands and meeting face-to-face with prospects.  Right now, both methods are proving effective; to grow a business like Eco-Clean, online and in-person marketing tactics are essential.

While I was on site for the interview, Joe got a call from a man he’d done an estimate for just that morning.  It was good news.  Eco-Clean won the bid and got the job, and Scott and Joe were ecstatic.  I asked how they’d generated this lead, and Joe immediately got a just-ate-the-canary grin.  A friend of the man who booked the job had seen Joe’s wife’s Eco-Clean car magnet!   The custom car magnet had just paid for itself 25-times over, and Joe’s in-person estimate—at which he cleaned a corner of the man’s dirty marble floor to entice him with the possibilities of a full cleaning—had sealed the deal.

While the old school tactics merited high fives that day, Scott and Joe did go on to report that their Facebook business page had caught the attention of a local facility manager who was interested in some ongoing services.  Obviously, that one lead, earned from a page that cost nothing and took just a little time to create, could also pay dividends down the line.  But the pay-off will only come once Scott and Joe make the in-person connection and sell the value of their services face-to-face.

The more things change, the more they stay the same…

Look for the full story on the upcoming webisode of “Small Biz Big Time!”!  I’ll be editing the story over the long weekend coming up, and I look forward to sharing it with you.

Until then, happy weekend, and as always, thanks!

Look Ahead or Get Left Behind

Know anybody who’s ever attempted a newsletter yet never had any news?  What about blogs; ever seen a stale blog on a company’s site?  And I don’t even have to ask about news pages on web sites, as I’m sure you happen upon the occasional page-as-time-capsule in your surfing.  These businesses had the best intentions of keeping content fresh; instead they posted a perpetual press release circa 2005 or hiccuped out 3 issues of what could’ve been a lovely newsletter.

Some day in my vast amounts of spare time (insert rimshot and laugh track), I’d love to try to tally the number of newsletters I’ve helped name and launch…which will closely parallel the number I’ve seen fizzle.  Ditto that for website news pages.  I could start a communications museum with all the well-intentioned projects I’ve seen preserved in amber—locked, motionless, ancient history.

Seems many companies love the idea of communicating but lack the stamina to follow through.  Sound familiar?

I eventually became the voice of reason anytime a client decrees it was “time to launch a newsletter” or “add a news page to the website.”  The term “monthly” or (God forbid) “weekly” often comes with the decree.  Now similar decrees are coming for blogs and other social media tools.  Since I know I’ll typically be responsible for producing said newsletter, web page or blog, I talk the client through the ins and outs of what it takes to sustain these efforts.

Even if the client laments that everybody else has a newsletter, news page or blog and they didn’t want to get “left behind,”  I remind them that they still needed to look ahead.

While I stand to make money anytime a client wants to produce ‘stuff,’ I prefer to guide clients to substantive, long term success.  That’s how we all win.  You don’t get long term success by being reactionary or by placating the desire for a momentary sense of accomplishment.  You don’t sprint a marathon on the heels of competitors, lest you tire out and trip up.  Not to mention, it’s really boring to have nothing to write about.

I rarely advise clients to not get in the game.  I always advise that they get in the game at a manageable pace.

Maybe the monthly newsletter should start quarterly or be a twice-annual mini-magazine.  Perhaps we hold off on the site news section and just create a temporary spot on the home page when there’s a release to post.  Let’s begin a blog slowly without fanfare or promotion, to allow time to establish a rhythm and system for success.

Companies worried about being left behind are typically too busy looking at the backsides of the competition.  It’s more effective to find a good pace and fix the gaze up—and ahead.  The leader has the best view.

Thanks!

Where Is Everybirdy? It’s Time to Fill Your Feeder

I just got a hummingbird feeder.  It’s my first one, and I’m not up to speed on hummingbird feeder protocol.  When should I put it up?  What’s the scoop on filling and cleaning?  Where should I place it?

I emailed a fellow bird nerd this morning to inquire about timing, and he replied that the hummers are already hanging around.  He and his wife have had their feeders out for a little while now.

Gasp.  Here I am, excited about my new form of “cheep” entertainment, and I’m already tardy.  What if the hummingbirds in my zip code have already staked claim on other feeders?  Will they every come my way?  Is there anything I can do to earn their attention once I do get this feeder filled and situated?  And I better keep extra feed on hand, in case they do come.  I wouldn’t want them to trust my feeder as a food source only to find it empty one day.  Time is nigh, or my birds will fly!

So it is with our online marketing efforts.

Your customers are already out there, looking for your product or service.  If your feeder isn’t out—and filled to the brim, they will fly on to a feeder that does have something to offer.  Even if you were planning to serve the sweetest nectar on the planet, your customers need solutions now.  They’ll settle for lesser than wait for nothing.

A website without social media connectivity is like an empty feeder.  Maybe your customers can dine on the content they find on an initial visit to your site.  But that won’t sustain them long term; they won’t keep them coming back in the future if there’s nothing new to savor.

Do you need to make time to tend to your feeder?  Should you ante up and hire some help to get things done?  You could be in the midst of building a reputation right now, instead of fretting over how or when to dive in.

For me, it would’ve been wise to buy the nectar when I purchased the feeder, then I would’ve been ready to host the hummingbirds.  If you’re looking to launch a site or refresh an existing one, you should build in ways to continuously feed that site.  Add a blog.  Include direct connects to your Twitter or Facebook accounts.  Offer a subscription to a newsletter.  Do something to keep ‘em coming back.

I’ll certainly have my feeder up by day’s end; the thought that there’s a hungry hummingbird out there in my neighborhood is motivation.  What’s your next move to attract somebirdy to your feeder?

Thanks!

Feeling Scattered & Smothered by Social Media? One Question is The Answer You Need

Years ago I had a client who exemplified the idea of “eye on the prize.”  I was part of the agency team selected to help this client’s business, a national sports association, increase membership.  This respected organization had excellent programs and benefits; all the good news was there.  We just needed to share that good news with potential members and inspire them to join.

At every meeting and over every decision, this client would ask “will this increase membership?”  We considered logo revisions, and the client asked “will this increase membership?”  We talked about a PR campaign, and the client asked “will this increase membership?”  We planned events, and the client asked…well…you get the point.

That one question was the beacon for everything we did, and it was very effective.  The client would not allow herself to get mired in minutia that didn’t matter.  She refused to donate time or brainpower to anything that was off point, and she never made a decision based solely on her preference.  With that perspective, we certainly kept our budget and tactics well-directed.

What’s the prize—the singular goal—for your small business?  What’s the one question you should ask before making any decision or taking on any project?

You’ve got to know that answer before you dive into any social media tactics lest your precious time and energies be misdirected or wasted.  I see it all the time, the business owners and entrepreneurs who feel they must “get on Twitter” or “make a Facebook fan page” yet can’t articulate how or why to use those tools.  Social media tools can be immensely effective, but only if you use them as answers to your key question.

Is your goal to increase your business?  Then ask yourself “will this grow my business?” constantly.  The truth is, you can likely use an array of social media tools to bolster business, but until you can explain how or why, it’s all for naught.  However if you choose to join Twitter or use Facebook in answer to your core question, you will do so effectively.

It’s amazing how one simple question can help take a small biz big time…
Thanks!