Monthly Archives: July 2011

You Can Get Used to Anything but Hanging

We went on a hike once with friends. It became the hike from hell. 357
magnums firing into the sky from fellow hikers to break apart their
pitbulls.  Then, a brush with honest to god quicksand. Followed by a narrow
trail down a thirty story high mountain with grapefruit-sized boulders along
the trail to help you stumble and twist your ankle.  All this as the heat
bore down and dehydrated everyone.
The group was so exhausted that when we finally got to the valley floor,
everyone just rolled their bedrolls out and slept in the open. The whole
reason we took the hike was to get to this idyllic series of hot tub pools.
Someone had dragged bags of concrete down to the river to capture the
steaming water and mix with the freezing river water to make pools of
varying degrees.  Only my daughter and I dragged ourselves over there to
enjoy the hot pools after a long, long hike.

And the bad news continued. One of the survivors came over and said that
everybody should be ready to move out at 630 a.m.. No sleeping in.  Why?
Well we had to get out of the valley before high noon, when the sun would
again beat down on us. We wanted to be up the thirty story mountain trail
and into the shade before noon.

So, we happily set out the next morning. No one talked. The out of shape
straggled behind. Those who were in shape pushed ahead, tired of trying to
cajole, cheerlead, Dale Carnegie them from quitting every five minutes.

I was soft-hearted.  I stayed with the last one, trying to get her somewhat
motivated.  But she was tough. She would say things like, “Just leave me.”

or

“Don’t worry about me. I don’t want to live.”

or

“I’m not taking another step. Send a helicopter for me when you get back.”

Well, I thought she’d run out of quips eventually and decide it was easier
to walk out than listen to me.  Also, I couldn’t let my daughter leave
another human to die. So I stuck it out.

In one especially long “rest stop”, what turned out to be the last time
she’d stopped, she turned around completely. She stood up, took a deep
breath and said,

“My mother said you can get used to anything but hanging.”

And with that we walked out. Five hours later we were laughing at Sizzler,
ordering steaks rare and some nice Bordeaux.

Her mom was right.

Speaking the Right Language

Speaking the Right Language

http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/docs/ebooks/101marketingquotesjune2011.pdf

Language.  In our mind there are two forms.  The first, and most obvious, is the actual content you use in your social media plan.  The second is the technology you use to display your “written language”.  Old ways of marketing such as posters and mailings, the second form of language, are falling by the wayside.  The digital age has arrived and its technologies are making and breaking many companies.  Utilization of social media is essential for an effective marketing plan.

Potential clients search the web and seek something with which to relate.  They understand that you are trying to sell them a product or service, but they do not need a pitch thrown at them every time they turn on their computer or pick up their phone.  The old ways of doing business are exactly as they say: the old way.  “Dog and pony shows” have become annoying and clients want you to relate to them on a social level, much like a friend would.  Social media blogs are a great example.  These blogs allow you to relay information, in a non-confrontational way, to your clients.  No pressure, no push; just simple, reliable marketing.  The actual language you use is vital.  Social media should be used for “socializing”.  Clients and customers do not want a strong sales pitch on their social sites; they want to meet new people and learn new things.

Entertaining.  Meaningful.  Dedicated.  These three adjectives are a great way to outline your blogs or content.  Follow these words.  Was your information entertaining?  Did it have a meaningful purpose?  Do you seem dedicated with your work?

Good companies will follow.  Great companies will listen and follow.

Listen to the Movement

Listening to the Movement

http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/docs/ebooks/101marketingquotesjune2011.pdf

We do not know everything about social media marketing.  In fact, there is a lot we do not know.  The one thing we are sure of is that the on-line world is rapidly changing.  New blogs, social networks and other corporate social media tools are becoming available every day. Although we cannot possibly retain all of this information, we do our best to utilize all of the advice and growth we can.

Listening goes farther than attaining new forms of marketing.  Listening to your client’s wants and needs can increase the quality of your social media blog or marketing plan.  We talked about this in our last article.  People want to hear what they care about.  How do you provide this information?  You listen.  Discover their interests and the quantity and quality will come without a hitch.

Obviously, as stated above, listening is also directly related to new resources and advice.  Social media engagement means more than just Facebook and Twitter, it has to do with new ways to market and advertise.  There are so many wonderful sites and techniques that are oblivious to the common business because they fail to listen and learn.  Every good marketer will tell you the same thing: know your customer.  Social media is perfect for that.  You have the ability to read and learn about them with the click of a mouse.  Listen to the movement, it is telling you to accept the rapid changes and take advantage of this wonderful experience.

If you listen, you will learn and if you learn, you will win.

Quality with Quantity

Quality with Quantity
http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/docs/ebooks/101marketingquotesjune2011.pdf

How does quality affect advertising?  Quality is the fuel for the marketing flames.  For example, if you eat at a restaurant where the service is great and the food is phenomenal you will most likely do two things.  The first is revel in the fact that you found such an amazing place to eat and the second is tell your friends or family about your wonderful experience.

There is a common misconception that word of mouth recommendations are lost in the on-line world but this couldn’t’t be further from the truth.  It is called Social Media for a reason.  Socializing in an on-line world is faster and more effective in many ways.  In fact, people are more prone to recommend or promote your business through social sites then through direct encounters.

These recommendations are steeped in quality.  People enjoy quality information, or information they can use themselves.  How do you find this information and provide it?  People are naturally intrigued by things they don’t know.  Revealing information or products that have a new, but direct, benefit to your audience will put your company in a very positive light.

Quality is the strong base of what we call Advertising.  Aspects such as proper grammar, personal touch and quality products do most of your advertising for you.  Everyone knows what a Hershey chocolate bar is, but why?  Is it from their advertising campaigns?  Of course not, the world knows of Hershey because they supply a high-quality product all the time.  This is same with corporate social media marketing.  Providing a quality site, blog or page has a direct impact on the effectiveness of your advertising and inbound marketing campaign.

Practice Makes Perfect

Persistent Blogging=Great Marketing

Teachers, coaches and mentors love the phrase “practice makes perfect”.  It makes sense as the constant repetition of math problems, business writing or free throws will make you an expert in due time.  Unfortunately, these activities provide little variation and often cause people to quit from the monotony.  Blogs are different.  They offer variation.  Content, layout and even writing style can vary with each post and allows those writing to explore their creative side.  The problem is consistency.

Consistency is the Achilles heel of the blog.  Your clients or possible customers will resent your site if blogs are not updated.  For example, there are some sites you will not visit for the simple fact that they are never updated.  You must stay consistent.  Creativity will come with time, but to effectively stay competitive in your social media campaign, you have to post weekly at a minimum. Ideally several times a day.  Review your competitor analysis reports and glance at their websites or blogs.  I’d be willing to bet that they update constantly.

When providing a social media course or seminar our first point is blogging.  You never know who will read your blog; it could be your most loyal customer or the biggest potential client yet.  If you can get one person to follow your blog consistently, then you have won.

Do yourself and your business a favor and blog consistently.  It will help to keep your marketing plan consistent and effective.  Customers will come to you and the optimization of your site will increase as your index pages and views grow.  Make it fun, make it daily…make it a blog!

The Base of Social Marketing: The Blog

Building Your Market From the Groud Up

The Blog.  It is so simple, yet so confusing.  When most people think of blogs they think of long-winded documents on-line that bore you by the 4th line…like this blog post, right?  I’ll keep it brief.  A short blog post can work wonders for your business.  It updates people and possible clients about what is going on in your company.  In other words, it draws them in.  We like to call this Inbound Marketing.  The clients come to you.

Blogs can be the base of social media marketing.  It is so simple and easy.  In fact, it can be done in a matter of minutes.  For example, why are you reading this?  I can tell you why: it is short, concise and is providing you with valuable information.  Your social media blog should be the base of any internet marketing campaign you pursue.

Social media real estate is the amount of space you possess with social media.  Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and others all represent social media real estate.  A blog is a simple way to gain more.  The more indexed pages, keywords and interesting topics you write about, the more people will notice…and every business owner wants attention, especially if it is free.  Attack your social media marketing plan with a blog backed up with decent consumer analysis. It’s an excellent long-term enterprise social-media strategy for just about any company.

You + Social Media = Marketing

Market Yourself

People are different, and that is what makes them so interesting.  When we meet someone from another country or hear a good friend speak about a recent funny or odd event we find ourselves, often times, completely intrigued and buried in their story.  Why?  These people are interesting, and for the most part, genuine.  We enjoy hearing about genuine, real stories.  They make us feel that we have control over our lives; that we have the ability to make a great experience or story if we so choose.  You must take this approach when developing your social media plan.

The first step when using social media for marketing is writing a blog.  Your social media blog can be read by few or thousands but this blog can have great influence over your audience.  Be yourself.  Your customers or clients want to hear about the real you, not a false story or slimy sales pitch.  Relate to your audience by displaying the genuine you.  To often in social media seminars or courses people will tell you to use social media as a serious marketing platform, which it can be, but listeners get to hung up on the word “serious”.  If you relate to your audience your need for market survey companies or market research data will decrease significantly because your clientele will WANT to look at your site without being pressed to.

Do yourself and your clients a favor.  Be happy and be you.  If you were not a likeable person then you wouldn’t have gotten into business in the first place, or marketing for that matter.  An effective social media marketing plan can be simple if you display genuine traits and an overall interest in others.

Social Media in Business: Trust & Engagement

Social Media in Business

Social media.  It connects old friends and college roommates with the simple click of a mouse.  Its ability to yield deep friendships is almost indescribable.  Websites such as Facebook and Twitter have created relationships among people faster than any conversation, meeting or phone call ever would.  This new and intriguing way of connecting with people around world does not have to be completely bound with social interactions outside the workplace.  Its uses can reach far past that of old friendships or picture tagging as it has the unique capability of growing your business exponentially almost overnight.

Marketing and social media can be combined to yield lethal results in not only your consumer analysis but your overall profits.  The quote above says it perfectly; people are more inclined to interact and speak with those who they have social relationship with.  Whether you’re an artist, TV commercial producer or create custom videos you can increase your client base, leads and overall connections through social media.

Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.  Competition analysis can also be made easy through social media.  Add them to your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts to see what they are up to or attacking.  Social media makes it easy to create an effective marketing plan as well as optimize your market research.  Many companies bask in the fear that is the abundance of social media sites; don’t!  Embrace them!  There ability to minimize advertising and marketing costs makes them a no-brainer for all businesses!

Increase the strength of your market base and platform by utilizing the FREE social materials you have at your finger tips.  The development of a social media plan can have direct, positive results on your business!