How Linked In Answers Can Increase Your Network

Happy New Year!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season. I spent the holidays in England with family and, while we usually go there to get away from the snow, this year we ended up snowed in. Oh well, I suppose it was a change from the rain.

I mentioned a while ago that I planned to get more involved in groups as a way to make social media connections. I have certainly found some great groups and have started to build a wider network by participating in the discussions.

Linked In Answers has been a great find. It's located under 'More' in the main title bar and you can go there to ask any kind of business related question and look for answers from experts everywhere. But, better than than, it gives you the opportunity to answer questions and demonstrate your expertise to a network of people you wouldn't otherwise have any access to. I've received replies and thanks from people on several occasions.

If you're active enough, you can even be featured as a Top Expert. So, if you're using Linked In, make sure you take a look and consider participating.

Here's to a successful and profitable year in 2011.

Is Your Blog a Substitute for a Newsletter?

I get asked quite a lot whether clients should be blogging or sending an e-newsletter.

I guess the answer is, it depends (I love that answer!). Personally I'm using my blog as a substitute for a newsletter, and when I finish getting my website rebuilt (a whole different story), I plan to use an email sign-up box just as you would with an e-newsletter.

But, there can be a place for doing both, because the expectations from each medium are slightly different.

For the most part I would suggest that your blog is a more informal, conversational piece. Lot's of people are successfully monetizing their blogs, but for the most part, I think we're seeing it primarily as a tool with which to build relationships. This is a great place to build community and establish yourself as the friendly, helpful, neighbourhood expert in your field.

A newsletter, because it has the potential for different articles, is a little more corporate, more product-oriented and more of a sales piece. Having said that - always make sure that at least 80% of your newsletter is solid informational content. If it's just a sales vehicle, you'll start getting a whole bunch of opt-outs.

So, that's the either/or option, but if it fits your marketing plan, it's also worth considering both, partly because then you can segment both your message and your audience.

That's all for now. If, like me, you're in Calgary right now - enjoy the snow!

What's Your Personal Brand?

It seems wherever I look just recently, I'm finding myself reading about personal branding. What's up with that?

Actually, it makes a lot of sense that when you're engaging in social media, your business brand is going to become inextricably linked with who you are away from the office. Your facebook profile is attached to your business page, and your tweets can be followed by both business and personal contacts alike.

And, of course, potential business contacts can search for you and find you on all your social media sites.

So, it's important, then, to be aware of the persona you're presenting, even when communicating with friends and family in social media. Just bear in mind that when you're sharing a joke or memories with good friends, that could be seen by your next best client. Is it something you want out there?

Of course, that's where your privacy settings come in, too. They can't completely separate your business from personal, but use the settings mindfully - and that goes further than just controlling what 'non-friends' can see. On your facebook profile, for instance, you can put all your business contacts together in a business group, and then you can control some of the things members of that group see. When you share links, videos or information you can choose to share it with just your business contacts - or not with that group at all. It's not foolproof, but it helps.

I'm still trying to come to terms with this merging of business and personal, but until it becomes possible to truly separate the two, it certainly makes sense to be aware and to use a little discretion.

How To Develop a Social Media Strategy

You've heard about the cobblers children, right? They have a father who makes shoes and they walk around barefoot. Well, that's the story I tell myself when I start to feel guilty about how informal my own marketing efforts can be. I like to think the copy is awesome, but the strategy behind my activities rather belies my strategic background!

In an effort to remedy that, I'm doing a business plan class through SIFE at Mount Royal University - it's been wonderful in making me gather my vague ideas into a formal marketing plan. As part of that, I'm also writing a social media strategy, and it's an interesting exercise.

So here's my ten pen'orth (oops that's a bit of ye olde english slipping out! I guess I should say 'my take') on how to plan your social media strategy:

1) Your objectives. What are your broad business objectives, and what are your overall objectives for social media. Without defining what you hope to achieve it will be hard to plan specific activities that will support your business goals.

2) Your audience. You need to start with a very clear idea of who you want to attract to your social media activities. If you're in any kind of commercial enterprise you need to attract people who will benefit from your excellent content; but only up to the point where they decide they need your product or service.

3) Objectives and strategy for each social media platform. What you hope to achieve through twitter will probably be very different from what you hope to achieve through Facebook or your blog. By pinning down how each platform is likely to serve you, it becomes easier and more effective to define a plan of action for them.

So, while I may not have covered the entire field of social media strategy, I hope that's a good (very brief) overview, and at least something to get you thinking about what you're up to.

Have a great week!

Customer Service as a Social Media Marketing Tool

Do you remember the days when they used to say "please a customer and they'll tell two people; annoy a customer and they'll tell 20"?

Nowadays, it's more like 20,000 or more. That brings a whole new perspective to the importance of customer service!

It would be great if we could say that every business should be able to operate without ever ticking off a customer, but I really don't think that's the reality (except for you and me, of course). But, one of the great things about social media is it gives you the chance to hear what people are saying about you and react.

And your reaction is the key. Here's my handy five-point plan for reacting to customer complaints:

1) Be vigilant, so you find the complaints in the first place
2) Respond immediately
3) Acknowledge that there is a problem, rather than reacting defensively
4) Don't just promise to 'look into it'. Take real, concrete action
5) Go above and beyond in making amends

Because when you deal with a dissatisfied customer quickly and by treating them exceptionally well, chances are they will become a very vocal advocate for you.

I hope this won't happen often to you, but when it does, it's nice to be able to turn it around.

The Internet Marketing Audience

Not sure if anyone is reading your blog/newsletter/assorted ramblings?

It can be really hard to motivate yourself to write to a largely unresponsive audience - and I suspect that's one of the major reasons people fall behind. But the thing about that is that your words of wisdom might not be falling on deaf ears after all.

Some time ago (two years or more, I think) I had a monthly e-newsletter called Marketing Tips. I ran it for quite a while, but for multiple reasons I eventually let it die a death.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I met, for the first time, a wonderful lady called Lynne. She remarked that she had often wondered where Marketing Tips went, because she used to look forward to it.

Apart from being nice to hear, that made me think about how easy it is to be unaware of your silent audience. Facebook fans who never respond; blog followers who don't comment; Twitterers (Twits? Tweeties?) who steadfastly remain silent. Let's face it most of us don't reply to other people's posts, so while we should aim to build an active community, we should not despair if the activity is sluggish.

If you got this far - any comment?

Masterminding and Brainstorming for Business Success

If you know me, you'll know I'm a big fan of networking. Making contacts, learning about business and, yes, seeing real people ... priceless.

Also, one of the best things to come out of my networking has been the chance to participate in mastermind and brainstorming groups.

And that is the subject of this week's blog. You see, particularly as a solopreneur it can be easy to get insular. How great to have a mastermind group where you can brainstorm ideas to your problems and help with other people's. In fact, the discussions around others' business challenges can be as educational and enlightening as the solutions offered for your own.

So, whatever size your business, consider adding masterminding to your mix of activities. It doesn't even have to be a formal group - you can arrange for a weekly phone call or conference call just to check in and share ideas.

Who do you know, with skills and talents that complement your own? Some of them might be a great masterminding partner.