The Writer's Blog

What Does a Social Media Manager Do?

2011-03-07T11:13:00.000-06:00

With all the hype about Social Network Marketing, and the many people who claim to be "experts," it is important to understand the role of a social media manager. If you are hiring someone who doesn't understand what the job entails, you might be surprised by the results you get...

Some of the things a social media manager does...

Provides an overall Marketing Strategy. Social Media Managers must take into consideration all of the marketing tactics already in place, both traditional (outbound) and social (inbound), and come up with a strategy that makes sense for your company.
Provides expertise – A good SMM quickly gets a “feel” for the culture of your business, understanding that what works for one business may not work for another. Google changes its algorithms regularly. Social sites come and go. Keeping current on what is going on in the "Social" world is a key element for a good social media manager.
Keeps up on the rules and regulations of the sites. Social sites are constantly "tweaking" their rules to make the experience more valuable for their members. Not keeping up with the rules can cause your pages to be "blacklisted" or have you actually kicked off the sites - with no appeal.
Provides consistency – When you get busy, you might “drop off the map.” A good SM Manager will have a schedule and post at consistent and appropriate intervals.
Monitors trends within Social Network Marketing. A good SM manager will be on pertinent news feeds and email lists. Keeping up to date with what’s “hot” and what’s “not is sometimes challenging, but an integral part of keeping sites fresh and current.
Monitors Your Wall – When someone has a comment or problem, it should be acknowledged and dealt with promptly. Keeping company management apprised of these contacts and working to make sure problems are dealt with quickly and appropriately is a big part of the Social Manager's job.
Designs and customizes the various “Pages.” Facebook, Twitter and other sites are allowing pages to be customized. Having a social media manager who understands graphic design and web design or works with someone who does, is becoming increasingly important.
Finds and posts interesting and appropriate content – while this is often believed to be the main job description of a social media manager, as you can see, there is a lot more to it. However, what gets posted is still the most important part of the job.

Social Media management is like any other job - businesses need to develop a job description and ways to assess the manager's performance. The above points are just some of the things that businesses have to consider when hiring social media managers.

Windows 7

2011-03-01T09:45:00.001-06:00

I’m still learning Windows 7, but I just found another cool feature! I don’t think I even told Windows where to find my blog, but when I tried to close the “dock” and accidentally clicked on “My Blog” this nifty window opened and invited me to update my blog! It also has an intuitive interface (a la Microsoft Word) to allow me to write the blog, format the blog with fancy headers, etc., and even add photos, hyperlinks and videos – with the click of a button. I think I’ll go on TV to tell people how cool this is.

I really have to take the tour to find out what other goodies are built in and whether they will help me do my job. If you have Windows 7, and have the time – take the tour!

2011-02-12T13:25:00.000-06:00

While expos are on the annual calendar of most Chambers of Commerce, and industry-specific expos abound, there doesn’t seem to be much written about how to effectively participate. So here are a few of the ideas I have picked up along the way:
Rule 1. This NOT a sales event. This is marketing. The sales pitch comes after the expo – when you follow up on all of those wonderful leads.
Question 1. Why am I participating?
Expos are a great way to get in front of a lot of people for a relatively small amount of money. However, each business should have a specific goal in mind to make their expenditure of time and money worthwhile.
Are you participating to...

Let people know your company exists and what it does
Roll out a new product or service
Explain why your product/service is better than the competition
Keep your business at the “top of mind” when people do need what you have to offer
Network with other participants at the Expo
Raise the public’s consciousness about a cause or charitable organization
Add contacts to your database for future sales campaigns
Or some other reason?

Question 2. Should I give something away?

If you want to gather as many names as possible for a future sales campaign, running a raffle is a no-brainer. Buy a flashy prize and have people fill out your form with their contact information. You will instantly increase the size of your database.

If your goal is to let people know you exist, keep your business at the top of their mind or to remind them that you are there for them when they need you, you might consider using the money you would have spent on a raffle prize and spend it on promotional items that have your name and contact information on them. You could have two levels of give-aways. Inexpensive items like magnets or pens for the casual strollers and pricier items (e.g. a small flash drive) for people who seem genuinely interested in your business.

Question 3. How should I prepare?

Long before the event, you should be thinking about getting the word out. Here are a few suggestions:

Use your Social Networks! Facebook, Tweet and Blog about the expo, noting time, place and booth number.
Send a special invitation to people you would like to see at the Expo.
Ask your friends, colleagues, neighbors and family members to tell people they know about the expo
Add a sign off on our correspondence/email – again, with your booth number.
Add a hand-written note on your sales invoices.
Add an “Expo Special” Coupon to your website, social sites, email, etc.
Finally, prepare a follow up email/note before the expo and have it ready to send out to all of the people you connected with at the expo. Send it the day after the expo

Question 4. What should my booth look like?

Obviously, each participant gets exactly the same type of space. You should do what you can to stand out.

Look professional. Dress appropriately –or outrageously.
Have a sign professionally made with your logo or use a fold-out display booth. (Talk to your local sign store – there are a lot of great options.)
Instead of just your business name, design a banner that asks a question or makes a bold statement – anything to engage the attendees.
If you use a fold-out display, spend the money on large format images so people can see and appreciate them.
If possible, bring samples of your products and demonstrate them
Use welcoming body language. SMILE! Promote an interactive and friendly environment. Ask questions. Make it about them – not you. Remember – this is not the place for a hard sell.

A couple of “off the wall” ideas:

Even if you gather names via a raffle, and especially if you don’t, have a small notebook handy. Ask questions about the prospective customer’s business or interests. The more you get them talking about themselves, the more ammunition you will have. After the Expo, follow up with an email or quick note thanking them for stopping by – making it a personal contact, based on your notes.

Instead of a brochure, give away a DVD with a video of your product or service – or a “how to” video showing how your product or service could be used. If you don’t want to make a lot of DVD’s, publish the video on YouTube and design a cool flyer or have the URL of the video put on your promotional items.

Reserve a small area of your booth for a charity, youth sports team or cause you believe in, and give people literature about that – This shows that you care about something beyond your business.

If your aim is to network with other expo participants, have someone man you booth so you can visit each of the other booths. Bring your business cards with you.

Display a notice asking people to “like” your company on Facebook, follow you on Twitter, or read your Blog. Or put these links on your promotional items. This will keep them engaged long after the Expo.

New Computer with Windows 7!

2010-12-18T16:01:00.001-06:00

Okay, I have this new computer and am trying to set it up. I know they want to make it really easy, but sometimes when they try to do too much, they just make it harder! I now have some kind of software that apparently will let me post to my blog without actually signing into my blog? If that is true, this blog post will be posted. If not, who knows? They also got me all hooked up with Skype! Problem is, I don’t have anyone to talk to on Skype. But I now have my own Avatar and I can make and accept Skype calls. So if you want to talk to me and have Skype. I’m all ears

All in all, I think this new computer is going to be a lot of fun! And help me get a lot more done – just as soon as I figure it all out.

What's Next for Social Media Marketing?

2010-11-18T16:53:00.000-06:00

I just read an interesting article by Stephanie Schwab called “Five Social Media Trends for 2011.” For some of us, just getting started with Facebook, Twitter and maybe YouTube, the information in this piece was kind of mind boggling. So I thought I’d try to translate some of it for those “non-geeks” among us.

The exponential growth of social networks along with the advent of smart phones (51% of us now have smart phones) has put a new spin on marketing, and those of us who want to sell products and services (especially to the under 30 crowd) will need to understand and adopt some of these new strategies.

The first trend cited by Ms. Schwab was “Consumer Content Curation.” For those of you (like me) who don’t immediately understand what this means, I guess you could think of a museum curator. The curator decides what should be displayed in the museum and how it is displayed. So in social media, the idea is that as more companies jump into the fray, consumers are deciding not to “like” every page just to get a coupon. The idea of social media was never to turn our walls into shopping malls. Consumers are turning off the companies that use their sites only for marketing or sales. Instead, they are turning to “real” friends to find out about products and services. The good news is that companies who create compelling, interesting and engaging content will get noticed, “liked” and shared, and they will remain in the “consumer steam.”

The second trend mentioned was “Niche Location.” Again, a concept that does not immediately spring to mind. But Foursquare and Gowalla (both LBS or Location Based Services) have become quite popular, especially in urban areas. These sites let people find out where their friends are and exchange information on local attractions. Xtify offers companies the opportunity to “create, manage, deliver and optimize geo-relevant messages to your user base.” Shopkick allows consumer to earn points just for walking into certain stores or shopping malls. Shoppers can scan bar codes to get coupons and other “deals.” Macy’s, Target and Best Buy are just a few of the participating stores in the Chicago area. Topguest links check-ins with airline and hotel loyalty programs automatically.

The next trend mentioned was Social Gaming. If you haven’t heard of Farmville, good for you. But FarmVille has become a new testing ground for brand integration with new promotions for Farmer’s Insurance, the Megamind movie and even McDonald’s. Ms Schwab predicts that “in the coming year we’ll see more, and deeper, brand integrations with existing gaming platforms, as well as more brands creating their own gaming structures for consumer advancement into preferred status, coupons, or freebies.” Just check out what people in waiting rooms are doing with their smart phones!

As I read on, the next subject was QR codes. Okay, I had to do a Wikipedia search on this one. Turns out the Japanese have been using QR codes for years and they are quite common in Asia, but still kind of an oddity in the US. Wikipedia puts it this way: “A QR Code is matrix barcode that can be read by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smart phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.” Still not sure what it all means? Calvin Klein recently put up a billboard in New York that had nothing on it but a large square QR code. When the code is scanned by smart phones, the viewer is taken to a commercial, featuring the models and information that once would have been put up on the billboard! QR codes are showing up in magazines and other printed pieces. Some savvy businessmen are handing out business cards with QR codes. When scanned, the contact information is automatically downloaded into a smart phone’s address book. Want to know even more, read the article: “How to Use QR Codes for Small Business.”

The final trend was Social Commerce. Okay, Back to Wikipedia. The term describes a set of online collaborative shopping tools, such as shared pick lists, user rating and other user-generated content, including advice on whether or not to purchase. While this concept has been going on for a while, the game changer seems to be the mobile apps becoming available. Steve Madden Shoes, for example, launched a mobile application that allows consumers to identify what styles and sizes they want, find the nearest store, the distance to that store, and get directions via Google Maps – all from their smart phones. According to executives at Steve Madden, consumers want “speed and efficiency, information that is personalized, localized and customized.” Consumers also want to be engaged, entertained and inspired.

Are you ready for 2011?

The New Marketing 101

2010-07-30T18:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, I’ll admit it, it has been a few years since I took Marketing 101 in college, and I’ll bet things have changed since then, but I wonder if they have changed enough to account for the exponential growth of social media marketing. And I wonder if marketing departments, peopled with those of us who grew up in a world without Social Networking, are changing fast enough to keep up with what has been a revolution in marketing.

A few weeks ago, I was explaining to a client that he needed to start looking into Social Media Marketing for his company. He does marketing for a company that sells adaptive vehicles to people with disabilities. I mentioned that because it is harder for these folks to get around, they were probably quite conversant with the Internet, and have probably joined social networks. This gentleman actually became angry. He was outraged that he was being “forced” to do business this way. He felt it wasn’t fair. Why should he have to change?

I told him that he didn’t have to change, but that his competitors probably were changing and if he didn’t, he would probably lose sales, not to mention spending money on ads that no longer work.

I guess we can all get angry at having to change the way we do business, and get upset that we have to learn how to function in a world where information goes viral and travels around the world in a few minutes. It was a lot easier when we bought advertising space on television or a magazine, or sent a direct mail piece. It was a lot more expensive and wasn’t as effective as a good social media program – but it was easier…

Is it Fair (and Smart) to Hire Someone to Speak for You on Social Networks?

2010-07-27T09:26:00.001-05:00

I have been helping my clients speak to their customers for over 20 years. I ghost wrote a book. My client received author credit and has been interviewed many times about the book. My name is never mentioned. When I write websites, newsletters, brochures and press releases, my name is not mentioned; my clients take the credit – I take the cash. In other words, people pay me to write for them. But I don’t make stuff up. When I take on an assignment, I take the time to understand what it is my client wants to say and to whom. I work with clients to understand their personalities and quirks. I often do further research on the subject I am writing about. And when I write, I take on the persona of my client.

This should not be a surprise. The most successful fiction writers are able to take on the personas of their characters. They are able to “get into the skin” of an axe murder, a victim and a detective in the same book – making us understand and believe in the personalities of each of the characters.

If I do my job correctly, my clients look good, and people understand who they are and what they want to say – often better than if the client, himself, were to try to convey the information. When my client says, “It sounds like I wrote this myself,” I feel I have done my job well.

Social Network Marketing should fall in the same category. It is no secret that there is no one person speaking from Coca Cola, Dell Computers or McDonalds on the social networks. We are hearing the personalities and “voices” of people who work at those companies. So why would it be wrong for a small company to outsource the Social Network Marketing duties to me? In fact, because it is my business to quickly understand the culture of a company and their social media strategy, I can often speak for that company better than its employees – especially since it is my business –and I have no political agenda.

What good is Twitter to a small business person?

2010-07-13T16:47:00.000-05:00

It seems like everyone is on Twitter these days - from movie stars, sports figures and politicians to just plain people. Many of your customers are probably already there. The beauty of Twitter, and what sets it apart from other social networks is that you don’t have to be someone’s “friend” to connect. Anyone can follow anyone.

Who cares?

75 million people use Twitter!

Twitter can be a free bulletin board to post messages. You can announce seminars, answer questions, and attract new prospects by listing your address, telephone and services. If you are interesting or funny or engaging enough, people will click on your Profile, where you will be able to tell them a little more about yourself and direct them to your website (where all of your sales information can be found).

While you can only use 140 characters, you can link to longer content, including interesting articles, blog posts and websites.

People who are interested in your products or services may follow certain keywords, including your specialty, your town, your name or your company. When you use those keywords in your tweets, they will find you – even if they have never heard of you and are not following you – yet!

You can also follow keywords to find people to engage with. If you see a post from someone who could use your services, follow that person, and maybe invite them to follow you via a direct message. If you find someone who is doing what you are doing, follow them, subscribe to their blog – maybe even start a conversation. You might learn something new and you might make a connection that will prove valuable in the future.

Twitter enables you to enlarge your circle of influence as never before, and actually levels the playing field for small businesses. This form of marketing is free. And if all of the big names are already there, shouldn’t you be there too? This is one of the best places for niche marketing there is. By using Twitter and its various apps, you will find people you want to deal with – whether clients, strategic partners or even leaders in your industry. And once you establish a Twitter relationship, you can continue the conversation by email or telephone, or even in person.

There are millions of people on Twitter – shouldn’t you be there too?

If you want me to follow you on Twitter...

2010-07-08T17:15:00.000-05:00

Write a profile. Okay, Twitter doesn’t give you a lot of space, but at least tell me who and where you are, and give me a link to your website … or your blog. And even in a few words, pique my interest.
Use a background, but don’t make it an ad – just make it fun. (And you might remember that some of us still have square monitors and will miss a lot of what you spent so much time designing.)
Don’t try to follow everyone. Most of us will notice if you are following 10,000 people but are only being followed by 10! We might think you are not worth following.
If you want to follow me, have a reason. Maybe I’m funny, smart or interesting or maybe I’m your competitor.
If you want to be followed, be funny, smart or interesting.
Remember, it’s supposed to be a conversation. Tweet good things. Retweet interesting things. Use @replies to continue the conversation.
Tweet a question. We all love to answer questions.
Add value by linking to good content – articles, blogs and websites – your own and others.
Don’t only tweet about your business. Tweet interesting things on any subject that interests you.
Don’t be afraid to have a point of view – you might spark a great conversation.
Write some good tweets and use an app to space them out. You’ll reach more people and you won’t have to spend all your time at your computer.
If I follow you, don’t send a “canned” response like: “Thanks for the follow, buy my stuff.” If you want to make it personal, look at my page, otherwise a simple thanks will do – after all, I’m following you now – you will have plenty of time to let me know what you are selling.

2010-05-27T12:05:00.001-05:00

Help your Press Releases go viral -- For Free

2010-05-02T17:35:00.000-05:00

I am always trying to convince my clients to send Press Releases whenever they can. And to send them to as many outlets as possible. I have a list of print outlets for my geographic area, but have also encouraged on-line submissions.

Today (in my Twitter feed) I found a site that not only provides a pretty good list of free PR sites, but also gave tips about writing press releases, including how to turn those press releases into articles (and might I add, they can also be turned into blog posts :) The list includes sites that enable links to the author's website, they are listed on the Google Search Engine, and have other Search engine enhancements that make them worthwhile for increasing traffic to one's website. Another plus is that if the release is interesting and well-written, it might just go viral!

The list of free Press Release publishing sites is at http://prsitelist.com/freesites.html.The article about writing press releases can be found at http://prsitelist.com/UserResources.html.

My advice: Keep looking for reasons to send press releases and then send them to as many outlets as possible.

Did you know? Google has some really cool tools...

2010-04-27T11:23:00.000-05:00

I am always learning new information that I think everyone else already knows. But then I start talking to people and realize they don’t. I recently mentioned in my networking group how Google indexes Craigslist and Facebook entries. (If you are looking for a used couch in your town, and put that into Google, you will almost certainly find a Craigslist entry on the first page of search results!) But the conversation turned to other Google stuff. Most of the people in the room had no idea …

If you put “define: anyword” in Google, a definition will be returned. If you type: “area of a circle” the formula for finding the area of a circle will be returned. Almost any kind of information is available - if you know how to ask.
Customized Google Results. When you are on the Google home page and put in a search term you will see an icon near the top of the page -- a plus sign + with a link to "more options." When you click that icon, a new column will open on the page. You can filter your results in many different ways, including the Latest results (which is something I normally do to make sure I’m getting current information). You can also filter by "Nearby" which might serve you well if you are looking for something locally. You can also ask for results by category, such as blog posts, conversations, videos, news feeds and even books. This is a great way to assess how where the information is coming from and (maybe) how credible it is. There are other options, and you might want to check those out too.

If you have a Google account, you can do even more.

Google Alerts. This is a Google service where you get email alerts (at intervals you choose) for any keyword you want. You can set up as many Google Alerts for as many keywords as you want and will receive an email for each. The results are clickable, so you can check out who is saying what about the keyword. You can also use quotes to get alerts for key phrases.

iGoogle Home page. If you make Google your home page, you can customize it with an almost endless array of “gadgets.” For example, I have the local temperature and forecast for my city displayed. This is clickable to the Weather service, if I want to see more. I also have newsfeeds for some of my favorite news outlets. I also subscribe to a couple of blogs, and new titles are delivered to my home page. When I click on them, I am taken to that blog post. Just for fun, I have the current phase of the moon on my site, and even a joke of the day. There are so many gadgets; the problem is deciding which ones to include.
I haven’t even touched on all of the business tools available on Google. A lot of them are free. Google Analytics can help you see how your website is faring. Their Web Optimizer “automatically tests different site content in order to maximize visitor conversion rates.” Google maps allow you to “claim” your location so when people are looking for you they can find you. (Maps are usually listed first by Google when a location is mentioned for a business.) And the list goes on. If you want to see more, just click on the “Business Solutions” link at the bottom of Google’s home page.

While I have this niggling fear that Google will soon control the world (at least the world of information), they really do offer some of the best tools available for getting the most out of our Web experience.

How do you defend against untrue comments made behind your back?

2010-03-29T18:38:00.000-05:00

One of the things I tell people when I speak about Social Network Marketing is to “monitor your brand.” That means that when someone posts a complaint or a negative comment about your brand – i.e. your product, service or YOU – you should try to resolve the issue, or at least acknowledge it and promise to do better the next time. Even if the complaint or comment is not true, the best way to answer is to just say, “that’s not really true…here’s the real story...”

But what about people who make negative and untrue comments behind your back, not in writing?

This weekend I was told by one customer that an ex-customer told her not to use me because I was terrible. Her main complaint seemed to be that the very small ads I prepared for her had many grammar mistakes and misspellings. She also mentioned that what I knew about a posting site we were using all came from a book – and anyone could read a book.

Okay, I will admit that what I know is from a book – actually a couple of books and the instructions from the website we were using. She made a valid point: Anyone can read the books and instructions. The point is that people hire me so they don’t have to read the books.

However, on the issue of spelling and grammar, I must object. I write for a living. I pride myself on using the right words and using them effectively. I use my software’s spell checking feature, but I also proofread the copy to make sure it reads well and is correct. I have written chapters for college textbooks, written for an alumni magazine for a large university, and completed many other writing assignments for attorneys and other professionals. I have never had a complaint about my spelling or grammar.

I’m not sure what the real issue is, and it is extremely difficult to defend against this type of attack. Maybe the ads didn’t work the way she had hoped, and she needed to blame someone. The interesting thing is that I have a “money back guarantee” on all of my work. If my clients don’t like my work, they don’t pay. This client never complained to me, personally. If she had, she would not have paid! Instead, she chose to go behind my back.

Online Classified Marketing - It works!

2010-03-19T13:06:00.000-05:00

According to the Craiglist fact sheet, Craigslist gets more than 20 billion page views per month. It ranks #7 in the world for English language page views. More than 50 million people use Craigslist in the United States, alone.

FACT: Classified ads placed in the proper category will naturally draw your target market to you.

In other words, if you are a handyman, and are listed in the Handyman section, people looking for a handyman will find you. In fact, products and services of all kinds are being found on Craigslist and other Classified ad pages – from IT job postings to houses for sale to dog walking services…

…and the list goes on.

But getting found is only half the battle. Your ad has to be appealing and informative in order to attract actual customers. Your ad has to begin with “great copy.” It has to stay near the top of the list. And since Google and other search engines index classified ads, you also have to make sure your ads are optimized for the search engines.

Because Classified ads are short and sweet, you can’t afford to waste a single word. Your ads have to appear high on search engines, hit the right note, target the right audience and then call them to action. And because classified sites now allow images on their Services listings, your ad must also be well-designed and attractive. You also have to make sure you have the right communication channels open, including your phone number, your email address and a link to your website, where possible.

Our service provides you not only with great ad copy, but also monitors the sites to make sure you are at the top of the list for your product or service. If you want to “test the waters” with on-line classified marketing, contact us! http://www.thewordpro.com/

Social Networking and Web 3.0

2010-03-15T09:57:00.000-05:00

I have been asked to talk to a group of independent insurance agents about Social Network Marketing. In order to prepare for this short talk, the first thing I did was go to the Internet and type in “How should Insurance Agents be using Social Networks.” On the first page of the results was an interesting article in the Independent Agent Magazine from May 2009 that explained how important it was for agents to at least understand how Web 2.0 technology works because Web 3.0 was on its way, and would once again change how people made purchasing decisions.

In many ways, Web 3.0 is here now. In fact, the sentence I used to find the article would not have returned such useful information just a few years ago. The search engine would have concentrated on the individual words. Today, search engines like Google and Bing seem to understand the meaning of my words – what I am really asking for – and they give me what I am looking for. Most of the time on the first page, and most of the results are not Websites.

This is having a profound effect on how products and services are marketed. While Websites will continue to be the online presence for companies and brands, people will get to those Websites in totally new and different ways. Blogs, Facebook pages, LinkedIn profiles and YouTube videos are already showing up higher on search engines than Websites. And this fits perfectly with the way people want to get information and make purchasing decisions.

People no longer want to be “sold,” they want to “buy.” This is a subtle difference that tells us why television, newspaper and direct mail campaigns are no longer as effective as they once were. People trust referrals from people they know more than broadcast advertisements. In fact, they even trust referrals from people they don’t know more than outbound advertising. Only 18% of TV ad campaigns have a positive ROI. And the trend is bound to continue.

While it may be tempting to use Social Networks as an advertising platform, the real power of these sites is to start conversations about topics that may only tangentially refer to selling a product. Blogging about how to survive a tornado or offering advice on Facebook about how to winterize a home establishes the agent not only as an expert in his field, but also as someone who cares. The corollary to this is that if the agent cares enough to give good advice about tornadoes or winterizing, he would also give good advice about insurance.

Consumers have learned to ignore blatant sales tactics. But as Facebook is proving with its 200,000,000 million active participants, they enjoy personal interaction. Salesmen in any industry, who understand this concept, and are willing and able to engage potential customers in this way, will be the winners.

If you need a job...

2010-03-03T11:59:00.000-06:00

One of the lesser known (or advertised) services I offer is resume preparation. After taking a course several years ago, I continue to monitor the latest thinking in resume preparation. After helping an Executive Director with his resume, I decided to share some insights about how to write a resume. Since this has been done very well by The Rockport Institute, I have decided to add the link to their site. There is SO much great information here, that it is worth a look for all of us.

www.rockport.com resume_04.html

What is Social Networking?

2010-02-23T09:13:00.000-06:00

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough! - Albert Einstein

In 1992 there were 26 websites on the Internet.
In 1998 there were 750,000 Commercial websites on the Internet.
In May of 2009, Wikipedia estimated that there were 109.5 Million Websites with 29.21 Billion published web pages.

In 1994 about 1 million people had access to the World Wide Web.
In 2009 Internet World Stats estimated that there were over 1.7 Billion Internet users.
In the first six months of 2009, there were over 6 Billion YouTube video views.
There are currently 200 Million active Facebook users.
Today, 1 Billion Tweets go out each month.

So What is Social Networking?
• Focuses on building online communities
• Encourages new ways to communicate
• Allows people who share common interests
• Allows people to learn about new things and develop new interests.

For businesses…
• It gives your company a “human” face.
• Establishes trust.

Blog
• An online journal
• A Website with a user-friendly interface.
• Can be on any topic, but usually organized around one topic.
• Invites comments from readers. (Comments are moderated)
• Keywords and tags can be added to help people find your blog

Marketing Blogs
Posts should not be overt advertising copy, but informational in nature.
• Establish yourself as a thought leader
• Explain the benefits of your product or service
• Keep people up-to-date about industry news
• Help customers understand what you do and how you do it
• Entertain people with stories about your business.
• Publish “how to” articles
• Can be used as an on-line newsletter
• Invite “guest” bloggers to write for you

Video Blogs (You Tube)
Can be used to entertain or inform viewers. Used in much the same way as regular blogs are used, but they add sight and sound. Can be added to your website and published on the YouTube site. YouTube is the second largest search engine on the Internet
What do you put on video?
• Introduce yourself, your product and/or service.
• Introduce new products
• How to videos.
• Show them how the product or service might be used.
• Engage and entertain them. Grab their attention. Shock them.
• Should not be an overt commercial

MicroBlogs aka Twitter
• Each post can only be 140 characters long
• People “follow” and are “followed by” others
• It can be a “hub” where you let people know about your blogs,

Facebook entries, Website updates, etc.
What can you do with 140 characters?
• Monitor what is being said about your company or your brand
• Interact with customers
• Find out what your customers are saying about you
• Ask questions; listen for answers
• Find out what your competitors are doing and if it’s working
• Find people who need your product or service
• Send links to blogs, websites or articles of interest
• Keep up with breaking news
• Publish specials or coupons for “followers” only
• Respond to positive AND negative comments

What you don't know you don't know...

2009-11-19T14:00:00.000-06:00

I have been developing and publishing websites for over 10 years. Many of my clients believe I am the smartest person they know when it comes to the Internet. So why did I pick up a book called, "The Rough Guide to the Internet," a decidedly "beginners" book? I have been using the Internet for a long time -- before there was a Google, when we used search engines like DogPile and AltaVista and others whose names I have forgotten. I have kind of grown with the Internet, picking up information as I went along. But I am first and foremost a writer, graphic designer and marketer. I go to seminars on those things, read articles and talk to others to keep myself up-to-date with the latest trends. About 3 years ago Social Network Marketing hit my radar and I have been spending a lot of time learning as much as I could about that -- not doing a lot of it myself -- but learning so I can help clients use it to their best advantage. In fact, I have given a seminar on it already and have been asked to do a "Lunch 'n Learn" at our local library for business people who want to learn about Social Network Marketing.

But I don't take classes or read a lot about the Internet. The Rough Guide did have a lot of information I already knew. Like how to open email. But it also told me the difference between POP and IMAP - in words I finally understood. It explained the pros and cons of email accounts provided by one's ISP, a stand-alone program (like Gmail) and website-based email. It explained differences in various browsers, including Firefox, IE, Opera and Safari. It also told me about some of the features on Google - after reading their info, I looked at Google's features page. WOW! I knew Google was good, but it is even better than I knew. It gave a brief overview of Social Networking Sites and provided a primer on building one's own website (subjects I could write about myself). But the final section offered a myriad of "things to do on the net." Sites with games, cartoons, TV shows, movie trailers, medical advice, weather reports and so many other things. Okay, a lot of this is just silliness, but if you have a few hours to kill...

The book is called Rough Guide to the Internet and is by Peter Buckley and Duncan Clark. Even if you think you know everything about the Internet, you should check this little gem out.

Social Media Marketing - Is it a Fad?

2009-11-12T16:23:00.001-06:00

Okay, so you’ve heard about this Social Network Marketing, but is it worth the time you will spend on it?

Social Networking sites were developed as a way for people to catch up socially—and they were amazingly successful. In fact, there are literally thousands of social networking sites, many built around specific groups of people with the same interests, hobbies and jobs. Facebook started as a way for college kids to interact – share information about where the next kegger would be held, which professors were easiest, and to keep up with what was going on. Twitter asked a simple question: “What are you doing?” It was just for fun. Both of these sites became addictive and the word got out and the sites grew.

It wasn’t long before marketers realized that there were a lot of potential customers on these sites, and moved in. An article recently made a prediction that FaceBook was dying and that soon the only ones on the site would be the vulture-like marketers, picking the bones of the dead bodies of those who didn’t leave the site fast enough.

Is social networking a fad?

History might help here. Most people don’t remember that television was once considered a fad … a novelty … radio with pictures. In the early days, programming consisted mainly of old movies and recycled Vaudeville acts. Then the advertisers moved in – and spent a lot of money. Soon programming became more sophisticated and expensive. And those who advertised on TV made a lot of money.

The Internet started as a way for scientists and academics to collaborate. When the World Wide Web was developed, people started to notice. But many business people could see no value in advertising on the Internet. Smart marketing people, however, realized the power. Today, it would be hard to find a successful business that does not have an Internet presence. Instead of tracking Nielsen ratings, they are tracking “hits” to their Websites.

Social Networking Marketing has grown out of the Internet as a way to capitalize on the sheer numbers of people on these sites. While MySpace may be passé in the eyes of many, and FaceBook may be losing share to Twitter, and while Twitter will probably give way to the “next big thing,” there are still millions of consumers on each of these sites.

Is social networking a fad? Maybe. But right now, it is “what’s happening” and smart business people will work to find a way to make it fit in with their overall marketing strategy.

Confusion - boredom - disblief AND elaborate wordings

2009-11-01T16:22:00.000-06:00

I was recently asked to do a short bio for a client for her Real Estate Website. English was not her first language and she wanted to sound professional. A simple task - I thought! After writing the bio for her, she emailed me that she was disappointed, stating that she had hoped for "more elaborate wordings," and a "vocabulary I do not possess," adding that I was "the pro with words." The complaining email was long and poorly written, but I did get the point that I had not satisfied her. And while she offered me the opportunity to redeem myself by trying again, I declined.

It is hard to defend oneself from the type of attack. I have been writing copy like this for over 20 years and most of my clients appreciate my talent. They believe my copy delivers the right message to the target audience in the right way.

Good writing is not about using the longest words - it is about using the most appropriate words. Granted, if the writing is too simplistic, the reader may become bored and impatient. However, if the message is too obscure and convoluted, the reader may be confused and annoyed. Finally, if the message is too "puffed up," it may not ring true. In each case, the reader will not be favorably impressed. Confusion, boredom and disbelief are considered the three cardinal sins of writing.

After my experience with this young lady, I might add a fourth - "elaborate wordings." If your audience sees you as pompous or attempting to show off your superior intellect, they may look for someone who understands them, their life and their needs. If your audience is confused by what you are trying to tell them, they'll stop listening. If you don't hold their interest, they will tune out. If they don't believe yo u, they will almost certainly tell others not to listen.

Be Careful What you put into cyberspace - It will haunt you!

2009-10-28T15:45:00.000-05:00

I just found this blog. I started it last year and then promptly forgot about it and started another one. I have been writing on that one and it can be found at www.thewordpro.com/blog When I found this again, I remembered how cool it was. Blogger also connects to Google, which seems to be the thing to do these days. So I think I'll start writing on this blog instead :) Life goes on.

Blogging with photos!

2008-03-11T18:04:00.000-05:00

This is a blog that incorporates some of the cool features. If you create a Flickr account and upload photos, you can create a slideshow of those photos to be displayed in your blog. You can also add individual photos to your blog. You can also put a "profile" up that tells about you or your service. You can also post contact information. How cool!

Welcome to my Blog!

2008-03-04T10:57:00.000-06:00

This will be the blog where I write my musings about life, business and the world...