Social Networking Project

Social Networking: A Missed Opportunity?

One of my clients recognizes, wisely I might add, that by not participating in social networking, they are missing opportunities.  So, they asked me to develop a corporate social networking plan.

I wrote an outline for our approach.  I selected LinkedIn as our main social media tool because it is the world’s third largest professional network with over 80 million members and growing[1].  LinkedIn’s founder, Reid Hoffman, designed this virtual community so that employers and employees could share ideas, resumes, skills as well as business opportunities.  Unlike a social network, it is the only platform focused solely on professional networking. Plus, most of my clients’ employees are already “LinkedIn”.

Twitter has its own strengths.  For one, it’s estimated that there are well over 75 million users[2].   That said, while only about 60% of them actually Tweet, there’s still a large number of users and readers.   Few of my clients’ employees are using Twitter, but for those that are using it, we can include it in our plan.

5 Steps to A Social Life

1. To set up a social network campaign, I identified some URLs to expose to my clients’ LinkedIn and Twitter networks. 
2. I also identified numerous industry hashtags (#) to use in the updates. 
3. I recruited five employees to the campaign and gave it a start and end date.
4. I selected HootSuite to monitor URL clicks.
5. Daily, I send out two updates for the team to post and then I monitor their success or failure the next day.

Lessons Learned

We rolled out the social network plan this week.  Here are some lessons I’ve learned so far.

1. Unliked Twitter where you can quickly “RT” (or retweet), in LinkedIn you must “Share” an update. This is cumbersome.  It’s much easier to send them a message saying “RT @contactname quote” than to put them through numerous steps of finding a person, finding the quote and then selecting “share.” 
2. Some posts are coming in groups, rather than dispersed throughout the day. 
3. Some posts are reposted, by the same person, twice. Just user error, I think.
4. To share each message, I had to create a “how to” because I had some first-time/infrequent users.  To do that I put the message in a graphic, only to realize you can’t cut and paste the message.  A “Duh” moment for me!

There’s data to analyze now as well, thanks to HootSuite.  That said, there’s a lot of work to do to increase our clicks, our retweets, our posts, our reposts, our follows. 

Thank God, next week is a new week.  I have to address the issues I found this week.  I need to sexy up the posts.  And teach some other ways to post updates.  I’ll be interested to see where this campaign takes us in the next four weeks. 

If you’d like to follow the project, please sign up to receive a blog update.  I don’t blog daily, so you won’t be inundated.

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[1] LinkedIn.com

[2] http://www.numberof.net/number-of-twitter-users/

Why? Why ask Why and How it Can Change Your Business

Here’s the Queen of Qualifying Questions: Why?

I used to work with a project manager at a tech firm and, to my great annoyance, that was his favorite question. Why?

“We need to build a new database to track courseware inventory,” I’d say.

“Why?” he would ask.

“Why? Why? Isn’t it obvious?” I would scream in my head.  “Uh…because we’re getting so much courseware we are losing track of it.  If we don’t return unopened courseware by a certain date, then we eat the cost.” 

“Ok,” he’d say. “Let’s schedule a meeting and discuss it further.” 

Years later, I’ve learned the value of the Queen of Qualifying Questions.  Annoying as it is, obvious as the answer may be, you need to ask it. Every day. To everything: Why?

• Why are you creating a website?
• Why are you investing in a new accounting system?
• Why are you hiring another sales representative?
• Why are you writing a business plan?
• Why are you doing any marketing?
• What you trying to market?

By asking the Queen of Qualifying Questions, I’ve actually eliminated unnecessary projects. 

I’ve also found greater purpose in other projects.

Ie. Here’s my internal dialog around the use of Twitter:

Why am I using Twitter?  To experience Twitter since I’m in the marketing business. Well, that’s not very motivating.  To share important marketing news.  No. To share important marketing tips and advice.  With everyone? With specific people? Well, other marketing people don’t need my advice.  No, my energy is really for small business.  They need solid resources for building their businesses and I would like to be one of those resources either by sharing valuable information or becoming their go to person.  Ah…so why am I on Twitter? To share quality marketing tips and advice with small business owners. 

And that guides me every time I post something on Twitter.  It guides me on what to research for it too.  I no longer feel compelled to post anything and everything. I also no longer feel lost about what to put on Twitter.  What a relief!

Then, I started asking Why everytime I got a new client project. “Why are you creating a new campaign?”  or “Why are we creating a marketing plan for this product?”  And, wow, some great things have started happening!

Get the beauty of the Queen of Qualifying Questions?

Dear Small Business Owner:

Try this for one day. Before you say “yes” or “no” to a new project, first ask, “Why?”

Let me know how it goes.

Blogging Ain’t Easy

I saw a note in my husband’s inbox the other day. (Yes, I was looking over his shoulder).  His company just published their new website. (Ooolalala!  It does look sharp!)  Okay, back to the note.  The note from the president of the company said, “We need everyone to blog. So start blogging …” and then he gave directions to send the blogs to their marketing director so she can post them. 

I had to laugh. There are so many things wrong with that approach, it’s a little hard to know where to start.  

If you’ve never tried to blog, let me tell you now, it ain’t easy.  I mean, on the one hand, it IS easy. On the other hand: not at all easy.  You write. Then you edit. Then you re-write. Then you wake up at night thinking about it.  And you re-write again.  You read other blogs. You try to figure out how to get someone to read your blog. You jump up an down when someone does read it. You have a celebratory glass of wine when someone actually comments.  Blogging is a kind of rip your heart out, try try again is anyone listening, hello? hello? kind of experience.  It’s cathartic when you’re doing it and then heart stopping when you press “publish” and check back throughout the next day or two to see if anyone out there is reading. 

 Bueller? Bueller? 

So, I don’t know.  If you work for a company that says to you “Start blogging,”  I’m thinking, they don’t really know what they are asking you to do!  And if they tell you to send your blog to the marketing director so she can post it for you, well, they really don’t know what they are asking you to do.  

And I’m sure the marketing director has pointed out what blogging and community and sharing posts and blogs and comments and all that is all about, but I’m pretty sure the owner of the company doesn’t care. The owner, president, person in charge just wants it all to happen.  “Just make it so!”  

Dear Small Business Owner,

If you want your employees to blog, you need a plan.  If you need a plan, you need a marketing guru.  Let your marketing guru create a plan for you.  Because blogging ain’t easy.

Do Not Buy an Email List

About a month ago, my client said, “Hey, Katrina, I like your idea about email campaigns, let’s start one. So, where do we buy an email list?” 

Buy an email list? Uh… 

Dear Small Business Owner,

Please. Please don’t buy an email list.  This is a waste of time and money.  I promise.  I’ve done the research for you and can assure you, buying an email list is not the way to build your business.

I have to confess that I’ve never had to buy an email list.  So, when my client asked me about it, my gut immediately replied, “Don’t buy a list!”  but I said, “Well, let me look into it for you.” 

I first consulted two marketing pros in my circle of colleagues and they both said, “No way. Don’t do it.”  One of them had even purchased a targeted list from a well-known magazine.  They had terrible results.  She said that her firm would not repeat the mistake again.

Then, I did some online research.  Again, not one marketing professional supports buying an email list.  Every single one says, “Don’t do it.” 

Third, I learned that most reputable email campaign software tools won’t let you use purchased email lists.  Constant Contact, a popular vendor, says, “Constant Contact has a very strict permission-only policy, and it is a violation of our policy to use purchased lists with our service. If you do not have email addresses for your customers already, we suggest that you begin to collect them.”

I also read this straightforward article that sites four reasons you don’t want to buy an email list.

1. List Fatigue
2. List Quality
3. Permission
4. Legal and ISP Issues

I leave it to this well written article to explain the details: Email Marketing Bulk Email Lists 

Now, here’s the final reason not to buy an email list. The reason is harder to sell, frankly, but is important nonetheless.  There’s this whole strategy around internet marketing, or interactive marketing, that’s very new to traditional business models. 

Interactive marketing is about transparency, relationship-building and integrity. 

Email marketing is best used a relationship-building tool. 

Just think about it this way.  You do business with banks, stores, schools, etc.  As you sign up with them, you usually agree to receive emails from them.  Sometimes you don’t see that little opt-in (those clever designers), but generally, you know who you do business with.  When you select “yes, I want to receive email from you” you genuinely do want to receive email from that source.  The control is then in your hands. You can read the email, save it or delete it.

So, when I get an email from Kohl’s, I  know why I am getting it. On the other hand, I just checked my yahoo file and found an email from PharmacyNow@yahoo.com, and I’ve never heard of those guys (spam!). 

When I do read my emails, I learn more about the organization/company and what they are offering me today.  As I read their emails, I develop a relationship with them.  I do.  I really do.  And so do you. 

I know that sounds weird.  Develop a relationship with your customers? Put all this money and time into email to develop … relationships?  Well, yeah.  I buy more from Kohl’s and Lands End now that I get email from them. My neighbor prints and uses her JoAnn coupons that she receives via email.  My husband and I love to hear what’s happening with Lifewater International and then we donate more to them when we can.  

When I get email I didn’t ask for, however, I think of that company negatively and assume that they are not a company of integrity.  My friend was the marketing director at an international communications company and she kept receiving emails from a sales company.  These were emails she didn’t sign up to receive.  She determined that they were not honest or reputable, particularly after she asked them to stop sending her emails and they didn’t.  Not only did they not win her business, she doesn’t have anything good to say about them. 

If you are a small business, you can’t afford a bad reputation. You can’t afford to be blacklisted.  You can’t afford to buy an email list that doesn’t net sales. 

I reconvened with my client and said, “You don’t want to buy a list.”  He was not happy to hear this because he needs to fill the pipeline, pronto.

I know you need to sell. You need to fill the pipeline. You don’t want to take the time to build an email list because you know it’s going to take a lot of time.  I get that. I own a small business too. It feels like a dead end when you realize you can’t just send emails out to anyone.

 It isn’t a dead end.  There’s a window to that seemingly closed door…and it’s called “Opt-In”.  It takes time, but it’s worth it.  With Opt-In emails and list building, you’re going to develop a following, loyalty, and, yes, customers!  I’ve done it many times with great results.  And you can too!

Want a list of opt-in ideas?  Just leave me a comment and I’ll email you my list!

A Few Things I Learned at Bend WebCam

WD40 is cool.

So I started this blog last year and haven’t touched it in about 9 months.  Bad form, but that’s why attending something like the Bend WebCam conference is a good thing. It reminds you of what’s important and puts you back in touch with your passion.  You meet a lot of cool people and hear a lot of amazing stuff.  I learned a lot at this year’s BendWebCam conference. A lot of things were reinforced, like:  you need to know your audience, develop a strategy and a message, you need to ask “why”?, etc.  I hope we all knew that already.

The following thoughts, however, are ones I didn’t really know about before or haven’t thought about too much until now. Here are a few thoughts, in no particular order…

1. WD40, you know, the stuff you use for a squeaky door, has fans. They have so many fans they have a website, The Official WD40 Fan Club: mywd40.com. And these are real users, real fans with real stories. You can’t really make this stuff up. I just think that if an every day product like WD40 can have fans, well, hey, then just about anything can. And that’s good news for a marketer, and, well, for any business owner.
2. Mood boards are cool and I will begin to use them immediately. Don’t know what a Mood Board is? You know on those decorating shows they’ll produce a board with fabric, color swatches and pictures of furniture on them? That’s what it is, but you can do it for websites too! Just Google mood boards, look under images and you’ll see a bunch of them. Thanks John Andrews of johnon.com for this tip and the next one…
3. You can apparently make cool, time-saving mock ups using Balsamiq  and I’ll have to try it as soon as possible.
4. “Great marketing is great storytelling.”—The Great Society (greatsociety.com)
5. If you are tired and feeling overwhelmed, you are not the only one. Your staff is feeling it. Your customer is feeling it. Everyone is feeling it.  I got this from several places, but attribute it to Jason Bagley, Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, OR and Ian Cohen & Cal McAllister, Creative Directors, Wexley School for Girls, Seattle, WA
6. Fail Harder,” says Jason Bagley. He hit that home with “It’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out.” Phew!
7. SEO (speaking of the fact that I don’t have to have it all figured out) is its own industry and it’s here to stay. It will continue to play a major role in every marketer’s future, and so, in every business owner’s future.  Oh boy!
8. The guys at Great Society told me that I’d asked the best question they’d heard of the entire conference. (Aw, shucks, guys…*Blush*). My question to them was, “How do you convince a client not to follow convention and to abandon the literal?” So the next thing I learned is that you really have to learn to convince your client. You also have to build trust. You can also hope for a client who is willing to try something new. And really, you have to have a great idea. When you have a great idea, you’re going to have to learn to sell it others, be its champion and convince others to buy-in. Gosh, is that all?  Oh and they said that if you have a small budget, then the idea has to be even better!  Whoa!

So all in all, the conference was jam packed with information. There were some great presentations and some funny, funny stuff.  I learned a lot more than I record here. Maybe a few others who attended can add to the list, share what they learned or link blogs.  Anyway.  It was a great time and I’m anxious to see how I’ll incorporate it into my business and how all this stuff will help my clients.  Thanks AdFed! See you at the next event!

Blah Blah Blah…

You’re at a mixer.  You’ve been introduced to someone and you try in earnest to get to know him.  You ask his name, he tells you. You ask him what he does, he answers.  He seems nice, but he’s not forthcoming and when he does answer your questions, you aren’t impressed.  You think, “Well, not much here,” and you excuse yourself and move on.  You’re pretty sure there’s more of a story there, but you’re hard pressed to figure out what that is and you don’t really care to help him figure it out.  

There are websites like this as well.  You arrive on the homepage and you read the content, but you aren’t impressed.  You even click on a few links, which lead to new pages of less information and no reason to stick around and learn more.  You think, “Well, not much here” and you move on.  Again, this may be a great company with something to offer you, but you don’t know what that is and you are in research mode, trying to learn, maybe make a decision or purchase a product.  

If you are responsible for your website, here’s how to bore someone with your homepage:

Wordiness, use of passive voice, needless directions, use of industry jargon

There are more, but these rise to the top.  Here are some web examples I found:

Examples of Wordiness and Passive Voice:

“Our goal is to enable our customers to focus on their core mission by providing technology solutions that increase growth and outreach while managing time and critical resources in a more efficient and productive way.” 

If you have to read a sentence three times to get the meaning, it’s too long.  By now, your web visitor has surfed on to another site.  The organization’s goal should be crystal clear, particularly on the homepage.   One could argue that rather than write the whole goal or mission statement, they should state it in a catchy, short tagline.  Also, don’t use passive voice or too many words.  A better sentence for this site might be: Focus on what you do best; leave the technology to us. (Then put the full mission on a secondary page).

On to another example:

“…is an IT consultancy and systems integrator specializing in e-discovery, email management, and records management solutions.” 

Hmm…is consultancy even a word?  Okay, I looked it up and it is, but who says “consultancy”?  And what is systems integrator?  To be fair, if you are in the technical industry, these phrases may make sense to you, but a business manager or director looking for someone to help them manage their email may miss what you do and how to connect with you. Use familiar, readable words.  A better statement could be: “…an IT consulting firm specializing in… ”

Example of needless information/directions:

“Here you will find information about the four hospitals that serve our…community…To learn more about each of the … hospitals, follow the links below”  and then below this text they have four pictures of the four hospitals, which you can click for more information. 

When you put your page together, assume we are savvy consumers and don’t need you to give us instructions on what to do with the four photos at the bottom of the page. This company wastes a lot of real estate with wordiness and instructions that are unnecessary.  In fact, the information you may truly be seeking (ie. H1N1 updates) are so far at the bottom of the page, you’d miss them if you were scanning. To be fair, there is an art to directing the visitor to click on the links and I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, but don’t waste the reader’s time or your precious real estate giving instructions on how to use the site.

Example of using Industry Jargon:

“…sustainable design is much more than LEED or a USGBC membership and a logo on a website.”

I have no idea what LEEDS or USGBC is, but I shouldn’t need to know just to read the homepage.   These industry words don’t create trust and impress me, they make me stumble, recognize how little I know and surf off their site on to fine someone else in the same industry.   Don’t use industry jargon on your homepage.

The list above is not all inclusive. There are more ways to bore your reader, but these dominate.  Content editing your website is critical to communicating with your potential and current clients.  You are never done; there is always more to do.

Next Steps:
Take a look at the homepage for www.zcsengineering.com.  I am not crazy about their secondary pages, but the homepage tells me just what I need to know to continue asking questions (meaning, click for more information).

Now, study your website.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What sentence or paragraph on my homepage needs to be shorter?
• Do I needlessly say “click here for more information”?
• Do I use any industry jargon?
• Do I use words that need explaining or words that are not used in daily conversation?

As always, if you can’t answer these questions (sometimes we’re too close to the subject), then ask a friend not related to your business and see what he/she thinks.

Please, share any website blunders you find!

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Too Much Information – TMI

You’ve met a beautiful woman, but within five minutes you know everything about her.  You know how old she is, what she does for a living, sure, but you also know how many men she’s dated, what she ate for breakfast, why she didn’t choose black shoes today but rather brown boots, where she went on her lunch break, how many children she wants to have and her dreams for the future – with you !  You think, “Pass”; politely excuse yourself and move on. 

How many websites have you visited that make you think, “Pass”?  You get to the home page and it tells you more than you wanted to know, and not with the nicest of manners.  I knew immediately what one non-profit wanted from me when I landed on their homepage, but like a bad dating encounter, I didn’t want to stick around.  Between the content and the layout, I could feel their “neediness”.  They needed me to give money, to lend housing and to volunteer. None of this is bad to need or ask for, but a little wooing would keep me engaged and interested in learning more about them.  Ultimately, I should feel connected to them and want to help them.  

A good example of a website that inspires and elicits the user to go deeper is the Komen Foundation website, komen.org.  While it has a Get Involved link and a Donate link, what first catches your eye are the photos and the Breast Cancer Story, as told by all the photos as you click on them. 

Photos of storytellers draw you in to learn more.

After you read a number of the stories, you can link in further or stay on the homepage, browsing the news, sponsors and more.  There’s no commitment, just the opportunity to learn.  As you click on links and learn more, you see how you can help both financially and as a volunteer.  The webmaster knows how to work your feelings and your brain to create awareness and support.  Unlike the bad date who tells you more than you wanted to know (TMI), the homepage does not tell you everything.  It invites you to read, click, look around, ask questions and click some more.  This is the kind of date you are looking for – a date that asks open ended questions and answers your questions with honesty, integrity and engages you to stay connected and, eventually, get involved. 

Next Steps:
Study the Komen website (even for-profits will learn something here): www.komen.org

Now, study your website.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Does my homepage inspire? 
• Do I have too much information on my homepage? 
• How can I get someone to click from my homepage to the next page? And the next?
• Is my content honest and engaging? 

If you can’t answer these questions (sometimes we’re too close to the subject), then ask a friend not related to your business and see what he/she thinks.