Observations from the Road #2:
You don’t have to be the fastest car on the road to get there on time.

"Are We Almost There?"

Here I sit in Knoxville, TN at a relatively nice pet-friendly hotel – LaQuinta Inns & Suites, to be precise. I left Charlottesville, VA about 2:00 p.m. yesterday and based on the milage, I calculated my arrival in Knoxville to be about 8:00 to 8:30 with stops for food, gas and Pablo. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a competitive streak, normally not so much with other people as with myself. Behind the wheel on the highway, however, I’m finding myself getting irritated when someone passes.

Please know, I am not a Nervous-Nellie (no relation) driver. I push the 65 mph – to the comfortable “just below the level of speeding” envelope.  I’m not poking along, in other words. I’m passing plenty, if not most cars on the road – but not all. Most of the time when they pass me they’re going a LOT faster than me, not just a few mph, so I see them coming up from behind from a ways back. That gives me time to really get tense and ticked off.

I’m usually on cruise control so I look down at the speedometer to make sure it hasn’t “clicked off” and I’m actually going as fast as I think.

• “Should I speed up?”
• “What kind of car is that?”
• “My car could keep up with that.”
• “I wonder if there are any highway police out there.”
• “What time is it? How much farther do I have?…. “

Then I realize that even 15 miles per hour more will only mean getting there minutes faster in a day – not hours. It’s faster, yes – but does it really matter in the long run? Is it really an issue to stress about? Does it really matter in the long run?

I’m sure you know what I mean. A colleague or competitor takes a different tact than you, publishes a new book, posts additional blog entries, wins another client, gets more RT’s, has more followers, attends more conferences… whatever it is that makes you question whether you’re “doing enough”.

I’m finding some clients thinking along the same lines regarding social media strategies. They want to have a wicked cool website, be a top trending topic on Twitter, have the most viewed video on You Tube. Yet for most businesses, a successful social media presence isn’t about having the foxiest website, the coolest viral video or being a trending topic on Twitter for the day.

Building a social media presence isn’t sexy or fast.  Are you trying to make a 6 hour trip in 4 hours or are you trying to get to Knoxville in time to relax, walk the littlest Pablo and get a good night’s sleep? Are you trying to build a social media presence to improve your business for the long-term or are you trying to get more Facebook Fans than your competition?

Done correctly, building a social media presence isn’t sexy or fast. It isn’t about having the foxiest website, the coolest viral video or being a trending topic on Twitter for the day. All these things are good, don’t get me wrong, but:

1. Rarely can you plan any of them and
2. They’re temporary.

The website becomes familiar, the video fades and Twitter moves on to something else.

A speed demon flies up behind me on the highway. I move over to let them pass. Later on, another car will fly by me – and then another. 6 or so hours later, I get to Knoxville. Safe, sound and without a speeding ticket. Pablo is happy. I get a good night’s rest and best of all, my parents read this so – they know their “little girl” is driving responsibly.

Unless your primary goal is one-time, event based results, don’t worry so much about being the fasted, coolest most popular social media star around. Work on creating the best social media presence you can, be consistent day-in and day-out and be very protective of it.

Have you ever thought about ‘the thought’, if any, that goes into the “Welcome to…” state signs? I think that the answer is probably “not much” for most of us. That’s what I would have said until Monday, when I crossed into Connecticut on my drive from Portland, ME to NY.

What is the purpose of the sign? Is it merely something that marks a border? Or is it a communication? If it’s a communication, it’s a marketing tool – a branding tool. And if so, most states are missing the boat.

Welcome to Maine

I would suggest that the Welcome Sign is a first impression. It’s an opportunity to set a tone – an image in visitors’ minds – customers’ minds – of what is waiting should they stop and spend time (and money) in Connecticut.

State welcome signs are a communication tool. The Connecticut sign seemed cold, business like, technical. It didn’t feel welcoming to me at all.

Connecticut Welcomes You

Maine’s isn’t that much better, and I may be partial because I live there – but the “The Way Life Should Be” makes me FEEL something. Not only that, a few yards down from this sign you see another: ” Maine – Worth a Visit… Worth a lifetime…” Clearly a calculated marketing communication. (sorry, no picture of that one)

Ok, that being said – let’s draw the analogy between the Connecticut Welcomes You (or your state) sign and social media. The fact the sign may not be doing the best job for the state is likely not the ‘fault’ of the person in charge of the sign. It may be the ‘wrong’ person in charge of the sign.

What would I ask Connecticut?  Who is responsible for the ‘welcome’ signs within the state? Is it someone who is:

1. In marketing or with other communication responsibilities? or
2. Experienced at and responsible for maintaining highway signs and markers?

Who have you turned to help you / your business leverage social media?

Is it a IT person? A web designer? An SEO specialist? A blog ghost writer? A young person that “gets” all this new Web 2.0 stuff?

Make sure you turn to the right person / people with the right skills to orchestrate and manage your business’s online, social presence. Don’t expect a web designer to understand marketing strategies, nor a marketing strategist to understand what FBML code to use to make your Twitter feed show up on your Facebook page.

Who’s representing you in the social media sphere?

For the Record:
I am not an internet sales person or an internet marketing person. I am a marketing professional. I don’t design Facebook pages or websites, I don’t code websites or shopping carts or run reports that show the top keywords you should use.

While I can make all these things happen, my role is to help you to make sure your website, your blog, your Facebook page, etc. targets the right people with the right messaging so they:

1. visit, read and fan your sites,
2. share information back with you when appropriate and
3. likely turn into a client.

In other words, I advise, coach and teach how to build relationships with people online so they get to know, like and trust you, your product and your website / blog so it accomplishes the goals you set for it’s existence.

In yesterday’s post we talked about the 4-W’s of targeting your social media audience. Today I’ll start to break the W’s down.

Who do you want to connect with?
Your clients? Other professionals in your area of expertise? Vendors and colleagues?

All of the above, you say – well, fine. However, there should be a primary focus when you’re just getting started. The adage “you can’t be all things to all people or you’ll end up being nothing to no one” rings true, unless you have a staff and a budget of thousands.  Just like a magnifying glass concentrates the light into a pinpoint beam. When the heat builds enough to catch fire – the fire spreads. The same with your marketing efforts. Target your initial efforts where it makes the most sense. Concentrate your resources for the biggest impact – and then let it spread. Starting the other way around with limited resources will only dilute results.

Bob

To make it easier for clients to define their ‘ideal’ person I ask them to create a character, as in a book or movie. Describe, in detail, a person that embodies the best of all characteristics of this ideal targeted individual. Is it a client or a competitor? Where do they live, what kind of house, what is their work, the car they drive, the types of restaurants they frequent, books they read, music they like, pets they have, schools they attended, dreams they have… What color hair, how much do they weigh? What is their name? This, of course, is fiction – to an extent, but it does a couple of things for you.

1. It gets you thinking about your market in ways other than using your product /service and
2. It helps to put a face to an otherwise generalized group description.

One of my ideal ‘targets’ for social media is my client, “Bob”. He and his wife live and work in the greater Portland area, drive a Prius or Hylander, either doesn’t have children or they’re grown, he owns his own business or runs a non-profit and has 5 to 50 employees.  Giving back to the community is important and he chooses the causes carefully. He’s a member of the Chamber, not because he participates actively, he feels like  he “should”.

He’s very comfortable with technology and using the computer but he’s not a geek. He does his own research for business, restaurants, movies, purchases, etc. He has a Blackberry and is considering an iPhone when his contract comes due. He’s on Facebook, sort of. His wife encouraged him because of all the old friends she’s reconnected with. He is on there once or twice a month, maybe – checking things. He set up a Twitter account last summer, but hasn’t been back, not because he doesn’t think it’s important but because it’s overwhelming and he’s not sure what to do with it.. He enjoys the outdoors although isn’t an endurance nut – perhaps skiing in the winter, boating in the summer – not much of a golfer. He works out – running primarily because it’s fast and uncomplicated. He goes into the gym from time to time, but isn’t a gym rat or a muscle man…  and so on.

Bob and his business have a good reputation in the community and industry and therefore he has never had to put a lot of effort / resources into marketing in the past. New technology, competition and the economy have changed this equation.

What does this do for me? With this description I can better determine where to spend my time. I won’t likely allocate my resources to sponsoring a Chamber event, golf tournament or Iron Man contest – because Bob won’t be there. If I’m on the committee to help organize the big gun show coming to town, Bob is probably not going to be on my A-list for sponsorship opportunities. He would, however get a call if the event were simple ways to increase efficiency through alternative energy or new technology.

Bubba

From an online perspective, if Bob is my target market, I probably won’t invest a lot of my resources on Twitter or Facebook – although I DO want a presence- because his wife is there. I’ll spend most of my online resources on review sites and blogs and other venues mentioning my product – making sure I know what’s out there and being present, because Bob is looking before making his buying decision. We’ll get more into the “Where is Bob online” in a future post.

Does that mean none of your prospects or clients chew tobacco or drive a Chevy pickup? Of course not, but once Bob and his friends know about you, word will spread to Bubba.

W's

It isn’t hard to get started in social media. Set up a Twitter account, Facebook page, a blog and boom; there you are – right?

Wrong. Having a presence on these sites isn’t what makes you successful social media. It’s how you listen, engage and connect with others on these sites that makes you successful.

So how to you get started?

Think through the 4-W’s: Who, Why, Where and What.

1. Who do you want to listen to & engage / connect with?
2. Why is it important?
3. Where are they online?
4. What will you do with the information you learn and relationships you build?

Who do you want to listen to & engage / connect with? Your clients? Other professionals in your area of expertise? Vendors and colleagues? All of the above, you say – well, fine. However, there should be a primary focus when you’re just getting started. The adage “you can’t be all things to all people or you’ll end up being nothing to no one” rings true. Unless you have a staff and a budget of thousands, target your efforts.

Why is it important? Your clients may be talking about your product, additional needs they have around a service you provide, your competition. Other professionals in your area of expertise may be talking about a new concept, idea or resource that could add value to your clients or your future work; or they may talk about a situation that could present an opportunity for collaboration.  Vendors may talk about upcoming developments, challenges, clients that will make a difference in your planning. What information do you want to key on?

Where are they online? You know who they are – are they active on Facebook? Twitter? Do they blog? Are they active on industry discussion boards / forums / networks? The “standard” social media plan includes a blog, Facebook Page and Twitter. While this might be a good start for many strategies, think it through for your situation before stopping here. I don’t think you should ignore any of these three, however depending on your “who”, “why” and “where” you may want to consider an industry social network or MySpace or Flickr account first.

What will you do with the information you learn and relationships you build? You’re online, you’re listening and begin hearing the feedback you’re seeking. Now what? Say you begin to hear there’s a quality issue with your product. What will you do? Or you hear people talking up a new service package from a competing professional. How will you use this information?

Successfully leveraging social media in your business begins before you set up your Twitter account or post a blog entry. Think through the 4-W’s first. Then listen, engage, connect and take action.

I love Chris Brogan’s posts; simple and easy “how-to”s for organizations large and small. So many organizations haven’t explored the social ’sphere’ because they don’t know how or where to start. Chris boils what can be a big, complex discussion into simple concepts with clear beginning points.

one-size-fits-all

That’s what Framing Your Social Media Efforts is, a simple beginning point. It isn’t a one-size-fits all social media plan. If you haven’t yet, or are just beginning to investigate social tools for your organization, read this and other posts by Chris. He helps outline a good foundation for how and why a successful social strategies work; this one highlighting – Listen; Connect; Publish.

In Framing Your Social Media Efforts Chris also gives suggestions for social tools for each ‘phase’, both free and paid. Keep in mind when reading this, or any other post, article or book on the subject; your objectives, goals and – or course – your budget will drive your selection of tools. The important thing is to be aware of what is available to you. This way when your objective, goal or budget evolves your social efforts can evolve accordingly.

There isn’t a one-size fits all social map. Use this and other good guides as a starting points. Then make it your own. If you don’t have the time, patience or expertise and want someone to create a plan for you, hire New Marketing Labs – or me, of course.

It’s finally here – Launch date for BOLDBusiness.tv, an internet series of interviews with people NOT doing business as usual. Why am I doing this? Read this for the best answer I could come up with so far.

Every two weeks I’ll introduce someone who is or is doing something big, BOLD and on purpose, not because it’s expected or “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” The interviews are a brief 3 to 4 minutes; concentrated BOLDness. If you know someone who fits the bill, send them my way.

Enjoy Episode 1 – Barbara Hart, founder of HIre Well and Author of HartsAtSea.com

A couple of days ago I posted an entry that was prompted by an email newsletter I received.

1. A quote from from the newsletter: “Back & forth I’ve gone on all this “social media” business, and I’m a long way from making up my mind.”
2. The fact that the newsletter was in the body of the email and was 1200 words long.
3. The mention of his “reintroduced” blog was at the very end of a very long email.

It was brought to my attention that my ‘tone’ in that post was a bit brusk …brusque (thanks Dave); intolerant (my words). Rather than change the original post, I decided to add a few constructive thoughts as a separate post and not change the original. What I write is my view on a business issue. It’s not personal and it’s not picking on anyone. The view is my own and focused on professionals doing professional work. I don’t feel anything in the post was inappropriate. It was true and honest.

To begin, let me reiterate, I did not intend to be unkind, flip or derogatory. Likewise, this post is intended to help, you, the readers, not criticize Dave. My thought is that using a real-world example can make it easier to internalize and relate to your own situation. Fortunately, or probably not, for Dave he’s the real-world example.

Dave Griffiths

The author of the newsletter” is Mr. Dave Griffiths of Dave Griffiths Communications. I know Dave through my membership in the Assoc. for Consulting Expertise. (ACE) Dave’s background is journalism and today he’s a freelance writer, editor and trainer for presentation skills, writing and media relations.

You can read my previous post for the original critique on his simply titled “Our Newsletter“. Here I’ll cover a few things Dave can do to improve. Knowing his overall objectives for the newsletter effort would be key here; but let’s assume the newsletter is intended to:

1. Keep in touch with clients and prospects so his services are top of mind when the the need arises
2. Reinforce his brand, his reputation as an expert (highly qualified individual if the word ‘expert’ puts you off) in his areas of focus i.e. writer, editor and trainer for presentation skills, writing and media relations.
3. Reintroduce his blog and encourage readers to subscribe.

In order for any of the three above to happen, the newsletter has to be read. It’s important to understand how people read online, how people read email to be specific. Most of us scan the subject lines and the sender names and then open selectively based on interest and time.  (This isn’t a post addressing interest, but make sure your subject line and the ’sender name’ speaks to interest.)

How much time do you have to spend in front of your monitor reading email? Typically not more than you have to. Email is primarily for quick communications targeted to a more ‘mature’, shall we say, audience. (Did you know few people under the age of 20 use email?) If we can’t read it quickly, we open and save for later, download the doc and file it / save for later or print to read later. If we don’t actually read it then, how often do we actually go back to the “save for later” pile / file and read through everything? If you’re like most, not very. Dave’s email was 1200 words. (This post is just over 900.) That’s an enormous email. Chances are those who opened the email either printed it, saved it or just closed it. Some may have gone back to read it later, but not a majority.

Instead of including the newsletter in it’s entirety in the email, Dave could use a lead-in teaser for each article with a link back to his site or blog for the whole post. People will be more likely to glance through a briefer email, well-formatted, than a long one. Those interested in the topic covered will be more likely to link over to read the article. More people who open a long email are more likely to print, save or close it and not get back to it than to read it.

Another opportunity missed is that someone opened Dave’s email and thought, “Hey I’ve been meaning to call him.” or “I’d like to check out his services.” They glanced through the newsletter looking for a phone number or, more likely, a link to his website. Don’t make people work to find you. Dave’s website link (no phone number is included) didn’t jump out at me. I assumed the web address was the suffix of his email address – Dave at GriffithsCommunications.com. It’s not. …Yes it is. Somehow my email system truncated Dave’s contact information and I misread his address. This is my oversight and I send my apologies for this inaccuracy.

And a confused mind always says “No”. How many of you would have taken the time to Google him to look for the right web address and how many of you would have just clicked ‘close’?  BTW, there are links to his website at the very end of the newsletter but not obvious, especially for us ’scanners’.

When I did find his website, I wanted to link over to his blog to take a look, but there wasn’t a link to his blog from the site. I couldn’t get to his blog without going back to his email and searching for the link in the copy of the newsletter. On his website, Dave only has a link to subscribe to his blog feed, not the blog itself.

I found the challenge on his blog site. There’s no way, at all, to get to Dave’s website from his blog. These last two points don’t have anything to do with a newsletter, but are comments about my overall ‘Dave experience’.

So, what are your takeaways?

• Don’t make me work to find you! If you do, I’ll go somewhere else.
• If you want to engage with me, understand what I want, where I am and how you can help me get it.
• Chances are, many of who YOU want is online. Don’t take too much longer to make up your mind about social media.

Hope this helps.

And, Dave, I admire you. Thank you for putting up with being (as Barbara Hart, aka @BarbAtSea, calls EW aka Stewart Hart) ‘the topic’.

Social media is much more than marketing. Social media is a fundamental change in how ‘we’ communicate, share information and even ‘congregate’. I’ve been saying this for over a year, both in a personal and business sense, I believe what we are seeing is a fundamental change that will ultimately change the organization of business, not just in practice but in structure.

Curmudgeon T-shirt

Why, oh why do people continue to have such a difficult time grasping what is happening? I know I shouldn’t be so transparent with my frustration, but it’s a new year – a new outlook and dadgummit, the real me.

My motivation for this post is three-fold.

First: On Monday, 1-11-10, I’m launching a web series of interviews I’m calling BOLDBusinessTV. (You can see the promo video on the right of this page as well as at BoldBusiness.TV) There are so many talented, creative, BOLD people doing something NOT because it’s the safe, expected thing to do. They’re doing what’s right for them. Not unlike wading into the social media realm,  social media, in many ways it’s an unknown, it’s not the ’safe’ choice, but with so much out there screaming – “big change is happening!”, so many are still saying things like…

Second motivator for this post:  A quote from Dave Griffith (Griffiths Communications – although I couldn’t find a website) in his email newsletter (titled “Our Newsletter”) that arrived in my inbox this morning:

“Back & forth I’ve gone on all this “social media” business, and I’m a long way from making up my mind.”   Dave, you’re a seasoned communications professional. What is social media, anyway, but communication?

This was an email newsletter. Not an e-newsletter, or e-zine, but an email newsletter; all 1200 words opened up when I clicked on it. A twelve hundred word email.

1. How many of you would read 1200 words right then?
2. How many of you would save the email …and then never get around to reading it later?

Dave goes on to write,

“Somehow the notion of “tweeting” hasn’t quite penetrated my thinking when it comes to serious and productive marketing.”

There is so much out there that says otherwise, I don’t even know where to start… but it’s all about the objective, right? Clearly, serious and productive marketing involves much more than a single tool, of which Twitter is one of many. Just as Dave will probably agree, serious and productive marketing success involves more than just advertising in a single publication, yes it involves more than just Twitter as well. However, if a targeted audience is on Twitter, why is it so difficult to understand the importance of being on Twitter?

Third and final motivator, Dave ends his 1200 word email newsletter with:

“But I am reintroducing my blog. Why I let it slip I don’t know, but I do recall that it made for relaxed and stimulating conversation. Please join me at http://www.businesscommunications.wordpress.com, and react by sounding off on anything touching on business communications, presentation skills and writing skills, and all their promise and pitfalls. I’ll continue to share what I know about the news media and how you can gain from press encounters, as well as writing and public speaking for success.”

Again, I wonder how many people read enough of the email to even know about Dave’s blog. I’m tweeting this, Facebooking it and putting it out there on LinkedIn. A few of you will link over to Dave’s blog, read and possibly subscribe. Maybe, some of you will Digg his post or bookmark it with Delicious, Reddit or StumbleUpon. Maybe.

Dave, I admire you for many things and wish you the very best. I hope you take this in the spirit it is intended. I guarantee this post will get you far more traffic than your email newsletter.

For even more ideas, here’s a good article from “Finding Blog Ideas“ on 10 things you can do to promote your blog after you post it.

PS – for your reference, this post is 630 words long.

With all the hoopla about social media marketing and the importance of ROI, I wonder how many businesses have spent time thinking about how they sell. Unless the cash register rings there is no ROI. For most of us the R (return) of the I (investment) comes from a sale. 

Want to increase ROI? Increase sales. How you sell – or your sales cycle – should be determined by how your clients come to a buy decision. How your clients buy can vary based on many things such as product -vs- service, price-point, size of "client" (ie: decision by individual, committee, board, etc.) and a number of other factors. 

A good rule of thumb is to consider your sales cycle to have 5 phases:

    1.    Awareness

    2.    Trust/Relationship Development

    3.    Information Gathering

    4.    Proposal

    5.    Negotiation & Close

 A baseball game makes for a good, simple analogy. The objective of the game is to score a run (make a sale). Before you can score a run (make a sale) you've got to make it up to bat (have a presence, an awareness); and so on. (I'll go into more detail on the 5-phases in a future blog entry).

For most businesses the 'typical' social media channel is best suited to getting prospects up to bat (awareness) and then to first base (developing the trust / relationship). Twitter, Facebook updates, LinkedIn group discussions, Blog posts and comments, they all go to increase the awareness of and building our reputation and brand. 

For example, you're trying to decide on a topic for a blog post. Think first, what "phase" of your sales cycle are you focusing on? Awareness? Building your reputation as the "go-to" business for your specialty? When you're tweeting, what is it you're trying to get across? That you exist? What's your objective? Knowing your objective as it relates to your sales cycle will help select the social tools as well as how you use them.

Amber Naslund, Director of Community for Radian6, (a social media monitoring & analytics company) had a great post responding to the omnipresent question, "How can I measure ROI on social media efforts?" Her initial response is what I've been saying all along; the first step is to set measurable objectives. But before you know what objectives to set, you have know what it takes to make a sale:

i.e. 1 out of every 5 inquiries leads to a presentation, 3 out of every 5 presentations leads to a sale. 

If I've done my math right, 25 inquiries will turn into 3 sales. Therefore an objective could be to get 25 inquiries from your website contact form per day, week, month…etc. That's measurable. 

Next, how will you lead people to the contact form; links in a blog post, tweets, Facebook ads? Keep in mind, however that if someone is ready to contact you they've already done some research and/or gotten recommendations. They are aware of who you are (up to bat), what you do and that you're good at it (on first base). 

What are some social media tools and corresponding objectives you can leverage to (get more people up to bat) increase the awareness of your product / services? General discussion in group forums such as LinkedIn? Commenting on relevant blog and/or Twitter posts? What would be measurable? Since we're only talking about awareness perhaps it would be to grow your number of "engaged" blog subscribers and/or Twitter followers. Note: "engaged". This isn't just a numbers game. Quality over quantity if you want to ring the register. Another measurable would be to track the number of times your blog posts / tweets are forwarded, tweeted, re-tweeted.

What would you consider appropriate measurable objectives to indicate your success in "getting to second base", i.e. building up your reputation as the "go-to" person in your field? Perhaps increase in % of return visitors to your blog, multiple downloads of free material? Increase the number of times your blog posts are bookmarked on Digg, StumbledUpon, Delicious, etc. ? All easily measurable. 

Setting meaningful and measurable objectives is the key to seeing meaningful and measurable ROI from your efforts. In order to to this, you've got to know how your clients buy – so you make sure you're sales cycle is on target. 

Your thoughts?

I love this post by Robert Scoble for a number of reasons.

1. The reality is the way businesses are selling, as well as marketing is changing. HP and Seagate are both foregoing the Consumer Electronics Show booths in favor of focusing more on small, intimate, experiences for bloggers and OEMs that they needed to meet with. (Original Equipment Manufacturer – I had to look that one up, I’ll admit.)
2. Blog Houses, in addition to the blog parties and suites, are a new trend, popping up at conferences. Robert Scoble talks about the Social Media Club House sponsored by PayPal at the recent LeWeb in Paris.

So what I want to know is who’s up for sponsoring the SXSW Club House in Austin next March? Stay tuned.