It’s easy to get caught up in the social buzz. We love real-time engagement and the simple fact we can get a tweet, reply or retweet within seconds when we’re having a gloomy day or simply need an ego boost. Klout, Peer Index & Kred influence scores, tweets, retweets, likes, comments, shares, pins, Diggs, Google [...]
It is not news that Facebook just launched a big round of changes, yet again. One change is getting a lot of attention, which is the death of the Facebook default landing tab.
I have heard tons of complaints on the removal of the tab. I’ve heard online marketers say the death of the Facebook tab is the death of their online marketing strategy? What? Seriously folks?
Attitude and mindset are often the key to success in life. With the right mindset you can learn new things, take on mountains, lead teams to success and accomplish more than you ever dreamed possible.
Becoming a social business is no easy task. It’s going to take smart thinking, dedication, teamwork, integration, getting real with the skeletons in the closet, and a “can do” attitude. The social ecosystem is still evolving and accepting that change is the only real guarantee is a good first step. If you are seeking benefit from social media but are having a difficult time in finding such, you might want to spend a day deep in thought and looking in the mirror versus a day of analyzing Facebook insights and Google Analytics.
Think back five, four, three, two and even one year ago. How different was your business? How different did you communicate with your clients, partners, service providers, and employees? A year ago were you still saying social media was just a fad? Five years ago were you one of the folks stating the internet was [...]
There you sit in the executive conference room watching everyone nod their heads about the latest idea from the new executive on the block. He or she has a new idea that is going to “save the company.” It could be anything from a random LinkedIn group, social media campaign, planned “go viral” video” or who knows what.
The sad thing is nobody in the conference room has the guts to state the obvious… that there is no budget, time, or resources to implement the new random act of marketing or social media with any level of success.
So, everyone in the conference room nods their heads, takes notes and smiles as if they are excited about the project. Under their breath they are thinking “how on earth am I going to get this #$@$%@ thing done!??
There are some things in life and business that don’t need a long introduction or fancy brand story before cutting to the chase. This blog post is one of them. This week I received an email from a self proclaimed “social media expert.” I’ve been subscribed to her email list for quite some time. To [...]
A new network, tool or feature launches on a social network and we all flock to it. Business leaders attend social media class after social media class searching for the social media “guru” who will once and for all be able to show them the magic answer to social media ROI. I don’t think I [...]
We all know the story, the problems, the laughter, the tears, and even the drama of becoming a social business. Those that have attempted, are working toward or have succeeded know it’s about much more than a tweet or a Facebook page. We must get in the head of our communities, audience, partners, and more. We must learn how we can best connect the dots of technology and conversation. It’s both art and science. It’s both communication and function.
So we’re kicking off a fun experiment. This is the first in a series of an interactive social business video series where you get to be the director!
The interactive video series is titled “The Days of Our Social Biz!”
People are moving by the masses to social communities and platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter. There is much pressure to have a page as cool as your competitors, clients, partners and colleagues. There are many experts who tell you how to talk, how to tweet, what to say, when to say it, [...]
We’ve all seen the begging pleas of the wanna be social business:
-like me on Facebook
-I need likes, come visit my page
-I’ll like you if you like me
-let’s take the conversation to Facebook
-Many of us have at one time done them. The smart ones eventually stop such behavior.
What these people are not getting is that I must have a reason to “like you.” WHY should I like you? There are a million other pages also asking for my time and for me to like them. And take what conversation to Facebook? I am not having a conversation with you to begin with? Give me a reason to want to talk with you, please.
There seems to be a mad rush to get on the social band wagon. Even though you and your business have been without Facebook, Twitter, a blog, LinkedIn or Google+ for your entire life and business history all of a sudden someone in your organization who has authority has decided you need to “get on social media,” by next Friday.
Whoooaaa horsey, slow down!
Random acts of marketing (RAMs) will melt the positive in your business checking account, return on investment and brand equity like an ice cube on a hot day on hot cement. RAMS are a leading cause for failure in business, marketing and of course social media.
Integration may seem like a lot of work up front. When I talk about integration with clients I often get that raised eyebrow look and know they want to say “what is she talking about, we don’t have time to think further than tomorrow… we’ll never get integrated… she just wants to complicate the project so she can charge us more!” This couldn’t be further from the truth!
It’s easy to get lost in never never circle, like, follow and link land. I recently wrote a post on this topic “I Google+ circled, followed, liked, linked, bookmarked you, now what?” I have a suggestion for the “what”! Get focused on your business and your audience my friends!
It’s important we don’t forget the reasons we are doing social media. How about the reasons you are in business? Remember those goals and objectives you set a short seven months ago for 2011? Well, guess what… you only have 5 more months to execute and achieve them.
Do you dream about the perfect social media plan? The perfect social media template? Many business leaders wanting to get social dream about it. They think they need it. The social media magic template. The one that includes the perfect strategy, tactics and themselves as the social hero of their company and social superstar of their market niche!
The question is does the perfect social media template or strategy for your business exist? A perfect strategy or template, well probably not! A good template and structure, yes!
So, you inspired me to click a link somewhere on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Quora, or who knows what platform. For the sake of this post we’re going to assume your link takes me to your website.
“WHOOAA” I exclaim as I tweet out of site. Your website looks nothing like your social media platforms, your tweets or the person you’re proclaiming to be in the world of social media. Within a few seconds, chances are you have 95% lost me. Chances are I will probably move on to more inspiring social pastures unless something grabs my attention to give you one more chance.
For the Chamber of Commerce organization it’s no longer “how am I going to afford to get online?” Instead their question should be “what am I NOT going to do so that I can afford to integrate social media into my business?” Local networking meetings are being replaced by Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn groups, MasterMinds filled with people you meet online, sales funnels, automated nurturing programs leveraging technologies such as Infusionsoft, Campaign Monitor & Constant Contact.
The issue is the majority of Chamber organizations aren’t doing these things themselves. If they don’t understand the technologies and art of using such how can they connect with their members and potential target future members online?
Let me hear it…
“I am a CEO and I am not afraid to tweet!
I am not afraid of a blue bird.
I do NOT have to share what I eat for lunch every day!”
You know who you are. You don’t dream of sweet little blue birds who will bring you positive ROI or make your phone ring with qualified leads. You have nightmares instead about a crazy ROI eating bluebird with fiery red eyes who want to grab every waking moment of your Marketing VP, Customer Service VP and even Sales leadership. You wake up in hot sweats after a dream of walking into the shareholders meeting and everyone laughing about the photo that had 2200 views on TwitPic of you at the neighborhood Christmas party last year.
Listen up folks! It’s time for conversations, relationships, Twitter chats, and Facebook parties. Social media is one big relationship! You must tweet, post, like and talk all day. As long as you’re talkin’ you’re being social. Since you’re so social, you’ll do great in social media as long as you keep making friends, chattin’ and [...]
Social media is free, right? Simply sign up for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Enter some data for your profile, add a photo for your avatar, dump your email contacts and find connections and you’re set. All you have to do now is tweet, Facebook and you’ll be popular online and increase revenue 1000% because you’re “doing social media.”
I see many business leaders frustrated they aren’t seeing any return on their investment on social media. Usually when you do the “double click” to find out why the majority of them aren’t seeing results you find they lack goals, objectives, a plan, or forecasted return on investment (ROI) of any kind.
For those of us who work in marketing and social media it’s time we start eating ROI for breakfast. It’s time we teach our clients, colleagues and business partners to do the same.
So you say you know your audience? You think you know what they need and want. You spend hours each week working on blog content, posts for Facebook, tweets and more. Yet, your efforts don’t seem to be providing a return. Your blog readership isn’t increasing. The number of fans on your Facebook business page increases yet it’s like a desert with nobody talking to one another. You post a question and nobody answers except your best friend.
What could possibly be the problem? You’ve learned the tools. You’ve taken the classes. You know a conversation is of most importance in social media. However, nobody seems to want to talk to you.
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