Networking, schmetworking

I came across an article the other day that still has me all riled up.

The first sentence of the article had me up on my feet in disbelief. It read, “Still think spending all that time updating your Facebook page and twittering is going to help your business? Have I got news for you!”

The author goes on in this piece called, “Why No Business Should Be Involved In Online Social Networking” to basically say that social networking should be reserved for teenagers and individuals, not businesses.

Um. What?

The writer believes that businesses are participating in social networking solely to push products. He claims there isn’t a social aspect, per se, for business owners and that it should be called social marketing for those of us participating instead of social networking.

The author says that regular joes are using social networking in the truest sense of the word because, “Their goals are nothing more than to belong, share, and socialize.”

Of course I’m participating in social media to broaden my horizons and put my business in front of more people, but that’s not the only reason I’m out there.

Like other Internet-based business owners, I crave the type of interaction that social networking brings me. But is it wrong that it’s also a great way to learn and help build my business?

I don’t think so.

I found myself in disagreement with what this article was saying throughout the entire thing, until the very end. After the author’s tips for business owners interested in getting started in social networking…er…”social marketing” he states that “Social marketing is less about what you can get and more about what you can give.”

I am one entrepreneur out of a gazillion hanging out in the world of social media and I’m telling you that not all of us are out there using social media purely to push products and sell. Look at this sharing of information, for example…what you’re reading.

This blog post will be up on my Facebook page and I’ll tweet about it and let me ask you. Do you think I posted this purely to get a sale?

No siree. I want to share my opinion about something I feel passionate about with people who may or may not agree with me and get a discussion going. Tomorrow I may be sharing some fabulous free icon sets that I found in the blogospere, or how to hack proof your blog before it’s too late.

By the way, that regular joe who tweets all his friends and followers that his car is for sale so he can get the word out to as many people as possible…is he still socializing or has he now crossed the line into marketing I wonder?

Social media, social networking, social marketing…I don’t care what you call it. I think they’re all under the same umbrella.

All I know is that whatever you call it, when done right it’s effective and serves its purpose.

The end.

The Twitter Guide Book – The Twitter Resource You CANNOT Live Without

Tweets, retweets, tweetups, tweeple, twaffic, tweeps…if you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, then you are obviously not using Twitter yet. If that’s the case and you’re running a business, you are missing out on a lot of networking with your current clients, potential customers, and all-around followers that will help you get your message out.

Twitter isn’t just about what are you doing anymore. Organizations are using it to get the word out about their cause or event, businesses are using it for giveaways and promotions, communities are using it to get organized and share information.

Just recently, XBox was giving away a new game room to the top 3 voted for children’s hospitals. Here in Jackson, Mississippi, we have the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children…the only children’s hospital in the entire state. Blair E. Batson used Twitter to their advantage to get the word out so people could vote for them to receive the game room. It was weeks of twittering and retweeting to get other people voting that pushed Blair E. Batson to the top of the list. After all was said and done, the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital for Children was one of the top 3 children’s hospitals in the county that received a brand new XBox game room. This is pretty significant considering we are certainly not one of the biggest states, and well people tend to forget about little ol’ us down here ;)

twitter-guide-book-e28093-how-to-tips-and-instructions-by-mashable_12569119028311

The point is using Twitter is a very powerful marketing tool…and well, it’s quite fun which is a big fat bonus. So what is this post really about? If you want to get started on Twitter, or maybe you signed up, but just haven’t had time to mess with it or feel it’s beyond your comprehension, then I have the solution for you. Head on over to Mashable for The Twitter Guide Book. Seriously if you want to know everything about Twitter, but were always afraid to ask, THIS is your chance to redeem yourself.

The Twitter Guide Book isn’t even a book, although they do have a handy PDF to download. It is a web page with categorized links to the best information on how to use Twitter and it is easy to understand. They have it all…The Basics, Building Your Twitter Community, Twitter for Business, Sharing on Twitter, and Managing Your Twitter Stream.

So if you’ve been teetering on the fence about Twitter, this is your chance to put your fears aside and get twittering. Tweet. Tweet.

Why Your Marketing Efforts Are Failing

j0387302Have you ever heard the phrase, “It goes in one ear and out the other?” well, besides referring to my 4 year old daughter, I secretly think this of my clients or potential customers at times. In this case I’m referring to your marketing plan…you know that somewhat seemingly great plan you drafted when you first began your business. Or maybe you meant to or, as one client tells me, it’s all in her head. Well, in her head it will stay unless she actually puts the plan in writing and puts it in motion. (She’s heard this all before by the way)

So where is your marketing plan? There is no other way to say this, but marketing is constant. It is a process that never ends. It is not a one-time project. When you stop marketing, people WILL forget about you, or never know you exist. Keep your name and message in front of them and it doesn’t matter if you’ve done business with them before or not, the next time they are in need of your service or product, they will think of you first. Why? Because you’re consistent and have established a relationship with them. If they only hear from you once or twice a year, chances are you’re not going to hear from them.

One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is maintaining this mentality of only marketing when they need the business. Not only is this a very dangerous road to follow, but it is ineffective, time consuming, and this will not solve your problem. Sure it might get you one or two customers, but then there you are again a few months later wondering where you’re going to get your next client from to pay the bills.

If you’re like the client I mentioned earlier, then you might be thinking, “I don’t have the funds to market all the time.” I’m not sure why business owners discount marketing as a way to save money. I’m going to throw another well-known phrase at you now, “you have to spend money to make money.” Now where this phrase is somewhat true, it is not entirely accurate as I’m pretty sure it was coined before the Internet existed.

The fact is you can do a whole lot of marketing, direct or indirect, that costs you absolutely nothing, and almost all of them are using the Internet. A few examples are:

These are just a few ideas to get you going. If your marketing efforts are failing, then it’s time to reevaluate your methods. Of course there are plenty of ways to market using paid avenues. But that’s another post for another day and the point to this one is there are plenty of ways to market your business without paying a dime.

As a side note and to give you a perfect example using 2 of the above methods, I follow a local restaurant called Sal & Mookies on Twitter. A few weeks ago I saw a Twitter message from them – they were giving away 2 $100 gift cards to their restaurant. To enter all you had to do was to re-tweet their message using Twitter or leave a message on their FaceBook page. I of course sent a tweet out and then left a message on their FaceBook page…not expecting to win because I NEVER win anything. Guess what? I was one of the winners! Hubby and I loaded the girls up last weekend and headed over to Sal & Mookies for dinner. What they didn’t know was that we have never been to Sal & Mookies prior to this visit and all because I won a gift card. We’ve heard of them of course, we see their name all over town…they’re kind of famous around here, but we had just never been in all our years here. The point to all of this is that they will have a customer for life. Not because we won a gift card, but because they got us into their establishment, we had fantastic service, and the food was OMG good!

So be creative and don’t drop the ball on your marketing plan. Oh, and if you don’t have one, then now’s the time to draft one out and start implementing it immediately. You don’t have to do everything at once. Start small and work your way up to bigger things.

12 Steps to a Remarkable Business Card

What do you think happens to your business cards when you hand them out? Unfortunately some of them probably end up in the trash. So how do you make your business card stand out that will actually make the recipient want to contact you or keep your card on file for future reference?

There are tons of boring business cards out there, mainly because people don’t put much thought into it, but also because it is just one of those things that seem to be the first item on a to-do list when people start a business. You need to remember that your business card is a marketing tool just like your website and brochure. If you put some thought into it, make it creative and unique, then it can be a great tool to market your business.

Here is my own personal list of how to make your business card stand out without much effort or cost: Read more

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway – Day 11

Social networking is not only a great way to network with colleagues and business associates, but it is also a fantastic way to set yourself up as an expert to gain new clients! Maybe you’ve looked into these social networking sites, maybe it just boggles your mind, or maybe you figure it is just one more thing to do that you don’t know how to do.

If this is you, then enter to win Day 11 of our 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway and let us setup an a la carte networking service for you. There are tons out there including LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, MySpace, and Ryze.

The Prize Read more

Next Page →