How to Use Social Media for Small Business
by admin on January 13, 2009
in Marketing Nashville, Social media
I recently attended a local association event with a semi-prestigious speaker. The topic? Social media.
Most business owners do not live in the “social media” world 24/7 like I do. I assume that’s why the speaker focused almost all his time on selling the audience on the fact that social media is here to stay.
Well, sure. It’s here to stay. One story alone, combined with common sense, can convey that fact quickly and easily.
There’s no social media bubble. The reason? Because social media is simply a faster and easier way for people to build and grow relationships. Nothing will ever stop people from connecting…that’s what we humans do.
So if a technology makes connecting easier, then it is here to stay until something better, faster, and easier comes along.
Here’s the problem: How does a very busy local business owner use social media in a practical way?
No real brick-and-mortar business owner I know has the time to spend toiling away on Twitter. And a guy can’t hire it out, because it’s all based on “authenticity,” right? Subcontracting your online presence is the fast track to failure and high overhead.
So, let’s take a real world example:
What would a social media expert recommend to a busy guy who owns a plumbing business, for example? Something reasonable and doable. Let’s say no more than 30 minutes per day of his time, and no outsourcing.
I’m going to interview a few experts to answer this question for us. It’s a tough one. And the answer has to be more specific than, “BUILD RELATIONSHIPS!”
Check back here to see the results I dig up.
Until then, you can check out my report on How to Dominate the Internet Marketplace in Your Industry here.
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Social media for business
by admin on November 30, 2008
in Nashville, Online Marketing, Social media
How many social media accounts do you have? Next, how many of your accounts are you using to implement a disciplined social media marketing campaign?
My suggestion is, if your online accounts are not part of a focused and purposeful marketing strategy, you are burning daylight, my friend.
Take me, for example. Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn. In the past, Facebook and Myspace activity was high, and LinkedIn sat there unengaged.
The game plan:
- Create a social media overall marketing strategy
- Spend your time online working towards your marketing goals
- Eliminate or neglect any and all social media accounts that don’t fit into your marketing strategy
- Be ruthless with your stopwatch - don’t let yourself spend time on fruitless social media accounts
In hindsight, the first two were, in essence, places where discarded friends (and friends who had discarded me) floated back to the top of my attention. At least on-screen, anyway. Time well spent? I say, hell no.
And LinkedIn sat there… Unused, neglected, and misunderstood. Here’s the thing: Linked in is where the real action is. There is very little spamming, the information people post is usually quite accurate (due to the probability your old boss will find out) and people are there to do some real business networking.
If you are resourceful, you can get in front of The President of the Company…whereas before, you couldn’t even talk to his secretary!
