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Thumbs Up Day

The Summer of Giving began with nervous anticipation…so many choice,where do I start? Yesterday, I created a very long list of ideas of how I could “give” via my business using the internet – low or no cost. As much as I was excited to begin venturing online again, I was surprised at my trepidation. How hard could it be to spend time giving? I set aside 2 hours today but ended up taking spurts of time throughout the day after completing my 2 hours…I lost track of time because it was so damn fun!

Liked and liked and liked.
I started on Facebook by liking and commenting on posts published by fellow business owners. I followed links to their blogs and commented on their blogs or added their blogs to my list. It felt great! The best part of my giving time was when it led to real conversation. I reconnected with a Facebook friend I hadn’t chatted with in a long time. She posted a note on my wall after I liked her business oriented post. We started a conversation on my Facebook wall that led to exchanging phone numbers in a private message and a promise to touch base over the phone about our respective businesses. I plan on calling her tomorrow.

Silent Affirmation
It felt great to give positive feedback to other business owners – whether they said so or not, I know how important it is to receive affirmation from your peers. Re-establishing contact with valuable friends and colleagues was amazing – too often home based business ownership can be isolating. Hearing about how I had been missed was a great feeling. Although my intention was to spread goodwill to others, I ended up gaining the most.

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SPRING CLEANING THE SOCIAL WEB

Over the course of this month, I have been cleaning out the clutter from my online world. Consider it a form of weeding, making room for my important relationships to grow and new relationships to take root. Here’s what I did:

1. Unfollowed most Tweeters who don’t follow me back on Twitter.
2. Used the “Hide” option on the Facebook Pages I “fan” because their message is irrelevant to me, personally and professionally. I was trying to help them get enough fans to secure their unique name but I know I will never buy their products and/or they send me too much marketing.
3. Deleted LinkedIn contacts I do not know who have only sent me invitations to social media webinars. Decided to reconsider my open invitation status on LinkedIn and ensured all my contacts there were private.
4. Checked on all the FB friends whose status I have hidden because their marketing or Farmville activities were annoying. If all they do is market, I consider “unfriending” them or kept them hidden. For Farmville fans, I unhide the friends and hide Farmville – thanks to FB for providing this ability.
5. Unsubscribed to Blogs and RSS feeds that clutter my Google Reader and Netvibes dashboard.
6. Canceled all Google email alerts except essential alerts which require immediate attention.
7. Unsubscribed to all the email newsletters I never read.
8. Withdrew from LinkedIn and Facebook groups that long lost their value.
9. Unsubscribed to paid membership forums that I never visit.
10. Deleted profiles on a few social networks I never use so I can focus on just a few communities.

I feel better already but plan to take a few more steps in the coming week:

1. Create Twitter Lists to make it easier to support and appreciate my important relationships.
2. Organize groups of friends on Facebook so I can be certain to check the status of key people in my network and engage with them.
3. Update my social marketing planning calendar to make sure I prioritize time for essential communities and people. Now that the weeding is done, my important relationships have room to grow and I have more time to nurture them.
4. Create a set of guidelines for deciding whether or not to join groups, fan pages, communities, and social networks in the future.
5. Create an email address dedicated only to web subscriptions. Many times, I give my name and email address to someone in return for a report or e-book, etc and end up on the mailing list. I will only give out my daily priority email addresses to people I meet in person or want to meet in person.

How about you? What can you do to weed out online distractions to focus on your most significant relationships and profitable activities?

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Facebook Land Rush: What happened to “Hello”?

You know how it goes in a face-to-face networking event. Someone calls you over and says, “Sue, I want to introduce you to Tim. Tim has his own printing company and I have worked with him for years. He is looking for a business consultant to help him develop a new strategic plan.”

Then to Tim, he says, “Sue is a consultant and told me she is looking for a new graphics and printing company to replace the standard solutions from the Big Box retailer…”

What a nice introduction and endorsement!

The same kind of courtesies should be extended on online social networks. If you want someone to become a “fan” of a business, shouldn’t you introduce them first? Are you being a good “friend”, “connection” or “colleague” when the only communication you have with someone on your contacts list is to spam them with requests that they endorse or “fan” another business? How about an introduction first? A personal note?

In a hurry to claim their Facebook vanity url’s that began last week, many well-meaning online networkers have made Facebook look like one of the Land Rushes in the late 1800’s. It was truly wild. I was inundated with requests and my status stream was clogged with messages about new Fan pages.

I am more than willing to help all my colleagues and friends, those with whom I have relationships, by “fanning” their Facebook pages or writing recommendations. I know them. We are in groups together. We email and we chat. We have coffee or plan to meet when in the same city. We exchange leads and information to help each other’s businesses.

Becoming a “fan” has meaning. It means you endorse the product, service or business owner. It means if someone calls and asks you why you are a fan, you can give them specific reasons. It means you would recognize them at a live networking event and introduce them to someone else and have a depth of understanding of their businesses and issues. Becoming a “fan” is equivalent to giving someone permission to send you marketing and sales messages.

What is your endorsement worth?

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Claim Your Web Properties

Today is the first in a series of Ten Biggest Mistakes Small Businesses Make Preventing Web Profitability.

No matter how far you have gotten in developing your marketing strategy that includes using the internet as a sales and growth channel for your business, there is no excuse for not claiming your name. These are the 8 basic property categories I recommend every small business claim to begin the process of building a web presence. Almost all are currently free or very inexpensive and can be claimed with a few hours work.

1. Website: Believe it or not, I recently read that only 44% of small businesses have their own websites. Yet, recent studies indicate that between 65-80% of consumers use the internet to search for local businesses and over 2/3 of all consumers read ratings and reviews prior to making purchase decisions. At the very least, claim your unique name using an inexpensive service such as godaddy.com. Claim your personal name (if still available) and your business name.

2. Join several social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. There are very easy user interfaces which walk you through the sign-up process and you are certain to find many of your current contacts and friends already there populating an instant network for you. Currently, Facebook has over 150 million users and LinkedIn has 12 million. Growth in social networks has been off the charts across all demographic groups.

3. Get listed on the big search engine directories such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Yellow Pages, and AOL. It only takes a few minutes to claim and update your business listing (which may already be listed) and make sure it reflects your hours of service and a description of your business services.

4. Sign up for local community social networks such as MerchantCircle, Biznik and Konnects. This is a growing segment in the social networking landscape but one which holds benefit for small businesses targeting locals. Think of them as your virtual chamber of commerce. Speaking of the Chamber of Commerce, many local branches have business networks and directories on Facebook or Ning. Check your local newspapers, general as well as local business publications. Many of these media outlets are increasing their online presence with blogs, directory listings and message boards. In most cases, the basic fee to join these listings is free or minimal charge.

5. Business and Industry Verticals: Are there online directories specific to your industry? Many professional organizations and certification boards provide online directory listings: lawyers, doctors, dentists, real estate agents and other vertical industry boards allow you to post your profile and update it with your products, services, etc. Are there referral or certification boards in your field? Add your profile.

6. Rating Services: Ratings and ranking are already a part of some of the directories I have already mentioned (Yahoo and Google are notable) but there are new ones emerging every day. Check out Yelp and Citisearch to see if your type of business is listed there and claim your listing.

7. Microblogs: Twitter, Jaiku and Pluck are the companies in this space with Twitter currently leading the charge (over 1300% growth from Feb 2008 to 2009). Don’t be put off by the stream of consciousness of the worlds millions of Twitter users (see my post Twitterfied?). Remember when you had a chance to claim your own name in email 15 years ago and you did not and now you have an interesting email address like suebarr6667@xxxxxxx.com? At the very minimum, claim your name and/or your business name. When you become more comfortable with the medium and begin to see just how beneficial this tool can be for your business, you will be glad you claimed your real estate. Combined with pervasive mobile communications, Microblogs hold tremendous promise for small business to target promotions.

8. Groups: I use Ning, Facebook, and LinkedIn and have begun to use Ryze for groups. Look for groups in your industry that are active and welcoming to new members. Look for groups where your customers hang out so you can begin forming relationships and getting to know their needs for your business. Create your own groups, fan pages on Facebook or in Ning and invite your followers to join. Start your own group under your company name.

Think of your web presence as if it is a big virtual game of monopoly. When you first start going around the game board, you buy all the property you can afford. Over time, you figure out which properties can be leveraged for the most profit. You build on the most profitable (just like adding hotels in monopoly) and you weed out the unprofitable properties.

I think it is very early in evolution of the social media game. Some social sites will emerge as clear winners and some will disappear. Some businesses will adopt early and succeed and some will crash and burn. Some late adopters will arise to wow and surprise the markets. The only mistake for your business is if you don’t get in the game – your customers are expecting it.

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Is Social Media a Waste of Time for Small Business?

I am the first to admit that I have easily lost days of my life investigating the features and benefits of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social media sites. Yes, they can be time wasters for the small business owner, the last person with extra time on his or her hands. But, I think the opportunities for new and developing markets far outweighs the risk of lost time as long as you surf with purpose. Remember, if we are mesmerized with the new media (just as we previously have been with web surfing and the greatest time waster of all, the television), doesn’t that mean hordes of customers will be wasting their time there? So, if you can remain slightly detached in your interactions, just enough to look at the new mediums as potential new markets, you may unearth a new possibility for profit for your business. My suggestions are the following:

1. Become a purposeful lurker. Surf without guilt for a specific period of time. Consider it “brainstorming” time, market research. Observe who is in the social media world and what they are doing. How are other businesses using YouTube, podcasting, blogging, social networks?
2. Keep notes on whether your customers are currently using social media and consider new ways they might be interested in using it.
3. If your customers aren’t there, are there potential new markets for you? Perhaps Facebook doesn’t reflect your current demographics, but have you ever considered how you could reach out to that market?
4. Get involved in the discussion. Join some of the small business groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Ning. Follow Twitter conversations regarding small business or your products (I use tweetchat.com to monitor certain phrases). It’s a virtual chamber of commerce out there so join the conversation.
5. Start small. Blog. Create a newsletter. Podcast. Test market. Evaluate results.

Remember social media is all about the conversation. What message do you want to communicate to your customers? How do your customers want to engage in conversation with you? Introduce yourself!

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