Remember when your mom cautioned you to “watch your mouth”.  As it turns out, she was really onto something. I guess, she was desperately trying to impart to us a greater sense of restraint, diplomacy, decency, and sensitivity.

In these days of tweeting, blogging, and even ‘citizen journalism’, it might seem that anything goes: just speak your mind. Well, not quite.  As we’ve been seeing, opinions can be risky business, even costly.  Spilling your guts and saying whatever you feel might not be the wisest thing especially if you are a public figure or a big brand with a lot at stake.

Take the case of Chrysler, who decided to part ways with New Media Strategies, an agency that handled its Twitter account. An employee of the agency decided to post a comment that read, “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the Motorcity and yet no one here knows how to (bleep) drive.” Between “to” and “drive” was the F bomb.  Oops was little too late.

Yeah, you guessed it – the Chrysler machinery went in to damage control mode. Comments erased, agency apologized, Chrysler licking wounds, agency contract not renewed. As one would expect, Chrysler had to reach out to the Detroit community to win back their trust and confidence.

Then there was the Gilbert Gottfried/ Aflac blunder. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried the voice behind the squawking duck in most of the Aflac commercials posted at least 10 jokes about the earthquake and tsunami after the tragedy struck in Japan on his personal Twitter.  Suffice to say, Japan accounts for 75% of Aflac’s revenue.  Go figure Mr Gottfried!

Again, the PR machinery had to go into damage control mode and Mr. Gottfried’s contract was immediately terminated. Aflac pulled all television commercials with his voice and issued a statement decrying the insensitivity of the jokes.

So when you hear the squawking duck in the Aflac commercial, you know it’s not the voice of Mr. Gottfried.

Insensitive tweeting has had many a victim – private citizen to public personas. “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work,” tweeted “theconnor”.  Needless to say the offer was rescinded. 

You see, “theconnor” didn’t quite get it when mom chided (him/her) to ‘watch your mouth’.  In today’s warp speed world, when everything is social and public, tread carefully and watch watch you put out there. It could be costly!

What about you? Have you ever tweeted something you later regretted and had to retract?

By: Dorothy Vernon-Brown

Everyone is always “tweeting” or watching funny videos on YouTube. What is this Social Media all about?  Increasingly, it will become the way to communicate; another way to promote your business to a whole new audience, which spends hours upon hours on these social media sites. The best thing - it is all for free!

Here is the final part in our How To series.  I hope you’ve found them useful. 

Twitter
Why:
• Helps to broadcast quick, succinct messages to interested parties. 140 character maximum.
• Helps you to listen to what others are saying. Creates opportunities to fill a need.
• Gives you insight into what customers, prospects, competitors and industry experts are saying – either about you or the industry you operate in.

How:
• Set up your Twitter account.www.twitter.com
• Create a compelling reason for people to follow you.
• A retail company could tweet about a special offer.
• B2B companies could post links about relevant industry info or trends.

Cost: Free

YouTube

Why:

• A powerful medium for spreading your message
• More than 2 billion views per day. Very, very popular online activity.
• Small businesses have an opportunity to jump on the video marketing bandwagon.

How:
• Set up your YouTube Channel – www.YouTube.com
• Your account name should be consistent with your business name.
• Put your video in the right category and make use of tags. Add tags that describe your business and products as well as the video’s subject matter.
• Write a good description for your video that contains your keywords.

Cost: Free

Do you feel you can become a Social Media expert? Well, maybe not yet, but this is a great start.

By: Dorothy Vernon-Brown

In my last post, I showed you Why and How you can get started with blogs and Facebook.

In this post I’ll share with you Why and How to get started with LinkedIn and Google Analytics.

I hope these small steps will help you begin to navigate the Social Media jungle with a little less trepidation and fear.

3. LinkedIn

 Why:

•  To network with other professionals and find others with similar interests.
• Find out about people and their background prior to meetings.
• Monitor your competitors.
• Find specific people in other companies that may be prospects (generate leads).

How:

•  Create a LinkedIn public profile – www.linkedin.com  (plan to spend several hours establishing your profile and network).
• Your profile page should reflect your professional interests, passions, and ambitions.
•  Be sure to include a solid headline that includes keywords relevant to your industry, a business photo, how you would to be contacted and what you want to be contacted about.
• To start building your network you can reach out to everyone you’ve emailed before and make a request to connect. LinkedIn also allows you to search for people you know to see if they are already members.

Cost: Free. Upgrades for a monthly subscription

 4. Google Analytics

Why:

•  Monitors your website traffic.
• Provides stats that help you monitor who is visiting your site, where they are from, what they are looking for and how long they are staying.
•  Helps you engage and convert more customers.

 How:

• Set up a free account www.google.com/analytics
• Insert code that Google Analytics provides you with into every page you want tracked on your website.  Your webmaster should be able to add the code for you.
• Set aside some time to get familiar with Google Analytics and what it can do. 
•  Monitor your site’s performance (hourly, daily, weekly – as you like it.)   

 Cost: Free. New features added often.                

 Stay tuned for the next post on Twitter and YouTube.

By: Dorothy Vernon-Brown

If social media has reached its tipping point why does the adoption rate seem low?  Once considered the domain of the ‘younger’ crowd and used only for sharing personal info; social media is growing up and trumping traditional marketing as a low cost, highly effective marketing tool. 

The social media stats are staggering; 400 million users on Facebook; 60 million on LinkedIn and more than 50 million tweets per day on Twitter.  If Facebook was a country it would be the fourth largest in the world.

With these staggering stats and growing evidence of the effectiveness of social media, I go back to my original question – why does the adoption rate seem so low among small businesses?  If I were to guess, I would sum it up with one word – FEAR.  Yes, FEAR of what is unknown and unfamiliar.  

 The adoption rate among small business in the US is approximately 24% which means 76% are yet to venture therein.  In Canada the adoption rate is around 19% which means that 81% of Canadian small businesses are yet to adopt. Fear of the unknown is the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind says renown horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. 

If all the experts, pundits, gurus or whatever you want to call them are right, social media is not the Next Big Thing. It is The BIG Thing.  It follows then, that if your small business is not involved in social media in some way, shape or form; your business will become stale and outdated, and maybe, just maybe your competitors will leave you eating dust.

Do you realize that Google is now a verb?  These days if you are looking for information what’s the first thing you think or do?  That’s right – you ‘Google’ the search term. Most consumers now ‘Google’ a company or a product before a purchase decision is made.

Customers and prospects are turning to their peers for recommendations often looking to online communities and sites like Yelp.ca to read user reviews and then make a decision.

Want proof?  Consider the role social media played in getting President Obama elected. One of the most unlikely candidates in the early days, his use of social media is now a case study for the marketing books.

 Then consider the role Twitter played in June 2009 when those protesting the official outcome of the Iranian election used it to co-ordinate their actions and spread the word to colleagues and supporters within and outside Iran.

 Still unconvinced? How about Lucky Bucky Clothing in Tennessee who after using Facebook ads for only 4 months received over 40% of their click through on their website from Facebook pages. Naturally this converted to increased sales.

While it might be too late to be an early adopter, now is good a time as ever to get your small business found online and engaged in social media.  Why not start a blog and provide relevant content about your industry? No sales pitch please. How about tweeting on Twitter?  No problem if you are not chatty, the micro-blogging site only allows you 140 characters to say your thing.  Tweet about a coupon, discount or sale you might be running.  Not your style? At least join the 60 million professionals around the world who are connecting with each other every day on LinkedIn.  Why not tryout being a ‘fan’ on Facebook?  Once you see how engaging it can be  set up your own Facebook fan page for your business.  Bottom line ‘Just Do It’ as Nike says.

Every medium might not be the right fit for you but at least give one or two a try and see what works best for your business.  If you are still uncomfortable, research, ask or hire a social media consultant to guide you through the process; like traditional marketing it’s all about testing and refining.

If you still decide to sit on the sideline and play ‘hands-off’ here’s are just a few ways you could be potentially hurting your small business:

1. 1.    Your competitors have the edge. YOU DON’T

Other savvy small business will jump in and leave you eating dust.  They will engage your customers and prospects and eventually win them over. How costly is it to regain a customer?

1. 2.    Your customers and prospects are online.  YOU ARE ABSENT

Remember that saying “out of sight, out of mind”?  It’s true. If you are absent from the social media scene you leave that void to be filled by your competitors.  Fill they will. Your competitors will now have their finger on the pulse of your customers and prospects.

If they fill that void they take your share of voice, if they take your share of voice, eventually they’ll take your share of wallet.

1. 3.    Everyone else has a voice. YOU DON’T

Social media seems to be the great equalizer now.  Consumers have more power than ever before as they tweet, blog or Facebook about their preferences and positions; their rants and their faves.  Customers and prosects are taking back; they now have control of the conversation. If your voice is absent how then can you engage and listen? A shift has taken place; consumers have more power and voice. Jump in or become a dinosaur.

 4.    Your market is changing.  YOU ARE NOT. You seem irrelevant

 It’s true that the future belongs to those who will embrace change.  Make no mistake; the landscape is changing at lightning speed.  Your audience is changing and the market is shifting.  Do you realize that some Gen Ys might not recognize a typewriter or a cassette player?  If you market to the Gen Xs and Ys social media is not optional. How dated and irrelevant do you want to be?

 Jump in!  Social media is not that scary.

 This is just the tip of the iceberg. You might have some to share. Please do here.

 By: Dorothy Vernon-Brown

Including marketing in your plans should be obvious to the small business owner but time and time again, I come across many who have overlooked this MUST Do part of the business. The reality is that no matter how great a product or service you have, unless you have a plan to get it and/or keep it front and centre of your customers or prospects, success is not guaranteed.
For starters, here are my top fifteen (15) marketing Do’s and Don’ts for small businesses.
Do:
1. Determine your IDEAL target market
2. Determine the best and most cost effective way to reach your market
3. Know your competitors
4. Develop a marketing plan no matter how simple
5. Develop a marketing budget
6. Find your customers pain point and address it
7. Develop your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
8. Recognize that your business starts and ends with the customer in mind. Period
9. Ask your customers what they want
10. Satisfy your customers – it’s 5 times easier to sell to an existing one than to convert a new one
11. Stay alert and be open to new ways of marketing
12. Set specific marketing goals which can be measured
13. Test and refine different marketing strategies
14. Embrace social media
15. Read industry publications to stay abreast of industry trends and developments

Don’t:

1. Try to be all things to all people – you cannot satisfy everyone so determine your market and laser beam focus
2. Go another month without a marketing budget
3. Ignore your customers
4. Put all your marketing eggs in one basket – try different ways of reaching your customers and see what works best
5. Lose sight of your competition and their marketing strategies
6. Under or over price your products or services. Be competitive
7. Ignore your company’s weakness. Determine how you will market around them
8. Be scared of Social Media. Accept that it’s part and parcel of the new marketing
9. Blindly believe industry gurus and experts – do your own homework.
10. Get complacent when you achieve some success
11. Misrepresent your products or services. Customers can sense FAKE
12. Choose a location that might not provide the necessary traffic or expansion possibilities
13. Package your products or services in a way that conflicts with your company image
14. Market your products or services to the wrong audience
15. Take rejection personally. Keep moving, you’ll strike ‘gold’ eventually

By: Dorothy Vernon-Brown