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

It’s all the buzz now – Social Media. Social Media.  Social Media. Do or die, get in the game, yada, yada, yada. If your head is still spinning from the ‘chatter’  or you are still utterly confused, let me break it down into bite size pieces to help you navigate the new marketing frontier that can seem so daunting.  

 Today let’s talk about blogs and Facebook.

1. Blogs

Why:

• An opportunity to provide free value to your customers and prospects.
• Elevate your status as an expert in your industry.
• Raise your website in search engine results.

 How:

• Write original and interesting content that’s relevant to your industry or business. Write to engage your audience.
• Do not turn your blog into a sales pitch. Remember it’s not about YOU! WIIFM applies.
• Add value to your readers; provide interesting content. Solve a problem, ease the pain.
• Platforms: www.wordpress.com /www.blogger.com

Cost:

Free (for basic service). Upgrades and add-ons available at a cost.

2. Facebook

Why:

• Highly indexed by search engines. One of the most highly trafficked sites on the internet.
• Facilitates social connections between people (i.e customers and prospects). Fans can quickly and easily share your message.
• Can use the Events section to plan and promote a business event or meeting, invite people on your ‘Friend’ list and see who will or will not attend.
• The Wall allows you and your fans to engage in a two way dialogue. You can post a topic for discussion and your fans can participate and express their opinions. 

 How:

• Create a business Fan Page.www.facebook.com/page/create.
• Customize your Fan Page.  Fill out the relevant details about your business. Upload a profile picture (could be your logo, company/team picture or a business picture.)
• Engage your fans and invite them to share stories, ask questions, upload pictures (relevant to your business).  Offer discounts, contests, giveaways to your Facebook fans only.
•  Focus on updating your status with company news etc, use the Events page to promote your events and post company photos to the gallery.

 Cost: Free. Facebook Ads available at a cost (similar to Google AdSense ads).

Next post LinkedIn and Google Analytics. Stay tuned.

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

I hope Part 1 got your creative juice flowing. As the holiday season barrels along fiercely, let me introduce you to some more simple and cost effective small marketing strategies you can implement right away. Of course, the Christmas season is the Holy Grail for marketers, and as I suspect as a small business owner, the marketing responsibility falls squarely in your lap.

If you have not yet planned your marketing initiatives, I urge you to consider doing so now. If you find yourself too busy, it might be worth your while to farm this out to a small business marketing consultant whom you trust. It would be a shame to miss out on the upcoming opportunities. Remember, you cannot not market.
Here goes. No excuses.

6. Create your own holiday. A Whacky Hair Day or some other holiday relevant to your industry
Who said that holidays and special occasions were reserved for religious or civic observances only? Where did the idea of Valentines Day or Family Day or Get Out of the Doghouse Day originate? Outside of the religious holidays, many of the other special occasions were created by some government body or opportunistic entrepreneur. Many companies these days have created their own special day as a marketing tool.
What would stop you from becoming another creative entrepreneur creating a holiday just for your business purposes? As you consider doing this, it’s important that you ensure your holiday has something to do with your product or service then proceed to build a buzz around it. Alert the media, your current customers and prospects. Make it fun and interesting, and you will have more business than you know what to do with.

7. Handout Referral Cards
Do you ask your current customers for referrals? If this is not a consistent practice of yours, you are losing out; leaving half your lunch in the plate. By now, you must realize that referrals are one of the top ways to grow your business. If you assume every satisfied customer will automatically refer you, you are wrong. Your customers have their own concerns and growing your business is not a top priority for them.

So if you want to grow your small business, it’s time to get over your fear and develop the habit of asking for a referral from every satisfied customer. Here’s one way you can do it – hand out referral cards. A referral card is simply a card that entails various discounts and promotions when the customer adds a new name to it. You may also combine your referral cards with a referral contest if you want to.
Distribute a supply of your referral cards to your loyal customers, family and friends. Your referral cards can be your business cards with a pre-printed message or rubber stamp on the back that could say:
“Refer a prospect, family or friend and you will get a 20% discount voucher for each new customer who brings this card in.” Who doesn’t like incentives?
You may also include a grand prize for those customers who send in the most referrals. There are lots more creative ways to use referral cards – it’s only limited by your imagination. Think creatively.

8. Make a custom t-shirt with your website and tagline and wear it to the gym or mall

If you’ve been putting off a gym membership or simply hate walking the malls – here’s an excuse to do either or both with an ulterior motive. A good quality custom t-shirt with your website and other company coordinates is a really cost effective way to promote your company and services. It’s also a real ice-breaker and might just be your ticket to strike up that conversation you’ve been thinking about.

Many converts swear by it and says it really works. So now that you’ve found yourself another great advertising opportunity jump on board and get the most out of the upcoming holiday season.

9. Organize a Happy Hour (not pay for) and invite complementary businesses, customers, connectors, referrers etc.
Who doesn’t like to get together for drinks, munchies and chat? Take the initiative and organize a Friday evening happy hour. Not only is it a great way to unwind after a long week but it’s an opportunity to get to know your ‘community’ in a more intimate way. The more you know them, the more you can serve them. Think strategically and invite complementary businesses, customers, prospects and other people within your ‘community’. You’re sure to be seen as a leader.

10.Trade advertising with local businesses (complementary) – offer an online ad on your website in exchange for a link on theirs

In these challenging economic times when marketing dollars are scarce, it’s time to think creatively. It’s the era of swaps and barters and it’s time small businesses cash in on the trend.

Expand your reach by tapping into the connections of other local (complementary) businesses and offer an online ad on your website for a link on their or co-promote in some other way. You’d be surprised how you could tap into their network and vice-versa.

The former US Senator Bill Bradley and 2000 US Presidential hopeful once said:

‘When you’re not practicing, someone somewhere is, and when you meet they will win’.

As a small business, I encourage you to take some of these ideas and put into practice; if you don’t your competitors will…. and they will win.

Until next post. Just do it. Do something.

By: Dorothy Vernon-Brown

It’s a common dilemma for small businesses – more customers required but little to no marketing dollars available. It’s a classic chicken and egg case – spend marketing dollars and they will come or have customers then spend marketing dollars. It’s a challenge I see over and over again in my small business marketing practice.

The great news is – it doesn’t need to be so. Small businesses can still market on a lean budget. If you’re open to new ways, sometimes out of your comfort zone ways…have a dash of creativity and even a small dose of discipline you can begin to attract more customers on the cheap.

This five part series will outline some real cost effective and simple marketing ideas you can steal now.

Marketing has a beginning but never an end, so determine your short, medium and long term strategies as you implement these ideas.

One last thing, as a small business owner you cannot not market.

1) Start a Blog

With the era of social networking in full throttle mode, getting found online is imperative. Period. If you fail to embrace Web 2.0, prepare for a slow death.

Many of your customers and prospects are doing most of their search online before making a purchasing decision. Blogger.com or Wordpress.com are free tools and a good place to start.

2) Create an email newsletter

Creating an email newsletter is another cheap way of connecting with your customer base and prospects on a regular basis, whether weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Include information they want to hear and will read, forget the sales pitch. Start with the What’s In It For Them mindset – great content, the latest and greatest in your industry, a special discount, a not to miss event; something your customers and prospects will value.

There are many email management systems out there – eMarketer by SoftEdge, Constant Contact, Emma, Mail Chimp to name a few.

3) Set up a Linked In or Facebook Account

More freebies- Linked In and Facebook are becoming useful marketing tools for small businesses; they are easy to set up and get you connected with other businesses quickly. Use them to invite people into your community. While some small business owners might not see the value in Facebook, its gaining traction as a compelling business tool especially when you use the Fan page right. Linked In is a hands down winner as a business tool. Many success stories abound as to its usefulness. Proceed quickly.

4) Start Tweeting

A tweet is a short message or entry post on the micro blogging site Twitter, another social network medium. You can begin your free account at Twitter.com. According to them, it helps you share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world. Why in the world would a small business care? Twitter evangelist, David Spark, feels that Twitter gives you an opportunity to connect in a way that isn’t possible with any other communication tool. David’s Sixteen Great Twitter Moment article explains its usefulness perfectly. (Respond to me for article)

5. Create a Signature Event

Quality face time gives you an unparallel opportunity to have a conversation with your customers and prospects. So whether it’s a networking event, a workshop, a seminar, a fireside chat, a conference – consider something you can create to add value to your customers and prospects.

Until part two, just do it. Do something.

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By: Dorothy Vernon-Brown

Say What! Brand New Second Hand Marketing, Anyone?

All this buzz about the latest and greatest web 2.0 marketing strategies is making my head spin.  I suspect I’m not alone. Maybe it’s the very same for many other small business owners grappling with growing their customer base and adding to the bottom line.

 Email campaign this. Blog that. Twitter now. Facebook later. Un-conference tomorrow. Community today.

It’s a similar question I find I’m asking myself as a small business marketer – where did the tried and true marketing strategies go; ones that got you connected, really connected with your customers and brought you before your ideal prospects.  Were they banished forever in the kingdom of ‘ole skool’.

Are these new practices just the flip side of the coin- connection, community, care and consistency?

Truth be told, marketing to customers is the same as it was yesterday, today and forever. The packaging might be different, the distribution fast as lighting speed and the players less tolerant but as I see it -what is old is new again.  There is nothing new under the sun the good book says.

When you peel away the layers, the packaging, the lingo, the medium -  it boils down to the tried and true concept  of  building strong relationships, establishing trust, solving problems and understanding what customers want.

Isn’t this what we’ve been doing our entire life?  Amy, your best friend forever (BFF) did not earn that spot because she followed you on Twitter or begged for the spot on some blog; neither did Ashley, God mother to your first born won this sacred place because she connected with you on Facebook.  

I also suspect your significant other didn’t sweep you off your feet with a string of mass email campaigns or banner ads.

These relationships were built over time, laughter by laugher, tear by tear, fight by fight as you listened, understood, cared and shared.

Suddenly, the enlightenment comes – the top experts, the gurus, the stars, the mega marketing ministers are now echoing with one voice – build relationships, build community, listen to your customers, treat them like family, and solve their problems. 

Do all this and more and you’re bound to create raving fans, evangelists, referral partners, customers, followers, call it what you may.

I believe we’ve come full circle – these seeming new marketing ideas are not so new after all.  It’s what many small business owners and other companies have been practicing for eons and eons.

I admit, the packaging is high tech to boot, compelling even. It’s connects like never before, it’s instant, real time and online but at the heart of the crux of the matter isn’t new. To me, it’s what I call brand new second hand.

Am I alone or am I alone? What are your thoughts?

By: Dorothy Vernon-Brown