Small Business Social Media V3b Working

Small Business / Social Media Survival Strategyv 3
Marc Danziger
Charmed Particles, Inc.
www.charmedparticles.com
marcd@charmedparticles.com
© 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc.
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Introduction
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“Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
Tell them.
Then tell them what you just told them.”
(variously attributed to Aristotle and Churchill)

What I’m going to tell you
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What is social media? (People conversing online.)
How does big business use it? (They talk to people.)
Can small business use it the same way? (Not often.)
So then what can small business do to survive in the era of Yelp and Google?Manage your identity.Manage your reputation.…then do everything else.

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What’s in it for you?Why are you here?
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Well, there’s a wave that’s coming
arrived …

…caused by the explosion of online tools that help people communicate…
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…so business is changing…
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Customers don’t listen to advertising.(how do you get them?)
Customers are talking back.(how do you keep them happy?)
Customers have more choices.(how do you add value?)

…and you don’twant to get wiped out.
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What’s ‘wiped-out’?
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The phone doesn’t ring (no customers) and you go broke.
You spend time and money on ineffective marketing (and you go broke).
You competitors leave you behind. (and…)

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…How did this all start?
A friend spent $3K on a website for her business.
It generated no customers. She asked me what to do.

There’s a standard playbook
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…from “5 Things Small Business Owners Should Do Today Online” by Chris Brogan:
Start a blog
Start listening
Try Twitter OR Facebook
Get the word out
Try moving the needle (create events, do something out of the box)

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It’s wrong. Small businesses aren’t just scaled down big ones.
When we’re done, I hope you’ll agree.

Housekeeping
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Agenda
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What’s in it for you?
Who are you? Who am I?
Why are you here?
What’s Social Media?
How Social Media is changing marketing (and other things)
(break)
Social Media for Small Business
Step-by-step
Wrapup and feedback

4 rules of the game
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This is a conversation – please ask questions or raise issues when you think of them.
Because this is a conversation between the folks in the room, please turn off your phones. Ring tones and texting are conversation-killers.
If something isn’t clear or seems wrong – speak up. How else am I going to learn?
We’ll take a 15-min break for phones etc. about 9:15

So here’s the deal.
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We’re going to talk (quickly) about how social media works.
Then we’re going to talk about how small business can best use it.

You should take away:
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A basic understanding of social media that will help you make your own plans.
Some concrete actions you can do today to improve your business marketing using social media.

What I ask:
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Join the conversation.
When we’re done, evaluate me.

In the 21st century it’s personal.
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Business communication is becoming a conversation.
Companies don’t have conversations, people do.

So - who are you?
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Name, business.
Why are you here?
(show of hands) Do you use Facebook? LinkedIn? Twitter? Have a blog?
(show of hands) Do you read blogs?

…Who am I?
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…what have I done?
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…Blogged since 2002
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…2 blogs today
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…clients?
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…what have I done?
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Concepts
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Traditional media:
You pay, I talk, you listen
Interactive media:
You pay, I talk, and you and I talk about what I just talked about
Social media:
Everyone start talking to each other while I get coffee, and then I’ll come back and join the conversation
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What is social media?

Traditional media is one-way. A few people talk and most people listen.
If you weren’t broadcast, your words only mattered to a small group.
Today, the average person’s ideas, knowledge and words are easily found alongside traditional media’s.
What’s the impact of that?
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How does that work?

The impact of social media- July 2009:
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In 2008, musician Dave Carroll’s guitar was broken by baggage handlers on United Airlines…
Dave spoke up (“United breaks guitars” video).

The impact of social media - July 2009:
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As of last week, 7,133,377 had listened.
Here’s CNN.

People get to talk back
No niche is too small
And, most of all, people can find other people and things they are interested in
Find people with relevant experience
Find people with common interests
Find old friends or make new ones
Find ‘stuff’ and the people who sell it
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The impact is immense.

Because everyone gets to talk.
The conversations are frozen and searchable – meaning they persist and you can find them.
So you can find the person who is important to you (subject expert? Experienced customer?) and what they have to say.
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It’s all about conversations.

Two or more people.
Responding to each other in near-real time.
The speakers control what is said.
…kind of like an actual, you know, conversation.
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What do we mean, conversations?

Google
Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Yelp
Digg
Del.icio.us
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Where can you see it?

Check-in … questions?
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By themselves, not very useful (see above)
But…add Google to make them findable, and suddenly...you get an explosion.
Tech blogs, war blogs, politics blogs, relationship blogs, sex blogs, car blogs, travel blogs, language blogs, pet blogs, business blogs…everyone seems to want to talk about something.
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In the beginning were blogs

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This ‘sea’ of little grains of content needed structure
So at first, we had newsreaders that let everyone structure their own content
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Then came aggregators

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People wanted to know what other people were paying attention to (Delic.io.us)
People wanted to know what was popular (Digg)
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Then came sharing & ranking

Full circle back to AOL/Geocities
but with collaborative search & event-driven web.
Facebook and LinkedIn are the winners in that space (so far)
Facebook as a personal gathering place
LinkedIn and a professional networking tool
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Then came sites as “containers.”

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Online yellow pages are old news
But add user-created content and ratings, and you have new generation of user-built directory
Add mapping and location-based search, and you have a whole new way to market .
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And how about yellow pages?

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Why does it matter?
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The impact of social media - June 2005:
Blogger Jeff Jarvis (disclosure: friend of mine) buys a Dell computer, and has some problems.
Dell customer service is - unhelpful.
Dell stock is at 40.3; HP stock is at 22.68
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Jeff starts blogging about ‘Dell Hell’

November 2005:
Jeff’s blog post has been cited by Business Week, NY Times, PC World, the Guardian UK, Adweek, and other mainstream media.
Dell’s reaction? It shuts down its message boards and issues press releases.
The market’s reaction? Dell 29.24, HP 28.79
Eventually, Dell lost ~$36 Billion in market cap.
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Here’s Jeff:
“The age of caveat emptor is over.
Now the time has come when it's the seller who must beware. Caveat venditor.”
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Why did Dell get in trouble?
Because they didn’t know what their customers thought of them
They talked ‘at’ their customers, they didn’t converse ‘with’ them.
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Blogs didn’t cause Dell’s problems.
…they just helped reveal them.

What did Dell do?
Dell got smart
Reopened message boards.
Started a corporate blog.
Decided to start listening to its customers, and launched ‘Ideastorm’ – a Digg-like rating tool that let customers suggest ideas and vote on them.
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Jarvis’ reaction?
“Dell’s executives say their new problem is managing and spreading all this knowledge from customers. Its chief marketer said his new opportunity is to rely on customer-advocates to sell computers. And Michael Dell predicted a future of “co-creation of products and services” with customers.
There it is: …Dell and its customers are collaborating on the creation of content, media and marketing - without content, media or marketing companies.”
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How does big business use social media?
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Much as Jarvis suggests:
Internal collaboration
Communicating with customers and potential customers
Engaging customers as marketers (viral)
Building trust w/customers and stakeholders by listening

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What do they do?
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Communicate out w/blogs and tweets
SME’s, executive, paid staff
Puts a human face on the company
Allows direct connection to markets
Help customers communicate in
Like Starbucks
Support forums
Participate in – or sponsor or create – relevant communities

It works for them.
McKinsey says:
“Their responses suggest why Web 2.0 remains of high interest: 69 percent of respondents report that their companies have gained measurable business benefits, including more innovative products and services, more effective marketing, better access to knowledge, lower cost of doing business, and higher revenues.”
McKinsey & Co June 2009 survey
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More effective marketing.
Those are important words…”more effective marketing”
How is social media marketing different?
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How do you read this picture?
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Romantic?
Player?

It depends on relationship.
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Player?
Is he offering the rose to someone he just met?
Is he offering the same rose to everyone in the room?
Romantic?
Is he offering it to the true love of his life?

Marketing depends on relationship.
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If you ask every stranger for the sale – you’re a player.
(You’re also practicing traditional advertising.)
If you already have a relationship with someone when you ask – you’re not.
Which sales model is right for you?
Which one works and why?

The collapse of advertising.
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For years, we've all heard the doomsday predictions about the declining effectiveness of mass media advertising. What's changed is that this apocalyptic scenario has now made the fateful transition from ‘forecast’ to ‘fact.’
- John Hilbrich, in “Promo”

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(source: Millward Brown: What’s In & What’s Out)

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Here’s Jeff Jarvis explaining that the Internet makes advertising “a failure.”

The rise of relationships.
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In a relationship-based situation, a critical factor is trust. This takes time to build, for particularly for the buyer to accept that the seller will always keep their best interests at heart.
- David Straker, “Changing Minds”

Big business and relationships.
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Big business =! personal relationships with customers.
The customer relationship was with the abstract “brand.”
Today, the brands are becoming re-personalized.
Social media is their solution.

So they prioritize conversations:
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…WITH customers and prospects;
…WITH employees;
…WITH vendors and stakeholders.
(Because they can spend enough $ to brandbuild and shape perception – or think they can.)

Talking ABOUT and talking WITH.
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Conversations happen in two flavors:
ABOUT you and WITH you.
Social media is both.
(But when you “do” social media it’s important to think about which one.)

Talking ABOUT.
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Conversations that happen ABOUT you are obviously important …
“United Breaks Guitars” and “Dell Hell” are ABOUT United and Dell.
For big business, though, it’s improving conversations WITH that are the priority.
(If only they’d had conversations WITH Carroll and Jarvis…)

Big business v. small business
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Big business wants to reconnect to customers.
Is that small business’ issue?
The answer to that question tells us what small businesses should do.
(hint: I think it has to with conversations ABOUT.)

Small Business and Social Media
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Small business and social media
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Most consultants teach small business a scaled-down version of what big business does.
How’s that working?
Citibank just surveyed 500 small business owners…

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Small business is different
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Famous (and very good) social media thinker Chris Brogan
…Iisted “5 Things Small Business Owners Should Do Today Online:
Start a blog
Start listening
Try Twitter OR Facebook
Get the word out
Try moving the needle (create events, do something out of the box)

That’s the conventional wisdom
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A scaled-down version of what we recommend to big business.
With a lot of emphasis on conversations WITH.
What’s wrong with it?

Pause for a bunch of caveats.
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I believe that these are some basic “truths” that apply to everyone.
But I get it that some businesses need to go further.
Just make sure you cover the basics 1st.

…what’s wrong with it?
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How long to write 5 or 10 blog posts a week? (the minimum it takes to drive traffic)? How much traffic are you likely to get?
How long to write 3 – 5 meaningful tweets/day? Or to post multiple updates to FB? How many followers/fans are you likely to get?
What’s the ROE (Return on Effort?)

Scaling.
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Major corporate sites get hundreds of thousands (or millions) of visits a day.
Small business sites may get dozens of visits a day.
A corporate blogger for Microsoft may get ten thousand visitors a day, and have thousands of followers on Twitter because of the power of the parent brand. Lots of conversations are inevitible.
A small business blogger faces this problem…

Empty restaurants aren’t attractive….
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Numbers Matter.
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You need critical mass to make conversations start.
Think about parties you give. What’s it like when the first two people come in?
What’s it like for the ninth and tenth?

Bandwidth.
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Major corporations can hire someone to interact with social media – to represent them on Facebook or tweet as a full time job.
Small business can’t.

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Not making pizza, not selling houses, not fixing locks…
…not making money.

The answer?
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Find and use the conversations ABOUT your business to do two things:
Make it easier for people who are interested in what you have to sell to find you.
Make sure they don’t have a negative impression of you.

Danziger’s Hierarchy of Survival
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The easy stuff
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To get customers, your business relies on two things:
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Identity
Reputation

Identity
Who?
What?
Where?
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Reputation
Any good?
Can I trust?
Who says?
You need to understand how both are changing… (and that’s what this is about)

Is This All There Is?
Again, no.
Advertising, marketing, building awareness – all of those obviously matter. And there are social media hooks for doing each of these.
But there’s a hierarchy:
Get found
Don’t get trashed
Be liked
Be known
Do more with whatever time and money you have left after doing the first two.
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You used to own your identity.
(bought and paid for…)
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Ads…
Website…
Location…

Where is your identity today?
Shifting from:
Print Directories
Print Ads
Your Web Site
To
Online local directories (Google, Yahoo, Citysearch, Yelp…)
Search engine records in Google / Yahoo
You don’t own or control all of these.
But you still have to actively manage all of them…
(that’s the core takeaway of this presentation)
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Why does this change matter?The web used to be the open plains.
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All that mattered was improving your homestead.

Now there are highways.
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Roads other people built will make or break the value of your property.

Today, identity is search.
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Most people try and manage their sites and their ads.
But you are often found and presented in the context of systems other people own.
Maybe – just maybe - you should be focused on managing your identity instead…

How do you get found?
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63%
30%
TMP Directional Marketing – 2009 Local Search study

Do you even need your own web site?
Could you get found perfectly well on Google, Yahoo, Yelp, Citysearch…?
Lots of reasons to have a site (just like the reasons to have an attractive storefront).
But is it for everybody?
Is it the be-all-end-all of your marketing?
No. The strongest identity you can afford is the be-all-end-all of your marketing efforts.
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Just having a site – or a suit - doesn’t always help your image.

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Reputation matters more.
It used to only matter f2f (that’s Face To Face)
…which meant building or changing it was slow.
…and because it was verbal, it did not persist.
…and relatively few people knew about it.
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Now, your reputation is online.
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And tied to your identity.

For better …
“…Yes, indeed, Frank, my new favorite locksmith, was here yesterday afternoon, just when the movers left. He worked on all the locks and got me new keys and reprogrammed the garage door opener. And told me where the best Mexican food is to be found locally (future review) and chatted with me about local events & all kinds of stuff. So happy to be your new neighbor, Frank! You did a magnificent job on my locks & general safety issues for an extremely reasonable price & I highly recommend you to anyone and everyone!”
- Hermosa Lock & Safe, reviewed on Yelp.com
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…and worse.
“Flam's is terrible! Five hundred dollars later, the door still doesn't lock and they won't come back to fix it without charging a minimum of another $160 and who knows how much more after that. (Who's ever heard of a lock that needs twice a year housecalls when the weather changes... does the weather even change in LA?)
They have bad customer service too, although honestly I don't care how unprofessional they are- all I wanted was a lock that works more than a few months.
Hire someone else! “
-Flam’s Key Service, reviewed on Yelp
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Managing Your Reputation
What’s your strategy for dealing with people who say nice things?
Who say bad things?
…what if no one says anything at all?
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Start By Observing
To find your reputation online, first check:
Google
Yahoo
Yelp.com
Twitter
Citysearch.com
Superpages.com
Yellowpages.com
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Reinforce the Positive
Find the people who say positive things, and reach out to them. Offer an appreciative comment, send a personal email, send them a coupon for $5 off the next time they come.
It’s not the economic value that matters; it’s the fact that you’re paying attention.
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Embrace the Negative
Find the people who say negative things, and reach out to them too. Why they are unhappy? If you can – make it right. If you can’t, explain what you learned and what you will do differently. Send a personal email, send them a coupon for $5 off the next time they come.
Just like the positive comment - it’s not the economic value that matters; it’s the fact that you’re paying attention.
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Embrace the Negative.
Here’s a real-life story.
Amy Korin orders a pizza from her local Chicago Domino’s. They deliver the wrong pizza an hour later.
She tweets about it.
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Embrace the Negative.
The next morning she gets a tweet back with a link to this video.
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Ask So They’ll Tell
Approach all your customers and let them know that you want to know what they think; that you’re checking online.
Encourage them to tell others what they think of you. Hand out a card that tells them how to do it and where.
Just like the positive or negative comment - it’s the fact that you’re paying attention that matters.
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So what’s the plan?
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Next, some actions and tools.
Here are three concrete tasks that will help you manage your identity and reputation online.
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Every 6 months, make a plan.
Every day, check the Web.
As needed, engage.

Plan.
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Review the performance of what you have today – how much traffic, how many conversions.
Decide if you want your own website or if you will maintain identity with your entries on local search.
Hone the description of your identity on local search sites; optimize your own site if you have one. Do this every three or six months!

First, Claim Your Identity
The major directory sites –
Google
Yahoo
Citysearch
Yelp
Yellowpages.com
All allow you to ‘claim’ your business entry.
You can add content, correct data, and describe your business. Do this now.
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Claim Your Identity
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www.google.com/local/add

Claim Your Identity
http://edit2.ls.sp2.yahoo.com/csubmit/
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Claim Your Identity
https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx
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Claim Your Identity
Go to the business entry and click
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Claim Your Identity
On any listing page, go to the bottom…
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Claim Your Identity
On any listing page, find this link…
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Check
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Set up keyword “agents” on Google and Yahoo for your business name and your key competitors’ business names, as well as industry terms.
Google search on news, blogs, discussion groups. Once in a while, check the results against another search engine (Ask, Yahoo). Search on local search sites.
Do this every day – set aside fifteen minutes and just do it.

Be alert.
http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en
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Be alert.
http://www.socialmention.com
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Be alert.
http://www.filtrbox.com
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Be alert.
http://www.twitter.com
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Search Twitter as well.

Engage
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Write up some ‘thank you’ messages to people who say nice things.
Come up with a checklist of questions for users who were unhappy – when, what went wrong, who did you talk to – and send a message and some questions to everyone who criticizes you.
Ask customers for feedback – on your site or on rating sites you point out to them.
Your ideas?

What is engagement?
When you know who your customers are, and they know who you are.
…you know what your customers want and what they think of you.
…you can turn your customers into partners in the success of your business.
The Good News?
Giant corporations are spending millions trying to learn how to do this
You’re already better at it than they are.
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What did we just talk about?
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Small businesses are not just miniature big ones.
You need a different online strategy.

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The answer?
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Find and use the conversations ABOUT your business to do two things:
Make it easier for people who are interested in what you have to sell to find you.
Make sure they don’t have a negative impression of you.

First, Claim Your Identity.
The major directory sites –
Google
Yahoo
Citysearch
Yelp
Yellowpages.com
All allow you to ‘claim’ your business entry.
You can add content, correct data, and describe your business. Do this now.
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Check your reputation.
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Set up keyword “agents” for your business name and your key competitors’ business names, as well as industry terms.
Google search on news, blogs, discussion groups. Once in a while, check the results against another search engine (Bing, Ask, Yahoo). Search on local search sites.
Do this every day – set aside fifteen minutes and just do it.

Engage.
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Follow up with customers – the ones who complain, the ones who compliment – the ones who say nothing at all.
If you broke someone’s guitar, don’t make them go on YouTube to let you know.
Be “engaged” with your customers, and get them engaged with you.

Then market.
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Decide if you’d be better off with a presence on Facebook (can you get more than 15 fans?) or a blog (can you write 5 posts a week or more?).
Get a Twitter account and start by using it for communication. Then link your blog/Facebook posts.
Find existing communities that are relevant to you and participate in them.

…if you want your customers to be married to you…
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…you need to get engaged first.
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Want to know more??
Marc Danziger
www.charmedparticles.com
marcd@charmedparticles.com

Small Business Social Media V3b Working

by Marc Danziger on Jan 11, 2010

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Small Business Social Media V3b Working — Presentation Transcript