Here's the final version of a contrarian presentation on social media and small business.

1. Small Business / Social Media Survival Strategyv 3 Marc Danziger Charmed Particles, Inc. www.charmedparticles.com marcd@charmedparticles.com © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 1

2. Introduction © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 2

3. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 3 “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)

4. What I’m going to tell you © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 4 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.

5. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 5

6. What’s in it for you?Why are you here? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 6 Well, there’s a wave that’s coming arrived …

7. …caused by the explosion of online tools that help people communicate… © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 7

8. …so business is changing… © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 8 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?)

9. …and you don’twant to get wiped out. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 9

10. What’s ‘wiped-out’? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 10 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…)

11. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 11 …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.

12. There’s a standard playbook © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 12 …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)

13. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 13 It’s wrong. Small businesses aren’t just scaled down big ones. When we’re done, I hope you’ll agree.

14. Housekeeping © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 14

16. Who are you? Who am I?

17. Why are you here?

18. What’s Social Media?

19. How Social Media is changing marketing (and other things)

20. (break)

21. Social Media for Small Business

22. Step-by-step

24. So here’s the deal. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 17 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.

25. You should take away: © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 18 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.

26. What I ask: © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 19 Join the conversation. When we’re done, evaluate me.

27. In the 21st century it’s personal. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 20 Business communication is becoming a conversation. Companies don’t have conversations, people do.

28. So - who are you? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 21 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?

29. …Who am I? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 22

30. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 23

31. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 24

32. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 25

33. …what have I done? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 26

34. …Blogged since 2002 © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 27

35. …2 blogs today © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 28

36. …clients? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 29

37. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 30

38. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 31

39. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 32

40. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 33

41. …what have I done? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 34

42. Concepts © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 35

43. 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 © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 36 What is social media?

44. 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? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 37 How does that work?

45. The impact of social media- July 2009: © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 38 In 2008, musician Dave Carroll’s guitar was broken by baggage handlers on United Airlines… Dave spoke up (“United breaks guitars” video).

46. The impact of social media - July 2009: © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 39 As of last week, 7,133,377 had listened. Here’s CNN.

47. 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 © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 40 The impact is immense.

48. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 41 It’s all about conversations.

49. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 42 What do we mean, conversations?

50. Google Blogs Facebook Twitter YouTube Yelp Digg Del.icio.us © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 43 Where can you see it?

51. Check-in … questions? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 44

52. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 45 In the beginning were blogs

53. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 46

54. This ‘sea’ of little grains of content needed structure So at first, we had newsreaders that let everyone structure their own content © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 47 Then came aggregators

55. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 48

56. People wanted to know what other people were paying attention to (Delic.io.us) People wanted to know what was popular (Digg) © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 49 Then came sharing & ranking

57. 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 © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 50 Then came sites as “containers.”

58. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 51

59. 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 . © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 52 And how about yellow pages?

60. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 53

61. Check-in … questions? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 54

62. Why does it matter? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 55

63. 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 © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 56 Jeff starts blogging about ‘Dell Hell’

64. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 57

65. 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.” © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 58

66. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 59 Blogs didn’t cause Dell’s problems. …they just helped reveal them.

67. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 60

68. 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.” © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 61

70. Communicating with customers and potential customers

71. Engaging customers as marketers (viral)

74. SME’s, executive, paid staff

75. Puts a human face on the company

76. Allows direct connection to markets

77. Help customers communicate in

78. Like Starbucks

79. Support forums

81. More effective marketing. Those are important words…”more effective marketing” How is social media marketing different? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 66

82. How do you read this picture? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 67 Romantic? Player?

85. The collapse of advertising. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 70 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”

86. The collapse of advertising. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 71 (source: Millward Brown: What’s In & What’s Out)

87. The collapse of advertising. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 72 Here’s Jeff Jarvis explaining that the Internet makes advertising “a failure.”

88. The rise of relationships. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 73 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”

89. Big business and relationships. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 74 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.

90. So they prioritize conversations: © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 75 …WITH customers and prospects; …WITH employees; …WITH vendors and stakeholders. (Because they can spend enough $ to brandbuild and shape perception – or think they can.)

91. Talking ABOUT and talking WITH. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 76 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.)

92. Talking ABOUT. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 77 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…)

93. Big business v. small business © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 78 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.)

94. Small Business and Social Media © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 79

95. Small business and social media © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 80 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…

96. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 81

97. Small business is different © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 82 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)

98. That’s the conventional wisdom © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 83 A scaled-down version of what we recommend to big business. With a lot of emphasis on conversations WITH. What’s wrong with it?

99. Pause for a bunch of caveats. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 84 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.

101. 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?)

102. Scaling. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 86 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…

103. Empty restaurants aren’t attractive…. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 87

104. Numbers Matter. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 88 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?

105. Bandwidth. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 89 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.

106. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 90 Not making pizza, not selling houses, not fixing locks… …not making money.

107. The answer? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 91 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.

108. Danziger’s Hierarchy of Survival © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 92

109. Check-in … questions? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 93

110. The easy stuff © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 94

111. To get customers, your business relies on two things: © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 95 Identity Reputation

113. Can I trust?

114. Who says?You need to understand how both are changing… (and that’s what this is about)

115. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 97

116. You used to own your identity. (bought and paid for…) © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 98 Ads… Website… Location…

117. 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) © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 99

118. Why does this change matter?The web used to be the open plains. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 100 All that mattered was improving your homestead.

119. Now there are highways. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 101 Roads other people built will make or break the value of your property.

120. Today, identity is search. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 102 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…

121. How do you get found? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 103 63% 30% TMP Directional Marketing – 2009 Local Search study

122. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 104

123. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 105 Just having a site – or a suit - doesn’t always help your image.

124. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 106

125. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 107

126. Now, your reputation is online. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 108 And tied to your identity.

127. 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 © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 109

128. …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 © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 110

129. 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? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 111

130. Start By Observing To find your reputation online, first check: Google Yahoo Yelp.com Twitter Citysearch.com Superpages.com Yellowpages.com © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 112

131. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 113

132. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 114

133. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 115

134. Embrace the Negative. The next morning she gets a tweet back with a link to this video. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 116

135. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 117

136. So what’s the plan? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 118

137. Danziger’s Hierarchy of Survival © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 119

138. Next, some actions and tools. Here are three concrete tasks that will help you manage your identity and reputation online. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 120 Every 6 months, make a plan. Every day, check the Web. As needed, engage.

139. Plan. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 121 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!

140. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 122

141. Claim Your Identity © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 123 www.google.com/local/add

142. Claim Your Identity http://edit2.ls.sp2.yahoo.com/csubmit/ © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 124

143. Claim Your Identity https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 125

144. Claim Your Identity Go to the business entry and click © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 126

145. Claim Your Identity On any listing page, go to the bottom… © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 127

146. Claim Your Identity On any listing page, find this link… © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 128

147. Check © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 129 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.

148. Be alert. http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 130

149. Be alert. http://www.socialmention.com © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 131

150. Be alert. http://www.filtrbox.com © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 132

151. Be alert. http://www.twitter.com © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 133 Search Twitter as well.

152. Engage © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 134 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?

153. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 135

154. What did we just talk about? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 136

155. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 137 Small businesses are not just miniature big ones. You need a different online strategy.

156. Danziger’s Hierarchy of Survival © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 138

157. The answer? © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 139 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.

158. 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. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 140

159. Check your reputation. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 141 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.

160. Engage. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 142 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.

161. Then market. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 143 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.

162. …if you want your customers to be married to you… © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 144

163. …you need to get engaged first. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 145

164. © 2009 Charmed Particles, Inc. 146 Want to know more?? Marc Danziger www.charmedparticles.com marcd@charmedparticles.com