Examples and best practices of small businesses successfully using social networking to market their businesses and connect with customers. Presented at Parker Public Library, Parker, Colorado, May 2010.

1. Naked Online:
How Naked Pizza and other small businesses
use social networking tools
Scott Brown, Social Information Group – May 10, 2010
Parker Library, Parker, CO, USA
© 2010 Social Inf ormation Group
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2. Agenda
• Overview of the business benefits and marketing
applications of some of the current top tools
• Examples
• Matching your own style and brand to the right tools
• Integrating social tools into your existing marketing
efforts and workflow
• Measuring success in using the tools
• Some final thoughts
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3. The Social Networking jumble
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4. What do they have in common?
Connecting
Sharing
Visibility
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5. What happens when you add
compelling content?
Community
Serendipity
Loyalty
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6. How are small businesses using them
successfully?
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16. Why does this work?
 Create a larger awareness of your business
 Multiple layers of presence and visibility
 “Virtuous circle” of visibility
 Reinforce branding
 “3-D brand”
 What else do you do?
 Personality
 Drive contacts and sales
 Drive potential clients to your site and offerings
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17. Why should you care?
• Acquire new customers
• Listen to your customers
• Raise awareness of your community efforts and
connections
• Build your community network
• Raise funding
• What is your competition doing?
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19. Personal – “real”
Transparent
Community member
Responsible
Fun!
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27. Business use vs. personal use
Tone
Content
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28. The ones we’ll focus on
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com
Blogs
 WordPress: http://www.wordpress.com
 TypePad: http://www.typepad.com
 Blogger: http://www.blogger.com
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29. http://www.facebook.com
• What is it?  Online business profile and community
networking tool
 Free
 Descriptive
• What’s the  Integrate photos, video, other information
advantage?  Build a public community
 Community forum
 Gather feedback
• Where do I  http://www.facebook.com
find it?
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30. How do I get started?
• Sign up
• Create a fan page
• Connect
• People you know
• Customers
• Advertise in your business marketing (website,
flyers, advertisements, etc.)
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31. Blogs
• What are  Online journals – a place to share information,
expertise, viewpoints, etc.
they?  “Personal publishing”
 Generally free
 Great if you like to write – less formal
• What’s the  Share about you and your business:
advantage?  Professional /Expertise
 Interests
 Community involvement
 Where do I  http://www.wordpress.com
 http://www.typepad.com
find them?
 http://www.blogger.com
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32. Blogs – How do I get started?
• Sign up
• Create a blog
• Start writing entries
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33. Twitter – http://www.twitter.com
• What is it?  “Microblogging” tool – similar to text
messaging
 Free
 Quick setup
• What’s the  Find and “follow” peers, thought leaders,
advantage? potential customers, locals
 Communicate (both ways)
 Share your own expertise and personality
 Additional marketing tool (“tweet” blog posts,
specials, etc. – also list your website,
specialties
 Where do I
 http://www.twitter.com
find it?
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34. How do I get started?
• Sign up
• Create some “tweets”
• Start following people
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35. Which is best for you?
 Facebook – http://www.facebook.com
 To give greater visibility to your company, specialties,
products
 Community connections, visibility
 Community is key
 Blogs
 To share your interests
 Customer and professional visibility
 Content is key
 Twitter – http://www.twitter.com
 To share your products, advertise specials, customer service
 Advertising
 Connection, content and speed are key
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36. Connecting
 Geography
 Local connections through Twitter
 Example: Twellow, WeFollow
 Local connections through Facebook
 Search for your geography
 Consider advertising through36
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37. Considerations: Logical/technical
Technology and firewall issues
Privacy and confidentiality
Adoption and usage
Multiple tools
Making the time/wasting the time
Dedicating time and energy – following
through
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38. Considerations: Organizational
• Shift in thinking about how you
interact
Broadcasting > conversation
Authority > moderator
One to many > many to many
• Loss of control
Can you handle that?
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39. They’re called
“social”
for a reason
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40. How do I integrate these with my
marketing?
 Choose one first – and do it well
 Don’t market them until you’re ready
 Integrate with what you already have
 Email channels, advertising, business cards
 Visibility on your site
 Advertise yourself and your offerings
 Make them a part of your “day”
 Allow yourself the freedom to get used to them
 Allow yourself the time to make them a habit
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41. Workflow and maintenance
 Make them a part of your “day”
 Establish a set day/time during the week
 Build into other processes
 “Before I check email, I’ll ‘tweet’”
 Schedule in advance
 Blog or Twitter posting
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42. Measuring success and evaluating
 What is your goal?
 What is your plan for meeting that goal?
 Implementation
 How is it working?
 Bit.ly
 Google Analytics
 Evaluation: is it worth it?
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45. Is it worth it?
 Am I having fun?
 What is working?
 What’s not working?
 Do I want to continue?
 No
 Yes
 For how long before I re-evaluate?
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46. Sustaining
 Develop your own pace
 There are no standard “guidelines” for tweeting,
blogging, etc.
 Calendar & scheduling
 Tweets, blogs, etc.
 Evaluation
 Step back and consider regularly
 Do I want to continue?
 What about my audience?
 Gracefully and professionally easing out of it
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47. Good rules for sharing
 Be brief
 Make it useful
 Know your audience
 Make it personal
 Make it fresh
 Relate it to your business and/or value
Adapted from Chris Brogan:
 http://www.chrisbrogan.com
© 2010 Social Inf ormation Group
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48. Final thoughts
 Experiment and play around with these tools
 See what works for you
 Start small!
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49. “If you’re not prepared to be
wrong, you’ll never come up
with anything original.”
Sir Ken Robinson
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50. Final thoughts
 Experiment and play around with these tools
 See what works for you
 Start small!
 Invite and involve others – reach out
 People are already using these technologies and
expect to be invited
 Leverage what others are doing
 Don’t use social tools as your ONLY tool
 Complementary to what you’re already doing
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51. Which is best for you?
 Which tool would you choose?
 What would you share using that tool?
 How often – realistically – would you update
it?
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52. What’s my plan?
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© Sean Prior - Fotolia.com

53. Have fun!
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Collection of National Media Museum - photographer unknown
© 2010 Social Inf ormation Group

54. Scott Brown and Social Information Group
 Enhance your online visibility and marketing
using the best social networking tools
 Tailored to your specific needs – from
beginner to expert
 Free initial consultation
Contact me:
 scott@socialinformationgroup.com
 Skype: scbrown5
 http://www.socialinformationgroup.com
© 2010 Social Inf ormation Group
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55. References and resources
Tools and Metrics You Need to Measure and Monitor Social Media Success (Social
Media Today):
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/62067
How to Create a Screencast Like a Pro with These 6 Online Tools (MakeUseOf.com):
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-create-a-screencast-pro-6-free-online-tools/
10 Apps to Schedule Future Tweets on Twitter (Social Times):
http://www.socialtimes.com/2010/02/10 -apps-to-schedule-future-tweets-on-twitter/?red=rb
10 Ways for Small Businesses to use LinkedIn (The LinkedIn Blog):
http://blog.linkedin.com/2010/04/12/linkedin-small-business-tips/
Measuring Social Media ROI: Does Size Matter? (Mark Hayward):
http://mark-hayward.com/2009/03/03/measuring -social-media-return-on-investment/
How to Increase Revenue with Twitter Integration (Social Media Today):
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/smc/120135
Facebook’s Eroding Privacy Policy: A Timeline (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/facebook-timeline
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56. Examples
Boulder Baked
http://www.boulderbaked.com
Naked Pizza
http://www.nakedpizza.biz
Optima Women’s Health
http://www.southofdenver.com/
Real Estate South of Denver
http://www.southofdenver.com/
Twellow (to find businesses and locations)
http://www.twellow.com
WeFollow
http://www.wefollow.com
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