by tradesmeninsights | Jan 12, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
This is a guest post from Marc Levine, social media director for RiaEnjolie, a website developer for small business owners. Marc shares some best practices he uses to get the most out of social media highlighting some of the things we need to consider when jumping into social media.
Be Wary of the Fine Line.
We all must all do our part to ensure that the Era of Social Media is never referred to as the Age of Irresponsibility.
Every one of us needs to be extremely careful and overly thoughtful while engaging with others in Social Media. Social Networking is a honeybee with a huge stinger. In the same way that the honeybee is responsible for a bounty of beautiful flowers, Social Media offers us many of a wonderful way to connect with the world. However, if we are reckless with our online relationships and are not careful choosing the words — and photos — we post online, we can easily be stung by the bee. The results can be very painful in a variety of ways, and in some cases, fatal to our reputations.
The fact is that full-blown Social Media has only been around for about half of a decade. It is still a very youthful and impetuous communications medium. It has a lot of growing up to do and so do we as its users. The problem with anything so new is that we really “don’t know what we don’t know” about it. The human relations and legal implications of Social Media are not fully understood and those exposures inherent within its engagements are highly unpredictable and potentially dangerous. This is largely because we are dealing with a myriad of people coming to us from diverse cultures and backgrounds; each having their own set of values, ideals, expectations, tastes and motives. The latter are not always respectable.
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
— Anton Chekhov
Further complicating this complex dynamic is the understanding that Social Networking is a form of communication devoid of body language. This is particularly problematic because in Social Media we are only using words to express our thoughts. We are without the help of our usually telling gestures and universally understood facial expressions, which we exhibit to others in our face-to face exchanges. It is these expressions and gestures that give our words their correct meaning and proper context.
If you have ever seen the hit Fox television show, “Lie to Me,” starring the accomplished British actor Tim Roth, you’ll know exactly what I mean. In that show, trained law enforcement experts read and interpret the body language of suspects to determine whether or not they are telling the truth. A slight facial tic, subtle eye aversion or prominent swallow at a key moment during interrogation might reveal their guilt.
Most Social Media platforms do not allow for any physical expression and this can often lead to mistaken interpretations of one’s actual intent. And, because most Social Media takes place on either side of a one-way computer monitor, our inhibitions are also sometimes short-circuited; permitting inappropriate behaviors to take place. Don’t forget that whenever we interact with other people, it’s all about their perceptions and personal interpretations. We must always be aware of this for our own reputation management and that of anyone else we may happen to be representing, personally or professionally. A false impression can be just as damaging as the real thing.
“Consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men.”
–Thomas Henry Huxley
Threat from anything with risk potential stemming from the volatility of casual and candid human interaction can sometimes bring with it the most unanticipated, unpleasant and costly consequences. When such exposures involve privacy matters, they represent — without a doubt — a potential landmine for somebody. Put all such concerns together in a single place and what you have created for yourself and often for others is a “perfect storm” of legal headaches. Since Social Media is a fairly new interactive phenomenon, there is very little case law on the books to help the legal system rule, fairly. What can judges and juries really count on to help them decide the innocence or guilt of individuals and businesses accused of crossing the lines of responsible and lawful behavior? It is much like a doctor performing a new operation for the very first time.
Beyond the legal system, there is also the court of public opinion and its close relative — the news media. They often work hand-in-hand as judge, jury and even as executioner. Lives and reputations can often hang in the balance. Many a robust career and solid marriage have been ruined as a result of someone’s deliberate actions or even careless mistakes. And, others have unfairly suffered loss and indignity from an unfortunate misinterpretation or misunderstanding. After all, we are all not equally gifted as flawless communicators.
The stakes are very high. Social Media must always be respected and handled with kid gloves. After all, it is just a “thing,” with no soul and no conscience. It only does what we tell it to do and what we do may be viewed by millions of judgmental readers – some with significant influence in our own lives.
“The higher the risk, the more necessary it is to engage everyone’s commitment and intelligence.”
– Margaret J. Wheatley
I have a rather unique professional background, which lends itself well to this discussion. After a long career in human resources and staffing industry management, I transitioned to Social Media Marketing. My intent was to try something different and to refresh my career interests. Should I be very surprised by what I have found in my new career? I have quickly discovered that Social Media, today, is where “personnel” was when I first met up with it back in the late 1970s. That was shortly before it matured into what we presently call “Human Resources.” By the way, the late 1970s was still a long time before anyone ever considered the idea of PHR and SPHR certifications for the field. In fact, back in those days, “personnel” wasn’t even really a legitimate career field. It was largely an administrative job involving mostly paperwork completion, filing and almost no decision-making.
What made Human Resources a “meatier” career field? With the advice of their lawyers, average employees realized that they could sue their employers over matters of age discrimination, sexual harassment, exposure to toxic chemicals, accidents in the workplace and a whole host of other things. The increasing threat of potential litigation involving employees and even job applicants created the need for a new strategic partner in the executive boardroom. Almost overnight, the personnel clerk was morphed into the human resources generalist.
Over the past 30 years, Human Resources can be credited with saving companies billions of dollars in losses, due to their wise counsel and their vigilant oversight of their function.
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” – Marie Curie
My post is not written to scare people away from using Social Media. The ongoing legal challenges associated with the hiring and firing of people didn’t make companies stop doing these things. It just made CEOs and other business people take a few steps back and make some important decisions about what they needed to do to reduce their exposures. Their thinking gave birth to the field of Human Resources. Today and every day, these professionals work side-by-side with their senior managers and employment attorneys to react and pro-act to the threats that businesses may face from a variety of potential litigants.
Fortunately, those in the business world engaging in Social Media have the benefit of having Human Resources and legal counsel around to help keep them out of trouble. But, without lots of solid planning and careful forethought, Social Media use can still result in embarrassing and costly mistakes. All parties must be willing to closely work together to better educate themselves and to train others in the responsible use of Social Media.
Social Media DEFINITELY requires clearly written and strictly adhered to policies and procedures; comprehensive and up-to-date training; full ACCOUNTABILITY and reams of supporting DOCUMENTATION, just like the field of Human Resources also requires to defend a company and/or employee when it becomes necessary.
Please forgive me for saying this, but I have found that the more things change, the more they seem to remain the same. This is especially true during the evolution of Social Media. For me, coming from the field of Human Resources, it’s deja vu all over again.
by tradesmeninsights | Jan 5, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Uncategorized
This is a guest post from Marc Levine, social media director for RiaEnjolie, a website developer for small business owners. Marc shares some best practices he uses to get the most out of social media.
Social Media Marketing Requires Focus and Discipline
Effective Social Media Marketing requires strong multi-tasking and solid organization skills. Without these two key requirements, a small business owner can be easily overwhelmed and consumed by a “beast” starved for jealous attention and fruitless labor. Social Media Marketing is a “beast” that makes no promises for success or ever feels the need to apologize for bad results, despite the best efforts of marketers. Indeed, Social Media Marketing makes the strongest possible argument for planning to working smarter, rather than simply working harder…and longer.
The Blogs are overflowing with “how to” lessons on “taming the beast,” we call Social Media Marketing. You don’t have to look very hard to find blog posts that promise great results from a one-hour daily commitment in Social Media. Is this not possible? I suppose it is; depending on a number of unique variables that begin with having a realistic set of goals and expectations. What works well for some may not work as well for others. So, don’t be disappointed if what you read somewhere was not the panacea you hoped it might be. Your situation may require an entirely different approach.
Let me tell you what works for me. I can’t guarantee it will work for you, but it may – at least – be a starting point for your own Social Media effectiveness trials. Taken together with the advice of others, some personal tweaking may result in creating a workable plan exclusively for you and your business.
In my position as Social Media Director for a growing web design company, RiaEnjolie, Inc., I am charged with contributing directly to the corporate marketing effort, as well as assisting the many small business owners that purchase their new websites from RiaEnjolie. My major goals are to increase Brand Awareness for RiaEnjolie, as well as to “converse” with our customers and prospects, so as to better understand their needs and help them in their own Social Media Marketing efforts.
These are rather modest goals with an expected ROI measured mostly in customer smiles and business compliments. For a company that is young and relatively new in Social Media, RiaEnjolie is confident that it has started in – exactly – the right place with the appropriate focus and a reasonable set of expectations. Let me explain more about our use of Social Media.
We find that Facebook and Twitter work particularly well for us. We focus most of our attention on these two sites, in addition to the regular blogging we do. If you know where your target audience generally “hangs out,” you need to go there and invite everyone else to join you. These places, along with your own Website, become your “base of operations”…your primary residence, so to speak. If one has too many homes to maintain, it becomes very expensive and time consuming. This is also true in Social Media for those who attempt too much. Therefore, if Facebook is your primary choice, you need not apologize for not participating on MySpace, as well. Just be sure to direct everyone to where you can usually be found (on the Web) and they will eventually arrive there, as long as you offer them some real value.
Once you have established your “base of operations,” consider what your presence will be like once there. In other words, “when can you most often be found at home?”
They say that the single best time to Tweet is 9:00 am PST (Pacific Standard Time). They also say that the best time to get re-Tweeted is 4:00 pm EST on Fridays. These recommendations offer an educated framework to consider for “planning when to be home” in Social Media. In fact, there is plenty of free automation software available such as “Tweetdeck” and “Hootsuite” to program tweets for when you are not physically available on the Web. My recommendation, though, are to use these programs very sparingly. They are increasingly seen as very impersonal. They often come across more like annoying sales tools than true relationship builders.
Each day, I schedule about three Social Media sessions for myself. Each session runs about thirty minutes. I base my activity on peak user times reported in online studies. My online sessions are often supplemented with additional tweets and posts – throughout the day – as interesting news and tips come my way. This is why I keep Twitter and Facebook minimized on my laptop, all day.
Each morning after calling up my web browser, I open up four screens before minimizing three of them. Up and running, concurrently are:
1. Twitter
2. My Facebook Group (Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses)
3. Bit.ly (a URL shortening tool)
4 Google.
Next, I search Google News for a short list of topics to be shared with our audience.
RiaEnjolie shares the latest news and tips for Social Media, Small Business, Website Design and Charity Programs. The searches are refined to “past hour” results to help insure we are among the first to Tweet and post this news. In fact, rather than burden followers and “friends” with article links, I carefully review each item for its content value and for any quotable quotes by the principals in the article or post. Often the best quotes come from people we have not heard of before and what they have to share – in just a few words – sums up the entire article their views are contained within. Make no mistake that quotes are very re-Tweetable. Just make sure to give each quote a related category with a hashmark in front of it (i.e. #smallbusiness) so that others can search for it, find it easily on Twitter and attribute it to you, as its original Tweeter.
Beyond sound bytes, any article or post we read has intellectual value. We either agree or disagree with its contents. It is a definite learning experience for us and often the source of good debate. So, we gain something to internalize and to share with others in the form of a Tweet; a re-Tweet; a Facebook post; an E-mail to someone we know; or it might even become the subject our next blog article. And, while we are at it, we can comment on the article or the post we are reading; leaving behind our professional footprint and a valuable backlink for our own website.
With all four of the above mentioned screens available on my desktop, I essentially become a Social Media production company. I am able to create split screens and multi-task the information that I am working with in a number of different ways. At the very same time that I may be tweeting some memorable quote, I can also be expanding on the same thought with an insightful – and sometimes provocative – post to my Facebook Group audience. Thinking man’s Social Media at its best.
If a link is particularly long and takes up too many Twitter characters, Bit.ly is also open and ready to go for creating short URLs. Keeping these few platform and tool screens open throughout the day, saves time and allows for a smooth and steady flow of content from reading to analysis to publication and commenting. Since much of this also plays into analytics, measurement is also possible through Google Analytics and other similar programs.
None of this stuff is rocket science. It is mostly based on individual and collective user experience. The technology is all here and we just have to consider how best to use it to achieve our unique goals. There are even better ways to do the things I just described. I am confident you and others will find them through your own exploration, trial and error. Meanwhile, my system works for me. There is no right or wrong, just satisfaction. If you feel comfortable with a plan that gets you the results you are looking for, that’s three-quarters of the challenge.
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 12, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Professional tradesmen, whether you’re an electrician, plumber or locksmith, are finally realizing that social media can play an important part in their new business effort. Here’s one example compliments of Marc LeVine from RiaEnjolie.
Locksmiths Use Social Media to Unlock Their Business Potential
Many people do not realize that professional locksmiths do much more than just resolve lockouts and make spare keys. In fact, they generally offer a wide range of services that include selling and installing electronic security systems, intercoms and even window bars and gates. Locksmiths are also responsible for many of the break-ins and robberies that never take place as a result of their theft-proofing devices and crime deterring advice. They can also be credited for helping the police identify successful burglars by way of the recordings on their customer’s CCTV surveillance equipment.
Every city and town has, at least, a few locksmiths on hand to serve the local populace. After all, if you suddenly get locked out of your home, you want a service you can call on 24 hours a day and not one that takes 24 hours to arrive at your door.
With the “Yellow Page” phone books on the way out, it is increasingly important for locksmiths to be easily searched for and found on the Web. This means that they must have a professional looking website with strong search engine optimization (SEO) characteristics. The locksmith’s website must offer prospective customers comprehensive and concisely written content explaining everything they might need to know about a business’ products, menu of services, operating hours and contact information.
Just having a website may not be enough to draw attention to a small, local business. Locksmiths and others are beginning to realize that traditional advertising methods are quite expensive and not as effective as they once were.
Many small businesses continue to run ads in weekly papers and Pennysavers, without ever calculating any return on investment (ROI). Several continue to rerun their ads week after week despite only receiving a few and often no customer inquiries at all. What a terrible waste of time and money for so many hard working people. They often feel compelled to advertise exactly the same way they and their parents always have prior to the age of the Internet. Most have never taken any quality time to consider less costly and often more effective alternatives to newspaper, direct mail, radio and CATV ads like Social Media.
This Locksmith May Have Found the Key for Success
Fidelity Locksmith Services has been serving the people of Los Angeles, California since 1975. Their customers include the general public, as well as many well known Hollywood celebrities that are often in need of much more sophisticated and expensive security systems for their magnificent homes and estates. Having a clientele of this type has enough PR value in its own right, but what good is it if these higher profile associations are not pitched and promoted.
During a rash of Hollywood celebrity burglaries in the fall of 2009, Fidelity Locksmith launched a special deadbolt giveaway program aimed at preventing a repeat of the rash of burglaries that plagued the rich and famous of Hollywood Hills.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Hollywood royalty or a regular guy like me, living through a break-in is life changing. The lost sense of security that comes following a burglary is often even more devastating than the actual property loss,” said Roy Sivan, Fidelity Locksmith’s Chief of Celebrity Services. “We’re offering celebrities free deadbolts to let them know Fidelity understands what they’re going through and to encourage the public to think about beefing up their home security. No doubt such a high profile program gained the attention of those in traditional and social media.
While the celebrity deadbolt giveaway program was certainly attention getting, the company’s well documented advertising and marketing philosophy may even be more noteworthy. Fidelity Locksmith Services is not at all ashamed to share that it uses Social Media as an inexpensive way to reach their target audience. Through this cost savings approach they say they are more easily able to offer the consumer much better pricing than many of their industry competitors.
Indeed, Fidelity Locksmiths has an active social (media) life on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, where they have created some very funny and memorable short commercials to capture their audience’s imagination along with their business.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXzT5APbUnw&feature=mfu_channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw0U2sYOmq4&feature=mfu_channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmIMChrzIW0&feature=player_embedded
Finding the Right Blend of Marketing is a Cost Saver and Revenue Maker
While not every small company like Fidelity Locksmith operates in a Hollywood type of business environment, every business can embrace the same level of creativity to leverage whatever it is that their own community has to offer. If you can’t leverage the New York Yankees, you can always run promotions with your local minor league team. What you have available to work with (in your community) is much less important than what kind of marketing programs you – yourself – can create to inspire your target audience. Most importantly, doesn’t it really all come down to how well you execute your planning; attract and engage your audience; and convert them to paying customers?
Don’t forget to measure and analyze your activities and results, accordingly. This is so critical to a small business’ success. If your traditional marketing activities have been lackluster over the past six months, you can fairly well predict what they will bring you – if unchanged – throughout the remainder of your annual business cycle. At what cost to your business are such unnecessary shortcomings and why continue to finance them? Social Media is much less expensive (often Free) and often much more effective.
Try a modest combination of Social Media and traditional media to grow your business. Start with your main goals. Write them down and stick a note on your wall to refocus you each morning. Those goals are closely linked – to be easily found on the Web and to make a good first impression.
Accomplish these goals by creating a professional looking website reinforced with fundamentally sound Search Engine Optimization practices. With these goals accomplished, support your website with some basic URL promotional activities (make sure your business URL is all over the place) and engage your target audience at grassroots level on Facebook and, perhaps, Twitter for only a couple of hours each day. The results of this minimal activity just may surprise you.
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 15, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Today we have a guest post by Marc D. LeVine, Director of Social Media for Riaenjolie Inc, a web development company that specializes in websites for contractors and other tradespeople. If you’re a contractor, take a look at his tips to help improve your site.
Some people truly believe that for most local businesses engaging in Social Media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging, etc.) it is a complete waste of time, and worse – it’s a waste of money. While this may be true for some small businesses, it is not true for all small businesses.
There is no question that computer challenged individuals probably won’t benefit much from social networking, primarily because they do not understand the technology – not because business opportunities do not exist for them. Others may be avoiding Social Media because they already have more business than they can handle and are stretched too thin trying to meet the demand for their services.
Andy Gaur, CEO of RiaEnjolie Inc., a New Jersey web page design company specializing in professional looking and affordable websites for Electricians and other trades people, is very well attuned to the world of traditional and Social Media Marketing for business. “It is much better to be preparing a well conceived and comprehensive marketing plan and getting ready to use an appropriate mix of outreach strategies rather than just sticking with just one or two strategies that have not worked very well for Electricians and others in the trades,” says Gaur. “If you don’t jump on different things – like Social Media – that show promise, you may end up in a struggle to retain your current customers and fail to gain new ones that are unaware of your business and what you can offer them in quality workmanship and affordable pricing.”
The reality is that while there may be a few good reasons for not engaging in Social Media, there may be many more convincing arguments as to why all small businesses should be involved on the Internet.
Local Business People Need Local Business Solutions
Residential Electricians, in particular, do the majority of their work close to home. Homeowners usually seek out electricians and plumbers that do business within or near to their community. If there is an emergency, they want help to come from nearby and as soon as possible. Customers also prefer to engage local trades people recommended to them by their neighbors and friends or from right out of the local listings – often found on the Web.
In order to be easily found, small businesses need to show up in search results for keyword phrases that include a geographic modifier and their services and/or products. An Electrician in Brooklyn, NY needs to show up in search results for “electrician Brooklyn NY or “residential electrician Borough Park,” etc. They can easily do this without ever once engaging in a social networking activity.
When it comes to Social Media, local businesses should be spending their time on geo-targeted social networks like Google Buzz, Google local search and Foursquare. Maybe Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn aren’t for them, but these geo local sites are just what the doctor ordered.
Here is how geo local Internet searching can be of benefit to almost any small business, including electricians. If your small business has done all it can to be easily found, your target customers “land” right on your website and can see your phone number, front and center. If your website is all that it needs to be, they will pick up the phone and call you to come make electrical repairs in their home.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning for how your business will be found on the Web by your local customers:
1. Be Sure to Use Local Keywords. Your customers will look for you by city and state, first. They need to be prominent among your keywords and accompany other keywords that are specific to what you do for a living that you also offer your customers to solve their problems.
2. Pay Attention to Local Google Maps. They offer some great tips on local searching. And, having these maps appear right on your website when potential customers are trying to figure out exactly where you are located in relation to their own homes is a great tool and benefit.
3. Choose Authoritative Directories for Inclusion. Submit your website to the better known “authoritative” directories such as Yahoo! Directory. Look for other quality directories on which to post your URL so as to earn enough link equity to rank you ahead of your competitors, especially in the more general directories (re: searching for electricians).
You Can Ignore Social Media, but Not the Internet
Looking for other reasons why electricians and other small businesses need to pay attention to the Internet, if not actively participate in social networking? Your business may be getting bad ratings and reviews from service reviewers and customers. You could possibly be losing business and not know why. You may not even have an opportunity to answer the critics as they continue to throw bricks at you in front of hundreds or thousands of potential customers searching for reviews on your service.
Listen to What Others are Saying about You and Your Business
One thing every small company should do on the Internet is to listen to what others are saying about you – good, bad and awful. Connect with your current customers as well as your potential ones. Be available to answer their questions and to give your advice. Be there to answer their criticisms and address their concerns. You get a lot of mileage by showing everyone that you care and always respond in an honest and truthful way – even when the news may not be what they want to hear. People respect that kind of attention.
When People See That You Know Your Stuff, They Know Who to Call
Respect also comes with being perceived as a subject matter expert (SME). If you are the local electrician – show your target audience what you know as an experienced tradesman. Create a blog and offer some basic tips free and with no strings attached. Share “how-to” solutions and let people know about preventive measures that can save them money and worry. This is the sort of attitude that earns praise and future business opportunities.
You Don’t Need to Get In Over Your Head When You Make the Right Choices
If it sounds like I have gotten you to stick your big toe in the Social Media waters, I may have. But realize that what I have shown you does not involve constant Facebook updating or daily “Tweeting.” My recommendations are directed at being found and being respected, more than they are about engaging in a full range of conversational activities in social networking.
Spend the Bulk of Your Attention and Your Resources on Your Website
______________________________________________________________________________
Sample navigation of a typical Electrician’s Website
Home | About Us | Ethics & Value | Guarantee | Safety Tips | FAQs | Glossary | Jobs | Useful Links | Contact Us | Directions
Services
Residential Voice & Data Cabling | Hot Tubs & Spa | Ceiling Fans & Attic | Emergency & Back up Systems | Panels & Wiring | Rewiring | Landscape & Outdoor Lighting | Inspections | Telephone & Computer/Network Cabling | Surge Protection | Basement Development | Knob & Tube Removal | Kitchen & Bathroom Remodeling | Recessed Lighting | Troubleshooting | Smoke Alarm/Detector Services – Commercial
Service Upgrades | Commercial Kitchen Design & Maintenance | Parking Lot Lighting | GFCI Installation & Replacement | Retail Interiors & Ballast Replacement | Aerial Maintenance & Installation | Infra-red Testing | Infra-red Testing | Track Lighting | Telecommunications | Recessed Lighting | Hazardous Locations ______________________________________________________________________________
The one place that you should invest yourself in – to a larger degree than anywhere else we have discussed – is your website. If you are going to be easily found on the Internet, it is your website that will appear ahead of your name, your address and your reputation. If your website does not look professional at first glance, most people will abandon it before ever reading on to determine your suitability as an electrician.
So take a look at your website and ask yourself the following questions about it?
Does Your Website Pass This Test?
1. Is your website design aesthetically pleasing?
2. How intuitive is your website to navigate?
3. Does your website have a clear statement of PURPOSE near the top of its homepage?
4. Content is King. Is your website copy concisely written and richly informative?
5. Do you update your website content REGULARLY to keep it fresh?
6. Does your website have a “call to action” on every page for customers to respond to?
7. Does your website’s index page draw visitors further into its content and to where you display and sell your products and contract your services?
8. Is your website designed to encourage future visits (i.e. is there a newsletter; a tell-a-friend feature; a blog with an RSS button to subscribe with?)
Electricians, you can definitely “short circuit” the process of Social Media and still get the business results you are looking for. You need to be smart in the ways you employ the Internet in order to be easily found and then, to be able to impress your target audience when they land at your website for their very first time. If your website passes the effectiveness test and if you have done all your homework with regard to geo-search, you’ll be very pleased at the additional phone calls you’ll be getting from local customers looking for a good electrician.
