by tradesmeninsights | Sep 29, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
The great thing about social media success isn’t measured by how big your bank account is. According to Soumitra Dutta and Matthew Fraser in an article that appeared in the August Chief Executive, “The elimination of entry barriers puts small companies with little-known brands on the same level playing fields as the global brands.” They also point out that “CEOs have long functioned in closed, bunkered environments and aren’t used to the rules of social media, they are used to leading from a top-down authority, manage vertical hierarchies, and assert power through the implied threat of sticks.” All these traits go directly against the grain of what social media is all about.
This, in my view, is an advantage to the small guy. I’ve been associated with plenty of Entrepreneurs in my 35-plus years in this business, and what’s so refreshing about most of them is that they already exhibit the traits of social media long before it was invented. Think about it.
- They want to be in front of the customer.
- They listen to what the customer wants and says.
- What you see is what you get – which bodes well for developing that personal relationship.
- They can react to the marketplace quickly.
CEOs of big, publicly held companies are so entrenched in wanting to control everything and continue to have a one-way conversation. There are personal agendas of those under a CEO that can get in the way as well. As you go up the ladder, people don’t want to take a risk or lose control. There are a few strong-willed CEOs that get it, but they are the minority for sure.
So if you’re the little one, you have the advantage in my book. Don’t give up. Your contacts are talking to you, not someone else.
I’d like to hear some success stories from some of you independent business owners who are the backbone of our country.
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 23, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Today we are continuing an article by Nicky Jameson on how Tradespeople can use social media to generate new business.
Yesterday, Nicky talked about establishing trust with consumers. Today she will cover building a positive word of mouth and how to establish yourself as an authority.
2. Use social media to build positive word of mouth
Whether you are involved in social media or not, people are already talking about you. They are discussing your services and your brand for good or worse. For tradespeople, it’s even more crucial when people are discussing your industry.
How many times have we heard what to us seems like the “experience from hell” listening to a friend’s home renovation story? As consumers who will probably need to use a tradesperson in the future, we cross our fingers and silently thank our stars we’re not the victim… then we wonder how we go about finding a great tradesperson ourselves. The problem is that the “rogue traders” ruin it for the thousands of honest, reputable tradespeople.
If you as a tradesperson have a blog, are on Twitter or have a Facebook page, contribute to a tradesperson’s forum or use another social network, that’s a big help for us and a big advantage for you. First, we search online to see what people are saying. If we like what we find, we’re likely to call you… and when you do a great job, we spread the word…. On Facebook, on Twitter, in our other social networks. In fact, we don’t wait until someone asks us, we’ll generally tell our friends via Twitter, Facebook, forums etc… because our friends trust our recommendations. They in turn share our positive experience, and word of mouth spreads.
What’s more, those recommendations stay online indefinitely. Of course, it can work both ways. The adage that one unhappy customer tells 9 other people has huge implications when you bring in the social media mix. Overall, though, social media is an opportunity for you to take advantage of exponential word of mouth.
3. Use social media to establish yourself as an authority
While not every builder is going to be a Mike Holmes, as a tradesperson you probably have helpful tips and information your clientele (present and potential) need.
You have the answers to questions like:
- How do I hire a tradesperson?
- What questions should I ask the tradesperson?
- How many estimates do I need?
- How do I know the tradesperson can do the job I want?
- Should I ask for credentials?
With Social Media, it’s easier than ever to create and distribute valuable content for your clients.
Here’s an example:
Pete loves the idea of social media. He has a home construction business and over the years has noticed that people ask the same questions over and over again. He found out he could do video so easily he did a short video on just one of the topics people were asking about and posted it on YouTube and posted a link to his website.
He was overawed at the result. Over 500 people accessed the video in 2 days and clicked back to his website. The response was so good that he decided to do a series of short videos, answering the top questions people asked, and even asking people to submit their most pressing questions.
He had phenomenal results. Pete now does a regular video tip every other week, uploads it to YouTube and his website, and has got some good business from it, because people click his link and go to his site. Best of all, he’s established trust and is seen as an expert standing by his audience.
You can video to share tips and valuable information with your clients. People can watch and share your video with their friends who can then share them with their friends. Thanks to the power of social media tools and social networks, your video and content can go viral in less time than you might think.
Social media gives you almost unlimited opportunity to expand your relationships with fellow tradespeople and your customers. People do business with those they like and trust and using social media extends your ability to establish relationship and trust.
Nicky Jameson is an online Copywriter who specializes in improving B2B websites. She’s also a blogger on using social media for business. Nicky blogs at http://nickyjameson.com and her website is http://copywritingstudio.com
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 22, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
I’m always trying to give manufacturers ideas on how to reach the professional tradesman by using social media. I’ve asked a friend of mine and fellow B-to-B blogger Nicky Jameson to offer her comments and insights on how the tradespeople can utilize social to build their business. I think you will enjoy her comments in this 2-part series. Enjoy.
Many tradespeople feel they don’t really need to have anything to do with social media. Perhaps because their business comes mostly through referrals, or they don’t see immediate value in social media, or they feel it may take up too much time and they need to be out getting new business. And many tradespeople feel intimidated by social media.
Getting business is important and should never take a back seat to your marketing activities. Social media tools are exactly that – tools. However social media is an opportunity you don’t want to miss because it can actually help you target local business more effectively. More importantly, it can help establish you as a trusted person to do business with. Trust, engagement and relationships are the building blocks of business – and social media.
If you’re a tradesperson, you rely on word of mouth to spread the word about your business and services. Did you know social media can help you take this to a new level?
Here are 3 ways Tradespeople can use social media to benefit their customers and business:
1. Use social media to establish trust with consumers
Did you know that one of the top concerns consumers have with regard to allowing tradespeople into their homes is trust? Put yourselves in your customer’s shoes for a moment. As a customer, you’re alone in an emergency. You need a plumber or an electrician… or another tradesperson to fix something you can’t do yourself. You’ve never met the tradesperson, yet there you are about to let a complete stranger into your home for an unspecified time. Most people are uncomfortable about allowing strangers into their homes at any time and they usually have no way of knowing who’s trustworthy and who isn’t.
According to Hattie Hasan of UK plumbing company Stopcocks, trust has never been more important and consumers are becoming increasingly cautious when hiring tradespeople. They also want to ensure they spend their money wisely… on jobs well done.
When you join a social network that operates on a trust basis with other tradespeople, it helps you establish trust with consumers. When they search for you online and see you are in a trust-based social network, it helps build confidence in potential customers.
Part two will cover :
Using social media to build a positive word of mouth
Using Social media to establish yourself as an authority
See Part 2 here.
Nicky Jameson is an online copywriter who specializes in improving B2B websites. She’s also a blogger on using social media for business. Nicky blogs at http://nickyjameson.com and her website is http://copywritingstudio.com
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 16, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
I’ve never been much for beating around the bush. I like to get to the point and move on. Much like a missile, which when programmed, is focused and keeps on track to its target…so should a good post. I guess that’s why I like Twitter so much, because it makes you choose your words carefully, not only to communicate the message, but to be impactful as well. I read a post recently on Copyblogger by Michelle Russell, How to write with a knife, that gives great insight into how to sharpen your message. She does an excellent job showing you how to get the wheat away from the chaff. So enjoy.
Here is some other interesting reading:
Why most Blogs Fail
5 Tips on How to Improve your Blog
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 9, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
The answer is they don’t… they scan!
One of the main keys for an effective blog is to understand how people read on the web and tradesmen are no exception.
And how do users read on the web? The answer is, they don’t... they scan.
Nielsen Norman Group’s research found that 79 percent of their test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.
For your blog to be effective, your text must be scannable.
Jakob Nielsen offers this advice:
- Highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
- Meaningful sub-headings (not “clever” ones)
- Bulleted lists
- One idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
- The inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
- Half the word count (or less) than conventional writing
Nielsen’s research also found that users detested “marketese;” the promotional writing style with boastful claims.
I’ve often said that…
“the moment you start to sell on your blog is when you will lose your audience.”
You need to understand how people read on the web and learn to write for them effectively. One of the best resources that I have found was Jakob Nielsen’s website. This is very dated material, 1997, but you will find that the top blogs follow Nielsen’s style guidelines remarkably well. How Users Read on the Web
Jakob Nielsen has been called:
Web users generally prefer writing that is concise, easy to scan, and objective (rather than promotional) in style.
There are additional, interesting findings about users’ detailed reading behavior in Nielsen’s eyetracking studies.
