Entries Tagged 'social media' ↓
February 23rd, 2009 — social media
In the “olden days” - say, um, last year - I was teaching companies how to get their corporate site on Page 1 of Google search results using SEO techniques. (Two years ago it was plain ole text SEO; last year I started doing more local SEO, followed swiftly by Universal/Blended SEO and Video SEO).
But this year - the fairly brand-spanking new 2009 - I’m teaching companies how to get more than just their corporate site on Page 1. Afterall, why settle for just a single Page 1 sighting…?!
That’s right: now you can get your company featured on Page 1 via:
SMO: Phase II SEO (and more)
I take my SEO clients to the next logical step: SMO - Social Media Optimization. Share all your digital assets across the most popular social media sites - tagging them for the internal search function within each of those sites - and you”ve got a whole new way of folks finding out about you… make that a whole BUNCH of new ways!
Single placement on Page 1.. that’s like, sooo 2008 
February 4th, 2009 — social media
After a few days’ labor, and a relatively painless delivery, we are proud to announce…
It’s a bouncing new social media business site!
PROsocialmedia.com - younger sibling to writingSEO - has undergone a transformative redesign that reflects the kind of dramatic growth we’re seeing in clients wanting social media services.
SEO still sells - how could such a rock-solid generator of page 1 Google results not? - but SMO (social media optimization) is sizzling right now.
Why?
- Social media is in the news big-time these days, what with my.barackobama.com and his participation in 16 social media platforms before and after the US election;
- Optimizing one’s digital assets across the various social-sharing sites is a great way to secure multiple page 1 Google search results!
So now, the line of logic is: Get Found. Get Read. Get Followed. Get Leads.
(That could be your business… Email for a free social media consultation.)
January 30th, 2009 — social media
Does Captain Cook look like he likes sauerkraut (or anything)?
Apparently, when famous British explorer James Cook wanted to combat scurvy on his ship, he tried to make his men eat sauerkraut. They hated the taste and refused.
In a flash of insight, he said only the officers could dine on it, the crew was forbidden from eating it….
The crew immediately requested it be put back on the menu!
OK, let’s say today the sauerkraut is social media - only now it’s the officers who don’t want to consume it. (That can often be the case with captains of industry, who tend to be older and more conservative.)
Nowadays, crew members (young navvies swabbing the corporate decks) are first to taste and enjoy social media. Indeed, they’re having it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Using the same reverse psychology as Captain Cook’s, if we make social media off-limits to the officers will they want it more?
How do we get them to take the first bite or, better yet, make a meal of it?
Social media consulting and optimization companies like mine are dealing with that challenge every day. Here are my tips - gleaned from experience in boardroom and “on deck”:
- Go slow: Officers aren’t always quick to jump into something because others shout, “C’mon in, the water’s fine!”
- Document it all: If you can prove, empirically, that the sauerkraut is nutritionally valuable, you have a much better chance of getting it down their throat. (OK, this analogy is starting to make me choke!) Hence the value of social media metrics.
- Address fears head-on: Anxiety and scepticism about the unfamiliar is standard human behavior so start the social media education process by dealing directly with the fears. (Reality is rarely as scary as we imagine!)
- Benefits galore: Highlight to management the objectives they’ll meet with social media: Increased brand awareness, “fan-sumers”, free online market research/focus groups, increased traffic leading to lead generation and sales!
Whether you’re crew or officer, let me know how the art of persuasion is coming along in your organization when it comes to social media.
(P.S. It worked: Because they ate the sauerkraut, not one of Cook’s crew died of scurvy!)
January 13th, 2009 — social media
Most of us know the expression, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”
Same principle with Social Media: Teach a company/individual how to blog, Facebook, Twitter, use forums, share links, photos, videos, documents, etc. - and that student will be reeling in leads long-term. (Vs. a quick fix - “Here are your blog posts, links delivered to you… oh, you’re hungry again? We can do it for you again!”)
I write this in sheer frustration as I witness some profit-hungry schemes to get money from businesses by playing on the Fear Factor - i.e., “I’m scared to use social media… can you do it for me?”
Yeah, sure we can. Does that mean we should?! I don’t think so.
Training and education - such as hands-on demonstrations, personal coaching by phone, email, F2F, leave-behind training materials, glossary of terms, online forums, webinars, workshops, etc. - is so important with Social Media Services.
Mack Collier of Search Engine Guide, writes in “How Do you Decide if Social Media is Right for your Business?”
“…If you decide that you do need to hire a social media consultant or agency to help you, please promise me that you insist on having them TEACH you how to use the tools that they will be implementing. If you are going to hire someone to create a blog for you, make sure that they are also willing to train you on how to properly blog, how to build community on your blog with your readers, and how to use the blog as a tool to raise awareness and build your business…”
Two fundamentals touched on here; LEARN IT, then… USE IT - or truly, you’ll lose it (the business value of social media).
Fish on, my friends… the juicy, big customer leads are out there!
P.S. Does anyone know the source of the quote: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime”? I Googled it, to no avail, and no one knew even at Yahoo! Answers and the like!
December 24th, 2008 — blogging, social media
I was on a conference call last week with my business partner explaining our Social Media Optimization services to a prospect; the client was afraid he wouldn’t have time to write his blog, to Twitter, Facebook, etc. - even once we showed him how to set up the profiles, optimize, and teach him the rules of the road in social media. Without his active participation, we told him, all the social media sign up in the world won’t get him fan-sumers, links, PR, online reputation management and all the other social media goodness!
To speak to our client’s quandary, my business partner came up with a great analogy; he said “It’s like when you get a gym membership, and then you can’t figure out why you haven’t lost weight…(but, you hardly ever go to the gym!)”
The gift at the end of all that sweaty effort? That trim waist and defined biceps!
It’s a Conversation… a Virtually LIVE Conversation
David Armano, VP, Experience, Critical Mass, observes in a cool, group-sourced white paper about Social social media predictions 2009:
“Each [successful] social media initiative is supported by LIVE people, employees or representatives who will respond to a tweet, e-mail, phone call, blog post etc. This is what’s becoming known as a culture of rapid response…. The reason organizations will grapple with this is because we’ve become used to “launch and walk away” i.e. sites and e-mail blasts which which don’t require a response…. although it is now cheaper to launch an initiative leveraging Web 2.0 technology—it requires qualified and passionate people to make them successful.”
Amen, social media brother! (Note: that is my bolding on certain words in this quote.)
November 27th, 2008 — social media
Wow, great blog post here, titled “Shut up, you’re helping the customer” with a sad little story about an employee who tried to build good customer relations using social media - only to be punished by his boss and HR for his efforts!
Company buy-in is not always a shoo-in
With PROsocialmedia, we’re taking on somewhat more “edgy” project than with our writingSEO work- not quite as straightforward as finding keywords and writing web content to rank on Page 1 in Google search resuls.
So, one of the criteria we ask for early on - like, before we even sign a contract with the client - is for management buy-in for the Social Media Optimization (SMO) project…. as high up the food chain in the corporation as possible.
Not only is exec buy-in critical, but so is a clear policy on how employees may engage in social media spheres -both when they’re at work and when they’re not. It’s something we always of our SMO clients.
We don’t want to get anyone fired… and we sure don’t want to drag a company, kicking and screaming, into the social media world. You gotta wholeheartedly embrace it, take the (few) risks involved - to reap the benefits of engaging in conversation with your customers and prospects in ways that will change forever how you do business.
November 25th, 2008 — social media
I don’t know if I can chalk it up to being busy, or lazy, or just really into cool beta-technology, but I recently signed up for Ping which streamlines all my blog posts/Tweets/Facebook and LinkedIn updates, Delicious feeds, etc.
I love the convenient streamlining of my online commentary: I type my thoughts into the Ping dashboard (it’s free to set up an account, natch) and presto - those words appear instantly and simultaneously across all my SoNet sites. Now… to come up with enough pithy words to merit all that exposure!
(The Ping thing is not to be confused with the Ning thing.)
October 13th, 2008 — social media
At first glance, social media and religion might seem like strange bedfellows…
But they’re actually perfect mates. What could be more symbiotic than online collaboration to encourage sharing between believers, and/or to reach non-believers?
When I took on Toronto-based Liberty International Church as a client, you could say I “saw the light” as to the power of the Internet for faith communities.
Now, I am not a member of the clergy and I do not have a vested interest in Christianity conversion. Liberty church chose my company to design, develop, SEO, write and add social media to their web presence.
Media as a Social Agent of Change
I’ve discovered that the intersection of religion and social media is a ’sweet spot’ showing the role of mass media as a social agent, an agent of change.
This Toronto church - whose main focus is to affect change in the lives of inner-city families in need - can now reach even more community members (and find more volunteers to help out) through their SEO and SMO-friendly website!
Here are just some of the ways Liberty International Church stays in touch with its congregation and searches for souls to save:
So, I don’t know what your experience with church has been, but a place of worship that understands how to reach people using today’s methods of communications (beyond hard pew benches and dusty hymn books) is very exciting to me…
So much so that I just bought the domain, churchsocialmedia.com - brings home the old-time “church social” (hoedown or picnic) to roost online!
October 8th, 2008 — social media
One of my clients was desperate to generate more leads and turn them quickly into customers when they hired me to develop SEO and SMO (social media optimization) strategies for their Web presence. I was happy to oblige, but with the clear cavet that this is the order in which results are speedy:
- Google AdWords (paid search)
- SEO (organic search results - getting on page 1)
- Social media channels
I am not alone in warning that social media - in particular, social networking site participation, Twittering, even blogging - takes time… lots of time and most of all, EFFORT. Consistently reading other blogs, forums, Twitter posts, Facebook entries, etc…. and then responding appropriately.
The blog, mediaPlucK, recently included in its post, “7 Social Media (Must) Not Do” the following advice:
Social media is about making and sustaining connections. The only way you can grow your influence is long term. Stop crying - if you do not like the fact that it takes time, don’t do it at all.
At the Search Engine Strategies conference in Toronto I attended a few months ago, one of the presenters quipped, “If you want immediate results from social media… you’ve started too late.”
I urge clients to get going EARLY on your social media strategies - with clear objectives that are aligned with which social media channels you join. Know why, how, when to use social media… then sit back - no wait, LEAN FORWARD - at your computer and let the conversations begin!
September 2nd, 2008 — social media
I follow a few dozen blogs, forums and other sites about social media optimization, so it’s tough to pick just a few “best” articles about using social media as a marketing tool, but here goes… (I’ll dip into my 500+ articles stored in Delicious - it’s like bookmarking links to your desktop, only it’s to the web and you can share those links with other people.)
logo for Squidoo.com
Give them a read - let me know your thoughts! Back to my overstuffed RSS feed reader!
