Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

Social Media & Your Biz: Open Up So You Can Close

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Though the Internet seems to be overflowing with blog posts, tweets, and Facebook updates, there are a good number of businesses that don’t use social media in any manner.  Initially, I wasn’t the biggest evangelist for social media.  In all fairness, others on the Team are much more sophisticated about how to properly use blogs and Twitter. My initial feeling on social media was “Why the hell would I want to read the thoughts of a complete stranger?”  The past 6 weeks, however, we’ve gone live with our site/service and my attitude has completely changed.  Initially, we did very informative, yet sterile, blog postings…ones that no one actually read.  My prejudice seemed to be confirmed.  We then became more candid and casual in our postings, linked them up to Twitter and Facebook and all sorts of good things started to happen:

1.  Our traffic and overall visibility to the site is growing exponentially

2. We have come across several companies that are reaching out to similar small business owners.  Two such partners are Shustir and MyBusinessAssistant — services that are helping small business grow faster and with less headaches.

3. We are getting direct feedback from the marketplace.

4.  Our customers have a good understand with whom they are doing business with — not just a slick website (though our site is pretty slick).

5.  I’ve been able to share my drinking stories and show pictures of my dog online under the guise of being helpful for small business.

We’re not just the only ones seeing the positive impact of opening up to social media.  One of our customers, www.17thandRiggs.com has a great blog and is active on Twitter https://twitter.com/RebeccaSM).  In under a year, Rebecca has transformed her site from a passionate hobby to a destination site for interior designers and those who want to keep up with the latest design trends (as well as a full-time business).  If you don’t like my anecdotal examples, do you prefer the Wall Street Journal’s anecdotal examples?  In a recent WSJ article, a featured small business discussed how her wedding planning business was significantly buoyed by using social media. 

Feel free to share your favorite social media success stories…or tips on using social media.

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Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

E-Tailers: This Holiday Season Use Facebook and Twitter as Your Online Mall

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Most people can’t stand the malls around the holidays. Too many people and too little parking spaces help keep shoppers away from the malls not only on Black Friday but throughout the holiday season.  Increasingly where have some of these shoppers turned for their holiday shopping instead of going to the mall?  Well with the mass of online shopping that gets going now on Cyber Monday and continues through the holidays, online shopping has created a great alternative to those people who want to avoid the crowds.

So what is different this year than previous years when it comes to online shopping and targeting these shoppers for our online store?  Unlike last year, many of the online shoppers now are on Twitter and Facebook and other social media and networking sites.  This creates a great opportunity for e-retailers and their online stores. But you have to have a strategy and be relentless about executing on that strategy to take advantage of this new trend.  Here are some helpful tips to get you going so you can turn all those shoppers that are using Twitter, Facebook and other sites into paying customers.

1. Join and Listen. If you are not already on Twitter and Facebook, join these sites or the social networking sites where your customers and potential customers are at. Once you join, start actively listening to conversations on these sites. The better you listen the more effective this type of social customer research will be for your small business.

2. Use Search Terms. Based on your research, use Twitter and Facebook to try to set up search terms (especially with Twitter) that relate to both your business and products that you sell. TweetDeck is a tool that you can use for your business to set up and track search terms across all conversations that are on Twitter. It is a really powerful tool. So for example, if you sell rugs at PlazaRugs.com like a former colleague of mine Andy Ketter you would want to set up in TweetDeck search columns related to “rugs” and maybe even certain brand name rugs.  This will help you track the conversations that are going on that may relate to your product or service that your business offers.

3. Quickly Act on Mentions.  The key to using Twitter and Facebook effectively here is that when someone mentions one of your search terms (i.e. products/services) during a conversation that occurs in the greater community on Twitter, Facebook or another site, you act quickly to join the conversation and even make contact with that person inquiring about a product you may carry or service you perform. Once you make contact with that person by sending a tweet to them, you can engage in a conversation with someone in the online mall.  You can even try to recommend your product or service if the shopper is inquiring on Twitter or Facebook about who sells a particular product that is similar to yours.

4. How it plays out. The best way to demonstrate this is through an example.  So if your online store sells  any and all types of T-shirts related to beautiful Cleveland, Ohio, you can try search terms that relate to “Cleveland”, T-Shirts”, and “Funny T-Shirts.”  So when someone in a Twitter conversation tweets, “I am looking for a funny t-shirt.” or when someone on Facebook updates their status and says “Wish I could find a funny t-shirt about my dad’s hometown in Cleveland.”, you can join the conversation and casually (now don’t be too pushy) suggest that they check out your store for a t-shirt that has a picture of the year Cleveland Browns won the Super Bowl…..that is funny because it never happened and will likely never happen in any Cleveland fans’ lifetime. Or maybe you sell them a picture of when the Cuyahoga River caught on fire just outside of Cleveland…

So there you have it. Start using Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites this holiday season so you can be in the right place at the right time in the online mall.  In the end the sheer volume of shoppers who are in the online mall on Twitter and Facebook will present a unique sales opportunity this holiday season for your store that did not exist last year.  You just need to have the tools set up so you can a) know where your potential customers are at; b) quickly act when these leads suggest in their online conversations interest in products or services you offer; and c)  turning your interactions with these leads into holiday sales!

Tell us how you plan to use Twitter and Facebook this holiday season for your business.

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Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

A Few Good Blogs: Our Go To Small Business Blogs KikScore Likes Part 1

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

There are blogs now for nearly everything under the sun. That translates to a lot of noise out there.  So how do small businesses try to figure out which resources they should use online to stay up to date on trends and to get rock solid guidance from experts?  The best way is through word of mouth and also getting recommendations from other small businesses.  So here is our list of some really good blogs that we at KikScore read:

1) Startup Nation – If you have a startup or a small business, this blog not only has great tips and resources but it also has a great list of contributors that blog about marketing, customer service, financing and all sorts of other items.  The founders even host a great weekly podcast. The site is essentially a portal of all things small business.

2) SmallBizTrends – The owner of this site Anita Campbell is a small business expert and she also has an impressive line up of contributors to her blog.  Another reason I really like her (selfish, I know!)  is because her business and network of small business sites like BizSugar are based right outside of my hometown in beautiful Akron, Ohio. Anita also hosts an assortment of webinars on marketing, financing, social media and other small business focused topics. She plain knows small business!

3) SmallBizTechnology – So this site is a must review for the content but also for its owner Ramon Ray.  Before I had met Ramon, I had heard a lot of great things about him being a hugely energentic, small business evangalist. Unlike others, Ramon is one guy who lives up to the hype and much more!  Ramon’s energy, passion and knowledge of all things small business translates into this blog.  For a quick example of Ramon’s energy, here is a session he was a part of at the GrownSmartBiz Conference that occurred in Washington DC in late Septmeber this year.  His remarks start about half way in to this session.  Check it out (the whole session is worth a review!) and add this blog to your RSS feed.  Its worth it.

4) GetElastic – If you sell anything online, this blog is a must. When you are wondering about what is the latest tool or strategy you should use for your website, what you should do to optimize keyword terms or the latest trend for merchants during the holiday season check out GetElastic.  Merchants that sell online can really use this blog to help with day to day business issues.

5) WomenGrowBusiness – This is a unqiue blog that is run by recently named DC Tech Titan.   Jill Foster has assembled an all-start cast of small business female entrepreneurs that regularly contribute fabulous content on management, HR, financing, ecommerce, consulting, startups, communication and marketing, among many other items.  I also have met Jill and she is another huge small business evangalist.  She is also a fellow Dupont Circle neighbor! Jill literally has CEOs and other entrepreneurs beating down her door to contribute to the WomenGrowBusiness blog.

Do you have a go to blog?  Let us know which one it is.

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