5 Branding Tips for Your Launch

Branding is an essential part towards building a sustainable business. As an expert, I’ve seen a lot of companies succeed or fail based on their brand identity. People are willing to spend more money on companies that they’ve heard of before and those that have a strong reputation. If you fail to establish a strong brand identity, your competition will beat you and you will be forced to compete solely on price–which will stunt growth. Here are five ways to ensure that your brand is successful when you launch your company:
1. Logo and Website Design
We live in a culture that wants things to be aesthetically appealing. Having a firm understanding of what your business says in a visual sense can help you create a design and feel for your branding collateral.
The visual aspect of your logo and website should speak in both literal and figurative terms, about the character of your business. If you are a wholesale wine distributor, it make sense to have a bottle or a glass of wine in your logo, or perhaps you want something a little subtler. A bundle of grapes or a wine barrel could work just fine. Decide what characteristics you want your business to stand for about the industry you’re in, and try to visualize it. This will enable you to describe to developers what look you're going for. Your logo and website will define your business both online and offline, so make it something you’re proud of.
2.  Social Network Business Profiles
These sites are an important part of your online influence, and a great avenue to reach your customers. Once you’ve decided that a business profile is for you, I would recommend looking into other companies you look up to, and note what they’re doing well with their profiles. You want to generate content that your fans will find interesting, and want to share. Some of this information can be deals, or information on products or services you provide, but you might want to also post articles or videos you find helpful, useful, or entertaining.
3. SEO
As a small business owner, the hardest obstacle you’ll have to overcome is being “seen." The Internet is littered with small business websites all vying for the same small corners of the web. It’s imperative you focus on driving more traffic to your site, and drive up your search engine optimization. Social networks can help a lot, as well as having a blog as part of your site. Identify ways you can reach your customers (advertising, partnerships, etc.) and take the necessary steps to get your name out there. The more unique visitors you can drive to your site, the better your Google rank will become, which in turn makes you more visible online.
4. Publicity
PR is another great way to make yourself visible both online and offline. If you’re involved in any sort of charitable work, alert local media so they might want to cover it. Position yourself online as an expert in your field, and make yourself available for comments and opinions. Target smaller publications and blogs at first to build up your persona, and create working relationships with the media. PR can get very expensive very quickly if you pay for it, so as a small business it makes the most financial sense to take care of it in-house. I offered to write articles for various publications on and offline to build up my reputation, which has to led to many free PR opportunities for my company.
5. Testimonials
Once your business is up and running, make sure you connect with your customers so you understand what is working and what isn’t working. Don’t be afraid to tweak your product or service, and be receptive to feedback. It’s important to understand that no matter how much experience you have in business, you never cease learning how to do business better. When your clients are happy and vocal about your product or service, ask them for a testimonial. You can share these on your site, and it will prove your worth to other potential customers as well as instill trust in possible future clients.
Dan Schawbel is the managing partner of Millennial Branding, a Gen-Y research and management-consulting firm. Subscribe to his updates at Facebook.com/DanSchawbel.

12:01 by Robert dawne · 0

How Stan Lee Became a Social Media Superhero "EXCLUSIVE"

by Sam Laird

 Excelsior! At 89 years-old, comic book legend Stan Lee shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, the creative force behind iconic Marvel characters, including Spiderman, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, is more digitally connected than many whippersnappers half his age.
Lee will launch his own comic convention — Stan Lee’s Comikaze, Presented by POW! Entertainment — in September. The event is partnering with the location-based social engagement app Buzzmob to provide exclusive content to fans at the show, as well as connect those unable to attend.
Mashable recently sat down via Skype video chat with the Generalissimo himself, as well as with Comikaze CEO Regina Carpinelli. We talked comics, tech and social media — areas in which Lee also excels.
On Twitter, he’s amassed about 280,000 followers and tweets regularly from his home and office computers. (“I wear out a keyboard a week,” says @therealstanlee. “That’s how hard I hit them!”) He also just launched a new YouTube channel, Stan Lee’s World of Heroes.
Buzzmob, meanwhile, will give Comikaze a sophisticated level of social and mobile interaction. The app functions as a mini-social network for fans in attendance, letting them see who else is nearby and what else is going on at the convention, while simultaneously allowing Lee and other organizers to send out timely contests and notifications. But that’s not all — comic book fans who can’t make it to Los Angeles for the show can check in for a digital experience.
“It doesn’t matter if you live in Cambodia or Temecula,” says Carpinelli. “We want everyone to be a part of the show.”
Read on to see why Lee and Carpinelli partnered up for Comikaze, how Lee practically invented social media (you’ll be surprised), and his thoughts on how technology has changed the world of comic books. Also, stay tuned for one more upcoming treat — the entire Skype conversation in video form.

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Q&A With Stan Lee

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So what’s your first convention going to be like?
Lee: It’s going to be fan-tastic! I’ve always wanted to have my expo, my own comic con. But that’s not my business — I don’t know how to run them. Then I met Regina! She said, ‘Stan, how would you like to be a part of Comikaze?’ I had been to the first Comikaze, and it was wonderful! So I said, ‘By all means.’ Not only am I part of it, she put my name in front! It’s now Stan Lee’s Comikaze.
I’m real excited about this — it’s going to be a fan convention. The fans are everything, they’re going to be thrilled, they’re going to see new things they haven’t seen before. It’s going to just be the most fun convention there has ever been.
Carpinelli: And tickets are only $15! It’s jam-packed with amazing guests. Stan invited Todd McFarlane, and Elvira’s coming and doing all kinds of interactive content…
Lee: The Mistress of the Dark!
Carpinelli: We’re all about our fans and doing something awesome for our community. Eventually we’re going to take over the world.
Lee: Why haven’t we already?
What’s Buzzmob’s social integration going to bring to the table? How’s that going to help Comikaze?
Lee: We’re going to accommodate all the people who can’t make it, and we’re going to be in touch with them on the web! We’re going to have all sorts of things on the web for people to participate. I’m going to let Regina talk about it because, for one thing, she’s prettier than than I am, and my throat is getting hoarse.

“Keeping up with technology is really important. Anyone can have a regular convention. We want to change how conventions are made.”

Carpinelli: If you’re at the show as an attendee and you log in, you get exclusive content: downloads, contests with magical gifts and prizes. If you’re in a panel room, but there’s something else going on, you could still be following that on your phone. But the greatest thing is, if you can’t be at the show because you live far away, you can still log in and get special stuff and see videos and photos. It’s just like being at the show — but on your phone.
There are also two websites you want to go on. One is ComikazeExpo.com. Then Stan has an amazing site called TheRealStanLee.com. Stan is such a tastemaker, and he’s always at the front of technology.
Lee: No, no — she didn’t say I’m wearing a pacemaker. I am a pacemaker!
Carpinelli: A tastemaker!
Lee: Oh — a tastemaker. Okay. Well, I’m a pacemaker, also.
That seems like a pretty cutting edge approach for a comic convention. Why did you guys feel like it was so important to introduce that mobile, social element?
Carpinelli: Keeping up with technology is really important. Anyone can have a regular convention. We want to change how conventions are made.
Lee: We want to change how the world goes on! See, we can’t bear the thought of one human being missing out on all this wonderment. That’s why, through Buzzmob, if we can contact everyone in the world through the web and let them be part of all these great things we’re doing, its almost as if we’re performing a great public service, you see.
I think we shouldn’t have to pay taxes, because what we do is for the good of all mankind. I’d say more, but I’m getting all choked up emotionally.
Carpinelli: I keep trying to get Stan to run for president.
Lee: How about King of the World? President seems so local.
Was it easy or hard for you to get into Twitter, and why do you keep up with it so diligently? Not every 89-year-old man is doing that.
Lee: I always try to be out there somehow. One of my big fears is that somebody anywhere in the world might forget me, and I must never let that happen.
Twitter was easy to get into. When I was doing the comics, I had a column called “Stan’s Soapbox” that ran every issue of every book, and I would just talk about anything I felt like — of course, I made it incredibly entertaining and knowledgable for the readers. But Twitter is the same thing.
Twitter’s only the beginning of your social media expertise, though. What’s up with your new YouTube channel, Stan Lee’s World of Heroes?
Carpinelli: What is going on is they have all these fantastic, fabulous shows. There’s Stan’s Rants, where Stan complains about things — and it’s amazing. There’s Cocktails With Stan, where he sits with Jenna Busch, and they have drinks and interview these amazing people.
Lee: But we never drink too much! For our younger viewers out there, one sip and that’s all we have.
Carpinelli: There’s also an awesome show called Adrianne Curry’s Super Fans. She’s this beautiful model, reality show host — and huge, giant nerd. You can send in your videos and tell Adrianne how nerdy you are and why you are the biggest super fan, then she shows up at your house and looks at all your nerd stuff.
Lee: Somehow I feel like the conversation is never as interesting when it’s not about me.
Carpinelli: Elvira also launched an interactive web series with us, called Elvira’s Horror Hunt. Amateur filmmakers can send in their horror films. The winner gets flown out to L.A. and gets a screening of their movie with a red carpet premier at the Vista Theatre. The next day, they’ll be a guest at Stan Lee’s Comikaze.
Lee: I hope everyone is taking copious notes. There may be an exam!
Here’s a question from our reader, wdeg: “You’ve had an incredible career and could easily be kicking back on an island somewhere enjoying the fruits of your labor. So, why aren’t you retired? What keeps you getting up motivated every morning?”

“Most guys say, ‘I can’t wait to retire so I can do what I really want to do’ — play golf and so forth. But I’m already doing what I really want to do!”

Lee: I wouldn’t dare retire, because when I think of all the enjoyment that I bring to people out there, I know I couldn’t deprive them. It wouldn’t be fair for me to not let them enjoy me as much as humanly possible.
Carpinelli: Stan’s a giver.
Lee: That’s right. And I love the fans and want them to know I’m always there for them. See, most guys say, ‘I can’t wait to retire so I can do what I really want to do’ — play golf and so forth. But I’m already doing what I really want to do! Please don’t make me have to spend time on the golf course. That would be like a prison sentence!
This one’s from another Mashable reader and fan of yours, Manny Redruello: “If Twitter and social media had been around during the early stages of your career, how do you think you would have used it then?”
Lee: Well, I didn’t have Twitter, but I had my column and we had letters pages in the comic books, where readers would write letters. You know the reason I wear glasses now? Because I strained my eyes! I read every damn letter and answered as many as I could. I was writing to them and they were writing to me, and it felt like I had a million friends all over. So that was my Twitter in those days.
And I never thought of them as fans — they were friends. Everyone who writes to us and tweets to us now — these are friends of ours, and you’ve got to be good to your friends. You can’t be on the golf course when your friends need you.
Carpinelli: It’s amazing to see how gracious he is to his fans, and how they respond. I’ve seen people cry when they meet him. It’s fantastic.
Lee: You notice when people say nice things like that, I never interrupt? I let her talk and talk. About people crying to meet me, though — I hope that isn’t taken the wrong way.
Carpinelli: They’re tears of joy!

“Everything changes. Everything advances. To me, most of the changes are improvements. We can’t live in a way where we say, ‘I like the old stuff better!’”

A number of readers had questions along these lines: How have you seen technology change comic books over the past couple decades, and do you think it’s been good for the industry?
Lee: When it comes to stories, no change at all. We could write a good story today that was like an old story — there’s no difference. But some of the comic books have a whole new look now — they look like beautifully illustrated tablets. They look like paintings, rather than just regular comic book drawings, and it’s the addition of the computer coloring and computer lettering.
There are some purists who feel that we ought to go back to the old comics, that they were more like real comics. But everything changes. Everything advances. To me, most of the changes are improvements. We can’t live in a way where we say, ‘I like the old stuff better!’
It’s impossible to go back to yesterday — you have to keep moving along with today and tomorrow. To me, what makes the arts so much fun is that they keep changing with the times….Hey, that was a great speech!
Thumbnail image courtesy Gage Skidmore, Flickr.

10:10 by Robert dawne · 1

How One Entrepreneur Is Profiting From March Madness

When the men of Kentucky try to drive through Kansas’s powerful defense tonight, the cheers and groans of March Madness fans will be easily known, thanks partly to Kevin S. Ryan.
The former newspaper editor and publishing exec has built a business consulting and teaching how to create social media strategies. March is madness for him. His company, KSRyan Group, partners with Turner Sports Interactive to manage social media features for March Madness Live, the video app that lets fans watch the NCAA tournament on their computers and mobile devices. Viewers can see Ryan’s work, a torrent of fans’ comments on each matchup, flowing alongside game video.
"These are fans interacting with fans," says Ryan, 48, who lives and works in New Hyde Park, N.Y. "It’s analogous to a viewing party or the bar stool conversation people have while you’re watching the game. You want to talk about what you’re seeing…It allows viewers to participate in ways they hadn’t before."
It’s an incredible gig for someone who’s been working on his own for just two years. He started out as a newspaper reporter and editor before joining Barnesandnoble.com in 2000 as a vice president and web editor. "When I left The New York Times in early ‘97, it was somewhat of a risky move," Ryan says. “I remember people saying, ‘why would you want to leave The Times?’ But the fast pace, always moving Internet schedule, was very similar to what I lived with in my journalism days.’’
He learned about marketing and online content, working on ways authors and readers could interact. He created online book clubs at the moment when people were starting to blog. He plunged into social media, building the book conglomerate’s presence among Facebook and Twitter users.
Ryan began to think about how he could marshal this new technology in his own business that would let him spend more time with his wife and three children. He realized that social media is just another way to tell stories and that he could help a business “build a narrative for customers.’’
Ryan consults and trains, getting businesses to understand and build a social media strategy. “A lot of companies are still trying to figure out what they should do on a Facebook page,’’ he says. “If you’re not paying attention to what that conversation is, then you’re at risk of allowing brand damage to be done without you knowing about it.’’
March Madness work is Ryan’s most intensive part of the job. He helped define the social product features for the March Madness Live app, organized the social arena features on Facebook, worked with vendors and managed the kit and caboodle throughout the tournament.
Ryan’s work with customers through social media had trained him well to judge when someone’s comments were helpful and when they were made just to get noticed, says Michael Adamson, Turner interactive vice president for new products.
For the fan chatter, Ryan and his March Madness colleagues set up Twitter feeds for each of the 68 college teams that played, filtering out swear words and insensitive or inaccurate remarks.
Monitoring is important, he says. "Social media is a no-holds-barred kind of enterprise and people will push the envelope with what they can say," Ryan says.
Take for example the NCAA’s decision to suspend Syracuse starter Fab Melo for academic reasons. “The Twittersphere just blew up,’’  Adamson says. Turner and NCAA relied on Ryan’s journalism training to filter through the posts. "We wanted to make sure we were filtering out the ‘you sons of b--ches’’’ and included what most fans were writing:  “Holy Cow! I need to change my bracket!”
A 1985 graduate of Syracuse University, Ryan says the Orange men’s loss on March 24 to Ohio State didn’t crush him. “They’re going to break your heart at some point,’’ he says. “Now it’s easier to focus on the work.’’
The folks at Turner hope the conversation will be “absolutely crazy,’’ Adamson says. “I hope [Ryan] gets slammed. That means there are interesting stories and the fans are talking.’’

19:07 by Robert dawne · 0

A Step by Step Guide to Social Media Success [Infographic]

There are a lot of ways to begin planning your social media campaign, but our friends at Simply Business have put together a really cool step by step guide to figuring out which platforms and accounts you want to use on your way to social media success.  The steps are easy, you start at the “Start”, and you move through the chart answering yes or no — games always make decisions a whole lot more fun.

The infographic is below, and while it may not highlight specific details in each case, it points out the various questions you need to be asking yourself before you just set up a Facebook Page and press “publish”.  Have you asked yourself about your monitoring tools or content strategies?  What’s your company’s social media policy?  Have you built a team to help ensure you’re always available for the inevitable crises that social media will pass your way?

 Click image to open interactive version (via Simply Business).


Planning, social media marketing, social, social commerce, social media, social media best practices, 

10:11 by Robert dawne · 0

The 5 Fastest Growing Social Media Skills on LinkedIn

If you’ve been on LinkedIn lately, you might have noticed that you can add keywords that describe your skills and expertise to your profile. It’s a great way to help prospective employers find your name in the search results, especially when your job title doesn’t fully capture your essence. Here are some of the social media-related skills that have taken off in the last year:

1. Social Media Monitoring – 52% growth year-over-year

Primary Industry: Public Relations and Communications
“A media monitoring service provides clients with documentation, analysis, or copies of media content of interest to the clients. Services tend to specialize by media type or content type. For example, some services monitor news and public affairs content while others monitor advertising, sports sponsorships, product placement, video or audio news releases, use of copyrighted video or audio, infomercials, “watermarked” video/audio, and even billboards.”

This is the 25th fastest growing skill on LinkedIn. Of the 11,000 professionals who claim social media monitoring as one of their selling points, 58 percent of them are between the ages of 25 and 34, while 20 percent are between 18 and 24.
2. Social Media – 47% growth year-over-year

Primary Industry: Marketing and Advertising
“Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.”

This general term is the 86th most popular skill on LinkedIn and also the 49th fastest growing.  There are 751,000 people who count social media as an area of expertise. The age ranges are a little more varied for this category, with 20 percent of them being between 35 and 44, which is slightly less than the 23 percent of social media professionals who are between 18 and 25.  The largest group was still the 25 to 34-year-old crowd, at 47 percent.
3. Online Community Management – 44% growth year-over-year

Primary Industry: Computer Games
“The online community manager role is a growing and developing profession. People in this position are working to build, grow and manage communities around a brand or cause. While the term “online community manager” may not have been used at the time, the role has existing since online systems first began offering features and functions that allowed for community creation.”

This is the 63rd fastest growing skill on LinkedIn. There are 3,000 professionals who have added online community management to their lists of skills. The 25 to 34-year-old age range still dominated the group at 59 percent, with 35 to 44-year-olds training behind at 22 percent.
4. Community Management – 44% growth year-over-year

Primary Industry: Computer Games
“Community management is the functional control of systems by communities or their representatives. It can and often does, but does not have to, include elements of community ownership, and involvement in day-to-day operation and maintenance. It is particularly reliant on clarity of ownership of schemes.”

Some skills sound so similar to one another that it’s good to read the description first for before you add it to your profile to see which one is the best fit. This is the 76th fastest growing skill on LinkedIn. There are currently 21,000 professionals who list community management as one of their skills, with 64 percent of them being between the ages of 25 and 34. Some congratulations are in order for the 1 percent who are between 55 and 64.

5. Social Media Marketing – 42% growth year-over-year

Primary Industry: Marketing and Advertising
“Social media marketing is a term that describes use of social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service. Common social media marketing tools include Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.”

This is the 71st fastest growing skill on LinkedIn. There are 259,000 professionals who have this skill in their arsenals and once again, half of them are between the ages of 25 and 34.
The “skills and expertise” option is great for social media professionals because they don’t all work at Facebook and Twitter.   And not all 751,000 people who are claim to be experts in social media are going to be right for any one position. there are a number of other keywords, like “social media development,” “social networking,” and “social outreach” that also made the list, but don’t have descriptions yet. Make sure that employers can drill down to what it is that you actually do – and be sure to have evidence to back it up.
Image by Elnur via Shutterstock.

15:40 by Robert dawne · 0

5 Clever Social Media Campaigns to Learn From

You don't have to be in the market for a Super Bowl ad to learn who the world's biggest marketers are. In fact, as a quick visit to Facebook illustrates, social media has a leveling effect: Whether you're Coca-Cola or Jones Soda, your Facebook page looks pretty much the same. Coke's billions won't buy a dedicated wing on Twitter, either.
With this in mind, the following social media campaigns from marketers big and small are designed to be idea generators. This isn't a ranking of the most effective social media campaigns of the year, but rather the ones that have the most to offer a small-business owner with big ideas and a not-so-big marketing budget.
1. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese's Jinx
Last March, the venerable Kraft brand launched an interesting campaign on Twitter: Whenever two people individually used the phrase "mac & cheese" in a tweet, Kraft sent both a link pointing out the "Mac & Jinx" (as in the childhood game Jinx.) The first one to reply back got five free boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese and a t-shirt.
What you can learn from this: This is a very low-cost way to track down potential fans on Twitter. All you have to do is search a given term and identify two people who tweet the same phrase at (roughly) the same time. In return, you'll gain goodwill, a likely follower and probably some good word-of-mouth buzz on the social network.
2. Ingo's Face Logo
When Swedish ad agencies Grey Stockholm and Ogilvy Stockholm merged last year, they wanted to get social media fans involved. The two agencies asked fans to participate by signing into Facebook to see the new name. Every time new people logged on to the dedicated site, the logo added their profile picture. With every picture, the logo got a little bigger, until 2,890 fan photos comprised the full name, Ingo, over a four-hour period.
What you can learn from this: This is another inexpensive way to get fans literally enmeshed with the brand. Another alternative is to create a real-life mosaic based on pictures of your Facebook fans, a project that Mashable recently completed in its headquarters.
3. BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota's Human Doing
What better way to illustrate the plight of the common man than an actual common man? That was the thinking behind a BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota program last year that put Scott Jorgenson, a St. Paul resident, in a glass apartment in the Mall of America for a month. To demonstrate the recuperative effects of exercise, Jorgenson was put on a workout routine for the month that compelled him to exercise three to five times a day, in 10-minute spurts. In a social media twist, Twitter and Facebook followers dictated the type of exercise for each session.
What you can learn from this: Creating an event, especially one that involves social media fans, is an alternative to launching an ad campaign. Humanizing a problem for which your company provides a solution is also a good idea.
4. GranataPet's Foursquare-Enabled Billboard
Pet food brand GranataPet earned worldwide attention last year for its billboard in Agenta, Germany. This wasn't just any billboard, though. It was rigged so that if a consumer checked in on Foursquare, the billboard would dispense some of the company's dog food. Someone from Granata's ad agency filmed the billboard in action, and the video now has more than 50,000 views on YouTube (in various iterations).
What you can learn from this: In the social media age, a single ad or a single billboard can generate images, press and videos, but only if it's clever enough.
5. Reinert Sausages's Wurst-Face App
Another German brand, Reinert Sausages, transcended its roots with a clever Facebook app that lets users upload their photo and receive a "Wurst Face," a graven image of themselves in cold cuts. The name "Wurst Face" comes from the extra piece of sausage that kids get for free at the butcher.
What you can learn from this: If you can create an app that's social, fun and brand-appropriate, it will function more effectively than even a high-budget ad campaign.

10:59 by Robert dawne · 0

5 Free Ways to Market Your Nonprofit

Just like any for-profit business, nonprofit organizations need to have a marketing strategy to survive and thrive.
Nancy Schwartz, founder and president of the nonprofit marketing firm Getting Attention, emphasizes that marketing for nonprofits is all about building relationships, and those relationships are vital to an organization's success.
“The goal of marketing is to build and strengthen relationships," says Schwartz, who in addition to her consulting work also serves on the board of the Nonprofit Technology Network and on marketing committees for her synagogue, local high school and PTA. "Nonprofits are based on fundraising, but you can’t meet someone the first time and ask for money. You need to build that relationship."
Nonprofits don't have a lot of money to throw around on marketing, however. So it's important for you to make every penny count. Luckily, free marketing opportunities abound. It's just a matter of being innovative, creative and flexible in your marketing approach.
Here are five ideas for affordable nonprofit marketing.
Engage your current supporters
Nurturing and engaging your current supporters, donors and volunteers is, according to Schwartz, one of the most effective free marketing strategies for nonprofits.
“You have to be very appreciative of your supporters," explains Schwartz. "Nurturing your existing supporters is the best low-cost, highly-effective marketing strategy. It’s always easier to retain existing supporters than it is to get new people in the door.”
That means keeping them updated and informed, and it also means getting them to do things with and for your organization. And here is where the second part of this strategy comes in: Ask them to tell their friends, family and colleagues about your organization.
"Not only does that expand your reach and increase the number of folks engaged in your organization, it’s asking people to get involved more than just writing a check," says Schwartz. "It works to get your existing supporters engaged.”
Social media
Social media sites are a gold mine of free marketing opportunities. Set up a business page on Facebook, and use it to communicate with your various constituencies—posting photos, updates, links and information. Create a Twitter account and mingle with others, keeping them up-to-date about your nonprofit's activities. LinkedIn, too, provides plenty of opportunities to market, by creating a business page, promoting your organization and keeping in touch with like-minded people. Look, too, for smaller, lesser-known social media outlets that are specific to the focus of your organization.
It's important to remember, however, that though there's often no upfront cost associated with these sites, it does take time for someone within your organization to keep them updated—and time is money.
"The key to effective use of social media is engagement, and engagement means that somebody from your organization is engaging with people through that conduit," explains Hamilton Wallace, owner of SmallBusinessMarketingConsultant.com. "To have an authentic voice and create engagement, it needs to come from someone inside the firm."
Blogging
Create a blog on your website and update it daily with helpful and useful information that readers be likely to share with others. The more useful the information you give, the more it will help your marketing strategy, increase awareness of your organization and mission and engage your audience. Another upside of blogging is it will draw people to the rest of your site, where they can see what you're doing and learn how they can support your activities.
Videos
Anyone with a smartphone and simple editing software can create professional videos that can be posted on YouTube or directly on your organization's website.
"We're a video-oriented culture, especially with YouTube," says Valerie Moody, owner of Fodeo, which provides photography and video services for individuals and organizations. “Anything we want to do we can go to YouTube and find something that shows us how to do that."
Your nonprofit might post an instructional video, for instance, or a video message from the director, or clips showing community service and involvement. Getting people to watch and share your videos will help spread your message.
Speaking engagements
Line up representatives of your organization to speak at conferences, trade shows and other events related to your field. This is a chance for free publicity and an opportunity to get your message out there. You can put information about possible speakers and topics on your website, so people searching for a speaker will be able to track down your organization, or you can register with a speaker's bureau.
Each of these techniques works in tandem with others. Thus, you can promote your speech-making over social media, or mention it in your blog. An e-mail newsletter can point people to your Facebook page. T-shirts that your employees wear to community events can have your organization's name and website on them.
Great marketing doesn't have to be expensive. In fact, the more creative you are with your marketing, the less you'll have to spend.
Vivian Wagner is a freelance writer in New Concord, Ohio. Vivian blogs via Contently.com.
Photo credit: Thinkstock

 American Express OPEN Forum

11:45 by Robert dawne · 1

Google+ vs. Facebook: Which Is Best for Business?

Social media is an ideal way for a small business with a tiny advertising budget to get its name out there and interact with its customers. Integrating the parts of your online strategy is key, but sometimes, it's just not worth the effort to create a page on every social network out there.
Right now, Facebook brand pages are the go-to place for brands that want to be social, but Google+ recently entered the game, trying to present an alternative—or, at the least, a supplement.
Should your small business be on both Facebook and Google+? If not, which one's the way to go? Here's a breakdown of the factors to consider.
Userbase
Mark Zuckerberg's social behemoth has one glaring advantage: Its gargantuan user base is unparalleled. For a small business, it's nearly guaranteed that whoever your customers are, they're already on Facebook and know how to navigate it.
Google's network has nowhere near the amount of users as Facebook, but its audience is a bit more focused. However, the regular folks that go on Google+ don't check it as often as Facebook, so they are harder to engage. Facebook's users come back to check the site frequently, multiple times a day.
Engagement
There are a lot of similarities between the engagement features of Facebook and Google+'s brand pages. Facebook has the "like," and Google+ has the +1. Facebook has friend lists, and Google+ has Circles.
Unfortunately for Google+, Facebook completely dominates it on features. It's not even close. Whereas Google+ really only allows you to post pictures, Facebook offers a variety of ways for fans to interact with your brand. It has polls, apps, events, notes (mini blog posts) and even "friend activity," which shows when your friends are talking about your company.
Branding and customization
Pages on Google+ look very similar to the current iteration of Facebook. It has the same design with pictures at the top and a river of posts beneath it. Google+ pages are more minimalistic, with a lot of white space, whereas Facebook piles all of its features on its left-hand navigation bar.
But when Facebook releases its new Timeline for brands, things will be very different. For instance, the change in visual impact is huge. Businesses will be able to instantly grab eyes with a big branded banner at the top of the page. Meanwhile, Google+ will still have those five dinky pictures at the top.
Facebook's customization features go beyond anything Google+ has. It also allows you to embed e-commerce stores, make a page of trivia questions, set up a calendar and much more.
The bottom line
Google+ has its benefits, but it just doesn't match up to Facebook so far. Unless you have the time to spare to run a Google+ page, it's likely not worth the effort because the ability to engage consumers is so limited, and the breadth of audience is too. And when the Timeline comes to brand pages, Facebook will take another big step ahead of Google+.
For a small business, the biggest justification to use Google+ would be to supplement the brand's existing online presence. It's certainly worth it if you have the capability to run a Google+ page without slowing down everything else you're doing online.
But it's obvious that Facebook's brand pages are way ahead and should be the priority for a small business looking to engage its consumers online.
Do you have both a Facebook and Google+ profile? Which do you prefer and why?

11:06 by Robert dawne · 1

5 Common Social Media Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Most small-business owners feel strongly about social media. They either love it, hate it or both. If they love it, it's because its tools can create tremendous brand awareness. If they hate it, it's because it’s a massive time suck. Regardless of where you stand and how proficient you are at each tool, there is always something new to learn. Here are a few common social media mistakes and tips on how to fix them.
Expecting ROI right away
Ashley Ranger sees this often. As founder of /excelamktg, a social media marketing company based in Los Angeles, potential clients frequently voice frustrations when not attracting a target number of followers or sales captures. Ranger’s advice is always the same: It takes time.
“If you are actively posting and commenting, I’d say it could take you six months to one year to see ROI out of a social media campaign,” she says.
Low on "likes?" Get creative. Ranger recommends that online businesses offer an additional 10 percent off purchases if customers "like" them on Facebook. Another way to engage: Give back. One of Ranger’s fashion clients will post a "look of the day" on Facebook and interviews with designers—both, activities that will help generate traffic.
Failing to plan
A social media campaign is like any other business campaign; it needs a well-laid-out plan before execution. Stephanie Derry, a social media consultant in Richmond, Va., recommends plotting out goals.
“Do you want to use social media as a customer service tool? A way to link to your website?” she asks. “It all comes down to market research. If you know what your target market wants, you can plan accordingly.”
Talk to your customers about the sites they use most, visit competitor’s social media pages and join conversations around your industry before firing up your own campaign, Derry adds. Once you’ve finished researching, assign one person in your company to be the director of your social media program.
“If you don’t have someone responsible, your customers will be talking to no one,” she says. “People want a personality to attach to the brand, they don’t want to feel like they are talking to a robot.”
Automating
Tools such as Hootsuite allow users to write one message and then simultaneously broadcast it to a number of social media sites. While this can be a time saver, Ranger guards her clients against the practice.
“When you automate, it starts to sound robotic,” she says. “You want your posts to have a personal feel, so take time to write different posts on each platform, even if they are similar in content.”
Hard selling
Think of your words on a social media network like the words you’d say to a customer walking into your brick and mortar store. You wouldn’t spam an in-person customer with sale promo after sale promo; you’d first focus on establishing a nice conversation and a relationship. The same goes for customers visiting your social media site, says Ranger.
Try asking your followers questions about personal topics (think holiday decorating ideas, best holiday memories) or quizzing them about their favorite product in your store. Offering a free gift can always inspire engagement, too.
Not connecting to other marketing platforms
Everyone should know you have a Facebook page, a Twitter page, a Pinterest account. According to Derry, it is important to connect your social media presence to your website, e-mail newsletter, print advertising, broadcast advertising, etc.
She says, “Make sure people who are connecting with your company are able to connect in every way; make your social media presence known for maximum benefit.”

10:02 by Robert dawne · 0

The Wrong Way to Market Social Media

Entrepreneur Kevin Ready tells a sadly humorous social media story in his book StartUp: An Insider's Guide to Launching and Running a Business. The airport parking company that he uses has a shuttle bus that runs from the lot to the airport terminal. Plastered on the bus windows are posters that say: “Like us on Facebook. Plus us on Google. Follow us on Twitter.”
"This makes sense doesn’t it?" asks Kevin. "Not. Let’s break it down.
A. Somebody at the parking company has been tasked with the job of handling social media.
B. Second, that person’s boss has probably established some sense of the metrics in the space: likes, plusses, and follows.
C. Since this is what the social media person is being measured on, he or she creates the sign as described and posts it in the bus.
D. The irony is that they've 'missed the bus' with the marketing collateral that she just made."
Sadly, this is how many small businesses are marketing their social media in an attempt to build an engaged following. So what’s wrong with it?
"Simple," says Kevin. "They're telling customers what the company wants. Why would any customer ever care what the company or someone's boss wants? Why, why, why? I would not be surprised if out of 50,000 customers per month in those busses nationwide, not a single one ever responds to this poster as it is written."
Every company needs to compose messages that get customers to do what the company needs done. But you shouldn't confuse your need with the customer's.
So what should the company have done? Kevin offers a three-point strategy:
1. Start with “why.” Under what circumstances would customers ever want to interact with messaging from her brand? What do they need? What are they interested in?
2. After identifying possible whys, evaluate your resources and see how you can provide a solution to one or more of them. This is the process of building a value proposition around that why. The mantra here is, “Provide value. Provide value.”
3. Finally, follow up by attaching the desired actions (in this case, like, plus, and follow) to that value proposition.
How about these?
“Get one free day of parking! Just ‘like’ us on Facebook to receive your coupon.” (Value plus desired action)
“Love Hawaii? So do we! We are sending two lucky families to Oahu—just follow us on Twitter and we will enter you to win!” (Value plus desired action)
“A lizard in a suitcase? The funniest travel stories ever told—only on our Facebook page.” (Value plus desired action)
By providing value, and arranging the message in such a way that customers who are interested in the value do what you are asking them to do, you greatly increase your chances of getting customer buy-in.

11:20 by Robert dawne · 0

5 Ways to Use Facebook to Grow Your Real Estate Business

Facebook has become an integral part of marketing for many realtors. It's a way to spread the word about their services and reach new clients. In many ways, Facebook is the online version of what successful realtors have been doing for years: meeting new people, establishing personal connections and letting them know about their real estate business. But as many agents have learned, it takes more than regularly posting status updates and adding new friends to successfully use Facebook to increase your revenue.
Here are six secrets from agents who have turned Facebook friends into new clients.
Make interesting and relevant status updates
Many real estate agents use Facebook primarily to post their listings or to directly promote their real estate services. But other realtors caution against this strategy and have found that posting status updates that help establish their knowledge in the field, such as trend reports and articles of interest to people buying and selling homes, yield better results.  “I also like to post things to do in New York City that can appeal to transplants and prospective clients alike, enriching their reality or feeding the imagination,” says Caroline Bass, senior vice president and associate broker at Citi Habitats in New York.
Let your personality shine through
Because realtors are in essence selling themselves to potential clients, many use their personal Facebook page instead of a business page to promote their real estate services. Nick Jabbour, vice president of Nest Seekers International, uses one page for both business and personal purposes. “It serves as a humanizing factor, where my clients can get a feel for my personality, and potential clients get to know me. I stay fresh in their minds,” Jabbour says.
Zak Bushey, a realtor with Southland Properties, tries to keep his Facebook posts at a 5:1 ratio, with one post being related to his real estate business for every five that are personal or humorous. He says if you make only business-related posts, you come off as cold, but that if you post nothing about your business, then friends could forget you are a realtor. “Unless you make offensive or inappropriate comments...don’t be afraid to broadcast your personality,” Bushey says.
Automate the friend process
One of the best, most useful things about Facebook is that you can easily create a network of potential clients, but to do that you must find people to connect with and send them friend requests. Since it’s easy to forget to send a new contact a Facebook friend request, Jabbour has automated the process. “I use Outlook Connector, so every time I get an e-mail from a potential client or colleague, I can add them to Facebook immediately with the integration without having to search for it,” Jabbour says.
It is also important to connect on Facebook with contacts you make in real life. During the week, jot down the names of the people you meet, and keep any business cards you receive. Then dedicate a day of the week to check and see if your new contacts are on Facebook, and send them friend requests.
Reach out to Facebook friends
One of the most important aspects of using Facebook is to reach out to the connections you make through Facebook and establish a personal relationship. Bushey says that when someone he does not know comments on his page or “likes” a photo, he sends them a private message to follow up or simply thank them. “This gives them a feeling of a personal connection,” he says. He also posts his cell phone number and e-mail address in all business-related posts to encourage potential clients to contact him. Other strategies including commenting on their posts, wishing them happy birthday and "liking" their photos.
Tag posts and photos
Tagging photos is another strategy that agents successfully use to increase the number of people who see their Facebook posts. When someone is tagged in a post, everyone on the other person's or company's friends list also sees the post. “If you're sharing a great news article and that company has a page, tag them so your post is seen on their page, as well as your own,” says Bass of Citi Habitats.  You can also use this strategy to tag clients who you are working with, but be sure to check with them first.
One of the most important things when planning your Facebook strategy is to integrate it into your overall business strategy. Facebook should not be an afterthought, but an important component of building a successful real estate business.
Jennifer Gregory is a journalist with over 17 years professional writing experience. Jennifer blogs via Contently.com.

19:21 by Robert dawne · 1