7 Tips to Maximize Plaxo

Plaxo? huh?  I know at least two of the eyeballs reading this post thought… “Why is he writing about Plaxo?”

Frankly, I don’t hear or read much about Plaxo. Why not? It is still a viable tool to be used in terms of business networking. In light of the past-Easter weekend, I thought I would put a list together to help with the use and optimization of Plaxo. The following 25 tips are things I have learned by using Plaxo and what I have gained by reading along the way.

1. Upload a picture. This should already be common knowledge for the majority of you. We want to see a face. No more excuses. Scan a college or beauty picture is you have to!

2.  Feed your blog into your profile. Go to Edit Profile–>Websites

3. Add your powerpoint (via Slideshare) to your Plaxo feed. If you are a speaker and want the world to know what you are talking about… add your slidedecks to your Plaxo feed. To learn how check out: Add SlideShare to your Plaxo Profile.

4. Synch your Address Book. Plaxo Plaxo has the ability to synchronize with address book from Outlook Express, Hotmail, Windows Mobile, AOL, LinkedIN, Windows Mail, Mac, and Google. If you make a change in one of the multiple address books… the change is made universally across all platforms.

5. Maximize Plaxo Pulse. Plaxo Pulse is the social stream you can find on your profile page. Every social media site is starting to have the waterfall-effect-social-stream (see: your Facebook wall).

6. Invite Your Trusted Connections to Join You on Plaxo. Notice I underlined TRUSTED. Do not import your entire address book to Plaxo because they ask. Of course they ask! They are wanting as many invitations to leave your hands as possible. Only invite the people that will not be offended by you spamming them with Plaxo invites.

7. Automate Your Plaxo Status Bar with Ping.FM. If you are using multiple networks like LinkedIN, Facebook, and Twitter you can automate a status update using a site called Ping.FM. Ping lets you send one status update that will hit all of your networks. This will save you a small amount of time in the long run but remember to keep personally visiting the sites as well. Add that human flavor into the mix!

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Guest Post: Twit-O-Rama – Social Media Bug Bites Kathy Ireland, and Me

Today’s Guest Post is by Jeff Timpanaro is the president of Oberata Consulting, a 2009 Certified Total Integration firm, based in Kingwood, TX. Oberata is a consulting firm founded on the principles of strategy, process, and transformation, and utilizes the Total IntegrationTM system of business consulting. This system has helped business owners and professionals in the Fortune 100 with definitive, measurable operating strategies that produce unprecedented growth and profitability.

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(from the Honda Auto Repair Shop waiting room)

As I write this, supermodel and supermom (self-nominated I presume) Kathy Ireland is busy touting Twitter on the Today Show. “I just love my TwitterBuddies!” she beams, with annoying enthusiasm.

Interviewer Ann Curry is mindlessly heaping sugar onto an already hyper-happy conversation. “IT-WAS-SO-GREAT-TO-TALK-TO-YOU-KATHY!” she spews. “THANKS, ANN, replies Kathy, exceeding Ann’s volume. “IT’S BEEN SO GREAT TO TALK TO YOU . . A REAL MOM . . THIS MORNING!”

Kathy’s amped up about her new book (forget the name) – but it’s something about real solutions for real moms.

Kathy’s spunky energy aside, what was more noteworthy about the interview was the continued talk of Twitter in everyday parlance. You can’t throw a pebble these days without hitting Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Plaxo, or the glut of other social media out there.

Even though many consumers – and business owners – are still wondering what all the fuss is all about, Kathy has apparently guzzled the social media Kool-Aid, and is banking on a successful campaign for her new book.

SOCIAL MEDIA and YOUR BUSINESS

Why is this bikini-hottie-turned-entrepreneur so excited about Twitter? Is she looking for meaningful relationships? Insert LOL. Her comment about “loving her TwitterBuddies” is pretty disingenuous, because the simple reason for her excitement is that zillions of solution-hungry moms are spending a zillion hours on Twitter today. Do you think that might impact her book sales?

Kathy’s message – and bubbliness – have become viral through Twitter (viral is good, folks – it means the thing you’re promoting is spreading like wildfire). To date, Kathy has 4,481 followers – moderate by Twitter standards – but numbers will certainly spike after her Today interview (and Twitter mention).

Mrs. Ireland’s celebrity, relationships, and ample budget notwithstanding, social media is part of her master marketing plan. I don’t have her sales projections, but I bet they would be paltry compared to pre-social media forecasts.

PART OF YOUR REINVENTION

If you’re not at least curious about Twitter and other social media as it relates to promoting your business, you are “ostriching” (a Kathy Ireland word I just learned).  Yes, that’s burying your head in the sand.  Historically, other breakout inventions that the experts “ostriched” about include the computer, the automobile, and the drive-thru window.

“In a world of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” – J.P. Kelley

I am not saying Twitter is a silver bullet or a marketing savior for you.  I am also not saying that you should engage social media.  I am saying that if you keep yourself in the dark, you may be missing a huge swath of prospects that you serve best . . . who until now haven’t been able to find you.

I’m doing a 12-month trial to see what the use of social media holds for my own business.  It’s too early to tell, but my website traffic has tripled since January.  I’m working on a better net (or conversion strategy), but for the short term, I’m excited about the hike in traffic to me.

Oh dear I’m starting to sound like Kathy Ireland.

Social Media is Valuable but Broken. We Need to Work Together.

There is always debate.
There is always debate on the topics of social media… the black magic of the business world. Should we do it? What is the best way to do it?

Traditional marketing, advertising and PR firms do not know what to do. “Social Media” companies do not have enough traditional strategy to make something stick. We are all scraping to find something to make this powerful tool work. It is going to be a long process of customization, personalization, and strategy.

My company, Brandswag, started out as a small business design and marketing firm in Indianapolis. We have thus grown to a 5 person shop dealing with graphic design, web design, and social media/internet marketing. The transition happened pretty naturally because all of us were so involved in social media already… Why not try to leverage this amazing tool for business benefit? And it has worked… to an extent. The tool is broken. Social media should be used strictly with a traditional strategy. Hire a traditional marketing firm. Hire a Public Relations firm.

This is not the “save-me-from-the-economy” tool. It is a new thing. It is a new product that is being slowly pushed and pulled apart to make it work. I am far from an “expert” and there are only a few that can take that title (Chris Brogan and Douglas Karr). We all have little pieces of the pie to maximize a marketing strategy.

What are we to do? Work together.

Traditional marketing, PR, and advertising companies need to open up their minds to the tool and also the opposite way. Social media and internet marketing companies need the traditional strategy and marketing of the agency. Let’s work together to measure and get results.

We are all in this together. We have (at our fingertips) a tool that could transform the way we communicate.

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Quit Listening to Your Competitors

Continuing in the tradition of the Keith McFarland world today I wanted to write about another quote that is taken from a past CIO at the SAS Institute.

“Our biggest risk is that we start listening to our competitors and stop listening to our customers.”

Why is this an amazing quote? It shows the mindset of a leader and a successful company. The last thing you need to do is react as your competitors change and move in your market. This is not saying that you should not react but it is not the first thing to focus on.Your customers (both past, present and future) are who you should be focusing on.

I will focus towards an old business adage: The customer is always right.

The customer should be the first person you communicate and learn from… Social media marketing tools give you the ability to create strategies that surround your customers with a two-way communication model. This simple means that the customer is forging a relationship with you (your company) and giving the information needed to step to the next level.

As a business owner you should always be listening… listening to the conversations happening between your customers and potential clients..

What makes them tick? Do you know?

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Wouldn’t You Rather Shoot At Fish In A Barrel?

Image by israelavila via Flickr

With the launch of the NING platform it has been becoming easier to create niche social networks. As a user, you can join any network whether it is location or interest based. The membership could range from 500 to 20,000 depending on the network and the participants. I have been talking randomly about the power of using networks that are geographically based (if you are using social media as a networking and marketing strategy).

Chris Brogan has a post that further enforces my idea that SMALL is the new BIG in Social Media. His post entitled Do You Have To Touch Every Conversation? talks about the importance of fishing where the FISH are located. As a fisherman you would not try to cover the ENTIRE ocean. What would you do? Try and find the right spot with the majority of the fish. It doesn’t make sound business sense to cover the entire expanse of ocean.

The same applies to social media use. As a user you do not have the ability to cover every conversation online. You do not have to be on every social media platform. As a small business owner or marketeer it is extremely important that you focus on a set amount of networks and use them to the best of your ability.

You do not need to be on LinkedIN, Plaxo, Facebook, Myspace, Powne, Twitter, blah blah blah. Pick a niche geographic social network like Smaller Indiana (for the Hoosiers among us) and three global networks. Examples: LinkedIN, Plaxo, Twitter, and Facebook.

To quote Chris Brogan:

But is that really the goal? Or is the goal to fish where your fish are, to do what you plan to do, and to do it well?

Well said. I would much rather shoot fish in a barrell than cast a line in the entire ocean.

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Economic Downturn? Now Is The Time To Innovate!

I recently posted a video on my other blog about the concept of revamping a static site into a website that can be changed and monitored. The economy is sharply declining and the status of small businesses are hanging in the balance because of the lending crunch. Money is hard to come by and it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet payroll without a credit line to back up the lack of cash rolling into a business.

As a business owner you may be asking yourself, “When is the best time to start innovating the way I do business? When is the right time to switch up and try something new?” I am in the same boat as an owner of a social media marketing firm in Indianapolis. As a small business owner of  you can get bogged down with daily routines and projects (external influences) that keep you from focusing (at least a bit) into the internal processes of your company.

When is the time to switch up and think differently? NOW. Matt Rhodes at Freshnetworks recently wrote a post entitled Innovate through a downturn, but make it customer led. He gives a few ideas on how a business owner can innovate and take control of their companies to make it through the downturn.

Some thoughts from Matt:

Make sure you are close to your customers and that they are close to you. It should be your brand they think about when they do want to make a purchase and you should be aware of what they think and how their habits are changing.

Innovate to stay ahead of the game. A crisis is a great time to innovate – you have to think of ways of staying ahead of the competition, of being more efficient or of new products that you can offer. It’s true of war-time, where many of the best innovations (from the pie-chart to nylon) originate; and it’s true of business during challenging economic times.

It was exactly the medicine I needed as a business owner to think a little differently when going about my daily routine.

You cannot be afraid of a declining economy. Fear turns into miscalculation which can morph into a disease that spread throughout your company and ruins productivity.

So how do you become innovative in your thinking and switch up the way you have been doing business? How do you create something that can be a vehicle to drive new business into your company? New business means an increase in cash flow (we hope) which can take your mind off the credit line that is slowly dissapating.

Answer: Crowd Source your current customers. Talk to your current customers and ask if there is anything you can do BETTER for them. Lorraine Ball at Roundpeg wrote a post yesterday about rethinking the way you “surprise and delight” your customers. Guess who can give you ideas on how to surprise? The actual people you are trying to delight: your customers.

Other Ways to Innovate Your Business and Marketing Message:

1. Send a thank you card to all of your clients. Thank them for their business and let them know you are here if they need anything from you.

2. Do small projects on the side for free for clients that may be having financial difficulties.

3. Revamp your static website into a content driven website. You can use wordpress for free and have something up within 12-24 hours.

4. Dive further into your social media networks through LinkedIN, Plaxo, Facebook, or Smaller Indiana.

Take control of your company. Innovate through the downturn and do not give into the fear of losing money or losing your business. Be strong and make a difference!

Quantify and then Qualify Your Social Media Experience

Corvida has an awesome post today on Chris Brogan’s blog called Decreasing Our Connections While Increasing Our Networks. The basic rundown of the post (which you should go read) is her exasperation over the amount of “friends” she has over various networks and the lack of a deeper and real connection between the two.

From the post:

Maybe growth on some of these networks isn’t the best thing in the world. Should there be self-imposed limits on how many people you befriend? No because in the end, while your network growth may increase, your connection with your network still increases. However, the rate at which the connection can increase actually decreases. Did that make sense? Unless your friends are constantly questioning you or keeping tabs on you, it’s going to take a lot longer to make deeper connections the more your network grows.

We have been talking a lot about creating deeper relationships through social media. When you are adding hundreds of people on networks like Twitter, Facebook, and other networks it is hard to make the same connection as before! I wrote recently about turning friends, followers, and subscribers into a deeper connection. After all the purpose of sharing in a community driven environment should be relationship building whether for business or personal use.

The question has been presented: How do you take the massive amount of users on social networks and par them down to create meaningful relationships online? Quantify and Qualify.

Quantifying Your Social Media Experience

There are some networks where a huge following is necessary to gain the full experience of the site. FriendFeed is where I quantify my FriendFeeders for the ultimate experience. Quantifying in a social media world basically means I gain an increased quality of experience based on the quantity of the people I am following.

Qualifying Your Social Media Experience

I qualify my niche networks in social media. I have found that I have an increase in quality without necessary having a huge quantity of followers on my geographically direct communities. Smaller Indiana and LinkedIN have been my niche quality sites for my social media experience. Smaller Indiana is a geographically located social network for people in Indiana. And for LinkedIN? I only tend to add people I have met in an offline environment on LinkedIN. My niche networks tend to be the place where there is a direct form of quality conversations.

How do you manage your networks? Do you find you get more or less quality based on the quantity of your friends or subscribers?