Ranked #183 of Top 200 Social Media Blogs

Sometimes you just need a little pick me up. I received it last night when I got word I was listed as number 183 of 200 top social media blogs on the Internet. You have to look under the top 100 to download the 200 list. Still makes me feel good though. ha.

Shameless self-promotion isn’t so bad if you do it less than promoting others. Kind of funny after my post this morning.

Here is the link to the list: Top 200 Social Media Blogs

10 Steps To Turning Customers into Evangelists Using Social Media

Yesterday we talked about the value of turning customers into evangelists when using social media. I wanted to give you a few pointers on how to accomplish the task.

25 Steps to Turning Customers into Evangelists Using Social Media

1. First. Make sure you prepare yourself for the focused effort of turning happy customers to loyal promoters and evangelists. Prepare your mind. Maybe yoga?

2. You have an email list right? Use your email list to make sure you are connected to your customers on the social sites you use frequently.

Importing and Exporting Contacts Using:

Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, and Plaxo.

3. After you have imported your contacts into the social media sites of your choosing… make sure you add and contact them through the sites.

4. Once you have connected to most of your customers start communicating on a daily basis with them. We are not talking about sending sales information or product information but asking about their day… etc.

5. Create a list of your high level and value customers. It helps to have a list in place to set some goals toward customer evangelists. Start out with 5 people or companies.

6. Set up Twitter Searches for your valued client’s industries or services. For example, if you have an accountant as a valued client make sure you setup a Twitter search feed for accountant or tax advice. When someone ask for advice make sure you reccomend your client.

Disclaimer: You do not have to always monitor the Twitter search but it is good to have around. I know we all have about 5 mins of free time a day.

7. If the client has an event or seminar coming up in the area make sure you share that link with the multitudes of your followers online.

Share it as an RT in Twitter

Share it on your Facebook Wall

Share it as a status update on LinkedIN

8. Recommend your client on LinkedIN. Why recommend on LinkedIN? It is simple. If you want recommended by a client on LinkedIN it is always better to recommend first. Do it and see the benefits.

9. Share an exciting story about your client’s business to your contacts. It is important to share the quality information even if it does not relate you your business.

10. Ask for the recommendation. It never hurts to ask. Encourage your best clients and friends to tell YOUR story across the masses.

Remember it is important to give before you receive. If you help your clients become thought leadership in their industries or grow their business using the Internet they WILL become your evangelists.

Redefining Your Customers with Social Media

There are many applications for social media when it comes to your business. We can talk about everything from content sharing, increase of qualified search traffic, or content creation. There is still one way that ranks in the top 5 reasons to use social media…

Turning Your Customers into Evangelists

We all hear the term… customer evangelists and to be honest, we have no idea what that truly means. Social media tools and the medium itself has finally created a way to truly reap the benefits of global communication with your best clients and friends.

You have the ability to use social media to empower your customers. You are creating a medium that turns your customers into the sounding board for your business story… and ultimately your business growth.

The next time you start to define your social media marketing plan… remember to include turning your customers into evangelists… one link at a time.

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Amplifying Human Desire with Social Media

What do all marketers strive for when creating a campaign? Is it a creative ad? Of course. Is it a funny jingle? Sometimes. Is it a memorable moment? They try.

Overall all else… marketers live and breathe for the opportunity to create a campaign that will move people.  It is moving you to action through the drive of emotion… We all try to reach that point of peaking human desire.

Meeting with clients and potential clients today I was moved by their desire and pure drive for their companies to succeed. They were thrilled with the concept of creating a campaign that drove the base of human emotion.. something that thrilled to the point of action.

Social media brings a new platform that encourages the pursuit of that emotional campaign. In all honesty it IS THE PLATFORM to create this thrill.

There is no other medium on earth that allows for the human connection quite like social media. You can drive evangelists of your product to bring others to your door in a fraction of a second.You can encourage individuals all over the world to communicate and help… make.. your service or product better.

How are you encouraging communication between current and potential clients? Isn’t it about time to start?

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Social Media Marketing to Increase by 48%

Thanks to Chris Baggott at Compendium Blogware for pushing this data at me. I have seen the graph before but not the updated version. Chris’ post talks about the merit of SEO and email marketing being at the forefront of the increases in online marketing budgets over the next year… I wanted to focus on the third one..

Social media marketing.

It is encouraging to see social media marketing and SEO sliding into the top three spots in the online marketing budgets of companies all over the world. It shows that businesses owners from all over the world are taking a closer look at sites like Twitter and organic search engine optimization in the form of blogging (guessing there).

What does this mean to the business owner?

In my opinion, you should follow the trend or get left in the dust.

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Top 5 Reasons B2B PR Practitioners Should Embrace Social Media

Today’s guest post is by Paige Holden of BlissPR. Bliss PR specializes in creating and promoting thought leadership, using a variety of public relations and marketing communications techniques. They help their clients develop points of view, predictions, trend commentary and insights, positioning them as experts in the media and category leaders in their markets.

Top 5 Reasons B2B PR Practitioners Should Embrace Social Media

If you’ve seen any B2B public relations professionals recently, you may want to give them a gift certificate to a spa treatment or at least a pat on the back.  They’re feeling more than a little shell shocked.

I was, too.  Social Media is just beginning to hit B2B PR and our industry is scrambling to find our footing and help our clients. But it’s time to stop stalling and start learning.  Here’s why:

Traditional media is dying. It’s not a secret that traditional media is either dying or going online. This presents a slew of new challenges for public relations practitioners who rely on the media to help communicate clients’ messages. In our firm, we don’t throw splashy events or launch exciting new products. We clarify and refine complex stories for niche audiences. With business publications folding, our small universe is getting smaller and, unless we find new ways to communicate, we won’t be sustainable.

Know the news before it breaks. News breaks faster online than anywhere else. When the plane crashed in the Hudson River, the story was discussed ad nauseum on Twitter before it even hit television. Monitoring breaking news for my experts is a huge part of my job. I find that Twitter, and other networks, keeps me ahead of the media time curve.

Networking online is more efficient. PR is an industry fueled by networking, but who has time to go to out every night? Between Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs, there is no excuse to be a stranger. Every day I touch base with peers, thought leaders and the media which helps me not only develop stronger relationships, but also become a smarter professional.

Social media belongs in the PR bucket. Public relations professionals have an opportunity to learn it, embrace it and start building services around it before another industry steals it. There has been some debate over which “bucket” social media should fall into, but I adamantly believe public relations should own it. Sure, the implementation is different, and it does get “techy” at times, but social media is first and foremost a communications vehicle. The principles inherent in using social media – creativity, transparency and responsiveness – are the same philosophies that we use in PR every day.

“Tribes” have replaced traditional audiences: As Seth Godin explains in his new book, the online community is actually composed of millions of smaller groups of “tribes” – people who are passionately devoted to their own interests. Whether it’s shoes, personal finance or accounting law, there is a group of people waiting to be found and activated. Understanding how to serve these new communities must be part of every PR professional’s “tool kit.”

Counseling nervous clients. Clients see social media as a PR tool, so they will ask you about it.  Because clients are likely nervous about social media, it’s important to “get” it before you sell it. Unfortunately, market demand for social media has incented people into selling it as a service before they are ready, which is not only dishonest, but it can also yield poor results that will send clients packing. Surely let your clients know that social media is all about testing and learning, but you shouldn’t be mastering the basics on their dime.

What do you think…what’s holding you back from using social media tools? Or do you have some “getting started” lessons you can share with us?

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Twitter Enhances Interpersonal Relationships

We have talked at length about the value of combining your offline and online networking. I have always been a believer in the absolute value of social networking sites being the pinnacle of true networking.

I was reading a post at the Winnepeg Sun called The Re-Wired Generation. Although this article was written about the Internet driven Generation Y it had an excerpt from University of Toronto sociology professor, Berry Wellman:

“Far from replacing face to face time and breeding a generation of reclusives, Facebook and Twitter are actually enhancing interpersonal relationships offline…

The Internet is complementing, continuing and maintains relationships,” he said. “It’s letting weaker relationships stay in contact.”

There was a time in the business world where you would meet individuals at networking events and forget them the next day. This “networking for forgetting” has been all but erased if the two people are connected on a social media platform (LinkedIn).

Instead of dismissing social media and using the old forms of communication. Try developing your weaker business or personal relationships using an online model. You may be pleasantly surprised.

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Multnomah County is Kicking Your Butt in Social Media

We are finally getting to the point where government entities are starting to enact social media initiatives. This from Frank Mungeam, staff writer of Kgw in Portland:

“Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler is taking criticism for a new county job that’s just been posted.

The official title is Social Media Coordinator.

The qualified candidate will be paid between $60,000-$70,000 to use social media sites to reach out to the residents of Multnomah County.”

In my opinion this is a brilliant move on behalf of the county. They want to start communicating on a different level with people throughout the county and social media is one way to do this.

There are people in the area that are doubting the validity of the position which is not a complete surprise to me… although disturbing. The members of Mult. County are disturbed with the price tag of the position ($60,000 – $70,000/year). While this is a high price to pay for a social media advocate but sometimes the price is high to adapt to changes in communication.

If you want an example of the best way to look at shifting your paradigm as a business owner.. listen to this:

“I am taking a lot of heat for this, but so did the poor guys who claimed that someday those crazy flying machines would replace the railroads. – Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler”

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The One Way to Be Successful at Social Media

There is an important rule of thumb that many of us “social media consultants” fail to tell our clients. Malcolm Gladwell talked about it in his book Outliers:

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
— Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers)

One thing we have found with working on social media campaigns for clients is that the CLIENT has to believe in the process in order for it to work. Social media is that one medium that cannot be outsourced fully to any one company. You have to work hard as a company, small business owner or mid-sized CEO, to enact a sucessful social media campaign.

Nothing was ever accomplished without some hard work. If you are wanting to implement a social media strategy for your company… Remember that the internal team (employees) have to give the thumbs up before your external team (clients) truly engage.

Hard work drives revenue and social media is not the exception.

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The Strange World of Social Media

The majority of us are strangers right? I mean… we talk on a regular basis and exhange links but there are few that you can actual call “trusted friends.” And yet we love what we do. 

I love getting up in the morning and having multiple conversations with people all over the world. I love sharing content with enlightened minds just trying to understand concepts of design, marketing, social media, the Internet, and life. 

The majority of us are strangers but we share a common bond: interest. There is a common thread that ties all of us together: the social web. Our interests keep us coming back and keep us in the loop.

When marketing and creating relationships with customers over the web it is important to remember this… the killer of all.

Your customers want to relate to you and in the strange world of social media it has become easier to relate, share, and communicate. 

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