Content Creation and Strategy via Digital Marketing Channels, such as Newsletters, Article Writing, Social Media Education/Support, and Blogging, Facebook Pages | Purple Phone PR & Marketing

A Practical Social Media Example for Small Business Owners

Ten years ago, I had just moved to the Triangle area andworked for Binary Press, a start-up consulting firm, doing anything and everything related to marketing and PR.  This was back at the time when intranets, the notion of sharing content on websites, and email marketing were just starting up.  It was "long" before social media.  So, I headed off to area networking events and met Kristy Stevenson.

Ten years ago, Kristy was a new Mom too and had started her own online, parenting magazine called Bundles of Joy which she was promoting.

Turns out Binary Press only lasted a couple of years.  My networking for that company ended and I didn't see Kristy for years - literally.  I worked on other things before finally starting up Purple Phone in 2008.  Not honestly sure how Kristy spent those days: given her portfolio, I imagine she was writing away.

Then came social media.  For whatever Kristy was working on, she continued to network out in the North Raleigh area.  I got back into it more locally in Holly Springs as I lauched Purple Phone: I was about 30 minutes away.  (Now, dig in your mind for how that Kevin Bacon game works.)  She was connected to someone.  I to someone else.  And, there was a connection in the middle.  In time, thanks to aid of our online tools, we found one another again and reconnected.  We chatted here and there sharing resources and tools and comments about our local area.  

A couple months ago, Kristy was assigned an article by Carolina Parent that was to focus on how social media plays into ones personal branding.  Like all good reporters, Kristy needed expert opinions.  In looking through the many contacts that she'd gathered over the years, she knew several local marketing and social media professionals, myself included.  Kristy, as a small business owner herself, benefitted from social media simply by having the right network to go to when she needed to produce her product.

As for me, I was fortunate enough to be interviewed for her article, Maximize Your Own Brand with Social Media.  Does it mean the world is knocking down my door this AM for me to work with them?  No - it's not quite that tangible.  But, it does mean that my name and business name have spread to all of the readers of Carolina Parent.  It means that my search engine rankings will get a bit of a boost by being tied to that article.  And, it offers one more step in presenting me as an expert in my field.

The point: if you are still dangling your feet on the edge of social media and are afraid to dive on in, don't be.  Think of it most simply as a way connect (or as is the case here re-connect) with people.  Share experiences and questions.  It's the biggest networking event ever, so don't be shy!

 (Photo credit: mikecogh)

Will I Follow You? Rule One: Link Sharing

Earlier this week, I asked how you decide if you want to follow someone or not.  Certainly, there’s the subjective part: are you interesting to follow?  And the answer there is going to change from one person to the next. 

Beyond that though, there are some things that you can do to help ensure that you’re the type of person/account that would be followed. 

Rule One: On Twitter, do not simply dump a bunch of links – even if they aren’t all yours! 

If I check out your account and all you have are a bunch of headlines with links off to articles, I don’t see the need to follow you.  After all, where’s the YOU in that?  If I wanted a source for articles, I’d check Digg or some other similar resource. 

What rules do you go by?  Curious to see what others use to evaluate the “worthiness” of an account.

Using Following To Your Advantage

These days, you can follow anyone, every conversation, and blog posts galore!  Great or not?  Maybe doing that just clogs up the old inbox, causing you to massively delete all messages, negating the reason for following in the first place.

So, how do you pick and choose?  What criteria do you use for click that “follow” link?  I know what I do and I’ll post about that in a few days, but I want to see if I can learn anything new from you first! 

Cool Tool: Shoeboxed

You’ve been out networking and have returned home with a pocketful of business cards.  Tired, you peel off your jacket and dump the cards on your desk. 

The next week, you go again and shuffle new cards to your desk pile.  The pile grows.  You brush it to the side, not wanting to waste the time to input all of that information.

Enter Shoeboxed.  This is a great service where you can mail in your contacts, receipts, and documents.  They do the digitizing.  In just a couple of days, you get a spreadsheet back, making all of those business cards and receipts so much more useable!

Now, how cool is that! 

Where Are Your "Creation Spaces"?

I just wrapped up the book “The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion” by John Hagel III,  John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison.  

The premise of the book is that, as information flows constantly and change has become the norm, we must rethink the way we live and work in order to be successful.  It talks about learning to draw out the resources that you need for problem solving and about coming together out of passion to create.

In the third level of pull, “creation spaces” begin to form.  These are (most likely virtual) areas that offer people who are passionate about a given topic the tools and resources need to create new things – solutions to problems, new products, etc..  One example used in the book was Cisco’s developers forum, where people who are using the Cisco product share ideas and brainstorm solutions as a group.

It makes me wonder . . . what creations spaces do you already take part in?  Are there spaces that you wish existed?

Marketing Truism Born Pre-Social Media

Over the course of the past year, I have been reminded over and over again about a marketing/sales notion that was born back in the late '90s or so.  This was pre-social media boom and the concept was the topic of book after book for quite a while.  What I'm referring to is the shift from cold calls and pushy sales to seeking out your client's needs and showing how you can help them, thereby leading to a sale.

For those who don't know, I'm selling my house (blatant self-promo!).  If you have ever tried to sell a house - or anything else for that matter - in a market where supply was high and demand was low, I am certain that you can appreciate the constant roller coaster of emotions stemming from this: frustration, worry, anger, repeat!  Oh yes - I've had 'em all!  

What's worse is that I've also had people try to take advantage of those feelings.  Not in a mean-spirited way, of course; rather, in an effort to simply make ends meet during this difficult economic time.  It was the kind of thing where I was suddenly their buddy in hopes that they'd get my business.  Or, they would give advice, expecting something in return.  Things are tough now and I don't hold anything against anyone for trying to keep afloat, but suffice it to say that these actions are easy to see through and didn't earn my business.

On the flip side, I have been blessed to meet numerous people who have been genuine in their interest to help me.  Some have offered suggestions and advice, knowing that there was no business to come their way because of it.  Others have stuck to their principles, resisting marketing approaches that weren't entirely ethical.  Some have been "out of the box" thinkers on my behalf and some have simply been kind.  To each of these people, I am extremely grateful because they have kept me from becoming jaded by this whole process.

More importantly from a business perspective, guess who has my listing now?  Yes - one of these people.  Guess who I will recommend to others?  Any of these people.  (And I will do a blog post later on cheering for all of these people!)  As I would say to my 7 year old daughter, the good guys always win in the end!

And that, is the morale of this story: branding and social media and experience and advertising are all huge parts of getting a consumers's attention, but when it's time to do business, HOW you work can make or break the sale!

[If this concept of helping instead of selling is new to you, do read up on it and better understand it.  I'd offer some book suggestions, but my library is packed right now!  If anyone reading can offer a great book on this topic, post it below please so others can read more - thanks!]

Do You Love Your Poken?

 How many of you have heard about the Poken?  Well, it's all the rage down here in "chilly" North Carolina.  For those who are just beginning to get a taste of the idea, I thought I'd quickly post about the beauty of this tiny tool. [disclaimer - the link over on the right side is my affiliate link, but I really think these are a sweet little tool, so I'm sharing anyhow!]

In essence, the Poken is a cutely decorated USB device.  What makes it fantastic is that this little device can transfer contact information from one person to the next simply by touching "hands" together.  It's a virtual handshake - and a super simple way to manage contact information as you are out networking.

To begin, purchase your Poken, connect it to your computer, and login to the Poken website.  Once you do that, your device is enabled and ready for use.

While on the Poken website, you can create your business cards, which may contain all of the contact information that you want to share as you're out networking, including all of your social media information.  What I really enjoy is that I can create multiple "business cards" within my profile:  I have one card for myself, one for my business, and one for a side project.  This means that I can organize my contact information as I wish.  In addition, I am able to specify which of my contact cards is linked to my Poken, so if I don't want to include my side project card as I'm out networking, I simply unlink it and that information will not be transferred to my new contacts.

Now, head off to your networking event with your Poken in hand.  (Sidenote:  these are tiny little things and easy to loose.  I see many people attaching them to a lanyard that they wear around their necks.  One smart woman had hers attached to her phone, figuring that her phone is always with her.  I, personally, have a wristlet that I take when networking and mine is attached to that.)  When you arrive at your event and are talking with another person who has a Poken, you simply touch the two Poken together.  Contact information is exchanged within seconds.

Back home, insert the USB portion of the Poken into your computer and all of the contact information that you've obtained is uploaded to your Poken account.  Now, you can add people to lists, download their information as a vCard, or view all of your contacts on a timeline, which is great when you can't quite remember a name, but you know when you met the person.

What's also nice is that you no longer need to manage all of the contact information for these people.  Should they move or change an email account, they simply edit the cards within their own profiles and the contact information that you've gathered from them is automatically updated!  

Hopefully, this has been a useful introduction to the Poken for you.  Should you have any questions, please let me know and I'll do my best to help you find the answer!  In the meantime, happy Pokening!