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 Last week we talked about B2B companies getting more involved in and even embracing Social Media. This week, I want to share some ideas I have about how you can use it to garner new business. Hopefully these will inspire you to come up with others, but for now here’s the Top 5 list:
1) Making Connections – Sounds easy enough, right? For anyone new to Social Media, this can actually be a little intimidating. Start with Twitter and LinkedIn and search for the decision makers at businesses you want to do business with. See if anyone you know is already connected to these people. You may be connected to more people than you think. Not the case with you? Well, this is definitely incentive to increase your networking and add those new contacts. LinkedIn is testing more advanced search capabilities such as by seniority level, company size, and function. With Twitter you can find and connect to people using: people search, Twitter search, address book import, or URL lookup. For details on each of these types of Twitter searches click here: http://bit.ly/cyAUaa.
2) Expand connections and relationships by reading company blogs and leaving useful comments. Believe me, if you start commenting on other businesses pages, they are going to perk up and pay attention. The common sense rule gets applied here, however, so just remember that what you write is permanent and public, so mean what you say. Whenever leaving comments, be sure to “sign” your comment with your name and business website. This will not only help build backlinks for your site, it also gives prospects the ability to go straight to your site from your insightful comments!
3) Build brand awareness of your company and what you do – with very little investment, even the smallest of companies can get into the game faster by building brand/product/services awareness via social media. Whereas before it would have taken a hefty media and marketing budget to get your name “out there”, social media allows you to do it cheaper, and much faster. An example of this is a great new branding tool from Twitter called “Market Me Tweet”. Basically what this tool does is allows users to attach a clickable brand signature to every tweet. The bonus? This does not take away from the 140 characters you are allowed in each tweet! Other ways of creating brand awareness are to make sure you have consistency through all media you use, making sure your logo is the same and your website is listed in all your guest blogs, posts, comments, etc.
4) Build a network of B2B’s that you will be doing/want to be doing business with. This builds off of #2 above. Once you have connected with all of these companies, build a solid network with them by not just merely connecting with them or following them and having them follow you. Connecting is merely the first step. Follow-up and consistency are key to the B2B relationship and sales cycle. The best way I have found to do this is to commit to a goal of meeting some of your Twitter and LinkedIn connections each week in person. I recommend initially committing to two new “LinkedIn Lunches” or “Twitter Treats” per week. These face to face meetings could be breakfast, lunch, or even just coffee. The point is not where you meet, but the mere fact that you are doing so in person and strengthening those relationships that you have built online.
5) Create dialogue with those who respond to your tweets, comment on your blogs, and join your LinkedIn discussions. By doing this you are differentiating yourself from so many others who leave conversations and questions unanswered. Don’t be afraid to give business specific advice for the B2B companies you want to do business with. You can give them a taste of what you do without doing a hard sell via social media, and without giving away your services. Individuals enjoy the benefits of free advice, and companies do as well. By creating this dialogue, you are again deepening relationships and opening yourself up to more new business opportunities.
 Absolutely! Specifically I’m referring to using LinkedIn for this purpose. With tens of millions of users currently on LinkedIn, you can be guaranteed that it will help you in your sales prospecting, looking for new clients, building relationships, and general networking. I find weekly that more and more of my contacts are becoming each other’s contacts as well.
Some people like to connect with as many people as they can because they think that having a high number of LinkedIn contacts is going to help them gain respect and popularity in their field of business. While I don’t necessarily subscribe to that belief, I do believe in having a large number of contacts, but quality counts! After all, if you are going to be connected to someone on a business site, don’t you want to know something about their business styles, work ethics, etc?
Another way I find that people use LinkedIn is by connecting with their 2nd and 3rd degree connections for building their businesses and/or sales prospecting. For instance, if you have tried getting in to see decision makers at places where you have no contacts, and appointments just aren’t getting made, take a minute and search for the people you are trying to make appointments with on LinkedIn. Whether you are in L.A. (Los Angeles) or L.A (Lower Alabama) you might find that you are a 3rd degree contact of the CEO at 4 local companies, 2nd degree to the CFO at some other businesses, and so on.
Working within your current list is a great place to start when prospecting. Finding out who your contacts know can increase your likelihood in getting an appointment, and can even start a relationship off on a more positive note. While some people are resistant to a new “sales-person” coming into their office, they are generally more receptive if they are connected with someone who knows this person, especially if that contact is one they trust and respect. Jill Konrath has some great examples of how this works in this article: http://bit.ly/9IHYYA.
Another good thing about using LinkedIn for prospecting? It’s free! All it costs is the time it takes you to develop your profile and contacts. There are some pay subscriptions on LinkedIn that you may want to look into if you are not getting the numbers you are hoping for when you do a search. Check out this story on Sales 2.0’s site for more on Using LinkedIn as a (Free) Prospecting Tool http://bit.ly/dzhu80.
Some important things to remember are to keep your profile current and professional. Link-in with those you trust, or whose reputations match your own, or the one you are trying to build. Another great way to build your own reputation on LinkedIn is to get recommendations from people you have done business with in the past and with your current company. I would like to think that people are selective about who they will recommend in such a public way, and I usually put a lot of stock in those recommendations. A person’s contacts and recommendations say a lot about that person. If you are calling on someone, chances are they are checking out your profile on LinkedIn.
Happy Prospecting!
If you have a blog, I’d like you to consider the following questions:
- Is your blog comprised mainly of regurgitations of recent company press?
- Do your blog entries contain more links to other people’s articles than to your own ideas and content?
- Are you blogging on a topic that will be useful to your target audience instead of just a topic that you find interesting?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then you might be a blog imposter. A blog imposter is someone who posts information on their blog WITHOUT the goal of encouraging learning and conversation with their target audience.
People and businesses are becoming more web-savvy these days and are realizing that their web sites will rank higher if they frequently update their blogs. So, while people are doing a better job of realizing they need to refresh their site’s content frequently, some people are mistaking blogs for press releases, or even company brochures. Press releases and company brochures are not evil things mind you –but they ARE NOT documents that encourage two-way communication, which is supposed to be the purpose of your blog.
Your blog entries should entertain, provoke, question, prod, and educate your target audience. Yes – these kinds of blog entries are more difficult to write than simply re-purposing a press release – but in the end, you’ll be a MUCH better resource for your audience, and isn’t that the point of your web site to begin with?
What other ways have YOU seen people be “blog imposters”? I’d love for you guys to name more examples than the three I mentioned above…
 Location Based Social Media. This basically means a collection of SmartPhone tools which allow people to connect with friends and announce their location to them. Some even award points or other “prizes” if you frequent certain locations more than others. You can even become “mayor” of certain establishments based on frequency of check-ins.
Socially, these tools can be a lot of fun to use. You can coordinate groups at large festivals, hook up with friends at the beach, hook up with colleagues at business conventions, and learn about interesting new restaurants in town.
Now – how can this translate to new business for retailers? Most information you can find on this subject shows great benefits if you are a food or drink establishment. Such benefits include increasing traffic to your location by offering free or discounted beverages or side dishes. (see examples of how businesses are doing this with Foursquare here). Sign me up! I’ll take a free latte any day of the week. Oh, but you are not a restaurant? You have no drink prizes to offer? Location based social media can still work for you. For instance you can list your business location allowing users to see that listing when they check in somewhere in the area. A user could check in at the business across the street from your branch of the bank or your retail store and you could immediately be visible to that person with your “specials”, like offering a free iTouch for anyone who opens a savings account with at least $500 today, or offering 15% off of today’s purchases, etc. You can even give back to your community. Check out this story on how Pepsi partnered with Foursquare to raise money for charity http://bit.ly/agCy4N. It was a great way for them to sponsor a worthy cause and get positive publicity.
Partnering with local businesses can also be a great way to increase traffic to your location. Offering incentives that make sense for your customers (and for you) is the best way to do this. Let’s go back to the bank example again…you don’t want to allow someone to rack up points and become “mayor” of your bank just because they have come in more than anyone else. What you want is more business, not people crowding your lobby. Perhaps set up a “refer a friend” award for Gowalla users only. “If your friend opens both a checking and a savings account today, we’ll add $25 to your account.” Or partner with that coffee shop you share a parking lot with. Maybe you can come up with a way to mutually benefit each other if customers check in to both of your locations that day. The possibilities are endless.
As a fellow blogger Josh Self pointed out recently in his article about location-based social media tools, only about 17% of the population is using a smart phone currently, which you must have in order to use these tools. However, the quality of the consumers that DO exist still make exploring these social media tools an important “to do” item for retailers as a part of their overall social marketing strategies.
The coming months will show us which companies are the best at this type of social media, and whether there is a true market for it. Personally I believe it is here to stay and will become a key aspect of the social media industry.
For more, check out this great article on using location based social networks for business: http://bit.ly/cXy7zi, or Mashable’s comparison of my two favorites, Gowalla and Foursquare: http://bit.ly/acrPVB. Also check out Jeremiah Owyang’s story on how local businesses can benefit from this type of social networking : http://bit.ly/db6ifN.
 From AddThis to Yattle, social bookmarking managers are everywhere now. Ok, I know what you are saying…”I already have bookmarks with my favorite web pages saved in my browser .” “I don’t have time to learn another fly by night internet operation that will go away as soon as I figure out how to start using it.” Well, whether you are making statements like that, or always want to know the best and most efficient ways to do things and stay organized, I think you should keep reading.
Another question many may have is “what is social bookmarking anyway?” Well, not only is social bookmarking a great way to organize links to your favorite sites, but also allows users to manage and share these bookmarks with others. One of the advantages, whether for personal or business use, is that you can access your favorites from any computer at any time. Anyone who relies on their “favorites” that are saved only to their PCs or notebooks, understands how inconvenient it is when they want to quickly access information while away from those personal machines and cannot do so because they do not possess those quick and easy links.
When using a social bookmarking tool for personal use, there really are no rules. You save, organize and manage your favorites. You can even share them with your friends, family members, study groups, etc. Just don’t share anything you would be embarrassed for others to know is one of your faves!
When using these tools for your business, some unwritten rules apply. When using for business purposes you wouldn’t want to share your personal bookmarks, like your favorite lingerie store or a link to a site with potentially offensive political material, or anything questionable. If you think to yourself, I wonder if my business contacts might be offended by this link, don’t share it with that group. Aside from bookmarks to materials that might be offensive, it is important to choose relevant sites. What you share with your business cohorts says a lot about you, your business and where you want to take that business. How much confidence would you have in a potential vendor if he shares with you with links to sites such as: ihatemyclients.org and teamwork_is_stupid.com?
Advantages to using social bookmarking for your business include making new contacts and building a good reputation for yourself and your company by sharing important links. You can always start by sharing a link to your business! You will also want to include links to sites that are important to your business and to your current and potential customer base. Just be smart about what you share.
Which bookmarking site is right for you and your business? There may be more than one. However, such a decision can be overwhelming. Try searching for Social Bookmarking in Wikipedia for a list of companies, also check out this article http://bit.ly/c427sg for some great tips. Happy Bookmarking! P.S. – my favorite is www.delicious.com…
Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of the show LOST, and I have been since the very first episode. And I can almost not talk about the program without my lower lip trembling a bit, since this is the final season of my beloved show.
So I was watching the season premiere of LOST earlier this week. As I often do, I had my laptop on my lap, and during commercials, I was commenting and chatting with friends on Twitter and Facebook about cool things that just happened (or, things I didn’t understand, which is usually 95% of LOST for me). There were a handful of people on the West coast begging their East coast friends to not post any more “spoilers”, since the show hadn’t aired there yet. Then there were folks who were Tivo’ing the show to watch at a later time, and were complaining about the spoilers they were seeing on their Twitter feed.
That got me thinking. Social media is driving a resurgence of live television watching!
When I first got my Tivo, I almost NEVER watched my favorite programs on the time they aired. I loved the ability to fit in my TV watching around my work, exercise, and play time. I often got caught up on my favorite shows on Saturday night. If I did that today however, there’d almost be no point in watching the show at all, because I will have read all about it on my social media sites!
Anyway, I still love to record shows and watch them later – but for the REALLY hot favorites – I just gotta make time to view them live, or risk knowing every detail of it by the time I finally get to watch it.
What kinds of programs are YOU most likely to Tivo and watch later? What programs are you determined to watch live?
While everyone else is writing about the not so small iPad this week, we’ve decided to avoid repetition and talk about a technology that actually is revolutionary. What might that be? Well it’s the latest trend in space saving devices! It’s the miniature projector, most commonly known as the pocket or pico projector. For anyone who has traveled in and out of airports with projectors so large they scarcely fit in the overhead compartment and been subjected to “random” searches due to said projector, these new picos sound like a God-send. They are light-weight, portable, and can connect to your cell phone. Other advantages are that you can show presentations during sales pitches and other business meetings on something larger than your laptop screen and you don’t have to remember to pack the projector when you head out to see clients that day, since all you have to do is slip this small device into your pocket or briefcase.
Of course, this isn’t just fun and games. As with everything, including cool new technology, there is a downside. No longer will you be able to complain of back and neck pain from toting the larger projectors around. No longer will you be able to reveal embarrassing personal tales of your inability to project your images on the big screen due to “technical difficulties”, even though you hooked up everything “exactly the same way you did last time”. And for goodness sakes, you won’t be able to sit a little too close to that client with the funny smell and slight case of halitosis while you are trying to show your presentation on your HP Mini because you forgot all of the adapters and cables to make your projector work.
Seriously though, as any technophile can tell you, any new device is going to have its share of shortcomings. The introduction of the pico is certainly no exception. The device, while small enough to carry in your pocket, will not have the color, resolution and clarity of its heftier cousin and the battery life can be quite limited.
However, at around $300, I’d say it is probably worth a try for your company to get one and see how it works. Try it internally for a few meetings, then pass it around to your top sales execs for a few weeks and get some feedback from them. Chances are you will find some benefit(s) to the device. If all else fails, you can whip out your pico and project the most popular YouTube videos of the day at your next cocktail party.
If you have decided to buy one, or at least think it is an option you would like to pursue, try these links for some great reviews on various models.
From Notebooks.com: http://www.notebooks.com/2009/11/30/take-a-pico-at-these-portable-pico-projectors/
From CNET News: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10434988-1.html
Happy shopping!
…wait..say that last part again…Niche papers and your business?
Keep reading…it will come together.
Several months ago Umair Haque, Director of the Havas Media Lab and founder of Bubblegeneration penned, or rather, typed The Nichepaper Manifesto. You may be asking yourself “What are ‘nichepapers’ anyway?” Quite simply nichepapers, according to Haque, are “21st century newspapers, built on rules, that are letting radical innovators reinvent what ‘news’ is”. He goes on to list the most essential of these: 1) Knowledge, not news, 2)Commentage, not commentary, 3)Topics, not articles, 4)Scarcity, not circulation, 5)Now, not then, 6)Provocation, not perfection, 7)Snowballs, not sell-outs, and 8)Tasks, not tech.
Niche papers do not follow the rules of traditional newspapers because they don’t have to. They can be specifically one-sided about any topic, and unapologetically so. They get news to you in real time, and with a combination of opinions and facts. The opinions are not swayed by the need (either real or imagined) to give equal time to both sides of the story. In his article titled The News About the Internet, Michael Massing says, “The bloggers I have been reading reject such reflexive attempts at “balance,” and it’s their willingness to dispense with such conventions that makes the blogosphere a lively and bracing place.”
So, what does this all mean to you and your business?
For small businesses, having a blog is a cost efficient way to bring attention to your company in the absence of a potentially costly website. Additionally, updates can be made multiple times a day or week to a blog, whereas those types of changes on dedicated web pages can be time consuming and costly. That’s not to say that blogs and other forms of niche papers should take the place of websites, but they can help establish small businesses that are not ready to invest in their own sites.
For larger businesses, blogs can help get information out sooner than traditional forms of media, and can also get information into more hands faster.
Regardless of the size of the business, niche papers allow freedom to express opinions, share wisdom and experiences, and create awareness through strong web presence. In addition to having their own form of niche paper, businesses can research information on other businesses and/or clients at a quicker rate. They can also find out public opinion on specific topics that are meaningful and important to their missions and goals, as well as discover a vast amount of additional points of interest that once took weeks or months to uncover. All of this saves time, which saves money and, therefore, contributes to the success of your business.
Now, who’s ready for that wine and cheese?
For more on the Nichepaper Manifesto: http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/haque/2009/07/the_nichepaper_manifesto.html
To read Michael Massing’s article in full: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22960
The “free” WordPress blog I’ve had for over a year decided about two weeks ago that there was something onerous about my blog, and decided to take it offline. I still have no idea what they found on my blog that was onerous – I blog about marketing and social media marketing for God’s sake. Anyway, it was nature’s way of telling me to get a hosted solution. Which is what I did. So things are going to be a little “under construction” for awhile. Thanks for your patience!
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Last week we talked about B2B companies getting more involved in and even embracing Social Media. This week, I want to share some ideas I have about how you can use it to garner new business. Hopefully these will inspire you to come up with others, but for now here’s the Top 5 list:
