Relationship Marketing Specialist Mari Smith spoke about the power and influence of social networking last night at the Total Networking Seattle event at Qwest Field to an appreciative crowd of 300 women business owners. During her presentation, she referenced a video on YouTube called “Social Media Revolution.” It is absolutely riveting. Here is the link to make it easy to tune in. She said that social media has created a fundamental shift in the way we communicate and do business. This video makes that case. Watch it, and tell me what you think. Thanks Mari for a fabulous, engaging, and content-rich presentation that is sure to inspire many into powerful, new actions to connect in new ways and enjoy what you refer to as radical strategic visibility.
Have you purchased your ticket to Total Networking Seattle yet? If not, let me make it easy for you. Here is the link to read all about this networking event that is bringing together business women from Portland, Oregon to Blaine, Washington for the purposes of learning, connecting, and advancing business. Social Networking Expert Mari Smith will be keynoting, and her session is not to be missed.
Now, not every networking event is a winner, and Score More Sales Founder Lori Richardson offers a pretty compelling blog post in this regard today. She suggests that people practice a little kindness, and the examples she notes from her own experience will curl the hair on the back of your neck.
I believe the concept that the rising tide lifts all boats, so set fabulous intentions about the great people you’ll meet at Total Networking Seattle or the other great events you will enjoy, and remember to be kind and gracious.
And, if you have an interest in doing business with great people on a cruise ship to Alaska this August 8, 2010, check this out.
Back Story on this Cruise and How It Relates to Networking:
I had the good fortune to meet up with Action Plan Marketing Founder Robert Middleton at his Info Guru Summit in late January. He and I first met online at www.Biznik.com. It started with a post on a forum. A telephone call followed, A teleseminar was then scheduled that earned rave reviews.
And then, Robert brought together about two dozen amazing leaders in their field for the purposes of exploring the concept of winning collaborations, and he invited me to be among them.
Already some wonderful joint ventures have taken shape as a direct result of this three-day session. In fact, check out what Tad Hargrave of Radical Marketing has shared with his “Marketing to Hippes” list in connection with this week’s anniversary sale. Sales of the Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide have been flowing in from all over Canada since yesterday as a result. Tad and I met at Middleton’s event.
I can only imagine what additional magic will manifest as a result of spending a week on a cruise ship with Robert Middleton and the amazing independent business professionals he serves so well.
Remember, the rising tide lifts all boats, and this boat leaves for Alaska on August 8. Join us!
I always laugh when people say the newspaper is dead and it’s “all about social media” now. If you’ve been reading Nancy Juetten’s Main Street Media Savvy blog, you know for small businesses in particular, print is still very much alive. So is guerilla marketing, radio, TV and the rest of traditional media. Social media is an inexpensive (free if you don’t count your time) set of additional messaging channels like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Social media can deliver your message , and it can also accelerate and invigorate your results from traditional media. Here’s how to do it.
If you haven’t already, pick your social media outlets to match your customers. Retail does well on Facebook, especially if you’ve got a loyal fan base. Add Twitter to help feed fans to your Facebook page. If you’re a B2B service or product, LinkedIn might be a good bet.
Write down the possible media you may use to promote your business or a particular event for your business. An event can be a sale, a discount, a new product, a new location – anything that’s NEW or SPECIAL. That list should include anything you pay for, like ads in a community paper plus anything that’s not paid for, like calendar listings, Twitter postings, etc.
Now make two lists. The first list is the set of media you REGULARLY communicate with . This should include your social media sites, regular advertising that’s working for you and anything else you’re currently doing. List the frequency you post or advertise there two, if it’s daily, weekly, etc.
This list gives you a really good picture of the ‘maintenance’ piece of your marketing. Take a look at it carefully. Are you capturing all the places your customers turn to for information about your type of product or service? Ask your friends if they would add anything. Maybe you’re not listed in all the local Yelp.com and Yahoo.com directories? Really look at this carefully. Now create a checklist to help you choose the COMBINATION of media that will give you the best results.
List all the possible media you could use, from social media to ads, to TV, to banners at the local soccer game, whatever is available. For your next “event” decide what combination of media you are going to use. For example, maybe you’re going to use your next ad in the community paper to highlight a sale coming up. Then, you’re going to communicate that the sale is coming through Twitter and offer another discount coupon on Facebook.
You’ll also have in-store signage announcing the sale and you’re letting the local shopping bloggers know about it too so maybe they’ll mention it in a blog post. Decide when you’ll start talking about the event and how often you’ll announce it in each chosen channel.
Most importantly, MEASURE your results after the event. Did you get more people than usual? Where did people say they heard about the sale?Did you get more of a “bump” from social media than you thought (or less)?
You should begin understand the right mix of new and old media to use for your business. Don’t worry, no one gets it right the first time. With each event you do, change up your mix a bit. Maybe you’ll tweet a little sooner this time. Maybe once you have more Facebook fans you won’t need such a big ad. Tweak it as you go along and measure it afterwards to find the right “recipe” for your marketing mix.
Bonnie Harris is the founder of Wax Marketing, Inc. She has over 20 years experience promoting businesses and products of all kinds. Read her blog or follow her on Twitter for more ideas!
If you’ve been wondering how to do that, listen to this audio file now: It’s a gift to you that will return abundant rewards for your business when you apply Nancy’s tips to your advantage.
You will learn:
How to spot opportunities online and what to do about them;
The single biggest mistake that costs you followers, fans, leads, and sales (you can’t afford to miss this information!)
How to get your followers to take the emotional leap and become your biggest fans … who practically do your marketing for you!
The three things to focus on that will drive pre-sold leads to you and take your business to new heights.
You’ll also get a valuable handout to guide you to a successful social media lead generation strategy. Just visit this link to download yours now!
Thank you Nancy for investing your valuable time to share valuable tips to help the readers of this DIY publicity blog make the right moves with their social media strategy.
Main Street Media Savvy Question of the Day: One single thing are you going to do differently as a result of learning what Nancy Marmolejo shared during her interview today? Please share!
While reading Nancy Marmolejo’s extended bio, I noted that she is ranked as a Twitter Elite user. That captured my attention, so I asked how the rest of us can aspire to a similar ranking. Nancy told me there is a site called Twitter Grader.
Twitter Grader is a free tool that allows you to check the power of your Twitter profile. It looks at a variety of factors including the number of followers, power of those followers and the level to which you are engaging the community. It takes just a few seconds to generate your free report. Check it out.
You learn a little something new about social media everyday, and this lesson is fun and functional.
Main Street Media Savvy Question of the Day: What is YOUR Twitter grade? And how will you apply Nancy Marmolejo’s social media tips to enhance your score? Let me hear from you!
I first became aware of Viva Visibility Founder Nancy Marmalejo while researching great Twitter profiles for the Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide. When I read her profile, I knew I wanted to meet her. Here are the words that invited my immediate interest:
Nancy Marmolejo
Branding and social media strategist
Fun, friendly, smart as a whip, and prone to creative outbursts
I subsequently heard Nancy on a teleseminar with Publicity Hound Joan Stewart during which she spoke about whether your social media profile passed the 10-second test, and I was sold on her expertise and her engaging style.
So impressed with Nancy and the value her expertise can add to the Main Street Media Savvy conversation, I have declared this week “Viva Visibility Week” on the blog. Enjoy Nancy’s article, and stay tuned for additional posts throughout this week to give you even more insight into how to build a loyal following of ready-to-buy fans. I’ll be posting a one-hour interview with Nancy on Wednesday that you won’t want to miss.
Magnetize Your Social Media Marketing: How to Build a Loyal Following of Ready-to-Buy Fans
By Nancy Marmolejo
Social networking gives entrepreneurs the unprecedented opportunity to get in front of big audiences in relatively short amounts of time. Read the rest…
Last dash of summer gatherings were all the rage this past weekend in my own backyard and well beyond. Pot lucks continue to rage in their popularity because it is an easy and affordable way to entertain, while involving the guests in the preparations.
At a party I attended, I was happy to see that three different sets of guests brought appetizers that featured Croccantini Italian snack crackers from La Panzanella. The toppings ranged from Philadelphia whipped cream cheese to a marvelous fig spread to a hummus dip. You know you’ve got a successful appetizer when all the other plates a the buffet get passed over in favor of the fabulous crackers and accompaniments you and people you never met before brought to the party.
Croccantini crackers enjoy uncommon appreciation. People say, “I love those crackers” and “I never entertain without them.” Are you among these raving fans? If you are, you are cordially invited to join the Facebook Fan Page for La Panzanella. Here is the link to “become a fan.” As a member of this club, you’ll be first to learn about new recipes, new products, and special values. Random drawings from time to time will reward you with delicious Croccantini gourmet Italian crackers and the new Fieri line of sassy crackers that lend just the right amount of heat to the cheeseboard with Serrano Lime, Chipotle, and Red Chili Basil flavor. You can also follow La Panzanella on Twitter. You are already a member of the La Panzanella family by virtue of your brand loyalty. Now, let’s build a community of fans online so word can spread far and wide, while inviting even more people to bring Croccantini Italian crackers to their tables!
Today seems a fitting day to consider the stunning results you bring about for your clients, your family, or your employers, and others you serve. What are your stunning results?
Is your book a best-seller, translated into many languages, to empower others to be their very best?
Do you make phones ring, emails flow, and sales happen as a result of your consistent, tenacious sales actions every day?
Have you empowered thousands of people to eliminate chaos and achieve organization at work so they can invite more abundance in their lives?
Speaking of eliminating chaos, did you see the HUGE story in Friday’s Puget Sound Business Journal about Laura Leist’s company called Eliminate Chaos? Laura and I connected first at a local networking event, and she mentioned that earning a story just like this was on her priority list. We talked a while, and the more I learned, the more I knew that her story would be a perfect fit for a “Growing Your Business” feature. I told her how to approach her pitch and to whom to send it. Laura subsquently attended the Publici-Tea™ Workshop to learn a bit more. She followed up, waited, and wondered. And Friday’s story was the result of her effort. (The photo is by Dan Schlatter.) A full page Growing Your Business feature is a stunning result to flow from a productive conversation with an expert at a networking event and attendance at a DIY publicity workshop.
The next Publici-Tea™ Express is September 16, 2009. And here is an offer you can’t refuse. Sign up today to be a FAN of the event on Facebook. Then, you can attend the event at the $25 VIP rate!
Here is the link to sign up for Publici-Tea™ Express.
These events are a labor of love for me because the results that guests experience demonstrate that the mission I am on to empower others to get seen, heard, and celebrated is well worth the journey. Become a VIP and attend. Can’t wait to meet you!
Have you been getting lots of invitations to become a “Fan” at Facebook for many of the businesses your friends, colleagues, and family own and operate? Are your eyes glazing over because you don’t know what that means or why you should say “yes?” You are not alone.
Let me make is very easy for you. The reason you are getting these requests is that your “Fan” page on Facebook is the only place on the site at which you are allowed to officially promote your business. The rest of the site is intended for “social” networking.
Since promoting my business is important to me, today I took the plunge and set up a “Fan” page for the Publici-Tea™ Express Workshops I host every month. Hundreds of prior guests are already passionate about the value and impact these events deliver for them, and earning more fans is my highest business priority.
I started at this link. Then, the system walked me through the easy steps, including how to upload an event image to lend visual interest to my page. Within minutes, my page was set up. Then, I invited my Facebook friends to “Become a Fan.” I also sent a personal email to those who attended my most recent Publici-Tea™ Express event to join my club. Within 30 minutes, there were eight fans showing up at my page, which gave me some feedback and encouragement that the brief time I spent figuring out how to make this work was worthwhile.
Are all my business development opportunities now solved because I have a “Fan” page on Facebook? Absolutely not! Today, I just took the first step toward building this aspect of my business community. What happens next depends upon the tenacious, passionate, and consistent actions that I take every day. Rome wasn’t built in a day, my citizens, It happened brick by brick!
Oh, by the way, If you are a fan of the Publici-Tea™ Express Workshop, I’d be honored to welcome you to my Facebook fan page.
And, I’d be honored to welcome you to one of three upcoming workshops coming to Seattle Design Center this fall. Read all about the Publici-Tea™ Express and anticipate a delicious experience that will unlock even more useful tips and tools to support your DIY publicity success.
While attending the Seattle Chamber of Commerce Technology Thursday event yesterday about social media, one of the audience members asked, “Doesn’t all this social media effort take a lot of time?” There were giggles and other telling sounds from the capacity crowd. The speaker then said, “Social media isn’t a job. It’s a lifestyle.” Now that is a memorable sound bite!
Just this morning, I had a very engaging conversation with Kristen Marie Schuerlein on this topic. She said, “Let’s not confuse what we do for entertainment and activity with deliberate actions that deliver meaningful bottom line results.” I couldn’t agree more.
As for me, one success is flowing very specifically from one of my deliberate social media actions. I’ve written the new “Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide” to empower business owners and job seekers to write compelling bios that will invite more of the right opportunities their way. As part of my marketing effort, I wrote a brief article offering useful tips on the topic and posted it to Biznik. Within the last week, 2479 people read the article, 46 people reviewed it favorably, and a number of people are sharing the article with their networks in a very favorable reference. Within the last week, I’ve received one speaking invitation, three inquiries to be of service, I’ve sold a number of Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guides, and registrations are flowing in for the upcoming Publici-Tea™ Express Workshops coming to Seattle Design Center this fall.
You may be asking, “How much time and money did It take to make these specific results happen? Let me answer that question very specifically.
Writing the article was easy and time effiecient for me because I already created the 50-page guide. I invested about an hour of my time to write the article. Posting the article to Biznik took less than a minute since I’ve prior submitted ten articles and already know how to do that. I’ve earned new fans, attracted new opportunities to help others, and I’ve made money by sharing useful tips in an efficient way from which many people can benefit.
I Want to Hear from You:
How specifically is social media playing into your very specific prosperity?
Do you consider social media a job or a lifestyle?
Please chime in and share your stories. Inquiring readers and this blogger want to know more!
Post Script:
if you read the Biznik article about how to say “Bye-Bye to Your Boring Bio” and find it useful, please share it with others. Biznik Technical Support Specialist Christian Jacobson explains how to do this as follows, “Just a quick tip for those who want to share great Biznik articles like this with Facebook and the rest of the world…Below the author’s photo are several buttons, one of which is ‘Share this article.’ Click that button and choose Facebook (for example), and you will be presented with the familiar ‘Post this to your profile?’ message from Facebook.” It’s just that easy. Who among us doesn’t need a better bio that tells our stories better so others will listen? Check out the article, share the article, and let’s help people everywhere get that mission accomplished!
List
Relationship Marketing Specialist Mari Smith spoke about the power and influence of social networking last night at the Total Networking Seattle event at Qwest Field to an appreciative crowd of 300 women business owners. During her presentation, she referenced a video on YouTube called “Social Media Revolution.” It is absolutely riveting. Here is the link to make it easy to tune in. She said that social media has created a fundamental shift in the way we communicate and do business. This video makes that case. Watch it, and tell me what you think. Thanks Mari for a fabulous, engaging, and content-rich presentation that is sure to inspire many into powerful, new actions to connect in new ways and enjoy what you refer to as radical strategic visibility.
