The Success Center

Are You on the Social Media Marketing Bandwagon?

If you followed along with the Social Media Marketing Success Series (links to the recap post) last week then you know that the final and most important part of social media marketing is asking for the sale.

Well, I believe I’ve put together an awesome service that will solve a lot of your social media marketing problems and I’m asking for your business. This package deal was put together for groups, organizations, bloggers, entrepreneurs, small business owners who are not maximizing social media for their business.

If you’ve already got a blog and are maximizing social media for your business, then you might give my success coaching or other services a try. I guarantee I can help you take your business, brand, or blog to the next level. Watch the video below and you’ll find the details of the package after it.

Note: Seems as though Vimeo doesn’t like my webcam at all so there are a few audio sync issues. My apologies, I’m working with tech support to see what quality of video I need to upload in the future. Thank you for your patience.

Having trouble viewing this video? Watch it on Vimeo instead!

Social Media for Business Launch Package

Need an “all-in-one” solution to maximizing social media marketing for your business? This package includes a new brand identity, web presence, and content creation to launch you into social media marketing success!

• Custom Logo Design
• Business Card Design (Print options offered once design is complete.)
• Domain Name
• Web Hosting
• WordPress Blog Installation & Set-up (includes plugins, social buttons, and more!)
• Customized Facebook Fan Page
• Customized Twitter Background
• Customized Email Newsletter Template
• 1 Month of Success Coaching Services (1 session per week – You’ll learn the ins and outs of social media marketing, how to maintain your blog, and more!)
• 1 Month of Blog Content Creation (Tailored for your business, industry, products, and services!)
• 1 Month of Twitter Content & Updating
• 1 Month of Facebook Fan Page Content & Updating
• 1 Month of Custom Newsletter Content Mail-outs

Investment: Only $495 (payment plans are available!) – Call 1-415-ROD-KRBY [763-5729] or Email me NOW for Details!

P.S. - Want exclusive discounts, deals, and specials on every service listed? Sign-up for my “Success Tips!” newsletter! Subscribers get coupons, news, and info before everyone else does – plus great tips for marketing their business.

Rod

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Are you an aspiring entrepreneur, small business owner, or organization in need of help with marketing your business or taking it to the next level? With over 8 years experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, and multi-media design I’ve been uniquely equipped to help meet your need!

Rod Speaking @ Memphis Social Camp 2009

Speaker Services

I’m credited as being an authority on small business marketing, entrepreneurship, and leadership. I’ve been interviewed on TV Shows, Radio shows, podcasts, blogs, and online magazines across the U.S. Download my credentials to see some of the great things I’ve achieved on my road to success!

Do you need an energetic key-note speaker, an event host that can keep everyone laughing, or panel guest with the expertise needed to make your event a success?

Book me to speak at your next conference, meeting, expo, or other event by filling out this form.  You can call me directly as well; 1-415-ROD-KRBY [763-5729]!

Rod During a Coaching Session

Success Coaching Services

Are you an aspiring entrepreneur, but you don’t know where to start when it comes to starting a business? Are you a small business owner who’s ready to take their business to the next level with social media marketing? Let me become your personal success coach!

Investment: Only $50 per session! Call 1-415-ROD-KRBY [763-5729] or Email me NOW for Details!

Are You on the Social Media Marketing Bandwagon?

Social Media for Business Launch Package

Need an “all-in-one” solution to maximizing social media marketing for your business? This package includes a new brand identity, web presence, and content creation to launch you into social media marketing success!

• Custom Logo Design
• Business Card Design (Print options offered once design is complete.)
• Domain Name
• Web Hosting
• WordPress Blog Installation & Set-up (includes plugins, social buttons, and more!)
• Customized Facebook Fan Page
• Customized Twitter Background
• Customized Email Newsletter Template
• 1 Month of Success Coaching Services (1 session per week – You’ll learn the ins and outs of social media marketing, how to maintain your blog, and more!)
• 1 Month of Blog Content Creation (Tailored for your business, industry, products, and services!)
• 1 Month of Twitter Content & Updating
• 1 Month of Facebook Fan Page Content & Updating
• 1 Month of Custom Newsletter Content Mail-outs

Investment: Only $495  (payment plans are available!) - Call 1-415-ROD-KRBY [763-5729] or Email me NOW for Details!

Want to Produce Professional Looking Videos?

Video Production Services

Are you a blogger, entrepreneur, small business owner, group, or organization who needs professional looking videos at affordable prices? Give me a call!

• Video Blog Entries
• Youtube Videos
• Promotional Videos
• Company Anniversary Videos
• Short Documentaries
• View my Video Production Portfolio on Vimeo!
• Contact me with your project details and for a “no-obligation” quote!

Need Someone to Manage Your Online Community?

Social Media Community Management

If you’re a busy entrepreneur, small business owner, group, or organization and you need someone to manage your online community, give me a call! Services include;

• Twitter updating, sharing, and engagement!
• Facebook Fan Page content creation & updating!
• Youtube video uploading, editing (call for details), updating, & engagement.
• Weekly Blogging tailored to your company, industry, products, and services. (Daily blogging available – call for details!)
• Blog comment management
• Forum moderation (if needed)
• Other social networks managed as needed

Investment: Only $125 per week! Call 1-415-ROD-KRBY [763-5729] or Email me NOW with your project details!

Don’t see a service listed that meets your needs? Call me today or email me with your project details and let’s talk it over. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. I’m looking forward to helping you take your business to the next level.

Your Success Coach,

Rod

P.S. - Want exclusive discounts, deals, and specials on every service listed? Sign-up for my “Success Tips!” newsletter! Subscribers get coupons, news, and info before everyone else does – plus great tips for marketing their business.

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Social media marketing is more than simply having a blog, Facebook fan page, and blurbing out your latest products on Twitter. It’s about building and nurturing relationships and community beyond your brand.

I’ve talked a lot about maximizing social media to market your business on this blog, but I’ve never given you a “sequence of events” before like I have in this series. If you’re a small business owner or serial entrepreneur here’s what you have to do in order to be successful in social media marketing;

Step 1: Build a Web Presence for Your Business

Having a web presence is defined as having an Internet footprint. It’s more than just having a website where people can read about your company, see your services, and order from you. It’s how a person finds, follows, and fellowships (connects) with you online.

Read More . . .

Step 2: Build a Brand for Your Business

Social media marketing gives your business the opportunity to carve out a unique niche across the web. How are you going to represent yourself, business, services, or products? What image, feeling, or emotion do you want to convey whenever someone thinks about you and your business? This is the basis for branding. In this short clip I’ll show you the 5 elements to building a brand for your business.

Watch Video . . .

Step 3: Build a Marketing Base for Your Business

You’ve got to build a base which will become the foundation for your business’s success. Think of having a base as the same as having a marketing list. However, instead of a random list of people who don’t know you, you’ve got a list of people who trust and want to buy from you.

So, how do you build a market base for your business? Let’s start with your blog and email then work our way down to social networking sites.

Read More . . .

Step 4: Ask for the Sale

When it comes to social media marketing many entrepreneurs either;

• Ask for the sale too often – Aggressively pitching a product or service over social networks.
• Don’t ask for the sale the right way – Come across as “pitchy,” forced, or non-caring.
  or,
• Are too scared to ask for the sale – Constantly giving but scared their market base will rebel against them if they offer a product or service.

Hopefully, after this post, you’ll be empowered to ask for the sale and never again fall into one of those three categories.

Read More . . .

Series Wrap-Up

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this series as much as I have putting it together. I would love to get your feedback on it in the comments below. Over the weekend I’m going to work on producing an audio book based on this series so you’ll have access to all of it whenever you want it.

Call to Action

If the series has your spirit stirred, fired up, and ready to take your business to the next level contact me for help! I’m launching new services next week that will help entrepreneurs, small businesses, bloggers, and anyone else that wants to take advantage of social media marketing. Here’s a sneak peak at what’s coming next week;

Web Presence Building Services

• Domain name registration
• Web hosting
• WP (WordPress) blog set-up (theme customization, plugin installation, blog logo design)
• And more!

Brand Building Services

• Custom logo design
• Business card design
• Custom Twitter background design
• Facebook Fan Page customization
• And more!

Market Base Building Services

• Twitter updating (unique content) & follower build-up
• Facebook fan page custom content & fan build-up
• Custom newsletter content creation
• Custom blog content creation
• Video production services (includes shooting, editing, effects, etc.)
• And more!

If you see a service offered that meets your need, please, use my contact form and let me help you take your business to the next level! I’ll reveal pricing and other details next week, but, contact me today if you want a project quoted.

Rod

P.S. –  Subscribe to my “Success Tips!” newsletter for a special one-time introductory offer that will go out next week! I’ll also offer discounts and other freebies through the newsletter periodically as well.

P.P.S. – If you’re a “do-it-yourself-er” and don’t need the services mentioned above but still want to learn how to maximize social media for your business, contact me! I offer success coaching, consulting, and training at unbeatable prices. Sessions can be held over the phone, via Skype, or even in person no matter where you live in the U.S.! (That’s right, I can come to you and be your personal coach for the day! It’s cheaper than you think . . . trust me!)

Rod

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This is a guest post by Ralph E. Plaskett

Are Your Marketing Dollars Going into the Trash?

Do you remember the last piece of mail that you received? Do you remember what it was about? If you are like most people, you don’t. You probably considered it to be junk mail because it didn’t pertain to you or your interests. In the online world, this would be called spam – unwanted or unsolicited mail (or email). This type of mail is what I like to call name, rank, and serial number mailings, otherwise known as traditional marketing.

Traditional marketing is far from being effective because it doesn’t appeal to the wants, desires, and interests of the people. As humans, we often think that something works when we see an abundance of it. Unfortunately, we see even more bad marketing because many businesses owners feel that because they see an abundance of a particular marketing piece that it must be effective. Well the secret is that they are often not effective for the reasons mentioned above.

So how do we turn from marketing that wastes money to marketing that provides a solid return on investment? The answer to this question is quite simple yet difficult for so many business owners and entrepreneurs to understand. If you have ever worked in retail, your manager probably told you “The customer is always right”. Although this isn’t always true, the philosophy behind this popular saying is true. ‘The customer is always right’ takes the focus off of self or
the company and raises the interests of the customer in the employee’s mind. People-focused marketing does just that; makes the marketing about the recipient, not the company or its products/services.

If you have ever spoken with someone that only talks about themselves or their interests, then you know how annoying it can be. Your marketing is no different. The challenge that small business owners face is turning their marketing from self-centered marketing to people-focused marketing. To accomplish this, small business owners need to understand who their customers are. Here are a few questions that will help you figure out who exactly are your customers.

•       What are their interests?
•       What are their fears?
•       What kind of periodicals do they read?
•       Do they have their own lingo?
•       What is their education level?

As you can imagine, this isn’t even close to a complete list of questions that small business owners can ask to gain a better understanding of their customers. Each industry, product, and service has its own questions that can be asked to become familiar with customers who may be inclined to purchase. Far too many small business owners do not do the necessary research to truly know their customers. It is much easier to put their name, rank (years in business), and serial number (street address) than to do the hard work of understanding who is the customer and how that relates to their product or service.

Once a solid understanding of the customer is discovered, the creation of a message that is tailored to that ‘ideal customer can be created. This is known as message to market matching. What many small business owners don’t understand is that their product or service is a solution to someone. They also don’t understand that everyone isn’t their customer (which is a totally different article). Your product solves a problem that the customer is facing. The challenge of the small business owner is to discover how many solutions/benefits their product or service provides. This is why it is critical to understand who the customer is.

Making marketing that is centered around the customer and the benefits they will obtain from a product or service is admittedly difficult, time-consuming, but very rewarding. Not only are you providing benefits and solutions to your customers but your will also increase your revenue 10-fold.

Proverbs 13:4 (NIV) says The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. So which one will you be, the sluggard wishing and hoping for greater success in your business or the diligent who is fully satisfied and seeks greater achievements?

———————–
About the Author
Ralph E. Plaskett is known as the Peculiar Marketing Expert for peculiar people, the go-to resource for action-oriented information where readers can take the words right off the page and put them to work immediately! His effective strategies develop, grow, and expand businesses for Christians. Visit his website at
http://www.PushingKingdomBusiness.com

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How private is your data online?

Social media superstar, Chris Brogan was in my neighborhood last month, speaking on social media marketing for small businesses. I remembered him saying, ”Privacy is dead because of the internet” and that statement really hit me. It’s not hard to see privacy go down the drain, especially with the transparency that social media demands and Facebook’s privacy woes as of late.

Small business owners have a lot to loose to breaches in privacy online. Social networks that keep photos, contact data, and other information on their servers even when you’re not active can be dangerous if stumbled upon by outsiders. (Imagine your client finding old photos of you partying in a chicken suit on New Years Eve on Facebook. Get the picture?)

How Can You Combat Your Privacy Concerns?

Chris did mention a way to combat the privacy issue. He said to “Win by having as much volume & value as u can” (paraphrased). My only issue with “having as much volume & value as u can,” is that it only covers up what’s beneath the surface. Barack Obama may have been the most “socially aware” presidential candidate in history, but his volume and value didn’t hide the controversy around the authenticity of his birth certificate (Wikipedia article).

In order to effectively combat the privacy issues of social media, online networks, and the world wide web in general I believe you have to take a more direct approach and fight them head-on. Here are some tips on how to secure your data across the web. Remember, the only way you’re going to get 100% privacy is by not using the internet at all. But, these tips should help you clean-up your tracks, protect your current data, and prevent further misuse of it.

Use Fancy Email “Ninjary” (Forms, Plugins, and other Useful Tools)

A couple of weeks ago, Facebook introduce new and simpler controls for privacy. According to Facebook your privacy settings weren’t changed, just how you access them. Here are a few tips and suggestions on how to maximize the new settings;

If you’ve made any previous privacy changes they’ll carry over to the new privacy page as Custom settings. If you would like to tweak these in a granular style click the customize settings link towards the bottom left-side of the page.

The big news for the new settings include more control over applications, games, and how they share your information. Here’s how to fully protect yourself while using the site;

1. Click the Applications, Games, and Websites link at the bottom of the page.

2. Check out the What you’re using section first. This section displays every Facebook app, game, and website associated with your account. Click the remove link to delete applications from your account.

3. Move to the Info accessible through your friends link. This section shows you what information your friends’ apps can access through their profile (that’s right, an app your friend uses can access your information). I recommend you deselect everything to keep other apps from getting, using, or abusing your data.

4. The Instant Personalization setting gives you the option to let Facebook partner sites use your data to “personalize” their websites for you when you visit. I recommend you deselect this option to keep your information secure.

Linkedin

What kind of privacy issues could the business networking site have? According to many users, plenty. If you’re using the site for your business then continue to use your business contact information. If you’re looking for a job you may consider setting up a special email and contact number (Perhaps a Google Voice number?) for job inquiries.

Once you’re logged into your profile click on “settings” in the top right-hand corner.

You’ll see the typical settings for your profile, email notifications, groups, and more. I would suggest tweaking your personal information first.Next, head over to privacy settings.

The most notable settings to tweak are Linkedin’s authorized applications, partner advertising, Nytimes.com customization, profile views, and research survey settings. Tweak each to meet your privacy needs, save your settings, and you’re done!

Twitter

Your Twitter profile is stripped of the exessive profile information of most social networks. This gives everyone the opportunity to get down to the “social” part in social media. However, this is the internet we’re talking about and in that regard nothing is 100% private. With that said . . .

• Be careful with what you share! Use common sense and don’t let people know when you’ll be away from home. Sure, it’s common sense, but you’ll be surprised how many people let their guard down and end up on sites like pleaserobme.com.

Rod

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Need to Reposition Your Business?

Imagine sending out a mass email telling your clients that you’re quitting and closing down shop. You explain to them that you’ve decided to move on professionally and that you would no longer be available to work on their projects. Can you sense the hesitancy in pushing the send button? Can you imagine the nervous and worried expression that would be strained across your face? This is exactly what I did in early 2007 when I stopped doing graphic design and website development.

I was in a transitional period in my life where I wanted to teach entrepreneurs more and design less. I wanted to make money for my thoughts, experience, and wisdom and I just couldn’t do that designing logos and fliers. Some of my clients understood my position and others were really worried as to how they would keep their projects afloat. I had to explain that “when God is ready for you to move into new territories . . . you gotta drop everything and move.” When you get that feeling then you know it’s time to reposition yourself for success. Last week, I explained how to do just that within your career. Today let’s explore what to do when it comes to your business.

Why reposition yourself in the first place?

The whole goal of repositioning yourself is to #1 – maintain the success you’ve attained and #2 – make strategic moves to become more successful. Pretty simple, wouldn’t you agree?

As a graphic designer I had plenty of clients but I didn’t have a sense of fulfillment in what I was doing. I got more joy in teaching entrepreneurs how to market themselves and how to use the web in advertising their businesses. I wanted to make the change from graphic designer to business coach. In order to do so there were a few things that I had to do.

Leave the extra baggage behind!

As I said, at the start of this article, I had to drop a lot of my clients in order for me to move on and get to the next level. I know what you’re thinking, “Rod, why wouldn’t you just keep them and offer your new services to them?” For the most part, these were established small business owners and churches outside of my target market. They just needed someone to design their fliers, logos, and work with their website . . . they didn’t want me to tell them how to be successful. So why bother? It’s better to leave extra baggage behind than let it slow you down if you’re trying to move. If you hold on to it, you might end up damaging it unnecessarily during the move. And that’s just a pain in the butt. So leave it! Here are a few suggestions on what to do once you’ve “left your baggage” behind;

• Keep in contact with your clients and maintain a referral network. This will allow you to pass new business to them and get business from them no matter what new product or service you’re offering.
• Don’t totally leave them in the dark, make recommendations of other vendors that can possibly take over their projects.
• Maximize social networking to keep in touch. I use Facebook to maintain business relationships and create a greater sense of community among my peers.

Money DOES Grow on Trees, Shake Your Tree of Creativity!

Feeling lead to speak and consult I had to create new products, services, and totally revamp my offerings. I didn’t look for affiliate products to sell or network marketing products (Most of you know how I feel about network marketing anyway). Instead, I created new products and services for my target market. The first was an audio book called, Leadership Wisdom from Proverbs. I started a seminar series which I derived from the content of the audio book. Both were pretty successful and I knew that I was were I was supposed to be professionally. Here are a few tips on creating products and services for your repositioned business;

• Do some research to find out what your market needs. Use tools like Twitter, polls, and surveys to listen and organize information for your benefit.
• Don’t just look for other people’s products to sell, look within your own talents, skills, and abilities. I made my audio book from my computer with software I already owned, you can too!
• Think outside the box! Come up with a combination of products or services and judge which ones will produce the best return on investment.
• Don’t totally discard your current offerings of products or services. You might be able to tweak them (add and subtract portions) to fit your new business model.

Take the iron out of the farmer’s hand and brand yourself!

Even though I turned over a new business leaf I still had people calling me to do design work for them. The phone conversations were pretty interesting, “Yes, I used to do graphic design, no, I’m sorry, but I won’t able to do that for you.” I had to stick to my guns and you will to. The best way to get your message across without hurting feelings is to brand yourself (or in this case, re-brand yourself). Personal branding gives you the power to control people’s perceptions of who you are or what you do. Here are a few basic tips to get you started;

• Set up your name as your domain (website address) – notice that The Success Center’s web address is rodkirby.com, I assure you that this wasn’t by accident. My thinking is, when people want to find success, they’ll find me. It’s got nothing to do with my ego and everything to do with how I want people to perceive who I am and what I do.
• If you’re already using social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook change your posting strategy to reflect who you want to attract. If you’re repositioning yourself to be a lawyer, find useful tips, articles, and things in your life to share that reflects that. You can read up on using Twitter for business here.
• Revamp your website or start a blog dedicated to your “new self.” Give people one dedicated place to connect with you, buy from you, or engage with your new “identity.”

Marketing isn’t Dead if you do it right!

If you’re going to position your business to be successful in a new market you’ve got to maximize every available tool to get the word out. This may mean investing in traditional avenues of marketing or giving your time to social media. Do whatever works for you. Here a couple of tips to help you make it through;

• Narrow down your social media tools to the ones you’ll invest the most time in. Having a wider range of tools and profiles only disengages you with your market and wastes time. Here are my Top 3 Social Media Tools for Business.
• Re-design your marketing materials to reflect your new brand and distribute them at conferences and events. Be sure to include your social media outposts so that people can reach out to you no matter what platform they’re on.
• Plan on attending industry events and conferences to enhance your profile, grow an email list, and make connections. Check out AllConferences.com for events listed in industry or area.

When in Doubt, Seek Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding

Whenever you’re in a transitional state of your life, your decisions will have an impact on your business. Whether it’s positive or negative will be determined on the quality of your decisions. So, go into your quiet space and pray for the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding to make quality decisions.

Luke 11:9 says,

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace!

What else can be added to this list? What is your current position with your business? Do you feel like you’re being successful or is it time to reposition yourself for success? When I stopped designing and started speaking and coaching I knew that I had made the best decision for my life. Since that time things have grown, changed, and I continue to reposition myself and my business ideals.

I keep referring to my friend Latara because she actually gets the idea behind repositioning. She understands it and it’s exciting to see other people who “get it.”

LaTara Ham-Ying said,

As for me, I am continually in a repositioning mode because as an entrepreneur I believe that we must always be looking for something new and evolving so that your business stays fresh. As you evolve, God gives you new insight into what you need to do for your business.

Flickr image by Alejandro

Rod

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Note: This is not a paid review, however, I do have a few Amazon links included. I would never recommend a product or service that I wouldn’t use myself.

I started my first business at the age of 19, slaved over a business plan for 3 months, and it never went anywhere. I started my business plan where most people start; with a main idea, how much money I needed, and how I was going to market it. I jumped into entrepreneurship without really “getting ready for the jump.” I can honestly say that Melinda Emerson’s book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months: A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works is one I really wish I had back then.

Who Is the “SmallBizLady?”

The "SmallBizLady"

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as “SmallBizLady” is a seasoned entrepreneur who is a professional speaker and small business coach. Her areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media marketing.

Melinda has a powerful story that she shares in this 30 minute interview I did with her back in December. She also shares a lot of great info on business planning, marketing, and of course, social media for business as well.

Book Review

So, is Melinda Emerson’s book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months: A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works worth your hard-earned money? Let’s get to the review!

Pros

• Great book for starting entrepreneurs
• Very well written
• Breaks down the process of becoming an entrepreneur in a reasonable time-line
• Not your typical “business planning” book (includes a life planning section amongst other unique sections)
• Includes great advice on getting ready to start the business, leaving a job, marketing, even social media
• Loved the way Melinda weaved her personal insights, advice, and tips into each chapter
• Well worth the asking price (Amazon has it new for $10!)

Cons

• None

Final Thoughts

If you’re planning on starting a business then this is THE book you need to read before you go out and make any major moves. You’ll find it easy to read, well organized, and chock-full of useful information to get your started. What I really liked was that it’s not your typical business planning book as Melinda cares for your total entrepreneurial success – not just your business plan. She also gives advice on maximizing social media for your business and even touches on e-commerce as well. I highly recommend it for any aspiring entrepreneurs out there.

If you’re starting a business you can’t go wrong with Melinda’s solid plan for your success. If you’re a seasoned business owner, buy it as a gift for someone coming into the game. Whoever you are don’t miss out on this one!

Final Score – 5 out of 5 Buy it Now!

Rod

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Is Marketing Dead? - Image by easisell.com

According to Small Business Facts.com, 47% of small business owners use the internet to market or advertise their business. [Source: Open from American Express, 05/2006] Keep in mind that census data is collected every 10 years so I’m sure that figure has risen.

With the rise in social media marketing for small businesses I wonder if traditional marketing is still relevant for “the little guy?” You remember traditional marketing don’t you?

It included getting some business cards, designing cool fliers to post around town, securing a 30 second TV spot, and maybe even a radio spot to match. But it didn’t stop there, remember telemarketing, direct mail advertising, and the ever reliable word-of-mouth marketing?

I remember a time when you could spend thousands of dollars on an ad campaign and not even break-even from the results. Yet, with a highly targeted and planned social media marketing campaign you can generate more buzz, leads, and sales with a fraction of the cost.

Note: Want some help cooking up REAL success with social media marketing? Check out The Recipe for Social Media Sales Success.

So, let’s open this up for discussion. Is traditional marketing dead? Or is it simply transforming like a butterfly? What are YOUR thoughts? What form of marketing yields the highest return on your investment for YOUR business? Cast your vote below then log in with your Facebook, Twitter, or other [supported] account and let me know how you feel in the comments below.

P.S. - If you’d like some ideas on marketing your business without social media, check out my series, 5 Free Ways to Market Your Business.

Rod

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Are you headed for success?

(This post was originally published in October 2009 and was updated with new content!)

If a media mogul, with a net worth of half a ba-jillion dollars, offered to share his or her secrets of their success, would you listen? I don’t know about you, but I’d be willing to listen and learn from any media mogul who wanted to share anything with me!

The wisdom, knowledge, and understanding you could gain from that person would definitely be worth paying for. However, there is one requirement to gaining access to this free knowledge, you have to sign-up for their newsletter and share it with all your friends. Would you do it?

I think the majority of you would because you want to take your business to the next level. That’s the place where opportunities come to you instead of you having to knock on doors to find them. That’s where success, prosperity, and the freedom to live your life the way you want is. How do you get there?

You Have to Make Strategic Marketing Moves

Getting the word out about your blog, website, business, products, or services is key to business growth. People won’t know who you are if you don’t tell them. Common sense right? Yet, the Small Business Administration says;

[In 2008] There were 627,200 new businesses, with 595,600 business closures, and 43,546 bankruptcies.

As an entrepreneur I have to believe that one of the primary reasons for all the closures and bankruptcies has  to do with their marketing plans. I can’t help but wonder, “how did they spend their advertising dollars?” Did they do what typical businesses do and overspend on print marketing and TV spots? Sure, the economy did make things harder for entrepreneurs . . . but not impossible. That’s why you have to make strategic marketing moves to position yourself for success.

Want to know the greatest marketing secret ever? You’ll be surprised along with some ways to maximize the technique.

So, what are the secrets to growing your small business?

1. Maximize tools, resources, and information that you already have

If you have a laptop, a mobile phone, and a car then you’ve got an office. Don’t limit your thinking to what you don’t have because God equipped you with everything you need to succeed. If there’s a piece of equipment that’s a “gotta have,” then continue to work with what you have until you can afford it.

Resource: 5 Free Ways to Market Your Business

2. Build relationships with prospects and create clients for life

Don’t go for the quick sale. Take the time to get to know people, what they want, and what they need. Doing so positions you to generate long-term sales and success. Not doing that makes you sound like a pushy used car salesman . . . and no one wants to buy from that guy.

Want my best advice on building relationships? Check out 10 Ways to Build Relationships and Keep Clients for Life

3. Brand your company and distribute a unique message that declares who you are and what you’re about

What company comes to mind when you hear “We love to see you smile?” What about, “Just do it?” These are themes associated with company brands. You can have that same power but it doesn’t come over night. It’s something you have to build piece by piece consistently. When I went to Social Camp Memphis this year there were people who knew who I was before I said anything to them. That’s the power of personal branding. Make it work for you!

Resources: Check out How to Use Social Media to Build Your Brand Locally and listen to my show Personal Branding 101 with Ronald Wilsher

4. Leverage social media and traditional marketing in a way that yields real results

A real result is one that makes a physical impact on your local market. If you can network on Twitter and as a result create relationships that leads to business in your city then you’ve got yourself a real result. Whether you like it or not, social media isn’t a fad and it’s not going away anytime soon. Are you leveraging it to make real results for your business?

Resources: You’ll enjoy my post, The Recipe for Social Media Sales Success – in it I share how social media marketing can help you make real dollars and cents. Also, take a look at 35 Keys to Social Media Success by Chris Brogan. Chris shares some valuable info for entrepreneurs who are venturing into social media marketing.

The Bottom Line

You have to build your business with these four walls in order for it to grow and succeed. A tool that can help you build your business and take it to the next level is my newsletter, “Success Tips!”.  I mail out tips and advice on marketing and growing your business. If the Success Center is a grand buffet then “Success Tips!” is a plate full of meat that promotes strong business muscles. Each edition builds on one of the four walls of business success above. Don’t take my word for it, look at what others have to say about it;

What Should You Do Next?

So, you’re all stirred up and ready to take your blog, business, product, or service to the next level. . .now what? Remember the ba-jillionaire’s requirements for gaining access to his free knowledge at the beginning? The process is as simple as 1, 2, and 3.

Step 1 - Sign-up
Enter your email address below. I hate spam as much as you do so I WILL NEVER sell, rent, or abuse your contact information. Once you’ve signed up, check your email in-box for my welcome letter and be sure to add rodsuccesscenter (at) gmail.com to your safe list.

Note: You can read through the newsletter archives to catch-up on past editions. You’ll find tons of solid advice that will help you market your business.

Sign up for Success Tips!

Step 2 - Share
If you found this article helpful please share it with your friends by using the social sharing buttons at the end of this post.

Step 3 – Subscribe
The Success Center is a grand buffet chocked full of information and knowledge on being successful in many different areas of your life and entrepreneurship. You don’t have to sit down and eat it all at once . . . feel free to stay up-to-date on new dishes by subscribing to the RSS feed or via email. I’m proud to say that this blog is updated at least 4 days a week so there’s always something new here.

Your two cents

What else creates a strong business and promotes success? What are you doing to promote growth for yours or what tips have you learned from others? I would love to hear you thoughts in the comments section below.

Rod

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Want to Cook Up Social Media Success?

On Saturday, I was called to work a flight to Pensacola, FL (if you don’t know by now, I’m a full-time flight attendant by day and internet junkie by night). Using Foursquare I announced my where-a-bouts which tagged my location as being at the Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport (PNS).

What’s Foursquare?

If you’re unfamiliar with Foursquare, it’s a location-based social game that let’s you check-in to different venues. The more times you “check-in”, typically with an app installed on your mobile phone, the more points you rack-up. Check-in enough times and you become “mayor” of the venue. Whenever I traveled I would usually use, Ping.fm to let everyone on Twitter and Facebook know where I was, but Foursquare makes it easy since it sends a message for me automatically.

Note: If you decide to join Foursquare, be sure to add me as a friend!

Back to the Story!

Shortly after Foursquare let everyone know my where-a-bouts, I received a Twitter message from, Boomerzzz.

At the #BroganMemphis event last week, Chris mentioned that small businesses missed a great opportunity to “take his money” when he asked [on Twitter] for things to do around Memphis. He received a couple of replies, but, no one really reached out to him to offer anything of value.

However, as soon as I stepped foot into Pensacola’s regional airport, I received a message offering me a free beer. Now, in Memphis’ defense, lots of small businesses are starting to adopt social media marketing. But, if I was a beer drinking man (and wasn’t working) I would have stopped by Boomerzzz for a free cold one.

And, of course, I wouldn’t be able to just have one beer . . . I would have at least paid for some nachos and whatever else my little heart desired. But, that’s the point of their promotion – to get me in the door and let their social kindness do the rest.

The Recipe for Social Media Sales Success

With that being said, I want to offer up a simple recipe for making real sales using social media. I’m not talking about lead generation, building a marketing list, or some other typical social media marketing measurement.

I’m talking about dollars in the cash register, converting a fan/friend/or follower into a client, and etc. You ready? Here we go!

Secret Ingredients

1 Cup of “Target”

2 teaspoons of “Listen”

1 pound of “Engage”

1/2 tablespoon of “Ask”

Directions

Step 1 – Target Your Market

Know who you want to buy from you and where you can find them. For me, I know that my target market consists of small business owners, Christian entrepreneurs, and they can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.

Last year, I put out a survey using Constant Contact (Aff Link; if you sign up you’ll receive a $30 credit into your account!) and now I know the medium age, sex, employment status, and education level of my market as well. This information allows me to further narrow my scope and get the right message to the right people.

Step 2 – Listen to Your Market

Once you’ve found where your market is online (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) it’s time to listen! By listening you are wait for key words, conversations, or any mention of your product, service, or brand to occur.

Many times (especially on Twitter) you’ll get people or companies that broadcast their marketing messages overwhelmingly to their followers. This generates more social “noise” than quality content and forces people to block, filter, or not follow these people at all. Had they listened first before broadcasting they would have more success.

Here are some suggestions on listening within social media;

• Using Twitter Search – Look for conversations involving your brand name, product/service keywords, or mentions in real time and jump in!
• Using Monitter – This is a great tool that brings in conversations about specific keywords for you automatically on Twitter.
• Creating a Facebook Fanpage (here’s mine!) – Round-up supporters of your brand or business and offer unique content to them. You won’t have to “listen” to hard because they’ll already be engaged with your business.
• Join Linkedin Groups – Joining a specific group that caters to your interest or market is a great way to narrow down your search grid for customers.
• Set-Up Google Alerts – This tool emails you whenever it finds anything regarding keywords that you set-up from around the entire world wide web.
• Use Polls, Surveys, and Questionnaires on Your Blog – An excellent way of gathering information and really listening to your community.

Step 3 – Engage with Your Market

Listening is a continuing activity, it never ends because people’s conversations, needs, and wants change. However, as you listen you have to engage with your market. Let them know that you’re interested in the same things they are and you can be counted on as a reliable source for information, ideas, and resources. It’s actually not very hard to engage, here are some ideas;

• Share useful tips, advice, information, resources, and articles on Twitter. [Don't forget to share and "talk back!"]
• Give exclusive content, promotional discounts, and specials to Facebook Fans.
• Teach members how to best achieve a desired action by utilizing the Linkedin Q&A tool.
• Produce useful content on your blog, post consistently, and reply to feedback given in your comments section. My best advice is to use an editorial calendar. Here’s a video that will show you how to do it!

Note: For more ideas on engaging with your market check out, The Used Car Salesman’s Guide to Social Media Marketing.

Step 4 – Ask for the Sale [or Make an Offer]

Once you have engaged with your market it’s important to ask for the sale or at least make an offer.

Why?

Because, you’ve earned it. Pretty simple huh?

It’s important to note that prior to me landing in Pensacola, Boomerzzz was not engaging with me on Twitter. As a matter of fact, they probably found out I was in Pensacola because they were already following me or picked up my use of Pensacola as a keyword in a search.

Even though they skipped out on step 3 they still would have gotten me in the door because of their free beer offer. That’s the difference between asking for the sale and making an offer. If you’re going to ask me for money, you better be sure I know and trust you. However, the rules change slightly if you’re offering me anything for free whether it’s a consultation, free sample, or beer in your establishment.

Get it?

Recipe Wrap-Up

Remember to target, listen, engage, and ask. This is the recipe for sales success in social media. Chris Brogan’s final tweet of wisdom from #BroganMemphis was to “stop collecting recipes and open a restaurant.” We can’t just continue to gather information, go to seminars, listen to experts, and not implement what’s been said. So, my hope is you’ll take this recipe and go make a large success pie. What say you?

Note: Want more of my best advice on maximizing social media for your business? Check out the “Social Media” section on the Best Of page!

Rod

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