Blogs For Business

Earlier this month I read an article in my local newspaper about how investment companies are still trying to connect with their customers and prospects through sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin and their own internet social media (blog).

Although many of the top investment companies have developed significant presence on the Internet with their websites, helping people retrieve account statements and other such housekeeping issues, as a group they feel lost when it comes to social media. They are not alone, Corporate America as a whole is still trying to figure out the best approach.

So being the nice guy that I am I thought I would give these investment firms and Corporate America as well a few of my homespun tips on how to take advantage of social media marketing. Since they seem to be scratching their heads about the best approach I am happy to supply some food for thought. But at the same time I have to tell you, the little people out there (of which I am one) the ones that hold this country together, are going to have to be wooed back because they don’t trust anybody with their money (what’s left of it) to anything other than a coffee can in a non-interest bearing, shallow grave.

So that would be tip #1 – Work on the trust issues, I know there are investment people out there that told their clients to get out when they saw the storm clouds on the horizon. No one could have predicted just how big a disaster was coming but my broker didn’t say a word to me as my 401k went into the crapper. Regardless of who did what, if you want to keep the customers you have and woo prospects, you must communicate on their level, and keep communicating. And that means tell them straight, they might not want to hear it but it’s your job to protect your client.

Corporate America is still trying to label social media by using workplace jargon that when used is a true tip-off to us “little people” that person don’t know squat. How they can take a simple concept and turn it into corporate jibberish is just amazing. People make statements that generally indicate a true lack of understanding, designed to mis-direct the listeners focus. When some “suit” utters a comment like; “moving forward, social media is a shift in conversations to technology enabled by action items that break down silos, capturing value for client centric, core competencies, declaring flat as the new “up” and it is what it is. My people have run it up the flagpole and discovered that social media’s center of gravity is cross functional. Furthermore, what we have in the pipeline will harvest the low hanging fruit outside the wall.  Any team player here understands that success metrics are measured by a Paradigm shift as we circle back and think outside the box.”

Any real person woulld be scratching their head trying to think what that all means, while giving the suit a chance to escape.  Do you see what I mean by communicating on the regular guy’s level, what the heck is a shift anyway, much less a Paradigm shift? Sounds like a name of a faultline like San Andreas or New Madrid but these “quakes” cause more damage.

And that would lead us into the heart of Tip #2 – You marketing guru’s out there, the ones that make the big bucks; when you use social media to connect with potential customers, or you reach out with a blog, avoid the use of tired, overused “buzz” words. Talk like that is what got us all into trouble in the first place! Nobody knows what the heck you are talking about – direct, concise language works so much better!

Here is my Corporate America Buzz Word Hit List:  when I hear any of these, I immediately distrust the speaker, thinking to myself, ‘oh, man, another one of those people!’ And I especially distrust anyone using the ones in bold text:

moving forward,
success metrics
centers of gravity
circle back
core competencies
30,000 foot view
action items
bandwidth” (as in, “I have no bandwidth.”)
break down silos
bring to the table
capture value
circle the wagons
client centric
cross functional
deliverable
do you have any spare cycles?
drink the Kool-Aid
exit strategy
flat is the new up
green fields
how are you tracking?
It is what it is
in the pipeline
low-hanging fruit
manage expectations
my people
out of pocket
outside the wall
paradigm shift
ping
right-sized
run it up the flag pole
skin in the game
success metrics
talk offline
team player
throw under the bus
synergy
think outside the box
play nice in the sandbox
value add or value proposition

Last but not least, WIIFM (an acronym for “What’s in it for me?”)

Tip # 3 –  should be obvious but regardless I will say it again. Whatever social media channels you decide to pursue, make sure you register your company name domain so that it looks like this example – http://twitter.com/IBM. Twitter does a good job of shutting down “domain squatters” but many a corporation has turned to social media and found their company name being used by someone totally unconnected with your company.

Tip # 4 – We all know there are company secrets that must be upheld and I’m sure that no one knowingly would post proprietary information to the Internet. My advice is let the managers manage social media channels, they are the ultimate authorities in their respective departments anyway.  I think that social media is still too young for it not to be counterproductive when misused. However, there are still many things a company can talk about to humanize their business without giving away “secrets.”

Tip #5 –  A blog allows a company to speak to it’s existing and potential customers in an informal, casual manner. Getting back to the investment companies as an example, they could be more open about how the stock market, securities, day trades, pork bellies or whatever, actually works. Isn’t there anyone out there who can simplify investing? Provide a type of investment “racing form” which will allow them to “handicap” stocks or commodities so that they can make educated guesses about what to invest in.

And while you’re at it you might try explaining to us little people how it is that companies such as Worldcom, supposedly one of the best retirement stocks a few years ago, can declare bankruptcy, tell stock holders their paper ain’t worth spit, then come back healthy as ever as Sprint? Or how about you Kmart shoppers that invested with them only to have them declare bankruptcy, reorganize and come back as Sears, while you are left holding the burnt out blue light.

I would be interested in any other social media tips for Corporate America, especially from other bloggers, the ones that really “get” social media.

Thanks to Bizmore for the list of corporate buzz words we love to hate.

My last post was about my failure to think like a businessman, putting myself into the shoes of the customer, seeing things from his perspective. Turns out I didn’t have much of a shot at his business anyway, he ended up hiring his son who is a musician and part-time webmaster. I wished him well.

Nevertheless, I did learn some important lessons about how to approach a certain kind of businessman on the idea of using social media for an online marketing strategy. Because he was a tough customer, a talker, a used-car type, and a know- it- all, there were many times when I just wanted to say, shut the hell up for a just a darn second and I’ll explain what I mean! And the nice thing about working for yourself is that I could have done just that!

But of course, I held my tongue, smiled and waited till he took a breath, before I continued my pitch. I ended up meeting with this guy several times and each time his total focus was how much it was going to cost him on an annual basis, I think he could have cared less about anything else. Bottom line, I couldn’t get through to him and we parted ways.

As an ethical businessman and blogger I then had some decisions to make. With my hook, line and sinker approach to selling people on the idea of a blog for their business I had not only gone ahead and created a blog (spending quite a few hours on it), but had also created a Twitter account that I populated with tweets, followers in his market and a custom design. In all I had invested about 10 hours of my time.  But the key element to all this was that I had registered a domain name which was the name of his business. He told me the name he wanted, said it was not available, I found it and registered it for two years, intending to transfer ownership to him when he signed up to work with me.

I have heard of unscrupulous people in this business holding domain names hostage or worse yet, domain squatting. I simply cannot understand a company not registering a simple domain and worse, letting one they had registered to expire.  I’m going to cut this short right now and close with what I ended up doing.

I immediately transfered ownership of the domain to this person, he wanted to pay me for my time and trouble but I refused any payment other than the domain registration fee I paid. I turned over the Twitter account and password and deleted the Blogger blog I had created. End of story.

It would seem that I have a lot to learn about teaching the use of social media and blogging to businesses. After my last attempt to do my best for a customer ended badly and despite my good intentions the client ended up going somewhere else.  I promised myself I would learn by the experience and not make the same mistakes yet I had to wonder, just what were the issues.

The customer needed help with an online presence. They didn’t want a full-blown website (for economic reasons), they were afraid of a blog, and thought all social media were a waste of time. I did succeed in convincing them otherwise, or so I thought.

It’s a real eye opener especially when you think your client is getting it and all seems to be well. Where did things go wrong and why? To find the answers I needed to step out of my shoes as a blogger and think like a businessman.

If you are honest with yourself as a blogger you will need to know WHY you failed and how to keep it from happening again.

I will go into more detail as to why I think I lost the job in a later post but for now my advice to any blogger who attempts to educate a business in the use of social media is:

Never make assumptions about anything!

When I first sat down at my computer to write a post about the topic of helping others, it was supposed to be light piece, an article that would be written in a general sense about the act of people helping people. Along comes tragedy in Haiti and all that is out the window. If you want to see people really helping other people, look no further than your TV set at the people coming to the aid of the   victims of the massive destruction wrought by major earthquakes.

It turned out to be more than a “puff” piece about helping others, thanks to an overactive imagination, and an endless typewriter ribbon.  And when it was done I ended up with something resembling a novel about bloggers helping bloggers.

There are better writers than me writing about how huge a role social media has played in helping to raise money for assisting Haitians with aid such as food, shelter and medical services so I won’t go there. All I can say is that my prayers go out to them.

I wanted to write a post for my Business Blog about helping others, then dedicate it to the members of my blogging community, Blog Engage. I still do but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this more important work being done to help others in Haiti.

So before I could get into the mindset of actually writing about the topic of people helping people, I did what I normally do when faced with the dilemma of what to write about, I went straight to the Thesaurus. The Thesaurus, a priceless resource for a writer/blogger, and one that’s even more important than the Style Guide for journalists, because the choice of a good topic comes before much of the writing is done, the place where you need it to help with proper sentence structure or punctuation.

Finding other words or phrases that mean the same thing (synonyms) as the word I am focusing on almost always results in flash of inspiration for many of the words listed. When I see a breakdown on the page of a verb such as “helping” in my mind’s eye the synonyms that come up are revealed via a drop-down menu for ideas that mean the same but offer different options for expressing them.

I  can always count on them for article ideas, topics will come flying out of my virtual drop-down menu for almost any word. Even antonyms can stir up some creative writing juices, contrary derivatives of your word that serve to plant the seeds for ideas that grow into opposing viewpoints.  Some bloggers are controversial on purpose, believing that any post that generates comments is a good post.

I have to admit that I have been guilty of writing a post, knowing I was wrong about what I was spewing, just to see how many of my readers would catch me at it, then lovingly comment back that I am an idiot! Even those idiot comments are appreciated, I can start a dialog about why I’m right and you suck!  Did I mention also, that it helps having a thick skin, to be a blogger?

But this post is not about overcoming writers block,  practicing comment etiquette, or getting your feathers ruffled, it’s about helping others. A complete reversal of where we were just five short years ago where all you heard was sell, sell, sell! Twas bloggers that killed the beast, and that particular gorilla is off our back permanently, I hope.

I enjoy helping others find ways to promote their business online, utilizing the power of social media, teaching basic blogging skills and developing simple social media strategies. Where do you think I get all of my ideas? They don’t ALL come from the Thesaurus, I belong to a group of bloggers that contribute to that cause, freely, generously and sincerely,  wanting to help me help aspiring bloggers. Remember what sports agent Jerry McGuire made famous besides “SHOW ME THE MONEY?” Give up?  It was “help me, to help you!”

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By now all of my readers should know that I attended a two day (by the time I was finished) social media event put on by the Phoenix, AZ Chapter of SCORE and well-attended by small business owners, curious about this social media revolution we seem to be in the midst of.

Day one of this informative seminar began with registration, networking and book signing, Ron Safko’s Social Media Bible or what soon was nicknamed by the attendees as, Everthing You Ever Wanted To Know About Social Media But Were Afraid To Ask or The 800- word  social media gorilla, whatever!  READ THIS BOOK! It’s a great way to get better acquainted with social media and it’s full of great information and resources and written in an easy to understand style.

What I didn’t know as I returned the following morning for day two’s one-on-one sessions was that today’s sessions would be even better than yesterday! This was the day that we would be able to speak to each panelist whose connection or company was represented at the event.

OMG, wait till you hear what I was able to accomplish at the one-on-one sessions today, my head is spinning. I’m
going to Ping this post out to all my social media accounts so I can share all the resources I gathered with my followers and friends online. I have some very talented friends out there and Brian at BlogEngage is just one of them. He hosts this blog on his own WordPress platform! If you want to engage with some talented and generous bloggers, his website is a good place to start.

I was more than happy to circle the room after the seminar was over to spread some LiveLuv (same principal as commentluv only a lot less effective),  to compliment the staff of the Phoenix Chapter of SCORE and all the wonderful, friendly and talented people at the East Valley Institute of Technology and congratulate them for pulling off one of the “best bang for my buck social media workshops that I have ever participated in.” (more…)

It was a beautiful day in Phoenix today, 73 degrees, sunny, chamber of commerce weather as they say.

But I didn’t see much of it because I was held captive by the subject of a seminar titled, 2010 Social Media,  slouched comfortably like a real student would in my theater-style chair, inside a state-of-the-art facililty located on the campus of the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa, Arizona.

I was there to learn about Social Media for Small Business and how the use of it could impact MY business’s bottom line. I will write more in detail about my observations when I return home to my quiet cabin in Payson, (just a little studio, but oh, man what great views of the Rim, the perfect hideout for a chronic blogger) (more…)