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In this segment Brian talks about the evolution of the newspaper industry and how the arrival of social media has changed the way information is shared and why the internet should be an integral part of how newspapers conduct business from here on out.
Do you get how serious the “Like” button is on Facebook? It is a really BIG deal. Never before have our consumers had this ability to share what they like and use. When you buy a bottle of Listerine at the store does anyone know? When you check out a product or service online does anyone know? If they are using social media they do!
Seriously, the whole idea of a “like” button sounds cheesy. I get it. But the power that the “like” button possesses is HUGE. It is something that builds on itself. The more it gets clicked the more you benefit. Simply saying that people should click your “like” button is one thing…getting them to click it is an entirely different thing.
So how do you get people to click that elusive “like” button. Well, it is pretty simple. Conveying true and honest content of what is going on around you is the key. Drop the whole idea that you can tell people about that 10% savings. Start telling them about you. Social media is reality. It isn’t the old and ineffective tools of placed advertising in print or banner ads on websites. If you are trying to get people to hit the button you have to prove to them that you are real.
Facebook is about people. Facebook is about connectivity and communications. If someone clicks that “like” button for you…you better take notice. Start having a conversation. Reply to your comments, let people know that you care. Seriously, you need to take the scientific probabilities and chuck them out the window. Being on Facebook is one thing. Being a part of Facebook is a completely different one.
In this clip Josh tells us some basics as to how to get started blogging. Choosing a platform, content and frequency are key. But getting comfortable is really where you need to be. Check it out. We’d love to take some questions and elaborate on this topic more.
I recently had the opportunity to share some tips and ideas at the North Dakota Newspaper Association’s annual conference in Fargo, ND. While the message presented was geared specifically towards the newspaper industry and how they could leverage social media to extend their reach the overall message applies to any company or brand that is getting started.
In this segment I’m talking about mindset. Both the mindset of our audiences and the mindset one should have when trying to leverage social media for their business. This is the introduction to several clips from this presentation that we’ll be posting over the coming weeks. I’d love to take some comments and start a conversation!
Facebook Pages vs. Profiles
I thought today I would address probably one of the most common questions I receive when I am out speaking. During my talks I of course, like a good social media consultant mention Facebook Pages as being an integral part of a good social media strategy. It is pretty clear that most understand the need to get into the whole Facebook game and most seem pretty willing to dive right in. But, I am usually asked a relatively simple question: How do I get a page for my business on Facebook?
To some of you this may seem like a no-brainer, but seriously some need a good explanation to get started on the right foot.
Perhaps it is best that we break down the difference between pages, profiles and groups first. So here is the deal:
Profiles:
Groups:
Pages:
The keyword for most businesses is “page.” Don’t do what so many have done. Go to Facebook and create a profile with a fake first name and fake last name. Like say, first name “Mikes” with a last name “Plumbing.” If you are feeling the need to fib on some of the details in the form that is the first sign that you are not doing it right. Facebook makes things pretty easy, so don’t fight the system!
If you want a page for your business or brand on Facebook you need to have a personal profile on Facebook.
If you already have a personal account on Facebook you are in good shape to begin. If not, go start a legitimate profile…with your real name. If you decide to fib your way into Facebook you will pay the price. A great example is a local fair in my area who started a profile page on Facebook. They fibbed their name, built up hundreds of friends and then one day their account was gone. Poof. GONE. All that work for nothing because Facebook one day realized that “XYZ Fair” wasn’t a real person. Back to square one. In some cases that is enough to cause people to give up altogether on social media. That’s bad.
If you have already made the mistake of starting a business page as a profile there are things you can do to mitigate the damage but the clock is ticking so get moving. Start a legitimate page on Facebook by following the information below and start telling your friends on your current account about it and get them to migrate over. Use the share button on the newly created page and post it to your old (and soon to be detected and deleted) space. Encourage people to join you on the new page. Be honest too. Just tell them that you created this cool new page and value their support and hope that they will join you. In no time you will have all that you have gained illegitimately in your new legitimate Facebook page.
So we have that straight, now with your personal account established all you have to do is hit up this page on Facebook. Now I know a lot of us won’t be at our same jobs forever but don’t freak out. One great aspects of pages is that you can assign numerous administrators. You can add people to help build the page. So just because you start the page under your personal account doesn’t mean that for the rest of eternity that you are the only one that can manage the page. So no worries!
I might as well toss in this other tip to those of you who are new to Facebook Pages. #1 Goal: Get 100 people to like your page. Once you do you can secure yourself a nifty vanity url. Get to 100 and then visit this link to get yourself a slick address like http://facebook.com/echelonmedia instead of http://www.facebook.com/235234223423/echelon/2547656231r3252/media234234. The vanity url will let you market your page to the masses. Easy to remember, easy to find.
So go out and get that page started and start having a conversation. No matter how simple this post may seem I hope that it is helpful to those who wonder, “how do I get a page for my business on Facebook?”
So many people get hung up on numbers including the value of 1 follower over social media. Watch the video below for our take on the value of each follower.
Find more Social Media Short videos here.
If you would like to ask our crew a social media question drop us an email at sms@echelonmedia.com or drop us a comment on the Echelon Media Facebook Fan Page.
We all know that blogs encourage people to be social, but how often should you post to your blog?
For your niche how often do you post to your blog?
Find more Social Media Short videos here.
If you would like to ask our crew a social media question drop us an email at sms@echelonmedia.com or drop us a comment on the Echelon Media Facebook Fan Page.
There seems to be a big misconception out there that a lot of new Twitter users and other general marketing orientated social media users have. A lot of new users seem to think that their tweets and posts are simply a free version of banner advertising that magically sends new viewers to their website. No personal connection, no meaningful message, just a statement like, “Hey check out my cool new website” with a link to their homepage. ALL of these posts include their link in full form and appear to have no relevant, shareable information or purpose besides shameless attempts at self promotion.
Far too often this approach to social media doesn’t provide the desired results. Given a little time a lot of these users give up and become either a non-believer in the relevance of social media or worse, become a hater. While it commendable that these users have recognized the need to incorporate social media into their marketing plans they have failed to get started on the right foot.
Here are a couple of things that you want to make sure you don’t do:
Throwing rocks on your neighbor’s lawn: Sometimes the temptation to share a link to your site on some tasty looking Facebook page filled with your target market is unbearable. But, unless you have taken the time to form a relationship with the owner of that page fight the urge and “just say no” until you have. If another user’s followers or fans are so attractive to you start by getting to know that user not by trying to hijack their friends lists or wall. By all means follow and become fans of those you see as relevant to you. But, don’t stop there, start getting involved in what they are doing, be a part of the conversation and build a relationship that benefits everyone. Comment, share, use the like button. Be seen as an active and engaged user. You get more out of being involved with a popular post than attempting to spam your way to the top.
Love yourself and only yourself: We get it. You have a website. It is fine to share links back to your site in your posts. Just make sure that you don’t get carried away. There is a lot of information out there to share. And one of the best ways to form relationships is by sharing what others are doing. Refer to Allyn’s post on the 80-20 rule for a nice dose of reality on this.
Share links without tracking them: I know you are proud of your domain name but get used to using a URL shortener with some means of tracking impact. The users in these environments are used to shortened URL links at this point. Save yourself some characters and give yourself some data to work with. Doing all the work of sending out the information really does you no good unless you have a way to track your results and tweak your approach.
I am pretty sure that these users that continually do the things on the not to do list don’t do what they do to purposely appear to us as social media douche bags. They simply brought their old media frame of mind with them into the social media sphere because somewhere along the way they heard the social media call to action and wanted in. There is a lot of pressure out there for brands and companies to get involved in social media. Sadly many are getting started without the proper frame of mind that will ultimately bring them success. It really comes down to relationships and interaction. If you are not forming new relationships or interacting with others then you are not doing it right.
Social Media and your local community
Let’s say that you have decided to play a much bigger Social Media role in your community and decide to build a hyperlocal community website. First of all, let me congratulate you on your decision. It’s a very rewarding endeavor. Let’s assume that today you are starting your hyperlocal blogging efforts from scratch.
How to get stories for your hyperlocal website
In essence, you will become a “beat reporter” for your community. I want to share a very basic concept to help you get started. I do this almost every day. When you go hyperlocal, you will find yourself searching every possible avenue for stories, events and news in your community. It almost becomes an obsession. It’s a lot of fun and I equate it with being an investigative reporter. The cool thing is that it’s actually very easy and the stories and articles for your hyperlocal blog are right in front of you every day.
The very first thing I want you to do is to buy a small digital recorder. You can easily find one for around $30 at your local office supply store. For a few extra bucks, I might recommend grabbing a model that you can download your audio notes to your PC and store them in a folder. After you buy this little digital assistant of yours, I want you to put it in your car. Your recorder needs to find a home in the vehicle you drive the most. If it’s not there, when you need it the most, it will not do you any good.
Basic Hyperlocal Journalism
Here’s where we go basic. As you normally ride around town, I want you to pay very special notice to every sign posted on every telephone pole you pass. I want you to pay special attention to all of those vinyl banners to see in front of schools and community colleges and churches. With recorder in hand, speak your notes about the event as you pass. It’s a good idea to speak a telephone number first if it’s listed and then make a note of the event. If you don’t get it all, get it on your trip back home.
When you see signs and banners, you already see that these folks are seeking publicity for their cause or event. Make the call from your voice recorder notes and almost 100% of the time they will be very excited that you called and offer you a ton of information about the event that will make a great story for your hyperlocal blog. Many times they will share additional stories about future events. Before you get off the phone, you will have a ton of information, a new friend and also a new Ambassador for your website. When you publish your article guess who is going to send the link to everyone they know? Watch your visitor stats after doing this and watch your traffic grow.
SEO Benefit
There is an additional SEO benefit to hyperlocal blogs when you follow these steps. When your new contact shares information about a future event or news story, it’s like a gift from Google. It’s your responsibility to get the jump on everyone else by writing and building a link or two to your article. As the time draws near to the event, many people will perform searches in your community about the event or story. Guess what they will find? That’s right, they will find your article sitting at #1 because you were proactive, got indexed early and you easily outrank all others for the search.
This is possibly the easiest way to find stories and news in your community. You will be surprised at the stories you may actually find when covering a beat. A sign on a pole is Advertising 101. If you keep a sharp eye and a recorder handy, I promise you will have more stories to publish than you ever thought possible. You can become a powerful media source in your community in a short time. Practice the basics of hyperlocal journalism and build your community around it.
2010 EchelonMedia.com
If you’ve been in business for more than a week, you’ve undoubtedly heard someone mention the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. Just in case, here is a simple definition from which we are gonna draw some super kewl Social Media for business parallels.
“The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.”
You’ve probably thought about this in relation to employee behaviors, realizing that 20% of your workers bring in 80% of the results or revenue. You also may look at it in light of customers, whereas 20% of your customers drop in 80% of your bottom line. We could 
go on forever with this, so let’s get to the social media part of it before you are tempted to bust out your P&L statements and verify my assumptions! 
The 80/20 Rule For Business Blogs
Our clients all know that I am a blogger first, and a marketer second. That’s important because we have to get in the proper frame of mind in order to be accepted leaders within communities online. When we play this right, we gain outspokenly loyal customers!
You see, bloggers as a group are very giving people. We work together to accomplish goals together. Josh brings this principle into the business sector when he talks about Trade Rings, and all boats rising together. I am going to take it even one step up from there (towards the Echelon! )
On your business blog, you want to give more than you grab. In fact, 80% of what you do on the blog, meaning articles you post, should be in some way about someone or something else. Now I’m not telling you to go and endorse your competitors here, don’t go there! I am, however, telling you that there are lots of great things going on within and around your community outside of your 4 brick walls and those things matter, a lot!
Let’s pretend you are a restaurant with 10 locations in the Indiana and Illinois and you have 300 employees. Your blog is rockin’ cool and very interactive (because you hired Echelon Media to run it for you, of course! 
) and here are a few ideas of articles to post that will satisfy the need to GIVE 80% of the time:
Example #1 — one of your employees at the Indianapolis location just ran in a 10-k event for charity and you do a write up about her, but more importantly about the charity and how much money was raised for a good cause. You include lots of pictures of people at the event because you know people love to see themselves in print! (like on a popular blog)
Example #2 — A local church in Tinley Park, Illinois has a thriving youth group and private school and once a month you cater in food there at a super discount. You don’t necessarily post about your goodness, but rather how impressed you are with the young people who attend the school. Maybe one of them is an Eagle Scout or just got accepted to West Point or the Air Force Academy… you get the idea.
Example #3 — Some new luxury condos are going up across the street from your South Bend location and you do a huge write up talking about how nice these condos will be and how great the builder and his crew are. (I hope you see how filling up the condo units will benefit your restaurant)
See how simple that is? You are giving while increasing your own brand in an indirect way. Remember, 80% of your posts should be of this nature. Here’s a quote to bring this concept home to you:
“I will use my blog to build up people in my community, instead of using people in my community to build up my blog”
Get it? I learned this concept in Bible college believe it or not, but it plays out very well in the business world as well.
The other 20% of your posts can and should be directly about your business. Talk about your specials, sales and expansion. Your 80% of giving will mean that people will want to be engaged with your 20% about you!
Just so you know, Twitter works the same way but in 140 characters or less — make 80% of your tweets about others, for others and with others, and 20% of the tweets about you.
Simple!
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