All Posts By

Marijean

Apr 18
Love0

How the Intersection of the Professional and Personal Makes a Bigger Impact

By Social Media

I’ve spent the last two weeks working my way through most of the executives in a single client. We’ve been, in small groups, or one-on-one, making sure that each executive has a LinkedIn profile that is complete, and represents the company in the way the company wants to be represented. I enjoy these sessions because it gives me the opportunity to get to know individuals within a client team. I’d never know what I’ve learned about the people inside the company if I didn’t have the chance to meet with them like this. It helps us get into the real story of the company and the people who create it.

When it gets down to the backgrounds of people who have worked in their industry for, sometimes, more than 30 years, it’s fascinating what you learn. One executive confessed she wished she’d become a nurse, instead. Another told me of his passion for singing in his church choir. I’ve learned about the nonprofit organizations these people support in their spare time, and the reasons why they chose their career path that led them to this point. Every single one has an interesting story.

In these sessions, colleagues end up getting to know one another better. The employees begin to share more about themselves, what they do, what they know, and what they like about their work. They become more accessible. The community notices this, particularly when those team members start sharing that information online, through the company blog, on LinkedIn, on Facebook or wherever they choose to engage.

It’s really interesting to watch it happen. As soon as the team takes those first steps they start to see the benefit — they’re delighted by the new information they have, the reconnecting of past relationships and the forming of new ones. I’m glad I have a small role in that transformation.

Apr 15
Love0

Basic Training for Businesses

By Social Media

Linkedin Fail Spelling

 

Most of my firm’s engagement with businesses begins with over-arching strategy. We work together to develop a plan for the organization’s communications so the company can achieve its goals. As we begin, an audit of the company’s online presence ensues, and it always — ALWAYS — reveals some, er, opportunities for improvement.

Basic Training for Your Business

There are a few items that are long overlooked, that most (OK, every) companies we’ve helped have needed to tackle:

  1. How does your company look online, particularly in the business networking space. Do your employees use LinkedIn? How have the represented your organization there? Is it consistent? Are they representing your business in a professional, knowledgeable manner?
  2. Do your company representatives have head shots? Were they taken, last, in 1985 in an Olan Mills studio? Time for an update.
  3. Please tell me your company has a website. OK. Who has access to it, and do they know how to update its content?
  4. What kind of traffic does your company website have — and WHY? What is attracting people to your company’s overall online presence? Is it what you want it to be?
  5. Do you know  how to monitor what’s being said about your brand, your employees, your business online? Someone needs to, and several people need to be trained in the right ways to be both responsive AND proactive.

Don’t worry — you’re not alone in your business needing to get down to these basics, but you’ll find once your leadership embraces these, and begins to take on each one, you can return to the business of strategically making progress toward your communications goals, without the kinds of obstacles that drive your audience away.

Apr 01
Love0

A Rewarding Moment — Getting Mad Props on a Client’s Facebook Page

By Communications, Marketing, Social Media

We work with the team at The C’ville Market; we help them with branding, their social media presence, their marketing, and their public relations. We love getting to know them and helping share their stories with customers and with the community at large.

Today we had a gratifying moment because a customer commented on the Facebook page the following:

Dear C’ville Market. You are doing such an incredible job with your postings. I look forward almost every day to see if you have a sale, a recipe, info on your staff and insight into what’s happening around town. Just want to say Thank You! Your effort keeps me shopping there.

Facebook comment

 

That’s just the kind of reaction we were hoping for! If you’d like to see what The C’ville Market is doing online, you can follow their blog, http://cvillemarket.com/blog/ be a fan on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cvillemarket  or watch what they do on Twitter https://twitter.com/cvillemarket

 

Mar 24
Love0

Six Things Every Business Owner Should Know about their Website

By Communications, Social Media

We’re way past the late nineties, when business owners were just beginning to realize they needed a website for their business, and yet, some know as much about how their website is doing as they did when they first launched their online information. That’s bad, and irresponsible. A hands-off approach to this critical calling card for your business is dangerous. At a minimum, every business leader should know the following about their company’s website:

  1. What is the typical traffic to the website? Do you get 10,000 visitors or 50? Is the traffic steady; are there predictable peaks and valleys?
  2. If you own multiple domains, do they all redirect to a single, main domain URL where you track your statistics?
  3. How high is your bounce rate? This statistic tells you whether visitors to your site are finding what they seek. If they don’t they “bounce” right off, moving on to another resource. (In general, lower is better. Bounce rates over 60% may indicate a problem with your content or the site display.)
  4. Does your website publish an RSS feed and is there an easy way for visitors to subscribe to updates?
  5. What is your website built in? (Many people have no idea. If the answer is “Dreamweaver” it’s time for a new website.)
  6. What is the most popular content on your website? A quick look at Google Analytics (you DO have Google Analytics for your website, don’t you?) can tell you the most visited pages/most compelling information your visitors want to know.

It’s easy to learn all of this, and someone in your organization or the vendor who helps manage your website should quickly and easily be able to catch you up to speed on all six items.