Jan 19
Love0

3 Social Media Details to Share with the Boss

By Social Media

And what kind of day are you having? on TwitpicPrint this post and put it on  your boss’s desk. Next to the coffee cup/s.

There are a few details your employees want you to  know about social media.

  1. Brands that are the most engaged in social media saw their revenue grow during 2008 by 18 percent while the least engaged brands saw losses of negative 6 percent. [1]
  2. Studies show that small businesses that blog get 55% more visitors to their websites. [2]
  3. “Neither a press release nor a full-page ad in The New York Times will boost your search engine ratings as much as a regularly updated blog. The shortest, cheapest, fastest and easiest route to a prominent Google ranking is to blog often.” — Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, Naked Conversations

It’s important to not only consider integrating social media into your marketing, it’s imperative that you do so. Your employees need support to do this; social media takes time, and if they’re not working from a specific, strategic plan, it can take even more time.

If you have found this on your desk it’s because (lucky you!) someone who works for you cares about your business. Help them get the resources they need to integrate social media in a way that is smart, strategic and has measurable results.

Congratulations on having a smart, savvy employee and best wishes for the future of your company.

Jan 18
Love0

4 Reasons I Teach What I Do

By Communications

Photo credit: www.cramerphoto.com

You may have asked yourself, why is it that I teach what I do?

Why do I  give away trade secrets, processes and best practices to marketing directors, potential clients and business owners.

It’s really pretty simple, actually. I’m not crazy; I am making a living doing this, and the reason why is found in the reasons why I teach what I do:

  1. An informed client is a good client. More than 15 years of experience has taught me that a client who understands public relations, social media and communications values the service they’re engaging their firm to provide. A good client who values what you do gets results when they take counsel and pays you on time.
  2. I really like teaching other marketers and entrepreneurs and, based on all the feedback I’ve had over the years, I know I’m really good at it. It gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction.
  3. More often than not, even while workshop participants are learning about tools and tactics, they’re thinking, great: I’d love to hire someone else to manage this for us. I have an idea of who that might be.
  4. I walk the talk as much as I can. When I talk about the element of the culture of social media that is sharing, I really believe in it. I share what I know so others can be successful.

Learn more: register for the Blogging Best Practices Workshop in Charlottesville, Va. on Feb. 24, 2011.

Jan 12
Love0

Social Media: A Shoe Story

By Communications

SCARPA, a boutique shoe store, well-known by women in Charlottesville, Va. and beyond, understands the value of social media.

Case in point: it was New Year’s Eve when SCARPA tweeted about a silver, sparkly pair of shoes perfect for fancy evenings out.  The shoes, pictured at left, were tweeted first by the store and re-tweeted, shared, and shared again by friends on Twitter throughout the area.

The Twitter community is strong in Charlottesville, so it was only a matter of time before a group of a dozen women or so decided to do a lunchtime shoe-shopping tweet-up at SCARPA. Via Twitter, the women, all influential local business women and active users of social media let the store know they would descend en masse the following Tuesday afternoon.

Amy Gardner, founder, proprietor and online representative of the shoe store prepared for the Tweet-up providing finger foods, Prosecco and generous goody bags for the mid-day party. (Thank you Amy!)

The resulting benefits of the in-person engagement with shoe shoppers continue far beyond the event itself. First, the store was able to introduce itself to people who had previously not shopped there. Amy’s relationship with her customers is a big reason her loyal following returns again and again; meeting a new crop of potential shoppers and solidifying that relationship with a positive experience is a gift that keeps on giving. For many of the tweet-up participants, it was their first time to shop and buy at the store.

The gathering (disclosure: I created the Twitvite to invite my Twitter followers to the event) resulted in further coverage with the weekly CBS-19 feature C’ville Plugged In sharing the story of the tweet-up, a post by fashion blogger Dana Hollar and, I suppose, this blog post as well. Add that to the tweets, twitpics, Facebook updates and of course, the women wearing their new shoes around town and telling the story of tweet-up shoe shopping fun with their friends and you have a customer loyalty and satisfaction story that has legs!

Follow www.twitter.com/thinkscarpa for shoe news and sale updates.

If you have a local business, consider the power of the social media community in your region; do you know how to reach and mobilize them?

Jan 11
Love0

Don’t Wait Till You’re Job Hunting to Engage on LinkedIn

By Communications

I have a new client (let us all take a moment for the celebratory happy dance). Part of what I will do for this client and for any client I work with is to help manage the client’s online reputation.

What does that mean? I am doing an audit of the client’s online presence and providing recommendations for updates to key elements, such as the client’s LinkedIn profile and bios. In addition, I identify opportunities to enhance that reputation. Is there an opportunity for blogging or contributing articles to key industry publications? Are there speaking opportunities? Could there be recommendations available from colleagues or customers? This is all part of giving the client an intentional path to follow in the effort to reach their personal and professional goals.

We were talking specifically about LinkedIn yesterday. I often hear that people don’t think of LinkedIn until they’re job hunting. Whole books have been written on the importance of a social network when you’re looking to make a career move.

I, however, encourage clients (and everyone, in fact) not to wait till you’re desperately seeking a new position. The time to expand your social network, manage how you appear online and take steps toward realizing your best professional self is now. Today.

What will you do today on your intentional path?

Jan 07
Love0

My First Wonderful Week as an Entrepreneur

By Uncategorized

It’s Friday, the first full work week of my new life as an entrepreneur. I started the day at 4:30am with lots of coffee; I will end it by meeting up with a friend for a beer.

It’s been a great week, although I am still adjusting to my new employer. I made some headway on some ongoing client projects but a lot of time this week was spent setting up new office equipment and managing other startup administrative tasks.

Everyone I’ve seen has asked, “How are you feeling? How is it so far?” A friend even said that I looked like “the weight of the world has been lifted from your shoulders.”

I am feeling pretty good and enjoying a new sense of control over my destiny. I like that, and the change it has made in my attitude toward life.

It has also been very energizing to hear from new people or those who have long been a part of my social network. I’m really grateful to all the wonderful people, clients, colleagues, community members and friends who have provided support and encouragement as I get started on this path. I’m also very grateful to my family, but especially my husband (who is probably trying to adjust to the fact that I’m not traveling constantly anymore!).

On my first day, I asked my friends for entrepreneurial advice — some good stuff here:

It’s also nice to know that I have so many good, successful contacts in my network who are business owners! As I continue this adventure I will ask for advice from time to time. I’ll also probably continue to share the story of how this business progresses and (hopefully) grows.

Thank you for continuing to follow me and enter into the discussion. You all are a big reason why I’m here and why I’ve chosen this road. I’ll see you along the way!