Tag

blogging for business

Jan 01
Love0

5 Ways Social Media has Worked for Me

By Social Media

I was reading my friend Ken’s post about his community and all the amazing ways the members of the community have come together to help one another.

I have a deep appreciation for the benefits I’ve received from being a part of an online community. I know how much having a broad social network has helped me develop new business and assist others to find jobs and other opportunities. I, of course, realize the benefits of being a content creator and have enjoyed the payoff in the form of friends, great working relationships and the kind of support that has lifted me up and given me confidence, fresh ideas and inspiration.

Here are five personal stories of my social media success:

  1. One of the longest-term clients I’ve had knew me first because of my personal blog (where I used to write a lot more about social media till I had this blog). She was delighted to learn that I lived and worked only a few miles away from her business. A mutual connection in our social network introduced us and the rest is history.
  2. I am very good about keeping my online social network up-to-date, entering new contacts into LinkedIn and connecting with new people I meet at conferences and networking events as soon as I can. This practice has led to speaking engagements and the introduction to new clients. I’m also pretty committed to providing recommendations to others on LinkedIn, allowing me to also receive endorsements from others with whom I’ve worked. It’s a wonderful boost to my business to have these online “testimonials” about the work I’ve done.
  3. In a wonderful mash-up of more traditional media and social media, I’ve worked with a local affiliate of three television stations as a blogging expert and social media correspondent as well as providing guidance as a consultant to the news staff of the stations. This mutually beneficial relationship has allowed me to develop relationships with a wide local audience and helped the television media use a social presence to expand their reach and build more solid relationships with their audience, a very gratifying experience indeed.
  4. On Twitter, I have met, followed and learned from many people in my industry. A few of these have included Gini Dietrich, Jay Baer and Ken Mueller. I’ve contributed guest posts to Spin Sucks and to Inkling Media’s blog, helping me increase my reach to new audiences. Not only that, but all three of these people are dear friends whom I’ve enjoyed knowing, reading and talking to often.
  5. There’s the misguided perception among the uninitiated that is that the social media active live their lives online. Those who aren’t engaged online seem to think that those who are conduct all communication via Twitter, Facebook and other online networks. What they’re missing is the moment that two people who have known one another well via an online relationship meet in person for the first time. Kismet! Joy! Bonding! A relationship cemented with a handshake or a hug. One of my favorite instances of this is when Self-Made Mom and I kept e-mailing and Instant Messaging (this was in a pre-texting era) to find one another across a room full of hundreds of other women bloggers (“I’m wearing polka dots!”) until we spotted one another and beamed the smiles of people who were already friends.

When people wonder if social media and social networking “really works” I can answer that with real stories of my own (and these are five of dozens that I have and love to share) and those of clients with whom I’ve worked.

I continue to be surprised and delighted by the connections and re-connections formed via social media, like the opportunity coming from a high school friend and another coming in from my sister’s college roommate — don’t discount the reach of your entire network. You just never know where the next opportunity will come from.

Tell me: what are some ways social media has worked for you?

Dec 16
Love0

The Four-Step Framework for Nonprofits Thinking about Social Media

By Social Media

I spend a lot of my time coaching and teaching nonprofit organizations on how to use social media. It’s not that simple of a task to take on, and nonprofits should not take the plunge into the social web lightly. It is super important for nonprofits to take this seriously and start getting organized — the tools of social media are free and more effective than any other marketing or mass media tactics used by nonprofits in the past.

There is a simple four-step framework for organizations to think about and to use to guide the process of developing a plan to use social media.

1. Read. Watch. Listen.

There are multiple tools to monitor what’s being said on the social web, but the important thing is to identify your geographic community, the search terms to look and listen for, the bloggers, the news feeds, the Twitter users — and to create all these searches in easy-to-follow alerts and notifications so you can quickly and efficiently stay on top of what is important to your community and, what your community is saying about your organization as well. You’re going to be watching videos, reading blogs and news items, following Twitter users and overall, paying attention to the content created in and about your community.

2. Find and Connect to Your Community.

The definition of community is not limited to geography. Sometimes geography plays a role; sometimes it does not. Maybe your community is the people in Ohio who love Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers. Maybe the community is comprised of only people who have a rare and particular kind of disease. No matter — a community is a group that has one or more interests in common. Find them by searching for them and inviting them to your network. Find them and follow their content. Find them by uploading the contacts you have already made professionally, as a student, as a family member and a community member into your social networking platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and connect to the people who already have a presence in these social networks.

3. Interact with the Community.

Answer a question. Reply to a tweet or re-tweet something others will find of interest. Click that “like” button often. Leave comments on blogs and on Facebook. Share other people’s links often. Be helpful. And — when the opportunity presents itself for your community to get together in person — at a conference, a tweetup or just for a cup of coffee, go and put faces with names.

4. Produce Valuable Content.

Take photos and publish them. Blog. Tweet. Make a video and post it to YouTube. Create interesting and thoughtful content and share it with your community to help them, make them stronger, to bring them together (and on and on).

It’s a simple framework, but not a simple execution — but it may help your organization take the first step toward getting a handle on how to tackle social media for the community’s benefit.

Dec 14
Love0

Introducing Jaggers Communications

By Jaggers Communications News, Uncategorized

Yesterday, I shared news on my personal blog that makes the focus of this blog a bit more evident. You may have even noticed some changes around this site, such as the introduction of a new page and a new business name.

I’m very pleased to announce that beginning January 3, 2011, I will launch Jaggers Communications. I will be using my experience in agency and corporate communications work to help businesses and nonprofits reach their business goals through strategic marketing, content creation, public relations and social media.

The tag line in the logo says it all – the work provided by Jaggers Communications is strategic — there will always be a correlation between our clients’ business goals and the communications efforts we produce on their behalf. We’re social — as in, we use social networks, social media and social strategy as a vehicle to drive a campaign forward. Social will always be an element of an overall strategic communications plan — not the plan itself. Smart is not only about using our brains to support your business, it’s about developing goals that are specific, measurable, actionable, realistically high and time-bound. SMART. See?

There are four industry categories we will continue to serve: health care, education, tourism and manufacturing (especially of the green variety.)

I am indebted to the reputation management firm Standing Partnership, my employer for the past five years, for giving me the experience, the confidence and the blessing to go out on my own and continue as my mentors and friends.

I am eagerly anticipating the adventure that awaits and I look forward to working for, and collaborating with many new friends and established contacts.

Dec 07
Love0

Casual Restaurants Doing Social Media Right in Charlottesville

By Social Media

Recently, I took a look at a selection of fine dining establishments in Charlottesville to see which were using social media platforms to attract customers.

Many readers pointed to examples of restaurants that are using social media, and doing it well — but all of these are in the casual dining category — which is what I’m devoting this post to covering.

Three standout examples in the area include Revolutionary Soup, BBQ Exchange (in Gordonsville, Va.) and Beer Run.

Revolutionary Soup is by far, the leader of the pack. Will’s Blog is featured as a main element of the restaurant’s website, with the passion and philosophy of restaurant owner Will Richey coming through loud and clear. The blog is not updated often but posts are thoughtful and have a single-minded purpose, sharing the process of bringing locally grown and nurtured food to the community. Three categories say it all: local, Rev Soup Farm and seasonal specials. I’m particularly impressed with Rev Soup’s website – a design that incorporates a page for reviews, suggested beer and wine pairings and daily or seasonal specials. (It’s no surprise when, upon investigating, I learn that the site was done by my very talented friend Michael Davis of Yellowfish.)

Revolutionary Soup is on Twitter, with an account for its Corner location and what looks like the “main” Twitter account for its downtown shop.

Rev Soup

There’s some opportunity for the Corner account to improve its bio, add a photo, increase followers and friends — but assuming that the focus is primarily on the downtown location, I focused on Twitter.com/@RevSoup. I like the way the account is being used, with tempting descriptions of recipes and daily soup offerings, mixed with observations from Will like, “Marker drawing all over my fav cook book. Should have known the 2 year old was not as impressed with Tournedos Rossini as I.” This kind of tweet, and indeed, all the real interaction from Will and the staff on the social web humanizes the brand and builds its loyalty. One might argue that the soup and sandwiches do that on their own, but if you’ve never been to Rev Soup, you don’t know that, do you?

When there’s more to say than what will fit in a Tweet, the restaurant uses its Facebook page, a smart way to use the additional presence — and to share good content with nearly 500 fans.

The BBQ Exchange is off the beaten path out in Gordonsville and, if you’re not inclined to leave the city of Charlottesville, a destination brand designed to tempt you on a short road trip with delicious smoked pork and spicy fried pickles as a reward. Craig Hartman is using Twitter and Facebook to get the word out to a broader audience than those in the immediate vicinity, a smart strategy for a restaurant that also serves customers’ catering needs. The restaurant has integrated its tweets into the home page of the website as a way to keep the home base of the online presence fresh. You can follow BBQ Exchange on Twitter (not recommended for vegetarians as main topics include pork, bacon and pork. ) As proof, here’s a recent Tweetcloud from the account:

BBQexchange

Last, but certainly not least is one of my personal favorites, Beer Run. While the operation’s website leaves a lot to be desired, and does nothing to point fans to its presence in social media, Beer Run’s Facebook page updates have driven me to tastings or special events on more than one occasion.  It’s disappointing to see Beer Run’s Twitter account so underutilized – there are thousands of engaged Twitter users in our community and yet Beer Run is following only one other user. I challenge Beer Run to get connected to the Twitter community by following and engaging with them, tapping into the power there to promote events or to boost traffic when business is slow.

While this is merely a selection of restaurants using social media well in a couple of ways in the Charlottesville area, I’m sure there are more that are worth a mention. Let me know in the comments if there are any I should see.

Nov 29
Love0

Seven Ways Restaurants Can Use Social Media

By Social Media

My friend Ginger Germani was “helping” me find some shoes online the other day. It started with her razzing me about my choices, then Ginger said, “I’m not a complainer without solutions.”

I liked that, and that’s a good model to follow. I’ve tried to do that on this blog; when I note a company not communicating well or using social media to its full benefit (or making a colossal mistake) I follow it by sharing what they should do, or tips to help them improve.

As a follow up to my review of area restaurants and their use of social media, here are seven ways a restaurant in any community can improve their use of online interaction to increase customers.

  1. Create a chef’s blog that’s updated frequently (at a minimum, once a week). Use it to share new menu items, local ingredients and the occasional recipe. Make liberal use of photos and video, but don’t let that be the sole content on the blog.
  2. Work with FourSquare to offer special deals to the Mayor of your restaurant.
  3. Set up social web monitoring alerts to let you know when a community member is asking friends on Twitter, “Where’s a good place to take my boss out to dinner in C’ville?” or “I’m looking for a good C’ville restaurant for my mom’s birthday.” Be responsive when these conversations occur. Recognize the Twitter user when they come in and reward them for the interaction (you’ll likely have a customer for life).
  4. Create special, behind-the-scenes content or offers for fans of the restaurant on Facebook. Let the fans name a new dish, or offer to host a Tweet-up on an otherwise slow evening or at a time the restaurant is normally closed.
  5. Follow members of the community on Twitter and ask them what you can do to better serve them — the people who follow your restaurant become your online focus group.
  6. Monitor the social web for mentions of your restaurant, in case anyone posts about a bad experience (they will; I promise, no matter how great your restaurant is.) Before you find these mentions, develop a plan to react and respond to negative comments and make sure anyone who acts on the restaurant’s behalf, knows and understands the plan. Remember always that in the case of a negative customer experience, the right, first thing to say is “I’m sorry,” followed by, “how can we make it better?”
  7. Share the love. Look, no one is going to eat at your restaurant every night. The culture of social media rewards those who share, and who recognize others. Following other restaurants, retweeting their content, commenting on their blog posts, sharing their special offers won’t hurt your business, it will earn you respect in the social community. Respect is loyalty and loyalty means customers that come back to see you again and again.

Social media is a fantastic tool for restaurants who can time tweets to tempt us with menu offerings right when we’re starting to get hungry for lunch or dinner.

They can help us out by reminding us to make reservations for that special birthday or anniversary coming up.

They can offer to help us out of a bind by sharing menu options that suit the vegetarian or gluten-free guest coming to visit.

In short, restaurants are a vibrant part of our community, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be reaping the benefits of being part of our online community as well.