Out-Smarts Marketing Services

I’ve been Twittering for a while now and find it interesting to see how the way people use the micro blog has evolved. Here are a few different applications I have seen Twitter used for.

1. To establish expertise.

2. To spread the word about produtc and services offered.

2. To enhance customer service offerings.

3. To drive traffic to a blog post or web site.

4. To illicit feedback for product and market research.

5. To expand or reinforce your brand.

6. To collaborate with remote partners in short blasts.

7. To give product update and enhancement information.

8. To blatantly sell - I wouldn’t advise this but I have seen it done…..

9. To find the applicable business partners.

10. To keep up to date with goings on in your market.

Obviously all of these depend on your followers and following but once you have these in place, watch the Tweets and you will see for yourself some of the innovative ways people are using this tool.

Social media for marketing and business development is the hot topic on the networking circuit in Vancouver these days and today’s SMEI event was no exception. With expert panelists from BCIT and Oracle bringing their unique experiences in SM to the panel, the event proved to be insightful.

It started off with a brief intro to Web 2.0 described as being “Tech, Process and People - but most of all collaboration” then went on to a 101 of web 2.0 terms such as RSS, blogs, podcasts for the real newbies in the audience.

Once the panelists got started the true value of the event became apparent. Justin Kestelyn, Director of Development Programs at Oracle discussed their web 2.0 adoption and the benefits they have gained from using a more transparent strategy and involving their customers and partners more. He made a great point in that by involving their customers and allowing them to have a voice these invariably become evangelists at little or no cost to Oracle. He points out that Web 2.0 is an attitude, a new way of doing business and not just an Internet term.

Next up was Robert Duncan from BCIT whose presentation centred on LinkedIn as a means of developing relationships (a topic close to my heart). He focuses on LinkedIn in particular of the social networks available and has over 800 contacts that he uses extensively to spread awareness of what he is doing at BCIT and in his work with innovators. He pointed out that by joining groups in LinkedIn you have access to all other members of that group - a great way to extend your network further. Its easier to do business with people you already know something about.
The last panelist to get up was James Wells also from BCIT and a founder of Lendary Social Financing a company that uses web 2.0 technology to build trust online and to put investors in touch with entrepreneurs looking for money. “Word of mouth is vital to growing any business these days”, he pointed out - “go out and do it - if you fail you learn”.

The conclusion - if companies don’t embrace web 2.0 then they face failure or a steep catch up. It costs very little to adopt these technologies and the benefits in terms of buzz are profound.

Interesting to see Vancouver mega blogger Miss 604 there. I am looking forward to her take on proceedings too.

Here’s blog post 2 in the series following up on my Building Valuable Business Relationships in the Virtual World presentation.

The Internet is an ideal way to grow your business and expand your network but their are risks that you should be aware of. Here are 10 tips that will help you do it safely:

1. When networking on Facebook or other social forums always use the privacy controls to limit access to your information (usually you can find these by clicking on “account”).

2. Use Facebook, LinkedIn and other networks to make people aware of what you do or want to do.

3. Google yourself to see what’s being said about you and do the Granny test on the results - if Granny wouldn’t approve then perhaps the content isn’t appropriate to enhance your business profile.

4. Don’t put up any photos, videos or images that compromise your image.

5. Portray yourself professionally as appropriate to your industry in all forums.

6. Be true to who you are, transparency leads to trust. If you have a good reputation people are more likely to do business with you.

7. Remember that you have a valid and unique opinion. Don’t be afraid to voice it.

8. Always be respectful of others, its okay to disagree but be polite about it.

9. If you are young and looking for a job be aware that a party boy or girl image may seem cool to your peers but it won’t help you get a job or grow you professional network.

10. On-line networking is a vital tool for anyone trying to build a career but don’t get sidetracked or sucked in. Avoid this by scheduling time for on-line networking and sticking to it.

11. Don’t make friends with everyone and anyone. Be selective. It will help you manage the volume of information and will also expose you to less risk.

I had the pleasure this evening to present at an event co hosted by the Professional Women’s Network, the YWCA Mentoring Program and the Downtown Networking Association aimed at introducing mentors and mentees to professional growth strategies to help you realise career goals. My topic: “Building Valuable Business Relationships in the Virtual World”.

As promised, I am going to blog over the next few days about some of the issues I touched on at the event, the first of these being Internet networking hubs.

Internet networking hubs are great forums to expand your business network and extend your reach. Obviously those you use will depend on what it is you do. For example a photographer would likely use photo sites like Flickr to showcase their experience. Someone in the music industry is likely to benefit more from MySpace than Facebook. And a lawyer might is more likely to join a law forum than a web development forum. Its up to you which you choose but Internet networking hubs are great places to grow your on line network and in turn your business. Here the handout I gave out tonight:

Local new media aficionado and funny girl Monica Hamburg known for her hilarious “Your Dose of Lunacy” posts and the more serious “Me Like the Interweb” blog, wrote a great piece recently on Facebook for business. Here it is in it’s entirety - you can’t fail to learn from it:

Behold the Power of Facebook For Business

With Facebook’s more than 55 million active users, it would be a tragic oversight for a company not to have a public presence on the site in some capacity. Facebook offers more than a way to keep up with friends – it has the ability to keep you in touch with your clients, gain attention for your brand and provide a more personal face for your business.

The nature of Facebook is entirely viral, and users can garner information from their friends and their interactions. Facebook can be an unintrusive way of making people aware of your business.

Recently, the social networking website has allowed businesses to create profiles for free, and innovative companies are fast employing the tool. Kris Krug, President of Raincity Studios, added the “fan page” application for his company, commenting that such an option “means companies can have a place of their own in the FB empire allowing them to send out announcements to “fans” and build up yet another presence to promote their projects, give details and promote events.”

Mhairi Petrovic uses the profile page for her company, Out-Smarts, to “extend our brand reach and reinforce it. When people become a fan, our logo appears on their website and in turn is seen by more people. Having a page and encouraging fans to join establishes Out-Smart as an innovator in social marketing (one of the services we provide).”

Utilizing this particular tool to its full capacity is the Palo Alto restaurant, Junnoon,
whose page contains essential information such as hours of operation, payment options and parking and further entices customers by prominently displaying pictures of the interior of the establishment, the food and posting its culinary philosophy, accolades and reviews.
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The next Third Tuesday event is scheduled for the Tuesday 25th September. Following the success of last month’s inaugural event which attracted over 40 attendees including myself, the group is getting together to share new developments in social media and online community building. Next week’s session features the CBC tech head Tod Maffin as guest speaker and the forum. For more information and to sign up go here.

Last night I attended the first Third Tuesday meeting held in Vancouver. The event was promoted on Facebook and I was excited to get the opportunity to take a look and see what Facebook people really look like in real life! Seriously though, following the success of Third Tuesday events in eastern Canada the organisers decided that it was time to take the event, aimed at bringing together Social Media professionals and communicators with a view to exploring new developments, to Vancouver. The format of future meetings will involve informal presentations and information sessions with industry gurus and other such luminaries followed by the opportunity to network with members for more about future plans check out Tod Maffin’s interview with Joseph Thornley. Last night, being the first get together, there wasn’t a presenter but I did get the chance to have a blether with other people and share some insights into what’s new in the industry. If you want to find out more or register for upcoming Third Tuesday events you can do so: Facebook; Meet Up and Google Groups

1. Customer Service - your company could provide a blog aimed at improving customer service. Users can share their experiences of using the your company’s product or services but beware, not everyone will be positive about their experience giving you the perfect opportunity to resolve their issues and prove your customer service excellence in the blogosphere. Not only that but it provides the perfect forum to monitor customer preferences.
2. Which leads me to market research - your blog, the comments it gets and the blog of others in your community are vital resources that you should be using to conduct market research.
3. Humanising - a blog can be used to put a face on your company familiarising customers and prospects with the people behind the brand and building trust. Company board members and staff members can contribute and in so doing make them seem more real - more approachable. See the effect company wide blogging had on Microsoft as referenced in Naked Conversations.
4. Internal communication portal - a blog is a great way to communicate personnel changes, policy updates, CEO commentary and company events.
5. Establish expertise - this is the main focus of this blog i.e. to show people like you that we know what we’re talking about so that perhaps you’ll think of us us when considering your Internet marketing strategy.
6. Expand Network - a blog is a great way to expand your network. Its always good blog practice to respond to those who comment on your web page and in so doing you are establishing contact and networking.
7. Leads - I am not too enthused about using a blog to generate leads but it can be done. Remember if you do this though that outright selling and self promotion are considered taboo in the blogosphere and will only piss people off.
8. Brand - a blog is a great way to further entrench your brand.
9. Generate revenue - many successful blogs put their traffic to good advantage by promoting related products and affiliate services to them through ads that are tailored to the intended audience and earn affiliate revenues in doing so.
10. Grow your base - a blog is a great way to extend your companies reach beyond its traditional geographical base. This blog gets comments and traffic from people as far and wide as India and the UK.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I find getting out there and talking to people the hardest part of developing my business. I recently came upon “5 Rules for Building a Network for Success” a blog article by Fiona Walsh of FM Walsh and Associates that gives 5 great ideas to help you successfully get out there and develop a solid network of trusted contacts to grow your business. Many of these are applicable to your online networking too!