What a Social Media Quack Looks Like

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This example just happened to waddle in! No offense to all the ducks in this world, but hey, someone decided at some point that the definition for quack is a faker among other things. 


Every picture tells a story, right? And I have several to share with you. And this is going to come off as perhaps a bit obnoxious and scathing. The point is…I need to make a point!


Got a new follower on Twitter. That’s nothing new, right? Looks fairly new to Twitter with about 1,100 followers. Checked them out. Here’s the bio (sounds promising):

Followed back, sent a DM, they replied. I'm in blue; they are in white:












The DM’ing continued. 

and continued...note that I make light fun of myself!

I admit I was feeling a little snarky...but they really weren't saying anything!

And the link I provided went to this post on my Groovy Reflections page. This is our most successful post to date with over 185,000 likes, close to 50,000 shares, and 86,000 comments (and yes, there's been others that have tremendous numbers like that too).

And the response? I was thinking maybe they were going to say "Nice going." I would have! But no. 

"Sure we can increase numbers." These guys are confident, arent' they?

I'll refrain from posting the snippet from their Facebook page. Rest assured that it is fluffy.      

Back to Twitter. Last 3 tweets: 

"Can Business Harness the Power of Social Media Marketing?" (with link)

"Retweet this is you have a Facebook page!" (with link)

"Like us on Facebook" (with link)

Other tweets are similar to this one: "Build a solid network on Facebook and Twitter. We will do it for your business."

They are using social media as a sales tool! That's the #1 NO NO in my book!

Let's move on. Checked out their blog. The last blog entry was August 1; that’s good! The previous one was July 19. That’s not good! There’s LOTS to learn from the last blog post. A question was posed:

“Which social media sites do you recommend for people who feel overwhelmed by the choices in social media?”


And their answer:


"The three websites that I recommend to people are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn."


Wow! What a revelation. Folks, I hope you understand that these ARE the big three by now and that it's a no-brainer to have a presence on all three. And no Pinterest? Or Google+? Hmmm. Also of note was the fact that only Facebook had a link. Why not have a link to LinkedIn? 


I think I know why.


Found the bio on LinkedIn for one of the two fellows that run this "firm". His profile went back to 2006 and he was a paper processor in the first position listed (not kidding on this one). Couldn’t find the other gent (name is too common).


In closing, let me share some thoughts from the About Us from their website: 


“About us:  two pioneers of social marketing, got together to form what is an industry standard,  non-negotiable social media group. Through consulting, managing, and executing, these two have created awareness in the marketplace, and have been successful in providing value to each and every partner.”


Uh, okay.


Moral of the story: Beware people. There’s millions, perhaps zillions of businesses in cyberspace that just don’t have creds. Where is the experience?


Quack quack.

They will post what you tell them to. They'll schedule your tweets and posts via a social media tool and charge you a fortune to do so. They won't create a strategy for you. They won't have your best interests and success at heart. They want to make a fast buck! And who knows? They could hijack your accounts. Don’t hire people like this! Do your homework! Search out the facts. What more can I say? Simon and Garfunkel sum it up with a hit from1967 below. And you can find me via my website, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ ...thanks!  

Lexus Beginnings: Luxury Expectations Fulfilled. (Part 2)

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This is part 2 of a 2 part'er. For part 1, click here.


Soon after Lexus’ introduction I had the pleasure of experiencing an LS400 for an evening (a nice little perk; evaluating vehicles from a consumer standpoint all for the sake of research). I remember sitting in the car, starting it up, and two minutes later pulling over in a parking lot because I was overwhelmed by all the workings on the dashboard. I reached into the glove box and pulled out the owner’s manual and started reading. Important data stored in my brain, I continued my test run. 


That vehicle was priced at $35,000; at that time a Mercedes E Class was around 50K. Hope I got those numbers right; pulled them from my cranium! Lexus, by the way, was Toyota’s debut into the U.S. luxury market.


Infiniti, Nissan’s new brand, intro’d with products similar to the two Lexus models. The Infiniti styling was perhaps not as modern as Lexus but let’s remember that the overall look of most vehicles was still rather square with some rounding on the corners. However, Infiniti’s flagship, the Q45, may have suffered some loss of sales simply for lacking a grille. 


At any rate, Lexus took Infiniti to the cleaners. And Toyota showed us how to something bad and make it into something good. Turns out those $35,000 LS400s had a few quality issues out of the gate. This could have been devastating for the brand; instead, Lexus came forward towards the end of 1989 and voluntarily recalled 8,000 vehicles that were already in consumer’s garages. 


Okay, you’re thinking, so what? Car manufacturers have voluntary recalls every day. True. Now here’s where an important word comes in. Expectations. Would you, as a consumer, expect an automotive company to take care of you with customer service that would far exceed your expectations?


Hello marketing opportunity! Not only could Lexus fix the problem by sending service technicians to consumer’s home or place of work to pick up and return a repaired car to those consumers, they could generate some positive imagery about the brand. According to a Los Angeles Times Article, LS400 owners in more remote locations were reached via flying in the technicians! I’m sure the media latched onto some stories surrounding those extremes! 


Lexus quickly became known as THE automotive brand for customer service. It’s no surprise that they’ve topped studies such as the JD Power Initial Quality Survey many times. 


Simply put, those initial buyers got more than a car. And Toyota cleverly found a way for their new brand to gain a foothold in the states.  A standard was set for other automotive manufacturers and perhaps others outside of the car industry to aspire to. 


LinkedIn could take a lesson here. Yes, they admitted that password security was breached and that’s great. However, the issue had already spread like wildfire via Twitter, blogs, and other social media sources. Why not “save face” by being upfront right from the start, accept the issue head on, and then resolve it in a way that leaves a path for moving forward again. 


Brands, take some lessons from Lexus! Keep your hands on the wheel and enjoy the Lexus commercial from 1989 below. For Part One, click here. Oh, and ...say hello! There's the website, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ ...I'll say Hi back.

Social Media Marketing and U.

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Back in the fourth grade, I wrote a poem. It may have been my first one ever. It contained words that were easily comprehended by nine year olds. Except for one.


Ubiquitous.


Don’t remember where I found the word. The line in the poem read “ubiquitous is this season”; the only line I recall from it. 


Guess I was really proud to find such a big word. I even pronounced it wrong. Instead of u-biq-ui-tous I spoke it as u-bi-quit-ous when we had to stand up in front of the class and read our poems. Hey, I was a kid!


Little used, under loved, ubiquitous, an adjective that’s really so big. Dictionary.com defines it as “existing or being everywhere”. Another source cites is as “having or seeming to have the ability to be everywhere at once; omnipresent”.

It’s really a word that more of us should use. Especially with social media.
Simply put, you and your business really do have to be “everywhere” as far as the major social networks. On Twitter. On Facebook. On LinkedIn. On Google+. On Pinterest. Rudolph, let your nose shine bright. 


You DO have to know what level of participation works best for your branding and company. There is no “one size fits all.” DO be experimental and play on all of them and have a good understanding of the nuances of each. It’s not “one post fits all either” and you’ll see over time how your fits in to a particular social network. It WILL take time. Have patience and do not expect immediate results.


Social media marketing is a long-term commitment; you have to stick with it and be involved for the long haul. 


And Social Media is ubiquitous. And since roses are pretty much everywhere, I posted  one. Here's a song from the ubiquitous Johnny Cash:

This is U in the Blogging A to Z challenge. Here's S and T.
Stop by and say hello!   Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. 

Jelly, Marketing, and You.

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Both jam and jelly (what IS the difference between them anyway?) are easily spreadable, gel-like substances. And they taste pretty good on an English Muffin or with some peanut butter.

It's all about spreading the news! What news? Why whatever it is that you want your future, current, repeat or past customers to know about. But this post isn’t about the “what”; it’s about the “where”.

Are you only touting your business on one social network?

Maybe it’s time to pump up the jam and spread that jelly out to the edges of the toast.

Can you be on one social media and be a success? Certainly, that’s possible. However, you’ll never know if you’re missing a large portion of your target audience because they’re hanging out elsewhere.

And not getting your message to the right people could be detrimental to your business.
It’s painful (trust me, I know), but do keep up a presence on the major social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+, and Pinterest? Yep. It’s coming on strong, especially if women in the 25 to 45 age range are your target audience. That demographic will probably shift as more people spread their jam on there. It’s fun, visual, and could be habit forming.

Over time, you’ll find which social networks are making an impact on your business. If you care to enlist a professional to assist you with your strategies, they will be able to tell you which ones to emphasize based on your product or service and save you months of figuring it out on your own.

Now, let’s not forget the more “traditional” marketing and PR methods. Have you ever thought about a press release announcing your new business or a recent achievement that could ultimately wind up in newspapers across the country? Or how ‘bout a direct mail piece that goes out to your local area?

Spread the news, spread the message. Stretch to the end of that toast. Make mine grape!

This is J in the Blogging A to Z Challenge for the month of April. Here’s H and I.

Tommy Roe sang about both jelly and jam; click here for that classic pop tune.

Six Things, Marketing, Baby Boomers, and You.

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My favorite grocery store, Sprouts, sells lots of organic food and healthy products. Upon entering the store, immediately to the right, are three aisles chock full of vitamins, natural shampoos, and mineral oils by brands that enjoy an undercurrent of popularity.

Straight ahead in the middle of the aisle, a fruit or two is always featured and just beyond that are packaged treats ranging from yogurt covered pretzels to trail mixes. Want to bag it yourself? Step over to the aisles of wooden barrels where you’ll also find steel oats, brown rice and walnuts.

And the music at Sprouts? Mostly 1960’s catchy tunes that makes you want to stick around because it’s so much better than any oldies station. Perhaps the most surprising tune being pumped in was “Got My Mojo Working.” Gazing around at the clientele, I’d say the average age in the store is around 60. This holds true every time I shop there.

Oh! Almost forgot. Here are the six things to consider when marketing to Baby Boomers:

#1 They work. Retirement? Fuhgeddaboudit! The recent economy caused many to rethink the “when”. Marketing a $20,000 round the world tour isn’t likely to draw a big response when money put away for retirement has evaporated, but promoting a weekend getaway to them provides an inviting break from the hum drum of everyday living.

#2 Many have moved on to second careers with their own businesses. This means they are more likely to be online, busy launching and promoting. You can reach them there. The most popular social networking sites for Baby Boomers are Classmates.com, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

#3 Many are care givers, which takes up time, energy and may be stressful. They are looking for convenience items and services, as well as ways to relax. Hello day spa, online banking, and free delivery from the local take-out restaurant.

#4 They want to look good. Having Diane Keaton hawk beauty creams and stylish clothing is appealing; let’s face it, she looks terrific! And just look at the wide choices of eyeglasses nowadays that aren’t nerdy!

#5 They have grandkids and enjoy spoiling them rotten. This doesn’t mean they’ll be frequenting Baby Gap, but it does mean buying lots of stuff and getting a good value. Shopping at Kohl’s when the holiday season selections are broad and the stores are stocked with toys combined with deep discounts is just plan smart. And lets not forgot the “fur children” too…another multi-million dollar industry that continues to boom.

#6 They want to feel good. Sprouts and Trader Joes with their emphasis on natural and healthier products are but two of the grocery chains that understand how to create the right atmosphere to attract boomers.  REI offers sports and exercise equipment and knowledgeable employees. They turn up their overall brand experience a notch by offering “outdoor school” classes including hiking, cycling, and photography.

Oops, make that seven:

#7 They enjoy great memories. Kudos to Sprouts for providing tunes that are sure to provoke a smile or two.  Speaking of music, a few smaller companies such as Sundazed make reissues of 60's and 70's music available in CD and LP formats; LPs cost more! Click here to see one of the latest examples from the band The Left Banke.

There's more than seven things to keep in mind of course. But hey, this is a blog post, not an ebook.

After reading all this you're probably thinking “Yeah, there’s already been lots of marketing aimed towards Boomers.” Just think back five years; most of what I’ve mentioned above likely wasn’t even documented in a marketing plan at that time. Congrats to all the brands that are now recognizing that 75+ million strong group and not leaving them on a shelf!

Click here for a video of “Got My Mojo Working” with Muddy Waters from 1966.

Join ModlandUSA on Facebook for the grooviest marketing information.

Straight from the Bottle: Your LinkedIn Profile Photo

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Decisions, decisions…which photo to use for your profile? Hmmm…perhaps that photo where you’re sipping a cosmo? Yeah, you looked happy in that one with that big smile. Or how about the one where you’re holding a rare bottle of merlot?

Sounds funny but both the examples above are real. But here’s the kicker; both photos appeared on LinkedIn. Thankfully, those pics are long gone. And no, I haven’t seen any profile pictures where beer is being guzzled from the bottle but I’m sure they’re out there!

Now, what did these photos tell us about those two people? The cosmopolitan drinker, an administrative assistant, had a carefree look on her face. It may not have been her first cosmo.

Would you hire her? She was job hunting when that photo was up.

The second, a President of a small company holding a wine bottle, signifies that he’s an aficionado; however, it may also be suggesting what happens after 5PM.

Unless you are a part of the wine or alcohol industry, it’s not a good idea to be associated with these beverages in a professional setting. Why even open up that can of worms?
Other faux pas?

• Using a photo of someone else. I've seen George Washington. On LinkedIn.
• A photo of your child, you as a cute kid, you with a cute kid. No. No. No.
• Smoking. Anything. It’s a turn off for people that don’t participate in that habit.
• Cleavage. If you’re not a pole dancer, cover it up.
• Inappropriate clothing. Leopard and sequins won’t work here.
• Scenery. This worked when Nissan launched Infiniti; remember the trees?
• A photo of a pet. Trainers, groomers, have one with YOU and the pet.
• Fuzzy photos. Not impressive.
• Messy hair. Wash, blow dry, comb it, style it.

You get the idea.

Here’s the professional skinny:

DO have a photo on LinkedIn. Of YOU. Make sure it’s crisp and professional looking.  If you can swing a professional photo, go for it. It’s best for guys to wear a button down shirt with a collar; however, clothing should be aligned with your type of work. If you wear a uniform of some sort, wear it in the photo.  And I’m not going to push the tie thing since our world has become so casual. Concentrate on neatness.  The photo should be fairly recent, not from twenty years ago.

To the folks with gray hair: If you’re out and about and people are seeing you in public, what’s the difference? And while it’s always possible that a potential employer will discriminate once they see you, did you really want to work for a company with an attitude like that anyway? Gray hair is plentiful in today’s society: Grace Slick, George Clooney, Richard Gere, Paula Dean, etc.

If you’re on other social networks (yes, that’s likely) try to be consistent across social networks. This will help you recognize people across various platforms.

For Facebook, it really depends on how you use your personal page; if it’s masquerading as a business page*, then you do have to keep it professional. If you use it for personal reasons, heck, have fun. To maintain your professionalism, consider changing your settings so you’re a bit harder to search for.  For example, you can set up search so that only friends or friends of friends can search and find you, which means the recruiter or potential employer won’t find you but people who may know you on a more casual level will.

A good photo can reflect a little of your personality.  If you’re a fan of Pablo Picasso and you have a tie with his artwork on it, sure, wear it. It’s projecting YOU without screaming from the mountaintops. At the bottom of your LinkedIn profile, mention your love of contemporary art to “tie” it in. Then people learn a little bit about you.

After all, it is about YOU and how you project YOU to others. Preferably, your choice will be "bottleless".

Note: There ARE exceptions to every rule; do feel free to let me know about your thoughts.


* If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know how I feel about using a personal profile as a business page on Facebook. If you don’t know, click here to see why you need a business page.

Make me smile and follow, like, and circle me! You'll smile too. I promise.

Social Media “Think”

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We've seen so many celebrities get into hot water with their babbling, or is it blabbing? Our fingers can react, type and swipe faster than our brains sometimes, or so it seems. And while many folks in the entertainment industry use social media for sounding off, us folks with small businesses really have to put a little planning into what we’re projecting.

Yes, you’re a brand just like they are and that’s whether you’re on a social network just chatting with friends, networking, or representing a business. However, those celebrities are established brands. The adoring public will forgive them; how many times have we said “yeah, it’s okay; we still love you” to Alec Baldwin?

Remember, social networks are public forums.

Twitter is the most notorious of all of course, it’s 100% public (except for DMs) LinkedIn is public as well. You DO have flexibility with Facebook and Google+ regarding how widespread your posts are. When I say public, I’m referring to the millions who are members of a particular network.

And how many IS that*? For Twitter, 300 million +, LinkedIn 135 million, 800 million + for Facebook and Google+ is at 62 million and rising fast!
Here’s a little example of something that made me cringe. It’s no longer on my Facebook wall and could only be seen by my friends (thankfully). Chances are that 100 people may have read it before I deleted it (we’ll call my friend Ginger for this exercise):

GINGER:
Hi there!
So are you here in town? If so could you drop over?
GL


ME: Hi Ginger, not there at the moment. I'll message you with my plans! (Soon after I responded, lost track of time while nursing a headache. Yes, my bad!)


...sometime later...


GINGER: So where r u ? No one keeps keeps their word anymore. Just put my books in mailbox


ME (ZING! Now realizing my mistake): On my way now…

Dropping by, I learned that my friend had recently been ripped off by a car dealer and was not a happy camper! I explained that I wasn’t feeling well and had curled up into a ball (true). She gave me instant coffee which helped my headache. We’re okay now!

What’s the point here? Our words can be misunderstood. Our words ARE coming from somewhere; there’s usually a reason for them. However, despite our rationale, speaking in a public forum requires thought. Just like when we are speaking to someone vocally.

My reaction could have been negative towards her words. I may have become angry and possibly unfriended her (I’m not like that).

Though this example is more of a personal nature, imagine that you’re posting as a representative of a business. A few suggestions:

• Always remain cheerful and positive, even when responding to negativity.

• Reread your post or tweet before sharing it; read it out loud if you can.

• Try not to respond or post when you’re in a bad mood.

• When responding to an extremely negative post, don’t reply right away. Let it cool.

• Stay within your brand’s culture.

Sure, it sounds like common sense; however, you do need to remind yourself from time to time that whatever you say will be seen. We all tend to get a little lax and let things slip and slide a bit. Let this advice serve as a friendly, positive reinforcement.

Think before you post.

Alec, are you reading this?

References for stats: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+

Join modlandUSA on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+

Where Do All Those Business Cards Go?

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Do you cringe after spending $35 on a box of business cards?

Yeah, sometimes I can’t figure out why I have them either.

Seems like I give them out and they fall into a black hole or perhaps a waste receptacle. About 90% of the time, I follow up with people that I’ve exchanged cards with, but those people respond back to my initial contact maybe 10% of the time. Even sadder, I rarely hear from the other party first despite their enthusiasm when meeting me.

Seems like a big waste of energy, no? I’m almost imagining that there’s a land far beyond Middle Earth where all those lost and discarded business cards strive to travel to. They face the fierce battles of rain, sleet, snow and (and let’s not forget) fire, to arrive at a perfect world where humans will never touch them again and where they can simply mingle with their own kind and complement each other on their designs.

But wait! Business cards aren’t intended to go off to their own version of utopia. So, just what IS the purpose of the business card anyway? That would include:

• For sharing your contact info with someone that ask for it and wants to follow-up.
• Creating awareness and imagery of your brand (handing out at events or having a stack of them available somewhere)
• Sharing information that perhaps someone doesn’t need today, but may need tomorrow.
• Networking reinforcement…here’s my card (now don’t forget me).
• For throwing in the free lunch bowl…high chance of being a winner there!
• Providing information that explains who YOU are and what YOU do.

Naturally, not all of the above may apply to you.  But you get the idea.

And the shelf life of a business card? Five minutes to several years.

Been pondering the life of a business card for some time now. As an experiment at a meet-up, I purposely didn’t bring business cards and after giving my “oops, I switched purses but neglected to move my business cards from one to another” spiel, I simply collected cards from those I spoke to at the event. There were about twenty folks there in total and I collected eight cards. I followed up on every single one, and guess what? No replies! Interestingly enough, I received an invite to connect on LinkedIn about five months later from one of the eight (let’s call this gent “JR”):

Geraldine, 
I noticed that we share a similar LinkedIn Group called ConnectOC and thought it would be appropriate to connect here. 
Please feel free to investigate who’s in my Contact Sphere that might be able to help you in your business endeavors. 
Be more than ordinary… 

I shot back a message reminding JR that we had met a few months earlier and was he perhaps challenging my recall abilities?

Needless to say, I did not connect with JR on LinkedIn.  Humph.

So we’re giving out little pieces of heavy paper that cost money and do very little for us? And why even bother going to events to meet people if you’re not going to follow up with some of them?

Stayed tuned for part two (tomorrow) where I share some best practices with you that will make those little cards do more of the work for you.

Would YOU Hire These Companies?

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It gets to be a drag sometimes trying to compete for business, especially in the Social Media arena. So many “experts”! So many “gurus”! Granted, many are good at what they do and I salute them. But I’m amazed at how many seem to have set up shop overnight; wonder if they actually get any business. And, as in any industry, true talent ranges from faking’ it to well-seasoned and knowledgeable.

Recently, a rather interesting company started following me. Am I worried about competition from them? Heck no! They supplied some welcome comic relief that I really needed and provided a perfect example of who you shouldn’t hire. Note: The name of the Twitter account has been changed.

The bio reads: @NOCRED_PR_LLC “is a Social Media Brand Management company that makes managing & growth of your social media presence Affordable & Effective. (followed by a URL)

The bio is certainly promising. The URL was not. It led to a personal profile on Facebook, and in this gent’s profile picture, a playboy bunny was getting cozy with him. The bottom of the photo read “IRockParties.com”.

Are you reaching for the phone yet? No? Well perhaps a sampling of tweets will get you calling:
“Who else on the West Coast Right Now?”
“1000 Twitter Followers in 24 Hrs”
“Give me a Call 555-555-1212 for any #Twitter Inquiries”
“Today's Publicity Sale of the Week!!! 10,000 Twitter Followers @ $59 Per 1,000!!! Deal Lasts only for the next 36 hrs!!! Call 5555551212” (this one has been posted steadily for the last few weeks).

Does the bio match the tweets? Enough said.

And here’s another “expert” that had freely posted the following in a LinkedIn group (name has been changed):

“Hi everyone! My name is Paul Olssen and I am known as The Twitter and Social Media Guru! I have over 222,000 followers on Twitter. My Social Media company is absolutely the best there is at branding you and your company as the leader in your category in every facet of social media. We are the best at what we do. Contact me and we can discuss your needs and how we can help you!”

According to LinkedIn, this gent is presently works at five companies, several of which he is CEO of. For each job description there’s this:
“Online Media Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Networking, Social Media Trends, Social Media Content, Online Media Content, LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter, Ping.Fm, Linked, Online Media Strategist, Social Media Trainer, Social Media Marketing Strategies, Social Media Blog, Social Media Philosophy, LinkedIn for Business, LinkedIn to success, Linkedin video, Social Media, ….”

That’s only the first five lines; there are 25 lines of this babble which seems to be a batch of misplaced keywords.

What’s wrong with BOTH of these ambitious people? The first things that come to mind are:
• Lack of credibility: No background, no foundation. What have they done? What was the outcome? How long have they been doing it? Mr. Olssen had five recommendations on LinkedIn, but do you believe they are true recommendations from clients?
• 222,000 followers on Twitter told me immediately how the bulk of Mr. Olssen’s time is spent. Sorry, but the number of followers that someone has does NOT make them a rock star!
• Lack of professionalism: Just not seeing any professional chops from either of these examples. And let’s face it; posing with a playboy bunny would kill the deal for most people…is that where my hard earned cash goes?
• Direct sales approach: Social Media is not a sales tool, yet these two “experts” use it as such.
• Spelling and Grammar. No comment necessary.

Now that you've seen when it’s obvious who NOT to hire, for my next blog post I’ll discuss a few things to look for when seeking out assistance with social media.

How Not to Say: “Noooo! My Profile is Gone on LinkedIn!”

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LinkedIn has been in the news in the past few days; most recently because it surpassed MySpace in members. That speaks volumes about the importance of LinkedIn; are you a member?

I didn’t mean to scare you. But in this virtual, digital world of ours, things happen.  LinkedIn is one of THE most important social networks, especially in terms of your career. And yes, just like anything else, your profile could vanish. Is it likely? No. But spending five minutes to retain the important information that you’ve likely spent countless hours crafting and even more time making those connections could be history. Poof.

Let’s prevent that, shall we? Two steps:

Sign-in to LinkedIn. Once you’re signed in go to View Profile. Just below where your public profile is listed, place your cursor on where it shows the grayed out icon and the word pdf. Highlight it so that the color red is showing and click on it. Click on it and all your information in your profile will be downloaded, including recommendations.

If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader (for viewing pdf files) click here.

The good news about pdf files that wasn’t true in the past, you can copy from them. So, in the unlikely event that your LinkedIn profile vanishes into thin air, after exhausting all other avenues, some copying and pasting will help recreate it.

The recommendations in your profile are GOLD. Having a copy of those is perhaps THE most important part of your profile.

Every time your profile is updated to any great extent (beyond fixing a typo) or a recommendation is added, download a fresh copy of your profile for safe keeping.

Step one covers everything except your contacts. And it’s wise to download that information for safekeeping as well. At the top of the Home page, put your cursor on Contacts, and then click on Connections. Scroll down; on the bottom right, click on Export Connections. Exporting as a .csv file will allow you to open up your contact list in Excel; very useful!

Click Export and enter the captcha code(s), save, and you are done!

Here’s what you get: First and last names, email address, a whole bunch of blank fields for addresses (delete them), company name, job title and more blank fields. There is enough information there in regards to communicating your contacts.

Five minutes monthly could save you countless hours in the future. Not saving this information could result in some aspects of your LinkedIn profile that will never be retrieved, unless you have a very good memory. Have I convinced you?

How Much Time Do YOU Spend Social Networking?

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Are you spending too much time on social networks?  Sounds like we all are; a recent study stated that we spend 16% of our time on Facebook. Is that too much? Does that include us poor folks who have small businesses or is that figure about everybody?

I see a lot of people that tend to "babble about nothing" all day, posting constantly. Lots of games being played too. Do they work? Maybe not. Maybe they’re looking for work? Facebook can serve as a networking tool but isn’t the place to find a job. And no, I’m not knocking anyone for having fun on Facebook. I enjoy reading posts and making posts. In fact, I comment on others posts far more than post myself. Personally, I may do a fresh post on my personal profile on average, once a day.

But what about those of us with small businesses that are vying for the attention of a potential 750 million people? Oh, okay, maybe there’s merely 10 million that have the potential to be my audience among my two endeavors. That’s not small potatoes. Yes, this is where my time is going; reaching those folks with my offerings and create an awareness. But 16% of my time? I’m not so sure about that.

I spend time on LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo, and Google+ too. I’m probably spending the least amount on time on LinkedIn, yet this is THE professional social network. And LinkedIn just announced that they will be creating a whole new aspect of their services that will place more emphasis on businesses. Google+ is also swiftly moving towards bringing businesses on board. So which playing field is THE one to throwing the ball?

Who knows how all of these social networks are going and where your company’s place is with them. It’s exciting to be a part of it and learning more about social media nearly every minute of the waking day. It’s exciting because jobs have been created through social media and IN social media as it has become a whole new profession. Meanwhile, there’s many of us wanting to be trendsetters within social media and a few rising stars will write books that grab them enough attention to catapult themselves into fame and fortune.

So is it all worth it? If you enjoy being a part of social media as much as I do, absolutely! If you find a new twist on some social networking ideas and you can write a book about it, great. But in order to do that, you need to spend the time and get as tied in to social media as much as possible. So that 16% is starting to sound like a low figure.

My guess is that I’m spending about 25% of my time on Facebook between maintaining my own pages, have a little fun personally, training clients and maintaining client’s pages.

Thinking of conducting an experiment; next week, starting Monday, October 3, I will track my time on social networks for five days. And I'll report back to you as far as where the time goes. If you want to join me in the experiment, by all means do and let me know how it goes.

Promoting Your Incredible Blog!

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This is part 3 of a 4 part series. Scroll down for the other parts.

You’re up and running; writing up a storm! But wait, there’s an important element missing…where is the audience? Sure you can write great stuff, but if it isn’t seen, what’s the point?

Where the heck are the PEOPLE? Well, the first question I’m going to ask you is this: Do you already have a presence in social media? If you don’t, leave a comment here and we’ll talk about getting you started. However, today I’m assuming that you are active in at least one of the “Big Three” (no offense to MySpace), Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Twitter. Okay, so you’ve been tweeting. Well, now you have something to tweet about, so get it on out there. Make sure what you tweet about your blog has a catchy phrase. It doesn’t have to be that ho-hum but descriptive title for your blog post. As you meet new tweeps you’re on some common ground and if you feel like you know them a little, why not tweet to them that you’re blogging now? Chances are they’ll at least look at it; they may subscribe. If they don’t, no harm done.

On your Twitter home page, you may want to do a custom background and include the link there as well. Of course, do search on key words and find tweeps to follow who would be interested in what you’re writing about.  Don’t be discouraged if there’s little response at first, but do rejoice when you see your first tweet about your blog get retweeted! Thank them for it!

Facebook. On your personal profile, you may want to announce that you have a new blog and welcome your friends to check it out. A more targeted approach is sending a personal message to friends that have an interest in your subject matter and inviting them to check it out. Post the blog posts on your profile with a short summary of what it’s about. Do NOT be upset if your friends aren’t interested or never comment on your posts. It’s not for everyone.

Start a Facebook business/fan page. If you have the time and energy, go for it. Suddenly, you’ve opened yourself up to millions and millions of people! Some of your friends will like your page. But if you’re in a hurry (aren’t we all), then consider a Facebook ad. A TARGETED Facebook ad may yield results quickly. Will all of them be interested and comment on your blog posts? No. But some will be there because they are VERY interested in what you have to say. And they may tell their friends, perhaps by sharing one of your posts. And that’s how it all starts.

Add the URL for your blog to your personal info on Facebook. This won’t generate a lot of traffic but may likely be seen by your new Facebook friends who will explore your info to get to know you better.

LinkedIn. You’ve got a profile there, right? There’s a space on your home page directly to the right of your smiling mug (you DO have a photo of course) where you can post your link and some commentary. Let your professional connections know that you’re blogging and have something to say. Imagine my surprise the first time I received a comment there from someone who happened to be a connection that I hadn’t heard from in a long time. I immediately sent a message thanking him and then catching up on what he’s been up to.

Networked blogs. There’s a nifty app on Facebook where you can register your blog. People can vote on your posts and the more votes, the higher up on the Networked Blogs page you’ll be. You’ll gain followers much as you would on Twitter or on the original location of your blog. The point here is that followers, subscribers and the like can come from several places. And you need to make sure you are hitting them all. For more on Networked blogs, go here.
 
These are just a few things you can do to promote your blog and SEO needs to be explored as well. I do want to point out that my approach could be labeled as “soft”.  It’s up to you how aggressive you want to be with your marketing efforts. I recommend slowly building a quality audience rather than “chase the numbers”.  Certainly experiment a bit and find the best solution for you.

Click here for Part Four, here for Part One, and here for Part Two.

I’m Facebook Friends with a Movie Theater!

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A local, independent movie theater sent a friend request to me on Facebook. It happened to be a theater that I frequent, so I accepted. But who did I really friend? Is it an employee of the theater? The owner? No clue. And I was surprised when the theater “liked” a photo I posted recently. And a little spooked too. Who IS this person?

For the record, I’ve also been friends with a car brand, a restaurant, and a dairy product. The car brand wisely switched to a business page after realizing that there are limitations to acting like a business page while masquerading as a personal profile.


Why DO businesses take the friend profile route? My number one guess is that they don’t know what all their options are. Some of these businesses have run their businesses through a personal profile for a long time, and perhaps there just wasn’t good information available at the time.

But there’s no excuse now.

Seriously people, using a personal profile as your business page is limiting. Well, okay, the ceiling is 5,000 which sounds like a lot, but remember, only a small percentage of “friends” will ever see any of your posts. With a business page, you can grow to 10, 20, 30K if you like. And people can search in Facebook on key words and find you and easily like you without begging to be your friend, thus creating work on your part and theirs. Those folks are likely apprehensive when it comes to requesting becoming friends with you; they may not want you to have access to their personal lives. Of course, they can play with privacy settings, but isn’t this becoming rather confusing at this point?

And there you are, posting away about your business on your personal page. How many of your friends are really your target audience and would actually need your services? A business page would open you up to thousands of people who are indeed interested in what you do. But who ARE these people? You'll never know unless you have a business page and have access to all the stats, including demographics, that Facebook business pages provide.

Another advantage to Facebook business pages is the ability to create and place ads. I've had great success with those for my clients; why wouldn't you want to utilize this feature?


So, where’s the line between business and pleasure? Here’s my recommendations, and no, it’s not a solution for everyone. Consider it a practical approach.

Your personal profile should be for friends, family and networking. It can be for all three, or just some of those. Your choice. But it’s a place for you to share and let people know about YOU, as a person. If your passion is running on the beach, archery, or teaching your dog new tricks, I want to know and enjoy those passions with you.

I do not post about my consulting business on my personal page. I don’t even post links to my blog posts there! I have messaged a few folks that I thought would be interested, but that’s it. IF they want to know more about what I do for a living, the addresses for my sites, blogs, and LinkedIn profile are on my info page. When I land a fabulous new client, yes, I DO post about it. Not to promote my business, but because I feel joyous and want to celebrate!

Okay, now you’re saying…great Gerry, but what about my business? Now that you’ve discouraged me from running a business on my personal profile, what do I do now?

Stay tuned for my next post and find out.

Who Says Social Media Doesn’t Bring Instant Results?

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A friend of mine on Facebook (let’s call him Sandy) is somewhat green about social media. He never realized that all of his personal information was available for anyone on Facebook to see. That actually proved to be a boon for him.

Sandy recently “liked” an independent movie fan page. He is one of a small handful of people who have shown interest for that page. The creator happened to be seeking some specific services, and apparently started her search by investigating those “likers.” She found Sandy, who has a company in the industry that could provide the services, and sent Sandy a message on Facebook. In that message, she stated that she had researched him prior to contact. The contact could prove fruitful for Sandy; they are meeting next week to discuss a potential project.

Oh, and I assisted Sandy in making some improvements to his settings. After a brief discussion, we both agreed that his info page should remain public, with some data removed and some freshened. However, his wall is now visible only to his friends.

Okay, while this fantastic result took about three weeks, which is pretty fast, how ‘bout an example with mere hours?
A gentleman posted on a LinkedIn group that a friend (let’s call him Sam) is also a member of. The post was made late at night: “Looking for someone to do some XXXX XXXX work. Any recommendations?” Yes, the post was that short!
Sam has a presence on several social media sites and is still a bit of a newbie as far as establishing himself in this medium. He does have a completed profile on LinkedIn. Sam happens to be a very early riser and was up at 4AM. He logged in to LinkedIn and started catching up on some of the groups he belongs to. Sam saw the post and was the FIRST to reply, resulting in getting the work! Yes, the early bird DOES catch the worm. Indeed.

These two gents had never met but had a common bond via a group on LinkedIn. Through the mutual interests and membership of that group an instant business relationship was formed. What’s next? Services are performed. Money passes hands. Perhaps repeat businesses. Recommendations are given.

I’ve often told perspective clients that Social Media is a medium that one needs to nurture before results start happening. Perhaps I’ve been selling it short! I’ll still stand by my position stressing that by displaying expertise, engaging people, and demonstrating passionate involvement over time will produce the results you’re looking for. However, even if you are fairly new to social media, provided that your profile information is filled out so that people can learn about you, expect the unexpected. People are out there. And they are looking, all the time. Be ready for them!