I enjoy helping others. It's great to see others get ahead. Yet, just like anyone else, I get frazzled when people take up time in my busy day and have no qualms about wasting my hours on them. Here’s the deal: Interested party (much of the time they find me via a social network) contacts me about creating strategy for them (or as they call it "social media"). Sometimes a budget is discussed, usually a very small amount of money. Let’s say it’s about equal to a few nights at a halfway decent hotel near the California coast. We may speak via phone or Skype or we may email back and forth. In total, the conversation accounts for one to one and a half hours. I then take all I've learned directly from the client and “make the rounds”; scoping out the website and any social networking accounts or pages, and if they have a blog, I'll analyze that too. The initial overview can take 45 minutes to an hour. I need to quickly scan and get some initial thoughts on what is lacking, what needs improvement, what looks great already and what the potential is. I also need to check for consistency and get a feel for the brand and what it is saying to consumers. During that time a few initial ideas will pop into my head. However, the big question: Is this someone I truly can help with my expertise? From there, I’ll prepare a formal proposal. Since I do want to land the project I may discount my pricing a bit to make the quote more attractive. What I WON’T put in the proposal are ideas surrounding the strategy; that would be like giving the store away. A proposal that's geared towards strategically increasing awareness for a small business can take about one hour to pull together. The proposal is emailed and I wait. Sometimes it's a day, sometimes three or four days. At some point the small business owner then writes back and says “No; I really can't afford this right now but it sounds really good.” Or "Not able to swing it; maybe in six months or so we can talk."
Sigh. Why bother contacting me in the first place and waste several hours of my time if you have no plans to hire me (or anyone else)? My business suffers by not earning a dime during those hours. Am I cursed with being too kind and patient with these people? And the benefit of all this to the small business? They remain the same with their lackluster social media efforts and continue to wonder why social media doesn’t work for them. No one with expertise is there to show them the way. That's their choice. So here’s my frustration: While I am willing to help small businesses get ahead, they don’t want to help themselves if it involves handing over any currency. You remember the old expression “You have to spend money to make money”? It’s true. You do. The majority of my business comes from well-established businesses. And I’m thankful for that. However, my heart is with the start-ups, the mom and pops, the struggling businesses, the ones who really need the support to get where they want to go. What's more important to you, the small business owner: A short vacation or getting the proper tools you need to grow your business so that you can afford to take longer vacations in the future? On an ending note: Not trying to be cruel here and not trying to anger anyone. I’d just like small business owners to know how it is on my end. I am strongly leaning towards no longer taking on potential small business clients in the future because of the time spent. What would YOU do? Freddy Fender sang about time wasted in his 1970’s hit (a song he initially recorded in the late 1950's) which he also happened to write (see video below). If you are serious about making better use of your social media time, please stop by our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Let’s face it. We are all attracted to beauty. We turn our heads to gaze at good looking people. Our jaws drop when we see a rainbow or a tree that’s awash in gold and orange in October. Or, how ‘bout a turquoise ocean and a white sandy beach? You just want to be there, forever, right? If you’re not actually there and looking at a photo instead, you can still feel the wonder and imagine that you really are there.
And all that imagery you see on the “small screen” influences how you see the brand that posted the image. Okay, small business owners: How does that translate to your social media efforts? Any photo you post represents your brand and the way you want your customers to think about you. Let’s say you’re the owner of a yoga studio and you sell items related to living a calmer, less stress laden life such as soothing soaps and oils. Besides posting products and touting your services, are you also posting photos from nature? Calm scenes in fern filled woods, a field of flowers with blue skies above, a park area with a person blissfully reading a book on a bench; you get the idea. The images you share can take the viewer to another place for just a moment while learning more about you. It will also give them reason to stop by your page more often; a picture IS worth a thousand words. However, more importantly, social media is not a sales tool; at least not in a direct sense. Imagery is important to create a “photographic memory” for your brand when the day comes and the consumer needs your product or service. Using the example above, perhaps that consumer enjoys your page and is unemployed at the moment. Let’s say that consumer finally lands the job he or she has been looking for. Now they want to start taking those yoga classes and they already know you! You’ve already created a strong relationship with this consumer! The example above may not entirely relate to your business, however, beauty is universal. Beauty can be that hot green motorcycle or the conveyer belts that your products travel on as they’re being packaged. Beauty can be found in the design of just about anything! The takeaway is: Share your story of what is beautiful about your business! Gordon Lightfoot sang about beautiful things in this song from the 1970’s (see below). To learn more about the beauty of social media stop by our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Yesterday I was strolling around with some friends in an area where you can buy a waterfront “fixer upper” for 4 million dollars. No, not on the ocean, but on the water near the ocean. You can park your boat right there at your private pier and take a sea cruise whenever you want. I saw the dinghies (pictured here) in the sand and said to my friend “these are the only boats I can afford here!” And then the notion of affordability popped into my brain on a bigger scale. Small businesses and social media. They assume they can’t afford to hire someone who has the skill set they would like to have. So they try do it themselves or have their teenage son or daughter do it. Their business gets zero benefit from social media. They wind up thinking that social media is useless and just stop doing it. Or perhaps they decide to go hire someone who “does social media”. A college student must know something about social media since it’s something so new, right? And it doesn’t cost much to hire the student to “do” it. And the business gets a very small benefit from their relatively unskilled new social consultant's efforts (the small benefit is coming from higher frequency of posts/tweets). However, this is on the level of going around in circles in their dinghy.
Now, you don’t need to sell the family yacht to get great social media assistance! There are specialists who offer as little as a few hours of their expertise that will provide the knowledge you need to create the awareness for your business to grow and sail smoothly. Planning IS everything. Perhaps you can handle the posting yourself and all you need is the best strategy for your product or service. That’s where a seasoned professional can really help your business and bring it from being a dinghy to a luxury yacht! The Yachts sang about a particular type of boat in the late 70’s (see below). If you want to avoid those rough waters in the sea of social media, stop by our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. This is "A" for the A to Z April Blogging Challenge! Stay tuned for "B".
The silver ball swiftly glides across the smooth wood surface, propelled by a quick snap of a flipper. It lands in a pop out hole, percolates there for four long agonizing seconds, then charges out and catches you off guard as it plunges into the depths of the unknown after passing between those two paddle devices that really should be closer together. You, of course, frantically try pushing hard on the flipper buttons in a last ditch attempt to save the silver ball from slipping away. Ah! Being reactive instead of proactive. Letting things come at you instead of anticipating them. Is this anyone to run a business? YOU should be controlling the shots.
Pinball is a game of skill and strategy (and a little luck too). You learn the layout of the playing field and you plan the best way to navigate it. Doesn’t that sound a lot like how you should be approaching social media? Think of the bumpers as the "chatter" that comes from the posts or tweets you make; they chime with excitement! And they need to hit, or reply, again and again to increase the engagement and bring you to the next level. Good reflexes are the baseline.
Now, take those narrow chutes towards the back of the machine that require more strategy, including anticipation and foresight, as where you need to go to garner the most success. However, before you get to those chutes, you need to light up a series of targets as you skillfully get closer to the jackpot, which could be a free play or perhaps an extra ball. Ping! There’s a learning curve of course. Additional knowledge is required and you’ll gather that as you maneuver to hit all the targets. Do you have all the know-how you need to obtain your goals? Will you do it all or will you seek professional assistance so that you can hit the jackpot sooner? The Who sang about some “mean” pinball playing despite the player (Tommy) having major handicaps. It’s inspiration for us all. And if you want to put some ping into your marketing efforts, stop by and see us at ourwebsite, or on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
