Do you sometimes feel that you're over promoting your product or service on various social networks to the point that you're putting your fan base at risk? I've felt that ever since the launch of a new service, an internet radio station from my other endeavor, Groovy Reflections, since the get go. I needn’t be worrying though. Oh sure, I posted about it on my personal profile on Facebook and Google+ a few times, maybe three times on Facebook and about ten times on Google+. No one unfriended or uncircled me. I even got a few likes on it; perhaps because I included fun artwork with it. Of course, I've been promoting relentlessly (or so I thought) on the Groovy Reflections Facebook and Google+ pages. The radio station launched on May 6. It’s been well over a month since we've been broadcasting already! Surprisingly, most of the fans aren't aware of the radio station! Here I am thinking I may be overdoing it, yet comments like in the example below keep coming up:
And this was after the radio station had been around for about five weeks! Have dozens more examples like this one. Lesson learned: Don't be afraid of letting your fans know about your product or service. If it’s too much for them, they'll leave (thus they weren’t true fans in the first place) or they'll complain (hopefully it won't come to that; hasn’t happened to me yet). As it stands now, promos on the pages go out about three times a day. That feels comfortable to me. On average, the Groovy Reflections page has about thirty-two posts a day on Facebook (yes, it is a very busy page!), thus making the promotional posts just under 10%. On Google+, it’s a little higher since there’s about half the number of posts there compared to Facebook. The audiences on the two social networks differ; the Facebook is U.S. centric, while Google+ is more global. Take that into consideration when posting as well; who do you want to respond to your promotional posts? Where are they physically located and is that relevant to your business? Another element to ponder is the timing of the posts. You do want to catch “the morning crowd”; the ones who are breezing their timeline before running off to work, the lunch crowd taking a peek before or after catching a meal, and the evening crowd. Which raises yet another point; these people are busy! They are scanning quickly to catch relevant posts, perhaps eating while doing so, and doing other things like watching TV. The likelihood of their catching your promotional posts goes way down when your fans are multi-tasking their lives away! Do use some eye catching artwork that will slow their scanning down!
In 1978, The Sports asked the musical question “Who Listens to the Radio?” (See below). Hope you do! If you dig everything 60’s and 70’s, tune in here. And if your social media efforts need a "tune-up", stop by our website, or say hello on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Facebook has offered the rather limiting Page Insights tool for about three years now. In a recent blog Facebook stated that they have been paying attention to what we, the customer, want! The news: They're rolling out a newly revised Page Insight tool to just a few page administrators (more to follow soon?). In a nutshell: “People talking about this”, or PTAT, data will be further broken down; more data for you! Page Likes, People Engaged (likes, comments and share), Page tags and mentions, check-ins (great if you are a physical location) and “other” (no idea what that may be). And there’s a new metric, Engagement Rate, based on the already existing Virality measure. Facebook believes that the current metric wasn't a true indicator of positive post engagement in the past and they are now including clicks; does this mean clicking on a link associated with a post but not liking or commenting on the post will now be counted. If so…hurray! I've often wondered about those folks who go “under the radar”. For the record, Virality is defined by Facebook as “the percentage of people who have created a story from your page post out of the total number of unique people who have seen it.” Creating a story happens in a number of ways: Likes, Comments, and Shares. The last paragraph of the blog discusses how Facebook “rewards quality posts with greater reach”. Funny then how every time I create an event invite that it seems to be withheld from the majority of fans from the page (more on this in a separate blog). Perhaps the above is true, however, Facebook would certainly like to see the post promoted (and therefore see me PAY); no? The very last point discusses “positives” and “negatives” and Facebook says that metrics will now be available on a post by post basis via a score card. Sounds good indeed if Facebook data can be put together in a way so that any user (or rather admin or owner of a page) can understand it easily, quickly summarize it, and take action based on their findings. We all want to increase engagement on our pages without paying for the privilege. So, yes, any free data is welcomed, especially if it’s better than what was available previously. However, we're still looking for the more visual experience that you toted months ago, so based on your past promises, when are we actually going to receive something that we can start working with? Dishwalla was onto something when they were counting blue cars (see video below). Count on us! Visit our website, or say hello on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
If you prefer to "learn by example" then here is an example of what not to do when someone wants to hire YOU. My issue is HTML for my internet/smartphone radio station's website, Groovy Reflections Radio. Everything is fine on the website except for one nagging issue: The coding for “recently played” won't work correctly! HTML was provided by Shoutcast; they host the radio station. The song titles show up, however, 95% of the artwork (generally the album cover) shows up as missing. Here’s what it looks like:
Basically that piece of code needs to be rewritten. Also, it’s supposed to sync with Amazon and it does not. I also thought up an alternative solution: Insert the Groovy Reflections logo (see above) or some other graphics there. I want the listeners to know what songs they are hearing; makes it more fun for them! The current song does show up in the player WITH the LP cover so no issue there, thankfully. I discovered that someone locally I know not only does SEO work but knows html as well. Know him a couple years, meeting through the vast Orange County network. Have met in person too at a meet-up. We had a nice phone discussion for about 45 minutes almost three weeks ago and I felt comfortable working on this with him. Put all the information together in both text and graphics that recapped what I explained on the phone and sent it to him within 24 hours. He said he would look at it that weekend. A week went by. Sent an email wanting to know if he was still interested in the project and he said he was. Then, silence. No follow through. I contacted again and said that it appeared he wasn't interested and that I would find someone else. He said he had emailed me a few days back. Never received it. Then, he said he would look at it on Wednesday! I figured, well, okay. We are friends on Facebook. On Wednesday I saw him post about all the new clients he has. Great. Last night I was supposed to go to a meet-up, however, taking care of my clients comes first. I stayed home. And wouldn't you know it, guess who did attend? Ah...the webs we weave by posting on Facebook. After seeing that, wrote another email and said: “I'm glad you are at that event tonight! I'm working on stuff for a client. My clients always come first. That's how I do business. In all honesty, I am tired of getting messages from you that you are going to take on the project yet nothing happens. I am sorry. I really have to move on. I was looking forward to seeing the dazzling work you do and recommending it to others however I am on the hunt for someone who will actually do the work now. Don't mean this to sound cruel or mean. You have to understand how I feel as an ignored client here. I have never done this to any of my clients and I guess my expectations were too high. Thanks for your efforts.” This morning I received an invoice for the work. Folks, don't treat potential clients like this! What would you do in my situation? It’s now almost three weeks and I still have an issue that needs fixing! Rick Nelson sung about being "strung along" in this song from 1963. I promise never to waste your valuable time and provide the highest quality, professional marketing services to you! Find us on our website, or say hello on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
“Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.” —Richard L. Evans True. You DO have to start somewhere, right? And; you're going places! Keep up the good work. Now, while I believe in the quote, I’m also focused on reality. It’s certainly not my intention to scare you, however, being an entrepreneur isn't a walk in the park and hopefully your attention was captured with the title of this blog. Here’s my gut wrenching top-of-mind list, some (but not all) of it, based on my own experiences. Don't start your own business IF…
You don't have a passion for the product or service you’ll be offering. Your business is an expression of you. It needs to have heart; yours!
You are not prepared to have a sinking feeling in your stomach from time to time. Slosh down some Mylanta and keep moving.
You are afraid of the word failure. Sometimes a step backwards needs to happen in order to move forward. And, if you think failing is an ending you’re wrong. It's a fresh beginning.
You want to avoid thinking about quitting from time to time. Get over it and don’t quit. No matter what.
You don’t genuinely care about other people. You’ll have clients/buyers, suppliers, and employees to interact with (depending on what your business is perhaps one or two of these). They’ll feel that lack of caring energy and go elsewhere.
You think you’re too “old”. One of my favorite song lines from the progressive rock band Gentle Giant is: “Now is the day, tomorrow comes without an End…Mark time follow the sun - you're only as old as you're young.” Yep!
You expect support from everyone. Some of your “friends” will run in the other direction when you even mention your business in conversation.
You think it is all about making money. You’ll sink faster than the Titantic with that attitude. It's about sharing your passion so that others can enjoy it too.
You are willing to give up making any money, let alone profit, for “a while” (months or years)!
You think that you don’t have to put any dollars into it. One of my favorite expressions is “You have to spend money to make money” because it’s true.
You think that everything will flow smoothly. Does anything in life actually move in a straight line?
You don’t have an ultimate objective. You need to be reaching for something in order to there otherwise you'll come up empty.
You’re going to get uptight about every little thing that goes wrong. Whoopee doo. Let it go.
You’re not willing to learn new things; lots of them. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!
You are prepared to cry. Boo hoo. Let it out!
Working around the clock isn’t your cup of tea.
You are willing to give up a vacation or two. This doesn’t mean to not take vacations! You may just have to cut back a bit. And, DO take some breaks and clear the mind whether it's five minutes or five hours.
You don’t want to be a bonafied, 100% success. Because you will be if that’s what you truly want.
WE are the champions. Freddie Mercury sang those words back in 1977 (see below). Since then the song has become an anthem of sorts and it certainly applies here! If you need any assistance "championing" your marketing endeavors, you’re welcome to visit our website, or say hello on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Okay, there are many things that could be classified as a no no when posting or tweeting. If I listed them all in one neat place, maybe you'd spend five seconds looking at the list and perhaps you'd absorb one or two on the list. Makes more sense to give you just ONE instead. So, here we go. If you are the proud owner or administrator of multiple accounts, don't do this:
Yes, it’s not one, not two, but THREE tweets at the same time. And yes, I heard your question: “Why not?” While I could give you a lengthy boring list, here are just a few items that come to mind:
It’s spammy.
It looks bad, plain and simple.
You run the risk of being unfollowed because you look bad!
It’s confusing to your tweeps.
It doesn't demonstrate professionalism thus potentially harming your reputation.
Enough. You get the idea. And for the record, I had no desire to click on the link on these tweets! If you MUST tweet your message out several times using several different accounts (note this surely applies to two accounts and multiple posting on any given social network), DO use a tool such as HootSuite so that you can easily space out the tweets or posts! Ironically, the example above shows an incorrect way to use HootSuite!
Or, use your egg timer to post or tweet “live” at different intervals! Just kidding. In the 70’s Grand Frank Railroad sang about bad timing (see below). Okay, they were singing about romance, however we think you’ll just love our offerings and you’re welcome to visit our website, or say hello on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
A friend posted today on Facebook. He was rather perturbed. Someone, a “friend” of his on Facebook was reaching out and attempting to friend a bunch of his friends! This happened to me a while back, both on Facebook and also LinkedIn, where a former co-worker thought it was “okay” to start connecting to folks I know at market research companies that I have had a long standing relationship with. One connection contacted me and said “Who IS this guy?”, then I heard from another with a similar inquiry. I put a stop to that right away. And another funny occurrence. I noticed a Facebook friend, Ellen (not her real name), had broken off with her fiancé. I had never met her X nor was I friends with him. About a week after the breakup I received a friend request and later found that the X was reaching out to many of Ellen’s female friends. He was going through Ellen's friend list! Needless to say, I didn’t friend back. Creepy! Once thing is certain; there’s lots of good reasons to hide your friend list from your friends. Facebook’s default is to show all your friends. Perhaps this is an effort in good faith to let people that know each other connect, and hey, that may be perfectly okay for you if your desire is to max out at 5,000 friends as soon as possible! Some of us prefer staying under the radar though. So here’s how you can make that change:
Go to your wall, or profile page, or whatever you want to call it.
Click on “Friends” just under your cover art, in that row of options in blue.
Click the edit button (see pic below)
Select Edit Privacy (we'll get to Edit Sections later). Two options in there.
The first section is Friend Lists. Click on the drop down on the right.
Now you get to choose an option! Public, Friends, Only Me, Custom, or any lists you’ve created. Setting to Only Me will hide your friend’s list with the exception of the mutual friends you have in common; they’ll still be visible.
The second section is Following. This is where you control whether or not you want people to see that you are following a particular person (if they are a more “public” person you can follow instead of friend) or any lists that you’re following. Edit Sections will bring a long list of items; these are the things you can choose to show or not to show on your wall, including Instagram pics, Pinterest pins, and likes in catagories such as books, games, TV show, movies. It may be a great time to hide all those old “notes”, like the 25 songs chosen at random from your ipod or how many states you visited; remember those? Now that your friends are “secret” we know that The Go-Go’s won’t tell a soul (see video below). And our lips are sealed when we conduct custom marketing for your business; being ethical is a given. Stop by our our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
I was recently pulled into a group on Facebook; the primary intention is to get more “likes” for the pages of small business owners. We'll all “like” each other’s pages and then we'll have lots of fans! Would you believe that I don't want your “likes”? It’s true. I don't need fans that are never going to pay any attention to what I have to say. What’s the point? So go ahead and “like” a bunch of pages that you have no interest in and get back a lot of empty “likes” in return. The ratio between “likes” and “talking about this” for your page will deteriorate even further. Is that what you want? A long time ago I read that the average “talking about this” was around 3% to 4%. That’s pitiful! Facebook doesn't make it easier since they only show your page to a very low percentage of fans. Who do you really want to “like” your page? Think about it:
People who have a genuine interest in your product or service
People who will engage with your posts
People that fit your demographic target
Of course you know all that already; it’s in your marketing plan! What? No marketing plan. Okay perhaps it is time to write one! Oh and for the record I'll stick with the Facebook group. It was created by a friend. I'm hoping to turn things around in there a bit and have people share their social media issues, frustrations, and questions and have intelligent discussions instead. Sadly, it appears to have turned into a sales bulletin board "buy my cupcakes!" "I make handicrafts" etc. No people, this is not what it's all about about! Dan Fogelberg sang about plans back in the 70’s (see below); how are your plans going? If you need any assistance with your strategic plans and marketing needs, stop by our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. There's no obligation to "like", "follow", or "+1".
Recently saw an article about DKNY using photos without permission. Perhaps it was an honest mistake; who knows? They offered a street photographer $15,000 for use of 300 photos. The offer was turned down in hopes for more money. However, DKNY had been using the photos internally "for inspiration". A few leaked out and wound up in a display at a store in Bangkok. DKNY made a public statement and pledged $25,000 to the YMCA. A noble gesture. However, if they would have offered the photographer a more reasonable price for the photos in the first place, this never would have happened! On my Facebook Groovy Reflections page some time ago, we posted a picture of teen girls at a high school gym class in the early 1960's. This photo brought a lot of discussion because of the uniforms the girls wore. So much so, that several months later, we decided to post the photo again. We used a viewer, Jeffrey’s Exif, to check the copyright of the photo before using it. There was none. However, this time when the photo was posted we heard from the photographer and he was not happy! He told us that he does put a copyright in the photo information. And yes, it’s possible to strip that information from a photo. We provided our source to him so that he could inform them of the misuse. About a year ago, I was contacted by Huffington Post; they wanted to use one of my photos showing advertising on a banana that they found in a blog I wrote. They ultimately decided not to use the photo; however, I was happy to grant them permission. I had used that photo for an article about finding advertising in odd places. For the record, I rarely use photos I find on the web and if I do, I credit them if there is any manner of copyright, though it’s unlikely I would use them at all in that case. My photo library of original material has thousands of photos in it and there’s no issues there. Most of the time, I put a watermark on them; it’s highly unlikely that someone will crop it or remove it. From time to time I take photos of pictures that are in out of print books. A favorite is a Vogue 1960’s coffee table book. Besides my watermark I add the source of the photo; just to play it safe! Likewise with catalogs; I own several vintage Sears catalogs. You know, the "bricks" with hundreds of pages that shows how we lived in the Sixties, what we wore, what our appliance looked like, and the furniture in our homes. Interestingly enough, Sears started following the Groovy Reflections Pinterest board on Sears fashions! If I'm misusing those photos in any way Sears, let me know, okay? I certainly hope you feel that this is a positive extension to your brand! In closing, take caution when using photos. As you read in my personal example, it’s easy to make a mistake! And to the corporations: Give the photographer what he or she deserves! Photography is an art and capturing that moment in the highest quality and at the best angle involves hard work and talent! The Clash had a successful cover version of a reggae tune back in the late 70's that spoke of authority and those who steal (see below). Don't get robbed by an "expert" marketer; for honest, experienced marketing visit our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Ever feel like your social media efforts are weighing you down? I sure do! So I thought up a way to make some changes. Just created a little spreadsheet starting with a list of all the social media accounts that I have, both personal and for business, and the list includes just the ones that are active. The count? Eleven major social networks with 15 business accounts and 7 personal ones. The personal accounts may be related to my businesses to some degree but only slightly (say less than 20%). That’s a LOT of accounts to handle! No; wait a minute! It is insanity! And it explains why my days get bogged down at times. Putting it “in writing” brought things into focus.
A big thumbs down! Ah, but a spreadsheet is really useless without data. A list has been created and nothing more. A little birdie tells me that I've been checking these accounts all too often because they’re checked on a whim; kind of like an “ooh ah! I haven’t checked that one in a while!” Need to add some structure! Time to put in some columns. How ‘bout times of the day? I put them in intervals of 2 hours, starting with 7AM …on second thought, I snuck in 8AM too since I tend to do a lot of “busy” stuff in the morning. And for good measure, 12PM is now there too. Started using the spreadsheet today. A couple weeks from now when there's enough data: Analysis! Will it eventually show patterns and and where there’s too much time being spent, or perhaps not enough? The good news is that not all social networks need my attention on a daily basis, such as Pinterest. However, it’s there on the sheet as a reminder not to forget it; it is important that I pin my blogs there as well and also see what other people have pinned, however, it just can’t be every day! See, I'm already prioritizing before even getting started: Mindset! This little “experiment” is going to pan out. While I feel like I'm twiddling my thumbs, I know that’s not actually true and now there will be evidence of how much work is involved with social media upkeep. How ‘bout you? Would you try something like this? The Rolling Stones sang about something we all want to have better control of (see below). If you need better control of your time spent marketing, let us help you with your strategy. Stop by our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Note: Click here for Part one. Randy’s still not having a good time on Facebook; he can’t find his friends! Facebook uses an algorithm called “Edge Rank” where they decide what you will see from your friends. Is it fair? Certainly not. However, there’s ways you can get around it before your friends start thinking you are ignoring them. If you want to see a particular friend's posts there's a few ways to do it:
Go to your BFF’s wall and hover over "friends", then select "close friend". They’ve now earned a gold star from you (however they won’t know that). You will receive notifications when they post and they’ll also be part of a group of friends that you can custom post too (like a list).
Hovering over “friends” again you’ll see lots of other options as well:
Click on “Get Notifications”. Then you’ll know when that friend posts via a notification. Note: If you don't click on the notifications for a friend for a while, Facebook may send you a message to let you know they're shutting off those notifications!
Who needs the newsfeed, anyway? Well some folks do rely on newsfeed, so here’s how you can make changes to reflect what you want to see from your friends. DO keep in mind that you'll have to go to each friend’s wall to make the changes. If you have a lot of friends, maybe just make changes for a few per day. And if you don’t want to go crazy with notifications; just below “Get Notifications” there’s “Show in Newsfeed”. That can be clicked on or off. More importantly is what’s below it, “Settings”. Click on that and choose the options for what you’d like to see from that friend in your newsfeed; the level of posts you want to see as well as the type of posts you’d like to see. Of course, emphasizing some people means that Facebook will show you less from your other friends. Choose wisely and don’t forget anyone! One has to wonder: Why can’t Facebook just let us see ALL the posts from all our friends? Anyway, Randy’s happier on Facebook now. He put himself in control of his Facebook experience and is now busy engaging with all his friends that he missed! Conclusion: Facebook does not have to be boring! Long before Randy lamented about where his friends might have gone, Chicago was searching for something as well in this hit from the 1970’s (see below). Search no more for your marketing needs! Visit us on our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
A friend posted this on Facebook: “It seems that I find myself going to bed earlier each night. It's not from being tired, it is from being bored. Ciao people, be good, play nice.” I immediately commented to him: “You are bored?” His reply: “…FB at times does get repetitive in so far as it’s the same thing different day.” Randy (not his real name) hops on Facebook after work. He sees post after post of cute kittens, music videos, excessive whining, and pretty scenery. The bulk of the photo and video posts are unoriginal and many of his friends don't even include any commentary to personalize it. Oh! And the pages that Randy is a fan of? What about the posts there? Well, first of all, he only sees a small percentage of posts from pages. Why? Because that’s the way Facebook works; they want businesses to pay to reach people who have liked their page! You knew that already. Randy needs to take more control of his Facebook experience. We'll discuss friends in part 2. This go round we'll focus on pages. If Randy wants to see posts from his favorite pages there are two ways to do so.
Go to that page and like and comment on a few posts. Facebook will recognize the interest (hopefully) and will start showing posts from that page to him in his newsfeed. As long as he keeps interacting, he’ll see the posts. Of course, it’s unclear as to how much interaction is required to make this happen. Here’s what I found: There’s several pages that show up in my newsfeeds currently. I like posts for any particular page maybe once or twice a day and sometimes add a comment as well.
The second option: Go to that page and click on the little blue down arrow to the right of the cog (which is to the right of the message button in the upper right of the page below the cover art). From there you can create an interest list.
It’s an underutilized tool. In a nutshell, you can create a list of what you'd like to keep tabs on based on an interest (perhaps you are a foodie and dig chocolate desserts?) or you could create a list of your favorite pages! The majority of posts from that page will show up in your newsfeed; easy! Viewing this from another angle, those businesses that are trying to reach you through the wall that Facebook has put up between you and them will truly appreciate your engagement on their page, especially those small businesses that really don't stand a chance with Facebook’s algorithms. And a note to the small businesses who are trying to find an audience on Facebook. Google+ comes with no shenanigans. John Mellencamp sang about crumbling walls (see below). One can only hope that Facebook will let those walls come a tumblin’ and a crumblin’! Don't tumble while juggling social media! stop by our website, or visit us on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
The temperature is climbing; it hit 99 here yesterday and felt like a blast from a furnace. The norm is between 57 and 76 for May. Some ice cold root beer could be refreshing, however, I'll opt for water; lots of it! Some good news: As the temperature climbed, so did the level of creativity! It’s in all of us; it’s playful, fun and insightful. You gain insight into yourself and reveal your expressive self when you share that creativity with others. For us folks that were mainly utilizing the left brain assets for many years there’s a feeling of guilt that pangs up now and again, along the lines of “this is too much fun so it can't possibly be work.” Bah! Well, I've got right brain fever. It started last night when I remembered a photo I had taken a few days ago of a Victorian house; actually just the roofline of the house. I turned the camera so that the photo would be angled in an unusual way. Then I thought of the word spired …kind of like inspired. Here was the result:
And that was just the warm up. Took a short walk this morning in the warm sunshine just before the temps rose to where you could fry an egg on the concrete! And what did I see? Lots of things: Peaches, gardens, a house being tented for termites, interesting cracks in the sidewalk, and a low wall with flowers growing beneath it.
I even took some photos of grass, freshly wet from sprinklers doing their daily job.
And for nearly every photo taken I thought of a use for it! Many will wind up on Facebook; some will wind up on my personal profile, others on Groovy Reflections, and others on ModlandUSA. A portion of them will be on Google+, Twitter, and Pinterest too. Fever pitch: The possibilities are endless! It is okay to be creative. Incorporate what you see into your everyday work. Share it; it’s a part of you and a part of how people see you both professionally and personally. No doubt Southside Johnny had a fever when he sang this tune and Bruce Springsteen might have been feverish when he wrote it (see below)! If you need to have your marketing heated up, stop by our website, or visit us on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Do you sometimes feel that you're over promoting your product or service on various social networks to the point that you're putting your fan base at risk? 
