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Welcome To My Den
This is the new, improved and reincarnated Dunn's Den. This blog is about marketing, advertising, social media and the goings on in my local community; from MY VIEW!
I look forward to connecting with you!
Does your company have a Social Media Strategy? If so, you are in the minority. Unfortunately, most companies start out using social media with out having a clear plan as to what they want to accomplish.
Tactics over ride strategy and frustration quickly ensues. How many hours have you spent working in social media and not see the pay off in your bottom line?
If you are frustrated and not seeing results, this video will help you. If you have any questions please feel free to email me. I look forward to your responses!
I don’t know about you, but I am constantly amazed at the number of “Social Media Experts” out there. I know, I know, I have written about this in the past and you probably don’t wan’t me to beat a dead horse.
So I will not! Instead, I will talk about a new Facebook policy and why experience does matter.
The other day Facebook delivered a new policy to all you fan/like page/b.s. page owners. In a nutshell, the new rule is: You have to have 10,000 fans on your page or an account rep to select your custom FBML pages, the elements of custom landing pages, to open when someone clicks on your facebook profile. If you would like to see the post, click on the highlighted Facebook and it will take you to there.
Why is this new policy potentially damaging to all but the big boys? Simple. How many fans does your page have right now? Well Scott I actually have under 10,000 fans but I will call Facebook and get an account rep assigned to me and go on my merry way. Really? Not so fast. Currently, to have an account rep assigned to you from Facebook you must spend approximately $200,000.00 per year. See where I am going with this?
So why does experience matter in social media? Here is why. We have gone through every change with Facebook since the beginning. How many of the so-called experts pulled all nighters to secure a custom url? How many of them navigated through the roadblocks called change when fan pages usurped groups? How many of them have gone through multiple design lay out changes? I can tell you from talking with them, not very many.
How does this new Facebook policy affect our clients? Not at all. Did I say not at all? From the beginning, we found alternate solutions to fan pages. We realized early on that fan pages were created by Facebook to make money, not necessarily to help business owners.
Now don’t get me wrong. Did we come under fire from the “Social Media Experts”? You better believe it. (And now the so called experts are scratching their head trying to figure out their next move. Don’t worry Facebook will tell them.) Did our clients call us up daily asking why we did not create a fan page for them because they were told by an employee Facebook says this is the correct way? YES!! Did it cost us a few accounts along the way? It sure did.
Anyway, back to experience. Yes experience plays a huge role in any decision-making process, but critical thinking plays an even larger role. Oh yeah and so does courage. The courage to stand for what you believe. Social Media is still in its infancy. Just because the “experts” say this is the way things must be done, this is not always the case.
Stop right now and think about your social media strategy. Are the so called experts driving the results you want? Are they even aware of the changes Facebook made? What impact have they made on your company?
Success in business is about standing out, not fitting in. Definitely and repeatedly that applies in the social media field as well!
Another milestone in social media has been reached. No, it is not that Facebook added a gazillion people in a month. It is that You Tube is turning five years old.
As everyone who comes in contact with me knows, social media is the biggest game changer since the development of the printing press. Finally, software programs allow people around the world the ability to leverage the power of the internet to connect and communicate globally. Without this software, you would still be interacting on the internet in chat rooms and on message boards typing away frantically trying to communicate in one dimension with people in those groups.
With social media, you are now able to communicate across multiple mediums and share your thoughts, emotions or ideas with text, pictures and video. Of the three, video in my opinion is the most powerful. No other medium allows a person or a business to build “Know, Like and Trust” faster than video. None!
Which brings us to You Tube. As early adaptors to You Tube (yes, we actually shot video on tape, not SD cards and not in HD), we quickly realized the power of making a video and having the ability to share it with the world. Anyone with a video camera could share their creation and become an overnight star, without the need for Hollywood. David can now compete with Goliath and win.
Thank you to our clients who early on trusted us to film their business and create channels. We appreciate your faith in us. Also, thank you to those clients whom we dragged kicking and screaming into the video world. Sometimes being an early adaptor is hard, yet fun and rewarding.
I would also like to thank You Tube. You pushed us, willingly, in new directions. Both creatively (we could shoot more than just a 30 second spot) and in the use of social media. You allowed us to connect to people globally through video and interact in revolutionary ways.
To promote their five-year anniversary, You Tube set up a channel. I would highly recommend taking a few minutes to watch some of the “ordinary” people around the global talk about their “You Tube Story”. I am sure you will be as amazed about some of them as I am.
Congrats You Tube (and Google for buying them)! We look forward to the next five years.
To post your “You Tube Story” or to view the stories of others click this link: You Tube Five Year
Being an agency gives us the opportunity to work on a myriad of projects and allows our creative process to flow. As anyone in the advertising business knows, you live and die by the creative your team produces. That marrying your creative to your clients comfort zone can be the most challenging aspect of the whole process.
Very rare indeed does the phone ring and a client truly give you full creative control on a project.
A couple of weeks ago my phone rang and such an opportunity presented itself.
What you see below is a compilation of three days of ”running and gunning” at Emory Johns Creek Hospital. Our team had full creative control of the project and to be candid with you more hours of video than we new what to do with. This, in my opinion, is what every agency lives for…The ability to create something from nothing and have your client excited they hired you!
The project scope was this: Create a video that show cases the employees at Emory Johns Creek Hospital “having fun on the job”, enter the video in the Purple Glove Dance and win. So far, we have accomplished the first two and are still working on the later.
Thank you Emory Johns Creek Hospital for the opportunity to produce this video and the latitude you gave us in your hospital. We hope you and your staff had as much fun as we did during our three days of shooting.
95% of new media users believe companies or brands should have a social media presence.
89% believe that they should interact with their consumers in this space.
If you have to ask whether or not you or your company should be engaged in social media, go back and read the two statistics above.
Your customers and prospects are telling you that they want you or your brand to have a LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other types of social accounts. They are also telling you that they want you to engage in conversations with them.
One of the questions I get asked by business owners often is “why would someone want to connect, follow, or friend ‘my company’, ‘my brand’, ‘my product’, etc.? People using your product or service already have some level of attachment to it. Social media just allows them to have a deeper attachment. If they have a question, a comment, or a concern they like that they can reach out and communicate that message directly.
One of our client’s is Copeland’s New Orleans Style restaurants. Here are some comments from people that follow Copeland’s on Twitter:
“Going to enjoy some bow-tie pasta spinach artichoke dip @CopelandsATL with the in-laws. Oh yeah!”
“Chillin’ at @CopelandsATL with @MissTikiBaby for drinks and desserts White Russian and White Chocolate Bread Pudding #dying”
“Hands downs @CopelandsATL has the best brunch!!!”
“@CopelandsATL I’ve had the fried crawfish its great. Goes great w/ a cheesecake Napoleon w/ the rum sauce/ pralines”
Some from Facebook
“We LOVE Copeland’s. And we love our Saints!! Come on North Cobb County. Let’s get a great crowd to show up for Superbowl Sunday for the Saint’s WIN! ?I want to be with a huge group of fans at the Kennesaw Copeland’s, watching on the big screen, eating some great food like shrimp and grits!”
There are more comments, tweets, retweets, photos posted …all from people who want to share their experience with a restaurant. I’ve seen similar results with Political Candidates, Business Coaches, Insurance Brokers, Chiropractors, and a number of other businesses.
People want to be heard and if you make the effort to engage them in the social networks where they interact, they’ll talk. Often what they say will be positive thoughts and opinions about your business.
I’ll end this with two more statistics that I think are relevant.
51% of respondents saying that social media has influenced their online transactions.
78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
These two statistics reinforce the value of others posting positive messages about your company and how that can impact the purchase decisions of others.
If you’re still wondering if you and your company can benefit from social media, then I’m not sure what I can say that says it better than the statistics above. Its not so much a question of can it work but more a question of how are your going to make it work.
It seems like yesterday, when I would bring up ideas like You Tube, Facebook, Podcasting or Blogging to a client and get laughed out (read thrown out) of their office. Why you ask? Simple…Social Media is a fad. After all Scott my high school kid is on facebook so it can not be used as a business tool and besides I don’t even know what You Tube is. Lets buy a billboard.
Now everywhere I turn I am asked to follow a company on twitter, facebook, linkedin or you tube. It seems this whole socail media thing might have caught on…or not! Am I saying that social media is the end all cure all for your business advertising and marketing problems? NO I am not. As I have been writing for the last few years, social media is nothing more than a way for you to connect to your target market and build relationships.
Some of you have grasped that simple concept and are carrying your brand forward, while others of you are still struggling with your “Old School” tactics. Anyway, this post is not about social media and should your business use it. This blog is a video on social media being a fad or the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution. (By the way, I am always amazed at how many people have not seen this video.) If you are still on the fence, take a couple of minutes and watch this video.
As you work towards monetizing LinkedIn we’d like to offer some tools to help you work more effectively.
Non-LinkedIn Tools
LinkedIn Presence Scoring Tool
Ever wondered how your LinkedIn efforts compare to the average user. The Linkulator grades your LinkedIn activity on a scale from 0 to 100, and shows you the average score among those who have graded their profile. The results also include tips on what you can do to improve your score and presence.
Google Alerts to Track Topics
This isn’t a LinkedIn tool but it can be used to track LinkedIn related information. Set up a Google Alert to track LinkedIn related topics to keep up to date with changes and information about LinkedIn.
Xobni Email Plugin
This Outlook plugin opens a summary window that displays information on each email sender and how you connect to that person.
LinkedIn Tools:
Outlook Toolbar
The Outlook toolbar is an excellent way to have full-time access to your LinkedIn contacts and information even when you are not on the LinkedIn Web site. The tool integrates your LinkedIn data with Outlook, provider you instant access to en email sender’s profile.
Browser Toolbars (IE & Firefox)
The LinkedIn Browser Toolbar allows you to directly access LinkedIn, it allows you to search from anywhere, and also get the scoop on inside job connections. With easy one-click access to LinkedIn, you can easily see the LinkedIn profiles of everyone sending you Web mail.
Jobs Insider
The Jobs Insider comes with the LinkedIn Browser toolbar. With it you can see how you connect into a job listing and see how you are connected to the position. The tool works with Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, Craigslist, SimplyHired, Dice, or Vault
You can request an introduction to the hiring manager, get your resume to the right person, or find out more about the company
LinkedIn Answers & RSS Feeds
Track topics based on keywords and categories in LinkedIn Answers to review and respond to questions posed by other LinkedIn members. When you look at a category on the right side at the bottom of the Browse box is a text link to “Subscribe to new questions in” whichever category you are currently viewing.
LinkedIn Widgets
Company Insider
Let your users discover how they are connected to companies on your site. You pass a company name and we’ll show how many people the user knows and a few sample names. This widget works great for news sites and blogs, letting readers connect to people at companies you mention. It also works well on jobs sites where job seekers can see who they know at hiring companies. Use it anywhere to inject professional networking into your site.
Profile
Show LinkedIn profiles on your blog, website, or application. The Profile widget shows the public profile of anyone in LinkedIn. Use it to show your own profile on your blog or website. Or use it in your business application to show profiles of people. The Profile widget takes a Public Profile URL and shows the public profile for that person. Your users can then click through to see the full LinkedIn profile page, including how they may be related and communication options.
Share on LinkedIn
Add a Share on LinkedIn link to your website or blog allowing your users to share your content with their LinkedIn connections or networks. This gives your content legs: one user visits your site and can notify literally tens, hundreds, or thousands of others. Works great for news sites, blogs, and other content rich sites.
I would also consider the various LinkedIn applications tools as well. Down the road I’ll add a post reviewing these but for now you can access them from the LinkedIn site.
Which tools have you found useful? And what are some LinkedIn tools that I missed that you think everyone should know about?
Most people are familiar with the basic features of LinkedIn such as connecting, groups, answers, applications, etc. There are some cool features that often get missed by the average user. Here we look at five under-utilized tricks you may not be familiar with.
One of the benefits of writing a book (in my case two books which were released on June 1st) is that you reacquaint yourself with some features that are not always top of mind. These five feature won’t make or break your LinkedIn experience but they are useful. Drum roll please…
Add a You Tube Video to Your Profile
You can do this with either Slideshare or Google Presentation. My perspective was that Google Presentation was a little faster, but you should try both to see what works for you.
Here is how you would add a video using Google Presentation:
~Add the Google Presentation application
~Go into Google Docs and create a new presentation
~Click on Insert (top link) and click on Video
~Search for your video on YouTube and choose your video
~Click on File (top link) and choose Rename – rename your presentation
~Go back into Google Presentation from your Profile
~Click on your video and Post to Profile
When the slide show is clicked the video will play.
Create an Email Signature on LinkedIn
You can use LinkedIn’s Email Signature Tool to add a LinkedIn signature to your Outlook (2003, 2002 XP, and 2000), Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Yahoo email accounts.
To create your signature do the following:
1. At the bottom of each LinkedIn page there are three rows of text links. Click on ‘Overview’ at the bottom of your home page in the ‘Tools’ row.
2. Click on the ‘Try it Now’ button in the ‘Email signature’ area at the bottom of the ‘LinkedIn Tools Overview’ page.
Once you fill in the information you would like to include click the text link “Click here for instructions”. This will open up a pop up window with the html code and instructions.
Customize your Search Views
When you conduct a people search or a Group member search you get a list of the results. At the top is a drop down to choose how to view the results. You can choose Basic, Extended, or Create a New View. Choosing the New View opens a pop up window that allows you to include what you would like in your view.
This is a Premium feature that is available for a time to all types of accounts. Use it while you can and don’t be surprised if one day it disappears if you have a free account. LinkedIn wants to suck you in and once enough people use it, it will become a carrot to get you to upgrade to a paid account
Have new questions emailed to you based on a topic
Track topics based on keywords and categories in LinkedIn Answers to review and respond to questions posed by other LinkedIn members. When you look at a category on the right side at the bottom of the Browse box is a text link to “Subscribe to new questions in” whichever category you are currently viewing.
Add Personal Contact Information to your profile
At the bottom of your Profile Edit page is a space to include the following information:
~Phone number
~Instant Messaging ID
~Address
~Birthday
~Marital Status – do I see an eHarmony tie in coming down the road?
There a lot more relevant information that LinkedIn should allow you to share so let’s hope they expand this down the road.
I look forward to your comments and connecting with you! If you need help with your social media strategies or tactics feel free to visit our website or give us a call. SONARconnects helps businesses leverage social media to create communities, build trust and connect with their target markets.
Also, I would like to thank Sean Nelson from SONARconnects for his time, energy and input on this post!
I often write about things you should do on LinkedIn to maximize your effectiveness. Today we’re going to look at the other side of the equation…the mistakes. The five mistakes listed here are related to your ability to eventually monetize LinkedIn.
1. Not Having a Purpose or Not Understanding Why You Are On LinkedIn
Quite simply if you don’t know the answer to this question then how do you know what actions you should be taking on LinkedIn? There are numerous reasons to be on LinkedIn and you may have several. The actions you take should be done to support your purpose.
My ultimate goal is to grow my business (make money) so I focus on growing my networks and communicating my message as often as possible. Because I know my purpose, have determined what actions support this purpose, and implement my strategy on an ongoing basis, I have been successful in developing new business clients.
Action Steps:
Write down the top 3 reasons why you are on LinkedIn
Determine what actions will support each reason
2. Failure to Participate
There are 41 million people on LinkedIn and a large majority does not interact with others on a consistent basis. This is a direct result of mistake number one. Without understanding your purpose you can’t know which actions to take that will produce a positive outcome.
There are only so many hours in a day and people tend to repeat what works. Social media marketing rarely provides quick results. Most often success is built over time only after people get to know you, like you, and trust you. You have to have the patience to continue participating when you’re not seeing the results.
There are no guarantees that your efforts will produce results, but if you do not participate consistently, I guarantee that you will not find success.
I spent almost a year providing value and interacting before I started seeing results.Now I can count on several inquiries each week from potential client’s looking to engage my services.
Action Steps
Commit to taking action on a weekly basis
Schedule these activities
Post them next to your computer or in your electronic calendar
3. Presenting an Incomplete Picture
On LinkedIn people get to know you through being connected, belonging to common groups, the information your share, and your profile. People want to look at your profile and have a clear understanding of who you are and how you might be of service to them.
If you don’t provide enough information for them to know those two pieces they are unlikely to go looking for the information. You need to make sure you have a detailed profile. You need to include a professional photo. You need to have links to your websites, blogs, etc.
If you’ve been fortunate enough to get them to view your profile, you’ve accomplished the hardest part. It would seem a shame to lose them for simply failing to provide enough information.
Action Steps
Look at 20 profiles to see how others are presenting themselves
Spend an hour each month working on your profile
Personalize your profile–add keywords, personalize your public URL, and Change your Web URL’s to the name (go to edit and choose “Other”)
Look at the LinkedIn application to see which make sense to add
4. Not Sharing Information or Providing Value
Mistake number three is about people getting to know you. Number four is all about getting people to like you. It’s a simple fact: If you provide value to others without asking for something in return people will start to like you.
The quickest way to generate goodwill on LinkedIn is to provide value to others.Directly this might be responding to a connection or introduction request. You can also build goodwill by providing thoughtful responses to questions in Answers and in group discussion posts. Another great way to provide value to others is through writing recommendations for those who have provide great service or assistance to you.
Everything you do on LinkedIn either adds to or subtracts from your online brand so make sure you put some thought into what you say. Participate consistently and you’ll notice that your profile visits increase and people will start interacting with you.
Action steps
Find at least two connections to introduce each week.
Answer at least three questions each week
Identify connections that deserve a recommendation and write it. Try to find at least 15 people to recommend. Make sure these are 15 people that deserve it.If you can’t find 15 now, build this up over time
Failure to Build Credibility
By addressing the previous four mistakes you will have reached a point where people know and like you. You may have even started to build some credibility. There are six ways that I document to build your credibility. These include:
A. Your Profile: first impressions count.
B. Answers: In number four we addresses answers from the perspective of providing value. This is also a great way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. Whenever you answer a question it is available for anyone on LinkedIn to view. Your Direct connections are also notified that you answered a question on their Home page.
C. Recommendations: Nothing beats having another sing your praises. I have found that my client recommendations have been a huge part of building my online brand.
D. Your connections: Who you are connected to can have an impact. When I seek to connect to others I will often reference a common connection in the invitation.
E. Your Groups: With groups you have something in common with fellow members. I reference common groups in invitation requests as well.
F. Providing Value: This will help others grow to like you but it also is very helpful in building your credibility.
Action Steps
a. Answer at least three questions each week in your field of expertise
b. Try to get 10 recommendations. You can request recommendations but only do so from people you know that you have provided great service or help to. If you don’t have 10, keep providing great service and you’ll get there. When you do, join The “Top Recommended People” group on LinkedIn.
c. Grow your connections based on your connection strategy
d. If you don’t belong to 50 groups find 50 that are relevant and join.
e. Seek out every opportunity to help others.
Wrap Up
There are many other LinkedIn mistakes I could mention including avoiding typos, having multiple accounts, etc. These 5 though are fundamental mistakes that will impact your ability to monetize LinkedIn.
I’m a firm believer that the true value in LinkedIn as a vehicle to add to your bottom line. You may have joined to network, to find a job, or to advance your career…all are great reasons… and all that at the end of the day are about monetization.
It’s OK to be on LinkedIn to make more money. It’s what will keep you coming back and participating, which in the end helps every other person on LinkedIn.
I recently was asked to speak at a workshop on LinkedIn by a connection of mine. A week or so prior to the event I received an email from her to use to promote the event. The description headline stopped me in my tracks…”Sean Nelson the King of LinkedIn”
It took me about two seconds to fire off an email telling her to ditch the royal reference ASAP. A lot of people would call me an expert on LinkedIn, its their opinion so they can think or say what they like. I have a different different way of describing what I am. “I’m simply a small business owner that learned how to use LinkedIn and Social networking / media in order to network more efficiently and to drive new business.”
The word “expert” is thrown around way too often these days with little to back up the claim. What does a LinkedIn expert look like? How do you determine that they are an expert? The same goes for “social networking/media expert”.
I was looking at my home page the other day and noticed an updated profile for a connection of mine and someone I’ve known for the last couple of years. Curious about what changed I took a look at his profile and immediately noticed that after years in another field he was now a social media expert.
Now anyone can learn a lot about social media and be seen as an expert or extremely knowledgeable even if they’re not in the marketing or advertising field. I’m a prime example of that. I learned LinkedIn and social networking/media through trial and error trying to drive business for my insurance agency.
In this case the person had attended a couple of my LinkedIn workshops, a few other social media workshops, and was partnering with a company jumping from Google Adwords to social media. It takes more than attending a couple of workshops and working in the industry to be an expert.
So what is an expert and how do you determine if you’re one? Is it valid to claim that you are an expert or does that title have to be conferred upon you by another person? I’m not certain what the official definition is but here are some thoughts about what I think it takes to potentially be considered an expert:
Knowledge:
Without knowledge we’re not even having this discussion. You have to know the subject to claim expertise. But there’s a difference between knowing something and knowing how to use it effectively.
To be an expert you have to know both the strategies of your subject and the tactics to accomplish them. There are many people out there teaching others what LinkedIn is, not as many teaching people how to specifically use it to accomplish specific goals.
Be a Teacher:
Some might disagree with this one, but if you want to be an expert you have to not only know your subject but be able to communicate it to others so that they understand it. One of the interesting parts of conducting workshops is there is often a range of different experience levels in terms of using LinkedIn or social networking/media. Making sure each walks away with value is a challenge that requires understanding the subject from multiple perspectives.
Create not Regurgitate:
An expert is someone who takes the current discussion and advances it a couple of steps further down the road. They don’t simply repeat what they have heard or read. I think if you want to be considered an expert you have to bring a new perspective or approach to the table.
There are many people who are experts at conducting workshops on LinkedIn or social networking/media but they are not LinkedIn or social networking/media expert. You can still learn a lot from these people. Not being an expert isn’t a black mark; unless you’re not and you claim you are.
Put a Target on Your Back:
The final piece of the puzzle is that a LinkedIn or social networking/media expert needs to do is to publish their ideas for review, discussion, and disagreement. This might be done through a book, a blog, or other media. The key is that they are staking a claim and giving others an opportunity to dissect their ideas.
Wrap Up
So back to the original question…”What is a LinkedIn or Social Networking/Media expert?” Who cares. It’s not about what you say you are it’s about those who have relied upon your information and expertise say.
To some I might be an expert. To others not. My perspective is that I’m simply a small business person that began learning to use social networking/media to make money. What I’ve been able to learn simply now is a knowledge base to help other’s do the same.
In boxing, Ali was an expert and one of, if not the greatest. How would you define a Social Networking/Media expert?
SONARconnects is a full service advertising and marketing agency. We help our client’s by showing them how to develop strategies and tactics to build communities of people, communicate their message, and monetize their social networking/media presence. Our client’s includeLenny’s Sub Shop, Copeland’s New Orleans Style Restaurant (ATL), Action Business Coaching (ATL), Aussie Pet Mobile (ATL), The Frederick Group, and MyCustomDay.
If you’re struggling to understand how to use social networking/media to build brand awareness and drive new business call us and join the conversation or visit our site: sonarconnects
