Reevaluating Social Media
One of the most common things I hear when meeting with business owners about their past social media efforts is, “It just didn’t work for me.” That always leads to a familiar conversation about goals. “What were the goals of your social media?” “How did you set out to reach those goals?” The wording may be different from person to person, but usually the answer they give reveals to me why “it” didn’t work for them. The “it” often falls into one of two categories: Either their goals were unrealistic, or Their methods went against the way social media works Every...
read moreEffective Media Buying in 2013
By Frankie Rodriquez Business owners will need to pay closer attention to how they handle media in 2013. Today’s business methods require owners to spend with the best return possible. Social media marketing (SMM) is becoming a more prominent player in brand marketing of most businesses by engaging the customer. If you want your business to keep up with industry trends, you are compelled to reach more people through the use of ever-increasing social media channels as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. The goal of successful media marketing is, of course, a return-on-investment...
read moreSocial Media – Is It Valuable?
If there is one thing that comes up repeatedly in working with clients in a variety of industries, it’s the question of “value.” However, this word is seldom used in these discussions. Words like ROI, cost per platform, time, expense – these are the words most frequently used. But at the heart of them another word is really at stake—“value”. Is there value in social media? That’s really what business owners are asking, whether they hire someone to manage their social media, seek out a consultant, or delegate the task of social media marketing to an existing employee who...
read moreSocial Media – Creating a Culture
“You gotta’ get your business on social media,” goes the opening line. Whether it comes from a social media marketing company or another charismatic business leader who’s found online success, you’re talked into a new “reality.” That reality tells you that if you just set up a Facebook or Twitter account for your business, the revenue will start rolling in. Overnight…Yesterday, in fact…And if you believe that, we’d love to show you some ocean-front property… Social media-generated revenue doesn’t happen overnight. In...
read moreSocial Holidays
Social media is great for marketing. We talk about that all of the time. But as we give thanks for our family and friends, we want to point out one of the more obvious benefits of social media. It’s social. At a time when so many families are spread out for work or military service, we often lose touch with those we love most. At the holidays, we plan big meals and special celebrations, but often only some of our family members are able to join us. So how do we stay connected to our own family and friends – to those who have shaped and transformed our lives in ways far too...
read moreSmall Business and Social Media
Every business should undergo the “do or die” syndrome more than once. It forces you to reassess your priorities, your core values, and your uniqueness. Why do folks do business with you? Why do you do business with them? These are questions that I have the privilege of asking on a regular basis since I have invested in myself and my company by working with a business coach. However, in this economy, more and more businesses are asking these questions out of an urgent nature. Will I be in business next month? Next year? Fast forward to a luncheon I attended today. I had the pleasure to...
read moreWebsite Down?
There is no question that having your website go down is a serious heart-stopper for the business owner. If you were one of the countless website affected by the GoDaddy hack today, you know what I’m talking about. We were one of those sites, and the temptation was to panic. Hours and hours of hard work on design, blog writing, graphics to enhance the site, etc., and it was all gone in an instant. So what’s a business owner to do? Well, it depends. The image and Tweet below are what we did. In a matter of a minute or two, the image below went out to all of our Twitter Followers, our...
read moreThe “One Thing” Rule About Social Media
There’s much to say about social media, whether you’re talking about using it, marketing with it, connecting with it, or all of the above. Recently, however, I was asked to sum up all that I would convey to others about social media into “one thing.” What would that one thing be – the one thing that I would want everyone to know about social media? Assuming that brevity is the point here, here’s how I would sum up “social media.” Pay Attention. Pay attention to what you post, what others are saying, or not saying by their robotic use of social...
read moreShould I Create a Facebook Page for My Business?
Today, a question was posed in a networking group that put me on my soapbox again. Essentially, the question was, “Should I create a Facebook page for my business if I don’t want to have to promote “Likes,” and I may not even update the page that often?” I realize I may be a bit more passionate about this than many, but here are some thoughts on this question. Short answer? Yes. You should. Long answer? Keep reading… Business pages on Facebook are public, not private. All of the content is open for viewing, unless the owner has added a “gate” to one of the secondary apps. The...
read moreCustomer Service Testimonials
Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage – I’m going to tell you a little story. This is a story of two teenagers on summer break, but it could have been any two people, anywhere. This story takes place in the Richmond, TX area, where there are three separate pizza delivery companies in a close proximity to the characters in this story. Everyone loves pizza right? This is a story of pizza and teenagers and customer service…Hang in there. I will get to the point, but you need to hear the full story. When you’re hungry, you’re hungry, right? If that happens at 9:30 at night, or...
read moreWhat is Social Media Day?
What is Social Media Day, and why should you care? If you’re reading this then in some way you’ve been affected by social media or social media management. Whether it’s Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Tumblr, Instagram, or any of the other platforms, we can undeniably state that social media has changed the world we live in. Many of us can tell stories to our children about the days before DVD’s (gasp!), or the by-gone era of having to stop the car at a payphone (oh, the horror!), but these stories will likely seem quaint and unbelievable. That’s because a world in...
read moreDoes Social Media Work?
Does social media work? That’s a common question, and to answer it, I’m going to “the Fab Four” for an analogy. In the same way that social media has transformed the way the world communicates, The Beatles transformed the industry of music. You cannot deny that because of social media communication happens differently than it used to. And likewise, you cannot deny the popularity or impact of The Beatle’s music, even if you weren’t a fan. So let’s look at the parallels, and see what we can learn about how social media works when it works well. The Beatles had four very dynamic...
read moreThe Core of Social Media
How well can you recite or explain your own core values in business? Do your staff members know them from a plaque on the wall or by experientially “doing” of business? These are important questions when it comes to social media for one simple reason. Social media is the most obvious and “loud” place to demonstrate your core values for your customers, clients, and prospects, and it’s the test of your own staff’s understanding of your mission. Through social media, businesses have the opportunity to “practice what they preach” around the clock. Through social media, customers...
read moreHave You Swallowed the Social Media Happy Pill?
There are no quick fixes with social media marketing. There are no secret formulas or magic pills that will make it so. Ignore the rumors or the scams, and know this…Social media marketing takes time and energy. So, before you launch a social media campaign, or create a lot of pretty pages and profiles, ask yourself the following questions: Am I certain of my goals for social media? Are my goals possible with social media? Do I have the staff to implement the daily attention to these goals? Do I have a process for interactions across social media channels? How will I maintain a single...
read moreWhat’s App-ening?
Business marketers beware…The Facebook game has changed with Timeline for Pages, and it’s all about the app! Wait, back up, it’s all about the placement of the app. No wait, it’s all about the purpose of the app. Scratch that, it’s all about the place the app takes the visitor. Hold on – Let’s start over… Do you have a Facebook strategy? Is there a reason you’re using Facebook for business? Start there. Why you are using Facebook for your business is even more important now. Are you creating community? Sharing ideas? Trying to make money? Handling customer service?...
read moreSocial Media-A Bird’s Eye View
You probably got into your business because you had a passion for a particular thing, not necessarily a desire to do everything in your business. You are probably pretty good at that “thing” that you enjoy doing, but as you’ve found out over time, there are other tasks and activities that have to happen to let you do your “thing” and have it be sustainable as a business. Maybe you do those other tasks yourself, or maybe you have a full staff to help you, but more than likely, marketing is one of those tasks that you didn’t originally consider. You may be a natural-born marketer,...
read moreSocial Media Ladder
Recently, I was asked to be a guest blogger on The Growth Coach Houston’s blog. Glenn Smith, Owner and Lead Coach at The Growth Coach Houston is a phenomenal business coach. The smartest thing I ever did when I started my own business was to enlist his help in the form of coaching and accountability. I encourage you to visit his site and check out the many resources available to business leaders and sales professionals. If you’re in the Houston/Sugar Land, Texas area, go one step further…consider working with him. You will not be sorry! In the meantime, please check out...
read moreTo Do or To Be?
Just a quick thought…When you go in to work every day, do you work from a “to do” or a “to be” list? Most folks go into a set routine every day from the moment their alarm clock goes off, until the moment they roll over and shut out the lights at the end of the day. Every moment in-between is usually a patterned set of actions with occasional interruptions for “fires” – those things that seem like an emergency at the time. Often, we don’t even think about our business as a growing, evolving, living thing. Instead, we think only of our patterns and routines. That’s one of...
read more6 Reasons to Use Social Media for Business
As 2012 gets underway, many business owners are looking to their marketing efforts with one question in mind. How can 2012 be a better year? This question is always answered with better sales, regardless of the product or service that your business is about. Sales increase when there is better understanding of the value you provide and when trust is present. Consumers want to know if they can trust you, your service, or your product, and they want to know if they can trust that their purchase is going to be worth it. So, backing into this, better profits come from better sales which come from...
read moreResolutions? Not Us!
This week, you’ll hear a lot of this word….resolution. However, you won’t hear it from us! Our “resolution”… twitter.com/PolkaDotImpres… — PolkaDotImpressions (@PolkaDotImpress) December 28, 2011 Instead, we’ll be creating a plan. In fact, we already have one…And there’s a big difference between a resolution and a plan. Whatever business you’re in, 2012 will see changes in it. That is the nature of business and many other things. If you are not growing, by default, you’re dying, so they say. That’s where a...
read moreSocial Media Animals
In a consulting conversation with a business owner recently, an expression came out of my mouth that started my mind down an intriguing path. I casually said, “Well, each one’s a different animal,” as I was attempting to describe the difference between the “big 4” social media platforms that overwhelmed him. What if they were described as animals? Would that be easier to help business owners make informed decisions? Our forte at Polka Dot Impressions is working with business owners who are too busy to understand or use social media for their own businesses, but they need to be...
read moreGoogle+ Opens for Business
Well, you knew it had to happen eventually! Google+ has now allowed business owners to create a business page on Google+. Did they wait too long, though? In a nutshell, setting up your Google+ business page is very simple to do. It takes only a couple of minutes to complete the whole thing, assuming you have your photos ready to go and your business information handy. Fancier pages will come, I feel sure of that, but for now, you can get the job done in under five minutes. However, some might suggest that the “glamour” is missing. The pages are pretty simple to set up, which means that...
read moreBlogs for Business
On first glance, you might think this post is going to be about how you can market your business with a blog. You can. But it’s not. There are lots of blogs and articles about how to do that, and I may even write some of them from time to time. But no, this blog is about why I blog as part of doing business. There are several reasons, and each is worth exploring for yourself and your own business. 1. Stay Fresh – First of all, writing a blog or two every week forces me to stay focused on outside trends, shifts, conversations, and “the market” as it can be seen from my industry’s...
read moreIs Everyone Posting?
Update posting. How hard can this be? What are the rules? Does anyone really care what I’m doing, moment by moment? …..It’s not. They’re more like guidelines. And yes…if you care about them. Those are the short answers. It seems that more and more social media changes are taking place. It’s a bit tough to keep up with them unless you’re paying attention regularly. Frankly, that’s why I have a career. That’s why I love what I do. It changes all of the time, but it’s always about one thing – relationships. It used to be that business owners could just hang out...
read moreDevelop a Marketing PLAN
There are countless quotes on why you need a plan in order to reach a goal. No matter which one you like, or which one you heard yesterday, having a plan and acting on it are not the same thing in social media. With your marketing, you need both, and here’s a little acronym to help make sure that you are both planning and doing – with a goal in mind. P is for Prepare. When you take on a marketing campaign for your business, prepare your messages, your colors, your links, and your focus around your goal. If it doesn’t match your objectives, don’t post it, tweet it, ping it, or link it....
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