People Do Business with those they Know, Like and Trust. 

By Kelly Struhs, Crowd Click Media.

 

I’ve heard this quote from at least 10 different sources reaching all the back to perhaps Mark Twain (I’ll give “props” to the organization I think uses it the best: Corporate Alliance).  It sure would make my job less stressful if instead of trying to be perfect or the biggest or the best I could just be myself.  The truth and wisdom in this saying is what is fueling the growth in social media marketing.  Here are three ways I think social media, when done right, helps people to know, like and trust your company.

You develop a relationship of trust.

Social Media gives you a forum to help people with their problems and establish you as expert, before they’ve even seen your store.  Customers, fans and even new acquaintances come together to talk… all about you and your products.  You can demonstrate authenticity to potential customers by letting them see the good and bad, strength and weakness and the fact that you are “real”.  You address questions and concerns your customers have about your products and service and at the same time you have the opportunity to shape the agenda. 

 

You create the opportunity for people to know you.

Social Media enables you to tell your story.  Who are you?  Where did you come from? How did you get come to be here? Where are you headed?  Social media lets people introduce you to their friends.  It’s the difference between being at an event and walking up and introducing youself.  This is good, a lot better than not going to the party.  Social media, however, lets your friends introduce you and say. “I want you to meet my friend ________, she makes the world’s best________”

 You become real and "likable". 

As your fan's, friends and community participate with you in social media they will see your personality come out over time and see all the facets of you and your company’s “persona” (your humor, passion, intelligence, creativity or whatever they are).  Over time, they’ll come to appreciate and “like” those traits.

Think about your favorite local businesses. Why are they you favority.  I'll bet it's one or all of the above reasons.

6 Ways Social Media Marketing Tools Will Build Your Business

6 Ways Social Media Marketing Tools Will Build Your Business

By Kelly Struhs, Crowd Click Media

1. It gives customers an outlet to rave about your product

Who are you going to trust to recommend a new restaurant, dry cleaner or karate studio?  The yellow pages? a company’s web site? or your friend who’s tried them?  The answer is obvious.  Social media lets your customers rave about your products with the click of a button. 

2. It will help you build real relationships with real customers

Social media is different from traditional marketing in one key aspect.  Billboards, television and print advertising and mailing is one to many.   Social Media gives you a chance (when it’s done right) to engage your customers and prospects one on one.

3. It will provide a cost effective marketing channel

Because of the potential for laser targeting and wide reach, a well planned social media marketing plan  potention could be the most cost effective form of finding customers you have. 

4. It will drive traffic to your web site 

You built a web site.  Now lets get someone to look at it.  Social Media can feed traffic to your web site.  This builds your business directly and increases your search engine optimization by increasing links traffic and content on your site..

5. It will help you learn about your strengths and weaknesses

Can there be a better way to improve your business or products than by getting direct feedback from your constumers? Good or bad feedback from the customers you have a chance to improve your product and services. You can’t deliver everything they want or solve every problem today, but over the long haul feedback makes you better.

6. It will get you connected to your peers

Your peers (friends, suppliers, and even competitors) are a valuable source of industry knowledge. Your peers who participate in social networking and online communities are enthusiastic about helping people solve problems.

Now tell us what you think.  What are you doing to use social media to build your business?

100 Blogging Ideas for your Small Bussiness

100 Blogging Ideas

• By Lisa Barone

With so many social media studies showing that companies are looking to up their involvement in social activities this year, I thought I’d help cure that age-old “what should I blog about today?” question. Or at least give you a healthy head start for the year by providing 100+ potential blog topics for your small business blog.  Consider it my contribution to your yearly editorial calendar. I know you’re creating one, right?

So, here are some potential topics. Grab a pen and jot down your favorites. [Or maybe just hit Print.]

Focus on your Industry

1. Write 10 ways your industry will change this year
2. Break down the new laws that will affect your niche in the coming year
3. Create a list of the best industry resources
4. Talk about why things are better today (or not) than they were 10 years ago
5. Attend industry events and blog about them
6. Your best marketing tips
7. How your industry is like Your Favorite TV Show [I suggest using Glee. Because that's my favorite show.]
8. The ugly truth about your industry
9. The 8 people in your industry you want to meet
10. What someone needs to consider before getting involved in your industry
11. Comment on an industry-related conversation going on in LinkedIn or Google Groups
12. Talk about the “thing” that would rock your industry if invented or put together
13. Create a chart that breaks down a complicated industry issue or problem
14. Interview someone well-known in your world and profile them
15. Rewrite an old post with fresh eyes and new ideas
16. Publish a presentation you gave somewhere else (with permission)
17. Have a chat with a competitor and blog about it (again, with permission)
18. Search Google News for relevant press releases and news about your industry. Write your own take.
19. Debunk a long-standing myth
20. Host a seminar or meetup and blog about
21. Create a list of the 10 books that someone in your industry should read.
22. Post about what you’d like to see fixed in your industry
23. Conferences people in your industry should attend/speak at
24. Your favorite untapped traffic sources in your industry
25. Issues in your space that deserve more attention

Go Social

1. How you’re using Twitter to increase earnings
2. Post a video that has nothing to do with your industry but that you think people would enjoy.
3. Post a picture. [Browse StumleUpon for inspiration]
4. Participate in a blog meme like last month’s Best of 09
5. Share the best social media campaigns you’ve seen, big and small
6. Hold a contest and pit people against each other
7. Create a poll. Blog the result.
8. Invite a guest blogger to post on your blog
9. How social media increased your ROI this year
10. How social media did nothing but confuse you this year
11. Search Delicious for popular posts on your topics and take a new stance
12. Go to your industry’s Wikipedia page and see what people are talking about in the Discussions area. Comment on it on your blog.
13. Post photos from your company party/team building workshop
14. Find a question on Yahoo Answers or OnStartups and respond on your blog
15. Create a list of the Must Follow Twitter people in your industry

About your Business

1. Why you’re different (and better) than your competition
2. A video tutorial showing how to use your most popular product
3. The problems your sales people hear about most
4. The answer to the most common email you get
5. Share the tools do you use to do your job
6. The secret ways to use your site/product
7. The top 10 WordPress plugins you use on your site
8. How you use your favorite social media site
9. How you built your email list
10. How you’re using Facebook
11. Look at your site logs & answer customer questions
12. How you delegate tasks (or what you mucked up by not delegating)
13. Use Wordtracker’s Keyword Question Tool and answer popular questions
14. Write about why you’re not using social media at all
15. Answer questions left in your comment section
16. Write about the personal branding tactics you use
17. Give 5 reasons to sign up to your email newsletter
18. How you learned to do what you do
19. Create a list of your favorite X
20. What you’re doing to beat the summer slump or winter blues
21. Share a case study
22. Provide an end of the week link roundup
23. Review something
24. Reveal the best niche blogs to guestblog for
25. What keeps you up at night
26. Share a time when you got it wrong in 2010
27. Your strategies for coming up with blog topics.
28. Branding tips that have worked for your business
29. 50 reasons why someone should hire you
30. 5 things people should be focusing on but aren’t
31. What can other industries learn from yours

Highlight Your Customers

1. Put the spotlight on your most active commenters
2. Praise your best customers
3. Post a question and let the community to answer it
4. How customers can woo your customer service department for free stuff
5. Give something away to one of your blog readers.
6. Feature a video detailing a customer’s success with your product
7. Share your biggest screw up with a customer and how you made it right
8. Publish a customer testimonial
9. Explain the benefits of being a customer
10. Share local organizations you support and ask customers to share their favorites
11. How customers can connect with you on social media
12. Hold an event for Twitter followers to meet and blog it

Get Personal

1. What have you read lately that inspired/angered you?
2. Introduce your staff
3. Share the best decision you made as a SMB
4. Your biggest challenge as a SMB owner
5. What you love best about being a SMB owner. What you don’t like.
6. The danger of doing everything by yourself
7. Write about the achievement you’re most proud of
8. A time when you got it right in 2009
9. Create a video introducing your team to your community
10. Get your rant on
11. How to remain productive working at home
12. Introduce a new employee and what they bring to the table
13. Share the local vendors you trust
14. Give people a video tour of your building
15. Describe your company culture
16. Your new baby (whether that’s a real baby, a pet, a new project for 2010, the car you’ve been restoring for the past two years, etc)
17. Share your company’s history or story
18. Tell a story not about your company
19. Share 10 things you’re thankful for
20. What’s next for your company
21. A list of your most trafficked posts

The point is, there are TONS of things for a small business owner to blog about and share with their audience.  Now that I’ve helped get the ball rolling, get to it. 

About Lisa Barone

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Lisa Barone is a noted writer, content marketer and social strategist. She has been a trusted voice in the search world since 2006 and is most known for her brutally honest search observations. She has been featured on sites like The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, PBS, Duct Tape Marketing, Copyblogger and many others. Lisa blogs irregularly at VoiceInterrupted.

Why?

This blog represents the quest to not only help small businesses connect with customers and prospects, but to help them know what to say once they do get an audience