Blogging is a waste of time?

Seriously, why bother? Isn’t this kind of a waste of time? It’s not like blogs really matter – it’s just throwaway content, after all. What really matters is the website.

False.

Look, the web is about two things: content and search. Content because that’s what you’ve come for, and search because that’s how you find the content. Nothing else matters.

In light of this, a blog can be the most important tool you employ for two reasons:

1. A blog is all about content. But you have to make that content matter. It needs to be quality content; relevant content. Guess who loves quality content? That’s right: your customers and the search engine they used to find you. This content is useful to them; it helps them make decisions, helps solve their problem. It gives them a reason and a method to engage you.

2. Blogs are inherently search-engine optimized. They make you much more findable, which can drive a lot of traffic to your website. But SEO needs to be strategic. You have to pay attention to your audience and the keywords they use to make this work well (no, using random keywords based on intuition is not optimization – that’s called blind guesswork; fumbling in the dark).

Your website is important, to be sure. It is the hub around which all your online activity orbits (and often the blog *is* the website). But a blog can be an “orbital” with one hell of a gravity well, attracting searchers to your content and your website,  so don’t write it off too quickly.

Alright, you’ve got my opinion on it. What do you think? Are blogs just a place to toss extra content that doesn’t matter? Why bother?

Why Blog? is a post from: RSA Blog

Whenever I sit down to go through ideas for blog posts, I inevitably think of a few that sound great, only to realize hey, we already wrote that one. A lot of the things we wrote about last year are still relevant even now – maybe more so.

Looking back through our logs, it’s no surprise to find some content was more popular than others. After all, we’re still experimenting to find the sort of thing you, our readers, find most useful.

To make sure you didn’t miss any of the good ones from last year, here’s a short list of our most viewed posts from 2009.

Why Good Customer Service Is So Important

5 Reasons Not to Cut Your Marketing Budget in a Recession

Elements of Internet Marketing

Going Nuts? Don’t Cut your Marketing

Should You Put Video On Your Website?

Understanding Web Design

14 Practical Uses For Social Media

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Photo courtesy of kevinzim

Stuff You Liked From 2009 is a post from: RSA Blog

Tools without strategy: poorly built house; dilapidated, isolated. More of a shack, really. A bad marketing shack.

I’ve had the opportunity to speak at a few events about social media. I’ve also spoken to clients, prospects, colleagues, friends, family, and a few pets about social media. One of the most common questions asked of me, and that I see asked of others, is “how do you use social media for business?”

For these presentations, I usually begin by explaining what social media is conceptually, then move into how it can be integrated into the marketing effort – beginning with objectives and strategy. Almost unfailingly, however, I receive feedback to the effect of “I still don’t know how to *USE* this stuff.” I think I know what the problem is (clearly I need to fix my presentation, but that’s beside the point).

Tools without a plan

Imagine I walked up to you and asked, “How do I use a hammer?” How would you respond? You might grab a hammer, nail, and a piece of wood and show me the proper way to hold the tool and the nail, place the wood, and proper form for pounding the nail in. I’d say “thanks,” you’d say “jolly good, ol’ boy,” and we’d part company.

Now what? I can hammer nails with the best of them, but what does that mean? I can nail two pieces of wood together. Or three, or fifty. Can’t cut the wood – need to learn another tool. Oh, the wood needs to be measured? Another tool. Whoops, forgot to lay the foundation – that’s a whole other set of tools.

You get the idea. I know how to use a hammer, but I still can’t build a house – not one that deserves the name, anyway.

Technology without strategy

It’s the same with social media – Twitter, Facebook, Google, blogs, forums, etc. – these are just tools. I can show you how to use any of them, but they’re not going to do anything for your business unless you understand how they fit into the marketing mix, the PR effort, sales, customer service, production, and all other facets of your organization.

Because unlike a specialized tool like the hammer, “social media” as a concept can be utilized to further the efforts of almost any department in your business. But you won’t understand this simply by learning specific tools.

That’s why I always try to begin with the fundamentals – or the high-level perspective, depending on how you look at it: business objectives; the strategic plan. But this seems to make people zone out – they don’t want to hear it. They just want to dive into the tools. That enthusiasm is great, but it’s no use without a plan.

Stop.

It is definitely NOT hammer time. Put it down, back away, and no one gets hurt! Start at the beginning. Form your plan based on objectives. Then when you do get to the tools, you’ll be able to use them effectively, with purpose. Even better, when new tools and technologies come along, you’ll be much better prepared to jump in and use them effectively as well.

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Photo courtesy of foto3116

Social Media Tools Are Useless is a post from: RSA Blog

Twitter overload...

I was reluctant – VERY reluctant – to write this post. Do we really need another post about Twitter? I’ve run across some Twitter users (for biz) lately that tells me perhaps we do. After all, some people are just now signing up, and may not have read any of the twizillion “Twitter 101″ posts available.

So… here we are. How to set up and use Twitter for business.

1. Use your real name.
When you sign up your account, include your real name. It can be your username or not, but include it in the “name” field at the least.

If you don’t want people to know who you are, social media probably isn’t for you.

2. Fill out your bio.
In general, I don’t follow people who don’t have a bio, and I’m not the only one. Why? Because the only reason I would want to follow you is because of who you are. If I don’t know who you are, I’m far less likely to follow.

Beyond just telling other people who you are, the bio can also help explain why you’re on Twitter in the first place. Many people use Twitter for business, so they naturally include their occupation and position in the bio, along with interests pertaining to their field of work.

If you don’t want people to know what you do, go ahead and skip Twitter.

3. Fill in your location.
Some people are leery of this because of privacy issues. But consider: 1) if you’re using the internet, your location is already compromised, and 2) no one really cares where you are except that it somehow relates to themselves.

In other words, the fact that I am in Rapid City, South Dakota only matters to other people in this area, and can already be found out through other means (see: Google).

The advantage of posting your location is it will be much easier to network with locals, and associates you with your region in searches. So use your city and state (not GPS coordinates, you geeks – no one knows what those mean!)

If you don’t want people to know where you are, avoid the internet. And mobile devices. And electricity.

4. Don’t protect your tweets.
This is bad enough for personal use, but for a business? You might as well not bother with Twitter.

So many people will say “no one gives a crap what you think,” and maybe there’s some truth in that, if all you are posting is a useless stream of narcissistic minutiae. But I think people are more interested in each other than we’re willing to admit, provided what you have to say is relevant to others.

Tweets I can’t see are not relevant. Part of how I decide whether or not to follow someone is by looking at what they’ve been talking about. If I can’t see that, I’m just not going to bother.

If you hop on Twitter and protect your updates, it’s like walking into a mixer and standing in a corner whispering. Are you here to network, or what?

If you don’t want people to hear what you have to say, don’t bother with the internet at all.

5. The only thing that matters about your avatar is consistency.
People will tell you to post your real picture with a smiling face, and they’re not wrong. But if you can’t bring yourself to do that (I’m working on it), then at least make sure whatever you post as your profile picture is something you want to keep there for a while.

Your profile photo should reflect your company somehow, to keep things consistent. A variation of your logo is a good choice. Just try not to change it often.

When I scan my Twitter feed (at a certain point you will have to do this), I find myself stopping at specific tweets because of the person’s avatar. Either the picture stands out, or I’ve grown accustomed to paying attention to that person’s tweets. Either way, the avatar is what keeps me from overlooking that person.

The problem is these people may change their profile photo frequently. Now I don’t recognize them, and am more likely to overlook them when scanning the feed.

If you don’t want people to know what you look like… uh… you’re probably like me.

6. Use a custom background.
The default backgrounds make me sleepy. Change it to a solid color, if you have to, but PLEASE use something custom. You can Google search for pre-made backgrounds, too, but keep in mind the background should also fit your company or brand.

Change your background under Settings, in the Design tab.

If you use the default backgrounds, you’re boring. Or lazy.

7. Engage!
Now you’re set up so people know who you are, what you do, and where you are coming from. These are all good things when you’re networking, especially for business.

Twitter isn’t a role-playing game. Be real or begone, ye foul beast!

Use Twitter search to find others like you or people having conversations about topics of interest to you. Find people to learn from. Find people to teach. Find people to laugh with, argue with, or people you can help or who can help you. Use TweetDeck, Seesmic or Hootsuite to streamline your efforts.

And have fun.

Seriously? Another “Twitter For Business” Post? is a post from: RSA Blog

Is full transparency really a good idea?

Almost every “how-to” or list of tips on using social media includes some kind of advice on being authentic or transparent. I’m not convinced we all agree on what things like transparency and authenticity mean in this context.

Transparency
No one is really serious about full transparency. Full transparency would entail communication of every detail of your life. I don’t know about you, but I’m not too keen on the idea I should tell you when I use the bathroom or what my email password is. If I update a social app with the fact that I’ve left work, I don’t think I’m obligated to tell you where I’m going. Or who I’m meeting. Or what kind of drugs I’m buying. What?

Yes, the truth is there’s stuff I don’t want you to know about. Stuff you *shouldn’t* know. Not drugs, exactly – I’ve been clean for at least a few weeks. The point is “transparency” is sort of a misnomer – no one really means it. Translucent? The reality is probably more opaque.

Authenticity
When people tell you to be authentic in social media, I don’ think they’re saying what they really mean. For example, if I was “authentic” all the time, I’d probably be a brutally critical, abrasive, elitist, condescending douche. What’s that you say? How would that be different? Oh, you wound me. I am wounded!

But you see the point, don’t you? We each have personality traits that just aren’t suitable for social settings. This is why drunk people are so annoying. Unless you’re drunk, too. But if you’re drunk on Twitter, you’ve other problems beyond the scope of this blog (and don’t be looking back through my Twitter feed, now – that was just the one time).

What We Really Mean

I think what people really mean when they say “be authentic” is “don’t be a fakey liar.” Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. I might be an abrasive ass, but I’m also a compassionate, helpful person. Which side should I show, socially? Am I being less honest by presenting the “good” side? Well, I’m probably not going to make many friends by letting my inner ass out. Wait, that came out wrong. Alright, it’s better to be nice, even if you don’t feel like it.

Be Nice
There’s truth in the saying “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Without my “inner filter,” my Twitter stream would be very different. Is this less honest or authentic? Absolutely – and that’s okay. It’s still me. All the best parts, in fact, with less of the crazy.

Be Helpful
Yet there’s more to it. It’s not just about showing the “best” side of you. It’s also about being helpful. We are social by nature, and being social means participating in community. Community is based on, among other things, the fact of mutual aid – that we’re interested and concerned in the doings of our neighbors, and have a stake – however small – in their successes and failures. Being social *is* being helpful, and it’s part of being yourself; being “authentic.”

Some of you will cry BS on that, and you’re not wrong. “Community,” per se, doesn’t have a place in business. But if you take a step back and look at the big picture, you might see that business does have a place in community.

Be You
So how do we wrap this all up in a nice little package? Well the questions is too subjective for all that. “Helpfulness” is different for everyone, as it depends on perception, reality, and a sort of social feedback loop. In my case I try to keep things lighthearted, because I think there’s not enough laughter in this business. We take ourselves too seriously.

For others it might make sense to be a bit of an egotistical elitist, because maybe that’s what inspires others in some way. Still others may remain strictly professional in manner, because that’s how they are helpful to their peers. Perhaps a combination of these and more.

So when we’re talking about social media, and we think of being “transparent” or “authentic,” it really just means “be honest, be nice, be helpful, but do it your way.” Be yourself, but be mindful of your community.

I’ve muddled through this landscape quite a ways, and I’m not sure where we ended up. Help me out in the comments.

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Photo courtesy of Yuliya Libkina

Transparency, Authenticity, and Social Media is a post from: RSA Blog

Your website is the marketing hub

So unless you’re an online business, your brick-and-mortar store is the hub of your marketing efforts. Your website, then, should be the hub for your online marketing, and in turn, should point customers to your store.

If you sell products directly from your website, customers are already “at” your store. But even if you don’t have that e-commerce element, you’re still making a pitch of some sort to your web visitors, and trying to convince them to take an action.

Customers should be able to find all they need to know about you on your website. People make buying decisions in all kinds of places – many while sitting at home on a computer looking at a website. The website should be the hub, the focal point for all of your activity on the web: email, newsletters, blogs, social media, ads, articles, videos, etc. – all this online activity should somehow point back to your website, just as the website points to your physical store.

The website should also be tied to your offline marketing. If your website URL (http://www.yourdomain.com) is not on your business cards and other collateral, it should be. Every advertising campaign you do should involve the website. If you “fish where the fish are,” your website is critical, since most Americans – and most of the industrialized world – use the internet.

Takeaway point: your website is the most important part of your web presence. Write a newsletter, create a blog, engage in social media, but always remember your website is the hub, and the conduit from digital to brick-and-mortar.

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Photo courtesy of ndrwfgg

Your Website is a Marketing Hub is a post from: RSA Blog

"People are in social media to be socially active, not to be sold."

Earlier this week, I attended a Social Networking seminar at Western Dakota Tech, put on by the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce.  It was really quite interesting with approximately 85 people from local businesses in attendance.

I was particularly interested in what Adam Beshara (Marketing Specialist at Golden West Technologies) would share about Twitter and then how Realtor Lee Alley (with Prudential Kahler Realtors) would talk about Facebook for business.  Both of these presenters impressed me with their realistic take/talk about social media for business in general.  So much so, I want to share some of their key (form my perspective) points.

Twitter
Starting with Twitter, Adam introduced the social site with a pretty basic definition – perfect for the audience who was largely unfamiliar with Twitter.  He then went on to explain some of the benefits of Twitter for business and how to use it.  These are my favorite points he made:

1. Monitor Twitter for local and industry related questions.  By answering these and being involved, you not only gain followers but begin branding yourself/business as the authority on the matter – not to mention build relationships.
2. Watch your tone! “People are in social media to be socially active, not to be sold.”
3. Contests!  Hold some sort of contest or giveaway to encourage participation and gain followers.  (I really like this idea…I really like to win stuff.)
4. He then made it clear that you shouldn’t just hop on and proceed to waste your time.  He gave the following tips to help make it work (each applies to all social media platforms):
   - Define your goals.
   - Follow like-minded Tweeters.
   - Listen and learn.
   - Create effective tweets.
   - Develop unique content for your audience.
   - Grow relationships.

Facebook
Lee Alley’s got the idea right!  His use of Facebook is not overly extensive; he keeps it relevant, and he does not stretch himself thin with time spent there.  Mr. Alley also made it very clear that your #1 aim should be to be helpful.  He has a Rapid City real estate blog where he analyzes and writes about local real estate market trends – and it is not promotional.  “If I gain some friends along the way, well great,” he said.

My favorite points and quotables from his presentation are cautioning to not get caught up in the tools and buzz words of online social networking.

1. This is a good one–  “If the medium is your message, your message will be medium.”  Lee emphasized to not just get involved in Facebook because everyone’s doing it, but asked, “Do you really want to get involved in social networking?”
2. “Social networking is not all about Facebook.”  There are many other tools and platforms out there – Facebook is not the be all end all of social media.
   
3. “Do you want to have a long-term strategy to incorporate social networking into your overall marketing?”
4. “The issue [online social networking] is not Facebook.  Facebook will eventually be replaced by something else” – as will any other tool.
   

Lee did an excellent job laying out Facebook and how it can and is being used as a marketing tool, while walking through and demonstrating many different points that he’s learned along the way.

Overall, the presentations these two men gave were entirely encouraging.  People do get it, I thought to myself as I walked back to the car with a little bounce in my step.  I hope more local businesses start doing contests on Twitter. I hope I win.

Social Networking Presentation at WDT is a post from: RSA Blog

Most of us who are active in social web spaces (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) do it privately – that is to say, we’re engaging online with friends and family. But what if you’re doing it for a business? How should you present yourself?

It can be difficult to know where to draw the line between the personal and professional when dealing with brands, vendors, clients, customers, etc. After all, you are YOU, and though you may represent your organization, you’re still a person. And people engage with other people.

Look, I “tweet” personal stuff all the time. Granted, I’m not the principle of the organization, or even a high-level operative (so to speak). So although I do represent my company to a degree, I’m safe from being seen as “the company voice.” Not so, for others. Being seen as the representative of the organization can put you in a tight spot where the line between personal and professional gets a little blurry.

But this is why I’m always talking about strategy (for those of you I have actually spoken to). Dipping into social media just to experiment is fine – in fact, a good idea. When you start to get serious, though, you need to step back and take the strategic perspective. It’s within this view you’ll be able to answer the question “Where’s the line between personal and professional?”

Because it really comes down to how you plan to engage the social web. If your plan is to present a corporate voice maintained by multiple team members, the line is drawn well within the “professional” space. If you plan to just be You, who happens to work for Company A, the personal element should and will naturally spring to the surface.

On to The Good Stuff

Keeping in mind this all depends on your objective and strategic approach, here are some basic tips for keeping that balance between the personal and professional in any social web space.

1. Don’t over-disclose. Pretend you are talking to a customer. In other words, keep it on a professional level, even if the content is more about you, personally, than the business.

2. Careful what you say. Political/religious content can offend your customers. Unless the issue directly affects your business, pass on it (as opposed to “pass it on”). Again, pretend you’re talking to a customer in the store or on the phone.

3. Don’t get carried away. “Personal” is good in moderation, and if it’s still useful somehow. “I’m eating a turkey wrap” isn’t useful or even interesting. “This is the best turkey wrap I’ve ever had – got it from [some restaurant] in [some place] – try it out!” might be both.

4. Be prepared to engage. If you post or tweet personal content (or anything else, really), you may get replies. If you ignore or walk away from it, you’ve missed an opportunity. Once again, pretend you’re talking to customers. Expect questions, and answer them. Have conversations!

5. Don’t have conversations. Wait, what? “Kyle is contradicting himself again,” you say? Yeah, sorta. What I mean to say is don’t hold long public discussions about personal things. If you do want to have such a conversation with someone, take it to private messages, email or instant messaging. The rest of your audience will thank you.

So there are some loose guidelines for keeping that personal/professional balance. Hope this is helpful to those of you just starting out, and if I left anything out please post it below in the comments. Thanks!

Social Media: Personal or Professional? is a post from: RSA Blog

Sounds good, but why does this matter? Why is this important?

Increase the bottom line.

With the new-found ability to reach a wide audience coupled with the chance to engage and interact with their audience, businesses are not only reaching new customers, they are building relationships with people. This is important because these relationships build loyalty…and this ultimately translates into dollars. People who are loyal to the brand are buying more than just a product.

Take the French bottled water company, Evian.  They recently introduced a new advertising campaign to re-energize their brand in a struggling economy.  The new campaign combines a more traditional advertising medium, TV, with an innovative web strategy focused on sharable content and user interaction.

The new “Evian Babies” video features break-dancing, rollerskating babies. It began a sensation when the company first released the ad on YouTube and then later launched the popular commercial on television. The video’s objective was to project the brand’s values of health, youth and purity in a much more playful way than in the past.

To continue the experience, “Evian Babies” fans can visit their website, see the casting call, outtakes, and interviews of the cast (yes, 3 of the 96 babies are interviewed). Then, fans of these now famous (fake) babies are directed to their Facebook page where they have the chance to meet other fans, interact with these tiny celebs, and get the “inside scoop”.

So far, the campaign has proven to be a success – generating buzz, receiving millions of views, and thousands of fans. This is great, but, remember the main objective was to “re-energize their brand in a struggling economy”.

The true test of the campaign will lie in the coming months – the next time you go to the store, will you buy just any ‘ol water, or the one that reminds you of health, youth, purity…and cute rollerskating babies?

Web Strategies Extend the User Experience is a post from: RSA Blog

This is your website (credit: machity)

An old, rickety car slowly pulled into the car dealership lot and parked. It belched black smoke as the clunky engine finally backfired and gave up. A man got out of the car and strolled into the office. The salesman met him there, asking if he could be of any assistance.

The conversation went something like this:

Salesman: “Hi, how are you doing? What can I help you with?”

Customer: “I need a new car.”

S: “Ah, I see! Well you’ve come to the right place. We have plenty of cars on the lot, and can order anything you might want that we don’t already have. Any idea what you’re looking for?”

C: “Yes, you see I am a salesman myself, and I spend a lot of time driving to see customers and prospects. But my car is rather old, and the engine barely works. In fact, I can only drive in first gear!”

S: “Wow! I bet that makes it hard to visit many customers in a day. Can I interest you in this brand new Complete Car? It’s well-rounded with a great engine, good looks, comfortable interior, and will certainly connect you with your customers.”

C: “Well, I wonder if you can just repaint my old car, maybe get rid of some of the dents. It could probably use new upholstery, too.”

S: “…”

If that seems to you like a strange turn of events in this completely made-up story, you’re not alone. I see this all the time, except instead of cars, we’re talking websites.

Out with the Old

Online competition is much too stiff for the old, static, “brochure-style” website to be very successful anymore. That kind of website is the old clunker with a weak engine; it doesn’t get around very well.

The pitfall I see people running into – especially in this region of South Dakota – is the notion that an “updated look” will take their website into the modern age. To be fair, a snazzy-looking website doesn’t necessarily hurt – provided it’s on target. But there are other important considerations in today’s online market.

This is your website on SEO (credit: SFB579)

For example, how are people going to find your website in the first place, and what are you doing to facilitate this? Will they find your competitors instead? How do you know if customers are finding you online versus other media? How much traffic hits your website? How do visitors use the website? What are people telling each other about your products or services?

In with the New

You can’t answer these questions with a paint job. You need a better engine, better tires, power steering – you get the idea. Your website needs analytics, search engine optimization, and social media engagement is also something to consider. These elements combine to give you a well-rounded (and much more effective) web presence; a Complete Car.

The point: SEO is not just something to add to your website. If you want to be at all successful in your online market, SEO is a must, at least to some degree.

You may be on a tight budget, and so tempted to cut these elements out of your online marketing plan. Resist the urge! Cut back on something else – perhaps the redesign of the site graphics can wait. If no one can find your website, they won’t be able to see the cool new paint job anyway.

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[Photo credit | Top: machity | Bottom: SFB579]

SEO is not an Add-on is a post from: RSA Blog