Social Media for the Savvy Small Business

Social Media &
the Savvy Small Business

© Russ Seagle, 2012.

Some Quick Stats
3.146 Billion email accounts worldwide
$44.45 ROI for each $1 invested in email marketing in 2011

 555 million websites (300 million added in 2011)
 2.3 billion internet users (32.7% of world population)
 152 million blogs
 800+ million Facebook users (As big as the Internet, 2004)
 225 million Twitter users
 2 01.4 billion videos viewed online each month

Stats courtesy of Royal.Pingdom.com

Social Media Provides

A way to stay engaged, even when customers aren't
around
Incredible possibilities for connecting, informing, learning,

demonstrating and selling
 Development of meaningful customer relationships
 A way to remain transparent before your customers
 A pathway for (honest) feedback, good & bad


Four Main Uses of Social Media
 Expressing Tools  Sharing Tools
 Publish, comment,  Publish & share content
discuss
 Video, photos, links,
 Blogs, wikis, microblogs recommendations
 Blogger, Twitter  YouTube, Flickr, Yelp

 Networking Tools  Entertainment
 Search, connect, interact
Tools
 Niche networks, BtoB  Social & casual games

 Classmates, Facebook,  Integrate social media
LinkedIn  Pogo, Words With
© Russ Seagle, 2012. Friends

New Technology, Old Principles

 What business need(s) do you have?
Recruit new staff? Educate customers? Introduce new
products/services? Converse with customers?
 Whose attention are you trying to get?
Existing customers? Prospects? Colleagues?
 What sites do you want to take on?
Everyone isn't everywhere
 Who will manage your efforts? Who will have
access?

Social Media Do's and Don'ts
DO DON'T
Be consistent – don't disappear
 SPAM your community

Be consistent – don't forsake your brand
 Get in people's faces

Follow the conversation – and get Try to do too much too fast
involved
Mix personal and business
Be professional


Get defensive
Choose administrators carefully


Submit press releases (those are for the
Post different types of content
 papers)

Invite feedback and comments
 Post borrowed content without permission
and attribution
Show up in more than one space


Overstay your welcome
Use the power of The List


Quit
Be open to criticism



Facebook Rules of the Road
 SOME personal information adds personality and
facilitates bonds with customers.
 Getting TOO personal is a turn-off! Keep business
and personal separate.
 Share information of value. Don't waste their time
& risk being “hidden,” “unfriended,” or “disliked.”
Can include links, photos, videos, slide shows,
and presentations.
 No frivolity. Professionalism always! Be relevant.
 Keep moving forward. Don't be stale & boring.
 Don't get stuck in “SELL” mode.

Facebook Rules of the Road
 Face-to-face first on Facebook (personal).
 Include “Like” button on all online contact.
 When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
 If you put it out there, it's out there!
 Don't “poke” or otherwise irritate.
 Ask once, then back off.
 Don't establish unrealistic expectations.
 Be personable, but don't make it personal, and
don't take things personally.


Over 4.7 million fans.
Chick-fil-A offers specials
and coupons that are
exclusive to Facebook.

If you allow feedback, be
prepared for what you might
hear.

People can be brutal!

New apps make it possible to
sell directly from Facebook
without making customers go to
your site.

Picking the Right Watering Hole
 “Free for all” sites  Professional sites
 Facebook, Twitter  LinkedIn, FastPitch,
Plaxo
 Good for connecting,
sharing  Good for contacting,
updating, recruiting,
“rolodexing”

 Industry-specific  Need/want-specific
 Connect, narrow service  Connect, prospect,
searches inform
 I-Meet for event planners  Fetlife for BDSM
“enthusiasts” (approx.
500,000 members)

Jeff Herring's LIFE Model
 Links
To something interesting & of value
Articles, videos, photos
Yours or someone else's (spread the love!)
 Information
Spread good will
Educate & update
 Fun
Share something humorous
 Events
Sales, special buy-ins, clinics, extended hours, trunk
shows, in-house design consultations, YOU NAME
IT!

Blogs
 Create posts
 Upload or embed photos and multimedia
 Customize the appearance and layout
 Allow comments
 Allow guest bloggers to contribute
 Publish RSS feeds; invite followers
 Add tools & widgets to make your blog
productive
 Tie your blog to your other sites

Blogging Basics

 Blogs can be lectures, seminars, or conversations.
 Comment on others' articles
Use your own name, not the business name
 Don't use content from others without attribution
 Don't request a link exchange from sites not
relevant to yours or your customers.
 Don't write anything that would tarnish the image
of another
 Be real. Write the way you speak. Be yourself.

Twitter - TweetPerfect
 Twitter's all about what interests you.
 Don't follow everyone.
 Don't constantly self-promote and feed your ego.
 Limit tweets to small numbers, large value.
 Don't request that people Retweet your Tweets.
 Add some personality – dress up your Twitter
page.
 Do more than just stream your blog feed
 No personal conversations. It's not a chat room.
 No SPAM!!!

Kogi Korean BBQ To Go
 5 trucks in L.A.
 96,633 followers on
Twitter
 500 people in line!
 Followers “Retweet”
 Phone photos
forwarded to friends
 Also on Flickr,
Facebook,
YouTube, Local &
National News


LinkedIn Logic

 No trolling for email addresses for future SPAM.
 Join networks if asked, and ask others to join, but
don't request endorsements if you don't know
them or didn't do a good job while you were there.
 DO join groups of relevance
Engage in discussions; toss in your two
cents
Post discussion questions & get feedback
from others. Reply to these inputs.
 Make your profile as complete as possible (100%).

Demographics

 Google+ 40 million users worldwide. Only
6.8 million “active.”
 Facebook = growing in all age
demographics
Fastest growing segment age 25+
 YouTube watchers generally between 18-55
 LinkedIn = 25-55, professional


Potential Hazards

 Being judged
 Negative content, comments & feedback
 Limited brand protection
 More fights than you have fists

 Must be comfortable with openness
 Be willing to offer a counterbalance


Russ Seagle
thebulletproofbusiness.com (Subscribe to my RSS feed)
facebook.com/RussSeagle (“Like” me here!)
twitter.com/russseagle (Follow me. I won't bite.)
linkedin.com/in/russseagle (Join my network – it's great)
russ@seagleconsulting.com (Yep, I still use email, too.)
828-269-1776 (or just call if it's really important)

Social Media for the Savvy Small Business

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