Lions and Tigers and Bears…and Google+! Oh My!

Did that bring back childhood memories of  hearing Dorothy say that line in the Wizard of Oz, without the “Google+“, of course?

Yes, you read that correctly, “Google+”. I’m sure you are aware that Google+ was all the rage back in the Summer of 2011. You had to receive an invitation to join “the latest and greatest” social media network. Then, later in 2011 it became available to everyone.

So, are you on Google+?

If you’re like most people, you’ve either tried it and decided it wasn’t for you or you couldn’t find your customers or clients on Google+.

The differentiating factors of G+ are actually quite good…you can say, Google+ perfected the imperfections of Facebook.

First, you have circles. Think of a circle as a group. You select the people to put into that circle and only they will see what you post to that circle. I’ve identified the “circle” icon on my toolbar below.

• This is how you can put people into different “groups”. You can have a group for your local area and you can have one with people you are following. You can also create a “client” circle or perhaps a “colleagues” circle. The possibilities are endless.

• However, you are limited to 5,000 people you can add to circles.

So, how do you add people?

Once you click on the “circles” icon on your toolbar, simply drag people into your circles. Here’s what some of my circles look like:

Second, you can limit your posts to be seen only by some of your circles. Yes, I know you can do this in Facebook; however, it is much cleaner and you can send a post to be seen by multiple groups, too, which is an enhancement over Facebook.

The other differentiating point is the use of hangouts in Google+. Think of them as virtual meetings or gatherings. All you need is a webcam and the plug-in installed on your system. How would you use hangouts?

• You can meet someone for coffee or wine virtually and work on your relationship or discuss a project or potential collaboration.

• If you’re a musician, you can host a session with your circle and play one of your pieces.

• If you’re working with others in different locations, invite them to hangout and meet virtually on the project.

• Or create a “Book Club” circle and you can have people in different cities. Then meet in a hangout to discuss the book.

• Of course, if you’re bored or have nothing to do, invite a circle to hangout to chat.

So why would Google+ be important to you if you’re already on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn?

I asked a friend of mine, Alison Lindemann who leads the WSI eSolutions team in Northern Los Angeles County, that very same question. Here’s what she said:

• Google+ is still in Beta form. It could change, but really, it probably won’t go away. It’s Google!

• The giant search engine Google created Google+. Google will include Google+ posts in a search that you do; however, you need to be logged in to Googlel for Google+ posts to appear high on your search.

• For your business,  pick the social media niches that make sense for what you do and who your customers are and what social media they use.

In essence, you need to decide if Google+ is for you. My suggestion is if you think it’s the right social media niche, check it out, but recognize it might take you longer to develop the relationships and engagement you might already be experiencing on other social media networks.

So, one last question: Are you on Google+ and what’s been your experience?

Follow Trends While Doing a Juggling Act!

With 24 hours in a day and so much to do, how do you get your work done, take care of family responsibilities, and stay on top of trends and news in your industry and that of your clients?

Well, let’s do an accounting of the hours in a day. Let’s assume you are an average person who exercises on most days, commutes to and from work, and works an 8-hour day.

• Total hours in a day: 24 hours

• Average time sleeping: 7 hours … now you’re left with 17 hours

• Getting ready in morning: 40 minutes … now you’re left with 16 hours 20 minutes

• Breakfast: 20 minutes … now you’re left with 16 hours

• Lunch with client, friend, colleague: 1 hour … now you’re left with 15 hours

• Dinner at home includes prep time and clean-up: 1 hour … now you’re left with 14 hours

• Exercise time: 1 hour … now you’re left with 13 hours

• Commute to and from work: 2 hours … now you’re left with 11 hours

• Work: 8 hours … now you’re left with 3 hours

• “Free” time with family, friends, running errands, etc: 3 hours … there goes the day!

Now, I know you might be saying “I don’t sleep 7 hours a day” and granted, many of us don’t. However, for a 40-55 year old research indicates 6.8 hours are needed and for a 20-30 year old 7.2 hours are needed. So, let’s just say 7 are needed. Now, I’m not going to tell you what happens when you don’t get your needed sleep, but do the words “cranky”, “forgetful”, “tired”, “foggy” mean anything to you?

Now, how can you make the most of the time available to stay on top of the trends in business, in your industry, and in your clients’ industries without spending a lot of time searching for information? Well, here are two tips for you.

• First, subscribe to SmartBrief newsletters. Smartbrief compiles the top stories in specific publication or by industry. You select the publications or industries to follow and those stories will be delivered to you via email either daily or weekly depending on the frequency of the newsletter.

• Check out “LinkedIn Today” on LinkedIn under “News”. Here you can select the publications and/or industries to follow and you’ll see the most shared news stories and blogs on LinkedIn.

So, you might be wondering “Do these tips work?” Absolutely! I follow a number of industries and like being able to read articles and blogs on those industries in one or two places without having to hunt down every publication that may cover that industry.

Give it a try and let me know how you get your business and industry news in an efficient manner.

Ignite Your Spark and Hustle

I’m moving away from my regular blog topics – marketing research and social media – for this one week.

Almost 1 year ago, I had the privilege of attending Tory Johnson’s Spark & Hustle Conference in Los Angeles. You might recognize Tory from her regular appearances on Good Morning America. The LA conference was the inaugural stop and I wasn’t sure what to expect.

There have been plenty of conferences/seminars I’ve attended and, in hindsight I felt that maybe I could have missed them. This one, Spark & Hustle, felt different from the start and the speakers piqued my curiosity. So, I attended the 2 1/2 day boot camp for entrepreneurs.

By the end of each day, which was late in the evening, I felt energized and revitalized, yet my head ached from so much information.

So, what did I get out of Spark & Hustle?

• New business friends with others in similar situations.

• Basic social media skills. This was a big one! If you’re not sure how to get started with social media, my recommendation is jump in with both feet…you’ll swim!

• Refocusing on my business, i.e., set appropriate fees, watch expenses, and not get lost in the planning. Being an analytical person, this was tough…I love planning, but there comes a point when you have to stop planning and start doing and then adjust things along the way.

• Realization that alternate revenue streams are key for any business and during a recessions that’s what keeps you afloat. This is a small business owner’s life jacket.

• I reignited the spark inside of me as an entrepreneur.

• The belief and practice of hustling EVERY day to get what I want.

Now in 2012, everything I created and changed in 2011 has taken me to a new level and my hustle continues EVERY day. And it’s not just networking, but it’s connecting with people.

So why did I pick this topic for my blog? Well, Tory is back with her 2012 Spark & Hustle tour. It’s somewhat different this year with 1 day instead of 2 1/2 days, but last year she demonstrated the time and money spent attending will not be wasted. You’ll learn a lot and build relationships with people in your region and across the country.

If you’re able to participate in a Spark & Hustle conference in 2012, I encourage you to do so. Let me know if you have any questions about the conference or about specific tips I put to use right away.

Lots of continued success!

Diana Meyer
President, Meyer Marketing Intelligence, Inc.
661.254.6141
dmeyer@meyermktg.com

Engaging Others Through Social Media

Social media is a great way to establish and build relationships in the virtual world. Here are some of the advantages:

• You can connect with someone you ordinarily wouldn’t see because of geographic locations.
• It’s a 24/7 networking event!
• You can continue discussions over time.
• You can learn more about someone’s interests outside of work.
• If you’re having a “bad hair day” you can still benefit from social networking!

So, if those are some of the advantages what are some of the disadvantages?

• Drains you of your time.
• It can become “addicting”.
• At times, you might feel that you can’t truly “connect” with people.

Well, let’s address these challenges to figure out ways around them.

“Drains you of your time”: Quite simply put, yes this CAN be true. So, how do you get around this?

• Well, when I first started becoming involved in social media, I set a time limit for myself…15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes mid-afternoon.

• Set a time limit and once you are accustomed to it, you can ease up a bit and you won’t feel overwhelmed. There will be times, when you may need to spend more time.

• If you are introducing a new product/service, you will want to spend more time promoting this on social media to complement your offline marketing efforts.

“It can become ‘addicting'”: Well, I think anyone who has ever spent any amount of time on social media will recognize this can also be true. So, what do you do?

• This goes back to the first point of setting a time limit. Do whatever you need to do to prevent yourself from becoming “addicted” to social networking.

• Remember you have a life outside social media, but recognize there may be times when you’ll want to check interactions, mentions, messages, posts, and the like. Just make sure you know when to turn the technology off.

“You may feel that you can’t truly ‘connect’ with people”: So, how do you truly connect with others?

• Make it your goal to share information that is helpful to others. It doesn’t even have to be something that you wrote, but have it be something of interest to those connected to you. You’re adding value this way and not blatantly promoting yourself!

• Make sure you respond to and acknowledge your new fans and make sure you respond to every comment added to your messages and not just with a “like”. This will be a way to build a relationship with others and to learn more about your connections and they’ll learn more about you, too.

Let me know about some of the other ways you engage others through social media.

Telephone Surveys: Landlines or Cell Phones?

With the growing percentage of adults with cell phones only (and no landline), what are the implications on telephone market research studies? There are a number of implications based on how the research is designed.

So, let’s assume we want to conduct research with consumers who may not be our customers. There are two ways to pull the sample to survey:

1. The phone numbers can be generated from a dialing list based on landlines.
2. A list of cell phone numbers can be purchased from which to dial and combined with a list of landline numbers.

What if only landlines are used?

• Advantage: the survey would cost less and would be completed faster.
• Disadvantage: consumers surveyed will skew older. Those at least 50 years of age represent 66% of the average landline only sample when in fact they would account for 40% of a sample with cell phones, too.

What if cell phones are included?

• Advantage: respondents will be more representative of the entire population.
• Disadvantage: more costly and time-consuming since cell phone numbers need to be dialed manually and without the use of an automatic dialer.

Why are cell phone numbers important to include? Consider the following from the National Center for Health Statistics (May 2010):

• 23% of adults have cell phones only
• 30% of Hispanic adults have cell phones only
• 49% of adults 25-29 years of age have cell phones only

What do cell phone only users look like?

• 41% between ages of 18-29
• 38% between the ages of 30-49
• 60% are male
• 44% have at most a high school education
• 43% earn less than $30,000

And finally, what does a professional researcher recommend?

• Take a look at the target you want to reach and depending on the demographics you may want to consider including cell phone numbers.
• If conducting political surveys or public opinion polls or health care related surveys, consider increasing your budget size and adding cell phone numbers.

If you want more information or have questions about designing research studies, let me know. I would like to hear from you.

Engaging Others on LinkedIn

“I don’t know what to do with LinkedIn.”

“Someone told me I needed to be on LinkedIn for business.”

Do the above statements sound familiar? Have you heard them before from others? Have you asked those questions?

Well, I’m going to provide you with additional guidance on actively engaging others on LinkedIn.

• After you create your profile, upload a nice professional picture of yourself. If you don’t have one, ask a colleague, friend, or family member to take a “head shot” picture of you. Just make sure you’re dressed appropriately for your line of work.  Be aware of what appears in the background. Upload that picture as your profile picture. Here’s an example:

• Identify 3 – 5 groups to join. Groups are  centered around an industry, profession, organization, school, or hobby. Think of it as you’re online group in which you can interact with like-minded individuals.

• Participate in discussions or start your own discussion on those groups. Just make sure you read the rules posted for that group. If you’re just starting out, I would suggest reading and responding to discussions others started. This will get you known by others in the group.

• If you really enjoyed or agreed with a viewpoint expressed in the group, go ahead and send that person an invite to connect. Just remember to personalize that invitation. Remind him/her you are both in the same group and you enjoyed reading his/her discussion or comment.

• The last tip for this blog is spend time with the “Answer” section under “More”. The easiest way for me to explain this is to show you this brief video.

Now, if you want to learn more about LinkedIn and you’re in the Los Angeles area, please check out my seminar on August 19th. It will be a Hands-On Social Media Seminar focusing on Facebook for business, LinkedIn, and blogging. You can register here.

Let me know how else you are engaging others on LinkedIn!

Do You Need to be a “Suit” to Explore LinkedIn?

Often times people think they aren’t “corporate” or they don’t wear navy blue suits so they don’t know how to use or why to use LinkedIn. By the time you read this, hopefully you’ll feel a bit more at ease with using LinkedIn. There are a lot of tips I will give you over the coming weeks, and this is just part one of LinkedIn.

 

Let’s start with the premise that you have a LinkedIn profile. If you don’t, please create one as it will open many new doors for you and your business. I’m going to share with you some tips/hints/suggestions you can implement immediately without a lot of effort on your part!

 

1. Join Groups on LinkedIn.

If you’re a member of an organization, search for that organization under “Groups”. Search for groups within your field of expertise. For example, I’m a professional market researcher and I’m also passionate about social media. So I searched for “Marketing research” and “Social media” and a large number of groups appeared. I also searched for professional organizations to which I belong.

2. Add Connections.

Here I would suggest, don’t just add anyone. Make sure you either know the person or you have something in common…perhaps you both belong to the same organization or the same LinkedIn group. By the way, LinkedIn requires you to know the person’s email address if you’re not friends, colleagues, former classmates, or share groups in common. Be strategic in who you add. It’s not just about the number of connections, but it’s also about the quality of those connections.

3. Personalize Your Invitation to Connect.

Often times, I receive a request to connect without a personalized message from someone I have never met. It takes me a while to research a little bit about that person. I’m being generous because others I know will just delete those invitations.  So before you send your invite, personalize it by stating something similar to the following:

• “We are both in the XYZ group on LinkedIn and I’d like to connect with you further by adding you to my professional network here.”

• “It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday at the 123 Event and I’d like to continue connecting with you online by adding you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

• “I read your comment to the discussion on the XYZ group and I found it insightful. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

4. Professional Looking Photo.

Make sure you add a professional looking head shot or picture of yourself. Don’t use a family picture or one of you at the beach. You’re connecting with other professional people and this may be your first impression.

5. Unlink Twitter to LinkedIn.

If you tweet, do not have your tweets automatically post on your LinkedIn status. If you have Twitter and LinkedIn connected already, go ahead and unlink them. Tweets are more like texting since you’re limited to the number of characters. LinkedIn is a higher level of communication. Imagine talking to someone who is bottom-line oriented or a “dominant” personality. They want to hear quickly why they need to read something or is there a solution to something they may be facing.

There are many more tips/suggestions to come, but this should be a good start for you. Stay tuned for more tips on LinkedIn and other social media in future blogs. In the meantime, I hope you’ve learned something or found something you can share with others.

I welcome you to connect with me on LinkedIn!

Is Your Social Media Policy Clear?

I thought I’d deviate from writing about knowing your customers through marketing research and customer service and shift gears a bit to social media policy.

Let me ask the question, do you have a social media policy for your company or organization?

Better yet, let me ask, do you have a written social media policy that clearly identifies critical elements of your social policy and everyone in your organization understands your policy?

Now, the answer to my second question might be a little different from my first question. So let’s dive right in this topic.

Why is a social media policy important?

A written social media policy will help everyone in your organization travel down the same path. It should clear up a lot of questions from who is responsible for social media to what type of content can be posted to what social media platforms will you engage in representing your organization. Consider it your map or your guide to social media. It should also serve to clarify your organization’s position on social media and clear up any assumptions people might be making.

When do I create a social media policy?

Ideally, create your social media policy up front, before you start using the various platforms. However, if you don’t have a policy, NOW is the best time to do so.

What should  I include in my social media policy?

At the very basic level you want to be able to clearly answer the following questions:

1. Who will be the spokesperson and voice of the organization?
2. Will your voice on social media be personal or professional or a combination of the two? If a combination of the two, what will the split be between the two?
3. Who will respond to conversations and social media buzz created?
4. Who will monitor social media effects?
5. What, if any, monitoring tools will or should you use? OK, so here I would suggest you identify how you will monitor your social media effectiveness and go beyond x number of followers or “likes” or contacts.
6. How will you protect your brand against negative comments/conversations?
7. Which platforms will you engage in regularly? (Examples: blogs, podcasts, message boards, videos, social networking sites, etc.)

Let me know if you have any questions. What other questions does your social media policy answer?

Customer Service Could Save Your Customers

In pondering what to write about this week, it became evident that all around me has been the topic of customer service. Let me give you some examples.

First, I submitted a proposal for an RFP for an attitudinal and awareness study that also measures perceptions of and satisfaction with a transit authority. That screams customer service!

Second, I met with my local Chamber of Commerce about developing a group that would assist members with business development and add value to their membership. Again, customer service!

Third, I finished reading The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk. If you haven’t read this book, it’s a must read if you have clients or customers. Interestingly, before I even began reading the book I was writing about customer service on social media and doing radio and television show interviews on the very topic. In my television interview I told viewers to dig deep in their minds and think about the manners their mothers had taught them while growing up. You know, the “please” and “thank you” and equally important “I’m sorry, let me fix it”. Well, Gary writes about this and gives examples of how companies are putting good “old-fashioned” manners and good etiquette to use in business AND succeeding! Yes, this is all about customer service!

Fourth, in the last week, I fired my gardener. Unfortunately, I had to leave a voice mail message which isn’t unusual when I need to reach this landscape company. I thought, and admittedly hoped, I would get a call back to see if there was anything they could do to win me back. Well, the phone never rung and I received my final bill. OK, so this is clearly an example of how to ignore your customer service!

Now, you may be thinking, your gardener could not have done or said anything to keep me as a customer. Well, you may be right, but at the very least they should want to know why I’m canceling their service. Perhaps they don’t realize their crews do the bare minimum. When they have to walk through my shrubs (because they’ve grown too much) to get to my backyard and they still don’t trim them to clear a path. Or maybe their pricing has become out of line with the going rate in my community. Or perhaps it takes several calls in to the office before issues get resolved.

So, why is good customer service vital to the success of a business? Bottom line, it adds to your bottom line through customer retention and enhancing your reputation. Good customer service can make customer acquisition a lot easier and less expensive since you won’t need to sell as much or as hard. Think about your customer service.

Are you minding your manners or is losing one customer over less than stellar customer service not a big deal?

Honey or Vinegar, Which Would You Prefer?

If you’re reading this thinking, “I’ve heard some saying about honey and vinegar”, then you’re absolutely right! There’s an idiom that goes like this: “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

Now we probably all know that honey works a lot better than vinegar when catching flies, but how many businesses and small business owners use honey to acquire customers or keep their customers? I’m certain we all know examples of businesses who actively use honey as well as those who actively use vinegar. Let me share with you a couple of key benefits to using honey.

1. Using honey will get you customers. This is true even if your product offering might not be exactly what they are looking for or your pricing might be a little higher. It’s common sense that people want to do business with others who are friendly and nice and are also qualified for the job. So when you’re building your relationships with others or doing the business development dance, remember what Mom always said to you while growing up or what you say to your kids  “Mind your manners. Say please and thank you.”

2. Using honey will keep your customers and transform them into “fans” or “evangelists”. Just because you have someone or some company as customer or client, remember to be friendly and nice also. If something goes awry with a project or the relationship, apologize immediately and correct the situation. If you ignore a situation or dismiss it, that will be seen by your customer as using vinegar.

By now you might be thinking, well, “I’m really good at what I do, so I don’t need to apologize”.

Well, let me give you another example of how you can use honey with your existing customers. You can offer them something for free. No, I’m not proposing you give away your labor and your talent for free. What I am suggesting, though, is provide little bits of information to your customer base for free. This could be in the form of a newsletter or blog, or it could be sending your clients an article or report you read that would be interest to them. Maybe it’s even sending them a thank you gift just because. Perhaps you were in bookstore and saw a book you thought they would really enjoy, send it to them with a note. Use your imagination, the possibilities are endless.

You might be thinking, “That’s a waste of money” or perhaps “That won’t work”. Well let me give you some examples of what’s really easy to do. My daughters have both been active Girl Scouts for 9 and 11 years…that’s a lot of nuts and cookies they sell! Well, guess who buys a lot of the product to share with clients and others? Yes, you got it. And it works! Who doesn’t love Girl Scout cookies? Periodically, when I read a new study with interesting results for my clients, I share the link to the report with them. I also regularly post interesting information on different industries on my various social media networks.

So, I’ll close by asking, which would you prefer….honey or vinegar? My guess is “honey”. So use more honey in your daily business activity. You’ll see sweet results!

Diana Meyer
President, Meyer Marketing Intelligence, Inc.
661.254.6141
dmeyer@meyermktg.com