Blog Consulting, LLC.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009 Social Media Trends Amid Inc 500 Companies

Blog Consulting, LLC. - social media is having a significant impact on the way businesses communicate their message to consumers.

The University of Massachusetts recently released a study showing continued growth in Inc. 500 companies.

A few findings worth highlighting:

"Social networking continues to lead the way. The technology that continues to be the most familiar to the Inc. 500 is social networking with 75% of respondents in 2009 claiming to be “very familiar with it” (compared to 57% in 2008). Another noteworthy statistic around familiarity is Twitter’s amazing “share of mind” with sixty-two percent of executives reported being familiar with the new microblogging and social networking platform.

The adoption curves for different social media technologies are not all the same.Interestingly, while social networking and blogging have enjoyed growth in actual adoption, the use of message boards, online video, wikis and podcasting has leveled off or declined. The addition of Twitter (considered by respondents to be both a microblogging site and a social networking site) in the latest study shows that an amazing 52% of the Inc. 500 companies are already using this tool for their business.

Regardless of the particular technology, social media matters and is here to stay.
Forty-three percent of the 2009 Inc. 500 reported social media was “very important” to their business/marketing strategy. And an incredible 91% of the Inc. 500 is using at least one social media tool in 2009 (up from 77% in 2008). In addition, as they ramp up their usage, the Inc. 500 companies are also seeking to protect themselves legally, with 36% having implemented a formal policy concerning blogging by their employees."

Here is a copy of their recent findings:  Download Socialmedia2009

Small Businesses to Open Checkbooks for Social Media in 2010

Blog Consulting, LLC - in a recent survey by Vertical Response, 68% of small businesses intend to increase their use of social media in 2010.

According to the survey, e-mail marketing and building relationships with social media are forefront in the thinking of small business owners.

We see this huge wave coming as we talk to businesses, nonprofits, and individuals as they consider how to communicate their services.

The huge advantage of these mediums are that they are very inexpensive, as compared to traditional advertising mediums.

In the same survey, over 70% of the respondents said that they are not planning to spend any money in television, or radio advertising.  Furthermore, as I have been shouting from the rooftops, the print media seems to be sounding the death rattle.

We would love to help you in your foray into these mediums.  In just a few short weeks, we hope to have our entire product offering re-tooled to help you do just that. 

[HT to Small Business Trends]

Social Media and the Lifetime Value of a Client

When we owned our financial services firm in Michigan, our focus was on three things:

• finding new clients, primarily through word of mouth.
• bringing extraordinary advice to our clients through a predictable, and awe-inspiring experience.
• building life-long relationships.

Social media is a natural way for your clients to refer you.  Best of all, when they do refer you, they can literally refer you, and you get to deliver the actual message through text, audio, video, or all three.

Seth Godin reminds us that our objective should be to drop life-long clients out of our sales funnel.

Changes at Blog Consulting, LLC. as we Adapt to the Wild, Wild West of Social Media

I have long been saying that this social media transformation we are in is very much like the wild, wild west.

No one knows where it is going, no one is in charge, and everyone claims to be an expert.

For a company like ours, we must learn to be not only adept, but willing to make change.

It is readily apparent to me that even though we have much to offer this fast changing medium, the language we have been using to communicate our mission is not translating very well.

Blogging, websites, social media, search engine optimization, RSS Feeds, e-mail marketing, on-line marketing, Facebook, Twitter, and many, many more on-line socially orientated mediums are beginning to emerge from a blur, into perhaps one visible medium that businesses, and nonprofits might be able to more fully wrap their minds around.

To accommodate this new force in the marketplace, we are going to change our focus, shift our direction a bit, and start to communicate through the language of a social media wired website.

Blog Consulting, LLC. is going to become Social Web Design, LLC. 

In this new company, we are going to focus on helping businesses, nonprofits, and certain individuals move their "business card" websites to socially integrated websites, that will allow them to more fully take advantage of the change occurring in the marketplace.

Rather than merely plugging a blog into your existing website, we intend to bring a whole new website solution, complete with all the social media bells, and whistles, for less than you likely paid for your first professionally designed website.

We are very excited to be able to bring these new social web designs to our clients, and will soon have an example of our own to show you.

Stay tuned!

Kyle Flaherty: B2B and Social Media Marketing

While attending the BlogWorld Expo, I set out to learn how social media might apply for those who are building relationships B2B (business to business).

Actually, there is no real difference if you have the right mind.  Social media tools are best used to build relationships.  Those working B2B are building relationship with people inside companies, where B2C (business to consumer) practitioners are building relationships directly with the consumer.

Nonetheless, if you are learning to use social media tools in a B2B setting, I would recommend that you follow Kyle Flaherty.  Kyle spoke on a B2B panel and I found him to speak intelligently on the subject, and in particular, had a laser focus on expecting a return on investment (ROI) from social media strategies.

Here is a quote from his recent blog post from the BlogWorld Expo:

"Social media is still being viewed as a separate entity within organizations. My belief is that this is the wrong approach and that social media must be part of the DNA of all your communications, internal and external. You don’t do eMarketing anymore right? Well you shouldn’t be calling it social media marketing either, because it’s not true."

I couldn't agree with Kyle more profoundly.  Far too many see this as another way to sell stuff.  If rightly applied, social media is best used to build relationships, and the "sell stuff" will follow.

This was one of the fundamental lessons I learned in our business.  The moment I quite trying to sell my clients stuff, and rather diligently worked to meet their needs, and build life-long relationships with them, the "sell stuff" went through the roof.

People don't want to be sold stuff.  At the end of the day, they want stuff, and want to work with someone who has the stuff, but they want this to be someone that they can trust, and build a relationship with.  Although, most confusingly, they will never come to you saying this. 

This is a critical lesson to learn.  Learn it well grasshopper!  :)

Light at the end of the Tunnel

I was talking to my son today about life. 

Sometimes life, and a business venture, can leave you feeling cold, alone, void, colorless, hopeless, and with no end in sight.

Often, the answer, and the way to find the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is to:

• ask questions of trusted friends/family
• keep moving
• open lots of doors
• don't give up

Sometimes this means that you will find yourself down a rabbit hole with no course of action but to turn around. 

But keep going.  Don't sit down.  If you do, gather your thoughts, stand back up, and press on.

Life, business, and relationships are all on a moving track.  If you jump off the track, you will find yourself hopelessly frustrated.

If you find yourself moving, but also constantly frustrated, perhaps you are blind to something in your life, or your business, and you need the counsel of a good friend.

Remember the definition of insanity?  Doing the same thing, over, and over, and over, and expecting a different result.

A good many, in today's tough economic climates are looking for light at the end of the tunnel.

Son, if it makes you feel any better, I am bopping around those damp, dark, cold halls myself right now, as we are building this new business.  The advantage I bring to this task is my 20+ years of additional life.  I have learned that the quest is fun, and with persistence any task can be very rewarding.

Keep plodding.  Most will sit down.  Keep plodding.

Is Writing for the Web Different Than Writing for Print?

Yes!

As you know, I have started my online quest to improve my writing skills.  In particular, I had first started my journey in the area of punctuation.

After just my second post, my good friend Wes Thorp asked if I was "barking up the wrong tree".  You see, Wes was concerned that I might fall into the trap of using effective print strategies, and bring them to my blog.

How wonderful it is to have good friends, like Wes Thorp, who challenge you, cheer you on, and continually show a genuine interest in your life.  Thanks Wes!

Therefore, to be clear, there are significant fundamental differences in best writing practices between print, and online.  These communication distinctions, just to keep it interesting, are also in a state of constant flux.

Here are two resources that I intend to rely on heavily to keep my writing style Internet friendly, yet increasingly more stylistically competent:

• The Purdue Online Writing Lab (referred by my neighbor Susan)
• Useit.com - (referred by Wes Thorp)

If you know of any great resources to help us all further our Internet communication competencies, please share them in the comments section of this post!

Thanks!

Contemplating Dysfunctional Trade Show Relationships and Social Media Practices

First of all, let me be clear, this article is not about winning an iPhone. If it was, would you be more likely to read this article. If yes, than that is exactly what this article is about!

I received a whining e-mail today because I haven't ponied up $44/year to pay for a subscription to an on-line magazine that I never wanted in the first place.

I am quite certain that our dysfunctional relationship started at a trade show, where my wife, who loves to win stuff, put a card in a fish bowl to win a free iPhone.

There seems to be an unwritten code at trade shows:  put your card in our drawing, and you give us permission to spam you for the rest of your natural born days.

This same dysfunction exists in social media too.  Right? 

If I were giving away a new car, would you give me your name, e-mail address, and perhaps even your first born child?

But what does that say about the value proposition?  Can I buy your loyalty with a free gift? 

Or, more likely, are you willing to give me your subscriber information for the chance to win a new exciting prize, and then unsubscribe once the prize is won by someone else? 

If I have millions of those kinds of relationships, just hanging around, ready to unsubscribe at a moments notice, is that a valuable relationship?

If I continue with this win a free prize behavior, hoping that enough of you stick to the wall, is that a fair thing to do? 

Yet, it is clear, the crowds have spoken, give me free gifts and we will come.

Interesting isn't it.  We all want value, but flock in massive herds to any, and all, sites that offer us free stuff.

What do you make of this? 

How to Properly use a Serial Comma in a Sentence

Now that I have made a style decision with regard to the capitalization of my blog posts, it is time to tackle my great nemesis, the comma.

I am certain it is no secret to regular readers of my blogs, that I have an unhealthy love affair with the comma.  I have been operating under the if you pause, stick in a comma method.  

"Not so fast", says Mignon Fogarty, author of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

Now, understanding the proper use of the comma is a much more lengthy topic than title capitalization.  Therefore, I am going to break my comma lessons up into several posts.

In the first post we are going to cover the serial comma.  The serial comma is the comma that comes before the final conjunction in a list.  For example:

Aardvark and Squiggly love chocolate, hiking, and fishing. 

The serial comma is placed right before the conjunction "and", whereas some would prefer to construct the sentence without the serial comma:

Aardvark and Squiggly love chocolate, hiking and fishing.

Grammar Girl instructs the use of the serial comma to prevent confusion.  For example:

To my parents, Sally Smith and God. 

or:

To my parents, Sally Smith, and God.

In the first example, you might think that the parents are Sally Smith and God, rather than:  my parents, Sally Smith, and God.

I can recall a number of times wondering whether to stick that last comma in my sentences.  I am happy to now have a policy to use it, and avoid confusion.

I am going to be doing some blogging for a large organization soon, and their style guide leaves the serial comma up to a case, by case decision.  For me, I like to keep it simple.  Therefore, the serial comma will become my steady friend.

In my next punctuation review, we will move to the adjective comma.  Are you excited?

Are you a regular user of the serial comma?