Is the "He Who Dies With the Most Toys Wins" Philosophy to Social Media Really the Best Approach?

People spending any time studying how to be effective with social media, need to learn how to sift through the weeds. There are a lot of articles, posts and comments about obtaining as many likes, friends and followers as possible.

There are consultants who base their business solely on this one aspect. They never stop to think about the fact that those people may never be back to your Facebook page, or completely ignore you tweets, leaving you no value whatsoever in the “relationship.”

It reminds me of the bumper sticker he who dies with the most toys wins, only you can replace the word toys with likes, friends or followers. This is really not a good way to measure the success of your social media campaign. It only hits on a small sliver of what social media is about.

The fascination is similar to the obsession with obtaining as many web site hits as possible. Both only reveal a fraction of what you should be doing online. A web site hit is not going to do anything for you if they leave the site before completing your call to action.

You need to make sure that your site’s content, design and structure all work together to point at your call to action. Visitors who complete that call to action should be the true mark of success.

The same thing is true with social media. Say there is a Facebook page with 2,000 likes and a page with 20. The page with 2,000 likes has zero engagement. They do not talk with anyone through the page, and it is largely used as a PR mouthpiece to toss their traditional marketing materials against a wall and see what sticks.

Now, say the Facebook page with 20 likes takes the opposite approach. There is a community being built because they are asking questions, getting to know the people who liked their page, and have generally built their business. I’ll take this page every time.

Don’t get me wrong, if you can build a page with a large following and engage, and talk with people, it can work wonders. There are people out there extremely talented at doing just that. No matter the size of your network, you should be concentrating on engagement, though.

You can throw those traditional marketing measurements out the window. Instead of how many likes you want to establish in a given day, maybe try for how many conversations you want to start. How many people do you want to meaningfully talk to?
It’s a better way to aim for success with social media.

Would You Do Business On LinkedIn With Someone Who Didn't Post A Photo?

I recently came across a LinkedIn discussion asking if you would ever do business with someone with no LinkedIn photo, and why. This is an excellent question that deserves discussion.

One of the commenters mentioned that at first, she thought that because it was a professional network, and not Facebook, that there was no need for people to see what she looked like. Many other profiles on LinkedIn at that time did not have a profile picture, she reasoned.

As the site grew, so did the profiles with pictures. People realized their importance in branding, and she added one because she did not want to be left out. Slowly, she came to see the necessity in the photo.

Whatever your stated purpose is for your LinkedIn account, people need to see who you are. If you are job hunting, you are branding yourself to future employers, and the picture is a huge part of that process. Your prospective employer wants to make sure your tattoos and piercings aren’t showing. They don’t want to hire someone who will show up in biker gear when they need to be wearing a suit. They’re just looking for someone who has put the time and effort into being professional and presentable.

If you are in business for yourself, you are branding yourself to potential customers, and they will want to see what you look like before they solicit your services. They have an investment in making sure that you are both kempt and competent, and a picture goes a long way in establishing that trust.

Me personally? I would never do business with someone that I met on LinkedIn who didn’t have a photo. That’s not being shallow and evaluating looks. That’s being thorough and only using someone who has taken the necessary steps to be professional, on a professional network. I’m a writer, and I see the value in the statement that a picture is worth a thousand words. It shows the full out commitment to your intentions, and that is important.

Stay Relevant

The National Football League is in the middle of a lot of turmoil with a lockout, and looming uncertainty over whether it will even have a season this fall.

In the midst of the turmoil, we’ve heard from the likes of Adrian Peterson who related his experiences in the National Football League to modern day slavery. He’s not the first professional athlete to say something so out of touch. There was the NBA basketball player a few years back just trying to feed his family. I’m sure there are more examples as well.

Most of us don’t have the job security of having 20,000 plus people come to watch us work. We need to stay in touch with our customer base and make sure that we are identifying with those around us.

There is a great social media and marketing lesson in all of this. It’s essential to think like your customers. Your business and marketing efforts should be in perfect stride with your customer base. In a day and age where people are cutting back on their personal expenses, you don’t want to come across like a rich millionaire complaining about being poor. If you do come across this way, your customers may not relate. If they don’t relate, they probably won’t do business with you.

It’s up to you as the business owner to be able to relate to your customers. Find out what their interests are outside of your product and industry, and engage with them through social media. Talk about sports, or music, or a hobby that you may have in common. Even if they don’t need your product now, they will remember you in a few months when they do need your product or service.

Try to anticipate their questions. Find a question that a lot of people ask on discussion boards, and answer the question in a blog. Then provide links to the blog. This will help establish you as the expert in the field.

Picture yourself at a networking event every time you log into Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, or any of your other professional accounts. You need to be cultivating and developing relationships online, like you would offline.

When you develop these relationships, work hard to stay relevant and in touch with people, and your business should benefit.

Your Web Site Probably Needs Help

It used to be that if a customer wanted to know something about your business, they’d look it up in the Yellow Pages, and then maybe call. Things changed quickly with the Internet.

Phone books are now something that short kids sit on, to be able to eat at the dining room table. They’re something you stick under the computer monitor to give it a little more height on your desk. Past that, chances are they’re tossed into the recycling bin.

It’s no longer something your business needs to spend thousands to advertise in. They simply don’t have the traction they used to. If people need a phone number, they Google it. If people want to know something about a business they find the web site.

Even if you don’t think so, chances are your web site needs attention, and love. Think about it, it’s the first thing people see. It’s your business’s online resume. It’s potentially the reason a customer will do business with you. Conversely, it’s the reason they may not.

Here are some things to consider:

Can customers find your web site?

Are you ranking high in Google, and the other significant search engines?

Does the content on your web site effectively and accurately communicate your business’s message?

Are there spelling mistakes or other glaring grammatical errors in the content?

Is there a clear navigational system?

Is it easy to find the most pertinent information?

Is the design contemporary and engaging, or does it look like it was designed more than five years ago? (Your visitors can tell.)

You need to concentrate your marketing dollars on making sure that these things are happening. You need to be bringing in customers with social media. If you’re not incorporating your web site and social media, you’re not taking full advantage of the potential customer base. Concentrating on your online marketing will do much more for your business, than putting an ad in a big, thick book that’s destined for the recycling bin.

The Success of Made In Aurora

Local music scenes don’t emerge out of thin air. Like any movement, they require much effort, and the loyal dedication of everyone involved.

The record store Kiss the Sky in Geneva has been at the center of the music scene in the west suburbs of Chicago for years. Owner Steve Warrenfeltz has supported local musicians for a long time by helping organize various local shows, and selling their albums without taking a cut on the sale.

Recently Warrenfeltz came up with an outside the box idea that will help keep his store at the forefront of the music scene. While talking with some local musicians in his store, they came up with the idea to make a collaborative record, to showcase the local music scene.

That idea became a reality on Record Store Day, April 16, when Made In Aurora hit the shelves in his store. The album features various local artists singing their original material.

It’s an excellent showcase for the local artists, and should help to propel interest in their music. (I have to lay down a disclaimer here. I am a part of the volunteer marketing team for this project. I believe in what it’s doing, and the music really is good. Really good.)

Many of these artists have their own original albums, they’ve written, recorded and promoted. Many are veterans of the local scene, having played shows for years. They fight their fight. Made In Aurora's success should come through increased press and notoriety because of the collaborative effort. The album has already sold through more than half the initial run of 500.

If the music wasn’t enough, the proceeds from the album are going to the Paul Ruby Foundation, to help fight Parkinson’s. The album is something that all the musicians on it should be proud of for years to come. It’s not just a great local album. It’s a great album—one that hopefully generates interest in the local music scene for years to come.