Nothing better than investing an hour with two of your best friends.  It is always great to have allies and friends across the globe who share the same mindset and goals in life.  This is what happened on July 28th, my good friend Daniel Gutierrez who hosts a business webcast each week on blogtalkradio.com invited me and my mentor Bob Burg onto his program.  Danny’s show is similar to what I do with the Ulistic Orange Files, a small business webcast focused on delivering practical business advice to small business owners globally.  I was blessed to be even consider by Danny for his show.

You can listen to Daniel, Bob and I by tuning into the recording of the show.

Besides listening to Bob and Danny speak on the Go Giver philosophies and the critical stratospheric laws of success.  I had 30 minutes to chat with Danny about social media and the future of online marketing.  Lots of stuff to cover and 30 minutes is hardly enough time to really dig deep into the key points that business must really look at in order to really hit a home run with social media and all their online marketing.

I did share with Daniel the importance of having your business plan and your marketing plan figured out first.  I may sound like a broken record here and I know I have mentioned countless times on my blog about the importance of your plans prior to moving to execution phase.  However, many still simply jump to execution and have no real business plan.

Another topics we discussed was the continued importance of meeting people face-to-face and how we can leverage social media and other strategies to enhance our overall business communication strategies.  Social Media doesn’t replace face-to-face, it enhances what we do today with our business communications and even those relationships outside of business.

I also shared with Daniel on the importance of your small business doing your homework before rushing out and hiring the first living or breathing social media consultant.  You need to do your homework and find the right fit for your business.

Thank You Danny and thanks Bob for being my partner in crime.

This post may ruffle a few feathers especially here in our Calgary Social Media consulting world.  But what the heck, sometimes I learn from Vladville and gotta upset the apple cart from time to time.  I am only writing this because I care enough about Canadian small business to raise a flag on all the “so-called” gurus out there ready to take your money and give you nothing in return.  Buyer Beware and do your homework before giving your credit card number or writing a cheque.

How does the average Canadian small business see Social Media? What does your business think of those feverishly running around or continuous tweeting looking to pitch their services?  $100 off a strategy session here and promises to manage a company’s social media there. There is still a lot of promises about experts looking to fill the pipelines of Canadian small business with endless referrals become of their social media activities.

Sorry, I have to throw my BS flag here. Just because you have a website and sent out 5 tweets doesn’t make you a marketing expert.  Our team at Ulistic are serious and professionally trained consultants and a team who works strategically with business across the globe.  We take an exception to those social media gurus out there who think they can save the day with a simple Facebook Page and Twitter account.  Sorry, social media success is part of a greater marketing strategy and business plan loaded with KPIs and objectives.

There are some markets our team has a wealth of experience and some we simply have a basic understanding.  We know our strengths and appreciate our weaker areas.  I can’t promise that we will fill your pipeline with gobs of referrals.

What if no one is looking for what you are offering?
What if your sales team can’t follow-up on leads?

What if…what I can promise if you do things right and follow the new rules of marketing you can position yourself to win new potential opportunities, but I can’t promise you the phone will ring off the wall.  Those who promise this, sorry I simply don’t understand it.

With that, more and more social media consultants are popping up on the landscape claiming to save the day.  It is almost embarrassing.  The social media consulting space here in Calgary and across all of Canada is becoming extremely crowded.  Crowded  with social media consultants and self-proclaimed experts.  Those who have a family businesses to former golf ball and promotional products experts flying in to save the day with Social Media.

Wait a second here!

Here are a few things to watch out for when hiring a social media consultant for your business:

• Is your social media consultant going to educate you and your team.  Your team must own your strategy.  A great consultant will share everything they know and use to help position your business for success.  Speaking from experience, our Ulistic Social Media Coaching program is in hot demand simply because we coach and work with the clients we serve to position themselves and be in the right spot, hopefully at the right time.
• You as the business owner or leader must own the strategy, outsource the tactical but the business owner must own the strategy.  I can’t tell you what going to happen in your market.  But I can help you formulate and then execute a plan based on your own business intelligence.
• Do your research.  When finding a firm to work with check some basic things.  Does their website look like some cheap or free template?  Does your social media consultant have a professional image?  How do they show up at your office?  Suit and Tie or T-shirt and shorts.
• Never, Ever hand over any money without doing your background check.  Ask for references, talk with those in your industry and most importantly do your own Google search on the firm you are looking for.  If your social media expert is going to position you for online success, they better be high on the first page of Google.
• Does your social media professional have deep strategic relationships?  What industry groups do they have membership in?  Who endorses their work?  Do your homework and ask the right questions.
• Ask your social media expert for their P and L and income statements to prove they are a legitimate business.  Nothing wrong with asking for proof they are running a successful enterprise.

Real business needs real world consulting. Not someone who will tweet your specials and start a fan page on Facebook.  Your business is not going to win with social media alone, social media must be integrated into your overall marketing strategy.  A strategic marketing coach with specialities in online marketing, social media and search engine optimization can help your business understand this part of the strategy but also have resources outside of the online marketing world to help with the overall marketing strategy and business execution.

That is the end of my rant…here is my last tip to the business owner…Do Your Homework and Buyer Beware!

This post today is not about social media consulting in Calgary or even the work we do each day helping our clients with search engines optimization. However, keep this in mind, the work we do with all of our social media efforts and investing the time and/or dollars into a search engine optimization campaign all start with understanding our businesses.

You know it is still very surprising how many business still don’t have a business plan and even more have a marketing plan that consists of the proverbial, “let’s throw spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks” approach.  By the way, don’t be in denial…don’t tell people you have a business plan and then have to blow the dust off it or even worse..you can produce it.  If your business and marketing plans are in your head, they are simply dreams. Get it on paper today.

During a recent Starbuck’s gathering with one of our SEO copy editors who works with Ulistic, we got chatting about business and the various stages of a small business.  I was intrigued about these various stages and thought that I should know them because I am on my second small business now.  Once I started to understand them, it was easy to share with you all.

Here are the three stages that we discussed over coffee:

• Forming – These are the early stages in a small business.  You may be here solo or have a group of two or more.  This can also be known as the “dating phase”.  You like each other, you see synergies and you elect to jump into a business with each other.  Everyone kind of knows what they need to be doing.  Usually lots of toes are stepped on but everyone is happy.
• Storming – Enter the rocky seas.  Everyone is heads down and feverishly working hard for the success of the business.  Everyone has the right intentions but lots of things are being missed, people are getting upset and this stage is where a number of the small business relationships fall apart.   Success occurs but everyone is so busy pushing forward that they fail to reward themselves, egos start to form and everyone is jockeying for position.
• Norming – If your small business can make it through the storming phase, you will start to see that the stormy seas start to calm and everyone settles into what they do best.  Your true sales experts start to emerge, your technical folks understand their roles and everyone is on the same page.

Let’s face it…egos get bruised every day in a small business and every business goes through these phases eventually.  The forming period maybe longer for others.  Storming may be short-lived and norming we all hope can go on for ever.  Let your colleagues flex their muscle and ride out the stormy times to get to the smooth sailing.  Some people just need to know they can do it and have early success.

Having run a very successful IT firm in Calgary for 9 years I can tell you that we went through all of these phases.  It wasn’t until we had some outside help that allowed us to figure out the norming phase.  The phase where roles and job descriptions are clearly defined and KPI’s are set.  Do you have KPI’s in your business? If not, how do you know if everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing?

Having someone come in to do a SWOT analysis on your business is totally awesome and well worth the exercise.  I highly recommend investing the time.

Where are you in your business today?

Social Media and Search Engines are turning the sales world on its head. Is your business attractive bait in the online ocean or is your business just a small fish in a big pond. Businesses today are looking for what you have to offer but how are they finding you?

One of the questions I get asked throughout the course of my day, as a Canadian Social Media Consultant is how small businesses across Canada can actively prospect for new business in our online world. The Internet has opened the kimono when it comes to marketing opportunities.

Is your business leveraging what the Internet has to offer?

I continue to enjoy a strong passion for sales and marketing. This passion was born in my early days as a computer tech and IT Professional in the Calgary market. As a young computer support technician I had a knack for helping those get the right IT solutions for their business and with the right mindset. These core principles I practiced 12 years ago are now very relevant today.

It started with putting service first and the need to provide the client the right solution that allowed them to achieve their crucial business goals. I loved being involved in the sales process and eventually helping build IT Matters through a strong client-first marketing focus.

Like many of you, I had a number of so-called “sales experts” try to educate me on how to sell to my customers. Some strategies worked and some flopped. That was part of the education process. The important component of any experience is that we learn from it.

In a traditional sales environment, we have always taught our sales teams to go out and prospect. Chase down potential opportunity after opportunity and shake things out. Many of us are still taught to “go out and hunt for opportunities”. We do cold calling, warm calling, selling to people in our networking groups and the list goes on from there.

The question is, does it really work in today’s world?

The market is much smarter than just a few years ago. Google, BING and the Internet have helped educate our clients on exactly what they want or need. Social Media and online communities are breeding grounds for those looking for answers. However, many of us continue to turn a blind eye to the power of social media and continue with websites that don’t perform.

Today’s consumer plays the prospector role. Educated consumers lurk amongst us and the Internet allows these knowledgeable consumers to continuous search the information and answers they want. Many will never stop until they get the answer they want. These same consumers once relied on our expertise. Today, that expertise is available with a simple Google search.

I often think in order to fill this need and to be successful in our businesses we need to flip the prospecting model on its head. The roles have to be reversed. Our sales teams and marketing professionals must become the prospect and our future clients…the prospector. I think this is how the model has to look. It is the only way it can work in today’s world where answers are at everyone’s fingertips.

What can we do online and offline that facilitates others to prospect for our services and products? How do sales professionals and business owners become attractive bait for those in need of what we have to offer? I often think about what Jeffrey Gitomer says, “customers love to buy but they hate to be sold”.

How can we become that facilitator who allows people to do what they love…BUY. Can our social media activities play an active role? I think it has to. The reality of today’s world is never before has the opportunity for many of us to become great bait and allow the prospectors out there to find us. After all, isn’t that we all love to buy? The debt crises in North America can attest to that.

The Internet allows us to be searchable. Social media and search engines are the prospector’s tools. The scary part is for many of us is we are nowhere to be found. We have little or no online presence and we wonder why the guy down the street gets all the business. Maybe it is because he is out there, helping and serving those who are looking for what he or she has to offer.

That is the reality, it doesn’t matter what market you are in, you have an opportunity to educate and make yourself the most attractive bait out there. You just need to take the first step and learn how to participate effectively.

Earlier this week I had the wonderful experience of serving my good friend Denise Deveau from the National Post and Financial Post with some information on “social media in Canadian business” for a recent article of hers which appears in the National Post and Financial Post recently.  The article “Sweeten Sales with Social Media” focused on how Canadian Small Business can use social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to improve overall sales performance.  But more importantly, the article really touched on the importance of engagement and listening.

Kim Gans from Toronto’s Sweet Flour Bake Shop was the focus on the article.  Kim shared how her business uses social media services to connect with clients and her community.  I was there as the Canadian Professional who can help other Canadian Small Businesses figure this out but the real star of the article was Kim and her business.

Kim shared in the article how her business uses social media each day to engage in the community and work with her customers.  ”For us, social media tools are incredibly useful and a huge component of our marketing. We do very, very little advertising, with the exception of a few local placements.”

Her story is just like many of the businesses we serve daily at Ulistic.  Many Canadian small business are weathering the recession OK but they have next to nothing for a marketing budget but still want to make a big splash.  Luckily for many Canadian small business owners, the barrier to entry is nice and low and the Internet is the perfect vehicle to help them succeed with their marketing.  It is almost the perfect storm for many of my peers to take advantage of the Internet to help grow their businesses.

But it takes commitment, authenticity and persistence. This is not something you can do once and say “there, I did it…business come to me now”.  It is just like business networking face-to-face, it takes work and it takes hard work to run effective online marketing campaigns.  I am sure Kim will share with you that it didn’t happen over night.  Just to repeat, it takes work and this commitment to working on the business marketing for many often dies off over time.  Just look around and you will see “stale blogs” littered all across the Internet.  When was the last time you wrote something on your blog?

Kim summed it up “We have added a lot of different mixes based on feedback. We’re not just asking people, we’re listening to what they have to say online. For example, we found out that a lot of customers wanted gluten-free choices so we added that. Our new ice cream and frozen yogurt sandwich cookies were their idea.”

It takes effort, it takes engagement and you must listen and listen all the time.  Social Media effectiveness is more listening than talking and most of us have this backwards.  We spend more time publishing than we do keeping our finger on the pulse of what is happening around us.  We really need to shift gears back into listening and engagement mode.  Just like Kim did when her customers shared with her about the ice cream and frozen yogurt sandwich.

What is your ice cream and frozen yogurt sandwich?

________________________________

Ulistic focuses on serving the needs of Canadian Small Business, REALTORS, and Information Technology firms across Canada and United States. Helping your business understand, deploy and leverage social media, search engine optimization and online communications to generate business opportunities and make an impact inside your community and industry.

My business partner David and I are business professionals first. We understand what it takes to run a successful small business.

I invite you to reach out to me personally at 403.775.2205 or email Stuart at scrawford@ulistic.com.

What a pleasant surprise at today’s Mind Over Marketing day here in Calgary.

Greg from “The Engaged Entrepreneur” was a pleasant addition to the speaker lineup at the Mind Over Marketing boot camp today and shared some great strategies on marketing for our small businesses.  Greg had a great question on “Why is so much marketing screwed up?” What a great question!

I shared this belief with a number of my fellow Canadian small business owners on why our marketing simply doesn’t work.  Here is the main issue…we are all focused on “IMAGE MARKETING”.  You know or maybe you don’t know.  Drive down any highway and you will see classic examples of image advertising…just look for all the billboards.  The biggest challenge with image-based advertising is this…you can’t measure it.  Lesson of the day – If you can’t easily measure it…DON’T DO IT!

Here are a few great small business marketing ideas I learned from Greg.

Never drive traffic to your main website – David and I talk about this all the time.  Domain names are cheap and people who specialize in Internet Marketing are plentiful.  When you run a campaign or do some marketing, register a special domain at godaddy.com or your favourite registrar and then have everyone go to that specially registered domain name.  Why?  So you can measure how effective your marketing is.  Ulistic can help with strategy around this.  There are many ways to implement this, so before you spend a dime…call me at 403.775.2205.

Not everyone is your target market – Most entrepreneurs are afraid of limiting their target market.  Well, the opposite is the reality.  With Ulistic, we focus on hi-tech organizations, IT Professionals, Real Estate Agents, Real Estate businesses and keep our focus aligned on what we do best.  Not everyone is in your target market.

Keep it simple – Avoid high prices imaged-based marketing.  Keep your marketing simple and targeted.  Always think about the target market that you are serving and think about them some more.  People are always asking “Who cares, what is in it for me?”. Simple marketing works, put yourself in the heads of the market you are looking to serve and then serve, serve, serve them.

What does this have to do with social media or online marketing?  Lots!

As I mentioned in my talk yesterday at Mind Over Marketing…the barrier to entry is extremely low and never before has access to the market been so affordable for small business.  Don’t bring in the mistakes of image-based marketing into the online world.  Put yourself in the shoes of your prospect and market and then serve them.  Position your marketing, your blogs, and social media to serve and offer great advice and service.

If you need some help with online marketing and position yourself online as a servant to your community give me a shout at 403.775.2205.

I am so pumped about today.

Why?  The Mind Over Marketing Event is being held in NE Calgary and in just a few short hours I will be taking the stage to share so information on Search Engine Optimization and the importance of Social Media in the Canadian economy.

My good friend Teresa de Grosbois decided to put on this event a while back as a way to give back to the community and to share some of her best relationships with us.  I can really appreciate the hard work involved with putting on an event of this magnitude.  Way to go…Teresa! (also Lynne and Jodi).

Thanks Teresa for doing this and thanks for the honour to be speaking to your attendees.

Social Media and Search Engine Optimization in todays’ world is my topic and also my passion.  This is where I have decided to serve the Canadian Small Business community and those who work in the Information Technology community.  So of course my talk to the room of Calgary business people assembled at Mind Over Marketing is on what I am passionate about.

One of the vibes I am picking up from my brief attendance yesterday is the importance of being authentic and also being real. People can spot phonies a mile away.  The importance of authenticity especially in today’s world is crucial and a critical success factor.  You just have to look Apple commercials to see what being authentic is all about.

Over and over again I am seeing examples of where people are immediately tuning out to the hype of sly sales tactics.   You know the ones who use fancy words such as amazing, Limited Time, Hurry, Only a few seats remain…yes, even I have used them recently.  (insert virtual hand slap here).  Authenticity also means admit when you screw up and not being ashamed about it.  After all, we learn all the time don’t we?  I guess I have some baggage from all those free breakfast and lunches I attended here in Calgary a few years back.  Man, the damage those events caused is still unbelievable to your thought patterns.

I will be also be speaking about the importance of SWIPE (thanks Dawson Lane) today.  Sharing with intent, purpose and emotion or sharing with intent purpose and excellence…still trying to shake this one out a bit.   The keywords are sharing, purpose and intent.  A few days ago I shared this concept with many of you on my blog.  The original wording was Steal with integrity, pride everywhere.  Not sure if this really flies in our world today.  I prefer sharing vs. stealing.

For those coming to Mind Over Marketing…I hope you enjoy my talk and for those who weren’t there and are interested in hearing it…call me 403.775.2205.

At the recent Search Engine Strategies event in Toronto one of their final sessions was held at the Hyatt Regency’s bar where many of the conference attendees got together and discussed tactics around Search Engine Optimization and if they were a Black Hat or a White Hat optimizer. Intrigued I was…interested in seeing all the different opinions and approaches some optimizers take in working on search engine rankings.

Being relatively new to this industry here in Calgary I was intrigued until I finally got it.  White Hat and Black Hat SEO are tactics used to help position business in the search engine rankings.  I related this to what my friend Paul Moffatt would call, below the line or above the line prospecting.  This got me thinking, what do I stand for in business.  The Go Giver approach or the Go Taker approach.  White vs. Black in the SEO world.

At about.com they define Black Hat SEO at unethical or if I relate it to Paul’s prospecting model, perhaps “below the line’.  Is operating in this manner effective?  This is a question I keep asking myself.  Is creating doorway pages or feeding industry forums with false information appropriate tactics in SEO or promoting your business online.  I recently experienced perhaps a “so called” guru SEO consultant at work at a recent trade show who in my opinion confused many of our peers with trickery and black hat tactics.

I left their presentation wondering how long it will take for Black Hat tactics to be punished on Google?  May not to long with their recent Mayday release.

I rather focus on the “white hat approach”.  White Hat SEO tactics focus on quality content balanced across the Internet.  It is about leadership and being an authority on your area of focus.  I may even break it down to specializing, picking a niche rather than attempting to be everything to everybody.  Although it maybe slower in getting the SEO results you are looking for, it will be more effective in the long run.  This is my belief.  It is sort of like the sprinting out in the marathon just to get the TV time as the early leader and your 15 minutes of fame or pacing yourself and winning the race.  What would appeal to you?

About.com defines “White Hat SEO” as clearly defined keywords, important keywords and phrases stand out and I would even take it a step further and I tell my clients about the importance of balance.   On their website, balancing the right content with the right design…this is what matters the most online.  Google’s Mayday update may just reward those who have been focusing in the White Hat space with the changes to long tail searches and maybe punish those who demonstrate Black Hat approaches to SEO and not focused on quality content.

Deep down inside, I don’t like seeing business in Calgary and wherever we serve being taken advantage of by slick salespeople and those only out to serve their own interests (this month’s quota).  This is not the Go-Giver model I have been working hard at focusing on over the past few years.  Your business needs someone who will serve you and look after your best interests.  Your business needs someone they can call on when they need help or have a challenge.  This is what I strive for and if this approach interests you, then call me at 403.775.2205, I will be happy to serve your needs.

I was reading a very interesting online article from my very good friend in New York state this morning.  Joe Panettieri is a trusted colleague, friend and someone I take my guidance from when it comes to blog writing, social media and online marketing.  Joe runs a few very successful blogs focused on the IT services industry where he shares news, trends, observations  and a number of other creative topics focused in the vibrant information services world.  Joe has carved out a niche.

In one of his recent blog posts, Joe asks the question “Small Business Social Media: A Noisy Waste of Time?”

This got me thinking in the very early hours about my most recent 24 hours and how my online social media has worked.  In the past 24 hours I was interviewed by “The Canadian Employer” magazine on social media in Canada plus Ulistic is very fortunate to be working with another successful REALTOR in Calgary.

What does this tell me?

When used effectively, respectfully and with purpose…social media can help position your business and generate a buzz about what you do in your market.  However, for some “Social Media” is just a noisy waste of time.  ReTweet this, post this, share that…with no intent or purpose…just adds to the noise.

Here are some things I attempt to do each day that ensures my investment in social media does end up as just noise out there:

• Focus on a niche - Just like my buddy Joe has found success in a particular industry so can you.  You must pick a niche and excel in that niche.  Sorry folks, being spread out across multiple platforms doesn’t work and for those who say “small business” is my niche.  Sorry to disappoint you, but that is just to broad of a focus.  What business models do you know?  What industries can you learn?  Where can you excel?
• Master that market – Once you pick your niche…master it.  Learn everything you can.  How is business done?  How are the movers and shakers in that industry.  What are the terminologies used?  Where do you see gaps  and how can you fill them? (When I started in the IT industry I focused on oil and gas.  I made getting to know what everyone does in a company crucial to knowing the industry…so should you).
• Continue to learn – Never stop learning or never stop sharpening your saw.  Attend their industry trade shows.  Participate at their local events.  Attend their courses.  You must never stop continuing to learn.
• Post intelligence - Don’t post noise (hey, learn from me).  Post relevant observations on what is happening in that market, not just various statements and useless junk.  If you have nothing to say…don’t retweet just to be heard.

Focusing on quality information and post/sharing with purpose will stop you from adding to the noise.  Know your audience and how you can help or assist them.  Seek the advice of an expert to help get you started in the right direction.

Here is a quick acronym to help you with your blog posts, tweets and anything you do online:

S – share
W – with
I – intent
P – purpose and
E – excellence

Can you SWIPE?

Ulistic focuses on working with Technology firms (small business computer consultants and managed services providers) plus real estate agents, REALTORS and those in the Real Estate business (mortgage brokers, agents etc).  We do work with general small business however we know that our marketing needs to focused on our niche markets as well.

Once you get this and you focus on SWIPE….your social media will raise above the noise.

If your IT services firm, real estate brokerage requires help with online marketing, social media or simply getting you found online…give me a call today at 403.775.2205…cheers Stuart.