Over the past couple of days I have been travelling throughout the city of Calgary meeting with many small business owners about online marketing and yesterday I ran across something while visiting with a respected mentor of mine here in the city.

He had a proposal from a social media consultant.  A social media consultant from here in the city of Calgary who I am aware of and ran across from time to time.

Here is excerpt from the proposal that my colleague shared with me.

“With social media you can abandon all other forms of marketing.  When your business focuses on social media a wealth of opportunities exist to reach new markets and new people.”

WTF!

What do you think?

I have my opinions but would love to hear from you.

LinkedIn, Facebook and many other Social Networking sites have been suggesting friends and followers for a while now.  Do you follow these people just because the service recommends them to you.   Deep down inside where many Facebookers or LinkedIn users never get a chance to visit there is some formula or algorithm that figures out who you should know and offers suggestions based on your friends, there friends and a number of other criteria.

Twitter is now jumping of the “suggest a friend” campaign with their own “suggestions for you” program.

The Twitter blog has more information on how this will work inside Twitter.  Read the Twitter blog.

Are you the type to follow whomever is suggested to you?

What do you think about the automated suggestions?

In the LinkedIn world, I have used the suggestions to my advantage.  When I see a name pop up from someone I haven’t heard of in a while or a long-lost colleague, LinkedIn can be a great way to get back in touch with people.

But what do you think?

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.

Welcome to the age of the Internet.  I think it is pretty safe to claim this now.  Just look around you and there is no doubt that our online world is just as important as the face-to-face relationships we have.  For some, online is more important.

Cloud Computing For Business

One of the biggest shifts has been in business.  Business is now starting to embrace “the cloud” and the power of online applications.  Need proof, next time you fly, how many printed boarding passes do you notice?  How many people are using the smart phone to store their boarding pass?  More and more everyday.  Big business and small business are leveraging the power of the Internet to run their day-to-day business applications.

Even Microsoft has started to take notice. Well, they have been for a long time, at least 4 years since the first time I heard “Software + Services”.  Businesses across North America are flocking to Microsoft’s Online Solutions.  Many of them are turning to the Microsoft BPOS solution or solutions delivered by Microsoft Partners each day.  The online solutions market is heating up and taking off at an extremely fast pace.

The reality of the market today is that many small businesses are turning to Microsoft BPOS now versus having a server sitting in the back room doing nothing but email.  The next versions of the Microsoft Small Business Server will have a version that is cloud-equipped.  My understanding is that it will do nothing but authenticate your users and store files.  Sounds like a Foundation Server.

Join us for a free webinar

Ulistic is hosting a free webinar on Tuesday to help you get answers to hosting your business applications on the Internet.

Join us on Tuesday, July 20th at Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific for a no charge 60 minute webinar that is geared to help you get some answers on what online service you should turn to.  Is it Google?  How about Microsoft Office Web Apps? Do you need a CRM?  What sort of backup strategy should I have?

Lots of questions and our goal on Tuesday is to help you get some answers.  Real world answers and the facts about the best online solution for your business.  For the past 6 months, I have been doing my own research, testing out many different online platforms.  We have also installed many different solutions ranging from Google Apps, Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite and Hosted Exchange through one of our partners.  I have had my frustrations to say the least.

I will have these real life stories plus intelligence on what some Calgary business owners have been quoted recently and what you should expect to pay the service you choose.  The truth is this, everyone has an opinion, everyone has a favourite and everyone’s needs and tolerance for techy stuff is different.  What works for some, doesn’t work for others.

It is your decision, I can only share with you what I know.

Register for Is Your Business Ready For The Internet webinar on Tuesday.

Last week our team from Ulistic met with the great folks at MSP University in Garden Grove, California.  Together, we started to carve out what will become an awesome relationship.  MSPU is one of the leading managed services firms globally and the clients they work with are market leaders and enjoy the fruits of the hard work. I have personally known Erick Simpson and Gary Beechum for a number of years, they are rock solid guys and the entire team at MSPU is built on the same core values Gary and Erick bring to the table.

During our chat last week we got looking at Facebook Marketing and how businesses can leverage Facebook to market their offerings.  It is no secret that Facebook is growing.  Their recent partnership with Microsoft BING has shot Facebook up to the 6th most popular search engine.  One in Four page views on the Internet is Facebook related and the average person spends anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour on Facebook each day.  Still many question Facebook’s effectiveness in the market place.

During our time with MSPU, a number of ideas were discussed, but it was this fact amongst all the others that kind of surprised me when I stumbled upon it.  There are almost as many Facebook users in California that what there is in the entire country of Canada.   This is no secret really, we have heard for years that there are just as many people in one state in the US than what we have in Canada.  15.4 million Facebook users in Canada and almost 15.5 in the entire state of California.  What does this mean for business?

Does marketing on Facebook now make sense to your business?

If you look at the numbers closely, the 15 million or so folks from either California or Canada represent about 50% of the population.  That represents a good portion of the Canadian or Californian landscape uses Facebook.  Pretty impressive.

Are you leveraging this to get your message out there?
How can you use Facebook to market your business?

There are many ways to do this from Pay-Per-Click or Pay-Per-Impression ads, Facebook Pages and regular interaction with people.  Engagement with folks on Facebook, talking with your community, the people in your network and simply serving the market.

Do you need to know more about how to create a Fan Page that sings?
Want to know how to engage with Facebook?

I invite you to reach out and let’s have a chat about how you can use Facebook right now.

There are a number of opportunities and Facebook can be another important channel for you to help with your marketing.  You know the old saying about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION or what Wayne Gretzky has always said “skate to where the puck is going, not where it is”.

Need a hand to figure it out…visit my Execute On Facebook or Marketing On Facebook page and take the first step in creating a marketing strategy for Facebook today.

I got a very timely and critical email from my mentor Arlin Sorensen the other day.  Arlin just has the knack of hitting me with his virtual 2×4 at the right time and he does it well.  Arlin is the mastermind behind the Peer Power blog and Heartland Tech Groups.  Arlin is a very faithful man and a leader inside/outside the tech support community.

This post of his got me thinking about social media.  There is a lot of people making a tremendous amount of noise, but do we have a leader in our space?  Not the person who is the most technical or the smartest marketer.  Someone who is humble enough to lead our community?  A person who can call it like it is and be there to support our group?  Do we have an Arlin Sorensen in the Social Media world?

One of things Arlin did for me was tear down the walls of competition…plus he helped me through a very rough patch in my life.

Can I lead this community? Do I have what it takes to do what Arlin did in the tech world and apply what I learned from him in the social media world?

Does being a leader in the Canadian social media community mean dismissing competition and embracing those around me?  Does this mean we are here to serve and to put the needs of others before my own needs?  Do I still put my oxygen mask on first?

I know the entire online marketing community here in Calgary and across the globe needs some leadership.  A few are providing this and doing a great job.  But we can always use more.

Are you willing to step up?  This means openly sharing what you know for the great good of our community.  This is something I have noticed big time during my transition to the marketing world.  These guys don’t like to share within their community.  It is like old school business…let’s not tell anyone anything and never think about helping our competitor or someone who claims to do the same thing we do.  I even got caught in that yesterday.  I was reminded about competition from Bob Burg as well yesterday.

Gotta walk the walk if I am going to talk the talk.

Read Arlin’s blog post on Leadership in our community.

Great lesson from Frank Allen

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

“One is Evil – It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

“The other is Good – It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

________________________________

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.

Thank you to everyone for all the emails lately.  Many of you who have been used to getting my blog posts delivered via email have emailed me concerned about the slow down or the drop off in the frequency of the emails.  Thanks for that.  The reality is this, I have just been very busy.

Ulistic is growing and expanding.  We have welcomed Frank Allen as one of our sales reps and are currently in discussions with another amazing person who will become a vital component of our team just like Frank.  Ulistic is blossoming into a Internet consulting firm across Canada and the United States.

Next week, David and I are heading back down to Los Angeles for a couple of days and then come home right in the middle of Stampede.  No Microsoft WPC for me this year. Going to miss seeing everyone who I have become friends with in the Microsoft community but it will also be great to spend a week networking in the Calgary business community.

All is well with me.  Trying to get back into my routine of working out, working on the business and working on my own personal goals and family.  It is truly a fine balance.  I haven’t even watched much World Cup Soccer.  Football however during the month of June kept us busy and it will again come August.  Football even reduced me business networking where I had to just pop in to say hi to those colleagues in a local Calgary Oil and Gas Meetup group.

All is well…just busy.

________________________________

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.

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.