Alberta Business Marketing

Stop the presses…I recently read a very interesting article in today’s Calgary Herald from Canwest News Service journalist Misty Harris on the flood of “Social Media Guru’s” in today’s economy.   I few weeks I wrote a post on this blog about these self-proclaimed social media gurus and my good friend Joe from MSPMentor.net followed up with his article on “Seven Signs Your Social Media Coach is a Fraud“.

Instead of focusing on the negative like I have in the past this time I am going to try really hard to focus on the positives about having a professional who really understands small business challenges, marketing in general and how social media can play a part in your overall marketing efforts.

Here is question one to ask them.  What is marketing and how does it differ from sales?  Email me for the answer, not going to give away all my knowledge on my blog.  However, here are some differences on professionals vs..the others.

1.  Real Professionals never call themselves gurus, ninjas, experts and the list goes on.  Some of us may call ourselves consultants, professionals and maybe a strategist.  But many of don’t carry numb chucks so we are not ninjas or preach from the altar and therefore the evangelist wording is out.

2. Real business professionals have a proven track record.  We may talk about some of our success stories, but normally we are under a NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) and rarely have the opportunity to share some of our success stories.  However, like in some of the comments on Joe’s blog, we come recommended by our loyal clients to others and more often than not, engage with people the old fashioned way – we meet them face-to-face or talk to them in person.

3. Real professionals also run successful businesses or at least part of a successful business venture. Does your social media consultant under EBITDA or profit/loss?  How about the measurement of ROI and success indicators?  Here is a tip, ask your social media guru about the importance of the number of followers on Twitter and then call me or email me for my answer.  Want to see if we are different?

I love what Kemp Edwards from BCIT said in Misty’s article when talking about social media gurus “It’s sort of like declaring yourself the champion before you’ve hoisted the cup” or even what Dee Tremendous from the Toronto-based blog “Tremendous News” says “Social Media is a fertile land for douche bags”.

What I would caution Canadian small business owners is this…do your homework.  Check out your social media guru’s website, is it professional?  Is it just some free template and has all the free WordPress junk on it?  Your business needs to have a resource who can help you understand what makes sense for your business…not that you need a Facebook page or a Twitter account – just because.

Tags: blog, Business/Finance, Calgary Herald, Canwest News Service, Coach, Facebook Inc, Guru, Guru Granth Sahib, Joe, journalist, media guru, media gurus, Misty Harris, MSPMentor.net, Online social networking, Sikh terms, Sikhism, social media, social media consultant, Social Media Ventures Inc, strategist, toronto, Twitter, Twitter Inc, Vajrayana Buddhism, World Wide Web
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Twitter!  If I had a dollar for everyone who asked me if Twitter is a tool they can use in their business I would be able to retire tomorrow and live very comfortably.  I am on the fence right now with Twitter.  Not sure which direction to really take on if it is a tool for the business professional to embrace or if it is just another noisemaker online.

Does Twitter have an application for the busy small business owner who makes widgets down the street?

Does Twitter have a fit for the MLM looking at building their network?

I believe there are YES and NO answers mixed in with both of these thought-provoking questions.  Can a Canadian Small Business training organization use Twitter to build a community of entrepreneurs?  How as a marketing engine to invite others to their series of webinars?  How about the Chestermere REALTOR looking to expand into a new market?

Where is the value to small business owners?

At the core of social media it is all about building a community.  For those business owners looking to expand and build community, then I would assume Twitter is for you amongst a hockey sock of other online services.  We really need to look at what is important to small business across Canada and this is sales and marketing and then design strategies which will help lead to the end goal.  I believe it is the end goal that is often missed when businesses start with social media services.

Twitter is a great service to build community, I have said this time and time again.  What is not, a tool for your direct selling, sale of the week or magical herbal cure for cancer.  This use is the reason I believe Twitter will fail in the business community.  Just because it doesn’t lead to a sale and many fail to see this.  Here is a question for you. Have you checked your Twitter direct messages lately, many of them are spam from MLM or people who have the secret sauce to your online business success. Garbage I say!

Where Twitter will succeed is in corporate research. David and I are hosting a Google Search event in Calgary in May and one of the areas we cover is researching information online with the Google Search Engine.  With the Twitter new live link and archiving into Google, it can become a great research tool for business owners, sales executives and many others in an organization.  What blog said what, which journalist reported a certain story and many more research type queries.

It is not a sales tool, many will agree with me.  It is a community and information tool.  I believe I just answered my question on the importance of Twitter in business.  Share great information, your commentary on information and let those looking for the information you share find you now or later.

Will Twitter be a fail?  Only time and adoption will tell.

Tags: Blog hosting services, Business/Finance, Calgary, canada, Google Inc., journalist, online business success, Online social networking, Real-time web, research tool, search engine, social media, social media services, Technology/Internet, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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I was recently reading a fantastic article about failure on Facebook and Twitter.  The article published in the Boston Herald talks about how using social media services such as Facebook, Twitter and other online services to pitch your products/services can actually do more harm than good.  The journalist discusses how social media services actually hurt sales of the new Apple iPad rather than helping it.  Well, when you have a bunch of people destroying an iPad on YouTube, how does that influence you?

P.J. Lamberson, an MIT Sloan School of Management visiting assistant professor mentioned in the article that you would think the more people you talk about your products and service with would actually adopt it, this is not always the case.  As a Calgary Online Marketing professional this is a huge hurdle many business owners we consult with through our Ulistic Online Marketing program need to jump.  It is never about the product and service, it is about engaging, helping and being part of the community.

I just finished reading “Go Givers Sell More” co-written by my good friend and trusted mentor, Bob Burg.  Bob always talks about the reasons why people do business with you.  First, they need to know, like and trust you and you can not meet these critical requirements by simply pitching your business on Twitter.  There are many things to think about.  Online Marketing is not the holy grail that will save your business, but it can help if used correctly.  It can be that first step towards know, like and trust.

Deep down inside we all want to get the word out about our business (sometimes we come across very desperate), just be careful how you go about doing this and make sure it doesn’t come back to bite you in the backside.  This is how I help many business owners across North America each day, we share ideas and concepts about balance and strategize about their overall marketing, not just online.

The article from the Boston Herald goes on to speak about President Obama and how he used social media services to help connect many young voters and now using these same services to gripe about the President.  How can these networks impact your business?  Word of mouth is so powerful today and the Internet is a giant word-of-mouth network.

Tags: Blog hosting services, bob burg, Boston Herald, Business/Finance, Facebook, Facebook Inc, Internet Marketing, iPad, journalist, MIT, North America, obama, Online Marketing professional, Online Marketing program, Online social networking, President, products/services, School of Management, Social information processing, social media, social media services, Technology/Internet, the Boston Herald, The Facebook Era, Twitter, Twitter Inc, Ulistic Online, visiting assistant professor, web 2.0, Word of mouth, word-of-mouth network, World Wide Web, YouTube Inc
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