Alberta Business Marketing

Everyday I get asked by someone who is wanting the “quick win” with their marketing.  What do I have to do today to enable the phone to ring tomorrow?  Well, that is a very good question.  I am one hundred percent sure there is some marketing guru out there who can give you some quick win success formula that will enable this happen.  A couple a tweets here, a Facebook status update there and you are off to the races.  You need to simply spend two minutes on Google and you can easily find them, there are lots of gurus and ninjas and self-proclaimed experts who can help you.  Sure get the quick win, lots of promise but they all lack real substance.

Success in marketing doesn’t come overnight, I know…I haven’t been marketing for several years and it takes blood, sweat and tears.  It takes works and it takes time.  It takes patience and most importantly, it takes commitment.  The only thing overnight about marketing is your blunders that knock you down.  Those for some reason they seem to occur overnight, but success doesn’t.

I was reading on the side of my cereal box this morning about healthy eating.  Same thing, healthy lifestyles isn’t a race it is a journey and the same thing can be said about your marketing and especially your social media activities.

Success with social media is definitely not a race.  It is a journey and a tough uphill journey at the best of times.   It takes commitment from you and your entire team.  It takes more than just opening a Twitter account, Facebook Page and throwing up a free WordPress or blogger site.  Social Media takes planning, preparation and it requires everyone in the company to play a role.  I don’t care if you have three employees, thirty-three or three thousand and three.  Everyone must play a part.

This is what we do at Ulistic, everyone plays a role in our social media activities.  David, Frank and myself (soon Melanie) all play our parts and we all have the same goal just different paths that are strategically laid out in our marketing plan.  We all blog regularly and we participate in blog commenting almost daily, we are active on Facebook, Twitter and others and most importantly, we are active in our communities and this includes online and face-to-face.  I mentioned this in my podcast with Daniel Gutierrez and Bob Burg the other night…nothing will replace a face-to-face meeting, your social media fills these gaps and helps you get to face-to-face.

Are you expecting that quick win?  You may be a tad bit disappointed with this mindset.  For those who are out there consistently adding value and enriching the lives of others you will have success and it will take time.  Success with your social media marketing is helping others but also getting paid to help these people.  Bob says’ “Give more in value than you take in payment”.  You need to provide value but don’t do it for free.  Never lose site that you are in business and you must convert visitors, fans and followers to clients.  If you don’t you have a big network.  That’s it.

Need help figuring all this out, give me a call 403.775.2205.

Tags: 403.775.2205, Behavior, Blog hosting services, blogger site, Bob Bur, Business Success, Daniel Gutierrez, Facebook, Facebook Inc, Google Inc., Learning, media activities, media marketing, Online social networking, Play, social media, social media marketing, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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I am back in my home office after a very busy couple of weeks which saw David and I hit the road to Los Angeles, California and then immediately flip the other way and head to Toronto, Ontario.  I love travel, I love being on the road and love to serve those who need help and it doesn’t matter where they are physically located.  Service is what matters and helping those in need of quality support is my personal number one priority.  Travel puts strains on the level of commitment I promise the clients I serve, so this week is a catch up week on my commitments.

Commitment…what a huge word.  Many say they are committed to a cause, their careers or their family.  But, even more who say they are never truly demonstrate it.

What is commitment? Is it getting up at 5 AM and getting two blog posts done for clients before 6 AM?  Is commitment ensuring your son’s sunburn is OK?  How about your spouse? Is ensuring the needs of the family are taken care of…commitment?  Of course all of the above are great examples of commitment and where we need to be committed.

I am not going to discuss spousal, family, church etc in this post…I would rather keep it on a professional level.  Your business and the success of your business.  We all know that marketing your business, starting a blog, ensuring your sales funnel is healthy and having happy customers all takes commitment but how do you manage this commitment.  Like I said earlier there are many of your peers who pay lip service to the word commitment and never truly understand or really want to know what it really means.

Since I work with small business owners across Canada and the US each day on social media marketing and online success…allow me to slip back into my own comfort zone here.  Social Media success takes 100% commitment.  Like anything in business you can’t go halfway and expect success.  It just isn’t going to happen…just like customer service, you need to commit to servicing your clients in order to truly have success in the relationship.

Here are a few tips to help you with committing to your social media success:

1. Develop a plan and stick to the plan – If it is blogging three times a week commit to it.  If it is tweeting four times a day, then do it.  You need to have a plan and then stick to the plan.
2. Schedule your time – put it in your calendar.  This is part of your business and must be scheduled and then the schedule has to stick.  How many stale blogs are out there?  Started by business owners with great intentions but no commitment?  Start it, schedule it and stick to it.
3. Find help - You need a coach when it comes to this stuff.  Social Media is much more than Twitter and Facebook…do you have someone to help you?

Commitment is a big word to many…even myself, however I am committed to sharing thoughts with you each day…or you wouldn’t get this email or read this post.

What can I do to help you…give me a shout at 403.775.2205, I would love to help you if you require some support and a person to bounce ideas off of.  If you are located in Toronto, Boston, New York or right here in Calgary…it doesn’t matter.  I am here to serve you and the needs of your business.

Tags: 403.775.2205, Boston, Calgary, California, canada, Los Angeles, media marketing, media success, New York, New York City, online success, Ontario, toronto, Uncategorized, United States
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Are we at a major crossroads in business marketing?

I think we are at a critical junction in marketing, especially those focused on the online space and developing platforms.  Given all the challenges facing popular online networking services in the past week and the average Joe’s potential loss of trust towards online services, will it slow down the rapid advance that we have seen lately in the entire social media space?

Social Media is business can go one of two ways, it will either skyrocket or cave in.  The next few months will be crucial in determining the direction the social side of online marketing goes.

It does all begin with Trust

There are similarities between social media and the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.  Eyjafjallajökull spewed ash for week and disrupted airspace over the North Atlantic and Europe.  Social Media is not so different.  There are many “Human Volcanos” spewing disruptive ash of their own and causing people to shut down or divert to other avenues. When you combine this with the recent privacy issues, does social media marketing have the potential of moving in the same direction as traditional marketing?

How will social media and business co-exist? This is something I spend most waking work moments striving to figure out and achieve here in the Canadian market.  Today, I am blessed to be speaking about “Trust Marketing” at the Alberta Association of Library Technicians 36th Annual Conference.  Trust Marketing is all about positioning yourself as a trusted business advisor who at least practices the 5 principles shared by Bob Burg and John David Mann in the Go Giver parable.

Trust Marketing is all about delivering value within your target marketing and community without being concerned if you are going to loss the deal or someone is going to steal your thoughts.  Here is a secret folks, all the knowledge you have is simply a Google search away, so we need to get over the fact that we know it all.  It is ok to give away knowledge to those seeking what you know, this is where the “law of value” kicks in.  You can read the 5 laws here.  What you will find is the more you give away in value and the better you serve folks in your business community, the higher your income will eventually be.

We all must be extremely open to sharing and this is the only way in my opinion social media marketing and business will work together. Business owners need to share and share often.  I have always been open to sharing information even with my so-called competitors (often beaten up by my co-workers as well about this) in the marketplace and especially with those looking to do business with us.  I think it is critical in the “feeling out phase” to be completely open and not hide a single thing.  Clients and prospects are not dumb, they know when you are holding back the goods and they appreciate it when you are open and serve them.

If your website, social media activities and online market are about sharing information, teaching people and offering insight you will be fine in the online world.

Can social media and business co-exist? What will it take for trust to shine through online?  What information do you trust more?  As a business owner, can you leverage “Trust Marketing”?

Tags: Alberta Association of Library Technicians, bob burg, Business, Business Success, Business/Finance, Europe, Iceland, Internet Marketing, John David Mann, Library Technicians, Man-Made Disaster, media marketing, media space, Natural Disaster, North Atlantic, North Atlantic and Europe, online networking services, online space, social media marketing, Social Media Ventures Inc, trust, trusted business advisor
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Last evening I was very blessed and honoured to invest a couple of quality evening hours with Calgary’s vibrant marketing community. Thursday evening, the CMA Calgary dinner was held at the beautiful and luxurious Palliser Hotel in downtown Calgary.  Our guest of honour was none other that the “Dragon Queen” herself, Ms. Arlene Dickinson.  She has to be one of my favourites on the hit CBC show “Dragon’s Den”.  I was even lucky enough to have a few words with Arlene after her talk on social media marketing and how we can play the role of influencers and master our own thought leadership.

Over the past few weeks I have been struggling with social media as a tool for business, not that I don’t see the value when you have a well executed strategy but on the validity of the entire online market.  Arlene really helped open my eyes to the real purpose on why we tweet, why we contribute to conversations in LinkedIn and why we have Facebook Pages?  Again, it is not to sell, that is never the reason but it is to inspire others and to become the thought leaders deep inside each of us.  We have to be open to reaching out and sharing news, opinions, views and also to help others we hardly know and really, it is to be a Go-Giver.

Wham, that was the advise I needed and the clarity I have been searching over the past few weeks.  I think I already had it tucked away deep in my mind…but really needed to hear it from the marketing diva herself.  One of my peers asked a very simple question that I get asked all the time “How can a small business guy like myself build a large following?”  This is a very good question, and it really comes down to have something profound to say, great advice to give and not going into a corner and hiding from the rest of the world.  ”Talent can be found anywhere, what are you putting out there” said Arlene making reference to a Maritimer she just engaged with for creative writing.  You have to engage with this guy on Twitter.  Follow Jason Sweeney on Twitter.

With Social Media and all the social networking circles out there, you need to reach out to everyone.  You must be open to speaking with or potential touching everyone, not just those you are closest with.

Thanks Arlene for a great reminders and laughes…especially at Kevin’s expense.

Tags: Arlene Dickinson, Calgary, Compagnie Generale de Batiment et de Construction, Human Interest, Jason Sweeney, media marketing, Online social networking, Palliser Hotel, Real-time web, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, social networking circles, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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Calgary Entrepreneur Peer Group Q1 meeting = success

This past Friday, the Calgary Entrepreneur Peer Group met for our first quarter meeting, meeting number 6 for our group of talented Calgary business professionals.  Our group has been meeting now for over a year and although we have had a few members come and go, our core base is still very much intact and I am so grateful for each and every person who trusts in our group.

We are not running more groups

This week after consulting with the group I have decided not to “fight the puck” when it comes to trying to get a second group up and running.  This is something I turned towards when I was looking for distractions on what I need to be doing not what I wanted to do and feed the ego machine.  The reality is when there is enough buzz about what the eight of us are doing, we can review starting a second group.

This is not a group for those with a weak stomach

We get down and dirty about each of our businesses, peel back the skin of the onion.  Sometimes tears flow and laughter erupts, but we are a serious business group of eight who are extremely committed to the success of every member.  It just feels super safe to have a trusted group like this.  I know many of my colleagues in Calgary sit back and would never even consider joining something where they need to be real, it is not an option, it is a requirement to let it all hangout.

During the eight hours per quarter we are together we discuss many topics. One of them this time around was on Social Media.  Perfect, a topic for me and something where I can get a chance to share my expertise, but this time I was the student.  We have experts from all aspects of business in our group ranging from insurance, technology, accounting, business leadership, governance, photography and international trade.  Like I said, a great group and mixture of professionals.

We discussed the importance of blogging and social media.  I ended up being the student on this day on how many Calgary small business professionals look at Social Media.  Most of them understand that social media is important but many struggle with the why, how and when to focus on social media marketing.

One of the strongest social media tools is blogging

It is so important that David and I focus one whole session in our “website owner” program and offer a full day of Calgary business blogging training.  However, what did I learn today from our group of Calgary Entrepreneurs?  My learnings came from all the members but especially from my trusted business mentor for many years that the real strength of blogging is around focusing on addressing customer or prospect objections in your blog.

Wow, great point.  All those items prospects push back on in your business are food for your business blog.  You can use your business blog to address those reasons why someone may say no to your proposal.  What a great vehicle and awesome insight to one of the powerful reasons business in Calgary needs to have a business blog up and running.

The power of peers

This is the importance of having trusted peers around you and your business.  Where can you turn for help and a shoulder to lean on?  I recommend forming your own business peer group, if you need help, just reach out to me.

Tags: blog, Business/Finance, Calgary, Calgary Entrepreneur Peer Group, food, media marketing, media tools, Social information processing, Stuart's ramblings, technology
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