Alberta Business Marketing

Has this ever happened to you?  You go to your Chamber of Commerce luncheon or networking event and out of the blue some guy in a slick and shiny suit gives you their business card for no reason at all telling you to call them if you need to buy whatever they have to push.  I have to ask, why are you giving me your card and what makes you think I will do business with you in the first place?

I have been following some of the networking tips shared by Bob Burg over the past little while about networking etiquette and what is acceptable bahaviour when it comes to handing out your business card at events, lunches etc.  Well, according to all the experts and networking gurus they state “never give out your card until someone asks for it”.  Good advice in my opinion.

This same approach can spill over to the online world.  Especially one of my favourite business to business sites, LinkedIn.  Why do some people reach out to you when you really have no relationship?  There are legitimate people out there looking for help or advice, great this is what social networking is all about.  Some maybe looking to sell to you, this is what social networking is not about.

Therefore, if you are reaching out to sell something using online social technologies, don’t.  If you are looking at linking up with some to build a network, share experiences, share client needs or seek help or advice….make sure you state that in your request.  You will have a better chance of successfully building your online and face-to-face networks.

Don’t through your card in someone’s face…wait for them to ask for it.

Tags: bob burg, Business/Finance, collaboration, Human Interest, linkedin, LinkedIn Ltd, online and face-to-face networks, Online social networking, online social technologies, Social information processing, Social Issues, Social network service, social networking, social networking sites, social technologies, Stuart's ramblings, Technology/Internet, World Wide Web
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

United Airlines is becoming the friendly skies – sort of

I recently return from a trip to Phoenix, Arizona and during my travels on United Airlines which I normally travel because I collect Aeroplan points and since I am a Star Alliance Gold member it just makes sense for me to travel on the airlines that allow me to collect points and keep my status. I actually enjoy the lounges at the airports and I noticed this time around that United is really trying to become friendly.  I made this observation a few times during my travel.

During this trip United started advertising their “connect to us on Twitter” as part of their in-flight entertainment system and really encouraging people to connect with them on Twitter.  Kudos to you United. United may now be understanding the importance of offering other ways to connect with their customers especially in our socially connected world in which we live in today.

It can also be a brand reputation activity as well.

Good start with Twitter, United

No #Fail from me, still have work to do though

However, does the big bloated company culture spill over to the social media space? It is no secret and something that is not unique to United, all big firms suffer from a certain degree of being bloated.  I would guess the older corporate culture still plays an important role and it really doesn’t matter what the tool is. If your firm has problems returning a phone call, replying to an email or offer poor customer service when dealing face-to-face with people, what makes you think you can reply better with Twitter?

Corporate culture still plays an important role. When I arrived in Phoenix I tweeted about my great trip to Sky Harbor via Denver but then realized my suitcase was still in Denver after my first tweet on the pleasurable trip I was on.  United Airlines never did retweet my good comment about my experience nor did they get back to me on my tweet about my bag not making it to Phoenix.

Let me make this clear, the staff at Sky Harbor were awesome in dealing with my lost luggage.  No complaints what so ever, I am just focusing on the culture around social technologies and if you are going to use them you need to embrace the culture.

United is on the right track, just need some tweaks.

Tags: Aeroplan, Airline, Arizona, denver, Open Travel Alliance, Phoenix, Sky Harbor, social media space, social technologies, Star Alliance, Star Alliance Gold, Stuart's ramblings, travel, Tweet, Twitter, Twitter Inc, UAL Corporation, United Airlines, World Wide Web
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

Starting to get a clear picture on the importance of social technologies in our world today

Over the past three or four days, I have been a very busy boy, preparing lesson plans for our upcoming Ulistic Social Media Workshop in Calgary on Feb 25th. 

The entire team at Ulistic is pretty pumped about serving our community with this course.  It will be a good one, that is for sure. I’m also really looking forward to meeting the 20 or so people who have signed up for our kick off workshop; there are some old friends, and some new names, on the roster.

This is one of the first steps in what we are calling “changing website ‘havers’ into website owners”.

Helping business owners become website owners

I hear it everyday during my travels around Calgary, and the same stories hold true as I criss-cross the country.   Many small business owners admit that they simply own a website, and that it could go down for days without them noticing. This website was made by someone (maybe the kid down the street) who vanished as soon as the site was put together, and hasn’t been heard from since. The truth is, these website “havers” have no idea how this marketing investment is performing, how many visitors they get daily, or how many of those visitors are converted into leads.

Our goal with the entire team at Ulistic is simple. We are here to help business owners realize that it is time for them to take ownership of their web presence, and shoot for real and measurable objectives with their web marketing. This is the mission of our team at Ulistic for 2010.  We have a great challenge in front of us, but I know we can do it, one business at a time.

Over the next few days, I would like to share my own recent insights, as I craft the lesson plans for next week’s Social Media course. The world of Social Media, especially in my new role as a social media consultant in Canada, is a very exciting place, and it is wonderful to focus on something that I love. But what really excites me is helping my clients with their particular challenges, and introducing them to the right people.

One thing is for sure, there is still a tremendous amount of confusion around how these social technologies and services can help a business owner grow their business. This is where I stumbled for a while, until I actually figured it out, and I think I have figured it out. Over the next few days, I will share what I have learned in a series of blog posts.

Social Media is not Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn

Like the phrase says, “social media” is just another way of getting your message out to a potential audience, just like “print media”, “television media”, or “radio media”.  With some social media technologies, it is very much like television or radio — a spray and pray approach, hoping someone heard the message.  However, with some social media technologies, your messaging can be razor-sharp, and targeted.  So in my opinion, social media is the art of crafting a message, and using the services and technologies available to get the message out there.

Social Media is not about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube. These services are simply the technology of the day, and they will change, the same way word processing software went from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word, and now to Google Apps (for some). These rapid changes in technology are the reason why you still need the computer fix-it guy. Although we will continue to write letters and emails and use a lot of what we learned some 10 years ago, some people have learned new tricks, while some have not.

When TV changed from rabbit ears to cable, it didn’t make an immediate change to the message. However, as the technologies became more advanced, bringing satellite and online TV into the spotlight, the way broadcasters targeted their audience improved. Today, even though the beer commercials are essentially the same, and the the funeral home commercials are essentially the same, new technologies have allowed them to pin-point their target audience more accurately.

Stay tuned for more…

Tags: Blog hosting services, Business/Finance, Calgary, canada, Criticism of Facebook, Facebook, Facebook Inc, Google Inc., Internet Marketing, LinkedIn Ltd, Online social networking, print media, radio media, Social information processing, social media, social media consultant, Social Media Ventures Inc, social technologies, Stuart's ramblings, Technology/Internet, television media, The Facebook Era, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, web marketing, web presence, word processing software, World Wide Web, YouTube Inc
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

Microsoft Partner Webcast – Feb 24 at Noon Eastern

Why must you use social technologies to market your business today? Pretty valid question in today’s world of Facebook, Buzz, Twitter, Foursquare, Blogs, Podcasts and everything else out there.  On a good day this has the potential to confuse the brightest marketing expert.

What can you do now to create a social networking impact?

When you think about it, no one is forcing you to use online technologies and you don’t have to even consider it if you are happy where you at today.  But really think about it, how social technologies fit into your business?  It is not that important if you build strong and vibrant online communities which feed into your referral sources is it?  No one is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to engage in online strategies to grow your business, are they?

You don’t have to do any of this.  Look around you though.  Do you competitors have blogs?  Are they influencing the community?  Are they posting feedback on your Chamber of Commerce Facebook fan page?  Are they out there hosting meetup groups?  What are they doing that you are not?

Join Calgary Social Media Consultant Stuart Crawford (that’s me) on Feb 24th at 9 AM Pacific or Noon on the east coast for a very special Microsoft Partner 5W25 session on Social Media.  This is not a death by “presentation software” webinar.  You will get “down and dirty” on discussions on how your business can use social technologies daily and how you can build a strong following online which will spill over to the face-to-face community.  How can you influence those in your community?  You see social media is simply a communication tool to get people to call you, email you or fill in some form on your website.  It is something very crucial to the success of your business and when done right can have a huge upside.

Here is a question for you.  If you are not out there, how will anyone know you are there?  This goes back to the core basics about business networking.  Sit behind your desk all day, no one will call you.  Don’t get online and share information, no one will know you exist.

What will you learn in this Microsoft 5W25 webinar on Feb 24th?

What will we be covering in this one hour webinar with the fine folks at Microsoft?

In my last talk I pretty much laid the ground work for this discussion.  Back in October we covered a bunch of boring theory around social media and the tools available, no one liked it they wanted more, more life stories and lessons learned from the trenches, more real life examples of success and more meat around this subject.  This time you will have your meat and potatoes on how you can use Social Media in your business.  Not fluffy stuff, real life examples of stuff I did and what some of my peers have done online.

We get to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty this time around.  Social Media is critically important but for reasons that are not shared now.  You need to tune in.  However, it is more than just letting people know you published a blog via Twitter or you helped a client out via Facebook.  Social Technologies and the effective use on online tools and services goes far deeper than simple status updates.

You have to tune into the webinar to get the full story.

This Microsoft 5W25 seminar is open to most Microsoft Partners around the world.

Tags: Blog hosting services, business networking, Business/Finance, Calgary Social Media, communication tool, Consultant, east coast, Facebook, Facebook Inc, how social technologies, Human Interest, Media consultant, Meetup.com, Microsoft Corporation, Online social networking, online strategies, online technologies, online tools, presentation software, Social information processing, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, Social network service, social networking impact, social technologies, stuart crawford, Technology/Internet, Twitter, Twitter Inc, vibrant online communities, Virtual community, web 2.0, World Wide Web
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

Is the public embracing Social Media? I believe people are beginning to accept social technologies as just a part of life now.  You can see the names of services being used as verbs in day-to-day chatter.  “I’ll facebook that to you” or “Let me twitter a message to you later”. They are doing this in the home [...]

Tags: business to business, Business/Finance, Calgary, canada, Chicago and North Western Transportation Company, CNW Group, customer relationship management software, Edmonton, impact social technologies, Information, interaction tool, Leger Marketing, Liam Lahey, media experts, media services, media technologies, online activities, online research, online technologies, open online discussion, Rail transport in the United States, search engine, Social information processing, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, social technologies, social technology sites, Technology/Internet, Transportation in the United States
Posted in CRM | | Comments Off