I am flowing a very interesting discussion on one of my LinkedIn groups which focuses on Social Media.  The question raised by one of our members was on “what makes or what qualifications does a social media administrator require?”  Interesting question since the person asking the question has a title of “Certified Social Media Strategist”.  I was shocked to hear that there is actually a program for a Certified Social Media Strategist.  It is provided by Social Media Academy.  Very interesting.

Back to the question at hand, what skills or requirements does a social media administrator need to have?

Does business acumen matter?

How about a marketing degree or equivalent career history?

What risks does your business take by having someone who doesn’t get it?

I believe that alignment with the overall marketing strategy of the business is crucial, social media doesn’t stand on its own for many companies.  It is very important but the company can’t rest everything on the modern tools of the day.  Most businesses today who are looking at or implementing social media are not dumping their existing or proven marketing or communication activities.  The successful organizations continue to send postcards, making phone calls and hosting meetings. Their social media activities play a supporting role in many of the activities of the corporation including marketing, corporate communications, customer support and forming strong business networks.

Alignment is critical to the overall success of social media into your business.  Does your social media administrator need to understand where they stand in the pecking order?

Social Media is just another spoke in the wheel of your business.

What about maturity, is this important? Would you rather have someone who has a proven track record in your industry or someone new.  Everyone has to start somewhere but when it comes to maturity I mean you don’t want to risk having someone, regardless of age, tweeting what they had for breakfast on your company Twitter account.

Is social media deeper than Facebook and Twitter? What is the depth of knowledge of your social media administrator?  Do they have press contacts or know where the industry or your clients go to research information?  Is your administrator’s depth of Social Media knowledge stop at Facebook or Twitter?

How about thinking out of the box? In other words, creativity!  Can your social media administrator come up with creative solutions to enhance your company’s reputation or ability to serve your clients better?

What about the size of their ears? Well, not physically.  Can they listen to what is going on around then.  What is happening in the marketplace?  How about understand what news Bloomberg is reporting and what it means to the organization.  Can they listen and then approach the leadership to formulate a response or plan to seize opportunities which may exist.

Lots of stuff to consider.

If you would like to engage with the Social Media group on LinkedIn and our discussion, click here.

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.

How many Facebook Page invites do you receive in a day?  If you are like me, you ignore more than you accept.  Facebook Page SPAM is on the rise people…don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It seems this craze is impact many of my business colleagues here in Calgary and throughout the global business community.  Everyone seems to be creating pages on Facebook these days.  However, one very important question needs to be asked.  Are they being used to drive people to your marketing website or are they something that is simple “nice to have”.  An even more important question is this, is your Facebook Page increasing opportunities in your sales pipeline?

I am only addressing serious businesses right now, there are many examples where Facebook Pages are great and I am sure there are some business success examples, but just like the latest MLM craze to hit your doorstep, Facebook Pages are a FAIL for many small businesses.  Your community group, church organization or association is where I see a need for this type of online marketing or community building platform, but not your small business or least, don’t put a tremendous amount of your focus on Facebook pages.   Let’s focus on your small business and what matters the most to your survival, bringing value to the market (which a Facebook Page can do if done right) but eventually you must convert people into serious prospects which generate revenues and profits.

The jury is out on the effectiveness of Facebook Pages.  However, the nice thing about Facebook Pages are they are extremely easy to set up and once setup, if your social media consultant is on the ball require no attention at all.  Feeding your blog, RSS feeds and any other type of information directly into your page is totally doable.  Like I said “set it and forget it”.  Did you notice I said “feeding your blog posts”, your blog posts feed into your page and your fans share your posts. It can become viral.

Another good thing about Pages are as a marketer, you can send messages directly to your “fans” if you ever need to share information.  Also fans don’t have to be Facebook Friends either, they simply become a fan.

I still doubt their overall effectiveness for the average brick and mortar business.

What success have you had with a Facebook Page?  Please feel free to share your story.

Calgary  Business Facebook Pages worth mentioning:

• Calgary Entrepreneur and Business Professionals
• Stuart Crawford – Calgary Social Media consultantt (little self promotion)
• Clic Readers – Magnetic Eye Glasses
• Chestermere Real Estate

Don’t spend more than 10 minutes a week on this, if you are, you are spending too much time on Facebook Pages.

I recently read an article by a Calgary Social Media Support Specialist on why your Calgary business needs to be on social media.  I have respect for the author of this article however I need to share my views on why the article is leading a typical small business owner down the wrong path when it comes to social media.  I really don’t agree with this article at all and to be honest it is pretty standard for a lot of the junk out there today.  It is this sort of FUD which is leaving many business owners uncertain about social media and the purpose of social networking in their business.

Social Media in my opinion is important but it is not for everyone.  This is where our team at Ulistic helps Realtors, small business owners, IT Professionals and many other types of business understand your entire online marketing strategy.  Not to toot our own horn too much, but we are business people first, teachers and educators second, consultants third and then somewhere deep in the order of priority, guys who understand social media.  We use social media in our business but it is NOT for what many of our peers in the industry will try to tell you.

The author of this article talks over and over about building followers, lists of friends and great connections.  True, social media can do this for the selected few.  But, let’s be real, the average person really only has about 25 followers on Twitter, about the same on LinkedIn and maybe 100 friends on Facebook from their high school and college days.

One other items the author talks about is that your competitors are beating you out of customers because of social media. If you are losing customers it is because of your lack of service or a sales/marketing delivery not because of social media is winning them away.  Yes, a client may read a post and follow a link to an article, but think about it, if you are giving exceptional service what do you have to worry about?

Online marketing is more than social media.

Social media is just one small component of your overall online marketing strategy for your business.  I am not saying you should ignore it as social media does have a place in your business.  However if you focus on your blogs, Google reviews, your marketing website and your own personal network, social media strategies can fit in very naturally and actually support what you are doing in your marketing activities.

This is what we strive to achieve for everyone who engages with us at Ulistic.  Service comes first and our mentoring and coaching program helps every business understand what needs to be a priority and what are nice to have, according to your goals, objectives and desired outcomes.  If some consultant says you need to be on social media or you will go out of business, without sitting down with you and understanding your business first, turn around and run away really fast.

Also, the last myth to squash, social media may help on some search rankings.  A great blog, an awesome website, your business articles and engaging in the online community will help you more than simply sending out a few tweets, putting someone else’s link on your Facebook page or posting a someone else’s story in your LinkedIn group.

Learn the truth about social media for business by contact Ulistic today.

My blogging has been pretty light this week, some of you may actually be happy about this.  It is simply because we have an abundance of proposals and training sessions going on this week.  In the past week Ulistic has brought on two new mentoring clients in the US, working with firms in Houston and Seattle and most recently speaking to another firm in Tampa about how we can help them win new opportunities with effective online marketing strategies.  Combine this with our local obligations…well it is amazing and we are very blessed to say the least.  I simply love to serve those companies interested in learning more about how their business can prosper by leveraging online marketing.

I started a Facebook debate on Wednesday evening around the “Social Media Expert” topic.  For those who follow my blog know that I absolutely detest those who claim to be social media experts and have no business substance or experience to support their claim.  This Facebook discussion focuses around those who claim to be social media experts however lack business acumen on how social media can actually fit into their business model and the actual goals of the corporation.

Want to the join the discussion, visit Stuart Crawford Facebook profile to join in.

Why your business doesn’t need a social media consultant?

Wait, isn’t this what I do for a living?

Not exactly, David and I are more than just social media consultants.  Ulistic’s focus is on the entire web marketing strategy for small business.  As professionals in the “all up” approach on Internet Consulting, we totally understand that social media is just one piece of a very complex puzzle.  Our complete approach is very different from many of the social media consultants who are popping out of the woodwork, just like a dandelion on a spring day.

Tip:  If you want to know the biggest difference, just look at their website.  This is a strong indication if they are a complete marketing professional or just someone offering to write your blogs, tweet for you or update your Facebook page.

Your business doesn’t need someone to do your social media for you.  This is something the business must own.  Ulistic core message is on helping business owners, directors and executives who have business websites to become owners of their web presence.

When it comes to Social Media, Twitter is merely 140 characters and the truth be told, is a great way to listen and learn about things happening in your community, with suppliers and perhaps learn about events happening around the city.  Some of my clients never send out a tweet, all they do is listen.  Twitter on its own will not sell products or even have some one pick up the phone and call you.  Remember the core lesson of business and sales which I learn learned from Bob Burg.  People do business with those they KNOW, LIKE and TRUST.  Simply tweeting, blogging and Facebook is not enough.

Facebook Fan Pages are also gaining in popularity and once again on its own…doesn’t make me want to pick up the phone and call any business let alone join as a fan.  Just leave your Facebook idle for a couple of days and see how many invites you get to join someone’s fan page.  My own strategy is never to join a fan page of someone I don’t know, never have worked with or don’t feel comfortable endorsing face-to-face.

Familiarization, mentoring and education is the secret

David and I are completely focused on empowering business in Calgary and those across the globe so they take ownership of their entire social media and web marketing strategies.  It is not about doing, it is about empowering and educating our clients so they know what we know and ultimately they can do it for themselves.

At the end of the day it is about lead generation.  You can be the best thought leader, community player or blogger…but if you are not generating leads for your business, what are you doing?  This is what we teach our clients…how to create new lead generation activities, one of my clients just emailed me and told me her new blog has generated her first lead. Love it when this happens.

Sure, we can kick-start a campaign, but at the end of the day…you, the business owner, VP Marketing, Director of Business Development are ultimately responsible for your web marketing and overall business strategy.

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…