Alberta Business Marketing

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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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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Whenever you speak with a Calgary Social Media Consultant many of my peers in the industry will tell you about the importance of using Twitter in your business.  This is a true statement, however I look at tweeting in a very different way compared to what I once did.  One question you must ask yourself is this, are you tweeting with purpose or are you simply making or adding to the noise?

In my early days of using Twitter, I was simply about making the most noise out there.  I once thought if I made enough noise I could rise above the noise and in reality I simply added to the noise that was out there, and you know something – people will turn you off.  Picture the loud mouth at your business networking club who always boasts about how great their business is or how well his kids are doing in school, you know that person…what do you do?  Most of us avoid him or her.  You know the noise I am speaking of in the online world it could be mentioning that you are at the local Starbucks on Foursquare, tweeting useless bits of information and retweeting other people’s noise.

I do like the idea of retweeting other people’s useful information, however the question I have to ask is this.  Are my tweets enriching someone else’s life or business?  If the answer is no, I really need to think long and hard about sending out more noise into the Twitter universe.

Twitter is such a powerful tool but often abused by many small business owners because of the advice of some social media professionals out there.  How about this advice?  Instead of simply sharing a link to someone else’s article using Twitter that really has no value or broadcasting to the world something they really don’t care about.  Can you not write your opinions about what the other person’s article, blog post or link meant to you on your own blog.  Offer your own insight and opinion using your own platform.  Position yourself with your own thoughts instead of simply tweeting without any purpose.

Can you use Twitter effectively?

Tags: business networking club, Calgary social media consultant, foursquare, Human Interest, Noise, Online social networking, online world, Real-time web, social media, social media professionals, Starbucks Corporation, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, 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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