Pinterest: The Next Big Thing for Business?

logo copyright Pinterest.com

Probably  not. It can be a tool for your business. But just like any new and shiny thing, it should be just that--a tool, not a strategy.

If a tool fits with your overall marketing goals and your customers are there, then it may make sense to use it. Pinterest is working well to drive traffic for online retailers, fashion magazines and Etsy merchants. It can be a great source of traffic for those with visually-oriented goods. Pinterest is all about sharing your own or others' pictures (pinning) on your virtual, themed bulletin boards.  I've found it a great resource for DIY ideas or how-to's about the things I love.

If you're thinking about using it to expand your business reach, sign up and just start pinning and observing first. After a couple of weeks, you can decide whether this is an appropriate spot for you to share photos of business products. But keep in mind, Pinterest is not for business. It's a social sharing site where people go to have fun--they aren't looking for things to buy and don't want to feel as though items are being promoted. Plus you may just get yourself banned.

As with all social networks, it's about the conversation. If you can't add value to the conversation going on around your boards and pins, no one will be interested. At the very least, it's a great place to see what people are doing, see how they are using it, and maybe you'll get some new ideas to use in your business. But beware -- this, like other social tools, can be a big time sucker.

In the words of John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing, "The big message in all of this is clarity of purpose. Until you’re clear on your marketing strategy every new tactic will sound like the next big thing."

If you want to venture into the pinning world, you'll need to be invited. Pinterest rolls out free accounts a little at a time. So go to the site and click the red banner at the top that says "request an invite". It should only be a matter of days before you receive an invite via email. Once you sign up, you can add the Pin It bookmarklet to your browser's toolbar making it easy to pin anything you find around the 'net and wish to share.

I'm using it strictly for fun at the moment. Since I'm a gardener and foodie, I'm finding great fun in pinning visually appealing pictures I'd like to refer back to later. The possibilities for themed boards is endless. It's an easy, fun form of self-expression!

Ciao for now and Happy Pinning!
See my Pinterest boards.
Paula

Google +1 Modeled After Facebook Like?

Soon Google will begin showing a "+1" next to some search results. In Google's own words, "it's the digital shorthand for this is pretty cool". Or I think it's similar to the Facebook "like" button you find on their site and around other sites across the Web.

It's highly personalized showing you stuff your Google contacts have +1'd. To use +1, you need a Google profile and be logged into your account in order to +1 something.

It's a slow roll-out. Initially, Google's +1’s will appear next to search results and ads. In the coming weeks, it will begin to appear more places including other Google products and sites across the web.

Find out more and watch a 1 minute video here: Google's +1

Ciao for now, Paula

TweetDeck: Manage Your Social Web Presence

TweetDeck is a great tool to manage your social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) all in one place. This service allows you to set up your account (it's free!) so each account's activity shows in your dashboard. It's a great way to stay on top of your social presence across all platforms and allows you the ease to post to multiple accounts at once. There is even a scheduling option so you can push out messages at a later date.You can download a desktop version (this is what I use) or they also have apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and Android.

My creativity comes in bursts at times. The scheduling tool allows me to put several thoughts together at once, but to schedule them to 'drip' out to my customers in a more digestable way. You could also use this tool for scheduling updates while you're on vacation. You can do a week all at once and schedule it to post daily. What a great organizational tool!

Ideas for social media updates
Scheduling updates is a great way to get in the habit of creating content regularly. You know more about your business than anyone else. Here's some quick idea-generating thoughts for you to develop into content for your customers/visitors.

• Share some of your knowledge. It might be familiar and seemingly unimportant to you, but it could be just what they want to know.
• Think of things you find valuable and see if you can share this with them in a creative way that helps them 'do life' better.
• Life is busy. Can you make it easier?
• What can you do to deliver more than is expected? 
• Don't be afraid to share personal tidbits about yourself. After all, business is really about relationships. We buy from people not businesses.

Did you notice I never gave you any ideas about promoting sales or special offers? While this can be a valuable space to share your next sale or coupon, these social areas are more about building relationships instead of selling.

Think about this - if you always have a sale or special offer, you condition your customers to NEVER buy anything at retail price! Essentially, you dilute your retail price and people feel no sense of urgency to buy something until it goes on sale or until they can get it cheaper at a later date. Therefore, the appeal of a "sale" or "coupon" has little meaning if it's come to be expected.

How are you using social media? Have you done something with success you can share? Please tell me by leaving a comment below...it may just spark a good idea for someone else!

Keeping it real for local small businesses,
Paula

3 Reasons To Use Social Media for Your Small Business

Social Media is to small business what the Web was when it was new. It took a long while for small businesses to realize the importance of having a Web site. Heck, some of you still aren't there!

But make no mistake. Social Media is here to stay and is greatly influencing the way we do things in business and in our personal lives. And the rapidity with which it's being adopted is staggering. The Web evolved slowly, but Social Media is happening at a much greater speed. It's transforming the Web; it's part of the landscape. You will not have the luxury to "wait and see". The time to implement is NOW.

E-commerce has gone social too. Gone are the days of private, online shopping. Nearly 1/2 of all Americans are members of at least one social network. 59% of consumers rated personal advice from friends as the most influential source of information for their purchase decisions.

Consider these statistics about Social Media:

• Nearly 72% of the Web audience in the U.S. is on Facebook. 44% of those using Facebook "share" things with their friends.
  
• 33.3% of the U.S. is using Twitter and of that 33.3%, 75% of the Tweets come from third-party applications such as a Mobile device. So we're socializing on the go! (Interestingly, the most activity happening on Twitter is on Thursdays and Fridays between the hour of 10PM and 11PM.)
  
• YouTube views exceed 2 billion per day! That's nearly double the prime-time audience of all 3 major U.S. broadcast networks combined. "The most-watched YouTube videos of 2010 reflect the people, places and events that captured our attention and imagination throughout the year," said Mia Quagliarello, YouTube Community Manager.

 Source: DigitalBuzzDaily, SocialMediaToday, MediaPost

 The top 3 reasons to use social media in your small business:

1. Your competitor's surely are!
2. Your customers are already engaging in some form of it
3. You're leaving money on the table if you don't implement some way of communicating with your customers via a social network

But how do I use it for my small business? Listen to your customers so you know where they are spending their 'social' time. Here are some ideas of how you might engage them. 

Use it:

• to develop relationships. People buy from people, not businesses.
• to announce specials, coupons, sales, or savings opportunities.
• as a means to respond to customer service questions or problems.
• to share things that can educate your customer about your products or services.
• to give something away free that they need to redeem at your place of business.
• to perform research about what your customers want or expect from your business.
• to promote events, meetings or shows.

There really is no wrong or right way. Think outside the box and try something today! 

Let me know the results by coming back here and leaving a comment. Your succes may just inspire an idea for someone else!

Thanks for taking time out of your day to read this. Until next time.

Ciao for now, Paula

Why Your Business Needs to Engage in Social Media

Social media can get you noticed when SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can't. Businesses that don't have a Web site are mostly invisible. Today, almost everyone has a Web site, but new sites are not found on the Internet without a little help; social media can give you that help early. It can give you an immediate boost, while continuing to optimize for the search engines will help for the long haul.

Figure out which social media is right for your market and start gaining visibility now! Here are a few of the most popular social sites as of this writing:

FaceBook (personal and business)
LinkedIn (business)
Twitter (microblogging; personal and business)
MySpace (personal or business)

Google Reader adds “Send To” feature

Matt Cutts tells about a new feature for those of you that use Google Reader where you can send items directly to Twitter, Blogger, FaceBook, and a bunch of other places New Google Reader feature - see the information below for how to add this handy feature. That's how I blogged this! Really easy.

To enable it, click on “Settings” in Google Reader and then click on the “Send To” tab to choose which services to add. Note: make sure you disable pop-up blocking so that Google Reader can pop-up a new window on twitter.com (or wherever) to share your item. You can even add custom services:

Suppose I subscribed to a bunch of different blogs, or subscribed to the Twitter feeds of a bunch of people. I could make a custom link that sent individual items to (say) a custom web service that I wrote. For example, any time I saw someone report a Google bug, I could send that to a web service that might let appropriate people triage or vote on that bug. I love the flexibility behind this feature. Thanks to the Google Reader team for adding it!

10 Questions to Ask Yourself : Should Your Business Tweet?

David Berkowitz of Social Media Insider puts good thought into 10 ways to decide whether your business should Tweet.

There's certainly a lot of talk when it comes to Twitter and I'm still figuring out the best way to use it!.

Many small business owners have asked me if they should be using Twitter. Of course, my first question to them is "Are your customers using this medium?" If they are, then they will probably be open to you communicating with them via Twitter. Read David's entire article here.

You can also read a few more tips on my site.
Ciao for now!
Paula

Smart Marketing in Recessionary Times

In a recent article in DMNews, Ashley Johnston of Experian Marketing Services talks about taking advantage of social media as part of your marketing mix and also how to spend smarter instead of spend more. It's a great follow-up to a conversation I had recently with a small group of business owners. We talked about doing the same kinds of things she discusses.

Excerpted from the June 1, 2009 issue:
"It's not a time to spend more, it's a time to spend smarter. Recessionary periods are a great time for customer engagement. Focus on tactics that increase customer loyalty and value. Some of the simplest activities don't take long to implement, require only a small investment and yield quick returns.

It's cost-effective to re-engage lost customers and current customers. By combining email marketing and Web analytics you can deliver a highly targeted message that can be adjusted as you move forward to best suit how your customers search, browse and shop. This will help engage them for the longterm.

Take advantage of the power of social media. Promoting your company through blogs, social networking sites where your customers hang out, and ratings and reviews programs are great ways to stay on their mind and keep the conversation open with them. Encourage customers to share what they like about your business and be a part of more conversations in your industry.

Don't overlook the power of really LISTENING to your customers. Make it easy for them to tell you what they want by using surveys, response cards, online forms - whatever works for your business and customers. Asking and then giving your customers what they want goes a long way in building loyalty and increasing the lifetime value of your customer.

Take time to re-evaluate your relationship with your customers. How do you interact with them? What will help you communicate more effectively? Making even the smallest adjustment will increase retention now and for the long haul through these tough economic times."

Ciao, Paula