Over the past few years, small business owners have been told it is an absolute necessary to have a presence on Facebook. I don't know if I would call it "absolute" but there are plenty of dangers in not having a presence online...
Over the past few years, small business owners have been told it is an absolute necessary to have a presence on Facebook. I don't know if I would call it "absolute" but there are plenty of dangers in not having a presence online; the biggest, putting your brands reputation into the hands of you customers instead of taking control.
If you have joined the camp of small business owners using social media, chances are you have thumbed throw a few books or tutorials, looked at a few fan pages for examples and created your page. Once you have done all that, what's next.
I'm talking to the small business owner with a hand full of employees. The soloprenuer. The weekend warrior. The issue I see time and time again is that these business owners aren't reaping the real benefits of Facebook, building their profits. If you have a business with a generous number of employees, there isn't an excuse for not having at least one employee dedicated to overseeing all of your social media accounts and responding to comments and posts. But, when you are doing everything by yourself, wearing many different hats, allowing your Facebook Fan Page to go stagnant or not respond to likes, posts and comments is understandable. With the demand of doing it all yourself, there just aren't enough hours in the day. But, that isn't an excuse.
Chances are you have a personal page where you post pictures of your kids and pets and post updates about the randomness of your life, and a fan page which you use to keep your customers up-to-date, share information about your brand and other content you either find interesting and think people would like or which relates to your industry. If you are struggling to keep up with your fan page, why bother?
Luckily Facebook noticed your problem, probably before you did. It's been a few months since Facebook added the 'Subscribe' button to personal pages, providing a solution to the 5,000 max friends issue many users were having trouble with. Having a fan page was not everyone's cup of teas - so to speak - and many of them found having multiple pages to be a hassle. Again, it may not be the best solution, but it's a darn good one. Pro Facebook users have adopted it as a way to expand their audience past the 5,000 limit and reach more people interested in what they have to say or sell. but not every small business owner is doing it. And they should be.
What's the benefit? Social media is about being social. For businesses, it's about creating a community and engaging with them as a marketing tool to drum up some business. If you're really good at it the revenue potential has no limits. Instead of drawing people from your website, blog, submitted articles and content, and other social media accounts to your neglected fan page, link them to your personal page. Your a small business. Your customers want the corner store feel. They expect you to know them or at least know why they are part of your community. And, you want them to consider you a friend, not just another company shoving crap down their throat.
Since your being social, it's ok to include them in your life with pictures of your pets and the daily musings of your life. With your personal account, you can continue what you have always been doing and include content relevant to your business all in one place. Your friend already "like" your fan page and want the content from there as well as you personal page. Pull it all together. And, the people who want your business content can subscribe. If you don't want your subscribers (the people who aren't your friend) to see your personal posts and pictures, their are options for that. Just change your settings.
When it comes down to it, there really is no excuse not to use your Facebook account to push out great content and draw in more profits. Th excuses people use are nothing more than a reason not to put in the hard work and dedication needed to own and run a successful small business.
One more sneak tidbit. I don't believe in black-hat tactics, buying followers and fans, or any of that crap. It's garbage that has no value. That said, a sneaky trick if you choose to use your personal page for business, you don't have to accept every friend request. When a user sends you a friend request, Facebook automatically subscribes them to your feed. When you choose to ignore their friend request, they still remain subscribed to your feed. You don't have to worry about them seeing your personal information, only your shared, public business content. It's a grey area in my mind. But, how many people take the time to manually "unlike" or "unsubscribe" for the numerous pages and feeds they have built up. They are few and far between. Their laziness is your opportunity to keep pushing your content into their stream, keep your community growing, and engage with them without the hassle of multiple pages or accounts.
Remember, it's not only about presence. It's about engagement.
Michael Grosheim is the President & CEO of Grosh, Inc., a Strategic Marketing & Social Branding consultant, focusing on New Media & Digital Interactivity Strategy, Search Optimization, Social Conversion & Brand Recognition, Author, Keynote Speaker, Startup Investor, Husband, Father, Overly Opinionated New Yorker and much more. | Twitter Facebook Website
When Patrick Wensink approved the artwork for the cover of Broken Piano for President, a comical story about the fast food industry, booze, and the necessity to choose happiness over work and security, his intent certainly wasn't to outright steal the Tennessee Whiskey mavens label. But the similarities are a little to uncomfortable for ol’ Gentleman Jack's legal department.
In a cease-and-desist letter from Jack Daniel's to Patrick, there is something to be learned. Something more than the need to protect your copyrighted and trademarked works. There is a great lesson here about class and compassion - something that companies like Apple can learn.
We would normally expect a corporate giant to squash the little guy at any means necessary to protect their property, but not good old Jack. They do it with swagger. In what has been dubbed the 'nicest cease-and-desist letter ever,' Jack Daniel's Properties politely explained the situation, thanked the author for his flattering rendition of their branded label and offered to help him with the cost of redesigning his book cover. Maybe the greatest part is allowing him to keep the cover as is until additional books are printed - without legal action.
What businesses large and small can learn here is that you can protect your intellectual property without threats or starting World War III. It's a win-win-win situation; Patrick Wensink gets to keep his book on the shelves, Jack Daniel's protects their trademark and both parties get a huge PR bump. If only more trademark complaints were handled this way, the world might be a better place.
What are your thoughts on how Jack Daniel's handle this?
Michael Grosheim is the President & CEO of Grosh, Inc., a Strategic Marketing & Social Branding consultant, focusing on New Media & Digital Interactivity Strategy, Search Optimization, Social Conversion & Brand Recognition, Author, Keynote Speaker, Startup Investor, Husband, Father, Overly Opinionated New Yorker and much more. | Twitter Facebook Website
Apparently, a previous agreement boosting Twitter results with real-time search has left a bad taste in Twitter's mouth after they failed to renew the agreement. And they are letting everyone know just how unhappy they are by pissing and moaning about Google's recent search result changes.
The latest comes from Alex Macgillivray, General Counsel for Twitter, whose wildly misguided example uses search results for "@WWE." The example was used to show that Google places it's own products, in this case Google+, before search results for other websites including Twitter. Twitter openly criticized Google on Tuesday stating, "As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter...We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone."
Some great questions have come out of this recent attack on Google and it's new 'Search plus Your World.' The most common is, 'Shouldn’t people find what they are searching for at the top of their results?' The answer is simply no. The issue here is not what they are searching for but how they are searching for it.
First and foremost, Google may be a search engine providing relevant information on the terms a user is searching for, but they are a business. It doesn't get any more complicated than that. How can Twitter expect Google to place Twitter results before the results of it's own products unless they are willing to cough up the bucks for premium placement. Second, Google has made wonderful changes over the years which help to guide people to the results they are looking for, however, human error and ignorance tend to be the main reason some people never find relevant results.
To break this down simply, and explain why his example is misguided, searching for @WWE would mean that the user knows the Twitter handle for the WWE. So, what exactly are they searching for on Google? Are they searching for newsworthy content from the WWE or what people are saying about them? If that's the case, then the issue is not Google. Twitter is not pushing it's own search function located on its website which would provide that very information. In most cases, or at least in my personal experience, people turn to Google when they don't know the Twitter handle of a specific user. Searching for @EllenDegeneres would lead you to a suspended account. However, searching for "Ellen Degeneres Twitter" would put Twitter in the number one spot, followed by fan profiles and Ellen's website - all above anything from Google+.
It's not what is being searched, it's how people are searching for it. We all have different ways for searching for information relevant to our needs, so is that something Google should anticipate or should the responsibility lay on Twitter? The issue is that Twitter is not happy with their SEO and rather than finding and fixing issues within their own company they find it easier to point the finger at someone else. It's ok, this is standard management protocol and human nature.
Instead of releasing statements attacking Google's business practices, Twitter should turn their sights on their own mismanagement. Over the past few years the infamous fail whale has become a meme mocked in ever corner of the Internet. Twitter may consider boasting its own search features and even enhance user friendliness. And, if they are truly interested in landing in the first spot of search results they should pony up the dough.
Is Google really to blame or should Twitter be pushing their own search functions to locate user profiles? After all, if you know the @ name for a user, you aren't searching for them on Google.
Michael Grosheim is the President & CEO of Grosh, Inc., a Strategic Marketing & Social Branding consultant, focusing on New Media & Digital Interactivity Strategy, Search Optimization, Social Conversion & Brand Recognition, Author, Keynote Speaker, Startup Investor, Husband, Father, Overly Opinionated New Yorker and much more. | Twitter Facebook Website
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