• 

• Network With Randall

  

  

  

What is Web 2.0?

The big trend on the Internet in the last few years is Web 2.0. The first year that I kept hearing the term I was working extensively with Internet marketers who seemed to be seeping onto the Internet from the late night cable infomercials. They all kept saying it was the best thing to happen for solopreneurs and small businesses looking to reach beyond where they were willing to travel. After a few conversations with some of the people who defined what Web 2.0 really is I finally got it.

 

Here is what the essence of Web 2.0 is NOT:

(despite what you may have been told)

 

1. Rounded corners
2. Skype Blue
3. Lots of navigation options
4. A RSS feed button
5. Having a Blog

 

Here is what the essence of Web 2.0 IS:

 

1. Social Networking
   1. MySpace
   2. YouTube
   3. Facebook
   4. Forums
2. Business Networking
   1. Linkedin
   2. Meetup
   3. Industry specific Forums
3. Engaged communication providing value and illustrating expertise.
4. Navigation that makes sense and works well.
5. A commitment to actively participate to expand on the shared knowledge base (string theory).

 

So why should small businesses pay attention to what Web 2.0 brings to the Internet?

 

Web 2.0 allows a business to show off the talent of their employees or owners. Web 2.0 is not something that can be outsourced, the writer must have the knowledge and insight being. I have seen these tasks outsourced before, and every step of outsourcing lost a high degree of the companies brand strength.

 

 

Top 3 New Media Outlets

Keeping up with the latest developments in PPC marketing has led me to be very involved in the Online social media space in general. I have experimented with countless new media marketing techniques and participated in developing everything from article marketing programs to the latest apps like Twitter.

I was listening in on a webinar Jen was participating in and the group consensus on the state of social media was ranking the top three new media applications/websites for B2B marketers.

1. Facebook. The Driving force behind why Facebook is preferred for professional development over similar sites like MySpace is the beginnings of the network as a way for college students to connect and keep in touch. This education level of the base user is distinctly different than the more artist/teen targeted MySpace.

2. Linked-in. Linkedin is designed to be focused around professional contacts with job postings, a Q/A board, and the ability to get a recommendation from a colleague.

3. Twitter. The leading edge of social applications is Twitter. Twitter is a micro-blogging format that limits any post to 140 characters. users are able to follow other users, and the other person can choose whether they want to follow back. In addition users can direct message each other. Twitter posts are indexed by Google. Many corporations such as Comcast are building their outreach on Twitter by having a tech support account that is monitored 24/7. Twitter is like the latest version of a chat-room, but everybody has control over what part of the room they see.

I agree with 2 out of the 3 above for B2B marketing and public relations. Social Networking sites are not a place to market unless you are a solopreneur. Facebook and MySpace are simply not perceived as professional forums, and are often not completely controlled by the user. Control over voice and branding when using new media and social media make using these outlets seem risky for many large organizations, but a well thought out strategy directly related to branding and target audience can make new and social media outlets a source of prospects, clients, and goodwill for any size business.

Working at home and not selling

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and she told me she needed to find a job working from home but didn’t want to sell anything. Since I work from home, I was her go-to person and she wanted to know what opportunities are out there that don’t involve any sales.

The only one I could think of was Mystery Shopping. Unless you can get in your car, have a route, and do it 40 hours a week (or more) you’re not going to pay your bills Mystery Shopping - you’re going to spend a lot on gas, and really, if you have to get a sitter for the kids there go the rest of your profits.

So she asked again "But there HAS to be somethign I can do without (insert visible shudder) SELLING something!"

I asked her what she considered selling. When it came down to brass tacks, it seemed the problem was that she didn’t want to tell people that she was doing something and ask them for money. (For those of you that are wondering, I do manage to keep the shocked expression off of my face when people say things like this to me!)

Thinking just my words weren’t going to be enough, I went for an example, "Have you ever gone in for a job interview?" I said…"Of course!" she said. Well guess what…if you’ve been on a job interview you’ve sold something, or not, depending on the outcome.

The blank stare at this point was pretty classic. But then the blank stare changed, and my friend squinted a little while her brain went into overdrive.

This is step one of realizing that life is marketing, and sales is everywhere. It’s a tough perspective to grasp, because so many people are conditioned to "hate" sales and think of negative images associated with sales.

She was still squinting, and looked like she needed just one more nudge. "You’re married, right?" She nodded. From the day you met the man who is now your husband to the actual ceremony…how long was that? "Two years" she said. That’s called a sales cycle. Sometimes it’s shorter, sometimes it’s longer, but for your marriage you went from introducing the product to the potential customer to closing the deal in 2 years.

She countered with, "But he chased ME, I didn’t have to do anything!"
I replied, "Did you put on makeup? Did you wear nice clothes to go out to dinner? Did you laugh at his jokes?"
Yes. Yes she did.

The most important sales cycle is the marriage, because at the moment of the ceremony it exemplifies all that is good and right about sales. Two people just feel they’ve found the person that’s the perfect fit. No one feels they were "sold" on the other, and yet, both were. The preening and nitpicking over what outfit to wear is like making a presentation to a potential business client.

And when a client hires you, or buys your product…if you’re selling and marketing yourself and your product the way you should be….your customer won’t feel like they’ve been sold anything, they’ll just be releived and happy to know they have you.

I’m Merchant Circle Curious…

I’ve been a member of Merchant Circle since early this year.

I am still trying to figure out exactly what the purpose is.

Don’t get me wrong, the listing on their site does show up in the search engine, so it’s not all bad. I’m thinking that this is one of those "all in one" solutions for businesses who don’t want to have a website (or don’t want to be overcharged for a crappy website.) Here are some of the things you can do on the site:

• Enter your business information (which will then show a map when your page is brought up.
• See if your business is listed on Yahoo! Local Search among other online business listing directories.
• Write a blog
• Connect with other local (or non-local) merchants and form a circle of businesses.
• Upload pictures (so people know what your store looks like, or what you look like, or what your featured product looks like, etc.)
• Upload video (because that viral marketing is so hot right now.)
• Review other businesses and email people with your link so they can review your business
• See if your business is in the news, where it shows on the web, etc.
• Submit advertisements or create online coupons for your business that can be seen by other Merchant Circle members or sent via email to your subscribers or contact list.

But here is the one that I think is really powerful:

• Add email addresses of your customers or contacts
• Send a newsletter using a predefined template right from Merchant Circle .
• These are FREE services

I don’t use this for my newsletters, but as free solutions go I think this one is pretty good. I’m not sure how they handle double opt-in for the email addresses to make sure you’re not spamming people (I didn’t see an option for double opt-in)  The template is pretty darn nice and it allows you to upgrade to a paid membership of you do not want advertisements in the header of the newsletter.

For most businesses that are too small or do not want to have a web presence, Merchant Circle seems like an interesting all-in-one solution that only requires as much updating as the business owner wants to have. Unlike a site where constant updates will keep your rank higher.

Is this the right solution for you? Check it out, give it a test drive. It can’t hurt! 

Protected: Sales Boost Intensive Call - Recording Page

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Reality Shows and YOUR Brand

I’ve loved reality shows for years.

It was my “dirty little secret” for a long time, because I felt like I was supposed to be telling people I was watching Nova or something else that would be considered a “smart” show.

But if you really look at it, you’ll learn so much about  the mindset of the entrepreneur from these shows!

1. They KNOW they’re on tv. This is an important part that a lot of people watching forget. They aren’t hidden cameras, they’re right there every minute, you can’t forget about them no matter how hard you might try. This leads me to….
2. Contestants are being the most branded they can possibly be. Some want name recognition, some have bands, some want to be on more reality shows. That means people have to remember you for…something. What the contestant chooses shows a lot about them as a person. I always enjoy the entrepreneurs on “I Love New York” - they have to simultaneously call out how much they love NY, but at the same time get the branding in there for the company.

Do YOU (the big YOU not you personally) love your company enough to profess love for a crazy woman in order to present yourself and your brand in the best possible light? What are you willing to do in order to wear your T-Shirt on national TV (a la the Stallionaires - a three man band that existed prior to I Love New York (the first one) and now on their expensive flash-a-licious website the two that were on the band go by the names New York gave them - Real and Chance - instead of their given names. So they went to the show and wore the shirts to get exposure, and then to make sure people who watch the show come through to them…they keep the nicknames from the show…it’s like one-man cross branding) .

What are you willing to do to get your brand out locally or online? What lengths will you go to and what risks will you take to get known? And if you do something really big…will it pigeonhole you into one niche that you didn’t really want to be in?

I love reality shows, because you get to watch individual entrepreneurs build a brand and share that brand the best way they know how.

Bind Faith vs. Trust

Concealing vs. Revealing - The Marketing Spin

Great blog entry by Seth Godin today about people and the strategy of hiding the negative (or accentuating the positive) instead of just getting everything out on the table and being more full-disclosure about yourself. Or your company.  Or your product.

Since I was just on a networking tear last weekend, I was thinking about how I present myself to the world - do I put my best foot forward so often that people think I only have one leg?

If putting your best foot forward means NOT snorting when you laugh, like, ever, I failed miserably. Which I think is good. People need to see their experts as human, not as some freaky machine that never stops.

I don’t have to be an expert at makeup application, style, laughing without snorting, or any other vast number of things. I’m an expert at interactive (online), emotion-based marketing. That’s the only thing I have to be #1 at. Everything else just gives me depth and color.

Yes, that’s what I tell myself when I trip while walking…I know you were asking yourself… *grin*

It also makes me what I like to call “an approachable human”. That’s important, because many experts hide behind jargon and pithy one-liners and don’t show people who they really are. This means that people have to put their blind faith into the expert when they hire them, because they aren’t going to get human interaction helping them along. When you know someone has real, human personality traits and isn’t roaming the networking forest in a suit with one-liners a-flying…you can build real trust. The kind of trust that exists between two humans.

Blind faith or Trust..which would you rather give? Or receive?

How to get more referral business…

I just posted a blog entry over at AlphaWomen about volunteering to get more referrals.

Here’s an excerpt:

A great way to do this is to give your time freely to…something! But there’s a catch. Don’t just give your time willy-nilly without a plan, that’s not going to get you anywhere but tired and burned out. Decide where the people are that you want to know, and then figure out where they are networking, visiting, talking, or hanging out. Then figure out a way to be there at the same time doing something that makes people take notice.

Read the full entry HERE

Girls’ Night Out in the South Suburbs of Chicago!

We’re filing this announcement in the “better late than never” section of the blog *grin* - I found out a couple days ago about a great “Girls’ night out” event happening right here in the south suburbs!

I don’t know about you, but being here in the south suburbs it basically means to do anything cool I have to drive about 40 minutes into the city proper to meet other business owners and have some fun.

The last girls’ night out event I went to was in Northbrook. That’s about 75 minutes away from my house. Don’t get me wrong, it was worth it! But I’ve been complaining that there are some amazing people here in the south suburbs and we should hold a shindig of our own.

Come to find out Deniera Burks of Luxe Escentuals has done just that! I’m glad I found out about it before it was too late…I’m pinch-hitting the marketing in the last week stretch before the event.

It will be held at the Orland Park Civic Center this coming Saturday, November 10th and based on the vendors, sponsors, and the attendees that I know of this is going to be a FUN event!

If you have an interesting or unique product, or would like to become a sponsor visit The Official Beautiful You Site at  http://www.luxebeautifulyou.com/ (also visit if you’d like to order your tickets online!)
This just in! I heard that Sephora is going to be at the event with samples, consultations…and is going to be donating a goodie basket for the raffle! I already knew there were going to be free drinks and a raffle…but every vendor that donates a prize increases everyone’s chance of winning!

See you on Saturday!

Tech Cocktail - Chicago

Go HERE for more information!

If you’re going to be attending, drop me a line and let me know. We can hang. Or something.

Next Page »

• Recommend Resources