Written Testimonials Influence People!

Written testimonials are a power tool in your marketing box. They will give you and your services / products credibility. People are influenced more by people than advertisement campaigns. If you are going to a new restaurant or to a film you will be reassured if they have good reviews.

Social media is an ideal platform to let people view your testimonials. LinkedIn is an obvious choice and I would strongly recommend opening an account. Like many things in social media the basic account is free.

Facebook is another platform and I incorporate my testimonials into my Facebook welcome page (see below). I also add a few Facebook comments and Twitter tweets to give a broader view.

So if you want to win friends and influence people then display your testimonials.

Facebook Welcome Page

Please like my page to learn social media secrets, ask questions and feel free to promote your business. While you are here let me share with you just a few of the kind words I have received:

Facebook Comments

Met net4wiseowls social media at BNI meeting last night. Not much he doesn’t know about social media marketing.
Jennifer McWilliams – Antrim Enterprise Agency

I was at Bill’s course on Wednesday and I have to say it was fantastic. Bill I salute you.
Andy Hill  – MoreDesignUK

Love net4wiseowls social media for all things to do with social media.
Douglas Stoddard – NI First Aid Services

Twitter Tweets

Net4wiseowls thanks again for the FF. Bill you = legend
Jonathan Gaston  – Colours Video

Thanks Bill..I hope you’re well mate…#ff Follow this guy folks, he’s excellent at social media.
Tom Verner – Momentum Business Development

To any of my followers who aren’t following @net4wiseowls please follow him, he really is a social media legend.
Andy Hill  – MoreDesignUk

LinkedIn Testimonials

“Bill has helped us embrace Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and tweetni – we are now completely ‘socially networked’!
Bill is enthusiastic, personable and explains his expertise in a language we can understand.
We are looking forward to seeing results over the next few months.
We have recommended Bill twice in the past two weeks and are happy to do so.”
Michael Rodgers – Rodgers & Browne Holywood

Full list of my LinkedIn testimonials at:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/net4wiseowls

Credit Image: Luc Legay

Ryan is an entrepreneur and writes about his passions, Lifestyle Design and Personal Development at his blog www.ryanrenfrew.com.

What uuuuup? Hope your having fantastic day.

I’m sure by now you are well aware that many small businesses are jumping onboard the social media bandwagon. If not, what rock have you been hiding under? Fear not, I’m going to show you how using social media marketing can ramp up your lead generation and convert prospects into paying customers.

As any good marketer will know there is no such thing as the ‘Magic Bullet’. There is no single thing that will sky-rocket your business to astronomical heights. Your marketing efforts are very much like a wheel of a bicycle that has many spokes. The more spokes your marketing wheel has the stronger it becomes.

There are two major kinds of spokes, online spokes and offline spokes. So which are better? Which should you concentrate on? There is no straight up answer, both have advantages and disadvantages. What works well for your business may not work well for my business.

Lets have a look and compare some marketing spokes of www.fitbodybangor.com (my personal training business).

I ran 3 different offline marketing campaigns and 1 online social media campaign in consecutive months, each campaign lasted a month.

Offline

1. Sales letter
2. Postcards
3. Flyers

Online

1. Facebook PPC ( pay-per-click )

Lets look at how they performed.

1/Sales letter
Units – 200
Cost – £30
Time – 10+ Hours (Writing, putting pages into envelopes and delivering)
Leads – 0
Conversions – 0

Although the sales letter was a relatively cheap way to spread the message it was a very labour intensive process.

2/Postcards
Units – 500
Cost – £80
Time – 10+ hours (Designing and delivering)
Leads – 3
Conversions – 1

Slightly better than the sales letter , probably due to the greater number of units. Still very time-consuming and more expensive.

3/ Flyers
Units – 2000
Cost – £ 40
Time – 20+ Hours (delivering)
Leads – 2
Conversions- 0

The flyers seem to be very ineffective, probably due to the scattergun approach of delivering them.

These 3 offline campaigns appear to have been a flop. Having said that, they were test campaigns therefore on a smaller scale to a full-blown campaign. Further campaigns will roll out substantially higher units, but will also incur greater costs and eat up a lot, I mean a LOT of time.

Social Media Campaign – Facebook Pay Per Click.

If you are unfamiliar with Facebook PPC, take a look at a facebook page now, do you see those advertisements running down the right hand side, those are paid advertisements. Every time a single ad is clicked on the advertiser is charged a fee. My adverts directed the viewer to my personal training sales page.

Units/Impressions – 435,334
Clicks – 464
Time – 5mins
Cost £71.21
Cost per click – £0.15
Leads – 20
Conversions – 3

Now lets dissect the stats. WOW, check these out.

• 435,334 impressions, this means that the ad were shown nearly half a million times!!! Now imagine the cost and time it would take to deliver this number of postcards?
• 464 clicks – When someone clicks on the ad it is safe to assume they are interested in the product or service, if they weren’t that interested then why would they bother finding out more about your offer.
• Time 5mins – This is my favourite stat of all. The ad took 5 minutes to set up, once it went live it took care of itself.
• Cost £71.21 – for 464 qualified prospects, ( 15pence each!!!) this is a bargain. Not to mention the time saved designing and delivering.
• Leads – I created a database containing the email addresses of leads so I can still communicate with the leads that didn’t convert.

So How Did The Offline And Online Social Media Marketing Campaigns Compare?

Distribution
WINNER : Social Media Marketing
The ad was displayed 435,334 times. This is staggering!!!!! It would be impossible for any of my offline campaigns to reach anyway near this volume. It is also worth mentioning that this reach could be greatly expanded at relatively low-cost by increasing the daily budget and appealing to a broader demographic.

Cost
WINNER : Social Media Marketing
Considering the reach and time saved a Facebook PPC can be as cheap as chips.

Time
Winner : Social Media Marketing
Lets see how long it would take to reach an audience of 435,334 with a sales letter – 4353 hours!!! Basically it ain’t gonna happen!

Leads and Conversions.

Winner : Social Media Marketing.

Not only did the social media campaign convert more, it also added to a database of qualified leads, which may convert at a later date. The offline marketing campaigns took a shotgun approach, simply dropping material through letter boxes and car windscreens. The social media campaign took a more laser like approach, I was able to target certain demo and psychographics within my niche.

Overall the social media campaign kicked mega ass. It was easy, extremely time-effective, and reached numbers unparalleled to offline campaigns. Having said that, I would not drop all, or indeed any of my current offline marketing strategies. If your current offline marketing is working for you then keep doing it!! But I would strongly urge you to seriously consider social media marketing. Like the Fit Body Bangor case study, you too could drastically reduce marketing costs and reach a whole new audience generating more leads and convert to paying customers.

Written by Ryan Renfrew

Follow Ryan on twitter / facebook

Mark Zuckerberg the 26-year-old CEO of the phenomenally successful Facebook coined the phrase social graph; people and the connections they have to everything they care about. The Facebook social graph integrates within your website, mobile applications and applications on Facebook itself. It helps you drive growth and engagement by personalizing the experience for your users and letting them share the experience with the important people in their lives. A few examples of the Facebook social graph in action are:

Modern messaging system, the end of email?
It not another email system and again plays heavily on social offering seamless messaging, conversation history and the all important social inbox. The Social Inbox filters exactly the messages you want to see and divides incoming messages into three key categories:
Messages. This is messages from friends and their friends. People you care about and who want to regularly engage with you.
Other. This is the day-to-day mundane tasks. Paying bills, dealing with finance, ordering goods and services, etc.
Junk. Spam filter.

Social Plugins
Integrating Facebook into your website using the social plugin Like Box. This enables users to like your Facebook Business Page and view its stream directly from your website.

Zynga Social Gaming
A gaming company founded by Mark Pincus in 2007, employing over 1200 people with a turnover of $600 million. They turned gaming into social gaming. It’s you and your friends that build a farm or run a cafe, etc and get involved in the social inter action. This makes for very compelling content.

Spotify Social Music
A music streaming service founded by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and launched for public access in October 2008. Making music social by providing Facebook friend’s playlists that they have made public. Just subscribe to your friend’s public play lists and play them as if they were your own. It’s a great way to discover music from your friends.

Photos Going Social
Photos are one of Facebook’s strengths. It was the start of the phenomenal effect integrating social can have on a product. It was not high-resolution or ease of use that made Facebook photos successful. It is socializing photos by tagging. People want to know who is in the photo. A simple concept, but pure genius.

What do you think?
Is this the end of email?
How will this change the way we communicate?
Are we only seeing the start of social integration?
What does the social graph mean to you?
I would love to hear your views.
Please leave a comment.

Credit Image: Coopératique

Not Engaging:- Stopped before they got started in social media are businesses who, for whatever reason simply do not engage. Active listening is a prelude to engaging with people. Remember one mouth but two ears.

It’s good to engage by asking questions, but for goodness shake when someone replies with an answer, at the very least acknowledge them. Another good engagement habit is to give generously and believe me, you will receive twice as much back. Give quality content, free downloads, answer questions, provide comments on other people’s blog, retweet quality posts, etc. in other words be useful, helpful and supportive.

Think, would you buy goods and services from a business that was useful and helpful and engaged with you, against one who ignored you and kept you at a distance?  Maybe some businesses confuse social media as just something to do after the real work is done.

Amber

Static Website:- My website does not attract traffic! Please don’t blame the web designer. Ten years ago a one page website called a brochure was all the rage. It was static, never updated, and acted more as an online business card. It suited the then slow dial-up and very low-bandwidth technology. While technology has moved on dramatically, some business views on websites have not.

I hate to disillusion people, but websites are an ongoing commitment and the days of static sites are long gone. Quality content regularly updated is King. Writing that content and designing a website takes time and while that is being worked on, prepare the ground with social media. Use LinkedIn to raise your profile, Facebook to promote your events and services along with blogs and micro blogs to keep people up to speed. All provide a great platform to drive traffic to your new or existing website.

Green

Blog & Micro Blog:- Start blogging now is fairly obvious advice, especially to people who already know its value. There are numerous benefits, from proving your expertise and passion for a subject, to building a loyal following and having an influence. So why don’t more business people blog?

Time, especially for a small start-up business is a scarce commodity and they are looking for a quick  ROI. Think of it more as a return on “Influence” and a long-term strategy.

Lack of confidence in writing may also hold people back. Suffice to say start blogging to-day, especially if you are knowledgeable and passionate about your subject and you will be surprised what you can achieve.

Not convinced, no time or confidence, then try micro blogging using twitter. To be honest to use twitter effectively takes, time and consistency. However you can start with a couple of tweets every day and build from there.

Use social media to engage with people, influence them and drive traffic to your website and watch your business grow.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I always appreciate any comments.

Image Credit: aimhelix

Knowing your customers and your target audience should form the bedrock of a sound business strategy. It’s also the starting point to building a winning Social Media business strategy.

Pareto Analysis the 80:20 rule. Information overload is an easy trap to fall into with so many sources of information available. The fear of being left behind is compounded with the anxiety of not knowing exactly what Social Media platforms will work best for your business. The challenge is to separate the vital few from the trivial many. Remember 80% of your business sales are probably generated from just 20% of your initiatives.

Don’t put all your investment into your website and expect your customers  just to turn up. Social Media lets you play where your customers are, not necessarily where your website is. However Social Media allows you to drive the right traffic to your website. People who are engaged with you because you are authentic, transparent, and useful. People who value, trust and understand that your business provides the products and services they require. Intelligent leveraging of Social Media sites as part of your overall business strategy will open up the possibility of viral campaigns. They will deeply engage with your customers, strengthen your brand and ultimately increase sales.

Hard work is required to be successful in Social Media and as Gary Player the golfer once said “the more I practice the luckier I become”. The Social Media sites are free, the time to exploit them is not and requires considerable commitment and time. Though avoid being the hamster in the wheel, busy going nowhere. Develop a strategy that is focused on your customers and works in a cost-effective manner.

Word of mouth. Just remember those three little words when you start to wonder is all the effort and time invested in social media going to give you a return. The fact is that people buy far more readily from a word of mouth recommendation than an advertisement. That is the powerful advantage that Social Media brings to the table. Word of mouth through social media will drive up your sales and profits, put you ahead of the competition and make you a winner.

Can you afford not to be in Social Media?

Image Credit:  Search Engine People Blog

1. Sell! Sell! Sell!

Sorry to disappoint but twitter is not a sales broadcast channel. It’s more about listening and engaging with customers. Build contacts, build trust and sales will follow. Consider your first  hundred tweets to be only about building contacts and trust rather than selling.

2. More Followers more Business.

Lets be honest most of us have played the numbers game at sometime in our lives. With twitter the important point is quality over sheer numbers. Devise your own criteria and play about with it until you build a following that works for you.

3. Twitter is a must for Business.

Yes with a health warning. Imagine it as a garden that needs constant tender loving care. Neglect will turn it into a wasteland and may also damage your brand image.

4.  Overpromise.

It’s easy to fall into the trap to overpromise, but it’s a sure way to get negative comments on twitter. Don’t allow pressure to be seen as a great business person firing on all cylinders, lead to overpromise on delivery times, quality, special offers, quantity, release dates, etc.  A business friend’s advice was to under promise and over deliver. It worked for him and he has many happy customers.

5. Delegate Tweeting to a Junior.

A potentially dangerous strategy. Tweeting requires someone who has the authority to respond immediately to all requests and debates concerning your business on twitter. They need to understand the broader picture and the companies’ overall strategy.

6. Instant Business Success.

This time next year we will be millionaires. If only. Patience and perseverance are two important qualities required for business success on twitter. The number of abandoned business twitter accounts highlights the need for patience and perseverance. It is very easy to become discouraged, when sometimes success may be just around the corner.

7. One tweet a day is enough.

You can’t be serious! Think of each tweet you make as your business open for one hour. Would a shop that only opens one hour per day be successful? Think more like 7 to 12 tweets per day.

Image Credit:  AMagill

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption to our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider to our business. He is a part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so.”

- Mahatma Gandhi -

My mind drifts back on occasions, when I look at some twitter business accounts, to those words of wisdom spoken by Mahatma Gandhi.

So how are you running your business account on Twitter?

1. It’s not personal it’s business. Wow that’s a contradiction. Of course it’s personal, of course it’s about engaging with customers. The point I am trying to make is don’t personalise your business on twitter to the point were you only have an inner circle of family and friends. They already know your business. It is new followers (contacts, networking) that will help grow your business.

2. It means welcoming people who follow you. While it is not essential to follow them back, don’t always expect people to be interested in your business if you are not the least bit interested in them. It’s hard to engage with people if it is a one way communication channel.

3. Don’t at times, reject following back a follower just because they don’t live in the same town, country or, on the face of it don’t appear to be a likely customer. The world is a small place and business opportunities can arise in the most unlikely scenarios.

4. Think twice about protecting your tweets. Fine if it’s not a business account, but why make potential customers (followers) wait to follow you?

5. Think twice about using a validation service. Fine if it’s not a business account, but again why treat potential customer (followers) with suspicion.

6. Watch the message your bio sends out.  “ Don’t be annoyed if we don’t respond to your tweets we are trying to run a business” It’s like saying if it wasn’t for customers interrupting me I could get more work done!

7.  Try to reply to the majority of people who ask you for advice whether you follow them or not. If you’re not willing to share and help, then think twice about using a business twitter account.

8. Be pro active and search for people to follow. Try http://search.twitter.com . Remember if you want milk don’t wait for a cow to back up to you.

9. Use TweetDeck or other apps to help you deal effectively with your growing number of followers. Pay particular attention to mentions and direct messages and respond to them promptly.

10. A twitter account is free. The time spent on it is not. So make it worthwhile and engage with customers. I hope we can all learn from Gandhi’s views on customers “He is not an outsider to our business.  He is a part of it.”

Do your followers feel part of your business?

Image Credit: dbking

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

The Statue of Liberty Inscription

Do you have an open business that welcomes supports and engages people on twitter?

1. Tweet Support New people on twitter finding their way can benefit from friendly informative tweets. Likewise when someone starts a new adventure or project that you feel is worthwhile then try to get behind them.

2. Tweet Requests No one has all the answers and its good to ask for and welcome help from a broad spectrum of people.

3. Tweet Yourself Add a little flavour and humour to tweets about yourself. Tell a story rather than a just a couple of words.

4. Tweet Information Live news is a great strength of twitters. Help keep others informed including events, concerts, promotions, etc.

5. Tweet Advice. Whatever your specialism is invite questions and offer advice on it.

6. Tweet Thanks Keep an eye on your @tweets (mentions). If people RT your tweets, give you advice, offer you support, #ff, etc then thank them.

7. Tweet Business Important and left to last because it doesn’t work unless you balance your business tweets with the others I have mentioned. Remember all work and no play……..

Summary Engagement is how I sum up twitter in one word. In the end it’s all about welcoming and accepting the rich diversity that is out there and leaving your mark. So start tweeting and engaging with people now.

Image Credit: wwarby

Ten hot tips to keep your business moving fast in the right direction.

1. Location Show  each word of the address starting with a capital, include comma’s and ensure your country is included. For example “Bangor, Northern Ireland” appears on the first page of Popular Locations in the directory tweetni. Now leave the comma out and see where it appears.

2. Website Address Do not include (www.)  on twitter. There are only 20 visible characters displayed for your website on twitter. Remember though to include http://

3. Username Aim for 15 characters max. There are only 140 characters available in each message (tweet). Longer user names (handle) use up more  precious characters.

4. Image Look into the eyes not round the eyes, you’re under. Eye contact is powerful. Make sure you use a profile picture/image of yourself with good eye contact.

5. Background Picasso was an artistic genius, are you? Keep your twitter page design colours easy on the eye and readable.

6. Retweet RT Use them don’t abuse them. Make your tweets short max 120 characters to allow easy RT. Do not retweet a continuous string of tweets from one person. If you like someone that much then highlight them on #ff follow Friday.

7.  hashtags # Use them don’t abuse them. For example use #ff to highlight just one person per tweet and say why you recommend following them.

8. Bio It is critical and gives you fewer than 160 characters to tell your story to the world. Make it a good one (including plenty of key words) for followers and search engines.

9. Emails Turn off the email notice buttons in settings/notices. Stops spam emails coming in on Direct Messages and other emails you don’t need.

10. KISS Keep It Simple Stupid A poor DIY person will use every gimmick under the sun to make their DIY life easier. A good workman only needs a few good tools. I will just mention one for now, TweetDeck. Start using it today and make your twitter life easier.

Tune in every week for a new net4wiseowls blog post.

Image Credit: cameraworx