Jim's Marketing Blog » twitter

Business blogging experts?

Jim Connolly — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:25:36 +0000

Over the past 24 hours, I have seen 2 people advertising their services as business blogging experts. In both cases, I decided to check THEIR blogs out. As a marketing guy, I was curious as to what kind of blogs these expert business bloggers had. I’m really glad I did, because it motivated me to write this “buyer beware” post and hopefully, will stop people from wasting their time and money.

Business blogging experts?

One of them has a blog, which has not been updated since last year! This blog expert wants you to pay him, to coach you on the benefits of business blogging, yet his primary business blog looks like he has just given up on it.

The other blogging expert was even worse! Her blog is not even configured correctly. I was on her blog for 5 minutes, and was unable to find anything, other than the most recent blog post, because the navigation was so poor. Equally, the blog was almost unreadable, (even on my 24 inch monitor), because it’s written in a tiny font. It looks a total mess and lacked even basic social bookmarking options. I have seen many new bloggers, with far more professional looking blogs. Unbelievably, she is currently offering a free talk on successful business blogging, via a local networking group. Clearly, no one bothered to check her out before allowing her to talk.

Researching a business blogging expert: The basics

Both of these self proclaimed business blogging experts, have thousands of followers on Twitter. This is not an indicator of how good they are at what they do, yet many use the size of someone’s social network as a short-cut to their decision making process. If you want a better indicator as to how good a blogging expert REALLY is, check out their blog!

Here are a few of the basics to look for, before you decide to take any advice from them:

Check that their blog looks professional. If it isn’t, do you really want to take blogging advice from them?
Check that their blog has an active community. A quick look at the number of comments their posts attract, will give you an idea as to how well they are engaging THEIR readers. Look at the last 10 or so posts, as some posts get a lot fewer comments than others. Bottom line: if their blog doesn’t have an active community (which is the heart of a great business blog) they are hardly going to be able to show you how to build a great community on YOUR blog!
Check that their content is valued by others. When people find something on a blog or website interesting, they will often link to it. For example, there are around 20,000 links pointing to this blog right now. You can check how many links point to any site, using Yahoo Site Explorer.

Even if someone is offering you free advice via a local networking group or webinar, ALWAYS check them out, before you waste your time and money following what they say. Just because their advice is free, does not mean it will not cost you a great deal, if you use what they say and it’s based on bullshit. Sometimes, free advice can be very expensive!

Here’s where you come in!

What tips do you have, for separating the genuine experts from the fakes (in any profession)? Please let us know with a comment!

Photo: Mai Le

If you found this information useful, just think how much more successful your business can be, with you & I working together on your marketing! To see how I can help you attract more high quality clients or customers than ever before, read this!

How dependent is your business on Twitter, Facebook etc?

Jim Connolly — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:27:34 +0000

If your Facebook or Twitter account got suspend or deleted, what impact would it have on your business?

I ask this question, because I’m seeing more and more people invest huge amounts of their valuable time building social networks on 3rd party sites, which they have very little real control over. Conversely, I see remarkably few people invest anywhere like enough time on the development of their own social media platform – namely, a commercial, self-hosted blog (like this one.) I’m sure you’ve seen it too; people who only manage to put new content on their own blogs a couple of times a month, yet they update Twitter or Facebook on and off all day long. Their blogs are being neglected, yet their Facebook stream is packed with interesting posts, great ideas and useful links.

In other words, they are building their primary social networking hub on something they have little real control over – Something that can be suspended or deleted without their consent, at any time.

Twitter account suspensions

I was prompted to write this after receiving an email this morning from a reader, who has just had his Twitter account reinstated AFTER Twitter suspended it, without warning or reason, for 8 days! Although I no longer follow him, I do read his stream occasionally and it is a very typical Twitter account, which doesn’t spam or abuse anyone. By the time his account was restored, 2 new prospective clients had unfollowed him. Apparently, they saw the “account suspended” sign and assumed he was a scammer!

In fact, of the 30 or so people I know of, who have had their Twitter accounts suspended, I can’t think of any that were actually doing anything wrong. By the way, one of those I helped get their account back, via a conversation on Friendfeed, was non-other than Chris Anderson; Editor of Wired Magazine and creator of what we now know as the freemium marketing model. Again, a completely random suspension.

Free blogs get suspended too

Just over a week ago, 70,000 people, (yes seventy thousand) had their Blogs shut down without notice, when the blogetery blogging platform they were using was closed down. Some of these people will have invested months of their time, developing content for that platform, only to see it erased without warning. Had that same time been invested in developing on their own self-hosted blog, it would still be there.

Even WordPress.com, which I consider the best free blogging platform by far, can suspend or remove your blog if, for example, one of their moderators believes you have Search Engine Optimized it, so that it’s too Google friendly and does not read well enough for people. In a list of blogs that are not allowed on WordPress.com, they list their now famous SEO clause:

Blogs that are written for search engines instead of humans. These blogs are dedicated to trying to fool Google and other search engines into ranking them or the sites they link to highly. WordPress.com is not meant for this type of activity.

The challenge here, is that many people would consider that “type of activity” to be nothing more than SEO! It’s a very grey area. What you or I consider a legitimately optimised blog post, one particular moderator at WordPress may consider to be too SEO friendly. If so, and someone reports it, you are at best suspended or at worst, the blog is deleted. I have to say here, that typically, the moderators at WordPress are very good these days and only want to block scammy blogs.

Your marketing on your platform

However, why give someone who knows nothing about you or your business, the power to suspend or delete your business blog, when you can build a self-hosted WordPress blog, like this one, which you control and direct 100%? In my opinion, this alone is a great reason for business bloggers to consider owning their own platform.

My point is that whilst social networking sites are a brilliant idea and a great opportunity for you to reach new people, you should also consider investing in a central Internet space or hub, which YOU control and can develop with total freedom. No 3rd party should have the power over you or your business, to be able to pull the plug on your primary online platform.

I love Twitter. (You can join me on Twitter here)
I really enjoy Google Buzz.
I CAN NOT WAIT for the rumoured Google Me social media site to launch!

But I put at least 95% of my social media time into producing content for this blog and connecting with the reader community here.

Because of this, if any of my social media / social networking accounts were suspended, I would still have a thriving community of readers, commenters and people who regularly email me via this blog. I would still be able to reach new prospective clients every hour of each day.

Do you think it’s worth investing more time developing content and a community on your own Internet hub, and maybe a little less time pumping your ideas, your best links and your moments of creativity into 3rd party sites? Maybe you see greater value in using Facebook or another 3rd party site as your primary hub. I’d love to know!

Whatever your thoughts, please share them.

Photo: Smemon87

Why your client’s social networks matter to YOUR business!

Jim Connolly — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:09:34 +0000

It’s a fact: Your customers and prospective customers have a bigger voice then ever before! Thanks to services like Facebook and Twitter, their ability to reach people is so huge, that it can generate an avalanche of word of mouth marketing for you, (so long as you continue to exceed their expectations.)

Of course, if you piss them off, their ability to share their frustration is just as huge and can cause a great amount of damage!

Social networks: When things go bad

In yesterday’s post, I discussed the importance of disclosure; of being transparent and honest with your marketing. I gave a number of reasons why it makes sound marketing sense, to be ethical, open and upfront. So, what happens when a company decides to do the opposite – To hide something from the marketplace in order to make a fast buck?

There’s a post over on Seth Godin’s blog, where his opening sentence was just 2 words: Avoid stamps.com. This was in a post called “A bias for scamminess,” which gave his account of what allegedly happened to him, when he tried to use the stamps.com service, and found that just by entering his credit card details to buy some stamps, he had agreed to pay them $15.95 a month! Whether Seth made a mistake or was victim of a technical error, rather than a deliberate stealth sales tactic, Seth’s experience has probably been shared with hundreds of thousands of people by now.

Of course, best-selling authors like Seth have always had their own platforms. If you angered a celebrity 20 years ago, they had the power back then to get their message out, via mainstream media.

What’s different today, is that hundreds of millions of people now have their own social networks and therefore a voice.

Social networks on a smaller, local level

I live in a very small village, in the North of England. My wife recently discovered a great place for parents to take their kids, and she shared it on Facebook, with her friends. She suggested that they all meet there on a certain day, so the kids could play and the parents could take a look. On the day in question, 27 of her Facebook friends met up with their kids, for a great day out – all because of her Facebook message. Here’s the thing: Had that same Facebook message been a negative review, rather than a positive recommendation, just as many people would have seen it. Just as they were motivated to attend, they could have been motivated to avoid the place, and tell their friends to do the same, had the message been negative.

The fact that the marketplace now has a greater voice than ever before, has (at least) 3 interesting consequences:

For providers, who exceed expectations and are remarkable for all the right reasons – It’s pure gold dust! The providers that used to enjoy a lot of word of mouth recommendations, will see an increasing supply of great referrals.
For providers, who offer a similar-ish type of service to their competitors – At best, they will stay about the same. The providers that have never really attracted many word of mouth recommendations, still won’t.
For providers, who offer a poor service – The clock is ticking. If they disappoint enough people with lame products or poor service, they can expect the newly enabled marketplace to spread the word.

I believe that the motivation has never been greater, for small business owners to focus on delivering service excellence. The rewards have always been good, but right now, they are excellent. Exceed the expectations of your marketplace and offer a uniquely valuable service, then help them share how great you are on their social networks.

BTW: You can share this post with your friends, using the buttons below!

Disclosure: Does it matter?

Jim Connolly — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:55:14 +0000

If someone you follow on a social network recommends something to you, via an affiliate link, should they disclose it to you or keep it quiet?

As I am sure you know, a lot of people post affiliate links via social networking sites, which they do not disclose. Over the past few months, I have asked people why they are doing this. Some explained that they disclose their affiliate relationships on their blog or website, but not when they tweet affiliate links or post them via Facebook etc. Others told me that they are not legally bound to disclose their relationships to those who followed them, so they don’t. One explained that he sent a tweet out a year or more ago, which said he was an affiliate of a certain course; which he now tweets hidden affiliate links to daily, without disclosure.

There is also an increasingly popular trend right now, where ebooks are packed with affiliate links, and no mention of this anywhere. So, the ebook author strongly recommends products to his or her readers; which the reader doesn’t know the author is being paid to sell. They see the author recommending something and assume it is an unbiased recommendation, rather than something they get paid to sell.

Disclosure and trust

In my experience, trust plays a massive role in commercial success.

We buy from, and recommend, people we trust. Chris Brogan wrote a best-selling book about it with Julian Smith, called Trust Agents (which you can buy via his blog.) Trust is also a key component in the longevity of a business. When someone discloses their relevant commercial relationships, they make it far easier for us to trust them. After all, if they are being honest and open regarding this, it’s natural for us to assume (rightly or wrongly) that they are also honest in other areas of their business.

Equally, if someone is an affiliate of something and they let me know it’s because they researched the product and LOVE it, I am actually even more likely to buy it, than if they just linked without any disclosure.

Disclosure and marketing relationships

People have previously told me, right here on this blog, that they always try to buy products or services via affiliate links, from bloggers / writers they like and trust, as a way of “tipping” them. I have done this many, many times myself. For example, when I bought the Headway blog theme that I use here, I bought it from Danny Brown; because Danny introduced me to Headway and he uses full disclosure. It felt right to buy via Danny.

The business model for avoiding disclosure is a little unclear (to me.) My assumption is that the decision not to disclose, is based less on a business model, and more on the assumption that if people know you’re being paid to promote something, they will be less inclined to trust you – rather than more inclined. Whatever the reason for failing to disclose, in my experience, people hate having facts deliberately withheld from them.

Disclosure and you

What do think of those who offer full disclosure and those who fail to disclose? What kind of things do you believe need to be disclosed? Get involved and share your thoughts.

Photo: Sasha W

Don’t push your marketing on people!

Jim Connolly — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:18:36 +0000

One of the reasons that you get targeted with so much unprofessional marketing, is that small business owners never view what THEY do as spammy or unprofessional. They know that their intentions are good, so as far as they are concerned:

It’s OK for them to add you to their mailing list without your consent, because THEY KNOW it’s not spam and that their company is legitimate.
It’s OK for them to ask you to recommend them on Linkedin, even though you don’t know them, because THEY KNOW they are decent, honest people.
It’s OK for them to send you sales pitches on Facebook, because THEY KNOW that their products really are extra special.
It’s OK for them to use Twitter as a broadcast medium, because THEY KNOW that their stuff REALLY IS worth broadcasting.

The key to marketing success, is to understand that your marketing results are based on your actions, rather than your intentions. People will respond positively, negatively or not at all, based on what you do. Consequently, when you irritate people by pushing marketing at them, they will typically respond negatively.

The most successfully marketed small businesses, abide by the following 8 words: Have something worth saying and say it well.

They offer a product or service that provides unique value (so they have something worth saying.) Then, they use professional marketing, to get their message out correctly and motivate people to buy from them (so they say it well.)

The least successful businesses do the exact opposite.

They offer a similar-ish product or service to their competitors, (so they don’t really have something worth saying.) Then, they use push marketing techniques like; cold calling, social media broadcasting, unsolicited email marketing etc, which just irritates people (so they don’t say it well.)

Before you send out any piece of marketing, always ask yourself the following question: “If someone sent this to me, how would it make me feel about that company and their services?”

We should always hold ourselves up to at least the same level of scrutiny, as we use when evaluating other providers. Preferably, far, far higher!

How do you feel about pushy marketing or those that broadcast to you, rather than engage you?

Should small businesses pretend to be bigger than they really are?

Jim Connolly — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:14:23 +0000

Many small business owners go to great lengths, to pretend that their business is actually a lot bigger than it really is. When I ask people why they do this, they usually tell me it’s because they think prospective clients won’t use them, if they know how small they are.

In my experience, it’s never a great idea to start any relationship, including a commercial one, on a foundation of lies. If Bob’s marketing contains addresses for offices that exist only in his mind and fake telephone numbers that are all diverted to his one real line, he’s clearly being less than honest. When his clients find out he’s lying about the size of his business, he will have lost their trust. This is perhaps one of the worst possible business scenarios.

Ironically, the whole idea of lying about the size or capacity of a business is completely erroneous, from a marketing perspective!

There’s zero point in pretending you are big enough to handle a project or client, that is clearly way beyond your means. Even if you do manage to fool them into thinking you have the resources to handle their needs, they will quickly realise you don’t, once they start working with you.

Successful marketing (and business development), is about working with clients that suit your business model, not fooling those who are unsuitable into joining, and then leaving you.

Some of the smallest brands are the most respected

The small business mindset, which says; “if they know how small my business is, I will win fewer clients”, is based on an incorrect assumption. It assumes that quality is linked to how large a business is, when the opposite is more often true. In reality, some of the most respected brands are smaller scale and some of the least respected brands are high street chains.

For example, until last year, Twitter employed fewer than 30 full-time people, yet it was massively successful. Twitter attracted tens of millions of dollars and has been valued at a BILLION dollars. You can join me on Twitter here.

The most famous shop in the UK and maybe one of the most famous in the world, has just one UK outlet. I’m talking about Harrods.

Conversely, some of the lowest class and most unhealthy food in your local town, is almost certainly dished up by a national or international burger chain – but the best food is almost certainly from a great little independent restaurant you know.

Small businesses should play to their strengths

The most successful small businesses play to their strengths; rather than lie about being something they are not. They focus on quality, not quantity. They develop great, long-term relationships with their clients and customers, because in most cases they know their clients and customers extremely well.

Small businesses also benefit from being able to make a decision and take action immediately, whereas large companies typically move much slower. So long as they play to their strengths, small businesses can achieve amazing results and be extremely profitable too.

I would be interested to know what your thoughts are on small businesses, who create a bogus front end to make their business look bigger.

Photo: Nevolution

Just because Bob can, does not mean he should!

Jim Connolly — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:12:13 +0000

One of the great things about being in business today, is that we can get an idea, write it down, click a mouse button and get it in front of thousands of people in seconds. Better still, we can reach all these people for little more than the cost of our time. However, instant communications also present us with a challenge.

The marketing challenge of free, instant communications

Not that long ago, it would cost a small business owner a lot of money, to send a traditional mail shot via the postal service to a few thousand people. It would take ages to print out all those letters and even the ink was expensive. Then you had to fold them, stuff them into envelopes and either stick a stamp on each envelope or frank each one. Because the cost in both time and money was so significant, people thought long and hard about what they wrote and who they sent those letters to. Every letter needed to count, when you were paying hundreds or maybe thousands for each mail shot!

Today, Bob can write an email during his coffee break and send it to his list, with the click of a mouse button. It will cost him nothing and take seconds.

As a result of this shift, you and I now find our email inboxes and social media streams, regularly littered with a lot of low value crap, from people like Bob.

Of course, the smartest business owners and marketers out there, are even more focused on the quality of their messages today than they were a decade ago. They know that in order to stand out in a world full of “Bobs”, their messages have to be professionally crafted. They also ensure that they only send their messages to people who are interested and who have given them permission to get in touch.

While people like Bob are filling the marketplace with low quality, badly targeted messages and getting added to an ever increasing number of blacklists, the savvy business owners and entrepreneurs are taking a different, less common route. They are focusing on value first, volume second. For them, quality comes before quantity. They send the right message, to the right people. It’s such a simple concept, yet it’s becoming increasingly rare.

Just because there’s little financial cost attached to sending emails or using social media sites, doesn’t mean we won’t end up paying a hefty price for using them ineffectively. If we get it wrong, we risk simultaneously damaging our reputation and missing out on an avalanche of new business and opportunities.

Steve Jobs, iPhone 4 and the Apple marketing experience

Jim Connolly — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:50:52 +0000

Steve Jobs and Apple in general, never cease to amaze me. This week, Apple announced their latest product, the iPhone 4 and received, as always, millions of dollars worth of free publicity. I watched a live video of the iPhone launch event at the World Wide Developer’s Conference, and saw journalists (literally) cheering and shouting as Steve Jobs listed features of the phone.

Within minutes of Steve Jobs’ presentation, there were thousands of iPhone 4 news reports and blog posts. People were guessing how many millions would sell in the first year and how the new features would change the way people use phones. The coverage Apple received was something that other businesses and brands can only dream of.

Steve Jobs and Apple – It’s more than a brand

People who buy and use Apple products tend to be more than users – They tend to be advocates or ambassadors. If you DARE to mention something negative about Apple or any Apple product, in a blog post, article or on Twitter, for example, you will quickly get chastised by Apple users, who will quickly tell you that whatever you said was wrong. This kind of brand loyalty is gold dust. It’s not born from smoke and mirrors either, Apple make some amazing products, but they fuse their great products with equally good marketing and PR.

What Apple can teach small & medium sized businesses

Apple offer great quality: Your services or products need to be excellent quality, if you want people to rave about them. It’s hard work and really low leverage, to market average quality products or services. In fact, if all you have to offer the marketplace is a similar sounding service to your competitors, stop reading this and start looking for ways to massively improve the unique value of your offering.

Apple have a network of advocates: The Apple team has crafted a network of people, who proactively cover and recommend their products. I suggest you do the same! Start getting to know the bloggers, newsletter providers and networkers, who have access to your prospective clients and customers. When you have something interesting or newsworthy, share it with them. (This is a subject I will cover in future posts.) This is a great way to generate word of mouth publicity.

Apple remain relevant: Just as Apple have continued to evolve their design and product lines over the years, you should too. If your service has remained largely unchanged for a year or more, it’s time to check that it’s still relevant to the marketplace. We live in a time of great change. The most successful businesses know this and adapt their offering accordingly. If your competitors are still offering a stale set of services and you adapt your services to be more relevant, you give yourself a powerful advantage!

Steve Jobs speaks with passion: When I saw Steve Jobs take the stage, a year or so after a liver transplant, and then speak with such passion about the new iPhone, I was left with a feeling of awe. I hear from businesspeople all day, who are in great health and have 1% of Jobs’ drive and passion. Have something worth saying and say it like you mean it. If you are not clearly passionate about your business, products and services, no one else will be!

Your thoughts

I would be interested to know what your thoughts are on the coverage Apple get. Equally, what are your thoughts on how small and medium sized businesses can learn from what much larger companies do? Let us know!

Photo: Benm.at

The Apple Tablet and Word of Mouth

Social media marketing – A more social approach

Jim Connolly — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:14:57 +0000

Some people have asked me, why I place so much emphasis on building a community rather than a following. Yesterday, within a 30 minute period, I received 2 emails from people enquiring about my services. I believe the way these emails begin, (see excerpt below), demonstrates the marketing value of community.

Email 1:
“Dear Jim,
You don’t know me, but I feel I know you very well through reading your blog for some time now.”

Email 2:
“Hey Jim,
I read your marketing blog and although we have never met I feel like I’ve known you for years.”

Clearly, in both cases the person enquiring felt comfortable writing to me. There was no barrier in the way – I was approachable. Equally, in both cases, the writer said that they felt like they knew me.

This is REALLY important!

Why?

Because one of the reasons so many business owners and marketers fail to transfer their online networks and social media activity into bankable results, is that they place too much distance between themselves and the people they network with. Even if they do try and build a community, it’s a community that has them positioned as the leader, rather than a host.

I’ve written about the host approach to social media before. Here’s a brief overview.

Social media hosts

For the past few years, business owners and marketers have been told to build a following or tribe and then market to them. I’ve always been uncomfortable with that. So, I use a very different approach, which is based on the idea of a level playing field, where everyone is equal – No tribal leaders.

Think of the host at a really enjoyable party. He or she greets guests when they arrive and spends the evening mixing with everyone and making sure that a great time is had by all. The host of the party is not the leader, but rather an attendee; with a responsibility to ensure that everyone has the best experience possible. They are eating, drinking and dancing alongside you. They are talking with you and laughing with you. When you leave the party, you leave with a great, positive feeling. My approach to social media marketing, is based on that same host model.

The pay off?

The pay off for the kind of approach I advocate, was demonstrated in those 2 emails from yesterday. By developing a network of people around your work, who feel that they know you and that you are approachable, you also build a deep and wide prospective client pool.

I would really like to hear your thoughts on the whole idea of social media rock stars. Is it time for a more social approach to relationship building?

How to make better marketing decisions

Jim Connolly — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 09:32:58 +0000

If you want to make better marketing decisions, you may find today’s post really useful. It’s all about something I call bad numbers.

Allow me to explain!

Bad numbers = Bad data

Imagine you wanted to know what the average small business owner thought about social media. If you asked that question via a poll on something like Facebook or Twitter, the results would be inaccurate and potentially damaging.

Why?

Because you would not be asking the average small business owner! You would be asking the average small business owner, who already uses social media. That group would give a very different response, than you would get from a true, random sample of small business owners. Any decisions you made based on that data would be based on bad numbers.

Everyone says…

I spoke with a fellow blogger recently, who changed the size of the font he used on his blog, because; “everyone said the font size was too big.” When I checked it out, everyone was actually just 3 people who commented on his blog. The first person said that he found the font size was a little large, then 2 of their friends said that they thought it was on the large side too. This guy gets around 300 unique visitors a day, so he based his decision on a flawed group of just 1% of his readership! After making the change, he immediately saw the average time people spent on his site drop by 15%. He has now reverted back to the original size font and has regained that 15% again.

Before you make a business decision based on numbers, it’s extremely important that the data you are working with is good. This means you need to be able to rely on the quality of the data and the size of the data sample, needs to be statistically relevant too.

For example, I spoke with the owner of a new, London based accountancy practice a few years ago. He told me that his last mail shot provided a zero response rate. As a result, he said he was no longer going to use mail shots as part of his marketing mix. I looked at the letter he used, and it was actually pretty good (for a change.) I then asked where he got the database that he used for the mailing, and it was one of the world’s leading suppliers of databases.

I then asked how many letters he sent. Here was his reply: “We sent 12 letters out, because we got 12 contact names and addresses for free, to evaluate the database they wanted to sell us.” He was basing his decision that mail shots did not work, on a mailing to just 12 people!

Before you make any decisions with your marketing, make sure you are basing those decisions on good numbers.

Photo: James Cridland