Every single business professional knows that time is money. This is even more relevant than ever now thanks to social media and social networking. It is making my clients get back to business basics- building relationships with potential and current customers. Just like you pay an IT consultant to fix your computers (hourly billing) consider the time of a social media consultant at least double for the good ones.
If you are not good with time management, I suggest you get good with it real quick because when jumping into social media marketing, you can easily get caught up in the fun and excitement of connecting with great people all around the world.
How much is your time worth? I charge between 100$-350$/ hr. depending on whether I’m speaking, consulting, strategy building, designing, conducting competitive intelligence, training, coaching, teaching, researching, or even writing for clients. And when it relates to social networking and social media- even more time because there are so many components to having a successful and cohesive social media marketing campaign that the average business person just doesn’t get it. This is social media for business is very complex and time consuming stuff i assure you.
I have been asked since we started Social Networking San Diego, “How much time should i be spending on these social media and social networking sites Justin? I am not making money when i am networking online, writing my blog content, or filming a new video message to my clients.” My answer is simple- consider this time that you are investing in marketing yourself, your products or services, and you are investing sweat equity in your business. If you don’t have an hour a day to market your business, then you have a problem.
Many business professionals, small, medium, and large sized clients MUST understand this critical rule when dealing with social media and considering working with social media consultants and that is…………….stay tuned for tomorrows post when i will reveal the #1 Rule when dealing with a successful social media marketing campaign.
Please leave a comment, re-tweet this, and book-mark this post it would be much appreciated. Also, what are your thoughts on this post?
Thanks
Justin
Secrets Revealed on social media marketing- to be successful in todays business environment requires innovation, creativity, change, technology, and of course competitive edge. These secrets will help you out- I guarantee it!
This post may be short- but small is the new big right? This is SOOOO Powerful! I have helped hundred of business people and taught them some of these tips and tricks and it has grown there business exponentially compared to other marketing tactics.
1. Act as if you are going to a virtual party (Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In are the parties- you shake hands in these virtual online networking groups to get them back to your home/business/blog/website)
2. You build relationships (Help others, givers gain, and pay it forward. By helping others gain information on things they are looking for or by becoming a resource to others you will build your community. Think of this as building brand equity (as Gary Vee Says) or investing sweat equity in your business. You are providing customer service)
3. Invite others to help you out (or to visit your home- which again is your website or blog) Consider my technique i use on twitter and linked-in: 1: how can i help you? 2: You can help me by…… This is Networking!
4. Then after the relationship is established, people potentially do business together/ refer you
What do you think? I am interested in your feedback. Do you have any tips that have worked for you? Please share your thoughts on this (leave a comment)
Thanks, Happy Networking
JustinRFrench
CEO Social Networking San Diego
“Justin has done business and Internet consulting for us, and we have been pleased with his abilities and results. He reviewed our processes by interviewing each employee, then came up with recommendations for improvement. He was right on target. His technical background, research and studies have given him an insight into what it takes to succeed with an all-encompassing Internet Marketing campaign. He doesn’t waste time; he gets right to the point.
Harold Nevin Language Translation, Inc. San Diego” March 17, 2009
Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity
hired JustinRFrench as a Social Media Business Consultant in 2009
P.S. I have personal coaching sessions i am doing so if you’d like more 1 on 1 coaching or training on how to leverage social media marketing to help grow your business: Click Here To Email Me Personallyand put in the subject coaching inquiry. I will contact you personally with more details about scheduling
Social- meaning being “social” in a group among people. Socializing among others about professional life and maybe even personal life of course because business is not always about business. People are people and doing business is all about people.
Networking- connecting with other people in a social setting (on line or off-line) and collaborating about what people they know and vice versa. This is no longer just a local chamber event. There are thousands of niche social networking sites- just find which one is for you and participate. Also when networking with others, find out what challenges they are facing and how you might know of a person or a solution for them to look into. Networking in these tough economic times is critical. Help others. Givers gain, and the pay it forward approach to business works magic- especially on twitter. Networking takes work! Social Networking takes allot of work and time too, but consider this sweat equity. Just like social media marketing and leveraging social networking for business purposes will require a considerable amount of time and a large learning curve for some. But this is good because consumers are tired of being interrupted during their busy personal and professional lives with marketing messages that don’t interest us.
Remember, its all about who you know, and especially now the growing trend in social networking and twitter, distance and borders no longer separate that. We are all connected globally thanks to the internet and the web 2.0 technologies that exist. Its not the tools that matter, its how you use these powerful tools. And this is only the beginning you watch- this movement is growing and is changing the way we do business. So get involved and net-WORK
Two passions of mine are golf and business. These two are very similar, especially when it comes to the on-line world. As we become a more digitally connected society, it is important to build business relationships online in the virtual world as well as the golf course. Major business deals believe it or not are done on golf courses around the world. I have come up with some unique ways golf relates to social networking for business. I am interested in your feedback so please let me know if these are sufficient points.
1. Your business takes time to grow, just like your golf game
No one can go out and shoot 72 their first time, not even Tiger Woods did that. Just like in business, no one becomes a success overnight. It takes years of building up. Some newbie golfers go to golf camp to learn the basics or maybe a golf boot camp for the fast track approach. Just like our company in San Diego called Social Networking San Diego which gives the fast track (Bootcamp) to social media and social networking for business purposes. The same applies when doing business online. If you think its easy think again. The point is You MUST get educated on how to do business online if you are to play the business game online. Is your website generating leads for you? how is your pay per click campaign doing? Is your SEO up to par? What social video sites are you on? Are your leads converting?
2. Golfing is usually done with friends, business partners, or colleagues
I cant tell you how many times i have been golfing with people i enjoy spending time with. I have been golfing with clients, partners, and of course family and friends. The thing to understand is golf is relationship building just like social networking. It takes time and those who are in it for the short run or are looking at twitter negatively just don’t get it. Twitter is just a communication tool to build relationships online. Both personal relationships and business. Think of twitter simply as a virtual networking group on demand.
Please help vote for a Fellow San Diego Business EasyTurf as San Diego’s Best Green Product Installer by clicking here: http://budurl.com/easyturf
What are your thoughts on this post?
Cheers
Justin
How CEO’s Can Create A Blue Ocean Strategy And Save The Company Using Social Media
We as CEO’s know the game is changing. It’s not doing business as usual any longer. Old styles of marketing such as direct mail, telemarketing and even email marketing are producing diminishing results. The companies that will be in business in the future MUST take advantage and diversify into an on-line marketing approach that embraces social media and social networking (especially twitter) and formulate a strategy around their products and services.
Believe it or not, the numbers are showing these on-line marketing tactics cheaper than traditional methods (Better ROI) and with shrinking budgets and a need for new ideas, what better solution than social marketing? Now this is easier said then done. I have been in IT and Business for over 10 years and for marketing, lead generation, and sales, departments MUST understand how to use these tools for those purposes. Its not what tools are out these, but how your departments are trained to use them. I conduct workshops for various corporations and have given companies the fast-track approach to social media and help structure the workshops in layman’s terms so everyone understands their role and how it fits with the company culture. Strategy is the most important, and not too many people in corporations have the business and technical sense because of the dis-connect among departments that exists.
Typically, no one in the company even understands all these various on-line mediums, which is why CEO’s will need to bring in outside help to re-shape the company culture around these new paradigms.
Here is a helpful video i put together that gives the following talking points:
1. Old Style of Marketing VS. New Style of Marketing
2. Two Buck Chuck Example (blue ocean strategy)
3. Whole Foods Example (blue Ocean Strategy- Online & Off-line)
4. How you will need outside consultants to help re-shape corporate culture
This video should really touch on some great strategies for you to implement in your organizations right away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eJPo5hZ2MY
I would appreciate some of your thoughts / insight on this discussion post.
What challenges is your firm facing with formulating a social media strategy?
I would Appreciate your any feedback
Thanks
JustinRFrench CEO Social Networking San Diego
Email me at “snsdjf@gmail.com “> with any questions you may have and i would be happy to offer some advice
2. Our country is built on small and mid-sized businesses and because of the Internet, companies are now able to compete on-line with large fortune 500 companies with an even smaller budget. It’s all about having the right strategy. It levels the playing field and enables a communication channel that would have never been possible in traditional marketing or media. We have now seen that a small business with a great product or service and the right strategy can achieve huge economies of scale on-line. Look at what has happened with twitter. Our current business model leverages twitter to be used as a business tool for our clients to achieve some of these business objectives: PR, customer service, branding, marketing, and of course developing lasting business relationships. Twitter has enabled corporations to get back to the foundations of doing business in a digital age which is much needed right now. Being more transparent, not always selling things, and building an on-line community culture around community. Remember- people want to do business with people. Think of this new way of doing business on line as social marketing. If someone from company A does something good for me, say help me out or point me in the right direction, or does a good job on a project, I am going to tell 10 of my friends and just like word of mouth referrals, the same happens now online in a virtual setting.
Social Marketing is a new buzz word going around. Social marketing basically means word of mouth marketing using online tools such as social media, social networking, and other online PR tactics. You know how powerful word of mouth can be, just imagine what it can do for your products and services! Social Networking San Diego has been able to achieve great success for our clients, and the way business is conducted today is very different from the 20th century. Consider our 21st century marketing methods which you can see here:
1. Even though businesses are going through some tough times due to economic conditions, this does not make it ok for management and executives to do nothing. Good leadership in all companies is needed to find innovative ways to be resilient during these times and figure out ways to cut costs where necessary (not employees) streamline operations, upgrade technology, and invest in an online marketing strategy. Why? Because online marketing strategies can mean a more cost effective advertising and marketing approach than traditional marketing efforts and can even reach a more targeted market in a shorter amount of time. Having your company set up on twitter, linked-in, or face book is one thing, but how are you using these tools? This is where you need an online marketing strategist to develop the right creative campaign that can then track results, measure progress, and show good ROI. The economies of scale are much greater with an on-line marketing approach as opposed to off-line. Consider this: an inbound marketing campaign, or inbound marketing system in which we help formulate and execute around your business model. We do the back-end work for our clients on social media and social networking and train them on how to leverage these tools for business development purposes and how to build business relationships online. We function as the out-sourced virtual marketing department and partner with our clients for long term contracts for long term business strategy success.
As extremely busy executives, we know the following:
-budget allowances are gone
-competitive forces are growing
-layoffs and cuts have been made, and hopefully not a second round
-sales are down
As the VP of marketing goes into the CEO’s office Monday morning and says “I just spoke to a company on Linked-in who is doing social media and social networking consulting for business development and lead generation and I think we should consider it. This could be our chance to get ahead of our competitors and shift some of our off-line marketing budget into on-line marketing and advertising. The CEO says “That on-line marketing crap has never worked before, what makes you think it will work now? We don’t even understand how the hell it works! Do they even have case studies? What was the ROI?” VP Says “I spoke to a company who seems very credible from their recommendations, has case studies, video testimonials, and has developed a proven system and strategy that really seems to make a lot of sense. I think it leverages social networking and social media sites for business development and lead generation purposes. It really gets back to the old way of doing business by developing relationships with customers first, earning their trust, and then it’s just a matter of time before they do business with us. Plus, the viral ability with online marketing makes word of mouth referrals spread much quicker when they see how great our products are they tell their friends, family, and colleagues. What do you think? CEO says “Well, maybe this couldn’t have come at a better time because sales, marketing, and IT have never seemed to be on the same page, what we are currently doing isn’t working, and this may be a chance for us to gain a competitive advantage. How do we move forward? Well, they offered to do a FREE Webinar for us on the growing trend in social marketing to see if we may be a good fit for the program. I think we should do it. The CEO says “let’s check it out”. 3 months later……Progress has been made, ROI is up 15%, and employees at the various departments are shifting gears and getting re-educated/ re-trained on how to use these social tools and how to sell in a digital age.
“When is your VP of marketing going to take a NEW innovative direction for your firm? Give the CEO some hope so he can sleep”
What is your feedback on this story? How many think this ACTUALLY happened? Please respond below. Leave your comments. I look forward to your guesses- JustinRFrench CEO & Chief Internet Marketing Strategist
Social Networking San Diego http://www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com
You have a valuable product; you are selling it at a fraction of the price as compared to the competition and you’ve built yourself a really great website to sell your products on the internet! But no one seems to be buying! You know that your product is the best in the market but simply because you haven’t learned how to do internet marketing, you are losing out on big, big money! Competition is getting fierce on online shopping even if the world economy is slowing down. But how do you ensure that customers do come to your site? How do you ensure that you get reliable customers and not just site tourists who are simply browsing?
You have to have full control over the customer market who visits your site by targeting them in the terms of internet advertising and sales. E-business is a professional marketing world where you will need professional and experienced help and that’s where Social Networking San Diego is the best choice for the internet marketer inexperience in online sales techniques.
Tapping potential customers via internet marketing through social networking sites, blogs, twitter and wikis is now made easy with Social Networking San Diego . This innovative internet marketing company will help you achieve the required outsourced marketing through the internet. They are professional and well equipped with the right methodology, tools and personnel to help you in social networking through internet sites. Your ROI (return on investment) will soar as traffic is diverted to your site and you are flooded with clients. The company can start an advertising campaign and an affiliate network for a negligible cost to promote your product all over the globe in the form on online internet marketing! Compare that with the money you have to shell out for print and media ads and you will realize the huge benefits that you are getting for a pittance when you use www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com.
Social Networking San Diego internet marketing will help also ensure that your product and your profile will pop up on internet search engines, high-readership blogs and twitters that are updated instantly with relevant latest content. With this type of internet marketing strategy, your consumer or client will be in touch with you throughout the day; something which could never have happened in the traditional methods of marketing.
Social Networking San Diego is the perfect company to check out your website and ensure you do get business. Of course, if you don’t believe me you can get a free website evaluation done to find out what you’re missing!
Guest Post This week by San Diego Corporate Marketing Strategist Holly Reville
1.) What is Social Media?
2.) Branding
3.) Keep it Professional
4.) Messaging
5.) Where to Begin
6.) Networking
7.) Promote
What is Social Media? – Social Media is an ever-growing and ever-changing new phenomenon. It’s the new wave of meeting, networking and connecting with people, most importantly a new method of meeting new potential clients and marketing your business for free. If you stop for a moment to think about the magnitude of this it’s mind boggling. At any given moment there is a worldwide network of people at your reach. Isn’t that an amazing concept? No longer are we restricted to networking within our immediate geographical location. Best of all, people are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Those who are not, are weeded out and blocked fairly quickly. The big question that lies in everyone’s head is, “How?” This blog will give you some key insights on what you need to get started and successfully market yourself, product or company through the use of social media platforms.
Branding – In branding, your goals are to gain brand awareness, associate certain qualities and characteristics that make you/your company unique and over time gain brand loyalty. If you plan on marketing your business through social media it is important to keep brand integrity intact. Your brand is an extension of you and your company. How does this translate to social media?
A.) Avatar/picture – Make sure you use a good picture. A professionally taken picture is highly recommended, but if you choose to take your own just make sure you are dressed in a professional manner and have someone take it for you or use your timer. You do not want the “picture taken in the mirror shot showing the camera”. Use this picture on all of the social networking websites. This will give you brand consistency and increase recognition across platforms. It is important to use your picture. Social networking is about creating relationships, people want to know there is a real person behind the company façade and get to know that person.
B.) Name – You wouldn’t put a different business name on all of your sales material so make sure you don’t have different user names on your social networking websites. When social networking for your business it is common to have your full name or full business name as a user name, whatever you choose, just keep it consistent.
C.) Description – Be sure to describe your company, who you are and what you do on all of the social media profile pages. This is the first and possibly last place an interested person or potential client will go to find out more about you. Have a thorough, concise description and double check spelling and grammar. The description can vary from site to site and be custom tailored to the audience, just make sure all of the essentials are there to easily tell people about you/your company.
D.) Custom colors and background – Most of the social networking websites have an option to customize your page. When doing so try to make sure the colors and images used are consistent across all websites. This will also associate these colors and images to your brand and help you to achieve brand recognition.
For the rest of her VERY INSIGHTFUL postClick Here
Special Thanks to Holly For allowing us to share her work for our readers. Please subscribe to her blog- Thanks
Justin
Call 760-576-4653 to schedule a 10 minute appointment!