So You’re An Expert In Your Industry–Who Do Others Say You Are?

I Am An Expert At Everything

I spoke with a woman today who said she was frustrated with her social media marketing progress. She said she posted content every day on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Her frustration is not uncommon. She said no one had hired her off of one of these social sites and as a matter of fact, she said few people even comment on her posts, but she commented on everyone else’s posts. When I asked her about a strategy, she said her strategy was to be on the sites daily, trying to connect with people, which she was.

Her first problem was she had connected with friends and a few other marketers, but not people who would actually hire her. Another problem she had was she was having lots of chit-chat conversations on Twitter and her personal Facebook profile with the handful of contacts she had, but as I read through her content, even I couldn’t tell you what the woman actually did…except chit-chat. What would people actually hire her to do? Be a professional chit-chatter, I suppose.

As we continued to speak she revealed that she was a leadership expert, and an expert on team relations, AND an expert in communication skills, but I saw none of that in a consistent manner. She said her interests were so varied that she didn’t want to put herself in single box.

You may claim to be an expert or thought- leader in a particular area, but if only your mom knows about it, allowance is all you can hope for. Perhaps it’s time to do an audit of your website and social sites to see who others say you are.

Scan your website with a objective eye, or better yet find someone who doesn’t know what you do and ask them to do this. Based on the content you SEE, what are you an expert in?

Go to your Twitter account. On the PROFILE page, look for the link in the upper right of the page that reads LISTED. See how others have categorized you. Who do THEY say you are?

What TOPICS have you earned Klout in? Head over to Klout to discover your score and see how others categorize you. Some will argue the accuracy of Klout, but it is still another form of social credibility.

If you are a LinkedIn user, look over the discussions and posts on your LinkedIn profile and ask yourself if you need more focus there as well. When you do a search on LinkedIn for your area of expertise (not your name), does your name come up on one of the first two pages? Be sure your keywords are being used in your profile information as well as your posts.

Now sit down and make a list of keywords and phrases that describe your business and your expertise. Identify the type of person that can hire you or pay you for your services. What position does this person hold? How old are they? Is it a male typically, or a female? Where do they hang out? What content can you provide to this potential customer that would be interesting, helpful AND showcase your expertise?

What other ideas do you have to showcase YOUR brilliance? What advice would you give this poor unfocused woman?

If you need help with this, friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter…Let’s chit-chat.

Gina Schreck, social media marketing, social business

Chief Social Strategist

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

January 25, 2012 | Filed Under Brand Management, Social Marketing, Social Media for Business, Social Media Management | Leave a Comment

Why Your Organization Should NOT Be Using Social Media

Crazy for Social Media

I am a social media nut… I’ll be the first to admit it.

I share photos on Instagram, post tips on Twitter, answer questions on Facebook, scan every QR Code that I encounter, and I love checking in on Foursquare to try and rip the Mayoral Robe from the curent reigning leader. So when I am heading to dinner, out for a day of shopping or staying in a hotel, I see if they have a social presence before I arrive. Perhaps they have deals being offered (great FREE guacamole at La Sandia in Littleton when you check in on Fourquare) or any tips left by other guests (Try and stay in room 2460 for the best view). If I find a company Facebook page or Twitter account, I will give a shout out that I am excited to be coming and if I have a great stay or great experience there, I am the first to send a tweet out to the world letting everyone know (and usually include a picture that I snapped with the FAB person who gave the great service–maybe it will help with that raise they deserve).

social media for business, social media management, social marketing, Gina Schreck, Synapse

Nobody Here!

But nothing chaps my hide more than when I post something on a company Facebook page, Twitter account, or other social site THEY have set up and get no response…nada….not a whisper! I am not looking for freebies or discounts, although I once tweeted about a great iPad docking and speaker system I found at Target and they replied with a $10 online coupon to say thanks for the shout out, BUT I am expecting someone to acknowledge my comment or question. So many organizations create social media accounts because someone said they should, but then they don’t realize that someone will have to manage the platform just like someone has to check voicemail or email if they give that out.

Too many companies think all they have to do is shove content out, like an ad going into the local mailer, and they usually have their accounts set up with an automated system that sends their promotional information to Facebook, Twitter, and any other platform they are using without ever checking to see if anyone commented or posted a question for them. These are the same accounts that will have 1,000 poor saps following them and the organization follows 3 people back (usually the three friends of the intern who set up the accounts). This shows they really aren’t interested in listening to anyone else. They just want others to get the junk they pump.

If your organization is contemplating geting on board and creating a Facebook presence, a Twitter account, or maybe even a Google Plus account, STOP. Before you create that profile and load that beautiful logo of yours, have a meeting with your team to answer these 5 questions first:

Who will manage these accounts throughout the day? (Checking in 2 or 3 times per day AT LEAST, depending upon the type of business you have)
Will we need outside/additional help?
What is the ultimate goal of creating social channels? (Brand recognition? Increased sales channel? Additional customer support options? Customer feedback and interaction?) How will we define success?
Will this be a combination of customer support, marketing, human resources and PR?
How will we handle questions or complaints that come in via social channels?
How will the person or team of people get regular content to post several times per day?

Once you have answered these questions you are ready to begin building your platform. And once you build it, they will come…it will take work…lots of work, but they will come, and when they do, you will be ready!

Gina is the founder of SynapseConnecting, a social media management firm. We help you build out the strategy, tie it into your overall goals and manage the daily activities for BIG SOCIAL SUCCESS! We’re always home! Find Gina on Twitter @GinaSchreck or on Facebook – GinaSchreck We have a fun Facebook page with loads of tech and social media tips to build your social business Gettin’ Geeky

Gina Schreck, social media management, social marketing, social media for business

We'll leave the light on for you!

October 8, 2011 | Filed Under Brand Management, Social Marketing, Social Media for Business, Social Media Management | 1 Comment

3 Lessons from Gilligan on Brand LOVE and LOYALTY!

Get a group of 500 adults in a room and start singing, “Now sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip…” and the room will complete the song knowing every word of the Gilligan’s Island opening. That 60′s sitcom (ran from 1964-1967) has a special place in the hearts of Gilligan fans! (It might have something to do with the fact that there were only 3 channels to watch at that time) With the recent passing of the show’s producer Sherwood Schwartz I wanted to revisit this phenom of a brand!

Gilligan's Island

The fact that the show was only on for 3 yrs (The Brady Bunch for 5 yrs) and yet we all know the characters, the theme song and have our favorite episodes, is pretty amazing! How can our brand have that lasting of an impact in the hearts of our fans? Here are 3 lessons we can glean from Gilligan:

We related to the characters
Gilligan was goofy and fun-loving, the Skipper was controlling but lovable, the professor was geeky (and hot), of course every girl wanted to be like Ginger but completely related to Maryann. We got to know the characters and realized we were like them. Do you let your fans get to know the characters of your organization? How can you share a bit more about the real people to allow fans to relate better?
We wanted to contribute
I can’t tell you how many times I yelled to Gilligan to “LOOK TO YOUR LEFT” when there was a boat passing by, or to tell the Professor that his device had been unplugged by the monkey that came by earlier when only I was watching. We were frustrated that there were celebrities and strangers who would find their way on and off of that island in each episode and yet the 7 castaways could never make it home. We wanted to contribute our brilliance. Your fans want to contribute as well. Ask for them to share their brilliance in creating new product and service offerings.

I helped build this robot!
We heard from them regularly
I don’t think I missed an episode of Gilligan’s Island in the 60′s and with reruns that are still playing today, we heard from these 7 characters over and over again. They have entertained us and kept our interest for over 45 years now! Social Media allows us to be in front of our customers, fans and potential customers each day. Make sure you are interesting and providing value, and they will let you into their hearts for years to come!

Now sing along with me…. Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure, five passengers set sail that day for a 3-hour tour.

Let me know if you and your brand need help building FAN engagement and loyalty. Our team is as passionate about helping our customers engage socially and build business as I was in watching Gilligan! 303.978.0887

(More fun Gilligan lyrics trivia)

Gilligan's Island FAN for 40 + Years

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

July 13, 2011 | Filed Under Brand Management, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Media for Business | Leave a Comment

Using Social Media to Build or FRESHEN UP Your Brand

BRANDING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

This past week ended up having a theme message, which was COMMUNICATING YOUR BRAND. On Tuesday, I spoke to the Women in the Cable Television (WICT) here in Denver, about the importance of creating and communicating your personal brand to advance your career and become a thought leader within the industry. Thursday I spoke to the Young Presidents Organization in Phoenix, Arizona along with their teens, about protecting your personal brand when using social media and the importance of privacy settings and common sense. I thought I would share some of the points covered as it relates to YOUR brand…for your business and yourself.

When we think of BRAND we typically think of big companies such as Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola, Ford, or Old Spice. And when we do think of these companies, or brands, we use specific words to describe them. COOL, FITNESS, ACTION, CREATIVE, REFRESHING, RELIABLE, MANLY, and so it goes.

Now let’s apply this exercise to your brand.

Take an index card or piece of paper and write down how you think others describe YOU and your BRAND. What words do you think others use, or better yet, write down words that you would LIKE to have others use to describe you or your company. Perhaps it’s time to add a new scent on an old brand.
Now make a list of all the “touch points” you have with others- customers, employees, vendors, etc. You may have voicemail, email signature lines, stationary, newsletters, traditional marketing material, and then all of your social media channels.
Now to begin sculpting and crafting that desired brand message into every nook and cranny of your communications. Do you need to craft a new voicemail message? Is your signature line in your email consistant with your brand image? Does the content you send out via social media channels SPEAK the brand you want?

BRAND YOU!

Social Media is just one of your mediums, but it can be the most powerful

Because of the frequency and amount of communication we send out that can affect our brand, social media is a wonderful brand shaper. The more consistent and frequent your messaging goes out, the faster that brand can be shaped…Good or Bad, so be intentional. When you are reshaping a brand or bringing a new fresh focus to it, take a look at what the folks at Proctor and Gamble did with one of their aging brands, OLD SPICE. First released in 1938 for men (It was actually first released as a scent for women in 1937), Old Spice had become something that reminded us of Grandpa and other old men.

To freshen it up, they obviously came out with one of the most creative video campaigns that went viral on YouTube, but they also combined that with a Twitter Account offering tips for becoming an OLD SPICE MANLY MAN, and a Facebook Page with 1.5 million fans that all want to post their version of the commercials. They created voicemail messages that you can pay to have the sexy actor, Isaiah Mustafa, speak to your callers. The most impressive social media blitz happened when they launched their Twitter page to allow fans to ask questions about manliness to the Old Spice Man. They began posting near-real-time video vignettes responding, in character, abdominals front and center in a bathroom set, with the creative crew and comedy copywriters of Wieden + Kennedy behind the camera furiously writing jokes and chasing down props.

Here are the MANLY wrap up lessons for your FRESH Brand:

Bring focus to your message. Use your voice, personality, and brand image…whatever that is for you and use it in every touch point! Re-record that voicemail message, spruce up that stationary or marketing pieces you have ben using since Grandpa was using Old Spice.
Get creative as you engage your social communities. Quit posting boring content. Old Spice commercials keep adding surprises around every turn. Perhaps you need to break the normal routine and add more “spice” to your messaging. Ask your fans to play and participate. Are you a professional organizer, get everyone posting their messiest workspace photos or videos on your page, but instead of you selecting one to “make over” perhaps you add a twist or surprise that no one would expect. If you own a themed restaurant, instead of having your fans name the mascot you have, perhaps you come up with a fun twist where they video-tape themselves becoming your next mascot.
GO BIG! Engage some of the BIG players in your world. Can you get the mayor to play? Who are the big bloggers in your world of influence? Is there a local celebrity that you can pull in? (Many times they will do it for exposure for themselves)
Be consistant but FRESH. Whether it is your YouTube channel, your Facebook Page, tweets or emails, make sure everything is speaking the same words you wrote down in that first exercise as you add little surprises like the Old Spice commercials. Keep people wanting more but keep each message speaking that message you want folks to hear!

I may not be manly, but our team can help you bring more focus to your social marketing efforts. Before you “look away” give us a shout!

@GinaSchreck

April 17, 2011 | Filed Under Brand Management, Social Media for Business | Leave a Comment

Social Media Marketing for Your Business: 6 SUPER STEPS to DO SOCIAL RIGHT!

Perhaps your business has been trying to make sense of this new social world and searching for that elusive ROI to help justify the vacuum sound you have heard as your time has been sucked away. You may have set up accounts, and tweaked the accounts, even had your college son or daughter post content for you on Facebook or Twitter, and still the frustration grows. You wake up and ask “Is there anything interesting to post today for our business?” You leave work asking, “Why can’t I get more people to follow our posts or take action on them?” You are probably standing on your desk right now, crying out, “What am I doing WRONG?” Okay, so perhaps that’s a bit melodramatic, but hearing your cry and rushing to your aid, we bring you 6 Super Steps to Do Social RIGHT!

Social Media Marketing, Social media for business, How to get more Twitter followers, How to get more Facebook fans

SUPER SOCIAL

Have a plan. Why are you wanting to set up social media sites? Do you want name awareness? Will you use these avenues to be more responsive to customers? Do you want the ability to share your expertise and be branded as the go-to person or company in your industry? Are you wanting more sales, or are you just wanting to make sure you aren’t the only person left on the planet who doesn’t have a Facebook Page for their business? The answers to these questions will determine who should manage your social media (marketing, customer care, communications) and how you connect strategically on each site.
Be Realistic with the Time it Will Take to do it Right! Many think if they throw a Facebook page or Twitter account up, people will flood to their doors. It doesn’t work that way. You must dedicate time each day to update sites, listen and respond to the community and be fabulously interesting…well at least somewhat interesting! In the beginning this may just be 15-30 minutes in the morning and then 15-30 minutes in the afternoon, but when your business grows and the community starts engaging, you will need time to analyze where your community members are coming from, what links are getting the most click-throughs, what content gets the best conversations going and more. Many organizations start by bringing in an intern to help with their social media marketing and find that they need someone with more of a marketing focus and it turns into a full-time position or they outsource a big chunk of the daily tasks.
Don’t BROADCAST! It is called SOCIAL Media, not BROADCAST Media. Those who just post (and usually it’s automated…even worse) get tuned out quickly. Unless it works for you to go to networking events and just stand in the corner handing out your business cards and postcards as you yell “BUY FROM ME!” it probably won’t work in your social networking either! Here’s a list of 7 things you can share BESIDES your products.
Listen More Than You Talk. Like any good sales person will tell you, the key to success is to spend more time asking questions and listening to your community in order to learn how to best serve them. Listen and respond to what they are talking about in your social circles. Spend some time each day scanning and replying.
Be Interesting and Helpful. My rule in social media is, “Be interesting, be helpful, or BE QUIET! Be sure your posts are worth reading and passing on. Too many people post content that is so over used or trite that no one will forward, share or ReTweet it. And when people ask me how to get their information to be more viral or ReTweeted more often I simply say, BE MORE INTERESTING!
Use the right tools. If you took a pair of scissors and set out to cut your lawn, you could certainly do it, but it would take you all of Saturday and Sunday…for the next two months. Using the right tools can make all the difference. There are many to choose from and each one does something different. For conducting searches, connecting strategically to your target audience members, tools like Hootsuite, TweetDeck (both tools to manage Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn), JustUnfollow (a service that shows you who you have followed or connected with on Twitter that has not followed you back so you can clean house a bit), SocialMention (a site that sends alerts like GoogleAlerts on information heard on the social vine), Analytics HD(iPad app to measure site traffic), or even good ol’ Google Analytics to see where your clicks are coming from and how to be more effective. These types of tools will help you be efficient, strategic and much more effective.
Be consistent. Posting once a week or two times a month will not get you anywhere in the social media arena. Your customers and potential customers are out here everyday talking, sometimes about you and your topic and sometimes talking about or with your competitors. You can choose to engage in the conversation or hang the GONE FISHING sign up in the window. If you cannot commit to posting regular content (daily at minimum) hire someone to help you with this piece. It is important that you find someone who can be “on” when your customers are “on” and that the person or company you hire understands your brands personality, values and policies for replying to customers. I did an earlier post about that.

What SUPER Tips do YOU have? We’d love for you to share your superpowers with us!

How to use Facebook for business, Social media for business, Gina Schreck

TWEETERWOMAN

Like Batman, Superman, or Tweeterwoman, Gina and her team of superheros are just a tweet or phone call away! Let us know how we can help you succeed in this new social world! Gina (at) Synapse3Di.com or of course on Twitter @GinaSchreck

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

April 4, 2011 | Filed Under Brand Management, Facebook, Facebook for Business, Facebook PAGES, Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Media for Business, Twitter | 3 Comments