Category Archives: Social Media

Invitation to Heidi Thorne’s Webinar on Social Media for B2B

Promotional marketing expert, speaker and author Heidi Thorne, of Thorne Communications LLC, will be hosting Social Media for B2B: Avoiding the ROI Black Hole webinar, Wednesday, October 17, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Central Time (US). The webinar is being sponsored by BrightTalk.com, a resource site offering webinars and videos for professionals and their communities. For those who cannot participate in the live session, the webinar will be available for viewing from the archive

Click Here to Register FREE to Participate Live OR View Archive of the Social Media for B2B Webinar

The webinar will cover:

Social media challenges in the B2B marketplace
Proving ROI in complex B2B environments
Latest thinking, trends, platforms and steps to becoming a more social B2B business
Practical tips and strategies for making social media activities more productive

Professional communities served by BrightTalk.com include: Accounting and Finance, Business Management, Cleantech, Financial Services, Government, Healthcare, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal, Marketing and Sales.

Click Here to Register FREE to Participate Live OR View Archive of the Social Media for B2B Webinar

About Heidi Thorne

Heidi Thorne is a promotional marketing expert, speaker and author of 4 books including SWAG: How to Choose and Use Promotional Products for Marketing Your Business and Messaging Marketing: The Mobile Marketing How To Guide to Text Message Advertising for Small Business. She has over 25 years of experience in the fields of marketing, advertising, sales and public relations. Heidi is also the editor of the PromoWithPurposeToday.com and MessagingMarketing.com blogs.

What are You Really Collecting at Trade Shows?

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Love it or hate it, the Comedy Central series South Park is both creative and crude (always pushing the censorship envelope), serving up a unique blend of bizarre comedy, satire and social commentary. One of my favorite episodes is Gnomes (Warning: Content rated MA). For those of you who are not familiar with the series, in this episode the school-age chums have to write a report on business. For help–now stay with me on this because there’s a good lesson for trade shows in this example–the boys turn to some mischievous little gnomes who have built a business of stealing the town’s underwear in the hope of turning a profit. The gnomes go on to explain their business model in which the first step is to collect underwear, the second is a big question mark and the final step is profit. Laughable, eh?

The Underpants Business (Warning: Content rated MA)

Gnomes
Get More: SOUTH
PARK more…

But how many times have you encountered (or maybe even employed) a similar strategy for social media at a trade show? In the real world, it goes something like this: Step 1, collect Foursquare check-ins; step 2 is a big question mark; and, step 3 equals profit. What’s missing is a concrete strategy to transform those check-ins into sales and profit. Unfortunately, what many show organizers and exhibitors do is hop on the latest social media bandwagon–whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare or whatever–and do not connect that into their overall marketing plan. They’re collecting a ton of followers, Likes and check-ins. But to what end?

A completely useless strategy like this is one of the “don’t let this happen to you” scenarios that my friend and trade show pro Traci Browne discusses in her book, The Social Trade Show: Leveraging Social Media and Virtual Events to Connect with Your Customers (Que Publishing).

Traci and I are definitely kindred spirits when it comes to our philosophies about trade show and social media engagement. Social media is just one tool, not an endgame. She emphasizes throughout the book that any social media strategy must make the bean counters and your bottom line happy. Yet so many show organizers and exhibitors treat social media as a standalone effort, hoping that magically it will turn into sales and profit. Maybe they’re hoping some little gnomes will make it happen for them.

Traci’s experience, keen observation and attention to the nitty gritty details of effective booth and expo marketing are evident throughout the book. With 24 chapters covering the gamut of social strategies and tactics including content creation (a year-round effort), booth staffing, how to measure the ROI of your social media efforts, and virtual events, this book is THE handbook for trade show and exhibit marketing for today.

Yes, I bought my copy of this book. Though Traci and I are friends, neither she nor her publisher offered me a copy of the book to review; nor did they solicit a review from me. I’m glad to support the education efforts of my friends who are sharing their wisdom with marketers.

Unlike many “experts” out there, Traci walks the social media talk and she uses it professionally and effectively to build her brand and her business. And though we are now friends in real life, Traci and I actually met on Twitter in the #eventprofs (event professionals) hashtag community.

So as you gear up for your next season (and years) of trade shows, make sure you have The Social Trade Show by your side.

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How to Use Klout Perks to Promote Your Business and Products

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Many thanks to eVenues for submitting this post on an innovative use of Klout for promotions. Enjoy! - Heidi Thorne, Editor

What are the starting points of reaching influencers online? Klout, an online influence measuring company, launched a new feature in 2010 called Klout Perks to help companies get in touch with leading experts and/or influencers in their targeted markets. Imagine accessing a database of over 100 million profiles with scores to tell you how many people an influencer can reach for your marketing efforts.

Industry leaders are taking advantage of the Klout Perks program, but the real challenge is finding influencers in your market to help you do the same. Now, we’re all interested in meeting the best influencers who understand and are willing to communicate what we have to offer our markets, and it’s a tough job to know who can reach a large audience on our behalf. Klout Perks are little extras for having online influence that work for businesses and influencers alike.

Evolution of Online Influence

Klout is the standard for measuring one’s online influence. Now, Klout Perks are the benefits of being a trusted advisor to your followers. According to recent studies from Walt Disney, Audi, Levi and other national brands are taking advantage of this unique service to connect with top influencers to build their reach. Unlike other online measurement tools, Klout Perks reaches into the mix to get the best and brightest brand influencers to maximize a company’s marketing efforts online.

Audi’s Klout Perks in Action

How do 217 influencers reach 3.1 million people? Klout Perks. Audi’s 2011 A8 launch invited 217 of the top design, luxury and technology influencers to test drive the A8 at its events. Other lucky winners won a weekend with the car to take home, drive around and impress their friends. If this sounds like something you want to do, you must have influence, and you must reach the people who can spread the word.

Make Klout Perks Work

A great way to use Klout Perks to promote your products is to complete research for people in your area. If you’re a company in Raleigh, NC you should search for influencers that can encourage others to visit your company.

You may want to research influencers in the technology field to offer a perk of free remote IT support for their businesses for one week. If the company likes your IT services, you may have a new customer and a brand influencer to suggest your services to their social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

After the company talks about your product, you also receive:

An increased Klout score for brand recognition in the influencers’ networks.
Potential sale leads for future business partnerships and/or work requests for IT services.
Branding at an extensive reach to increase your online influence.

Your company or product is now known by thousands (maybe millions like Audi) by reaching just a few influencers in the technology. As great as this sounds, you have to judge the right influencers to help you promote your company effectively. Klout is changing the way you do business. It is important to develop perks, connect with influencers, and build relationships for results.

This is a guest post by eVenues. eVenues is a Seattle based startup and an online marketplace for meeting rooms and event space–currently focused mostly on the West Coast. Check out their Seattle meeting spaces and Los Angeles. Follow on Twitter at @eVenues.

How to Imprint QR Codes on Promotional Products

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QR codes, those checkerboard-like squares also known as 2D codes, are everywhere it seems. On signs, clothing, business cards, heck, even tattoos. The beauty of them is that when scanned by a smartphone, they’ll make things happen such as take you to a website, return information, send messages, and more.

But there are some issues with them that you need to be aware of when using them on promotional products…

If player is not showing, click here to view “Heidi Thorne Offers QR Code Imprinting Tips” video

Size – Though I’ve tried and used QR codes quite a bit smaller, usually about 1″ square is recommended as a minimum for best scanning ability.
Surface – I’ve seen some pretty kooky uses of QR codes including knitted and on a waffle (seriously, I just saw that in a presentation today). But here’s the catch: It must be readable by a smartphone or other reading device. For best scanning, I suggest imprinting on only smooth plastic, paper, painted metal, or flat even surface fabrics.
T-Shirt Issues – Unstretched T-shirt fabric is just fine for imprinting QR codes. But realize that if it is stretched when worn, it may lose scanability. Conversely, if someone tucks the shirt into their jeans, it may scrunch the imprint together and be unreadable. And, please, do not imprint on the front of a shirt. It is especially awkward when women wear them, resulting in a lot of scanning of, well… do I have to explain?
Color and Contrast – You can use colors other than black. But dark colors are suggested. Do not imprint the code in white. It will mess up the reading since what was white is now black and vice versa, a completely different code. I’ve tried it. On a related issue, make sure there is a definite contrast between the dark and light areas. That’s why imprinting on colored surfaces is problematic. There may not be enough contrast between the surface and the code to be readable. So choose white or very light surface colors and dark imprints. On a related note, clear plastic or glass surfaces may also be problematic because of the color and contrast issues; choose white plastic or ceramic instead.
Ink Imprints Recommended – Debossing (impressing your code into a surface) or laser engraving cannot be used successfully for QR codes due to the contrast issue discussed above. And though contrast can be achieved with it, embroidery also has the potential to not be scannable due to uneven surface texture. Ink imprinting on smooth surfaces, please.
Order a Physical Production Sample for Large Orders – Let’s call this insurance. When you are investing thousands of dollars in promotional products, it makes sense to do a physical (not virtual!) production sample to see if the artwork will be properly scanable on the surface and in the colors you have chosen. Say it costs you $100-$200 to do that. Better that than having to pitch a $1,000 to $2,000 order because it doesn’t work.

I think people are just enchanted with the technology right now and that the novelty will wear off. Would you want to wear a UPC pricing barcode on your clothing? Probably not. Essentially that’s what you’re doing when you’re sportin’ QR codes. Wearing barcodes. Kinda reminds me of the scene in the Mike Judge satirical masterpiece, Idiocracy (those of you who’ve seen the movie know exactly what I’m talking about… unless you’re “Not Sure”).

Got any other helpful tips for printing or imprinting QR codes? Share them with us in Comments.

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It’s Hip to be Square! Link to New Business with QR Codes

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MS Smart Tag to American Slidechart Site

An MS Smart Tag (use with Microsoft Tag Reader app) that links directly to the ‘free sample’ page of American Slide Chart/Perrygraf’s company web site.

Editor Note: Marybeth Bittel of American Slidechart/Perrygraf is a promotional products industry friend of mine who I presented with at Booth Camp in January. Check these great ideas for integrating QR codes and promo! - Heidi Thorne

Traditional. Social. Online. Mobile. Diverse forms of media, each with its own unique strengths … and limits. Fortunately, despite what various pundits would have us believe, most of today’s marketers recognize that none of these tools is the illustrious “magic bullet” we’ve been waiting for. Integration is the real name of today’s marketing game. It’s not so much what we choose to employ – it’s how we synchronize and integrate these efforts so that they leverage each other’s strengths and progressively intensify customer engagement.

And when it comes to recent industry developments, few things facilitate effective integration quite like the QR Code. Why should you learn more about this small-but-mighty and easy-to-employ technological breakthrough? Because very simply, it encourages your customers and prospects to take on-the-spot action by combining the unique strengths of multiple marketing vehicles. Consider the following:

QR Codes, in reality, actually aren’t all that recent. In fact, the technology has been in active use since the mid-90’s. It’s only in the last couple of years, however, that marketers have begun to recognize the inherent promotional potential. Initially created by Tokyo-based Denso-Wave Corporation, QR Codes are essentially 2D bar codes that can instantly link your audience to expanded online, digital or mobile content.
Using QR Codes is astoundingly easy. You simply need 1) a SmartPhone equipped with a camera, 2) a QR symbol, and 3) QR Code reading software. Now, just snap a picture of the QR symbol, which the software immediately decodes. In seconds, the corresponding destination – most often a web page – is displayed on your phone screen. Essentially, an electronic device that nearly everyone carries (their mobile phone) becomes a portable, on-the-spot decode-and-display tool.
QR Codes can link to a URL, but they can also link to numerous other types of expanded content (even text messages).
In 2008, Microsoft unveiled an enhanced mobile tagging system called HCCB (High Capacity Color Barcode). Based upon QR Code technology, Microsoft Tags allow instant information access – and they can also track performance analytics. Thanks to their optional use of color, Tags can be printed at very compact sizes yet still hold more information than a traditional QR Code. Best of all, during the beta trial period Microsoft Tags are completely free to create, use and share in just a few simple clicks – you just need to know how to do it.
Are QR Codes really that poised to take off? Well, consider just a few of the current statistics. In 2010, Google itself actively endorsed QR Code technology; while Facebook announced plans to tie a QR Code to every individual profile (for those keeping score, we’re talking 500 million active users). Current studies estimate that mobile Internet use via SmartPhones will increase 50-fold by 2015. And analysts predict that by 2012, SmartPhone sales will begin to overtake PC sales.
More findings: An interesting study recently determined that people who lose their own wallets report them missing within 26 hours – while people who lose their mobile phones report them missing within 68 minutes. In other studies, more than 90% of consumers say that they keep their mobile phones within arm’s reach 24 hours per day. And at present, more than 25% of all households have eliminated their land lines completely – and that number is predicted to grow annually in years to come.

Dimensionals are an ideal vehicle for QR Codes. The dimensional itself grabs instant attention and delivers on-the-spot answers or insights. The imprinted QR Code then links to expanded, complementary content that can be refreshed and updated on a regular basis.

Okay, so you’ve familiarized yourself with QR Code technology, and you’ve seen some of the statistics. As some hugely successful brands (including our own clients) are discovering, QR Codes can really punch up your promotional potential.

Want to learn how to harness and maximize that potential for your business? Request a free copy of American Slide Chart/Perrygraf’s latest HotSheet, entitled “QR Code Quick Facts.” You’ll learn exactly how to use, create, download and leverage this simple technology for maximum marketing impact. We’ll also share some real-life, tried-and-true applications from our own customer files.

Just e-mail newdimensions@americanperrygraf.com and type “QR Code Quick Facts” in the subject line – we’ll e-mail a copy right away.

About Marybeth Bittel

Marybeth Bittel is director of marketing communications for dimensional marketing pioneer American Slide Chart/Perrygraf (www.americanperrygraf.com).
She has coached and written extensively on strategic selling tactics, and believes strongly in the importance of consistent, integrated brand communication strategies. Ms. Bittel has more than two decades of experience in marketing, sales, PR, event management and advertising; having worked with industry leaders including ABC, HP, Westinghouse, IBM and numerous others.

URL to request a free IdeaBook, dimensional design and/or Industry-Specific Sample Kit: http://www.americanperrygraf.com/freedesignform.html

UnMarketing by Scott Stratten Book Review

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Christmas. Pretty quiet on Twitter over the holidays except for the diehard tweeters like me… and the really, really diehard tweeters like Scott Stratten, also known as @unmarketing on Twitter. Can’t remember exactly, but I had started following him a while earlier after seeing a retweet (forwarded tweet) or mention of him. Scott posts something about getting a DVD of the movie 300 as a Christmas present. That movie is in my top four favorite flicks of all time. Instant connection for me! Figured if we’ve got the same taste in movies, we probably are on the same page on other stuff, too, which was absolutely the case. Since then, we’ve exchanged occasional tweets, particularly about another mutual favorite that’s here in Chicago: Portillo’s restaurants.

This little story demonstrates what Scott’s new book, UnMarketing: Stop Marketing, Start Engaging is all about. It’s not about selling, just in a new venue or format, it’s about connecting and engaging with your audience. So when his new book was available for pre-order on Amazon, do you think I had any hesitation about jumping on that offer? Of course not. I was already sold.

And it didn’t disappoint. But then me reading a book like this might be preaching to the choir. However, I did find some true gems in the book such as the following.

WHY FREE CONSULTATION IS BAD

How many business success books have I read that recommend giving away free consultations to encourage prospective clients to buy? More than I can count. But as Scott points out, “allowing someone into my home requires a lot of trust, which simply making it free to try does not remove.” Got that right! “It’s like going out to a singles night and letting people know you have a ‘Free Make-Out Offer.’” (P.S. His slightly off-the-wall sense of humor is another thing I appreciate about Scott’s writing/tweeting.)

The real problem is the “Trust Gap.” It is only through engaging with your audience over time, sometimes lots of time, that this gap is reduced. Lucky for us, we now have a myriad of social media, blogging, and publishing tools to provide value, demonstrate our competencies, and build a level of trust prior to a sales inquiry.

COFFEE STIRRERS

Besides a mutual appreciation for 300 and Portillo’s, Scott and I also hang out at coffee haunts. I’m a Starbucks fiend, surprisingly not for the coffee, but for the tea. I can so appreciate when he talked about the little things that made him addicted to Tim Horton’s and the little things that eventually drew him to McDonald’s… yeah, really, McDonald’s. In my case, Starbucks makes the best iced tea anywhere. They know it shouldn’t be black like coffee and should be transparent, especially the green tea I like. Plus, the facilities are perfect for meeting with clients and colleagues. Almost all of the “baristas” I’ve encountered are very friendly and efficient (and at “my” Starbucks, they know my order by heart). Hope they never mess with the little things.

Do you know what little things are making or breaking your business? Scott suggests doing a “Stop, Start, Continue” survey. No, this is not the usual “agree/disagree” or “scale of 1 to 5″ type survey. Rather, this survey asks your customers about what they think you should stop, what you should start, and what you should continue doing. Brilliant.

TRADESHOWS

As a supplier to the tradeshow industry, you can imagine I was interested in seeing what Scott would have to say about them. Pretty much what I expected considering his emphasis on engagement. Don’t sit in your booth, don’t judge a tradeshow attendee by their badge, appear to be open to talking with show visitors. Yep, seen all the violations at every single show I attend.

Of course, being a promotional product distributor, I totally agree with his comment, “If you make your giveaway not relatable to your company, then what good does it do for you after the conference?” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

There are all kinds of nuances to tradeshow and conference engagement of attendees. So this chapter is a bit on the light side, but covers the main points that every exhibitor must consider to maximize a tradeshow investment. Also, another chapter discusses some basic social media strategies for shows and events. A flood of information on this subject is pouring in and through the tradeshow and event management community almost daily. So I’m sure we’ll see an updated chapter on this in UnMarketing 2 (maybe?).

VIRAL

Okay, I hated to laugh at this, but I really liked Scott’s story about his viral video experience: the bandwidth issues that skyrocketed costs from $9 a month to $1,400 (for just the last week of the month), the awkward email subscription handling, the one-off speaker request kit. Though I can’t claim that any of my campaigns have gone super viral (one has had some intriguing results though), I have “been there, done that” with all of the same scalability issues. Probably why it makes me laugh. Preparing for success — or going viral — is something for which many entrepreneurs just don’t prepare. Is it because we don’t expect success? But that’s another discussion.

I think it goes un-said that I recommend UnMarketing by Scott Stratten to anyone trying to make sense of marketing in the age of social media.

Click Here to Buy UnMarketing by Scott Stratten on Amazon (Not Affiliate Link. I’m in Illinois!)

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Social Networking Throughout Your Career Book Review

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Ah, the power of Twitter to make connections! April M. Williams and I had connected on Twitter. I knew a little bit about her from her blog, website, and Twitter profile. Since we are both active networkers in the Chicagoland area, we decided to “tweetup” to get better acquainted.

When I arrived at a local Starbucks, I found April already chatting with a gentleman that she obviously had met at some other time. Come to find out, it was a client of hers. Yes, these chance meetings at Starbucks coffee stores do happen. But I think it points to another fact: April is a networking pro who has learned how to establish and maintain valuable relationships. She even was able to leverage her network to find a new job within only a few short weeks after a massive corporate layoff. So writing a book about social networking is a natural fit for her. So I was certainly anxious to review the copy of the book she provided.

April’s book Social NetworkIng Throughout Your Career: What’s All the Buzz About? (Amazon Associate link) is a quick and helpful introduction to the world of social media. I think it is especially suited for those folks who are barely on the on-ramp to these arenas. It discusses the pros and cons of the various networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook in a non-overwhelming manner that should help those on the fringes want to make the leap online.

What I particularly liked about the book, and true to its title, was that it emphasized how to use these networks “throughout your career.” Some networks and strategies are more appropriate to some life stages than others. Also unique to the book was the emphasis that one begin social networking for career purposes in high school. High school! That is a departure from the literature in this subject area which often does not address age issues. I think we do need to show teens how their online activities can enhance or detract from their future college and professional careers.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is, “It is not who you know. It is who you know knows.” Building your social networking channel can help you tap into that second “who you know knows” tier of contacts.

I will be sharing my review copy of the book with someone in my network for sure.

How the University of Twitter Taught Me to Market My Company

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Here’s a guest post from my dear Twitter friend, Jenise Fryatt, of Icon Presentations. Enjoy!

For 20 years our company relied on word of mouth to get business but when the recession hit, we needed to develop a marketing strategy. I don’t have a marketing or advertising degree nor the budget to hire someone to do that for me. But I’d been playing around on Twitter and started to realize it might be of use in our situation.

As I watched what was being tweeted, I began to learn that social media marketing was decidedly DIFFERENT from the kind of marketing I grew up with. Doing things the old way (ie blasting superlative-laced messages as often as possible to the widest audience possible) would put you in danger of being unfollowed, blocked or even banned on any social media site.

From the viewpoint of a message receiver, I really appreciated being protected from the inundation of promotional pleas. (I recycle 3/4 of the snail mail I get, unopened.) But as a message sender, I realized I needed to learn to speak a new marketing language.

As I played around on Twitter, my fascination with information and my love of learning began to kick in and I found myself sharing what I was learning through links in my tweets. Useful things I learned right away included:

* How to write punchy tweets that get people to click on links

* How to quickly find useful information to share

* How to find the best people to follow

* All about retweets and how to get them

* How to use hashtags

* The importance of thanking people

* How important it is to help others on social media

I became slightly obsessed with finding, managing and sharing this information because I enjoyed it and because I knew that everytime I tweeted something useful, my reputation grew.

When I began to realize that social media marketing is all about building individual relationships (something I’d been doing my whole life) I made a concerted effort to have a conversation with at least one person on Twitter every day. And in no time the conversations began to grow naturally.

Then it came time to finally publish my own blog and I was VERY intimidated by the thought of writing for industry professionals. Nevertheless, when I pushed myself to do it I discovered that I had friends on Twitter who would support me. They commented on my posts, retweeted links to my posts and encouraged me every step of the way.

I continue to learn new things everyday on Twitter. Lately I’ve been focusing on optimizing my website and developing a strategy for offline networking. Again Twitter has been there to lead the way and educate me at my own pace. And my Twitter friends continue to spur me to new heights in a field of endeavor that I hadn’t even heard of a year ago.

Business is much better now, but we won’t be going back to our old no-marketing ways. There are just too many possibilities with social media marketing. And, anyway, now I am truly hooked.

About the Author:

Jenise Fryatt is Co-Owner and Marketing Director of Icon Presentations, audio visual for events located in the Palm Springs area of Southern California. Her blog, Sound ‘n Sight offers information on the events industry with an audio visual and social media bent. She is married with two teenagers (one now attends college in Canada) and has a background that includes print & broadcast journalism, PR, theater production and acting.

Social Media – Are You Ahead of the Curve But Leaving Your Customers Behind?

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Was e-chatting with one of my very dear friends, Dan Holohan from HeatingHelp.com, about the new world of online and social media. Dan’s a hydronic guru (meaning he really knows his way around a boiler room), but is also a marketing wizard in the field he serves. And it’s a tough market. So I listen to Dan.

Since I’ve converted my e-newsletter streams to RSS feeds, and Dan’s e-newsletter is one I truly look forward to receiving (no matter what format), I asked him if he was going to be adding RSS. Here’s how he responded:

I’ve been thinking about the RSS. We have it on the site and most are confused by it. Last Saturday, I spoke to 600 plumbers in New Jersey. I asked for a show of hands as to how many went on the Internet for help with their work problems. Five guys raised their hands.

I’m wondering if sometimes we get too far out ahead of our customers.

Got me thinking: Are we, as marketers, trying so hard to keep ahead of the new social media curve that we’re leaving our markets, our customers, behind?

I have to admit that I wrestled with this question as I converted my e-newsletter, that I’ve published for over two years, into a blog with opt-in subscription (either email or RSS feed). Was I leaving my core of customers and colleagues behind?

It goes without saying that my top clients will still get the personal attention they’re used to receiving which includes personal (not just broadcast) emails, phone contact when needed, in-person meetings, gifts, etc. Doesn’t matter whether they’re ahead or behind the social media curve. That is an investment on my part for their continued loyalty.

But then I had to evaluate where my new business–emphasis on new business, not new orders–was going to come from. Was it the markets I was currently serving? Maybe not. I’m in the process of redirecting my business into new arenas where I can excel instead of just compete. And where it’s at for some of these new markets is social media. I also need to be prepared for the prospect that my regulars could, very suddenly, jump into the social media fray. I better have a presence.

These are difficult questions for any business to answer, especially as we experience a true paradigm shift in both media and marketing.

Here are some things to consider as you make the decision to forge ahead with social media or maintain your communicating status quo:

Where Do You See Most of Your Orders Coming From in the Next Year? If those orders are coming from markets that are barely on the social media on-ramp (or not on at all), it’s wise to continue to communicate with them in a way they want. Notice that I didn’t use the usual “five year” window here. Things are changing rapidly and the folks that you are sending email to today, may want you to tweet with them on Twitter tomorrow.
Do You Have a Social Media Plan? Again, be prepared for the possibility that your market, the tried and true market you’ve served for years, may burst onto a social media channel in a hurry. I recently presented at a social media seminar that was hosted by an accounting consultancy. The invited attendees were the firm’s clients and local business people interested in networking, some coming from very traditional business environments. The seminar filled up in less than two days and a second session had to be scheduled. This was a surprising result compared to other seminars hosted by the firm. The seeds are planted. Better get ready from what will grow out of this.
Where Do You Want Your New Business to Come From in the Future? If markets you want to pursue are using social media channels with a vengeance, you better get up to speed… fast!

Click Here to Learn More About Dan Holohan and HeatingHelp.com