As a Social Media Specialist, people have been asking me lately about Pinterest – what it is and whether it is worth investing in from a business perspective so I thought I would weigh in with a blog post on this topic.

When Pinterest first came to my attention, I took a cursory look at it and dismissed it as a time suck. But I then took a closer look, began playing with it and even started my own vision board. I began to pin items and pretty soon, I started to realize what a wonderful social media tool this is and the opportunity it gives business owners in many industries.

Pinterest, for those of you who have not heard about it, is a virtual pinboard with about 12 million active users every month. You can create a profile on there and begin to create these pinboards or bulletin boards for yourself and pin items (images) of interest that you find online. You can create multiple boards on multiple topics. 3 things to know:

1. You must request to join. You cannot automatically set up a profile. However, when you get the invite, the actual profile is not too difficult to set up. You will need a Facebook or Twitter account to complete the process.
2. You may not snag images that are copyrighted or otherwise restricted and pin them or syndicate them.
3. While you can ‘Facebook Like’ an item, you may only share it on your personal page not your Facebook business page – something I hope they will change.

So what, you may ask can you do with this from a business perspective?

The first thing to know is that Pinterest is mostly popular with women between the ages of 25-40 so if this is your target market, take a closer look at this site. The categories that are of the most interest on Pinterest?

• Arts and Crafts / DIY
• Home Decor
• Style and Fashion
• Food

which, might explain why women are drawn to it with food being the fastest growing category on Pinterest. So I did an experiment with one of my clients who is in the food business. I created a profile for them, started a food board and began pinning images that linked to their blog posts – the ones that contained recipes. Within minutes many of those images generated about 20 repins meaning people saw the images and repinned them to their own board. In each of these cases, those images linked them back to the client’s website.  Pinterest was the referring agent in close to 100 hits on their website last month alone.

The beauty of Pinterest is that you can snag some code from their site and place it on your own website next to images that you might be e-tailing. When people visit your site, they can pin these images on their own boards, increase awareness of your products and help drive traffic back to your e-commerce pages. Even better, is the fact that these become like little testimonials of your products.  It’s a little like window shopping but it’s a way to get great exposure – and people love pictures.  Images and video trump text every time.

So if you are in any of these industries I mentioned above, it might be time to take a closer look at Pinterest and see how you might be able to leverage it for your own business.  Of course, if you need help or more information, you only need to ask!

I’d love your feedback! Are you using Pinterest? How are you using it? What have been your experiences? Don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog using the commentluv feature here on my site.

If you live in York Region, watch Rogers Daytime this Thursday, May 10th 10:00 a.m., when I will be discussing social media with Jeff and Elaine.  I will be joined by one of my clients, Robin Smith who will talk about her social media successes.  Also, if you are in the Toronto area, I will be live on the air with Gail Vaz-Oxlade – the late shift – June 25th on In-Depth Radio, News Talk 1010. Many of you will know her from Slice TV shows ‘Till Debt Do Us Part‘ and ‘Princess‘. Karen Armstrong, another of my clients will have the first segment where she too, will discuss her success with SM. Let me know what you think!

Until next time,

Joanne

Blogging is a key component in a social media strategy. You are not bound by 140 characters or limited by your Facebook Business Page fan base.  It is an ideal platform for you to disseminate great content around the world to your readership and start to become known as an authority in your field. The goal should be to become the person people think of when they think of your product or service and it’s important to use ‘big picture’ thinking.  It’s also important that your blog site contain the right elements to maximize your success in this environment.  Here are my top 10 blog must haves for 2012:

1. Self-hosted

Having a blog on WordPress.com or Blogspot.com is not ideal. They are fine if you are publishing a personal blog but if your blog is business related, then you should be self-hosted. This means that you manage your blog on your own domain name rather than something like yourname.wordpress.com.  The implications of self-hosting are that you own your own content and have accessbility to the myriad of templates and plug-ins out there to really make your site sing. The analogy here would be renting vs owning your own site/content. My personal preference is WordPress.  For more information or to start a new blog, click here for more information.

2. Content

Content is King on the web. The more valuable information you provide, the more attractive your site becomes. What goes around, comes around in the social media space. By sharing great content, you share your expertise and become known as the go-to person in your industry. You may even become known as a thought leader!  I usually advise your post contain between 500-1000 words and a weekly blog would be ideal for most small business owners.  The reality is, people will only spend a few minutes on your site, so it’s important that your content be engaging and provide great value. Here’s a tip for those of you who like to include outbound links to video in your posts. Use the embed feature on YouTube instead of just providing the link and embed the video right into your post. In this way, you keep people on your site. If you give someone a link to YouTube, there is a good chance they will become distracted and never come back to your post.  Additionally, any other links you provide on your post, should open in a new tab so that readers can easily navigate their way back to your post.

3. Branding

You will want to make sure that your blog site is properly branded. By this I mean, if you also have a ‘static’ website, the logo, colours and general feel should be repeated on the blog site (and everywhere else on the web including your Facebook, Twitter and YouTube Channel). What is a ‘static’ site?  If your website does not provide a vehicle for people to engage you on the site, has no blog and you don’t refresh your content on a regular basis, your site would be considered ‘static’.  The reality is people are gravitating in droves to user-generate content sites where they can start to build rapport with you and add their own input hence the popularity of Social Media and sites like WordPress.

There is good news if you are already using WordPress as your vehicle to blog because you can also use this site as your main website. Your content can be easily moved from a static site to your WP site.  One site means easier maintenance for you, less confusion/navigating for your prospects and clients and no doubt less expensive. If you are determined to retain your static site, your hosting company does not support WordPress and you wish to start blogging, you have a couple of choices:

1. Move your domain and site to a Host provider who does support WP and set up a blog that runs in a subfolder.

2. Get a secondary domain name and hosting on a host provider who supports WordPress and just run your blog there. You will want to ensure that your static site can connect to your blog and vice-versa.  A domain name and hosting fees can generally be setup for less than $100/yr depending on your requirements.

4. Reliable Host

It is important that you choose a reliable host for WordPress. You’ll want a hosting company that has a good understanding of this platform, keeps its server capabilities in line with the ever changing upgrades on WordPress and has a great up-time record. There is nothing more frustrating than slow load times for sites and errors in the back end of WordPress when you are an administrator. My personal preference is Hostgator for a number of reasons – not the least of which, is that they are a ‘Green Hosting’ Company. You can check out a recent post for more information by clicking here.

5. Plug-ins

There is a list of must-have plug-ins that I install for my clients. Among them are:

• A firewall
• Spam protector
• Login protection against hackers
• Comment vehicle to aid with backlinking (great for Google). Also, remember to respond to valid comments in a timely way. Treat this like customer service.
• Email subscription capability – most readers still prefer to subscribe to content via email rather than RSS
• Syndication buttons – very important to be able to push your content out over the web rather than hoping people will find your post
• SEO (search engine optimization) capability
• Analytics

6.  Render to Mobile

With the rapid growth of smart phone sales, it is important to consider the fact that people might be accessing your site on their mobile device.  If your blog site or static site relies heavily on Flash players for images for example, it might be time to revisit this and find an alternative method. You don’t want people getting to your site to find large blank spaces where the images or video should be, particularly if you rely heavily on these to promote your product or services.

8. Analytics

It is very important that you track your results using some form of Analytics.  In this way, you can review how people are finding your content (what vehicle, what referral sites etc.), what the most successful content is and what is and what is not working well.  It can also reveal some great key word strategies.

9. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It doesn’t matter how great your content is if you don’t have a tool to get yourself found on the net. Enlist the help of someone who understands what people are searching for and how to incorporate those metatags and descriptions on your site – not only as header tags but also in your blog posts. I use Market Samurai for site setup. It’s a great tool.

10. Structure for Google

Last but not least, it’s important to understand how Google crawls your site.  There are strategies one can use in your blog posts to help you get your content indexed higher in the search engines.

If you don’t already have a blog for your business, now might be a great time to start!  If you are unsure as to how to properly set up your site or need help with publishing and syndicating your posts, make sure you enlist the help of someone who understands this space to maximize your success.

Happy New Year everyone and Happy Blogging!

Until next time,

Joanne

While Joanne resides in Newmarket Ontario with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

I meet with prospects and clients almost every day. Most people now agree that Social Media is not going away. They also recognize that it’s time to get serious about implementing and maintaining a social media strategy that will work for their business. Some are doing amazingly well. Others struggle.  So, as a Certified Social Media Specialist, what are the top 3 excuses I hear for slacking on setting up or not staying consistent with a social media strategy?

3. I Don’t Know What to Say

It’s rare that when properly coached, a client doesn’t have ongoing valuable information to share with their audience. Some are afraid to give away too much intellectual property, which is understandable, but you can give away just enough to entice your reader to want to know more.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, others feel that their content wouldn’t be of interest to readers. The fact is, you may end up sharing that one piece of information that is just the trigger needed to get that prospect to pick up the phone, email you or respond to your blog post or Facebook page entry.  Perhaps you have just answered a nagging question for them or you shared some personal information about a hobby that resonated with someone and they feel more connected to you.  Open up a little and share about who you are as a person as well as a business entity.  Success is in the sum of the parts….

2. I’m Worried About Who Will See What

So, the result is you do nothing! I find that people are mostly nervous about Facebook, and honestly, rightly so. Facebook is making a lot of changes and some of them are a blatant way to get more information from you so that they can feed their advertisers.  But, there are ways to stay safe on Facebook. Things like;

• Ensuring your privacy settings reflect who you want to see what content
• Instructing family members / unruly relatives to send you ‘emails’ on Facebook rather than write on your wall
• Monitoring the wall and removing inappropriate content if it does show up
• Setting up Facebook lists and then publishing information to the appropriate lists
• Enable the secure browsing feature

If someone wants to get information in this day and age, they will find a way to do so. Being conscious about what you put out there will help you.  If you can answer these three questions (thanks to Mari Smith for these), with a YES, then you are probably safe.

1. Would I be comfortable if my boss were to see this content?
2. Would I be comfortable if my mother/father/children were to see this content?
3. Would I feel comfortable if this content showed up on the front page of the Wall Street Journal?

And the number 1 reason?

1.  Not Enough Time!  …and by the way, I can be just as guilty of this as anyone else.

I recently read an interesting quote. It said: We all have the same amount of time in a day: 24 hours or 1,440 minutes. In fact, we have exactly the same amount of time that was given to Helen Keller, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein.

Sobering thought. As entrepreneurs, we all wear many hats. But the one hat that can’t fall to the floor is being consistent in how we market our businesses. And, in order to successfully move people through the sales funnel, we need to build strong relationships. This makes it easier for people to want to do business with us.

It’s really a question of discipline and having a good strategy in place.  Know what you want to accomplish each week. Write a list of information that you want to disseminate and then use the appropriate tool to get the message out. Remember, it’s not about selling product/services, it’s about building those relationships and providing value.

Start your morning each day working on your business rather than in it.  It doesn’t take that much time to check your social media profiles, respond to people who are trying to connect with you and give them the information they need to say YES to you and your business. Ultimately, people buy from people they know, like and trust.

If you need help, then consult with a Social Media Specialist to get a strategy in place both in terms of where you should be spending your time online and what kind of content you need to be putting out there.

The key to success here is consistency. Stay focused, be diligent and keep your eye on the prize. It will pay off in the end.

What do you think? Share your tips with me. I love getting feedback. Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. What a great way to leave a link back to your own blog!

Until next time,

Joanne

If you are a business owner who is using third party applications like Hootsuite, Ping.fm etc., to engage in social media to grow your business, then this blog post is for you.  As a Certified Social Media Specialist, I work with small business owners everyday and counsel them on how to use Social Media tools for their business.

You will find that in general, I am not an advocate of using these third party applications to engage your audience.  I personally find it stilted and cardboard like.  To me, pre-scheduled posts lack a human touch. I guess I am a purist. If you are an educated social media user, you too can likely smell these from a mile away.  Furthermore, these posts/updates show the source of the post; another dead giveaway that they are pre-fabricated.  I tend to un-follow people if their content is strictly pre-scheduled.

I was beginning to think I was in the minority in my way of thinking but I came across this very recent post that tells me I may not be far off the mark.  EdgeRank checker is a free tool that measures your effectiveness on Facebook. And with one out of every 8 minutes being spent online being on Facebook, this is an important measurement to take into account.  This post implies that using third party tools like Hootsuite can kill your Facebook EdgeRanking.  Please click here to read the article.

So why are people using them? The biggest complaint I hear from business owners is that you ‘lack time’.  You likely started out your business because you had a great product or service to market. What you didn’t bank on was that you were going to have to be the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer. You probably didn’t appreciate just how much of your day this takes up!  You’re stuck because your business isn’t generating enough revenue yet for you to hire on help but you are so busy wearing all these hats, you don’t have enough time to get out there and market your product or service to generate revenue. Sound familiar?  I can relate because I am a small business owner and I’ve been there too.

But what I have come to realize and put into practice, is that if you are truly looking to engage your audience, particularly on Facebook, you need to be real and authentic and most of the time, in real time in this social media space. You need to schedule this activity into your day and be prepared to take responsibility for the kind of content you generate. This is called working on your business instead of in it.  It is not an easy thing to outsource either.  Unless that person/s knows you and your business like the back of their hand, it will be difficult to represent you.  No one knows you and your business better than you do. This is like handing over the reins to someone else.  The fact is, people want to get to know you both as a business entity and as a person and they want to engage with you knowing that you are being genuine and available.

I am not saying that you shouldn’t ever use these third party apps, however you need to be careful how and where you use them.   Finding someone who you can consult with to find out where your target market hangs out and when is your best strategy. Then be as authentic and real as possible.  It may take a little time, but it will pay off in the end.

Remember, people buy from people they like and trust. Part of trusting someone is knowing that they are there when you need them.

What do you think?  I love getting feedback.  Here on this blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a great opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically living in Newmarket Ontario with her family, Joanne is virtually yours, anywhere.

Did you know… As of January 2011, LinkedIn counts executives from all 2010 Fortune 500 companies as members.  As of March 22, 2011, its hiring solutions were used by 73 of the Fortune 100 companies. With over 100 million members now in over 200 countries, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network and it’s totally business focused. Now, there are LinkedIn Company Pages.

For all you business owners out there, if you haven’t already done so, maybe it’s time to capitalize on LinkedIn’s announcement back in November 2010 of its Company Pages. More than 2 million companies now have a LinkedIn Company Page. Have you got a Company Page yet?

Company Pages allow you to bring your brand to life by showcasing your products and services.  They help you grow your company’s business virally through word-of-mouth – the most trusted form of advertising . You can also get endorsements in the form of testimonials on your company page and by displaying your strongest recommendations to your prospective customers, your Company Page can help you accelerate growth and trust in your brand.

In addition to product and service testimonials, you can post a job, display videos, featured product information and targeted ads on your Company Page to drive sales and interaction.  These features however, require you to have an upgraded profile on LinkedIn, meaning these are features you pay for. However, for some businesses, the ability to secure quality connections may be worth the investment.

In addition to company pages, LinkedIn also recently added more features for the personal profile. If you haven’t visited your LinkedIn profile recently, you might have missed the new sections that LinkedIn now allows you. Things like adding your specific skill set and certifications.  You can now drag and drop your profile sections in a priority sequence thereby allowing you to highlight the sections you deem most important first.  I still recommend that you have your Summary at the top however, as most visitors to your profile will look at your ‘job’ title first followed by your summary.

Take the time to explore all the features that LinkedIn has to offer.  For example, if you have written a book and it’s available for purchase on Amazon.com, then add the Amazon app to your profile and showcase your book! Import your blog and don’t forget to add your website, Facebook business page, a link to your YouTube channel perhaps and your Twitter handle.

5 Tips for your profile:

1. Make your title at the top of the page a show stopper.

2. Make your summary engaging. Speak in the first person and ‘talk’ to the person whose business you are trying to attract.

3. Ask for testimonials. Not only do they appear on your own profile, but on the profile of the person endorsing you. And, testimonials get flagged in the weekly summary of LinkedIn updates that are sent out to your community. This keeps you top of mind and this kind of endorsement can be key to securing more business.

4. If you are a business owner, create a company profile. Make sure you populate it with proper keywords so that the company search feature will pull your business into targeted search results.  Fill out all the pertinent information. Consider the paid-for options if appropriate.

5. Keep it up to date!  This is your digital resume for yourself and for your business.

I wrote a more comprehensive list of items and things to consider in another blog post.  Feel free to check it out here.  If you need help, engage the services of someone who understands this space.  As a Certified Social Media Specialist, I encourage all my clients to complete a LinkedIn profile and maintain it as part of the ‘big three’ in the social media realm.

Please feel free to comment! I love getting feedback. Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a a plug-in that gives you the opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave feedback.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket Ontario, where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere…

Do you really understand your client? Very recently my husband and I spent 5 days in Barbados.  We were both in need of a break and I was celebrating a birthday so we decided to take a short holiday.  Normally, I do my own research and bookings but this time, I decided to ask for recommendations and we ended up using a travel agent we had never used before.

I was told that she knew the island like the back of her hand. She was a no nonsense kind of person and asked me point blank “what do you want to spend”? It took her no time to make her recommendation of an all-inclusive, deluxe ocean view accommodation we were in search of and we told her to proceed with the booking. In hindsight, she didn’t understand her client. She didn’t ask anywhere near enough questions and I ended cleaning up after her mistakes as best I could. It is now clear I didn’t ask enough questions either.

In addition to screw ups on the airline tickets, the hotel had its share of issues too. To be fair to the hotel, the room was indeed superior.  Ocean view however was approximately a 10′ view through the bottom of the trees a hundred yards or so away but it did also overlook a beautiful pool. The sound the waves was distinct and welcomed. The surroundings of the hotel were beautiful as well. Lovely courtyards, open and airy feel to the whole resort. Everything on the outside looked great but this is where the honeymoon ended.

view from the room - click image to enlarge

The hotel had many families most with  small children, many crying infants. The food was very disappointing – small portions, not well presented and desserts you would have to scour the plate to find. The liquor was watered down and the house wines were awful. Entertainment was virtually non-existent.

We made a point of attending the Manager’s cocktail party the evening we arrived. The Manager was quick to ask us what they could do to make the resort better. Having been there only a few short hours, I was only able to supply him with a couple of small things I had picked up on.  I would have had a lot more to share by the end of our stay.  He mentioned that that particular resort seemed to cater more to a North American market. Interesting, as there were only a few North Americans there during our stay – the bulk were from the U.K. not surprising as the pound would go a long way in Barbados – probably close to 4 to 1.  We talked to a few other North Americans at the resort and they were not impressed overall with the venue.

The whole resort seemed to lack infrastructure. It looked good on the outside but when you looked closer you could see that the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. We tried on three separate occasions to cancel a birthday cake we never ordered! A few times I overheard the staff at the service desk being raked over the coals for bad customer service.  For a self-proclaimed 1st class resort, the proof was in the pudding.

click image to enlarge

Why am I writing this post?  Am I being ungrateful here?  Did we have a bad time? No. The truth is we did get away and enjoy some real quality time together and get in some much deserved rest and there were some wonderful moments. A special dinner out on the night of my birthday at Champers Restaurant and the sunset cruise was worth the trip alone.  But I wanted peace and quiet, great food every day and the deluxe feel I was looking for.  I didn’t get that.

What this really drilled home for me from this experience was the lack of understanding of who the client is and what they want.  Interestingly I found this particular resort on Facebook but they indicate their page is disappearing in favour of the general page for the Chain. All their wall posts have been removed as well. Telling? Perhaps. As a Social Media Specialist, I tell my clients to make sure they have their ear to the ground when it comes to their brand – to listen to what people are saying about it and making sure they are engaging people, particularly those that have negative feedback and then take that information back to their organization and make positive change. And yes, I did post on the chain wall that we were less than impressed.  I am still waiting to see if there will be a response.

Do you really understand what your client wants?  Have you asked enough questions? Do you check back often to make sure your client is still happy? Are you all shiny on the outside but lack the structure to deliver on your promise? Are you what you say you are? Says who? Made me think about my own business. Does it make you think of yours?

Suffice it to say I have not heard from the travel agent to find out how our trip was. I doubt I will.  In the end it wasn’t all about the money.  It was about the experience. Had she asked more questions and I had probed more, we likely would have ended up somewhere else.  Safe to say the next trip, I’ll be back to doing my own homework and booking.

I’d love your feedback. Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is an opportunity for you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

Facebook recently announced a security setting that allows users to view content over a secure network (https) while they are in Facebook.   There have been posts recently by users to inform and encourage others to select this ‘secure’ form of browsing wherever possible. I thought I would share some information with you here that might influence whether you choose this option or not.

For example, as a Certified Social Media Specialist, I encourage my Facebook clients to have a custom landing page (Welcome Page) for first time visitors to their page. It is a wonderful way to welcome prospective clients and introduce them to you and your business.  We can incorporate images, audio, video, etc., and make it a great experience for those who visit your page. It definitely helps with engagement! I create other pages for clients too and customize them to your brand.

Until recently Facebook allowed these custom pages to be uploaded to their own servers and viewing these pages were never an issue.  Facebook has now taken away this ability.  They appear to be grandfathering the pages that are already there and they still work as they always have but any new pages that anyone would like to add to their Facebook Business page must now be added using another form of technology and herein lies the problem with the secure browsing.  Anyone putting up a custom page now becomes a ‘developer’ in the eyes of Facebook. As a developer, Facebook would like everyone to obtain a security certificate which costs approximately $50./site but supposedly gets around this problem although I see that there are still issues with this.  I should add here, that there are other issues with using secure browsing on Facebook other than just custom landing pages. You may run into problems with other applications that you might be trying to add or view on your Facebook page as well as some of the options that Facebook itself currently offers.

If you or someone viewing a tab on your Facebook business page is a Firefox user, you may get this error.

Or perhaps you are an Internet Explorer user, and you get this message:

If you are seeing this message or are informed by someone trying to view your new landing page that they are getting this error, then it is likely because you/they have opted for secure browsing.  If you remove the security setting, you will eliminate the problem. It’s as simple as that.

How do you opt for or remove this feature?

1. Go to the Account tab (top right of your Facebook screen)

2. Select Account Settings

3. Select change next to Account Security

4. Either check or uncheck the box that says ‘secure browsing (https)’ depending on whether you want to use it or not.

Personally, I have unchecked this box so that I can view everything without issue until a more satisfactory solution is achieved. There is a lot of buzz in the developer forum on Facebook around this issue at the moment.

I continue to modify pre-existing pages on Facebook under the old platform but I am now creating new landing pages for clients using the new technology that Facebook requires.

I am not a proponent of jumping on every new feature that Facebook releases. For example, if you have a Facebook profile and you have been using it to promote your business, Facebook has released the option to transform your profile into a Facebook Business page.  Don’t do it!  There are many wrinkles that still need to be ironed out here. You run the risk of losing your personal profile altogether along with your contacts, your images etc.

If you are using Facebook for your business, I would encourage everyone to engage the help of someone who really understands this space to advise you. Facebook isn’t perfect and can sometimes be frustrating.  Having said that, it is now the number 1 visited site on the internet, has close to a billion users and has a very loyal audience.  I use mine every day to meet new people and engage new prospects.

How about you?  I love getting feedback here on my blog and you’ll even get commentluv. This is a plug-in that allows you to leave a link back to your own site when you leave a comment.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

Are You Playing Tug-of-War With Some of Your Clients?

In my last post, I discussed 5 Signs that you are working with the wrong support person. This week we’ll discuss the same situation but with the shoe on the other foot.  Are you a service provider who is frustrated with some of your existing client base?  Chances are you knew when you took these clients on in the first place, that there were going to be issues.  So many of us don’t listen to our ‘inner voice’ and are sorry afterwards.  The good news is, it’s never too late to make a change.

Most of the small business owners I work with have little or no technical skills. Many have limited marketing skills as well. So many people go into business because they think they have a great product or idea without appreciating just how many hats they are going to have to wear.  The bottom line is, there are only so many hours in the day and eventually they realize they need help. I coach my clients to spend their time doing what they do best and leave the items that they’ve contracted me for to me!  Work on getting their trust and respect and you can’t go wrong.

There are so many things you can do to maximize your client relationships. Still there will be times when the relationship breaks down.  So, what are 5 signs that you are working with the wrong client?

1. Your client treats you like a subordinate or an employee.

This client doesn’t understand that you are a business owner too and that you understand the challenges of growing a business.  This signals to me, that the client doesn’t respect what you bring to the table.   Perhaps you need to look at how you have positioned yourself with this client and assess whether this client will ever be able to treat you as an equal business partner.  Make the adjustment.  Don’t forget that you need to stay on top of changing trends, stay current with the services you offer and don’t be afraid to keep your client up to date on what you are doing in this vein to help them move their business forward.

2. Your client tries to nickel and dime you to death.

This client doesn’t understand that they are paying only for the time you are spending working on their behalf. They have lost sight of how much it would actually cost to hire someone on a full time basis and pay them even for time they might be idle, sick, away on holidays, sick/maternity leave etc.  I never negotiate on price. When you discount your prices, you are signaling to the client that you don’t have confidence in yourself.    It might be time to sit that client down and share just how much money you are saving them in the long run. Ask me where you can find these stats.

3. This client is a complainer.

Nothing you ever do seems good enough.  Relationships such as these can be a real drain on your productivity and your motivation.   If this is an ongoing issue, ask yourself why you are holding onto this client. If you are holding onto them because of the money, ask yourself how much time and energy you are wasting and then put a price tag on it.  Some people will never be satisfied – it may be part of their personality.  There are a lot of great potential clients out there waiting to meet you who will appreciate you and your efforts.  Spend your energy finding those instead. Don’t be afraid to cut these ones loose and move on!

4. This client doesn’t pay on time or at all.

This client may be legitimately struggling in their business. However, it may also be that they have not put you at the top of the totem pole in terms of the value you bring to their business.  When was the last time you asked your client if they were still happy with your services?    It’s important not to let this go too far. The key is to minimize your risk.  Communication is vital here. It may be time to sit down and discuss this with your client before you feel you need to resort to a Collection Agency.  Not only is this a stressful process, it causes bad karma for you in the business world as well.   In cases where they are legitimately struggling, perhaps you can suggest a temporary longer payment plan or perhaps you need to cut your losses and move on.

5. You feel this client doesn’t care about you or your business.

This individual never asks how you are or how your business is doing.  All they care about is the task or project. Perhaps you need to look at the kind of relationship you have established with your client.  This is a two way street. Ask yourself how much interest you have taken in them.  Are you interested in them as people and as business entities? Or are you just interested in the reward. If this is the case, why wouldn’t they feel the same way?  You might be surprised to find that a change in your approach, may signal a change in the client.

Relationship building is so important. Trust and respect are key elements to successful business relationships.  As a Social Media Specialist, I know that my success depends not only on my ability to establish great rapport with my prospects and clients but to instill this in them when dealing with their prospect and client base. I believe that what goes around, comes around.

What do you think? I love getting feedback here on my blog and here you will get commentluv.  That’s a plugin that allows you to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave a comment.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment. I love hearing from everyone!

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.

Are You Being Held Hostage or Feel Your Hands are Tied?

I got a call a few weeks ago from a small local business owner who was very frustrated with her web designer. You know the type; someone who holds their cards close to their chest and would rather baffle the client with BS and hold them hostage.This website person actually told me they were smarter than the people at GoDaddy. WOW. Seriously?

Most small business owners I work with have very little to no computer technical skills. Most of them put their trust in someone they knew or took the recommendation of a friend to help them establish their online presence rather than take the time to find out if this potential supplier was the right fit for them – both from a personality perspective as well as taking into consideration if this supplier had the ability to understand their business. Sometimes one gets lucky. Suffice it to say in this case, this individual was not a match on either front. The worst part of all of this is that this person stuck with that developer for 2 years and suffered the outcome I describe below.

So, what are the signs that you are working with the wrong support person?

1. You get the feeling this person doesn’t really care about you or your business. You feel they are only interested in billing you and arm and a leg every time you ask them for help.

2. This person has not taken the time to understand you or your business model and what you need to do to get business.

3. The supplier has not done enough to stay current with changing trends and you feel you are falling behind your competitors.

4. You have begun to feel de-motivated and lack enthusiasm because you feel that lack of support. You now avoid calling or talking to that person because you don’t want a confrontation.

5. You wouldn’t even consider referring this person to anyone else.

If you answered yes to any one of these questions, what is stopping you from making a change? Most of the time, people will tell me that they have invested too much money in their existing situation and don’t want to start over.  They feel their hands are tied. The fact is you are likely spinning your wheels and the longer you sit there, the deeper the rut you’ll create. The online world is changing rapidly and it’s important that you understand that and embrace the change.  Don’t stick your head in the sand. These changes will keep coming.  I say cut your losses and move on.

As a Social Media specialist, forming solid relationships with my clients is vital on all fronts but wanting them to help them form those kinds of relationships with their client base is equally important to me. If I sense there is a change in our relationship,  I want to know immediately.  I am not too big to say it might be time to move on if the relationship is no longer mutually beneficial.  It will happen from time to time.  As a business owner myself, I understand the importance of keeping my finger on the pulse of all my relationships.

So, are you still happy with the people you have taken into your fold?

Next time, we’ll talk about this same situation but with the shoe on the other foot.

Until then, I always welcome feedback. And here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. That’s a plug in that allows you to leave a link back to your own blog.

Until next time,

Joanne

Facebook Landing Pages – Why They’re Hot

Do you have a Facebook Business Page? Do you have a Welcome Page set up as a landing page for first time visitors? Why might this be important?

Have you noticed when you visit people’s business pages, you are bouncing back and forth between the info tab, the small bio under the person’s graphic and reading the wall to get a sense of who this person is and what their business is about?  I know I do.

Do you find you get more information on some people’s pages than others? Why is that?  That’s because not all business pages are created equal! By this I mean that the templates that Facebook offer you, are chosen based upon the industry that you are in (i.e., what you specify when you first set up the page. You should also know that when you choose the business name and the industry, these cannot be changed. You would have to delete the page and start over, so choose wisely).).  A brick and mortar retailer for example will be given the place to enter their store  hours etc., but not given any space to include who they are, what their business is, their mission or their objectives – this template is reserved for businesses that are more Consultative in nature.  So in many cases, when you visit someone’s page, you will either land on their less than informative ‘info page’ or on their ‘wall’ and right into the middle of the conversation.

So how does one create a welcoming environment so that you can tell people who you are, what you are about both as a person and as a business entity? This is where the Facebook Welcome Pages (landing pages) have become so popular.  Not only can you tell people in words, but you can incorporate video, audio and pictures to make the page more exciting. It’s another great touch point. In addition, you can set this up so that it is the default landing page for anyone new visiting your page. Once they ‘like’ the page, from then on, each time they return to the page, they will go directly to the wall.  It’s a nice warm welcome and people will gravitate to your page. In addition, this page should be properly branded to reflect your Facebook business page and all your other online sites.

This Welcome Page needs to be created using Facebook Markup Language (FBML) and this is an application that can be added to your page.  Unless you have the necessary technical skills, this isn’t something that most of you will tackle on your own, but thankfully there are people out there like me, a Social Media Specialist with training in Facebook Business Pages, who can help you set one up!  Please feel free to contact me or another qualified Virtual Administrator that you may know.

I would love your feedback on Welcome Pages that you have seen and admired, or even your own! You’ll get commentluv here on my site. That’s a plug in for bloggers. Leave a comment and you can leave a link back to your own site.

Until next time,

Joanne

While physically located in Newmarket, ON where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours, anywhere.