Helenick Social Media Internet Marketing Online Consultants Los Angeles

We’re all aware of the issues Facebook is currently having with privacy and the scrambling they’re doing to try and correct it. But let’s think for minute – who is really responsible for making sure your information isn’t spread across the internet through Facebook?

I whole heartily believe that Facebook needs to do everything and anything they can to protect your information from unwanted prying eyes. Let’s face it, they’re everywhere. I’ve even seen the posts from people warning me not to join a group about “Becoming a father or mother was the greatest gift of my life” which apparently encourages you to post pictures of your children. The group is supposedly run by pedophiles looking pictures for of your children. The bad people are everywhere and they will try to take advantage of you if possible.  Facebook should do what they can to protect your information, and it sounds as if they are taking new precautions to protect everyone. Sadly, their efforts may be too little too late for many people.

But is it really Facebook’s job to make sure you don’t share anything sensitive? At the start of the day, shouldn’t the poster be accountable, to make sure that they’re not posting sensitive information that can be compromised or stolen or used by unwanted third party advertisers?

Would you walk down the street and hand over your phone numbers, address, and pictures of your kids to random strangers that you meet on the street? Of course you wouldn’t. So why would you post information that you don’t want to be public on a social networking site.

Here’s an example of something that you shouldn’t share: you shouldn’t post your birth year in your birthday because predators could use your age in an identity theft attempt. Simple guideline – don’t post information that you don’t want to share. There needs to be a certain amount of personal responsibility here. People should stop looking for someone to blame when something bad happens to them and take a look to see if they could have prevented it themselves. Your posts can end up being seen by the wrong person too, even if it’s shared only with your friends and family. Be careful who you verbally slam, who you talk badly about, and please don’t post those embarrassing photos of you from the crazy drunken Saturday night at the bar. Don’t forget to ask your friend who took the pictures not to post them either. Employers, both future and present, just may be looking at those. Is that something you want on your ‘permanent record?’ Again, don’t share things that you don’t want public. You never know who may see it and use it against you. I wonder how many political careers are now ruined by Facebook posts.

That being said, Facebook is a place for people to share things with their friends and families like their daily lives and pictures of their kids. So not sharing anything certainly defeats the point of it. Therefore, everyone should take precautions to make sure their privacy settings are set properly to make sure that only the people they want to peek into their lives are able.

Here’s a good tool that can tell you if your privacy settings are sufficient, http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/.  Check your setting carefully to make sure they set where you would like them and that the right people can see what see what you want them see. The current settings can be a little confusing for some users. At the time of writing this, Facebook is preparing to release new privacy controls that are promised to be “drastically simplified” for the user. Let’s see how effective they will be. Facebook has recently admitted to “missing the mark” when it comes to privacy. Hopefully they measure up this time.

Even if these new settings are what they should be, it does not release the user from all liability of being responsible for their own posted content. As I stated before, if you don’t want to take a chance on your information being compromised, don’t post it. Be careful, be smart, be responsible  - but, don’t stop being social!

We all know that “Google” has become a verb. Well, we would now like to introduce a new verb – HARO, as in to HARO yourself! One real benefit to “HAROing oneself” is to get some solid publicity and exposure. Because it allows you to access the global media in an exciting and convenient way, you now have the opportunity to appear where you never would have imagined.

If you‘re not familiar with HARO  (Help a Reporter Out) , you should be. HARO is an online service created for journalists to gather input from the public for a wide-range of mediums such as newspapers, magazines, TV shows, blogs, podcasts, and radio. There are over 29,000 members of the media that post an average of 216 daily queries. This website helps journalists find qualified sources in a snap. HARO allows experts to share their expertise and potentially obtain the media coverage for their business, product or book, etc. Over 41,000 pitches are submitted daily.

We “HAROed” and have our first success story to share.  We’ve submitted four pitches in the last two months. One of our most recent pitches was in response to a query submitted by a personal finance writer looking for tips on how small businesses can use Twitter effectively. We sent six basic Twitter tips to the poster. We understand that journalists are super busy and don’t always respond to pitches. So we were not surprised when we didn’t hear anything back.

About a week later, while scanning our daily Google alerts, our company name appeared in an online article, “How to Tweet Your Small Business”. We were quoted in the article a number of times. We had no idea! Being a young company, we were excited about at our first piece of real press coverage.

The original article was posted in the Financial Edge, an online business investing site run by  Forbes Digital Company. It was later posted online in the SF Gate, Home of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Since this article ran, our search results have improved considerably on Google, Bing and Yahoo. We went from hovering around the second and third pages, to being prominently displayed on page one for our core keywords. There is a direct correlation with our improved search result listing and the posting of this article. Don’t misunderstand my point, the article alone did not push us to the first page by itself. We have a good amount of other content out there for the search engines to find. But it did play a significant role.

The HARO pitch had other benefits also, it made for a great story. It also made for a fun Facebook post. Hey, we even got a blog topic from it! We’re happy to say we were featured in a well-known online newspaper. For a pitch that did not require a significant amount of effort, the benefits were fantastic.

So the moral of story is, tune into HARO and start HAROing. It’s well worth the time to respond to queries. You never know where you might read about yourself.

What is the ‘Twitter-verse’ anyways? Isn’t Twitter just a bunch of bored people talking about their day? Isn’t it all just noise? Does Ashton Kutcher really have that much to say?

Anyone involved in social media has heard these questions at some point or another and of course, they have an answer for each one. But the reality of it is, Twitter is here and it’s not likely to go away any time in the foreseeable future. So, Mr. and Mrs. I-Don’t-Get-it, you better figure it out soon, especially if you’re in business. Small businesses can, and should, take as much advantage of it as large companies. But how do you go about it?

First, let’s quickly look at why you should.

-          To interact with customers and prospects. Twitter is quick and easy way to spread news about what happening with your company, quickly, and more importantly, in real time.

-          To learn what’s happening in your world. Whether you think so or not, your industry is represented on Twitter. People are tweeting about it. To stay ahead, you need to know your own business.

-          To show everyone that you not only know what’s happening in your industry, but you are an authority in it. You can easily put yourself above your competition by showing that you know more than them, or at least willing to talk about it more. Make yourself a resource of information. People respond to that and gravitate towards you as “the expert.”

-          To hear what your customers and prospects are saying. You don’t always have to ask people what they want or need. Sometimes they’ll just come right out and tell you. They may not even do it intentionally, but it happens. So you should join in on those conversations.

So, how do I go about doing it? How do I make myself and “expert?” How do I get people to listen to me? Here are some techniques that may help.

-          Be selective in who you follow. Follow people that you want to follow you. Follow people that appear to know more than you. Why not follow other “experts?” Listen to what they say. But, don’t follow everyone hoping they follow you back. Following too many people and not having enough followers makes you look like a spammer. Try to keep an even balance of following to followers.  If they don’t follow you back after a few weeks, un-follow. Chances are they never will. But, if are enjoying or getting value from their tweets, go ahead and keep following them.

-          Give your followers some regular, relevant content. Give them a reason to follow you. Make them want to look for and read your tweets. Give them articles or news about your industry. As previously mentioned, make yourself the expert or the trusted resource in your field. Try giving them exclusive offers that they can only get through Twitter.  Again, give them a reason to actively follow you.

-          Once in a while, throw in a tweet about something non-business related. Something human about you so they know you’re a real person and not a bot or emotionless company. For example, comment on the traffic or what a great weekend you had. Unless you’ve got a really big soapbox to stand on that reflects everything you are, try to stay away from politics and religion. Regardless of your stance you’re likely to drive someone away.

-          Tweet often, but don’t go overboard. Once or twice a day is good. Anything more can almost be annoying to some people. On the other hand, if you are continuously delivering relevant and useful content, more can sometimes be better. See how your audience reacts to your frequency.

-          If someone mentions you or your company or re-tweets your post, thank them publicly using the ‘reply’ function. People like to be acknowledged and it makes you look like a nice caring company.

-          Engage your audience as much as possible. Encourage them to respond. That’s one of the real strengths of Twitter and social media in general  – the interaction. It’s like having a conversation with hundreds or thousands of your closest friends. You can get all kinds of great feedback, input, and opinions from your customers and prospects if you just ask them.

If you take a good look, you’ll see large companies such as Coca-Cola using Twitter as a platform to speak with their audience. There’s no reason small businesses couldn’t do it too. Be methodical about it. Like any other marketing approach it needs to be thought out. Plan your strategy. Know who you’re going after. Look around and see what other companies are doing. Measure your results. But most importantly, do it! Get involved in those conversations. Twitter is great tool for small businesses to use. Do it now, before your competition does. If they already have, do it better than them.

We’ve all heard the stories of the power of Twitter and its ability to keep us up to date on the world around us; the countless news stories that have been broken through Twitter: celebrity break-ups, sports trades, international unrest, earthquakes, and plane crashes. Twitter tweets allows for instantaneous distribution of news as it breaks, more often times quicker than television or radio

I tweet. I’ve enjoyed the connections I have made. I understand its value on many levels. I’ve read about the previously mentioned news stories on Twitter like everyone else. I’ve heard about the effectiveness of  live Tweets, however  did not completely understand it until I got to experience it first hand

My sister was running in this year’s Los Angeles Marathon. I volunteered to drive my sister to the start. We left Santa Monica at 5:30 a.m. to drive eleven miles to the start of the race at Dodger Stadium.

The race was scheduled to start at 7:24 a.m. Two hours should be ample time to go eleven miles right?  Think again. This is Los Angeles, the only city capable of creating gridlock on a Sunday morning.

When we transitioned from the 10 Freeway to the 110 Freeway, the traffic came to a complete and utter stop.  You have heard the “stories” of LA freeways being nothing but a six-lane parking lot. Sadly, this one became a reality on this morning.  

By 7:05, we had traveled just over a mile in an hour. In marathon terms, if you ran that slowly, it would take you about 26 hours to complete the race.  Not exactly what you would call a blistering pace.

My sister started to worry that she would not get to start in time. She had less than 20 minutes. What’s going on?

The natural first reaction was to check the radio for traffic reports, but there was nothing being reported on the radio. Cars filled with runners were stuck on the freeway staring at each other with no idea of what to do next.  It was like living back in the dark days before the Internet when information wasn’t so readily available.  That’s when Twitter came to our rescue.

Using the cell phone, we logged into Twitter and immediately searched for #lamarathon and there it was: the up-to-the-minute information we so desperately craved.  The race was being postponed by 10 minutes. That provided a brief moment of relief, yet we were still one mile away from the off-ramp to Dodger Stadium.  At this pace, she would not make it to the start in time.

I checked Twitter again. More and more tweets poured in giving us real time updates: “Runners getting out of cars and running along the 110 freeway”, “Runners along the exit ramp”, “Only two of the 4 entrances to Dodger stadium open” and “Race postponed to 7:40”  Not to mention, “No break in the traffic before the exit.”

Following the advice of my fellow Tweeters, I looked at my sister and said “I love you but, you must get out of my car if you want to make your start time. Your pre-race warm-up has officially begun…unfortunately it will be on the 110 Freeway.” 

I wished her good luck as she hopped out of the car and began her sprint to the starting line with hoards of other runners  making their way to the race start along the freeway shoulder.

Did she make it on time? Yes, she did. In fact she finished in 3:41,  just one minute over her personal best marathon time!

Twitter proved to be better than the “tried and true” ways of news – the radio. Those fancy traffic helicopters and smiling traffic reporters have nothing on the power of Twitter and live social media. Take that “old school!”

It truly was one big conversation between many people, all sharing breaking news with each other. There it was, my big realization about how easy and effective sharing what’s happening right now on Twitter was.

Was it reporting a devastating earthquake and thousands of deaths and injuries?  No, of course not. However, for hundreds of trapped runners like my sister, it meant that all of their hard work, determination, and goals were not going to be left behind and stuck one mile short of the exit on the freeway.

Oh, and by the way, I did make it to the finish line in time to see my sister cross – like a good sister should.

There are several ways to approach your social media strategy. Here are some basic tips to get you pointed in the right direction.

1)     Know exactly who your audience is and make sure you’re delivering the proper message based on your customers.  This includes monitoring and listening to what your customers have been saying about you. This will help you to be better prepared to interact with them and contribute to the conversations on a personal level. Social media is about conversations between people, not companies. Make sure you’re establishing your presence in the space where your audience can be found.

2)     Set clear and specific goals and make sure your entire team is on board with them. Make sure the goals are realistic, measurable and attainable. For example:

• Increase lead conversation by 15%
• Increase qualified leads by 25%
• Increase brand awareness by 20%

Build your campaign around those goals. Build a strategy designed to help you achieve these specific objectives. Then, measure your results regularly to make sure you’re on track. If not, adjust your campaign.

3)     Ensure you have the right resources to implement the strategy properly. Social media is about real-time response and interaction, both of which require considerable time and dedication. Do you need to hire someone or use an existing employee(s) to do it? Do you need to enlist someone outside the company to maintain it? Whichever you choose, make sure it also fits within your time and budget constraints.

4)     Make sure it works in conjunction with your existing marketing strategy and not against it. Make sure you’re delivering the same message across all channels. Social Media should not be a stand alone marketing vehicle. Incorporate your strategy with what you’re currently doing, that includes your existing web page. Social Media is great vehicle for driving traffic to your website. Make sure your web page is ready to handle the extra traffic.

5)     Engage in conversations with your audience, don’t just tell them how great you are. Do not be a constant self-promoter. Speak with them – not at them. This is your opportunity to talk directly with your customers. Find out what they’re saying about you and what they want and expect from you. If they say how great you are, thank them. If they say something negative, address it – immediately! Build relationships on a personal level. People are more likely to do business with some one they know and have a relationship.

6)     Don’t let it slack. Stay current with it. Maintain the campaign. Always be involved. Always gives your customers something new to read, engage in, or be a part of. Keep them involved and wanting to come back for more. Imagine if you were having a conversation with someone and they walked away right in the middle just as it was getting interesting. Don’t walk away from the conversation. Stay engaged.

7)     Measure your results. Pick your main areas of focus and check them constantly to measure the campaign’s success and ROI. For example:

• Lead conversion: What percentage of leads converted to sales and at what cost
• Lead Generation: How many qualified leads can be traced back to your Social Media efforts
• Brand awareness: How much of your business is now repeat business

Stay on top of how your efforts are working and adjust them accordingly to make sure you’re meeting your goals. Always be checking your progress. If it’s not broken, certainly don’t fix it. But always be ready to adjust it when something does appear to stop working.