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Entrepreneurial Marketing
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- WEEKS 6-9 - PROJECT OR CONTINUE WITH PREVIOUS WORK Thu, 2011-03-31 01:53
- Course admin msgs Fri, 2011-03-25 02:22
- ** NEED YOUR HELP ** Mon, 2011-03-21 21:17
- WEEK 5 - Social media (and webinar tools) Thu, 2011-03-17 18:30
- WEEK 3 - Your enterprise's web presence Wed, 2011-03-16 01:11
WEEK 5 - Social media (and webinar tools)
It's Week 5 and the LAST of our new topics -- social media. Below are the assignment options for this week.
Also, several people have expressed an interest in webinar tools (both as a communication tool for this course as well as for our own marketing/commuication uses) so I thought that we might try one or more of them out for one of our upcoming chats. I am trying to set something up for our Tues. March 1 chat. If you are interested, plan on attending. Also if you have a webinar tool that you use (such as Elluminate, Adobe Connect, Big Blue Button, TalkShoe, etc.) and would like to demo it and host a chat there, that would be great.
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Make-your-own-case-study - Find an enterprise that is doing a great job of using social media to market. Write a short post here that includes:
- A link to the enterprise and their social media page(s)
- What you like about it
- What lessons we all can apply to our own enterprises
- Choose an enterprise that you love as a consumer/evangelist and do some marketing for them (Write an online review. Rate them on Google maps. Like and/or add something to their FB page. Follow them on Twitter. Spread the word to others.) Write a short post about what you did here.
- (Optional) Explore a social media tool that you aren't already familiar with but that might have applicability to your enterprise. Develop a strategy for using this tool, and if it makes sense, set up an account and get started. (Note: This could be expanded into your final project.)
1.) Mix (retail store. Ypsilanti, Mi.)
Like the following things:
It shows merchandise in the main stream of content. It's a second-hand vintage, specialty store. (Antique jewelry and accessories, clothes, home decor, etc.), so this works well--there's always new stuff to show and checking the facebook page allows customers to see what's new at the store.
Customers are involved in the page because they can comment on the merchandise they see (and they do) and they can ask questions. Sometimes the store runs a photo of a customer in an outfit they bought or decided to try on.
The page is interesting to follow because they'll post news about what going on in their general area (a couple of blocks surrounding the store downtown); for example if a new store opens, or an event takes place on the weekend. When the city put pianos on the sidewalk, to promote the downtown, one of the ladies at this store posted some photos of people jamming, and that's how I found out about the pianos.
They also post information about sales and about events that take place in the store, after hours.
I like the numerous photos of merchandise and of the inside of the store.
Things that could improve:
The store could do a better job of recruiting friends on facebook.
I don't like a couple of recent posts that don't relate to the store, its customers or the neighborhood. (About what a friend is, and so forth.) I don't know where those came from, but I usually delete emails with that kind of junk.
I've noticed that prices are usually not shown with pictures of merchandise. I think at a second-hand, vintage or consignment shop the prices is going to be important for some people.
The page needs more photos of customers. Those photos allow you to see what merchandise looks when someone is wearing it. Also would build a facebook community among the people who shop at the store.
I had fun today updating some local businesses on Google Maps and adding reviews there and elsewhere. Everyone should do this for their own business!
I also wrote a review for NaNoWriMo (and office of Letters and Light) here: http://bit.ly/ollguidestar NaNo does a great job with social media.
Another fav of mine for writing is Writing.com. Great social site. Excellent use of FB and Twitter.com. Content is always engaging and never seems intrusive.
For my own social media stuff, I have been doing a huge social media campaign for a conference the last few months. Next week is the "main event" so if I'm not on p2pu as much, you'll know why. As a part of this project, I've learned a lot about tools like TweetDeck, better marketing via FB, and content creation. I am also loving UStream.
Post-It Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/postit?ref=ts
I started following Post-It on Facebook just for a marketing example when I was setting up the Facebook page for the last company I worked with. I really love how out-of-the-box they are with their posts. They find really creative ways people have used their product and they post it as entertainment and inspiration. Like how to organize your junk drawer, cars covered with bizarre things including post-it notes, games to play made from post-its, art made with post-its, etc.
I would hope that we can all be as creative with social media; it’s not all about “we have a sale on blahhhh…” Also, I hope that our products and services get adapted or “hacked” a little and that we can embrace that and share that with other people to be further embraced, customized and improved. Bottom line is interesting, quality content on social media, things that make people want to keep coming back to see what’s new.
I really like TED Talks, I posted a couple posts on my Facebook profile about how I love the organization and I linked to a video that I really liked. I also rated a restaurant I was at recently on google maps (Bin on the Lake in Kirkland, WA – Great place!).
1: the99percent.com
This first is an amazing resource to any entrepreneur full of great advise from creatives. They are all about connecting. Right off the bat they use multiple avenues to keep you informed. From twitt to Facebook as well as several others. At the end of each post they end it with a question asking for your input. And have built in response capabilities right in the blog for likes and sharing. They've maxed out the social media capabilities.
2: action method online. I have already taught action method to multiple companies as well as employees it as my main project he management goto site. It's built for the creative. And as an entrepreneur, it's the best resource I've found and many levels.
It's not your typical project management resource. Typically project management applications, well overwhelm you. Sharing everything with you, you get lost in all that's happening.
Action method online.com is the best! Check it out!
3: I googled best new social media and found this article.
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/22-hot-new-social-media-tools-worth-e...
I picked http://skitch.com
Honestly not impressed. You can take scene shots and share them, or upload pictures. You have followers and followees, just like twitter. I don't see a lot of use for this, but hey, I did my home work lol :)
I checked out polldaddy.com, which is hosted by the same people who do Wordpress.com.
I think posting a link to a poll on facebook annoyed as many people as it interested. Ultimately only a handful of people followed the link. Not sure if this will incorporate well with social media marketing. Maybe it's okay to embed in a blog that already has a lot of traffic.
I found a couple of other writers who use social media for promotion. Jack Lessenberry, a columnist for Detroit MetroTimes (and chair of the journalism department at Wayne State University) has about 3,000 followers on Facebook. A poet names M.L. Leibler has a similar number of followers. They are both well-known writers, regionally, and they use the site to promote their respective publications. Leibler uses it to announce the time and place of his readings and of political protests where he supports the cause.
Here are their facebook pages:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/M.L.Liebler
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=513063784
After examining these, I found Susan Orlean on Twitter. She's been a columnist for the New Yorker for 10 or 15 years, and she is the author of eight books, including "The Orchid Thief" which inspired the Charlie Kaufman movie called "Adaptation."
Susan Orlean has more than 116,000 followers on Twitter and 3,880 friends on Facebook. She uses social media to post interesting short comments that are interesting in and of themselves, and that don't even necessarily mention that her books are for sale. She also has a personal web page with links to the books currently for sale. The web page has a field where you can sign up for an email bulletin, but that feature is apparently not working (although I like the idea). This personal site contains a lot of information about Susan Orleans, but doesn't contain new writing. Her columns for The New Yorker can be read at the magazine's web site.
Susan Orlean's arrangement of social media to help people stay in touch and follow her writing is about what I want to accomplish (on a smaller scale) with my own work. She's interesting to read on Twitter and facebook, even if you never intend to buy a book or go to her Website. But if you want to read more, you can. You can read some of her writing for free online, and then if you want to own it, you can buy a book.
Here are Susan Orlean's social media links (facebook/twitter/web page):
http://www.facebook.com/#!/susan.orlean
http://twitter.com/#!/susanorlean
http://www.susanorlean.com/
Here's a link to a web article about Susan Orlean and her use of Twitter.
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/09/twitter-queen-susan-orlean-on-the-mini-...
It will be interesting to see how her next book does, because she's been updating followers on Twitter about her progress with finishing the manuscript and working with editors. It's a biography of Rin Tin Tin.
Planning to use a similar mix, except I have learned how to edit photos and video, so I plan to put those in the mix, too. I have accounts on YouTube and Flickr.
I did a review on Yelp of my favorite bookstore in Hayward (the one I started buying from when I was in college a long time ago). I think what I'll do next is see if I can make a YouTube video, to give them some unique marketing and sort of an edge on the other bookstores.
For anyone who's interested, here's a post about the tools used and lessons learned in a large social media project I just completed:
http://www.k12opened.com/blog/archives/454