If you are like many people, you have at least one social media profile. Chances are you are linked to a co-worker or maybe even your boss. Even though that profile may be a personal one, be careful what you post on those profiles. It could get you fired, or cost you a job that you are trying to get. A couple of examples are highlighted in this CNN Money brief.
How do you prevent this? Don't post anything that you wouldn't want your boss to see. You can also put high security settings on all of your personal profiles, where you can control how much people can see based on whether you are friends with them or linked to them. Chew on this: a study conducted by Proofpoint of 1,000+ employee companies, found that 17% of those companies reported having social media usage issues with their employees and 8% had fired employees for inappropriate use of social media.
Be especially careful of your venting venue if you value your job.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Social Media - Options
What are some social media options that you can use to engage your clients and customers? Let's start off with the Big Three: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
After co-teaching a local "how to" social media seminar, the most frequent question had to do with what other people can see. In this digital age, information is readily available to anyone with an internet connection. If you're concerned about what others might learn about you, Google yourself. If you have a fairly common name, add your city after your name. What did you learn about yourself? Is that information you want others to see?
- Facebook is a place to connect with friends and family. It could be a useful tool for your consumable product and/or customer service. Suggested security level: high.
- LinkedIn is the professional version of Facebook where you can highlight your company as well as yourself. Suggested security level: low to medium.
- Twitter is a way to spread up-to-the-second information in 140 characters or less. Suggested security level: low.
After co-teaching a local "how to" social media seminar, the most frequent question had to do with what other people can see. In this digital age, information is readily available to anyone with an internet connection. If you're concerned about what others might learn about you, Google yourself. If you have a fairly common name, add your city after your name. What did you learn about yourself? Is that information you want others to see?
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Email vs. Mail
Everyday we're inundated with hundreds of messages, from advertising to email to mail. In our current culture we expect to receive information instantly, so email is typically the most frequent form of communication that we use today. When you're trying to get in front of clients with a specific message, consider using good old fashion snail mail. Why? Think about the amount of mail you get compared with the amount of email receive. Snail mail competes with other snail mail less because of the lower amount that you receive. On the other hand, your email marketing will have a harder time grabbing your clients' attention because of the amount of competition.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Cha-Ching! Save Money in 2010
Last entry I wrote about making a professional New Year's Resolution. Did your New Year's Resolution overlap with one of your business goals for this year? What?!! You didn't make business goals for this year? Shame on you! At least it's still January. Back to my point, most likely your New Year's Resolution aligns with one of your business goals for your one, three, five or ten year plan. Specific to your short-term goals, I'm willing to bet that a common theme is money. How to spend less and how to get more. Let's focus on how to spend less. Here are a few tips in how to spend less:
- Track your spending. Sounds simple enough, but do you track your expenses online and/or through receipts? Sometimes by just looking at everything you spend on a regular basis (think monthly), you can see where you are unnecessarily spending. Also, sticking to a budget that you review once every six months can help you track your spending as well. You do have a budget right?
- Don't pay full price. This can be applied to many situations including your office supplies. Need to replace your printer/scanner/copier? Check out online electronics supplier Newegg.com for cheaper-than-retail prices or with the manufacturer for refurbished items. Also, if part of your business requires you to purchase books or other media, make sure to check out Half.com or Amazon.com for incredibly cheap prices.
- Be smarter about entertaining your clients. It may be harder to stop what you're doing during the day to meet a client for lunch, but it will be a lot easier on your wallet. Lunch menus are considerably cheaper than their dinner counterparts, plus there's less chance of having a drink with that steak during lunch hours. Beers and other drinks can really add up quickly too.
- Utilize guerilla marketing/advertising/PR. This includes social media! Are you getting the results you anticipated with your latest direct mail campaign? Have you tried the low-cost guerilla marketing tool social media? (Yes, in most cases, you can access a plethora of online social media tools for free, however it takes time to create and maintain your profiles. For a small business owner, time is money.) Make sure you're signed up on LinkedIn and use the Groups and Answers area on this site. This will help get your name out and help demonstrate (in Answers) that you're an expert in your field of practice.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Professional New Year's Resolution
Happy New Year! As you're enjoying your first few days of 2010, it's time to think about New Year's Resolutions. A personal resolution isn't the only resolution you should think about. My professional New Year's Resolution for 2010 is to attend at least one networking event per month. Networking is part of the foundation in building solid relationships with your clients. Plus, you never know what information or connections your contacts have that you can leverage in connecting with your clients and future clients.
What is your professional New Year's Resolution for 2010?
What is your professional New Year's Resolution for 2010?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
"Holiday" Cards
Although you may celebrate Christmas, along with nearly 75 percent of Americans, does that mean your clients do too? Holiday card givers generally take one of two stances: they give Christmas cards because that's the holiday they celebrate or they give "holiday" cards to make sure that nobody is offended. Many choose the latter.
Of course there is a third option: don't send anything at all. This is not a great option because you should be looking at the holiday season as another opportunity to contact your clients for a positive reason. Holiday cards are not the only option when sending well wishes this holiday season. Here are some other options:
Don't forget to recycle all the holiday cards you receive as well. The St. Jude's Children's Ranch recycles old greeting cards (not just the holiday variety), re-purposes them, and sells them to raise money. Go here for more information.
Of course there is a third option: don't send anything at all. This is not a great option because you should be looking at the holiday season as another opportunity to contact your clients for a positive reason. Holiday cards are not the only option when sending well wishes this holiday season. Here are some other options:
- Send an e-card. This can be something as simple as a jpg sent in an email or you can utilize a free websites that creates the e-card for you.
- Donate to a local charity in your client's name. There are many worthy charities local to your client that accept donations of all sizes.
- Send your client a branded promotional item that will end up being used. For example, if you're a tow truck service you could give your clients an emergency vehicle kit with your logo on it and contact information.
- Take one or two of your employees and dress up in season garb to give happy holiday wishes in person. Now that's memorable!
Don't forget to recycle all the holiday cards you receive as well. The St. Jude's Children's Ranch recycles old greeting cards (not just the holiday variety), re-purposes them, and sells them to raise money. Go here for more information.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Network, network, network
The idea of networking is something you should think of as 'a free way to promote your business and its products or services.' Every person you come in contact with could be a potential customer, distributor, supplier, etc. Or, that person could link you to someone that could help your business along in some aspect. Here are a few ways that you can make sure to make the most of your encounters with people who are going to help your business.
1. Don't be afraid to talk to people about your business. You have to get in the mindset that people will benefit from hearing about the products or services that would be useful to them. Even if you're shy or don't enjoy talking to strangers, you must be confident to talk about your business.
2. Always carry around business cards in your purse or wallet. You would be surprised how many business cards you could pass out in so many different situations. Producing a business card to strangers will also help in the event that you are afraid to talk about your business. Business cards also help give you credibility, among other things.
3. Make sure that every family member, friend, neighbor, etc. knows about your business. The topic of your business will be easy to talk about, especially when you're chatting about 'what is new.' When other people know and understand your business' products and services, then they are likely to talk to other people about it. Case in point: I have a friend whom I discussed my business with during lunch one week. The next time I had lunch with her, she told me about three people that would benefit from my services. That's three leads from just telling her what was going on in my life; my business!
These are just some simple things that you should be aware of and take advantage of, especially when these tactics are virtually free and could reap you enormous benefits.
1. Don't be afraid to talk to people about your business. You have to get in the mindset that people will benefit from hearing about the products or services that would be useful to them. Even if you're shy or don't enjoy talking to strangers, you must be confident to talk about your business.
2. Always carry around business cards in your purse or wallet. You would be surprised how many business cards you could pass out in so many different situations. Producing a business card to strangers will also help in the event that you are afraid to talk about your business. Business cards also help give you credibility, among other things.
3. Make sure that every family member, friend, neighbor, etc. knows about your business. The topic of your business will be easy to talk about, especially when you're chatting about 'what is new.' When other people know and understand your business' products and services, then they are likely to talk to other people about it. Case in point: I have a friend whom I discussed my business with during lunch one week. The next time I had lunch with her, she told me about three people that would benefit from my services. That's three leads from just telling her what was going on in my life; my business!
These are just some simple things that you should be aware of and take advantage of, especially when these tactics are virtually free and could reap you enormous benefits.
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