It never fails. At least once a year, someone sitting around the after-dinner table throws out the old “what would you do if you won the lottery?” question.  Sigh. I hate that question! I hate it because I can’t help but ponder my life, where it’s going and what I’ve got to show for it so far… and it’s not that dreaming kind of ponder, it’s that ridiculous “oh ya right!” kind of pondering.

This time was different.

This time the question came around to “If money was not an issue what kind of work would you choose?”  I didn’t even have to think about it. You will think I’m being cheesy but this is the absolute truth: I would do exactly what I am doing right now. 90% of my time is spent on one client, The South Willamette Wineries Association. I love wine marketing and PR! It’s a romantic, sexy brand that is easy to sell, it’s a complicated and interesting business (I have so much to learn) and the people in our valley who own these beautiful properties are down-to-earth, passionate, friendly folks who are truly a pleasure to be around.The other 10% of my time is spent coaching and helping small businesses here in Eugene – mostly with social media but also with good old fashioned guerrilla marketing. Love it.

So for once, “that” lottery question did not leave me feeling forlorn and defeated.

What would you do for work if money was not an issue??

Turns out brevity is in….who knew? I’ve been too busy to write a meaningful post so I just disappeared for a time – a big bad blogging no-no!

I met Chris Brogan last week at the 2010 Communication Conference in Portland and, although I learned more than just this golden nugget, I did write this down - “Brevity! Text with value”

Wow – what freedom, permission to be brief!  – from one of my favorite bloggers, no less!

So here we go – “texting with value” – determining what consitutes “value” can be elusive…My “winery” followers will find value in knowing when a new release from one of our South Willamette Wineries is rolling out. A Social Media Markerter will find value in a report on the conference, perhaps…and my closer acquaintances/friends seem to enjoy my more personal posts and anecdotes….

Today I am going to write about “growing bigger ears” (another classic “Broganian”). We all need bigger and BETTER ears! I’m in the process of learning an extremely painful lesson right now. I’ve just discovered why my 18 year old daughter thinks I don’t “listen” to her. Our relationship has suffered some deep wounds due to communication issues.  How ironic, and tragic, since I’m in the communication business!  I realized that I had the wrong filters turned on when trying to communicate with my daughter. I listen with my “mom” filters – my “48 year old” filters and my “female” filters….So when I respond I do so with concern, advice, etc – not what she needs or wants. I have to find a way to listen to her (and HEAR what she is saying) without those filters….A tall order to be sure but I am committed to trying.

What are your filters?

Are you a parent? How old are you? What sex are you? What’s your position – friend? colleague? lover?

All of those things will skew the way the information is received – do you agree?

I’m growing bigger, and better ears – Any advice?

I love to network – online and in person! It’s where most of my marketing efforts are directed. Some say that “networking” is my middle name….I was born to do it. It works out well for me (I’m just a wee tad social) and my business. Here I am at a very young age networking (negotiating) during a carpooling session:

Click here to view the embedded video.

OK, so that’s not me…and that’s the exact OPPOSITE way you should approach networking (super cute though, huh?).

Will it work for you?

I say YES! Absolutely! If you are a small business with a small budget for marketing/advertising then you had better brush up  on your social skills…Networking is fun but it’s also WORK! It means showing up frequently, consistently, with a professional image and with your “active listening” ears on! It means becoming a source of support to your fellow business networkers. It means, more than anything, becoming a valued part of a community that is both local and online.

Here are my ten tips on successful and meaningful networking:

1. Be authentic! Be yourself! Be genuine! In a small business community we do business with people we know and trust. We want to help and support those who share common interests and ideas. We LOVE to do business with people who seem to genuinely want to help us too.

2. When you meet people with like interests and business goals, ask them which groups they find valuable. Some groups are more about professional development and some are the “good ole’ boys” weekly breakfast. Make sure the time you spend is worth it. OR, if you don’t find the right group do what I did and make up your own – I created Fridays at Five a year and a half ago. You can do it too!

3. Always start with “Tell me about your business”….even if they ask you first. Then when they ask you about yours say “No, tell me more about you – how can I help you??”. Only when you’ve exhausted all avenues of potential support do you hand your card. Ask open ended questions which opens up the discussion and shows people that you are interested in them.

4. Have a clear understanding of what you do and what sets you apart. I can’t tell you how many people I run into that are at networking events and cannot articulate what it is they do in such a way that causes me to say “really? Tell me more”. DON’T, however, fall into the cheese trap and say something like “I offer solutions to people who are looking to make all of their dreams come true”. You lost me. Goodbye.

5. When asking for referrals BE SPECIFIC! Don’t tell me “A good referral for me is anyone who would like to save money”. Yawn. We live in Eugene, Oregon so if you’ve been cold calling, say…Rusty Rexius and can’t get a call back – ASK FOR THAT! One of us is going to know him or his neighbor (or his wife’s yoga teacher…or…). I can’t tell you how many times this has worked at Fridays at Five.

6. Follow through quickly and efficiently on referrals you are given.  When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them. Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.

7. Follow up with a personal phone call or a hand-written note to those who may benefit from your product or service. Thank them for taking some time out to speak with you and let them know that it was a joy meeting them. Common courtesy goes a long way in the electronic mail age!

8. Volunteer for the organization. Great way to give back to those groups that have helped you!

9. Help promote the group. It benefits the memebers as well as you! More the merrier! Promote gatherings on Facebook and Twitter.

Which bring s me to online networking, or Social Media Networking. Click here for a previous post on that subject. (more to come!)

Cheers!

I found this fascinating quote today:

The more comfortable we get about the idea of measuring social media, the more we want to dig into the practical application of it. So I wanted to pen a series that puts a little more hands-on thinking to the practice and process of measuring and analyzing social media.altitudebranding.com, Practical Social Media Measurement: A New Series, Jan 2010

You should read the whole article.

Every day I hear objections from my small business clients about social media from “It will take too much time” to “It’s a fad, right?” (wrong!). This morning I came across a really great post by Nick Shin (Marketwire). Here are Nick’s 30 typical objections and the responses to those objections

1. Why should I? I don’t need to. Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean I have to.
   • Getting involved in social media allows you to be more engaged with your current and potential clients.  The word “transparency” was probably 2009’s most cliched word used to describe social media, but it’s true.  Social media allows companies to have a voice and to show the public that your company is willing to listen and garner unsolicited feedback.  Social media also allows your company to provide that extra customer service option outside of the traditional email and phone outlets.
2. Fear of change; I’m going to stick to what works for our business; we’ve been fine without it
   • I won’t quote the 100’s of statistics and studies that prove social media isn’t just a fad.  Instead, the best way to argue against this is to consider it.  If you don’t give social media a chance, aren’t you afraid of the missed opportunity in lead generation or cost savings social media can offer?  The business/marketing world continues to evolve and many companies are re-inventing themselves as innovative by their usage of social media.  Think Ford.  The fact that fortune 50 companies are embracing social media should be enough to warrant consideration.
3. It costs too much
   • Contrary to popular belief, social media is NOT free.  There is time investment involved and you will not see the impact social media will have on your company right away.  However, it’s important to consider that revenue should be viewed as equally as cost savings.  It can save a company money by reducing customer service outlets as well as reducing the cost of marketing campaigns.  For those relying heavily on direct mail, try testing a social media campaign where you only invest time/money spreading the word online.
4. I’m in no hurry
   • Fair enough, but maybe your competitors are.  It’s about missed opportunities.  Look at all the Fortune 500 companies (Walmart, Dell, Bank of America, General Motors, to name a few) that lost out on their name on Twitter before it exploded into a phenomenon.
5. I have no desire
   • No one is forcing anyone to use social media, but there are very convincing reasons why businesses should use social media.
6. It will require too many resources within our company
   • Just like any other marketing campaign, social media will require resources.  In order to debunk this objection, you have to look at the reasons why social media benefits your company – missed opportunity, cost savings, lead generation, etc.  Focus your social media strategy on what you want to accomplish through goals, objectives, and success metrics.
7. I’m worried about the legal ramifications/regulatory issues
   • This objection can be overcome by drafting a social media policy that clearly outlines the responsibility of using social media as it relates to legal and regulatory issues.
8. It’s too risky; we’re better off doing nothing
   • The only risk that I see is the risk of doing nothing.  Do you really want to risk letting your competitors take over the opportunities you are missing?  Do you not care what customers (and competitors) are saying about you online?  Monitor and engage to offset that risk.
9. You can’t measure it; social media results are not easily visible to non-users
   • We all love the term ROI.  Social media ROI involves more in depth analysis than traditional stats.  Here are my favorite presentations of social media ROI – Basics of Social Media ROI and Social Media ROI by Socialnomics
10. We give up too much to the customer; privacy issues
    • This is a valid objection as I understand that in some industries, there are client privileges or at least want to avoid showing favoritism.  The key point to remember is that you are voluntarily participating in social media meaning you can control what you put out to the public.   If you are in the position where revealing certain aspects of your company is against the rules, then develop a social media policy.  Clearly state the roles and responsibilities for those participating in social media on behalf AND outside of the company.  The latter is extremely important because it requires a level of trust with your employees.
11. We won’t make any money/no ROI potential; it will take too long to pay off
    • I’ll be the first to say, from personal experience, that social media will not have an immediate financial impact, but it will have an immediate impact on brand recognition.  Social media takes time and energy, but what successful venture doesn’t require time and energy?  Don’t just think about the revenue that is generated, but also the cost savings involved.  Look at the traffic your website is getting due to your social media efforts.  Are you noticing more positive mentions?  It’s all part of the benefits of social media.
12. We can’t control the message
    • Social media is the voice of the customer and a channel that is influenced by the customer.  By taking part in social media, you can start to monitor conversations about your brand and competitors.  People will say whatever they want about your company whether you like it or not, but isn’t it better to know what they are saying rather than standing on the sidelines and not knowing?  It feels like a common sense business practice to monitor, engage, and understand the situation.  In reality, social media actually gives you MORE control over the message.  An example: a customer starts badmouthing your company because of outdated pricing information on a website.  [Scenario 1]-not participating in social media results in you never knowing so this bad testimonial spreads (which you don’t know about).  [Scenario 2]-by participating in social media, you can reach out to the dissatisfied customer, ask where they got the information, correct the issue with IT due to this customer’s feedback, and explain the situation to the customer.  More likely than not, that customer will thank you for the correction, correcting any negative misconceptions about the company.
13. We want to control the message
    • What you can control is your engagement with the public and how you respond to comments.  What you can’t control is what is being said about your company.  Participating in social media gives you more control.
14. It will take too long to implement
    • Social media does not take long to implement, however, it’s important to spend time creating a social media strategy to understand goals, objectives, success metrics, and plan of action.  Social media is a time investment and you will not see results overnight.  It takes time and commitment.  If you tackle social media half-assed, you are wasting your time.
15. It’s just a blog, Twitter and Facebook- What’s that going to do?
    • Social media does the following: SEO, increase in traffic, lead generation, increased customer service satisfaction, brand management, customer engagement, acts as a focus group, cost savings, on and on and on and on…
16. Our customers are not on social networks/don’t use social media; Not our target market
    • This is just a bad excuse.  You will be surprised to see how many of your customers and potential customers are using social media.  You know what they say about assumptions right?  The most useful social networking sites are meant for the general audience.
17. It’s too complicated; we don’t know the first thing about social media
    • There are many tutorials available on the web that will help you get started in the world of social media.  For PR and marketing professionals, check out Marketwire’s Social Media Fitness Program.  I am also here to help answer any online marketing questions as are the thousands of social media “experts”.
18. We can’t control our employees using it
    • Believe it or not, your employees are using social media.  So no, you can’t control whether your employees use it outside of work.  What you can control, however, is allowing your employees to use social media in the workplace and setting strict guidelines for writing about the company’s products, service, clients, etc.  If you are concerned about employee usage, I recommend that you develop a social media policy that outlines usage terms and responsibilities of using social media.
19. We’re B2B so there is no reason for us to engage consumers
    • The great thing about social media?  It doesn’t discriminate.  Social media works just as great for B2B as it does for B2c.  In some cases, B2B is all the more reason to participate in social media.  Read Brian Solis’ post on B2B and B2C Engagement by the Numbers.
20. Don’t want to acknowledge negatives
    • With the global acceptance of social media across all types of businesses and industries, negative comments will happen whether you want it to or not.  The power of social media is in the public, i.e., the users.  It gives your customers and potential customers a voice they didn’t have before.  Negative comments is inevitable so instead of ignoring it, embrace this opportunity to reach out as needed.  The missed opportunity is to let it happen behind your back.  You will be surprised to find out that many negative comments are based on inaccurate information.  In addition this type of feedback can lead to improved business processes or product/service enhancements.  The power to influence is extremely powerful.  You don’t have to respond to every negative mention, but at least follow the conversation.
21. Don’t have time to adapt to the technology
    • If you don’t adapt to new technology, you will become obsolete or fall behind your competitors to the point of extinction.  Embracing social media is viewed as an innovative new approach to marketing, PR, customer service, R&D, etc.  If you hear this particular objection, perhaps it’s time to start thinking about joining a new company.
22. There is too much meaningless discussions online; no trust
    • Very true, but luckily there is a filter for all that noise.  You can monitor from whom you want to listen and what you want to listen to whether it is your brand, related keywords, competitors or a select group of followers.  The great thing about social media is the ability to engage with your audience.  Spark a conversation by asking a simple question or join a Twitter chat where other users tweet about similar tastes.  If you are reactive to the conversations that are happening online, you will only see meaningless tweets.  Instead, be proactive and spark those conversations.  There are more than enough users willing to discuss subjects that matter to you.
23. Lack of expertise
    • Social media continues to develop and everyone is still learning.   My advice is to experience social media yourself because nothing beats experience.  You can read all the articles you want and listen to all these “experts” talk about social media, but these should be used as guidelines only.  Your own experience will determine how you use and benefit from social media, no one else.
24. We already do social networking, we have a facebook fan page.
    • That’s a great 5th step, but what are you doing with that fan page?  Social media not just about setting up a fan page or setting up an account; it is so much more than that.  Develop a social media strategy to understand your goals, objectives, and how you are going to measure your success.  You can’t just create a fan page or Twitter account, snap your fingers, and poof, you do social networking.   In order to really “do social networking”, provide useful links to industry related articles, don’t sell your product/service, engage and participate in conversations, don’t sell, offer any help whether they are your current clients or prospects, and listen.
25. We’re waiting for it to mature
    • If you want to risk doing nothing and waiting for your competitors to jump ahead, fair enough.  How do you define a site being “mature” anyway?  Check out these social media statistics.
26. We tried it and it didn’t work.
    • Trying is good until I ask these type of questions:  how long did you “try” social media?  Did you have a strategy in place?  What did the strategy consist of?  How did you measure success? What were your goals and objectives?  What gave you the conclusion that social media did not work?  What results from social media would you have considered a success?  What process did you go through when participating in social media?
27. It doesn’t fit the company’s brand.
    • The most useful social networking sites are meant for the general public with no preference to any type of brand or industry.  Social media is not a fad and is starting to become a best practice for PR, marketing, customer service, business development etc.   What is important to consider is your company culture.  I truly believe that your company culture is reflected in whatever social media participation you do.  Whether you’re in a bland industry or not, your brand will come out shining.
28. We can’t convince upper management/management doesn’t support it
    
    • If it comes time to present your case to upper management, you will likely encounter more than a couple of these objections.  You may also want to take a look at my post about how to convince and sell social media to your boss.
29. I suffer from information overload so I don’t need anymore.
    • Social media can certainly be overwhelming at first especially if you believe in any of these objections.  Don’t just jump into social media and think you are ready.  Take it in stride.  Set goals and monthly expectations.  Information overload will only continue to grow and you do not want to fall behind.  It’s also inevitable.  Technology continues to change and improve the way we obtain information.
30. We’ll stick with traditional media
    
    • Traditional media outlets are also using social media.  In early 2009, CNN purchased a Twitter account that had nearly 1MM followers at that time (it now has almost tripled that amount of followers).

“ Knowing what people are buying will make you a living. Knowing why they’re buying will make you rich.” Stephen Pierce

I meet with small business owners everyday who want to know if they should tweet, or Facebook or YouTube or….and the answer is usually a resounding yes! However, NEVER without a plan. Examine your goals and objectives – even your vision (you DO have a vision statement, don’t you??) before you even get your toes wet…Have some idea of your purpose in the SMM world. Have a measurable goal too – just like you do for your marketing plan (you DO have a marketing plan, don’t you??).

by Rich Brooks  President, flyte new media :

Whether you’re an early adopter or finally fell victim to the hype, there’s a moment after you’ve gotten on Twitter or set up your company’s Facebook page where you ask yourself, “now what?” If you find yourself at that point, you may have already skipped a couple of essential steps to building a social media campaign that will grow your business or non-profit. If you’re looking to create a sustainable, effective social media presence, then follow these five steps to social media marketing success.

1. Clarify Your Business Goals. Getting on Twitter is not a goal, it’s a tactic. What are your goals for the coming year? Is it to grow by 20%? Bring a new product to market? Increase donations to your non-profit? Without specific goals you’re shooting arrows in a fog.

2. Outline Your Strategies. Remember: strategies are the forest, tactics are the trees; when evaluating strategies think big picture.

If you’re trying to promote something, one strategy might be to get influencers talking about it. If you’re bringing a new product to market your strategy may be to educate people about why they need it, and what more expensive product or service it’s replacing. For a non-profit looking to increase donations, your strategy may be to tell stories that personalize the troubles your organization solves.

3. Determine Your Tactics. Here’s where you determine whether a Twitter account, Facebook Fan Page, or YouTube channel will be most effective.

One thing to keep in mind when prioritizing your social media campaigns is that you want to go where your audience is. B2B companies might get the most traction by getting involved in LinkedIn, either by joining appropriate groups, creating their own to attract new clients, or answering questions in the Answers section to establish their expertise. They may also choose to encourage their employees to get on LinkedIn and build out their profiles to give the company a wider reach.

Companies that have products that don’t necessarily scream for social media engagement might instead try creating valuable content. Performing a keyword analysis to determine what effective search terms might be, and creating blog posts, podcasts and videos around those phrases can be help increase online visibility, search engine ranking and drive more qualified leads to the Web site.

4. Plan Your Execution. Joining social media sites may be free, but social media does have a cost. Whether you hire an outside social media consultant or task one or more employees for the work, there is a cost.

Some questions to ask are:

• Do you (and your staff) have the skills inhouse to launch an effective, sustained campaign?
• How will you handle negative comments and feedback?
• Which (or perhaps whether) employees can play in social media spaces on behalf of the company?
• If you do hire a consultant, what will their role be? Will they tweet for you? Engage your fans on Facebook or forward leads to your sales team? Will they get you going, or will you enter into an ongoing engagement with them?

5. Measure Your Results. Social media is fairly new, and some hard numbers on its effectiveness–or even what to measure–are difficult to come by. Here are some suggestions on how you can measure the ROI on any social media campaign:

• Don’t discount soft numbers. The number of followers you have on Twitter (especially in relation to how many people you follow on Twitter), the number of fans on Facebook, and your subscribers on YouTube are all “soft numbers.” None of these directly increases your revenues. However, they do represent “social proof.” Just like when someone steps out of a limo wearing a stylish tuxedo, there’s a certain amount of social proof that this person has “made it.” (And like that example, these numbers can be artificially influenced.)
• Measure hard numbers. If you’re tasked with showing your boss that tweeting matters, you’re probably going to have to show her more than just the number of followers you have.If you get business or sales through your Web site, you can look at your traffic reports to see where your traffic is coming from. At flyte, most of our recent “referrers” are from blogs or social media sites. That means that our blogging and social media activity is directly increasing the qualified leads from our Web site.You can dig even deeper by setting up Google Analytic goals and measure whether or not this traffic is taking desired actions on your site, like completing a contact form or purchasing a product.By using URL-shorteners like bit.ly you can easily track specific traffic to different campaigns to see whether it was your blog post, your online video or the link you posted to Twitter that brought in that big new client.

In Conclusion
When businesses hear stories about Blendtec’s viral video success, or Dell selling millions of dollars in product through Twitter, they assume social media is a get rich quick scheme, for better and worse.

However, for most of us, social media is an investment in our future success. It takes planning, hard work and a results-oriented focus to work. It doesn’t happen overnight, but rather like a snowball rolling downhill, it builds momentum over time.

Rich Brooks is president of flyte new media, a Web design and Internet marketing company http://www.flyte.biz . They help small businesses with search engine optimization, email marketing, blogging and social media marketing. You can contact them for a free consult at http://www.flyte.biz/contact

I am so inspired by my fabulous mom/women pals who toil away everyday both at work and at home. This post is to honor their 90 hour weeks, senses of humor, hilarious anecdotes, nurturing spirits and all around awesomeness!

Some of my heroes are:

Cybele Ryan, mother of three, restaurant manager and best friend to Jeff (Ryan). This woman has weathered unimaginable storms over the last 20 years – always holding onto her humor strength and integrity. The loss of her son inspired her to reach out to other parents suffering that immeasurable grief (HAND). Raising 3 daughters has been mostly joyful interspersed with frustration and downright agony (I can SO relate). Cybele is a writer, an artist, a thoughtful listener, and engaged activist – she is truly the whole package! Cybele and I have been brownie troop leaders together, Bobby Sox moms, soccer moms  – and even had our daughters 9 hours apart (AND named them both Taylor…story for another day). One of my favorite memories was 8 years ago when we threw the girls a double B-day party – SPICE GIRLS!!! Cybele’s mom had a direct connection to Emma Bunton (baby spice) and Emma was nice enough to call the girls during the party from London. Pretty cool!

Stephanie Griffin, mother of two and, as a matter of fact, yes she is a rocket scientist! An engineer at Lockheed Martin, Stephanie’s career is admirable and important. Along with that full time gig she never misses a basketball game (has the hotel thing down to a science) for her immensely talented basketball star of a kid, Kayla (NCAA Cal Poly Mustangs) – even during tax season when hubby John is MIA (yep, tax accountant). She’s my California camping buddy (I miss those days!), fellow brownie troop leader and birthday party partner. She’s got two kids in college now  so maybe life will slow down a tad for her (yeah, right!)

Anne Marie Levis - a master juggler. Whether it’s managing the growing company (Wildly successful Ad Agency here in Eugene, Funk/Levis), volunteering on numerous boards or serving on the City Planning Commission, or, most recently her position on the 4J school Board she never drops a ball. Add her number one priority, her family, and she’s quite possibly eligible for Superhero status. Her husband, Dana, and adorable boys, Connor and Dylan agree. What astounds me most about Anne Marie is the ease and grace with which she tackles her multitude of projects.

Sandy Kauten – Sandy, a single mom, moved to Eugene from Sacramento to attend Dental Hygiene School and found a copy of Oregon Family Calendar at a local retailer. Her entrepreneurial spirit got the best of her and before she knew it, she was a newspaper publisher! Sandy renamed the publication Oregon Family Newspaper and focused her efforts on creating a more comprehensive resource for parents and families. Today the paper remains a source of pride for Sandy and her boys – her advertisers are “family” and she is devoted to creating a place that is a joy for both her readers and her many business supporters. Sandy is an amzing mom and friend and camping partner!

Michelle Obama (no brainer)…When I talk to people about Michelle Obama, which I do often, they inevitably respond positively. She’s gorgeous, strong, brilliant, accomplished, an inspiration, they say. They talk about how her life story exemplifies the American dream. They say we could be girlfriends – which is so telling. I think it’s true. When I see her digging in the organic garden she planted with her kids (encouraging all Americans to eat healthy)  or warmly greeting the Queen of England (remember that amazing moment where she gently placed her hand on the mum’s back – you go girl!) I truly believe this is a woman I could sit down and chat with. Yes I said “chat”. Michelle definitely makes my list of amazing women.

Send me your mom/women heroes! I want to honor all the fabulous Momtrepeueurs in your world!!

Powerful wise words for those of us delving into the world of social media – blogging, tweeting, Facebook. What is the best way to make these “social” networking sites work for you and your business?

ENGAGE. Knowing that you had too much to drink last night or that your husband lost his job is not engaging. It’s boring and, quite frankly, none of my business. It amazes me when Upper Management in a small community publishes posts about misconduct in their lives. Don’t they get how viral this is? The conversations are personal but decidedly not private. So is it possible to be personal AND professional on Facebook? I think absolutely yes! Part of “Enlighten” is to allow colleagues a glimpse into your life, within reason. I still live by the adage “Don’t publish (on the internet) anything you wouldn’t want your grandma (or biggest client) to see or hear about!” Keep it relevant and interesting. Offer up some value; an inspiring quote, an interesting anecdote or a link to some fascinating tidbit. Engage with your friends and colleagues without sharing so much that your other 430 followers are made uncomfortable. On Twitter there is no space to waste. 140 characters means get to the point and get me interested!

ENLIGHTEN. According to the dictionary the definition of “enlighten” is: to give intellectual or spiritual light to; instruct; impart knowledge to. What does this mean to you? Find out what your community (friends/contacts/followers) are talking about. What is trending in their world (follow http://twitter.com/trendingtopics and look for Twitter to release a local trending topics search tool soon: http://bit.ly/583Ejx). When you stumble upon relevant interesting tidbits – share that! When someone enlightens your world – pass it on!

EMPOWER. My favorite tweets are the ones that lead me to the coolest newest app or to a fantastic article about my industry that provides immediately applicable strategies. I feel empowered and that creates immense good will for the person or organization that provided the information. Chris Brogan calls these folks “Trust Agents” and uncovers how to become one in his best seller of the same name.

Become a trusted agent in your online community. You do this by Engaging then enlightening and empowering.

It’s tedious, can be time consuming and a little intimidating if you don’t know where to start. It can make you feel overwhelmed, might disappoint you and can frustrate the heck out of you. It can make you feel like a twelve year old staring at his first algebra assignment. For these reasons most small business owners I talk to avoid this imperative first step in their marketing strategy. What is it? Research!

The information gained through marketing research is information that can guide your most important strategic business decisions. Market research is effective when the findings or conclusions you reach have a value that exceeds the cost of the research itself.

There are five broad categories of market research:

• Market Segmentation
• Purchasing Power and Buying Habits
• Psychological Aspects of the Market
• Marketplace Competition
• Environmental Factors

What are the benefits of market research?

1) Will help you better communicate.
Learn about your potential clients — who they are and what they want the most. Nothing improves communication skills better than a little person to person contact.

2) Will help identify opportunities.
Check the competition. Are they missing something you can capitalize on? What can you do better than they can? Are you clients in need of something nobody else is offering?

3) Will minimize risk.
Just like any situation, if you come prepared you will be less likely to loose and more likely to win.

4) Will create benchmarks to help you measure progress.
How well are you doing? By setting the standard high from the start, you will be in a better position for sustained growth.

With the power of the Internet it is now very easy to conduct market research using one of the many online survey software sites that make conducting surveys and collating good market research intelligence quick, easy and extremely cost effective. I use Constant Contact or Zoomerang

How to Get Traffic to Your Blog by Seth Godin is an informative and great post to print and put on that bulletin board across form your desk. You now, the one with all the story ideas for your blog. I, clearly, have not done that yet. I blame H1N1. In fact, I blame H1N1 for just about everything these days. My weiner dog has decided, at 4 yrs. old, that it’s perfectly acceptable to crap on the carpet under the pool table upstairs. I blame H1N1.

I’m on my way out the door this morning, to facilitate another CEO roundtable. It’s a fantastic group of professional business folks here in Eugene who meet every other week to be inspired and motivated. Today we are talking about blogging. I am a fraud! Well, I HAVE been sick with that stupid virus. But now that I am better, the gig is up.I can no longer blame H1N1 for my blogging deficiencies.

So why is it so easy to be creative, witty, informative, inspirational and sometimes cheerful in real life and so hard to do that on a blog? I am determined to get to the bottom of it. So far I have found some compelling advice from the “experts” out there in the blogosphere. It’s a start. I am going to offer that to you here and then get back to the business of growing my business!

Chris Brogan’s best advice
Tips from ProBlogger
How to Blog: A Beginners Publishing Guide
How to Get me To Read Your Blog

Chat soon….

D