Connecting to Customers with Social Media: Three Ways to Get Started

The big marketing idea with social media is word –of- mouth. Millions of people are talking about products and brands at social media sites, and research shows that when the talk is positive,  it helps your organization; when the talk is negative,  it hurts; and when there’s no talk, you may be missing an opportunity. Based on the simple idea that promoting positive conversations about your brand will help you, there are three ways you should consider starting to use social media today:

1)      Listen to what your customers are saying – this should guide your strategy.

2)      Create communities of online supporters – this is where word-of-mouth support happens.

3)      Join the conversations that are taking place – emphasize the positives and address the negatives.

This is an exerpt from an article that was just published in Catalyst, the magazine of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce. To read the full article, click here:  http://tinyurl.com/socialcatalyst

Too Dumb to Fail

The drive to the skate park presented me with a great teaching moment- I would teach my son Jackson about business. He had been telling his friend how easy it is to start a skate park like the one we were about to visit: Brick Town in Columbia, Pennsylvania. This was a good chance to teach him about how business really works.

I told him that starting a business like a skate park, involves a lot more than he might think. It involves incorporation, and with that attorney fees. It involves bank loans, partnership agreements, payments to contractors, insurance, rent and more. He argued that I did not understand skateboarding. About that time we pulled off Route 30 into Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Columbia is a tired town on the Susquehanna River. Whatever businesses once sustained it are gone leaving empty brick warehouses facing the wide Susquehanna. At least the bridge that had been burned to stop General Lee from getting to Philadelphia has been rebuilt. Not much else has been.

We pulled into the parking lot of one of the brick warehouses and walked in up a set of stairs recently hammered together out of pressure treated lumber. Inside was a vast empty space lit by dim hanging lights and filled with heavy metal sound. All around the space were ramps of different sizes and shapes, like the stairs outside, hammered together solidly out of lumber and plywood. There was no heat. An orange poster near the door said “Rules.” The first one was “No Drugs.” Just inside the door there was a folding table with a cash box, some DVDs and a couple of t-shirts. A guy skated down from one of the ramps, pulled off his helmet and said “Six bucks to skate until 9.” I paid him, told Jackson I’d be back around nine and went outside to eat crow.

The caution of middle age had made me forget that sometimes all it takes for a business to start is an empty warehouse and a guy who wants to skateboard out of the rain. After he nails the boards together he charges other guys a few bucks to cover the cost of lumber. And then he hires some friends, quits his day job and helps a place like Columbia, Pennsylvania become a town that fathers drive their sons to on a Friday night to spend money.

On the way home I told Jackson that he does know more about skateboarding than I do. And I thought that what he doesn’t know about business might not hurt him.

Three Trends I’ll Be Following in 2010

Climate Change Solutions- The Grassroots Way

Copenhagen didn’t get us there, but who really thought it would? How many times have 100+ countries sat down and agreed to anything, let alone something binding that would affect every part of their economies? But I predict climate solutions enacted from the bottom up will take off. Examples: London offers bikes for commuters. IBM enhances the efficiency of the electricty grid. The US passes cap and trade. And China takes the lead in windpower and solar. Then there are the smallest grassroots solutions that, taken as a whole, can have real impact- hot water heaters wrapped in insulation, car pooling, and conservation. I predict momentum gain in 2010.

Newspapers- Testing Ways to Survive

Rupert Murdoch said he’s make The Wall Street Journal free online. Then he said no. There’s a lot at stake with this decision- maybe survival of one of our great newspapers. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, along with a host of others have simply closed their doors. The New York Times paid $1.1 billion for The Boston Globe  in 1993, and now hopes to sell for $100 million. Newspapers have to figure out how to make money. As a marketer I’m intrigued by what this does to advertising. As a citizen, I’m counting on them to lift themsleves up and keep doing their critical work checking and balancing our democracy.

Online Advertising- More and More of It

Online advertising will be 13.8% of worldwide advertising in 2010 predicts Zenith. This is up from 10.5% in 2008- big growth. Social media will continue to grow too, both in users and in marketers use of it. As one example, Facebook advertising offers better targeting than Google. Recently I planned an ad campaign for women birdwatchers over 25 who live on the East Coast. Try doing that with traditional media.

Thanks to The Economist’s recent edition, “The World in 2010,” which got me thinking about these things.

Who I Follow on Twitter and Why

Twitter is strange and for a long time I refused to use it. It seemed like a room full of people talking to themselves. But I’ve come to think differently about Twitter and now I use it nearly every day. I like Twitter because it has let me create a network of people who interest me, and every day I get to see their thinking. Here are some people and groups I follow on Twitter and why.

Lancaster City Renewal Driven by Stores Like Re:Purpose

Re:Purpose Thrift Store

Last night I found a store in downtown Lancaster that exemplifies the energy that is renewing the city. It is called Re:Purpose and it calls itself an “upscale thrift store.” Their formula is to buy the choicest second hand clothes, merchandise them in a smart way and sell most items for under $10. The effect is an appealing collection of clothes at rock bottom prices offered in a cool environment. It is located in the new artMARKET at Building Character at 342 N. Queen St.

iPhone: Resisting its Siren Song

iPhone’s marketing pitch is beguiling. With just the flick of my finger tip on its polished screen I can do so much. I can get directions to a restaurant. I can stay in touch with friends. I can even make a video. I want one but I resist.

Flyfishing and Craft-Brewed Ale

Elk Creek Copper Ale

How much can craft-brewed ale improve a flyfishing trip? A lot. It can improve a tired Pennsylvania town, too.

Penn’s Creek runs out of a cave in Center County, Pennsylvania and its upper reaches snake their way through steep, forested hills east towards the Susquehanna River. It is home to large brown trout and it is my favorite place to fly fish, especially in October. In October, the fish are active in the cool water and late afternoon sun stimulates hatches of caddis flies which the brown trout rise to eat. The hills are bright orange and the sky can be the deepest blue.

Lancaster Pennsylvania: Rise of the Creative Class?

Mural on East Grant Street

Richard Florida, in his book “Rise of the Creative Class,” says that “access to talented and creative people is to modern business what access to coal and iron ore was to steel making.” He goes on to argue that place is critical in attracting creative people- they want to live in places with a high quality of life, and where they live, business will follow. Is Lancaster, Pennsylvania one of those places?

Fig: Advertising with a Social Conscious

Fig

In the 15 years that I’ve lived in Lancaster City (PA), the downtown has been transformed from a dull and disappointing city-of-yesterday into a vibrant, cultural hub. A major factor in this transition has been the growing art scene. And interestingly, with the growth of art, has come the growth of business. A symptom of this, and perhaps even a cause, is Fig.

Twitter Matters

I conducted a poll at the last meeting of the New Tech Meet Up of Central Pennsylvania. I asked: “Does Twitter mattter?” The majority (58%) said yes. This poll was conducted as part of a presentation and discussion at the last New Tech Meet Up at the MapQuest offices in Lancaster, PA on September 14.