Spark into Marketing » Social media

Authentic or professional?

jeanspark — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:12:52 +0000

Being authentic is an important value for most of the business owners I have contact with. (Hey it is important to me, so that’s no surprise!),

That generally means having an honest beneficial relationship for both sides, which does not involve any trick sales gimmicks, fake scarcity, manipulative selling or coercion.

Modern marketing is based on open-ness and authenticity and what is professional has been redefined. We can be professional working in a bedroom upstairs, or from a shed in the garden. No more black and white corporate uniform as a badge of professionalism – think of Richard Branson in his jumpers. Or the internet where anyone can write anything about a company via facebook, twitter and blogs.

But marketing and selling that would be most naturally authentic and express the “spark” is sometimes rejected because of fears that it would not be perceived as “professional”. This is what stops people writing one to one in a mass email, or recording a video where they talk about what they care about and just enjoy themselves!

Being authentic means being committed and behaving according to our values and what matters to us. When we are on message everything seems easy and natural. When things start to become inauthentic there are little niggles, a sense of hollowness and self-consciousness, and a lack of connection to ourselves.

Want some humour and music? I can’t stop watching! But I do love the original Alicia Keys’s song “New York” . See this video from Newport in Wales

and then watch this one. It is the spark that is so compelling.

Authentic? Professional? Enjoyable?

What did you think?

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Social networks viewed as entertainment

jeanspark — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:36:09 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Research is showing that internet social networks are becoming viewed as “Entertainment” and second only to television.

According to Edelman the public relations company that carried out the research on 1,000 people in the US and the UK seventy-three percent of 18-24 year olds in the US and 61 percent in the UK see social networks as a form of entertainment.

Among the older age group the figures were lower but still over half the researched population: 50 percent (US) and 56 percent (UK) of respondents aged 35-49 also consider social networking sites as a form of entertainment. Despite the growth of social entertainment, consumers do not currently identify Internet brands as entertainment companies.

Youtube is a social networking site and has wall to wall entertainment if that is what you want .. and of course games are very popular on Facebook – particularly Farmville and Zooworld.

Perhaps in the wider perspective the barriers between what is entertaining and what is not are coming down. After all “Work” and “Home” have become synonymous for many solo entrerpreneurs.

Blogging Workshop on International Women’s Day 2010

jeanspark — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:15:32 +0000

: Image by orangeacid via Flickr

Blogging Workshop on International Women’s Day

Blogging is such a great way to build company reputation, and leads to more money, and more happiness through self expression. Many small business owners find writing their website difficult, but have no problem talking about what really matters to them in a blog.

Women are natural bloggers, and can get more spark into their marketing more easily with a blog.

International Women’s Day 8 March 2010 is the date for a blogging workshop led by Jean Wolfe

The workshop will help you gain fluency as well as understanding the interactive benefits of blogging

What to do before you get started
How to grab your reader’s attention
How to write for the other audience – the search engines
Which blog platform to choose and why
Where to find stuff to write about and make it relevant
7 Principles of Copy-writing which should be obeyed
How to fit blogging with email, twitter and social media

In honour of National Women’s Day we will also have a look at what women have had to do to get their work read. They have not always had it so easy …

You will go away with more spark for your business and a clear plan of blogging action – with work done already. Make the most of this unfair advantage in your blogging career.

Date: Monday March 8^th International Women’s Day

Place Berkshire / Buckinghamshire border UK

Time: 10 am – 2: 30 with an additional hour for personal questions 2:30 – 3;30

Cost: £ 99 which includes three weekly follow up blogging newsletters and an online session on March 29^th. Open to men as well as women.

Bloggers Are Us! will breathe new life into all your communications – even one to one meetings.. But if you have not doubled your investment of £ 100 within six months I will happily refund your ticket.

“It’s your enthusiasm which makes all the difference” KN

“Jean you are a natural-born motivator” AS

“You are always a breath of fresh air and I think in a different way. I also feel better about myself and would like you on tap, please, every day!” PH

Jean Wolfe is a champion of independent businesses and communication that builds business wealth. Ex-drama teacher, ex-publicist for authors, ex-creator of solar powered product markets internationally.

To reserve your place please get in touch via the contact form or the comments below.

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Roundup of the Twitterverse in 2009 according to the BBC

jeanspark — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:17:49 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

2009 seen through Twitter activity helps us to realise how communication is changing. The role of the web has been extended as twitter became more mainstream.

The 3 most striking features seem to be

twitter bystanders are ahead of the traditional “newsgatherers” even at formal political events (G20, Iran)

twitter is a place where people want to express personal emotions (death of Michael Jackson)

twitter has become much more of a political force (think of Joe McElderry caught in the crossfire.)

See the BBC roundup

Other twitter roundups:

Twitter Trends in 2009: A Retrospective (readwriteweb.com)
The Biggest Twitter Trends Of 2009 – What Was The Top Topic? (thenextweb.com)

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London is capital of twitter says founder @ev

jeanspark — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:42:17 +0000

One of the three founders of twitter Evan Williams (@ev) says that London is the twitter capital for the second year running.

He revealed this on Newsnight interviewed by Kirsty Wark. I am a little astonished, as most of the people I meet on twitter are from the US!

I am often asked what is the point of twitter – and of course the answer is that it is just another marketing channel. It is like going to a drinks party in real life – same etiquette applies – but it is online, free and very popular. If you stand in the corner not speaking to anyone it is not a very good party, if you jump up on a table and start shouting about your services you will find people migrate to another room. If you walk in to twitter pleased to be there and find good people to talk to, and engage in conversation – it can be great.

Watch the interview as Evan Williams answers questions about why famous people are on twitter (and how do we know who they are), whether twitter replaces journalism, and whether it dehumanises people. Kirsty was working hard.

Note you can follow Newsnight on twitter

Here is the interview and more information and background courtesy of Techcrunch the well-known leader of blogs for all things technical.

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Stephen Fry on twitter – increase from 98 000 to 747 000 followers

jeanspark — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:21:07 +0000

In February when the Times published a guide to the Top 50 celebrities on twitter Stephen Fry was number one with 98,616 followers.

A moment ago when I checked he had 747,736.

The online world has grown rapidly over the last six months so it is not surprising – however the rate of the growth is amazing..

Stephen Fry’s profile at the moment begins with the words British Actor which certainly would encourage British people to follow him, but it is probably the description “Prince of Swimwear” which makes his profile difficult to leave unfollowed!

I suggest to new twitterers that Stephen Fry should be on their list of must-follows (especially if you are in the UK) Even if they are on twitter for business reasons twitter is all about being a person, and having fun. Stephen Fry is a good individual to have in your following icons, and you are likely to enjoy reading his posts!

You can watch his new series on television about endangered species, and once you and he are following each other, you can tweet and are likely to get a reply. Look at his twitter profile and you will see what I mean.

The golden rules for lesser mortals on twitter: 1. Write interesting fun or valuable information, 2. Take the time to communicate with your followers and others, 3. (A bit harder but completely achievable) Be well known.

In fact 1 and 2 can lead to 3.

Once you are well known for being the best or most popular in your field just keep on with 1 and 2.

Go now!

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Complimentary spam comments on your blog

jeanspark — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:45:59 +0000

Spam comments that told a story and did not appear to be spam did fool me and Akismet, the spam terminator on Wordpress. Because they were not just a bunch of dreary keywords, which I guess led back to a dubious site, I actually preferred deleting them. Well, if you are going to delete spam you might as well enjoy it!

Recently the comments thrown up by Akismet are more complimentary. They have been along the lines of “This is a very interesting post, please write more” or “This is a long and worthwhile post. I look forward to reading your next one.” or simply “Please write more”.

Am I flattered?

Of course!

Do I want to believe they are genuine?

Yes.

Do I actually think they are genuine?

No.. although some may be, and I don’t delete them all.

Recently I read a blog post by Michel Fortin the well-known copy-writer where he talks about instigating a zero tolerance approach to Fake Friendly Comments. As a well-known authority he receives a lot of genuine comments, and an enormous amount of spam comments which recently have been dressed up as compliments.

Now, thinking about it some more I realise when you first start out to comment on someone else’s blog it is in fact quite difficult to know what to say. You don’t know how the blog writer will respond, and as a normal good natured human you do want to spread good around the world. And despite everything that goes on via the internet, most people are good natured!

So writing a complimentary sentence or two is a natural first step. After all you wouldn’t force your way into some else’s house unless invited in, and caution is an appropriate response.

So the spam writers have been clever. They have in fact caught what happens in real life.. where people do make vague compliments about each other. Whether you are writing or receiving a comment on a blog or getting comments that value your business the easiest ones to write are generally non-specific and broadly complimentary. eg

” I have worked with ABC company for years and they are very good.”

“I would recommend John Smith highly.”

“XYZ company are my first choice”

This is the sort of thing people say in real life. Very often they are the types of comment that my clients think will look good on their website. They may have tried to get something more substantial from their clients, but they have waited a long time. The trouble is these comments don’t look real .. even if they are .. and – even worse – they are not interesting to read.

There are no details, no rough edges, no interesting snippets that bring in some life. Nothing about WHO the writer is, HOW the company has helped, WHAT has changed – with real figures, or real results, WHEN it all took place, or indeed WHY there was a problem at all.

Once some of these details are written down, the vaguely complimentary comment becomes a great deal more lively. It is more interesting to read, and becomes of use to the prospective buyer.

“ABC’s financial knowledge has helped us increase profitability by 12% each of the 5 years we have been in business.”

“John Smith’s design work has allowed us to bring in bigger target customers and position the company more confidently in our sector.”

XYZ have consistently cleaned our offices to a high standard. We have moved to larger premises in Anytown a number of times and they are the number one company we call each time.”

In fact it may be quite a relief to just tell the truth and not have to be complimentary at all!

So too with blogs. While a warm tone is of course preferable as the conversation is more interactive, responding to the meat of the blog post is preferable to a vaguely complimentary sentence.

It also means that your comment looks more authentic and is less likely to be deleted as spam.

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Happy 3 month blog birthday

jeanspark — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:43:34 +0000

My blog is three months old! As with all anniversaries it is a good idea to celebrate so please help yourself to a piece of virtual cake and help me blow out the candles!

Blow out the candles on the blog 3 month birthday cake

The other good thing about anniversaries is that they create a natural opportunity to look back and look forward.

What are my thoughts about the blog at this three month birthday?

1. I am astonished that it is only three months! Not just that the time has gone by, but my blogging confidence is so much greater now it feels as though I have been doing this for a lot longer. And of course this is what we do at birthdays. The conversations often have the theme “It only seems a moment since you were learning to walk, going to school “..

2. I now find it harder to imagine what it was like NOT knowing. It is good to learn more – obviously – but in a business context it is very important to remember what it was like to not know. We are speaking to the person before they use our services and the more you can identify with those feelings the stronger the connection is likely to be.

3. Writing down how things are helps to create a kind of audit trail of development. Why does this matter? Because I have every intention of moving on more in the next three months. The journey itself is of value, not just reaching the destination. Plus there is the benefit that what you measure can be improved.

So for the record

in April (which was only 3 weeks) there were 220 unique visitors visiting a total of 658 times

in May there were 457 unique visitors visiting 1681 times

in June 415 visitors stopping by 1966 times

and so far in July 90 people have dropped in for a chat or a quick look around 669 times.

We are talking about real human eyeballs here not bots, or spiders. The interesting ratio is that in the first month the number of visits per visitor was just under 2.99 and the figures for July of visits per visitor is 7.43 – so the number of visits has doubled. I don’t exactly know what or how everything is measured but a development like that has got to be good news.

These figures are from my hostgator hosting account which is how I started measuring on day one. What is satisfying about hostgator is that you can get a minute-by-minute update and if you think the same figure is showing just click the update link, and bingo- some new numbers will have been added! This is incredibly satisfying at the start because you get instant validation that something is happening. Rather like a child watching a plant grow you want instant results! (And without pulling the plant up to see if the roots are growing!).

I also have Google Analytics on the blog but you don’t get instant gratification as the figures are one day old. To be honest there is some discrepancy between the two systems and I guess that in time I will move more to analytics but I still love popping over to hostgator. It feels friendly!

4. Frequency of posting has slowed down. Total number of posts is 44 which means roughly one every other day in a three month period. In the last fortnight in fact I have posted very little for various extraneous reasons. But because I had posted a lot to start with the recent absence does not seem to have dramatically reduced the figures.

The blog is like a human. When it is new born you are alert for every snuffle and sound and extremely attentive to every need. As it grows it can survive on its own for longer without food and even begin to sleep through the night. Despite some benign neglect my blog is still alive and well. It is lying contentedly watching the trees moving in the breeze or the light dancing on the ceiling and happy to see me again, as well!

5. My posts have included some references to current affairs which are hot and topical and bring in lots of traffic. The intention is that visitors will then like what they find and come back to visit again. For example I wrote about Susan Boyle and Britain’s Got Talent (and did some PR around it as well) which was amazingly popular for a few weeks. But nobody wants yesterday’s newspapers, so the posts that stand the test of time re-appear at the top of the most-read list in the next month. You don’t want to be endlessly chasing news stories so a balance is best.

My aim for these first three months was simply to post content. To focus on making the contribution and getting out there in cyberspace. At the same time I have been writing for a client as well and the results are fairly similar – both blogs are getting 60 – 70 visits per day fairly reliably.

What are the plans for the blog for next 3 months?

1. Publish consistently even if I am not around. The next three months includes holiday time, so it is the perfect opportunity to schedule publishing to maintain consistency. Wordpress is very good for this.

2. Plan my posts better around keywords, and check that the shape of the blog is as I want it to be. It is not a novel by Tolstoy (described by Henry James as “a loose baggy monster”) but focussed on marketing… and getting the spark into marketing. Collect the other ideas ( all of them!) and sort them out separately.

3. Make dedicated time for my blog. Don’t let the client work stop me. This will be easier if I am scheduling post publishing as I can let the concentration build up, rather than working in short bursts of time.

4. Get experience of the different monetisation options.

5. Go visiting. Get out and read other blogs and make comments.

Next update in three month’s time! So come back then and find out what has happened. I think three month time periods are motivational. I enjoy new things, so creating some newness and momentum by seeing the world in 90 day periods is good for me.

To read other posts about blogging click on the word “blog” in the tag section in the right hand column.

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#follow friday or Fabulous Friday – let us know

jeanspark — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:43:17 +0000

twitter’s #followfriday is a chance to give public recognition (twitter recognition so it is nearly the same thing) to people who contribute. Because they give value you want to tell other people about them. It is an excellent way of creating connection and standing up for who or what you know like and trust. It is the fundamental business principle in action.

Fabulous Friday is another cut-in-stone business pricniple. Fridays have been enjoyed in the past because rules were more lax and you could leave work early looking forward to the weekend when you did not work. Although work and life lacks the same clarity whether you are self employed or in a job we still love Fridays!

I am celebrating that Fabulous Friday Feeling spark with a radio show on Marlow FM. You can join in from all over the globe! And it is easy! For the next three weeks you can telephone a UK number 0161 369 7766 International 44 161 369 7766) and leave a short message about your fabulous friday feeling. Add your name and your domain name. Your message will be turned into text and will appear on the Business in Berkshire website. I will read them out in the studio next Friday on Marlow FM.
Let’s celebrate Fridays and beat the recession.

We are grateful to SpinVox for their generous donation. Your message does have to be under a minute, so think twitter and make it a sentence. A real human being will be looking at the text so we look forward to hearing from you.

0161 369 7766 is the number to ring.

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Tulips or twitter?

jeanspark — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:27:49 +0000

Tulips are on show this week in London at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show which set me thinking.

Were tulips more exciting than twitter?

What is the difference between tulips and twitter?

Twitter is the subject du jour for the press. People are joining twitter in their thousands and this is creating publicity which in turn boosts twitter.

It has become a craze.

I am sure that new tulip varieties create a lot of publicity at Chelsea. But in seventeenth century Holland there was a craze for tulip bulbs even more intense than all the twitter talk. Sometimes tulips changed hands for the value of a real bricks and mortar house. You can bet that in the market squares and polite society the subject of tulips was on everyone’s lips.

What’s the message for us marketing our businesses?

1. If your customers are talking about twitter .. that creates an opportunity for you to connect. Whether you love it or loathe it is less important.

Get on board, have some stories, know what you are talking about. Know your tulips, know your twitter. Join in the conversation.

2. Decide on a strategy. Before the tulip crash some would have made money and some people would have been hanging around hoping money would come their way.

There were tulip deals to be had, and there are twitter relationships to be made and nurtured. But it is easy to to squander resources. Whether it is time or money you have to spend use it with focus.

3. Refine your message. Your customers’ experience is changing and this makes a difference. It is all about the context of your relationship.

Are you the black tulip expert in the year when black tulips come on to the market? Or are you the white tulip expert saying that black tulips look better planted next to white tulips?

If twitter connects to your blog which connects to your Linked In profile does that make a difference in what you say or how you say it?

twitter is a great opportunity if you are using it, and it is still an opportunity even if you are not.

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