10 Ways to Make Small Business Week Count

It's nearly the end of BDC Small Business Week^TM  (Oct 20-26), and besides talking to myself, I haven't had one conversation about the state of small business, their value to our communities, or participated in a learning opportunity or networking event! Not for lack of time, but rather for lack of attention.

This got me thinking that it really is important to take note of small business.  

We all know that if we don't use local small business, we lose them. We lose a resource, and option, an employer, and a bit of character in our towns.  

So, how do Canadians show their "support" for small business besides the obvious "Shop Local, Buy Local" programs?

Websites are the new brochure, and social media is not a marketing plan

20 years ago, just before the internet took off, we used to call it the "brochure solution" because all our clients thought they needed a brochure to sell their product, program, or business service.

They often got a brochure, or a postcard, or a flyer, or a direct mail piece, but they also got guidance on how to design them, how to write them, what to do with them, when & how to distribute them, and how to support their investment with other marketing tools like news releases, events, advertising, speeches etc.  We could add a lot of value to that little brochure request.

Today, the website is the new brochure.
While everyone needs one, and they're worth investing in, they need a lot of support.  New products, programs, and business services need more support than "putting it out there on social media." Social media can help drive traffic to your website but there's so much more than that to do. Social media (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest Google+ etc), isn't a marketing plan.  

When we develop marketing plans we consider strategies in public relations (including social media, text messaging, events, email etc), government relations, media relations, stakeholder relations, customer relations, staff relations, advertising (online, mobile, traditional etc), product and content development. When designed into an integrated marketing plan, these strategies can all help achieve your goals as well as drive traffic to your website.

So don't make the mistake of making a website and social media your only marketing solution.
If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.

Facebook gets Timeline mostly right.

Who is Andy Sparks, you ask?  Watch this short video from Facebook and you'll know! In one-and-a-half minutes you see his whole life (to-date), from birth through grade school, marriage, and raising his own child.  




And now you can have your whole life on-line too in pictures, video and posts through Facebook's new Timeline profile view.  In beta-testing for awhile, as of December 15, it's available everywhere by following this link https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline.  
With Facebook Timeline, instead of scrolling through pages and pages of posts, viewers of your profile can click on any year or month and get a snapshot of your life.  So it's a good idea to review those posts, because what you said in 2007 may not be all that relevant or accurate any more!


Once you get started transferring your profile to Timeline view, you have 7 days to complete it.  My personal page took just about 2 hours to go through because it's pretty light yet still goes back nearly 5 years. 


You can select pictures to enlarge, posts to hide from view, and add a oversize cover shot at the top of your profile.  Facebook has made creating your Timeline quick and fun and made scrolling someone else's life a lot easier.  


And they've got it mostly right; however, there are a couple things I hope Facebook cleans up. For example, review your privacy settings as things like who can see your friends reverted to everyone on my page.  Also, some of the display/app boxes near your name can't be deleted, and the map app box is particularly annoying.  It is painfully slow to add or correct a few key geographic locations of holiday locations, life events etc. I gave up and wished I could delete it. 


I'm sure it will get better over time. What improvements would you suggest? 


Have you updated your page yet? If not, I hope you have some fun updating your page before Facebook does it for you! 

10 step checklist for small business starting in social media

I talk to small businesses everyday about social media.

They email me questions, ask for presentations, tutoring, help with setting up accounts, etc. The nuts and bolts can take a lot of time for small business, the services are always changing, and even once all the accounts are set up and integrated, they find themselves spending more and more time updating statuses and tweeting links with less and less satisfaction and results.

That’s one of the reasons I’m a big fan of strategy. Know what results you are expecting.

Know where you want to go. Sure, save all the usernames you can. That’s good advice. But you don’t have to populate them right now, or ever. Keep it simple. Blog only if you have time and your customers will value it. Tweet, definitely. Facebook page, absolutely. Maybe even add a coupon to Google places or foursquare if retail savings is your business forte. Make time to engage in key groups on Linked in if you’re a consultant.

Just keep it manageable.

Social media for small business needs to start somewhere, and starting small and making time to monitor results will help you judge your ROI. Here’s a 10-Step checklist for small business. If you’re a one or two person shop, realize that unless your business gets put on hold, putting these 10 steps into action can take 3-5 weeks. Because sometimes, well actually, all the time social media is less important than getting the work done, or going for coffee with a prospect, or sending a thank you note.

So if you’re ready to get started, here’s some suggestions. And if you need help, or want a strategy, give me a call or send me an email.

1. Ensure Google analytic tracking code is properly installed and functioning on web pages

2. Update locations and request reviews and recommendations on Google, Yelp etc.

3. Establish your foursquare account and offer a discount for anyone who checks in

4. Make your Facebook Page public with a username

5. Create your LinkedIn business page

6. Establish Twitter and Blog accounts

7. Write and post first content Blog then Integrate/Cross promote it by tweeting about it, posting on facebook

8. Add your new account addresses to your profile pages, emails, business cards, website

9. Update content on profile accounts, like your Chamber of Commerce and other site

10. Practise listening, creating and engaging strategies; monitor results!

If it was an 11 step checklist, #11 would be ... have fun! It’s called social for a reason.

4 ways to Improve Stakeholder Relations

While it's easy to define "Stakeholders" as individuals or groups affected by the actions or policies of an organization, identifying stakeholders is left up to the organizations preparing to communicate change. A recent project I worked on involved identifying a list of stakeholders for consultation purposes. Not every group of potential stakeholders was listed, nor was every listed group given consideration for participation in the consultation. That's ok, because the groups are all different and should have, and expect, different levels of engagement. In addition, though, not all groups or individuals were identified for consideration. This is where the challenge comes in for organizations.

When organizations responsible for communicating change, or seeking input, begin the process, they have to start somewhere, and it's usually with the list of traditional stakeholders. However, as online communities develop on forums, Facebook and Twitter for example, it becomes increasingly difficult for organizations to identify each group and plan effective communications strategies for them.

The elusiveness of online communities highlight what has been true all along: that corporate or government actions affect many people who are not part of formal, identifiable groups. But today, these less formal groups have more opportunity for becoming engaged. When spokespeople say, "We've consulted with stakeholders" we know not everyone who is affected or interested could have been consulted.

It's time that communications and consultation plans reduce their reliance on named stakeholders and start incorporating improved engagement opportunities for unidentified groups and the public. Individuals and groups are now more able to self-identify and to expect opportunities to engage and have input.

Whether a company is planning to build a new facility, or a municipality plans to introduce a new bus route, identifying key stakeholders is only part of good communications. It's no longer enough to post bulletins on telephone polls, stuff mailboxes in the neighbourhoods affected, or invite "stakeholders" to working sessions. Plans now must include outreach through a variety of channels to ensure inclusion of individuals, groups, and on-line communities that may not be readily identifiable.

As our world get smaller, more people are affected by seemingly far-away actions. For example, while enormous in scope, consider the gulf oil catastrophe or Iceland's recent volcano: it's nearly impossible to identify all the stakeholders and manage the message. The public must have opportunities to get information and provide their opinions and concerns.

Reducing the use of the term stakeholder relations is the first step in recognizing that communications plans, irregardless of their comprehensiveness, just cannot identify everyone who has a stake. Therefore, being specific about who has been identified by organizations is the first step in being more inclusive and looking for opportunities to engage others.

Concerted efforts must be made to reach out through all channels to identifiable and non-identified groups and individuals. A start in accomplishing this is to ensure that communications plans:

1. List stakeholder groups by name
2. Note the potential that some groups and individuals are not identifiable
3. Prepare opportunities to involve and communicate to unnamed groups and individuals
4. Provide specific messages to spokespeople about who has been engaged.

To be credible, organizations must be specific and honest about their efforts in "stakeholder engagement" and these four steps are a beginning.