What you can learn by watching, listening to how other businesses use Facebook Fan Pages

December 14, 2009

A conversation with a relative went something like this:

“Facebook is just a waste of time. I don’t use it with family or friends and I certainly don’t see how you would make money with it.”

Another conversation with a business owner in Dayton’s south suburbs went like this:

“I want to use Facebook for my business but I don’t know what to do with it and I don’t want to waste time on it.”

I share these because there are takeaways from both that are useful for businesses considering how to use social media to connect with customers.

Lesson from the first conversation: Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chriscelek

Use web video to introduce yourself, show off your business to attract customers

October 14, 2009

Video is for national brands with budgets big enough to buy network television time. Right?

Jeff Zaret videoWell, sure, but it’s also for your local business. It’s affordable and a compelling way to introduce yourself and your business to customers online. Companies like Schmidt Heating and Cooling in Cincinnati smartly use video on its web site and in its Yellow Pages advertising as a virtual way to shake hands and say hello. Minuteman Press of Lebanon (Ohio) created a television commercial and also posted a version on Google Video to quickly demonstrate all of its services and equipment. The Cincinnati Museum Center announced winners of contest with video on its Facebook Fan Page. And Jeff Zaret, VP of sales at National Processing Solutions in Centerville, Ohio, shares tips not about his company’s credit card processing but instead about ways to improve your customer service. He posted a series of three videos on YouTube.

Each of these approaches is different but they have this in common — their image and sound quality is professional. These are good-looking videos that send a clear message about each of the businesses. So I asked a pro how businesses can get this quality and how they should consider using video to connect with customers. Here’s what Mike Cornett, owner of Visual Media Concepts in Dayton, had to say: Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Business, Facebook, Social Media, Video, You Tube | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by chriscelek

Before tweeting, connecting and friending, answer me this: where are your customers?

September 12, 2009

Sometimes this is the request from a business owner: Could you show me how to use Twitter?

1102203_23617898Other times, this is the question: Should I use Facebook?

Or this: I’m thinking of using Linkedin. Will it help my business?

My answers: Yes. Yes. Yes.

And: No.

I work like crazy to avoid saying no to a customer but no is the quickest and best answer for businesses considering whether they should use social media to connect with customers. Why? There are other questions and information about your business and your customers to consider first to help you decide whether to spend time on social media and then which tools to use and how to use them.

Here are questions I ask my customers before we ever get close to answering those first questions they ask. I share them to help prompt discussion about what you want to accomplish at your business, too: Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chriscelek

Social Media — Learn How to Use for Your Business

August 31, 2009

NEC_Chamber_logoI’m partnering with the Northeast Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce to provide special, low-cost training that will help you put social media to work for your business:

• Get Connected — Linkedin, Tuesday Sept. 22

• Twitter for Business, Tuesday, Sept. 29

• Make Friends, Make Sure They Know Your Business, Tuesday, Oct. 6

Time: noon-1:30 p.m.

Location: Holiday Inn Express, 5100 Natorp Blvd., Mason

Cost: $30 per class, $80 for all 3 classes

Lunch included

Register online today or call Tracey Nickell at the chamber at 513-336-0125.

Social media web sites are not just for kids. Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flicker are powerful tools that will connect you with potential customers, keep you in contact with your current customers and drive new sales.

You can expand your network, grow your market and create new business opportunities.

We will show you how. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chriscelek

At Dorothy Lane Market, social media equals ‘word of mouth’ with connections to customers

August 21, 2009

DLM home pageIt’s funny to read what the president & CEO wrote, if only because if you’ve ever shopped for bread, wine or seafood at Dorothy Lane Market, you get the message real fast that the grocery’s employees want to talk with you. They ask if you want that loaf of asiago cheese bread sliced, if you’ve considered the new summer rosé from one of their favorite French organic wineries, or if you’d like them to prepare a dinner of Crispy Dijon Tilapia for you.

So it’s funny, at least to me, that DLM boss Norman Mayne is surprised by how much his customers use social media, including Twitter and Facebook to talk with one another and with Dorothy Lane Market’s employees.

“Who knew that a short 140-character message could be so meaningful to so many people” Mayne wrote in his company’s August newsletter. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Business, Facebook, Networking, Social Media, Twitter | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by chriscelek

Find, hire employees at the speed of Twitter

July 29, 2009

844460_39845064How fast can you hire an employee?

Grant Coffman did it within three days of finding a strong candidate using Twitter, the web-based communications tool.

Fast enough for you?

Grant is a registered financial services representative and division leader at Primerica in Sharonville Ohio who needed to fill a spot on his sales team in the northern Cincinnati suburbs. We met on a Monday morning to introduce social media and covered basics about how he might begin to use Twitter as part of networking to get to know people and build relationships that might turn them into customers.

“I went right in and told my boss that we needed to start using this,” Grant says. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chriscelek

Want to learn about social media, get up for breakfast

July 24, 2009

995326_22286617Listen closely at breakfast and you can confirm what for many folks is still hard to believe. Official studies, market research and business news headlines report:

• Top business executives in their 40s use Twitter every day or several times a week, according to a June study by Forbes and Google.

• The number of Facebook users 18-25 years old decreased by nearly 600,000, while their parents (and grandparents) used the networking web site in record numbers last month.

• 51 percent of small businesses surveyed in March told Sage North America that they use social media to acquire and retain customers. Also, 57% said tough economic conditions are “very” or “extremely” important in their decision to use social media as part of their business strategy.

Choose to believe these surveys and the experts who compile them — or not. But you can get closer to details about how older adults are adopting social media for their personal use and, yes, for business, by listening to what’s said around the breakfast table.

I swear I didn’t bring up the subject Tuesday morning. Didn’t have to. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chriscelek

You can do this: Best ways to connect your business to customers with social media right now

June 22, 2009

0622090840Excellent advice at Podcamp Ohio 2 at The Ohio State University on Saturday, June 20 came from a designer, who I expected would share ideas for what makes a web site attractive and usable.

We got that from Daniel Lewis of D. Joseph Design in Northern Kentucky and more. His ideas for what to say on social media sites are perfect for what businesses want and need to do to connect with customers.

Most important thing for business people to know: These tips from Daniel apply regardless of the web site or online service you use. There are lots from which to choose now. And today’s most-popular — Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Flickr, among them — may not be what you’re using 12 months from now.

No matter. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chriscelek

Make sure customers know where to find you

June 13, 2009

bizcardimageSometimes the old way is just good enough to get the job done.

So why don’t more business people put their social networking contact info on their business cards, brochures and all the pens, cups and magnets they hand out?  Just wondering. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chriscelek

What inquiring business minds really want to know

May 28, 2009

logoSpent the morning with a lot of great business folks at the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Business Expo in Erlanger. Thanks to Kelly Jones of the chamber and Steve Jones of Jaap-Orr in Cincinnati  for the invitation to talk about putting Linkedin and Twitter to work.

About 125 sat in with us at the Receptions conference center; most use Linkedin; fewer use Facebook and about half use Twitter, which I think is a strong showing given the older age range of this group. While they’re active on social networking and communication sites, they wanted to know more about how to connect with potential customers and how to build or expand these relationships.

That was a main topic of my presentation this morning in Erlanger, Ky., south of Cincinnati. My slides and notes are shared on my Linkedin page.

I’m also sharing this reading list of tips, techniques and helpful hints from some of the best social media and communications experts. These will further answer many of the questions raised this morning by the N. Ky. chamber members and I wanted to make them available to you, too: Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by chriscelek

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