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 »

2 Comments | Business, Facebook, Social Media | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Chris Celek

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 »

4 Comments | Business, Facebook, Social Media, Video, You Tube | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Chris Celek

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 »

Comments Off on Before tweeting, connecting and friending, answer me this: where are your customers? | Business, Social Media | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Chris Celek

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