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 Chris Celek

3 ways to write about your business

May 23, 2009
1038121_76724335People who are really smart about how to make money by selling insurance, investments, real estate or running a restaurant all say the same thing: “I don’t know what to write about my business. I don’t know what to say.”

As a result, you don’t know what to make of Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, blogs and the rest of the booming social media and online communications tools.

You gotta be kidding, right? You’re the experts and the rest of us want to know more about what you’ve already figured out. So there’s opportunity for you to share some of your knowledge. There’s also a big opportunity for you to share some of yourself by joining online conversations and groups and getting to know people.

That’s what social networking is all about. And conversations online are in so many ways no different that conversations you have in person — if you approach them in these three ways:
Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Chris Celek