Hello Google+ Local Goodbye Google Places

If you have been paying attention to what you see on search when you're looking for things on Google you will remember seeing the first section with the maps and coloured markers that show the local businesses first by location. This was a feature of Google Places and a business service that was free and available to help local businesses get found online. Well this is ending and from now on businesses will need to join Google+ Local which means you need to get that Google+ account and get cracking on building your social network.

Google Plus is free and as Google changes the way they filter results for search will become more and more vital to your business and to establish your bona fides online. Behind the scenes, there are ways that you can verify your content on your website and make it more valuable as a verified authorship of content that goes up on the web in your name. This is part of Google's ongoing war to get rid of spammy, low-value sites showing in results and encourage good quality information by genuine businesses and real people. That's good news ... and it will take some work.

Take a look at Google+ with a visit to my business page  

Don't be left behind when it comes to presenting your best business face online. Get found - and show your expertise and authenticity.  Call me if you need a hand.

DFYRFTMTWJD9

Social Media In Newcastle & Hunter Valley

In 1952 People Paraded in Hunter Street. In 2011 We Get Together Online!

Social media is in the news a lot lately and if you own a business you might be wondering what all the fuss is about.

While many business owners have moved to set up a business page there is more to social media marketing than just putting up a Facebook page (and no your personal Facebook page is NOT the place for your business).

Businesses need to embrace social media but setting up a Facebook page is not a strategy. Here are some tips to get started.

A question this week on Quora was a good one and one that deserves some attention from us all, in conducting our business activities.

Here’s my response.

“My company is a B2B company and we are trying to come up with a strategy around social media. I find it tough to figure out what to include and what to avoid. Are there any factors I should take in to consideration while devising a strategy?”

I would suggest you start with a clear understanding of the social media environment and a well defined purpose (and expectation) that is realistic and achievable in the first instance.
For those who want to use social media, and those who vehemently don’t want to – they need to understand enough to make an informed choice either way and to deal with the consequences of that choice. Whether one is ‘using social media’ or not they can be the subject of discussion on social media and managing one’s reputation online is just one element of this new world.


Basics

Get these right the first time. Know what kind of Facebook page is the wrong kind to use for business. Use the right kind. Don’t set up a Twitter page then fail to keep updated regularly.
*Remember Your Website!
* Make sure your website is optimized for search – and for the people who
will use it! – Most that I see are very poor – on both counts. (Never
mind they may have cost a lot of money from an expensive web designer).
Never, never let a stranger be in control of your business online. Get informed and get interested.


Not Just What, But How

It is important to understand the etiquette of online interaction and also the ways to leverage time and effort without putting those to whom we are connected offside. (Easy to do!)
Putting up a Facebook or Twitter Page ( and with the correct configuration and naming protocols) all need to be considered and that is just the beginning, the strategy behind this needs to support the objectives and while platforms are free to use there is always a cost in time and resources and budget need to be allocated for this purpose. Expect this and include it in your plan.


Social Media Policy

Some things to consider on creating a social media strategy:
Your social media policy – needs to be fair, realistic and training done with employees so that everyone is clear. Also needs to be in line with employment legistation so that you are not overstepping and writing in clauses that you have no right to demand. Suggest your policy begin with an intention to be open to the opportunities of social media, as well as the potential downside.


Hoary Old Myths

On the matter of Control – some employers think they can dictate all manner of things to employees and restrict their access to social media during work hours and this will keep them in control of their staff members. This is quite a silly assumption. Firstly, because you have no control now, secondly, because such an environment may just guarantee that good candidates won’t want to work for you. Lastly – they can access anything they wish to via their smartphones and a combative attitude is not going to deliver a harmonious outcome that leverages the best available opportunities that new media can deliver.

Your Social Media Strategy:

• A social media policy
• A Clearly articulated purpose and vision
• Select appropriate platforms
• Allocate a budget
• Who will manage it?
• Time and resources that need to be allocated
• Which KPIs you are going to measure
• How you will measure your results
• How you will manage (an enhance) your reputation online
• How you will integrate your social media with your conventional marketing
• How thoroughly your social media activities should permeate throughout the operations of the business (Which department will handle this? Will all departments be involved?)
• Ways you can adapt social media to help you improve how customers interact with the business
• Ways that you can use social media to improve communications within the business and strengthen the team
• Managing and monitoring the plan
• Reporting – how often in what way
• Integrating platforms to allow transfer of content seamlessly, but in a regulated way (not spamming)
• Understanding that social media is not a broadcast medium! It can’t be all just about YOU!
• Design for the type and quality of the content to be delivered by social media
• Who will create the content?
• What amount of content should be (can be) generated and by what frequency?
• Modes of content that can be made available – articles, blogs, ebooks, video, podcasts etc
• Integration with website

Engagement
People follow people so it is important to remember that there needs to be engagement and if multiple people contributing to the social media for the company, there is merit in these being tagged to the individual who is posting at any time. Be interesting. Be interested.

Not Just For Christmas
There is often a thought that a social media strategy is a one-off, trial kind of activity that we do. It is not set and forget and it not even a funky thing to do any more. It is become expected. If you are not visible online, for an increasing many, you just don’t exist. So get accustomed to this being a new marketplace. Devise a plan that brings your existing customers along with you and if you are really smart – introduce them to those who can help you help them develop their own online presence. This is where the magic is, and this is where most fail to connect the dots.

If you would like help to learn more about using social media for your business contact me now to arrange a chat. Your social media approach should add to and complement your business overall, not be something separate and disconnected.

More on Newcastle Yesteryear

Lindy Asimus
Business Coach
Mobile: 0403 365855
lindyasimus@gmail.com
www.lindyasimus.com
www.designbusinessengineering.com

Would A CUSTOMIZED Marketing Roadmap Help You Guide Your Business On The Path To Success? ABSOLUTELY!

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Social Media For Business In Newcastle

A big pat on the back for Wayne Lennan on hosting the recent workshop for select business owners introducing social media marketing for business.

Here's a slideshow of what we discussed.

Lindy asimus social media for business introduction

View more presentations from Lindy Asimus Business Coach.

For those who don't know Wayne, he specialises in risk management products for families and businesses (life insurance, income protection and trauma cover etc) and has been quick to see the value in providing access to good information on the changing business environment, to his associates and business clients. The world of business is definitely changing, and as was discussed at the workshop, many businesses are noticing the change, even if they are not yet developing strategies to deal with it.

To demonstrate this change, one of the participants told me after the presentation, that his way of opening discussions with new people used to consist of networking, and setting up appointments with people he'd meet in networking situations, and meet them for coffee at a future date to run through what he does. He's finding now though, that people will take his card then go look him up on the internet and check him out before they decide if they will meet with him or not. This creates a major shift in the way that he must operate, and as he said "I'm not on the internet ... so it's like I don't exist...!" Not existing is bad enough. Being found online and not in a positive way, is another face of the same issue.

Whether we like it or not. Whether we want it to be that way or not... people are working in ways that are quite different than they were just a few short years ago.

Kudos to Wayne Lennan for taking up the challenge and sharing some insight with his business network.

Business is never going to be the same again, and all the things we knew about what 'works' is up for change.

One of the topics I covered in the presentation was the lack of ability in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley, to buy things from local companies via their website. Lots of examples where buyers with money in their hand ready to purchase locally, via a website, are greeted with nothing but blank space when it comes to finding a local business wanting to take their order, judging by the searches on Google. And yet other businesses showing up from Sydney, Adelaide, you name it - for purchases we'd like to buy from a local merchant.

This should be an issue for anyone serious about developing their business.

The really sad thing? Newcastle and the Hunter Valley could be blitzing the online world and setting the standard for business in the new world order. Our businesses could be building their sales and reducing overheads in ways that would fundamentally change they way they do business, and improve profitability (and value of the business) dramatically.

It's been said that Newcastle business isn't 'hungry' enough.

I wonder if that's true.


You can find Wayne Lennan on Facebook here