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Posts Tagged ‘social networking’

Social Media 101.

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Social media is one of those buzz expressions that it seems like most entrepreneurs like to throw in their business plan these days. The trouble is that while social media may seem cool because it’s cutting-edge and tends to be cheap, many entrepreneurs don’t have a firm grasp of what it means. Still, that doesn’t mean social media’s only for hip young start-ups. Here’s evidence: the Mayo Clinic’s into social media. If it surprises you that century-old medical institution is into Web 2.0, you might want to read on. VC-entrepreneur-member of the weberatti Guy Kawasaki recently spoke with the Clinic’s syndication and social media manager in an interview that’s posted over at American Express’ Open Forum blog. While there’s a lot of rambling, there are also some useful nuggets for those of you small business owners who may be trying to craft your start-up’s social media strategy. We’ve mined the good stuff, and created a simple list with tips we gleaned from the interview:

1) Don’t just jump into social media without planning first. Not only that, look at your existing resources and figure out how they can fit into a social media context. Says Lee Aase, the manager for syndication and social media at the Mayo Clinic: “We didn’t just immediately jump into blogging, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. It was a natural, gradual progression that incorporated what I like to call, ‘The MacGyver Mindset,’ creating new solutions out of resources we already had on hand. Mayo Clinic created its ‘Medical Edge’ syndicated weekly TV news resource in 2000 and offered local stations trustworthy health and medical news content. In 2004, we established a similar daily program for radio stations. Our first ‘new media’ foray involved creating an RSS feed for the radio segments to publish a podcast and because of its early entry into the iTunes podcast directory and the Mayo Clinic brand, it was featured on the front page. This led to a significant increase in downloads, which provided impetus for further new media exploration.”

2) Make sure you have a real passion for social media before you get involved. That’s because while social media, YouTube, Facebook, etc, may be free, they still cost you in man hours maintaining profiles and uploading new blog posts and videos. If you’re in the enviable position of the Mayo Clinic—”We had a passion for the projects, so no one was getting any extra pay, and we didn’t add staff”—that’s one thing. But if you’re wasting hours that could be better spent elsewhere, that’s another.

3) If you’re not a big organization like Mayo, expect that you might not get as much bang for your buck. A lot of entrepreneurs seem to be under the impression that by simply throwing a blog up on the Internet, traffic will increase and that will result in an immediate increase in conversions or leads. The same goes for the concept of “viral” videos, blogs, and content. One of the most common things you may read in a business plan’s marketing strategy section these days is that the business will “go viral.” The trouble is that it’s not as simple as just posting a video or blog: “You can’t and shouldn’t start a blog or a YouTube channel with the expectation that you’ll have a viral video. Viral isn’t a strategy,” says Aase.

4) Don’t expect immediate results. Says Aase of the advice he’d offer small business owners and other interested in social media: “It’s not an overnight process, so start by listening and taking advantage of the free or low-cost tools. By keeping your costs low, you will be able to create the breathing room you need to have time to achieve results…if you use the social tools with your existing staff as a way to accomplish your current work more effectively, you will get some wins that will enable you to expand your scope. I would also stress that a video with 3.7 million views is a nice bonus, but it’s not the goal. The real power is being able to create niche videos that may reach only a few thousand views, but they’re seen by the people who are most interested.”

Tags: business plan, social media, social networking, web 2.0
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Social Media’s Not All That.

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

We’ve long questioned whether it’s really worth a start-up’s time and money to invest heavily in social media. That’s because unless you’re involved in an Internet business, or really know what you’re doing, it strikes us that spending time on social media campaigns is nothing more than a giant time suck. Sure, that flies in the face of most of what you read on the Internet these days, but if you’re a start-up with limited time and resources, does frittering it away on Facebook really make much sense? We were pleased to find that someone who actually knows what they’re talking about—SEO expert and owner of NY-based Atlas Web Service, Michael Gray—agrees. He posted a terrific topic on his blog yesterday that doesn’t mince words:

“If you’re the kind of person who wants to have 50,000 twitter friends, be a power Digg user, make the front page of Techmeme, get mentioned on Techcrunch, avoid getting mentioned in Valleywag, and it isn’t filling your wallet, then you are a Web 2.0 Weenie Living on Bullshit Social Media Economics.”

Er, ouch. And he doesn’t stop there:

“Social media should make you more productive, more efficient, and more profitable, by allowing you to extend your reach and message to the people who are in your target market and are interested in what you have to say. Social media should not be used to waste time and money on awareness and branding exercises broadcasting messages that are unremarkable to the uninterested masses.”

And therein lays the problem: for most entrepreneurs who don’t have a background in marketing or social media, there’s a good chance that Twittering, Digging, and Facebooking will just end up a massive waste of time. That energy could be better spent on creating an excellent, user-friendly website and optimizing it, or even on an old-fashioned print campaign.

Who disagrees?

Tags: marketing, small business, social networking
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“What…Made You Think You Could Monetize The Real Estate In Which Somebody Is Breaking Up With Their Girlfriend?”

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Not to beat a dead horse, but we’re admittedly skeptical about the idea of promoting or advertising your start-up through social media. We’re not saying you should ignore it as a strategy. You just shouldn’t devote the entire marketing section of your business plan to it. Still—we have to agree with the sentiment expressed by Procter and Gamble digital advertising exec who, according to AdAge, told a conference yesterday about Facebook:

“Who said this is media? Media is something you can buy and sell. Media contains inventory. Media contains blank spaces. Consumers weren’t trying to generate media. They were trying to talk to somebody. So it just seems a bit arrogant. … We hijack their own conversations, their own thoughts and feelings, and try to monetize it.”

And he adds: “What in heaven’s name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend?”

Of course, he’s talking about two related issues: 1) how absurd (he thinks) it is that sites like Facebook and Twitter believe they can monetize by selling ad space because 2) those ads don’t seem to hit the sweet spot.

Pushing all that aside though, as an entrepreneur isn’t it still hard to ignore the siren’s song of new media (if you can, er, call it that)—particularly an area that’s starting to shape up as more than just a trend? If this is where advertising is going and how businesses will increasingly reach their customers in five years (and that’s a big if), shouldn’t your small business start figuring out how to use it and leverage it to your advantage now?

That’s a question we don’t have the answer for yet (can you tell we’re split?). But in the interim (and yes, despite our skepticism), it doesn’t hurt to learn what it’s all about. Interested in Twitter? Check out “Twitter for Business,” an hour-long teleseminar from O’Reilly that’s been endorsed by rabid Tweeter/venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki. It may not do much more for you than make you sound hip at a cocktail party, but then since when is that a bad thing?

Tags: marketing, social networking
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So, Social Networking Isn’t Helpful For More Than Finding Dates.

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Social networking is one of those things that everyone says is great for small business—but no one really knows anyone who’s actually done anything really awesome with it. While there’s a slew of sites that offer assistance specifically for entrepreneurs and business people—think Facebook’s Small Business Network and LinkedIn—it strikes us that the sites are still primarily useful for finding old friends and stalking exes. That’s why we decided to ask you, our readers, whether social networking has done anything for your small business or you professionally for this week’s survey question.

While some of the geekier entrepreneurs out there may have successfully used social networking to your advantage in business, we couldn’t find them. In fact, the response from you wasn’t especially positive. Reader Jessica gave it to us straight:

“I have a facebook account and it has never once helped me professionally and I doubt that it ever will…Call me old-fashioned, but I think it’s who you are personally connected to (as in they have spoken with you, respect you, know more about you than what you disclose in your ‘profile,’ or knows someone else who can vouch for your great character)in life that gets you ahead professionally.”

So, maybe trying to friend a VC on Facebook isn’t the best way to “introduce” yourself. Or at least that’s what reader benpirie thinks:

“I try to avoid tainting my professional life with social networking sites. I think this is an area where everyone wants it to work, and there’s certainly potential, but no one wants to put themselves out as an early adopter while there’s still the MySpace stigma. Even once it does catch on, I don’t think it’s going to supplant the handshake as the gold standard of relationship building. For both traditional and practical reasons, there’s no electronic substitute for looking someone in the eye to get the measure of them.”

Please voice all dissent in the comments section below.