I am not a micromanager but will direct work as it pertains to my clients.  You can work virtually from your office and from time to time, we would meet.

Timing is everything.  Facebook was hot a few months ago and that’s when they should have gone public. Since then many things have happened that have dampened the warm fuzzy feelings everyone was having then:

1) Other tech companies came and they’re not doing so hot.  Linkedin came out at $122 and it’s now $73. Groupon came out at $31 and it’s now $19. Reach Local also is not doing so hot.

2) Google+ branded pages just came out.  Those didn’t exist a few months ago. Facebook now has competition.  It’s nice when you don’t have competition and Google would love to eat their shorts so I expect swift and cool improvements to come soon.

3) Facebook recently made significant algorithm changes that negatively effect small businesses, especially those with fewer than 1,000 fans. Yet,  it is small businesses that represent a majority of their advertisers.  Facebook is interested in large corporations like Ford yet companies like Ford can easily gain the “viralness” they need due to their size and presence and when they do, they quit paying for the ads. The last Ford Facebook campaign for the Ford Focus did just that. Ford decided to quit paying for Facebook ads once they reached 10,000 and chose to use their marketing dollars on other online sites.  Here’s’ the WSJ article about this issue.

4) In addition to the algorithm changes Facebook also made changes to it’s overall structure making it more difficult to setup a personal profile much less get started with a business page. The beauty of Facebook was it’s ease with which non-computer/non-tech people could create an account and get started and get connected.  It’s not so easy now and managing your page isn’t easy either.  As a person that teaches Facebook for Business I’m beginning to hear lots of complaints from small business owners.  It doesn’t take much to frustrate them and have them drop it all together. Afterall, we have better things to do.  Small businesses are like fish – highly sensitive to the slightest changes.  It only takes one bad change to make Facebook unpopular.  Netflix could learn from this and so could RIM.

5) Facebook changes are made so frequently people can’t keep up. Change is good but failure to notify people, provide accurate training or otherwise quick support makes taking change a bitter pill to swallow.

6) And, of course, there is the problem of privacy.  Facebook just got into trouble over that again in Europe and it’s uppermost in the minds of small business owners… Believe me, I hear it.  I’m waiting for the big slip that causes Facebook to tumble in America. Hmm.

7) Lastly, it all comes back to timing.  When the economy improves and people get back to work they will have less and less time to be on Facebook.  It became popular just when we entered the recession (around early 2007) and it gained because of it’s ability to connect with people and for advertisers to get in front of college students and what I refer to as the “SUN” people – the Self and UNemployed (cause sometimes being self-employed feels like you’re unemployed).  Well, the young kids are losing interest and as soon as the economy picks up, people will have other things to do.  I’m beginning to see green grass.

PS – the other usual death trigger to tech companies – when they decide to hire thousands of people. Well, Facebook is getting ready to do just for that.

Other conference topics include:

Conference topics include:

Analyzing and Organizing Medical Chronologies – Jenee’Schrule, CaseMap Specialist

Starting and Building your Business – SCORE Business Advisor

Evaluating Pediatric Cases: They Are Not Little Adults! – Gyalia Rutledge, RN, LNC

Technical Tips – Mari Cochran, Technically Speaking – Technology

Medical Malpractice – The Dynamics of a Case! – Attorney Brooke Archenhold and Attorney

Ashby Davis

For questions about this conference, contact Melissa Gelineau at melissagelineau.rn@gmail.com or (828)551-3150.

Now, with the rapid takeoff of Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and now Google Plus, not to mention one must have a blog and a YouTube channel, how much is enough? Can you Digg it? Have you Reddit? Stumble Upon it and by God, “Share It.”  Have you ‘mentioned’ me, ‘liked’ me, ‘connected’ with me? How many online profiles and communication channels does one need?  How many ways do we need to “share” something? My share button has so many options, many I’ve got no clue about. Who keeps up with all that stuff?

More importantly, how do small business owners choose, navigate and successfully use this stuff? Notice, I don’t care what big business does. They hire people, mostly interns these days. But a small business owner is desperately seeking to differentiate themselves from the crowd, especially in this economy where the crowd seems to be online; that’s where all the action is.

As a website designer, social media consultant and marketing contractor, I hear two big complaints: 1) how does anyone keep up with all this stuff and 2) I feel so overwhelmed.  So, here’s my advice to small business owners as they plan, budget and get ready for 2012 so they can keep up with it all and not feel overwhelmed:

1) Focus. 

Choose 1 or 2 online communication channels and do it well. Be realistic. You don’t have the resources to do it all and if you do, then no need to read further.  Set it up right. Use it regularly. Work it.  I can’t stress these two enough. Here’s a brief overview (I’m not going indepth here – plenty has been written about these) Choose what’s right for you:

• Facebook Page – build your community of fans – B2C
• LinkedIn – connect with potential business decisions makers – B2B
• Twitter – create buzz around a specific and strategic marketing campaign – Both

Here’s the cost in dollars and time:

Facebook -Setup Time: 3 to 5 hours to properly setup. I stress properly. You can set one up in a lot less time but that means you’re not fully utilizing all the resources. When I say Focus, I mean focus.  Set it up right. Interaction Time: After that, work it at least 3 to 4 times a week, 15 minutes each time. Not bad, really. Free to setup but if you’re willing to spend $150/year, that page can look, act and feel like a website. If you’re a B2C business, this is your place. If you can touch it, taste it, feel it, support it – this is your home.

LinkedIn – Setup Time: 3 hours to properly setup. Interaction Time: minimum 3 to 4 times a week, 15 minutes each time to interact with it. Every time you meet someone and you truly think they could be a potential connection, then connect with them on LinkedIn.If you’re a B2B business, this is your place.

Twitter – Setup Time: 1 to 2 hours to properly setup but 5 hours to setup properly setup STRATEGY.  Twitter is all about strategy and being strategic. Use Twitter to create buzz around something specific.  Interaction Time: Daily, 15 to 30 minutes. Note: Twitter is like a foreign country – it has it’s own language and culture. Get ready to learn the language and the cultural rules.  Twitter has it’s own etiquette. Be careful when diving in.

YouTube – Setup Time: 1 to 2 hours to properly setup. Interaction time: that depends on your video – whose making them and uploading them.

Yes, there are tools to help you organize all of this, but that’s another thing to learn.  Use HootSuite, TweetDeck and your smartphone if you want to do this stuff while you’re watching TV.

2) Match your Branding

I see a lot of businesses create several online profiles – Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, YouTube and now Google Plus.  In the rush to setup, they often just achieve the basics.  Any marketing person will tell you – match your branding.  There are ways in all of these onlnie profiles to upload your logo, match your colors, use the same boilerplate to define your business, your services, your mission.  If you’re a consultant and you rely on your photo, use the same one – everywhere. People on Linkedin with a photo are 70% more likely to have profiles reviewed it. It’s how people recognize you and they know you’ve taken the time to do it right.  You look more professional. Learn from the big boys. Coca cola is very particular about the color red they use and have created an online marketing portal so all their vendors use the same color red and the same logos on all campaigns whether they are in America or Africa.

3) Connect with your website. All digital roads should lead home.

I do quick searches of new clients and always find online profiles they don’t tell me about. My job is to determine whether or not you still use it and if so, how to incorporate it into your website.  How else do you expect people to find you? Don’t make people go all over the place to find you.  Your website is your online store, your online home. You control it. When you’re on Facebook or anywhere else, you’re on their territory.  Because it’s free, they get to set the rules about how often they change stuff and how they share your stuff.  Keep customers coming back to your website and let them choose the communication channel that fits them.   A lot of businesses have dove into various online social networks but they fail to connect them all to their website.  It is possible, even if you just put a hyperlink on your website to your YouTube channel or Facebook page or whatever.  Just connect them.

4) Distribute & Keep With It.  Social media is a digital sport.

Just because you have a blog on your site doesn’t mean anyone is going to read it. If you write a blog, share the blog post on your other channels and as many other locations as possible – pr-online, freepressreleases.com, etc. If you have a LinkedIn account, don’t just connect with people – share your updates, tell your connections what’s going on with you professionally, join discussions, start a discussion.  If you have a Facebook fan page, post to it.  You have to give people the opportunity to interact with you – that’s the whole point.

All too often I have business owners that get started, they’re eager. They’ve heard the sermon and are willing to pray and ready to become an online converted believer but after some time they loose focus and quit. Managing your online channels is a digital sport. It requires focus, determination and continued practice, not just prayer.

5) Network

It is still vitally important that we get dressed, leave the house, learn our elevator speech and network. Choose a networking meeting or group that fits your style. Not into the quickie handshake, business card transfer setting, the before breakfast or lunchtime professional networking groups? Then choose a civic club – they actually do stuff. Choose a meetup group.  There are plenty of networking groups that do more than just handshakes.

6) Be Professional

No matter what, maintain professionalism. Have professional business cards – they’re not 2000 and late yet. It bugs me to see people with the free Vistaprint business cards. Why are you promoting them? Do they promote you? Besides, the fonts are really small. Yeah, the cards are free but these days you can spend less than $100 and get custom cards printed without promoting someone else’s business.  I just bought 2,000 cards for $80 and they weren’t printed in China. If you’re not willing to put skin in the game and spend a few dollars on business cards, I’m not sure what that says about your business.

7) Get comfortable talking to yourself

A lot of business owners find it strange to start discussions online without speaking to someone specifically. We share our updates on Linkedin, write a post on Facebook and tweet like crazy but we’re unsure of our audience.  Digitally speaking is a lot like role playing.  Depending on which communication channel you’re on, you need to role play.  Depending on where online you’re talking, imagine you’re talking to a friend, coworker, colleague, or client or potential client and you’ve run into them somewhere with just a few minutes to share. Talk in that voice. You will get comfortable and find your “online” voice.  People are paying attention.

All in all, people look at your website and your other online channels/profiles  to get a sense of who you are as a business owner or business. All of these come together to form an opinion of you and whether or not they want to do business with you.  So, choose wisely. Set them up properly. Focus and don’t forget about actually  networking.

I get this question asked a lot.  Here’s my take on this, you decide:

At its most simplest, Facebook is just a website – one website among many.  It just happens to be a very popular website.  Keyword here – popular.

Facebook needs the Internet to exist. The Internet does not need Facebook to exist.

Should Facebook, like so many websites before it, become unpopular then you’ve lost your online identity.

Will it last into perpetuity? Who knows. The typical lifespan of popular websites has been about 5 years.  Think “My Space” – who is that? Let’s see what happens.

Websites offer a bit more than Facebook – the opportunity to expand on your services, products and mission.  Don’t forget what Facebook is about – it’s the connection, the engagement, the instant gratification.  It’s what you do in your own business.  You go out and network.  You talk to your customers.  You engage with them.  Offline, you “Facebook.” But, at the end of the day, you still come back to your office or your store where everything is stored, maintained and developed. That’s your website.

So, for now, consider your Facebook fan page a mini website where it’s a lot easier to engage with your customers and provide instant information in an online community.  It should lead back to your website where you can provide more in-depth information and content. Facebook gives you tools like apps and plugins to enhance it.  Use it but don’t forget that it’s one tool of many other online tools.

Throughout my working life I’ve been many things – secretary, legal assistant, administrative manager for law office, accounting firm, contract professional, marketing assistant, events manager and so on.  I’ve worn many hats and I’m sure I will wear many more.  For the last few years I have been working as an independent professional – on contract, self-employed. Today I often introduce myself as Mari 5.0 because like many software programs, this is the latest and greatest version of me.  Not to say that all bugs have been fixed but I do have all the latest plugins.

DIY Tech Geek ~ bringing all experiences together

So, it is with much excitement that I am pleased to announce a new feature to Mari Cochran Consulting – the birth of DIY Tech Geek, a series of do-it-yourself style workshops developed for business owners to help them learn and implement web, mobile, and social technology tools and taught by tech geeks like me.  This is a culmination of my years of experience in business operations, administrative management, marketing, website design, and event management experience and most of all, my love and appreciation of technology.

First series of DIY Tech Geek workshops in Black Mountain

The first series of DIY Tech Geek workshops will kick-off on Tuesday, June 7th in Black Mountain with Facebook for Business.  Due to the positive response, we scheduled three Facebook 101 workshops this coming week.  Then, the second series of Facebook for Business will be held the week of June 13th and the third level offered the week after that.

Thank you to the Black Mountain Marketing Council for this wonderful opportunity and the encouragement and support of its business members.  I am pleased to see so many Black Mountain businesses that understand the importance of technology and how it can improve their business.

DIY Tech Geek. Be Free.

www.diytechgeek.com

f/diytechgeek

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