Robert Beadle's Social Media Marketing Blog

Yesterday, I was browsing iTunes and discovered one of favorite bands had released a new album.  I downloaded Divided by Night by Crystal Method and cranked it up while I left the room.

A few minutes later I returned to my office and was hit with the stench of burning plastic.  I shut off Crystal Method and put on some lighter music.  Judging by the garbled sounds now flowing through the speakers, I determined my old Altec Lansing unit was fried.

So I tweeted about it:

“I just fried my Altec Lansing computer speakers while playing Crystal Method on high volume. My office now smells like burnt plastic…”

Later that afternoon I logged onto my TweetDeck, a free dashboard application for managing Twitter, and found this reply from Bernice Cramer, VP Marketing and Product Manager at Altec Lansing (Twitter screen name: Alec_Bernice):

“@robertbeadle Yikes, that should not have happened. Which model Altec speakers do you have?”

I got into a brief conversation with Bernice at Altec Lansing and learned that a new set of speakers (model: MX6021 200W) due out in September, would be more appropriate for my music listening habits.

How cool is that?

So how does this apply to your business?

Twitter enables you to listen to your customers and respond in real time.  This improves your public relations and opens the doors to new business opportunities you would not otherwise catch via sales and traditional broadcast marketing.

While the more obvious use for Twitter is to broadcast messages to your followers, the most successful Twitter users are those who understand that Twitter is often more effective as a listening tool.

I admit, the Twitter interface alone is pretty crappy and useless.  That is why I’ve installed a free dashboard application called TweetDeck which helps me extract the business opportunities from Twitter.

Follow these simple steps for building your Twitter listening tool.

I’m going to assume you already have a Twitter account.  If you do not, go to Twitter.com and sign up first:

1) Download TweetDeck – There are several Twitter dashboard applications out there, but TweetDeck is one of the most popular because of its ease of use.

2) Configure TweetDeck – Follow the directions to link TweetDeck to your Twitter account.  You will need to log in again.  Start to play around with the various buttons and features to get a feel for how it works.

3) Create live searches – This is the important part.  Twitter is useless unless you are monitoring it daily.  To get started with searches, click on the magnifying glass and input your search terms.  Search terms should include: your name, your company name, key terms that apply to your business.  I’ll give you an example.  I search for: Robert Beadle, Northeast Public Relations, social media PR and social media marketing.  Now if someone mentions me or the topics I’m interested in, I can comment in real time, thus expanding my business opportunities.

Altec Lansing “gets” social media.  So what could they have done differently?  Perhaps they could’ve offered me a coupon or free shipping for the new speakers in order to solidify the customer relationship.  If a company goes out of its way to show it really stands behind a product, it can turn its customers into “brand ambassadors,” or people who are impassioned to spread the company’s message and recommend it to their friends.

Take a moment today to run a name and keyword search on Twitter.  You may be surprised by what you find.

UPDATE:

Bernice contacted me after seeing this blog post and is sending me a product sample of the MX6021 speakers to test drive.

Just a quick post today to let you know that my podcast interview has aired on 88.7 FM in Chicago and is available for listening at my homepage http://www.northeastpr.com.

During the interview, I talk about concepts such as “thought leadership” to build a company’s reputation in the business community and offer a few tips and personal reflections for running a small business.

BusinessMatters.net offers a regular podcast and radio program to discuss strategies for business success.

Let’s do a little health check on your business PR and marketing effectiveness.  It will take 3 minutes or less, I promise.

1. Enter your first name and last name into Google (or if you’re not the CEO, enter his/her name).

2. Enter your company name into Google.

3. Enter two or three key words that explain what you do, followed by your home state. (example: “social media consultant Rhode Island”)

Examine the first page (10 results) of each search.

How did you do?

Visibility: How many times did a positive result for your business appear during each search?

Ranking: How high did your listings appear in the search result order?

Search Result Quality: How many of the results are:
*positive news stories
*your news releases
*links to your online profiles (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)
*links to your products/services
*links to your free reports/e-books/videos
*positive reviews
*negative reviews

This is how the world sees you.  Any time a prospective customer is Googling your name to do some background research or simply looking for companies that offer the service or products you deliver, this is what they find.

Do you like what you see?  Is it easy for someone to find you and start a relationship with you?  Or are you invisible (or worse, being trashed by others)?

It’s no longer enough just to have a website.  You need to be marketing yourself online and promoting your expertise to make it easier for people to find you.

Start off by taking a few simple steps:

1) Discover what is unique about you or your company.  What special insights do you have that might benefit someone else with a problem?

2) Package your insights into an e-book or free report and post it to your website as a free PDF.

3) Use social networks and wire services to promote the link to your e-book.

This is just one effective way, out of many, to improve your online visibility.

Drop me a line and let me know how you scored.

I get questions daily about social media, but Twitter seems to make up the vast majority of them.  Here I’m going to answer some questions from a lovely young lady who wrote me on Facebook.  (BTW – these questions are real, although I admit to cleaning up the grammar and I’ve removed names for privacy..)

Hey Robert!
I have a question..how you can use twitter to advertise?
Also I just got a request follow from a company named amerigolanguage.com but it’s from Tehran, Iran..not sure what to make of this.

Thank you!

Hey there! Let’s take your questions one at a time:

1) First the advertising one – The answer is “no,” you can’t currently advertise on Twitter.  In fact the site hasn’t figured out a way to make money yet.  But I’d say Twitter advertising isn’t far off.

Sometimes people use the term “advertising” when they really mean to say “marketing, public relations, publicity or self-promotion.”  Advertising happens whenever you give money to someone who then designs an advertisement and places it in a website, newspaper, TV channel, radio station, billboard, etc.

However, there ARE ways to market yourself on Twitter.  And that’s what one of the things I do – I help companies understand how to use Twitter and other social media sites to accomplish their marketing and PR.

2) Let’s tackle your second question.  You just got a follow request from someone you don’t know.

I did a little digging and found out that amerigolanguage is the Twitter account for amerigolanguagesolutions.com a professional translation service firm based in North Little Rock, AR.  I don’t know why he has Tehran, Iran listed as his location.  Maybe he’s really there or maybe not and he’s trying to capitalize on city’s recent media attention surrounding violent demonstrations.  Who knows?

But his follow request isn’t important.  What you need to decide is whether or not to make your Twitter account “public” or “private.”  This depends entirely on your goals.  If your Twitter account is intended for only people you know, then you shouldn’t let others follow you who are not in your network of friends and colleagues.  However, if you’re using your Twitter account to make more connections around the world, then you will want to increase your followers.

In order to do this, you should tweek some of the settings in your Twitter account or all the follow requests pummeling your e-mail inbox will drive you mad.  Go to “settings” then uncheck the box that says “protect my updates.”  Then click on the “Notices” tab and uncheck the “new follower e-mails” to preserve your sanity.

People often wonder, “why do I have these random people and companies following me?”  The answer is simple – they are trying to sell you something.  This is why a user’s “follower” count doesn’t impress me – spammers and bad salespeople do not represent qualified followers.  I would be more impressed with someone who has a smaller number of followers but has CEOs, decision makers and journalists on their list.

I hope that answers your question.

For my other readers, please comment on my blog if you have more questions or would like to shed some new light on the subject.

Pitching your press release to reporters is so yesterday.  If you’re still relying on newspapers to cover your company news, you’re not realizing the enormous potential of what a “wire” press release offers.

Today, you have the option of posting your news release directly to news sites – that means no more begging reporters to cover you.  And the more times your release is posted with your company’s URL and keywords, the higher your Google ranking will rise.

So how do you do it?  The answer is wire services.

There are bunch of wire services out there, the most prominent being Business Wire, Market Wire, PR Newswire and PR Web.  They all have different pricing plans and options, but the most important benefit is search engine optimization (SEO).  Every time you issue a release through a wire service, your release will be sent to targeted sites on the Web, all linking back to your company Web site.

But now these services are making your news release even more powerful by giving you the option of using anchor text to boost your SEO even more.  Anchor Text refers to the hyperlinked words you click on that tell search engines what the page is about.

To create anchors in your news release in Microsoft Word, simply highlight the word or phrase you want to link, right click and select “hyperlink” from the dropdown menu.  Then type in the URL or website you want to link to and you’re done.  The word or phrase you highlighted will turn blue with an underline, indicating the link is hot.  Then when you upload the release to a wire service site, the hyperlinks are maintained.

Make sure when choosing words and phrases for your links, that they are keywords people look for when searching for your company on Google.  It’s also a good idea to put in some non-anchored links in as well, because not every news site out there accepts anchor text links.

I recently posted a release on Market Wire (set to fly on June 24) and you may use mine as an example of how you should create your anchors.  As you can see, my key words are: public relations, social media, marketing, Robert Beadle, e-books, seminars.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Robert Beadle
Northeast Public Relations, Inc.
401-632-6573
Robert@NortheastPR.com

ROBERT BEADLE NAMED 2009 RHODE ISLAND AND NEW ENGLAND YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR BY
THE U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (June 24, 2009) – Robert Beadle, president of Northeast Public Relations, Inc. (NEPR) (http://www.NortheastPR.com), was named 2009 Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Rhode Island and all of New England this month by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“I congratulate Robert Beadle on this achievement,” said Mark S. Hayward, director of the SBA Rhode Island District Office.  “Through his seminars and e-books, Robert has helped many small businesses understand how to better market themselves by utilizing public relations and social media tools.  He is an accomplished business leader in the community.”

Beadle has developed and implemented public relations and marketing programs for over 40 companies, non-profit organizations and government entities in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island including Arpin International Group, the Boy Scouts of America and the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council.  His company specializes in social media applications for public relations and marketing.

Beadle also anchors the Arpin Broadcast Network (ABN), an Internet-based television network and Web portal dedicated to the moving industry.

Outside of NEPR, Beadle currently serves as president of the Southeastern New England chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, a group which provides professional and educational programs for members and works to strengthen and advance the profession of public relations in the local community.

He is a master’s graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, the top public relations program in the Northeast. Beadle served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a staff sergeant and provided active duty mission support for Operation Noble Eagle in response to the 9/11 attacks.

Beadle is a regular speaker for the R.I. Economic Development Corporation business development program and offers public relations information to the wider community through personal appearances before groups of all sizes to explain emerging trends and the importance of PR to their organization and membership.

About Northeast Public Relations, Inc.
Northeast Public Relations, Inc. (NEPR) is a PR and marketing consultancy providing businesses with greatly increased visibility by connecting them with consumers via the ever-growing Social Web.  For more information, visit http://www.northeastpr.com or read Robert Beadle’s Social Media PR Blog at http://www.robertbeadle.com.

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This is a really quick post. But I wanted to let my readers know first that right now you should go up to http://www.facebook.com/username and secure your unique URL for your account. Mine is http://www.facebook.com/robertbeadle as an example.

The reason to grab your URL now is to prevent someone else with the same name as you from grabbing it first. That way it is much easier to share your Facebook profile with others.  Now you won’t have to be “JohnSmith#45879.”

By the way, if you have a group or company page on Facebook, you can also grab a unique URL, but you must have 1000 fans or more to qualify.

Small Business Week in Rhode Island has come to a close.  Between my two seminars, one on public relations and the other on viral marketing, I had about 50 small businesses attend.  And on Wednesday, I received my official Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for both Rhode Island and New England.

I got some great feedback from my seminar attendees, many of whom walked away with useful tips and inspiration to put these social media concept to work for their businesses.

A few people asked for more in-depth information.  Obviously, being a general seminar for small businesses, I am limited in the amount of information I can offer in two hours.   For you, I recommend you read some books on the subject including: Social Media Marketing by Dave Evans, Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff and one of my favorites, World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott.

Thanks to everyone who attended.  And if you’re looking for a more personalized seminar for your industry trade group, club or board of directors, send me an e-mail.

Best of luck to you in your PR adventures and keep me posted on what you’re up to!

E-newsletters, e-updates, webinar invites, try this!, buy that …. delete, delete, delete.

When you return from a vacation, does your inbox seem like an ocean of unwanted, irrelevant, boring e-mails you will never have the time or interest to read?  It seems like every time I use a service, exchange a business card or attend a seminar, I get added to someone’s e-newsletter.

Did I ask to sign up?  Sometimes.  When you’re networking with someone and during the business card exchange they ask, “may I send you my weekly e-newsletter?” it can feel like you’re being put on the spot.  You know you don’t want another newsletter that you’re never going to read.

But what do you say?  “Ya, sure, put me on your list.”  But you’re secretly thinking, “I’ll just delete it for a few weeks and opt out later.”

So if this is how you think about e-newsletters, how do you think your network feels?  Is all that work you’re putting into your newsletter actually driving your business or wasting your time?

I admit it.  I was guilty once of collecting business cards from my seminars and then e-mailing each person periodically letting them know about my next seminar.  I even got two or three of them to come to the next seminar on occasion.  But I came to realize there is a way to stay in touch with my network without harassing them with mass e-mails.

Back when e-mail was a new tool, we used to be thrilled whenever we got a message. “You’ve got mail!” was music to our ears.  But the medium is overused, tired, noisy.  Now people are trying to stop the noise by either deleting all their e-mails daily or opting out of unwanted newsletters.

But there’s a better way. The Social Web has transformed the way we communicate. Now people can find the information they want with pinpoint precision.  But the most powerful aspect of the Social Web is the ability to “opt-in” to information you really want.  People can opt-in to a company’s Facebook page, Twitter page or blog.

And the beautiful thing about this?  They actually want the information you’re sending or they wouldn’t be your Facebook “Fan” or Twitter “follower.”

So what did I do with that list of one hundred e-mails?  I opted them all out.  Here’s the last e-mail I sent them:

SUBJECT: The last e-mail you will receive from me
FROM: Robert Beadle (robert@northeastpr.com)
DATE: 6/2/09 4:33 PM,

Because I’m much too busy to read mass e-mails from many of my own contacts, I’ve decided to discontinue this e-mail list.  So this is the last mass e-mail you’re going to receive from me.

You are receiving this e-mail because you once indicated an interest in hearing about future PR and marketing seminars or staying in touch with me.

I’m assuming many of you will probably disregard this message and leave it at that.

But a select few of you may still wish to learn more about how you can reverse your decline in customers, stop competitors from getting the edge on your market and finally make your product or service a word-of-mouth success.

For those of you who are serious about solving these problems and improving your business, please take one or more of the follow steps:

1) Become a fan of Northeast Public Relations on Facebook.  Here you will receive periodic updates about free seminars, e-books, and blog posts that are designed to help you become more successful.  Select the “become a fan” link.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Central-Falls-RI/Northeast-Public-Relations-Inc/58322414256

2) Connect to me on LinkedIn.  Same benefits as above and a good option for those of you who who haven’t stepped into Facebook yet.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbeadle

3) Follow me on Twitter. Updated daily with a tip or event announcement.
http://twitter.com/RobertBeadle

4) Subscribe to my blog.  Updated about twice weekly with a piece of advice to help you grow your business.  Click on the RSS button (orange icon with radio waves) to add my blog to your feed reader.
http://www.robertbeadle.com/

5) Register for my upcoming seminars:
*Public Relations on a Tight Budget: Useful Tips for Getting Noticed in a Tough Economy
June 8, 2009, 3-5 PM
*Viral Marketing: How to Get People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories on the Web
June 9, 2009, 6-8 PM
For registration info, go to: http://www.northeastpr.com

If you are reading these steps and are lost, send me an e-mail back and I’ll help you figure it out.

Thanks for your support and best wishes for your business success!

Best Regards,
Robert

We now live in an opt-in world.  What can you be doing differently?

Last Thursday evening, I had the pleasure of hosting Steve Quigley, APR, for our PRSA “Social Media for Beginners” event.  I very much enjoyed his presentation style because even though he is a Boston University associate professor and has long list of professional accomplishments, he portrayed himself as an average guy who is still catching up with this stuff (social media).  He got the audience laughing throughout the evening and I think people felt a little less bewildered because they could see Steve was just like us.

While I could write a very long post about his ideas and insights, I will share those that had the greatest impact on me:

Social media technologies really make us think about our traditional approaches to public relations.  In grad school, I was taught that good PR was a two-way street in which the company both distributed messages and opened up channels to receive messages from the public.  However, when I got out into the business world, I realized that companies rarely opened up listening channels and often used PR as a way to dictate their messages to the world without really listening.

Social media now removes all the excuses companies once had for taking this one-way approach.  Now businesses have an easy way to open up their ears and finally listen.  However, it’s difficult for many older generations who have grown so accustomed to the “dictation” approach to PR and marketing that they need to shift their whole concept of business communication in order to successfully adopt these new technologies.

But it’s not just the technology that is changing.  It’s also the way we speak.  In the old days, businesses could get away with “corporate speak” in which language was impersonal, sterile, full of jargon.  But now, consumers want to hear the voices “behind the curtain” and feel like the captains of business are really listening and talking with their public rather than hiding behind a faceless corporate entity.

So I want to say thanks to Steve Quigley for his outstanding presentation to my PRSA group and if you get the chance to hear him speak up in the Boston area, I highly encourage you to join him.

One question I get asked a lot at my PR and social media seminars is, “It’s such a hassle to update my ‘status’ on three different sites.. isn’t there an easier way to do?

Yes there is! It’s called http://ping.fm/. Once you establish a free account, you can give it permission to access your multiple social networking sites and when it’s time to update your status, you just login to your ping.fm account and it synchronizes all your profiles for you.

Check it out and let me know what you think.