websense

In the last several years Social media has barged onto the marketing scene in a big way. Some might say it just sneaked up on them when they least expected it – while die hard web users will maintain that it has been a little while in coming. Some platforms have come and gone of course (MySpace, anyone?) – and some have really taken off (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). With this explosion in the use of social media, many search engine specialists have said that “social media is how marketing is done now”. I have to say, I both agree and disagree.

Social Media can be great for your business – great opportunities for marketing. Awesome with local search, etc. But do I think this is now the one and only way to market your business? No way. Do I think that Search Marketing, in a more general sense, that includes social is the one and only way to market your business? No, but it is the best, most cost effective and targeted way to market your business.

Just a couple of the more salient points in the argument – search engine marketing helps people who are actively looking for your product or service to find it – they don’t have to know who you are first. Social media primarily helps spread the word among friends and followers. Someone has to know who you are first, even if you initiate the relationship – it’s not going to go anywhere if no one knows who you are – so search engine marking needs to be the first priority when planning a marketing budget for your web site. This will lay the ground work for any social media and local search. I mean, if you are gonna use local search, you should probably optimize for it, especially if you are offering goods and services that are locally based, as in they can’t be shipped. If you are a dentist or install pools, you’ll want to optimize for your locality as well as the goods and services you are offering. Once you have that all in place, or concurrently, you’ll want to get into social media to “spread the word” – social media really is the new word of mouth advertising – so you should use it to your advantage as much as possible – and track what is being said about you online. People are much faster to complain about a restaurant or other business via Twitter or Facebook, than they are to promote it – so if you want it to be used to your benefit, make sure you are paying attention to what’s being said so you can rectify any complaints or issues ASAP.

This will continue to be an discussion as social media gets bigger and bigger. Social media has absolutely changed the way every size of business markets – of course it did – it’s cheap, it’s relatively easy, and it gets some results. It’s essentially put marketing in the hands of the consumer – which is great – more power to the consumer – but this is also why you really have to pay attention to reputation management – it’s essential to know what people are saying about you – the good and the bad. Social media has made it essential that you be friendly, outstanding, and special, or you are going to be tweeted about. If you are rude – tweet, tweet. If you are ordinary, no tweet. If you go above and beyond, likely tweet. Gotta go for the above and beyond – and really that makes everyone work harder, try to be nicer – win win, right?

There’s a great article over at Mashable with some tips on how Social Media has changed Marketing, as well as some things you can do to get started. The author recommends getting your employees tweeting and using social media to promote your company. This is a great idea – but I’d keep in mind that it is the first place they will turn sour on you if you part ways in an unfriendly manner – just sayin’. We’ve all seen it happen a time or two.

TKG is HIRING!
We’ve had a few staff changes, as well as some positions in departments that just keep growing and growing, so we’re looking for some new blood around here! If you are motivated, like to work in a fun, upbeat atmosphere while wearing jeans and sneakers rather than a pin striped suit and tie, please apply!

SEO STRATEGIST – Just as our SEO department keeps growing, as does the number of SEO staffers going part time due to motherhood, so we need more strategists! If you have experience, and know your way around SEO, send us your resume, we’d love to talk to ya!

SEO SALESPERSON – Because SEO is vital to any website’s success, we are on the lookout for a great sales person who truly understands SEO, and how it impacts a site’s conversions. If you believe in the fundamental importance of SEO, and can demonstrate it to your client, give us call!

ACCOUNT MANAGER If you are great at client interaction, and can run interference between two departments who rely on each other to work together, check out this job posting – we need ya!

RECEPTIONIST – Hannah is moving up in the world, becoming a personal assistant for Stacy in HR, and me. On second thought, this could be construed as a step down, as she’ll have to contend with me, but she’s too nice to mention what a pain in the neck I am.

If you’re interested in any of the above positions, I invite you to stop over and check out our offices. I think you’ll be in for a great surprise – a laid back atmosphere, pool, foos, darts and a nice deck when you need a little down time. Casual dress, friendly faces and some pretty awesome aesthetics to keep the creative juices flowing. Drop by, we’d love to meet you.

I’m an optimist. I think to be an entrepreneur, you have to be. You just have to dig in during the tough times and work hard to make your business work, and you have to believe it will.

We all know we are finally starting to see the sun after some pretty dark years in the world economy. We were just starting to look toward what comes next, and now we are being told in all sectors that things are going to get bad again. Rising oil prices due to revolutions happening all over the Middle East, food shortages due to crazy weather this winter, and the value of the dollar dropping are all contributing to this feeling of impending doom that is leveled over the country by the media.

Now, I know all these things are happening, and yeah, it’s a little scary. But I have to look on the bright side. Maybe all this trouble over oil will finally force the administration and Congress to address the matter of drilling in our own country. We have massive, massive amounts of oil in the Dakotas, let’s take advantage of that, bring some jobs, create some capital.

As for the food shortage, I think when there is a possibility that people won’t have enough food available, maybe we shouldn’t be making fuel out of corn, and use that food for …food.

So, the bright side of things. That’s really not as tough as you might think after all that. Things are looking up, even with the higher gas prices and some talk of food shortages. According to a recent article on Fox News, business owners all over the globe are beginning to see an uptick in business. They are starting to hire.

A poll by the Young President’s Organization revealed that (direct quote): “61% of CEOs feel conditions are improving (up 46% from the last quarterly survey) and 67% of respondents believe conditions will continue to improve in the next six months.”
Read more: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/legal-hr/2011/02/10/optimisim-businesses-applicants/#ixzz1FlHxJkY7

This is a survey taken all over the globe, with all sizes of small business. I think if the guy in Sri Lanka thinks things are looking up, certainly the folks here in the US are going to be finding jobs and getting back to work in the near future.

One really interesting point made in this article is that many times, people don’t think to reach out to small businesses. They go to the big job sites and think that they can find everything there. Not all small businesses use those sites, and if you have listened to any news reports in the last couple of years, you know that 70% of all jobs in America are with small businesses – so check out the small business sector! We’re here, we’re successful, and we need people.

If you’ve read here for very long, you know I am a fan of LinkedIn.com. I think it can be very useful in terms of networking, marketing, finding new hires, (or job searching), and whatnot. If you follow their blog, you’ve already seen this, but they have developed a series of short videos to help the small business owners utilize LinkedIn to their best advantage.
Done in a retro/80′s style, they are helpful and funny but a bit basic, tutorials to the many ways LinkedIn can be used to promote your business.

The videos, which were made in conjunction with FedEx, are a six part series with tips on everything from handling your company, your customers, your online reputation, and more. I highly suggest you check them out. They are worth more than a good chuckle, you might even get some good info out of them.

Check them out on LinkedIn’s Blog.
Here’s a link to the first one:
http://fedex.linkedincreatives.com/video/01/

Go watch the videos, I’d like to hear what you think of them –

Out of Business

Some things about big government, and this administration in particular, really tick me off make me angry. A report released just this week by the White House says that the administration has begun yet another program aimed at destroying business. Of course, small business in particular could be especially damaged – most don’t keep attorneys on retainer.

The new program set up by the Obama Administration provides workers who hate their boss, or have some complaint about their boss with a hot line number to the American Bar Association! Yeah. You read that right. Are you kidding me? The Department of Labor can’t handle it, so we redirect these people to LAWYERS???

Lawyers tend to make a big, expensive mess of everything. This seems to be a somewhat underhanded way of making life for small business, especially, even more difficult. The administration says out of one side of it’s mouth that they want to help small business because they are counting on us to start hiring. Then they go and put a roadblock up.

If you are any kind of disgruntled worker, I think there are several things you should do. Number 1 would be talking directly to your supervisor, even if he or she is the problem. If that doesn’t resolve it, follow the chain of command. Even if it isn’t resolved there, how many people are going to go and track down the Department of Labor? How many would even know to do that? I think most people would have to be pretty upset to go that far (and I am not saying that there are not instances where it is necessary), but a free hot line with advice from a lawyer? I think this is asking for a wave of calls, and a lot of money, and a lot of aggravation. It just screams ‘frivolous lawsuit’. Especially if the only way these lawyers make any money is by suing businesses. This is a bad, bad idea. I really, really hope that businesses don’t end up like so many medical practices – too many lawsuits, too many lawyers fees and insurance rates going up. But, that’s what happens when you get lawyers involved.

People get disgruntled, it happens. What do you do when an employee has a complaint? Refer them to HR? Have a sit down with the employee and hear them out?