Getting Started...

As a social media consultant, I get the chance to work from the ground up, so to speak. Many of my clients want to jump on the social media bandwagon, but aren’t exactly sure what it entails.

Or what social media is, for that matter.

My preliminary meeting with them to see how I can help their business is becoming standard fare. They’ve been recommended to me by another client (I only have word-of-mouth business, no advertising). The other clients have been very pleased with my work and really wanted to bring their business up-to-date. Then comes the big question…

What types of social media did you need help with?

This is usually where the blank looks begin and I remember just how new social media to some of these businesses! One of my current clients, Ralph’s Joy of Living, just celebrated 60 years… quite an accomplishment, in my opinion. Social media is brand new territory for them, living and working in a small town…

where technology may be a few steps behind.

Many people just assume that I start a Facebook page for them and voila! Instant social media, right? Wrong. In order for a small business to really be successful in social media, you need to do five things: analyze, offer, explain, implement, and monitor.

The first step, analyze, is often the longest and most tedious.

You need to sit down with the clients and find out what they want to improve. What exactly do they hope of achieve through social media? Chances are, they’re not sure. You need to be realistic, specific, and objective. Make sure your clients have a positioning statement and a goal that is measurable.

Creating a business plan, or offer, is the next logical step.

Which types of social media are you recommending for them? How often do these need to happen? Create a hard copy of the business plan for your clients to KEEP. I can’t tell you how often clients tell me that they appreciate that workbook or binder. Make sure it is detailed and that you update it throughout the consulting process – you will want to give them a finalized version when you send them off on their own.

Explaining, and demonstrating, will take a bit more time.

Create appropriate channels, using the business name whenever possible, for all types of social media that you’d planned. You will have to demonstrate HOW to use these venues and also WHAT information they’ll need to put up. Always have a few examples of each type in their binder – it will give them something to fall back on in the future.

Implementing should happen as an umbrella, to cover all the bases at once.

For some of my clients, we’ve chosen to use a new marketing campaign or new brand image to launch their social media venture. The key is consistency – so don’t rush it. Make sure that they will be able to keep up with the schedule that you’ve given to them. Sometimes taking a few months to make sure that they will be able to provide content on a regular basis is more beneficial than starting, but only using social media sporadically.

Monitoring is essential.

Period. You need to know what types of things are being said about your business! Who is talking about you? What types of things are they saying? Teaching them how to monitor is key for social media being successful. No matter how great a campaign is, if you have a lot of negative information out there, your customers (and future customers) are going to find it.

Continue to pop in on your clients after you’ve wrapped it up.

You want to see how they’re faring. Make sure that they don’t have any questions about what or why they’re doing certain things. They will appreciate the personal touch, but you will also get a better grasp on what is most successful (and probably why).

Don’t get frustrated if it seems like it is taking a long time.

Remember to keep your eye on the goal! Slow, steady, and consistent will always win out… remember the tortoise and the hare? Keep on going, Mr Turtle!

Missed Opportunities?

I recently went with a small group of students to a Cleveland area PRSA conference, about 90 minutes away from our college campus. We all cleared our schedules for the whole day, completed our tests or homework in advance, and set out on our adventure at a very early 6:30 on a Friday morning. We were all members of Tiffin University’s Communications Club, heading off to our first conference and networking event.

Sounds idyllic, right?

We were excited to see what types of sessions would be offered and even more so about the opportunity to meet people within the industry. Once there, we claimed an entire row so that all of our group could sit together for the first session. Each session was chock-full of practical advice, tips and trips, and how-to guides- my notebook filled up rather quickly. I was especially impressed with some of the social media policies and practices of the Eaton Corporation.

I made a mental note to make a beeline toward one panelist ASAP.

Finally the morning sessions were completed and we were invited to mingle with the other students, panelists, speakers, and organizers of the conference before the luncheon and keynote speaker. I chatted with the other students from my school, while scanning the crowd for the panelist that I had really wanted to speak with. One of my friends was shaking her head vehemently. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, so I asked if she was okay. She admitted that she was terrified and did not feel comfortable introducing herself to anyone at the conference, let alone a stranger.

I was stunned.

I’m a bit of a social butterfly, so I’ve never had trouble introducing myself to others and I’ve never met a stranger. With all of us having majors in Communications, I had just assumed that everyone would be able to work the crowd with ease. After a few more questions, I realized that five of the seven students were planning on just sticking with each other. I sighed in frustration, but spotted the panelist I had been searching for out of the corner of my eye. I gave them a wave as I weaved my way through the crowd.

Sounds like a missed opportunity for those students, wouldn’t you say?

I’ll admit that I thought so too. Then I realized something. Not everyone has the same background. Not everyone has the same type of knowledge. Not everyone knows how to mingle and make small talk. And you know what?

Not everyone has all the answers.

Fast forward one week. After making a few phone calls, sending a few emails, and chatting with a few relevant professionals, our students are going to have several networking opportunities that they would have NEVER been offered before. Our Communications Club will be hosting workshop/networking sessions each month during our spring semester that will teach students how to mingle, how to network, how to make small talk, and how present themselves in the best light.

Not only that, but we’re inviting several different local colleges to attend.

Not only will these students learn more about their chosen fields, but they’ll be able to get more practice with talking to new people. Instead of looking at the experience as a loss, we’re turning it in to a positive experience that will benefit a much larger number of students.

Then again...
maybe you should ask me again next semester after those workshops.

Wouldn’t want to count my chickens before they hatch,
a scrambled egg doesn’t feed nearly as many people as a whole bird!