Sometimes It’s About Doing What’s Right

I’ve had a couple of conversations and insights this week that led me to this blog post. In marketing and PR, we all, myself included, get hung up on making every perfect move based on what will or won’t reach and resonate with your target audience. But sometimes, it’s OK to just step away from the microscope and make a decision based on your heart.

For example, I was talking with a client recently whose company generally does not target women, yet she had a booth at a major women’s event targeting business owners. I was completely perplexed. 

When I asked her “Why would you participate in this event when you aren’t looking for female customers?” her answer was obvious, but I’d totally missed it. As a woman business owner, she felt it was important to support and assist other women just starting out. Of course. It was just the right thing to do.

Another example is traditional advertising. I am forever harping on the decline of the effectiveness of advertising in traditional media. But, here’s a point we often miss: if you love your local paper, be it a community weekly, your local business journal or your alternative newsweekly, then advertise in it. Help it out in these trying times! If you don’t want it to go away, support it, even if it’s not the best bang for your buck.

Does your child’s sports team need a sponsor for uniforms? Sure, you may not be targeting parents of 8 year olds, but won’t that feel good to help?

And the real clencher here is that even if you make some decisions based on your heart and not the numbers, I bet you’ll find that you will have endeared yourself to your target audience even more. It shows you’re a good company who supports its community and important causes, and that might go even further than any dollars you could spend.

10 Free Items I Can’t Live Without

Talking to a client this morning,  I surprised her by admitting that I rarely pay for software. Not that I pirate it, I just have a lot of stuff that comes for free.

I’m not hard-line about it. While I admire the aims of the Free Software movement – I’m not actually against paying for stuff.  I’m writing this on a PC, with a licensed version of Windows XP. I have plenty of commercial software, MS Office, Webposition Gold, Quicken, etc, that I use pretty much daily. I just would prefer not to wherever possible.

So, for the recession-minded among you, here are the 10 free items that I use most often:

Firefox
#1 with a bullet. I love Firefox. There was much rejocing in the streets with the recent news that FF had overtaken IE6 for the first time. I was astounded. People still use IE6? Why?

I tried Chrome when it came out, and was fairly underwhelmed. Certainly, at the time, there was no reason for me to switch. I love my Add-ons.  I hate working on another computer that doesn’t have Web Developer or Favicon picker or Colorzilla, and so on.

If you’re one of those that hasn’t made the switch yet (about 30% of this site’s users are reading this in Internet Explorer), I urge you to today – you won’t regret it.

Tweetdeck
I tried Twitterfox, which was ok for a while, but as the number of followers increases, a stronger tool is required to effectively manage Twitter.

Hello Tweetdeck. Customizable colors, ability to sort people into groups, and built in search functionality. Why would I use anything else?

Paint dotNet
I’ll be honest. I downloaded GIMP, the ‘Open-Source Photoshop’ that everyone raves about, but it’s too complicated for me. The same is true of Photoshop itself. However, the much smaller, much more friendly Paint dotNet works great for my very limited needs. It has layers. It does transparancy. It loads in an instant and is pretty self-explanatory. Next!

Filezilla
Even though I use Dreamwweaver which has its own FTP client, I still prefer to stick with Filezilla. No frills, but easy to use, stable and does exactly what you need.

Well, assuming that ‘what you need’ is an FTP client, obviously.

Google AdWords Editor
We manage a lot of Google accounts. Each one has a lot of Campaigns and AdGroups. To try and keep everything updated via the web interface would just be a nightmare. The Editor, though, makes things a breeze. Find and replace your ’25% off’ ad copy with the new special in every ad takes seconds. Setting up Broad, Phrase and Exact matches for keywords, even less.

Whether you look after one account or one hundred, you’ll find life easier with this tool

CutePDF Writer
I’m not a huge fan of PDFs, but sometimes they’re needed. A client sends me their latest menu as a Word document and asks me to put it on the website – what to do? Click Print, select CutePDF Writer. Job done.

Picasa 3
It took a while for me to jump on board with Picasa. Now I’m hooked.

Brings the power of Google to your stored photos – tagging, editing and organizing made simple. Plus you can share online with one-click. Oh, and the latest version also works with videos.

SyncBack
Ever have a computer die and take all your stuff with it? I have. Hopefully next time I’ll be more prepared, thanks largely to a great big external hard drive, and the free version of Syncback. I don’t have to worry about backing up my work/music/photos/videos as it does it all for me.

If you think this might be something you need, there’s a great How-to here.

Skype
All my family are still in the UK. I work with a Flash designer in Italy. One of my best friends lives in Tokyo. I never pay anything to talk to any of them, thanks to Skype.

The video calls on Skype 4.0 are better than ever. It has a chat feature. And it’s coming to the iPhone and Blackberry next month. Join us! You owe it to yourself!

iTunes
It’s not all work, work, work! Working by myself, without the distractions of co-workers, I have to have some kind of background music. I use Last.FM and Pandora for finding new music, but I’m iTunes through and through.

Like most Apple stuff, it’s intuitive, easy, and looks great. It also doesn’t lock me into Apple. I can buy the ridiculously cheap albums from Amazon and automatically have them show in iTunes. It grabs all my podcasts from everywhere. It manages my Audible account for audio books.

Oh, and it also plays movies and tv shows, so I can catch up on Friday Night Lights from anywhere. Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose, indeed!

So, that’s my free ride. How about you? What am I missing?

Online Soiree Lures Businesses

A virtual beach bash that skipped out on bathing suits and sandy feet attracted more than 1,700 people to a Myrtle Beach lodging Web site last week.

Trying out a new way to lure business, Mount Pleasant public relations company Step Ahead Inc. held the “party” Tuesday night by serving up tiny, online blurbs through the social networking service Twitter.

While logged on to the feed for MyrtleBeach Hotels.com, hundreds of people learned about 11 resorts’ offerings this spring and summer, according to Step Ahead president Lyn Mettler. Myrtle Beach Hotels includes Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort, The Breakers Resort and Dunes Village Resort.

The company gave away prizes throughout the night to participants answering Myrtle Beach resort trivia. The night wrapped up with a $1,000 gift certificate to use at the properties.

Mettler’s next stop on the online party bus: her clients in Charleston. Step Ahead will offer a Twitter soiree May 14 and give away prizes from local hotels, restaurants and attractions.

Internet Tools Lift Up Myrtle Beach Area Hotels

Facebook and Twitter gained kind of critical mass here suddenly,” said Lyn Mettler, the president of Step Ahead, a public relations and media strategy firm hosting tonight’s Twitter event for Myrtle Beach Hotels. “It’s becoming vital if you want to compete in today’s business world.”

Businesses across the country are shifting their marketing dollars online, especially those targeting a younger, more Web-savvy audience, said Leo Kivijarv, the vice president of research at PQ Media, a custom media research firm. And as companies spend more on new media, that means they’re spending less on traditional ads, like print or TV.

“What the advertisers are trying to do is follow their target audiences to the media that they use,” Kivijarv said. “They really focus in on the youth market, who have so many different devices to get their news, information and entertainment. If this were the 1970s, basically you had eight media. Today, you have over 30.”

Jason Ellis, a broker associate at Legends Real Estate, which advertises property at Legends Golf Resort, said his print advertising budget has decreased 70 percent in the past 10 years. He has created a free Facebook page for the resort, runs a blog and has advertised elsewhere online.

Costs aside, online advertising reaches a much larger market than advertising in local newspapers or magazines, he said. His online advertising has brought more traffic to his Web site and increased real estate inquiries, he said.

“At least it’s making the phone ring right now,” he said.

At Myrtle Beach Resort, Becky Donevant, the new general manager, recently revamped the hotel’s Web site and also created a Facebook page. Donevant, who also wants to start using Twitter, said she can get more for her dollar on the Internet than she can advertising in print.

Another advantage of online advertising, she said, is how quickly she can tailor her special offers. If it appears reservations will be low during a given weekend, she can announce a special online without having to plan ahead as if she were running a print campaign.

“We basically look at places where our customers are, and then we look for places where they would be online,” she said.

“Instead of putting an ad in the newspaper in Pittsburgh, I might go to the newspaper’s Web site in Pittsburgh. It’s cheaper to do.”

Despite the growth in online advertising, businesses must use a combination of print and online ads to reach everyone, experts said. And Internet advertising is not immune to the economic downturn – the amount being spent on paid banner ads on Web pages has decreased as companies trim their marketing budgets, Kivijarv said.

“Some people just don’t use the Internet,” said Tom Sponseller, the president of the Hospitality Association of South Carolina.

“Some people don’t use e-mail. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. So they have to have their word out in whatever fashion they can to get the broadest group of people to make a reservation.”

Tonight’s Twitter event runs from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Anytime vacation hopefuls answer a question about Myrtle Beach Hotels correctly on Twitter, they get entered in a drawing for a $1,000 gift certificate. Other prizes, like golf rounds, restaurant gift certificates and beach towels, are also being given away.

“All of us in Myrtle Beach are doing traditional online and offline marketing,” said Patrick Norton, the Internet marketing manager at Myrtle Beach Hotels.

“It’s just something that will stick out a little bit and generate interest in a more exciting, newer way.”

Getting “Social” Is Good Business

With Jon Stewart, the “Today” show and The Wall Street Journal all recently covering the topic of Twitter, and the word “Facebook” thrown around every other word these days, social media seem to be a train moving full speed ahead. You might be trying to decide personally if you want to engage in these tools. But have you considered using these tools for your business? If not, you’re missing lots of potential customers and referrals that are just waiting for you to find them online.

Mettler

The term “social media,” which implies interaction and the sharing of content vs. the old days of just looking up a Web site and “pulling” information, is the buzz phrase right now. While it can mean reuniting with that long-lost high school boyfriend or catching up with a past colleague, it’s also a way to mine for customers and clients.

To me, social media offer a more efficient and effective way of networking. Take Facebook, for example. You’re engaging with friends, colleagues, contacts you met at a trade conference, family and more on a regular basis, not just the one time a year that you hold the company meeting or attend the family reunion.

Let’s say you are a mortgage broker and regularly you are sharing interesting articles, news about your business, awards and milestones you’ve achieved in addition to personal information about your family and daily life. When it comes time that any of these connections needs a mortgage, you’re much more likely to be top of mind than the mortgage broker someone mentioned around the water cooler six months ago. And, now these contacts don’t have to remember that mortgage broker’s name and find his Web site; instead, with one click on Facebook, they can directly reach your site or send you a message.

HEAR LYN IN PERSON Lyn Mettler will be presenting a program on the new generation of online marketing at the Women in Business Conference on March 27 at the Francis Marion Hotel downtown. The Center for Women and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce sponsor the conference annually. For details on the program, or to register, visit this site online.

While Facebook is generally about staying in front of connections you’ve made in the real world, Twitter, my favorite social media tool, helps you make new friends and connections and stay top of mind. I’ve had many referrals come directly from Twitter or from contacts I’ve made there whom I would not have known otherwise.

Twitter, to me, is best described as social instant messaging. You choose to follow people who interest you, and likewise, people who are interested in what you have to say choose to follow you. You’re allowed to “chat” in 140-character bursts. This might range from you’re ready for a coffee break to your latest blog post or your opinion on a political candidate. People talk about everything on Twitter!

That said, companies can mine Twitter looking for qualified customers who might need their service. For example, if you’re a hotel in Orlando, using Twitter’s search function, you can look for people talking about vacationing to Orlando, offer them a special deal, and give them useful information about the area, whether it’s kid-friendly restaurants or attractions to see while they’re visiting. They’ll begin to see you as the resource for all things about Orlando, and they’ll remember you when they decide to book their hotel.

Before you get your business “social,” here are a few rules of the Web to remember: Be transparent and open. Be conversational; don’t use sales or promotional verbiage. Provide real, useful information, not just ad copy. Check in frequently; the world of social media moves fast and if you’re not responsive, you lose credibility. Decide it’s important to your business, map out a strategy and add it to your to-do list. While it’s mostly a free investment, it does take time.

Now’s the time to stop and consider if the social media are right for your business (and I can venture a bet that in most cases they are), and get on the train before your competition leaves you standing empty-handed at the station.

Lyn Mettler is president of Step Ahead Inc., www.stepaheadinc.com, a social media, Internet marketing and public relations firm based in Charleston. Also, you can follow her on Twitter. You can learn the latest about CharlestonCurrents.com by following acbrack on Twitter. (Of course, there’s no telling what other nonsense you might encounter!)

47 Twitter Power Users’ Secrets to Getting Many Followers

March Social Media Star: Leah England

If you own a dog, you’ll want to meet our March Social Media Star: Leah England, founder and publisher of Lowcountry Dog magazine. Leah has created a fabulous publication that serves as a great resource for anyone living in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as a dog owner.

We picked Leah, because she has recently taken the magazine’s print presence online, as well, and is quickly becoming known as the expert for all things doggies in and around Charleston. She’s on Facebook, Twittering about the latest pet events and news, blogging about the pet world and has become the go to resource. And all this is helping grow her audience both online and in print. So with that, meet Leah!

What was the first social media technology you used?
LinkedIn. Ironically, though, I use it the least now.

What is your favorite social media tool?
Twitter and Facebook are neck and neck. With MySpace in second place, and LinkedIn in third.

How have you used social media to spread the word about Lowcountry Dog (LCD) and how has it benefited?
It’s amazing how social media enables me to interact instantly with LCD readers. It’s like having a constant focus group right in my living room. I ask LCD readers for their content ideas, what issues matter most to them, what they love most about LCD and what I should do more or less of. And the best thing is, they talk to me – like a real person! Not some elusive publisher holding a charette, but someone with whom they can have an open and honest discussion.

This year I’m heavily promoting the annual LCD model contest, held at PetFest, through social media. Even though we’ve always had a good turnout, I’m really pumped to see how things go this year!

I also promote LCD advertisers when it is relevant and newsworthy. If a groomer is offering a discount, a kennel has new online reservations and Web cams, or a retail store is hosting a meet and greet for a rescue – it all gets posted! So social media is giving me another opportunity to help pet-related businesses connect with their demographic.

How much time would you say you spend a day engaging social media?
2-3 hours. Weekday only. You’ve got to set some limits.

How do you incorporate it into your day so it’s not a time waster?
I schedule my social media activity. Morning, mid-day and late afternoon. I think it’s good to space things out, not only for yourself so you can get other things done, but also so you have the chance to catch different people at different times.

What’s your best tip for using social media for business?
The conversation should flow both ways. Don’t just constantly shove yourself down your followers’ throats. Ask questions. Respond to your followers’ posts. Post truly beneficial, entertaining and useful information. Be gracious. Be authentic. If you use a lot of auto-responders and post one-sided information, people can smell it a mile away. Social media is one of those things where what you get out of it directly correlates with what you put in it.

Is there a social media tool/technique that you think is underutilized that you would like people to know about?
I’ve only been using social media for about three months, so I’m not an expert. There’s a lot I feel I don’t use enough. I’m excited to begin using Flickr as a visual social networking tool and to start a Squidoo lens for Lowcountry Dogs!

Where can people find you online?
www.lowcountrydog.com
www.lowcountrydog.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/leahengland

Twitter Mom of the Week: Lyn Mettler

If you’re one of the many moms in this joint who either a.) own a business, or b.) dream of starting a business, you already know something about the power of social media. You may not know how to harness that power, but here you are, on TwitterMoms, making connections, learning new things and otherwise spreading your wings. (Yay, you!)

And if you’re tuning into some of the business conversations going on here, you probably also know our TwitterMom of the Week, Lyn Mettler. Lyn, 34, is a Charleston, SC mom of two boys (ages 5 and 1) and founder/owner of Step Ahead Inc., a public relations firm that specializes in using social media for PR purposes. Lyn also blogs here on TwitterMoms as a featured contributor, covering topics related to money and business.

Her latest posts, “Facebook Pages Get a Facelift” and “Twitter & Facebook Help Find Lance Armstrong’s Bike!”, not only bring us up to speed on the latest social media happenings — they also provide insight on how these platforms work. She’s a terrific resource if you want to learn more about how to put the viral nature of social media to work for you — in a way that’s authentic and effective. (Follow her on Twitter @webprgirl.)

As a PR pro, Lyn not only gets media coverage for her clients, but for her own business. If you are a closeted, non-tweeting TwitterMom who’s afraid to admit you don’t how (or why) to tweet (I know you’re out there!), check out her interview on a Charleston radio station to get up to speed in a flash.

“I decided to start my own PR firm about 3 1/2 years ago after working in the business for many years,” says Lyn. “I wanted the flexibility to control my own schedule after having my first child and also felt like I wanted to do things my own way. I was lucky in finding several clients right out of the gate and while there have been ups and downs, I’ve been able to maintain it.”

Because she works from home, Lyn appreciates the ability to maintain her career and be a mom. “I’m grateful I can talk a walk with my one-year-old on a sunny day in the morning, and take my five-year-old to an afternoon playdate or take a Jazzercise class and even do laundry,” she says. “Course I couldn’t do it without my husband, who watches our kids a lot while I work. That makes things immensely easier, knowing someone who loves my kids is watching them when I can’t.”

I asked Lyn about the degree to which social media have shaped or directed her business. “I’d say about a third of the work I do is focused on social media, but almost all of my clients have dipped their toes in it somewhat,” she says. “As traditional media loses readers, listeners and viewers to online, it simply does not have the impact it once did. And so, while I’ve always been interested in how to use the web as a PR tool, about three years ago I realized it was going to become essential. Now, I feel like companies who are not looking at social media and trying to see how they fit in are going to get left in the dust.”

Lyn also finds time to donate her professional services to the annual Charleston Digital Corridor iFive:K run, the inaugural Charleston Marathon planned for 2010, as well as the MOMS Club of Mt Pleasant. She’s also served on the public relations committee for Dorchester Habitat for Humanity and provided public relations assistance to Pet Helpers, a local animal shelter. Lyn is active in the Public Relations Society of America and regularly speaks on the topic of social media and public relations to a variety of organizations throughout South Carolina.

Don’t worry, even the business-minded are required to answer our goofy question, “What is your all-time favorite TV show/book/movie, and what would you most like to be eating while you watch/read?”

“I love reading when I have time and watching reality TV,” says Lyn. “My all-time favorite movie is ‘Dead Poets Society,’ and I would like to be eating some combination of peanut butter and chocolate!”

The Savage Report

Lyn debates the merits of social media on Charleston’s The Savage Report TV show.

Skittles: Innocent Candy or Evil Spammer?

Another week, another blow up in the Twitterverse. And this time it’s all down to a small, sugary treat.

If you haven’t yet visited skittles.com, do so now. They have replaced a traditional website with a small navigation box which overlays a search for #skittles on Twitter, the Facebook Fan page, Flickr-hosted photos and a Youtube channel. The Social Web’s dream, right? Well, maybe.

I first came across it on Saturday evening and thought it was pretty cool, and more than a little daring too. Giving over complete control to the world? Huge potential for that to backfire. Still, a fun idea, and a lot more interesting than most product websites.

Well, as with so much on the internet, it didn’t take long for the backlash to begin.

• Many pointed out that the concept was kinda-sorta ‘borrowed’ (wholesale) from Modernista, an advertising agency in Boston who had done the same thing last March.
• Others complained about having to be an adult to see the site, as Tim Allick puts it, “Can’t believe that #skittles website bans KIDS! Doesn’t send them to a safe page, just tells ‘em to go away. How is this smart marketing?”. (He does have a point. It’s a kids candy after all. )
• The Wall St Journal chimed in with a round-up of comments, most of them negative.
• Joanne Jacobs wrote  a blog condemning the whole exercise as a failure – just one day after the site launch – ‘Why the Skittles social media campaign failed’: ” Skittles has failed in its social media campaign because all it has done is hold a mirror up to conversations, without providing any content of its own, any context for remotely valuable conversation, and any rationale for productive engagement.”
• A poll by PR Sarah Evans, shows that 60% of respondents wouldn’t be swayed by the new site to buy more Skittles.
• Etc, etc, and etc

Sigh. Sometimes it all seems so predictable. The constant flow of negativity. The need to show that ‘I’m not taken in by their sneaky advertising’. Jumping on the ‘this is just a rip-off’ and ‘besides, it doesn’t work anyway’-bandwagons.

Come on people! Where’s the joy? Where’s the ‘Yes, we can’-spirit we keep reading about!?

My 6 year old has recently begun spotting website addresses on things that I ignore – mcdonalds.com, orville.com, quakerkidsdoinggood.com – pretty much *everything* has a website now, and they’re all the same. A nice Flash intro. Maybe a game or something. A code you can enter to unlock the hidden area. Yawn.

At least Skittles.com didn’t do that.

So, personally, I’m sticking with my initial reaction, “It’s kind of cool”.

They may not have been first, but they were the first Big Name Brand to do it, and that’s something. It may not convince 60% of people to buy more, but that still leaves a lot that might. It has generated a ton of publicity, and got them over half a million fans on Facebook. And it’s different and interesting.

Unlike so much of the commentary around it.

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