April Social Media Star: Steve Hofstetter

Social media has proven to be a successful marketing tool for many big businesses, but even small, one-man operations can benefit greatly from using these tools!

Author, columnist and comedian Steve Hofstetter has been using social media since Six Degrees started up in 1997. Anyone remember that tool? He’s kept ahead of the curve and is truly a social media star.

Not only does social media help to spread the word about Steve’s act, it literally fills the seats for him. When he started on Facebook, he was performing at coffee houses, and now 7,000 + Facebook friends later, he’s performing in theatres!

Read Steve’s social media tips and go check out his accounts. We promise you’ll get your laugh for the day!

What is your job/company/profession/title?

Comedian.

What was the first social media technology you used?

Six Degrees. If you’ve heard of it, you’re lying.

What is your favorite social media tool?

Friendster, in the way that I appreciate 80s music. But I rely on Facebook for real.

How have you used social media for your business/company and how has it benefited?

I set the record for the most Facebook friends back in the day. When I started my quest, I was performing at coffee houses. By the end of it, I was performing at theaters. Social networking spread the word about comedy.

How much time would you say you spend a day engaging social media?

Hours.

How do you incorporate it into your day so it’s not a time waster?

As a comedian, spreading my comedy is not a time waster. If I was a banker, yes, Facebook couldn’t really help my career.

Is there a social media tool/technique that you think is underutilized that you would like people to know about?

No, because then they’ll catch up. I will tell you the way to predict the next tool – portability is key. YouTube would be nothing if it couldn’t have been embedded in MySpace. Oh, remember MySpace? Adorable.

Where can people find you online and via social media?

http://www.twitter.com/stevehofstetter

http://www.facebook.com/stevehofstetter

http://www.youtube.com/thehofstetter

Twitter Marketing Dos and Don’ts

Businesses conduct informal surveys on Twitter all the time. They want to know what their customers think about the products or services they provide. Sometimes they want to let their current and pontential customers know about new products and services that will be available in the future. As noted in a previous post, that’s great when done in extreme moderation.

Several marketing and business experts participated in an email interview that led to the creation of the following list of Twitter marketing Dos and Don’ts:

DO – Address customer problems in real time. Be there whenever the customer or prospect may need you. If possible, even before they need you, said Lindy Moses, marketing associate for FabulousSavings.com. It’s all about being available.

DO – Use Twitter as a source of information for customers and prospects. Don’t just gather information from your followers for your market research projects. Share useful information, tips and links [that will help] your followers to see you as a credible source, said Holly Fisher, executive director for Charleston Step Ahead, Inc.

DO - Start by engaging people you already know. Find current clients, prospects and friends and have conversations with them, recommended Jeff Gibbard of True Voice Media, LLC.Acknowlege their content and participate in the community that emerges.

DON’T – Bombard your followers with your company’s brand messages. A big no-no is sending automated direct messages to everyone who follows the company, cautioned the director of marketing for Reach Local, Mike Merrill.

DON’T – Retweet yourself to the point of distraction. Over-targeting individuals through repeated use of the same messages or targeting and retargeting the individuals is as annoying as spam email or political flyers in your door, said Matt Van Hoven, the communications director for Skinny NYC.

Whether you use Twitter as a way to conduct informal surveys and market research, to engage with customers and prospects, or both, heeding the warnings and following the advice of those who have done it successfully could help you increase business and promote your company’s brand naturally.

Social Media as a Sales Tool … Yes, It’s Possible!

As a partner in a business that manages social media accounts for companies across the country, I hear this phrase almost every single day from potential clients: “Yes, we like your approach, but it MUST produce a return on our investment.” And that’s understandable. As we all emerge from the recession, our dollars must be spent wisely and be tracked to sales. So we have fine-tuned our company’s approach to this ever-changing medium and would like to report that Yes, Virginia, you can make money via social media.

In its beginnings, social media was touted as a brand awareness tool and a “soft” way to reach your audience and it remains a valuable tool for that. With the right approach, however, you can take Facebook, Twitter, blogs and more beyond PR and marketing and into the realm of sales. Dell proved this when they announced that their Twitter accounts brought in some $6.5  million in sales. And so have we. In fact, we tracked more than $14,000 in direct bookings in January from Twitter and Facebook for a hotel group client. It can be done, folks, but how?

Here’s what you need to have in place to make social media profitable for your business:

1) A way to purchase your product or service online.

Sure, people can call to buy your product or come to your store, but social media is not going to be very successful at driving these types of sales. It means people have to go get their phone (assuming they’re not surfing the web on their smartphone) or remember to visit your store. Any extra work required by the user greatly diminishes the chances they’ll complete the transaction. We have learned people online are lazy. You want them to be able to click directly from the social media outlet to your site where the transaction occurs.

2) A way to track their path from social media through your website.

You need to have trackable URLs set up (we use Google’s URL Builder tool) and a good Analytics system, like the free Google Analytics, that will allow you to see how many people come from Facebook or Twitter to your website and how much they spend, what pages they visit, how long they stay, etc.

3) A consistent, conversational approach to social media.

This can be one of the toughest parts to master, and it requires being on social media every day, multiple times a day and understanding the right mix of conversation, information, entertainment and sales. You simply cannot come across as too sales driven on social media or you’ll lose your audience. Instead, focus 80% of your content on helpful, funny, engaging posts, while working in information about your products, services, packages, etc. in a very conversational manner. This requires studying which posts, at what times and on what days, result in the most interaction, views and sales and replicating that over time.

We’ve mastered the art of making money on social media for our clients, and with dedication and the right information, you can too.

Lyn Mettler is the founder and co-owner of Step Ahead, Inc., a company specializing in social media management, Internet marketing and public relations with offices in both Indianapolis and Charleston, S.C. She has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur magazine, SmartMoney.com and MSNBC.com for her advice on using social media successfully for business.

Social Media Synergy

March Social Media Star: Tanya Brown

Tanya Brown, an on air personality for WSSX (Charleston locals will know her from the 2 Girls and a Guy show), understands the importance of social media and has been using many different tools to reach out to her listeners.

Not only is Tanya able to communicate quickly with large numbers of people, she’s also able to build one-on-one relationships with the use of social media. Read Tanya’s social media tips and find out how you can use social media to build individual relationships and get information out to the masses quickly.

Here’s what Tanya had to say about social media:

What is your job/company/profession/title?
On Air Personality/Citadel Broadcasting/Co-Host WSSX 2 Girls and A Guy

What was the first social media technology you used?
I would say the first social media technology I used was AIM. Gosh that seems like it was a millions years ago.

What is your favorite social media tool?
I have to say Twitter is my favorite. I am a Tweetaholic (made up word). 140 characters is all I need to get my point across, anymore than 140 I being to ramble and that could last for days.

How have you used social media for your business/company and how has it benefited?
Absolutely used for business! Social media is the best networking tool to get the word out to a large number of people at one time. I can’t tell you how many times I am at a live broadcast and mention what I am doing or my location on Twitter or Facebook and people stop by just to say hello. AMAZING!!!!

How much time would you say you spend a day engaging social media?
I hate to admit it but 24/7 social media is at my finger tips.

How do you incorporate it into your day so it’s not a time waster?
My Droid X goes everywhere with me. I cook, clean, help with homework and shop. You never know when an opportunity may come up and you just have to tweet or FB a good deal, good/bad customer service, just to say something to make everyone smile. I do it all.

Is there a social media tool/technique that you think is underutilized that you would like people to know about?
SKYPE and I am not sure why I have not taken the time to do so. @ItsBrookeRyan asks me all the time to Skype. I can never figure it out and I thought I was tech savvy, maybe not. I promise that will be my next task. I am on it. Promise.

Where can people find you online and via social media?
Twitter: @95sxbrown2gg, @2girlsandaguy, @95SXCharleston

Facebook: Tanya Brown, 2 Girls and a Guy, 95SX Hit Music Now

Website: 95SX.COM

Anything else?
If you’re looking for a good time from 6-10 a.m., check out 2 Girls and A Guy Mon-Fri. I hear Tanya, Kelly and Mike the Guy are pretty darn funny. Also really quick before you give me the “Wrap It Up Button,” I would like to say thanks to everyone who has ever shown us love and support.It never goes unappreciated.

The Top 3 Facebook Sins

For someone who‘s obsessed with social media and especially Facebook, I’ve seen my fair share of terrible Facebook pages and social media blunders. Now, just for the record, I’ve seen small, medium and big businesses flourish on Facebook and in the end get a nice return on their efforts, but in my mind there are just some things that companies need to stop doing on Facebook NOW!

1) Not Responding

A huge social media pet peeve of mine is when companies set up Facebook pages and then just let the page sit. Yes, they may go post a promotional or sales-oriented post once a week, but that’s it. They completely ignore all the friend comments and questions.

Companies need to look at Facebook as a customer service tool and not just a marketing tool. You can’t just set up a customer service phone line and then not answer it! If you have a Facebook page, you need to respond to all comments and questions. Otherwise, you run the risk of creating a feeling of bad will among your current friends, a large portion of whom are likely your customers.

2) Lack of Creativity

Another Facebook sin that can cause your company to lose friends is setting up a Facebook page and then posting the exact same thing every week. If I visit your page and see that you have put no effort into your posts and that it looks scheduled and impersonal, I’m turned off and most others are too. And for those who’ve already friended your page, they are probably much more likely to hide or unlike the page to get away from the monotonous Facebook posts.

3) Messaging Too Much

Everyone out there who has a Facebook group and thought they were in the clear as far as committing Facebook sins is not! There are plenty of sins you can commit within groups. In fact, I recently took myself out of a local Facebook group because of one in particular.

Facebook groups give you the ability to message everyone in the group, which can be a very powerful tool, but use it sparingly! Just because you can message everyone everyday doesn’t mean you should. In fact, if you do, your numbers will most likely drop, like the group I had joined.

There are lots of little etiquette rules when working on Facebook, but these three jump out to me daily, so please, if you’re on Facebook, don’t commit these Facebook sins! If you follow the correct etiquette, you’re bound to find success on Facebook.

February Social Media Star: Scott Wise

Social media is a powerful tool for business that’s transforming how restaurants market to their customers and increase foot traffic on a daily basis. Scott Wise, president and CEO of A Pots & Pans Production, which manages seven restaurants in Indiana, has increased event attendance by 400% with the use of Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and email blasts in just a year!

Scott, who is known for his entertaining personality on Twitter, jumped on the social media bandwagon long before it was the cool thing to do, starting with MySpace and email blasts. He’s a big proponent of Foursquare, and has run some pretty outrageous promotions, attracting a lot of attention. One of our favorites was renting a boat to set next to one of his restaurant locations, tagging the location as “boat” on Foursquare and then inviting people to come get their boat badge! Some other favorites include a contest inviting people to post a picture of themselves sticking their tongues to a pole like the movie “A Christmas Story” and also inviting them to jump into Indy’s White River Canal and get a photo.

Read more from Scott to find out how one businessman who truly gets social media has used these tools successfully.

What is your job/company/profession/title?

President/CEO, A Pots & Pans Production – the management company that runs our three concepts (7 restaurants):  Scotty’s Brewhouse, Scotty’s Lakehouse and Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co.

My job:  the details – making sure every food item, drink item, atmosphere and marketing promotion has my approval. I work on the marketing campaigns. And, I’m the Director of “Motivation, Morale, Inspiration & Company Growth”

What was the first social media technology you used?

Don’t laugh…  MySpace. Back when MySpace was Facebook and Facebook was only for college kids.I’ve also been using emarketing blasts the longest – probably eight years or more. We have collected about 33,000 email addresses and still hold contests with our staff to get the most comment cards filled out by guests, but they are only valid with an email address that allows us to enter them into our database. We send weekly campaigns.

What is your favorite social media tool?

I think it is a combination of Facebook and Twitter. Twitter is great for quick conversations and I can take care of problems, comments and questions a guest has and usually influence an immediate purchase or take care of a complaint on the spot. I think to use social media properly, you must use all the big three to fully reach your clientele: Twitter, Facebook and emarketing blasts. (I think blogs and YouTube videos are great to incorporate too.)

How have you used social media for your business/company and how has it benefited?

We have seen increases of 400% in event attendance with the use of Twitter and Facebook over just using email blasts in the past year. Foursquare is the easiest to use. It doesn’t have as much flexibility and we would love to do more with it, but it is a great form of the modern day customer loyalty card on your phone and without a key fab or card you must carry.

How much time would you say you spend a day engaging social media?

A lot. 25-30% of my day. Thank god for TweetDeck’s Tweet Scheduler. I often schedule 90% of my tweets the day before or from 6-7am.

How do you incorporate it into your day so it’s not a time waster?

See above. I try to take about five minutes every hour to see if I need to comment on any questions from guests and then move to my next task.

Is there a social media tool/technique that you think is underutilized that you would like people to know about?

I think that Google Alerts or any Twitter Alert service are both underutilized. Many people don’t take time to look up your handle and may have a bad experience they post on any one of a 1000 social networks. It is your job to scour the web and find them so you can respond. We like to know when we make mistakes:  we like to fix them, educate our staff and make our customers happy. We can usually turn the worst customer experience into our most raving fan.

Where can people find you online and via social media?

Twitter: @brewhouse

Facebook: Facebook.com/ScottyBrewhouse

Foursquare: Foursquare.com/brewhouse

Website: scottysbrewhouse.com

Website: scottyslakehouse.com

Website: thr3ewisemen.com

Social Media Week: The Kings of Social Media, Facebook & Twitter

Simon: “Yay Twitter, Nay Facebook”

Facebook

I went through a phase of loving Facebook, initially. Living in a different country (continent even!) from where I went to high school, I had lost contact with most of my friends from then, and Facebook was a great way to get back in touch. That’s also why I use it less frequently now, though. Kind of like a high school reunion, it’s nice to see old faces and learn what everyone has been doing since, but after that I don’t have much to say to most of them. In fact I think I have “friends” on there that I haven’t even contacted since they added me as a friend. And vice versa. It is good for sharing photos with family back home, and I have a lot of fun trash-talking about soccer, especially during the World Cup, but overall, my interest in Facebook has largely waned.

Twitter

Like everyone, I couldn’t see the point of Twitter – “who cares what you ate for breakfast?” being the clichéd put down – but once I began using it, I found that I love it. I have a great network of friends that share useful tips, make me laugh, recommend books or TV shows and generally make my days more interesting.

Twitter, unlike Facebook, has actually led me to be more social in the real world. I joined a Twitter Fantasy Football league, and that’s always a fun time when we meet up. I’ve found it great for impromptu lunches if I’m free and looking for company. I even introduced a couple to each other via Twitter, and they’re now getting married this year.

If Twitter went away tomorrow, well, I’d survive – but I’d really miss it.

Laura: “Staying in Touch & Help When You Need It”

For all you spring chickens in high school and college out there who think Facebook has always been around, it hasn’t. I actually made it through all four of my college years without Facebook! On the upside, there are no photos on Facebook of my 21st birthday.

I was introduced to Facebook by my baby sister, who was in college when it came out. I had to make the tough decision of abandoning Friendster and adopting Facebook. Good choice! My sister had friended some kids we knew when we lived in Seattle, Wash., over 15 years ago, and I knew from that moment this was going to be a very cool site. Since then, I’ve watched as my high school classmates slowly joined. First it was just 10 and now it’s over 300, which is almost our entire class.

Facebook and Twitter have actually changed my life! I am TERRIBLE at keeping in touch with old friends. I blame it on my army brat roots, but it may just be laziness, so Facebook has helped me keep those bonds strong with very little effort. I love Twitter for its real time search results. When I’m having trouble with Facebook, I just Twitter search “Facebook down” and see if anyone else is having trouble at that very moment. So helpful! To sum it all up, I love Facebook and Twitter!

Lyn: “My Darlings”

Oh, these are my darlings of social media. Every time I get in a conversation with someone new, my husband always jokes that somehow either Facebook or Twitter works its way into the conversation. I have no idea why .

I got on Facebook after an employee at my PR firm shared with me her experience in college on Facebook. I even remember when Facebook opened up so you no longer had to have a college email address to participate. My first friend? A longtime friend from elementary and high school who now lives in London. I thought it was so cool to see all her pictures of London and vacationing in the South of France right in my own living room and reconnect with her so many years later. She even worked in PR for the BBC, so it was also a great professional connection.

Now, Twitter. I decided to learn Twitter after engaging a group of local bloggers on behalf of a client. They talked a lot about Twitter and how great it was. This was probably 2008. I’d talked about Twitter in social media presentations as an up-and-coming media tool but I always focused on how it was a minute by minute account of your day (which it was then). In fact, Disney was one of the first to use it as a marketing tool to have one of their characters from the show Greeks post his character’s daily activities.

It took me a while to get the hang of it and understand I didn’t have to go back and read everyone’s tweets that I’d missed while I was off! Now, I consider Twitter a critical marketing tool for business and an amazing way to learn information, interact with influencers and stay in front of lots of people.

Love you, Facebook and Twitter…

Melissa: “A Forum for Debate”

I have learned so much from the kings of social media, Facebook and Twitter. I love the fact that you can engage in a discussion or debate about something and get so many different views from people you’ve never met, but yet have a common bond.

I also find myself often becoming engaged in a topic that normally wouldn’t be of interest, but it will peak my interest just by following the discussion/post/comments.

Social Media Week: YouTube and Viral Videos

Lyn Mettler: “A Powerful Social Media Tool”

I love YouTube for business for a lot of reasons. The first of course is the fact that it’s the second most popular site for search behind Google. That’s a lot of people searching and you want to grab them if they’re typing in something related to your business.

How do you do that? Get up a channel and some video. Sure, it’s fine to put whatever video you’ve got laying around up there: commercials, promo videos, etc. But what will work much better is something informative and entertaining designed in “YouTube style”. What do I mean by this? It shouldn’t be overly polished, as people will take it as being overtly promotional and turn off.

Instead, have fun. Think about how you can turn one of your business’s key services or products upside down. Remember the blender that can blend anything? Take a look at some of the sillier videos we’ve done for some of our clients:

• What Not to Do During a Video Conference
• Scary Pruning
• Whatever You Call Them

If you just can’t come up with something genuinely funny or crazy, take an educational approach. We do a lot of videos for our client the Charleston Parks Conservancy that are simply helpful tips on gardening. The most popular one is about pruning Sago Palms (almost 7000 views)! Of course, it does help that their executive director has a great personality that translates well to video, but that’s not why the Sago Palms video is getting a lot of views. It’s because people are searching for Sago Palms, looking for information.

And don’t forget that YouTube is a social network. That means you need to pay attention to developing friends, commenting on others’ videos, increasing your subscribers and letting all those people know when you have a new video up.

Happy tubing!!

Laura Angermeier: “YouTube for All Facets of Life”

Pretty much everyone has watched a YouTube video by now, including both my grandmas and my 4 year old. It’s surprising to think that the site started in 2005 and has already become such a huge part of our daily lives. At my house, we use the site for all kinds of reasons, from learning about the latest stats on a new phone from CNET to watching a Dora the Explorer clip in order to make it the extra 15 minutes until bedtime.

Some folks use it just to pass around cute videos of puppies and kittens, but there are some serious rewards to be reaped from YouTube if you do it right! Major companies such as Coca-Cola and Ford Motor Company are on YouTube, reaching out to customers daily. People are watching 2 billion YouTube videos a day, so it’s smart to start your profile and get your message out loud and clear. Oh, and if you were wondering who has the top viewed YouTube video of all time, it’s Justin Bieber, with over 456 million views. WOW!

Holly: “Tips for YouTube Videos”

Social Media Week: The Beginnings, MySpace and Blogging

To start off Social Media Week, we thought we’d start where social media began. Following is insight and commentary from several of the staff at Step Ahead. You’ll find different topics each day of Social Media Week with our ever so fascinating two cents .

Bailey Surrett: MySpace and Metal Bands!

I joined MySpace in 2003 and the main reason was because all my friends were on it. I’ll say that the majority of my high school friends were in bands (metal bands) so this was the up-and-coming method of reaching out to their fans. All bands had a MySpace page, especially indy bands doing everything on their own.

MTV found my friends in Glass Casket and Between the Buried and Me through MySpace to use some of their songs for shows. I first heard of Colbie Caillat through her MySpace page. It was also a great avenue for me to keep in touch with my musician friends while they were touring.

I’ll be honest and say that I haven’t been on MySpace at all in the last 2 years unless it’s to check new layouts for a social media blog I’m writing or to see a video update from one of the bands who haven’t moved over to Facebook (shame on them). To be even more honest, by the time this blog is posted, I’ll have probably deleted my account.

http://www.myspace.com/ebaileysurrett

Holly Fisher: The Power of the Blog

In doing some research on this post about how blogging has evolved, I discovered the very first blog, Links.net, was created in 1994. That was the year I graduated from high school, started college and had my first e-mail address.

Hard to believe blogs have been on the scene 17 years. Also, hard to believe I graduated from high school 17 years ago, but we’ll save that for another blog post. What’s truly interesting is that the basic premise of blogs has remained the same: sharing stories, opinions and information.

Initially called “weblogs,” blogs turned anyone with a computer into a writer and a publisher. They may not be professional writers (or even very good writers) but they suddenly had a platform to share their passions – sports, travel, parenting or politics. Platforms like Blogger and WordPress made it simple for anyone with the tiniest bit of tech knowledge to set up a blog and call themselves a “blogger.”

A few years ago, women stormed the blogging world to create a nation of influential, diaper-wielding Mommy Bloggers.  Also coming on strong are business blogs. Companies discovered having a corporate blog was a way to tell the inside story of their brand and connect with consumers.

While most people tend to blog as a hobby, others have made quite a successful living at blogging by selling ads on their blogs or turning their blog into a book deal.

Regardless of whether you blog for yourself or for your company, take these basic tenets to heart:

• Keep it short and sweet. With some 100 million blogs in the world, people don’t have a lot of time to read your 4,000-word post.
• Have a personality. And, yes, this applies to corporate blogs. This is where a business can really connect with customers by giving them an insider’s view.
• Be consistent in your posting. You don’t have to post twice a day but you do need to keep your blog updated. One or two posts a week should be your minimum. You can’t attract a following if you never have fresh content.
• Promote your blog via social media. Posting links to your blog on Facebook, Twitter or social bookmarking sites is an excellent way to drive traffic and readership.

Laura Angermeier: Blogging Advocate, MySpace Dissenter
I was never a big MySpace person and only got on one night when I was super bored. I was never a fan of the layout and always thought it could have been done better. Then came Facebook. I think I actually still have a MySpace profile, but I haven’t checked it in over 3 years, so if you messaged me, sorry about the delayed response .

Blogs are wonderful social media tool! I haven’t written very many, but love reading them. There’s an opinion about everything, and I tend to lean toward the celebrity/fashion-oriented blogs, as they’re just fun! I encourage every business owner who has something to say about their business to start blogging. It’s a great way to talk with customers and potential customers on a more conversational level. Plus it’s fun!

Lyn Mettler: Creepy MySpace and the Beginning of “Social” Media

I remember the first time I heard of MySpace. It was on some news program like 60 Minutes and it talked about what a phenomenon it was becoming and how many people used it to communicate. I was fascinated. I eventually got on MySpace to see what it was all about, but totally got freaked out with the come-on type requests I was getting! So I never did much with it. But yea for MySpace, it started the whole field of “social” media, where you don’t just take information from the web but give it back as well.

Back when we started Step Ahead, Facebook was just in its beginnings, MySpace was much more popular and blogs and podcasts were all the rage. But it’s funny, no term had been coined yet for these types of media. People threw around Web 2.0 and social media, but as funny as it seems, Web 2.0 was the more popular of the two. We had a hard time naming the company because a standard phrase for what we were working with had not even been coined. Ah, seems so long ago, when really it was only 4 or so years ago – a lifetime in social media.

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