My top 5 reasons to use social media

There are so many reasons to be using social media as part of your marketing. Here are my top 5:

1. Engage vs Push. Marketing used to simply 'push' messages at the consumer and you'd hope to make a connection if they liked what you had to offer. Times have changed and so has marketing. People want to feel more connected with products or companies they choose to do business with. Social media helps to 'engage' people.

2. Transparency. When done correctly, your prospective clients get to know you better. They see if you have some of the same beliefs as they do, allowing them to form connections with you. Don't just advertise sales to them. Give them a taste of who you are beyond the sale. What is your commitment to the community? Do you contribute to your industry as an expert? Why do you do what you do?

3. Handle the Haters. Within social media, you actually want a small percentage of your followers to raise issues. If it is all a love fest, it is boring, self serving and you'll actually lose credibility. People like a little controversy (think Rush Limbaugh). You may even find other fans coming to your defense when someone raises an issue, which is wonderful marketing. You should develop a response plan to handle the haters, because how you handle the issue will say something about who you are.

4. Google Footprint. The search engines give high value to social media channels. When you have a robust presence in the big 5 (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Flikr), you will see a better Google Footprint and this will also help your websites search engine optimization (SEO) with backlinks from all your social media channels.

Be sure and define which channels will work best for your target audience and then spend your time accordingly to build the best channels for your needs. Social media can become a black hole where you spend far too many hours and valuable resources. Set limits on your time or hire someone to help you keep your content current.

5. Need another reason? Your prospective clients are on social media right now!


CAUTION: Many businesses and law firms are jumping on the bandwagon to the exclusion of other marketing channels. Social media SHOULD be part of your marketing, but it should not be the only thing you do. Consult a professional to help you with your planning and budgeting so you have the right marketing mix.

Are You a Real Person?

By Jeanne Frazer

When we work with clients, we spend a lot of time researching and analyzing results. One of the common denominators across almost every client we partner with is the interest by their website visitors and prospects in them as individuals. Having a bio page on your website is a start, but the basics aren't enough anymore.

Potential clients are searching for a reason to choose you and it isn’t always education and associations. So what do we recommend? You need to become a "real person" in the minds of your prospective clients. Here are a few suggestions to consider:

• Include some personal information along with your education and experience. Why did you choose your current job? Which areas do you like best? What are your hobbies and interests? You may want to also post a photo if you don’t have one there already. Consider adding other pictures that show more personality than the standard head shot. Change photos based on the season.
• Include a personal approach/focus to articles you write for newsletters, brochures, etc. Write about what you learned during summer vacation (related to your business, of course!).
• Create a Google Profile for free at www.google.com/profiles; this has the added benefit of appearing in search engine results.
• Make sure you’re LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/), with a free personal and company profile. Public profiles are found by the search engines and will pick up new activity. Ask for recommendations.
• Add a Facebook page (personal and business) at http://www.facebook.com/. Make sure you set your privacy settings or don't provide too much personal data. Include a link to your business website, as well.

While you don't want to open up all aspects of your personal life, you DO want to provide just enough information to allow clients and prospects to become comfortable with you and to make a connection.