FINAL

 – Dec 11 Showcasing what you have learned. ESSAY: Discuss the impact the class has had on your business and your overall view of social media.

I have always been a social type of person with tons of technical content to offer, but always fell short in my abilities to express it (or at least until know). I, like many, had understood that sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn were powerful tools and incredibly entertaining for most, but for whatever reason it never seemed to resonate with me. I couldn't see how posting to these places equaled success. What I actually discovered this semester is that these sites are not a means to an end (e.g. write this and drive traffic) but a support component that helps facilitate the conversation, a pathway if you will. So for all intents and purposes, I needed to dig beneath the layers of what’s popular on Facebook to see its core—a serious business model. So in an essence, what has changed for me is my perspective on exactly how these tools work and their social impact in the business community around me.

Here are two key points to my argument:

                1). My Facebook Business page needs to be targeted toward a very particular audience. It needs to be crafted like an interdepartmental memo between heads of departments. The focus has to be geared toward business growth, specifically social media strategies—an area of business expertise most know little about.  For example “If we collaborate together the benefits will eventually drive revenue”. I call it the direct pull method. Like minded companies will become interested while unlike ones will not.

                2). Building a Business Facebook and Twitter following has its start-up problems. I prefer not  taking years to jump start this component of my operations when I need momentum now. To do this I will personally contact the people I want to work with and ask them to like & subscribe. In return I will provide valuable beginner social media tips that are related to the home improvement industry. My hopes are to stay ahead of the curve, remain relevant, and hopefully needed! To support this statement I have filled notebooks full of ideas, spent 60+ hours on YouTube, and burned through text books to answer this question.

In retrospect, the purpose for taking this class is to shift my dependency off of review based companies like Angie’s List, Thumbtack, or Yelp and begin to drive my own traffic. The challenge with these sites is that a single negative review can disrupt your business for weeks or even months for any reason. There is no mediation for disputes thus making the customer always right. Home owners can even go so far as to use it (poor reviews) as leverage to receive free additional work.

Today, what I have discovered is that the next step is to go beyond just posting on Facebook or Twitter with words but to develop me, Eric Bateman, in a video format by providing short relevant clips that accurately promote my brand. The theme of my technical story will be filled with humor, personality, and words of encouragement. Google Blogger was the first fun and exciting tool I ran with in this class, and thanks to many the most commented on—thank you! But something really unexpected happened, the blog began to take on a life of its own and took off according to Google Analytics. This was very encouraging to me because it’s almost like living the dream when others are waiting to hear what you have to say next.

My understanding of the term Business social media has greatly evolved over the course of this semester. For one, the process of creating new content requires both computer application skills and  artistic creativity (which are generally opposing parts of my brain). In my opinion, business social media has so many layers of depth that there is just no way of telling just how far it will go. The bottom line—it’s a lot of work. In my  estimation, it will take at least six months of (daily) implementation to set it up the way I want it.

As a final side note, if a new student came to me for direction (in this social media certification program) I would suggest the following classes in this order:

Jill Ringer CSIT 105 part A &B

Brian Cushing BUS 132 Marketing; 3.0

Claudia Faulk CSIT 155 Social Media for Business; 3.0

Kathy VanPelt CSIT 137

BUS 132 Advertising and Promotion; 3.0

CSIT 120 Fundamentals of CIS; 3.0

Don Davis CSIT 146 E-Commerce and Web Presence; 3.0

Video Production Schedule

Which tools from the semester you would implement in your online marketing strategy?

My goal is to script my blog posts into two minute videos and post them on YouTube. Through the homework assignments I found a link to one of Michael Millers blog posts on Micro Videos (it was like the fog had lifted). I knew at that moment exactly what I had to do to leverage my talents and abilities. The content I’ll be providing with be segmented into four sections

·         Vine- For the 6 seconds video loops (a mobile strategy to capture interest).

·         Instagram- For the 15 second trailers for the to two minute videos (mobile focused).

·         Mix Bit – for the 1-2 minute tablet to the workstation (larger screen viewing)

·         YouTube- In-depth content for the serious researcher looking for detailed information and depth about us.
 1). How much time do you think your business should spend on social media marketing and why?

I don’t think there is a way to accurately quantify the amount of time invested to launch a special project like this one but I can speak to two points.

·         Social Media is a life style, not a punch in punch out work choice. You live a social media life style that naturally draws people together in everything you do which creates the audience.

·         Time invested- Philip De Franco (of Source Federation) stated that it took about 10,000 hours of time invested (for him) to rise through the ranks within YouTube community and become relevant.

2).In your blog, please explain why you chose the tools you did, and how you might implement them and test a sample short term strategy?

Our business is process oriented. There are many layers to what we do and the best way to demonstrate them is through a step by step video progression. Our goal is to simplify the users experience by relating everyday concepts to complex situations. Our short term goals of producing studio quality content has been in the works for a while. My campaign starts after finals and by the first I hope to have our welcome to “Who We Are” polished and promoted from an interview (extemporaneous style) format.

3). Plot out a rough draft plan of the next month of content across the sites you’ve chosen, and how you hope they might grow or sustain your business. Be as detailed as possible, including daily or weekly time requirements to meet the goals.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/102XebZ9oxHEP7m8MvDE5H4CDwOuE5GIwhvyQGL4FtvA/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/102XebZ9oxHEP7m8MvDE5H4CDwOuE5GIwhvyQGL4FtvA/edit?usp=sharing

http://marleemarlee.blogspot.com/
http://michellereneemusings.blogspot.com/

http://jvspurzem.blogspot.com/
http://turmanblog.blogspot.com/
http://patriciavazphotography.blogspot.com/

Social Media Thursday-- So Whats Changed?

1).Which ones integrate best with the type of business you have created?

Before taking this course I really wasn't interested in Business Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr as a platform to express our online content. My social media efforts have always leaned toward YouTube and blogging as part of our marketing goals. What has changed for me is how to incorporate these free tools in order to support what we are already doing. Essentially, for me the link between a blog post and a video (hosted on YouTube) now is Facebook, Twitter Tumblr etc. Without them there is no audience—and no audience equals no revenue (which I’m used to)! Now, I have begun to see just how important it is to build a professional following on these sites which connects the missing dots.

2).Which have you enjoyed using the most?

I Like Tumblr because of its micro video capabilities for mobile devices. For me it forces the story telling content to be brief, to the point, and looped in case you miss something the first time. What’s great about the linking capabilities is that Tumblr will post to Facebook that will post to Twitter. For now, the goal is to post in one place (hub) and connect with all the social peripherals (platforms) with one post.  

3). The enthusiasm or lack thereof for a type of media is often shared along with the posts we write. This class gave you an opportunity to experiment with a variety of them. Now you can focus in on what seems the most effective ones to use.

If you’re interested, I charted out my ”the necessary production time required” to support  the next big quantum leap forward in reaching our branding goals. To see my time flow chart just follow the link on my next post to find out more.

Thank you,

Eric

Seeing is believing—Facebook Likes

What’s interesting about the bump in Facebook (by just a few people) can have some amazing results. In the three categories I found in Insights on my business Facebook page looked like this

Page likes 47 up 17% from last week.

Post Reach 13 down 13.3% from last week

Engagement 7 up 75% from last week

 The page likes are pretty straight forward (someone saw your page), but the post reach is how effective your page is. My low post reach had me concerned for a minute until I discovered exactly what it meant. On Facebook there is a system called EdgeRank. This algorithm sees the fan views and interaction of your page. So in plain terms, people liked me last week but bounced right off the page before any interaction could take place. So is that bad? Well, if those visitors came back and contributed next week the algorithm would improve (so don’t be a stranger). I also discovered that these numbers are typically very low no matter what you do.

Engagement is when there is a dialog between two people on Facebook such as comments, pictures etc. This is ideal from the algorithms perspective but not always practical a business owner.

Week 13 The Smart Mobile Move

There are many social media choices a small business can choose to build their brand, but probably the smartest mobile move is to build out your mobile website on the internet. Google Mobile Analytic s is an important app to track the traffic that lands on your page. So the big question is what does this data mean to me? The app has a variety of advanced traffic tools to analyze where the sources of internet traffic is coming from, but the 5 basic key points are as follows:

·         Organic (browser key words)

·         Email (Constant Contact)

·         Referral (links from blog sites)

·         CPC (paid advertising)

·         Direct (www. URL)

This data can be broken down into a chart to see just how effective your key words are in drawing relevant traffic to your web site. Think of it as the storyboard of your business (content) as seen through the rear view mirror of your marketing journey. The end goal provides statistical data and ideas for future campaigns and subtle key word improvements. But does it have to stop there? Absolutely not, in fact once you have gone live with your mobile friendly website you can take the key words that are searched and develop this content into a conversation:

·         Social media (amplifies reach, which signals search engines)

·         Content (searches & locates quality blog content)

·         Links (creditability from other professionals)

In the online article by Jason Demers, he talks about how powerful these bullet points are and in his opinion—absolutely necessary. A flow of quality content helps maintain relevance in the in the market place today. Relying on static SEO work alone is just not enough for search engines to rank you well, you need a strategy—you need to start thinking dynamically. It’s time to start building relationships.

Week 12 Sunday Post

Think about a coupon deal you could develop. What product or service do you think would be one that would increase traffic to your business?  

The Awesome 180 Switch

I would create B2B sales opportunities with new business contacts. I would think of those contacts as  mini partners not just recipients of coupons and discounts. These partnerships would generate additional cash flow by a paid referral system. For example, If a mini partner sees an opportunity to pitch our product/service to their client base and it works, we can share in the profits. Short of that is a lost opportunity. Now in theory it may sound great but in practical terms  could this actually work? The actual offer is an attractive percentage of your sales revenue that would be paid out to these partners to compensate them for their reputation time and their time.

The talking points are as follows:

·         … you’re a successful company, who does this work for you?

•     … you’re always busy right? Just refer us.

·         …we serve the same type of clients. When I get paid, you get paid--just set it up. How does that sound?

If you can talk to like people in your industry and you bring you’re social media “A game” to the table these B2B relationships will grow (especially after they check you out online and are blown away)! It’s just a matter of time before the same businesses that you’re paying (for their time) will eventually be paying yours!

See you at the top,

Eric 

Week 12 Online Marketing Tools In Use

What four additional online marketing tools do you believe could be important to the growth of your business?

I strongly recommend

·         Goggle Doc’s as a competitive Business tool which could organizes your content, projects, and images. It is simple, and accessible anywhere on the cloud. It’s very intuitive, smart and carries the bulk of Microsoft’s Office suite around for you (for free). Also, the biggest wow factor is that users can collaborative from anywhere in the world in real time—which is a big advantage over a Microsoft platform.

·         Second, build out your Google+ page. We've all been using Blogger or Word Press (which is great), but I would continue to post new content to the page on a weekly basis (if possible) and attract potential business.

·         Create a YouTube channel and upload anything business like content you have (at first). Don’t worry, my channel started out being the laughing stock of the community but now I’m getting (paying) jobs. So what changed? Hint—Take Neil Moura’s 101 Communication class, do exactly what he says, (his background is Broadcasting) and then go build your brand.

·         Pinterest is an interesting place for pictures but you can also create groups and exchange relevant ideas.

·         Instagram is another site (that Lukas in our 155 class suggested to me) and I think that it’s worth mentioning and forwarding to everyone else as a usable social media tool .

How could you integrate them into your current strategy?

I've already incorporated all of the above points into my marketing plan, but the key to effectively benefiting from it requires that you are consistently improving your profiles and providing new content for higher ranking.

Week 11 How to use marketing on Social Media (without spending money).

 Chameleon Tails From The Road

No one knows or understands your brand better than you do. No reasonable amount of money will ever change that. So where does it leave you?  In my opinion, you need to become literally social. Being nice and hanging out with friends doesn't cut it. You need to grab onto your worst possible PR nightmare and turn it around like a pro. Feeling a little sick? You should—because this is the truth and this is where it starts.

#1). A call to action is the ultimate destination, not the beginning of your journey to advertise on Facebook , Twitter,et al.

a.       The correct starting point  is “what is your people filter”? When thinking about this, consider eliminating the wrong clients. Who will you say NO to? For example, what type of personality gets to hear you say “thank you for your time but this doesn't really sound like a good fit”. Another way to remove the wrong client is to increase your rates.  Just smile, and watch the magic unfold—no one likes being dumped—listen for the words “wait” and recalculate your fee for service. I’ll babysit and play shrink for a price, never forget that!

b.      Once you know the type of client to avoid, who do you demographically serve? For example, my primary demographic is educated and computer literate people. I socially attract upper management, CEO’s or teachers--who have stable incomes, are research oriented, between 35-60 years old, and mostly women, who have made poor interior design choices in the past. Almost like clockwork, this is the model that works for me.

#2).In your ad you need to paint the dream. So what does it look like?

·         I arrive on time to your home, calm, organized and with a slight  tech savvy persona. I listen-listen-listen intently and contribute meaningful dialog when appropriate.

·         Then I move to discover your sense of humor and play with that—I will tease you and watch your response. How you respond is key (which can’t be stressed enough).  Normal clients can handle this—broken people cannot.

·         Now your job is to reevaluate the surroundings and set the new tone—I always set the tone. It starts with a genuine smile which is sometimes necessary to re-calibrate the mood in the room-- it’s called having fun right?

#3). Truth? If I don’t connect by now, we are typically done—there is no transaction.  Also, unless the project is totally worth it to me and it really makes sense to pursue the opportunity (and prove ourselves with unbelievable kindness and follow up) this is where we part ways and move on. Bottom line, if I’m doing my job correctly I’m choosing you, not the other way around.

#4). Calibrate your Chameleon. At first, be everything to everybody and then pull it back slowly to who you really are (because you’re worth it).  Frankly, there is no better way for you to effectively promote yourself online (budget or not). It’s actually better that you have no marketing budget to work with so by default your option is to be authentic and transparent. Oddly enough, this will actually engage real people to your real page/channel through the pull marketing model . Please remember that the magic doesn't start happening  until you know EXACTLY who you are and WHAT you want. Being yourself will always be the best communication style and applying commonsense typically keeps you from being what you’re not.

#5). Great, now you’re ready to communicate! Carefully craft  your  “A Call To Action” and launch it on all the platforms, profile pages and whomever will listen—go get ’em tiger and I’ll see you at the top!

Eric (earned income).

Eric on the keyboard

Facebook Ad comment links

http://jillchang47.blogspot.com/

http://amandapolkcsit.blogspot.com/

http://michellereneemusings.blogspot.com/

http://turmanblog.blogspot.com/

Week 11 Online Advertising

How can you design and implement ads for social media using the principals of good design?

The best way for me to use social media is through the pull model. A simple before and after image would probably the most effective way to promote my flooring service. In an add, I could ask in a question form “does this house look like yours?” Click here to see the transformation. That would resonate with many potential clients who are tired of looking at old floor coverings.

 Using Banner Ads

I think banner ads will bring in (expensive) short term income and generate little interest toward the brand, but in the long run if you don’t have content to show and subscribe to you might as well stand out on a street corner and hold a sign.

Twitter Advertising

Today I figured out that I could use Twitter to post small, very--very short term wood flooring quantities and colors online to my contractor friends that are really marked down below distributor cost.

What is my game plan?

My goal is to jump start my social media marketing plan by

·         calling between 250-300 businesses locally

·         following up with Constant Contact (emails)

·         provide social media tips, material blow outs, and our services to subscribers

·         drive local traffic to our website

·         serve clients

I’m not a big proponent of paid advertising, but like myself and many of my colleges we have become too dependent on third party review based companies for work.  For example, my friend Steve is 95% dependent on Angie’s List for his work today. In my opinion, that can be dangerous to a business if the relationship ever changed or a client’s bad review prevented him from serving good future clients.

Explain the different kinds of FaceBook advertising is available

App ad- It’s an ad for an application

Domain ad-This ad is typically placed on the right side of the page, and takes you out of FaceBook and onto another site like a blog.

Event ad- The is for events Facebook members can join and is located on the upper right hand side of the page.

Mobile app ad-This takes you to the Apple store or Google plus for news feeds.

Page like ad-This is so you can directly Like the ad.

Page post ads-This ad can be text, video or a still image. These ads can be liked, commented or shared.

Also, which ones you might try for your business Be sure to include your reasoning behind your choice, timing and budget you feel would have the most impact and generate the best results.

The advertising I do with Facebook is to notify my followers that I've upload blog content and should follow the link back to me. I’m just not interested in allocating any revenue towards an ad at this time.

Make screen shots of your ads and include them into your blog post. 

Before                                                               After

A simple way to illustrate exactly what we do is for potential clients to imagine a dated 1990's kitchen: Tile counter tops, natural oak cabinets (oak wood flooring), white appliances and flat white walls. Now dream with me and picture a modern kitchen with solid granite counter tops, med brown stained cabinets (stained oak wood flooring) and stainless steel appliances and relaxing mint chocolate walls.

Explain why you think they would be effective.
From a marketing perspective, our goal (for this project) was to provide the seller with a justifiable asking price on a budget of 25K. The property was shown once on a weekend to a caravan of Realtors and the property closed 40 days later to a couple who bid above asking. So yes, I believe in theory that this ad can help sum up the potential of what we have to offer.

Create several sample ads following the specific requirements of FaceBook, Twitter or other social media platform you want to utilize

Ad Name
Audience	Your audience includes people: Location - Living In: - United States Age: - 18 - 65+ Placements: - on News Feed on desktop computers and mobile devices
Campaign	Common Sense Flooring, Inc. - Post Engagement
Ad Set	US - 18+ (New Ad Set)
Daily Budget	$5.00 per day
Duration	This ad campaign will run indefinitely

Edit Order

By clicking "Place Order", you agree to the Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities including your obligation to comply with the Facebook Advertising Guidelines. We do not use sensitive personal data for ad targeting. Topics you choose for targeting your ad don't reflect the personal beliefs, characteristics or values of users. Failure to comply with the Terms and Conditions and the Advertising Guidelines may result in a variety of consequences, including the cancellation of ads you have placed and the termination of your account. Understand that if you are a resident of or have your principal place of business in the US or Canada, you are contracting solely with Facebook, Inc. Otherwise, you are contracting solely with Facebook Ireland, Ltd. However, if you are a resident of or have your principal place of business in Brazil, then you continue to have this contractual relationship with Facebook Ireland Limited but your payment may be taken directly by Facebook Servicos Online Do Brasil Ltda in accordance with the Payments Termspromulgated by Facebook Servicos Online Do Brasil Ltda.

Week 10 Blog Post Comment Links

http://socalcomputerpro.blogspot.com/

http://turmanblog.blogspot.com/

http://jillchang47.blogspot.com/

http://socialmedia858.blogspot.com/

Week 10 Keeping up with Constant Contact

What information could your business use for a newsletter, and how often would you send one?

A monthly newsletter (with incentives) could greatly improve our business to business (B2B) relationships by incorporating Constant Contact. Essentially, this could boost revenue by reaching out to other business owners that might need our specialty services in the future. The monthly message would  gently remind subscribers that we are available in a pinch if you need us.

The closer I looked at the MCC marketing Lecture standards, the more I realized that I have an expensive marketing system for meeting and serving our new clients. The concept behind the Constant Contact email system (once established)  practically drives itself which is entirely the point. In an effort to capitalize on this platform and become more productive our

·         first step would be to market directly to industry related business who normally wouldn't benefit from a non-monetized referral.

·         The next step would be to focus on relationship that tend to work best within our specific target market.  This style of business goes beyond just dollars and cents but relies on like business objectives and a sense of humor.

As for the actual content in the message I think customers and contractors alike should see my Concrete Surface Preparation business as a problem/solution scenario. For example, if your concrete looks like this (image) or like that (image), then what you need is a compliant resolution (image) completed in typically a day. Our mission statement would be “We respect your schedule, that’s why we made the investment (suggesting equipment expenditures) to serve you, better—the first time.”

Write a list of content ideas you think your customers would enjoy seeing and why.

Most general contractors/owner builders who need our concrete surface preparation services don’t always know where to turn (for a professional) or let alone compile comparative pricing for the work. In most cases these job site problems come as an unexpected surprise and can disrupt a project managers normally tight schedule to a grinding halt. In order to serve these “emergency” type situations we need to promote ourselves by letting other building professionals know who we are, and what we do, and how fast we can respond in a pinch! 

9 1/2 Weeks Assignment

For my business, I have chosen several categories for my Blog post. They are Home, About , Surface Preparation, Floorcovering, Working with contractors and a soon to be added Real-estate section.

Most of our services are geared toward the residential home improvement market. We are asked by homeowners and real-estate brokers alike to consult on improving the value and appearance of a property prior to listing. In some cases, our input aids in whether an agent potentially gets a listing for a property or based upon the extent of their team. That is why I will be adding a new “Real-Estate” segment to my Blog in order to answer some of the more basic questions home owners may have when it comes to décor and general improvement  costs.

For the week 9 assignment I Commented on:

beckyplazacsit155.blogspot.com

turmanblog.blogspot.com

sdownssm.blogspot.com

Week 9 Can you win being personal and professional?

I would definitely say yes you can with only a few reservations. He is my story

In the residential construction market, I've noticed a huge shift in consumer’s behavior which previously focused on price, quality and project completion. But in today’s world of identity theft, malware and material scams these security concerns have driven consumers to rethink what is important when hiring a service professional .  One way a client can offset this concern is by going out on the web and discovering which service professionals  provide more insight into who they are not just what they do. Many review based social media sites have built large platforms online in an effort to bridge the gap for consumers in an effort to answer these questions. So, if you’re a business professional and would like to express yourself online I suggest that you do it and definitely build your profile, but with a few reservations. The big question is “how much is too much” or counterproductive and inappropriate to actually divulge online in order to respond to this growing market? I suggest that whatever you do, be crystal clear. In college we learn many principles, one is that ambiguity rarely pays off.

A great starting point is the process of  building trust with clients which requires you to post quality content (online) simply and succinctly.  I’m personal in my posts but that doesn't  mean you have to get emotional, bias, or caviler to drive a casual point. Think of it in terms of would you post a thought that your competitor could easily go negative with and twist to drive a client away from your firm instead of supporting you.

Also, keep the personality (online or in the field) to what is relevant within the scope of your professional conversation or content; only sprinkled a dash of humanity  and perhaps a pinch of humorous character in as you write or present.

In conclusion,  what is too personal and how can potential clients misinterpret it? If you come across as to helpful or available that can actually work to your disadvantage. It says that you are not as interested as being profitable and probably unscheduled for future work. It’s never a good sign to be in business and have time to kill so don’t. Be busy, because you really are (or at least get that way). Just remember, what you say online should be an extension of who you are professionally and partly private. Beyond that your risking alienating a perfectly good client that your competitor is now serving which is never any fun and unnecessary. 

Week 8 The Two Polar Website Comparison

http://www.runyonsurfaceprep.com

http://www.contecnorthamerica.com

BLOG post part #1

Q1. See what visual social media they are using?

Runyon is using Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, and blogging w/ Word Press.

Contec USA is using absolutely nothing for social media (except for a financing link).

Q2. how they are using it?

Runyon Surface Preparation uses their Facebook page for sales and rental purposes. They provide brief descriptions and images of equipment along with links to larger images with comment fields for feedback. The Twitter links are being used for coupon codes, training seminars and links to other social media sites such as their Word Press site. What is interesting about their Google + site is that it launches the user back to Facebook, Twitter, etc.  and forward to YouTube videos. Now if you go to YouTube directly, Runyon has a library of “How To” videos and I’m not sure that they are all from the same company. Perhaps they are reposted from other popular sites on line but support the theme of the business.

Contec USA has no social media links but does display multiple web site pages and imbedded videos to display their equipment for sale in action. The site is hard to find and there is only one link to an equipment financing and payment estimator that takes you off the page http://www.advantageleasing.com/financing/financing-for-contec-north-america-customers

Q3.Is it effective?( Some businesses work best when they have visual support. Does visual media work for the type of business you have started)?

I have posted videos on YouTube in order to demonstrate our processes. I believe it’s easier to show what we do sometimes as opposed to articulate it over the phone or face to face. My hopes are to purchase an audio preamp for my DSLR camera and begin to post the most frequently asked questions about our business in a Vblog format.

BLOG Post #2--start a business account and Link it to your Business Facebook page

Tumblr.

Week Eight- Let's Get Visual

The visual networks - are they right for you and your brand?

Visual networking has played a large role in our branding. We offer a service that cannot always be described over the phone or properly understood by still images alone.  For example, if I were to try to explain to you (over the phone) how we remove and feather out “ high areas of concrete in your home” with our 150 pound 6 segment metal bond trapezoid shoe grinder that requires 240 volt single phase with a 30 amp breakers”--you might think I’m trying to con you or make you feel mechanically inadequate. And when you bring up the potential dust factor (from this type of work) I would simply state that our machines are coupled to a high velocity two stage vacuums with an aftermarket separator.  Impressive enough? Or, you could watch my two minute video and visually see all the equipment in action which sells itself. Therefore I ask which makes better sense, A or B?

 Compare the 4 most widely used visual platforms.

 Facebook is fairly good for us (time invested)not because it brings in clients but creditability and links. For example, once other  like companies discover us (outside our territory) they can endorse us and our service by providing insight, stories, and like accomplishments from the field. This plays a supportive role to us.

YouTube is absolutely awesome for us because of how it organizes our video content and how it helps drive traffic to our site.

LinkedIn is helpful as another supportive role in social networking by in letting me know professionally how my contacts are doing—such as promotions, awards, and transfers etc.

Instagram will probably become more important to me as a business owner primarily because of their new mobile app and its opportunity for me (to upload video files from a job site and for our clients to view our content).

Which would work the best for your product or service?

YouTube is by far the leader when it comes to me investing time, energy and effort to promoting our brand on the web. My next big step is to begin working Google Plus—Google Doc’s suite, in an effort to connect more broadly with our clients, vendors and sub contractors.

Week 7 Twitter

-Which search words you used to find your connections? Did you have to play around with more than one key term to start seeing the right results? Who did you end up finding?

I used the title “Concrete Surface Prep” and “Wood flooring Design” to help begin my search.  In that process I did have to sift through many different versions of Concrete prep and wood flooring design in order to narrow down my search for relevancy, but I did locate some individuals with whom I crossed paths on Google searches before and “liked” them.

-What lists did you create and why? How does creating a list on Twitter help you stay organized or reach a goal?

I created a Concrete list and a Wood flooring list because I work in that industry. The concrete list I created deals with a much needed service that (in my opinion) is an under served market within the residential community.

In addition to the Concrete Prep, I also choose the search title Wood flooring Design. This is the work I originally started  years ago and still offer as part of our services today. The Twitter list should provide a means to organize specific industry individuals that may be able to help us promote, collaborate, or comment on our thoughts and actions as community professionals.

Week 7 Scheduled Posts

I choose the topics concrete preparation, interview, and how to respond to online reviews because they are essential components that accurately describe to a perspective client who we are, what we do, and what is in it for them if they choose to contract with us. 

Concrete preparation and adhesive are two key elements of a successful wood flooring installation. In many cases these are the least explained and misunderstood steps when choosing to have an engineered wood floor glued down over concrete.

The interview with Thumbtack shows who we are and exactly where we are coming from. Most clients who have had workers inside their home for days at a time tend to care more about who these workers are and the tone they will set throughout the duration of the project. For example, our last review on Angie’s List stated not only did Eric and his crew provide great service but they were also a joy to be around (please don’t miss that).

And Speaking about Angie’s List and other review based online companies, It is critical that all reviews be met with a PR response (for either good or bad). Why? Many reputable competitors in our field have been crushed by a misunderstanding that lead to a little overreacting and then to outright war. And guess who loses every time? Yes, you guessed it, the service professional. It literally takes about 8-10 positive reviews to wash away the tears of one that fell short (especially when it’s not your fault). 

Week 6: Growing Your Business With Facebook

On my Business Facebook page, I have a list of several "likes" ranging from material suppliers, instruments, associations, and review based social media sites that I follow and do business with. The relationship I have with Gallehers (supplier) lets people know where to see physical samples and make purchases. Angie's List, Thumbtack, and Houzz are review based company's that allow members to post reviews which are accessible to future consumers. Personally for me, the flooring industry is an interesting and rewarding field to enter, but at times challenging to market outside of the big review companies. For example, if you were to land on my Facebook page you would see a beautiful stained maple wood flooring covering a large front entry of a home we installed a few years ago.  Nice, but you can't retire on just one successful project. For us, we are always reaching out, meeting professionals (in our field), and selling our services to those who can refer us. My hope is to market this Facebook site more effectively, and reach a broader audience to attract quality work. In theory, one way to achieve this is to “like” other professional installation companies and comment on their achievements with the hopes that they will comment on my site. Another more certain possibility is to pay for advertising in hopes to attract other local Facebook users into using our services. This is really an expensive proposition just to get my foot in the door, but it may become a necessary if work becomes slow in the market place.

Week 5: Post reach and Post engagement

Define the difference between post reach and post engagement.

In order to analyze statistical data, it is important to first understand what the metrics are. In marketing terms,  metrics is data (numbers) that can help a company understand how much money they have spent in order to generate “X” amount of sales. For example, 10% of our net sales over the last 10 years has gone into advertising (on an average). However, that number has dramatically been reduced due to rechanneling our efforts into building strong social media profiles on various different sites such as Angie’s List, Thumbtack and Houzz.

            a). The term post reach essentially measures the total size of the Facebook  audience that see you , while the term:               

b).Post engagement is when people do something with your content: like, comment, or share your post.

So why is knowing the difference important?

In business, my first mistake came from believing that activity (creditable reach) always meant that results would follow. An analogy to this would be that marketers understand that that their job is to push a company’s (financially stagnant) parked car and bump start it (anyone with a dead battery in their car and a stick shift knows what this effort means).  Post engagement is the measurable activity (the metrics data) that shows you how the Facebook client is responding to the offer (information).

After defining the terms, describe how can a business can use Facebook Insights to better serve their customers?

It’s my hope that these analytic tools are sophisticated enough (in real time) to provide accurate trend data throughout a marketing campaign which could essentially be worked and reworked midstream to provide a better end result.

Week Four- Target Market for Common Sense Flooring, Inc.

Week Four Target Market

We are a flooring company specializing in concrete surface preparation and wood flooring installations. Angie’s List (an online review based membership service) provides the bulk of leads. This is great, but ultimately, we need to drive our own traffic.

My specific target market are home owners who have recently listed their property for sale and are not receiving strong enough offers. We plan to provide “sellers” a basic interior upgrade (paint, flooring, staging etc.) to help increase the sellers opportunities and meet the buyers expected needs when purchasing the home. We would also inadvertently provide a quicker turnaround time for realtors for their commissions (who could eventually refer us to their other listings as well).

1.       The simplest client I can think of resides in track housing.  Most of the time it is easy to identify the values in a track and determine its asking price based upon recent comparable sales. There are usually two reasons why these homes go unsold.

a.       They are financially under water and need to sell high or

b.      The home has been a rental and it has been cosmetically abused.

2.        Most of our clients range between 45-65 years old, married, two children (usually in college), makes over combined 100K per year, educated with a graduate, PHD or MD, mostly Caucasian, Indian or Asian, and researches us and our services well in advance through social media sources (Angie’s List, Yelp, Thumbtack, Google etc.).

3.       Our potential customer can be found online by days listed. What I hope to compile is enough data to design a matrix for determining what is the best time to approach homeowners with a direct mail piece introducing who we are , what we do, and what is in it for them should we do business together. A simple face to face meeting could provide all the details and I could determine if the relationship makes sense to pursue it. 

Week Three- The two websites you use or visit frequently

http://commonsenseflooring.com/

Why are they effective?

 The Common Sense Flooring brochure site is both mobile and desk top friendly. It shows the face (literary) of the company and a gentle (but relevant coastal background). Also, the website has Job site images, (visible) recognizable top material brands and an easy to follow menu.

What specific principles of good design do they include and why?

Some of the classic designs on the site are shown in the “going green” and “gentle blue” colors which are weaved throughout the pages which reflects the brand (long before these colors became popular and then became a cliché).

What makes you come back again?

The content on each page is sufficient enough to answer basic concerns, (which reduces bounce rates) yet still leaves the potential client interested in knowing more (hence the consultation option).

What could be improved?

The site is stagnate. It hasn't been updated in years and one of the manufactures listed is out of business. The basics are there but it needs work. For example, it would ranked higher on Google if it were linked to other sites (which requires code writing and patience). An immediate solution to the problem would be to update the site and include Word Press in the background. By doing so the site could be easily be maintained, updated with new ad-ons and content.

http://loveyourhomeblog.com/

Why are they effective?

It’s organized, concise, and reads like a candid conversation anyone could jump into. The images relate to the subject matter, and the verbiage is kept to around 600 words. Therefore to me, it’s a decent blog.

What specific principles of good design do they include and why?

I like the orange, gray and charcoal black colors in the header. The site is built out to the edges of the page yet the content isn't crowded. It just feels like a fresh, current blog site.

What makes you come back again?

The site is technical enough for professional use, yet understated for non-technical enthusiasts to participate as well.

What could be improved?

The brand is invisible, it has only has 10 posts and it hasn't found its grove yet.

Week Three Aesthetics, Design, & Branding

http://www.gforceracecars.com/

What are the three potential problems for visitors.

The first area of concern I have with the site is the pop up (*featured products). Its distracting and unnecessary for most race enthusiasts (unless you have ADHD).  The second issue I have is that it scrolls down the page forever. This makes me feel like I’m following a “comments page” thread. Thirdly, the black back ground may lead you to believe that is what the client wants to see (to evoke an emotion of strength and speed) but I have personally spent time in the pits (Ed and Erice Hill) and the team focus leans more on points, stats, equipment consistency, etc. which should be framed as a graph with an easier back ground to see (less black).

What could be improved on this website and why?

I would create a matrix of the run times, track conditions, modification tweaks and results (expectations) of the day.

Choose two points and identify what they have done right.

The photography (color and clarity) and the “tool” YouTube links are spot on.

How does design, aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to the websites?

The template design is decent, but is isn’t broken down into separate content pages, it’s more like a comment thread. The aesthetics (images) are clear (which you would expect to see race cars racing). The branding tells me that these drivers go fast and endorse tools that are race proven (support) and universal enough for an everyday ASE tech to own and use.  My reaction to the site is mixed, there is nothing unique about it, so it blends in rather than stands out (of the crowd).

http://www.richsoil.com/raising-chickens.jsp

What are the three potential problems for visitors?

Three potential problems with visitors could be that the content is too busy (therefore, needs to contain only a paragraph per topic and then linked). Each new title could use an image (to support the thought or idea being shared) rather than being dog piled together down the thread of the page. Also, the images themselves are inconsistent (meaning that they are pull together from to many sources, themes, and resolutions).

What could be improved on this website and why?

The web site needs to feel a little more commercial (or updated) primarily because the narrator provides face to face instruction (for her students) and desires an online presence to be viewed.  

Choose two points and identify what they have done right.

1). The placement of The Respectful Chicken Harvesting (toward the bottom of the page) made a lot of sense to me. This YouTube video as a is by far the most emotional (and informative) perspective I have ever seen regarding this subject. As a side bar, It really made me pause and think just how detached most of us are when it comes to eating a vertebrate (therefore, it got me thinking—good job Chris).

2). The second area of the site I really liked was The raising chickens graph. Why? Because the grand summary was simple to navigate, quick to understand, and easy to make decisions from it.

How does design, aesthetics and branding impact your reaction to the websites?

The design doesn’t feel professional enough so the colors could become distracting and increase the bounce rate. Also, the site could become encumber some to a new comer (not fully understanding what questions to ask and where to find them). Finally, the branding isn’t that consistent (images are from too many different styles which again, could make it distracting). But overall, my reaction to the site was good, only because I like chickens.

Week Two Communication Links

Find examples of 5 business websites and the social media they are using. 

Post a list with the business name, the URL's, and the social media they are visibly using [links on their website]

Common Sense Flooring, Inc.

http://commonsenseflooring.com/

http://loveyourhomeblog.com/

http://commonsenseflooring.blogspot.com/

Host Gator  

http://www.hostgator.com/

http://blog.hostgator.com/

http://www.hostgator.com/apps/wordpress-hosting

http://www.linkedin.com/company/hostgator.com

https://plus.google.com/+hostgator/posts

https://plus.google.com/+hostgator/posts

http://hostgator.tumblr.com/

Social Monkey

http://www.socialmonkee.com/

http://www.reply2colin.com/

Pingler

https://pingler.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pinglerdotcom

Fiverr

https://www.fiverr.com/

http://blog.fiverr.com/

Difficulty communicating with a business?

Week Two Communication

Difficulty communicating with a business?

Yes, I have an ongoing love hate relationship with one of my suppliers that would end in triumph if only the owner had a true sense of how poor his inside sales rep were (at doing their job) and how little they cared for the client.  For example, (this is actual dialog I tell clients) “Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith, please forgive the wholesaler that  I am sending you to because they do not provide service and could care less if you purchase from them,--but they do have competitive pricing if nothing else.” ”Please do not get mad and walk out-- it’s an employee ran business”.  So, if we’re looking at Social Media as a potential short term solution,  I would propose (to Ed the owner) to  launch a customer satisfaction forum (and have business professionals (buyers) participate in the thread. I think the comments would be overwhelmingly brutal at first, but eventually it could provide valuable insight that may help lead to policy changes (and possibly better revenues). Also, long term Social media usage could gauge the heartbeat of the buyers more responsively before it becomes  a negative reputation.

Social media suitability: personal or business?

We it comes to publishing business content online, I choose YouTube. The reason for this is that it  shows our processes and capabilities in action that are sometimes difficult to express in text. One of my goals is to attend VidCon in Anaheim  and meet with Philip Defranco (or his staff) to learn more about how to incorporate comedy into our brand. The other hurtle is to better understand my editing program Pinicale 17. Also, I have not been successful with voice overs and I'm not comfortable as the subject in a video (I just freeze up). But that aside, someday I will learn to romance the camera and post a series of "How To's" videos that can contribute to my industry.

LinkedIn is another business source that I have spent time building my profile on. This helps me stay connected to other professionals and updates me to any changes (such as career paths).
Facebook is a split (between business and personal) because I only use it for business purposes, but most of my friends and family members use personally to stay in touch.

Pinterest is great for photos and logo ideas?

I personally do not have a lot of experience with non business or personal social media channels so it's actually hard for me to comment on them, but I would say Twitter is probably great for personal use (like an on going thread). And Flickr is another great way to share photos if you're using Yahoo.