I frequently go to several businesses just like this and I think social media could make a BIG difference for them.  Some are choosing not to use social media because they feel it isn’t intimate enough for their businesses anymore.  This seems to be because there are so many businesses using social media ineffectively like a push marketing tool.  The important thing to remember about social media is that it can be whatever you need it to be for YOU and YOUR Business.  Because social media involves creating a community and relationships, you are in control.

Let’s focus on what makes one of these businesses a prime candidate for social media marketing success.  Here are a few of the signs:

• Passion.  The owner is passionate about what she does.
• Influence.  The owner is a leader and a teacher.  She has strong influence over her customers.
• Rock Solid Brand Message.  She is a great leader with a very solid brand message.
• Solid Business Plan.  She is clear on what she does, who her target customer is, her offering and her price point.
• Great Content Already Exists.  As part of her existing operations, the business develops daily, authentic brand messages that could be easily used as social media content.
• Established Tribe.   There is already an established loyal tribe that loves and trusts the business.
• Testimonials and Feedback.  Customers provide feedback routinely about their experience with the business.
• Requests for More.  Customers want more and can’t get enough from this business.

Our society is going through a fundamental shift that’s driving many to want more authentic heartfelt connections.  Social Media can help a business that’s connecting with a small group of people, grow that connection and their very important message to thousands or more who might really need it and their service or product.

Just like everything we do.  Social Media is the art that we create and the power comes from whatever we make happen.

Photo Credit Michaela Kobyakov, Austria.

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Below are 5 areas to help you measure your Social Media success and consider making changes for 2011:

Honest Benchmark – It starts with an honest review of where you are at in Social Media.  I am assuming if you are reading this post you are one of the many businesses which implemented Social Media this year.  If I was meeting with you in person I would ask if you followed through with your Social Media strategy and goals this year.  So many businesses jump into Social Media with great plans and a minimal strategy only to decide to abandon Social Media because they realize it takes more than just setting up a few profiles.  Even some of our clients at Square Martini Media after creating a detailed Social Media strategy discovered in the process that Social Media is a big of a commitment and had to reconsider moving forward.  Social Media takes someone within a company or a firm like ours actual hours, time, and money to make successful.

Review Analytics – Use Google Analytics or something similar to review your site traffic for the year.  If you are using Social Media as a marketing tool to bring traffic to your hub (website or blog) you should clearly see what areas within Social Media are working and which one are not.  This is a great way to discover opportunities while having some reality checks at the same time.  What worked and what can be improved on?  Are there areas within Social Media that you are spending a lot of time yet not getting the desired results?    Make the decision to change or abandoned what is not working and focus your resources on new strategies or expanding what is working.

Blogging and Facebook Business Pages – Are you creating new content?  Did you commit to a certain amount of posts this year and did you follow through?  Have you adjusted your posting calendar for both your blog and Facebook business page this year and have your reviewed the results?  Are there certain topics, themes, or discussions that seem to be more successful than others?  For many businesses their blog can be the majority of the traffic for their site.  Take some time and discover the posts that are still driving traffic to your website and how you might expand on them for 2011.

Social Media Profiles – When is the last time you updated your Linkedin Profile?  And speaking of profiles have you seen your Facebook profile lately?  Many business owners set up a profile and never look back.  Business goals and messages change, make sure your message is congruent with both your personal and business brands.  Block out time to review and make needed adjustments to your main Social Media profiles.

Show me the money! – Let’s talk about sales!  If you are using Social Media to create sales make sure to review your sales and see where they are coming from.  Is the time, effort, and money you are spending on Social Media bringing new sales to your business?  I have to make it clear that I am assuming you are tracking your sales.  Not kind of tracking or broadly tracking, but really making sure that you and every employee is making every possible effort to identify where each and every sale is coming from.  I have talked to many business owners this year who swear they are tracking their sales.  Typically when I dig deeper and ask more questions about their sales they realize they are not tracking as well as they thought.  This is one of the biggest mistakes made in business today.  You must have great sales tracking to know if Social Media or any marketing strategy is working.  If you cannot clearly identify sales from Social Media it is time to adjust your tracking methods.

This is just a starting point for your Social Media marketing review and I would welcome any additional suggestions via comments below.  Make a commitment right now to not close 2010 without insuring your Social Media success for 2011!

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The following Halloween Martini recipe is for you.  It’s a reminder from Square Martini Media to have fun, enjoy the holidays, and think about creative ways to create engagement with your social media community.  In my last post 3 Steps to Take the Scare Out of Social Media for Your Business I may have forgotten one step which is to have fun, enjoy your business, and take care of your customers.  Providing martini recipes is about connecting with our community and creating stronger relationships.

Please enjoy the Halloween recipe and make sure to drink responsibly:

BLACK WIDOW MARTINI

2 oz black vodka
.5 oz Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur
2 oz blackberry or grape juice
black licorice and sugar for garnish (optional)

Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake well and strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with black licorice and add a plastic black spider to the stem of the martini glass.

Happy Halloween!

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Step 1 – Define why you think social media will work for your business and what you are going to use social media for.  Are you trying to create sales, leads, brand awareness, or customer engagement?  You must know what you want before you begin.

Step 2 – Commit to the process.  Social media is a community.  Too many companies use it as a broadcasting tool and think they are using social media.  This is like placing a bowl of candy at your front door on Halloween with a note that says “please take one”.  Sure a few kids may take one and be perfectly happy but eventually someone will empty the entire bowl into their bag and the other kids are left with nothing but a note.  This result closely resembles many business Facebook pages and blogs- a great start yet no commitment to continue the process.

Step 3 – Seek out help from a credible social media firm to create your social media strategy.  Yes, you can do social media on your own by having an intern or someone with no business experience set up your Facebook page, Twitter profile, and LinkedIn account.  But this is not a social media strategy and in the end can create a PR and branding disaster that resembles the graveyard scene from your local haunted house.

Using social media in your business is no trick and the rewards for your business can bring you treats for years to come.  I encourage you to think about how you are approaching social media in your business and don’t be scared to contact us at Square Martini Media to help!

Square Martini Media is a San Diego based Social Media firm which specializes in working with both local and national small to midsized business who what to implement social media strategies to attract new customers to their business.

Photo Credit: Jeff Siarto

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The following is an excerpt from The Blog Action Day site:

“Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses. The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation.

But, water moves beyond just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue, an animal welfare issue, a sustainability issue. Water is a global issue, deserving a global conversation.”

And that’s enough said to make us all take a long pause and listen isn’t it?  Taking action and making a difference is easier than you think.

Give Clean Water

Our company has supported and raised money for water charity events in the past.  This year we’re making a bigger step.  We’re proud to announce that we’ll be supporting San Diego’s own GiveCleanWater.  We look forward to learning more about them and working with them on their social media strategy.

GiveCleanWater installs sustainable clean water filters in Fiji homes providing training and education to local families who currently only have access to unsafe water.  We hope you’ll take a look at their organization, consider donating and, of course….Like them on Facebook.

What is Blog Action Day and Why is Water So Important?

Today on Blog Action Day, writers from over 135 countries will write for over 35 million readers about one cause.  If you want to get educated about Water, today’s the day.

Water is important for so many reasons and many of us are under informed about this precious natural resource.  There are so many things that we can change in our daily lives that have a great impact to the global health climate.  It’s a topic worth studying a bit.  Here are two I found most interesting because you and I can start making change today:

• Uninhabitable Rivers: Today, 40% of America’s rivers and 46% of America’s lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.   More info…
• Bottled Water Footprint: The US, Mexico and China lead the world in bottled water consumption, with people in the US drinking an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled.  More info and a great video here…

So What Can I do? Lots!  We’re not here to make your choices for you but we will urge you to get informed about how water affects you, your children, the global economy and health picture.  As for me personally, I’m going to think twice next time I drink bottled water and I’m going to put a timer in the shower.  Baby steps are always a good place to start.

Thanks for reading our Blog Action Day post.  Here are two other San Diego Blog Action Day Posts of Note at time of post:

Global Patriot: Engineers Without Borders

Living a Greener Life

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10 easy ways to grow your Facebook friends:

1. Use the Facebook tools!  When you first log into Facebook scroll down and look for the Get Connected section on the right.  From here you can find your friends using Gmail, Skype, Yahoo, AOL, and more.  This is a fast and easy way to grow your friends on Facebook.
2. Add a Facebook link or button to your email signature
3. Make a habit to send follow up emails asking to connect on Facebook after meeting someone new.
4. Add a Facebook link to your business card
5. Review the friends of your current Facebook friends and see who you know and connect with them.
6. Add your Facebook link to your website, blog, and contact page
7. Do you use Twitter?  Tweet to your followers asking them to connect with you on Facebook.
8. Review the friends your current Facebook friends are suggesting to you.  Many times you will know these people and if not it’s a good opportunity to meet someone new.
9. Look at all those photos!  3 billion photos are uploaded to Facebook every month and many of your current Facebook friends upload photos.   Take a moment to review a few photos from your friends and if they are tagged you can easily send friend requests to those you may know.
10. Check out Xobni - Xobni is add on program for Outlook that gives you great email tools and shows you the social network links for each contact.

Are you using any of these methods now to grow your Facebook friends?  Do you have another suggestion to add to the list?  Don’t keep it a secret!  Make sure to take a moment, leave a comment, and share it with all of us!  Remember to also become a friend of Square Martini Media by liking us on Facebook!

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If you are a business owner, can you think along the same line with your social media strategy? “I’m a business owner, therefore I market…”  Can you sneak in times during the day to market your business?  I bet you do already.  If you don’t, I’m sure you could. You could even have a little fun with it if you wanted to turn it into a little challenge for yourself.  Or, even better, pick a social media marketing buddy and create a challenge with them.  Have your buddy text you everyday with the number of new business connections they’ve engaged via a social media channel (notice I didn’t say new friends they’ve added but actual engagements meaning someone they’ve actually had a conversation with because that’s when the magic starts happening).

Here’s my list of Ten Easy Tips for Finding Time for Social Media Marketing during your day to get you started:

1. During a Coffee Break
2. While Waiting for a Meeting to Start
3. Scheduling 15-30 Minutes at the End of Every Day
4. When You Can’t Sleep
5. When You’re Stuck on Solving Another Problem (Give Your Mind a Break and Market)
6. In a Taxi, on the Bus, in the Train or on an Airplane
7. Anytime You Are Following Up from an Event (A Conference, Association Meeting, Networking Event)
8. While Your Children are Doing Anything That Takes Too Long
9. While Stuck in Traffic
10. Waiting in Any Line

Let me know which ones you use or try out.  I’m also interested in hearing your other ideas or what you use to find time in your day.  After all, that’s what we all seem to have less and want more of these days.

By the way, the writer I mention in the beginning is our friend Chris Brogan.  His post also talks about how being a writer requires confidence, discipline, a fall-forward mentality and other great things that also apply to being a business owner.  It’s a great read if you are looking for inspiration in your business.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.  Contact us if we can help.

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The Social Media Minute

What? The Social Media Minute is a video series of short segments offering social media tips and answers to your questions about using social media for business.

Where? You’ll see Social Media Minute videos featured here on our blog, on our Facebook page and profiles and on our YouTube Channel.

When? Every other week

Why? The Why is the fun part.  After all, we need a why for everything we do in business right?  There are so many reasons why video is a must for business that this answer requires a list:

• We recommend using Video to our clients in social media strategies.  We like to use everything we recommend to our clients to lead by example and to make sure we understand all the opportunities, kinks and challenges.
• YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google.
• The Average American spends 15 minutes per day on YouTube.
• We know that video is impactful.  If a picture tells 1,000 words, how many does a video tell?
• We want a forum to answer your questions in a mode more personal than a blog post.
• Time effectiveness.  Everyone wants information fast.  Video offers the medium where you can provide answers in a fun and efficient manner.

How? We create our videos using a Flip camera and a tripod with particular concern to the lighting and the surrounding sound.  We seek out interesting settings with an unique background.  Sometimes we film in our office.  The places are usually a part of our daily business routine.  We pick subjects from questions that we hear most often.  (Yes, we know there are higher end camera options than the Flip, but for the price and the quality. We like Flip.)

How Did You Start? You might have noticed a few video blog posts popping up on Square Martini Media lately.  Three months ago, we quietly launched a 90 day pilot of The Social Media Minute. We hired summer interns specifically to help with this initiative.  Since then, we’ve tried many things including various cameras, software techniques, background images, lighting changes, subject changes, filming variations, posting variations.  Like everything else in social media, we’ll continue to try other ideas and we have a lot of exciting things on our list for the next few months.

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Take the time to review your Linkedin profile right now.  Look at your Current and Past positions, Summary, Interests, and Groups for opportunities to implement the Linkedin profile strategy discussed in the video.

I hope you enjoyed the Social Media Minute and I look forward to your thoughts and comments. Please subscribe to the Square Martini Media YouTube channel and if you have a question you would like covered on the Social Media Minute, let us know by giving us your Social Media Minute Question.

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The Social Media Kool-Aid Guzzler: For many businesses after taking their first step (sip of the Kool-Aid) in social media they tend to immediately jump all in or start guzzling.  Businesses try to drink the entire pitcher of Kool-Aid in one sitting.  They set up profiles on every possible social media network barely stopping to take a breath and not even considering how they will keep up with all these profiles.  Social media strategy is out the door but they are sure all these profiles will bring them business.  Eventually these businesses decide the Kool-Aid doesn’t taste all that great.  It could be within a few weeks or a few months but all the social media activity stops and these businesses will now tell you “I tried that social media thing and it does not work”.

The Social Media Kool-Aid Big Gulpers:  Have you seen these before?  The 44 oz, 64oz, wait that’s not big enough the 1 gallon jug people carry around with a big straw hanging out?  Picture this jug full of Social Media Kool-Aid.  These Kool-Aid Gulpers are social media super users.  They are similar to the Guzzlers typically not having a social media strategy but don’t seem to quit.  They are constantly drinking, updating too many profiles and are the types of users you always see iPhone or Droid phone in hand.  In the middle of a meeting, party, or conversation these users are trying to update Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.  They may be taking pictures and uploading to Flickr or even shooting video and trying to get it up on YouTube on the spot.

If you are one of these two users how can you possibly be losing business?  You are doing everything right… right?

For the Guzzlers they lose business by spending so much time learning and applying social media as fast as they can and then just let it all go.   A lot of businesses think they need to do social media and think they can do it themselves.  Business owners and executives step away from their primary roles and try to become social media experts.  By doing this their business actually goes down and then a few months later they stop using social media anyway.  All that time and effort goes to waste.

For the Gulpers they don’t realize they are alienating the people around them.  These could be prospects or customers who don’t understand why you have your phone out and in hand.  The perception is you don’t care about the meeting or conversation which creates a feeling of indifference.  This indifference can grow to the point of losing long standing customers or prospects that are ready to buy.

The moral of the social media Kool-Aid story is to be aware of what you can become.  You truly do not want to be a Guzzler or a Gulper in social media.  If you are a business wanting to get started in social media ask for help.  Seek out social media marketing firms within your network and find out how they work.  Create a social media strategy and implement it over time.  Social media works for all types of business but you must have a strategy and plan.

If you want to learn how you can work with Square Martini Media on your social media strategy please visit or contact us page and use the form, email, or call us today.

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