Wichita biz need social media boost!

Posted on April 2, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

Business Journal, Facebook, Twitter, Wichita Social Media

This morning, I had the privilege to be in a room with some outstanding local minds concerning social media within Wichita. Today’s Wichita Business Journal Business Pulse Poll asked if social media is an important part to a company’s marketing plan. An astonishing 38% of the 308 businesses that took part in the survey said not at all.

Why?

Here’s the honest truth about social media. Ready? Here goes. It. Is. Here. And. Not. Going. Away. Start. Using. Immediately!

There’s something in the air concerning social media for local businesses. In Wichita, sepcifically, there are people that sit back and say “we are behind the trends” and “I’ll be important a year from now.” Being conservative in business is one thing. Not recognizing an important aspect of your overall business communication is another. 

I applaud local companies like Cox Communications on their Twitter efforts and Butler Community College on their abilities to interact across multiple streams. But how does a local business owner take notice of this all-to-important new technology? How do we make them notice the importance?

Here are some steps local business owners should take:

1. Talk to a local communications, public relations or advertising professional (like me) about social media. Have an initial conversation. I’ll even buy lunch. Make this conversation about you, not technology. Listen, I can seriously sell anybody on why Facebook or Twitter is important. The question isn’t about me. It’s about you. How do you currently communicate with people? Do you find it important to do so? Why?

2. Take stock of your resources, personal and employee related. If your business is small and your name is on the side of the building, you should probably be handling your social media. You wouldn’t want anybody becoming the face of your company other than you would you?  I’d take stock in your ability to handle situations. How comfortable are you communicating with people? What is your schedule? Do you have time to do this? What are your expectations about how much time this should take? Ask yourself those questions. If it looks like you are too busy, then find somebody that you absolutely trust with you life. Your business life.

3. Don’t dip. I can immediately tell the businesses in Wichita that don’t have a plan for social media. They are dipping their toe in to see if a Facebook page is going to be a waste of time. What’s the ROI? Facebook pages and Twitter accounts take time to nourish, expand and grow. A good social media oriented business should invest a MINIMUM of one-month of serious thought to move into the social arena effectively. You and I can both notice these businesses online. They’ve been on Twitter for 3 months, have 5 tweets and 50 followers or on Facebook with less than 200 fans, a post last Thursday and no interaction with people. Better yet, the 100+ businesses around Wichita that have set up Profile accounts instead of Fan pages, a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service and currently walking a tightrope of being shutdown. (Yeah, I know that there are differences and one is “easier” than the other. There are also ethics and the RIGHT way to do things. Start if RIGHT. Get training on how to operate it effectively.)

4. Be patient. Yes. Patient. Businesses didn’t pop-up overnight. What you are doing with social media is essentially generating an audience base on a platform that you communicate with people in their arena, not yours. Building a Facebook audience won’t happen overnight. Or this month.

5. Pay the price of admission. Yep. Facebook is free. Twitter is free. Success in these areas can also be free, if you are lucky or are named Ashton Kutcher. Social media success comes with trial and error, time and money. You can ultimately sit down and figure out all of these technologies. Seriously. Go. But what is your time worth? In a one-hour meeting with me, or any other social media professional in town you can get insight into how much time you should expect a social media presence to take if you dip versus that success you can gain in a month with a great plan.

In short- get with one of the people below or call me. Take social media seriously. There is some seriously cool stuff that could make your business a real success. Invest the time in a conversation. Talk to one of us. Do it today.

Good people to call in Wichita:
Me: Ryan Cole, JuggleMedia, 316.204.3916, rcole@jugglemedia.com- We specifically specialize in small businesses vie proper set-up, training and long-term success strategies.

Or check out these people. Google ‘em for their contact info. While you’re at it, Google yourself and your business. We can fix that too…

http://www.twitter.com/WDRoy- Bill Roy, Wichita Business Journal
http://www.twitter.com/LouHeldman- Lou Heldman, Wichita State University
http://www.twitter.com/wehatesheep- Lathi de Silva, Sullivan Higdon and Sink
http://www.twitter.com/REntz1- Ryan Entz, Butler Community College
http://www.twitter.com/krisschindler- Kris Schindler, Start-Thinking
http://www.twitter.com/jdecesaro- John DeCesaro, Armstrong-Shank
http://www.twitter.com/cox_jessica- Jessica, Cox Communications
http://www.twitter.com/foulsonsiefkin- Trish, Foulston Seifkin
http://www.twitter.com/dgrantkake- Dave Grant, KAKE-TV
http://www.twitter.com/jaredbrickman- Jared Brickman, ROK ICT
http://www.twitter.com/PenPubJon- Jon Cressler, Pen Publishing
http://www.twitter.com/toddramsey- Todd Ramsey, Greteman Group
http://www.twitter.com/seancamore- Sean Amore, Associated

JM adds text and Foursquare help

Posted on March 30, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

Foursquare, Wichita Social Media

Hey there, Ryan here!

At JuggleMedia, I’d say about 20-50% of our time is used keeping up with the latest in non-traditional marketing. I find that it is super important to be on top of these tools to ensure that our clients use the best medium to communicate with people.

Notice: businesses need to meet their customers where they are, not where they want them to be.

“Traditional marketing” (in my mind, things like billboards, radio, television and print advertising) aren’t outdated, uncool or unnecessary. Using these tools can be very effective to the overall message success, if that is in fact where the audience that one if trying to target is hanging out.

However, it’s important for people to meet people in their comfort zone. Technology that is currently updating can be overwhelming for some to keep up on and understand, thus why I find it important to try to stay up on it for you.

Take Foursquare for example. This location-based “game” can have some awesome traffic-driving initiatives built into it for businesses that are built based off of their location, like bars, restaurants, shops or even housing developments. The ability for a person on foursquare to know and understand what’s happening at a certain venue is an awesome tool to drive customers. I have yet to see a bar, restaurant or store offering me an incentive on foursquare to come into the store. It’s a very cool and important technology to harness.

But what about other tools like text-message marketing? We do that too. If you have somebody outside your location, how are you going to communicate to them? Big signs? Fliers? What if it was a lot cheaper and more personal? Text-message marketing offers a HUGE opportunity to communicate with people on their own terms, with their most intimate device. People wake-up to their cell-phones and many can’t live without it, so using it as a primary tool to communicate would only benefit both parties. Think about it.

From restaurants to funeral homes, our clients use us at the way to connect ideas to people. Messages to sales. Sales to money. Money to success.

How can we help you? Give me a buzz directly at 316.747.9266 or rcole@jugglemedia.com. Let’s chat about the things that we do and the problems that you have. Who knows, we may be able to help.

Thanks

No- an Intern can’t do what we do…

Posted on March 24, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

Facebook, Social Media Strategy, Twitter

A little pre-lunch rant…

Today I recieved the worst objection to date: I’m getting an intern to handle our social media.

Awesome. Good luck.

Social media needs to be done right. Here’s what’s going to happen. This company will get the intern and they will set them up with a typical Facebook page, it’ll probably have the necessary information, but it’ll stop there. Then what?

A proper social media strategy is super important to the long-term success of the company. There’s a huge difference between having somebody “manage” something and somebody “leading” something. Social media sites like Facebook and tweets on Twitter are actually communications that are VITAL to the organization. They are the virtual face of the company. Would you throw an intern in front of the local newspaper and have them handle all the questions that arise? Would you have the intern set up the website? Would you have the intern run your company? Would you have an intern handle customer objections on day one?

Now, although I may be a little harsh, my point is that social media is a HUGE deal. This is the future in the way we will communicate. It’s incredibly important for a business owner, especially a small one named after the owner, to control their social media presence. “I’m too busy”‘s and “It’s not important”‘s are garbage. Are you too busy to talk to the people giving you money? Are you saying that your customers aren’t important?

That’s what you are telling me if you hire an intern to handle your social media. It doesn’t take long to figure it out, just simple training and success from JuggleMedia.

Thanks. Rant over.

JM> Social Media help for “normal” people.

Posted on March 12, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

Engadget, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Mashable, Purpose, Twitter, Wichita Social Media, Wordpress

At JuggleMedia, we like to put together articles and write about relevant social media problems that effect “normal” people. There are things that are happening that are fundamental shifts in communication, technology, marketing, business and interpersonal relationships. We want you to be a fan or follow of ours so we can pass along this awesome information to you.

There are several different sources of social media greatness that we follow. From Mashable to the very technical Engadget, we look at all the articles and highlight the best and simplify them for your consumption.

Of course, if you ever have any problems or questions specific to social media, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Google, WordPress or any other platform, just drop us a question in the comments section. We’ll get right back at ya!

We hope to strengthen our relationship and help you learn this “stuff” better. Happy Friday!

JM’s Page>xfer+ helps companies with profiles switch to fan pages!

Posted on March 10, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

Facebook, JuggleMedia Wichita, Page>xfer+, Profile vs Fan Page

JuggleMedia‘s newest program, the Page>xfer+ was just launched to help companies transition between profile pages and fan pages on Facebook. It is incredibly important for companies to be in the right place on Facebook. We’ve seen a lot of companies that need some help transfering their information to the correct place. The Page>xfer+ is an opportunity for a company to transition between that profile and fan page to ensure Facebook success.

JuggleMedia’s offering cost $299 per business and includes a transition between the Facebook Profile to a Facebook Fan Page, including content, photos and upcoming events, 1-hour training for the business on how to optimize the new Fan Page, a facebook.com URL listing for the business, suggestions on how to make the page stand out from other pages as well as a custom plan on how to transfer audience members attached to the profile to the new Fan page. We think it’s a tremendous bang for the buck.

There are several different reasons that a business should choose a Fan page over a Profile, but none is more important than the 5,000 person limit that Facebook places on profile pages, meaning that once a person’s profile has 5,000 friends, no more will be allowed to join. Fan pages can have as many fans a it wants. There are still the same options to block fans to ensure negative or inapproprate comments are taken care of.

Now, many may say that this isn’t a huge problem for my business, but we argue that although we are in a relatively infant state of Facebook Fan pages, what would happen in a year when a business has 4,999 fans and needs to create a Fan page to handle the overflow? Shouldn’t you just set it up right to begin with?

Here’s another important thing to consider about Fan pages that is a personal tick of mine: If a person is heading to a Facebook page and finds it’s a profile, how do you think they feel? They have to sit back and wait for a business to “approve” the friendship. Of course they want to be approved, but what if one of their friends saw an update the business posted on the profile about a special at the restaurant. If they can’t see it, then they can’t enjoy the same special, all because they are waiting for the business administrator to log on and approve the friendship.

So if you see a profile that needs to be a fan page, let us know. Better yet, if your business needs a boost and would like to be transfered to a fan page, shoot us an email here. We’ll get the ball rolling and fix it within 36 hours. Yep- we’re that fast!

[VIDEO]- 25 things one guy hates about Facebook (Funny)

Posted on March 10, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

Facebook, Video, Wichita Social Media

I initially saw this on SocialMediaBlog.com and it made me laugh!

What do you think? In the comments, let us know!

From All Facebook- If you want traffic from Facebook, post on the weekend.

Posted on March 10, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

All Facebook.com, Facebook, Scheduling Posts, When to post, Wichita Social Media

According to the popular unofficial Facebook blog AllFacebook.com, the best time for a business to post content lies over the weekend.

AllFacebook.com goes on to report that the primary reason for this phenomenon is due largely in part to the fact that most employers block Facebook during work hours.

@Jugglemedia, we advise businesses to post when we determine their target market is online and interested. For some businesses, that may mean that you post after hours, on the weekend or specifically when it’s not “convenient” for the business. Remember, it’s all about the customers.

If you don’t want to sit around waiting to hit “share” on a Saturday, there are specific tools a business can use to schedule updates. Now, here’s what I’ve learned about scheduling: Use in moderation. If you want to post a special message to hit a specific target on a Saturday afternoon, by all means go ahead. However, scheduling messages well in advance, and then not ensuring that they do in fact post can be detrimental to the brand. We’ve used a wide variety of scheduling software out there and we know the right one’s to use if you decide to go down this road. Ultimately, however, it’s best to actually post something yourself, juuuuust in case.

Volvo’s virtual success can strengthen your customer base

Posted on March 9, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

So here’s the awesome: Volvo created the “Drive Around the World” Facebook Campaign to push the new C30. Here’s the idea: See if you and a team of friends can connect with people from around the world to make is completely around the world in only 80 days on Facebook. The deal is that you can only choose somebody to help you that is less than 1,333 km from where you are, the same distance the new C30 can travel on one tank of fuel.

What happened? Well in the 80 day promotion, 63,000 teams participated in the social game, making the “Drive Around the World” Facebook challenge the only branded game to land on the top 20 of Facebook applications, but it the over 600,000 trailer views on a wide-range of websites that created all the buzz.

So how do you use this information as a small business here in Wichita? Well, for one, realize that the world is a relatively small place. The ability to communication across a wide-range of geographic areas means you can branch out your customer base to a very large footprint if you have the means. It also means, however that you are competing with people from around the world for your dollars. Sure, you may own a small cafe, but the ability to create brand impressions virtually is superbly important to the vitality of one’s business. Ignoring these people can be business suicide.

So keep in mind these large-scale successes and try to figure out how to create awareness and ultimatly brand ambassidors for your business. There’s no reason that a local business, even if it is that tiny cafe, shouldn’t have 1,000+ fans, let alone the ability to communicate to them and transition them into brand ambassidors.Looking at these world-wide brands and trying to scale it down to your business can put you ahead of the game and drive more business.

Why social media? Why NOW?

Posted on March 9, 2010 in Social Media in Wichita Kansas by JuggleMedia

Facebook, JuggleMedia Wichita, Social Mention, Twitter

(Initially written for the Wichita Eagle on February 4, 2010)

By Ryan E Cole, JuggleMedia

Any good business person can attest to doing things that don’t make them happy but are bare-bone necessary to be successful. Accounting, for me is that necessity that is painful to endure. I’m a creative, not a numbers person. For some, joining networks like Facebook and Twitter can be that twinge of uncertainty… that pain in the back-side. Let me bring some light to the social media darkness for you.

Right now joining the ranks of social media needs to be at least a small tick on the mind of a business person if not an all-out important task to implement. Regardless if your business is business-to-business (consider Linked-In) or business-to-consumer (Facebook and Twitter are your go-tos), social media communication is important to build relationships with current customers and grow your audience-base for future sales. I’ve broken it down into three easy steps for you to follow; listening, engaging and transferring.

Listen:
Here’s something to consider: people are talking about your company RIGHT NOW whether you like it or not. Being absent-minded in the space is detrimental to your growth and you could be losing customers without even doing anything. Tools like Social Mention (http://www.socialmention.com) allow you to search what people are saying about you in blogs, microblogs, comments, mentions, and even audio and video. It can be a Google Analytics of social media activity. It’s important to use this site to listen to the audience.

Engage:
The ability to talk back to the audience is where sites like Facebook or Twitter can be important. If a business has the ability to draw an audience to their own forum, they can control the interactions and create relationships. These sites can be approprate places to listen to the people interacting with the brand, but also gives a business the opportunity to start a connection with many people at once. Fan pages on Facebook for example already have a built-in audience, complete with demographic & location information, an ability to engage those fans with content and create smart communications in one place designed to transfer the fans to actual customers.

Transfer:
So how does a business actually transfer fans to customers? I have found that the number one thing business owners or marketing directors are worried about isn’t being in the space, but having a lack of things to say. Many times, the question of “What do I post?” arises. Fear not. Every business has a story, a target, a market, a customer and problems they solve (if they don’t then, um….what would you say you do here?). The problem is a business needs to figure out why a unique customer base on Facebook (your fans) or people that follow on Twitter are listening to what is said. What’s in it for your customer? Why do I care to listen and be your fan? What’s in it for me? Me, me, me…NOT you!

Social media is about as targeted as it gets. The strategy behind the interactions take thought, time, and the ability at times to give up a piece of pride for the business. If a customer slams a business, not being in the space allows others to see the negativity and choose accordingly. However, if a business monitors and engages with those comments (NOT DELETE), face can be saved and customers can be won.

Using social media can actually make a business better. It’s the ability for a business to operate in the open and really create some amazing products and services for customers. This isn’t an age of absolutes anymore. If customers don’t like something about a business, they’ll speak. If the company does nothing, people vanish. Welcome to the new age of customer service…