Use me, send me, let me help you

The title about says it all.

I am willing and wanting for companies to use me so I can have more content for my blogs. This one and my other blog http://www.thebuildingblox.com/   I love to write and many love to read them. 

Send me your PR releases with new products or services that you are launching. Great new information should be spread around.

Send me to a trade show or event. Who doesn't like reading about what someone else saw and what they learned while they were there. The spring show for Coverings Tile and Stone Show was full of photos, information and I also had a great time assisting their social media campaign while I was there.

Offer me a product to test. If it's a great product, don't you want as many people as possible to know about it?

Offer me a product to use as a give away for a contest. That should create some great exposure on many channels and levels.

Invite me for a factory tour to showcase your products and people. I did that recently for The Genie Company http://www.geniecompany.com/ and it was a blast. It gave me many great posts to write and still more to come.

Ask for help with your social media program. I would love to assist, manage or do whatever I could to help make it a success for you.

I'm sure there are many other things that I could do to help you out either directly or indirectly but the key is for you to...

Step up and use me. Really!

toddvendituoli@gmail.com

toddvendituoli@socialmedia4builders.com

thebuildingblox@gmail.com

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It does work- actual case

Many of you out there I'm sure wonder whether social media actually works or is there a value to it? To that I would respond with resounding Yes and an example that recently happened to me.

A while ago I wrote a post on a building material product that I had used over on http://www.thebuildingblox.com/ and there were the usual comments but then months later I received an email from a women asking for more information, stating she had a home that was 7 years old and it was  giving her major repair issues. My first response was to wonder how she had found me so I Goggled the manufacturer and low and behold the article I wrote was the second listing after the company site. Now I knew. We had numerous email describing the issues, what her present contractor had told her, she sent me photos to illustrate the product as it was installed and what had happened.

So why did she contact me as opposed to going right to the manufacturer? She didn't trust what they were going to tell her. She was willing to trust someone that she didn't know based on a blog post. Isn't that the power of social media and where we are headed? Did it happen overnight? No. If the company was trusted would she have contacted them first. Maybe but it's an example of people trusting complete strangers who write blogs, real people. So does your business need to write a blog, humanize yourself and participate in social media? My vote is YES.




Post script:

I gave her my advice and thoughts but in reality I am not there. I do not know exactly how the product was installed, painted etc so I cannot pass judgement as the product does have a great many things that if done incorrectly, could have caused the issues (the installation PDF is quite detailed). A simple thing such as using the wrong paint can cause the product to do what she described so I suggested she contact the manufacturer and was thrilled she had contacted me for help.

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Why social media- video

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Happy Memorial Day

I just want to say thank you to all that have given so much for all of us. Your services and sacrifices are greatly appreciated. So to all the families and individuals that have given up so much on our behalf including the ultimate sacrifice,


                             Thank you!

                      You are remembered!

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Brand Advocates

                 http://noteasytoforget.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Brand-Advocates480.jpg

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It's valuable.

"I don't use social media because there is no direct sales link." Yup I heard this one recently.
So any marketing that you do is supposed to give a direct link to sales? I'd say No. You may though gain some benefits that will lead to sales down the road. Let's see what social media could do for your business.

Provide an outlet to ask your customers what they would like to see in a new product. Valuable.

Give you a way to find out what people are saying about you and your products or services. Valuable

Have a way to educate your customers on the benefits of your products or services. Valuable

Provide a platform where customers can interact with you and ask questions. Valuable

Grow your customer base through education, contests, event notifications etc. Valuable

The ability to connect with your customers in an open and social manner- think engage. Valuable

Have a way to show the human side of you and your business. Valuable


These are just some things that I would and do classify as "valuable" for any business but it seems that the above person was right. It can help you in many ways but I don't actually see a direct sale from any of these items.
Ah..... but maybe if you do all of these things in social media there's a good chance that you will then see a sale. It probably will depend on how well you do them too but I tend to buy products and services from those that I trust and/or have a relationship with over just any random item or company.

That's probably just me so  don't worry about it. Carry on the way you've been thinking and doing business. I'm sure it will be fine.

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Humanize your business

Sadly as I look around the web I see so many businesses that are doing business as usual. They seem to view social media as just another advertising channel. It is another marketing opportunity but they don't seem to be getting it. They just post things about why there products are great or where you can get them and the same old same old.

One avenue that they should be pursuing is to humanize the business and products. I can hear some of you saying- Its a business how can you humanize that? Easy and here are some suggestions.

What about an employee story here and there? Where did they come from? How long have they been there? What do they like to do when not working? What about there families or travel experience?

How did your business evolve, start, expand? What were the successes and failures that you've experienced? It's a story that you can surely tell.

What about customer stories? We'll assume you have customers. Everyone loves to see themselves out there and in print or video.

What about asking people what they would like to know more about instead of just telling them.

You could also host an event and then write about it from your perspective and have the people that attended write a short piece.

So that's a start but it will help to humanize you in the minds of your clients and potential clients and then when you have something start to share it on Twitter, the blog, Facebook or wherever your audience is. Let them see the human side of you and your business.

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What about a contest?

It has recently occurred to me that many businesses that have started out using social media are having a bit of trouble finding fans or followers. Now my suggestion is - what about a contest? Nothing too hard or extreme so that you'll get a great number of responses but catchy enough to get attention, lots of attention.

First you need to come up with a contest that fits your brand. Something that will have broad appeal. You want many to join in and participate and of course, nothing that would be dangerous.

Next you'll need to come up with an example for people to get them thinking and decide on what the prize will be.  For example - you have a bakery and would like to get others to notice your brand and stop by and buy your products. So what about a post your best cupcake promotion and everyone that does and likes your page on Facebook gets a 10% discount on their next purchase or a free product or.. you'll have to decide the prize. Don't even need a judge!

Think broad appeal and usage

You could also do a Twitter contest- Follow us @.......... and tweet "we love Cupcakes" and they are entered in a drawing for a certain product or a gift certificate to your shop.

The key is to make the contest easy to enter and fun for others to be part of. You'll need to create some pre- excitement and this is where I see brands sometimes missing the boat. They start a contest, post it on Facebook and expect people to magically find it. Please- don't you recognize the vast amount of content that you are competing with on social media platforms. You have to promote it and get the word out to others such as bloggers and other influencers so they can do a post or help spread the word.

Contests are a great way to help you find more friends or followers but it needs to be approached with the right keys. Don't just throw it out there and hope for the best. That never works out.

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Three social media tips

Blog posts- title length

It occurs to me here and there that some people forget a few posting things on occasion such as the length of your title. Why is length important? This is important because shorter is better and here's why. When someone goes to share your post on Twitter and you have a long title, the URL and it goes over 140, they have to modify it in order to share.  Some people will modify it yet others will move on and you've lost an opportunity. Another point to remember is that title should be less than 70 characters. After 70 Google will cut it off leaving it dangling.
Here's a great example:

Best beach chair? http://marvinblog.com/best-beach-chair via @marvinwindows - Title, URL @ (see next topic below) and plenty left of the 140 to make a comment. Social media is about sharing make it easy for others.

Sharing Button Tip


Are your sharing buttons set up so that when someone tweets your post from your site you know about it? Blogger's Twitter button

  is terrible and I'm working on this myself. This is how a sent tweet looks like. (PS- I've made some changes already and more to come)

BuildingBlox: Eco-Friendly Green Roofs http://www.thebuildingblox.com/2012/05/eco-friendly-green-roofs.html?spref=tw     So when this is tweeted, I have no idea that it was sent or who sent it out. It's a small thing but something that needs fixing ASAP.This yellow section should be saying Via @talv58
Then it comes to my attention and I can thank the person that sent it. I'm working on it or I may switch to Word Press. Hint to Google there.




Blog posts- length


Another aspect you should look at is the length of your blog posts and what your readers expect. Some blogs will do very well with few words and not much writing, others would bomb doing that. I've seen blogs that have a mixture of information and photos. That's what I try to do. The photos add to the points I'm making and also provide a break in the visual aspect of reading. I also try to keep my posts of medium length. You should experiment for your audience or just ask.
The one thing I have trouble with is blog posts that are like a short novella. Maybe it's just me but I read so much during the course of the day that a post that I have to spend that long on doesn't work for me. Again it could just be me.
Here's a link with some great tips too. 
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/18/post-length-how-long-should-a-blog-post-be/

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"Power of social media"- video

This video was produced about one year ago and in that short time there have been many changes. Can you spot some of the inaccuracies as compared to 2012?

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What's the frequency?

If you hear that phrase and immediately finish it with- Kenneth- you are probably thinking of the classic song by R.E.M.







Whats The Frequency Kenneth

What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your benzedrine, uh-huh.
I was braindead, locked out, numb, not up to speed.
I thought I'd pegged you, an idiot's dream

Tunnelvision from the outsider's screen.

I never understood the frequency, uh-huh.
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh.




Great song but not what I was referring to here but there are similarities in the some of the lyrics.


What I was referring to was the frequency of your blog posts. This is a question that I get asked quite often. How often should I post new articles on my blog?


How I usually respond is by asking what is the goal for your blog? Is it just to post information so that others will see it or are you trying to increase your business presence?
If it's to be found and create a better presence then the frequency of your posts is important. My suggestion is to be posting at least 3 times per week, this is an absolute minimum and truthfully 5 times is even better and 7 times is the best.


I post six days per week on thebuildingblox.com and 5 times per week here and I can tell you that it makes a big difference by continually producing new content that search engines can find and index. Of course I always hear that producing that much content would be too hard to which I totally agree.


To me that's the catch and when choices have to made. I can't make those for you but can tell you the results you can expect.


What's the your frequency?

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What is social media?

Recently someone stopped by the house to have a chat and after all the niceties said:
I looked you up on the internet. Actually I Googled- Todd Vendituoli- tons of things came up about all kinds of things. So what is it that you do?

Now I have no real idea why he Googled me but my response was:
I'm a blogger, builder and I do a lot of work in social media.

Him:
I know what a blogger is and what a builder does but what is social media and how do you do it?

Wow. That gave me pause as -how do you describe social media to someone that has no idea? After a pause I simply stated that the short version was that it was about being social, being real, marketing and PR and using things like Facebook, Twitter and other sites to communicate and engage with many other people.

He nodded, made a umm huh noise and we moved on to a new conversation.
But it got me thinking - How would you describe in a clear and meaning full way what social media is all about to someone that has no idea?

Care to leave me your take or what you would say if that came up?

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Look at the numbers

 I still see so much resistance to social media from so many people and brands but I can't understand why. What are they seeing that I'm not?  I"m looking at the numbers, I see the growth rates of these platforms even in a short span of a year but I must be missing something. After all these are companies that have marketing departments, teams, budgets and analysts. So I go through the figures below and read and think. What do they know that I'm missing?


Twitter from 2010:
"In fact, that 175 million number - let's compare it to last year. At the end of 2009, there were 58 million Twitter users. And at the time that sounded like a lot."
http://www.tgdaily.com/software-brief/52284-twitter-on-pace-to-reach200-million-users-by-2011

Twitter from 2012

Growth of Twitter

Facebook:

Some numbers from 2011

Now a look at 2012- one year later

Facebook in 2012, the number of members is 794,564,900 million. At the end of 2012, the number of members of facebook is estimated to approach with 900 million members.

Then it hits me! Maybe it's not me that's missing the point and numbers, It's them!

Social media is growing at a startling rate as you can see. Hopefully they will soon too because it will change how business is done and as we all know businesses that aren't current can't compete. If they can't compete, they don't make money and no money means, no more business.

Can you say:

I remember when we used to just place ads and walk away? Those were the days!

Key words:

Used to

Were

Both used when speaking of the past tense.

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The method of communication is new

To the best of my knowledge smoke signals were used to carry messages over long distances that wouldn't have been easily been traveled. This was probably one of the first uses of long distance communication.

Smoke signals

Next was the runner. Runners were sent over long distances to deliver messages and then return with answers. Information was moving along.

Messages by runners

As time went on and horses were domesticated and a person could travel a long distance. Boats were used to travel the oceans and lakes of the world. People were expanding the area and people that they could communicate with. The information was getting a varied look as new ideas and cultures mixed.

Genghis Kahn

Much time passed and we skip ahead to the telegraph that allowed for communication to spread quickly across even oceans. Quickly is the key here. This was followed by the wonderful invention of the telephone and now was coming onto the individual's use. People could instantly or almost instantly communicate with others that were a great distance away.

Now we'll skip along quickly. Next radio and  television comes on the scene bringing entertainment and  a new audience of people.

Family time television

Then comes a major or a series of major innovations- cells phones, the internet, personal computers, smart phones and now the world has become very small and instantly connected. 

In every step of the way the message has been to expand one's ability to communicate with others in better and faster ways. The ability to spread messages over great distances and almost instantly. 

Now enter Social Media.

Isn't it really just the same old thing that's been around for thousands of years but with a new name?

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Social media for small business

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Analytic's - Are you using them?

One of the things that you should be looking at is Google Analytic's. I look at this frequently to see what is happening on my blogs. This gives me various views of how everything is going. I can look at daily stats, weekly or monthly and see if I am making progress.

I can also see where people are coming from on the planet, how long they are spending on the site, whether they are referrals, or organic referrals and more.

All Traffic

Total Traffic

1,470 Visits 86%expected:637-827

Importance:

Go to Report

2,024 Pageviews 86%expected:951-1,162

Importance:

Go to Report

1,310 Visitors 92%expected:540-709

Importance:

Go to Report

All Traffic

Total Traffic

873 Pageviews 391%expected:173-207

Importance:

Go to Report

623 Visitors 454%expected:106-131

Importance:

Go to Report

652 Visits 416%expected:123-147

Importance:

Go to Report

I can also look and see what percentages are for new versus returning visitors- ie am I still attracting new people.

78.57%New Visitor3,548 Visits 21.43%Returning Visitor968 Visits Also with Google's New Social section you can see what social network is helping you progress or is a waste of time and no one I know has too much time to waste. Put your posts where they will be seen by your audience. If you aren't yet using some type of analytic tools to see how your blog is doing you really should be.  If you use Twitter as I believe you should be also  trying out  http://www.socialbro.com/ There's some great information you can use here such as when is the best time to tweet based on your followers. I'll assume that you also use Facebook and if you have a business page are you looking at your "insights"? You will be able to see a great deal about how you are doing, what your reach is,what the engagement level is and more which can help you in your posting. I must admit that learning to use these analytic tools takes time but you need to be able to use every tool possible to evaluate how you are doing. Constant learning is a key component to using socialmedia to its best advantage and using analytic's can help.

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Some get it, some don't.

Some people and businesses get social media and some don't and probably never will. Now I'm not saying that I am 100% right here but if you are using social media and still insisting on controlling every single aspect of the message, how its delivered, when, the wording, posting..... Just place your ad in a magazine or newspaper as you've done before.
Let's not pretend you're all into social media ok? Truth is you're not.

You haven't taken the time to learn and understand that social media is about many things such as building reputation and relationships. It's about being the real you and telling a story. People want to feel an attachment to a business or a person but that has to be on a personal level. Blasting or just placing your message/ad and expecting results to come is sheer foolishness. It won't happen. Not through using social media anyway. The result you'll get is that people will ignore you and that's probably not what you were after when you started.

Social media takes time, effort and knowledge to work correctly. It is a tool for being social and for businesses to show their human side.

My advice to you is to study those people and businesses that are being successful using social media. What are they doing? How do they do it? Why is it working for them? Ask, question and hopefully learn but don't put your pages up on Facebook, through a few Tweets out here and there and wonder why this isn't working. Truth be told if that's how you plan on pursuing social media- Delete it all. It will hurt you more than help.

Some get it, some don't. Where are you?

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Develop your own blogging style- 10 tips

As I've mentioned before, one of the best things you can do is start a blog. It is also one of the hardest things for many to keep up with. If you've started one here is some advice.

• Develop you own style of writing. Don't try to copy someone else as it needs to become your own voice and personality.

• As you write more frequently it tends to get easier and easier.

• Write about what you truly know and feel strongly about. It's hard to write if you don't have a passion for the topic.

• Who is your audience? This is a big one to decide before you get started.

• Write for your audience. Are they looking for information, product reviews, DIY tips or other topics? 

• Write and post consistently. How would you like it if your local newspaper was published randomly?  This week on Thursday, then two weeks pass and it's Monday, then... You get the idea.

• Mix in a personal post here and there. Let your reader's know YOU.

• Relax and just let your thoughts flow out. Read it over make changes but it will be coming from the real you.

• Just be you.

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"How I Use Social Media to Promote My Blogs"

A very informative video from Darren Rowse.

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Shift to Social Commerce

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Testing-1,2,3

Using social media is a constant learning experience. I am forever testing to see what gets seen and heard and where it is the best viewed. Does a new platform have any potential? What days are best to post certain topics or when is the best time to use Twitter or FaceBook so that my audience sees what I am posting?
Here's a service I also use:
www.socialbro.com that shows me all kinds of information about my twitter feed

Everyday is a matter of testing almost every single aspect to try to obtain the best results. Are posts with pictures only any good? For me that is a "yes" but it's on Sunday. I look at how videos and other visual posts are received as well. Are posts of a certain length or topic better than others? Why or why not?

It is a constant process of trying different posts and platforms, evaluating and trying again to obtain the results I am looking for. Take nothing for granted either, as what works one week may be useless the next.

So as you move forward with your social media outreach, never be content. Experiment and see what the results are for you. Evaluate and keep trying.

Here's some of the platforms I use:

Facebook-      https://www.facebook.com/todd.vendituoli
Twitter-          https://twitter.com/#!/TALV58
Google+-        http://www.glpl.us/Buildingblox
StumbleUpon   http://www.stumbleupon.com
Tumblr-          https://www.tumblr.com
Pinterest-       http://pinterest.com/
Hootsuite-      http://houtesuite.com
LinkedIn-       http://www.linkedin.com/
You Tube-     http://www.youtube.com/user/talv58?feature=mhee
Blogger
Reddit-          http://www.reddit.com

Also remember that what works for me may not work for you. It will greatly be determined by your audience. Posting on the wrong platforms at the wrong times will not get you very far.

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Being the same IRL- In Real Life

Recently I've had the pleasure of meeting friends that I have meet through social media in real life- IRL and its been great. These people have been exactly as I had imagined and the reason is simple. They talk and act the same way on their social media platforms as they are in the real world. Hopefully they felt the same about me.

This is an important fact for those of you starting out and it doesn't matter if you only represent a business or you are the business. Be the real you because at some point in time you will meet others in the real world and it will be like old friends that just haven't seen each other in a while, not total strangers. Someday you will meet and if you haven't put out the real you, then it's going to be really hard to fake it in real life.

Yup that's me.

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Blogging and Twitter- A winning combination

If you haven't started your blog yet I strongly suggest that you do and here's why. Having a blog for your business is the first step for you to create a presence on line. If you were to only post comments and such on Twitter or Facebook it really doesn't get you much of an audience. However if you write valuable content that is informative to your audience and provides useful information you have a major piece to promote through your social media channels.

I started my blog about the same time as I started to really use Twitter. These two platforms are key to making your presence known. Earlier I had experimented with a blog but I didn't fully use Twitter and it went no where. I read it and a very few other people. I had done it as an experiment to see what would happen and found out - nothing happened. Once I started the blog http://www.thebuildingblox.com/ I knew I had to go a different route with promoting it so that others would see it. That's also when I started to ramp up my Twitter usage.

Twitter and blogging

Try to keep your blog focused on your main view but also add some personal pieces here and there. That lets people know the real you or what your employees lives are like, or......... It just adds a personal part that is really needed to humanize who you are and what you do. People like people and are looking for that human connection.  By humanizing your business or brand, people will be more than willing to have a look.

Searching on Twitter

So you're producing great content but no one is seeing it and so enters Twitter. Start to search out others that you feel may be part of your field or have interest in what you do. Just type the Twitter search box and view the results such as #construction or whatever field of business you are in. Now look at who has posted. Are there any people or brands that you find interesting? If there are, follow them. Some will follow you back, some won't but its a start and this is how to get going on Twitter. It is slow but it will build over time and as your following grows so will your blog audience.

It all takes time and consistency in your approach for your blog and Twitter but it will happen. The combination is a sure fire win.

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