Storm Dawg Marketing

Ok people… this is HUGE!
( &  yes I still owe you all a review of the Twitter tools…it’s coming…until I get you mine…check out this great video review of Hootesuite and some other complementary Twitter tools done by G4

Very recently (a week ago) my father a restaurateur who is almost 70 asked me to help him set up a Twitter and Facebook for his business.  I was totally floored.  First and foremost because, well this is my dad we are talking about.  He doesn’t usually ask me for advice.  Like EVER.

He is one of my mentors when it comes to all things small business, including the marketing of small businesses.  I usually bounce ideas off of him to get his feedback.  Though most of his feedback finds me disagreeable (sorry Dad) …it’s really his experience that I am looking for and learning from.

He doesn’t really know what I do for work…I actually don’t even think that he knows that I write for a Blog.  For the expressed reason that he will tell all of my relatives and they will all leave comments on my posts like “Good job honey,” and “Can’t wait to see you at Sunday Dinner.”  It’s not Facebook… I don’t invite them here. Sheesh!

So for all of you who said “of course he would ask you about Twitter; you write about it and use it”.  You would be wrong.  He has no idea.  And with my dad I’ve learned not to offer suggestions.  It’s better to wait until my opinion is asked.  And boy was it ever!  So here is my chance to explain to my dad “this is how you can use Twitter for your business.”

So I asked him 3 Things:

1.  Why do you want to be on Twitter?

2.  What do you want to get from Twitter?  (New customers, return business, to connect with your clientele…what?)

3.  How are you going to measure the effectiveness this has on your business.  (Site traffic, foot traffic…what?)

I was surprised by what my dad said, though looking back I don’t know why….

His Answers:

1.  Well I know that by being on things like Twitter and Facebook I can improve my natural search rankings.  (How does my dad know this?)  I can reach my customers in their homes and on their phones with little cost besides “sweat equity” on my part.  (Jeez he is freaking amazing me here!)  Is this the cool new thing?  I thought I was ahead of the curve.  (That you are Dad…that you are…but not that far ahead, so we’ve got to move QUICK!)

2. I want new business.  (Totally saw that one coming!)

3.  Well measuring foot traffic is never really something I’ve done…  Site traffic is something I will for sure measure.  But my measurement will be in increased revenue.  (HMM…well ok….but how will you know what is driving this since I know you are doing other marketing?  Of course I didn’t ask him that!)

With his first answer surprising me…the other two are for the most part what I expect any other businessman to want from their social media efforts.  After all, business owners aren’t doing this for the “fun” of it.  They’re there to make money.

To Be Continued…..
For the suggestions I gave my dad please check out my next post.

Thanks
Christina Kudym

Yes, social media can be time consuming but it’s worth it. Like anything worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And to do it well, it may take you a little time.  Thinking of not investing the time?  Ask yourself this:  Can I afford not to invest the time?  I know, “Time is money”…trust me, I know!  Let me explain why I think you should invest your time.

Unless you are a huge brand like Coke that had a “fan” create their Facebook fan page for them - imagine that…their customers taking the time to do their social marketing for them…and people talking all day about how they love their product…whoa – you will need to devote some time to figuring out a social media strategy.

Maybe you’ll start with a Facebook ad or Fanpage…Maybe a Twitter account…maybe all three.  Whatever you do, have a “game plan.” Look around and see what other businesses like yours are doing. I’m not saying you should copy them, but you can certainly learn from them.  Play around with Tweetdeck,  Seesmic,  HootSuite and other free services that help you organize your online presence and engagements.  Find the one that suits your needs and makes sense for your business.

Think your customers aren’t talking about you online?

Think again! Not only are they talking about you, they’re also sharing their opinions with their friends, relatives and total strangers.  Can you afford not to listen to what they are saying? Wouldn’t you like to be able to thank the people saying nice things about you…and have an opportunity to turn an unhappy customer into a happy one?

More and more small businesses are running targeted ads on Facebook, developing fan pages and keeping customers happy on Twitter. Why? Because that is where their customers are!  So that is where you need to be.  Not should be…NEED to be.  Did you know that Comcast, Southwest Airlines, QWEST and Verizon all use Twitter for customer service?

Here is a great article that gives you seven cases of businesses using Twitter to service customers.

Engagement is key. As most of you know, when you make a connection with a customer, they’ll keep coming back to your store.  They come in because they like something about you or your store.  They will tell you by their reactions to your small talk or smile what level or type of engagement they want.

What people who use SMS (Social Media Sites) are telling us/you is they want to engage on these sites and expect to be engaged with before they make a purchase.  Here is another great article that will give you some insight into how small businesses are using social media to compete with large brands.

There is a new breed of consumer coming…really they are already here.  If you don’t understand where they are coming from, you aren’t going to know where to look for them,  and more importantly, how to sell to them.

So…do you have time for social media?

Next week I will give you my thoughts on a few of the free tools I mentioned today -  Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and Seesmic for starters.

If you have any questions on anything you see here, just leave a comment on this post…I will be glad to help you out.

Until next week,
Christina Kudym

Every small business knows that Facebook is the most popular social networking site on the planet. Every SMART small business knows that if they’re not on Facebook yet, they’re missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with customers and grow their business.

What small business owners may NOT know is that they need to get started RIGHT NOW.

Ireland’s LaCucina Limerick has a simple recipe for success that any small business can replicate to get their business on Facebook TODAY and start seeing results TOMORROW! The Simply Zesty blog featured them because they were able to use Facebook to:

• Connect with 2,000 people, the majority of which were local and their best prospective customers
• Ask questions, post pictures, and p interact with her customers and prospects (a simple status update of “Pineapple on pizza?” got more than 60 comments)
• Leverage the popularity of restaurant frequenters, such as the Munster rugby team, by posting stories and pictures and helping the team’s fans become their own
• And have fun with their products with a great give-away – “Tag the Pizza” (they post a picture of their pizza, ask fans to “tag” themselves in the photo for a chance at a freebie, spreading pictures of their food throughout their fans’ friends)
• (Click here to learn more about how they’re using Facebook.)

You cannot afford to wait any longer for success like this. If you don’t get your business on Facebook RIGHT NOW, then your customers won’t be talking about your business at all…or worse…they’ll be talking with your competitors.

Click here to get your business on Facebook RIGHT NOW. Then, leave us a comment below with your business’s name and a link to your page. (We want to become your fan, too! )

Does your business already have a page on Facebook? Leave us a link as a comment below and share your success!

We’ll follow up next week with some great tips on what to do with your page, and who knows…we might just feature YOUR BUSINESS!

Bryan D. Jennewein

All right guys, before I get started let me just say that I was a total Twitter “non-believer”  just a few short months ago.  However, being the competitive type and hating to be out of the “know” on anything,  I decided to give it a whirl. 

Side Note:  I do also see the inherant value and benefits of multichannel marketing…and you can never rule something out for your business unless you try it yourself right?  Right!

So I signed up April 3, 2009…easy.

Then I started trying to find people I knew on Twitter to follow/friend whatever…it’s all the same right?  I used to think so.  Well let me tell you, that was not so easy.  I didn’t really know many people on the site and Twitter wasn’t anything like Facebook.  Also, people were saying weird things and speaking in this annoying Twitter language.  Tweeps and Tweets, # & @ signs flying all over the place.  I didn’t get it. I was busy and didn’t have time to learn a new language (so I thought), so I abandoned the site for a few months.

In August I took a new job as the Social Media Coordinator for Infogroup and decided that I really didn’t do my due diligence with Twitter.  So I gave it another go. 

Fast forward to present day… I LOVE Twitter.  I use it to ask questions and see what people who I “follow” are up to.  You can follow what anyone says…  seriously…you can watch the CEO of Kodak tweet about his love of peanut butter.  What’s that?  You like peanut butter too?  Well, what do you know…you have something in common with him.  Tweet @ him.  You might get a response.  (Totally an example – I have no idea if the CEO of Kodak likes peanut butter…guess I could tweet at him and ask.)  

Twitter is chock-full of interesting people.  They share events, new product releases, and anything fun and exciting going on in their industry.

I also use Twitter for work purposes.  (Well of course! ) I watch for brand mentions, customer complaints and competitor news.  Yes…you too can do this.  It’s simple and best of all, it’s FREE! 

So back to my original question.  Why should you use Twitter? 

1.  It will get you in direct contact with people just like you to ask questions and share ideas.

2.  It will get you in direct contact with your customers! 

3.  You can see mentions by customers or prospects of your brand or company name, services and products.  And you can respond immediately!

3.  Use shrunken URLs to track interest in what you are saying and doing.  Again FREE.  Don’t know what a “shrunken URL is? 

Check this out http://bit.ly/pages/about/

4.  Build a network of Tweeps – yes Tweeps – who will stick by you and help you reach your goals. 

Twitter…Try it!

Follow me @ChristinaKudym

Good morning, everyone!  I am working from home today due to some extreme weather conditions.  Anyone else out there working from home today?  One thing I noticed about working from home is how much coffee one can consume when working but a few feet from the coffee pot.  Seven cups and counting, folks.

Today’s caffeine-enhanced post is about this blog being rebranded. Yay!  I’ve been talking about branding over the last month, and now most of you probably know why. 

If you don’t, let me enlighten you.  Infogroup – our company/mothership – has rebranded.  We are now showing our united front to the world.  Yep…we’re global…so watch out world, and watch this really great video all about it. 

Since we are now showing a unified front through our product and service offerings, logos and branding, we will also be giving StormDawg a new look and feel.  The new look and feel will be one that represents our entire organization and all of our customers’ interests.  We are going to be launching this sometime in January so keep your eyes open.  We think you will really really like it! 

Although I cannot give you too many details, I will say that the new blog will be in one word…AWESOME!  We have been working with the design firm Dizzain on the new look for the blog.  They have been great and are a talented crew.  Thanks, guys – we can’t wait to see what you’ve cooked up!!

Meanwhile, Bryan and I have been gathering research like mad to put together some great content.  What we want to do is create a place that you will want to stop in every day for your daily dose of humor, sales and marketing tips…and well, I can’t give it all away.  You will have to stay tuned! 

In the meantime, stay warm!

Christina Kudym

ABC News reported in their article, “Neb. Small-Business Owners Say They Get No Help,” that Small business owners gathered in Omaha Tuesday to discuss what they feel is a lack of help from government stimulus programs and banks. Some of the business owners interviewed recount tales of home foreclosures, lending struggles and land devaluations – all things that significantly impact the small businesses that Omaha representative Lee Terry describes as the backbone of the U.S. economy.

If this article (and the 50 small business owners that gathered in Omaha) indicates anything, it’s that the recession is far from over, small businesses are STILL struggling, and many are having difficulty finding the help they “need.”  … or was it “want?”

We blogged a while back about a few great resources for small business: The SBA, SCORE, local banks to name a few. Now it’s not always easy… handouts (bailouts?) are easy. These are more like hand-ups. Our free marketing contest has even helped-up a few hundred small businesses drum up new customers and breath life into some marketing practices. (For those of you waiting to enter again… February we’re opening the contest back up, and it’s going to be BETTER THAN EVER!)

With all of the cries of small businesses these days, I’m reminded of a saying from another one of our blog authors, Christina Kudym: “Mom said no… … … Da-a-a-a-d!!!”  (She’s hilarious; follow her on Twitter @ChristinaKudym.)

With all the “bail outs” going on for larger industries, are we losing site of our own responsibilities? Do we “need” help or “want” help? Or to say it differently, are we just whining too much? Is there an opportunity to take even more pride from owning a business if you can steer it successfully with whatever resources are made available to you?

Or… does the government have a responsibility to the backbone of the U.S. economy to step in and help when times get tough?

Or further still… is there a risk to the greater economy without greater intervention?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this evolving discussion.

Bryan D. Jennewein

In my last story I told you about how my parents successfully rebranded their business.  It worked for them…but would it work for you?

To continue my short series on small businesses and rebranding, I wanted to talk about some reasons for rebranding,  and about why rebranding might not always be a good idea. 

There are a few reasons that would have you deciding to change how you are seen by the public.  One reason is that some businesses want to be classified differently so they are seen in different sections of the Yellow Pages or Yellow Pages look-up and search services. 

For Example: Exterminators vs Pest Control vs Pest Management Services.  You would think these are pretty much the same thing, but each title/classification gets searched for differently and with more or less frequency than the other.  By changing your name to the title/classification that gets searched or looked up more often, you are increasing your chances of being noticed.

Another reason to change might be that your business is expanding its products or services.  Offering more is always a good way to get more customers and to keep existing ones.  But unless you are changing your name to reflect those additional products or services, what is the point?

Another reason for a name change might be that your company has been sold.  Here’s a little story about that… 

A friend of mine works at a company that had a well-known brand and a good service to offer.  At the beginning of the year another company took note of their “reputation” and “offerings” and decided to acquire her company and roll their service and products into their suite of offerings. 

Apparently, that created quite a good combination because within 4 months of the initial purchase, that company was sold and she again had to email us her new contact info.  

Her signature line on her email to me last week read: 

Friends Name
at Blank Company (previously Blank Company & Blank Company)

Ha!  Seriously??  Obviously, there is value in the previous company names if you are still using it in your corporate signature line…so why change the name?  Letting acquisitions operate under their own name is not a bad idea if they have a strong brand. 

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why you would change it…but don’t advertise your identity crisis in your email signature on outward communications.  I wonder if any of her customers have moved on because they feel there is a lack of stability in the company?  Would you? 

Have a fantastic New Year!
Check in next week for the next installment in my rebranding series! 

Christina Kudym

Have you been thinking about starting your own business or going out on your own? Very soon (in two days in fact) it will be a new year… is this the year for a new you or your new business?

The AMEX Open Forum featured a fantastic article about seven truths everyone should know before going out on their own. Check out the article here: “Don’t Quit Your Cozy Corporate Job and Go Out on Your Own Until You Master These Seven Truths.”

One in particular struck me as a really good piece of advice:

Focus is the solitary suggestor of success. Spraying is the enemy. Focus is mobilizing. Therefore: Take your index finger, cover up the tip of the hose, and shoot out a frozen rope of focused effort. Otherwise you’ll spread yourself too thin, the result of which will be a diffusion of energy investment. This is not good. Your challenge is to constantly ask yourself questions like: “Is what I’m doing RIGHT NOW consistent with my #1 goal?” and “What consuming my time but doesn’t make me any money?” Remember: William James was right when he said, “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” How much time are you spending on things that diffuse your focus and hamper your goals?

What do YOU think makes great advice for anyone going out on their own?

Bryan D. Jennewein

Ever feel like there’s just too much to do? If you’re a small-business owner or entrepreneur, you’re answer is almost always “Yes.” In fact, you’re probably exclaiming, “Yes! Yes! All the time!”

Want a solution for calming the chaos? I came across a great article in the AMEX Open Forum website by the Behance Team titled, “5 Ways to Reduce Anxiety in 2010,” and I just knew these would be tips you’d love.

Check out the article here: http://bit.ly/5W1qFJ

The five tips were surprisingly simple:

1. Avoid reactionary workflow
2. Reduce your insecurity at work
3. Worry only about problems within your circle of influence
4. Practice saying “no”
5. Eat (I LOVE this tip!!)

Now… does anyone have any tips for DOING these things?

Bryan D. Jennewein

 As a business, you always try to make your mark…to be known for something.  Whether it be through great signage/logo, a signature product, a service or a catchy slogan, people always know you for something.

Here is a personal and humorous story about one small business that rebranded itself successfully.

To start, let me explain that my parents have been in the restaurant business for over 40 years.  Thus, my passion for all thing small business, especially ways to help the small business.  Small-business owners work hard…they deserve all the help they can get!  My parents’ first restaurant was a partnership with a few of  their friends.  It was a diner that served homestyle comfort food in large portions. (Just thinking of it brings back memories…and makes me a little hungry!) 

After a few years of running the business with his partners, my father wasn’t liking the direction things were headed and decided to buy his partners out.  Luckily for him, they had all realized that owning a restaurant was quite a bit of work (ya think?) and they didn’t want to do it anymore.  Needless to say he got a great deal in buying them out. 

One big hurdle he saw that first month was a name change, you see the largest partner, who started the business, had used his own name for the name of the restaurant.  With him out of the picture and with a lack of resources, my dad was faced with a dilemma: Keep the name and continue, or change the name and go into even more debt. 

The restaurant was known for good food, great service, and a clean and well-run establishment.  So he worried, ”If I change the name, will customers and prospective customers think ‘everything’ is changed and effectively wipe my slate clean?  Or will people not even pay attention and come in to see the ‘new’ place?”

Well, my dad made decisions about the staff and menu and added things here and there, but the name of the business kept looming over his head.  His ex- partner was pushing for a change and wanted to charge my father for using his name.  You see, when my father made his little tweaks business picked up.   Apparently, making the breakfast menu available “all day” and adding a salad bar were KILLER busines moves in the 80’s. :)   Well, the partners were none to happy about this and wanted additional $. 

To squash this effort and avoid any legal battles, my father decided to change the name of the business.  Being the funny guy that he is, he took one letter off of their sign – changing the name of his business from LAMPE’s to AMPE’s.  The business flourished.  And for as long as I can remember, everyone thought our last name was Ampe.  So not only did my father rebrand a business, he also rebranded our family. 

My parents recently purchased another established business named Sam’s…I wonder how long before everyone thinks his name is Sam.

Until next time,
Christina Kudym