Next Friday I’m teaching social media content strategy in California – the event is the 4th Annual AABC Birth Institute for midwives, physicians, nurses, doulas, chiropractors, childbirth educators, birth center and hospital administrators, and advocates for change.

It’s a privilege to attend the conference next week, especially in light of the changes taking place right here in Minnesota. Earlier this year, Minnesota joined 30 other states that allow for free-standing birth centers ["Birthing a new option, Star Tribune, May 24, 2010"] like the new Morning Star Women’s Health and Birth Center in St. Louis Park.

It’ll be interesting to see how a group that advocates for change responds to and engages with the unlimited possibilities of social media — especially for those who take the lessons back to Minnesota, where winds of change have just picked up.

Look out, Rribbitz is heading to California! We’re going to have some fun!

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’m addicted to the real-time web site analytics of Clicky. So crazy addicted I use it to monitor traffic on my own site as well as the sites of eight clients. And honestly? I’m just not that into GA.

Why I love Clicky as a business tool
A lot of the time, clients hire me to write new copy or optimize the existing copy on their web sites. After that, we add PR and social media into the mix so they can better engage with their customers and start getting their stories out in the market.

#1: Clicky keeps me accountable. With Clicky analytics, I monitor the effectiveness of the search optimized copy and meta data: are the selected keyword phrases pulling in the traffic we wanted? Have we reduced the bounce rate of the site, are we increasing traffic and extending the average time of a site visit? I let my clients know that we have to watch the results for a good 3-6 months before we can confidently analyze the trends we see.

#2: Clicky tells me what social media is accomplishing for us – on a day-to-day basis. By then, my work for the client has expanded to social media and pr. My goal is to help my clients build robust, relevant and interesting content into their websites – so when we integrate Facebook and Twitter, we have a reason to direct people back to the client’s web site. Of course, at the same time,  I’m teaching my clients how to have meaningful conversations on social media — how to talk like a real human being instead of a robot, and how to create connections with people, not just “target markets”.

#3: Clicky satisfies my pathological need for information NOW. Which is where Clicky analytics get really interesting. Because I don’t like to wait for results. And when I use social media on behalf of a client, I can watch the dots light up the screen – using the Spy App (image from appstorm.com):

The Spyy App tells me how many visitors are on a site, how they got there, what page they’re on (right now), what pages they’ve already been on, and a LOT of other behind-the-scenes details – like IP address and geographic location. The tab in my browser always displays the # of visitors on my site – so I can keep my eye on it while working in other windows.

And now, why I love Clicky – the full confession.
I’m watching. I mean, really watching. When you visit my clients’ sites – and when you’re on mine. Last week I took it a little further.

First confession: I took advantage of the GAP Groupon frenzy to post a two-part series about my own Groupon experience. [guilty]

Second confession: As I was watching the traffic to my site, I noticed an IP address from “State of Minnesota”. I’d seen “State of Minnesota” on my site before, and I’m not a shy girl. And I like new business as much as the next person…. so I tried something.

My Twitter widget is viewable from any page on my web site, so I posted:

“State of Minnesota” turned out to be the director of media and pr for a client that I did work for….. way back in the agency days. And she took me up on my offer:

I won’t tell you the rest of our conversation – a girl has to have some boundaries. And ok, I’m not always sitting here watching my site traffic — a girl’s got to eat and write marketing strategies, too. But like I said earlier, I’m pathologically driven to justify myself (kinda like Madonna and her love). This makes it easy – and fun.

Don’t forget: If you want a lesson in being a Clicky Creepster, or how you can use it to monitor real-time social media results, let’s connect. Or tell me your own confessions about analytics: I love  to hear ‘em.

and now, the conclusion of Adventures in Social Shopping:

When Groupon Goes Ballistic.

In part I, I outlined all the things that worked really well when I escorted a client through the land of social shopping. And now, in all fairness, I should highlight the things that could have run a little better. I’ll attempt to do it in the kindest way possible (for myself, that is).

Prepare early. The day before our Groupon Deal, the Groupon rep sent us a nice little list of suggestions on how to prepare for the day. Like, increase staff. Expect more traffic. How to train employees to redeem Groupons. Honestly? Could have used this information at least a week in advance. 24 hours notice was barely time for us to prepare for what was coming, let alone implement some of the helpful advice we got.

* What I should have done: I should have talked to more people and companies about their Groupon experience, to get their first-person insights. Is there another way I could have gotten the tip sheet from Groupon a little earlier? I don’t know. If you do, please share.

Check-in with your client. About EVERYTHING. I thought I had all of our bases covered, but I didn’t realize my client was closing up the retail location during our 90 minute appearance in downtown Minneapolis. Had I asked about that, I would have made sure we had someone on duty for that brief time. How could we have known that ONE SINGLE person would stop by with a Groupon – early in the day – and leave in a huff? Ugh. A mistake not to be repeated.

* What I should have done: Pushed aside the notion that it would be stupid to ask, “Who’s manning the shop?” Because it was my job to think of everything.

Be on the lookout. Groupon can be an exciting, happy day for a client. But we still had a few people who took advantage of my client by using multiple copies of the same Groupon. We were in such a state of frenzy that we didn’t notice until it was too late — and yes, we’d been duped by a customer.

* What I should have done: I should have been more familiar with Groupon and readily checking the unique codes on each one – rather than blindly smiling and checking people off the list. But I am happy to say that our Groupon rep was very helpful and readily refunded my client for each fake Groupon that had been cashed in. Now that’s great follow-up service.

And finally:

Don’t have an emergency root canal the day before your client’s Groupon. There I was, one hour into a root canal with my face swollen to all hell. Reeling. I got an email and a phone call from the Groupon rep – because of a glitch, we had to re-do the terms. It was less than 14 hours before the promotion, I was bleeding all over my own face, and I had to perform re-negotiations between an adamant Groupon rep and a very unhappy client.

* What I should have done: Had I not been in the root canal chair, I would have fought harder. I might even had advised my client to walk away — we didn’t need Groupon to pull off our event. That’s absolutely how I feel about it today. But I wasn’t in a state to fight hard, let alone fight at all.

When the root canal was over, I postponed pain medication until I had made enough phone calls and emails to result in a content Groupon rep and a fairly content client.

And then I took two Vicodin, fell into bed, and prepared for the big event to launch at midnight.

I’d say it still went rather well — wouldn’t you?

(missed Part I? No prob – read it here.) (oh, if you want to write a similar success story for your own company – minus the minor issues, DEFINITELY minus the root canal — let’s connect!)

aka: The day my client wanted to kick me in the head….. for all sorts of reasons.

In case you haven’t noticed, Groupon® is breaking the web today. People are raving about the Gap’s Groupon strategy (I agree, it’s great timing with back to school) and simultaneously complaining about the monstrous case of online hiccups.

But since I’ve got your attention, it seems like the perfect time to share the lessons I learned when I sent one of my own clients down the mystical magical path of…. SOCIAL SHOPPING.

What worked for us.

Early research. After a few months of going back and forth with Groupon about details and logistics, we didn’t seem any closer to actually getting it on the calendar. So I got creative and found an obscure holiday that related to my client’s business. Then I sketched up some promotional ideas and dashed an email to my Groupon contact: “Hey! Here’s the perfect day for our Groupon – can we have it?”

Creative thinking. When I sent the email to Groupon requesting our “day”, I also let them in on some secrets: we were already working with a local radio station to promote the obscure holiday, coordinating free samples in downtown Minneapolis over the lunch hour, and planning a separate “party” at the retail location. They were hard-pressed to say no to us, seeing that we already had a strong promotion plan of our own.

Utilizing relationships. Having written and placed radio spots for my client, I had an advocate at the station. So when I was mulling over execution, I contacted her to share my ideas and said, “What else can you put together for us?” With that, I had an entry point for the short flight radio campaign and the appearance in downtown Minneapolis. Because I asked for it. And she also made it easy for me to create two versions of our radio ad – one that ran before the event, and another written specifically for day-of.

Social power. I knew I’d be working on-site all day to manage logistics, live promotions on social media, and anything else my client needed. But then I remembered we also had a pool of local, enthusiastic fans on Twitter: so we pitted them against each other for the chance to be official event reporters, in exchange for fancy badges and free product. It enabled me to do more in the background, and gave my client a chance to interact more closely with her fans.

Smart PR. I’ll admit it, PitchEngine is my favorite way to create and share news with the media.  If you use the free account, your pitch is active for only 30 days – but that doesn’t mean you can’t change the content during that time. I published a teaser release three weeks before the event, and alluded to the Groupon promotion (we weren’t allowed to publish specifics until the day of). On the day of the event, I edited the release to reflect real-time details and the specific Groupon promotion.

So, how did it go?
• The press release had nearly 1000 views in its 30-day run.
• With Groupon, my client gained 709 new customers in one day.
• At the downtown event, we handed out samples and coupons to nearly 150 people.
• Instead of one official Twitter fan reporting on the event, we had three. Two of them even created a Facebook page for their personal campaigns. And each of them lent unique voice, video and photography to the event.
• At the retail location, nearly 100 customers visited to redeem Groupons, try more samples, and make additional purchases. And we actually ran out of some products.
• Web site traffic spiked 1000% on that single day, with a bounce rate of 13%, and visitors spending an average of 4-1/2 minutes on the site.

I know what you’re thinking…. AMAZEBALLS!

But that’s not all. Stay tuned for the conclusion of this story from Adventures in Social Shopping:

When Groupon Goes Ballistic.

aka: How to sell yourself short and screw all hope of proving your real value.

As promised, I said I’d share some of the lessons I learned in launching Rribbitz. For this first installment, let’s look at one of the “brilliant” ideas I had when it came to getting new business. Go ahead, judge me. That’s what I’m here for. But even more… post your own questions, comments, and lessons — we’ll all be better for it in the long run.

Brilliant idea:
Offering my services at fire-sale prices for an introductory period. The goal? To convince a reluctant client of my amazing value and eventually sign them on at the full rate.

[BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO]

The reality of my brilliant idea:
Nice try, self. I ended up giving my services away when I could have been chasing down paying work. And the worst part? I soon realized that paying clients came first when it came to allocating my talents and energy for the day — and that reduced-rate client I was trying so hard to impress? Really wasn’t getting the best of my talent or attention in the long run. So ultimately, I shot myself in the foot. Twice.

Lessons from the brilliant idea:
If you sell yourself short, you’ll pay for it one way or another. By losing money, delivering a lesser product or service, and by showing the client that you’re happy to be a bargain. Let’s hear that [BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO] again.

Go for what you’re worth – and when you find a client who enthusiastically agrees with you, the motivation to keep that client happy and do your best work will feed your soul, your business, and the end result.

Without making you feel like you sacrificed something to get there.

NEXT LESSON:
When a client wants to break up with you….
what it really means. And how to use the experience as another springboard.

For a while now, I’ve considered baring my soul and sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned in small business – specifically, areas where I believe my client service has fallen short due to my own ignorance or random circumstances.

Is it risky to share my weaknesses? I guess. But I also know with each stumble, I hone my ability to identify bumps in the road ahead.

Rribbitz is approximately 14 months old now. And believe me, I’ve learned some lessons. More recently, when I allude to them in conversations people ask for details. So I finally decided why the hell not — if you can learn from my mistakes, maybe we’ll both be better partners for our clients in the end.

These are in no particular order, but depending on your feedback, what you want to know, and what I can share while respecting my client’s privacy – I’ll put it all out there. Well, most of it.

What do you want to hear about first?

Groupon / Living Social / and other adventures in social shopping:
The day my client wanted to kick me in the head….. for all sorts of reasons.

Lessons in new business:
How to sell yourself short and screw all hope of proving your real value.

When a client wants to break up with you:
What it really means. And how to use the experience as another springboard.

Interested? Let me know in the comments…. before I get cold feet

Hi – can I talk to you for a second?

What are you waiting for—

A pat on the back?

Your full salary to be reinstated?

Another contribution to your 401K?

Someone to recognize how LONG you’ve worked for the company and how much you’ve sacrificed for it?

You’re a team player.

You’ll go down with the ship, if you have to.

Because you’re loyal, and loyalty is rewarded.

You’ll stick it out.

You’ve put in years of blood, sweat and tears.

You can’t leave now. You can’t take a risk. You can’t jeopardize your future, your mortgage, your kid’s education.

The company knows how hard you work. They’ll reward you. You just know it. And you’re lucky to even have a job! Right?

Right?

Let me ask you something – is that what life is for? Are you really living? Or are you trapped?

Because if the answer is trapped, then I want to tell you something: You are not trapped, and you hold the key to freeing yourself. It is within you.

If you’ve been waiting for a raise, a reinstatement, a promotion, recognition, or just some hint about where your career is taking you — then GO ASK FOR IT.

And if the answer is no – then go find it somewhere else. Why? Because you can.

And also — because you deserve it. Life is waiting for you, and so is happiness and peace and contentment. Your job can bring you joy.

If you need more, talk to me on Twitter. Send me an email. I’m on a mission to help people set themselves free.

Because life is too short to spend your time…..

waiting.

What happens when I’m meeting with a client in his office and email him a document at the same time? Hilarity.

Thanks. I am really busy right now. I have some woman that will not leave my office.
I will read this and get back to you.
J

No respect, I’m telling you.

Do you want to listen?

Find something that makes you this happy [Google "Double Rainbow Guy"], and you will be an inspiration to others.

The Double Rainbow Connection (Remix) by gdelahaye