Tami Ross | Monday Marketing Motivation Blog | Social Media Manager | Accountability Partner | Mixed Media Artist

Work From Home Success

Tami — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:54:31 +0000

Working from home changed my life by opening up the possibility of location independence. I love that I can work from anywhere and that I’ve spent most of the last 5 1/2 years within arms reach of my child. It’s been challenging and rewarding. I’ve learned to be disciplined and flexible. To believe that there is always a solution and to design a life that truly puts our family first.

But times they are a changing…

In a few weeks our little girl starts kindergarten and my ‘working from the road’ days will find a structure dictated by the public education system. I have to admit, this is something I’ve been psyching myself up for over the last few months and contemplated home schooling for a few days as a way to maintain my freedom of working from anywhere. But change is good and our social butterfly is going to enjoy a structured classroom.

In preparation for her big day and a little more location dependent lifestyle I’ve decided to go back to school too. I’m excited and nervous and interested to see how I do getting up and out of my pj’s in time for class.

In anticipation of a busy year I will be less active on my marketing blog, but I plan to post updates about my back to school adventures on my personal blog. As always, if you have any questions about working from home or need help with your social media marketing please do not hesitate to contact me.

In the meantime, check out my favorite location independence blog. Peter and Betsy are living the life and sharing the journey!

Need help with your Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

Monday Marketing Motivation And Land On The First Page With A Google Website

Tami — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:30:51 +0000

One thing I often talk about is being found during online searches. Forget trying to figure out the algorithms and the search engine optimization (SEO) tricks. It eventually all comes down to fantastic, original content AND using the tools already available to us.

Did you know that you can get a Google friendly website in a matter of minutes? It might already be out there ready for claiming!

Google Place Pages is an online listing for your business that shows up on Google Maps and searches on Google.com. If you’re the owner of a business all you need to do is claim your page and update it with unique information including photos, videos, coupons, etc… If you don’t see your business page you can create one.

This is a great promotion tool for your local market, providing you with an easy way to be found on the first page of a Google search, but also providing statistics on how many people have searched for your business, and the search terms that drove them to you. It’s a great resource for your customers, providing reviews and feedback, and allows you to gain insight on how to market future products and services.

CLICK HERE to check out your listing!

Need help with your Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

Monday Marketing Motivation From The Road

Tami — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:30:15 +0000

This will be short and sweet because I’m on the road this summer visiting family and enjoying a little site-seeing.

I love to travel! I can pretty much set up a home base anywhere as long as I have wifi. My “work from anywhere” schedule is usually a little stripped down from my every day office schedule because lets face it when you’re on the road you do not want to spend your entire time stuck in a hotel room or a coffee shop!

My time management trick for working holidays is to schedule play time the same way I would schedule a meeting. Incidentally this will work whether you’re traveling or not.

Time Management is truly a lesson in honesty and self awareness. It’s understanding how long it takes YOU to get something done and giving yourself a little extra time just in case! When you’re heading out on your scheduled “for fun” appointment it’s important to take in to account travel times and wait times. Going to tourist attractions can take longer and it’s easy to forget to allow for the time you’ll be standing in lines.

Always check in with city tourist offices. Sometimes you can pay for a pass that will put you in the front of the line. I love this when traveling in Paris. BUT it’s important NOT to try and do Paris (or anywhere) in a day. If you’re on a working holiday pick the most important things you want to see and know that you’ll be back. Trying to cram a bunch of stuff into a limited amount of time is stressful and really not that fun.

And most importantly, in most cases it’s OK to disengage from the office. I know that it’s the cell phone that is increasing the opportunities we have to work from home, however when I schedule an appointment I make it a point to silence that phone, whether or not that appointment is for a business meeting or for myself. Giving myself 2 full hours of fun usually energizes me and reminds me why we enjoy our crazy work from anywhere lifestyle. Sometimes enjoying an art museum in the middle of the day means making up a little time in the evening, but most times I consider it well deserved lunch break!

What are your tips for mixing business with pleasure?

Need help with your Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

McDonalds Can’t Always Cookie Cutter Good Service

Tami — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:20:20 +0000

Remember when smiles were free?

During a recent road trip I experienced the worst service I’ve ever had at a McDonald’s. This experience got me thinking. It really doesn’t matter how cookie cutter your franchise or business systems are, IF the human element isn’t coming up to bat, THE ‘system’ breaks down.

OK, I know I wasn’t at a 5 star restaurant, but even at McDonald’s I have certain expectations.

When you’re on the road for 1800 miles with a 5 year old, the golden arches can be a bit of a beacon. You pull in thinking you can get a quick inexpensive happy meal (with fruit of course) and there will be a play area to work out the little one’s “I’ve been in the car for two days straight” blues. Because I work from home I love that most McDonald’s offer free WiFi so I can catch up on a few things and my daughter can play. It can be a win win for a work from anywhere on the road mom.

Without getting into a rambling fit about the service the other day I decided to list my top 3 grievances. These are the ones that reinforced my own work ethic and I’m interested to know how you all might feel about these points as well.

1. Zero sense of urgency. It took 22 minutes for our food to arrive according to the time stamp on my receipt. I am sure McDonald’s does enough market research to know how long people will wait for fast food and I expect their system is set at a thresh hold well under 22 minutes. Even at a fancy restaurant I would have been served drinks and a basket of bread within 22 minutes of being seated! Most consumers have an expectation of delivery. Failing to meet or exceed that expectation can have long lasting effects.

2. Lack of Empathy. I did get a “sorry for the wait” when the food arrived, but mostly the people working behind the counter seemed resigned to the fact that they were working within a failed system. I don’t remember anyone smiling, but I remember a lot of sighing. There is nothing that speaks louder than service staff saying nothing at all and looking at you like you’re the problem for having higher expectations.

3. Unsafe Environment. Maybe it’s the clown, or the happy meal with toys. It might even be the play areas designed for young children. Call me crazy but I think of McDonald’s as a kid friendly place. Which is why it frustrated me to no end to be in a family restaurant at 3 in the afternoon listening to a group of teenagers drop the F bomb every other word. I know I’m probably over-reacting here and showing my age, but it’s just not acceptable to me and management should be on hand to ask the offender to quiet down. Having worked in a bar, I’ve seen people thrown out at midnight for a lot less. At 3 in the afternoon at McDonald’s I would like to think that isn’t something I would have to worry about subjecting my 5 year old to. I know I can leave if I don’t like it, but I wonder, is that the environment McDonald’s wants to cultivate?

As a marketing enthusiast I’ve read a lot about the McDonald’s franchise model. It’s a model, like most franchises, that prides it self on offering a consistent product. But I surprised myself the other day. I don’t pick McDonald’s because of the product. I’m looking for a specific experience that matches my needs. I’m the consumer and like all consumers I have the power to take my money else where. I can choose to be this fickle. I know not all McDonald’s are going to be like this one because I’ve been to hundreds of good ones, but I don’t have to give them a second chance because I have plenty to choose from and so do my clients!

For the next little bit every time I see the golden arches I’m going to remember this experience and I’m probably going to look for a red headed girl with braids instead.

And I’m going to be a little more interested in my customer’s expectations and how well I’m meeting them too!

Tweet On!

PS: Please comment and let me know what you think. Am I over-reacting? Are my expectations for service too high?

Need help with your Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

Social Media & ROI

Tami — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:51:42 +0000

If you’re going to sell Social Media services, you’re going to get asked about ROI. It’s only natural that a business would want to know about their Return On Investment when engaging in marketing activities.

An advertising campaign can provide numbers based on how many (estimated) people will see your billboard, postcards or ads, but the conversion into sales still relies on the product or desired experience. Social media works in much the same way. It drives traffic and can be measured by engagement, however, the purpose of ‘social’ media is to create an open dialogue between the business and the consumer with an aim to build trust and loyalty.

With that in mind, measuring an ROI in social media should focus on the specific goals of a campaign and less on the over all use of social media. After all, you’ve probably never looked at your phone and wondered what the ROI of it was.

Check out this great slide show from YongFook that shares a few great examples:

Social Media ROI

View more presentations from yongfook

There are endless amounts of data that details increased sales due to social media activity. As a small business owner I suggest starting with specific campaign meant to share a call to action. A great example of this is a campaign we recently ran for my husband. As some of you know, Jefferson is a singer/songwriter and 10 weeks ago we released his latest album to radio. We hired the amazing Lisa Grey to manage the promotion and as always I’m on duty to manage what I call the “backstage” part of his social media.

During a reputation check I discovered that one of his songs was listed on a listener poll. Through social media we were able to engage with his followers in that area and beyond to vote for his song. Because of this interaction, we won the poll, beating out a much respected band whom we adore. We also added followers to both his facebook accounts, twitter accounts and to his email list, and he was listed in the top 10 of folk artists for that station. I didn’t measure CD sales, but we had those too. The goal was to encourage his f0llowers to act on his behalf. We could measure those ‘acts’ and be proud of a well executed social media campaign that as a bonus also created revenue.

Tweet On!

Need help with your Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

Keyword Tracking and Favorite Online Finds

Tami — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 17:30:19 +0000

Happy 4th of July!!!

Your Monday Marketing Motivation today is Keyword Tracking. One of the ways I find interesting things to write about is using Google Alerts, a free tool, to help me track what other people are saying.

The Savannah Georgia Vibe Guide (SGVG) grows an audience by creating keyword specific pages that all relate to Savannah Georgia. A great feature SGVG offers is an invitation to Savannah lovers to share their stories about their time in Savannah; which gives an added value to web surfers looking for reviews and personal experiences when planning their own trip.

I use Google Alerts to find bloggers posting about recent trips and invite them to share their experience with the Savannah Georgia Vibe Guide. A recent alert introduced me to Melissa from SoChick! Not only did I find a blogger happy to contribute her story and photos with SGVG, but I found something I had been looking for. A hand made clutch purse in funky colors that makes me oh so happy!

Favorite Online Find

You know how it is when you find something you just love, you have to share it! My clutch came in the mail today and I am thrilled to have it and always thrilled to share online marketing success stories. The internet gives us the ability to reach countless amounts of people with our products and services just by having an online presence, such as a blog, that connects with people and encourages interaction.

Melissa’s blog post was about her recent trip to Savannah, a place I love and enjoy reading about. It was through this post about a mutual interest that allowed me to find her website, see that we like some of the same things, and encouraged me to checkout her store. As a consumer the ball is in my court. I’m now signed up to receive blog updates and have liked her facebook page. I want to be informed when new products come out (new season, new handbag… that kind of thing) and social media allows me to do it on my terms.

So when thinking about what to write on your blog, take some time to understand what would engage your ideal client. Do they travel, drink wine, like a specific genre of music, enjoy reading crime novels, etc? And then find a way to relate it to your product or service. It doesn’t always have to be personal, but it should be social.

LOVE these funky colors!

Love the chain too!

Tweet On!

Need help with you Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

Monday Marketing Motivation and Fun With Twitter

Tami — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:15:43 +0000

Marketing online doesn’t have to be all business, in fact it shouldn’t be. More than anything it should be engaging, interesting and entertaining.

Here are some Twitter Apps that you might find fun too!

1. Sometimes you just need something funny to RT (re-tweet)! Check out FUN TWEETS. Even if I don’t re-tweet them I usually laugh out loud!

2. Do you like to sketch and share? Penolo might be for you. This program will let you create a little sketch using pen tools of various sizes and share it through tweeter. Perfect for the pen and paper doodler… without the pen and paper.

3. Avid readers or people looking to engage with avid readers might like to follow and re-tweet TwitrLit. They tweet the first line of books without the authors name or book title.

4. Here’s a good one for musicians and people who love music. Tweetly.fm allows you to auto post weekly last.fm data and statistics.

5. For random fun try Twitter Mosaic. It will make a mosaic of all your followers, you can even have a swag made with the image on it.

Honestly there are probably thousands of fun twitter apps out there, so help a fellow twitter out and share a few of your favorites.

Tweet On!

Need help with you Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

My Take On Social Media Scandals

Tami — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:30:43 +0000

I hate to admit it but I’ve been a little caught up in the Wiener / Twitter scandal. I’m driving my husband crazy with all the updates and as his eyes glaze over I can almost hear the judge at the Edgy Treadgood trial screaming, “I don’t give a good god damn…”

I have two hands to count my fascination. On one hand there is the whole debate around “Is Internet sex cheating? On the other hand there is the major oops in the execution of a “single” tweet.

I love social media because it is SOCIAL! I use it every day to build relationships with a number of people, some of whom have turned into amazing friendships and every now and then we actually come off line for face to face coffee. In 5+ years I can’t think of one instance of someone sending me an inappropriate message, just a minute while I knock on wood. OK, I’m back.

As an online business enthusiast it seems to me that online sexting offers a great opportunity. Plenty of consumers, autonomy, a certain level of safety and the medium becomes both the marketing tool and the delivery vehicle. I don’t plan to get into the debate of whether or not it’s cheating, that is for each couple to decide, but as always I welcome your comments.

My problem with Wiener wasn’t his tweeting, it was the lying about it. I’ve long since learned that lying isn’t always premeditated, it’s part of our flight or fight programing. Self preservation is a powerful emotional response in almost any situation. With so many legitimate cyber bullying and company destroying hacking it was a bit annoying that he went with that story.

As Social Media and Community Media Managers we have access to the online account of our customers. We assist in our customer’s marketing efforts by mimicking their voice and sharing their stories. And I know the feeling when I accidentally post something to the wrong account, nothing as huge as a lude photo, but this whole mess has me thinking of the power of the intimate connection and how we as social media managers manage the relationship and the content.

Other than lead generation, I don’t personally engage with my client’s followers. I manage the content and ensure the information is provided in a relevant, timely and effective manner. In 3-4 140 characters or less I can qualify a follower, encourage dialogue and provide a great lead to a sales team member. It is the boiled down, quick to the point type of communication that makes Tweeter so effective for relationship building. And if it’s working in business, you know it’s working in our personal lives. We reach out on our social media platforms and receive instant gratification, acolytes and pats the backs in an amazing short amounts of time. We are mass communicating and filtering through the masses to find the ones we want to build deeper relationships with.

I think social media is bringing back a stronger sense of community. It allows us to network far and wide within chosen communities. It enriches both our personal, social and business lives and sometimes it teaches us that what we have offline is also worthy of a little twittering.

Tweet On!

Need help with you Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

Monday Marketing Motivation Helps You Get On Twitter

Tami — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:15:08 +0000

Getting on Twitter was a bit scary for me at first. Can you imagine, me the rambler actually saying something in 140 characters or less?

There are a lot of great videos on YouTube on setting up your twitter account if you’re completely new to it or please feel free to contact me if you’d like personal help.

Generally when I set up a twitter account I pay attention to a few areas. I want the layout color palette to match the business. Personally, I prefer photographs in the profile, and using the logo to create a custom background. But most importantly I like to have an engaging description or mini bio. This is the information people will use to search and connect with you.

You know I’m a big fan of daily execution so here is a list of my daily twitter activities:
1. Follow targeted people
2. Update lists
3. Block spam
4. Check Direct Messages
5. Look up @ replies
6. Search name mentions, look through saved searches or industry specific searches
7. Respond to any customer service issues
8. Engage where appropriate
9. Write status updates

Today I want to try and help answer the number one question I’m asked, “what should I tweet about?”

Tweeting about business isn’t really that different than personal tweeting. Twitter is about being social. You’re basically networking online in much the same way you would network face to face and you need to engage the same way. Think about how you would talk to someone at a networking event and that is how you’ll talk / post online.

Personally I like the 80/20 rule. 80% social and 20% business, meaning post information about your business, but use most of your posting to share social ideas (quotes, links to relevant articles, links to videos, ask questions, provide answers, re-tweet favorite posts, post events)

Still need help? Don’t worry, there are websites available to you to help you find things to tweet about. See you’re not alone! My favorite site is http://stufftotweet.com/

There are plenty of applications that will help you schedule tweets, but make sure you’re also engaging.

Tweet on!

Need help with you Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com

Monday Marketing Motivation & Working From Home With Social Media

Tami — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:00:30 +0000

I fell into Social Media Management or Social Media Community Management.

I use various social media platforms to promote and market our various events and activities and I was always digging deeper to find an easier or more efficient way to do something. In the process I discovered that I knew more than I thought I did, and that I could help others increase their customer base by following a few simple, but consistent social media activities.

When people ask me about the secret of social media I tell them it’s consistency. Creating a social media profile for a business that you don’t keep a certain amount of engagement on gives the same impression of a store front with the shades drawn and the lights off. You look closed!

Why I love Social Media

1. This is the information age, and people actively use the Internet to find information. If you can be found online and can provide the answers being searched then you’ve just created communication with a potential customer. Social media is the bus that drives your leads to the door, then it’s up to your content, product and sales process to secure the deal.

2. Social media is an important step for businesses because it gives them the opportunity to join the conversation. Now more than ever a consumer will take the word of an online review over that of a friend when considering a purchase. Being involved in the conversation allows businesses to address less than favorable reviews that happen from time to time. That conversation is going on whether you join or not; choosing to be apart of it is proactive and wise for any business.

3. The size of social media platforms is mind blowing. If Facebook were a country it would be the third largest country in the world. Social media is global. Of all Facebook users, 75% of them live outside of the United States. Social media is creating the opportunity to expand the borders of your business and access to a whole new group means creating content that addresses their needs with their language and cultural accuracy.

4. It’s relatively cheaper than any other marketing activity. Engaging with the customer is a tried and true method from the beginning of time. Social Media allows you to market directly to the people who want to hear from you, who’ve already found you and want to continue to be in your circle of knowledge.

It’s exciting times! Not all businesses need a full time Social Media Manager and that’s where I come in. I create custom packages that meet with the needs of a specific business and execute a social media marketing plan that leads to their online content or store front.

June feels like the perfect month to share a little of my social media activities.

Happy Tweeting!

Need help with you Social Media Marketing?
Email me your questions at Tami (at) TamiRoss (dot) com