It very likely you will consult a map again before your arrival, if only to make sure you are heading in the right direction. These days most people are consulting their GPS system, or just trusting the turn-by-turn directions. However, we have all heard horror stories of the GPS gone wrong scenarios. By trusting the device, a turn is made into a building or water or some other non-navigable entity.

Your social media campaign should be no different. Create a map of where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Know the message you want to transmit. Know the audience you want to reach. What are your markers along the way? Is it hits to your website? Or increased traffic in your store front? Keep track of your markers so you can know what is working or maybe more importantly, what is not.

Whether you are doing this the old-fashioned way (i.e. doing it yourself) or in a more high tech fashion, (i.e. you hired a consultant), this is your business. Every word said, every message portrayed reflects on your and your business. Blindly following can lead to some places you may not want to be or some tight squeezes that were completely avoidable. Know your message and watch for your markers to know you are on the right path.

Oh, and don’t forget to wear sunscreen on that vacation!

The store is gorgeous! Kymberlei, the owner is fun to talk with and a wealth of information. However, make NO mistake, the tastes are what will bring you to this store, and keep you coming back! I only tasted one oil (a lime infused oil) but I can not wait to visit again once the store is open. Here’s a little video to whet your appetite.

This store is destined to become a destination.

“Good oil, like good wine, is a gift from the gods. The grape and the olive are among the priceless benefactions of the soil, and were destined, each in its way, to promote the welfare of man.” -George Ellwanger

On Saturday night after a very long day, I put the movie ‘Hitch’ in the DVD. It is a movie I like, it makes me laugh (even thought I have seen it many times), and because it is a familiar movie, it requires no brainpower. In the movie, Will Smith’s character makes a comment, something like ‘as humans 90% of our communication is non-verbal’. The comment resonated with me. In social media, there is no ‘body-language’ tone or inflection.

Miscommunication happens. It happens to everyone. On Friday, I was working with my partner to manufacture product. We had discussed at length our plan for completing this project. When we reached our halfway point, things were not going as we had planned. We discussed this and I said ‘mix the rest’. What I meant was stick to the plan. What was heard was deviate from the plan. The words were the same in the message sent as in the message received but our meanings were polar opposites.

I know a guy, I introduced him to twitter. He is a nice married 30-something working man. On twitter he is a first rate jerk…his tweets are channeling his inner gangsta. This is fine, except he wonders why no one interacts with him. He often expresses dismay that his tweets are ignored or not retweeted. I know, or think I know, his persona is comedic but no one else knows this. He knows his message, comedy. He knows his medium, twitter. However, his message is not being received.

Is the social media message you are sending and the social media message you want to send the same? Social Media is communication. Nothing more, nothing less. The message sent is only as good as the message received.

Social media is no different. There are those business people for whom it is a one-way conversation. Every message they present is a commercial for their product or service. Social media for these people is a chore but they have been told that ‘it will sell their product” therefore they dutifully post the same information over and over. The beauty of social media is that disengaging is so much easier. A single click of a button and you have unfollowed or unfriended or simply blocked the content from your feed without the other person knowing you have moved beyond earshot.

Conversation is a two-way street. A good conversation has give and take; it may ebb and flow, but it always has multiple participants (aside from those of us who oft speak to ourselves). If one party is dominating the content then one side or the other will eventually disengaged.

Want to be successful in social media, loosen up, relax, have fun and have conversation. Be yourself! If you are engaged, your message will follow and the people you want to meet will seek you.

The first reason why you need to be actively participating in Social Media, it is FREE advertising. Sure it requires a time investment, and time is money; but it requires your time to design and implement any advertising campaign. The reality is that this “just does not seem like advertising”. However, in a world of DVRs,  Satellite commercial free radio and dying Newspapers and print media what is your return on investment?

The second reason you need to be actively participating in Social Media, is that it does not seem like advertising. That’s right. It is advertising that feels like a friendly conversation and what is more disarming than a friendly conversation. We are all burned out on advertising (which is why we will pay to NOT have to be bombarded with Ads).   The goal of advertising is name recognition. It is making sure the customer thinks of you when they need your service.

The third and last reason you should be using Social Media is that it has the fasting growing audience.

In a market that is growing this fast; no business owner can afford to not be an active participant.

Do not get me wrong, if your twitter account is for you in your personal life then feel free to avoid response. However, if you have put your business out on twitter then you have an obligation to respond. I am not saying you need to be available 24/7.  Rather, that a direct question / inquiry deserves a direct response / acknowledgement.

If you use twitter to promote your business, why not go the extra step and use twitter to enhance your customer service. You clientele will appreciate the interaction. Try it.

I joined a gym a couple of weeks ago as a part of my ‘be healthier in 2010’ proclamation. Just as social media is not working for my friend, the gym is not working for me. I am not healthier, but I have not set foot in the place since I joined –scheduling reasons – wink wink nudge nudge. 

Social Media is the same as joining a gym, just joining it is not going to make the difference. Social Media requires that you show up and participate. Social Media doesn’t work, it is just a tool.

In a classic civic organization power struggle someone once said to my sister, ‘I know who you are; and I know who you think you are’. In the information age, you cannot afford to have who you are be different from who people think you are. The information on who they think you are, is available and possibly correctable but you must be aware of your reputation before you can begin to make adjustments.

It is a good practice to ‘Google’ yourself and your business regularly. Additionally, I would recommend setting up Google alerts for you, your business, your competitors, and possibly key words related to your business, product or industry.

I have Google alerts set for me and my company(ies) – both Glynne’s Soaps and Biz Buzz Social. As you may already know, my partner at Glynne’s Soaps is Jenn Beddoe. I regularly search for content for our company and for each of us individually. I am always a little amazed that I always turn up a story from the San Francisco Chronicle from 1996 when I search for Jenn. My point is this, content on the web can and will follow you. After all if my search still turns up content from when the web was still an infant; imagine what it can remember now that it is all grown up.

For your company who you are may not be as important as who the web thinks you are. After all it is your reputation, make it about who you really are.