This week’s podcast is an interview with British “conversation architect” and self-titled “purveyor of community” Bernie J. Mitchell.

Bernie, who started out in catering, now runs events and ‘un-conferences’ and Meet Ups. He also ran the London TEDx in TED Global Week 2011.

In the show, Bernie talks about the possibilities for attendees to connect and communicate through social media both in the run up to and after an event.

Click the player to listen now:

Other listening options:

• Click here to download the mp3
• Click here to subscribe in iTunes
• Click here for the show archive
• Click here for the show’s RSS feed

Feedback? Questions?

You can record and send me a comment or ask a question using the “Feedback” tab at the top of this page. Or please get in touch.

What?

A blog post warning you against the dangers of Facebook ?

You bet!

So here’s why you should be careful of Planet Facebook.

Don’t Jump Off the Cliff

If you Google “small business marketing strategy” it won’t be long before you find yourself on a blog advising you to explore how Facebook can benefit your business. And chances are that this advice will be so convincing you’ll go out and start a page to compliment your business site, your blog, your Twitter presence (if you have one!)and any other bright shiny objects out there that could help you market your business online.

You’ll spend a bit of time choosing a great picture for your Timeline. You’ll build your profile, encourage people to ‘Like’ you and the you’ll spend a bit more time adding the Facebook ‘Like’ widget to your website to get even more Likes. Each day you’ll spend a few minutes here, a few minutes there trying to grow your Likes, trying to get people engaged and involved. And after a while, hey presto, you might even have a stack of new friends who like your business page.

But Here’s the Rub

There’s a reason I don’t have a Facebook Page widget on this site anymore.

It’s because it didn’t bring me any business. At all.

Sure, it was nice having some “friends” and getting new Likes. And I enjoyed the bits of conversation that took place, the banter of it all.

Touble was, no matter how much effort I put into it, it wasn’t impacting the bottom line.

Everything Has a Time and Place

As someone that runs Facebook accounts for clients I want to be clear here: Facebook can be incredibly important for a business; however, for someone else’s business, it can be an utter waste of time.

Without Data You’re Lost

This is why you need to work out relatively quickly exactly whether Facebook is good for your business or not.

If you’re actively trying to be on Facebook as a marketing tactic, do you know how many visitors Facebook sends to your website every month ? And how many of those complete your sales funnel? Or disappear after glancing around for a few seconds, never to return?

No matter how much you enjoy building a Facebook Page for your business, it can be bad for your business if it’s not impacting the bottom line: sales.

Forget the Guilt

For the first couple of weeks after I killed the Jontus Media FB Page I felt the odd pang of guilt: Maybe I hadn’t given it enough of a go, I wondered. Perhaps it would have delivered more if I’d stuck with it, I thought.

Instead I put the time into something much more beneficial; improving my podcast, which does put money in my pocket.

Data is King

So by all means, explore what Facebook (or any social media channel) can do for you; but make sure you’re collecting enough data to assess whether it’s of positive impact.

It’s important, however, not to equate Likes or social media Friends with success unless they really benefit your business.

Sure, it can take months to gather useful data, but make sure you have the metrics in place as soon as possible. Just today I was looking at a site that hadn’t set up enough tracking to measure the success of their digital sales funnel.

So remember, successfully tracking your data and, say, assessing what’s working and what’s not each quarter, you can put your energies into the things that really work for you.

What About You?

Are you afraid to kick your business Facebook Page into touch ? Or just don’t know whether it’s working or not ?

We’re massive fans of the open source blogging platform, although nowadays we really think of it as a full-functioning CMS.

But don’t just take our word for it.

This week I talk to Dustin Hartzler, WordPress developer and host of the Your WordPress Engineer podcast.

Click the player to listen now:

Other listening options:

• Click here to download the mp3
• Click here to subscribe in iTunes
• Click here for the show archive
• Click here for the show’s RSS feed

We don’t mind updating plugins or tweaking a bit of custom code to add drop capitals to blog posts and help increase the readibility of your site.

Chances are that you loathe or fear fidding with your WordPress if you run a bricks and mortar business, a consulting business or just about any other kind of business that doesn’t involve the web.

So here’s what you should do.

Hand running the technical side of your website over to someone else and concentrate on the important stuff.

Leave the coding, updating or backing up to experts if you haven’t managed to learn how to do that yet.

Debunking the Myth of the Value of DIY

Because there’s a plethora of information of WordPress tips out there, it doesn’t mean you should feel you have to do it all yourself. No matter what some people say.

There’s more than enough to do with simply running your business, let alone running your website.

Many website developers will offer you maintenance contracts, but always check they do before you buy. If they don’t, or charge a premium for follow up services, you look out for how a virtual assistant could help you.

Nowadays you can get access to relatively inexpensive virtual assistants who’ll happily take care of your site for you, leaving you to the important stuff like running a business. Oh, and writing the content!

Yes, You Should Create the Content

Once you can forget the technically challenging stuff, put your energy, instead, into creating great content.

It’s far better to share your unique insights, solve your customers problems and share content that helps generate leads than get bogged down in fiddling with databases, PHP, widgets and plugins.

Content marketing will grow your business, not a content management system!
It’s content that persuades a visitor to your site to invest in your services, products or contact you.

No one cares about the technical stuff under the hood as long as the site works. Period.

The Most Convincing Reason to Outsource

Ultimately, piddling around with a WordPress install, plugins, design, widgets and so on will take up your time. What takes a virtual assistant or freelance developer less than an hour, could take you three or at worst at site crash.

There’s absolutely every reason to learn about WordPress in your spare time if you feel inclined; jut make sure that you’re putting your energies into running your real business!

There are, of course, small businesses out there that don’t want to embrace content marketing. Or don’t really need it.

If you don’t really want to bother with blogging, aren’t ready to see what social media can do for you, you might want to think about what you can do with a couple of web pages and an email sign-up form.

Click the player to listen now:

Other listening options:

• Click here to download the mp3
• Click here to subscribe in iTunes
• Click here for the show archive
• Click here for the show’s RSS feed

Links & Resources Mentioned

• IES Breckland
• Aweber
• MailChimp

Feedback? Questions?

You can record and send me a comment or ask a question using the “Feedback” tab on this site. Or please get in touch.

But don’t you sometimes wonder if there are other options?

Don’t you worry there’s some other kind of marketing you should be doing?

Well, Here’s a Great Offline Marketing Strategy You Need to Do

Just because we’re connected 24-7 to the web, it doesn’t mean that good old snail-mail can’t be useful for growing your business.

Handwritten postcards, for example, are a very effective way of getting a reaction that don’t require a massive investment.

Do you know why are they so good?

Because a handwritten postcard stands out against the dreary collection of flyers and bills. And it’s also incredibly personal. Unlike a digital mail which is easy to skip in a busy inbox, I bet you’re just like me and will read a personal note written on a card. Ink on paper is just so unusual these days!

I certainly remember the name of the company that sent me a handwritten note all the way from Australia to Sweden, thanking me for commenting on their blog.

And when it came to buying something in their niche, I didn’t hesitate to buy from them.

Three Powerful Reasons to Consider Postcard Marketing

1. It’s easier to read a postcard at a glance than to open an envelope
2. Postcards don’t compete with the bazillions of emails people receive every day
3. Unlike e-mail, postcards don’t have problems looking nice like hmtl newsletters sometimes do when the images get blocked; and postcards can take on any size, color, gloss or graphic.

Here Are the Tips You Need to Remember

1. Plan your campaign just like you would any other, identifying the single message you want to communicate.
2. Put plenty of effort in making the postcard eye-catching. If you suck at design, get help from a pro.
3. Keep text short and sweet. Neatly written. And avoid typos.
4. Don’t forget to encourage action whether you’re sending a reminder (“let’s stay in touch”), announcing a new product (“I thought you might want to personally hear about this”), inviting the recipient to an opening (“I wanted you the chance to come but let us know soon as places are limited…”), and so on.

Most important of all try and get the recipient to act quickly; i.e. use phrases like places are limited, the offer only lasts a week, I need to know by Tuesday, etc.

What Do You Think?

Have you tried using postcards? Or is there some other offline marketing tactic you find really works?

This isn’t much of a surprise. It’s human nature to want to know something about the people behind a website.

But it only takes a second to scan an About page and pick up the basics, and unless it’s pretty spectacular, you start looking for something else to click.

So Let’s Fix the Problem

Time and again when I look at the data for About pages I see that the traffic leaves super quickly. Site exit rates are enormous and no one sticks around.

If you’ve got a bounce rate of 80 percent for your About page or the average time people are spending there is less than 10 seconds before leaving your site (for good!), you probably realise you’re in trouble.
Big trouble.

Because it’s very unlikely they’re sticking around to purchase your services or products – even if you’re really good at what you do.

So you need to get visitors to your site to stick around long enough hear your message.
And do you know the best way to do that is?

Step 1: The Only Step You Need

To get visitors to your site to connect with you, tweak your About page so it’s more about your customer than you.

Sure, by all means give them a sense of your personality, your background and who you. Include a great photo and a short bit of copy. But put the emphasis on them as quickly as possible.

Make sure lots of the content on the page is about addressing their needs.
Show them what benefits your products or services will bring them.

For example, if you’re a web designer don’t just tell them:

We specialise in webdesign, tailored to your unique needs whether that’s for Net or mobile platforms.

That’s designed to bore.

Tell them instead:

All the websites we design are mobile responsive, which means your site looks just as great on an iPad, smartphone or computer meaning everyone who visits your site will be able to read it, hassle free.

By addressing your visitor’s needs and focusing on the benefits they’ll get by working with you, you’re much more likely to keep them on your site and encourage them to contact you.

This Strategy Worked for Me

I’ve cut the bounce rate on my About page down from 69% (March 2011) to 29% (March 2012).

And I’ve cut the site exit rate from 27.5% down to 7.45%.

This has led to more customers.

How are you addressing your potential customers’ needs on your about page?

Also, the news is good. The email marketing sector recorded its most successful half-year figures in 2011, according to research by the Direct Marketing Association.

Once you’ve got people subscribed you can target them with offers for your own services, products or affiliate links. But some of my customers ask me why doesn’t anyone click our links?

So How Do You Get People to Click-thru?

The testing I’ve done shows that before you do anything you need to build rapport with your subscribers. They need to feel that this isn’t purely a sales channel. So to begin with definitely don’t smack them with offers. Instead:

• Write as if you were writing to a friend
• Ask questions
• Reply to responses
• Talk about the questions you’ve been asked in the messages you send out (it encourages others to contact you and start building a closer relationship).
• Share really useful information

You get the idea.

Once you’ve got people engaged and reading your mails, start to elicit click-thrus.

I’ve found click rates are significantly higher if I use an html newsletter format that looks like a regular text-only email but is set to a font like Georgia at about 14 to 16 pixels.

The Secret of Where to Put the Link

The trouble with all those bright-coloured email templates with pictures and social like buttons and multiple links is that it’s information overload. The recipient is literally bombarded with visual stimulation and this can be overwhelming.

My testing shows that when we use a clear sub-heading roughly half way down an email newsletter, click-thrus increase.

I think it has something to do with the sub-heading pulling the reader’s eye down the page.

So Where Do You Put a Link?

Not at the top.

Definitely not on the side.

And most definitely not amidst a sea of other links.

You put JUST ONE LINK directly before your signature or in a PS that comes right after.

At least, that’s what works for me and my clients.

If you’ve got a different experience, let me know because this is something we can all benefit from.

Even if you’re just starting out you need a marketing plan because it will help you:

• identify and target prospective customers
• figure out the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors
• get you mentally set for what you have to do
• remain focussed on achieving your goals

The great thing about a really comprehensive marketing plan is that it will also help you figure out the key strategy and tactics you need to attract and retain customers to your consulting business, as well as budget your money carefully.

A marketing plan should include:

• market research,
• an overview of your target audience
• an analysis of your competition
• a detailed description of the product being sold,
• the tactics you will employ to market your product or
• services online

Market Research

One of the best places to start is researching the market you want to work in. By doing this you will gather business intelligence that will help you shape a winning online marketing plan.

If you want to research your market there are a number of ways you can do this. Big businesses typically use telephone surveys and work with focus groups. Obviously as a small business consult you don’t really have this possibility as it requires major resources that independent consults rarely have.

One of the best ways to conduct your market research on a tight budget is to Google your intended area of specialisation to try and find other consultants working in this area. Remember to add local search by typing the name of your city or town to your query. You need this because the majority of people still prefer to do business locally. For example, when Jontus Media is asked to provide consulting services it often involves meeting up with the client here in Stockholm face-to-face.

To target local search in Google:

Another way to do market research could include asking your network of friends and colleagues if they know of other consultants working in your field. Never underestimate the information you can get from just talking to people you know.

Your aim with market research ultimately comes down to gathering as much information about the market such as:

• what’s the going rate ?
• how many consultants will you be competing against?
• where do they come in Google and Bing search?

Work out whether there is considerable demand for the kind of services you plan to offer, if there are other consultants that you will be competing with in your town or city, and how successful they presently are.

9 Things a Great Marketing Plan Should Include?

Once you’ve done enough market research, it’s time to create your marketing plan.

Personally, I think a good marketing plan will at least include the following:

1) An Executive Summary
This should be a short overview which clearly defines the services you plan to offer and your unique selling point (USP). This will help keep you focussed on what you plan to market.

2) Goals
Outline your marketing objectives. Remember to include a timeline for, say, what you plan to do over a month, quarter, or year. Personally, I work to three month outlines within the general framework of a year.

3) How You Plan to Measure the Success of Your Goals
I use a set of metrics that includes things like: web-traffic, click-thrus to key pages, sales enquiries, and actual clients. I also measure the benefit social media and podcasting brings to my business as it’s important to know where future marketing should be emphasised or reduced. It was by doing this that I killed the Jontus Media Facebook page.

4) Target Customers
Define specifically who your ideal customer is. Think about their age, profession, location, needs, desires, etc. Why would they need your services?

5) Competition
Who are your specific competitors? What is the difference between their USP and your own? What online marketing are they doing ? How successful does their marketing appear to you?

6) Your Services
Make sure you clearly define exactly what services you plan to offer. It’s critical that you have a clear understanding of this. A good way of doing this is to imagine you have to explain in one or two sentences to someone exactly what you’re selling.

7) Budget
Research and note the costs of web hosting, web design. If you plan to create your own marketing material (blogging, podcasting, social media engagement and so on) identify the cost of your time. In this way you will be able to compare it to the metrics you put in place in step 3. If you plan to outsource your marketing, what are the costs of PR or content creation agencies, digital agencies, etc. Look at the cost of outsourcing your online marketing to a Virtual Assistant.

8.) Pricing Strategy
What will you charge for your services? How does it compare to your competitors?

9) Timetable
Make sure to include a timetable for putting your marketing campaign into action. As a consultant it’s easy to let things slide when business is busy. Think of your marketing as mission critical. Identify a specific time in your schedule to handle your marketing campaign, whether it’s liaising with the services providers you’ve hired to market your business or managing your campaign yourself.

A Marketing Plan is Never Finished

As you run your business, you’ll learn more about things like the competition, new marketing channels that emerge, changes to the market. With time you’ll need to revisit your plan and adjust and rewrite it to ensure that your consultancy stays competitive.

If you have any questions about how to work out or implement a marketing plan for your business, please feel free to get in touch.

As a business owner myself I don’t have time or resources to do this other than the free content I put on here and on the podcast.

In this show, I look at two strategies that I’d recommend you look at if you’re bootstrapping the early days of your business.

To begin with I look at blog solutions and then, towards the final part of the show I go on to talk about using a micro-training course delivered through email in conjunction with a blog.

People typically don’t want stacks of email newsletters but a tightly focussed five or six email course can have considerable appeal. By drip-feeding emails over the course of a week that provide quality advice or training, you as a consultant, in particular, can generate leads.

A newspaper advert will disappear within a day or two; but an auto-responder course can keep brining new customers to you over a long period of time. That is, as long as it provides value.

More on that in this week’s show!

Click the player to listen now:

Other listening options:

• Click here to download the mp3
• Click here to subscribe in iTunes
• Click here for the show archive
• Click here for the show’s RSS feed

Resources Mentioned

• Studiopress
• Woo Themes
• Aweber email marketing
• MailChimp

Feedback? Questions?

You can record and send me a comment or ask a question using the “Feedback” tab on this site. Or please get in touch.