Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Could There be a Jinx in Your Future?

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The Jinx - HBOWe all know my love of pop culture, so on Sunday morning when I heard that the main “character” on The Jinx, an HBO docu-series was arrested in New Orleans, I became curious. I read a bit more about how in last weeks episode there was a pretty big reveal and so I marathoned the 5 episodes, then watched the finale as it aired. HOLY HELL. The guy confesses  to 3 murders when he doesn’t realize his mic is on. WOW. And so the internet blew up and the documentarian is THE hot interview of the moment.

What does this have to do with small business marketing?

Well, hopefully you don’t employ someone who has gotten away with 3 murders (well, until last weekend…), but I have had a number of clients where something happened and there was an opportunity to respond (remember the Go Daddy/Elephant hunting thing? yeah, lots of missed opportunity…) and they were too busy or didn’t have systems in place to do so.

Seize the moment when opportunity knocks.

Is a big name competitor under fire for unethical practices? Make sure your target market knows your ethics standards- share them in a blog post or newsletter.

Did a TV show talk about something you do and it’s the talk of the town? Make sure to promote your zombie survival products more prominently on social media and get your SEO up to speed.

Can you do the same thing (but better) than the latest viral post? Make sure people know!

Your network can’t help you if they don’t know what you do or how they can help you. Yes you’ve told them time and again what you do, but until it’s relevant and in their face, they aren’t going to remember. And make sure the mic is off when the interview is over.

The Case for NOT Automating

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This morning I was checking Twitter as I do every morning. A friend of mine “tweeted” and said “what is this thing going on all over Facebook today?”

And then I knew what I’d been assuming for months. This person is never on Twitter. They have automated all their Facebook posts to also post on Twitter. And now they’ve alienated their Twitter audience.

I get it. As a business owner you HAVE to automate processes because there aren’t enough hours in the day to be everywhere. Which is why I strongly encourage you to JUST use the social media you will USE. Why would I follow someone (or fan their FB page) if I’m clearly just a number and they aren’t interested in actually engaging with me? Epic fail.

When I’m working with clients, there are many times we talk about WHAT we want to automate with social media. If you think I individually post my blog to all my social media channels, you are incorrect. When this post goes out, I’ll probably still be in bed, let’s be honest. And thanks to the wonders of WordPress, I can write this post a week before it goes out and have it all scheduled and not think about it again till it posts. Sometimes scheduling social media is really handy. And sometimes, it can backfire and alienate an audience you were hoping to cultivate.

If you want to be on Twitter, be on Twitter. If you want to be on Facebook, be on Facebook. If you want to half ass it, your audience will know and wonder when else you half ass stuff in your business.

Your Friendly Reminder to Be Consistent

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logoI was listening to The Nerdist Podcast as I was running errands this morning. It was a live episode so they were taking quements (it’s a question it’s a comment it’s a quement!) Someone asked about getting started and social contracts. Chris Hardwick (the Nerdist) said what ever it is you do, be consistent. Monthly podcast, weekly blog posts, bi-monthly newsletter, what ever social contract you make with your readers, listeners, or clients, be consistent.

I say this to my clients ALL THE TIME. Yes, you can have a blog, BUT you need to blog consistently. I encourage weekly posts, but with some clients it’s two or three times a month. It’s frustrating when it’s 4 weeks in a row and then nothing for 7 weeks. If you want your target market to start to look at you as an expert or thought leader or as someone who can commit and follow through, whatever you’re doing online needs to reflect that. Unfortunately the internet will let everyone know when your last update or post was, you can’t hide that.

If your new years resolution included “blogging every week!” and you haven’t since the 2nd week of January, figure out what you can truly commit to. Maybe a monthly newsletter is a better fit for your brand. Maybe a shorter Facebook post, or LinkedIn update is a better engagement tool for your network and your audience.

Whatever you do, BE CONSISTENT.