Are the Lines Getting Blurry?

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It’s really hard to separate personal and business in social media.  Just log into your facebook account and I bet you your “friends” are pushing you all sorts of messages like: “Come to my show” “Listen to me on the radio” “enter my contest” “look at the new company I’m working with.”

This has made it clear, that today, the lines between personal life and business life are blurry on social media, but is that a bad thing or a good thing? Are we tuning out because we don’t care or listening more because these are our friends?

I know when I started my twitter account (feels like forever ago, it was only 3.5 years ago) I was in the business of promoting me and my services and that’s exactly what I did.  My friend network on Twitter wasn’t large enough to have much of the personal updates and messages that it does today.  Facebook, however, has always been about friends for me, but lately that table has turned the other way and it’s more about business.

I’m not the authority on who should push what on which channel, that’s your decision - but as a user of these multiple channels I feel that there needs to be a shift in the way we use these channels for business/pleasure.  Maybe we need to open 2 accounts.  Maybe we really need to start taking advantage of Facebook lists (like google+) and only push those messages to the people you know will care.

Maybe – creating a fanpage and keeping business updates on the fanpage and personal updates on your profile page makes the most sense. Isn’t that what fanpages were made for anyways?

That fact remains that the lines are getting blurry between business and pleasure and I’m not sure it’s the best thing to happen to us.

Just my 2 cents.

Val

Officially a Mrs.

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I first want to thank all of you who wished me well on my wedding day.  It was a few weeks ago and it took place here in Montreal.
Although I don’t share too much of my personal life in social media – I was happy to share this with you.

The official photos are on their way, I’ll let you know where you’ll be able to see them in the future.

Until then, thank you so much for the love and support you have given me through a very difficult yet rewarding 2011.

-Valerie

Are you posting too much on your fan page?

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What I’m about to say may shock you.  You are most likely posting way too much on your facebook fan page. Yes, you.

It’s now at the point where facebook has become the new email spam.  All of a sudden we have companies and small businesses that are very capable of running a fan page, but they post 3-5 new things a day – yes in 1 day.  That means I , the fan page fan, see the same company post repetitive things (usually the same thing) over and over again all day long.  The most unfortunate thing is that most of time, it’s just another inspiration and not anything that is actually from the companies themselves or of real use to me. (coupon fan pages have a veto here because they are constantly getting new info that most people want)

What shocks me is that company doesn’t really see that they are hurting themselves more than anything else.  Little do they know, people are “hiding” posts by them – which is as huge as un-liking the page all together.  They are no longer receiving updates or even important information from the company – things like product announcements, events, and even contests are gone unnoticed by the masses because that fan page has abused the power of a post and they have ultimately become spam.

So what’s the rule to posting?
I don’t think there is an actually rule, but think of it like emails.  You would certainly tune out or unsubscribed if you got an email with almost the exact same thing 4 times a week from the same company, right?  Well that pretty much applies to the facebook fan page too.

Posting a few things a week that is unique and new will get you that engagement ratio you want including insightful comments and likes.

So next time you are about to post something – look at how many things you’ve posted already this week… and if you need more that 1 hand to count…. then I wouldn’t post.

Just my 2 cents.

Are You Engaging or Simply Promoting?

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What I’m about to say isn’t new and it’s also not revolutionary – but it’s basic information that everyone using social media to promote a business or brand should be aware of……

Don’t just promote yourself, engage with your community.  Promoting yourself should be the flare you offer, not your only message…. 

This seems simple enough – but a lot of small businesses seem to fall flat when it comes to this golden rule.  Your clients start to tune you out if they feel your messages are constantly 1 way and non-personal.  They don’t want to be spoken to, they want to connect with a company that is like them.

Think about that for a second…. your clients want to connect with a company that is like them.

Sharing similar interests and reaching out to your clients make them feel like your company is more like them.

If you have to, revisit your social media strategy and include more 2-way types of posts and interactions. Make what you publish about your clients and not just about your business.

That’s great that you just signed a new contract…. how about feature some engaging content and ask for your client’s opinion!

Just a thought! :)

Thanks for reading!

Vintage Weddings & Wedding Blogs

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This may stir controversy, but the idea here is that this is my opinion as a bride looking for inspiration. 

If you aren’t already aware, I’m planning my wedding.  Yes, it’s exciting and having worked with so many talented wedding vendors for so long, I thought I knew what I wanted for my wedding.  For the most part, I do, but for a lot of other things like decor and flowers… I have no idea.

Naturally, I surf wedding blogs daily.

I’ve been getting more and more frustrated as I browse some of my more favourite wedding blogs as I’m noticing they ALL feature vintage/whimsical weddings.

Sure, vintage weddings are cute, but there is so much more out there.  Strongly themed weddings, haute couture weddings, museum weddings and hotel weddings are just some weddings styles (off the top of my head) which can help a bride get a sense of what is out there.

Now, I understand that a lot of blogs carry a theme… and that makes sense.  Off Beat Bride for example is all about the alternative bride, I get that.  I am certainly not speaking to themed blogs, but ultimate wedding blogs like Style me Pretty (as an example) tends to feature more vintage types of weddings, leaving the other kinds of weddings forgotten.* I find this trend slightly unfortunate for most brides (not all… but I’d say the majority is looking for something other than vintage).

There are two blogs (and yes there are a lot more…. but these were the ones in my frantic search for non-vintage blogs that constantly feature all types of weddings) that I do want to give props to for doing more than just vintage, United with Love & Wedluxe.  Now they are both completely different, but they have given me ideas… helped me put my vision into words and an inspiration board….

At the end of the day, the blog is about the bride searching out for inspiration for one of the most important days of her life.  Yes, there is a new wedding blog popping up every second…. but my opinion is that more blogs need to publish variety and not just the trend of the season.

Thanks for reading!

*I do like Style Me Pretty and think they are a GREAT resource.  I just find that they post vintage weddings over other styles more often.  I am in no way saying they are not a great wedding blog. :) 

My Celebrity Business Inspiration

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We all have people who inspire us.  I have a handful of great people in my life who inspire me and push me to go further.  My celebrity inspiration, however, does not know me and I’ve never met them – but I admire this person so much and feel like this person is a really smart business women (yes, of course it’s a women!) that today I wanted to share with the world why I find this person so inspiring.

At this point, my fiance has heard enough of my reasons why I think this person is so inspirational and why I look up to her, my Celebrity Inspiration is Bethenny Frankle.

If you think you’ve heard the name, but maybe aren’t sure where…. it’s because you haven’t been watching enough reality TV (which is actually a good thing).  She has a very long resume, but we’ll summarize it with: Apprentice – Martha Stewart Edition, Real Housewives of NYC seasons 1-4, and now… Bethenny Getting Married, and Bethenny Ever After (the sequel to Bethenny getting Married).

So you’re probably thinking, Valerie… why Bethenny? She’s a reality star, get over it! Might as well be Snookie for all I care. That’s where you’re all so very wrong.

Bethenny is a marketing professional.  She took opportunities to grow ideas.  From healthy baking (Bethenny Bakes) to low-cal drinks (SkinnyGirl Margarita) she used the opportunity of reality TV to push her products (and why shouldn’t she?)

Her most famous idea, the SkinnyGirl Margarita, has become a phenomenon of Sex and the City girls meets diet drinking women, looking for a low-cal cocktail that still tastes like alcohol.  Bethenny saw the potential in that and made her own drink, her own name for herself and well….  ”In March she jumped a few spaces ahead, selling her flagship product, the Skinnygirl Margarita, to Fortune Brands’ Beam Global for an eyebrow-singeing $100 million.”  Yes, $100 million.

So that’s the number 1 reason why I think she’s inspirational - she took an idea and made it into millions the “old fashion way” – blood, sweat and a lot of tears!  (if you didn’t know, she actually approached Beam Global with the idea prior to this… they refused it.  They then saw how popular this product was and well, came back with an offer she couldn’t refuse!)

Another reason? Bethenny isn’t afraid to show off who she really is and has made another solid fortune (reported $700,000) on showing it all off on her reality TV show. She isn’t afraid to be who she really is, even if that means swearing like a sailor (something we have in common) and is inappropriate when she shouldn’t. She has let people into her world and life making it feel like you have a tangible connecting with her. I’m sure every “fan” who meets her, feels like they’ve known her for years! That’s something not many celebrities can do.

Anyways – the reason, at the end of the day, why Bethenny Frankle is my celebrity inspiration is because she has worked so hard for what she has, and even when people turned her down, she continued with her ideas and became the success that she is today. I guess the only question left for Mrs. TMI (too much information) is…. will she become a billionaire?

Thanks for reading!

If you aren’t listening, you’re in trouble.

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It seems like most people out there know about social media, whether they are using it properly or efficiently is a completely other blog post, but they are still aware of it and try (which is most important).  However, one thing a lot of companies are lacking is “listening.”  Just like in life, if you’re aren’t listening to what someone is saying to you, how can you have a relevant and intelligent conversation with them? Silly, right?

So it constantly shocks me that companies are putting all this effort into contests, promotions and status updates…. but they aren’t really listening to what is coming back from their audience.

Don’t get me wrong – a lot of companies are actively listening.  I recently attended a conference in Boston hosted by Radian6 (one of the best listening tools out there) and there were so many people from so many different brands and organizations.  I guess I’m more focused on the little guy, as that guy has more to lose than Dell or Gatorade.

If you’re an agency reading this – you better have something better than google alerts and twitter search in your portfolio of listening tools for your clients.

If you’re a small business owner, the more robust listening tools and services can be costly, so start with the basics like google alerts (which is the act of googleing your company name and having any related news or posts sent to your email regularly) and twitter search (google for twitter).  Although these are basic tools, they are much better than nothing at all. It’s also super important to read all your comments on Facebook, twitter and your blog.  Nothing should go unanswered and all should be acknowledged.

Moreover create a community and take the time to sit and listen to what your fans and followers are saying even if it’s not about you.  It could be something completely small and insignificant, but the fact that you engaged and listened to that person and what they are saying is the difference between a successful company and a non-successful one.

That’s my thoughts on listening in social media, what are yours?