Which Side Are You On?

I have been reading numerous books on Business and Internet Marketing lately, and frankly, it leaves me somewhat confused. 

Let's start with "Profits Aren't Everything.  They're the Only Thing."

Self-proclaimed contrarian small business guru George Cloutier says:

"You must micromanage and then micromanage some more.  With a small business you have to know everything that is going on at all times." 

"It's OK to be a control freak". 

"Fire and hire faster. Don't tolerate mediocrity." 

"I want my employees to do what I say, not what they think." 

You are starting to get the picture, right?

On the other end of the scale Josh Bernoff's latest book "Empowered" says the opposite:

"Your company is not and cannot be nimble enough to serve them. With our established processes and departmental boundaries, you move too slowly."

"To succeed with empowered customers, you must empower your employees to solve customer problems."

The ideas don't come from management:  management's new job is to support and empower employees."

Both books were published during the past year.  How can both modern business books punt two opposing points of view and both be right?

On moral grounds the principles of empowering employees and unleashing collective creativity for the greater corporate good sound like a good idea.  

From my small business experience I tend to understand the authoritarian stance.  Even if there are cheques in the cheque book, you cannot write them if there is no money in the bank.

So, like so often the case, is the truth not somewhere in the middle?  Experience has taught me:

1. Train and mentor employees to deliver great service, BUT stay close to your valued client.  Staff come and go and as business owner, the client remains YOUR customer.
   
   
2. Empower, but do not abdicate. Once a clearly defined task has been delegated, check in to gauge progress. Follow up afterwards to measure success and to give feedback, thanks or rewards. My business associate Cathy is a proponent of checklists. I am a fan of our internal project management system. The secret lies in clear instructions.
   
   
3. A small business has less leeway than a larger organization.  Each employee in a small business sits directly on the profit line and the business can ill afford the luxury of learning from mistakes. Social media and social networks expose our businesses daily, and everyone has a direct line to almost everyone except the most untouchable deity.
   
   While this connected world offers vast business potential that HAS to be harnessed within a clear policy, agreed use and measurable outcomes,  social media is an emerging technology that requires time to mature. A small business does not have the flexibility of allocating staff to research trial and error in a new media world.  Hire an expert and pay for results.

Although I do not particularly subscribe to the authoritarian language in Cloutier's book, he is very clear in what he believes.  Simply put, if we are not in business to generate profit, our energies are best utilized in a different environment than the world of hard commerce.

On the other hand, although I do not believe that Bernhoff's book was born from the school of hard business knocks, we have to acknowledge that this millennium is giving birth to a generation of Internet-connected employees and customers who are changing the world - one click at a time. Ignoring this emerging force is business suicide.

What do you think?  Share your comments here and let's continue the discussion...

8 Tips: Listening as a Marketing Strategy

What a scramble to get on the social media bus - we tweet, update statuses, blog, comment and create. However, it is generally accepted that listening is the most effective social media marketing strategy. Here are some ideas for keeping your ear to the ground...

1. Eavesdropping on Twitter - Twitter Search

Twitter Search is ideal for finding out what is being said. No Twitter account is needed - just enter the search term in the search window on twitter.com to find out what others are saying about your topic.

2. Follow #Hash Tags & Monitor Search Terms

The so-called “hash-tag” that prefaces certain terms clusters conversations that include this tag on Twitter as belonging together. At conferences hash-tagged phrases often spring up spontaneously (such as #TedX) to cluster anything being said about this event.

A recent fun example was #doyletweets and #doylequotes, used to tweet about the Republic of Doyle. Doyle fans would tweet comments out about the episode while watching - a search of #doyletweets lets you in on the conversation.

Find a community that talks about topics you are interested in. Twitter Search will point you in the right direction. If you use a tool such as TweetDeck, set up columns for your favourite search terms or hash tags. One of mine is the town of Twillingate - every time there is a Tweet about "Twillingate", it is picked up in my "Search: Twillingate" column. This morning I was saved a speeding fine by a kind tweeter alerting me to a speed trap along the way #Twillingate. Catch negative comments about your business quickly and respond, or pick up on a business opportunity and follow the lead.

3. Follow Industry Leaders

Another technique for listening in on my favourite topics, is to search for authors of my favourite business books on Twitter. A few of my favourite Tweeps are authors @shelisrael (Twitterville), @tompeters (Thriving on Chaos), @anthonyrobbins (Unlimited Power) and @charleneli (Groundswell). Add a comment to share yours...

4. Plug into the Local Community

In our local tourism industry you may want to eavesdrop on what @nltweets (Dpt. of Tourism), @centralNL (Central Destination Marketing Organization) or @DestinationSJ (Destination St. John’s) are saying. Visit their pages (twitter.com/nltweets etc.) if you do not have a Twitter account, or follow them once you are logged in.

Follow @ryansnoddon to get the local weather report even before the weather office does! Each community has its tweet elite.

5. Follow the buzz on Facebook, YouTube or Linkedin

You have a Facebook page for your business? Great! So, what is more important… what you are saying or what “they” are posting? Comments and contributions from others become gold in your research. Why spend millions on research if you could merely eavesdrop on the conversation in your community. Here are some ways to engage your audience...

Have you ever searched for topics of interest on Facebook or Linkedin? Pages and groups reveal much through the conversation that is happening. Outsider comments on your own blog posts or photos are equally useful. While creating content is a good start, engagement and conversation are invaluable. It takes good fuel to start a fire - ask open-ended questions or throw out a provocative statement.

6. Get Google Alerts

Heard of Google Alerts? Let Google do the listening for you... Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. It is as simple as going to Google Alerts once you have logged into your Gmail account and entering the words or phrases you wish to monitor. A regular report will be delivered into your email account. Want to be alerted when something is said about your business or product? Set up an alert - Google sends be a daily email about where the phrase Digital Daisy is used on the Internet.

7. Keep Your Eye on Your Web Stats

A place with much hidden treasure is often overlooked. If a web site has stats such as Google Analytics, you can most likely see from those stats, which words were typed into search engines to bring them to your site. This provides an indication of what potential customers are looking for.

8. Listening to the gurus

Even though I facilitate online marketing workshops and develop strategies for clients, I never fail to learn something new when attending someone else’s workshops. Listening to others in your field of business – a workshop, a conference, a mastermind group or simply a phone call can provide great market research. "Two ears, one yapper" someone recently tweeted... for good reason.

7 Essential Social Media Instincts for Small Businesses

Small business owners see both the opportunity in social media and at the same time grapple with a successful strategy for using it. I found this useful article by Rohit Bhargava that captures solutions well.

Rohit says "being good with social media has very little to do with your technical ability." (big relief eh!) Essentially he makes these points - please read his full post for the entire picture...

1. Be conversational
2. Listen and respond
3. Proactively comment and share
4. Use questions in stead of statements
5. Find groups and participate with those who share your passion
6. Complement social media by meeting people - there is no substitute for knowing people in person
7. Invoke good karma by genuinely helping, supporting and sharing with others

To this I would add: Find your topic and style and stick to it. This is a way to create followers that are loyal because they know what to expect from you - just like a good friend would.

I recommend Rohit's Influential Marketing blog for information about online marketing that is actually useful to business owners.

5 Things to Know About Social Media

The November edition of Profit Magazine has a wealth of tips and information for the small business owner. One article in particular, fits right within Digital Daisy's domain: 5 things to know about social media. Here is an extract from the article that contains perspectives from Jess Sloss, a Vancouver social media strategist:

1. You're probably doing it already - off line

The small businesses that really get social media are the ones who are already doing it (off line). These are the people who are already active in their communities and active in their networking efforts - it's just an online extension of this, and another way of connecting to people.

2. You don't personally have to be "on" 24/7

If you can't maintain your social networking messages on a daily basis, use the tools available that let you be more effective, such as batch processing, which allows you to schedule events ahead of time.

3. It's just another element of marketing

You still need all the basic tenets of marketing: knowing who your potential customers are, the position you have in the market - nothing changes. This can help focus your efforts on the networks your customers are most likely to be on, whether that's Facebook, Twitter or popular youth sites like myYearbook.

4. Don't blow your budget

You can get into social media marketing on a shoestring - most of the tools and sites are free, which is a boon for micro-businesses and sole-proprietors. The trade-off of course, is your time. For companies that can't dedicate marketing staff to manage blog messages or reply to social media site feedback, take a lesson from busy celebrities and outsource or assemble a social networking team. Many of those high-profile tweets and blogs - fro Britney to Obama - are written by trusted staff.

5. It works if you can be yourself

The two things that can make you fail are fear and not being yourself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fewer than 3 in 10 small businesses (28%) are using social networking to promote their business, according to a 2009 Harris/Decima survey for BMO. Only 18% use these sites to sell their products, and 14% are using them to test new ideas.