Over the last few years, we have seen an explosion of social media activity among our small business clients. Were they unique or was this part of a larger trend? We wanted to know, so we looked for exsisting research.

However, we were frustrated by the lack of information available on how small businesses  were using social media. So we got active and conducted our own studies, compiling and sharing the results in a series of white papers.

Past studies have looked at how the size of the company, gender of the owner and the industry in which the company operated played a role in how they used social media. This year our study has been expanded to include new networks like Google+ and Pinterest, and more questions about budgets and results.  We are looking forward to comparing the results to the previous study to see how things have changed.

We need your help! Please take a few minutes to answer the questions and tell us how your company is using social media.

Ready to get started?  Take the survey now! 

This week, I will be in Seattle on Tuesday and Columbus, Ohio on Friday talking with business owners and recruiting professionals about social media. While the general themes will be the same, there will be some distinct differences in my presentations.

In Seattle, I will be talking with HVAC contractors. For this group, I am going to focus on Facebook as a means of driving traffic to their primary website. Strategies for them include short videos of technicians introducing themselves, and interviews with customers. For the contractors who focus on remodeling, I am going to also encourage them to consider creating Pinterest boards of dream kitchens and dream baths.

In contrast, my group on Friday will be comprised of staffing professionals. Like the contractors, Facebook will  be important to their marketing efforts. Their primary objective will be to encourage applicants to view their job listings.    For this audience, I am going to suggest alternating between information on specific jobs and short tips on  interviewing techniques. For their secondary platform, I am going to suggest this group build a strong presence on LinkedIn. At its core, that network is definitely about finding your next job or your next employee.

When I get an invitation to speak, it is almost always about social media. But social media has become a very broad topic, and what is relevant to one group is not to another. It is no longer a one size fits all topic, just as there isn’t a one size fits all approach to using the tools to build a business.

It comes down to: What’s In Your Social Media Stew?

The Roundpeg blog is four years old. In that time, the blog has evolved and expanded, partially because my writing style has changed (although Allison will argue my use of commas hasn’t) and partially because I have added other voices to the mix.

This was not my first blog. Indy-Biz.com and LorraineBall.com both preceded it. With Indy-Biz for local news and LorraineBall as an outlet for my humor and occasional rant, Business Notes from Roundpeg was a “serious” business blog.  It was filled with checklists and links to informative articles. The tone was formal and the content was solid. Unfortunately, it was a little dry and kind of dull, like reading a textbook.

I started reading lots of blogs on marketing, social media, web and graphic design and  technology. The ones I returned to over and over again blended information and personality. While they often included formulaic  lists (10 ways to do anything) they did it in an engaging way, which held my interest. I started to copy that style as I worked on my voice.

It took me a while to get comfortable letting my personality come through my writing. Once I did, I no longer needed to maintain a separate blog for my rants. If something  is wrong, I share it here, always looking for the lesson to make it relevant to my readers. The posts were easier and more fun to write. And the more of “me” I let come through the blog, the more popular it became.

Adding guest posts and features from the entire Roundpeg crew expands our voice, allowing us to offer something for everyone. It also  means I don’t have to write as often. While I miss the challenge of creating something new every day, it is nice to take a few days on a post if I really want it to be memorable.

The informal voice may not be right for everyone. Lawyers and accountants may struggle more to find the balance.  The key is to find a style which is natural for you.

I learned a long time ago, if you want to be successful you need to surround yourself with people who don’t think the same way you do and who are good at the things you aren’t. If you are very lucky you will find someone who cares enough to disagree with you.

I am very lucky, because I found Allison.

She argues with me, she asks pointed questions, she corrects my grammar and spelling, and tells me when I screw up. As annoying as that is, I can’t imagine life at Roundpeg without her.

Allison loves structure and routine, so when I suggest something new, some change in our operating strategy or new software, I can always count on her to ask the tough questions and point out the flaws. This is not to say she is unsupportive, just cautious. While I can get her to change with enough prodding, more often then not, she has saved me from rushing off in the wrong direction.

She would rather write a note than talk on the phone and she hates big networking events. How could I possibly hire someone who dislikes big networking events? But she doesn’t like them. That doesn’t mean she is without a network. Through social media, G-Chats, and intimate events, Allison has built a solid power circle, which rivals any of my networks. She just did it in her own way.

But we don’t disagree on everything. We share a common love for animals. While she will insist bringing home Maybee was my idea, I distinctly remember her singing a chorus from the song “Maybe” from the musical Annie until I gave in. (She sings better then I do, too.)

We share an off beat sense of humor, an addiction to Diet Coke, a love of art, theater and Project Runway. Most of all, we share a passion for what we do. We argue about what we believe is in the best interest of our clients and Roundpeg. The result is usually a better idea then either of us would have had on our own.

Did I mention how very lucky I am, that Allison is one of the Faces of Roundpeg

Stumped for blog content? Think about the questions your customers ask you again and again. These FAQs are a great source of blog content. Typically, companies create a page of FAQs. While this is helpful, you are missing out on the SEO benefit of this content.

According to Michael Gray putting one question on a page or post works much better. He says:

Unless your questions and answers are very short, ideally you want to create a single page optimized for each question, this gives you the ability to create narrowly focused posts around specific keyword phrases that will rank better and drive more traffic.

Some of these posts may be very short or not as popular as other.  That is fine you can create a summary post like we did for Randall Beans, with links to each question.  Another strategy is to create a custom search. This will work if you are using a custom menu which allows you to link the search to the navigation bar.

How to get started? The next time you find yourself answering a question in an email, stop. Is this something other people will find valuable? If so, you have the makings of a blog post.

Dr. Greg of Leo’s Pet Care used this strategy recently. We were talking about treatment alternatives for our office kitty, Maybee. He researched and wrote a post about her condition. I read the article before I went to see him, so I was more prepared for the conversation. And the next time he is asked about this issue, Dr. Greg can simply send the link.

Do you have FAQs?  Do you have the answers written down? If so, you have great content for your next few blog posts.

Roundpeg, an Indianapolis social media firm, helps our clients construct blog calendars, brainstorm content to keep their readers coming back.

In the startup community, funding is all the craze. But what if you could build a business from scratch? What if you didn’t sell equity in the early stages? Could the business grow? Have businesses been built like this? It can, and they have. There exists a rare breed of entrepreneur, one who has what it takes to create a self-funded company—bootstrapped—and build it into a blue chip company.

Join us for today’s episode of More than a Few Words as we talk to Nick Carter about his experiences growing his firm AddressTwo as an “unfunded” venture.

Do you have any comments or questions? Call in during the show at (805) 285 -9865 or drop us a comment on Twitter.  Direct the comment to @roundpeg or use the hashtag #MTFW so we are sure to see your remarks.

The call will be live from 10:30 – 11:00 today, Wednesday,  February 1. You will be able to listen to the program from our station on BlogTalkRadio.com.

About our Guest:

Nick Carter is the creator and president of AddressTwo, a software company that provides small businesses with tools and processes to manage their sales and marketing. Staring his first business at the age of 16, Nick is truly an entrepreneur at heart. As a true farm boy, Nick has a rich heritage in entrepreneurship and a firm understanding of hard work.

Nick is the author of “Unfunded,” which teaches entrepreneurs to start a business without seeking venture capital. He has recruited, trained, and managed large sales teams, ran a sought-after creative agency, and is now leading his once-small startup on a nation-wide expansion.

We write one or two posts a day for our blog. Some of them attract lots of traffic comments and interaction, others come and go, mostly unnoticed. Why? Sometimes a title is particularly catchy, other times it is the topic itself that generates a response.

But many times, our content is lost in the overwhelming sea of information. There are too many posts by too many interesting writers, too much noise on social channels or we didn’t work hard enough that day to break through.

It is frustrating, because some of my favorite posts are overlooked. That is why I really like Tweet Old Post , a WordPress Plugin. This tool  randomly picks your older post based and shares them on Twitter. Here is what I really like about the tool:

Features:

You can specify the interval. I have it set so the interval between posts is at least 8 hours, but may be as much as 10. So we typically share 2 – 3 old posts each day. Since the time is random, I hit a wide range of followers with the content.

Post Age:

You can specify the age of the post. Since I use this to re-engage people with older content, I have it set for posts older then 90 days.  This takes visitors deeper into our website. Often, they leave comments which refreshes the page for search engines. I also set the time limit for no posts older then two years, because much of that content is no longer relevant.

Categories:

Certain posts about events and time-sensitive comments  can be omitted, so the reader doesn’t feel like they have wasted their time following the link.

We have used this plug in for about six months and have been really pleased with the results. We have seen many of our old posts get a second chance to shine, with comments and retweets. I would strongly recommend installing this WordPress plugin on any blog with more than one year’s worth of content.

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is MASH. I loved all the characters of the quirky, somewhat political comedy. In the eleven years the show was on the air, many of the cast came and went. The writers and the director made a deliberate decision not to simply shove another actor into the same role. When a cast member left, they used it as an opportunity to take the show in a new direction.

The same is true of Roundpeg. In our ten years in business, team members have come and gone. The hardest thing to learn was that I couldn’t cast a new member in the same role. Each new person redefined the job around their skills and talents. While the essence of Roundpeg has remained the same, the company has evolved as a result of their influence.

These days, we have some new characters in our cast. Jenna Giles sits at the Art Director’s desk. While she has the same art degree as her predecessor Taylor, she definitely has her own style. In between designing logos and graphics for clients, she has been organizing our servers and files, shopping for pet fashions and teaching the cats stupid pet tricks.  Jenna  is passionate about her designs and comfortable explaining her concepts to clients, which has allowed me to spend more time looking for new projects.

We knew we had to hire Peter Wolfgram when Maybee drank his water and crawled into his lap during the interview.  Most afternoons you can still find her sitting there. As our production artist, Peter brings a calm center to the chaos that is Roundpeg.  He rolls his eyes ever so slightly when we suggest something he thinks is a dumb idea, you have to be paying attention to catch it. And when he is not designing, he  finds the most obscure and interesting links to share on Twitter. If you don’t follow him @pwolfgram, you should.

Some things haven’t changed. Roundpeg is still a quirky, productive place, filled with laughter, animals, and dining adventures.  It is however, a bit more polished, more professional and more grown up thanks to our newest cast members.   And with this new cast, I expect to run for quite a few more seasons.

Do you have an idea for a great blog post?   Today I am going to suggest you think about the numbers to help make it successful.

1.   Word Count – Finding a balance is tough. Posts that are too long (1,000 words or more) lose all but the most committed readers before the end.  Posts that are too short (less than 250 words) don’t offer enough content or key word density to attract the attention of the search engines.

So what’s the magic number? I typically shoot for between 300 – 500 words. I don’t let word count drive my post, but a quick look at the number in the lower left hand corner of my screen keeps me on track. Too long, I probably have a second post in the works. Too short, I might need to do a bit  of research on to expand this topic. ( More on this topic from ProBlogger) 

2.   Length of the Title  - Keeping your title under 70 characters has two key benefits. First, it is easier to share the title with a link on Twitter. With a limit of 140 characters, a short title and short link can easily be retweeted without losing content. Also most search engines will crop your title at 70 characters.

3.   Links in Your Post  - Internal links in your posts drive readers to other related content. External links build community by making connections to other relevant sites. But how much is too much? How little is not enough?  While SEO MOz says you can have up to 100 links on a page, this is clearly overkill for the average reader. Scribe SEO encourages you to have at least one relevant link near the top of your post.

So what is the right answer? I typically think one link per hundred words works well. It shows the post is well-connected without being overwhelming. When you add a link, be sure to include a trackback as well.

4.   Numbers in the Title – People like simple answers. The promise that you can solve their problem in just 5 easy steps is too tempting to pass up. Blog posts with numbers in the title get more traffic. Look at top social media information sites like Copyblogger and ProBlogger, and you will see titles that look like this:  5 Suggestions for…, 3 Ways to… , 7 Quick tips… The problem? I don’t often write linear posts. If there are no lists, it is hard to have a numbered title.  I won’t sacrifice a good title just to add a number. I simply use this tactic when it makes sense.

At the end of the day, none of these other tricks will make a bit of difference if you don’t offer good content. If the article isn’t well-written, thought provoking, funny or smart, no one will share the article anyway. So follow the rules if they make sense, but never let them get in the way of creating a truly great post. I actually wanted to call this post “5 strategies,” but only came up with 4 ideas, and the post was getting long.  What would you add to this list?

To do marketing well is always a challenge. To do it in a heavily regulated industry can seem impossible at times. But with a little creativity and a lot of hard work, you can overcome regulatory hurdles to create innovative marketing that gets results. We’ll be joined by Muhammad Yasin, social media strategist for HCCMIS, a travel health insurance company. Learn how you can make regulations work in your favor.

Do you have any comments or questions? Post them here or send it to us on Twitter, or call in during the show at (805) 285 -9865. Remember to use the hashtag #MTFW on Twitter, so we can find your comments during the broadcast.

The call will be live from 10:30 – 11:00 today, Wednesday,  January 18. You will be able to listen to the program from our station on BlogTalkRadio.com

Muhammad Yasin is the Social Media Strategist for an international travel medical insurance company.  His social media marketing campaigns reached over 2 million people in 2011. Muhammad’s innovative use of social media in the healthcare industry was nominated for a Mira Award in 2010 as well as being featured as a case study in the book Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day.

He was recently recognized as a Rising Star by the Indianapolis Star and by the Indianapolis social marketing community as the most influential Up and Comer of 2011.

As an evangelist for the use of social media, Muhammad Yasin regularly publishes tips at www.muhammadyasin.com as well as making appearances on the topic.