What Makes Someone Attractive?
No today’s post is not about makeovers or dating advice. It is about being attractive on line!
About a year ago, I read a post by Jim Connolly. In it he talked about Equality and Attraction. Essentially he was talking about what makes people attractive. While he was focused on internet marketing, I think his comments are relevant in many areas of marketing. He said:
You attract sales, leads and referrals by being attractive. In the online world, this means making your site or blog as valuable to your ideal profile of client / customer as possible. You do this by focusing on delivering quality and quantity.
What do you think? I think many of the same qualities which make people attractive off line make them attractive on line as well. For example -When you go to a cocktail party or networking event, take a minute and look around the room. The interesting, confident people are usually the center of attention. How does this translate to your on-line? Write interesting content and share it with confidence. – A simple post on Twitter or FriendFeed to let your followers know you have something new, then let your readers find you.
In addition to really dynamic and interesting people, the other very popular folks at any party are the good listeners. So spend some time listening as well by asking good questions if you want to be more attractive on line!
Lunch and Learn with PinpointMultimedia
My good friend Dave Anderson has asked me to be part of his Lunch and Learn program next week. The topic is social media, and I will be sharing the panel with some of my favorite local social media experts; Colin Clark, Dave Anderson and Michael Reynolds.
The event will be from 11:30 – 1:00 on December 2nd, at the Fox and Hound on 82nd Street in the Castleton Area. There is no cost to attend the informal event, but RSVP’s are requested since space is limited.
Hope to see you there, for what is sure to be a lively conversation!
Traffic is Good, But Leads are Better!!
When I worked in retail, we always looked at the traffic in the store as the first sign of what kind of day lay ahead. Lots of people, usually meant someone would be buying something!
As I work with clients, many who are not in retail businesses, I can use the measures from their internet marketing to get a feel for the “traffic” to their business.
I review with them raw traffic, page views and time on site. I can point to the number of people who viewed a particular page or blog post, track where they came from and identify the most effective ads.
The numbers are fascinating, but with all this tracking and viewing it is easy to lose track of the real object … CUSTOMERS!
Back in my retail life, there were days the store was filled with browsers who didn’t buy; sometimes the same thing happens on a website. The trick is to convert window shoppers to buyers.
Now, not every business can ” sell ” products on-line. However, every business can use their website to create leads and move prospects along the sales process.
One strategy is to offer free reports, white papers or other resources. Instead of a simple download, require visitors to provide at least an email address to receive the information. Sometimes, people will give you a bogus email address, but most people who are interested in the content provide real contact information. Now you have permission to reconnect and send follow up information to move the prospect closer to a purchase.
We have always had a sign up form for our newsletter on our website but these free offers, like the one below have been much more effective in generating interest.
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Facebook video chat? Sounds… interesting.
Written by Melinda Cooper
So before bed I always read over the news that I didn’t have time to read during the day and I came across this
Being a HUGE Facebook user for pure social reasons and still unhappy with the FB chat feature – I find myself excited yet nervous.
I was really excited when FB put the chat feature up because I could shorten all contact with relatives and people I went to high school with to even LESS than 140 words. Ha. But… when I went to use FB chat, it seems filled with gliches. It’s always sloooooow and always ‘sending my message’ and then randomly signs me offline.
For small businesses, it seems that the fastest and most reliable plug-ins, applications and software usually come out on top. Facebook chat is nice – sometimes – but for business people, it’s much easier to just open your BB or iPhone and send a text or e-mail.
And even if it gets around the connection problem by going through this other company (as the article says) – what will make it different from Skype – which is easy to use for quick video chats? Small businesses don’t have the time to deal with unreliable add-ons like Facebook chat and (probably) Facebook video chat.
So whereas I am thrilled at the IDEA of a FB video chat… seeing the disaster that is FB regular chat makes me want to just run back to Skype and AIM.
Ahhh good ol’ AOL instant messenger. Maybe I’ll even go way back and rejoin ICQ. They say all trends repeat themselves right… or is that just fashion?
What do you think? Do you think Facebook is just shooting itself in the foot? Also, on the subject on Facebook – what do you think of the new status tags?
Mistakes are Like Sand Castles
Staring at the ocean, watching the waves inch their way toward a sand castle I realized, the internet is like the ocean.
It moves on its own, while some things will hold it back, for awhile, sooner or later it erodes the barriers which hold it back and continues its path.
It is filled with life, and new organisms’ spring up all the time, while others die and are recycled into the ecosystem.
And sandcastles on the beach are like mistakes. Obviously out of place on the flat sand, they catch your attention, but if they are built too close to the water, in a day or so they have been washed away.
That was one of the key messages I took away from BlogIndiana. Mistakes happen, but with so much content being generated daily, yours will soon be forgotten. Use the mistakes to learn from, to get better, but then move on. If someone else was impacted by your mistake, apologize; make it right, but then move on.
The bottom line is the ocean of the internet will keep moving. And if you don’t want to be swept under, you need to keep swiming.
Ok, so I have played the beach metaphor out as long as I can for now. Back to work!
Even Busines Blogs are Personal
As more small and large businesses jump into business blogging their are many questions to answer regarding how is blogging different than other corporate communications. how do you modify a company brand to fit a blog. Dairy Queen is a great example of a company which has done it right.
The blog drew high praise from Karen Fleeting a corporate blogger from England who said:
Forget the budget; forget the bells and whistles. Ultimately this is a strategy that draws upon straightforward, considered tactics to generate brand awareness, engagement – and lashings of goodwill.
With regard to the layout she says:
It is easy to navigate, is regularly updated and has a personal feel – just look at the header. So many corporate blogs have the company logos stuck in the header and come off bland and dull, because they don’t have any “faces”.
Ultimately, the blog retains the brand integrity – Dairy Queen is a fun brand, and so is it’s blog! What do you think? Where do you draw the line? How much personality should you let your blog have? And do you have other good examples to share?
Seth Godin on Social Networking and Real Relationships
In this short video Seth Godin shares his opinion on the value of social media. I think he is right on when he says, “Networking ( on line or face to face) is always important when it is real and always a distraction when it is fake.”
Much of social media is fake as people who don’t know you sign up to be your friend. He drives home the point when he says “measuring your followers is like measuring hits to your website. It is nonsense”
His contention and I agree, is that the real value of social media is in the real relationships you build with people for whom you will go out of your way, and who will go out of their way for you. How many of those relationships do you have?
Moving on With Style – Doug Karr Launches DK Media
There are no rule books on how to leave a job; no clear guidelines on how to end a business relationship with class and style. But if someone wanted to write one, they should use the blog post by Doug Karr, as an example. While he is leaving his position at Compendium, it is clear he leaves on great turns terms, (it would be great if I could type) with their best wishes as he starts his new venture.
And while he will be spending less time focused on Compendium ( they will till be a client of his) he will have much more time to work on other projects – which is good news for the rest of us. At Roundpeg, we are looking forward to the official launch of DK Media and the opportunity to collaborate with Doug!
Big Connections, Big Ideas!
On a regular basis people tell me people in Indiana aren’t as cool, hip, smart or interesting as people on the coasts. And I just don’t believe it. I have found some amazing, passionate, interesting people with life changing idea, right here in Indiana. And yesterday about 275 of them gathered at the Cabaret Theater for the Inaugural Smaller Indiana, Bigger Ideas Conference.
If you were there, please share your thoughts. If you weren’t here is just a taste of what you missed with some of my favorite quotes and thoughts from the day:
Scott Massey -
- Leaders need to be four things: Scout, Knower, Witness and Conduit
- The pace of change today should change how we think about ‘change.
- If your not doing something that is bigger than you, you may be wasting your time
- And an intriguing question for Scott: What constitutes work in a concept economy?
Jenni Devoe
- Your old customers want to cast you in your old mold. Want to change the direction of your business? Change your customers!
- You’re not going to get where you envision being if you don’t first take the time to envision being there
- Dream until you die
Mark Hill
- It is about mote than ideas. It is about execution
- Wishful thinking is the enemy of execution
- People that are successful are the people that do what they say they are going to do.
- Find something you’re passionate about and you’ll never have a job
Sally Brown
- Quoting Helen Keller: Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all
- Measure your success with something other than money
- Ask yourself four questions. What can you do? What should you do? What will you do? And How will you inspire others
David Forsell
- Life is a gift
- It wasn’t that David had less to say then the other speakers, I was just so wrapped in his story, that I stopped taking notes. I hope someone else will fill in the blanks
Ken Johnson
- If you are the smartest person you know, your circle is too small
- Then mentality of low expectations is all around us – Call for greatness!
And then there was more… Jon Ketzenberger and his panel left us with a few more thoughts but I was running out of steam. My favorite from the panel discussion:
- – We don’t have to embrace fear when we have the resources to embrace innovation.
And from some of the attendees:
- Jon Speer ( @creoquality) summed up the event in three words Passion, Connect, Execute
- Mike Magan ( mikemagan) Indiana is in the early stages of a positive transformation.
And along with the speakers and the panel, were the unexpected performances from the Indianapolis Ballet Company and “Married to Magic” performers from IndyFringe.
For more, check out the Twitter Stream at @ #SIBI and www.smallerindiana.com home page for the videos when they go live in the next few days!
Real Conversations
Some of the most popular buzz words right now are “Transparency” and “Authenticity” You hear them tossed about as people talk about building your online brand. But what do they really mean? How can you be transparent and authentic and still professional.
Chris Brogan wrote a great post on this topic, with several really good suggestions. His list included:
- Be who you are, not an icon.
- Speak like a human.
- Go where the people are.
- Be ready to apologize.
- Ask about other people.
- Be helpful.
- Be there before the sale.
To his list, I would add: Be there after the sale as well. Treat your former customers as if they were your hottest prospect, and they may become one again!
