If you are a regular visitor to our blog, this post might be a little basic. But we know that more than 70% of our visitors are here for the first time. We also know many of those readers are just starting to use social media for business, so today’s post covers some of the questions we get asked over and over again.

Do I need to be active on all the social networks?

While it is good to have a presence, it is hard for most small business owners to maintain active profiles and run their business. Or suggestion: pick one network and do it really well. If you have the time or energy, add others as you master each one.

Which network should you focus on? It depends on your business:

Facebook and to a less extent Pinterest make sense for consumer products and retail establishments.  In contrast, Twitter is perfect for restaurants and entertainment venues. Professional services should probably concentrate on developing a strong network on LinkedIn.

Which network will help me achieve my goals? Is your goal attracting new clients, strengthening bonds with existing clients, or building a reputation as a subject matter expert?

Facebook is where your friends hang out. Without a solid customer or contact sphere, it will be hard to launch a succesful business page without some investment in advertising. This platform is at its best helping you connect with and strengthen relationships with existing clients.

Twitter is a terrific place to expand your circle since there are few restrictions on who you can follow and talk to. Of course, you have to say something of value if you want people to talk back.

Where is the best place to share media?

Facebook’s’ new Timeline feature makes it an ideal place to share photos, photos and more photos. Twitter is all about the words. If you write good blog posts with snappy titles, be sure to share them here. LinkedIn doesn’t need as many updates, but when you jump in, make your updates count by sharing your best content.

For most small business owners, an average of 30 minutes a day should suffice. This is less time than you waste driving to the coffee shop, and the pay off is much better. Just be sure you use your time well. Follow the 80/20 rule: Spend 80% of your time responding, liking and talking to others. Spend 20% on your own status updates

Free UpdatesEmail:

Fact: The Internet is filled with jerks. The anonymity and the faceless nature of the Internet seems to unleash something deep inside people. They’ll spew venom and hate about everything from the most trivial (your favorite TV show, for example) to the most important (politics and religion) to the most personal (you, your business, your profession). They’ll post things that are flagrantly untrue, hurtful or just foul and full of profanity and lies. And just as it’s easy for them to pound out a scathing attack on something you hold dear, it’s incredibly tempting to sit down and immediately pound out a devestating counter attack.

Don’t. Stop. Wait.

Why? Because if you let that flaming response fly, you might wind up looking just like the owner of Boner’s Barbeque, who posted a profanity-laced tirade against a customer who left a negative Yelp! review, complete with a photo of the customer in question. The company instantly became an Internet laughing stock, the poster child for how not to deal with customer service issues on social media. But the problem goes far beyond customer service: it goes to the heart of how we see people and interact with them in the digital world. Because we can’t hear their voice or look into their eyes, we suddenly give ourselves license to say and do things we would never, ever do in the physical world. So the next time you’re faced with a blog post or social media comment that makes your blood boil for any reason, follow these simple steps:

1. Remember, it’s just the Internet. I know this runs counter-intuitive to a digital marketing company that makes its living selling people on the importance of the Internet, but at the end of the day, one negative comment isn’t going to sink you. What might, however, is your response. Remember: it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

2. Weigh the pros and cons of responding. If someone has written a negative review or comment about your business, you need to respond quickly and helpfully, without anger. However, the whole issue gets a lot more complicated when you just read a blog post that pisses you off something fierce and you just HAVE to show the other person how wrong they are.

Before you hit “reply,” stop and think about what leaving that comment will really accomplish. Is it going to reflect well on you? Is there actually any chance that it might persuade someone to change their view? Is it going to help you get new business? If the answer is “no” to all of these questions, ask yourself what you’d really be accomplishing by responding, besides making yourself feel better.

3. Give it a positive spin. If you must respond to a negative blog post, be better than your opposition. That is, don’t respond with a relentlessly negative attack from which no one walks away unscathed. Instead, look at the post for lessons, and respond to them in a positive way.

Recently, an Indianapolis business owner came to me for advice on dealing with a blog post about his industry that made him furious. I encouraged him to take what made him mad about that post and turn it into an educational, positive post for his clients. Transform someone else’s hatred into something useful, and you’ve truly won the day.

Remember: Breathe. Stay cool. Recognize that arguing on the Internet rarely ends well, and you’ll keep your online reputation on course.

It doesn’t matter what you say about me as long as you spell my name right. That was the long held belief of many advertising and PR pros. It assumed people don’t remember the details, just your name. I saw this in practice 11 years ago when I was at Conseco. As we slid into bankruptcy, there were countless news articles describing the mismanagement of the company in great detail. While our agents noticed, consumers seemed to be oblivious. They just  heard the name over and over again and remembered us.

The Shane Company has the most annoying but recognizable commercials. The sound of the owner’s voice is like nails on a chalk board. As soon as I hear it, I switch stations.  I do, however, remember the Shane Company.

And in the realm of social media, there is  Tod Esquivel, AKA IndyFitBrides, IndyFitGrooms, IndyFitKids, IndyBootCamps, IndysBiggestLoser, IndyFitMoms and IndyFitSeniors, just to name a few. He is also known as IndyFitGolf, IndyFitBowling, IndyFitRowing, IndyFitPolice, and Indy FitFirefighters. In all, I found 57 different Twitter accounts.

He follows everyone he can from all of his accounts on Facebook and Twitter. His recent expansion to Foursquare and LinkedIn was really annoying as he spammed many of us with 5, 6 or even 10 separate invitations to connect. While local social media pros ignore, unfollow, and block his tweets, we know his name. He is the butt of many jokes, but  his accounts have followers, and some even have interaction.

So the question is this: Is this unsuccessful marketing if people remember your name? 

In my opinion, it is unsuccessful:

• He has spread himself so thin, none of the accounts are well-developed, with strong followings. If he allocated just half the time he spends dreaming up new accounts to making his primary one more interesting, he would be a social media powerhouse.
• Most of his accounts have low or non-existent Klout, and even his primary account is still below 40, indicating little or no influence.
• In addition, he has created so much negative energy around his brand, he is missing the opportunity to leverage the support of the Indy social community, which is, for the most part a generous and supportive group.
• His strategy on LinkedIn was in direct violation of their terms of service and his accounts were shut down. Reports have also been made to Foursquare for his violation of their TOS too.

What should he do?

• Todd needs one social media account for each network. There is no reason to have dozens of dummy accounts all supporting the  same business. It’s divides his potential audience, wastes time and provides limited results.
• He needs to blog. According to Hubspot companies that blog get 55% more web traffic and 70% more leads than those that don’t. Tod could dramatically increase his sales opportunities if he would eliminate most of his accounts and use his spare time generating content for his website in the form of a blog. Writing fitness tips for policemen, firemen, golfers, fishers, racers, tennis players, seniors, moms, dads, grooms, brides, and horseback riders would fill a years worth of blog posts and deliver measurable SEO benefits.

I am sure that Tod is a nice guy, but I would rather be fat than follow IndyFitAnything.

Twitter bios are an interesting view into what is really important to someone.  In 140 characters or less you have a chance to tell people who you are, what kind of information you share, and who you want meet.

Complete strangers read your bio and decide whether they do or don’t want to follow you.  So what do you say?  Who are you?

While I had a pretty clear handle on @roundpeg’s bio – Passionate about small business marketing, social media and building a vibrant local economy I wasn’t sure how I wanted to describe @LorraineBall.  I spent some time checking out bios for inspiration as I wrote a new one for  me.  Here is a random sample of what was in my twitter stream. Who would you follow?

I liked Laura Fishers bio because she tells me what she is interested in.  I imagine she picks up a lot of followers who are interested in sustainable products.  I think she misses the mark by wasting characters  on the link to her etsy shop.  I would rather know more about her.

Kellie Smith really makes every word count.  You know about her professionally and personally.  You also get a feel for her sense of humor.   When I read this, I want to know more.

Hope Baugh has two on line identities. She uses part of each bio to direct you to the other one. Like @BaiseBeige, I think this may be a waste of precious characters.  I would rather she use just the words to describe this account and occasionally cross tweet between the accounts to move followers to other topics of interest.

I also think she has overused the hashtags in her bio to the point it is hard to figure out what she is really passionate about.  That being said I do love her theater reviews.

If you know Jason Falls, you know he is direct and to the point and so is his bio.  Of course he has the luxury of a solid fan base.  I know this wasn’t the bio he used when he first started.   But I like it, because it has just enough attitude to make me curious about what else he has to say

Jenn Lisak doesn’t waste words either.  The bio is a broad list of her interests.  The “/” between each one rather then a “,” sends a subtle message that she is a techy.

So what did I learn after reading these and hundreds of other bios? Be sure you focus on what interests you, what you write about, and don’t be afraid to let a bit of your personality come through.

And after reading all of these what did I decide? Who is Lorraine Ball?

Lorraine is part of the Indianapolis Social Media team @roundpeg

Twitter has Klout, Facebook has insights, and G+ now has Social Statistics.  Google+ Statistics track the top 100 users and the most popular posts on Google+.

It also gives you your relative position in the Google+ universe.  As of this writing I am around 18,948 out of the  870,000 profiles they are tracking.  I am not really sure what that means, but they do offer a nice little badge I can put on this post to proudly proclaim my status.

I don’t really need another measure and I am not interested in the top users.  They tend to be celebrities who aren’t really all that interesting, but don’t write off Social Statistics yet.  The popular posts are cool.  It is kind of like Digg meets twitter.

Dropping in from time to time, I can view a list of the posts getting the most +’s.  Since I currently follow a very small community, it is likely I would miss much of this content. True, there is the usual assortment of porn, and photos of whatever Paris Hilton is doing with her dog.  However, there are really some really interesting posts reaching the top as well.

For a small business owner looking to get their feet wet in the waters of Google+, the latest social media network, this is a great way to find interesting posts and people.

As a firm specializing in social media, Roundpeg of Indianapolis is always checking out the latest tools and tricks. Do you have a favorite? Share it here.

Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. YouTube. Google+. StumbleUpon. Digg. These are some of the most popular social networks today, and many social media experts will tell clients that they need to be on all of them. Right away. Right now. No excuses, get on all those networks today. You can’t miss out on the SEO, SEM, client conversation benefits.

Maybe that’s true for huge corporations, but when you’re dealing with a small business owner stretched to the max, that list just sounds exhausting. It sounds like another impossible wishlist to add to an already groaning list of things to do one day, someday, when you have some time. Think about it: if you’re an average small business owner with one hour a week to devote to social media and you’re trying to be on all seven of those networks listed above, you only have 8.5 minutes every week for each network. There is no possible way to be successful on every social network in 8.5 minutes a week.

But you can be successful on many networks in 60 minutes a week. So let me absolve you of your guilt: you don’t have to be on all of those networks. Not all at once, not right away, maybe not ever. It is far better to focus all your time and attention on one network and make that space the best it can be, a true gathering place for customers and others in your industry, than to stretch yourself thin over seven networks and not make an impression on any of them.

When we tell clients this, they act like we’ve handed them a gift. We’ve given them permission to be human, permission to focus on just one aspect of social media and work at it tenaciously until they’ve built something great that contributes back to their business. For consumer oriented businesses, maybe that’s building an amazing community on Facebook. For business-to-business brands, that might be an excellent LinkedIn page where you focus on making new industry contacts. And on and on.

The bottom line is, you don’t need to be everywhere–you just need to be where your customers are. Find out where your critical mass of customers is and focus your attention there instead of trying to be all things to all people. Make the most of your time and resources and build one great thing instead of seven mediocre somethings. So you have permission. Go do something great.

As a confirmed networking junkie, I was always looking for my next fix. When I found LinkedIn, several years ago, with it’s emphasis on career history, educational background and association membership it seemed like a great fit.   It is a supercharged version of my address book, but by itself it isn’t interactive enough to feed my need to connect.

I always believed the real power of LinkedIn is in the ability to see who knows who, but it wasn’t much of a conversation tool.  I could introduce people or exchange an email, but it wasn’t convenient to keep logging in, so I quickly moved conversations elsewhere.

Then Amber Naslund, who I follow on Twitter, posted her LinkedIn profile and invited her followers to connect, and it all made sense.  Combining the platforms makes each more valuable.  Twitter allows me to chat with people efficiently.  As long as I keep it to 140 characters, I can share information, humor, insights and ideas.    Adding the connection via LinkedIn gives me a broader more detailed introduction.

I still don’t think it will replace face-to-face interaction, but it can give traditional networking an extra buzz.  The key is cross pollination. Bring your contacts across platforms, using the best tool for the best purpose.  Interested in testing the idea?  I am on Twitter as @lorraineball and you can find me on LinkedIn too.

Roundpeg, an Indianapolis social media firm helps our clients develop strategies to use LinkedIn as part of their marketing mix.

When @MiniPeg ( my daughter Michelle) was growing up one of her favorite books was Orlando’s Little-While Friends. As we moved from Dallas to Indianapolis, the simple premise of being open to making new friends wherever you are helped ease the transition.

I stumbled across a copy of the book recently, and I realized the author’s advice made equally good sense to people just beginning their journey into the world of Twitter. As Orlando’s family sets out in their super-shiny-travel-anywhere van he is afraid he won’t find anyone to play with along the way.  With encouragement from his parents, he discovers it is pretty easy to make “little-while” friends if you just say hello.

The same is true for social media. Watching the public stream on Twitter or discussion groups on sites like Smaller Indiana is a lot like sitting on a bench at a playground. Be like Orlando, jump in, say hello, make a new friend.  Add a comment, or simply respond to a post by someone you want to get to know.  You will be surprised how siimple it is to make the connection.

Orlando’s story ends as he returns home and discovers that one of his little-while friends has moved in next door.  The lesson is simple - don’t leave the conversations on Twitter.  Look for ways to connect off line as well.  Attend meet ups or create your own by setting coffee dates with people you would like to get to know better.  If you are part of the Indianapolis Social Media community drop by Hubbard and Craven any week day. You are sure to see a few of your little-while friends.

After almost four years of activity on social media, I have made hundreds, of little-while friends, and more then a few have become long time friends too!

Today’s guest post is by Vicki Bohlsen the president of Bohlsen PR.  Her topic:  The RFP and how tot participate in the process in a way which helps you determine if the project is right for you. 

Would you take a job without meeting your new boss?

I’m sure you’ve participated in the RFP (Request for Proposal) debate. To answer them or not, that is the question.  I know people say they would never an answer an RFP, and I know people who search them out like black jelly beans and answer any and all they can find. I’m probably somewhere in the middle. I’m of the belief that I would never hire someone from just their resume, and that a company shouldn’t hire a vendor just from a proposal.

About a year and a half ago, I had my first opportunity to write an RFP for my own company. We were trying to identify the best website developer for the creation of the BohlsenPR website. It was a lot of fun to approach it in the way I wish all RFP processes would play out – with inclusivity, two-way communication and objectivity.

1. We decided to invite a few people/companies we identified as a potential fit, but we also let it be known that we would accept other proposals from individuals/companies that wanted to participate. Our ultimate goal was to find the best fit for us.

We invited five companies, and we received 11 proposals when all was said and done

2. We gave people the opportunity to ask questions at various times throughout the submission period by offering several open-call times.

 Seven of the eleven companies submitting proposals called and asked questions during these time periods or at arranged times. Several email communications went out reminding those submitting – or wanting to submit – that we’d be happy to provide additional information and answer questions.

 3. As the proposals came in, we had an intern make them unidentifiable. No staff saw a proposal with the submitter’s name during the initial review.

 We did not want to be swayed/influenced by the company’s name or reputation; rather, we wanted to be impacted by the content in the submitter’s proposal.

 4. Two people from the company were given the task of reviewing each and every proposal with a well-defined criteria and ranking system. Each proposal was given at least an hour’s review in which detailed notes were taken. This committee narrowed the field down to three before I even saw them, and only then did we know who the finalists were.

 Then, during deep discussion, we narrowed it down to two and had a one-on-one meeting with each submitter. Ultimately, it was not a simple decision, but having met each company and the person who would act as lead on the account helped us to make a decision.

 5. We provided feedback to the 10 other people/companies who so generously took the time to answer the RFP, letting them know who we chose and why we did not choose them.

We got very positive feedback from most of the companies that did not get the job, thanking us for taking the time to provide the feedback that would be useful for them in their next RFP process.   I don’t know if there is a perfect process for hiring anyone for anything, but this RFP approach seemed as fair as possible – and we even made some new friends along the way.   Now when determining if it makes sense for our company to answer an RFP, I ask myself these questions:

 1.Are we a fit for what is being asked?

2. Can we get more information throughout the process so we can provide the best possible presentation of who we are and how we can meet the client’s needs?

3. Can we do exceptional work for this client?

4. Do they want us to submit a proposal?

5. Do they understand who we are and what we do?

6. Will we learn something from the process, even if we don’t get the gig?

 If I find myself saying, “They’d be foolish not to hire us,” I can assure you we will be submitting a proposal. Just as they need to feel strongly about who they hire, we need to be just as certain. You wouldn’t take a job without meeting your new boss, would you?

Vicki Bohlsen, the President of Bohlsen PR has more than 20 years’ experience in corporate and non-profit media relations and marketing. This includes national and local media placements and the relationships that facilitate them, and expertise in broadcast production, crisis management and media spokesperson training.

Twitter is maturing as a marketing tool. Today, savvy business owners know they can do more then just blast micro marketing messages across the platform. Many traditional marketing strategies can be applied to this medium with only minor adjustments.  For example, consider the contest or giveaway. A long standing way to build awareness of a brand, new product or service, contests can be easily run through twitter.  And for small business owners with a limited budget, this is a wonderfully inexpensive way to build awareness.

But before you dive in, Zach Cole of Edelman Digital has a few tips on how to insure the results you hope for.  He suggests that you :

1.    Check twitter’s rules and guidelines.
2.    Define the rules of your contest clearly.  Remember you are promoting this in increments of 140 characters, if you make it complex, no one will play.
3.    Plan to measure the results.  Put the tools in place before you start the campaign.
4.    Announce the winners and promote them.
5.    Use the data you have collected in future campaigns.  The contest is not the end in itself.  Use what you learn to connect with prospects, then find ways to keep them engaged.

Have you run twitter contests?  We would love to hear about your success.