One of the most recommended marketing strategies over the last two to three years [...]]]> Last week, I talked about how to determine return on investment (ROI) for small business marketing activities. That’s somewhat easy when you’re looking at money you’ve spent vs. money that’s come in. But how do you determine the ROI of your time?

One of the most recommended marketing strategies over the last two to three years has been the use of social media and networking. This is a broad term that can include everything from blogging to creating a video for You Tube to tweeting on a regular basis. These activities can be real time eaters, particularly if you find it difficult to write or create stellar sound bites.

It also can be difficult to count the sales that actually come from these activities. If you ask most people where they’ve heard of you, you’re most likely get a vague answer of “the Internet,” if they found you through any of the social media channels.

Let’s assume that you are getting a substantial number of sales from the Internet. You have a sales page on your web site that converts your leads to sales. And, let’s say, that 10% of the people who visit your website (unique visitors) purchase a $25 item from you each month.  You’re getting 1000 hits a month. So you’re earning $2,500 a month from your web site.

Once you’ve built your web site, your costs should be negligible. If you can increase the number of people showing up at your website, you should be able to increase your sales.

The next thing you’ll need to do is assign an hourly wage to your efforts. Let’s say $50 an hour is the minimum wage you want to pay yourself for your time. Spend two hours a week on social media, and you’ve spent about $400 per month.

You’ll need to make 16 more sales a month to break even. Remember, breaking even isn’t good enough.  You’re really looking to get close to more than 100 sales a month to make the effort worth your investment.

Social media is a long term strategy. You’ll have to invest several months of time up front before you receive the results you want. Through a use of Google Analytics, analysis and careful record-keeping, you’ll be able to get an idea if your time investment is worth it!

Interested in more small business information for women entrepreneurs?  Sign up for our monthly newsletter at the upper right and receive a free report to enhance your business success!

Now for the longer answer!

1.  Your marketing plan is part of your over all business plan. Remember that marketing is letting people know about your business and how your product/service can solve their problem.  It is NOT your [...]]]> The short answer is, “Yes, you need a plan for social networking.”

Now for the longer answer!

Four Steps to Your Social Networking Plan

1.  Your marketing plan is part of your over all business plan. Remember that marketing is letting people know about your business and how your product/service can solve their problem.  It is NOT your sales plan.  During marketing you are establishing the beginning of the relationship, getting to know your target market and doing a heck of a lot of listening! What are you listening for?

• The words your target market uses when talking about their problems (these become your keywords)
• What they are saying about you, your company, your industry
• What your competitors are saying about their solution
• People who are ready to buy what you have to offer (targetted leads) — remember that this isn’t everyone.

2. Part of your marketing plan contains the specifics for your Internet Marketing effort, including your web site, blogs, social networking (or social marketing if you prefer that term). Social networking is only an aspect of your marketing, a big part these days, but still only one part of a plan. You’ll be listening online for the same types of information discussed above. And you’ll be engaging people in relationships that lead to people who are ready to buy.  That’s when the sales process begins.

3.  You’ll notice that it doesn’t seem like a lot of people are doing this.  Partially because the people who are setting up individual relationships online and doing good marketing aren’t the same people you see online pushing their sales all the time.  Successful social networkers are…well…networking!

4. Take a look at your marketing plan and leverage that information to build your social marketing plan.  Think about your target market, your unique selling proposition or value proposition, the problem you are trying to solve and your solution.  Where will you meet people who have this problem and are ready for your solution? Or where will you find those who will let others know about you? What search engine keywords or tags do you need to be found?

Was this article on social networking useful? What else do you need to know? I’m “listening” for your comments below!

I need one of those signs for my business, too.  How often do I get caught up in a new, bright shiny object?  I drop everything else to pursue, and then don’t pay attention to something I [...]]]>                                                                      There’s a sign in my garden that says, “If you give a weed an inch, it will take a yard.” 

I need one of those signs for my business, too.  How often do I get caught up in a new, bright shiny object?  I drop everything else to pursue, and then don’t pay attention to something I need to do.  Inevitably a check bounces somewhere! Or I don’t get a client I could have gotten if I was paying more attention. Or I start taking on new projects that don’t really fit my business model.

I have a business plan, just like I recommend to my clients.  I tend to adjust it every year as my business has been changing as I learn more about what women business owners need the most and in reaction to the changing economy. But the core of the business is the same: providing business support to women business owners so that they have a better rate of success. The business plan provides structure to my business. Just like my garden plan provides structure to my plants.

The same is true of my business in big and little ways. I’m putting things in motion right now to end my email newsletter and focus on this blog, Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In as my communication mediums. It will save me some expense money as I no longer need to pay for an email provider.  It will also give me more time. I find it easier to blog than write an article for the newsletter.

It’s cold and foggy here on the Central Coast. My tomato plants on the deck are [...]]]> The pelicans are returning. They fly in a vee shape, just like geese. Yet they are bizarrely pre-historic with their big gullets and crooked wings.  Makes me think that a dinasaur head will pop up over the palm tree, next. 

It’s cold and foggy here on the Central Coast. My tomato plants on the deck are struggling, but still producing flowers, but the bees must be hiding in their hives trying to stay warm. No little tomatoes are starting. The plants need the bees, as well as the soil, water and sun. Some of this dependency is mutually beneficial; the bees are getting nector after all. But not all of it is. After all, what does the sun get for putting out its rays of warmth?

The web of life is complicated. So is the Web of Business. When you tug on a string that’s in your business by creating a new system to respond to customers more promptly, you are creating a new pattern in your web.  When you help someone with no thought of getting anything back, you are expanding your business web to include new people.

I’m reading a book by Clara Shih, called the Facebook Era. In it, she talks about an experiment she participated in during a leadership course at Stanford. The essence of the result was that people rarely received help directly from the person that they had given it to.  Shih then went on to apply this concept to social networking.

As the use the new tools of Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, etc. continues to shake out, this will be the profound shift in how business is done. It’s a much more “feminine” model, if you will. Women, as a generalization, are much more in touch with the web of life than men are. And if we can apply the knowledge of the web of life to our business web, we will be able to grow our business with more ease and grace.

When Internet Marketing first burst on the scene, “bulletin boards” were the first online communities. They were often built around a single subject or [...]]]> Women have known for millenium that it’s all about relationships. From haggling for the best produce in the marketplace to network (MLM) marketing, women have been building connections to build their businesses. 

When Internet Marketing first burst on the scene, “bulletin boards” were the first online communities. They were often built around a single subject or interest. People truly related to each other on these communities. And, many still exist as present-day forums and social networking sites.

Then it became all about the numbers.  How many hits on your website? How many myspace followers do you have? Now, how many Twitter followers do you have? Then the economy turned upside down around the world. We are all a little bit at sea. How do we market and sell now?  What is social networking and how do we make it work for us?

Social networking, I believe, is the return to real relationships on the Internet. True, there are many people collecting thousands of “friends.” And many marketers are still chasing after as many dollars as they can find. There is a definite lack of relationship buiilding by many Internet marketers. 

And, it’s mostly a male-dominated field.  Yes, some women are getting it, but rarely are they collecting the numbers that someone like Guy Kawasaki (38,000+ followers on Twitter) obtains. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Because I was in the technical industry for decades, I am comfortable with new technologies. I don’t always understand them, but I usually get the general drift. I tend to be an “early adapter,” or as someone in the e-women network put it, “a geek.” (I’m not sure how I got there with a masters in theater, but that’s another story.)

And, I can usually see the big picture of what is going on.  What I see going on right now is a struggle to establish “real relationships” using Internet technology.  It’s not about selling, although that is an nice by-product, it’s about relating. It’s about understanding and connecting with other people around the globe.

Major social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are subdividing into “groups.” Niche social networking, forums, and the like are being established. People are trying to connect at a new level on the Internet.

That’s where social networking and marketing come in.  The structure is changing.  Not only will it be about who has the highest search engine rating. It will start to be about who recommends you. Just like it is when you move to a new town and are looking for a new doctor, dentist or hair-dresser.  You may start on the web to see your options, but you are going to ask people you know, like and trust for their recommendations.

And, to become someone people know, like and trust on the Internet, you will need to increase your transparency.  You will need to become a real, authentic person, warts and all, that people will want to relate to. That’s where social networking comes in.

So as you plan your 2009 marketing, put some time aside to establish a presence on the web. Consider Twitter, Facebook, blogging or podcasting. Sign up for Linked In. Explore and have fun.

Above all, be yourself!

Now I’m ready to begin again!  This time I’m going to focus on small business trends, thoughts, lessons and whatever comes into [...]]]> Welcome to the revived Wise Woman Shining Blog!  I had a blog for a long time, but discovered I was getting waayyy too political for my small business audience, so I took it down.

Now I’m ready to begin again!  This time I’m going to focus on small business trends, thoughts, lessons and whatever comes into my mind that might be of interest (or not) to women small business owners.  So, don’t say that I haven’t warned you!

I’ve decided to make 2009 the year of understanding social networking. Well, at least to understand it more than I do right now.  As with most social networking, there is a “bright shiny object” sure to launch itself into your vision any moment now.  In my case, it’s Twitter.

Twitter

Everywhere I look, there’s emails on Twitters, people twittering about Twitter and blogs about Twitter.  Don’t know what Twitter is?  Look at this blog for a video that will introduce you to the concept:

http://www.smallbiztrends.com/2008/10/how-why-twitter-small-businesses.html/

Want to “follow” me on Twitter?  Here’s the URL: 

http://twitter.com/Casey_Dawes

How do you use Twitter?