social media – Influential http://influential.com.au Marketing Consultants specialising in High Value Sales Sun, 02 Apr 2017 08:33:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.18 http://influential.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cropped-Influential-icon-influenial-logo-512-32x32.jpg social media – Influential http://influential.com.au 32 32 Why professionals fail on social media http://influential.com.au/professionals-fail-social-media/ http://influential.com.au/professionals-fail-social-media/#comments Wed, 23 Apr 2014 02:48:00 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=1386   I’ve long been fascinated with how “serious” businesses like professional service firms can use tools like social media, blogging and digital marketing to grow their practice. It’s no secret that the way people search for, compare and buy products and services has changed enormously in the last decade. Remember the last time you used a phone book? Do you even own one anymore? These days people turn straight to Google when they have a problem that needs solving. They check out advice from self-proclaimed experts on internet forums, and...

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"We tried Social Media once... it didn't work"

“We tried Social Media once… it didn’t work”

I’ve long been fascinated with how “serious” businesses like professional service firms can use tools like social media, blogging and digital marketing to grow their practice.

It’s no secret that the way people search for, compare and buy products and services has changed enormously in the last decade. Remember the last time you used a phone book? Do you even own one anymore?
These days people turn straight to Google when they have a problem that needs solving. They check out advice from self-proclaimed experts on internet forums, and compare providers on review sites. They might even ask for advice from their friends and extended network on social media.

Clearly, professionals need to tap into this online search and referral network if they want to build their business. It sounds easy when you hear the advice of “social media gurus” – just share something on facebook and twitter and watch it go viral, and watch the customers come rolling in.

Most professionals encounter a very different experience when they try their hand at social media, blogging and online marketing – the sound of crickets.

“We tried Social Media once. It didn’t work” – 1001 different professional service firm owners

I’ve found this myself, when I first developed a website for my veterinary practice group Cairns Vet Clinic in 2004. People just didn’t seem interested in what I was writing about, even though it was really great, helpful stuff (honestly!).  I’d slave over a blog post or spend time on social media with frustratingly little response.

I’ve seen the same thing occur when my professional colleagues dabbled with social media or online marketing. Lots of effort in with little results.

Does this mean that social media is a waste of time for professionals? Absolutely not! I’ve watched some professionals who have been really successful online marketers. When you see what they get right, it’s easy to see why most professionals fail in their online marketing efforts.

In future posts I’ll be sharing some case studies of professionals who have been highly successful in their social media and digital marketing efforts.

But to whet your appetite – lets review where most professionals go wrong with social media

Top 7 reasons professionals fail on social media

  1. They lack focus – they don’t concentrate on specific high value clients and being the very top provider to those clients.
  2. They’re antisocial – you can’t just pay lip service to social media – to get the real benefits of social media you really need to listen and genuinely interact with your clients.
  3. They don’t offer value and expertise – at least not what their clients value. High value clients have very specific needs and expectations and won’t work with someone who can’t demonstrate their value and expertise up front.
  4. Their website sucks – It’s from 1999, it doesn’t generate leads, it doesn’t allow interaction or connect to your social media channels, or your client’s needs, or your business goals. This is a big one!
  5. They aren’t where the people are: This sounds like a no-brainer, but businesses need to go to where their customers are: this means being found when they search for problems, being active on social media and getting featured on the industry news sites,  blogs and mainstream media that your clients read
  6. They don’t engage – Another no-brainer, but it’s a mistake we see again and again. Social media is about relationships and conversations. Building relationships and engaging with clients and influencers online and offline are essential to get results from social media. If you don’t do this you are just using social media as an advertising channel. This is like turning up at a party and trying to sell to your friends – very uncool. and sharing great stuff you’ll do much better.
  7. Their brand isn’t shareable – Think of the stuff that people love to share on social media – it’s fun, cool, interesting, family oriented – Stuff from their accountant or lawyer… not so much. To succeed with social media professionals need to be more creative.

and a bonus:

#8 Bonus: They quit too soon – Social media and digital marketing are long term strategies – the benefits take a long time to accrue but once they do they keep paying off.

What are the top mistakes you see professionals make in their marketing?

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On doing what you love http://influential.com.au/on-doing-what-you-love/ http://influential.com.au/on-doing-what-you-love/#respond Thu, 04 Jul 2013 00:59:26 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=1243 Social Media, Google and the Web has changed our lives forever, and for the better I realise there are also real downsides which we are only just beginning to see, but lets face it, it isn’t going anywhere, so we need to learn to adapt and make it work for us, rather than trying to avoid it. I think it is valuable to reflect on the changes that really impact our lives and opportunity to do what we love and live how we want to. You’ve probably heard the career...

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Social Media, Google and the Web has changed our lives forever, and for the better

I realise there are also real downsides which we are only just beginning to see, but lets face it, it isn’t going anywhere, so we need to learn to adapt and make it work for us, rather than trying to avoid it.

I think it is valuable to reflect on the changes that really impact our lives and opportunity to do what we love and live how we want to.
You’ve probably heard the career advice to do what you love and thought it sounded like an oversimplification. It is. To make a career of doing what you love you need to combine it with two other essential attributes: You need to be good at it, and you need people to pay you to do it.

To make a career of doing what you love, you need to combine it with two other essential attributes: You need to be good at it, and you need people to pay you to do it.

The greatest changes with the new social web:

1. You never have to not know the answer to something ever again.

OK, this might not be quite true, but for 99% of the things you might wonder about, a quick Google search can quickly solve it. Are the lyrics to that song bugging you? What is the name of that song, anyway? (Shazam) Why can’t someone just summarise all the important stuff about a topic so I don’t have to sort through heaps of info to get an answer (Wikipedia).
This trend is useful for more than just solving dinner party arguments – it applies to questions of all levels of complexity. Want to know how to install a solar system in your house? Wish you could learn how to become a better leader? Need to know what food additives might aggravate a medical condition? Increasingly this information is freely available. You do need to develop your skills of search and discernment to make sense of it all, but that is very different to 20 years ago, where finding this information was often impractically difficult or expensive.

2. Find people who love the things you love, and love what you do:

Before the web, if you developed a passion for something that wasn’t loved by heaps of people locally, you were on your own, or had to travel a long way and often disconnect from people around you to share your passion.
For many people, this meant if you didn’t love the local code of football, or liked music that wasn’t in the top 40, you were a bit of an outsider.
Today, it is so much easier to connect with others who love what you do. I like to think that the capacity to do that makes us all a bit more open minded about other people’s interests.

3. You can do what you love for a living:

Taking this a step further, our ability to explore what we really love, and are really great at, and turn it into a paying career or business is also increased. I think this is largely due to the previous 2 points – it is just so much easier to discover and explore our passion, and to make it real by sharing it with other, getting recognition and feedback, and

4. You can have an influence over things you care about:

If you stack up these first 2 or 3 items in a consistent way: you explore your passion, you find like-minded people, and you are doing your life’s work, it usually isn’t long before you start taking more of a leadership role in your community, industry or profession.
Everyone has something special to offer – for some people this is the future of health care or education, for others it is the direction of their sport and for others it is the well-being of people, animals or the planet.
This doesn’t mean that all these things are going to be handed to you on a plate, or that we are living in some sort of utopian land of wish fulfillment.
Anything worthwhile is going to take time, effort and energy – and importantly cooperation with other people.
And it doesn’t mean you will get rich doing no work through the miracle of a push button money making website or viral mobile app. Such things remain in the “too good to be true” basket, are flukes, or just can’t be consistently repeated.
What it means is there isn’t an excuse for not doing what you love (or at least working toward it). There isn’t an excuse for complaining about something and not taking action (even if that action is complaining more loudly with a group of people who share your concerns, in a way that a group of people who can do something about it notice).
What have you always loved doing, always wished you could do?
How can you do more of that today?
Hat tip to Seth Godin for planting the seeds for this post. I think I’m really starting to get what he’s saying. If you liked this, check out his blog and his books, especially Lynchpin, or comment below.
Seth talks further on the pitfalls of trying to monetise what you love. As I said, it isn’t always easy to make this work, but that isn’t an excuse not to start. The solution is to begin doing more of what you love today, and feel your way from there.

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The Shareable Brand http://influential.com.au/shareable-brand/ http://influential.com.au/shareable-brand/#comments Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:00:57 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=1204 The way people discover, research and choose products, services and businesses has been changed forever by Google, the web, and social media. Old marketing strategies like interruption (advertisments in the middle of your favorite TV show etc) just aren’t working anymore. Now the best brands are letting their customers do their marketing for them – they are leveraging the power of sharing. Personal referrals and recommendations are still gold Personal advice from the people we trust is still the most powerful factor influencing our purchasing decisions, but the way these...

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The shareable brand

The way people discover, research and choose products, services and businesses has been changed forever by Google, the web, and social media. Old marketing strategies like interruption (advertisments in the middle of your favorite TV show etc) just aren’t working anymore.

Now the best brands are letting their customers do their marketing for them – they are leveraging the power of sharing.

Personal referrals and recommendations are still gold

Personal advice from the people we trust is still the most powerful factor influencing our purchasing decisions, but the way these are communicated and shared is shifting more into the digital space. Not only are people using tools like social media to share opinions and facts about products and businesses, the very nature of these tools means the reach of these communications has been dramatically increased.

 

Learning how to harness the power of this virtual referral network is essential for businesses that want to survive, and thrive in the next few years.

In this presentation The Sharable Brand, I explain why your business needs to create remarkable customer experiences and then needs to make these easy for your customers to share online.  We’ll also cover the process of nurturing leads into engaged customers and  passionate brand advocates..

The main topics we’ll cover in The Sharable Brand are:

  1. The new referral process
  2. Online business strategy
  3. Crafting a shareable brand
  4. Building lead and referral systems
  5. The importance of campaigns

I’ll also give you a sneak preview of my brand value elevator process.

Join us at the BNI Cairns Harborview meeting on 26 June, 2013 at the Holiday Inn at 7am. Please give me a call to RSVP in advance, or contact another member of the chapter.

The event won’t be recorded but I will do a follow-up video presentation if you can’t make it.

 

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Why your social media ROI sucks (but you should keep doing it anyway) http://influential.com.au/why-your-social-media-roi-sucks-but-you-should-keep-doing-it-anyway/ http://influential.com.au/why-your-social-media-roi-sucks-but-you-should-keep-doing-it-anyway/#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:42:11 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=993 Social Media has become an essential part of marketing your business online., with over 90% of businesses now using Social Media. Is social media really worth your time, money and effort though? Most businesses are wasting their time on social media Unfortunately, the majority of businesses get a very poor return on investment from their social media efforts. Social media is often free or cheap to use, but it can be very expensive in terms of time and effort required to get results. For most businesses, this means that social...

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Getting a return from Social MediaSocial Media has become an essential part of marketing your business online., with over 90% of businesses now using Social Media.

Is social media really worth your time, money and effort though?

Most businesses are wasting their time on social media

Unfortunately, the majority of businesses get a very poor return on investment from their social media efforts. Social media is often free or cheap to use, but it can be very expensive in terms of time and effort required to get results.

For most businesses, this means that social media is costing them time, energy and money that would better be spent on serving customers or working on other marketing channels.

The vast majority of businesses ROI for social media are negative
Should you give on on Social media then?

Why your social media efforts aren’t paying off

First let’s see why your social media efforts are failing. Then we’ll see what you can do about it. Finally, we’ll talk about why you should continue learning about and working at Social Media, even though it isn’t paying off yet.

  1. You don’t know what you are doing with social media –It takes time, effort and help to learn to use any new tool or skill. You didn’t know how to use other technology until someone taught you. Take some courses, read some books or get some coaching to learn how to use social media well.
  2. No one knows what they are doing with social media –  There. I’ve said it. The secret of 99% of people in marketing and social media – this is a brand new world – the rules are constantly changing! Because social media is still very new – even most experts in the industry have been using for less than a decade.  New tools, networks, and strategies are appearing all the time. The top social media practitioners spend more time learning than they do working – they need to in order to keep up with the rate of change. Also, the strategies that work on social media are different to what has worked in other marketing channels. As a result, even experienced marketers are struggling to get the most out of their social media efforts.
  3. You are trying to sell on social media – Social media is supposed to be social.
    Wikipedia defines social media like this:

    Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.

    Think of social media like one big party – people are there meeting friends, having fun, making new connections, and exchanging great stories and funny photos. If someone walks in and starts trying to sell something (like Amway or used cars) you can guess what this does to the conversation and atmosphere. Chances are the interesting people will join a different conversation, and likely avoid that sales person in future.

    Social media is about creating visibility and likeability, then building on this to boost your credibility. None of this is going to make you money immediately (and that is how it is supposed to be).

  4. You don’t have a sales funnel – This might sound funny after the last point, but if you are going to make money in your business, you need a sales funnel. This shouldn’t be on social media – it should be on your own website, physical business or other structure you control completely. Your sales funnel should be capable of capturing qualified leads and turning them into sales. Social media is one of the way your get new customers into your sales funnel, but if you try to sell on social media you will usually just kill the social aspect
  5. You don’t mean business – Social media can be an enormous time suck. Its easy to spend hours on facebook and not complete anything really concrete.People who succeed on Social Media do so by having a strategy, and working their networks. This still means being fun, friendly and social, but it means having a plan. For example, rather than just randomly connecting and commenting, you can systematically work through connecting with a specific group of prospects.
  6. You are too superficial –Don’t worry, there is a cure! The key to getting ROI from social media is building deeper, real relationships with key people in your circles. Just connecting with someone online the blasting them with your own stuff works about as well as a conversation where people don’t listen to what the other person is saying. Learn more about your network, find out how you can help each other, and start by giving and learning.
  7. You aren’t generous enough – Gee, this is a tough list, isn’t it! Just like in real life, people respond best to those who listen, give, and offer to help. They aren’t so interested in people who are always needy or trying to get something from you. Stand out from the crowd of selfish sales people and be the one who goes the extra mile and thinks of others. Be positive, giving and generous and watch the rewards flow.
  8. You are not consistent enough – A common mistake with social media is to get started and do heaps…. But then forget about it or not follow through.Its much better to spend a regular 15 minutes a day to growing and connecting your network than it is to spend 5 hours once a month. In particular, make sure you respond to comments and follow through with leads. An unattended social media account is worse than no account at all.
  9. You aren’t leveraging your existing networks and strengths –Don’t make the mistake of trying to build a social network from scratch – be sure to connect with real life friends and colleagues, search out the people you inspire you, brands you love, and communities who share your passion. Remember, it is social! It’s much easier to figure social media out when you have a few friends to chat with both online and in real life. They can be great allies with any online project and let you know when you are missing the mark.
  10. You don’t track your metrics, or you track the wrong metrics – At this early stage in social media, the metrics we use are still crude and unreliable. For a while, everyone was obsessed with Facebook Likes and follower counts, but it is clear that these aren’t reliable indicators of Social Media ROI. If you have a great sales funnel set up and your product or service is well marketed on Social media, you are much better tracking social leads, conversions and sales.For many businesses though, Social Media is about building good will. To a degree, this can still be measured as lifetime customer value and referral rates, but just like real-life relationships, not everything can be reduced to numbers.

In summary, It’s still early days. Don’t expect instant results – social media needs to be part of a holistic long term strategy to grow your business – it’s not a way to make a quick buck or get instant results.

Building a decent network, making online friends, figuring out your voice and your message: these things all take time.

Why you really should continue with social media (Even if you suck at it!)

Social media is the fastest growing communication phenomenon in human history. Invalid LeadPlayer video - ID not found!

 

It is changing every year, and rapidly becoming the preferred online communication tool for an entire generation (many young people no longer have email accounts).
The reason you should persist with social media is that communicating social is the new literacy.

Let’s face it – the first few years of your learning to speak were pretty unimpressive. The same goes for your first few years of writing.

For most of us, social media is another new medium – one which is complex, rich and constantly evolving.

It isn’t going anywhere – it is taking over how we socialise, communicate and do business.

Learning to use social media today is like learning to use a computer a generation ago. Like learning any new skill it can be a challenge, but one that will pay off for years to come.

 

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Linkedin Network Map Tool http://influential.com.au/linkedin-network-map/ http://influential.com.au/linkedin-network-map/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:07:06 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=928 Picture your Linkedin network… Having trouble? Our brains haven’t quite caught up with technology when it comes to networking and social media. Make it easier for yourself! Get an overview of your Linkedin network with the official Linkedin mapping tool As our networks and online presence grow, it is becoming increasingly challenging to understand exactly what our online presence means. Linkedin offers a great tool to help your visualise your Linkedin network. See how different groups of people in your network are connected and related You can see from my...

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Picture your Linkedin network…

Having trouble? Our brains haven’t quite caught up with technology when it comes to networking and social media. Make it easier for yourself! Get an overview of your Linkedin network with the official Linkedin mapping tool

As our networks and online presence grow, it is becoming increasingly challenging to understand exactly what our online presence means.

Linkedin offers a great tool to help your visualise your Linkedin network.

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See how different groups of people in your network are connected and related

You can see from my network that I have several large clusters of contacts – these represent different areas of my online and real life professional connections. For example, the blue cluster on the left is Cairns Business people and professionals. The red-orange cluster at the top right is Australian Veterinarians, whereas the yellow-orange cluster at the bottom right represents a group of mostly American and UK based international vetinarians. Between these two groups of vets is a scattering of light blue contacts – these are mostly in the paraveterinary field – sales, training and recruitment professionals who specialise in the veterinary field.

There are a few other smaller groups as well.

Linkedin Maps Dallas McMillan

I think this is a great tool to help you visualised and understand your networks, particularly as your network grows, or expands into new areas.

A useful tool in using Linkedin for business

You can use a tool like this proactively too – let’s say you had found a couple of new clients or big deals, and then noticed they were closely related on the map. Studying how they fit into your network and how you could further expand your network in this area could help identify new prospective clients or business partners.

Visit Linkedin Maps and view your network now

Get a good idea of what are the primary groups of people in your network. 

Are there any groups of your real world network who are poorly represented (eg work colleagues, contacts from school, past workmates, people in your profession, local networking, business or sporting clubs?)

You might want to save a screenshot of your Linkedin network map for future reference.

In my case the international vet group was not easily discerned last time I ran the tool, whereas now it is one of the most prominent clusters of contacts on the map.

For a further quick overview, check out the summary video from the chief scientist at Linked in – DJ Patel.

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Have you used the Linkedin Map tool? Tell us your experiences in the comments.

 

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Social Business Revolution http://influential.com.au/social-business-revolution/ http://influential.com.au/social-business-revolution/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:24:04 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=837 Prospering in the new digital economy requires you re-think about how you approach your business, your team and your customers. Social Business means more than Social Media To many businesses “doing social” means posting some ads and pictures on their Facebook page. Social media is our first glimpse of how social technology is going to change how we interact and work together, but it is just the beginning. The invention of the Gutenberg press in 1450 led to the renaissance and enlightenment, transforming human culture forever. Today the Internet and...

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Social businessProspering in the new digital economy requires you re-think about how you approach your business, your team and your customers.

Social Business means more than Social Media

To many businesses “doing social” means posting some ads and pictures on their Facebook page. Social media is our first glimpse of how social technology is going to change how we interact and work together, but it is just the beginning.
The invention of the Gutenberg press in 1450 led to the renaissance and enlightenment, transforming human culture forever. Today the Internet and social media are fostering even greater revolutions in business, culture and society which are certain transform our lives forever. The implications for business are dramatic – previously successful business models are in decline or collapse, whereas  unheard of or previously non-existent companies and even whole industries are growing rapidly.

Social business isn’t just using social media at work – it’s a change in how we communicate, why we do what we do and how we relate to colleagues, clients and society at large.

Social businesses are more engaged with their community and marketplace. Rather than just broadcasting a “buy now” message, they ask what people want, what they need, and how they can be what their customers want them to be – and then they listen and are prepared to change in response to what they hear.

Social Business isn’t new!

In some ways social business is a return to a way of life and doing business that was more common when we lived in villages, and everyone knew everyone else.
This is in stark contrast to today’s world, where most people “know” celebrities, TV characters and big brands better than they know their neighbours, yet don’t have any influence or personal communication with them. A social business has a two-way dialogue with their customers and their market, with social media the technology which makes it possible.

Social Business changes companies and how they do business

Once a business starts listening to customers and wider community, the approach to business will change as they learn what their market really wants, likes, needs, and also what they hate or avoid.

Ignoring social interaction means companies can be ruthless, self-serving and deliberately ignorant of the needs of others, as long as they serve their shareholders and keep making sales. Things are changing fast – increased accountability and more powerful consumers means that companies which pursue their own gain at the expense of society or the environment are quickly named, shamed and lose customers and revenue.

The future of business

Meanwhile, smart business leaders are adopting a new approach that combines the benefits of capitalism with respect for society and others; and the approach is working. This growing community of “social businesses” is proving that it is possible to excel in the business area by operating with logical self-interest, but also building concern for customers, society and the planet into their corporate makeup.

As ethical and fair trade practices become more widespread, businesses which persist with antisocial behavior are beginning to be penalised by the market.

People are becoming ever more concerned about the ethics of companies they buy from – and the transparency offered by social media places companies under constant public scrutiny.

Social is for internal customers as well

Social business practices also offer great benefits within companies as well. Improved communication and greater job satisfaction and employee retention are possible as technology transforms work practices which have been with us since the industrialisation of the workplace. For example, new software tools allow a whole team to work on the same page, even when geographically remote.
Likewise, social media means that the CEO of a company can learn from the lowliest employee – to discover why a simple problem is impeding production or why customers are unhappy, breaking a deadlock as old as corporations.

By listening to its market, and harnessing the collective intelligence of a team, a social business can develop a powerful voice for its brand. With the right tools and strategy, they can become an influential brand in their market – establishing the state of the art, and leading their industry.

Become social or disappear

Failing to respond to the social business change puts companies at risk of obsolescence. If they don’t start communicating well internally and externally, by the time they realise they have a problem, more agile, responsive and engaged competitors have already seized their market.

Social business practices aren’t a panaceæ, but they are essential business habits, tools and values which help companies adapt as our world changes faster than ever before.

Is your business a social business?

How do you see these changes impacting your industry? Let us know in the comments below.

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Becoming a social business http://influential.com.au/becoming-a-social-business/ http://influential.com.au/becoming-a-social-business/#comments Sat, 19 Jan 2013 07:27:31 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=801 How to become a social business To survive and thrive as a business in the new digital economy you need to do far more than just put out digital equivalents of your TV and print advertising. There is an argument that if businesses aren’t ruthless, self-serving and deliberately ignorant of the needs of others they will go broke, and this has certainly been the strategy of some of the most successful businesses over the past decades. However business leaders are increasingly adopting a new approach that combines the benefits of...

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Social businessHow to become a social business

To survive and thrive as a business in the new digital economy you need to do far more than just put out digital equivalents of your TV and print advertising.

There is an argument that if businesses aren’t ruthless, self-serving and deliberately ignorant of the needs of others they will go broke, and this has certainly been the strategy of some of the most successful businesses over the past decades. However business leaders are increasingly adopting a new approach that combines the benefits of capitalism with respect for society and others – an approach in which businesses behave as responsible members of society.

And the approach is working. This growing community of “social businesses” is proving that it is possible to excel in the business area by operating with logical self-interest, but also building concern for customers, society and the planet into their corporate makeup. As ethical and fair trade practices become more widespread, businesses which persist with antisocial practices are beginning to be penalised.

People are becoming ever more concerned about the ethics and behaviour of the companies they buy from – and the transparency offered by social media places companies under constant public scrutiny.

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Brands with personality http://influential.com.au/brands-with-personality/ http://influential.com.au/brands-with-personality/#comments Sat, 19 Jan 2013 07:01:56 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=789 In our new social media and social business landscape, the expectations we have of brands and people are changing abruptly. Brands are becoming more personalised (to the consumer) and also becoming more personable (having more characteristics of a person). At the same time, our personal brands (in many cases largely comprising our consumer brand choices) are becoming stronger and more prominent. This is eroding the barriers between brands and people. Let’s examine this further, looking firstly at successful personal brands, and then at company brands which have created a value...

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In our new social media and social business landscape, the expectations we have of brands and people are changing abruptly.

Brands are becoming more personalised (to the consumer) and also becoming more personable (having more characteristics of a person). At the same time, our personal brands (in many cases largely comprising our consumer brand choices) are becoming stronger and more prominent.

This is eroding the barriers between brands and people. Let’s examine this further, looking firstly at successful personal brands, and then at company brands which have created a value proposition by what buying them says about our personality, and finally by looking at companies which are succeeding in creating personable brands.

Personality that shines through

Let’s start by taking a look at well known people who have developed a strong personal brand (I’m Australian, so my list will reflect this). These people are all famous for some reason, but they’ve gone beyond that by branding themselves in a way which makes them more memorable, meaningful and appealing.

Dr Harry CooperSteve Irwin

Lance Armstrong

 

Richard BransonJamie Oliver

Ita Buttrose

 

Julia GillardKarl Sandelands

Alan Jones

OK, so most of these people are influential within their sphere. They have money, fame, and/or power. But the reason they are most recognisable is that they have a strong personal brand. Their personality shines through. We can imagine them dressed in their particular style. We know what they like doing, what they stand for and where they hang out. There is a certain way we expect them to behave and it bothers us when they don’t.

Brands Create Value

A strong brand creates premium value. To some degree, a brand is value. Some top athletes make zero money unless they attract a major brand sponsorship. Being good is just not enough – both athlete and brand rely on each other to maintain the strength and value of the brand.

The value of a brand relies on strong positive associations – included in our list of strong personal brands are a few which have eroded their value by behaving in a way which is not consistent with their brand.

Personal Brands and Personable Brands

“The top people in an industry have become brands, The top brands are trying to become more personal” – Dallas McMillan

Companies with personality

Now let’s take a look at a few companies which have developed a striking, powerful brand.

AppleNike

Pandora Jewellery

Red Bull

Levi’sBose

IKEA

Noosa

King Island BeefBMW

Rolex

Lonely Planet

Now these companies have become successful by creating high quality products. But even when there’s a rival product that’s technically superior, these companies garner more loyal followers, command a higher price, and have extra clout in the marketplace.

So what do these brands stand for?

In each case they are mass-producing a product, whether it be cars, watches, furniture or books. They are one of many players in the market, yet they’ve positioned themselves as being superior in value, or quality, or other positive association, and can thus command a higher price in their marketplace.

Does Nike’s brand say ‘sportswear’? Does BMW say ‘car’? Not really! In each case, the brand represents something about the people who buy it, rather than the product itself – maybe that they are ‘cool’, ‘successful’, ‘affluent’ or ‘adventurous’.

The people who choose these brands may tell themselves they want the best quality, or need specific features, but they are really choosing the brand because of what it says about them.

Our consumer decisions are part of our personal brand

Social media like Facebook and especially MySpace (yes, it’s back!) are built around the human desire to facilitate and share these overt displays of taste or affluence.
This tendency to self-publicise looks set to continue as young people grow up in a world immersed in branding and marketing. These digital natives are often acutely sensitive to the nuanced meanings associated with brands in their life. Narcissistic? Yes, but no more so than other generations with their fixations on BMWs, power suits and designer sunglasses. The inclination to define and broadcast our personality through what we buy, use, wear or drive hasn’t changed; it’s just become easier to achieve.

You cannot escape your brand

What this means is that as a business you can’t neglect your brand, and you can’t afford to get it wrong. A weak brand will limit your business success anyway, but with the intense focus and amplification of online marketing and social media, a strong brand can generate enormous value, while digital faux-pas can seriously damage your image.

Great brands make things personal

Great brands succeed because they make it personal. They offer unique value which is only available to their customers – like an exclusive club you canonly be a part of if you buy the product. Brands often achieve this by marketing themselves through brand advocates, people whose opinion customers will trust. Nike pays millions for celebrity sports stars (with a strong personal brand, naturally), always looking for a good match between the person and the brand.

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Creating an Influential Brand http://influential.com.au/creating-an-influential-brand/ http://influential.com.au/creating-an-influential-brand/#respond Sat, 19 Jan 2013 05:09:52 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=772 Welcome to a level playing field Our world has changed dramatically in the last few years with the rise of the internet, social media, mobile computing and other technological developments. This online evolution is transforming business, careers, marketing, socialising, learning and practically every other aspect of life. Democratization of media and publishing means that marketing yourself or your business has changed for ever. Suddenly anyone, anywhere in the world has access to communication tools which are powerful, instant and free – and there are no limits on what they can...

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Welcome to a level playing field

Creating an influential brandOur world has changed dramatically in the last few years with the rise of the internet, social media, mobile computing and other technological developments. This online evolution is transforming business, careers, marketing, socialising, learning and practically every other aspect of life.

Democratization of media and publishing means that marketing yourself or your business has changed for ever.

Suddenly anyone, anywhere in the world has access to communication tools which are powerful, instant and free – and there are no limits on what they can achieve.

  • Small up-and-coming brands can trump established major players simply by engaging with customers online (for free).
  • Online merchants can set up shops which offer cheap, highly targeted products for a specific niche. Their low capital expenses mean they can make a profit on margins a bricks and mortar store couldn’t dream of.
  • If a customer is happy – or unhappy – with a product or service they can tell 100’s of people about it at the press of a button.
  • Celebrities, sports stars and politicians, and companies of all sizes are far more visible, accessible and accountable.We have moved from a world where big media and big companies had control of the conversation to one where individuals, smaller brands and large companies are on a more or less level playing field.You’ll pay less, but you gotta deliver moreBut while these online platforms are often cheap or even free they do take time, and having the right quality content for a given audience has become more important than ever before, because people have so many more options.Traditionally, you had to pay big bucks to access broadcast media and advertising, but in return you got direct access to your customers’ attention – you could interrupt their day and convince them to buy or believe something. Now, powerful multimedia publishing platforms with global reach are accessible and affordable for anyone, but your audience can tune in or turn off whenever they want.

Social media: handle with care

Before you attempt to develop and market your personal or business brand it’s essential that you get your message right.

It’s vital to remember that social media isn’t a new advertising platform. It’s all about human interaction, and if you approach it as an exercise in blatant self- promotion you are likely to fail – catastrophically. Social media, the internet and world wide connectivity means we can reach a vast audience – which can be amazingly powerful, but also means that if you don’t hit the right note you can do a huge amount of damage to your reputation almost instantly. That means both your brand and your messages need to be well thought out, meaningful, sharable and authentic. Sometimes this means you need to change your whole approach to business.

Become the one they listen to

To be influential online you need to have something worth saying, and have the right tools and strategy to achieve the results you want.

It comes down to being likeable, authentic and authoritative in the topics you talk about. Becoming educated and finding information is no longer a challenge, but expert opinions are still essential to help us make sense of the avalanche of information available online. And we don’t just want put our trust in a random ‘expert’ – we want personalised information, tailored to our needs and reflecting our world view. When we find someone who can provide this for us – on a topic that interests us – we identify with them and begin to value their opinion. These are the people and businesses we’ll listen to, talk about, and buy from:

  • People we know, like and trust
  • People like us
  • People who understand and provide what we need
  • People who know what they’re talking about on a specific topic.
  • People who are memorable and stand outIn many cases, these people will be people we know via traditional media – such as journalists, celebrities and TV identities, or household name companies.But with the right brand, strategy and effort they could be you.

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Adding video to your Linkedin profile http://influential.com.au/adding-video-linkedin-profile/ http://influential.com.au/adding-video-linkedin-profile/#comments Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:03:17 +0000 http://influential.com.au/?p=738 The new Linkedin profile now supports media uploads, such as videos, presentations, images and documents. Learn how to spruce up your Linkedin profile in this short video. Linkedin Profile videos help you stand out from the crowd! In this short video I’m going to show you how we can add videos, presentations and other media to our LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn previously supported a SlideShare app which let you show slides and video on your LinkedIn profile.  They’ve recently stopped supporting the Slideshare app and have now replaced it with native...

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The new Linkedin profile now supports media uploads, such as videos, presentations, images and documents.

Learn how to spruce up your Linkedin profile in this short video.

Linkedin Profile videos help you stand out from the crowd!

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In this short video I’m going to show you how we can add videos, presentations and other media to our LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn previously supported a SlideShare app which let you show slides and video on your LinkedIn profile.  They’ve recently stopped supporting the Slideshare app and have now replaced it with native LinkedIn media player.  It’s a really great interface to use and it looks fantastic.  So let’s explore how we can add our videos.

How to add videos to your linkedin profile

First, we go to our profile, and edit the profile.  You can also click this edit button down here.  Once we’ve clicked edit we’ll see this little pens showing where we can edit the text.  Here I am in my background summary and you’ll see a little plus (+) button, that’s an add media button.  If we click on that we will then see an opportunity to add media.  We can then shoot across to some media that we’ve got from elsewhere.  I’m just cutting and pasting the URL, and pop it in there.  LinkedIn finds the media, uploads it, pulls the description from the content, and then when we save it – it will embed that content on the page.

If we click play on the media, a little box pops up and it says ‘start playing media’, because it’s a presentation that I did on Prezi software , which does a moving slideshow.  So it’s really easy to put up.  It’s a great way to show some work that you’ve done, if you’ve done a report, or a presentation.  It can be in the form of a video, a PDF, images or a SlideShare media like this.

I’ve checked that our video is working, then we can roll down and look at the other sections we can add media to.  In this case I’ve got my experience working as a vet.  I can add video, or a picture of myself working at the practice; and similarly past roles and positions.  And we can add quite a few, it’s not just one picture to each section.  I’ve added five there, and it looks like it could take another few, as well.

You can add quite a lot of information and really flesh out your profile; great if you do have a portfolio, or if you’ve done a lot of work for different roles.  So that’s how we add our LinkedIn profile information.  I really think it’s a great way to stand out from an otherwise pretty text heavy profile.  It makes it more interesting and gives people a reason to connect with you.

Influential Prezi screenshot - in the future economyBy the way, if you haven’t seen or used the awesome Prezi presentation app before, you are in for a treat. Check out this Prezi I did on Influential – Personal and Business Branding Prezi

 

 

Thanks very much for reading and watching – if you have any questions about this let us know in the comments below.

 

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