Archive for September, 2009
Breaking Down Walls With Social Media
Over the past couple months I have been presenting “Marketing on a Shoestring” to several different groups of business owners. The purpose of my presentation is to show business owners how incorporating new media into their traditional forms of marketing can help businesses build greater awareness of their brands and engage their communities in a whole new way. I discuss the benefits of blogging, using Twitter and Facebook, as well how to take advantage of LinkedIn as more than just an online resume.
Once we’ve had a chance to discuss these social media tools and answer questions, I go through a number of client “success stories.” These examples show the incredible results that BCG clients have had by incorporating social media into their overall marketing strategies.
I really enjoy helping business owners learn how they can make social media another valuable tool they can use. It’s a great topic to discuss with a group because everyone is different, every business is unique, and they will each use social media tools to accomplish different goals.
My favorite thing about presenting is that it allows me to interact with a variety of businesses and break down the walls they have put up as a result of the tough economy. In these economic conditions, many business owners are quick to slash their marketing and PR budgets as a way to save money. This is such a huge mistake! Being able to show business owners why this is a mistake is great, not only because it allows me to express my strong belief that marketing your business in these times is critical, but because I put our client’s success stories right in front of them and also because these marketing tools are so cost efficient.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to use Barcelona Creative’s blog as a way to address some of the most frequently asked questions I’ve encountered during my presentations, and some of the positive feedback I have received that has allowed me to enhance my presentation EVERY time I get up in front of another group. These experiences are helping me become a better speaker and thought leader.
That’s another reason I enjoy interacting with groups of business owners – THEY are making ME better at what I do everyday. Learning from them is helping me put myself in their shoes so that I can see the problems they are facing in their businesses everyday. As a marketing partner, we must know the issues our client is facing in order to create an effective marketing campaign. How’s that for breaking down walls!
I hope that over the next few weeks, you will feel free to post your own comments and questions on our blog. By relating to one another, understanding the problems we face in our businesses and learning from each other, we can all be more successful going forward.
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Shame On Me & A Blogging Lesson Learned…
I have been talking to my Dad for a while now about how I can’t understand why every one of our local Chambers of Commerce hasn’t jumped in to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as a way to add value to their members and help promote businesses in the community, as well as the Chamber itself. It upsets me that the value of these tools aren’t recognized and capitalized on by more small businesses.
In fact, ironically, last week we were part of a marketing committee meeting for our local Chamber and we were discussing the implementation of a blog on the Chamber’s website and the potential that could have for local businesses and the community. We formulated a new communications plan for the Chamber, which includes not only the blog but also helping the Chamber get started on Twitter and Facebook. We decided that we would recruit a small group of “regulars” from the local business community to write for the blog as a way to get it started. I think we all walked away from that meeting excited to get to work and recognizing the added value this would bring to existing and new members.
Even more ironically, my Dad and I were having this conversation again yesterday at the multi-chamber Business-to-Business Expo. Barcelona Creative was an exhibitor at the Expo, but I was also a speaker for one of their breakout sessions and I was co-presenting with Brian Tomkins on social media for business. Part of my presentation was about blogging – not only the benefits of blogging, but the need for businesses to use this form of communication.
This afternoon I came back from a meeting and on my desk I found an article (of course my Dad left it for me) written by Brian entitled “Social media helps chambers of commerce connect.” I read the article, which of course touched on all of the benefits I have been touting for months now, and suddenly I found myself angry for not writing that article myself. I spent the rest of the day thinking “I should have written that,” then I realized I could have written an article like that ANY time – on BCG’s blog!
[Let me add quickly that I am not trying to bash Brian in any way, in fact, I am congratulating him on his article and taking the step that I didn't take. Brian is great, presenting with him was an awesome experience and I hope we have a chance to work together again. At the very least I have a new friend and colleague now. Follow Brian at twitter.com/briantomkins.]
Shame On Me – Why I haven’t taken advantage of BrandTalk to put these thoughts out to the world are unknown to me. After all, isn’t part of what I do every day using my thoughts and ideas to help my community and my clients grow their businesses? I guess seeing thoughts that I’ve had in print, written by someone else, is enough to make me wake up and recognize the tools that are right in front of me – waiting for me to use them. Rest assured, I’ve learned my lesson.
The reality is, this is a perfect reason for a business to have a blog on their website. Not only can you express your thoughts and ideas and help your customers and your community, but you don’t have to wait for the paper to publish those thoughts. You can post your own helpful information and share that with your clients and colleagues on your own time. All you have to do is write your story and hit “publish.” Can it get any easier?
So, now I ask you – are you missing out on opportunities to add value for your customers? Are you struggling with seeing the value of engaging in conversations, by using social media tools, that may bring you new contacts and new business? Isn’t it time you reaped the benefits of these tools to grow your business? If you find yourself answering yes to one or more of these questions, maybe it’s time you gave Barcelona Creative Group a call. We’re here for you and we want to help!
Moving On Down, To The West Side…
September is now upon us and as Barcelona Creative Group said goodbye to August, we also said goodbye to Suite #305. That’s right, “we’re moving on down, to the West side”… of our office building that is! The good news is we said Hello to a smaller, fresher space and we could not be more excited to make a new start.
First, let me stress that smaller does not mean we’re shrinking. We’re still going strong, helping our clients grow their businesses and practicing new and different ways to accomplish their marketing objectives. However, after building up 20 years of history, we realized we had more space dedicated to our past than our future. And as the old saying goes – “You can’t live in the past.” Plus, this gave my Dad a chance to have a presence on EVERY floor of this building throughout his 20 years of owning this business.
When we started looking into different space, we were all over the place. So, we re-grouped and sat down and really identified our needs, goals and vision for moving forward. We realized that we needed to do a much better job of conserving – both space, energy and trees! So we’ve recycled all the paper that will not be joining us in our new space and we’ve placed recycling bins all over the office to ensure that we are more conscious of the paper we use on a daily basis – recycling as much as we possibly can. Having less space also means less waste – because the reality is we don’t have anywhere to put it! But that’s okay. We have freshened things up and plan to make additional improvements once we get all of the “kinks” out.
Each BCG employee now has, one way or another, a window to look out of while we are hard at work. This is great for me because I haven’t had a window to look out of in nearly 5 years – and what a difference that makes. We’re taking great pride in our smaller space, maximizing its potential. Fresh paint and a few pieces of new furniture have really brightened the place up.
“The most important lesson I’ve learned from this move is that few things will go exactly as planned – some things are out of your control (a tough lesson for me to learn) and you have to be flexible and roll with the punches. But when I think about it, these things apply to everyday life and all sorts of situations anyway, right?”
We look forward to inviting clients and colleagues into our new “digs” for our 2nd Annual Turkey Talk Open House and Food Drive in November! In the meantime, feel free to stop by and see us in our new space – same address, just a different floor! Barcelona Creative is now located at 12416 S. Harlem Ave., – on the 2nd Floor – Suite 201.