The other night, my friend Jonathan Senger and I got to talking about who we connect with, on what platforms, and what our general rules are for connecting on social media tools (we both agree that we do not connect with “just anybody” on Facebook, as that is primarily for personal use).  He told me about a recent situation whereby he wanted to contact a person that was connected to one of his direct contacts on LinkedIn. When asked, Jonathan’s direct contact replied that he did not know that person very well and felt uncomfortable, if not inadequate, about making the introduction.  Jonathan solidified a dormant belief I’ve had about LinkedIn when he said that participating in LinkedIn that way completely defeats it’s purpose.  Connections with vague or very casual acquaintances for the mere sake of having “big numbers” means that nobody will have trusted relationships.

I Want My LinkedIn Connections to Know That They Are Trusted and Can Count on Any of My Other Connections

In the past I accepted, and even sought, connection requests from pretty much anybody on LinkedIn.  My thought was “what can it hurt to be connected with tons of people?” And luckily my LinkedIn participation had been cold until recently, and I did not concentrate on building connections as much as I did with my Twitter following, (281 on LinkedIn as of this post, versus 36,000 on Twitter).  Nonetheless, I have begun cleaning up my connections by removing people I don’t know very well or that I wouldn’t be absolutely comfortable with in a referral situation.

Use LinkedIn the way it should be used and the trust factor will be restored for all of us.

NOTE:  I reference Brad Gosse‘s blog post “Could Facebook end Google’s search monopoly?”

Almost 200% increase in conversion rate.

While working with one of our clients, Planet Urine, we have been experimenting with new landing pages and have exceeded expectations with some of the endeavors.  Below are BEFORE and AFTER screenshots from a landing page they use to encourage dialogue from a prospective buyer (always good).  The original landing page (BEFORE) yielded a 9.2% click to lead conversion rate, while the remodeled (AFTER) page has a 17.6% click to lead conversion rate.  What is your opinion? Why do you think that the AFTER page is doing so much better?

BEFORE

AFTER

Any ideas that you have would be incredibly useful as to why some practices work better than others.  Looking forward to your comments to help us continue to refine our services and products.

The DM (Direct Message)

Direct Messaging is just what the title implies; it is a private message between users only viewable between the sender and receiver.  DMs are increasingly worthless due to automated responses from users to their following.  Unfortunately many DMs are lost as their intended target may get hundreds of self-promoting plug messages each day.

The RT (ReTweet)

ReTweeting is an opportunity for users to promote good content from another Twitter user to one’s own following.  The RT is a prime example of how social media is GOOD for business, and allows word of mouth advertising to shoot through the roof.  Now, this does not mean that users should continuously shout their promotional plugs into the either and hope that somebody RTs; rather it’s a way to support remarkable content – if your content is remarkable… inevitably it should catch on.

The @Response

With countless users engaging in “auto-responding” DMs, the @response is the new form of direct Twitter communication.  One can @respond somebody by simply typing @[username] and then the message – for example tweeting: “@garyvee you rock and I loved your book!”  @Responses are public, and this should be taken into consideration when communicating through them, which means your following will be able to see with whom you are interacting and how those interactions take place.

The # (Hash Tag)

Hash tags are used to promote a public conversation; if several people are discussing the same topic and users want to follow a specific topic rather than individual users, then hash tags are the way to go.  To start a conversation or get involved users must simply include #[onewordsubject] – for example “#oilspill” is a common topic for May, 2010 – my thoughts on the topic will be promoted in the existing discussion stream with a tweet like this: “Ugh… I wish we could do more about the #oilspill in the Gulf right now.”

The #FF (Follow Friday)

Somewhere along the Twitter historical time-line, somebody start using Fridays as an opportunity to promote other users to their following.  It is not mandatory, but seems to be reasonable etiquette.  Users can effectively do this by personalizing the tweet as something like, “Hope everybody has a great #FF!  Check out @garyvee, @chrisbrogan, @scottsmeester  and @thesullybear they are helpful”

Smeester & Associates knows that deciphering social media can be an issue; we offer solutions to help manage your social media while educating and empowering you to do it yourself.

One half of the equation is how much content you pour into the stream, the other is how deep it goes.

Don’t Let Conversations Die

Too often I’ve allowed the depth of a Facebook or Twitter conversation thread to go only one level deep.  I love it when a thread gets active and two different people in my life converse in some way.  In the Facebook thread below, it turned into a conversation about whether or not there are Field Day’s in other states (comment below if your state has or hasn’t).  Just one more comment can keep the thread going, and shouldn’t we foster and grow relationships we already have?

Continue Conversations by Adding to Them

What to Understand About the CEO’s Business from Scott Smeester on Vimeo.

Note to Self: Concentrate on Value and Sales Will Take Care of Itself from Scott Smeester on Vimeo.

Sales calls don’t have to be a miserable experience for both parties. By assessing some of the worst parts to most sales call scenarios, you can review your company’s approach and increase the likelihood of closing deals. Here are a few imperative things to remember for your sales force…

Hello - My Name Is: SUCCESS

In the age of social media, there are so many options for how people can interact digitally.  Sometimes it can be frustrating to determine which web-based services will be right for you and your business with so many possibilities.  Without a doubt, Meetup.com is something that everybody can and should use.  Meetup is exceptional in the online world because it is absolutely about face to face human interaction and providing a forum for real people to connect.

Here are a few ideas for how to utilize Meetup.com to increase sales and business:

Networking

Do a search for your city (25 mile radius) with the word ‘business.’ If you live in a reasonably populated area, you should be finding at least a few business related groups of actual people (example: 394 groups have tagged themselves with ‘business’ in the Denver, CO area).  Use these groups as an opportunity to get to know other business owners, professionals, and people of similar interests in your community.

Even though commerce is becoming increasingly more digital, face to face interaction and business will never go away.  Meetup.com provides a new way to connect with other businesses and that, in-and-of-itself, is an incredibly valuable tool.

Sponsoring

With 180,000 “meetups” happening every month, many need places to gather.  Businesses that have meeting spaces (offices with conference rooms, restaurants, etc.) would be wise to offer manageably sized groups a place to gather.  Restaurants and bars would be especially wise to offer a discount to group members during the time of their meeting.  It has been said that 50% of each deal is ‘showing up,’ and this is a fine opportunity to get people to ‘show up’ at your place of business.

Meetup.com does charge to start and maintain a meetup group, but it is under $20.00 a month.  Companies would be wise to pick up the bill for a group once in a while in exchange for recognition and promotion.  This is a small investment with a great opportunity for some ROI.

Community Involvement

Several of the available groups focus around community service, spirituality, and other non-business topics.  Any good PR person knows that active involvement with the greater community is an important part of business and recognition.  Selecting one or more group that focuses on other things than business is a good move to develop personally and ‘get your name out’.

Shameless Self-promotion

If your business is B2C, then it you should be looking for groups in a related focus to your product.  This may take some creativity, but it is an awesome idea.  Here are a few examples:

• Carpet cleaning companies should look at pet owner groups.
• Companies that sell fabric, sewing supplies, arts and crafts stuff, etc. should be looking at craft-centric groups like quilting, painting, artisans, etc.
• Restaurants would be wise to look at ‘singles’ groups.

Reaching out to groups of people that have relatable business is the first step.  Following through, offering discounts, interacting, and promoting are the completion.

Start your own group

For less than $20.00 per month you can start your own group.  Meetup.com can work with your Facebook account to promote groups and events; it can also send out emails to your address book.   Creating a group would be a wiser choice for people already using the service but are not finding their specific audience or niche.

Read more information about Meetup.com demographics and how to start using it.