Lip-Sticking

Social Networking with a Little Sugar On Top

In about one hour, maybe less... I'll be joining some fantastic professionals on Connie Bennett's Blog Talk Radio Show, Gab with the Gurus.

Toby Bloomberg will be there. She's a social media Diva in the BEST sense of the word: she's an expert that shares her knowledge on her blog and throughout the net. And, she's one of my favorite BBFFs.

Sreenath Sreenivasan, a new media specialist, will be on the show. I don't know him, but I trust Connie to have chosen him for his expertise. I expect to learn something from him...and you can too, if you call in.

Author Rohit Bhargava will be on the call, and I can't wait to hear him speak.

And, self-improvement expert, David Riklan, will be joining us, also.

I hope you'll join us. Stop over at Connie's blog and get more info. I'm really honored to be among such exciting professionals!

Or, just go to this Blog Talk Radio link... CYA!

The Alpha Woman: A Figment of Our Imagination?

Got my Downtown Women's Club newsletter recently and Diane has a great book review I think deserves everyone's attention. Tom and I had dinner with Diane while we were in NY at the Blogher Business conference back in March and it was one of the best meetings over food that I've ever had.

Diane is a no-nonsense gal. That doesn't mean she's one of "them"...the women we love to hate because they deserve it. On the contrary, she's really delightful - delightful because she knows how to be professional. And that means knowing that a business setting is different than a personal setting, and requires a different approach. It means recognizing the differences between how men do it and how women do it (neither one is right all the time). Most of all, it means - paying attention - because what's good today might not be good tomorrow.

The book Diane reviews is called, What Men Don't Tell Women About Business: Opening Up the Heavily Guarded Alpha Male Playbook. I'm going to object to some of what I read - but understand that I'm reviewing Diane's review, a little. I'm not reviewing the book. I did not read the book. It actually sounds like a worthwhile book, but...I am troubled by a few things.

In her review, Diane talks about the language Chris Flett (the author) uses to describe some women in business - he calls them, "breeders." Hmmm...I think that's another word for 'Mom.'  Diane says, "While crass, the point he's making is that if you handle your pregnancy and family obligations in a professional manner - so that it doesn't cause more work for others than is absolutely necessary - then you can avoid being labeled a breeder." Apparently, Flett also has tips on how to do that.

Uh, Yeah, You're Welcome

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia Technology

Maybe it's just me. Perhaps I'm totally old-fashioned. I mean, I thought I was still a little with it...

In the past few months, I have referred some very substantial projects to a couple of business colleagues - all qualified women (you know, keeping it in the fam). And, we all know how I feel about referrals, right?

Anyway, I make the referrals with no expectations or agreements for finder's fees or anything...just solidarity...one business woman making a referral to another business woman.

Time rolls on and I don't hear from either of the people to whom I made the referrals. Meanwhile, I know that my contact has reached out to them and the liklihood that they'll do business is quite high - warm referrals are usually great this way; it's almost like guaranteed business. Yet, no email or call to thank me for the referral.

Is it just me or have we shifted into a time where we don't have to thank someone for a referral? Is business during a supposed "recession" really so good that we don't have to thank our referral sources? What have I missed? Are we so busy Twittering that we can't be bothered to take 30 seconds to thank each other?

And, believe me, this ALL relates to your marketing. If it is routine for you to not thank your referral sources, they will probably:

1. Never refer business to you again (a marketing nightmare!)
2. Correctly think that how you do anything is how you do everything and assume that you don't have manners in other areas of business and life as well (a brand nightmare!)

When someone makes a referral to us, at the very least, someone from my team (usually me) reaches out immediately by phone or email to thank the referral source, let them know that their confidence and support is appreciated along with a promise to treat the referral like gold; and many times we send a hand-written thank you note -- WHETHER OR NOT THE REFERRAL ACTUALLY RESULTS IN BUSINESS.

My thought is, even if the referral doesn't convert into paid business:

1. Our way of doing business/our brand stayed in someone's mind long enough for them to make the referral. That should be rewarded at the very least with a thank you.
2. The referring party took the time out of their busy day to make the referral specifically to us. Yes, I realize that making a referral to a quality company makes the referring party look good, but still, they took the time.
3. There is one more company/decision-maker that knows about us, knows we exist and if they don't work with us today or tomorrow, it's just a matter of time before they do or before they make a referral of their own.
4. Good grief, saying thank you is just plain good manners!

Needless to say, these referral sources won't be getting any more referrals from me, but still...I think the lack of common courtesy these days is far removed from any actions that would be remotely considered business-like sucks.

Bottomline: I know my comments above might be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but seriously, have I lost it? Am I expecting some great shakes? Is our policy of sending an immediate thank you and/or hand-written note overkill? Or does business have to convert in order to warrant a thank you? How do you handle thanking/rewarding referral sources?

P.S. And smart companies are using technology - probably CRM software - to keep track of which people make referrals often so they can be rewarded even more and be added to your firms 'center of influence' list and nurtured. This is how REAL relationshsips start folks.

P.P.S. And, oh by the way, I'm leading the Social Media Hot Seat Lab at Marketing Prof's Business-to-Business Forum in June in Boston. If you're planning to attend, let's connect and here's a link to discounted registration. You still have time to save $350.

I Have Seen the Future and She is NOT Me

One comes across interesting things on the net, things that need sharing. From the blog Future of the Book (a place I have neglected of late), this video caught my eye. Blogger Chris Meade writes, "The future has only been a topic of interest for a relatively short while." He goes on to ask, "When exactly did we start to picture fantastical possibilities to come?"

My answer would be: in the late sixties... when Star Trek was so popular.

Seriously, that's when I allowed myself to contemplate "the future." Yes, it was campy and corny and out of touch with any reality, but Star Trek truly did go where no 'man' had gone before...and it took a good number of women along. The women of Star Trek often held positions of power that were not representative of the day. Making this video even more outrageous as it demonstrates what Mary and Michele were writing about this week.

Perhaps the most outrageous part of this video isn't that it's so laughable today but that... it borders on reality and... in some homes, it is reality. Watch and learn: this is NOT how you should be treating your women customers...

Marketing to Women: Fallacies & Follies

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter

Michele Miller's recent post , Four Fallacies About Marketing To Women,  is an excellent reality check.

The first fallacy she lists about real estate hit - um - home with me.  I've been in full renovation mode for the past couple of years in my retro '50s stucco.  Many still think that women don't buy real estate unless they're part of a couple or have a family.  (In fact 22% of all home purchases were by single women last year.)   

In my own highly unscientific survey  - I know of at least six women (including  me) who have purchased multiple homes over the years.  And, none of us have been waiting for Prince Charming to pay for the starter castle. (We also do wild and crazy things like pack up and move to a different city, where we don't know a soul.)    

The other three fallacies that Michele talks about are: women don't "get" consumer electronics; women don't like sports cars; and we don't like video games. (Nope, nada, nuh-uh.)

I'm adding a couple more that I'd bet could be backed by research data (if they haven't already).

Women don't like sci-fi, action or horror movies.  Tell that to the crowd of Baby Boomers with whom I hang.  Personally, I love nothing better than a big bag of popcorn...and a Big Popcorn Movie.  Iron Man is on my list. I was very disappointed to learn Wolverine won't come out until next May.  And, any time Bruce Willis mans up, I'm there!  Blow 'em up, cowboy! (I also confess that the Resident Evil series of godawful movies is a guilty pleasure.  Watching Milla Jovanich blow things up is way cool.)

Women don't understand financial planning.  Tell that to the three female financial planners that I personally know...not to mention the 300 or so women biz owners I know just in Albuquerque.

The list can go on...and on...and on...

It amazes me how the old stereotypes persist. Therein lies the folly.  When marketers take the easy way, relying on those stereotypes (about women, men, race, age) - products fail...and political campaigns falter. (Hmmm....you mean not all middle-aged white women are voting for Senator Clinton?  Who woulda thunk?)

Happy Friday!  I'm going to be doing more heavy manual labor this weekend, landscaping my back yard. (Hey, another fallacy falls! We women aren't afraid to get dirty. All I ask is that indoor plumbing be there at the end of the day ;-)

   

PhD in Social Media?

Just read a really great interview at Web Strategy by Jeremiah (Jeremiah is a Sr. Analyst at Forrester Research, in Social Media). (watch this space for Mary Schmidt's post later today...)

I follow Jeremiah on Twitter, else I might not know about this. I'd like to say I read his blog, but...I only read it when he (or someone else) provides a tantilizing link via Twitter.

Meanwhile, this interview is with Vanina Delobelle, who boasts a PhD in Social Media and online communities for marketing in the internet space. According to the interview, she graduated with honors.

This is very fascinating. A PhD in Social Media. Of course, it had to be a woman. Were there men in her class? One expects so...but this interview is about her, and her thoughts on why she studied for this degree, as well as what she expects to do with it.

Here are a few dynamite quotes: first, on her research as she studied, "This trend was mainly driven by business. I wanted to prove academically these new behaviors... I started to analyze how start ups were behaving with the social media and then I wanted to show the interest of both entrepreneurs and consumers in using this interactivity."

Next, on her results, "Consumers want to take part of conversations happening with companies, they want to be involved, they want to share and this is the company's interest to do the same with the market. Today we see that companies can get so many benefits from setting up a social media strategy. I would even say that it is not even possible for a company not to consider it as the market has changed and they have to change as well, to survive."

Food for thought. Visit Vanina's blog here (it helps to know French). View her presentation here.

The Stories of Our Lives

Last night Tom and I had dinner with a good friend. Bruce is someone I feel very fortunate to call friend, and client, at the same time. Our dinner was just a casual event - something to keep the friendship bond strong. Bruce is the husband of Maxine.

While eating our dinner, our conversation moved into the human condition - something often discussed in creative writing classes. Back in the day, studying literature at Brockport, we beat the idea of writing about the "human condition" to death, I think. In the end, what...pray tell...is "the human condition?"

For me, and for the conversation last night with Bruce, it's about stories. It's about sharing the intimate  stories of our lives. Intimate, you'll remember, does not have to be seductive. It can merely be the feelings one has with close, personal relationships -- including friendships, family, or colleagues. When we human beings share our stories, when we let down our guard, reveal the secrets hidden in the closets of our past, when we allow the listener inside, we are often merely sharing the details of what makes us who we are.

I think those intimate details include historical perspective - a looking back on who we were. Not someone's sister or daughter or cousin, but the person inside, who has memories that stretch beyond last year, or last month, to the collective whole -- before time began. We guard that bundle of memories so tightly -- it can be hard to figure out who we are, today.

In my youth, I remember long summer days running barefoot about the neighborhood with friends, always outdoors, always shouting and calling across lush, green backyards, always intent upon being young and free. We didn't know it then, but those were the days, and they are gone forever, now.

Ring the Alarm, Chicken Little!

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia Technology

If I read one more alarmist piece of "journalism" about social media from mainstream media, I think I'll yack.

I tend toward conspiracy theory anyway, but I do believe that MSM (mainstream media) has an ulterior motive when they print stories like the one linked to above. I think it goes a little something like: They haven't figured out how to make money off social media yet, they're not active in the blogosphere, social media is cutting into a huge chunk of their content consumption and well, why not just paint the whole lot of this social media stuff as pure evil?  Makes sense, eh?

However, I am also a realist and because my firm works in the social media space, we see social media burn out all too often.

Burn out is so pointless because it's so easily avoided. You don't have to reach the burn-out point just because you want to write a blog or two - shoot, I write three or four blogs, run a successful company, travel, hang with friends, etc. And, no I don't have superpowers...well, at least none that I can tell you about anyway.

So, when MSM outlets write about blog overload, yes, they are reporting on a very real condition, but much of it is over-hyped drivel. You'd think Chicken Little was writing these stories.

The $64,000 question is: if blogging burn-out is a real challenge (which it is), how the hell do you avoid it?

If you read anything I write, you know I'm a HUGE proponent of strategy and planning - in fact, I built a whole company around these activities. Forget measure twice, cut once...most folks don't measure the first time, they just start 'ta cuttin'. </soapbox>

Ok, the first thing...

1. Get that plan out of your head and onto a screen or paper (preferably on screen...let's save the environment, eh?) Why are you blogging? What do you hope to gain? What do you want to happen as a result of writing and posting regular blog posts? This might sound so much like Planning 101, but here's what happens: people omit this step, they hit a rough patch in the blogging highway and then they have nothing to guide them back on track. If I've seen it once, I've seen it a million times.

2. Figure out your schedule. Don't let blogging - or any other activity - dictate your schedule. When will you blog? How often will you blog? On which days of the week?  Which days will be spent writing consumable blog content versus blog maintenance? Map this out and then create recurring meetings with yourself in your calendar for the same days and times. The trick here is to pick one day for content creation and another day for maintenance and be done with it. The beauty about blogging software, in case you didn't know, is that it allows you to create posts ahead of time and schedule them for posting live later. *gasp*

3. Write out your blogging editorial calendar. Once you start blogging, one of two things happens to you:

a) You quickly realize that everything becomes material/fodder/content for your blog. Then it all starts jumbling in your head and you have all these great ideas yet nothing materializes on the screen.

or

b) You go into a tailspin and panic. "Why did you ever think you could do this anyway? Who cares about what you have to say? No one is reading this! What should I write about? I need to blog now, but nothing will come to me. Why is the screen still blank! Ack!" *meldown ensues*

Get a grip. Make a list of everything you'd like to write about. Assign dates to that content. Done. (Note: you don't have to share this list with the world, this list is just for you so you can keep your mind right. Get it?)

Bottomline: If a smart, brave soul has the good sense to take these steps and wants to write about their results here (good, bad or indifferent), I've got something nice for y'all. If not, I'll give 'em away to someone else.

P.S. And, oh by the way, I'm leading the Social Media Hot Seat Lab at Marketing Prof's Business-to-Business Forum in June in Boston. If you're planning to attend, let's connect!

Local Search: A Woman's New Best Friend

Seems like I get at least one newsletter a week touting a Google killer article. The article, of course, is about a "new" or "innovative" search engine which is doing local search better than Google, or has better secret algorithyms, or has better real people behind it. Whatever. (then there's Powerset - "don't call us a search engine" - read about it here)

In the search for better search - and make no bones about the fact that search is a vital tool in your toolbox if you're in the marketing to women online mindset (you are, aren't you?) - local is an important element to success. From my perspective, as a woman who shops online, and who asks a lot of other women about their online shopping experiences, local search success is key to getting me to use your site. Even if your company is totally Internet-based, with no local presence (so you think), you should be seriously looking at local search and how it influences the way women shop online.

Okay, here's the scoop - we really do like to buy local. Women are into cause marketing, just ask Diane or Mary or Michele. We want to buy from companies that are "green" or that support our causes, be it Diabetes research, brain cancer research, the Humane Society, breast cancer, the environment, etc. Using local search allows us to feel good about supporting the local chapter of whatever major cause we're passionate about. Because local search connects us locally.

We likely KNOW someone with that disease, affliction, medical condition, etc. and we'd like our efforts to support the local chapter that will actually do something to help our friend or acquaintance.

The "Mystery" of Lousy Customer Service

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter

There really isn't any deep, dark mystery why customer service - in our "service" economy - is generally so bad. You just have to look at the lay-off headlines...and then there's the terrible attitude of the  employers.  If they take an adversarial approach to customers...you can well imagine how they treat the people who are at their mercy for paychecks.

Here are the "signs" (literally) that portend bad service:

ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES! These signs  are invariably in places with messy shelves, dirty floors...and thoroughly bored employees.  (Note:  I've even seen these in so-called upscale stores.) 

SHOPLIFTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED!  This sets a negative vibe from the get-go. We all know shoplifting is a crime - especially the shoplifters. That's why they're so sneaky. Duh.   

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone." Pick your poison here. The reader is wondering: A. what century you live in; B. Are you a racist, misogynist or just plain don't like people?

And, I recently saw this sign by the back entrance of a local restaurant.

WARNING! EMPLOYEES DO NOT PARK IN BACK PARKING LOT OR YOU WILL BE TOWED WITHOUT WARNING! The ONLY people authorized to park in the lot are: (a list of - I guess - the owners and managers follows)

Wow. This place must be a real joy to work at - wonder what they're doing back in the kitchen to vent? Eck and Yech. (This was one of my favorite places...and I've not been back since I saw this sign as I was walking out to that back parking lot.)

Oddly enough - some of the best service I've ever received has been in the Salvation Army thrift store.  The managers and employees seem happy to be there and it's a pleasure to talk to them. (And I find great deals on martini glasses!) 

Happy Friday! The next time you're faced with bad service, try to look at it from the service person's  perspective.  Would you want to work at the restaurant, shop, phone service center?