Australia’s political leaders, the nation’s top public servants, a Fortune 100 heavy weight and a TV celebrity were some of the speakers at the National Small Business Summit in Brisbane last week.

Speaking in amongst Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan, Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott, Channel 7 Sunrise host David “Kochie” Koch &  Dell’s US social media expert Richard Binhammer were some humble business owners as well!

I was honoured to speak on the Red Hot Sales, Marketing & Social Media Strategy panel.

The Red Hot Sales, Marketing & Social Media Strategy panel. Richard Binhammer, Valerie Khoo, Linda Hailey, Adam Franklin & Ciaran McGuigan

Here is a (rough) transcript of what I spoke about.

Now more than ever huge opportunities exist for small businesses not only to compete with but beat bigger businesses.   And it’s all thanks to the web!

WEB HAS CHANGED MARKETING in 2 fundamental ways.

1. INFORMATION STAYS ONLINE FOREVER.
   Traditionally, when you’ve run adverts on TV, radio, billboards or press once your campaign has finished, the next day it’s gone.But online, information stays archived forever, allowing you to build up your online profile over time.
2. THE USER IS NOW IN CONTROL
   Imagine if every TV ad, radio ad, billboard ad or direct mail ad had an <unsubscribe> <unfollow> or <report as spam> button on it?  And if someone hit that button, you could never contact that person again?

   Imagine how much that would change what you said in your marketing?

Of course on the web, this is case.  You can easily unsubscribe from emails, un-follow people on Twitter, un-like facebook pages & click past terrible websites.

THE SCARY THING IS: You usually only get one chance.

So the onus really is on us as small business owners, to market ourselves in a way that people like & on terms that they want.

Adam Franklin at National Small Business Summit

Which brings me to the most common question we get asked by web strategy clients at Bluewire Media…  And that is:

People buy from you because you solve a problem for them. These days, the successful companies are the ones  creating information that helps solve people’s problems.

Think for a second what you’ve done when faced with a problem… With a show of hands, in the last 2 weeks,

• Who’s put a feeler out to friends and got a response via email, facebook or twitter?  [about 30% of the room]
• Who’s googled something? [about 99% of the room]

We are already very active online.

• Statistics show that only 14% or people trust ads yet 78% trust recommendations from other people.People search for information they want and ignore all other interruptions (usually adverts).

So my rhetorical questions is: Are you attracting people or interrupting people with your marketing?  Or as Richard described before, “are you a rude waiter?”

The biggest misconception is that your ‘website is everything’ but I’ll explain why this is wrong in a second.  Your website is certainly very important as it’s the central commercial hub of all your web activity. Your website is where you sell and generate commercial outcomes.

Let’s have a look at this Web Marketing Diagram, which is a free download at www.BluewireMedia.com.au.  Click One Page Web Strategy Plan.

Web Marketing Diagram - click to enlarge

Your website is the centrepiece of your web marketing and there are 4 outcomes from a good website (you can see these on the right hand side):

People can:

1. enquire
2. purchase
3. download
4. participate

But everything else you do on the web is based around attracting people to your website by EARNING TRUST & CREDIBILITY off-site. This is why happens off your website, is just as important as want happens on it.

After all, YOU control your website:

• so people may take what you say with a grain of salt.
• But what’s happens off your site is out of your control!
• What people say about you is much more believable & authentic simply for the fact it hasn’t come out of your mouth!

And the second most common question we get asked by web strategy clients at Bluewire… is:
“How to we attract people to website and get found?”

The answer again comes back to creating information that solves people’s problem.

You can certainly influence what happens off your site, by creating remarkable content.  And if it’s TRULY REMARKABLE, people will do just that & REMARK.

• People will blog about you,
• People will link to you
• People talk about you on social networks too!

THE GOOD NEWS for SMALL BUSINESS

• is back links can’t be bought,
• Google results can’t be faked
• You can’t force people share your content.

The better your information is, the more it is shared on social media, the more back links you attract and it’s these back links that help propel you up Google.

AND THIS IS HOW YOU BEAT THE BIG BOYS!

The web has levelled the playing field.  We can no longer be outspent by big corporations with massive marketing budgets.  It is now the quality of our content that is the key factor, not how deep our pockets are.

Please think about your CONTENT as deposits into a BANK, earning COMPOUND INTEREST. Forever!

Because once your remarkable content is online, it will continue to pay dividends for years.  The dividend comes from those commercial outcomes on your website. AND PEOPLE BUYING FROM YOU.

A good web strategy makes it very hard for a competitor to out-market or out-sell you.  But of course, if you don’t act now, you may forfeit this opportunity & a competitor will leap frog you!

If you are still using old-fashioned pre-web marketing strategies… My take home message is:

1. Start creating remarkable online content to get HEAD START in your industry
2. Turn that HEAD START into a GENUINE LEAD by consistently creating remarkable information.
3. Then make your LEAD UNASSAILABLE by always creating the very best information in your industry!!

Thank you.

[END OF SPEECH]

Our panel discussion was also featured in The Age: Modern day wooing: marketing tips from social media gurus.

Web Stratgey Speaker:  If you’d like a jargon-free web strategy speaker, please call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

Better known as @RichardatDELL to his 10, 758 Twitter followers,  Dell’s international social media strategist Richard Binnhammer flew to Australia for the National Small Business Summit in Brisbane last week.

Richard’s social media strategies have helped Dell have generated millions of dollars from their Twitter account alone. And it was inspiring to hear how a Fortune 100 company uses social media to generate sales and build their reputation.

However Dell’s reputation hasn’t always been so wonderful and I had some pressing questions I really wanted to ask Richard.  Graciously Richard accepted my interview request!

I asked Richard about Dell’s dramatic turnaround from the Dell Hell fiasco in 2005 to today’s multi-million social media successes.

In this 2:26 video, Richard explains what went wrong during the Dell Hell fiasco, why Michael Dell got personally involved and how Dell not only overcame the negative press, but turned it around to become the genuine leader in social media!

The take-home message for all businesses, is LISTEN to what is being said!

You can read Richard Binhammer’s blog: http://richardatDELL.blogspot.com

Richard Binnhammer was the international speaker on the Red Hot Sales, Marketing & Social Media Strategies panel, which I was honoured to be a part of too.

You can read more about our NSBS panel discussion in this article in The Age on 9th July: Modern day wooing: marketing tips from social media gurus:

Social Media Strategy: For a social media strategy with an Australian flavour, consider Bluewire Media and call 1300 258 394.

Need a compelling reason to get your business’s social media strategy organised?

Need to put into context the reach and influence of social networks?

This video is it – again! (Thanks to Erik Qualman at Socialnomics for putting this together)

Since the last edition that I saw, Facebook has grown from the 5th to the 3rd largest country in the world, Ashton Kutcher has more followers on Twitter than the entire population of some countries and there were more Kindle ebook downloads than hard copy books sold at Xmas…

We’re running a Social Media for Business event  on Monday 19th of July if you’d like to find out more.

What do you think of the video?

The Key to Creating Remarkable Things – The 99 Percent
The idea of doing our real work first and “reactive” work second (answering emails, getting resources for colleagues etc.) sounds like common-sense, doesn’t it? But is that really how you function day to day? Or do you spend the morning “getting ready” to knuckle down… then suddenly it’s three o’clock and time for a cup of soup? In this article, Mark McGuinness explains why doing it the right way round is so important and gives a few tips on how to make it work.

5 Handy iPhone Apps for Home Improvement – Mashable
Match colours or turn your phone into a working spirit level!

5 Online Tools for Answering Your Small Business Questions – OPEN Forum
Small business owners have millions of questions… here are five places to find useful answers from real people!

Hash: The semiology & phenomenology of hashtaggery – The New Yorker
The way Twitter’s “hash tag” use has changed over time is a pretty interesting study in human communication. If you’re into that kind of thing, this is a fascinating article on how something meant to make your tweet easier to find is now used to add layers of extra meaning to those 140 character quips. It’s changed from an entry to get to your tweet to gateways to more meaning about your tweet.

If you have no idea what a “hash tag” is, then check out this article (and another) and it might just click.

Experts Agree: Gen Y Will Not Grow Out of Social Networking – Mashable
Will we still be Facebooking when we’re 64? Most of the respondents in this study think Gen Ys won’t be giving up on social networks and “ambient broadcasting” anytime soon. What do you think?

Meet the Google Doodlers!

Being a small business owner myself, I am honoured to be invited to speak at the National Small Business Summit in Brisbane on Thursday 8th July.

It will be an exiting session at 11am & it’s called Kochie’s Business Builders Panel Session: Red hot sales, marketing and social media strategies.

As a sneak peek of what to expect, each member of the panel will give a 5 minute talk and then we’ll lead in a panel discussion with Q&A.

Personally, I’ll be covering how a good web strategy is crucial to a small (or large) business.  In fact, I’ll be talking about the how the internet represents a HUGE opportunity for small business to compete with (and beat) the big boys!  How?  The currency of the web is back links (not dollars) and these stem from publishing great information that helps solve buyers’ problems.  This is the key to success on the web.

Those attending this session will benefit from having a look at our One Page Web Strategy Plan which is a free download.

Facilitator:
Linda Hailey, Hailey Enterprises and Kochie’s Business Builders marketing expert

Discussion leaders:
- Special Guest Speaker: Richard Binhammer, Dell’s US Social Media expert
- Valerie Khoo, Founder, The Sydney Writers Centre
- Ciaran McGuigan, Strike Force Sales and Kochie’s Business Builders contributor
- Adam Franklin, Managing Director, Bluewire Media

The (former) Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was going to give the keynote address at the Gala Dinner, but I’m guessing due to Thursday’s political unfolding, this may have changed!  Whatever transpires, I look forward to reporting back on what happens.

If you follow #NSBS on twitter you’ll be in the loop & also follow @Kochies_Biz.  Or of course follow me and I’ll keep you posted @Franklin_Adam

Tickets to the National Small Business Summit from $380

If there are any questions or issues you’d like me to address, please let me know. (Especially since Richard Binhammer Dell’s  international guest speaker will be on the panel).

Social Media Speaker:  If you’d like someone to speak about social media at your event, please call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

During a recent brainstorming session with Malcolm Burrows over at Rostron Caryle we came up with a new way to plan, implement, and measure the success of a social media policy.

Here’s how it goes:

Target Market

Who are they and how will you reach them?

Buyer Persona 1:

Buyer Persona 2:

Buyer Persona 3:

Watching

How will you measure what’s being said on social media sites?

Who will be responsible for monitoring this?

Emergency

What constitutes an emergency for your organisation?

1.

2.

3.

Who is responsible in the event of an emergency?

Employees

Who will be authorised to participate in social media?

For each account type (official, incidental employee, personal) identify which social media activities are authorised?

• Facebook fan page
• Facebook personal page
• Tweeting
• Blog – organisation
• Blog – personal
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Commenting (forums)
• Other

Technology

Which social media channels will the organisation utilise? (List the approved activities)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Success

How will you know that your campaign has been successful?

 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

We’d love to hear your feedback on the TWEETS method!

Social Media Brisbane: If you would like help developing and implementing a social media strategy and policy contact Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

Having first heard of the foursquare iPhone app late last year, I’ve finally downloaded the app, signed up & have become the first person to check into Bluewire Media.

If you’ve never heard of foursquare, that is OK.

It’s s a social media tool that allows you to connect with friends who are in the same location or nearby.  Foursquare allows you literally to see where your online friends are in real world!

This review explains it quickly.

If you are a regular at say, The Gunshop Cafe, you can check in every time you have a coffee & leave a review or look for friends who might happen to be in West End at the same time.

It’s fun because if you happen to be the person who has checked the most times, you then become the ‘Mayor‘ of that location.   That is, until someone else claims the bragging rights!

I have earned my Newbie Badge, but you can rise up the ranks the more you check in.  So, if you’re on foursquare, drop by & check into Bluewire.  You may even become our  Mayor!

Social Media Strategy: If you’d like some ideas to help tie your social media strategy together, give Bluewire Media a call on 1300 258 394.

This week’s round-up is tinged with sadness as we say goodbye to our long-standing and well-loved designer, Sarah Hyne.  Sarah’s migrating to new, lush pastures over at MAP Magazine. Sarah had been with Bluewire for two and a half years and in that time she instigated our famous “Weekly Round-up” blog posts.

It’s with a bit of trepedation that I take over these posts! So here it is… the first of Bluewire Media’s Monday Weekly Round-ups.

• Has the iPhone lost its cool? – CNN
• Test drive Internet Explorer 9
• 24 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed – Mashable
• 17 Useful Tips to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life – Guiding Tech
• Google Launches Secure Search – Mashable (Use it here: https://www.google.com)
• 25 Crazy Cake Designs – Abduzeedo (graphic design inspiration… really)

Did you miss Google’s Pacman game? Play it here.

Fascinating stuff! Do you think we can fill Sarah’s blogging shoes? Look out for next week’s round-up, now on Mondays.

We’re passionate advocates of using social networking for business marketing and delight in sharing success stories that began at a tweet, a Facebook discussion, a YouTube clip or a blog post.

Remember our interview with David Meerman Scott?  The one where he blogged about General Motors and ended up landing a meeting with the CEO?

Amazing right?

On a much smaller scale many of us are continually experiencing the benefits of social networking. A personal success story of mine unfolded a couple of weeks ago…

I’m currently enrolled in a music blogging course as part of my journalism degree at QUT (yep, blogging has hit the curriculum). Everyone in the class is grouped up and working on music blog projects. We’ve only been going for a few weeks and we were averaging about 50-ish hits a day. Then one day our views spiked to 500 – a crazy amount for a school project!

School Assignment Stats

I looked over our analytics and realised that the vast majority of our hits were coming from the Brisbane Times website. They’d compiled a “Best of the Brisbane blogosphere” list and included our little bleep of a blog on there!

But how did they know about us?

We follow Brisbane Times on Twitter. It was that simple. Through following them, they’d become aware of us.

Social Media Book Prize

To me this is a perfect example of how social media can be used as an inbound marketing medium – an idea Adam discussed at our workshop on Tuesday night.

Being present in the social networking sphere can reap fabulous rewards.

So, what’s your social networking success story? Large or small, we want to know how getting social online has helped you.

Comment us with your answer and you could win a copy of Verne Harnish’s “Mastering The Rockerfeller Habits”.

Social Media Marketing Brisbane: We can help you implement a social media strategy and get your success stories rolling. Call 1300 258 394.

Malcolm Burrows from Rostron Carlyle Solicitors

This is a guest blog post by social media lawyer Malcolm Burrows:

What is a Social Media Policy?

A Social Media Policy (Policy) is a document, communicated to an organisation’s employees so as to be legally binding, setting out the way in which employees are to participate on SNS and the rules that the organisation wants to apply to online conduct.  Such a Policy attempts to regulate the activities of both Controlled Employees (employees that use SNS as part of their jobs) and Non-Incidental Employees (who don’t use SNS as part of their job) but who may participate in SNS both during and after hours.

What legal risks should a Social Media Policy address?

The legal risks for organisations in relation to social media can be classified (for simplicity) by the following nomenclature:

• Loss of confidential information;
• Trademark infringement and loss of brand reputation;
• Copyright infringement;
• Discrimination;
• Misleading and deceptive conduct;
• Passing off;
• Organisational reputation risk;
• Breach of continuous disclosure obligations for public companies;
• Defamation;
• Privacy;
• Negligent misstatements;
• Occupation and industry specific risks as they are embodied in organisation specific legislation.

This classification system whilst reasonably comprehensive attempts to categorise risks that cannot be easily compartmentalised, as they cross boundaries.  A Social Media Policy (as well as new and revised clauses for employment contracts for Controlled Employees) should address some or all of these risks.

Is a Social Media Policy contractually binding?

If introduced correctly, a Social Media Policy can be contractually binding on an organisation’s employees. Generally however, it is important to note that an employer cannot regulate the after work conduct of its employees.

Considerations in drafting Social Media Policy