America's Best Business Practices

Good article Mike! I appreciate your point that many small biz owners try a few things and if they don’t see immediate results, they give up and move on. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way! You need to just hang in there awhile and give your seeds a chance to sprout. Thanks for the helpful list of relevant articles too! I’ll pass this along…

Mike, this is a great article and I’d have to agree that many business owners are looking for that instant gratification with their social media plan. I was recently involved in a photo op at a fundraising event that created allot of buzz on the Facebook page. A mime dressed in full white held a fancy picture frame around the guest and once the picture was snapped we were encouraged to pick it off of the Facebook page. Lots of fun, engagement and of course an increase in fans.

Nicely written, & thanks very much for the mention. Really enjoyed your thoughts and insight very much!
Respectfully,
Daniel Gordon

Dee, one thing I have learned about working with small biz owners is that you can really only help the willing. Some are close minded about everything happening around them, are not comfortable with change, and stick to old methods that no longer work. (Isn’t that the definition of insanity: “To continue to do the same thing and expect different results”?) Others go through good ideas like ex-wives, giving them a few moments to work and when they don’t see immediate results, dump them and move on to the next good idea. After awhile, they are bond to run out of good idea. A good idea is like a good wine. It takes time to develop and fine tune it, grow to maturity and produce results.

Very clever idea Lisa! But as I said to Dee, I agree it takes time. The old marketing methods of one way broadcasts used to provide almost instant results, but these methods are longer effective. Social media, which has proven to be very effective, takes time and effort. So a small biz owner will have to make a decision.

It only goes to show that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t get him in a swimsuit. :-)

Daniel, thanks for commenting. You prove another very important about social media and that is the importance of “listening”. Obviously you are listening or you wouldn’t know (at least this quickly) that I did mention you. I blogged about this in an article “Managing Your Small Business Reputation“.

By the way Daniel, what software do you use to listen? What alerted you to the fact that I mentioned you?

Again, thanks for reading my post and for taking the time to comment.

Absolutely, couldn’t agree more with you there. One of the most underused and overlooked facets of all the tool mechanisms. Tweetmeme is a great tool for blog posts we are mentioned in, and for everyday usage I mainly use Google Alerts and Social Mention is a really great service for things that GA doesn’t pickup. http://socialmention.com

Amazing Daniel… all of these tools are free. I can’t imagine why ALL businesses are not listening. Thanks for sharing!!

Hi Mike

This is a great article. I’ve been thinking of running a contest lately or a survey, but the problem with surveys (in my humble opinion) is that there ought to be some “instant gratification” as you put it.

Do you have any ideas for what I could use as a carrot to dangle in exchange for a survey?

I’ve given it some thought and could only come up with perhaps a whitepaper or a short e-book with some helpful tips. But that’s gonna take some extra work and I’m lazy, ha ha! If only I could somehow figure out something else?

Bobbi Jo, thanks for your kind words of support and for taking the time to comment.

Would a “poll” accomplish the same end result you desire as would a “survey”? The reason for my query is that I have read that it is far easier to secure participation in a poll than a survey. I apologize that I don’t have the time to look up supporting evidence but I would recommend that you do a little research to see if this is true.

As to a free gift. There are thousands of free “tools” on the web… financial calculators, SEO tools, games, widgets, etc… just about anything you can conceive. Your “instant gratification” could be to point them to one of these “freebies”. I would think the “freebie” should tie into the theme of the poll, survey or contest.

Perhaps other readers will have even better suggestions for you.

Hi Mike. Great content – thanks so much. My wheels are spinning as I think of ways to create that buzz. Just can’t decide what costume to wear LOL. My niece worked for a brief time for a pet store and that is exactly what she did. She stood outside the store in some bright colored, fuzzy dog costume to attract customers. She didn’t stay long in that job because it was really hot in the summer time in Virginia. :)

Julie, I can think of better promotional jobs, particularly in the summer. :-)

Starting and growing a business, to have a chance at success, must have a marketing buzz. What I have found is that many start-ups and seasoned entrepreneurs are not very good at creating a marketing buzz. When asked to share with me their value proposition – reason someone should buy from you – if I close my eyes it could be any one of a hundred companies. Creating differentiation – true differentiation is a must and to do this talk to successful long-term entrepreneurs, marketing professionals and coaches. Work as hard at this aspect of your business as you would any other part.