How ‘vanilla’ is your social media marketing?
Russell Spanton doing what he loves best
Vanilla gets such a bad run as an adjective.
It usually means bland, boring and safe.
But vanilla bean farmer from Port Douglas in Queensland, Russell Spanton, not only lives the dream of following his passion, his attitude to his ‘calling’ is exactly what The RITE Series has been preaching from day one.
Russell and his wife, Mary, were featured in a lot of media coverage recently when the price of vanilla skyrocketed.
The stories, particularly the one I heard, Australian vanilla growers to cash in on global shortage, on ABC Radio’s AM program, all showcased the essence (pardon the pun) of two people fully committed to what they do for a living, and ultimately yielding their well-earned reward.
But two passages from the AM story in particular caught my attention and made me share them with you, as you ponder the future of your Top End business.
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Teaching East Timorese to Catch Crocodiles Reveals There Is A Market For You Online
The 4.5 metre salty caught during training (ninemsn)
Who would have thought there would be international demand for a skill as particular as catching saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory?
Radio Australia reported last week that, ‘East Timorese crocodile catchers have come to the Northern Territory to learn the tricks of the trade from Australian wranglers‘.
But this article is not about crocodiles, nor about East Timor, it is about you and your Top End business.
A very common thing I hear when running my marketing workshops in Darwin are doubts from business owners as to whether it is worthwhile promoting themselves online via web pages, blog or social media. Some of the suspect excuses I hear include:
- My competitors aren’t doing it yet
- My customer base is only local
- I survive on word of mouth, so I don’t need a website
And this is where our crocodile rangers give us some insights.
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A Quick Facebook Advertising How To Video
On the weekend, I had a previous participant from one of my marketing workshops in Darwin, ask me about the ‘use existing campaign’ link in the Facebook Advertising setup screen.
It had never occurred to me that such wording could be confusing.
But now that I read it again, with the eyes of someone very new to Facebook Advertising, I can see how it might be ambiguous. For example, it might mean, use a draft campaign previously created by Facebook as a starting point for new comers, rather than just the link to previous campaigns YOU might have used earlier.
With that in mind, I thought I had better run through the main points in the Facebook Advertising screen at a very top level, to make sure I had covered any other ‘curve balls’.
What I have embedded below is an ad-libbed video tutorial which runs about 14 minutes.
If you are already familiar with Facebook Advertising it will be too basic for you, and if you are completely unfamiliar then this might be a little too bamboozling for you.
As Goldilocks would say, this one is ‘just right’ (well, I hope she would).
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Twitter Netiquette: It Pays To Be Polite Online
Some tweets from various followers of The RITE Series on Twitter recently, have struck me with how polite and warm they were.
I don’t mean saccharin sweet or gushing, just friendly and engaged.
It got me thinking about an article I wrote on this subject a few weeks ago on the Baker Marketing blog, Marketing Minds.
It was based on an open, Twitter-based discussion among Adelaide-based social media users about what they consider to be best practice in online social networking behaviour.
Here is the link and I invite you to leave your comments on either blog.
Your camera is a window to the ‘social’
Part of a stunning photo by Louise Denton of Nightcliff Jetty in Darwin shared via Google+
Google recently promoted a ‘photo walk’ day to encourage those of us interested in photography to join with likeminded souls and wander around Darwin and other city centres, taking photos to be uploaded to and shared via Google+ (Google’s version of Facebook, although both parties will hate that reference).
It is fair to say that Google+ remains a less mainstream social network, despite that fact that it continues to enjoy some growth in its user base. Social Media News estimates about 2.2 million Australians using Google+, compared to Facebook’s 10.9 million.
Before your busyness tempts you dismiss yet another call by me to explore Google+, there are two key reasons I believe it warrants a visit (or a return visit):
Google says it is paying close attention to content that is being shared within Google+ when it comes to compiling its search results
The recent ‘photo walk’ has revealed how potent photography, or the love thereof, can be in building networks
It is this latter point I want to explore today and it was prompted by the group, Darwin Photo Walks.
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Please don’t be THAT guy on social media – and I don’t mean the Chief Minister!
Twit Cleaner report summary for @theriteseries
Brett Walker, who runs the @DarwinorthOZ Twitter account, shared a non-Top End link last night that caught my eye, it read:
Good post ~ Please don’t be that guy: some advice for using social media
It contained a link to an article by Anne Chaconas, entitled, Please: Don’t be “that guy.”
In short, the article was a call for being ‘social’ in social media, a common theme throughout The RITE Series and a core part of my Two Commandments of Social Media Marketing.
What prompted Anne to write the piece was a rogue member in one of her social networks, a writer who shared some of the following atrocious tweets.
Anne’s piece also prompted me to run a tool that checks people in your Twitter account to see who should be deleted. That’s where the Chief Minister account comes into it.
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Are customers a nuisance or your reason for existence?
What I love about the Top End is the down-to-earth nature of most social and commercial interactions.
This means, most places accept you as you are and you don’t have to dress to the nines when you wander down the shop for a pint of milk.
But, as a shop owner, salesperson or service provider, striking the right balance between the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude and the ‘customer is always right’ mentality all boils down to respect; respect between both parties.
From a customer’s perspective, there is little difference in being treated rudely by a sales assistant or bar tender wearing shorts and thongs or by a waiter or GP wearing their best suits.
I recently experienced both ends of the service spectrum in Darwin, and will share with you what I learned from them.
Can you see yourself in any of the examples that follow?
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Your Facebook Page has just changed: Introducing the Timeline
This is one of those weeks when a new Facebook development gets imposed from above.
This time, it is the Timeline for business pages.
Whether you like it or not, your Page format will change and that lovingly created landing page will be cast aside.
It is also one of those weeks where I have written a piece that sums it up back on the Baker Marketing blog, Marketing Minds.
Click here to find out what is changing and what you need to do to prepare for your Facebook Page Timeline.
A private message to my Social Media Marketing classes from last week in Darwin
Today’s blog post is a departure from my usual style and content and is particularly shared for the benefit of those business people in Darwin who did my workshop last week, Web2.0 for Sales and Profits.
I have been running these workshops through the Business Enterprise Centre NT and with support from the Department of Business and Employment. We always have a ball and cover much more than what’s in the lesson plan.
However, last week, two themes emerged that I felt compelled to comment on, namely:
- Fear of applying social media tools
- Lack of trust in having something interesting to share.
Here is my message to the participants and if you are interested in watching my message, the tool I refer to at one point is Hootsuite, particularly in relation to its ability to become a listening post for eavesdropping on public, consumer conversations relevant to your business.
By the way, this video was shot on my iPhone, transferred to my iPad where I edited it using iMovie (an app that costs about $5) and then uploaded to YouTube directly from there. It is not ‘Hollywood’ but it gets the job done quickly and efficiently.
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