Luckily, one day I took the time to explore Google Friend Connect and learned that it is much more than a friendly application. I’ve discovered a few great ways to use Google Friend Connect for business that I’d like to share with you.

1. Social marketing is all about meeting people where they like to be, adapting to the tools they prefer. Many people love this tool and choose to follow blogs by joining via Google Friend Connect. In fact, I’ve been asked hundreds of times to follow someone using this tool. As soon as I added it to my site, people started to join. While my preference is still via email/feedburner, I make the extra effort to join using Google Friend Connect. It is just one more option in building community, and hey, that’s what makes social media so great.
2. Google Friend Connect makes a great tracking mechanism. I frequent hundreds of blogs, some of which I bookmark. However, when I’m out visiting blogs and investing time in my blogging relationships, I like to stay focused. Each time I see a Google Friend Connect option, I click on the “Join this site” button. I am quickly added and my picture displays. It acts as a visual cue for me if I come across this site again. I know I’ve been there before, as I’ve left a bread crumb trail-of sorts.
3. When I’m looking for other blogs to follow or people in niche areas, I use “Google Friend Connect” to view profiles and blogs that others are following. This tool provides a nice one page of info on each blogger, and I can quickly see what blogs they follow.
4. It keeps emails organized so I don’t have to. I don’t want to keep track of people’s emails whom I may or may not want to contact in the future. However, on many occassions I have wanted to personally email a fellow blogger. Google Friend Connect has their email on file, which I can quickly access.
5. This tool also relies on gravatar pictures, which I love. I often see people I recognize who’ve joined a blog before I arrive. Seeing their picture and recognizing them plays into my trust factor and influences my decision to join too.

Take a minute or two to check out Google Friend Connect and see if it’s right for you. If you use it in other ways, please share with me. I’d love to hear your strategies.

PRESENTER’S DIRECTIONS

Amount of time needed:  20 – 30 minutes

Divide participants into 3-5 small groups.

Give each small group a scenario page and a pack of “tool/activity” cards. Each card has an amount of points labeled at the bottom; this signifies how much needs to be invested (time, money, etc.) in the tool/activity (the maximum amount of points they can use is 10).

Each small group should complete the scenario page and be prepared to report back to the large group. Give them 5 minutes to discuss, fill out the scenario page and prepare to report back.

Have each group report back.   Set a 2-minute time limit for each group.

Once all the groups have reported back ask a number of the following discussion questions to the entire group – as time permits.

1. How did your small group discussions go?
2. How hard or easy was it to decide on which tools/activities to use? Why?
3. What did you think of the choices or rational of any of the groups?
4. What did you learn from this activity?

Various Scenarios

• Raising Awareness
• Fundraising
• Event Promotion
• Advocacy
• Thought Leadership

Social Media Card Deck

• Social Media Card Deck

Additional material from the Convening can be found on the Resilient Organizations Fund website.

• Home Page:  http://www.resilientnonprofits.org/
• Materials:  http://www.resilientnonprofits.org/materials/
• About the Convening:  http://www.resilientnonprofits.org/convenings/

Have you have every wondered:  “why bother with social media?”  Great stats  – some very surprising.   Welcome to the revolution.

Twitter is free and open to everyone. Therefore once you have an open account, everyone is free to follow you. Yet, the more people who follow you, the more beneficial it is to you. Depending on your goals for Twitter, having a large following is critical. Write a creative Bio, start following people in your target market, get involved in conversations, be helpful, and watch your followers grow. Don’t let this “lack of control” over who your followers are worry you. Yet, this is the #1 worry I get when talking to people.

Some people feel the content of what people are tweeting can adversely affect their product image or business. The answer is yes, it can. BUT people are going to tweet about their opinions, successes, and frustrations whether you are active on Twitter or not. Therefore, using Twitter to listen to customers, monitor conversations about competitor products or offer insightful comments can be very helpful to damage control and gaining a healthy grasp on what people need and want in products and services. There is ample opportunity to be active on Twitter to develop relationships with key people interested in what you have to say and sell.

There is a wonderful, yet complete lack of control over what and who gets Retweeted (RT) on Twitter. You can ask to be RT’d, but you can’t make anyone. Therefore, you are responsible for writing tweets that peek interest and stimulate emotions that will end up going viral through followers who feel compelled to RT what you have to say. It’s a wonderful way to reach new people and get the word out about something for which you are passionate. You’ll be surprised what grabs people’s attention and gets retweeted.

And of course, you have no control over what Google decides to grab from Twitter and display in its search results. Yet, Google seems to really like social networking content. Therefore, use this new found method of reaching people via Google to communicate, market, and meet new people. Whether someone walks in your front door, tweets with you on Twitter, or finds you via a Google search, your relationship with him/her is priceless. Don’t be afraid of your lack of control using Twitter. Embrace the possibilities.

Intro

• 30 Days of Social Media
• Are you ready to engage in social media?
• Social Media Tool Box
  
• Putting a Face on Social Media – Gravatars

Facebook

• Face It: Why You Need To Know About Facebook
• Facebook-Business
• Facebook Advertising is for Everyone

Social Bookmarking

• What the Heck is Social Bookmarking
  

YouTube

• Good Marketing is About Telling Stories – YouTube Can Help
• How To Setup Your YouTube Account AND My Famous 5 Minute Video Creation Secrets Revealed

Google

• Google Wants to Alert Your Business to New Possibilities for Free

RSS

• What is RSS and Why Do I Care

LinkedIn

• LinkedIn 101 Getting the Most From This Often Mis-Understood Social Network
• What Everybody Ought to Know About Connections On LinkedIn
• Do You Make These Mistakes

Inspiration

• A Little Shift Goes a Long Way
• If the White House Can Embrace Social Media Can Your Business
• Social Marketing Results in Less than 60 Minutes: One Great Example
• Do You Make These Mistakes With Your Customers

Local Search

• If You Are Not In Local Search Engines Now, You Will Regret It Later
• Getting Started With Your Google Local/Google Maps Listing
• Are You Ready to Take Control of Your Online Reputation

Blogs

• Don’t Be Too Quick To Decide a Blog Isn’t Right For Your Business
• Give Me 15 Minutes and I Will Give You The Formula To Blogging Success

Auto Responder/E-commerce

• Do You Get Better Service From An Auto-Responder At An E-commerce Store Than You Do In Person

Photo Sharing

• Create a Vivid Image – Finding the Right Photo Just Got Easier

Twitter

• Is Twitter For You
• Twitter for Your Business

Authenticity

• Do You Have an Identity Crisis

Email

• Do you know what the single most important ingredient is in your business

Protecting Your Information

• The Lazy Mans Way to Hack Into Your Personal Information and Passwords
• There Is A Quick Way to Secure Your Identity On Social Websites

Summary

• How Much Time Should You Spend on Social Media Each Week

How reviews are helpful

For the rest of this article, let’s try searching for “Hotel” and your zip code.  Read the reviews that your local hotels have online.  Many of the reviews come from the search engine, but many also come from other travel sites. When you look at these reviews, you will notice good and bad reviews.  You will also see those reviews that others found helpful.  If you find a review helpful, click “YES.”  That will make the reviews more reliable and helpful to the next person.   Reviews help you make better buying decisions.

What about bad reviews of my business

Did you notice that there are some pretty bad reviews in there about hotels in your city?  It is a shame that many of these businesses don’t manage their reputation online.  When I am looking for a hotel in another city (or a plumber, carpenter, e-commerce review), I check the reviews.  That helps me make my decision.  I don’t expect every review to be positive, but I do expect to see reviews that show how the hotel could make my stay a little nicer.

Here is what Google says about reviews:

Ranking of reviews: Ranking is completely automated; we can’t manually change the order of individual reviews, even if you request it. The reviews themselves are not created by Google. If you feel that a particular review of your business is inaccurate, we recommend that you express your concerns to the webmaster of the site on which this review was posted. If you’re concerned about a review that was submitted, click the Flag as inappropriate link found under the review, and submit a report. If the review is in violation of our policies, we’ll remove it.

Bad reviews just happen.  You can’t make everyone happy.  But you can add your own comments and encourage those that are happy with your business to actively make positive comments about you online.  Very soon, no matter how small or large your community is, reviews will exist about your business.  Let’s be proactive – instead of just waiting. For example, if someone posted a negative comment about flat, uncomfortable pillows at the hotel you are considering, you would notice. You’d also notice if the next comment was from the hotel manager stating this: “We are pleased so many guests choose to stay at our hotel and wear out our pillows. We are excited to share that every room has new, fluffy pillows as of March 2009! Come rest with us.” Seize your opportunities.

One quick story to drive things home

A friend of mine is a blogger in Chicago.  He was recently at a classy restaurant in the theater district in downtown Chicago.  The restaurant was busy.  His reservation was for 8pm, but the hostess did not seat them until 915pm.  When he was seated, the waiter forgot about him.  Once he finally got the waiters attention, he quickly took the order and never returned.  Another waiter finally showed up to take his food order (again).  Forty-five minutes later the waiter returned with their food.  Guess what… it was cold, and he still did not get his drink.

The next morning, my friend blogged about his experience and also commented on Google Local about the restaurant.  He was surprised that many of the comments on Google were very positive.  One hour later, he received an email and a call from the owner of the restaurant apologizing for the poor service.  He made no excuses, but asked how he could make things better.  My friend ask for a free meal and gave them a second chance.  This turned a negative customer into an evangelist.  The restaurant owner was familiar with social media listening tools and took action, the second he saw negative comments online.

If you monitor your reviews, you can turn negative situations around.  How often to you really receive honest feedback in person?  Use the web to gather feedback and make your business even better.  As a business owner, I welcome all feedback. Got something to say, add a comment below.

ACTION ITEM ONE:  The first action item is to go to http://local.google.com and comment on a local business that you love!  This will do two things for you.  First, it will start to make the local searches more useful for others.  Second, it will make you feel good leaving a positive comment about a business you love!

ACTION ITEM TWO:  The second action item will take a little more time, but will be very beneficial.  Share this blog post with a client of yours and ask them to add a comment about your business in Google Local.  This will enhance your listing and make you stand out in the local crowd.  (By the way, the best way to get a recommendation is to give one.)

This lesson will take longer than 15 minutes. Take your time.  Your investment in this setup should be less than one hour, and the benefits will be evident for years to come. Google Maps is considered authoritative, verified information. Other local and yellow pages sites use the information found within Google listings. This leads to more exposure and more business for you.

Create A New Business Listing

* you can click on the ‘resize’ button to see the lesson in full screen.

Edit and Claim an Existing Business Listing

* you can click on the ‘resize’ button to see the lesson in full screen.

10 Steps to Building Your Google Local/Google Maps Listing

1. The first step is to see if you have an existing listing at Google Local.  Go to http://local.google.com. If you see a listing, select it and then click on the “more info” link on the map and/or beside the listing. Once you see the pop-up, you can then choose “Add or edit your business.” If you do not see your business in the search, the left-hand column will give you the option to “Add your business listing.”
2. Let’s assume you already have a listing,   If you’re submitting your listing for the first time, follow the directions Google sets forth, and you’ll do just fine. Read on to find tips and tricks to make your Local Business Center listing work for you.
3. Click the box that says, “Edit my business information.” You’ll be taken into a “required information” area. You must fill in the boxes as completely as possible. Street address is important as it brings the mapping feature into your listing. If the map marker is incorrect, you can click on the “fix incorrect marker location” to move it around.
4. Submit all of your phone numbers, email addresses and Web site information. Give a great description of what it is you do and be sure to include good keyword phrases. Don’t allow the description to appear forced or stuff it with keywords, but work in a good phrase that will bring visitors to you via rankings in the regular search engine results.
5. Once you’ve added all of your contact information, Google will ask you to pick a category for your business. Google allows you to add or suggest categories so try to get as specific as you can.
6. Once your category has been set, move to the next screen and list your hours of operation and forms of payment accepted. This information is not mandatory – but online shoppers are impatient shoppers – so if they find the information they need to purchase, or find your site right away, these visits are more likely to lead to a conversion from your Local listing.
7. Adding photos to your listing can give potential customers an idea of what products you offer, examples of the service work you perform, and the quality to expect. Google Maps has recently given you the ability to add up to ten photos into your local business listing. Take real advantage of this new feature. You can either add photos from your computer or directly from your Web site. Don’t “borrow” photos you don’t have the license to use – you’ll get in trouble for that.
8. After you’ve submitted the photos, you’ll see a screen that gives you an opportunity to add “custom attributes.” This type of information was first introduced in the Google Base product, and seeing them show up on the Maps product is another indication of the “meshing” of Google’s product offerings. I expect to see Local Business Listings in GoogleBase in the very near future. With the custom attributes, you have the ability to submit your prices, with details on how you charge, where you work, and information about your specialties. You can create your own attributes to show off product or service offerings you think might be of interest to potential online searchers and customers.
9. After you’ve submitted all of the information, Google will ask you to “verify” your listing. This can be done in a few different ways. You can have them call you to verify. They will call the main business telephone number, so if you choose this option, ensure that the person who answers the phone call is prepared for it and will answer the verification questions correctly. You can also have Google send you a postcard with a verification PIN number on it. Again, this means that whoever receives the mail will need to know what this card is about and what to do with it. Some businesses are also eligible to receive an SMS verification text message.
10. Once you’ve entered your information, saved it, and have chosen the type of verification you prefer, your listing is complete. If you choose to receive a postcard, it will arrive in two to three weeks. Your updated or new listing will not go live until it has been verified. In the meantime, you can experiment with the “Coupons” feature within the Local Business Center. These coupons are printable and can include anything from 10 percent off services to buy-one, get-one-free offers, or whatever you’d like to do to bring business into your Web site or storefront.

A short story about local search success…

A good friend of mine is a small business consultant.  He consulted a plumbing client of his to get a phone number in a neighboring city 30 miles away.  For an entire year, he did not advertise that number in the newspaper, yellow pages, or in print.  They only place his new phone number could be found was on Google.  He received new client calls every week!  Now his competition is trying to figure out how they lost market share to someone out of town.  People use Google and other local search techniques to find you.  If you are not listed in the local search engines, you need to be.  It is costing you money by not being listed!

It is disservice to you clients

Do you believe that you are the obvious choice for your clients to choose?  Are you the best option?  If so, then it is really a disservice to your clients not to be listed in the local search engines.  You owe it to them to be found.

What is included

Local search doesn’t even require you to have a website! There’s really no reason to miss out on this opportunity! A local search listing can include your phone, fax, website, map to your location, method of payment, business description, pictures, coupons, company reviews, and more!

ONE ACTION ITEM you can take right now is to verify if you are in a local search engine. Go to Google, type in your industry, town, and state (i.e. plumber Hutchinson, MN or Restaurant Glencoe, MN) and see if your business is there. If not, Vivid Image can help get you listed quickly.  Tomorrow, we will look at the steps to get listed.  Then we will review the seven steps to local search engine dominance.

There is an answer!

Google Alerts is one of my favorite tools!  I have been using it for years to keep track of things I care about.  Here are some of the words I monitor:

1. “Steve Gasser” or “Stephen Gasser”  This tells me whenever my name shows up on the Internet.  It is amazing how many Steve Gasser’s are on the Internet. 
2. “Pignon Haiti”  I was on a mission trip to Pignon, Haiti in 2007.  I like to stay on top of the current news there.
3. “China International Adoption”  Whenever China makes the news for adoption, I like to know about it.
4. Competitor names from around the country.  This helps me stay on top of what others in my industry are doing.
5. “vimm.com”  I also like to know whenever my website address shows up on someones website.  This will give me an email when someone else references my website.
6. “Vivid Image”  This will give me a ‘heads up’ when my company name shows up online.

I get an email once a day on one of these keywords or phrases – but you can select how often you receive the emails.

ONE ACTION ITEM:  Do this now! Don’t wait! Go to www.google.com/alerts and create an alert for your business name or your personal name.  Here are some tips.  1)  When you put in your search terms consider putting them in quotes.  ie:  “Hutchinson MN”  If I just said, Hutchinson MN, it would pull results with Hutchinson OR MN in the results.  By using the quotes, it is looking for “Hutchinson MN” together.  2)  Start with a Comprehensive search.  3) I like to get emails once a day if there is news  4)  Add the email address you would like to use to receive the alerts.

Other Possibilities and Inspiration

1. If you own an electronics store, use it monitor problems or praise on the latest plasma TV.  That way your sales people are better educated than your customer who has spend the last several days researching their new TV.
2. If you are an accountant, use it to monitor the latest news on tax laws or particular ‘grey’ areas.
3. Teachers can use it to find inspiration on new techniques to teach math to their students.
4. A restaurateur can monitor the ‘talk on the streets’ about her/his competitor so they can capitalize on the problems and turn them into opportunities.
5. A real estate agent can use it to monitor when people post comments about moving to or out of a particular city.
6. Monitor the latest news on cancer treatments so you are the first to get the latest findings.
7. Get an instant notification when your local politician is quoted on a blog or forum.

What other ideas do you have? Leave a comment below.

YouTube is the third most visited website in the US .

To me, good marketers tell stories.  Stories are how we connect with each other.  What could be a better platform for story telling than an online video site?  One of my favorite artists sells paintings for thousands of dollars.  How does she do it?  She tells a video story and documents the process of creating the painting.  Compelling, interesting – you just have to have it!

Businesses are using YouTube in a variety of ways. From a social networking aspect, simply posting video on YouTube and making it searchable makes sense. People spend hours looking at videos posted there, so whether it’s a video of a home for sale or product demonstration, you will get exposure on YouTube. Loyal customers and fans of your business can post video of themselves using your product or service. This is evident in the hundreds of people making videos in support of a specific cause or candidate in the election.

Like most social sites, you can comment on videos, share videos via email, or embed them into your website.  Create the right video, and it can go viral.  What a great way to generate interest and traffic to your business.  Most of the great videos on YouTube are not professionally produced.  I think people want authenticity.  Over-producing your video can be a detriment when you are building a social network.  Create authentic videos that show who you are and what you do.  Make it interesting!

Do you know if any of your raving fans have posted video about your business, product or service?  Take a look at a few videos from great businesses:

MidWest Machinery Company:  http://www.youtube.com/user/MidwestMachineryCo 
Clay Coyote:  http://www.youtube.com/user/coyotepots
Vivid Image:  http://www.youtube.com/vividinsight 

ONE ACTION ITEM:  For today, all I would like you to do is spend time searching www.youtube.com for videos that relate to your business.  See what others are doing.  Tomorrow we will go through the steps to get your YouTube account setup.  We may even have time for me to show you how to create compelling video in less than 5 minutes.

More Inspiration

How do you sell a $400 – $800 blender to a consumer?  I don’t know about you, but my $50 blender does a great job chopping ice for a margarita.  Why would I need to spend $400 or more on a blender for my home?  Well, let me tell you…..

The folks at Blendtec had a problem.  They had a great product, but a perception that it is over-priced.  The solution, create a series of videos on YouTube and embedded on their site was the answer.  This video series is called, “Will It Blend?”  (I embedded the video in the top right corner of this screen for our convenience.)  They blend anything from iPods, glow sticks, or your favorite book.  It is entertaining.  It is social.  It is worth the price.