learn about web

I was speaking with Loretta Marston of Optima Business Consulting the other day, she had attended the first Learn About Web conference held here in the Tri-Cities, WA, and has joined myself and others in creating the Biz411 Group, a group of Small Business Owners who are dedicated to educating others while generating some money for charity.

We were talking a bit about why some Owners or key people might choose to shy away from these events and she had mentioned a conversation with a local business owner who mentioned that the idea of coming to a show like this was appealing, but that it may show a weakness to other potential clients or a boss, if they came.

I really hadn’t thought about it this way, and I understand the concern. Having said that, there is another way to look at this.

Conferences are nothing more than ongoing education. You will hear plenty you may already know, the goal here is to get up to date on concepts you may not understand as well. Or you might be provided some information to help you make decisions about your business future.

I proudly tell my customers about the additional conferences I attend, because they also know that with technology, every facet of business changes at the speed of light. Your boss knows this as well. Explaining to your boss that the investment of the trip to the conference will prove one of two things, you know everything you need to know, or they made a wise investment that will enable you to make them more efficient!

I have been to conferences that taught me very little, and some that I have learned a lot from. The key is to read the details about what the conference is geared to provide. What is its target market, what are the key conversation points, and is there enough there for it to be sensible for you.

What about competitors? They might be there!

Yeah? So what? You should be worried about them being there while your sitting in the office. Everyone wants a competitive edge, its only the fool who thinks they have it already. A very key issue in business, its not about what you know.. you are EXPECTED to know how to do your job, its about how you build and sustain relationships. If you’re not as good as or better than your competitor at that, no amount of knowledge will save you.

Conferences are designed to help you build and keep relationships by providing you the education you need to make them happy.

Focus on YOU, not on THEM.

I educate people and learn from them, yes, even my competitors!

Q: Is blogging your full time job? What do you do outside of blogging for work and for fun?

A: Believe it or not, I’ve never made a penny from blogging. I started blogging in 2005 and started The Viral Garden in March of 2006, because I loved being able to share my ideas on marketing and social media, and to learn and interact with others. It later developed into being a business development tool for my social media consulting and speaking, but I don’t ‘monetize’ my blog, and make no money directly off it.

Q: Our twitter guest question comes from @brandmarken, who asks. “I’d like to know how @MackCollier got his start and how he became a such a guru.”

A: I started blogging in 2005 when I was invited to write for a group advertising/marketing blog that was starting called Beyond Madison Avenue. After about 6 months BMA had grown to about 2,000 visitors a day, and I decided it was time to start my own blog, The Viral Garden. And I’m happy to say it’s been growing like a weed ever since.

As for being a ‘guru’, I dunno about that. One thing I have always done is pay close attention to how other people use social media. And when I find someone that uses a tool/site really well (such as being a power Twitter user, or a power Facebooker), I try to see what is working for them, and adjust my usage accordingly. And I am constantly looking for new bloggers in particular to read, because I always learn so much from fresh voices with fresh perspectives on social media.

But of course the best way to be seen as a ‘guru’ is to have Tom mention you in one of his Ad Age articles ;)

Q: If you could only give a Small Business one method to get involved in Social Media, what would it be and why?

A: First, let me say that I don’t think there’s just ‘one’ right social media site/tool that a small business should be using, nor do I think that every business (of any size) should be using social media. It really depends on whether or not your current and/or potential customers are using these tools to communicate with each other, and if you WANT to communicate with them. If your customers are blogging, fine, you probably need to be a participant in the conversations they are having about you and your industry. If they are on Twitter, you should probably be there.

So there really isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ social media site/tool for small businesses. If I had to pick one that I think the most small businesses could benefit from using, it would probably be a blog.

Q: Most Small Business cannot afford to have a full time Social Media Consultant, how can they go about finding someone to help them and what should they expect to pay if they outsource?

That’s a great question because there aren’t many resources that list or evaluate social media consultants. I would start by doing some research on Google, for terms like ‘top bloggers’ or ‘top twitter users’, and once you have some names, then go and Google those individual names. That will give you a great idea of how actively they are using social media, and will also give you their site/blog so you can find out if they offer social media consulting services. This information should be on their blog and/or site. Or if you are already active on these sites, just ask. Ask your Twitter followers who you should be contacting, or if you are LinkedIn, submit a question to the Q&A section asking who you should be contacting.

As for fees, I think it depends on the rates the consultant charges, and the scope of the work requested. Some charge by the hour, others by the project. I would say a business should expect to pay over $100 an hour for a consultant, with $150-250 an hour being more likely.

One thing I would strongly advise businesses that approach a social media consultant is to make SURE that part of the services they provide include training your business on using these tools. If you hire a consultant to create and execute a blogging strategy for you, make SURE that they also train you on how to properly blog. I make sure that all the social media work I perform includes a training element, because I want to drive my clients toward being self-sufficient when it comes to social media. Otherwise, your business will continually have to hire consultants to help you with your efforts. Insist that the consultant offer training, and don’t hire one that won’t.

Q: You have spoken at my Conference, “Learn About Web” and by all accounts the favorite speaker of the day. What do you think draws your crowd into your message?

A: Well I’m honored to hear that, as I enjoyed speaking at Learn About Web very much. One thing I like to do is add case studies to help illustrate the main points of my presentation. I think it’s much easier for attendees to understand how to successful utilize a blog, if you can show them examples of how businesses are doing just that. Real-world examples also give your teachings more credibility.

Something else I am mindful of is not to be ‘detached’ from the audience. Especially when speaking to audiences that are new to social media, I want to make the audience feels comfortable asking questions, because if more questions are being asked, everyone learns more. For example, at a recent conference, the room I was supposed to present in had a stand and desk up at the very front of the room about 10 feet away from the audience. It was set up like a standard college classroom, which I didn’t think would encourage the type of interaction I wanted. I noticed that the projector stand was in the middle of the room, so I moved my laptop and chair to present from there, which placed me in the middle of the room.

By doing this, and encouraging attendees to ask questions when I started, the tone of the presentation changed from being my lecturing to the audience, to instead leading them in a breakout session. I think it made the session much more informative, because I think it encouraged the attendees to ask questions, and to interact with each other. From my experience, the more involved the audience is in the session, the better it is for everyone.