That’s how I help. Interested in understanding the benefits of LinkedIn more and making your profile work for you? I offer a one-on-one training program – in your office, at your desk, on your computer.

Click here to learn more. LinkedIn Personalized Training

The first question I ask back is “What are you using LinkedIn to do for your business?” If the answer is that you want to build a strategic network to help uncover leads to grow your business and to build your own personal brand awareness, than I share my personal process.

When I receive an invitation on LinkedIn for a person that I don’t know, I first review their profile:

• Where are they located? Are they in my geographical area and so perhaps we have met or they are someone I should know. If they are out of state, what possible interest do they have in connecting with me and is there a benefit to connecting with them?
• Do we share connections? Are we connected through people I really know or people I admire in the industry that we’ve both connected to because we read their blog or book?
• Did they send a generic invite? Hate those. If someone can’t take the time to customize their email then I am afraid it is a little black mark against them. If they KNOW they don’t know me but want to connect, then please take the time to explain WHY you want to connect.
• Do they have a picture? A profile that doesn’t have a picture says that they aren’t serious about connecting, they are dabbling in LinkedIn and don’t understand it’s benefits and they may even be hiding something. I know that sounds like a stretch, but you build relationships based on trust and not sharing your picture is a lack of trust.
• What industry are they in? Do we do the same thing? Are they in an industry that I’m trying to tap into? Are they attending college. (as an aside, if they are attending college – I connect and offer to help in my follow up email)

If we share connections, they explained themselves more thoroughly in the invite and I have an interest in their business field, I accept and then send a personal note thanking them and asking a few more questions.

If we share connections and they sent a generic message, I reply without accepting and ask how we know each other. I say something like “Thanks so much for reaching out. Help me remember how we know each other.” Often they were in the audience for one of my speeches. If they respond – they really want to connect and so I accept. If they don’t respond – and they are out of the NE Ohio region – I figure they just wanted to mine my contacts. If they are local and don’t respond, I figure they don’t know how to use LI and I don’t accept.

Everytime I accept an invitation, I follow up with a personal message.  I thank them for their connection and ask how I can help. If there is something major missing on their profile (like a picture) or an opportunity for them to improve their profile (customizing their LinkedIn URL for example) I also share those tips. 

The value in your LinkedIn contacts is the relationship that you build so take the time to reach out with personal messages not just the generic, autofill text provided by LinkedIn.  When you connect “real person” to “real person” you’ll find much more value in your LinkedIn experience.

Thanks so much for clicking through from our e-book, How to Promote Your Event with Social Media. Facebook is one of the most powerful social media sites to talk about your event. Many businesses create a unique Facebook fan page for their event separate from their company page.  Regardless, the process of having a successful Facebook fan page is the same. You have to focus on the customer

But first, we hope you’ll enter your email to receive a FREE LinkedIn Strategy Workbook and Daily Activities Checklist. We NEVER sell or share personal information.

We had Kristie Van Auken, Sr. VP of Marketing for the Akron Canton Airport on Us Media Radio this morning. We talked about the value of Facebook as a tool to connect with customers. The Akron Canton airport Facebook Fan page was recognized as one of the top 40 fan pages on all of Facebook. With over 33,000 fans, the CAKairport page is filled with CONVERSATION.

Most fan pages are filled with one post after another from the company talking about their products, offering disounts or special sales and promoting their company.

Not so, on the CAKairport fan page. Here’s one conversation where other travelers helped answer a fan’s question:

Toni:  Is this airport a good alternative to flying into cleveland?

People share their travel photos. Fans of the page answer each other’s questions.

It is a community of travelers.

In our 30 minute radio interview, Kristie shared some of the following tips for their success with their Facebook fan page:

• Be genuine – truly care about your customers
• Believe in your product – you have to share information, answer questions and truly understand the  value of your company’s services and products. It isn’t something you can fake.
• Interact – there will be times when you have specific company messages to share but the rest of the time you have to be involved and interact with those visiting the fan page. Ask questions. Answer questions. It can’t be a chore – it has to be something you enjoy, just like talking to a friend.
• Be responsive – if someone asks a questions on your fan page and then has to wait three days for anyone to acknowledge them, you won’t have many people involved on your page. Sure there are times when you are in a meeting or sleeping, but it doesn’t take that long to check and see if there is a message and respond. There are lots of tools that will enable you to respond from the office or your cell phone.

Keep these tips in mind when you are setting up your company Facebook fan page.

Listen to the entire interview with Kristie Van Auken on Us Media Radio.

 
But first, we hope you’ll enter your email to receive a FREE LinkedIn Strategy Workbook and Daily Activities Worksheet. We NEVER sell or share personal information.

 Okay, so how do we get our past customers talking to their friends and family about our company. The number one way to foster great word of mouth advertising is by developing and nurturing our customer relationships and exceeding their expectations.

Following is an article I wrote on my Make or Break Moments customer service blog, that shares some insights into the importance of the customer experience.

Great article from the UK entitled 25 Customer Service Statistics to be Aware of for 2011 and the last paragraph of the entire article says it all:

• Many businesses still don’t ‘get it’!

And, crucially,

• Those that do will be the ones that succeed

It can’t be spelled out any clearer than that. The Internet is shrinking the world and expanding our customer’s word of mouth reach and if we don’t start facing facts that customers are people that need to be valued and treated as guests and help our employees learn how to build relationships – we are going to sink faster than the Titanic.

I don’t mean to sound like Chicken Little – the sky isn’t falling yet – but every single business needs to understand what retailers are already getting:  Customers buy from those they like and trust and if they don’t like you – they have no problem telling the world on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

So let’s look at a couple of the facts from this UK article:

24% of UK customers have stopped doing business with a company within the last six months due to a bad customer experience. Key reasons:

• 23% Unfair fees or charges
• 22% Poor product or service quality
• 19% Rude or disinterested employees
• 12% Couldn’t get hold of anyone to deal with my problem
• 7% Discounts for new customers but not for existing customers
• 4% Inadequate return or refund policy
• 5% Out of territory call centres
• 1% Inadequate environmental policy

‘Poor experience’ has forced over 10 million consumers in the UK to switch suppliers in the last six months alone. The main culprits for this switching epidemic are unfair fees or charges, poor product or service quality and rude or disinterested employees.

In a recent study reported by RightNow.com entitled the Customer Experience Report North America, they also report some interesting facts:

• 55% of consumers recommend a company because of the customer experience
• 79% of consumers who had a bad experience told  others about it!

Of those who decided to stop doing business with an organization the reasons were as follows:

• 73% a reaction to rude staff
• 51% reaction to unknowledgeable staff
• 55% because issues weren’t resolved in a timely manner

So how can you ensure that your company is customer-focused and your employees are empowered to build those customer relationships?

TRAINING – for managers and for employees

Open conversation: with your front line employees with your customers. What do they value – how can you improve the experience

Be easy to do business with: it shouldn’t be that complicated. View the transaction experience through the eyes of your customer – where can you make changes to help streamline the process

Build a community online:  your customers are already talking on Facebook and Twitter – are you listening and participating? Social media isn’t just a new marketing vehicle for pushing out sales messages – it is a fantastic way of reaching your customers and LEARNING what they value and what they need.

Golden rule:  Building customer relationships should be just as simple as treating each prospect like you want to be treated; like a valued person rather than a dollar sign.

What will you do differently this year to help empower your employees to build relationships with your customers?

But first, we hope you’ll enter your email to receive a FREE LinkedIn Strategy Workbook and Daily Activities Checklist. We NEVER sell or share personal information.

Thanks. Okay. It sounds so simple…talking like your target customers and yet it really isn’t. How many times do you find yourself using abbreviations and industry jargon?

For you, the terms are well worn and familiar like your favorite slippers. However, your customers may not understand. Not only will they not understand, most won’t ask you to explain.

When we speak in terms our customers aren’t familiar with, we put them in an awkward position of feeling left out or not as smart. It isn’t intentional. In fact, we may be subconsciously throwing around industry terms to show how smart we are.

However, it only serves to alienate us from our customers.

Think back to when you first developed your company. You saw a need you wanted to address. You wanted to help others or create a tool or a service that makes your customer’s life better, faster, cheaper or some combination.

But often we get so far removed from our customer’s perspective that we fail to connect with them.

Making a purchase is an emotional event for our customers. They want to feel valued and like they are making a good choice.

The best way to help them with that decision is by connecting with them, taking time to learn more about them and by speaking their language.

When communicating with our customers, our peers, our boss or our family members, we need to be aware of the fact that different people communicate differently.  We need to try and mirror their communication style if we want to build relationships.

What is your communication style?  Take the Color Communication Quiz.

We hope you’ll enter your email to receive a FREE LinkedIn Strategy Workbook and Daily Activities Worksheet. We NEVER sell or share personal information.

 Have you ever Googled your name? Your company name? Try it right now, click here to open another brower. Type your name with quotemarks before and after your name.  Like this: 

“Deborah Chaddock Brown”

Quote marks ensure that the search results will only contain your full name in the exact order.

So what did you find? Were you surprised?

People who think they don’t want to put anything on the Internet for fear of giving out too much information soon discover that it doesn’t work. You are already out there. Your challenge? To make sure the search results contain information you want people to find.

Wouldn’t it be better to decide how people view you rather than have others determine your brand for you?

I recommend setting up a Google Alert for your name and your company. Google alerts are email updates that let you know when you are being talked about on the web.

Do you have questions about your company’s visibility? Give Deborah a call 330-414-8792 or send her an email

deborah@allwriteink.com

But first, we hope you’ll enter your email to receive a FREE LinkedIn Strategy Workbook and Daily Activities Checklist. We NEVER sell or share personal information.

 
So, how often DO you write a press release for your business?

 Most businesses think that a press release in only used when a business is under new management or has an inventory clearance sale. The truth is, press releases are a great branding tool that enable your business to  be front and center for target prospects both in the paper and online.

Press Releases aren’t just for the editors any more.
The Internet allows press releases to be posted and used to create additional search engine results, provide updated website content and give you one more reason to send an email to your customers to let them know you are news worthy.

How much does an advertisement in the paper cost your company? Imagine if you could get double the column inch space without spending a dime in advertising?

That’s just one of the potential values of a press release.

Click here to read my article on the benefits of a press release for businesses.

Need help writing a press release? Hire a professional business writer. Contact Deborah at 330-414-8792 or deborah@allwriteink.com

For the press release grader – visit HubSpot and cut and paste one of your press releases into the grader.

Traveling the distance between your company and your customer is more than just drawing a straight line from point A to point B. There is no one vehicle or medium that will work every time to reach the customer.

You’ll find customers all along the journey – some using traditional methods to search for companies to work with or buy from and some using more technology-based mediums.

Your challenge? To make sure you are visible and available at every turn.

The Social Media Roadmap helps you

• Establish your goals
• Assess where you are on the journey
• Uncover your target customers’ location(s)
• Learn the needs of your customers
• Determine the best vehicles to intersect with your customers
• Develop a plan to connect with your customers
• Build credibility, community and customer relationships
• Drive traffic to your business
• Grow awareness, brand recognition and sales

Contact us to learn more about how creating a customized Social Media Roadmap will assist you along the journey to connecting with your customers and growing sales.

330-414-8792

deborah@allwriteink.com