Are you LINterested in Pinterest to Grow Your Business?
February 24, 2012
I couldn’t resist the title. 
It seems everywhere I turned this week all I heard about was Jeremy Lin and Pinterest… The news was all, ”Lin” this and “Lin” that and Social Media was all “Pin” this and “Pin” that! Just between us, I’m not a huge basketball fan, although I, like everyone else, love a good rags to riches story. I am, however, a huge fan of social media – and especially if it can help me grow my business.
I wasn’t convinced that Pinterest made sense for a B2B (business to business) company. But, after much feet dragging and hemming and hawing about joining another site, I decided to go ahead and check it out for myself; exactly 4 days ago! And guess what? I’m hooked! 
So, yeah, it’s only been 4 days. Is it going to change my life? I doubt it. Is it going to bring me business? I have no idea. But I figured I’d try it out and let you know. What I do know is that it can’t hurt. I figured if for no other reason, it’s good for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as long as I pin relevant, interesting content (just like any other social media marketing tool), tag it with key words and add links back to my site.
I found a great blog post by Vertical Response that’s does a great job of explaining Pinterest and it’s relevance to business owners like us. It makes Pinterest make sense and helped me in my decision to sign up. I think you’ll find it useful too. Also, I’ve given you the link to my Pinterest page is at the end of the article so you can see what I’ve done with it so far. Maybe it’ll give you some ideas for your business!
Like it, Pin it, Sell It – Why Pinterest Matters for Your Business-
From the Vertical Response Blog 
Pinterest. Is a term that makes you scratch your head, or does it describe your latest obsession? I can definitely say around our office, it’s everyone’s latest obsession, and it looks like we’re not alone. In December, 2011, Hitwise listed Pinterest as one of the Web’s Top 10 and Time listed it as a Top 5 social network of 2011. comScore also reports that as of November, 2011, Pinterest had almost 5 million users.
And, according to Biz Report, new statistics, recently released by social sharing tools firm Shareaholic, reveal that Pinterest is pushing up the rankings to drive almost as much referral traffic (3.6%) as Twitter (3.61%) and Google (3.62%). In fact, Pinterest now drives more referral traffic than YouTube (1.05%), Reddit (0.83%) and Google+ (0.22%)!
Just check out this inforgraphic shared by the folks at Monetate:
So what is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a social photo sharing pinboard and online community. It allows you to “pin” anything you find on the web, and organize it into themed image boards that you create. You can follow boards that others in Pinterest have created, find friends who’re already there, or invite friends to join. Anyone can follow what you pin and “re-pin” those images onto their own boards. Recently, more businesses have started to use Pinterest to showcase not only their products, but other items related to what they do or sell.
Below are three ideas to help get your business off to a great start on Pinterest!
1. Create Interesting Boards – Pinterest allows you to create image boards that contain information pertinent to your business. Boards are customizable: you name your boards and select the category they fall under (i.e., apparel, photography, science and nature, travel).
2. Content – This is the fun part! The sky is the limit and all you need to be able to pin something is a URL. If you sell products, this is a no-brainer: Just add images to your boards, of the products you want people to see and share. But you don’t have to sell products to use Pinterest. If you offer a service, pin that! Add images to your boards that complement the services you offer. The fun part of Pinterest is that you can pin things that are related to your products or services, not just the things you offer. The image to the right has two boards of specific products this company sells, but also a selection of items that are related to their products, and even a few random things they found cool. 
3. Share! – Pinterest has a goodies page where you can get a button to add to your site, blog or products to make pinning easy. Just a few steps will make following your business or sharing your products or services easy. The image here shows a company that’s incorporated different ways for shoppers to share info about their products, including a Pin It button. This may or may not be my managers new headboard found while researching this post.
I’ve seen a few of the brands that I follow on Facebook also sharing their Pinterest boards. Using a social media platform to advertise another social platform? Awesome! All those followers you’ve cultivated will love to see more about your company in a new and exciting space. Plus, it gives you more resources that allow you to share and keep content fresh on social media. Also send an email to invite people to check out what’s happening on Pinterest. Just like your Facebook or Twitter pages, you may need to invite your customers to find out what’s going on and email (of course!) is great for that.
In just a small amount of time your business could see a boost via obsessed pinners! Adding a pin or two a week will also move your boards up in views, making it easy for people to find you. I can’t say how many ideas I’ve pinned while researching this blog, but luckily, my manager is just as obsessed with pinning as I am, so we’ll count it as work.
Are you currently using Pinterest for your business, and what other ideas do you have for using Pinterest for your business?
View My Pinterest Board
What’s your experience with Pinterest? Has it helped your business? Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.
Four Ways to Make Your Facebook Business Page Irrelevant
February 9, 2012
Facebook can be a powerful and effective tool for marketing our businesses these days. In most small business circles, it certainly seems like the the thing to do; create a page, get “Fans” or “Likers” and then sit back and wait for the sales to start pouring in! 
Wait. What? Sales aren’t pouring in, you say? Well, maybe you’re engaging in activities that are undermining your Facebook Marketing efforts and thwarting sales…
Here are 4 ways small business owners make their Facebook page totally irrelevant:
1. Like Ladders – These make me crazy! For 99% of businesses on Facebook they’re useless – yes, said it, “Useless”! We’ve all seen them. “Like Ladders”, “Fan Ladders”, “Pomo Ladders”. Just jump on, post your Facebook page, share the ladder, Like the other business pages listed, and they will like you back. It’s a “Like” barter system and it’s a great way to boost your numbers – but so what?
Are you getting people who are actually interested in your business, will engage with you and who fit your target market description? I doubt it. You’re just getting people who are obligatorily “Liking” you so they can get a gazillion Likes on their page.
Instead why not spend the time to attract and entice people who you have a snow ball’s chance in hell of selling to- not just anyone with a Facebook page and a pulse? Remember: quality over quantity. Having 5000 “Likers” is fun and all, but if none of them are ever going to buy from you, what’s the point? Wouldn’t you rather have 500 solid prospects? Yeah… THAT’s the point!
2. Constant selling – No one likes to be sold, but everyone loves to buy! So how do we get people to buy from us without selling? Facebook is a great tool to build relationships and stay in front of potential customers. But first we have to give. First we have to position ourselves as a valuable resource; whether it’s for news, information, recipes, ideas, or even inspiration or a funny cartoon. Make yourself relevant. Make your page something people want to read and visit regularly to see what you’ll post next.
3. Ignoring comments – The beauty of social media versus traditional advertising is that we get to engage clients and prospective clients. We get to hear what they have to say, answer questions, and have conversations! If people take the time to write something on your wall it’s not only good business practice, but common courtesy to respond to them. Yes, that means you have to monitor your page and pay attention to what people are saying to you and about you, both on your wall and on theirs.
4. Paying someone to manage your page who merely regurgitates common stuff – Come on, get creative! I’ve seen pages of endless listings of boring articles that have been circulated over and over and over again. These lonely posts aren’t getting commented on or shared – and chances are they aren’t getting read – or even seen. What does that mean? That means NO ONE IS LISTENING! You’ve lost your “Likers” They’ve unsubscribed and relegated you to the graveyard for boring Facebook pages where you can never be resurrected! So why waste your money? You’d be better off doing it yourself, not doing it at all, or hiring someone who is going to add a personal touch to your page and make it truly unique and interesting!
The point is, if you aren’t attracting the right people to your page and engaging them with relevant content you’ll lose them. Sure they may still Like your page, but are they listening? Are they reading what you post? Are they engaged? Sure appearing to be popular is nice and all but it doesn’t pay the bills!
Growing a business is a process – a long-term strategy – and Facebook, being a marketing tool should be handled the same way; as a long term strategy. Too many business owners blindly follow the masses instead of taking the time to find what is right for their business and end up not only making their Facebook presence irrelevant, but their business too!
So what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Want to share?? Please do! Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.
Marketing is Like Sex: Everyone Thinks They’re Good At It
February 3, 2012
Below is a reprint of an article by Steve Tobak from CBS Moneywatch . Although the article is written about marketing in the corporate world, I believe it’s also relevant to the small business world. I’ve worked in both arenas and this believe that marketing being “easy” or anyone can do it is rampant.
To paraphrase my favorite quote from the article: “Frankly, the reason {people} have so many opinions about marketing is that we can fake it far more convincingly than in other areas of the operations …” I don’t agree that marketing can easily be faked, but I do believe that it takes longer to realize when it’s a failure – and it’s a much more insidious cause. Failed Marketing can be blamed on a multitude of things – from operations to sales and if you aren’t tracking your efforts (which most people – even in the corporate world – don’t do) you can recognize failure.
Anyway, I think this is a great article full of great lessons for businesses big and small. So here it is… 
Marketing is Like Sex: Everyone Thinks They’re Good At It
(MoneyWatch) There’s hypocrisy in the corporate world that’s begging to be called out.
Everybody thinks they’re a marketing expert. Your boss, the CEO, the IT guy – I bet half the people in your company think they know more about what customers want than the customers do. Everybody‘s a focus group of one.
So where’s the hypocrisy in that?
Simply put, they should know better. Hell, they do know better. They’re smart. They know what one person’s opinion is worth. You propose an idea and they want it substantiated, analyzed, and researched, right?
And yet, those same people will turn right around and impose their opinion on you. Hypocrisy.
It’s sort of like the old line: those who think they know everything are annoying to those of us who do. But how in the world can you tell the difference between the two? I mean, really.
After all, those people – the ones who shouldn’t be imposing their “focus group of one” opinions on you but do it anyway – are often right.
I didn’t always see it that way, especially when my CEO was the guy doing the imposing. Then, one day, I realized that – as VP of marketing – I did exactly the same thing. I’d swoop into a meeting and trash everyone’s long thought-out plan in favor of my own focus group of one.
And you know, more often than not, I was right. So, again I ask: how can you tell the guy who knows his s**t from the guy who’s full of it? Quite a dilemma, isn’t it?
Okay, let’s see if we can break this down. There’s a ginormous difference between the opinion of your average everyday product user and the opinion of someone who really has a knack for that sort of thing. Unfortunately, people don’t walk around with big signs on their foreheads telling you which they are.
One thing’s for sure. It doesn’t always correlate to job title. I mean, your CEO could be a moron or he could be Steve Jobs, right?
Speaking of Steve Jobs, Apple somehow manages to divine what people want, even when they don’t know it themselves. They don’t use focus groups or research. They’re their own focus group, as Jobs explains here:
“We did iTunes because we all love music. We made what we thought was the best jukebox in iTunes. Then we all wanted to carry our whole music libraries around with us. The team worked really hard. And the reason that they worked so hard is because we all wanted one. You know? I mean, the first few hundred customers were us.
It’s not about pop culture, and it’s not about fooling people, and it’s not about convincing people that they want something they don’t. We figure out what we want. And I think we’re pretty good at having the right discipline to think through whether a lot of other people are going to want it, too. That’s what we get paid to do.
So you can’t go out and ask people, you know, what the next big [thing.] There’s a great quote by Henry Ford, right? He said, “If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse.’”
Sounds pretty convincing, right? Well, on the flipside, check out this sort of confession from David Hornik of August Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm:
“VCs like to think that they are marketing geniuses. We really do. We meddle more in the marketing of our portfolio companies than any other area. If you have a chance to sit in on a startup board meeting, you can see this in action. The CFO gives a finance update and a few cursory questions are asked. The VP of Engineering talks about development and board members sit around the table nodding appreciatively. Then the VP of Marketing gets up and suddenly everyone around the table has a point of view.
Frankly, the reason investors have so many opinions about marketing is that we can fake it far more convincingly than in other areas of the operations …”
That doesn’t sound very encouraging, does it?
Basically, the answer to the dilemma comes down to this. Much of the secret sauce in having a successful company, business, product, service, career, whatever, is knowing who to trust and listen to, versus who to ignore and hope they don’t make a big stink about it.
In my case, it’s sort of instinctive, in the sense that I grew up in what many would describe as a war zone on the streets of New York. As a result, my survival skills are finely honed, which includes knowing who’s for real and who’s just BSing to get attention.
If you didn’t happen to grow up in a war zone, no worries; you can still learn from experience.
So, regardless of your company or what you do there, if you’re the kind of guy who has a knack for getting inside customers’ heads and knowing what they want before they know it themselves, by all means, speak up. Be a focus group of one.
And if you’re the CEO or CMO and you don‘t have that peculiar knack, or you’re a VC who’s faking it, then you’d better have the instincts to know that you should listen to that guy. And do us all a favor. Keep your “focus group of one” opinion to yourself.
So what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Want to share?? Please do! Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.
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+Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company
- Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses get the customers they need to sell more, increase profits and achieve all of their business and personal goals. We do this by implementing and managing marketing systems based on data and strategy - there is no guess work. For more information visit us at: FortuneMarketingCompany.com. We'd be glad to help!
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