Monthly Archives: February 2017

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Social Media Platforms: Review and Reassess

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According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March – April 2016, 68% of all U.S. adults use FaceBook; 28% use Instagram; 25% are on LinkedIn; 26% use Pinterest; and 21% use Twitter.  I’d consider that a compelling reason to ramp up your social media game, that is, if your can expect your customers to respond.  Not only that, participating in social media makes your business more appealing to the all-powerful Google algorithm and your place on the list is guaranteed to rise.  You might even land on page one.  Visibility, coupled with a story that resonates, is what marketing is all about.

The secret sauce of social media for your business is first, work with platforms that allow you to reach your customers and second, supply the style of content that will effectively tell your brand story and hold the attention of your customers, while using media formats that you have the time and money to produce.

Theoretically, social media is free advertising that lets you promote your brand, but there are costs associated with its production.  Time is the largest cost and if you include videos now and again, there will be video production costs.  Also remember that when in business, your job is to find and maintain clients.  Social media have a greater or lesser place in business, depending on your products and services, but it’s not the center of the universe.  If social media play a pivotal role in your marketing strategy based on the ROI generated, consider outsourcing the function to a fellow Freelancer.

Pinterest

The Pinterest platform allows members to “pin, ” that is post, photos and videos to what is called a pinboard and the format has made Pinterest an excellent vehicle to tell a brand story in visuals.  If the products or services that your company provides can tell and promote your brand story in a series of lovely photographs or catchy short videos—florists, fashion designers, interior designers, restaurateurs, pastry chefs and special event planners —then this platform is ideal for you.

As of January 2017, there are 150 million Pinterest users and 80 million are outside of the U.S.  Just over 80% are female.  The practice of “re-pinning” favored postings helps content to go viral and pushes you to the top of Google searches that could result in your name appearing on “trending” lists on sites like Yahoo News.

Infographics, those pictures, charts and graphs that also include text and give you yet another way to utilize visuals that help readers to quickly understand your narrative. are a great fit for Pinterest (and also Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn).  If you have the ability and time, use Photoshop to create a customized infographic, but do investigate the several free templates available as you evaluate what could be suitable for your story.  Much depends on the information that you’d like to share.  Some data will look best in bar graphs or pie charts; other elements of your brand story could be more captivating if presented in storyboard format.

Snapchat

Here it is, the platform that millennials love.  As of January 2017, the typical Snapchat user is female and under 34 years old (70% for both parameters).  41% of the 18-24 age group in the U.S. check into Snapchat every day, mostly on their smartphones. The platform has 300 million users worldwide (November 2016).

Your content will self-destruct in 24 hours, so your text and images must be memorable because tomorrow they will be gone.  But that’s sort of the fun part.  Snapchat is meant to be fun and ephemeral, like champagne bubbles in a pretty flute.

Restaurant owners can post photos of the daily specials.  Art galleries can post a piece or two of an artist’s work and announce his/her exhibit that will happen that evening.  Retail stores can advertise one-day sales.  Florists can can use their smart phones to make a short video on of themselves and the flowers that they’ll bring into the shop from that morning’s flower market.  Food trucks can send a photo of where you can find them for the day.

Twitter

As of January 2017 there are nearly  320 million users tweeting around the globe and 82% of those users are on a mobile device when they do.  Users skew slightly more female and the demographic sweet spot is 18-50 years.  Twitter revolutionized social media and along the way, impacted how many of us communicate, thanks to the 140 character limit on tweets that caused us to pare down and condense our sentences.  Twitter has also taken part in social revolutions, most notably the Arab Spring of 2010-2012 that rocked from Tunisia to Persia.

Use Twitter to give real-time updates from an event you’re attending.  Send photos, videos, or links to articles and share your professional insights.  Invite readers to respond with their opinions and create the opportunity to engage with your audience.  Add Twitter to your PR campaign and send out news of your speaking engagements.  Include Twitter in your customer service protocol and invite customers to make suggestions that might improve service and help you better understand how to meet or exceed expectations.  A few might even thank you for a job well done and make you look good to many prospective customers !

YouTube

One billion global citizens post videos to powerhouse YouTube and 180 million of those aspiring videographers are in the U.S. (January 2017) and many of the posted videos are of high quality. Thousands of YouTube users have created their own successful channels that sometimes rival network and cable television shows.  The platform is overwhelmingly about entertainment, but if you conduct tutorials and workshops, you might be able to build for yourself a nice little paid speaking career by posting a few of your workshops and picking up subscribers to your channel.  Maybe 23 minutes of education and 5 or 6 minutes total of intro and recap would work?

If you don’t mind being on camera for extended periods, you can hire someone to film  a behind-the-scenes view of you at work, especially if you do something that has the potential to capture viewer interest, like planning a wedding—talking to the couple (anonymously, of course), speaking with vendors and doing whatever it takes to efficiently pull together a lovely and memorable day.

You may want a system to help you manage your content across platforms and for that I recommend Hootsuite, that is if you’re inclined to invest $20/month in a service that allows you to schedule and track your many forms of content from one dashboard.  Pulling all the threads together will allow you to see the big picture, make it easy to see where you can re-use content and can only improve your social media strategy, impact and ROI.

In closing, I’ll remind you of social media best practices and encourage you to create content that can be expected to have value for the followers.  Pace the delivery of your content and do not overwhelm.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Social Media Platform Review

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Unless you are an incredibly well-connected Freelance consultant who is out there making a killing and maybe even turning business away (yes, I know a half-dozen people who fit that description but it ain’t me!), social media plays some role in your branding and marketing strategies.  Each platform has its uses and will be a good fit for some businesses and maybe not so much for others.  The platforms are all free, but remember that time is a valuable and limited asset.  No matter how responsive to social media marketing your venture is, Freelancers and small business owners cannot maintain a presence on every platform,  unless you outsource the function (but if the dollars are there, then it could be worth the investment).

As carefully as you manage your money, likewise manage the time you apply to the social media portion of your marketing strategy (and I mean portion, because social media is not the alpha and omega of marketing).  Get started by first asking yourself what you would like your broader marketing strategy to achieve and then what each platform can do to support that aim.

Everything always starts with your clients, your target markets.  Who are they and what kinds of social marketing might they respond to? B2B clients will require a different approach and will have different expectations than B2C customers, for example.  Next, think about what you would like social media outreach to do for you?

Is your objective to promote products or services, or promote awareness of your brand story (that is, who you are, what motivated you to go into business, what your venture sells and something of your values and priorities as regards the business)? Might you like to build relationships and a community of customers who will also talk to each other and you? Does supporting customer service have a place in your social media objectives?

Finally, how do you want to express your story narrative? You will notice that my blog content is exclusively text (but I did include images in two posts and a video in another, a couple of years ago).  I’d like to include photos sometimes, but I don’t have time to hunt down freebies online, so I chose to research, write and present topics that you might want to read about in text format.

Facebook

The biggest of the platforms with about 1.86 billion users (February 2017) around the world, who represent an all-encompassing demographic spectrum.  There are somewhat more women users than men and the bulk of the age demographic is 25-60 years.  47% of Americans say that Facebook is their primary influencer when it comes to making purchases (Forbes Magazine).

Especially those who are in B2C and for some in B2B, Facebook will bring excellent ROI.  In-store events and promotions, speaking engagements, your workshops and other events can be announced to Facebook Friends.  Content provided in text, photos, or video can be uploaded.  You can create groups and build communities, or post a customer survey.  Share behind-the-scenes information about your business and what it takes to do what you do and in the process engage with customers, strengthen your brand and build relationships.

Does that sound like too much work and too much sharing? Then create a Fan Page and limit your presence to basic info.  Be aware that your presentation of text, photos and other content should be relaxed and welcoming, to create a personal feel (but remember that business is nevertheless the context).

Instagram

You’ll find 500 million users around the world here and 80% are outside of the U.S. On average, 95 million photos and videos are shared every day, with many accessed on a mobile device (present your content accordingly).  At least 42% of teens in the U.S. follow Instagram, with the demographic sweet spot 14-35 years and slightly skewed to female.  Instagram is about photo sharing, very short video trailers and concise text posting that includes a hashtag # that helps to spread your content.  Add a link to your profile bio.  Decide if you want a public or members-only account. Links cannot be shared.

Visual storytelling, behind-the-scenes photo montages, social selling, brand awareness, engaging with customers and creating relationships are good uses of this platform. If you are in public relations or special event/conference planning, then you will find worthwhile B2B use, otherwise it’s B2C as far as I can tell.

LinkedIn

As of January 2017, LinkedIn has 467 million users globally and it’s considered the gold standard B2B social media platform, very effective for communicating one’s personal brand.  I think most users place it at the junction of free website and online curriculum vitae. Business ventures large and small,  Freelance consultants, corporate and nonprofit leaders,  physicians and dentists, any employee who harbors professional aspirations and most college students  have a LinkedIn profile page. Recruiters use of the platform as well, to identify potential candidates for job openings and their success has motivated  thousands of companies to post job openings on the site.

LinkedIn is an excellent platform on which to build a community of professional colleagues through your connections and share with them your professional story, successes, highlights and other updates. This blog posts to my LinkedIn page and my connections receive notice of its arrival.  Your connections will also share their stories and there is great opportunity to be in touch and nurture relationships.

Professional portfolios, videos, white papers, newsletters, blogs, infographics and SlideShare presentations can be added to your profile page to add depth to your brand story.  Links to articles or studies that could interest your connections can be posted. Recommendations and endorsements let others verify your professional bona fides and you can return the favor.

In the Groups section, you’ll engage with colleagues within your industry, or with alumni of your school. Topics of interest are explored through posted questions and group members can respond and in the process get to know one another and possibly, forge  relationships that lead to doing business.

We’ll continue next week with overviews of more commonly used social media platforms.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

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Will That Be Check or Credit Card?

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As every Freelance consultant knows, it is our pleasure and privilege to perform interesting and often mission-critical projects for clients whom we like and respect.  However, getting paid is the endgame and without exception, we all breathe a sigh of relief when the check arrives.  One vital element of maintaining adequate cash-flow in your business is to invoice on time, a topic that I covered a while back  Invoicing Inertia: The Cure .

Invoicing is only half of the battle, alas; it is smart and proactive cash management to make payment of invoices as swift and seamless as possible for the client.  In good economic times and bad, every once in a while clients will experience constricted cash-flow, even if they are the larger entity.  The ability to use a credit card to pay one of your outstanding invoices can be a great relief to them and could get accounts receivable into your hands as many as a few weeks earlier.

Let’s explore the basics of accepting credit cards and how to get started as a merchant who accepts the cards.  Twenty years ago, I spent a couple of years as an independent merchant payment services agent, selling Master Card, Visa, Discover and American Express processing services and card terminals to small business owners, so this topic is a nice walk through history for me.

Let’s start with some likely good options for a Freelance consultant.  Along with credit cards, you will also want to accept debit cards and eChecks.  You’ll choose the card not present processing option, so that clients can call you when the invoice arrives and phone in payment.  You may also decide to accept mobile payments, meaning that you will be able to accept client payments through your smart phone or tablet while you are at their office, or other location and to make that possible, you’ll also select the card present option.  In all scenarios, 48 hours post-transaction, the payment will be deposited into your business bank account.  You may not choose to invest in a (costly) credit card terminal unless clients visit your office.  Your card present transactions, if you do them, will most likely be mobile device payments.  You may decide against accepting American Express cards, since its processing fees are at least a point higher than Visa, MasterCard or Discover.

Call your business bank to get information about processing fees (about 2.5% of the transaction amount and 3.5% for AmEx cards).  There is also a separate fee called a transaction fee.  Freelance consultants will process few credit card transactions in a month and your transaction fee will be higher as a result.  In addition, there will be a service initiation fee and maybe also an annual fee.  Finally, there will be a statement fee if you’d like to receive  the hard copy of card, eCheck and mobile payments that you accepted.

The merchant approval process will center around an evaluation of your credit history and credit score, so if you need to pay down/pay off bills to improve your financial picture, do that first.  The associated merchant services fees will probably be impacted by your credit score.

If mobile payments will be explored, I can almost guarantee that Square will offer good service at very competitive processing rates  https://squareup.com/  You can also call Discover, Visa and Mastercard directly and find out what they’ll charge for your chosen merchant services.  Your bank may be where you buy eCheck processing services but then again, you may be able to negotiate a good merchant services package with your bank and get all that you want in one place.

Then there is the matter of security during the age of hacking, phishing and data breaches. If you belong to a business networking group, find a colleague who does internet services and ask how you take security precautions on your end.  The merchant services industry stays on top of security matters, but they are not infallible.

To sum up, be advised that although the various merchant services fees are an issue and you’ll want to secure the most competitive processing rates, good service and convenience matter.  As much as the process of expert payment transactions, you must seek out a system that will be reliable and user-friendly for both you and your clients.  A positive, glitch-free experience and excellent customer support are usually worth somewhat higher fees.  Consider it the cost of doing business. Getting paid by clients ASAP is, after all, the endgame.

Thanks for reading,

KIm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Outsourcing Your Content Marketing: Legal Safeguards

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Regarding the process of content marketing, I work both sides of the street.  In addition to generating original content for this blog, for the past 6 or 7 years I’ve worked as an outsourcer, both generating and editing content for two monthly newsletters and serving as editor only for a third.

The practice of content marketing has taken root in many organizations, from Freelance consultancies to multi-national corporations.  The responsibility for generating a good deal of that content has been outsourced.  President Trump is apparently the author of his own tweets but many corporate execs, government leaders, celebrities and other public figures are not.  Text, images, audio and video content destined for blogs, newsletters, webinars and an array of social media platforms might be created by an in-house social media specialist or, increasingly, the function is performed by an external marketing firm or a talented and plucky Freelance consultant.

Ideally, your content marketing will become an effective inbound marketing strategy and “pull” self-selected potential prospects who will be primed to become your customers.  Along the way, good content will also enable customer engagement and enhance and promote your organization’s brand.

Producing top quality marketing content is time-consuming and you may at some point decide to outsource all, or segments, of it.  Before you finalize that decision, take the time to consider what you would like your content to do for your organization; how much content it makes sense to produce; and how you can protect your intellectual property (because the content represents you and your business, whether or not you write it).

Determine the best content marketing platforms for your business

As always, it’s necessary to know your customers and target markets to determine the type of content that will resonate.  B2B clients will have different expectations than B2C or B2G customers and you must reflect that in your platform choices.  Be advised that you cannot and should not attempt to be all things to all people.  Consider picking one or two options, depending on the size of your organization and budget.  Develop an editorial calendar so that you will feature relevant seasonal topics throughout the year.

  • Weekly blog
  • Monthly newsletter
  • Semi-annual webinar
  • Email marketing
  • Social media updates
  • Semi-annual case studies
  • Annual video (with audio) featuring you or other key team members

Specify the outsourcing requirements

Clearly describe what you would like your outsourced content specialist to do.  Do you want content creation and editing, or do you want editing services only for content that you create? Will your content be original, or will you mostly feature short preludes that introduce links to other articles that tell your story? Would you like images included in your newsletter or blog? Might you like short videos to be embedded in your blog or newsletter and will that function be the focus of the outsourced duties?

Finally, when would you like your blog or newsletter to publish (for example, every Tuesday at 6:00 AM or on the 15th of every month?) Share your proposed editorial calendar and publishing schedule with your outsourcer, so that s/he will know what to create and when to have the content ready.

Assign the content copyright

Stay on top of this one, people.  Be advised that unless you specify in the outsourcing contract that all content belongs to you, then ownership will lie with the outsourcer who creates it.  On your own, or after your outsourcer is no longer in your employ, you may want to repackage text, images, or video from your blog or newsletter and use it on your website, in email marketing letters, or in a book (that could be written by you or by the original content outsourcer, a ghost author) and you must ensure that you will have the unrestricted use of what you paid for.

Further, you are advised to include an indemnification clause against possible copyright infringement of text and images that the outsourcer may (unwittingly) commit.  Some images are free, 95-year-old plus images are in the public domain and others are for sale.  Misinterpretation can be costly.  Also, proper credit must be given to images and failure to do so will cause legal problems for you.  Your business entity is the publisher of the content and is the responsible party.

Address the potential legal liabilities of your content

If your content addresses a subject that requires some manner of official licensing—medical, legal, investment, architectural, engineering, or nutritional, for example—it will be wise to include disclaimers or some assurance to readers that the information provided meets accepted regulatory standards and best practices.

Contract with outsourcing termination clause

Include all points detailed above in a contract that is signed by both you and your outsourcer and send a signed copy to the outsourcer.  Hire an intellectual property attorney to review your draft contract to ensure that both you and your outsourcer are protected.   Be certain to specify  who owns the content and how it can be used after the work relationship has ended.  Non-disclosure of potentially sensitive information can also be included.

Thanks for reading,

Kim