Call your partners- Partners can be a great source of short term sales opportunities. Work directly with the sales reps at your key partners. Before you consider working with a partner, be sure you are comfortable with their approach to selling and their reputation on the street. Once initial trust is established, the formula is simple–give a lead to get a lead.
Start with an overview conference call or meeting to determine overall fit- Do they call on the same types of accounts and functional areas as you? Are they active enough to be able to provide you with enough leads to make spending time worth while? Once you have determined that there is a fit, take some time and do a lead swap with them. Be prepared to give them a few currently active projects or at least some valuable contacts in organizations they may want to penetrate. Expect to get roughly the same type and quantity of leads in return.
E-mail your existing contacts- Chances are, if you have executed a performance for your past and existing clients, 9 times out of 10, they are willing to refer you to someone that is in their network. Many times, companies focus on creating new leads from a “floating source”. This “floating source”? Pulling from a completely new area that you are not familiar with, or cold calling. But why cold call when you already have a great network to pull from?
Creating incentives for your existing clients is a great way to go. Let them know that you would like to discount their current or future projects in exchange for new business and referrals.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Social Media Management : The Persona and Character
Image via WikipediaI came across a superb article regarding what makes for fantastic social media management and the ability to achieve maximum search engine optimization.
It is by Mike Sweeney and it appears on Social Media Today.
Besides the excellent writing and content, I am surprised and pleased at how many of these traits my partner Suzan Pleva has. She is a serious social media professional, and I would like to emulate some of her qualitites:
From Sweeney's article:
The Must Haves
- You are a marketer first, social media marketer second.
Social media marketing is just another marketing tactic in a pool of lots of marketing tactics. If you don’t understand how social media works with content marketing, SEO or email marketing, you’re simply not as qualified as the next candidate who does.
- You are a very good writer.
Some argue that writing has become less important in a world of scanners, skimmers and tweeters. On the contrary, writing is more important than ever.
- You understand that content drives social media marketing.
Social media conversations can be very fruitful, but conversations plus engaging content is the formula that takes your social media efforts to the next level.
- You embrace the “social” aspect of social media marketing.
You have to like reaching out to people and engaging in conversations, albeit conversations that are a bit different than the ones you might have in your living room. I don’t care if you know how to use every Twitter application in the universe; if you don’t start with a passion for learning about people, you’ll eventually grow tired of this position.
- You know or want to learn the ins and outs of social media properties.
You have to possess a natural curiosity and penchant for exploring the nooks and crannies that others simply don’t pay attention to, because with social media, you never know where your audience is lurking.
The Nice-to-Haves
- You move quickly but with a defined purpose.
Social media is a fast-moving game, but fast cannot turn into sloppy.
- You are a real self-starter.
I hear the phrase “self-starter” at least once a day, and I only know a handful of true self-starters. If you are one of the real ones, you may have a place in social media marketing. In any industry or category that is still being defined, self-starters can secure an immediate advantage.
- You are not a diva (or the male equivalent).
Social media marketing is a team sport. Everyone has an ego, but if you want to play this role you’d better find a way to suppress it.
- You think strategically.
If you are able to articulate how social media fits into a broader marketing strategy and how it contributes to even broader corporate goals, you are golden.
Bonus Points
- You never call yourself a social media maven or guru.
Most social media mavens or gurus could never actually manage a social media campaign; they just play the super hero role in meetings.
- You come with a social media audience.
If you’re joining an organization and already have a social media following, you have a head start. That alone should not get you the job though.
For those of you who consider yourselves exceptional social media managers, what is missing from this list? For those of you who have hired social media managers, what separates the good candidates from the poor ones?
Some more interesting banter on this topic , from Design Spike:
- We like you if you know how to implement a strategic plan.
- We don’t like you if you just randomly start throwing stuff out & responding to g_d knows who about g_d knows what.
- We like you if you know how to monitor (no, not sucking up to Lisa & Marty, but they both rock this…take a look at their systems and try ‘em).
- We don’t like you if you ignore mentions or questions.
- We like if you if you try out the latest and the greatest to see what’s what.
- We don’t like you if you swear by all of them and think we should use ‘em all.
- We really really really like you if you are transparent and honest.
- We can’t even look you in the eye if you’re disingenuous, cheesy, salesy…you get the picture.
If you want a good job description for a Community Manager, check out Marty Weintraub’s blog post on the subject (um, heads up, we so think he’s the man.). And Jamie Lynn Morgan has a great quick blog repost on What Makes a Good Community Manager from 5to9 Branding.
So get out and find or create a great online social media or community manager. But look for honesty, ingenuity, brilliance, and integrity. Source
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