The computer swallowed grandma,
Yes, honestly its true!
She pressed ‘control and ‘enter’
And disappeared from view.

It devoured her completely,
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.

I’ve searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
I’ve even used the Internet,
But nothing did I find.

In desperation, I asked Jeeves
My searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found ‘online.’

So, if inside your ‘Inbox,’
My Grandma you should see,
Please ‘Copy, Scan’ and ‘Paste’ her
And send her back to me.

This is a tribute to all the Grandmas and Grandpas who have been fearless and

learned to use the Computer…. …. They are the greatest!!!

As I’ve just become a Grandma I guess this applies to me

I don’t know who wrote the poem but whoever did – many thanks!

Do you do any of the following?

• Receive incoming calls/enquiries every day
• Employ someone to make cold calls to promote your business
• Network regularly
• Entertain clients

Social Media allows you to do all of the above but in a more efficient manner, every day, globally without leaving your office.  By being part of social media you can help to:-

• Build your brand
• Your image
• Your reputation

With over millions of users you won’t find a larger audience.  Ask yourself – can you afford not to be involved?

If you need any help or guidance as to how to get started with your Social Media give me a ring on 01672 569092.

I am forever being asked as to which marketing strategy will lead to better sales and having been in business for more years than I care to remember my bulk standard reply is to use as many marketing tactics as you can and to measure the results with perspective having given heed to your products/services and your target customer base.

So what does this mean in reality and where do you start?

Start with your product and service. Does demand truly exist? Are you sure? Have you done your research? Can you prove it to yourself?  OK so you think you can prove a demand but then comes the next challenge – how do you stand out from the crowd?

If yours is a niche product or service then you might not have much competition but also absolute demand will be lower. Contrast this to commodity products/services where there are many sellers chasing a small slice of a crowded market and it becomes very difficult to be noticed and attract new clients, unless you are constantly “on the go” and on your toes.

Social Media is a way of creating noise and if done right it will create opportunities to close business deals if your product and service is right. If your price/product/service is wrong then, whatever your activity level, conversion will be poor.

So this now leads on to knowing your target market and where and how they choose to shop your services/products and this is changing.

In parts of our business Social Media is useless because our target audience at present do not use Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin (the holy trinity of Social Networking) and we have to market to them differently.  However, SM enables us to have international reach far beyond the scale of our operations and has enabled us to find candidates for Saudi Arabia and Australia and on one occasion a Polish girl living in Denmark applied for a position in the UK via Twitter.

The inspiration for this blog entry is a story of a tweet picked up by Lesley-Anne of On The Go and referred to me for a local operation where I actually knew one of the non-executive directors but was oblivious to the opportunity. On checking it out I was sent a Facebook URL to the guy’s profile, saw he was under 35 and it clicked – here is a young decision maker, in a modern business, using today’s technology to reach out to the market place. There is no doubt this will increase over time.

As for SM strategy we’ve been at it longer than most. Initially we struggled but went back to the drawing board and redesigned our strategy which is a mix of little and often, a bit of humour, informational tips and links to articles to drive traffic towards our websites. SM is and will remain part of our marketing strategy but will create no opportunities unless our buyers want our services in the first place.

SM is a business tool, amongst others, in you marketing golf bag- use it wisely, well and sparingly. If you need to repeat messages/themes, then at least try and use a variety of words and to amuse your audience as at the end of the day SM is P to P (people to people) whether you are B2C or B2B and all those other awful acronyms used in modern marketing.

The market has changed. We need to think backwards from the future not forward from the past.

I have two teenage daughters who need to be surgically separated from “facebook and fone”.  Their generation will be the decision makers of tomorrow and  for them to be communicated with via social media you’d better get involved now while the SM market is young, immature and forgiving.

Adapt or die.

Having just read this article  Mistakes Marketers Make with Tracking Social Media it is frustrating to see that if anyone who clicks on a link you’ve posted from a desktop app, such as TweetDeck or HootSuite, or from a mobile device, which it’s highly probable most people will, the links will show up in Google Analytics as direct traffic!

However, you will be pleased to know that if you follow the guidelines in this article there is a way round it.  It will take time but it will certainly help give a clearer picture in the future of how your social media is working.

Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa’s reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl .

We should have known… . . . ONLY women would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night without getting lost!

A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

I have made the decision to concentrate my energy and time on Social Media.   I believe in everything it stands for, it’s not going to go away and will only progress to bigger and better things.  I enjoy providing a service to businesses that simply don’t have the time to concentrate on Social Media. Therefore in December On The Go VA Services became On The Go Social Media Services.

This does not mean I won’t be continuing with the VA services I provide to my existing clients however it does mean I will be focusing all future business towards Social Media.  Here’s to new beginnings for 2011.

Have a wonderful festive season and enjoy the video below, a compilation of the businesses I have worked with this year and the people who have supported On The Go during 2010.

Best wishes

Surprising isn’t it that so many companies have websites but omit the most crucial information.

Check your website and make sure that the following are in place:-

• Telephone number is displayed clearly – best position top right hand corner, in my opinion, it’s where I always look first.
• Have a separate tab on your site “Contact” which will have a pre-set email form where they can send you a message direct
• If you don’t have this and only show your email address then make sure that is hyper linked
• Ensure your Social Media Links actually link to the relevant sites

As I say, it might be common place for a lot of us but there are a lot of sites out there that just don’t want to be contacted – amazing!  Why make it impossible for your prospective clients to contact you?  What will they do?  They’ll move on to the next provider they find on Google search.  Now that is a missed opportunity.

Debra Ellis wrote about this recently too.  Note:  If you are not already registered on The Social Customer you will need to sign up to read the report – well worth it.

Take a moment now and check your website is working for you.

Undoubtedly we all work to earn money – don’t we? If it wasn’t to earn money then surely that comes under the banner of being a “hobby”.  How do you separate the two?

Here are my views on Seth’s 8 points – what are yours?

1. For the money - Most definitely
   
2. To be challenged - Running your own business is always going to be a challenge however with it being your own business you will only get out of it what you put in.
3. For the pleasure/calling of doing the work - I enjoy my work, I can choose what I want to do and what I don’t.
   
4. For the impact it makes on the world - I doubt anything I do has an impact on the world, but hopefully I do help others run their businesses a little smoother.
   
5. For the reputation you build in the community - I like to think I help build communities on social networks.  Interacting with different people helps stimulate the brain.  Different ideas, varying degrees of application enhance a stronger on line community.
   
6. To solve interesting problems - I do like solving problems, looking for applications that will make any business run smoother.
   
7. To be part of a group and to experience the mission - I have always worked on my own – however when I set up On The Go I had to go networking.  In doing so became part of many groups and enjoy meeting people.
   
8. To be appreciated - If you work right then appreciation will come.

I am just reading The E Myth by Michael E Gerber.  I have only just started it but already I can see where I have gone wrong over the past 3 years.  That reminds me – it will be three years on the 5^th December when I set up On The Go – time flies!

Let me know your reasons – are they similar to mine?