What's Your Swag? Strengthening Your Social Media Network

04.27.2010

After months of listening to and trying to figure out what a social media is, how it can be used, what’s a twitter, who’s face is in a book and what am I linking in, I thought it might be time to try and catch up with the rest of the world.   I knew going in it was going to be tough to get me up to speed in 2010, but a man has to start sometime.  I mean, I’m on Facebook and LinkedIn, but I really don’t know what to do with them, and more importantly, how to use them to my advantage.

I was invited to a seminar about LinkedIn and knew this would be my first step.  But, I decided to jump in feet first.  It was amazing some of what I learned.  Could there be 940 million people engaged in social networking?  We don’t just advertise with famous or attractive people telling us to buy something because they like it.  Now, marketing includes converting someone through conversation.  Want to know about a product, go on line.  You can find out whatever you want in a matter of minutes.  Millions of people spend how many millions of hours just writing about everything and anything.  Who would have thought that people have that much time on their hands?  I was asked what I thought my “swag factor” was.  I had no idea what they were talking about.  I found out that the swag is important as it refers to how strong your network is.

Looking for a job?  Social networking is a great way to go.  Need a plumber?  Go on line and find any number of plumbers with multiple recommendations.  Want to find out about your next door neighbor?  There’s a good chance you can read about them on one the social media web sites.  Unbelievable to me what can be done.

This seminar was about LinkedIn and how to use it.  LinkedIn is a professional networking site that helps make key business connections.  An excellent presentation was given by Sima Dahl at Parlay Communications.  She went over how it should be set up and the work that needs to be done to maintain your account.  Me?  I filled out my home page and figured I have done my work.  Now, all I have to do is sit back and wait for all the important people to contact me.  I have to now admit that I might have been a little off on that assumption.

There is far more involved than what I thought.  Do you know you should change your status every week or so?  Seems doing that means all of your contacts will know and maybe take a look.  You need to make deposits on a regular basis.  Deposits?  You should spend time each week responding to requests, recommendations, and changes in the status of others.  And, they want my picture posted.  Ok, if I can use my high school or college picture, it’s a definite go.  But now, I don’t know.  However, statistics show that we like to see what the person looks like that we may be dealing with.  Makes us a little more comfortable.  The picture is still on my list of things to do, but moving up quickly.

This is a marathon though, not a sprint.  It takes time to build a network.  It takes time to maintain it as well.  However, if done correctly it seems that social networking is a way to market yourself and help others in your network as well.  We want to buy from people, not companies.  We are going to feel more comfortable about whatever we are looking for if others tell us it is a good service, product or idea.

Like many companies, Randolph Sterling is getting into social media more and more to spread the word about what we do and how we can help companies be more successful.  Whether we like it or not, this is most certainly the future.  So, if you’re not on board or, like me, just getting started, don’t wait too long to get connected.

So, if you got nothing else out of this little journey on the dark side, remember what your swag is and you want it to be strong.

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Posted in Art Crowley, RandolphSterling, Social Media |

You Don’t Have to be a Basketball Superpower to be Successful

03.24.2010

Well, it’s that time of year again.  March Madness, to many sports fans, is the best season of them all.  Numerous games over a three week period, every game means something, loser leaves town, the highest high and the lowest low, and players shedding tears, some for joy, most for sorrow.  If you like sports, it’s hard not to get a lot of enjoyment out of the tournament.

Everyone has their favorite team, but I always enjoy watching a mid size school, where kids go to get an education, beating one of the powerhouses.  If your favorite team is Kentucky, Kansas (too bad), or Duke (which is mine), you know that they are going to have a pretty good year and be in the tournament.  But imagine what it is like to be a Cornell or a Northern Iowa fan.  The excitement because not only are they are there, but they are winning games.  My daughter was in Iowa over the weekend and she said the whole state is going crazy.  All you heard about was Northern Iowa.

Now, you may be asking yourself where am I going with this?  How does this relate to business?  Go with me on this…..

These other schools are proving that you don’t have to be a basketball superpower to be successful.  These smaller schools may not have the biggest recruiting budget or the best facilities in the world or are able to attract a player that only plans on being in school for one year before moving on to the NBA.  Yet, the Cornell’s of the world can be successful.  Maybe you have to think a little more and do things in a smaller scale, but do it right and you can come out on top.

Not every company can be AT&T, Shell Oil, or Microsoft.  These are the powerhouses.  Most companies are like Cornell and Northern Iowa.  They may not have the largest budgets or the newest manufacturing facility or office building, but they can certainly compete with the big boys, even beating them from time to time.  It may not be easy, but it is done every day.  Take a good product/service, team it with a modest budget, good management from the top and a top effort by the employees and you have yourself a winner.

I have found that to be successful you have to think that way.  Just because you are a smaller company doesn’t mean that you don’t do things the right way.  Your marketing, product, approach all have to be first class.  The difference might be that you don’t do as much as the AT&T’s of the world.  Cut back on quantity, not quality.  That goes from the product, to the packaging, to how we interact with our customers.

How do you interact with your current and potential customers?  I don’t mean your top 10 customers, but all of the others.   Do you interact with them as much as you should?  The Pfizer Pharmaceuticals of the world have two sales forces that call on the same doctor, just to get that much more selling time with the physicians.  I don’t know too many companies that can do that.

If your sales force is you, if it is small, if it is too busy to meet new clients, if you don’t really know what your sales people are doing, you may need a little assistance in getting in front of your customers and potential clients as often as you should.  Many companies are now outsourcing in a number of departments.  You can outsource your HR department.  I know of companies that don’t even touch the product they sell.  The manufacturing, packaging and shipping are all outsourced.  That goes for your sales efforts as well.  At Randolph Sterling, we can be the added sales force, interacting with your potential customers that you don’t have the time to see.  We can relieve you of the stress of doing lead generation.  We will report to you exactly what we do each week so you would know exactly what is going on.

If you have sales people with little guidance, we offer our sales management services as well.

You may not be Kentucky, or Duke or Kansas.  Few of us are.  However, if your goal is to become a Cornell or St. Mary’s, we can certainly assist your company in reaching that level.

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Posted in Art Crowley, Events, Outsourced Sales |

The Light Is Getting Brighter…What Will You Do?

03.09.2010

While talking with a large number of manufacturing companies the last few weeks, I have noticed a positive change in attitude. Most companies were optimistic about their business as we started the new year.  The feeling seemed to be that things were getting better and 2010 would certainly show productivity to be on an increase.

These last few weeks however, it seems that they are going to be busier than even they expected. I hear more companies tell me they are currently at their manufacturing capacity. The next step will have to be adding another shift. Before they do anything with Randolph Sterling, they have to gear up for more production.

Companies are investing in their future as new websites and marketing campaigns are in the works. The number of companies who have new websites in the process of being built is growing. Likewise, marketing campaigns are flourishing. And that includes all forms of marketing: email campaigns, social media, and yes, even through the mail. It seems that we are so tired of getting all of these emails, that we delete them without even opening them up. However, with so little mail through the post office, some marketing people are suggesting a return to the mailings.  The rationale being that we get so little mail that there is a better chance of our customers looking at a mailing from us. So, we might be back to depending on the U.S. Post Office again. Not necessarily a good thing.

Former customers who decided to buy their goods from China are starting to return. The cost of goods seems to be about the same, so the big difference is, of course, labor. However, it seems, at least in some areas, that most of those savings are offset by the freight charges from China. Whatever the reason, it seems that some companies are returning to products manufactured here in the good ole USA.

Now, I don’t have any statistics to back up what I’ve said. You might have to go to the Commerce Department or one of a hundred different agencies to get the statistics on all of this. There is a saying about liars and statistics.  And one that says you can make statistics say whatever you want.

All I know is what I see and hear.  For the last five months, temporary staffing agencies are placing more workers as companies are slowly increasing their work force. Budgets have been approved for marketing, which normally is one of the first expenditures taken out of a budget when times are bad.  No longer is reputation or word of mouth enough to acquire new business.  Companies are actively searching for new customers instead of just maintaining what they have.  They are looking at outsourced sales and marketing organizations of all types to assist them with these sales efforts.

Some companies are more interested in a manufacture’s rep firm, where their outside sales people will carry the banner for their company. Others will rely on a solid marketing program, waiting and hoping for the new customers to call.  Others are looking at someone like us, Randolph Sterling, with our inside sales organization, where we can make an impact.  All have their value and place in the sales effort.  Always remember though, you can’t make a sale if you’re not in front of the right people.  That is what we do, and we do it well.

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Posted in Art Crowley, Business Growth, Business Secrets, RandolphSterling |

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