A kindergartner came home excited after his first day of school. Talking a mile a minute, he began telling his mom about all the fun things he did: finger painting, arts and crafts, alphabet games. The list went on and on as he breathlessly detailed each moment, the story goes.

Bright-eyed and encouraged, his mom asked him, “So, are you excited to go back tomorrow?”

His shocked and frightened response: “You mean I have to go BACK?”

In another corner of the world, the late comedian Greg Giraldo had a routine where he talked about how working out is really a drag. To paraphrase his notion: “You know getting in shape would be a hell of a lot more convenient if you could just do it all at once. But you have to keep going back. Like, ALL the time.”

Image via Wikipedia

The concept of consistency isn’t a new one, but it’s still a hard one to put into practice. Ours is a culture raised on stories like “the ant and the grasshopper,” quotes like “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and slogans like “just do it.”

But in the world of content marketing we fall prey to the thinking that we are one big idea away from our breakthrough. One hit post, one brilliant infographic, or one key mention in the right publication away from notoriety, stardom, Klout and fat paychecks.

The truth is, there are no overnight successes, and there are no accidental billionaires, in fact, success comes to those who continue to work as hard as humanly possible (and sometimes harder).

As Thomas Edison famously said: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Who’s going to argue with the inventor of the light bulb? Apparently we do.

If we keep thinking that we’re just one big idea away from our breakthrough, we’ll be separated from our goals indefinitely. Because it’s really not about the glamour, it’s about the grindstone. Putting forth the effort on a daily basis is the big idea that many aren’t willing to do. It’s not always fun and there aren’t a lot of celebratory moments (at first), but it has the payoff in the end.

It turns out that the “big idea” is really just the aggregate effect of a bunch of little ideas.

So, what does this mean for content marketers? It means we should come up with a strategy that is feasible given our resources, serves a need in the market, builds on itself, and helps achieve our goals.

1. Take inventory of what you have.

Have subject matter experts in-house? Have frequently asked questions that you frequently answer? Ever present information in Powerpoint at meetings? Ever done a customer survey? Figure out what content is at your disposal (and what could be created, given your resources) and list it out.

2. Create an editorial schedule – and stick to it.

The power of putting something on paper (or in Google Docs) is phenomenal. Instead of creating content as an afterthought, it’s now a “to-do,” and your work ethic will likely treat it with a lot more respect. Set aside a specific amount of time each business day to work on your content development.

Plus, it will help you stay consistent and help you plan your approach. And as you build up tolerance to the extra work, you’ll be able to see opportunities for plugging in additional ideas like “best of” posts and timely analysis on breaking news items. (Here’s a great post on setting up an editorial calendar.)

3. Avoid analysis paralysis.

Keep your list of metrics short and sweet. The temptation to delve into data will be there but keep your focus on one or two that really matter. Think in business terms instead of analytic-speak. For instance, you probably want to know how many people are being exposed to your content (unique visits and pageviews) and how many are converting into customers or deepening their relationship with you (conversion rate and email addresses collected).

These are just examples, but the idea is to keep your metrics tight and focused. And don’t obsess over your numbers, check in monthly and tweak as you see fit. More than that and you’re distracting yourself from other work you could be doing.

4. Give it time to grow.

If you hold your breath waiting for a parade in your honor, you’re going to be lonely and probably hyperventilate. If at first you don’t succeed, you’re probably not giving yourself enough time to really find out if you will. Building traction takes a while, but as they say “luck is the residue of design.” (See how long the process was in this case study.)

5. Be consistent. Don’t spend a lot of time changing direction or chasing shiny objects.

A lot of new technology will come out in the next year. Most of it won’t apply to you. Keep your focus and stick to your strategy. If you want the building blocks to add up, you have to stack them in the same place.

Alright, back to work.

Related articles

• Quit Dreaming of Success. (xemion.com)
• The 3 Keys To Success (customerthink.com)

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Cam Lay, Director of Marketing for Yodle, a leading provider of local online advertising.

Before you can establish an online advertising plan for your local business, you need a few key marketing basics in place.  After you have that, you’ll know that you know what you need to know (follow that?), and your plan will be grounded firmly in reality and primed for success.  Although most of these basics hold true for traditional media advertising, the beauty of online advertising is that you can test it quickly and affordably —and make adjustments to your mix or your message in almost real time.  Here are the six building-block tasks that any serious marketer has to tackle:

1. Define your target market.

Look at who you’re currently doing most of your business with and then figure out why they do business with you and what it is about them and their needs that are unique.   Defining your market is critical, because it allows you to start thinking about what kind of marketing communications would be effective for your business.  After all, if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach, there’s no way to figure out how to reach them.

2. Write a paragraph that defines your target market.

This helps you keep your customers’ unique characteristics in the front of your mind. Write what you think they want out of life and how your offering fits into their plans.

3. Identify your value proposition.

Determine what your business does best — and why customers should choose your business over any of your competitors. If you honestly don’t know what it is about your business in particular that appeals to your customers, call a few and ask. You’re likely to get good, actionable answers. Your customers might even come away from your call feeling flattered that you sought their valuable opinions.

A good value proposition might include characteristics like having the best customer service or the fastest turnaround time or even having the most competitive prices.

4. Create your key messages.

This should flow directly from your value proposition.  However, whereas your “value proposition” can be thought of as characteristics that make your business unique and attractive, your “key messages” are the way in which you express and communicate those characteristics.  Once you create your key messages, look for opportunities to incorporate those messages into all of your advertising – online and otherwise.

5. Analyze your competition.

Now that you have the basics down, it’s time to think more specifically about online.  And one of the first things to think about online is to make sure you know who (and what) you’re competing against.  How and where do your competitors advertise? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can your business be competitive with theirs?  A great way to do this is by searching for one of the services you offer.  Do your competitors appear in the paid listings? If so, do their ads contain an offer? Are they listed with the local IYP or do they maintain a Facebook page? In the same vein, search one of the major engines for your competitor’s name. The results show you where they have an advertising presence.  Pay particular attention to any places you hadn’t yet thought of but that also make good sense for you.

6. Research your market online.

Research can consume valuable time, but it’s time well spent because the better you understand your customers’ online behaviors, the more effective an online advertiser you are.  Start by searching the major and the local search engines with keywords that best represent your business. That simple act produces a lot of search results, but that’s the goal. Now, follow up those results and see where they take you.  Chances are the keywords will bring up a big, messy mix of IYP listings, local sites, blogs, social networks, local search results, and more. As you chase down each, make your own assessment of their potential to drive business. Does the content reflect what your business is about? Do the keywords take you to places where businesses like yours are discussed and where you might participate in the discussion? Would your customers search the way you just did, or would they not dig as deep? Are some of your best customers on Facebook or LinkedIn?

After you do these six steps, you’re definitely closing in on what your online marketing mix should be. You’re also about to figure out (if you haven’t already) precisely how to position your local business to attract qualified local customers.  And when you’ve done that, you can start establishing some informed, realistic, attainable, and maintainable marketing goals for your company, which is half the battle.

As Director of Marketing, Cam Lay manages all lead generation channels for customer acquisition at Yodle, a leading provider of local online advertising. Over the course of his career, Cam holds the distinction of having marketed to consumers and small businesses alike using just about every marketing channel imaginable be it online or offline. Prior to joining Yodle three years ago, Cam held various Product Management roles at MBI Inc., a leading direct marketing/ consumer products company. You can find his marketing musings here at the Yodle Blog.

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from Ilana Rabinowitz, Vice-President of Marketing for Lion Brand Yarn Company.

These three concepts are not new ­– in fact they are age-old techniques that merchants have used whenever they came to public markets to sell their wares and stood face-to-face with the customer. For a while, in the era of mass media, these vital elements were lost, but now, digital marketing tools like websites and social media give us the opportunity to recapture elements of that personal relationship.

What has also changed are the customers. They are bombarded with messages and showered with choices. They need some way to tell the difference between you and the competition.  These three concepts, ideally suited to the mechanics of social media, will help make the competition virtually disappear by creating a place in the universe of products and services that is yours, and yours alone.

1. Storytelling

When you communicate by telling a story, you influence people by helping them decide for themselves what the truth is.  That was the premise of the movie, Inception: the most powerful idea is one you are able to come to on your own (an application of the first rule of storytelling 101: show, don’t tell.)

Stories are told in “about us” pages, on YouTube and on blogs. This about us page from Top Secret Recipes, is an example of effective storytelling.  Todd Wilbur, the owner of the company, shares his struggle to replicate his favorite store and restaurant-bought foods using recipes he found online but was always disappointed in the results, so he set out to create recipes himself. He went from  being a guy who couldn’t hold a job to a becoming a best-selling author just as his bank account was about to run dry.  Even though the story is over 1,000 words long, it holds your attention, and in the end, you want to buy his recipe book, even if you don’t cook.

What if you sell something as simple as notebooks or pens?  How do you tell a story about a so simple a product? Look at what Moleskine or Shaeffer Pens have to say about their products and you’ll see how a great story can wrap itself around even simple office supply products.

Daily Grommet uses the art of storytelling to sell products through videos. On this site, a new product is featured every day in a video where the story of the company and the product explain why this item has made the cut of this carefully curated video blog.

Why is storytelling so important?

• People can relate to brands through their stories. Stories are humanizing. People connect with stories.  (So it’s important for real people to appear in stories.)
• People remember details and messages more effectively through stories.  Storytelling helps people create images in the mind and these images “stick” better than just talk. (So don’t shy away from the colorful, quirky details that give your story character.)
• Storytelling conveys the unique evolution of your brand. Beyond the benefits and features is the journey of journey of how your business came to be and why it endures. (So make sure you convey the sense of time, history and journey–a journey the visitor will share with you.)

2. Emotion

In a world with virtually unlimited choice, people don’t need more data, they need information that helps them make a choice. Most people believe they make decisions by weighing all the facts, the pros and cons–but research shows that this is not the way it works.

Jonah Lehrer explains the decision-making process in his book, How We Decide. He tells the story of a man who had a brain operation to remove a tumor.  After having the tumor removed, the patient experienced a strange side-effect.  He lost his ability to make a decision.  He understood the concept of deciding, and the need to make a decision, yet even the smallest decisions became overwhelming.  He could not decide something as simple as whether or not to get dressed in the morning because he was confounded by all the factors that went into making the decision. His inability to make a decision led to the loss of his business, financial ruin and the end of his marriage because, like all of us, he needed to make hundreds of decisions every day of the week in order to move forward.

The renowned neurologist, Antononio Damasio, who treated this patient, realized that the man exhibited no emotion when relating the tragic turn his life had taken.  Damasio concluded, based on this and the location of the area of the brain that was removed, that emotions play a key role in decision-making. Emotions provide a form of shorthand, that takes the myriad factors in the decision-making process, and collects them into the feelings that actually drive us to make choices.   If we weighed all of the pros and cons of every decision using all of the rational factors at our disposal, we would not even be able to place a single food item into our cart at the grocery store because we would be considering too many details.  Trying to evaluate the nutritional evidence, the tastes of every family member, the relative cost of other similar items, the conflicting opinions on the value of buying organic, the price per pound, and the space in available in the refrigerator, would have us standing in front of a bin of onions until the store closed.

If you would like to see just how effective emotion can be as a selling tool, I can think of no better example than the famous scene in Mad Men when Don Draper is pitching the slide projector that was eventually called the Kodak Carousel.  His pitch is so filled with allusions to family, good times, blessed events, shared happiness–all the experiences that give rise to powerful emotions, that by the end of his presentation, you don’t really care what he is selling–you want it.

Once you realize that the reasons we act are deeply rooted in an emotional and mostly subconscious process, you begin to understand that connecting with people in a way that moves them is more important than sharing a list of product benefits.

3. Purpose and Meaning

Something marketers have learned from the way consumers respond to extraordinary brands, is that a brand has to stand for something.  When a brand has a greater purpose than selling its products, it creates meaning for consumers that keep it top of mind and makes the buying decision easier.

Target is an example of a chain of stores that embraces higher purpose while (not coincidentally) creating an extraordinary and uplifting shopping experience.  I walk into Target and I feel good about the well lit, colorful store design, the unique and beautifully designed products and the neat and organized condition of the store.  Target doesn’t just look good–they are dedicated to the value of good design.

I also know, from print ads, the website, and the company’s social media, that they have been named one of the most admired companies; that they make significant contributions to charity, especially education; and that they are committed to diversity in their hiring practices. Over 3.5 million people “like” their Facebook page, a virtual engagement-fest where one post often receives over 1,000 comments.  Target has earned my loyalty.  I don’t even consider shopping at another store if I can find a product there and I always walk out with unexpected finds.

Companies with higher values inspire loyalty. They stay on our radar and come to mind when we need what they have to offer.  They keep us interested in their work and engaged with what they have to say.  That doesn’t happen with companies that are simply about selling products and making profits.

Check out the websites and social media platforms of some of the most successful companies doing this.  What you see is a genuine, sincere commitment to goals, values and purpose that go way beyond (but never neglecting) making the best product.  What social media provide are ways for the customer to participate in the purpose and to provide insight that keeps you and them on track.  Here are a few examples of such companies:

• Zappos does not just talk about selling shoes, its goal is to make customers happy and their extreme devotion to customer service make this lofty goal a reality.
• Starbucks strives to “inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”  That’s why so many writers, students and entrepreneurs feel at home creating, learning and building a future for their business on their laptops in Starbucks stores.
• Jet Blue doesn’t have a mission statement. Instead they focus on core values–safety,  caring, integrity, fun and passion, which makes you feel like part of the team when you help clean up the plane.
• Whole Foods is guided by the words, whole foods, whole people, whole planet.  Shopping here is not just about stocking up on fruit–it’s a way of shopping that supports a lifestyle choice.

These brands have created a place of their own.  Not everyone is going to love the place a brand carves for itself, but for those who do, their brand will be warmly embraced, and no other place will do.

Now, take a look at the brands you admire.  Can you point to those that are good storytellers, that use emotion well in communications and that have a greater purpose than their product alone?

Rabinowitz approaches marketing with an uncompromising focus on the customer and a grounding in psychology and neuroscience to understand what motivates people to make buying decisions.  She believes that businesses need to develop their own media as a means of creating a branded experience for customers.  She has spoken at digital marketing conferences including Web 2.0, Blogher Business and Internet Retailer. She is the author of a book about psychology, a book about mindfulness and co-author of a book about the culture of knitting. Follow her on Twitter at @ilana221.

Related articles

• Storytelling for Business (chrisbrogan.com)
• The Rules for Powerful Storytelling in Marketing (ereleases.com)

If there’s one thing everyone who reads this and any other marketing blog wants to know, it’s how to make money online. While some of you may not admit it, at the end of the day we’re marketers. The goal of our jobs is to drive business through marketing our products or services. Whether we’re jonesing for the affiliate or passive revenue to help us quit our jobs or noodling on how to move more stuff through the supply chain, we all want to know how to make money online.

My friend Jim Kukral knows a thing or two about making money online. He’s been an internet marketer for a lot longer than many of us have been on the web. His first book takes that cumulative knowledge — how to make money online — and turns it into actionable smarts for you. Attention! This Book Will Make You Money is aptly titled, annoyingly colored (to get your attention) and chock full of great insights and ideas for entrepreneurs, job seekers and business owners/managers of any size organization.

I ambushed Jim in the Cleveland airport earlier this month to talk about the book. Guess you can say I was trying to get his attention.

Here’s why I think you should buy this book: It will inspire you. It will help you think outside the box. It will give you ideas and a perspective you weren’t seeing before. If anything, the chapter called, “26 Ways To Generate Killer Ideas is worth the cost.

The book covers affiliate marketing, subscription-based businesses, social media, public relations and more. Jim knows his stuff and delivers the goods. When you get done reading this, you’ll be able to take one of the many suggestions or calls-to-action presented and make money online.

No, it’s not a guarantee … you will have to put some time and effort into it. But even the grizzled old brothers-in-arms of Jim’s like me can take away some great insights and inspiration from Attention!

You can buy the book at Amazon (affiliate link) or slide on over to AttentionTheBook.com or JimKukral.com

And no, Jim didn’t buy me a beer in the Cleveland airport so I’d say nice things about his book. He knows I’d be honest with you if it sucked. It doesn’t. Neither did that beer. Thanks, Jim.

Raise your hand if you have visited a website in the last week and found yourself frustrated with the experience of searching for the information you wanted? How did that make you feel about said company? Did it ultimately find what you were searching for and think to yourself, “Are they trying to hide this stuff from me?” With their focus locked tightly on the snazzy marketing verbiage, flashy logo, and awesome three level drop down menu they might have overlooked a less tangible element of the website … the user experience.

Your website’s user-experience (sometimes referred to as “UX”) is directly related to the perception your visitors have of how useful and efficient your site is in providing them what they want. Because everyone’s perception can be unique this means how a person feels about their experience on your website is subjective. The good thing is there are some best practices, trends, and standards that can help you avoid frustrated visitors and help them find the information you want to get in their hands.

Here is a quick list of a few things that contribute to a poor user-experience:

• Cryptic navigation: The language used in the primary navigation doesn’t provide any clear idea of what you might expect to find when clicking.
• Large dense blocks of content: There is a ton of content on each page with little-to-no headings, paragraph breaks, changes in color or placement making it look like a big block of text.
• No clear hierarchy of information: When you first arrive on a particular page it looks flat and nothing draws your attention. You cannot tell what is more or less important in the content and on the navigational elements.
• Inconsistent messaging: The information or language used to link to another page does not provide a clear expectation of what should be found on the next page. The overall look and feel of the site changes dramatically in style and structure so that your visitors have to re-aclimate themselves to it.

Anything on this list strike a chord? Have you experienced something here? Maybe your company’s website is an offender of one or more of these?

In this article I am going to take a step back and first tackle how you can help pave a clear path for your visitors even before they ever reach your website. In order to do this we have to understand what is in the minds of our visitors or customers. I will follow up in a part 2 of this article and focus directly on your website itself and how you can reduce the friction points that may be causing your visitors to frown the entire time they use your website.

What is your visitor’s mental mode?

Understanding what is in the mind of your visitors is hugely important to knowing what information to provide them and how to visually present it. To start the process ask yourself two questions:

1. Where will visitors to my website come from?
2. What will visitors be looking for?

In an ideal situation you would have the opportunity to answer these questions during the initial planning stages of your website. If you are beyond that stage then don’t fret. The great thing about websites is, with a bit of effort, you can go back and tweak your pages as needed to make them more effective. But where should you start the process of creating a better experience for your visitors?

A smooth user-experience starts before someone visits your website

Is your company is using Facebook social ads to drive traffic to your site? Then you have only a sentence, an image, and a heading to provide context about what information your website offers. That context sets the visitor’s initial expectation as to what they will get in return for clicking on the ad. Will it be what they were hoping for or is it something completely different? A common approach to tackling this is to create unique landing pages for each set of visitors with the intent on targeting your message and keeping continuity between the referral source (in this case it is a Facebook ad) and your website.

There are a variety of other ways your visitors might be faced with a link to your site and a choice to click. Depending on what it communicates and what context it provides the user-experience can start off on good or bad footing.

Here are a few other sources that might refer visitors to your site and some questions to think about:

1. Search engine result:
   When a page on your website shows up in search engine results does the page title and description they see accurately tell them what they will find if they click on it?
2. Social Links:
   When you tweet out a link to an article, contest, sales page, etc… does the accompanying sentence or title tell others what they will see once they click? Can the same be said for links posted on your Facebook business page or on YouTube videos that provide a link back to your website?
3. Traditional advertising:
   Is your website mentioned prominently in your radio, television, and print ads?  Should each of these channels point to your homepage or would a unique landing page provide a better experience?

The example below is an ad from one of my favorite online resources, Lynda.com.

This Facebook ad by Lynda.com clearly communicates what to expect if I click the ad.

Figure 1.

Clicking on the Facebook ad (figure 1) brings you to this Lynda.com landing page (figure 2). Note that the word “WordPress” is used multiple times on the page (I placed a red dot next to each). The visitor never feels like they clicked something by mistake. For those wanting to learn more about what Lynda.com offers related to WordPress they have 3 links from this page directly to the collection of WordPress training videos (seen in figure 3 below) .

Figure 2

Figure 3 continues the experience by providing a list of all they have to offer related to WordPress.

So far we have discussed how to smoothly transition new visitors to your website from other places on the web. By understanding where they are coming from, the context the referring source provides and what is being communicated on the web page you direct them to you will be able to better craft the content of your website.

In part 2 of this article (coming soon), I will cover what to consider when designing your site and crafting your content, no matter where your visitors are coming from. Until then I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject. Have you ever had your time wasted by a bad user-experience?  Tell me about it in the comments.

Trying a trick play for the first time in the Super Bowl is a risk most coaches—at least those who value their jobs—would never take. The stakes are too high. The world is watching. And a mistake could mean everything they’ve built comes crashing down in a few humiliating seconds.

The world of content marketing is no different, except the field in this case is your organization’s or client’s website. The risk, it seems, is just as high. So we cling to our best practices, we make our decisions based on research, and we quote statistics and case studies to justify our every move.

But that doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for creativity or innovation. Where can we see if our content marketing Hail Mary’s would actually work?

Welcome to the Playground

Try it on the playground before you try it in the game. (Photo via AbieSundion on Flickr)

Step off the field for a second, and jump into the playground. A content marketing playground provides a stage where no one is watching, nothing is being measured, and nothing bad will happen if you mess up.

There’s no worrying about revenue models, CTRs, goal conversion, usability, browser compatibility—or anything really, at all.

It’s a place to break all the rules and dodge all responsibility. But aside from that, there are benefits that will make you a better marketer when the game really is on the line.

Where are the Playgrounds?

Content marketing playgrounds are all over the Internet.

It could be a Twitter feed you set up on a whim, just for the hell of it.

It could be a blog you create, totally unrelated to your niche.

It could be a YouTube project you create, just to see what happens.

It can be a concept-site you create, just to see what it takes to go viral.

The bottom line is that a content marketing playground is an experimental setting where you can try anything you’d like, and no one has to know. What happens on your content marketing playground, stays on your content marketing playground. Unless it’s a lesson you can bring to the table in your real-life job.

What can the Playground do for you?

A content marketing playground will give you:

• A blank canvas for marketing creativity and innovation, with no judgment or repercussions.
• A testing ground for experimentation that looks best practices in the face and laughs.
• A greater understanding of the web, coding, and social media – no matter what level in your organization you are.
• More respect for the painstaking issues developers deal with on a daily basis.
• A better understanding of how difficult it really is to build a social media following, regardless of the niche.
• Credibility and expertise beyond the task at hand, with more experience to bring to the table when the brand is on the line.
• A great appreciation for trial and error, and more opportunities to test theories and ideas with no repercussion.

So go start a random blog about something completely out of left field. See what happens when you get your hands dirty. And don’t feel bad if you don’t make any money off of it. At minimum, your payment will come in the form of knowing what not to do. And this time, you’ll know from experience.

Besides, playgrounds are fun.

Related articles by Zemanta

• How to Develop a Content Strategy for Search and Social Marketing (prnewswire.com)
• Content for People, Not Robots (well, mostly) (impressionsthroughmedia.com)
• Content Marketing Vital To B2B Marketers (socialmediabiz.com)

My wife and I have been attempting to hit the local farmer’s market every Sunday. Our intention is to eat healthier and support some local businesses. This last Sunday marked our second trip and being quite the “people watcher” I had a few observations that struck me as having similarities to how marketing on the web works. For instance, compare the throngs of people browsing the stands of fresh produce to the eb and flow of the world wide web. Many of the stands sold the same items as their competitors who were only feet (read: clicks) away. Vendors with more easily accessible product layouts, a wider variety of items and better prices were seconds away from any of the patrons.

I saw some interesting parallels to the world of online marketing. Here my tips based on my observations during my visit to the farmer’s market:

Show your wares & give them a taste
It was surprising to see just how many vendors at the market did not have samples to share with customers. Those who did had sliced up fruit and samples of their best baked goods on hand and within reach. Customers who might have been reluctant to snag a bag of peaches two stands down seemed persuaded to finally shell out some dough after tasting a succulent sample available at a more generous vendor.

Circle Back:
How could you do the same to attract potential customers who are riding the thin line between consideration and purchase? Do your competitors display their “wares” or do they hide them behind sign up forms other other “hoops”? Try listing out some of your products that your customers might be able to “taste” and lower (or remove) the barrier to do so.

Display your credentials
While there were quite a few vendors that had big banners hanging from their stands displaying which farm they were from and where it was located seized the opportunity to take it a step further. I’m not sure what it takes to be “certified organic“, but those who had earned the title had their certificates visibly mounted where customers could see it. Same for those who received an award for their cupcakes or fresh flowers. Either printed next to their name or displayed on a sign nearby and in view. It added an extra level of confidence in these folks and I had a feeling that they were serious about their work.

Circle Back:
Does your business have any awards, certifications, or industry recognitions it could put front and center on the homepage of your website? How much added confidence would this give your customers? Try finding a spot on your homepage, above the fold, where you can proudly display at least 3 of your credentials. Social proof is a powerful influencer. Do you have testimonials from customers or trusted experts in your industry that you can add to your website or social media profiles?

Engage with your customers and be remembered
There was one produce stand in particular that stuck in my mind. My wife was nabbing some plums and one of the guys working the stand walked up and asked me “How’s it going there sir?.” I replied “Good. Just grabbing some plums here.” He proceeded to chat with me while he helped other customers bag their items. Although our encounter was very brief, I will remember that friendly vendor each time I revisit the market (and probably grab more plums). Moments later his co-worker approached me and asked about the zombie themed design on my t-shirt. He recommended a movie that he thought I might like based on the Bruce Campbell like motif of  it. I think I might check that movie out and report back to him what I thought next time I’m there.

Circle Back:
Social media provides a variety of ways for businesses to reach out and connect with their customers. Do you engage with your customers before, after, and during the sales process? Do your conversations revolve only around your product/service or do you take the time to discuss things other than “YOU”? How can showing a genuine interest in your customer create an opportunity to be remembered when they are ready to spend money? Besides yourself, do you encourage your staff to be themselves and engage with customers whenever possible? Try to be less reactive and more proactive using your social media channels. When an opportunity arises to be helpful, friendly, and conversational … take it!

Being social takes dedication
Interestingly enough, this experience was directly related to a vendor who was using social media to market their product at the farmer’s market. One of the first things you notice when you get out of your car near my local farmer’s market is the aroma of freshly popped kettle corn. Upon arrival I checked in using the popular location base service Foursquare. I noticed that someone had left a tip at the location. “Look for the Gold Rush Popcorn stand. They sell deliciousssss kettle corn. Also, if you follow @goldrushpopcorn on Twitter, they post a password daily that will get you a free bag of popcorn!” said someone named Lee (read on to learn who Lee is).

I quickly jumped onto Twitter, found @GoldRushPopcorn and followed them only to find that not only had they not posted any secret password that day, but they also did not tweet anything since July 18th. I shot a message their way and still have not heard back from them. Since then I also discovered their somewhat inactive Facebook page and another recommendation by Lee on Yelp regarding the free popcorn password tip.

With a little investigation I was able to find out that the helpful Lee happened to be a tech savvy teen living in the area who happened to have a penchant for Gold Rush popcorn. So much so that he wanted to share it. Unfortunately the crew at Gold Rush Popcorn seemed to have given up updating their social profiles shortly after the word seemed to really start spreading about their insider offer. Even if they didn’t have the offer for free popcorn available it would be nice to see a little engagement spring up with people (like me) who had reached out and asked about the offer.

Circle Back:
Leaving your social media channels dormant for extended periods of time is akin to not being present at all on the social web. Don’t spread yourself thin by engaging in more social channels than your staff can handle at once. Better to be active in one place than to have dormant profiles in 3. Identify and reach out to people like Lee who are helping you spread the word without compensation. Especially those who seem to understand the medium. One or two of these folks might be willing to dedicate a little time posting and engaging with others on your behalf as community managers. Have you shown your special channels and company advocates some love lately?

That about wraps it up. Which tip resonated most with you? Anything you might go try today? I’d like to hear what you think.