As businesses constantly struggle to get leads, some companies have embraced Social Networking, SEO, and Social Media to assist with lead generation. This is something we stumbled upon over a year and a half ago and have been helping businesses develop their own online lead generation system or workflow to embrace this cost effective strategy. We have helped numerous companies develop a strategy around creating value for the community, building relationships, all while collecting information to maintain communication about helpful products and services. This enables prospects to do business with them or purchase from them when THEY are ready. This is the less obtrusive approach that is continually being embraced by the companies that are getting ahead.

The 3 model companies using social media for business development include Zappos, Dell, and Whole Foods.

Here is The Top 10 Ways to Use Social Networking and Social Media for Business Development:

1. Be where the People Are

2. Focus on Customer Service

3. Be Helpful

4. Be Courteous

5. Be Kind

6. Demonstrate your product/ service knowledge or expertise

7. Share a current customer’s story that relates

8. Kindly ask for referrals when appropriate

9. Connect with them everywhere to stay on top of mind

10. Online business development makes lead generation fun

Any tips you’d like to offer that we may have forgotten? Also please remember to subscribe to our blog (top right where it says subscribe to our feed) and Re-tweet this post for those in your network that might find these quick tips helpful. I’m sure they would appreciate it.

After completing another one of our weekly social networking and social media 101 Webinars today, I realized just how ahead of the curve we and a few other social media marketing firms are. Prospective companies are SCARED of social media and its mostly the upper management who have been so used to conducting “business as usual” but i assure you that the game has changed. Companies need innovative techniques, better strategies, and word of mouth referrals for their products and services instead of just the same old email newsletter. Now don’t get me wrong, social media marketing isn’t the end all be all, but its the start of something big that larger corporations (some big brands are already doing it) are getting into, but what about the small and medium sized businesses? This SMB market is where we have been helping out lately and i can safely say that its a lot of work and can be draining at times. The thing that keeps me going though are knowing just how many small and medium sized businesses are hurting right now so i try to tailor a proposal that fits around their budget. Its the least i can do instead of turning away their business completely because they don’t have a budget. Or i suggest them to take some twitter 101 for business training or linked-in training which we teach business development teams how to use these tools for lead generation purposes.

To cater to the growing needs of individual business owners, (we are getting a HUGE amount of inquiry from this part of the market and want to help them) I am working on an internet coaching 8 week fast-track to social networking program taught by myself and my VP Keith. Is their anything in particular you would like to see in there? How much do you think would be a reasonable cost for an 8 hour course? Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and YES we will have an affiliate sign up for you to help promote this and make some extra CASH!

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone,
Justin

Need a social media strategy for your business? Call Keith our VP at 760-500-6043 and schedule your assessment today

Many business and marketing people keep talking about social media and social marketing and how businesses can get into this new online marketplace, but I have some actual non-theory lessons from ACTUAL consulting on about 12 client projects we have worked on over the last seven months.

Social Networking for business is hard stuff. You have to be both technical, psychological, sociological, business savvy, marketing savvy, sales savvy, a good communicator, good writer,…… The list goes on. 1 full time employee or college intern handling social media marketing will not cut it I guarantee it.

My TEAM (together everyone achieves more) of Business consultants and I have been doing workshops, tweet ups in Carlsbad, tele-seminars, conference calls, coaching, training, blogging, strategy building, assessments, webinars, and consulting on social media and social networking for business for the last 7 months. (I have been doing various business and technical consulting for about 10 years)

I remember my first blog post on how i predicted that social media and social networking will save small business and STILL stand by that prediction and remember it like it was yesterday. I also remember each and every client experience, where WE went wrong, and what changes we made in our “process” to improve. I must say right off the bat that I could NOT be in this “Social CEO” position with out my twitter network. I learned more on twitter in 2 months from just listening, paying it forward, and helping others achieve what information, resources, or knowledge they cared about which in return they taught me what I needed to know to help formulate Social Networking San Diego. Consider it a PHD in internet marketing from twitter for FREE just 20 days a month on-line till 4am investing my time (video proof here).

I laugh at the colleges now trying to charge thousands of dollars for certificate programs for social media marketing and internet marketing (even Masters Degrees) when all people would have to do is just apply themselves a little bit, spend some time doing internet research, and start LISTENING! Also, we are in a HUGE recession, and colleges are in fact a BUSINESS too trying to stay on the trends and make MORE money off students. But I digress…..

Here are some tips about what to be careful of in the trenches of social media and social networking consulting for businesses:

1. ROI– If they ask you “what will be my ROI”, ask them, “what is your CURRENT ROI on marketing/ advertising?” Tell them to give you a fraction of that (at least 10%) show them some results in the first quarter or six months, and then ask them for a larger budget (if you can perform)

2. Don’t under charge– Your time is valuable, and just because they might not see the REAL value in social media and social networking for business development purposes and lead generation, you still want to attract the clients who have a “perceived value” in social media. This can be hard, but where are you looking??? Our first couple accounts we did FULL SERVICE for less than 1000$/ month AND worked on these accounts probably 80 hours per month. Talk about hustling! And you know what, they left because they didn’t want to “spend the time” in social media because they were too impatient and wanted overnight success. And they felt the training was something an intern could do. Do you really want an intern handling your corporate message and controlling your brand perception online???? Let me stress to you that being in the trenches now for 7 months, this will require your client to commit to 9 months to 1 year to make it worth your time. That is if you provide a comprehensive and holistic approach to social media and social networking for business. This is VERY time consuming and a lot of work I assure you but the BEST practices approach for building a lasting community around your client’s products and services.

3. DON’T DO PAY BY PERFORMANCE– Do you like working for free? I sure as hell don’t, and we tried that and learned NOT to do it again! On a few clients, we agreed to pay by performance model and you know what happen, we worked our A$$ off, did the research, the set-up, got them leads, and they still weren’t happy. (we don’t work for the company, we get you leads, its up to you to close your deals, we are not your sales team) I would advise AGAINST bartering as well, tried that too 🙂

4. Social Media and Social Networking is not for EVERY client– Every business is different so be sure you analyze the prospect in depth BEFORE taking them on as a client. If they have a 4 year old website, why would we want to drive traffic to it? So we recommended a new website FIRST, then we will drive the traffic. (they thought they could get a good site done for 500$ so I said be my guest, then they came back for a full word press site from us)

5. Make your deliverables clear– Make sure you specify where the hours will be allocated for the project so the client is clear about what THEY will bring to the table, and what YOU will bring. We ask our clients to commit to X amount of training per month, X amount of content submissions, articles, etc.

I hope this helps clarify what life has been like for the non-theory preaching social media enthusiasts (I used to be one too, and still am a little, but businesses need help so we are rolling up our sleeves and helping what businesses we can, and who have the budget of course)

Any thoughts on your experiences? I know we have many readers who are in this industry, so feel free to leave some insight or feedback on your experiences in the trenches of social media consulting,
Thanks
JustinRFrench
CEO Social Networking San Diego
Have any questions- hit me up on the G-Voice 760 – 576 – GOLF oh yeah!!

P.S. Get a copy of “Social Media Survival Guide for Business” The FAST TRACK
$9.95 Click Here to order: (if you have time to read it) But this will be a helpful guide for you and your business as you journey into Social Media and Social Networking for Business. Enjoy

How CEO’s Can Create A Blue Ocean Strategy And Save The Company Using Social Media

blue ocean strategy social media

We as CEO’s know the game is changing. It’s not doing business as usual any longer. Old styles of marketing such as direct mail, telemarketing and even email marketing are producing diminishing results. The companies that will be in business in the future MUST take advantage and diversify into an on-line marketing approach that embraces social media and social networking (especially twitter) and formulate a strategy around their products and services.

Believe it or not, the numbers are showing these on-line marketing tactics cheaper than traditional methods (Better ROI) and with shrinking budgets and a need for new ideas, what better solution than social marketing? Now this is easier said then done. I have been in IT and Business for over 10 years and for marketing, lead generation, and sales, departments MUST understand how to use these tools for those purposes. Its not what tools are out these, but how your departments are trained to use them. I conduct workshops for various corporations and have given companies the fast-track approach to social media and help structure the workshops in layman’s terms so everyone understands their role and how it fits with the company culture. Strategy is the most important, and not too many people in corporations have the business and technical sense because of the dis-connect among departments that exists.

Typically, no one in the company even understands all these various on-line mediums, which is why CEO’s will need to bring in outside help to re-shape the company culture around these new paradigms.

Here is a helpful video i put together that gives the following talking points:

1. Old Style of Marketing VS. New Style of Marketing
2. Two Buck Chuck Example (blue ocean strategy)
3. Whole Foods Example (blue Ocean Strategy- Online & Off-line)
4. How you will need outside consultants to help re-shape corporate culture

This video should really touch on some great strategies for you to implement in your organizations right away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eJPo5hZ2MY

I would appreciate some of your thoughts / insight on this discussion post.
What challenges is your firm facing with formulating a social media strategy?
I would Appreciate your any feedback

Thanks
JustinRFrench CEO Social Networking San Diego
Email me at “snsdjf@gmail.com “> with any questions you may have and i would be happy to offer some advice

As extremely busy executives, we know the following:

-budget allowances are gone
-competitive forces are growing
-layoffs and cuts have been made, and hopefully not a second round
-sales are down

As the VP of marketing goes into the CEO’s office Monday morning and says “I just spoke to a company on Linked-in who is doing social media and social networking consulting for business development and lead generation and I think we should consider it. This could be our chance to get ahead of our competitors and shift some of our off-line marketing budget into on-line marketing and advertising. The CEO says “That on-line marketing crap has never worked before, what makes you think it will work now? We don’t even understand how the hell it works! Do they even have case studies? What was the ROI?” VP Says “I spoke to a company who seems very credible from their recommendations, has case studies, video testimonials, and has developed a proven system and strategy that really seems to make a lot of sense. I think it leverages social networking and social media sites for business development and lead generation purposes. It really gets back to the old way of doing business by developing relationships with customers first, earning their trust, and then it’s just a matter of time before they do business with us. Plus, the viral ability with online marketing makes word of mouth referrals spread much quicker when they see how great our products are they tell their friends, family, and colleagues. What do you think? CEO says “Well, maybe this couldn’t have come at a better time because sales, marketing, and IT have never seemed to be on the same page, what we are currently doing isn’t working, and this may be a chance for us to gain a competitive advantage. How do we move forward? Well, they offered to do a FREE Webinar for us on the growing trend in social marketing to see if we may be a good fit for the program. I think we should do it. The CEO says “let’s check it out”. 3 months later……Progress has been made, ROI is up 15%, and employees at the various departments are shifting gears and getting re-educated/ re-trained on how to use these social tools and how to sell in a digital age.

“When is your VP of marketing going to take a NEW innovative direction for your firm? Give the CEO some hope so he can sleep”

What is your feedback on this story? How many think this ACTUALLY happened? Please respond below. Leave your comments. I look forward to your guesses-
JustinRFrench CEO & Chief Internet Marketing Strategist
Social Networking San Diego
http://www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com

I know everyone is busy (as am i) but i wanted to answer 1 very important question I’m hearing everyday:

A small business customer quote:
“So Justin, what is social networking, internet marketing, and this whole twitter thing? How can it help my business? Do i need to look into it?”- prospect

My response: YES! if you want to be in business in the next couple of years you should!

Here’s the basic formula for those Math whizzes (im not a numbers guy so bear with me but its really fairly simple)

Internet marketing strategists = helping businesses build relationships on the Internet = building your brand (marketing your products and services online) appropriately – one tweet at a time”

Social Networking = More Search = More Business!

Then i direct them to my blog talk radio appearance which explains the paradigm shift here: Listen To My Radio Appearance

Or if your a client (or you know a client) who might be considering social networking for their business this video explains it fairly simple:

get tweeting today!

Need Twitter Training? Contact us we are here to help support the business community

“What is Social Networking San Diego Justin?”
Social Networking San Diego supports and educates businesses on the value and growing trend in social networking, social media, and internet marketing for business. This trend in social networking and social media for business has been packaged together for local business to use as a proven internet marketing system and online advertising strategy to focus on lead generation and drive more pre-qualified traffic to company websites.

– cheers
JustinRFrench
Support the Movement- Pay It Forward on Twitter

1.    Always keep a Daily notebook log of all activities, call backs, to do items, follow ups, and related news and research items.
2.    Sign up on twitter right now!- just write a profile about who you are, your passions, and your experience and you will attract like-minded and highly influential people- it happened to me.
3.    Write down a list of all your passions.
4.    Choose 1 passion & Start a blog NOW talking about your passions, news about your passion, give your feedback, insights, and opinion.  Don’t worry about what other people think, if they don’t like your opinion, then they shouldn’t read your blog.
5.    Technology is your friend- start getting use to IT! (Information Technology)  Research what topic you’re interested in and learn IT!  We are doing business and living our lives in a constant connected digital age.
6.    Create a linked in account and start networking with other professionals.
7.    Set up a Google reader account for all your news and RSS feeds (this is KEY)
8.    Find a friend or follower to be your CONSTANT feedback mechanism (just ask me if you can’t find one- I’ll try to fit you in.
9.    Delegate what you can’t do to TRUSTED followers.  No one knows everything, so ask for help when you need it.  But be ready to give help when called upon. (it’s a two way street)
10.    Balance Work and Life- you only live once so work hard, do something you love (even if you’re not making millions yet like me) and you still feel good about yourself.

What is Social Networking San Diego Justin?

Social Networking San Diego supports and educates businesses on the value and growing trend in social networking, social media, and internet marketing for business.  This trend in social networking and social media for business has been packaged together for local business to use as a proven internet marketing system and online advertising strategy to focus on lead generation and drive more pre-qualified traffic to company websites.

With all of the current hype and news on Web 2.0, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, and the bailout, I take this time to reflect on this past month – January 2009.  Let’s all just take a deep breath, count to 3, and begin to realize how much information overload we really have; or the lack of proper filtering.  I, justinrfrench break it all down for you here.  I give you the full Entrepreneurial, Business Minded, Tech Guru, Social Media / Social Networking addict, twitterholic synopsis with-out leaving your seat!

If there is one blog site you’’re going to read about the growing trends in social networking for business, internet marketing for business, social media for business, or any of the other Web 2.0 solutions for business then I HIGHLY suggest you keep reading this blog.

I would hope after reading this, you would be kind enough to pay it forward, re-tweet this blog, subscribe to this blog, and help spread the word about this revolution occurring because we have only touched the tip of the iceberg on what is to come from my team and I in the not to distant future.  If you think Google, Apple, and Microsoft were big, wait till twitter, justinrfrench, and his followers get on the map!  You won’t want to miss this 21st century bailout we are giving businesses on a silver platter.

For all my fellow twitterholics, followers, alliances, and partners I have formed over the years, I dedicate my mission and personal journey to you.  This year I will fully dedicate myself to being the driving force for spreading the word to all Southern California businesses to help educate, instruct, and consult their firms on how to best utilize a social media work flow system tailored around their company.

Here are my Top 5 Lessons Learned (in no particular order) of what you or your business can gain from my summary of the month on the above topics:

1.      Lesson 1 – Barack Obama has proven to be more of a leader than I thought.  After even talking about setting a cap on CEO pay- he became my hero.  MOST CEO’s (not all) are over paid, under delivering to shareholders, and quite frankly do not know how to lead in today’s 21st century and need a full makeover in upper management.  Small businesses will be what gets us through these tough times as Obama states, so start finding how you can fit into this paradigm puzzle.

2.      Lesson 2 – Sign up and start using twitter right now!  The best business social networking tool I’ve seen in the last 5 years!  If you have not signed up on twitter, heard of twitter, or been active on twitter, then you are already behind.  If you are a true business person, then you already know the importance of first mover advantage so I suggest you get on board.  Just Google “twitter” and get going.  If you need twitter training, instruction, or consulting on how to use twitter for business, I have teams of consultants that will come to your office and train, tutor, and educate you on the importance of twitter.  After you sign up, make sure you follow me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/justinrfrench

3.      Lesson 3 – Is all this social media, social networking hype really for my business?  I thought MySpace and Facebook were for teens and young adults.  YES!  If your business does not form some type of internet marketing strategy today then you will not be in business tomorrow.  I guarantee I can think of one or two social media sites or social networking sites for business that will be beneficial in some way to growing your business.

4.      Lesson 4 – What is Social Networking San Diego, Why does my business need to know about this site, and how will it benefit my business?  “Social Networking San Diego supports and educates businesses on the value and growing trend in social networking, social media, social marketing, and internet marketing for business.  This trend in social networking and social media for business has been packaged together for local companies to use as a proven internet marketing system and online advertising strategy to focus on lead generation and driving traffic to company websites in turn generating new business.”- justinrfrench

5.      Lesson 5 – What Social Media / Social Networking sites does twitterholic justinrfrench suggest to lay the proper foundation for my business to start gaining a better presence online?
a.      Twitter
b.      Linked-in
c.      Friend feed
d.      Facebook
e.      Word Press

I look forward to your comments, recommendations, or insight on this post – don’t be shy. yours truly –
Fellow twitterholic, Justin French

how can social networking help my business?

If i had a dollar for every time I was aksed this question form business people I would be a millionaire by now.  I’m not yet but I am on my way.  Why don’t you ask how social networking and social media has helped my early years idol MCHAMMER.  I don’t have my pants anymore, BUT we have something in common.  The use of social media and social networking for building our online business.

What business doesn’t want to increase traffic to their website, make money online, and have a constant lead generation system in place?

Making money online has become an art and a science that 80% of business people don’t understand. So I am starting to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical business people to help shift gears into new media marketing- how to market your business in the 21st century.

This ties together all social networking and internet marketing tactics into a proven “system” that gets results which is scalable over time.  It is like a snowball marketing effect. This internet marketing strategy has been developed by a team of business, technical, and marketing consultants who have degrees in business with a technical emphasis. The key to their success has been a full understanding of both business and technical know how and how to apply this knowledge to help businesses become successful and competitive on the internet in today’s competitive business landscape.

So if you are a twitter business person, or just a business person looking for answers to the internet puzzle, I promise you will enjoy this blog.

If you enjoy this content (and would like more), or are just a business person searching for news on twitter for business, you should contact us for a FREE Assessment at 760-576-4653 to see if your business qualifies to work with us.  We have a very unusual qualification process and only work with companies who understand the need for cost saving marketing strategeis that are organic, scale-able, and long term strategies.

I’m sure you have conducted marketing strategies that don;t work.  Have a look at what people are saying about our CEO Justin Results French

Social networking San Diego is an online marketing and social media marketing agency that helps generate awareness, leads, and sales for you business.  Social Networking – marketing your business in the 21st century and Twitter 101 for Business.