Facebook marketing success

In today's real Construction Marketing Ideas blog (at http://www.constructionmarketingideas.com), I review a Missouri contractor's success with Facebook.

If you want to see our own Facebook page, you can visit here.

Facebook and Linkedin

In my posting at the new Construction Marketing Ideas blog, I outline the success of the DIY approach to online marketing -- and throw in a couple of links, one to the new Facebook Construction Marketing Ideas page, and the other to the Construction Marketing Ideas Group on linkedin.com.

Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Craigslist, Google Local, and more . . . you need them all

Yes, I know it seems strange, but if you are serious about construction marketing, you should now have a Twitter account and be exploring the microblogging space.

And you should be learning art of blogging (full scale) and video, and have Facebook and Linkedin accounts.

And understand Craigslist, and Google Local, and search engine optimization, and more.
You also need a presentable, effective and prospect-friendly website.

Is any of this stuff going to bring you business the way of the old fashioned Yellow Pages, conventional direct mail, newspaper classifieds or the like? Probably not, at least initially.

But these resources will cost you little if any money, and will (if you do things right) allow you to find number one space within your niche, as you are likely to be the first or one of the very first construction industry people to use them. And once you are in first place, it is hard to be dislodged.

Oh yeah, this stuff also can powerfully and quickly extend your word of mouth referral and networking opportunities. Goes without saying that you should only use these resources if you do really great work which generates positive word-of-mouth publicity on its own.

Stay away from the Internet if your actual work is crappy or you are running anything that could be seen as borderline. It won't take too long for you to be exposed in ways you don't want to be seen, if you do.

SMPS Facebook group reestablished

SMPS has established an official SMPS Group on Facebook, some months after an "unofficial" grasroots group appeared and then disappeared following a firm cease and desist letter from Lisa Bowman. This time around, you can only get into the group with the SMPS administrator's (Molly Dall'Erta) permission.

The group now has 19 members -- an increase of eight -- including the original unofficial SMPS Group founder Liz O'Rourke Kupcha.

Meanwhile, our own business received a slap in the face from Facebook when we (not fully appreciating the rules) set up Facebook 'pages' in the names of some of our publications, with Facebook accounts tied to these pages. This is a no-no, according to Facebook rules -- pages can only relate to individuals, not organizations. Obviously, the "Groups" function serves the organizational purpose, and that is where we will be managing our own sites.

For some insights into Social Networking marketing, you can view this PDF of my article on the topic for the SMPS Marketer.

Social networking sites such as linkedin.com and Facebook.com can be useful -- but are best applied with other marketing intitiatives.

Here is a column I wrote today for our Canadian publications.

About three months ago, I discovered the potential power – and dangerous limitations – of social networking sites like Facebook.com and Linkedin.com. Fascinated by Linkedin.com’s ability to create a seemingly infinite number of connections (my total now exceeds one million!), I tried their help wanted service and posted a $150 ad.
Linkedin.com works on the principal of connecting the “six degrees of separation” – that everyone could theoretically know everyone in the world through just six connections.
The ad initially seemed to be a dismal failure: We received just two responses, and one didn’t match our criteria in any way. But Daniel Smith, who now works with us as our Ottawa-Eastern Ontario representative – met all the criteria. (Daniel is staying away from Facebook for now, but you can check out the Ottawa Construction News Facebook site here.) We hired him, and he has introduced us to other web-savvy resources that speed up our processes and make it easier for you to communicate with us. He, of course, is young – having recently graduated from Carleton University’s journalism program.
This success motivated me to use my old-style journalism skills. I proposed an article about Social Networking for The Marketer, published by The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) – an association with 6,000 plus marketing professionals for the architectural, engineering and construction industry, mostly in the U.S. Journal editor Randy Pollock accepted my story proposal – and went a step further. He invited me to join the Marketer’s Editorial Committee.
I wrote the (print) story, and submitted it – it has just gone to press.
Little did I know that our Southern/Western Ontario representative, Chase, in St. Catharines, had decided to experiment with Social Networking sites. He set up Facebook pages for our Canadian papers. (This one is for The GTA Construction Report.) I told him about my Marketer article, and we crafted an email campaign to let people know about the new sites. The result: A flurry of activity and new, productive sales leads for our business.
But, if you go to the beginning of this column, you’ll see I wrote “dangerous limitations” about social networking. The senior people I interviewed for The Marketer article said that social networking sites are a useful resource but NOT a replacement for proper, direct, human connections. In other words, your “friends” on Facebook or Linkedin.com are unlikely to do business with you unless you know them a little more personally. And you may find yourself spending hours on the computer with unproductive games and time wasters.
I have learned something important from this experience: You can achieve the best results by integrating several media simultaneously. Done properly, you will find you achieve a seemingly exponential increase in effectiveness for relatively little effort. An example: I’ll take this column, originally intended for the print editions of our Canadian publications, and post it as an entry on my Construction Marketing Ideas blog (and you are reading it here, now.)

* * *

As we print this issue, Leslie Greenwood is joining our staff. Based in Sault. Ste. Marie, she will work with us in co-ordinating the launch of our newest publication, Northern Ontario Construction News. NOCN will serve communities including Sudbury, North Bay, Thunder Bay and of course Sault. Ste. Marie, with locally and regionally relevant news. The additional communities will also enhance the value and effective of Ontario Construction Report, making our publication the first truly provincial construction industry title, with more than 10,000 readers.
You can reach Leslie care of the Northern Ontario Construction News Facebook site, or phone 888-432-3555 ext 114 and ask to be connected (at press time we are still setting up her phone extension and email link.

Publicity, networking and branding

The SMPS Marketer is just one of many benefits of The Society for Marketing Professional Services -- if you are responsible for marketing for the architectural, engineering and construction sectors, membership is a 'must' especially if you are in one of many U.S. cities with local SMPS chapters.

This is a posting about multi-faceted and multi-purpose communicating and marketing. I'm writing it to show you can multi-source a single marketing initiative and leverage it far beyond the initial obvious objective.

We'll start at the beginning. Last fall, noticing the trend to Social Networking sites, I proposed an article on the topic to SMPS Marketer editor Randy Pollock. Pollock accepted the idea -- and went a step further, he invited me to participate with about 12 others on the SMPS Marketer Editorial Committee.

I began researching the article, achieving direct and immediate communication with several of the best established AEC marketing experts in the U.S. They are quoted in the article. I also communicated with younger people, rising stars, and the like. The result is, I think, a pretty good piece of writing.

Today, on learning that Chase had set up a Facebook page for The GTA Construction Report, I decided to send out an email note to our Canadian readers telling them about the innovation. In it, I also offered readers a copy of the draft SMPS Marketer article about Social Networking. By day's end, seven or eight people had requested the article -- each clearly identifying who they are, and several, relevant prospects for our business. I of course sent them the article -- and forwarded their names to the relevant sales representatives. (Marketing is largely about lead generation for the sales team, of course).

But there's more. While I now have the PDF advance file of the article, it hasn't been printed yet. In a few weeks, however, some 6,500 SMPS members in the U.S. will see it -- and my name, email address, and business description. Nothing like effective branding, eh.

I realize this is bragging, but hope you can see a productive example which you can apply in your own business. When you are reaching out for new clients, when you are seeking to expand and develop your business, a mixture of generosity and efficiency go a long way. I'm freely sharing the article -- and more to come -- without expecting compensation, and you won't find any 'sales pitch' for our services within its pages.

Consider your own areas of expertise; and how you can share your knowledge and insights. Can you write a newsletter, or contribute articles to your community newspaper, or provide useful, unbiased and straightforward advice and tips on your website? You may find one article, one piece of writing, can be multi-purposed five or six times -- and, if all goes the way it should, generate meaningful and useful sales leads for your business.

On Facebook

Chase has set up a Facebook page for The GTA Construction Report and we'll soon have pages in place for our other publications. I've written before about social networking sites including Facebook and Linkedin.com -- my article on the topic is due to be published in the upcoming issue of The SMPS Marketer -- and learned the consensus is that while the sites are presently useful in connecting with younger people, they are not a substitute for other forms of communication if you wish to reach decision-makers in the industry.

However, I believe these resources will become increasingly important within the next couple of years so, if you haven't explored the sites, I recommend you spend a little time there. Just don't drop your other marketing approaches yet.

Opening closed networks

Searching for an image to go with this article, I keyed "opening closed networks marketing" on Google, then searched for images -- came across Bazaarblog.com, established by Bazzarvoice, which says it develops outsourced technology, services, analytics, and expertise to encourage and harness word of mouth marketing and bring it closer to a company's brand and customer experience. Interesting ... if somewhat off topic from the posting below!

I'm making good progress in the research for my article about Social Networking for the SMPS Marketer, with intriguing and provocative interviews with SMPS President Dana Birkes, vice-president at the Flintco Companies in Tulsa, OK, and Craig Park, Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer of Leo A. Daly, based in Omaha, NE. SMPS vice-president Lisa Bowman suggested I speak with these two leaders, along with Ford Harding, to provide the 'gist' for my article about Social Networking.

But what about Liz O'Rourke Kupcha and her unauthorized Facebook SMPS page? It is still up there as I write this posting, with 23 members (I'm one of them) out of more than 6,000 SMPS members overall. None of the SMPS leaders I've interviewed knew about O'Rourke's Facebook site -- and when Lisa Bowman found about it (from me) she sent the cease and desist letter I've posted earlier. (SMPS could shut this site down quickly by approaching Facebook directly -- I understand they will not hesitate to resolve trademark/ownership issues in favour of the true owner.)

The story I will ultimately write for the Marketer will (I hope) sensitively and respectfully relate the perspectives of the senior marketing executives who reflect the SMPS 'establishment' while showing the challenges -- and validity -- of the new and relatively open social networking models. Equally, I'll hope to show marketers who believe that open networking is the way to go the importance of connecting in closed networks, where the real stuff often happens.

Consider, for example, this blog and my writing initiatives. They have opened my way to the top of the SMPS without spending years of time on voluntary committees at the chapter level, working my way up (good thing, of course, because there are as yet no SMPS chapters in Canada!) And, surprise!, these senior SMPS leaders have consented to linkedin.com networking with me, opening the door even wider and faster.

I'm not going to abuse these connections -- that is the essence of trust -- with any selling or marketing to the SMPS leaders to promote my own business interests. My task will be to write about these issues with lucidity, fairness, and comprehensiveness, and thus provide a useful contribution to the community.

How does this relate to you? I sense the best way to achieve real leadership in the new Social Networking era is to recognize that you need to become accepted and recognized within the closed networks relevant to you -- and, if you do, harness the power of the new open networking tools to really expand your impact. But you won't do this by traditional power marketing or by bluntly trying to force your way into the closed communities through the open networking services.

Social Networking -- Family style

Tonight, for the first time in many years, I decided to miss the annual Christmas dinner at the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association. This is the most important dinner meeting of the year, but it clashed with the first day of Chanukah. Even with the clash, I would have gone to the GOHBA dinner, if Daniel Smith and Ken Lancastle were not there. But with our local sales representative and editor in the room, I feared I would have spent much of my time engaging in internal "shop talk" conversations with the employees -- discouraging them from meeting and connecting with other GOHBA members.

In any case, my night off turned into something very different when I joined in a conversation with our neighbour, a senior marketing executive, and my cousin, a first year university student -- and the laptop I'm using to write this blog. The subject: Facebook and Social Networking, a topic close to my heart, as I prepare to research and write an article for The SMPS Marketer.

The marketing executive had just been to Toronto to learn more about Facebook and the student showed me some of the resources she uses to connect with her friends. My neighbour loaned me: Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business by Larry Weber, and especially pointed out a two page section that revealed the differences between traditional and new-era social marketing. Ultimately, the main point here is that publishers no longer have the gatekeeper power they formerly held -- the entire process is becoming much more 'democratic' and fluid; and marketers must really be conscious about the accelerated impact of word-of-mouth messages in the new era.

I'm sure glad (business wise) I decided to stay home with the family tonight.

Linkedin or facebook?

Daniel Smith has sent me this interesting blog entry discussing the relative advantages of Linkedin.com and Facebook.com, the two 'social networking' sites that now appear to have the most relevance and traction in the adult/business community. Bernard Lunn in Linkedin and the Future of Business Networking speaks in favour of Linkedin.com but I think both have real value, depending on how you apply and use the information.

I continue to believe the social networking sites are a supplement rather than replacement for the conventional process of building connections and relationships. They may accelerate the process and reduce trust barriers if conditions are already healthy. Facebook's somewhat graphical and comprehensive "out of work" element is useful in helping you understand the broader character and interactions of the person to whom you are connecting. Linkedin.com is very much a business tool -- this 'seriousness' facilitates real-world business relationship development.

Neither is a substitute for treating your clients well, contributing to community and charitable organizations, and belonging to relevant trade organizations and contributing to them effectively. And while "networking" can appear to generate seemingly instantaneous results (you find the person you need to know has the right connections to make things happen within minutes, sometimes), in reality, it is a truly long-term process. If you are looking for fast transactional relationships this stuff won't work (but if you are good at construction industry marketing, it seems, the last thing you should be looking for is a quick hit-and-run relationship.)

SMPS and social networking (2)

Following my conversation with Liz O'Rourke about her new SMPS group on Facebook.com on Monday, I followed up with an email communication exchange today with Lisa Bowman, senior vice-president of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) in Arlington VA. I had thought of following Liz O'Rourke's initiative on Facebook with my own group on linkedin.com; and intended to use the work on the new group for an article I'm writing for the SMPS Marketer, the association's magazine. But I realized that I don't "own" the SMPS trademark, list, or for that matter, have any authority to represent myself on behalf of the organization. So I asked Lisa for her observations.
Lisa Bowman didn't know about Liz O'Rourke's initiative, she wrote me in an email, adding that SMPS is looking into the entire issue of how to best manage social networking sites and options. She shared other observations which suggest the association is carefully reviewing how to best respond to the social networking trend.
Fair enough.
Tonight, I received an email through the Facebook system from Liz O'Rourke. It was a copy of a letter from Lisa Bowman.

Ms. O'Rourke Kupcha:
The Society for Marketing Professional Services has not authorized the use of its name or logo in the creation of this Facebook page. You are in violation of SMPS's licensing agreement.
Cease and desist the use of the SMPS name and logo immediately.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Lisa S. Bowman
Senior Vice President
Society for Marketing Professional Services
99 Canal Center Plaza #330
Alexandria, VA
22314800.292.7677
lisa@smps.org

Image from Business Week: Niche Networking by the Numbers

Social Networking: Revisiting facebook and linkedin

Today, after renewing a friendship with one of my university student newspaper colleagues (after about 30 years), I appreciated even more clearly the power of the new social networking sites such as facebook.com and linkedin.com. Yet I also realize while these are very important resources, you should not misconnect your perceptions of these resources with conventional marketing methodologies.

In essence, the web networking sites work effectively because of their built in screening systems; you really need a valid relationship with someone (or some group) to properly connect. You won't get far trying to spam your marketing message by broadcasting it across the network (though I see efforts, including the usual Multi-Level Marketing 'opportunity' gunk.)

The more I review these sites the more I realize they are simply able to help you within the framework of your traditional networking and connections; in other words, your friends and friends of friends may help you find leads and opportunities, but unless you have business there, you won't be overly warmly welcomed by just barging in. And I don't think these groups are substitutes for the appropriate trade and professional organizations, either peer or client based, especially ones with local chapters in your area like the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS).

Nevertheless, I am learning more as I discover these sites potential and I'll share further observations later (and certainly welcome your comments and suggestions on how to make use of these sites.)