Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

Social Media, Where to Begin?

With over 500,000,000 plus (not a typo) users worldwide Facebook has gone from college campus cool to wow my 83 year old grandma has a Facebook account. If you’re not on Facebook chances are you most of your customers are, even the ones who you think aren’t probably are. So where to start? That is the question I get a lot from small business owners looking to engage their customers in social media.

The easiest place to start is to start with a personal page and start learning the lingo, feel, and pace of social media on a personal level before jeopardizing your business reputation. Once you get involved you will quickly realize how fast paced social media is, and the power of the Facebook platform. So if you are going to make a mistake make it first with personal friends and family, and not your customers.

After you start reconnecting with friends and family on Facebook I suggest you start to seek business pages you have an interest in. If you work in insurance start seeking carrier pages and watch what they do and start to form an opinion of what you like and dislike about how they present information. Along with “liking” carrier pages seek out insurance agents, trade associations, and other local businesses. Once you have monitored these pages and you feel comfortable with Facebook, the jargon and speed of it all then launch a business page.

Finally, keep in mind once you start in social media for your business you have to maintain the relationships you are trying to build. That means posting regularly, giving value in your posts, and responding to both positive and negative comments left on your page (responding to comments is a whole another blog post, stay tuned.) The best small businesses in my opinion use their Facebook page as a community resource bulletin board highlighting, community involvement, the value their business brings to the community, and the local events they sponsor. Facebook is not a place to “sell” it is a place for engagement just like the local coffee shop.

The Author: Brad Heutmaker, MBA, is a Regional Executive for a National Internet Marketing & Insurance Lead Generation firm in the United States. He personally works with some of the largest insurance carriers and agencies in the country. You can follow Brad on Twitter @bradheutmaker or “Like” his Facebook Page – Brad Heutmaker SPEAKS

Hello Marvelous People:
 
Just a brief blog message to keep you abreast of current events with The National Flood Insurance Program. As always, our team stays committed to helping you with any of your concerns. We are grateful to be working with you.
 
If you still do not have Flood Insurance, it's not too late to get it before this Hurricane season becomes active.
 
Special thanks to David Micheler for his efforts in writing this article.
 
Marvin LeBlanc
 
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon Addresses

Kiwanis DawnBusters
 
STATE OF LOUISIANA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
This morning  (June 29, 2011) our guest speaker at our Kiwanis DawnBusters meeting was State of Louisana Commissioner of Insurance, Jim Donelon. He spoke about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) this morning and the importance of getting the program  re-authorized before September 30th of this year.
 
On the topic of flood insurance Jim first wants to explain to people the importance of heeding the warnings of local officials and evacuating when potential storms threaten our area. He explained that most of the people who did not evacuate for Katrina did so because of bad experiences with
contra flow during the evacuation for Ivan the previous year.
 
The system has been improved since then and is now much better.
 
Jim explained the great value that flood insurance is to the home owner; the average home owner pays about ten dollars a month. Even with the low cost only 40% of land owners in Louisiana carry flood insurance.

However, the NFIP is currently 18 billion dollars in debt with 15 billion of that coming from Katrina and Rita. There is a fight in the country to re-authorize the program because a small amount of people benefi t from it. Only 12 states are net consumers of the NFIP the other 38 states have pay in and have never collected.

The recent floods this year have opened eyes across the country that just because you do not live on the coast does not mean you are free from the potential of flooding. Off course the other argument is that everyone pays into a program that only a few benefit from.
 
Mr. Donelon was asked about State Farm’s roll in the NFIP and if they were still selling flood insurance. He explained that State Farm did not stop selling flood insurance they just announced they will no longer adjust flood claims for the NFIP. State Farm was accused of shifting liability to NFIP for damage that they should have been covered from wind.

After Katrina they were allowed to have the same adjuster adjust wind and flood damage.

By David Michler

 

Take a careful look at some recent data that was shared from Linkedin Guru  Mr. Lewis Howes.
 
Personally, if I could move back the hands of time, I would've spent my time on Linkedin versus building my Facebook presence. But I wasn't aware of the power of Linkedin back then. You don't have to make the same mistake.
 
As always, we can certainly talk about this more if you like.
 
www.Linkedin/in/MarvinLeBlanc
 or
Cell 225-938-4177 (Leave a clear message and talk slowly)
 
Marvin LeBlanc, LUTCF,CNP
 

Why You Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Linkedin:

• Linkedin has more than doubled in size (OVER 100 Million Members) in the past year with one user added every single second!

• Executives from ALL Fortune 500 Companies are registered on Linkedin!

• 45% of linkedin’s members are considered the major-decision makers for their companies.  (Twitter & Facebook account for only 24-29%!)

• Linkedin holds the record for the Highest Average Household Income over all other Social Network ing sites at over $109,000 per member!

• There are no distractions!  On Linkedin, you’ll only find high-caliber individuals with a business mindset, focused on networking for results!

• With the IPO of Linkedin – It’s now valued at over 6 Billion Dollars and Interest and awareness is at a n all time high.

For more great tips delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to the blog!

Hello Marvelous People!

First I want to tell you that I am honored that you continue to share my
blog with others around the world. Our subscriber base continues to grow &
it is that exact encouragement that continues to keep me committed to bring
you valuable content that may inspire you during your path to higher
achievement.

One of the most precious gifts that you can ever receive – (And by the way
you can’t buy it with money) – is the gift of being around a role model or a
mentor. Around 1980-81, I discovered a person that would be that person for me. Jim Rohn is no longer with us, but his spirit remains inside me today, as it
does millions of others that he has positively impacted over the years. We shared a stage only once. There were 4 or 5 speakers that night. I was the first speaker.He was the last.  As they say, we saved the “BEST FOR LAST”. They did. He spoke to a group of hopeful Network Marketers that were distributing products with Meadow Fresh Farms. A company out of Utah.

That was 31 years ago as I write this text, I enjoyed their nutritional beverage products 20 minutes ago. Their products now are distributed by Legacy.
 Jim Rohn had an impact on me. 31 years ago a product had a positive impact on me. 31 years ago Jim Rohn taught the following Life Lessons to me.

May you enjoy & be inspired by this lesson. This wisdom is TIMELESS.

Sip it, take it in, work with it. And make your life more——WORTHWHILE.
Peace, Love and Gumbo! Marvin LeBlanc

Four Words That Make Life Worthwhile by Jim Rohn

Over the years, as I’ve sought out ideas, principles and strategies to
life’s challenges, I’ve come across four simple words that can make living
worthwhile.

First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don’t know will hurt you.
You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if
you learn from your own experiences-negative or positive.

We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a
positive negative. We also learn from other people’s experiences, both
positive and negative. I’ve always said that it is too bad failures don’t
give seminars. Obviously, we don’t want to pay them, so they aren’t usually
touring around giving seminars. But that information would be very valuable.
We would learn how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other
people’s experiences and mistakes is valuable information because we can
learn what not to do without the pain of having tried and failed ourselves.

We learn by what we see, so pay attention. We learn by what we hear, so be a
good listener. Now, I do suggest that you should be a selective listener.
Don’t just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we
read, so learn from every source. Learn from lectures. Learn from songs.
Learn from sermons. Learn from conversations with people who care. Always
keep learning.

Second, life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can’t just learn. Now you have to
try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference. Try to make
some progress. Try to learn a new skill. Try to learn a new sport. It
doesn’t mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do
if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?

Third, life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until
harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the
project, see it through. Sometimes calamity comes; then it is worth wrapping
it up and that’s the end. But just don’t end in the middle. Maybe on the
next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.

And lastly, life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all, you will get
some results. If you care enough, you can get incredible results. Care
enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care
enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough
to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to
win.

Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can
you make in your life today by putting these words to work?

Give the perfect “getting-started-in-life” gift to that special graduate.
With The New Graduate SUCCESS Package, you can share the extraordinary
achievement philosophies of the legendary Jim Rohn and SUCCESS magazine
publisher and best-selling author Darren Hardy. Get a FREE Bonus 12-issue
SUCCESS magazine subscription when you give the complete package! Click here now for complete details or to order!

This post is from a guest blogger Darleen Lenyo. 

So many times, especially in sales, especially starting out in sales, we’re concerned with what we are going to say. We allow ourselves to get fearful, create “horror” stories in our head of things that could go wrong, and we want a plan of action, a script, to make the call. And sometimes, more times than not, because we don’t create those scripts or that plan of action, we don’t make the call.

Did you know -

38% of communication is your tonality

55% of communication is body language

And 7% of communication is the words you use.

Let me repeat that, 7% of communication is the words you use.

What does this mean to you? The words you use are important. But what’s most important is the energy coming from you. Be sincere. Be enthusiastic. Share your knowledge. Bring something of value. Come from a place of contribution. Ask questions. Find out what they need and strive to help them.

People love enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is contagious.

People love passion. Passion is contagious.

People love to be included. Share your knowledge, your passion, your enthusiasm.

That’s your script. There’s your plan of action – Enthusiasm, Knowledge, Passion, Sincerity, Contribution, Asking Questions.

P.S. Looking for another tip to generate leads? The best time to make those calls is after you’ve received great news and have experienced some success! Try it – your self-confidence, positive energy, enthusiasm, & passion will shine through!

Darleen Lenyo, Mortgage Broker Extraordinaire

I hope you are enjoying the new blog!  If so please subscribe to receive updates in your inbox.  Peace, Love and Gumbo~

Marvin LeBlanc

Hello Marvelous People!

That’s right. You heard correctly. There is a way that you can generate referrals without constantly throwing money into advertising campaigns that never seem to be able to even track your return on investment.

This idea is so simple, that many of you will over-analyze it and do nothing.

Imagine the hundreds of emails that you constantly send out. Emails that the recipient refers back to from time to time. Emails that the recipient archives in their CRM software for future referral.  This is an example of drip marketing at its best.

IDEA: From now on, on the bottom of all those emails that you are forever sending out to friends, neighbors, co-workers & relatives, you will add the following tag message.

So go now and “drip yourself some referrals”. There’s nothing for you to think through. The work has already been done for you. JUST DO IT!

TAG:

Will you help us?

While most professionals feel they need to spend 50% of their time looking for new business, my team & I do not agree. In fact, we prefer to spend as much time as we can taking care of our existing customers. We don’t have to spend all of our time looking for new business like others, because we prefer to work with people that are personally introduced to us.

We prefer to work with people much like you. With that in mind, would you be willing to help us by sharing the names of 2 families or 2 Small Business Owners that we can discuss their _______ concerns? We would be grateful if we had your permission to use you as a reference.

1. Name:
Contact Info:

2. Name:
Contact Info:

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Marvin LeBlanc is a left-handed, right-brained, fun-loving Cajun that is obsessed with Life Performance and Overcoming Adversity. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker and founder of Marvelous Performance Systems. Marvin is available for business retreats, keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, and individual coaching programs. His book “COME HELL OR HIGH WATER” will be available in the Fall of 2011 through New York Publisher www.BloomingTwig.com. To rent Marvin’s brain, contact him at marvinleblanc@aol.com and request a Free Personal Coaching Session.

 

The quarter of 2011 is now in the books and pretty much GONE!

So I have a question. What were the results of  the recent “2011 CUSTOMER ADDED VALUE” meeting you had at your company in the last month?

Be honest. You never had that meeting now did you? That is a PROBLEM. And that spells future PAIN for you in 2011.

Why do I say this? Because if you don’t provide the ADDED VALUE, your clients and prospects will find it from your competitor. And this will happen easily.  If you do nothing.

Perhaps a great goal for you is to “GET DONE” some vital thinking.

Define what ADDED VALUE for your clients and prospects really IS. Define what ADDED VALUE for your clients and prospects LOOKS LIKE.

(Do you have some clients that will tell you the truth about how you are doing in this area? It’s probably time to take them out for coffee anyways right?)

So do that, and be sure to let me know how it works out for you.  Save the RSS Feed for this blog and come back and share your important feedback.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Marvin LeBlanc is a left-handed, right-brained, fun-loving Cajun that is obsessed with Life Performance and Overcoming Adversity. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker and founder of Marvelous Performance Systems. Marvin is available for business retreats, keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, & individual coaching programs. His book “COME HELL OR HIGH WATER” will be available in the Fall of 2011 through New York Publisher www.BloomingTwig.com. To rent Marvin’s brain, contact him at MarvinLeBlanc@aol.com and request a Free Personal Coaching Session

Hello Marvelous People!

If you’re a small business owner new to Social Media, then this article is just the thing you need to read now. If you’re experienced in Social Media, more than likely there are 3 items out of the 10 that you are not doing well.

So read this helpful article by Dave Nelsen and take some notes on what you need to do differently today with your Social Media approach.

Ten Do’s of Social Media (By Vistage Speaker Dave Nelsen)

Social media and social networking are quickly becoming “de rigueur” for business. A recent study by a Chicago-based firm, Slack Barshinger, showed that small and medium-size businesses are getting “heavily involved with social media, with about half using blogs, wikis, Twitter or other social media channels for business purposes.” If your company is not yet engaged, it’s time to jump in before your competitors beat you to the punch. If you’re not familiar with social media, check out YouTube, Twitter, TalkShoe, or any blog–these publishing and broadcasting democracies involve hundreds of millions of people. While most of these services were originally conceived for consumers, social media allows businesses to engage in many-to-many conversations with customers, accelerating their learning and building trust.


Critial rules for Social Media Marketing:

1. Do the same up-front planning you would for any important business initiative.

2. Define your target audience. Detail how you intend to create value for them. Map out how you expect them to create value for you. Document your approach and objectives per medium (blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Listen and learn from others for a few weeks before responding. In general,
spend twice as much time listening as responding.

3. Display your Personality, and keep the content Interesting and Entertaining (the old radio adage “PIE”). Remember, people buy from people; show your professional self.

4. Be authentic. Never before has a medium and its participants been more skilled at smelling a rat and turning against the perpetrator.

5. Remember that social media is about two-way conversation (see “Don’t try to control” above). Conversation builds trust; trust leads to more sales. Favor timeless content over time-sensitive content (note: this varies based on the medium and there are exceptions). We live in a time-shifted “Tivo” world and there’s wonderful leverage in creating a blog post (for example) that will have value to new readers weeks, months, or even years from now.

6. Remember that “push” is out and “pull” is in. Direct mail, traditional advertising, and unsolicited email are forms of “push” — the content producer chooses who to target. “Following” on Twitter, “subscribing” to a blog or podcast, or viewing a video your friends “liked” on Facebook are forms of “pull” — the content consumer decides what to listen to. In today’s information-rich world, people want to opt-in, choosing where to spend their valuable time. Give them a reason to choose your content.

7. Keep your eyes open. Use Google Alerts, search.twitter.com, relevant Linkedin Groups, Ning networks, and other sites to monitor or “listen in” on conversations about your company, your competitors, and the best practices in your industry.

8. Show patience. As the party with more power (a business relative to a customer/prospect), attacking or being critical will frequently backfire and word will propagate quickly.

9. Learn from your audience (as they will learn from you). Be prepared to rapidly evolve your products and services to meet their needs. They’ll suggest valuable ideas you never thought of.

10. In the next few years, social media will become a primary vehicle for interacting with your customers, partners, suppliers, and even employees. By getting started today, your company can adapt to a changing world more quickly than your competitors. What are you waiting for?

Vistage member and speaker, Dave Nelsen helps companies develop social media strategies to improve their marketing, sales, customer support, and even internal communication. He’s the Founder of podcasting pioneer TalkShoe and a long-time entrepreneur. You can contact Dave at dave@get121.biz.

Hello Marvelos People!

Part two of the Do's and Don'ts of Social Media for small business owners.  You can read the things you should be doing with your social media accounts here.

Vistage speaker Dave Nelsen says: This is not your father’s marketing.

Here are ten basic rules for what you should avoid in social media.

1. Don’t get started if you have significant product weaknesses or customer support issues. Engaging in social media makes good products more successful, and bad products… dead. But don’t delay for long; address the issues and then jump in.

2. Don’t use social media to overtly market or sell. Instead educate, enlighten, inform, and entertain your audience. In this way, you’ll position yourself and your company as an expert in your field and benefit from the “media halo.”

3. Don’t “set it and forget it.” This makes you look worse than not showing up at all. Once you get started, sustain your participation and interaction.

4. Don’t go negative. Emphasize your strengths and advantages rather than making claims about a competitor’s weakness.

5. Don’t mix personal and business accounts/personas, etc.

6. Don’t expect to fully control the conversation. Social media is not an advertisement, product brochure, newsletter, email blast, or one-way monologue; it’s a conversation. Conversations are bi-directional and can have rough edges. Even if you don’t want to participate, your customers and prospects are already
talking. Join them.

7. Don’t worry about some negativity for online users. Studies show that a little negativity increases credibility and empathy. Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln: “You can’t please all of the people all of the time.” Be responsive to the negative.

8. Don’t feel the need to disclose everything. Not everyone who likes sausage wants to see exactly how it’s made. Be open and honest and use discretion.

9. Don’t be a generalist. With literally hundreds of millions of blogs, videos and podcasts to choose from, every individual can precisely tailor their consumption to their interests. Focus on one topic and do it well (the narrower the better).

10. Don’t overwhelm your followers with too much information, or too frequently. Everybody’s got a busy life and nobody enjoys getting “Twitter-ria”. Focus on the highest value information and content.

Vistage member and speaker, Dave Nelsen helps companies develop social media strategies to improve their marketing, sales, customer support, and even internal communication. He’s the Founder of podcasting pioneer TalkShoe and a long-time entrepreneur. You can contact Dave at dave@get121.biz.

Hello Marvelous People! Stick with me here for a second.

Take out a clean sheet of paper and draw one big circle.

Now draw 3 lines across the circle, making 6 different sections.

Now you have what looks like a beach ball, right?

You’ll now insert the following words in each of their own sections.

1.
Most Significant Event – Personal
Most Significant Event – Professional

2.
Personal Issues & Frustrations
Professional Issues & Frustrations

3.
Personal Goals
Professional Goals

4.
Personal Dreams
Professional Dreams

5.
Ideas that can make us better?

6.
How can I help?

With the tool of “The Beach Ball” you will have a 1 hour monthly focus supper with your team members.  Afterall, you’d probably agree with me that it’s not unreasonable to spend ONE QUALITY HOUR with your team members monthly.  The Beach Ball, used consistently month after month, serves as a conversation guide.  I strongly suggest an early supper right after work and definitely away from work. Somewhere casual. Somewhere that feels comfortable. Somewhere that’s not so loud that you can’t hear each other communicate. Afterall, that is the whole point of the “Beach Ball” tool.  Try it. Enjoy the process and you will be amazed what you might discover about your team members. Remember, “LISTENING IS NOT WAITING TO TALK”