The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur

I want to confess right off the bat that I’ve never been on Twitter. But in the past few weeks it seems like everywhere I turn someone is talking about Twitter. I’ve been on the fence about giving it a try. After all, I’m just really starting to get my feet wet on Facebook and have only been using LinkedIn effectively for about seven months. Do I really want to learn another social media platform? Do I have the time?

Then I got a notice about Adam Urbanski’s teleseminar series about social media. Yesterday’s guest was Twitter expert Deborah Micek. I decided I could afford 90 minutes to find out about this Twitter thing. I’m glad I took the time. Coach Deb - as Adam called her - is an entertaining speaker and a real fan of Twitter. After hearing her talk I’m convinced. I will be Tweeting by the end of the week.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is part social network and part micro-blogging. What exactly does this mean? On Twitter you make posts (called Tweets) that answer the question, what are you doing? These posts must be under 140 characters. Yes characters, not words! Hence the micro part.

You can follow the Tweets of various people and they can follow you. People receive the Tweets they follow on their computer or their mobile phone. You can send Tweets directly to an individual or broadcast it to everyone who is following you.

Deborah Micek’s Top Ten Reasons Businesses Should Be On Twitter

1.     It’s a Fast and Easy Way to Communicate With Clients

You can use Twitter to keep in touch with clients, prospects and your “tribe” of raging fans. Short, sweet and useful Tweets keep you in front of the people you need to know.

2.     Brand Recognition

Twitter takes the Rule of Seven and puts it on its head. You could easily be sending seven Tweets a day. That’s a lot of times to have your name in front of people.

3.     Reputation Management

If you’re not on Twitter, you don’t know what’s being said about you. Your name or your brand could be trashed and you wouldn’t know about it. If you don’t know, you can’t fix it.

4.     Research

Twitter can be a fast and easy way to do research. Deborah mentioned she often sends out a Tweet to her tribe if she’s forgotten where to find something or need to know something fast. Response can be almost instantaneous.

5.     Trend Spotting

Since people are sharing their best tips in their Tweets, you can quickly spot new trends by what’s being talked about.

6.     Be On the Leading Edge

Twitter is still new enough that those who come on board are still early adopters. This is important because you may still be able to grab the name you want - both your personal name and your business name. Also, by getting on board early, you can build your Twitter tribe with little competition.

7.     Strengthen Bonds

By connecting with friends, colleagues, clients and joint venture partners on Twitter, you can keep in touch. The 140 character limit means it’s easy for them to follow you without taking too much time. An email is easily ignored or left until a less busy later that never comes. Tweets are instant little notes that Twitter followers seem to read.

8.     Attract New Clients

Deborah warns that this had better not be your primary focus on Twitter. Users can smell a “marketplace molester” a mile a way.

I had to laugh at that term - we’ve all met one. It doesn’t matter if you’re networking on Facebook, LinkedIn or in real life, there’s always one person (only one?!?) who just doesn’t get it. They’re only there to sell their stuff and don’t care about what you do and can’t be bothered to get to know you well enough to even see if you are a good prospect.

A good rule of thumb on Twitter is to make sure only one in five Tweets are about your business or industry. The rest, get personal. “Donald Trump is wrong. Business is personal,” Deborah said. Twitter gives you the ability to get personal, in bite sized amounts.

And when you do talk about your business, don’t make it a sales pitch, at first. Try sending them to a blog post they might find useful. It’s about building a relationship, not closing the deal.

9.     Find and Connect with Influencers

Twitter is a PR agent’s dream - it’s short and fast. By connecting with industry leaders and influencers, you have a better shot of being heard by your Tweets than from email. Deborah told the story of how she met some influencers at a conference but wasn’t really able to keep the connection alive. Then she connected with them on Twitter and now they’re working on some joint venture projects.

10.  Search Engine Optimization

One useful feature of Twitter is you can see what are the most popular terms (twemes) being Tweeted about. This can be extremely useful for your own SEO. By keeping an eye on what people are Tweeting about, you can make sure you incorporate these terms into your own Tweets, blog posts and web pages.

Since Twitter is limited to 140 characters, many things are abbreviated. Deborah warns us not to abbreviate our key words while on Twitter. It will make it easier for people to discover you.

What’s Next.

This is not the definitive post about Twitter by any stretch of the imagination. I have four more pages of notes from the teleseminar that still need to be looked at. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to give Twitter a try. I’ll be signing up in the next few days.

If you need more information about Twitter, you can get the recording of the teleseminar with Deborah Micek by going to www.fromcontactstocontracts.com and paying for the upgrade which includes recordings. You can also go to Deborah’s site twitterhandbook.com.

If you’re not yet convinced, don’t worry. I’ll be your guinea pig. As I play with yet another social media tool over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be sure to report back.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Have you used Twitter? Tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

I recently attended a technology conference where all the discussions and presentations revolved around using technology to create a community. Even for commercial ventures, the real power of the internet is creating on-going conversations; conversations with and between real people.

It didn’t matter if it was a large newspaper or a solopreneur, everyone was talking about how they created interaction with their audience.

What does this mean for the average business person? First and foremost, you can no longer just put up a static website and expect traffic to come and the cash register to k’aching. You need to encourage and foster discussions with and amongst your audience.

This is why blogging has become so popular. It is an easy and effective way to encourage interaction. Readers can comment on your posts, bloggers can comment about you on their blogs and you can reply.

One of the challenges about this “new” interactive model of marketing is that you’re no longer in control of your message. You have no say over what others think, say and do with your material. While this can be scary for many - what if someone writes bad things about me - it is also powerful. By having real people starting discussions on your blog, you are no longer just a business marketing a product. You become part of their community.

Some people are resisting this model. They don’t allow comments on their blog, don’t interact with other sites and don’t participate in social media. They resist because they don’t understand how this new paradigm works. They can’t control it so they avoid it.

But if you embrace this idea of creating a community around your business you can be ahead of the game. In small towns, people still do business with people they know personally, people they’ve known all their lives. It’s about having a relationship with this person. When an outsider comes to town they have to prove themselves as a person before people will do business with them.

By creating a community around your business, you create Marshal McLuhan’s global village for yourself. People visiting your blog are no longer anonymous prospects that must be converted into customers. They are virtual neighbours. You don’t know all of them well, but you acknowledge their presence with a friendly greeting, wish them well and help them out when you can because that’s what good neighbours do.

There was a time when networking wasn’t a structured activity for serious business people. It was a way of life. It was just the people you knew and cared about. This is what creating an online community is about. It’s about creating a small town not of bricks and mortar, but of html and megabytes.

People and business who understand and embrace this paradigm and do a good job at creating community are the ones that will succeed. And not because they’ve outsmarted everyone and learned a new marketing trick. They’ll succeed because they’ve created a community where everyone can succeed.

Andrea J. Stenberg

When I was a teenager I was a competitive swimmer. In the evenings when other kids were hanging out at the mall I was in the gym lifting weights or in the pool doing laps. In the early morning while other kids were still sleeping, I was back in the pool. On weekends, instead of going to parties or being mallrats, I was travelling around southern Ontario, visiting a variety of pools to compete in swim meets.

Like most kids who are serious athletes, I had dreams. Hockey players dreamed of the NHL, baseball players dreamed of the Major Leagues and like many other swimmers, I dreamed of the Olympics. I had visions of walking into Olympic stadium in some foreign country behind the Canadian flag.

Well, eventually that Olympic dream died. I didn’t walk into Olympic stadium wearing the Canadian colours. I never made the national team - never got close. And no matter how much the Beijing Olympics will bring back memories of those dreams, the truth is that this is one goal that is forever behind me - I’m just too darned old to make this one come true.

For the longest time the dashed Olympic dreams were my deepest secret and my biggest failure. And although I’m an Olympic junkie, for years I could never watch the swimming events because they brought back that sense of failure.

Then one day I was driving to an out-of-town meeting with a colleague. It was a long drive and we didn’t know each other well so we traded life stories. I told my story of being a swimmer but never quite making it. Imagine my shock when she responded in awe and admiration, “Wow. You must have been good.”

That one comment completely changed my perspective. In an instant all those years spent training stopped seeming like a failed effort and became an accomplishment. And they were. I learned how to work hard, be persistent and became really fit. These are all skills and attributes that are with me today. And when I “retired” from swimming, I took my skills and coached a swim team and taught swimming lessons which paid my way through university. Not bad for a failure.

This paradigm shift has had spin off repercussions. It has allowed me to look at my business in a different light. Every step - and misstep - I take along my journey is no longer a win/lose proposition; it’s just a step. When something doesn’t work the way I had hoped, it isn’t a dismal failure; it’s a lesson that might lead me to somewhere unexpected.

I’ve also learned that I don’t have to be on the top of the podium to be a success. We can’t all be Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or whatever successful entrepreneur you happen to admire. But if you’re doing something you love, building a business and managing to pay the mortgage, that’s success too.

And although I suspect there may be a tear in the corner of my eye this August when I watch the winning swimmer step up to the podium to accept the gold medal, there will also be a twinkle there as well. Because I know that although athletes have an expiration date after which there’s no going back, the same isn’t true of entrepreneurship. Age and experience can only help you achieve your goals.

Andrea J. Stenberg

They say, “We need more steady, loyal employees.”

I say, “We need more ‘freaks’ who routinely tell those in charge to take a flying leap … before it’s too late.”

The above quote is from Big Moo: Stop Trying to be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable. This remarkable book is edited by Seth Godin and is written by a collection of 33 writers Godin invited to participate in this book, which raises funds for charity.

This quote came from the chapter entitled: They Say I’m Extreme. I include it today because it speaks to the heart of my struggles with entrepreneurship.

As a child I was a good student, a good girl, loyal and steady. I didn’t talk back, I got all my work done on time, I lined up when the bell rang, I coloured between the lines. I kept my head down and did what I was told. I was an “A” student.

The problem is, being an “A” student doesn’t really help you in the real world. And it sure doesn’t help with entrepreneurship. Being loyal and steady - colouring between the lines - doesn’t get you anywhere in business. Look around you. All the wildly successful entrepreneurs are the freaks who not only didn’t colour between the lines, they threw out the whole damned colouring book and started something new.

Even though I’m a mature adult, I still have that good girl inside me. She’s telling me to play by the rules, be loyal and steady, colour between the lines. Fortunately, I also seem to have a bit of the freak in me - the one who wants to take the flying leap.

Every time the freak wants do something daring, the good girl tries to stop her. For example, the social networking site LinkedIn tells you to only contact people you know well. However, if you really want to network, you need to meet new people. You can’t stay in the same circles.

The first time I contacted someone I didn’t know on LinkedIn, the good girl inside me was terrified. Oh no! I was breaking the rules! The world will end, the sky will fall, someone might not like what I did!

Well guess what, the world didn’t end, the sky didn’t fall. But I have created some remarkable new opportunities out of connecting with new people. One tiny step outside the lines has led to huge leaps in my business.

They say, “Zero defects.”

I say, “A day without a screwup or two is a day pissed away.”

The good girl hates defects! If it can’t be perfect, you’d better not do it. The freak, thankfully is a little more fearless. If you wait until you’re an expert before launching something new, you’ll never do anything new.

My first teleseminar was terrible! I had no idea how often I said um or ah until I listened to the recording. But I didn’t let that stop me. I kept on going. I’m getting better. And more importantly, teleseminars have been a great tool for building my business. If you don’t screw up once in a while, you’re not trying enough new things.

They say, “Plan it.”

I say, “Test it.”

Oooooh! I love to plan. Planning is great. Planning is safe. I’m not saying don’t plan. But eventually you have to stop planning and give it a try.

If you’re like me and struggle with this idea of being an entrepreneur - of being the freak by being different, then pick up a copy of The Big Moo. You’ll be glad you did.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Do you colour outside the lines? Share with us a time you did something a little daring that gave you great results.

When it comes to any type of online marketing, it’s not the size of your list, it’s what you do with it that counts. The same is true with Facebook. Having 300 highly targeted Facebook Friends who you develop an active relationship with will be far more profitable than 3,000 Friends who come from everywhere, are interested in everything and who have little connection with you.

That said, 300 targeted Friends is better than 30 so keep working to build your list of Friends. Once you reach 300 to 500 Friends you need a way to connect with people more efficiently. On Facebook, a great way to do this is to create a Group of your own.

To do this, click the groups link on the left side of your Facebook page. In the new window, click “Create a New Group”. Give your group a memorable name, related to your business, and fill in the other details. Then start inviting your Friends to join your group.

Be sure to populate the Group with useful information to make people keep coming back. Post articles, links to blog posts, audios and videos. Get discussions going by posting provocative questions on the Discussion Board. The key to making your Group successful is to make sure people want to come back again and again.

Too many groups on Facebook seem to be created just for the purpose of collecting names but don’t give any value to the members. When I find a group like that, I don’t stay for long. But if there are interesting discussions happening and useful information I’ll keep coming back.

Once you have a good sized group and some good activity on your Discussion Board, you need to find a way to get the Group members to your website and to join your mailing list outside of Facebook.

If you have an email newsletter, post some of your best articles on your Facebook Group. At the bottom include a link to your sign-up page and a suggestion that they sign up to get more of the same type of articles.

Likewise if you offer free teleseminars. Post a few free recordings on your Group page. Then post a link to sign up to receive notification of future teleseminars.

By posting free content on your Group page you are proving yourself to the group. Once they know you offer quality information, they will be more likely to want more. It’s all part of the “rule of seven” - it takes time for people to get to know, like and trust you. (What’s the rule of seven?)

Andrea J. Stenberg

Have you had success using Facebook to market your business? Please share what’s worked for you by leaving a comment.