Technology
 BY PAMELA BIR
Let’s Review: How Can Social Media
Work for Design Professionals?
In this “Technology” column, we’ve been exploring social media for the past few issues. Our discussion started with the overall picture of social media and its value to you as a professional and as a business.
We moved then to e-mail marketing, which, in my mind, is the minimum you should be doing with social media. What a great tool to let you build rapport with your clients and prospects. It’s relatively inexpensive as marketing tools go but has such a wide range of uses.
Next we looked at LinkedIn–a professional networking site. Every business person should have a profile with basic information about your professional life. Log in on a regular basis (I’d say at least once a month) and check the information. If you want to go further, LinkedIn gives you plenty of tools. Questions get feedback from other professionals. Answers to establish yourself as an expert. Search to find new prospects. Recommendations and Introductions to help you meet new prospects. Once you have your LinkedIn profile completed, you can decide how you want to proceed with it. When you’ve established your LinkedIn habits, it’s time to move on to another social media venue.
We’ve talked in the past about blogging. It takes time and effort, but blogging is a great way to connect with your clients. Most business sites don’t have huge numbers of visitors leaving comments like a retail site would have. Somehow it’s just easier to get passionate about Coke versus Pepsi than about my favorite architect. Blogging instead gives you a medium to share with your clients--and some of them will talk back. Use the blog to share company news. Post articles written by you and your staff to establish yourselves as experts. A big benefit of blogging is that search engines love blogs. You’re communicating with clients and prospects while improving your search results. Your blog can even be tied to LinkedIn so your posts update your LinkedIn profile, too.
There are hundreds of networking sites. While LinkedIn is strictly professional, some of the others vary. Facebook is largely a personal networking site. However, I’ve seen some business-to-consumer people (such as Mary Kay cosmetics representatives, residential realtors and electrical contractors) who use it well. Facebook is expanding with Fan Pages, ads and other services for businesses. It’s too early to tell where they’re headed. Remember that this whole social media concept is less than ten years old. Plaxo is a site frequently used A/E/C professionals. It is a mix of professional-personal.
By the way, it’s okay to decline an invitation to a networking site. Politely tell the person who invited you that you’re focusing your efforts on something else, but you’ll keep their site in mind for your next expansion. I’ve responded to several invitations on Facebook by noting that Facebook is my family networking site. If they’re professional acquaintances, I’ve invited them to LinkedIn, my business networking site.
Micro-blogging is another “Where are they going?” idea. Twitter is the best known of the micro-blogging sites. Businesses such as Whole Foods and JetBlue have utilized “tweets” successfully with their clients. Your Computer Lady uses tweets to share a little humor in the day. The Scottsdale, Arizona police department is using Twitter for traffic and police activity alerts. Consider your target market. Are they using Twitter now? Do you have the time and patience to build this audience? How can tweets support your marketing plan? Every piece of your social media has to support your overall marketing goals. This isn’t a separate effort.
Multi-media sites such as Flickr and YouTube have great potential for businesses. You can easily share product photos, how-to videos, client testimonials and more with your audience via web cam or your SmartPhone video camera. A realtor friend does a 45-60 second video from her car with the latest news on Phoenix real estate. Her enthusiasm is infectious, her opinions valid. She’s used the videos on Facebook so her reputation has spread to prospects she never would have reached. Other realtors are even watching the videos now.
Social media is not a magic wand. It won’t bring you instant fame and fortune. It is one more arrow in that quiver of tools to help you zero in on your client. It is more important than ever to stay in close contact with current clients. They’re being courted by all of your competitors. Social media helps you stay “top of mind.” Utilizing the social media to keep your name out front also draws in prospects to give you the opportunity to share your story.
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Pamela Bir is president of Your Computer Lady, Inc., a firm that provides computer support including marketing literature, e-mail marketing, Web site design and maintenance, PowerPoint presentations and more. Visit www.YourComputerLady.com or email Pamela@YourComputerLady.com.
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