FaceBook Makes it Hard to Lie

“Facebook…it’s not like being at home and writing in your diary. It’s out there for the whole world to see.” - Nathalie Blanchard

Are you FaceBook friends with your boss or colleagues? At my previous job, I was. And that made it extremely hard to lie or hide details of what I did on weekends or vacations. Not that I wanted to be deceptive, I just preferred to keep some parts of my personal life...personal. Also, I was sure that if I ever even considered calling in “sick,” it would be Murphy's Law that the one time I did it I would be outted accidentally by a FB friend or family member. Not only did I have to be careful what I posted on FB, but what my friends posted. I am 28 but I still flinched when a friend recently posted several pictures of me with a beer in my hand at a local Atlanta bar for a birthday party.

In light of this it was no surprise when I read an article in the AJC, “Facebook photos cost Canadian her benefits.” Basically, a Canadian woman was on sick leave for depression and receiving monthly benefits when an agent found her FaceBook photos partying it up on vacation. Her benefits were promptly cut. FaceBook photos showed her at a Chippendales bar (sounds fun!), at a birthday party, and on a sun holiday. Recently, a teacher in Atlanta was forced to resign because of European vacation photos showing her holding a glass of wine. An anonymous “parent” (who is more likely a disgruntled colleague) complained about it.

I can easily see how occurences like these came about. On my FaceBook account, one former classmate posts endlessly about his unraveling marriage and impending divorce, often heavily cursing. Another girl posts about how much she hates her life and how hard the dating world is. It’s very depressing and I don't think that will get the guys to line up. But again, both examples are of people who should be writing in their diary instead of FaceBook.

My husband, who refuses to get a FaceBook account, constantly harps on the fact that people are giving way too many personal details out and it’s going to bite them in the butt. I expect that situations like this Canadian girl and the Atlanta teacher find themselves in are going to be occurring more and more. This is not a new concept by any stretch but people still aren't getting it. My take? Zip it, people.

Thoughts?

Trends in Sales, Web Marketing, and Business Development

Last Thursday I attended B2B Marketing University in Atlanta that was sponsored by Silverpop. It was an interesting concept – invite your target audience to an educational seminar in which there are NO product pitches whatsoever (having it at a top-notch hotel and feeding attendees doesn’t hurt either). Genius. Certainly companies and backgrounds were mentioned but it seemed done more so from the standpoint of establishing credentials.

Over the course of three hours I took five pages of notes, front and back, which I’ll be sharing on this blog. Although I’m no longer in B2B Marketing, it was important for me to be there to learn what the “big boys” are talking about and see how this translates to Small/Medium Businesses (SMB). It is ESSENTIAL in this day and age to stay updated on trends that affect a business owner’s market. One of the speakers even uttered my mantra: “change is the only constant.” Companies that resist change and evolving are going to quickly get left behind.

A few themes developed for me as I was reviewing my notes, and instead of writing one gi-normous post I’ll write a future post on “Tips and Information for SMB." So below are a few of the trends that everyone should become familiar with, according to Silverpop and its comrades:


• The buyer is changing – companies/freelancers are shortlisted before they’re ever called
• Social media is critical to making buyer decisions. So why should a business owner have a blog, submit articles to content-sharing sites, have a Twitter account? Because if he/she doesn’t and their competitor does, it’s an easy decision for the buyer.
• If you can’t be “found” easily, it sends up red flags. When I google a company and can’t find it, it screams out “sketchy” to me.
• There is a fundamental shift focusing on raw leads to managing buyer dialogue to nurture sales-ready relationships
• A trendy new term is “inbound marketing.” Inbound is the ability to 1) Get found and 2) shape community dialogue (this is done via a blog, social media site, etc)
o A fictional example, but one that people can identify with is Dunder Mifflin’s failed “Infinity 2.0” social media project from the popular TV show The Office
• Static websites are dead; websites need fresh, relevant information for SEO purposes. What does this mean for people who have to continuously pay webmasters to update? I don’t know. But for those who don’t have sites yet, keep that in mind.
• Trending words are “manage,” “manage,” and “manage.” Manage the process. Again, back to entrepreneurship 101 of having a proactive not reactive business model.
• Change is the only constant. Get onboard and stop resisting/whining. I tell my husband this all the time as he hates FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc.
• More ROI pressure is being put on vendors. Example: I gave you a $1, now how much is your service giving back?
• Marketers have to adapt, but it is not completely out with the old, in with the new
• Buyers want relationships
o I disagree. I think the word ‘relationships’ is getting old, fast. Buyers want a company with personality. They don’t want you to be their best friend and you shouldn’t like that. But you should stand for something, know how to communicate that, and show up (meaning, be found). • Trend: do to your customers what you’re doing to them. If they mention you on twitter, you do the same. If they comment on your blog, you do the same. Mirror
• Lastly and very important, the difference between “Email Marketing” and “Marketing Automation:”
-EMAIL MARKETING: is more B2C
-MARKETING AUTOMATION: B2B or Complex sales process

What's IN What's OUT

I love lists that tell consumers what's "in" and what's "out." They usually tend to be ridiculous and dramatic but I actually rather liked this one I found in People Magazine's Style issue. Here are a few things from it (I particulariy agree with what's "out")

In:
Competitive Workouts (Biggest Loser style to cheer each other on)
Sports Bars (cheap beer - a sign of the times)

Out:
Wireless Ear Pieces (this is "a relic of precollapse Wall Street" according to the Zandl Group)
Trashing Electronics (recycle them instead!)

Cyber-risk and Liability Associated With Your Blog

It was bound to happen, but this article just astounds me: Backup For Your Blog. I clicked on the article because I thought it was literally going to tell me how to protect and backup my material. Rather, it talks about how increasingly blogs for corporate use AND personal use are being scrutinized for potential litigiation risks. The article cites these two examples:

-Last month a Chicago landlord sued a former tenant alleging defamation after she claimed in a tweet that her residence had mold.
-In San Francisco, a chiropractor sued a patient for alleged defamation after the patient posted a negative review on Yelp. The case was settled early this year.

What about freedom of speech? I rely on sites such as Yelp and Kudzu for reviews on most new services, restaurants, contractors, etc that I use and bad reviews are just as pertinent as good reviews. I don't know the whole story but it is scary that revealing a negative experience can turn into a potentially devastating lawsuit. Of course, a level of responsibility for your words and actions is still required as once you publish on the web, you lose privacy and anonymity.

My husband doesn't have FaceBook, Twitter, a Blog, or use LinkedIn and he is constantly telling me that I put way too much personal information out there, even on "protected" sites like FaceBook. I am much more careful now with what I say than I was six months ago.

Read the full article - very insightful.

What the Future Holds for Sales and Marketing in 2012

This morning I attended a TAG Marketing presentation on “What the Future Holds: Marketing and Sales in 2012.” It was very interesting and more than a little scary at the pace of technology, where we are, and where we will be in a few short years. As I’ve been hearing over and over again, adaptability and innovation are the two most important traits for companies to survive and thrive. Change happens very quickly these days. Here are a few items I compiled from the meeting:

Antiquated -> Present and Future

Ranking Reports -> Traffic
Leads -> Conversions
Homepage -> Custom landing page
Search Engines like Google -> Searching on Twitter
Search Engines -> Decision Engines
Googling to find a plumber in your area -> Reaching out to FB friends or LI contacts to find a plumber
TV ->YouTube
User experience ->Does this convert to sales?
Laptop ->Cellphone
Generic, broad-based marketing and sales ->Niche and Personal

-more credibility in marketing and sales is necessary
-integration (of social media) with traditional media
-increased focus on usability, user experience
-social media marketing is past its experimental phase. The question is, are we participating in the conversation or not? You can’t control what’s being said about you, but you can participate in the dialogue
-single source: clients are increasingly wanting a company who can do it all
-all marketing will become interactive
-keyboards will become obsolete
-88% of the revenue comes from the top 16% of salespeople
-in sales, you must show value and solve clients problem before or by the first call
-lead with value