How to Leverage Your YELP Love (or Hate)

Isn't it funny how quickly things evolve online?  Yesterday it was all about getting bloggers, celebs and such to just talk about our brands in hopes of getting follower traffic.  Today's consumer wants MORE.  They want to relate to the unique experience those people (as well as your everyday customers) had interacting with your business or brand. 

I always say the means to the end may have changed but the end is still the same.  To put it simply, we may have changed the methods we use to get attention to our businesses (social media, blogging, etc.) but we all want the same result: Happy satisfied customers talking about us.

That's where sites like Yelp come into play.  I call these sites "deal closers."  That means if Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. are supposed to get prospects to your business/brand by generating interest, Yelp is where decision to buy (or not in some cases) happens.  Here's how you can leverage your Yelp presence:

• Do not campaign (or bribe) clients to comment on your Yelp page.  Unique algorithms designed to pick up IP addresses will shut that sudden surge of effort down before you even get started.  Your good reviews get pushed back to the hidden area and other stupid things happen.  It's seriously like bad karma.  
• Invite clients to share their experiences via Yelp as they are leaving your location the preferably the first time they visit.  That spreads it out, lends for genuine feedback.  Oh and remember, it's always easier to get testimonials from brand new clients ;-) 
• If you have a bad review, address it as the owner and show genuine interest to make that client's experience better.  Generally visitors don't put much weight on bad reviews as long as they are not left dangling out there like a bad pedicure.  
• Finally, once you've got your Yelp posts nicely managed, share your "thanks" on a Love Page.  Why?  Because it's permanent real estate that YOU control.  Plus it's a great place to affirm your appreciation when those new clients return.

Turning Tweets into Cash: The Proven Formula

Everyone talks big reasons to actively participate in social media, but few can clearly spell out the game plan to monetize the effort.   This week, we are breaking it all down and you'll be amazed at the kind of money it can really make for your small business.  My special guest, James Keil is VP of Sales for Waitrainer.com, an online training solution that closes thousands of dollars per month using Twitter and an outstanding webinar delivery system.  He will be joining me to share step-by-step how he does it.  So saddle up and take notes because it's gonna be good!

LISTEN NOW

Using Social Media for Tipping off Investors

Very excited this week to have opened my new Ameritrade account after a recent business venture that's paid off nicely. My next GlampreneurGirl move is to start tapping into social media trends by observing not only the market, but the social metrics. It's not my genius move (sorry), but rather a strategy that's gaining lots of press and traction lately. In fact, leveraging investors into a whole new playing field. Will be sharing my finds and predictions on my FB page and Twitter...so stay tuned! xo

Related Articles on the subject: http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/mutual-funds/articles/2012/01/31/investors-increasingly-tap-social-media-for-stock-tips"> http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/mutual-funds/articles/2012/01/31/investors-increasingly-tap-social-media-for-stock-tips

http://news.yahoo.com/investors-increasingly-tap-social-media-stock-tips-153722721.html

The Magic of the Web Whisperer (ie. Internet Marketer)

This week's task in Cultural Internet Marketing Studies:
Analyze the inferred relationship between “web characteristic” and “cultural implication”. What examples can you cite that would support the relationship between content and culture presented by the authors? For example, how do cross-cultural differences potentially impact Internet Marketing strategy? What elements of the Internet reflect cultural behavior? Is all promotional content “cultural”?

My Response:
I believe we could summarize the web as a living “breathing” document which takes shape as contributors engage in the subject matter. This is, in my opinion, the core value of relevancy and key component of crowd sourced journalism. The Internet Marketer must not only stop to perceive how the messages are received, but also examine how it is being conveyed post impact. Hence the illustration of “breath”. It can also be like the telephone game, where a message travels via whispers and evolves across channels accordingly. A good Internet Marketer will not blatantly promote her message via the channels, but rather influence the participants to virally endorse the message as that marketer designed it. A sophisticated art in my opinion and not an easy task.

Thoughts?

Social Media PR and Management Tools - Are they working?

A friend of mine is looking to automate her social PR efforts, asked me what I think of Vocus.  Here is what I responded:

"From an investor's point of view they're doing good: 

http://www.crunchbase.com/company/vocus
From a marketer's point of view they're growing too fast and losing sight of what it's really about - relationship building:  

http://amplicate.com/hate/vocus"

You be the judge.

How the Emmys Created Added Entertainment Value Through Video Blogging

It's a reality world out there and shows like the Emmys are no exception.  The viewing audience not only wants to see what's happening in front of the stage, they want to experience "behind the scenes" too.  This year I had the opportunity to participate in the behind the scenes magic (like everyone else) via the cleverly positioned cams.  My full review on Hollywood Today...

BTW.  Video blogging is a great strategy to engage your audience one step further at any corporate event.  The key is to have entertaining people hosting the behind the scenes happenings ;-)

Emmys give viewers “LIVE” Backstage webcast access - Video Blogger Style!

It’s a social media world out there.  People not only want access, they want to be involved – before – during and after each special moment.  Backstage of this year’s 63rd Primetime Emmy® Awards, is no exception.  This year’s Emmys will stream a live web cam telecast, capturing all moments behind the scenes from eleven different cameras, each controlled by the viewer, "video blog style."  During the regular scheduled telecast, viewers can tune into un-edited greenroom gatherings, catch celebrity press room interviews and even hang out with the winners in the VIP Winners Lounge – All LIVE. http://www.emmys.com/backstage-live

As Hollywood Today’s Business Correspondent, I will be commenting on the backstage stories, the people and technology that makes it all possible.  Be sure to tune into my tweets @GlampreneurGirl throughout the event.  Is video blogging the next big thing to hit Hollywood?  I seem to think so, and you’ll hear all about it on HollywoodToday.net

To PPC or not to PPC? It’s not really a question in my opinion.

This week's Internet Marketing MBA course on PPC (pay per click) campaigns had us discussing the 13 myths of the practice based on this article. 

I was having drinks with one of my girlfriends this week and she brought up she was meeting with a local agency trying to sell her organic SEO placement for her brand.  "Perfect timing!" I said, since I was having to discuss it later that week in class.  Nothing like getting your homework done over cocktails ;-)

So here's the thing.  She is super connected in the social media world, gets tons of 3rd party viral traffic from YouTube videos made about her brand and really does not need to spend a lot of extra money on online advertising at this point; however, when she told me she was considering moving out of her PPC campaign to try the organic route I had to weigh in on the pros and cons.  Mostly the cons.

As stated in #9 of this article, I told her not to put all her eggs in one game of roulette basket.  Just because she spends a little on some organic SEO stuff, does not mean she needs to give up her existing (and successful) PPC efforts.   One is not going to replace the other.  In fact the PPC campaign in my opinion, helps her and her investors budget and measure ROI much more accurately in my opinion.

The other question I posed to provoke thought was to ask her just how she was going to go about leveraging her new SEO efforts.  We went right into discussing her site content and metas...which by the way needed to be checked against Google AdWords in my opinion, before vesting ANY money into organic SEO efforts.  This falls in line with the article’s #11 point.  My argument was "if this company wants to charge you to measure the effectiveness of your keyword content and metas, say NOOOO!  I can show you how to do that in about ten minutes...even show you how to check out your competition's rankings and what they're found mostly under."

Finally I came back to point #1 in the article, which was about ego.  If she wanted to be optimized so she could see herself at the top of the list on an organic level, this might just be her ego needing to feel some affirmation coming from her community.   This does not necessarily mean she's going to see any increase in her RPV value.  I suggested she go back to her social networking circles for this kind of affirmation, where she’s already ruling beautifully.  In other words, organic SEO would not give her something she was not already getting (including ROI) from her existing sphere of influencers.

In closing, I agreed that she needed to get some information about SEO, while cautioning her not to dismiss the hard work (and traction) she’s made with her current PPC and social media efforts.  I tend to think both of those efforts are much more of a sure thing than SEO, but that’s just me.

Traditional PR in contrast to PR 2.0

Public Relations is the active process of maintaining an image by projecting and sustaining the story around a brand, person or place.  Public relations takes shape based on the positive or negative opinions and endorsements of key influencers.  Originally, these influencers were described as the media; however, today public relations can be performed by any number of people who capture and hold the attention of the public. 

These people are known to be key influencers based on the attention they place to the brand, people or places they talk about.  This kind of influence is now deemed be described as public relations 2.0 because of the large platform social media lends to everyday influencers via the internet.  This is how PR 2.0 is changing the way we communicate with our audience as well.  It directly relates to how we use the tool as marketers because we must now recognize the power of everyday people, sharing everyday thoughts regarding the brands, people and places we’re responsible for positioning.

How has PR 2.0 affected your business?  Please share...

Skwikee.com invited to 2011 Pipeline Fund Fellowship (PFF) Pitch Summit

It’s been a journey of long hours, intense deadlines and incredible sacrifice.  Worth it?  You betcha!  Skwikee.com a for women, by women social site and game was just selected to be pitched at the national Pipeline Fund Fellowship Pitch Summit on June 17^th, 2011 in New York City. 

The Pipeline Fund Fellowship is one of the hottest startup angel investment groups to hit the women in tech landscape.  Touted in publications such as ForbesWoman, Businessweek, Mashable and The New York Times, we’re crazy excited to be invited to participate in pitching to this panel of rock star women.  Pardon us while we do the happy dance!!!

Sponsor?  Invest?  You Betcha!
In the spirit of maintaining the integrity of this social experiment we thought it would be awesome to invite our fellow Skwikee supporters to join in the suspense, adventure and potential profits prior to its grand TA-DA!.  We decided to open up a crowd source fund allowing micro investors (ie. all our non-millionaire buddies) to sponsor as much or as little as they'd like, from now up until midnight of pitch day: June 17, 2011.   Payoff could be as big as super duper or as small as nice “thank you” on fancy paper.  Donno where this crazy ride will end, but we hope you’ll join us anyway ;-)   Next Stop:  NY City!!!!!

Sign Me Up!

16 Free Reporting Tools to Measure Your Social Media Success

1. http://trendistic.com
2. http://tweetmeme.com
3. http://spy.appspot.com
4. http://www.tweeteffect.com
5. http://www.whostalkin.com/
6. http://tweetstats.com
7. http://www.twitalyzer.com
8. http://www.klout.com
9. http://favstar.fm
10. http://backtweets.com
11. http://backtype.com
12. http://bitly.pro
13. http://twitter.grader.com
14. http://www.google.com/s2/search/social
15. http://www.followfinder.googlelabs.com
16. http://likebutton.me

Rock on everybody!  - Patty

YouTube Tools Defines Possible Business Models for Social Commerce Game:...

Skwikee Case Study: Measuring the power of the game with chocolate

This is an especially fun week, been hustling to get Skwikee.com premier ready.  I lament to report there's still elements of the game we need to perfect, so we pushed release date out a couple more weeks (after Valentine's Day).  No big.  We can still share glimpses of the game by allowing our FB and Twitter followers to see previews of the video segments.

I was going to wait to release this special segment until the official premier of the site, but thought it would be unfair to not share this perfect Valentine find before the holiday:  The exclusive Madame Chocolate heart box.  Staying true to the experimental objective of the site, my hope is that the entertainment value of the game will entice players to not only interact with this unique find, share it virally and order it too!  That would be the perfect testimony to the power of Skwikee social game experience.  Fingers crossed.

The best part?  I got to feature my favorite Beverly Hills Housewife, Lisa Vanderpump in this one.  Bonus!

Enjoy!  http://on.fb.me/igaD4g

Finding Hero - If there's no story, it's just another advertisement

Sitting at Coral Tree in Brentwood trying to come up with the perfect “hero’s journey” for Skwikee tonight.  If this game is going to prove my theory that marketing and advertising can become interactive entertainment, then I have to stay true to the one fundamental of the entertainment industry:  The Story.

Even though Skwikee segments are only about 90 seconds long, the story needs to come through.  I believe that’s what’s going to entice players to share the concept and return for more.  Elements I need to make sure I incorporate into each Skwikee segment:

1.  Call to the adventure - familiar setting - home base

2.  First threshold - stepping into the unfamiliar

3.  Help - get the support of others

4.  Face the challenge - rubber meets the road

5.  Revelation - Ah ha! moment

6.  Transformation - New perspective

7.  Return (as a winner)

Rant and Whining

My mind is in a total fog.  Sooo many elements, parts and pieces to think about.  How the hell am I going to come up with the Hero’s Journey in this state?  After days of sitting with programmers, detailing the functions of the game, filming segments all over LA, editing video files and not to mention staying on top of the design elements of the site itself my brain is scrambled.  Soooo easy to miss the mark on this one.  A little too cheesy, cutsie or gamie, we’ll look like amateurs.  A bit too technical and my target demo will for sure check out.  Every single step I take is calculated, evaluated and one more reason I’ll need a good amount of therapy when this is done.  I’ve never second guessed myself this much.  Keep telling myself, “I’m innovating, it’s supposed to be uncertain territory.” 

Programmers asked me for an extension last night, push release date out to make sure it’s all functioning well, not buggy, etc.  I’m dying to get it released, but thinking I need to be careful not to get ahead of myself.  But hey, I saved money on my auto insurance!  Bonus.

A Social Network Christmas

Wish I would have had seen this before the holidays...would have sent it to everyone I know.   Better late than never.

The "Social Queen" Badge Experiment

This is a pivotal week in regards to school and my latest social experiment.  I put out a second casting call in Hollywood, see if I could garner some fun and interesting field correspondents to cover the places and things I want to feature in the Skwikee social game I'm designing.

The first casting call was a flop.  I realize why there's so many wanna be actors in this town.   I received a ton of responses, but only saw about ten people I'd consider being "the type" players would want to see featured in the game.  Out of the ten candidates, only two showed up.  Total waste of my soap watching time.  I was happy with the one gal we got though.  She's a member of the E! Network and does work on Fashion Police.  My guess is that she'll be good at reporting and featuring some interesting stuff, we'll see.  So this week, I'm back to searching for more fabulous LA people to invite.  Here's the thing, this isn't TV, so they don't need to be super georgous or anything.  I want real fashion obsessed and food whore people!  Auditions are 12/13.  I'll keep you posted on results.  Thank GOD Frosted Cupcakery is right down the street from the studios.  That in itself makes the trip from Beverly Hills into Hollywood worth it.

The second thing I did was an effort to create some viral buzz about the game.  Now I've built a Skwikee Facebook Community and since Facebook is slowly taking over the world, I assumed it would be smart to house all our social activities there.  So far we've got about 70+ members, 51% are 35-45 yr old women.; 26% 25-35 yr old women; 10% 18-25 yr old women and the rest are dudes.  This was affirmation I was on the right track with this particular social game because my target market is the 25-45 yr. woman.  Yay for me!  I get a cupcake for that one.

So I decided it was too obvious to ask people to suggest Skwikee to their friends.  Something about telling people what to do in a social media environment creeps me out.  I thought, "the objective of this game is to see how one climbs the social ranks in Beverly Hill and Hollywood, so why not give them pre-launch opportunities to do just that?"  Last night during an episode of Chopped, I created the Social Queen badge:

In Hollywood, it's not about who you know, it's about who knows YOU! Are you a true Social Queen? For the next 48 hrs. invite your friends to vote for you by posting your name below in the comments. Top 3 Social Queens will be awarded this badge and VIP access in the game. Good luck!

I've been watching the stats the last few hours and no one's clicked on it yet.  My theory is they'll click on it plenty (I get lots of click-thrus), but not take me up on the voting thing.  I think at the end of the day, we're all just a little tiny bit scared of putting ourselves out there for even our friends to judge us.  I hope I'm wrong.

KISS Principle: "Keep It Simple and Sexy"

Working like a mad woman on the new Skwikee gaming interface.  So many ways to build a website, tools to add, buttons to push, every effing widget one could ever imagine.  I decided to take a step back and look at the three heroes of the web:  Google, Facebook and Twitter.  See what they did to become rock stars.   Follow me here, I'm about to be brilliant.

Google: 

Was it the first search engine?  No.  When you type in google.com what comes up?  A million ads?  Bunch of user tools that scream, "Look at what hard working bitches we've been!" No.  In fact, Google does such a good job at keeping it simple, you don't even see the calender and gmail options till AFTER you've been presented by...ready for it:  a simple search box.  Think Google could have a few more tools on this page?  I mean they only own Blogger, YouTube, need I go on?  Nope.  It's all about the search and that my friends, is why they are King, getting something like 200+ million searches per day.  Simplicity is what makes them hot, knowing how to keep their King status is what makes them sexy. 

Facebook:

Now, I'm all about hot nerds (even married one), but knowing how to build a social media site is not what made Mark Zuckerburg, THE Man.  Think about the grip MySpace had years before Facebook became the bomb.  By the way, Mark is founder of Facebook in case you've been living in a coconut.  My point is MySpace gobbed up the entire user interface with a million options and Facebook made the news feed the front and center star.  Why is it the star?  Ummm, cuz it's your friends yapping (silly).  Who doesn't want to be in the know within their peep network? Yep.  All the other applications adorned the sides of the page but the Facebook news feed was and still is the prime focus.  Now that's art and it's hot.

Twitter:

I hope you're seeing where I'm going by now.  If not, then maybe you should go back to that island and your coconut hut.  It's all about keeping it simple and that's what is soooo freaking sexy.  And I don't mean that in a unflattering, dirty way (perve).  I mean "sexy" as what the true meaning of word:  Appeal.  Twitter is all about a simple news stream.  Kinda like the power of the little black dress.  And just like the little black dress, gob up with a bunch of unnecessary accessories and hype, you just became a bar fly.  Twitter even forces us to have a little self control, cuts your ass off at 140 characters.  Ever hear of people losing their mystery by talking too much?  Nope. Twitter makes you keep it short - simple and that...is uber sexy.

And now, I'll need to reward my genius with a cocktail.  All this sexy talk makes me think a cosmo's in order.  Hope this helps any of you trying to build out there.  If not, well here's the pictorial version (not that sexy but still informative).  Thoughts?

Q: Where's social media going for advertisers? A: Social Reality Gaming

Working on Skwikee, my social reality game, designed to enhance product integration into a reality based gaming platform.  What can I say?  At the end of the day, I'm a marketing chick.  So, I’m starting with what I know: Women.  I’m also starting close to home: LA.  

So to sum up my research so far:

• We love to play and don’t mind brands creeping into our game time.
• We love gifting virtual goods, willing to spend real money on it.
• Don’t call us Gamers, we're not.
• We love to share our greatness with friends.
• We're educated and have money...lots of money.
• At the end of the day, we want to still believe in the fairytale. 
• Sometimes, we just need a break from the crazy, so we play social games.
• We like the little cartoon icons in social games, but we LOVE reality TV more. 

So here’s a peek at the prototype of how I think advertisers will need to model their next social media move:  Skwikee. 

Business: So you have social network friends and followers, now what?

It’s no secret the social networking frenzy is touching every industry on the planet.  Companies are striving to get their social pages up and networks built.  Books, conversations and blogs all showcasing how to master the art of getting noticed.

For me, the social networking free-for-all model felt like the gold rush.   All these people and companies gathering up their brands and years of PR, throwing it in the back of a wagon marked "Facebook or Bust."  The whole building a relationship with the consumer concept makes perfect sense, but at what point can we predict return?  What are these people in their covered wagons going to do once they get to the gold country of friendship land?  More importantly, what the hell are they doing with all those friends?  It’s like sitting on a pile of gold with no freaking idea what to do with it.  That prompted me to step down from the cloud and question the tactics.

To be clear, let’s agree that a marketing message within social networking environments is kinda like funky odor.  Nobody wants to deal with it and we all try to get away from it as fast and gracefully as we can.   If I was about to test my theories about monetizing a marketing message within the social networks, I needed to approach it from a different perspective.  I call it the Villa Blanca experience.

Six months ago I moved to west LA and decided to go spend a day putzing around Beverly Hills.  While walking down Brighton Way I came across the glorious outdoor dining area of the Villa Blanca restaurant.   The vision was right out of a movie.  Beautiful chic people all enjoying their LA lifestyles.  I was certain that getting a table there was going to be close to impossible.  Not so.  I was invited to have a business lunch there with a client, one week later.  Food was great, amazing ambiance but the novelty of it was gone; that is, until it was featured on the Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Lisa Vanderpump, the owner of the Villa Blanca stars in the show and many scenes are shot from within the restaurant.  I was once again fascinated, but for an entirely different reason.  The restaurant might have glam and fame, but we all know how quickly the novelty of that lasts.  Lisa, however,  had became somewhat a bit of an inspiration to me.  She has a son my son’s age, a zest for life and a mad love affair with her dog Giggie.  I think she’s a total rock star and so the five minute fascination I had once had with the Villa Blanca, just turned into a personal connection.  I’ll now go there any chance I get.

So coming back to my social experimentation.  I realized that the glam and celebrity value hooked me, but what keeps me as a loyal patron of the Villa Blanca is my adoration for Lisa.  How did that happen?  Simple:  the reality show portrayed her as her genuine and human self. I freaking signed up, bought the tee-shirt and a lifetime subscription to the Vanderpumps.  Made me think, “huh, maybe all social marketing should work this way.” 

So I did the most natural thing in the world, asked my husband for money and for him to build a website for me (it pays to marry a nerd girls).  But this wasn’t just any website, nooo, this was going to be a place where the “hook” was Hollywood, but the keep was in the people.  I wanted the interaction with the brands, businesses and the story to be fun, but above all REAL.  I call the site Skwikee and it’s the premier social reality game, featuring the people of LA. 

We’ll cover the hot clothing stores, restaurants and night clubs, but more importantly, we’ll connect with the people that make LA so magical.  My theory is players will be hooked by the Hollywood glam, but want to stay connected to the people here and in effect their products and businesses.  If it works, I dare say I'll become the Madam of Social Reality Advertising. Skwikee premiers in January of 2011, wish me results and above all, answers!

Feel free to share your thoughts here or on the Skwikee Facebook page!

5 Crazy-Simple Steps to Conquering Social Networking

It’s AMAZING to me how many professionals, in marketing positions and C-Level management are still trying to figure it all out.  Amazing.  I mean literally, I'm having the same level of clueless conversation with the heads of Fortune 500 companies down to my car insurance agent.  Not bashing, just want to point out, that it’s not unusual for members of the business community to still be in a fog about this stuff.

The secret is that there is no secret. It’s a relationship folks. Sure, there’s a million tools and tricks to learning how to optimize your Facebook and Twitter accounts, but here’s a GIANT revelation:  Just because you have a million friends or followers, does not mean you’re going to know how to make money from it!  So stop with the friending fever and relax.  This stuff is cake.

5 Steps to Rocking at Social Networking:

1. Pick up two magazines that pictorially represent your clients or future clients (you know who they are). Cut out those pictures, but first buy the magazine ;-).
2. Tape it to your computer screen (don’t worry it won’t stay there).
3. Now, open up your Twitter, Facebook, blogs, whatever and begin to speak to those people you taped up. Yes, communicate just like they were there sitting in your office; don't worry no one is looking. Ask them questions, share some helpful information, tell them what kind of latte you had this morning. Just talk. 
4. Next, pull out a yellow pad and write down three things each of those people would be interested in, personal/professional, doesn’t matter. You should now be looking at a list of key words or phrases, right?
5. Type those into your search fields and see what comes up. I guarantee you’ll see thos potential clients talking about stuff, asking questions, etc. Get in there and spend the next 15 minutes responding to them as if you already know them personally. Ask to be their friend after wards and continue checking in on them by following their social pages.

You have now conquered the secret formula to success in social media. It’s nothing but a relationship. If you take the time to nurture it, even online, people will trust you and GIVE YOU THEIR MONEY. I say that jokingly, by it’s true. People want to do business with those they trust. Having a millions Facebook friends does NOTHING for you if you don’t have the personalized attention (or what feels like personalized attention) to give them.   Plus, taping a million people up on your monitor just looks messy ;-)   Thoughts?