Maybe in the Future?

It’s no surprise that I’m a bit crabby about social media. I mean, c’mon, anyone that wants real success needs to be hands-on laboring, not swanking their stuff online. I mean, get real — there’s no anxiously awaiting world.
“Action, not words,” I tell my kid.

Nonetheless, you can’t escape hearing of social media. Twitter’s “tweets’ were the first messages from Haiti’s earthquake survivors; the same goes for Iran’s election dissenters. Truth is, sufferers in both groups broadcast news flashes to friends long before CNN’s producers got the word. So, you’ve got to assign social media some credit. It has a place in our modern society.

But, can you sell stuff with it — social media – or just blow smoke?

That’s the trillion-dollar question.

Numerous social media sites exist, but the primary ones are Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn. A Google quest provides ample information on them, but, for clarity, I’m including a brief explanation of each. I’ve also included quotes from various, industry-related people, many you know, that I contacted through my social media (LinkedIn) account.

 

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Most popular sites
Facebook’s social-media system comprises information-sharing technologies that, via the Internet, will link you with others. Currently, your Facebook name, profile, picture, gender, city, networks, friends list and all your subscribed pages are available on the web. Facebook said anyone can sign up (it has 350 million users); it also promises a trusted [web] environment to its members. Dissenters, however, say no information is safe on the web.
MySpace is similar, but different from Facebook. It’s described as being for creative and intellectual people, not those Facebook-type hordes who merely want to “Link up.” MySpace comprises music, videos, multiplayer games, celebrity news, fashion, comedy pages and, no surprise, a political community.

YouTube is the prevalent, online, video site. It lets people search, watch and share various videos. Essentially, it’s a distribution platform for original-content, video creators, which could be your neighbor’s 12-year-old son or George Lucas. Businesses – including yours – can use it to display training videos and documentaries. YouTube claims 100 million visitors every day.

Twitter is a cellphone and Internet-based, short-messaging service that, once you’re signed on, permits you to send and receive text-based messages (“tweets”) to (and from) your pre-selected contacts network. Dispatch a communiqué to your Twitter account, and it will post the message to all who have agreed to “follow” you.

Additionally, Twitter displays your message online (at your Twitter web page); thus, your followers may also retrieve messages there. The text limit is 140 characters, but you may expand with a second or third message. You can’t send photos, but you can include their URL. Beware of cellphone texting charges.

LinkedIn is the businesspersons Facebook facsimile. If you haven’t signed up, consider doing so today, even if you decline the other social-media programs. LinkedIn says you can “…interconnect with numerous business, technical or creative professionals from around the world.” The company said it has more than 55 million members that reside in 200 countries and work in 170 different industries.

Views from the neighborhood
Lori Anderson, International Sign Assn.’s (ISA) president and CEO, said her Washington DC-based organization uses LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr (a photo display site) and YouTube because, she said, social media provides an opportunity to hear what ISA’s members have to say, in real time. “It’s a practical way to reach constituents online,” she said.

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ISA uses Twitter for bulletins, Flickr for its online photo gallery and YouTube to web-host videos. Its largest audience is on LinkedIn, where ISA’s staff actively participates with its groups and discussions.

Lori believes social media helps ISA promote ISA’s membership benefits; it also attracts new members. She said it’s important to combine social media with your overall marketing strategy.

Bob Curtis, chairman, Roland DGA Corporation (Irvine, CA), said he’s of the generation that still reads newspapers and magazines. However, those who know Bob appreciate that he’s more Internet savvy than he cares to admit. Bob said Roland DGA recognizes that many of its customers – and future customers – prefer to receive and exchange information via social media. Roland uses Twitter to make announcements and Flickr to share tradeshow photos. It’s also developing a Roland, “Born to Wrap” Facebook site.

Dr. Ray Work, president and owner of Work Associates (Philadelphia), a revered guru in the digital-print industry, is legendary for his candor. I asked Ray about social media. He said, “I like to speak with real people, so I don’t use it.”

Jayme Cherubini, FastSign’s (Dallas) PR and corporate communications manager, enthusiastically said, “Yes, FastSigns uses social media, and at all levels — corporate and local.” She said it’s difficult to quantify results, but believes they have gained some related sales. The franchise’s primary focus is building connections via social media, she said.

Think networking.
Charlene Gibson, president of the Gibson Group (Tampa), a recruiting firm that specializes in the sign and display-graphics industry, said she uses Twitter to communicate with job candidates, plus LinkedIn, to stay in touch with its groups. She believes social media is valuable for brief communications, but said it isn’t necessarily a business-building process. “It does keep the company name and activities in front of clients,” she said. Charlene posts new job opportunities on Twitter.

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Networking, again.
Brian Phipps, Mutoh America’s director of sales (Phoenix), said he uses LinkedIn to keep in touch with past coworkers and find new employees, but hasn’t found it useful for finding customers. He’s also observed that many people use it to find jobs.

Andrew Juhasz, owner of The Sign Post (Charlotte, NC) signshop, said he’s interested in building relationships via social media and, in addition, seeing what others are up to. He believes he’s received some business through his LinkedIn connections, but becomes miffed when unaffiliated salespeople use his name to target his contacts.

Emerson Schwartzkopf, editor of Stone Business magazine (Los Angeles), said his magazine’s Facebook page mirrors its website’s news postings, to help guide visitors to the site. He uses twitter as a headline-delivery service. “It’s not a barnburner,” he said, “but we’re finding new people.”
He also believes Twitter, because it’s new, impresses clients, but said if the services cost money, meaning if people and businesses had to pay for social media on a “per friend” basis, the systems would collapse within hours.

Mark Gross, owner of Image Matters Matting Solutions (Miami), said he uses YouTube videos to present his company’s products – the ImageMat Graphic Floor line — in a “fun and breezy” way. People are hungry for ideas, he said.

Paul D’Souza, (Cincinnati), author, business consultant and teacher, said he uses social media to communicate with his clients. “When it comes to revenue generation,” he said, “the bottom line is like buffalo hunting – you have to move with the herd.” Paul recently published, The Market Has Changed — Have You? He believes the social-media systems work best when you know your customers and what they’re doing.

Val Hirst, editor of Sign Directions magazine (London), said she’s doing her best to resist social media, but, because of her son’s pestering, realizes she must soon surrender. “I feel people are wasting time on the Internet,” she said, “that could be better used elsewhere.”

Gerald Hiller, Fidelity Bancorp Leasing (Orange County, CA), believes LinkedIn is a good, professional networking tool, but he’s yet to see it bring customers to his door.

Joshua Pofahl, an account executive at YESCO custom electric signs (Colorado Springs), said he doesn’t use social media, but plans to implement a strategy in the future. He was interested in what my research might reveal.

Me? I ask questions within LinkedIn groups and get great answers. A favorite story, however, is my attempt to befriend the sales and marketing manager of a Portland signs and graphics shop. I’d contacted him to write about his company’s sign work and, in the same paragraph, asked him to join my LinkedIn contact group. In part, here’s his reply: “While I would possibly be interested in a case study, to be included in an upcoming article, I probably wouldn’t join you on LinkedIn, not at this point anyway, since I value it as a resource of references and generally only have people I know on there.”

“Maybe in the future,” he said.

Hmmm.

No networking here.

However, and interestingly, his last sentence did summarize my research on gaining sales through social media: Maybe in the future.