Use Facebook the right way!

Just because you have a business, idea or event doesn’t mean it needs a Facebook page or twitter account.  Yes, social media is here to stay, and if you want to get into the game these days, you’ll be missing the boat without utilizing these tools, but you have to use it correctly or it could have the opposite negative impact driving consumers away as opposed to bolstering your sales or support for whatever you are peddling.

We’ve all seen the Nike, Reebok and Ironman Facebook pages and twitter accounts.  They are huge and were huge before twitter was a glimmer in someone’s eye.  These platforms only served to solidify their brands and get them out in front of the public even more.

But, what about the other “businesses” and entities that serve the public, look to support themselves or might even be non-profit.  They need exposure.  They need attention.  They need you to buy their products, support them or live in their community.

Take for example Olathe, Kansas.  Yes, being an Olathe homer has it’s advantages, but they are seriously after the media game.  They want to run a smart city, want people to live in Olathe and want you to know about it.

They have Facebook and Twitter accounts along with email newsletters and print media.  They hit you coming and going.  In 2012 their Olathe Link external newsletter was awarded the National Association of Government Communicators Best External Newsletter.  They were also recognized as one of America's top-ranked digital city governments (125,000-249,000 population) according to the 12th annual "Digital Cities Survey."  For a complete list of awards, click HERE.

I recently noticed an issue at a traffic signal and the congestion the ill-timed lights were causing in a certain direction.  Having plenty of time to lament about this, I took to my FB phone app and found the Olathe government page and let them know about the situation.  I tried to get some details in there without being overly belligerent, but upon reading it, one could tell I wasn’t thrilled.

Much to my surprise, the same day I got a response and a request for more information.  Within 3 to 4 days, the timing issue was fixed and I wait no more than two light cycles to make a commonly traveled intersection where it took 5 to 6 before.  I’ve now added 20 minutes back to my life not sitting at a light to get across one street.

If you take a look at their FB page, 90 percent of the posts are responded to.  Each response is without malice regardless of the poster’s intentions.  They accept gratitude were due, they offer suggestions where appropriate and best of all, they take action from honest inquiries.  They have effectively utilized Facebook as a tool to increase customer (residential) satisfaction instead of using it to post links to entertaining articles on the web.

I know next time I have an issue, I’ll be posting on their wall and expecting a legitimate response.  In this day and age of huge corporations with Facebook pages that do not respond to wall posts, Olathe stands apart in the service industry and that materializes in the retention of residents and the addition of more as the years go on.

Good work Olathe.

This, that and the other for a Friday with a side of Thunderclap

Couple of misc stuff in this post...
Have you ever heard of Thunderclap?  It's an interesting application where you have a cause or some sort of topic you want to get some exposure on, and you start a "Thunderclap" and recruit people to support it.

They can sign up with their Facebook account or Twitter account.  When you sign up, you allow the app to post to your FB or Twitter the message and link to the topic.  The catch is that nothing happens unless you get enough supporters by the deadline date.  Deadlines can be 7 to 14 days from the day you start the Thunderclap.  But, if you reach your goal number of supporters, on the time of the deadline, the message is sent to all supporter accounts and all of their networks see it.

It's a cool concept (seeing that I'm a social media geek like that).

Check out a few Thunderclaps I started.

Thunderclap for the Operation Jack Half in the Snow for Kansas City.  It's a half marathon on Dec 29th for the Autism Society.

Thunderclap to send out a tweet that Chrissie Wellington should reconsider retirement.  Just for fun...

Thunderclap for my 25 charities for Christmas that I started on Examiner.  More on that later...

Thunderclap for the Jingle Bell Run in Lawrence, Kansas.  It's the fundraising page for the youth honoree.

Check them out and consider supporting a couple.  I'm interested to see them fire off and what they garner for social media interaction.



Affiliate of the week, Seshday...

25 Days of Charities for Christmas...
I'm not keeping up, but I have 3 articles for endurance sports charities written for 6 days into December.  If I ever get the time, I hope to get caught up.  Stay tuned to my Examiner page to see what charities I find.  Also, drop me a comment if you have any suggestions.  I have 22 more to go.

Spotlight on endurance sports charity Blazeman Foundation

Spotlight on endurance sports charity Challenged Athletes Foundation

Spotlight on endurance sports charity Team in Training

Twitter gone bad

In this day and age, if you aren’t using Twitter, Facebook and similar social media sites for your business, then you’re missing the boat. One can find articles and research studies by the hundreds that support and prove the conclusion that utilizing social media increase the bottom line profits, aside from being an outlet for tweens to chat and employees to waste time on.

Now, you can’t just start up a twitter page and start tweeting about your day getting coffee, dropping of kids and changing diapers and hope the revenue starts rolling in. You need a plan, a good brand and a product worth purchasing. However, some people prefer to attempt to make money as fast as possible with little regard to morality or ethics such as Kenneth Lay and a little scandal at Enron, but that was before twitter.

Case in point is the events of Saturday, December 1, 2012, in Kansas City. Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend, mother of their 3 month old daughter, at their home and then drove to the Kansas City Chiefs practice facility and shot himself to death after talking with the head coach and general manager in the parking lot.

KANSAS CITY, MO - SEPTEMBER 20: 

Jovan Belcher #59 of the Kansas City Chiefs 

stands on the field during the game against the

Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium on 

September 20, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. 

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

That was around 8am. Around 9am, someone decided to attempt to capitalize on this tragedy and started a twitter page, @Jovan_Belcher. This page is now removed from the site, but that didn’t stop someone from posting tweets requesting retweets for donations. Never mind the fact this was obvious twitter spam and an attempt to gain followers to promote a twitter page, it was just pathetic. What was also shocking was that around 9am the page already had 1800+ followers. What were people hoping to see from the page? Maybe it was morbid curiosity, but it doesn’t really make sense. With so much positive potential that Facebook and Twitter brings, there’s also the dark side that attracts those interested in selfish and ulterior motives other than social interaction or business public relations. The bottom line is that there is no get-rich quick scheme with online social media. Snapping up a twitter handle of a slain NFL player hours after he shot his girlfriend and them himself will not garner you riches beyond your wildest dreams. More than likely it will result in your page being shut down and you being blocked from social media services.

Getting traction from online social media requires organic growth and sincere interactions with followers and connections. No one in their right mind is going to offer six figures to buy your bogus twitter profile. If they do make you an offer, ironically it will probably be as dependable as the content spewed on said bogus twitter page.