Why Social Media Matters (guest post by Rebecca Krause-Hardie) November 16, 2009

Rebecca posed a question to me the other day.  It was something like this…
I know social media is important, and you know it’s  important, but how do we make the case for the value of social media – to people who think its just hype?

I think there are lots of reasons.

First, a bit of perspective: we seem to be approaching social media as if it were a whole new deal. Let’s be clear. We have all been struggling for thousands of years, how to relate to and engage one another; as tribal members, as individuals, families, clans, communities, institutions and organizations.

We have struggled as teen-agers with parental relationship controls, and peer pressure to behave in acceptable ways or be excluded. As adults we are participants in many organizations, institutions, companies, as well as community, cultural, and religious groups, that each subtly define what appropriate social behavior is and what is possible.

For thousands of years, large scale conquests across continents, wars and commerce have cross fertilized our cultures and social structures. Then, POOF, along comes the internet and social media technology tools, that have transformed the informational and social landscape of time, distance, interactive immediacy … and the possibilities for building and sustaining relationships, that are  both positive and negative.

But one thing is clear, over the centuries, through all of this … sustained personal trust, transparency, authenticity, loyalty, passion, and the value of personal relationships in our social networks – is the glue that keeps it all together.

So how does this speak directly to the value of social media today?

Here we are in the thick of it. Social media is about building and sustaining virtual networks of relationships – personal relationships – that are also built on trust, authenticity, transparency and value. When we, as individuals and organizations, invest in social media networking with our friends, associates, customers and prospective customers, there is also significant value that appreciates – to all of the participants.

Many researchers have identified a very specific group of those personal, loyal and passionate supporters, and relationships, that are the core multipliers of each of our networks. Alan Brown calls them Initiators; Fredrick Reichheld calls them Net Promoters.

Here is one analysis of the value of that relationship of trust, transparency and passion, delivered and sustained over time – Frederick Reichheld wrote an article in the Harvard Business Review called The One Number You Need to Grow:

‘Net Promoters’ – People who are wildly passionate about what we do

Enterprise Rent-A-Car was interested in understanding how people’s actions correlated with what they said. If someone says that they like to go to the theater – do they actually go, and what choices do they actually make?   In the study, they first tracked people’s initial responses to the survey, and then followed their actual downstream behaviors.

Historically millions of dollars have been spent understanding customer behavior; learning how to second guess what customers need and want. Most methods were complex, hugely expensive, marginally adequate, and frequently could not actually or accurately predict behavior.

Reichheld decided on a more direct social media approach – have a Q&A conversation with the customer – and really listen.

With the help of Reichheld, Enterprise discovered that the answer to only one survey question was all that was needed. This question is now widely used across a broad spectrum of for profit and nonprofit organizations:  That one question is:

“How likely are you to recommend my company to your friends?”

In the survey, people who answer that question with a 9 or 10 (on a scale from 1 to 10), are your Net Promoters. These people are the ones that will make the buying decision because they love your stuff (you deliver trust and real value over time), and when they passionately refer their friends to you for free, their friends are likely to act on it positively, 75% of the time.  This is an astounding return rate, especially if we look at typical results from direct mail for example with 2-3% returns.

Reichheld goes on to say that to grow your business the ratio of the Net Promoters to all the other respondents should be 75% or better.   How are you doing? You should ask the question and really listen to the answer if you want to grow. If your numbers are lower than that, your customers will be able to tell you what you need to do to change it … if you ask, and then act on it!

Personal referrals are effective 75% of the time!

We just learned from Reichheld that personal referrals are effective about 75% of the time, so it begs the question.  “What are personal referrals about?” They are about personal relationships.  We talk to our friends, and we tell them what is important to us.  We share, we trust, we value….  all the things that evolve from building social capital.  When we are enthusiastic about something we share it.   Let’s say I just had a spectacular experience with the customer service at AutoZone and I tell you about it; that will probably stick with you next time you need to pick up a part.  (Or have a headlight put in….. they did it for me instantly politely and happily!  Yay!)

On the other hand, say I have three excruciating gut-wrenching and really bad experiences in a row with Spirit Airlines (yes I did!) and I tell you about it; that may affect how you think about them too.

What does this have to do with Social Media?

Social media is about building relationships with people.  When people are making their decisions in large part based on what their friends say, then it’s important to know what their friends are saying and feeling.

If they are a passionate promoter then social media tools can help you empower them to deliver your message for free.

If they are not a net promoter, then you should be concerned about what they are saying and feeling that is not helping your cause.  What can your organization do to provide more value and to address the issues that these people have.  How will you even know what they are saying and thinking?

You can use social media tools to listen and have conversations with people. To be relevant you have to be part of the conversation.

Want some facts and figures?   Check out this video on YouTube….

Rebecca Krause-Hardie is a social media strategist, arts blogger, facilitator/trainer & project manager; helping arts and NPO’s use the web and social media effectively.  Rebecca has over 20 yrs experience in new media, business, marketing, finance. She developed and has been the Executive Producer of the award winning New York Philharmonic’s Kidzone website, now in its 10th year. www.nyphilkids.org.  Representative clients the Boston Symphony, NYPhilharmonic, Detroit Symphony, MAPP International, Canadian Museum of Nature, NYS/Arts, Caring.com and the Paul Taylor Dance Company.
She blogs at http://arts.typepad.com/
She Twitters at @arkrausehardie

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On Going it Alone… October 23, 2009

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the business we are in and how hard it is to continuously be motivated. As artists, we are one-man-shows, chief cooks and bottle-washers. For the most part, when we write that song, sketch out that painting, work on our novel, we do it alone. The arts can be very solitary.

I talk to people all the time to who struggle with this. Forced to have a job to support themselves while they build their art practice, they find themselves too tired/burnt out/uninspired to focus on their art practice at the end of the day.

The answer is just to show up. To treat your art as a job that you carve out time for every day, and show up to. It works because you no longer have to worry about inspiration or quality. Just by producing your work in sheer quantity, you will eventually come up with something great, or be inspired to create.

Still, like going to the gym, it can be tough to have the self-discipline to make yourself do it. So I suggest you get an art buddy.

Find someone who does what you do, or someone who doesn’t but is still an artist, and make a pact with them: you will both spend ‘X’ amount of time on your work over the next day/week/month. And then phone each other, send each other emails, or meet to discuss how it went. Having someone to be accountable to outside of yourself can be a very powerful motivator.

I’ve used this method many times in my life. It started when I worked at the SEARCH program, a self-employment program for artists. We would regularly create “Success Teams” out of groups of graduates who were encouraged to meet after the program was over to share ideas, help and motivation. The first few times I tried to get through The Artist’s Way, I was unsuccessful, but by going through it with a group which included weekly meetings, I got through it and I got lots out of it. Currently, I belong to a small business support group. We have been meeting bi-weekly for two years, now, and this group has been a great source of assistance–both by cheering me and kicking me in the butt.

So, whoever you are, whatever your art practice, I encourage you to not go it alone. Find someone, or a group of someones who are like-minded individuals, and create your own support group.

You can learn more about how to create your own “mastermind group” here.

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Creating an email signature October 7, 2009

Last week, I got an email from Simon. This, in and of itself, is not strange, given that we work together. A lot. What was new was this spiffy signature:

I took a screenshot and converted it to a .jpg, so you’ll have to believe me when I say all links are clickable.

Email signatures are a powerful tool. They’re like the digital equivalent of a business card. As we become more and more active online, there are more and more places to connect with us, or points of entry. You might meet someone on LinkedIn that you didn’t know through Facebook, or vice-versa. So it’s important to allow your clientele to connect with you in whatever way they like the best.

So, first of all, if you don’t yet have an email signature, create one. Most email programs will allow you to do this, even the web-based ones like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail.

Your signature should include any below that are applicable:

• Name, position, company
• Logo
• Address (ONLY if you have an office, not your home address)
• Phone number
• Website URL
• Blog URL
• Ways to connect with social networking: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

I came across a cool little program that writes the code for you, called Sig22.

Special thanks to the lovely and talented Janet Baxter, who sent me this article from CNN Business on how to create a digital business card.

Maybe if you ask him nicely, Simon will tell you how he did his.

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Social Nettiquette September 25, 2009

Last week, I did a guest post on The Art Biz Blog. Alyson Stanfield has a very successful blog that, like mine, focuses on the business of being an artist, although hers is more geared towards visual artists, while my specialty is theatre. You can read my guest post here.

As a result of doing this guest post, my blog was introduced to a new group of people who hadn’t heard of me before. Those people visited my website or my about page, and a bunch of them followed me on Twitter, or asked to friend me on Facebook.

I think.

I’m not entirely sure, because I find myself in a situation that requires a new-age Miss Manners. You see, since last week, I’ve gotten a bunch of friend requests from people that I don’t know, and have no friends in common with. I have no problem being friends with people who found me through my blog, but I have a strict policy about not being friends with strangers. Even if I’ve never met the person, I need to know who they are before I allow them to be my friend. This is just due to the personal nature of Facebook; I use it for dual purposes. I have pictures of Michael on there that are meant for his grandma, but I also do a lot of business.

So, here’s my suggestion: when asking someone to be your friend on Facebook, take a minute and write that person a little note saying how you know them, even if it is a virtual connection. My feeling is, your friend request will be accepted a lot faster.

Another solution to this problem would be for me to start a fan page for my blog. That would clearly separate the business from the person.

Does anyone know if Miss Manners is hiring?

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Why social media? August 24, 2009

(the following is an excerpt from my e-book: Guide to Getting Started with Social Media for Artists and Arts Organizations)

Marketing is creating relationships built on trust.

The days of heavy‐handed, high‐pressure sales tactics are gone. The advent of Television, mass print,
and the internet made it easy for advertisers to get their products under our noses. But after many years
of being bombarded with literally thousands of ads per day, we have developed the ability to tune it out.

I see us returning to the day of the door‐to‐door salesman. In the ‘50’s, housewives often bought wares
from a familiar salesman that came around at regular intervals. There was a trust between the buyer
and the seller that was built on personality, and getting to know each other (for the seller, getting to
truly know his housewives’ needs).

While I’m not advocating you start trying to sell your artwork door‐to‐door, I am encouraging you to
jump  into  social  media  because  it  is  a  very  powerful  form  of  relationship  marketing.  Relationship
marketing works because if you get someone on your side, they will bring others to you. Think about
products that you use in your own life. If you really love something, and are finding that it makes your
life easier, won’t you tell others about it? You become, in essence, an ambassador for that product. And
if you tell a friend and convert them, and then they tell someone… well, you get the idea. Social media
makes this process painless, easy, and, immediate.

Any marketer worth their salt will tell you that word‐of‐mouth is always your number one form of
advertising. And the joy of social networking is that you have the ability to reach new, and perhaps
untapped, markets, all from the comfort of your own computer.

I recently came across this great YouTube video, created by the fine folks over at 22 Squared, which illustrates this point perfectly.

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I’m on a Teleclass! July 24, 2009

This week, I did an interview with Jason Drohn, who is an online small business coach. We met through Twitter, and he is an avid blogger. He does a series of teleclasses, and my interview with him is  one of them.

Our conversation includes the topics:

• How organizations who rely on promoting their through the newspaper should be marketing in new media.
• The secret of promoting video through social media
• How and why you should be engaging customers through all sorts of mediums – audio, video, text
• How to sell 1-to-1 through social media
• How to create ambassadors for your business
• How your blog should integrate with your social media stream
• The strategy behind developing a plan for social networking
• What you shouldn’t do to promote your business with social media
• What the true cost of social networking is
• What you need to be careful about concerning brand management
• The truth on what Twitter marketing is actually about
• How to find clients and business through Twitter
• How to cross promote everything – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, etc.

And more!

Click here to listen to the MP3.

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Theatre Tweeple II July 17, 2009

In February, I put up a post of Theatre people that I follow. That was a few months ago, and I’ve acquired a few since then. In honour of #FollowFriday, here they are (in geographic order):

BRITISH COLUMBIA

@CTibbs: Camilla Tibbs, Vancouver

@AtomicVille: Atomic Vaudville Theatre Company, Victoria

@TUTSstanleypark: Theatre Under The Stars, Vancouver

@VancouverOpera: Vancouver Opera, Vancouver

@VanMusicals: An aggragator of musicals in Vancouver

@VanFitz: Michael Fitzpatrick, a theatre admin-type in Vancouver

@foyee: Artistic Associate at Theatre Conspiracy

@playenthusiast: Sally Bent, Vancouver

@solocollective: Solo Collective, Vancouver

@ashleywhillans: Ashley Whillans, actor, Vancouver

@Miss00V: Veronica Campbell, actor, Vancouver

@PraxisTheatre: Praxis Theatre, Vancouver

@Karess: Kaare Long, Administrator, Vancouver

@tentativeequinox: Vancouver

@lacovee: Janis La Covee, Theatre Patron, Victoria

@NicoleMcLuckie: Nicole McLuckie, Publicist, Arts Club Theatre, VAncouver

@powellstfest: Powell St Festival, Vancouver, BC

@Blue_Bridge: Blue Bridge Theatre, Victoria

@DreamRiderTheatre: Port Moody, BC

@TheArtsClub: The Arts Club Theatre, Vancouver

@ShiftArts: Shift Arts: performance art, Port Moody

@RentInVancouver: Rent, Fighting Chance Productions, Vancouver

@thezoocrew: Itsazoo Productions, Vancouver/Victoria

@GillianRFTH: Gillian Lockitch, Theatre blogger/reviewer, VAncouver

@THTReplacement: Theatre Replacement, Vancouver

@TheWriterlyLIfe: Andrea Warner, theatre reviewer/blogger, Vancouver

@NewWorldTheatre: New World Theatre, Vancouver

@ChanCentre: The Chan Centre, Vancouver

@BizBooks: Biz Books, Vancouver’s only theatre/film bookstore

@Audrey_Bee: Adriana Bucz, theatre admin, Vancouver

@vancouverfringe: The Vancouver Fringe festival

@broadus: Broadus, actor, Vancouver

@EmilyKindred: Emily Kindred, Vancouver

@Ryaninvancouver: Ryan Mooney, AD, Fighting Chance Productions, Vancouver

@RandiAndreychuk: Randi Andreychuck, Actor, Vancouver

@theatre_20, Sabrina Evertt, Twenty-something Theatre, Vancouver

@kennedyg: Kennedy Goodkey, actor, producer, Vancouver

@getrealtheatre: Get Real Theatre, Tswassen

CANADA

@CanadasNAC: The National Arts Centre in Ottawa

@sterlinglynch: Actor/writer, Ottawa

@YvetteDudley: Yvette Dudley Newman, Actor

@ottawafringe: The Ottawa Fringe Festival

@nestruck: Kelly Nestruck, Theatre reviewer, The Globe and Mail, Toronto

@canstageco: The Castage Company, Ottawa

US

@Theatresmart: Ann Sachs, NYC Theatre designer

@the_ahtist: Katherine Mills, South, Actor.

@TheNOLAProject: The NOLA Project, New Orleans

@BairdWilliamson: Baird Williamson, producer

@fishbowlmuse: Chloe Whitehorn, Actor

@KrisVire: Kris Vire, theatre editor, Time Out Chicago

@RyanNewYork: Ryan Davis, Musical director, NYC

@cindyoconnor: Cindy O’Connor, Actor, LA

@Gfiremark: Gordon Firemark, Theatre Producer, LA

@geoffshort: Geoff Short, Actor/Producer, Cleveland, OH

@TheatreStory

@sdrosenb: Scott Rosenblum, Theatre Producer, NYC

@ActorsandCrew: employment in theatre

@bilald: Bilal Dardai, Actor, NYC

@hidtal: HIdden Talent Theatre, Chicago

@DanielKuney: Daniel Kuney, GM, NYC

@TuttoTheatre: Tutto Theatre, Austin, TX

@CambiareProd: Cambiare Productions, Austin, TX

@thedavidbeach: David Beach, Actor, LA

@chriscasquilho: Depot Theatre, NY

@willactforfood: Will Act for Food, Chicago

@jodisc: Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, Producer, Westport, CT

@columbiajames: James Sims, Theatre writer, NYC

@dloehr: David Loehr, Riverrun Theatre Co

@happierman: Jeffery Cranor, Actor, Brooklyn

@NYneofuturists: NY Neofuturists, NYC

@fullcircletheat: Full Circle Theatre, NYC

@ivanvega: Ivan Vega, actor, Chicago

@millar: Millar, Actor

@starstrucklynna: Lynna, actor, Massachusetts

@aboutfacechi: About Face Theatre, Chicago

@floggingkatie: Katie Barry, NY

@AtlanticTheater: Atlantic Theater Co, NY

@eclipsetheatre: Eclipse Theatre Co, Chicago

@gglasstheatre: Lookingglass THeatre, Chicago

@halcyontony: Tony Adams, AD, Halcyon Theatre, Chicago

INTERNATIONAL

@pinteresque: Billy Hiscoke, SM out of London

@jordanmechano: Jordan Mechano, Actor, Tehran

@TMTPlayers: The Melbourn Town Players, Australia

@royalcourt: Royal Court Theatre, London

@bs10064: Brian Swann, actor, Belfast

@findo: Andrew Findo, Baritone, London

@musicthetresth: Music Theatre South, South of England

Please report errors and omissions in the comments section below! (apologies to you in advance if I forgot you!)

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I.R.L. July 3, 2009

I’m self-employed, and I work from home. Sometimes the only other beings I see for days are my cats.

When I lost my job in July of 2007 and decided to go into business for myself, the thing I realized missed the most about working in the office was talking to my co-workers. Going for coffee, lunch, or just talking about something we’d seen on TV the night before.

I love being self-employed. But it can be very quiet and lonely, especially for someone who consistently scores as an extrovert on the Meyers-Briggs.

I love online social networking because it ends up being like taking a break and chatting with my co-workers. But there’s nothing that can really replace hanging out with people I.R.L. (in real life), and I sometimes forget that.

I have a small business support group that I meet with once every two weeks, and I am always amazed at how much energy I take away from that meeting. Online social networking is great, but we also need to be around real people.

A lot of  online social networking has been leading to real-life meetups: a group of people who have met online via Twitter will get together at a bar or a coffee shop to meet and talk and, yes, Twitter.

If you’re feeling stuck at home without human contact, go to meetup.com, do a search for something that interests you, and see if you can find a group of people meeting I.R.L. that you can connect with.

I know, it sounds crazy, but you just might like it.

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I am in love with Naomi Dunford June 1, 2009

So, I just discovered this new blog, and I’m totally in love. So much in love, that I need to shout my new affection from the rooftops (ie: my blog).

Ittybiz is a blog written by Naomi Dunford. A gal who paid her dues in the marketing departments of large corporations, a couple  years back, she chucked it all for a home-based business, and is doing pretty darn good. She now consults with micro-businesses (less than 5 employees), and writes a blog of tips and thoughts on same. Plus I love that she works with her husband, and has a baby. Oh, and did I mention she’s funny? It’s like The Blogess was writing small business advice.

Through Naomi’s blog, I have discovered Dave Navarro. His blog is called Rock Your Life. Navarro is a business launch coach, and his blog is all about becoming more productive without losing perspective.

Used to be, if you wanted to learn how to be (or how to be a better) entrepreneur, you signed up for a course, or read a few books. Now, all you need is Google Reader.

Follow them on Twitter:
Naomi: @IttyBiz
Dave: @RockYourLife

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Lessons learned from Wine country… May 25, 2009

Posts have been a bit sporadic this past week. Part of the reason for that is because I took a few days off last week (and

The Naramata Bench

by took a few days off, I mean, I took my laptop and blackberry with me, and still ended up doing a couple of hours of work each day–come on summer!), and my sweetie and I headed up to Penticton for some exploring and wine tasting.

If you visit the “Naramata Bench”, just a 10-minute drive from Penticton, there is a long and spectacular road with some two-dozen or so wineries. It is literally one winery after another, and some of BC’s best-know wines come from this region.

Kettle Valley Winery

We first wanted to visit the Joie Winery, but they didn’t have a wine shop, or tastings. We then ended up at  Kettle Valley. For $4 each, we got to taste an ounce of four different kinds of wines–two red, and two white. We didn’t love the wines enough to buy one, but we did participate in a Gewurztraminer slushy, which was extremely civilized on a hot day.

Detail of the Therapy sign

Next up: Therapy Vineyards. Located just up the hill from Kettle Valley, the experience couldn’t have been more different. Kettle Valley’s tasting room was a converted garage. It was a nice a garage, but it was still a garage. Therapy had a specially-built wine-tasting room and store. Tastefully decorated with a long tasting bar, here we got to sample a flight of 7 wines for $3. Therapy uses lots of clever names for its wine–Freudian Sip, Super Ego, and thier most popular, Pink Freud. The gal who poured our wines was able to tell us all about them in a very conversational way, without sounding like she was reading it off of a script. And she was a genuine wine enthusiast herself, telling us about her collection. The experience was very, very positive, and we left with bottle in tow.

At Therapy Vineyards

So, why am I writing a blog post about wine tasting on a blog that deals with business in the arts? Because these three wineries were stunning examples of enterprises that we can all learn from.

Joie is quite a successful, critically-acclaimed winery. My feeling is, they think that they don’t need to be so open to their clientele. They feel that business is good, they have a beautiful website and successful sales. For them, that’s enough. At Kettle Valley, I felt like they were maybe just going through the motions. You know: “you should really have a tasting room. It can help to boost sales.” But it felt quite cold and mechanical, without heart. Therapy was doing it right. They were open, conversational, and really let us see behind the scenes. And the result was, we bought in (literally). I will recommend this wine to my friends, I would highly recommend you visit the winery if you are ever in the area, and, in a sea of labels at the liquor store, that one will stand out for me because of its clever marketing.

I know you hear me talk ad nauseum about how all arts businesses should be involved with social media. The reason why is because it helps your clientele to get to know “the real you.” And when they do, they will buy in. And beyond that, become your ambassador. My experience at Therapy was so positive, I now consider myself an ambassador for them. All they are out is some employees’ salaries and 7 ounces of wine. And how much business will they get in return? That’s the hard part to prove, but I can guarantee you it will be more than the business that Joie or Kettle Valley will get from me.

Oh–and one more thing I learned–I apparantly get quite chatty after tasting 7 different wines.

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