Although it’s been around since 2010, this virtual pinboarding site completely escaped my notice until late last year. Even then, I paid it little attention until earlier this year when it suddenly moved to the forefront. All at once it seemed that my Facebook news feed was filled with my friend’s recent pins, my Twitter feed with links to articles about the latest social media craze, and my email inbox with requests from clients to integrate Pinterest into their blogs, websites, and Facebook pages.

I learn best by doing, so I began creating boards and adding pins related to my personal and professional interests, using alliterative names as I’ve done for the categories on this blog. Check out my boards here:

Here are a few articles that are worth checking out, whether you’re already using Pinterest or just wanting to know what the fuss is all about:

From GigaOM – Study: Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Google+, nearly on par with Twitter

From ReadWriteWeb – What Pinterest is Doing That Facebook Isn’t

From Ignite Social Media – Brands on Pinterest: Who, When and How Brands Are Using the Hottest Social Bookmarking Site

From Jay Baer – 5 Reasons Pinterest is Addicting and 4 Weaknesses That May Kill it

From Michelle Shaeffer – What You Absolutely Must Know to Use Pinterest Safely

Have you jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon?

Do you think it’s a useful marketing tool, or merely a diversion?

Is it destined to join Twitter and Facebook as a top social media site, or is it just a fad?

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on February 2012 in Review.

Unfortunately, some businesses don’t understand the difference between social media marketing and traditional advertising.

Traditional advertising is a one-way street. You put up a website, distribute flyers, or pay to advertise somewhere to let people know what you have to offer and how they’ll benefit from buying your product or services.

What makes social media marketing different is the opportunity to network with the people in your target audience. Just like attending professional networking events, social networking is not about making a quick sale, but about making connections and building relationships which may lead to opportunities down the road.

It’s quick and easy to send out promotional messages to your friends, fans, or followers on a regular basis, at little or no cost, but if that’s the only way you’re using social media, you’re missing out on its full power. When you supplement your promotional messages with links to articles that you’ve read or written, comments on current trends and events, and other useful information, you not only position yourself as an expert in your field, you give others a chance to interact with you by commenting or asking questions about what you’ve said.

To be really proactive, don’t wait for others to come to you. Take time to read what the people in your target market are talking about and engage with them by sharing your own comments, tips, advice, or congratulations.

People need to know that you’re good at what you do, but ultimately they want to do business with someone they know, like and trust. Letting them see your interests, your values, and your personality can give them insight into who you are and help build a connection, even if you’ve never met.

Think about it. Are you more likely to do business with someone who pops in to quickly drop off some flyers at a networking event while they’re on their way to somewhere else, or someone who takes the time to get to know you and the other people there?

Actively participating on social media sites is a great way to keep your name in people’s minds in between live networking events, so when they’re ready to do business, you’ll be the first one they think of.

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on Building Relationships through Social Media.

Of course, I know it’s not a real award, not like the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction Award I was nominated for in 2009. It’s really just a meme, but memes can be fun, so I’m happy to have an excuse to use one in my blog, and thank Erika for thinking of me.

There are four simple rules for The Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Post a link to the person who gave you the award.
2. Tell your readers seven random things about yourself.
3. Award 15 newly discovered blogs.
4. Send them a note letting them know you nominated them.

So, here are seven random facts about me:

1. I won second prize in the Discover Mississauga Photo Contest several years ago for this interior shot of Mississauga City Hall.
   
   (This is a photo of the photo, through the glass of the frame, so doesn’t really do it justice.)
2. I usually carry the same purse for months, and sometimes don’t even switch with the change in seasons, but I love shopping for purses. Shoes, not so much.
3. I love to play trivia games and am pretty good at them too.
4. I was a matched Big Sister for many years, and am still friends with my Little Sister, who is now all grown up and recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.
5. I have signed up for Google+, but haven’t yet figured out what, if anything, I will do there.
6. I was into Reduce-Reuse-Recycle before it was even a trend.
7. I make my own granola.

And here are the 15 blogs I’m nominating for the Versatile Blogger Award, in alphabetical order:

1. LinkedLearning by Margarita Ibbott: Help with using LinkedIn and other social media.
2. Daily Blogging Ideas by Michelle Shaeffer: Wonderful inspiration for both personal and business blogs.
3. Fabulous After 40 by Deborah Boland and JoJami Tyler: Fashion advice for those of us who aren’t as young as we used to be.
4. Garious Blog – Up to date information about social media.
5. Grow with Stacy: Tips for personal development, as well as blogging and social media.
6. The Lady Bloggers Society headed by Stepfanie Cuevas: Once a week they hold a Lady Blogger Social Tea Party to give readers a chance to share their blog posts – a great way to connect with other bloggers!
7. Marian Schembari: More goodies on social media and blogging.
8. MS Outlook for Business: Valuable tips for using email and discovering features of Outlook you never knew existed.
9. The Other Side of Organized by Linda Samuels: Explores the emotions connected with making changes in your life.
10. Site Sketch 101 by Nicholas Cardot: A wealth of information about blogging.
11. Solo-E.com by Terri Zwierzynski: Articles on all aspects of running a small business, including marketing, productivity and more.
12. Sunday Stealing hosted by Judd Corizan: A great place to find out about different blog memes of all types.
13. Teatime with Tina by Tina Chase: All about food and cooking.
14. Virtually Yours by Joanne Burgess: Fabulous tips about social media and small business topics.
15. WordPress Jedi: Information about WordPress themes, plugins, and security issues, as well as SEO and social media tips.

If you enjoyed this post, why not nominate yourself for a Versatile Blogger Award? If you do, please leave a link to your post in the Comments, so we can learn more about you and the blogs you read.

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on The Versatile Blogger Award.

Here are five tips to help you do just that.

1. Identify the sites that offer the most value for your business

If you use Facebook mainly to play games and reconnect with old friends, limit your visits to non-work times. You can still share your blog posts, post your business events, and link to your website, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that the time you spend on Facebook is helping you grow your business.

2. Connect with people in your target market

It’s great to network with other people in your industry – you can probably learn a lot from each other – but keep in mind that this should not be your main focus. If your goal is to find new clients, you need to connect directly with people in your target market, or with people who can introduce you to potential clients.

3. Choose your contacts wisely

Remember that networking isn’t about numbers; it’s about relationships. Don’t feel you have to accept every connection request you receive, especially from people who don’t explain why they want to connect with you. If you’re afraid of closing the door on a potentially valuable relationship, initiate a conversation. If the person does not respond, they’re not really interested in getting to know you, and you don’t need them on your contact list.

4. Create a schedule for your social networking

Unlike live networking events which may conflict with your best working hours, online networking can be done at any time of the day or night. Schedule specific times to visit high value sites. For some people, it may be 15 to 30 minutes at the end of each day; others may prefer to block half a day every week. The important thing is that you don’t allow it to cut into your billable hours.

5. Hire a virtual assistant to help you stay on top of things

Although you can’t really outsource relationship building, there are many ways a VA can reduce the time you spend on social media, including setting up your profiles, locating appropriate people for you to connect with, and logging into your accounts on a regular basis to deal with routine items and let you know about those that require your attention.

If you’ve avoided social media because you think it will be too time-consuming, you may be missing out on a valuable marketing tool. When you strategically select your sites and contacts and use your time wisely, you will be pleasantly surprised to see what can happen!

Today’s Question: How do you keep yourself on track when using social media?

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on Five Ways to Make the Most of Your Social Media Time.

But that’s enough about me! In honour of Social Media Day, I’d like to do something for YOU, so I’m offering $5.00 off my Basic Guide for Networking on Twitter, which was launched earlier this year. To take advantage of this special, simply enter the coupon code smday when you place your order. I wouldn’t want you to miss out if you’re taking a tech break over the long weekend, so this offer will remain in effect until midnight on Friday, July 8^th.

I’ve also found a couple of up-to-date free downloads for you (no email address required):

• 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report: insight into how over 3300 marketers are using social media to grow their businesses
• The 2011 CMO’s Guide To The Social Landscape: a chart to help you determine which social media tools and channels are your best bet in terms of customer communication, brand exposure, traffic, and SEO

Have you ever met face-to-face with someone you met on social media? Tell us about it!

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on Free Resources and a Special Offer for Social Media Day.

Like many others, I take advantage of time-saving tools to manage my social media presence, but that can only take you so far. Automated systems cannot take the place of personal engagement, and personal engagement requires time and effort.

For example, based on a couple of blog posts I’d read, I recently concluded that thanking people who retweeted my posts by tweeting “Thanks for the RTs @person1 @person2 @person3″ was just adding more noise to the already-cluttered Twitter stream. I then decided to return the favour instead, giving more value both to the retweeter and my other followers (see my post What Do You Do When Someone Retweets You? for more details). However, it didn’t take me long to realize that browsing their Twitter stream in search of something interesting, clicking on a link for further exploration in most cases, and then retweeting if appropriate, increases the time spent from a few seconds to a few minutes – even more if the first tweet doesn’t prove to be compelling. Multiply that by the number of retweets I receive each week, and I could spend hours just acknowledging my retweets!

I also make a practice of checking out my new followers and personally responding to comments on my blog and social media posts, as well as commenting on other people’s posts. These activities have contributed greatly to the size and strength of my network and brought me lots of additional business, so I’m certain I’ve found the right strategy for my business.

The challenge is that the more people who are reading, sharing, and commenting on my posts, the more time these activities require, and the more business I have, the harder it is to continue giving my social network the same level of attention.

This situation is really nothing new. Even before the Internet became an important resource for entrepreneurs, successful small business owners have struggled to make time for marketing and networking. Yet we know that if we don’t continue to invest time in marketing our businesses, the day will come when we have no business left to run.

How about you? What is your biggest challenge when it comes to social media?

Whatever it is, you’ll probably find the answer, and a lot more besides, at Social Media Success Summit 2011.

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on The Price of Popularity.

Books don’t seem to get as much media attention as movies, and when I sat down to watch The Social Network, I was surprised to learn that it was based on a book called The Accidental Billionaires. Not that it’s a secret, especially now that Aaron Sorkin has won the Oscar for ”Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.”

The Social Network answered a lot of questions I had in my mind, and then some. For example, before watching it, I had no idea that one of the co-founders of Napster was involved, and found the whole story quite fascinating.

Despite the fact that the movie was both entertaining and informative, I found myself wishing that the story was presented in chronological order rather than jumping back and forth in time, so I decided to read the book, hoping it would be easier to get the big picture. I was not disappointed.

Although it’s a fairly light and easy read, The Accidental Billionaires includes a lot more detail than The Social Network. That, combined with the chronological narration, gave me a much deeper understanding of the actual events. Furthermore, I feel the book is a more accurate portrayal. The Author’s Note at the beginning reads as follows:

The Accidental Billionaires is a dramatic, narrative account based on dozens of interviews, hundreds of sources, and thousands of pages of documents, including records from several court proceedings.

A few things are presented differently in the movie, which I’m sure the film makers did for entertainment value. Don’t get me wrong; The Social Network is great, and I’d recommend it to anyone. But if you want to know the whole scoop (or as much as is possible without direct input from the parties involved), you should read The Accidental Billionaires.

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on The Accidental Billionaires and The Social Network.

If adapting to change is a challenge for you, take heart in the fact that your business page will now look more like your personal profile, following the changes to profiles back in November. You’ll see that tabs which used to be across the top are now on the left side, and a row of five photos is displayed across the top.

At this time, upgrading to the new look is optional, but any pages which haven’t already made the switch will automatically be converted on March 11, 2011.

If you have questions about the new Facebook pages, or to suggest social media topics you’d like me to explore in future posts, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on What’s Happening to My Facebook Page?.

Did you know that people have been enjoying Jell-O since the late 1800s? It is, in fact, a “shining” example of a brand keeping up with the times. Over the years they’ve adapted to customer wants and needs by adding non-gelatin products to their line-up, introducing new flavours, discontinuing less popular ones, and catering to the demands of health-conscious consumers.

Are we doing that in our own businesses?

In terms of their marketing, they’ve also kept up with the times, going from magazines to radio to television. Who can forget those great commercials with Bill Cosby?

Not surprisingly, Jell-O even has a great Facebook page! Here are some of the things they do to encourage people to not only become fans but to become active participants in their online community:

• Direct new visitors to a special landing page, rather than the Wall or Info tab
• Allow fans to write on the Wall and, even more importantly, respond to their posts
• Ask timely questions such as “What are you doing to keep your New Year’s Resolution?” and “The Big Game is better when you’re with family and friends! Who are you watching it with?”
• Post recipes and money-saving coupons
• Invite fans to submit photos of their Jell-O creations
• Create photo albums showing their “Giggle Tours”
• Upload videos of their latest commercials

Even their Information box is fun! They could easily have included a lengthy paragraph describing their many products or the brand’s history, but they didn’t.

What other effective Facebook pages have you seen? What do you like about them?

How might we incorporate some of these ideas into our own Facebook pages?

Photo by Steven Depolo

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on What Can We Learn from Jell-O?.

The first example is the Best Western Rewards program. Not being much of a traveller, I’ve never bothered with this type of program in the past, figuring I’d never accumulate enough points to amount to anything. This summer they ran a promotion where you would receive one free night’s voucher if you had two Best Western stays within a specific time period. Since I was already planning two stays within the allotted time, I figured I might as well as sign up. I received my free voucher this week and am looking forward to another night away in the near future – something that wouldn’t even have happened otherwise.

I am just beside myself with delight to have received something so valuable, and so quickly.

Now, let’s look at Sears Canada. According to my Sears card, I’ve been a “valued customer” since 1983. Back then you needed a Sears card to place an order, and when they introduced Sears Club, I collected a lot of points purchasing major items for my home. But here’s the catch. Although you get two points for every dollar you spend, you need at least 1000 points to cash them in, and your points expire after 24 months, so essentially you have to spend at least $500.00 every two years to get any reward at all.

Maybe that’s fair – maybe people who only spend $100 or $200 per year don’t deserve to be rewarded. But let’s say you reach that magic number of 1000 points and cash them in for a $10.00 gift card. If you don’t use that gift card within six months, it expires!

I’m sure the purpose of this system is to encourage consumers to do more of their shopping at Sears, but for me, it has had the opposite effect. I don’t see any value in using my Sears card when I have to closely monitor my points balance to see whether I have enough to redeem; my points will probably expire before I do; and, even if I manage to squeak through, I’m under a time limit to enjoy my reward. Now if I want to buy something at Sears, I just use my regular credit card and receive points from my financial institution which don’t expire.

It’s very nice to call me a “valued customer” but words just aren’t enough!

Take a look at your own Customer Loyalty Program, if you have one, and ask yourself: are you really rewarding your loyal customers, or are you making them jump through hoops?

Please visit From the Desk of Janet Barclay to read and comment on Are You Really Rewarding Your Loyal Customers?.