Commun.it: Build and Manage Customer Relationships on Twitter |  |
- Commun.it: Build and Manage Customer Relationships on Twitter
- Spotlight: Deborah Shane Has Insights for Small Business Owners
- Take a Healthy Bite of Tasti D-Lite
| Commun.it: Build and Manage Customer Relationships on Twitter Posted: 23 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT Commun.it, a CRM service built for Twitter, launched this week to help businesses and marketers not only reach consumers, but build and manage relationships with them. Instead of the stream-based Twitter dashboard all users see when they visit the site, Commun.it gives marketers and community managers the ability to build a more interactive and more in-depth look at their network.
The Commun.it dashboard gives its users more than just a look at a timeline of tweets from those they follow, but it also gives them more insights into how many followers others in their network have and how many conversations they've engaged in with you. It can also let you know if there are any conversations you have not yet replied to, so you can make sure to stay engaged with your best and most loyal customers and associates. Tools like HootSuite and TwitSpark already offer services for Twitter users that allow them to manage their network, but Commun.it aims to be more focused on the relationship aspect of Twitter rather than just managing and scheduling tweets. Management systems like this are also widely available for other social sites and platforms. But even though Commun.it may not be the first or most innovative new product, it can still be helpful for businesses looking to dive deeper into social media interactions with their customers and potential brand advocates. Additional features include the ability to manage multiple Twitter profiles, invite employees and team members to manage accounts together, and even see a complete history of conversations and interactions between your account and other important users. Users can enter hashtags, websites, and topics of conversation that are directly related to their business or industry and thus might help find new contacts or spur engagement with other users. The service is free for businesses with one twitter profile, and plans including access to more accounts and services range from $9.99 per month to $199 per month. The post Commun.it: Build and Manage Customer Relationships on Twitter appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Spotlight: Deborah Shane Has Insights for Small Business Owners Posted: 23 Sep 2012 11:00 AM PDT
But according to Deborah Shane, branding and media strategist, you need to keep your eye on the big picture. Her aim is to help small businesses put the pieces of the puzzle together and succeed. She offers some small business insights in this spotlight interview. Shane says:
Change is a Good Thing Shane lives by the mantra:
Her professional background is varied. Before becoming a small business expert, she was a professional singer/published songwriter, teacher and award-winning broadcast radio sales professional. In 2006, she decided to pursue her passion and help people through career transition, business development and professional advancement. Since then, she’s helped individuals move forward in their careers and their businesses, while focusing on branding and marketing strategy. She’s also written a book: Career Transition – Make the Shift: Your Five Steps to Successful Career Reinvention. Additionally, Shane authors a blog on her website and contributes to several national blogs, including Small Business Trends (see her articles here). Small Business Insight: Use Radio In addition to running her own successful online radio show (which just hit 100,000 downloads), Shane helps small businesses set up their own radio shows and podcasts. She says that these tools play well with other media and marketing activities, and that they’re fantastic for branding:
Five Success Insights Shane says when she started her consultancy and training company in 2007, her goal was to help people be armed to succeed in the 21st century. Being honored as a 2012 Small Business Influencer Champion, she says, tells her she’s on the right track:
Shane has happened upon five “success insights” as she has grown her business over the past five years:
This is one of a series of spotlight profiles of key players in the 2012 Small Business Influencer Awards. The post Spotlight: Deborah Shane Has Insights for Small Business Owners appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Take a Healthy Bite of Tasti D-Lite Posted: 23 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT
Are you still struggling with how to actually put social media to work for your brand or company? You know you're not alone in this. In fact, you probably run into a ton of folks who USE social media, but haven't quite hit upon the magic formula that all the gurus are writing about. If that sounds like you – then you'll want to pick up a copy of The Tasti D-Lite Way: Social Media Marketing Lessons for Building Loyalty and a Brand Customer Crave by James Amos, Chairman and CEO, Tasti D-Lite and BJ Emerson, VP Technology, Tasti D-Lite. I received a review copy of the book from a publicist a week ago. One of the first things I noticed was that it was written by the CEO and the VP of Technology for Tasti D-Lite, James Amos and BJ Emerson. James Amos is the CEO of Tasti D-Line and Planet Smoothie. He's a longtime leader in the franchising field. Before his foray into the world of food franchises, he was the Chairman and CEO of Mail Boxes Etc. BJ Emerson is known as an award winning social technology executive who has a long and consistent track record of innovation and leadership within the organizations he serves. He is widely considered a social loyalty pioneer and in 2010, he led the deployment of the first ever loyalty platform to feature and integration with Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. A Rallying Cry for CEOs Afraid of Social Media In an online world that still boasts a negligible percentage of CEOs on social media, Amos and Emerson stand out. The Tasti D-Lite Way is their rallying cry to other CEOs about the power of social media done right. It's important to note that this book is NOT written for the proverbial "choir" of online marketers and social media experts. It's written for the CEOs and business owners who aren't quite sure how to leverage social media to grow their business and their brand. The Tasti D-Lite Way is a story about a brand's determination to embrace the customer of the future while holding onto its existing loyal customer base. It shows business owners how to break free of organizational traditions and conventional approaches to marketing and enter a more open, transparent and authentic world where your brand can be humanized or self-expressed. If you're a CEO that's been standing on the sidelines and poo-pooing social media because deep inside, you just don't understand it and don't really want to take the risk to embrace it, then you'll find solace inside the pages of The Tasti D-Lite Way. There is a section of the book called "Old Dogs, New Tricks" where they discuss exactly this point. The authors asked the question:
As you might expect – the answers came down square on the side of learning online social skills is by far easier. After all, no amount of social media acumen can replace the business acumen and experience gained "on the court" so to speak. And this should give any business owner who has put off social media marketing encouragement. All You Need Is Vision, Commitment And A Killer Team Of Experts I'm not sure if this is what the authors intended, but the biggest lesson or impression I got out of reading this book is nothing more than what every successful business owner and CEO already knows; stay committed to your vision and surround yourself with experts who can put it into action. I think that there is a gross misunderstanding where social media is involved – that you HAVE to do it yourself. Just because a technology is easy to use and accessible by anyone with a keyboard or a smartphone, doesn't mean everyone should be a pro or an expert. Right? I mean just because you have a pen and paper isn't going to turn you into Shakespeare! So why should a social media account and the title of CEO turn you into a social media wiz? It shouldn't. And this is exactly what James Amos did. Amos took his business acumen and experience and his savvy observation of what works and recruited a team of experts who enthusiastically bought into his vision and helped him achieve it. The Tasti D-Lite Way will take you on their thought process and share many examples of how they integrated traditional business strategies and experiences into the new world of customer engagement and social media. The Future Is Human At the end of the book is a fantastic summary chapter where one of the key points is that "the future is human." Earlier, they ask if social media is a "bubble" and go on to distinguish the difference between expanded usage and irrational exuberance. The conclusion is that regardless of what technological tools we use – the future is human. Anything that your organization can do to be more human and to connect and relate to more humans is a strategy worth embracing. And this is what makes The Tasti D-Lite Way a book that every small business owner and CEO should read as they begin strategic planning for the new year. The post Take a Healthy Bite of Tasti D-Lite appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
So many small business owners keep their eyes down, working in their businesses rather than on them (a la Michael Gerber, author of E Myth), much to their own detriment.
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