LEDs: Energy-Efficient Business Lighting Gets More Affordable

When it comes to energy-saving opportunities for businesses, lighting frequently tops the list. Every business needs lights, and energy-efficient varieties– such as compact fluorescents (CFLs) and T8 fluorescent tube lights – use 40 percent to 75 percent less energy than their conventional (dare I say “old-fashioned”?) counterparts. Replacing older lights with more efficient alternatives often pays back in less than two years – far quicker than other, more costly energy upgrades.

But there’s another big lighting opportunity on the horizon:Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.  They are getting more affordable, too.

Many businesses already use LED-lit exit signs and“Open” signs because they are cost-effective alternatives to signs with less efficient bulbs. And many large corporations, from Wal-Mart to Starbucks, are starting to invest in LEDs for many different types of fixtures.

But most small businesses don’t currently use LEDs in their light fixtures because of the substantial upfront cost. CFL bulbs may cost $2, while an LED light bulb can cost more than $30. However, it’s hard to overlook the energy-saving potential:LEDs use less than half the electricity of fluorescent lights and can last more than 30 years.

Consider this:One 60-watt incandescent light bulb might cost $12 in electricity a year to operate, while a CFL might cost $3 and a LED might cost $1.50. But once you factor in the upfront cost of the bulbs, it takes far longer to pay off the LED. The real savings comes in the long lifespan of LEDs. Moreover, LEDs tend to have a more pleasing, softer quality of light than fluorescents and don’t contain mercury.

The economics of LEDs is getting brighter every day, and there’s reason to start considering them.The New York Timesrecently reportedthat the price of certain LED light bulbs had fallen below $20 at Home Depot– several years before forecasters ever thought they’d get so affordable. When the price starts getting below $10 or $15, it may be time to buy.

Moreover, there’s already some financial help for businesses interested in installing LEDs. Some state programs and utility companies have introduced rebates for businesses that install LEDs, greatly reducing the price. Efficiency Vermont, an energy-efficiency advocacy program, offers $30 rebates for businessesthat install Energy Star-qualified screw-in  and pin-based LEDs and $150 for businesses that put in LED directional track lighting. That goes a long way toward helping cover the big upfront cost.

It might be worth seeing what incentives for LEDs are available to your business.

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Want Customers To Friend You, Reach Out!

One of the questions I get most from small business owners is, How do they get customers to engage with them in social media? For example, once they’ve taken the time to build and create their Facebook presence, what’s next so that customers find them and begin to interact? Often we talk about how todrive fans to your Facebook pagein terms of offering exclusive content, hosting giveaways, and leveraging other activities designed to increase engagement and awareness, but it seems we forget one thing:

If you want your customers to engage with you on social media, you have to ask.

eMarketer shared a surveydone byDDB WorldwideandOpinionway Researchand found that three-quarters of Facebook users worldwide who had“liked” a brand did so as a result of an invitation or advertising from the brand that they followed. Only 49 percent of all Facebook users said they had friended a brand after doing their own research.

Yes, you need to create a page that users will want to join and one that will bring value. But once you do so, you have to make sure that they know about it. And sometimes that’s as simple as letting them know that your page exists.

You have touse self-promotionto get the word out about the social account you’re trying to build up. As a small business owner, that may mean:

• Sending out personalized Facebook messages to those in your hometown network.
• Creating a street team to spread the word in their own networks on your behalf.
• Putting a call to action in your company newsletter.
• Promoting the accounts on your Web site or in your company blog.
• Listing the accounts in all printed company material.
• Linking all of your social media accounts together to make them easier to find.

Whatever you do, you have to do something. The research by Worldwide and Opinionway Research illustrates that just because a customer knows you exist, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll track you down in social media to friend you. If you’ve moved in next door, sometimes you need to ring the door and let them know.

Also stressed in the survey was the importance of keeping a customer’s interest once they do become a fan. According to the research, 36 percent of users who“like” a brand will eventually unsubscribe. Reasons for unsubscribing include losing interest in the brand (32 percent), the brand publishing too much information (27 percent) and not being interested in the information published (27 percent). These numbers drive home the importance of being in tune with your audience and knowing why it is they’ve connected with you. What information/experience do they want and how can you offer that to them?

For small business owners on social media, the secret to success is to learn why your customers would want to interact with you via these new channels (what can they get on Facebook that’s not on your site?) and then making sure they’re aware it exists. It sounds simple, but sometimes it is. Because sometimes it’s simply about giving people exactly what they want.

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How Are Black and Women-Owned Businesses Doing?

The Census Bureau recently trumpeted news about growth in Black and women-owned businesses. With thepress releasebearing the headline of“Census Bureau Reports Minority Business Ownership Increasing at More Than Twice the National Rate,” the Census’s Press Office gave the impression that the 2007 Survey of Business Owners unearthed a boom in minority entrepreneurship.

The press release explained that the number of“black-owned businesses in 2007 {was} up 60.5 percent from 2002….The number of white-owned businesses increased by 13.6 percent…. The number of women-owned businesses … {was} up 20.1 percent from 2002. By comparison, men-owned businesses … {were} up 5.5 percent from 2002.” By comparing White and Black entrepreneurs and male and female ones, the Census Bureau gave the impression that Black and female entrepreneurs did better than White, male ones between 2002 and 2007.

However, a more careful look at Census’s own data tells a different story.

BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES
The release is right about some things. The number of Black-owned companies jumped 60.5 percent between 2002 and 2007. And revenues and employment at Black-owned employer firms grew faster than similar numbers at White-owned companies.

But several dimensions not discussed in the release tell a different story. The first is that few Black-owned businesses are employer firms, and Black-owned employer firms grew much less (13.6 percent) than Black-owned non-employer-firms (64.6 percent). This skewed Black business ownership even more toward non-employer businesses than in the past. Blacks experienced more than twice the drop of Whites in the share of businesses that have employees. As a result, in 2007, while one-in-five White-owned businesses employed at least one person, only one-in-eighteen Black-owned companies had any workers.

Because the average revenue of an employer firm was just shy of $4 million in 2007, as compared to $45,000 for non-employers, adding relatively few employer firms makes a huge difference in terms of economic impact. Despite the growth in the number of businesses from 2002 to 2007, Black-owned companies only increased from 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent of revenues of all U.S. businesses. For employer firms, the revenue share remained at 0.3 percent and the share of payroll at 0.5 percent.

Black-owned businesses also didn’t do well on the revenue front. Although average revenues of all U.S. businesses declined a slight 1.6 percent in real terms between 2002 and 2007, for Black-owned businesses, the decline was a much steeper 16 percent.

Black-owned businesses could ill afford this drop in revenues. In 2007, the average Black-owned firm had revenues of $62,200 (in 2002 dollars). By comparison, the average White-owned business had revenues (in 2002 dollars) of $395,130.

The numbers reveal a widening gap between White and Black-owned businesses. In 2007, White-owned businesses generated 6.4 times the revenue of Black-owned businesses, a jump from 5.6 times only 5 years earlier.

It’s also not clear how much we should cheer the 64.6 percent increase in the number of Black-owned non-employer firms. Average revenues at these firms dropped 10.7 percent in real terms between 2002 and 2007. Perhaps more importantly, in 2007 the average revenue at a Black-owned non-employer firmwas only $18,500 (in 2002 dollars).

Finally, wages did not hold up well at Black-owned companies. Black-owned firms dropped average wages by 3 percent in real terms to $22,584 (in 2002 dollars), while White-owned firms increased them by 2.1 percent to $30,298 (in 2002 dollars).

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES
For women, the Census Bureau also got part, but not all, of the story right. From 2002 to 2007, the number of women-owned businesses increased much faster than the number of male-owned businesses. Moreover, among job-creating employer firms, the number of women-owned businesses managed to stay almost flat (-0.6 percent), a big achievement considering that the number of male-owned employer businesses dropped 8.2 percent. Furthermore, women-owned businesses upped employment by 6.2 percent, while men-owned businesses reduced workers by 2 percent.

But these numbers, again, doesn’t tell the whole story. Over the five year period, sales lagged at women-owned firms, dropping 8.1 percent in real terms, as compared to staying almost flat (-0.6 percent) for men-owned businesses. As a result, in 2007, the average revenue of a male-owned business in 2007 was 3.5 times what it was in female-owned businesses.

For women, revenue numbers were not as good as for men at either non-employer or employer firms. At the more economically important employer firms, average revenues at male-owned businesses increased 14.6 percent in real terms from 2002 to 2007, as opposed to 10.1 percent for women-owned businesses.

We also saw a shift of women toward ownership of non-employer businesses. The share of employer firms shrank more among women-owned businesses than men-owned companies, falling 17.2 percent versus 13 percent. As a result, in 2007 only one-in-eight women-owned businesses had employees.

CONCLUSION
In short, as the Census Bureau explained, women and minorities increased their ownership of businesses between 2002 and 2007. However, not told in the Census tale was what else happened to women and Black-owned companies. Both Blacks and women lost ground in their relative share of employer businesses– the kind of small businesses with large economic impact. Moreover, both groups saw poor performance of their businesses on the revenue side.

The Census press office might evaluate whether revenues and the share of employer businesses matter more in assessing entrepreneurial performance than growth in the number of businesses. The latter figure is dominated by the number of non-employer businesses– companies with no workers and an average of $45,000 in annual sales. Growth in non-employer businesses might measure little more than the shedding of employees by corporations seeking to get out of paying for employment taxes and employee health insurance.

When reports like this one are released, how the results are framed affects the response people have to them. By presenting the results as indicating that Black and women-owned businesses grew faster than White and men-owned ones, the Census Bureau gave the impression that these businesses are doing well and no problems that require policy makers’ attention. By contrast, my look at the same numbers suggests that we still need to understand and fix lagging performance at Black and women-owned businesses.

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5 Trends Uncovered at BlogWorld

Small Business Trendshas been a media partner ofBlogWorld Expofor several years but this is the first year I attended the show in Las Vegas.  I just got back late last night, so while it’s still fresh in my mind here’s a report of 5 trends about blogging I noticed from the show:

Las Vegas, at night. Photo taken from inside a helicopter as part of the Infolinks night helicopter tour for bloggers, at Blogworld Expo 2010.

1. From Early Adopters to Mainstream

BlogWorld had over 4,000 registered attendees this year.  The show just keeps getting bigger each year.  So if nothing else, it suggests that interest in blogging is not declining, but growing.

And when you look at the different conference tracks, you see just how broadly blogging has woven its way into our society.  No matter what your occupation, your passion or your circumstances, it seems there’s a blogging community for you.   You could see these different interests at BlogWorld.  For food bloggers, Jenn-Air had a large exhibit booth with a stage where they help cooking demonstrations, including food for the audience to sample.  Military bloggers had a substantial presence— the U.S. Army was even a show sponsor, with members of the military visible in uniform.  There were specific blogging tracks for health, sports, travel, real estate and causes.

These are just more signals that blogging has reached the mainstream.  With blogging appealing to so many different groups for very different reasons, it’s easy to see how far blogs and bloggers have“infiltrated” society.

The Macallan, Exhibitor at BlogWorld Expo 2010 (notice the Twitter instructions on the sign)

2. Blogging and Social Media Go Hand in Glove

Along with blogging, the world of social media also had a key role in the event.   While some commentators suggest thatsocial media has replaced blogging, that’s an oversimplification.  Social media and blogging are not“either / or.”   Rather, they complement one another.  Bloggers often amplify their blog posts through social media— spreading the word through social sites about blog posts they want to share with others.  Bloggers also know the power of social media to develop community— to reach out and engage with a community of like-minded people on other platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the like— and introduce them to their blogs.

Brands that want to raise their profile online also understand the relationship between blogs and social media. Notice the sign (pictured above) of one of the  show exhibitors,The Macallan, with a Twitter suggestion.

This symbiotic relationship among blogs and social media was apparent in many BlogWorld sessions and keynotes. They inevitably touched on both social media and blogging— often in the same sentence.

Network Solutions Schwag from BlogWorld 2010

3. Entrepreneurship and Blogging

A noticeable group of the attendees were entrepreneurs who either want to make a business out of blogging or currently run blog-based businesses.

What I found most revealing is the mindset so many have, that blogs can be an avenue to create a business.  Quite a number of bloggers seemed to be there to answer one question: “How can I make money with my blog?” For many, blogs are part-time endeavors or fledgling enterprises.  Still, the connection between entrepreneurship and blogging was hard to miss.

Consequently there were companies on hand that cater to small businesses and startups.  For instance, CorpNet, whichprovides incorporation services, was an exhibitor. Network Solutions(see their show schwag pictured above) hosted a Have a Taco lunch for influential bloggers.  (Note: I am a member of the Network Solutions Social Media Advisory Board.)

Panel at BlogWorld Expo 2010 of publishers (Wiley and GreenLeaf) and authors (C.C. Chapman and Hadji Williams)

4. Books and Bloggers– What a Combo

We publish business book reviews here atSmall Business Trendsevery Saturday.  Quite a few of the books (perhaps 40% or more) are written by bloggers or have a blog set up specifically for the book.  So it should not have been a surprise to see books so prominently featured at BlogWorld.  Yet, I was surprised by just HOW MUCH of a presence books and traditional publishing had at BlogWorld.

For instance, there were 2 panel discussions devoted to book publishing, including representatives of publishers Wiley and Greenleaf (see picture above).

Borders had a large booth stuffed with books written either by bloggers or with a blogging connection— many more books than I realized.  Authors likeRohit Bhargava, an executive with Ogilvy, were there to sign books. WileyBooks was a sponsor and had a booth at the show with blogging authors likeJim Kukralthere to meet fans and do book signings.

From listening to one of the panel discussions, it’s clear that publishers and authors consider blogs and bloggers a key channel to generate interest in traditional print books.  In fact, the representative of Wiley went so far as to say that reviews from influential bloggers bring a good“lift” to book sales, yet appearances on the Today and Oprah television shows don’t bring nearly the response you might imagine.

5. Blogging’s Impact on the Stream of Commerce

You couldn’t walk through the BlogWorld show floor without seeing evidence of how important bloggers are to brands.  From Jenn-air (kitchen appliance maker) to Ford (car manufacturer), to Johnson& Johnson (family products company),to the U.S. Army, to Google–these are just some of the wide ranging brands that want to be seen in front of bloggers.

On top of that, an entire segment of exhibitors was on hand to help bloggers figure out how to make money.  They included advertising solution companies likeInfolinksand Izea, to video solutions likeUStream, to affiliate networks like MarketHealth.com.Anyone who thinks there isn’t money in blogging isn’t looking at it from a broad enough lens.

* * * * *

There you have my impressions of key trends based on observations at BlogWorld.  If you attended BlogWorld, what do you think about these and other trends?

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Islands of Profit in a Sea of Red Ink: A Workplan for Profits When Growth is Hard

It’s only natural for a business to seek revenue growth through adding to its portfolio of services and products.But would you believe that as much as 40 percent of a business’s offerings could be considered unprofitable?Senior MIT lecturer Jonathan Byrnes believes addressing that profitability gap can have a better payoff than taking the risk of introducing a new product or service.

Byrnes’ new book, Islands of Profit in a Sea of Red Ink: Why 40% of Your Business Is Unprofitable and How to Fix It,provides an excellent financial overview to help small business owners identify the profit drains within a product lineup. I received a preview copy from the publisher, and was enlightened by its analytical tone. It reveals in straightforward language how to align suppliers, departments and customers to fill the profit gap for everyone’s financial benefit.

Revenues are good, costs are bad….what a myth!

Yup, you read that correctly. The above is just one of 10 myths Byrnes addresses. For this one,“the truth is that some revenues are profitable, and some are very unprofitable.”The myths covered in Chapter 2 are general statements that have become truths by default,“vague generalities” born from mass-market practices instead of from an understanding of the core drivers of one’s business. The core concept of this book is profit management–learning about the profit levers within the business. In Chapter 3, Byrnes summarizes the logic behind this new way to approach profitability:

“We are entering a new era in business— shifting from a mass-market based business system to one in which managers carefully craft specific sets of customer relationships and precisely match them with specific sets of customers.”

This is not radically new science, but the focus on profit is different than activity base costing and revenue management. Byrnes asserts that there are means today to determine the leverage on profit. Chapter 6 shows how to develop a profit map–a means to identify unprofitability. The first step elaborates on how to create a profitability database; the second step is creating profit profiles based on customer examples. The profiles help to determine the profit levers as well as other benefits:

“Modeling the effects of key profit levers on representative customers is especially effective for three reasons: (1) It will be intuitively clear which elements of the business model can be changed and what the effect will be; (2) you can actually call the customers to see what their reactions topotential changes would be; and (3) it will be easier to explain the changes using concrete examples when you present the initiative to your colleagues.”

Profit map creation is similar to the business intelligence processes suggested in books likeAnalytics At Work (review here). YetIslandis not too scholastic; small firms will be able to implement the suggestions with the resources at hand.

First you find the profit lever, then you lead the change

The last several chapters elaborate on the“fixing” part— how to elicit change by the corporation, its suppliers and its customers to prioritize the profit improvement opportunities you have discovered. The managers are the champions who must bring forth change. The concept of managers leading organizational change reminded me of many analytics books that emphasize the need to be an analytics champion or ninja.Islandoffers a broader scope with more systematic remedies. The analogies previously mentioned help the reader frame the challenges a manager will encounter.

Segments that allow readers to match analogous imagery to their company— Chapter 15 is titled“Is Your Organization Reptile or Mammal?”— are almost identical to Chip and Dan Heath’s elephant/driver theme inSwitch(review here).The images of a garden, sand castle, mountain and a plate of spaghetti offer unique takes on change.

Refreshingly good is the segment that encourages supplier involvement in implementing profitable practices. The chapter on changing customers is also good and ambitious– I had wished this was longer— but it also highlighted how innovation can be a hard sell to customers and that working with customers on the solution benefits must be executed as a win-win game. It is within these approaches thatIslandcomplements books likeFind Your Zebra (review here)in which understanding your customer segment leads to excellent service of a profitable segment.

Other observations

I also feltIslands of Profit in a Sea of RedInk offers a potential complement toService Innovation (review here)to see what it takes to examine the financial barriers to creating a new service, and to 1% Windfall (review here)to help determine the operation’s need to be profitable in the alternative segments suggested.

Brief chapter summaries provide a wonderful overview and jog readers’ recollection in case the book has had to be put aside for a while. Nice.

I wished there were more chart examples like the profit map and service differentiation chart. This would illustrate the processes even more. But the commentary is lucid enough that a reader can understand and imagine the value of the author’s points.

Better profits and operations await readers who arrive at thisIsland

Some of the most successful companies grew by figuring out how to draw upon their strengths rather than seeking revenue growth unmoored from reasonable strategy and economic reality. This book will benefit a number of managers. Small businesses and retailers with supply chain and service centers will have new insights on how to best work together. Even businesses with very small departments will take away useful advice on how adding any ol’ service— be it through an affiliate or created in-house— should be closely examined instead of hastily encouraged.

I liked the comprehensive overviewIslands of Profit in a Sea of Red Inkbrings to how a profit is made, and how firms must carefully consider introductions, not just adding offerings in a willy-nilly panic. It’s a terrific reminder that financial discipline and realistic profitability management are achievable and essential for success.

You can follow Johnathan Burns“Islands of Profit” on Twitter@Islandsofprofit. also check out theIslands of Profit Blog.

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7 Ways to Keep the Sales Rolling in Your Small Business

Don’t get so busy with the day-to-day hustle in your business that you forget to focus your marketing activities on keeping your pipeline filled.  To help you reach your monthly sales goals, I have created a list of 7 marketing techniques you should revisit in the fourth quarter of each year. They are designed to ensure that you focus on revenue-generating activities in your small business.

1. Profile Your Best Customers.Who are your most valuable and profitable customers? How much do they spend with you annually? Do they fit a niche? While it’s imperative that you understand your products and services, it’s even more significant to understand what value your business brings to your customers so you can continue fulfilling their needs. Business issues can change quickly, making vendors potentially interchangeable.  Be sure to thank your customers; no one owes you business.

2. Talk With Your Clients.If your three most important customers were sitting in a room with you, what questions would you ask them? Even with your long-time customers, schedule a quarterly face-to-face meeting to ask for feedback or just to catch up. You must stay on top of their needs and understand any new factors that influence their decision-making processes. Have 10 questions to ask, and then make sure you engage them around some personal small talk: kids, vacations, holiday plans, etc. The more personal the relationship, the more that relationship will allow you to obtain critical information and a strong ally.

3. Align Marketing Efforts With Your Sales Goals.Sales and marketing have to work together in your small business. Even if you are the only salesperson in your business and you also handle the marketing efforts, you must plan your marketing program based on the amount sales leads you need to generate in order to close the required amount of sales per month. If you know you need  500 leads per month in order to close 50 sales, then determine how many phone calls, e-mails, blog posts, Facebook ads and Twitter messages must be made, sent or posted per month to drive the desired traffic. You must establish a sales process and then proactively work your marketing efforts so that they generate the desired results.

4. Never Take Your Eye Off theCompetition.Identify several competitors. Discover what benefits they provide to their current customers. Use their websites to gain insights. Compare your branding, value proposition and pricing.  Based on your assessment, develop at least three strategies that you will use to position yourself effectively against them. Always think, “What is my signature move?”

5. Create Win-Win Relationships.“Give to get” is a motto that works well in business. A strong strategic alliance offers many benefits, including reducing risk, sharing costs and improving time to market. How can you develop a partnership that can contribute to your bottom line? Always go into a relationship understanding your partner’s“must have” list. It’s always best when you can find a partner who is not a direct competitor.

6. Refine Your 30-Second Commercial or Elevator Pitch.Your most important job as a small business owner is selling yourself and your business. When you can succinctly explain your business, it builds trust, but you shouldn’t use the same pitch forever. From time to time, switch it up a little.  Add a brief client list; mention a recent award or media hit.  Elevator pitches are designed to draw in your target and keep the dialogue going.  Be careful not to give TMI (too much information). Offer just enough to get them interested in chatting with you again.

7. Use a Vision Board.All businesses have ups and downs. How you get through the tough days in your business makes a big difference in your productivity.  One of the tricks I use and advise all my coaching clients to use is to develop a vision board of your big picture goals for your life.  If you are successful the way your business plan projects, what are the 10 things you want out of life?  Create a visual representation of your list.  Use cutouts from magazines or clip art pictures–whatever it takes develop a visual symbol of your personal goals. Post this collage to remind yourself why you work so hard.  Ten reasons will keep you motivated on good days as well as bad ones!

By implementing these marketing techniques, you will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and keep yourself motivated to stay on top of your sales processes.

Do you have any marketing tactics that have worked to ignite sales in your small business?

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How to Find Your Online Community

I was surfing the Web this weekend and stumbled across XKCD’supdated Map of Online Communities(here’sthe TechCrunch writeup). The map takes real numbers and attempts to map out where Web users are hanging out online. The premise behind the map is that we no longer live in actual communities; instead, we call digital communities our home. As a small business owner and someone who spends a fair amount of time online, that concept really hit home with me.

Yesterday we heard that69 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from a local businessif there’s information available about that business on a social network. We’re hearing more and more that users are turning to social networks for recommendations and information. Small business owners need to know which communities and networks their audience relies on. Having this information helps us find“influencers” so that we can connect with them, leverage them and create content specifically for them.

Do you know which communities your customers are a part of and where you need to be? If not, here are some ways to find out.

Where are you getting traffic?

One of the most important data points you need to know is where your traffic comes from. That means looking behind just Twitter or Google. What other sites or networks drive referrals to your business? If you don’t know, it’s time to get aGoogle Analyticsaccount and educate yourself.

Once you install Google Analytics, you’ll be able to monitor where you’re getting your traffic from. You may find it’s coming from niche social networks, related blogs, local retailers, niche forums, etc. If you’re having a hard time picking apart the sources, you can set up your analytics to filter out certain sources so thatyou can really hone in on specific blogs or social communities.

Once you know the sources that are sending you traffic, you can become part of their communities to strengthen the relationship. If these groups are routinely sending you visitors, then it means you have an audience there that you should be aware of.

Who is linking to you?

In business, you’re told to follow the money. On the Web, you have to follow the links. When online users want to share your company with others, they link to you.  Monitoring this data and keeping tabs on who is linking to you, how often and how many visitors they send helps you find your audience and the bloggers/customers you should reach out to. If you’re getting a lot of links from an authoritative blog in your niche, then you know that that’s a community you need to be aware of. Maybe that means engaging in the comments there, writing a guest post or specifically tailoring content pieces forthe audience. You should also be watching to see who’snotlinking to you but is linking to your competitors. Maybe there’s a way to win them over and create an audience you didn’t have before.

Who is talking about you?

Tracking mention of your brands is another good way to find important online communities. By setting up comprehensive Google Alerts for your brand terms (or your competitors’ brand terms), you can be updated any time your brand is mentioned. Monitoring these searches will help you to find new networks and sites where your audience is hanging out. It can also help you find new opportunities for guest blogging or potential partnerships by identifying up-and-coming sites you may not have been aware of.

Which online communities do customers say they belong to?

Ask them! Your customers know which sites they frequent online. They know where they share content, where they post the most, and what blogs they read daily. Offer incentives for them to share this information with you, whether it be via coupons, giveaways or a poll in your newsletter. The more you can identify where“your people” are hanging out, the better you can create content specifically for them to bring them back into your business.

The updated XKCD map is a good reminder of the communities that exist on the Web and why it’s important that we, as small business owners, know which ones are friendly toward us.  Knowing where your customers are in social media is the first step in being able to market to them.

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