In today’s fast paced world, if you take action before thinking, you could wind up in a whole lot of trouble very quickly.

As evidenced by a recent breakdown of a Scottsdale, Arizona company.

Read here

And here

The owners of Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro were featured on an episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. The owners were too difficult to work with, so Ramsey dumped them before finishing the process. And that didn’t sit well with the owners. So they took to the online world to air their opinion.

And it quickly blew up into whole lot more.

Yelp reviews skyrocketed, and no one had anything good to say.

Reddit threads monitored the meltdown process.

Facebook reached out to tens of thousands of readers.

And the meltdown went on and on.

The problem with having a meltdown online is it’s there forever. No matter what you do, the meltdown will follow. Especially when it hits you in so many different ways.

People write about it on blogs. They report it on news sites. It circulates again and again. No matter what you do to try and erase the trail, it will exist forever.

Yes, it can quickly be the end of your business. And time will tell whether this company can survive this meltdown.

Yet for every online meltdown we witness, there are lessons to be learned. What can you do to avoid the same situation in your future?

Recognize “Damage Control” Situations

It’s easy to take a look at a situation like the one mentioned above and understand exactly where they went wrong. But can you recognize it in your own business?

No company will ever be completely immune to negative comments and disgruntled customers. There are always people that simply won’t be happy with what you say or do.

Yet the art comes in learning when to stop long before it becomes a problem. You’ve heard the phrase “friends don’t let friends drive drunk”. You may have heard “friends don’t let friends text while drunk (or angry, or emotional, etc)”. The same applies in any online application.

If you have a problem or a response to something negative, put down the phone, turn off the computer, and give yourself time to digest the situation to its fullest.

Ask yourself a series of questions.

• What would happen if I said this to every customer I have?

• What could I say to this one customer to defuse the situation?

• Is saying nothing at all better than antagonizing the situation?

• How would others feel in this situation?

• How would I react if I read about this situation online for another company?

The longer you wait before you take action, the more you analyze it in different ways, the less “reaction” you will receive in the process.

Always Respond Appropriately

The first time you type the F word in response to a post, customer or other reviewer, you know you’ve gone waaaayyyy too far. No matter how you really feel, never, ever get into a shouting match online.

You’ll lose.

If you really are bothered by what others are saying, walk around saying and doing whatever you need to do to gain control. Cuss your head off. Scream your lungs out. Punch the pillow on your couch. Do whatever it takes to get out your anger. Just don’t do it online.

Any response you ever give online – ever – should be positive, professional and appropriate. Anything less will only make the situation worse.

Be Ready To React

After you take the time to calm down and look at the situation through different eyes, sit back and observe the behavior. If left unfueled, your customer (or the one that started the online fight) should calm down as well. They won’t go on and on if there isn’t a counterpoint. And with only one side of the story being told, very few people will join in on the argument.

If you aren’t feeding the fire, things should die down quickly.

Then you can start in with damage control.  Look at what caused the situation in the first place. Did an employee misstate information? Did a customer not understand your policies? How can you change the situation? Do employees need further training? Would a FAQ page on your site provide needed content?

Learn from your mistakes and move forward. This too shall die down. Give it time.

Here is the full show :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XjgHEctcy0

Fired Amy’s Baking Company Waitress Shares Story on Reddit

In his email, he stated he had started up a new business and was making contact with all his old lists to get the word out. Would I like to join some of his groups?

Okay. So I clicked and started following some of the paths. And sure enough, it was just as I suspected.

40+ year olds have a problem. They are old school. They grew up in a time of old school marketing where you sell, sell, sell everything you do. And many haven’t learned the lessons of that type of selling in today’s world.

If you sell all the time, you’ll alienate yourself very, very quickly.

People don’t “sell” in the old way anymore. In fact, if you do, you’ll discover pretty quickly that you’ll hit a wall and won’t quite understand why.

Think about how most people live in a 24 hour period of time.

They get up and check email and Facebook. They get ready, send the kids to school, and grab their tablets for a few minutes of work. Check social accounts. Check email. Then it’s off to a meeting at the local coffee house.

You’re there a little early, so you settle down and create a blog post. Send it off. Pin it to Pinterest. Send it through your Google+ status update. Then answer a text or two. Connect with a few friends and acquaintances, and recommend a few new resources you’ve found to your followers. And conduct your meeting.

Call into the office, surf to find new information, and handle some client work. Attend a networking meeting, then it’s off to a soccer game with the kids.

Cook dinner, and check email in between. Watch your favorite reality show, finish up with a little business, login to Facebook one last time, and it’s off to bed.

See? Nowhere in there did I mention “sit through a sales presentation”.

In some cases you will still meet with people and discuss sales. But for the most part, you find everything you need by following people and hearing their recommendations. When you need something, you reach out to your social community and ask. They will lead you down the path to your best choice.

Yet I se 40+-somethings make that mistake all the time. They automatically think sales instead of relationships. They instantly assume they have to sell you instead of build a relationship with you. Even when you know them from your past.

In today’s world, a sale is created in three ways.

1. Building trust.

2. Establishing a relationship

3. Proving your expertise

And more and more, you do that with content. Content is what drives the business world of the future. And if you don’t get that, you’ll get lost in the “old world”.

It’s coming quicker than you think. Are you ready for the new world?

I’ve been blogging for one client for several years now. We met a while back to discuss new directions and new projects.

As we were chatting, I realized John was completely in the dark about the true value of the content he already had. The more we discussed, the more he talked about having to create new content to reach out to his clients in new ways. So I asked a simple question.

Does the content he already has in place still apply to his business?

And of course the answer was yes.

Creating blog posts may be difficult – that’s where a ghost blogger can help you out. But once you have content in place, its easy to repurpose it and use it for other things.

Each original blog post is created on your site for a reason. Its there to be functional as of the day its created, as well as be available to search engines for specific key words as people search for what you have to offer in the future. But it also can be used for a lot more than that.

Newsletters

Let’s say you work with your ghost blogger to write content every week using a preplanned theme. (Which you should be doing, aren’t you?) A tax accountant may declare March to be “tax tip” month with tips on how to see bigger savings on your taxes in April. A mechanic may announce September as “winterizing” month, offering tips on getting your car ready for the long winter ahead. Once you have posts that are created specifically for your theme, use them as you create a newsletter and email them to your current client base. Even if they don’t visit your blog regularly, you can still give them the same message – with little work on your end.

Marketing Materials

Hate writing yet really want to develop postcards and brochures for your current clients? Use content from your blog. It’s created with your ideas in mind – it’s your content. You can easily incorporate it into a wide variety of formats, all without having to think about what to write. Just copy/paste and put it into anything you’re planning.

Free Reports and Lead Generation Tools

Once you’ve had several months of content created for your blog, you have a variety of things on a variety of subjects. And invariably some of it can be used together to create an even more valuable product – a free report. When people come to your site, 99 percent of the time they will leave without taking action. By offering a free report for them to sign up for – something that captures attention – they will freely hand over their email address, meaning you can market to them again and again for months into the future. Your value is in your list. Build it the right way, all with information you already have in place.

Books and eBooks

Want to really be an expert in your field? Why not create a book? With so many resources available to you today, you can easily create a book or ebook that you can sell and make money with too. Kindle makes it easy to get your book on Amazon. Want a hard copy book? Try CreateSpace, also an Amazon company. Personal trainers can create cookbooks and workout training products. Plumbers can do self-help guides to home maintenance. And of course a whole lot more.

Whatever you do, be a little more creative with it. And with a ghost blogger in place, content isn’t something you have to worry about. Which means your project ideas can run free.

What will your next project be?

Yes, blog posts are traffic drivers – you write them to drive traffic to your site.

Yes, blog posts are optimizers – you use keywords and SEO strategies to get the most you can out of ranking.

But in reality, blogs are so much more.  Blog posts are ways of staying in touch with people that like what you have to say.  And the only way to get them to stick around and read what you write day after day is to develop a strong blog ethic. Are you doing these four things with everything you write?

The Title

Yes, your title should be keyworded and written to attract an audience. But think outside what Google thinks is good and write instead for your best customers. What would they think is important? What would they stop everything for in order to come and find out what you have to say?

One of the best title creators ever is Cosmopolitan magazine. Year after year, decade after decade they continue to write titles that attract a healthy readership to their magazine. They wouldn’t be in business if they didn’t. Which makes them an expert at coming up with triggers that reach out and grab attention.

Work to turn your titles into magic. For instance, a while back I wrote an article on the importance of small business insurance for one of my blogs. I could have titled it:

Why You Should Have Business Insurance

But who would have read that? The keywords are there, but the interest isn’t. Instead I titled it:

How To Lose A Million Dollars In 3 Seconds

It was picked up by a wide variety of blogs and social sites and spread all over the Internet.

The Story

What do you have to tell your audience once you get them there? Is your post informative or merely trying to gain traction? If you’re bored writing it, your readers will be bored reading it.

Go back to your favorite writer and write down why you like him or her. What motivates you to read to the next page? What motivates you to want to pick it up when you have a spare moment?

Your story must have a purpose. What are you trying to teach? Is it a fun method of teaching? The deeper you can get with your story, the more details that can align with others reading about it, the more action you will receive.

The Passion

Writing a story is one thing; having passion about it is another. Your passion shines through from the way you write. Are you excited to get the story out? Would you talk about this 24/7, no matter what?

Passion shines through when you love what you do. Use those as case studies. Use those to showcase what you do in a detailed way. Those are the stories that will stand out above the rest. Those are the stories that will be shared.

And yes, you might say “How can I be passionate about taxes?” (Or whatever business you are in.) But if you are out online trying to find business by blogging, chances are you are doing it for a reason. Maybe you remember a single mom who thought she would lose her house because she simply couldn’t make her business work. You offered her tax saving advice that saved her thousands, and allowed her to turn her business around and make it into a million dollar company.

The Goal

Start with the end in mind. Great advice when it comes to blogging.

What do you hope each blog post will accomplish? It can be as simple as promoting a new product you have. Or more complex to build up a following to a specific landing page. Or something in between.

But if you don’t know what your goal is, how do you know if you accomplished it? Map out your goals and understand everything you do and create. Use my handy Social Ghost Blogging Planner to help you along the way.

The more you know, the easier it will be to promote. And the easier it will be for people to follow what you do.

Today’s the day. I’m going to sit down and write on my blog.

Okay, I’m sitting here. Have my computer ready to go, water next to me, my favorite music on in the background. Write. Write. Come on, get with it. Think of something and write.

Oh wait, I forgot to start the dishwasher. Let me run and do that.

The phone’s ringing. Let me see who it is.

Oh, I’ll try this again tomorrow. I’d rather do lunch with a friend anyway.

Does that scenario ring true for you? I know it does with a lot of people.

Unless you love writing and write hundreds of words every day, chances are your computer screen can be a bit intimidating.

Yet if this is what you’ve decided to do – you have a business, or an idea, or a concept – and you choose to use your blog to get the word out there, writing isn’t an option. You have to write to create content, need content to play in the social realm, and must come up with different ideas all the time in order to keep things fresh and new.

But that isn’t always an easy task. And I’m betting you can see yourself in the following questions as well.

1. I have trouble coming up with ideas to write about. They all seem so trivial and not worth writing about.

A while back I worked with a woman who was creating a blog dedicated to Scoliosis. She created a post “What Is Scoliosis?” and a post “How I’m Impacted By Scoliosis”. And that’s where she lost it. “What else is there” she asked?

So we had a conversation on all the things you could write about on this one topic.

Scoliosis affects many different people: men, women, kids, teens, adults, seniors. Scoliosis can be mild, moderate, severe, advanced. There are many different ways of handling the symptoms. There are many ways of living with the pain. You can look at it through the eyes of the person living with scoliosis, or look at it through the eyes of a mother tending to her teen.

In short, you have to look beyond how it affects you personally, and look at it in minute detail from every angle possible.

You don’t write about broad topics; instead you find one detailed item to write about and express it as much as you see fit.

If someone wants to read about something, they aren’t looking for the broad topic. Chances are they’ve been through dozens of “What Is Scoliosis” pages. What they are looking for is the details – “How do I go to prom and not have pain from scoliosis” – instead.

Think about your life. When you have a question, does it seem trivial to you at the time? Neither will your post when someone is searching, and finds your content, and gets an immediate answer to their questions.

2. I sit down to write and then promptly freeze up. How do I get over writers freeze?

This one is difficult and easy at the same time. My answer is – just do it. Your first post doesn’t have to be perfect. Nor does your 10th post. When I look back at my first posts from years ago, I’m amazed at how little content was there. There wasn’t a lot of detail. And they were only a few sentences long.

But they were a start. And the more I typed, the more posts I created, the better they got. The more my personality started shining through.

Your first posts don’t have to win Oscar or Pulitzer or whatever award you’re “dreaming” of. They just have to set the precedence for what direction you want to go.

3. My ideas are more surface ideas, and I have a hard time putting the details down.

Are you having the “scoliosis” problem where you can come up with the title “What Is Scoliosis” but beyond that, have trouble with the details? Instead of sitting down at the computer ready to write, sit down with my Blogging Planner instead.

Start with your concept – i.e. scoliosis. Then start brainstorming from every direction you can think of. Don’t judge your ideas, just write down concepts.

Then once you have a variety of ideas, begin to plug them into a calendar. It’s much easier sitting down with a title and a basic concept, and starting to write from there.

4. How do I make the ‘who do you think you are’ voice in my head go away?

Once you’ve been writing for a while, you’ll start taking on the “expert” persona. You’ll get into more controversial posts that give your opinion instead of the facts. You’ll make judgments, recommendations, and provide resources. In short, you’ll be tooting your own horn and showcasing how much you know on the subject.

And that’s when the doubt creeps in. “How can I do this?” “Am I really qualified to be talking like this?”

The answer is yes. If this is what you love, who you are, and what you choose to research, live with, and no more about, you become the “expert” at what you do.

No, you can’t give anyone medical advice if you aren’t a doctor. But you can tell them about your own personal experiences and how you’ve researched your content.

When you live it, know it, understand it, and research it day in and day out, you can talk about your experience.

That’s what your blog is for.

———-

Want to create a blog for your idea, yet having trouble putting it all together? Know what you want to blog about but the details are leaving you “stuck”? Maybe its time for my Blog Writing Class. In four short weeks, you’ll be on your way to writing and managing a dynamic blog presence that not only captures attention every time someone reads what you have to say, but starts building your own online reputation too. Only 50 seats available – register today.

If you’re like most people, you throw it together based on a sampling of other companies within your industry.

Or maybe you’ve been in business a while and it’s a create – test – redo approach where you originally created your “stuff” based on a sampling, you’ve tested it out for a while, and you’ve made corrections along the way. To the point it’s pretty good.

But is it great? Does it really give your clientele everything it should? Is it reaching out to the right people at the right time? Does it send the right message? Are you truly capturing 100 percent of the audience you should?

If not, you may be approaching your online content in the wrong way.

Online we’re all a little ADD. We get to where we’re going as fast as possible, only to back out and go somewhere else if we don’t immediately see exactly what we’re looking for.

If nothing makes us say WOW, we’re on to the next site. We want something that stands apart from all else. We want it to capture our attention and speak directly to us. We want the message to appear as if it was written exclusively for us.

Anything less makes us turn the other way.

So how do we do that? Easy.

Listen. Ask. Create.

Listen

I love social media because you no longer have to rely on focus groups or survey people in person to get a general idea of what’s happening. Type in a question at Google and you’ll find a variety of answers to your questions. Head over to LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter and do a search for your topic. What’s the chatter?

Then listen to all they have to say. They will tell you what’s missing, what’s wrong, or what they really need from a business like yours.

“I hate standing in line. I would love to have someone deliver this to my home.”

“Why can’t I find something unique? Everywhere I go its like someone used a cookie cutter to create their business.”

“Hasn’t anyone had this problem? I feel like I’m alone in the world.”

You’ll see things like this all the time. Listen to it. Then start building your ideas around it.

Ask

Once you have your ideas, you can verify whether people are really attuned to your logic by heading out and asking them.

Create “this or that” questions that allow people to pick their favorites. Then spread very quick surveys all over your social sites to find out what people are really thinking.

The great thing about the Internet is people are used to sharing their ideas. All you have to do is ask. Don’t make things complicated or make them think for more than a few seconds. The quicker you can be, the more answers you’ll receive.

And always include open ended questions as well.

This or that?
Why?

The why, of course, is optional. But just by putting it with all of your questions, you’ll receive valuable feedback all time. So much so that you’ll occasionally gain valuable input on future products/services just by listening to how they respond to your questions.

Create

Only after your ideas are solidified should you take on the task of creating your marketing tools. Everything from your business card, to your website, to your About Us page can all be created in such a way they speak directly to the person viewing it.

When you define exactly what they want, you can give them exactly what they are looking for. And the funny thing is when you speak directly to one person on a very personal basis, you’ll reach directly into the mindset of the person that needs what you do the most.

And of course there are always dozens, hundreds, even thousands of other people all reaching that conclusion as well. You just have to find them. And your “personalized” message will do the rest.

While I’ve been marketing with content and storytelling for years now, I’m seeing a definite trend for 2013.

All through my business career, I’ve always realized as a small business I can look to large corporations for marketing advice. Because large corporations have millions to spend on their marketing strategies, they know what works and what doesn’t, and spend the time testing and evaluating to come up with the best combinations possible.

When they do something, you can better believe there is full intent behind it.

Since small business owners can’t afford at the same rate, we can watch and learn. Now with the Internet, that’s easier than ever.

Coca-Cola came out with their marketing mission statement – Content 2020. Put aside some time and watch – you’ll learn a ton from a company that knows what its doing, and has put a lot of time and thought into this process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LerdMmWjU_E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwIq-8GWA8

In particular on video 2 around the 3:30 mark, they go over their 70/20/10 content model – something we can all listen to and take seriously.

I’ll be watching this presentation several times in the coming weeks as I begin to put together my own content plan. With all of their great advice, consider it your own personal coaching session – absolutely free.

Enjoy – what do you think? I’d love to hear your comments.

Who’s helping you with your online marketing? Do they truly understand online marketing … or are they old school?

Increasingly we are talking with business owners that entrust their marketing strategy to a marketing director that simply doesn’t understand what they should be doing in the online world.

And that can be very expensive for your business.

Mike and Mary [I changed the names to keep things anonymous] are growing their company and recently hired a marketing director. He met with us to understand the concepts Mike and Mary already have in place, why their website was designed the way it was, and what he can do to move it forward.

His first complaint was the site was too wordy – way too much content, not enough images and catchy bullet points to sum up their concepts. His goal was to take away a lot of the content, and make it more presentation worthy.

And so the conversation began.

Old School methods involved quick marketing. The goal was to capture attention and pull them in to connect with you. And that worked well when you expected a client to pick up the phone and call you.

But in the online world, you rely on SEO tactics, keywording, social marketing and content marketing to be in the places you’re customers and prospects will most likely be.

(Yep, as expected, the wide-eyed stare began when terms like SEO, keywording and content marketing were mentioned.)

What should you be doing if you have an old school marketing director?

1. Hire a mentor. The online marketing world is still in its infancy – most of today’s working people remember when the Internet was introduced into their workplaces. As a mentor, we worked to ensure Mike and Mary’s new marketing director understands the importance of content and why he should be striving to create as much as possible.

2. Educate. Marketing is an ever-changing industry. Try, test, repeat … and learn something new along the way. If you’ve committed to have a marketing director on staff, make sure they are trained in every way to understand how to market to your clients in a variety of ways.

3. Get help when needed. While the marketing director should understand the overall strategy, they still might not have the time necessary to accomplish all of the tasks. Contract out and get the biggest bang for your bucks in the areas that are easily represented … just like we’re still ghost blogging for Mike and Mary to help them with their content marketing strategy.

And when it comes to business and marketing, the great companies understand this and develop their own stories too.

Think Toms Shoes. The entire concept is built around a simple pair of shoes and one man’s vision of being able to provide shoes to children in third world nations across the globe.

Or Coca-Cola. Over 1.8 billion times a day, people buy their products. And its not just a preference; its an emotional decision based on many things, including taste, branding, and ties to the overall feel of drinking a Coke.

Want to come up with your own story? Here is a list of tips to help get you started.

1. Think of your best customer. Why did they choose you?

2. How do you best represent your company? What do you stand for?

3. What is your number one cause?

4. What charitable contributions are closely related to your business ideas?

5. What makes your product/service unique?

6. What can you learn from other companies’ stories? (Start by spending 30 minutes going through Toms and Coke’s stories.)

7. What one word or phrase is synonymous with your company’s goals or values?

8. What would you write or publish a good on?

9. Define your audience; who are they and what makes them tick?

10. What do people not know about you, and if they did, they would become raving fans?

11. What are your prospects biggest pain points? What will turn them into a positive?

12. What would make people talk about you?

13. What would make people join your Facebook page in droves?

14. Why are you who you are today?

15. What is missing from your industry?

16. What concepts have past clients picked up on within your community? What blog posts do they read most? What marketing materials do they respond to the most?

17. Who are your employees and why do they work for you?

18. Why do customers come back to you again and again?

19. How do you want to be remembered? What is your legacy?

20. What images stand for who and what your company is all about? How can these images help you tell a story?

21. What story is easily told in a variety of format: text, audio, video, social media and through publicity?

22. How does your competition think of you?

23. Why did you start your company?

24. What would you like to do in the future?