Business Archives - Page 3 of 7

August 22, 2015 By Fiona Lucas

Psychology of “shiny objects”

In discussions with a colleague recently we were astounded by some of the claims made by businesses and just how many people (often small business owners) respond to such claims. What we observed was that many people seem to be blinded by offerings and big claims and they don’t actually do any homework to see if there is substance behind such offerings. Sometimes a big claim is justifable, but many times it is merely advertising manipulation, designed to tap into the fears of business owners. Scare tactic marketing has been used for years. FOMO (fear of missing out) creates anxiety and can absolutely be devasting for many businesses owners. Shiny object syndrome and FOMO go hand in hand and can be a reason that businesses fail.

I read an article on Shiny objects by Leevi Romanik on Entrepreneurs Journey and the opening paragraphs resonated with my own observations. He says that

“A business built on flimsy foundations will soon crumble”. How do you know if this might be you? Leevi goes on “.. if your business is built on tactics and not strategies, the newest “push button” software, a “loophole” to exploit Google or Facebook or any dodgy marketing tactic that misleads people, then AKA, a shiny object.. . You can read the article here.

As Leevi says, “The great thing about the Internet is that it allows easy and quick set up of a business with relatively low start up costs. The downside is you now have people with no idea of marketing or business trying to make money”.

To be honest (sorry Leevi), the post has a few too many links for my liking and starts to feel a bit of a sale, but the information is valid. As someone who works in the social media industry I can state that the industry is rife with claims. Let’s be honest, if you are a tiny business selling products which are not particularly unique, it is unlikely you will get the reach of a huge industry name. If one size fits all then everyone would have it. If someone is telling you that you only need to do this one thing then I would be hesitant about it. If they tell you they can do it overnight or in just a few days – well I’d be wanting them to give more information because you rarely build a community overnight (and if you do something quickly then the quality may not be there either). The reality for small businesses is that you build, with a fluid and responsive strategy over a period of a few years. Sometimes it is much quicker – for example if the product or offering has huge value, is innovative, has the backing of known experts or pushes emotional buttons like nostaglia. In these cases you can have a community practically appear overnight. (The danger of growing a community quickly is ensuring you can sustain it, but that’s for another article).

In my industry I have noted that there are many who have success with one page on facebook or just like using social and think that makes them a marketer. I’ve been in business for years and have a lot of experience which I put to use in my work, yet I have only found my way to social media as my business over the past 4 years and I honestly say, there is always something new to learn. I find although there are general steps to take, each client needs to be looked at as an individual. In fact iRespectOnline was born out of the experiences I had early on being side tracked with Shiny objects and promises of ways to make my business happen which turned out to have no substance. I certainly was not immune myself. There was so much false information and lack of ethics in the online marketing world that I wanted to try and change that.

We are blessed to have some amazing influencers who share their expertise generously and lots of amazing marketers who invest a lot of time and money into ensuring they keep up to date, so it’s not hard to do a search on names and see if they come up associated with the industry they purport to be (whatever it is , not just social media, Shiny Objects are offered by all kinds of industry – coaching, sales, get rich). I always advise having a look at who is behind the offer and Linkedin is a great place to get a professional “snapshot” of the person.

So how do you recognise the Shiny Objects?

Well usually they blind you with the look of riches, fame, success by showing you all the trappings.. but often these are only props. They may use big claims such as being the number 1 of something, the top this,a “guru” blah blah but if that is the case there will be a lot of information to prove it. I always think – unless they have won an award, if you are successful you don’t need to say that, others will say it for you. Richard Branson doesn’t put “no 1 entrepreneur” in his bio! In my experience, some people however do have a lot of information about them yet are still somewhat superficial. Unfortunately it is harder to expose them and they often are masters of the Bright Shiny Object offering. One way of checking them out is to see if they are offering lots of good accessible information, or whether they mostly self promote and always have a “sale” going on. Someone for example who I implicitly trust and offers solid and affordable business advice (and I admit I do know her personally just for transparency) is Donna Moritz of Socially Sorted. She is a thought leader, she has published articles for many leading online business publications, she is sought out for her knowledge in visual marketing, but she gives and gives to her community.

Another thing to look for is do they claim expertise in lots of things and then create offerings for each thing? For example, I have written a book but it doesn’t make me an expert in publishing. Sure I have some great general information and insights to share but it’s not my main field. Be wary of those offering expensive courses because they did something and “you can too”. It’s like the get rich quick schemes. Just be alert and do your background checks. If they are associated with known specialists, influencers and experts in their field, and produce in depth information about their field of expertise its a good thing. Shiny objects can lead you away from your objectives, and not to them. You need to really look at what your business goals and strategies are, and decide if what you are looking at actually will help you, or is tapping into other emotional goals which will lead you astray.

Here is my advice “your time is precious and you never get time back” so the time you spend making sure something is right is a better use of that time than investing in a program, course or product that takes you away from your business if it is not right for your business.

So what can you do?

Here are a few tips to help keep you on track:

1. Spending time on a little bit of research is a good thing

2. There will always be something new, invest first in a great business strategy that will be a blueprint to guide your choices.

3. Some new things are brilliant – don’t disregard everything as bright and shiny .. but go back to No 1.. research!

4. Don’t be pressured into a decision. If you are not sure its something that will build your business or help you grow personally, then its ok.. there will be other opportunities, other products, other courses. It’s ok to sleep on it!

I hope this helps other business owners to stay on track, particularly in the online space. Building a team of trusted professionals to help you in your business is something I think is of extreme value. Do your research and keep those sunnies within reach!

I would love you to share your “bright shiny object” experiences with others as we can all learn from each others experiences.

If you like what you have read, you are welcome to follow us here or join our mailing list at iRespectOnline (no spam and only a few emails a year – and no bright shiny objects!).

This post was first published by Fiona Lucas on Linkedin July 2015

July 16, 2015 By Fiona Lucas

Control your Facebook News Feed!

Good news for iPhone users initially, but Android and desktop to come. Last week Facebook gave back some control over who we see first in our Facebook News Feed via the Facebook app. As I mentioned, at this stage its iPhone first, but the rest wont be far behind.

Your News Feed is built up as a personalised stream from the Pages and people you connect to on Facebook. The idea is that you see the stories that matter most to you based on Facebook’s algorithm which ranks your feed according to who you interact with most and the type of content you tend to like, comment or share.

You now have the ability to prioritise the content based on your favourites.

Here’s how to do it.

Open your Facebook app on your iPhone (make sure you have the latest version of the app though!). Click on MORE (the three little lines on the bottom right) and scroll all the way down to the SETTINGS section. There you will see NEWS FEED PREFERENCES.

Start with the Blue star to prioritise who you see first. (You will still get other content in your newsfeed but the latest posts of these priorities will show in your feed first). (Note my example is only for the purposes of this and you cant change the order which connections appear (I would have loved to be able to sort alphabetically!). You will see the words SEE FIRST appear under their names along with the blue star.

Note this is different from CLOSE friends settings. With Close friends you receive notifications when they post. With See First you see posts from these people in your feed when you first open your app.

You can choose to unfollow people to hide post, reconnect with anyone you have unfollowed (they wont know). Remember if you do this that you will need to go and look for their latest posts.

There is also an option to discover new pages. For me lots of very disconnected pages appeared but that might be because working in the field I do so many searches and research for clients that poor old Facebook probably can’t decide what I like!

That’s it. Simple and easy but giving you some control back.

Hope you have enjoyed this post.

We welcome your comments and warmly invite you to sign up to our newsletter (we only mail a few times a year) and please join our community on facebook at www.facebook.com/irespectonline

Much respect!

Have a great day whereever you are.

June 30, 2015 By Fiona Lucas

Protecting your facebook presence

(or How not to get shutdown on Facebook)

Many small business operators create a Facebook presence to help in the marketing and advertising of their business, but they often fail to seek expert advice when doing so. Unfortunately not understanding the complexity of Facebook rules has led to some businesses having their business pages shut down, or worse still even losing their personal profiles (generally for operating under a business or fake name). The heartbreak of losing a hard earned community and possibly a brand name is not an easy one for businesses to bear. But all is not lost. Read on to discover how you can help to protect your reputation and your facebook profiles and pages.

1. Know the difference between your profile and a page

For some people this might seem obvious, but for those new to Facebook, or to using Facebook as a platform for their business, it isn’t always so obvious.

Your “profile” is your personal account. You need to set this up first, before you create a page. You can keep it as private as you like. You need a profile in order to engage in groups, comment on your friends stories or photos, or engage as yourself on a page. Facebook also use your personal profile to verify your identity. So it’s smart to use your real name, because if you have to try and prove you own a page on facebook and you didn’t use your real name, it’s not going to be an easy process, and you may even fail. If you want to learn more about profiles and how you can use them, you can visit facebook help here.

2. Don’t force anyone to have to “like” or to “tag” themselves on your page in order to enter a competition

You can ask people to LIKE a COMMENT or a POST on your page as part of entry, but not to “Like” the page. You cannot ask people to tag themselves into an image which they are not actually pictured in. You can have the competition shut down, or sometimes even your whole page. You also can’t use personal profiles to collect entries (mainly because it’s unfair, there is no way you can track them). This means you can’t ask people to “Share” a post on their page as an entry or to “share” to friends for more entries.

Using a third party app or having a social media specialist set up a competition for you should help protect you and take some of the pain away, (but make sure they do know what they are doing, we have seen some pretty big brands run competitions in breach of the rules, and they risk a lot of damage to their brand in doing so). The terms and conditions for promotions are exact. You can find the guidelines here.

3. No Spam!

A sure way to have people report your page or your profile is by sending unsolicited direct messages to them via Facebook. Spamming is a violation of Facebook’s Community standards. Posting links and images to other people’s profiles and pages or using your personal profile to push your business onto people’s pages is considered spam. Other forms of spam include “clickjacking” where a button looks like it is for one thing, but clicking it actually has you liking something else; phishing and malicious software (often via video and “viral” posts) and “sharebaiting”. You often see sharebaiting where scammers create a fake competition for a big brand and people click and share thinking they are going to enter a competition. Also those videos and posts that say “you won’t believe what happens, what she does etc”. Be skeptical of such posts.

You can learn about spam here.

4. No third party advertising

This generally relates to people who attempt to charge you to advertise in their groups or on their pages. Under Facebook terms and conditions you cannot charge people to use their platform.

5. Make sure your page adheres to age limits depending on content

When you set up your page you can define the audience. If your page contains adult content, or products which have age limits you must adhere to the law. This relates to adult products, alcohol, tobacco or firearms. Protect your page and help look after our young people by limiting your page to age 18 and over.

6. Don’t tell lies!

If your page contains or promotes information which is false, deceptive, mislead or makes fraudulent claims, it will be shut down. In addition you may find yourself facing fines under consumer laws. Keep it real.

iRespectOnline and Communication Tree joined forces to create this infograph. Feel free to print it, pin it , share it to help others to understand how to protect their valuable media and reputation.

7. Keep it Nice

Facebook has a wide community of people from all walks of life, and it is very family orientated and friendly. Don’t post violent or sexualised images. Be respectful. Your community and Facebook will not tolerate bullying, harrasment or threats. Facebook gives your business such a huge opportunity to connect with existing clients and prospects and grow your business brand and reputation. Look after it well (including how you engage personally within groups and on posts).

Your turn:

Have you been guilty of any of these issues? Many people inadvertently have, particularly when it comes to promotions and competitions.

Do you have a specific question? Leave your comments below (and of course, be polite!)

(You can join our communities on Facebook at iRespectOnline and Communication Tree )

December 22, 2014 By Fiona Lucas

Reputation management matters

Branding vs Reputation

Someone said to me recently, “reputation doesn’t matter, it’s all about how you brand”.

Wow I thought, that takes the personality out of it, although of course I could understand what they meant. Certainly in business, or for individuals (particularly celebrities), if you create a lot of hype and gloss about something you can get traction even if its not quality information that you are promoting. There are plenty of snake oil salespeople out there but I for one don’t intend to add to them.

“All you have to do is been seen” they said. Yes, true for some people that seems to work, but I certainly do not think it builds any kind of longevity. What you do catches up on you at some point. Just what is it that they are seeing?

There is an audience for those who create hype and gloss, often vulnerable people who are seeking quick answers or desperate for change. That is why there are so many “get rich quick” schemes.

Smoke and mirrors

Puffery abounds in all forms of advertising and never as much as online when often consumer laws are pushed right to the edge in order to make claims about being the “best”, the “top”, make six figures in xx minutes”. For me it’s all about ethical marketing practices, promoting and highlighting the truth of what you do. We all know (or we should) that it takes work to get results. If you pay for a course it won’t guarantee you results unless you take action (unless of course the content is not there and you paid virtually for air, and sadly that happens). You might might six figures in xx minutes if you have a great product, but you wont if there is a mismatch between what you say and what you offer.

When it comes to the online world and social media the only results you can really guarantee is that if you continually stuff up your reputation will get damaged. People talk. People share.

Reputation management is imperative in today’s world and should be part of every business (and every personal) strategy.

There is a famous quote by Warren Buffet “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you will do things differently”. It’s worth starting to think about it if you haven’t already.

If you are a school leaver or job seeker, what is it that will be discovered about you first in a search online? If you are trying to make a name for yourself in any industry, what kind of name do you want associated with your own

Authentic experience

This is how I see it, it’s my version of something I read at some point and it really hit home with me.

The most damage to reputations comes from a mismatch or misinterpretation of what is said about your business (or you)
and the reality of others experience of you.

So you can do all that hype, puffery and smoke and mirrors stuff, but at some point, the experience people are having of you and your business will be the defining point. You may get away with it for a while, but do you really want to end up on something like “sixty minutes” as the latest scam?

If you have a great business or product, or you yourself are the product (such as celebrity, actor, job seeker, entrepreneur) then reputation management matters!

A quote from Seth Godin comes to mind also “the key to getting a reputation for being brilliant is actually being brilliant, not just acting like you are“.
That says it all really. Be authentic.

What is it that you say you do? When someone works with you is that what they find?

At iRespectonline we get down to the nitty gritty, we explore the experience others are having of you and we help you to bring the best to the fore, and to take action on any negatives.
We don’t work with just anyone either, we look for synergies within your values and your mindset. Whether it’s producing a blueprint for your image online or our social media workshops and training to bring congruence to the whole team, it’s all about reputation.

So have you been caught up with the “bright and shiny” objects? Have you had an experience where there was a mismatch between what was offered and what was delivered?

We would love to hear your stories. Please share with us your experiences (no name and shaming please, lets keep it to respectful discussion).

Fiona Lucas.

If you would like to stay up to date, please sign up to our newsletter mailing list here. We are revamping our newsletter so you can be the first inline in 2015. We don’t spam, our reputation depends on it 🙂

If you would like to work with us, please drop us a line here.

June 1, 2014 By Fiona Lucas

When the reviewer becomes the reviewed

Restaurants are finally getting a chance to even up the score. For years we as customers have been able to comment, praise and critique restaurants via various forums (ie Trip Advisor, Yelp, Urbanspoon etc. A recent article by Inga Ting on Goodfood.com.au outlines how Restaurants are now using social to gain insights into their customers and even give them ratings!

Now from what I can see it’s not a public viewing so no need to panic that your public reputation might be damaged, but certainly it does mean that we need to be more considerate when reviewing our experiences and make sure we are being fair.

I have some reservations in that if a customer does have a bad experience I would hope that the restaurant would make note of real issues and perhaps even place a note to make sure that the next time the customer is in, they have a truly positive experience. Marking a customer as a PIA (pain in arse!) is unfair where standards are not being met, but it is all relative. Most of us have come across someone who will complain just to try to get a free meal even when the service was great after all!

One area I noted was the comment that people stayed on the table after dessert, I guess it’s a sign of the times that restaurants want you to eat up and move on, but I’m of the old school type. If I am fine dining and I want to linger over coffee because I’ve had a great experience, then I don’t like to be pushed out. I understand in an era of line up and no reservations you do have to be mindful of the next sitting, that is just manners, but don’t book me at 8pm and expect my party to be out at 9pm – it’s not good for the digestion!

What I do like is that if you do have your likes and dislikes in your online profiles you just might find you get an even better restaurant experience. By posting your reviews and opinions a better picture of the experiences you like to have will be found. If a restaurant knows you are a foodie, avid instagram poster of food pics etc, then it is in their best interests to make your experience a great one – lots of free promotion for them! You can find out more about one of the new review sites Dimmi here.

It’s an interesting side to the picture and I will be interested to see what others think. Please add your comments and let’s get a conversation started!