small business Archives - iRespectOnline

May 3, 2020 By Fiona Lucas

Facebook Pages vs Profile – where are you doing business?

Dear Business owners,

So glad you have understood that you can gain great value and grow your business through Social Media, but did you seek advice before you started? I actually wrote this blog originally back in June 2012 on my old blog Socially Skilled, but I’m reproducing with a few updates which I will note as I still see it happening, businesses operating from a personal Facebook profile instead of a Page.

I can’t believe I’m posting on this topic again – but still I see so many new businesses starting up as a personal profile under a business name, or operating their business from a personal profile. I know it might seem easier, and you feel you don’t want to personally “be” on facebook, but this is against facebook terms and is a poor business decision. (Update: using your personal messenger is also a pretty spammy way to do business).

It kinda makes me want to cry!

Because I am passionate about supporting businesses to grow, I usually drop a friendly private message to give the business a heads up… but I find it so frustrating that so many still do it. On an ethical level I will no longer “friend” a business – it would be hypocritical of me. (Update: I never did “friend” a profile in a brand name). However create a page and if your product or service is something I value, and proides value, then I will LIKE away, and engage!

Remember a LIKE is an endorsement of a product or service – if you are getting value from a page then you should LIKE them to say thanks! Update: We value engagement so much, comments, hearts and shares will always give your business a boost!

(Note that this is a reproduction of the original post from 2012 with updates or amendments noted).

After sending messages to a few pages, I had a couple come back saying they get better engagement with a personal profile – but the principles are all wrong. Let’s just examine a few from both the business perspective and that of someone “friending” the business as opposed to becoming a fan:

Do you really intend to push your business out onto all your friends – many of your friends may not appreciate that you are spruiking to them, and it is very poor social etiquette to do so.
On the other side, if you “friend” a business they are able to spam your friends .. NOT good social etiquette at all
as a business on a profile, you cannot take advantage of all the cool things that the Tabs can do help your business to grow. Update: Pages include messaging, shop, services and insights and more!)
You risk building a huge base of fans only to have it all it all shut down – at some point, especially with facebook now privatised, they are going to do some serious culling – then all your work is lost!
It is almost impossible to implement any kind of reasonable social media marketing strategy when you are operating as a personal profile, and any self respecting and qualified social media consultant should not encourage it. If you want to start list building – then do it through offering something of value and create an opt in offer.
Without a page you cannot take advantage of the analytical tools on offer – so how are you measuring your engagement?
Having an individual profile will limit you to a maximum of 5000 friends, pages can have millions of followers.
Converting to a page later is messy and doesn’t always work as well as you might like. It may not work in the best interests of your brand to later change over where some fans may move and others might still interact with the profile. You miss opportunities for engagement with a much broader audience.
You can link a page to your website and include a buttons to improve engagement, you can’t do this with a profile.
If you later create a personal profile then you are again in breach of facebook terms which clearly state that personal profiles must be in the name of a real identifiable individual (yes not your dog, cat, boat or business) and you may only have one. If you also have a business set up as a profile then you risk having both your profiles shut down.
It actually doesn’t help anyone to do it this way as it causes the statistics to be incorrect – and if you are trying to measure your ROI accurately then we all need to play the game fairly.

I could go on, but the number one thing that you are doing when you set up your business as a personal profile – is not being honest. No one knows who you are – it does not generate trust. If you are being transparent and using your own name, but using the profile for business, you are missing out on many benefits of a page. Be proud of what you have created and let it shine on it’s very own page. If you are not sure what to do, or don’t have a strategy, seek help from an expert so you don’t waste precious time and money, because you never get time back.

Update: I don’t really need to update any of the points, as they are all still really relevant despite me writing them back in 2012!

Fi.

November 25, 2017 By Fiona Lucas

#LinkedInLocal – why I became involved

The value of LinkedIn

For me, one of the greatest attractions of LinkedIn is the authenticity that comes from making connections with the owners of a business. It gives me more insight into their values and operations, and can be a huge determinate when it comes to selecting products and services. It was these thoughts playing on my mind when I came across the #LinkedInLocal movement around September 2017.

I was immediately captivated by a movement that sought to network, not to sell and pitch, but to really connect. To let us meet the people behind the business in a relaxed environment, with no pressure to sell or spruik.

As a social media strategist I have often wondered why more local businesses were not leveraging LinkedIn. Was it because there is some disconnect between an electronic profile and the human behind it? Was it because some business owners couldn’t see how LinkedIn could benefit their business (and this is often the case where the focus is more on selling than making connections. It is harder to see the benefits when we are faced with the daily grind).

Perhaps it was because on other social media platforms we can get so hung up on numbers that we forget about the human side of actually connecting individually? I also wondered whether it was because for some business owners, they stay behind their business name and have not “unmasked” themselves on LinkedIn.

Time to get out of one comfort zone, and into a laid back networking zone via #LinkedInLocal (where you will still feel comfortable).

I contacted the inspiration behind the #LinkedInLocal movement, Anna McAfee. She started #LinkedInLocal in Coffs Harbour after exploring statistics and seeing that of the 23,000+ accounts in her region, under 900 were active. After posting a comment about it, one of her connections, who she had not physically met before, said “why don’t we meet then” and the rest is history. An incredible movement has started and is moving rapidly across the world.

(You can read Anna’s reflections here)

Why attend #LinkedInLocal?

There are many reasons why LinkedIn is really valuable to a business. In enables you to build quality business relationships, and interact with a group of like minded business owners and job seekers. #LinkedInLocal takes this to the next step, beyond the initial professional connection, to the human element. We must not forget the value of interaction with the incredible potential in our own area when we are looking to grow our business and teams.

Anna says “we are all here to do business, share experiences and grow our networks, and learning from those who have paved the way already is a truly valuable exercise. If you don’t have a LinkedIn aficionado in your area though my suggestion is organise one anyway, as we did. There is no need to host a workshop style event or have high local engagement on LinkedIn, as we have proven in Coffs Harbour. It simply about making a connection, getting to know one another, and working together towards better business relationships” .

Following my discussion with Anna, I decided it was time, as a local “LinkedIn aficionado” to put it out there to my wonderful home town of Geelong. I’m a third Generation Geelongite. I am loving the current buzz as our community helps to build Geelong into an incredible knowledge base, a hub of startups, ideas, new services, great products and innovative manufacturing as we move into a new era.

#LinkedInLocal exists as a non profit, no pitch, no sell form of networking. A refreshing change, where the focus is on the human, not the business (but of course you can talk business too).

Perth had a magnificent turn out. With the beautiful waterfront at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club beckoning, why not join us at our first #LinkedInLocal event in Geelong on 13 December? Share a drink, a laugh and a chat, maybe even win a prize!

You can find me on LinkedIn here, message me to let me know this post led you to connect!

Fiona.

August 27, 2016 By Fiona Lucas

Online complaints – Don’t be an accidental troll

The power of online reviews & complaints:

Online Reviews help businesses to share wins and to build trust and provide social proof of the value of goods or services. They can also provide a space for disgruntled customers to make a very public complaints. Unfortunately at times consumers act in an emotional state and do not fully consider the consequences of their actions.

It is heartwarming for a business owner to receive positive reviews for their services and products, but it can be absolutely heartbreaking when a complaint gets out of hand.

Previously we wrote an article covering many of the issues to be considered by both businesses and consumers when providing online testimonials (you can read it here). In this article we really want to focus on helping consumers through the steps of providing a review or making a complaint so that the interests of all parties are protected. Most countries will have extensive consumer laws in place. These are there to help protect both business and consumers by providing rulings and guidelines on all manner of consumer law. In Australia the ACCC is the ruling body.

How to make an official complaint:

There are guidelines for making an official complaint, and we strongly recommend that the first point of call is always to contact the business direct, before heading to social media.

Make contact with the business as soon as possible

Don’t delay. A fairer outcome for all concerned comes with a timely complaint.

Make sure you state the complaint fairly and the outcome you are seeking (replacement of an item, refund, repair).

Have proof of purchase or any contract readily available as the business may request such documents as part of their complaints proceedings.

Be polite.

Put your complaint in Writing via email or a letter

It can assist to put your complaint in writing so that there are no misunderstandings. State your complaint and your desired outcome. Having your complaint in writing also helps to document the process.

The ACCC provide a handy tool to help you determine your rights. It is a general guide only, and does not constitute legal advice.

You can find the tool here: Use your rights

Be fair and reasonable

[clickToTweet tweet=”Keeping your cool is important. Remember to focus on the issue at hand and try to avoid confrontation.” quote=”Keeping your cool is important. Remember to focus on the issue at hand and try to avoid confrontation.”]

If things are getting heated, ask to speak to someone else, or tell them you will call again tomorrow because you are upset at the moment. Don’t allow emotion to cause further issues.

If you have not had any response, then posting a question or a tweet to a business asking them to respond, without any emotion attached does seem to make some businesses take action. Please do this respectfully and only after all other attempts have failed.

If you are not getting a resolution

Don’t continue to complain, after three attempts to resolve the issue, if you are still not happy or the business has not responded, your next step is to seek advice from either the ACCC or a third party.

The ACCC provides a list of places to go for help, you can access the list here.

If you are still not getting a satisfactory response, your step would be to obtain legal advice. Do not launch into an attack online or bombard the premises with abusive phone calls. None of this will help you to resolve the issue and you may find yourself being charged for harrassment or other charges. This leads us to talk about the elephant (troll) in the room. The use of social media for complaints.

Don’t become an accidental troll (or incite others to troll)

[clickToTweet tweet=”With businesses so accessible these days via social media, it can be tempting to launch into an attack on a business ” quote=”With businesses so accessible these days via social media, it can be tempting to launch into an attack on a business when you are feeling that your complaint has not been dealt with. “]

Complaining to friends can get them riled up too and sometimes we see cases of a disgruntled customer inciting their friends to write poor reviews and complaints against the business. This is unethical behaviour and further if the people writing the reviews have never used the business, they are in fact breaching laws around the creation of fake reviews. (see our previous article on writing testimonals here).

The risk of being charged under defamation laws will loom in this instance. If your friends do go on the defensive for you, ask them to please remove such reviews and complaints, to protect their own reputations. Publically launching into a personal attack on businesses or naming and shaming can often backfire and should not be part of your plan for resolution.

What if you have written a bad review and then the problem is resolved?

In this case do the right thing and at the very least add a comment to your review that the issue was resolved and thank them for the resolution. You may or may not choose to delete the review or amend it in other ways. You have the right to leave a review for a business provided it is truthful and not malicious.

When can’t you request a refund or cancel a service?

When it comes to services, under Australia law there are certain rights which the consumer has, but also there are times when you cannot cancel or request a refund. According to the ACCC website these include:

issues arising which were outside of the control of the provider,
because you just decide to change your mind after the service was completed
you have insisted on having a service provided in a particular way, against the provider’s advice
you failed to clearly explain your needs to the provider.

For example you engage a painter and you are told that the surface needs a primer. You insist this is not necessary and direct the painter to paint without the preparation. The paint starts to peel within weeks. You cannot request a refund because you have been given expert advice and chosen to go against it and insisted they do the work your way.

[clickToTweet tweet=”The area of complaints is one where emotions can run high on both sides.” quote=”The area of complaints is one where emotions can run high on both sides.”]

The above is general information only and should not be considered legal advice.

We are happy to continue research into this area and welcome discussion on the topic. Please however refrain from naming and shaming any organisation in your comments or using inappropriate language (we are a family friendly blog!).

You may also wish to read our article on etiquette and responding to complaints from the business side here.

August 26, 2016 By Fiona Lucas

Adobe Spark makes a few changes

Getting creative with Adobe Spark

One of our favourite freemium products is Adobe Spark. It’s wonderful for creating images and video quickly and effectively. Up until now although you could remove branding on images, you could not on video. Adobe Spark is now opening up the ability to remove branding and add your own. It’s free for now but eventually will be a paid service, so if you do accept their offer, be aware of that. They are rolling out the offers to active users, so if you don’t have it yet, it shouldn’t be far away.

The fantastic news however is that if you are already a subscriber to Adobe Creative then this is part of your subscription as long as your subscription is current! Yay for that.

This is great news for social media and content managers.

So if you haven’t jumped on board the Adobe Spark train, why not give it a try.

There is an app version of both Adobe Post (for images) and Spark Video too although at this stage the branding may still be on videos created via the app.

One of the best things about Spark is it’s ability to help you get inspired. With lots of shared content you can look at for ideas and a vast collection of images on hand (and of course you can upload your own images as well).

We created this little video on the topic of inspiration because like many working in the field of social media, sometimes we have to remember just to stop and breathe, and take in our day and inspiration and content ideas will come.

It also serves as a lovely example of how Spark helps you to create simple and memorable video.

We hope you enjoy. Please share your experiences with Adobe Spark with us in the comments