BizCoachDeb's BizBuzz -

Archive for June, 2010

As if I needed another reason to be social, Mashable has gone and taken it up a few notches. At last count, there are 619 Meetups taking place around the world today to celebrate Social Media Day. From Boulder to Udaipur, places are having panels, while others are having Happy Hour. However your city is celebrating it, the bottomline is it gives you a chance to meet IRL with that person you’ve been tweeting with on Twitter or following on Facebook, or better yet, you’ll truly connect with someone you’ve never interacted with at all.

The entire premise of social media is the interaction you have with others, and nothing makes those connections more poignant or special than physically looking someone in the eye and shaking their hand — or maybe finally giving them a hug. Is it a bit scary for the bashful? Maybe, but there is a constant that I’ve experienced at Tweetups and other such gatherings; the making of new friends.   The rest of the story...

In case you missed the most recent news, Mashable is reporting geo-groovy app Foursquare has raised $20 Million, taking its value up to $95 Million. I could not be happier. When companies get this kind of support and certainly this kind of buy-in, it means the market is listening and that smart people are seeing the bigger picture — and the great potential for such a clever application. Let’s hope the small businesses of the world are listening, too.  As I roll around Boulder, I’m still surprised by the lack of a good foothold it has with local merchants. I’m doing my part to change that, but it will take some time.

Oh, and one more key piece that makes me happy about this news? Foursquare owners decided to continue building, rather than selling themselves off to some larger company that could ruin them. Score one more for the little guys! That seems worthy of a special kind of Mayor badge.

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The coffee lover in me has a hard time resisting news about, well, coffee shops in the news. It appears Starbucks has bitten the java bean and will finally offer free Wi-Fi in their some 6,700 stores around the U.S. For any of you that have gone before, you know the big pain getting online can be at their shops.  The question though: how many years have the corner coffee shops already been doing this? When will the copy-catting end? Does this mean their coffee will get better, too? Okay, one mountain at a time.

Now, the true test in serving customers will be when they cease with the coffee lingo snobbery and stop correcting the way I order my coffee, or at least keep said correction to themselves.

“I’ll have a medium sugar-free vanilla latte with skim milk.”

“So that’s grande skinny vanilla latte.”

“Never mind.”

Is it any wonder I drink at local coffee shops whenever possible? 
Photo Credit: Bionic teaching

Why?

Because good copywriters in the social sphere are different than your garden-variety writers.
We listen very well.
We can research and write like mad.
We’re great at conversations.   
We believe in Strunk and White.
We’re well-connected.
We’re communications ninjas.

And while initially we might not know one iota about your business, after carefully considering your company, its offerings, its philosophy and its people, we’ll know more about your business than even some of your employees.
Why?
Because as copywriters, it’s our job.
Our job requires us to get intimately familiar with your business.

Our job requires us to become utterly consumed with what you do and how you do it.  Our job is not doing your job, but doing ours.

And our job is to paint the fabulousness that is you, one character at a time.
And it’s to say it in such a way that engages, informs and builds rapport.
And in social media, when you’re talking written conversation, what you say and how you say it means everything.   The rest of the story...

Everyone and their mom has beat a path down the social media path, and for what it’s worth, we’re still in the process of laying the groundwork. This medium’s mortar has not even dried, and new applications are being built every day to help tap into the minds, hearts and pocketbooks of people all over the world.  Cause-marketers are seeing these spaces as very useful tools for getting their message out and garnering attention for their projects.  Entry is simple and the tools are easy enough to manage, so the notion is getting funds into the piggy bank can be made easier, too.

Fight With Tools
Some companies are emerging with applications that make it easier than ever to support causes you believe and want to support monetarily. In the earlier days, it was clever enough to put a link that went to a PayPal account and have people donate, but things are getting more refined, and donors need to avoid being bamboozled. If you’re a nonprofit and interested in upping the credibility of your cause through social media channels, here are two applications you should consider:   The rest of the story...