Enchanting - minus the fairy tale... (Part 1)

Guy Kawasaki, the author of Enchantment, gives us a few tips on how to enchant people with social media.
 
He says that there are three pillars to observe when engaging with social media and the first of which is to always be a likable, friendly, positive person when talking to your audience. As in the real world, you would pay more attention, or in his terms, be more enchanted by a person you actually like.

Being likable involves an appropriate smile, something like a duchenne smile, as Guy describes it. Another thing that could make you seem more likable is to dress appropriately. Everyone likes looking and talking to people who are smiling and well dressed.
 
The second pillar is to be trustworthy. Show people you can be trusted by showing them that you trust them, and they will in turn, trust you back. A company that Guy mentions here is Zappos, an online retail company that pays for shipping fees for their merchandise, both ways! By having this unique policy, they have earned the trust of many as when their shoppers are dissatisfied with their products, they can simply send it back for free.
 
The third pillar is for all your products and services to have the DICEE characteristics; which stand for: deep, intelligent, complete, empowering, and elegant. To greater emphasize this, let's take a look at Macintosh. As compared to Windows OS, Macs bring out the creativity in someone and don't hinder their thinking with complex applications and tools; in other words, an example of a deep, empowering brand.
 
Another example is the Ford Mustang; it is described intelligent and complete because of their special 'key' features. Certain keys specifically designed for the youth so that the car can only accelerate up to a certain speed that the parent sets for it.
 
Once you have established these three pillars, then you can start taking note of the other key points for enchanting an audience using social media. They are as follows:
 
You should always be answering, especially on Twitter. This is the fourth tip to pay attention to when engaging with social media; it is one of the easiest ways to enchant people. Make sure to reply to everyone, whether that somebody is a nobody or Brad Pitt. Remember that the 'nobodies' of yesterday are today's somebodies! Replies ensure that you pay attention to your followers/fans and make them like/trust you :) The fifth tip that Guy mentions is to always remember to say thank you. Growing up, our parents always reminded us of the simple, yet very powerful act of thanks; the same goes in the lines of social media. A simple thank you to everyone who praises you will definitely go a long way.
 
Are we at Drive Social Media enchanting? We would love to know!
 
More soon :-)

Ayna Gonzales

Marketing Executive
Drive Social Media

The Final Steps

This is the fourth and final series of posts on business blogging initiated by the blog post:
‘Don’t make your blog a slog!’

The previous blog post shows you how to create your own blog and how to add content to it, but the next question is… How do you attract followers to your blog? You want people to read your posts, but how would you do this?

Always remember that people will be interested to follow you, if they find you interesting.

Writing insightful articles will help people understand what you, or your brand is about, and will keep reading to learn more about it.

Add other blogs from your niche - follow other blogs that you find interesting, and they will hopefully follow you back. Engage with your followers; converse with them so they can get to know you better. You could also refer to other similar blogs in your blog posts, and then comment on their blogs to inform them that you've mentioned them in your post.

RSS feeds, like Google Reader or Outlook, are also very powerful tools you can use to help you generate followers for your blog. RSS feeds (also known as Really Simple Syndication feeds) help you keep track of other blogs and let you know when they've posted new content, so you can easily read them and comment on their posts.

So are there any other ways of letting people know about my blog?

Social Media Sites are also very useful when you want to attract followers. For example, you could let your followers on Twitter know that you've posted a new blog post and encourage them to follow your blog after visiting it.

Use Linked In to update your friends and colleagues there about your blog posts. Don't forget to direct them to your blog by adding the URL in your update as well. Linked In has a lot of groups; join the ones that are in your field of interest and inform them about your blog.

Facebook is also very useful as you can post on people's walls and kindly ask them to share your update with their friends whom they think will be interested in your blog. If you have a Facebook Page, you could post the same message you posted on Twitter and Linked In to keep your fans updated on your blog.

NetworkedBlogs is an application for Facebook that when added to your blog and Facebook page, will automatically pull through your blog feed and post it on your wall. You will have a separate list of followers for NetworkBlogs too.

Another website that's useful for generating followers for your blog is Technorati - one of the most famous search engines for blogs and blog posts. Find and follow similar blogs and promote yours there too.

What are the business benefits of blogging?

Blogging certainly increases your credibility and lets everyone read about your passion and what you're all about. Over time, with an increasing number of followers, people will trust you more and this in turn, leads to an increase in sales for your business.

All your posts will always be available in your archives, so even new users, or new visitors to your blog will be able to go back to those posts to read about you.

Using social media sites correctly will ensure that people will be able to see your blog on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn.. etc. Good brand awareness leads to trust from your target audience and customers.

Any widgets that can help?

Google Friend Connect, LinkedinABox, My Blog Log, Feedburner and Shout List Icons are great widgets to add to your blog to make it easier for your readers to connect with you, so make sure to add a few.

If you have any questions, please feel free to let us know :)

Ayna Gonzales
Marketing Executive
Drive Social Media

Hello My Friend

We are on holiday currently in Goa in India. It’s a nice place and the people are very friendly. The rain was hammering it down when we arrived 2 days ago but since then it’s been warm and dry. I decided to use the 2 weeks to chill out, keep the plates just about spinning at Drive Social Media and do a little blogging. The best tip I can give on holding the readers’ attention or the delegates’ attention during training courses is to tell stories...people love little stories. My stories are a mixture of wholly true, partly true or made up...and I am confused myself now which is which... J If the story adds a little value or helps someone to be successful or overcome a problem it’s worth telling.

Today we took a taxi and adopted ‘Su’ as our driver for the holiday. Fair play to him he made sure that he had added value to our2 hour taxi ride before he raised the subject. He made sure we were comfortable for the journey. He then pointed out all the local spots we may like to visit. If we liked holy places and places of worship he told us about them with enthusiasm. He fascinated us with his talk on Hinduism. We told him we wanted a supermarket so we could buy some essentials like decent coffee and dried milk – the hotel coffee being rather poor unlike the food which is very good. He waited 1 hour while we did our shopping and had lunch. He asked what kind of things we wanted from the holiday. We enjoy a little sightseeing, nice places for lunch, and a good bar for the football. He advised us on each one. At the end of the trip he said if we needed him, he gave us his card, we should ask the hotel to call his local number. A testimonial from the hotel no less. We didn’t need it. We had already bought....and despite his Manchester United shirt.

The bartender Mallu was friendly enough. He helped us get my laptop powered across his bar so I could catch up on emails. Then he chatted with Genny as I did some work. It had been tough on business for the hotel in the last 2 years. The Europeans and especially the British were coming in less numbers because of the recession. Thankfully, the Russian tourists had filled the gap and kept the hotel busy. He preferred the Europeans. They were friendly and he learned English from them. The Russians didn’t speak English and they didn’t much like the British. They were unfriendly and drank heavily. I suggested he learned some Russian or at least show willing for his guests. He agreed but that led to another issue. He learned how to say “How can I help you my friend?” in Russian. Unfortunately, this was interpreted by Muscovites as meaning they were now preferential guests and started demanding discounts on everything..... Oh dear.

A couple of regular Indian guys today exemplified some great pointers for business people and online and offline networkers.

Listen to your customers and give them some great value. Treat them with respect and they will buy. No need for a heavy sales pitch.

Choose your customers well. Fairness and respect is needed from both sides for a long term fruitful business relationship.