Q: How has social media impacted the way you market your business?
A: It works toward awareness and as a reminder. It’s a vehicle in which we can share project info without hard selling and it reminds people that we’re here, busy and it tells them what we’re doing, but not in an interruptive or “sales-ey” way.

Q: What social media tool(s) do you use the most?
A: Twitter and Facebook.

Q: How much time each day do you spend using social media?
A: About 2 hours per day.

Q: Do you consider your time on social sites “time well spent”?
A: Yes, absolutely. Our business has been built by WOM (15 years). Social media is an extension of our existing WOM efforts and has expanded our web of influence and contacts. Social media makes it easier to find local resources and it puts us in touch with so many more people every day. Our reach is based on people who choose to hear what we have to say. They have opted in. When we go to social events offline people come up and say, “I love reading your twitter posts or Facebook posts.” We’re on their radar.

Q: What percentage of your new clients comes from social media?
A: Because of our engagement, we’re getting business that might otherwise go to an ad agency. They’re shopping and come to us because they see what we’re doing. Many times, we’re providing traditional media services and then integrating Social Media into the project/campaign where it makes sense.

Q: How are you gauging “ROI”?
A: We know when we’re getting business and buzz because people tell us. We have also positioned ourselves locally as leaders in this media and the reputation we are building makes the time-cost worth it.

Q: Can you describe your “social media successes” at the local, regional and national levels?

A:

Local: We’ve started HoCoMoJo, a hyperlocal news and community resource for Howard County, Maryland. (It’s MObile JOurnalism showcasing the “mojo” of HOward COunty.) Print media is in serious trouble and HoCoMoJo is our attempt to fill the local gap for news, information and community engagement. We seem to have struck a chord and the response has been encouraging. Since we’re already set up with production and editing equipment, HoCoMoJo didn’t require any additional investment. We’re still in public beta, working out some kinks, but new users are signing on every day, posting new content and becoming part of the conversation.

National: Our national connections have become part of our supplemental network. We get tapped when people come to town because we’ve connected on twitter. Our engagement increases the likelihood of our being tapped as a resource for out-of-towners.

Q: What would you say to other local business owners about social media?
A: Get past your natural fears and get in on the conversations. It’s happening – and it’s up to you to be part of it. It’s like attending a giant virtual cocktail party. It can be very interesting and you can do it without leaving the house/office.

Q: What question do you have about social media that you’d like to ask your local business community?
A: The ones who are successful at social media are fearless. The minute a large company tries to do “social business” without authenticity, they’re dead. A lot of companies are adopting a “wait & see” approach. But we look at social media more like it’s the “wild west.” People are experts in social media in the same way that Louis and Clarke were experts on the western frontier. They were only experts because they explored – that’s where we are. We’re exploring. So our question is, “If you can’t quite make sense of the ROI, do you see any value in exploring the potential of this new frontier?”

Click here if you’d like to be a part of Social Gets Local, a FREE local directory supporting businesses located or based in Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Annapolis that are using social media effectively.

However I opted to step aside and let it pass me by. (Traffic schmaffic.)

When I look back and consider my time in social media in 2009, it’s not the cool marketing tools I’ve experimented with, the great content that I’ve consumed or even the new business opportunities it has created — it’s with complete humility that this anti-social curmudgeon confesses (with uncharacteristic optimism and utter embarrassment at my public display of “joie de vivre”) it’s the people I’ve met and reconnected with that made my 2009 brighter, more interactive, more professionally rewarding and, even, more entertaining.

So as I look at 2010, I hope to continue to experience all of the spectacular and unexpected side effects social media, social business and social networking put before me each and every day.

We are all of us so much more than the sum of our work and it is the people with whom we work that make the work itself more pleasant…or unpleasant.

Social business provides more consistent, personal and direct access to people we like — people we want to be around and work with — which can bring greater value and meaning to how we spend our workdays.

If you’ve interacted with me here on this blog, on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, meetup.com, blip.fm, slideshare.net, at a local Panera, at a conference, at a seminar or event, through email, on google wave, by phone, at one of my presentations, on a sailboat or through Social Gets Local… I just want to say thank you.

You have enriched my life — online and off.

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If you are local to the Maryland area and want to find some great local blogs, all of the nominees on the list are worth a peek.

Categories included: foodie, humor, pop culture, music and nightlife, neighborhood, news, politics, sports, Ravens, Orioles, Terps, family, personal, photography, art and DIY, business and technology, as well as a category for those blogs that defy categorization.

I thought this awards event did a great job of raising awareness about Maryland’s local blogs and bloggers. (Hat tip to the brainchild on this at the Sun.) It was great to see people rally around the blogging community here and I was thrilled to discover a few new finds to add to my RSS feed reader.

Congrats to all of the winners in each of the categories and to everyone in the top 10 best overall list.

Click here for a full listing of all Mobbies nominees and here to learn more about “the Social Sun.” Oh, and if you want to check out The Baltimore Sun’s list of news blogs, just click on through… http://www.baltimoresun.com/about/blogs/

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Coming soon…

I’m working on a post about privacy online to address the many, many, many, many questions and concerns people have brought to me over the past few months during presentations I’ve given and subsequent to some of my blog posts. It’s a big topic to tackle — but I’m on the case.

I invite you to send in your “privacy questions” now so I can incorporate them into my article.

In the meantime, I have this pearl of wisdom to share: if you don’t want something made public, don’t post it — EVEN IF you have all of your “privacy settings” on lock down on any given site or social platform. That’s just one woman’s opinion, but it’s a good preemptive privacy policy, no?

I’m going to take a closer look at the laws, the culture, and the best practices so that, together, we can figure out how to maneuver comfortably in the transparent, social online world without losing our individual senses of privacy.

Until then…

Gary Honig, president of D.C.-based Creative Capital Associates (CCA), provides accounts receivable financing to emerging businesses. Currently CCA has more than $10 million in available funding reserves with which they purchased $100 million of commercial invoicing last year. Now with offices in Denver, CO and Red Bank, NJ, CCA continues to fund nationwide.

Gary is on Twitter @garyhonig and blogs at The Art of Factoring. In this “Social Gets Local” post, Gary tells us how he puts his social media style to work for him every day.

Q: How has social media impacted the way you market your business?
A: As an early adopter of the power of social media, I began to incorporate the communication platform as an integrated part of our overall efforts. This allowed us to effectively get our message into the corners of business communities that had been previously hard to reach. Because the entirety of social media is an evolving mass, the excitement and anticipation of new concepts and applications drives the strategies. To successfully use social media marketing you must be nimble, pro-active, and quick to adopt fresh techniques.

Q: What social media tool do you use the most?
A: This changes as my needs require. A site like LinkedIn might help promote me as a subject matter expert, while Twitter might help me reach referral sources in a fast cost-effective way. The important thing is to cross-pollinate all these tools.

Q: How much time each day do you spend using social media?
A: Some days it seems as if I spend all day reading and writing. If you have enough self discipline to get in and get out of the social media spaces quickly, you can be very effective with 20 minutes here and there a couple times a day. The self discipline to not click on tantalizing subjects is key. That said, I think the threat of “wasting time online” does not mean that the tools are ineffective.

Q: Do you consider your time on social sites “time well spent”?
A: I have measurable results from the efforts to effectively use social media.

Q: What percentage of your new clients comes from social media?
A: Our business is relationships; possibly half the new relationships we acquire come through the social media marketing campaigns.

Q: How are you gauging “ROI”?
A: I believe we could be more effectively tracking our analytics. We are actively seeking to outsource some of this work to optimize the results.

Q: Can you describe your “social media successes” at the local, regional and national levels?
A: Local: We’re meeting good, strong resource partners by participating in events found through social media. Regional: We’re building awareness with better referral sources. National: We’re increasing our visibility as subject matter experts.

Q: Do you encourage your sales force to use social media? How or in what ways?
A: Yes, we believe that increasing the brand footprint by using social media is a great way to stay in front of new business. By staying on top of Twitter chat, working our keywords in discussions, and monitoring those keywords we can be first to respond when a question arises.

Q: What would you say to other local business owners about social media?
A: Be prepared to develop a plan that uses all the tools as a matrix strategy. The tools feed off each other. Use your time effectively, watch out for time drift and have discipline.

Q: What question do you have about social media that you’d like to ask your local business community?
A: What’s the last thing you read or attended that really stopped you in your tracks?

Click here if you’d like to be a part of Social Gets Local, a FREE local directory supporting businesses located or based in Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Annapolis that are using social media effectively.

Joan Schramm, who is an executive, career, business and personal coach at Momentum Coaching, has leveraged the power and reach of multiple social media tools to “achieve momentum” for her business.

In this “Social Gets Local” post, Joan shares her social media approaches, ideas and successes as both a business owner and a skilled social marketer.

Q: How has social media impacted the way you market your business?
A: My blog readership has tripled. By leveraging the power of blogging, I am able to earn more traffic and generate more requests for information.

Q: What social media tool do you use the most?
A: Tweetdeck for Twitter – it is a great tool for posting and for search, as well as for keeping track of important Tweets. I also use Friendfeed to further boost my exposure.

Q: How much time each day do you spend using social media?
A: I spend about 15 – 20 minutes a day on Facebook and on Twitter (@JoanSchramm) I’m in and out all day: 10-15 minutes in the morning; 10 minutes in the afternoon and 10 minutes in the evening.

Q: Do you consider your time on Twitter “time well spent?”
A: Absolutely. It keeps me up to date with what other people in the field are doing, and allows me to effectively communicate with a large number of interested people.

Q: What percentage of your new clients come from social media?
A: About 75 – 80% of my new clients come from social networking – LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook (in that order). The others come from regular networking, which is often an out-shoot of the social networking, so it’s all related. My outreach is more focused and I have started hosting a bi-monthly radio show on BlogTalkRadio. I’m also putting together a teleclass on social networking for job search.

Q: How are you gauging “ROI?”
A: I use search and monitoring tools (Google alerts and Twitter search) to gauge the Word Of Mouth (WOM) of my name/brand/business. Right now, I view the addition of new clients, as well as boosts in WOM as my primary measuring sticks for ROI.

Q: Can you describe one of your “social media successes?”
A: During the holidays, I ran a “10 Days of Holiday Giving” campaign in which I donated (to charity) $1.00 for every comment made on my blog. I got a lot of good feedback on that idea. I also have a Twitter account for a non-profit I volunteer with – Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League (MAGDRL). The response has been incredible, and MAGDRL was named one of the top 26 charities on Twitter by Mashable.

Q: Do you encourage your sales force to use social media? How or in what ways?
A: Our marketing efforts include our blog, newsletter and social media marketing. I use Google Reader every day to monitor my Top 10 list of blogs – which are great sources for sharing information.

Q: What would you say to other local business owners about social media?
A: Get ahead of the curve NOW. You are missing opportunities! Social media is NOT for kids – it’s for innovative marketers.

Q: What question do you have about social media that you’d like to ask your local business community?
A: Why aren’t more of you involved in social networking? I see a lot of skepticism and misunderstanding about its role in business, and I wonder why that is.

Click here if you’d like to be a part of Social Gets Local, a FREE local directory supporting businesses located in Baltimore, Washington DC and Annapolis that are using social media effectively.

Where did the time go?

Well, I’ll tell you. I was still plugged in, but to a bunch of new stuff…spent some time exploring tools and technology I hadn’t before so as to expand my social repertoire. I invite you to walk with me for a minute to see where I’ve been, in case you’d like to go a-wanderin’, too.

Sailing Out Of Twitter
Would you believe I have Twitter to thank for reconnecting me to a love of sailing that I lost track of more than a decade ago? A Twitter contact put the idea back in my head. And, as these things do, the cosmic connections started to stir around me. Twitter sailors started popping up everywhere, and the next thing I knew I was back on a boat trying to remember my topping lift from my twing. Because of Twitter, I rediscovered a little piece of me I thought was gone forever. Cool, huh? (And people think it’s just full of people talking about what they ate for lunch.) And then…

CafePress
I needed a red shirt to wear for the next sailing race. So I figured, why not get one with the name of the sailing team with whom I was racing on the front pocket? Of course I’ve known about CafePress for quite some time, bought from it and recommended it, but I wanted to figure out how it worked from a creator’s standpoint. So I set up my own storefronts at www.cafepress.com/GrayMatterPress and www.cafepress.com/GrayPicturesLLC for no other reason than because I could. And then…

A Very Social Snow Cone
As serendipity would have it, I got together with an old friend and fellow entrepreneur to chat about life and biz and sailing-thanks-to-Twitter, and before I had finished my snow cone (coconut flavor with marshmallow in the middle), she had decided to start a new networking group and a blog to boot. The first event she hosted was a smashing success. It is my pleasure to introduce www.FreeBirdsUnited.com/blog, a blog for women entrepreneurs. (Go Betty, go!) As I scraped the marshmallow from the bottom of my cup, I suggested she set up a store at CafePress (having just done so myself), so we could buy FreeBird stuff to showcase our affiliation. And then…

Flip Mino HD
I thought I should go back in and actually add some products to my stores on CafePress, and that’s when I saw that you can put your logo on those cool little flip mino HD digital video cameras. So, naturally, I did. Then I bought one. And then…

YouTube
With my hot little (branded) flip mino HD cam in hand, I realized how easy it would be to shoot and post something to YouTube. So I did that, too. And it was fun. Fun, I tell you. So much fun that I decided I could have even more fun if I had a little something (and I do mean “little”) to sail myself, from which I could shoot more fun stuff. And then…

Craigslist
As with all other things in my world, I realize that hands-on experience (whether you’re building a blog or sailing a boat) is the best kind. I was always a bit of an eBay snob, but search results for little sailboats kept churning up Craigslist links (anyone who has heard me talk about social media, has heard me talk about the power of “search”…this being a case in point). And, it turns out, I ended up having a very positive Craigslist experience. Saw a good listing, chatted with the seller by phone, met him and then bought a little tiny itty-bitty Sunfish.  And then…

Audible.com
I had to go pick up the little itty-bitty boat, so I downloaded a book — a memoir — to my iPod to listen to on the drive that broke my heart and reminded me, yet again, that life is short and every day is a gift. It also reminded me that you never know where new connections may take place or where those connections may take you. It’s hard to put the power of this book in the context of anything else because it tells a story that is more important than anything I will ever say or do in my lifetime. I will carry it with me in my mind forever, count my blessings and continue on…

Facebook
I then posted a wall-to-wall “thank you” to the friend who recommended the abovementioned book, and then I joined a few sailing groups on Facebook in case I have questions while fixing up my little Sunfish. I also connected with the new sailors I have met racing so we can stay in touch on shore, virtually speaking. Facebook has helped me get to know each of them a bit better beyond our chatter between tacking and jibing. And then…

I realized it’s been a month since I posted to GrayMatter Minute!

So as I settle back down into blog business, I’m looking forward to refocusing my efforts on Social Gets Local, where I am sharing case studies about how local Baltimore-Washington-Annapolis area businesses are using social media successfully. (Ping me if you’d like to be added to the directory.)

Why do I think any of you care about what I’ve been doing over the past 30 days?

Well, I don’t. However, I do think my adventure presents an interesting example of how social media connections you make online can move offline and then back online again and take you to places you might not otherwise have traveled.

Meet online. Move offline. Maintain your network.

Technology doesn’t have to be overwhelming or all-consuming. It’s what you make it. All of these social tools are there to make it easier for you to connect to the things that matter to you — from business to blogging to boating to books or whatever moves your needle. I LOVE being plugged in because doors keep opening all around me. So if you aren’t getting anything out of Twitter or you think Facebook is stupid (and that’s cool if you do…it’s your dime), I just want to suggest that if you explore them in earnest you can learn a lot about whatever you want.

I was in this for the FYI, not the ROI.

We’re each the skipper of our own little boat and that can be rather empowering. I’ll save the “ROI of Social Media” discussions for Social Gets Local. In this post, I just wanted to make the point that when you make the investment in filling your own social sails, you may be surprised (and delighted) to see where the wind might take you.

Sometimes the journey itself is the destination — and the reward.

Well, if you’re ever driving from point A to point B in Baltimore in a dirty car, I’d like to recommend a pit stop at WashWorks on Howard and 21st Street.

WashWorks, Baltimore MD

Not only will your car feel “like new” again, but you’ll have the chance to see one of the most efficiently run small businesses in Baltimore.

What does this post have to do with social media?

It’s about RELATIONSHIPS. I drove in to WashWorks on an overcast day when rain was imminent (yes, my car was THAT dirty that I would pay for a wash right before it rains). There’s usually a line of cars halfway down the block at this WashWorks location, but because of the weather, there were no lines. My lucky day. However, I drive an SUV and I happened to have a roof rack on it that exceeded maximum clearance for the touchless car wash. The owner, who is there all the time (in his easy-to-spot teal shirt), explained this to me when I pulled up. “Bummer,” I said…and then I put ‘er in reverse to back out. But before I did, I leaned out the window and told him that I’m a frequent customer and his is the most well-run operation I have ever seen and that the quality and consistency of the work is always first-rate.

As I prepared to pull away, the owner said, “Wait…”

I stopped. And he said, “Pull into that side bay over there, we’ll wash it by hand.”

Get out!

Seriously! How often do you find that kind of service? While I was a loyal customer before today, I instantly converted into ambassador in perpetuity for WashWorks. My compliment was given without expectation and returned with something truly exceptional.

There are only a few brands that have unequivocally built a reputation on going the extra mile for customers, (Nordstrom’s comes to mind), because they do customer service, quality and consistency right, every time.

I drove out of that WashWorks feeling like a won a prize. Not only was my car spotless, inside and out, but I felt overwhelmed by the act. And it doesn’t matter one iota to me that WashWorks is or isn’t engaged in twitter or facebook or anywhere else online. They are engaged – consistently and thoroughly – in customer service. That’s what drives Word of Mouth (WOM). You might even say they made me their social media.

I’m more than happy to toot their horn.

WashWorks

Howard & 21st Street | Baltimore, MD

http://www.washworksonline.com/

410-837-WASH

In this (very first) “Social Gets Local” post, an interview with GrayMatter Minute contributor @cameronbarry, she shares the successes and challenges of adapting new communications tools in an organization with a social mission.

Q: How has social media impacted your marketing efforts?
A: The biggest change we’ve seen to date is in public relations.  Social media is where the journalists are. Sites like Twitter and Facebook are the new bridge to our media contacts and the answer to the question of what’s the best way to get in touch with them.  They also give us insights into the stories that journalists are talking about and covering. However, we’re about to launch a new social media campaign that I think is really going to change the way we communicate.

Q: What social media tool do you use the most?
A: Twitter, where I have both my own account and one for the Foundation.  We also have a Facebook page and I’ve been working with my colleagues on the benefits of using LinkedIn, but between listening and posting and answering questions about what it is and why my colleagues should care about it, Twitter definitely gets most of my attention.

Q: How much time each day do you spend using Twitter?
A: I worked with our IT department to install Twhirl on my desktop. Since then, I’ve been able to keep an eye on our accounts and post or respond quickly.  I can’t put an exact amount of time on it because it’s always kind of a low hum in the background.

Q: Do you consider your time on Twitter “time well spent?”
A: That’s a lot like asking a PR person if there’s a value in building a relationship with a reporter if the story you pitch doesn’t come out right away.  In other words, yes, especially in maintaining and managing relationships with journalists.  The Foundation tends to keep a low profile and now, because I’m in regular communication with reporters, they remember us.  We don’t have to constantly restart the conversation every time we have a story to share. In the area of policy and communications strategy, we see more and more members of Congress using social media to take the pulse of their constituencies.  They’ve discovered that there’s more than one way to have a conversation and maintain relationships and we’re going to be taking a look at social media from the policy perspective as well.

Q: Is the leadership of your organization supportive of your use of social media?
A: They are supportive and curious.  All foundations are on information overload, but as tools like Twitter get more and more mainstream media coverage, our leadership is realizing that we have to make an investment in learning about how to make good use of these tools to engage with all of our audiences.

Q: Do your colleagues use social media?  How and in what ways?
A: Yes.  In addition to the basic networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, we’re also using social media to help our grantees across the country stay in touch with each other.  The Foundation awards grants to address specific issues and our grantees have been asking for help in setting up their own smaller social networks.  We use ning, an online platform for creating, customizing and sharing your own social networks.

Q: How are you gauging “ROI?”
A: Right now, we’re being modest, but we’re getting smarter as fast as we can.  We’re still evaluating what success means, but we’re tracking how often bloggers write about us and how many tweets we get and of course, our website traffic. Our new social media campaign is going to give us a much clearer idea of how we can make social media engagement work for us.

Q: How is social media working for you on the…
Local level?
A: Our success is most visible locally, probably because I’m here in Baltimore.  I can see our message getting out via local channels, I hear from our grantees, the media can see our local programs at work….
Regional level?
A: We have offices in several cities around the country and from our headquarters here in Baltimore, we view a regional rollout of our social media efforts as a next step.  We’re going to take what we’ve learned here and share it with our offices in Atlanta, Seattle and New Haven so they can use social media to support their efforts.
National level?
A: Nationally, there’s a lot of internal recognition for our efforts, but extending our social media efforts nationwide is still a goal.

Q: What would you say to other area philanthropies about social media?
A: I would say that social media engagement is totally worth the effort if you’re willing to take the time to build relationships.  Social media is great for taking the pulse of what people are talking about, thinking about and listening to. It’s easy to get insulated – we all have a tendency to think that because we want to say something, people want to listen, but that’s not always the case.  Social media encourages you to listen and it gives you the quickest return on being a good listener.

Q: What question do you have about social media that you’d like to ask your local community?
A: I go right back to the question of ROI.  Even with the phenomenal growth of social media, how are folks out there figuring out when it’s worth doing?

Click here if you’d like to be a part of Social Gets Local, a FREE local directory supporting businesses located in Baltimore, Washington DC and Annapolis that are using social media effectively.