Twitter....Facebook.....What the !!!!

I cannot tell you how many people have made the following statement to me in the last 3 months...

" I don't get (Twitter, Facebook)!"

It's a pretty universal feeling. I tried to step back and think of the best way to sort of encapsulate what these SM forums are and how they are different from one another.  I have settled on this....

Facebook is the equivalent of being invited into someone's livingroom and having a seat on their couch.  Twitter is the equivalent to booking a hall and offering free admission to anyone who's interested in hearing what you have to say.

So what do I mean?  Well let's look at them separately.

Facebook - If you are invited to a friends house to hang out and offered a seat on their couch...how likely would you be to launch immediately into a sales pitch about your DJ business?  Would you be more likely to ask them how they were and what was going on with them or would you dominate the conversation with info on what was happening in your world?  Most likely it would be a more natural conversation.  A back and forth with each of you showing interest in what the other had to say.  That's Facebook in a very simplified way.  We "friend" people on Facebook.  Our interactions there should be of a more friendly nature.  When you are interacting with potential clients you want to act like you're at a friends house chatting.  Showing genuine interest in what they are saying and what's going on in their world.  Commenting when appropriate on there status updates (wedding and non wedding alike) without acting like a stalker.  When (and if) the conversation comes naturally around to weddings offer your expertise but refrain from selling yourself.  After all if they know you are a DJ and they have need of one they'll be likely to inquire of themselves.  Once they open the discussion then fire up your sales pitch but only after you're invited to.

A couple caveats - Doesn't your Mom, your best friend, and your wife already think you're the Greatest DJ in the world?  Your past customers already benefited from your awesome specials and the current clients are anticipating your service but have paid their deposit and aren't concerned that "DATES ARE FILLING UP FAST!"  These are more than likely the people on your friends list (don't get me started on what value following every DJ in America does for any of us)  So FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE STOP POSTING THIS INFORMATION ON FACEBOOK!  How many times can we read about "Another GREAT event, for another GREAT couple, at another GREAT venue...blah...blah...blah" PUKE!  Instead what made THIS reception unique?  What happened that made this event unlike any other?  What was interesting?  I hate to say it but several of my fellow well respected DJ colleagues are hidden in my news feed for essentially spamming my wall with this type of repetitive posting.  Again consider WHO you are making these statements to. Give em something worth reading!

Twitter - You have information about what makes your business the most unique, best value, most exciting WHATEVER DJ service in your area or perhaps in the whole wide world!  Twitter is a great place to demonstrate this knowledge and these attributes...but hold on!   Before you go racing off to Tweet about your current "promotion" or "latest gear purchase" consider who's listening.  Who are your followers?  What information will they find interesting and how can you communicate it to them in a way that will keep them interested and MOST IMPORTANTLY will encourage them to share that information with their followers!  This is the goal!  RT (ReTweeting) is a MAJOR goal on Twitter.  Getting people with followers different from your own to repeat what you have said to their followers is a powerful way to get the attention of folks you might not otherwise reach.  So twitter is the Hall you book and then you open the doors and invite people in to hear what you have to say.  People will come in at first with their own agendas.  They want YOU to listen to them.  They are looking for you to RT what they have posted.  If you follow other DJ's don't expect to close ANY sales using Twitter.  They aren't going to help you out.  If however you follow all the banquet managers, venues (yes venues have their own Twitter accounts), planners, photographers, florists, cake designers, etc in your area and you find ways to communicate to them useful information you will raise your profile in their consideration.  If you take the opportunity to figure out who in that group is offering great information and RT that info to your followers you will become even more influential to those folks.

A couple caveats....don't RT any blog posts that you didn't read!  The worst thing is to see a DJ RT something from a planner and then to read the article where the planner disses DJ's.  Your reputation is at stake protect it and only promote the vendors that prove their quality.
Don't simply Tweet your own self serving information over and over.  You will find yourself talking to no one.  Instead post interesting articles you read on-line or genuine honest opinions about local wedding resources.  If you blog Tweet your postings, and do it 3 to 4 times in a day.  People access Twitter at different times so if you only post at 10am and someone doesnt sign on till 7pm they aren't likely to scroll back to see that tweet.  Instead try using one of the SM dashboards like HootSuite, Tweetdeck, or Seesmic to schedule the posts to appear at 7:30 am, 12 Noon, 7:30pm and 11pm (these are generally high traffic times on Twitter.  Those who see the posts multiple times will simply ignore them.  They are the most engaged and they will be used to this.

A word about Friends/Followers - This isn't a contest or a race to the most.  I asked this question on Facebook the other day... "Once EVERY person on Facebook has "liked" your fan page...then what?"  Seriously...what is the point of having 1,000,000 friends or followers if none of them are paying attention.  We have all "liked" things on Facebook for little reason other than that it was soooooo easy to do.  Tell me though...do you return to all those pages and participate on them?  Do you stay engaged in the conversation swirling around the funny video on your cousins page or did you watch, hit the like button and move on?  Be honest.  If you are honest you'll soon realize that a "like" is worthless by itself.  A like that is accompanied by engagement...ahhh now that's something else.  On Twitter it's even worse.  I know of a DJ who just celebrated his 100k followers on Twitter.  A close examination of his follower list and you can see he is being followed by about 95,000 twitter bots!!!  Those aren't people just programs...he is talking to software!  His Klout score (one of the metrics used to determine influence on the web) is low meaning he's not a "force to be reckoned with...he's just a dude who collects followers.  If that's what you want I can show you how to get there but you'll be wasting your time 100% guaranteed.

The goal here with all SM is to convert the influence and interactions to $$$ yes?  Then make sure there's ALWAYS some SOCIAL in your Social Media activity!

Why you may not need "The top spot" on Google Search

Much energy, thought and effort is put in to securing the TOP spot on Google, Bing and Yahoo search results.  While this was an important consideration for Web 1.0 when customers were new to the web and had not figured out how to use the medium we are now dealing with web savvy consumers.  Todays web researcher is more intuitive and has a more acute BS detector which is set for a very low threshold.  While SEO (search engine optimization) does need to be a part of a effective overall marketing strategy it is becoming less and less a priority to simply capture that top spot as a means to success.  Here's why....

SEO...It's part of a larger picture
Truthfully though I am starting to think (realize) more and more that SEO is less and less effective. SEO for natural placement and discovery is akin to print advertising in years past.  Remember those Yellow pages ads where everyone wanted to add "AAA Disc Jockey Service" in order to get that first phone call?  THAT is todays SEO thinking only the web offers much more opportunity to engage and inform than the Yellow Pages ever did.  That's good and bad. Top organic search placement now feels more like gambling than strategy. You are hoping that you are placing the right "bets" (keyword distribution, reciprocal links, relevant content, etc) and that those bets will pay off in higher natural search placement eventually leading to sales. The problem is that the recent estimates on the number of small to large firms making SEO placement plays for payment put SEO at a $19B industry. We are all getting calls and emails from companies who claim to be able to put us at the top of the natural search results for various keywords. If this can/could be accomplished all your SEO efforts are worthless if a competitors SEO ranking company still gets him/her ahead of you in natural search. Consider this...no matter how much SEO anyone dumps into their website thanks to paid search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo paid advertisers will always come up above them on any keyword relevant search.  If you believe that the results of the Cornell University "Heatmap" research on clicks from 2006 still holds true (which in itself is questionable) those who are paying for placement at the top will still always capture the majority of the clicks.  If you feel this research still holds true then get into the CPC game and save yourself a lot of anxiety.  Just be prepared to shift a large portion of your marketing budget to this end.  

Now add to that the fact that most people still feel that the sales funnel to "conversion" success (getting from click to booking in our case) hangs on the so called "last click" when all other metrics are equal (same service options, similar pricing, equal prior brand awareness) So showing up at the top means the consumer search will start with you, but the consumer will desire at least one comparison and unless they recall your website and or brand as being in some way superior they will go with the last comparable click through as the end to their search. This makes being at the top a less desirable place.  The emphasis on being the first name that a consumer sees has diminished as people have learned to use the internet to research rather than as a simple resource for names, telephone numbers and pricing.  If your website isn't "up to snuff" you will not benefit in anyway from top placement.  Even if your website is entertaining, informative and engaging in all likelihood the customer is going to want to have something to compare it to.  This means they will be clicking on the next listing in their search results regardless.  


I am not suggesting that you ignore SEO entirely but I am saying that you should worry less about getting to that top spot.  Consumers will seek out multiple companies to compare and contrast.  Your goal should be to rank well (first page) and then to provide a dynamic site that makes a lasting impression.


Consider yourself
Think about your own internet search usage. If you are seeking a product or service where do you start? Let's assume for the sake of consideration that you have decided to use the internet to search out a service. You type in your search to your favorite engine and get 1000's of returns. You click on the first organic listing and the company seems qualified and their pricing is within your budget. Do you stop there? I don't. I want to see what else is out there so I go back to the original search results and click on the next link from a different company. I then compare the information on that website with the information I gathered from the first. If the service options are the same and the pricing is better I move them up to top consideration but i begin to wonder if their may yet be a better deal. so back I go to the results for another comparison. I stop when I feel I have a good idea of what the costs should be in comparison to the service offered and the budget I have in mind. If that first click didn't blow me away and the last click offered equal service for the same cost...I place my call to the page I am looking at. No reason to return to the previous sites. If the purchase is one of importance I may seek out personal referrals (posting to Facebook or Twitter "Anyone ever heard of or used __________") or look into online services (similar to Wedding Wire, etc.) that offer testimonials.  Including these type of 3rd party authoritative resources on your website will enhance your credibility and further encourage internet searchers to remember your service as they seek to compare your options and pricing.

So now what?
I think it makes more sense to make sure that what a client sees on our websites is motivating and memorable. Your website needs to out do the competition in every way to remain memorable. The ranking or the order in which it was clicked is far less important than the level of interest and engagement that the customer experiences when they are on the site. Working to make your site engaging and "sticky" (makes people take actions that keep them on your site longer) is a much more effective strategy than simply trying to catch them first.  Including items that are searcher friendly will yield big returns in brand retention.  This can be as simple as a Facebook or Twitter follow or "like" button, a link to your blog that lets people subscribe, or on the extreme a plug in or graphic that compares your offering to the competition.  If you can offer something that no one else is offering you give the consumer a reason to return to your site once they have completed the research phase of their planning.  I HIGHLY encourage opt-in email opportunities that will allow you to reconnect with those who have visited your website.  These can be as simple as a monthly or bi-weekly newsletter sign-up, a Top 10 Tips download, or even an exclusive deal.  Integrating Social Media opportunities into these offerings can further increase your chances to re-engage with a customer in the exploration phase.  For example offering an "Exclusive" deal to those who "Like" your Facebook business page or who follow you on Twitter.  Just make sure that you remain active and engaged in these mediums.  An untended social media outlet can result in your appearing to be absent something no customer wants.  content on social media should NEVER be advertorial (this looks and feels spammy) but rather should contain useful information for the customer.  I have read and agree with using a 60%-40% content strategy where you post 60% of content from outside sources and 40% original content that you create.  This strategy is maintainable without being overly time consuming.  Finally ENGAGE these social media contacts on a PERSONAL level.  Welcome new fans by name and start a conversation with them.  Give them reasons to return and interact (polls, contests, etc) and when the participate RESPOND!  That's powerful marketing that is alive and can grow into a sale or booking.


So how do I get them there?
So if you're not getting discovered through search how are you getting customers to your website?  Well I prefer a higher percentage of return than the gamble of SEO.  That's why my business strategy relies on my past customers becoming EVANGELISTS for my brand.  So how does that work?  Ahhh...I'm glad you asked.  That's the topic of my next post.   Subscribe and you'll know when it's been posted!

If it ain't real it AIN'T real interesting!

If you've been reading along with this series you should have some ideas for what you want to say on the various social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You have (hopefully) explored the available tools to help you stay on top of all of these various platforms and selected the method you want to use. Before you start tweeting or updating statuses HOLD ON! WHAT you say, WHO you say it too and WHERE you're saying it makes a BIG difference!

First it is important to consider WHO you are targeting with your message. I am always baffled by messages sent over social platforms that have absolutely no relevance to the audience that's receiving them. If you have mostly friends and family on your Facebook account there is absolutely no benefit to singing the praises of your DJ skills in your status. Those people presumably already think you're the greatest DJ in the world and are likely to hire you should the need arise. Likewise if your Twitter followers are comprised mostly of fellow DJ's there's absolutely nothing to be gained from posting your latest package discounts, or purely promotional material (not unless you're seeking to arm them with material to use when speaking to their prospects). You need to craft the message to meet the audience. As a general rule your Social Media message needs to be less "Madison Ave." slick and more "Main St." down to earth and "real".

Let's look at  3 major social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) and evaluate strategies that might be truly effective on each.

Twitter - If you're like most DJ's your Twitter account started out with you following a TON of fellow DJ's, some other local vendors, and your personal connections. There's probably a handful of "Spammers" in there who decided to follow you in hopes that you'd return the favor. So WHAT do you say to this group? Well here's a place to share your philosophy on DJ'ing. Use Twitter in this instance to have a "discussion" about what you think a DJ should do as a professional. Tweet upcoming workshops and client meetings (without the clients last names or the location) and include any interesting links to articles that you found relevant. You are seeking to establish your expertise with this group. Fellow DJ's can agree or disagree but they will pay attention. Other vendors will likely begin to Tweet questions directly to you or may take the opportunity to ReTweet your messages giving you exposure to their followers which is GOLD! Good quality Tweets to other vendors is how you'll build your follower base through those ReTweets.

Facebook - Two words for you...FAN PAGE.  Do not use your personal Facebook page to promote your business( note-this doesn't mean you won't be posting things from this account or that you shouldn't invite clients to be friends-we'll discuss this in a future post).  If you use your personal account it means that you will have to censor every video, joke, etc. and the potential for turning a potential client off with a raw comment from an old high school buddy is all too real.  Create a Fan Page that's dedicated to your business.  Use the add friends through email or from your current FB account to populate this page, not with family or friends, but with clients and, preferably, potential clients.  If you can't find your existing clients on FB with these tools send them an email with a link to your new Fan Page and ask them to "Like" your page. (If you're a GMail user I highly recommend getting the Rapportive plug-in for GMail.)  You can do so much more with a Fan or Business Page to promote your business, make special offers, run contests and engage clients than you can through a regular profile.  It also makes your business searchable on FB!  Just be sure to claim your vanity URL from FB so that your fan page address is something like ....facebook.com/YOURBUSINESS  not some crazy long string of numbers( you'll need at least 50 fans in order to do this)!  I will be delving into the specifics of setting up and customizing a Fan Page in upcoming posts.  So now...what do you post here on this Fan Page?   Well ultimately this is where you want to discuss your business but be aware that the "Millenial" generation (those 20 something brides and younger) can smell bullshit advertising from a mile away and automatically shut off the message as noise.  Hence the title of this article.  If it ain't real.... BE GENUINE!  Just be yourself.  Talk about what it is that you do that makes you different.  Post statuses that would be something you would say in a Face-to-Face meeting.  Talk about equipment purchases and why they will better enable you to do your job.  Express your professional opinions.  Post video clips and photos from your gigs (btw - Brides want to see pictures of brides!  Not of your gear.  One or two photo's of your set-up ok, every other picture, not so much! Be sure to take a picture of the Bride at every wedding or the crowd at every club).  Try to avoid superlatives ( ie. best, greatest, ultimate, fantastic) these sound like advertising and aren't effective in this setting.  Tone down the rhetoric and turn up the personable.  You should shoot for a ratio of posts by and about you of 3:1 to posts of links to other useful articles and content from elsewhere.  Post a link and then post your thoughts in the comments!  Start a conversation about the cake cutting ceremony by posting to your favorite cake designers blog, website, or flickr page then LET THEM KNOW you gave them a shout out!  If they have an account they'll likely drop by and comment.  If you post about a venue send the catering manager an email (or better yet send them a friend request!) If the venue has a fan page drop by and leave a comment telling them you just raved about their venue!  That leads me to what should be obvious but this is NOT a space for ranting or complaining.  Remember what your Mom told you? "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all!"  It's not good business and it looks ugly to those who stop by.

LinkedIn - This service is where you meet your colleauges.  This is where you should be connected to every single catering manager in your area and if they don't have a LinkedIn account you need to invite them to join.  LinkedIn statuses can be similar to your Tweets but "buttoned up" like you're wearing a suit and tie and posting from a boardroom.  This is DEFINITELY your opportunity to show that you are an authority in the DJ world who knows how to act like a professional business person.  Make connections to everyone and anyone in the business world but always remember this is the realm of the suits and ties.  The eyes that are watching are expecting a different kind of behavior and decorum.  If you truly want to leverage the massive power of LinkedIn then you need to speak that language in that way.  DO NOT ADVERTISE...ADVISE.  Unless you are posting a job offer this is not the arena for bald faced advertising.  You will be seen as spammy and irrelevant.  Join groups and participate in their discussions to increase your connections and ABSOLUTELY write recommendations but only for those vendors and fellow DJ's in whom you have confidence and who you truly respect.  Ask the vendors who have worked with you to recommend you.  This is how you access other peoples connections and build your cache on the LinkedIn platform.  Again don't shoot over your head.  Be REAL!  The real you...just the professional, buttoned up you.

There are of course other platforms (FourSquare, Tumblr, etc) and these rules apply to them as well.  WHO are you posting too and WHAT do you want to say to that specific group? Say the right things to the right people and say them naturally in your own "voice" rather than like a TV or Radio commercial.  WHERE will the post go?  Different platforms call for different messages.  The expectations on Twitter are different than on LinkedIn and Facebook.  Use the appropriate tone in the right space and you're likely to receive the results you're looking for.

As always I welcome any email or comments.  My contact info can be found in the sidebar and comments can be left below.

NEXT UP :  Social media marketing OFF-LINE! 

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

You want to use Social Networks like Twitter and Facebook to bring in more events and spread the word about how great you're DJ service is. You want people to look forward to your next status update or Tweet. You want to make sure that you don't get "hidden" in your friends news feed but how?
By making your posts relevant, interesting and most importantly..... YOU!

You're probably a pretty interesting individual. You probably have a lot of worthwhile information to share.  The problem is that when you sit down you can't think of anything to write.  Or...you sit down to write and too many ideas come all at once.  Well I have some good news Mr. DJ there are some tools and strategies that can help you get past BOTH of those problems.

 You'll need some sort of software or service to manage all of your posts and tweets.  I use HootSuite. It allows me to manage all of my Facebook Pages, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Ping, FourSquare and others. There's also TweetDeck and many more.  Try searching Social Media Management tools.

You also need to start a list.  it can be on notepad, google docs, or on a memo pad you carry in your pocket.  Anytime you think of a piece of information, or come across one on the web WRITE IT DOWN.  The more you have the better!  Break Big complicated topics into small bite sized pieces.  You'll soon discover you have months worth of interesting relevant content.   Not feeling inspired?  Read THIS for some idea sparks.


Once you have gotten the tools and gotten some ideas we'll look at how to create those posts.  Come back on Wednesday (after the Holiday!) for my next installment "If it ain't real...it ain't real interesting!"

You're (probably) HIDDEN on my Facebook newsfeed!

So my last post on Social Media gave you a glimpse into WHY you need to pay attention to the fastest growing trend in the history of marketing and media. This post will focus on what NOT to do before you dive in.
There is no doubt that using platforms like Facebook and Twitter is going to become absolutely essential. Unfortunately few DJ's are stopping to consider the best way to go about this. Have you read (or posted) Facebook statuses like these...




"So excited to be DJ'ing Jon & Marsha's wedding reception in June! Welcome to the XYZ Disc Jockeys Family!"

Or

"XYZ DJ's is the number one DJ company for wedding receptions! We offer...."

I don't see these anymore. I don't see them because I hide these status updates. They hold no interest for me. They aren't engaging and they feel "spammy." Like a commercial in the middle of my news feed. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I would venture to say that you have hidden a couple of these type posters as well. Imagine now how many people on your "friends" list are no longer reading your messages. They haven't un-friended you, they're still on your list, but they aren't seeing these messages cause they made the decision that you were boring or irrelevant! That means all your efforts are wasted. If you aren't getting through you aren't benefiting from the medium and leveraging the power of these platforms to increase your business and your bottom line.
What we say, to whom and when makes a BIG difference if you're going to take advantage of the power of social networks.  Like everything else it's best to have a plan.  Too many DJ's know they need to get involved in social networks but they tend to post impulsively and impersonally.  Think of your social networking like target shooting.  You can use a shotgun and hope something hits the bullseye or you can use high powered, laser sighted, sniper rifle and focus in on exactly who, when and what to say scoring on every shot.

So now what? Well.....check out the next post "To Tweet or Not to Tweet"

Social Media - Why you need to get in the game!

You probably have a Facebook personal profile. You might even have a separate page for your business. How about Twitter? YouTube? Personal Blog, Last.FM? Flickr? and on and on....

Social is the "new black!" It's EVERYWHERE and everything we read tells us that we had better get on board. Whether you "get it" or not is irrelevant. Your customers do. Don't believe me? Check out this video...(make sure you scroll down to the bottom to continue once you've watched it cause I have more to say!)


You watched it right? RIGHT! Then you are starting to see the big picture. The question now becomes. How do I use this? Well I have some thoughts on that that I'll share in my next post. "You're (probably) hidden on my Facebook" 

If you haven't checked out the US DJ Network come take a look. wwww.USDJNetwork.com