SSS for Success (Simplified Social Media Solutions) Blog and Podcast Series

An Overview of Social Media Tools and Outlets (Part 1)

I could probably write a book about the myriad of Social Media Tools and Outlets that are out there today, and that book would surely be outdated by the time it hits the shelves. What I will do today is give a general overview of the social media tools and outlets that are currently out there, and tell you a little bit about them, and how they work. Because there’s so much to share, even when giving a broad overview, I’ve broken this into two parts. The first part talks about specific platforms, and Part 2 will get into other outlets that are used for sending out messages in the social media space. Over the next few weeks, I’ll devote more blog entries and detail to each specific platform and outlet, but for the time being, here’s a general rundown of the forces currently dominating the Social Media Space:

First is Facebook. You can’t deny it. Facebook is certainly the place to be online, for both personal and professional use. I’ll start by just giving you a few stats about Facebook (from Facebook): According to Facebook, they have more than 500 million active users, where 50% log on to the platform each day. The average user has about 130 friends, and people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. All very impressive, but as a Facebook user, and one who understands statistics and how they’re compiled, I can tell you that I believe their “500 million active users” statistic to be quite off, and I also believe that Facebook knows it’s off. Because I’ll bet it doesn’t take into account the number of users that hold multiple accounts. I know personally, I have 4 Facebook accounts, but only 3 of those are legitimate, as one was signed up for fraudulently using one of my email address, and no one at Facebook seems to want to do anything to keep this person from hijacking my email address to use their service. The fact that this person has been using their Facebook account signed up using my email address, and Facebook has done NOTHING to police them, lets me know that there “500 million active users” number is false. It’s probably more like 300 million users, and while that number is still impressive, I just feel the need to be truthful and spread the honesty around whenever I can.

Next, on the heels of Facebook, are Facebook Pages, which are of particular interest to business owners, especially since the average Facebook user is connected to approximately 80 community pages, groups or events, meaning that they’re actively engaging their social community and likely the business community connected to it, through Facebook and its Pages. A Facebook Page differs from a Facebook account because a Facebook account or profile, which is typically what people mean when they say “I’m on Facebook”, lets you have an account where you can add up to 5000 friends. A Facebook Page on the other hand, lets you have an unlimited amount of “Fans” or people who LIKE your Facebook Page (see the Facebook Page Widget to the right on this blog), and this is especially helpful to you as your brand grows and you want to be able to reach tons more people than 5000 friend limit that’s attached to personal Facebook accounts. One of the best advantages of having a Facebook Page is that it can become the major hub of your business on Facebook, and if you use Facebook in your personal life, you can start to have a wall between your personal and professional Facebook images.

Third, is Youtube. In just over six years, Youtube has become THE video-sharing website that allows users to upload, share, and view videos loaded onto the internet. A few Youtube stats here: Youtube exceed 2 billion views a day, and 70% of their traffic comes from the United States. 24 hours of video is uploaded every minute of the day, and the best stat for business owners, the average person spends 15 minutes per day on Youtube. Another statistic about Youtube that I love is that more video is uploaded in 60 days there than has been uploaded in 60 years from the 3 major U.S. television networks. Amazing. The bottom line here, if you can pull it off, try to find a way to incorporate Youtube into your social media plan.

Fourth, is Twitter. Twitter now has 190 million users tweeting 65 million times a day. FYI: A tweet is a message sent out into the internet world for your followers to read in 140 characters or less. What that means is, if your business isn’t on Twitter, your competitors’ probably are. And more importantly, they’re tapped into the buzz surrounding your brand or industry, so if you’re not, you could be missing out. Now, to be clear, Twitter isn’t for everyone. Someone once advised me that Twitter is best for a company seeking to build a “global brand” or at least national one, where it behooves you to have connections that are far outside of your own geographic location. For many small businesses and solo-entrepreneurs carving out niches, it may not be necessary to be on Twitter, but in my opinion, I think it’s something that’s at least worth checking out, because rest assured people that are in your customer base are using Twitter, whether they’re interacting with you on it or not.

Professionals love the fifth choice of LinkedIn. With now more than 100,000,000 users, all geared towards professional interactions, LinkedIn is definitely the place to be if you’re looking for a job, or seeking qualified candidates in your field. LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet in over 200 countries and territories. The idea behind LinkedIn is that you’re connected to other professionals based on who you know, and your connections are based on a 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd degrees influence. First degree connections are people that you know or have allowed into your LinkedIn network. You can directly message and interact with them, without any filters. Second- level connections are people that you may know based on your professional or educational affiliations, people who are known by the other people in your network, or even people who belong to a LinkedIn Group with you. Finally, third degree connections don’t know you, nor do you know anyone in their network, and you have no connections to them, and you’re limited in your capacity to reach out to them.

So, those are the major social media platforms that are all a-buzz these days, and in Part 2, I’ll talk about some other social media outlets that can be used to grow your business in the Social Media World.

Are there more I could mention? Surely. But for brevity’s sake, I’ll end this here by asking: What's your favorite social media outlet? What platform do you find to be the most useful for your small business?

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist

An Overview of Social Media Tools and Outlets (Part 1)

The True Cost of a Domain Renewal: A Tip for Purchasing Domains

By sss4success 8 Comments

When I consult with someone about creating a website or blog, one of the issues that comes up is purchasing a domain. The ideal scenario would be to purchase your company or brand name at its .COM extension, but now days, a full several decades into “The Internet”, you’ll find that many .COM extensions are taken, especially for popular terms and phrases.

In cases where people actually do find their preferred .COM domain, the next issue is how many years should you purchase it for. Meaning, how many years are you going to pay for now, before it’s time to renew your domain again, typically at whatever the “then current” renewal rate is.

Allow me to back up a little bit here and explain how domains work. A domain is like a telephone number. Once you acquire it, as long as you pay for it (typically to a domain registrar) it belongs to you. When you stop paying for it, or cancel it, or allow it to expire, just like with phone numbers, it goes back into the pool of available domains that someone else can then purchase.

So in this respect, when confronted with purchasing a domain, I typically tell my clients to purchase their preferred .COM domain for as many years as they can afford. Most companies, like GoDaddy, will allow you to purchase your domain at a set price and they’ll offer that same price for multiple years. For instance, this current GoDaddy Domain Sale offers .COM domains for $7.49/year, which means that you can purchase your domain for several years, say 5, and pay about $37, as opposed to what you’d pay if you purchase it for just one year at $7.49, then renewed annually at whatever the current rate was at your domain registrar.

The True Cost of a Domain Renewal: A Tip for Purchasing Domains I use the example of a $10 domain on my company’s website (see the image to the right), because I think that gives us good clean numbers to work with. In the example, the domain starts off at $10 per year, and the price of a renewal increases annually by 20% (which is on par with the industry standard). Purchasing the domain the first year at $10, then renewing it annually at its current rate would mean you’ll end up paying a total of $74.42 over a five year period. Whereas, if you purchase the $10 domain for five years, you’d have spent $50 upfront and essentially saved about 33% by making that purchase when you first acquired your domain.

It’s a fairly simple transaction, but a great way to save money, especially in the early years. Add to that the confidence that you have in your brand, and it’s definitely a worthwhile investment.

One other tip I’d like to add is this: If you’re fortunate enough to acquire your .COM domain when you first start off, buy all of the other domain extensions like .NET, .ORG, .MOBI, .INFO, .BIZ, and even the newest .CO that you can afford, in addition to any common misspellings, if you can afford those too. Do this to protect your brand, because there is a whole industry of people that make their living off of buying similar domains of popular brands and either re-selling them to you at a premium rate, re-selling them to your direct competitor, thus siphoning off your web traffic, or worse, positioning themselves as you, under a very similar domain name, and infringing upon your brand name in that way.

Just some tips and advice that I hope helps make the Web 2.0 environment a little less intimidating.

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist

The True Cost of a Domain Renewal

Are You Paying Too Much For Your Technology?

By sss4success 8 Comments

Today, I’m going to answer the question: “Are you paying too much for your technology?”. The answer is: YES. At this point, I’m fairly confident in saying that if you don’t know what you don’t know about technology and social media, then you are paying too much. I say this both as a business owner who at one time didn’t know what I didn’t know, and also as a Technology & Social Media Specialist who’s now had the opportunity to view “under the hood” at some of the technology expenses that many small businesses are shelling out tons of cash for. For example, years ago, when I purchased my first domain, I did it as a result of an email I got promising that the domain would be $1.99. What I didn’t know at the time is that the $1.99 price only lasted for 3 months, and once it was time to renew it, I ended up paying what would become $160 a year for ONE domain name that didn’t include much else.

Money to Burn | Are You Paying Too Much For Your Technology? Yes | See SSS for Success — Money Being Wasted

Now, if $160 bucks a year doesn’t sound like an egregious infraction to you, consider this: I now pay an average of $7.50 PER YEAR for one domain. So we’re talking about a near $153 difference for the same exact service. And if you’re thinking “the price of technology comes down drastically over time”, know that the same $7.50 per year deal existed back then (though it was probably even cheaper), except I didn’t know about it. But I later learned, and can now say: Nobody should pay more than $10 per year per .COM domain to ANY company directly (unless of course you have another company managing your technology accounts, and they in turn charge you a hefty premium because they know that you don’t know, what you don’t know).

I share all of this today, because I’m equally upset and annoyed. One, I’m upset at how many companies are out there preying on consumers’ lack of knowledge, and are willfully deceiving them. And yes, I’m looking in the direction of companies like Domain Registry of America, who has recently sent out what looks like domain renewal notices to everyone listed in the WHOIS domain database, making it look as though they’re sending official correspondence that tells you that you need to renew your domains with their company for about $35 a year. But what it doesn’t tell you is that it’s an advertisement, and that you don’t have to renew with them, and that when you do, you switch your domains over to their company, and this could cause a real problem for you if many of your other technology products and services are based on the domains you currently hold with a company. The bad part is, they send out these notices to look like a bill, and it’s not until you get to the back side in the middle that you see a notice that says “this is not a bill”. This is unacceptable! And it’s an unscrupulous business practice. I shudder to think of the number of people that have been duped into transferring their domains to this company. Add to that, this is consumer fraud, and I am working to bring it to the attention of my local state’s attorney…but I digress…

Because I like to be solution oriented, I’ve decided to offer a “Free Technology Review”, where I’ll come in, review your technology setup, and look for ways to reduce your technology and social media costs (if at all possible). Now, they’ll be two disclaimers with this:

1) One, I’ll tell you everything that’s wrong, or what could be fixed, but I won’t fix it for free, and

2) As with most things that are free, they come with a caveat in which I’ll only be willing to go but so far down this path of providing this free service because some people tend to take advantage of things that are free, and quite frankly, I already know that some of you have some HORRIBLE technology setups that probably haven’t been reviewed or touched in 5-10 years, and like with an old rusted bolt, once you turn it, it may cause irreparable damage.

Burning Money | Are You Paying Too Much For Your Technology? Yes | See SSS for Success — Who has money to burn in their small business?

Ok, it’s not THAT serious, but my point is this: I got into business to help people, and I see this as one way that I can help small businesses, if only by showing them that there are better and more efficient wants to get things done. And here’s a technology tip that I’ll give you for free: If you haven’t used something in more than a year, chuck it. Chances are, you don’t need it. Here’s another tip: If you don’t know exactly why you’re paying for something, stop paying for it. That means email accounts that don’t get used, and calendar accounts, and online storage accounts that you pay for year after year, but never touch. Leading me to my third tip, which is: If you buy a domain from GoDaddy, they include a free email account with it. And guess what, that free email account is the same one that you can pay $60 a year for with their company, if you let them swindle you into an email package after you purchase your domain. You really only need multiple accounts if you’re planning to provide emails to several people in your company. If you’re a “one-stop shop”, with just one person, you only need ONE email, thus you don’t have to pay for another, nor the extra space that they offer. Just clean out your inbox every now and again, and you’ll be fine.

And here’s my final disclaimer: If you are a current, former, or future client of mine and you think I’m talking about you and your technology setup, you’re probably right, but what I want you to know is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Most people that I’ve encountered are in the same boat, so don’t feel bad. I instituted the “Free Technology Review” because I see this is a real issue, and I’m hoping that people will get over their pride and shame and allow themselves to be helped and maybe even save some money!

So, now with this little semi-rant is over, I have to ask: Are you okay with paying more than you should for your technology products and services?

Find out by taking advantage of the SSS for Success Free Technology Review for your company by visiting my website, and filling out the contact form and noting “Free Technology Review” in the subject line.

Have a great day!

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist

Are You Paying Too Much For Your Technology?

The Cost of Social Media

By sss4success 7 Comments

One of my favorite episodes of the 90s show “Martin” (@3:25) is when his toilet gets clogged, and he reluctantly agrees to hire a plumber. At first, he was willing to do anything accept hire a plumber. He was willing to get in the bathroom and fumble around himself, probably making the problem worse. Eventually, the plumber shows up, and as is often the case in most sitcoms, he represents every stereotype that people have about plumbers. Upon inspecting the toilet, as thoroughly as one could while eating a sandwich, he rattles off a litany of possible issues that could be wrong with the commode. He uses a lot of technical plumber jargon to describe what might be wrong, and when Martin asks “What are you talking about?”, the plumber eventually replies “It may cost you a little, it may cost you a lot, but it will cost you”. The hilarity of the episode occurs as the plumber falls into a stupor and Martin and his friends think he’s dead and they respond in a variety of hilarious ways to this seemingly tragic event. The reason I like this episode so much, in addition to this great musical number towards the end, is because that one line was so funny to me, and it can be applied to so many scenarios in everyday life.

The Cost of Social Media | Time vs. Money | SSS for Success (Small Business Survival Specialists) — Time vs. Money

Today, I want to talk about “The Cost of Social Media”, and in order to do that, I’m going to start by saying: “It may cost you a little, it may cost you a lot, but it will cost you”. What I want you to understand, when I say “cost”, this doesn’t just mean “money”, and can also be “time”. One of the top inquiries I see in the Social Media Sphere is among people that wonder about the fees that Social Media Consultants charge, and whether or not it’s worth it, given that most social media tools are free. People who think like this are short-sighted, because they fail to realize there’s an “opportunity cost” to every decision we make. And as my high school economics teacher explained it “The opportunity cost is the basic relationship between scarcity and choice“, meaning that the “opportunity cost” of something, is based on what you have to give up in order to get something else. For instance, if there are two events occurring at the same time that you want to attend, say a concert and a child’s recital, the opportunity cost of attending the concert is missing the child’s recital. It’s the opportunity you give up, in order to attain something else.

In terms of social media, I think one of the biggest things that people forget is that it’s called “Social Media”. One of the basic premises of how it works is that it’s “social”, as in using the power of social relationships as a marketing tool. As with any relationships, it takes time and attention, and if you want to be one of the people capitalizing on the popularity of the social media phenomenon, you have to decide now, if you’re willing to make the investment of your time, or the time of a qualified person who’s capable of nurturing those relationships in the social media space (which in turn will cost money).

Social Media takes the age-old practice of “word-of-mouth marketing” up a couple of notches, and as a business seeking to be a part of the conversation by using social media, the whole purpose of your social media campaign should be to have an active role in that conversation. And not just becoming one of the many people shouting about their brand in the social media space.

So the bottom line here that I want people to walk away with today is this: The Cost of Social Media = It may cost you a little; it may cost you a lot; but it will cost you. You have to be willing to make the investment that it takes to make social media work in your company. Becoming a part of the social media conversation is not just about sending out Twitter updates about a sale, or updating the status on your Facebook page to announce an event you’re having. It’s commenting on the posts of friends, fans, followers, connections, subscribers, and just about anyone else who’s taking an active role in acknowledging that you exist in this space. It’s promoting the events of others, and talking about the good works that people are doing around you in your local community, or within your field. It’s being a part of the conversation by realizing that there is a conversation, and that it’s not all about you and your business.

Being a part of that conversation takes time, and if you’re not willing to take that time personally, then it’s going to take money, because the people that are really good at navigating the social media landscape, don’t come cheap. And I think the latter part of that statement is really key, and it’s something to think about if you’re one of those people who’s intent to hire their 15 year old niece or nephew to handle their social media because they’re good with a smartphone. Understand there’s an opportunity cost for every decision we make, and just keep that in mind, moving forward.

So, with that in mind, I ask: Are you ready to make the needed investment in social media for your small business?

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist

The Cost of Social Media

For those interested in watching the aforementioned episode of “Martin“, here it is in three-parts from Youtube:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Web 2.0: What Does It Really Mean?

By sss4success 8 Comments

During a variety of networking opportunities I’ve had lately, I’ve eagerly delivered my “30 second elevator speech”, and within it, I say something along the lines of “I’m Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist, and I specialize in equipping small businesses with the social media tools they need to survive in a Web 2.0 world”. Until fairly recently, I wasn’t quite sure how well the entirety of that speech was going over, but I do know that people’s ears always perk up at the mere mention of “social media”.

Then, I was talking with someone about the rapid shift that we’re making into a Web 3.0 world, and it occurred to me that there are some people that have absolutely no idea what “Web 1.0”, “Web 2.0”, or “Web 3.0” really means, aside from being buzz words that tech people use to sound sleek. While I think that people can pick up on the fact that I help people use social media to market their business, I don’t think they have any true “reference points” for what any of this means, so today, I’m going to provide, a roadmap of sorts, to help you get a handle on what the Web 2.0 world is, and how you can bring your company up to speed with it, and be prepared for the eventual shift that takes everything up a notch.

A one lane road | Web 1.0 | SSS for Success — A one lane road = Web 1.0

So, in the beginning, there was “The Web”, which we’ll refer to as “Web 1.0”. This is the first stage of the World Wide Web, and its the initial stage that linked webpages with hyperlinks. It’s a little technical, but the thing to understand in this stage is this is where all the pages of information that were on, what became known as “The Internet”, were linked up together. The “Web 1.0” environment was the place where someone would create a series of webpages, that would then become a website, and they put that information out for people to receive. A great example I like to use here is thinking of “Web 1.0” as a one lane road. People, usually technical people or big companies and organizations, put these websites out there, and other people, like you and me, were there to absorb whatever they were giving out. So that’s “Web 1.0”. All of the information’s going in one direction.

A two lane road | Web 2.0 | SSS for Success — A two-lane road = Web 2.0

The next stage was “Web 2.0”, which essentially is the shift from the one-lane road, to a two-lane road, where not only can big companies put out content, but now the little guy (or regular people) can contribute too. With technological advances that made tech easier to understand and more readily available, people now have the power to create their own websites and blogs, and participate in the conversation about all sorts of things that were restricted during the “Web 1.0” environment. So, that’s “Web 2.0”. More user-friendly, more interactive, and essentially this is where the social media boom gets its strong foothold, because, as you’ll find, everyone has an opinion that they’d like to share, and for the most part, you can always find SOMEONE who’s interested in hearing yours.

“Web 3.0” is the next big shift, and it’s what I like to call “The Collaborative Web”. “Web 2.0” enabled the ability for everyday people to have an impact in content generation and, in some instances, be able to shape the conversation far outside of the realms of major corporate multimedia outlets. I think, “Web 3.0”, takes that a step further by utilizing the vast quantities of information being created and analyzed as people use these various forms of technology, and it’s using it to create a better experience, both for the user, and subsequently for the advertiser who’ll be looking to access that user.

A multi-lane highway in Chicago | Web 3.0 | SSS for Success — A multi-lane highway = Web 3.0

So, in sticking with our roadways example, I’d view “Web 3.0” as “a multi-lane highway”, or true “information superhighway”, because the information’s coming and going from multiple places. One of the distinctive things I think we’ll see in the Web 3.0 environment is a much more customized experience. For example, think about your TiVo, or a recent web search you’ve done, or conversation you’ve had on Facebook. With TiVo, if you record one show, TiVo instinctively records other shows like it, assuming you’ll like them too, since they feel that they understand your preferences based on your previous input. So, it’s nearly doing the work for you, based on a relatively small amount of work on your end. Now, let’s relate that to the web: If you’re on Facebook, or searching Google for something, have you ever noticed how the ads that pop up while you’re searching tend to be directly related to whatever you’re searching about, or talking about on Facebook? This isn’t a mistake. This is “Web 3.0”, and it’s only going to get more precise as more time and more information about people keeps getting created, archived, and analyzed.

Ok, now this isn’t meant to scare you, but I wanted to explain the “Web 1.0”, “Web 2.0”, and “Web 3.0” terms in ways that hopefully everyone will understand. I hope I did that. Let me know if I didn’t or if you have any questions.

Now, with all this being said: Is your business Web 2.0 compatible? Are you maximizing social networks to get the most out of your client relationships?

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist

Web 2.0: What Does It Really Mean?