Tag Archives: Social media

Great local farms using social media

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Farmers are proud of what they do! Photo by Michelle Damico

Today the Chicago Tribune wrote a wonderful story about farmers using social media in northern and northwestern Illinois and mentioned the workshop I presented to encourage other farms to jump on the social media band wagon.  The story is headlined: Farmers plant seeds on social media.

A few of my friends have asked me for links to the Farmer’s pages on Facebook. From FB, you should be able to find their web site as well!

  • Klein’s Farm and Garden Market — they launched their FB page just after  attending my social media workshop. Follow them and spread the word. They are wonderful people.
  • Stade’s Farm – if you live in McHenry County, no doubt you’ve visited Stade’s. Sign up for their newsletter too! And don’t miss their apple cider donuts come harvest time!
  • Heritage Prairie Farm – Their social web properties will knock you out! Just amazing work. These folks know social media. You’ll find them on Flickr, FB, YouTube, etc. Plus they host these all natural farm dinners throughout the summer and fall. You will be so impressed.
  • Woodstock Farmers Market – I love Woodstock’s market for the variety and for the farmers.
  • Chicago Farmer’s Markets – one of the best cities for farmer’s markets anywhere!

Those are just a start. I’ll add more as I think of them.

If you have a favorite that’s not on my list, please share with us by leaving a comment with the link.

Thanks everyone!

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Farmers and Social Media — a natural match

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photo by Michelle Damico

The RFD Radio Network, a production of the Illinois Farm Bureau, has invited me to monthly appearances on their morning news program called Farm Week Today. I’ve been interviewed by hosts Julie Root and Alan Duran about the growth in the number of farmers hitching their tractors to social media. Each week we delve into a new topic related to social media.

In this excerpt, I discuss how social media lets  farmers begin conversations with their customers long before their crops sprout out of the ground.

Michelle on RFD Radio

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Taking the leap from journalism to PR

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Career coach Catherine Altman Morgan interviewed me this morning on  Blog Talk Radio about my transition from a career in Chicago Radio (WXRT, WBEZ, and WGN) to a career that helps clients get news coverage on radio, TV, print, online and on the social web. Transitioning from journalism to PR was a huge adjustment for me. An even greater challenge now is living the life of an entrepreneur.

Give it a listen and would love to hear if you’re in the same boat!

And Thanks Catherine for a great time!

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Social Web helps farmers plant seeds for growth

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Photo by Michelle Damico

Madison Farmer's Market

 

Most people don’t put farming and social media in the same sentence, but farmers are jumping on the Facebook bandwagon, whether they’re agri-tourism destinations such as Stade’s Farm in Johnsburg, specialty farmers, organic farmers such as Sweet Home Organics in LaFox and artisan producers of cheese, jams or natural soaps, fibers and wool. You meet them at your local farmer’s markets, providing advice and guidance on how to prepare their locally grown produce. They establish customer relationships that unfortunately go on hiatus during the winter months. Using Facebook or Twitter is a natural way to keep the conversation going year-round, and to keep learning and building trust between the farmer and his\her customers. It’s also a great and timely way to spread word of mouth about their offerings and availability throughout the growing season

I’m presenting at a social media workshop — Planting Seeds for Business Growth – Tuesday, March 29th and it’s sponsored by the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation and will be held at the McHenry County Farm Bureau (1102 McConnell Road, Woodstock, IL 60098).  If you patronize farms or farmers markets, please spread the word to any farmers you may know.  I have more details below. Thanks much. Michelle

Farmers and farm-based businesses will learn how they can deploy free social media tools to market their businesses, generate valuable word-of-mouth, attract new customers, strengthen current relationships, drive website traffic and support agri-tourism and the local economy. They’ll also learn about farms that already use Facebook, YouTube and other networks to connect with customers.

Social media evangelists Marla Pendergrast and Michelle Damico will make an informative and engaging presentation to demonstrate how using free social media tools can lead to real business results. Marla and Michelle have developed the highly successful digital properties for Twin Garden Farms and other local businesses. They will share their experiences and discuss which social media tools are right for you.
We will also discuss how interactive online communication, including Web sites, social media marketing, and video can help County farmers and farm businesses develop trade opportunities and open new markets.

Reserve tickets through the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation.

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Tell me what you do (in a minute or less)!

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So tell me, what do you do?

When customers and prospects visit your website, Facebook or other digital properties, do they see a memorable message about  your business and how it helps people or other businesses? In an elevator or at a cocktail party would someone understand your business value proposition in a minute or less?

If “NO” is the answer to both questions, you should consider creating or simplifying your business message or starting from scratch with a message framework.

It sounds easier than it is. Creating one short soundbite explaining what you do and why it matters to your target audience takes time, perspective and a willingness to dig beyond your mission statement and product/service description.

It also requires a kind of objectivity that’s difficult to practice when your business is your baby. The message development process can take hours, days or weeks, depending on your own and your customers’ experiences. My approach is to take it in baby steps; the first three are fact-finding steps.

  • Know Your Audience — pinpoint their problem, and consider all the ways that problem keeps them worried or makes them lose sleep.
  • List all the ways your product/service solves that problem. If you have a long list, put the top three in priority.
  • Describe the most important features that you offer a customer and how those features specifically address that problem.

The final fourth step has more to do with your customer’s feelings or emotions. We all establish personal connections to a business. I choose a neighborhood printer versus going online for my letterhead and business cards because the manager of the Minute Man Press in my town makes me feel important. As a small business owner, that’s a good feeling and one that will keep me coming back.

So once you’ve done all your fact-finding in steps 1, 2 and 3, consider the emotional response from your client when you do business with him/her? Does he feel more secure? Trusting? Smart that he’s spending his money wisely? Protected because you’re watching out for her business?

Navigating this process requires your own review of how you’ve helped customers and the anecdotes they’ve shared about how you made a difference. It’s also best to conduct this messaging process with the help of a third party, someone who can be objective, who doesn’t live and breathe your business, and who can provide a different perspective of your business and your audience. The anecdotes you gather become the supporting points that bolster your message. These “proof points” also serve as conversation-extenders, since prospects want to hear about other customer experiences for a better understanding of how you’ll help them.

So let’s get a conversation started — What do you do?

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Red Cross Voluntweeters turning heads, again!

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As a follow up, it’s worth sharing that the Chicago Red Cross‘ “Voluntweeters to the Rescue” story that I blogged about previously got picked up today by Newsradio 780 reporter Bernie Tafoya. Here’s one of his reports that aired during this morning’s newscasts. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/02/21/stranded-motorists-used-twitter-during-blizzard/.

I’m hoping the Red Cross experience with Twitter during the Chicago Blizzard will convince the City of Chicago to take a closer look at how Twitter can easily be used to respond to emergencies and disasters. Given that the Red Cross carried out its Twitter Blizzard Rescue with little to no budget, relying solely on a band of volunteers, it is a great lesson on the power of crowdsourcing and the right social media tools when disaster strikes.

This story is getting a lot of interest — just do a search of @ChicagoRedCross on Twitter to see the number of people tweeting about it. It’s definitely worth talking about. Hope you spread the word.

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The Best Freebie Social Media Tools

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Free Tools
Image by phatcontroller via Flickr

Facebook-for-business Guru Lara Solomon from Australia, otherwise known as the Social Rabbit, has asked me to be a guest blogger today while she’s on vacation and she asked me to write about a topic relevant to social media and business. Since measuring results is made so easy and instantaneous on social media, it’s worth a few hundred words today.

There are a variety of tools to measure your impact on social networks and with so many freebies available, I recommend trying them first. This way, you’ll get an idea of what you need and whether they do the trick.

To help you find the best, I refer to a discussion a few weeks ago at the Crain’s Chicago Business Social Media Breakfast downtown. My colleague Matt Batt was one of the panelists, along with fellow social media gurus Diane Rayfield and Gini Dietrich. I picked up a lot of great information, which I tried to condense here.

See my list of the best freebies at http://www.socialrabbit.net/2010/10/michelles-post/, and let me know what you think. What are your favorite tools (free, for a fee, or subscription based) for measuring and analyzing your results? I’m eager to hear what’s working for you.

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Is Your Biz Missing the Social Media Boat? C’mon, Hop On!

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The social media bandwagon is getting pretty crowded with corporate marketers and PR professionals.  Big corporate players such as Old Spice, Kraft, Coke, Skittles,  and others have been one-upping each other with creative social media initiatives over the past few years.

While there’s lots of dazzle in these campaigns, the reality of social media is that you don’t need a big fat marketing budget to experience the direct customer engagement you’ll get from  Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, and others.

If you walk down Main Street USA, you’ll find that many small businesses haven’t caught the social media bug. It’s easy to understand why. Small business people are the most time-stretched of all the entrepreneurs I meet. They’re often operating on a shoe string, and seek help from family and friends to keep the payroll down. It’s hard enough to consider promoting your small business brand when you’re trying keep the lights on and the doors open.

If you can relate to all I’ve just said, perhaps you might want to take a few baby steps before taking the social media plunge. Here are a few ideas that might save you time and budget.

1. Focus on Facebook. Don’t get dizzy wondering whether you should be on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. With 500 million users and growing, Facebook is where it’s at. It may not stay the most popular social network forever, but with that many eyeballs, and with the constant media chatter about its popularity, keep your focus on its potential to let you talk directly with your customers.

2. No need for high priced experts. Look in your own backyard for help. Better yet, look in the next room. If you’ve got a kid on Facebook, see if you can capture your attention for a few minutes to show you how to set up a page for your business. Hey, maybe you can dangle an incentive such as a boost in the weekly allowance in exchange for help in creating AND completing a business page. Don’t have a teenage techno wiz available? Small business development centers all around the country are offering social media introduction classes, and often they cost next to nothing.

3. Take advantage of customer relationships. The best small business people get to know their customers through casual conversations. You’ll probably find a few marketing professionals among your customers with experience setting up social media pages and profiles for their clients. Suggest to arrange some sort of barter relationship to take advantage of their expertise.

4. Be a Google Meister! There’s a wealth of how-to information on how to use Facebook. Facebook itself has a wealth of help resources, but don’t stop there. Sites such as AllBusiness.com and Mashable.com offer up-to-date news and knowledge about the best uses of Facebook and social media trends.

5. Inspire Your Customers. Once on Facebook, let them know you too have a presence. Encourage them to find you and “Like” your business page. When they leave comments or give you the thumbs-up sign on your page, comment with a thank you or post something on their wall. Make it relevant to their lives. Offer advice.  Explain your products or how to best use them. Post photos of happy customers.  Launch Facebook-only promotions. Give them tips. Establish trust. Entice them to come back for more.

6. Scope out your neighbors. See what other stores and businesses are doing on social networks. Join a club in your community. I found more than 88 million results in a Google search of “finding social media clubs,” so go find one, you’re likely to find new customers as well!

7. Don’t be intimidated. If somebody tells you they’re a social media expert just nod and walk away. We’re all just learning this new and exciting way to market your business. So start with a healthy but realistic search for knowledge.

8. Share your experiences with others. Social media is all about developing relationships and establishing trust. Help out others who face similar challenges, and watch your network of fans and customers grow.

Have any other ideas for small businesses dipping their toes in the social networking waters? I’d love to hear them!

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Scrap the Obituary, the Elevator Pitch is Alive and Well

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That was the question that sparked my interest today, as I read my Inc.com Today’s Small Business Newsletter. It was a post by venture capital blogger Mark Peter Davis who claimed that the all-important elevator pitch, relied upon by business start ups seeking investment bankers’ money, is kaput. Here’s a link to his post.

Entrepreneurs, The Elevator Pitch is Dead

I am not in the VC funding business. I work with entrepreneurs and well-established business people who want to get their messages placed succinctly online and in the media. Before I write any copy, make one phone call or send one email about my clients, I work with them to polish their key messages, and yes, that includes helping them with an elevator pitch. So I had a strong opinion today when I left this comment on Davis’ blog post:

Mark, as someone who spends a lot of time helping clients improve their messaging, I disagree that the elevator pitch is dead. My guess is it’s still alive in the VC industry too. No matter what business you’re in, a business person needs a strong pitch that captures folks’ attention and that’s what an elevator pitch does. It’s also a conversation starter and a way to get a dialogue going by teasing someone to ask further questions.

Also, if you work with the media — bloggers and/or reporters/editors who write for traditional newspapers, magazines, tv or radio — you’ll always need an elevator pitch. The media especially (and the social media crowd as a whole, in my opinion) need that one strong sentence that captures the essence of what you do, how you serve your customers and why it’s important in the first place. In fact, I believe anyone looking for a job should also have an elevator pitch that summarizes their strengths and skills. The elevator pitch should answer questions and get a conversation going.

Something else to consider — this is the era of short attention spans. We’re all multi-tasking as we communicate, so crafting an attention-grabbing elevator pitch about your business or yourself is one of the best ways to get remembered.
What do you think? Do you use an elevator pitch in your daily working life? What would your business be without one? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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PR Mastery-One Blog at a Time
List Building

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I’ve been in the marketing and PR business for a long time and am now fortunate enough to enjoy a variety of PR and marketing assignments through my friends at Pipeline Media Relations, Marj Halperin Consulting and my own firm, Michelle Damico Communications. Through my many years in communications, my colleagues and friends have commented on my success in reaching out to the media to place stories on behalf of clients. So I thought it might be helpful to develop a series of blog posts that offer tips on what’s worked for me over the years.

Today I’m starting with the humble media list. It’s a task often relegated to the most junior staffers within a PR agency. If that’s you, take your time and do it right. If you’re lucky enough to work for a firm that pays for a media contact data base, take the time to dig deep within the list of provided reporters and their beats. Don’t take anything from a media database at face value.

If you don’t have a media database like Cision or Vocus at your disposal, you can still find the right media through the popular search engines. The same advice applies — take time and learn about them.

Why? During one of my first meetings with clients or prospects, I usually ask how they connect with the media. I learn about their extensive list of contacts, how frequently it’s updated and the source of their media data.

And then I ask about outreach: “How do reporters learn about your news?” They invariably respond that they send out emails en masse to all the reporters on their list. They know blasting emails is not the best way to establish media relations, but they lack the time to create customized, one-on-one emails to their long list of trade and general business media. I don’t even venture to ask whether the look up their favorite media on Facebook or Twitter; I already know their answer: “No time for that either.”

Rather than rush to judgment and criticize the practice of email blasting press releases to the media, I put myself in their shoes and express gratitude that they’ve come to me for help. Establishing media relationships is labor-intensive, requires the use of many tools, and has a very low initial rate of success, especially during your first three months of outreach. It’s no wonder that harried PR people juggling many tasks don’t invest the time needed for effective media outreach.

List-building is a case in point. Just this month, I launched media outreach on behalf of a client. The preliminary research alone to develop a solid media list took at a full-day’s work – and that’s while using an efficient online media contacts database.

Here’s what’s involved, just in list-building:

  1. Identifying the key topics, news and trends your client wants to talk about
  2. Identifying the appropriate media outlets, and the reporters and the beats
  3. Viewing media sites to see recent coverage and assessing the chances that the reporter might be interested in your client (you’ll often find that their identified beat, and what you perceive as their specific interest, don’t often match your PR goals, so dig deeper).
  4. Checking out others within the same outlet who seem to cover similar beats – but don’t – you can only know by reading their stuff.
  5. Identifying other ways to reach them besides email – are they active on Twitter or Facebook? Do they write a blog or have a personal web site? Are you following them? Why not?
  6. Finding mutual interests – whether it’s personal or professional – so you have something in common to get conversations started with the media via social networks

The eventual media list I built included lots of notes, to help me find genuine (not phony) connections with the media, either professionally or personally. Relating to them is one way to show you care, and to also show that you GET IT. GETTING IT is the key. What I mean here is walking in their shoes, understanding their needs and empathizing with their daily juggle of stories, deadlines and fears of their newspaper/magazine folding in the not-too-distant future. So you’ve spent a day or two and have a solid list built. Then what? I’ll have more on that later.