Mattison Web Blog

Hey peeps. I just finished Dam to Dam last Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. It was a brutal 20k running race in the humidity of central Iowa. I gotta tell ya, about everyone hit the wall at mile 6! I did at mile 7. Why? It was due to the awful heat. Plan awful. But you know what? I took the advice of Tim Gunn and…made it work. How I did it? Well, after months of training to include running in the rain, snow, darkness, and heat, I ran a ton of miles. Sure, easier said than done, right? A person has to start training, learning about what to eat, mileage, injury prevention…etc. Take it slow, make a plan and then JUST GO!!! You’re in it for the long haul! It’s doing a 1/2 marathon, not a sprint.

Well, same goes for social media. I see folks about there looking at this whole new world thinking, “Now what?” Sure, you will stumble upon hurdles, errors, viruses, even not doing it for a while. It happens. But, it’s me, Coach Peg saying don’t give up. Just like regular exercise, do a little each day. Then, you will see results. Maybe you will loose a few pounds. Okay, you probably won’t but it will take into effect what you want out of social media.

I got a buddy name Chris Brennick. Now, he owns Rockstar Satellite, and wow, social-media-fan at it’s finest. Chris knows the importance of social media and uses it all the time! The man is unstopable and heads up the Altoona Ragbrai communications committee. He uses the power of social media to promote his business and Altoona Ragbrai. You have got to see his YouTube thing on “Man on the street”

I will be posting more of Chris’ videos. If you are not doing social media, at least you can have a great laugh with Chris!

Your favorite Web Diva – Peg

So, you decided one day, “Hey, I want a website for my business!” So, you hire some person’s, friend’s cousin who lives in Texas who knows this guy that lives next to a neighbor who knows somebody who creates websites…on the side. Or, you hire some super-duper-bad-graphic-web-designer to create one for you. Maybe you hire the incredible coder-machine who never sees the light of day, but can code and hack into any security tense website…in the world. Either way, the website you get would probably be good, awesome, and cool.

However. There’s ONE thing.

Can anyone find you?

In other industries, there’s educational PLANNING, family PLANNING. Right? Why wouldn’t you provide your business some Internet Marketing Planning. This solution enables the business to foresee future goals whether they include ecommerce, promotional events, scheduling, and more brand recognition. I know, I know, new concept. But they are out there. THEY can help a business grow online. Since 28% of a business’ marketing dollars goes to online marketing, it’s a wise thing to invest in this. A business can utilize SEO, SEM, Social Media, Forums to bring brand familiarity online. Nothing against traditional marketing, but when you have FREE tools like YouTube, USE THEM. An Internet Marketing plan would help guide an organization use these tech resources wisely without just throwing money out there. Guidance is key here.

Have fun on the web.

Peg

In a world of finding the best prices, both businesses and customers should strive for relationship-building. I know this was mentioned on a previous post. However, a few decades back, I was an outside sales rep striving for that big sale 24/7. Back then, I sold to many clients office supplies. It was a good gig, but we did not establish a relationship. In fact, a former prospective client kicked me out of the office for being too persistent. After a few years of being humbled through life, I realized you treat customers like people. Period.

See this video clip from Jerry Maguire in 1996. Awesome scene.

As a parent, we are so protective of own kids.  How do we handle other kids on the web?  After weeks of pleading for a Facebook account, we agreed for our child to have a Facebook account.   As parents and web people, we can “friend” him and monitor his actions online.  One thing we did not expect: friend requests from other children.  It opened our eyes to all of the sudden become “unofficial-recess-monitors.”  I started to read postings of most our new friends, but had to say something to the child if it becomes inappropriate.   As adults, we strive not to type in foul language online or in person.  But the children need a little guidance on this area.

When seeing any of the kids in public, I try to be discreet and mention to the child, “Seriously, watch your language online.  Remember EVERYBODY is reading your posts.  My friends, your friends, generally a lot of people.”  Usually, I make sure the parent knows.  As a parent, it’s good to know other parents are monitoring other kids behavior on Facebook. It there is some strange conversation, it’s good to confront it right away.

So the question is: should you accept a child’s friend request on Facebook?  Yes.

Now the web and social media can be a very educational tool for these kids.  Just make sure your new friends are playing nice online.  It makes things a lot easier for everyone.

Where is the loyality I hear?  We’re in crazy times and need to ask that.  I know people are cutting back.  However working with anybody, we need to go old-school with loyality.  What’s that?  It’s when businesses have a great relationship and work well together.  Maybe I am going a little Dr. Phil here, but establish a good working relationship with your web person or whomever you do business.  That may be a dentist, plumber, banker personal trainer.  Whatever that may be.

You can understand each other psychologically as well as business-wise.  People tend to forget that.  One of my peers had a client go through three vendors in one year and still was not satisfied.   Their downfall?  No relationship building.  It’s like that guy or gal that keeps breaking up with everyone.  Sooner or later, people will not take a person or business seriously if you happen to be bouncing everywhere for advice.  Do yourself a great service and get to know your vendor.  That builds trust and lasting relationship for a lifetime.  I know it’s business, but you’re dealing with humans here and not inanimate objects.

Thought I would get on here and give my two cents about automated Direct Message Responses. Don’t use them!!!!! I had written a blog about Twitter Tendenitis earlier this year. In it I summarized the general  message that it is better to have a few active followers that you know, than to have thousands that don’t pay attention to you. Automated responses do nothing for a person or business for personalizing a returned message. That’s what we should be using these medias for. Personalization and relationship building.

It is always better to go through your DM’s and find the ones that are directly written to you. Trust me, it is easy to see which are automated and which are not. Ever get the “Thanks for the follow, we will make sure to follow your tweets”? About half of my inbox are messages similar to this. And yes, I actually check my messages! That’s the first place you can begin to have a real connection with a fellow tweeter.

How can I have the time to do this? It’s easy. I just delete the automated responses immediately and find the messages that are addressed specifically to me or my business. I spend no more time on Twiiter than I did before. Don’t even worry about the one’s that tell you about specials or other links you can go to. Instead, find those that ask or encourage you to respond. Keep it real!! Do this and you will find that using Twiiter is actually fun and responsive to those users wishing for actual conversations.

If you’re a business, then use the “Find People” tab and search for relevant topic keywords such as the same type of industry or geographical area. Find similar Tweeters out there! Once you have made a connection, then actually look at their profile and comment on something you see. You have now cut through the automated responses and will start to have actual people talking to you! Piece of advise. Don’t always push a sale. Just try to find out about people. If you make the faintest tie, then they will be much more prone to following your tweets. The sale will come later.

I better stop here because I can go on for hours about this. the main idea is to be real and actually respond to those who wish to tweet. Good luck and have fun with it!!

Tags: automated responses, direct messaging, Twitter

You have heard someone say, “Why should I post about the sandwich I just ate?”  About half of the users out there have a misguided view on Facebook usage.  Some say it leads to isolation from other humans.  However, Facebook has connected us more than we will ever admit.  Just reading the posts among friends, I have seen reunions, networking, good news, bad news, political fights and most things under the sun (if you’re using a laptop with wireless outside).  It’s a medium that I have totally embraced.  In 2008, I had my high school reunion and it was the first time ever, I had a great time.  Why?  My classmates and I reconnected on Facebook and answered all the trivial questions beforehand like “Where are you living?  How many kids? What are you up to?”   It puts the front down and we all met in human form and had a great time chatting up some more at the reunion.

Facebook has given the opportunity for stay-at-home moms (or dads) and day care providers to connect with the adult world.  What better way to get caught up than a chat online while the kids are napping.  That brings a great sigh of relief for anyone with kids 24/7.

Just recently, I friended an old co-worker/college mate on Facebook.  It was great to hear from this person.  He has gone and done wonderful things in the Des Moines area.  Then today, I heard he passed away the day after we reconnected.  It was just sad to hear that.  I wanted meet up and was hoping for lunch or a coffee meeting.  Without Facebook, I would not a least have that little moment of gratitude of a reconnection.  Otherwise, I would have heard about this months or even years down the line.

Makes a person think.

Groupon = save money

Ever heard of GROUPONs? A offers one “Groupon” per day in each of the markets it serves. Groupon works as an assurance contract using a point platform: if a certain number of people sign up for the offer, then the deal becomes available to all; if the predetermined minimum is not met, no one gets the deal that day. Groupon will not offer some of the following: shooting ranges, abortion clinics, plastic surgeons and strip clubs Groupon is said to be the fastest growing company ever. With a little patience and team effort, you can get a great deal.

For more information: www.groupon.com

Tags: ecommerce, Selling Online, Website

Spice up your website, add a Favicon.

Good Morning our blog friends. Ever heard of a Favicon? It’s a little image on your internet browser on the address bar. Every website should have one. It gives a website that little something-something for total chic-ness and all additional professionalism.

For those of you web gurus and divas, here’s a great link to create Favicons online: http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/favicon/ If you are not a web person, call your friendly web people and they will be happy to assist.

You know. I have been pretty quiet since June. About time I chatted again.

So, did you check the oil lately?

When you drive car, you put on miles. Miles can wear on your mpg and condition of you car. Right? Then, you need an oil change or engine tune-up. Don’t for get air-pressure. Isn’t that we do before the paint peeling and rust on a car. It’s safety, maintenance…repeat.

As an “Interface Designer”, most clients say content is KING. When we go on sites be it websites, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or whatever, the most useful landing pages change content all the time. Sure, design is important. But if you don’t update these valuable internet things, you might as well say “the car died on the way to work.”

We have a client constantly changing photos on his site. Another one changes events on the website, twitter and Facebook. You know what both accomplishes? New content that engage the reader. It’s saying, “Hey, I care about my business enough to update this.” Users, in turn, will go to those sites and say, “Cool! New stuff.”

Back to the car thing, at the end of the day, no one cares if you turtle wax your car or the color of paint. If you keep fiddling with the appearance of the car and never check the engine, the car will age quickly. They want it to RUN!!!