On July 31st, Larry Jennings of Capsure Studios welcomed Fiona Martin of FGM Internet Marketing into the studio for Start Something, Columbia! Here are the show notes:
Theme for the day:
Still working through The StartUp Owner’s Manual, our theme for the day is Web and Mobile marketing: Customer source/Wiring (p. 93), Channels (p. 104), Customer relationships (p. 144)
Agenda review:
We’ll hear about the 1MC presenter for tomorrow’s 1MC event
We’ll learn more about Fiona and FGM Internet Marketing
We’ll talk about web and mobile marketing and some best practices for small business owners
Where to get replays of this show:
The podcast will be available today! We have the Start Something, Columbia! podcast uploaded through SimpleCast and available on iTunes, the Start Something, Columbia Facebook page, and the Clemson Road Consulting blog at clemsonroad.com/blog
Video: Mad Monkey Productions created this commercial for the SC Education Lottery
Segment 1:
This week at 1 MC -- We’re starting a new series at 1 Million Cups and we’re calling it “Made It” We invite a successful local entrepreneur to come in and speak for the full hour, telling us all about his or her journey, the company, and how they got to where they are.
Tomorrow’s Made It session is with Lorie Gardner of Mad Monkey Productions.
Some nice things to say about Lorie:
Lorie hosted a Women’s Business Center On Location event in July and welcomed some Women’s Business Center ladies into the Mad Monkey Studios to show them what the production business is all about.
She screened some ads for the visitors including that SC Lotto ad with the dragon and she shared some stories about filming and production of TV spots.
Lorie started Mad Monkey 18 years ago when she walked away from a local news affiliate with a single client -- a big one though, The University of South Carolina.
She’s grown the company over nearly two decades to two dozen people, over a million dollars in annual revenue, and local and national clients.
Some nice things about the “Made it” Series:
Made It speakers are meant to inspire our 1MC community to think BIG when envisioning the success their businesses can become.
To envision your company as a HUGE success, sometimes you have to shift how you think about life, relationships, balance, and commitment.
Made It presenters are heavy hitters, they’re folks who fought through the noise to rise to the top of their industry.
Finally, Made It sessions are these local success stories telling the 1MC community their origin stories, some of the struggles they faced, the tough choices they made, and the mistakes they made.
We’ve had these kinds of speakers before, specifically Trae Judy from Music Farm Productions, Chef Sarah Simmons of City Grit and Rise, and John Katz from the Columbia Fireflies. We didn’t call their sessions “Made It” at the time, but it was clear to see their dedication to Columbia, their entrepreneurial spirit, and their hustle inspired our crowd.
Segment 2:
Let’s learn more about Fiona Martin and FGM Marketing.
Some things we know from her 1MC presentation last month, her interview on the show, and her sharing her talents with the Women’s Business Center in their Tweet Chat in June:
FGM develops and implements digital marketing strategies and tactics for small to medium-sized businesses.
FGM services include website design/development, SEO, SEM, social media marketing, email marketing, and strategy development.
Fiona you are a triathlete and your passion for endurance sports is reflected in your work. Can you talk a little about that?
You talked at 1MC about beginning with business strategy -- business goals -- and then creating a marketing plan to help your prospects achieve their goals through digital marketing. Can you talk a little bit about how that discovery process works?
The proposals you build -- are they sensitive to the prospect’s budget? Or are you providing multiple options and helping them select the right one for their budget?
In your 1MC presentation, you talked about data gathering -- even confessed your heart rate was elevated -- can you talk about the value of stats and their effect on the services you provide your clients?
If you haven’t seen Fiona’s 6 minute 1MC talk, go check it out here.
Nationals are coming up -- let’s talk a little bit about the preparation involved in getting ready for such a big competition. What are your goals for that event? How have you prepared?
Segment 3:
Topic of the week -- We’ll talk about web and mobile marketing and some best practices for small business owners
Fiona led the tweet chat on social marketing for the Women’s Business Center. You can find those tweets online still if you go to Twitter and put in the hashtag #WBCofSC
Some of those points were:
Not all social is the same. Here are some stats for social media use and demographics (Link)
Figure out who your ideal customer is. Look at your current customers – who are the best ones? What do they have in common? Develop 2-4 “customer profiles” and find those ideal customers online.
The ideal number of hashtags for Twitter is 2 so be strategic. Instagram allows for up to 30, but don’t jam that many in on your post. Consider posting without hashtags, then post the hashtags in the comments. #WBCofSC (Resource Link)
Post at least twice a week, no more than 5 times a week. The ROI drops significantly when posting more than 5 times a week. Plus, who really wants to hear from a business that often? #WBCofSC (Resource Link)
Strategy vs. Tactics:
Per an infograph on Fiona’s Facebook Page:
Some dos and don’ts from business owners from the Fundera blog:
Don’t mix business and personal (how do you avoid that with Facebook?)
Maintain a single voice
Focus on the customer
Learn from industry leaders
Know the audience
Give followers the real you
Be prepared for bad reviews
Treat it like a shared platform (write content like you’re talking to a single person, not a large audience)
Share stories
Don’t ask too much of your followers
Be a good listener
Another list of dos and don’ts from Websites for Small Business blog:
Do: create a plan, keep up with current events and make your posts relevant, encourage two-way communication, have an approachable profile picture
Don’t: talk about yourself all the time, allow business contacts to become personal connections, ignore negative comments
Outbound Engine gives a list of 25 Dos and Don’ts:
Complete your profiles -- avoid confusing your customers with multiple profiles
You are what you share
Social is about relationships - be responsive
Prioritize your networks
Interact with your audience
Don’t be needy
Don’t overshare
Be transparent
Entertain and inform more than you sell
Correct spelling and grammar
Be visual
Don’t write in ALL CAPS
Don’t abuse hashtags
Don’t share the same message over and over (what’s the right number of repeats?)
Be generous and give credit where it’s due (like when you borrow an infographic)
Think before tagging
Have Fun (how benign is THAT? What is this? Camp? Blogger drivel. Boo.)
Segment 4:
Events of the week
Tonight at the Richland Library at North Main, a Small Business Workshop from 6-8 p.m. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of owning a small business; all you would-be entrepreneurs, learn more about business ownership at this free event.
Lunch n Learn at the Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center -- “Everyone speaks, but not everyone is heard.” That’s from 12-1 p.m. today. Improve communication, productivity, and team dynamics.
Thursday the Department of Revenue is hosting a free sales tax workshop from 9 to 11 a.m.
Finally, the Women’s Business Center of South Carolina is hosting coffee at The Local Buzz in Shandon on Friday morning from 8:30 until 10. Register here.
Extras:
Q&A -- be sure to promote the phone number 799-8255; let people call in, tweet us, email them, collect them at 1MC, create a list of questions and answers
Final Sign Offs: Remind about 1MC and next week we welcome Shennice Cleckley back into the studio, our last episode without Dr. Kasie Whitener. Shennice will be here to discuss our August book: The E Myth Revisited. Looking forward to that!