Very happy to find your blog and this post. I'm a social media marketer, and I've just taken over the task of redoing my father's company's website (among other things, as I nestle into my new role), and I'm definitely going to inject some social media aspects into it.

However, I've never worked with a company like this on social media…. it's a copper wire manufacturing plant, in an industry where no one has even thought about things like SEO, let alone blogging.

I'm trying a lot of things out, focusing on driving good traffic and inbound marketing opportunities, increasing the places we're present online, developing, as you mentioned, relevant information for our customers and answering industry questions we see.

Honestly, a lot of it right now is SEO/getting found and customer relations driven.

We'll see how things fall, but I look forward to following you.

Cheers,
Kate

For me Facebook has been much of of a “keeping in touch with family” tool than a business tool. I'm thinking that might change as we develop the business facebook page we have been working on.

I think we are going to see communication change in a lot of industries as new, younger people get involved and some of us older guys get things figured out.

It is certainly all good fun – I hope things go really well with your efforts; sounds as though you are making some really good progress.

Cheers!
David

I do believe that the whole social media thing is just getting going in many industries and it is important not to get carried away with it. As you know, there are a lot of tools to help with our marketing and this is just one.

I personally think this is a really exciting time, it is great to be involved with so many new ideas.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

My overall marketing strategy is two-fold. Short-term, I'm trying to convince dealers to sell my product. Long-term, I'm trying to establish brand recognition among consumers who will then ASK for our product. To establish our brand requires a) getting our name out and b) establishing credibility.

David, I absolutely love the point about writing content that answers questions. That's why one of the best places to find blog or article ideas is in your email's SENT folder. People ask great questions all the time; I find it most beneficial to post in depth answers on our website and then refer people to it – where hopefully they'll look around and consider partnering with us as a dealer or (if they are a homeowner) purchasing from one of our dealers.

At Sewell Shutters, my social media strategy is simply to “be in the right place at the right time with the right answer to the question.” For example, I have my RSS reader downloading industry related tweets in real time. The other day, my reader alerted me to somebody asking how to repaint their existing shutters. In 280 characters (e.g. two tweets) I responded to him (via our corporate twitter account @sewellshutters) with some very specific instructions. I plan to expand that response to be a full blog post that I can refer people to later.

On LinkedIn, I've created a Plantation Shutters group that hosts interior designers, home furnishing retailers, homebuilders, and other window covering professionals. I regularly submit articles of interest to them. LinkedIn is the only (professional) social networking site I actively encourage my client base to join. Those that accept my invitations primarily do so to become part of our Shutters group. Right now I'm in the middle of working on a deal between our company and new dealer whom I met in the group.

Thus far, Facebook has been the biggest money maker for me. In one instance I was visiting Boston when a buddy called and said a friend of his on Facebook had posted a question about finding a reputable plantation shutter company. Again, I was at the right place at the right time with the right answer to a question. I quickly added the lady as a friend on Facebook, adding a note that a mutual friend had pointed me to her question and I was standing by to help her. I connected her with a local dealer of ours, and a sale was made!

Another Facebook story: I wrote a blog profiling a friend's tech firm. One of the employees at that company posted a link to my blog as her status on Facebook. A friend of hers saw that link and commented: “Did a shutter company REALLY write this?” She went on to say she was in need of shutters, and my friend referred her to me to find a local dealer for her.

Thanks for reading the short novel I've written here
If you have any other questions on how social media fits into my overall marketing strategy, don't hesitate to email me at smwade@sewellshutters.com

Stephen Wade

I was pleased to get this post finished, also a couple for Labeling News that had been causing me problems. We are also in the middle of a Labeling News redesign so it doesn't look as pretty as usual.

Somehow it all seems to be coming together though.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
David

A lot of my development as a passable blogger is because of what I learn from you and others – especially at #blogchat.

With all the companies having the desire to “do social media” these day, corporate blogging really represents a good way to actually take that first step. I'm sure your consulting business reflects this.

Take care!
David

I think it worth noting that simply commenting on blogs and linking back to the corporate website is a simple, and easily executed social media strategy for your customers to employ. Commenting on an industry leading blog like http://labellingnews.com seems like a no-brainer.

As for wanting more interaction in the comments, here's some quick tips:

1 – Ask. Invite readers to comment, close with 'What do you think? Do you agree with this post, or have a different take? Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment!'

2 – Take a definite stance in the post. This doesn't always work and shouldn't be done with every post, but if you are addressing an issue that many people fall on either side of, put a flag in the ground and make your stand. This will rally those that agree with you to say so, and it will also perk up those that disagree to voice why they think you are full of it

3 – Link to other blogs. See? Here I am leaving my first comment on your blog! Also, as readers comment, follow them back to their blog and leave a comment there!

Ultimately, it's nice to have interaction and plenty of comments on your blog, but if the phones are ringing, that's more important. But why not have your cake and eat it too?