Despite the controversy surrounding Craigslist sections called “Casual Encounters” and “Erotic Services,” the fact remains that Craigslist is a peer to peer community driven web portal.  Created in 1995 by founder Craig Newmark, Craigslist has more than 20 billion page views per month and projected revenue of $100 million this year.

I think it is ironic that the Business (for sale) category is less than one inch to the right from the Casual Encounters category.  Craigslist defies all the rules of ecommerce when it comes to website design:  no banner ads; no Google Ad Sense; no big banana buttons that scream, click here.  So why is it so successful? I believe one of the central reasons for its success is the constantly updated content created by Craigslist users.

Automotive, Jobs and Real Estate are some of the top categories with large volumes of inventory.  As a Tallahassee small business digital media consultant, I have worked with automotive and real estate companies who have listed inventory and/or properties on Tallahassee Craigslist.  One of my clients who owns several rental properties has leased a property in less than one hour on Craigslist.  Another client lists their automotive inventory priced below $12,000, and receives multiple calls per day.

Similar to its cousin Ebay, the success in listing on Craigslist is photos, descriptions and multiple points of contact.  I have seen listing after listing with no pictures, poor descriptions and no phone or email listed.  Putting a link to your business website or blog is another “best practice” and allows for good web traffic tracking through tools like Google Analytics.

Tallahassee businesses posting job listings are reporting over 300 to 500 responses per listing! If you are looking to hire and are looking for a low cost alternative, Craigslist is a great resource.  Taking the time to write a good job listing, including detailed job description, educational requirements and skills needed will help reduce the number of unqualified applicants.

If you haven’t started listing your products or services on Craigslist, your competitor probably has.  One tool for monitoring Craigslist is CL Desktop.  CL Desktop is an application built on Adobe AIR.  This tool is a very well designed tool for searching and tracking listings by topic.  CL Desktop is a free application to download from Adobe AIR Marketplace.

Craigslist Social Media Monitoring Tool

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“Confidential Shredding & Recycling, Inc. is the premier mobile document shredding service which values client’s privacy and time.  Our mobile unit is equipped with a hydraulic lift system, which instantly feeds your confidential materials directly into the shredder.  With this state of the art equipment, our bonded professionals are able to shred your sensitive materials, hands free.  The shredding process may be viewed on our security surveillance camera system.  Clients’ are then provided with a Certificate of Destruction.” csrshredding.com

CSR gets it. Do a Google search for Confidential Shredding & Recycling in Tallahassee and you will find many reasons why they are deservedly the winner.  Take one look at their digital footprint and the evidence is clear: Social Media is an essential component of their marketing strategy.

Winner Small Business of the Year 1-4 Employees:

Website: Confidential Shredding & Recycling, Inc.

Facebook Fan Page for Confidential Shredding & Recycling

Twitter: http://twitter.com/CSRShredding

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/confidentialshredding

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/confidentialshredding

Trusteria.com: http://www.trusteria.com/csrshredding/contact

Blogger: http://csrshredding.blogspot.com

What makes CSR a winner in my book is not just the fact that they have tackled Social Media head on, but that they are very involved in the Tallahassee community.  Within the same Google search, one can see CSR’s involvement with the Tallahassee Red Cross, Keep Tallahassee Leon County Beautiful and the Children’s Home Society.

Congratulations Confidential Shredding & Recycling! I am a big fan and a follower.

Best wishes and prosperity to you and your staff!

#1 Tallahassee Small Business Leveraging Social Media

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The debate is whether these sites are just a trend or are they new channels of communicating in a modern digital era.  Regardless where a business stands on the social media platform, the answer is that millions of new users are exploring these sites every month.  Social media users are not just teens, college students or businesses either.  It’s everyone from every demographic.

With the growing number of newcomers to the digital communities, the world has become a more connected planet.  The once essential long distance phone plan barrier has been removed and replaced with open lines of communication.

With keyword search capabilities built within Twitter, it is very easy to jump into the specific conversation topic you are most interested in.  Rather than having to search Google page after page looking for websites for information, keywords are now delivered straight to your desktop: Getting in on the latest trends and updates has never been easier.

If it is so easy to gain access to this information, why are some business locking the doors to these social media channels?  Just because people spend personal time on the phone, do you take the company phones off the hook?  Just because employees send personal emails from work, do you turn off the email servers?  Just because staff members often hang out in employee offices for long periods of time, does that mean you lock all the doors until 5pm everyday?

No.  In each given situation, a progressive company views each channel of communication as a way for people to connect with the business or organization.  A proactive company will develop a strategy of how to best use each channel and provide training for maximizing each channel.  Whether it is direct policy or an outline of best practices, the best use of communication tools should be developed and optimized.

If you have locked Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace out, who else have you locked out of being able to interact with your company or products?  One huge benefit of social media sites is the fact that they are open 24/7.  Leveraging social media can allow your clients and/or prospects to weave in and out of the purchase or service life cycle.  Just because the front doors are closed after 5pm, doesn’t mean the customer has to come back later.  In fact, they might just go down the street, or in the digital world just click to the next tweet if you keep them out!

What is your Social Media Strategy?

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This week I was enjoying a cup of coffee when I noticed four people on the other side of the café huddled over their laptops.  One of the four was showing the other how to navigate through various areas on a website.  Just as I was about to leave, I asked the young lady being tutored what she was learning.  She explained that her company, Catch Your Limit Consulting, had a very strong belief in mentoring.  It was quite obvious that she was excited and passionate about the opportunity to learn in this mentoring business philosophy.

Mentoring traces its roots back to Greek mythology.

“Mentor (Greek: Μέντωρ / Méntōr; gen.: Μέντορος)^[1] was the son of Alcumus and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and of his palace. When Athena visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus’ mother Penelope.^[2] As Mentor, the goddess encourages Telemachus to stand up against the suitors and to go abroad in order to find out what happened to his father.  When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, Athena (in the form of Mentor) takes the form of a swallow and the suitors’ arrows have no effect on him.” Wikipedia

Regardless of Athena’s intentions in taking form of the elderly man “Mentor,” something noble happens when someone assumes the role of teacher.  As a mentor, Athena empowered Telemachus to move forward with self confidence and determination.  Telemachus benefited greatly by the advice and wisdom passed on by his mentor.

Throughout my life, in every area, I have had a mentor to show me the way.  There is no better time than the present to partner and collaborate with someone who has already walked the path you are traveling.  I am inspired as I look into the future that I might once again find myself walking step by step with someone I admire.

I applaud “Catch Your Limit.” You can be sure that they are not just another consulting business that will come and go with the tide.  Their core business commitment to mentoring will surely prove to be a solid foundation.  Visiting their website, you can believe it when they say they can help your company build leaders.  It’s not just a fish tail.

Thank you Catch Your Limit Consulting for continuing the ancient tradition of mentorship!

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ecommerce tools on the social web Tallahassee

Last week I went out to dinner with a business colleague.  We had a fabulous meal solving all of the economic issues of today.  Our waiter was also top notch providing us with excellent table service.  At the end of the dinner, my colleague picked up the check and the tip.  I wanted to do something a little extra for the above and beyond service we received, but I was short on the Benjamins that particular day.

During our conversation at the table, I mentioned to the waiter that I loved the fact that his business used social media to connect with its customers.  He said that they had a tremendous response during the grand opening, and ever since then they viewed Twitter and Facebook as an essential component of their advertising plan.

When I got back in my car, I sent a quick tweet to the twitter account of the restaurant giving highest marks to our server.  Now, I don’t know if he received any specific reward from the owner or manager.   One thing is for sure; all my followers saw the tweet about the first class service at their establishment.

I came across a little Twitter tool today that would have been perfect to slip an extra five bucks to our server after the fact.  It’s called TipJoy. It’s a micro-payment processing concept, the latest extension of e-commerce solutions. TipJoy is a way to raise money and to pay friends via Twitter in essence “social payments.”   Click here to learn more about TipJoy.

If you are a non-profit looking for a new ways to find support for your cause, TipJoy might be worth looking into.  If you are a band looking to sell mp3s, this might be an alternative or supplement to iTunes.  If I could just figure out a way to get a George Washington for everyone who retweets this article, that would be brilliant.  Just kidding, but that’s a good idea.  Aren’t we all just looking for tips?

If you’re looking for a great place for lunch, here’s where we went: 101Mint.  Follow them on Twitter- http://twitter.com/101Mint

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for starters they are looking for stories.  Why are stories so important?  Because stories are the platform by which they interact with their readers/viewers.

I have to believe that the really good media outlets scan the radio waves and have designated staff trained to listen for specific words, phrases, or codes.  Maybe part of their training is reading over a list of code numbers like 10-78 (Send ambulance), 10-79 (Send wrecker), 11-80 (Traffic Accident – Serious Injury), or 11-82 (Traffic Accident – No Injury). Knowing the law enforcement language is essential to understanding what’s being communicated.  Otherwise, it may sound like random numbers being shouted out.

Now, take that analogy and think of it in ways to leverage social media.  On the surface what may seem like random status updates, can be categorized into useful information.  Knowing how to categorize and isolate keywords is the combination to unlocking the social media vault.

One of the emerging tools for analyzing social media content is Tweetdeck.  Tweetdeck can be downloaded for free using your Twitter user name and password.  It runs in the background, while you work on other assignments or projects.  You can have up to five keyword searches being performed at any given time.  Anytime a tweet or status update that contains your specific keyword is entered, it is categorized by subject, date, and time and displayed in its designated search results column.

Let’s apply this to your specific area of service or product line.  If I were a local Customer Service Manager for Best Buy, I would have a search for Best Buy Tallahassee, HH Gregg Tallahassee, and Wal-Mart Tallahassee.   Analyzing the search results for people who had a good or bad experience at any of those retail stores, I would then use that information to train my customer service representatives on how to handle a given scenario.  If the status or tweet was directly about my store, I would contact that individual directly and thank them for their business and ask for the opportunity to learn how to provide better service for their next visit.

Click Here to read another real world example of a large hotel chain that went over the top to provide a WOW experience for one of their guests by using Twitter. This is not a fad.  Social Media will not go away.  If anything, it will evolve into something more social and more interactive.  Look at EBay and Amazon; the reason why they are so successful is because at the core they are driven by user created content (information and reviews about the products).

There are many benefits and insights to be gained by reading and analyzing the content on all social media platforms.  Zappos.com, a clothing retailer, has over 300 customer service reps utilizing Twitter in addition to the traditional lines of communication in order to exceed their customer’s expectation.  If your Tallahassee business isn’t embracing emerging technology to move your business forward right now, you are missing out.  If you listen carefully, you can hear the sirens.

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Want to learn more about leveraging Social Media for your Business?  Visit Social850.com for a free “Lunch and Learn” seminar coming up May 19th!

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“This past weekend I came back to my rental car to find that I couldn’t turn the ignition key at all. I tried the key while yanking on the steering wheel and the gear shift, but no luck. I was at a loss, and turned to Twitter to see if anyone knew anything about this undocumented feature of the Pontiac G5 (Detroit’s woes are easier for me to understand after this experience). I tweeted “Ignition key won’t turn at all in rented Pontiac G5. Anyone got any ideas – help!”

Within a few minutes I got 16 responses back. They all told me essentially the same thing – that there was no trick specific to that car, and that the key was to keep cranking on the steering wheel while turning the key. I did so, and eventally got the damned thing to start.

My point with this story is not just to bust on GM, but also to highlight that I got 16 shots of altruism from people, most of whom I didn’t know, at a time when I could really use them.

They were willing to help me out not because I’m such a good friend of theirs (not the case) or such an obviously great guy (depends heavily on who you talk to), but because we humans like being altruistic, and Twitter makes altruism the work of a few seconds. The help I got cost each each sender virtually nothing, yet added up to a highly valuable resource for me. I think it’s important not to lose sight of that, and to keep in mind that not all exchanges are governed by incentives, mutual benefit, or economic rationality. Sometimes they’re governed by simple neighborliness, and Twitter is an awfully big neighborhood.” Andrew McAfee

(Andrew McAfee is currently an Associate Professor in the Technology and Operations Management area at Harvard Business School.)

This story reminds me of a good friend of mine who works at University GM here in Tallahassee, Tim Barry.  As a GM Internet Manager, he knows more about Pontiacs, Cadillacs, GMCs, HUMMERs, and Buicks than anyone I know.  He is the kind of guy that would respond to that question in a heartbeat.

If you are in customer service for your business and you aren’t on Twitter listening for feedback from your customers, you are missing an opportunity to provide a greater than expected level of service.  CLICK HERE to create a Twitter Account.

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TallyDigitalBiz

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Want to learn more about leveraging Social Media for your Business?  Visit Social850.com for a free “Lunch and Learn” seminar coming up May 19th!

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In the business model of 2000, the goal was to gain more customers, assign them a customer number and watch them walk through the customer life cycle.  With the rules of free enterprise changing rapidly, assigning customer numbers isn’t going to get your business into the business 2010 era.

Social Media is changing everything.  In my previous article “Breadcrumbs to Business Growth,” I outlined the digital media journey of local coffee house Tuscan Sun Coffee.  Typing in the keywords “Tuscan Sun Coffee Tallahassee” into Google search, I was able to see what the web said about that business.  (The little hamsters upstairs should start running a little faster from here on out.)

Let’s look at Social Media from a different angle.  Say I am a Public Relations Manager for a local business that is trying to keep up with the times and I regularly do a Google search of the name of my business.  Google has been indexing the “status updates” on various Social Media sites for some time now.  If someone has a good or bad experience related to their visit to my business and they “tweet” or “status update” about that experience, it will show up on a Google search. If they name my business specifically, their comment will be a clickable link.  (You might want to Google search your business right now and look through every page just in case.)

Remember the “Comment Card” box? Imagine your comment cards being posted on the web. Would that be a good thing or not?  How would you handle a less than satisfactory experience if someone completed a comment card and dropped it in the box?  You should treat a Social Media comment with the same level of attention as you would a card dropped in the little black box labeled “Comments.”

Many national companies are listening to what the avatars (a small icon representing the user profile of a given social media) are saying.  I have read article after article of companies like Blackberry, Target, and Starbucks replying to comments left on Facebook and/or Twitter from people who had a negative experience with their product or service.  Often, the solution to the problem turns a negative complaint into a loyal fan telling their “friends” and “followers” about how the company redeemed its reputation.  The digital voice of a loyal avatar is the new word of mouth.

Here’s the point: 1000 loyal avatars equals 10,000 tribe members (a new kind of customer number)!

What if your business doesn’t listen to the “tweets” and/or “status updates?”  I guess you better get a bigger comment card box so that you will have something to pack up your desk with when they decide to bring in the new PR director who understands Social Media and why status updates matter.

By the way, did you ever think to do a search on your competitor to see what people are saying about them?  If they are smart, they already did one on your business and are thinking creatively on how to capitalize on your area of weakness.

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Seth Godin – The Tribes We Lead

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