YourMilitaryBlog.com

How to Conduct Brand Monitoring on Twitter

 

By Phyllis Zimbler Miller

As we look ahead to 2010, our brand – what we are known for – is something that we should definitely want to protect. 

You’ve probably worked very hard to establish this brand, and you do not want people tarnishing that brand.

Can you prevent people from complaining about your products or services?  No.  But you can make sure that the moment someone does complain publicly on Twitter, for example, you are brand monitoring and you then nip the problem in the bud.

 

Let’s take an imaginary scenario of how brand monitoring on Twitter can protect your company:

 

Jane is a cell phone customer of Company X and she’s been unsuccessfully trying to get her bill straightened out through customer service.  She’s frustrated and she tweets “Company X has lousy customer service – I can’t get anyone to straighten out my billing problem.”

 

Now you are Company X’s person on Twitter.  And you use various search functions to make sure that whenever anyone tweets about Company X you know about the tweet within a reasonable amount of time.

 

When you see this tweet by Jane, you immediately tweet her publicly: “@username Call me at xxxxx and I’ll personally take care of this problem.”

 

Jane calls you, you take care of the problem, and hopefully she then tweets: “Company X just took care of my problem.  That’s good customer service!”

 

Now imagine if you hadn’t been brand monitoring and Jane’s tweet went unanswered.  Then her complaint could snowball.

 

For example, someone could reply to Jane: “@username I also had lousy customer service from Company X.”

 

Jane could then reply: “I wish I could switch to another cell phone company.  I really dislike Company X.”

 

And before you know it a whole lot of people – people who perhaps don’t even have any complaint with your company – have jumped on the complaining bandwagon. 

 

This is the way that a brand can suffer damage.  And it could probably have been prevented if you had caught it early, taken care of the problem immediately, and then you or the now-satisfied customer (or both) could have treated a successful resolution.

 

Brand monitoring can take advantage of positive comments

 

Brand monitoring on Twitter can also track positive comments.  If, for example, someone tweets a compliment for the customer service of Company X, you can retweet that compliment. 

 

You can also help the perception of your brand by tweeting worthwhile information in connection to your brand.  This will enable you to build up goodwill so that, if there is a problem, people will be more likely to forgive you (assuming you took care of the problem immediately).

 

In conclusion, brand monitoring is a very important marketing activity as part of your brand’s participation in the social networking world of Twitter and other social media sites. 

 

© 2009 Miller Mosaic, LLC

 

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the Twitter marketing expert at Site-Booster.com.  If you liked this article, you’ll love her company’s free report on “How to Become a Twitter Marketing Expert” – claim your report now from www.millermosaicllc.com/free-twitter-report

New Year's Resolutions for Internet Business People

 

By Phyllis Zimbler Miller

I’ve been getting email marketing messages about business planning for 2010.  Some are filled with hype about how much money I could make in only 30 days.  Others are about identifying my inner or outer goals.

 

While I personally believe that people doing business on the Web should continually re-evaluate their business actions and goals, the new year does present an obvious time to do this.

 

Here are six suggested New Year’s resolutions for Internet business people:

 

·         Be wary of people who offer to sell you a program that will make you $10,000 a month with only an hour of work a day

 

·         Be wary of believing someone who tells you how easy it is for him or her to make money on the Internet and you can do this too.

 

·         Do commit to learning as much as you can about Internet business.  (This does not mean learning enough to do everything yourself.  It does mean being an informed user.)

 

·         Do seek out groups of peers and mentors who can help you advance in your Internet business goals.  (There is no need to reinvent the wheel.)

 

·         Do understand that, for most successful Internet business people, success follows a great deal of hard work and time invested in learning from mistakes as well as triumphs.

 

·         Do keep an open mind about learning new things and do not drop out at the first obstacle you confront.  (Imagine how great you’ll feel after you’ve overcome each obstacle.)

 

Wishing all of you a productive and successful 2010,

 

Phyllis Zimbler Miller

 

© 2009 Miller Mosaic, LLC

 

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is an Internet business consultant whose company’s website is www.MillerMosaicPowerMarketing.com.  If you liked this post, you’ll love her free report on “Power Marketing’s Top 3 Internet Marketing Tips” – grab your report now at www.millermosaicllc.com/free-report

 

Also check out her new ebook “What You Should Know About the Basics of Internet Business” at http://www.millermosaicllc.com/internet-business-101-ebook/

Blogging to Help Others Creates Relationships for your Own Business

 

By Phyllis Zimbler Miller

In the old days before the advent of Internet marketing, you usually thought of other businesses as either your competition or not worth thinking about.  The concept of how you could help these other businesses or organizations and thus help yourself was an idea whose time had not yet come.

 

Now, thanks to the Internet, the time for this concept has come.  This means that you can help other organizations or businesses in your online conversations and, while this may not immediately bring you more sales, this can bring you relationships that may benefit you down the road.

 

What made me think of this topic was the recent post I wrote about the “American Widow Project” documentary for my blog www.MrsLieutenant.blogspot.com as well as creating a page for the documentary at my site www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com

 

I received a lovely email from the founder of the organization, Taryn Davis, thanking me for taking the time to watch the DVD and to then help get the word out.  Yet the truth is that this was not a one-way street.  Part of my brand is supporting the troops.  Thus while writing about this documentary to help the American Widow Project, I was also writing on a topic connected to my brand.

 

If you are blogging to promote your brand, book or business, look around and see if you can find blogging subjects related to what you write about that can help other people’s projects.  Maybe you blog about woodworking and you come across an organization for veterans that teaches them woodworking skills.  Why not blog about that organization, helping that organization get out the word and at the same time writing about something connected to your blog topics?

 

Personally, I love two-for-one blog posts – promoting someone else’s project at the same time I’m promoting a project of my own.  Do you agree?

 

© 2009 Miller Mosaic, LLC

 

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the Twitter marketing expert at Site-Booster.com.  If you liked this article, you’ll love her company’s free report on “How to Become a Twitter Marketing Expert” – claim your report now from www.millermosaicllc.com/free-twitter-report

 

Focused Blogging to Promote your Brand, Book or Business Online

  

By Phyllis Zimbler Miller

If you have a Web site to promote your brand, book or business, do you also have a blog? 

 

A blog adds something valuable to a Web site if you post articles several times a week – fresh content to let the search engines know your Web site is active.

 

Yet blog posts done well can also add to the attraction human visitors find when they visit your Web site.  And if you’re blogging to support your business goals, then there are two important elements:

 

• Your blog posts should relate to those business goals.

 

• Your blog posts should be easily read.

 

The second point I’ve talked about before – short paragraphs, black type on light background, boldface subtitles for long posts, an illustration if possible to draw the reader into the content.

 

It’s the first point I’d like to address here: 

 

Do your blog posts relate to the business goals of your Web site on which the blog is located or links to?

 

Many of us have various interests – some professional, some personal.  And these interests may not get along so well within the format of the same blog. 

 

People who regularly follow your business blog will probably not be pleased to read an entire blog post about your Thanksgiving meal with your family.  At least not unless the meal triggered an incredible business application that you’re willing to share in the same blog post.

 

Your report on your Thanksgiving meal may warrant a status update on Facebook.  Or, if you want to write a long report, email it to your best friends and family members.  But don’t expect your business blog readers to be enthralled by what you ate.

 

That said, it’s actually a good idea to add personal information in business blog posts in order to indicate that you’re a person and not a robot.  But these personal tidbits should fit within the framework of an overall business blog post; they should not be the focus of the post.

 

Another possibility is to have numerous blogs.  Then when you are hit with the inspiration to write on a specific topic, the question becomes on which blog does this post best fit?  While there may be post topics that could fit with more than one of your blogs, it is still a good idea to consider the topic consistency on each blog before deciding where to publish that specific post.

 

As you create your online presence for your business, you want to always be aware of how you are presenting yourself and your brand.  You want to be careful not to turn people off because you have forgotten which hat you’re wearing when you write a new blog post.

 

Bottom line:  Share valuable and theme-related information on your business blog to establish that blog as the go-to blog for that particular information.

 

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the Twitter marketing expert at Site-Booster.com.  If you liked this article, you’ll love her company’s free report on “Power Marketing’s Top 3 Internet Marketing Tips” – claim your report now from www.millermosaicllc.com/free-report