The Marketing Project

Today’s marketing lesson: Organizing Your Social Networks

Raise your hand if you shy away from social media marketing for your small business because there are just too many sites to keep track of on a daily basis?

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, Yelp, YouTube, Blogs, Pinterest…the list goes on. And on.

All of that piled on top of actually running your business.

Well, according to this beautiful, little infographic, that is one of the reasons “67% of Small Business Owners Won’t Invest in Social Media in 2012.”

Considering this is one of my own biggest concerns/annoyances, I decided it is a good place to start experimenting.

Although I can’t get rid of the fact that there are so many networks to manage, I can at least try to make it easier for myself. So, Neal Schaffer’s recent post on Business 2 Community, “The Top Twitter Clients Being Used in 2012,” is going to help me organize Page-Per-Page’s social networks.

Schaffer brought to my attention, HootSuite.  HootSuite is the number one social media dashboard that allows you to manage and track all (or at least most), of your social media accounts, on one interface.

It took me a whole 5 minutes to produce this:

From my HootSuite account, I can now monitor and post to my social networks, just like I would as if I logged in separately to each account. It even gives me the option to schedule posts ahead of time, in case I don’t have the opportunity to do so later on, which seems to happen more often than not.

In addition to Twitter and Facebook accounts, HootSuite allows me to add my LinkedIn, WordPress, Ping.fm, Foursquare, MySpace and mixi accounts. Word on the street is that Google+ will be available soon.

What I suggest to you: It doesn’t hurt to at least give it a try. Like I said before, it took me 5 minutes. If you are a little skeptical, stay tuned for an update in the next post about my HootSuite experience.

Can I get a “Hoot! Hoot!”

Do you have any tips on how you keep track of all your social networks? Please share!

When I was working at my first post-college job at an Internet-based company, my boss told me, with an evil scientist smirk on her face,

“Taylor, I hired you on as my little pet project.”

I quickly found out what she meant by this.

Whenever someone would ask me what I did, I never had a solid answer for them.  From helping develop a Facebook application, to implementing and writing online marketing campaigns, to running errands and coordinating department retreats…I was all over the place.

However, I prided myself on the fact that my boss trusted me enough to tackle whatever she placed in front of me, and to this day, I take my boss’ comment and use it as motivation.

I need this motivation because I now believe I am a full-time, pet project once again. Working for the family business, Page-Per-Page, I spend my days designing business cards/brochures/banners/etc., with a little customer service, bindery, and delivery action on the side.

On top of that, I manage our online presence through search engine optimization, social media, email marketing, and blog/video content.

That is where this blog, The Marketing Project, comes into play.

I have realized that my job as marketing director for Page-Per-Page, is more important than ever, ever since we left the Alphagraphics franchise in November 2011, and became our own identity. Leaving a large franchise, also meant leaving behind a strong marketing and branding support system. 

Now, its just my family and I, trying to re-brand our company in hopes of becoming a household name, and a small business success story. Scary stuff.

So, I invite you to join me as I take my family’s baby, Page-Per-Page, and turn it into my own marketing pet project. Each week, I am going to take one marketing tip from the hundreds of blogs and websites out there, and use it in our own marketing campaign. I will then report the results back to you. Good or bad.

Think of this as my own Julie & Julia-esque project. Each week I am attempting a new marketing “recipe,” concocted by the greatest and latest marketing experts. Sometimes recipes turn out delicious and fulfilling, and sometimes you are left with a huge, disgusting mess. And I am willing to try it all.

This blog is not only going to be a learning experience for me and Page-Per-Page, but I am hoping it is a learning tool for all you amazing small business people out there. I know its hard to find the time to stay up-to-date with the ever-evolving world of marketing, so I want to try it for you, and my ultimate goal is to show you that it can be done.

I will show you real results. I will be truthful with you. And in all honesty, I might fail.

But just like you, I am learning.  I am not an expert. And above all else, I am determined for success, and to say “I did it,” or at the very least, “I tried.”

So, stay tuned my little observers.  It should be fun. 

Editor’s Note: Special thanks to my Dad, Phil Hoffman, who has gone completely insane by permitting this little experiment of mine to happen.  Your risk-taking is truly…inspirational and ridiculous.