Pinterest, an online pin board that allows users to organize and share images, is taking the social media scene storm and many businesses are jumping on the pinboard bandwagon to claim their piece of the action.  Perhaps you’re one of them. Or, maybe you’re hearing a lot about it and you’re trying to decide if it’s right for you.

We’ve been using Pinterest for Strella Social Media and several of our clients. It’s still too early to tell what the lasting results will be, but we can say our clients gain the most interaction when they ‘pin’ regularly, remain active and engaged, and pin their content. It also helps to follow others and re-pin their content.

Just like other social media channels, consistency is crucial. If you pin something, it can become old news within a day – or even a few hours.  Engaging with others on the site is important because you want others to see that you’re interested in what they are pinning, not just pushing your own pins.  Pinterest is a great way to drive traffic to your blog or website – simply include a compelling photo with the blog and ‘wa-la.’ We recommended following new people and following others back frequently – the more exposure you receive, the better.

If you’re just starting out on Pinterest, here are a few tips to maximize your presence:

• Create a strong profile
• Use boards to highlight products
• Use boards to highlight other interests related to your brand
• Use pins to drive traffic to website, Facebook, LinkedIn, blog, etc.
• Pin blog content with a keyword-laden message
• Follow, like, re-pin, and interact with others

It’s little preliminary to say what the future will hold for Pinterest, but it doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon.  Pinterest offers a convenient web-based shopping experience and allows consumers to share ideas.  As we pin things, we’re a making a virtual collection. It’s a great source of ideas for special occasions, and gifts. If you can make your business ‘pin-able,’ Pinterest could be the ultimate sharing and shopping site.

Are you using Pinterest for your business? What are your experiences?

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Cheryl Garman

This month, we spoke with Cheryl Garman, Co-owner of Pazazzz, a unique and fabulous home décor shop located in Central PA. Be sure to check out their new location in the State Street Plaza in Lemoyne! And, of course, take a peek at Pazazzz’s Facebook fan page and Pinterest boards!

There are still many business owners who have their doubts about using social media. What is your take? 

Social media is here to stay. Everyone is using social media – it’s how busy people stay connected.

What made you decide to hire a social media manager? What qualities were you looking for? 

I don’t have the time to manage social media myself. We wanted someone with experience and who was interested in building our business using social media.

How has social media impacted your business? 

People talk about us! Also, we get to communicate to all of our own customers and their families.

How have you been able to blend traditional marketing with online marketing?  

We have social media cards in the store. The cards have a link and a QR code to our Facebook page. We also use email communication in addition to social media communication. 

Tell us about your business and your industry, your experience with social media, and your thoughts on outsourcing the efforts. 

Past client interviews:

Mimi Reeves, Owner of Balloons and More

Susan Pera, Owner of The Cornerstone Coffeehouse

Ann Dennison, Owner of Advanced Physical Therapy and Fitness

Mike Kushner, Broker and Commercial Realtor® for Omni Realty Group

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I recently finished reading Carrie Wilkerson’s book, The Barefoot Executive.  I met Carrie in Dallas last year and was mesmerized by her dynamic speaking presence, which compelled me to buy her book.

Here are my top three takeaways:

#3 – Obey the “Law of Five”*

Carrie advises readers to be disciplined in obeying her “five a day rule” to help us get things done. Putting off sending all of those thank you cards?  Just send five of them.

I personally applied this advice to my LinkedIn connections. I’ve been meaning to start reaching out to some of them to get to know them on a deeper level.  I started reaching out to five people a day and it’s been rewarding to re-connect and even re-introduce myself to folks in my professional network.

*Jack Canfield and John Maxwell are thought leaders on this idea

#2 – Form a Mastermind Group

“When you surround yourself with people of high caliber, then you begin to draw other people of high caliber.”

Carrie says it’s important to belong to groups of like-minded people and suggests joining a mastermind group. Joining such groups help us grow professionally, physically and emotionally, she says.

I’ve heard about mastermind groups, but I was never comfortable with the idea of paying to be in a group.  After reading this book, I decided to reach out to colleagues and see if they had any interest in joining a non-paid mastermind group. Sure enough, there was. I formed a group of 12 amazing individuals – all committed and ready to start our first meeting at the end of May. Right now, we’re preparing for the meeting by reading “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. I’ll let you know how it works out!

 #1 – Focus: Massive Action to Completion

Carrie says we must identify our short-term motive. Is it leads, money, products, etc?  Whatever it is, we must focus on that priority for the NEXT 30 DAYS…Massive action to completion.

Carrie’s advice is groundbreaking for me. I’m a chronic multitasker and I often have trouble delegating work.  I’ve set my goal (to obtain one ideal social media management client) for the next 30 days and I’m focusing on it – nonstop – until it’s completed.

My Take

The Barefoot Executive is a solid read for both budding and current entrepreneurs. Carrie offers practical, implementable advice.  It’s a book that can be referenced again and again as you change course in your business. I highly recommend it.

Have you read The Barefoot Executive? What did you take away from the book?

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I believe the love/hate relationship with writing exists because writing requires both inspiration and perspiration. I’ve found that it’s important to have a balance of both in order to create compelling content on a consistent basis.

Here are a few tips to help with the writing process.

Inspiration

This is the free-flowing gathering of ideas and content.

• Buy some notebooks. Keep a notebook by your bed, in your car, and on your desk and write down every single topic idea that comes to your head.
• Brainstorm with a team.  A team can help generate ideas you may have never thought of on your own. They can also help in deciding if your current ideas are blog-worthy.
• Read and research. Google your industry, see what’s trending on Twitter, and check out the buzz on LinkedIn groups.
• Step away.  Sometimes we get our best ideas when we’ve had a chance to refresh and reboot.
• Search past content. Browse through old emails and blog comments and see if you can find some things that spark your interest.

Perspiration

This is the process of organizing, developing, editing and publishing.

1. Organize a calendar of dates and topics. Feel free to change these topics, but do use them as a way to hold yourself accountable for regular content.
2. Flesh out an idea. Choose a topic and create a few bullet points of what you want to say about it.
3. Write a rough draft. Just hash it out on paper, and then step away for a while.
4. Edit. Come back and edit the draft. Once you think you have solid copy, try reading it aloud.
5. Search for supporting content. Decide what pictures, links, and videos will enhance the piece.
6. Publish and promote. Load the content, preview, and publish! Remember to promote on social media channels, email, groups, and any other place you find the content relevant.

Putting these practices into place will help in developing content on a consistent basis, in managing your ideas, and in maintaining a steady flow.

What techniques do you have to help develop your writing?

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At least once a week, I stumble upon a story of why outsourcing social media doesn’t work.

Most recently, it was in a conversation as a response to the blog, “You can’t outsource authenticity.”

In a perfect world, business owners would be managing social media for themselves. However, it’s infrequent that this occurs – especially in big business. Do you think the CEO of Starbucks is tweeting for the company? He (or she) likely doesn’t write their own speeches, press releases, or even staff correspondence so why would social media be any different?

Often times, business owners delegate these responsibilities to someone in-house or they outsource it.

Last week, I spoke with a woman who was given the responsibility to ‘handle’ the company’s social media. She has a full-time workload and was offered no more money or incentives.  She was miserable about it. She had no idea where to start, how she would find the time, nor did she have any passion for pursuing the task. She views this as one more thing to do.

I recommended that we do some coaching so I can show her the tools and enable her to feel comfortable using social media. I’ll certainly offer tips for integrating it into her day.

Her business – and many others like it – first needs to understand why they are doing social media and then determine the best way to execute their plan. So many times people go into it with no goals other than to just do it because they think they should. When they don’t get good results, they point the finger at social media itself… but they hadn’t defined their objectives to begin with. They simply started driving with no destination in mind.

Businesses should figure out what they want to achieve then put the steps in place to achieve it. That could mean the CEO managing all the requests. It could also mean delegating it to the best person to fulfill the needs in-house. They may want to start from scratch and hire an in-house person. They could even decide it makes more sense to delegate it to an outside party.

Whatever a business decides, it’s crucial that they take the approach that works for them. Just like social media is not black and white, the ways to manage it are not always black or white.

I find many tend to get “boxed in” with their positions on this debate when the reality is every business should do what works for them!

Has outsourcing social media worked for your business?

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