Grow My Company

Opinion: How will Facebook make money?

Facebook went public last week, and I watched the ticker all day long. It did what I and many others suspected, climbed and fell as the day went by. It made me think though...what exactly were those people buying? How solid is this investment? What is Facebook's plan to make money? 

Let's start with the fact that social media is in essence a communications platform. People use it to connect. They share information, solicit assistance, are entertained. However, for the most part, people are not there to be solicited, and they consider ads to be an unwelcome interruption. So how can Facebook make money if its users reject its business model?

First, you must understand the difference between users and customers. You and I are users. We use the platform for free. Facebook's customers are the people and businesses that it makes money from: its application and game developers and its advertisers. There is a very big difference in the status of a user and a customer, as is evidenced by Facebook's continuous rejection of user outcry when Facebook does something that users find offensive, such as open their personal information to developers.

Hindsight is 20-20, but if I sat in the big chair at Facebook, I would have been developing premium content that users could pay to use, like chat and video capabilities. I would have maintained a basic, free platform available to all users, but introduced enhanced premium content that was so appealing and inexpensive that many users would want it. Let's face it, if Facebook had introduced chat several years ago as a paid upgrade, with a prominently stated 90-day free trial for all existing and new users, many people would have been hooked on it and just might have been willing to pay $1/month for this feature. $12 per year wouldn't really break anybody's bank, but it would have brought a lot of income to Facebook.

Let's not confuse this with LinkedIn's flawed business model that consistently strips away favorite functionality from it's free model, without notifying its users, and requires a paid, premium subscription to access this content and functionality that users had relied on for free in the past.

How about businesses? As Facebook exploded, and businesses wanted to cash in the huge database of users by developing pages there, why didn't Facebook charge them to build a business page? Again, many, if not most businesses could and would have afforded a nominal fee to establish a presence there. But then again, if Facebook charged for this service, users would have had some rights, and Facebook wouldn't have been able to do things like employ customer service reps overseas who "review" and seem to randomly delete content reported as offensive, despite there being no problem with it at all. And they wouldn't be able to randomly take down pages and ignore users' customers' requests for help.

But I digress.

Facebook has already come close to reaching critical mass. With the exception of kids who age in annually, most of the people who aren't on already, don't want to be there, and it will take a lot of convincing to make them actually become engaged users if you were able to get them to sign up in the first place. So where is the growth potential? China?

As far as I can tell, Facebook's business model includes income from app developers and advertisers only. Now that it is public, there will be no more angel invertors. So when was the last time you clicked on a Facebook ad? How often do you do so? Do you pay for game upgrades? Have you even associated a credit card with our Facebook account? No? Neither have I.

It seems to me that the only people making money are the ones who had huge bundles of stock that they unloaded last week to people who wanted to own a piece of Facebook.

I'd love to hear how you think Facebook will make money and turn out to be a good investment for all those stockholders down the road.

 - Christine Pilch Mancini

LinkedIn: 5 things you can do right now to make your profile more effective

There is no doubt that your LinkedIn profile is a critical component your professional identity. It ranks at or near the top of search rankings, and it can create interest from potential employers, clients, and customers.

On the other hand, a poor LinkedIn profile can work against you when your competitors make an effort to build complete profiles that truly demonstrate the benefits of hiring them instead of you. 

So what can you do to make yourself attractive on LinkedIn right now?

1. List your inherent professional benefit rather than your job title in your personal branding box under your name:
   This is one of the most common mistakes I see on LinkedIn. Simply listing your job title doesn't help you at all. Okay, you're a Lawyer, Compliance Officer, VP of Lending, Business Analyst, Looking for Full Time Employment, etc. So what? What can you do for me? What is the inherent benefit of hiring you? Tell me what you can do to help my business thrive. This is precious personal branding space. Don't squander it by listing a boring job title.
2. Get 3 recommendations:
   I wrote a blog post that explains why and how recommendations help you on LinkedIn. In a nutshell, since so few people bother to obtain any, they are a point of distinction. You can toot your own horn all day long, but when someone else describes your professional abilities and skills, it substantiates your claims.
3. Update your status:
   When you update your LinkedIn status, a story is posted in the newsfeed of all your connections, so this reminds them of you. Don't use this space for anything that isn't exclusively professional. Use it to educate your connections about the great things that you do an a daily basis, for example, if you're a divorce lawyer, you may write something like, "Just avoided a nasty custody battle by reminding both parties that the kids' best interests are their primary concern."
4. Add sections:
   Most people don't bother adding special sections. This is where you can appropriately list community and charitable involvement, which are not jobs. You can also use sections to add publications, presentations, awards, certifications, etc. And there are special sections designed to help students and recent grads, who have little relevant career experience, to promote courses and projects that are related to the job that they seek.
5. Complete your profile to 100%:
   You must add a photo, 3 past jobs, and receive 3 recommendations to achieve a 100% complete LinkedIn profile. This is achievable for most people, so take the time, make the effort, and complete your profile to display your strongest professional presence. 

Realize that LinkedIn is a double edged sword. While it is a tremendous resource to demonstrate your capabilities, it also provides a venue that makes it easy for prospective employers, clients, and customers to evaluate your competition and compare you against them. Make sure that you're the most attractive option, or your competitors might just edge you out before you have an opportunity to get your foot in the door.

 

 - Christine Pilch Mancini

 

 

Are you a social media connector or a collector?

Social media is a set of communications techniques. It helps you to reconnect, strengthen, and establish relationships. To some, however, social media seems to be one big competition for who can establish the most connections.

Let's be clear though, in most cases, volume and quality are not necessarily congruent.

Connecting without engagement has little value. How many collectors are you connected to? You know the ones; they sent an invitation and then ignored your attempts to engage with them. They may or may not post content on their Facebook or Twitter accounts, but they certainly aren't interested in communicating with you. They're silent or they're preachers.

Social media is one of the most powerful networking tools at your disposal today. It allows you to meet people virtually that would have likely never crossed your path just 5 years ago. It can help you to educate your friends and family about what you do professionally. It provides venues for online collaboration that can speed up business processes. It helps you find a job or qualified people to fill an opening within your organization.

Collectors don't seem to care about this though. They just want more connections than the next guy. Or they just want to snoop on their old friends and acquaintances.

Don't be a collector, be a connector. Make an effort, and it will pay off with enhanced social media relationships that can help you fulfil your goals. Here are a few tips about how to be a connector rather than a collector:

1. Personal invitation:
   Personalize your LinkedIn invitation. Sending the stock invitation says that you're lazy and you don't care enough about the person to bother taking the time to address them personally. Facebook used to allow personalized invitations, but, sadly, they removed that ability, preventing you from reminding an old friend about who you are.
2. Follow up:
   Message the person after connecting. Thank them for the invitation or for accepting yours. 
3. Start a conversation:
   Or at least make an effort to get to know your new connection. Even it it's someone you've known all your life, the new social media connection may add an entirely new dimension and lead to opportunities down the road for each of you.
4. Read updates:
   Keep up to date on your connections' promotions, job changes, and new company affiliations. That IT specialist whose trust you earned with one company could be your next big account in his new capacity as IT manager at another company.
5. Respond:
   When someone takes the time to post or comment on your profile, Tweet @ or message you, respond. Unless you're a celebrity, there is no excuse for not responding. It's just plain rude.
6. Read about them:
   Read the information that people put in their About sections. When you connect with someone new on LinkedIn, they know if you've looked at their profile or not. Show some interest and possibly learn something new about that person on Facebook too. This prevents you from messaging someone from your past with the stock, "So what have you been up to for the last 20 years?," when it's all right there for you to read, had you only taken the time. This helps to demonstrate that you actually respected them enough to read their info and allows you to comment on something substantive that may open a meaningful dialog.

People who have accounts on social media, but don't bother engaging, miss opportunities. Don't be a collector, be a connector and start being a more valuable member of your social media circles.

 

 - Christine Pilch Mancini

Image credit: Public-Domain-Image.com

Are you obnoxious or valuable to your LinkedIn community?

This morning, one of my friends, @JasonTurcotte posted on Facebook, "Not a groundbreaking revelation, but frustrated at how much spam there is in @linkedin groups. Not worth participating in most."

That sure did fire me up. As a LinkedIn speaker and trainer, I try really hard to educate people about how to get the most out of their LinkedIn experience. I have demonstrated success getting people into the job they want with a polished profile, and I try to teach people about how to contribute value to their LinkedIn community.

But Jason is right; many, many people use LinkedIn improperly, causing irritation to others.

In Jason's example above, the problem is trying to sell your product or service to an audience that:

1. Doesn't know you
2. Doesn't trust you
3. Hasn't demonstrated a need or desire for what you're selling

Good salespeople know that the above are critical elements of successful sales, so people who attempt commit interruption sales pitches within LinkedIn groups or via its message system are completely off the mark and just plain obnoxious.

Think about why we're on LinkedIn: to sell ourselves. Whether your objective is a new job, new clients, or new customers, we're all trying to sell something. The difference, however, is in our tactics.

A good, valuable member of the LinkedIn community gives, gives, gives. They offer advice when someone asks a question within a group. They constructively comment on discussion items. They post relevant articles and blog posts written by themselves and others that will bring value to the group and incite discussion among its members. 

They do not act selfishly, doing such things as posting only their own blog entries, links to their own products and services, and links to their own speaking engagements, while neglecting to read additional group content and participate in other group discussions.

A good rule of thumb when considering posting content to a group discussion page is to ask yourself, "Will this help the members of this group, or is my main objective to promote myself, my skills, my product or service, or my own blog?" If the former is true, post away. If the latter is true, don't bother.

LinkedIn group members aren't stupid. They can tell the difference between someone who is genuine and helpful and someone who is selfish. People buy from people they like, so don't be someone who is unlikable within the LinkedIn community.

Now I'm not saying that it's inappropriate to reference your own product or service as a solution to a need identified within a particular discussion item. But don't try to sell anything before you've earned the right to do so by being helpful, developing relationships, and adding value to your LinkedIn community.

 

 - Christine Pilch Mancini

When does working your LinkedIn network cross the line into abusing your network?

I had an interesting discourse with one of my LinkedIn connections this morning. He messaged his connections, asking for a critique of his new website. Since this is one of my paid services, I emailed him asking if he wanted a quote. He emailed me back, obviously indignant, and said that he didn't know that's what I do, and he was simply working his network, and asking for advice, which he certainly didn't expect to pay for. The key, however, is that this man and I are strangers, so he didn't know anything about some of the people he was asking for free help.

He was abusing his network.

So, what is appropriate conduct on LinkedIn, and what crosses the line?

Is LinkedIn really any different than real-life? Would this man stand up in a restaurant, interrupt everybody's lunch, and ask that they stop eating and review his website as a favor to him? Yes, that's an extreme example meant to emphasize the rudeness of the request. It's one thing to ask friends for help. Most people are generous about helping those in their personal lives. But strangers? This isn't courteously holding a door open for someone behind you, it's asking someone to take time out of their day, do work, and make a report back. That absolutely crosses the line into inappropriate behavior.

Now, let's discuss the delivery method, the LinkedIn message system. LinkedIn members generally do not expect to be interrupted by irrelevant communications from their connections. This is not the first time that this particular gentleman messaged me. The last message, a few days prior, was a sales pitch for his product. Again, misfire. Nobody wants to be sold something that they don't want from someone they don't know on LinkedIn.

Make no mistake...everybody is on LinkedIn to sell something...their expertise, their service, their products...

LinkedIn is a wonderful personal marketing tool. However, some people don't seem to understand that this is not the place to push anything. LinkedIn, and social media in general, is about subtly positioning yourself as an expert and being helpful.

LinkedIn is about getting to know people, developing and enhancing relationships, and earning trust and respect.

Only then have you earned the right to sell, and even then, it's usually when someone makes an inquiry about what you have to offer. Interrupting and disrespecting people is not the way to be successful on LinkedIn any more than in the real world.

 

- Christine Pilch

Netflix and Qwikster: can the brand survive its own tragic PR gaffes?

Netflix damaged their brand again today…twice. 

First they sent out an email and posted on their blog that their mistake in separating their streaming and dvd services, and jacking up the price 60%, was only in the fact that they didn’t first educate their customers. 

Second, their CEO, Reed Hastings, made a low-end video with another Netflix brass that further insults their customers by stating that they, “…think it will be great for us to have a separate brand, a separate website…” Therein lies the crux of the problem. Suddenly this apology, which was intended to appease those offended and angered by past mistakes, turned into something that sounds like, “We don’t care about you or how this inconveniences you at all. It’s good for us, so there.” 

There is no doubt that streaming will become the standard for video delivery, dvds are going the way of vinyl records, and Netflix must evolve to remain relevant. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn't seem to have anybody in place who truly understands branding. Their brand is what their customers perceive it to be, and they keep doing things to antagonize their customers and make them angry.

The PR gaffes over the last couple of months are extremely damaging to their brand. People don’t want to pay 60% more for the same service. People don’t want to go to 2 websites to fulfill a need previously fulfilled by a 1-stop-shop. People don’t want to pay extra for 3^rd rate streaming content.

I know that the Netflix name lends itself better to online delivery, but dvd delivery is the current Netflix brand. It would be easier to eventually transition all customers to the inevitable exclusive online service by keeping the dvd customers close and tight, not carelessly casting them off. How about the glaring oversight of the @Qwikster Twitter username currently being held by a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking Elmo character? 

Who is running Netflix’s PR/marketing machine? How are they keeping their jobs through this colossal brand breach? No, Hastings' video doesn’t help. It proves that the Netflix brass have lost touch with what made them great in the first place, curing a customer pain point, (late fees and physical trips to the rental store.)

I am a long-time Netflix customer. I emailed back and forth with Hastings many years ago when I was frustrated that it was taking 10-days to receive a replacement movie, and he convinced me to hang in there because they were soon rolling out nation-wide distribution centers. Unfortunately even I’m scouting my alternative options now. Amazon’s free online delivery via their Prime subscription is looking better and better. 

Netflix is killing their brand. So sad, so sad.

- Christine Pilch

 

Common LinkedIn don'ts - avoiding mistakes that just might hurt you

LinkedIn has become pretty mainstream over the past couple of years. It has grown way past the point when it was mostly just social media early adopters. Today it's pretty much expected that professionals maintain a presence there, and if that's not enough of an incentive to take LinkedIn seriously, try Googling your name. You'll likely find your LinkedIn profile near the top of the results. 

Despite the huge popularity of LinkedIn, many people take a lackadaisical view of the network. They display incomplete profiles, neglect to upload a picture, and let invitations pile up in their inboxes. These mistakes should be obvious to everybody, but there are a few additional things people do that can really hurt their reputation within the network. Are you doing any of these things?

1) Unprofessional status updates

LinkedIn is a professional network, not a social one. People here don't generally care to read about your non-professional activities. Everything you post on LinkedIn should be carefully crafted to get you into the job you want or bring business through the door. If you want more information about how status updates among LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter differ, here's a video I did about this topic.

2) Using a logo or random image as your photo

LinkedIn is a professional network, and people should see you here as they see you in your day-to-day professional life. Bankers and lawyers should be in a jacket and tie, law enforcement should be in uniform, and chefs should be in their coats if that's how people see them in their professional lives. It is not appropriate to use a photo of you in a baseball cap unless you're a baseball player, or a photo of you on the beach unless you're a lifeguard.

One more thing, although you may be tempted to use your logo, it is against LinkedIn terms of service to represent yourself with anything other than a photo of you. The user agreement states that "...your profile photo should be a photograph of yourself and not a cartoon, symbol, drawing or any other content." Yes, others get away with this, but do you want to be the one that LinkedIn makes an example of by removing your profile?

3) Spamming other members

This is a real pet peeve of mine and many other members. We are all here to network, but nobody wants to be harassed by your sales message on LinkedIn. It is not okay to spam your connections or fellow group members with pitches for your product or service via the LinkedIn message system or through group discussion boards. Remember that spam is unwanted and unsolicited messages, so if you send out these kinds of messages or post them on discussion boards, you are a spammer. There are plenty of other ways to position yourself as an authority and let people know what you have to offer on LinkedIn without spamming others. 

These are my top 3 LinkedIn mistakes. What else do you see people doing on LinkedIn that hurts their professional reputation?

 

 - Christine Pilch

Photo credit: roger4336

Netflix: An exercise in social media backlash over business decision

A 2:21PM on July 12 I received an email from Netflix informing me that my $9.99/month subscription for 1 DVD out at a time + unlimited streaming is going up to $16.99. That's about a 60% price hike!

My stomach started to churn. I'm a long-time customer. I signed up before they even had local distribution channels. It used to take about 10 days from the date I mailed back a DVD to when I got a new one, but I stuck with Netflix because I believed it was an overall great value.

My opinion never wavered when they eventually dropped the price of my 3-DVD out at a time plan, when I realized that I wasn't watching enough movies and dropped down to the 1-DVD out at a time plan, and when they added a rather sad assortment of B and C level movies for streaming.

But this...a 60% price hike...made my blood boil. And I've only streamed a handful of titles in the last several years.

So I tweeted it, and followers retweeted it. And other Netflix subscribers tweeted it. And Facebook members posted complaints in their status updates. And the Netflix Facebook Page lit up like a Christmas tree with 41,000+ comments on the announcement from angry members, plus countless Page posts raging against Netflix's move. And the Netflix blog received 5000+ comments on its post about the fee hike. "Dear Netflix" is trending at #5 in the top 10 on Twitter. Several of my social media friends have shared a link to a blog post called, "Mad About Netflix Prices? Here Are Some Alternative Services."

This is all within the just last 26 hours.

So, what did Netflix do to quell the social media storm? Nothing. Not a peep from them in response to their angry customers. 

Netflix has been known for its exemplary customer service and brilliant business planning for many years, so they likely anticipated the backlash. But did they expect the volume and the venom? Only Netflix can answer that, but they're not talking. 

Perhaps they're attempting to wait out the storm and hope that everything just goes back to status quo. Maybe they're waiting to gage just how bad things get, as in how many people quit Netflix. Maybe they just don't care. They've made a business decision, and the heck with customer backlash.

In any event, it seems bad business to have not anticipated the storm thundering over Netflix right now. And the past has proven that brands are made and broken in social media. Time will tell if this is one of the all-time-great examples of social media failure or a brilliant move by a company running one of the largest-scale research projects of all time.

 

 - Christine Pilch

Disconnecting on LinkedIn: How and Why

 

 

Sometimes a LinkedIn connection doesn't work out and you want to disconnect. It's not difficult, but LinkedIn doesn't put that functionality where you might expect to find it. This video discusses why you might decide it's not in your best interests to be connected with someone and how to sever that connection. Christine Pilch, 413.537.2474, Christine@GrowMyCo.com

© 2011, Christine Pilch, Grow My Company. This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

The hospitality industry and reviewing sites: what you risk by not monitoring your reputation

If you own or run a hospitality business, and you're not monitoring your reputation via social media reviewing sites, you're missing the boat. Your customers and guests are posting opinions about you there, so if you're not paying attention, you're missing out on valuable opportunities to hear what people are saying and improve.

My favorite starting point is at Google Places because it acts as a content aggregator, where I can access reviews from multiple sites, including OpenTable, Yelp, Google, UrbanSpoon, TripAdvisor, Menuism, InsiderPages, and Yahoo. I never select a restaurant, hotel, spa, etc., without first checking it out online, and I suspect that there are increasing numbers of folks just like me.

From the hospitality business owner/manager side however, I can't stress enough the significance of monitoring these sites for feedback about your business. You can read what people think about your service, food, ambiance, facility, and many other details that you might not be paying attention to. I recently wrote a review of one restaurant that has incredible food but uncomfortable chairs, and I read another review of a restaurant where the acoustics are so poor that its impossible for a group to converse.

These are important details for patrons to note, but from the management side, this feedback is invaluable. Yes, chairs are expensive, but if they're driving away customers, it might be advisable to invest in more satisfactory replacements. And there are plenty of available options to reduce noise level within an establishment. However, you must first be aware of these perceived problems in order to rectify them.

Customers do often relay their concerns to a server, however, after working many years in this industry, I can attest to the fact that these issues are often not shared with management. Servers are busy and they often just plain forget to mention such things.

Two more significant factors to note are Yelp's features called, "Nearby," and "Monicle." People with smartphones, who are rapidly growing in numbers, can see what is close by using Monicle's gps/augmented reality feature. This is especially important for people in unfamiliar areas. You simply touch the screen and your phone's gps takes over as you rotate the phone all around to see how close "Restaurants," "Bars," and "Everything" are. From there you can go to Yelp reviews of the establishments. It's a time saver because users don't even need to enter your establishment's name. Consider the implications of this as travelers and outsiders decide where to drop in for their meals and other services. Your Yelp reviews are very significant.

One more thing to note. We all know that you can't please everybody all the time, and these review sites usually provide a business owner with the opportunity to publicly or privately respond to reviewers. Now, while I don't recommend becoming adversarial or unprofessional, you do have the opportunity to address your customers' concerns within these review sites. As is the case with all other social media, users pay just as much attention to how you deal with uncomfortable situations as they do to actual bad reviews. Are you friendly and apologetic? Did you make a genuine effort to try to rectify the situation at the time? Are you sincere in your efforts to create good will and make up for any perceived slight now? 

How you handle bad reviews speaks volumes, that is, of course, if you're paying attention to what users are saying about you.

If you own or manage a hospitality business, ignoring review sites is ignoring customer feedback. At best you're demonstrating ignorance, and at worst you're demonstrating apathy. When you prove to your customers in such a public venue that you don't care about them, you're in trouble.

 

- Christine Pilch