The Clout Smiths http://www.cloutsmiths.com Social Media Strategy and Management for Small Business Owners Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:09:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 An Update Regarding the Lack of Updates. http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/an-update-regarding-the-lack-of-updates/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/an-update-regarding-the-lack-of-updates/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:09:15 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=754

It’s been a crazy few months, I keep meaning to sit down and write, but my schedule hasn’t allowed it. I’m focusing on the web design side of things over at rangersanger.com and entrenching myself at one of the largest online retailers in the world. Top 10 style. Also, did you know that Schwan’s boasts a 40% conversion rate on their site? Thats insane. It’s also not who I work for.

I’m glad to see people are still visiting the site, exploring and finding useful information. I’m still available to answer questions and welcome them. Who knows, your question might just be what catapults me back into the swing of things here.

]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/an-update-regarding-the-lack-of-updates/feed/ 0 Sorry for the lack of updates http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/sorry-for-the-lack-of-updates/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/sorry-for-the-lack-of-updates/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:28:10 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=752

I know, I swore I’d write ASAP. Well, that time hasn’t come yet. I just took a job with a huge online retailer. Once things are settled I’ll get back on this. In the mean time check out the archives.

]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/sorry-for-the-lack-of-updates/feed/ 0 I’m so sorry. http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/im-so-sorry/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/im-so-sorry/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:58:38 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=743

I have to apologize again for the spotty updates. Moving across the country has taken its toll on my mind and my time. For the next couple of weeks expect 2-3 updates a week versus the normal daily update.

]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/im-so-sorry/feed/ 0 Be Like Zappos http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/be-like-zappos/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/be-like-zappos/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:49:02 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=744

I just finished Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose and I’ve decided that today’s post will be an unabashed promo for the book.

Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos, without a doubt the best way to buy shoes online. Their prices aren’t always the best but their customer service sets the bar for ecommerce. If you’re thinking of selling anything online I encourage you to buy something from Zappos and return it. It won’t cost you anything and that’s my point. It’s the least aggravating process I’ve ever experienced online.

What led me to read the Zappos book was a recent bad experience with a high end barefoot shoe company Vivo Barefoot and the company I bought the shoes from, The Clymb. Bear with me, this is one of the fun parts about running a blog- complaining.

The Clymb is an online flashsale site, much like Gilt Group only for outdoor goods. They have a return policy that doesn’t allow for refunds (ugh). I purchased a pair of Vivo’s Daltons for half price from the site and they arrived about a month later (ugh). They were defective (ugh). I didn’t want to return them to The Clymb for store credit. I wanted the shoes without the sewing defect, so I contacted Vivo Barefoot. I never heard anything back so I contacted the head of marketing because I could find her email address online. She got the ball rolling in the customer service department and they finally contacted me.

The customer service department wanted four(4)(ugh) high resolution photographs of the defect. After they received them they would get back to me in a week to let me know if the QA manager deemed them possibly defective. At that point, if they deemed them possibly defective, I could send them back and they would make the final decision. Keep in mind, It took them 20 days to get back to me from my original email requesting an RMA number.

I emailed them back and I’m still waiting to find out if I’m stuck with these shoes. I think I’m going to take them to a cooper to have them fixed so it’s not a complete waste.

Don’t be like Vivo Barefoot. Be like Zappos.

]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/be-like-zappos/feed/ 0 Blogging With Tumblr for Your Business http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/blogging-with-tumblr-for-your-business/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/blogging-with-tumblr-for-your-business/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:20:17 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=738

I’ve already written about how Tumblr is the best choice for someone looking to start a blog with minimal effort. Setting up your first Tumblr is an exercise in ease. Not only are the themes attractive, but social integration is phenomenal and customization is simple. All this combines to make an essentially foolproof blogging platform. If you’re a beginner, if you hate computers, if email still kind of freaks you out, you can setup a Tumblr.

Jay Parkinson's Tumblr

Jay Parkinson's Blog is a great example of the thought process behind a Tumblr.

Tumblr takes away the hard part of blogging. Okay, that’s not true. At all. Most people think setting up the blog is the hard part, but as they soon find out, constantly creating content is the real hard part.

Or, wait. Maybe. Maybe, Tumblr can take away the hard part. Tumbling is different than a traditional blog in a few key ways. It’s integrated with other Tumblr pages across the system. This makes sharing and reacting to others content easy. It fundamentally changes the act of blogging. You can still write long form articles and columns, but Tumblr makes it easy and totally acceptable to just write a sentence or two about a picture.

You can post your own photos, or you can comment on photos others have posted. Your comment on someone’s photo can be your entire blog post. After all, a picture is worth 1000 words.

You’re still producing content. It may not be the kind of keyword rich SEO fodder that’s going to drive search engine traffic to your site, but something is better than nothing. Plus, the ease of sharing across Tumblr means you’ll likely get traffic just by virtue of people browsing the system. The integration of social media on Tumblr may even make search engine traffic a moot point. The easier to share the better. The easier to share on Facebook and Twitter, the more traffic.

I link to Dr. Jay Parkinson in the blog-roll here and if you’re looking for a great example of a Tumblr blog, I’ll steer you to his. It’s like a visual diary. He does a great job collecting online ephemera, tracing out a thought process, building a story, sharing a point of view.

Another example of a blog, that isn’t actually a Tumblr, but functions in the same way, is the blog for the sunglasses company Knockaround. You’ll see they share images that reinforce their brand. They strive for a sort of 1970’s Americana and you’ll see it from images of 1979 Ford F-100’s to hand tools. Their cheap-o plastic sunglasses are the furthest you could get from handmade items, but their images of a spokeshave help craft that story. They sometimes share stories, but the majority of the posts are images.

If you search through existing Tumblrs, you’ll find that most of them that have a clear defining purpose are more like a narrative Twitter account than a blog. Pithy quotes from movies, or images of mid-century modern living rooms, not blogs like this one.

If you’ve been looking to get into blogging, but aren’t sure if you have the time or the technical know how, Tumblr might be a great first stop for you.

]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/blogging-with-tumblr-for-your-business/feed/ 0 Using Twitter as an Informal Data Monitoring Tool http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/using-twitter-as-an-informal-data-monitoring-tool/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/using-twitter-as-an-informal-data-monitoring-tool/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:58:59 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=735

Yesterday we covered the ways that communication has changed for the AIM Generation. The smart-phone is less a phone and more a texting, tweeting and yelping device. Private communication is seemly only used as a last resort. All manner of opinion, emotion and personal documentation is shared via Twitter and Facebook.

Imagine if your company could hire secret agents to sit in every cafe, bar or restaurant to eavesdrop on conversations. They exist only to report back when customers speak of your company. All things, good, bad and indifferent are discussed among friends in the course of conversation. You learn that there are people out there who love you. They sing your praises every chance they get. You also find there are people that hate you. They bash your company as often as they can. It turns out there are more from both groups than you knew about.

Eavesdropping like this is sort of a strange fantasy. It’s impossible and kind of weird. It’s too Big Brotherly. Instead, we often rely on formal data collection programs to glean just a fraction of the sentiment our customers are willing to share directly with us.

Formal data collection has it’s limits. We know that the people who fill out customer comment cards are self selecting. By interacting with you they are also, likely, modifying their behavior and their criticisms of you in some manner. A little 3×5 card and a golf pencil will never give us the same information our secret agents could. Luckily, we have Twitter!

Informal comments on Twitter can be insightful, at times to a startling degree. They are also easy to collect. There are applications that exist where you can enter your company name and every time someone tweets about you (even without using your Twitter handle) you’ll receive a notification.

There is an earnestness that you can benefit from by monitoring Twitter. It’s like listening in on a phone conversation. Even if you aren’t actively engaged on social media, this form of data collection can be amazingly insightful. It’s free, easy, instant and can even function as a sort of early warning system.

Imagine an angry customer who had a bad experience with an employee. Management rarely has the opportunity to get out in front of such a situation. Instead, they usually find out when the customer feels like letting them know. So often all management can do is react. Just as often though, the irate customer will tweet about their experience. A good notification program will let you know the instant someone tweets about you. By monitoring Twitter we have moved from reactive to proactive.

]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/using-twitter-as-an-informal-data-monitoring-tool/feed/ 0 The AIM Generation: Tweeting to Connect http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/the-aim-generation-tweeting-to-connect/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/the-aim-generation-tweeting-to-connect/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:53:06 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=730

AOL Instant Messenger

A blast from the past! AIM!

Sometime in the mid 1980’s the last generation to rely on the telephone for instant communication was born. These children would turn on AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) in middle-school, Myspace in HighSchool and would be among the earliest adopters of Facebook, back when it was still only for college students.

The communication landscape changed for this generation and it continues to change. Even age groups just one or two years apart tend to interface with these media differently as they adopted them earlier and earlier in life. For example, the newest batch of college freshman may never have used AIM, missing entirely it’s quasi-private telephone like peer to peer communication. Instead, their early experience centered around MySpace, they grew up in an era when cyber-bullying and sexting was a public concern.

They’ve also grown up publicly documenting their lives in excruciating (and at times grotesque) detail. Wearing brands on their chests, embroidered or screen-printed on their sweaters and tee-shirts but also connecting with them on Facebook and Twitter. Not only for the deals we typically ascribe to the number of followers a brand achieves, but for the status of Liking Puma.

The ethical and philosophical issues abound when we discuss the way communication has changed. But the point of bringing this all up isn’t to start a debate. Instead it’s simply to illustrate that the smartphone is rarely used as a phone. It’s used to Yelp, Tweeet and Facebook. Recommendations on restaurants, stores and shopping are instantly available from the crowd and from peers always available and always tweeting via their iPhone.

As a store owner you can’t control these Tweets, but you can have a presence on the tweeter’s stream. Reminding them, constantly, that you exist. In the early 2000’s Ralph Lauren’s polo player logo grew to epic proportions. It’s now called the “Big Pony” logo. It’s marketed at 18-34 year olds, the people that grew up on Facebook and AOL instant messenger. The people that need an always on, always bigger and better reminder that your brand is there.

You don’t necessarily need to be bigger and brighter or have more glitter to stand out. Instead you can form a personal relationship with your users. There is a restaurant near my apartment. I’ve never actually been to it, but they have an amazing Twitter presence. They are constantly engaged, they respond to tweets, they share news; they are personable. I’ve recommended them several times to friends – even though I have never been there. The reason is simple, When you feel a connection to a brand and someone wants a recommendation, you’ll remember that brand.

Because that restaurant is personable and because I’m constantly reminded of them, they are frequently on my mind.  This is the number one reason to Tweet and Facebook. The AIM generation doesn’t look first to the metro magazine for restaurant reviews, they look to their peers and they look to the crowd. Your brand needs to be there for them to engage with, to provide a constant reminder that you have what they want.

]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/the-aim-generation-tweeting-to-connect/feed/ 0 Embedding PDF’s in a Search Engine Friendly Way http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/embedding-pdfs-in-a-search-engine-friendly-way/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/embedding-pdfs-in-a-search-engine-friendly-way/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:47:07 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=725

Impressions Website PDF Object embed

The temporary menu solution for Impressions is an embedded PDF- Not an Iframe.

Something happened last week. Project overload hit hard. I’m moving to Utah this coming Saturday. I’m leaving behind the glaciated landscapes of the Midwest for big ol’ mountains and strange liquor laws. Packing up a life has been trying. Especially as we try and move across the nation on a budget.Sadly (for me), this momentary lapse in content has taken a serious toll on our traffic. Let’s file this past week under the “do as I say, not as I do” category. As I’ve said before, consistency is key, regular updates keep traffic coming, repeat customers expect regularity. Search engines do too.

Besides the move, you may have seen the new website for Impressions Day Spa in progress. It’s turning out to be a great example of what RangerSanger can do with WordPress. One major problem with the WordPress CMS is no matter what theme you choose, it’s almost always very clearly a WordPress site. However, a professional designer can really get into the guts of it and make it totally custom.  Check it out, it’s temporary home is at www.rangersanger.com/impressions/ It’s not done quite yet, but It’s set to be a great example of a simple website that connects all Impressions media in one place.

Looking back to our post where we learned from crappy restaurant websites,  I see some flaws with the design already. The most glaring is the menu being embedded as a PDF. This is only temporary, but until it’s replaced by text the website will be hurting in readability, speed and SEO. Think about all the great keywords for a salon in a menu.  Okay, we need to hit the brakes on that one, SEO might not be hurting in the end.

PDF’s have been indexed by Google since 2001. As long as you can highlight  the text within the PDF and the PDF is linked to from a previously indexed page, it should show up in search results. The problem occurs when the PDF is embedded impropperly. Two very common ways to embed PDF’s are to host them on Scribd and use their embed code which places the PDF in an Iframe. Glaring probelm, iFrames aren’t indexed by search engines. So, instead of all those keywords going to Impressions, they would be going to Scribd. The second common way to embed a PDF is to use Flash. This is often a pretty way to display a PDF, but it’s also often a way to make sure your page won’t be indexed.

So what to do? We use the the <object> tag, this lets the PDF reside right there on the page giving the website the full benefits of the PDF. However, it is still ideal not to use a PDF. Why? It’s not the most convenient way to display the information, not everyone has a PDF reader installed and many many people don’t have the most recent version of their browser. This means there is a decent chance that the user won’t be able to read your menu.

But the site has some really good things going for it. It’s simple. That’s always number one. It’s readable by mobile devices like smartphones and Ipads. The old site for Impressions used Flash, mobile products hated it.

What the site is doing particularly well so far is acting as an aggregator for all of Impressions media. Their YouTube video shows up on the about page (this will soon be swapped to a Facebook video for reasons outlined in our post about video embedding.) There are links to all of their social media and there is a long form blog in place.

So, if you’re a website owner and you have a PDF on any of your pages make sure it’s not there as an iframe. There are better ways to do it, ways that will improve your SEO and thus your traffic.
]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/embedding-pdfs-in-a-search-engine-friendly-way/feed/ 0 Hell Hath No Fury Like a Yelper Scorned http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-yelper-scorned/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-yelper-scorned/#comments Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:30:31 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=714

One of the most common resistances I hear to business owners taking part in Yelp is the negative reviews. The bad news is, that’s a very real thing to be scared of. The worse news is that staying off Yelp isn’t going to help, those negative reviews are a’comin whether or not you show up for the party.

So, it pays to be there. You can monitor, you can gently remind satisfied customers that they should check you out on Yelp and you can hope they will write positive reviews. Unfortunately, no matter how great your performance, everyone wont see eye to eye with you. This is where the negative review comes it, this is also where it becomes imperative that you are on Yelp.

Most of the time, a negative review won’t be the end of the world. Like we’ve covered before, negative reviews can actually be good for your brand. They lend the positive reviews credibility and astonishingly, it’s quantity over quality when it comes to reviews. A place with 45 reviews looks better than a place with 4 reviews, even if the former has 3 stars and the latter 4. Sometimes, however, someone will show up with an axe to grind. Worse case, they can spell. Okay, absolute worst case, they can spell and break their review up into paragraphs.

What to do when someone with a vendetta shows up? Someone that is ranting, raving and spewing?

Ignore them. Especially if their review is one long block of text, full of spelling and grammar errors. If you’re dealing with someone that understands hanging participles? Well, maybe at that point it’s best to respond, but you must have a plan. You should have a well thought out response that shows empathy and a drive to fix the situation. Never, ever get personal, never ever engage them online.

For a template, see the book. Otherwise, cross your fingers and hope that your angry reviewers cant spell. Hell hath no fury like a Yelper scorned.

One of the most common resistances I hear to business owners taking part in Yelp is the negative reviews. The bad news is, that’s a very real thing to be scared of. The worse news is that staying off Yelp isn’t going to help, those negative reviews are a’comin whether or not you show up for the party.

So, it pays to be there. You can monitor, you can gently remind satisfied customers that they should check you out on Yelp and you can hope they will write positive reviews. Unfortunately, no matter how great your performance, everyone wont see eye to eye with you. This is where the negative review comes it, this is also where it becomes imperative that you are on Yelp.

Most of the time, a negative review won’t be the end of the world. Like we’ve covered before, negative reviews can actually be good for your brand. They lend the positive reviews credibility and astonishingly, it’s quantity over quality when it comes to reviews. A place with 45 reviews looks better than a place with 4 reviews, even if the former has 3 stars and the latter 4. Sometimes, however, someone will show up with an axe to grind. Worse case, they can spell. Okay, absolute worst case, they can spell and break their review up into paragraphs.

What to do when someone with a vendetta shows up? Someone that is ranting, raving and spewing?

Ignore them. Especially if their review is one long block of text, full of spelling and grammar errors. If you’re dealing with someone that understands hanging participles? Well, maybe at that point it’s best to respond, but you must have a plan. You should have a well thought out response that shows empathy and a drive to fix the situation. Never, ever get personal, never ever engage them online.

For a template, see the book. Otherwise, cross your fingers and hope that your angry reviewers cant spell.

]]> http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-yelper-scorned/feed/ 0 Video Hosting: Facebook vs. YouTube and Why You Need Video Content http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/video-content-youtube-facebook/ http://www.cloutsmiths.com/2011/video-content-youtube-facebook/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:28:44 +0000 rangersanger http://www.cloutsmiths.com/?p=716

Video is some of best content out there. Four basic reasons:

1. EdgeRank. Facebook places heavy value on video content, especially when uploaded to their servers. This means it’s more likely to show up on your fan’s feeds. I say “on their servers” because Facebook’s EdgeRank seems to favor content that keeps the user on their network. This applies to content other than videos as well. For example, a link to another Facebook page seems to be valued more than an outbound link to a site, like cloutsmiths.com

2. You can’t skim a video, if you have a message, it’s easier to get across in a video. This is especially true with streaming.

3. People like videos! Sometimes after a long day the last thing you want to do is read another article. When that’s the case, I switch to Google’s video search and try and find someone to show me what I’m looking for. (another way to put this point, people are lazy. Especially your author)

4. Videos are extremely easy to share. Unlike images and text which are generally decoupled from their respective share buttons, a video contains within the boundaries of it’s image everything you need to tweet it or post it on Facbeook and it’s always attributed to the original owner.

When it comes time to post a video, the creator is faced with a tough decision, Youtube or Facebook? Like so many things, the answer will be both. We want as many people to see the video as possible, so share it as widely as possible.

But, when you want to embed the video on your blog, which video should you share? Facebook or Youtube? They both make it so easy. When it comes to embedding video the first thing to think about is leakage. If a user clicks on a video and winds up at YouTube, what do you think the chances of the coming back to your site are? I’ll put my money on zero. Charlie Bit my Finger has them forever and you lost a visitor. Instead, if the user visits Facebook, there is at least a chance that they will take the time to like your page or share your video. It’s just so much easier to interact with your content and stay engaged with what you have produced on Facebook. There are ads, but they aren’t explicitly related, unlike the “suggestions” column on YouTube which will be sure to draw your audience into the YouTube black hole.

When you host a video on Facebook and embed it in your site, the user is given just three options, watch it again, share it or go to your page. Also, unlike YouTube, Facebook doesn’t allow other users to embed your video. You end up with complete control over the entire process. What could be better?

However, for the sake of SEO, our old friend, you should also post the video to YouTube, and possibly with a slightly different title. YouTube is great for SEO because you can name your video, describe it and tag it, all with links back to your website.

It’s clear that video content is king. A trend started with Tim Ferriss (at least he claims it did), but it seems like every new hit book is coming out with a video trailer. Yup, that’s right, video trailers for books. It’s hard to think of a more mismatched combo, but as this video recently released by the Tom’s shoes guy shows– it’s an effective way to get attention.

The best part about video is that it is an almost surefire way to build credibility. People want to look at other people when getting advice. Putting a face to your business or blog is sure to earn you traffic and even loyal followers. This is the same reason you should always use a photo of yourself as your Twitter icon, it establishes you as a real human being. Someone relatable instead of an amorphous logo. For more on this phenomenon and how to take advantage of it, be sure to check out the book.

So get out there and start producing! If you don’t have a camera check out my affiliate link below and buy yourself what I consider to be the best entry level DSLR Hi-Def camera. It takes amazing photos and amazing video.

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