Talk about Content and Information overload! I was able to entice Rebekah Radice, Stephan Hovnanian and Ben Fisher back to The Mia Connect Power Chat couch for a redux of our original Power Chat back in December 2013. Since the original airing of that episode, Stephan, Rebekah and Ben have all hit the gas and expanded their business services with books, new products and more! We also brought on Eric Enge to the Panel Chat to really up the ante & bring on some great firepower. I’m surprised the interwebs did not collapse from the strain of content during the show!
A quick overview of our guests & their “shiny” (what they do)
Rebekah Radice is a social media strategist and curator of a boutique digital marketing agency that helps people take their established offline brand and turn into online currency. Like that description? I do too! Here’s another – Rebekah works with people to help them craft a social media strategy that actually works. #BOOM
Stephan Hovnanian wears several hats and very well, I might add. He’s been in the web design strategy and email marketing world for about 14 years. In the last year, he has incorporated Google Plus into his services which has taken on a life of its own. Stephan recently wrote a series of e-books entitled Google Plus Pro Tips (2 more e-books are in the works!). He also hosts the Google Hangout Show entitled “G-Plus Business Spotlight” along with guest panelist Ben Fisher. Speaking of which…
Ben Fisher joined us again and he has been entrenched in the online world since 1994. Talk about being plugged in to all the changes over the last 20 years! In addition to hosting G-Plus Business Spotlight (which has had such guests as GoDaddy, T-Mobile and more) Ben is also the co-founder of SteadyDemand.com, a Google Plus analytics tool (drink!). In addition, Steady Demand also provides Brand page management – in short, it’s Google Plus for people too busy to do Google Plus but know how important it is for their brand.
Eric Enge rounded out the panel and brought his amazing experience level along with him. Eric is the Founder of Stone Temple Consulting, a Content Marketing, SEO & Social Media strategy firm. Stone Temple helps enterprises of all sizes get more traffic & more business online. Eric also cohosts the Digital Marketing Excellence Google Hangout Program – every week he serves up programming on helpful topics such as blogging, hangouts, content, marketing… you name it!
So now that we have the Panel Firepower outlined, let’s dig into the content of the show, the questions posed by the audience & the discussion items:
While I’m not certain on the rumor about Google Alerts, the panel provided some of their favorite tips for social monitoring. Stephan’s favorite steps are to simply use Google Search and also NODx3 which is a social network analysis tool. As an extra piece of 411, NOD3x also provided this information:
NOD3x can easily be setup as a brand listening tool by simply starting a new project with your brand hashtag (and or keyword).
NOD3x will then collect all the posts where your brand is mentioned, and just to make everything easy you can interact with those brand mention posts directly from your dashboard
Ben mentioned that SocialMention.com & Topsy work great. In addition, Socialmention.com allows you to set up an RSS feed once you set up a query. If you then “daisy-chain” that together with Sprout Social & Hootsuite or Feedly to blast it out, you have a powerful “dual tool”.
We also discussed the importance finding Communities (especially on Google Plus) Finding a like-minded Community is key and then building relationships with like-minded people within that community! Identify the people sharing quality content & who has their finger on the pulse within your industry. It makes it very easy for anyone to curate content and share timely & relevant content.
Before you can really find the best way to mine or find information, you need to determine the key words and phrases that are most crucial to your search. You also need to determine exactly what outcome you are looking for and make sure it’s aligned with your online message and purpose. So before you even begin your search you need to ask yourself (or your client):
“What is your goal, what are you listening for & what are you doing with that information?”
Once you’ve determine the “What” items listed above, you’ll need to plan the best way to share that information. Eric offered some great advice when sharing information. He’s a huge fan of Jay Baer’s credo “And therefore”
For instance, when you find a great piece of information that’s aligned with your message, you can hit the “share” button, drop in the link, describe the info you and sharing and then add your commentary and analysis (…and therefore) of that information.
And here’s where I’m going to shame you into action: please tag the person whose information you are sharing! Most likely that person also has a search set up for when their name is mentioned but what a great way to speed up the process of engagement by making it easy for them to see that you like their work! And that you are actively sharing it.
Lift Someone Up! (or, as I like to call it “Let me build you up, Buttercup” Time!)
Another great piece of advice for sharing: Make sure it’s lifting someone up! Either by promoting the person who shared it or wrote it or even by tagging someone in the post (comment) with a message that this is something that they might like or is something of interest to them!
We also had a great discussion around the subject of Automation which resulted in this great quote from Rebekah
Make sure to take the time to properly craft a post that is specifically tailored for each network. Automation doesn’t always translate.
Another great piece of advice from Rebekah: You don’t have to be everything to everyone everywhere. Identify where your market is spending time and where your time is best spent. BOOM!
Another question that came up is “Best Time to Post” – this is a loaded question since it is such an individual recipe for each person. Make sure to click in at Minute 29:15 – all I can say about that is .. Save the Unicorns!
I know I’ve beleaguered this point already (but with good reason). In addition to that the awesome Save The Unicorns rant (SO TRUE!), Stephan reiterated that you really do need to understand your purpose. It’s not just “post it and see what happens”… you need an intention. Start with your outcome (conversation, click throughs, engagement) and then you can figure out WHEN your audience is there online. Consider the type of devices they will be on and the time zones when they will be engaged. For instance, if you want someone to click through and buy something, don’t post when the audience is not able to click through. Ie: It’s traffic time and they are driving (and should NOT be clicking to buy at that time). You may get great engagement at 6pm ET but actual purchases might not start until they have time to sit down in front of their 10pm ET. Rebekah gave another example: If your target audience is Moms, then posting before 8am may not be a good idea since they might be getting their kids ready for school, etc.
Eric also made a great point to pay attention that timing changes over time! Is that an oxymoron? NO! Pay attention to trends – what worked last year may not work this year!
Bottom line: Test test test! Watch your analytics. It’s all trial & error and testing. It’s all about understanding who your target market is and when they are spending their time online.
FYI, make sure to check out the SteadyDemand.com Pro Tool – it gauges Google Plus activity (including time of day) with great accuracy. You’ll be able to see how your audience is reacting to your posts & the post types.
A question was raised from the audience about Shoppable Hangouts! We decided to do a little predicting about the launch for the general public. Eric predicts that these new hangouts will have icons where you can click on an item, a separate page opens & you can purchase the item showcased! Imagine using this for product launches, Kickstarter campaigns and more. We also had a moment of imagining combining this with the NFL Draft. (That’s for you, Sunny Cadwallader!)
Eric’s Prediction Date: September 17th
Ben’s Prediction Date: Sometime between December 2014 and January 2015
Mia’s Prediction Date: Sometime between October and November 2014
The Fine Balance of Marketing & Promotion:
We had some great conversation around the topic of self promotion. Not only WHAT the message should be but when. Ben made a good point the we all have that need to share with people what’s going on and that means part of our job (if we are building our own brand) is marketing what we do.
The “When” part is where some people go astray. Build relationships, engage and share other’s info; build that trust and prove your authenticity. You have to earn the right to share that kind of content that promotes your business. You need to build the relationship & make those connections. Build a community that really cares what you are talking about and what products/services you offer. Then it’s time to say “Hey! This is what I do!”
I know, it’s tough to find the balance and I could tell by some of the audience comments during the show that many people are scared to start “showcasing their shiny”. But, as Rebekah so nicely put it.. You can’t keep yourself a secret! If people don’t know what you do, how can they support your business? They need to know how to refer you, share your content in a meaningful way. It’s finding the balancing act.”
To add more to the point on the HOW to promote, Eric had this great piece of advice:“Show what you do while publicly helping others”. It’s all about when and how you do it. Not with just link dumping . Tell people what you do – put it in the context of a conversation.
Be sure to click through to Ben’s Call To Action for the Audience Members at and then check out the comments to see who responded with their business information!
Want to know what Platforms these Experts prefer? Well here you go!
Stephan: Google Plus, Twitter, Email
Rebekah: Depending on your goals but from traffic point of view: Google Plus, Pinterest, Twitter
Eric: Google Plus, Twitter & Linked In. Eric made the good point that many decision makers are on LinkedIn. 
Ben: Google Plus & LinkedIn. He also gave a great tip about a business card exchange service called connect.data.com (a free service from SalesForce) He’s connected with Fortune 500 companies on a consistent basis and found decision makers!
BatCrapCrazy & Call To Action Moments
Eric – He’s crazy about the Carribean (go check out his description) Eric’s call to action – what’s all this advice going to do for you? What’s going to make this advice work for you? Find YOUR answer, what makes it work for you? Check him out at Stonetemple.com +EricEnge
Ben went with 2 calls to action: 1. Take 45 minutes and make your own read of the day – do something awesome & creative!! Helps you build you brand & reputation. 2. Check out Version 2.0 of ProTool for Steadydemand.com – click on Pro – they need users to get in there & give them feedback
Stephan’s BatCrapCrazy and Call To Action are the same – he’s uber excited about his next two books for Google Plus Pro Tips. Go get some knowledge!
Rebekah is BatCrapCrazy for local businesses with amazing customer service. Her local vet did a great job with her 4 legged kids!! Rebekah’s CTA: Give a shout out to your favorite local businesses in the comments, go tell them how amazing they are! Rebekahradice.com
My extra advice, make sure to write a recommendation for them either on their Google Local Page, on Facebook or on Yelp!
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