So, the end of another year – the beginning of a new one.  It’s the traditional time when we take a good hard look at what works and what doesn’t.  And life is full of promise that things will be different from now on.

I have a Facebook friend who posted the other day, “I make lists, NOT resolutions!  There is a difference!”  So whether you are making lists, resolutions, promises or whatever name you want to attach to it, now is a good time for CHANGE.

And one of the best changes you can make for your business this year is to begin blogging.  Really.  This quite literally will provide the absolute biggest “bang” for your time spent.  And once you get in the habit, it’s really not that difficult.

And as a 2012 gift to you, here are a couple of thoughts  from me to you to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Find 3-4 good blogs that you find helpful, and read the heck out of them!

I can’t tell you the number of times that I have stared at a blank screen, trying to come up with something meaningful to say.  After perusing a couple of blogs that I read regularly, the thoughts start coming, and the typing begins.  If you find it helpful, then others will too!

2. Put together an editorial calendar and don’t stray from it!

This is one of those little things that pays off huge dividends.  We have an editorial calendar here at Stone Creek Consulting.  I know what days I am expected to write – and what topic I will be writing about on those days.  It narrows my focus drastically, and I find that I am able to be much more consistent this way.

3. Absolutely DO use infographics, photos, videos and charts!

I have a daughter in High School who regularly has to write papers and reports.  They are very strict on the size of the font and the number of pages she has to turn in.  But guess what?  This isn’t high school (thank goodness!).  If your blog post is only 3 paragraphs, fine!  If your blog post is mostly made up of an infographic, great!  You don’t have to write a novel.  Give some of your thoughts and move on.  Trust me – people don’t want to read “War and Peace” anyway.  Short and valuable is the way to go!

4. And because I care –

Yes, I have posted this video before.  But it is just that important.

Happy New Year!  May this be a successful and profitable year for you!

Melanie Bowman

Stone Creek Consulting

I was recently doing some research on local companies – local to us in Kansas City, that is – that were involved in internet marketing strategies.  Ok, truth be told, I was looking at our competition to see what they offered, how we differed, and what “holes” were left out there that our particular flavor of inbound marketing can fill.

I learned something very interesting.  There are a lot of companies out there that have developed a very good, very successful plan for internet marketing.  One in particular has developed a very impressive radar that compiles all of the social media conversations going on around a certain topic.  It is extremely fast and extremely comprehensive.  I immediately saw the value in this tool.  In fact, I was plain impressed.

However, I noticed something missing.  Once all of that extremely valuable information was collected, I saw no plan of action to use it.  This particular tool leaves that to the customer.  So what if you have the ability to see that your competitor is lacking in a certain area – and it just happens to be the area that you excel in?  What next?

This is where I get really excited about inbound marketing – using internet marketing strategies to DRIVE traffic directly to you.  But equally important, to move potential customers through the sales funnel by giving them valuable content (maybe even what used to be regarded as your trade secrets?), finding out more about their needs through the offers they request, and tailoring your conversation with them to suit their very needs.  You build trust, loyalty and authority as you interact with these potential clients.

So, the take-away? Don’t stop at the latest, flashiest promise out there to get you all of the information you could ever want on those who are needing your services or product.  You need to be able to build a relationship with those “seekers” before they turn into more than just a visit to your website.

Social Media.  It is THE buzzword in marketing right now.  The problem is, it is still a little hard to grasp.  Most of us have a good idea of the concept – using all of the social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, etc) around us to attract traffic to us.

But as this new mindset of marketing grows out of it’s infancy, through the toddler years, and is now gaining the recognition that it deserves, there are a few key elements that are coming to light that any social media consultant should keep in mind.

An article entitled “140 Predictions About Social Marketing” was released today that had some interesting points made by the master of social media marketing and consulting, David Meerman Scott (@dmscott).  Here are his thoughts on the biggest Social Media Development coming in 2012:

“Social media gives us the ability to communicate instantly, yet most marketers have not developed the communication skills to address real time. Marketers have been trained with a campaign mentality, spending weeks planning, designing and executing in a sequential manner. Social marketing is changing that. We now need the ability to react instantly to breaking news, changes on our websites and negative customer feedback. Marketers need a new mentality, infrastructure and workflows to meaningfully participate in real time.”

If you aren’t prepared to engage your customers – both the good and the bad – in real-time social media avenues, you may find that doing business successfully is harder and harder.

Are you prepared to embrace the social media marketing changes on the horizon?  Be prepared.  They are coming.