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Author Archive

Connecting to the Now

By Kim Sheehan   |   June 7, 2010

For many people, the key benefit of social media is letting friends and family know, at this very moment, what they are doing. This immediacy presents a challenge to small business owners, who find that they must balance this need for immediacy with their messages with the needs of running their own businesses on a day to day basis.  How do small businesses manage to create timely messages regularly?

The simplest way to do this is to use social media to talk about what is happening at your store today, tomorrow, and in the week to come. Lisa Hartwick, owner of Hartwick’s Kitchen Store, plans a lot of in-store events and uses social media to both promote the events and do a ‘recap’ of the events after they happen.  Read More »


It’s Your Thing

By Kim Sheehan   |   May 21, 2010

In my last blog post, I wrote about how using photographs of people and places in your online work can help generate word of mouth and engagement with your brand.

The final category of photographs is the category of ‘things’, which basically can encompass the items that your business sells. “Things” can be a little tricky, particularly in the food area. While many restaurants may be eager to photograph entrees, food is notoriously difficult to photograph, and it is possible that the food will end up looking inedible or unappetizing.

Not the image you want for your business! For food establishments, it may be better to stick with photos of either drinks or desserts, both of which tend to be more appealing in a photograph. Read More »


A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words

By Kim Sheehan   |   May 7, 2010

So many discussions of social media use start and end with text. And the written word is great, don’t get us wrong. But images. photographs, drawings, maybe even a video…are more than just ways to break up big blocks of texts. Images are a great way to quickly connect an emotion to the other information you’re providing. Read More »


Dealing With a Tweak Out

By Kim Sheehan   |   April 21, 2010

I recently spoke with a group of tourism professionals about word of mouth, and the group only wanted to talk about negative word of mouth: should it be addressed, should it be ignored, what to do if one person won’t stop. At about the same time, the latest celebrity Tweak out happened…. Read More »


Are You Indispensable? How To Lynchpin Your Small Business

By Kim Sheehan   |   April 7, 2010

Prolific writer Seth Godin’s new book, Lynchpin, asks us “are you indispensable?” According to Godin, lynchpins are the people in business that get things done and make things happen: they figure out better products, streamline processes, and make everyone’s job easier.

Godin wants us all to be lynchpins: he writes “You have brilliance in you, your contribution is essential, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must.” Read More »


The Rumors of WOM’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

By Kim Sheehan   |   March 21, 2010

Public Relations giant Edelman recently published a study that starts the tolling of the death knell for social media and word of mouth. In their report, the Trust Barometer, the agency found that  the number of people whose friends and peers as credible sources of information about a company dropped from 45% in 2008 to 25% in  2010.

Also declining in credibility were consumer and customer employee testimonials. The credibility of CEOs, Academics and Financial Analysts all increased. Read More »


What Your Small Business Can Learn From Toyota

By Kim Sheehan   |   March 7, 2010

The car giant, Toyota, is facing shall we say a tough few months. Unless you’ve buried your head in the sand, you’ve noticed that Toyota has had a series of recalls on some of their popular vehicles. And the critics are pretty split whether Toyota is handling this well.

Every company has communication and public relations crises to deal with. The larger the company, the more likely these crises play out in the media. And there’s nothing like a crisis, coupled with a lot of media coverage, to start the negative word of mouth cycle. So what can your small business learn from Toyota’s troubles? Read More »


Building Your Network – And Keeping People Interested

By Kim Sheehan   |   February 21, 2010

Word of mouth marketing only works if you have people to talk to. This simple fact is someone given short shrift in word of mouth marketing advice today. How do you build your own network and keep people interested and involved? I have three recommendations: make it easy to join, make it worth their while, and once they get there, give people a reason to be in the network. Read More »


Word of Mouth is Great – Except When It’s Not

By Kim Sheehan   |   February 7, 2010

We all love it when a customer raves about our business. But what about when customers don’t rave about our business…or when they have a bad experience? What happens if they talk about this bad experience?

This idea scares so many businesspeople that they won’t even start a word of mouth campaign. Losing control of the message is a disincentive for some. However, in recent conversations with a few great small businesspeople, some great tips on dealing with negative word of mouth have come to light. Read More »


Word of Mouth: A Marketing Strategy Or A Tactic?

By Kim Sheehan   |   January 21, 2010

When I teach introductory advertising classes, students want to jump to the tactics right away…they take the class thinking they’ll be doing TV ads for Nike the first week, and are ready to go! When I explain that marketing is a process, some of them get it and some of then don’t (the don’ts generally don’t become advertising majors!).

Part of learning this process is understanding the difference between a strategy and a tactic, and many students struggle with this. Read More »