I’m always looking for inspiring ways to help small businesses to achieve their big goals.

So when I come across a report with significant merit, I’m over-obliged to share it.

Take this one for example. Go read, consume, enjoy, indulge – and then most importantly:

Act upon it.

Thanks, Hubspot.

You know that Epiphany and I are occasional friends. We don’t get to hang out so often these days, due to my being inebriated by an obsession to gather as much information as possible rather than use it wisely.

The definitive axiom of a journalist: Research now, forget later.

But I do occasionally have flurries of intellect. And figure out things that, on the odd occasion, could change your life for the better.

I know you know yourself better than I ever could. That’s your job. Mine is to help you do things you hadn’t thought about. That’s how I got to being called The High Priest of Ideastan (copyright Dave Doolin, and anyway, I only stole part/the best bit of his title; dude, you can keep Blogistan, my Risk is faltering these days) after all.

So I want you to ingest these three vital elements of information:

1. Don’t generalise. In any context. Here’s my story: Every chance I get, I pick up work. Then I realise, either immediately or later, that I have committed to a piece of work that uses some of my skills, and many others I have never possessed. I get into an antsy rut where I’m doing the best I can but I know it’s distanced from a silver bullet needed to bring the project to fruition. I raised the bar to an unreachable platform, insisted on my eligibility for taking on the job, then realised I couldn’t actually do everything promised. That happened time and again. We’re talking being spread too thinly. Instead of falling through the same trap door, focus on your amazing. There are two things we’re exceptional at. Everyone is totally different (isn’t that beautiful?) so only you know what those two things are. But practice them every day. Repeat as required – and then some. And give them away, through teaching and listening. You’ll know when you’ve scored. And you will.
2. Understand the mighty power of video. I know this incredible guy called John Scotland who’s whacking out these insanely good video business cards. His clients are nailing it by showing people what they do in 30 seconds. Cardboard business cards? 1970s, my friend. This is the bomb. Have you got videos on your site? Testimonials? Product demos? Training programs? Unsure of the validity of my (admittedly flaky, so far) argument? Here’s where you win:

• Forrester Research found that videos were 50 times more likely to receive an organic first page ranking than traditional text pages.
• There has been a 205% increase in online video views on Facebook in the past year.
• Monthly, Brits watch half a million videos online. That’s a 37% increase YOY (Comscore).
• In Europe, 8 out of 10 people now watch online video (Mediacom).
• £28.31m was spent on online video advertising in 2009. Big enough, that figure is expected to increase by 50% this year (IAB Advertising).

Works for me.

3. Max out the potency of your content. Do you write? Do you talk? Do you breathe? Whatever you’re doing, wherever you’re doing it – if it interests you, someone else is gonna LOVE it too! So get it out there any which way. From blog > podcast > video > whatever the hell it takes to spread your word further, for maximum appeal and audience. Dr Rachna Jain is doing amazing things teaching this stuff at fromplatformtoprofit. Damn, even the good lord Chris Brogan has been hanging out with another of my inspired heroes, Tony Robbins, to figure out what he calls being a buffalo content maker. There’s so much in this stuff, it hurts. Community, customisation, purpose. Multipurpose. You got that?

Here’s a bonus (I’ve never been good at counting past 3, so bear with me on this point). If you’re ready to repackage, you might be interested in getting some airtime via the lucrative market of social media (but only if you’re ready to rock the party – see my cautionary post below before you buy the stall). If this doesn’t blow you away, try some Semtex:

For those of us who have geeked out for years: We don’t realise how lucky we are to be at the vanguard of technology.

I say lucky; you could feel cursed – it’s something only you can decide. I remember the spongy touch of the keyboard on my Spectrum 16k. I remember the thrill of getting a ‘real’ computer when picking up my Atari ST from the Earl’s Court Computer Show back in 1988. These were incredible moments that confirmed I would be nerd forever. Some people are chained to these immobile flickering hunks of metal in silos at work and detest them with a loathsome heart best reserved for the Devil and Hitler. But they’re still geeks.

In any case, the one thing us techies forget is that we’re years ahead in thinking of many small businesses who are simply struggling to stay afloat. They have no time to fight their corner on Twitter or figure out a way to convert their HTML to FBML and start canvassing customers to Like them on Facebook.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. And I’m starting to think that, au contraire, they may actually be doing something that we’ve overlooked in favour of staring at screens looking for answers.

When you focus on the business, rather than the technologies that could assist you, you know what’s going on. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube won’t tell you have to run your business – but they might ruin you if you obsess over them as The Next Big Thing.

Any business, of any size, needs to focus on what counts. The customer. First you need to identify them, then you need to please them. Then you look to social media to build, grow and innovate your profile and brand equity.

Our job at Word And Mouth is to offer ways to think differently and better about business; to spot opportunities for growth.

We sometimes forget that crushing it with social media is actually the next but one step on the road to development incredible customer relationships.

First every business hasto reassess their portfolio and its validity in today’s marketplace.

I have this client right now who just hasn’t made a dent on the interwebs. At all. Yet here’s the light brigade yammering on about geosearching Twitter. It’s another world to this guy.

So we start with the fundamentals. Go back to basics.

When 2000 came around I think governments had a duty to create ministers of business success. Give every enterprise a 101 session to reboot their strategies and focus on how to get maximum value out, and put maximum impact in, to give them the best chance of success.

But now here we are 10 years in and many are still in 1999 mode.

Every business wants to know how to best promote their ability to solve problems. They want to get the best revenues, the most loyal customers. That’s the fundamental of every venture.

It’s about making connections. Networking. Studying case studies. But even more important than that: understanding how your business aligns with the changing nature of the consumer.

So here’s how you begin:

1. Talk to your customer. Find out why they use you rather than your competition. Understand your value proposition. What is the number one reason you exist – in the eyes of your client? Reach out to them using any means necessary. By all means if you’re already operating the social media sphere, use this. There’s no cheaper, better way to outreach; apart from face to face, at your premises or theirs. Choose your strategy.
2. From this information you can find where your challenges and obstacles are. Take a step back, get some business support  – look inside and figure out how you can objectively solve these issues. Make connections. Join a Mastermind Group. Talk out your challenges with other business owners. It could change your life, as it changed mine.
3. Reassess and repurpose your core proposition – then repackage your communications.

Repurpose, then repackage. Think about this: Communications is everything to the modern day entrepreneur. Yet so many forget about it until it’s too late. The press release hits the trash; the special offers are overlooked and the competition gets first dibs.

I work with small businesses to identify opportunities for growth using communications. It’s about making the right connections and saying the right things. Then you can level the playing field with social media. Then it’s time to, as Gary Vay-ner-chuk would say – crush it. But focus on the basics first.

Only when you’ve overcome the basics do you sight social media. The trouble is, everyone thinks social media comes first, success, second. We have to refocus, people. Get the business working properly, then address the technology.

Clear?

If there was a Rat Pack of the interwebs, Dean Martin would be Guy Kawasaki. A sturdy little man on the back of a powerful big bike.

And the boy sure made a song and dance of Twitter tonight with the first foray of the Social Media Success Summit into 2010 waters.

Geosearching on Twitter? Try using near: and within: for amazing results! #SMSS10

We learned how to geotarget; how to build a big list of followers (churn, baby, churn that content by harvesting mercilessly from other sources); how to monitor, engage, sell and support – the four holy tenets of the raison d’etre behind Twitter.

It was all a bit lovely, save for a technical glitch midway through the first chapter of #SMSS10 that made us all feel human again (even @GuyKawasaki likes a bit of #fail sometimes)…

Dell – when they had 2500 followers they sold $.5m stuff. 1.6m followers, selling only $1.5m. Evidence you should focus on building meaningful relationships with big-ticket buyers.

There was lots of big-ups for Guy’s Alltop content curation service. Naturally: although in my opinion this time blathering could have been better spent on an extended Q&A session at the end.

I always find that with things like this while the speaker knows their onions, it’s the real-world experiences of the delegates you want to listen to and learn from.

use Google to mine Twitter using intitle:”photographer* on twitter” site:twitter.com – or something like that…

So having three questions at the end – one, even, from Caledonia, much to the surprise of the moderator who thought it was California, or something (was it Pete Cashmore using Stephen Hawking’s voice synthesiser?) – was perhaps the biggest bugbear of the session.

The four-week Summit covers the gamut of, predictably, social media tools. Very excited about what’s to come, especially since the tickets were free (read I had to win a creative contest run by Chris Garrett) and therefore me and my goot mate @danieltharris could bosh on down for some complimentary loveliness.

As you can tell I was bugged not to be able to ask my question – which is this:

I’m a small business dependent on creative capital – unique content for unique clients. I don’t want to churn out existing content; I want to be inspired by it so I can provide even better solutions for my clients.

How do I build sustainable relationships with customised content that reflects the individualised service I provide?

Resources from the big man Kawasaki himself:

• Script for the presentation
• Twitter tips on alltop
• objectivemarketer.com (for launching Tweet assaults or campaigns for the uninitiated; discount code wiseguy)
• twithawk.com (for responding to Tweets containing set keywords)
• smartbrief.com (for finding the content when alltop.com won’t do)

Twitterati:

@comcastcares

@virginamerica

@kogibbq

@dellsomethingorother

and of course – @guykawasaki

Roll on the next one, whatever that is. It’s 2.30am chrissakes – the sooner they sort out these bloody timezones, the better…

I was obsessed with social media. Agog at the potency of social networking.

But you know why this sort of shiny new adulation attitude isn’t just dangerous, but potentially sterilising business strategies everywhere?

It’s because this is nothing new.

Social media, social networking, it’s simply the application of smart and existing business thinking to a wider audience.

Stressing about your social media strategies is a bit like staring right into the eyes of Medusa. You forget what the core imperatives are of your business and the very essence of your success, the cornerstone of your objectives and vision, turns to stone.

If you’ve had a tough day, struggled to see the wood for the trees, then be happy you’ve learned this:

Social media expert = cast-iron bullshit.

Social media is customer service done right. Social media is about spreading the word of your service. Whether it’s you, through soft marketing, or your customers, evangelising on your behalf, it’s simply communication wrapped up in technology.

Before the internet we engaged in social media and social networking. The world may be abuzz with promise of what social media can do for your business, but the reality is that media and networking are just methods of building relationships.

Since social media is intrinsically linked to the basics of business development, a purported social media expert is either:

• Snake oil
• A successful business owner, respected for pursuing an ethical, objectified approach to satisfying their customer. And deluded.

You can’t be an expert at something that’s only just been invented. Fact. Ask Malcolm Gladwell.

If you’re intent on recruiting a social media expert, you have to make sure they have been a prolific achiever on the business scene outside of social media.

We can all build relationships. Business is all about doing just that. Social media simply amplifies your integrity and makes you respected more widely for  what you have achieved in pursuit of customer service excellence.

If you want to be the best in social media and networking circles, excel every time you interact with a customer. Learn from them your strengths, delight in their feedback – especially the negative stuff, which really fuels your future growth by showing you where your defects are and what needs rectifying.

Get a Twitter presence, definitely (so long as you commit to being there when your clients need you). Go down the Facebook Page route, for sure (but again, only if you’re prepared to provide regular updates and be there to listen and respond to queries). Get yourself on Gowalla, start kicking some serious networking tyres.

But slice and dice it and these tools just make you bigger on the scene. If you’re all goodness and light, it’s power to your elbow and a bonanza in your bank. If not, you probably already know how social media and networking is starting to eat you alive by making it easier for folks en masse to crush you.

Get your house in order and get people talking about you. Then – and only then – will you figure out why you’ve been obsessing all things socmed, all this time.

Rare is the symbiosis of early-morning yawn and laughter. I struggle enough to open my eyes in the first two hours of the day, like an hour-old puppy fighting to deprive itself of the warmth of the womb in favour of a life of terror and torment outside.

But today I had a belly laugh in the sunrise haze to such a crescendo that I spent moments of great gladness on the floor, prostrate and contorted.

The madness on show mimicked the lunacy of the world lurking on the other side of the Atlantic. The unprompted mirth was a method of internalising some news I’d found in my morning Google Alerts concerning this.

Sweet baby Jesus on a candy cane cross…

If you’re not already rolling around in a perceived state of insanity, then allow me to elaborate.

The concept of social media isn’t truly understood, yet. It’s as fresh as a daisy. According to an industry analyst, a respected commentator friend of mine, social media is as TV was in the 50s, as the wireless (kids, that’s radio) in the 20s. It’s barely been born. It’s like that goddamn puppy.

So how, pray tell, can someone possibly be offering an MBA in Social Media Marketing? I’ve been to some ‘make it up as we go along’ business presentations, but an entire course?

I was thinking of starting a series of seminars entitled ‘Why You Should Buy An iPad 3.0′. Hell, I sure can predict what it’ll look like; I can virtually smell it if I sniff the back of my HTC G1 phone. So why not?

As much as the next man I’m a great fan of entrepreneurship. Gotta grab it with both hands, gotta do it now. Gotta learn on the fly, make mistakes as you go.

But this is a university course! Universities, bastions of academia. Where kids go to learn stuff they can apply in real life. Not pipe dreams, confusing metaphors, mixed messages.

I can imagine the course material being passed around. “Now guys, you have to understand that Twitter and Facebook are the most amazing ways you can connect to your au…. oh, no, wait, Google Buzz! We just heard Google Buzz has been launched. That changes everything! Class, sit up, I have some news. Google Buzz is the most amazing way you…”

Things are changing too fast right now. You can’t teach on how to use social media, because tomorrow will redefine the game. And you’ll already have paid £1,000s for yesterday’s chip paper.

It smacks of the eBook game. Buy me, then I’ll slap you with a bill for the next one. It’ll be just like this one, but the cover will be red instead of blue. And I’ll change some of the words – only some, a scattering, perhaps – to make it feel like you’ve bought a totally new product.

Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade. Because once you’re caught in the spin, you’ll never get out. Neat marketing. Back to the days of control by the few, with the masses obediently following behind.