Welcome to Tri-Tip Tuesday (#TriTipTues) where we share important thoughts about social media, marketing, and anything else that comes to mind. We are always looking for good ideas that we can develop for future TTT posts.
Social Media and Messages - Just Say No
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. have become more popular as methods of communication. However, these are not the best formats if you have important business to conduct. We have had the problem of a contact sending a message via one of these platforms, and then wondering why they never heard back from us. Here is the problem - volume.
If you have a large number of contacts, it is not unusual for several of them to send you messages on social media platforms. This will cause earlier messages to be pushed down, sometimes to the point that the disappear from the short list that you see when you open the message list. Then as new messages come in, you lose track of how many you still need to look for. Eventually your contact becomes upset, even though it was their mistake that led to the situation. And yes, it is a mistake.
How do you avoid this situation? Simple - use email. Even though some people think email is out of date, it is still the best electronic method for contacting people with important messages - especially business messages. Email has many advantages over social media messaging. First, and possibly most important, it is easily searchable. If your contact sends you some important information on a social media platform, you may have to scroll back through possibly dozens of unimportant conversations before you find what you are looking for. With email you can simply put the topic into the search and pull up a limited number of choices to check. Email also is superior for including files that your contact may need. Finally, it is simply more professional than social media.
Our new internal policy at KMG is email, text, phone call as a priority for business communications. Additionally, we now ask recipients for confirmation of receipt as opposed to a passive-aggressive, “Hey, I sent you a message.”
All-in-all, email should be your go-to method for all business and other important electronic communication. Social media can be the start of the conversation, but once it gets serious then move to email and save social media for your cat pictures and sarcastic memes.
Business Card Tip
Have you ever found a business card in your wallet or on your desk and wondered, “What was this all about?” Admit it, you have. Probably multiple times. If you are in business, you meet people nearly every day, and you likely receive dozens of business cards each week. So how can you prevent that hot prospect you met from having one of those “Who was this?” moments when they look at your card? Simple - write a note.
This sounds so simple, but it does take some planning. First, you need to make sure that your business card has space, either on the front or the back, where you can write a short, targeted note. You also need to have a card that can be written on. Many people carry fancy slick-paper cards that won’t take any kind of pen, defeating this handy tip. By using a simple card stock, you give yourself the opportunity to be different in a way that your contacts will remember.
This is one of the reasons why you can actually order cards with a coating on one side and not on the other or none at all. We are leaving space on our current card design specifically for this reason.
The message doesn’t have to be long - in fact think of it as your handwritten Tweet. It can be something to the effect of, “Great talking about marketing your product. Call me,” or “Would like to discuss how our projects might fit together.” The idea here is to leave them with just enough information that they remember why they got your card in the first place, but not so much that they don’t feel the need to contact you. Also, remember to sign your name, even just your first name, to make it more personal.
The Writer’s Corner - Proper Apostrophes
Remember to use an apostrophe only for a possessive (John’s car) or for a contraction (don’t). Using an apostrophe in a plural is confusing and shows that you might not understand basic grammar.
For example:
“I took my dog’s for a walk” would lead a grammar-knowledgeable person to ask, “Your dog’s what?” You might say, “I took my dog’s puppies for a walk,” or “I took my dogs (multiple) for a walk.”
What if you have multiple dogs that have a single house, for example? Then you put the apostrophe after the plural as in “I cleaned out the dogs’ house.”
One of the more confusing uses or non-uses of the apostrophe is “its/it’s.” Remember that “it’s” is a contraction of “it is” and so it requires the apostrophe. On the other hand “its” is a possessive pronoun similar to “hers” and “his” and does not require an apostrophe (yes, a possessive does not always need the apostrophe).
Good writing takes concentration, commitment and attention to detail.
Authors: David Kamatoy & Stephen Prendergast
TRI-TIP TUES returns from Kamatoy Media Group and Jugglemail.com. Kamatoy Media Group is a business and media development company. Jugglemail.com, Juggle your business with jugglemail is the go to CRM to juggle and manage multiple businesses with email, events, shopping cart, website, member solution.
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