Toddwaz Report Volume II

As most of you know, it was a social media marketing objective for me to publish 300 blog posts in 2012.  That box has been “checked.”  In 2013, I have decided to publish 2 to 3 blogs per week as inspiration leads me.  If I manage 100 posts, so be it.  If I put the Report on Hiatus to write a book, training program or work on a system of posts for you to send to your tribe, so be that too. 

I’m going to take it as it comes until a clear opportunity or objective reveals itself to me.  After-all, the blog in and of itself isn’t my vocation.  It’s a marketing tool and a way for me to give back to an industry that has taught me so much, and through which I’ve gained so many wonderful friends.  I look forward to writing to you and discussing matters important to you.  Please keep challenging me with your feedback and comments.  I love to discover those of you who, like myself, care about the future of our independent retail jewellery platform.

As I travel three Provinces representing three companies, I will continue to try and do more than just “sell jewellery.”  My mandate remains to help retailers develop a mutually beneficial relationship with the amazing companies I represent, while adding value to the process through sales training, education and sharing some of the best-practices I am privileged enough to witness.

Looking forward to a Sizzling twenty-thirteen with you all!

Old Guys Rule!

Just when you thought that the smart-phone toting, Justin Bieber adoring, generation-next was going to take over the world, a glimmer of hope arises.  One of the two reality TV shows that are my guilty pleasure is Simon Cowell’s mixed-genre talent show; The X-Factor.  Last night’s final show-down was between 3 finalists.  First was an uber-talented 13 year old Carly Rose Sonneneclaire.  Second was a group of 5 young-ladies who were assembled out of solo-auditionists called Fifth Harmony.  The third finalist was from the “over 30” category of contestants, named Tate Stevens; a married 42 year old road-construction worker with two teenage kids.

Talent has no age limit.  Here’s the thing though.  This show has a huge audience, but who do you think is registering votes on-line and through their cel-phones.  I think the rules were that you could vote up to 10 times on your cel-phone and 10- times on your computer each week.  Who’s got time like that?  The younger, Justin Bieber adoring, cel-phone addicted generation-next seems to text in their sleep.  I assumed that they were going to skew “Americas choice” towards one of the two younger pop-acts.  To make a long story short, a humble, good-hearted, no frills, hard-working 42 year old, down-to-earth country singer managed to win The X-Factor, earning a $5 Million recording contract. 

Now tell me, is it only the younger generation that you can reach and gain loyalty from via social media marketing?  I think the results of last night’s X-Factor signals a turning point in on-line responsiveness.

Now get out there and enjoy this fancy new high-tech world that even the smarty-pants Mayan’s couldn’t envision.

So You Wanna be a Trusted Advisor?

In social media, you can join groups and become an “active participant”, or you can lead a group and try to become a “trusted advisor.”  Over this past year, at 281 posts into my goal of 300, I’ve enjoyed positive feedback, negative feedback, and I’ve gotten a few people’s backs up.  If you want to establish yourself as a thought leader, you will need to challenge others’ assumptions.  If you don’t, you’re boring.  How can you be engaging if you only ever rehash commonly held truths and avoid controversy?

If you are running or contemplating a social media campaign for your clients, my humble suggestion is this: make humble suggestions.  Do your research, present good consumer jewellery information.  Make your readers better informed consumers.  Once they know more about gems, quality, current trends and industry news they’ll gravitate to the source of that information.  If they stray to another retailer and ask them a few questions about issues you’ve addressed; and the retailer answers poorly or differently from you, they will only come to trust you more.  After all, everything they read on the computer holds more weight than what a retail sales clerk at the shopping mall says.

Look at your social media campaign in terms of your position on the football field.  An effectively advertised promotion is like a passing-play that can gain you a lot of yardage.  Your social media campaign is a running play that has a lower risk, but on average moves the ball only a few yards at a time.  Social media is about moving the ball a few yards at a time and constantly improving your field position; taking you from “someone I might do some business with” towards the goal of “I’d be a fool not to buy all of my jewellery from you.”

For those of you helping out with “Haitian Heroes Go for Gold”, check-out the latest video, and repost to your friends and followers.

The Electronic Grapevine

Re: Social Media Redefined… (see two articles down)

Marie writes: My comment would be that this is a double edged sword. I think that some social media users feel very free to say whatever comes to mind. We all know what happens when there are no facts involved and, before you know it, crazy opinions and postings become accepted fact.

Thanks Marie for taking the time to add to the conversation.  One of the best reasons to not only join, but also lead social network groups is that you are able to see those crazy opinions about jewellery, dispute false facts about jewellery and sew good information about jewellery.  If we become a source of consistently good and helpful information in social network spheres, we can build-up “trusted advisor” points.  When we are trusted, and our audience knows what we do, selling to them becomes much easier.

If you think you can step into a social network to sell and begin calling the shots, it doesn’t work that way.  You’re a party crasher.  You have no “creds.”  When Hamas and the I.D.F. begin firing jibes at each other via Twitter, it’s mostly to gain attention by mass-media outlets.  It worked.  The novelty of military factions tweeting earned them some ink.  Could Twitter morph into a valid source for up-to-the-minute news?  Probably not.  Will the social media public go to credible mass-media news sources to verify supposed facts and news from the Twitterverse?  I hope so.

Social media is evolving, but now that the “grapevine” is electronically viewed on high-tech expensive computing devices it still doesn’t make gossip, conjecture and rumors more accurate.  You can opt-out and let it happen or you can opt-in and become a force for positive and accurate information.

Social Media Redefined

As you know, I follow the universe of social media, monitoring the popularity of various venues in order to encourage my readers to use these appropriately.  I’m an avid Facebooker, occasional Tweeter, YouTuber and LinkedIn member.  What’s happening in the Israel right now reveals some strange new truths about social media. 

The military's live spin about the strike, and Hamas' response on a separate Twitter feed, have been called an unprecedented use of social media. BuzzFeed wrote that it "may well be the most meaningful change in our consumption of war in over 20 years." It's raising questions about the ethics and implications of live-tweeting a violent conflict. And it's calling into question the democratic, everyone-has-a-voice nature of Twitter, which is known more for giving a voice to protesters and civilians than military spokespeople.

The full CNN article comments on Facebook and Twitter usage as “giving a voice to protesters and civilians”.  Maybe the lesson is that we should be using these social media venues as one of the masses.  Maybe we should be rallying our readers in common causes related to our markets and our industry.  Rather than instructing and promoting we might need to comment and voice concerns.

That’s likely why LinkedIn sucks (in my humble opinion.)  You can’t get a group of business-people to engage in meaningful dialogue when most seem hardwired for self-promotion.  LinkedIn users might feel they’re above the masses so that rather than fighting against “the man” they believe they are “the man” (pardon the gender bias of this ‘60s hippy-reference.)

If there is resentment to military captains and captians of industry using social media for propaganda and promotion, then maybe we should avoid it too.  We could start thinking like our market, and take a good hard look at our industry.  Social justice, environmental impact, fair trade, ethical business practices.  Who’s with me?

Hint-hint

I hope you all had the opportunity the weekend to properly acknowledge the brave sacrifices of our troops.  Thank you to Ken Fisher and all of you who have served.  Lest we forget…

If you aren’t familiar with them, “hint-hint” cards are designed as a take-home reminder of a favored piece of jewellery that can be given to someone who might need a “nudge” to select the right gift.  Whenever your brand-names and style numbers allow the shopper to acquire a competitive price quote on the exact same thing, these cards will work against you.  In the same way that some stores refuse to allow photography of your designs, some use an in-store “wish-book” in place of hint-hint cards.

I believe that as a retailer I would be inclined to be protectionist about my style numbers and images, but maybe that would be a turn-off to the smart-phone generation.  Maybe we need to echo the level of transparency on the internet.  What do internet retailers have to lose by showing model numbers, gram-weights, gem-weights, qualities and measurements?  Not much.  You see, they want and need their viewers to compare jewellery on its’ measurable and directly comparable attributes.  For them it takes aesthetics (does it look good on me?), service (what’s the benefit of an in-person relationship with your business like?) and follow-up off the table.  Can they beat you on price if they don’t have staff and a ridiculous lease to pay?   Probably.

I suggest that you consider echoing the transparency of the internet as a sell-out.  I further recommend taking every opportunity to espouse the in-person benefits of “membership” in your store.  If you can effectively stand-up for the advantages of bricks-and-mortar jewellery stores, you’re eliminating a large number of competitors from your marketplace.

If you’re a fan of “hint-hint” cards, then consider also documenting each hint in your own in-store wish-book, so that you can choose to be proactive and call Mr. So-and-so before Christmas and give him a hint of your own.

Keeping Fresh

No, I’m not talking about hygiene.  I’m talking about your mind.  If you work the same shifts, read the same kinds of books, watch the same shows on TV and have coffee at the same shop every day, you’re “best before” date will come sooner than you think.

Today’s smart-phone generation is all about FRESH.  Without instant access and rapid sharing of trends, Korean artist Psy, might never have reached a world-wide audience with Gangnam Style, and bullying and teen suicide might not have become so real to so many.

The antithesis to the way the younger generation experiences the world is to get-up, watch Global News, go to work and conduct each day like the last. 

Without having to learn the moves to Gangnam Style you can use modern technology to freshen-up your perspective.  You can see how BBC or Al Jazeera interprets what constitutes news.  You can surf Amazon to learn about new authors.  Without having to go to a travel agency, you can see pictures and learn about exotic destinations that you might add to your bucket list.  Or, go to a travel agent or library and take a young person along to show them how to “surf” old-school.

The world is becoming smaller by the nano-second.  Your current and future customers are absorbing information at a torrential rate.  By experiencing a bit of this yourself, you can learn their ways, like an archeologist studying a remote tribe.  You can feel what it’s like to read-up on the 4-C’s from a smart-phone on your way to a jewellery store.  You can know how easy it is to believe a website over your local expert who is less transparent with their wisdom.  You can find-out how a massive part of your competition is luring your clients to shop online.

Become the Indiana Jones of Jewellers.  Go into those dark caves and discover the wonders therein.  The treasure is your ability to relate to and sell more to young shoppers. 

Social No-Sell?

A new article in JCK claims that Social networking sights tend to drive only 1% of sales.  It did say that, “social media posts are a great way to discover new products, brands, trends, or retailers.”  Don’t write it off yet.  The study also reveals that up to 30% of sales to repeat client sales start with a direct email.

Here’s what I see about this study.  Start with a good email list of loyal clients, and a broader social network made-up of some loyals and some random “likers.”  Compose and send your email campaign to earn those repeat purchases, but post the same information on Facebook.  With hardly any extra effort that 1% compared to the 30% represents a 3.3% increase in sales just by cutting and pasting from one media to another.  I believe that social networking will have a bigger impact on future sales, as you learn to use is more effectively.