I get questions on a daily basis about social media marketing, digital media, entrepreneurship, SEO, retail, and many other topics through various outlets. These questions come through my website, social media platforms, forums like Quora / Reddit / Google / Inbound.org, and other outlets. When I have a lot of information to share on a particular subject I'll usually write an in-depth answer in the form of an article here... but I don't always have the time. Sometimes I just give a quick answer, or whatever comes to mind first without edits.
It's actually ending up feeling a bit like hustling entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk's book #AskGaryVee (which I'm finishing now before posting a review), but I've actually been doing this for years with previous businesses. This will be my first installment of Bootstrap Business Blog Blitz, tackling quick questions from readers, viewers, peers, and friends. You'll also see plenty of internal links throughout which bring you to full length articles I've written on the subject or supplementary articles. Now without further ado:
1. How much is a good idea worth?
Ideas are plentiful and easy to find. Proper execution is rare and difficult to achieve. (to paraphrase other great minds including entrepreneur Michael Dell)
2. With all the foreign (non-US) "counterfeit" products selling on Amazon, why doesn't somebody start a company that only sells American made products?
There are many successful companies that only sell American-made products. But unless the Made In America company brand is properly marketed and stands out from the generic copycats, it will unfortunately lose countless sales to people seeking the cheapest option.
3. What is the best way to get traffic on your blog? SEO, SMM, PR, etc? What will be the most useful tool for a niche blog?
Content Is King! Also an integrated combination of everything you mentioned and more including SEO, Social Media, Email Marketing, Public Relations, Content Production, Networking Events, Cross-Promotional Media, Paid Advertising, Speaking Engagements, and pretty much anything else that works. Any of these can be game-changers but usually it will be a combination of several previously mentioned strategies.
4. Why do retail stores accept competitors' coupons? I've noticed that several retail stores accept coupons from their competitors. From their perspective, why would they do this?
To keep it simple there are two main reasons: The retail stores get reimbursed for the redeemed coupons from the vendor (major food or drink companies for example) if possible. Usually some sort of arrangement is in place. It’s really all about staying competitive. By accepting competitors coupons these stores stay in the game. Consumers have all the power these days and most brick and mortar retail stores are struggling or going out of business. Margins are razor thin. By accepting competitor’s coupons they at least get the customer in the door, up-sell them on other higher margin items, and hopefully get repeat purchases and/or referrals. It’s a smart tactic that will usually pay for itself several times over if the business is executing correctly. The real question in my opinion is “Why wouldn’t retail stores accept competitors’ coupons?”.
5. Facebook: What should I do if it depresses me to see that my friends on Facebook have everything? I don't have huge sum of money, marriage, travel, good memories and happiness. I like seeing my friends having all of this on Facebook but I don't feel happy about myself. How do I come out of feeling bad about myself for being broke with everything?
That’s actually a very common issue that I read about more and more each year. Always keep one thing in mind: you’re looking at people’s curated highlights and humble brags, not their actual day to day reality. You can use the success you see on your friends’ profiles (keeping in mind it’s not the full story) to motivate you to be better, and if not then take a break from their updates or Facebook in general. Overall, the main point is this:
“Don’t compare your Behind The Scenes with other peoples’ Highlight Reels”.
6. What will happen to me if I stop using social media, especially Facebook, and I delete my Facebook account?
You’ll actually have a life again! Haha, kidding. People will actually just have to call or email you to get in touch. If you just use Facebook or other social media for personal use, not much will change. If you were using social media at work for personal use and you close your accounts then your productivity might actually increase! But if you have a business (or even a potential business) and you close your social media accounts, then you might be leaving money on the table.
7. Does Michael Jordan have Facebook and Twitter accounts?
Michael Jordan does not have Facebook or Twitter accounts, probably because he’s so wealthy and famous that it’s unnecessary for him. Facebook has an automatically generated Community Page (not an official verified page) for him from his Wikipedia page. There are countless fan pages on Facebook and Twitter as well. I would personally recommend to anyone in business to promote themselves, brands, and charities on social media. But when you’re Michael Jordan, an undisputed greatest player in NBA history, and have a net worth of over $1.2 Billion… you can do whatever you want.
8. Why would someone use Twitter, but not Facebook?
There are several reasons why a person might prefer using Twitter as opposed to Facebook. Twitter you most likely don’t get overwhelmed with updates from friends and family, and instead you see more news and/or celebrity posts. Twitter is usually quicker to break stories in real time, even with Facebook Live. And in my experience you’ll probably see less native advertisements. I've also written an article comparing Twitter and Facebook.
9. Why is Donald Trump following Emergency Kitten on Twitter?
Donald Trump's social media manager Dan Scavino Jr must have cleaned up his account because he’s only following 43 accounts now. None of which is Emergency Kitten, whatever that is. In the past he's retweeted, replied to, and followed several random non-verified accounts... but now he's a bit more selective for obvious reasons.
10. What is a good response when someone asks why I don't use social media? Social media just isn't for me. But sometimes that isn't enough of an explanation. Maybe multiple options for different situations would be helpful.
That’s a great question with obvious answers in my opinion: “I’m too busy living life” or “I’ve got better things to do”. Be confident because, unless you are playing video games all day, you’ll be telling the truth. Social media provides excellent opportunities to connect with others, network, learn, and build a business… but the way most people utilize it is wasteful and even damaging to their reputation. Take it from someone who’s been using social media every day since MySpace marketing in 2002. More time in front of the screen is time away from actual people and places. If social media wasn’t the cornerstone of my businesses since 2005, I’d probably use only use it an hour a month. The people who are doing big things and living happy lives don’t need to post about it 3 times a day. They are too busy living life to feel the need to check out what other people are doing every 10 minutes.
11. How do I improve my social media presence?
I get this question quite often, and I’ve helped to build very large social media marketing networks from scratch for several brands and on a shoestring budget. Frankly I could go on for days about this rather generic question, but I'll keep it brief. First off you need to understand each major social network. I have a great free social media marketing guide on that topic. It also has internal links to more free guides for each individual network including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, and Periscope. These tips will help you get started, grow your current network, or overcome plateaus you may have hit recently.
I hope you enjoyed this article answering a lot of quick questions I get from readers and viewers about social media, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, retail, and much more.
Interested in more articles about social media marketing?
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Published by Michael J Schiemer
Owner of Bootstrap Business
Money - Marketing - Motivation
Digital Marketing | SEO | Social Media
Mike Schiemer Builds Better Business
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