Sales…according who you speak with…it makes the business world go round and round.

Without sales, you have no business according to some.

My good buddy Chris Hamilton is the owner of STAD Consulting, a look sales and business development consulting firm here in Calgary.  Chris has a great site setup for helping sales professionals and Chris is a natural Go-Giver.  We love Go Givers (Chris not sure if you read the book).

Chris’ website offers daily sales tips and this is a must website to get all the information your business needs to have a successful sales funnel and pipeline.

Click here right now and sign up for Chris’ Sales Tip A Day.  Get his sales tips delivered to your inbox each day.

Once again I get to work directly with my good buddy Erick Simpson and his team at MSP University.  This week Ulistic released this press release outlining how our team is expanding the reach of our Calgary Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Consulting services into the Managed Services community.

Ulistic and MSP University announce Strategic Partnership

IT VAR and Managed Services Providers win as two marketing leaders join forces to offer a comprehensive, effective online marketing solution to the channel

Ulistic, a leading Internet consulting firm based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and an organization focused on delivering valuable online marketing services and education within the IT VAR and Managed Services Community, today announced their strategic partnership with MSP University. MSP University is the largest consultancy and online resource dedicated to business transformation and improvement strategies for information technology (IT) professionals and managed services providers globally.

This strategic alliance will offer the IT VAR and Managed Services community a robust, complete and well-rounded marketing solution leveraging MSP University’s traditional and website marketing services with Ulistic’s Search Engine Optimization, Social Media and Internet Marketing and consulting programs.

Ulistic will offer in-depth search engine optimization services built on proven SEO best practices to MSP University’s channel of over 7,000 members. This will allow each member to leverage advanced web marketing and coaching services geared at positioning their businesses ahead of their competition in online search and provide a foundation to take their Internet Marketing to the next level.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for managed services providers and IT professionals globally to have a well-rounded marketing solution that balances traditional marketing techniques with today’s required and often overlooked search and social strategies,” states Ulistic Senior Partner and 15-year MSP veteran Stuart Crawford. “MSP University continues to lead the IT channel in business improvement education, strategy and fulfillment services for the technology community. It is wonderful to be part of the MSP University team going forward.”

MSP University provides IT business operations, sales and marketing and technical service delivery improvement education, training, fulfillment and consulting services to IT service organizations in over 100 countries worldwide, and trains thousands of attendees each year at its international IT Solutions and Managed Services Boot Camps.

“Adopting and integrating Ulistic’s proven approach into an IT solution or managed services provider’s marketing strategy greatly improves their results and ROI”, said Erick Simpson, Vice President, MSP University. “MSP University’s member channel looks to us to continually seek out and engage with strategic business partners whose products and services will add value to their businesses, and our alliance with Ulistic is yet another example of our meeting this expectation.”

About MSP University

MSP University (www.mspu.us) provides IT business operations, sales and marketing and technical service delivery improvement education, training, fulfillment and consulting services to Fortune 50 manufacturers, distributors, membership organizations, vendor channels, franchises and thousands of independent IT service organizations worldwide. MSP University is the ultimate resource for IT solution providers, whether preparing to transition to an annuity-based Managed Services delivery model, or who are already delivering Managed Services, and wish to increase their knowledge of IT and Managed Services vendors, services, solutions and business, technical and sales and marketing best practices to drive revenue and increase profitability. MSP University helps solution providers succeed…period.

Everyday I get asked by someone who is wanting the “quick win” with their marketing.  What do I have to do today to enable the phone to ring tomorrow?  Well, that is a very good question.  I am one hundred percent sure there is some marketing guru out there who can give you some quick win success formula that will enable this happen.  A couple a tweets here, a Facebook status update there and you are off to the races.  You need to simply spend two minutes on Google and you can easily find them, there are lots of gurus and ninjas and self-proclaimed experts who can help you.  Sure get the quick win, lots of promise but they all lack real substance.

Success in marketing doesn’t come overnight, I know…I haven’t been marketing for several years and it takes blood, sweat and tears.  It takes works and it takes time.  It takes patience and most importantly, it takes commitment.  The only thing overnight about marketing is your blunders that knock you down.  Those for some reason they seem to occur overnight, but success doesn’t.

I was reading on the side of my cereal box this morning about healthy eating.  Same thing, healthy lifestyles isn’t a race it is a journey and the same thing can be said about your marketing and especially your social media activities.

Success with social media is definitely not a race.  It is a journey and a tough uphill journey at the best of times.   It takes commitment from you and your entire team.  It takes more than just opening a Twitter account, Facebook Page and throwing up a free WordPress or blogger site.  Social Media takes planning, preparation and it requires everyone in the company to play a role.  I don’t care if you have three employees, thirty-three or three thousand and three.  Everyone must play a part.

This is what we do at Ulistic, everyone plays a role in our social media activities.  David, Frank and myself (soon Melanie) all play our parts and we all have the same goal just different paths that are strategically laid out in our marketing plan.  We all blog regularly and we participate in blog commenting almost daily, we are active on Facebook, Twitter and others and most importantly, we are active in our communities and this includes online and face-to-face.  I mentioned this in my podcast with Daniel Gutierrez and Bob Burg the other night…nothing will replace a face-to-face meeting, your social media fills these gaps and helps you get to face-to-face.

Are you expecting that quick win?  You may be a tad bit disappointed with this mindset.  For those who are out there consistently adding value and enriching the lives of others you will have success and it will take time.  Success with your social media marketing is helping others but also getting paid to help these people.  Bob says’ “Give more in value than you take in payment”.  You need to provide value but don’t do it for free.  Never lose site that you are in business and you must convert visitors, fans and followers to clients.  If you don’t you have a big network.  That’s it.

Need help figuring all this out, give me a call 403.775.2205.

Nothing better than investing an hour with two of your best friends.  It is always great to have allies and friends across the globe who share the same mindset and goals in life.  This is what happened on July 28th, my good friend Daniel Gutierrez who hosts a business webcast each week on blogtalkradio.com invited me and my mentor Bob Burg onto his program.  Danny’s show is similar to what I do with the Ulistic Orange Files, a small business webcast focused on delivering practical business advice to small business owners globally.  I was blessed to be even consider by Danny for his show.

You can listen to Daniel, Bob and I by tuning into the recording of the show.

Besides listening to Bob and Danny speak on the Go Giver philosophies and the critical stratospheric laws of success.  I had 30 minutes to chat with Danny about social media and the future of online marketing.  Lots of stuff to cover and 30 minutes is hardly enough time to really dig deep into the key points that business must really look at in order to really hit a home run with social media and all their online marketing.

I did share with Daniel the importance of having your business plan and your marketing plan figured out first.  I may sound like a broken record here and I know I have mentioned countless times on my blog about the importance of your plans prior to moving to execution phase.  However, many still simply jump to execution and have no real business plan.

Another topics we discussed was the continued importance of meeting people face-to-face and how we can leverage social media and other strategies to enhance our overall business communication strategies.  Social Media doesn’t replace face-to-face, it enhances what we do today with our business communications and even those relationships outside of business.

I also shared with Daniel on the importance of your small business doing your homework before rushing out and hiring the first living or breathing social media consultant.  You need to do your homework and find the right fit for your business.

Thank You Danny and thanks Bob for being my partner in crime.

What a concept, is your social media generating revenue for your business?  Directly or indirectly?  Are you making a return on your social media efforts either a return on the investment or a return on the opportunity.  We are in business to serve the community and to get paid for providing these services, correct?  Enough of the fluff.  Is your social media activities generating leads, prospects and interest from those who will buy your products and services.

When did this “group hug” thing start to over take good business decisions with social media?  Many of my colleagues in traditional marketing may never say “Go ahead and send out your postcard campaign and share information on what someone else is doing”.  So why is this acceptable behaviour in social media?

When did we lose our focus around what are business is truly here for?  Was is Napster?  Was it software piracy?  Was it this Freemium mindset? Was it illegally downloading movies?  Is it this lifestyle or behaviours that have swung our society into this mindset about not promoting our organizations or offering our products for sale.

Sure, you know what…believing others before the corporate message has been around for a long time.  It is called “word of mouth” and referrals from colleagues is nothing new, we have been doing it long before Facebook or even computers were on every desk.  But, some folks out there are telling business that social media is not for promoting your business or attempting to reach new markets.

Hey, I even drank that kool-aid until I met with my banker and he told me…great stuff Stuart but how are you going to pay your mortgage?  We don’t accept your goodwill here?  That was all I need to hear!

Your business is in business to serve the community and to get paid accordingly for these services you provide.

BTW, I am not talking about a free ticket to SPAM but we need to make sure our messages are around service, education and then “YOUR CALL TO ACTION”.

I highly recommend we focus on serving our community and also focus on the bottom line of our business.  Understand real marketing metrics and not some “social currency” that is truly worthless in the real business community.

You are in business to serve and get paid for the services you provide.

Some times the best view of Calgary is from the rear view mirror

For those of us who live and work in Calgary, here is the perfect brunch getaway for your Sunday mornings.  Invest some of your well-earned time and hop in your car and drive west about 45 minutes from the city. You are aiming for Exshaw/Seebe.  When you get to this exit, right after the Hey 40 turn off for Kananaskis Country, exit off the highway and head south towards the Rafter Six Ranch.  There you will find the best kept secret in the entire Province of Alberta.

Last Sunday my wife and I decided to just this, we got in our car headed towards the mountain parks for the day.  I have often heard to the awesome brunch at the Rafter Six Ranch and thought this was the perfect way to start the day.  I wasn’t expecting the awesome service and hospitality we received when we arrived and throughout our 3 or 4 hours we spent at the ranch that day.  The service is amazing and these folks truly understand Western hospitality.

Be warned…The Cowboy brunch doesn’t start until 11 AM…really 11:30 but who cares when you are out there, if you are the type to get upset because your schedule is out of whack…then don’t go, it is truly a laid back Western way of life out on the ranch and those who are in a rush, you will go crazy.  Just sit on the patio, enjoy a cup of coffee and watch the horses, the dogs and the clouds go by against a wonderful Rocky Mountain backdrop.

This is one of Alberta’s gems nestled in the Canadian Rockies.  Need a stress-free day come and experience the laid back Alberta lifestyle and get out of the city for a little while.

I know where I am going on my think days from now on.  I think I will take one day in August to go out and just think.

After our bunch and our wagon ride around the ranch, we managed to strike off something off of our “100 things to do” list.  In all the time we have lived in Calgary we have never driven the Spray Lakes Trail from Canmore to Hwy 40.  This is worth the 70 km of dusty road as well.  Want to experience the mountains close up and the freshness of the air and the lakes…do this drive.

What is the reason for this post…sometimes we need to take a break from being a social media consultant and enjoy the beauty that is around us.

Saturday, July 24 is the only date on the CFL regular season schedule this year that typical normal everyday Calgarians turned into green monsters from Saskatchewan.   The Saskatchewan Roughriders played the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon and lost 40-20 to Henry Burris and the Stamps.  To put this game into perspective for my readers south of the border or outside Canada…Henry Burris says this game is as big as Florida vs. Florida St in College Football.

Back to the fans…it is true…Saskatchewan fans lurk amongst every day Calgarians and once or twice a year they come out of the closet to support their “GO RIDERS”.  Look over your shoulder and you will see Roughrider fans mixed into everyday Calgarians.

Have you heard of Saskatchewan? It is the only province in Canada that is easy to draw but extremely difficult to spell for the non-Canadian, in our schools we learn how to spell Saskatchewan…sometimes over and over and over.  OK, I am poking fun at the thousands of Saskatchewan transplants now living in Calgary and according to the Edmonton Eskimos President, the same thing goes up in the only CFL team not to have a win so far during this season’s campaign.

I am talking about Football and our game, the CFL.

Rider Pride…for those who support it is a beautiful thing and those who don’t well they may not be the biggest fans of the cutout watermelons and the strange get ups that come out of the closets to those who support the green.

RIDER PRIDE IS A MARKETING SUCCESS STORY!

Why is Rider Pride important?  Like many CFL teams, they had their struggles when it is uncool to like Canadian Football. Their has been a tremendous amount of change in the CFL since those days across the entire league.  Maybe we owe Saskatchewan some credit.  CFL football is once again cool, fun and extremely exciting to watch.  3 downs, 110 yard field and 12 guys banging it out on our turf.

Here is an interesting fact about Saskatchewan though.

Did you know that the Saskatchewan Roughriders (aka RIDERS) sell more merchandise than all the other CFL teams combined!  Why is that?  What is happening in those small towns and in their big cities throughout our central prairie province?  What did the Riders do to attract raving fans?  And what can we learn in our own businesses to do the same thing?

As a Calgary consultant who focuses on marketing the Riders just maybe a great study.  One thing I can assume very easily is that the Rider brass doesn’t care about logo infringement with their fans who paint the Rider “S” on almost anything that can hold a coat of paint.  Cars, houses, chests, Pilsner boxes…you name it, if it can hold an “S” it gets painted on.

I see so many companies and recently had a discussion with a colleague of mine who works for a MLM.  The directors of the Multi Level Marketing firm have dictated to their loyal supporters that they are not allowed to use logos, verbage or product descriptions on any outside marketing material.  Here they have an army of sometimes brainwashed raving fans who can’t share their story online or make their own marketing materials.

This I simply don’t understand and never will.  It is mind-boggling when you look at what happens in Saskatchewan and how the fans are raving about their team and organizations like Harley Davidson who never frown upon people painting their bodies with Harley tattoos.

It is obvious Raving Fans are the best thing for your business.  Never, ever stop them from promoting you in their own way.  Let them rock and roll and make things happen.

This post may ruffle a few feathers especially here in our Calgary Social Media consulting world.  But what the heck, sometimes I learn from Vladville and gotta upset the apple cart from time to time.  I am only writing this because I care enough about Canadian small business to raise a flag on all the “so-called” gurus out there ready to take your money and give you nothing in return.  Buyer Beware and do your homework before giving your credit card number or writing a cheque.

How does the average Canadian small business see Social Media? What does your business think of those feverishly running around or continuous tweeting looking to pitch their services?  $100 off a strategy session here and promises to manage a company’s social media there. There is still a lot of promises about experts looking to fill the pipelines of Canadian small business with endless referrals become of their social media activities.

Sorry, I have to throw my BS flag here. Just because you have a website and sent out 5 tweets doesn’t make you a marketing expert.  Our team at Ulistic are serious and professionally trained consultants and a team who works strategically with business across the globe.  We take an exception to those social media gurus out there who think they can save the day with a simple Facebook Page and Twitter account.  Sorry, social media success is part of a greater marketing strategy and business plan loaded with KPIs and objectives.

There are some markets our team has a wealth of experience and some we simply have a basic understanding.  We know our strengths and appreciate our weaker areas.  I can’t promise that we will fill your pipeline with gobs of referrals.

What if no one is looking for what you are offering?
What if your sales team can’t follow-up on leads?

What if…what I can promise if you do things right and follow the new rules of marketing you can position yourself to win new potential opportunities, but I can’t promise you the phone will ring off the wall.  Those who promise this, sorry I simply don’t understand it.

With that, more and more social media consultants are popping up on the landscape claiming to save the day.  It is almost embarrassing.  The social media consulting space here in Calgary and across all of Canada is becoming extremely crowded.  Crowded  with social media consultants and self-proclaimed experts.  Those who have a family businesses to former golf ball and promotional products experts flying in to save the day with Social Media.

Wait a second here!

Here are a few things to watch out for when hiring a social media consultant for your business:

• Is your social media consultant going to educate you and your team.  Your team must own your strategy.  A great consultant will share everything they know and use to help position your business for success.  Speaking from experience, our Ulistic Social Media Coaching program is in hot demand simply because we coach and work with the clients we serve to position themselves and be in the right spot, hopefully at the right time.
• You as the business owner or leader must own the strategy, outsource the tactical but the business owner must own the strategy.  I can’t tell you what going to happen in your market.  But I can help you formulate and then execute a plan based on your own business intelligence.
• Do your research.  When finding a firm to work with check some basic things.  Does their website look like some cheap or free template?  Does your social media consultant have a professional image?  How do they show up at your office?  Suit and Tie or T-shirt and shorts.
• Never, Ever hand over any money without doing your background check.  Ask for references, talk with those in your industry and most importantly do your own Google search on the firm you are looking for.  If your social media expert is going to position you for online success, they better be high on the first page of Google.
• Does your social media professional have deep strategic relationships?  What industry groups do they have membership in?  Who endorses their work?  Do your homework and ask the right questions.
• Ask your social media expert for their P and L and income statements to prove they are a legitimate business.  Nothing wrong with asking for proof they are running a successful enterprise.

Real business needs real world consulting. Not someone who will tweet your specials and start a fan page on Facebook.  Your business is not going to win with social media alone, social media must be integrated into your overall marketing strategy.  A strategic marketing coach with specialities in online marketing, social media and search engine optimization can help your business understand this part of the strategy but also have resources outside of the online marketing world to help with the overall marketing strategy and business execution.

That is the end of my rant…here is my last tip to the business owner…Do Your Homework and Buyer Beware!

LinkedIn is one of the industry leading social networks and online communities in use today across multiple businesses and industries. LinkedIn’s focus on business-to-business networking and facilitating the sharing of ideas and strategies has won the trust of business professionals globally. Not unlike many of their counterparts, LinkedIn does have privacy challenges according to many CEO level executives. Many organizations are now reviewing their policies related to LinkedIn and how information propagates through this business social network.

More and more business professionals are turning to LinkedIn because of its overall effectiveness in the marketplace. However, many are unaware of the apparent risks to corporate contacts when setting up their LinkedIn accounts. There are many settings that are on automatically allowing for browsing of contacts and also leaving a trace of who visited another profile. Many organizations as part of their social media acceptable use policy are now requiring specific changes to LinkedIn privacy settings be made ensuring business contacts and information are kept confidential.

LinkedIn is build on a community and like many other online networks; they embrace the sharing of information and contacts. How do businesses balance the foundations of LinkedIn with the compliance and confidentiality measures of business today?

Read my white paper on the two required LinkedIn security settings.

I was visiting a local Calgary Orthodontist the other day and got speaking with his team on the powers of blogging in business.  This doctor who specializes in Calgary braces really gets the power of online marketing for his business.

However, not only does he get online marketing…I learned something from his blog when reading it.  Snapped an excerpt for you to enjoy.

In life there will always be times when things don’t go your way, but don’t let that define who you are. Always strive to do the right thing in every situation, even when doing the wrong thing seems easier. Your actions, words, morals and values define who you are – so make sure you’re always representing yourself well.

After the day I had on Monday…I needed this, thanks Cory.

Visit Dr. Cory Liss, Calgary Orthodontist Blog at http://corylissortho.blogspot.com/