What Did You Say? (Part 3)

As promised, today I plan to finish my discussion on getting involved in conversations on the internet.  What I have to say here today is merely a grouping of suggestions and ideas. When thinking about what to say in any conversation in person or on the internet there is no cure-all. Sometimes staying out of a conversation completely is the best way to handle a situation.

In the last few posts, I have been talking about how to locate conversations about your business on the internet. I hope that by now people have taken advantage of these resources and have found something being said about their businesses. Finding all of this information is the easiest part of the conversation.  Now we move onto the next step: Getting into the conversation.

Often times on the internet you will find people saying good things about your business. Maybe they love your product, or maybe they loved the service they got at your store. They post something online (perhaps a picture) and say how great your product is. Well, why not say thank you? These praising conversations are the easiest to get involved in. If somebody says something nice about you a little “thank you” can go a long way. This unexpected engagement shows people that you are listening to what they are saying, and that you care about what they have to say. Also if you are posting as a brand it could add a celebrity feel to your comments. Think of it this way: If you posted a picture on Twitter and said, “I really love my Nike shoes”, and Nike replied to your tweet, wouldn’t you feel pretty important? The fact that a big company takes time out of their day and gets on a consumer’s level means a lot. Even though your company is ant-like compared to something like Nike it still generates the same type of goodwill.

The next type of conversation that happens out there is the one that involves a person or group asking questions about your product or business. The first thought might be to jump right in and answer the question; however, I recommend sitting back, waiting, and responding smartly. For example if a person asks about “plant x” and its growing habits, perhaps it would be useful to wait and see what others have to say. In some cases consumers may feel that you are being too pushy if you jump right in and give them the grower facts. My overall recommendation for situations like this would be to wait a little bit, and if an answer does not appear then post a little piece on where to find more information (a link to your website). This way you aren’t pushing an answer, but if the consumer trusts you then they will follow the link and obtain the answer.

The last type of conversation that can occur is of course the negative kind. What do you do if somebody is online bashing your business or product? This is often the toughest situation to deal with. As a human you undoubtedly will have the urge to jump in and justify your motives. To that I say “WAIT!” You don’t want to start a fight. That will damage your reputation far worse than one small comment of negativity will. The first thing you want to do is to analyze the conversation. Do the people have their facts straight? If they do and the person simply doesn’t like your product or business for x,y, or z, I suggest you just leave the conversation alone. People are going to dislike your business. It’s how the world works. You can’t please everybody. However if the person is lying about your business, then maybe an option would be to post a link to the facts. Don’t engage the attacker, but rather just simply copy and paste the link to where people can find out the true information on the topic. Also if you can find a source for information that was not generated by your company perhaps it would be best to post that.

No matter what people are bound to say things about your business. People talk, it’s the way the world works. If people aren’t talking about you then you don’t exist. Believe me it is better that one person post something that they don’t like about your business, than if no one posts anything about your business. Remember that negatives can lead to positives. If someone doesn’t like your product(s) ask them why, and use their answers to help make your business better.

My biggest advice when joining conversations is be respectful, grateful, and speak the truth. If you do those three things people will trust what you say. Also don’t be so defensive. There are products that you undoubtedly don’t like. The same goes for everybody else.

As I said earlier thee are just simple suggestions and every situation is different. If you have any further questions find me here: Email mday55@gmail.com , Twitter @mday55, or LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233 .

What Did You Say? (Part 2)

After yesterday’s post, I hope a lot of you got a chance to see some of the things people are saying about your business out there on the web. I also hope that the information you found was helpful. Even if some of it seems very critical, it allows you to improve upon what people said they didn’t like. Today I want to finish this discussion by taking a look at another major source of conversation on the web: Social Media. I wanted to split the topic up because the amount of conversing you are likely to find on Social Media sites is probably double that of what you found by searching the entire rest of the internet.

In our assessment of finding conversations on Social Media sites I am going to stick with Twitter and Facebook for today. Sure there are plenty of other sites on which people may be talking about your business/product, but these two sites should provide you with enough information to get started.

I know what you’re probably thinking, “I already know what people are saying about me. I read what they post to my pages.” To this I say well that’s good, but wouldn’t you like to know what people are saying behind your back? On Twitter this is actually as simple as a search. Because Twitter is a lot more open, the whole world can see what most people are tweeting if they know where to go. So at the top where you would normally search for terms you were interested in or people you were looking to follow, I suggest you put something else in that search.  If you want to know what people are saying about “Plant X”, throw that into the search tab and you can search tweets for anytime the words “Plant X” are used. Note: when you first search it only the popular tweets will appear, you have to select the tab in the results for all tweets to dig even deeper. This allows you to see what people are saying even without tweeting it at you, and even if you are not following them. Then, from there because Twitter is so public, you can join the conversation by simply replying to a tweet. For instance if someone posts a picture of a plant they bought at your greenhouse you can reply something like “Thanks for your support. Your garden looks great!”

Facebook on the other hand is a little trickier. Facebook likes to keep their users information a little more private. There is a way around this however. By using the online Social Media management tools offered by HootSuite you can essentially search terms as in the above described Twitter situation. You won’t be able to see everything people are saying as some people have heightened security settings on their profiles, but believe me the majority of people don’t.  Here’s how you can find your information. After adding your Social Media profiles/accounts to HootSuite you can create streams for those pages. From here you select the "create a new stream" tab and instead of selecting the tab for a profile select the tab that says search. From there all you have to do is select Facebook as the site (profile) you want to search and throw in the term(s) you want to search for. It will continue to refresh as the day goes on so you don’t have to worry about the information getting old.

These methods are great for searching other things besides your product/business. I recommend searching for competitors as well to see how they are faring. It might be useful to search for industry buzz words as well.

I was also going to discuss how to get into these conversations and relay facts to participants, but I think I’ll hold off on that until next time. Until then, try searching on Twitter and setting up a HootSuite account.  Next time we discuss how to jump into conversations and when to stay out.

I am constantly looking to other members of the industry for Social Media ideas and inspirations. I know it may sound crazy but to many of us Millennials, Social Media is an art form. It’s how we express ourselves. We are always interested in seeing creative profiles. I am always looking for the next big thing!

If you have a Social Media profile that you think is really cool (or could use some help) let me know. I’d love to take a look and let you know what I think. Comment it, Email It: mday55@gmail.com, Tweet it: @mday55, or Connect with me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233 .

I read yesterday that “There are no Social Media experts yet”. I firmly believe that. I just want to keep our industry on a level playing field.

What did you say? (Part 1)

Person One: “Hey did you hear that Day Farms Greenhouse is running a sale on hanging baskets this week?”  

Person Two: “Yeah, but I heard it was just on begonia baskets.”

Day Farms Greenhouse employee: “Actually this week we are doing 10% off of ALL hanging baskets.”

I know you’re probably thinking that’s not a very good way to open a post, and you’re probably right. However it is the best way to illustrate a problem that we are facing at every level of the industry. There are people out there talking about our businesses, but unlike the above situation, there is often no one listening to the conversations and therefore no one there to give the people the facts about the situation.

Today I want to take a look at some simple strategies that you can use to find these conversations and join them if need be. These strategies will give you a basic understanding of how much content consumers put on the internet. Some of it is probably truthful albeit some of it is probably skewed. I will also note that the strategies I talk about today are much simpler than many of the things I have talked about in this blog thus far.

The first thing to do when you want to find out what people are saying about your business is to find the actual conversations. This is the rather easy part. Have you heard of Google? Yep that’s the big tool for today. However, it’s not as simple as typing in the name of your business and seeing what pops up (although that is undoubtedly the first thing you should do). If you are really trying to gain a sense of what people are saying about your business or the products and services you offer, you have to dig a little deeper.  You have to think about possible things people could be saying. When there is a conversation or debate human emotions are always brought into the mix. Therefore if I was looking for conversations about a certain variety of plant “plant x”, I would search for things like “plant x love” or “plant x hate”. These two searches alone can yield you interesting results. This strategy can yield a lot of results depending on the amount of adjectives and verbs you search with your business or product.

Another great way to search the web to find out what people are saying about your business or product is to search for your business or product with the word forum added to the search. People use a wide variety of forums to discuss an even wider variety of topics. Also people generally think forums are a consumer only thing so they feel free to express themselves in any way they see fit.

After performing both of the previous types of searches, I then recommend that you type in your business or product along with review. This will bring up an array of sites that allow for customer ratings and reviews and will give you a general feeling of how people view your company. It is also a good method to compare yourself to your competitors and evaluate what you are doing.

These are just some very simple tips and tricks at finding out what people are saying about your business or product. Google really is a great tool in this sense because without shelling out any money you can find out a lot of basic information for free. You just have to know what to type into that search bar.

I will admit that today’s post is quite basic, but sometimes it’s easy for a business to overlook the little things like this. I will also say that there are plenty of companies out there that for the right price will compile all of this data for you and probably dig even a little bit deeper.

Next time we will continue our discussion about finding these conversations. I will take a look at finding conversations on Social Media sites. I will also touch a little bit on how to enter into these conversations once you have found them. This is often the trickiest part of the situation.

Sometimes the simplest questions can provide the biggest answers.

I can always be reached at mday55@gmail.com for questions, comments, or suggestions. Also please follow me on Twitter if you are interested in this kind of stuff @mday55. You can find me on Linked In too! http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233?trk=shareTw .

Who Tube?

The old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.  If this is true think of what a video must be worth.  Integrating YouTube videos into your online marketing strategy can be very beneficial. Today we look at some methods to do this and why putting content on the site is a good idea in the first place.

Today people go on YouTube for everything. Some use it for creative ideas, some use it for entertainment, and some even use YouTube to host educational tools; so why aren’t you tapping into this free resource? For a lot of people out there the reason can be that they don’t think that they have anything worthy to post to YouTube. People think because they are talking about gardening or plant varieties that they wouldn’t be seen on YouTube.

This is where those people are wrong. Speaking for the Millennial generation, there are two predominant ways we get our information. The first way we get information is we “Google” it. This is usually performed to locate basic facts or research something we have recently heard about. However, when it comes to taking on in depth projects or learning how to do something, we use YouTube. If Google is the dictionary of the internet, YouTube is the encyclopedia.

“But how does that affect my business?” Think about it like this: If you were a garden center trying to cater to the younger generation and their interest in container gardening wouldn’t you want to show them that your business carries the perfect supplies to make it easy to garden in a limited space?  That’s when you break out the camcorder and a tri-pod (both of which you can now get at a very reasonable price) and film you or one of your employees making a mixed container or demonstrating the growth habits of certain compact varieties of plants. Then you publish that video to your YouTube channel (which is similar to a profile on other Social Media sites) and add tag words like “container gardening” or “compact plants”, and then lastly throw a link onto your Twitter or post the link in the caption of a picture on Facebook. 

By creating these sorts of how-to videos you can really engage your customer. The videos act as a security blanket for the consumer. Now they know that when they go home to plant they are not truly alone. If they get lost in the process or don’t feel confident in what they are doing, they can click open the YouTube video and check with the instructions there. Those five minute videos you make about products in your business add value to your products. Even if the value may be small and the video is only viewed by 40 or 50 people, you didn’t lose anything. You lost 10 minutes of time it took to film. The risk is definitely worth the reward.

However, YouTube isn’t just great for retailers; it can be great for growers and other members of the channel as well. For instance if you are a grower why not make a five to seven minute video displaying new variety offerings or highlighted plants that you carry. Give a video tour of your production facility. Then send these YouTube links to your customers. From there they can see what is new and gain a sense of trust in your company because they can see how plants are being grown, and that what you are selling to them is a quality product. You might even get new customers depending on who accidentally comes across your video.

These are just a couple quick examples of how YouTube can be incorporated into your horticultural business. There are plenty of other reasons that YouTube is valuable.  For one it gives a face and a name to your business. It puts you on a personal level with your customers, and who doesn’t want that in this industry?

Well, that’s all for today on YouTube, but I’m sure we will discuss intricacies of the site in later posts as well. Today I just wanted to bring the topic up to get you thinking about it. It’s Monday so if you find yourself or your employees with a break in the action why not give this video thing a shot. Don’t worry if you don’t have the greatest camera in the world, it’s ok. A home video feel might even add the grassroots touch your consumer is looking for.

Any questions on today’s post? Please email me at mday55@gmail.com comment here or tweet at me on Twitter @mday55. I hope that the post today was helpful. Just like you I am always looking for suggestions. Thanks!

For lack of a joke today I recommend checking out #hortfilms  on Twitter for some laughs.

Power Posting

Happy Friday! It’s that time of the week again; everybody is thinking about their weekend plans and counting down the seconds until they can go home from work. Believe it or not these kinds of thoughts tie heavily in to social media and the reception certain posts receive. Today we take a look at two things. We discuss when to post, and we discuss a little bit of what to post.

Despite what you might read on the internet or hear from an “expert” in Social Media, there is no perfect day or time to post. There is no secret formula, and no scientific algorithm that says if you post on Tuesday’s at 3:46pm your post will go viral. When so much of virality depends on people and their emotions and feelings at any given point, nothing can ever be perfect. However, there are better times than others to post. I know that this kind of information is all over the web, but I want to explain it a little more so that you understand why certain times are better than others.

From my research with hands on data here is in order from best to worst the days of the week to post: Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Saturday. Knowing this was simply not enough for me. I wanted to create a theory as to why certain posts go more activity than others.  Tuesday in the afternoon is the single best time to post on a Social Media site if you want something to be seen and engaged with by lots of people.  Here’s the scoop on why. Tuesday afternoon is when you get the most attention because it’s the first time people who are at work really get to twiddle their thumbs if you will. When people get back to work on Monday, they have work to catch up on so they easily stay busy all day, yet when they come in on Tuesday they finish what they need to in the morning and in the afternoon they sit and wait to be told what needs to get done the rest of the week. They get bored at work around 3:00 and start looking to Facebook and Twitter to stay preoccupied.

Thursday afternoon is the same way for a different reason. Thursday afternoon starts the wind down. People are finishing up the really challenging stuff they needed to finish by Friday. They have been stressed so they take a break, and where do they turn for a source of quick entertainment? Your garden center’s Facebook page to see what kind of deals you are having this weekend.

The next best time to post is tricky. I know I said that Wednesday is better than Friday, but that is only when you compare the data on a daily basis, but if you split the data into morning and afternoon, you find something shocking. I found that after Tuesday afternoon, Friday morning is the second best time to post, but why? Look at it this way. When people wake up on Friday what do they say? “Ahh it’s Friday!” Right? Well when they go to work with the same mentality. They think it’s Friday, and that they are almost done for the week. They float off into a kind of daydream and start surfing the web for anything that might interest them like gardening or how to plant mixed containers. This quickly changes at about noon however, when everyone begins realizing there is much more to be done before they can leave their work for the week.

As far as what to post that ultimately depends on your Social Media strategy, but I will give you my advice. We in the horticultural industry have something very unique to offer the public. Horticulture can often be a creative art-form. That is how the general public likes to think of flower industry (what we call Horticulture). They see plants as a way to express themselves and be creative and ecofriendly all at the same time. So when people go on your Facebook and all of your posts are merely links to some article about growing habits, some might be interested but you are losing a great deal of interested viewers.

Above and beyond pictures generate the largest amount of buzz on Facebook. The internet is becoming a culture of visuals. So my suggestion would be if you have an idea or link that you really want people to see; simply post it in the caption part of a picture and then post it to Facebook. I will tell you this for every link you post to Facebook you should post at least three picture posts in ratio.

Content also matters. When thinking about what kind of content to post remember people like creative content. For example you could post a picture of an innovative way to do something or a cool display, or a beautiful mixed container. Those are the things that generate the most attention on Facebook. As far as Twitter goes, links are great. It’s a popularity contest of coolness. Some of my older posts discus this.

Well folks that’s it for this week. I’ll be around all weekend if you have any questions so you can reach me by email at mday55@gmail.com or comment or follow me on Twitter @mday55. Put me in your circles on Google +!

I am always looking to hear your thoughts and questions!

I leave you with a question: For those of you who went to OFA what was the coolest new plant variety you saw?

Mind Control

As I mentioned earlier this week in my brief recap of OFA, catering to the younger generations was a giant theme of the show. Everything was about trying to be hip and innovative. I also stressed that Social Media was a big part of this forward push. It’s becoming one of the main mediums for companies to market to Generation Y. However, one thing that has been lacking in all of this discussion about Y-ers or Millennials as they are often referred to; why are they so interested in Social Media? It is clear now that the internet and sites like Facebook are more than a passing fad. Companies that took a gamble on marketing in these channels early are now seeing great results, and companies who hung back waiting for the craze to end are now realizing it isn’t a trend or a craze but rather a completely new lifestyle. So in today’s post I want to take a look at why Social Media appeals to Millennials. Looking into these kinds of motives can help us as an industry better understand the best ways to market to them and how to do so on the right channels.

What do Millennials care about? Their whole lives Millennials have grown up with technology. Technology has changed about as fast as they have while growing up. They have seen computers go from the dinosaur of Windows 95 to the upcoming release of Windows 8 this fall. They are true consumers, always finding some way to buy the coolest new products. It still amazes me how people express such a need to get the newest I-Phone model when the one they currently have was purchased less than a year ago. It is through this consumption and the huge costs of college education that Millennials have accumulated lots of debt.

They are also community oriented and have a stronger global presence than any other generation. It has become extremely easy to take an idea and spread it around the world in seconds. For example the first week my blog launched I had views from people in Russia, Spain, The Netherlands, Brazil, The United States, Hong Kong, Japan, and Egypt. I had expected to have a couple page views, but now I am in the thousands. Millennials also care about the environment. They care about the future of the human race but more importantly the future of the planet.  To them knowledge has always been at their fingertips. They can use Google to find the answer to almost any question.

So where does this tie in with Social Media? How does Social Media fill these needs?  For some of these questions the answer is obvious, but let’s thinks about it. Social Media is technology, and is also changing as well. Millennials love it because it doesn’t stay the same. Something is always changing and they have to work to keep up. It’s a challenge that Millennials often complain about; however, they are always waiting for the next big change or the next big social network.

Another reason why both Millennials love Social Media and why you should love it as well is: It’s FREE! There are no sign up fees, no monthly sign up fees, no costs what so ever.  It’s the one thing that they can spend hours a day toying with and customizing that doesn’t cost them any money. It’s a free source of entertainment to them.

Social Media also allows Millennials to access the world. People can now have Facebook friends from any country on the planet. This way every time you log in you see what is happening all around the world. It has allowed for global campaigns and movements. At the same time though it keeps Millennials in touch with what is going on in their own community. It allows them to think global and still buy local.

It caters to their need to be stewards of the environment. Who would have thought computers might be the biggest tools in the green movement. It allows the youth to discuss their green passions. They can discuss best practices, set up organization, and gain thousands of followers in a matter of hours.  Social Media lets Millennials believe they can make a difference in the world. Whether the difference actually happens I question if Millennials would stop. To them the fun is in the fighting for their beliefs.

So when you are developing a strategy to cater to Millennials here are some things to remember. They value new things. They like being trendsetters maybe this means getting new plants or creating new garden designs. They like technology, so how do you incorporate that into your strategy? Maybe a mobile app or a cool software program would be valuable. They want the best value for not only their money but also their time. What is cheap and easy to do? They aren’t a “do it yourself” generation and they aren’t a “do it for me” generation they are a “do it with me” generation. Then think about how you can make your business environmentally friendly. You have to think globally and act locally. Social Media can help you achieve all of these goals if you sit down and plan out a strategy. The consumer generation is coming and we have to be ready for it.

I hope this helps and I hope to hear from you!

Email: mday55@gmail.com

Twitter: @mday55

“If the winds of change are coming, I hope it’s mostly dimes. Because quarters would hurt too much.”

Precooked Meals

Hello again everyone! Today I plan to get back into my routine of discussing Social Media tactics and strategies in the Horticulture and Agricultural industries. In the beginning of last week I took a look at how sometimes we often find ourselves in a rut of missed postings and at points it almost seems worthless to get back into the routine. I emphasized that whatever you do, just make sure you keep getting your content to people in some way.

Now I understand that in this kind of industry there are often very hectic and stressful periods. It may be hard to remember to maintain your posting schedule if you have elected to post more than once a week. However, there are tools out there to help you with this problem! Currently there are all sorts of sites out there that allow you to create posts for Facebook and Twitter ahead of time, and then through your permission it then posts the content at the specific date and time that you distinguish. Some of these sites are: LaterBro, TweetDeck, SocialTomorrow, and HootSuite.

Though I have dabbled in and looked at all of these sites, I must say that I prefer to use www.hootsuite.com  the most. After creating a profile on the site it allows you to sign in with your Social Media profiles. HootSuite is a double awesome tool because not only can you schedule posts, updates, and tweets easily, but you can also view all of your profiles at once. This can be a great tool for a garden center that perhaps wants to be invested in Social Media, but just doesn’t have the time to do so. There is also a wide array of different filters you can set up for your different streams of information you want to view. For example if you  want to see if anyone is posting anything about your nursery named “Jim’s Garden”, then you can set up a filter to search for who is posting about you perhaps without you even knowing it. This is almost a must for Facebook because unlike Twitter it is not as easy to search for words within posts without HootSuite or another site like it. HootSuite is a great tool also if you want to see what people are saying about your competition. It takes social listening to a new level.

For the second part of this post I wanted to discuss something I have been receiving some feedback and questions about. Why is it not a good idea to just link my Twitter to my other sites and use it simply as a tool to get people onto my other Social Media pages? Well for one if you are using Twitter simply as a free advertising service for your other sites you are wasting an outlet to spread your message. Sure if you have created something extremely interesting on Facebook and you want your Twitter followers to see it go ahead and link it, but if you are just trying to strike up some visits something is wrong. You shouldn’t have to really advertise your Facebook page (note saying to people find/like us on Facebook is completely acceptable and encouraged), your Social Media pages are there for people to find you when they want to. You want people to go there but “advertising” on Twitter won’t help you.

Also with regards to the above dilemma, people have said to me they don’t think people really pay attention to Twitter posts. I’m here to say believe me they do – just in a different way. As I have said before, keep the links out of your Facebook posts. That isn’t the kind of content people want to see on there. However with Twitter it’s a different ball game. Think of Twitter as a grade school social scene. It is a giant popularity contest. In which everyone is trying to send out links to the coolest pictures and content on the web. You don’t even need to generate the content for people to think you are “cool” and follow you. Twitter is all about finding interesting things and letting your followers know about it. Through this you gain popularity that may translate into the real world. However, linking to your own Facebook and Pinterest posts gets boring and people will begin to care less about what you post on Twitter.  Just remember Twitter is light, fast, and often humor and creativity are two of the most successful techniques. People are looking and listening to Twitter. Believe me.

I hope this helps everybody out there that has been asking me questions about Twitter. Twitter is an odd and giant place, but if you want the trendiest of the youth to see you it is a must. Plus it’s very easy to use and requires hardly anytime at all.

Once again feel free to email me at mday55@gmail.com, follow me on Twitter @mday55, or comment on the post if you would like me to address something or if you have any questions.

“To Beet or not to Beet, that is the vegetable”

Spreading the Message: Current Events

Hey I’m back! I want to apologize for my extended absence. Last Wednesday I drove down to Columbus Ohio to set up for the OFA Short Course, and I have been busy setting up and talking to industry revolutionaries since then. My body is finally adjusting to the temperature of my office after being in the cooler known as the Columbus Convention Center all weekend.

Anyway, I am back now and inspired as ever! I know I told you in my last post that I was going to talk to you a little more about what was going on with some different Twitter tools, but I think I will have to hold off on that for a little bit. I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss some things I saw this weekend.

First and Foremost: Things are changing in the industry and they are changing rapidly. Almost all of these changes are occurring because of the new rising generation – the Millennials. In the keynote address Joe Lamp’l gave growers, breeders, and retailers some real insight into some of the changes happening within the business. He stressed the need to take our industry from being one of “fast food to more of a bistro”. He said if we want to cater to younger generations then we have to change the way we do business. We have to cater to all the senses, and we have to cater to how young people get their information. Joe emphasized how Social Media plays a HUGE part of how youth obtain information in their daily lives from Facebook to Pinterest all the way to Yelp!. This really set the tone for the rest of the convention.

After listening to Joe on Sunday morning, I got a chance to walk the aisles for the next two days.  Companies are starting to get it. They are beginning to understand that Social Media and Mobile Apps are great opportunities for exposure in the industry. GIE Media had a booth demonstrating the use of certain mobile application technologies. MasterTag was displaying some cool QR technology linking to all sorts of things. Burpee Home Gardens unveiled their “Grow Anywhere Tour” stating that their truck would be “trackable” on Facebook, and posted a video to youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3J2R_NHc8Q. These were just a few of the awesome displays at OFA.

It was definitely a great weekend for the industry. I would say without a doubt the industry is coming into the “Smart” Era. Now it just seems we have to tread carefully and pay close attention to what we are doing.  Tomorrow I’ll be back at it in my usual style. Also if you get a chance you should check out www.24green.com  they recently featured one of my blog posts, and they have a lot of cool ideas about the industry.  Also Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @mday55 .

As usual, please feel free to email me at mday55@gmail.com or comment with any questions, concerns, suggestions, or job opportunities ha-ha! Thanks!

Missing In Action

Today has been super busy. I leave tomorrow for Columbus to prepare for this year’s O.F.A. Short Course, and there is so much to do until then! This brings us to a problem that many businesses face. What do I do when I am simply too busy to post on Social Media? This question to a business is frightening, and often discouraging. Often this problem can lead to disappointing results. The first is that this turns of businesses so much that they dismiss using Social Media in general, or that after a business has a busy period and misses a few posts, they simply fall off the wagon and rarely stick to their schedule or quit using Social Media entirely. They think that because they have missed a few posts their audience will be no longer be interested.

I’m here to tell you to “Stay calm and post on”. First things first, if you miss one post in your business’ regular schedule it is ok. It might even boost interest in older posts in some cases. In most cases it will have no impact on how large your audience is, especially your core audience that is actually listening to and engaging with your content. I would also recommend that you not hurry your next post. If you’re a day or more late in posting why not just wait till your next scheduled post? You have a schedule because content gets more attention at certain times, so don’t waste your content when it won’t be noticed.

For others of you out there who have already missed more than just a couple posts on any of your Social Media sites, it’s time to get back on the horse. Just because you may have lost some attention while you have been absent doesn’t mean that you won’t still have an audience out there. Social Media is a free marketing tool. Just because you might not be noticed by a million users your first day back to posting doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start again. It might actually allow for you to revamp and change your Social Media scheme.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today. Next time I’ll talk about how to prevent this problem all together.  I will try to get at least one more post in while I’m on the road this week and the beginning of next week, so keep checking back, and if not I’ll for sure be back with something new on Tuesday! See you all at O.F.A. this weekend.

Also on another note if these posts have been somewhat helpful feel free to find me on Klout.com and shoot me a +K to let me know! Thanks

“Have they found a solution to the Downy Mildew problem yet? I’m so anxious you could say I’m being Impatiens”        I swear I think the posts are getting better but the jokes, I know are not.

Silly Rabbit Social Media is for EVERYONE!

Since I started this blog about two weeks ago, there has been an increasing amount of talk about Social Media within the Agricultural and Horticultural communities. It seems like more people are picking up on it every day, and there is an article in almost every trade magazine about how retailers should incorporate Social Media into their marketing strategy. It’s nice to see that people are starting to pick up on this new trend, whether or not businesses will increase their Social Media use has yet to be determined.

One thing I have seen lately in several magazines and articles that I STRONGLY disagree with is that some businesses should not waste their time with Social Media because it would be of no use to them.  Most of the stuff out there right now is saying that Social Media is important for retailers and companies that are working with consumer facing brands, and that’s about it. How can anyone that truly understands the essence of Social Media actually suggest something like that? It’s because these people see Social Media as a tool simply to sell sell sell. While I agree it is a great tool for selling a product, I know that Social Media is so much more than that. It is a constant stream of real information about current market status. Analyzing Social Media allows companies to have access instantly to millions of consumer opinions within a matter of seconds.

Take the Horticultural industry for example. I saw an article the other day that suggested that Facebook was only a useful tool if you had a garden center and you wanted to offer promotions.  I challenge this, and say Facebook is useful to every level in the industry, from breeders all the way to the consumer. Everyone knows (and if you don’t by now you should look it up) how the marketing channel works .In horticulture it wouldn’t make sense for breeders to be breeding plants that consumers won’t buy.  Therefore consumers need to influence breeders in some way. What better way to do this than through Social Media? If you searched around for five minutes you could find hundreds of things that consumers are looking for in new plants. People are always talking about the plants they wish were out there (and the ones they wish that weren’t).

For growers a simple reason to use Social Media would be to showcase their product. Facebook is an easy platform to store pictures and create albums. That way when a retailer wants to know what a grower has in availability they don’t have to go through a catalog but rather pop open an app on an I-Pad and show the retailer all kinds of pictures of products being showcased in different ways. Then later if the retailer wants to see the list again they just go back to Facebook to look things over.

Lastly, the biggest reason Social Media is useable by everyone is it is fast to setup and use and it is FREE. You pay nothing to get your content into a form of media that gets millions of more visitors than any trade magazine. Sure you might have to have someone “waste” ten minutes setting up a Facebook account. However, I assure you no matter who you are or what your business is, that ten minutes is being well wasted.

I challenge you today if you have a business think of how you could use Social Media in some way. If you can’t think of anything send me an email and I guarantee I can come up with a way that Social Media can benefit your business.  Also as usual feel free to comment or email (mday55@gmail.com) with any comments, suggestions, or questions. I hope to see a lot of you at the OFA Short Course this coming Sunday!

What did the potato say to the computer? “Nice Chips!”   Ok I know that one was rough. Ha-ha  

Myth-conceptions

Today I want to break routine a little bit and talk about something my mother mentioned to me last night when I phoned home. It’s funny how things our mom’s say always stick with us the longest. She was going on about how horticulture and agriculture have changed (my parents have owned a greenhouse/produce operation for over 30 years).  She was talking to me about how plants have changed. Vegetables have changed. Everything is changing. Every year new varieties of plants are churned out from breeding facilities each with unique characteristics slightly different than the previous generation of plants. However the rate at which consumers opinions and conceptions are changing is not keeping up with the technological and biological advances in the industries.

That’s when it came to me. Social Media is the prefect media to finally dispel some of these Myths that consumers hold about some products. Social Media is interactive, friendly, and reaches a lot of people. You can literally shove information out there and whereas in a person to person setting in a greenhouse or nursery if you told a consumer something they might think you were lying to make a quick buck or they might simply offended by the confrontation.

For example there are plants being bred every day that defy stereotypes. Thirty years ago you couldn’t find a Petunia at a garden center or anywhere that you didn’t have to pinch the blooms off of when they were done flowering (deadhead). Now almost all commercial varieties have traits that make it so you don’t have to do that. Do people know this? No! They still buy or don’t buy Petunias thinking they have to be deadheaded.

Why not turn this around? If you are a company that produces a petunia that doesn’t need to be deadheaded I would make sure that was all over my product’s Facebook page in peak buying season as a reminder. I would be sure to remind the consumer that they were bred this way and that just because an older variety of the same plant did something, that doesn’t mean the new varieties will.

This concept of confronting myths has many applications throughout the Hort and Ag industries. Seed Geraniums are still thought of as far inferior products to Vegetative Geraniums (Is this always true?). Some people think GMO corn is going to kill them (when undoubtedly they are consuming it and have been for years in some way).

Social Media can be a great way to get messages out to the masses  on topics that may be confrontational  or controversial. So I leave you today with a slight call to action. Is there any product/process in your business/industry that your potential consumer is misinformed about? Could you use Social Media to help fix this problem? It doesn’t hurt to try. Have a great weekend and if you have any questions or opinions, I would love to hear them comment or email me!

Remember, the customer is always right………..except when they’re wrong.

Pins and Pluses

In recent weeks there has been a lot of buzz about a couple different Social Media sites. The world is beginning to realize that there are far more ways to connect than Facebook and Twitter. Today we look very briefly at two of these sites, and analyze what they can do for your horticultural or agricultural business. The two Social Media venues are Pinterest and Google+.

Pinterest. What’s the point? (Ha see what I did there.) Pinterest is a relatively newer site that allows users to upload find pictures on the internet of things they like and “Pin” them to one or more of their “Boards”. It is essentially a virtual collage making site. Users can make all kinds of boards about weddings, gardens, camping, you name it. Pinterest has a predominately female user base. Another thing about the site that makes content so viral here is that it allows users to follow other users and then “Repin” things from one user’s board to their own board. How do I use that for my business you might ask? It’s actually pretty easy and if done right can have a nice impact. To get a Pinterest account you first have to be invited (it isn’t that hard don’t worry). From there, what I would suggest would be to SHOW OFF. Honestly put as many pictures of your flowers/vegetables or whatever you produce up on an array of boards. However, don’t stop there for instance for garden centers it might be a cool idea to make a board with creative potting ideas and either “Repin” some ideas or upload your own. For vegetable producers maybe post some pictures of harvest and planting and pin them to a board entitled “How it’s Grown”. These are just a few ideas. Also don’t forget to link any picture you upload back to your site. This is very easy to do when you go into “edit pin”. This way when users click on your photos they can explore your content deeper and perhaps lead to a product purchase.

Google+ is a bit of a different story. How long did you really expect Google to keep its hands out of Social Media? However, Google+ has started off a little slower than Google expected. It has not overtaken Facebook or Twitter – yet. I make this prediction now: Google+ will be the next generation Social Media site. That is why although it has a much smaller following than Facebook it is important to become fluent in the ways of Google+. Admittedly I am just getting the hang of it myself. However, just after digging into some of the preliminary features it seems quite clear that there is a great opportunity for getting content out there- and to the masses too! Google+ on the surface handles a lot like Facebook however on with any post you can reach different groups of people that you put in groups called “Circles”. You can even post to the general public. This could lead to all kinds of cool marketing options. Perhaps you are running a sale and you want to notify everybody- you can do that, but maybe you want to reward your “Green Grower’s Rewards Members” so maybe you put all those people in a circle labeled such and you send them specific offers. It also has a wide array of features that let you connect with other businesses and people with similar interests all over the world. Even though it might not be a hit yet, Google+ is sure to be something rather large in the future. As we have seen in the past Google doesn’t let anything fail and I don’t think they are going to start.

Starting next time I will talk about what content to push at what levels of the industry

Green advice is Dirt Cheap!

Tweeting Isn't Just for the Birds Anymore!

First off I apologize for my absence I have been without internet access for a while, but I’m back now!

One of the most important things to realize about implanting a Social Media strategy into the marketing plan for your horticultural business is that there are many venues in which you can get your content out there. Last week I discussed how Facebook can be used successfully. Facebook, however, is not the only site out there. Millions of people use Twitter every day. Twitter can be a great way to get quick messages and links out to people that are interested in your business. Also because Twitter is such a public space (more public and searchable than Facebook) it is a great outlet to increase overall interest in your business.

Many businesses in the industry do a good job of creating an account to get their name out there, but then that’s it. One of the most important things to know about Twitter is that it moves fast – like lightning fast. This can often be very intimidating for those that are new to Social Media or used to Facebook. The key to remember here is that Twitter is a totally different game and usually depending on the way you operate requires less created content than a page like Facebook. Twitter puts a limit in how many characters that can be put in each post and therefore effectively limits how much you can say. Users are used to this and are only looking for bits and pieces of things on Twitter. It is simply important to stay relevant and post a couple times a day to maintain your presence on the site. One tactic could be to have a “Tip of the day” or a “Link of the day”. I would recommend setting up a schedule of three times daily (perhaps: 10 am, noon, and 3 pm), and putting one person in charge of posting a little bit of content. Twitter is great also in a sense that it is extremely mobile friendly. That way your business can easily post even at times when you might seem very busy.

The last recommendation for your business’ Twitter account is that you make sure whatever content you post on there is unique. Many times businesses shortcut themselves and simply post the same content on all their Social Media sites. The problem with this is that many people have many different Social Media profiles and will get bored with your business if they see the same thing from site to site. A good strategy is to set up different goals for each Social Media site you are on. Next time we will discuss some other venues that are gaining some web cred and could be useful to Horticultural/Agricultural businesses.