Why Responding to Negative Comments hurts Small Business on Social Media

Why Responding to Negative Comments hurts Small Business on Social Media

• Is there a difference in Response Mode to Negative Comments by Small Business and Big Business on Social Media  ?

          The first issue that is rarely discussed in this regard is Budget .
         
          Whilst Big Business may have the Budget Resources to devote increasing numbers of Staff
          to be answering endless Negative prattle on Social Media ,
          Small Business does not !

          Secondly , because of the Staff issue ,
          Small Business does not have the Time to engage for
          hours on end with Negative and Critical people .

          Recently we received  Videos of a Social Media Seminar ,
          where supposed ' experts ' were dealing with
          the issue of Negative Comments
          and How Business should Respond .


         Initially we were enthusiastic to Review the content ,
         hoping that the Real World issues faced by Small Business
         would be dealt with .

         However , our hopes were crushed in the first two minutes of viewing the Video ,
         with the same old - same old ' respond to every Negative comment ' nonsense ,
         and more alarmingly ,
        
         No distinction between the needs of Small Business and Big Business !

        We will examine some of the comments made by the ' experts '
        in more detail to illustrate the need for

        the development of a tailored Strategy for Small Business on Social Media .

        Our Main Point is this ,

        What works for Big Business on Social Media ,
  
        will not always work for Small Business !

        The initial opening comments of the Seminar Video were similar to this ,

        ' Each time that you are attacked Negatively ,
          you have the opportunity of opening a conversation '

        Whilst this may seem like common sense to a Big Company ,

        for a Small Business ,
        this is not the opportunity for a conversation ,

        but the opportunity for a PR disaster .

        Let us all be honest ,
        if we  open a Page of an SME ,
        and all we  see is endless dialogue with critical Customers ,
        jokers and time wasters ,
        gossip and inane chit-chat ,

        What are our eyes drawn to in the first instance ?

        The first thing we want to see is the Negative Comments from Customers ,
         we may not even bother to read the Business Response .

        Why ?
        It's entertaining .

        But ,
        Is reading all the Negative going to cause you to Buy from that Small Business ?
       
        Book a table at the Restaurant ?

        No ! a thousand times No !!!

        It is time for us to get Real about the needs of Small Business with Social Networking .

        Over 90% of Small Business have Pages , Profiles or Accounts
        with less than 1000 members on any Social Network .
       
        We are not talking about huge numbers like Big Business may have .


        Our Recommendation for Small Business

        is to engage the Services of a Pragmatic Social Media Consultancy

        that has an extensive background in dealing with Small Business issues
        of all kinds .

        For more information ,

        Contact Jeremy Reynolds at


        alphasocialmedia@gmail.com

      

          This is Part 19 of an ongoing Series .

          Copyright - Alpha Training - Jeremy Reynolds - 2011

        

What is the Purpose of Social Media for Small Business ?

What is the Purpose of Social Media for Small Business ?

• Why are some Small Business Owners lacking enthusiasm for Social Media ?

Some Small Businesses think that  
the hype of what many Social Commentators

portray  about Social Media could be harmful for their  Business .


A ' Social Media Hype  ' description

of the Purpose for Social Media for Small Business would go like this ,

' To provide a forum for disgruntled Customers

  to voice  their complaints and concerns ,

  for everyone to see ,

  and to get a quick and satisfactory response ' .

  A major problem for Small Business is effectively dealing 
  with Negativity and Customer Complaints on Social Networking ,

  without losing potential New Customers .

  Some Public Articles are reporting that Customers are getting ' Quick responses '

  to their Complaints on Social Media ,

  and that this is therefore a good thing for Customer Service standards .

  However ,
  no distinction is made between the largely different Needs of Big Business and Small Business .

  Large Companies must be seen to be doing the right thing by Customers
  on Social Networking ,

  prompty responding to every Complaint , no matter how trifling ,
  and providing positive input when the conversation becomes ridiculously Negative .

• Should a Small Business owner respond to every trivial , Negative comment on a Social Network about the ' coffee they serve ' ?
• Are Small Business owners having counter-productive experiences trying to deal with Negativity on Social Media ?
• Why do Small Business owners take so long to respond to a Customer Complaint on their Business Wall ?

  We can point the finger at Small Business and say from our ' Ivory Tower ' ,

  ' You have to respond to every nasty comment promptly , otherwise you don't understand the      

    Social  aspect of this Media ' .

  Or we can try to find out what the real problem is ,
  and create a workable Solution to meet the Business owners needs .

  A recent Case Study of our illustrates the point clearly ,

  A Furniture Business started a Social Media Business Page ,
 
  it grew to around 400 members in 6 months ,

  there was a lot of Positive interaction from Happy Customers on the Page .

  This caused the ' green-eyed monster ' to raise it's ugly head of jealousy
   in a competitor Business .

  An individual from the competitor created a fake profile ,

  and began to attack the Furniture Business in a scandalous and fabricated  way on their Wall .

  The Business owner was distraught ,
  and was then ill advised to engage the green-eyed Joker by an ' expert ',
  and resolve the customers problem .

  The situation subsequently escalated out of control ,
   because of the bad advice ,
  
   then  unrelated random teenagers joined in the ' fun ' ,
   and began to taunt the Business Owner .

  Membership of the Page dropped significantly ,
  and Customer Orders were cancelled as the ' bad news ' spread .

  When we were then asked to assist ,
   and the first thing we did was to trace the origin of the green-eyed Joker .
  It was easy to pinpoint the Profile to that of a competitor ,
  there were obvious links .

  Our immediate advice was ,
 
  " Don't engage the Joker " ,

  " Block their Profile and Ban Permanently others who emerge as similar "

    Problem Solved !

   
     For Practical Help with your Social Media Marketing ,

    Contact Jeremy Reynolds on ,

    alphasocialmedia@gmail.com
  

•    Part 17 of an ongoing Series .

   Copyright - Alpha Training - Jeremy Reynolds -  2011

Is Social Networking isolating people ?

Is Social Networking isolating people ?

In a recent Article entitled ,
'Can using Facebook send you mad ? '
in Adelaide Now / Advertiser by Kate Loveys ,

Prominent  Academics are attacking the perceived benefits of Social Media .

The Article continues ,
' A leading academic claims that the technology is threatening to dominate our lives ,
  making us more isolated
  and less human .......
  has even branded the use of the social networking sites
  a form of ' modern madness ' .

• In large Cities such as London , Los Angeles , New York  , Berlin and Sydney , were people already isolated before the emergence of Social Media ?
• Can Social Media technology really completely dominate our lives ?
• Are ' Ivory Tower Academics ' threatened by Social Media ?
• When the Telephone was first invented , did some Academics claim the new technology would isolate and harm people ?
• Why are so many peple using Social Media worldwide if it is increasing their isolation ?

Our experience of interaction with 10,000's of people
across various Social Networks ,
in many countries across the Globe ,
has been the opposite of these claims by some Academics .

A Case in point has been the promotion by our Team
of the Kunstwerk of renowned Artist
Veronika Kring .

Before the use of Social Media ,
Veronika Kring's Kunstwerk
was mainly appreciated by an Australian audience .
Since our prommotion on Social Media ,
Veronika Kring
now has a legion of fans in the USA , Europe and the Middle East .
Because Veronika is of Deutsche background ,
it was of particular interest to her to connect with Kunst lovers in Deutschland ,
which is now the case .
If it was not for Social Media none of this interaction would have been possible .

Social Media reconnects people with friends and family across the Globe .

• Is Social Media increasing the quality of our relationships ?

Copyright - Alpha Training - Jeremy Reynolds - 2011


  

How Social Media will change Capitalism - Part 1

         How Social Media will change Capitalism - Part 1

• What effect will this change created by Social Media have on Small Business ?

• Is the escalation of Social Media the Real ' Power to the People ' Revolution ?
• How will Small Business benefit from the changes ?
• What ongoing effect will Social Media have on worldwide Capitalism ?
• Will Social Media create opportunities for new types of Business Models to emerge ?
• Will Social Media cause some Business Models to have Goals other than a purely selfish Profit Motive ?
• Will Social Media create unprecedented opportunities for the Green Economy ?
• Is Social Media the Way forward for Free Trade ?
• Will Social Media conquer the Cancer of Capitalism - Greed ?

The essence of Social Media is that it provides a forum for greater levels of communication between people Worldwide .

In this way it does provide an environment to give ' Power to the People ' .

It is staggering that President John F Kennedy now has a New Voice with a popular Twitter Account .

There has been a lot of talk about a ' level playing field ' in Economics ,
but in the Pre-Social Media Old Economy there was no such thing for Small Business .

Big Business previously always squeezed out the little guy in the Old Economy .

The New Economy created by Social Media and Internet Marketing ,
truly levels the Playing Field ,
and creates much more opportunity for Small Business .

For more information
Contact Jeremy Reynolds on 0432 372 122
or Email Jeremy
alphasocialmedia@gmail.com

Website :

http://www.alphatad.net/


Copyright - Jeremy Reynolds - Alpha Training - 2011

The Psychology of Social Media Marketing - Part 1

The Psychology of Social Media Marketing - Part 1 .

Why do most Social Media Marketers think that Sales Psychology does not apply on the Internet ?

Nearly all Marketing messages sent on Social Media violate the Psychological principles of Marketing .

Talk to any experienced Direct Mail campaigner and they will tell you that your Letter has to attract the interest of the recipient . 

If all you do is Talk about yourself in terms of Me , Me , Me and Me ,
you will get very little response .

Yet nearly all Social Media Marketing reads like this ,
" Thankyou for connecting with Me on this Network ,
   To find out more about Me and How great I am and my Product is go to www.......
   And if you really want to see something special about Me go to another Network ... "

Why are so many people repeating this ' Me , Me , Me ' approach on Social Media ?

What influence does Celebrity Auto Responders have on peoples choice of response ?

What influence does Celebrity Marketing have on Social Media ' experts ' ?

Why are Social Media Marketers ignoring the Psychology of Selling ?