A few months ago, I received a direct message on Twitter from Richmond-based non-profit Virginia Blood Services.  They were looking for “influential” social media participants to get the message out about their VBS Blood Lifeline campaign.  Having participated in their campaign, I thought it would be interesting to study how this non-profit is using social media to get the word out.  I reached out for an interview, and here was our conversation.

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If your company wants to have a nicely-designed custom landing tab for non-fans on Facebook, you’ll now need at least 10,000 fans or be working with an advertising account manager (you’ve got a large ad budget).

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I’ve written quite a bit about conversion rates on this blog, but the fact is that most people that visit an e-commerce web site have no intention of buying.  They are window shopping.  Optimizing your web site to increase your conversion rate is very important, but you can’t forget about optimizing for the 70-80% of people or more that are “window shoppers.”

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Lots of businesses are using social media these days to promote their products and services. From Facebook to Twitter and more, businesses are embracing social media. Many small, local businesses are starting to understand the impact social media can have on their bottom lines, yet many others are skeptical.

I recently interviewed Monica Horsley, owner of By Invitation Only, a local business here in the Richmond area. I discovered Monica and her business on Twitter, and like many small business owners that rely on attracting local foot traffic into her retail location, she is using social media to her advantage.

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I’m always looking for ways to make clients’ promotions and own our work stand out amidst the clutter. This means thinking differently than most other marketers out there.

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