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My secret spy online

Guest post by: Cidnee Stephen

Article Overview: What is the ROI for Social Media?

Free Download - Where to focus in 2012 By Cidnee Stephen
Name: Email:

My secret spy online

This article may be short, but it's very, very sweet in terms of its power and simplicity.



I was having a conversation with another marketer about the most common question we get asked lately. The question is, "what is the ROI for Social Media?" Face it. You are getting asked to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, You Tube and your blog and want to know if it really pays off. Now I could tell you success stories after success stories of sales results from companies, or I could tell you about the referral power, collaboration and credibility building that you get from these sites. We could dive deep into the Search Engine Optimization benefits, but I might leave a few of these topics for future articles.

Today, I want to talk about one of the biggest uses for Social Media that is absolutely invaluable and yet highly ignored. It takes the least amount of time annually, costs nothing, yet seeps through all the noise online to deliver to you daily ONLY the information you need to know. Important information, like:
  • What your competitors are up to
  • What your clients are saying about you and your company
  • What the newest trends are in your industry
  • Hot stories in the media that pertain to your company and industry
  • And so much more
In the military they call this their listening station or listening post. I consider it my secret online spy. How do you harness all of this in less than 30 minutes of your time today? By setting up your Google Reader in a very clever way.


If you read my article about expert failure , you know that you really can't be putting blinders on and assume that the enemy isn't making advances. Building your listening post will allow you to:
  • Constantly improve and enhance your offerings
  • Identify your most relevant media contacts
  • Stay up on the latest and greatest to avoid becoming obsolete or archaic
  • Help position you as an expert in your field
  • Turn bad customer experiences into heroic customer service
  • And (again) so much more
I think that's pretty good ROI for 30 minutes of your time. Don't you?

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Home > Marketing > Cidnee Stephen > My secret spy online >
Article Tags: google reader, marketing, ROI, social media, strategy

About the Author: Cidnee Stephen
RSS for Cidnee's articles - Visit Cidnee's website

Like this article? Subscribe to Cidnee's FREE bi-weekly marketing tips at (http://www.strategiesforsuccess.ca/tips.htm) for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success. About the Author: Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success - a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Feel free to use this article as long as you include the following: by Cidnee Stephen of Strategies for Success http://www.strategiesforsuccess.ca

Click here to visit Cidnee's website Dashed Line

More from Cidnee Stephen
What is Social Media Marketing
5 WAYS TO LOSE A PROSPECT
Where to focus in 2012
Do You Suffer from Expert Failure
Does Your Marketing Lack Personality


Related Forum Posts
Re: How Much Of Ourselves Should We Give Away...? Re: How Much Of Ourselves Should We Give Away...? - what a great topic david start here, it reminds me of a movie i watched resently called KUNFU PANDA. The movie is all about keeping secret. there were two secret kept: the secret of dragon scroll and secret of cooking, later the secret was revealed which was no secret kept. the reason am relating this movie with the topic is that, you can give out 90% for free and hold on to 10% secret which will make you have more customer and traffic. I know some marketers both the internet and offline that will give you 100% product for free but whenever they want to sell to you the little one you will be glad to respond because of their gesture. What I would like to say is that giving out most of the product is a great marketing strategy to win more buyers to your future products.
Re: Can you read body language and convert it into a sale? Re: Can you read body language and convert it into a sale? - [quote="Kevin":2b3i4dqy] So what is your husband's secret? Can you give a specific example of what he does in order to win over customers?[/quote:2b3i4dqy] I don't know his secret, he was born this way, and has 40 years of training. He tried to teach me and coaching me, giving me opening lines, and we did illustrations of real conversation. No luck. He knows how to talk to people, and how to read them, even if it's over the phone, he knows exactly what to say and how to say it, he always tells me "you shouldn't say this, you should say it like this". I am amazed every time.
Trade secrets Trade secrets - Hi BizLoanz4u, I think I've only had a non-disclosure agreement with my web designer and I've never even felt the need to have one with my business coach when we were discussing my ideas. In fact, I knew that if he talked about my business with other people, it'd probably be in my best interests. When people talk about your idea, it helps provide free exposure and possibily even attracts others to get involved with your business. I believe that a person could probably have the most original idea, then write up the best business plan and even post it on the web or leave it on a college campus library table and the following would hold true: 1.) The idea or trade secret probably isn't original or a secret. 2.) The majority of people who stumble upon the "confidential" business plan would NOT act on it. 3.) The few who dare to take the risk and implement the idea would fail. 4.) And there's probably a better chance of winning the lottery or getting attacked by a shark or hit by lightning than for a person to find your idea/trade secret and turn it into a successful business.
Build up an antistress online business Build up an antistress online business - Hi all and thank you for reading! I am a psychotherapist and a psychologist and help people to combat stress and deal with hard issues in their lives (midlife crisis, depression, search for meaning, business and work related issues, private crisis). I work in this field for 15+ years, and people tell, they benefit from their work with me. As I had relocated to another country, some of my clients continue this work in the form of regular phone sessions (1-2 times a week). This work over the phone brings good results, too, so I developed an idea to start offering my services online. BUT... The success of my work is very much depending on development of trust. Only after one feels secure, non-judged, listened to and understood one can start opening up. Now, as I want to offer my help online, I still can not figure out, how to build this trust and how to get in contact with people interested in my service. It is generally hard to market my services even in the face-to-face mode. One can not approach people talking about the things they want to keep secret... I hope, you could give me some advice or feedback. How do you see my chances? ... as some services might not work - online - at all (I hope, this is NOT my case though. :~) Thank you in advance, Val
Re: The secret to happiness Re: The secret to happiness - The secret is having a career you love and be happy doing other things


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