At our Surfaces 2012 workshop - Social Media: How To For Business - Sarah Johnson and I used FloForm Countertops as an example. Here follows a Social Flooring Index review of their blog, the FloForm Countertops Blog: This Just In.
FloForm, which merged with Fine Line Pacific in August, 2011, launched its blog on March 19, 2010 [see Sunshine & Spring].
Blog articles are filled with delicious images that will leave you pining for [and pinning on Pinterest] new countertops! Check out 10 Kitchen Remodeling Trends, Our New Showroom In Winnipeg and Desert Theme Decorating For Your Home. What do you think?
I particularly enjoyed the glimpses blog articles offer of the FloForm organization and its people. Behind the scenes looks such as Nothing Is Impossible or the Regina Habitat For Humanity Fundraiser and The 2011 Kitchen Bath And Renovation Show Wrap Up based on a recent trade show event. No wonder they've been named to Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies of 2011! These are cool people!
The blog's sidebar includes, at the top, quick links to all of FloForm's social profiles, from Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube and Pinterest. Do check those out. The Facebook Fan page is unlike those I've encountered thus far -- with a section about Featured Designers, one on Inspiration, and plenty of interaction with fans on the wall.
The blog sidebar also features FloForm's Twitter stream.
Here's what I wish the FloForm Countertops Blog would do more of:
- Create a robust 'About Us' section that describes the company and its passion for countertops. Explain the connection between FloForm and Fine Line Pacific since references to Fine Line Pacific abound throughout the blog.
- Include a photo of the blog writer and/or editor in the blog sidebar.
- Add an email subscription option.
- Include a blogroll of admired designer, kitchen and bath blogs.
- Finally, the FloForm Facebook Fan Page is intensely interactive and alive. Why not add a Facebook Fan Widget to the blog sidebar to share some of that engagement on the blog?
Great job, FloForm Countertops Blog, promoting your love for countertops, brilliant kitchen and bath design and your community! I look forward to reading more.
What do you like most about the FloForm Countertops Blog? Let me know in the comments.
This Social Flooring Index review focuses on the Burgin Construction Blog.
I first heard about Burgin Construction about 2 years ago at Surfaces during a presentation given by Marty Gould from Focalize Consulting. Not only was Burgin Construction doing good marketing and effectively connecting with customers, but their name 'Burgin' sounded a lot like 'Bergin', my maiden name.
Several months back I got to 'meet' Rhonda Burgin via Twitter during #KBTribeChat [see Bathroom Blogfest Twitter Chat: #kbtribechat]. She is the voice you hear when you interact with Burgin Construction online...
Let me then introduce you to the Burgin Construction Blog.
The first article on the Burgin Construction Blog was written on January 26, 2009. Articles are published once per week and cover a variety of topics ranging from news about the Burgin team [We're welcoming our newest Burgin team member and It's a boy! Welcome to the World Eddy Jr.!] to articles about remodeling and Brad Burgin's Top 10 Products of 2011. You'll notice seasonal articles - e.g., What do you love about your home? for Valentine's Day - and ones that are locally relevant to Orange County, California.
I love that the blog includes a customer testimonial: A Rave Review for Burgin Construction.
Regardless of the topic, these blog articles are engaging, informative and alive with passion. No surprise, the blog has created a vibrant community [see Family, Hawaii and a Surprise].
In the Burgin Construction Blog sidebar you will notice a Facebook fan box, a link to a before/after home remodel slideshow and other projects, recent blog posts and.... an email subscription form, something many blogs forget to include.
You'll also notice in the site footer, a photo of Rhonda and Brad Burgin, company owners, and information about how the company got started.
Here's what I wish the Burgin Construction Blog would do more of:
- List blog article categories in the blog sidebar so readers can filter through articles and discover your rich content.
- Move the email subscription form above the fold and to the top of the sidebar for easy subscribing to your content.
Congratulations Rhonda and the Burgin Construction Blog for creating such an engaging environment! I look forward to reading more.
What do you like most about the Burgin Construction Blog? Let me know in the comments!
--
By the way, here is how to connect with Burgin Construction:
The Lumber Liquidators Blog was launched on 6/18/2010 with Hardwood Cleaning Tips.
The blog focuses primarily on flooring products with emphasis on hardwood flooring [bamboo, cork, engineered, handscraped, Janka, laminate...]. It does a tremendous job adressing
How-To and
Installation topics, using visuals and images to demonstrate tips and best practices.
Although it published more frequently when it first launched, the
Lumber Liquidators Blog has settled into a monthly publishing schedule. Blog articles focus on Lumber Liquidators links. However, they do include links to favorite sites as listed in the July 14, 2010 post titled
What WOOD You Like to Hear About?, the first article to highlight the blog editor's voice.
The blog's
About Us page focuses on the Lumber Liquidators History.
Popular posts detail articles from June and July 2010. In the blog sidebar, you'll find invitations to become a Fan, subscribe by RSS and follow the blog via Typepad.
Here's what I wish Lumber Liquidators would do:
1. Identify who's writing! I know there's personality there. Please let me know whose voice we are hearing!
2. About Facebook. Go check out Lumber Liquidators' Facebook Fan Page. There's a lot of activity and engagement taking place on a frequent basis. I'd love to see in the blog sidebar a Facebook Fan Page widget that captures some of that interaction.
3. Add an email subscription form to the blog sidebar.
Great job, Lumber Liquidators Blog, sharing wood flooring How-To and Installation tips with readers! I look forward to reading more.
What do you like most about the Lumber Liquidators Blog? Let me know in the comments.
If you attended Surfaces 2012, what did you think? I enjoyed my three education sessions as described in Surfaces 2012: Getting Found Online, Social Media, Marketing To Women and really appreciate the survey feedback, intense questions and rich interaction that took place about digital visibility, social media and connecting with flooring customers.
For each session, I conducted surveys [using SurveyMonkey]. I love doing it. It's a terrific way to get feedback from the audience prior to the event. It allows for customization of the content -- including examples volunteered from the audience to use during the presentation.
As a result, we had plenty of interaction that lasted well beyond the official timeframe of the presentations.
A few digital visibility and social media observations based on the Surfaces 2012 surveys...
- Compared to last year, I noticed more responses about using digital tools to promote and support the marketing of flooring businesses. Not only did everyone taking part in the survey have a website [not true last year], but most were updating their websites more frequently than once per year.
- In addition to websites, respondents mentioned using online photo albums of successful installations, online testimonials and articles. A few even mentioned online product reviews and QR codes for mobile devices.
- Search engines, word-of-mouth and websites are most important for connecting with customers. Email is a favorite digital tool for communicating with customers.
- Respondents use the Internet to interact with vendors, peers, employees, customers and prospects. They stated that the phone is most effective for communications.
From a personal perspective, a majority [70%] of respondents indicated they use Facebook and LinkedIn, then YouTube.
From a business perspective, the majority of respondents [65%] indicated their company uses a Facebook Fan Page. 40% indicated using a regular eNewsletter, sharing tools and product reviews. 30% say they use Twitter, Blogs, a LinkedIn Company page or Google Places.
The following chart captures the results visually and highlight how much opportunity flooring retailers and distributors have to make use of digital and social tools to improve digital visibility.
Here's something to think about: respondents indicated being more likely to survey flooring employees than customers.
"What is your biggest challenge with social media for business?"
I asked about frustrations associated with social media and digital visibility. Responses fell into two categories: managing time and figuring out how to make best use of the tools. More specifically,
- How to be found
- exposure
- You just can't seem to be found unless someone sends you a link. I've yet to find out how to get people to follow you since most of facebook is personal communication
- being more relevant than the competitor using the same practices
- We want to be found easily by our past customers and prospects, we are not as concerned with the lookie loo online shoppers finding us.
- Effectiveness. We don't want to annoy people.
- we are a wholesaler and most of the tools are usually geared to reach end users not tile retailers
- How do I use Facebook more effectively?
and
- That they might take up too much of my time in the office.
- Time
- time consuming,
- Bigger work load.
- time
- The time required to manage it. Finding ways to engage our customers.
- Too many options....hard to keep too many things updated and relevent.
- expensive
- How do I find someone who can redesign my website w/o taking all my money and giving me less than nothing?
Reactions? Feedback? Do these results echo your experience? What are your frustrations? Let me know in the comments.
If you would like to access the follow up materials and resources mentioned during the sessions, simply click on the following links:
Social Media: How To For Business workshop
Improving Your Digital Visibility to Better Connect With Customers
Marketing and Selling to Flooring and Stone Power Consumers [aka Women!]
Thanks for reading!
Would you like to learn more about Getting Found Online, Social Media Marketing and Marketing to Women?
Here's how! Next week, from January 23 through 26, 2012, Surfaces - the annual exposition for floor covering and stone professionals - takes place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. During that time, you can take part in several flooring-focused educational sessions, including three that I am involved in:
Dave Foster from TalkFloor FloorRadio interviewed me about all three sessions in this 20 minute interview which he describes as follows:
Christine Whittemore, Simple Marketing Now Discusses Educational Events she’s Presenting at Surfaces [to listen, click on the link]
Christine Whittemore, Simple Marketing Now, discusses the three educational events she is involved in at Surfaces 2012, two seminars and a workshop: “Social Media: How To For Business”, Practical Advice To Get Found Online and Connect With Customers, is the workshop she will be leading with Sarah B. Johnson of MKG Department; “Improving Your Digital Visibility to Better Connect with Customers,” is one of the seminars and the other is “Marketing and Selling to Flooring and Store Power Consumers (aka Women).”
As I mention in the interview, for each session, I conducted a survey with participants to understand key concerns and current digital practices.
Some surprises:
- Retailers are more likely to survey employees than customers
- Digital frustrations include finding the time and the resources to fully integrate digital and social, and figuring out how to reach and engage with customers.
- More retailers have websites and have experimented with social media tools than in past years. They may not be updating their websites frequently, but they are at least doing so once per year!
- A majority of survey respondents mentioned that search engines, word of mouth and websites represent primary sources for getting found by customers.
Attendees to all three sessions will benefit from tip sheets and links to resources. Our workshop participants will also receive copies of templates to use to help them develop a social media and content marketing strategy. Furthermore, each session will feature examples from session participants.
To register for these sessions, log on to the Surfaces website.
If you attend Surfaces, I do hope you will connect with me in person and/or via Twitter.
This Social Flooring Index Blog Review allows me to focus on my dear friend and fellow Bathroom Blogfest participant, Professor Toilet. He writes American Standard's the Professor Toilet Blog which is included in the November 2011 update to the Social Flooring Index.
Professor Toilet published his first blog article on June 1, 2009. And, although he hasn't been consistently regular [hmmm, that may go with the territory...], Professor Toilet publishes approximately 6 times per month with a hiatus over the holidays.
If you're curious about Who Professor Toilet is, you will learn that "Professor Toilet is based on the American Standard vice president/general manager for consumer fixtures, James Walsh. Note the resemblance."
Professor Toilet takes his job as an educator quite seriously. The stated goal of the Professor Toilet Blog is to educate. It's an "online classroom about plumbing products. The syllabus is simple. The content here will help you understand:
1. How to find the best toilet
2. How to find the best faucets that are the easiest to install
3. How to remodel or built a new bathroom with the best performing products"
Blog articles fall into the following categories: Bathing, Bathroom Remodeling, Clogged Toilets, Faucets, How a Toilet Works, Professor Toilet Tells All, Recommended Toilets, Saving Water, Showers, Toilet Humor, Toilet News, Toilet Repair, Toilet Replacement, Toilets, and Videos.
The Professor Toilet Blog sidebar includes recent comments, the Professor Toilet twitter feed, social 'Follow Us' icons for Professor Toilet and American Standard, and a brilliant search box where the search button is a 'flush handle'. Sweet!
What comes across when I read the Professor Toilet Blog is a fierce commitment to plumbing education, a passion for high performing, sustainable and responsible plumbing products and a delicious sense of humor.
You'll notice a range of content types including contests, eco-inspiration, trend reports, how-to instruction and blogger perspectives [e.g., American Standard Design Center Visit: Innovation with a Side of Toilet Humor]. Professor Toilet has participated in the last three annual Bathroom Blogfests with terrific articles!
Professor Toilet is not afraid to link out to other blogs and resources and expand the conversation!
Here's what I wish the Professor Toilet Blog would do:
- Add links to top posts or use the Link Within widget to showcase the gems published in previous blog articles
- Add an email subscription option
- Add a blogroll to the blog sidebar with links to bloggers and organizations as passionate as Professor Toilet is
Great job, Professor Toilet, capturing the richness of toilets, plumbing, water responsibility and sustainability! I look forward to reading more.
What do you like most about the Professor Toilet Blog? Let me know in the comments.
Have you had a chance to read the Surfaces and StonExpo Blog? It is included in the November 2011 update to the Social Flooring Index and next on the list for a Social Flooring Index blog review!
The Surfaces and StonExpo Blog was launched on December 10th, 2009 with a blog article titled You're As Good As the Company You Keep by my friend and associate Paul Friederichsen [also pictured here with the most recent blog article titled Looking to the Future of Floor Covering!].
Since its launch in late 2009, the Surfaces and StonExpo blog has published 66 articles, between 1 and 4 per month.
Articles fall into the following categories all relevant to the stone and flooring industries: business, care and maintenance, concrete, design, green, installation, legislation, marketing, sales, trends and uncategorized.
What I love most about the Surfaces and StonExpo blog is that it features so many contributors. To date, 24 individuals - all Surfaces and StonExpo education program presenters - have authored articles. More specifically, and in addition to Paul mentioned above who has contributed the most:
As a result, blog articles offer a wide variety of voices and perspectives, provide insight into the education program course offerings and draw readers into the fascinating and multi-faceted world of stone and flooring. In other words, it extends the Surfaces and StonExpo show experience beyond the trade show's specific four days.
The Surfaces and StonExpo Blog sidebar features, in addition to categories and authors, the three most popular posts and social media icons for following Surfaces and StonExpo via Twitter and Facebook.
Given this blog's focus on the stone and flooring industries, here's what I wish the Surfaces and StonExpo Blog would do:
- Offer an email subscription mechanism.
- Add more industry links and resources in the sidebar. The only one included is the Floor Covering Institute Blog. I know there are more!
- Identify a blog editor. Offer insider perspective on the Surfaces and StonExpo Show and identify the people of Hanley-Wood who make this show such an unforgettable event.
- Publish more consistently [i.e., one per week].
Great job, Surfaces and StonExpo Blog, capturing the richness of the flooring and stone industry and sharing a taste for what show attendees can expect! I look forward to reading more.
What do you like most about the Surfaces and StonExpo Blog? Let me know in the comments.
Let me introduce you to Sarah B. Johnson, managing director of MKG Department. She is my partner and co-presenter for the upcoming Surfaces 2012 Workshop titled Social Media: How To For Business [see press release] which takes place January 23, 2012.
[She is also responsible for my magnificent new Simple Marketing Now logo! Thank you, Sarah!]
In anticipation of our workshop, I asked Sarah a few questions
C.B.: Sarah, tell me about yourself and MKG Department.
I am the founder and managing director of MKG Department, which specializes in Internet marketing of granite countertop fabricators. Through my experience in the stone industry, I have a unique perspective that is very valuable to my clients. I know the ins, outs, ups and downs of the stone industry. I’ve also gotten to know the ideal granite countertop customer very well.
C.B.: How did you get started in your business?
I’ve been involved in the stone industry for about 9 years. Fresh out of college, I began working at a small granite fabrication shop in Fargo, ND. In a small company you get to wear a lot of hats, and I was a sponge. I learned a LOT about the stone industry, from inventory management and OSHA inspections to quality control and customer complaint resolution.
My main job and real passion though, was sales and marketing. In 2005, I was chosen as the recipient of the Migliore Natural Stone Education Scholarship, which awarded me the opportunity to attend my first Stone Expo. I met many respected people within the industry, attended seminars and visited with exhibitors on the show floor.
Over the next few years I got even more involved with the Marble Institute of America and other stone industry organizations. In 2008, I moved to Albuquerque, NM and continued my career at another granite fabrication shop. This was a bigger company in a bigger community, and I was able to focus more closely on marketing (and less on driving forgotten sinks to the jobsite!).
When I made the decision to move back to my home state of South Dakota, my boss asked me if I would consider setting up a home office and continuing to handle their marketing. That was the start of MKG Department. Over the past 2 years I have acquired more clients, and since I can dedicate 100% of my time on marketing, I've gotten very good at it!
C.B.: Sarah, what do you consider most important for businesses to be successful today?
Make sure that your customers can find you. The stone industry has changed significantly over the years. A membership to the local Home Builders Association and a good reputation aren’t enough to keep a fabricator busy anymore. You must have a consistent and appealing online presence where your customers are looking.
C.B.: How does social media fit in?
If you don’t claim your turf, who will? A strong social media presence will help you monitor what people are saying about your products and about your company. Listening to your customers not only gives you the opportunity to respond to their comments, it also plays the roll of market research. If you pay attention, you’ll know what is important to your customers and you can plan your develop your company image and advertising campaigns accordingly.
C.B.: Sarah, what advice would you offer businesses wanted to get started with social media?
Have a plan. If you jump in without one, you will drown. Take the time to define your strategy, and then make a commitment to maintaining each channel properly.
C.B.: Thank you, Sarah!
The advice I would add to Sarah's is to be sure to attend our Surfaces 2012 workshop so you can learn more about how to integrate social media into your business strategy.
By the way, Sarah contributed a fabulous article to the Surfaces Blog titled 20 Creative Ways to Promote Facebook Engagement. I hope you'll check it out.
Comments? Questions? Can you join us at Surfaces? We really hope to see you there.
I have a present for you in the form of a review of another blog from the November 2011 update to the Social Flooring Index. Check out Mannington's At Home Blog.
The At Home Blog was launched on February 15, 2011. Per the official inaugural blog post, "We hope to keep our topics interesting and centered around what’s important in your life: having a beautiful home; a place that makes you happy and gives you comfort; and spreading that happiness to others by “doing good” outside of your own house."
New blog articles are published approximately three times per month and address design, flooring, sustainable, decorating and community categories. I really like that the categories appear as menu tabs.
The At Home Blog sidebar includes a word cloud which is a visual way to represent the most common terms appearing in blog articles. The word cloud also makes it very engaging to go explore. You'll find links to the Mannington YouTube Channel, Facebook Fan page [with 586 fans] and Twitter profile [which is protected - not sure why].
Blog articles offer a great deal of design inspiration, including marvelous whimsy [see We're Suckers for Popsicle Brights - me, too!] and great juxtaposition of inspiration with Mannington flooring product images [see Bloomin' Color!].
Here's what I wish the At Home Blog would do more of:
- Make it easier to comment on your blog articles! Comments on many blog posts are closed. More recent blog articles require logging into Wordpress to comment. Consider including a comment form at the end of each article with options for registering. Also consider adding a comment policy for visitors [see How Do I get started with social media guidelines.]
- Add subscription options so readers can easily sign up for updates to new blog articles.
- Let me know who's writing! The 'contact' button generates an email to Betsy Amoroso, director of corporate communications. Why not include a photo, a name and a brief bio? It's much more engaging.
Mannington, your blog definitely makes me feel at home! I look forward to reading more!
What do you like most about Mannington's At Home Blog?
Best,
C.B.
Here is another blog from the November 2011 update to the Social Flooring Index for you to check out: Armstrong Flooring's The Floor Board Blog.
The Floor Board Blog was launched on June 30th, 2011 and publishes once per week.
Per the About The Floor Board Page, the blog focuses on providing guidance to homeowners about exploring, purchasing and maintaining [Armstrong] floors. The blog is organized according to the following categories:
The primary contributor to The Floor Board Blog is Kim Lefever, Armstrong's Social Media Manager. However, - and here's what I love about this blog - 13 Armstrong employees contribute to the blog as you can see from the Author Bios, all of which include interesting personal details! Notice, too, in the blog header photos of three of the blog contributors. These are real people writing. Fantastic!
The Floor Board Blog sidebar includes ArmstrongFloor's Twitterstream and a link to Armstrong's website demonstration on YouTube. You'll also find links to its Facebook Fan Page (2k+ fans) and to Twitter. In the blog comments, on Facebook and Twitter, you'll notice good interaction with readers, fans and followers.
The blog articles are informative, helpful and real.
Here's what I wish The Floor Board Blog would do:
- Add email as a subscription option in addition to RSS.
- Include photos of each of the blog contributors ideally on the author page with a link to each's blog articles and/or at the bottom of each article by the bio.
- Link to outside content. Every blog article links internally to Armstrong web content. Consider venturing out. For example, Paul Anater from Kitchen and Residential Design [listed in the Social Flooring Index] refers to Armstrong flooring products in The Case for Linoleum and Vinyl floors on Houzz. Why not refer to that content and to him? It makes for a richer reader experience and supports those who are getting the word out about Armstrong products.
Great Job providing homeowner flooring guidance, Armstrong! I look forward to reading more.
What do you like most about Armstrong's The Floor Board Blog?