I belonged to a local networking group that touts allowing only “one person per profession”.  When a competitor of mine visited the group, I told them that they would not be able to promote the specific services in conflict.  They said, “No problem.”  On their next visit, they again promoted those services, so I took our president with me to tell them that they could not offer those services that conflicted with mine.  Problem solved, right?

Imagine my surprise when they were inducted a few weeks later without my signature in the approval section of the application for just this situation.  I asked why I hadn’t been contacted, and was told that the president told them it wasn’t necessary.

It seemed like they’d stopped promoting my services, but soon I found out that they did on weeks I was not in attendance.  Then I overheard reviews from members for my services as being performed by the other member.

I submitted a formal written complaint to the president and vice-president explaining the situation and came up with what I thought were our only alternatives, my competitor could start another chapter, they leave, or I leave.  Nothing happened for three weeks, so I asked them to meet with me after the meeting.

Yeah, they got my letter…no, they hadn’t done anything.  Since I was getting ready to  take a leave of absence they’d already approved, I told them they must get it taken care of, as I would have no way to monitor the situation after I took leave.

I was appalled with their solution.  The following week EVERY member received a memo from the vice-president saying that this person was getting referrals that belonged to me, and that everyone should ask me before referring them any business.

Oh, my God!  I wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and die.  Now they’ve taken what should have been handled one on one with the conflicting party and made me out to be, “Oh whoa is me” Jeannine.

Needless to say, the conflicting party was very upset and voiced some very angry words about how this was handled.  I made it very clear that I agreed.  Now everyone felt like I was picking on my competitor.  As you may have already guessed, my referrals were all sent their direction.

Unethical – you bet!  On the conflicting party’s part for not adhering to the rules and heeding the warnings, on the leadership team’s part for not having handled it properly, quickly, or discreetly, and on the rest of the membership for not trying to understand the conflict, and supporting a long-time “charter” member.

I took my leave of absence, and started utilizing that time to market my business in other ways. Since I left the group I’ve put on many new clients, making me realize that this group truly wasn’t the right place for me.

When I received an invoice for meals and dues last week, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.  Bet they miss my referrals.  I was almost always the group leader!  Ignoring my personal feelings, I penned a cordial letter letting them know that it just wasn’t working for me as a good option for marketing my business.

About six months later I heard the Chapter had folded.  I was probably one of a few people who understood why.  When they didn’t use good business ethics as the foundation for the organization, how could they expect to succeed?

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA).  ABS provides ‘as needed marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs.  Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her free 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, send a request to: service@accbizsvcs.com or visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com, www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com

Popularity: 2% [?]

Tweet This Post

If there is one thing every online business wants today, it is a dedicated social media presence. From local businesses to huge multinational companies, the list of enterprising marketers involved in social media is growing by the day, sometimes at an alarmingly fast rate.

But social media marketing is not all about Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, and building your own community. A large number of the most successful social media marketers do not even create their own accounts, instead relying on dedicated users to do their marketing for them.

These five methods, tactics, and techniques will help you build a social media presence for your business, all without building a new website or Twitter account. Whether your company maintains a static website or a dynamic blog, incorporating these five techniques will help you gain customers and dedicated social media fans.

Build and Manage a Company Blog

In many ways, blogs are the ultimate social media resource. They are dynamic, they are engaging, and they are something that almost every business should be investing in. Before you add icons to your website or create a company Twitter account, ensure that your business is sharing information on a regular basis that can help your audience stay interested, dedicated, and invested in what you are doing.

Use Social Media Sharing Icons

Social media sharing icons are one of the most common additions to blogging platforms. From Wordpress to Movable Type, almost every blogging back end is accompanied by its own set of Twitter, Facebook, and Ning sharing icons. A quick five minute installation process is all that is required to quickly and easily incorporate sharing icons into your company blog or website.

Encourage Comments

Thanks to commenting platforms like Discus, blog comments are no longer the isolated and unlinked pieces of content that they once were. By encouraging comments, you’ll gain links to new social media presences and help your blog to appear on aggregator websites. Install a dynamic comment tool (Discus) and ensure your anti-spam extension works, then ask readers for their opinions and input.

Use Auto-Tweeting Tools to Gain Twitter Traffic

Marketers constantly bemoan Twitter’s lack of valuable traffic, all the while ignoring its real value: as a huge sharing platform and dedicated community. While Twitter is undeniably ineffective when it comes to selling, it is one of the most important platforms on the internet for helping content go truly viral. If your business has a new blog post or product which is in need of publicity, be sure to configure an auto-tweeting extension to spread the word.

Submit Your Content to Digg, Reddit, and Other Social Bookmarking Websites

Much like Twitter, social bookmarking websites are not renowned for their buy-ready audiences or valuable advertising inventory. However, they are a great tool for creating links to your website, gaining online exposure, and eventually being featured on an influential website. Invest some time into your social bookmarking accounts and you’ll be rewarded, often significantly more so than you would have expected.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Tweet This Post