April 21, 2009
The Mic Is On: Joe Hauckes Wants to Know Your Business
ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 6:55 pm
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
It’s Like Open Mic Only Different
Here’s how it works.
It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.
There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.
With Guest Host Joe Hauckes
an Original Open Commenter
Joe Knows Biz, But His Alien Is Curious
How Are You Making Things Happen Online?
What’s this? A golden opportunity to promote your business, to network, and to learn a few tricks of the trade. Share successes. Swap strategies and stories.
Tell us how you make things work online. Joe will be coming with the questions (and a few answers) and hoping that you’ll be bringing your best ideas and business link.
- What works for you?
- What have you seen other folks do that you could never get to work?
- Who do you think has it down?
- What do they do that you wish you could do?
Join us tonight and bring links your business to add to the discussion.
The rules are simple — be nice.
Do be nice. 
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?
Filed under SOB Business, Successful Blog |
C'mon. Let's talk!
143 Comments to “The Mic Is On: Joe Hauckes Wants to Know Your Business”
Search
SOBCon - 2010! Register NOW!!
The Videos
The Podcast
What Liz Does
- I help businesses, universities, and service professionals . . .
increase ROI and attract fiercely loyal fans . . .
by communicating with customers as people.
Buy These!! by Liz and friends
Blog Syndication
Get the blog in your reader or via email
Get the Successful-Blog Weekly Digest
- Updates once a week to you inbox and a free chapter from Liz's ebook!
Subscribe to SOBCon Newsletter
- Keep up with SOBCon News and Events!
Find Liz AT:
Liz Writes For
Chicago Time
Library
- About Liz
- Work with Liz!!
- Tues. OPEN COMMENT Night
- About Successful-Blog
- POPULAR POSTS
- SUCCESSFUL SERIES
- NEW BLOGGER PAGE
- LINK LEAK VIRUS
- 1800+ Directory Links
- Library of Outstanding Articles
SOB Pages
- What IS an SOB?!
- SOB A-Z Directory
- SOB Hall of Fame A-H
- SOB Hall of Fame I-Q
- SOB Hall of Fame R-Z
- . . . a B.A.D. Blogger?
Liz Links
The Liz Manifesto
- I am a writer who uses the language to paint and to play word music, places my heart and head in the spaces, and writes in the hope that one person is better for having read what I wrote.
Chgoland Meetups & Events
- Know about Chgoland meetups!
Get info or broadcast your event!
Category
- 121 Conversation (15)
- Analysis (45)
- Audience (56)
- B.A.D. Blogger (55)
- Basics (97)
- Blog Review (26)
- Bloggy Questions (126)
- Branding (211)
- Business Book (81)
- Business Life (646)
- Checklists (33)
- Comments (270)
- Community (832)
- Connecting Dots (28)
- Content (89)
- Customer Think (91)
- Design (85)
- Great Finds (322)
- Guest Writer (128)
- Idea Bank (33)
- Inside-Out Thinking (65)
- Interviews (85)
- Links (207)
- Liz Also Writes (3)
- Liz Talks Corporate (2)
- Marketing (645)
- Motivation/Inspiration (588)
- One Way to CC It (28)
- Outside the Box (188)
- Perfect Virtual Manager (54)
- Productivity (91)
- SEO (63)
- SOB Business (1050)
- Songs of Life (1)
- Strategy (167)
- Successful Blog (3845)
- Survival Kit (56)
- Tech/Stats (97)
- Technorati (24)
- The Big Idea (46)
- Tips (59)
- Tools (87)
- Trends (293)
- Writing (246)
- ZZZ-FUN (172)
joe said
Hey all,
It isn’t a suprise that I am First this time, is it?
joe said
Hello, hello, hello
Is there anybody in there?
Brooke said
hey! From my iPhone tonight but I wanted to be here!
Joe Hauckes said
Yeah, somebody is here!
Joe Hauckes said
How ya doing Brooke? Long time not talk too.
Joe Hauckes said
Ok, who is pretending to be me?
Brooke said
I’m great. Excited to be here. I wanna hear about peoples biz!
Joe Hauckes said
So did I Brooke, but I think the picture may have scared them all away.
Amy said
Hey Joe. Nice to see you’re hosting!
Joe Hauckes said
Hey Amy,
Thanks, any business type stories you want to share?
Amy said
First things first, what’s that alien of yours in the pic?
Joe Hauckes said
That’s my friend Al, he follows me to every conference I go to, he loves to stare at people and try to read their faces.
Joe Hauckes said
Amy, do you think Al is scaring people off?
Amy said
Al rocks. Does he have his own business?
I don’t think he’s scary… It’s probably ME scaring people off.
Christa M. Miller said
I remembered to be here tonight!
Not sure how much I can contribute as just now, Twitter is it for me, LOL - though I’m trying to get better at commenting on blogs…
Darrell said
Hi Everyone
Joe Hauckes said
Ok, for all you lurkers out there that are afraid of Al the alien, he is only an offcut of wood from when I did tree work for a living.
The cut looked like a face so I named it Al E Un.
He is a great icebreaker or meeting new people at conferences and a way to start a conversation that has nothing to do with business.
BUT, the conversation always turns to what everyone does for a living and eventually, if things click, friendships and business relationships develop from a stupid piece of wood sitting on the table.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Joe Hauckes said
Welcome Christa and Darrell
)
Any weird stories on how to develope business relationships (even through Twitter
Joe Hauckes said
#14 Amy, Al is my PR guy, you can hire him for some sawdust and a little kindling (but keep the flames away please)
Amy said
So what kind of business do you have, Joe?
All of my business stories are boring. I’m a consultant, and I write some, but neither is truly a business (except to the IRS).
Darrell said
I am trying to learn how to develop business relationships on-line? (new at this)
Christa M. Miller said
Not sure they’re weird. Probably pretty run-of-the-mill, really.
I think having a niche helped. I was able to jump in with a group I was already familiar with both culturally and informationally (law enforcement, oddly enough). Then I kind of went from there!
Joe Hauckes said
Amy, I too am a consultant. I wonder if we consult in the same field or maybe different things in the same field.
Please do tell.
Christa M. Miller said
#20 Amy, I’m hoping the IRS will think my income from my “business” is so laughable that they will pay me to leave them alone. And I don’t mean a refund!
Amy said
My clients are lawyers. Right now I am doing mostly blog consulting, a little bit of other social media stuff, and some writing work. I enjoy it, but doesn’t make for many good stories… except for a few I can’t share online. Hehehe.
How about everyone else?
Amy said
Christa, my goal (or rather, my accountant’s) is to not get audited until next year.
Joe Hauckes said
Darrell, you are off to a good start by being here tonight, there are lots of helpful people here. some of us even have learned a lot and made some business contacts just by being friendly and participating in conversations.
Personally I think if you build a relationship and get to know others as people first, they will be more than happy to help you out in business if they can.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Hi Joe et al!
Amy said
Hi Glenda!!!
Darrell, I don’t know what kind of business you run, but you might give Twitter a try if you haven’t already. I get more than half of my clients through a combination of Twitter, LinkedIn and my blog.
Christa M. Miller said
I have one PR client. I did not meet him online - a friend introduced us at a conference (and I wasn’t even there! Heh). But he is really into social media so we’re learning the space together.
(Actually, that IS a cool story. His last PR firm was completely incompetent AND spent his budget. He can pay only a % of sales right now so that’s the tradeoff - I get to learn on his company and we both either make out well, or not. Great match though!)
Anyway, in addition to consulting and writing for his company, I’ve done some informal consulting for LE agencies on social media, and part of that is my blog cops2point0.com. Hoping at some point that leads to work!
Christa M. Miller said
Darrell, probably 80 percent of my tweeting is just being friendly with people.
LinkedIn is one of those spaces I would like to leverage more, but time is at a serious premium. I DID use it (via groups) to get an opportunity for my client, though. That was cool!
Joe Hauckes said
Amy, if you think your clients are different from mine by much, think again…
I have some DENTIST’s as clients. Try to set a pretty web presence up for a Doctor who pulls teeth for a living.
Brooke said
I was very active on this forum for years she I met two great biz partners thru that. That was my first online biz relationship!
Joe Hauckes said
Ms Glenda, I almost missed your Grand Entrance!
Joe Hauckes said
I don’t know how Liz keeps up, someone keep a list!!!
Brooke said
No 29 - amy! That’s awesome! How do you get them?
Amy said
Time for me to go. Might pop back in in a bit. Have fun.
Amy said
Brooke, my clients are lawyers. So I follow lawyers and talk to them. Answer their questions, read their blogs, etc.:-)
Joe Hauckes said
#33 Brooke, I was very active in Forums for a long time and still get many hits on my blog from participating in the conversations there.
Brooke said
so joe you are hosting and you are solo? You are doing great!
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Hey Joe, I quietly slipped in tonight. Need to go reread the top for the topic.
Brooke said
That’s cool amy. Smart. Forums can be great joe!
Joe Hauckes said
Brooke, yes solo so far, agreed on forums.
Glenda, good luck, my head is spinning from reading so fast.
Amy, it sounds like you have a plan on how to work with clients who’ve been had by baddies.
Darrell said
#31 I am a friendly person,so that does not sound to hard
Joe Hauckes said
Sorry Christa, the previous comment about having a plan for clients who’ve dealt with the baddies was meant for YOU.
Even though I think Amy dealing with law enforcement in any way would probably fit the bill too.
Christa M. Miller said
Darrell, it really isn’t. I would start with people you know or feel comfortable with. Introduce yourself and jump in. Find news articles you think would be interesting to them and tweet them. Talk a little bit about your life and work. People on Twitter respond very well unless they feel you are talking AT them i.e. trying to “sell” them something!
Joe Hauckes said
Darrell, as long as you are youself and just have real conversations, things will work out for you.
Christa M. Miller said
LOL Joe! No problem. I’m kind of snickering because we all know how cops feel about lawyers.
I am trying to show how social media present a new opportunity for community relations.
It’s a little tough because the blog doesn’t pay compared to other work (and I’m full-time now) but if I want it to bring me clients, I need to find a way to invest more time in it… you know?
ME Liz Strauss said
Sounds like the theme song tonight should be “Lawyers, Guns, and Money.” heh heh
Christa M. Miller said
Liz, better that song than “Excitable Boy.”
Joe Hauckes said
Christa, I think there is a valuable place in social media for cops and lawyers, but I saw a mis-use by someone who was NOT law enforcement posting on Twitter mugshots of people he thought were guilty of crimes he deemed should be posted (in the name of the Houston PD, I think it was). BAD!
ME Liz Strauss said
Yeah, Christa, I think you’re right.
Joe Hauckes said
Hey Liz, want a Klondike?
Joe Hauckes said
Sorry, I should have offered some to everyone!
ANYONE WANT A KLONDIKE BAR?
ME Liz Strauss said
Yeah, that would be spectacular. Got a Heath Bar Klondike for me?
Joe Hauckes said
Wow, we just got a big clap of thunder round here, so if I disappear, you know why!
Joe Hauckes said
Liz,I didn’t even know that Heath bar Klondikes existed until SOBCon08…
ME Liz Strauss said
Joe and everyone!
Today Klondike said they wanted to be an official sponsor of SOBCon09!
Christa M. Miller said
#51 Yeah, that’s definitely a problem, and I think it’s grounds for criminal charges. That’s the appeal of a service like Nixle (a guest blogger just wrote about it), which is 100% secure but also integrates with Twitter. So an agency that had both would be able to say “these are our legit accounts but this one isn’t.”
It also speaks to the importance of putting cops in online spaces to keep an eye on their own agency brands. A lot still aren’t because they don’t see the value of it; they think it’s a big time-waster. Not much different from many companies, except with public safety involved!
Joe Hauckes said
Now, that’s good business Liz, do you think you could have the send me a free sample since I can’t make it to Chicago this year?
Christa M. Miller said
Liz, that rocks! Congrats!! Maybe there will even be a heat wave.
Joe Hauckes said
Christa, I think LE and the Big corps will eventually see the value in keeping an eye on what is said about them, true or lie, just for damage control if nothing else.
Hopefully, they get a clue before things get too out of hand.
Christa M. Miller said
The danger for LE is that they have this idea that everything said about them will automatically be negative. At least for older cops. The Gen Y kids just joining the force now already know that a lot of positive happens online. My guest who posted about Nixle is a 28yo chief who has already gotten criticism from the old timers. So the question is whether they will use social media to change the experience of LE, or allow their experiences to harden and change their views (as previous generations have done with previous forms of media)?
ME Liz Strauss said
Christa and Joe,
I had lunch with Lauren Freedman this week. When she surveyed online retailers only 4% said they were considering the social web important.
Brooke said
I wanna Klondike! Thanks!
Christa M. Miller said
That low? Sheesh…
Joe Hauckes said
Christa, you want them to become somewhat hardened but not inflexible in their perception of the media, new or old.
But I think the ‘y’ers may have a better grasp of the power of social and new media as a whole.
I hope.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Brooke!
ME Liz Strauss said
#66
We’re talking retailers like ArmaniExchange
Joe Hauckes said
Here Brooke, Heath Klondikes (Liz found them in her hiding place).
ME Liz Strauss said
Did not, Joe!
You knew where they were all of the time.
Christa M. Miller said
Joe, I would really love to get with some Gen Y thinkers to talk to them… on the one hand they are driving social media in many ways (MySpace, iPod, etc.) In others they could end up being more malleable to their supervisors’ examples. They are so much more collaborative and eager for guidance - will they be able to trust their own experience in a high-stress job like LE? Remains to be seen.
Liz - high end retailers, then? So is the belief that their customers are not in these spaces?
Joe Hauckes said
Liz, If they do business online, how can the NOT consider at least some type of social media important.
Don’t they have stats packages and all those fancy dancy PR firms that are supposed to be in touch with the now generation?
ME Liz Strauss said
#72
Not necessarily high end — online versions of brick and mortar retail.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Sorry,we had a visitor,so i’m jumping back in. I’m liking how twitter , facebook and linkedin are becoming more integrated. Makes things easier. But why can’t tweetdeck remember my password?
ME Liz Strauss said
Joe,
I don’t know that every business need to be “social media” right now. Some places I don’t need to have a relationship. I just go to buy and leave.
I stopped a few places recently where I didn’t bother looking at their blog.
Joe Hauckes said
Christa, you need to talk to Tim Johnson (Where are you tonight Tim?)
His blog is called Carpe Factum and he knows how to communicate with his College studets and does volunteer work for LE in his home town.
ME Liz Strauss said
Glenda,
Are you sure it’s not Twitter that’s not remembering it?
Twitter now signs you off if you sign on with a different machine. Even if it’s a machine you regularly tweet on.
Christa M. Miller said
Really Joe - his name looks familiar, thanks for the heads-up! Looking at his blog now.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Liz, tweetdeck asks for facebook password every time I reopen tweetdeck .
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
#58 Awesome Liz!
Brooke said
Sorry I could not participate more. I hope you all have a great night!
ME Liz Strauss said
Ah, Glenda,
Facebook signs me out a lot too.
Joe Hauckes said
Brooke, leaving so soon?
Have a good one. Thanks for being here.
ME Liz Strauss said
Goodnight, Brooke!
Thanks for being here!
Christa M. Miller said
Good night, Brooke.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Liz, maybe the next tweetdeck update will have rememberer!
And, I recently discovered how to feed posts into linkedin - that is nice .
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Night Brooke!
ME Liz Strauss said
I like sending posts to LinkedIn too. When I remember to tag the ones I want to go there.
Christa M. Miller said
I am still trying to find a good integrator. (?) I tried Ping.fm but the service was down so often that I stopped using it. Any recommendations?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
#89 Oh, you can filter which posts go to linkedin?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Christa, I’d love to hear more about integrators.
ME Liz Strauss said
I have to tag mine with “LinkedIn” How are you getting yours there?
ME Liz Strauss said
Christa,
I don’t think I want to be integrated that way.
Christa M. Miller said
Well don’t get me wrong - I don’t want my tweets going to Facebook or LinkedIn, I tweet constantly some days!
Some of my tweeps seem to “get it” more easily, though. Actually I should probably just ask them. Sigh. LOL
Joe Hauckes said
Have any of you tried the WordPress thing in the sidebar in LinkedIn?
You can set up your blog but I think it just uses your feed to show recent posts.
ME Liz Strauss said
What’s your goal, Christa?
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Liz, there was somekind of widgety plugin on linkedin that grabs my posts.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Joe, I’ve just found the typepad thing that pulls my posts into my linkedin profile…is that the same thing?
Christa M. Miller said
Joe, I would like Cops 2.0 posts to go to LinkedIn, but isn’t that WP widget only for WP.com hosted blogs, not self-hosted?
Liz, mainly I don’t want to have to remember to update LinkedIn manually - I hardly spend any time over there. You know, I think I would use TweetDeck much more if it had a LinkedIn connection as well as Facebook.
Facebook I STILL haven’t decided what I’m doing with! I talk mainly to close friends there, though I am also a “fan” of LE pages (so I can see what they’re doing) and I’m connected to some other PR people.
Facebook itself seems so indiscriminate compared to MySpace (artist types; I use it mainly for my fiction) or LinkedIn. Maybe just my personal perception…
Joe Hauckes said
Glenda, it is very similar, it is a widget within LI that all you should have to do is input a little info about your site (feed) and it shows recent post for you.
ME Liz Strauss said
Christa,
I don’t do it over there. I hardly ever go over unless I get something I need to respond to. I simply tag the posts with the tag “LinkedIn” I set it up through their site in about 2 minutes.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Here’s what I mean http://www.typepad.com/features/bloglink.html - it installs via your linkedin page.
Joe Hauckes said
Christa, no not just wp.com blogs, you can use your selfhosted wp blog, as long as it is set on the main domain (not a page or subdomain).
My WAHI blog doesn’t work with the widget because it is actually on a page of the domain.
But my MCBS blog does work because it is on the main domain.
Christa M. Miller said
Hmm. OK. LOL I am going to need to spend some time over there, I see! Thank you…
Joe Hauckes said
Is there anybody still awake here?
I know I’m starting to get tuckered out.
Tim Bursch said
Hi, is it too late to join the fun?
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Tim!
You might have just made it in under the wire.
I’m yawning too, Joe!
Joe Hauckes said
Hey Tim,
It’s never too late, welcome.
Tim Bursch said
Joe, I have tried the WP on Linkedin deal. Seems to drive some traffic.
Christa M. Miller said
Hi, Tim. I should be up for a little while anyway!
Tim Bursch said
Hi Liz, Joe, and Christa!
I just offered to help a small biz go web 2.0. They are still using postcards and have a brochure website. Main need is new customers and traffic. Any ideas?
Joe Hauckes said
Tim, I have aways thought that every little bit helps. Personally I think LI is a bit more business oriented than some of the others so even one or two clickthroughs to the site could turn into a brand new client since they already know that it is my business blog.
Glenda Watson Hyatt said
Thanks Tim for hosting. Thanks Liz for the space to hang.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Tim,
What’s their goal?
ME Liz Strauss said
Sorry I read it and it didn’t sink in.
Tim Bursch said
Engage customers more and find new ones. It is an award business.
Christa M. Miller said
Liz, I’m confused by what you mean - get something you need to respond to? So people can comment right on LinkedIn rather than having to go to your blog to comment?
ME Liz Strauss said
Well, Tim,
What sort of business are they in?
Joe Hauckes said
Tim, you may want to let them get their feet wet slowly, not jump in over their head.
If they already have a website, they may want to do an opt-in newsletter of some sort to clients in conjunction with the postcard campaign. Keep stats on both and see which works better for them.
Slowly build them into other forms of online media (one at a time) like blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn etc to see what works for them.
Just a couple of off the cuff thoughts.
Tim Bursch said
Liz- award and incentive biz.
Joe- I like that. I was thinking of starting with email and then possibly a blog 2nd. Not all at once.
Joe Hauckes said
Ahhh, Glenda, I am pretty sure Tim wasn’t hosting tonight.
ME Liz Strauss said
Their customers are business? B2B then, right?
Christa M. Miller said
Tim, that’s where my client is too right now. He’s probably a little more involved with soc media than yours currently is (they do send out emails which he would like to make more regular) but other adoption has been slow.
Right now we are working on upgrading the website to be more content-rich and interactive. When that is done, we’ll start looking at soc media. He’s on Twitter and I want to build that up a bit. LinkedIn too. He’s also been asking about MySpace and Facebook but that will take a lot more careful thought and strategy.
Part of my learning process is figuring out how to figure out where the customers are, prospects and current users… there are some everywhere but to what extent, and how would they want to be reached?
Tim Bursch said
Liz, Right.
Joe, I don’t mind hosting if you need to get your rest. Just kidding!
Tim Bursch said
Christa,
Good point on where customers are. That seems to take some listening.
Christa M. Miller said
Definitely listening, but most customers don’t even know we’re out there. (Co. started in 2007 and has mainly been in the law enforcement space; has value for corporate and that’s whom we want to reach out to now.) That’s our challenge.
Our main strategy, actually, is content. White papers, case studies, articles in B2B magazines/websites. Oh, and he has a blog. It is all a matter of finding time to work on it all!
ME Liz Strauss said
Well, Tim, get the easy stuff going first. Check their SEO, particularly their Search for them and see what comes up. The descriptors may be all wrong and pulling the wrong people to their site.
Let Google take some of the load off first.
Tim Bursch said
Christa, Thanks for the ideas.
Liz, I will start there. I know they just need some real basics to begin. Thanks.
Joe Hauckes said
Oh what a wonderful time I’ve had
Guest hosting tonight for Liz
I learned so much and hope I’ve helped
As we all talked about our Biz
When friends gather to contemplate
and share our group knowledge
We learn from each other and find
It’s like Goldie Locks sharing porage
Thank you Liz for allowing me
To be here with your trust
And share the community’s knowledge
In the end, we know that it’s a Must.
Burma Shave
Nite Liz
Nite All
ME Liz Strauss said
Joe’s idea of an opt-in newsletter could work, especially if you combine it with a report or sample of information of some kind. In this case, it might be “the top three incentives for sales reps and why they work.”
The free report when they opt-in to the newsletter needs a title that people search for. It would seem that sales managers might be a target market so I choose the one I wrote there.
ME Liz Strauss said
Good night, Joe
Sleepy swell.
Tim Bursch said
Joe, Thanks for hosting.
Liz,
I am taking notes. Starting a list for keywords too.
Christa M. Miller said
Thanks, Joe! Good night!
ME Liz Strauss said
While the report is collecting names for the newletter, and while the tags are getting indexed properly in Google, have your client start monitoring Twitter for key terms that apply to their business.
Make sure they have a profile on Twitter that tells why I would want to work with them — even when they’re only listening.
Tim Bursch said
Liz,
I’m learning. Regarding their website- I am thinking- start with content?
ME Liz Strauss said
Tim,
Start with what you can get working for them, earning for them, or pulling traffic for them first.
Tim Bursch said
Liz,
Thanks. I’ll let ya know what works.
ME Liz Strauss said
Come let me know about the second week of May.
Tim Bursch said
I am planning on next year! Have a good night all.
ME Liz Strauss said
Good night, Tim!
Thank you for coming!
Christa M. Miller said
I guess that’s nighty-night for all of us, then. Thanks Liz!
ME Liz Strauss said
good night Christa!
Thank you for the conversation.