Sleuthing Social Sites, Part 2 - Marketing

The Myth of the Luddite PI

We decided early in this firm's development to embrace the mythology of the Private Eye--Ferrari, fedora, and all. In that spirit, we craft a monthly post called [FIND] Vice. It's a celebration of our favorite fictional PIs, complete with a cocktail and cigar pairing, chosen with care by our favorite real-life mixologists and stogie men.

One aspect of the PI myth that we do not embrace, however, is that of the technophobe gumshoe.

To our minds, the [FIND] Vice feature merges past and present, to our benefit. By using a modern platform to pay homage to the vintage PI (and all the romance therein), we massage the myth, while living fully in the present. Basically, it's a way to connect, a sophisticated interaction with current and prospective customers, and it costs us nothing but a little time and creativity.

We're looking for a level of professionalism in our online presence-- a blend of casual, transparent and intelligent e-communications that both engage our audience and project (we hope) a certain familiarity with the wired world. A necessary attribute for the modern investigator, in our view.

Content Matters
Admittedly, mastering the art of social media marketing is more difficult than it sounds. It's not enough to just join the usual-suspect social-media granfalloons--e.g. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. It's about knowing how to use those sites to start a conversation, and keeping that conversation going using a combination of social media platforms, blogs, newsletters, QR codes, and (of course) a well-designed website that aggregates your company's online information portals.

Take a quick glance at the Twitter universe, and you'll see what we mean: millions of e-voices, few of them saying anything worthwhile or interesting. They're not conversing; they're advertising. "Visit my site!" "Buy my book!" It's hard to find any real content amidst the chaos of voices.

We struggle daily with the question of content, wondering if the information we're sending into the world is worthy of the ones and zeroes we're using up in its production. Transparency means looking inward as well as outward--it's easy to point to problems with someone else's website, blog, or marketing approach. But the very act of pushing ideas into the electronic ether changes the ideas themselves--because we get unexpected responses, the kind that demand that we re-think how we do things.

Are our blog posts too long? Maybe. We delve deep into subjects, reference economists, thinkers, literature. We believe our clients are smart, and they deserve as thorough a treatment of the subjects we cover as we ourselves seek in newspapers, magazines, and online journals.

Are we using Twitter, Facebook, and our monthly newsletter to best effect? It's a question we ask ourselves every day. Using posts and newsletter bursts, we've been successful in driving traffic to our blog so far. We sometimes tweet field updates when we're pulling surveillance. All these strategies seem to keep our clients interested and engaged, and our names bobbing at or near the surface of their attention.

But we have plenty to learn.

One thing we do know: it's useless to try to draw a straight line between social media and money. None of this makes a penny, at least not in a directly measurable way. We've excised "monetize" from our vocabulary, at least when it comes to our online presence. We charge for our work; the engagement is free.

Tell Your Story
It's a long-term way of thinking, and sometimes the waiting is frustrating. But it's become clear to us that building a sophisticated media presence using journalistic outlets, social media platforms, blogs, and a well-designed website does eventually drive engagement and interaction. All of these media are ways for us to tell customers our story, to let them know who we are and what we value.

In today's marketplace, it's not enough to be merely competent. Your clients aren't just purchasing information as a commodity; they're investing in you.

Tell them your story. Be calculating, but authentic. And most of all, be patient.

Quick Response Codes and how you can use them...

Here at [FIND] Investigations, we try to keep up with new technology. That’s why we are so proud to bring you this ten-year-old technology from Japan. QR Codes, or 2D bar codes, are turning up in magazines, on billboards, emblazoned across T-shirts, and embedded in airline tickets. I found one in a Tag Hauer advertisement on the back of Fast Company magazine this weekend. Simply put, a QR Code is a version of a bar code that allows you to put complex information into a graphical format.

Want to hand over your contact card with a quick scan? Generate a QR Contact code.

Want to deliver readers to your website? You could, as we all do, put your web address on your business card and hope they remember to key in the url when they get back to the office. Or, you could place a QR code on your business card and have them scan it with their smart phone. Hey presto, they’re taken directly to your homepage or blog.

You can build a code that, when scanned by an iPhone or Droid, delivers a prospective client to your Facebook page, twitter feed, RSS feed, etc. etc. You can even have the code offer them the chance to “Like” or follow your brand. I just created one code that, once scanned into the iPhone, automatically likes our company’s Facebook page.

Here are a few simple ideas for ways to employ QR Codes in your marketing plan:

Ø      Business Cards – Put a QR Code on your card that contains your contact information. When someone scans your card into their smart phone, a new contact is automatically added to their phone.

Ø      Marketing Materials – Place a QR Code somewhere on your brochure or one pager. Have that code instantly deliver the reader to a specific section of your website or blog that relates to the service.

Ø      Giveaway Items – Say you’re at a trade show. You have a booth set up. Why not have a QR Code on those key chains, pens, and T-shirts?

Ø      Scavenger Hunts – [FIND] Investigations is working on setting up a scavenger hunt in conjunction with our client appreciation dinner this next fall. We’re considering using QR Codes for clues.

I guess the point of this is quite simple: make it easy for people to connect with you and your business. Make your brand--that idea or image you’re trying to build--easy to find. Create opportunities for people to hear your story, that narrative that you’ve created.

Here are a few sources for QR Code generators.

www.beetagg.com

www.likify.net

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

If you have an iPhone or a Droid, download a QR reader. Search the App store for QR Code Readers or 2D Code readers. Scan the code at the top of this post, share it on Facebook. Put these little codes to work for you today.

Congratulations to our friend and fellow PI, Amber Kaset

I just happened over to a fellow Investigator's web site this morning. If you have a minute and want to see a brilliant PI web site, click here. Amber Kaset, of AK Investigations, is a friend and a highly talented investigator. Her specialty is criminal investigations. Her website is a breath of fresh air. I particularly love the sidebar where she posts testimonials and references. My favorite quote is from attorney Laura Dykes, who says of Amber, "If you ever wanted an investigator who could 'pour piss out of a boot without looking for directions on the heel,' she's the one."

From a marketing perspective, Amber's use of the first person active voice is strong. Welcome to the business Amber. Again if you have a minute, click on over to www.akinvestigate.com.

Linchpin - a review

This is a two part post.

Part One: If you get a chance, click your way over to the Acumen Fund website and check it out. Here’s a snippet from their web page.

Acumen Fund is a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. We seek to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Our investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services – like health, water, housing and energy – through innovative, market-oriented approaches.

The reason I ask that you check these guys out is Seth Godin requested that those of us who received a preview copy of his new book, Linchpin, donate to the Acumen Fund. It’s a great organization and we here at [FIND] Investigations are proud to be a part, a very small part, of the process.

Part Two:

Linchpin, like the other books I’ve read by Seth Godin, is not a how-to book. Sure, it falls neatly into the self-help genre, but there’s no set of rules for improving your self-image or list of things you can do to close more sales. What you find in Linchpin are the typical Seth Godin stories, anecdotes from real life that offer a glimpse into the actions of successful people.

What’s interesting is the definition of success that tends to thread its way through Godin’s books. It’s not measured in dollars, necessarily, or even lifestyle, but perception, maybe even happiness. My favorite example is the coffee shop worker at Dean and Deluca in New York who says he’s working for blessings. This guy has made himself indispensible to his employer by simply doing nice things for “his” customers.

Godin claims that he does not tell you what to do, but if you read the book through, there’s a clear call to action. Be amazing. From Godin’s advice of avoiding resumes to his suggestion that you Google yourself, something we self obsessed people do all the time. End of the day, the point is to use the technology available, our natural instinct to make connections, and simple common courtesy to shine. Like any really useful self-help book, Linchpin simply affirms what you already know.

I’ll let you in on a little secret here. The staff at [FIND] Investigations tries to employ Godin’s ideas whenever and wherever possible. Check out our web site, www.findinvestigations.com. It is unlike any other investigations company web site out there. Click over to Marketplace and listen to our public radio stories. Sign up for the [FIND] Investigations Monthly Ledger, our monthly newsletter.

Now, it is true that we do all of these things in order to set ourselves apart from other investigation companies. But more importantly, these are outlets for our creativity and a chance for us to show you a little bit about how we think, the way we approach a problem.

Godin says in Linchpin, “Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for – those jobs don’t get filled by people emailing in resumes.” Well, we won’t show you a resume, but feel free to drop by any time and take a tour of our method.

THH