Media Decoder: Weinstein Company Loses Appeal to Use Movie Title ‘The Butler’

Eliot Spitzer promises to spend plenty on the race for New York City comptroller without revealing where it comes from.

Mark Kozelek shares a song about his mom, who cleaned his ears, dropped him off at rehab and helped him buy a Les Paul.

Media Decoder: Weinstein Company Loses Appeal to Use Movie Title ‘The Butler’

Eliot Spitzer promises to spend plenty on the race for New York City comptroller without revealing where it comes from.

Mark Kozelek shares a song about his mom, who cleaned his ears, dropped him off at rehab and helped him buy a Les Paul.

You're the Boss Blog: Social Media and the Not-So-Sexy Business

Courtesy of Patrick Driscoll Residential Remodeling. Patrick Driscoll (left) with Parker Cook, a carpenter, and Murphy.Generating revenue along with the buzz.

My favorite thing about writing for this blog is when someone gives me a social media challenge. On a recent post, Where Should I Invest My Marketing Dollars? a business owner from Texas who identified himself as “PW” left the following comment:

I think the problem businesses like kitchen installers, plumbers, tree trimmers and others are having when it comes to social media is to overcome the fact that their product or service is not necessarily cool. I am one of those business owners and I always think that social media is only for the coffee shop, graphic designer or the bike shop. When you own a roofing company or a cleaning service, is there really a (useful) place for you on FB or Twitter? Let’s be realistic, no one is going to repin the picture of a concrete driveway. So how do you build a network of followers when your product is as unattractive as removing raccoons from attics?

This reader was so frustrated that he came back the next day and left a follow-up comment, “As I read my comment this morning, I realize the answer to the problem: There is no appropriate social media outlet for contractors.”

Actually, it wasn’t much of a challenge at all to find a few examples of not-so-sexy businesses that are doing great things with social media. Here are three stories that may help you see some possibilities.

“If you want it done right, you call Dynamite!” is the slogan of a Philadelphia-based exterminator, Dynamite Pest Control. Led by Rich Foreman, 34 and a second-generation exterminator, the five-person business uses social media as its only form of advertising. Every Valentine’s Day, Mr. Foreman posts a photograph with “I ? U” spelled out using dead cockroaches — a promotion that always drives comments to the company’s Facebook page.

Mr. Foreman, who believes that any comment is a good comment, says he is always amazed by the response his photos elicit from fans — and also from a few detractors. “Facebook is our most effective social media tool,” he said. “We post pictures of our work, and people share them, and we believe 75 percent of our new business comes from Facebook.”

He also uses Instagram and his personal LinkedIn profile to generate business. “We’ve been able to build relationships with real estate developers and property managers, which represents 10 percent of clients,” said Mr. Foreman, who also belongs to two LinkedIn groups where pest-control technicians share best practices and strategies. He does acknowledge that he gets complaints from people who are disgusted by his photos, but he says he also gets business. He said he does try not to post anything too bad around lunchtime. “The folks that complain don’t have pest issues,” he said. “The others are glad that we remind them what we do.”

Istueta Roofing is a YouTube superstar that has been putting roofs on Miami homes for more than 28 years. Three years ago, it started working with Surefire Social to update its Web site and to improve its search engine optimization. One of the first strategies it put in place was to start creating videos of the company’s work and to provide educational and how-to videos for homeowners.

One call from a customer ended up changing the business. The customer reported some bats under its roof, and armed with a video camera, Istueta went out to install a new roof. The video that resulted has received nearly two million hits on YouTube and made the company a household name in south Florida. The video sent a lot of traffic to the company’s Web site, and Ariel Istueta, the company’s marketing director, says it increased business significantly. “When we talk to prospective clients,” she said, “the bat video is often mentioned, and other contractors call our owner Batman.”

Patrick Driscoll, who owns Patrick Driscoll Residential Remodeling in Exeter, N.H., is active on many social media channels but credits writing how-to articles with generating most of his leads. For the last five months, Mr. Driscoll has written a monthly column for his local paper, The Portsmouth Herald. He makes use of the column on Facebook by sharing links from it on his fan page and in other social media accounts.

More than half of his new customers, Mr. Driscoll said, hire the four-year-old company after reading his articles. On Facebook, he posts photos of his construction projects along with tips on how to decorate and where to get materials. Being active on Facebook and Twitter, and commenting on remodeling trends for various articles, helps the company’s search ranking on Google, said his wife, Stephanie, who has her own public relations firm and handles Mr. Driscoll’s social media marketing. “This is very helpful for prospective customers, because when they go to Google him and find that he is published in several articles and takes pride in maintaining his image online,” Ms. Driscoll said, “it is often the tipping point for choosing between P.D.R.R. and other contractors.”

How about you? Do you know of a not-so-sexy business that is making the most of social media?

Melinda Emerson is founder and chief executive of Quintessence Multimedia, a social media strategy and content development company. You can follow her on Twitter.

You're the Boss Blog: Learning Social Media Tricks From the Big Boys

Generating revenue along with the buzz.

If you still have doubts about whether social media marketing can be effective, here’s a quote from a recent Bain & Company study that you might find interesting: “Customers who engage with companies over social media spend 20 percent to 40 percent more money with those companies than other customers. They also demonstrate a deeper emotional commitment to the companies, granting them an average 33 points higher net promoter score, a common measure of customer loyalty.”

Among those that have figured this out are some very large companies. Whole Foods Markets, for example, is all over Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. “We talk about shared interests with customers,” said Natanya Anderson, who is the chain’s social media and community team leader. “We have lifestyle conversations at the brand level, and on a local level we showcase the folks behind the store, highlight local partners and in- season produce.”

The goal, Ms. Anderson said, is to create a virtual window into the stores through social media. “Your customers shop with you for a reason,” she said. “How can you extend that with things other than direct product pitches? It’s all about the connection, and anyone with a local footprint has the opportunity to make a local connection.”

One important point: Whole Foods gives its employees license to think individually. “We recommend to our local store marketers that they spend 25 percent of their time on developing content and 75 percent on engagement,” she said. “And that can work for small businesses, too.” For retailers, Ms. Anderson suggests using social media to bring a store’s personality to life — but that doesn’t mean trying to do everything. “You really don’t need to do every social media site,” she said. “It’s important to figure out which channel is going to help you the most. Give yourself a break.”

One of the challenges in social media is not becoming a “me, too” brand. “Focus on promoting what’s next,” said Frank Eliason, who runs global social media for Citigroup. “Lead the way as opposed to following.”

Mr. Eliason, who wrote “At Your Service: How to Attract New Customers, Increase Sales, and Grow Your Business Using Simple Customer Service Techniques” after managing @ComcastCares for Comcast, said he believes there are four factors that can help a small business use social media:

Be remarkable.Listen to your customers everywhere, not just in social media.Engage with your customers.Make it easy for your customers to have conversations about things important to them.

While not all businesses are naturally remarkable, they can all be interesting. It’s about the story you tell about your business. Focus on your secret sauce and your business will seem remarkable. “But if every brand is creating content, it’s content overload,” Mr. Eliason said. “Other sources may be more trusted. You need the right balance, which is getting others to talk for you.”

One of the first big companies to strike a good balance among public relations, listening and selling on social media was Dell. Cory Edwards, Dell’s social media director, said he thought the most important factor in being successful on social media was to really listen to your customers and show them you are using their feedback to change the way you do business.

Dell has more than 25,000 mentions online every day (in English alone). Dell’s social media command center monitors its online mentions 24/7 in 14 languages worldwide through its @DellCares feed on Twitter. Among other things, Mr. Edwards said, Dell has used social media to get feedback on quality issues, to identify support needs as they happen, to find out about business issues before they become overwhelming in the media and to connect with people who influence others. Sales have increased especially through the company’s @DellOutlet feed on Twitter.

One of the interesting things Dell has done is to engage with its biggest detractors in social media. Once a year, it invites 10 of its loudest critics on an all-expenses-paid trip to Austin, Tex., for a meeting the company calls Customer Advisory Panel Days.  At the meeting, the detractors get to tell Dell representatives what they dislike. The company also invites 10 enthusiastic  fans to come and share feedback and insights at the same event (here’s a video about the feedback). ”We’ve done this event for the past few years,” Mr. Edwards said, “and we followed up with these people to let them know how their feedback changed us.”

It went so well that the company has hosted reunion events with the same people. “The key is how much do you want to act on what you learn,” he added, “and small businesses can do this, too, with feedback from customers.”

Melinda Emerson is founder and chief executive of Quintessence Multimedia, a social media strategy and content development company. You can follow her on Twitter.

You're the Boss Blog: Learning Social Media Tricks From the Big Boys

Generating revenue along with the buzz.

If you still have doubts about whether social media marketing can be effective, here’s a quote from a recent Bain & Company study that you might find interesting: “Customers who engage with companies over social media spend 20 percent to 40 percent more money with those companies than other customers. They also demonstrate a deeper emotional commitment to the companies, granting them an average 33 points higher net promoter score, a common measure of customer loyalty.”

Among those that have figured this out are some very large companies. Whole Foods Markets, for example, is all over Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. “We talk about shared interests with customers,” said Natanya Anderson, who is the chain’s social media and community team leader. “We have lifestyle conversations at the brand level, and on a local level we showcase the folks behind the store, highlight local partners and in- season produce.”

The goal, Ms. Anderson said, is to create a virtual window into the stores through social media. “Your customers shop with you for a reason,” she said. “How can you extend that with things other than direct product pitches? It’s all about the connection, and anyone with a local footprint has the opportunity to make a local connection.”

One important point: Whole Foods gives its employees license to think individually. “We recommend to our local store marketers that they spend 25 percent of their time on developing content and 75 percent on engagement,” she said. “And that can work for small businesses, too.” For retailers, Ms. Anderson suggests using social media to bring a store’s personality to life — but that doesn’t mean trying to do everything. “You really don’t need to do every social media site,” she said. “It’s important to figure out which channel is going to help you the most. Give yourself a break.”

One of the challenges in social media is not becoming a “me, too” brand. “Focus on promoting what’s next,” said Frank Eliason, who runs global social media for Citigroup. “Lead the way as opposed to following.”

Mr. Eliason, who wrote “At Your Service: How to Attract New Customers, Increase Sales, and Grow Your Business Using Simple Customer Service Techniques” after managing @ComcastCares for Comcast, said he believes there are four factors that can help a small business use social media:

Be remarkable.Listen to your customers everywhere, not just in social media.Engage with your customers.Make it easy for your customers to have conversations about things important to them.

While not all businesses are naturally remarkable, they can all be interesting. It’s about the story you tell about your business. Focus on your secret sauce and your business will seem remarkable. “But if every brand is creating content, it’s content overload,” Mr. Eliason said. “Other sources may be more trusted. You need the right balance, which is getting others to talk for you.”

One of the first big companies to strike a good balance among public relations, listening and selling on social media was Dell. Cory Edwards, Dell’s social media director, said he thought the most important factor in being successful on social media was to really listen to your customers and show them you are using their feedback to change the way you do business.

Dell has more than 25,000 mentions online every day (in English alone). Dell’s social media command center monitors its online mentions 24/7 in 14 languages worldwide through its @DellCares feed on Twitter. Among other things, Mr. Edwards said, Dell has used social media to get feedback on quality issues, to identify support needs as they happen, to find out about business issues before they become overwhelming in the media and to connect with people who influence others. Sales have increased especially through the company’s @DellOutlet feed on Twitter.

One of the interesting things Dell has done is to engage with its biggest detractors in social media. Once a year, it invites 10 of its loudest critics on an all-expenses-paid trip to Austin, Tex., for a meeting the company calls Customer Advisory Panel Days.  At the meeting, the detractors get to tell Dell representatives what they dislike. The company also invites 10 enthusiastic  fans to come and share feedback and insights at the same event (here’s a video about the feedback). ”We’ve done this event for the past few years,” Mr. Edwards said, “and we followed up with these people to let them know how their feedback changed us.”

It went so well that the company has hosted reunion events with the same people. “The key is how much do you want to act on what you learn,” he added, “and small businesses can do this, too, with feedback from customers.”

Melinda Emerson is founder and chief executive of Quintessence Multimedia, a social media strategy and content development company. You can follow her on Twitter.