Interestingly though, Bill's never been to any of these sites.
Bill owns a landscaping company near Dayton, Ohio. His company's Facebook page has over a thousand fans. His Linked-in account has hundreds of connections. There's another fifteen hundred people who follow him on Twitter. But Bill doesn't do any of these things. He's a penny pincher. And he's smart. Because Bill discovered how to use social media for his business. And he's not spending much money (or, more importantly time).
Bill's secret? It's a 23-year-old girl in the Bay area named Abby. Abby is actually Bill. For two to three hours a day. Confused? Read on.
Bill found Abby on Craigs List. He placed an ad looking for a part-time marketing assistant. It cost him $25. He wrote that he needed someone who was "familiar with social media sites like Facebook and could help him better use these sites to promote his business." And he couldn't pay more than $20 per hour. Bill got 350 resumes. All within a week. Sure, there were those from Abdulla in the Sudan and Francoises in Sri Lanka. But the lion's share of responses came from people in their twenties. Many had just graduated colleges. No, not the South Harmon Institute of Technology. Other little schools like Vanderbilt, Bucknell and Notre Dame. Ever heard of them? Yes, that's how bad the economy is.
Or how good the job is. Because Bill wasn't asking this potential person do to anything more than they were already doing. Just being on Facebook. And Twitter. And YouTube. And Linked In. The main social media sites. Not to leave comments on a stupid video. Or send updates from the latest happy hour in town. This person would be tasked with promoting Bill's business.
Abby is only twenty-three-years old. She lives with her boyfriend in Berkeley. She spends all day on her iPad. She's a registered Democrat. That last part was almost a show stopper for Bill. But he liked Abby when he spoke to her on the phone. So he hired her. Bill took a chance with Abby. She's young. College educated. She likes marketing. She uses social media all the time. And she was cheap labor. And Bill's a penny pincher. Perfect.
And for two to three hours a day Abby becomes Bill. She grows a beard. She fondly remembers Reagan. She's a father of four. A graduate of Ohio State. A business owner. Abby didn't know much about the landscaping business. But she could learn that. Bill doesn't know much about social media. And he'll never learn. But that's OK. Because the minute Bill chose Abby as his social media marketing person she knew exactly what do. Abby had a plan.
The first thing she did was start a Facebook fan page for Bill's landscaping business. She took a bunch of material already on his website. She had him snap some photos and email to her. She opened up the page for comments and dialogue. She formatted the page with colors and design so that it looked like Bill's website. And she created a Youtube channel too. And a blog for Bill's company too.
Next, she created a Twitter account for Bill's landscaping business. And she formatted it like the Facebook page. And she searched Twitter, finding other people related to the business – gardeners, planters, hobbyists - anyone remotely interested in gardens and lawns. Bill helped her out by providing a list of customers and suppliers and other contacts he's known over the years. And she followed them. And they in turn started following her. I mean Bill. Because these people didn't know Abby was Bill. They thought Abby was Bill. Oh, you know what I mean.
Abby wasn't finished. She then created a LinkedIn account for Bill and his business. She made sure it professionally described all that Bill's company does. And then she started to invite others in the business to connect with her. Many were from the list Bill provided to her. All of these sites updated each other. Abby had this up and running in no time. All while Bill was out landscaping with his guys.
And then the real fun began. Because every day Abby would tweet and blog. About landscaping. As if it was Bill doing it. She followed the industry. She posted a link to an interesting article. She posted a link to a fun gardening video. She commented on someone else's post. She replied to a customer's question.
She would call and email Bill (or one of his managers) a few times a week, for some ideas or help if she didn't know the answers. Nothing huge. Tidbits on gardening. Advice on mowing a lawn. A new piece of equipment of interest. Some company news like someone having a baby, a new employee arriving or an update on someone's parole.
Abby knew that in the social media world people are drawn to information. New information. Every day. As long as it's of value they'll check it out. They'll tell their friends. And before he knew it, Bill was getting Linked In invitations and Facebook Fans and more and more Twitter followers. Except it wasn't Bill. It was Abby.
Some people would think that hiring someone to impersonate you is misleading. Those are the same people that think that celebrities, and not their PR firms, are really the ones tweeting about their new album or recent appearance at a book store. As if Miley Cyrus can even spell, let alone tweet. There are others who are anxious about having someone represent them online because you're not really sure if they'll give out the right information.
Which is a huge risk of course – we wouldn't want false information on the internet would we?
Bill knows there are potential risks when he hired Abby. "I guess she could, as me, say something inappropriate or stupid." He told me. "But then again," He grinned,"that kind of behavior will only make more people think it really is me."
Bill may not be too internet savvy, but he did does have someone in his office monitor Abby's posts a couple of times a week. And he keeps a copy of passwords to the accounts too, just in case. If there ever was a big falling out, Bill will have to take his chances that Abby will have something better to do with her time than destroy the reputation of a landscaper near Dayton Ohio. Bill's willing to take that chance.
Because the rewards are greater than risk. Social media sites are for real. Bill's customers, and potential customers, are on these sites. He was smart enough to recognize this. In this era of doing business, business owners like Bill need to be building communities. Spreading knowledge. Responding to his customers' questions or issues. Keeping his services in their minds. People's homes are important. Their yards and gardens are important. They like to hear ways to improve how their houses look. They enjoy reading information about landscaping and gardening.
And Bill's growing base of fans, connections and followers benefit from his expertise and think of his company as a resource when they need help. And they're out there, on these social media sites.
In the end, does it matter that Bill's social media success has been driven by a 23-year old girl from the Bay Area. Does it matter that she has a piercing in her nose and supports the Democratic party? "Nah," says Bill. "She can do anything she pleases. As long as she represents me well online."
