Category Archives: Should My Business Use Social Media?

Who’s Your Ideal Customer?

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

Ideal Customer vs. Average Customer by Cynthia De La Torre

Who’s your ideal customer? Depending on your business, the difference between average and ideal customers could be hundreds, thousands or millions of dollars.

The average customer is someone who buys the product or service and has no relationship with the business beyond the buying and selling of goods.

The ideal customer is someone who continually buys the product or service and promotes the product or service to others.

As an entrepreneur, I learned early on that my success was dependent upon having people invested in my business and sharing my business with others. The Tutoring Solution, which provides tutoring for students across Southern California, was able to locate these ideal customers through email and social media campaigns. These ideal customers loved our product, loved the relationship I had developed with them, and encouraged other parents with kids in need to sign up for our tutoring services. One parent emailed her entire school telling them what a great job we were doing with her son, another encouraged five different families to receive tutoring from us and another, a High School Counselor, continues to refer every struggling student she comes across our way. These connections are not made by chance, they are fostered and have resulted in thousands of dollars in increased revenue.

Facebook and Twitter have given businesses the opportunity to locate these ideal customers and develop a win-win relationship that, when used effectively, will result in increased revenue. Not only do they make it easy to identify our ideal customers, but Facebook and Twitter encourage our customers to be more like our ideal customers. Every time they “like” our page, every time they “comment” on our page,and every time they “share” one of our posts, they are acting like a sales machine for our business.

Welborn Social Media has helped locate these ideal customers for the businesses we work. At Scrapbook Expo we developed a strong relationship with a scrapbooker from Georgia who continually re-tweeted our stuff. We connected with her and she told us she was contacting all of her Scrapbooking friends from across the United States to attend one of the Scrapbook Expos. Not only that, but she was sending our sales messages off to everyone she knew. Similarly, at Los Serranos, we located two fervent supporters of the golf course; we encouraged a stronger relationship which has resulted in the creation of our 19th Hole Stories where golfers share their most memorable events at the golf course and have taken their weekly golf match from a rival course to ours. At WireSpeed Systems we connected with Cisco Systems – the largest producer of computer networking equipment – where they made us their SuperFan of the month and consequently shared our business with more than 225,00o of their followers.

Facebook and Twitter give us the opportunity to identify, connect and grow our relationship with our biggest supporters. In the tutoring business, this has resulted in thousands of dollars in increased revenue. In other businesses, it could mean much, much more.

By its very nature, Facebook and Twitter encourage the sharing of information, and people will share what is important to them. If you give them an opportunity to connect with your business and make it easy for them to share your product or service, your business will benefit. If you want to make more money for your business, find who’s your ideal customer. From my experiences there is no easier way to find your ideal customers than through social media.

Contact Zeb Welborn today at (909) 973 – 9089 to schedule a free personalized presentation to demonstrate how we can help grow your business.

Five Tips for a Killer Presentation

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Lacey Welborn
Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
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Whenever we meet a potential client we prepare a presentation for them. We share facts and ideas about what Welborn Social Media can do for their business.

Our presentations have been very successful.  Get our five tips for a killer presentation

Upon the completion of our presentation, our potential clients have a basic understanding of social media, how it can benefit their business, and, often times, business owners begin to see the massive potential social media has to offer.

Slide 1 of Our Presentation

Here are some reasons why our presentations are successful:

  • We alter our slide show to suit the business we’re presenting too. This is beneficial for two reasons:  we provide a personalized approach which gives us credibility that we can take their information and use it to communicate using social media, and it gives us on opportunity to delve into the business to better understand the needs of our customers.
  • We use lots of slides. Clicking through more slides during a presentation helps develop a strong, consistent flow of information to our potential customers. Instead of having one slide with a topic and three bullet points it’s much better for the tempo of the presentation to have four slides with very large, easy-to-read font.
  • Conversation is a must.  At the beginning of each presentation we explicitly encourage clients to ask questions.  Throughout the presentation we ask a lot of questions and make sure they are understanding the material we presented to them.  The presentation is less of a presentation and more like a guided conversation . . . our slides help guide the discussion.
  • Our slide show is very cohesive. It has a set color scheme, a few font choices and consistently placed items throughout.
  • While being cohesive we also have worked to make the slides more interesting. We have a lot of charts in our presentation to visually display some of the astounding facts around social media. We realized there were too many bar graphs and they became repetitive. By thinking of more creative ways to visually display information we’ve been able to make our slide show much more interesting.

Keep Slides Interesting

Our presentation is a constant work in progress. We are always trying to improve both the design of the slides and the manner in which we share them.

We love giving our presentation to business owners. By the end they can see the potential for social media in their business. They can imagine the success it can bring. They can visualize the ways it can allow them to share their passion for what they do.  Use our five tips for a killer presentation.

Don’t be the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion or Dorothy – Be Toto

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

With a new year comes optimism and excitement. What will 2012 bring?

We are in the midst of an historic economic recession, because of that, just like Dorothy and her friends in Oz, our journey down the yellow brick road has been full of struggles and turbulence.

To stay afloat we’re having to adapt, downsize, economize, increase efficiency,  cut the fat… We’ve had to search out better, faster, more effective ways of operating. No question this prolonged recession has been difficult. But it also has forced us to restructure, to streamline, to try new things, to innovate. This is a good thing.

This morning I attended a networking event at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce with a presentation by Ronnie Kovach, a radio & television personality for Fox Sports West and the Angels. His presentation was titled “Becoming a True Business Wizard:  What We Can Learn from Dorothy.”

During his presentation he said that many people believe this will be considered a “dark time,” but that we are taking the steps to bring ourselves into a period of prosperity and happiness.  Our response to this recession may, in fact, be laying the foundation for ingenuity and innovation that will translate into growth and prosperity for years to come.

The recession has forced many people to step out of their comfort zone and pursue things they hadn’t imagined.  When times get tough,  people have two options:  they can give up, or they can fight back and take control.  It is by fighting back that I found my passion . . . which coincidentally, is inspiring others.

Some of the most passionate and inspiring people I know are business owners.  At some point in their lives they took a huge risk and worked to build a company or a business. The only way to continue building and promoting your business is to have a strong passion — a desire to continue doing the work because you love it. I want to share that passion with the rest of the world.

Social media can demonstrate your knowledge, passion and expertise for a trade like never before.  People want to do business with people they can connect with, know and trust.  And nothing builds that connection stronger than demonstrating your passion for the work at hand.

Mr. Kovach said during his presentation that the dog in the Wizard of Oz, Toto, comes from the latin meaning for “everything.”  And the theme of the book/movie was that whatever we fear is missing from our self is actually inside of us.  The scarecrow, the tin man and the lion all felt deficient in some way, when the reality of the matter was they had the tools they felt they were lacking.

This economy has forced many people to do those things that are holding them back from achieving their full happiness in life.  We all have the ability for greatness and that ability to succeed lies within each of us.

We want to help small businesses excel and reach their full potential in order to share their passion and expertise with the world and provide customers the opportunity to connect with businesses that improve their lives.  To schedule a free consultation with us please contact Zeb Welborn at (909) 973 – 9089.

Turning Your Business into a Social Business

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

In a recent survey by Regus, they found the amount of businesses who used Social Media to acquire new business jumped from 35% to 43% in the United States this year.  Every year those figures increase as more and more businesses realize Social Media is becoming a necessity.  But, how can companies maximize the potential of their Social Media campaign?

The companies who incorporate Social Media and become Social Businesses are the companies who will thrive in the new economy.

What is a Social Business?

According to IBM,

A Social Business isn’t just a company that has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. A Social Business is one that embraces and cultivates a spirit of collaboration and community throughout its organization—both internally and externally.

Social Businesses focus on the customer.  Tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogging and Google+ are all used to develop a relationship with the customer and the customer is given the opportunity to interact with the business.  In turn, the business then modifies or arranges their policies to better suit the needs of their customers.

What Makes a Social Business

If you want to maximize the potential of Social Media your business needs to embrace Social Media as a vehicle to engage and interact with the customer.  These interactions should result in implementing policies and procedures to connect with what your customers truly want and need.

Overall, those companies who are considered Social Businesses experienced greater revenue and profit increases this past year than businesses who did not use Social Media.  This year, in the same Regus survey, 48% of businesses who did not use Social Media saw an increase in revenue and 39% of businesses who did not use Social Media saw an increase in profits.  During the same time frame, 53% of businesses who used Social Media saw an increase in revenue and 44% of businesses who used Social Media saw an increase in profits.

The numbers are clear, if you use Social Media your business is more likely to see an increase in revenue and profits.  For more information on how your company can become a Social Business, contact Zeb Welborn at (909) 973 – 9089 for a free consultation.

The Value of a Like on Facebook

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

The most common question I get from businesses is:  What is the Return on Investment (ROI) of Social Media?  Although ROI is difficult to calculate, there are numerous studies that demonstrate the value Social Media can bring to any company.

The Value of a Facebook “Like”

While perusing my LinkedIn account I came across an article titled, “The Value of a Facebook Fan.”  According to the article, SocialCode, an agency owned by the Washington Post Company “looked at 50 brands and more than 5 million Facebook ads over a five-month period earlier this year.”

What they discovered was:

  • Facebook fans are 547 percent more likely to perform a desirable act than non-fans.
  • Facebook fans are 291 percent more likely to engage with brand than non-fans.
  • Facebook fans make actual purchases at a rate of 7 percent, while non-fans make purchases at a rate of 2 percent.
  • The difference in cost per acquisition* between fans and non-fans is $9.56.
  • For fans making a purchase, the fan cost per acquisition is $14.88 compared to $43.86 for a non-fan.

The overall impact of Social Media undoubtedly benefits your business more substantially and for less cost than other forms of marketing and advertising.  The study by SocialCode is just one example of the thousands that can be found online indicating the benefits Social Media can bring to any business.

Sign up for a free, personalized consultation with Welborn Social Media owner, Zeb Welborn to discuss how we can improve your Social Media presence, meet more customers and enhance the relationship you have with current customers.

(909) 973 -9089

*Cost per Acquisition means how much it costs to convert a sale incorporating all marketing and advertising used to attract clients to a product.

Should My Business Use Social Media?

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

When I first talk to business owners about Social Media, most realize Social Media is benefiting other businesses, but do not understand how it can help theirs.

Each business is unique and it is important for each company to determine whether or not to use Social Media based on the goals it has established for its business.

If you’re looking for the quick answer to the question, feel free to scroll down to the bottom, but I would like to share with you some examples of how and why businesses started using Social Media.

Example #1 – Grandma C’s Cookies

My sister met Grandma C at an event put on by the Arizona Small Business Association in Tempe, Arizona. She was very interested in the possibility of using Social Media to promote her cookie making business.  Grandma C was retired and wanted her business to earn some extra income.  She loved baking and built her business in her kitchen.

The Goal:  Grandma C had no desire to expand her staff. She wanted to be making cookies and sharing her baked goods with the local community.

The Answer:  Lacey suggested that using Facebook would be a great way to develop a relationship with the local community. She encouraged Grandma to try and get each of her new customers to join her Facebook page.  Then, when she had free time, to post photos and share her thoughts, ideas or inspirations regarding her baking.

Example #2 – System 1:  Acoustic Ceiling Removal

Richard McKinnon III, the President of System 1 Acoustic Ceiling Removal fell on rough times when the economy started to nose dive in 2007.  Richard was a fixer and when he started getting less business, his solution was to invest more in advertising to generate new business, cutting into his bottom line.  The money he spent in advertising for his products was not coming back to him the way it did pre-recession. Richard does not have time to devote to increasing his Social Media presence because he is constantly out on the road giving bids to home-owners across Southern California.

The Goal:  Richard has enormous responsibilities to his family and the people he employs; he needs to keep his business afloat and continue to provide for his family.  He knows his business is the best in the area and wants to maintain his business until the economy turns around.

The Answer:  We worked with Richard to create a Social Media campaign that incorporates a blog and Facebook.  The Facebook page is designed to reach out to potential customers who are homeowners and existing customers.  The blog is designed to allow users to find System 1 using search engines like Google or Yahoo.

Example #3 – WireSpeed Systems

WireSpeed Systems buys and sells new, used and re-furbished computer networking equipment to companies and individuals all over the world.

The Goal:  The market for computer networking equipment is highly competitive and WireSpeed Systems was looking for a leg up on its competition.

The Answer:  We worked with them to enhance their Social Media presence on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Any person or business who is in a similar industry or who is interested in the products offered by WireSpeed Systems can find them easily on any of those platforms.  As a result, WireSpeed Systems has generated more leads and a better opportunity to convert those leads to sales.  They are also connecting with their customers in a more engaging and interactive way.

Example #4 – The Tutoring Solution

The Tutoring Solution Logo


I started tutoring students in 2009 and had generated a small clientele.  Tutoring is not the most lucrative business, but I really wanted to help students succeed in school, so it was a perfect fit for me.  At the beginning of the school year in September, 2010, I decided to start a website and try to build my tutoring business using Social Media.

The Goal:  To expand my business to help as many students possible succeed in the classroom in Southern California.

The Answer:  Before I started using Social Media, I had roughly four students that I tutored regularly and all were referred to me by word of mouth.  Today, a little over one year after my Social Media experiment started, The Tutoring Solution has worked with 63 students on a consistent basis.  During that time, I have had to hire 17 tutors and my client base is continuing to grow.

If you want your business to expand, you have to use Social Media. If you want your business to survive, you should use Social Media.  And if you want your business to die, you should stay away from Social Media.

In a chart designed by HubSpot, based off of information from EMarketer, the amount of companies that used blogs has more than doubled from 2007 from 16% to 39% in 2011.  Every Social Media site has seen a massive increase in the amount of companies that are using these tools to generate more business.  If you are not one of these companies, you are getting left behind.

United States Companies Using Blogs | Source: EMarketer, August 2010 by HubSpot

The real question you should be asking yourself is not whether or not you should be using Social Media, but whether or not you should pay someone else to do it.

It doesn’t make sense for Grandma C’s Cookies to pay someone else to do Social Media since she wouldn’t be making enough revenue to pay for someone to do Social Media for her.  Nor did it make sense for me to hire someone to do Social Media for my tutoring business, since I had no money to spend on advertising of any kind.

But, because I took the time and initiative to start a Social Media campaign on my own, my business thrived, just like Grandma C’s will if she does it right.

For any company that spends money in advertising it makes sense to devote money towards expanding your Social Media presence.  Unlike Newspaper, TV, or Pay-Per-Click Advertising, you can reap long-term benefits from using Social Media.  All the “Follows”, “Likes”, and “Connections” your company receives are likely to stay and can be reached out to at any time.  All blog articles that are written will be available for users to find, months, years, and decades down the line.

Should My Business Use Social Media?

The Answer:  Social Media is essential for any business, regardless of the industry and the goals of the company.  Deciding on whether or not to pay for someone to run Social Media for you is the only question your company should be asking.  

We can develop and implement a personalized Social Media strategy for any company.  If you think Social Media is something you’d be interested in finding out more about, please contact me, Zeb Welborn at (909) 973 – 9089 or WelbornSocialMedia@gmail.com to discuss ways Social Media can benefit your business.