Public Versus Private

Many users got a wake-up call this spring when “Facebook” and “privacy concerns” became inseparable in the headlines. How private was the information they were sharing with their “friends”? Were they opening up a little too much of themselves to the Internet’s abyss? Apparently many thought they were. “How to delete Facebook” searches on Google have doubled since January.

And for good reason. Facebook has seen some pretty serious breaches in privacy. There was the snafu in early May that briefly enabled users to see their friends’ live chats. This happened around the same time elected officials were filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, stating that Facebook’s constantly changing privacy controls are too confusing. Back in December, Facebook changed its privacy defaults, making a lot of users’ information—status updates, lists of friends and interests—visible even to non-Facebook users.

Sounds like scary stuff. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg addressed the public outcry by pledging to simplify the settings, beginning with measures introduced in late May.

Easy Safeguards

There are some simple things you can do to make sure no sensitive information gets into the wrong hands:

Be mindful of the information you share. A recent Consumer Reports study found that the majority of people are posting risky information on social networks. Think twice before sharing your full birth date, children’s names or street address.

Take advantage of Facebook’s new security feature, aimed at keeping hackers away from your personal information by alerting you when your account is accessed by a computer you’ve never used. Log on to Facebook, and click the “Account” button on the top right. Select “Account Settings,” scroll down to “Account Security,” and click the link that says “Change.”

Check out a few of the independent tools that can help you control your Facebook privacy settings. There’s www.reclaimprivacy.org, which scans your privacy setting and alerts you if any have defaulted to public; www.untangle.com/saveface, which automatically sets all of your information to be viewed by “friends only;” and www.tineye.com, which makes sure an image posted on Facebook hasn’t found its way around the Web.

Most important, think before you post. Don’t air grievances about customers or coworkers on your personal page, and never post a picture that you wouldn’t want the president of your town’s small business association to see. Remember, nothing shared on the Internet can ever truly be deleted.

This past Christmas marked my one-year anniversary on Twitter. I thought I’d reflect on the tips and tricks I’ve learned about the social network over the past 12 months:

Three Is a Magic Number

Like exercise, walking your dog and drinking water, it takes time to add anything new to your already busy schedule. That’s why it’s important to make a concerted effort to tweet at least three times a day during the week. To do this, I’ve created a tweet schedule:

1. Send out my first tweet early in the morning when I’m checking my e-mail and catching up on the morning’s news.
2. Send out a second tweet during lunch, when I’m reading list serves that populate my e-mail box.
3. Send out a third tweet sometime during the day, whether it’s an observation, conversational tweet or another article that interests me.

Granted there are days when I tweet more than three times, but by scheduling tweets into my day, I don’t go days without tweeting, even when work and life get crazy.

The Power of Hashtags

A hashtag is any word in Twitter that is immediately preceded by the “#” symbol (aka the hash). By using a hashtag, you’re signaling that you want people to find your tweet and associate it with other tweets with the same hashtag. While this may seem esoteric, hashtags are a great way to target your tweets so they reach a specific audience. If you mark your tweet with #social media or #American craft, you’re labeling it as something that will interest people who follow these topics.

Direct Messages Aren’t Just Spam

For a long time, I thought Direct Messages (DMs) were just the annoying automated messages people sent to thank people for following them. However, recently I learned that while Twitter is all about conversation, there’s a second level of conversation happening behind the curtain. If you follow someone (and they follow you), you can send direct messages to each other. This is a great way to send a personal message to friends, pitch a story idea to a reporter (provided they follow you) or have a side conversation during a seminar where people are “live-tweeting.”

Sharing Is a Good Thing

You’ve probably watched the Verizon commercial that shows teens telling their parents they’re frustrated that their mom writes “I love you” all over their Facebook wall and their dad tweets about sitting on the porch. And while status updates are fine, they can make a boring Twitter stream. Instead, it’s more interesting to use Twitter as a way to share interesting articles, observations or engage in conversation with colleagues.

It’s Important to Retweet

Social media is all about listening. And retweeting is a great way to show you’re reading what other people are saying and find it worthy of sharing. Don’t feel bad that you didn’t find the article first—simply put a RT before the person’s Twitter handle (RT @riggrl) before or after the tweet so you can share information with your followers and acknowledge the person who originally sent the tweet. It’s a great way to form a relationship with other people on Twitter.

Sometimes You Don’t Have Anything to Say

And that’s okay. I’m not sure how coherent I am at 5 a.m. But since I work in PR and marketing, I spend a lot of time reading. That’s why I love sharing news stories with others. Or it’s another great reason to retweet someone else’s comment or tweet. Or maybe you can dust off your copy of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations and find an interesting quote that is relevant or thought provoking.

TweetDeck Can Change Your Life

Until I started using TweetDeck, it was nearly impossible for me to track conversation about topics that interest me, or see what my friends were tweeting. TweetDeck has made Twitter more manageable, allowing me to create lists of people I think are interesting and follow hashtags so I can see what’s being said about an issue. Now I feel like I’m managing my Twitter usage, rather than the other way around.

Manners Are Important, But You Don’t Have to Thank People for RTs

There are a lot of people who thank people for retweeting their messages. And while this helps to add content to your Twitter stream (and hopefully attract more followers), some people view it as spam. I read an interesting article by Valerie Merahn Simon that said that people RT information because it teaches them something, and that they are sharing the information because it provides value, not as a favor. So you shouldn’t feel compelled to thank others for RTs.

Timothy’s Gallery

Carolyn Luce, owner
Winter Park, Fla.

How do this year’s sales compare to recent years’? Are you seeing a consistent decline or a slow improvement?

As is true of other parts of our country, Florida has been very deeply hurt this past year by the economic collapse. Last fall, we began to partner with our artists, our landlord, our advertisers and our customers to find the most effective ways to get through these times.

January brought the first gallery-wide sale Timothy’s has ever had in order to recoup monies to go forward, and a timely rent cut from our landlord for 2009 has been a true gift.

Are you projecting more positive numbers for 2010? What are you doing now to keep customers shopping?

This year has been even more challenging than 2008. But, we knew it would be and planned accordingly. We focused on bringing in lower price points, spreading our budget among as many of our artists as possible and consigning with higher-end artists. This has been win-win all around, especially since Timothy’s continues our commitment to represent ONLY American craft artists—our margins don’t allow for much elbowroom.

Have you tried any new promotions in the last two quarters?

More than ever, Timothy’s has EVERY artist’s face and short bio next to their work because our customers respond to their stories and understand that these artists are their neighbors. So when you look into a case in Timothy’s, you see a sea of smiling American craft artists!

Our advertisers have been calling us and working very hard to give us options to continue working with them. After 20 years, we are finding that the business base we’ve built with others will get us ALL through the hard times by spending less, but more focused, with those who will collaborate. We have been doing less direct mailings and more e-mail blasts offering incentives to customers.

We expect 2010 to be increasingly less worrisome, but our thoughtful, collaborative business efforts will remain the same; it’s what has saved us thus far in very difficult times!

Spectrum Art & Jewelry

Star Sosa, owner
Wilmington, N.C.

Have you reduced your inventory levels? What needs to happen before you will feel comfortable increasing your inventory levels?

We started reducing our inventory levels in October 2008. It was like someone slammed the door shut on traffic; the gallery was empty. My inventory levels were reduced naturally, because I didn’t order any last-minute merchandise in the fourth quarter. I felt that if I could hold on until June, we could survive the crisis. That proved to be true.

I also made some fundamental shifts in inventory price points. I worked hard to develop low- and mid-range price points while still having unique handmade jewelry, glass and gifts. It became very important to purchase items that would allow for strong margins.

What indicators do you need to see before you’ve decided that the economy is indeed improving?

The strongest and most consistent part of my business is custom jewelry design. Oddly enough, people seem happy to recycle, restyle or redesign their jewelry, spending significant amounts of money to do so.

Are you advertising consistently?

I did cut back my advertising some, but I stuck with the tried-and-true methods. My biggest and most successful marketing efforts include my e-newsletter, website, blogs and a very active approach to social media and gallery events.

The greatest thing about the Internet is that once you learn how to do these things, the primary investment is time and creativity. The cost remains very low, and they all interconnect, feed off and support each other, creating links that improve exposure on the web.

What are a few other ways you’re preparing for the rebound?

I’ve been keeping my overhead very low, running with a minimum of staff, and cutting costs whenever possible. This is just good business, and these are habits it would be wise to continue.

I’m past believing that there will be a dramatic rebound. I think this experience has permanently changed the way many of us approach consumption and debt. We need to prepare for the new “normal.”

What have you noticed in terms of consumer confidence?

I can’t necessarily say that I’ve seen a big uptick in consumer confidence.

I still have regulars who indulge in impulse buys, some of them large-ticket items. Those are the people I really go out of my way to take care of, because they are the ones who sustain me through thick and thin. It is crucial to identify your top 100 customers and pamper them like crazy. They are better advocates for you and your business than anything you could spend on advertising.

I have been very proactive about putting any sleepy or outdated inventory in the sale case and freeing up space and cash to invest in fresh new inventory.

You have to know which items go on your “never out” list, and stay on top of your reorders.