I recently wrote this blog for the Ohio Association of Realtor’s e-connections and the Daily Buzz Tech Talk that is fitting for ALL small business.

Wow, there’s a substantial amount of information to discuss when it comes to tech. In fact, it is so overwhelming I didn’t know exactly where to start and delayed writing my first blog for the OAR several months. I know what the secret to using tech successfully is in your business.  I have known for a long time but did not have a visual or conceptual framework to help me actually implement a digital plan that was easy to follow and understand. It wasn’t until I helped another company implement a digital strategy did I begin to understand my own.  The secret to using tech successfully forever is in the wheel?  It is very simple and easy but know one does it! What is the wheel you may ask?

I will chat about these surprises, tech tips, social media stuff, online strategies etc. over the coming year but today it’s important for us to understand the underlying strategy for All tech and for that matter all business decisions. I call it my strategy wheel and IF I had developed it earlier in my career I would of protected thousands and thousands my hard earned dollars! And, eliminated loads of stress, plus functioned in a more productive manner. You should know, this author is what they call an “early adopter” and that really means overly excited, hyperactive tech and social media lover who has squandered away many, many dollars!

So what is a strategy wheel? It’ simple and it looks like this.

It is simply a visually targeted plan using precise tools that work best for that specific target. In other words all the tech and social media in the world will not benefit you unless it is used as a tool to reach your target. Buying software, apps, hardware etc. that aren’t necessary to target a precise NEED in your business or marketing plan is like buying an expensive bow and arrow, and shooting it into the sky over the ocean. It was fun shopping, researching and discussing in chat rooms for the bow, it was expensive to purchase and it was really cool to see how far that arrow shot up into the sky but it caught nothing and was lost forever into the ocean. You might have even taken a video on your phone that you showed your friends. In the end you are left with a nice bow, “no arrows and nothing to eat.”

The most important part of the strategy wheel is the TARGET. I no longer plan a marketing strategy-using tech, social media, and phone calls, video etc. without understanding my target first. Duh! I should have known this years ago. It is such a simple concept, but is it??

Let’s talk about TARGET. Target is who and what you’re aiming for? No, really WHO and WHAT you are trying to target! Now, don’t stop reading here because I haven’t offered the newest, and latest apps for real estate. I promise to do that in later posts. So, to be successful you must examine and understand your target as much as you understand a close friend. When you know this, you will be able to use your current tools or purchase tech tools and marketing material to assist you in zeroing in on your target. For example, if you are targeting a neighborhood to gain market share, begin to answer questions such as what are the demographics, the average age, average income, average number of children, which school, what do they do socially, do they have pets, is there a neighborhood watch or neighborhood events, is it a move up neighborhood or is it an area of only two bedroom homes and who lives in a two bedroom home. Are there many Ohio State flags hanging on football Saturdays, is it all new construction etc. etc.? If you use RPR, they have great demographic info that maybe helpful for some of your target areas. The point of this is KNOW YOUR TARGET before you use your tech tools. If you know your target you can speak to them socially about what interest them not you. When you know your target, you will no longer make blanketed statements on your social media channels and look silly, boring and like a salesmen. You’ll post thoughts that are important to your target. And you will find it is much easier to have a conversation when you find common ground. This is common sense off line but online we struggle. A statement on your Facebook page that says “market update” is ok but not engaging. A question or comment about something very specific that is happening in the neighborhood usually starts a conversation. I recently asked about something that happened locally when I was growing up and I had a firestorm of responses, reconnected with old friends, and laughed until I cried, met two for lunch and looked forward to reconnecting with others.

So let’s look at a few examples. If your target were an independent living area for citizens over sixty-five, you would probably remove the Twitter spoke of the wheel above and add the area’s Senior Living Magazine as a spoke to your strategy wheel. If you are targeting an area of young professionals you might add a meet up spoke to the wheel. If you are targeting Michigan fans it is hopeless. Just kidding I love the state of Michigan. I just wanted to see if you were still with me!

By the way, and this is important. Your target is not always a neighborhood. That is where most Realtors start however. We are taught to farm, right? When I first started the business I thought farming meant you sold farms, I remember asking a colleague how many farms do they have listed!! How ridiculous, we’re told to sell ourselves to an area without being taught to understand exactly who and what is in that area. So think about your target a little deeper. For example, it can be things like wine lovers in Columbus, and you could tweet wine tastings, start a Facebook page called Wine lovers in Columbus. Your target could be runners in Dayton, or Dog lovers in Springboro. So open your mind then NARROW down your target. I have many, many secret groups I have started on Facebook that are very specific and targeted. Most of the groups are things that interest me also. Several of my groups were built to help non-profit organizations and local community groups. (I will discuss the power of Facebook groups in an upcoming blog!)

So once you know, understand, bleed and breathe your target the most difficult part of targeting using tech is done. Now onto the fun stuff! Here is and example of what it might look like if you targeted Ohio State Fans in Springboro Ohio.

In this example let’s dig a littler deeper and gaze at the Facebook spoke of the wheel. When planning this spoke of the wheel open up your word processing app or if you really have to, grab a piece of paper, did she say paper!! Yes she did! And write Facebook posts for OSU Fans across the top and number it 1-20; then fill-in what you are going to post every week. You will have part of the FB strategy spoke done. When needed cut and paste your prepared post once a week as needed or schedule the post on the new Facebook scheduling feature for business pages. My presumption is if you are a fan and you find others who are fans you will have an amazing engagement online and make numerous friends with a common interest that will lead to offline experiences. The following is a FB posting plan targeting OSU fans in Springboro:

1. Who is your favorite quarterback for OSU in 2014?
2. Who has the coolest OSU room in Springboro?
3. Announce photo contest for best OSU house, or best-dressed OSU Springboro fan? (To develop FB contest you must use a third party app like wobox.com)
4. Post a OSU meet up
5. Discuss game
6. Give away tickets or a very cool OSU flag
7. Photos of you at game or ask for photos of them at the game.
8. Share an article on OSU, use snip.ly for call to action.
9. …
10. …

Ok, now open another document for photos. I prefer to use a folder I have created in iPhoto on my Mac called OSU Fans in Springboro. Every time I take a cool OSU photo or someone sends me a photo I store it here. Now when it is time to post a photo on instagram, twitter, email, Facebook etc. I am not searching and being distracted by other non-relevant photography. I have folders like this for all of my targets and groups. It is much easier to implement your marketing plan if you have photos stored in targeted photo folders. In other words tech is not useful when it stands alone but it can make you tons of money if targeted correctly.

Now move on to the next spoke of your wheel and plan your email spoke, flyer spoke, postcards and so on and so forth. And remove any spoke to the wheel that is not appropriate and add another spoke if needed. Woola! Your Strategy wheel is done and you have used your technology to specifically target your market instead of it directing you and your wallet. The best part of this is you can assign each spoke to someone else like an assistant or Virtual Assistant or one of your kids, if you would like to do so.

So from today forward, every single solitary piece of technology must have a target audience. Practice several strategy wheels for fun on a whiteboard. They are a blast and it trains your brain to become a more productive entrepreneur. I offer workshops on this if you or your agents need help. http://www.heartofthestrategy.com/

Next month: Is Facebook Secretly Killing your Business