The Social Flooring Index

Monitoring the Social State of the Flooring Industry

Monday, March 15, 2010

Social Media & CTEF

A News Brief from the 2/25/2010 issue of Floor Covering Weekly caught my attention. It was titled "Social media to benefit CTEF".

Here is the text:

"From March 2-5, Metro Carpets will be hosting the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation's [CTEF] Certified Tile Installer [CTI] program and will be opening the session to other professionals through the use of social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Posterous [blogging].


"We have decided to open this experience tot he flooring industry through the use of social media sites in order to show how social media can be an effective tool for reaching the end consumer. We plan to blog the event with interviews in blog and video formats as well as have discussions forums so people can ask questions along the way," said Mike James, general manager of Metro Carpets."

I visited the Metro Carpets website and found a link to the CTEF Facebook Fan Page. There, you find links to the Metro Carpets YouTube Channel documenting the CTI program.

Personally, I love the immediacy of the videos.

I hope you will check these resources out. Then, will you let me know what you think?
Posted by C. B. Whittemore at 8:04 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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Monday, March 1, 2010

Social Media and the Flooring Industry: An Interview

Social Media & the Flooring IndustryIf you haven't already, consider reading about social media and the flooring industry in the inaugural February 2010 issue of E-Floors.

In addition to an interview with Richard McKay of McKay Flooring, the publication includes an interview with me discussing the very subject of flooring and social media. Fancy that!

My article specifically mentions the following flooring examples:

I describe the interview itself in more detail in Whittemore On Social Media & Flooring.

What do you think about social media and the flooring industry?
Posted by C. B. Whittemore at 8:05 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

McKay Flooring Limited: Details & Social Media Marketing Insights

McKay Flooring Limited

Social Media Marketing & Flooring


Insights from McKay Flooring Limited


Another flooring company to highlight is McKay Flooring Limited, a company listed in the Social Flooring Index with active participation in Blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

McKay Flooring is a UK based hardwood flooring company, established in 1973 in Glasgow, Scotland. It has since become one of the largest UK companies of its kind and recently opened a showroom in London.

Richard McKay, Director, McKay Flooring Ltd, participated in a blog interview where I asked him questions about McKay Flooring's use of social media marketing. The full interview appears on Flooring The Consumer in McKay Flooring Ltd Director Richard McKay.

Richard has also been featured in the February 2010 inaugural issue of E-Floors Magazine in interview: McKay Flooring tweeting to success [see page 21].

McKay Flooring Limited Links


Website: McKay Flooring

Twitter:
@mckayflooring
@richardmckay

McKay Flooring Limited Facebook Fan Page

Blogs:
http://blog.mckayflooring.co.uk/
http://www.mckayflooringblog.com/ [previous blog]
http://bauclic.co.uk/
http://clydeflooring.co.uk/
http://floorcrunch.co.uk/


Are you a flooring company that is successfully implementing social media marketing into your overall business strategy? Let me know.
Posted by C. B. Whittemore at 1:30 PM 1 comments Links to this post
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Twitter & Surfaces 2010

SurfacesThose of you who attended Surfaces 2010 in Las Vegas might be interested in the level of Twitter chatter that took place around the event.

Here is a transcript of those Surfaces Tweets identified by #surfaces from January 31 through February 7, 2010.

A few of mine, including a Twitpic of Jon Trivers as he was talking blogs and Twitter, didn't make the transcript because I forgot to include the hashtag!

Nonetheless, you'll notice some good exchanges.

I consider this historic.

How about you?
Posted by C. B. Whittemore at 12:01 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

BuildDirect: Details & Social Media Marketing Insights

BuildDirect

Social Media Marketing & Flooring


Insights from BuildDirect


I share with you here details relating to BuildDirect, a company listed in the Social Flooring Index with active participation in Blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

BuildDirect was launched in 1999. From the beginning, it embodied a different flooring business model that valued customer service - combined with integrity, authenticity and transparency - highly. A potent combination that tends to align itself naturally with what the tools of social media marketing enable. BuildDirect has experience using social media and integrating it into their overall business.

BuildDirect also shares insights from this experience.

Jeff Booth, BuildDirect President & CEO, participated in a blog interview where I ask questions about BuildDirect's use of social media marketing. The full interview appears on Flooring The Consumer in BuildDirect President & CEO, Jeff Booth.

BuildDirect Links

Website: BuildDirect

Twitter:

BuildDirect Facebook Fan Page

Blogs:
BuildDirect on YouTube
Posted by C. B. Whittemore at 8:34 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Social Flooring Blog Index - Nov 2009 Update

Social Flooring Index wordle

Last, but not least, the updated Social Flooring Blog Index for November 2009...


[The first version is available via this link to the Social Flooring Index: Blogs - Beta.]

As with the updated Social Flooring Twitter Index and the Social Flooring Facebook Index, I've added columns. In this case:

+ post frequency - to gauge how active the blog is
+ date of last post - to determine how fresh the content is
+ date of first post - to evaluate how old the blog is
+ blog tone - is this personal conversation or not

Blogs represent the cornerstone of content marketing as well as of social media marketing. An organization committed to its blog presence will publish [i.e., post] regularly [think of John Battelle's comment about making media annuities - small, consistent contributions over time]. A blog offers value to its readers, so content matters and the most engaging blogs are written from a personal perspective.

Social Flooring Index methodology

In analyzing these blogs, I encountered several frustrations. First, the Hubspot website grader worked to evaluate some blogs, but not all. It rejected URLs that included subdomain names so I could no longer rely entirely on it.

Next I turned to the Hubspot blog grader which had no problems with subdomains. However, as you'll see from the listing below, the results seem inconsistent: why would a blog that ranks high on the website grader rank low on the blog grader? Possibly because the database of blogs graded is small [under 6,000] compared to the almost 2 million websites that have been graded.

I've started to dig deeper into the individual blog results [i.e., Alexa traffic ranks, inbound links, Google indexing, etc.] and expect that the next Social Flooring Blog Index update will reflect what I discover...

Meanwhile, I'm eager to hear your reactions to the results below. Wherever possible, I included both the website and blog grades so you see inconsistencies for yourself.

For the record, two of the blogs listed are mine [Flooring The Consumer and Carpetology] and three are ones that I am closely involved with [the Carpet and Rug Institute Blog, the DOMOTEX Blog and the Floor Covering Institute Blog]. Yes, I believe strongly in blogs!

A few observations about the Social Flooring Blog Index:


+ I'm surprised at how few blogs include pictures of their main contributors. And even more surprised when the contributors aren't identifed by name. Readers want to know who's writing. It adds to the blog's credibility and paves the way for engagement.

+ Age matters, so don't wait too long to establish a presence for yourself. It takes about six months to get a blog established.

+ Notice how few blogs there are compared to the number of Twitter and Facebook accounts.

+ Where are the large industry players?

Please do visit these blogs. Consider subscribing to them. Evaluate them. Here, too, you'll notice fascinating ways to bring businesses to life via photos, details on community activities, etc. and ideas for engaging customers and readers.

I hope you'll let me know what you find most interesting and how you might apply these to your business.

As usual, if I've missed an active blog, please let me know [I purposely removed several that had shown no sign of life in a year.

11/23/2009 Blog
Website







Blog Grader
Grade
Post. Freq.
Last Post
First Post
Tone
http://www.carpet-and-rug-institute-blog.com 90
92
2x per week
11/19/2009
Apr-09
personal
http://blog.builddirect.com/ 82
99.6
2x per week
11/18/2009
Dec-07
personal
http://flooringgallery.blogspot.com/ 82
68
1x per mo
11/2/2009
Feb-09
impersonal
http://FlooringTheConsumer.blogspot.com 81
99
2-3x per week
11/18/2009
Jun-06
personal
www.wideplankflooring.com/blog 79
86
4x per week
11/21/2009
Jan-08
personal
http://Carpetology.blogspot.com 78
94
monthly
10/29/2009
Dec-08
personal
http://blog.builddirect.com/industryinsights/ 69
x
1x to 24x per mo
10/30/2009
Apr-08
personal
http://floortalk.wfca.org/ 66
99.5
2x per mo
11/20/2009
Sep-07
personal
http://blogs.talkfloor.com/ 66
96.9
4x per mo
10/25/2009
Jun-08
personal
http://www.mckayflooringblog.com/ 66
82
old blog
10/20/2009
Jun-08
personal
http://www.floorfacts.com/floor-blog/ 64
x
1x every 2mo
11/18/2009
Feb-08
personal
http://fromthefloorsup.com/ 52
91
4x per week
11/20/2009
May-09
personal
http://infloormation.com/ 41
85
2-3x per week
11/20/2009
May-09
personal
http://www.about-floor-cleaners.net 41
57
inconsistent
9/8/2009
Jul-09
personal
http://flooringstories.empiretoday.com/ 38
89
3-4x per week
11/20/2009
Feb-08
personal
http://www.domotexblog.com/ 26
79
1x per week
11/16/2009
Aug-09
personal
http://www.flooringnow.com/ 22
95.7
1x per week
11/19/2009
Sep-07
impersonal
http://hardwoodflooringnut.blogspot.com/ 22
61
2x per mo
10/29/2009
Oct-07
personal
http://workinggreenrdweis.blogspot.com/ 22
41
2x per week
11/11/2009
Feb-09
personal
http://jefflikescarpet.blogspot.com/ 22
34
4x per mo
11/20/2009
May-09
personal
http://blog.floorcoveringinstitute.com/ 20
77
2x per week
11/20/2009
Sep-09
personal
http://blog.builddirect.com/buildingmaterialsprocurement/ 18
x
monthly
11/2/2009
Jan-09
personal
http://blog.builddirect.com/greenbuilding/ 18
x
1x per week
11/20/2009
Jul-08
personal
http://rscarpet.blogspot.com/ 18
84
1x per week
11/19/2009
Dec-07
personal
http://blog.mybigbobs.com 18
83
1x per week?
11/6/2009
Aug-09
personal
http://blog.mckayflooring.co.uk/ 18
81
4x per week
10/20/2009
Oct-09
personal
http://www.socialflooringindex.com 18
76
monthly
11/20/2009
Sep-09
personal
http://faq.woodyoulike.co.uk 15
96.7
2x per week
11/21/2009
Sep-06
personal
http://www.carpetsbyotto.com/ 12
95.7
monthly
11/16/2009
Aug-08
personal
http://johnsoncarpetone.blogspot.com/ 12
47
inconsistent
9/25/2009
Aug-09
personal
http://craigscarpetcleaning.blogspot.com/ 9
49
3-4x per week
11/19/2009
Mar-09
impersonal
http://carpetgirl.wordpress.com/ 9
43
inconsistent
8/14/2009
Jun-09
personal
http://carpetonefh.blogspot.com/ 9
18
monthly
9/1/2009
Mar-09
impersonal
http://blogs.findanyfloor.com/consumer/ 7
x
5x per week
11/19/2009
Jun-08
impersonal
http://www.flooringprofessor.com/flooring-blog.html 7
86
inconsistent
8/11/2009
Jul-07
impersonal
http://blogs.findanyfloor.com/green/ 3
x
4-5x per week
11/20/2009
Dec-08
impersonal
http://blogs.findanyfloor.com/corporate/ 3
x
2-4x per week
11/20/2009
Aug-08
personal
http://blogs.findanyfloor.com/pro/ 3
x
4-5x per week
11/20/2009
Jun-08
impersonal
http://67.199.20.178/ 3
27
3x per week?
11/16/2009
Oct-09
personal
http://www.askthebuildingexperts.com 2
64
inconsistent
8/19/2009
May-09
impersonal
http://www.blog.ultron.com 1
62
2x per mo
9/28/2009
Jun-09
personal
http://www.tilemagonline.com/CDA/blogs 1
57
6-8x per mo
11/15/2009
Aug-08
personal
http://www.zabitatz.com/profile/OntheFloor 0
76
monthly
11/12/2009
Apr-08
personal



Thank you to those who helped me fill gaps in this Social Flooring Blog Index listing.

And, I'd love it if you would consider becoming Facebook fans of Simple Marketing Now... or subscribing to Flooring The Consumer and the Simple Marketing Blog!

Best,
C.B. Whittemore

Note: Graphic above is Social Flooring Index Wordle from Flooring The Consumer


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Friday, November 20, 2009

Social Flooring Facebook Index - Nov 2009 Update

Social Flooring Index, the latest in social media marketing in flooring

And, now, the updated Social Flooring Facebook Index for November 2009...


[The first version is available via this link to the Social Flooring Index: Facebook - Beta.]

As with last week's Social Flooring Twitter Index update, I have added two columns to help qualify the one measure I include: the number of friends/fans/members. Because that measure doesn't tell the whole story as it relates to social media. Engagement is what matters.

The columns I've added capture when the last update took place and whether conversation is taking place. What I am looking for is whether the Facebook page/group owner interacts with any of the visitors who leave comments, whether s/he takes an interactive and personal approach or more of a broadcast approach.

My assumption is that the more conversation and frequent interaction, the more likely the fan/friend/member base will grow.

A few observations about the Social Flooring Facebook Index:


+ I'm surprised at the number of business Facebook friend pages. For those of you with a large business friends, I'd love to hear why you've opted for a friend page rather than a fan page. Especially since a Facebook Fan page is searchable via search engine.

+ I'm surprised at the Facebook group pages that are more like corporate pages than true group discussion sites. From what I see visiting these various groups, the more business-like and controlled the interaction on a group site, the less engagement I observe. I'd love to hear about your successes.

+ I'm impressed with the growth in fans/friends/members that some organizations have seen since July. I'd love to hear more about those success stories.

Please go visit these businesses. Many of them are doing really fascinating things with Facebook - showcasing photos of their stores and employees, detailing information about what they do in the community, and trying to take the conversation beyond a hard sell pitch. Observe what the ones who have gathered large numbers of fans/friends/members have done - what they discuss, the tone of the conversations, how they interact.

And, then, please let me know how you might apply your observations to your own business!

As usual, if I've missed someone, please let me know.


 As of 11/18/09



Name # of
Fans, etc.
Convo
Last Upd.
Lowe's Home Improvement 80,119
fans
Yes
11/18/2009
The Home Depot 14,451
fans
Yes
11/19/2009
Lowe's Creative Ideas 14,180
fans
Yes
11/19/2009
Mohawk 2,573
fans
Yes
10/1/2009
Lowes 2,273
fans
Yes
11/18/2009
Palmetto Floors 430
fans
Yes
11/18/2009
RugBuddy under Area Rug Heater 394
fans
Yes
11/19/2009
Carpet Network 362
fans
Yes
11/4/2009
Oscars CarpetOne, NJ 328
fans
Yes
10/30/2009
Tile Magazine 321
fans
Yes
11/18/2009
Shaw Industries 290
fans
No
2/2/2009
Oscars Carpet One Floor and Home [old?] 265
fans
No
3/28/2009
Floor Covering Weekly 259
fans
No
11/19/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home 251
fans
Yes
10/14/2009
Holloway Carpet One Floor & Home 245
fans
No
5/21/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home, Panama City FL 237
fans
Yes
11/18/2009
Karastan 224
fans
Yes
10/29/2009
BuildDirect 214
fans
Yes
11/19/2009
CarpetsPlus ColorTile 189
fans
No
11/17/2009
CarpetMate Under Carpet Heaters 186
fans
Yes
11/11/2009
TileWarm Tile Floor Heaters 186
fans
No
11/9/2009
Mannington Floors 178
fans
Yes
11/10/2009
Mannington Commercial 142
fans
Yes
11/16/2009
Coyle Carpet One Floor & Home 133
fans
No
11/3/2009
Gold Star Carpet One Floor & Home 132
fans
Yes
11/6/2009
Independent Carpet One Floor & Home 122
fans
No
11/7/2009
J&J/Invision 118
fans
Yes
11/18/2009
Flooring America 116
fans
No
8/10/2009
Cramers Carpet One Floor & Home 114
fans
No
11/13/2009
Pierce Flooring and Design, Montana 109
fans
No
11/9/2009
National Floor Trends 106
fans
Yes
10/30/2009
Bentley Prince Street 103
fans
No
11/18/2009
The Floor Trader - Jacksonville 101
fans
No
7/18/2009
Relax it's Lees 101
fans
No
9/4/2009
Johnson Carpet One Floor & Home 100
fans
Yes
11/10/2009
Ramey Carpet One Floor & Home 92
fans
No
6/9/2009
The Floor Trader Orange Park 89
fans
No
6/27/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home National Green Select Day 83
fans
No
8/11/2009
Carpets By Otto 79
fans
Yes
11/17/2009
Aggieland Carpet One Floor & Home 69
fans
No
11/11/2009
Columbia Flooring 69
fans
No
11/18/2009
Mercer Carpet One, Maryland 69
fans
Yes
11/2/2009
Pucci Carpet One Floor & Home 69
fans
Yes
4/14/2009
Florcraft Carpet One Floor & Home 68
fans
Yes
11/19/2009
DalTile 67
fans
No
10/14/2009
ProSource Wholesale Floorcovering 65
fans
No
11/18/2009
Big Bob's Flooring Outlet - Flooring-Furniture-Mattresses 58
fans
Yes
11/11/2009
Century Carpet One Floor & Home 55
fans
No
11/18/2009
Bradford Carpet One Floor & Home 53
fans
No
10/10/2009
Duralum Carpets, Inc. 51
fans
Yes
11/18/2009
Floors To Your Home 50
fans
Yes
10/9/2009
Jabro Carpet One Floor & Home 48
fans
Yes
11/9/2009
BPS Rugs.com 47
fans
No
11/10/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home - Carroll 47
fans
No
10/12/2009
Flooring America by CarpetSmart 45
fans
No
2/10/2009
Kensington Carpet One Floor & Home 45
fans
No
11/6/2009
Big Bob's Flooring Outlet Yuma AZ 41
fans
No
11/9/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home Welcomes Yr Support 41
fans
No
9/24/2009
Flooring America of Rapid City, SD 36
fans
No
11/6/2009
Flooring America Supercenter 36
fans
No
6/11/2009
Interiors by Carpet One Floor & Home 35
fans
No
11/14/2009
CT Floor Covering Association 33
fans
No
11/18/2009
Ultron Carpet Fiber 32
fans
No
10/29/2009
Carpet One Floor and Home Design Center 28
fans
No
6/28/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home - Ames 28
fans
No
10/12/2009
FLOORING BY COGDILL 27
fans
No
na
ProSource Wholesale Floorcoverings 27
fans
No
11/18/2009
L&M Carpet One Floor & Home 26
fans
No
9/18/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home, Loves Park 25
fans
Yes
6/16/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home - Spirit Lake 22
fans
No
10/12/2009
Colonial Floor Covering Carpet One 21
fans
No
10/15/2009
Glines Carpet One Floor & Home 21
fans
No
2/10/2009
George's Carpet One Floor & Home 20
fans
No
11/10/2009
Walkers Carpet One Floor and Home 20
fans
No
7/8/2009
SCS Carpet One Floor & Home 18
fans
No
2/14/2009
Majestic Abbey Carpet & Floor 17
fans
No
7/14/2009
Modern Carpet One Floor & Home 17
fans
No
4/7/2009
Baileys Carpet One Floor & Home 16
fans
No
5/13/2009
Anderson Hardwood Floors 14
fans
No
2/10/2009
Foremost Interiors 10
fans
No
11/11/2009
Great S.E. Flooring America 10
fans
No
na
Olson Carpet One Floor & Home 9
fans
No
na
Cannon Carpet One Floor & Home 8
fans
No
na
Carpet One Floor & Home - Dallas/Ft. Worth 7
fans
No
6/17/2009
ProSource of Denver 7
fans
No
5/11/2009
ProSource of Phoenix 7
fans
No
10/23/2009
Inside Design Carpet One Floor & Home 6
fans
No
9/15/2009
Carpet Corner is… Flooring America of Bradenton 4
fans
No
8/25/2009








Floor Leaders, Ft. Lauderdale 1,177
friends
No
11/12/2009
Speedheat Floor-Heating 764
friends
Yes
11/18/2009
McKay Flooring Glasgow 737
friends
Yes
11/17/2009
Wd Flooring 516
friends
No
11/19/2009
Kennys Carpet, Poughkeepsie NY 257
friends
No
10/16/2009
Acadian Flooring America 229
friends
?
?
Rhodes FA, Gulfport/Biloxi MS 227
friends
No
11/18/2009
Abbey Carpet, Philadelphia PA 165
friends
Yes
11/11/2009
Bentley Prince Street 163
friends
Yes
11/17/2009
Kerns Carpets 140
friends
No
10/27/2009
Flooring America Supercenter, Grand Rapids MI 115
friends
no
10/21/2009
Premiere Flooring America 93
friends
No
11/18/2009
Mohawk Flooring 85
friends
No
11/10/2009
Alexandria CarpetOne, Washington DC 79
friends
No
11/19/2009
Broadway Carpet NYC 79
friends
No
8/17/2009
Emerson Carpet One 69
friends
No
11/15/2009
Ramey Carpet One 41
friends
Yes
8/31/2009
Berks Carpetone 37
friends
No
9/9/2009
Floor Trader Indy 24
friends
?
?
Floor Trader Richmond 23
friends
No
10/14/2009
Jim Boyd's Flooring America 17
friends
No
11/9/2009
My Flooring America 1
friends
?
?








Home Depot - Business #7134 1,840
members
Yes
11/19/2009
Lowe's - Public Relations 494
members
Yes
11/19/2009
Flooring By Cogdill, Columbia SC 471
members
No
11/10/2009
Home Depot 369
members
Yes
11/18/2009
The Mohawk Group 257
members
No
9/28/2009
Martin's Flooring Inc. 235
members
No
7/17/2009
Fans of Oscars Carpet One Floor & Home 233
members
No
3/16/2009
Keep Carpeting out of our Landfills 208
members
Yes
11/18/2009
Big Bog's Flooring DFW - lkng for gd people 196
members
Yes
11/19/2009
Palmetto Carpet Company 154
members
No
7/27/2009
Fans of Floor Décor Carpet One 128
members
Yes
8/26/2009
Carpet One Floor & Home 79
members
Yes
11/6/2009
Bradford Carpet One Floor & Home 72
members
No
6/11/2009
Hatloes Carpet One Floor & Home 64
members
No
10/12/2009
RD Weis Companies Facebook Group 64
members
No
11/11/2009
Kerns Carpet One, Milwaukee WI 55
members
?
?
Maritime Carpet One Floor & Home 54
members
?
?
Carpet America Recovery Effort 42
members
No
11/18/2009
Glines Carpet One Floor & Home 36
members
No
4/25/2009
Karastan Contract 18
members
No
9/23/2009
Big Bob's Flooring Outlet Hayes, VA 15
members
No
6/9/2009
Classic Interiors Inc., Stainmaster FC, Idaho Falls, ID 8
members
No
1/12/2009
Mazzulo & Sons Carpet One Floor & Home 7
members
No
9/23/2009


Thank you to those who helped me fill gaps in this Social Flooring Facebook Index listing.

And, perhaps you would consider becoming Facebook fans of Simple Marketing Now... I would appreciate it!

Best,
C.B. Whittemore

Note: Graphic above is Social Flooring Index Wordle from Flooring The Consumer



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