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How do you think of social media?

As a Social Media Manager I get asked the question a lot, “What does Social Media mean to you and how do you think of it differently?”

Well to me Social Media means a connection source. If you think about it Social Media connects people all over the world. People have found long lost family and friends; people have done business with each other, even though have never met.

In my environment, the people I am around the most are what I like to call “Light Workers” and these are people that are very authentic, bring spirituality into their business and talk about rising up to a new level of vibration for 2012. I always tell them by using social media the right way we can accomplish that. They give me a funny face most of the time.

Social Media is a tool we can use in the right way to find people nationwide that have things in common with us. We then build those relationships. We have videos we create to teach people what we do and who we are, we put those up on our Social Media profiles and that builds relationships. Sometimes people think that everything is going on the internet and we are getting away from face to face connections and growing part from each other. That is one way to think about it, OR you can think about it like this: there are thousands more people on the Internet that you can connect to. Yes people are using Internet more than going to meeting and events to find people. At the same time there are tools like Skype and GoToMeeting where we can still see that other person face to face.

I just want you to remember that Social Media is about building relationships with people from all over, it is NOT about selling.

Social Media can be our connection source to the world!

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Denver Boulder Small Business Marketing Seminar – The Three Squares

This Denver Boulder Small Business Marketing Seminar is going to be a HIGHLY interactive, goal oriented session on how to get a laser focused vision for your small business!

The Three Squares are a way to look at what you are trying to achieve for your small business and what you should put your attention on to succeed. We will be going through YOUR business goals, strengths and helping define concrete tasks to do for the coming year!

Small Business Marketing Benefits:

  • Laser focus your tasks so that you know what to do to grow your business
  • Find out to how to (gracefully) tell people what you can and cannot commit to so that your time is your own
  • KNOW, without a doubt, what your company goals are
  • Figure out what your product offerings should be and learn how to sell them effectively

Small Business Marketing Features:

  • Get a 10 page, laminated workbook that you can use to help define your business and stay on track
  • Cost is just $47 (including the workbook!)
  • Learn which marketing ideas will help you grow, and which you are throwing away your money on


please make sure to use your billing address when signing up

When:
February 18, 2011

Where:
Egg & I
8025 Sheridan Blvd
Arvada, CO 80003

Cost:
$47

because of the interactive nature of this class, seating is limited to the first 20 signups

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How to increase fan on Facebook

Facebook can be a little tricky on how to get more fans. You will see a huge increase in fans if you do these following steps:

1)      Creating a “List” on your personal side and name it business, anyone you add as a friend you will put them into this list of people

2)      When you create your page use the widget code Facebook gives you to add on your website

3)      Add your Facebook Page link on your email signature

4)      Send an email out through your email system like Constant Contact, Aweber, iContact, ETC telling them you are on Social Media and giving them those links

5)      Make a compelling video to put on your welcome page on Facebook

6)      Have customers tag photos of you and your products

7)      Using Facebook Ads to get more fans

8)      Run a contest

9)      You can use Mobile marketing to have people check out your Facebook page and “Like” it

10)   Have your Facebook Page link on all marketing materials

11)   Post your Facebook page link to Twitter

12)   Use the Suggest to friends on page and suggest to that List you have been creating

By using these steps you are promoting you fan page. Also you want to encourage your customers/clients to leave comments, feedback and questions to your page. Facebook ads are a great way to get more fans quickly and easily, BUT you want to make sure you are doing the ads correctly like make the message compelling so people want to come to your page. Use a creative picture, good message, maybe free offer. There are steps you need to follow in order to get a return on the ads. Facebook is a great way to really make those connections with people all over the world and a great place to get closer to your customers/clients. I hope this post was helpful. If you need help on any of these steps please let me know and I can help assist you with them.

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Secrets to YouTube

1)    Make your videos viral

2)    Use other social media outlets to post your videos like Twitter, Digg, Facebook, ETC

3)    Have a plan or theme for your videos

4)    Make sure the sound is clear so people can hear you clearly

5)    Keep your content engaging to your audience, make it funny and informative

6)    Keep your videos clean without too much conversation

7)    Have your logo and information (Video bumper) on each video

8)    Write down your goals for YouTube, what do you want to give and receive from it

9)    Use a good camera and editing tool. ( Windows movie maker, Camtasia are good editing tools, cameras any cannon or Kodak are great)

10) Make sure you are recording with an HD camera and publishing in HD so it is very clear for your viewers

11) Have a color scheme to your videos and stay congruent

12) MOST IMPORTANT BE YOURSELF, show your authenticity

13) Remember nothing is perfect online, it is better to get videos up rather than trying to look like Oprah, as small business owners we do not have a backroom stage crew

14) Practice before doing your video that you will post out into the Internet world

15) Think of doing an ongoing series of videos then think of making a product of those videos

16) Do more than just talk if you are doing a video longer than 3 minutes, be interactive and have handouts and pictures

17) Work hard on getting you videos between 2-5 minutes, after that it is hard for people to stay engaged. If you are creating a product or training that is different

18) Make a schedule for your videos, once people start to like you and follow you they will be used to a schedule, this also keeps you on track.

19) Have a creative sign off that people will remember and brands you

20) Ask for feedback from your viewers and have them leave comments

21) Work on bringing other people into your videos, clients, coworkers, friends, family so it is not always you

22) Do not use music unless you have permission

23) Remember the title of the video is just as important as the content

24) Use your keywords in your title and tagging in YouTube and other Internet outlets

25) Use tags in addition to the keywords, as this also get people attention

26) Do not stress over negative comments leave them, pay attention to them and see if it is something you need to change or someone just having a bad day

27) Use as many social networks as you can to get your videos out there, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Digg, Delicious, ETC

28) Let your customers and email list know when a new video went out and ask them to share it

29) Add your videos to various communities and subject areas of YouTube for more exposure

30) Remember to thank people who post positive comments and see if you can do the same for them

31) It is ok if all your videos are not all huge hits, be patient and practice

32) Have a script or bullet points you want to make in your video

33) Use analytics tools like YouTube insight to track your sources and hits

34) Use the word “video” in your title

35) DO NOT MAKE YOUR VIDEO A SALES AD

36) Choose your thumbnail picture wisely. YouTube actually allows you to choose your thumbnail picture

37) You can delete comments on YouTube, so do not hesitate to get rid of those negative or rude comments on your YouTube channel

38) You can put up more than one video at a time

39) Be real, don’t try and fake something you’re not

40) Have FUN and focus on fun, and then it will be fun for others

41) Aside from your logo and website include a phone number and email people can reach you at

42) Watch others in your industry and learn from them both good and bad

43) Stick with your target market. You want loyal viewers

44) Do videos in different locations, office, outside, client project ETC. If using a webcam please make sure when you publish it that your lips are sync with your words

45) Make a YouTube Channel profile, it gives your viewers a personal touch

46) Do NOT cuss or use inappropriate language. Stay away from religion and politics in videos

47) Use props, costumes, pictures and other “organic” items in your video.

48) Create a video bumper with your logo and theme music before you start

49) Utilize other videos sites to get your videos posted

50) Specify your channel type, and have a clear sense of what you are offering on the YouTube channel’s main page.

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The Benefits of Social Media for Small Businesses

I found this blog on http://socialmediatrader.com/social-media-marketing-for-small-businesses/ and wanted to share it!

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There is no denying that Social Media websites have made  huge strides on the web. The immense number of people who participate in social media websites has led to increased investment in the growing field of social media marketing. As we see a rapidly growing number of small businesses include social media ideas and strategies in their goals, we will look at exactly what a social media marketing campaign means and where the benefits are for small business owners.

If you’ve not been living under a rock for the past couple of years, you’ve probably heard about sites, such as, Facebook, Myspace and Youtube. It seems that many small businesses have embraced these sites and have diligently filled out their profile pages and waited (and waited and waited) for a rush of traffic and new business to arrive.Despite what you may hear, there is no “silver bullet”. If you want to attract new visitors to your site then you have to actually participate and become involved in a community.

There are also social news websites, such as, Digg and StumbleUpon that have the potential to send up to 40k unique visitors to your website in a short space of time as well as a good number of backlinks if you manage to reach the front page. If you don’t get your story to the front page, then you are unlikely to see much more than a handful of visitors.

Social Media Marketing(SMM) is the practice of creating compelling content from a marketing angle. SMM general happens off your website, and the best example of it is on Social News and Bookmark sites. Social media marketing can help to grow a website very quickly under the right conditions.

Benefits of a Social Media Marketing

More online conversations about your brand
A successful Social Media Marketing campaign leads to a lot more talk about your brand online. When your message works with your users, they will spread your message more effectively than tradition methods.

Quick turnaround
Hitting a front page of major social video, news and bookmark sites will send you huge amounts traffic and almost instantly. This doesn’t mean the traffic will equate to conversions, but it should generate momentum in the right direction.

Low costs
A comprehensive SMM strategy may provide a partial or full replacement of traditional advertising and marketing at a fraction of the costs.

Impact on search engine rankings
SMM campaigns bring you large amounts of backlinks that benefit your ranking in search engines.

Compatible with traditional Marketing
No one says you have to approach and embrace SMM full on. SMM campaigns can be run along side traditional marketing and advertising.

The power of recommendation
Would you rather buy from a faceless company or from a company that people recommend? We know that initiators and influencers play an important role the buying process and you can reach these people with SMM.

Sidestepping ad blindness
Traditional online advertising methods, such as, banner ads are seeing drops in the level of their effectiveness. As ad blindness increases, social media marketing has the potential to send visitors to your website without traditional advertising methods.

Things to consider

Social Media Marketing can be unpredictable if sufficient planning has not been made. Consider the following points for any SMM campaign.

Target audience
Having a general idea of what your customers want is not enough for effective SMM. You should define in detail who your target audience is, what is it that they want, and how you offer content of value that is most relevant for their needs.

Once you identify your target audience, you will be able to focus on what they have in common and crafting a strategy to draw in more of the same people.

Length of campaign
Although you may see traffic relatively quickly, it is important to note that a for real success in SMM, you must think and plan long term. It may be more damaging to abruptly end conversations with your customers than to never start one in the first place. Know your time scale objectives and work towards them.

Strength of product
Consider that your products or service will be exposed to a huge amount of potential customers almost instant; Are you confident in the strength of your product? It is imperative to understand that you will be under scrutiny and having a product or service which just isn’t strong enough can have very negative side effects. If your product or services do not perform well, then maybe you need to re-evaluate your target and or the viability or appeal of your product.

Time constraints
Obviously, with any small business, time is an important factor. Depending on what your product or service is you may find it more efficient to allocate a larger portion of time on a few targeted sites rather than spreading yourself too thinly across multiple sites.

A definition of success
You must set short term, medium term and long term targets for you campaigns. Without clear goals and objectives, your campaigns will fail.

Here are a just a few examples of what success might look like:

  • Reducing costs for achieving the same targets
  • Gaining a better understanding of your customers
  • Increase brand exposure in ways which were not possible before
  • Increase Sales and Conversions

Tips on Running a Successful Campaign

Two way conversations
You must listen and respond to your customers. This is not like setting up a poll on your site. Having conversations which flow in both directions help you understand the concerns of your customers, why they exist and what you can do to fix them.

The personal touch
Automated responses and standard letters are a great way to sabotage your SMM campaign. social media is about equal conversations and recommendation. Just think, would you rather purchase a new camera from a friend who recommends it or an automated newsletter?

Transparency
Be transparent, be honest. There are many compelling ways to raising awareness for your company. Having hidden agendas or stretching the truth will simply backfire.

Be a part of the community
Acknowledge others in the community which offer value to your business. Take some time to really be a part of the community and share useful knowledge. Personality goes a long way. It’s a bit like making friends; you have give a little to receive. You never know, you may build useful networks that extend offline. If you begin your campaign pushing only your content and disregarding the community, you will be dead on arrival.

A successful Social Media campaign can prove to be one of the key catalysts in growth for a small to medium sized business. It can increase brand exposure and PR for a fraction of traditional advertising costs and effort, as well as provide large scale market research and product refinement ideas at no extra charge.

Soon, SMM will join SEO as being important aspects of any site owner’s marketing strategy. The speed in which trends evolve on the internet is can often be daunting, but SMM by large companies can be emulated in whole or in part even by very small businesses. It’s not the money. It’s the content marketing mindset that separates success and failure. Big ideas can beat big budgets.

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What to do with Facebook

Facebook is about building relationships and building community. When you create your Facebook Business page it is NOT for selling it is to educate people on your industry and to help them in their business. It is to share why you are so passionate about your work and what you love to do.

Here are 5 steps to follow that will increase your return on Facebook for FREE!

1)      You want to brand yourself on Facebook, people will do business with you when they know, like, and trust you. It does not matter what “Company” you are with it is about your personality, your enthusiasm, your authentic self. You want to share your niche!

2)      When posting on your business page you want to have valuable content. When you are writing your blogs use those as content to share on Facebook, talk about tips people can use, think about what your niche market is looking for on Google and write about that.

3)      The goal with social media both Facebook and Twitter you want to build a targeted following. In my opinion it is not about the quantity of fans or followers it is the quality. I want people to “Like” my page and follow me because they want to hear what I have to say and may even want to do business with me. When you are writing your blogs be sure to share them to Facebook and Twitter and also have your links on your blog so those people that read your blog can also “like” your page and follow you.

4)      Ask for syndication from people. Once you have built the relationships with people ask them to share your blogs, posts, tweets etc. That way there is more than just YOU promoting YOUR business. Remember you want to do this for people as well. If you have great power partners make sure you are sharing their stuff. Now one thing with syndication make sure it is within your industry and makes sense, what I mean is I do Internet Marketing so I am not going to promote jewelry or make-up on my business page. I can share it with my personal friends but not with business people make sense?

5)      Last but not least, ALL traffic points back to your blog. Your blog is your hub that is where people can really see and learn who you are. Then from there they can purchase products or be pointed to a site where they can purchase. When people come to your blog they want to read and or watch what you have to say and learn from you. This does two things, one builds your database when they subscribe to your RSS feed and two allows them to learn about you to decide if they want to do business with you.

Now with all this great information these steps are not just a onetime thing, these steps are to be done on a consistent basis and from doing these steps you will see an increase in fans and increase in traffic to your site. An added bonus you will see business come in!

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The Power of Video Marketing

In the age of the internet, marketing has been truly transformed. Social networking and blogging strategies that use search engine optimization (SEO) are the most typical methods of marketing online, but there are other creative ways to market your website or business on the web, including video. YouTube is the web’s top site for streaming user-generated video content, and has been used as a springboard for many successful entrepreneurs and businesses. You can find a video for just about anything on YouTube.

YouTube has viewers from every walk of life; it’s an extremely effective way to get your content seen by a wide array of people. When you do blogging and social media people are just seeing your picture and reading your posts, when you do video people can truly connect with you. Some videos become so popular so fast, they’re more commonly called “going viral”, people who aren’t avid internet users have heard about them. Viral video marketing is a great way to get yourself noticed by a huge amount of people in a very short amount of time. This is great news for any freelancer or business that is looking to get its name out there!

The art of viral marketing is a tough business, and not easy to crack. With a rumored 50,000+ uploads each day to YouTube, it’s difficult to get your video noticed right away. Some videos become viral naturally through great content, and even more still become viral through detailed planning and effort. With the help of blogs, forums, social networks, email, and word of mouth, videos can become viral rather quickly. This is not without work, however.

The benefits of Internet Marketing along with Video Marketing are never ending. Not only will you reach a large amount of diverse people, but your company’s name can become the topic of many conversations overnight. If your video becomes viral, chances are people will discuss it with their friends and family who they think might find it interesting. Thus, viral video marketing is a highly effective way to get your brand name into the world, or keep it there.

With the resulting traffic that is sure to head to your website, your business is sure to grow as people become more acquainted with your products. Fact; I have had over 5 people I have personally done videos for and put up on YouTube and their social media and they have seen results right away. Either it was purchasing of a product, sign up for an event, or new client in the door. You can see how important it is for your business so now I challenge you to start with your video blogs and YouTube channel. It is so much fun trust me! Please let me know if you have questions about videos I would love to assist you in this new journey!

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Fun Video with Animoto

This is my sales pitch! I am looking for businesses who need help managing their social media or would like a 2 hour consultation for $50. Here is a fun video I created with Animoto. Enjoy!

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How to Introduce Social Media to Your Business

How to Introduce Social Media to Your Business
Tags: Managementsocial media adoption
September 20, 2010 by Danny Brown

Fact – too many businesses still need to wake up and realize that social media is not “one of these Internet fads” that will disappear.

Fact – because of this mindset, too many businesses are potentially missing out on extra business that could mean the difference between staying afloat and going under. So why the problem?

One of the main reasons is that businesses – whether it’s the CEO, top-tier management or otherwise – are looking at social media as an individual medium, much like PR or marketing.

This is where the cracks start to appear. Social media benefits companies the most when it’s used as part of a marketing campaign or similar.

Social media is also perfect for reaching out and connecting with your audience, as opposed to just selling them something. Sure, you’re still selling your brand or product – but this time, it’s in an “encouraging to ask questions” approach instead of “this is us and you’ll like it” one.

Accepting that social media needs to be approached as an integrated strategy rather than a standalone campaign is the first step businesses need to take. After that, the job gets a little bit easier.

Define Your Audience
Just like any market or product, social media is made up of different audiences. As a business owner, you wouldn’t launch a new product onto a more traditional marketplace without some in-depth market research first – don’t ignore this on social media.

Knowing your audience is key to succeeding in business social media. You need to know if your audience are participants or promoters. Why the need to differentiate? Simple –

•Participants are social media users that may use numerous social media sites and applications, but don’t really “take part” in the medium. They’re like the visitors to your business website that may purchase something and then interact with you no further. There’s nothing wrong with this – but as a method of expanding your brand, you may need to look elsewhere.
•Promoters are the users that like to share information – whether it’s recommending something via Twitter or their blog, if they come across something they like they will pass that information on. This is where your use of social media can help build your name. Just remember that social media works both ways. Don’t try and cheat the system – give back just as much (more, even) as you receive.
Have a Clear and Defined Goal
Another area where businesses are failing to adapt social media to their needs is that they don’t have a clear goal on what they want to achieve. Many hear the phrase “social media” and immediately feel they need to be a part of this buzz, jump straight in without any forward thinking, and are then disappointed with the (lack of) results.

Ask yourself who you want to connect with and why, and then research the areas of social media that are most relevant to your needs. Demographics are one of the key points of knowledge for any campaign – make sure you know where your demographics are playing online. A social map can help here.

Again, though, don’t try and play the system – cheaters will soon be found out, and your brand can suffer irreparable damage if seen as merely a self-promotional company on social media.

Tools of the Trade
Once you have your audience and your goal set out, you need to use the tools that will help you the most. There are numerous available, and this is where building your social media connections can help, by advising what ones they use and what results they achieve.

Some of the best free examples of business tools include Monitter (which allows you a view on Twitter discussions of keywords); Google Alerts (giving you insight into what’s being said about you); and Social Mention (letting you gauge social reactions and reach to your topic or keywords and allowing you to jump in on conversations elsewhere).

Getting into social media shouldn’t be a hard decision for businesses to make – it’s either right for you or it isn’t. Social media is a long-term strategy, not a short-term fire sale.

Understand that, and you begin to understand social media.

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