Everyone is on Facebook — so is everyone’s business (and mother and aunts, etc.) Connecting with your business network on Facebook is nice, but not everyone wants to mix personal and professional. There are some ways you can segment who gets to see what, so you’re not sharing your spring break pics with your business contacts, but can still keep in touch with your family.
[Read more...]
Oct
05
2010
Generating Quality Leads Online
Do you go to networking events just to collect business cards? If you never spend any time building relationships with people, but instead just collect contact information, what percentage of your contacts actually turn into sales? How many of those sales are willing to refer you to others? Building relationships is important and using that same tactic online will help generate quality leads.
[Read more...]
Sep
27
2010
Review: Postling for Social Media Management
Postling is a web-based application for monitoring and managing brands on social media. It connects up to a variety of social networks, as well as provides tracking of keywords on the web, and tracking of RSS feeds (which can be hooked up to Google Alerts or searches). Postling is specifically targeted to local businesses who need to keep track of what people are saying about their business. Here’s my thoughts…
[Read more...]
Sep
24
2010
How-to: Use Netvibes for Social Media Monitoring
Keeping track of everything that’s going on can be a challenge — especially with social media which moves at the speed of light. Netvibes is a great way to get an eyeball on what’s going on, all in one dashboard. Plus, it’s super easy to set up and also offers customization options if the default isn’t quite what you want. Better yet, you can easily setup a dashboard for each subject you want to monitor, making it simple to switch between. Here’s how to setup Netvibes for your own social media monitoring…
[Read more...]
Sep
21
2010
What is a Twitter Hashtag?
If you’re on Twitter you may have seen people put a # in front of a word in their post. That’s what’s called a hashtag, and it makes it easy for other people who are interested in a topic to follow all the posts about it. Hashtags are similar to tagging a photo in Flickr… they help other people understand what the tweet is about, as well as applications that try to help make sense of the overall Twitter stream. How can you use Twitter hashtags for your business?
[Read more...]
Sep
17
2010
Twitter Measurement Tools
It’s important to measure your social media efforts so you can find out what’s working and how they’re helping you reach your business goal. If Twitter is part of your social media strategy, then there are a number of tools which can give you some Twitter statistics and measurement. Take a look to see if any of these can help you measure success in your social media strategy:
[Read more...]
Sep
02
2010
8 Ways to Increase Social Media Interaction
If you’re just getting started with social media, it can be very frustrating if you’re not getting a lot of interaction. You may feel like you’re putting a lot of effort into creating great content and no one is responding. Unfortunately there isn’t a magic wand that can make you instantly Internet popular, but here are some tips for improving your interaction and getting on the right path.
[Read more...]
Aug
26
2010
Is Social Media a Waste of Time?
Ahh, social media. The golden ticket to increased profits and a life time of wealth. All you have to do is setup a Twitter and Facebook profile and start sending updates and magically people will start following and responding to you.
If you believe this, you’ve been lead down the wrong path. While social media may cost less than other marketing methods, it still requires planning, time and patience. If you just jump in without knowing what you’re doing and what you’re trying to accomplish, you may not get the results you expected, leading you to believe it’s all a huge waste of time.
Mar
24
2010
Small Businesses Using Social Media for Real Results
Many small businesses want to use social media, but they may be unsure of how to best use it. Most examples of businesses successfully using social media tend to be large companies with entire departments dedicated to campaigns. Seeing some examples of small businesses using social media may be helpful:
The most obvious benefits are increased customer loyalty and engagement. Less obvious but just as important: Your business will gain exposure not through your own advertisements, but through folks who’ve already been patrons. We’re more likely to trust a Facebook update or Yelp review from a friend than from the business itself. – How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media for Real Results (Mashable)
Digital Marketing & Strategy
Connect with Sazbean