DazzlinDonna » social media

5 Ways to Maximize the Power of Social Media

Donna — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:39:40 +0000

This is a guest post by Kelly Austin.

Social media presents a very attractive way to advertise. With little to no capital investment required, utilizing social media allows businesses to reach a wide audience on networks with a lot of internet traffic. Here are a few suggestions to maximize efficiency when using social media websites:

Fill Out All Pertinent Information

It is surprising the number of business pages on social media that have very bare and minimum profiles. In order to maximize the benefits of social media websites, it is essential to list your homepage. Make sure to include the best ways to get in contact with the company, along with the hours of operation, address and phone number.

Use Pictures to Enhance Your Page

As the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Nowhere is this more true than on social media. Rather than just telling potential clients about your product, show them what to expect. Many buyers are understandably hesitant to purchase items or products without first seeing what exactly is offered. Social media provides businesses with opportunity to do exactly this.

Be an Active Member of the Community

Just signing up on a social media network and filling out the profile is not enough. There is a required upkeep and maintenance necessary in order to see any results. Be sure to add friends as well as network with companies to build as strong of a network as possible. However, it is important not to take this step too far.

Do Not Spam Your Fans

One of the quickest ways to lose followers is with consistent and unimportant posts. By all means, update your potential clients when something of value happens. This being said, posting about trivial matters in rapid succession will do more harm to a company’s social media page than good. There is a distinct line between being an active member of a social media network and being a nuisance. Make sure not to cross this line.

Avoid Controversial Posts

Another way to lose potential clients is by posting information that some may view as offensive. Avoid posts that endorse politicians, sports teams or any religion unless the product is directly aimed and intended for those purposes. We live in a world where many people come from a variety of backgrounds and core beliefs. It is not the role of a business to instill values that are open to interpretation.

Social media is a very powerful tool and enables businesses to connect with each other and potential clients. In order to be successful, it requires filling out all necessary information and being active. Post pictures to enhance your profile. However, avoid spamming your audience and posting information some may view as controversial or offensive.

This post was contributed by Kelly Austin from Higher Salary. Visit her site for information on the average paralegal salary and guides to other popular careers.

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Post tags: profiles, social media
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Facebook Content Marketing – How To Effectively Display Your Content

guestposter — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:50:12 +0000

The following is a guest post by Kaushal Gandhi.

Facebook is a great way to get your business or promotional message out there, but only works if your content is seen. You can post videos, messages, or photos, but it will do you little good if no one sees them.

The Facebook news feed shows only a fraction of the posts from a user’s network; in fact, 99% of the posts are filtered out. To get your content seen, you’ll need to be in that top 1%. How can you make sure that happens?

The Facebook News Feed Algorithm

Facebook has been very transparent regarding the combination of factors that determine whether or not an item will appear in a news feed. Those factors are:

Recency: This refers to the time of posting—content is always less than 24 hours old.
Affinity: how many times a person has interacted with a page, or how many times two people interact.
Weight: how many times the comment or other content has been liked or commented on.

FriendShuffle: StumbleUpon for Facebook and Twitter

guestposter — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:36:17 +0000

This is a guest post by Lior Levin.

Where most Web apps today are trying to be either the Twitter or the Facebook of their separate niche, Friendshuffle is out to be the StumbleUpon for Twitter and Facebook.

The idea is fairly simple. When you visit Friendshuffle, you connect it with your Twitter and/or your Facebook account and Friendshuffle, with a UI very similar to StumbleUpon, lets you “shuffle” through the sites and pages your friends have recommended.

It’s a fascinating concept, building a “stumble” layer on top of existing social networks, but there are several problems holding it back and keeping it from being more than a mere novelty.

What FriendShuffle Does Well

Everything about FriendShuffle is about as simple as you can make it. Once you connect your accounts, everything is controlled by two buttons, a “Shuffle” button that takes you to the next page and an “I Like it Too!” button that lets you send the page to your friends.

Though the service offers a tutorial in the form of popup bubbles on your first visit, it truly isn’t necessary. You’ll be up and shuffling in a matter of seconds.

Beyond that, the interface is clean and responsive and the app does a great job finding new content for you, starting with the most recent works and working its way backward.

All in all, though FriendShuffle itself doesn’t “do” much, what it does do, it does very well.

Where it Falters

First, there was a minor technical glitch with the service where my browser was blocking the popup to connect my Twitter account. It was easily fixed once I realized what was going on, but it isn’t a problem I see with other Twitter-connecting services.

Second, there is also a minor issue where connecting with the site via Twitter forces you to follow @FriendShuffle. For those who closely limit those they follow, this could be an annoying “feature” even though you can easily unfollow at any time.

The bigger problem though is the lack of filtering. You can’t select a list of friends to shuffle through nor can you limit your pages viewed to certain categories. This is one of the best features of StumbleUpon and its omission here is glaring.

The vast majority of links I Shuffled to had little interest to me and many were just promotional links posted by friends or businesses I follow. While they are fine in my Twitter stream, where I can choose to not click on them here, having them pull up blindly is annoying.

Getting tighter control over what links you see would really make this service much more useful, even if it meant going back farther. It could even be done by limiting the shuffle to a certain list or group, thus ensuring only friends who write about a certain topic are included.

Conclusions

In the end, FriendShuffle is a pretty slick time-waster but it really isn’t much more than an interesting concept begging for a more complete execution.

With the addition of filters and a means to control whose links you see, FriendShuffle could be a powerful tool for organizing and displaying the tsunami of links that come in over social networking sites.

As it is, it just isn’t as interesting as the sites it emulates and doesn’t make the best use of the sites it relies upon.

This guest post was written by Lior who works for an online task management start-up from new york and also advises an MBA abroad school.

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Post tags: Facebook, Lior Levin, social media, stumbleupon, Twitter
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When Old-Fashioned Marketing Trumps Sexy Social Media Marketing

guestposter — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 02:59:08 +0000

This is a guest post by Brandon Leibowitz.

Something wrong is happening out there in social media world, and it’s taking over common sense. Social media marketing is an excellent tool for entrepreneurs who want a quicker way to establish brand identity, build relationships and recruit employees and independent contractors. However, there’s something wrong when it takes over your entire marketing strategy, and making a phone call is substituted by sending a PM or leaving a message on Facebook.

Phone Calls

The telephone is a basic – old-fashioned, yes – but important marketing weapon that you should still use every once in a while. It’s one thing if you’re connecting with strangers for the first time on social media. If you get someone’s phone number after the initial contact though, you should be using it often. Hearing someone’s voice is helpful, and in many cases, persuasive. Miscommunication is less likely to happen using the telephone, and you won’t send a signal you didn’t mean, as is often the case when dealing with social media.

When to Use the Phone

On the other hand, using the telephone at times can work against you. Some vendors, suppliers and other business contacts are introverts and want nothing to do with it. They enjoy hiding behind messages, and your phone call would make them uncomfortable and they’ll find it annoying.

Before you make a call:

Ask whether it’s okay to call
Find out what times are best
Set up a phone conference when possible, so it’s not a surprise call
Keep it short and sweet, unless the conversation is going so well that you or the recipient doesn’t want to get off the call

Deals are still happening over the telephone, and social media can open the door for you. Don’t forget to use your phone.

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Post tags: Brandon Leibowitz, social media
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Social Media Marketing – A Book Review

Donna — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:31:56 +0000

You know all those social media gurus you see everywhere? Round them all up and ask them to raise their hands if they’ve had a major publisher publish their 300+ page book on social media. I’d bet 99.99% of them don’t have a 2 page book published. Liana Evans does, though, and it’s a social media marketing book I’ve just finished reading, so I’m going to share my thoughts on it here. The name of the book is Social Media Marketing : Strategies for Engaging in Facebook, Twitter & Other Social Media. If you just want to see the standard description, including a list of the topics it includes, as well as a peek inside the book, then just check out its Amazon page. For my own personal take on it, read on.

The Bottom Line First

Let’s cut right to the chase. The best part about this book is that it is a VERY comprehensive look at social media marketing today. The worst part about this book is that it might be a little too comprehensive. It’s a long read. Granted, it’s packed with information, but if I had to find fault with any part of it, it’s that it could probably be cut down just a bit. That aside, there’s plenty of social media marketing guidance here for any company in any industry.

The one thing I noticed is that Li doesn’t just share the *shoulds* – those things companies *should* do when working their social media strategies. She also shares many of the things that *shouldn’t* be done. There are so many misconceptions about what makes up a social marketing plan that businesses are very often tripping and making huge mis-steps instead of successfully implementing the plans. But until someone points out the things that shouldn’t be done, it’s very easy to do all the wrong things with all the best intentions.

The Book’s Audience

Who is this book really for? Although anyone with a business – online or offline – can benefit from the book, it seems to be aimed at companies rather than individual entrepreneurs. Li shares lots of information on handling employee buy-in to the strategies, as well as how to deal with all the matters of who does what, and who says what, out in the social realm. There are lots of issues that companies have to consider when they have employees who participate in social media every day – even if it’s only from a personal perspective. Liana does a good job of covering all those issues.

Of course, one-person companies like myself don’t have those problems. Many of you may not either. In that way, this book covers a bit more than we need, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get tons of great information from the book. We just aren’t it’s ideal target market. Everyone with a business would benefit from this book, certainly, but especially companies bigger than small mom and pop shops will get the most value from it. If you’re not ready to take on this much information, then I suggest starting your small business internet marketing with learning a few basics. Once you’ve accomplished those steps, you may be ready for this book.

The Bottom Line, Revisited

If you’re unsure how to implement a social media strategy for your business, you should probably read this comprehensive book. On the other hand, even if you *think* you know how you should implement your social media plan, you should also read this book. You might be surprised at all the new insights you hadn’t thought of before.

Want To Win A Copy Of The Book?

I have a brand new copy of Li’s book to give away, so let’s have a little contest! I promise it will be very easy to enter.

How To Enter – This Way

In the comments below, tell us all about your favorite social site – other than Digg, Delicious, Facebook and Twitter. Digg, Delicious, Facebook and Twitter WON’T count. I’m hoping we can come up with some lesser known but still useful social sites that we should be aware of. Social sites can include any of the following: Social News (like Digg), Social Networks (like Facebook), Social Bookmarking (like Delicious), or Social Streams (like Twitter).

How To Enter – Or This Way

Or, in the comments below, tell me which post on my site you like best (and why) and enter the URL of the post within the comment, so others can check it out too.

The Content Ends On …

On August 13th, 2010, (Friday the 13th in fact), sometime around noon CST, I’ll put all the entries into a virtual hat (my random php script), shake them around (run the script), and pick the winner. I’ll notify the winner by email. The winner can give me a mailing address to ship the book to, and I’ll get it sent via USPS asap.

UPDATE – THE WINNER IS…

Ok, the contest has ended, and the winner was easy to choose because there was only one entry! Woot! Stephanie Suesan Smith, I’ll be getting in touch with you to find out where to send the book. CONGRATULATIONS!

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2010. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Liana Evans, social media
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Conference: The Integration of Social Media and Email Marketing

Donna — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:47:24 +0000

Want to go to a social media conference in San Francisco in September 2010? I’ve been given a discount code to the Social Email Marketing event that I can pass along to all of you. This conference promises to be special because it melds an old online marketing technique – email – with the growing popularity of social media marketing. Imagine the power of that combination! If you decide to go, don’t forget to enter the discount code in the ticket order form. All the info on that is below.

Social Email Marketing

Integrating email marketing and social media

Join Brian Solis and other leading marketing experts, email companies and brands in a one-day conference to discuss innovations in integrated email and social media marketing. The fully interactive session include discussion panels, Q&A, presentations and case studies. Price includes refreshments, handbook with notes, networking drinks and access to the exhibition area.

When and Where

Friday, September 17, 2010
9:00am – 5:30pm
Hotel Nikko
San Francisco, CA

Who Is Presenting?

Brian Solis, FutureWorks (live via video)
Kristin Hersant, Strongmail
Dan Martell, Flowtown
Chase McMichael, InfiniGraph
Jennifer Neeley Lindsay, A-List Host, BlogTalkRadio
Murray Newlands, Influence People
Luke Brynley-Jones, Influence People
Marissa Louie, HeroEx

What’s Covered

Social Email Campaigns: What Works & What Doesn’t
Using Social Media to Grow your Customer Base
Rewards, Loyalty and Incentives
Integrated Email & Social Media tools
How Email Intelligence Enhance Social Media Engagement
Innovations in Social CRM
Tracking & Monitoring Social Email Campaigns
How to use social media data to improve targeting and ROI

Things To Know

Very limited number of early bird tickets left
Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable
Tickets cannot be bought on the day
Group discounts possible
Tickets can only be booked online with a credit or debit card. You do not need a Paypal or Google Checkout account to buy a ticket.

The Discount Code Is iem3

Just enter the discount code – iem3 – to receive a 10% discount. Click on the “Enter Discount Code” link in the order form below or in the order form at the Social Email Marketing site to get 10% off the price.

Online event registration for EMAIL MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA – SAN FRANCISCO powered by Eventbrite

I won’t be able to attend, but if you do, I hope you fill me in on the experience. Enjoy and learn!

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Brian Solis, Chase McMichael, conference, Dan Martell, email marketing, event, Jennifer Neeley Lindsay, Kristin Hersant, Luke Brynley-Jones, Marissa Louie, Murray Newlands, San Francisco, social media, Social Media Marketing
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Discovering New Bloggers and Blog Resources: Part 2 of 3

Donna — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:41:05 +0000

Thanks to the FamousBloggers ComLuv Contest, I’ve been introduced to several bloggers and resources that weren’t already on my radar because they are generous sponsors of the contest. Discovering these new bloggers and resources is like finding money in a parking lot – it’s just a neat little surprise. So today, I’m focusing on introducing you to the ones that I was particularly happy to find. Here’s the second one.

Have you seen Social Implications yet? I was surprised that I hadn’t already heard about this one, since the quality and scope of it is very nice. Here’s how Social Implications describes itself.

We blog about the implications of social media. For example:

How might your social media work affect your next job search?

Could it cost you your current job?

How is your business being reflected in the social media space?

Should you really interact with personal friends and colleagues in the same social networking environments?

Can a tweet or a blog post cause real problems for your company?

Can they help you address problems?

Some of my favorite posts from Social Implications are:

101 Social Media Tools for Social Media Marketing and More – This is one to bookmark for the day when you just can’t remember the name of a tool you suddenly need.

Social Media: Sorting Through The Noise – I just recently wrote a similar post, so this one definitely resonates with me, and I’m working on step 4 of this post as we speak.

Another good post – especially for companies – is Is Community Overrated?.

I’ve also subscribed to this feed, although the actual RSS feed button on the site didn’t quite work for me, so I manually added the url to Google Reader. That was a tiny bit of hassle, but I think it’s worth the extra 2 seconds it took me.

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Post tags: FBCLcontest, social media
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Has Our Attention Span and Ability To Be Noticed Been Obliterated By Extreme Social Streams?

Donna — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:43:20 +0000

In The Old Days of Social Media

In the beginning…when blogging and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook first became a part of our lives, it felt like this:

And Then We Caught The Need For Speed

I think it’s obvious to everyone that it’s getting harder and harder to keep up with everything these days. We are able to see it all streaming past us, and we recognize that much of it is forgotten within a second because something else is flying past us, looking to catch our attention. It now feels like this:

Personally, I’m finding this difficult for two reasons:

I can’t stay focused as well as I used to be able to do.
I can’t get YOUR attention as well as I used to be able to do.

Now, that second point will come off as just another marketing person whining about being unable to capture attention – and that’s ok – because that’s what it is! However, I strongly suspect that I’m not alone in this. I believe it’s becoming more and more difficult – verging on impossible – to capture the attention of the audience that anyone in business might be trying to reach.

Your Turn To Speak

What do you think? I’m keeping this post short because I want to hear your thoughts. I’d love to see this post become a real conversation, rather than me spouting off and you simply absorbing it – or more likely – forgetting you read this 2 seconds from now. Of course, that in itself would speak volumes, right? LOL. Anyway, I open this up to you – and your ideas – on ways to deal with the ever-increasing stream that we all find ourselves in. Your turn…comment below.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2010. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Facebook, Marketing, social media, social networks, Twitter
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Can My Site Really Get More Traffic Because I Tweet?

Donna — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:02:54 +0000

The following is a guest post by Beth Hrusch.

With roughly 18 million registered users in the U.S. alone and a growth rate of about 3% each year, Twitter is arguably the fastest growing social media site in existence. In fact, about 19% of all adult Internet users are now on Twitter, up from 11% just a year ago.

Twitter use represents an undeniable trend in small business advertising. A 2009 survey by BIA/ Kelsey found that 32% of small businesses plan on incorporating social media into their marketing plan within the next 12 months. So, the question is, does Twitter really drive website traffic?

The answer lies in all the things you can do to promote your business with Twitter. When you consider the tools available to help you gain exposure, and the potential reach that social media has, spending a little time tweeting starts to look like a good idea.

If you’re thinking about marketing with Twitter, here are some tips to help you maximize results:

1. Network

To get the most out of your Twitter marketing efforts, target your group of followers. You can search for people with similar interests by using various tools such as Twitter lists or Tweet Works. Keep in mind that the primary goal of your strategy is to connect with both current and potential customers. So, joining groups where the most interested parties are likely to be found will save you a lot of time and effort and result in more leads.

2. Promote

Twitter is a microblogging site – that is, it only allows you 140 characters to say what you want to say. So, promoting with Twitter means that you have to be concise. Many people see this as an advantage, as you can skip the “small talk” and get right to the point. The combination of targeting your market and limiting your text means that you aren’t spending a lot of your valuable time in order to get results.

Use your 140 characters to link followers to your latest blog or article. Get a discussion going by presenting a question. Inform others of the latest news in your company or industry. Make your tweets interesting and attention-grabbing.

3. Update

One big advantage of Twitter as a marketing tool is the fact that it allows you to update your followers in real time. If you’re at a trade show or seminar, for example, you can inform followers of the latest developments as they happen, using your mobile device. You can post tweets quickly at any time. As the world starts to rely more and more upon immediate information, the timeliness of Twitter posts becomes even more critical to businesses.

4. Optimize

Every piece of text that you post on Twitter has the potential to rank in the search engines. Since SEO is so important to online visibility, you’ll want to try to optimize your tweets as much as possible. Think of your tweets as you do a blog, article or press release. Make headlines pop by using keywords that tell people (and search engines) what you’re talking about so you can be indexed properly.

5. Add value

Just as with your other content, such as your home page, blogs or directory articles, your tweets should always add value to the conversation. When Twittering socially, you can talk about what you had for breakfast. When using Twitter for marketing your business, stick to relevant, timely and useful content. It’s a good idea to research hot topics in your industry and get discussion going. Followers enjoy engaging and giving their opinions, especially when you’ve developed a reputation for interesting and informative debate.

When linking to other sites, always make sure that your tweet accurately reflects the content of the content you’re linking to. Contribute your insights whenever possible.

Can tweeting really drive traffic to your site? Yes, if you use it properly. When first starting out, it’s well worth your time to read the terms of service and research the various tools available to help you reach your market, track your results and organize your information.

And keep in mind that Twitter tweets shouldn’t be looked at in terms of individual posts so much as the impression all of your posts make over time. The value you create with your tweets will build your personal brand and serve your marketing objectives. For little time and effort, and very little money, you can drive traffic to your site, network with potential customers and build your brand! So, why not try Twitter and see what it can do for your business?

Beth Hrusch is Senior Editor at Interact Media, a content marketing software company

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Post tags: social media, Twitter
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eBusiness Tips: Social Conversations

Donna — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:13:07 +0000

Today’s wise words from ’round the web focus on the conversations that take place about us and with us (if we so choose). How we are perceived is often dependent upon how we participate in that social interaction. See if either of these resonate with you. They do for me.

5 Marketing Lessons from Online Dating

Whether it’s an online profile or your website, visitors usually don’t know a single thing about you – and they’re pretty skeptical. After all, everyone’s been burned by reality that didn’t end up matching the hype. Double-Duty Tip: Being authentic and real will go a long way in winning them over.

>> Follow Tracy Needham

Do You Have a Conversation Strategy?

You still need two things to succeed. Even when you become really smart about the tools and implement repeatable processes that allow you to track interest, and get people to your business, you still need two things to succeed with sales. You need:

1. a steady pipeline of great new content that keeps people coming back to interact

2. a conversation strategy to make that interaction helpful and memorable

>> Follow Valeria Maltoni

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Post tags: conversations, social media, Tracy Needham, Valeria Maltoni
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