What happened this week in Social Media?

Facebook Location Feature Leaked

LinkedIn Celebrates it’s 7th Birthday

Foursquare Adds “Like” Button to Venue Pages

Twitter to Release “Embedded Tweets”

Foursquare Goes Down

Microsoft Spindex Puts New Spin on Social Networking

Digg.com Cuts 10% of It’s Workforce

Have other stories to share? Let us know.

I was speaking with a client the other day about social media marketing and the benefits of getting involved. The client is new to the whole “social media thing” and had a great point of view. From his perspective, lots of companies either use social networking sites (like Facebook and Twitter) for shameless self promotion. Or, they only post nonsense, like what they had for dinner or how much they are enjoying the weather.

Seeing that he was very skeptical of the benefits, the topic of social media do’s and don’ts quickly arose. From this conversation, and other similar conversations I’ve had about social media, I compiled a list of common social media pet peeves. Here are the top 5 Social Media Pet Peeves that will surely turn off potential Twitter followers or Facebook fans.

1. “Used Car Salesman” Syndrome
   Social networks are for building communities and adding value. Those that use social media to constantly push their own products or services are not only NOT adding value, but they may be turning off potential prospects.  No one likes to be sold to. If you’re not using social media to offer value to your community, then you’re doing yourself and your company a disservice.
2. The Ghost Town
   Have you ever been asked to become a fan of a Facebook page or follow someone on Twitter, just to land on an empty page or profile? Before asking for fans or followers, be sure to have content that your readers will want to read.
3. Using Facebook Personal Profile for Business (enter your own snazzy title here)
   There’s nothing worse than logging into Facebook and be greeted by sales pitch after sales pitch. Facebook personal profiles are just that – personal. Facebook has three sections…. personal profiles, business fan pages and groups. It’s not rocket science people! Want to promote your business, then create a fan page and stop cluttering your family and friend’s walls with sales pitches. Besides, using your personal profile to self promote is a violation of Facebook’s terms and your account may get suspended for this activity.
4. The Stalled Effort
   To be successful at using social media for business, you must commit. If you’re guilty of starting, stopping, then starting again….. make up your mind already. The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.
5. Eat Spam!
   We all hate spammers. Don’t know if you’re spamming? Well, if you send a direct message to someone on Twitter including a sales pitch a link to your website – you’re spamming. If you send a friend request to a fan of your business page so you can get their contact info – you’re spamming. If you @ reply a follower on Twitter with your own sales pitch and link – you’re spamming.

So there you have it – the top 5 social media pet peeves. Have more pet peeves? Feel free to list them in a comment.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Social Media Workshop

Facebook Marketing 201 – How to Build a Fan Base and Get Noticed

When: Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Where: 50 Market St., Portsmouth, NH (Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce)
Cost: $65/pp if signed-up before May 8th. After May 8th – $75/pp
Description: This workshop is great for those that have a Facebook Fan page for their business, but need the know-how to take it to the next level.

Attend This Event

So, you’ve decided that your company needs to be involved with social media.But you keep asking yourself the same questions: how do I get started, and do I have the time. Here are eight tips to help you on your way to becoming a social media maven.

Tip 1: Have a Plan

I can’t stress this point enough. Many companies and freelancers dive right in to social media without a goal. Before you start, ask yourself “what do I want to achieve with social media?”

Social media can be used to:

• Build buzz around a brand or product
• Increase traffic to a website or blog
• Brand yourself an expert in your field
• Network with business professionals and/or consumers
• Communicate with customers

Tip 2: Listen to your audience:

Remember when your parent told you to do something and you ignored him/her. What would they say? “You’re not listening.” Well, your customers are constantly telling you what they want. Be sure to target your message to them. I like to use Google Alerts and TweetLater as my “listening” tools. I also read many blogs that pertain to my industry and area of interests.

When you listen, pay attention to:

• How does your target market communicate/interact on the social web?
• What are they discussing? What is important to them?
• What types of social networks are they using?

Tip 3: Brand yourself with your profiles

Social networking sites are sort of like going to a networking event or a party, only virtually. Your profile on these sites are your online billboard and should be used to emphasize your strengths. Think of your profile as a 60 second elevator pitch. Write in conversational style, keep it interesting, use keywords so you can be found, and voila!, your profile is born.

Tip 4: Get your feet wet

Start participating on social media sites by sharing content and knowledge.You can participate by:

• Link to helpful articles or blog posts in your status updates on Twitter
• Answer questions on LinkedIn
• Join a group and join in discussions on Facebook
• Give recommendations on LinkedIn to former co-workers or employees

Tip 5: Connect with those you know first

Your email inbox is a great wealth of information… use it. Use the tools in LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to find contacts you know on these platforms. Write personalized notes when you wish to make a connection. Especially if you’re connecting with a former colleague or boss. A personal note will help jog their memory of who you are and make you stand out from the crowd.

LinkedIn is a super helpful tool to start connecting with people you know. Once connected, ask for recommendations from former co-workers or employers.

Tip 6: Engage your customers

Notify your current customers that you have a profile on LinkedIn, you’re on Twitter, and have a fan page on Facebook. Encourage customers to follow you – or connect with you on these sites. Other ways to promote your social media status is to:

• Add badges and widgets to your website
• Link to social media profiles from your email newsletters
• Send out a post card announcing your Facebook Page

Tip 7: Track and measure your results
As a business owner, you want to know if social media is working for you. One great way to measure how much reach you have is to use your web analytics package to track visitor statistics (i.e. Google Analytics or HubSpot). There are also many tools out there to help you measure your reach on social media. I use Google Alerts and TweetBeep to track mentions me or my company.

Tip 8: Manage your time wisely

It’s easy to get carried away with using social media. If you keep your end goal in mind, it’s easier to stay on track. When I first started out using social media tools, I would set aside 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at lunch to update my status and to share links. Now I incorporate social media activities into my marketing calendar.

To help save time, I use Ping.fm which is a great tool that supports over 40 social networking sites. You post your status update once in Ping.fm and Ping updates all of your social media sites. I love it, it’s a great time saver!

Conclusion

Remember to always have a plan, start with the end goal in mind, and manage your time wisely.

Have any other tips? Feel free to leave a comment and share with others.

Recently I had hosted a social media presentation at a One More Referral “Brown Bag” business development luncheon. I had presented to a group of 95 New Hampshire and Maine small business professionals who were very eager to learn about how social media could better their businesses.

During the presentation I spoke about the benefits of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Following the presentation, I have received lots of Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections, but only two new Twitter followers. Many of the survey responses were also super positive, but I did see one comment over and over. “I just don’t understand the benefits to Twitter.”

Well, as a small business owner, I have found Twitter to be very helpful as far as growing my business. Not only have I received increased traffic to my website, but I have also learned a lot from those that I follow.

For example:

• @smallbiztrends (Anita Campbell, CEO of an online community) tweets include small business marketing tips, product info and other tidbits to help small business grow and more.
• @SmallBizTools tweets include advice, tips, and tools for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners.
• @mainebusiness (Carl V. Natale, content producer for MaineBusiness.com) tweets about lots of useful tips to improve your business. From marketing to social media, to business growth and taxes – he covers it all)

Others to follow include:

@WSJSmallBiz

@MarketingProfs

@thebrandbuilder

@PRmaine

@BeckyMcCray

@smallbusiness

@PaulDunay

@andybeal

@digg_technews

And, of course, yours truly @PattiFousek

Just remember…. Not only can you learn from those you follow on Twitter, but your followers can learn from you too. And… it’s fun.

Latest Social Media Workshop offered by CreativeMind Search Marketing

You’ve taken our introductory social media workshop; you’ve been using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter; you really, really want to know how to become more effective with these tools.

Join us on Friday, July 10th, 9am – 12pm,  at the Three Chimneys Inn in Durham, NH, where you will learn:

• How to effectively build your brand with social media
• Advanced techniques for marketing using social networks
• How to integrate content sharing sites into the mix
• How to start your own social community
• Tips on monitoring your brand and reputation on the social web
• How to outline your own social media strategy

Who should attend?

• You have a Facebook page but don’t know what to do with it.
• You’ve signed up for Twitter, but that’s all.
• You have a LinkedIn account but aren’t sure how to make it work for you.
• You’ve been using social networking for your business and aren’t sure if it’s working.
  

Does this sound like you? Register today!

About Your Instructor:

Patti Fousek is the proud owner of CreativeMind Search Marketing, LLC, a business which helps other businesses get found online through search engine optimization and social media strategies, consulting and training services.

Patti is a marketer & trainer by trade. She has over 15 years experience in marketing and training for such companies as Interim Technology, Bernard Hodes Advertising, HMG Search Marketing, and WGBH (the PBS station in Boston). In 2002, Patti discovered the world of SEO (and later Social Media) and hasn’t looked back .