This is the condensed “Cliff Note” version of some high level concepts that businesses CAN and SHOULD be using social media for.  I’ll be speaking to a group at the St. Cloud Chamber later today about this and it of course inspired a blog post.  I really believe that most people over-think social media too much when it comes to business and therefore paralyze themselves from “just doing it”!  Really people…according to Facebook, the average person on Facebook has 130 friends (on Facebook).  So, if you are a small business and have only 100 Fans of your business page you are now only one degree away from 13,000 people!  And the kicker is it’s FREE!!!

Anyway, here are 8 ways that your business can take social media by the horns and use it to your advantage…

Branding and Marketing

While Branding is your IMAGE…Marketing is your MESSAGE

• Increase your company’s visibility by increasing your online footprint
• Expand the reach of your message beyond  your immediate network and audience
• Assist your company with brand recognition (Logo, location, products, services, etc.)

Educating and Researching

Educating is about SHARING your EXPERTISE and Researching is about LISTENING and gaining INSTANT FEEDBACK.

• Increase your credibility and become a “go-to” expert within your network.
• Get more accurate about the products and services you offer by using your network to give you ideas and direction.
• Keep an eye on your competition…or better yet, beat your competition to social media.

Prospecting and Retaining

Prospecting is about FINDING you new clients and RETAINING is about KEEPING the ones you already have and have worked so hard for.

• “In sight…top of mind!”  Be there when your potential clients come looking for you.
• We are all getting older and the NEXT generation of prospects and clients will EXPECT the companies they buy from and work with to be active on social media.  If they can’t find you there…they will move on to someone who is.
• Average on user on Facebook is connected to 60 pages, groups and events…you should be one of them…if not MORE!

Networking and Socializing

Use Networking to gain strategic ALLIANCES and Socializing to gain strong FANS who become ADVOCATES.

• Networking BEFORE, DURING and AFTER events using social media tools.
• be AUTHENTIC and don’t forget that people buy from other people…don’t forget the human factor!
• Social media is by its very nature…SOCIAL! Don’t forget to HAVE FUN!

Happy Social Media Day!

Today is the start of people around the world celebrating media going social!  Thank you to Mashable for putting this together and to all the cities across the world for organizing some great events!  You can see all the details and learn about the events near you on Mashable’s site at http://mashable.com/2010/06/30/happy-social-media-day/

Check out the widget below for an updated headcount on participating cites and events near you!

So overall I’m excited about the updates that Apple has made with the iOS 4 software updates.  I’m providing a few screen shots of the features that are my favorite, but I’m also providing links to a few other articles where you can read about the additional updates.   To view Apple’s official page on the new updates click here Apple iOS 4 Software Updates

First is the ability to organize your apps into folders.  The folders are easy to create and easy to undo.  Simply hold your finger on the app you want to place into a folder…wait till it starts to shake a little…then drag and drop it on to another app that you want to put it in a folder with.  2 apps together = new folder “That was easy” Once the folder is created you can name it whatever you want…business tools, entertainment, travel, food, fun…you get the idea.  The folders only hold 12 apps, but you can always do a News 1 and News 2 if you really have that many apps.

The other subtle update here is the ability to add a picture to your home screen background.  I just put one of the default ones in the background for now, but you can choose from anything in your camera roll.

View of folders collapsed (bottom right-hand corner).  Notice the notifications for everything in the folder comes through to the top right corner of the folder.	View of the folder expanded.

There’s also the new feature for an all-inclusive mailbox where you can see new messages from ALL of your mail accounts.  Below is a screen shot of how that looks.  You will still have the ability to look at only one inbox if you choose, but having the choice to view them all at once is nice.

OK, so now moving on to spell checking!  This has been a much needed feature in my world…I’m a horrible speller.  The software will now let you know you’ve spelled something wrong with a squiggly red line under the word.  If you tap on the word, it will give you suggestions…if it has any.  See below for a spell check FAIL and one that worked.

There are lots of other updates in the iOS 4 software including multitasking, improved zoom on the camera, albums for your photos, iBooks and more.  You can read about all the updates here –> Apple iOS 4 Software Updates

You can also read a few reviews about the updates:

Mashable! –>  iOS 4: The Complete Walkthrough and Guide [VIDEO]

CNET –> Apple iOS 4 review

If you’re new to Twitter it can be a little hard to figure out what the “next step” is once you’ve created a profile.  Whether you’re doing it for personal reasons, or trying to build a following for your business, there are a few things you can do early on that will make tweeting more enjoyable, more relevant and more effective.

Listen First -

Search Twitter using http://search.twitter.com

You can search Twitter right from their home page, but the link above is cleaner and easier to navigate.  It will also give you tips in the bottom right corner of the results page about how you can filter your search for better results.

Example:  If you are doing this for fun/personal reasons, then chances are you’ll search for keywords of topics that interest you.  Example: If you love to travel you might search terms like, “travel deals”, “hotel specials”, “cruise perks”.  From there you can find people to follow that talk about things relevant and interesting to you.

Example:  If you are doing it for business you’ll want to start by searching for people talking about things that would indicate tweeters might be a current client, potential client or even advocates for your business.  Example:  If you sell real estate in Orlando, FL try searching for phrases like “moving to Orlando” or “moving to Florida.”  People don’t generally send a tweet out that says, “I’m looking to hire a real estate agent to help me buy a house in Orlando, FL” so you have to search for phrases that people would actually “say”.

Organize -

Twitter Lists were introduced late in the game so for those of us that already followed thousands of tweeple; it’s hard to go back and organize.  But for those of you that are new I highly recommend using this feature early on.  You can create lots and lots of lists and they can either be public (visible to people viewing your Twitter profile) or private (visible only to you).  You can put the people you follow into lists.

Example: On my personal account I have public lists for Digital Tools, celebs, news, etc.  You can see them at http://twitter.com/AmyJantzer/lists On my business Twitter account (@weedott) I have private lists that include Prospects and Clients so that I make sure not to miss their tweets!  If you visit that profile, you’ll notice you can’t see the lists http://twitter.com/weedott/lists You don’t have to put everyone you follow in a list…just the ones that are important to you.

Engage -

Ok, so now you’ve found some people to follow…you’ve organized them into list and you’ve been listening to the conversation.  You’re now ready to jump in.  Following and listening will also give you a better idea about what to say and how to say it.  You only get 140 characters to tweet so people have become pretty creative in shortening words.  Here’s some ways you can engage.

Simple (text only) update: Post something in 140 characters or less.

Example: “Working on a project and can’t wait to share.”

Share a link: You can post a link to an interesting article, your website or you’re your Facebook profile.  Don’t forget the http:// so that it ensures it becomes a “clickable” link.

Example: “Currently reading an article about tips for social media content http://www.weedott.com/2010/03/what-will-you-say-40-ideas-to-help-with-social-media-content/“  You’ll want to use a URL shortner to scale down the size of that link.  If you go to http://bit.ly you can get your link shorted for free.  I did and now the post is “Currently reading an article about tips for social media content http://bit.ly/ccktW4”  When you only have 140 characters to work with, you have to capitalize on each on.

ReTweet: This is Twitter lingo for “repeat” and it simply means you repeat another person’s Twitter update or tweet.  You’ll want to give credit to the source of the tweet by putting their Twitter ID before the message being repeated.  This happens a lot when people post something useful, funny or even controversial.

Example: “RT @AmyJantzer Currently reading an article about tips for social media content http://bit.ly/ccktW4“

So, hopefully that helps you get started on Twitter.  If you need more advanced help reach out to us!

After running a poll and learning that “time” is not the ONLY thing keeping business owners from engaging in social media. Apparently not “knowing what to say” is another big obstacle facing businesses, companies and entrepreneurs from getting involved…or staying involved. In this presentation we will cover over 30 topics to help you “brain dump” some ideas of things you can post updates about in your social media profiles.

Some key points to remember…

• Dynamic posts that include something other than text go a long way….photos, video, links, etc.
• You reap what you sow in social media…if your updates are ALL ABOUT YOU or your company then you’ll eventually be talking to a blank wall.
• Don’t forget the HUMAN FACTOR…remember social media is by its very nature SOCIAL so don’t forget to have a conversation

So, with that here’s our latest presentation to help cure brain freeze when you go to update your social media profile and you don’t know what to say.  If you’ve got some additional topics you think we missed, feel free to comment and share!

We delivered this presentation to a networking group in Orlando called the 50 Plus Resource Network. This group is comprised of industry professionals that have a client base that of 50 years and older. It’s a mix of everything from insurance and financial experts to medical and leisure facilities. We put this presentation together to give this group of professionals the tools they need to strategically network online using LinkedIn. Let us know some other ways that you’re using LinkedIn to grow your connections, relationships and your business!

What if an iPad could help you close more sales?  We work closely with other marketing companies to make sure that we have any resource our clients may need outside of what we can do.  One of them being blëzoo. . .a Orlando based company providing marketing advice on promotional products and strategies.

If your company or organization has ever shopped for promotional products you’ve probably met with a sale rep that showed up with a suitcase full of pens and a stack of catalogs.  We like the way blëzoo has always handled our clients and are thankful they don’t do business that way.  They recently kicked it up a notch by bringing iPads in house to take their sales presentations to a new level.  We were impressed by how they are using the device and wanted to share!  Below is the posting from their blog explaining some of the steps they took to get the device presentation ready!  You can view the original post here —-> blezoo:  iThink We Are Onto Something

iThink We Are Onto Something

This week Blezoo has begun using the iPad at our presentations & meetings. At first we thought it’d be a simple process but with all of the options available it actually has become a complicated process of narrowing down the most effective presentation techniques. There are way too many apps and ways (e-mail, pictures, web-based) that you could use to review products. Here is why we decided to make the leap:

1. It’s greener, and today is Earth Day!
2. Would you rather lug 30 catalogs to a meeting or have all of the info & pics into an iPad?
3. You can lay it flat on a table and both view items on the vivid screen.
4. GoodReader app allows you to drag and drop folders onto the iPad through WiFi. No more extra work to get presentations ready.
5. There is a VGA converter, so you can use it to run presentations on big screen or projectors.
6. You can render mock-ups and use KeyNote to present them with notes.
7. Swiping across a touchscreen is just a lot cooler than clicking keys.
8. We can access our Web-based back-end, and 1-click email clients new products they like.
9. You can use an app to turn it into a second screen (think of the possibilities).
10. In an industry with very little differentiation we can’t afford NOT to be a step ahead.

Currently sitting on the couch formatting my first blog post from the iPad. There is a tremendous level of freedom getting this new device propped up on the lap while watching Glee and posting at the same time.

Watch this space for a full review of the iPad and iPhone OS 4.0.

Ever had a hard time thinking of something to say for a Facebook Status Update, a Twitter Tweet, a LinkedIn update or even a blog post?  Over the past few years the two biggest challenges we watch businesses struggle with when utilizing social media are lack of time and not knowing what to say.

So, to help you come up with “what to say” part we’ve put together 40 topics!

Ever wonder what logos you should be using when referring to a popular brand?  Well we’ve searched a few of the popular networks and brands to bring you a list of links for approved logos, buttons and images all from the brands themselves.  You can usually find what you’re looking for by searching the company name along with “logo use”, “logo usage”, “press kit” or “virtual press kit”.

Facebook Pages:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/promo_guidelines.php

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/about/files

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/t/press_room_image_files

LinkedIn:  http://press.linkedin.com/logo-images

Google:  http://www.google.com/permissions/index.html

Yahoo:  http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/guidelines.cfm

Bing:  http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/bing/imageGallery.aspx

If you would like to add to our list, add a comment and we’ll update the blog post!