This might surprise a lot of you, but not EVERYONE is a social media guru. I know, I know. It’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth. There are actually more people that fit into the untrained social media sector than you’d think. Some may have never logged onto Facebook (don’t fall out of your chair) or even seen what Twitter looks like (don’t spit up your drink), would not know a LinkedIn page from a hole in the wall and don’t even get me started on their knowledge (or lack thereof) on Google+ .

OK, I am exaggerating a bit with these examples, but I have honestly encountered many clients who have shared with me that they know NOTHING about social media and at this point, they feel they’ve missed the boat. Common excuses I hear: I will never be able to catch up now; I’ve waited too long.  I won’t get up to speed so why bother? I have no idea where to even begin.

I am here to tell you this: It’s never too late to engage in social media. Should your organization have already created a social media presence by now? YES, absolutely, but it is still not too late to tackle it now. Social media is not going away. It is only going to grow and evolve faster than we can imagine. Even if you do not use it for personal reasons…and believe it or not, there are many who are very active in social media from a business perspective, but never use it for personal reasons…your business ought to have a presence.

So what do you do first? Where do you start? How do you start? I highly encourage you to dip your toes in the shallow water, rather than diving in the deep end, in an effort to avoid being overwhelmed. There are many options today, so many that it can really seem daunting to do them all at once. Start slow and read as much as you can. Hint: Our social media blog is a great place to gain knowledge. Once you have educated yourself a bit, decide who within your organization will be managing your channels or if you plan to outsource them, how frequently they will be updated, what kind of tone you will use and most importantly what your strategy will be. It’s not too late to give social media a shot. Go ahead – dip your toes in, you won’t be sorry!

As you can probably guess from the title, this blog post will focus solely on Twitter. If you are not already familiar with Twitter, this link from the Twitter Help Center is an excellent resource. Twitter is an ideal way of communicating information to your followers in 140 characters or less, of course. Yes, that includes spaces and punctuation. 140 characters may seem like a very little amount, and if it seems that way now, just wait until you start tweeting!  Not to worry.  A URL shortener can be your best friend. It is basically a very creative way of sharing a link without compromising as many of the precious 140 characters you are forced to work with.

So, as a company, what are you tweeting about? The amazing sandwich you just ate? No. Whether or not you loved the movie you saw last night? Try again. There are way too many companies out there tweeting about irrelevant topics that have nothing to do with their industry. Those topics may be fine for a personal Twitter “handle” but are not appropriate for most companies. Below are just a few suggestions of topics that companies could (and should) tweet about:

• A discount or promotion offered only to your followers.
• The mention of a new product, service or deliverable your company is offering.
• Announcement of an upcoming event either by your company or in your industry.
• An invitation to a future Webinar that will be held.
• Your Newsletter.
• Your blog.
• Any and all Retweets that are relevant to your industry (a professional way to give a shout out to another handle in Twitter world).
• Any industry related news.

Many companies have turned to Social Media and Twitter specifically, as a means of staying in touch with their clients and customers, which is a great medium. It is important to have a strategy in place as to how you will be presenting your company from a professional standpoint.

For better or for worse, most companies have added social media into their overall marketing strategy at this point. For better, meaning they got started and are now actively engaging with their community of likes (on Facebook) , followers (on Twitter) and connections (on LinkedIn). For worse, meaning they dove into the pool without even knowing how to doggy paddle, without first testing the water temperature and without a plan. A bad combination if you ask me. Now they are barely (if at all) staying active.

One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is to begin Social Media without a strategy. Below are a few things you should NOT do with your Social Media channels.

• Set them up and do nothing. This is way too common and is simply not acceptable. If you are not ready to embrace Social Media head on, don’t do it at all.
• Get started with your channels and then after a month or two, just stop cold turkey. Again, if you are not ready to take Social Media seriously, don’t bother starting it at all.
• Only engage in shameless self promotion about yourself and your company. Social media is all about engaging within your social circle and encouraging people to want to like your Facebook page, follow you on Twitter and connect with you on LinkedIn. If all you do is talk about your company and discourage interaction, you will get nowhere fast.

If done correctly, Social Media can be a highly rewarding addition to your overall marketing plan. If done incorrectly, the ramifications can potentially be damaging. Be smart and take the time to do it right and maintain an active, engaging social media existence

If you are one of those people who (mistakenly) thinks Social Media is just a fad that will soon start to lose its luster, you are in for a (BIG) surprise. Social Media continues to play an integral role in our everyday lives, both from a personal and professional standpoint. 

According to a recent poll from Effie Worldwide and Mashable, 70% of marketers plan to increase their social media budget by more than 10% in 2011. So what does that mean for businesses? In my opinion, you better get on the fast track if you haven’t already factored social media into your marketing budget this year.

Just a few key components to consider when it comes to social media:

• You first need a strategy in place in order to achieve (and maintain) an effective online presence. This will take time and effort and should be the foundation of your social media plan.
• Once you have a solid strategy, you should create pages in the main channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Note: If you already have pages, I encourage you to revamp and customize them to look as clean, updated and professional as possible. There are many new and exciting options available today that were not available a year ago. You will want to research and understand your options (i.e. custom tabs in Facebook, LinkedIn Company pages, etc.)
• Consider who will be managing your channels, how often that individual will be posting and how negative feedback will be handled or addressed.
• How will you gain more “Likes on Facebook”, “Followers on Twitter” and “Connections on LinkedIn”?  Part of your overall strategy ought to be focused on what you will do to stand out in the crowd of social media competition.

Remember, many of your competitors will increase social media spending in 2011. Will you?

It used to be that you had to have a Facebook Company page, you must have a Twitter Company page and you really ought to have a LinkedIn Company page, too.

Fast forward to April 2011 where you should consider the mere presence on those main channels, as just the very first step in your social media initiatives. While maintaining your social media channels with ongoing dialog, updates, responses, etc. is certainly mission critical to long term success, it is no longer about just being “active”.

Consumers are savvier than ever before and Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done for Me Lately” is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. It is now about who is offering the best coupons, promotions, discounts, incentives and also how often. If you are not constantly promoting a special offer or giving your fans, followers and connections a reason to “like” you, “follow” you or “connect” with you, then they are onto the next.

So are your channels living up to consumer expectations? I encourage you to reevaluate your efforts and strategy, perhaps even snoop a little on some of your competitors to see if you are up to snuff.  Below are some ideas to ponder…

For Facebook - what (if anything) are you offering as an incentive for people to like your page? Some examples could include, Like Our Page and…

Receive Free Shipping
Receive This Month’s Special Promotion
Receive an Exclusive Facebook Discount
Receive a Free Product Sampling
Be Entered into Our Monthly Contest

The same goes for Twitter. What are you offering as an incentive for people to follow your page? A few examples could include, Follow us and…

The 1000th Follower will receive a special fill in the blank (promotion, prize or gift)
Every time we gain fill in a number new followers, all of our followers will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a special fill in the blank (promotion, prize or gift)

For LinkedIn, the more you can beef up your company page, the more people will want to follow your company to see what you’re up to. LinkedIn now has some really cool options & features. One is the ability to add products/services to your page. Another is the ability to add recommendations of companies you’ve worked with. Take a look at a screenshot of our page:

Take the time to make your channels enticing. You won’t be sorry!

Believe it or not, there are many companies who have still not dipped their toes in the water with social media. Their reasons (a much nicer way of saying their excuses) for not wanting to engage are usually similar in nature to any other company who is also not involved. Here are three excuses I hear on a regular basis….

Excuse #1 - I don’t have the time. 

You must make the time! Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh, but you simply must. Time is a valuable commodity and everyone complains of not having enough of it. Make no mistake; Social Media requires both time and effort.  It will be time well spent, though. Social Media is an excellent medium for you to engage with your customers/ clients on a regular basis. Invest the time in your social media efforts; you won’t be sorry.

Excuse # 2 - I would not even know where to begin.

Social Media can certainly be overwhelming and intimidating, especially if you know little to nothing about it or where to start. Don’t let that stop you, though, from gaining a better understanding as to how it can become a HUGE asset to your organization. The biggest mistake clients make is diving into social media without a strategy in place. A strategy is mission critical to social media success and you must begin with a strategy in place.

Excuse # 3 - I have nothing to say.

Really? I mean….REALLY? This is probably the one that upsets me the most. Of course you have something to say. You can talk about anything and everything that is industry related. An upcoming sale or promotion you might be having. A webinar you are offering. A whitepaper your prospects can download. A news piece that relates to your business. An event you are sponsoring. A local event that pertains to your organization. I could literally go on and on.

Make 2011 the year of no more excuses. Embrace social media once and for all. Check out our Social Media Page for more details and examples of work we have done for current clients.

So you’ve finally bitten the bullet and added a blog to your website. Good for you! It’s about time!  As you probably know, a blog is an excellent way to add content to your website on a continual basis. In addition, the search engines love websites that have fresh, relevant content; this will help to improve your organic rankings, which is clearly a plus. Now you can begin to contemplate the following: What the heck do I blog about? How often should I blog? How long should my posts be?

Perhaps it might make you feel better to know that you are not alone with these quandaries. They are the most common obstacles clients are faced with when the topic of a blog comes up in conversation. This post will provide some suggestions to get you started on your blogging…

Let’s start with potential blog topics:

Anything Industry Related– This could include timely happenings in your business or niche. For example, if you were a florist, you’d want to be blogging about the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday, as well as ideas on floral arrangements for that special someone.

Upcoming Events – An example would be if you are a hotel and there is a local art fair or concert taking place in your area. You could blog about these upcoming events that people might be searching for, as well as need a place to stay.

Crisis Management – In the event of a tragedy or a natural disaster, a blog is an ideal forum to communicate helpful tips and facts.

New Products or Services – This is a great way to spread the word about any new offerings you may have. An example would be if you now have ecommerce functionality, which allows website visitors to make online purchases, or perhaps you launched a new website. In either circumstance, a blog is a great way to boast about it!

Frequency of posts:

We typically recommend to our clients that they post a minimum of once a week, but more often is certainly preferable. It will depend on internal resources, as well as who will be reading your blog. An option is to have multiple members of your staff take turns posting to the blog. At the end of the day, only you can decide how often your blog will be updated, but in general, if you get into the habit of posting a minimum once a week, I’d say you are in good shape to start.

Length of blog post:

This, too, will depend on certain factors. Sometimes you will have less to say and as a result, will have a shorter blog (think 250 words). Other times you will have more to say and your post will be longer (600 words+). My advice is not to get too caught up in the length of a blog, but rather make sure that it is as relevant (to your business) as possible and the content is keyword rich.

Good luck blogging!

Wikipedia defines Social Media as “media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.” Merriam-Webster’s definition is “forms of electronic communications (as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos).

Regardless of how it may be defined, Social Media is a medium that, in my opinion, ought to be embraced and used to its fullest potential from a business perspective.

If you are one of those people who think Social Media is just a fad, with all due respect, you might want to rethink that. Not only is Social Media not going away, it continues to grow and while it grows, so do the number of people who spend time on social media sites, such as: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

Sure, many of these people are engaged for personal reasons; however, there is a large percentage that utilizes these channels for business. Companies that have become active in social media continue to gain momentum, aka Likes, Followers, Connections, etc. (See below for explanations of each directly from the sites themselves).

“Like” is a way to give positive feedback or to connect with things you care about on Facebook. You can like content that your friends post to give them feedback or like a Page that you want to connect with on Facebook. You can also connect to content and Pages through social plugins or advertisements on and off Facebook.

“Follow” Following someone on Twitter means you are subscribing to their Tweets and their updates will appear in your personal timeline on your Twitter homepage. When you follow someone, they will then have permission to send you private tweets, called direct messages, too. Your follower/following statistics are listed on your profile page.

“Connection” Find past and present colleagues and classmates quickly. LinkedIn makes staying in touch simple. Discover inside connections when you’re looking for a job or new business opportunity. Your network is full of industry experts willing to share advice. Have a question? Just ask.

If your corporate website does not have a presence in any social media channels, you are clearly missing the boat. It is not too late to get started and there is no better time than the present. So where do you start? You’ll want to establish a strategy before diving in head first; this is a mission critical step that is often overlooked and shouldn’t be. Who will be posting on your corporate Facebook page? Who will be tweeting? Who will update LinkedIn? These are important to sort out and a solid strategy is necessary in order to have a successful social media presence. Please visit our social media page to learn more.  I also encourage you to take a look at your competitor websites. What are they doing from a social perspective? Are they showcasing their channels on their home page? How often are they posting updates on Facebook? How frequently are they tweeting?

Social Media is an excellent resource that can bring much value if done correctly. Make 2011 the year of getting social!

For many, Twitter has become the go to place to obtain real time information by people all over the world. If you like what you see and/or want to share it with others you can “retweet” it. 

Rather than just retweeting a link, blog post, article, etc. why not personalize it a little? In other words, what exactly about the item (you are about to retweet) struck you enough to pass it along? What facts, statistics, and/or data did you find to be the most helpful and informative? Was there a quote or paragraph that really stood out to you? If so, share that information with your Twitter world, as well!

I think it helps make you sound more like an actual person with real thoughts and feelings, rather than just an automatic responder (if you will) when you take the time to mention something specific in your retweet.

A few options I have seen as of late are:

• Including a hashtag within your tweet to ensure that those who are interested in the topic you are retweeting can actually find it. Most social media dashboards like HootSuite, TweetDeck, Twirl, etc. allow for you to follow any hashtags that are of particular interest to you.
• Try summarizing to indicate what you feel is the most relevant information to share with others.
• Provide your thoughts and feedback on the article. It might be that while you find it interesting, you do not entirely agree and it would be good to make that clear when you retweet.
• Reference a specific line or phrase that you feel is most important.
• Give a good ole’ fashioned shout out to the person who sent you the article in the first place, by simply saying “thank you for passing this along @XXXX.”

Retweeting is considered a compliment and in my opinion, personalizing the retweet makes it even more of a compliment. Twitter is a great way to stay current with anything and everything in real time. As Twitter states on their home page, Discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.

Seriously. Social Media is no longer a novelty, nor should it be viewed as such. Online Marketers who have not yet taken the plunge - ought to - and fast. Many clients that I speak with on a regular basis have already initiated a Social Media Strategy. Those who have not, typically explain their lack of social media involvement on two main reasons: Time and Knowledge and not having enough of either.

Let’s address the time factor. If you think having a Facebook or Twitter Page is going to take up time, you are 100% correct. If you’re not sure what is worse between having zero presence on social media channels, or having a crummy presence, it’s the latter. There’s no way around it, Social Media is a time investment. If you do not have the internal resources (and knowledge) to devote to your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn page, you may be doing more harm than good. A clear strategy is mission critical to the success of your Social Media efforts. There should be an action plan in place so everyone in your organization is clear as to who is responsible for which channel, how often posts will be made, which promotions will be offered and when/how you will responding to any feedback (both good and bad).

Now let’s address knowledge. It is super important to become well versed in the various social networks, especially those in which your organization will be participating. Knowledge is power and the more you educate yourself the better your efforts will be. Anyone can start a social media profile page (especially with no graphics or custom design features), but the harder part is understanding which channels are the best fit for your organization, why someone would frequent your page or profile and how to engage users to appreciate and become a part of your social media arena, as well as tell their friends/business associates about it.
If any, or all of the above, seems overwhelming, please feel free to visit the Social Media page on our website, which will hopefully help to shed a little more light on the subject. We offer a variety of programs that can be customized to your needs and goals.

Jumping into Social Media can be intimidating, however if done correctly, it can reap huge rewards. Go Social or go home!