Social Media Talk

Posted by Keith on Jan 18, 2012 in Events, Social News | 6 comments

First off thanks to everyone who made it today I hope that you all had a great time and got a lot out of it?

As I said throughout the talk I would finish off the post with some of the key points we discussed.

So here we go, no particular order, just as I remember them:

• Remember if you don’t try social media you will never know if it will work for your business or not?
• If your behind the sofa or reading this through your fingers, don’t worry a black van won’t appear outside your house and drag you off for putting an update on Twitter
• Don’t be afraid of negative comments, use them to make you and your business better, more efficient and ultimately stronger. They are out there so you might as well respond if you can
• You are the business and the first point of contact so always portray yourself in a good light
• Try the big four platforms, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and Facebook and which works for you
• Experiment and don’t be afraid to try things
• Remember patience is a virtue and if it doesn’t work don’t give up
• If things do begin to go a little stale have a look about and see who’s doing what, you can gain inspiration from the most unlikely places
• Grow your ‘tribe’ in a slow and consistent manner and always make sure you have their needs in the forefront of what you do
• Without your tribe you are talking to no one!
• A really good point to remember is that people do business with people and add traditional face to face networking into the mix
• Also this isn’t an either or when it comes to traditional marketing, that can be just as effective
• Share other people stuff, especially if its interesting or you think will appeal to your tribe

Social Media Dashboards – These programs help keep all your platforms in on easy to manage place.

• http://www.tweetdeck.com/
• http://hootsuite.com/
• https://seesmic.com/

This is just to get you started and three of the best so you can search for “Social Media Dashboard” in Google

Blogging

I have given this its own little mini section so here goes:

• Your blog is the main ‘real estate’ of your company and you should always try and take followers back to your site with a link
• If your account on any social media platform was closed tomorrow all your information would be lost and then what would you do?
• Your blog stays with you forever
• Quality, quality and more quality content that’s what keeps visitors coming back
• Be consistent in everything you do, so if you commit to put out a new blog post every week or fortnight etc then stick to it.
• Vary the length of your post and remember to add pictures
• Ask them for their comments
• If fact at the end of every post put something like “ I would love your thoughts on ‘whatever’ please feel free to add your comments”
• Never underestimate the power of your blog
• Remember if you can get over the first three months then you are on the road to stardom

Free sites to get you started

• http://www.wordpress.com
• http://www.blogger.com/
• http://www.weebly.com/

You’re Profile

On any social media platform a really strong profile is key, here are my tips for a good profile:

• Always use a picture of yourself and never an avatar or logo
• The reason is people have an inherent fear that they will be bombarded with either marketing or sales people
• A really good photo let’s everyone know who you are, this can be a fantastic ice breaker at events
• If you haven’t got one have professionally taken, it is worth it
• Use the platforms as aspirational tools and not a CV, unless you are looking for a job then that’s a whole different ball game
• Add as much as feels comfortable but remember the whole point of social media is for people to find you and to interact
• Have a look at it once in a while and make any changes you feel are necessary

This will get you started and I really hope you do try social media as it can bring a lot to a business in both brand awareness and creditability if done correctly and remember if you need any help then all you have to do is ask and I will help in any way I can

There are lots of posts on the site that will help you so please feel free to have a good look around and please feel free to leave comments