How Can Social Networks Help an Offline Business?
Yes, you have a web site for your brick and mortar business. You really don't know what the big deal is about Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Squidoo and HubPages. Can they really help you grow your business like the consultant said? Do you need to get involved in a social network or networks? What if you don't? Why is it that every employee that works for and with you is always pressing those little buttons on their cell phone! Well, let me tell you!
First of all, just about everyone is online these days, online "real-time." It is the way of the world. We are now a global community, have been for a while, bet you missed that didn't you. Do you have kids? Let me ask you, ever notice them on their phones and "puters", it's called My Space - I call it the mother of today's social networks for business. Your kids grew up and guess what, they will continue to do what they did in school - communicate via the SN's!
Here we are in 2009 faced with "getting the word out" in new and wonderful ways.
People now can communicate with each other across the room, city or the world in real time - click, click, click or drag and drop. Thank you BlackBerry and Apple I-Phone! Darn, I hate my BB Storm, at least the new REV is coming out any day now, maybe the phone will stop freezing up on me or dialing several 5's when I only want one. Sorry to get off track.
Online social networks can and will enhance your offline business if you "work" them well. Follow my thinking here. Let's take a look at some of the "elite" members of these social networks. They "follow" and "are followed" by 10, 20, 50, 150 thousand people! Consider the power they have if each member of their network interacted with another multi-thousand group, and on and on; it's the sales 101 numbers game, 21st century version.
Twitter limits communication to 140 characters, yes you can cheat and shorten links and there are other ways to sqeeze out a little more but for the most part, a "Tweet" is a short, fast, crisp communication bite. Time is everything, get the word out, do it fast, and move on. "lather, rinse and repeat" 100's of times a day. These "elite" people along with their 1,000's of minions are the new thought leaders of the 21st century. Put them at the head of a company and they can influence thought and attitude all the way down to the "viral" level. What does that mean? Viral means the same thing as grass roots, word of mouth, I-phone to I-phone, etc. These tech-smart leaders are capable of getting the word out, working at all levels in the organization, developing consensus and making things happen!
I challenge you to go out and learn about the differences in the "first tier" networks. I'll make it easy on you, first learn about FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Next understand how Squidoo and HubPages can be a benefit. Then, as a graduate course, get to know MySpace (ask your kids), Flickr, Digg and Stumbleupon. Here is great book to start your learning with, Social Influence Marketing For Dummies, http://tinyurl.com/nu9fjc.
I offer several E-Books about Twitter, Squidoo and HubPages. It's 101 stuff but it worked for me. Quite honestly, none of the reports are expensive and one is even free. They are crisp, easy reading and they hit home with what you need to know to "get with the program."
Please feel free to contact me at:
Twitter - http://twitter.com/twittblogger
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/leswannall
Check out my books and other web sites at:
Twitterblogger - http://twitterblogger.net
Best Regards for a Great Future! Start Today, It is Never Too Late.
First of all, just about everyone is online these days, online "real-time." It is the way of the world. We are now a global community, have been for a while, bet you missed that didn't you. Do you have kids? Let me ask you, ever notice them on their phones and "puters", it's called My Space - I call it the mother of today's social networks for business. Your kids grew up and guess what, they will continue to do what they did in school - communicate via the SN's!
Here we are in 2009 faced with "getting the word out" in new and wonderful ways.
People now can communicate with each other across the room, city or the world in real time - click, click, click or drag and drop. Thank you BlackBerry and Apple I-Phone! Darn, I hate my BB Storm, at least the new REV is coming out any day now, maybe the phone will stop freezing up on me or dialing several 5's when I only want one. Sorry to get off track.
Online social networks can and will enhance your offline business if you "work" them well. Follow my thinking here. Let's take a look at some of the "elite" members of these social networks. They "follow" and "are followed" by 10, 20, 50, 150 thousand people! Consider the power they have if each member of their network interacted with another multi-thousand group, and on and on; it's the sales 101 numbers game, 21st century version.
Twitter limits communication to 140 characters, yes you can cheat and shorten links and there are other ways to sqeeze out a little more but for the most part, a "Tweet" is a short, fast, crisp communication bite. Time is everything, get the word out, do it fast, and move on. "lather, rinse and repeat" 100's of times a day. These "elite" people along with their 1,000's of minions are the new thought leaders of the 21st century. Put them at the head of a company and they can influence thought and attitude all the way down to the "viral" level. What does that mean? Viral means the same thing as grass roots, word of mouth, I-phone to I-phone, etc. These tech-smart leaders are capable of getting the word out, working at all levels in the organization, developing consensus and making things happen!
I challenge you to go out and learn about the differences in the "first tier" networks. I'll make it easy on you, first learn about FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Next understand how Squidoo and HubPages can be a benefit. Then, as a graduate course, get to know MySpace (ask your kids), Flickr, Digg and Stumbleupon. Here is great book to start your learning with, Social Influence Marketing For Dummies, http://tinyurl.com/nu9fjc.
I offer several E-Books about Twitter, Squidoo and HubPages. It's 101 stuff but it worked for me. Quite honestly, none of the reports are expensive and one is even free. They are crisp, easy reading and they hit home with what you need to know to "get with the program."
Please feel free to contact me at:
Twitter - http://twitter.com/twittblogger
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/leswannall
Check out my books and other web sites at:
Twitterblogger - http://twitterblogger.net
Best Regards for a Great Future! Start Today, It is Never Too Late.
Twitter Marketing for Offline Business
Marketing for offline businesses is not limited to offline marketing tools. You might think that since your business is stationary, you only have certain resources for growing the business. Not so. Your business is good but it can always get better.
Let's say that you are a small business owner. You have done direct marketing, viral (word-of-mouth) marketing and used other advertising media like newspaper ads to get the word out about your business. You have a decent amount of clients but you can have more. You still haven't tapped into the online world for customers.
It is a fact that some people don't read newspapers or visit trade shows. They could be missing your valuable service. Those same people may stay connected to the world at large with social networking online. They could connect with you there if you have a Twitter account.
As an expert in your field of business, you can provide useful information to other twitterers on your business. More and more business owners are using Twitter as a business tool and you can find those people to trade business techniques. Improving technique can improve business.
Twitter is also a social network for personal enjoyment. People interact with others from their hometown, people with similar interests and others who post interesting tweets. Any one of these groups could use what your business has to offer. Those in your hometown, for instance, who don't know about you, can learn about you. You might not be running an online business but you can create a webpage that tells about your business with contact information for anyone looking to use your services.
Just like an online business, Twitter can be used to answer customer service questions quickly. Many of your customers are undoubtedly online and Twitter is a way to answer their questions without them having to drive to your business location to get answers. And, you don't have to sit in front of a computer to answer them. Twitter can be accessed from your mobile phone (with Internet support) so you can work on the go.
Twitter offers tools that can be used by offline businesses. The most popular applications are customer service and promotional tools but you will find a whole lot more.
Let's say that you are a small business owner. You have done direct marketing, viral (word-of-mouth) marketing and used other advertising media like newspaper ads to get the word out about your business. You have a decent amount of clients but you can have more. You still haven't tapped into the online world for customers.
It is a fact that some people don't read newspapers or visit trade shows. They could be missing your valuable service. Those same people may stay connected to the world at large with social networking online. They could connect with you there if you have a Twitter account.
As an expert in your field of business, you can provide useful information to other twitterers on your business. More and more business owners are using Twitter as a business tool and you can find those people to trade business techniques. Improving technique can improve business.
Twitter is also a social network for personal enjoyment. People interact with others from their hometown, people with similar interests and others who post interesting tweets. Any one of these groups could use what your business has to offer. Those in your hometown, for instance, who don't know about you, can learn about you. You might not be running an online business but you can create a webpage that tells about your business with contact information for anyone looking to use your services.
Just like an online business, Twitter can be used to answer customer service questions quickly. Many of your customers are undoubtedly online and Twitter is a way to answer their questions without them having to drive to your business location to get answers. And, you don't have to sit in front of a computer to answer them. Twitter can be accessed from your mobile phone (with Internet support) so you can work on the go.
Twitter offers tools that can be used by offline businesses. The most popular applications are customer service and promotional tools but you will find a whole lot more.
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Go to www.freemediabites.com and search for more "Social networking" videos, oh yeah!
Seth Godin on social networking.
Godin describes the value for businesses. Used at innerpreneuring.com
Runtime: 2:12 | 42204 views | 0 Comments
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More Good Stuff from Amazon
Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try, I can't get no.....(Rolling Stones)
Social Media Marketing For Dummies
Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 12/15/2009) 
Secrets of Social Media Marketing: How to Use Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-Charge Your Business!
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Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business
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Social Marketing: Influencing Behaviors for Good
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Facebook Marketing: Leverage Social Media to Grow Your Business
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Woo Hoo - More Places to Go, People to See, Things to Do
- All My Faves - Finally Someone Put Everything on One Page!
- This may be one of the best home pages on the internet today, you will want to bookmark it. We love the logos, you better study them, there will be a multiple choice test on them in class next week! How may do you know already?
- TweetDeck - Great for Watching FaceBook and Twitter at the Same Time
- This should be the first site you sign up for after you set up your Twitter and FB accounts. I have been at businesses where there is a real person with a real job watching the company TweetDeck page....... no way...........yes, way. Let's all help the economy, hire a "Decker," kind of our own little stimulus package contribution. And to parents that own their own businesses - give your kid a job, make Um' a little "Decker," to monitor your activity - since they are always on the 'puter' anyway!
- TweepMe - Get a Whole Bunch of New Followers for $12,95
- "TweepMe is a tool to easily gain followers, but Twitter best practices still apply. When you get new followers from TweepMe, it is good practice to follow them back." So what this means is play nice, ok. Hey, lot's and lot's of instant friends for $12.95, such a deal! You're so popular now, everyone wants to be your friend. Lightbulb, I get it, I can use this to market my business.....duh.
- Twitter Karma - Whack Um' if you don't want Um'
- So you paid $10.95 (or $12.95 if you couldn't figure out how to put the recip link on your site) and now you have lots of followers and are wondering if your followers match up to who you are following, right? Not to worry and don't do it one at a time, clean up your follower and folllowing lists in bulk. Get the free version, it works fine.
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