nine social media rules

Nine Rules +1

Social Media

Are You Doing What’s

Right for Yours?

The BIG 3: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Everybody who’s anybody has a profile in

each. And it seems everybody is preaching

The same thing:

• You HAVE to have a Facebook Fan Page

• You HAVE to be on Twitter

• You HAVE to join LinkedIn and participate in

groups

But, do you really HAVE to do any of his? Will

Your business fall in the water if you don’t?

Are You Doing What’s

Right for Yours?

The answer depends on your target audience.

Remember, your target audience determines

where you should be and how you spend your

time. If your target audience spends their day on

Twitter, then that’s where you should be

engaging with them. While it may be a little

challenging to have a full-fledged conversation,

you can still interact and find out what their

challenges are, participate in the conversation

when they are looking for solutions and become

a trusted adviser.

Are You Doing What’s

Right for Yours?

The same could be true if your target audience

hangs out on Facebook. Maybe they prefer to

interact there because there’s no character limit

(like the 140 characters on Twitter.) They may like

the back and forth conversation of posting

comments on each others wall and seeing their

updates throughout the day.

Are You Doing What’s

Right for Yours?

The same could be true if your target

audience hangs out on Facebook. Maybe

they prefer to interact there because

there’s no character limit (like the 140

characters on Twitter.) They may like the

back and forth conversation of posting

comments on each others wall and seeing

their updates throughout the day.

Now That You Know What

Network is Right For

Your Business

Social Media Rules

Social media has changed everything about the Web. It has changed the way people communicate and even the very fabric of our society, both online and off. And, social media has changed the way we do business. Recent valuations of Face book's worth have reached $50 billion — proof not only of social media's worth in its entirety but also the potential for businesses of every kind to profit from Facebook and the rest of the social Web. Be it a recommendation from a friend, a viral ad campaign or simply a way for a consumer to communicate with a brand, “social” has become a mission-critical business objective. And it should be embraced.

Participation is

Mandatory

The Web is a social place and it will

remain that way. It is not a question of

whether your consumers and prospects

are socializing on the Web, rather a

question of where.

The first rule of social media is that “participation is required”.

For the rest, we get a little help and

inspiration from some people who know

quite a bit about achieving success.

Be Cool

It can be tempting for any business to dive

head-first into a social community, make as

much noise as possible and assume that they

will be heard, that their message will go viral

and sales will skyrocket. But that can be a big

mistake.

Instead, take the role of the worker bee and help

build and maintain the community. Success on

the social Web requires that your business

becomes an added value, a partner or a

resource for those with whom you are trying to

connect and influence.

Ease into it. Listen first, then work your way into

“If you want to gather honey,

don’t kick over the beehive.”

— Dale Carnegie, Author

Serve the Community

As a business, you are attempting to enter a

network of social circles. You are a guest. And

like a good guest brings

an appetizer or a bottle of wine to a party, you

too must bring something to the table. The best

way to ingrain your business with a community

is to offer value. That might be breaking news

stories, informative articles, entertaining videos,

discounts and special promotions or anything

else that particular community

finds interesting or useful. The trick is in finding

exactly what that is.

Serve the Community,

continued

On Facebook, look for posts with plenty of

comments or “likes.” On Twitter, look for

trending topics (both globally and locally) and

updates that have been re-tweeted frequently,

or simply search for key terms and find out

what’s being shared. Set up Google Alerts for

keywords important to your industry and check

Google Trends for peak seasonal activity for

those keywords.

Serve the Community,

continued

AllTop.com is a social media aggregator, of

sorts, that keeps track of top stories on various

social websites in different

categories. AllTop can be used to find out what’s

hot in your industry, then that information can be

used to craft informative updates, tweets, blog

posts, etc. PopUrls is a similar site.

•Reddit.com and Digg.com let users vote on the

most interesting stories, and can be sorted by

category and regency.

Follow the Leader

“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness

Depends upon the character of the user.”

— Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of

the United States

Of course, Teddy Roosevelt wasn’t talking

about social media when he uttered these

words. But they are particularly useful for

our purposes.

Follow the Leader

When it comes to interacting with individuals in

Social media, what you really want is to recruit

Brand advocates. And the best advocates are

those with the most influence. Identify those

individuals who command the attention of the

community in your industry and work to

befriend them. You might be surprised by what

happens. When you get the attention of an

advocate, more will follow. Treat these people

as your most valuable constituents and return

the favor. Offer to help them with their goals, as well.

Watch Your Back

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation

and five minutes to ruin it. If you think

about that, you’ll do things differently.”

— Warren Buffett, Investor, Philanthropist

Monitor your online reputation in five

minutes per day — learn how by scanning

the bar code here, or visit

http://wsm.co/fPNSmH

Watch Your Back

Often a situation can be rectified quickly

and easily and your brand can even

benefit from solving a problem.

But if the problem festers it often goes

beyond repair for the individual user,

much less all of his friends who will likely

never see the resolution. For restaurant

and local business owners, check

Yelp.com reviews and Google reviews

(found in search results after searching

your business name) regularly, if not

daily.

Watch Your Back

A few other tips:

Have Fun

Social media is not all about business. In

fact, for most of the population it’s about

everything outside of business.

Remember that people are on these

websites, in large part, to be entertained.

Of course, as Mr. Buffett warns, be

cognizant of the business’ reputation. But

go ahead, have a little fun. It humanizes

your brand and helps users feel a genuine

connection with the people behind the

logo. This is a good reason to enlist

individual members of your team, even

the CEO, to participate.

Never Assume Anything

No tweet, status update or link

should be posted in any social

environment without first

considering the goal behind it and

then measuring its success. Social

analytics still leave a lot to be

desired but there are some basic

tools to help website owners see

exactly what’s working and what

needs improvement.

Never Assume Anything

• URL shorteners are key to understanding

how certain links posted to Twitter (or

anywhere else) perform. There are several

from which to choose, and full social

media management services like Hoot-

Suite and TweetDeck come pre-loaded

with shorteners and basic analytics.

• Facebook Insights offers page

administrators an excellent view into how

users are interacting with

the page and even each post.

Never Assume Anything

• Simply search. Find where your brand

is being mentioned and join in.

• There is no substitute for your own site’s

analytics. Use them and find out what

social networks are resulting in page

visits, time-on-site and conversions.

Then, build your presence on those sites

for even better results.

Seal the Deal

Make no mistake; social media is all about

sales. You are online to make money and

to look at social media as anything but a

means to meet that goal and improve your

ROI is a colossal mistake and a waste of

time and resources. Keep in mind that

every online social interaction has a goal

attached to it. That might be driving traffic

to your website, building a new audience

for a brand, educating people about your

industry or selling a product(s).

Work, Work, Work

Social media success doesn’t just

“happen”. Like any other business

initiative, the more effort put in, the

better the result.

Those who have experienced

success with the social Web will tell

you that they didn’t become social

sensations without a hefty amount

of hard work.

Work, Work, Work

What are the Top 50

Social Media Resources

for Web Professionals?

Scan this bar code, or visit

http://wsm.co/fx3Jdc

The Rest of the Rules

for Social Media

1. Communication is Communication

Both On and Offline

2. Know You Audience

3. You Don’t Need a Million Friends

4. There’s Always a Reason to

Communicate

5. Not Everyone Follows the Rules

6. Build a Great Profile

7. Not Everyone Needs a My Space Page

8. Have Username That Reflects Your

Business

9. Meet with Customers Virtually

The Rest of the Rules

for Social Media

10. Get a Real Email Address

11. Use Your Own Media (there are some exceptions)

12. Know Your Social Media Platform

13. Learn to Evolve with Technology

14. Your Social Media Page is not your Website

15. Real Customers are More than friends

16. Be Findable

17. Flaunt it With a Podcast

18. Link like there’s no tomorrow

19. Spoon Feed the Press

20. Blog Your Best Blog

The Rest of the Rules

for Social Media

21. Advertise with Social Media

22. Maximize your Online Directories

23. Make a Killer Virtual Portfolio

ruby@marketingyourproductforprofit.com

Ruby Sprowls

Marketing Your Product for Profit

315.543.9189

www.marketingyourproductforprofit.com

Contact us today for your free Social

Media Consultation.