Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’
Question: I am an interior designer and I have a friend and colleague who is a real estate agent. We each would like to start a blog. Would it be effective for us to do a blog together since our two areas are related?
One of the first things to ask yourself when conceiving your blog is: “Who is my audience?” “Who is going to get benefit from the information I can share?” In this case, a combined interior design and real estate bIog may not be a very good idea. Are the people who are interested in interior design the same people as those who are interested in real estate? Not necessarily.
For instance, if your friend the real estate agent posts a blog about, say, the perils of buying a home in foreclosure, the person who is interested in buying vintage furniture for their living room will probably think “this blog doesn’t give me the info I’m looking for” and not come back.
However, that doesn’t mean that you should never co-write a blog. Many bloggers invite guest authors to post on their blogs if the content is valuable to the audience. For instance, I recently co-wrote a blog with Elizabeth Beskin of Fifth Avenue Digital. We attended the O’Reilly Twitter Boot Camp together and wrote “10 Things I Learned at Twitter Boot Camp” (see blog from June 18th) and posted it on our blogs. The subscribers to both of our blogs found the information very useful.
I recommend “31 Days to Build a Better Blog” which is a terrific e-Book published by ProBlogger.net. It will really help you identify what you bring to the table in Social Media and get you on track.
Tags: Blog, Blogging, Social Media
Posted in Blogging, Social Media | No Comments »
June 26th, 2009
On Monday I had the pleasure of being able to spend the entire day at Tim O’Reilly’s Twitter Boot Camp at the New World Stages in Manhattan. There were wonderful speakers and wonderful advice on the use of Twitter for your brand. Here are a few pearls of wisdom I took away about this exciting new communication tool. (more…)
Tags: O'Reilly Twitter Boot Camp, Social Media, Twitter, Twitter Boot Camp
Posted in Social Media, Twitter | No Comments »
June 18th, 2009
Lately I have been speaking to groups of entrepreneurs about Social Media. Once I finish explaining the benefits of using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging, I take questions. In every case, my audiences’ biggest concern is that Social Media will become a huge “time drain” for them. And, I can totally understand their worry.
However, an article published today in MediaPost, states “81% of all marketers indicate that their social media efforts have generated exposure for their businesses. At least two in three participants found that increased traffic occurred with as little as 6 hours a week invested in social media marketing.”
So, if you devote as little as 6 hours a week to Social Media, your business will benefit. If I were to limit myself to 6 hours a week, I think I would do it this way:
- Blog for 2 hours: write one blog post per week and make sure your blog is set-up so that your posts are will appear on LinkedIn and Facebook.
- Twitter for 2 hours: choose the people who interest you the most, and see what they are talking about (I get cell updates from the people I want to learn from the most, and there are only about ten of those). Read what they are talking about only when it relates to your business. If there is an article or blog that they particularly like, bookmark it to go back to later, read on your handheld, or print it out to read when you can (it’s OK to skim).
- Explore for 1 1/2 hours: give yourself some time to just float around, discover new sites, find new people to follow, etc.
- Update for 1/2 hour: check your profiles to make sure they are up to date.
6 hours is hardly a “time drain” and can have an impact on your business.
Need help getting started? Be Visible Associates now offers “Instant Social Media Packages” where we set up all your profiles, integrate them, and train you on how to use them.
Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Managing Time Social Media, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in Networking, Social Media | 2 Comments »
April 22nd, 2009
If you Blog, if you use Twitter, if you use Facebook and LinkedIn, you know how easy it is to lose your direction in the maze of information coming in. And, what to say, how to add to the conversation, what’s the best way to be a part of it? If you are anything like me, you could use a few extra hours every day just to keep up!
Sometimes, we just need a reality check. I got my reality check this morning when Chris Brogan led me to an article he wrote WAY BACK in November! If I Started Today by Chris Brogan. Thank you, Chris!
Tags: Blogging, Chris Brogan, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in Networking, Social Media | No Comments »
April 14th, 2009
Be Visible Associates is proud to announce the introduction of our newest service:
The Instant Social Media Package
Get your business on:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Your Own Blog
and have it all work together for you!
Training included.
Call us today!
Tags: Blog, Blogging, Facebook, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter, Zillo
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »
April 3rd, 2009
If you are a business person and you use the Web, you are probably
1. using Twitter
2. wondering about Twitter
3. trying to ignore Twitter
4. scared of Twitter
This week I’ve had the privilege of talking to groups of business people about Twitter and its value to their businesses. Everyone seemed to fit into categories 2 through 4. So, my challenge has been how to de-mystify it for them. One of the best ways that I have found to explain Twitter is this:
“Think of Twitter as a way to send a text message to a whole lot of people at one time…most of whom you don’t know, but most of whom share your interests. And, people who are interested in what you are interested in will send you text messages, too.”
If you keep this in mind when you use Twitter, you’ll get a lot out of it.
Example: about an hour ago this blog was announced by someone I am following on Twitter. It is on the Marketing Pilgrim website. It talks about Twitter being a “search engine” and how it may become a real challenge to the mammoth Google. http://tiny.cc/iow9T
As a business tool, Twitter enables me to get up to the minute information like this about my industry that I can then share with my clients to keep them on the cutting edge of what is going on in online marketing.
So, if you are in business, and if you really want up to date information about your industry…twart tweeting right now!
Tags: Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Twitter
Posted in Networking, Social Media, Twitter | No Comments »
March 5th, 2009
Just Ask Betsy....The Be Visible Blog
