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20 Tips for Hiring a Social Media Consultant

Guest_Author — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:20:08 +0000

There is no shortage of social media gurus online. Screening and identifying a strong social media consultant requires asking the right questions.

Figure out how long the social media strategist has been in the business. Ask questions that will give you the necessary insight into the track record of the consultant will be helpful.
Ask to review campaigns the social media consultant has developed in the past. Seeing the types of campaigns the social media consultant was associated with will give you a better understanding of the persons skill set.
Look at the following the consultant has cultivated in the various forms of social media networks.
See how active the consultant is in social media. The frequency of engagement is also an indicator of their effectiveness in the world of social media.
See if there are any campaigns that the social media strategist has developed in the niche your business works in.
Determine what type of key metrics will be assessed to gauge the efficacy of the campaign in place.
Learn how the strategist would go about handling negative feedback received from an audience.
Gather details on the specific growth strategy that will be implemented.
Ask the strategist about how current visible trends in social media can be put to use for your brand.

Inquire about the role social bookmarking would play in the development of the social media campaign.
Ask if the social media strategist provides other services beyond social media campaign management like press releases or blogging.
Determine whether or not there would be a window in place for which results can be accurately assessed.
Find out how the return of investment will be measured for all campaign activity.
Figure out how the anticipated campaign will complement other marketing strategies in place.
Instead of viewing the social media consultant in terms of quantity of followers, look at the patterns of engagement. Does the person engage the followers or do they have more of a one-way conversational style?
Ask what the picture of success looks like for a great campaign. You will want to get an understanding of whether or not success is quantified in numbers or other customer actions.
Know who would be the primary point of contact for any questions concerning the account. It is important to know if you’ll have consistent access to the point person at all times.
See what kind of research efforts would be done before the campaign is launched. You want to get an idea of how much of the leg work you will be responsible for during the preparation stages.
Requests references from previous clients.
Determine where forum assistance is incorporated into the regular service offerings. If so, is the forum assistance offered as a separate component from the social media campaign.

Touching on all of the questions in your attempt to hire a social media consultant will empower you to make the best possible hiring decision for your social media efforts.

*DISCLAIMER: This article is provided for entertainment and general information purposes only. The author does not guarantee the accuracy or reliability of the information contained herein, and disclaims any responsibility for its use or misuse by you or any other person or entity.

DegreesFinder.comyour #1 source for online degree information.

Two Graphical Tools for Social Media Optimization

Mike Valentine — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:14:57 +0000

Social Media Optimization Periodic Table

The SMO Periodic Table and App Map infographic provides a visual layout for exploring the world of social media optimization tools. This infographic can help web business owners identify the different Twitter-related applications that are useful for building traffic and bringing users to ultimately their web hosted sites.

The Social Media Optimization (SMO) Periodic Table uses the periodic table of elements layout to group together similar applications that provide increased functionality and capabilities that support the use of Twitter and other Channels. The table groups together on the horizontal level the apps that are Listening Tools, Publishing Tools and Broadcasting Tools. Going across the vertical, the apps range from those useful for increasing credibility to those that are more focused on gaining followers. Some of the tools are also categorized as Analyzing Tools and Culling Tools.

By using the SMO Periodic Table to find an app, the user can determine which Twitter-related tool may benefit their particular need. At a glance, the table makes it much easier to determine the starting point for selecting an app without having to cull through a list of apps in a hit-or-miss fashion. Once the user hones in on the particular area of interest, they can then delve into the specific features of the app in that category.

The App Map works in a different manner to the SMO Periodic Table but showing the direct connections and contextual relationships between the tools. The App Map provides a visual road map with lines that connect workflow between different apps and even some tools to make their use more efficient. A map legend breaks the apps down into ten groups and identifies that group’s features and usage.

The groups cover areas such as scheduling, building lists, publishing, location targeting, creating feeds and culling. Lines connect the apps with similar functionality and also show that several apps may bridge two or three different contextual groups.

The SMO Periodic Table and App Map are great visual tools for helping Twitter users and business owners to select the appropriate social media optimization apps in an elegant and straightforward manner.

Social Media Web Hosting

Brought to you by Juliana from InMotion Hosting, a VPS Hosting provider based in Los Angeles. Check out all her tech Twitter tactics on @JulianaPayson.

10 Free Websites to use in 2012

Tamara — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:20:01 +0000

The year is still young; 2012 can still be the year you reach out to friends, get better organized, or save money. There are websites out there that can help you reach these goals. Here are the top ten websites you should be visiting in 2012.

www.facebook.com
With over 500 million users, Facebook is larger than many countries. This site can help you reconnect with high school friends, college comrades, or your old army buddies. Using Facebook is free and takes minutes to set up.

www.twitter.com
If you hear people around you talking about “reading Tweets”, relax – the world hasn’t found a new obsession with bird calls. Tweets are small 160 character messages that you post from Twitter. You can post your own brief messages, and also “follow” other peoples Tweets. Mobile versions of this site exist as apps for smartphones, allowing you to post and Tweets no matter where you are.

www.foursquare.com
This is the ultimate site to say, “I’ve been here”! This site also has a mobile version for your smartphone. Foursquare users “check in” to the establishments they visit. You earn points each time you check in. If you are the one who has checked into a site the most in a recent period – you are declared the “mayor” of that location. Some stores even offer coupon codes just for Foursquare users.

www.groupon.com
Saving money is one of the advantages to the internet. Local Groupon coupons vary each day, but as with all coupons – they can help you save. We’ve seen recent coupons for Old Navy, local sewing classes, local dance classes, and a variety of local restaurants.

www.flickr.com
This site is perfect for those precious pictures that were meant to be shared. With Flickr, you can load your photos, organize them into albums, and send private links to your friends and family.

www.evernote.com
It’s easy to lose track of information. Evernote is an online tool for tracking notes, pictures, and just about anything else you want to save and organize. A smartphone app is available as well. The service is free, but people who upload larger files may want to upgrade to a premium account.

www.amazon.com
Aside from the great prices, Amazon product listings feature user reviews which provide detailed information to help you make better buying decisions.

www.YouTube.com
This website, owned by Google, features videos from all over the world. Aside from home videos and silly backyard stunts, you can find interesting lectures or music posted by soon-to-be-discovered singers.

www.youtube-to-mp3.com.au
Turning files from YouTube to mp3 files is quite convenient. Did you find an interesting lecture or piece of music on YouTube that you would like to take with you while commuting? This site easily converts YouTube to mp3 files you can play on your IPod or smartphone.

www.ebay.com
Did you know that Dell computer has its own EBay online account? EBay isn’t just for used junk anymore; many manufacturers are now using it to sell their overstock. Before you decide to pay full price, visit EBay and you may find what you need.

If you visit these sites, you’ll find yourself enjoying 2012 so much more.

THis article was provided by Nic. Nic is a part time DJ and manages over 30 online services.

How Will Social Media Help My Business?

Tamara — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:20:38 +0000

Ok. You’ve started a business. It’s scary, exciting, stressful and liberating. Or, maybe you’ve had a business for a bit. And now you want to expand, reach more people. And in these economic times, there isn’t a lot of money for advertising. So what do you do?

If you’ve heard of a little thing called social networking, and are more than a little terrified of it, don’t be! Social networking is a cheap, efficient and smart way to market your business and build customers. Below are some tips to get started.

Start Simple:

The easiest place to start is Facebook. It’s free. You open up a business page, follow the prompts, add pictures and info and start advertising the heck out of the link. Get people to “like” your page (super easy, they just hit the like button) and then you can post updates that contain info about sales, events, promotional items etc. Eventually you can start putting advertisements on Facebook but this costs money. *This works especially well for businesses in the media, retail, and self starter categories.

Add some Twitter:

Scared yah yet? Twitter freaked me out for a long time too. And after getting into it, it took a solid three months to get the hang of it. I mean what is a hash tag? Twitter is a great way to build followers from all over the world. It takes some strategic writing to blend things to say (tweet) that are more personal and tweeting business things. But if done effectively, you can reach thousands of people. The skies the limit really. Plus you can link your twitter account to your Facebook page.

Get on the Google train:

There is yet another platform similar to Facebook called Google+. I’m still navigating this one, but it looks like a lot of people who are sick of Facebook have switched over. There’s more privacy and control over who sees what. The layout is a little clunky, but hitting all your options and getting your business out there is always a must! You can share pictures, updates, links etc to the people in your “circles”. And you can further categorize your circles into personal, family, friends, work etc.

LinkedIn:

This social networking site is specifically tailored towards business networking. It’s less personal than Facebook. And they claim that google search results yield LinkedIn profiles towards the top. There are groups you join/form and you can network with other businesses. I am not sure how great it is to acquire customers. Again, this is another way to promote your business.

What is pretty snazzy about these is that you can link most of them together. So you post on Twitter and it automatically posts on your FB page. Makes it much easier to put information out there. And best of all? It’s free!

Lisa Coronado is a content writer for CoolBlueWeb.

Google Plus for Small Business

Mike Valentine — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 07:24:48 +0000

Google Plus for Business

Google+ Plus has been around for several months now, but most people are not using the social network to its full potential. Even if you have the basics down, it might be time to take a second look at this rapidly growing network.

With more than 90 million users, Google+ IS THE PLACE TO BE

New social networking sites pop up all the time, and you’d be wasting your time if you Jumped on all of them.

SO WHY IS GOOGLE+ A GOOD BET FOR BUSINESS? – IT’S INDEXED BY GOOGLE
+ Using Google+ can help customers find your business faster and easier.
+ Creating a business page can help you increase visibility as well.

GOOGLE+ OFFERS A CLEANER EXPERIENCE
+ Easier to share and rank other lugs, people’s posts and comments
+ Variety of sharing options – video, posts photos, etc.
+ Personalized circles
+ Follow who you wont to follow and no one else

IT’S HOPPING!
+ A whopping 60% of Google+ users log in every single day.
+ 80% engage on a weekly basis.
+ In comparison, just 50% of Twitter users log in daily.
+ As previously mentioned Google Plus already has more than 90 million members, making it a good-sized network that is worth participating in
+ But Google’s strong network of users doesn’t matter.

IT’S MORE ABOUT HOW YOUR BUSINESS CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS HUGE NETWORK.

SHARING The entire purpose of a social network is to connect and share… Google+ makes this very simple if you understand the basics.
HOWEVER, GOING BEYOND JUST SHARING A LINK OR TWO IS WHERE THINGS START TO REALLY HAPPEN.
SHARE INFORMATION TO ENTERTAIN AND INTEREST YOUR AUDIENCE

+ Your business isn’t of high interest in most cases.
+ You are what you share, so be share, so be consistent with your esired image.
+ Share information that benefits readers but builds your brand, too.
+ What people really want is more of YOU and your interests.

WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD YOU SHARE?

+ Other peoples links and tips
+ Your Ideas
+ Links and educational information

THINK OF A MAGAZINE
+ Providing Original information is good. but more importantly. SHARE other people’s ideas!

THROUGH GOOGLE+, YOU ARE CURATING INFORMATION, MUCH LIKE A MAGAZINE.

+ Remember, when you share something, you are endorsing it, putting your brand behind it.

*TIP FOR SUCCESS: – Aim for on on-topic/off-topic ratio of 80/20.

+ Post several times a day to ensure that you reach followers around the world in different time zones.

INTERACT WITH YOUR FOLLOWERS

+ If someone you trust shares a link, you are far more likely to check it out because you know they give you good information.

BE THAT PERSON TO YOUR FOLLOWERS.

BUILDING UP TRUST IS WHAT SOCIAL NETWORKING IS ALL ABOUT.

+ Comment On yourshares.
+ Respond to other people’s comments.
+ Use Google+ to +1 people’s posts and comments.

HOW CAN YOU BE ACTIVE ON GOOGLE+ WITHOUT WASTING TIME?
HERE ARE A FEW QUICK TIPS:

+ 15 MINUTES – Look for into your circles would enjoy outside of Google+
+ 15 MINUTES – Engage in COnversolion on a post
+ 10 MINUTES – Read posts by others and comment
+ 10 MINUTES – Comment on your own posts
+ 5 MINUTES Shore a new post

BUSINESS PAGES TAKE NETWORKING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

While many people are using the networking side of this social site, you’re missing out if your business doesn’t have a page there.

BUSINESS PAGES ALLOW YOU TO ENHANCE YOUR BRAND BEYOND THE BASIC NETWORKING LEVEL ON GOOGLE+.

EDUCATE FOLLOWERS

+ Let your circles know more about your brand,
+ The more they know, the easier it is to determine if yours is the product or service for them.
+ Video hangouts can help consumers know how.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

+ Make sure your customers are kept happy by responding rapidly to their questions and complaints.
+ Offer videos or other rnedia options to help resolve common issues quickly and easily

BUILD A COMMUNITY

+ Give tons a place to talk and share their experiences.
+ Tailor the community to your location and your business.

FOR EXAMPLE

a diapering company could host a forum on parenting.

LOOK FOR USER-CREATED CONTENT AND CURATE IT.

+ Add media to add interest and provide value.
+ eBooks + video + reports + photos

MORE AND GOGGLE

SEO is always a consideration, and with Google+, the search engine giant Is making It easier than ever to find social media links and Information with searches.

POTENTIAL FACTORS FOR GOOGLE

+ Search results are affected by the people you are friends with on Google+.
+ Social connections may hold more importance than links.
+ Sites on Google+ tend to be indexed very quickly.
+ +1 links may rank higher in search results.

Business pages allow you to enhance your brand beyond the basic networking level on Google+. While many people are using the networking side of this social site, you’re missing out if your business doesn’t have a page there.

QUICK TIPS FOR GOOGLE+ SUCCESS

+ Define your audience by Location, Topic, Wealth, etc. demographic:
+ Look for people who are relevant to your business.

[THEY SHOULD BE USEFUL TO YOUR BUSINESS] AND HELP YOU REACH YOUR GOALS

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

+ While you need an audience. circle only those who:
+ Enrich the networking experience
+ Add value to the experience
+ Don’t accept anyone and everyone.
+ Set up your own criteria for choosing circles. Then follow it.
+ A campfire is a shared goal or interest that draws people in and gives them a reason to gather.
BE CONSISTENT

+ Keep your offline and online business presence the same.
+ Provide continuity so your clients always know what to expect.

WE ARE WHAT WE SHARE.

Google+ has a lot to offer, and we’ve only just touched on a few of the great reasons to use it here.
If you’re serious about boosting your business through social media, this is where you need to be.
Chris Brogan

FaceBook Valuation and Daily Usage – Infographic

Mike Valentine — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:31:32 +0000

Facebook is used by over 845 Million people daily. The founder, Mark Zuckerberg earns $500,000 yearly salary and is worth $17.5 Billion The FaceBook site garners 20% of all page views online daily. The average 20 minutes spent by most visitors on the site is spent playing games like Zynga’s Cityville. Here’s an infographic showing the most interesting statistics about the social networking giant.

Facebook 2012: The Latest on Everybody’s Favorite Social Network by Infographiclabs

Mobile Social Commerce – Security Top Concern – Infographic

Mike Valentine — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:51:32 +0000

Social Commerce Security

Security is top of mind for consumers asked how they shop via mobile and social media sites. Most are concerned about providing their credit cards to ecommerce sites via mobile. Retailers that address those security concerns will profit first and earlier than their competitors.

7 Ways Businesses Can Use Pinterest To Engage With Their Customers

Mike Valentine — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:20:01 +0000

One of the most popular social networking sites today is Pinterest, an image-based site with a simple concept. Users create virtual bulletin boards for topics ranging from cooking, places to visit, to great books they’ve read. Boards are simple with a collage of photos and short descriptions. Users can follow all of another user’s boards or they can just follow certain boards.

Since it’s inception, Pinterest has had a predominantly female audience. As more brands and companies are using the site, more men are finding the simple, visual design appealing. Here are seven ways a company can use Pinterest to connect with followers.

1. Connect Pinterest With Other Social Networking Sites

Since Pinterest is the newcomer to social networking, it does not have as many users as Tumblr, Twitter or Facebook. As a company, you should point customers to Pinterest from these other accounts. Customers will like having a new way to interact with their favorite brands, and the company increases their fan base and adds new ways to engage customers. Many companies also post blog posts to Pinterest to gain new readers and customers.

2. Easier Communication Between Companies And Consumers

Social media has made it easier than ever for companies to engage with their customers. Using Pinterest, customers can post pictures of products they have purchased and let others see how they are used. The company can then share these ideas with other customers. For example, a customer posts a picture of her wearing a dress and shoes from the same company. The company highlights the outfit with a comment on how the two products look great together and thank the customer for the photo. The customer feels involved with the company, and this recognition increases brand loyalty. Other fans get new ideas about the products and feel inspired to wear the clothing.

3. Highlight Different Parts Of A Large Company

Large companies can create different boards for each segment of their company. This keeps all parts of a company separate, but under the same account. It also narrows the focus for customers who want information about just one part of a company.

4. Hold A Contest

Companies can create contests using Pinterest to engage customers and gain new customers. Contest ideas can include the most repins or creating the most visually appealing board. Users can create a board of a favorite outfit and accessories using a company’s merchandise.

5. Show A Company’s Personality

Not all businesses have products for sale, but they can still benefit from Pinterest by pinning photos that align with their personality and beliefs. Add a description of the picture so customers understand what it represents and add a link to your site or blog.

6. New Product Feedback

Companies can use Pinterest as a social media focus group to gauge the popularity of a new product. Companies can determine how well their audience likes a product from comments, likes and repins. Since Pinterest has a narrow demographic than Facebook or Twitter, it’s easier to analyze and interpret data. This type of feedback can be very valuable when launching new products or posting prototype ideas.

7. Pin Board Themes

Many companies are creating weekly or daily boards of items with a common theme. The more creative the theme of the board is, the more likely other users will follow all of the companies’ boards and repin their favorite ones. Since you post to the board throughout the day or week, users will come back for updates.

Pinterest is still in its infancy, but it holds a lot of potential. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which are largely text based, Pinterest is very visual. This grabs the user’s attention and holds it easier than a page full of words. Pinterest makes it easy for users to repin a picture to their own board, so pictures can be seen by hundreds of people in just a short time via repins. Pinterest also allows companies to become more personal and show customers their unique personalty.

Juliana is a social media consultant who regularly collaborates with InMotion Hosting, a virtual private servers solution company, to help owners of small and medium-sized businesses.

Creating the Perfect Social Media Marketing Plan – How Your Business Can Do It

Tamara — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:20:21 +0000

Thanks to the surging popularity of websites like Twitter and Facebook, companies have started devoting bigger and bigger chunks of their budgets to social media marketing. But, just like any other promotional strategy, you need a solid plan if you want to be successful.

So, how do you create a social media marketing plan that helps boost your web traffic and your sales?

1. Figure out who you’re targeting

Most people spend time on some sort of social media site, but those sites can differ from group to group. For example, if you’re targeting college kids, you’re much more likely to find them on Facebook than LinkedIn. But if you’re targeting older professionals, LinkedIn or Twitter might be more useful for your efforts.

Whether you focus on one site or a variety of sites, you need to find the right sites to appeal to your target audience. Otherwise, your message won’t get seen by the right people.

2. See what the competition is doing

As popular as social media is, many companies haven’t gotten to it yet. Beating the competition to a particular platform automatically makes you the leader of the pack. If, for example, you discover that Twitter is a great site for reaching your target audience – and none of your competitors are Tweeting yet – go full-speed ahead so that you can be the first ones on the site. That way, everyone else has to play catch up.

3. Be prepared to wait

Social media doesn’t necessarily work overnight. Sure, you can see some fast successes here and there, but a solid social media marketing strategy is one that’s catered to the long haul. After all, it can take time to develop your personality and show people the “real you”, instead of just offering more corporate speak.

However, in the meantime, focus on creating compelling content – whether it’s links, pictures, videos, or status updates. On the social media sites, interesting stuff can go viral in the blink of an eye. Even one viral video can give you a major boost in traffic!

4. Keep tabs on your progress – and be prepared to make tweaks

Social media strategies aren’t always perfect right off the bat. But by keeping tabs on your progress, you can make changes to that your strategy becomes perfect.

By using Google Analytics or a similar program, you can see exactly where your traffic is coming from. If, for example, you’re getting a lot of clicks from the videos you’re posting on Facebook – but getting very few clicks from the pictures you’re posting on Facebook – focus more of your efforts on videos. After all, it’s in your best interest to give your target audience exactly what it wants!

Kirsty LaVier is editor for Shopping Cart Reviews, the leading site dedicated to helping you find the Best Shopping Cart Software.

How to Generate Avalanche of Leads with Facebook

Tamara — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:20:04 +0000

Facebook is an excellent channel to generate massive leads to your offer. With its great social power, you can set a good strategy to make more leads from Facebook. It is very useful if you want to increase subscribers in your mailing list or if you are promoting a CPA offer. Here are some tips to generate avalanche of leads with Facebook:

1. Choosing your target market

The first thing to know is your target market. But, before that, you have to know the product you are offering to them. Let us assume that the product you are offering is a free report on how to make $3000 per month online (remember that I’m giving tips to generate some leads, not sales). You want people to sign up to your mailing list and download the report. Now, what is your target market? Of course, internet marketers or work at home moms. Once you’ve found your target market, the next move is to find some active groups where those people meet.

2. Participate in active Facebook groups of your target market

Use Facebook search function to find some groups that discuss anything related to internet marketing or make money online. In those groups, you will find your target market. What you need to do is to participate to those groups and send friend requests to the group members. What you need to keep in mind is that when you send friend requests too often, you may risk your Facebook account being locked, so make sure to use your gut when you send friend request. Send the requests to as many people as possible, but don’t send it too often. In fact, you just need to spare some 30 minutes a day to send friend requests.

3. Repeat the process until you have good numbers of friends

You need to aim to have at least 500 friends in your Facebook account to start generating some leads. It will not take you much time if you are actively searching Facebook groups that correspond with your target market. Once you have at least 500 friends, you can start generating some leads. But, you have to keep adding your Facebook friends.

4. Build some credibility

You don’t want to promote any product blatantly to your Facebook friends because they may have other marketers doing that thing. What you need to do is to teach them and make them recognize you as an expert. Now, since you have many friends, you can start posting status updates by giving them some tips. Once in a while, inform them about your offer and ask them to sign up to your mailing list.

5. Building a blog

Now, the best accompany for this method is a simple blog. You can write some articles in this blog and offer your free report there. Every time you update your blog, you will tell your Facebook friends about it. Remember, they are your target market, so they have an interest in the product that you promote. You should be able to generate more leads this way.

Next, you will create a fan page and offer your free report there to generate even more leads. However, this will be for another article. If you apply the tips above, you will be able to generate avalanche of leads from Facebook.

Kelly has been writing articles for different websites online for the last 5 years and specialised in everything related to social media. She is also a contributor to HowToTradeCommodities.com where you can get some useful tips when it comes to investment.