Paul Kortman

from dianafayt @ flickr

Too often people start with the tools of social media. They, and admittedly I do too,  suggest a tool or combination of tools within the first few minutes of getting an idea of what the client does. Perhaps we need to step back and deal with the general benefits of social media. Why would a company spend the mega millions I cost on consulting (Ha, yeah right) to have me tell them what to do or how to do it? It’s because I know how to make the tools fit their needs, not make them fit the tools. Continue reading »

from peaceofmind @ flickr

This is part of a larger Strategy of Online Marketing, but for now you are going to have to take in just a simple piece of the pie.

Blogs have been around for almost 10 years. But I still find many people and companies hesitant to grasp the why’s and how’s regarding blogging. In order to have that conversation we need to talk about online goals. Continue reading »

Found this presentation here: http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/03/microsociology-networks/

My question is: What are you doing to ensure your customers know that social media is about the people, about the dialog. Can you sell your product/service without overtly selling your product/service? Can you represent your brand?

In the comments, tell stories, refute this presentation. Tell how much you agree. Or rant about how certain brands don’t get this concept.

(Shout out to Bob Young for this lead)

There are a ton of social media tools available to users and businesses. But lately I find myself pushing businesses towards Twitter and Facebook only. I could write a long post of why but I’m more of a bullet thinker:

• Critical Mass Twitter and Facebook have millions and millions of users. Some if not most of your potential customers are there.
• Adoption Most companies have begun to accept and use these tools. See your favorite news media outlet CNN woodtv wzzm foxnews BBC etc.
• Functionality These sites make it easy and addicting to use. They are successful at bringing in and keep users glued to their tools.

So what’s wrong with all the others? Continue reading »

From Seotops

There has been a lot of buzz about Facebook and Twitter recently. First Twitter snubbed Facebook’s buyout offer. Now Twitter is integrating its acquisition of summize (twitter search) into standard Twitter. Then Facebook announced new updates to it’s brand pages, now called public profiles.

But from a business (not a personal) prospective I’d like to see some specific changes.

First, some basic facts: Continue reading »

I was explaining to a friend who is not in the business world what I do and how I get paid to be on facebook and twitter. This is my attempt at writing out that logic. I hope to answer a business’ question: I’m on facebook personally but what benefit would my business get from a facebook or say a twitter presence?

Facebook as a sales tool.

This is not how to use Groups, ads,  or Pages on facebook Instead this is discussing how to develop a sales tool using a staff members personal profile. Continue reading »

This is Part 3 of a 3 part series on Twitter Strategy for Business.  Part 1 is here Part 2 is here

Previously I posted about twitter and business. In that article I discussed a businesses entrance to twitter. I then posted about the Trivium of Twitter Accounts.  Here I aim to show how to apply the trivium.

How often to post

Frequency of posting is an often asked question from businesses regarding twitter. Generally speaking people often come out of the gate stronger/faster than they can keep up with. So start slow, and find a groove. See if you can keep the momentum going before you increase your frequency. Here are some general guidelines specific to the trivium of twitter accounts: Continue reading »