This is the biggest and most complicated question I get.

The reason why it's so complicated is because every reason for a fan page is different, but it’s what makes you so different that makes this so fun and interesting…

Here are 4 steps I follow that have been successful for me:

1. I took the time to create a social media plan.

I know this is controversial as some people claim that social media is so big and that it changes so much how can you make any kind of plan. My answer is that because it’s so big and changes so much that without a plan you would be TOTALLY lost.

Here are a few questions to think about when making your plan:

• What is your goal with social media? – And don’t say make money! Your competition can say that too. Set real goals like a business plan. Set daily, weekly and monthly goals but don’t go any further than 3 months and check on them to make sure you're keeping them.

• Who is your primary client? Who is your secondary client? In other words what kind of client pays your bills. I have a homebuilder client, who has 23-35 year old females, newly engaged as his primary. They are ones that want the nice kitchens and will make the fiancé pay… LOL Who is your primary?

 

2. If your inviting fan’s to your fan page do they have a reason to “like” and stick around?

• Is your wall full of information for them to like?
• Are you asking questions they would want to answer?
• Remember who your primary client is… Is your welcome page or offering page appealing to them?

3. Are you engaging your fan’s?

This is a big one especially if you don’t have many fan’s or they don’t seem to respond to anything your posting.

Posts that work for me:

Photos – they are eye catching and now with changes from Facebook they are much bigger on the newsfeed. This makes for valuable real estate for your page.

Making it real – this means letting them know you’re not a big company but actually a real person. That a person is they’re engaging this page. Don’t make it so formal. People forget the word “social” in social media. Even if you represent a large company let them know you’re a person and you’re there to help. Ask engaging questions like:

• If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?
• Yes or no? Are you looking forward to the weekend?
• Yes or no? Have you ever been to our store?
• Click “Like” if you wish you where on a beach right now?
• Click “Like” If you want to have a new kitchen?

4. Paying for Ads! (but not breaking your budget)

The best way to find targeted fan’s is by paying for ads. This way you know your getting fan’s that are going to “Like” your page and be interested in what you have to say.

Here is where the other steps come into play first. If you have taken the proper amount of time on knowing your primary target, have an inviting page and are ready with engaging questions your cost for ads will be very low. Make sure when placing your FB ad, you use the demographics, interests and location sections to reach your targeted fan base.

I currently pay $.35 per click. I know of some people who pay less. My last ad I budgeted $80 over 5 days and received over 223 new fan’s with ZERO “unlikes”

You will need a good picture for your ad. Something with colour that is eye catching but goes with your fan page or product. You also get only 3 lines to go with the picture. Here is where adjectives come into play.

This is where you will have:

• Become a fan and find out the secrets of…
• We have luxurious homes waiting for you to view…
• Reach your professional goals with the help you deserve…
• Features that solve your business needs…
• Planning the wedding of your dreams, let us....

In Social Media Well Done http://socialmediawelldone.ca/ I offer more detailed videos that will walk you through a detailed social media plan and help you build your social media voice.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to post on our fan page. www.facebook.com/activ8business

Have a GREAT Day

Lynne Conrad
Community Manager and Founder

Students have always been big customers for many businesses. However, with the rise of the technological era, getting sales from these students is becoming harder and harder. Young people from high school to master's degree programs know exactly what they want, and with the Internet at their fingertips they're more willing to reach companies online than go out of the way to do business with anyone else. Unless you want to exclude students from your customer base (which few businesses can afford) you have to learn how to use the Internet to your advantage, and nothing does that better than social media.

Since the advent of services like MySpace, FaceBook, and Twitter, the majority of students have become a deluge of socially networked users. Social media give them ways to keep with the second-to-second and minute-to-minute dealings of friends, family, and even businesses. Many students connect with businesses online through these services, if only just to know when they are having sales or updating their product lists.

If this sounds like an opt-in mailing list, it should, because it basically is. Few marketing materials have the same power as a simple social networking page. Students can find these pages very easily, so you don’t have to worry about search engines mucking up your rankings. Failing to take advantage of this marketing method is like pulling all your commercials, stopping the mailed postcards, refusing to send e-mail, and erasing all your newspaper and radio ads. Doesn’t sound very smart, does it?

When you use social media to reach students, you can't be timid. That doesn't mean you have to be brazen about everything, but have some confidence in what you're saying. Speaking of which, what should you be saying? This is the problem many businesses have at first, because they aren't used to reaching out to students as a particular class of customers. Talk about what's going on inside the business, share a funny story, mention discounts, or talk about that new product launching in a few days.

Also, always reach out to the students and ask them to comment back. Nothing is worse than a post with absolutely no comments. Even if other readers think the post is interesting, they may dismiss it because no one is saying anything. It’s like having a commercial that everyone watches but no one responds to. Of course the number of comments your business' posts receive depends a lot on how many customers have connected with your social media presence. On the other hand, keep in mind that more comments may lead to more followers as other users see what their friends are commenting on.

Always add a small something at the bottom of your post to invite comment or interaction. Oftentimes opinionated students are more likely to take you up on this invitation than other kinds of customers.

Building up a social media page to help your image and connect with students is a great idea sure to help you build a list of loyal customers. The time investment to maintain a social media presence is quite minimal, but the payoff for businesses is immense. The investment is most worth the effort when you target your social media use, and in doing so it's critical to keep in mind that students are the prime users of social media and your most receptive audience.

Provided by Guest Blogger Cyndi Laurenti - While she figures out her next career move, Cyndi Laurenti works as an online writer and editor. Her primary interests are education, technology, and how to combine them. She enjoys the trees and beaches of the pacific northwest, and looking things up on other people's iPhones.

We know social media has taken off like wildfire. Ten years ago if you’d even said the phrase “social media” you would have gotten funny looks. But today’s it’s a fundamental part of our everyday lives. Why is that? Here are six reasons why social media has become so huge:

1. Social media is fast. The internet gives us a means to exchange information more quickly than we ever thought imaginable before. Social media combines fast information exchange with human influence. There’s no longer a need to wait for news reporters to gather and prepare information. Everyone with a smart phone and a Twitter account can become the “eyes on the ground” providing minute-by-minute updates when news is breaking.
2. Cultures are shifting. In the world, there is good and there is bad. As our access to the knowledge of both increases, so does our desire to be aware of the very best and the very worst—and to give our opinion of both. Sharing of opinion is something mankind has done since cave man days, but never has it been so easy to share with so many, so fast.
3. Driven by Generations X and Y. The baby boomers’ kids, and their kids. If you were born after 1975 in a civilized environment, there’s a pretty good chance you use the internet. And if you’re an internet user in that age range, there’s a really big chance you use social media. And social media is built in such a way that using it drives it to grow. Sharing pictures of a party, posting to your blog, making a statement through a video or just gossiping in your Facebook status all drive social media and fuel its ongoing success.
4. Create a new you. Call it a benefit or call it a drawback, but social media gives everyone the ability to define themselves and to promote that identity widespread. Create your own “place” in life. What’s “class” when even the poorest people can be trendsetters and tastemakers thanks to social media. On the flip side, those who are famous, rich and powerful can suddenly and safely interact with those perched on less tall pedestals.
5. Social media makes money. Facebook generated $2 billion in revenue last year.  Twitter made $45 million.  LinkedIn netted $4.5 million in profit in its last quarter alone.
6. Social media is new. We like to try new things, and as a society we were ready for social media. The timing was right you might say. Television was getting old, and books… what are those? The bar scene’s bland and three-way calling never really caught on. We were ready for something new. Social media means mass interaction that’s super-fast and far-reaching.

Have I missed something? Are there other factors? Or, do you disagree with some of my rationale? Please share your comments!

Daniel Mark Wheaton is an Internet and Mobile Marketing Consultant with Flipside Marketing. He is a self-taught internet guru with a background in journalism who’s been dabbling in web design and online marketing since 2000. He enjoys showing small businesses ways they can reach out to new customers and build relationships with their existing customers using the internet and mobile technology.

Thanks

by Daniel Mark Wheaton, Flipside Marketing

How to stay fed, clothed, entertained, and educated without leaving your computer.  


Created by: College At Home

Sorry guys I could care less about football!  But the commercials… now they are FUN!

But to say this is a football game… no way.  This has gone way beyond football.  This is a cultural phenomenon that has taken over North America with tail gate parties, chili, pizza and wings.

It’s because of this that business have paid BIG bucks over the years.  But with social media how will this be effective?

My Challenge: During the Super Bowl how is to measure the effective of certain commercials on Twitter.  Are businesses getting their message across?  Does all this BIG Bucks pay off?  And most of all…. What Commercial will come out on top, and earn the title of Super Bowl Ad of All time!

So I’m going to be monitoring just Twitter this year.  I’m going to be doing a report on Monday about the Super Bowl.  Using many different sites to gather my information, not just twitter.

This will be a challenge but one I’m very excited about.  Eminem is reported to be paid 1 Million Dollars for his Lipton Soup Commercial… what kind of buzz is that going to give?

See you all on Monday!

Lynne

1. Can say it enough - Be Yourself – You need to keep is real. If you’re trying to be something your not, not only will people not be interested, you won’t be interested. Getting involved in social media will be for the long haul. It’s not over night so make it yours and keep it real.
2. Make sure you website is “sharable” – what does that mean. Make sure you have sharing buttons on every page of your site. These are widgets and are very easy to install. If you don’t do your website updates, just ask your designer. It only takes a few minutes.
3. Add Videos – remember that this is social and you need to make connection. People don’t make connections to logos. They like to see who they are talking to and they need to know you’re a real person. It’s doesn’t have to be perfect, robotic or professionally done. It’s just need to be nice, real and you.
4. Make sure you have “Calls to Action” on your site. If people come to your site how are you getting their information? Above the fold on a paper applies to a website too. When they come do you have them sign up for a newsletter, twitter, Facebook. Don’t’ assume all traffic will go to your contact page.. as they won’t
5. Tell people what to do – I know this sounds rude but you really need to tell people what you want them to do. Don’t assume. If you want them to like your fan page, have an arrow pointing to it and say “Like this page”. If you have something on your website you want them to do…have more arrows. Direct people where you want them to go. It makes it easier for everyone.
6. Don’t Sell, Sell, Sell – If you first met someone and all they did was sell, sell, sell to you right from the start and kept doing it…would you want to talk to them? In reality if you saw them on the street you would turn and walk the other way. Social media is the same thing; your goal is make conversations not turn people away. The idea behind social media isn't to sell, it's to build a long-term relationship with prospects. A long-term relationship leads to a long-term customer. That's a good thing.
7. Follow-up on sites – Whatever sites you plan on using, make sure you follow-up. Don’t just put out posts. If someone asks a question, retweets or share your comments, make note of that. Make sure you respond and give recognition. The simplest gesture can land you a great friend or a GREAT new client.
8. Schedule social time – To help keep you online to your social media goals, put it in your daily calendar. Put it in as an appointment and schedule time for it each day. They say if you do something for 21 days you’ll automatically do it on the 22. So keep with it.
9. Make it special – Make your fan’s and followers feel special. Offer then deals that no one else would have access to. Give them a reason to follow you. Your content is a way to keep them but you need a bonus to get them in the first place.
10. Have a Social Media Plan – I can’t stress this enough. Social media is huge and only getting bigger. Would you start a business without a business plan.. NO! So why would you start your social media without a plan. There is so much, from video, webinars, social, blogging, article submissions, podcasts, etc… the list is endless. You need a plan so you don’t get lost.

In 2010 something shocking happened!  Facebook overtook Google in online activity.  Not surprisingly when everything related to the news, family,  entertainment or anything usually hits your Facebook Wall in minutes before anywhere else!



Due to this major shift in marketing, businesses are changing where they are budgeting their money for 2011.

According to www.emarketing.com businesses are making a huge shift to email and social media.  




What you need to do is focus on your social media needs and what goals you want for 2011.  Set daily, weekly and monthly goals and try to stick with them.  

If you're new to social media that's OK, you're not behind.  YouTube only turned 5 this year.  Social Media is still very young and has a LONG way to go.  

JUST REMEMBER!!! Social media is just that social! and if you plan on doing it get involved and plan for the long haul.  This is not a sprint.  Create a plan just like a business plan and stick to it.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me!

Lynne Conrad
@activ8business

What most people don’t realize is, once something is on the Internet it’s there forever.  From a business point of view, you want positive information about your company on the Internet.

Here is a great story about how one of my clients finally took the plug into social media.  Actually why they realized they had to…

In July 2010 they received a call from a very supportive client in Maine and was told about some not so positive talk about them on a Facebook Fan page.  To their surprise the Fan page was owned by a client of theirs in British Columbia.  Now my client is in New Brunswick Canada, so this is a huge area to cover to maintain a reputation.  What had happened was they had a large shipment to their client in BC and he was not happy about the shipping bill.  So instead of calling them he went on his Fan page and starting commenting to over 10.000 fans about it.  Remember my client is not on any social site and not doing any reputation management so this was without my client knowing. They where receiving a very bad review with no chance of defending themselves. They didn’t find out about it until their Maine client called.  They told their Maine client what had happened and she gladly defending them on the Fan page.

Now what would have happened if their Maine client hadn’t taken the time to notify them?  That is potentially over 10,000 new clients they would have lost.  And how many people would they know and talk to about it?  Even if only ¼ of those fans repost, or comment that’s another 2,500 people, then how many of their fan’s or friends my repeat.  You see how it can grow? And grow FAST.

Word of mouth just got a lot BIGGER!!!

If anything you need to be on social media sites to monitor your company profile.  Everything you post creates a history.  Do you want to be in control of your company’s history? Of course you do.  That is why you need to be on social media sites.

Now you just need a plan…