As a Social Media Consultant, it is my job to help my clients understand the ins and outs of social media, the trends and the guide on how to use it effectively. Unlike most social media strategists, I do not believe that every business, association or non profit needs to be on all the social media channels. My main job is to help clients understand the differences between the characteristics of the different social media outlets and identifying which one is the best for them. Once hired, I also help clients identify if social media really is the right avenue for them.

Here is my checklist for why you shouldn’t be on social media:

1. You think Social Media should replace your marketing efforts.
2. You don’t believe in Social Media and still think it’s a FAD.
3. You don’t know what you’re social media strategy is.
4. You don’t know your online audience.
5. You are afraid of what people might say about your company and you would rather not know.
6. You are only interested in a one way communication channel.
7. You are looking for overnight results.
8. You are afraid of change and not willing to adapt to changes in social media channels.
9. You think that like a website, your social media presence can be static.
10. You are not willing to promote others via social media.

If you any one of the points outlined above describe you and your organization, re-evaluate why you’re using social media channels. Always have a strategy and know your audience before you portray your business on any social media site.

Need help identifying your strategy? Contact a Social Media strategist like yours truly by emailing info@lumenica.com or using our booking calendar below to book a session!

- Lumenica - illuminate your web presence !

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3. 10 fun and practical twitter tools to help you become a more efficient tweeter!

1.  www.twitterbackgrounds.com- customize backgrounds for your twitter account

2.  www.Twellow.com: Directory of public twitter accounts. Organizes by categories.  Great to see who to follow related to what you’re interested in.

2.  www.Friendorfollow.com: Who are you following that’s not following you back? Who’s following you that you’re not following back? Find out!

3.  www.Tweetdeck.com: A desktop Twitter application. To allow users to send and receive tweets and view profiles. It is the most popular Twitter application

4.  www.whatthetrend.com: Find out what’s trending on Twitter and why.  

5.  www.Bit.ly: Shorten a URL, Track clicks.  Similar to www.Tinyurl.com

6.  www.Twittercounter.com: Offers Twitter user statistics and historical follower count.

7.  www.Tweetchat.com: TweetChat helps put your blinders on to the Twitter-sphere while you monitor and chat about one topic.

8.  www.Search.twitter.com: Search everyone’s tweets – in realtime

9.  www.Twittersheep.com:  Enter your twitter username to see a tag cloud from the ‘bios’ of your twitter flock.

10. www.hootsuite.com:  An online based Twitter management tool which allows you to tweet on multiple twitter accounts, track statistics.  You can create groups, schedule tweets, view tweets as threaded conversations.

A post on Online Marketing Blog discusses Five New Twitter Tools it mentioned some great new gadgets.

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The following strategies are pet peeves:

1.   If I repeat, they will come: Sell your skills/expertise not your products- I will never promote or recommend someone who is constantly announcing why their company is the best and the special deals they have going.  If you don’t engage your online community and have conversations with them or have something of value to offer, get a megaphone and get off social media.

2.  TMI: If you are using social media to promote your business, keep bathroom breaks to yourself.  I understand social media has become part of life, but I truly feel the concept of TMI (too much info) has become invisible.  Please keep bowel movements to yourself.

3.   If it exists, I must tweet: Do not just tweet about anything and everything, have a strategy, a focus.  Ask yourself, what are you focusing on? What are you trying to achieve?

4. I have a camera, I must share: Do not put up a picture of anything and everything, be cautious.  Just saw a fellow tweep put a pic of herself in Hawaii in a bikini-where’e the unfollow button? (This would depend on the type of profession you are in I guess.)

5. If they exist, I must add: Do not add just anyone and everyone.  If I see someone following 1000people and only 100 people following them, I will think of them as a spammer and not be interested in following them.

Every so often I re-evaluate the tweeps I follow, the pages I am a fan of and re-evaluate who to continue to follow and who to leave behind. Sorry if you are one of those who didn’t make the list.  Maybe if you stop doing the things mentioned above, I will follow you again.  Until then adios!

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Scenario:

Pro: You feel like a smart business owner who just saved a few bucks

Con: You will most probably be stuck with a static website that you can’t update and possibly a useless worthless website.

So, how do you protect yourself?

No matter who is making the website for you, always always always ask for a contract, yes even your neighbor’s kid or friend.  This contract should write everything in detail and should include the following:

• Start of the contract- yes this is important, you want the web developer to meet your deadline, if any, to start creating the website
• Samples- prior to the website development, you should specify how many mock ups you would like to see of the website.
• The termination of contract policy- We never want to think that things can get nasty with anyone we are dealing with, but to save ourselves we should keep the termination policy in mind
• Communication clause- how will everything be communicated, will there be a form used, who will be your account manager, how soon can you expect a response?
• How will you be billed for website development and maintenance- will it be hourly, will be rounded up to the minute or hour, how often will you have to pay? All of these questions need to be answered in the contract. Make sure you understand the different billable things- website hosting, website development, domain name purchase, website maintenance
• Who will have the rights to the content- yes it is important to clarify this.
• Who will have the rights to the domain name – make sure you have those rights, life happens, you don’t want your web developer to be the only one with this vital information.
• What will happen if the company liquidates- yours and theirs, it is important to specify this in the contract
• What will the website designer create- make sure everything is listed
• What will the website designer not do- it’s important to clarify this beforehand to avoid frustrations in the future
• Make sure you have the capability of editing the website yourself.  Ask for a user manual, ask for access. You need to be in control
• Make sure there is a way to analyze the website – google analytics and other free services are out there, for FREE. Utilize them!

Having a good relationship with your web developer is important, being clear in communication is vital, being patient and offering as much information as you can helps web developers create a website to your liking. A smart business owner wants a good, easy to maintain website that they have control over and smart business owners have a thoroughly written contracts with their web developers to save their behind.

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On a lazy Tuesday night I decided to check out craigslist for a bit and was alarmed to see companies selling “followers” to twitter users and “fans” to facebook users.  As I saw the numerous advertisements I started doing a little research only to realize that there are several businesses that are advertising similar services to desperate businesses and non profits who are trying to win the popularity contest.

They include pitches like:

• 1,000 followers/fans for $100
• 1,000 followers/fans in 7 days
• 2,500 followers/fans in 14 days
• 100,000 followers/fans  in 1 year

My question to those who buy fans or followers is how do you create a community around your brand? What is your goal for being on a social media?  I guess there is a business opportunity in everything.

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