In case you missed last week’s Nor’easter, there is a new storm brewing off the coast of the Virginia Beach oceanfront and it’s due to arrive this January!  Social Media at the Beach is coming and this social media event is designed to blow away the myth that social media is only for tech savvy ‘experts’ and people who spend all their time in front of a computer!

Social media is for busy people who want to stay in touch with their friends and other interesting people they like to network with and this new school relationship tool that uses old school principles has a tremendous potential to generate business!

So if you want to learn how to blog, use social networks like Facebook, and maximize you’re company’s SEO power on the web, register today and I’ll see you at Peabody’s on January 23rd!

Facebook Fan Pages are all the rage and with good reason: Every business that deals with people needs one because Facebook is where the people are! Problem is most business owners are busy, don’t have time and would simply prefer to have someone else do it for them.  Facebook “experts” everywhere are offering to help create with the ‘difficult’ task of creating Fan Pages for busy professionals who want them.  Fact is, a basic Fan Page is very easy to create and sometimes you’ll hear someone say “sure, I can do it for you,” but before you let them, here are a few pointers to ensure that your Fan Page is the property of your business.

The Creator has the Power:

Fan Pages must be created though an existing Facebook Profile.  The profile that creates the account will always have primarly administrative control over the Fan Page forever.  So what does that mean?  It means that person has indefinite control over the operation and destiny of your Fan Page.  Yes you can be the admin privileges of the Page, the creator can never be removed.

I know you may be thinking: What could Possibly go wrong?  Well here are a few examples:

The Disgruntled Employee:

So you have an employee who’s a Facebook ‘expert’ and they offer to create the Fan Page for your business and even manage it.  Well, six months from now, there is a slow economy or something else that forces you to lay them off or fire them and they decide to delete your Page and the 800 Fans you’ve generated and you have no legal discourse.

The friend or associate who claims to be a ‘Facebook expert’:

First of all, there is no such thing as a Social Media or Facebook ‘expert’. Second, similar to the disgruntled employee, friends often have disagreements that lead to ended friendships. You never want to be pessamistic about friendships, you have to be realistic as a business owner and know that you have to be prepared for the worst and in this situation, it isnt much to ask a friend to give you primary control of what’s already yours.

What if the person who owns your account gets flagged for spam?  What if their account gets deleted or they delete the account themselves?  Consider all these factors considered when creating your Fan Page and make your final decision to be that the page will be created in your name through your profile OR get ownership in writing!  Claim what’s yours!

For a small business just starting out, budget is a primary concern. A big expenditure in a business’ budget is marketing.  You have to get your name, face and brand out to the masses, and using traditional advertising methods like print, TV, radio, and even new media strategies can be expensive.

Have you considered social media? I know there are a lot of questions out there about social media, how it works and why it’s a good gateway to business marketing, so here are a few reasons why I think it can be a great place to start for a small business.

1. It’s Free: When your on a budget, nothing beats free. The majority of social media outlets are free to use. Though there may be a time commitment, there is a great deal of value in the fact that marketing can be allocated elsewhere while you grow your business.

2. It’s Easy: Most social networking sites walk you step-by-step through the setup process and many even let you know how complete your profile is and what you can do to make it a more complete profile. For Blogging, WordPress has its Famous 5 Minute Install that for beginners can take longer but still very reasonable and straight forward when following instructions.

3. Unlimited Exposure: With Social Media platforms like Facebook averaging 25-30M new followers per month, the possibilities of exposing new potential customers and clients via social media eclipses rival marketing methods in the short and long term. You can’t search a TV or Billboard audience for potential connections.

4. It Builds Lasting Relationships: The sole purpose of using social media is engaging and building relationships. People want to do business with people they have a relationship with. Using social media platforms is an excellent way to build relationships that foster respect with your target audience. Lasting personal relationships, lasting business relationships!

5. SEO Power: When it comes too online presence, SEO is king. Everyone wants the Google Juice that puts them at the top of the charts. Blogging the right way can play a significant role your business’ search engine presence.

So what are you waiting for? Give FREE social media a try today. You wont regret it tomorrow and neither will your business!

photo credit

Making Social Media A Habit

We wake up every morning making our beds and we do daily chores to vacuum and take out the garbage.  This has become pretty much routine for us and we do this often without thinking, thus making it a habit.

Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly, tend to occur subconsciously, without directly thinking consciously about them

However once we stop doing our daily routine or fail to keep up the maintenance in our chores.  The house will become a complete mess and un-organized.  Just by merely to forget to do certain tasks now matter how small and short the time frame can cause huge catalyst effects if not fixed soon.

So how is it that we tend to fail to incorporate habits in our business or personal structure as well?

Social Media Maintenance

Social Media is often neglected or rarely updated due to it becoming a chore or interfering with our busy daily lives.  Often I hear from people that they don’t have time to blog or even update the social networks.

However, Social Media if used in your business should be treated as such.  Just like in the business world you shouldn’t neglect your customers, in the Social Media world you shouldn’t neglect your followers and friends.   Touching bases with people and showing your presence is easier in the Social Media world than it is to drive and try to meet your contacts face to face.

Well you know it’s very important to keep your profile updated and making those contacts but you still find it very frustrating to incorporate Social Media time?  Well stop prioritizing Social Media as a low priority, kick it back up to High priority.  How often do we find our selves procrastinating because we keep putting things on the back burner?

Let’s make Social Media  a habit so that way we can maximize a strong online presence.  Below are some tips to reduce time constraints that may hinder scheduling Social Media in your schedule.

• When getting your morning coffee and checking your morning e-mails, incorporate checking your Social Media sites as well.
• At work don’t get caught up in Social Media, do quick scans/checks or limit your viewing checks to a certain schedule everyday.
• Set up Twittermail or E-mail/Text to your Social Networks.  That way you don’t actually have to log in your Social Network and you can update your status on the fly with e-mail or text.
• Blog atleast once a week if you can’t blog 3 times a week.  This should still keep your content fresh.
• Find a lazy day like Saturday or Sunday and set a specific time to just knock out your Social Media tasks
• Don’t view this as a chore and make sure to update people often on news and changes.  Keep people in the loop because once you stop they stop.

Writer Profile

Justin Williams

Justin Williams is the owner of Social Media Vision and is an avid Tech, Social Media, & Marketing enthusiast.  He is also a fully specialized financial mortgage consultant during the day.  He has been a successful event coordinator for REBarcamp Virginia Beach and loves being a geek at heart.  Justin can be found at http://card.ly/JustinWilliams