Top Social Sites & Top Networking Sites You Must Have for Business Success

Top Social Sites & Top Networking Sites You Must Have for Business Success

Social Networking and Using the Top 5 Tools

The most common question I'm asked when teaching Social Media is "Which Social Media Sites are the Most Important for My Business".  The answer may surprise you. While many people think that Facebook is a must for business, it is a site you could theoretically do without.

There are three elements to look for when choosing social media sites to engage in.

First, the social networking, social bookmarking, video, or other social media site must have plenty of active users. These are users who visit the site on a daily basis. 

Second, the sites must include the persons in your target market and/or professionals

Third, the sites must be SEO friendly, which means that these social media sites appear on the search engine results pages, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo, often.

These are the Top 5 Social Media Sites that meet the required criteria and you must use to have greater success in your business. Lets count them down:

5. Facebook  AlthoughIt almost didn't make my Top 5. Facebook is intrusive, not very professional, but it has over a billion members. The key to using Facebook for business is creating a Business Page, formerly called a Fan Page, with an interactive and engaging iframe. Other than that, Facebook is a useless tool for business since no one is listening and those are are speaking are speaking nonsense. The tool I find most useful on Facebook is events.

4. Twitter  This Social Networking / Microblog site is growing and becoming more practical. It still lack engagement for most, but it can be a useful tool for business.

3. Foursquare  I'm still waiting for businesses to jump on the Foursquare bandwagon. This is a great tool for business owners because you can proactively engage and attract new customers to your brick and mortar locations by offering check-in specials and mayorship offers.

2. Google+  The fact that Google+ Plus is closely related and interact with the Google Search Engine, and with Google Places, makes it a must-have for all businesses. As business owners realize the importance of being on Google+, this awesome Social Media tool will explode in members.  Be sure to add a +1 button to your website and watch engagement grow.

1. LinkedIn  By far the most important Social Media and Social Networking tool, LinkedIn has enough members to fit out criteria, and these members are, for the most part, the professionals you need to engage with to create more business and increase your sales.

These Top 5 Social Media sites are just a small portion of what a great social media strategy should. Social media network, social media bookmarking, social photo sharing and other social networking sites are opened constantly.

Keep your eyes and ears opened when you are on Google for the next, "big" or "greatest" site. If a site pops up often when you are researching your company, industry or competition, then that is the site you need to create a keyword-rich profile on. And don't forget to add your professional picture or logo to the profile.

Manny Sarmiento - President / CEO
New Media, New Marketing, Inc. http://www.nmx2.com / manny@nmx2.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/mannysarmiento
 

SEO Search Engine Optimization - Even a Caveman Can Do It!

"The New SEO (Search Engine Optimization)  - Even a Cave Man Can Do It!"
by Manny Sarmiento – President / CEO of New Media, New Marketing, Inc.

The New World of SEO means that you can optimize your own website and blog, resulting in high search results rankings at zero or minimal cost. Yes, even a Cave Man can get to the top of Google without extensive experience or expensive investments! Let me show you how....

Old school SEO meant having to pay tons of cash to “SEO Experts” who promised high rankings on Google, Bing and Yahoo. Unfortunately, they didn’t necessarily fulfill these promises. What made it possible for these so-called “SEO Experts” to charge you tons of cash was the ignorance of business owners, CEOs and the like.

This ignorance and lack of knowledge is still widespread. Most business owners are still bombarded by ads for SEO. Some of these SEO firms can get you results by making suggestions and changes to your website. So, don’t discard all those emails you receive.

   Personally, I don’t like paying for SEO, internet marketing services and social media tools. Especially, when there is no need to do so. The following information on SEO will make it possible (with no guarantees – sorry!) to get to the top of the search engines by optimizing your websites on your own.

First, here is the history of SEO in a brief manner. When Al Gore invented the internet (lol) Yahoo dominated the SEO and Search engine universe. For $299 Yahoo would consider looking at your website and indexing it on their search engine. Since then the “SEO Experts” started appearing with all the illustrious promises of Search Engine domination. But recently Google changed, or leveled, the playing field. It is now possible for you to get incredible search engine rankings and appear at the top of the search engines without paying for it. Here’s how.

The SEO “Secret”
The “secret” to SEO domination on Google is… that there is no secret! Google only wants one thing. That you provide a real content, keyword-rich, target market, relevant website! If you provide a website that contains these four elements you will most likely appear high on the search engines, maybe even on the first page, in the first few listings.

As a matter of fact Google provides all the dos and don’ts for SEO on several Google produced resources. Here are a few:
•    Google Search Engine Guidelines
•    Google SEO Starter Guide
•    Google SEO Videos
•    Google Search-based Keyword Tool

These free SEO tools from Google can be found on www.nmx2,com/resources

The most important one of these tools is the Google Search-based Keyword Tool. This tool helps you determine which keywords or keyword phrases your target market searches for to find your type of business. Simply enter the keywords you believe your target market searches for and Google gives you “Keyword Ideas” that are relevant, actual searches per month.

With this Google keyword tool you will create a master list of target market keywords. You will then use these keywords in all of your website content, social media profiles and updates, blog contents, pictures, usernames, and any other online tools.

If your content is real and relevant to the search terms typed into the Google search box, Google will return the most relevant results in the search engine results page (SERP). This is the “secret” to appearing high in a Google search result. Not much of a secret, is it?
But What About the Panda Update?

If you’ve been paying attention to the web, you’ve most likely heard that Google “has a new update”. Google is creative with the names it gives it’s algorithm changes. Algorithm is a fancy name for the mathematical calculations and choices it’s servers use to determine relevant terms. If you are listening to what I am saying in this article, then you know to ignore and stop panicking about these updates. Because as long as you are providing real, keyword-rich, target market, relevant content and the user types in the correct keywords that your website is optimized for, your website will appear on a search result.

Another secret and truth of SEO and Google’s search engine is this: You may appear at the top of Google for one set of keywords and nowhere to be found for another set of keywords. This means that you must make a choice about which keywords you wish to use in order to have your website appear at the top of Google.

Search Engine Optimization SEO Mechanics and Website Structure Requirements
Search Engine Optimization is not just about writing real, keyword-rich, target market relevant content. Although this is the most important thing Google looks for, it is not the only thing. Here is a list of the most important mechanical things your website must have in order to appear high on the search engines. Keep in mind that even if the mechanics are good, Google gives no guarantees.

•    Keyword Rich Title Tag
•    Keyword Rich Description Meta Tag
•    Keyword Meta Tag
•    <H1> & <H2> with Keywords
•    Keyword Image Files Names
•    Keyword Image Alt-Tags
•    Internal Links & External Links with Keywords

Along with the mechanics of the website there are other important, off-website things you must do to improve your website rankings on Google and other search engines.

1.    Acquire backlinks to your website. Google will give your website “Google Love” for links back to your website from other, external websites. The more relevant the site is, the more Google “Love” you will receive and the greater the chance of getting ranked higher on Google. Links from irrelevant sites will not get you Google “Love”.

2.    Create and submit two types of sitemaps, an .html sitemap and an .xml sitemap. Google lets you do this at their Webmaster Tools website.

3.    Submit your website manually to Google, Bing and Yahoo. Yahoo is submitted on the same website as Bing, at the same time.

4.    Get traffic to your website and engage them when they land on your website. Do everything possible, online and offline, to get visitors to your website. You can acquire lots of Google Love by increasing the number of unique visitors and getting them to take actions on your website. The “Call to Action” is one of the most important engagement tools for your site. Ask your visitors to do something, such as, watch a video, fill in a form, visit another page on your site.

Other than optimization, the paradigm I teach my SEO students is that social media is an important tool for getting ranked on Google. Many social media sites, if properly keyword optimized, may appear on a search on the search engines. Below is a list of some of the best sites (currently) for SEO:

1.    Merchant Circle
2.    YouTube
3.    Yelp
4.    YellowPages.com
5.    SuperYellowPages
6.    Foursquare
7.    LinkedIn
8.    Blogger & WordPress
9.    Facebook Business Pages
10.    Google Plus
11.    Twitter
12.    PRLog

I’ve studied Search Engine Optimization extensively. I am also vigilant and research which sites appear on search results. I am confident that when you optimize your pages with the tools that I have given you, your website will appear when specific target market keywords are typed into the search box.

It is easier than ever to appear at the top of Google and the other search engine. A good social media strategy and campaign and play a major role in your Search Engine Marketing SEM results. There is no need to spend tons of money on SEO. Research your target market keywords. Use the master list of keywords you created in all your content and in the elements of your website outlined here. Create and run a strategic social media marketing campaign. The results will amaze you!

DIY-SEO Checklist
• Relevant, Keyword-rich Content
• Unique Visitors
• Relevant Backlinks
• Keyword Rich Title
• Keyword Rich Description
• Keyword Meta Tag
• <H1> <H2>
• Keyword Image Files Names
• Keyword Image Alt-Tags
• Internal Links / External Links
• Submit .htm & .xml Sitemaps
• Submit to DMOZ
• Submit to Google, Bing (Yahoo)

Manny Sarmiento – President / CEO
New Media, New Marketing, Inc.
www.nmx2.com 

Manny Sarmiento is President / CEO of New Media, New Marketing, Inc. 
Manny has taught over 500 Social Media, SEO, Internet Marketing courses and Social Media University.

Contact Information:
Carmen Lopez
New Media, New Marketing, Inc.
www.LinkedIn.com/in/mannysarmiento
www.nmx2.com / carmen@nmx2.com
(305) 450-4344 – Cell

Key Success Factors in Business and Life

Small Business Success Factors

Author Michael Jeffreys personally interviewed 15 top motivational gurus for his then upcoming book.  After talking to gurus from Brian Tracy to Dr. Wayne Dyer, he distilled 8 Secrets to Success they all agreed upon.  These secrets are still good today.

These are critical success factors for life, business and entrepreneurship:

1.      Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life – In a society where people blame everything from their parents to the government for failure, those who don’t buy into this mentality or succumb to the “victim” thinking succeed. To blame something or somebody outside yourself is saying they have control of your life and not you. Someone else’s opinion of you doesn’t have to become your reality.

2.      Live Your Life On Purpose -  What separates motivational thinkers from the unsuccessful is that they believe they’re doing what they were put her to do. The difference between this and just living, is that the latter is just getting through the week with the least problems.  But when you live your life on purpose, your main concern is doing the job right.  For the entrepreneur this means finding a cause you believe in and building your business around it.

3.      Be Willing to Pay the Price - Be willing to pay the price for your dreams.  Wanting a big house, a luxury car, and a million dollars in the bank is all very nice, and everyone wants these things – but are you willing to pay the price to get them?  This is one of the major differences between the successful and unsuccessful.

4.      Stay Focused – Every day we’re bombarded with hundreds of tasks, phone calls, messages, and everyone competing for our time.  Focusing requires giving up something in the present because you are investing your time in something that will pay off big-time down the road.  Jack Canfield and Mark Hanson were turned by 30 publishers when they submitted the first “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book. 

Instead of giving up, they stayed focused on their goal and did four or five interviews per day for radio, TV, and newspapers, for five days a week for a whole year.  Eventually, a small publisher decided to take a chance, and of course now it’s a best-seller that spawned an entire series that have sold more than 10 million copies.

5.      Become An Expert in Your Field  One striking factor all successful people have in common is how seriously they take their profession.  They strive to be the best at what they do, and do almost anything to improve.  If someone followed you around all day with a video camera at your business, would it be a tape you’d be proud of or embarrassed about?  Make the decision today to work at being the best in your field.  How? By finding out what the “best” in your field are doing, and do what they do.

6.      Write Out a Plan for Achieving Your Goals -  Write out an action plan/map for how you’re going to achieve your goals.  Trying to reach your goals without a plan is like trying to drive from Los Angeles to Chicago without a map.  A goal that isn’t written down is merely a wish or fantasy.

7.      Never Give Up -  Never, never, never give up. When you’re fully committed to achieving your goal, giving up is not an option. You must be willing do whatever it takes to make it happen.  The power of perseverance is an awesome force.  As someone once said, “inch by inch it’s a cinch”.  Think of the lowly inchworm – if it pondered the length of the trip from start to finish before it started, it probably would never move. To a worm’s point-of-view,  the garden path must look like a trip to Mars. Never give up! Keep on going like the Eveready battery bunny, and pretty soon you’re there.

8.      Don’t Delay -  Nobody knows how much time they have left to accomplish their dreams, and we must remember that we don’t have forever. The clock is ticking, and sooner or later your number comes up and you’re gone.  Successful achievers know this too, but they don’t view it as a “negative”.  Achievers use it to “spur them on”.  They go after what they want as energetically and as passionately as possible, for as long as they have.

I had a friend who used to say, “Today is a check – cash it!  Yesterday is an I.O.U. – forget it! Tomorrow is a promissory note, don’t bank on it!”  I think that’s a pretty good summation of life, so go out there and cash in on that “today” check.

Manny Sarmiento

http://www.nmx2.com 



Small business success factors, key success factors in business, entrepreneurship, key success factor, success planning, what is motivation, what is success, entrepreneur, motivations

Search Engine Optimization SEO Seminar Miami, May 19th, 9am http://ping.fm/E9O0D

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How to Promote Your Business Using Social Media Tools

How to Promote Your Business Using Social Media Tools

By Owais Siddiqui

   Business promotion can be done in a very quick manner through social media tools. Presently, it is the fastest way to reach customers as most people are regular internet users. Social media tools are not as expensive and cumbersome as the traditional marketing methods. Before hiring a social media company, you need to establish your marketing requirements. There are numerous social-media options and a prestigious company dealing with this would advise you to use a proper combination so that the maximum number of people can know about your services. For instance, you can get a streaming video uploaded on a commonly visited website or post a link on a social communication platform. In addition to that, you can post a video link on your company website instead of promoting the video directly.

   It is very important hire a marketing company because you cannot market your products online on your own. Such companies are aware of the tips and tweaks which can increase the online visitors of your websites and the customers of your services. Hence, getting professional help can make lot of difference.

   You should select the social-media tools according to the nature of your products and services. For instance, if your company deals in electronic gadgets and you need to promote a new portable hard drive through social network media, you need to upload a video on one of the streaming websites. In this way, your users would be able to understand the functionality of this gadget. It is hard to understand how an electronic appliance works by reading text. Hence, using a video for promotional purposes would be an impressive practice which has a lot of positive impact on any campaign.

On the other hand, if you are providing educational services, creating a video for marketing purposes would not help a lot. Instead, a social-media company would advise you to upload information regarding your services on a social community website and post the related links along with it. Thus, the social-media options vary from one business to the other.

As an entrepreneur, you need to analyze the promotional requirements of your business and take steps accordingly. Social-media is much faster as compared to all the other marketing methods. Along with that it is one of the interesting options as well. Most people are regular users of social community platforms as it is one of the best ways to get in touch with known people.
For more information on Houston SocialMedia Company Visit webdesignhouston.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Owais_Siddiqui


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Posted by:  Manny Sarmiento - manny@nmx2.com
http://www.nmx2.com/

Facebook is Dead! Social Media Marketing Top 5 Predictions for 2011

"Facebook is Dead" - Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2011

Facebook is a nice Social Media toy!  Facebook is not very nice! Facebook is disruptive! Facebook is annoying!   Strong remarks huh! 

The problem with Facebook is that it is not a tool that lets you engage with clients or potential clients.  A good social media marketing tool allows for proactive and real engagement with people.

So what is good about Facebook.  I call it the law of large numbers.  With over 500 million users and 53% of them active, I look at Facebook as being able to "touch" large numbers of users. 

Engagement though, is another issue. Facebook does not lend itself to practical engagement, or establishing a on-on-one relationship with potential clients. Which is what you want to do with a practical social media marketing tool.

So what are the Top 5 Social Media Marketing tools you should use, other than Facebook, that will have an impact on your business in 2011?  Lets count them down:

5. Foursquare.  Although it is not suitable for all types of businesses, Foursquare has done it's homework and has become a tool for businesses that are frequented by clients. It is an free, high-impact, engaging tool that can bring in new clients and keep them coming back.

4. YouTube.com and Video.  Youtube and other video sites such as Metacafe get indexed on Google and other search engines faster than your web site. You must have a Youtube video chanel and add at least one video per month.  Videos should be no more than 4-5 minutes long and the description and tags should have relevant keywords to your business.

3. MerchantCircle.com.  One of the best local directories on the web, other thatn Google Places, Merchant Circle allows you to list your business for local searches, connect to other local businesses and invite your friends and business contacts. Merchant Circle is listed on Google search engine result pages often.  You must be on Merchant Circle in order to be more competitive in your local market area.

2. PRLog.org. Social media press releases are the best kept secret in social media. A posting on PRLog will get indexed very quickly. Social media press releases are free and easy to send. They are one of the most effective ways to get your business showing on Google.

1. LinkedIn.com. Amazingly, I find many professionals are not on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is one of the most professional and useful social media sites. I rank it well above Facebook as a marketing tool for your business. LinkedIn has two very practical tools for proactively marketing your business, Groups and Answers. These tools if properly used will dramatically increase your engagement with potential clients. LinkedIn is a must for any professional.

By utilizing these 5 tools correctly you will dramatically increase traffic to your web site and engage potential clients, making 2011 a profitable year for your business.

Manny Sarmiento - New Media, New Marketing, Inc.
http://www.nmx2.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mannysarmiento
http://www.facebook.com/newmedianewmarketing
http://www.twitter.com/nmx2

Create a Social Media Marketing Machine

Create a Social Media Marketing Machine

By Miami Phillips

Social media marketing. What the heck is that exactly?

As someone who has been marketing socially for years I can tell you there is no one single answer for that.

This we know. Many people are dramatically changing their lives by earning amazing incomes from home by following some simple steps.

We can define marketing as "using words and images to sell products or services".

So basically marketing is sales in print. Of course, now we use audio and video as well as text, but we are still doing the same thing. That is we are convincing someone to buy or do something!

Social marketing is simply using the power of 'social' sites to do the exact same thing.

Social sites include any site where people gather in a group and offers an opportunity for a marketer to introduce products and services.

Anyone can do it - and they do! Unfortunately, most do it badly which hurts those of us who know how to market correctly.

There are unspoken and unwritten rules concerning marketing that most marketers ignore at their peril (no business = no profit!)

My purpose is to help you (if you are interested) sidestep these challenges as best I can and show you the path to creating an income providing a sorely needed service - great marketing.

Social media marketing can greatly improve your bottom line - but if not done correctly can hurt you just as badly!

Here are 3 ways NOT to use social media marketing...

1. Do not use social media marketing to make false claims or false statements. This is a bad idea anyway as almost anything you say on the Internet stays around forever! So do not write things you might ever want to retract!

2. Make sure you follow up on your marketing. Many failures attributed to social media marketing are actually failures in the original creators to take advantage of the many tools available to document what is working, where it is working and with whom. Armed with this information it is much easier to target your next piece of marketing.

3. Ensure your marketing is omnipresent. It is much more challenging to get your message heard if you broadcast to multiple social media platforms at once using tools readily available. For instance pingfm.com will broadcast your short messages to all of your social accounts at once.

Here is the good news. Social media marketing has not been taken over by the big guys - yet.

But they are coming. And when they figure it out - the little guys will be sucking hind you know what!

So if you are thinking this is the time to take advantage of a phenomenal opportunity that will only come once in a lifetime - you are absolutely correct. And I suggest you get to it!

About The Author

Coach Miami Phillips helps smart business owners, entrepreneurs and work-from-home businesses take advantage of the incredible opportunities available online through his popular blog at [http://social-media-marketing-machine.com]Social Media Marketing Machine.

He is also a lifelong personal development seeker helping people find their way through life and the web. [http://www.miamiphillips.com]Find Happiness. Visit the site for a free book "Three Steps To Finding Happiness Now".

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Create-a-Social-Media-Marketing-Machine&id=5505874] Create a Social Media Marketing Machine

Posted by:   Manny Sarmiento - New Media, New Marketing, Inc.

Search Engine Optimization Training Offered in Miami

New Media, New Marketing and the Doral Chamber of Commerce present, Search Engine Optimization SEO Seminar: "How to Get Your Business Found on Google", December 28th, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Search Engine Optimization SEO Seminar

"How to Get Your Business Found on Google"

December 28th, 8:30 a.m.

   Free Afternoon Social Media Seminar with Prepaid Attendance

   85% of consumers are looking for goods and services online. Are they finding you or your competitors? How can you make sure they find you without the expense of paid searches? In this seminar you will learn how to set up and optimize your new or existing pages for the three major search engines, Google, Bing and Yahoo, including the URL, also known as domain name, and other parts of a search engine friendly web design.

   You will dramatically improve your search engine (SEO) results with what you will learn in this seminar. In this seminar we will cover the following topics:

• What Google and the other Search Engines are looking for in your web site

• How to choose a web site designer and how to make sure they do a great job for you Comparing html site to Flash, PHP and design platforms for web sites

• Options available for designing web sites yourself The basic mechanics of building a web site that the search engines like All the web site elements required for good SEO

• How to read the "Source" of a web site How to find the keyword that people are actually searching for

• How to submit your web site to the search engines Which tools work to help increase your web site rankings

• How to incorporate Social Media Marketing strategies with your SEO strategies for maximum search engine rankings In the last part of the seminar we will examine and critique your web sites live

Who should attend this seminar?
- Online Marketers
- Marketing Executives
- Web Developers
- Product Managers & Brand Managers
- IT Programmers
- Business Owners
- Business & Marketing Consultants
- P.R. Professionals

Attendees can register at http://www.nmx2.com/search_engine_optimization_training.htm



Location:

Fairfield Inn and Suites Miami Airport - 4101 NW 11 Street, Miami, FL 33126
Fee: $27* by December 26th / $47* after December 26th / $57.00 at the Door /

*Includes free afternoon Social Media Seminar with prepaid attendance only. Register for free afternoon session here: http://www.nmx2.com/search_engine_optimization_training.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j22S4aAct0g

Is Social Media Marketing Important? The Queen of England Herself Has Joined Facebook!

Is Social Media Marketing Important? The Queen of England Herself Has Joined Facebook!

By Courtney Jewell-McElroy

Yes, it's true. The Queen herself, Queen Elizabeth the II has realized that Social Media is an important communication tool.

The Huffington Post reported this past week that Queen Elizabeth is now on Facebook.
According to the release in the Huffington, the Queen has launched a series of official pages offering the website's 500 million users daily updates on her engagements.

The Queen (an 84-year-old British monarch) plans to be featured in videos, photos and news items all of which will be released on her new Social Media Marketing profile on Facebook.

The Queens Facebook page was scheduled to go live today. Princes William and Harry have been very active on Social Media and one can only speculate that those activities played a role in the Queens decision to jump on this networking bandwagon.

The Facebook Fan Page will be a corporate account, so people will be able leave messages or comments for Buckingham Palace on the site and find details of royal events close to their homes. Because the Queen has chosen to create a corporate Facebook page - and not a personal account - people won't be able to request to become friends with the queen.

A royal official was quoted stating "If you are going to have an online presence in 2010, you just have to be on Facebook."

The Facebook page is the Queen's latest social media venture - the Royal Family already has an account on the Flickr photography website, joined Twitter in 2009 and set up a video channel on YouTube in 2007.
This is just another example of what an important communications tool Social Media is and it pays to be there and be posting consistent quality content that includes articles, images, videos and more. For more information about Social Media marketing visit http://www.assureassess.com/.

Article by Courtney Jewell-McElroy
CEO, Assure Assess Corp.
http://www.assureassess.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Courtney_Jewell-McElroy

http://EzineArticles.com/?Is-Social-Media-Marketing-Important?-The-Queen-of-England-Herself-Has-Joined-Facebook!&id=5352461

Posted by Manny Sarmiento
http://www.nmx2.com/





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Using Social Media Effectively

Using Social Media Effectively

By Biba Pedron

Today social media is everywhere. When you hear about a company and you want to know more what do you do? Personally, I look them up on the web. Most companies have an online presence. So why don't you have enough online presence? If you're a solo-entrepreneur or small business owner, you need to have a profile and be active on social media. How else are we to learn about you in this day and age?

Something must be holding you back. Do you understand how social media and social networking function to get you business? Are you comfortable getting clients or communicating effectively behind the screen?

With more than 500-million users on Facebook, more than 50 millions on Twitter and 70 millions on Linkedin, it is time to sit back and learn about integrating social media into your marketing plan. The biggest advantage of social media is that it is free, even if you just start your business you won't need a big budget to promote your products or services. It's well worth the time to spend to really understand how it works. Working with a coach is the most timely and effective way to learn how to use social media to turn your contacts into clients at a rate you can be proud of.

I always suggest to my clients who are new to social media to sit down with a daily plan and spend just one hour a day (at first) to attain a routine. After they perfect their routine, just 15 minutes a day will be enough to keep the client flow. If you use your time strategically you can just spend a few minutes a day keeping up with the three major sites.

The Six Effective Online Marketing Strategies:

1. Have an effective profile. People should immediately understand who you are, what you do and what the benefit is of choosing your products or services over someone else's. Think about a visual and text based elevator speech. Developing a great pitch will keep clients interested in using your products or services.

2. Join groups related to your target market. Look for Facebook Fan Pages, Linkedin Groups and other online networking groups related to your target market. Check the profile of the members and invite at least 20 people a day. Yes, you can do this in just minutes! I will show you how.

3. Send a personalized message. When you invite people don't just click on the invite button to send the, by default message, which just says something like "I would like to add you to my network." A personalized message should mention that you are in the same group, which shows that through similar interests you could have synergy in your businesses. How can you help them with their problems? Ask them!

When contacts accept your invitation, again send a personalized message with more info about you, how to reach you on other social media sites and always finish your message with your call to action. What do you want them to do next?

-visit your blog or website

-sign-up to you mailing list or newsletter

-sign-up to your free offer if you have one (and you should definitely have one)

-sign-up for a consultation

-call you

What ever is the next step, let them know.

4. Post at least twice a day on your page, you can use ping for example to save you some time. The same post will be distributed in each of your social media pages in just one click. (See, I told you just a few minutes!)

5. Drive people to you blog or website. You want potential clients to learn more about you and to join your list.

Remember that your "friends" or contacts on Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter don't belong to you. If your Facebook account gets hacked, you run the risk of losing all of your contacts. Now if you drive your contacts to you mailing list, you will never loose them and you will be able to communicate with those contacts on a regular basis for years to come.

6. Be consistent - whatever you do, don't stop after a week or a month. You must be consistent in your daily tasks on social media, the same as you must be consistent in your marketing. That's why I ask for one hour a day from my new clients, to make a non-negotiable routine.

Just like face-to-face networking, social media results don't happen overnight. Your hard work will become effective if and only if you are consistent, invite people continuously and contact people on your list a little every day. When you communicate on a regular basis and give valuable information clients will be ready to buy from you, not from your competitors.

Using those simple tips, your contacts will know you, like you and trust you, and this loyalty will convert to paying clients.

To get more tips like these ones to grow your business with proven offline and online networking strategies, download your Biba's networking kit at http://www.theconnectionqueen.com/

Biba Pedron helps solo-entrepreneurs to network like pro, by teaching them highly effective follow-up systems to maximize their networking and social media results.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Biba_Pedron



http://EzineArticles.com/?Using-Social-Media-Effectively&id=5134896

Posted by Manny Sarmiento - http://www.nmx2.com/ http://newmedianewmarketing.blogspot.com/

Gateway Sucks - No More Gateway PCs for Me!

I used to swear by Gateway PCs. Recently I purchased two Gateway Laptops thinking that I was getting a wonderful deal through HSN. The first Gateway I purchased worked great at first but two weeks later the "O" key popped out all by itself. Two weeks after that the "P" key popped out all by itself.

I called customer support to learn that I would have to send the PC back to their Texas facility to get it repaired (at my cost). I sent it back and two weeks later I got my laptop back. The keyboard, which was originally illuminated and had controls for sound and Media Player was not working. I had no volume nor media control on the keyboard template nor any function keys to serve as sound level or media controls.

I got back on the phone to attempt to call them. I sent the PC to be repaired just under the wire before the warrantee expired. I received the repair receipt telling me that the repairs were under a 90 day warrantee. I got a recording telling me that I could not speak to tech support because "my pc was no longer under warrantee". I could not speak to a real person. I was referred to the web site where I got the same response from a chat conversation. I was referred to emailing tech support! Urgh!

I am still waiting to get a response from tech support.!

The second Gateway Laptop I puchased from HSN was beautiful, but slow as a snail having dinner! have Norton full suite running and I am very careful about opening emails and other programs.

I haven't even tried to speak to tech support because I figure that I will have to send this other laptop to Texas to get it fixed!!! Urgh!

My next laptop or PC will NOT be a Gateway PC. I think that I will go back to Dell or maybe try HP. I never had an issue with my Dell PCs.

I wrote this blog to get your attention and to make sure that you do not get tangled with a Gateway PC or Laptop when you purchase your next one! What has happened to customer service. I can definitely tell you that Gateway does not care about me nor you! Their customer service sucks!

Manny Sarmiento
http://www.nmx2.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mannysarmiento

8 Steps to Creating Your Social Media Marketing Plan

8 Steps to Creating Your Social Media Marketing Plan

By Kathy Colaiacovo

Creating and online marketing strategy is vital when making the decision to add social media to your marketing campaigns/plans. A plan is needed to assess the viability, know what steps you will need to take and to aid you in staying focused on your goals.

Your plan can also help you save time by ensuring you follow a systematic approach to the tie you will invest in social marketing and network. The social networking part can easily take you off track and eat up your time if you do not pay attention to the overall picture of what you are trying to accomplish.

Here are the basics steps to any social media plan we setup for clients:

Assess

Look at what is available in your market, what competitors are doing and find out if your customers in fact using these social media channels. These answers may help you determine the goals

Purpose

Define your main purpose for using Social Media and identify the various social media channels to use.

Goals

Set at least 3 SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) goals and create an action plan to help you reach these goals. What steps will you take to reach these goals.

Content

Create a plan for what content will be published - blog posts, tweets, facebook page updates, youtube videos. This plan should include the topic of content and also how often and via what channel it will be published

Keywords

Part of the content planning would be finding the keywords your customers use when searching for your service or product online. If your business has some technical jargon that customers rarely pick up on - it is unlikely that is how they will search online for the solution to their problem (your service or product). It is imperative to find keywords they are using and add these targeted key words into your content..

Optimize

Look at all the platforms available and link them together as much as possible to help you save time. ie. Link your blog to twitter and your facebook page so when a blog post is published it will automatically feed an update to the other networks. Be certain to make a flowchart so you understand what automatically goes to what network in order to avoid any cross posting.

Track

As much as you can track your results do it. Keep a record of your contacts/ facebook friends/page likes/twitter followers/linked in contact /newsletter subscribers and results on Google for your name, business and keywords. Check the results every month and see how it changes. Read your analytics on your website and adjust keywords/tactics to fit with what is working well or not form these reports. With social media marketing, businesses may set goals related to brand identity and levels of engagement.

Schedule

Take time to schedule in all the aspects of your plan and work at it to keep on top of it and following the plan. Stay focused and use your time wisely.

Following these steps will help you network much more effectively and in a way that does not find you looking up from your computer wondering where the last hour went. Stay focused!

Kathy Colaiacovo, is a Virtual Assistant whose firm specializes in Social Media Services but also assist their clients with many other business support needs; websites and maintenance, blogs, newsletters, ezines to name a few. Clients value this support in order to create the time needed to grow their own business.
Kathy invites you to learn more about working with a Virtual Assistant by inviting you to sign up for their monthly eNewsletter, you will also receive a complimentary copy of their Social Media Guide.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathy_Colaiacovo

http://EzineArticles.com/?8-Steps-to-Creating-Your-Social-Media-Marketing-Plan&id=4669918

Posted by Manny Sarmiento - New Media, New Marketing, Inc

http://www.nmx2.com