Monthly Archives: February 2011
Is Social Media a Trend?
Have you ever paid much attention to “Google Trends” or “Hot Topics” while searching for something on Google? If you’re not familiar with it, “trends” are the most popular search terms for the moment on Google. For example…Today (February 20th, 2011) some of the hottest trends where “John Cena“, “Elimination Chamber Results“, “All Star Game 2011“, and “Daytona“. I had heard about the NBA All Star Game from someone on Facebook and the same with the Daytona 500. I had no idea who John Cena was or what the elimination chamber results were, so I Googled them of course. Come to find out he is a famous wrestling star with the WWE and the elimination chamber results were some huge wresting match. What was interesting was that Google pulled up a Twitter feed of people tweeting like crazy about the WWE and the match they had been watching.
The point is this…I’m a football fan and football is over. OK, so that’s not really the point. Apparently all that is on now is Nascar, wrestling, and basketball, however I found out about all of this via Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Social Media. It’s not always about promoting yourself or your business. Social media is about communicating, sharing, learning and connecting.
3 Fabulous Tools For Your Tool Chest
Many business owners are just now realizing how social media can effect their business, so now it’s just a matter of fine tuning what you know and how you are using the tools you already have. Well I have a few tools to share with you that you may or may not know about. These tools will save you money if you have a smaller budget and can save you time and a headache.
1. Hootsuite
Many people are aware of Hootsuite, but if you are not it is an awesome tool for the busy business owner. While Hootsuite can do many things for your social media marketing, it’s main claim to fame is it’s ability to schedule posts on multiple accounts. For example…If you want to post on your business page at noon but you have a meeting, then you can schedule it through Hootsuite and it will post automatically to whichever account or to multiple accounts such as personal profile pages, business pages and Twitter. Hootsuite offers many other services but the beauty of it is it’s FREE for up to 5 accounts! Click here for a video tutorial.
2. Involver
Involver is a great site to find FREE apps for your Facebook business page. It will allow you to link your blog, Twitter feed, Flicker account, YoutTube, you name it and it will add it as a featured tab.
3. ShortStack
Have you seen some Facebook pages that are all done up like websites? They are called “professional Facebook Pages” or “Welcome Tabs” and are a great way for new visitors to your page to “like” you and want to share your page with others…it’s whats called “curb appeal”. Oreo and Victoria’s Secret are good examples of these pages. Normally to create one of these custom pages, you would need to hire a web developer to write the code for these pages and it will cost you minimally $500-$1500 or more to do this. With ShortStack, you can use one of their templates and upload your own photos, videos, text, polls, and many other widgets all for FREE! If your page likes gets to be at a certain number then you will need to pay a minimal fee to maintain the custom page but it’s a great place to get started for a small budget.
I hope the information on these site have helped you get started on your social media marketing success. If you have any further questions, please feel free to comment on this post, email me at GetNoticed@ChandaGunter.com, or just give me a shout at 435-767-8184.
Sprouts Some Legs, Why Don’t Ya!
I get asked all the time “Now what exactly is it that you do?” and I try to explain it in just the right amount of time and detail without boring you to tears and losing you all together. I almost always get the reply, “So you post on Facebook?”. Yes and no. I do so much more for your business that includes Facebook but is much bigger than Facebook. The reality is, everyone knows about Facebook and most business owners understand they should be on Facebook, but the majority of people still don’t fully understand just what Social Media is and what it can do for their business. While Facebook is a huge part of social media, it is just one aspect of social media. Think of it like this…
If you have a Facebook page for your business and a website, then Google only has 2 places to reach out and find you when someone is searching for your business. What social media does is it takes your business, literally sprouts legs, and begins to crawl all over the web. Word of mouth is the best advertising you will ever receive for your business, correct? Well, Social Media is word of mouth on steroids!
Don’t limit yourself to “just” a Facebook page for your business. Sprout legs and run, you never know who is chasing you.
