Suitable Social Media

You want to have a social media presence for your business, but not sure which platform to use…or what is a platform?
How are you going to manage it? How much time will I be behind that computer...again??
How do I know if what I am doing, is working?
What are you going to say?

There are many reasons why we choose to go online, for anything. Generally we go on to research a new idea, the latest deal or promotion at our favourite store, dream about holidays, gift ideas...some even get online to chat to friends from all over the world.
Knowing this, and having a strategic mindset, you will come to understand that by having an online presence, you open your business up to more client channels.

What is your definition of a client?
Cli•ent (kl nt)

1. The party for which professional services are rendered, as by an attorney.
2. A customer or patron: clients of the hotel.
3. A person using the services of a social services agency.
4. One that depends on the protection of another.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

What is your definition of social media?
Social•media is an umbrella term that defines various activities integrating technology, social interaction, and construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.
This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories, and understandings.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

STOP & Breathe…
Just like any plan, your social media strategy is defined by a series of steps. Take your Marketing Strategy and integrate social media with it – this will save you some time.
In your Marketing plan your target audience has been identified (as has your brand/product/service). Apply this to your online social media strategy.
Identify social media suitability
Ask yourself, what type of information do I have right now?
1. Do you write articles?
2. Do submit product reviews?
3. Do you send out client newsletters?
4. Do you request feedback on any form of media?
5. Are any of your materials digital? Can these be stored on the internet?
All of these are pieces of information that can be used in your social media platform(s). You don’t need extra information at all! Maybe an odd quote or question would definitely not go astray (conversation starters!) – But you do need to be able to sustain and maintain your online communication. The online community will come to know your online submission trends, and watch out for your latest information. This is…online rapport building – increasing their confidence in YOU…

Start off slowly, and see what works for you – give it time to grow. Don’t expect enormous changes overnight, or within 7 days, allow at least 6 months!
Depending on your type of business, some platforms are more useful than others.
LinkedIn – for professional audiences
Facebook – Fun, viral, various age groups
Twitter – microblog
Blogger – any form of blog (such as the one you are reading)
YouTube – very useful for instructions, music/dance, health, customer feedback, “reports” – the more You Tube clips you have, the more chance you are found – as long as you always include somewhere there on your contact details (best be your website address)
My recommendation are all of these, or some of. These are the most popular social media applications that are used – and relatively easy to navigate around and use.

On a final note - upload images, links, videos and start talking to those online! Always try to think of the reader when providing information!

Making Mothers Day personable through Social Media

I have some ideas for a personable gift, that is low cost - and gets the message across effectively.  This ultimately is the very idea that hides behind social media marketing - engaging your target audience to appropriate a message, to build rapport - entwined in a low cost channel. 

So this Mothers Day, why not relay messages through You Tube?

All you need is a camera with video capture capability, along with yourself, your family, or "actors".  A script to follow would be useful, or at the very least, a "plan of attack".

Once you have recorded your message on video format, you can upload it to you tube. (www.youtube.com).  Why not go all out, and make your own channel, include a background image that represents your intended message.  This idea can be used for years to come, as you would then be able to capture various clips and create an online database filled with media that fall under the reason behind its inception. 
For example, A Mothers Day tribute, filled with film clips that your Mother loves, clips you share together.  The background image could be an image that was taken during a pivotal moment in your relationship.

Other creative social media ideas for Mothers Day:

• Tweet her a message (of course she needs to be a user on Twitter)
• Post a special photo on her Facebook page (if you are friends..if not, why not become her friend..even for the day!)
• Develop a photo bucket library and send her the link, (great if distance is a problem, and the postage system has gone POSTAL)
• Develop a photo image library of all the activities you would do for her, if she was closer (bake that cake and take a photo of it, photograph breakfast in bed, photograph you doing the washing..you get my drift..?)
• Create a Facebook Page that is a memoir (if she is deceased, tread lightly)

Remember, you are able to remove only SOME parts of your online footprint, so be aware of uploading images or writings (NEVER include personal details on line, or images that someone may find offensive)

Happy Mothers Day Strategising!

1. Notice what other Tweeters are talking about in your area/expertise?
2. Who are their followers?
3. How many follow them?
4. Are they being re tweeted?
5. How many people do you interact with use twitter?
6. If you were on twitter what information would you find interesting or want to know?
7. Why do you use twitter?
8. Does twitter increase your performance at work, does twitter motivate you?
9. Have you used twitter to share pictures?
10. If you were to use Twitter, is there a marketing purpose, if yes, what is it exactly?

New Front Page
Twitter is a work in progress. At first, the idea of tweeting only appealed to a few but then it caught on in a big way. Now Twitter is an incredibly rich and expanding information network. Our design team has changed the front page to reflect this metamorphosis and will continue to adjust accordingly.

Official Twitter Conference
The first official Twitter developer conference will be held. It's called Chirp. The event will take place in San Francisco over two days. The first day is April 14th at the Palace of Fine Arts. On April 15th, we'll be gathering at Fort Mason right along the bay. We're looking forward to meeting in person. For info, tickets, or to watch online, visit the Chirp web site.

Fighting Spam
The Chief Scientist Abdur recently published a short piece titled, "State of Twitter Spam." In it, he explained how the definition of spam is different when compared to the common email variety. Spam is inevitable on a popular system but we fight it aggressively. Less than 1% of tweets per day are spam and we work diligently to reduce that percentage.

Location, Location, Location
A new feature has been added to the Twitter web site that allows you to attach location data to individual tweets. This feature may not appeal to everyone so it requires that you activate it first in your Account Settings. You can choose to share an exact location or a general location such as neighborhood or town. This additional context is potentially very powerful.

A retweet is the act by which someone else passes/shares your information via a tweet through Twitter.

By including a retweet inside your document, straight away the reader will have:

• your Twitter ID
• a link back to your site
• a link back to your PDF, or
• whatever you want!

This will help grow your Twitter followers, as well as driving traffic back to your site.

Let me show you how..

Retweet Button
First of all you need a retweet button.. a graphic that will be placed inside your PDF file that people will click-on to actually retweet.

Either grab one from Google or use this one:







To save this image - right-click on the image –> save image as..

Building the Retweet URL

The following steps will build upon each other resulting in your retweet URL.

Write Your Tweet
You need to write a tweet.
This is the tweet that will appear in Twitter when someone clicks on your retweet button.

Some things to consider include:
• keep your tweets to about 120 characters or less.. this allows for others to add comments to the tweet
• put your Twitter ID (eg @sociallywiredno) in the tweet.. this will help to grow your Twitter following as your PDF starts to get retweeted
• use a #hashtag for tracking purposes.. this will help you track the retweets

The tweet that I will be using is:
How to add Retweet buttons in your PDF documents | The Social Media Guide (via @sociallywirednow)

Create a Shortened URL
You will also want to include in your tweet a shortened URL that points back to the document’s landing page.. it is from this page that your PDF file can be downloaded.

It is advisable to direct people to a landing page to give them an idea of what your document is actually about, rather than pointing them directly to the PDF file itself (as they won’t know what they are downloading).

There are many URL shorteners that can be used including,
• bit.ly
• tiny.url
• su.pr – This shortening service exposes your content to StumbleUpon’s 8 million users - in addition to Twitter’s users

http://thisisthemightlylongurlintheinternetexplorerbar/2010/how-to-add-a-retweet-button-inside-your-pdf-documents
into: http://su.pr/1adj34

Your Tweet
Now you need to merge the tweet from before with the shortened URL you have just created.. to give you something along the lines of:

How to add a Retweet button inside your PDF documents http://su.pr/1adj34| The Social Media Guide (via @sociallywirednow)

You can see I have incorporated the following components into this tweet,
• the name of this document’s landing page
• shortened URL
• the name of my blog
• my Twitter ID
• total characters = 125 (which leaves room for comments, etc)

Create the Retweet URL
We want to create the actual retweet URL that invokes Twitter, via your browser, and populates it with your tweet.

We will build this up in three simple steps.
1. Copy this text
• http://twitter.com/home/?status=

2. Append your tweet to the end of the previous step

• http://twitter.com/home/?status= How to add a Retweet button inside your PDF documents http://su.pr/1adj34| The Social Media Guide (via @sociallywirednow)

3. Replace all spaces with a plus (+) sign

If you use a hashtag symbol (#) change it to %23

http://twitter.com/home/?status= How+to+add+a+Retweet+button+inside+your+PDF+documents+http://su.pr/1adj34+|+The +Social+Media+Guide+(via+@sociallywirednow)

You have just created a retweet URL!

Test the Retweet URL
You will want to test this URL works before we link it to the retweet button.
It doesn’t matter if you are logged into Twitter or not when you click on the retweet URL.
If you are not logged into Twitter the login page will display, after logging in, the tweet field will be pre-populated with your tweet.

If you are already logged into Twitter, then the tweet field will become populated with your tweet.

Create Your PDF File and Embed Retweet Button
The final step now is to put the retweet button into your document and to insert the retweet URL (from the previous step), into the retweet graphic as a hyperlink.

To be able to add a hyperlink to a PDF document you will need PDF creation software such as Adobe Acrobat (not Adobe Reader).

1. Open up your file in Microsoft Word then paste in the retweet graphic.I would recommend doing it in more than one location within the document.

2. Right-click on this retweet graphic and select hyperlink

3. Paste in your retweet URL then click

You have just hot-linked the Twitter retweet button with the retweet URL- And embedded it all into your document.

Finalise the PDF File
Last but not least convert this document into a PDF.


You have successfully added a retweet button inside your PDF document!

Motivational tweeters are in the twit space giving value to their followers… but that plan can backfire if you’re not careful.

The problem motivational Tweeters face is coming off as fake, preachy, saccharin, syrupy, or just plain one-dimensional.

When you communicate that you’re a REAL person, that’s when you start making connections that create incredible impact on Twitter and beyond.

Havent got a twitter account yet? www.twitter.com - sign up its quick and easy!


5 Tips for Motivational Tweeting

1. Make sure your Tweets are not ALL motivational quotes. First it appears as if you are not really on Twitter or you are faking it somehow. Do mix it up with real time replies.

2. Be creative and show you are personable! (a joke, a smile, or some wit) can be just as motivating as a platitude on goal setting/achieving. Be creative in how you inspire others.

3. You can’t FORCE everyone to be happy. I’ve actually witnessed “positive” people berate others for Tweeting about life’s ups and down. Instead of forcing someone into happiness, how about brightening up their day through other means? That human connection can be way more powerful than another Tony Robbins quote!

4. Recognition is motivating too! Retweet other tweets you have found to be of interest – pushing it out and pulling you back in

5. Lead by example. There are some people I see on Twitter who have such great dispositions, I can’t help but feel good reading their Tweets. They’re not one-dimensional computer bits either. Just real people appreciating the present moment that Twitter has us focused on, sharing that present moment with the rest of us.
What are your tips for being a force of positivity on the web? (Think outside of the motivational quote box.)

If you are a motivational Tweeter, how do you mix it up so you don’t sound like a trip down the greeting card aisle?

Tweet with us - search for sociallywired!

Twitter really does increase the speed of information sharing. Twitter is instant, more so than the internet..I found an article today about Capitalising on the mistakes of others, Tweeted discounts a success and funnily enough drinking to Twitter.
Swine flu updates are on twitter and are used in Australian hospitals; a prime example that this communication method is instant and obviously works in Government hospitals.
The article discusses ways in which you can market yourself using Twitter - for example: discounting products if you sign up to follow your biz. The more people that do, the higher your word of mouth goes out - which then, increases your advertising at little to No Cost at all. AS Long as you are ethical and maintain a good image and name in the market, this is great. Of course you would not want to have discounting for the entire period - maybe just at launches and special release dates.
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/information-technology/20090804-twitter.html

Tell us how you use twitter...or tweet us on sociallywired