Make This The Year You Start Using Social Media to Market

Okay, so when it comes to social media, you’re likely in one of two places. Maybe you’ve embraced it wholeheartedly and are using it effectively to promote your business

OR                       

If you’re like many, every time you hear it, you want to run away with your fingers in your ears, chanting, “I caaaan’t hear you.” Before I started using social media,  I had no idea what it was all about.  I had a LinkedIn profile, but had done little with it. But, once I started learning what social media could really accomplish, I knew this was going to spread like wildfire.

The GOOD news is this fire doesn’t have to burn out of control. You can jump in now and get control of the social media wildfire and get it to work for you.   I’ve organized an online social media telesummit with experts who are going to tell you how to use social media to move your business forward.  They’re incredibly well organized, full of practical “put-it-to-work-tomorrow” information, and with an exceptionally reasonable price – FREE! This event is going to help push you down the path to social media marketing success  and will deliver the goods no matter which of the above two groups you’re in… 

Why am I so confident? Well, let me tell you a little story about the organizer of this event.

Simply put, social media is the new marketing frontier because it bypasses costly middlemen and allows you to rapidly connect with your customers and prospects. Which, of course, presents an enormous opportunity for you.

SO WHAT’S THIS ABOUT?
I have been working for months to bring the best minds in social media marketing together in an event called Social Media Wildfire. http://socialmediawildfire.com

This telesummit’s  focus is to empower you to BUILD SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGIES  AND LEARN FROM OTHER SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES.

You’ll also hear more about how to use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to attract high-caliber customers and grow your business during this economic slump.

Not only can you GAIN HIGH LEVELS OF EXPOSURE for your business with social media marketing, you’ll also GENERATE TRAFFIC, INCREASE SALES, GAIN QUALIFIED LEADS AND BUILD NEW PARTNERSHIPS.

I’ve lined up 5 top social media  and marketing specialists as telesummit presenters; Fay McLean (The Aussie Business Coach), Angela Wills (Marketers’ Mojo), Anthony McCauley (The Social Media Bloke), Kathleen Sage (Street Smarts Marketing) and Kate Buck, Jr. (Social Media Fly Girl).

Together, this team of social media and marketing experts will help you succeed using practical tactics. Again, this event is  designed to empower marketers and small business owners to master social media marketing. And since it’s by phone, you can attend from your home or office.

Visit the site now at http://socialmediawildfire.com

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
First, let’s get this out of the way.

YOU DON’T NEED TO BE A TECHNO-GEEK OR 20-SOMETHING TO USE AND BENEFIT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA.

In fact, most social media marketers are 30 to 60 and have only been using social media for a few months. Moreover, even traditional businesses like Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company,  and McDonalds  are heavily focused on social media. This is not a “young kids” thing.

This summit is dedicated to empowering you. You’ll discover how to grow your business using no-cost social media tactics. Yes, attending this online event (and applying the techniques) will grow your business.

But there’s much more.  You’ll also join a community of like-minded women and men who’ll share their experiences and wisdom.

Go here now to learn more:  http://socialmediawildfire.com

To Your Success

Deborah Richmond

P.S. Don’t think because this is free that it’s not valuable!  These experts have all agreed to offer their time and their best information because they want you to join the conversation and be successful. They’ve seen these strategies work for themselves, now they want to share them with you.

http://socialmediawildfire.com

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May Traffic Report

Website visitors                             1280

Facebook Friends                            194

Twitter Followers                             1205

LinkedIn Connections                    194

Email List Members                         275

Inbound links                                   363

These numbers are all growing gradually each month. There are no big jumps in any of my numbers, but that’s the way I think is the best way to grow, gradually.  I want people to join my community because they really want to build a relationship with me and are truly interested in my content.  I think building slowly but surely is a good way to accomplish that kind of focused community.

It’s pretty exciting to realize that over a thousand people each month are checking out and reading my blog.  I’m so conscious of each reader as I decide what topics to blog about. I want you to find good useful information here that you can act on immeidately

The email list is growing nicely, and most of my traffic is coming from LinkedIn.  This is a great place to spend your networking time if you sell products or services to other businesses.  The discussion areas of groups is where I spend all of my LinkedIn time.

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4 Ways to Save With a Social Media Virtual Assistant

Is social media marketing eating up too many business hours?  Do you get overwhelmed with all the social media offered online today?  Is the time you spend on social media taking you away from running your business?  Are you struggling with what to say and how to promote your business with social networks? 

If you are like most business owners these days, you know social media is great for search engine optimization, market positioning and allowing more people to find you, but you just don’t have the time or resources to keep up with them all and that tends to leave you feeling frustrated, overwhelmed and just not sure where to go.

 Would you like to have someone to handle social media marketing for your business
without the time loss or having to add an employee?

 Here are 4 ways a social marketing virtual assistant can save you time so you can get back to building your business and pumping up your profits.

1. A social marketing VA can give your business a social presence and a place for people to find you and your services and products.
2. She can manage your profiles with updates, blog posts, event listings to promote your business and improve your company image.
3. A VA can write and submit articles to directories to give you a higher expertise status and draw traffic.
4. A social marketing assistant can keep current with all the methods and tools related to social media to ensure you are utilizing it to fully benefit your business.

 Take a look at how you can work with me and explore ways I can help your business.

 Are you ready to let a Social Marketing Virtual Assistant handle your social media marketing?

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Even Entrepreneurs Need Mentors

When I look back at my past, I realize there were times when I could have used a mentor.   Having someone who has been through an experience before you who can help you make the right decisions is a huge advantage.

In running my business, I know that a lot of the challenges I face are things I have never experienced before.  I know that, if I have someone more experienced who can answer my questions, I will save myself a lot of time and frustration. I can avoid wasting time going down the wrong direction.

When I started looking into creating online e-courses to teach social media marketing, I knew this was an area I knew little about.  How do I put together the website, the payment system?  How do I set up the courses?  Where should I start?  I needed a mentor.

Listening to podcasts on iTunes, I came across two podcasters who ran a membership site called Internet Business Mastery.  This site taught exactly what I was tryng to learn, how to set up a membership site.  I immediately enrolled.  It was a great move. I was able to work through the lessons at my own pace and create a really good site called My Social Marketing Class. 

This year my challenge is a different one. How do I tell more people about my e-courses?  Are there new ideas out there for driving traffic to my website and blog?  I have found another mentor to guide me through this very specific endeavor.  I’ve joined Carrie Wilkerson in the Barefoot Executive program.  I’m learning some new stategies and techniques for moving my business forward. I’ve got someone I can ask all of the questions, big and small, that I need answers to. She is teaching exactly what I need right now.

If you don’t have a mentor, it is time you get one. Now with the internet, you can find people who are teaching exactly what you need to learn. They will save you time and money since you won’t be walking down the wrong path. They will help you stay on the path to success.

Have you found a mentor to help you in your challenges?

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3 Ways a Social Media Contest Can Work For Your Business

It’s easier to sell others then to sell yourself.  That’s an old rule of thumb that we all find out, sooner or later, is true.  When I used to sell hand-dyed wool at quilt shows, I found I could sell my partner’s merchandize much faster than I could sell my own wools.  The reason is because when I praised her work, buyers were far more likely to trust me and really consider the merchandise.  But when I was touting the beauty of my own work, they seemed not to be as convinced. 

The same is true in social media. If a buyer is on Facebook and sees me raving about my favorite clothing boutique, they are more receptive and trusting than if they were to see the boutique talking about their products.

With this phenomenon in mind, many businesses are asking customers to mention their business or products on the customer’s social media networks. In return the customer has a chance to win a prize.  For instance, the blog Centsational Girl, has posted a contest offered by Recessionista, a clothing retailer.  One of the ways you can win a $50 gift certificate is to mention Recessionista on your Facebook page,then tell Recessionista you did so.  Once you do, they enter you into a drawing with a chance to win the gift certificate.  Here are the benefits to Recessionista of running this contest:

1. Exposure to  Blogger’s Audience

The Centsational Girl blog writes about the contest, thus giving Recessionista exposure to all of this blog’s readers.

2. Exposure to Reader’s Facebook Community

Reader passes along their message to the reader’s community. Recessionista is now in front of many more people they would not have been in front of without the contest.

3. Build List of Qualified Leads

Reader is entered into a drawing and is most likely now on the Recessionista’s email list. Now Recessionista knows this reader is a fan because she wanted the gift certificate enough to go post on Facebook.  So they now have a reader who is very interested in their products on an email list, to which they can send product information to in the future.

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