INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIADiane K. Danielson, ceo, DowntownWomensClub.com

Social media flowchart

Target marketYo

uBlogs

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Blogs

Website

Social media by the numbers

175,000,000 - number of active Facebook users

133,000,000 - number of blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002

36,000,000 – number of LinkedIn users

5,000,000 - estimated number of Twitter users

Why we can’t ignore online networking - 2006

Why we can’t ignore online networking - 2008

Web 2.0 or Social Media

Web 2.0 = platform/tools Social media = content It’s all about the “user generated content”

Social media and professional services

Marketing individuals Marketing expertise Building your company brand one individual at

a time

Why social media differs from traditional marketing Social interaction = 2-way conversation ROI is difficult to measure:

Based on time not $$$ Difficult to track word of mouth

But, you can track clicks.

The backbone of social media

Blogs

Blogs: The backbone of social media

Target marketYo

uBlogs

Website

Blogs

Website

“Blogs are so 2004” Paul Boutin, Wired

Blogs as standalones may be “dead” but as a business tool, they are just starting to emerge. To interact with your target market To showcase expertise As your actual website Add live content on static websites For when e-newsletters are replaced by RSS feeds To feed content to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn As a way to get that book you've always wanted to

write out of your system!

Blog uses – To interact with your target market

Corporate blogs http://1000words.kodak.com/ http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blogsw http://www.lhamillattorney.typepad.com/

Blogs v. Communities Blogs – work even without comments Communities – need active participation

Blog uses – to showcase expertise

Blog uses – on your website

Blogs as integral parts of website (right) and as a widget (below).

Blogs – how much, how often?

Minimum = 1 per week/10 days. Standalone blog v. blogging platform (gather.com,

yahoo shine, etc.) How to do daily posts:

Link to other items Pre-post items Create a group blog

RSS feeds

Really Simple Syndication RSS is a program that helps publishers distribute

headlines of blog posts (or other items like calendar listings).

Readers can pull in blog feeds (i.e. headlines) onto their iGoogle or myYahoo home pages or sent to email.

This is how many people read traditional newspapers.

RSS Feeds – other uses

Blog directories Feed to Twitter/Facebook Status

(twitterfeed.com) Online press releases As footers on emails Why those first five words count: sometimes

they are the only ones that show!

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter

Social Networks

Start with your own profile Make public/update URL

Meet people through: Search by name/keyword Groups – join others or start your own. Answers – share you expertise.

Create a company profile

Sidebar: A bit about search

“Spiderbot, spiderbot, goes wherever a spiderbot goes ….”

Top US websites (Facebook 4, LinkedIn 45, Twitter 338).

Why you should write a book review on Amazon.

Profiles, Groups and Pages Apps and throwing sheep Social ads Status reports (microblogging) The ultimate “warm call” cnn.com/Facebook partnership

Why do people twitter? 30/30/30/10 rule Ways to meet people

Follow people RT/DM/@ Live-tweeting events Asking questions “look for the @stream” http://search.twitter.com

Bookmarks and blog directories

Sharing Stuff

Bookmarks

Lifecycle of an online story

Post story on blog Tweet/Facebook about it. Friends Retweet/Share it You and other friends

Digg/Stumble it. Their friends

Tweet/Facebook about it Friends of friends

Retweet/Share it …

Lifecycle of an online story

And it stays online forever because as a wise man once said: “getting something off the internet is like trying to get pee out of a pool.”

Final Tips

Pick one or two to focus on and really learn. Have a consistent photo across mediums. Raise the energy or intellectual level of the

conversation. Schedule time for this into your week.

Have set days/times Test out a new feature each time Make X number of new connections

Recommended Reads

Here Comes Everybody: The power of organizing without organizations – Clay Shirky

Groundswell – Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Tribes – Seth Godin I’m on LinkedIn, Now What? – Jason Alba I’m on Facebook, Now What? – Jason Alba Me 2.0 – Dan Schawbel

Diane K. Danielson ceo, DowntownWomensClub.com

Target marketYo

uBlogs

Website

Blogs

Website