4 tips to help you avoid online overload

Much has been touted about the new social media tools that allow small businesses unprecedented access to marketing channels in the digital space. Now a small business entity can become as famous as a major brand, thanks to the power of viral online marketing.

One thing to keep in mind is that Google has elevated the value of social media efforts in its search algorithm. You can see this for yourself: Google several different people you know. If any of these folks you entered have a Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn profile, these pages nearly always come up in the top spots of the search results. Because of this, you can quickly and constantly modify your overall online profile using these tools or others such as YouTube or the photo sharing site Flickr.

However, even most social media experts agree that the constantly changing digital world, with its wide array of social media tools and platforms, can be overwhelming. As a small-business owner, you have to wear a lot of hats: You have to sell, you have to execute, you have to manage your human resources, and you have to maintain your finances. The only goal with you is making sure your company performs and profits. How on earth are you going to be able to keep up with the latest and greatest social media tools?

So what should you focus on before jumping full-force into a social media marketing effort? Actually, the focus should not be so much on keeping up with every new tool that comes along, but on effectively reaching and staying connected with your target market.

1. Define Your Goals
First of all, you need to define what outcome(s) you hope to achieve through your social media efforts. Define your goals. Then ask yourself, ‘What are the easiest and fastest ways to achieve these goals?’ Whether you own a dry cleaning company, a retail store or a small accounting company, you need to be able to clearly spell out your goals, and then choose the tools that will help you most effectively achieve them.

You need to ask yourself, “What social media platforms will help my company accomplish its goals the fastest?” Focus on only one or two of the sites you determine match your needs and really make them work. (You can see why you need to have a clear understanding of your company’s goals before you can begin defining your social media goals.)

2. Walk the Walk
If you’re going to promote your company on social media channels, your product or service should appear to be very strong. Whether prospects or clients visit your site, your blog, your Twitter page or Facebook fan page, or see it described on other people’s social media sites, you need to make sure they see a very professional, on-brand product. Your company’s profiles need to be attractive and in sync while showing readers that you and your team know exactly what you are doing.

3. Make Your Profile Dynamic
Remember, since most established and effective sites will be around for a while, you don’t have to go crazy and sign on to all of them at once. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a business owner is to set up a profile for your company on a social media platform and then not maintain it.

As I say in my book Design and Launch an Online Social Networking Business in a Week (2009, Entrepreneur Press):

No one likes to frequent a store that is empty most of the time … People are influenced by what other people are doing and where other people are going, in the virtual world just as they are in the real world. If someone pops in to your network and sees a lot of activity–new members joining, a new post or two written by you or other members, maybe some great new photos to browse–the buzz of activity will hold their attention and make them want to stay awhile. But if that person visits your site and sees no new activity or commentary added in the past three days, they’re outta there.

This phenomenon has occurred with many [social media profiles] as they have evolved: the ones that are updated the most are the ones that people come back to more frequently.

4. Delegate and Manage
Make sure you have designated or hired someone to maintain the profile. If you make an in-house person responsible, make sure he or she understands how to use the platform(s) and is fully engaged in the process. Another option is to hire an outside company to ensure that your profile pages are updated regularly with content and news that is interesting to the audience you’re trying to attract.

Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed. Try working on just one or two (three at most) social media sites at a time. Once you get these up and running, and you feel that you and your staff has the time to manage it, you can think about adding more. Constantly evaluate where people are finding you or interacting with you to determine any new social media avenues.

Regardless of what tools you use, you need to ensure you have chosen the ones that enable you to set up an online profile that is the most effective for your company. And you need to commit the necessary time and effort to ensure that these tools will continue to help your business

This article was written by Julien Sharp for Entrepreneur.com

SEO (search engine optimization) is the best way to get you site boosted up on the google search rankings there are many many different techniques to dong this but we at Think Tank Media found the one that matters most. Using sites like Digg, Facebook, LinkedIn,and even You Tube. They can all improve your SEO

Social media ranges from social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn — to social bookmarking sites such as Delicious, Digg, StumbleUpon and many more. There is a lot of relationship building involved, but as you build your own networks and build quality content on your web site or blog, you’ll see traffic to your web site increasing, as well.

As with any relationship, it is a give and take. Don’t just expect to join a site like Twitter for the pure sake of pushing your content. That just won’t fly — your true intentions will stick out like a sore thumb and do nothing but turn people off.

Even if you are on the site purely for networking reasons, the key is to make friends. Help out members of your network if they ask for a “retweet” or Digg, give helpful advice if asked, etc. You’ll see the same in return.

If you write a great post and have built meaningful relationships with peers in your  niche, you’ll often find that friends will submit your posts and give you votes on the social bookmarking sites. The more votes you receive, the more likely your post is to be noticed by others and shared around, often resulting in additional link backs from other blogs, etc.

Lets build those relationships! Its not what you know but who you know!

Finding Unexpected Collaborators

Social networking may sound fluffy, but it can translate into real benefits for you and your company. William Baker, a professor of marketing at San Diego State University, surveyed 1,600 executives and found that firms that rely heavily on external social networks scored 24 percent higher on a measure of radical innovation than companies that don’t. Online networks can help you hire the right people, market your product — or even find a manufacturer. Here are four professionals who used social networks to change the game.

Tools:

within3.com, a social network for scientific practitioners

Tactic:

Saverio Gentile, a visiting fellow in the neurobiology laboratory at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, had been using within3.com, a social network for doctors, to discuss medical journal articles. While mulling over a paper on nicotinic receptors, he connected with two researchers he’d never worked with before — though they were all in the same building. “Without the social network, even though we were a few meters apart, we would have never known we were all working on this,” Gentile says. Working together, Gentile and his newfound colleagues, Elaine Gay and Jerrel Yakel, discovered a possible mechanism that can explain why nicotine receptors work the wrong way when associated with congenital myasthenia gravis, a hereditary disease that causes severe muscle fatigue. Since gathering further data on the breakthrough, the group has been selected to deliver a paper on the subject at a Society for Neuroscience convention in November.

Building a Global Business From Scratch

Tools:

LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr

Tactic:

When Nick Kellet got in touch with a former co-worker through LinkedIn, he was interested to hear that she was teaching Chinese to the inventors of the board game Cranium to help them work with their factory in China. Kellet had recently left his job to publish a board game of his own, called GiftTRAP. His friend arranged an introduction to the factory owners in Shanghai, and soon Kellet had a manufacturer for his game. Next he turned to photo-sharing site Flickr and found images from more than 500 different photographers that he could legally use for his game. Once GiftTRAP had been produced, Kellet used social networks to find buyers at Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us. “It’s not easy to get into those places,” he says. “You get stonewalled at reception.” Then he plugged into BoardGameGeek to connect with influential players in the tabletop-gaming community and get his product into the hands of reviewers. The long hours online paid off. Games Magazine declared GiftTRAP the best party game of 2008; it has been translated into eight languages and is now in its third print run. Kellet isn’t done with social networking, either — he’s just developed a Facebook application that lets people play his game online.

Finding Talent in the Trenches

Tools:

Blogs, Twitter

Tactic:

LaunchSquad, a San Francisco PR firm working with freshly minted startups, has used social media to find potential job candidates who are skilled social networkers. “If we were going to attract the candidates with the skill sets we wanted, they had to be active within social media before they even came on,” says partner and co-founder Jason Throckmorton. “We began looking for people who were commenting on our client companies or things related to public relations.” Combing through Twitter, they found then-University of Oregon senior Megan Soto, who had tweeted about the virtual community Vivaty, a LaunchSquad client. A quick Google search turned up Soto’s blog, and the folks at LaunchSquad liked what they saw. The firm contacted Soto, interviewed her, and ultimately offered her a position, which Soto happily accepted. “She never would have found us unless we found her,” Throckmorton says.

Viral Marketing on the Cheap

Tools:

Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter

Tactic:

When Jennifer Wakefield of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission began social networking, she knew that film and media would be her target. “We have green nearly 365 days out of the year here in Orlando,” she says, which makes the city ideal for film shoots. She created profiles for metro Orlando on both MySpace and Facebook, sites popular with film and entertainment professionals. Meanwhile, the commission’s Suzy Spang Allen, VP of film and digital media development, uses Twitter to connect with others at industry events like South by Southwest, Sundance, and the Tribeca Film Festival. Wakefield reports that more eyes are already on Orlando: The number of producers scouting the Florida metropolis is up by 70 percent over last year.We hope you found this article helpful. Its time to make Social Networking Work For YOU!! Its vast, fast and most importantly FREE

Twitter has had quite a year. Not only has it attracted worldwide attention and millions of new users, “Twitter” has been named the top word in the English language for 2009.

According to the Global Language Monitor, which examines language usage across the world, “Twitter” beat out “Obama,” “H1N1,” “stimulus,” and “vampire” to take the crown. Interestingly, “2.0″ came in at sixth place.

“In a year dominated by world-shaking political events, a pandemic, the aftereffects of a financial tsunami, and the death of a revered pop icon, the word ‘Twitter’ stands above all the other words,” Paul JJ Payack, president of Global Language Monitor, said Sunday in a statement. “Twitter represents a new form of social interaction, where all communication is reduced to 140 characters. Being limited to strict formats did wonders for the sonnet and haiku. One wonders where this highly impractical word-limit will lead as the future unfolds.”

To compile its data, the Global Language Monitor uses its proprietary algorithm, called the Predictive Quantities Indicator. According to the company, the algorithm “tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet.” It also monitors blogs and social media. Word frequency, contextual usage, and “appearance in global media outlets” contribute to a word’s popularity.

Click here to see a full listing of the top words, phrases, and names of the year–and of the decade.

Linkedin is the one of the best social networks for professionals and has many unique features. Its the best network for connecting with other professionals so how do you make your profile stand out while still looking professional. Well here are our tips on how to make your profile stand out.

1. Review your personal marketing materials i.e resume, an elevator speech, and a contact list. Your online profile is similar to your professional resume which details job roles, duties and accomplishments. Spend time fine tuning the content before you sit down to create your online profile.  Be sure your contact list is updated with the individuals you really want to stay in contact with through social networking.

2. Complete your online profile as if it were an executive biography which includes past employers, education, organizations you are affilated with, and don’t forget – professional and personal activites you participate in.  This task improves your ability to connect with others.

3. Start making connections by searching through the colleagues and classmates database or by name, area, and other criteria. Once you find them, send a connection request. Make it a warm connection, not a cold one! Personalize the invite to connect somehow, like referencing a project you worked on together, or that you have some interests in common.

When using Linkedin remember its a professional network, make valuable connetions, give recomendations and keep in contact with all your professional contacts.  Keep it clean, keep it simple and m0st of all keep it professional.

If you have any tips on how to make a Linkedin profile stand out please let us know,

The Think Tank Media Team

 

 

 We at Think Tank Media know how important it is to have great relationships both at work and at home. We pride ourselves on knowing the best in the biz and one of the best in the biz is Maria Simone.

Maria  is a dynamic speaker, author, and transformational business strategist. As the “Passion To Prosperity Diva”, she helps entrepreneurs package their talents to create 6 or 7 figure businesses. Maria has started 4 businesses, has had online and offline success, and raised over $1.5 million in funding for various projects. She’s appeared on ABC News, Fox TV, and in Business Week, Success Magazine, and many other publications. You can check her out at www.passion2prosperity.com

Anyhow recently Marie did a fantastic article about how social networks can help you grow your business and we want to share some of that article with you. So take a look and enjoy.

Social Networking and Social Media Marketing are all the rage these days but there are still many people who don’t get what it can do for their business and haven’t quite gotten involved. Many others who are active on the social networks tell me that haven’t figured it out yet and are not seeing tangible results. If you prefer to keep your experience personal and use Facebook and Twitter just to interact with your friends and family, then that’s fine. If you’d like to use it for more business building, then here are some Social Networking strategies I’ve been using this year to expand my reach, attract media and speaking opportunities, create powerful new alliances and generate new revenue. Try them for yourself and become your own Pied Piper of Social Networking.

View your social networking activities as an extension of your marketing plan.

Consider duplicating online the activities you participate in to attract and educate prospective customers. The more of a strategic marketing plan you already have, the easier it is to execute this strategy on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Identify and follow your prospective customers.

You probably have an idea who your ideal customer is so it shouldn’t be so difficult to search for them either by name or descriptive qualities. Follow them and who they know and you’ll create a snowball effect of followers thereafter.

Identify and follow people you’d like to partner with.

There are plenty of people out there who have complimentary services and who reach a similar demographic. It’s easier to meet and start a conversation online. You’ll take it offline and strike up a deal in no time! Same approach applies for investors, mentors, and other resource people.

Share yourself authentically.

Give information freely, answer questions, ask questions, share resource links, start conversations with people on your list, chime in on conversations of others. Also, if you regularly share and promote the postings of others, your periodic self-promotion will be accepted.

Connect to the media.

I like to follow anyone involved in radio, TV, or print not only to follow their perspective on current events but to also be in ready mode to be interviewed or take advantage of some other publicity related opportunity that comes my way.

Those are just a few of Maria’s awesome ideas but if you want to learn more about how to make Social Networks work for your business please check out www.thinktank6.eventbrite.com to find out about Think Tank’s workshops and classes.

Let us know what you think about Maria’s ideas and let us know if you have some we haven’t though of yet!

Until next time be blessed and stay strong,

The Think Tank Media Team

Facebook.com – FaceBook is a great way to connect with people who have similar interests, to see what old friends and acquaintances are up to and to learn more about the personal lives of your business contacts and to let them know about you. The personal connection you can give and get on Facebook adds some more of the personality that helps you become more than just a person to a client, but a “friend”

Twitter.com – Twitter is the new kid in town that allows you to share “what you’re doing now” in 140 characters or less. A lot of business people think Twitter sounds silly but its actually very valuable and very addictive! On twitter you can “follow” people and other people can become your “followers”. There are a ton of tips and tricks you can use to make Twitter an effective business tool check out our previous post all about Twitter!

YouTube.com -  YouTube lets users upload video content, you can also post video responses to messages, create you own “channel”, browse and comment on other users’ videos, subscribe to learn when your favourite users add new videos and even embed videos onto any website. YouTube revolutionized how easy it is for anyone to add video to the internet and share it with others. Using YouTube makes a big difference in the Search Engine Optimization process so its becoming more valuable every day.

Digg.com – This is what is known as a “social bookmarking” site. As people search the internet to find articles, news, videos or anything else of internet they “Digg” it which basically means they like it and “recommend” it to others. The more times an article,blog etc is “Dugg” the higher it clims on Digg’s list and gets more and more exposure.  This is the internet version of word of mouth advertising and is getting more and more popular every day.

 

So there you have it for social media sites you can incorporate into your business today, all of these sites are free to join but in order to make the most of them its best to have a plan. If you want to learn more about how to make these sites truly work for your business please visit http://www.thinktank5.eventbrite.comto take a look at our next all day workshop.

Until next time, be blessed and stay strong,

The Think Tank Media Team

Your goal when using Twitter should be to network, its like an online social hour and like every networking group its about who you know or in Twitter’s case, who you “follow” and who “follows” you. The key for mkaing Twitter work for you and your busines is to weave social aspects of your life in with your business.  So how do you do that?

1. Search for people you know who are already using Twitter via the “find people” link up at the top of Twitter. Once you click that link, type in names of people you know to see if they’re currently on Twitter so you can connect with them.

2 . Using the same “find people” link up at the top, click on “find on other networks” to match up your current contacts from your Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail and MSN accounts with your contact’s Twitter accounts and follow them from there.

3.  Use TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com) it allows you to manage your Twitter account by seperating your replies, direct messages, as well as specified groups of people. TweetDeck also allows you to update your Facebook status automatically with your Tweets.

4.  Use Tweet Later (www.tweetlater.com) it allows you to setup Tweets to be sent out as a scheduled time, automatically follow anyone who follows you, and send out auto-responders to anyone who follows you.

Remember: Twitter can be used for many different purposes including social networking, marketing a business, research, connecting with old friends etc. Millions are tweeting every day including just about every famous person out there. Although this whole Twitter thing may seem foreign at first, remember that e-mail was once a strange concept and now its second nature!

If you want to learn more about using Twitter and other social media outlets to grow your business check out www.thinktank5.eventbrite.com to take a look at our workshops.

What do you think, love it or hate it do you think Twitter is a useful business tool? Let us know and God Bless,

Think Tank Team (@gracehatton)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past five years, you’ve no doubt heard the term “social media.”  At its core social media is a platform for creating relationships yet still most business people are afraid of using it to their advantage. Social media is a platform that allows you to generate your own content that connects you with a whole new world of prospects who you can then take on the journey of knowing, liking, trusting you and ultimately doing some business with you.

What you want to do is join the conversation on the social networks and find ways to interact with people about things they are already interested in. I know this sounds like it will take forever, and now you have to worry about not saying the wrong thing etc. I get it but here’s the key to social media: you can form relationships with huge people all at the same time.  This is where the real power of social networking comes in and thats what we at Think Tank Media wants to teach you.

So on October 31st the wonderful day that is Halloween Think Tank Media will be  hosting an All Day workshop to show you just how easy it is to use social media (blogs, FaceBook, Myspace etc) to grow your business. Space is very very limited for this workshop in downtown Orlando. So to find out more info and RSVP your place please visit www.thinktank5.eventbrite.com

We at Think Tank would love to show you just how easy it is to make Social Media work for your business!

Looking forward to seeing you and God Bless,

The Think Tank Media Team

Change Your Life in 100 Days

What if Think Tank Media  followed you with a camera crew 24 hours a day 7 days a week for the next 100 days while you went for your goals?

We bet 3 things would happen….

1. You would START doing the things you say you need to do.

2. You would STOP doing the things you know you shouldn’t be doing.

3. You would MAKE monumental performance gains and change your life.

This is ALL possible through the discipline of accountability. Accountability serves and protects your character, credibility and commitments. It ensures that what you want to accomplish gets accomplished.

Throughout every area of your life it’s important to understand that ALL unfinished goals, projects and relationships are the result of broken promises, unfulfilled commitments, and lack of accountability.

With that reality in mind, We at Think Tank Media wanted to share with you an exciting opportunity to achieve every goal you set, to enforce ultimate accountability into your life, and show you how you can make monumental performance gains.

Gary Ryan Blair, otherwise know as The Goals Guy has put together what I believe to be the most comprehensive approach to goal setting and performance enhancement.

It’s called the 100 Day Finish Strong Challenge and it begins on September 23rd, which happens to be the final 100 days of the year.

The 100 Day Finish Strong Challenge is a structured 14-week performance improvement program where challengers compete against themselves to achieve a number of challenging goals and finish the year strong.

Free Special Report and Video

Gary is offering a powerful special report and video for free which is titled: How to Create Your Own Big Bang!

Get your free special report here: http://tinyurl.com/mbwptx

This report in our humble opinion is worth its weight in gold as it shows you how to create huge performance gains quickly. We encourage you to get your copy right now.

So what are you waiting for? The clock is ticking and if you want to seriously improve your life and corresponding results, we encourage you to check out the 100 Day Finish Strong Challenge today as it will be one of the smartest decisions you’ll make all year.

Learn more here: http://tinyurl.com/mbwptx

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day,

The Think Tank Media Team