Social Media News For The Week Of 12/21/12

Fewer Than One Quarter of Small Businesses Have Social Media Strategies

Small business use of social media marketing has grown tremendously over the course of the last year, but it appears the majority of small companies who use the marketing medium, do so without any clear strategy or goals. According to the results of the 2012 Small and Medium Social Business Study released by the SMB Group, only 24% of small businesses have a planned social media strategy. The majority at 29% use social randomly, indicating they are not informed as to the proper utilization of social media to grow their businesses. Full Story Here:

An Argument for Social Media Scheduling

Opinions vary about automating the scheduling of posts to social media networks. This article makes a very strong case for brands to do so. Full Story Here:


How We Use Social: Highlights from the Social Media Report 2012

The rapid growth and ever-changing landscape of social media usage in the U.S. is documented in the annual report released by Nielsen and NM Incite recently. The study, conducted between July 2011 and July 2012, found many fascinating trends in the social media world during the time covered. Results include, total time spent online is up 21% and mobile usage increasing by 82%, with mobile apps up by 85%. Full Story Here:


Social media influencing retailers’ decisions

As the holiday shopping season winds down, shoppers may not be aware how much they have influenced what retailers have offered to consumers. This influence has come about through the online interactions between brands and their customers, whether that is with likes on Facebook or comments. Brands are now making stocking decisions based on those social media interactions. Full Story Here:


Social media pressure gets to Instagram and Netflix

The public has learned in recent years the power and influence they have through social media to bring about changes in company policies. Facebook recently needed to change and clarify the photo sharing policies of Instagram, which it owns, following outrage from the public in social media. In 2011, Netflix was forced to rethink policy changes it had made following a similar situation of public outcry through social networks. Full Story Here:

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Using LinkedIn for Employment Search

The professional social network LinkedIn remains the single greatest social media asset for job seekers. During the course of LinkedIn’s existence, the network has offered improvements and new features. This has made an already effective platform an even more powerful tool for those seeking a company in need of their skill set and experience.

 

Ways to Make the Most of LinkedIn for Employment Search

 

Create a Complete Profile - According to LinkedIn, profiles that are 100 percent complete are 40 times more likely to gain an opportunity. Make sure your profile is detailed and contains all current and past employment. Include complete educational and industry information. A professional looking headshot photo and relevant keywords and skills also help.

Take Advantage of LinkedIn’s Newer Features - Some of the new features added by LinkedIn include their Resume Creator and JobInsider toolbar. The Resume Creator gives users the ability to create a resume from a selection of templates using all of their profile information. Then LinkedIn customizes a URL for the resume, expediting its distribution. The JobInsider toolbar may be installed on Firefox and Internet Explorer Web browsers and it allows users to see if anybody from their network works at a particular company when the user is looking at its website.

Look at your Network Statistics - LinkedIn gives you the ability to keep tabs on two important pieces of information about all of your contacts: their location and industry. This data can be very useful when you are planning a career change or thinking about relocating.

Follow the Companies of your Dreams - LinkedIn lets you follow and get updates from both companies and individuals. Find out all of the latest news and job posting information from your favorites.                         

Join and Interact with Groups - Join as many professional groups related to your field as possible and interact with them on a regular basis. Show interest and ask questions about topics where you lack knowledge. Highlight your expertise by answering the questions about which you are knowledgeable.

LinkedIn is unlike any other social network with its professionalism. The platform can give job hunters an edge in a very competitive job market.

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

 

 

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Social Media News For The Week Of 12/14/12

Affect Releases 2013 Predictions: Public Relations and Social Media

The public relations firm, Affect, has released their 2013 predictions for social media and its impact on public relations. Top on the list is the rise of LinkedIn as a platform for brands to leverage themselves. Affect cites LinkedIn’s new profile and company page tools for the growing trend. Also, companies whose target audience is other businesses, are beginning to utilize the marketing potential of the platform. Other predictions from Affect include the continued explosion of mobile devices and the rise of visual content such as infographics and photo sharing. Full Story Here:


Boosting Sales with Social Media

During the busy holiday rush it is important for businesses to not forget about social media and the important role the medium plays with consumers today. The nearly 25% of the buying public is using social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare to seek out the best deals. Companies with visually appealing products or services should use Pinterest as well. For business-to-business marketing, LinkedIn should be the platform of choice. The social media sites should be used to lead your audience to your company’s website. Full Story Here:


10 Easy Ways Social Media Can Get Your Business More Referrals

Social media has become part of our everyday personal lives and is increasingly an important tool for brands to market themselves to the consumers. According to Mediabistro, 50 percent of small businesses are successfully leveraging social media to drive referrals and sales. It can be difficult however for small companies, with limited time and resources, to take full advantage of all the opportunities offered them by social media marketing. Here are ten useful techniques a small business can utilize to better leverage social media for their company. Full Story Here:


Useful Social Media: Global CMOs Gather in New York to Discuss the future of Social Media in Business

Over 250 of the biggest leading brands will gather in New York this coming June to discuss the future development of social media’s role in business. The summit, being held by the business intelligence firm, Useful Social Media, will take place June 12-13th. The focus of the summit will be how businesses can get closer to customers by building loyalty through direct customer engagement. Full Story Here:

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The Meaning Of Facebook Timeline For Your Brand

The theme of Facebook’s Timeline, not only for brands but individuals as well, is the expression of growth and development over time. Brands that fully embrace the concept will naturally benefit the most from Timeline.

Creatively communicating a company’s rise from a modest startup to a successful firm is an inspirational story that should resonate with followers, customers and prospects alike. Businesses of all sizes can gain a closer relationship with their customers from such a treatment on Timeline. The content shouldn’t just be about a chronology of dates in the company’s history, but showcase the people that have made the business grow and its products outstanding. Dates and photos of employee promotions in addition to images of them doing their jobs is a great place to start. Strategic dates along with pictures of company products being used and enjoyed by the people who buy them is another. Video is also highly effective in conveying this message.

Another feature and benefit of Timeline for brands is the new admin panel. This panel provides a powerful management tool for every aspect of the company Timeline to keep track of new likes and comments on content. The admin dashboard also allows access to valuable new analytics data with graphs illustrating engagement with your content. For the first time on Facebook, private messaging between brands and users can take place. The contact must be initiated by the user and companies that are not ready for the feature can turn it off. For brands ready for such interaction, this feature offers a tremendous opportunity.

Change is what the new Facebook Timeline is all about. All of us can be afraid of change at one time or another. Social media is constantly evolving and the changes to Facebook reflect that. It is neither the first time nor the last in the largest social network’s evolution. Make full use of the new Timeline features and your company will benefit in time.

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

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How Social Media Makes Money For Your Business -- Creating Value

Social media marketing has a tremendous capacity for creating value, for both customers and the businesses serving their needs. Social media facilitates this when companies connect with their customers and those customers in turn purchase products and services. The key to this value creation is the establishment of true connection between brands and their customers on social media networks.

 

How Social Media Creates Value

A true connection on social media is made when brands offer something valuable to their followers. What is being offered may have a direct monetary value, but not necessarily. It could come in the form of useful information or advice related to a brand’s niche industry and its products. Or, it could just as easily come in the form of a 15% off Facebook only coupon. Central to the creation of value on social media is the idea of giving, which is required of brands to be successful on social media. Social business has re-ignited the concept of value-added marketing. Rather than interrupting people’s lives with tradition marketing messages, social marketing is welcomed by people into their lives because it is beneficial to them. Here are some specific ways social media accomplishes this result.

 

• By Teaching Customers - Information that is helpful, useful and serves customers’ needs by teaching them about topics related to your company’s specialties.
• Giving Something to Customers - With freebies, discounts, specials etc. made unique for each platform. This builds brand loyalty, which translates into paying customers.
• Helping Customers - Answering the questions people have and sharing expertise are ways brands establish a true connection with their followers on social media.
• Connecting Customers With Others - Suggesting alternate companies when your solution doesn’t meet a customer’s needs and recommending products or services from elsewhere can help your company connect. These scenarios can create loyal followers.
• Touching the Emotions of Customers - Treating customers as good friends, lightening things up with a little bit of fun and making people laugh will go far in endearing them to your company.

These are just a few of many ways social media can create value for customers. Businesses can create the greatest value for themselves and their customers when they remember an old business virtue that social media marketing has revived. The business exists to serve the needs of their customers.

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

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Social Media News For The Week Of 12/7/12

How Social Media Usage Will Change In 2013

The coming year will likely bring many changes to the social media world, as the medium continues to grow and mature. Trends of today can give some indication of what those changes will be and how they will come about. One trend is the increase in the importance of Pinterest as a social media marketing platform. This article includes an excellent infographic which clearly illustrates the trends in social media from the editors of the Socially Aware Blog. Full Story Here:

 

Build Social Media Into the Customer Experience

It is so crucial in today’s business environment for companies to go beyond simply putting up a page and expecting customers to come to them. Social media marketing must be carried out by people in the organization with authority and not outsourced. Listening to what your audience is saying about your brand and effectively responding to their feedback is vital. Steering your customers to your company’s preferred social media platforms is important as well. Full Story Here:

 

What’s the Difference between Social Media and Social Business?

Companies who are leading the way in the application of social media to their business practices are fully engaging their customers and bringing about new levels of customer service for their clients by integrating social media into customer care processes. This defines social business and differentiates it from simply marketing through social media networks. Full Story Here:

 

The Secret to Social Media Fatigue

The difficulty of time management for businesses who engage in social media marketing has lead to the mindset of so-called “social media fatigue”. This fatigue is really all about fear of failure and disappointment in social media. There are steps which can be taken to successfully fight back against these fears. Full Story Here:

 

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Using Twitter for Employment Search

Twitter offers job seekers a powerful resource when used in tandem with LinkedIn and Facebook. Twitter should never be seen as a replacement for those other networks, but rather as a useful supplement to them. Companies looking to hire are increasingly using the network in their recruitment efforts. Twitter provides a high level of engagement and interaction between businesses in need of personnel and people who are searching for employment. The Twitter platform also offers the ability to share information from other networks. Job hunters can find listings of job posts and career opportunities, advice from experts and general career information.

Ways to Use Twitter for Employment Search

Shape Up your Profile - It is vital to have a profile that projects professionalism and gains the attention of company recruiters. Your profile will shape their first impression and you only have 160 characters to get it right. Stay away from ridiculous usernames; make it your real name or something that closely resembles your name. Your profile should feature the type of position you are seeking in addition to your location.

Follow Influential People in your Field - Seek out the influential movers and shakers in your field and follow them. Find industry people with large numbers of followers who frequently tweet information relevant to your job search. Also, follow people outside your particular field but who can still be helpful, such as career experts and government agencies.

How Social Media Makes Money For Your Business -- Engaging Prospects

Engaging with a prospective customer is probably the most crucial step in making a successful sale. The interactive nature of social media easily lends itself to the engagement between a business and their prospects. Social networks help foster trust between the parties, while speeding up the final sale process either online or in person.

How Social Media Helps Engage Prospects:

1. Social Media Puts Brands With the People
It is key for businesses without a social media presence to remember this fact: their absence from consumer’s decision-making processes on this medium means that they are not present in the decision itself. People are making their buying decisions increasingly based on the information gleaned from social media outlets. This information can come from brands directly, recommendations and word of mouth from friends, or viral material that spins up to them. A brand must be present to be part of the mix. It is expected by the vast majority of people that a company is active on social media networks. Companies lacking a presence are often deemed irrelevant.

Social Media News For The Week Of 11/30/12

Social Media is Here to Stay
The beneficial impact for businesses that have taken the steps necessary to promote and market their companies through social media has been well established. However, there are many more businesses which have not joined in. Finding education about how to launch a social media marketing campaign successfully seems to be the problem, keeping scores of companies from achieving social media success. Full Story Here:

Social media impact on retailers’ sales uncertain
With the recent record setting holiday shopping weekend, retailers are seeking the answer to the question of what was social media’s impact on those sales. It appears, according to IBM Smarter Commerce, which tracks sales for top retailers, that social media directly comprised only 1% of the sales. This is not to say social media did not have any impact at all, because retailers have been using the medium to effectively raise their brand awareness with consumers. Full Story Here:

How Social Media Makes Money For Your Business -- Creating Value

Social media marketing has a tremendous capacity for creating value, for both customers and the businesses serving their needs. Social media facilitates this when companies connect with their customers and those customers in turn purchase products and services. The key to this value creation is the establishment of true connection between brands and their customers on social media networks.

How Social Media Creates Value:

A true connection on social media is made when brands offer something valuable to their followers. What is being offered may have a direct monetary value, but not necessarily. It could come in the form of useful information or advice related to a brand’s niche industry and its products. Or, it could just as easily come in the form of a 15% off Facebook only coupon. Central to the creation of value on social media is the idea of giving, which is required of brands to be successful on social media. Social business has re-ignited the concept of value-added marketing. Rather than interrupting people’s lives with tradition marketing messages, social marketing is welcomed by people into their lives because it is beneficial to them. Here are some specific ways social media accomplishes this result.

Using Facebook for Employment Search

Although Facebook is thought of mostly as a social networking site for keeping up with friends and family, the network has much to offer those who are seeking employment or changing jobs. A survey by Jobvite.com found that more than 44 percent of all job seeking related activity takes place on Facebook. The nearly universal acceptance of the network has led to over 900 million users, a potentially rich resource for the job seeker.

Ways to Use Facebook for Employment Search: 

1. Status Updates - Make sure you keep your network updated on the status of your job search and the type of position you are seeking. Be sure to remind them periodically, so they don’t forget about you.
2. Networking - The vast numbers of Facebook users means, not only are all of your friends, family, and business related colleagues on the network, but potential employers as well. This is an advantage of using Facebook for a job search; the network puts you in front of many people.
3. Make Sure your Profile is Complete and Clean - Your profile should be complete and contain all of your work experience and educational information. If you have a profile on LinkedIn (you should), copy over all of the information from there. Since employers will be looking at your profile, clean up any images or status updates  which may be damaging to your professional reputation.
4. Join and Interact with Groups - Professional interest groups are on the rise on Facebook. Join the groups related to your field and interact with other group members. This expands your sphere of influence and the number of contacts you have exponentially. Each contact gained opens new possibilities for you.
5. Follow the Companies that Interest you - Once again, research by Jobvite.com has shown that over 80 percent of companies use social media to find their employees. Just “Like” their page and you will receive updates and news from the company in your  Facebook newsfeed. Also, many company pages provide links for people seeking employment. Take full advantage of your contact with these companies by really showing interest and actively engaging with them.

Mobile Marketing -- What Is Mobile Marketing?

Smartphones and mobile devices are everywhere now and have practically become ubiquitous. Closely related to this phenomenon is mobile marketing, a concept that is still evolving, but needs to be understood by businesses of all sizes. In this, the first of a three part series, we will examine just what mobile marketing is. In the following segments, we’ll see why it is so important for businesses to get involved and the ways to engage in mobile marketing.

 

What is mobile marketing?

Mobile marketing can be defined as marketing and advertising that reaches its intended target audience by way of the audience’s mobile device or smartphone. There are various components and methods of mobile marketing that a business must be aware of, including:

 

SMS - This stands for short message service and refers to text only messaging and limited to a length of 160 characters. This can be utilized for sending marketing information, such as coupons, directly to the audience.

 

MMS - Stands for multimedia messaging service, and provides the audience with messages containing images, video and audio.

 

Mobile Internet - This includes mobile websites and internet sites, specifically optimized to properly function and be visually appealing on mobile devices.

                              

Mobile Apps - Downloadable software applications for smartphones and mobile devices.

 

Mobile Advertising - These usually appear as ads on mobile devices during the loading process of mobile web pages, as banners at the top or bottom. Mobile gaming ads, along with SMS or MMS, are other forms of mobile advertising.

 

The relatively new technologies that are yet unfolding are being rapidly adopted by the public. This combined with the growing use of social media networks by both consumers and businesses are factors driving mobile marketing to the forefront of importance to brands. In part two, we will see in more detail why mobile marketing is so important to companies.

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

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Social Media News For The Week Of 11/2/12

Small Businesses Don’t Have Time for Social Media -- and Don’t Track Results

The results of a study by the online marketing firm, Vertical Response, indicate that small businesses have adopted social media in a big way, but think they are spending too much time on the medium. One third of business owners wish they could spend less time on their social media marketing efforts. Most businesses using social media marketing are unaware of their return on investment figures, as only 36 percent utilize paid tools which will give them analytical data and schedule posts. Full Story Here:

4 Social Media Metrics You Should Measure

As businesses come to terms with the fact social media is here to stay and not some fad, the importance of tracking their endeavors on the medium is becoming clear. Monitoring social media’s impact on a company’s bottom line is vital. Keeping track of factors such as brand awareness, website traffic, site loyalty, and conversion rates are crucial in determining the success of any social media marketing effort. Full Story Here:


Social-Media Users Flock to Facebook for Sandy Updates

With the ongoing disaster of Hurricane Sandy unfolding in the Northeast U.S., people have turned to social media for news, help and comfort. The social media networks, Facebook and Twitter, have been the platforms of choice during this crisis. This clearly underlines the level of importance social media as attained in our society. Full Story Here:

Ask a Business Expert: Social media vital to all business

Social media is becoming increasingly part of everyday life and a tool to express individuality as much as brand awareness. This fact underscores the importance to businesses to craft and adopt a clear social media strategy and company policies for employees. Determining who will play a role and making sure all involved are on the same brand page, is paramount to the success of your company’s social media efforts. Full Story Here:

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Social Media Tips For Google+

Google+has not reached the massive level of acceptance found by other social networks like Facebook. However, the network has grown to over 170 million users and in certain circumstances, might be a better choice for social media marketing for some brands. In any case, Google+  should at least be considered, for it does offer some specific advantages to business users. If your company is giving it a try, here are some helpful tips.

1. Customize Your Sharing -

This is probably the greatest advantage offered by the Google+  platform. Google Circles gives you the option of sharing information with specifically targeted groups of followers. Posts can be automatically sent to all of your followers or to only certain circles of followers. Also, if you don’t want information re-shared outside the circle, re-sharing of each post may be optionally disabled.

2. Fire Up Engagement With Sparks

The Sparks feature allows you to search for relevant information or topics of interest and share them with your circles. The reverse works as well, since others can search for your content and share it. Sparks can live up to its name by getting engagement and interaction started within your circles.

The Meaning Of Facebook Timeline For Your Brand

The Facebook Timeline for brands places a greater emphasis on interaction, as well as being more visually oriented than the previous format. One of the features that has proven to be most controversial is the elimination of a landing tab. This feature of Timeline has raised the ire of businesses that have successfully leveraged the format into large numbers of “Likes” and followers.

The format tries to encourage increased engagement between brands and their followers. The Timeline platform does not reward companies who would rather set up a landing page, walk away and forget about it. That style of one-way marketing has never been what social media is about anyway. A business that puts in the time and makes a concerted effort to make a success of the company Timeline will reap the benefits of their work. Once again, interaction is the key to that success.

Social Media News For The Week Of 10/26/12

Consumer Social Media Engagement with Brands Leads to Increased Sales, Study Reveals

A study released by LoyaltyOne, Northwestern University, and Ivey Business School has found proof that the effects of social media on the purchasing behaviors of consumers is both significant and measurable. The research showed an increase of 15 to 30 percent in transactions by consumers who were engaged on social media with participants in 10-million member air miles reward program. Full Story Here:

A Big Boost for Small Business, Social Media is an increasingly important component in growing businesses

The online business directory, Manta.com, found 9 out of 10 small businesses are now utilizing social media as a part of their overall marketing efforts. According to Facebook, 11 million businesses keep a page up and running on their site. These facts point out the importance for all businesses to engage their customers on social media. To assist companies who have not joined in, the U.S. Small Business Administration is holding workshops to inform them of the potential growth possibilities and advice on getting started. Full Story Here:

Ignore Fads

New trends come and go. Hardly a day goes by that you don’t uncover a new social media site. Early adopters love these opportunities and often jump in without assessing the real effort and pay back. A business can easily be lured into wasting precious time learning about new unproven fads.

 

Some basic questions to ask your self are:

• Is this site popular and will it generate traffic?
• How vast is the audience?
• What are the demographics?
• Is this effort compatible with my strategy?
• Will this effort generate new business?
• Can you quantify the results?
• Do I have the time and resources to make this work?

 

Don’t be tempted into becoming a “Social Media Technical Expert” while the real challenge of growing the business is ignored.

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

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Twitter Techniques -- Lead Your Followers To Other Platforms

In this final segment of a series on techniques for implementing a Twitter strategy for business, we will consider a few techniques designed to lead your loyal Twitter followers to other platforms of your social media marketing campaign.

Creative Use Of Hashtags -

By creatively using hashtags you can lead your followers to your website. For example, followers take pictures of themselves using a company’s product and tag themselves on a map featured on the website with a hashtag. There are many ways to accomplish the goal of getting your followers to cross over to your website. It is only limited by your imagination.

Share Links To Your Blog And Website -

Of course there is the more direct approach of simply sharing a link to other platforms you wish your followers to visit. However, they may not bite, so give them incentives to go where you want to take them. Give special offers for Twitter followers that visit your website and ask them to provide an email address so you can keep in closer touch. Always provide an exclusive offer for followers willing to travel down the path you wish.

Twitter Techniques -- Network More Effectively On Twitter

In this second part of a series on implementing a business Twitter strategy, we will examine methods for effective networking.

Find the Right Audience and Interact with Them -

In order to ensure the ultimate success of your company’s Twitter campaign, it is critical to find the right audience of interested, relevant followers. Merely trying to build a large count of meaningless followers will not get your campaign off the ground. You must seek and find people who are interested in your company, its products/services and your industry. Finding an audience to engage and interact with, regarding relevant topics for both you and them is crucial for establishing your brand on Twitter. Online and Twitter directories will assist in building up your audience. Start out by following them first.

Build Relationships with Engagement -

You can start building a relationship with your fans by thanking them when they tweet about your company, comment favorably on a blog post, or retweet one of your posts. Don’t take people who like and appreciate your company for granted. When conversations are going on in your community, dive in and provide useful and relevant information to the discourse. Engage with your followers by starting discussions and sharing content they will find interesting or useful. There is a time and place for pushing promotions, but don’t let your feed become an endless stream of self-promotional noise.

Twitter Techniques -- Creating More Effective Tweets

With a growth rate outpacing that of Facebook and over 500 million registered users now, Twitter has become a powerful social media marketing platform. This is the first of a three part series on how to refine your company’s techniques for Twitter marketing. In this first part we will look at how to create more effective Tweets.

Load up your Tweets with Keywords -

In all facets of online marketing the creation of web content needs to include industry keywords. This principle is still vitally important and can’t be overemphasized. Keywords are the foundation of effective web content. Tools like Google AdWords can help you put together a list of effective keywords and get the most out every Tweet.

 Include Links in your Tweets -

Sharing links with your followers and embedding links in your Tweets is a highly effective technique for expanding your follower base. Any time you find content relevant to your followers, share the link with them on Twitter. Engaging in conversation with your brand’s fans goes a long way to endearing them to your company, but so does sharing links they will find useful.

Social Media News For The Week Of 10/19/12

Social Return on Relationships: 13 Tips to Ignite Relevant Value

Successfully marketing a business on social media requires a commitment of time and and resources combined with carefully planning a strategy for achieving goals. Success is best achieved by establishing true relationships between brands and their customers and followers. Full Story Here:

Social media building a business connection

According to study by Lab42, a marketing research firm in Chicago, people think Facebook is a better platform for connecting with brands they like than the websites of those companies. 82 percent of the 1,000 social users surveyed, think Facebook is good for interaction with businesses. The study said further that 48 percent will “unlike” companies who spam their newsfeeds with too many posts. Fresh content is what people are really seeking. Full Story Here:

Small Business’ Big Use of Social Media

A study by Northwestern University and the firm Syndio Social, has found that small businesses who market themselves with social media stand to gain the most, over larger companies. Over half the traffic coming to small business websites is being driven by Facebook and Twitter, three times more than the traffic coming to larger sites. Facebook drives 48 percent of the traffic, while Twitter nearly 4 percent. Full Story Here:


87 More Vital Social Media Marketing Facts and Stats for 2012

A collection of very interesting statistics surrounding the utilization of social media by businesses as we go forward in 2012. Full Story Here:

24-mile skydive a boon for Youtube, social media

The recent 24-mile high skydive by Felix Baumgartner has clearly illustrated how the world is now connected by social media. Almost 7.3 million people watched the event live on Youtube, while a picture posted on Facebook by his sponsor Red Bull, got almost 216,000 likes; 29,000 shares; and over 10,000 comments in less than 40 minutes. Full Story Here:

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New OnFast Features - October 17, 2012

OnFast Releases New/Updated Features

1) Improved Blog Editor:

• Brand new Image resize / align capabilities.

• Much improved cut/paste from Microsoft Word.
• Search/Replace of text.
• Integrated spell checker on all browsers.
• Full Screen Mode for easier editing of large posts.

2) Increased length of social posts

Users can now post social updates up to 512 characters.  Posts are automatically shortened for posting to Twitter.

3) Leaderboards / User Voting for Contests

We've expanded the Contest application to include support for both leader boards and user voting.  Facebook applications are also now available to all Business customers.

Logon to http://www.onfast.com today to check out the latest features!

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Social Media Demographics For LinkedIn

LinkedIn Demographic Data

• 161 million members worldwide
• 85.7 million visitors per month
• 50% female, 50% male
• Average user spends 21 minutes per month on site.
• Estimated user worth $71
• LinkedIn for business growth: 64% of users
• Use LinkedIn for business purposes: 75% of users
• Companies on LinkedIn: 2 million
• Average time spent on site: 8:00 minutes
• 61% of members are located outside of the United States.

How Social Media Makes Money For Your Business -- Boosting Brand Awareness

In just the last few years, social media marketing has gone from being an attractive option to becoming vitally important for companies. A social media presence has grown to be an essential element for maintaining a high level of brand awareness for businesses of all sizes. In spite of this, there is a hesitation on the part of some businesses to get on board. social media has opened up new possibilities for communication between individuals and organizations. The market is moving forward and embracing social networks; the clock won't turn back.

How Social Media Boosts Brand Awareness

1. Social Media Optimization (SMO)

How a brand is perceived across social media networks is playing an increasingly crucial role in determining how highly a company is ranked by search engines like Google. The more "Likes", retweets and followers a company has, the higher they will be placed in online searches. SMO rankings have become nearly as important as search engine optimization (SEO) rankings. A company without a social media presence is likely to be shut out of many business opportunities due to low search engine rank. By having a robust social media profile, a company increases its brand awareness across a broader spectrum while giving other platforms, such as websites, a lift.

Social Media News For The Week Of 10/12/12

Social Media Myths Worth Debunking

As businesses have been coming to terms with understanding the impact of social media many myths have arisen. Dispelling these myths will help companies fully grasp the potential for growth available to them when using social networks for marketing purposes. Full Story Here: 

What's a Facebook Follower Worth?

Many businesses are questioning the value of Facebook followers in the wake of the network's Promoted Post program. Companies are being asked to pay a fee to have their posts promoted beyond the average 16% of users who see them. Some small business owners have complained their fans have been devalued, while others have clearly benefited from the program. Full Story Here: 

Using Google+ for Employment Search

While Google+  certainly has not knocked Facebook off its perch atop the social media world since launching in mid 2011, the network did grow to 150 million active users by the end of its first year. This is a significant audience job seekers should consider in their search. Google+ also offers several advantageous features over other social networks for job hunting users.

Ways to Use Google+ for Employment Search

1.  Circles -

This feature really sets Google+  apart from other social networks, particularly from the perspective of job seekers. Circles allows users to categorize their contacts into groups or "circles". This gives them the ability to tailor fit their postings and information sharing with specific audiences. Circles presents the user with a level of relevancy control only found on Google+ . Importantly, personal and professional information can be kept entirely separate, allowing the user to maintain a degree of privacy, while keeping friends and family from having to wade through irrelevant posts.

2.  Sparks -

Sparks empowers users to easily keep track of industry news, developments and topics of interest related to their job search. Keyword searches can be saved so new information will appear in the user's Sparks newsfeed on their profile page. Information received through Sparks can be easily targeted and shared with appropriate Circles.

Social Media For Employment And Recruiting - LinkedIn

LinkedIn, with its prominence as a social network for professionals, naturally leads all other networks for job recruiting and employment. LinkedIn, just like other social networks, should be part of an overall recruiting strategy that includes more traditional methods, such as job boards. LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for bringing talented, high quality candidates to your company.

Ways to Use LinkedIn for Recruiting

1.  Complete Your Company Profile

Make sure your company profile is complete in every way and loaded with industry-relevant keywords. Your keyword-rich company profile can entice candidates who are seeking employment and searching profiles for great places work.

2.  Use LinkedIn Search

Search for qualified potential employees from the pool of LinkedIn members who match your requirements. Using keywords in personal, as well as company profiles, is key for this reason. Be sure to share all of your contact information with prospects.

Social Media News For The Week Of 10/5/12

Facebook reaches one billion users

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the social network has passed the milestone of 1 billion users. This astounding figure reflects the number of people actively using the platform every month. This translates into this fact: 1 in every 7 people on Earth is on Facebook. Full Story Here: 

Facebook Now Lets US Users Pay $7 To Promote Posts To The News Feeds Of More Friends

Facebook has expanded its Promoted Posts feature into America. The social network is now offering U.S. users the opportunity to expand the visibility level of their posts for the fee of $7.00 per post. The feature has already been available in 20 other countries. The network is still testing the pricing of the feature and it may go up or down. Promoted Posts will be marked "Sponsored" and users will be able see how many times more views the post received by being promoted. Full Story Here: 

Social Media For Employment And Recruiting - Twitter

For job seeking and recruiting purposes, LinkedIn and Facebook receive most of the focus, but Twitter should be considered as well. Twitter should be seen in this context as providing a supplement to recruiting efforts across other social media networks. Twitter offers brands a high level of engagement and interaction, along with many opportunities to share information from their other networks. Twitter can be the platform of choice for sending short blasts of information regarding job posts and opportunities, advice for job hunters, or career information.

Ways to Use Twitter for Recruiting

1. Engage With Potential Candidates - Candidates can be reached by searching for the influential people, blogs and networks frequented by potential employees of your company. Engagement in these areas can help further intelligence gathering, thereby providing information regarding pools of talented candidates and their various areas of expertise.
2. Post to Twitter Job Boards - Various companies will post across their networks for a small fee. These companies gather postings and make them easily searchable for job seekers.
3. Post Directly to Twitter - Job listings with shortened URL's linking to more information may be posted directly for free. Using commonly used # hash tags can extend how far those listings reach outside your circle of followers.
4. Keyword Sourcing - This is the inverse of direct posting. Candidates seeking job positions can be searched using keywords. There are even free websites that offer advanced search functionality based on keywords, hash tags, or even zip code location. Highly targeted RSS feeds of Twitter profiles and streams can be set up with all this information for recruiting purposes.

How Social Media Makes Money For Your Business - Generating Referrals

The viral aspect of social media is one of the driving forces behind social media success for businesses. Each person who chooses to befriend your brand by liking or following your company has a list of friends who will be reached by any interaction between you and them. In this blog we will explore how social media helps your business make money by generating referrals.

How Social Media Generates Referrals

1. Top of Mind Advertising

One of the keys to successful advertising is keeping your brand foremost in the minds of customers and prospects. Social media accomplishes this marketing goal, but with unique methods. In part 1 of this series we saw how by sharing your company's expertise on social media, you will build up a collection of loyal followers who trust your brand. When one of your followers sees one of their friends ask about products / services related to your field, who do you think they are going to recommend? When they are in the market themselves, whom will they think of? If you have won their loyalty, your business will come to mind.

How Social Media Makes Money For Your Business - Sharing Expertise

Using social media has become nearly mandatory for businesses. Yet at the same time, social media can sometimes seem like a nebulous arena to some small business owners. The very nature of the medium can confuse businesses into thinking they don't receive any benefit from social media use. This blog post is the first part of a series that will point out the ways in which social media provides a return on your company's investments, in both time and resources. You will see how sharing your business's expertise will position the company for growth.

1. Share Your Company's Expertise

This is one of the more difficult benefits of social media to quantify. Your company, whether it is a new startup or a well-established firm, specializes in at least one thing. Sharing your knowledge and experience of that specialty with your company's clients, customers, and prospects is a way to establish your company as an expert within your niche market. One of the key aspects of social media that businesses often miss is the need to be helpful to their followers and not come across as an endless ad campaign. This will reap benefits for your company later on down the line, when people will remember your company as a trustful and helping friend rather than a sales pitch.

2. Expertise Sells

If your company provides a service, such as consulting or technical firms, sharing your knowledge is a valuable asset that will interest your clients in further information, after you have enticed them with your expertise first. If your company sells a product, you can offer product demonstrations or tips and advice to plant the seed in consumers' minds. Once again, by furnishing only useful information without a hard sales approach, your customers will think of your company as nothing less than an expert that they can count on.

Social Media News For The Week Of 9/28/12

Social Media Is The New SEO - Deal With It!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become inextricably tied to social media because of Google's increased emphasis on the level of engagement across social networks in determining the search ranking of websites. Companies hoping to be visible on search engines need to not only have a strong social media presence, but interact with their audience as well. Just being present on social platforms is not enough. Full Story Here: 

 

10 Tips for Building a Social Media Strategy

Social media has, and will continue to, greatly expand the possibilities for businesses to reach new customers while gaining their loyalty at the same time. But social media, if not properly utilized, can do harm as well. It is imperative for any company engaging their brand on social media to have a well planned and clear strategy for success on social networks. Full Story Here: 

 

Dreamforce 12: Social business capabilities evolve in the cloud

Last week the software as a service company, Salesforce, held their annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. The conference featured influential guest speakers such as former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and General Electric CEO, Jeffrey R. Immelt. The main takeaway from the conference is the future of the cloud as the home of social business. The First of Two Stories: 

 Another Interesting Story:

Infographic: A Look at Some of the Worst Social Media Blunders of All Time

It is always useful in business, and in life in general, to try to learn from the mistakes of the past. Social media must be used both carefully and responsibly. This very interesting infographic makes the point abundantly clear. Full Story Here: 

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Does Your Facebook Post Have Call to Action?

A call to action (CTA) is the first step in establishing a link and opening dialogue with your reader.  CTA's make the connection between your brand's content and your audience easier.

A call to action directs the user to make the next move. This can be as easy as giving a command or providing an opportunity to get more information.  Perhaps you have a super video on YouTube that introduces a new product. A clickable call to action will get your reader to the video without having to provide complicated lengthy URL's.

Examples:

•     Click here to read more
•     Click here to see our video
•     Click here to like us
•     Take our survey

Social Media Tips For Foursquare

Foursquare is at the forefront of the location-based marketing craze that has come about with the proliferation of smartphones and mobile devices. For any local business trying to compete by getting customers to come to their physical location, Foursquare can't be beat. The platform does not require much in the way of work for brands to participate and see the benefits of their customers promoting the business for them.

However, businesses must make it worthwhile for patrons to tell their friends about their brand experience. Here are some ideas for effectively using Foursquare to promote your business.

1. Race for Mayor -

The customer who checks-in the most amount of times at a particular place is referred to as the "Mayor" of that location. Prizes and benefits offered to customers who seek the title, combined with the perks of the position can keep many people coming back and spending money at your business. The race for mayor at a business can become very competitive, resulting in great rewards for the business's owners.

2. Give Incentives -

A common incentive theme is to offer deals and discounts for checking-in at a business. Other creative ways to leverage Foursquare are to hold contests and giveaways, give special discounts for check-ins on specific days or to give a prize to the first check-in of the day. There are many creative ways to use deals maintain customer loyalty. Offering such things as a special for customers who bring their friends, and deals for people who check-in a pre-determined amount of times are a few more ideas.

Social Media Optimization --- What Is SMO?

Social Media Optimization, or SMO as it is commonly referred, is the methodology of making content from websites, blogs, and other Internet sources easily shareable across social media networks. The level of social media presence a company has plays a role in determining the potential for people to connect with the organization and is also a factor of SMO. With search engine rankings placing greater emphasis on the volume of content sharing, social media optimization has become a critical facet of overall search engine optimization strategy.

SMO is about visibility for all online marketing content to both people and search engines, including your website, blog and social media. Over time, the focus has changed from driving website traffic to expanding the potential for your content being easily seen by many people. With proper SMO, traffic will still be driven to your website, but your content will be viewed across a much wider spectrum of platforms, increasing your exposure to a larger audience.

Social Media for Employment and Recruiting - Facebook

With more than 900 million members worldwide, it was inevitable that Facebook was to become a giant in the job market. LinkedIn has traditionally led, and still does in this area, but Facebook has matched an increasing amount of job candidates with their future employers. Facebook, by sheer numbers of users, is positioned to become the tool of choice for both recruiters and job seekers.
 
Benefits of Using Facebook for Recruiting

1. Largest Network - Facebook has the largest audience of all social networks.
2. Facebook is Free - Facebook is free to all of its members, and companies can present themselves to candidates using tools, such as video, images and search without incurring any additional cost.
3. High Level of Engagement - Facebook offers a higher degree of two-way communication and engagement than other social platforms. Brands can attract prospective employees by providing content of interest to them, leading to further commentary and interaction.
4. Active Users - Potential job candidates are active on Facebook and spend considerable time on the network. It just makes sense for businesses actively seeking personnel to go where the people are. Companies can easily facilitate quality candidates locating their brand, initiating contact and pursuing employment themselves. Businesses don't have to chase after talent; the talent can come to them.

Social Media News For The Week Of 9/21/12

Small Businesses Get Nearly Half of Traffic from Social Media

Traffic on small business websites is being driven largely by social media according to the results of a study conducted by Northwestern University and Syndio Social. The study looked at over 300 Chicago based websites and found 51.7% of all traffic to those sites was being steered by the combination of Facebook (48.1%) and Twitter (3.6%). Medium sized business sites received 31% of their traffic from social platforms. Full Story Here: 

Social Media Etiquette for Businesses

It is crucial for companies who choose to promote their business on social media to remember to strike a balance between promoting and providing value to their audience. Listening to the audience and taking their needs into consideration while being relevant should be at the foundation of any social media marketing campaign. Full Story Here: 

Social Media Demographics For Facebook

 

For businesses that use social media for marketing purposes, being armed with social demographic data can be useful in several ways. Knowing your audience helps you to properly target your message and can be of use in determining which platforms are the best fits for your company. This is the first part of a series that will present the demographic data for the major social media platforms.

Social Media News For The Week Of 9/14/12

Skeptical Businesses Slow to Adopt Social Media

A survey by eMarketer of small to medium sized businesses found that only 24 percent of small companies and 33 percent of mid-sized companies have structurally incorporated social media in their marketing campaigns. However, for the small companies who have adopted social media, many find it effective. 49 percent report positive results from their social media marketing campaigns. Full Story Here:

Social Media Platforms Prove Beneficial to Small Businesses

Small to medium sized businesses that do get onboard with social media report it has helped them, in a study by the software firm, Vocus. According to the company's research, 87 percent of SMB's who have added social media to their marketing mix say it has helped gain business. Only 10 percent reported no effect from social media. Facebook continues to be the platform of choice for SMB's. Full Story Here:

Social Media For Employment And Recruiting - Part 1 - Introduction

Job seekers and employers are increasingly turning to social media for employment and recruitment solutions. Naturally, the LinkedIn platform leads social networks in use for employment purposes, but other social networks are not far behind. Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have become recruitment tools for businesses and important resources for job seekers as well. This is the first of a five part series on social media and the job market. We will begin by looking at some statistics around recruiting and social media.

There were 3.7 million job openings on the last business day of July 2012, little changed from June. Source: www.bls.gov

Information Overload

Today, it's difficult to keep up with a relentless barrage of tweets, Facebook posts, phone texts, e-mails, and instant messages. Users must master a plethora of tools, features, and options to stay contemporary with rapidly changing technology. It's a head spinning experience to navigate the dissimilar spheres of on-line communication. Most troubling, is the time management ramifications of responding to constant digital interruptions.

Clearly, questions arise regarding effectiveness and productivity. Just what is the cost of unnecessary interruptions? As we bounce among a matrix of social channels, are we subjecting ourselves to the potential for lost productivity, blunders, miscommunication, and burnout? Some people like to call this multitasking. In reality, this addictive behavior only makes you anxious and confused.

Social Media News For The Week Of 9/05/12

Commentary: Social media fundamentally changes rules of engagement

Social media was at the core of this strategy. On the night Obama accepted the Democratic nomination, 85,000 people packed the Denver Broncos football stadium. Full Story Here:

Social-Media Insights From Barack Obama, America's First Truly Social President

No politician in history has leveraged social media to the extent of President Obama. Here's how his administration stays ahead of the curve--and what you can learn about effective social brand-building from the Tweep-in-Chief. Full Story Here:

Ignore Fads

New trends come and go. Hardly a day goes by that you don't uncover a new social media site. Early adopters love these opportunities and often jump in without assessing the real effort and pay back. A business can easily be lured into wasting precious time learning about new unproven fads.

Some basic questions to ask your self are:

•       Is this site popular and will it generate traffic?
•       How vast is the audience?
•       What are the demographics?
•       Is this effort compatible with my strategy?
•       Will this effort generate new business?
•       Can you quantify the results?
•       Do I have the time and resources to make this work?

Don't be tempted into becoming a "Social Media Technical Expert" while the real challenge of growing the business is ignored.

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

 

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Information Overload

   

Today, it's difficult to keep up with a relentless barrage of tweets, Facebook posts, phone texts, e-mails, and instant messages. Users must master a plethora of tools, features, and options to stay contemporary with rapidly changing technology. It's a head spinning experience to navigate the dissimilar spheres of on-line communication. Most troubling, is the time management ramifications of responding to constant digital interruptions.

Social Media Demographics For Twitter

 

Twitter Demographic Data

 

 555 million members worldwide

182 million visitors per month

 59% female, 41% male

Does Your Facebook Post Have a Call to Action?

  A call to action (CTA) is the first step in establishing a link and opening dialogue with your reader.  CTA's make the connection between your brand's content and your audience easier.

 A call to action directs the user to make the next move. This can be as easy as giving a command or providing an opportunity to get more information.

 Perhaps you have a super video on YouTube that introduces a new product. A clickable call to action will get your reader to the video without having to provide complicated lengthy URL's

 

Examples:

•      Click here to read more
•      Click here to see our video
•      Click here to like us
•      Take our survey

 

Your social media post with a call to action needs to grab the reader's attention.

 Your clickable link should ask a question or provide information. In addition, including a visual image that your reader can click on is effective.

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

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Social Media News For The Week Of 8/30/12

Police embrace social media as crime-fighting tool

According to a recent survey of 1,221 federal, state and local law enforcement that use social media, four out of five officials used social media to gather intelligence during investigations. Full Story Here:

Party conventions get social, with major social-media ramp-up

The GOP and the Democrats have created bristling, bustling social-media rollouts for their conventions, in the biggest such effort in U.S. Full Story Here:

Google Blogger

Google Blogger For Dummies [Kindle Edition]

Susan Gunelius (Author)

Are you bemused by blogs? Eager to become a blogger?

Google Blogger For Dummies can help you start blogging sooner than you think.More than 14 million people are promoting a business, connecting with family and friends, and sharing opinions with Google Blogger. This book helps you start a Blogger account, create content, build an audience, make money from your blog, and more, all without learning to program.

Available on Amazon

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Social Media Users - Male - Female Ratio

Source:  The Blog Herald

Onfast.com

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Problem Resolution On Social Media - Part 3

In this last part of a series about resolving customer complaints and negative comments on social media networking sites, we will complete the process of turning a negative situation into a positive for your company. In the first part, we looked at the process of finding and analyzing negative comments to determine if they require you to respond. In the second part, we began the process by responding and then owning up to the problem while taking the high road.

1.  Apologize for the Problem

A customer with a valid complaint must receive a sincere apology from your company. If your company is in the wrong, admit it and say to the customer you are sorry. Don't try to make excuses, but promise to try and see that it never happens again.

2.  Offer to Move the Venue

In most complaint cases, the customer is not trying to drag a company through the mud in front of the world. They just intend to let off some steam in front of their friends and force you to respond to their displeasure. If they persist and are especially upset or become irate, offer them the opportunity to move the discussion to another venue, such as email or telephone. Suggest to them that social media's limitations, especially on Twitter, require another way for you to give them the full attention and response they deserve. Make the transition as easy as possible for the customer.

Using OnFast's Blog Posting Tool

 One of the many innovative features of OnFast's social tools for business is the blog posting tool. This tool makes it simple and easy to create keyword rich blog posts. The blog templates in the writing assistant provide ideas and content created specifically for your industry. This is especially helpful if you are either new to social media marketing or you need a little help finding ideas for content.  You can begin to post valuable information about your business in just Three easy steps:

1- From the Blog Posts screen click the "Add New Post" button, choose a template based on what kind of post you want to create. You can select from the writing assistant templates or choose a blank document.

Contact Information

OnFast.com

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Social Media News For The Week Of 8/24/12

Bubble Deflated, Social Media Will Now Change the World

In the aftermath of the disappointing Facebook IPO, there has been a flood of opinion stating that social media is nothing but a fade. This school of thought also goes on to state social media is not right for business. The situation is similar to the wake of the 2001 "dot-com" bust on Wall Street. Eleven years ago people were saying the Internet was nothing more than a fade. Those who don't learn from history... Full Story Here:

The Key Planets of the Social Media Universe (INFOGRAPHIC)

Business success with social media takes a multi-faceted approach. At its center is a blog, surrounded by multiple social media networks working in concert with each other. This interesting infographic explains social media strategy for business in a straight-forward manner. Full Story Here:

Excellent Book for Bloggers

 Blogging the Smart Way - How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media

by Jeff Bullas

So you Want to Make your Blog a Success?

If you are starting a blog or already have a blog and you want to grow your readers rapidly then this book will show you how to achieve that.

This book will also provide hundreds of tips to market your blog with social media.

Available on Amazon

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Number of Users on Popular Social Networking Sites.

Source: The Blog Herald

OnFast.com

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Problem Resolution On Social Media - Part 2

In part one of this series (8/14/12) about resolving problems and complaints on social media, we looked at how to find and analyze negative comments to determine if they require you to respond. Here in part 2, we will begin the process of successfully turning a negative comment or complaint into a positive for your company.

1.  Respond to the Problem
If you have already determined that the customer's complaint is legitimate and they are not just trying to bait you into a conflict, you need to respond quickly. Turning around at this point and ignoring the situation, and just hoping it will go away, could be disastrous. The negative comment could rapidly spiral out of control due to the nature of social media. In the past, businesses could sometimes get away with turning a blind eye to customer complaints. Those days are over today social media is empowering consumers as never before. One individual can literally have their message heard by thousands, or millions if the negative comment goes viral.

2.  Own the Problem
It is crucial at this point to not take anything said in the comments personally or as an insult. None of your company's comments should be seen as negative towards the complaining poster. If you feel their statements to be untrue or incorrect, simply state your response in a professional manner. If your company is in error, own up to it and admit the mistake very honestly and openly. Clearly point out that steps are being taken to prevent the issue from arising again in the future. Your other fans and followers, and possibly even the complainer, will admire your forthrightness.

Finding Easy Blog Content - Nonprofits

The theme of a nonprofit organization's blog should closely mirror the agency's mission statement. If you are struggling to come up with content for your nonprofit blog here are some ideas.

1. News Related to Your Core

Summarize news stories relevant to your organization's mission. Be sure to provide a link back to the original source. Add your own commentary to the story and ask for feedback from your blog audience. It is best to avoid overdoing news stories, or you will appear to be a spammer.

2. Appeals for Call to Action

All nonprofit organizations require the work and financial backing of others. Write call to action blogs asking for anything your group needs. Ask for more volunteers; make the appeal for more financial contributions, and request that people sign a petition about your group's issue (if appropriate). Whatever your nonprofit needs, just ask, you may be surprised at the response from your supporters.

Social Media News For The Week Of 8/17/12

Social Media Is Making A Big Impact On Small Business [INFOGRAPHIC]

According to an infographic put together by Bolt Insurance, small businesses are now embracing social media in a big way. The findings also indicate the trend is only going to rapidly grow in the future. 73% of small businesses use social media in their marketing efforts, with 81% of those planning on increased use yet to come. The majority of small to medium businesses which have not yet jumped on board with social media marketing plan to do so, with 62% adding social media to their marketing mix in the next year. Full Story Here:

Social Media Tools Boost Small Business Productivity

The global market for social media tools for business is expected to jump by 40%, increasing to $4.5 billion by the year 2016, according to a study by the research firm IDC. This trend is being driven by the desire of companies to gain more efficiency from their workforce. Full Story Here:

Social media proves a force in consuming Olympics

The recently ended London Olympic games has proven the power of social media to drive the public's attention to events. For example, the 50 million tweets estimated by Twitter regarding the Olympics, along with activity on other social networks, partially led to increased ratings for NBC's coverage of the games by 12 percent over Beijing four years ago. Full Story Here:

Social Media Is Much More Than Just Social and Media

Businesses need to understand multi-faceted nature of social media in order to derive the most benefit from using the medium in their marketing efforts. There is more at work beyond relationship and communication in social media. Other crucial factors include object, timing, type of message and the human component. Full Story Here:
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Social Media Tips - Think Mobile

The use of mobile devices and smartphones to access the Internet is literally exploding around the world. This should give any business that is not ready for the future of social media marketing via mobile pause to think. A recent study by the group PQ Media stated that 100 million people, and growing actively, use their smartphones to access the Internet. Another study found mobile devices provide 8% of all the traffic on the Internet. Facebook, in looking at their visitors for the month of December 2011, found 423 million of them used mobile devices to go on the site. The widespread use of mobile devices is only going to expand as time goes on.

For a business with a social media presence there are some important things to take away from these figures going forward. Mobile is here to stay and any company looking to compete on social media and the Internet should consider creating a mobile app for their website. For companies without a specific mobile app, optimizing their website by creating easily consumable content for mobile devices could prove to be critical.

This is a trend that will only increase around the globe. Businesses failing to have a strategy for marketing via mobile devices need to be thinking mobile.

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

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Did you know?

The world's most popular Facebook page is "Texas Hold'em Poker" with over 25 million likes. Followed by:

2.   Facebook

3.   Michael Jackson

4.   Lady Gaga

5.   Family Guy

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Problem Resolution On Social Media - Part 1

 As time passes, the tremendous benefits to businesses that use social media networks for marketing is becoming readily apparent.  But along with the benefits come certain possible pitfalls. Due to the very nature of social networks, your company's fans can directly comment about the products and services your business provides. This is for the entire world to see, both good and bad. To reap the benefits of social media, your business must be willing to take the bad as well. Your company's long-term success on social media may be determined by how you handle the negative side of the equation. A complaining customer on social media offers an opportunity for your company shine by positively resolving their problem and turning a negative into a positive.

1.  Monitor Your Networks
If your business is an active participant on social media you should already be doing this. The key is to find the problem posts as quickly as possible. The viral nature of social media means these issues can get rapidly blown out of proportion. Your analysis of the situation is swiftly needed. If your company is a bit overwhelmed keeping up with all the chatter, there are social monitoring tools available that can help. When you find problems and issues requiring your attention, take a screen shot of it so it is documented and can be properly handled in cases where the poster deletes or modifies the post, or the problem boils over into a larger issue.

OnFast's New Features: Manage Multiple Users, High Quality Photos, Updated Coupon Theme, Facebook Applications

OnFast is excited to present our new features this week, including the ability to manage multiple account users, access to high quality photos, an updated coupon look, Facebook applications and much more!

OnFast now provides users with the ability to have multiple users on a single account.  This functionality is ideal for small to medium sized businesses and allows several users to keep updated on their company's social media activities from one central location.  There are several tiers of user access, including administrator and staff member access.  Administrators can manage all aspects of their account, including user information, adding and removing users, and social media accounts.  Staff members are limited to just the ability to post to social network and blog accounts, and don't have access to user and account information.

Also new this week is a selection of high quality, royalty-free photos, that OnFast customers may use in their social network, blog and promotion postings.  The photos are found in all customer's media galleries and include several categories, including restaurant, golf, hotel and holiday photos.

When creating coupons, users will now notice an updated look and feel to their promotions.  This coupon redesign has been implemented with both mobile usability and aesthetics in mind.  Upcoming in the next few weeks is a selection of colorful coupon themes so check back soon.

Finding Easy Blog Content - Golf

A well-written and conceived golf course blog should be about everything that is happening at your club. Everyday members and their guests play the course, always seeking to improve upon the finer points of their game. Periodically the club holds golf tournaments that measure the skill levels of the club members in competition with each other. The club's pro shop offers special promotions, events and clinics from time to time for the club membership. These are all potential topics for golf course blog content.

Golf Tips and Advice
The golf pro of the club could offer tips, pointers and advice in the blog on a regular basis. The blogs don't even have to be lengthy. Some golf pros write blog posts in a "tip of the day" format. Including images and even video in these posts will improve their effectiveness and gain more attention to the blog. Summarize pro golf news with video links. Do reviews of new golf clubs and other gear. Also, ask the blog readers for golf advice questions and answer them with images or video as well. The golf pro has much to offer a golf club blog.

Social Media News For The Week Of 8/10/12

Olympic Games offer social-media lessons for small business

As the 2012 Olympic Games in London wind down, some clear lessons for small businesses using social media can be learned. The Olympics have offered examples of the right and wrong ways to use social media. Some important lessons: Think before you post, respond to customers quickly, don't bad mouth competitors, and you are in control of your social media. Full Story Here:

The Developing Role of Social Media in the Modern Business World

Business marketing use of social media has taken on a crucial role for companies in recent years, and the trend is still evolving. One thing is certain, business social is here to stay. However, many firms are still trying to get a handle on how to properly utilize the medium in an effective manner. Full Story Here:

Tablet, mobile users expect pages to load within seconds: report

With consumer use of mobile and tablet devices quickly on the rise, it is vitally important for businesses to deliver a quality experience for users. According to a study by Keynote Systems, of 5,000 people surveyed, 64% of smartphone users expect a web page to finish loading within 4 seconds. 82% have expectations of 5 seconds or less. 60% of tablet users expect to see a page load within 3 seconds. If these expectations not met, 16% will leave and never come back and 6% will go to a competitor. Full Story Here:

Why shopping will never be the same

The technology of smartphones, social media, and future developments such as 3-D printers will lead to the end of shopping as we know it. These technologies will combine to bring about the end of brick and mortar retail business models. The traditional retailers will become unrecognizable over the course of the next 10 years. Full Story Here:
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