Thursday 29 September 2011

JAW-DROPPING SOCIAL MEDIA STATS

Social media have changed the way we work, play and think.  They have veritably taken over the world!  Below are some astonishing numbers that really do drive the point home.  A recent article published in The Fiscal Times shared the following statistics:
870 million
Number of Facebook users worldwide
200 million
Number of Twitter users worldwide
230 million
Number of tweets sent per day
80 percent
Increase in Tweets since the beginning of 2011
82 percent
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have Twitter accounts
1 billion
Number of estimated Facebook users worldwide by 2012, according to a study by the tracking site Social Bakers
$1.6 billion
Facebook’s revenue during first half of 2011, according to Reuters, up from $1.2 for the first nine months of 2010
Nearly 30 million
Estimated number of Google+ users worldwide
85 percent
Internet users who visited a Google site in June 2011, comScore Media Metrix
16
Online games, including Angry Birds and Bejeweled Blitz, being offered by Google to users of its social media service as of last month in an attempt to better compete with Facebook
‘Nuff said – isn’t it time to get connected on Social Media and see what they can do for your business?  Join one of our Social Networking for Business workshops and we’ll show you how: http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Businesses Increase Revenue Using Social Media


More and more independent brokers, agents, planners and advisors are adopting Social Media as a means of growing their businesses.  Are you?  Do you know what they know?  If you answered ‘no’ to either of those questions, it’s high time you get in the game and find out just what social media can do for your business! I know you’re pressed for time – time is and will always be the most scarce and precious resource of any business – but, trust me, if you are willing to make an investment of some of your precious time, the pay off will be well worth it! And, guess what else?  Time is virtually the only thing you will have to invest – social media are, for the most part, free of monetary charge.  Now, how’s that for incentive?    
Joe- Average-Consumer -Based -Business -Owner is neither unintelligent, nor unaware of the need to constantly improve customer communication channels and methods.  Most CRM Social Media Experts preach and skim the surface of the problem with no real solution offered.  The message is the same: “you need to communicate”, “you need to improve access”, “you need to review”, “you need to mine” and “you need to post”….  Lots of 'you need to's; very few plans as to exactly how!
At ES Computer Training we work with you and assist you in developing the right plan for you and your business.  And, recognizing that you don’t have time to do everything, we can help you:
1.  Become aware of what’s out there.  We do a great job of addressing this first step in our one-day workshops.  We will help you to truly understand the fundamentals of social networking and the most effective ways to use it.
2.  Identify where your customers are in terms of social media and how they’re using them. 
3.  Discover what you have to offer your customers.  How will they benefit?  If you can     speak to your customers and give them something of value, you have it made.
4.  Provide daily, accessible and very real channels online for your customers to find and speak directly with you. Nothing is more powerful than direct communication.
5.   Acquire the resources to conduct experiments and determine which channels to adopt and how effective they will be.
6.  Discover how your competitors are using this channel and how this will affect your business.
7.  Come up with a viable and effective business strategy.
Going through these steps, we can give you the benefit of our experience with other clients and help you determine the manpower commitment and resources required for any campaign.  We have worked with agents, brokers, advisors and planners, who have invested the time and created their entire businesses through the use of social media.
The PLAN, the resources and of course, the associated time commitment will be laid out for you.  This will allow you to assign much of the effort to support staff, while giving personal attention to the most important parts of your Social Networking Campaign.


For a schedule of workshops in your area, please visit: 
http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Win Fans and Talk to Your Clients: FACEBOOK PAGES

There’s a definite middle ground between electronic billboards & websites (which speak at the client) and individual Facebook accounts (which are a dialogue – interactive with the client).  A Facebook page allows you to have a professional online presence and enables you to present your business while engaging the client.  It allows you to publish instant updates, specials, news and activity information on a daily basis; whereas print copy takes months to produce & publish and website updates require a specialist. 
By using the ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ feature, you can poll your marketplace and determine its wants, needs and opinions.  Facebook pages allow you to create highly leveraged channels as your services spread virally to your network of friends and through updates on news feeds and ‘likes’ to their network of friends. 
It’s important to test the effectiveness of your campaigns and change out what is not working.  Since this marketing method is fast and inexpensive, you can feel free to try everything.  Determine what content doesn’t engage and remove it.  An experimental approach leads to the best outcome.  You may be close to great success, but may have little response.  Small changes may promote great results.  The key is to experiment and trial your approaches. 
To be successful, it’s vital to define and understand your target market.  It’s essential to develop an in- depth understanding of to whom you’re talking.  In essence, you need to share the same reality or way of thinking as your client.
To acquire that initial following:
1.      Develop some useful and enticing content for a broad market.  Build your fan base first.
2.      Develop a schedule.  Fans will look for weekly / bi-weekly or daily updates.  Stick to the schedule and don’t disappoint.  Keep it regular and keep it engaging.
3.      Monitor results and measure the success.  Use offers and click-thrus to web pages and Facebook Insights to determine your page stats and success. 
4.      Consider your timeframe.  There are no overnight successes with the exception of Charlie Sheen and the other already famous or infamous.  For business purposes, set up campaigns with strategies and goals and expect to spend months maintaining them and seeing them through. 
The challenging part of all this is creating content that engages and entices.  At the end of the day, consumers will interact with your business if they feel it is to their benefit.  Clients are only interested in what’s in it for them.  Remember, it is not about ’you’, it is about your customer.  So, provide them with some tangible incentives to visit your Facebook Page.  For example:
1.      Discounts
2.      Coupons
3.      Prizes
4.      Exclusivity
In some businesses, such as real estate or mortgage brokering, prizes are a possibility, and although discounts and coupons might present more of a challenge, one possible promotional tactic is to create an exclusive network that clients or potential clients want to belong to.  To do this, you could feature insights about and photos of properties in their areas.  The exclusivity of filtered information and the ability to comment (like or dislike) on properties or attributes of properties may act as an enticement.  A Facebook Page that features homes in a specific area (and includes photos) can become something that neighbors and potential clients will want to subscribe to.  Producing that tangible benefit can make all the difference to your customers!  And, not only will it keep them coming back for more, but they’ll also be inclined to let their friends know about you.  It’s all about networking!

For more on the virtues of Facebook, why not join one of our workshops and we can teach you everything you need to know to win fans and talk to your clients!  Please visit:
http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

 


Monday 12 September 2011

Facebook Has Revamped Privacy Settings!

Facebook has undergone some recent alterations to its privacy features.  What this means is that it’s easier than ever before to choose with whom we share our posts and photos. 
Privacy is a major concern with respect to all social networking sites and Facebook has addressed the issue head-on.  The privacy settings were previously unseen but reached by clicking on the drop- down arrow beside your name (in the top right hand corner of the screen), then choosing settings and privacy - quite difficult to get at!  As a consequence, most people never found them.  Now, they are prominently displayed whenever we post a comment, photo or our location.   
Your global settings (global settings allow you to set up your privacy once so that only your friends can see your posts always) are much easier to setup now and can be accessed from one screen.  The explanations are clearer and easier to understand.  Set up your settings to suit your privacy requirements, personally and professionally. 
We no longer have to wonder, “Who can see my comments and photos?” We are now in complete control and this gives us peace of mind when using the site.
Want to learn more about Facebook’s many useful features and privacy settings?  We can teach you all you need to know about networking safely.  For a schedule of our hands-on workshops, please visit:

Friday 9 September 2011

BUSIEST SEASON FOR MARKETERS – AND SOCIAL MEDIA

With the fourth quarter and their busiest season just around the corner, marketers will be relying more heavily on social media than ever before.  Almost two thirds have said that they will be increasing their focus on social media throughout the next year.
As marketing initiatives will reach their peak in the fall, 1 in 5 marketers agree that lead generation is enhanced via social media.  About 40% of marketers say that social media   contributes to general awareness and 1 in 4 say that social media is useful in reinforcing their other campaigns.
In terms of measuring social marketing, 54.8% of those using social media track follower or fan numbers; 53.3% track actions taken by prospective customers; 51.6% track page views and 51.6% track numbers of clicks.
What does this mean for you, the independent consumer based business professional? 
·         This is the best and most effective time for a marketing push to grow your business.
·         The trend is undeniably leaning toward social media as a most effective and efficient tool.
Make the most of social media for your business.  Join one of our workshops and we’ll prepare you to do just that.  Please see our schedule at:
http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20