New Media Mavens

Are You Wasting Time with Social Networking?

"The thing I greatly feared has come upon me." says Job 3:25 in the Bible. What is the one thing that business owners fear when it comes to marketing themselves online?

Wasting time.

A business owner mentioned to me last week that she has hundreds of friends she doesn't know on Facebook and strange people are following her on Twitter. But where is the ROI on her time? What's the point in all this?

It's understandable to fret about wasting time especially when it's proven that "time is money." However, jumping into the social networking fray without clear cut goals of what you want to accomplish is a surefire way to spin your wheels and waste time.

As a business owner what is your primary goal on Facebook and Twitter?

Regards

Lena Claxton

Discover how to make your new media and social networking more effective by registering for a FREE teleclass: Roadmap to New Media Mastery on Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 1 p.m. EST.

Who is Using Twitter?

In discussing the great new world of new media marketing, you need the facts. Think tanks and places like the Pew Internet & American Life Project are great places to find fascinating information about who is using new media and how they're using it. 

Pew recently came out with a report about Twitter usage which found:

"As of December 2008, 11% of online American adults said they used a service like Twitter or another service that allowed them to share updates about themselves or to see the updates of others.

Twitter and similar services have been most avidly embraced by young adults. Nearly one in five (19%) online adults ages 18 and 24 have ever used Twitter and its ilk, as have 20% of online adults 25 to 34. Use of these services drops off steadily after age 35 with 10% of 35 to 44 year olds and 5% of 45 to 54 year olds using Twitter. The decline is even more stark among older internet users; 4% of 55-64 year olds and 2% of those 65 and older use Twitter."

The report explained that those using blogs or other social media also increased their chances of Twittering.

Business owners often ask which channel they should use to reach their audience. If your product or service is aimed to anyone 18-34, it becomes clearer that Twitter may be for you. The other thing to keep in mind is the psychographics of Twitter users. According to the report, most Twitter users live in urban areas and are more likely to read newspapers online than in print.

Knowing who is using what tool is an essential aspect of choosing the right channel for your message. Confused about what new media tool you should use? Click on "comments" below and we'll help you sort it out.

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven, NewMediaMavens.com

Celebrities Use Ghost Twitter Writers

It was only a matter of time before the PR machine took over social media to use it for evil and not for good.

My favorite new media news pick from the Sunday papers comes from the London Times where it was revealed that several celebrities, including rapper 50 Cent and Brittney Spears, were using or are looking for staff to help them write their Twitter posts. Read more here.

What do you think about ghost twitterers?

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven

3 Ways to Connect on Twitter

Twitter seems deceptively simple, asking you one question: "What are you doing?" But before you answer this question you may want to keep in mind the following three ways that will help you connect on Twitter:

1. Stay on Topic. One of the downsides of Twitter is that there is a lot of noise in the Twittersphere. Noise such as "I'm playing with my cat," or conversation that's going on before you logged on. It's fine to mention personal information but the ratio should be skewed more to offering value like relevant links, insights and adding to the conversation.
   
   
2. Twitter Search. There is a plethora of third party applications available for Twitter. However, Twitter Search remains one of the best applications to search for conversations going on in your industry. Just type in your keyword that interests you. You can also search for people.
   
3. Twitter Conversational Aids. Twitter has a way of communicating that is unique to the medium. It has its own shorthand methods: 

• If you want to speak directly to someone, click on direct message to send a DM. Your message does not show up in the public forum but in the person's DM in-box.

• If you want to reply to someone's conversation use the @ sign before the person's name For example: @lenaclaxton I would love to learn more about new media.

• If you want to generate buzz for your teleseminar or a conference you're attending first create a name for the event perhaps using only the initials. Place the hash sign # before the initials. For example: #newmedia to talk about our upcoming teleseminar. 
  
  Encourage your followers to use the # sign when they tweet about the event. When the fires raged in San Diego the big topic on Twitter was #Sandiegofire. This is akin to being in an informal group where hundreds of people are talking on the same topic. Read the Wild Apricot blog for an introduction to hash tags.

We'd love to hear how you connect with your followers on Twitter. I'm sure I've some so please share in the comment section link below.

Regards,

Lena Claxton
Chief Marketing Maven

Join our FREE teleclass on the Roadmap to New Media Mastery on Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Learn More and Register.

Live Blogging Tools

If you're a hoops fan, you're probably completely in thrall with March Madness.

But let's say you're in your office and can't watch it moment by moment, or if there's a great conference that you wish you could attend but couldn't. What can you do?

Find someone who is attending the event and live blogging about it. If you are looking for live feeds from an event, go to Twitter. Use the website's search function at search.twitter.com and type in what event you're looking for. Then read the live blogging feeds from people who are at the events you wish you could be at. You may find it even more interesting than watching it on tv because you are getting the event through someone else's perspective.

If you are a business owner and you are going to an event you think your customers or clients would love to know about, let them know you will be live blogging about it.

To live blog, you have a number of options:

1. Set up your PDA to blog directly from it to your blog, or Twitter webpage.
2. Use Twitter to create a series of tweets about the event.
3. Sign up for the free tool, CoveritLive.com and plug in a screen directly on to your website or blog. This way you increase traffic to your own site and keep a record of what you've included about the event.

What would you live blog about?

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven

Foodies serve up tidbits for blogging success

I am a foodie.

I'm one of those people who love food, love making it, love discussing how to make it, grow it and showcase it. As a New Media Maven and a foodie, my passions intersect on food blogs. I have a few favorite, such as Chocolate and Zucchini and the blog written by perpetually entertaining yet cantankerous food lover and executive chef, Anthony Bourdain, who writes about his trips and the food he eats for his Travel Channel show, No Reservations.

But I was particularly thrilled to hear that the powers that be at Austin's South by Southwest festival decided to invite noted food bloggers to come and talk about the power of blogging.

One particular comment caught my eye: Zach Brooks who writes the hyper-local Midtown Lunch stressed, restated, and reiterated yet again, “Make your blog about something specific, even if it’s a recipe blog.” The problem with so many food blogs, Brooks surmised, is that they’re too general. “If someone doesn’t know exactly what your blog is about from the first time they visit from an external link, they won’t find it useful and probably won’t come back,” he said. To read more about the event, click here.

It all comes back to having a target audience. This goes for your business, your website, your blog and all your new media products. If you don't you may end up marketing too broadly and not being successful at all.

Of course if you are blogging the next secret to success is consistency. Don't blog once and then come back a month or even a year later. There's nothing sadder than abandoned blogs.

Lastly, make sure your target audience can find your blog. Having a link on your website, putting a banner in your e-mail, promoting your blog's address in your printed materials and submitting it to popular blog directories such as Technorati or Google Blog, are just some of the necessary steps to make sure your blog will be found.

What's your biggest blogging question? Click on comment and ask us here.

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven

Small Businesses Want to Know More About Twitter

We've been receiving questions on how business owners can get the most from Twitter. One business owner has been twittering for a while now and she says:

"Cool, I'm getting a lot of followers on Twitter and I'm like what do I do with this thing?

What am I missing?

I don't understand what it's for?"

First, read all our blog posts and watch the videos on Twitter. I've compiled them here. These posts will give you a good idea of "what to do with this thing" and "what it's for." Guy Kawasaki also tweeted a link to his informative post on "How to Use Twitter as a Twool."

Next week we'll talk about how to make connections with real people in real time on Twitter.

What's your communication strategy in using Twitter? 

Regards,

Lena Claxton
Chief Marketing Maven

How to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job

With millions of workers unemployed or underemployed, many are heading to LinkedIn, a social networking site designed to connect professionals together, for help. But the power of LinkedIn can be improved exponentionally if you use it correctly.

Here are three things you can do today that will make a difference:

1. Keywords matter. Think about the keywords employers will search on to find the job you want to fill. Be specific. If you are a forensic accountant use that phrase instead of the generic term accountant.
2. When you list your job title focus on results you achieved in each job you had. Remember it’s all about what value you can bring to your next company.
3. Get Recommendations. Ask your former bosses, colleague, clients and customers to talk about your specific talents and skills. With all the applicants out there, you need to distinguish yourself from the crowd.

What do you use LInkedIn for?

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven   

Sean "Diddy" Combs Talks Twitter

Frankly, some get it and some don't. When Diddy realizes that as a celebrity he can use Twitter to manage his online reputation -- he gets it. When he tweets (posts) an entry, it's in his authentic voice and people get to know him. He has it in his power to refute any myth or negative publicity and set the record straight to his over 100K+ followers.

But that's not all ... tweets are viral -- called retweets -- so if even half of his Twitter fan base retweets his post -- his message is spread instantly to a lot more people.

The good news is that you too as a business owner can take a page from Diddy and use Twitter to manage your online reputation. You can also post messages from your heart. Post links to informative content, in your 140 character allotment, that your customers/prospects will want to read. Get up close and personal with your audience and they will beat a path to purchase your goods or services.

As simple as the application is, asking one question, "what are you doing now" in 140 characters or less, some just don't get it. Why? because there's more to it than meets the eye. We'll delve into Twitter's complexities in my next post.

What challenges do you have on Twitter?

Regards,

Lena Claxton Chief Marketing Maven

Technology helping the unemployed to find new work

With the news of hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs each day, and knowing that not so many companies are hiring, the idea is inevitable that displaced workers would look to themselves to find a way out. Now using technology, they can start businesses without the mass capital investment that may have once needed. At the very least, you can try a business idea out. At best, it may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. Check out New York Times reporter Matt Richtel's take on how entrepreneurs are using technology to create their own businesses in a troubled economy.

What business idea are you trying out with the use of technology?

Alison Woo, Chief Media Maven