Getting Started with Social Networking

Getting Started with Social Networking

before you start 1. Make Some Time Block out some quiet time for this project. Wrapping your head around Social Networking could prove invaluable to your business, so devote some distraction-free time to the task.

2. Grab a Fresh Notebook A paper notebook may seem “old school” when you’re jumping into the world of social media, but you’ll need it for keeping track of where you’ve been, what you’ve seen, and your thoughts and questions along the way.

3. Choose a Username Before you create any business accounts, you’ll create personal accounts for every social media site you explore.

Choose a consistent, unique username to avoid confusion. Advanced users can use sites like knowem.com to search many sites simultaneously to determine whether your chosen username is available.

4. Keep Track of Your Passwords Use your notebook or password manager software to keep track of your passwords. You’ll want to use a different password for each site to decrease the chance of identity theft. You never know when a site’s login data might be hacked.

5. Choose a Profile Photo Most social networking sites ask you to upload a profile photo. Have a digital head shot ready. It doesn’t have to be professional quality. Lots of folks just snap self portraits with their phones.

6. Safety First!

Read the article on the back of this document. It’s concise, smart, and will give you lots to think about before you dive in!

websites 1. Make a Checklist Make a list of the sites you want to visit and check them off as you go. It’s easy to get sidetracked when you’re online.

But make sure Facebook is on that list. You need to start benefitting from Facebook ASAP. May we recommend:

Facebook.com Twitter.com Foursquare.com Listings.local.yahoo.com UrbanSpoon.com

Yelp.com TripAdvisor.com ChowHound.com Gowalla.com Sysco.constantcontact.com

Foodspotting.com FohBoh.com Groupon.com Delmarvalistdailydeals.com RestaurantOwner.com

2. Look First... If You Can Some social sites like Twitter, Flickr and TripAdvisor will allow you to view the site content even before you sign up for an account. But the big one, Facebook, will only let you view pages once you’ve signed up.

Check out the Twitter and Facebook pages for big chains like Olive Garden, Starbucks or Taco Bell to get an idea of how the big guys are using social media to communicate with their fans.

3. Don’t Overdo It Don’t expect to accomplish everything in one sitting. Social Media is a huge and expanding arena, and there’s a lot to absorb. It will take you a while at each site to register your account and figure out how the user inteface works before you can really dig in.

4. Write Down Any Questions You Have Nobody is an expert in this stuff on their first day. If something is stumping you, make a note of it.

Ask your significant other, your Sysco Marketing Associate, your employees, colleagues, children or your friends online.

Chances are, there are lots of people just like you who had the same question, and who will be happy to help you!

mobile apps 1. Are You App-Ready?

Not every phone can download and run apps. Make sure your mobile device is compatible.

Check your instruction manual or ask your service provider.

2. Charge Your Phone or Mobile Device You have lots of exploring to do. You’ll need the juice.

3. Find The Right Place To Buy Apps Apps are not compatible across devices. Make sure you’re visiting the correct app store for your phone, such as Apple’s iTunes, Android’s Market or Blackberry’s App World.

4. Watch the App Prices Remember, not all apps are free. Downloading lots of 99¢ apps can quickly add up to a bill that’s higher than you expect!

5. Have Fun! Social Networking is universally popular because it’s EASY and FUN, so make sure you research that angle, too!

The app stores are full of games and tools that make your phone both fun and productive.

6. Just Do It Now get outside and check-in somewhere on FourSquare! Tweet your status with Twitter!

And see what restaurants in your area have the best reviews on TripAdvisor or Yelp!

facebook Be As Private As You Want To Be Exploring Facebook for the first time can be overwhelming, but one tip you should know going in is that you can change your account’s privacy setting to control how much or how little of your profile can be seen by everyone else.

If you only want your friends to see your photos, no problem. If you want to open up and share everything with the world, that’s fine, too.

Once you’re logged in, go to Account > Privacy Settings. There, you can customize who gets access to what.

and remember...

Only Buy The Most Recent Reference Books There is no substitute for hands-on experience with social networking websites and apps. But when you’re ready to dig deeper, there are loads of books on the subject. Due to the constantly evolving nature of Social Networking, these books quickly become obsolete. The popular FOR DUMMIES series typically updates their computer-related titles every 12 to 16 months. Check Amazon listings to make sure you’re buying the most recent version of books on social media.

Some recently released titles that may prove useful: Checked-In: How to use Gowalla, Foursquare, and other Geo-Location Applications for Fun and Profit - 8/2/2010 Twitter for Dummies (revised edition) - 8/2/2010 Social Media Marketing All-In-One for Dummies - 9/21/2010 Facebook for Dummies (revised edition) 10/5/2010 Facebook Advertising for Dummies - 11/16/2010 The Everything Guide to Social Media - 11/187/2010 Twitter Marketing For Dummies - To Be Released 4/5/2011

Safety First!

Think before you dive into Social Media www.youngentrepreneur.com article by Gabriel Shaoolian - July 9, 2010 You wouldn’t dream of starting a business without a plan, so why do so many business owners start social media campaigns without any real planning or strategy. Typically, they start blogging, Tweeting, building Facebook pages and checking in on FourSquare simply because everyone else is doing it.

In other words, they approach social media marketing as if they were a kid playing with a shiny new toy. Ask a six year old what his “strategy” is in playing the toy truck and he’ll look at you like you were crazy.

Ask a small business owner what his social media strategy is, and you are likely to see the exact expression.

They hire an intern who knows every social media platform, but doesn’t know the first thing about your business.

This isn’t just reckless. It is stupid!

Think about it. If you have the wrong person blogging, posting on Facebook, Tweeting or commenting, you can see your business’s goodwill destroyed overnight. Remember that every word you broadcast online is both permanent and searchable.

That’s why it is so important to either have social media expertise in-house or to hire a company with not only real social media experience, but one that understands your business and your messaging.

“I’m looking to get more customers,” is the most common answer.

The only problem with that statement is that “getting more customers” is a goal, not a strategy.

Getting Started

The Strategy Stage

When I work with clients on their social media strategy, we go through a detailed question and answer process. There is no single social media platform or combination of platforms that work for every business. In earlier Business Learning Center articles, we have discussed the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogging.

Effective social media strategy begins with self-reflection.

• What is the core of my business?

• What differentiates my business?

• Who is my target audience?

• Once I get an audience, what messages do I plan on delivering?

(Most importantly) How can I turn my audience in revenues?

The objective behind the Q & A process is to understand the client’s short term and long term business goals, to see what the client’s other current marketing and advertising efforts are and then determine what the client hopes wants the results of the social media campaign to be.

Once you have clear answers to these questions, then you will be able to look at a variety of social media platforms and see which ones are best suited to deliver your messaging.

Some of the questions we typically ask are:

For example, if you are looking to establish yourself or your business as experts in your field, blogging and social community involvement may be the best way to go. If you are looking to enhance your customer service or make specific offers to your target audience, Twitter may be the best platform. For businesses looking to work with other businesses, LinkedIn may be the best bet.

• What are the goals of the campaign?

• What are the criteria for measuring the success or failure of the program?

• What is your commitment to the social media campaign (manpower, time investment, budget and duration)?

• How do you plan on measuring the success or failure of the campaign?

• Who will be at the “steering wheel” of your social media campaign?

In virtually all cases, though, a combination of platforms and campaigns is the best option.

• Does anyone in your company have social media expertise?

The Best Choices for your Business

• To what extent are you willing to outsource your social media campaigns?

Unfortunately, many businesses go the “trial and error” route.

They dip their toes in the social media waters and fail to achieve their desired goals. The reasons for the failure can be a lack of understanding of the etiquette of the particular platform, poor messaging or a failure to make a sufficient commitment of time and resources.

This “trial and error” method can cost companies (especially smaller companies) enormously. Time and money spent on bad campaigns can never be recovered. Most than just costing your company resources, a poorly executed social media campaign can cost your company credibility and even destroy your company’s hard-earned reputation.

Because of limited resources, many entrepreneurs make the mistake of putting their social media marketing into the wrong hands.

• More importantly, does that person(s) have the skills to deliver your key messaging through social media?

Armed with the answers to these questions, I work with clients to build their social media campaigns. In some instances, we just handle the front-end work: creating a strategic plan and launching the campaigns. In many cases, clients want us to run all aspects of their social media campaigns.

In Conclusion Social media can be a very powerful business tool, but it must be treated with the same respect as you treat other marketing and advertising efforts. Don’t begin a campaign until you have the right strategy and the qualified personnel to execute that strategy.

For most entrepreneurs, it means going to a company that really understands both business and social media.