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Posts tagged: Facebook

The Complete Works of Social Media Marketing, PR and SEO – Abridged

Posted on March 16, 2009

On Friday, the first day of spring!, I’ll be presenting this 20 minute social media mashup to the National Speakers Association’s Illinois Chapter. My inspiration comes from a play our family saw called “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged.” On our family trip out west a few years back our daughter – who was into Shakespeare and theater at the time, insisted that we see this play on the last night of our trip.

We had many reasons to say no: it was the last night of our two-week family vacation, it didn’t start until 8, we hadn’t packed yet, we had to check out at 5:00 a.m., not everyone could go [way past our youngest son’s bedtime], it was too long, we wouldn’t get back to the hotel until 11– and wow, the clock did say it was 5 – only three hours until the curtain went up and 12 hours until we had to drive to the airport.

Weighing the pros and cons, I said yes, we will get dinner, pack, go see the entire play and be ready to leave at 5:00 tomorrow morning – who’s with me?

Three of us: the 14 year old, the 12 year old and I went to the play. When the kids wanted to sit in the front row, I objected saying I didn’t want to be too conspicuous. But, we sat there anyway. At intermission, my son said, “What does conspicuous mean?” Being referred to continually by the players, because we were in the front row, was – ahem, super conspicuous, but it was also okay. Somehow a mom and two kids got worked into the dialogue – they loved it.

In preparing this talk, the night at the theater in Jackson Hole came to mind as good parallel for how I would present social media in 20 minutes. Granted I will be the only one presenting this abbreviated performance. But, I’m hoping that the audience will remember it and be moved to jump into social media by starting with one platform, building a character profile and then interacting with their community. That is, of course, after they weigh the pros and cons and make the decision to take a seat in the front row. To outline the process and keep me on track, I prepared this guide. At the end of the presentation, I’ll invite them to experience the longer condensed version at an upcoming workshop. Who’s with me?

Wired Branding: Fusing Social Media Marketing, PR and SEO

Energize Your Business and Connect with Your Community

Social Media Toolbox

  • Personality
  • Community
  • Value
  • SEO

Social Media Hazards

· Privacy
  • T___ M_______
  • I__________
  • Strategy
  • E__________

Social Media Rules

  • Be Nice
  • Don’t _______
  • Don’t Sell
  • Be ___________

Best Social Media Sites for Professional Speakers

LinkedIn – professional

  • G______
  • Q______ and Answers

Facebook – fun with a twist

  • F_____
  • Social
  • C_______

Twitter – groove and grow

  • Follow
  • F_________
  • S_________

Flickr – snap and click

  • I_____
  • Video
  • G______

Slideshare.net – PowerPoint on steroids

  • Slides
  • A_______
  • S_______

Video – quick or pro

  • V_______
  • Y_______
  • U_______

Blogs – community conversations

  • C_______
  • C_______

Communities

  • Speaker____________
  • Forums
  • Social Media Club Chicago on Facebook
  • Membership sites

Resources

PR Articles for Speakers

LinkedIn Marketing and PR Strategies

Energize Your Business with Wired Branding: Fusing SEO, PR, Social Media & Marketing Workshop

Hands-on and fear-free, this all-day workshop condenses the essentials, equips you to update or create a profile, clarifies your speaking business strategies, illustrates success stories and shows you how to start building a responsive community right away. For more information, call 630.207.7530.

1 Comment - Posted in PR, SEO, Social Media Tagged with: , , , ,

Facebook PR Strategy Guide: Be Friends with . . .

Posted on March 15, 2009

Here’s the biggest question I get about Facebook: How do I separate my friends and my family from my business?

The biggest concern? A clash of the multiple personalities that exist in one’s life.

You know who you are: a mom, a sorority sister, an aunt, a book club member, a church-goes, a music fan, a fashion fanatic, a gardener groupie, a volunteer, a blogger, a writer, a consultant, an organizer, an entrepreneur, a cat lover, etc. etc. etc.

This just in: you’re not accepting friends, you’re creating a community. A community that’s anchored by one person: you.

Every one of the personalities has its own lively friendship circle in real life. What happens when these diverse friends want to join your business universe on Facebook?

Can they all get along?

Will your professional persona survive if another mom writes on your wall about your kid’s birthday party?

What happens if a sorority sister posts pictures of a party from 20 years ago?

Or, an elementary school chum puts the picture you hate the most – you wearing ultra nerdy glasses and braces?

Oh, the fear of it all.

This is Your Life on Facebook

Luckily for me now, but not then, I wasn’t that popular in high school. However, my friend Lynne was pretty popular and now her friends are starting to connect with me on Facebook. Why? She’s not on Facebook. I am. [Lynne is advising me accept their friend requests and tell them how she’s doing.]

People who were popular in high school often have an issue with people who want to watch them on Facebook now. A woman in one of my workshops said she got fed up with people tracking her every move. So, she wrote on her own wall about how people should get a life and stop watching hers. Over 130 people left comments.

It’s surprising how emotional being friends on Facebook can be: a friend sends a message telling you about a serious health problem, you find out what your kids are doing from a friend – hopefully all good [“wasn’t that your kid with the Franco family’s new puppy on Facebook?” a friend asked me – yes, he uploaded the pictures for them], notes from college friends melt years with a wistful longing for gong back in time and pictures pluck all kinds of heartstrings. This isn’t the kind of place you check in and out without taking and leaving values and emotions.

Facebook Friend Options

A common approach is to use LinkedIn for business and Facebook for friends and family. When you accept someone’s friend request, you can limit their view of your profile or you can let them see everything. As I see it, you have four options:

  • Be friends with no one and stay away.
  • Be friends only for business: set up a profile for business contacts only and tell people who send you a friend request that this is a strictly for business connection. You have to be really, really good at setting boundaries if you choose this one.
  • Be friends in two places: Activate dual profiles: one for business and one for personal connections.
  • Be friends with everybody.

Facebook Friend Strategy Guide

In a very informal poll, I’ve been asking people I know how they manage their Facebook friend requests. Although I didn’t expect this, I’m finding I can predict who does what based on their personality.

The more gregarious – and successful – say: I’m friends with everybody. For these folks, there’s no separation. That’s not to say they don’t check people out before they befriend them. One person did say the only problem is when someone posts something on their wall they’d like to change right away. If they’re reading the update on their Blackberry, they can’t get to the Facebook site to change it until they get to their computer. So, don’t stray too far away and you should be good,

Questions to ask to help you develop a Facebook Friend Strategy:

1. Who am I – online and offline?

2. What is my name – maiden or maiden and married for women?

2. What’s my personality?

3. Who do I want to be friends with?

4. When don’t I want to be friends? Why?

5. What am I most afraid of?

6. What’s the worst possible thing that could happen?

7. Will being on Facebook make a bigger difference in my business or my personal life?

8. Will my customers care if I’m on Facebook?

How much time do you want to spend isn’t on the list because it doesn’t need to be. Invest only as much as you like and feel comfortable with. Don’t feel bad about not responding to invitations to join a group, take a quiz or buy something silly. One of my power Facebook friends says he only responds to 1-3% of everything. What happens to the rest? It goes with the flow . . .

Update 03.15.09

This post was originally scheduled to run on March 5, the day before I left for California, but it stayed in hatching mode until tonight when I went to the grocery store with my 14 year old son. We ran into another mom and her daughter – we’ve know each other for nine years. Our kids went to kindergarten together. Every now and then, we moms brush up against business talk – she’s a successful realtor and well, you know who I am. But, we’ve never really talked about much more than the kids and the schools. Tonight when she asked me what was new for some reason I brought up Chicago’s Social Media Club. She asked me if I could send her some information on Facebook. I looked her up, sent her a friend request and asked if she knew about the social media guru for realtors who lives a few blocks away from us. My new Facebook strategy? Be friends with [almost] everyone. What’s yours?

3 Comments - Posted in PR Tagged with:

Speaker Marketing: SlideShare Presentations Promote Your Content

Posted on January 14, 2009

Problem: You have a fabulous presentation, but the only people who ever see it sit in your audience

Solution: Upload your presentation with or without audio to Slideshare and reach the world – along with more than a few new prospects

Almost a year ago today I wrote those words about SlideShare as a cool tool that speaks and makes marketing presentations for you. And, today I uploaded my first presentation ever: New Age Public Relations: Press Releases Online

It’s also live on my LinkedIn profile and Facebook.

One upload and . . . Voila! coverage on multiple sites.

Three tips on how to make the most of SlideShare

1. post to all of your social networks right away

2. add a link [better yet, embed] the slide show in your speaker page

3. write a press release about your presentation and how it helps your audience

 

More ways to use SlideShare as a social media, marketing and PR tool.

0 Comments - Posted in Marketing, Speaking Tagged with: , ,

Reader Q & A | Marketing Seminars via Social Media Sites

Posted on November 6, 2008

BarbaraRozgonyi-BusinessBlogspeaker

A reader writes . . .

Hi Barbara – My name is Mark McGinnis and I’m not sure just how I got on your mailing list – but it was good timing for this…

My wife (Kim) and I are new to offering Seminars.  I saw that you got 77 people signed up for your event.  You promoted this just on Facebook?  Have not tried that – is social media a good place to get localized attendees to register for events?  We have noticed that about half of the people that do sign up for seminars – just don’t show up. We are looking at new incentives and such but that is something you may want to keep in mind for your events as well.

I have a new Manifest Passive Income Seminar scheduled for Boulder Co – in early December. Please let me know any tips you have for gaining registrants (other than print mailings and Radio spots which we do).  Social media sounds intriguing.

All the best,

Mark

Dear Mark:
Thanks for writing. By the way, you got on my list when you purchased How to fill seminar seats using the power of free publicity, an interview I did with Jenny Hamby, the seminar marketing pro. So, thanks for buying my ebook and for reading my newsletters! Visit Jenny’s blog SeminarSavvy to search for seminar marketing tips.

Yes, social media can be a good place to get localized attendees to register for events, especially when you start a group to build a following and then begin to promote your events.

The people who showed up for our event enjoy being social media activists. One participant invited a dozen friends; that’s the power of word of mouth. When your topic is compelling and valuable to your audience, they will spread the word for you. Setting up a Facebook event is relatively simple. Like most marketing and communications, the more strategic you are, the better your results. To get started with Facebook, check out this list of 100 Facebook marketing tools and read my article on how to use Facebook to market local events.

In thinking about the answer to your question, here are four steps to marketing seminars on social media sites.

Step One: Seek out the right social networks

Where do your clients congregate online?

Survey your clients to find out which social networks they use: LinkedIn, Facebook, twitter, YouTube, flickr, ning. Ask about subgroups – join the groups they’re in and start your own. To meet the social media leaders in your community, search “[community] social media” and people and events will pop up. Colorado’s social media scene is very vibrant; you’ll learn a lot and make some valuable connections.

Step Two: Tune into conversations

What are they talking about? How do you and your seminars fit into what’s on their minds?

If you’re on twitter, you know the value of being able to communicate in 140 characters or less. Many seminars talk around the value and the actual product. The more people have to think about why they would attend, the less likely they will be to sign up. I think you have to be absolutely clear up front about what you’re promoting: coaching, information products, home study courses, workshops, affiliate programs, etc.

Step Three: Choose Your Social media tools

How much updating do you really want to do?

Participating in a social network requires being active and reaching out. Answering questions on LinkedIn a few times a week may be more your style than publishing a blog post every day. But, checking into Facebook and updating may turn out to be more fun and rewarding than you expect it will be. Think about time and why what you’re saying is relevant. Money is usually not an issue, but having images is. You can record and upload videos with a flip camera that costs less than $150. To add lift, send out a series of multimedia news releases before and after your seminar that include links to your social networking sites.

Step Four: Add Value

How do you and your seminars fit into their lives?

I’m not surprised that 50% of the the people who sign up for free seminars don’t show up. Why would they? They haven’t made a commitment to you – or to themselves. Charging a small token fee in exchange for information is one way to get them to commit in exchange for receiving something of value. You might get them to register on a site like Eventbrite – that way you capture their information and manage the registrations automatically.

Your turn: Where do you find about seminars? Does being able to see who else is going, like on Facebook, have any weight in your decision-making?

Image: Barbara Rozgonyi presenting Blogging for Business

3 Comments - Posted in Events, Seminars Tagged with:

Facebook PR | Marketing Local Events with Social Media

Posted on November 3, 2008

chicago-social-media-1008-5 Thinking of promoting an event on Facebook? Why not try it? It’s as easy as fill in the blanks. But, like most communications, being strategic brings better results. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at my first attempt at creating a Facebook event for Chicago’s Social Media Club.

Nine days after posting the event on Facebook, the Chicago Social Media Club kick off site recorded 88 confirmed guests, 53 maybe attending, 65 not attending, 67 awaiting reply. Over 60 guests crammed into the Pepper Canister.

In July, the group created the Social Media Club Chicago Facebook site. To promote the kick off, we invited all the members to attend and added a link to the home page.

It was definitely worth the few minutes it took to set up the event site. We found that the Facebook [and accompanying twitter] connections added an automatic ice-breaking element to the event.

One recommendation: visit the event location and meet with the management before you host the event. Make sure they can hold your crowd and work out how bar or food tabs will be paid before you get there. Thanks so much to Amber Naslund of Altitude Branding for helping work out the logistics on this one and to all of the folks who attended this event. Looking forward to the next one!

How to promote an event on Facebook – what you need to know

facebook-event

Mechanics

Dave Taylor shows how to create a new event in Facebook.

Troubleshooting

Facebook Event frequently asked questions.

Social Media Event Strategy

Title 

Come up with a catchy name for the event: Chicago Social Media Club Kick-off – states the purpose

Tagline

“Let’s put Chicago on the Social Media Club Map” is a call to action that invites and shares a common goal

Description

Wow! We have a big group here – let’s get together to launch Chicago’s Social Media Club Chapter.
Interested? RSVP to this event.
Follow @smcchicago on twitter.com
Add your name to the Chicago Social Media ClubWa’s Chapter on the wiki: http://socialmediaclub.pbwiki.com/ChicagoIL password = media
See who you know in this group and come to the kick-off together!

Here, a brief description works as a way to convey purpose, invite action and offer multiple ways to engage.

Topic

The more interesting, the better your turn out.

People 

Grow your group before the event or connect with other groups you think might be interested in your event. Not sure? Contact the group’s admin to see what they think.

Word of Mouth 

People will tell their friends about your event – one person who came to ours invited a dozen friends

Association

Team up with a larger group or start your own chapter.

Timing

Would the response have been better with more notice? You’ll have to test the timing that works best for you and your group.

Twitter

Set up a twitter account for the event and make sure to monitor it daily. Recruit some twitter colleagues who will promote the event before and after.

Follow Up

The day of the event I sent a message to all guests with a map and parking information. After the event, send out a message to let people know that pictures are up and also when the next event will be.

What Else?

4 Comments - Posted in Events, Social Media Tagged with: ,