How To Unleash Your Social Media Marketing Genius

By Jan Gordon:

We have all read the papers and watch the news and it’s not pretty, we’ve hit the bottom and like everything else, there’s no place to go but up! We have to have a breakdown before we can breakthrough. There are many people who see opportunity in down times, and it’s important to focus on the solution rather than all the negativity that’s all around us. No matter where you are in your life or your business, you have expertise and experience that would inspire, inform and support others. This is your social media marketing genius waiting to come out! There are people out there who want to hear what you have to say! You do have opinions about current events that effect your business and life in general, you do have information that is unique to you, we want to hear from you. Don’t worry about “the how”, things will fall into place once you make the commitment to draw from that experience and communicate it to others. This is an excellent way to reach people and build a community of likeminds who can create value for you too.

Today there are social networks like Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and many others where you can build relationships that can lead to collaboration, new business opportunities, inside information about your industry and things you can’t even imagine. It’s all out there waiting for you to take the next step and become involved in the new social media marketing wave.

Serendipity is my favorite word and through blogging and social media networking, people are showing up with opportunities that never would have happened if I wasn’t out there participating in this very exciting time on the web. I founded Cyberland in 1994 and have watched the web grow from its infancy. I am excited and absolutely amazed at what’s happening online today and all the wonderful surprises that await me and you online.

I know you’re ready for a big change in 2009, Tuesday is the inauguration of president, Barack Obama and we will all experience history and welcome him and his family and be able to talk about it through our blogs and in our social  networks with all our friends and business associates. Social  networks will allow us to be connected like a family. It reminds us that we’re all together in this world and what we can’t do alone, we can do together and Tuesday brings us a celebration of history in the making. Doing business is no exception, marketing with social media  can be a bridge back to solution, opportunity and profits. It’s time for you to participate and become part of our community at Cyberland, and on the internet. We want to hear from you. Change has come to America and to you!

I’m willing to go out there and do whatever it takes to create change and prosper, no matter what the economy looks like. I’m going to make it a great year, what about you? I want to inspire, inform and help you to create a great presence on the web.  My team of interactive media experts and I want to help you with your online marketing  whether you already have a presence and need a tune up or are just beginning.

Feel free to email me if you’d like a free 30 minute consultation on how to use social media/blogging to strengthen your brand, sell and promote your products and services and create strong relationships with your customers/clients.

Stay tuned for some exciting events coming up in March and April, you won’t want to miss them! Sign up for our alerts to keep you informed.

Inspiration, Sharing and Collaborating

I spent a gorgeous weekend in the Adorandacks, we were in a spacious cabin with a fireplace, hottub and all the amenities anyone would ever want.  We were on a lake with trees all around us, nobody in sight, snow coming down in buckets, we actually got snowed in and stayed an extra day.  It seemed that all was very, quiet and still until I got on my blackberry and looked at all the tweets from twitter in one hour.  So many conversations, people, places, things, ideas, it made me think of all the people I haven’t met yet and all the possibilities of great things to come in the new year.

Christmas is upon us, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, no matter how bad the news is all around you, there’s so much opportunity and hope all kinds of things are about to happen to you, and it’s just around the corner.  Social media is the greatest thing to happen to us ever, it’s like getting a huge gift, you open it and you find another package, then another and another.  It seems to me that you just have to know what you’re looking for, where you want to go and what you love to do because there are new friends, clients, partners, collaborators out there waiting for you on twitter, facebook, linkedin.

Not sure where you’re going, how to get there, what to do next?  I’d love to hear from you.  I’d also love to hear from people who have a great story to tell about meeting someone in one of these communities.  No matter what you’re doing or not doing, there’s someone out there who can spark a creative thought that leads you to take an action that could change the course of everything.  Maybe someone out there inspires you to do something you’ve wanted to do for a long time and just maybe there’s a person or persons out there you might collaborate with on a project.  You never know unless you get out there and jump in.

Cyberland is offering classes on blogging, social media marketing and online networking in January.  We’re going to bring you the best and brightest people who will show you how to charge up and go forward in ways you’ve never known possible.  Look for announcements in the next couple of weeks with dates.

Have a very merry Christmas, enjoy your families and friends, the greatest gifts we’ll ever have.  Just for a few days, time will stand still, savour every moment, make new memories and think of all the things you’re grateful for.

Mind your manners when using social media

Hats off to Tamar Weinberg for creating “The Ultimate Social Media Etiquite Handbook”. I found this extremely useful, if we’re all building relationships online, we have our reputations to protect and this is new territory to many of you.  This is an excellent guide to help you navigate through unknown and sometimes murky waters.

http://www.techipedia.com/2008/social-media-etiquette-handbook/

The New Wave In Internet Marketing

I came across an article on social media that really explains the basics of it:
“Social Media Optimization is a New Way to Promote Your Website, Product or Service Online”
She talks about it being in its infancy, and this is basically true in that many people (business people, in particular) are not aware of how to utilize this media in business marketing. Yet it is more simple to utilize than people realize, and they just need to find creative ways to communicate. She says:

Social media optimization is similar to viral marketing where word of mouth is created through the use of networking in social bookmarking, video and photo sharing websites.

Social media optimization is all about creativity, finding creative ways to get your message out there and using creative tools to have your content easily found, distributed and shared online. It is about improving the linking structure of your website to make it highly visible in social media searches.

In a social setting, people talk and people spread the word about something. As she says, this is known as “viral” marketing because it filters down the people pipeline. This is the most powerful type of marketing there is today in my opinion because people tend to trust what others says as opposed to seeing an ad or promotion about something.

Viral or social media marketing generates a “buzz” or brings attention to something you are communicating about, especially if it is interesting.

I know there’s a lot of data on social media and that is because … guess why? It works to get people to see and hear and pay attention to what you have to say!

With Utube for example, you will find that posting a good video that others like will be shared with their friends, that’s a good example of viral marketing.

Web 2.0: Make Sure You Know Your Audience

Interesting post by Peter Kafka that talks about all the buzz on Twitter, after Motrin ran an advertisement that was so offensive that so many people complained that Motrin finally took their ad off their site and made a public apology.

The Case For Social Media

I think we should all take a close look at this article to see how skillfully Obama’s campaign used social media to build a following and eventually enlist new voters.