Implementing a social media plan for your business has many benefits, from expanding your reach online, to building credibility to drawing new clients and customers.  The social media tools available make connecting and sharing your expertise that much easier!  It is important to remember when implementing a social media plan that it  is a process.  To make it simpler to understand, I have broken it down into 5 steps:

Step One – Strategy – This is an important one.  You need to think about who you want to reach and what your goals are before you start to implement anything.  This will help you narrow your focus and use your time wisely.

Step Two – Set-Up – Before you can engage with anyone, you need to have your profiles and accounts created and maximized.  After completing step one, you should know what communities to participate in, and now is the technical job of setting everything up, making sure it is easy for people to find and connect with you – and do business with you.

Step Three – Listening – Now that your accounts are created, it is time to start listening.  Pay close attention to how the community works.  And spend some time searching and observing it all.  You will learn a lot about the community, and by listening first you can create content that is specifically for that community.  Again saving you time in the long run.

Step Four – Reaching Out – You need to make a conscious effort to reach out.  People will not always come to you – you need to find them.  This is where your strategy and listening come in handy.  Find targeted people on your networks and begin to connect and engage with them.

Step Five – Continued Maintenance – you can’t just set up a social media presence and forget it.  It has to be consistently nurtured and grown to benefit you.  So, you must update your accounts and continue to connect with others.  Also continue to search for new connections and build those relationships.

As you can see, social media is an on going process.  So try not to expect results overnight.  But, if you are consistent and continue to work on your social media presence, you will see some incredible results.  And if you need help implementing any of the steps listed above, contact me

One of the most valuable benefits that social media offers is the ability to listen.  There are many tools available to allow you to keep track of who is talking about your business, as well as any keywords relating to your business.

There is so much knowledge to be gained just from listening and paying attention to what your customers are saying about you and your industry.

Here are some cool tools to help you listen and learn:

• search.twitter.com ~ This allows you to search twitter for specific phrases or keywords and see real time results.  You can also use the advanced search to narrow down the results by location or time period.
• Kurrently.com ~ this website allows you to put in keywords or phrases and will search both Facebook and Twitter, as well as the major search engines
• Google Alerts ~ You can set up alerts based on your company name or specific keywords and Google will email you daily with the latest results that include those terms.  You see articles and blog posts.
• LinkedIn Answers ~ You can research the types of questions that are being asked related to your industry.  As well as answer the questions and build your expertise.
• Board Tracker ~ allows you to search discussion forums for specific terms.

By taking some time to follow specific searches, you can gain really valuable information about your industry and customers.  All of the above are great tools to help you!

This week I attended the Real Estate BarCamp here in Sacramento, an event centered around social media for real estate professionals.  It was a day long event with events scheduled each hour and it was great!  There was an incredible mix of people new to social media and those that have been using it for a while.  And each session was more like a discussion, so everyone was able to participate and share their thoughts.

I attended sessions on How to build a good reputation online, HyperLocal blogging, Useful Wordpress plugins, and Search Engine Optimization.  I learned something in each one both from the leader of the session and from the people attending.

There was a really good turnout, but considering the number of realtors and real estate professionals in the Sacramento area, I believe more should have attended.  Especially since it was free!  I think it shows that people are still slow to adopt social media in their real estate business.  I am not sure if it is lack of interest, lack of time, or just lack of knowledge.  If it is lack of knowledge, than an event like REBarCamp is a great place to start.  There were 101 sessions all day on blogging, Twitter, Facebook and more.  Between the sessions and the attendees, there was plenty of information available!

I thought the whole event was worthwhile and full of value.  If you have a REBarCamp in your area, try to make it.  No matter what stage you are in – beginner or big time social media player, it will be well worth your time!

Social media has many benefits.   Like I said in Why Real Estate Agents have to use Social Media, there are so many cool ways to reach people and to build your reputation online.  But, there is effort involved.  There is content creation, and listening and monitoring, and updating and connecting.  Although, many of the tools are free, the time commitment is not.  You have to put in some time.  You are the expert and you are the person who has to build the relationships.

There are certain aspects of your social media that can be outsourced to a virtual assistant.  So that you free up your time to make the relationships, create the content and follow-up with prospects – along with the rest of your to do list .  Some of the areas that a virtual assistant can help are:

1. The Technical Stuff – social media virtual assistants spend a lot of time online and they are well versed in the tools and technology required to create an online presence.   So the technical side – from creating your accounts, maximizing your profiles, customizing your pages, creating a blog, and connecting everything together – can easily be handled by your virtual assistant.  And, usually much quicker than you could do it anyway!
2. Research – your social media virtual assistant can research keyword and conversations and create a report for you.  As well as, find relevant people for you to follow and connect with.
3. Keeping your accounts updated – your virtual assistant can find relevant articles and information to post on your social media accounts to keep them updated.  Leaving you to do the relationship building and commenting.
4. Re-Purposing Content – One of the best uses of your time is to re-purpose content that you have created and re-use it.  So, for example, your VA could extract some short tips from one of your blog posts to use as status updates.  Or turn a newsletter article into a blog post.  This way you get the most mileage out of every piece of content you create.
5. Tracking your Progress – your virtual assistant can keep track of your analytics.  So, whatever metrics you are using to measure your progress can be tracked and put into a report for you to review.

As you can see, there are many tasks related to social media and internet marketing that can be delegated to your virtual assistant.  It is just a matter of determining what are the vital items that you need to take care of, and then outsourcing the rest.  Leaving you time to focus on the most important tasks – relationship building and following up!

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Marketing yourself and your business online is a very important piece of your marketing plan.  You can extend your reach and build your brand online using tools such as Facebook,Twitter, blogs, and email marketing.  But, you want to make sure you integrate your online marketing with your offline efforts.  Finding the balance between the two – online and offline – is the key.  Here are a few ways to integrate the two:

1.  Add the web address to your social networking profiles to your business card.  This way everyone you meet in person can also find and connect with you online. For example, www.twitter.com/devonzimny is the url for my Twitter profile.

2.  Add your web addresses to all for your offline marketing materials – such as postcards, brochures, and flyers.  This way you offer the opportunity for people to get to know you and connect where they want.  Many people who spend time on Facebook are comfortable there.  And they may choose to get to know you a little better through your Facebook page before taking it to the next step.

3.  Search for the people you meet at offline networking events online – Do a search for them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter.  By expanding your online network with people you have met in person, you can further that relationship and create a stronger network.

4.  Make sure to invite those that you meet offline to join your email list.  Let them know about the value you provide and ask if they would like to receive updates from you.  Email is a great way to stay in front of people.  And by providing consistent value, you will build a really strong relationship – and be the person that comes to mind first.

5.  Attend events such as Tweet-Ups, which are offline meetups of people on Twitter. These events are a great way to meet people you connect with on Twitter face to face.  They are also great for meeting new people and expanding your network.

6.  Do a little research before attending a live conference or event – check to see who else is talking about the conference.  Also, check to see if a hashtag (#) has been created for the conference.  If so, be sure to include it in your updates and to follow along with others mentioning the conference.  By preparing ahead of time, you can determine some people who you want to connect with at the event and even schedule some coffee chats.

Just because you are starting to utilize online networking tools does not mean that you abandon all of your offline efforts.  By integrating both of your online and offline efforts, you can strengthen your relationships and build a strong network.

You have been hearing about social media for a while now.  You know that you just have to start using it for your business.  You can’t wait any longer or else you will be too late.  With all of the talk about social media, you may feel that you have to rush in and get going immediately.  Before you jump in, stop and think first.

You will save yourself time in the long run if you strategize in the beginning.  Coming up with a plan will help you narrow your focus and save your precious time. Before you make the leap, consider the following 5 things first:

1. Determine Who You Want to Reach – A vital part of an effective social media plan is understanding who your target market is.  Who are you talking to?  Is it first time homebuyers?  Move Up buyers?  Buyers who are downsizing?  Narrowing down your focus to a specific market will help you fine tune your message and save you time!

2.  What Information is your Market seeking? What are their questions?  What are their problems and concerns?  What information do they need to know and understand before they buy?  By getting to know your target market, you can create content and share information that answers their questions and solves their problems.  This will make your content creation much easier.  As well as providing your clients, customers, and fans with the information they are searching for.

3.  Where do your target customers hang out online? Do some listening and research to find out where your customers are spending their time.  Maybe there are specific forums or niche social networks that cater to your potential customers?  Doing this research ahead of time will allow you to focus solely on the communities that are most beneficial to you.  Since there is never enough time in the day, choosing where you need to spend your time online is an important decision.

4.  What do you want your target customers to do? Think about your sales process.  As you bring more potential clients into the funnel, how do you want to direct them. Should they sign up for an email newsletter?  Should they visit your blog or website? How does social media fit into your current sales process?  You want to focus your social media efforts in such a way that directs your potential customers to take an action.

5.  How are you going to measure success? Once you know who you are trying to reach, where they are hanging out, what you want them to do, you want to be able to measure your results.  So decide on how you will measure your progress.  Maybe it is to track newsletter sign ups or website visits.  Whatever the measuring stick is, you want it to be in place when you start.

By spending some time strategizing up front, you will keep yourself from spinning your wheels in the long run.  So, set aside some time and work on these 5 questions.  You will be happy you did!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfinleydesigns/

When considering using Facebook for your business, it can be confusing at first.  If you have been on Facebook personally, getting back in touch with friends, keeping up with family, and even playing games, you may not get how that could translate to business.  The first piece to understand is the difference between a Facebook profile and a Business page.

A Facebook profile is your personal page on Facebook.  If you have been using Facebook already, you have a profile.  To connect with others through your profile, you must friend them and they have to friend you back.

Once you have become friends with someone, you then get their updates, can see their pictures and videos,  and can send messages back and forth.  The same is true of what you post.  Anytime you update your status, comment on another post, upload a picture or RSVP to an event, all of your friends can see it.  You have control over the privacy of your page and how much is shown to those who are not your friends.

Your profile is not meant to be used for business.  When someone becomes your friend, it is ok to mention your business here or there, but your Facebook profile is truly meant to be personal.

Now the business page  is a little different.  Your business page (previously called a fan page) is essentially the storefront for your business on Facebook.  It is a completely public page that can be found via a search engine (such as Google or Yahoo) or through Facebook search.  Anyone can see the information on the page.

Those who want to keep up with your business page will click the “like” button.  This will allow them to see any updates made by your business page.  So anytime you update your status, post pictures or videos, or add an event to your business page, anyone who has liked your page will see that.  It is simple to “like” a page, and you do not need to approve it or friend them back.  They are essentially opting in to receive updates from you through Facebook.  Since they are dealing with the business page, they expect to here news and information related to your business.  So be sure what you are posting is valuable and helpful.

Creating a business page is the best solution for a business presence on Facebook.  It allows you to keep in contact with current customers, as well as future customers.  By simply updating your status or posting a link to an interesting article, you are keeping your business at the top of the mind of your customers.

This should give you many topic ideas that you can then turn into blog posts, social networking updates, and more.  Your current and potential customers are turning to the internet to find answers.  They want solutions to a specific problem.  So you want to create content that provides those solutions.  It is as simple as that.

Creating online content really does not have to be intimidating.   Taking some time to brainstorm ideas and look at your business through the eyes of a customer is a great place to start.  You will find you have a nice list of ideas.  Then, as you write more blogs and spend more time using social media, you will start to notice what experiences will make great content!  And you will find yourself thinking – this will make a great blog post!

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The key to social media marketing really has nothing to do with social media.  In fact, it is about customer service.   It is the little ways that you go above and beyond that give your customers a reason to talk about you.  I started thinking about this recently after listening to a great podcast on Word of Mouth advertising from the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast.  It is absolutely worth listening to.  There are some great ideas for thinking outside of the box to get your customers and fans to spread the word about you.  The point that really struck me, was that providing great customer service is key.  You have to go above and beyond for your customers.  People expect mediocre service (it is sad, really), and so they are surprised and really happy when you have provided more value than they expected.  And this is what makes your customers want to talk about your business.  Because they are so happy and surprised at the results.  It goes back to the whole concept of under promise and over deliver.  Make sure you are giving everything you have promised and then some.

Social media can be an incredible form of word of mouth advertising.  It is simple and easy for someone to share with their entire network the wonderful experience they had with your business.  Before you start focusing on social media marketing as a way to grow your business, make sure that you are providing exceptional service.  Are you giving extra value?  Are you going above and beyond for your customers?  Because if you aren’t, focus on that first.  Start to brainstorm creative ways to take your service to the next level.  Think of even little things that you can do for your customers that will have them raving about your business.  Then, use social media to spread the message (more importantly, your customers will spread the message for you) quickly.

The businesses that get the best results from social media marketing are the ones that are providing excellent service and therefore have customers who are also fans.  If your business is not there yet, then take some time to work on your customer experience.  Take it to the next level and tackle social media next.  If you already have a huge fan base of customers, then social media marketing is a must for you!

Like many of you, I watched quite a bit of the Olympics.  I loved watching all of these amazing athletes at the top of their game, doing what they love, and achieving their goals.  Throughout the Olympic games, I kept thinking about the similarities between business success and success as an athlete.  Many of the same core principals apply.  And with so many “get rich quick” or “make money fast online” schemes out there, it is nice to be reminded of what it truly takes to be successful:

I think it is helpful to look at people who are successful in other areas of life or business.  Especially when it feels like things aren’t moving as quickly as you would like in your business.  For me, watching the Olympic athletes has reminded me that starting and running a business is a journey.  And to keep pushing forward, looking for opportunities, and working hard  and I will be able to achieve my goals.  What has the Olympics taught you?