No one can remember the long urls given out during conference calls and on webinars. However, finding a way to convey the online location of great advice, services and your products is a necessity. So, what can you do to simplify the process and make it short and sweet?

Quick Tip:

Learn about and use link shorting services. Get clear on best practices, how they boost your brand, and how they protect you online.

Here is a little about Twitter’s: (for this I have created a short link called http://bit.ly/twittershortlinks) or the full article here===>>http://support.twitter.com/articles/109623-about-twitter-s-link-service-http-t-co

A few other link shorteners:

1) Here is my favorite: BIT.LY (great for tracking stats)
2) Here is a great new social good service just launching: BRE.AD
3) Here is one of the first to get it started: TINYURL

What else would you add? Add to the comment section below.

© 2011, TiffanyO.. All rights reserved.

Note: While a presence is important, even more critical is engaging and developing a pipeline that pumps fuel in your engine while the boat is docked.

During a training session I led with a group of travel agents, we explored ways to leverage social media boost their business. 30 ideas emerged that I wanted to capture on paper in a two-part post.  Feel free to add to the list.

PART 1 (1-15)

1. Forget about publicizing your agency and focus on giving people an experience every time they interact with you.
2. Share travel tips.
   Everyone wants advice and reminders, so be the first to put them out there.  Be the go to travel resource for your community.
3. Check out competitor sites.
   You may find your target audience hanging on their every word.
4. Highlight the scoop in hot destination spots.
   This may be a great opportunity to shape consumer opinions if mainstream news has obscured the beauty of a great place to visit.
5. Blog about it.
   Online blogs are not as regulated at print media.  You have the opportunity to shape consumer opinion, so be sure to sound your voice!
6. Video.
   Start carrying your flip-cam when you do site inspections – we want to see what you see.
7. Reviews.
   Include live interviews with your connections at the airlines, resorts, and the like.
8. Client testimonials.
   Encourage your clients to post videos while they are on their vacations – great way for someone else to publicize your brand and expertise.
9. Post industry news and deals.
   i.e. If the airlines are running a web only deal, why not tell your peeps about it?  So what if they don’t buy it from you, they will thank you and remember you had their best interest at heart.  The next time they need a family vacation planned, they’ll be ringing your phone.
10. Digital brochures.
    Chances are your clients may not get into your brick and mortar offices as often as you would like, so you’ve got to lengthen your reach.  Digital downloads or online brochures are the way to go. Post the links or send the latest brochure in your newsletter.  Point to the page where the deals are inside!
11. Destination and point of origin news.
12. Weather updates.
    If it’s the middle of February, why not entice your audience with the tanning weather forecast of the Dominican Republic?
13. #Hashtags
    If your clients are booked for a great vacation, create a hashtag that they can follow and use while on vacation.  This could be a great opportunity for them to have an experience with you and “their” friends and family while away.  You may also be a virtual tour guide for them!
14. Articles.
    If you want to be found online in searches, then you’ll have to create tags for your posts.  If you are using the Notes feature in Facebook, or are a blogger, be sure to use tags that will cause your topic to bubble up when searched.   Think in terms of keywords.
15. Extend mainstream media placement to your social networks.
    i.e. If you are an Account Exec at The Columbus Dispatch, and you want to demonstrate the extent of your “reach” then you’ll want to publicize the placements in upcoming print articles within your social networks.  Your clients will be loyal raving fans.

If you liked these tips, and want more, be sure to subscribe to this blog for instant notification of subsequent posts.

Oh, by all means, if you have questions or want to add to this list, add it to the comments section below.

P.S. Last night attendees of the session left with a copy of my book for only half the price.  I wanted to extend the same deal to readers of this post!  Yup, you got it, purchase the book from this post and you’ll get it at 50% off!

© 2011, TiffanyO.. All rights reserved.

Scenario (pulled from Reddit, with a few tweaks):

You are frustrated because you run a service business and now you require your associates to keep the Facebook Page updated.  You want all associates logged on, locked in, and engaged!  You want to set the system so that whatever they post or write in there automatically gets posted to the Facebook fan page, which has loads of fans but is so easily neglected.

Is this simple?

My Solution:

Totally understand the frustration.

First, I agree with the other recommendations about using Tweetdeck.  But ultimately, it’s time to consider what your business really needs.  Perhaps it’s time to consider a solution like what Awareness Social Marketing Software provides.  Check it out here.

However, here are list of other options:

1. I would also add they can can us ping.fm.  They just have to have access as a page admin, then they can add it to their status updates.

2. Hootsuite.com would be my first choice because you retain control of the account.  When an associate leaves or quits, you do NOT have to change your passwords.  Just remove them as “managers” from within hootsuite.  The beauty here, is as the account owner, you can “see” who posted what.  Yes, their icon is visible to you on posts and updates.  Manage both status updates and engagement for your facebook page. You can have as many people as you want to have access to your account in Hootsuite.  Just add them as a “manager”.

3. Leverage the Page Admin feature inside Facebook Page settings.  Here’s why this can be helpful:

• You retain control of the page, never having to give out the password!
• They can update the status of your fan page and just put who they are “Posted by Jonny @ Front Desk” OR “JP – Front Desk”…

4. Why not consider having them update their status from their own page, and “tag” the fan page in their post.  Lots more visibility created by allowing the associates individual communities to have visibility to the fan page.

5. You might also consider, depending on how many associates you have, adding different applications to the page and assigning one posting service per associate. Most apps only allow one instance of the app on your page (FBML is an exception to this rule). So in theory:

• Front desk manager:  Selective Twitter – assign to their Twitter profile.  When then add #fb at the end of a post, it will automatically update Facebook Fan Page.  That way, the associate controls which posts hit the fan page (again, tightly consider your company’s policies for associates using social media).
• Night clerk:  Ping
• Staff 1:  Tweetdeck
• Staff 2:  etc. etc.

Only challenge foreseeable with any of these options:  you must have a corporate policy for conduct so that your brand is not potentially embarrassed later.

Lastly, and I make this comment, because I see it often…and I know you probably know this:

Really hope this helps.  If you have found other solutions, please share them!

Toodles!

Tiffany-O

© 2010, TiffanyO.. All rights reserved.

Q. Is social media a passing phase or fad?

A: Some statistics indicate that some fads last between 18 months and 2 years.

Social media as we know it today picked up momentum, or got “sticky” in the early 2000′s, but started in it’s first wave of innovation in the early 90′s with forums for ebay sellers, etc. Today, a business simply cannot compete, large or small, without customer engagement, because the web has changed our consumer.

It is my opinion, that social media will hit a new wave of innovation and perhaps morph into new tools, but the social customer is here to stay and so is social media. The rate of growth is incredible and isn’t dying down. Larger business are hiring in-house social media experts. It’s a regular job description now, just like “secretary” is a household name for most businesses. Once it became a job description, I think it’s safe to say, we are way beyond a fad.

Here’s a thought…an important question to the business owner should be:  how do I make the consumer experience with my brand more memorable? And, how do I track and measure my campaigns to improve the equity of my brand.  This, we’ll see become a trend in 2011 and beyond.

Your thoughts?

© 2010, TiffanyO.. All rights reserved.

The above might make you cringe, but it’s exactly the kind of thing you see in cyberspace!

Here are some ways in which you can play nice in the sandbox.

Social Media Etiquette – the rules of engagement

Be nice: Isn’t that easy? I mean being nice should be second nature to all of us, so, you’d think that this one was easy. In reality, it is one of the toughest things to be.

You see, to ‘be nice’, you have to act with a great deal of courtesy. For instance, you need to:

1. Listen first, talk later. To start off on the right foot, with your friends or your clients, you have to listen to them from start to finish and understand what is being said.
2. Allow others to finish what they’re saying before you dive in. A whole lot of misunderstandings can be avoided that way. Do not shout others down.
3. Say ‘Hello’, ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’. You’d be amazed at the power of these words.
4. Send out replies in a timely manner. No one likes to wait on your good humor forever.
5. Take the time to greet people. Acknowledge their presence and let them know you’re happy to have them with you.
6. Speak positive. Others will love listening to you.
7. Avoid being a badmouth. Period.
8. If you have a different point of view, by all means express it. Just do so kindly; and never do it because you want publicity.
9. Be regular. You can’t post thrice an hour for a week and then, just disappear.
10. Never ignore a contact who takes the time to write to your personally. On the other hand, if someone sends you a message without any indication whatsoever of how they know you, then it’s alright to ignore them. You need to use your discretion here.
11. If you reject an invite, it’s always a nice idea to explain why you rejected them. Maybe a simple explanation like, ‘I do not deal in this kind of business’ would suffice.
12. If you are sending out a friend invite, be very specific about how you know the other person. Many people just cannot remember you even if they’ve been introduced to you.

Keep away from hard-core selling: Let us go back to the party situation above once more. Imagine, that instead of playing, you were to stand up on a chair, get everyone’s attention and ask them to line up and pick up a business card from you, one by one? Can you imagine what your friends would think of you?

Many small businesses are doing the virtual replica of this when they troll in targeted communities within social networks. When you try to sell your commercial interests without adding value in any way, your online presence becomes nothing short of obnoxious. In other words, you’re spamming and sooner or later, someone is going to ask you to ‘Get Out!’

Add value: Many people believe that it’s enough to participate in a conversation. Sorry, that is simply not true. You need to add value.

Your aim is to build a community that benefits from your presence. Figure out how you can become a resource. Earn respect. That’s one step away from earning their affection. It is also the easiest way to becoming indispensable.

Cooperate: ‘You scratch my back, I scratch yours’. That’s the philosophy. Social media gives you ample opportunity to build your business. You can use it to take advantage of people power. But, you need to do it in a direct and forthcoming manner. Ask people directly about what they want, what they think and how you can improve to help them. This is the best way to gain important feedback and valuable insight. They’re your friends. Let them help you – and thank them for helping you!

Social media is a wonderful tool that helps you extend your business network. It opens up the whole world to you. But, a lot of people make the mistake of looking upon social media success by counting the number of contacts they have. Actually, it’s not the quantity that matters. Quality is what counts.

If you want good friends, be a good friend yourself. It’s that simple! Or, is it?

Resource:

Dos and Don’ts social media etiquette

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© 2010, Tiffany Odutoye (@virtualpartner). All rights reserved.

© 2010, Tiffany Odutoye (@virtualpartner). All rights reserved.

She kicked off the call with her review of a newer tool:  Foursquare.  Here’s an excerpt from her blog on the tool:

Could FourSquare be the next social media darling for business? Could Twitter possibly be de-throned? We think so. FourSquare is a location-based application that you run on your smart phone that allows users to “check-in” when they are out and about. Headed to Publix? Check-in. Out with the guys at the neighborhood pub? Check-in. It definitely…read more here:  Get FourSquare and Get Busy.

I have to admit, at first, I wasn’t too keen on publicizing my every movement, as if I had a tracking device on me, but I can see the merit of it in some instances.  Just wondering, all you “foursquare” users, what has been your experience?  Do you like it?  Is it worth it?  Take a poll here.

I’ll weigh in after 10 days of trying it!

© 2010, Tiffany Odutoye (@virtualpartner). All rights reserved.

ROI – Return on Influence

If you’ve not come across the term already, you might be somewhat surprised by the twist in the tail. Here you were expecting ROI to talk about Return on Investment, and what do you get? Return on Influence? What is that anyways? And why should you care?

Good questions. Let’s take them one by one.

What is Return on Influence?

Well, we have already established elsewhere what social media is. Connecting and sharing is at the heart of social media. So, what happens when you connect and share? Look all around you. People all over the web are talking about the latest gizmos and the latest developments. Millions are tuning in to these conversations. It’s what Google is all about. When you Google a term, search for information and take a decision based on that information, you have just put into action what Return on Influence is. Somebody shares their experiences with you and influences you to take a particular action. If you are convinced, you follow their lead.
When you take this into the world of small and big businesses, the reach of this influence is – to put it simply – overwhelming!

I mean, imagine if you were selling a product and your clients in Japan were unhappy with it, and instead of telling you about it, they were discussing your weaknesses all over the internet. Your sales would be squished and you wouldn’t even know what hit you!

That is why it is worth your while to BE the one who influences the thought process. People are talking about your product. You have two choices. A) Allow them to talk and become a victim of that talk (if they’re talking nice, you have an advantage) or B) Take charge of that conversation and become a part of it.

When you do the latter, you begin to influence others in that conversation. It’s what Blendtec did with their ‘Will it Blend’ campaign.

Will it blend?

The campaign kicked off with a video of the founder of the company blending some interesting stuff. The marketing director at Blendtec, George Wright says, “We put them (videos) on willitblend.com. No body knew willitblend.com and they didn’t know our name on YouTube. So we passed it on to all of our employees, customers and friends and told them to pass it on if they liked it. From the day we did that, literally one week later the videos had five million views.” Phew! Imagine 5 million views.

Now THAT is Return on Influence!

When people like you or your product, they watch or listen, they spread the word – and before you know it, you have more publicity than you could get with a $5 million ad campaign! In one smart move, Blendtec grew from a product no one knew about to a recognized brand. This brand has registered a 700% growth in sales and is now the leading maker of blenders, in the domestic and international markets.

That is Return on Influence.

If you notice, Return on Influence does not make you a million dollars directly because your are mobilizing the masses to speak for you, promote and drive traffic for you.  There are lots of tangible ways to track and monitor that activity and you should invest in them, so are FREE and some are paid.  Here are five tools:

So, you cannot really measure ROI in solid financial terms. But, the return is there, and though soft, it can propel you into the top league in your bracket. Return on Influence is very much real though quite intangible.

You know it’s there, you see it influencing your sales but you cannot put a finger on it. That is why, it’s important to start with strategy so you know clearly what your metrics are, then you’ll be able to measure ROI.  This is still very significant for your business development, and why you simply cannot afford to overlook it.

How can ROI help Small businesses?

Return on Influence is recognition of the fact that consumers and producers can influence each other, and together they can influence an entire community of consumers.

ROI does not subscribe to the “conventional” measurement of success through quantifiable numbers. Instead, it relies on personal interaction to get success from influence. For example the 80/20 rules says that you get 80% of your results from 20% of your effort.  The same is true within your social communities.  You may find that the majority of your traffic is generated by a few loyal followers who are major influencers themselves.

You cannot work on social media with the aim of getting ROI in traditional terms – that may be a factor, but should not be your only driver. The mindset comes first, ROI just happens. It might be positive or negative, but once your initiative is out there, you cannot predict how you are going to influence people or what return you are going to get.

Look at Burger King’s ‘Sacrifice a Friend’ campaign if you want to know what I’m talking about. The campaign was wildly popular, but many people who saw it swear that they had a sour taste in their mouths after this campaign!

So, Return on Influence is a two-way street really. On the one side, it is what you are doing and saying to influence your customer’s perception of your brand. On the other side, it is what you get from:

A)    Allowing your customers to influence you
B)    Allowing yourself to influence them

Important things to keep in mind while you’re using social media so you get positive ROI:
- Don’t fake the relationship, embrace it
- Connecting and sharing come before sales
- Develop your personal brand
- Nurture your identity so others connect with you instantly

Authentic influence happens when you allow others to know, trust and like you. People like and respect you when you create meaningful relationships. After all, Return on Influence is just the real life translation of the adage ‘The more you give, the more you get back’!

Resources:
Return on Influence
Measuring ROI

Related articles by Zemanta

• Visualizing Social Media ROI (socialmediatoday.com)
• How to measure your social media marketing campaign ROI (mediapress.co.za)

© 2010, Tiffany Odutoye (@virtualpartner). All rights reserved.

ONN – Ohio and Company

Good morning!

So jazzed that we were privileged to be featured on the Ohio News Network with Eve Mueller and Wade Meyer (Inviting Conversations).

The focus of the segment was to highlight what social networking “newbies” could do to ensure success.  Here are a few tips I’d like to add:

Tips for getting started with Social Networking:

1. Start with the end in mind – strategy has to come first.  Maps to success with social networking should fit into your existing marketing plans.
2. Determine how much time, bandwidth and skill you have and what you’ll have to augment with an expert, staff or a retained partner.
3. Research and commit to being social.
4. Listen, listen, and listen some more – you may have a lot to say, but being active and quiet in social networking can tell you a lot about your target audience and your community.

More tips here in this interview with Eve and Wade…

the book…

So Now What Do I Do?  An Entrepreneurs

Book by Author, Tiffany Odutoye

Guide to Getting to the Next Step with Social Media - get a copy today!

Tiffany, this book is easy to read, informative, and concise.  You give great up front reasons for “why” to do it.  You provide great tools.  I’m surprised you packed so much into such a small book! – Patrick Keegan, Biz360

© 2009 – 2010, TiffanyO.. All rights reserved.

A grocery chain in Ottawa fired several of its employees following negative comments on Facebook.

Even this:
Some Ontario schools have suspended their students after they found ‘offensive’ posts on Facebook about these schools!

What am I trying to say? You could lose your job or your school admission for something you write on social networking sites like Facebook. Seriously.

People are being penalized for what they are posting. Many are being denied jobs, dismissed from work and disciplined because of comments they have carelessly left lying around on social networking sites.

Why should you care?

Employers and hiring firms are increasingly using social networking websites like Facebook to check out potential employees and keep tabs on current employees. In the current social and political situation, you just cannot have anything working against you or diluting your prospects, least of all something like your Facebook profile.

Here are some ways in which you can protect your Facebook profile from the prying eyes of your boss.

Your Privacy setting:

A teacher in Charlotte, NC, was dismissed from work due to her profile on Facebook. Under her hobbies, she stated ‘drinking’ and ‘teaching chitlins in the Ghetto of Charlotte’. The teacher left her profile and her page open to public view. Keep in mind, this particular school is attended by minority students and is located in a low income neighborhood.

Who is viewing your profile at Facebook? Are you sure that these are people you have allowed access to?

If you go to the “Settings” page on Facebook and click on your ‘Profile’, you might see that more people than you have imagined are actually viewing what you have put up. You may have only a couple of friends, but what about your network?

If your profile is jam-packed with drunken quotes or if the pictures you posted are risqué, the first thing you do is limit access to the information. Make it viewable to friends only.

You do not want potential or current employers going through what you’ve put up.   Because they do check you out.

According to various surveys and reports, a good percentage of employers are checking Facebook before, after or during the recruitment process.

You don’t want to lose your job just because you were a little careless with your Facebook profile, do you?

Your content:

According to onrec.com, the top ten turn-offs for employers who go through profiles on Facebook include:
- Indecent language, vulgar jokes, unacceptable pictures
- Any evidence of substance abuse
- Criminal activity
- Fanatical views
- Membership to silly groups
- Bad mouthing of former employers or places of work

Interestingly, prospective employers do not stop with checking out a candidate’s profile. They also use what you’ve posted to find out more about your communication skills, general attitude and qualifications. So, if you’re really not what you claim to be, chances are, you’ve left traces of your lies in your conversation with others.

When your profile is subject to such minute inspection, do you need more reason to clean up your profile?

You can give your profile a swanky new look easily:
Get rid of silly quotes, inane or extreme views and distancing yourself from bigoted or pointless memberships.

Don’t forget to add some of your favorite books in addition to music and films. Employers love it when you appear well-read and profound.

Check closely for typos. Do not go for too much internet lingo. These might seem unimportant to you but your potential employers appreciate it if you can write ‘You’ instead of ‘U’ and stop using internet short forms.

Next, go through your photos – every single one of ‘em. Untag those that you do not want. That way, anyone snooping around cannot find that picture of yours.

- Remove pictures that look unflattering.
- Get rid of those where you’re doing something you shouldn’t.
- In case your friends have put in unflattering comments, remove those pictures too.

Your network:

Who’s on it? If your colleagues are a part of your network, be careful. Your boss might be friends with one of your colleagues.

Your posts:

You cannot always limit the people who see what you are writing. So, it makes sense to post the right stuff. Meaning, you don’t really want to shout to half the world that you’re thinking of throwing a sick leave so you can party at your neighbor’s house!

It’s not enough that the content on your own network is good, you must also take care while posting on someone else’s wall. Don’t throw out comments that you don’t want to be associated with.

Even though you delete content, it could remain on servers and be available on search engines. When such information gets into the wrong hands, it can cause major hiccups in decisions regarding a job, an admission or a promotion.

WARNING: Never post while you’re at work. The time of your post is plain to see. Ask yourself this: what will happen if your boss finds out you were updating your account while you were supposed to be working?

Why should you be so careful? The Police, hiring agencies, companies and schools are monitoring profiles at Facebook, MySpace and other such sites to uncover ‘improper’ content. What you write is a window to your private world. It’s like maintaining an ongoing virtual diary. How’s that for a thought?

User naivete combined with security gaps can ultimately lead to serious irreparable damage to your life.

Resource box:
1) Facebook can ruin your life
2) Employee uses racial slur in Facebook profile: Can you fire her?
3) Personal branding in the age of Google

© 2009, Tiffany Odutoye (@virtualpartner). All rights reserved.