KristinaProctor | Social Media Marketing

Author Archive

Online to Offline- Social Media Tools Enhances Networking

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Being new in a city, industry or opening up a new entrepreneurial venture can be scary. Who do I talk to? Who should I follow? How do I find interest groups? These are all extremely valid concerns. But there are tools to help you get in touch with people around you.

Evaluate your online resource options:

Take a peek at the social media tools that you currently have. Here are some standard options:

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Tags: employment, Facebook, LinkedIn, networking, offline, online, Strategy
Posted in Marketing, Social Media, Strategy | 1 Comment »

5 things I learned about social media from marathon training

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

When you are making new resolutions to train for a marathon, eat better or to improve your mile time, do you wake up the day after you start with all your goals met? No? Why not?

During training you experience pain, sore muscles and how some trainning is trial and error. Socail media is the same. It takes practice, repetition, dedication and the understanding that not all the same tactics will work for everyone.

Before you start tweeting or facebook fan page-ing why don’t you take a step back and ask yourself some questions:

1. Where do you want this to take you? This could mean your company, a product or service. Make sure to be specific. If you are a small business that is trying to promote a new service options, make sure that you have messaging that’s right for your audience.

2.What are your current resources?

3. How does/can social media efforts help me?

4. What BOUNDARIES do I need to set? -This is critical. When you are working out- you can’t just decide to run 13.1 miles after not running since your 5th grade mile run challenge. You have to set a pace and boundaries. It’s important to recongize a great running day. Instead of running yourself into the ground, take a step back, appreciate the victory and keep moving.If you have 50, 100 or 1,000 facebook fans can be terrific milestones. By just thinking that you need more is losing the point.

When you are making new resolutions to train for a marathon, eat better or to

improve your mile time, do you wake up the day after you start with all your

goals met? No? Why not?

During training you experience pain, sore muscles and even failure. Socail media

is the same. It takes practice, repetition, dedication and the understanding

that not all the same tactics will work for everyone.Before you start tweeting

or facebook fan page-ing why don’t you take a step back and think about some

things:

1. Why? That’s right, why? What are some solid reasons you are wanting to jump

into the social media landscape. Make a list, then do it again with other

members of the company. It helps you realize where you should start.

2. What are my goals? Meaning, where do I want to be in my training in 2 weeks, a month, six weeks. Make sure to be specific and realistic. If you are new to social media, don’t expect to have the fan page up and ‘fanning’ in 2 hours. That strategy takes time and effort. Take a peek at other companies in your field and your area. Anything you want to mirror?

3. Do you need a gym? In social media it’s important to know all of the

resources available. Do you need a Hootsuite account and Tweetdeck on your

desktop? Do your reasearch, know what’s available. Tryout some tools and see

what works with and for your needs (see what tools best align with your budget and goals-see above).

4. What BOUNDARIES do I need to set? -This is critical. When you are working

out- you can’t just decide to run 13.1 miles after not running since your 5th

grade mile run challenge. You have to set a pace and boundaries. It’s important

to recongize a great running day. Instead of running yourself into the ground,

take a step back, appreciate the victory and keep moving.Remember that 50, 100 or 1,000 facebook fans can be terrific milestones. By just thinking that you need more all the time can get you clouded on the reason why you started in the first place (see #1).

5. Don’t be afraid to fail. This is the most important. Trial and error are equivalent to growing pains, they will be worse for some and not too bad for others. Embrace your failures and learn from them. Don’t bury them as if you were ashamed for trying. Social networks like facebook, myspace and the microblogging site Twitter take some time. Accept it and move on.

I remember the saying ‘if at first you don’t suceed, try and try again.’

What are you doing to gain endurance and a steady pace in the social media world?

photo by teamtinybike

When you are making new resolutions to train for a marathon, eat better or to improve your mile time, do you wake up the day after you start with all your goals met? No? Why not?

During training you experience pain, sore muscles and even failure. Social media is the same. It takes practice, repetition, dedication and the understanding that not all the same tactics will work for everyone.Before you start tweeting or facebook fan page-ing why don’t you take a step back and think about some things:

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Facebook, Marketing, myspace, Social Media, Strategy, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media, Strategy | 2 Comments »

Tools to Become Local with Social Media

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Small businesses and non-profits can be unique in their needs, and sometimes it helps to start listening and talking locally to get things moving- especially socially.

Where do you start? Luckily, there are tools to assist you when you are looking to start talking industry or location specific.

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Tags: geofollow, local, localtweeps, rightway, twellow, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »

4 things you need to know for your Twitter profile

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

4 things you need to know for your Twitter profile

Tweets will probably be the first thing to bring people to your twitter page, but when they arrive what do they see?

Branding is improtant for everything. How do people identify you or your organization? Will they recognize your logo, colors or motto? Expand

your brand awareness and your media kit- put it on Twitter.

Here are four things to look into before launching and tweeting on your Twitter profile.

1. Settings- there is one thing in here that needs to be left unchecked if you expect people to check your tweets out. You must not protect your

tweets. Unless you are tweeting for a few friends and family, this should really be left on the ‘public’ setting. If you want people to follow

you- let them see your tweets (content) by reading your feed.

2. Picture- If you are a company, non-profit or any organization that desires brand awareness, don’t post a picture of your pooch for your

Twitter picture. Instead, use your organization’s logo. If you are a professional- here are some profile picture tips:

- Don’t take the picture yourself. When people see your arm or can tell you used a mirror- it’s not cool- it just looks unprofessional.

- Picture background should be basic. If you have too much going on in the back, that small thimbnail will be distracting. Have your face be the center of attention. If you have a logo, make sure it fits. If it doesn’t then make a smaller one or take a portion of it that is recognizable.

3. Bio- You only get 160 characters, 20 more than typical Twitter style but still, this isn’t Facebook. Take a minute to evaluate what you want your current or potential audience to know about you. Think about the rule of three. Three professional aspects then add one fun fact.

4. Background- I’m not talking about your personal history. I’m talking about the prime real estate to the left of your feed. When people log onto your page. Here is where you can have sites listed, your digital elevator speech, a company logo, list of services and so much more.

You can get this on your Twitter page from a variety of services, one is Twitbacks.com- check out some options.

What are you doing to make your Twitter profile be an extention of you or your organization?

photo by mallix

Tweets will probably be the first thing to bring people to your twitter page, but when they arrive what do they see?

Branding is important for everything. How do people identify you or your organization? Will they recognize your logo, colors or motto? Expand your brand awareness and your media kit- put it on Twitter.

Here are four things to look into before launching and tweeting on your Twitter profile.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Business, community, networking, online marketing, relationships, Social Media, Strategy, the right way, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Technology | 2 Comments »

Author Archive

Online to Offline- Social Media Tools Enhances Networking

Ways to include your social media efforts in your daily interactions

10 Things Old Spy Movies Taught Me About Social Media

5 things I learned about social media from marathon training

Tools to Become Local with Social Media

4 things you need to know for your Twitter profile

5 reasons why The Home Depot is a YouTube success