Social Media Advisors

Happy 20k Fans Tech Savvy Agent! Highlights of the Celebration Webinar

Today Tech Savvy Agent celebrated reaching 20,000 fans on their Facebook page and decided to give a free webinar to all of their fans with several great speakers. Below are a few of the many highlights I found from following the conversation online at the hashtag #tsa20k:

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Debra Trappen – @debra11
COMMIT to your target audience… and keywords! Give it a YEAR. #longterm commitments are KEY. via @SuzRoy #tsa20k

This is so true. As I tell people all the time, online marketing isn’t lightning in a bottle, it’s a marathon race that takes time, endurance and patience.

Teri Conrad – @TeriConrad
Marketing is a marathon! Stay focused for at least a year!! Via @SuzRoy #tsa20k

Wow, maybe Teri was reading my mind? It takes time people.

Melissa Ceja – @melissaceja
Success doesnt happen overnight! Stick with it. #tsa20k

Chad Humphrey – @chadjhumphrey
@darinpersinger taking it down to the basics…funny how well the basics actually work…why make it so hard on yourself? #tsa20k

Sometimes we try to over complicate things in our online business. It’s the basic foundations that make things work.

Lesley Lambert – @LesleyLambert
Contacting sphere of influence still key. Don’t use the script “who do you know who”. @darinpersinger #tsa20k

People don’t like being “sold to” so don’t try it anymore, it really doesn’t work well.

Oscar S. Bowen – @oscarbowen
@darinpersinger “Engage your sphere of influence. Contribute and provide value.” #tsa20k

Very true, give up trying to sell, and give the consumer what they want. It will make your online business much more valuable.

Debra Trappen – @debra11
Have you “Allowed Subscribers” on Facebook yet? Check here: http://t.co/RIu5YBnC via @Chris_Smth #tsa20k

Laurie Weston Davis – @lauriewdavis
If you are not putting out quality content no one will want to subscribe to you @Chris_Smth #tsa20k

This is true to everything you do online. If you don’t give value, you won’t gain consumers trust.

Debra Trappen – @debra11
Enable subscription option…and then add your custom facebook URL 2 ur biz cards… via @Chris_Smth #tsa20k

Doug Francis – @dougfrancis
RT @melissaceja: Be relevant… Be professional… Be REAL GOOD! #tsa20k

Laurie Weston Davis – @lauriewdavis
An impersonal profile pic on your FB page is a huge waste of space @JimmyMackin #tsa20k

I’d also add that the profile picture should be a photo of you. Not the dog, cat, sky, or a cartoon. If I don’t know you and can’t see a photo of you, I will not connect with you.

Tony M TeVogt – @TCRealtorTony
RT @lauriewdavis: if you have a photo strip – put your branding there as well @JimmyMackin #Tsa20k

The photo strip is a great place to brand your page even more.

Roseville Heather O – @RosevilleRockLn
@TeriConrad @jimmymackin @brandpreneur #tsa20k so true about logo – and also use non-pixelated imagery and sized appropriately so not warped

If you want to set up a skyscraper style avatar, the best dimensions is 180 x 540. Also, make sure you set the thumbnail image so that it makes sense to those seeing your updates in the stream.

Oscar S. Bowen – @oscarbowen
RT @debra11: Even if you do NOT use Google+… you MUST fill out your G+ profile. VERY IMPORTANT in the land of “search”. #tsa20k

Of course Google+ profiles will be huge to your SEO rankings. They are owned by Google!

Oscar S. Bowen – @oscarbowen
RT @debra11: Even if you do NOT use Google+… you MUST fill out your G+ profile. VERY IMPORTANT in the land of “search”. #tsa20k

Of course Google+ profiles will be huge to your SEO rankings. They are owned by Google!

Chad Humphrey – @chadjhumphrey
@jimmymackin @Chris_Smth don’t spend ALL day on Facebook but spend EVERYDAY on Facebook…#tsa20k

Very true. While you don’t need to spend hours at a time online, you need to at least try to do it on a daily basis.

Stephanie L Davis – @StephLDavis
YES YES YES RT @debra11: REAL engagement. REAL value. REAL connections. Be REAL online. PLEASE. #tsa20k

So there it is. Highlights of the event with what I could consider the quotable items from through out the entire webinar. Take a minute to read and ponder on the items above. Also, take a minute to share all this knowledge with your friends by clicking on one of the social media buttons.

What Are You Thankful For?

Social Media Advisors, Social Media Speaker

So what are you thankful for? I went to Twitter and asked the following question:

“It’s Thanksgiving week. Tell me what you are thankful for in 140 characters or less!”

I received several responses which I found I could basically categorize into three different thoughts:

Tech/Funny Response:

Mike Mueller – @MikeMueller
@jb140 Thankful for? That’s easy, I’m thankful for Rick, Rebecca, Chuck, my sign, and that cop from Davis! http://t.co/FLMhWLzQ

Drew Meyers – @drewmeyers
@jb140 the internet #retechchat

Family

Happy Grasshopper – @gushopper
@jb140 My sweet husband and our growing family!

Nicholas Mercer – @oubipaws
@jb140 – my family and friends as well as the many opportunities given to me in my life.

Both of these two are about to become parents for the first time. Congrats Celeste & Oleg as well as Nicholas & Casey on the growing of your families! Becoming a parent is something definitely to be thankful for. It is one of the greatest things in the world!

ChrisBohn – @ChrisBohn
@jb140 -Thankful for my son, good health, and the ability to work and make a living for a happy home & life.

Kelly L Stevens – @EscrowKelly
Thankful that my husband is still with us! RT @jb140: It’s Thanksgiving week. Tell me what you are thankful for in 140 characters or less!

Juli Maichle – @kneatfreak
@jb140 Being JP & ME’s Mommy. Best experience in the world. So thankful.

Friends

Patricia Ann Young – @patriciayoung
GM lots to be thankful for: @jb140 @TheRealClint @AlbieVas @davidpatterson3 @RealEstateTonya @Amelissa1 @benbalsbaugh @KWCO

Tonya Hayes – @RealEstateTonya
thankful f u all! @patriciayoung @jb140 @therealclint @albievas @davidpatterson3 @amelissa1 @benbalsbaugh @kwco

Melissa Mckinney – @Amelissa1
GM you are right about that! #hugs @patriciayoung @jb140 @therealclint @albievas @davidpatterson3 @realestatetonya @benbalsbaugh @kwco

Instead of trying to write out everything I wanted to share a quick video of the things that I am thankful for from the past year:

Thank you to everyone who has helped make this past 12 months amazing! So in closing I ask you, what are you thankful for? Leave a comment below!

Creating An Online Magazine Of Your Content For The iPad

Custom WordPress Sites, Online Consulting, Social Media Advisors

Pads are quickly becoming one of the most popular digital devices ever. I recently read a report that said that more people are now connecting to WI-FI via an iPad than laptops. Why? They are easier to carry around, have a longer battery life and present the content in a more exciting way to the consumer.

Because of this, it is becoming increasingly important to offer this same experience of your content to consumers visiting your website. Magazine style sites for the iPad are one of the more popular ways that readers enjoy consuming content on the device. The quick loading images that you can scroll through and click on to get more content is much more appealing than just reading a bunch of links and clicking on the one you want.

Recently I found a great way to create your own magazine style version of your Custom WordPress Site called Onswipe. It allows you to bring in your content from not only your WordPress site, but also from other social media sources like Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, and many more.

The setup can be a little tricky if you don’t know how to insert code into your site or set up a subdomain, but if you do, you can have everything running without much hassle. If you are not comfortable with doing those types of things, I’d recommend either contact your webhost, or paying someone who understands this to do it for you.

Once you install the code and follow the steps to pull in your feeds, it takes all the content of your WordPress site and other sources and delivers it to consumers in a very unique magazine style layout. You instantly have a dynamic presentation of your content for consumers viewing on an iPad that gives them a memorable experience of your site. The plugin creates a visually appealing version of your site with large images, colorful titles & brief descriptions.

Here is a quick demo of Onswipe:

There are however some down sides to Onswipe. First, the customizations are somewhat limited right now. They allow you to pick from a few styles and change your title background color and font and that is about it for now. I also ran into a small issue if you try to use the feedburner feed for your posts. It doesn’t seem to like it, so you will need your WordPress feed which is normally something like http://mysite.com/feed.

Overall, I’d highly recommend checking out Onswipe and setting one up for your site. If you want help with setup, feel free to contact me for details. Also, grab your iPad and check out my site at https://210consulting.com

Planning For The Future By Succeeding In The Now

Online Consulting, Social Media Advisors

Technology is constantly changing. New social networks are being born each and every day. Companies develop new gadgets that now allow us to do things we never thought would be possible ten years ago.

Look at mobile phones for example: Ten years ago we carried around brick phones that allowed us to make phone calls and that was it. The craze back then was to buy a phone that came with the snake game installed. The thought of your phone allowing you to search the internet, give you directions, or update a social network was unheard of! Social networks didn’t even really exist.

While over the past few years we have made great strides in technology allowing us to do more things than ever before, it has also caused an addiction in many to finding “The Next Big Thing.” The minute a new social network launches everyone rushes to sign up and be a part. They spend countless hours trying to understand this network and how they can use it to give them some level of value. Unfortunately though, we spend too much time searching for the next hot buzz that we forget about current and present.

Focus On Now

Scott Stratten – @unmarketing
Instead of trying to figure out “what’s next” in social media/business/life, be great at what we have now.

If we spend too much time looking for new things and no time using what is working now, our business will start to fail. What works for your business right now? Is it blogging? Twitter? YouTube videos? If your business has had tremendous success with video, don’t suddenly abandon video because some expert mentions a new network that will revolutionize how we do business. It’s ok to be curious of new things, but they shouldn’t be the main focus of your business.

Want an example? Look at Google+. It launched with great fanfare and was the Buzz (pun intented) everywhere you turned. Everyone was talking about how this was the social network to destroy Facebook for once and for all. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Google+ is dead, but it has definitely lost it’s steam with the masses.

Bill Gade – @TopSEOranking
Google+ Pages Won’t Save Search Giant’s Social Network, Slate Says: Traffic-analysis firms have consistently rep… http://t.co/106mHObX

I’ve got a profile and business page there & will continue to test things out on the network. But, I spend probably less than 5% of my work week there in comparison to Facebook, YouTube & Twitter which get about 45% of my time. My blog gets about 45% of my marketing time with the remaining small fraction testing new products & services. It’s pretty simple to understand why I run my business this way as my site is by far the biggest generator of income for my business. Until I see something take it’s places as the main income generator, I will stick with this plan.

So in closing, if you are only out chasing new rainbows that may land you on the pot of gold on the newest adventure, it’s time to take a step back and work on what is generating income for your business presently. Focus on business of today more and less on what might come to be. While the future is important to your success, if you don’t put more thought into the current, there may be no future.