Social Media Advisors – Page 41 – We are Social Media Advisors, a Social Media Speaker, & Custom WordPress Site design.

Trends for 2011: No More Chasing Social Media Rainbows

I am regularly asked by clients what is the next newest, latest & greatest social network to be coming down the pike. They want the jumpstart on the next hot thing so they can beat their competition on getting set up there before everyone else. They feel if they are the first there, they can be an expert and have a leg up on everyone else. Also, they are looking for the “next big thing” or as I call it the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. So, I decided that today I am going to share with you my predictions for 2011 and what I feel is going to be the next greatest things to get your business connected into. Some of you probably have heard of these before, but others of you may not. For those looking to get a leg up on the competition, here’s what I feel will help you to accomplish this in the new year.

So what is hot for 2011?

Surprisingly this is very simple to answer. I think that what’s hot for 2011 is the same things that were for 2010. Too many times we spend hours and hours searching for the next shiny object instead of figuring out the best ways to optimize the things that are already there. The key is going to be optimizing our efforts better than our competition in each. If half the time we spent looking for new and better ways to get the prize were spent on using the tools we already know are working, we would be so much closer to the actual prize we are pursuing.

Here are three things that you need to strive to perfect for 2011.

1. Fully Optimized Site

Just like the past several years, the absolute most important thing you can focus your time on for 2011 is your site. If you do not have a successful site first and foremost everything else you do online is futile. Make sure this next year you place plenty of time into your schedule to work on your site.

Each week you need to focus on writing high quality blog posts, optimizing your static pages, and focusing on things to increase your SEO. (new pages of content, more back links, etc). This needs to be the main focus of everything you do for your online marketing this next year. Also, do not forget the visual appeal of your site. It’s important too. I am a big believer that WordPress is one of the best options available for your new site. In the middle of this year we switched our site from a standard static website to a Custom WordPress Site and our search engine rankings, traffic to the site, and business all increased exponentially when we did so.

If you set your site and blogging as your main priority in 2011 I can almost guarantee you will see an increase in leads and business this coming year.

2. Stop Fighting the 800 lb. Gorilla.

As 2010 comes to an end, the reports say that Facebook currently has over 500 million members with half of them logging on daily. They also say that the average person has over 135 friends on Facebook. That being said, every business needs to develop their strategy for using Facebook for business. It’s time to stop fighting Facebook and giving the excuse that it is not a good means of generating business because it is just a bunch of people talking about what they did last night.

A Facebook page that is operated properly can generate a major increase in business and traffic to your site. A good friend of mine has a page with over 12,000 fans and sees almost 45% of all the traffic into his site coming directly from their Facebook page. On average, this site is seeing over 64,000 visitors to their site each month. That means that Facebook is responsible for sending 28,000 people to the site each month. Obviously, it’s no longer just about what you did last night, but instead is a great marketplace to generate new business.

The two big mistakes I see in Facebook pages that most of the content shared on Facebook pages are directing the traffic away from your brand and off to other websites, YouTube videos, and places other than their home base. What this does is pushes all your consumer base off of your Facebook page and to other places that do not help increase your business or drive traffic to you. Instead do what you can to keep the conversation either on your page or drive it over to your website. The second issue I encounter a lot is that the page is about you the business and not about the consumers. If you start asking questions and giving good quality content, the consumers will be more inclined to interact and participate on your site.

3, She’s No Longer Your Red Headed Stepchild.

I’ve heard Twitter called the red headed stepchild too many times over the past year. Too many people do not understand Twitter and due to this lack of knowledge, they never start using it. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. Other businesses and consumers are on Twitter daily looking to make connections and build networks. If you continue to ignore Twitter you are passing up many opportunities for business.

My advice is that you need to just take the time to set up an account and dive right in. The potential inside Twitter is endless. What is missed by so many is that Twitter needs to be used as a means of conversation and engagement. If you focus just 5-10 minutes each day on communicating with others on Twitter, your sphere will grow. If you spend another 5-10 minutes working searching for others to connect with you will be well on your way to success on Twitter. If you are not sure how to use Twitter, I have a few resources for you.

So there’s my predictions for 2011. Simply focus on the things that are proven successes and using each platforms to the best of your ability. If you focus the time you would spend searching for the next shiny object on these three things, I can all but guarantee that 2011 will be your best year ever! Here’s to a great 2011!

The Best of 2010- Year in Review

Custom WordPress Sites, Facebook, Facebook For Business, How To Blog, Online Consulting, SEO, Social Media Advisors, Social Media Training

As this year comes to an end I always try to reflect back and see what successes and what struggles we faced as a company and reflect as we make our preparations for the upcoming year. One of the places where I start this is by looking at my Google Analytics to see what pages, what posts were the most popular of this year. This post will share what you the visitors of 210 found important and were interested in.

Here are the top 5 most visited posts from this past year:

5. Goo.gl Changes Link Shortening

The first week of October I wrote about Goo.gl releasing a link shortener how this could be used to build QR codes, track the traffic instantly to a specific link & also share that information collaboratively with others to view. One of the links shared via goo.gl has already received over 500 clicks in the last two months from over 8 countries.

4. Using Creative Commons Photos- For FREE!

This past year I was asked over & over how to get safe and legal photos to use in your blogs. I was spending so much time teaching people how to do this that I finally made a short video and wrote a blog post on how to do this. It seems that people really wanted to know how this was done by the amount of traffic the post has received. If you are looking to get good photos for free for your posts, check this one out.

3. Facebook Page of 47,000 Gets Shut Down Over Vanity URL.

The online community really shocked me by the power they posessed when Jonathan Rivera and the Real Estate Referral Group page was shut down. The reason it was shut down was over a trademark violation in the user name he chose for the group. Even though he tried to get Facebook to change the URL he was unsuccessful and the page was then shut down. However after the post we wrote here on 210 and the one over on Tech Savvy Agent and a massive online effort by thousands, the page was reinstated & the URL was changed.

2. Custom WordPress Sites.

This was an actual page of our site and was neck and neck all year long with #1 for the most popular thing on our site. While this is not an actual blog post and is a static page, I was amazed to see the amount of traffic it has received this year. What it shows to me is that people are recognizing the importance of having a powerful website. It also shows me that you have realized the importance of your site having a solid platform like WordPress powering it with their great plugins and blogging components.

1. Google Instant and How it Will Change Your Keywords

In September of this year Google release Google Instant. The day that it was released I wrote a blog post about my thoughts on Google Instant and what I thought it meant towards search engine rankings. This post was by far the most popular one of the year receiving 2 1/2 times the traffic of any other blog post on our site. People understand that while social is important, having a good grasp on SEO is huge. It also showed me that in the upcoming year we need to do classes and posts regarding SEO. I think one of the reasons this post received so much traffic was due to the amount of people sharing the content on both Facebook & Twitter. It was shared on Twitter 66 times and Facebook an additional 41 times.

So as we make our plans for next year, be on the lookout for a post this coming week where we will share about some of the things 210 has in store for next year & also a post regarding what we see as the hottest new things for 2011 that you want to jump on before everyone else.

Thanks to everyone for an amazing 2010 and for Jason & myself we want to wish each and every one of you a Happy Holidays and an amazing new year!

Are you the Barney Fife of Social Media?

Social Media Advisors, Social Media Training

When I was a kid, my grandfather used to pick me up from school most days, and we would hang out all afternoon until my mom came to pick me up from his house. He would usually make me some macaroni and cheese, or some (rather amazing) home-style fries. While we were together, we’d watch TV, typically old shows that were in syndication, like “Gilligan’s Island”, or “Father Knows Best”. One of my favorites was “The Andy Griffith Show”, and I can still whistle the theme song pretty well, truth be told.

In case you’re not already familiar with the characters, Barney Fife was played by Don Knotts, and he was the bumbling deputy to the supremely calm sheriff Andy Taylor, played by Griffith himself. Along with his hilarious and goofy manner, one of the more memorable things about Barney was how he handled his firearm. As a law enforcement officer in tiny (and fictional) Mayberry, North Carolina, there was never much need for a gun, so Barney kept his bullet(s) in his front pocket. Despite some big talk, Barney was not that well-equipped in the courage department, either.

Needless to say, whenever he thought he might need to use it, he had a tough time getting his gun loaded quickly, and it made for some funny and clumsy slapstick comedy.

With Barney in mind, have you found yourself content to leave your bullets in your pocket? Are you using new media tools fully, or shying away from some stuff because it seems pointless or even scary? I can emphatically state that I felt less-than-thrilled about Facebook, Twitter, and even blogging before I started using them actively. Each of them has its benefits and drawbacks, of course, but they have each brought me real-world dollars, so I can’t ignore that.

A couple of quick words of general advice about using social media:

1. Be persistent. It may take time for your efforts to pay off. Set the appropriate expectations for yourself. If you stick with it, opportunities will likely surface.
2. Be yourself. Yes, really. It’s that simple. If you meet an online friend for the first time, and it feels like you’re meeting an old friend, you’re doing it right.
3. Don’t oversell anything. If you think of new media tools in terms of real-life networking, give some sincere thought to how often you “pitch” your services. No one wants to be “that guy” or “that lady” that people dread seeing or talking to because he/she is always working a business angle.

Social media has presented all of us with an interesting opportunity. In 1998, when I started my first website for my real estate business, people acted like it was a strange idea, and a waste of time. Since then, we’ve had many millions of dollars in sales from that site. I see the same pattern emerging today with new media tools. I still hear stuff like, “What good does being on Twitter do for you?” or “Why do I need a blog anyway?”. These are the same folks who will be kicking themselves (some already are) for not acting sooner and using the FREE online tools available to them for promoting their brand/business.

Don’t be a Barney. Be prepared when opportunities arise. Social media is one such opportunity.