Social media for business : b101 ways to grow your business without wasting your time

Filled with the latest information on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other key social-media sites, this all-purpose guide provides specific strategies and tactics that focus on building business. In addition to marketing and PR, this resource addresses recruiting, risk management, cost, and other key business issues. Marketing, sales, public relations, and customer-service professionals within any business will learn how to save time and develop a weekly checklist of social-media priorities, connect social-media sites together, attract the right job candidates, and help improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Keeping a close eye on return-on-investment, this clever resource promises to help market-savvy businesses outpace their competition. Copyright 5 Acknowledgments 6 Disclaimer 6 Trademarks 6 Your "Members Only" Web site 7 Other Books by the Authors 7 Table of Contents 9 Chapter 1: Should Social Media Be Part of Your Marketing Mix? 20 Reality Check 22 Risks 23 Chapter 2: Deciding How (and Why) You Will Use Social Media 28 Strategic Hierarchy 28 Building Relationships 29 Be a Social Media Leader 29 Building a Following 31 Minimalist—Low-Hanging Fruit 31 Stay with the Pack—Keep Up with Competitors 32 Use it Selectively—Recruitment Only As an Example 32 Development of Your Personal Profile 33 How to Decide 33 Additional Resources 34 Books 34 Not a “Tack-on” 1 Social Media Integration 1 Quick Summary 1 Chapter 3: Integration of Social Media 35 Not a “Tack-on” 35 Social Media Integration 36 Quick Summary 37 Chapter 4: Your Core - Web Sites and/or Blogs 39 The Future: Is Your Web Site a Blog, or Is Your Blog a Web Site? 41 Content Repurposing 42 Additional Resources 44 Software and Tools 45 Chapter 5: SEO and Social Media 46 SEO Basics 46 RSS 47 Social Media Integration 49 Social Media SEO 50 Additional Resources 50 Articles 50 Chapter 6: LinkedIn 51 Overview 51 Profile 52 Recommendations 53 Groups 53 Applications 54 Microblogging 55 Job Postings 56 Answers 56 Company Page 57 LinkedIn Priority List: Personal 58 LinkedIn Priority List: Company 60 Ongoing Maintenance 61 Additional Resources 62 Software/Tools 62 Education 62 Books 63 Chapter 7: Facebook 64 Overview 64 Profile 65 Pages 66 Groups 69 Advertising 70 Applications 73 Facebook Future 74 Additional Resources 76 Software/Tools 76 Education 77 Articles 77 Books 78 Chapter 8: Twitter 79 What Twitter Is . . . and Isn’t 79 Twitter Strategies 82 Negative Strategies 82 Positive Strategies 82 Twitter Lists 84 Twitter Search/Twitter Trends 84 Twitter Management Tools 85 URL Shorteners 87 Attracting Followers 92 Getting Started with Twitter 94 First Steps 95 Additional Resources 95 Software/Tools 96 Education 97 Articles 98 Books 98 Chapter 9: YouTube and Other Video-Sharing Sites 99 Overview 99 Creating Video Is Easy 100 Sharing Is Easy 102 Make Your Video Easy to Find 102 Getting on the YouTube Home Page 103 Create and Customize Your Own Channel 103 Channel Customization 104 Promote Your Channel and Your Videos 105 Join or Create YouTube Groups 106 Advertise on YouTube 106 Other Opportunities and Options with YouTube 106 Video Syndication 107 Additional Resources 109 Software/Tools 109 Education 110 Books 110 Chapter 10: MySpace 111 Profile Page 111 Profile Page Customization 112 Groups 113 Forums 114 Events 114 Applications 115 Blogs 115 Email and Instant Messaging 116 Advertising 116 MySpace Brand Communities 118 Overall Recommendation 119 Additional Resources 120 Software/Tools 120 Articles 120 Chapter 11: Flickr 121 Sign Up for an Account 122 Upload Photos and Videos 124 Organize Your Photos and Videos 125 Promote Your Photos and Videos 125 Display Your Flickr Photos on Your Site or Blog 126 Share Flickr Photos 126 Enable Stats 128 Flickr App Garden 128 First Steps 128 Additional Resources 128 Software/Tools 129 Education 129 Chapter 12: Tier Two Sites 130 Overview 130 Plaxo 131 Naymz 135 Xing 137 Wikis 137 Digg 138 Del.icio.us 140 Sharing Tools 141 Additional Resources 142 Software/Tools 142 Education 143 Chapter 13: Other Sites 144 Overview 144 eBay 144 Answers Sites 146 Ratings Sites 147 Yahoo! 148 MSN/Windows Live 150 Ning and SocialGo 150 Google 153 First Steps 154 Additional Resources 155 Software/Tools 155 Books 155 Education 155 Chapter 14: Mobile Access 157 Overview 157 Interesting Stats 157 Applications 158 Mobile Capabilities Now and in the Near Future 161 First Steps 162 Additional Resources 162 Software/Tools 162 Books 163 Education 163 Chapter 15: Tactical Ideas 164 Sales 164 Customer Service 166 Marketing: General 166 PR and Crisis Management 169 Recruitment 170 Research and Development 172 Training 173 Finance and Administration 173 Supply Chain and Production 175 First Steps 175 Chapter 16: Putting the Plan Together 176 Planning 176 Define Social Media Audiences 176 Define Your Social Media Goals, by Audience 177 Benchmarks for Success 180 Risks 181 Implementation 181 Do the Work Internally 182 Outsource the Work 182 Launch Strategies 183 Gradual Ramp-up 183 Big-bang Launch: 183 Choosing an Agency or Consultant 184 General Recommendations 186 First Steps 186 Chapter 17: ROI and Measurement 187 Return on Investment 187 Several Approaches 189 Before You Start 189 What Is Being Measured? 190 Exposure 190 Engagement 191 Influence 191 Action/Results 192 Stats from Social Media Platforms 193 Additional Resources 193 Software/Tools 194 Articles 197 Education 197 Chapter 18: Keeping Up-to-Date 198 Learn from Your Network 198 Learn from Your (Younger) Staff 199 Learn from Your Investments 200 Learn from the Internet 200 About the Authors 202 Index 205 193164490X,9781931644907,1931644918,9781931644914 "Social Media is a powerful new tool for growing your business--but only if you know how to use it wisely. The biggest challenge today isn't how to "do" social media, but how to achieve your business objectives without wasting your time. In this easy-to-read book, popular Internet business authors Susan Sweeney and Randall Craig show you the specific business strategies and tactics you need to do just that. It is filled with ways to leverage the latest features of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, and many other key social-media sites so that you can be more effective and avoid time-wasting mistakes. And beyond the basics, you will learn about many advanced topics including FaceBook Open Graph, video syndication, Twitter management tools, measurement strategies, and more." "Social Media for Business contains over 101 useful tips, strategies, and techniques that can help you maximize the return on investment of your social media efforts. It provides you with a framework for building your social media strategy and then gives you the practical information you need to execute that strategy across multiple social media sites. You will also learn how to use social media as a tool for recruiting, risk management, cost reduction, and more." "Included with this book is a password needed to access the companion Web site, which provides up-to-the-minute social media news, expanded information, and other helpful resources. This book/Web site combination is unbeatable."--Jacket Provides information, tips, and strategies on how to effectively use social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, to grow one's business.