A lot of businesses think that simply Tweeting about a sale, event or promotion will bring people in their doors, to their websites and money in their bank accounts. This, although true for many larger well known businesses, is not true for smaller businesses. We are not easily known nor is our logo quickly recognized by thousands, but this isn’t quite a bad thing. Tweeting may be the first step, but never make it the last step.

Let’s say you’re planning a local event or sale.

Twitter may be your first stop/ thought to promote, but do you have a landing page with details or a way for people to contact you with questions? Are you reaching out to other networks?

Here is exactly what I would do and the sites I would use, including Twitter, to promote my event.

Event name: Fake Event/ Sale 2012

Sites to use:

Your own website/ blog – List all details (directions, attire, date/ time and contact information)

Tumblr

This Social Blogging site is one of my favorites and has a ton of possibility for sharing and indexing. Make sure to build a following on the backside and add all proper keywords as well as a link to an event posting or listing, preferably the LinkedIn or Facebook event and your website.

Facebook

Fanpage if applicable as well as the creation of a Facebook event

Tip: Unless completely unable to, create your event under your personal account. Creating it under a page takes away the ability to contact and message those that have RSVP’d yes and maybe as well as those that have yet to RSVP. 

LinkedIn

You can create an event here just like on Facebook. Share the event on your LinkedIn profile. You can also send individual messages to connections you know would be interested in attending.

Google+

If you’ve begun using this platform then I suggest promoting here as well. Be sure to use your location as a hashtag (mine would be #Tampa) for others to find it as well as predetermined hashtag for said event.

Local media blogs

Here in Tampa the TBO.com is a great place to list your event as are many of the local radio stations and other media sites. Do a search in your town for local media sites and see if they have an event submission section or an email address to send news/ events to.

Local bloggers

See if any would be willing to blog about your upcoming event. Make sure you give them all of the details as well as how they can stay up to date with the event details. Include your Twitter, Facebook, website, Tumblr, Foursquare and contact email as well as all details for the event.

Foursquare

If you have a physical location the possibilities are endless. List on the locations Foursquare page about the upcoming event, if it’s your own listing and the event or promo costs money, make a Foursquare special with a percentage off of the event or promo OR create a special that gives people an incentive to attend.

Pinterest

I personally haven’t had a chance to test out how well event promotion is on here, but I soon will and what can it hurt if you’re already pinning away?

EXAMPLE: Join us Sat for out Fake Event/ Sale – Check in and receive a free cupcake (or something like that)

Don’t Forget The Press Release!!! 

Eventful.com

Great place to post local events and sales

Video and Image for promotion

Use sites like YouTube and FlickR if you want to take your promotions one step further with a more visual aspect.

Twitter

Yes now we can come back to Twitter. Now we have a place to send people to. We have listings on other networks.

Do you have a #hashtag picked out? For our event we’ll use #FakeEvent2012 and every time we Tweet about the event we’ll add that at the end of the Tweet. Why use a hashtag? Easy tracking to see who else is talking about your event or sale

In conclusion, if you Tweet it they might come, but your chances are much higher when you take advantage of all that is in front of you.

More often than not people feel like their Social Media efforts are getting them nowhere. This is extremely common especially for the smaller, lesser known businesses, products and brands. When things don’t go the way we planned we immediately think that Social Media itself is to blame and that it really will never work for what your goals are.

This is in fact incorrect and here are 10 reasons why things may not be working in your favor Online.

1. Your goals are unrealistic

2. You skimp on the engagement

3. You follow everyone

4. You dedicate all of your personal accounts to advertising

5. Your strategy is to “wing it”

6. You’re too afraid to be different

7. The message is never different

8. You choose automation over real time engagement

9. You wait

10. You gauge your success by how many followers you have and what your Klout score might be

11. You gave up to soon

When all else fails try consulting a Social Media Strategist to assist in figuring out why things aren’t working and help creatively come up with new campaign; try keeping track of your Social Analytics as well as this will show you what creates the engagement and what is being ignored.

Did you know LinkedIn has a limit as to how many groups a person can join? They do and that number is 50. Many people will eventually hit their limit and have to re-evaluate the groups they are connected to, but how do you actually leave a group?

Here are simple steps to help you trim the fat and allow you to connect with new groups.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Tip for group owners: Keep your page moderated and interesting so yours isn’t one users choose to purge.

2011 has flown by. It was one of the best years I’ve had in quite a while and honestly have nothing to complain about. Now anyone that knows me knows I complain, but really… I have had an amazing year, and even the stress and struggles as well as another battle with pneumonia, this year has been a blessing. Everything negative can be taken as a lesson learned which then turns it to a positive, right?

Soooo… 2012 is literally a couple of days away and I want to share with you some of my goals…. Not resolutions, but goals for the coming year.

• Blog more tutorials and tips around Social Media, being a woman entrepreneur and business owner.
• Help more people. That’s right, I want to help more people become successful with their Social Media. This doesn’t mean I want to work for them for free, but I do think I want to start a chat or designate a specific email or platform where people can easily send me questions.
• This is personal, but does involve business as eating healthier means I am healthier, more alert, and happy.
• Take more breaks away from technology – I’m only talking hours, not days…. I don’t think I could do that yet.
• Visit new places locally – I’ve lived in the Tampa area for going on 4 years and still have no clue where I’m going nor have I been to many places so if you know of any specific place I should visit, let me know!
• This goes along with the above goal as I would also like to do new things – You know I’ve never been deep sea fishing or even been out on a boat in the Gulf…
• I am determined to help make two other business endeavors absolutely amazingly successful – shameless plug —> Geek Is Single and Seek.ly
• Make new friends – who couldn’t use a few more awesome people in their lives anyways?
• Tell the people in my life more often how much they inspire, motivate, and/ or simply make my days a little brighter as often as I can.
• Travel more
• Stress less
• Laugh and smile more
• Say no more often – I know many people can relate to why this is important.
• Complain less
• Say please and thank you more often

What goals do you have?

… another year like 2011.

I want nothing more than continued success for not only myself and my company, but for friends, family and business partners. I want to continue to learn and grow. I want to continue to be a part of  the lives of my dear old friends as well as make new ones. I want to

give back when and where I can and most importantly… All I really want for Christmas is for everyone in my life to know that in one way or another they have made an impact in my life and where I am today is a result of that impact. From business partnerships to the people that have motivated me throughout the year, events that I’ve been a part of organizing, campaigns I’ve worked on and clientsI’ve secured…..

I have truly been blessed and am grateful.

So yeah, to have another year like this one would be on the top of my list this holiday season – unless you know where I can get a yet to be announced or released iPhone 5.

Here are two examples of creative holiday themed contests being held on Facebook and promoted via Social Media.

HR Shield – “Deck your Office Holiday Contest”

Contest Details

Do you deck your office, cubicle or desk for the holidays? We want to give you the chance to win one of two $100 Best Buy gift cards.

This could buy a lot of new pencils (LOL)
How To Enter

• Simply take a picture of your office holiday decorations
• Enter the contest by visiting our Facebook fanpage and clicking “Submit Entry”
• Upload your entry

How To Win

• Encourage your friends, co-workers, family and friends to vote for your submission.
• Voters can vote once per day during the contest period.

1st place is the entrant with the highest number of votes by 12/22/11. These votes are chosen by public voting. Winner will receive a $100.00 gift card to Best Buy.

HR Shield’s Pick -This winner will be chosen by all of us at HR Shield from the pictured entered on the contest tab. The HR Shield Pick winner MUST have someone in the picture of the office decorations wearing the ugliest Christmas/ holiday sweater they could find. Winner will receive a $100 Best Buy gift card

Winners will be announced on our Facebook page, Twitter (@HR_Shield) and our blog (hr-shield.com/blog) on Friday December 23, 2011
Remember:
This image MUST be of your office, cubicle, desk or work space
To enter an individual MUST upload an image of their office holiday decorations to the HR Shield contest application tab.
Visit your submission daily to vote.
Good luck and Happy Holidays!

Tropik Media – “Holiday Ad Contest”

Contest Details

Are you running a holiday themed Facebook or Adwords advertisement this season?

We deck our offices and homes for the holidays, what about our Online advertising?

If you’re running an Online ad via Google Adwords or Facebook ads you can enter for your chance to win a ZAGGsparq 2.0 charger ($99.99 value).

Email… The biggest pain when it comes to my digital life. My inbox gets so cluttered and has accumulated so much crap that I’ve decided to start my New Year every year from here on out with a sparkly clean inbox and updated email. 

I try to be as organized as I can, but I’m starting to realize that I may be OVER organizing causing even more clutter and cluster than necessary.

Here are some things that need to be done to get your inbox down to 0 as well as remove the clutter.

• file all emails needing to be saved in their allocated folders.
• delete read emails that need no response and respond to those that do.

Tip: As you’re going through your emails, are you noticing that you’re skipping over any newsletters or subscriptions? Start 2012 with the newsletters and subscriptions you want to read and unsubscribe from those that you don’t. It will cut out the clutter throughout the year.

• Are you finding a ton of emails from Castleworld or Zombie land on Facebook….. “Thou hast requested thy presence in the kingdom….. blah blah blah <— delete and create a filter for these to go straight to the trash, unless you want these to clutter up your inbox.
• If you’re anything like me you have multiple email addresses pointing to one email, mine is gmail, and I file away all important emails pertaining to clients, website info etc… in their respective folder. Before the end of the year clean out your folders and store all current ones in a 2011 main folder. Create a new 2012 main folder and then subfolders for all necessary filing. Example folder: KiMedia Clients – 2012

How many times do you see your connections sharing blog posts, videos and links to their website? If your Twitter stream looks anything like mine, your answer might be “too often”.

Too often I see people on Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn simply “push content” and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this my friends… THIS is not a Social Media or any kind of Internet strategy. This can most definitely be a piece to the puzzle, but this should never be the main focus.

People log onto Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many other platforms for many reasons. A few of these reasons would be to communicate, connect and engage as well as consume content. Saying “hello” to someone on Twitter may seem silly; just as silly as perhaps sharing an image of your morning coffee, but we’re human… Humans are social creatures which is why you need to be sure to keep the majority of your focus on keeping it social. Yes, this means you. 

Did you know that 51% of Facebook users and 64% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from the brands they follow?

This is a great statistic, but how do brands get people to connect with them? That’s right…. back to that this called engagement.

So how does someone get started with  Social Media strategy?

Let’s break it down and use Twitter as an example

First step is to obtain your Twitter handle – is your company name available? Is the name too long? Let’s figure out the best way to begin building your presence with your Twitter name. If your desired name is available, you’re lucky. If it isn’t  you need to figure out if abbreviating your name is the best route to take or what name you want to have.

Tip: You are able to change your Twitter name, but I don’t recommend it at all.

Step 2 – Upload your logo/ image. This is how people will visually remember you.

Step 3 – Fill out your bio, link to your website and add your name (company or personal depending on what type of an account it is.

Tip: I personally suggest you create a personal and a business account as sometimes it’s not going to make sense to Tweet about the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy through a business Twitter account.

Step 4 – Visually brand your company with your Twitter background.

Step 5 – Do some keyword research on Twitter. Are people talking about your brand/ product/ business OR what you’re interested in? Are there Twitter chats around these keywords? This is step 5, 6.5, 7.5 etc…. Always be doing keyword research. Always be seeking out new connections.

Step 6 – Join in the conversation. It’s OK. It’s not like you’re cutting anyone off mid sentence, plus Tweeting @ someone raises their Klout score, right?! < —-  Inside joke. I’m definitely NOT Klout’s biggest fan.

Step 7 – Start sharing your content, but STAY social. I’m not going to tell you anything like “You MUST have 1 promotional Tweet for every 3 @replies” because that’s just plain ridiculous. Only you and/ or your Social Media Strategist can decide what content works and how often links should be shared. Just don’t make that the focus of your Twitter stream.

Step 8 – Continue engaging, continue seeking and continue being your awesome self and in time you will be rocking your Twitter account.

Guest post by Courtney Alexander, Intern at KiMedia Strategies. Find Courtney Online at twitter.com/tupieta and tupieta.net.

The Holiday season is the perfect time to refresh your company’s brand and bring in a little cheer. Consumers have been looking at a lot of the same marketing material all year so why not get festive and show your holiday spirit! Not only will you be updating your brand, you will catch the attention of new consumers and also show that your company is approachable. Below are some great tips to help you get started:

1. Evaluate your voice

This step is crucial for any marketing campaign or promotional material. Know your audience and know your message. Although you want to have fun with the promotions it is crucial that your brand’s voice can be heard above all the cheer. Don’t let your message get lost in the Santa clipart.

2. Choose a theme

Consistency is key. Repeat elements throughout your campaign so your brand stays recognizable. This could be a particular character illustration or even just a color scheme. It’s also important to note that you don’t always have to stick to illustrations. If you’d like to keep things a little more sophisticated try using some great stock photos of winter and holiday scenery.

3. Try different materials

With internet and social media it is easy to worry about only online materials. However this is a great chance to impress clients and even future prospects by creating specialty marketing material. Send some specialized holiday greetings or even create your own wrapping paper. There are many sites available now that specialize in digital printing on merchandise. If you’re really advanced you can even opt for laser cutting or 3d printing.

Print materials not in your budget? No problem, there are still ways to stay creative online. Videos are a great way to show a more human connection. It is more important than ever for consumers to feel there are real people behind a brand.

4. Be sincere

Most of all, don’t be a scrooge. Your goal is to promote your business, however having a sincere holiday spirit will help you shine above the rest. Show your clients and partners that you appreciate them. Research has proven the power of recognition and praise in engaging others, whether it be your employees or customers. Using positive reinforcement is a great way to ensure your clients will  not only come back, but also refer you to others.

Using these tips will help ramp up your brand and get you off to a great start for the New Year. You can also refer back to this article throughout the year for other holiday or specialty promotions. Consistency is key, however taking advantage of the seasons will help keep your brand fresh.

 A few resources

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Holiday-Wrapping-Paper/242261

http://www.behance.net/gallery/BBDO-WRAPPING-PAPER_HOLIDAY-CARD/449503

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Wrapping-Paper/1137331

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Futuristic-Christmas-2010-2011/875708

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Holiday-09-Self-Promo/115902

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Happy-Holidays-2010/877974

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Happy-Holidays/879386

http://www.behance.net/gallery/MOODit-Happy-Holidays/876801

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Holiday-Greetings-from-Michigan-Engineering-2010/849475

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Happy-holidays-from-Barcelona/880971

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Christmas-Wishes/880202

http://www.feltandwire.com/2010/01/07/getting-oohs-aahs-omgs-with-laser-cutting/

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Plantable-Holiday-Card/347434

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Ho-Ho-Ho-Merry-Happy/2564105

“I am grateful for what I am and have.
My thanksgiving is perpetual…
O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches.
No run on my bank can drain it
for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”

- Henry David Thoreau

It’s that time of the year, the time where we talk about all of the things we are thankful for. Some people chose to Tweet, Facebook and/ or blog each day throughout the month of November. I am choosing to, for the rest of the week, blog and post on the many platforms I’m a part of the many things I am thankful for starting today with a few things I am the most thankful for; especially today.

My Family 

As crazy as they can sometimes be, without them I wouldn’t be where I’m at. I’m thankful to have been raised the way I was. I’m thankful for the time I have with my family and thankful that they understand and accept my crazy, busy life these days.

My Friends

Both old and new, without these people in my life… well my life would be boring, that’s for sure. Good friends are very hard to come by and I’ve realized in the past few months that everyone you meet isn’t looking for a friendship. I’ve also learned that this is OK.

I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to go back home after 3 years and spend 2 weeks with some old friends, drink some Bud Light and sing some horrible karaoke. I’m thankful that when I’m having a horrible day I know someone will be on the other end of the phone to help me see the silver lining.

I’m extremely thankful for those friends that motivate, inspire and help me when I’m at a loss for what to do next both in business and in my personal life. If I don’t say it enough, thank you.

My Clients

These people are pretty awesome and for obvious reasons I am thankful for them.

My Health

This time last year I went to the hospital having a severe asthma attack and was hospitalized for 4 days. I am thankful for this experience as it gave me a reason to finally quit smoking.

I do believe everything happens for a reason.

What are some things you are thankful for?