2012 -Time to Renew with Social Media

December 25, 2011

Happy New Year!  Here we are with 2012 just a week away.  Time just goes by so fast!  Happy New Year!  My calendar just seems to be on Steroids and my life! Do you relate?

With another year upon us we have so much to be thankful for yet our economy is not looking to well these days.  More than ever one needs to market their business as competition is stiff out there.  People are expecting to pay less while still getting more.

It is a great time to renew your Social Media business plan for the upcoming year and take a look back on this previous year in business.

About Social Media:

Social Media – The Next Best Thing to Being There in Person

While meeting with your clients and prospects in person is always the best way to build relationships, you might also consider Social Media.  Facebook is a wonderful place to get to know your clients and engage with your audience.

It has created an opportunity for anyone, anywhere, to have a voice.  Getting a message out no longer depends on how large a marketing budget is; in fact, it’s forced many companies to be creative; many have even hired social media consultants like myself to manage their social media campaigns. The good news is that anyone can learn how to benefit from social media.

You can Blog, Tweet, Facebook or create videos to draw in your targeted audience. What ever you do, you MUST jump on the social media wagon because Internet marketing has never been more necessary for small businesses that want and need an online audience.

Announce new products, post coupons, get to know your clients and their needs.  Don’t just sell them, get to know them!

If you want to brand yourself online please contact me. 

Visit my portfolio by clicking here.

Happy New Year!

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Posted by Jude Hodge

Marketing Your Business on Facebook

November 16, 2011

Your business should be on Facebook if it is not already.  Facebook is an amazing site to market on, for no cost.  Unless you hire someone like me to market for you and post content a few times a week.  I am blogging about this because I want to share what it takes to have a successful Facebook campaign.

  • How many friends you have is what your audience will be!  If you do not have many friends then you do not have a large group to market your new business page to.
  • If you have fewer than 200 fans on your business page and it is not growing it is because you may not have enough reach within your circle of friends.

Here are some ideas that work!

  1. Start adding more friends to your network, the more the better
  2. Join groups so you can get to know more people in the area in which you live.
  3. Let your customers know you have a Facebook page by advertising your Facebook Vanity Url in your business next to your point of sale, your business cards, newsletters, flyers etc….

Your Facebook page is just as important as having a website, as it can generate traffic to your website.  It can also help you build relationships with your clients, engage them in conversation, share information about your business and promote your brand.

Example of a banner for your business to have on the front door, point of sale area, etc…

Need a page like this for your business or someone like me to promote your page?

 Very affordable…call me! 541-933-5833

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Posted by Jude Hodge

Facebook Pages have the Viral Flu!

October 24, 2011
facebook

Facebook has made some great changes to Pages lately, and I can assume it will only keep getting better.  I love the new upgrade to the traffic reports and the invite friends and also recommendation links.  Facebook is Viral and traffic reports prove that.  It is the best flu your business can ever have.

Every business should have a professionally set up Facebook Business Page, end of story.  Where else can you meet and greet hundreds of thousands of friends/clients and potential customers and neighbors each day.  A website is great but only if people can find it and want to go there.  The great thing about Facebook is that it is forever changing and full of people and rich content.  Search engines are loving Facebook and often can find your business on Facebook before your website comes up.  They have improved their SEO features this year and have done a great job, just another way for your page to go viral with the flu!!

I believe every business should have a website, but honestly believe Facebook is the best way to drive traffic to it.  I would love to analyze your Facebook page at no cost to you…if you would like some honest feedback just send me the link.  judehodge@gmail.com  or call me at 541-933-5833

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Posted by Jude Hodge

Facebook Changes make me smile!

September 26, 2011
Andy Samberg on Beast

Image by niallkennedy via Flickr

I must be an outlaw…As I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new Facebook changes.  It is a step ahead into technology and gives us so many more tools to use to perfect our Facebook experience.

I am crazy about the new Facebook ticker at the top right…which lets you Facebook more while you Facebook!  I like seeing the updates in real-time and being able to hover over any of them with my mouse where they then appear to get larger and you can read the whole think without leaving the page!

Here is an example: you can see the ticker top right, I held my mouse over (where it is in yellow highlight)  and this pic and the contents popped up, yet I was still on my page!

Also I am using the new Timeline page already, you can too, but if you want to wait it is okay as Facebook rumor is that they will roll this out to everyone on the 30th of September.  I love the way you can add info you want to share with others, and no need to worry about privacy as it is easier than ever to set and change your privacy settings.  Learn more here.

I am enjoying the ease of use, such as the menu at the top of the page: (Click to enlarge)

Now check out the NEW LIST feature on your HOME PAGE. You can manage friends etc to groups you specify.

Lets elaborate on lists a bit…here is how simple it is:

Watch this quick video with instructions just click this link: http://screencast.com/t/ZCwdBA1Qacb

Want to give Facebook some feedback or ideas about their new changes? Do so here: https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=155833807823739&ref_query=facebook+changes

FYI according to MASHABLE:

Facebook has more users and more engagement than ever. We got two interesting nuggets of information out of Zuckerberg (and the Zuckerberg-impersonating Andy Samberg): Facebook has hit 800 million users, and most of them are active. The social network just saw a new record for the most visitors in one day: an eye-popping 500 million.

Rumors flew this week that Facebook would start charging, yet they have said in the past they never will and that fact remains.

Read here and smile, it is still useful, cool and free! http://touch.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10150420085741729&id=20531316728&refid=0

 

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Posted by Jude Hodge

Jobs & Social Media Privacy

September 11, 2011
Пирсинг_тоннели_медуза_бридж_лабрет

Image via Wikipedia

Just how private should your social media profile be?  Social Media like Facebook and others have taken over our lives, all around the world.  Now more than ever it is easy for a potential employer to find out more about you when looking through their applicants.  This can work in your favor or against you, depending on the image you portray in your social media pages.

A few months ago in a public group I saw a young stay at home mom seeking a part-time job.  She said she was willing to work any hours, had child-care for her child, that she just wanted to get out part-time and work.  I clicked on her photo to learn more about her as I knew of a few available jobs locally.  Her profile was not private and I saw that she liked to drink a lot of beer, and that her house was filthy as the carpets that her baby were crawling around on were filled with pet hair and crumbs. I also saw that her hair was purple and pink, she had large gauged holes in her ears that hung low, (like the photo above) her nose, lip, eyebrows and chin were pierced, she had tattoos on her neck and arms, her husband had just been released from jail…no I am not kidding as she had chatted about it on her profile page.

So personally I am sure she probably a nice person, but I know that 50% of the public would judge her, so as an employer I would think she would be a great applicant for a tatoo parlour, a hair salon that was trendy, and a place that does piercing, maybe a trendy young cafe etc…but she has narrowed her choices considerably or even the chance of getting an interview based on her profile.  Tatoo’s can often be hidden, piercings can come out and hair color can change.  The chat about jail and her husband made you wonder.

So I bring this all up not to judge her, as there is someone and something out there for everyone.  But I also know that she limits her possibilities having a page that just anyone can look at anytime, even a potential employer as if they are conservative like most then she missed out on ever getting an interview.

The message here…if you are looking for a job, who do you want your employer to know?  The professional you, or the friend, wife and mother trendy girl you are?  Choices?? You may want to reconsider your social media privacy choices.

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Posted by Jude Hodge

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