3 Ways That Could Harm Your Social Media Networking

Being new to social media let alone to social media networking or social media marketing can leave you dazed and overwhelmed. After all, there are articles after articles written, videos created, and social media information shared, discussed and even taught every millisecond. Social media is about developing relationships. It is about staying connected with people, educating them with the latest and coolest apps as well as sharing and applying these techniques to their social functions or businesses. Anyway, if you are like me, learning social media could be a never ending task. In fact, and if you let it, it can even turn you into a social media perpetual student!

Let's fast forward. Here you are with social media platforms accounts from either Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WordPress and more. In the beginning you are excited to learn about this trend, interacting with folks with various backgrounds and posting messages on a regular basis. Few months or even few weeks go by, your interactions, Tweets, etc. declined. Unfortunately, if you are trying to build your business, promoting your brand, and reaching out to the masses [new and current clients] by utilizing social media platforms, not developing or neglecting your accounts may hinder your goal or productivity.

So what are the 3 ways that could harm your social media networking?

• Stop updating your profiles. Don't let your Facebook, Twitter or other accounts go inactive. Do update them regularly. if you have several accounts set up at one time, there are several tools such as TweetDeck, SocialoOmph, or even Seesmic you can use that will integrate your posts or send updates to all your accounts at once. If you are currently using an iPhone or Android, download these apps to your phone to update your status. However, be careful not to automate your updates more than usual as this is not beneficial. Do keep in mind that people like to interact directly [see next tip].
  

• Stop interacting with people. Social Media is about building relationships and staying in connection with people. If you stop interacting, they will do the same to you. Do remain in contact with both your current and previous followers from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other platforms. One way to do so is retweeting their posts or mentioning their posts to your online connection. This is easy to do on Facebook, Tweeter and LinkedIn. Another is to follow your followers as well as try to get into a habit of adding and inviting a few followers to your profile. In doing so, it helps you build your connection as well as your online presence. In addition, fanpage owners love it when new folks "like" their Facebook fanpage.

• Stop learning about social media. As mentioned before, social media could turn you into a perpetual student. After all, there are millions of information about this subject and learning them all is next to impossibility but it is interesting, nonetheless. Learning about the latest technology and coolest trends, such as the QR Code [Quick Response] or Mobile Marketing and much more can be fascinating. Hence, social media is about being "now" rather than being "later." However, and just like your profiles, updating your knowledge on this topic is not only important but essential if you have the desire or the interests to become skilled in this area. If not, that's OK too; however, keeping yourself on the "know!"

Hope this post is helpful. Would love to connect with you on and I will do the same :)

• Facebook -- http://www.facebook.com/ismllc
• Twitter -- http://twitter.com/iSocialMobile
• LinkedIn -- http://www.linkedin.com/in/ialliston

How Social Media Is Beneficial For Restaurants

If you’re a business owner, specifically, a restaurant owner, multitasking is a key element dealing with staff, managing customer service, event planning, accounting, advertisements, decorations, vendors, inspections, inventories and even down to the menus and specials for the today. To say the least, there are a lot of on your plate! Being an owner and or a manager of a restaurant is hard work but it’s also satisfying to see that all that hard work and effort come to fruition.It’s an amazing feeling!
But, let’s face it – social media is probably the last thought a restaurant owner has in mind. After all, they are either busy managing their business, busy learning about social media and put it to good use or simply may have heard of it, but unsure where to begin. Knowing how to market your business using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn  and to gain visibility online is not always easy or time consuming but it’s possible. Let me show you the advantages of having a social media profiles for your business.

Facebook -

1. If you already have a personal account, create a fanpage that will enable your customers and future patronage to check you out online. (If you don’t have a personal account yet, create a simple one. Remember, you will need a personal account first before you can create your own business fanpage).
2. Offer discounts or specials on a regular basis to entice customers to come in and dine at your establishment by posting information online daily or weekly.
3. Encourage your staff to inform your customers to check your Facebook Fanpage. In turn, also invite your staff to “like” your fanpage to grow participation and involvement with your employees.
4. Use the search option to search people who may be interested in your restaurant and interact with them – better yet, “friend” them!
5. You can ask questions to your customers and audiences, and answer questions directly and privately as well.

Twitter –

1. Similar to Facebook, this type of platform encourages business owners to gain online presence and brand awareness.
2. Setting up a Twitter account is simple to do. You can create your profile using your restaurant name or even your name, if you’d like.
3. Again, similar to Facebook, you can also search people who maybe interested in your establishment.
4. The best way to gain “followers” is to also follow them, interact with them and to “Retweet” (RT) their comments or posts online. ‘
5. Remember that Twitter only allows 140 characters so conversation will be short.

LinkedIn –

1. This is an ideal place for businesses, executives,  and entrepreneurs – but truly anyone really who wants to establish their “brand” and “brand awareness.”
2. You can also search for specific target customers. Do make sure that your LinkedIn profile is filled out completely so that readers can view your profile completely.
3. Similar to Facebook and Twitter, you can also communicate and stay engage not only your customers, but also leaders in the same field or other fields.
4. You can also have your customers endorse or recommend your restaurants by simply posting their announcements about you, customer service, staff, etc.

Social Media is a great online networking tool that almost, if not everyone can use and be a part of. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn are user-friendly enabling everyone to utilize it’s potential to grow your business, increase brand awareness and online visibility. As for restaurant owners, it’s a great way to offer discounts on a regular basis without print ads or the high costs associated with it and still remain connected with customers as well as a larger audience online.

3 Top Social Media Manager Passions

Social Media Manager, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Networking and even Social Media Virtual Assistant are important terms, or keywords that social media team players as well as social media enthusiasts love to read, learn and or write about. After all, social media is the “it” brand nowadays in regards to marketing your company, products and services both offline and online. In addition, social media is an implementation of developing and building social authority. Large corporations, small firms and entrepreneurs utilize social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, WordPress, TypePad, Plaxo, FourSquare, and many others in some level. If not, they will soon enough.

Enter Social Media Manager. What is a social media manager (besides being sociable)? Social Media Manager interacts, engages, researches,  writes, knowledgeable about social media and manages social media platforms on a regular basis. He or she is a marketer and a social media marketer. She or he loves to learn about the latest technology and applications and embrace them. Having said all this, what are the three (3) top passions of social media manager?

1. Passionate about helping people. They love to interact with people on a regular basis. In fact, they thrive on human interaction.You will find them socializing in many events, conducting webinars or teleconferences, and or hosting an event. Did I also mention they love to share their knowledge as well?
2. Passionate about education – whether educating people or bettering themselves, they are continually learning, reading and writing about social media. In addition, they love to show people what they know, what they’ve learned and how to implement what they’ve learned into marketing efforts. In any case, they are often, if not always, hungry for more knowledge.
3. Passionate about social media. They are huge  fans of social media. They may not always know every plug-ins or techniques from all social media platforms, but they know enough how to implement and utilize them. If not, they will find a way to learn it. They are natural-born seekers of anything social media.

Social Media is a key tool in marketing a company and branding awareness, but just the same, social media manager is also an important element. Social Media Managers can assist companies and entrepreneurs grow their online presence and monitor (also called as “analytics”) their brand awareness both online and offline. They are strategic gurus, educator and brand-builder.