Social Media STRATEGIES
for beginners
Brenda Horton
Social Media Evangelist @Hware
Twitter: @BrendaHorton
Facebook: facebook.com/BrendaTelloHorton
Fan Page: facebook.com/HwareFB
blog: www.hware.com/blog

Welcome
If you are just entering the
Webinar, we invite you to
introduce yourself and tell
us where you are from
in chat.

Heads-up!
• If you can’t hear, un-mute speakers, make
sure your speakers are on and the volume
is turned up.
• Still cannot hear? Let us know via chat and
we will check into it.
• Brenda will do her best to answer most of
the questions at the end of the webinar.
• When posing a question use two question
marks symbols ?? to begin your question.

If you like what
you are
hearing, feel
free to tweet
it or
Facebook
it!

What is social media?
You could ask the same
question to 10 different
social media experts and
you will get ten different
answers.

WHY?
While social media has gone
mainstream, it is still in its
infancy. Therefore, you are
going to hear a wide variety
of opinions on how and why
it should and could be used.

However
• There are some best practices that most
social media Power Users agree on.
• For the purpose of our webinar, I will be
discussing these best practices as they
pertain specifically to small businesses.

Agenda
• How social media is REVOLUTIONIZING
our relationships.
• How RELATIONSHIPS are the foundation
of your social media empire.
• The different social media platforms.

AGENDA
• Why blogging is the HUB of your online
presence.
• How social media fits into your business
model.
• Think BIG. Start SMALL. Take ACTION.
• Upcoming Webinars.

About Hware
• Our Passion and Purpose is empowering
small business organizations.
• Small business owners
• Entrepreneurs
• Start-ups
• Non-profits

About Hware
We are a software company. We design
easy-to-use online business planning
software and internet based productivity
tools.

About Hware
Now, I know that sounds like a bunch of
goobly-gook and techie talk so here is
another way to put it...

About Hware
As a small business owner, (you being the
small biz owner) we understand your
challenges and problems and we know how
to solve them with our services and systems.

About Hware
We share our knowledge and
expertise by teaching,
coaching, and mentoring via
webinars, videos, public
speaking engagements, and
social media platforms.

About Hware
• Was Founded in 1998
• Co-owned by Brenda and Chuck Horton.
Chuck has been a business consultant and
technology expert for over 28 years. He is
a serial and social entrepreneur.

About Brenda
Graduated from the University of
Texas at Austin in the college of
Communications.
Top Graduate and instructor of The
Dale Carnegie Institute in San
Francisco California.

About Brenda
Has won numerous awards in
customer service, sales and
marketing over the last two
decades.

About Brenda
• Owned 3 small businesses.
• One of which was a successful internet
business which was later sold in the late
90’s.

About Brenda
Organized and
fundraised over
$350,000 for children in
the foster care system
in Northern California
www.sierraff.org while working FULL-
TIME as a Top-Producing
Real Estate Agent.

About Brenda
The success I have
experienced in the business
world ( as well as my personal
life) is directly correlated to
my ability to build, nurture,
and cultivate long-term
RELATIONSHIPS.

Why am I telling you
this?

Because....
Relationships are the FOUNDATION of
your business and Social Media is all about
RELATIONSHIPS.

My entire life, I have been
fascinated, intrigued, curious, and
passionate about how people,
cultures, and societies communicate
with one another, but....

...nothing has captured my imagination,
inspiration, and ENTREPRENEURIAL spirit
more than the current SOCIAL MEDIA
REVOLUTION!

Social media is...
Revolutionizing our relationships and it is
changing the way we communicate with one
another.

Relationships
Whether it is your customers, FANS,
partners, FOLLOWERS, vendors,
FRIENDS, employees, or competitors, your
online relationships must be GENUINE,
REAL, and AUTHENTIC.

We are living in
REVOLUTIONARY
times!

Revolutionary Times
We are currently in the midst of a RADICAL
shift in many areas of humanity....

Revolutionary Times
• Politically
• Consciously
• Economically
• Institutionally
• Culturally

Revolutionary Times
Of all these, I believe none have a greater influence
on humanity than TECHNOLOGY.

Throughout history,
technology has changed
the very way we live
and communicate.

Revolutionary
Technology
Telephone
Gutenberg Press
Radio

Revolutionary
Technology
Television
13 years to
reach 50 million
viewers

Revolutionary
Technology
Personal computer
About 12 years to reach 50 million users

Revolutionary
Technology
Internet
4 years to reach 50 million
users

Revolutionary
Technology
Facebook
added 100 million users in
less than 9
months

Revolutionary
Technology
1 Billion
Is the amount of content
shared each week on
Facebook, i.e., web links,
blog posts, notes, photos,
videos, etc.

Revolutionary
Technology
Today, Social Media is the REVOLUTIONARY
technological communication tool that is
changing the way human beings interact on a
massive scale.

Now let’s put things
into perspective.

Perspective
Social Media has actually been around for a
for a few decades. It was just called
something else, like....

Perspective
• BBS - Bulletin Board Systems AOL
• Chat
• Forums
• File Sharing
• Chat Rooms
• Internet Groups

Perspective
The reason why it is now EXPLODING is
because computer technology has made it
easily accessible and simple for the
masses to use.

A phenomenal shift
is happening

People Power
The media elite, editors, and publishers are
no longer in control...it’s us! We now have a
voice.

“It will soon be
expected, that every
intelligent person
(and quite a few
unintelligent ones)
will have a media
platform where they
share what they care
about with the
world.”
~ Seth Godin - Author

What are these
platforms?

The Big Players
• Facebook - Social networking site
• Twitter - Micro-blogging site
• LinkedIn - Professional networking site
• YouTube - Videos sharing site
• WordPress - Blogging software and blogging
site

Social Networking Sites

Facebook
• 250 Million Users
• Founded in 2004
• Fastest Growing
Demographic is 55+
• 54.6 % are female

LinkedIn
• 40 million users
• Founded in 2003
• Professional and business contacts
• 80% of companies use LinkedIn as a
primary tool to find employees.

Micro-blogging Sites

Twitter
• 32 million users • Grew 782% in 2008

Twitter
The average number of Tweets per day
on Twitter...3,000,000
(3 MILLION)
21 Million a week
90 Million a month
1,095,000,000 a year and growing

Social News Websites

Social News Websites
• Digg - allows users to share info
• Huffington Post - aggregated blog
• Mashable - Internet news blog
• Small Business Trends - Online small
business news

Social Bookmarking
Websites

Social Bookmarking
Websites
• Delicious - 5 million users and founded in
2005.
• StumbleUpon - 8.2 million users and
founded in 2001

Video and Photo
Sharing Communities

Video and Photo sharing
communities
The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
and has over 100,000,000 videos and growing.
host more than 3.6 billion images, owned by Yahoo!
a photo-sharing web application from Google

All these platforms
facilitate communication
between users.

Who are on these
platforms?

Who are on these
platforms?
• Small Businesses
• Politicians
• Non-profits
• Corporations
• The elderly
• Teenagers, College Students

Who are on these
platforms?
• Stay-at-home moms
• Artists, musicians
• Entrepreneurs
• Government Agencies
• Basically, almost everyone and anyone.

Everyone has a voice now and that
voice can make or break your
business, your career, your LIFE!

You think I am kidding?

Who was this guy?
• 5 million supporters across 15
social networks
• 14.2 million views on YouTube
of the “Yes we can” video
• 6.5 million - the amount of
money raised from 3 million
online donors for his ‘08
campaign

Kogi Bbq
• A Korean BBQ
Truck in Los
Angeles
• Over 41,000
Followers on
Twitter

You know what the best
part is?
Most of it is FREE!

The expensive way to
Reach Your Audience
• Television/Radio
• Print Media- Newspapers, Magazines
• Direct Mail
• Telemarketing

The cheap way to
Reach Your Audience
Social Media

2/3 of you came here via
Twitter and Facebook and I
spent zero dollars on marketing to
you.

However, there’s speculation that some of
these sites may start charging for premium
services.
...in fact some are charging like: LinkedIn (job
posting)

More Statistics that will
BLOW your mind.

Social Media Statistics
By 2010 Generation Y will outnumber Baby
Boomers...96% of them have joined a social
networking platform.

Social Media Statistics
Generation Y and Z consider e-mail
passe’....In 2009 Boston College stopped
distributing e-mail addresses to incoming
freshmen.

Social Media Statistics
• 1 in 6 higher education students are
enrolled in online curriculum.
• 2009 US Department of Education study
revealed that on average, online students
out performed those receiving face-to-face
instruction.

Social Media Statistics
• Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1
activity on the web.
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last
year met via social media.
• 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile
devices...people update anywhere,
anytime...imagine what that means for bad
customer service or a drunk person.

Social Media Statistics
What happens in VEGAS stays on YouTube,
Flickr, Twitter, Facebook...

Social Media Statistics
The WORD of mouth becomes
WORLD of mouth.

Blogging
Let’s talk about how blogging
fits into social media.

Blogging is the HUB of
your Social Media
Empire.

Blogging
It is the RAINMAKER of your BUSINESS.

Blog is
the Hub
StumbleUpon
delicious
Email Marketing
MadMimi.com
RSS Subscribers AWeber.com
FeedBurner.com ConstantContact.com
FeedBlitz

Blogging
• Blogging is fresh content and Google thrives on
FRESH like a bee on honey.
• The search engines feed off of it.
• You can provide items of value to your readers and
prospective customers and they can easily share it
with others.
• Build your online credibility.
• Build a loyal following around your brand / message /
products/ services.

Blogging
• Effective communication by engaging your
readers.
• Gives you direct feedback from your
customers.
• Allows you to respond in a timely manner.

Blogging
• Technorati.com - Internet search engine for
searching blogs
• Wordpress.org - Website software for
blogging
• Blogger - A person who blogs
• BlogHer - An annual conference for female
bloggers

Bloggers
• Dooce - Mommy blogger, has over 1.1
million Twitter followers.
• Bill Marriott - Chairman and CEO of
Marriott International
• Brenda Horton - Software Biz Owner

Let’s talk about why a
social media PLAN is
important to your
business Model.

Social Media Strategy
Social Media without a
PLAN is like
encountering a Raging
River.

Social Media Strategy
The information is overwhelming and
you can drown in it.

Social Media Strategy
You don’t want the raging river
to turn into a flood. Because
getting caught in a flood would
equate to losing a lot of TIME
and MONEY.

Social Media Strategy
• How do we cut through all the choices and
voices in social media?
• How do we drown out all the noise?
• How do we prevent from drowning?

Social Media Strategy
KISS - Keep it Simple Sunny

Social Media Strategy
Think BIG. Start SMALL.

Social Media Strategy
As a small business owner, you want to
understand how to use Social Media to
increase profits or make more money.

Social Media Strategy
But first, you need to UNDERSTAND who
your TARGET AUDIENCE is...

Social Media Strategy
• Oprah’s target audience is stay-at-home
moms
• Realtors - Home buyers and sellers
• John Lennon - music lovers, progressive
thinkers, Free-Spirits.
• Obama - The younger generation of
America and Democrats

Social Media Strategy
1. You need to be very CLEAR on how you can
solve their problems.
2. You need to understand how to package
your products/services to them.
3. How to get them to buy what you are
offering.

Social Media Strategy
• Barack Obama was selling HOPE
• Tony Robbins sells EMPOWERMENT
• Oprah sells SELF-ESTEEM
• Deepak Chopra sells INSPIRATION
• Donald Trump sells WEALTH
• KVMR (local radio station) sells
COMMUNITY

Social Media Strategy
• Jon Stewart sells LAUGHTER
• Realtors sell DREAMS
• John Lennon sold IMAGINATION
• Hware sells simple, easy-to-understand and
convenience.

Social Media Strategy
• Next, you need to understand where your
target audience hangs out online.
• Where is your industry engaging online?
• Where are your competitors online?

Social Media Strategy
If you don’t know. Do some market research.
PollDaddy.com
SurveyMonkey.com
TwtPoll.com
eMarketer.com

Get Started with
Twitter
Action Plan

Click here to download
Twitter Action Plan pdf

Twitter Best Practices Tips
If you want to be taken seriously, get a real
photo of yourself.

Get Started with
Facebook
Action Plan

Click here to download
Facebook Action Plan pdf

Facebook Best Practices Tips
Your Profile Page should have your picture.

Facebook Best Practices Tips
A Fan Page is for brand, product or company.

Facebook Best Practices Tips
A Group Page is for special interests.

General
Best Practices

Best Practices Tips
Do not blast your online FOLLOWERS,
FANS, and FRIENDS with constant
sales pitches.

Best Practices Tips
• Relationships first, business second.
• Contribute to the conversation. Engage.
• Be helpful, sincere, and authentic.
• Tasteful humor is always a plus.
• It’s okay to disagree, but don’t be rude or
disrespectful.

Best Practices Tips
• Be open to feedback and constructive
dialog from your online community.
• Allow your fans, followers, and friends to be
your teacher.
• Track your progress. Measure your results.

Best Practices Tips
Be flexible and adaptable to making changes.

How To Expand Your REACH and
CREDIBILITY with Social Media Webinar
An in-depth BEGINNER’S GUIDE
to Twitter, Facebook, and Blogging.
3 week series starting
This is a
September 16th
at 11:00 am to 12:00 pm PST.
This LIVE webinar will be every Wednesday in September.
This complete step-by-step tutorial
will help you grow your online presence.
Click here to learn more: How To Expand Your Reach and Credibility with Social Media Webinar

How To Expand Your REACH and
CREDIBILITY with Social Media Webinar
September 16th - TWITTER
Tactics and Techniques that will take your business to the next level
• How to get Tweeps to endorse you and your business.
• How to get Tweeps to retweet your links.
• How to create an AWESOME BIO that gets retweeted over and over.
• How to identify your specific target audience and get them to follow you.
• How to start a conversation and engage.
• Key automation tools that will help systematize your time on Twitter.
• How to invite your Twitter followers to subscribe to your BLOG and become your FANS on
Facebook.
• Why initiating the follow is critical to your growth on Twitter.
• The biggest mistakes that people make on Twitter that results in people UN-FOLLOWING
them FAST.
• An ACTION plan for the next step.
• ….and much much more. There will also be time for questions and answers.
Click here to learn more: How To Expand Your Reach and Credibility with Social Media Webinar

How To Expand Your REACH and
CREDIBILITY with Social Media Webinar
September 23th - FACEBOOK
How to grow your Friend and Fan base
• How to find your specific target audience and invite them to Friend/Fan you.
• How to integrate Facebook and Twitter for effective communication.
• How not to annoy your Facebook friends with Twitter updates. (This is a serious problem.)
• Posting updates to your Friends and Fans and getting them to make comments.
• Real examples and stories of people who are using Facebook to gain massive exposure for their
business.
• Learn how to maximize your Facebook presence with your FAN page, Groups, and PROFILE.
• Why you should have a FAN page for your business. How to set one up if you don’t already have one.
• What type of topics to post on Facebook that get the most comments.
• How to upload videos, photos, and links to Facebook.
• Where to find great content to upload on Facebook.
• An ACTION plan for the next step.
• …and much much more. There will also be time for questions and answers.
Click here to learn more: How To Expand Your Reach and Credibility with Social Media Webinar

How To Expand Your REACH and
CREDIBILITY with Social Media Webinar
September 30th - BLOGGING
An in-depth understanding of why blogging is the HUB of your Social Media activities
• A comprehensive overview of blogging.
• A series of questions to ask yourself before you start blogging.
• How to choose the right blogging software for your website.
• Best practices in blogging that get your blog noticed.
• Why you should integrate vlogging (videos blogs) into your blogs.
• How and why to link your blog to Twitter and Facebook.
• Why links and keywords are critical to writing a successful blog.
• Why the 4 C’s of blogging; content, comments, controversy, and consistentency matter in the
blogosphere.
• Examples of successful small businesses who are using blogging to grow their business.
• How to get subscribers/readers to your blog.
• An ACTION plan for getting started in blogging.
• ….and much much more. There will also be time for questions and answers.
Click here to learn more: How To Expand Your Reach and Credibility with Social Media Webinar

Thank You!
Our Next Webinar:
How to Expand Your Reach And
Build Credibility
with Social Media
www.hware.com/webinars/how-to-expand-reach-credibility-with-social-media/
Brenda Horton
Social Media Evangelist @Hware
Twitter: @BrendaHorton
Facebook: facebook.com/BrendaTelloHorton
Fan Page: facebook.com/HwareFB
blog: www.hware.com/blog