Social Media Isnt My Space For Tweens

Social Media Isn’t Just MySpace for Tweens:How Real Business is Being Done OnlinePresented for the Eastern Ontario Women in Finance Charity Conference
Erin Blaskie - www.erinblaskie.com
@ErinBlaskie (Twitter)

5 Things I Know About Being Dyslexic
That my math teacher wasn’t kidding when she said, “This 50% grade is a gift Erin... A gift.”
Phone numbers dialed by me often reach the incorrect person.
That the company who hired me as an accounting clerk should have made me do a numbers test first.
That my bills will always be under paid or overpaid by an eerily similar amount each month.
No matter how slow you read out a credit card number to me... You’ll have to read it even slower.

What We’re Going to Cover
Three Myths About Social Media
How You, as a Financial Services Professional, Can Directly Benefit From Social Media
Four Must-Use Services
Five Ways to Find Your “Tribe”
Three Ways to Enhance Your Experience on Each Site

Myths About Social Media: The MySpace Phenomenon

Myths About Social Media
Myth #1: Social Media is Tweens Chatting with Friends on MySpace
Myth #2: Social Media is Time Consuming
Myth #3: Social Media is a Waste of Time – People Want to Be Sold To!

Myth #1: Social Media is Tweens Chatting with Friends on MySpace
Yes, MySpace is popular for that target market but there are professional social media sites
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are just three of the sites that target professionals
Real networking and business development opportunities exist on the sites targeted to your industry / target market

Myth #2: Social Media is Time Consuming
You get back whatever you put into it
Can be controlled in your time management plan
You can outsource some of the activities associated with social media (not the engagement and relationship building however)
You can choose which sites get your attention – fewer sites, more engagement equals success

Myth #3: Social Media is a Waste of Time – People Want to Be Sold To!
People want to buy from people and social media shortens the know, like and trust timeline
You don’t want to waste your efforts on consistently expanding into new markets – focus on a targeted group
Social media is less about selling and more about relationship building and engagement

Benefits to the FinancialServices Professional

Benefits to the Financial Services Professional
Reach a highly targeted audience
Search tools allow you to find the people on social media you need to connect with
Consistently update your target market
You can broadcast out tips, advice, statistics, opportunities and whatever else is going to make them look at you as the expert
Example: Mortgage rates just dropped by ½ a percent! If you’re looking to buy or invest in real estate, now’s the time!

Benefits to the Financial Services Professional
Financial services relies heavily on building relationships
Social media allows you to connect and communicate with your target market without jumping to the sale
Find partners to collaborate with
Diversify your portfolio / offerings

Four Must-Use Social Media Sites

Four Must-Use Social Media Sites
Twitter
http://www.twitter.com
LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com
ActiveRain
http://www.activerain.com

Three Ways to Enhance YourExperience on Each Site

Twitter
Setup your account making sure to make use of the profile area, website address area and photo
Begin / continue following people in your industry, people using keywords of your industry and people you’d just like to know
Be sure to follow people back, engage with them through @ replies and direct messages and start conversations

Twitter Tools
Tweetdeck
Allows you to track your Twitter accounts using a downloadable, desktop application
Hootsuite
Allows you to setup pre-programmed Tweets
Bit.ly
Shortens long URLs / web links for use on Twitter
Twitter Lingo Explained Blog Post (Free)
http://www.erinblaskie.com

LinkedIn
Setup your account and ensure the entire profile is filled out, invite your friends and hook up with people you know through the friend finder
Participate actively in the LinkedIn Answers area – post questions for your target market and answer questions for free to gain visibility
Join Groups on LinkedIn that might contain fellow industry professionals or possible clients

LinkedIn Tools
Ping.fm
Allows you to update LinkedIn and many other social media sites all at once
Outlook Toolbar / Browser Toolbar
Download the toolbar to make the most out of LinkedIn while inside of other programs

Facebook
Setup your account, fill out your profile in full detail and setup a Fan Page for your business
Find Groups on Facebook that contain relevant individuals or potential clients using your keywords to search them out
Utilize the tools that are available including: events, photos, blog feed import, etc. to really enhance your profile’s automation

Facebook Tools
Ping.fm
Allows you to update LinkedIn and many other social media sites all at once
Facebook Notes
Bring in your blog’s RSS feed via the Facebook notes to keep people up-to-date
HTML Box
Add the HTML application box to your profile to collect names/e-mail addresses on your profile

ActiveRain
Setup your profile in its entirety – the ActiveRain profile process is extensive on purpose
Post new content to ActiveRain often – this is how the majority of connections are made
Check out the event listings from other members for networking opportunities

ActiveRain Tools
Advertising on ActiveRain
Opportunities for paid advertising exist on the site
ActiveRain Referral Exchange
Setup alerts once you are on the site

Where to Find Your “Tribe”

Ways to Find Your “Tribe”
Twitter
http://search.twitter.com/advanced
http://www.wefollow.com
http://www.twitterel.com/http://nearbytweets.com/
Twitter Lists
Checking for Twitter Icons on People’s Websites
Include Your Twitter Info Wherever You Give Contact Information Regularly

LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/groupsDirectory
http://www.linkedin.com/companies
http://events.linkedin.com/user/hub
Pull in Your Contacts Regularly Through Connection with Your Address Book

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/find-friends/?ref=pf
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/groups.php?ref=sb
http://www.facebook.com/events.php?ref=sb
http://www.facebook.com/advertising/

If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren't doing enough asking.
-- Jack Canfield

Engage With Me So That I May Engage With You
@ErinBlaskie on Twitter
www.erinblaskie.com and www.bsetc.com
erin@erinblaskie.com
Please e-mail me if you’d like (free):
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Social Media Isnt My Space For Tweens

by Erin Blaskie on Jan 27, 2010

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Social Media Isnt My Space For Tweens — Presentation Transcript