Social media allows for sharing information and connecting with others. It is an important tool for businesses to develop trust with clients, share knowledge, and increase their online presence. While the social media landscape can be intimidating, focusing on a few key platforms like blogs, Twitter, and Facebook can help organizations engage with their community and promote their messages. Measuring engagement and monitoring discussions are important for organizations to understand how social media is impacting their reach.

1. Basics of Social Media Erik Deckers

6. It’s about sharing who you are and what you think. . . . . . and adding value to other people’s lives

7. Los Angeles Fire Department

8. LA Fire Department TALK

10. LAFD Photos

11. Social media lets you make connections

12. And see who knows whom

16. The social media landscape can be a little intimidating

17. But patterns start to emerge

18. And you can focus on a few

24. Why blog?

25. To develop trust with existing clients and prospect for new business . to gather and refine my thoughts Self expression. It’s no different than scribbling on a cave wall. We’re sharing stories with the “tribe.” Build community, share ideas and best practices on personal growth/development Because I want to Get News Out About My Community peer pressure Create a knowledge base of things I encounter at work & share that knowledge w/ a community that gives me so much it gives my thoughts a place to go To write about mistakes I see our clients make. It's great "venting" and educating at the same time. I blog for search , to increase my audience for my business message. I write about small biz marketing, social media, lots of PR tips, biz planning, along with the occasional rambling, and samples of our work I enjoy sharing things I find with other people Blogging has made the bathroom stall bigger. Not only can we say ”For a good time, call Lori," we can now explain why .

26. Who blogs?

27. Small Business

28. Corporations

29. Newspapers

30. Citizen Journalists

31. Government

32. Personal Journal

33. Fuel a Passion

34. Share Stories

35. Why are blogs important?

36. Search, not Surf

37. Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project As many as 90% of all web interactions start with search 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Email Search Audio/Video Instant Message Text Message* Social Networking

38. People Are Talking About You

39. They’re Searching For You

40. But Will They Find You?

41. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

42. What Should You blog about?

45. And then promote it

48. Measure your Clicks

49. Monitor discussions

50. Create & Follow Groups

51. Follow Topics

54. Create Pages For Your Organization or Topic

55. Gather Fans & Communicate

56. Just make sure you use it

57. Thank you! Find me SmallerIndiana.com Any questions? Read me ErikDeckers.com DeckersMarketing.com Tweet me Twitter.com/edeckers [email_address] Reach me For a copy of this deck