This document discusses how small businesses can get started with social media. It defines social media as online technologies that allow people to share opinions and experiences. The document outlines why social media is important for small businesses, noting that it influences consumers' decisions and search engines. It provides a five step approach for small businesses to get started: 1) secure your business name on social media sites, 2) develop a website and social media strategy, 3) claim local business listings, 4) sign up for alerts, and 5) get involved by learning, listening, interacting and growing your social media presence over time. The bottom line is that word of mouth discussions on social media are more influential than traditional media, social media is now essential, and

1. Social Media for Small Businesses By: Rod Freeman For: The Walden Business Association Location: Jacobowitz & Gubits LLP, Walden NY Date: May 7, 2010

2. Agenda What is Social Media?....................................................10 min Why you need to care about Social Media ....................10 min How you can get started ….............................................5 min Bottom line ………….......................................................2 min

3. Agenda What is Social Media?..................................................10 min Why you need to care about Social Media ....................10 min How you can get started ….............................................5 min Bottom line ………….......................................................2 min

4. WWW HTML SMS CSS BLOG PHP RSS WEB 2.0 Tweet UCG Wiki RT API WTF? What is Social Media?

5. Defined technically, Social Media is… the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives. A few prominent examples of social media applications are Wikipedia (reference), MySpace (social networking), Gather.com (social networking), YouTube (video sharing), Second Life (virtual reality), Digg (news sharing), Flickr (photo sharing) ... – Wikipedia at its most basic sense, a shift in how people discover, read, and share news and information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologue (one to many) into dialog (many to many). - Brian Solis What is Social Media? Source: iStockphoto

6. Defined simply, Social Media is… about connecting with the right people who could potentially help spread your message to more of the right people. What is Social Media? Using on-line tools to educate, collaborate and build trust about you or your brand. Having conversations that are open, honest, and transparent. This “connection” will happen with or without you. connecting On-line tools Facebook (social networking) Twitter (microblogging) Yelp (reviews/ratings) Foursquare (social locating) 1000’s of others

7. Defined even simpler, Social Media is… What is Social Media? like word of mouth on Steroids .

8. Is Social Media a fad? http://www.youtube.com/user/Socialnomics09 What is Social Media?

9. Consider this: By 2010, Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers and 96% of them have joined a social network. Years to reach 50 Million Users: Radio – 38 years TV – 13 years Internet – 4 years Facebook added more than 200 million users in 12 months If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 3rd largest 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations; Only 14% trust advertisements. Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. Source: http://www.youtube.com/user/Socialnomics09 What is Social Media?

10. Agenda What is Social Media?....................................................10 min Why you need to care about Social Media ................10 min How you can get started ….............................................5 min Bottom line ………….......................................................2 min

11. Social Media usage is up (big time) Not just by consumers (5hours/day): But also by your competitors (500% increase since 2008): Why you need to care Source: The Nielsen Company What products do you use as part of your total marketing strategy (2008 vs. 2010)?

12. Social Media influences people 91% say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions – JC Williams Group 87% trust a friend’s recommendation over a critic’s review – Marketing Sherpa 1 word-of-mouth conversation has the impact of 200 TV ads – BuzzAgent 90% of people trust recommendations of people they know – Nielsen 70% of consumers trust recommendations of consumers they don’t know – Nielsen Why you need to care

13. Social Media influences search engines Search engines love social media which means when people go online to search for answers or solutions, they are finding blogs – so if you don’t have one, you are now less likely to be found. Why you need to care When consumers search for products and services locally, search engines show maps – if you have an outdated local listing (or a bad review on it) you could be losing customers.

14. Social Media presence is expected Nearly all consumers (97%) now use online media to shop locally. 1 58 percent of respondents report using an online coupon when shopping for products or services in their local area in the past yr. 1 93% of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites. 2 85% believe that these companies should use these services to interact with consumers. 2 Why you need to care 1. According to BIA/Kelsey’s ( www.bia.com and www.kelseygroup.com ) User View Wave VII 2. Cone Business in Social Media Study, 2008

15. Agenda What is Social Media?....................................................10 min Why you need to care about Social Media ....................10 min How you can get started …..........................................5 min Bottom line ………….......................................................2 min

16. Five steps to getting started Secure your name/brand Get a Website & develop a strategy Claim all your local map profiles Sign up for Alerts Get Involved How you can get started

17. 1. Secure your name/brand With the rapid growth of businesses using a range of social media tools, it is important that you protect your brand by ‘securing’ a presence on the popular ones. Even if you don’t intend to use it right away, at least it will be there for you when you are ready. A great website to check the availability of your name is namechk.com. How you can get started

18. 2. Get a Website and develop a strategy Your Website is the core of your online presence – you need one. Develop your Social Media goals: Brand Awareness Customer Service Consumer Feedback (to improve) Personal relationship (trust) Reputation monitoring Biz more accessible Marketing/Sales Once you figure out your goals, you can determine the best tools to use to achieve them. How you can get started

19. 3. Claim your local map profiles Local listings aren’t just for driving directions anymore. Now most include a place for consumers to write reviews. See what your competitors, customers, peers, and industry experts are saying. Monitor your existing presence on sites like: Yelp Google Local Yahoo Local Insider Pages Google Alerts How you can get started

20. 4. Sign up for alerts and analytics Alerts: Get emails when your company is mentioned on line so you can react if necessary. Get emails when your competitors are mentioned on line. Analytics: Sign up with Google analytics to see how often your website is visited, why they came, how long they stayed, and what brought them. How you can get started

21. 5. Get Involved Learn Most Social Media education is on Social Media – so you can kill 2 birds with one stone. Learn while you participate. Some myths we should get out of the way now: Myth 1 - Social Media is free the tools and content are typically free, but what many overlook is the time it takes to participate - and time is money. Myth 2 – Social Media is for kids actually, the fastest growing Social Media population is 44-75 yr olds. Listen Visit several Social Media sites to learn the lingo, and see what others are interested in. How you can get started

22. 5. Get Involved (Continued) Interact When you are ready, join the conversation Have something meaningful to say Be honest, open and responsive – the goal is to build trust. Grow Review and execute your Social Media strategy Try a variety of Social Media tools Build meaningful relationships It’s ok to grow slow How you can get started

23. Agenda What is Social Media?....................................................10 min Why you need to care about Social Media ....................10 min How you can get started ….............................................5 min Bottom line ………….....................................................2 min

24. Three take away messages Word of mouth “many-to-many” discussions are more influential than traditional media. Social Media is happening now (with or without you). Your business could be negatively impacted if you ignore it. Get started Secure your name/brand Get a Website and Strategy Claim your maps online Sign up for Alerts and Analytics Get Involved Bottom line

25. Thank You Rod Freeman, SmallBizUp www.smallbizup.com [email_address] Twitter.com/smallbizup Facebook.com/smallbizup