This is a presentation on Social Networking for beginners I gave to small business owners in Foster City, CA in Feb. 2010.

1. Social Networking
Methods and Strategies
The Seminar Copyright © 2009 by G. C. Franchising Systems, Inc.
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2. Welcome
• Opening Remarks
• Facilitator’s Background
• Timing
• Please silence cell phones
• Facilities
• Questions will be accepted as time allows
• Check On How You Found Out About This
• Check on Social Networking Knowledge
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3. Agenda
• Why use social media?
• Five suggested uses for social media
• Presentation of 3 popular social media platforms and tips for usage
• How can you keep up? A tool I like to use
• What’s your strategy? What’s your next step?
• Invitation to Social Networking Methods and Strategies: The Workshop
• Drawing
• Close
• Q&A for those who want to stay behind for a few minutes
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4. Why Use Social Media?
• Because 1.7 billion people are online and they’re using social media!
• Data from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
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5. Face Reality
If internet usage grew rapidly during the 2000s, do you
really think it’s going to slow down this decade as
computers and mobile phones get faster and cheaper while
home internet access speeds increase significantly?
Now is the time to get online and join this revolution in the
way people are getting information and communicating.
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6. 5 Ideas on Using Social Media
• To network and meet new people to
partner with, refer to/from, or sell to
• To stay in better touch with your
customers and prospects
• To track what’s happening in your
industry and how people feel about it
• To establish yourself as an authority
• To develop new business
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7. Popular Social Networking Platforms
• Facebook - the largest
• Twitter – over 60 million users
• LinkedIn
• YouTube – the world’s second largest search engine
• Yelp
• MySpace
• Blogging through Wordpress, TypePad, Blogger
• Local platforms – Biznik and Peninsula Shops
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8. 3 Of The Popular Networks In Detail
• Facebook - For a small business you want to create a Fan
Page here: http://bit.ly/9ezAoV
• Think of your fan page as a dynamic alternative to your
website. It’s easy to post all kinds of information about
your business (pics, blog posts, links to web pages, videos,
new product info) and have conversations with your fans.
Think of it as creating a community.
• People need to be using Facebook to be your fans.
• Here’s a link to my fan page: http://bit.ly/dnCYsM
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9. Facebook
• Here’s a look at my Fan Page
My updates appear in my fans’ streams. Let’s see an example.
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10. Facebook
• Here’s how your updates look to your fans
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11. Facebook Tips
• Update your page at least daily and enjoy it
• Post up a variety of things, not just text
• Have discussions
• Encourage your fans to post things on your wall
• Invite people to become a fan in other media
• Whenever anyone becomes a fan it says so in their stream
• Reward your fans, make special offers just for them
• Learn how to update your page via text and email
• Get a vanity URL when you exceed 25 fans
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12. The Popular Networks in More Detail
• Twitter - It’s now about what you had for lunch
• 140 characters may not be much, but it’s enough
• Think of Twitter as a microblog and you’ll have the right
frame of mind about it
• It’s a great way to make new contacts
• It’s an excellent tool for reconnaissance
• It’s easy to find local people through Twitter Elite – Read
my blog post for more info http://bit.ly/auI0hZ
• There are many great tools to use with Twitter to make it
easier and more fun. http://www.oneforty.com has them.
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13. Twitter – The Terminology
• Tweet – It’s what you send out
• Follower – That’s what you call someone who’s connected
to you and wants your tweets to be sent to them
• Retweet (RT) – A resend of someone else’s tweet
• DM – This is a direct message to a follower (like an email)
• Hashtag – This is the # symbol and it’s a way of tagging your
tweet so it’s found as being one of a group
• Lists – Groups of twitterers
• Everyone is @’something’ I am @michael_n Find my profile
at http://www.twitter.com/michael_n
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14. Twitter
• Here’s what a Twitter stream looks like
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15. Twitter Tips
• Think about what you’d like to see happen by using Twitter
• Tweet daily. It’s an ongoing medium and you don’t want to
think of it like a blog where you can post 2-3x a week.
• Make sure people know you’re using Twitter
• Don’t talk too much about what you had for lunch
• Add a link when it makes sense, and use a URL shortener
• Reply to people, don’t just make it a one-way medium
• Resist the urge to just sell, sell, sell. Think about what you
can give instead.
• Use a search tool to find conversations to join
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16. The Popular Networks in More Detail
• LinkedIn – This is the place to connect with people almost
solely in a professional way
• Can have a local feel if your network is mostly local contacts
• People mistake it for an online resume. It’s much more than
that. It’s more like a dynamic personal web page.
• I’ve heard you can actually download your contact list
• Has built in tools to help you look like an expert
• No design or technical skills needed to use it
• Great way to expand your local network
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17. LinkedIn
• Here’s what it looks like
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18. LinkedIn Tips
• Your public profile is searchable. Use keywords.
• Go for 100% completion of your profile
• Use as many of the optional boxes as you can
• Let people know you’re on LinkedIn
• Join appropriate groups or create one
• Update your status at least weekly if not more often, but
remember LinkedIn is not Twitter. Don’t post every hour.
• Think about ways to help your network
• Connect your website, blog and Twitter page to your profile
• Read my blog posts about LinkedIn: One and Two
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19. The Popular Networks in More Detail
• Peninsula Shops – a great way to socially network right here
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20. How Can You Keep Up With The Big 3 Social Networks?
• I recommend http://www.TweetDeck.com as a power tool
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21. Key Points About TweetDeck
• It’s free, efficient and actually not too hard to use
• It has an URL shortener built in
• Update Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as you see fit to do
• You can dedicate columns to searches, DMs, or Mentions
• You might see something come across in one stream that
you want to share with another
• Works with iPhone but not BlackBerry just yet
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22. Now About Your Strategy
• Keep in touch
• Do reconnaissance
• Make new contacts
• Be an authority
• Develop business
Start with a strategy. Get good
at it. Then, take on another
one as you move down
towards the bottom two,
which take time to master.
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23. What’s Your Next Move?
• After you have a strategy decide what networks to use
• Pick one and create a profile and start using it
• Get a comfort level going, then add a second one that
makes sense with your strategy
• Read or listen to books on the subject. Attend other events.
• Contact me if you’d like to get 1on1 coaching on social
networking or marketing in general
• Contact me if you’d like to learn about the social
networking workshop I hold regularly
• m.neuendorff@thegrowthcoach.com
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