Twitter has opened up huge opportunities for businesses. Never before has it been so easy to quickly target people by their location, interests and conversations. All you need to do is understand how.

Twitter Success for Business – social media training

This full day training event will get you started on your way to success. You may already have started, in which case this will be a shortcut to your Twitter Success. During the event you will cover

• Strategy planning
• Tool use & Automation
• Effective following
• Copy writing
• Time management
• Using #hashtags to promote your content
• Integration with other social media sites
• Promotions and competitions
• Customer service
• Measurement and results tracking

Half Price offer – all attendees will be given the opportunity to bring a colleague or guest for half price.

We run our full day training in the relaxed atmosphere of the Detling Coachouse, nr Maidstone, Kent. For full details visit the Accelerated Twitter Success page or go direct now to reserve your place on this amazing course. Click on the dates to reserve your tickets for just £167 now. Details of price reductions for early ticket purchase  and half price offers are on the event pages.

January 27th – Accelerated Twitter Success – early bird price before 10/01/10

February & March dates in London and Kent to be announced shortly

Register below to be the first to find out dates, limited early bird offers and all the latest Twitter Tips:

As I’ve been networking with businesses in Kent I keep hearing people say social media is not relevent to their company. I’m so surprised by this. It’s just marketing like any other marketing – letting people know what you do and backing it up with examples. Ironically most people also say they get most of their business through referrals. That’s exactly what social media does!

What are people’s experiences?

If you dont know how social media can work for your business then come to my next seminar

“Beyond Your Website – How to promote your business online”

The Internet has changed. Traditional marketing no longer works. Are you going to survive?

Most businesses have a website. You want yours to feature high up in Google’s search results and drive sales but what are you doing to ensure that this actually happens? In case you hadn’t noticed the Internet has changed. Has your website or internet marketing changed with it?

If you cant answer YES to all these questions then your business is under threat…

• Do you update your content regularly?
• Do you have bespoke landing pages for your products?
• Do you know what your keywords are?
• Do you have links pointing to your website from other websites?
• Do you email your customers?
• Do you use social media to communicate with your customers and target audience?

If you didn’t answer YES to all those questions then you need to find out what is beyond your website.Get your limited £10 ticket before they run out.

You need more than just a website

Businesses of all sizes are embracing the opportunities available through social media and internet marketing. If you think this is not for your business then you are mistaken. If you have ever talked about what your company does and what you can do for people then you are already doing it. It is all about networking, positioning yourself as a trusted expert, creating word of mouth and getting referrals.

If you don’t do it your competitors will. Make sure you survive and thrive. Get your ticket now. Come and find out what is Beyond Your Website. Get introduced to

• A blog
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Twitter

The internet has changed, traditional marketing no longer works. Don’t miss this important event where you can work out what you need to do grow your business.

“How can social media help my small business?” is a question business people are asking everyday. It is a far better position than some others are taking when they say “Social media has got nothing to do with my business”. If you have ever had a single conversation where you explained what your business does then it is relevant to your business.

Here the BBC talks about how small businesses across America are fighting the recession with Twitter and Facebook:

It is the 21st century equivalent of word of mouth.

From mom and pop diners to cupcake shops to technology start-ups, small business owners across America have been thrown an unexpected lifeline in the midst of the recession by social networking sites.

Companies that have jumped on the Twitter and Facebook bandwagon are reporting a surge in customers while others struggle.

With minimal marketing budgets available to many small businesses, social networking sites offer a quick and, more importantly, free means of promoting their wares to a global audience.

In the face of stiff competition and a global economic downturn, it is a route more and more companies are going down.

Virtual focus group

Sisters Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis have been using Twitter and Facebook as a marketing tool since they launched Georgetown Cupcake in Washington DC in 2008.

As well as posting details of new flavours, specials and events, they are using the social networking sites to promote their new nationwide delivery service together with their new store in Maryland.

Filling appointments

For some small business owners, traditional advertising channels such as television, radio and newspapers are prohibitively expensive.

For others, the web is a medium more in tune with their potential customers.

“They’re not a good fit for everyone, but if you’re a small business with a customer base who uses social media, you can’t afford not to use them,” says Rachael Ritchie, who runs Goodfellas Pizza with her husband in the college town of Athens, Ohio.

It’s a great way to interact one on one and build a relationship with our customers Alice Shin, Kogi BBQ

She recently asked her Twitter and Facebook followers to vote on whether she should use Coke or Pepsi as a soft drinks supplier.

“That real-time feedback is invaluable,” she says.

Goodfellas Pizza offers cross-promotions with other local businesses via Twitter.

They include Athens Relaxation Station health spa, which gives Goodfellas customers discounts, a deal which is reciprocated at Goodfellas.

“I am a one-woman business in a small town so free marketing is a huge bonus,” says spa owner Jennifer Hunt.

“And if I get a last minute cancellation I hop on to Twitter and within minutes I’ve filled the appointment.”

Small firms gain

“Every day we are seeing businesses using Twitter in more and more creative and exciting ways,” says Anamitra Banerji, manager of commercial products at Twitter.

“We’ve got lots of restaurant and bar owners right through to plumbers and building managers.”

Though multinationals such as Starbucks and McDonald’s were among the first to realise the potential of social networking sites, anecdotal evidence suggests it is small businesses that have the most to gain.

Twitter, which allows users to post Tweets of up to 140 characters, is currently developing products to sell to business users, including software to verify accounts and analyse traffic to Twitter account holders’ profiles.

The company recently launched Twitter 101 on its website, which includes advice for new users along with case studies, describing how companies of all scales and in various sectors have used the site to grow their business.

Facebook, which has 300 million users worldwide and recently announced it had become cash-flow positive, offers businesses special pages and the option to buy ads to show to users who like similar companies.

Customer interaction

As well as using social media sites to communicate with customers, small businesses are using them to connect with potential suppliers, stockists and other people they can trade skills with, such as accountants, marketing experts and technology workers.

The days of large anonymous companies are over Andrew Sinkov, Evernote

One recent Twitter post from a graphic designer asked other business users for advice on computer software his company was thinking of buying.

Kogi BBQ runs three Korean mobile food trucks in Los Angeles.

It has 43,000 followers on Twitter and 3,150 on Facebook and uses the sites to post specials, discounts and details of where the vans will be parked each day.

“It’s a great way to interact one on one and build a relationship with our customers,” says Kogi BBQ’s creative director Alice Shin.

“Customers feel a personal connection, which encourages repeat business.”

Dangers loom

But experts warn that social networking sites are not without dangers.

“You are losing control of your message by inviting customers in to a dialogue and that could be problematic if they criticise you,” says Arun Sundararajan, a professor of information, operations and management sciences at New York University.

He advised users to think of it as a conversation rather than an advertising space.

“There is a fine line between giving people a steady stream of useful information and bombarding them, he explains.

“If you do the latter you are in danger of turning customers off.”

This view was echoed by Andrew Sinkov, vice president of marketing at Evernote, a California-based online storage company.

“The key is to keep your messages concise, free of fluff or marketing jargon and only convey genuinely useful information,” he says.

Company personality

Evernote has 30,000 followers on Twitter, 12,000 fans on Facebook and has recently begun using Friendfeed, which was taken over by Facebook in August.

Evernote directs its followers between all three sites and its company blog, creating a sophisticated, inter-linked online presence.

“The days of large anonymous companies are over,” declares Mr Sinkov.

“To succeed nowadays your company has to have a personality and it’s easier than ever to create that.

Source: BBC

Twitter has launched a great new feature called Lists. It does what it says on the tin in that you can create lists to group people that you follow. This makes it very easy to put all their messages into one Twitter fall. For anyone that uses Seesmic or Tweetdeck this will already be a vital part of your Twitter experience but of course, those groups that you make are your private groups. The addition of Lists to Twitter’s service (it seems) will allow you to search for lists that you want to be part of – this will help target followers.

Two services that already exist and provide a great means to create lists are WeFollow and TweepML. Twitter lists are only available to a few select users at present, one of which is Tech Crunch, who has more details on Twitter Lists.

Follow me for tips on using Twitter @jonniejensen.

For a full day training on Twitter look no further than my Accelerated Twitter Success course. Having established the basics of using Twitter you will now be wondering how you can harness this tool to promote your business. This training day will equip you with the tools and strategy to achieve success.

The next training day will be on November 4th, 2009 in Maidstone, Kent. Your day will start at 9.30am and include lunch. You will be given some homework to prepare in advance and everyone will need to work from their laptop as we set in place your strategy and Twitter routine.

Full day Twitter training

• Strategy planning
• Tool use & Automation
• Effective following
• Copy writing
• Time management
• Using #hashtags to promote your content
• Integration with other social media sites
• Promotions and competitions
• Customer service
• Measurement and results tracking

November 4th 2009
Detling Coachhouse, Scragged Oak Road, Detling, Maidstone, ME14 3HB (map)

£167 incl lunch

9am – 5.30pm

Register for the event before October 24th to receive a £22 discount and guarantee your place on the course

If you are new to social media and are wondering where to start, don’t fear.  I gave this presentation to Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce members this week. Everyone should have a website by now – so what next? Do you even know if your website is getting you any customers or helping you keep your existing ones.  I know internet marketing is yet another challenge for many business owners and learning about all the latest tricks can be baffling. Twitter, Facebook, Pay Per Click advertising, email marketing…..urgh “I don’t have the time” is often what I hear.   This presentation will help you understand what comes after your website. As an Internet Marketing Advisor I assure you it’s not frightening, its just new. Underneath is the Social Media Checkist for Action which will get you started.

Sign up for my email newsletter which will give you the latest news from my blog plus tips and tricks on Internet Marketing for Business every month.

This checklist was given out at the KICC lunch which I spoke at yesterday. If you are a business owner in Kent then the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce is a must for networking and business support in the county.

You have got a website for your company, now what? I will be looking at this question and introducing social media as a marketing channel at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce networking lunch on Wednesday September 9th. Full details are here.

For those attending the event, get yourself a Twitter account and bring your laptop – there will be free WiFi for all.

As an introduction watch this great video from Socialnomics09. And, if you need help signing up for Twitter watch the How To guide at the bottom.

(I’ll do my own Twitter intro to accompany my Twitter For Business event on Sept 16th. Register now)

Hi and thanks for visiting. I have written this article for a magazine. I would welcome any comments and opinions.

The article is an introduction to social media for beginers.  I also have a problem and that is that the article is currently 2,100 words long when the limit is 1,200.  So all input is welcome and I look forward to reading it. Feel free to contact me should you wish +442032862306 or +447900183311 or jonniejensen@tmandi.co.uk.

What is social media and what does it have to do with your business?

In case you hadn’t noticed the internet has changed. It is no longer just searching for something and then reading it or buying it. Now we connect with people and companies. We share our pictures on Facebook and our interests on blogs. We comment on other people’s articles and shout about poor customer service. It started with Friends Reunited, then MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and now Twitter. In actual fact there are many, many more and today they are defined as social media. But still these are just for fun right? They’re for DJ’s and kids and you are asking “what do they have to do with my business?”

The answer is they are the future of your business success. Nearly 19 million UK residents are on Facebook, 4 million are on Twitter. It has overtaken porn as the No 1 internet activity. Your customers and prospects are using these services. In this article we are going to look at how you can get started using social media and provide insights for your success.

You’ve already got a website – so what?

It is no longer enough to just have a website. The search engines are pulling in results from these services and are more likely to find content about you than they are your website – content that you won’t have written. If you want to influence the purchasing decisions of people then you need to be using social media to build a strong online presence. Social media platforms build awareness, boost business and serve as low cost/no cost marketing tools. When people search for your name or your business they will expect to find you on Facebook, see your latest blog article, your Twitter history, what you have been saying in forums relevant to their needs, and most importantly what others are saying about you. It is all about establishing trust.

People base their decisions on your reputation and recommendations. It harks back to the days when people only did business with local suppliers and people they knew. Whilst those communities may not exist or be relevant anymore, opportunities for businesses in online communities are booming. This recession and the backlash against corporations is the chance for start ups and small business to create relationships with customers, provide better more relevant services and beat the big name companies. It is happening and they are using social media. The case study with Sally Asling of SurreyLetsOnline illustrates (see box).

What exactly is social media?

Ultimately it is just a buzz word for today’s internet. On Wikipedia social media is defined as “a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It’s a set of technologies, tools and platforms facilitating the discovery, participation and sharing of content. It is transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal and business”. Get your head round that if you can. To you and me it is a fancy way to describe the billions of conversations that people are having online right now.

That may well explain what it is but why is it important for your business?

There are two main reasons why social media is important for your business. The first is that it supports the promotion of your website on search engines. Google and the other search engines love social media sites because the content is conversational and therefore rich in everyday keywords – words that people use when they search for you. Having your own blog is the best place you can start.

Your great content will then be linked to by other people in their blogs and Twitter messages and on bookmarking sites like Digg and Delicious. In basic terms it is this is how Google works, it finds relevant content and then rates it by how many other sites link to it. The more content you have on the internet, the more you will be found. Better still, your marketing efforts on the internet never die. It all references back to you and done right, will provide a fistful of reasons for someone to choose you over your competitors. This is known as ‘long tail marketing’.

The second is reach. Your network of contacts is no doubt useful to you but it is nothing compared to what your online connections can do for you. Simply explained; if you tell 200 contacts your message and they then share it with 200 contacts who then do the same, your message will have reached 800,000 people. That is why it is important for your business.

Case Study – Sally Asling of SurreyLetsOnline

Sally Asling of SurreyLetsOnline started her business in March ’09. She came from a corporate background and was sceptical about social media. Twitter was for “radio DJ’s” and she “didn’t like Facebook”.

Q: What services do you use?

I have my own blog plus Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Ecademey and PropertyTribes.

Q: How did you get started?

Started using Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter and connecting content from GumTree with those. The conversations I had on Twitter with various people led to other referrals and I started strategic placement of Tweets like “I need a one bed flat in Guildford.”

Q: What kind of business have you generated?

It’s not always first hand. I had a person contact me from Sydney who had been retweeted a message. After checking me out on Google they let a flat without even seeing it. It can be very random. Since I started in April I have made about £7,000 directly from Twitter.

Q: What piece of advice would you give anyone just starting out?

Write a personal profile of who you want to be. Think of those words to create a catch phrase. Link that into everything you do. Keep all your sites consistent. Do it bit by bit. You can’t do it all at once – it will frighten you. Do one or two things at a time and add to it. NEVER EVER use it to rant about something.

www.surreyletsonline.co.uk
twitter.com/SurreyLets

Let’s Get Started

The single most important thing to remember with social media is integrity and being genuine. Your success will be based on the trust you develop with your community. Thomas Power at ecademy.com describes it as being “open random and supportive” and encourages you to “share your knowledge and your contacts freely”.

1. Define your objectives

Establish what you want to achieve. This should include what you stand for or what you want to become known for. Not only will this help you focus on your audience and content but most importantly it will help you measure if it is working.

2. Start listening

Go out and look for the people who are talking about your products and services. This will help you decide which social media tools to use.  Just search on Google blogsearch, Socialmention.com and Twitter. Start a spreadsheet or simple database to note where these conversations are happening and to record info on who is out there in the space. You might like to add the RSS feed of the search results to a Google Reader account so you can easily revisit all the content.

3. Choose your tools

You don’t need to use every service to start with. Pick a couple and make sure you complete your profile with a good quality picture, honest information, a link to your site and keywords about your service. Chris Brogan (chrisbrogan.com) describes the process as having a Homebase, Outposts and Passports. I recommend you visit his site for more information.

Your home base – this is where you focus all your own content and where you drive people back to. For businesses this will mostly be your website. Make sure it has a blog or news section and update it regularly. I recommend you use Wordpress to create your whole site or to add a blog to an existing site. If you want an easy web based option go for Blogger, Wordpress.com or Typepad.

Outposts – these are the places away from your home base where you maintain a presence but split your time between interacting with people there and directing them back to your home base.  There are many to choose from. You could research some industry specific sites or choose from these recommendations:

• twitter.com – easy to find people, easy to follow conversations and easy to connect. If you follow the etiquette, share your knowledge and make sure no more than 2 in 10 of your messages are sales based you will have success here.
• facebook.com – if you’re willing to mix life and work, Facebook offers a rapidly growing user base (over 700,000 a day at this writing), and many ways to interact. With recent improvements to business pages and fan pages, Facebook seems to have even more new features on the horizon that will help.
• youtube.com – with over 13 billion videos served a month, ignoring the presence point of YouTube as a potential place to build community is no longer prudent. Video isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it might be of value to create at least a few video assets to start the conversation.
• linkedin.com – this isn’t an online resume; it’s a living business connections network. Complete your profile, upload your connections and join relevant groups. When you get active in the discussions and Q&A sections you will raise your profile and generate referrals.

Passports – these are the other social media sites that you register with and add a detailed profile to. They can make your social media presence more effective and simple to manage. See my blog post on Passports for more information http://tmandi.co.uk/passports

4. Make some content

Now you are ready to make some content. Use your Listening results to see what people are talking about. The best indication of what is popular is to see which articles and discussions have the most amount of comments. It’s good to reference others – always include a link to them if you do. Conversely if there is a subject you know is hugely unrepresented then this could really help you stand out. Whichever route you pick, be consistent with your topics and always look to forward the conversation. As you build up a following they will come to depend on you. It is fine to expand just don’t forget why people followed you in the first place.

5. Promote your content

Once you have put your content on your Homebase you need to use your Outposts to promote it. You can use your status updates to let people know what you have just written but don’t depend only on this. Find other blog’s, forums and groups where you could sensibly talk about the subject as part of an existing conversation. It is fine to then offer your article as a reference. If you are starting a topic then do just that. Open a discussion that invites people to debate the subject. This is much more interesting than just telling people to read your opinion on a subject.

6. Measure results

A negative that is often targeted at social media is that its benefit is not easy to measure. I disagree. So long as you are measuring all the available metrics then you can attribute value to your efforts.

• Number of followers/subscribers
• Referring URL’s to your website and blog
• Number of inbound links to your website
• Number of times your message has been re-Tweeted
• Views on your video
• Total comments
• Number of times a Twitter link has been clicked
• Revenue growth

There are many more. Any result measured over time will give you an idea of success. If your not measuring the traffic to your website then set up Google Analytics – it’s free!

Just get started

It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start. You can get more guidance from my blog or by searching through Google for other peoples help. Be yourself, add value to others and don’t say anything you might regret in the future.

Follow Jonnie Jensen

• Twitter.com/jonniejensen
• Friendfeed.com/jonniejensen
• LinkedIn.com/in/jonniejensen

Jonnie Jensen is a digital marketing consultant. He provides training on social media. He also works with businesses to help them match their internet marketing with their business objectives. He makes it simple and helps you succeed. To work with Jonnie email jonniejensens@tmandi.co.uk or call 02032862306

www.tmandi.co.uk

The great thing about putting on my Twitter for Business training event is that I have been speaking to people who know nothing about Twitter. These are successful business people and no surprise their attitude is based on hearing DJ’s on the radio and what they read in their newspapers “it’s just for kids and celebrities”.

“Actually no, it’s a powerful networking and communication tool that you can use to massively grow your reach and influence” is the response I give. They still don’t see it and I am going to have to revise that response because business people want to know if it will make them more money.

The answer to this is yes. And I’ll go into that in a further post. The point of this post is to show you what Twitter, and the rest of the social media tools, have to do with your business. I just saw a link to this video on Twitter. It puts into context today’s internet audience and you might like to consider how relevant your marketing is if you are not using it.

Please comment with your thoughts…

This is the first of many events that I will be running in Kent. I’m making it my goal to bring social media to businesses and entrepreneurs in Kent. Of course the rest of the World will follow shortly after and you are welcome wherever you come from.

These events sell out fast. If you want an early bird notice and discount put your details below and you will be the first to know about them.

Twitter for Business Success and Networking event
Russell Hotel, Maidstone, Kent on Sept 16th 2009  1-30pm to 5.30pm (map)

Internet marketing goes way beyond your website now. Don’t get left behind. Attend this event to learn the basics of Twitter and understand how to create a social media marketing strategy. All the details are below. Register now for full information.

Event Details:

Twitter is a business tool.

You may not have realised this. If you thought it was for kids and celebrities to tell each other what they are having for lunch then you are missing out on an opportunity to propel your business forward. If you are an entrepreneur, business owner or looking to raise your profile then you need to know about Twitter.

Get your ticket for this event today. Click the register button above.

Twitter is a communication tool.

Just like other social media services such as blogs, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn people are using it to grow their business. The world has shrunk un-imaginably and you have the power at your finger tips to broadcast yourself, your services, your products and your expertise in amazingly interesting ways.

Twitter is a social media marketing tool.

This introduction to Twitter and social media will give you an understanding of what it can do for you. You will learn how your internet marketing goes way beyond just a website. More than that it is a practical workshop that will set you up on Twitter, will explain the basics and have you Tweeting – that’s sending messages – to the other local business men and women who will be with you at the event. Bring your laptop, there will be free wi-fi for all.

Networking

The event will be attended by other forward thinking entrepreneurs and local businesses. At the end of the workshop there will be a networking opportunity to share your thoughts and establish contacts. This is the power of Twitter in action – you meet online, then you do business in the real World.

Do not wait. Click the register button below and get your ticket today.

Who should attend?

• Business owners and professionals
• Entrepreneurs
• Anyone with a website
• Marketing managers
• Sales managers
• Anyone wanting to raise their profile
• Celebrities
• Authors
• Coaches

Register now for full information