Taking on a Social Media intern
By Tyler Olson | June 11, 2010
People frequently tell me they plan on taking on an intern to manage their social media. An inner part of me cringes every time I hear this because I know I have failed to explain the importance and power of social media to them in a way they can understand.
Yes, I am a biased opinion. I am convinced though that social media is one of the most effective ways of reaching a large audience. Additionally, social media represents a new twist in Marketing… everything said on social media is permanently archived forever in an easy to search manner. Talk about what a PR nightmare it could turn into! Every piece of content said is permanently attached to your brand image.
When I hear people say they are excited that they found an unpaid intern or low-paid intern to manage their social media and help them get into the 21st century, I know it is already too late to educate them on the dangers this provides their business. The primary question I wish I had the opportunity to ask them point-blank one month prior:
When you think about your company brand that you’ve worked so hard to establish, how do you want to continue it? In a concentrated professional manner, or in a haphazard way that might occur with a low paid (or free) intern who might leave you in a few weeks. Most companies say they want consistency of message and of delivery. They want to be confident that the words that go out about their company are well-thought out. Because social media is quite new to a lot of companies, many don’t know that there is no “undo button” in social media?
How much do YOU want to risk? With SMCPros you can be confident every move is planned and focused on making you look good to your customers and prospects. Our methods are tried and proven successful. We are way past guessing what works. So I ask again: How much do you want to risk?
Having said this, please, be careful.
Topics: Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter | No Comments »
The Digital Age
By Tyler Olson | March 15, 2010
I watched a TED video this morning. Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Wine Library TV, reminded me once again that everything we do today is digitally recorded. Our children and grand-children are going to have access to so much about our lives. When I think about what I know about my great grand-parents, I know their names and I know the few stories I have time to hear from my grandparents. But my children are going to have access to what I said on twitter even today, March 15th, 2010. They will be able to see that I missed the last 3 episodes of 24 because hulu broadcasts that.
Robert Stephens, founder of Geek Squad, spoke at an EO event this past week at the James J Hill library on the topic of Social Media. He also stressed the importance and power of the web. As technology evolution continues to accelerate, more and more of what we do is going to be digitally recorded and archived. In the near future, life will be video-recorded and broadcasted everywhere we go (as it already can be). What does this mean in the privacy debates, speed of life issues, the ADD surge in young people? I don’t know. But technology is quickly and gracefully macro-evolving the way life works.
I am very interested to know your thoughts on whether these things concern you, excite you, and what you plan on doing with this.
Topics: Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter | 3 Comments »
Facebook Demographics
By Tyler Olson | February 2, 2010
People frequently ask us here at SMCpros about the demographic information of Social Media. In order to measure demographics, marketers typically combine several variables.
How does one talk about the demographics of the global population? It’s almost useless information when trying to talk about its utility as a marketing tool.
Here’s my take on the importance of Social Media demographics to business:
- There are approximately 6.8 billion people on earth (1)
- There are approximately 1.7 billion people on earth with access to the internet (2)
- There are approximately 350 million registered members on Facebook (3)
- There are approximately 175 million registered members on Facebook who are on Facebook every single day (4)
In short, that means that 10% of all internet users in the world login to Facebook every single day. And, if you only are interested in marketing in the United States, the number is far higher than that.
In sum, the answer to the question typically is, “Yes, your target market is on social media, they use it, and they use it frequently!”
*Statistics based on Wikipedia
Topics: Facebook, Social Media | No Comments »
100 LinkedIn Connections in 24 hours
By Tyler Olson | December 14, 2009
It has been on my to-do list for approximately three months to make a number of changes to my LinkedIn Profile and drive further value to it.
On Sunday Evening, I was up late finally taking action to meet that goal.
There is always more with Social Media I want to accomplish, however, it’s about the amount of time I want to spend, what should happen in what order, and thinking through what my goals of a campaign are going to be ahead of time.
For this campaign, my objective was to see how many people I could get interested in what SMCpros has to offer within one day. I spent around 45 minutes planning and implementing the campaign.
We will know more about how the final web traffic count turned out tomorrow. However, Sunday had a significant spike and I didn’t start the campaign until 10:51pm.
By the end of the evening, I had 12 emails that I can directly attribute to this LinkedIn campaign and 3 phone calls, one of which I almost closed a deal.
I always remind people that they should not expect to break-even on their first day working with us – but even I am amazed at how often we can achieve such extraordinary results in a short amount of time.
What’s your most recent Social Media success story? We’d love to hear from you.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
What is next for Social Media?
By Tyler Olson | November 29, 2009
Geo-location integration.
What does this mean? Imagine being able to let certain people know that you were at Mall of America… Or at the Vikings game… and in return, you were given permission to see that your high school friend is in the restaurant right next door… or your top client is across the street. How would this change your life? It would likely impact where you go, what you do, who you see, and increase the likelihood of meeting up with people you want to meet up with.
Foursquare already does this and has been increasing in popularity over the last 6 months (primarily since the 2009 SXSW). Only a very small percentage of people in Minnesota currently use this tool. However, less than a year ago, social media tools such as twitter were primarily used by those in Silicon Valley as well. As more people dive into Foursquare and related tools, we will likely see another shift in the world of social media.
As one would expect, Facebook and Twitter are beginning to build geo-location tools into their systems. I am looking forward to seeing how they incorporate the next phase of social media. We will likely hear another privacy uproar as we have in the past regarding changes to Facebook. However, if done correctly, Facebook could take the entire geo-location social media game away from Foursquare, Loopts, and others.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Social Media Changes Marketing Forever
By Tyler Olson | November 23, 2009
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
The Power of Email Marketing, Social Media for Business & Planning Your Website!
By Tyler Olson | November 15, 2009
Join us for this power workshop with free lunch provided. This workshop is scheduled from 9:00am to 2:00pm this Tuesday. RSVP Today here! Registration starts at 8:30 AM
2300 East American Blvd.
(24 Ave exit and 494)
Bloomington, MN 55425
(952) 854-3411
Learn how to effectively use email marketing, social media and your business website to better market your business and communicate with your greatest resource, your clients.
Constant Contact, Small Business Connections and the St. Paul Convention and Visitor’s Authority bring you another great workshop with 3 key topics to build your business!
Jeff Ferrazzo- Constant Contact- The Power of Email Marketing – Learn how to make email marketing work for you! You will discover how email marketing works; and obtain useful email marketing tips. Email marketing is about getting your message heard in a world of increasing email communications! Discover the nuts and bolts including email marketing strategy and techniques.
In this session, you will gain insight on how to build your lists and use subject lines to get your emails opened! Maximize email marketing communications to develop content and find out how to create professional looking emails that will WOW your customers. This session is designed to give you the information that you need but never knew where to find!
The program will provide participants with:
- An understanding of what email marketing is and why and how it works.
- Components of an effective email marketing campaign and how email marketing can meet your needs.
- Case studies of successful email marketing campaigns.
- Email marketing best practices and tips, strategies and techniques to create more effective email campaigns.
This workshop is best for:
Anyone who needs more information about how email marketing can help their business or organization grow. Also good for current customers and “free trialers” that need a refresher on email marketing.
Brenda Arendt of Reliable Sites- Planning Your Website
This seminar will answer these questions:
- What is a website?
- Does my business need one?
- Can I create one on my own?
- What makes a good web site?
- What do I need to know to hire a website designer?
- Do I need “Search Engine Optimization”?
- Can I sell products from my website?
Tyler Olson- SMC Pros- Social Media For Business
Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and Social Media. You’ve been reading about it. You’ve been hearing about it everywhere. Everyone seems to be trying it out. You may have even been to seminar or another Meetup about it. SOCIAL MEDIA for your business. What you’ve learned so far seems pretty basic.
Your not sure you’re doing everything you could be. You just want to figure out whether these services can help take your business to a new level. Stop trying to “figure it out” on your own. In this workshop you will learn more specifics on how to use Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter services to gain clients for your business.
- How do Social Media tools work and how should we be using them?
- Which services will work best for my type of business?
- Are there specific strategies that work best for my industry?
- Can I do this on my own or will I need to hire someone?
- What other services can help me besides the “Big 3″?
- Is there an efficient way to use all or most of these services?
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Social Media Presentations
By Tyler Olson | November 8, 2009
Tyler Olson, President of SMCpros, frequently speaks on the importance of using Social Media in Business. With over 50 speaking engagements in 2009, an increasing number of businesses are adding Social Media components to their marketing plans. Has your business made the leap yet? If you have not yet attended a workshop or seminar on Social Media for Business, make sure to do so before the year is out. You don’t want to be left behind as your competition takes the leap and gains new opportunities. If you are looking for somebody to present to your business on the power of Social Media, let us know!
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- Tyler at the Roseville Rotary
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- Tyler at New Business MN
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- Tyler Olson on the Radio
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Tyler Olson speaks at Rotary Event on Social Media
By Tyler Olson | September 30, 2009
Tyler Olson, CEO, of SMCpros (Social Media Consultanting), presented a very upbeat story about how to make money with Facebook,Twitter, and LinkedIn. Olson is a 2008 graduate of the University of Saint Thomas and a very enthusiastic entrepreneur. Social Media exists in many shapes and sizes, possibly more than 100. Olson and his crew help people customize Social Media to contact customers, supporters, and information sources, people that are “friendly.”
He provided examples of how to post and track information on Facebook to capture the attention of friends and others that would like to be friends who are focused on the same subject you are. He also pointed out that we must be careful to protect ourselves while using Social Media so our privacy is protected and things are sent to the right places.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Will Twitter Stay Alive?
By Tyler Olson | September 14, 2009
Facebook is starting to incorporate several key Twitter functions such as @mentions, #tags, and search which significantly reduce the value of Twitter. Not all of these new features have been rolled out to everybody yet, but expect to see them in your Facebook account over the coming weeks. But truthfully, why would you use Twitter if you can send messages via the @mention functionality, keep conversations together around the #tag functionality, and be able to search public tweets all from Facebook? Additionally, Facebook Fan Pages can now automatically tweet your posts and updates. If this same functionality rolls out for personal accounts, it greatly reduces the likelihood of users going over to Twitter to message people.
The world of Social Media changes quickly. Make sure to stay up to date by having a Social Media team at your side.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
