Welcome to Katie Saxon, who has joined Hallam as an SEO Executive. She’ll be part of the team writing blog postings, and this is her Social Media Checklist for New Employees.

Welcoming a new member of staff into your company? This is a good time to run through the essentials of a good social media presence.

Build a LinkedIn Profile

An absolute must – not only does it help your company by boosting your online presence, but also new employees can connect with your staff, partners and clients in a quick and easy way.

Remember to include a keyword rich link to your company.

If your newbie is at all shy or not good at remembering faces, this is an ideal way to introduce themselves while showing their credentials.

Take a look at my LinkedIn profile.

Get Blogging

Does your company have a blog?  (If not, why not? Blogging is an important SEO tool, ignore it at your peril.)  Ask your new member of staff if they would write a post for your blog.

The exact angle is up to you – they could write about their first day/week/month on the job.  Maybe you want them to give a beginners perspective on some of your expert knowledge.  It could be as simple as asking them to write a short piece introducing themselves.
Just go with whatever will work best for your company blog.

Start Tweeting

If you’re on twitter perhaps your newbie could write some twitter posts for you.  It’ll take them less time than writing a full blog post, so they might be happier with doing this.

Maybe you don’t want them to tweet on behalf of your company, but could they use twitter professionally?
If they have their own profile, which establishes them as an industry expert and employee of your company they can tweet about relevant content that interests them.  It helps you to build your company profile, without you necessarily needing to monitor what they say.

Follow @ksaxoninternet to see my latest tweets on Internet marketing

Sign up to Delicious

This is a really good way for any new member of staff to start knowledge sharing.  I’m always stumbling across interesting articles online that I want to share with my colleagues and connecting on Delicious is an easy way to do this.

If your staff already use Delicious then this is a great way of pointing your new employee towards the articles you want them to read. You can see what I’m reading on my Delicious profile.

Create a Google Profile

This is another useful way to build your company’s online presence.  And if you’ve got your staff tweeting, blogging, connecting on LinkedIn and bookmarking on Delicious their Google profile can direct you to all of their other social media profiles.  Take a look at Susan Hallam’s Google Profile.

There are of course lots and lots of other social media applications that your staff can use to enrich their experience of working for you – and to increase your web presence.  My checklist is just a starting point – you just have to decide which are most appropriate for your business.

Hope you find this useful, I’ll be writing again soon, Katie.

Google has announced its search results will display a dynamic stream of real-time content from across the web, pulling updates from Twitter and Facebook, or postings from blogs and news sites.

Latest Results is yet another addition to Google’s already cluttered search page.

Many apologies in advance, but if you haven’t seen it in action, I thought I would demonstrate by doing a search the  key phrase X Factor.

Taking a look at this snip of the Google results, you will find my Twitter post mentioning X Factor in the new Latest Results section:

I’m preparing my new Social Media Marketing Training course, and  I think the big question for small businesses for Latest Search are:

What phrases are going to trigger Latest Results? At the moment it appears to be predominantly entertainment and news stories. As an example, the BA Strike is triggering Latest Results. On the other hand, Swine flu triggers News results, and Blog posts, but no Latest News.

What kind of content could your business generate to take advantage of this ephemeral content in the search results? Search engine optimisation doesn’t just mean web pages, but also means blog postings, and YouTube content, and Images, and now more than ever participating in the social media sphere.

What UK Centric phrases will trigger Latest News? It’s early days, and we will need to wait to see just how Google integrates this live stream into the search results.  Google provides a service called Google Trends that shows hot topics,  but I just don’t believe today’s UK data.  Are so many British searchers really looking for this kind of data:

Learn more by taking a look  at Google’s video introduction to Google Latest Results:

Maybe you use Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube in your personal life; maybe you wouldn’t know where to start.

Either way, using them for marketing your business is a whole new ball game.  This one day training course is your opportunity to find out which of these tools could help you and to start thinking of exactly how and when your business can benefit from using them.

The Social Internet is putting control into the hands of your audiences, giving them new ways of communicating, new ways of learning about your products and services, new ways of engaging with your business. So your business needs fresh strategies and practical methods of connecting with this highly connected audience.

In this one day session, you will learn how you can take advantage of a broad range of  free and low cost Social Media marketing tools.  Learn how they can be used as part of your audience development strategy, see practical examples of these tools in action, discuss what these technologies mean, good or bad, for your organisation.

What our delegates say:

Has certainly opened my eyes to the advantages of social networking when it comes to certain ventures. Most helpful: Video blogging, use of Twitter and how this can be linked to your website

I have attended a number of courses that Susan has delivered before, and am always delighted with her accessible and pragmatic response, she is always willing to answer questions specific to our business and is very helpful

This course covers

• An overview of current trends in social media marketing
• Evaluating the effectiveness of different social media techniques
• Researching how your competitors are using social media
• Quick wins: how small businesses are using social media effectively
• How to measure your social media success
• Common mistakes to avoid

Date

This course is being offered on two dates:

20 January 2010
17 March 2010

Times

09:00 – Registration & Coffee
09:30 – 16:30 Course
16:30 – 17:00 Informal Q&A

Location

Hallam Training Suite
2 King Street
Nottingham NG1 2AS

Fee

£395.00 + VAT
Includes comprehensive course notes, lunch, drinks and snacks.

Please select the “Other Payments Options” if you would prefer to pay by cheque or pay by Invoice.

About this Social Media Marketing Training Course

This course has been designed for business owners and managers who need to understand what is involved in Social Media Marketing. You may be using these technologies already, or they may be new to you.  This practical day will give you an overview the range of social tools, practical examples of how other businesses are using them successfully, and a framework for planning your own social media campaign.

You will leave the day with a written plan of action detailing the specific steps you need to take to start using Social Media as part of your marketing mix.

Susan’s workshop materials are constantly updated as the industry shifts and changes, and this workshop will reflect the latest strategies to reflect the evolving social media landscape.

You will be provided with a comprehensive set of course notes, articles and reference guides. Following the course, you will have access to Hallam’s password protected online library of social media support resources.

The Trainer

Susan Hallam one of the UK’s leading Internet marketing trainers and consultants, with more than 20 years experience in the information industry.

She is a regular speaker at conferences including Search Engine Strategies, InternetWorld, and is a Qualified Google AdWords and Google Analytics consultant.

Internet marketing means we have more communication tools than ever before. And, what’s more, the speed at which they are being introduced – and at which the public are lapping them up – doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Here is a 5 step framework for your Social Media Marketing strategy to help you to review which digital marketing techniques work for you, and create a plan which is right for your organisation, your budget and your audiences.

What are your objectives for using Digital Media?

Are you looking to:

• acquire more visitors to your website?
• convert visitors into customers?
• engage more fully with your clients?
• improve the retention and loyalty of your customers?

Step 1: Planning

I have to confess, I like to do the planning bit after the next steps, but all the text books say planning has to come first…

• Who will be responsible?
• Who needs to be kept informed?
• How is social media being used in your sector?
• What are you competitors doing with social media marketing?
• What are your SMART objectives?
• How will you report against these objectives?

Step 2: Listening

• What terms will help you to identify relevant conversations in the social media marketing space.
• Try monitoring your digital footprint
• Who are the leaders of the pack, setting the agenda?
• At what points in a customer journey do people connect?
• How are you able to monitor these conversations?

Step 3:  Conversing

• Who are you speaking to?  Journalists? Customers? Intermediaries?
• Which social media platforms do they use?
• Who is the “real” person who will be the voice of your SM?
• Create a content / editorial schedule
• What good stuff (“link bait”) will you have your site?

Step 4: Responding

• How will you handle responding?
• Public vs private responding
• Do you have a Social Media policy?

Step 5: Measuring Your Success

• Money is a key measure:  Sales
• Reverb: Fans, Followers, Friends
• Engagement: Videos viewed, programmes downloaded
• Quality vs Quantity
• Return on Investment
• Google Analytics Social Media Filter & Goals

I had the most extraordinary comment written on my blog earlier this week, the author having taken the time and effort to write a response amounting to more than 2,632 words.  That’s five pages of A4 paper, single spaced using a 12 point font.

Take a look, it is Comment Number 11 on my BT Web Clicks Review article.

Unfortunately, the comment would appear (perhaps, possibly, allegedly) to be written by someone who is in some way associated with the reviewed service.

My question is this: how much did this comment help BT’s cause? And would it have been better to just bite your tongue when negative reviews are written about your business?

Perhaps he was trying to drown out the other comments on the posting? Unfortunately, it only served to make the blog article even more keyword rich, and it ranks  happily in the top ten results for searches.

Perhaps he was trying to genuinely persuade us of the merits of his service?  Then this side of the argument might be best left to the genuine customers who jump to your defense, or at worst case the marketing department.

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We all fear bad reviews about our business.  Bad reviews can be unfair, misleading, and just plain inaccurate.

The temptation might to write a rebuttal review, pretending to be a happy customer.  You’re hoping to that your own positive review will shout louder than the bad reviews.

But it is illegal to write fake reviews about your business, particularly if you are pretending to be someone you’re not.

As an example, take a look at the rather extraordinary streak of bad tempered commenting going on about the BT Web Clicks service over on the HM2K.com website.

And right smack in the middle are a few people defending BT, who look suspiciously like they might be employed by BT, or working on behalf of BT.

What they don’t do is put their hands up and say who they are.  Who they work for.  What part they actually play in the business.

Instead, they might be hiding behind generic user names, and implying they might actually be BT customers.

And the other members of the discussion think they’ve rumbled a fake contributor, and fingers are being pointed.

If “Steve” or “Joseph” or “Junior1138″ are indeed connected to BT then they are making a mistake.  Big mistake.

Why should you not write fake comments or reviews?

• it is illegal
• people will sense that the comments are from you, and will point out your fraudulent review
• and that will make your company look bad, or more likely, dishonest
• your fake positive comments are likely to stoke the fire, and cause the furore to rumble on
• and will probably generate more inbound links,  and percolate the topic higher in the search rankings

Handling negative reviews

I think negative reviews can have a positive impact on your business.  They can help to build trust and credibility when handled correctly.

Negative reviews demonstrate that the opinions are expressed by real people, and show that you have an open channel of communication.

Steps for handling negative comments:

1. Take time to cool off.  Sleep on it before you compose a reply
2. Wait a little while, and see if your friendly customers jump to your defense.  Their independent rebuttal will be much valuable then your own.
3. Make sure you have read the comment correctly.  Sometimes  comments can look harsh or abrupt when they’re actually just written in haste
4. For genuine criticisms, make sure you have a plan of action to address and fix the problem
5. If you are going to reply, identify yourself properly and make it absolutely clear exactly who you are and how you are related to the business.
6. If you’re wrong, say you’re sorry, admit the fault, and explain the next steps. Everybody loves a nice guy, even if they’ve made a mistake.
7. If the review is inaccurate, clarify the situation keeping in mind the purpose is to win the hearts of the readers
8. Sarcasm doesn’t always convey well in short postings.
9. Monitor the situation so you’re aware where the bad reviews are flaring up

Reading more about negative reviews:

The laws governing social media marketing, including reviews.

The Power of Reviews

BT Web Clicks Review

Many thanks to Chris Rand who signposted me to the BT Web Clicks debate.

Google is experimenting with pulling through additional information from various social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and their own Google Profiles.  The search results are displaying not only a simple link to the site, but creating “added value” by selectively displaying additional information contained within the social networking profiles.

I’m seeing more of this activity in the .com version of Google;  some of these are not yet available in the .co.uk version, but I would suspect it is only a matter of time.

I have seen Google pulling through a snippet of information from my LinkedIn profile, inserting an additional line of information regarding my job title:

As for Facebook profiles, Google is now also displaying an extra line of text showing who your friends are.  Is this a good idea, or not such a good idea?  Apologies to whomever Mary Smith is for using her as an example:

Facebook friends appearing in Google results

And finally, Google is choosing to also display users’ own Google Profile in the search results, as well as prompts to discover people using other social networking sites like Classmates and MySpace. I’m not entirely sure how I ended up with two Google profiles, but that is something I need to get fixed:

There has been a groundswell of social media marketing opportunities for folk wanting to learn more about the benefits of all things Web 2.0

Here’s a quick round up of what’s on offer if you want to keep abreast of the latest in SMM:

MediaCamp is a free one-day “unconference” covering the latest digital trends, with a focus on Media, Technology & Culture.  It is taking place over the weekend of 9/10 May at Lace Market House, Nottingham.

Web 2.0 Surgery is an informal gathering of experts and clients to discuss all things Web 2.0, with a view to creating a Web 2.0 marketplace in Nottingham.

Nott Tuesday is a technology industry forum for Nottingham, aiming to position Nottingham as its rightful place as a technology powerhouse. It takes place every second Tuesday of the month, in Nottingham.

Network Nottingham is online networking environment for business professionals;  looks like lots of web 2.0 geeks are hanging out here.

Second Wednesday has been brought back to life;  originally established in 1999, it has returned after a 3 year hiatus.  Geeks unite for drinks, industry gossip and networking.

Facebook, of course, is a social networking site for individuals.  But Facebook also provides tools specifically aimed for businesses that you can use to create a presence for the company, rather than for an individual

Your personal  Profile is what you are most familiar with.  This is your personal account, using your real name.  Your profile page can contain a link to your business website, and your profile is the gateway to all the networking opportunities on Facebook.  Facebook stipulates that your can have just one account, it must be your real name, and it it is for you personally, it cannot be your business  name.

Remember, the details of your personal Profile is only available to other Facebook users.

For businesses, you can create a specific Page that has a focus on the company rather than you as a private individual.  It is all a bit confusing, because a Page (capital P) is a different type of Facebook content then your Profile.

Your Facebook Page is open and available to anyone, you do not need to be logged into Facebook to see your business information.

You can add your logo to your Page, and a description, and all the usual Facebook applications like photos, videos, events, Discussion and Wall.

Rather than Friends, your Page will have Fans.  The exciting marketing opportunity this presents you with the ability to send email marketing messages to your Fans. You don’t want to alienate the Fans who love your business by sending out Spam, but a few well targeted messages a few times a year (special offers? new product announcements?) is an opportunity not to be missed.

By way of comparison:

Here is my Susan Hallam Facebook Profile

And here is my (rather poor) Hallam Commnications Facebook Page

If you are looking for inspiration, then take a look at this collection of example Facebook Pages

And of course a successful Facebook page is all about building and nurturing the community of users are interested in your business.

Here’s the link to get started creating your Business Facebook Page:  you will need to select a business cateogry that cannot be changed later, so be careful!  And be sure to make your name keyword rich to help your search engine optimisation efforts, for example Joe’s Plumbing: Nottingham Emergency Plumbers

Read more at:

• Facebook for Business
• 10 Facebook Business Applications
• Half Geek Facebook for Business

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Your business leaves “footprints” all over the Internet.  Some of these footprints are your own which you can control, like your business website.  But many footprints are generated by other people who are commenting, reviewing, complimenting or complaining about your business.

A simple search on Google will uncover references to your business, but it isn’t terribly efficient at searching user generated content that forms the social Internet.

You might want to keep an eye on your company name, your products, your main employees, and indeed you might want to keep an eye on the competition.

SocialMention is a social media search engine, gathering information from a wide range of user generated content sites.  It will let you know if you’ve been mentioned on Twitter, or if people have bookmarked you on Delicious or Digg, whether they’ve written about you in their blog or written blog comments about you, published photos , report back on news stories, and will even let you know about YouTube videos or podcasts that mention you.

But I have to say it does not provide a comprehensive service:  for example it didn’t find me on Twitter or LinkedIn or Twitter, nor did it find my news or search Flickr images.

Social Media Firehose: This is a another social media search service using Yahoo Pipes. It taps into a range of social media search APIs directly, so it’s much more immediate and comprehensive than say, Google alerts. Available from @ http://tinyurl.com/firehose

But if you want a comprehensive overview then you should snoop around then you still need to use a number of additional sources:

• Serph.com is another social search aggregator
• Blogpulse is proivded by Nielsen BuzzMetrics and searches the blogosphere
• Trackur.com are offering a free 14 day trial

Google Alerts is a free alerting service that will email you when it discovers your key phrase being mentioned on the wider Google search network including blogs, news, videos.

And you might want to go straight to the horses’ mouth and use the search facilities on each service, for example search.twitter.com or blogsearch.google.com

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