Should your business become active in Facebook?

Should your business become active in Facebook?

To help you make an informed decision about your company’s Facebook strategy, Hubspot compiled these fantastic Facebook business stats.

1. 93% of adult US Internet users are on Facebook. (source: BlogHer, April 2011)
2. One out of every eight minutes online is spent on Facebook. (source: ComScore, February 2011)
3. The average Facebook user spends more than 11 hours per month on Facebook. (sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2010 & Facebook Press Room, 2011)
4. Facebook is overtaking Google and Yahoo in total time spent online. (source: ComScore, August 2011)
5. Facebook has become the top choice for social sign-in. (source: Janrain, April 2011)
6. Facebook has become the preferred way to share content online, second only to email—for now. (source: Chadwick Martin Bailey, September 2010)
7. The average number of “likes” per post on a brand’s Facebook page is 54. The average number of comments per post is 9. (source: Visibli, April 2011)
8. More than half of B2B marketers agree that Facebook is an effective marketing tool. (source: Outsell, December 2009)
9. More than half of small businesses agree that Facebook is beneficial to their business. (source: Ad-ology, November 2010)
10. More than 1/3 of marketers say Facebook is “critical” or “important” to their business. (source: HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing Report 2011)
11. The number of marketers who say Facebook is critical or important to their business has increased 83% in two years. (source: HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing Report 2011)
12. 67% of B2C and 41% of B2B companies that use Facebook for marketing have acquired a customer through this channel. (source: HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing Report 2011)

Information provided by: Internet Marketing in a Box

Is Social Media Just a Time Suck for Small Business, Real Estate Agents & Mortgage Brokers?

Social media time management is an ever-evolving environment. New tools are coming out every day, and it can be hard to keep up. Furthermore, many of us, including myself, have wondered whether all the hard work will pay off. Bottom line: Leveraging social media correctly in conjunction with the rest of your marketing/business plan will increase your revenue; I saw my income increase exponentially! I will give you five tested tips and tools that will help you efficiently manage your social media.

But first just a few stats for those data-driven agents out there:

• 50 percent of small-business owners reported getting new customers from social media. (CrowdSpring)
• Nearly 80 percent of active Internet users visit social networks and blogs. (Nielsen)
• 91 percent of online American adults (approx. 129 million) access some form of social media each month. (Experian)
• According to an analysis of 4,200 companies by the business consulting giant McKinsey Global Institute, social technologies stand to unlock from $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in value.

Now, on to the goodies.

1) You must be an “iAgent” — and by that I mean, an agent of the Internet. Mobility is key. You need to be able to work from anywhere from your “virtual office.” Whether it be on your laptop, smartphone or tablet, you must be on one of them. The operating system is your choice: Droid or iPhone or Blackberry. All have App stores where you can find Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, etc.

2) Dashboards. Having all your accounts in one place really is a time saver. I use HootSuite and simply love it! I manage many of my accounts from this one platform (desktop and mobile). There are also others out there like TweetDeck, CoTweet, and Seesmic.

Now, if a dashboard is too overwhelming, try connecting some of your accounts together. For instance, you can use Facebook Connect to connect your Twitter account to your Facebook profile so when you post to Facebook, your posts will feed automatically to your Twitter stream.

And vice versa, you can go into your Twitter account and connect your Facebook profile. INSIDER TIP: Create a personalized #hashtag so you can build an audience around a specific theme, event or discussion topic, and then add that stream to your dashboard.

3) Create a posts bin. It is a very simple tool that many agents don’t think about. When you come across good content to share, save it for later in the posts bin. So, if you have writer’s block or have been busy with customers, you will have ready-made content.

4) Integrate a social media daily checklist. Go here for a great one (and free) viaHubSpot to download and personalize. Simple, easy and efficient.

5) Take advantage of alerts apps and tools that go straight to your phone and/or email. Depending on your preference, set them up for daily or weekly timing. My favorites are TweetAlarm, TweetBeep, Facebook Page Weekly Insights Alerts, Repinly, Pinterest Weekly, and Unroll.me.

I hope these tips and tools help you. No more time “suckage” for you and if you need a little help, email us for a free consultation. maria@internet-marketinginabox.com

Building Your Personal Brand

Building Your Personal Brand (Pt 1 of 2)

Describe yourself in one word.

What’s the word?

What one word do others use to describe you?

(Don’t know? Ask a few people.)

Is it the same word?

That word is your reputation, your personal brand.

Is that the brand you want and need to accomplish your goals in your marketplace?

If not, that could be what’s holding you back.

The world is changing all around us (noticed yet?). The 40-year job security is a laughable memory. Pension? Social security? Hilarious!

No, in this day and age YOU have to create your own security. You already know that. That’s why you read our blog.

In this whirlwind of change the only thing that is constant and your greatest asset, no matter what the future holds, is your personal brand. It is your only security for your future.

It’s time we build your brand—the one you want and need for your greater future.

First off, let me dispel what you might think a personal brand is. It is not your business card, brochure, website or magnetic car signs.

Your personal brand is the powerful, clear, positive idea that comes to mind whenever other people think of you. It’s what you stand for—the values, abilities and actions that others associate with you. Your personal brand tells your audience: Who you are, What you do and What makes you different or How you create value for your target market.

Look, here’s the deal… know it or not, like it or not, YOU are a brand.
And you have been shaping your brand since you first started walking and talking.

Every day, through every communication and interaction you have, every room you walk into, every hand you shake, every picture you post, blog you publish, comment you make, tweet, ‘Like’ or Facebook posting you make, you are sculpting your brand. These many thousands of chisel marks ultimately shape the statue that is your personal brand.

So the question becomes, How does your statue look to date? Is it as magnificent as Michelangelo’s David or might you need to improve your sculpting skills, just a bit?

Over the next couple posts I’ll outline a 5-point Game Plan to help you select, develop, package, distribute and reinforce your new, beautiful and compelling brand.

5-Point Personal Brand-Building Game Plan  

ONE—Pick Your Word

Select your brand. Forcing it into a single word causes you to become crystal clear, thus making it clear how to live up to your word and for others to understand you, in a single word.

Example: What word would you use to describe me and my brand?

My hope is you quickly picked the word “success.” Not because of the title on my business card or the masthead of our magazine, but because I personify, live up to, deliver on that word, every day in every conversation. The way I walk, talk, dress, show up, perform and deliver on every commitment I make. I am intentional about living up to and demonstrating that word in all that I do and all that I am. That’s my brand.

What’s your word? What’s your brand? Pick it now.

I want to give you some time to think about and come up with your word and we’ll continue the discussion next week.

What single word sums all that you aim for? Write the word you you’ve chosen in the comments below.