Here are some more questions from the Sitecore 5 Ingredients of Social Media for Your Website Webinar.
Q: How can we use facebook for a non-profit company, what are your recommedations of what kind of info we should display on facebook?
A: There are hundreds of Facebook Groups and Fan Pages for non-profits. I would start by searching Facebook for Non-Profits on Facebook and check out the Fan Page that has almost 300,000 members. There is a lot of great information that will get you started.
Q: How do you ensure that the content people put on your website is in good taste?
A: Unfortunately you can’t control what people post in forums and on your social media pages so you have to have someone delete inappropriate content. By inappropriate content I mean spam or offensive material. You should not delete negative comments about your product or service. Address those comments in a reply and contact the person offline to resolve their complaints. Most of the time when you respond to them in a timely fashion they will be satisfied and will post a positive reply on your website.
Many content management systems have modules that will detect and not publish spam and offensive material. Wordpress uses a plugin called Akismet that blocks spam comments.
You should also use social media monitoring tools like Trackur or Radian6 so you will be instantly notified when inappropriate comments or complaints are posted. Responding quickly is the key to heading off an online disaster.
Q: How do you use Facebook for business? I use it personally.
A: Keep your business and personal Facebook pages separate unless you are a consultant or professional service provider and your name is your brand name. Look at the Facebook pages of the companies we talked about in the webinar and see how they’re using Facebook. Also search for any major brand name and see how they’re using Facebook.
Q: Is it better to have your blog as a different url than your company website?
A: This is an ongoing debate with many SEO experts. Some say its better to have your blog and website on the same URL because you’ll have more focused content on one domain name. Others say it’s better to have the blog on a different URL and on a different webhost so you can generate a lot of links between the two sites.
Personally I’ve tried it both ways and I think it’s best to keep the blog and website on one URL. It’s hard to maintain two different web properties unless you have staff to keep the content fresh on both sites. Google likes to see a lot of related content on one URL so it will help your search rankings by combining them.
Q: What is the best free social media monitoring tool out there? What is the best very low cost one?
A: If you’re on a low budget you can set up Google Alerts to monitor specific keywords you are targeting. Every time Google finds those keywords you will receive an email (or a daily digest so you’re not overwhelmed by emails). You can use tools like TweetDeck which is a free program that lets you monitor Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
You can also search Google for “free social media monitoring tools” to see what’s out there. I recommend using a paid service because “you get what you pay for” and Trackur seems to be the best low priced tool I’ve seen.
In case you missed our webinar here are links to the webinar recording, podcast and slides.
http://mediacontent.sitecore.net/5IngredientsSocialMedia/5IngredientsSocialMedia.html
http://mediacontent.sitecore.net/5IngredientsSocialMedia/5IngredientsSocialMedia.mp3
http://www.slideshare.net/sitecore/5-key-ingredients-of-social-media-for-your-website
Ted
Sphere: Related ContentWe had a lot of questions from yesterday’s 5 Key Ingredients of Social Media for Your Website webinar that I didn’t have time to answer so here we go.
Q: Are the social media components on “the knot” available via the Sitecore Developer Network?
A: You can use RSS which is available in Sitecore CMS to pull content into your website. Twitter has an RSS feed so you can display your Twitter stream on your website and LinkedIn has a public RSS feed so you can display LinkedIn updates and Answers on your website. Facebook turned off it’s RSS Feed last year so you can’t display your Facebook News on your website but you can install Simply RSS in your Facebook account and pull in your blog posts, LinkedIn updates and your Twitter stream. LinkedIn lets you pull in RSS feeds so you can display your blog and Twitter updates on your LinkedIn profile. This diversifies your traffic and automatically updates numerous social media properties.
Q: My biggest issue is, I have two kind of posts on our fb-fanpage. 1. I love the company, you’re the best or 2. This product is broken, damaged etc. and questions concerning customer support. I have trouble getting customer service involved with FB and don´t know how to handle those messages as an it proffesional. Any tips?
A: Since customer support doesn’t want to get involved with Facebook, you can create an Support tab on your Fan Page that contains ways to contact customer support. Search Facebook for play.com and you’ll see their extensive Customer Support list under the Info tab.
Q: how much impact do custom tabs (canvas tabs) have (programmed with Facebook Markup language). are they alot more effective than “normal” facebook sites
A: I’m seeing more Facebook pages using the Facebook Markup Language which allows you to create Fan Pages that look like your website. This extends your brand to Facebook and lets you add newsletter opt in forms and custom content.
Q: For your customers to develop content on your website, what are some recommended platforms to develop that? I have looked into Google Friend Connect as one way, but it doesn’t do everything.
A: There are solutions for any open source or .NET content management system. For example, Joomla has Community Builder which lets you build your own online community. If you’re running on .NET you can look at www.onesite.com. Another option is to use a hosted service like www.ning.com which is very customizable.
Q: Have you found a tool that aggregates the various social media metrics in a way for more easily created reporting?
A: Social media monitoring is an evolving market and there is a range of products for different price points. You can look at tools like www.trackur.com which is low cost but high in features and www.radian6.com on the higher end. Do a Google search for “social media monitoring” and you’ll see many products. MarketingProfs.com has some case studies that review social media monitoring products.
Q: Help me understand how to apply SN to a Local Service company doing Bathroom Renovations
A: You could create a Facebook Fan Page and upload before and after photos of your work. You can also upload those photos to www.flickr.com and to your website. People love to look at pictures and they love to share their photos. You could even do a Twitter campaign where you encourage people to Tweet a picture of their bathroom and the person with the ugliest bathroom would win a discount. Then you could feature them in a Before/After campaign on your website and Facebook Fan Page.
I’ll answer more questions in my next post.
Thanks for attending our webinar and here are links to the webinar recording, podcast and slides.
http://mediacontent.sitecore.net/5IngredientsSocialMedia/5IngredientsSocialMedia.html
http://mediacontent.sitecore.net/5IngredientsSocialMedia/5IngredientsSocialMedia.mp3
http://www.slideshare.net/sitecore/5-key-ingredients-of-social-media-for-your-website
Ted
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I was cleaning up my hard drive the other day and I came across a list of tips for cold calling (I think the tips are from Ari Galper of www.unlockthegame.com but I’m not positive. If you are the author please let me know so I give you credit!) .
Everyone hates cold calling because we all hate rejection and cold calling is all about rejection if you’re not good at it. These tips make cold calling much easier and less intimidating.
As I read these tips I realized these tips could be applied to social media. Cold calling and social media are exactly the same. If you try to sell your product or service to someone you just met on Facebook they will probably reject you . When you go out on a first date and ask the woman to marry you, you’ll probably get rejected (unless you’re on a binge with Britney Spears in Las Vegas).
Take a look at these cold calling tips and see if you think they can be applied to social media.
Because the right brain is…
1. Involved in process (not outcome)…
* Before you make a cold call, think to yourself, “My goal is not to make the sale but to create a conversation based on how I can help the other person.”
2. Intuitive (not calculating or manipulative)
* Avoid changing who you are when you make your call. There’s no need to be on “stage” or to sound enthusiastic. Just be your everyday relaxed self, as if you’re calling a friend. People know when you’re being genuine, and when you’re not.
3. Flexible (not linear)
* Throw out your linear sales script and generate a spontaneous conversation based on the problems you can help the other person solve.
4. Concrete (not abstract)
* Develop two or three specific problems that you know your product or service solves.
5. Holistic (not compartmentalized)
* Let go of thinking “buyer-seller,” and view the person you’re calling as another person, not as a “prospect.”
6. Open-ended (not rigid)
* Let go of worrying about driving the conversation “forward.” Instead, open your call with a problem statement that generates the response “What do you mean?” or “Tell me more.”
See what I mean? These cold calling tips can be directly applied to starting converstations with strangers on social media sites. You could also use these tips when trying to meet people in person at a social event. The operative word here is “social” which is the same online or offline.
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I found a great new tool that automatically Tweets your new uploads to Flickr. Check out SnapTweet to set up your free account. Simply enter your Twitter login and your Flickr URL and your accounts will be connected. Upload a new picture to Flickr and it will be Tweeted automatically.
How does this help drive traffic to your blog or website? I have my blog connected to my Twitter account using the Twitter Tools plugin. My blog also connected to my Facebook account using the SimplyRSS application in Facebook so every blog post appears on my Facebook page automatically. I also tie my blog posts to many other social media sites using my RSS feed that I created at Feedburner. It’s an automated system that automatically updates many sites once I create a blog post. A quick and easy way to generate traffic to your blog and website.
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My copy of Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time, by Joel Comm arrived yesterday afternoon and I couldn’t put it down last night. I’ve been Twittering for over a year and I know the basics. I know the fundamentals of tweeting and retweeting, Twitter etiquette and how to customize by Twitter page (I’m ted_prodromou if you want to follow me). I know there are a ton of Twitter tools that make my Twitter life easier and new Twitter sub-communities poping up everywhere.
Joel’s book didn’t teach me anything I didn’t already know because I’m a techie and I spend at least 10 hours a day online working and playing. I discovered everything I know over a year and a half through trial and error. As I came across new tools and resources I bookmarked them and i use many of the tools today.
I love Twitter Power because Joel created the ultimate A to Z guide for all Twitter users. Whether you are an absolute beginner or you’re a savvy tweeter, this book is for you. As a beginner, you are led step by step from setting up your account to making your first tweet. You’ll learn how to create a profile that attracts followers, how to follow others, how to customize your Twitter background and proper Twitter etiquette so you don’t offend people.
For the more advanced user, you’ll learn how to do market research using Twitter and how to tap into conversations about your product or service. You’ll see how major corporations are using Twitter to connect with their prospects and clients to build lasting relationships. Some major companies are even doing free tech support using Twitter. I guarantee you’ll learn a ton of valuable tips that will enhance your Twitter experience exponentially.
You’ll also learn about the vast array of 3rd party Twitter tools and communities that make Twitter even more powerful. Joel’s compiled a comprehensive list of Twitter tools and resources so you have everthing you ever wanted to know about Twitter at your fingertips.
I highly recommend grabbing your copy of Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time today.
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