5 reasons to start your Social Media campaign in November

You’ve probably been thinking, I must get the business in good shape on Social Media. My competitors seem to be using it, maybe they’re winning business that I’m not even seeing? But I just don’t have the time (or resources, or knowledge etc etc). You’ll find below 5 reasons why now is a great time to commission a Social Media campaign. Plus several indications of why you can no longer afford to let your competitors have free rein in this increasingly important business development channel.And finally, an opportunity that will save you money and allow you to relax on your holidays, knowing that your business is continuing to market itself. 1) Events, Events,Events Coming up to Christmas there are an increasing number of events you’re likely to be attending. The Christmas and end-of-year party invitations will be coming through thick and fast. Although, I’m finding nowadays they are being held earlier and earlier, often in November! And business networking events are still in full flow. Check out this innovative Pintertest display (http://pinterest.com/richardc02/sydney-biz-events-november-2012/) showing over 50 business networking events being held in Sydney during November alone! But what about all those new contacts you make at these events. Social Media is absolutely the best way to keep in contact with them. And you want to be certain both your personal profiles and business pages are looking their best when these new contacts check you out. 2) Get Off To A Flying Start in 2013 Developing business opportunities through social media is becoming an ever increasing part of the marketing campaigns for nearly all businesses. There is even a name for this process - Social Business Development. Is your business geared up to take advantage of this new channel for sales growth? You need an established Social Media presence to exploit this new channel. So make sure you have one as business starts to take off again in the new year. Don’t let your competitors leave you behind. 3) Google Doesn’t Take Holidays (nor do Yahoo & Bing) The Internet has enabled business to continue everywhere, every day, 24 hours a day. The search engines will continue to monitor your business activity, even on Christmas Day. Social Media is the most efficient way to let search engines know you’re still around and to maintain your search rankings (or even increase them, if your competitors are out of the loop for two weeks or more). Even the Australian economy isn’t as vibrant as many of us would like. So it’s a sure bet that, at least, a proportion of your clients will be cutting back on holidays this year. Make sure you’re keeping in contact with them through an established Social Media campaign (even when you’re having a well deserved break yourself). 4) Make The Quieter Times Work For You Does your business just tread water over the Christmas and New Year period? Don’t let that happen any more. A Social Media campaign will continue developing business opportunities, even when you’re not working. Online connections will continue to be developed. Content will be published. Your other business marketing activities will continue to be supported. Many businesses find that their clients and prospects actually spend more time on Social Media services during the Christmas and New Year period. Being active yourself is a great way to keep your business visible, without interrupting anybody. 5) Four Months For The Price Of Three Here's a great opportunity. Move ahead with our Social Media campaign package in November and we’ll run the campaign for 4 months (a savings of $490). This package will equip your business with the following Social Media resources : LinkedIn Company Page; Facebook Company Page; Google+ Company Page; Twitter Account. Regular content will be generated on all these channels over a four month period. We’ll work closely with you to build a relevant online community for your business. As well as helping you to supercharge your business networking with Social Media. And we’ll ensure the campaign is fully integrated with your other marketing activities. By the new year your business will have a new very well established and very effective business development channel. Ready to start growing your business through Social Media? Contact Richard Carter of Business Connection Resources: Phone: (02) 9956 2999, Email: richardc@business-connections.com.au LinkedIn http://au.linkedin.com/in/businessconnections

Picture Acknowledgement: Search Engine Marketing  by Danard Vincente

Key Habits of Super Networkers by Lewis Howes

The seven key habits highlighted by Lewis are:

1. Ask insightful questions.
2. Add value.
3. Learn their 'story.'
4. Share a memorable fact.
5. Keep a list.
6. Make small promises and keep them.
7. Reward your 'power' contacts.

These are some really valuable pointers on networking. You can read the Full Article at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224819

Embracing social media isn’t just a bit of fun, it is a vital way to communicate, keep your ear to the ground and improve your business - Richard Branson

Full Article:  Why aren’t more business leaders online?

Google+ Has 400 Million Members - Mashable

Google+ has also managed to reach 100 million active users within 12 months! It took Facebook many years to reach the same number of active users.

Full Article:  Google+ Has 400 Million Members

Social Business takes on a new level of urgency as organizations shift from an Information Age “informing” model to a Communication Age “communicating and engaging” model - Daniel Burrus.

Full Article:  20 Game-Changing Technology Trends That Will Create Both Disruption and Opportunity on a Global Level

You cannot have credibility saying you are customer-centric if you ignore your customers in social media channels - Charlene Li

Full Article:  The Crisis of Courage in Social Media

Eighty-one percent of executives believe their brands can get more sales and bigger market share by using social media - Article by Ryan Holmes CEO at HootSuite

Full Article: Are You Leaving $1.3 Trillion on the Table? Why Fortune 500 Companies Are Racing to Social Media

Using Social Media To Build B2B Relationships

In a recent interview, Tom Skotidas was spot on with his assessment of an important difference between the Business-To-Consumer (B2C) and Business-To-Business (B2B) markets.

Do you want to use LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook to help develop B2B opportunities? Then, as Tom says, you must aim towards eventually creating real world business relationships.

You can do this by first establishing visibility through a regular stream of activity associated with your on-line presence. And then by looking for opportunities to engineer face-to-face meetings.

Once you have the required visibility, you'll be in a position to suggest the following to your on-line contacts:

• Attending a meeting of your favourite business group
• Joining a get-together you're organising at an industry conference
• Coming along to a business social event
• Or, maybe even having a one-on-one meeting

But these tactics will only be effective AFTER you have established a reasonable degree of visibility on-line.

You can see the full Sky Business News interview with Tom Skotidas right here: