Social Media is FREE!

It cost nothing to set up a Facebook account. Twitter does not charge you for Tweeting. YouTube allows – encourages, actually – you to post videos for free. So does this mean your social media efforts are free? Look, having access to social media is not the same as using social media. Setting up a Facebook fan page will not attract customers unless you use the fan page to engage prospects. And using social media takes a lot of time. You must:

• Establish Goals
• Devise a Plan with Clear Steps of Action
• Implement the Plan
• Measure the Results
• Adjust Accordingly

You have two choices when it comes to all of this:

1. Do it yourself.
2. Pay someone to do it for you.

If you’re already a savvy Facebook user and you get Twitter, you’re going to be okay. Set a goal such as Earn 12 Leads from Social Media this week, then Tweet and post your heart out and evaluate the results. If you’re not so good at Facebook, think Twitter is a mysterious waste of time and have no idea what to blog about, well, you’re in trouble. Big trouble. This is because:

Your competitor is going to get this stuff.

Maybe not this month. Maybe not until next year. But he will. And when he does he will devour you and that’s that. All your hard work, all your knowledge and skills, everything you’ve built will be destroyed by the deluge of internet activity the next generation grew up on.

Don’t believe me? Then ask yourself why newspapers can’t stay in business. Ask yourself why the Yellow Pages is on lilfe support. Still think I’m crazy? That’s fine – don’t hire me. I make money telling you how to use Social Media, not sugar coating your situation.  

If you decide to conduct your own Social Media campaign, you’re going to need a few basic skills. The good news is that you can pick up the trade fairly quick. You may still need a consultant for SEO or SEM, but the day-to-day implementation is only a few hours of your time. You can acquire the skills you need at any number of places, or have a pro teach you. On that note, don’t think that your high school kid with 6,087 Facebook Friends is a pro. He’s using Social Media in a whole different way and his techniques won’t work from a sales and marketing perspective.

As you think about your social media goals and where you want your business to go, look at my solutions and let me know which you’d like to discuss. Chances are I can exceed your expectations and the consult is free.

One important fact should loom very large over your head as you search for a Social Media Expert. The fact is:

There are no experts.

Let me explain. The internet is still an evolving media. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are an even newer development. The rules for engaging an audience, utilizing search engines and making an impact online are subject to change.

SEO, for example, used to rely heavily on meta-tags and descriptions. Black hat techniques such as tag-spam manipulated the search engines, earned traffic by the hordes and ultimately caused the destruction of tags as a viable source of info about a site. Now, spiders crawl through your site scouring it for content and meta is all but ignored. True story. But plenty of internet experts will proudly pound the pulpit about the value of meta-tags.  

My point is this. The game changes all the time and nobody knows all the rules all the time. Beware of anyone who claims otherwise. If your new to this, it’s easy for someone to ramble on and on about their knowledge and convince you they have the solutions to your business problems. It puts you, the business owner, in a very bad position. You know you need to leverage social media as well as or better than your competitors, but who do you believe?

There’s a way to circumvent this dilemma; treat your social media action like any other project with a clear set of objectives, milestone and deliverables. Know what you want to accomplish and what indicates you’re getting there or not. Review progress often. If you’re getting the results you want, great. If not, don’t be afraid to throw out what isn’t working, including the freelancer who accepted your $2,500 retainer.

Got a problem? I’d like to solve it. Contact me today for a FREE CONSULTATION and put social media to work for you NOW.

Lake

In the early days, blogging was a way to keep a journal or diary online. It was self-indulgent and pretty worthless. As blogging platforms evolved into Content Management Systems, more people saw the beauty of an easy to use publishing platform that search engines loved. I’m one of them. I am a blog addict. All of my blogs relate to one of my passions and, in conjunction with other media, have added people to my network and exposed me to new ideas.

That said, we can answer whether or not blogging is social media with a resounding, definite Yes and No. This is because it depends more on how you use your blog. If you see your blog as a one sided conversation in which you do all the talking, you’re publishing. You are showing and telling, sharing and maybe shouting, but know this – you are not engaging. Stop thinking of your blog, or any of your social media efforts, this way.

Blogs can and should be a source of idea exchange, a conversation, a place where relationships begin and develope. If you look at your blog from this perspective you are utilizing social media. This is not to say that every blog must have a ton of commentors or activity. Some blogs cater to a quiet audience and that’s fine. The exchange comes in different forms and we’ll address those later.

Starting of thinking a blog to promote your business? Or dreaming of being the next six figure blogger? The next post in this series will tell you whether or not your blog will stand out from the crowd or die on the side of the information highway. I’ll giveyou a hint about the post: it all comes down to answering one question. In the meantime, contact me today for a Free Consultation and put social media to work for you and your business. Every day you don’t do it is  a day lost to someone who does.

Lake

Prince, aka the Artist, proclaimed the internet dead. I hope this did not alarm you. Prince is wrong. The net is very much alive. He’s just a moron. Here’s the deal:

Prince once found himself without a record company. This frightened Prince badly. So wondered, “How will I ever connect with my fans?” Then he found the answer. He launched a website, sold his CD, made promises of special magic music for the website’s members and made a purple fortune. Then he closed the site without delivering any of the goods he’d promised. This is not a post about what a ripoff artist the artist is. That’s old news – anyone who’s ever bought a Prince CD knows they got ripped off. Rather, this is a post about why Prince fears the net.

Distributing his own music was neither complex nor costly. He found that a record label provided access to certain markets and did a lot of the promotional work, but that having one wasn’t necessary. He found that even a creepy little weirdo could sustain a music career without major backing. Now that he’s signed again – and considering returning to his old nemesis Warner Bros, what a hyprocrite - he fears that his music will be distributed without his authorization, er, make that without adding to his bank account. So like the true cry baby, completely-out-of-touch-with-reality wah wah wah loser he is, he proclaims the net is dead. 

He may also fear that his legions of fans will discover how old his guitar chops are once exposed to real guitar players? Or how much vocal correction sits on his tracks compared to people who can actually sing? Who knows…  What’s important is that there’s nothing to fear. The internet is not dead. It’s not even on life support. It’s still a new technology that evolves every day, vibrant and healthy. And unlike the purple creature in spiked heels, the net never had to change its name.

Hi, and welcome to the blog. I’m Lake Lopez, a SEO and Social Media Consultant based in Denver, Colorado. My shop provides a full range of services encompassing all aspects of SEO and Social Media Marketing from ad copy to complete product creation. Check out my SOLUTIONS and see what problems I can solve for you.

And don’t hesitate to contact me for a FREE CONSULTAITON.

Lake