IT training @ Belgaum, Karnataka, India

Organized by the Institute of Management & Research and Varnaaz.

Date: Saturday, September 17, 2011.  Venue:  IMER, Hindwadi, Belgaum, Karnataka, India.

Zaveri will speak on the subject of Social Media Marketing

IT training program for small and medium size companies

 

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Blog guidelines for effective Social media optimization

Here are some tips for your business blog

1. Most blog platforms like WordPress or Blogger (from Google) are free for basic services.   However, you need to invest time.  If someone gives you a rosy picture take it with a pinch of salt.   Blogs once started cannot be stopped nor can pace be slow.   You have to update and service the comments.   You must plan a strategy and define a business process  for reaping the benefit of the social media sites.

2. It is necessary to give due priority to social media sites and inform others in the marketing department.  The company blog is important communication taking the legacy website to the next level.   Commit sufficient resources such as people and time.

3. It is necessary to identify the ‘audience’ to target the social media campaign.  Incidentally,  you will soon find out audience is actually now not mere listening but going to take active part in your website by uploading their comments, likes, sharing the post with their contacts and so on.   You have just learned another lesson that blogs are not for passive audience like your passive website but an active and participating customers or prospects.   Be careful, you are dealing with real people in real-time.

4. Some team members may find blogging an odd way to spend time (sometime they think it is a waste of time).  All this can be avoided with a formal training and positive involvement.   It may be necessary to show the marketing team the integration of Twitter and blog or linking Facebook with blog and so on.   It is recommended that the directives come from the top management, CEO or the Director.   It is necessary to prepare a guideline document before embarking journey in to the blogosphere.

5. I have published several PowerPoint presentations on the subject of ERP which can be viewed free.  Many people have told me that they have used them in their ERP projects.   Eventually the blogs and websites will get higher ranks because the same will have good traffic, more unique visitors and less bounce rates.

6. Spend time may be just ten / fifteen minutes but regularly on reading blogs of other competition companies.  Compare web analytic reports.   You have to measure and benchmark your own social media initiative and that of your competition companies.   Figures and numbers will help you to improve your social media optimization plans.  Unless you measure you cannot improve.  Most digital platform gives analytic reports, e.g., YouTube insights or WordPress stats.

7. Social media optimization is actually offshoot of the SEO.  You need to select appropriate topic for the posts.  You need to dwell on selecting the keywords so that search engine will index your blog and display your blog page.  Sounds familiar, like SEO here also you need to take care of the ‘spiders’ (or crawlers).   If you are not sure, take help of experts who are already using digital platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter etc.   Remember, your blog may be linked by another blog or your tweet may be retweet by your followers.

8. Spend adequate time on the research of the key words and key phrases your target audience is most likely going to use.  This needs to get included into your posts.  The trick is that search engine should find them and index it.  At the same time do not use key phrases in artificial way.  Keep the tone and the matter real, because it is read by real people besides the robots.

9. Here is the paradigm shift.  Share your knowledge with the readers.   It is not easy and simple change in attitude, because earlier people used to pay for getting the knowledge, now you have to publish it free.  The reward is that people will appreciate and always come back because you have given away useful information.

10. Assign role and responsibility.   This is called R & R matrix.  Who is going to write a post and when.   Daily or weekly, whatever is the duration the team must keep the blogs live.   Many time senior executive takes initiative in the beginning and later the enthusiasm dies down.   In such case it may be a good idea to outsource the task to professionals, but still needs interaction.  Because you know your industry the best.   You still need to give inputs about happenings in your organization.   Assign editorial leader, identify core group of bloggers within the organization, who are constantly thinking up new post ideas, writing and editing.   Two or three writers can share the load and the result will be better because you will get a balanced blog.

    Your comments are welcome, let us discuss further, what do you think of these tips?  Would you like to add some more?

Look who is hiding face on facebook or LinkedIn?

This is about profile picture on the social media sites.  Here are some do and do not for smart internet marketing on the networking portals.

Would you like to meet a person who says:  “Hey, network with me, trust me, but I will hide my face”?

Well I don’t think so. That is the point for networking sites: picture is required.  Your profile is the most precious real estate out there on a social media site, like, facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, twitter, etc.  Leverage these Web 2.0 platforms to market you business.

If you are casual about your profile on the social media, chances are others will also take you casually. You do not have to be a software engineer (I don’t know why people always give example of a rocket scientist?), to understand that the first thing we see when checking out a new LinkedIn contact, Facebook friend, or Twitter follower connection is a profile photo.

• Your own picture is extremely important in the profile.  We usually recognize a friend or old colleague or classmate more reliably by face rather than by name.  I know that there may be some professionals who would prefer to not be exposed to profile photos from people they may NOT know.  This setting can be done in most social media sites like LinkedIn or facebook. Such setting will allow others to see your picture only if you have accepted them as a friend. Having a good profile picture may be more important than you think!
• On one hand we want our friends and contacts to trust us, on the other hand face are kept a secret; this is not a good idea, in the Global village.
• Uploading a cartoon picture instead of a proper profile picture is not a good idea.  Seriously.
• Not able to find a picture to upload on the social media site is not a valid reason.  You can even use a cell phone camera to take a picture and upload.  It is that easy.  Avoid other things in background, plain background is recommended. Do not put a group photo.
• Do NOT put a logo in place of your profile picture.
• It is recommended that you put your own picture only and not with someone else, even if you love or admire him or her.  Profile picture with other person, on social networking web site is not the place for group photos.  The facebook photos album, Picasa, or Flickr is just the right place for such group pictures and share with your contacts.
• I encourage people to include photo in the profile, because it shows you’re comfortable with yourself.
• Profile picture on social media websites is important from job point of view too. Yes, from HR point of view – as a candidate you would prefer transparency, and not look for associating with such a company which may filter bio by color, gender, race or age.

I strongly advice people who have still not uploaded picture on social networking sites, to do so without further delay.  Think from mere security point of view.  Have you attended a social get-to-gather or a party where guests wearing funny masks? Would you share your ‘happenings’ with such people? Sometime someone can easily get in the crowd and impersonate.

Tip: Picture also makes your profile a lot more pleasant and trust worthy.   It is recommended that you take a head-shot, rather than the picture of you in front of a Pyramid or the Taj.  Sites like facebook allow you to make your Albums to show these kinds of photographs.  Do not put very old pictures.  I would not like to exchange business card with a person who is covering his / her face, in a conference or a professional seminar, would you?

I am writing this topic of profile picture in this blog based on my own practical experience of networking with over 1000 professionals on the LinkedIn, over 700 friends on facebook, etc.  If you have already put a proper picture in your profile, that is good, but you will be surprised when you check your connections.  There are many who are still ignorant.  Do you agree with me? Just share this important guidelines with them by clicking button provided at the bottom of this blog.