Social media basics for busy businesspeople

We've all heard about the importance of social networking, but what is social networking exactly? A social network focuses on building a group of people who share common interests and activities. In this case, we're talking about online social networking... the biggest free party in the world. Social networks make it easier for people to interact with each other. But social networking has a lot of outlets (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn), and it can become a time-intense process to effectively track, converse, monitor, and manage them.

But if social networking is so time intensive, why bother? Selling is selling. You can't get away from that. Social networking doesn't -- and shouldn't -- replace selling. Social networking is part of MARKETING. Selling and marketing are two sides of the same coin. And since coin is what we're trying to get in your pocket, we need to pay attention.

Small Business Magazine advises, "We all know how important word of mouth is, and social networking is like word of mouth on steroids. As a business, it's vital to tap into and join online conversations not only about your brand, but also those about your competitors, your industry, and your areas of expertise."

The social networking tools you choose depend on what you want to accomplish, how much time you can commit, and where your comfort level lies. To simplify things, I'm only going to stick with four basic social networking tools you might find helpful: Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Facebook
Benefits: Great for keeping in touch with friends and far-flung family...now also used well for businesses.

How to use it: Create a Facebook page JUST for your business, then update it one to two times per week. Join in discussions about topics relevant to your business and customer base. A printer, for example, might join conversations about local area businesses and the chamber of commerce.

Blogs
Benefits: Terrific for your search engine optimization. A great way to let people know what is going on with your business. Somewhat more personal feeling than a standard website.

How to use it: Lots of great, free blogging tools are available. If you decide to start a blog, you should commit to posting at least one blog entry per week, to encourage repeat readership and maximize the SEO benefits.

Twitter
Benefits: Short and sweet. Allows people to follow you and get information that is up-to-date and content rich in short sentences.

How to use it: For Twitter, you'll want to post something fresh every day. Don't tweet about what you're doing at the moment. Instead, tweet links to helpful websites and articles people might find fascinating. Follow your competitors and customers on Twitter, and listen to what they're saying and doing.

LinkedIn
Benefits: A great business networking site. Easy and common sense.

How to use it: Add updates at least once per month. Join groups relevant to your business. And answer questions from other members.

Welcome

“To be thrown upon one's own resources is to be

cast into the very lap of fortune, for our faculties then

undergo a development and display an energy of which

they were previously unsusceptible.”

~ Benjamin Franklin

The World’s Most Famous Printer

as well as author, diplomat, inventor, physicist & politician;

published "Poor Richard's Almanack" 1732-1757;

founder & 1st president of American Philosophical Society 1769-1790

Welcome to our blog.  We hope to make this a place where Lethbridge and area business owners, managers, marketers, purchasers and administrators can come to find fresh marketing ideas, business tips and lifestyle quips that are free, fun, relevant and available for everybody to use.

We will endeavour to provide some clarity about marketing and especially about printing and promotional products so you can focus on the important things you have to do: sell what you sell, grow your business and find happiness in your work.

My name is Althea Buhler, and I’m the creator and writer here. I’m married to Jeremy, and we are the parents of 3 children, ages 13, 10 and 5. We make our home in Lethbridge, Alberta, where we spend our time together watching movies and sports, camping, taking neighbourhood strolls and nature walks, hangin’ in the hot tub or jammin’ a mean game of Guitar Hero – we have an entire band!

On May 1, 2007, after a 10 year career selling real estate, I opened the doors to Minuteman Press and I became a printer, cold turkey.  I had no idea that I had no idea what I was getting into!  It took 3 years for us to learn the ropes and get our act together.   

But like all entrepreneurial junkies, we really dug in and now we’ve expanded from paper printing into the imprinted world of promotional products and Minuteman Press Lethbridge is really taking off.

Presently, I work full-time marketing and growing our business and my passion is helping other business owners grow theirs using creative marketing products and strategies that help them stand out from their competition. 

I spend much of my time researching and creating ideas for trade shows, fundraisers, tournaments, corporate events, direct mail programs, employee incentive programs and customer re-activation and affinity programs. 

I combine these strategies and others to maximize the exposure of your business brand while appealing to the specific people you’re trying to reach.

For me, marketing is like breathing, but more fun.

I have a great team behind me, and they handle the hard work of design, production and finishing on all your printing.

Together we work to ensure that your printed and imprinted materials perform the functions you need, when you need them.

Thank you for visiting. If you’d like to automatically receive our blog posts, be sure to sign up here.

You can also find us on our webpage at www.MinutemanLA.com, as well as LinkedIn and Twitter and you can get exclusive deals by liking us on Facebook.

We’d love to hear from you. 

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