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Social Media Examiner is an excellent source of information for using all the social platforms.  This article written by Cindy King is another good example. 

In her article, 5 Simple Steps to Getting On Twitter,Cindy says: “Twitter is one of the social media tools most businesses want to learn about” and  walks you through, step by step, to setting up your Twitter account.  Read and enjoy Cindy’s article.

Have you created your online presence for your business? Twitter is just one of several social platforms for increasing online visibility, establishing trust, and building profitable relationhsip that ultimately leads to increased sales of your products and services.

Technorati Tags: Livvie Matthews, Setting up Twitter, social media marketing, Social Media using Twitter, Steps for setting up Twitter

There is a new, rapidly expanding revolution sweeping businesses worldwide.  New technology and the economy is forcing major changes in marketing strategies.  As a result, businesses are racing to shift gears from their strategies of days gone by, to today’s more competitive strategy of “word of mouth marketing”, also known as relationship marketing.

So what does this have to do with the dental profession?  Or maybe you’re thinking, “How does this apply to my practice. We aren’t into “mass marketing”.  You might even be saying, “We’re not even a ‘business’.” 

Whenever there has been a change in the business world it has always affected the professional world, since both worlds have the same base….people (customers/patients). Without people….there is no business or profession and with today’s economy and accelerating challenges facing doctors and staff members  daily, the dental profession has definitely become a “business”….a BIG business.

Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: Dental Marketing, Dynamics of Social Media, Livvie Matthews, Social media and Internet marketing

One of the biggest questions asked about social Media today is not , “Is it here to stay”, but rather ”Is the time commitment worth the investment?”  or “What’s my Return on Investment (ROI)?” 

Social Media Examiner’s post by Amy Poterfield, offers an excellent answer and goes so far as to say

The real question is: “Just HOW MUCH time is needed to see a solid success?

You can read Amy’s post here Study Shows Time Pays With Social Media Marketing. 

What do you think?  Has your time using social media been worth the investment?  Post your comment below, I’d like to hear your opinion.

Technorati Tags: Social Media Return On Investment, Social Media ROI, Time investment for Social Media

Recently I was asked a great question: What were the top couple of mistakes made when using social media.  In my response, I only mentioned a couple, but it led me to think about several other mistakes to avoid with social media.

1) Trying to use social media for making sales.   This is the #1 mistake.  Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube are all about making contacts, opening doors, gaining trust and credibility, and building those all important relationships. 

Once you’ve gained your viewers trust and you have a relationship with them, you will be the one they turn to when they are ready to do business.  Wouldn’t you rather do business with someone you have grown to know and trust? Relationships first…business second.

 2) Going into social media without clear objectives.  What are you wanting to accomplish?  So many times, businesses will just jump in without knowing what their objectives are for using social media. 

Do you want to gain your targeted audience’s attention?  Drive traffic to your practice, blog, or your website?  Enhance our practice’s patient services?  Maybe you want to grow your practice’s email list…what’s your objective?  Know what it is you are trying to accomplish.   

3) Not knowing how to listen and engage effectively.  To attract and engage targeted followers effectively, you need to have several elements in place.  Here are a few of them:

• Be clear on your target market and be familiar with the social networks they prefer to use the most.  Let me put that into perspective.  If you work out of 3 operatories and your patient is seated in OP 3 and you’re seated in Op 2 waiting for that patient, you aren’t going to get anything accomplished.  You’re not where your patient is. So if you are on Twitter and your target is on Facebook…see the importance?  Go where the “eyeballs” are…Know and be seen where your target market is!
• You must have a strategy and a plan for implementing your strategy in place..FIRST. 
• You will want to have a Practice Social Media policy in place.  In other words, how will you and your employees handle social media in your practice?

Are you noticing how all of these are building on one another?

4) Becoming distracted.  Social media is a powerful marketing tool, but if not careful can be time consuming and become overwhelming.

Invitations to connect…invitations to events…join this group…attend this meeting…It’s no wonder after awhile many pages just sit there gathering “virtural dust”.  You MUST learn to stay focused.  Remember your goals and your objectives.  Stick to your game plan!

5) Spreading yourself too thin.  Knowledge of the difference social platforms, the different tools like plugins, applications, widgets, etc and the time involved.  Time is a BIG factor!

When first entering the arena, you might want to join one of the social platforms…maybe Twitter or Facebook.  Then as you get comfortable with that platform, move on the next.   Either way, there are some short cuts you can use to help when you are pressed for time. 

One of the biggest helps, is pre-scheduling your tweets using social platforms like HootSuite.com or SocialOomph.com.  Both allow you to schedule your tweets into the future. Hourly, daily, monthly…whenever.  It’s a great way to deligate some of the time involved.

Another is to link up content to RSS Feeds.  You can also set up and create Autoresponder messages.  These are messages you create  to go out at specific dates and times.  Sort of like having your business on Auto-pilot.

Well, we’ve made a list…hope you’re checking it twice.  What about you?  What mistake can you add to this list  to avoid when using social media?

Technorati Tags: Building Business, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, social media marketing

Some very interesting statistics and insights were released in the 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report for 2010 sponsored by Social Media Examiner.  The number of participants more than doubled from last years study and the report shows a significant change in how people view using social media as a marketing tool to directly connect with customers.

Even a year ago people were not sure about social media, but make no mistake – Social media is here and it’s here to stay!  As Michael Stelzner of the Social Media Examiner says “Much like email and websites first empowered businesses, social media is the next marketing wave.”

Just look at this sampling summary for their primary findings:

• Top three questions marketers wanted answered:  (1) How do I measure social media return on investment? (2) What are the social media best practices?  and (3) How do I best manage my time with social media?
• Marketers are mostly new to social media: A significant 65% of marketers surveyed have only been involved with social media marketing for a few months or less.
• How much time does it take? The majority of marketers (56%) are using social media for 6 hours or more each week, and nearly one in three invest 11 or more hours weekly.
• The top benefits of social media marketing: The number-one advantage of social media marketing (by a long shot) is generating exposure for the business indicated by 85% of all marketers, followed by increasing traffic (63%) and building new business partnerships (56%).

The above summary is merely a sampling of the information in the actual report.  In addition to the sample list above, people also wanted to know about blogging and social media, generating traffic and leads, the tools needed for social media, and especially about the time commitment. 

This report also contains graphs, charts, and is packed full  of information on social media and how others are using it to market their businesses.   It’s a great tool to use in planning your own social media marketing strategies!

Click here to receive your Free copy of this revealing report

Technorati Tags: Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, social media marketing