Monday, March 30, 2009

Marketing Your Business in Detroit via Viral and Social Media

I went to my frist Model D event which was co sponsored by Open City
Charlie Wolborg and Terry Bean gave an captivating presentation on social media giving me a lot to think about over the past couple days.  It is why I signed up on Twitter as smithd98.
Here are my notes from the meeting:
Social Media Categories:
  • Online Rolodexes
  • Blogging
  • Feeds - like magazine subscriptions
  • Video
  • Photos - Facebook has the most photos of any social sites.
  • Podcasts
  • Bookmarks
  • Networks
Passion - be remarkable
In six months more content is uploaded to YouTube than has been created in 60 years of NBC and CBS programming.
Facebook's #1 growing demographic is 30 and older.  This means your customers are on or will be on Facebook.
  1. Ready. Fire. Aim.  - it is most important to have a presence on these networks and refine the presence later than getting it right the first time.
  2. Join All.  Participate Few.  - The flood of information from all the social sites will overwhelm you.  Find out which sites your customers use and play in that space.
  3. Go to Where Your Prospects Play
    1. LinkedIn --> web jobs --> simplyhired shows who works there.
    2. MySpace - important for entertainers and artists
    3. MotorCityConnect - if you are in the Detroit area.
    4. Facebook - allows you to connect with your past.
      1. People hang out on Facebook like it was a club.  This is different than transactional where users seek out a service from a site.
      2. Fan pages can be created for companies and products.
    5. Twitter - this is where you can go to initially make contacts.  These are the early adoptors.
  4. Personal Brand Optimization
  5. Social Media is a conversation not a sales pitch.
  6. Feed Your Networks and stay visible.  FriendFeed can help
  7. ROI or Die
  8. Find your golden ratio - give value to these networks, don't just try to monetize them.
  9. Build it before you need it - relationships take a long time to build and need nurturing.  Do that in advance of a need.
  10. Tools are not the tactics - hire a professionals like Networked inc