125. Facebook refers more traffic to calacademy.org than any site but search engines. ~6000 visits monthly. Building the web audience: California Academy of Sciences
Specifically, the study by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies found that consumers are 67% more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter, and 51% more likely to buy from a brand they follow on Facebook . Moreover, they’re 79% more likely to recommend their Twitter follows to a friend, and 60% more likely to do the same on Facebook: It’s now a way to give your business a public face to interact with the world and your customers. If you’re not on Facebook, you’re missing out on potential customers. The same goes for Twitter.As a consumer, I’ve found both Facebook and Twitter to be excellent ways to interact with companies. Instead of calling customer service and then being put on hold forever, only to be connected with someone who can barely speak English, I can post a message on their Facebook wall or send them a message. If I really want quick action, I’ll @ reply them on Twitter. Companies are a lot more responsive, especially if you have a complaint, if it’s out there for the whole word to see.But it’s not just lodging complaints that Facebook and Twitter are good for. Since Facebook and Twitter are sites that people visit every day, you can use your account to constantly put out information about your company and to interact. This will keep your company fresh in their mind, more often than if you just had a website because they’d only visit it when they need to. Social media is like commercials on television for a business; you can get your info on the streams of hundreds, thousands, and even millions of people easily and for free.
Twitter and Facebook serve as that unique intersection between your social and professional lives. They can be valuable business tools or simply a way to stay in touch with family and friends. LinkedIn, however, is all business. In its simplest form, LinkedIn is an interactive resume and Rolodex. In practice, however, it is the online version of the business cocktail party, without the constraints of time or space. You can make introductions, provide a recommendation for those you have worked with in the past, and even ask for help from your network on a pressing question you may have. If you are a professional, own a business, or work in an field you would consider a “career” you should be on LinkedIn.
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y? Most of us do that quite often. Designing a Twitter campaign that both promotes a brand effectively and fits the platform can be challenging. Instead of trying to change the way that people use the platform, a team of two devotes its full-time efforts to seeking, responding to, and relieving irritation across Twitter, much of which is conveyed using Edge’s #soirritating hashtag. Edge responded with the gift of a Spanish/English dictionary. In about three months, @EdgeShaveZone has gathered about 1,500 followers, the #soirritating hashtag has been used about 6,800 times, and attention from numerous media outlets has contributed to mounting buzz — all of which likely contributed to Edge’s decision to continue the campaign throughout 2011.
hese days participating in social media such as Twitter, Facebook, blogging and more is almost required for any entrepreneur or business, small or large.But there ユ s so much info and chatter coming in through social media that it can overwhelm you, eat up your time, and ruin your productivity.Simplifying will help you stay in touch, and continue to participate in the conversation, without losing sight of your mission and the important work you need to get done. Step 1. Use simple tools to make the most of social media The simpler the tools, the better. But tools that combine two or more social media into one are best, because that means you need fewer tools. An example is TweetDeck - not only does it incorporate Twitter, but you can see your Facebook friends ユ updates at the same time.Another good example is Digsby, which combines email, IM, and social networks such as Twitter , Facebook , MySpace , and LinkedIn .My setup uses Gmail, as it ユ s the communication tool that I use most often. I ユ ve set it up to be my all-in-one inbox: I can Twitter, Facebook, delicious, Flickr, IM and more. You can make Gmail your ultimate productivity center . Step 2. Focus on sending out high impact messages Here ユ s something that many people who use social media don ユ t understand: if you send out too many messages, people might stop following you or might even block you, because you ユ re flooding their inbox.The secret is to try to make every message you send, or at least a high percentage of them, high-impact messages. Examples: share really useful links, news related to your field, things that are really funny or inspirational, or inside information about your business or blog. The key is to make sure almost every message is something that people will want to share with their friends.Limit yourself to high-impact messages to reduce the time you spend communicating. Step 3. Let go of the need to read everything. Learn to scan It ユ s impossible to consume ALL the information that comes at you. It ユ s like trying to drink from a fire-hose ム not only is it a waste of your time, it can be damaging, because you have other important things to do.So be selective. Find sources of information that are valuable. And scan to get the gist of what ユ s going on, instead of trying to read every message. Let go of the need to stay on top of everything. Let it go! And instead, just take a dip in the river now and then. Step 4. Figure out which social media give you the most value, and simplify I recommend trying the main forms of social media, but only for a little while. It doesn ユ t hurt to try them out, but you simply can ユ t keep up with it all, and what ユ s more, it ユ s not the best use of your time. Not all forms of social media are effective for all goals, for all people.Instead, find just one or two or three that are most effective for you. For me, blogging and Twitter are the best. I try to stay in touch with Facebook, but MySpace and the rest are not worthwhile, for me.Your choices will be different. But in the end, be selective and guard your time wisely. Step 5. Form close relationships with people who give you the most value, not everyone I ユ m not suggesting you only follow a handful of people on Twitter or Facebook. But while you can have a large number of friends, you won ユ t have the same degree of closeness with all of them. So find the people who give you the most value ム who share great info, who make you laugh, who inspire you, who give you great suggestions for improving, who help you on a regular basis, who you enjoy talking to. Then focus on building relationships with them. They ユ re worth spending time with. Step 6. Manage your time wisely It can be easy to do social media too much. Find ways to integrate social media activities in your life without them overwhelming the other work you have to do, and your personal life.You can set regular schedules, such as doing it 2-3 times a day at certain times, or 10 minutes every hour, or at certain times when there ユ s a lull in your schedule. But be sure to have boundaries ム the rest of your life should be held sacred too.
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Good is a collaboration of individuals, businesses and nonprofits pushing the world forward. They produce a website, magazine and videos “for people who give a damn.” Good is essentially an amalgamation of lots of great ideas and campaigns by a variety of other nonprofits and businesses. LA-based Good takes a more visually entertaining approach to philanthropy than others you’ll see. # of Twitter followers: 379,078
ive tips for local businesses looking to use Twitter TRACK EVERY SALE . Sure, Twitter's relatively cheap, but you still want to know you're getting something for the human effort. Naked Pizza's point-of-sale system codes the origin of every order -- was it from a specific coupon or a box topper? -- which allowed it to calculate that a recent "Tweetie Pie" Twitter promotion, accounted for 15% of his shop's revenue on the day it ran. TWITTER IS NOT FACEBOOK. Twitter is more immediate -- if a person doesn't check their Twitter feed for an hour she could easily miss the message. Berry Chill CEO Michael Farah uses Twitter for real-time communication ("Spotted: Justin Timberlake at Berry Chill!") and Facebook for longer-lead calls to action, like enlisting focus-group volunteers. CREATE A CONVERSATION . Don't blast promotions incessantly. Intersperse them with other nuggets of wisdom or news related to your products and industry or neighborhood. Or, if you have a broader social mission, use Twitter to communicate that. Naked Pizza co-founder Jeff Leach suggests that if these kinds of social technologies become game changers, there may be a day when companies' initial business plans take into consideration whether they have anything worth microblogging. SELL LAST-MINUTE INVENTORY. Twitter's immediacy is its biggest strength -- so use it to pump up business during lulls or discount last-minute unsold goods, said Zack Steven, co-founder o f LocalTwee ps, a local Twitter directory, who caught same-day discounted tickets at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis via Twitter. ALERT FOLLOWERS WHEN YOU'RE ON THE GO. Venture capitalist Fred Wilson likes to point to Kogi BBQ, a Korean taco truck that drives around Los Angeles, alerting its almost 20,000 followers to its current and future locations via a Twitter fe