Mashable is a great online resource for pretty much any questions related to the internet, social media, etc. When I have a technical question, or even a general one, and need current info, I usually find myself on the Mashable site.
And today I found their predictions for 2011.
Well, actually it's Ben Harr's predictions, 
Pretty catchy title, eh?
Yep, every month at least I am asked a question about privacy issues on Facebook. Usually it's based on some really alarming bit of news that's spread around and sounds really horrifying.
The funny thing is, in my opinion, Facebook has been pretty sensitive to privacy issues and customizing it for it's users. If you had 500 billion "customers," would you be able to keep up with every single request to make your business suit every single user perfectly? I know I wouldn't! So I find it hard to be critical about their privacy "issues."
In this article the title accuses Facebook of a privacy breach. But what the article is really talking about is 3rd Party Applications that utilize Facebook through it's open source programming. That means that a company outside of Facebook can access the Facebook program and connect to users.
I'm generally careful about which 3rd party applications I allow to connect to my Facebook profile because they generally require pretty open access to my information. So I only allows ones I'm actually going to use for some purpose, like the "Reviews" application for my business Page. Other popular applications are Farmville and Yoville.
If you don't have a hankering to read the whole article, here's a video that covers the basics:
My knee-jerk reaction to the title of this post (actually, it's the title of the article I'm referencing in this post) was an assumption that it was a cave-man evolution explanation of Facebook Fan Pages. Of course, since social media development is fairly new, that's not what it's about. This is more about social media for business and the process of social media enagement leading to a sale.
It's a great article. Brian Carter did a very easy to understand explanation of how to monetize a Fan Page and it's worthwhile to check out and implement. How do you use your Fan Page? Have you discovered a particularly successful way to monetize it for your business?
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/5-facebook-fan-acquisition-strategies/22848/
One of my main "tenets" in my social media philosophy is nothing has changed in business, it's just gotten faster. Communication is the backbone of everything we do, and the faster you can communication, the more power you can command.
That's why social media for business is so important. These social sites (and the World Wide Web) allow instant communication with large numbers of people. More importantly, the content gets indexed by huge "libraries," also known as Search Engines. Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. are all providing us with instant education on any topic imaginable. Thomas Friedman, a well known author and contributor to the New York Times, wrote a great article called "The Do-It-Yourself Economy" covering what he terms the "The Great Inflection."Social Media marketing tools and learning how to use social media will be an important part our future economy. From time to time business owners are still asking me about Twitter and other online social networking sites being a waste of time, and that they aren't interested in "chatting." In reality, it's the same as saying "I don't have time to develop relationships with potential clients when I happen to meet them at a friend's house party." Mr. Friedman's article is a great overview of what's happening in business - the time to jump on board with social media is passing quickly, the "testing the water" phase is gone.
Fortunately, it's not hard to learn social media, and you don't have know everything. I've covered some of the essentials in this series of videos. And there's a plethora of information at the other end of a Google search. Start on Facebook if you haven't already. It has everything you need to get started, and it's easy to use.
Each week I have a class called the Burbank Inbound Marketing Club, mostly for business owners struggling with understanding and implementing social media for business. It's hard to have a social media plan if the pieces of the plan are confusing. So my main bent is to demystify the situation while actually getting something implemented for each person.
Admittedly, getting something done for each person can be a challenge, as each person tends to be at a different level. Still, we have fun and try to keep it as practical as possible. Today we continued discussions from previous weeks where we got a number of people started on blogs from posterous.com. While Posterous blogs are insanely easy to use, there is still quite a lot of functionality, and quite a bit to grasp if you're completely new to online social media.
In this class, we worked on setting up everyone's Posterous blog with the built-in auto-post feature. Posterous is set up to post out to other social media sites using email (actually, there's two ways to post content, but being able to use email is pretty sexy!). I was hoping to show everyone how to install Google Analytics, but we ran out of time. So we'll cover that next week, briefly.
So far, everyone's had nice things to say.
This particular class was a lot of fun because we really dug in and did more walking than talking. When we do social media for business, we mean business! Everyone got their laptops out, fired up, and we got to work on creating Posterous blogs. I think it took longer for everyone to get set up on our office wireless network, than it did to get the initial set up done for the blog. Thanks, Posterous!
Our social media club is more than just getting chatty and eating chips. Obviously, you can't have a club without chips. Anyway, the whole point is to learn how to use social media, and blogging is so, so important. Blogging allows you to take advantage of search-friendly keywords (if you know which ones to use) to show up on Google searches for your product or service. Morgan, my assistant, did an on the spot Free Social Media Keyword Analysis for everyone in the room, so we could incorporate any good words into the blog content.
We reviewed common terminlogy used online every day, and cleared up what they mean in easy to understand terms. Not to mention a few handy Google ranking tips. Then everyone visited my Posterous blog to get an idea of what was possible with a Posterous blog. Even if you don't know anything about web development, HTML or any kind of code, you can set up a pretty swanky site. I personally am not a website programmer and I don't know any HTML, so keep that in mind if you visit my blog.
The best part of the whole night is reading the feedback (gathered using a survey created with a Google Documents Form/Spreadsheet). Social media is actually really easy to learn and to use. Here's some of the feedback gathered from the past couple of club meetings:
Club Feedback
"I've created and maintain a simple yet elegant website for an artist: www.JaneThorpeArt.com. With the expertise of Really Simple Social Media I'm getting Jane's Blog up and running so she will be able to maintain her blog and post to her site, Facebook, etc. via Posterous. We're also working on a social media keyword/content plan. Once this is under way I'm looking forward to working on my own blog, social media marketing plan and website for my 'simple websites' business. In the meantime I'm journaling on everything I'm learning. Thank you very much!" Eva Andrews, Website Developer
"Great Presentation!!! Learned a lot about blogging. Thank you very much Trevor" Mariana Vassilev, Realtor 
"Yes, I'm starting to have an idea of what I can do. I pretty much did the same thing I had done the previous time but I still learned new things this time and want to start blogging!" Corrine Simon-Duneau, Translator
"This was very fun, easy to understand and helpful. I'm SO excited that I can increase my exposure...by this. Thank you! :)" Tomoko Kato, Actress
"Thanks. I do know a little about this, but you helped me do this myself and what to do, in a simple way. THANKS!" Lynda Hubbard, 
"This class was very informative. I am fairly illiterate when it comes to the computer. Trevor and Morgan are very helpful and really consult your understanding. I have created a blog tonight and am starting to understand what I can do with this social media. Thanks guys." Michael Baron, Business Owner 
"I confronted the Web Utopia with an actual "doingness" with your help and your simplicity. You certainly made the Web more accessible for me. Thank you." Sunja Ackerman, Marketer
The next class in on 30 Sept, Thursday, at 7pm in Burbank. For all the gory details, visit my Google Places listing.
"Great Presentation!!! Learned a lot about blogging. Thank you very much Trevor" Mariana Vassilev, Realtor
"Yes, I'm starting to have an idea of what I can do. I pretty much did the same thing I had done the previous time but I still learened new things this time and want to start blogging!" Corrine Simon-Duneau, Translator
"This was very fun, easy to understand and helpful. I'm SO excited that I can increase my exposure...by this. Thank you! :)" Tomoko Kato, Actress
"Thanks. I do know a little about this, but you helped me do this myself and what to do, in a simple way. THANKS!" Lynda Hubbard, http://www.trendcreators.com
"This class was very informative. I am fairly illiterate when it comes to the computer. Trevor and Morgan are very helpful and really consult your understanding. I have created a blog tonight and am starting to understand what I can do with this social media. Thanks guys." Michael Baron, http://www.yardprofessional.com
"I've created and maintain a simple yet elegant website for an artist: www.JaneThorpeArt.com. With the expertise of Really Simple Social Media I'm getting Jane's Blog up and running so she will be able to maintain her blog and post to her site, Facebook, etc. via Posterous. We're also working on a social media keyword/content plan. Once this is under way I'm looking forward to working on my own blog, social media marketing plan and website for my 'simple websites' business. In the meantime I'm journaling on everything I'm learning. Thank you very much!" Eva Andrews, Website Developer
This week's Burbank Inbound Marketing Club meeting is on Thursday, 16 Sept. We will be covering the importance of keywords in your social media content, as well as creating blogs and fan pages for Facebook, depending on what you want to do! See you there!
Here's the link to the event on Facebook, to RSVP:Thanks to All Facebook, the Unoffical Facebook Resource, we have a Marketing Dictionary of terms Facebook Uses. I'm a big believer in making sure that words are correctly defined and understood, so this is a great tool as far as I'm concerned! Anyone using social media for business should look this over as part of their social media education.
I'd recommend looking up All Facebook on Facebook and "Likeing" their Business Page as well. That way you can keep up to date on the next great thing.
We cover a number of Facebook marketing and advertising strategies, however there are plenty of people who don’t understand many of the terms that we use in our articles. To make sure you can follow along with all of our guides, we have created the following dictionary which will help you as you become a Facebook Marketing expert! If there are any terms that you see that are missing, feel free to reach out to us!
Within Facebook advertising, there are various types of action links. This can be the user clicking “Like” within the ad to like your page, or “RSVP” to attend an event.
Facebook provides marketers with a platform for promoting events, Pages, applications, and external websites through their site. Marketers are able to create advertisements (or “Ads”) which consist of an image, ad copy, and an ad title. Advertisements can also include “actions”. The image to the right explains all the components of a Facebook advertisement.
If you’ve been on Facebook for more than a few months, there’s no doubt that you have at some point interacted with an application. Whether it’s one of the popular games like Farmville or Mafia Wars, or if it’s one of the less popular applications, these apps add a layer of interactivity to Facebook which goes beyond Facebook’s core features. When they launched in 2007, Facebook applications became the center of any brand’s Facebook marketing strategy.
Since then, applications have become less important as the emphasis has shifted to Facebook Pages. Applications are now much more focused on expanding the functionality of a brand’s Facebook page via the use of a custom tab (as defined below). While large brand advertisers occasionally partner with Facebook application developers, the majority of ad spending has shifted to Facebook Ads and Pages.
AR stands for “Action Response”. It’s the percentage of users who are exposed to your ad who complete some form of action. Ultimately, not all advertisements include an action. If you happen to be promoting something on Facebook (group, event, or Page), you will most likely have an action though. Monitoring your AR is useful for measuring the effectiveness of your individual advertisements.
Facebook advertising operates in an auction-like system. The advertiser bids on the opportunity to have their advertisement displayed. However in contrast to eBay and other similar auctions, you cannot see what other people are bidding on that opportunity. The only thing you can view is how your ads are performing via other metrics (such as CTR, and AR) which will be highlighted in this dictionary.
CPM is a term that has been around all types of advertising for decades. The term literally means “cost per thousand impressions”. The M represents the roman numeral M which stands for thousand. An impression is a single “view” of your advertisement. In theory it’s the number of times people were exposed to the advertisement. While they may not have actually seen the advertisement, it was at least in their periphery.
The cost of advertising is typically measured on a CPM basis. Any large Facebook advertiser which runs Facebook Ads, measures how much money is going directly to Facebook based on their CPM. Also monitoring the CPM will help you determine the likelihood of your ads being displayed. Low performing ads (those ads which generate low CPMs) tend to be displayed less. That’s because wants to generate as much money as possible from each page impression on their site.
CPM stands for “cost per click”. While your advertisement may have 50,000 impressions, it could have only been clicked once. When you run Facebook ads you can choose between CPM and CPC advertising. I tend to use CPM advertising to test an ad’s performance (explained in this Facebook advertising tips guide). This is because the CPM is what Facebook uses to determine which ads are displayed.
While CPM can be used to determine how effective your ads are, CPC is what matters to the actual advertiser for the most part. The lower the CPC, the cheaper each “lead”. The more that you can reduce this cost, the more effective you are at advertising!
Sample Calculation
You’ve paid $40 for 72,000 impressions and 276 clicks.
CPM = total spend / (impressions / 1000) = $40 / (72,000 / 1,000) = $0.56 (we’ve rounded up from $0.555)
CPC = total spend / number of clicks = $40 / 276 = $0.14
CTR stands for “Click through rate”. This is the percentage of people who see your advertisement and subsequently click on it. This is the most important metric when monitoring the effectiveness of your ads. The higher your click through rate, the better your ads. High click through rates also tend to mean that your ads will be displayed more often, especially if you have bid on a CPC basis. The reason for this is that the more often Facebook can get your ad to generate a click, the more often they can generate revenue for their business.
Over time your CTR will decrease and will ultimately result in less impressions. Additionally, if you have bid on a CPM basis, your actual CPC will increase over time. This is because your ad will be displayed to your entire market. In Facebook advertising, your CPC will increase overtime as your ad becomes less effective. While it’s not necessary to understand the economic forces driving this decreased effectiveness, it’s important to keep this in mind as you could quickly find out that your ad campaign cost a fortune.
Facebook’s engagement ads are targeted directly at large brand marketers. They are the advertisements that show up on the homepage and enable users to interact directly with a brand. Most recently, the vast majority of engagement ads have been targeted at increasing the number of fans to a brand’s Facebook Page. Engagement ads come in the form of “event ads”, “video ads”, “poll ads”, “page ads”, and general website ads which promote something off Facebook, but also provide users with the ability to comment on the content. If you are looking to run these types of ads, you better be ready to spend a minimum of $50,000 a day (although we hear that number is rising rapidly).
Events are another integral component of Facebook marketing. Facebook events enable event producers to create a central location from which users can RSVP to an event. Event details, including photos and videos, can be posted within the Facebook Event. Facebook also has an “RSVP Action” within Facebook advertisements that are used to
Fans are simply the people who “Like” your Facebook Page. In theory these people are potential customers or simply people who are fans of your brand. Increasing fans has become the primary objective for many marketing campaigns within Facebook. While not necessarily as effective as email, Facebook also provides an opportunity for reengagement of fans through the feed. This reengagement opportunity is exactly why companies continue to pour money into fan acquisition.
The feed, which is also known as the “stream”, or “news feed”, is the primary thing you see when you start Facebook. It is the compilation of feed stories from your friends and Facebook Pages that you are following. Whether it’s a story that your friend is now in a relationship, or a link to a breaking news story, the feed has become the central distribution mechanism for all communication on Facebook. While there are other communication channels (notifications, requests, inbox, updates, and application counters), the feed has become the center for most activity on Facebook.
In addition to the homepage feed, which you view every time you load Facebook, there is also a feed on every profile (previously called the “wall”). Each feed story within a profile will eventually be displayed within the primary/homepage feed a user’s friends. The model for determining whether or not a feed story will be displayed within friends’ homepage feed is called the “news feed algorithm”. Understanding this algorithm is critical for any expert Facebook marketer or advertiser.
Groups are another place for organizations to organize its members. There are a number of differences between groups and Pages, primarily that groups can send inbox messages (up to a limited amount) and groups don’t have the ability to create custom tabs. To learn more about the differences between groups and pages, you can read our article “Facebook Page or Group: which should you use?”
The inbox has had a varied history with Facebook marketing. Many guerilla marketers used to message numerous users directly in the past, however Facebook has blocked spammers and overtime the inbox evolved. For a period of time, Facebook messages were actually an integral part of the Facebook Platform, the system on which all applications operate. However Facebook eventually killed off extensive integration with the inbox. As we described in the “Groups” definition, groups have the ability to message users directly to their inbox up to a specific limit (that limit is always changing, however I believe the most recent limit was 5,000 members).
For the most part, any brand should use a Facebook Page over a group for managing their Facebook presence. This is simply the best rule of thumb to follow.
The “Instant Personalization” program is a somewhat controversial product that was launched by Facebook at their 2010 f8 developer conference. The feature, which functions with select partners, enables partner sites to display a user’s information the moment they visit the site. The only information that the site has access to is the user’s basic information (which is also public), however it’s useful as site owners are able to identify who is visiting their site the second that they arrive.
The “Instant Personalization” program is mostly for developers and owners of destination sites on the web. Developers need to contact Facebook directly in order to participate in this program.
Facebook Insights is the company’s primary product for monitoring Page and Application activities. It’s essentially Facebook’s analytics platform. It tracks user activity within Pages and Applications. While there are still plenty of weaknesses within Facebook’s Insights products, it’s probably one of the most robust tools for monitoring Facebook Page activity. You can see a screenshot of a Facebook Insights chart below. You can also access the product here.
While not all Facebook advertising campaigns are measured based on the lifetime value of a customer, many small businesses must use this metric to determine how much they should spend on advertising. While not always the case, most small businesses will find it valuable to spend up to the present lifetime value of a customer for all Facebook advertising campaigns. While break-even is not always the best situation, all online advertising requires testing, and as such, a minimum budget of the lifetime value of the customer should be allocated to test how much each new lead will cost. You can read more about this calculation in our guide to developing a Facebook advertising budget.
Likes have become the central currency on Facebook. Whether it’s a user liking a post on your Facebook Page or “liking” the page (“becoming a fan”), likes are Facebook’s model of creating a connection between a user and an object. It’s a form of “vote” for an object in a way that’s similar to a link on traditional websites. While there are numerous implementations of likes, the primary thing that marketers need to know is that more likes tends to also mean more exposure.
Notifications are a feature that were once critical to applications but were eventually removed as application developers were abusing the channel and users were getting frustrated. Now notifications are limited as a communication channel which is automated by Facebook. Every time a user’s friend likes something they also commented on, or comments on one their profile feed stories, a notification will show up at the top of the site. Notifications also extend to Facebook’s other services, including mobile applications. For example, users who have installed the Facebook for iPhone application will receive alerts every time a Facebook notifications arrives.
Facebook Pages are the home for any brand on Facebook. While users have profiles, brands, organizations, celebrities, and others can create Facebook Pages in order to interact with users and to build their own community on Facebook. On this site we have covered (and continue to cover) Facebook Pages extensively. You can learn more via our Facebook Page strategy guide, or our 30 Days to 3,000 Fans eBook. Sometimes called a “public profile” or a “Facebook fan page”, they have been defined by Facebook as follows: “A Facebook Page is a customizable presence for an organization, product, or public personality to join the conversation with Facebook users. The Page focuses on the stream of content posted by the Page administrators. By leveraging the real connections between friends on Facebook, a Page lets Fans become brand advocates. Posts by the Page will start to appear in News Feed, giving Pages a stronger voice to reach their Fans.”
Facebook Places is a new product from Facebook which adds a new layer of functionality to the site. Places essentially enables users to “check in” to any venue around the world. Right now the product is limited to users in the United States, however the company plans to expand the service internationally. Small businesses are the primary benefactor of Facebook Places as they can merge their Facebook Page with a place and display the individuals who have visited their store in the past. The product was just launched and will continue to evolve, however if you are looking for more ways to integrate with your small business, check out our guide to Facebook Places for business.
The Facebook Platform enables anybody to build social applications on Facebook and on the web. First launched in 2007, the Platform functions as a central way for developers to interact with users. There are numerous ways that marketers can leverage applications, most specifically through Facebook Page tabs. While some brands have ventured into the “branded applications” space, most activity has taken place within Pages. Branded applications should still be part of a Facebook marketer’s arsenal, however it’s not the most critical. Instead, custom applications should at a minimum be used to expand the functionality within Facebook Pages.
According to Facebook, “Social plugins let you see what your friends have liked, commented on or shared on sites across the web. All social plugins are extensions of Facebook and are specifically designed so none of your data is shared with the sites on which they appear.” The social plugins currently include the Like button, Activity feed, Recommendations, Like box, Login button, Facepile, Comments, and the Live Stream.
By default, Facebook Pages have a “Wall Tab” (which is where the Page stream is displayed), an info tab, photos tab, and discussions tab. These tabs provide all the interactivity within Facebook Pages. For companies looking to increase their presence through Pages, custom tabs are an excellent way to more significantly increase the interactivity on the page. Whether it’s a simple reveal tab, or a more robust feature such as quizzes, polls, or other functionality, custom tabs should be used to develop a more unique presence.
Updates are the second type of message that Page administrators can send. While updates are significantly less effective, they are an alternative messaging feature which show up next to a user’s inbox in a second tab called “updates”. While some users still view these updates, this is less effective than sending direct messages, something that Page administrators are unable to do. For more information on sending updates, you can view our article How to send Facebook Page updates here.
Reveal tabs are an incentive based marketing tactic which aims to “get Facebook users over the hump of liking your Page” (as first described in our reveal tab article). Reveal tabs can be used as a way to explain to a user why they need to become a fan of your Facebook Page right now.
URGENT CAPITOL ALERT!!
Bill Sending 12 Year Old Kids for Mental Health Services Without
Parental Permission is Resurrected!!!August 26, 2010
THS IS AN URGENT ALERT THAT NEEDS YOUR ACTION TODAY!!
The State Senate and Assembly are in a frantic rush to pass bills before the August 31st deadline. They are passing about 100 bills a day. Legislation is moving at a dramatically fast pace. This meansYOU MUST ACT WITHOUT DELAY. YOU CANNOT WASTE TIME!! THE FATE OF THIS BILL LIES WITH US!!
Please call today and send this email to those you know who care about the mental welfare of their child.
ANTI-PARENT BILL TO HARM KIDS IS RESURRECTED:After months of sitting silent on the Assembly inactive file (a place where bills are intended to die and not be brought up), some legislators pulled a fast maneuver to resurrect Senate Bill 543. It is now before the State Assembly for a final vote and can be voted on as early as today!!! This bill will strip all rights from parents knowing about what type of “mental services” their child receives while they are in school.
SENATE BILL 543: MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR STUDENTS
WITHOUT PARENTAL KNOWLEDGE!!SENATE BILL 543 IS AWAITING A FINAL VOTE BY THE STATE ASSEMBLY ANY MINUTE, ANY DAY!
Make no mistake…Senate Bill 543 is one of the most dangerous bills going through the Legislature. And the legislators behind it are trying to ram it through under the radar.SB 543 is a complete breach of parental authority, knowledge and consent. SB 543 would expand the definition of a “professional person” so that it would allow for a government worker, like a clinical social worker, psychiatrist, or therapist, to send a minor as young as 12 to get “outpatient mental health services.” In fact, a person doesn’t have to be a certified psychiatrist; they can merely be “eligible” to be certified and still send a 12 year old to get mental service or counseling. And this could be done without a parent even being contacted or knowing.Right now current law only allows for a minor to receive confidential mental health treatment and counseling or receive residential shelter services if they are deemed mature enough and if they only pose a danger to themselves or others or are victims of incest or child abuse. SB 543 undermines these provisions! Under SB 543 a child can request these services for any reason, they don’t have to be a victim of abuse or pose a threat. Section 124260 (H)(b) of the bill states:Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a minor who is 12 years of age or older may consent to mental health treatment or counseling services if, in the opinion of the attending professional person, the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently in the mental health treatment or counseling services. This provision of the bill is clearly designed to give the sole discretion about a child’s maturity not to the parent, but to a state sanctioned social worker, therapist or psychiatrist.Leno and his bill’s supporters will claim that SB 543 will require that parent’s be involved in a child’s treatment or services. But they have even created a loophole to undermine that as well. Here is what Section (c) states: Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the mental health treatment or counseling of a minor authorized by this section shall include involvement of the minor's parent or guardian, unless the professional person who is treating or counseling the minor, after consulting with the minor, determines that the involvement would be inappropriate.All a social worker, therapist or psychiatrist has to do is ask a child if they want mommy and daddy to know. If the child says no they can take it upon themselves to make sure a parent is never contacted!!! This bill would apply to any instance a child that is between the ages of 12-17 is either under the watch of a social worker, a county agency, in foster care and even while they are in school.Schools today have health clinics and nurses that have repeatedly gone around the authority of parents and given teens and children abortion counseling services, condoms, contraceptives, and even pro-homosexual counseling. This bill is designed to do one thing: Create yet another avenue for therapists and psychiatrists to plant seeds of doubt in the minds young formable minds. This bill is about undermining parental authority and challenging the views parents instill in their children in the home!!
WE MUST STOP SB 543!! WE MUST STOP THE FURTHER ATTACK ON PARENTAL RIGHTS!!VOTE CAN HAPPEN AS EARLY AS 10AM ON AUGUST 26th
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED TO STOP SB 543!!
OR ANY TIME AFTER1. Call Your State Assembly Member Today!!
Ask them to VOTE NO on SB 543!!
2. CONTACT THE FOLLOWING KEY DEMOCRATS!!
THEY CAN CONTROL THE FATE OF SB 543!!
Ask them to VOTE NO on SB 543!! Vote Can Happen Today or Any Day After!!
For State Assembly Member’s Websites, to find local contact numbers, faxes and emails please go to: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7text.htm
To find your State Assembly Member directly go to this link and then enter your zip code:http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.htmlPaid for by Lydia Gutierrez for State Superintendent of Public Instruction #1318691
Really Simple Social Media strikes again!
The Association has been hosting an informal meeting weekdays for small business owners (anyone, really) who want to learn how to use Social Media, called the Burbank Inbound Marketing Club. Switching over to a new method of promoting (especially one involving computers or the Internet) can be a daunting task for people who have never done it before. I don't normally do weekend Club Meetings, but to help people who aren't available during the week, we are doing a special Saturday presentation, just this once. So when I met Mary-Elizabeth Michael, I realized she just might be the perfect solution for that "in-between" phase everyone in the Club has to go through. I'm talking about the time between the "I don't know what I'm doing" phase and the "I'm getting new leads from social media now" phase.
Since that phase can be 3-12 months long (!), it's a long time to slowly drag yourself through a series of classes on social media to finally figure it out, without getting any leads to show for your efforts.Anyway, back to Mary-Elizabeth. She showed me a way to get a company featured on the 1st page of a Google Maps search request. I.e., when someone does a LOCAL search, YOUR COMPANY shows up next to that little Google Map in the organic section of results.PLUS, there is a way to generate getting leads AND it's inexpensive.As well, I'll be covering a few basic concepts on social media and Google Maps first, to help make sure everyone's on the same page (no pun intended!). There's no charge for this club meeting. Invite other business owners you know that need to attract local business. Get them to RSVP on this event or email me at trevor@theassociation.tv with "RSVP Mary" in the subject line. See you on Thursday!
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in raw oysters served in a restaurant in North Carolina. 
