Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a strategist. I like to think about things, come up with a plan, work within my clients’ budgets and create marketing strategies that not only make sense, but which will … um, well … actually work for them. Go figure. Ready, aim, fire. Don’t spend money, time, effort or energy until it makes sense as part of an integrated marketing plan. Totally makes sense, doesn’t it? You’d be amazed at how many people forge ahead without a plan, looking for the least expensive “solution,” without any first-hand knowledge about what they’re attempting to undertake and without any understanding at how much potential damage they could do to their brand and brand image as a result of poor execution.

Well, after sitting in one too many meetings, listening to small business owners talk about social media – trying to get their heads around email marketing, mobile marketing and, heaven forbid, something like Facebook or Twitter, it’s my head that’s beginning to spin. And these same business owners just don’t seem to get it. Their eyes glaze over and they shake their heads and say “I know I need to do an e-newsletter, or write a blog, or investigate Facebook, but I just don’t have time. But I have a website!” Well I say “Woo Hoo for you!” Having a website does not mean that you’re on top of your game when it comes to promoting your business. In fact, having a website without doing anything to advertise, promote or draw traffic to it is about as useless as having a billboard in the middle of a corn field. Social media, email marketing, mobile marketing …. all of those things are tools that marketers use to promote brands, products and actually drive sales. Imagine that – doing something that would actually sell your product.

Well, in tough economic times, the gloves come off and it’s time to talk tough love. Don’t cry hard times because your sales are down. Of course they’re down. And the time to do something about it, to allocate some marketing dollars and some savvy tactics and stop the bleeding is now.

Social marketing is and should be a part of any serious business’s marketing and communications plan – especially today. But, the interesting thing is, that so often people (read that “business owners”) think that it’s just the perfect project to sink little Jenni on – you know, the one who just graduated from Community College last year and who just loooooves surfing the ‘net. Or, maybe Johnnie, who’s in college and has a Facebook page – that’d be something he could do for us and we could pay him $200 and save a bunch of money.

People – you don’t get it!

Social marketing is serious stuff and is well on it’s way to replacing the traditional kinds of media that we’ve known and loved. Display ads are going the way of the dinosaur. Who reads magazines and newspapers when you can get instant news and any kind of content you would ever want online – through more sources than I can possibly articulate.

Traditional media, while still an important part of brand management and strategy, is no longer the only game in town.

People are online. They are talking, sharing, opining, recommending, blasting, learning, blogging, ReTweeting and moving at the speed of sound.

The question isn’t “should I embrace this social media stuff and use it as part of my marketing strategy” … the question should be “how quickly can I find the right people to help me integrate this so that I can start taking advantage of the brand awareness – (and sales) that I can generate as a result.”

And the answer is that they are out there. People like my friends, Justin French at Social Networking San Diego (all things social media) www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com and Jason Werner at Opus Media (all things email marketing) www.opusbywire.com are knee deep in what’s going in their respective worlds. And there are a myriad of others – those guys just happen to be great friends of mine, and people that I would trust with my own brand.

Bottom line – DO get involved in social media. DON’T try to do it yourself (especially if you don’t know what you’re doing – and most people don’t). DO hire someone to help you not only do it correctly so that it produces real results, but make sure that it’s integrated with and compliments the other elements of your marketing efforts. And, most importantly, DO it now! And, if you don’t have the resources or know where to look ask me – I’ll be glad to help and/or refer you.

Shelly DeMotte Kramer is a marketing strategist specializing in planning, branding, product launches, creating buzz and awareness through non-traditional methods and is, clearly, a social media enthusiast. shelly@kramerandcompany.com

…

I know everyone is busy (as am i) but i wanted to answer 1 very important question I’m hearing everyday:

A small business customer quote:
“So Justin, what is social networking, internet marketing, and this whole twitter thing? How can it help my business? Do i need to look into it?”- prospect

My response: YES! if you want to be in business in the next couple of years you should!

Here’s the basic formula for those Math whizzes (im not a numbers guy so bear with me but its really fairly simple)

Internet marketing strategists = helping businesses build relationships on the Internet = building your brand (marketing your products and services online) appropriately – one tweet at a time”

Social Networking = More Search = More Business!

Then i direct them to my blog talk radio appearance which explains the paradigm shift here: Listen To My Radio Appearance

Or if your a client (or you know a client) who might be considering social networking for their business this video explains it fairly simple:

get tweeting today!

Need Twitter Training? Contact us we are here to help support the business community

“What is Social Networking San Diego Justin?”
Social Networking San Diego supports and educates businesses on the value and growing trend in social networking, social media, and internet marketing for business. This trend in social networking and social media for business has been packaged together for local business to use as a proven internet marketing system and online advertising strategy to focus on lead generation and drive more pre-qualified traffic to company websites.

– cheers
JustinRFrench
Support the Movement- Pay It Forward on Twitter

1.    Always keep a Daily notebook log of all activities, call backs, to do items, follow ups, and related news and research items.
2.    Sign up on twitter right now!- just write a profile about who you are, your passions, and your experience and you will attract like-minded and highly influential people- it happened to me.
3.    Write down a list of all your passions.
4.    Choose 1 passion & Start a blog NOW talking about your passions, news about your passion, give your feedback, insights, and opinion.  Don’t worry about what other people think, if they don’t like your opinion, then they shouldn’t read your blog.
5.    Technology is your friend- start getting use to IT! (Information Technology)  Research what topic you’re interested in and learn IT!  We are doing business and living our lives in a constant connected digital age.
6.    Create a linked in account and start networking with other professionals.
7.    Set up a Google reader account for all your news and RSS feeds (this is KEY)
8.    Find a friend or follower to be your CONSTANT feedback mechanism (just ask me if you can’t find one- I’ll try to fit you in.
9.    Delegate what you can’t do to TRUSTED followers.  No one knows everything, so ask for help when you need it.  But be ready to give help when called upon. (it’s a two way street)
10.    Balance Work and Life- you only live once so work hard, do something you love (even if you’re not making millions yet like me) and you still feel good about yourself.

What is Social Networking San Diego Justin?

Social Networking San Diego supports and educates businesses on the value and growing trend in social networking, social media, and internet marketing for business.  This trend in social networking and social media for business has been packaged together for local business to use as a proven internet marketing system and online advertising strategy to focus on lead generation and drive more pre-qualified traffic to company websites.

With all of the current hype and news on Web 2.0, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, and the bailout, I take this time to reflect on this past month – January 2009.  Let’s all just take a deep breath, count to 3, and begin to realize how much information overload we really have; or the lack of proper filtering.  I, justinrfrench break it all down for you here.  I give you the full Entrepreneurial, Business Minded, Tech Guru, Social Media / Social Networking addict, twitterholic synopsis with-out leaving your seat!

If there is one blog site you’’re going to read about the growing trends in social networking for business, internet marketing for business, social media for business, or any of the other Web 2.0 solutions for business then I HIGHLY suggest you keep reading this blog.

I would hope after reading this, you would be kind enough to pay it forward, re-tweet this blog, subscribe to this blog, and help spread the word about this revolution occurring because we have only touched the tip of the iceberg on what is to come from my team and I in the not to distant future.  If you think Google, Apple, and Microsoft were big, wait till twitter, justinrfrench, and his followers get on the map!  You won’t want to miss this 21st century bailout we are giving businesses on a silver platter.

For all my fellow twitterholics, followers, alliances, and partners I have formed over the years, I dedicate my mission and personal journey to you.  This year I will fully dedicate myself to being the driving force for spreading the word to all Southern California businesses to help educate, instruct, and consult their firms on how to best utilize a social media work flow system tailored around their company.

Here are my Top 5 Lessons Learned (in no particular order) of what you or your business can gain from my summary of the month on the above topics:

1.      Lesson 1 – Barack Obama has proven to be more of a leader than I thought.  After even talking about setting a cap on CEO pay- he became my hero.  MOST CEO’s (not all) are over paid, under delivering to shareholders, and quite frankly do not know how to lead in today’s 21st century and need a full makeover in upper management.  Small businesses will be what gets us through these tough times as Obama states, so start finding how you can fit into this paradigm puzzle.

2.      Lesson 2 – Sign up and start using twitter right now!  The best business social networking tool I’ve seen in the last 5 years!  If you have not signed up on twitter, heard of twitter, or been active on twitter, then you are already behind.  If you are a true business person, then you already know the importance of first mover advantage so I suggest you get on board.  Just Google “twitter” and get going.  If you need twitter training, instruction, or consulting on how to use twitter for business, I have teams of consultants that will come to your office and train, tutor, and educate you on the importance of twitter.  After you sign up, make sure you follow me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/justinrfrench

3.      Lesson 3 – Is all this social media, social networking hype really for my business?  I thought MySpace and Facebook were for teens and young adults.  YES!  If your business does not form some type of internet marketing strategy today then you will not be in business tomorrow.  I guarantee I can think of one or two social media sites or social networking sites for business that will be beneficial in some way to growing your business.

4.      Lesson 4 – What is Social Networking San Diego, Why does my business need to know about this site, and how will it benefit my business?  “Social Networking San Diego supports and educates businesses on the value and growing trend in social networking, social media, social marketing, and internet marketing for business.  This trend in social networking and social media for business has been packaged together for local companies to use as a proven internet marketing system and online advertising strategy to focus on lead generation and driving traffic to company websites in turn generating new business.”- justinrfrench

5.      Lesson 5 – What Social Media / Social Networking sites does twitterholic justinrfrench suggest to lay the proper foundation for my business to start gaining a better presence online?
a.      Twitter
b.      Linked-in
c.      Friend feed
d.      Facebook
e.      Word Press

I look forward to your comments, recommendations, or insight on this post – don’t be shy. yours truly –
Fellow twitterholic, Justin French

how can social networking help my business?

If i had a dollar for every time I was aksed this question form business people I would be a millionaire by now.  I’m not yet but I am on my way.  Why don’t you ask how social networking and social media has helped my early years idol MCHAMMER.  I don’t have my pants anymore, BUT we have something in common.  The use of social media and social networking for building our online business.

What business doesn’t want to increase traffic to their website, make money online, and have a constant lead generation system in place?

Making money online has become an art and a science that 80% of business people don’t understand. So I am starting to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical business people to help shift gears into new media marketing- how to market your business in the 21st century.

This ties together all social networking and internet marketing tactics into a proven “system” that gets results which is scalable over time.  It is like a snowball marketing effect. This internet marketing strategy has been developed by a team of business, technical, and marketing consultants who have degrees in business with a technical emphasis. The key to their success has been a full understanding of both business and technical know how and how to apply this knowledge to help businesses become successful and competitive on the internet in today’s competitive business landscape.

So if you are a twitter business person, or just a business person looking for answers to the internet puzzle, I promise you will enjoy this blog.

If you enjoy this content (and would like more), or are just a business person searching for news on twitter for business, you should contact us for a FREE Assessment at 760-576-4653 to see if your business qualifies to work with us.  We have a very unusual qualification process and only work with companies who understand the need for cost saving marketing strategeis that are organic, scale-able, and long term strategies.

I’m sure you have conducted marketing strategies that don;t work.  Have a look at what people are saying about our CEO Justin Results French

Social networking San Diego is an online marketing and social media marketing agency that helps generate awareness, leads, and sales for you business.  Social Networking – marketing your business in the 21st century and Twitter 101 for Business.