Additionally, PWB is presenting two seminars geared toward women during the show. Come join us, it should be a lot of fun.  First Mitch Levinson and I will present Social Media for Home Builders at 10 a.m., then Tammie Smoot and I will present Sell To Women Through the Social Media Grapevine at 2 p.m.

Let us know what you’d like to learn during Social Media for Home Builders! Mitch and I are happy to cater the class to your requests and suggestions!

Don’t forget to register for the show at www.21BuildingExpo.com.

Related posts:

1. Sell to Women Through the Social Media Grapevine
2. Selling to Women? Consider Social Networking
3. Social Media Sites – Which Ones Do You Use?

We did an online poll of the participants. The question posed was, “What types of social media are you using for your business?” The poll results are pictured, but I’ll post the results as well:

Blogs – 22%
LinkedIn – 51%
Facebook – 73%
Twitter – 19%
YouTube – 24%
Other – 14%

Ok, so in terms of what I do on a daily basis, this is HUGE!  With only 22% of the companies on the call using a corporate blog, that means that 78% need one! Having the blog work as the engine of your social media program integrates your program. It makes the program less work. Companies can reduce the amount of time needed in social media management by 50% while increasing their website traffic by 25 – 50%. Integrating this piece is key!

This seminar is part of a 5 part NAHB webinar series called Building Conversations, so make sure to check it out!

Related posts:

1. Sites for Women
2. Social Media for Home Builders
3. Selling to Women? Consider Social Networking

Political commentator Donna Brazile gave the keynote address which focused on women attaining and managing power.

Ten Tips from Donna Brazile:

1. Know your power and believe in yourself.
2. Be true to yourself and visualize.
3. Identify role models and mentors.
4. Nourish your ambition.
5. Dare to dream and communicate clearly.
6. Set a strategy for success and write it down.
7. Remove stumbling blocks and remain steadfast despite the obstacles.
8. If you get knocked down, get back up.
9. Don’t be afraid of controversy.
10. Stir the waters.  Sometimes making waves is the only way to move forward.

Related posts:

1. Purse Power

Atlanta now tops the lists of places to be in social media marketing. Does your small business Tweet? Do you have a Facebook page? If the answer is no, maybe it is time to look into a social media program.  Just last week Atlanta was listed as one of the top Twitter cities of the world. Listed at #5, Atlanta is in good company coming in just behind London, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

During 2009, Atlanta was one of the fastest growing cities in terms of Facebook users with more than 142% growth during the first half of the year. In numbers of Facebook users Atlanta is second only to New York! With all of these potential consumers flocking to Facebook and Twitter, it is more important than even to make sure your small business has a presence on the sites.

To streamline your social media strategy, make sure to launch a blog as the heart of your program. A blog will help you develop your messages and save time spent on social media by reducing the number of places you need to update. While there aren’t stats on blogging readily available for Atlanta only, national and worldwide stats show how popular blogging has become:

• 57 million Americans read blogs
• 12 million American adults maintain a blog
• Technorati tracks 70 million blogs
• Over 120 thousand blogs created every day
• 1.4 million new blog posts daily
• 22 out of top 100 most popular Web sites in the world are blogs
• 89% of companies surveyed think blogs will be even more important in the next 5 years

If you are an Atlanta small business and you need social media consulting or help building an effective program, contact me at 770-383-3360.

Related posts:

1. Purse Power
2. Have You Synchronized Your Social Media?
3. Social Media – Just Published

Women influence all the major consumer purchasing categories from home furnishings to vacations to new homes. Here are the percentages:

• All consumer purchases: 85 percent
• Home furnishings: 94 percent
• Vacations: 92 percent
• New homes: 91 percent
• DIY (do-it-yourself projects): 80 percent
• Consumer Electronics: 51 percent

So, what is the best way to reach out to this influential demographic? Well, the Internet of course.  Here of the statistics on where you can find us.

An April 2009 Women and Social Media Study by BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners shows that women are twice as likely to use blogs over other social networking sites for trusted information. Here are the findings from the study:

• 75% participate in social networks
• 55% were active bloggers
• 20% used twitter
• 36.2 million women actively participate in the blogosphere weekly
• 40% consider blogs a reliable source of advice and information
• 50% say blogs influence their purchase decisions

If you own a small business, now is the time to engage in social media. Start by launching a blog and creating a strategy. Next, interconnect all of your social networking sites together and stay on top of your editorial plan. Let me know if you need help! You can reach me at 770-383-3360.

Related posts:

1. Social Media – Just Published
2. 75% of Online Women Use Social Media
3. Atlanta: A Social Media Meca

Women have always been the more social or chatty of the two sexes, but it seems that Chatty Cathie is being replaced by Texting Tammy.

Overall, girls more fully embrace most aspects of cell-phone communications:

• 86% of girls say they text message friends several times a day, compared with 64% of boys.
• 59% of girls call friends on their cell phone every day, compared with 42% of boys.
• 59% of girls send text messages several times a day to “just say hello and chat,” compared with 42% of boys.
• 84% of girls have long text exchanges on personal matters, compared with 67% of boys.
• 76% of girls text about school work, compared with 64% of boys.

Among all teens, texting is used for many reasons, including communicating with friends and family (95%), reporting locations (89%), and coordinating meetings (85%). I’d say let’s “hear it” for the girls, but it seems that even girls are opting for less chatty options.

For more information on how I can help you reach America’s largest buying group – women – call me! 770-383-3360 or use the contact form on this site.

Related posts:

1. Cell Phones, Texting and Your Customers
2. She Says: Sell Me But Do It My Way
3. Selling to Women? Consider Social Networking

Hghlights of the study include:

• 88 percent of women polled said they wished that brands they trusted would send them more tailored offers.
• More than 65 percent of the women first think, “Cool! How did they know I wanted this?” when receiving an online advertisement perfectly targeted to them.
• 58 percent said brands need to “Give me something” in order to build an online relationship.
• More than 53 percent believe they have relationships with sites and brands they often use online.
• More than 37 percent consider the brands they encounter online to be “Good Partners” (send relevant ads that women need and use).
• The five brands women specifically named as having the best online relationships were Pillsbury, Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Betty Crocker and General Mills.

Remember them is a key focus when it comes to online selling. They will read it if it offers them something. It needs to be about them, not you.

Have you targeted the largest buying demographic in America? Let me know if I can help you with your online marketing. Call me at 770-383-3360.

Related posts:

1. Sell to Women Through the Social Media Grapevine
2. Selling to Women? Consider Social Networking
3. Purse Power

The front says, “My blog posts are so good, they may contain content that you’ll want to Steal!”

The back says, “RSS does not mean Really Simple to Steal.”

You can have one too for the low, low price of $20 (includes shipping).  Just visit mRELEVANCE to order one. Make sure to enter your complete address so we can mail it to you along with your preferred size M, L or XL.

Let the world know how proud you are of your blog content with a fun RSS tshirt from mRELEVANCE.

No related posts.

Does your blog have a plan to survive the next “dry” spell?

• Blog is strategically focused on a topic or specialty
• Team of writers in place and ready to blog
• Editorial plan of 8 blog posts a month
• Backup content is available for when something falls through
• Posts contain a mixture of copy, photos, video and podcasts
• Posts are easy to read about 300 words long and often contain bullets

Is your team “synchronized” in their approach?

• Both marketing and sales people are engaged in content production
• Blog leverages other social networks to maximize referral traffic
• Staff is trained on how to promote the blog and social media sites
• Online social media policy spells out rules of engagement

Does your blog cause visitors to “take flight” or sign up?

• Email marketing drives traffic to blog
• Email can be shared through social sharing
• Contests are hosted on the blog to attract visitors and gather names
• A series of custom landing pages welcome visitors from social media sites
• Strong call to action encourages visitors to sign up for email list

Never fear, if your blog doesn’t meet all of these goals, I can help. I’ve been blogging since 2006 and have lots of ideas for your program.  Blogging is fun.

For other related content, read these posts on the mRELEVANCE site

The Bad Words of Marketing

How to Tell if Your Social Media Consultant “Gets” It

Follow Me – Don’t Follow Me

Your Business Location and the Web

Related posts:

1. Atlanta: A Social Media Meca
2. Social Media Sites – Which Ones Do You Use?
3. GNTC Spring Social Media Lab

The BlogHer-iVillage 2010 Social Media Matters Study, co-sponsored by Ketchum and the Nielsen Company, indicates that 73% of online women are now active social media users, engaging weekly or more often with top social media platforms. Social media is playing an increasingly important role in the everyday lives of Americans, particularly when it comes to getting advice on consumer products, according to the new survey released today, with many consulting blogs or message boards before making purchases.

“The twenty million users who visit the BlogHer Network favor blogs over every other media source for reasons both personal and pragmatic”

Key findings from the study include:

• Blogs are second only to Internet search as the preferred media source for product purchasing information for BlogHer Network users
• Blogs dominate the attention of BlogHer Network users (96% read blogs weekly or more often)
• BlogHer users are significantly more active with all three top social media platforms vs the average woman online (Blogs, Facebook, Twitter)
• Message boards/forums are second only to conversations with friends and family as the preferred source of product purchasing information for iVillage community users
• Among the iVillage community, 73% say that they are sharing topics on message boards/forums that they would not share on social networks. Of those, Relationships (61%), Health (45%) and Work-related (39%) issues were the top topics they would not share on social networks
• Over one third (33.6%) of iVillage community members post on message boards/forums every day

The study shows that women rely heavily on both blogs and message boards when seeking advice and recommendations (Blogs: 21% of the total U.S. online population, 63% of the BlogHer Network; Message Boards/Forums: 38% of the total U.S. online population, and 92% of the iVillage community), particularly when looking for information to help guide purchases of new products (Blogs: 22% of the total U.S. online population, and 59% of the BlogHer Network).

BlogHer and iVillage, the largest interactive communities of women online, partnered on the 2010 Social Media Matters Study, along with survey co-sponsors Ketchum and The Nielsen Company. The objective of the study was to quantify and compare media usage patterns across different segments, including gender, generational use, blogging focus, and media channel preference. It also explored how different types of media influence purchasing behavior, comparing online to offline, but also different types of online media channels.

“The twenty million users who visit the BlogHer Network favor blogs over every other media source for reasons both personal and pragmatic,” said Elisa Camahort Page, BlogHer co-founder and COO. “Even as the scale of overall social media usage continues to grow, blogs continue to be a highly reliable resource for all women online as they exert their control over the household purse strings.”

“The study confirms that social networks are a key place to capture women’s attention on the path to purchase,” said Jodi Kahn, Executive Vice President, iVillage. “The days of relying on one source for information are over. Online peer-to-peer advice on message boards has increasingly become one of the most valuable sources for product recommendations. Marketers cannot afford to overlook this captive audience.”

The Executive Summary of the 2010 Social Media Matters Study can be found here: http://www.blogher.com/files/Social_Media_Matters_2010.pdf

Related articles from mRELEVANCE

A Woman’s Approach to Social Business Networking

Women and the Social Media Grapevine

Related posts:

1. Purse Power
2. Sites for Women
3. Selling to Women? Consider Social Networking