Carol Flammer | Social Media, Public Relations, Horse Lover » Social Media

Facebook for Business: Build Fans and Grow Customers

Carol — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:01:50 +0000

Hello and Happy New Year!

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be starting the year off by giving a seminar, “Facebook for Business: Build Fans and Grow Customers” at the Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce. The seminar will be held this coming Friday, January 13 at 11:30 am in the Anheuser-Busch Community Room.

Facebook is such a vital tool for personal and professional life- I don’t know where we’d be without it. Did you know that Facebook has nearly 800 million active users? More than half of them log on daily. Think of the fantastic potential for networking and marketing!

Whether Facebook is still foreign to you or you’re just looking for some fresh ideas for your profile, there’s something for you at the seminar this Friday. Come join me in navigating Facebook’s newest changes and hear tips for branding yourself and your company.

The event is free to all members of the chamber, and lunch can be pre-ordered for only $8. The cost to attend $35 for non-members.

If you would like to attend, there is still space! You may register online by January 12.

Visual.ly Helps Me Discover Twitter Characteristics

Carol — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:59:48 +0000

Twitter is one of my absolute favorite social media sites. It is where “birds of a feather flock together.” I love it because unlike many other social sites you can really target the people and the content that you want to follow. visual.ly created this cool info graphic to demonstrate my Twitter profile. visual.ly is a new site that just launched. It can help you build info graphics to illustrate your trends and statistics. Make sure to check it out!

Priceless!

Carol — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:06:04 +0000

Now that the new version of my book is out apparently the old one has become priceless. Amazon has one copy of “Social Media for Home Builders: It’s Easier Than You Think” remaining and this exclusive edition is available to one lucky (and perhaps wealthy) buyer for $101.41. All I can say is priceless!

Of course, you can always purchase the new version “Social Media for Home Builders 2.0″ for its regular price of $19.95. Besides it is the expanded version with new real estate case studies, more tools and twice the pages.

Social Media – Just Published

How Do You “Like” Me Now?

Carol — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:08:46 +0000

The Facebook “like” button is how consumers prefer to support local businesses online. A new study by CityGrid Media conducted by Harris Interactive® also shows that consumers are doing their homework when it comes to making decisions about which local businesses to frequent, but no one factor or source overwhelmingly influences the final choice–including those highly-touted deals and discounts.

“Surprisingly enough, Likes are trumping reviews when it comes to sharing feedback, but this does not translate to Facebook being the first or only place consumers turn when deciding to try someplace new,” said Kara Nortman, SVP, Publishing at CityGrid Media. “What this means for small businesses on the Web is that they should encourage Likes, but also round out marketing efforts to reach consumers across a variety of touchpoints. The truth is, there’s no one silver bullet to influence people that are choosing local businesses on or offline.”

Key findings:

Likes Trump Reviews; but Face to Face Wins Over All

Three-quarters of people (75%) tell their friends
20% of people say they “Like” it on Facebook to show their support, compared with only 13% who write a review
- Millennials are even more likely to favor Facebook over reviews, as are women:
  - 40% of people under 35 “Like” a business; that went to 49% in the 18-24 group, versus 18% who said they would write a review
  - 25% of women hit the “Like” button, versus 11% who write reviews

People do Their Homework, but The Deal’s Just Extra Credit

While Facebook may be one of the first places people go to give feedback on a business, it’s certainly not the only stop. Surprisingly, despite a sluggish economy and the frenzied attention as of late, discounts and offers are not a major factor in how consumers choose a merchant.

More than half (52%) of adults under 35 visit more than two websites before checking out a local business
- 63% of respondents under 35 head to Google
- 24% visit Facebook; 21% look at reviews sites and 17% copped to clicking on the first link on the search results page (whatever that link may be…)
Less than one in ten people (8%) said a deal is the number one thing that influences them to try a local business

People Care About the Face Behind the Name

When doing their homework, those under 35 report that the business owner’s feedback may carry equal weight to input from friends or social networks. So, when doing online marketing—be it Facebooking, tweeting or responding to reviews—be sure your spirit is represented along with your specials.

Almost half (47%) of people under age 35 are more influenced to try a business from the owner of the establishment than a friend

CityGrid Media commissioned Harris Interactive to field this study, which was conducted by telephone between March 16—20, 2011 among a nationwide cross section of 1,006 adults. For more on the study, visit IAC.

No related posts.

LinkedIn Maps: A Spirogiro of Life

Carol — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:51:35 +0000

Remember all the cool patterns we made as kids on the Spirogiro? Well, LinkedIn has a cool new tool that will remind you of your childhood, while at the same time allowing you to visualize your LinkedIn network. My LinkedIn Map is pictured here. It is interesting to be able to picture the interconnectivity between all of my social networks, yet see each of them distinctly! I love all of the colors and patterns.

If you want to create one of your own visit Linkedin Labs and follow the directions!

If you are too young to remember the Spirogiro, guess what? They are still available at Amazon. Of course they call them Spiral Art now!

Register for Social Media Lab in February

Carol — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:10:48 +0000

Do you want to learn how social media can help your business reach existing customers and build relationships with new ones? If so, bring your laptop and join us for a fun and exciting Social Media Lab at GNTC (Georgia Northwestern Technical College) in Rome, Georgia. This hand-on lab will help you start using social media immediately.

Social Media Lab is a five-week program offering the “how to” basics for promoting your business through social networking and blogging. Each week we will cover building a different site in a 3-hour lab. Find out from Carol Flammer of mRELEVANCE how to build your business as you build Friends, Fans, and Followers.

Labs will be held on the Floyd Campus on Monday mornings from 9 a.m. until noon (registration starts at 8:30). The upcoming lab takes place Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28 and March 7. Classes can be taken separately, but for the best overview and value, register for all five weeks together! Register for individual weeks for $79 each or for all five for $289. Register for the complete program and bring a friend, and get $10 off the second registration. Register five or more people together and receive a 5% discount on all registrations! Register at GNTC.

Tradeshow Survival Tips from #IBS2011

Carol — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:58:10 +0000

About half-way through the International Builder’s Show, I realized that my back already hurt and my feet were starting to hurt too. I found myself in the Professional Women in Building (PWB) lounge lying on my back on the floor! It was just then that Cindy Cepko entered the lounge and loaned me her EMS (electronic muscle stimulation) machine. Having never used one before I was completely surprised that this portable, light weight piece of equipment not only worked, but also fit into my purse.

A group of us started chatting and we quickly realized that Cindy was quite the prepared tradeshow goddess! In addition to her EMS machine, she pulled out of her brand new rolling bag extra shoes with Happy Feet insoles. These three items will be on the top of my shopping list for the next show I attend:

EMS machine
Happy Feet
A rolling briefcase

If anyone bought the top two items during #ibs2011, I’d love to have contact information for these vendors. I’m definitely in the market for these! And the sooner, the better!

My personal tradeshow survival kit for the show included:

Folders for each event or meeting – this allowed me to only bring to the show the files I needed that day and leave the rest at the hotel.
A giant case of water – I drank water non-stop during the show.
Snacks – apples, granola bars, tea bags, apple chips, yogurt and popcorn made nice quick snacks before during and after the show.
Multiple pairs of shoes – I changed shoes almost everyday before evening events. This helped my tired feet from getting too worn out.
Multiple changes of clothes – I also changed clothes before going out at night. There is nothing like clean clothes to perk you up for a night of networking, dancing and walking.
Take breaks – Make sure to take time out from walking to sit. It is even better if you can sit and enjoy the company of a friend!

I’d love for you to share you Tradeshow survival secrets with me. And please, please comment if you have a great source for an EMS or Happy Feet!

NAHB and Masco Sponsor a Fun IBS TweetUp

Carol — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:35:40 +0000

I was thrilled to be asked to be the special guest at the International Builders Show’s TweetUp sponsored by Masco and NAHB. The TweetUp was the perfect opportunity to put IRL faces will all of those @ Twitter handles that I have been conversing with in cyberspace.

It was especially fun to have the opportunity to talk about Twitter because my program on Friday at 10 a.m. with Tammie Smoot, Kelly Fink and Linda Hebert is Friend, Fan, Follow or Fail: Discover the Basics of Social Networking and I’m covering, you guessed it, Twitter.

It was also fun to give some stats from the recently released @Sysomos in-depth report of Twitter’s Growth from 2009 to 2010. Just released in December 2010, these are very current stats.

Users with 100+ friends have increased by three-fold to 21% since 2009.
22.5% of users accounted for about 90% of all activity.
80% users have made fewer than 500 tweets.
Justin Bieber is one of top two-word phrases and top name in user’s bios.
Significantly more users are disclosing their location, bio and web information in Twitter profiles.

In the true spirit of Twitter and social networking, I was able to create a list of the top 11 Twitter Suggestions for 2011:

11 – @BryanBruce – Identify demand drivers for your business and make sure you integrate your brand
10 – @feritae ? Teri Fay Edwards – Do u want your mom, your boss, your spouse or kids to read it? If it will embarrass u, it WILL show up if they google you!
9 – @CarolFlammer – Tweeting is like writing on the www in permanent ink, make mine a Sharpie
8 – @SteveKleber – Ask questions.” You’d be surprised how many are willing to respond/give advice, & there are no stupid questions (…usually!)
7 – @MascoCorp – To me, Twitter is about individuals as well as “the Masses.” Know your audience & tailor your msg to be relevant & engaging.
6 – @mRELEVANCE – use effective hashtags so you can be part of specific events and see what is ‘happening’ on the show floor at #IBS2011
5 – @EFL_Guy – Stephen Davis – During seminars we ‘Team Tweet” so we can all get a feel of other lectures and topics. Fun way to get ‘sound bites’!
4 – @MattMorrow – CEO of Springfield HBA – We’re putting twitter list “myhba people” feeding on front page of new HBA site. Now any member can b on homepg jus by tweeting.
3 – @Creating Wow – Meredith Oliver – my top twitter tip is be yourself, be fun and personal and please no more motivational quotes!
2 – @NoraDePalma – Write like a person, not a brand
1 – @AtlantaPR – What you say does not have to be personal, but it should have personality

Quirky Things That Business Owners Do To Keep Employees Happy

Carol — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:35:08 +0000

Want to make your employees LOVE you? Recently I asked members of Professional Building Women LinkedIn group for the Quirkiest Things that Business owners do to keep employees happy. I received some fabulous responses and thought it would only be fair to share! (If you are a member of the PWB LinkedIn group, you can click through on these links to learn more about the people who are featured. If you are not a member, please join us!)

Todd Lincoln • I grill lunch or an early dinner for everyone on our job-sites, and make ice cream when it is really, really hot.

Linda Hebert • One of my sales agents was complaining that the stress of the market was taking a toll on her appearance and she couldn’t afford to do anything about it. I Really needed one of our models to sell at a price at the high end of a very tough market. Incentive? Botox. Outcome? Success! ….. And a very happy, motivated and younger looking, agent.

Terri Everhart • Take a ‘lunch’ break at the local driving range – - everyone gets a bucket of golf balls to swing out some aggressions. Doesn’t take much to organize this event; just pick up and go. And it’s fun for every level of golfer.

Katie Middleton • Once a quarter, we host Bingo Day with a potluck. The Bingo cards are themed around season or a holiday and our well experienced receptionist calls the “spots” through our phone system. Winners are given their choice of prizes from a selection of fun and unusual gifts. It’s great for morale to hear the laughter, BINGO, and all the other comments that come, especially when the same person keeps winning. We really have a good time and our customers get a kick out of it too.

Jenn Engle • We often do things such as bring in donuts, buy them lunch or dinner, keep a stash of candy bars, have family fun nights with pizza and a band, hold a safety meeting at an upscale place they have never been to, but I think the thing they all like the most is when we framed their certificates and hung a copy on our wall and gave the other one to them. They really feel like they are part of the team and so do we!

Amy Martino • This one is not quirky but very broad thinking. At the company I used to work for, the principal would go to the farmers market every weekend and bring in boxes of fruit. It would be gone in two days, but addressed healthy lifestyle while making everyone happy! In the opposite spectrum, years ago another company had a vending machine which they filled with beer. Happiness comes in many ways.

Darylene Dennon • In the summertime, on a very hot day we have brought cold watermelon to the job site and announced we are having a watermelon break. Needless to say this a surprise.

Life in 2010

Carol — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:55:21 +0000

Thanks to my Mom for sending this to me in an email. This is hilarious!

Here goes, you know you are living in 2010 when:

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a website at the bottom of the screen
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t even have the first
20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12 You’re reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message..
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list