Presentation prepared for the Australian Computer Society Women's Networking event. The talk is designed to provide practical information for people that want to use social media tools in their business life but may not know where to start.

1. Practical Advice for Making Social Media Work for Your Business Sarah Mitchell, MACS

2. Introduction Social Media is also called: Social Marketing Social Networking Web 2.0 Hype and Confusion Goal for Today: Provide an approach that business people can take to incorporate Social Media into their professional lives.

3. Market Drivers – Word of Mouth July 2009 PQMedia study: Word of Mouth (WoM) spending expected to grow 10.2% during worst economic recession in 70 years. $1.54 billion spent on WoM marketing in 2008 May 2010 Custom Content Council Survey U.S. spends record $47.2 billion in 2009 on branded content (including blog posts, and video to digital zines and e-newsletters) equating to 1/3 of all marketing budgets Bridge Ratings Survey “Strangers with Experience” trumps: Teachers Newspaper/Magazines TV News Reports Traditional Advertising

4. What Social Media Won’t Do It won’t close deals It won’t generate a customer base if your products or service are lacking Probably won’t replace your current marketing strategy.

5. What Social Media Can Do Promote your brand Establish your Authority Generate Leads

6. Two Things to Remember It’s “social” meaning your activities have to be centred on building relationships You are representing your brand (or your company brand). At all times you must maintain a professional tone and attitude.

7. The Tools for Business

8. Usage of Tools for Business

10. Interesting Facts People aged 30 to 39 years are most likely to use social media for business. (Stelzner) More women, than men, engage in social media activities. (55% vs. 45%) People love to look at pictures. 70% of all actions are related to photos or video. (HBS) Women say more. Men reference links. (HBS)

11. Establish Authority LinkedIn is a professional networking site Complete online curriculum vitae Find and connect with business colleagues List your company Special interest groups Polls Q&A 65 million members in over 200 countries

12. Lead Generation Twitter is a global instant messaging tool Micro-blogging Send messages to drive traffic to your website Networks consists of “followers” and is very fluid 600 million search queries every day Twitter has 105,779,710 registered users 800,000 Twitterers in Australia – June 2009

13. Promote Your Brand Blogging is an online dialogue you have with your customers and prospects Allows you to position your company against competitors Excellent way to improve SEO Customers can leave their own comments and opinions

14. Promote Your Brand Facebook allows you to create a business page and find companies you like Most useful for B2C companies Post photos, documents or run advertising Privacy issues 70% of user are outside the USA More than 200 million users log on to Facebook every day

15. Before you Start Pick a descriptive user id – globalcopywrite Use a picture Use your real name Be transparent Be generous with information

16. Building Networks It’s Professional Not Personal

17. Leave your Prints! The best way to improve you SEO rankings is to leave comments on articles or blogs. Join in the dialogue and do it often.

18. Get Started! Select a User ID Create a profile on LinkedIn and start sending invitations Open an account on Twitter and send your first Tweet Start making a list of blog topics Post your business on Facebook and LinkedIn

19. Sarah Mitchell Copywriter/Consultant office: (08)9336-2439 mobile: 0410 024 405 website: www.globalcopywriting.com Twitter: twitter.com/globalcopywrite LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sarahcmitchell Join the Global Copywriting Facebook Page