How to start socializing online

I am writing several proposals this week, and I completed one last week, for potential clients who are looking for my marketing and PR company, Bisson Barcelona, to assist them with getting started in the world of social media.

For those who have not ventured into this online world as of yet or want some additional ideas to maximize exposure, I offer 8 simple suggestions for helping you to get started.

1. Develop a list of keywords. Use a program like www.wordtracker.com to research words important to your target market. These words should be included in everything you write online, including your profile, blog posts, blog comments, news releases, articles, etc. Using these keywords increases your chances of being found by consumers.
2. Establish a professional email address. Whenever possible, use an email address that contains the name of your blog or website, i.e. traci@themomentrepreneur.com. If needed, you can have an alias email address point to a root address, i.e. tjbisson@gmail.com. This gives a more professional look and sense of credibility.
3. Create a tagline. A tagline should describe what you do/offer/believe in a short sentence or phrase. This is especially important if the name of your company does not describe what you offer. For instance, the name of my company, Bisson Barcelona does not say what I do. Therefore my tagline is: A Unique Image is Critical.
4. Create an email signature. Having a complete email signature is like running a free advertisement every time you send an email. Include your name, company name, address, phone numbers, website and/or blog address, tagline and a few social networking links (i.e. Follow me on Twitter). I also include a message at the bottom of The Mom Entrepreneur signature that says "Find a sponsor for your web site. Click here to get paid for your great content". This is a text link for one of my affiliate marketing programs.
5. Write a professional bio. Your bio should outline your experience, credentials and anything else you feel is important for your target audience to be aware of. This is especially important when trying to establish your personal brand. Use this bio, tweaking as needed for the different social networking sites, on your blog, website and anywhere else your profile appears online.
6. Create a blog and syndicate. Blogs have become everyone's publishing platform. Use this medium for informing, educating and keeping your target market updated. Establish yourself as an expert that readers turn to again and again for important information. Syndicate your blog through www.feedburner.com in order to reach a larger audience.
7. Connect through social networking sites. Determine which social networking sites you should invest your time connecting through. You want sites that reach your target market or that allow you to connect with peers for support. A good resource is the list on Wikipedia. Start with three sites and maximize your exposure. Don't overdo it or you are bound to give up because it will be too time consuming to keep up with.
8. Place well-written articles online. Articles rich with keywords and placed with online article directories are a great way to spread your expertise virally. Article directories are a great source of information for bloggers and others looking for content for their posts. Your bio information, included with every article, is now showing up in several different locations online increasing your chances of being found. There are hundreds of article directories to choose from. I suggest placing your articles with the top directories according to Alexa and page rank.

Once you have spent time perfecting your online image and connecting socially, there are dozens of additional ways to network online depending on your goals. There are also programs that allow you to simplify the flow of communication to your target audience like HelloTxt, which lets you update your status and read your friends' status across all main microblogging and social networks all at once. When you are comfortable that your online presence is established, you can begin cross promoting blogs, websites, profiles, etc. with widgets and RSS feeds.

The social networking world is endless and you can stay up all night exploring, researching and learning about all of the new fun tools and sites. Believe me I know. Just take a deep breath, start slow and be thorough in your approach. This will ensure a positive experience in cyber space.

If you have additional suggestions or ideas, please let me know. Thanks!

Diary of a Twitterholic Wannabe - part 3

This is the final post in a series of three about the phenomenon we call Twitter. If you missed part one, you can read it here and for part two, click here.

After everything that I had learned about Twitter, I now wanted to find ways to promote my tweets on my other social networking sites and expand my reach. First, I created a Twitter badge (or widget), which allowed me to have a live feed of my tweets on my Facebook and MySpace page as well as all of my blogs and company website.

I also discovered FriendFeed, a social aggregator that consolidates updates on social websites. Several of my sites feed into my public FriendFeed, including Twitter, my blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and delicious (a social tagging site). My subscribers can now read all of The Mom Entrepreneur, Advice from the Media Mavens and Kids in NH posts and information in one place.

Then I found Widgetbox, which allowed me to create a blidget (blog widget) for each of my blogs. I installed the blidget for one blog in the other blog and vice versa (a great cross promotion strategy). I was also able to install on my website. In addition, my blidget was included in Widgetbox's public directory. Now others can install either The Mom Entrepreneur or Kids in NH blidget if they are interested in my discussion topics. So far 18 people have installed on a blog or website. This was a great way to buzz or spread my message.

Lastly, I located a program that allows me to post to many of my social networking sites, including Twitter in one location. Hellotxt lets you communicate with all of your networks at once. So for instance, the Twitter badge cannot yet be installed in LinkedIn, Pownce, FriendFeed and other places. So you enter your message into your Hellotxt account and it instantly appears in the social networking pages you associate with the program.

Twitter continues to evolve and grow and there is still so much to learn about how to use it effectively. One person who I rely on and follow loyally for his social marketing advice is Chris Brogan. To continue to learn more about Twitter and the social marketing trend, follow The Mom Entrepreneur on Twitter and follow Chris Brogan. Chris is #28 on the Twitterholic list...and maybe someday I will make the list too!

Happy twittering!

Diary of a Twitterholic Wannabe - part 2

This post is number two in a series of three about the phenomenon we call Twitter. If you missed part one, you can read it here.

After learning how to use Twitter Search, I decided to search-out and listen-in on conversations that mom entrepreneurs were having on Twitter. My goal was to reach out to them by following their tweets. When they decided to follow me as well, I sent them a direct message (private message between two Twitter users) through Twitter inviting them to join The Mom Entrepreneur Support Group. This social network very quickly proved to be a useful resource for finding and reaching my target market.

In addition, I registered my Twitter user name and some additional terms at TweetBeep (like Google alerts for Twitter) so that I could be more proactive in monitoring potential opportunities.

As my followers grew, I needed to find a way to engage them in conversation. I wanted to start that important dialogue that helps online relationships grow. I discovered Tweet Later, which allows micro-bloggers to send automated thank you notes to new followers. It will also allow you to automatically follow new followers if you choose to do so. Another nice feature of this program is that it allows you to schedule future-dated tweets so that you can be consistent with your posts. I decided to use the thank you note feature.

According to Dewald Pretorius, you must be conscious of best practices when using the automated thank you note feature in Tweet Later. "When writing your thank you note to your new followers, do not include any self-promotional text and/or links. It invariably leaves a bad taste in the mouth of your new follower. Think about it. Here you are, you've just decided you want to follow someone, and the very first thing they say to you is, "Hello, do you want to buy my stuff?" Not good. Send a very simple, warm, and friendly thank you note. The promotional stuff will happen over time."

I decided that was good advice. So I set up my automated message to read:

"Thanks for the follow. I am interested in learning more about you. Please introduce yourself."

With that in place, I decided to research what else I should be doing on Twitter. Since I own a marketing and PR firm, I needed to find media using Twitter.

I subscribe to The Publicity Hound newsletter and in one issue, Joan Stewart wrote about a wiki (a website that allows online collaboration) created by Harry Hoover entitled Twittering Journalists that contains a list of media people and media outlets using Twitter. Joan blogged about it as well. Bingo! I began following the media that interested me and found that many returned the favor. When the media post a tweet about a topic that relates to your expertise, you can send a direct message to introduce yourself. Again, you only get 140 characters so your elevator pitch needs to be perfected before doing this.

Watch for my next post, which will continue to inform you about the basics of using Twitter. In the meantime, let us know how you use Twitter.

Oh...and if you are already on Twitter...follow me at www.twitter.com/tracibisson.

Twit, Tweet, Twitter....Diary of a Twitterholic Wannabe

This post is one in a series of three about the phenomenon we call Twitter. Many people in The Mom Entrepreneur Support Group I run, and clients, have been asking about this form of micro-blogging. What is it? Why should I care? How do I use it? My goal is to answer these questions and more.

For me, Twitter started as an experiment in April of 2008. As with any new social activity one engages in that is unfamiliar, I played around to see what this tool was all about. I started an account, created a profile, uploaded my picture and started twittering (sending Twitter messages).

My first tweet (an individual message (or “update”) posted from Twitter) was:

"New to Twitter - not quite sure how this works but I am sure I can figure it out. Love this social networking stuff."

I could have very easily written...

"I am here, now what?"

That is the way I felt. I had already established profiles on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Fast Pitch!, started three blogs, built a blogsite and was experimenting with Squidoo. So what did Twitter have to offer me?

Well, what ensued was countless hours of research and many late nights of playing, experimenting, connecting and fiddling. There is still so much more to learn, but I finally have a handle on this crazy and unique world of social networking.

Social marketing professionals will advise you to have a plan before engaging in different online activities and I agree. However, it is amazing what you can learn by just doing. This is how I approached Twitter.

Twitter has so many tricks, tips, resources and other information for helping you to understand how to use it. Probably the most useful resource at the writing of this post is the recently published Twitter Handbook. This 181 page PDF is chock full with information. It will seem overwhelming at first, especially if you have never used Twitter. So put it aside for now and keep reading.

Start by posting some practice tweets, which are limited to 140 characters. My second tweet was:

"Working on my blogging clinic, which will be offered for four sessions in April in Barrington, NH."

When the blogging clinic write up was ready on my website, I tweeted again about it and included a link to the page on my site. Now remember, you are limited to 140 characters. This can easily be used up with one URL; especially a blog URL. Visit http://www.tinyurl.com/ and turn your long URL into a short URL. You can even customize your URL so it is easy to remember.

After my third tweet, I began receiving messages in my email inbox that people were following me (subscribing to my tweets). Cool! So I clicked the links to learn more about these followers. They included other publicists, a few mom entrepreneurs, some colleagues and Barack Obama (he is probably following everyone - since he is the top twitterholic). Now I had followers. Did that make me a leader? Possibly.

I kept tweeting about different things, encouraging followers to click on my links and watching to see if anyone else followed me. I noticed that some of the posts from the people I followed included an "@" symbol and someone's user name. I had no idea what this was or how it worked. I learned that it was a way to have a conversation with other twitterers and respond to specific tweets. I was now gaining a better understanding of the interactive features of this social network. Not only could I tweet in response to a tweet posted by someone else, but by visiting Twitter Search, I could learn who was "talking" to me and about me.

At this site, I entered "@tracibisson" in the search box so I could see who on Twitter was responding to my tweets. Geez, there was a lot of people "talking" about me. So I "talked" back. Then I searched for "mom entrepreneurs". I discovered that several people were talking about this topic. Interesting. I had an idea.

Watch for my next post, which will continue to inform you about the basics of using Twitter. In the meantime, let us know how you use Twitter.

Oh...and if you are already on Twitter...look me up at www.twitter.com/tracibisson.

To blog or not to blog

Entrepreneurs find many benefits in personalizing their online presence.
(By Traci Bisson, as seen in NH Mirror, August 2008)

”Does a blog have something to do with a computer?”

Even though the concept of blogs and blogging has been around for nearly 10 years, small business owners still ask this question. Many entrepreneurs are unaware of what blogs are and how their businesses can benefit from this versatile marketing tool.

Blogs can provide commentary or news on a particular subject, while others function more as a personal online diary with which readers can interact by posting comments. Bloggers, the people who write and maintain blogs, have the responsibility to deliver valuable content on subjects of interest to their target markets and, much like a magazine or a newspaper, readers can subscribe to blogs via feed readers or e-mail.

People blog for many reasons. Some blog to “have a voice,” while others blog to invite comments and discussions from readers. Many blog to build a large community of readers, which allows them to solicit advertisers and sponsors and make money with their blog.Many entrepreneurs choose blogging as a way to interact with readers who might have questions about a company and its products or services. Whatever your reason is, blogging in today’s fast-paced world allows you to hang on to the coattails of the ever-changing technology industry.

Ready to start your blog? Follow these eight simple steps:

• Choose a blogging service. Blogger.com is a great place to start. The service is free and easy to use. Once you decide you enjoy blogging, the blog can be upgraded and migrated to a traditional hosting service.
• Choose a name for your blog. The name should have meaning to your target market (i.e. “name of your company”.blogspot.com).
• Write a description. What is your blog about? Write a brief description so readers will understand your blog’s mission.
• Offer a complete profile. In the bio section of Blogger, create a complete profile for yourself so readers can get to know you.
• Syndicate your blog. Use a program such as FeedBurner to syndicate your content so readers can easily subscribe via a feed reader or e-mail.
• Post content. Begin posting information to your blog that your target market will find interesting and valuable. Be diligent and post once a week at a minimum.
• Notify your network. To begin building your community of readers, e-mail everyone in your network about your new blog and ask them to subscribe as well as spread the word.
• Experiment. This is the fun part. Add widgets to your blog to add interest and generate revenue. If you see a widget on a blog that you like, you can grab it by simply clicking on it.