Are you using Social Media to market your products and services online?

If so,  I am sure you have noticed that everywhere you turn is another YouTube video. There is a good reason for that. Videos work!

Here are some interesting statistics.

• 50% of everything online is video
• 80% of people prefer to watch a video on a webpage rather than read text
• 50% of those people who watch the video will take action

When you take into account the fact that Google owns YouTube you will realize how important videos can be to get you on the first page of Google for your keywords!

I find that many of my clients are reluctant to get started with video because they don’t want to be on camera and so here is a solution to that problem!

Here are 3 easy strategies for using video in your marketing plan that don’t involve you in front of the camera.

Strategy # 1 Screenshot Videos

Strategy #2 Anamoto Videos

Strategy#3 Other Peoples Videos

Here is a quick video tip about how to implement each strategy.

Are you ready to take  your Video Marketing Plan to the next level? If so I invite you to check out this amazing course Video Marketing Campus with Pam and Steve Brossman. Check all the amazing bonuses too! I am sure you will be pleased.

Conscious Business Tips – A video about the power of Social Media in the marketplace

There has been a huge paradigm shift in the marketplace. People now expect to engage with the the companies they do  business with. They expect conversation and they expect their opinions to matter. Social Media is built on relationships and conversations so that makes it the perfect choice for todays marketing needs.

Are you wondering how to incorporate Social Media into your marketing plan? Check out my new “Do It For You” Social Media  Management Packages. It was developed specifically for the entrepreneur or small business person who is ready to get started with Social Media Marketing but does not have the time to (or does not know how to) use it effectively.

Social Media is taking the world by the storm and studies now show it is becoming one of the best ways to market your products and services online. This is because it is based on Word of Mouth Marketing. Statistics show that people prefer to do business with other people they know, like and trust and Social Media allows you the opportunity to build those relationships.

The only real downside of Social Media Marketing is it can take a lot of time so this post will help you automate as much as possible so you can spend your time on the most important part of Social Media which is conversations, engagement and building relationships.

When you add these automation tips to your Social Media Marketing plan  you will get the largest return for the amount of time you are able to invest online.

For the purposes of this post I am going to assume you already have accounts on the 4 biggest networks which right now are Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and YouTube.

Twitter

• Automatically Tweet when you post to your WordPress blog using the pluggin Twitter Tools
• Automatically follow back everyone who follows you using http://SocialToo.com
• Automatically add your Tweets to Facebook using facebook.com/twitter – You need to be careful with this one though. If you Tweet a lot it will fill up your steam with too many weird looking updates and this may annoy your friends.
• Automatically send a Direct Message to everyone who follows you using Socialoomph.com . Be careful this is not a sale type message or it will annoy your new peeps. It should be something useful and relationship building

Facebook

• Pull your Blog posts (or any blog of your choice) into your Fanpage stream using the Networked Blogs App
• Pull your blog or any RSS feed into your Fanpage stream using the Notes App
• Connect Twitter to your Facebook account using facebook.com/twitter

Linkedin

• Attach your Twitter stream to your Linkedin Profile so your latest tweets show up in the sidebar
• Attach your WordPress blogs posts so they show up in your profile

• Attach your Amazon.com account and pull in all the books you have read and any reviews you may have written. This will allow people to get to know you better.

WordPress.org Blog

• Twitter Tools plugin Tweets each blog post automatically
• Facebook Connect widget in the sidebar allow people to see and join your Fanpage right from you blog.
• The http://Ezinearticles.com widget in the sidebar shows your most recent articles and allows people to click through to read them
• Google Connect allows people to connect with you using your Google Profile
• The Tweetmeme plugin allows others to Tweet about a post with 1 click
• Install the Facebook Like plugin so people can “Like” a post right from your site
• The Sexy Bookmarks plugin allows people to add your blog post to over 30 different social networking sites with 1 click

YouTube

• Make sure you allow embedding in your settings so people can grab the code and put your videos on their sites
• Make sure your videos are set to public not private
• Make sure you allow comments so you encourage conversations about your videos
• Make sure you allow notifications so there is a Tweet generated automatically every time you subscribe to a channel or comment on a video

Ezinearticles.com

• Enable automatic Tweets for every article that you publish in your settings
• Connect your WordPress.org blog to create an article from every blog post
• Make sure to add the links to all your Social Networks so they show up in your bio

Posterious.com

• You can email a post to your account and it will update all the social networks you have set up access to such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. It is also a great way to add picture from your iPhone to your social networks.

Gravatar.com

• Create an account with your profile picture so it automatically shows up when you comment on blogs that have gravatar enabled. Good for your visibility.

WordPress.com – the free WordPress blog site (I don’t recommend using this for your business blog but I do recommend you have an account here for the visibility)

• Create an account so your profile information will automatically show up whenever you comment on another wordpress.com blog. Good for your Visibility.

One of the most difficult parts about Social Media for most of my clients is finding the time in their busy day to spend on the Social Networks. Then add the time it takes to find new friends and fans, read all the messages in their inboxes and keep track of the mentions of their name and they are just overwhelmed.

Of course we all know that a successful Social Media Marketing Plan is based on developing a relationship with the people in your community and then providing them with useful and relevant content on a regular business. All of this takes time. Because Social Media is a long term marketing strategy, sometimes it seems like you are getting no where fast.

We also know that Social Media Marketing works or you would not see all the large companies such as Starbucks, and Zappos, and Dell Computers spending thousands on their own Social Marketing campaigns. All over the internet we hear about the results they are getting so why can’t the solo-entrepreneur or small business person leverage the social networks as easily?

It seems like it should work better for them because they can be more personal online but the truth is they often get bogged down by all the details. What is the problem?

The answer is it all boils down to TIME.

Larger companies have the resources to hire people to take care of all the behind the scenes tasks associated with a successful Social Media Marketing plan. They still have key people online who handle the actual conversation and engagement with their friends and followers but there is a lot of stuff that happens behind the scenes that other employees handle for them as well.

Its different for the solo-entrepreneur and small business person. They usually work alone and they are already buried under a to do list that is a mile long. Most of them just can’t get any traction on the social networks because they don’t know or don’t understand what to do with the limited time they have available.

As a Social Marketing Specialist even I struggled with that same problem. After completing all my work for my clients I then need to find the time to engage with my friends and fans online and when I get busy I am sure you can guess what suffers first. Of course it is not my clients work it was my own.

Last month I went to the Radiant Success Event in Raleigh NC and one of the most important concepts I learned form the panel of wildly successful entrepreneurs was the power of outsourcing. You just can’t do it all alone and the quicker you realize that the quicker your business will grow to the next level.

So I came home and put that important business strategy into motion. I hired someone to support me and take care of many of the background tasks that I had trouble completing. I figured out what automated tasks they could do for me on the Social Networks and it has made a huge difference. Now I can focus on my clients and on growing my business in a way I have not ever had the luxury to do before.

I also learned what parts of my Social Media Marketing Plan I could hand off to someone else with out sacrificing my voice. I learned how to keep track of what they were doing and how to measure their results and I am excited to add this as a service in my VA practice, Time Finder 4You.

This has worked so well for me I have developed the “Do It For You – Social Media Management Packages” and I think you will be thrilled when you read about them on my SERVICE PAGE.

As an added bonus for the launch of this new service I am offering something special for the first 50 people who sign up. I will be doing a private teleseminar once or twice a month from now until Dec 2010. If you are part of this group you will be able to ask me questions about how to take your social networking plan to the next level. I will share tips and tricks and information about new services that will make your time on the social networks more productive.

This will be like private coaching for free!

If this speaks to you, please give me a call or email me and we can set up a time to talk all about it.

931-629-8712
timefinder4you@gmail.com