Social Networking Presentation at WDT

By Jillian Anderson | October 8, 2009

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Earlier this week, I attended a Social Networking seminar at Western Dakota Tech, put on by the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce.  It was really quite interesting with approximately 85 people from local businesses in attendance.

I was particularly interested in what Adam Beshara (Marketing Specialist at Golden West Technologies) would share about Twitter and then how Realtor Lee Alley (with Prudential Kahler Realtors) would talk about Facebook for business.  Both of these presenters impressed me with their realistic take/talk about social media for business in general.  So much so, I want to share some of their key (form my perspective) points.

Twitter
Starting with Twitter, Adam introduced the social site with a pretty basic definition – perfect for the audience who was largely unfamiliar with Twitter.  He then went on to explain some of the benefits of Twitter for business and how to use it.  These are my favorite points he made:

1. Monitor Twitter for local and industry related questions.  By answering these and being involved, you not only gain followers but begin branding yourself/business as the authority on the matter – not to mention build relationships.
2. Watch your tone! “People are in social media to be socially active, not to be sold.”
3. Contests!  Hold some sort of contest or giveaway to encourage participation and gain followers.  (I really like this idea…I really like to win stuff.)
4. He then made it clear that you shouldn’t just hop on and proceed to waste your time.  He gave the following tips to help make it work (each applies to all social media platforms):
   - Define your goals.
   - Follow like-minded Tweeters.
   - Listen and learn.
   - Create effective tweets.
   - Develop unique content for your audience.
   - Grow relationships.

Facebook
Lee Alley’s got the idea right!  His use of Facebook is not overly extensive; he keeps it relevant, and he does not stretch himself thin with time spent there.  Mr. Alley also made it very clear that your #1 aim should be to be helpful.  He has a Rapid City real estate blog where he analyzes and writes about local real estate market trends – and it is not promotional.  “If I gain some friends along the way, well great,” he said.

My favorite points and quotables from his presentation are cautioning to not get caught up in the tools and buzz words of online social networking.

1. This is a good one–  “If the medium is your message, your message will be medium.”  Lee emphasized to not just get involved in Facebook because everyone’s doing it, but asked, “Do you really want to get involved in social networking?”
2. “Social networking is not all about Facebook.”  There are many other tools and platforms out there – Facebook is not the be all end all of social media.
   
3. “Do you want to have a long-term strategy to incorporate social networking into your overall marketing?”
4. “The issue [online social networking] is not Facebook.  Facebook will eventually be replaced by something else” – as will any other tool.
   

Lee did an excellent job laying out Facebook and how it can and is being used as a marketing tool, while walking through and demonstrating many different points that he’s learned along the way.

Overall, the presentations these two men gave were entirely encouraging.  People do get it, I thought to myself as I walked back to the car with a little bounce in my step.  I hope more local businesses start doing contests on Twitter. I hope I win.

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