Can Social Media Actually Make You Money?
If you’ve ever asked the question, “Can I make money with social media?“, you might have heard a variety of answers such as, “No!”, “Maybe” or “It depends.”
Rarely (if at all) have you heard the confident and unwavering response, “Yes, you can!”
In their book, How to Make Money with Social Media—An Insider’s Guide on Using New and Emerging Media to Grow Your Business, Jamie Turner and Reshma Shah explain that there’s a big difference between people who make money with social media and people who don’t.
9 Small Business Social Media Success Stories
Are you curious what small businesses are doing to achieve success with social media marketing? Look no further.
This article highlights nine small businesses of various sizes and industries that have transformed their online presence with innovative social media marketing practices.
You’re guaranteed to find inspiration for your social media marketing efforts here.
These tactics will work for just about any business—from solopreneur to multi-employee manufacturer. So let’s dive in!
3 Successful Google+ Pages and Why They Work
Have you created a Google+ page for your business? In this article I’ll show you what three top pages are doing.
Still in its infancy, Google+ has become a very hot topic.
Amid concern that this “new kid on the block” couldn’t compete in a social media landscape owned by Facebook, some have opted to dismiss the platform entirely.
While Google+ and Google+ business pages are still in the early stages, there is growing evidence that they’re here to stay.
How an Alaskan Mom Brings Millions to Her Carpentry Blog
Just over two years ago, Ana White wasn’t quite sure what a blog was.
Today, she runs her own rapidly growing destination, drawing nearly three million page views every month.
Successful professional bloggers aren’t hard to find, but a few things are remarkable about White’s success:
- She writes a do-it-yourself carpentry blog. With White’s help, droves of women are discovering they can build beautiful, stylish things.
- She started with dial-up Internet and does it all from her home in the Alaskan interior (where record-smashing temps recently hit -40° F).
- White succeeded accidentally. She never expected that simply sharing what she loves could support her entire family.
This self-described “homemaker” has an innate knack not only for woodworking but for business as well.
Turns out, this blog Cinderella tale is all about sharing your personal story. Oh, and relentless blogging.
Google Search Adds Google+: This Week in Social Media
Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.
What’s New This Week?
Google Search Integrates Google+: Google transforms “into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships,” and introduces three new features: personal results, profiles in search and people and pages. This means that your Google search results will be even more personalized, thanks to information shared on Google+.
Win Free Tickets to Small Biz Success Summit 2012
**UPDATE: We have announced our two winners. The winner of the comment/blog portion of the contest, receiving two tickets to Small Biz Success Summit is Paulette Salvia, read her comment here.
The winner of the Twitter contest is Ali Goldfield. Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. We look forward to seeing you all at the Summit.**
Want to win a free ticket to the largest online social media marketing event for small businesses?
Social Media Examiner has secured some of the top names in the industry to bring you Small Biz Success Summit.
And we’ve come up with a fun way to get you involved.
First, what is this event?
Small Biz Success Summit 2012 is a large online conference dedicated to helping small businesses master social media marketing.
More than 800 small businesses have already signed up—people just like you.
5 Tips for Making Your Brand More Social
What message does your brand convey to socially engaged customers?
As we enter the golden age of social media, companies can no longer afford the luxury of tightly scripted, top-down messaging (e.g., “We’re the best! Take our word for it.”).
Nor can a company simply opt out and remain silent (as epitomized in Northwestern Mutual’s “The Quiet Company” ad campaign of years past).
As social media channels have increased, so has the need to communicate effortlessly and simultaneously. Just as presidential candidates now face the constant scrutiny of a 24-hour news cycle, companies are being called on to respond in real time across multiple media platforms. This is not a time for hesitation.
To market effectively, companies need a consistent, compelling brand voice—one that doesn’t pause, mumble or clam up. Here are five ways to share your message comfortably and confidently.
6 Steps to Getting Started With Google+
Are you thinking of using Google+?
This article will explain why Google+ should be considered and show you how to get started.
Why Google+?
Google+ has quickly become a rival social network to Facebook.
People who like Google+ say they like the clean, non-cluttered presentation of their information. They like how easy Google makes it to protect their privacy. (It may not be any less invasive than Facebook, but at least Google makes it seem easy to get back all of your information.)
Google+ has had a growth rate much faster than that of Facebook or Twitter. More importantly, where Facebook and Twitter try to get you to be on their site, many millions of people are already on Google’s sites: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Reader and YouTube to name a few.
4 Ways the New Facebook Insights Can Grow Your Fans
Facebook recently rolled out some new metrics that give better insight into what your community wants from your page, enabling you to grow your fans and interactions.
You know it’s important to measure your social media marketing performance, and the new Facebook Insights will make this easier for you.
Locating Facebook Insights
First things first—where do you find these metrics? They are accessed on the left sidebar underneath your profile picture by clicking on the Insights link.
Finalists: Top 10 Social Media Blogs 2012
We received over 570 nominations for our third-annual Top 10 Social Media Blogs contest (the blogosphere’s biggest contest for social media blogs).
The list of 20 finalists is pretty impressive! Take a look for yourself below.
The Judges: Our judges include Andy Sernovitz (author, Word of Mouth Marketing & CEO, SocialMedia.org), Rick Calvert (CEO, BlogWorld) and Michael Stelzner (CEO, Social Media Examiner & author, Launch). They are currently finishing up their reviews of these sites.
Here are the finalists (in alphabetical order):
