Social Media Training
What is social Media / Social Networking exactly?
Social networking is a phenomenon that has swept the internet over the last few years. In Ireland the main social media sites are Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Bebo and Youtube.
In all of these sites you can link to friends or business associates and form groups. With the possible exception of Bebo, which is predominately aimed at teens, all of these sites can be used to grow your business.
Blogging is another social media tool that deserves a whole page to itself, but I'll limit it to a paragraph or two on this page for now.
Social Networking - What can it do for me?
Social networking can be viewed as an extension of plain old real world networking. Business networking used to be confined to limited numbers of people at industry events, trade shows, golf courses or local groups. The internet has changed all that. Now it is possible to reach huge numbers of people through Social Media on the internet.
Picture the largest event you have attended and rest assured that you can reach many times that number of people online.
So what can Social Networking do for you? It can provide free advertising, free marketing, useful contacts and help establish you as an expert in your field. It can be a powerful PR tool and help to bring global recognition to your brand and to you individually. It can help with promoting your website, both as a brand and as an SEO tool. BUT...... only if you use it properly.
Why do I need Social Media Training?
You do not need Social Media Training. You can start using Socal Media just by creating accounts on the various sites and starting to build networks. Eventually you will get the hang of it all and work out how to make it work for your business.
On the other hand, if you want Social Media to work for you without having to work too hard at it, then it makes sense to get training. Social Media Training cuts out the need for trial and error. You can jump in a sailing boat and figure it all out without any experience, but you are going to get very wet in the process!
What sort of Social Media Training does Webshed offer?
You are busy. We know that. Our aim is to show you how to maximise your online presence through social media, while minimising the effort required.
By interlinking various social media accounts and sites it is possible to propogate your business all over the internet with, for example, a single blog post.
Simple steps laid out in our social media training program, will help you to navigate the world of social media and social networking without getting bogged down.
We train on how to get the most from each social media site individually as well as using them combined as a single entity.
We are blogging enthusiasts. This is not so much because we love blogging (although it does become a mixture of addictive and therapeutic), but rather because we love what blogging can do for a business.
As with all of Websheds services, it all starts with an overview of your company and then creating a plan of action unique to your own business.
If you are Irish it is likely that you are already on Facebook. Seen as a huge waste of time by employers throughout the land, it is Irelands largest social media site in terms of the number of active users. Instead of banning it, we suggest using it. Has your company got a Facebook page yet? Is that page performing for you? Let your employees promote your business without even trying. Become a fan of our Facebook page and get up to date SEO tips directly to your facebook account!
Linkedin has been described as Facebook in a suit. Linkedin is growing fast in Ireland. I saw a show of hands for people with Linkedin accounts two years ago in a room full of business people. There were only 5 hands raised. Now I would be surprised if there were more than 5 hands down.
Linkedin is an amazing tool if it is used properly. Link to Ian on Linkedin.
Say all you have to say in 140 characters or less on Twitter. On asking business people about twitter, I find that most have tried it and dismissed it. Twitter is actually a powerful marketing tool. It is how you use it that counts. Follow us on Twitter
Youtube
Promote yourself and your business to the world. Everybody likes to watch video.... just make it interesting. Youtube is one of the worlds largest sites. If you are not on it what is your excuse?
Blogging
Blogging should really be at the top of this list. Blogging is an artform in itself. A many faceted artform. Writing a good blog post does not come naturally to most of us at first. But it is possible to learn how to maximise the use of blogs to drive traffic to your website and establish yourself as a respected expert in your field. Check out our SEO Training blog.
At Webshed we view blogging as the cornerstone of building an online presence.
Blogging can be a great PR tool. As with all social media there is always the chance of something you add being picked up by the actual media, or even 'going viral'. Viral Media is the term used for when a piece of information, picture or video placed on the web gets picked up by many people and is spread by them to more people and so on. The original information starts to behave like a virus, spreading wildly accross the internet by surfers who like the content.
