According to a number of recent surveys and reports, social media marketing is not only effective at boosting a company’s profile, it is actually providing a wide range of benefits. In fact, it’s so effective that far more companies are using social media to connect with customers than those who are not.

8 Ways Social Media Marketing Can Benefit Your Business

Here are eight ways social media marketing can benefit your business:

1.) Increase Website Traffic

A 2011 report by the Social Media Examiner found that 88 percent of business owners surveyed use social media, from blogs to Facebook to YouTube, as a way of generating exposure for their businesses. Better yet, while a high number of social media marketers are seeing results for their efforts, 49 percent also enjoyed cost savings through social media investments.

2.) Manage Marketing Channels and Actions

Besides being easy to set up, business owners are able to meet customers where they’re already spending time and make connections for a minimal investment of time. Entrepreneur Magazine reported that “67 percent of owners said the fact that social media marketing is easier to master and utilize brought them around. That’s up from 54 percent in the previous survey. And it didn’t hurt a bit that 51 percent of these surveyed merchants and business people discovered that their customers prefer to use media channels.”

3.) Interact With Customers

In a 2011 survey of small business owners, e-mail marketing firm Constant Contact found the following: “Facebook continues to be the social media tool of choice — but Twitter is gaining ground, both in terms of usage and effectiveness. 60 percent of those using Twitter found it to be an effective tool to connect with customers — up from 47 percent in the spring.” These tools make it easy to interact with customers, an approach to social media adopted by 60% of the business owners surveyed.

4.) Improve Search Rankings With Google+

With the recent addition of Google’s Search Plus that integrates a user’s Google+ network with search results, a company profile on Google+ and Google+ buttons on a website can help increase a business’s exposure in Google’s searches. Chris Brogan writes, “[Google+] makes it a lot easier for people to find–and shop at–your business. Run a hamburger business in Milwaukee? Post “best hamburgers in Milwaukee.” You should see more customers walking through your door in no time flat.”

5.) Achieve Greater Product Awareness

Though Facebook has helped brands increase their visibility, Facebook’s new “Actions” option will help customers specify what they’re doing with particular brands—a real step forward in brand awareness. Search Engine Journal reports, “These Actions let users specifically indicate their interaction with a location, products, and more. For example, one may visit a local coffee shop and indicate they “bought” a particular drink. Immediately, that action is posted on their wall and their average of 130 friends can interact with that action.  Others may comment, share, or even visit that store the next day to see for themselves.”

6.) Conduct Market Research on Social Media

As early as 2008 marketing executives caught on to the value of social media for tracking customer preferences, with 59% of respondents to an eMarketer Survey stating that they use social networks in order to track the responses and preferences of their customers. Social networks break down walls and create opportunities to interact with customers.

7.) Increase Sales Through Social Media Marketing

Though many businesses are still focusing on increasing brand awareness and connection points with customers through their social media efforts, there are some real returns that companies report. According to a 2011 report by Wildfire Marketing, 58 percent of their respondents point to increased sales and partnerships. This is a number that will only grow as businesses become more adept at turning social media connections into conversions.

8.) Generate Leads With Social Media Marketing

Besides generating exposure and sales, social media also increases the number of sales leads for business owners. The Social Media Examiner shares, “By spending as little as 6 hours per week, 52% of marketers see lead generation benefits with social media.”

Social media is now, without any doubt, an essential tool for any business that wants to increase interaction with customers, build brand awareness, and expand revenue opportunities.

How has social media changed your life? What are your favorite social media tools?

Picture courtesy of flickr.

This guest post is written by Lior Levin, a marketing consultant for an inspection company that offers Pre shipment inspections and, who also consults for a company that provides a  to do list application for businesses and individuals.

But when it came to the new Timeline on Facebook, I just didn’t get it. So I did some research, played around with it, and watched some easy to understand videos.

Here’s my at-a-glance summary…

Where To Start

To convert your Facebook profile to Timeline go to https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline and click Get Timeline.

Virtual Scrapbook

It’s time to start thinking about Facebook as your life’s chronological scrapbook (makes me wonder if I should start Facebook accounts for my little ones).

7 Days

You have 7 days to play and edit your Timeline before it is public. This gives you a chance to add or hide information, posts, events, and photos. You can even to go your birth date and add a very first baby photo. Your Timeline will automatically go live after 7 days or you can immediately publish your Timeline using the Publish Now button.

Take a Tour

If you are as confused as I was, I strongly recommend taking the Timeline tour (which you’ll only find after you convert your profile page to Timeline).

Cover Photo

The first thing Facebook suggests you do is create a cover, which is a large picture that appears above your profile picture. Facebook suggests selecting a picture that represents your life (no pressure there). And similar to your profile picture, you can change it often. Have fun with it. Be creative.

Everything In One Place Bar

Below your cover photo is where you can view everything about yourself (friends, information, photos, Likes, apps, etc). This has basically replaced your old Facebook Info page.

Apps

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around apps and how they sync with your Facebook Timeline. Here’s the best Apps on Facebook video on the subject.

Two Pane Layout

Information about your life is chronologically displayed from left to write, starting w/ your most recent status, photo, place, or life event. In the center of the two pane layout is the new vertical navigation bar. I find this totally different layout confusing and finicky, but am hoping to embrace it once I start using it more.

Privacy

One of the biggest buzz concerns related to Timeline is privacy. Be sure to protect your Facebook Timeline privacy within the first 7 days of launching Timeline. You cannot change Facebook’s privacy policy, but you can control your privacy settings so you can continue using Facebook with privacy settings that feel good to you.

Have your published your Facebook Timeline? Do you love it or are you still confused?

Stacey Hoffer Weckstein is the CEO of Inspiring Social Media and loves to combine her social media and personal growth passions by helping inspiring transformational teachers, authors, and life coaches leverage the power of social media to meet their spiritual, personal, and business goals. When she’s not helping her clients live their dreams, raising her two boys, building her business or trying to figure out yoga & meditation, she’s a lifestyle blogger over at EvolvingStacey.com, MyChicagoKids.com, ChicagoSpaMoms, and TheChicagoMoms.com.

Tips for Avoiding a Work-At-Home Scam

Conducting a job search online can be very intimidating. Craigslist alone has so many telecommuting jobs it can be overwhelming to sift through. There are a wide variety of legitimate jobs online but there are also many dishonest people hoping to scam those searching for a job. There are a few things to consider when sorting through these online ads:

• Shy Away From Unprofessional Ads — Companies uninterested in seeing a resume or past work experience are often a scam.
• Avoid Vague Descriptions — Ads that offer a nonexistent or very vague job description are often a sign that there is no real job.
• Avoid Spammy Ads — Job ads that sound like they are selling the job to you are a bad sign. A real job is going to want you to sell yourself to them with your resume and experience, not the other way around.
• Be Mindful of Ads — Watch for ads that say something like “MAKE $2000 a week working part-time!!!” Sorry, but if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
• Consider Warning Signs — Consider it a warning sign when companies ask for money. If, however,  the company starts asking for money before they have even conducted an interview, run and don’t look back. The only costs that some legitimate work-at-home companies will require you to pay is to cover the cost for the background check. Companies that hire you as an independent contractor can pass these types of costs on but they should be very minimal and only paid after researching the company. If the ad is for a work-from-home business opportunity rather than a job, then upfront costs are to be expected as with starting any business. Work-from-home businesses are a great option, just know what to expect and research the company before making a decision.
• Review The Ad — Check the ad for the name of the company or the website that is hiring and do your research. Beware of ads that do not state the company name or a website and only offer a 1-800 number to call. If the company’s name is given, search Scambusters.com and Ripoffreport.com to find prior complaints. Also check a few work-at-home forums to get feedback from people who can vouch for the company or warn you off them.
• Discuss Pay — Before accepting a position be clear on the pay. Most legitimate work-from-home companies pay by the task, by the hour, or by the minute for some phone-based jobs. On these types of jobs, be clear if you are paid only while on a call. This does not mean it is not a legitimate company but it does help give a clear picture of how much you can expect to make.
• Use Reputable Websites — Other websites to use as resources for detecting a work-from-home scam include FTC, Fraud.org and the BBB.

 How have you found a job in the past? What are tools that made it easier for you?

Photo courtesy of flickr.

Alaina shares her fifteen years of work from home experience at her blog Telecommuting Mommies. She also opens up her personal life as a homeschooling, blogging, work at home Mom of four at The Maestro Mom. Follow her on Twitter at TelecommuterMom.

One of my most memorable times was when my boys and I visited a friend’s farm in a rural part of Tennessee. It was my kind of town — the kind with a population in the hundreds and areas with no cell phone service.

The little white farmhouse we stayed in had rickety wood floors, no television, and a beautiful view of the pond. There were tractors in the old barn and my two young boys loved sitting in the driver’s seat.

The friends who owned the farmhouse were a sweet older couple with a thriving tree business in Dallas. For years, they worked together growing trees on their commercial farm to provide to major retail stores and landscaping projects. They also had several kids and grandkids, and when they invited us to visit their second home, I wondered how it was all going to go down. How would they juggle it all?

When we arrived on a Friday afternoon, I was in awe of the property which looked like a Norman Rockwell painting. We were surrounded by beautiful lush grass and rolling hills cascading to a small white farmhouse with a barn. Gigantic hay balls dotted the field and as soon as I saw them I knew we’d be climbing up on top of them.

My son caught his first fish in their pond and it was a fabulous moment. We laughed, took pictures, and he told his fish story for weeks following the visit. But even that moment wasn’t the one I remember most. What I remember most was how in the moment the couple was.

The home had a land line phone. Do you remember those days? However, the owners never used it. After twenty-four hours with the couple enclosed in the small space, I couldn’t help notice how neither had used a telephone of any kind, for any reason. No email, no texting, no calls. And it’s that moment of togetherness that I’ll always treasure, even more than climbing macchu picchu, taking the train under the sea in London, or other amazing adventures. They were in the moment — Focused completely on us and nothing else.

Think about how rare and powerful that quality is in today’s world. If you can remain focused and in the moment, people will remember you. Nothing is more beautiful than a real human connection and that’s how relationships grow.

Be in the moment. Sometimes it takes a drastic comparison to open our eyes to what matters most.

The week prior to our visit to the farm, I spent it with my own parents who were in a constant state of communication. Every meal we had together was interrupted by business calls and the sounds of text messages. It was impossible to have a conversation because they were always on their phone and it was frustrating.

In this Facebook era, we hav all become continual communicators. How many times have you been at a kid’s birthday party or some other great event and someone around you snaps a photo or checks you in and it’s uploaded instantly for the world to see? In minutes, the strange guy down the street knows more about your daily activities than your own mother.

But in all that communicating, texting, and Facebooking, it’s easy to miss the moment. I saw it with my parents that weekend when they missed the things their grandkids said. I saw it in a friend recently, when I took him to feed the homeless and he stared at his cell phone the entire time. He didn’t mean to miss the eye contact, personal conversation, and one-on-one connection with the homeless man sitting right in front of him, but he did. He missed it completely because he was so busy texting photos of himself at the homeless shelter to his friends.

I have missed moments too. Have you? Let’s make today the last day that we miss those special moments. Be fully engaged. Make eye contact with everyone you see today and listen to what they say. Set aside your phone during conversations, even if the other person is on their phone. Consider a technology detox from the phone and computer for a full 24 hours (more if you can take it).

Make a memorable family moment that your kids will never forget. Be the one who is fully present, the one who looks, listens, and really hears what people have to say.

Have you ever detoxed from technology? How do you make sure that you have a healthy balance between time with your family and the time you spend with technology?

Photo courtesy of iStock.

Tammy Kling is a life coach, advocate for the homeless, and international author of books including The Compass. Tammy is also the founder of Write it Out, an organization that helps the homeless transform by journaling goals, hopes & dreams via writers workshops, free journals and books. Tammy loves being a mom to two awesome boys, and is also an avid trail and mountain runner, and corporate writer.

Have you used Pinterest yet? If you have been using social media, then you have probably at least heard of it. This new and interesting site is actually now receiving more traffic than the crafting site Etsy even though it’s only been around for a few months. Have I grabbed your attention yet?

That said, you are probably wondering, “What exactly is Pinterest? And wow can I use it to promote my business?” The most basic definition of Pinterest is that it is a site that allows you to create boards and upload any images and text you want to those boards. You can create a new board for each category, you can include links in your text, and you can even upload videos. Then people can search for images on boards, or for entire boards by keyword and comment on them, repin them, (similar to retweeting on twitter), or share them with their followers on the site. You can also share your pins and boards and the pins of boards of others on facebook and twitter. In many aspects, you could say that Pinterest is a twitter for pictures.

How To Use Pinterest for Business

Here are some ideas on how you can use Pinterest to generate interest in your business:

1. Create boards by category and upload pictures (known as pins on the site) that represent various aspects of your business. These could include things such as pictures of your products, screenshots of your website, pictures of a business event or anything else that is related to your business or niche market.
2. Use the search feature to locate pins and boards that are related to your business and either repin them to one of your boards or comment on them.
3. Share pins and boards that are related to your business on twitter or on your facebook page.
4. Include a relevant link with the description of your pins.
5. Find and follow people on Pinterest who are sharing pins and boards that are related to your business and your products.

In short, there are lots of potential ways to use Pinterest for business and since the site is new, it will evolve over time and many more people will use it and it will become even more important and useful for both business owners and for people looking for new and interesting ideas.

 Do you use Pinterest? What do you like most about Pinterest? How do you use Pinterest for your blog/business?

AnnaLaura Brown is a home business owner and social media trainer. She specializes in helping people get healthier by managing and controlling allergies, asthma, autism and ADD. Grab your free power secrets ebook and learn more about how she can help you at http://annalaurabrown.com.

Giving you an in-depth look at social media along with understanding the myriad of choices on what to use and how to use social media is beyond the scope of this article. We will however, offer you a very brief overview of three of the most popular social media platforms. With this overview, you will hopefully gain the motivation to investigate your options even further, begin realizing the full potential of these platforms, and ultimately broaden the reach of your own voice.

Facebook

• TOS (Terms of Service) states users of Facebook must be 13 years or older
• Objectionable material (nudity, adult language, hatred, etc.) is rarely found and can be reported
• Post messages on your “wall” containing text and multimedia
• Privacy of your messages is controllable in multiple ways (groups, friends only, friends of friends only, etc.)
• Create business pages
• Create multiple “tabs” for business pages (i.e., Welcome, Photos, Videos, Store, Specials, etc)
• Customize business pages to fit your own unique branding
• Create contests
• Post links to other web pages or event announcements
• Create news stories and event announcements
• Post pictures and videos within posts or albums
• People “Like” or “Recommend” you via direct invitation, ad campaigns, and sharing via your friends
• Marketing is accomplished by building a network of “friends” or “fans” (used interchangeably)
• Viral content is created by posting compelling content that is shared by your friends/fans to their friends, and so on.

Twitter

• TOS does not state a minimum age requirement
• Objectionable material is often found, and can be searched for
• Messages are posted as text only on a public feed, called “tweets”
• Multimedia can be added to one’s account profile and linked to
• Web pages and multimedia can be linked to within posts but not seen directly within post.
• Marketing is accomplished by building a network of “Followers”
• Viral content is created by posting compelling tweets that are subsequently “retweeted” to their followers, and so on.

Blogs

• TOS varies, but usually states users must be 13 years of age and prohibits objectionable material
• There are a number of blogging services, the most popular of which include WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr
• All blogging services allow you to create posts and link them together in a variety of ways, most popular of which simulates an interactive magazine
• All blogging services allow pages to be any length, along with having a variety of multimedia embedded within pages
• All blogging services provide a variety of ready-made templates, along with the ability to create one’s own, or customize existing templates
• Blogs are “subscribed to” via RSS or Atom feeds
• Marketing and viral content are both created much like a standard web page via promotion, word of mouth, ad campaigns and search engine optimization; there are no internal ways within blogging services to create traffic.

How do you use social media as a marketing tool? What is your favorite social media platform?

I’ll admit to being a little uncertain how having my entire family at evo’11 would enhance (or detract from) my overall experience. @TroyPattee and I worried about what to do if the kids got tired and wanted to go back to the room early. We thought long and hard about bringing a babysitter with us for such possible scenarios. But ultimately, what we found was that having our entire family at the conference (sans babysitter even) enhanced our experience in ways we wouldn’t have imagined.

How Our Kids Benefited From Attending the evo Conference

1. They Made Friends. Our kids loved interacting with fellow bloggers’ kids. They have been asking non stop since we’ve returned when they can get together with them again.
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2. They Met Their Favorite Characters. Being able to hug Elmo, shake hands with Ronald McDonald, and get pictures with Bert & Ernie were highlights for my kids!
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3. They Were Included in Contests. Johnson & Johnson and Text 4 Baby had a contest specifically geared to children. Cute Lucy, a fellow evo team member’s daughter, won and her art will be featured in a Utah-based campaign. See her design inspiration here: http://t.co/ipN5SY1.
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4. They Got to Have Quality Family Time. There was plenty of time built in to the conference to spend quality time as a family. We specifically enjoyed perusing the suites during the conference’s Progressive Dessert Party, riding the Alpine Coaster during the Bush’s Beans Party at Park City Mountain Resort, and enjoying the fun outdoor activities during the Together Counts family BBQ.
   

How We Benefited From Bringing Our Family to the evo Conference

1. We Had the Best Roomies. I have always loved rooming with other bloggers at conference. I’ve made some terrific friends that way. But, coming “home” each night to my family, after being able to connect all day and night with fellow bloggers, was the best of both worlds. I loved sharing the highlights of my day with them, hearing the highlights of their day, and just bonding with them.
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2. The Kid in Us Came Out. We found that having kids around as well as kid-oriented events and activities helped bring out the kid in us. (Case in point? See Catherine Connors hula hooping below!) I made crafts with my kids in the McDonald’s suite. Me? Crafts? Who knew? I also loved watching the parents and kids dance together in the XBox suite. But my favorite was watching the kids’ excitement in the Sesame Street and PBS Kids suites as they saw characters they loved either in person, on TV, or on cookies (especially on cookies!).
   
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3. We Had Fun Together as a Family! I love the tradition of jumping in to the pool with all of our clothes on at the evo Conference. And this year, I was joined by my 8YO son who loved “breaking the rules” and jumping in with all his clothes on like the big kids!
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4. It Didn’t Break the Bank. Family vacays can be expensive. evo Conference offered several perks for families to help decrease the cost. 1) The Grand Summit offers a great discount for evo attendees. 2-bedroom suites, which sleep 8, have a full-sized kitchen, and 3 bathrooms only cost only $220 a night with tax. 2) For full-access pass holders, all meals and snacks Thursday through Saturday nights are included in the conference. 3) Families get free access to Friday and Saturday night events, which include dinner. 4) If you or your spouse needs to work during your stay, wi-fi is free in all hotel rooms.

If you are looking for ways to take your social media skills to the next level, network with bloggers and brands you love, as well spend quality time with your family, evo Conference is the place for you! evo’12 super early bird tickets are on sale now.

Pictures courtesy of Justin Hackworth and Trevor Christensen.

Fortunately, this new mother—Jenni Hogan—was tapped into the power of social media. She had already built a substantial Twitter following through her TV involvement, and in her moment of trial, she reached out to them as she hadn’t before. She tweeted about needing help at her upcoming personal fitness training appointment, and 12 moms showed up. Their support rallied her, and even continued as they did a few community benefit events. She used the hashtag #missionhotmamas, to capture the group identity of women encouraging one another to know it’s ok to spend some time on you and that you will be happier with your baby if you’re feeling amazing. When her little girl turned a year old, Jenni launched MissionHotMama.com, a place where “we can inspire each other to keep bringing on the hotness, kick booty in life and shine.”

The inspiration and activities MissionHotMama provides, though, are in fact, actually a continuation of Jenni’s passion for paying it forward. Having benefited from the help of mentors in her career, she is passionate about mentoring others. GoGirl Academy.com is another manifestation of her desire to help advance others. Launched a year and a half ago, it is a for-profit institution dedicated to helping women succeed.

She and business partner Suzanne Keel-Eckmann were inspired to provide an interactive career acceleration program to help women develop their personal brands, boost their confidence, and become their very best selves. All women are accepted regardless of ability to pay, with the portion of their tuition they can’t pay coming from the Academy’s Pay-It-Forward Fund. Graduates are then asked to reimburse the Fund.

As passionate as she is about motherhood and mentoring, she is also passionate about the power of social media, especially as it facilitates both of those roles. For her, it is a 2-way conversation, a very powerful way to engage with her viewers and her communities that TV, a one-way medium, does not provide. Through social media, she maintains the Jenni Hogan brand, founded MissionHotMama and GoGirlAcademy, and raises awareness for social causes using her klout (read this article about how the power of social media helped #impactmamas).

Jenni Hogan is a force to be reckoned with, a shining example of “momming it forward.” You can learn more about her at JenniHogan.com or on Facebook or Twitter, about GoGirlAcademy here, and about MissionHotMama here.

How do you inspire your friends to bring on the hotness, kick booty in life, and shine?

Which one do you choose?

As you know, each site has its own vibe and feel. If your site has a fun feel, place the SexyBookmarks on there. The visual of the tabs peeking out will keep that funky feel to your site.

Not a plugin user or do not want to go overboard with options? Go with a TweetMeme or a Facebook Like button. Place it at the top of your post and you can offer the share option without have a full layout below your post.

Want to be sensitive to the countless social sites out there and do not want your followers to miss an opportunity to spread your content? Then go for something along the lines of ShareThis. You can choose which social media to have visual to the reader but still have the option to pick all the other social sites, including email.

Whatever plugin you decide to use, there are so many options to promote each other and other blogger’s content, there is no reason to not take advantage of each opportunity to do so.

To read more blogging tips, be sure to check out the following pages:

• Blogging Tips: Top 6 WordPress Plugins
• Blogging Tips: Creating a “Grab My Button”
• Blogging Tips: Creating a Facebook Badge and Twitter Feed

How do you like to share blog content? What social media platforms do you prefer?

Mariah Humphries is a wife, mother to three handfuls, graphic designer, blogger, photographer, and addicted to all things Starbucks. She blogs at Humphries Nation where you can find her talking about faith, kids, and the randomness of life. When she is not watching a kids game or reading her Nook, she gets lost in social networking. She is also the one woman show over at Jula Studio as a print and WordPress designer.

These types of campaigns are good because they are meant to engage us in their cause through simple actions, like making a virtual baseball swing or making an origami crane. It isn’t them simply handing over a check. Carter’s campaign began in May and is meant to benefit displaced children in earthquake-stricken Japan. It was built on the idea that they would donate an article of Osh Kosh clothing to a child for every origami crane sent to them. The invitation was extended to people all over the world. Their original goal was 50,000 cranes and pieces of clothing.

What ended up happening is that more than 2 million cranes were sent in, cranes that will now be sent along with the clothes as symbols of health and well-being. Carter’s and Osh Kosh representatives will travel to Japan this month to deliver 80,000 pieces of clothing, worth $1.5 million dollars, along with the heartfelt well-wishes of 2 million people, mostly kids.  “We believe Cranes for Kids allows children to express their goodwill and empathy in a creative way,” says Michael Casey, chairman and CEO of Carter’s Inc. “The cranes will be displayed in our stores in Tokyo to show that children in the United States, and around the world, have the people of Japan in their thoughts and prayers. We hope Cranes for Kids offers a positive way for parents and teachers to discuss this tragedy with children and empower them to help.”

Kudos to Carter’s then. You can visit this page for pictures from their trip to Japan, as they become available.