A2Z Computer Services Inc

Corporate I.T. Solutions, Computer Repair and Web Design in Henderson, KY

First Thoughts on Google Plus

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google plus iconLast week, all of us at A2Z finally received our invites for Google Plus (Google+). In this post, I’m going to share a few of my initial thoughts, reactions and expectations after a few days of exploring Google’s brand new social networking site.

The Design

Upon entering Google+ for the first time there were a few things that instantly caught my attention. The first of these being the minimalist design and layout. Everywhere you go on the site, you see a lot of white space and the content is given center stage. A clean and minimal design is not only easy on the eyes, but it also makes navigation simple and quick and lets you focus on the content and interaction. Another great feature to the design and integration of Google Plus is the gray toolbar that we recently saw show up at the of the page when you’re logged into your Google account. This not only allows the user to switch from Google Plus to Gmail to your Calendar and more, but it also sports a notification box for your Google Plus, allowing you to receive notifications regardless of which tool you’re using in your Google account.

Your Profile

As with the rest of the social networking site, your profile sticks with the same minimalist look. You have your information page that displays all of the information about yourself that you choose to put out there. With each piece of information that you place on your About page, you also choose the type of people that you want that to be available to (i.e. Friends, Family, Everyone, etc.). Your Posts tab simply shows all of your posts that you’ve sent out. Your profile does not have a wall for people to write on. All interaction is done from the stream, which essentially makes sharing and interacting a hybrid between Facebook and Twitter.

Circles

Circles have been of the most talked about feature in Google Plus. Rather than sending friend requests like on Facebook, Google Plus allows you to add people to various Circles that you have created. Just because you add them to your Circle, doesn’t mean they have to add you. It’s the equivalent to following people on Twitter and adding them to a list. Another plus (no pun intended) to this feature is that allows you to be selective with who you share posts with. Let’s say that your Circles are titled Family, Friends, Co-Workers and Clients. If you’re sharing an update about your vacation, you may not want that seen by clients, but only friends and family. Likewise, not everything you share with clients may be relevant to your cousins. Circles makes online sharing and interaction a little more similar to interacting with your different circles of friends in real life.

Hangouts

Hangouts allows you to do group video chat with your Google Plus connections. This may not be something that everyone will have need of, but I can see this really being used for online business meetings, study groups, etc.

Closing Thoughts

It seems that after a few failed attempts at social networking, Google has finally struck gold. Google Plus is estimated to hit 20 Million users this weekend and admission to the site is still by invitation only. Admission to Google Plus will be available to the public on July 31st. This makes Google Plus the fastest growing social network ever. There’s a lot of talk about how Google Plus could take down Facebook or even knock out Twitter and to be honest, it’s hard to fully agree with that. Will some people leave those sites altogether to put more focus on this new site? Maybe. Most people, though, will not completely leave Facebook, even the ones who have been feeling “Facebook fatigue” lately. I see great success in Google’s social networking future and look forward to seeing more updates and refinements to the site.

 

Three questions that must be asked when creating a social media strategy

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A couple weeks ago, we at A2Z Computer Services, Inc hosted a free seminar at our office for our existing Mad Skillz Marketing customers to help enhance their Social Media presence.  The purpose of this seminar was to show these business owners how to start their Social Media ventures with a strong foundation.  So we showed them how developing a business plan for Social Media that included various Goals, Strategies, and Schedules will help them fully benefit from Social Media.

You might be asking yourself “Really?  A business plan and strategies for using Facebook and Twitter??”

The simple answer is YES.

And to help you, we’ve developed a few questions you can ask yourself to help you get going with Marketing your business with Social Media:

What do I have to offer?
As business owners, we all have something to offer our customers that adds value to their lives, whether that value be our products and services or simply knowledge and information. If we didn’t, then we wouldn’t have been in business for very long.  Are you looking to offer people knowledge or information?  Or perhaps you’re providing them a way to save money with your products and services. Whatever the value-add is that you’re offering, keep it in mind as you develop your Social Media Goals and Strategies.

Who am I trying to reach?
This aspect of your Strategies and Goals will play an important part in your overall Social Media endeavor.  Everything from the content of your posts, to the manner in which you convey your ideas, to even the design and feel of your Social Media outlets, having an identified target audience is very important.  Identifying targeted customer age groups, geographic locations, interests, and other demographic information is vital to developing a solid campaign.

What do I want to accomplish?
This question may sound simple at first, but after much thought it can become difficult to define.  Are you looking for more visits to your website?  Do you want more customers coming to your store or restaurant?  Is finding an alternative means to communicating one on one with your customers your objective?  Finding out your purpose for using Social Media will bring your overall Strategies and Goals together and get you started on the path to using these marketing avenues effectively.

Now, as an example, after answering these questions, a restaurant can develop a Social Media campaign to draw more 18 – 30 year old college students in their doors to try their latest mouth watering appetizers and convince them to stick around for a wonderful week night dinner.

Finally, remember that Social Media is not a one way street.  If businesses are just constantly throwing information out there, hoping to get a few bites, they are really just settings themselves up for failure.  Goals and strategies will help guide a business to truly reap the rewards that Social Media has to offer.

If you have any further questions please comment below and join in the conversation. If you would like assistance with your Social Media Strategy, please feel free to contact A2Z Computer Services, Inc at (270) 830-9590 or send us a message via our contact page.

Why should you use Twitter?

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Twitter, although it may not yet have the largest number of users, it’s the fastest growing social networking tool, growing at over 2,000% annually. You might not see a need for it as an individual, you might not see a need to have it for your business, but the truth is that more and more people are using it, and as a business owner, you should be willing to evolve as communication evolves, and learn to embrace and take advantage of these tools. Also note, that these are a way to further your relationship with your customer, not a replacement to face to face and voice to voice contact.

Here’s a short list of some basic ways twitter can help your product:
-Form a closer, daily relationship with your customers
-Offer “twitter-only” specials and discounts
-Free customer service (to an extent), anytime your customer needs it
-Show your customers you’re more than a brand, but also a person

This is just a taste of  what twitter has to offer (and all for free!) Of course there’s virtually an endless list of what you can do using twitter, but I just wanted to give you a little something think and talk about, please feel free to get involved in the conversation and share your thought, questions, and even innovative ways you’ve used twitter to help further your brand.

A Response on Beginning to Tweet

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Recently, a client asked us how they could get followers on Twitter. Being new to Twitter, they are of course excited to start using this great tool for their business to better connect with their customers and peers in their field, as well they should be enthusiastic about it. In an email, we replied to their question with a few tips and links to resources for beginners.

We decided to share our reply with you in hopes that you too can grow, add your style and needs to this, and pass it along to others as well. Enjoy!

RE: Twitter

I have a few tips and ideas for you on ways to accumulate more followers and connections on twitter, I also have a few links to online articles that I believe will be beneficial to you as well.

A few simple steps would be:

-Promote your twitter account via Facebook and your web site, add links to your Facebook page and twitter onto your site (your web host should be able to do this for you)

-Promote both Facebook and Twitter in your ads, marquee signs, business cards, etc.

-Put up a sign in your stores, perhaps next to your registers, informing customers to find you on Facebook and Twitter

-When someone “follows” you on Twitter, be sure to “follow” them back

-Be personable and natural

-Allow your followers list to grow naturally

-Don’t try to sell people something in all of your posts

Twitter involves a little more patience than Facebook as far as growth goes, it grows more naturally, but don’t be discouraged by this. Even if you only have two followers, treat it with the care that you would give to it if you only had 2,000 followers. Although there are some common courtesies involved with using Twitter, you have the freedom to morph this to fit your business and life. Therefore the more you use it and the more you observe on it, the easier it will become to think up strategies and set goals for your Twitter identity.

Here are a few links and articles that I think will really help you:

http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/best_practices This will help you with some basic practices

http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning This will help you understand and learn the lingo.

http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/case_bestbuy On the left hand side of this page you’ll see a list of other case studies to look at.

http://madskillzmarketing.wordpress.com This is our blog that we update regularly

http://deansguide.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/twitter-strategies-and-tips-for-beginning-twitterers/ This is a short article on beginning Twitter strategy

This should effectively get you going, just remember that although there are a few guidelines you’ll want to be aware of, Twitter is completely open and can be molded to fit your business needs.

Social Media will not help your business…

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…if you do not use it correctly.

Just like anything else we use everyday, we have have to know how to use it correctly. If we don’t use a gas pump correctly, it’s worthless. If you don’t use Social Media correctly it will not help your business, if anything it will cause you stress and irritation and drive to possibly even write off Social Networking altogether.

When I say “use it correctly” I don’t mean the technical side of it. It’s not hard to make a post, the challenge is figuring out the content that you need to put in your post. Sure, simply sending out a fact or piece of history of the the business everyday can be nice and cute, it can even work well for some people, but the point of Social Media is getting the word out about business, drawing more people in, and better connecting with your current customers, no matter how large or small that number is.

NOTE: This post will not give you a strategy to copy and follow, the purpose of this article is to make you think and create a proper mindset for using Social Media with your business.

Strategy and goal setting are very important aspects of any successful business. If you run a business, you understand the importance of planning things out and deciding how you’re going to take advantage of different tools to better grow your business…so why would not put that same care into creating a strategy and setting goals for your Social Media usage? Social Media has grown exponentially in the last few years, it’s not just for teenagers anymore (we’ve discussed this in other posts).

You have to get out of the mindset that this is just a cute, static tool.

Learning how to create a Social Media strategy can be done several ways, all of which are useful. You can of course hire a Social Media consultant to meet with you and assess your needs and help you set goals and plan things out. You might be saying to yourself “A consultant to tell me how to use facebook and twitter? Ridiculous.”, but you’re then getting someone to teach you how to use something that will forever be free, which is not a bad deal at all. Another way is to research stories of how other businesses have used Social Media to get ideas and get the creative process started. This is your network, this an opportunity to be completely creative, with very few guidelines. This is your business, your mind, your thoughts, anything goes. You can come up with with specials and coupons to create buzz, you can have have random drawings from your friends lists to give out prizes like a free meal. The sky is the limit, this thing has an endless amount of potential but is completely worthless is you don’t know how to effectively plan and run with it.