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Mississippi Crops Short Course December 2012. Getting Social. A little background. Email reports…. AgFax.Com…. Web development…. So, we’re speaking from…. Our own experience. The experiences of others. Mistakes (ours and those of others). Training. Conferences. Finding our own gurus.
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Mississippi Crops Short Course December 2012 Getting Social
So, we’re speaking from… • Our own experience. • The experiences of others. • Mistakes (ours and those of others). • Training. • Conferences. • Finding our own gurus. • Formulating our own ideas, approaches. • Kicking and screaming all the way.
Why we’re in social media… • An undeniable trend. • Evolving mobile technology, high adoption. • A real-time source of information. • A new distribution channel. • A revenue source…well, maybe.
Why you should be, too… • The most important language? • It’s not going away. Facebook : 1 billion-plus. • People expect you to be there, too. • Build, strengthen relationships. • Promote my <fill in the blank>. • Immediacy.
What we’ll cover… • Texting • Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Etc. • Blogging • Email Reports • Ag Forums • YouTube, Video, Audio • RSS Feeds • Then, bringing it all together.
Terms I might use… • Social Media • Social Network • Buzz • Content Marketing • 80/20 approach (or rule)
Texting, basic platform… • Direct, to the point. • Works in places you can’t make a call. • All but necessary with younger people. • Drawbacks? A few, sure. • Advantages? How valuable is your time?
Twitter: text on steroids… • What is Twitter? Microblogging, CB, river. • Evolution of Twitter: 2006 to 2012. • 140 million users just in U.S. (7/1/12). • Now, a serious field-level tool. • Disadvantages: some B.S. • Advantages: customizable, searchable.
Demo: The Angus & Owen Show… • Pick your channels. • Who you follow, who follows you. • How do you find people to follow? • The power of the hash tag - #mscrops. • Retweeting, direct messaging, lists. • Test Tweetdeck, other 3rd party apps. • Check out @agmidsouth.
A quick Twitter approach… • Follow people who matter to you – 100-plus. • Start tweeting, daily if possible. • Your tweets define your followers. • Tap into other communities. • Set up lists. • Questions – Twitter, Texting?
Facebook: 800-lb. gorilla… • What is Facebook? • Do you need to be on Facebook? • Do you need a Facebook fan page? • Questions about Facebook?
LinkedIn means business… • Very much like Facebook, but… • Plenty of features, expansion potential. • High percentage of college grads. • Should you be on LinkedIn?
Other social venues… • Pinterest: Decidedly female site. • Tumblr: Very youth oriented.
Blogging: who should, why? • Understand the concept: content marketing. • A presence on the internet. • A place to put your content. • A place where search engines can find you. • A place to sell your expertise. • A place to sell your <fill in the blank>.
Blogging, essential info… • WordPress, self-hosted. • Meaning, “mysite.com”. • Register domain through Network Solutions. • Avoid free hosting services. • Avoid “mysite.wordpress.com”. • Avoid “mysite.blogger.com”. • Bluehost, Dreamhost, Hostgator. • Call with questions. 601-992-9488.
E-letters: the big push… • Dovetails nicely with blogs. • Builds audience, builds social connections. • Can be automated (more in a moment).
Forums, coffee shop on line… • Non-threatening place to ask questions. • Wide perspective. • Crowd-sourcing ideas, experiences. • Grain of salt, of course.
YouTube: simple truths… • Videos don’t have to be “pro” to be good. • The subject matters more than anything else. • Anybody with a smart phone can do videos. • YouTube has evolved into a search engine. • Showing something can be very effective. • People want to watch – and they can now.
Other channels… • Instructional videos: Camtasia, et al. • Podcasts: Audacity, Propaganda.
RSS: Real Simple Syndication • Also known as “news feeds”. • Every blog generates one or more feeds. • You become a news distributor, if you’d like. • Here’s the neat part: automatic e-letters. • Feedburner (Google), Mail Chimp.