Social Media: Your First Steps
Entering the social media marketiplace will open your company to new opportunities

Social media is a combination of planning, sharing information, reaching out to targeted communities and choosing your words carefully - VERY carefully! A single Tweet can be re-Tweated thousands of times within minutes of posting, which means that there is no way to take back your words. A photo on Facebook can be shared and tagged again and again.

Brian Diehl has been working with social media campaigns since social media didn't exist. Back in those days, it was called "putting up a bulletin board" or " launching a chat room." This interactive approach to the Internet was eventually called "Web 2.0" and, upon the growing popularity of MySpace, Facebook and dozens of other such sites, it became Social Media!

No matter what you call it, the concept is simple - start a two-way conversation, let the folks on the web give you feedback, suggestions, critiques and ideas. As you are thanking them for their kind words, you can get to work creating and launching campaigns to educate, correct misconceptions, entertain or change programs that aren't working for you. This is where Brian comes into the picture! Here are a few quick ideas of how you can get started in social media. Give this a try then call me, I'll help you take it from there.

• • Facebook - A Facebook page for your product or business will provide a community site on the largest social networking community on the planet!  Its mission should be to engage and then share.  Try to keep people engaged, so you can build up a critical mass of fans that will bolster your posts with insightful  conversations, ideas and graphics.  Brian worked with two unique organizations, helping them grow this “critical mass.”  Lebowski Fest now has more than 52,000 “likes” and Dudeism, a site dedicated to a tongue-in-check religion has 120,000 and is still growing!  One post on the Dudeism web site sold more than $1,500 of t-shirts in three days!
• • Website and Blog - While Facebook is great, but limited. Your entrance into Social Media should be backed by a web site that reflects your organization's brand, positioning, look and feel - a site not restricted to the whims and restrictions of the Facebook environment (along with its terms and conditions).
• • Email - While this may seem old-hat, email is still a critical part of staying connected. You can provide an opt-in form on your web page in order to stay firmly connected with those interested in your services. We did this with theTech Belt Energy Innovation Center, Actors Inequity (which now has a mailing list of more than 10,000 actors and performers across the country) and others.
• • YouTube - While Brian has worked with professional video production companies like Avatar Management Services and Tom Hutchins Productions, a simple iPhone or flip video camera can help you capture images and messages to help educate, sway or just say, "thank you." Brian's work with Case Western University's School of Law started with just one video and grew to a collection of more than 300 pieces!

Brian has worked with the top Social Media sites, integrating them into media campaign: Facebook, LinkedIIn, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, Google Plus, LiveJournal, Tagged, Orkut, Pinterest, Ning, Meetup, myLife and others. Brian provides creative solutions for organizations just like yours. Call for a free creative consultation today: 330.283.9550.

Brian Diehl     330.283.9550     39 Church Street, Hudson, Ohio 44236