by Kimberly | Jun 14, 2009 | Blog, Facebook, Social Media
Last night Facebook opened the gates to allow users to claim a specific username, which is something people have been requesting for a long time. LinkedIn allows you do that and so does Twitter so it seems that it was about time for Facebook to provide users the ability to create a personalized URL as well. For people who are using Facebook primarily as a business networking and social marketing platform, then there are additional benefits to having a specific vanity URL related to marketing and branding. For many of us who already use either our name, our business name or another specific username, there was some added pressure to be the first to stake a claim- especially if you have a fairly common name. I chose to go with my proper name instead of my business name. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, as a Virtual Assistant, there is just as much likelihood that someone will search for me by name as they will for my business name. My URL for LinkedIn is also under my proper name. Secondly, Facebook made it very clear that users would not be allowed to change their username and were advised to choose wisely. I figured that if I ever wanted to re-brand myself or decided to change my name or my industry, then I would want to still have a relevant username/URL for my Facebook account regardless of what I was doing or the name of my business. Besides, in a few weeks, I’ll be able to choose a username for my business Fan Page that can specific...
by Kimberly | May 16, 2009 | Blog, small business, Social Media, social networking, Virtual Assistant
I saw this video posted today in my Facebook newstream and I really liked the message. As a Social Media Virtual Assistant, I also see myself as an entrepreneur and I do think entrepreneurs are changing the world. We are not only contributing to how the world works but we are doing it to make better lives for ourselves and for those who follow us. With the recent economic hard times upon us, I think it especially important to keep telling yourself that anything is still possible, even when it seems like it’s not....
by Kimberly | Apr 2, 2009 | Blog, Internet Marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, Twitter
The Brooklyn Art Museum has a Twitter account and at last check, they had over 21,000 people following them. The Museum uses the account to tweet about happenings at the Museum such as events, announcements, new blog posts from the Museum blog and to interact with patrons. They also tweet links to their other social media accounts such as Facebook where they have they have a Group with almost 800 members. According to recent Facebook statistics, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, with over 2,500 fans, is one of the fastest growing Facebook fan pages with a weekly growth rate of over 600%. The Museum of Modern Art in New York is also on Twitter with almost 12,000 people following them. They are tweeting about events such as an Art Hunt, the announcing of their website redesign, to answer questions from people and to tweet about Art in the news. Both museum twitter sites indicate the name of the staff who are doing the tweeting. This is important because even though the accounts represent an entity, people prefer to interact on Twitter with a person. A quick search on Twitter for other arts organizations include the Atlanta Symphony, The Chicago Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Houston Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and the San Francisco ballet, while not actively tweeting, has gone in and “reserved” their twitter name for future use. The Smithsonian has also joined the Twitter world. A blog post of an interview with Marc van Bree, the PR coordinator with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra about their social media and online efforts. In referring...
by Kimberly | Mar 28, 2009 | Blog, Social Media, social media marketing, Social Media Virtual Assistant
Social Media is now being used by small business, entrepreneurs, big business, non-profits and a multitude of other organizations. Using Social Media to market and network online is quickly becoming the norm as the number of people using and participating in Social Media grows exponentially. Consider these numbers: • In 2005, 8% of all adults online had a profile on a social networking site. Today, this has increased to 35%. • In December 2008, 76 million people visited MySpace which was a 10% increase over the previous year. • In December 2008, 54.5 million people visited Facebook which was a 57% increase from the previous year and it’s estimated that 22% of all adults online have a profile on Facebook. • Facebook’s fastest growing demographic is among users ages 35-49 in 2008. • In August 2008, 23.7 million people visited YouTube and 1 out of every 3 videos viewed online is on YouTube. • Globally, in 2008, more internet users accessed a social networking community than used email, (67% to 65%). • In December 2008, 4.5 million people visited Twitter which was an astounding 753% increase from the previous year. Five to ten thousand new Twitter accounts are created daily. • The number of active people on Twitter in the past week is over 550,000. • 73% of active online users have read a blog. How Can a Social Media Virtual Assistant Help? Clearly, Social Media is here to stay and it’s obviously become a marketing force to be reckoned with. As small business owners or solo entrepreneurs, many of us have limited time to be focusing on how...
by Kimberly | Feb 10, 2009 | Blog, Internet Marketing
Did you know if you have a Gmail or other Google account, that you also get a “profile”? There are some great benefits to doing this. Not only is this a great way to share any of the content you have posted or created with any of the Google services, but it serves as a one stop and centralized location for any and all links or profiles associated with you. For a Social Media Virtual Assistant like myself, it’s a great place for me to be able to post links to all of the my Social Networking profiles allowing potential clients to get to know me. You can customize the profile to show as much or as little about you as you desire. By making your name public on your profile, you make it that much easier for people (or potential clients) to find you. And of course, it provides you prime a spot for placing a link back to your website…on Google! Google provide you with a wide array of options for posting content about yourself. Also included is a “Send Message” feature so that someone can send you an email directly to your GMail account without having access to the actual email address. Click here for more information on Google Profiles Click here to see how I’ve set up my Google Profile My favorite part of the profile is where I get to list my superpower: Sassy Social Media Virtual Assistant and Savvy Data Chick! If you’d like some help with setting up your Google profile or any other social networking profile, give me a shout out...
