Why your company NEEDS to be involved in Social Media

Social Media Marketing has a bevy of benefits. Everyone is connected to the Internet and somehow involved in Social Media. As of July 2011, Facebook had over 800 million active users. Eight hundred million. According to Social Media Today, in April 2010 an estimated 41.6% of the U.S. population had a Facebook account (1). Can you imagine the growth for your company? Whether you have a niche product or mass produced consumer good, Social Media is a crucial tool that needs to be integrated into your overall marketing plan. Lets take a closer look at the benefits of this astonishing potential game changing tool. Extended target market reach

Like I mentioned above, Social Media is huge. Facebook gets even more traffic than Google! Twitter has over 200 million users that produce over a billion search queries. How great would it be to have you or your business show up at the top of those search lists? The outreach online, especially through Social Media is almost limitless and you can use these resources to cast a wide net to bring more visitors to your Web site.

Building relationships
Social media marketing isnt a ponzi scheme. You cant expect to join a couple sites and then make it rain with profits. It takes time and serious investment to be able to stay on top of market trends, build relationships, and effectively deliver your intended message to the intended audience. Hence the word social in the term. You have to be engaged with your consumers and followers. Your social media precence should show you:

• Provide value and resources
• Dont over self-promote
• Demonstrate your expertise
• Sell softly-which brings me to my next benefit

Fortuity selling
Because social media is designed for long-term commitment, a company may not expect selling opportunities to arise. Some do exist, so your not just marketing and creating a brand for yourself when social media’n up. Here are a few opportunities to take advantage of in social media marketing:

• Sell CDs and tickets-Artist, musicians, athletics, and all can use these for entertainment selling.
• Linking back to your store- You can post a new shipment of merchandise on a social media site with a link to your Web site where they can purchase the product
• Special offers- Offering promotional codes or special offers to followers in your network sways them to visit your site and purchase products
• Link to 3rd party sites on various services- Some social media sits allow for widgets (small app placed on your page to enhance visitor experiences) that can show off product and link to Paypal or other places for direct purchase

Branding
This benefit is probably the most important because without it, the other benefits will produce minimal results. Branding showcases presence, visibility, and connects a product to a company. Social media is an excellent way to build your brand. For more branding techniques THIS GUY  got it locked down like a pro bowl cornerback.

I got to banana split,

Randall Jefferson

(1) Wells, Roy (August 8, 2010). “41.6% of the U.S. Population has a Facebook account”. Social Media Today. Retrieved January 6, 2011.

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Social Media Marketing. What the what?

Most of us have heard this phrase before, “social media marketing”. WTH does it mean? Um, poking people with deals on Facebook? Sounds about right, right? Not quite.  Social media marketing generally means using social media services for relationship selling.  Its a new technique of marketing, a different avenue or strategy to reach out to your audience.

There are different types of social media channels.

• Blogs-They let you update and change content instantly. Bloggers normally post about personal experiences or expertise. For instance, this blog explores MY personal experiences AND expertise in marketing and being majestic. I use WordPress to spread my Randallessence (its a word because I said it is)
• Social Networking Sites- We have all come accustomed to these. These are the Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn places of the world. There are also other networks based on industry, demographics or activities. Im sure you all have an account on one or all of these. Im on all 3. Find my links over here——>
• Social Media Sharing Sites- These allow for posting and commenting on audio, video and pictures. Familiar sites are Youtube, Ustream, Flick, and Podcast Alley
• Social Bookmarking- These are public bookmarks so people can see what others recommend for your viewing pleasure. My ex-girlfriend spent more time fondling StumbleUpon and Delicious then me sometimes.
• Social News- People recommend articles from news sites based on lists that are developed. Digg and reddit come to mind that do this exceptionally.
• Social Geolocation and meeting sites- Bringing people together is what they do. Gowalla, Loopt and Meetup offer people to bring the cyberspace love to real life. Platonic and non.

Web 2.0 enables technologies and provides tools that allows people to share information, develop social and business connections, and team up on projects online has given social media a means of implementing integrated marketing communications.

Cheers,

Randall Jefferson

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When did you first here about Facebook?

The first time I heard of Facebook was right before winter break sophomore of college. I remember some friends talking about how they just got back from partying at Duke, or UNC or NC State and how they all had this site that let you connect with all your friends and share pictures and information about yourself. the buzz around the UNCG campus is “when are we going to get facebook?” At that time it was slowly rolling out to different colleges throughout America. the build up for it was something fierce. In those days AIM Instant Messenger was the place communicate online. Crazy names like NCgurl86 or BeachBum21 were the only names I could remember to talk with people and it was only limited to who I knew around campus and from High School.

A week before winter break it came to UNCG. You had to have a campus email account to sign up and when I got on, EVERYONE was on. I worked in the college computer lab during at the time and if I had a penny for every time I saw a profile up Id have enough to buy a few shares once it goes public. In those days I pretty much friended anyone with a pulse. Id go to see what other colleges were on and start adding people at random, haha. Nowadays my profile is cleaned up to only people I actually know but the anticipation was remarkable for a product like this.

Now, Facebook has over 800 million active users exchanges messages, photos, videos and business. It has become a weapon of mass destruction for businesses and has taken over the world in how we communicate. I dont know if Mark Zuckerburg ever pictured this when he created it. I was happy when it was just for college kids only, but Mark had a bigger plan. Kudos to him for his colossal vision and seeing a world changing product in what he created.

Where were you when Facebook started?

-Randall Jefferson

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The Snack Slanger

As far as I can remember I have loved any and everything to do with business, specifically marketing. I remember loving to run the booths in elementary school when we would have a store during the Holidays where kids could buy presents for their families. I knew had a knack out for entrepreneurship and marketing when I advertised grass cutting all over the Air Force base we lived on and would mow lawns during the summers. That taught me about earning a buck and marketing my service.

My dad used to have a sweet tooth for Little Debbie snacks as I did too and my Mom used to buy them by the box. I would sneak some and sell them on the school bus for 25 cents a snack. A 12 count box costs about $1.25 those days and I was bringing in $3 a box. That felt like Boardwalk Monopoly back them, considering it was straight profit until my dad quickly did an investigation on where the snacks were disappearing too. I ended up working out a deal with my mom as she would buy extra boxes for me when she grocery shopped and I would pay for them.

My line quickly expanded to chips, cookies, and juices and for awhile, I was the snack food kingpin. I built an empire of sugary sweetness for kids that kept them happy and jolly to and from middle school. I loved interacting with my class mates, making new friends, and fulfilling special requests to loyal customers. Word got around the bus bay and I even expanded to other buses. See, living on base, I had to transfer buses at a near by school to get to the Magnet school I went to so I during transfers I would sell snacks also to kids on other buses. I became popular, too popular. Not only did kids know me, but teachers, schools and bus drivers took attention to what I was doing and seeing as I was selling snacks for cheaper prices then the school, I was shut down due to various reasons. You would of thought I was dealing drugs on school grounds the way it went down. Fortunately they just told me to stop selling. I made probably about 800 dollars the year and a half I was selling. I spent about half of it during the years buying the latest Jordan shoes and put the other half in what became my first bank account.

The rest of my job experience has come working for people but nothing gave me that entrepreneurial spirit like selling snacks did. I was happy making other kids happy and I hope to get that feeling back someday soon. There is nothing like living out your passion and earning money is something you love and believed in.

Cheers to the entrepreneurial spirit,

Randall Jefferson

Image: Karen Shaw / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

5 tips on getting started in personal branding

Below are tips I put together on how to get started in personal branding. The subject has gained a lot of attention in the past years and I thought Id do a little research into the subject. Feel free to comment on how you got started in personal branding.

1. Google “personal branding”  and check out the first page of results to get an idea on what it means and how to capture it.
2. From the google results I found a book introducing the concept of personal branding. I read Me 2.0 by Dan Schawbel to understand the power social media has on personal branding and how to utilize it for unlimited potential. Very informative book and highly recommended but the choice is yours.
3. Take notes on the key factors that are involved with personal branding and social media. Create a checklist for everything you want to learn and what strengths you need to use and what weaknesses you need to improve.
4. Go to youtube  and watch videos on the importance of personal branding. This will give you a visual on the personal branding concept and offer up ideas for you to use.
5.  Sign up for linkedin, twitter, and facebook if you havent yet. Join groups and follow people and companies that specialze in personal branding. These people offer great insight on the subject and there are tons of people who cover it.

Cheers to Personal Branding,

Randall Jefferson

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Im Running a Marathon October 25 2009

Did I really just type that? Me? Randall Jefferson? Running 26. 2 miles? Let’s get a little background information about this:

So I have been overweight my whole life. It got way out of control once I got to college and I couldnt turn down basically a buffet style meal every time I ate at the Caf. Most people hated it but I thought it was good. Then my brother got murdered at the end of my sophomore year. Looking back at the pictures from the funereal I wonder how I got so big. Its funny when you look at pictures and your like “I looked like that? Why didnt anyone lure me to a basement with unlimited amounts of S’mores Poptarts and milk, tie me up, cut me up and sell me to a starved nation?” Im sure I could of fed at least a 1000 people. So when he died, I was on my last leg. I knew he wouldnt want to see me like this so I began to change. Couple of my roommates were healthy guys and they got me started on eating right, I bought a bicycle and thought I was on my way. That lasted a few short months. Then I went to visit my brother’s grave summer of 2007. I had a long talk with him and figured if I am going to die, have someone else kill me. It was retarded for me to kill myself like this. When I got back home I really toughened up and stuck to it.

A year and a half later I’m down from 384-230. It was a long journey but I did it. What I hated the most though is came off fast but I hit a plateau hard. Ive been stagnate for over a year now. Seems I couldn’t get past 230. I even got up to 250 for awhile. I tried EVERYTHING in changing my diet and exercise. I tried the diet that got me to 230 to being with and nothing worked.

Around my birthday a friend of mine has just finished running a marathon. His G/F threw a surprise Congrats/BDay party for him and me. I started talking to him about the training he did and he was telling me about how he couldnt eat enough food to maintain weight while training for it. I was sold then, I will train and run a marathon. A former boss of minc then told me about Team N Training. They are a non-profit organization that supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They help you train for marathons and you raise money for them. I thought “hey, I could lose weight and help support research and support for blood cancers, sign me up”.

Team In Training (TNT) exists to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma.  It also looks to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.  Every year blood cancers strike over 100,000 Americans, and claim more than 60,500 lives in the United States alone.  Leukemia is one of the leading causes of death in children between the ages of 1-15.  The good news is that the survival rate has risen from 4% in 1960 to 81% in the last decade.  This is in part due to the money that The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has raised to aid researchers in their fight to find cures for this disease.

TNT is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s largest fund-raising program, bringing in over $82 million dollars this past year alone. Each participant in the program pledges to raise a certain amount of money during the 4-5 months they train for their event.  I have set a personal goal to raise at least $2,500!  Of that amount, over 75% of every dollar spent will be used by the Society for research, patient services and education.

 

The money that I will raise for research is fulfilling, but the most important and inspirational part of my training is knowing that my hard work could make a difference in the lives of my Honored Teammates.  I am running in honor of Shannon Royce who has won the fight against lymphoma. Shannon was diagnosed with lymphoma in March of 2006. After 6 weeks of CT scans, PET scans, blood work, and chemotherapy from stage 1 lymphoma, the doctors found and removed the cancer from a tiny lump in her neck.

This precious individual is the reason I am committing myself to this goal.   With this inspiration how can I not fight my way to the finish line?  It is a chance to embody a glimmer of hope for those who are battling blood cancers and to remember those who have lost their battle.

All this training and work I’ve been doing with TNT has shed a new light for me. Its bigger then me, there is something else bigger then me. These people depend on me. Im not running for myself anymore, Im running for a cure. Im running to save and expand lives. Since training has begun I’ve only lost about 20 pounds. Im at 221 now and I was at 240 when it all started 5 months ago. I had an original goal of 215 from when I first started losing weight 2 years ago. I know I wont reach it in 18 days but it doesnt matter. Im not running for me anymore. Im running for others that cant run. This has been one the most fulfilling journey’s in my life. I have met very inspirational and influential people along the way and I couldn’t be more grateful of the experience I’ve encountered over the past months.

My donation page is up and running and the support I have got from friends and family has been truly phenomenal. Feel free to donate as no contribution is too small.

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