One of the most common mistakes companies and managers make is delegating the position of social media manager to an untrained staff member; perhaps someone who works well with computers (or even customer service) but someone who doesn’t really understand online marketing.

It is important to emphasize that social media is a facet of advertising/marketing, every bit as important as website development and TV/radio spots. Many large companies actually hire a social media manager by name and pay full salary to organize and strategize a complete campaign. Though you are communicating with the public, and though you are giving the appearance of hosting a laid back and fan-friendly site, the strategic approach is actually formal and cautiously set out from the beginning.

What Makes a Qualified Social Media Manager?

A social media manager is a marketer first and is now specializing in this new online marketing avenue. Targeting is a major point of business and involves identifying your professional and online goals, as well as your audience. Questions such as, “What are the needs of my business?” and, “How can my social media page help me reach these objectives?” are imperative. Additionally a social media manager should also predetermine the budget (time and money) for social media, as well as who will be posting updates and replying to comments. Another issue to consider is networking with other contacts; is it a priority and who specifically in your industry are you targeting with your updates, commenting and interaction?

A social media manager should also have excellent writing and communicating ability, as well as a willingness to reach out to the community and engage in virtual conversation. One important aspect of social media networking is making friends with people you don’t know. In social media, you really don’t know who’s who and who is going to be your most valuable ally a year from now.

There is a great deal of team effort in social media management and every decision made should fit in with a company’s broader marketing strategy. All employees involved in the campaign should know this strategy and it should be detailed inside a social marketing plan.

Factors That Will Make Your Campaign Successful

Most importantly, it’s important to create a rich company culture, one that lends itself to the online experience. The New York Times (February 12, 2011) recently ran an article that suggested that not every profession needs social media, such as financial firms or law firms. However, we have also heard reports coming from the Kentucky Bar Association that due to the high use of social media within the legal industry, the Bar now sees fit to regulate social media as a form of advertising.

Therefore, it’s not going out on a limb to say that every company can benefit from social media—as long as the strategy is laid out and assignments are effectively defined and delegated.

Lastly, remember that social media is an evolving technology, and thus campaigns should be adaptable to what survey data reveals. Unlike a website, which largely exists for sales purposes the primary benefit of a social media page is for your customers. The page is there to serve them, interactively provide information they need and make them feel part of the company’s culture.

It’s up to a highly organized and ambitious social media manager to keep things fun and festive, but always productive.

“A qualified social media manager can help to create a brilliant social media campaign. Unfortunately, many companies underestimate this marketing professional’s role. Find out what is needed in social media and how to succeed.”

Photo by eaexecutives

Some of us remember Foursquare as being a popular game at recess where four players would play ball inside of a larger square which was then divided into four smaller squares.  The object of the game was to keep the ball in play by bouncing the ball within the other players’ squares until eventually players were eliminated.

Today’s version of Foursquare has a much different meaning.  Foursquare is a social media application that is accessible by web and mobile phones it’s where users check in, letting their followers know where they are.  These updates can then be posted on your Twitter and Facebook accounts. Updates are also called “pings” when used on the popular iPhone application.

Foursquare is a fun application because it turns the simple check in process into a competition.  Users are able to earn badges and other accolades for checking in often and from different places.  In the fourth quarter of 2010 Foursquare recently added a feature that tells users how many days they are away from being appointed a “Mayor”.

Foursquare’s launch in 2009 was quite modest with a very limited usage area that included approximately 100 metropolitan areas.  They went on to upgrade their model in January 2010 that moved them into the worldwide usage arena.  Foursquare reports that there are over half a million users on their network as of March 2010.  Growth has been tremendous for the Foursquare network.

Web users can use Foursquare from the browser of their choosing.  For smart phone users there are applications available on the iPhone, Windows Phone 7, Android, BlackBerry and webOS systems.

The newest version of Foursquare was launched in September of 2010.  This version expands the application.  Instead of simply checking in, it also directs the user to new locations and also may introduce the user to some new activities.  This is especially fun if you are a tourist visiting an unknown area.  This is also a great tool if you are moving to a new neighborhood.

Foursquare is quite the upgrade from the local Yellow Pages.  Foursquare not only leads you to new places in a new city, state or neighborhood but it also offers some opinions and reviews of some of the natives.

There are several different badges that a user can earn on Foursquare.  There are badges that are pretty general; then there are ones that are specific to cities, events or even specific venues.  There is no clear guide on how to earn these badges.  Download the application and start checking in today and see how many accolades you can earn.

How many badges have you accomplished on Foursquare?

About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

Facebook could be called the most popular social networking site around today. With over 500 million members, it would be difficult to find someone who hasn’t heard of this site. Facebook is a fun site where people can communicate in almost real time and share information. In addition, it is a great place to meet people. However, for an internet marketer, Facebook is a potential goldmine.

My report can show you how to cash in on the potential income that is just waiting for you. Whether you are a newbie or a self proclaimed internet marketing guru, this report will teach you step by step how to boost your sales with Facebook marketing. The answer to all of your questions is at your immediate access in this report. Now, you can do the legwork yourself. It could take you months and thousands of hours to find out what you can get right here in my report.

I will walk you through how to set up your Fan page if you haven’t done so already. But even if you have a Fan page I disclose details in my report on how to make that page work to attract more leads. As a small business owner you know how valuable a potential lead is to your business.  I will show you what NOT to include on your Fan page to assure that over 500 million potential leads are more accepting to your page and ultimately your offer.

In this report you will learn how to make Facebook work for you to build your subscriber list. I will show you how to tweak your settings, behind the scenes of creating your wall page that many people overlook. If you miss this one important step on your wall page you could potentially lose thousands of leads. As a small business you cannot afford to lose those leads and you don’t have too with my report.

This is a step-by-step guide for anyone wanting to learn how to use Facebook’s potential to building leads and ultimately increasing income. I wanted to save people the agony of making the same mistakes that I did before learning the right way. I wanted to include tons strategies and tips that aren’t listed or at least easy to find on the internet and make them easy to follow. In addition to making these steps easy to follow, I wanted to make this report affordable. I feel I have accomplished this goal. Don’t waste anymore of your precious time and order my report today.

About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

Branding is very essential in the world of social media; therefore it is also a very important aspect for social media managers.Branding refers to a company’s name, term, symbol, design, sign, icon, or a combination of these to introduce and identify the services and products you sell against other competitors.

Thus, branding isn’t about targeting your market over the rest of your competitors, but it’s about how you introduce yourself so others see your brand as a solution to their problem.

So, social media managers need to be very knowledgeable and unique in giving recommendations about branding. A name for instance can be crucial to any company. Social media managers need to ensure the viability of this particular name. If in any case the name has already been made, social media managers ensure that the design of this name should maximize its potential.

Some of the goals that good branding will achieve is it delivers the message clearly to customers and confirms the credibility. It also targets customers emotionally, motivates the clients and builds users’ loyalty.

The social media managers always keeps the brand in mind; and when it comes to social media, the managers promote the business discreetly along with the design or logo. Social media managers also ensure the visibility of these logos on all the social media platforms.

One of the strategies that social media managers apply is through the use of search engines. Let us say for instance, your name John Smith is the also the name of your company. When you try to search for your name in Google, you should see to it that it has desirable results on the first page of the search results list. You don’t want any negative items visible on the top ten lists of the search results.

So, social media managers normally remove all negative information or undesirable content that may appear and they try to manager any negativity. If your business is changing frequently all your company goals and products need to be changed and consistent with your brand. With regards to social media accounts, this should also be applied.
For a social media manager to be able to satisfy the clients, he/she should recognize the needs and desires of the customers of the clients he/she is serving. It’s important that the manager integrates the brand strategies in all the daily tasks.

Social media managers should always be looking to improve how the brand resides in the minds and hearts of the customers. It is simply the sum of the perceptions and experiences, which can be greatly influenced by the communication of the brand.

A strong brand is very valuable in finding customers. It is very important that a social media manger spends time analyzing, researching, and completely defining the particular brand. The brand is the foundation and the initial piece in the marketing communication. So proper branding needs to be the focus of the social media manager when working with their clients’ organizations.

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

The most important person, when it comes to social media, is a Social Media Manager. A Social Media Manger is the person who is in charge of ensuring that your social media marketing campaign succeeds and grows. If you employ a Social Media Manager then you will find that the experience and increased revenue will skyrocket fast in addition to freeing up some of your own time. Your Social Media Manager can compile and advise you on the best strategies that should run hand in hand with the current social trends.

Social media is currently the best way to network and market ideas so that your consumer base can grow and develop. By using networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube etc, you are able to network like you have never been able to before. The days are gone when you had complicated equations and campaigns to highlight your product! Social media takes away all of that and has replaced it with a simpler one to one system that allows the prospective client to feel like their interests are being taken to heart and that the potential product or service you are offering is tailored to them.

To get your business thriving you need to incorporate social media into your everyday workings and the best way to do this is to hire a Social Media Manager. Your Social Media Manager will open, design and handle all of your online social media profiles. With your business name constantly being displayed on your potential customers networking sites they will choose your brand name over other peoples as displays in their sight then creates displays in their mind which in turn leads them to your product or service. Having someone to reply to their questions, messages and posts on the networking site allow them to feel that you really care and you’re not just a name.  This kind of human contact makes them trust you and allows them to be more open and they become a little more willing to listen. All of these efforts help to break down the barriers that your prospects may have at first.

Social Media Managers maintain the pages to keep reminding old and current customers, fans and clients of your presence as well as attracting new customers, fans and clients with giveaways, research interest polls, post interesting facts and special promotions, and service the accounts at all times. With so many different social networking sites out there, hiring a Social Media Manager is a great option since they are right on the pulse of every change, every trend and everything to do with your business, service and/or industry. This allows them to keep your company one step ahead of the competition at all times. Regardless of the size of your company, niche or service, a Social Media Manager can help you to make your business part of the growing world of social media and provide your growing consumer base with a point of contact that fits into their everyday life.

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

When the Internet evolved into a web 2.0 environment, many found the sheer influx of new social media sites to be overwhelming. When you’re using social networks to help brand and build your business, it’s vital that you have a system in place to organize and manage those tasks, and a social media manager can accomplish that for you.

As an online entrepreneur, you have many hats to wear in your business. You brainstorm ideas, create products, conduct tracking and testing to enhance conversion rates. But you also focus on advertising, and while most marketing costs money, social media is free to those who want to wield its power.

The problem occurs when you start signing up for social networks and realize you don’t have enough hours in the day to manage the operations of it all. So you start looking for someone to outsource the networking tasks to – a social media manager who will be the right fit for your business vision.

You want a social media manager who knows how to immerse himself (or herself) into multi media formats – from text to audio to video. They need to be able to handle blog posts, video presentations and communications with prospective customers on any and all Internet platforms like forums or chat rooms.

Social media managers take on the role of branding your business for you on the World Wide Web, so you want to ensure they don’t engage in black hat spamming and always present your business in its best light.

While you’re busy focusing on the product line and profits, your social media manager will seek out new networking opportunities, have a profile set up for you and begin releasing information to interested viewers about your offerings.

You may notice that most offline companies are now in the process of hiring online media managers to build a rapport with the public. This person will be able to identify your target audience on networking sites and then build a bridge between their needs and your solutions.

They’ll monitor the web to see what buzz is being created about your business and address it accordingly. They will encourage participation and find ways of engaging them in conversations.

Social media managers who are adept at their jobs will easily be able to channel targeted traffic to your website through many of the largest web 2.0 entities in existence – including LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Digg and more. Their job is to create a buzz and circulate information and you reap all of the rewards of those efforts.

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

Are you looking for a more effective way to market your business? You have probably already heard that with the use of video marketing, you can see pretty incredible results. Many people dread the thought of creating the video and then figuring out how to put your video online. Do the benefits of this marketing strategy outweigh the work that goes into it?

The answer is simple, Yes! Don’t get me wrong, it does require quite a bit of work. First, you have to shoot the video. After shooting the video you will need to do some editing, formatting, and then you have to upload the video to an online platform such as YouTube. (After uploading to YouTube then you need to ensure you have the proper title and description attached). The benefits can be incredible!

1.   Greater Connection. By creating videos you allow for greater personal connection with your audience. This is especially important if you have an internet based business. Through video marketing, your potential customers are able to connect with a real person, not just words on a page. Many people will feel as though they have actually met you. This can go a long way to turning a potential customer into a long-term customer.

2.   Seeing is Believing. Many people need the personal connection to believe what you are saying. Have you ever heard the saying, “Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see”? With many people, this holds true, especially on the internet. With all of the scammers out there, it is hard to know who is “real”. Through video you are putting a face behind your words, which makes you not only more believable but trustworthy as well.

3.    YouTube can Increase Traffic. Want more traffic? Do you dream of increasing your traffic to your blog? On YouTube alone, people view 2 BILLION videos every day. If you aren’t using video marketing, you could be potentially missing out on a lot of traffic.

4.    Video Platforms. The best part is, most video sites are free and simple to use once you spend sometime navigating the platform.

5.    Using Great Audio. Have you ever noticed how sound can make an impact? Think back to the last time you watched an action flick or horror film you experienced the impact of the audio. Remember when the intense or creepy music began what happened to you? You were on the edge of your seat right? Just waiting to see what happens next! It’s the same with your video use incredible audio to match the powerful video you created. It can be far more compelling than the words you put on a page.

6.    Videos are Mobile. People can watch the videos on the go. With all of the devices available, such as iPhones, Smartphones, and iPads, it is easier to watch videos wherever you go. If your videos are downloadable it will make it even easier for people to view them and as often as they’d like.

7.    Demonstrating your Product. Video gives you and your business the opportunity to demonstrate your product(s) for potential customers. Here’s an example: Seeing a picture of a set of knives with a description is not nearly as effective as seeing those same knives in action. That’s why infomercials are so successful; people get to see exactly what the product can and will do in just a matter of minutes. It allows the buyer to connect and imagine how the product could be beneficial to them.

8.   Increasing Sales. There are many reports online that show how video marketing can increases sales. When someone watches a video, you have his or her full attention. While article marketing is also effective, most people will skim through it. With videos, they are more likely to watch from beginning to end.

Video Marketing is can be very effective in your business. In the coming years video will continue to grow, why not be an early adopter. Just remember, there are many forms of marketing. The more you diversify your marketing strategies, the more effective your efforts and the more people you can reach.

Share some of your ideas in the comment box below.

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

Untitled from Karriann Graf on Vimeo.

I wanted to share this short video on Exceeding YOUR Customers Expectations because its harder and more expensive to earn new customers than it is to take care of the customers that are already raving fans.

What could you do to exceed your customers expectations?  Make comments so we can all learn.

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

Video marketing can be intimidating. You have to learn a new technology, not to mention get comfortable in front of a camera – or at the very least lending your voice to a screen captured presentation.

Free private label rights videos seem like an attractive option, but they’re really not. Private label rights (PLR) videos are videos that someone else creates and sells to multiple buyers so that they can use them as their own.

But with free PLR videos, there are drawbacks to making them work. First, many come without editing rights. You have to use them as is. This sometimes includes a watermark or URL of the person who created the video, which detracts from you being able to brand your own business.

You’ll want to find affordable PLR videos that help you get a jump-start on your video marketing skills but don’t require you to learn how to produce a professional, quality production from day 1.

Start by finding a reputable PLR video source. Watch their sample videos to ensure the voice is attractive (but you can do a voiceover if you’re willing to learn that). What is the overall quality like? Is the content good – would you find value in it if you bought it or watched it as a customer of that niche?

Once you have a PLR source picked out, and you download a set of PLR you want to use – figure out what would most benefit your business. Should you sell the video products as a course? Use them to direct traffic to your existing products? Showcase them as your own expertise in this niche?

You have to check with the PLR seller to see what rights they offer – because not all PLR rights are the same. Some product owners will let you use your own URL, but not edit the audio. Double check before you buy.

Consider making a transcript of the video to offer your customers. Some people prefer to read or at least follow along with text. Or, create an accompanying guide for them that serves as a viral PDF file to get people to come and watch your video PLR.

Make sure that when you invest in private label rights videos, that you get all of the source files that you need to edit them in a comprehensive manner. Then plug it into a tool like Camtasia and once you edit them to your liking, put them to work for you!

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

In my last blog I talked about some of the things to consider when setting up your LinkedIn profile. Now, I’d like to share some tips for building your connections and presenting the right image on LinkedIn

Netiquette (Internet Netiquette) in a nutshell
Everything you do on LinkedIn must be professional – yes, that’s a word I use a lot when I refer to LinkedIn, but I can’t stress it enough. If you’re a small- to medium-sized business owner, your reputation is important. And because LinkedIn is a marketing tool for your business, you want to exude that professional image. That means every time you update your status, or connect with someone, or comment on their status, you need to choose your words carefully, because whatever you say is a direct reflection on your business.

Making Contact and Connecting
Like Facebook and Twitter, you want people to join your social network. But, with LinkedIn, you want to be more discerning about who you allow into your network because this is a business networking tool.

LinkedIn believes that connections on their site are important as well. You can see this when you approach someone to connect with them. It’s not just about saying “Hi, I want to be your friend.” Before you can connect, you have to answer some questions. If you don’t have a direct connection with the person, you may need to ask someone you know who’s connected with this person to give you an introduction.

Seeing your connections and their connections, and so on…
LinkedIn uses a hierarchy for sharing your connections with you. You will see this at various places on LinkedIn. One example is when you are looking through your direct connections’ contact lists.

If you are directly connected to someone they are in your 1st tier. If your 1st tier connection is connected to someone else then you’ll see 2nd next to that person’s name wherever they show up. LinkedIn may even tell you that the 2nd tier person is connected to 10 (or whatever number) of your 1st connections.

In future blogs we’ll explore some of the ways you can meet LinkedIn members, including joining groups.

If you have any questions about getting LinkedIn, please post them here and I’ll be happy to answer them.