VA Newsday

To someone who has not thought of Facebook beyond keeping their family or friends informed of their latest adventures it is hard to comprehend how social media networks like Facebook or Twitter can possibly help their business. It is also very easy to become overwhelmed when faced with the daunting task creating an online presence for your business. I like to break things into small pieces and creating a social media campaign can easily be done by taking one step at a time. Determine what you wish to accomplish. Do you want to create a client list of 250 people who subscribe to your blog?  Do you wish to increase your sales by 25%?  This is probably the most important step so be very clear as to what your objectives are. Who are you targeting? Know who your target market is and why you are reaching out to them.  For example you may be a Virtual Assistant who specializes in providing services to insurance agents. They will be your target audience.  You also may target others who provide the same services you do so you can share ideas, concerns, advice, etc.  Know where your target audience hangs out and how to find them.

When I mention to clients about how useful Twitter is for marketing and brand-building, they usually are surprised, or think I’m just a Twitter addict (guilty as charged!) trying to justify using the latest distraction. However, there are some real-life case studies of successful Twittering that can easily be observed… just by following and watching how the Twitter Masters (as I like to call them) tweet. There’s a lot of great case studies I could point to, but one very famous personality stands out as a fantastic example of how best to use Twitter:  physician and best-selling author Deepak Chopra ( @Deepak_Chopra ). First  – a caveat… I tend to think that you can’t be “good” at Twitter unless you at least like Twitter. If you think it’s stupid or a time suck, you probably won’t get much out of it. That said and out of the way, it’s really obvious that those who are great at Twitter also clearly love it….and Deepak Chopra is clearly into Twitter.  So what is it about Dr. Chopra’s tweeting style that works so well?

If you are a Twitter veteran or a novice – you have probably been frustrated by the absence of user management tools within Twitter. Even a mildly enthusiastic Twitterer soon finds themselves wishing they could group users they follow, track clickthroughs, or simply make it easier to track outgoing or incoming messages.  HootSuite is a web-based tool that already offered great management tools such as scheduled tweets and multiple profile management. The new HootSuite 2.0 takes Twitter management to a whole new level. Many Twittizens use desktop apps such as Seesmic or TweetDeck to group their follows and monitor messages. The downside of these apps is that they are desktop-based – so you lose your groups if you are on different computers (unless you want to set them up all over again). Plus, the performance of these apps can be inconsistent at times (especially TweetDeck).  Having a web-based solution is obviously the optimal way to manage Twitter, and although the new HootSuite was just released this week, I have found that the interface is  intuitive,  fast and reliable.  You can do all your Twitter reading and tweeting within HS without ever needing to visit the Twitter home page. So what can you do with HootSuite? The quick list includes features almost any Twitter user would want, plus a few that you never thought you needed, but will become addictive once you start using them! Manage those you follow into custom groups and tabs – with quick links to send replies and DMs Monitor DMs and mentions in custom columns Easily track custom keyword searches in columns Create a custom column – then embed into your website to share with your readers Multiple profile support + multiple editors = indispensable if you have a virtual team using Twitter for customer service or brand development Post any RSS feed to Twitter – with custom prepends and refresh rates (this is absolutely necessary if you have a blog) Stats on clickthroughs. Post exclusively via HootSuite and all your shortened links are tracked. See what interests your followers most. Scheduled tweets HootSuite has this nice overview video to demonstrate the features… check it out! Also, be sure to follow @HootSuite on Twitter to keep up with the latest updates.

If you are a Twitter veteran or a novice – you have probably been frustrated by the absence of user management tools within Twitter. Even a mildly enthusiastic Twitterer soon finds themselves wishing they could group users they follow, track clickthroughs, or simply make it easier to track outgoing or incoming messages.  HootSuite is a web-based tool that already offered great management tools such as scheduled tweets and multiple profile management. The new HootSuite 2.0 takes Twitter management to a whole new level. Many Twittizens use desktop apps such as Seesmic or TweetDeck to group their follows and monitor messages. The downside of these apps is that they are desktop-based – so you lose your groups if you are on different computers (unless you want to set them up all over again). Plus, the performance of these apps can be inconsistent at times (especially TweetDeck).  Having a web-based solution is obviously the optimal way to manage Twitter, and although the new HootSuite was just released this week, I have found that the interface is  intuitive,  fast and reliable.  You can do all your Twitter reading and tweeting within HS without ever needing to visit the Twitter home page. So what can you do with HootSuite? The quick list includes features almost any Twitter user would want, plus a few that you never thought you needed, but will become addictive once you start using them! Manage those you follow into custom groups and tabs – with quick links to send replies and DMs Monitor DMs and mentions in custom columns Easily track custom keyword searches in columns Create a custom column – then embed into your website to share with your readers Multiple profile support + multiple editors = indispensable if you have a virtual team using Twitter for customer service or brand development Post any RSS feed to Twitter – with custom prepends and refresh rates (this is absolutely necessary if you have a blog) Stats on clickthroughs. Post exclusively via HootSuite and all your shortened links are tracked. See what interests your followers most. Scheduled tweets HootSuite has this nice overview video to demonstrate the features… check it out! Also, be sure to follow @HootSuite on Twitter to keep up with the latest updates.

This is just too funny – reminds me of the many times I’ve tried to explain it to “Twitter-resistant”  friends & family.  However, Kevin & Dave are waaaayyy more entertaining…  enjoy!! You can follow Kevin Spacey at http://twitter.com/KevinSpacey .  David Letterman not yet among the converted yet, as far as I know.

VA Classroom, an acclaimed training site for internet marketing and social media VAs, is opening registration for their much anticipated Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program.  This program is self-directed and focused entirely on using social media networks, LinkedIn, Facebook…