Craig Cannings : First of all, I want to thank you all or Y'all (depending on where you come from) for inviting me to come hang out with you tonight and talk about a topic that is near and dear to my heart - Social Media
So, just a quick intro of who I am...
I am a Canadian Scottish Icelandic lad born and raised in beautiful BC, Canada. I have been involved in the Internet Biz since 2003 and have worked in a variety of capacities such as an Affiliate Marketing, Internet Marketing Director, Blogger, and Social Media Trainer and Consultant....
In 2008, I founded VAClassroom.com with my lovely wife Kelly and we have been super pleased with the feedback and growth of this Virtual Business Training Center over the last year - it has been a fun ride
While I have never worked as a VA, I have had the privilege of training and managerment a diverse virtual team since 2003. I had the opportunity to training many Virtual Assistants that worked with our companies in area of Internet Marketing - It was this experience that inspired us to create VAClassroom http://www.vaclassroom.com!
Okay, so enough about me...
can you tell me really quick your name, company name and your hometown - love to know who is in the chat

vainparadise : Welcome Craig!

Olinda Services : Lisa Olinda, Olinda Services, Middletown, Delaware

VBSOnDemand : Serena Carcasole Virtual Business Solutions ON DEMAND and I am from Brampton Ontario (Great Toronto Area)

ChristinaVOS : Christina- Vital Office Solutions- Upstate NY

JKVirtualOffice : Typing in from Cornelius, OR.

PamH53 : Pam Hower - Admin Etcetera - Sanibel, Florida

AnnaLisa Michalski : Welcome, Craig. I'm AnnaLisa Michalski - Admin Maven - Portsmouth, VA, USA

michellem : Michelle Medd, Administrative Essentials, Ontario Canada

CortniM : I'm Cortni Marrazzo and my business is called Essential Excellence and I'm in Spokane, WA. I just started as a VA in November so I'm still a newbie

peales23 : Pat Eales, Your Extra Pair of Hands, Oakville, Ontario, Canada

obvusa : Derek, Orion Business Ventures, Knoxville, TN

Ivy Freelance : Deb Mallett, Ivy Freelance, Edmonton, Alberta

Jill T : Jill Tirone, VAMatrix, Buffalo, NY

Craig Cannings : Hey Deb!

D_Victoria_Virtual_Assistance : Darlene here of D. Victoria Virtual Assistance in New Jersey

MegBarberVA : Megan Barber, BarberVASolutions, Vineland, NJ

TimeForLife : Rikki Green, Time for Life Concepts, Phoenix

Missbookkeeping : Darcee Sellers, Digits Plus, Holliston, MA

McCaul Assistance : Lori McCaul, McCaul Assistance, Bucks County, PA

KyleSC : Kyle Sheldon-Chandler, KSC Virtual Assistant Services, Grand Junction, CO

vainparadise : Dawn Riley - A Virtual Assistant in Paradise, Venice Florida

Caliber Virtual Services : Delilah Smith, Caliber Virtual Services, Norfolk, Virginia

Craig Cannings : Okay, so let me start by doing a quick poll on your Social Media Experience.... It is nice to know where you are at, so I can best tailor our discussion.
Thanks for sharing about yourself - nice to meet you all! So on a Scale between 1 to 10, I want you to rank your Social Media Savviness (Sp?). 7-10: Actively tweet 15+ times per day, active in Facebook a couple times a day, participate in Facebook Groups etc.... 4-6: Set-up Profiles in the top social networks, occassionally participate, but still getting your feet wet, 1-3 - Have look at the Social Networks, but have not yet dived in... Where are you at?

Ivy Freelance : Only personal experience so far, but have taken your courses.

JKVirtualOffice : My niche is social media. I play on Twitter & Facebook a lot.

ChristinaVOS : 6

Olinda Services : 8 Twitter, FB, LinkedIn

TimeForLife : 8

AnnaLisa Michalski : 3 at best. I love LinkedIn, but where do I get the time?

PamH53 : 5

obvusa : 7

Ivy Freelance : Oh you had a scale... 6

D_Victoria_Virtual_Assistance : 6

peales23 : Have LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook accounts, which I access once a day, so about a 6

CortniM : 7

Craig Cannings : yes, Kim - I have noticed you on Twitter on occasion - lol (late nights as well)

JKVirtualOffice : 9

michellem : 6

vainparadise : 8.5 because I have slacking on personal FB acct.

JKVirtualOffice : Late nights are the best. That's also when I find kena, Dawn and @VAForums on there the most too!

McCaul Assistance : 5; play on Facebook

KathyCrofoot.com : 4 - Have accounts that I visit occasionally

VBSOnDemand : 6

MegBarberVA : An 8. I'm all over the place

Craig Cannings : Okay, great - so pretty active. Next question...

Craig Cannings : Yes or No, Are you currently offering Social Media Services to your clients? If so, what you are offering?

VBSOnDemand : sorrry i entered too soon 6 and I am on facebook, twitter, linkedin, love ping.fm and tweetlater and i am on a few other

peales23 : Not sure what it entails, so not offered yet. That's why I'm here

nkelly : 6 too, Have FB acct still trying to figure out the value, have LinkedIn, Twitter

CortniM : not yet...

ChristinaVOS : no- but,was just asked by 2 clients to explain the benefits of twitter

kimnoel : no

KathyCrofoot.com : no

Olinda Services : Yes FB profile, professional page, group setup. Twitter just getting into offering.

Ivy Freelance : No because haven't started yet. But hope to do content mgmt most.

Caliber Virtual Services : Not yet.

AnnaLisa Michalski : I only offer blog writing. All else - no.

McCaul Assistance : no, not yet

VBSOnDemand : yes profile set ups, fan page set ups, business profiles, creating events and groups etc

obvusa : I'm here to see how..

MegBarberVA : no... working on it

JKVirtualOffice : Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Biznik, Online Rep Mgmt, Blog management, Flickr, Niche sites

PamH53 : no

TimeForLife : I offer what is needed, but would love to build up more clients who need SM services

Craig Cannings : Okay, Thanks for the feedback - Let's get into the nitty gritty

nkelly : Would this involve setting up their profiles, groups, etc?

Missbookkeeping : yes, set up, profiles,etc.

JKVirtualOffice : oh, and social bookmarking.

vainparadise : Yes

D_Victoria_Virtual_Assistance : Yes, as it as requested by clients. Updating profiles & blog postings.

Virtually Assisting You : Yes, FB profile, twitter management & profile. And helping them learn as well

KyleSC : yes, offer blog and facebook and twitter encouragement to clients

Craig Cannings : Okay, so here's the deal... Based on my research and study of small business and Social Media Usage, there are essentially two types of prospective clients out there right now... I have created names for these two client groups (that they may not like)


Group 1: Mr Frazzled. Mr Frazzled is quite savvy with Social Media, active in Twitter and Facebook, has a business blog, upload videos to YouTube, Syndicates content via EzineArticles.com, Hubpages, Squidoo Lenses - doing a lot of Social Media Marketing...
But here in lies the problem: they are stressed, strapped for time, consumed with work and keeping up with their Social Media efforts that it is hindering their business objectives - they lack focus
So, they have all the right "tools in their toolbox" so to speak, but they need some support in a big way
These people are not looking at Social Media Marketing Specialists and VAs to help them take their Social media Marketing efforts to the next level

Group #2: Mr Dazed and Confused
These individuals have a basic understanding of the many types of Social Media channels out there, but are overwhelmed and not sure where they should focus their efforts or even start for that matter
Should they Tweet, set-up groups on Facebook, track their online reputation, submit articles and blog posts to Social Media channels, produce and submit videos, network in the Big Three (Twitter, Linkedin Facebook): HELP!

let me tell you. Both Groups are potential clients for yourself and I would say that the largest of the two BY FAR will be Group #2, given the sheer growth of small business that will have a web presence and marketing online in 2009 and beyond
Based on our research, we have pinpointed seven Social Media areas of niches that businesses are seeking delegate or outsource

Let me break them down briefly for you...

Service #1: Social Media Strategy and Action Planning
As mentioned, Mr Dazed and Confused is overwhelmed and needs help with direction and a starting point in his/her Social Media Marketing activities

So, a big opportunity right now is to position yourself as a coach in helping them assess their Social Media Marketing efforts and determine the best course of action...

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Craig Cannings : This essentially involved 4 key steps: Assessment, Brainstorming (Mind Mapping), Goal Setting & Action Planning and Tracking & Evaluation I can tell you right now, that many businesses have settled for "the shotgun" approach to Social Media Marketing - they are dabbling in a bunch of things with no clear business objective or direction... Many of them will be disappointed with the results.. Give you an example.... On almost a daily basis, I am sent invites to participate in new Social Networks and Online Communities. Now, I could go ahead joined 30+ networks and attempt to manage and "join the conversation" in each, but inevitably I will be stretched and super ineffective.. So, businesses need to go through that assessment phase and ask themselves some key questions such as...

Who is my target audience? What is my primary business objective for participating in Social Media? Where does my target audience hangout? What specific Social Media Channels would be meet my business objectives?

Those a just a few... The point here... Without a clear strategy and game plan, they will be like a "ship without a rudder" lost in this vast Social Media Realm This is a fabulous service that you can offer your clients to help them max the potential of Social Media Marketing for their business. That is service #1 I am going to run through the seven then we can jump into a Q&A

Service #2 Social Networking Profile Set-up & Management
Another huge "in-demand" area There has been great debate in Twitter and the blogosphere as of late on have ghost writers, bloggers that represent you in the Social Network, so you don't have to do the work. You might have seen that? Here is an analogy Let's say your daughter is getting married and you have decided to have a beautiful backyard wedding You have appointed yourself as the main event coordinator! You need to order the cake, secure the caterer, hire the DJ, set-up the chairs, tables and decorations, the list goes on...... Thank goodness my oldest daughter is only 7 years old - a few years to prepare myself So, you can make all these wedding arrangements, but at the end of the day your daugter still needs to show for up for the wedding

So, translation...

There is a great opportunity for you to function as a Social Media Coordinator for your clients and help set-up the systems, and profiles for them to thrive in the Social Media realm. But at the end of the day, they still need to show-up in order for it to be authentic and effective.. So, you can help set-up and professionalize their Twitter, Facebook profiles and provide ongoing maintenance of their Social network.. And you can serve as their coach in helping them to determine "What to tweet, what not to tweet" - how to function and build a targeted network in the Social Media Realm.

This is a huge service and one of the most requested services from the graduates we have polled in our Social Media Training Program at VAClassroom.

Service #3 & 4 - Twitter and Facebook Marketing
It is an undisputed fact that Twitter and Facebook are the "talk of the town" in the blogosphere and where business want to focus their energies in addition to niche social networks that target a particular industry There are set-up and management services that you can offer in both of these Social Networks. I know of VAs that spend a good portion of their time with their clients managing their efforts in Facebook... For example; you might add regular content (videos, text, posts), set-up FB business pages, set-up and moderate groups, set-up and manage Facebook events, research and build up their friend and fan base, update their Facebook business applications - the list goes on...
With Twitter, you can pimp up their Twitter Profile with a nice background from www.twitterbacks.com or www.twitback.com One VA I was speaking with today actually just set-up Twitter profiles for two clients this week. This could involve using tools like www.twellow.com to help them research and build a targeted network to follow. This might include giving them a Twitter 101 lesson so they can then go leverage the power of this super responsive social networking tool.

The list goes on... The amount of Twitter applications out there are staggering as many of you know, so newbie businesses need direction on this..

Service #5 - Online Video Marketing - BIG AREA
It is estimate by 2010 that 85% of Internet users will regular watch videos online - that is a staggering %


So, business are running to get create compelling videos and mass syndicate them through Video Sharing Sites such as YouTube, Revver, Metacafe etc.. This video creation requires a clear strategy and game plan, effective research to determine winning topics, profile set-up in YouTube and of course video submission and then tracking the results of their video marketing efforts - lots of work..
To be honest... Many businesses have avoided videos - they would love to do it, but see it as too much work. But the opportunity is to big for them to pass up right now... They need someone that can help execute the various steps in mass submitting videos online..

Service #6 - Online Reputation Management
Have you heard of the Streisand effect?
A tabloid photographer snapped an arial picture of her new house on the coast of California. She was not a happy camper, so proceeded to sue him for 30 million dollares. The blogosphere caught wind of this law suit and proceed to show this photo on 1000's of blogs and social networks

How to litigate 1000 bloggers?

So, the phrase was coined.. The Streisand Effect. In this new social media realm.. Good news travels fast, but bad news travels at the speed of light Hence the serious importance managing your online reputation...

Companies are hiring VAs and online professional to track and report on comments related to their company, products, c-level executives etc...

obvusa : but don't you need to know that person or business in order to defend it/them?

Craig Cannings : No, you don't need to know them, but rather need to know what it is being said, good, bad and neutral about your company to you can provide accurate information...

The rumour mill can get out of hand in forums and social networks, so there is serious importance to have someone being the "eyes and ears" for a company - that is a role you might be interested in playing. We actually just did a webinar with an Online Reputation management consultant who also works as a VA!

nkelly : probably just reporting back to them, right?

Craig Cannings : her work is fascinating..

TimeForLife : damage control

Craig Cannings : Yes, tracking and reporting and potentially you might get comfortable with their products and services to be able to join the conversation as welll

This particular VA I know does the communication piece for the company now, but didn't start there - just was reporting initially

Okay, Service #7 Social Media Content Marketing....

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Craig Cannings : In this new Social Media realm, it is actually possible for a company to OWN the first page of Google for particular keywords through strategic content marketing.... For example; business are submitting articles via ezinearticles, submitting blog posts to Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, the list goes on... , create Hubpages and Squidoo Lenses with their specific keywords and they are coming up high in Google across many different sites.. It is a known fact that Social Media Sites like Digg and Hubpages are indexed fast in Google due to strong link popularity and a high page rank...

So, businesses see the value in creating these sort of "Content Factories" within their business, but they need help with research, strategy and submission - another huge taksk you can take on!

Okay, I have talked WAY too long - let me give the floor to you - thoughts, questions, comments...

Olinda Services : What are (is) Squidoo Lenses?

TimeForLife : No, questions here, but I do want to thank you. The information you shared has sparked a lot of plugs in my brain about how to proceed.

Craig Cannings : http://www.squidoo.com - you can publish article-style content on any type of topic..

vainparadise : Great info you shared Craig

Craig Cannings : Businesses build content around the keywords they want to be listed high for in the Search Engiens

nkelly : you spoke of Mr. Dazed and Confused and the other guy, are businesses really this savvy?

Virtually Assisting You : Thanks for sharing with us, Craig.

Craig Cannings : Mr Frazzled? Yes, some are (the early adopters of Social Media), but a big growth area is the new businesses that are now realizing the potential of Social media

KyleSC : What is the best way to market or become a reputation manager on the web?

JKVirtualOffice : Craig, for clients who want to know how they are getting a return on their investment, what do you advise?

obvusa : yes, but new business may also mean no $$..

obvusa : to be able to pay a va for services

vainparadise : Great Q Kimberly!

obvusa : unless it's a big company with lots of capitol to invest

Craig Cannings : I think one of the best way to market yourself as a reputation manager is show your client's what is being said about their products or services. You could almost provide a little spreadsheet on references to their busness and products that they may not know of - that is a good way to convince them...

Craig Cannings : I think a big way to market the ORM piece is through education - provide information on why this is so darn important for companies to keep on top of. Write articles on it, put on mini-webinars etc...

AnnaLisa Michalski : Let's say I want to learn how X network/tool works so I can offer it to clients. So I open my own account and play. But once I know my way around, I have another whole area of my own marketing to keep up with since that account is alive. Time is already short--I'm sure I couldn't manage on top of client work. What's the best approach? Just pick one medium to specialize in? Which one?

Craig Cannings : Good ole "Pink Spoon" Marketing - give them something of value that will initiate some interest in the Online Reputation management piece. We cover this is great detail in our training program. I will include the link here, but you can also click on our banner on the right there (VAClassroom): http://www.vaclassroom.com/socialmarketingtraining/

KyleSC : great ideas - thank you!

Craig Cannings : great question Kim. In our first session of our training program, we talk about the two ROIs, "Return on Influence" and "Return on Invesment" and review a variety of tools for business to specifically track their Social Media Influence and increase in leads and sales...\

Craig Cannings : There are very specific tracking systems that you can set-up so they can monitor their Social Media influence overall ROI through tools like Google Analytics, BlogPulse.com, Trendpedia etc..

Craig Cannings : For example; we know the exact conversion percentage of Twitter users who have clicked on one of our blogs or product links and became a customer..

Craig Cannings : This helps us to determine what Social Networks yield the best results etc...

Craig Cannings : AnnaLisa to answer you question...

JKVirtualOffice : Does that include those who click thru from Twitter but come back later and convert to a customer?

Craig Cannings : Yes, it is important to start small..... If you are going to master Social Networking, start with Facebook and Twitter (and possibly Linkedin). If you love online videos, then read everything you can get your hands in the area of online video marketing. That is the exciting part about Social Media Marketing is that there are so many niches you are focus on - you don't have to focus on everything..

Craig Cannings : Kim, I believe Google Analytics can cookie and attribute their first point of contact with the site

Craig Cannings : While Google Analytics may not always be 100% accurate, it does provide enough data to determine overall performance levels in Social media

Craig Cannings : The bottom line is that in this difficult economic climate, Social media Marketing is a very cost effective investment. Yes, they would hire your services, but it would still be more cost-effective then traditional modes of advertising and even online media buys and Pay per Click advertising

JKVirtualOffice : Thanks, Craig. Good point about the cookies.

Craig Cannings : Well, Thanks for the opportunity - this was great! Have a great night everyone. Let's stay in touch on Twitter - @vaclassroom

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Visit Craig's website - dedicated to providing solid VA education in Social Media, Internet Marketing and more: VA Classroom at http://www.vaclassroom.com!

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