Small businesses are the backbone of all successful economies. They have been pushed by the economic downturn and are struggling to figure out a way to survive. The ones that adapt are the businesses that will grow and evolve, the ones that do not, risk going under or worse becoming irrelevant. Small businesses that embrace Social Media are creating new realities for not only themselves, but a way to communicate and interact with their clientele. For years Social Media marketing has been an “Ace Up The Sleeve” of many savvy marketing connoisseurs. But, with the advent of higher band-wdith access and the mainstreaming of Social Networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, the business of doing business has changed the way we all think about commerce and communication. Just because you have and update your Twitter / Facebook accounts daily about how much the guy standing next to you smells bad, doesn’t necessarily equate more qualified followers and/or potential customers. The following is a simple strategy for an aspiring small business that most likely has some sort online presence, but really has no clue of what to do next.

You have 12 Seconds…

They say that you have 12 seconds to capture someone’s attention online. I agree, you literally have SECONDS to get your point across or people will bounce off your site or profile. Put yourself in the shoes of a site visitor…would you want to meander around a site and waste your time with meaningless content or images? No, you would want to get what you need and then get off the site. Over the 33+ years I’ve been blessed to be alive on this planet, I have realized that the most precious commodity is Time. We never have enough of it and you can NEVER get it back. To put it simply, you need to make an effective impact immediately.

A super quick way to get noticed by your consumer base and site viewers is interacting with them with on a multimedia level. Having a picture of your business is “nice” and passively “safe”, but having a video of employees at work or the boss giving an update on the company’s footing in a weak economy is thousands of times over more palpable. The entire concept of video in my opinion is not being utilized the way it can be. There are a bazillion video uploading sites like; YouTube, Revver, MetaCafe, etc., which are all great. There is one however, that you almost NEVER hear about: 12seconds.tv

12seconds.tv is similar to many other video social networking sites with uploading and video replying, but very different in the sense that they literally limit the video time to just, yup you guessed it; 12 seconds. You can record a video about whatever you want and then share it with everyone else in the 12seconds community. You can also link up your Twitter and Facebook accounts to spread your video message to many places at once, instantly. Granted most of the 12second community tends to be teeny boppers, but for a small business owner this is a PERFECT solution. Why do I say perfect with CAPS ON? I’ll tell you why…

With the ever expanding and intertwining nature of Social Media and Social Networks and connectivity, your last paying customer can now become your next brand spokesperson in a mere 12 seconds. Here is a scenario…You just finished selling an item to a customer who just loves your business and is excited. Historically, what’s the next step in the chain of sales from that point…have them fill out an email flyer with some room for their Facebook or Twitter account? You have a vital resource that at that moment NO other business has…which is the paying customer standing in front of you. The future of your business is literally right in front of you! You provided a service for them in some capacity or another. Hopefully, you have elated their spirits and retained your name in their short term memory. Why not use that moment to have them give you a positive review of your business on the spot…impromptu…in just 12 seconds. (My suggestion is to use very simple questions like: What was your experience like? What makes keep coming back? etc…) The best part of using this kind of service is that you do not have to worry about editing and sequences or dubbing.

This isn’t going to be a super high tech experiment requiring you to learn a foreign language. You don’t have to a Geek Paladin Level 71 to grasp the concept. This isn’t rocket science, but it is an ingenious way to use a medium that will benefit your business. All you need is an internet connection, a laptop and a camera. (or if you have an iPhone there is a 12seconds App in the iTunes store called: 12UP)

Just sign up, create an account, make sure your internet ready camera is on…and you are ready to change your small business into a smart business. When you finish uploading your video you then can take the code (if your slightly tech savvy and embed it onto your blog on your site.) See? Social Media Marketing isn’t THAT hard…you just need to think a little outside the box. Oh, did I forget to mention the best part? Oh…just that ever aspect of what I just wrote about is 100% Free? Yeah…that got your attention…in less than 12 seconds!

Here is a link to my 12 seconds of fame: http://12seconds.tv/v/CFFQI

Posted via email from The Baron Bytes Back! Posterous

There are so many scams out there when it comes to Social Media.

I found a website, the name is escaping me at the moment, but it looked very, very similar to a well known Social Networking site. As soon as you hit the site, they ask you to log in using your account name and password from the other Social Networking site. Scary to say the least. Obviously, it was a fake to me, but how many people look at a website like I do? There are so many people out there that would just type their user name and password in like it were no big deal.

These days, in this desperate economy we find ourselves within, you can’t be careful enough. Here are a couple of really important tips to remember when surfing sites.

1. Always double check the URL bar to make sure you are on the correct website. If a link takes you away from the original site, make sure you have a pop up blocker working.

2. When closing a window on a PC, NEVER click the little red “X” in the upper right hand corner! Always go to the boxed window in your bar at the very bottom if your screen and right click and close that particular window. The reason for this is because some hackers change the parameters of what certain functions on a popup can do. They could change the red “X” to open a separate program or another pop up window, instead of closing the original window.

As always I’m available for free advice.

For April 2010, I chose to create this Linkedin Poll as a way to remind you all that Social Media can be an incredibly powerful tool to all businesses, but at what cost? Many people take Social Media and Social Networking for granted. A huge misconception about Social Media is that it’s only for tweeting what you just ate or posting a cute photo of your kid’s first steps. Can it be used for these purposes? Of course. You can technically do whatever the heck you want…it’s your profile and your space. Here’s the real question, “Is anyone listening to you?”

If your Social Media campaign is not bringing in sales…you are doing something wrong. Keep in mind, this should be seen as a long term project…unless you have a brand name that people already know. It doesn’t matter if you sell high end jewelry, a live chat service, or whatever. If it’s not done properly or orchestrated to a certain degree, then all the time you spent was a complete waste of time. I have personally seen so many of my clients come to me and ask me what they are doing wrong and usually it’s as simple as; content creation, post frequency, and content relevance.

You can’t just post photos all the time. I’m sure they are nice to look at, but Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. just can’t read the context of a photo. They may say a picture is worth 1000 words, but not to search engines. (of course if you tag your photos correctly, then that is a different story…of which is for another article.) You need content and lots of it. Posting only once a year in not the way to gain followers or fans and posting every 5 seconds will most likely mark you as a Spammer. And no one likes a Spammer now do they? Most importantly in my opinion is relevance. Your content should be about your business and should use keywords or phrases that relate to what you do or sell. Using your Facebook business page to chatter about what you did last night is not going to get you more customers…unless that is what is relevant to your business and people follow you for your perspective on night clubs or something.

Basically, think of your profile as a unique website that you have to optimize so that other people who think like you will be able to connect to you. This is why so many companies are not getting the response they are looking for with Social Media. The most important thing to do when starting in Social Media is just listen. Read the tweets. View the profiles. Look for patterns in how people communicate. Your audience is out there and they are looking for you. Are you sending out the right message and is it effective? Is your time being spent wisely. If not, then you need to re-evaluate, revamp, and reconnect.

Take my poll and let me know what you think.

The response so far has been incredible from my recent posts on my website www.AndrewDavidBaron.com as well as my Facebook Fan Page. I’ve had such an influx of people candidly asking me for advice and suggestions towards their businesses and Social Media.

I’m happy to report that I’ll be making a bunch of new Microsites and helping quite a few of my fans reinvent their businesses with Social Media and Social Networking. As I complete each project, I’ll release the website and information about them.

I’m truly excited to jump in head first and literally help people help themselves and their businesses in the roughest economy since, The Great Depression.” You can’t wait for someone to help you or rely on them to care about your business. People need to help themselves, but so many have absolutely no idea or clue as to where to start or do. That’s why I am doing what I am doing. It’s imperative to help small businesses evolve and grow with the changing times. Small businesses are the backbone of any economy.

The wait is finally over.

You now can become a fan of www.AndrewDavidBaron.com on Facebook! You’ll be able to get new perspectives on Live Chat Software, LiveChatAgent, and ClickToTalk technology and how they integrate and contextualize into contemporary Social Media. The future of Social Networking is here!

Just use the Facebook Fan box in the Widget Bar to the right of this post.