InBoundMarketingPR Blog

Involvement is Evolvement. Will You Evolve in 2010?

Evolve comes from the Latin word, evolvere, meaning to develop, work out (socially, politically and literary philosophies).  It's interesting to me that the word "social" is mentioned in context with evolve.  We all know how important social connections were in 2009. For example YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Facebook and any discussion forum with good content and enriching debate.  If you weren't on these sites you weren't part of the eloquent conversations taking place!  But these "social" tools aren't meant for just personal involvement alone, they are also being used for company evolvement.

If 2009 wasn't the year you were connected, please do yourself and your company a favor by connecting in 2010.   This article featured in Entrepreneur.com says it all. It touches on important points of how social sites establish another source, an extension of your business/website.  How important fans/friends/followers are because they can turn into customers, increasing your ROI.  It touches on the importance of SEO and organic traffic to your company websites.  It shows how these sites become commnunities for your company helping to solidify your brand. These sites become your eyes and ears online.  You can monitor who is saying what about your company and every interaction is a great opportunity and a wealth of information.  Notice how the article only mentions Facebook but the same holds true for other, equally as important, social sites.  As a business owner you can see the incredible potential being connected offers your company.

So, I will ask again...  Will you evolve in 2010?  I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we at InboundMarketingPR can assist you with all the above services and connect you with the most powerful service your company can not afford to miss.  We wish you all the best and a Prosperous 2010.

Building Your Brand!

I attended a basketball clinic at our local YMCA this weekend and as I was watching the coaches (Y employees) and the children interacting I had a wonder thought. I thought about Community! In today’s viral world, everyone is talking about social media, branding your company and building communities. Sitting here wondering how many people have come and gone through the same doors that I came in through today? Feeling, in an overwhelming sort of way, that these staff members like many other’s before them, are making such a powerful difference in some child’s life. As I see children incapable of standing still, wiggly and restless, I know in my heart, this place is a Community. And this community is very much needed by every child here.

That “community” reminded me of a recent HubSpot webinar I attend which spoke of this same thing. It was an exceptional webinar titled “How to Use Social Media to Build Your Brand.” The webinar brought many wonderful points to light and one of many that stayed with me was “Brands are defined by what people are saying about your brand.” Many companies have operated under the out dated mindset “Our brand is defined by what we say our brand is.” Sooner than later these companies are discovering that this mindset is outdated and obsolete!

Branding and building Communities takes time and you have to cultivate in order to come out ahead lest you fall behind. By building communities around content you create more opportunites for your company. By participating with people on the web, sharing pertinent information and relevant news you create a deeper sense of trust and a sense of community. Keep in mind that the people you meet and take time to interact with can one day turn out to be clients, friends and colleagues.

By this point in the webinar I was asking myself How? How do I build communities with people via Social Media? Well, it’s very simple! First, start out by Listening, then you listen some more and then based on what you are hearing Build Relationships and share your content!! Listening is the hardest thing to do for many, trust me I know! But, if you want to hear what people are saying about your particular brand you must Listen! If you want to build a community around your brand you must Listen! So where do I go to Listen you might ask? Here are some create sites that were shared with us:

Twitter Search

The Google Blog Search

Technorati

Industry Twitterers – (I follow Chris Brogan) http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan

If this blog helps just one person, I would say I have Listened and my job is done and feel free to share as you see fit!