Just sharing with you all the note I got from Mari last night:

WOW! What an incredible, packed webinar we had today. Over 14,000 people registered for Facebook 2012: What You Need To Know. I opened up a few more seats at the last minute to allow more folks in, and over 5,500 attendees tuned in live from all over the world!

Of course, I do understand not everyone was able to attend live due to other commitments, access, and timezone differences. So, as promised, the entire event was recorded and we finally have the replay link up for you now. (Apologies for the delay; we had some hiccups but all is well now!) Just hop over to this page where you can watch the video and claim your bonus materials:

http://marismith.com/facebook2012/thankyou

 

Enjoy!  She’s fabulous!

Here’s great news on a Facebook event I’m actually happy to hear about… because it comes from a true leader in the social media space! I’ve known Mari Smith for years now and she’s amazing. She is THE thought leader and top influencer in how to use social media, especially Facebook.

If you’ve been trying to get social media to work for your business, you know that Mari Smith provides some of the best guidance there is for making sense of it all.

And as entrepreneurs and small businesses owners, we are all interested in getting better at Facebook marketing and relationship marketing in a big way.

So, I’m VERY excited to tell you that Tuesday, January 31st Mari’s going to be leading one of her informative FREE webinars on Facebook Marketing for 2012 — and you’re invited!

http://bit.ly/xS88kE

With all the recent changes over at Facebook, sometimes it’s tough to stay ahead and use the world’s largest social network to guarantee consistent visibility, engagement and growth for your business.

That’s why Mari’s offering this free webinar, to get you up to speed on Facebook Marketing right at the start of the year. It’s all about the best ways to develop a raving fanbase so that they REALLY connect with you and love to buy from you.

http://bit.ly/xS88kE

I recommend you register right away to save your seat on Mari’s first big Facebook event of 2012 before it fills up (because if her previous webinars are any indication, I really think the virtual seats on this one will be overflowing too!) I’ve already signed up, so I’ll see ya there!

If you’re in a professional services business, you know how important relationship marketing is!  The undisputed queen of online relationship marketing is my friend, Mari Smith, who wrote the book on the subject!  She was kind enough to join a recent Leading Coaches’ Center Mastermind Call, where she shared with us all sorts of practical tools, strategies, and mindsets for succeeding in the rapidly changing online world.  Her specialty is Facebook.  You can access the recording of that call at your leisure here at the Leader’s Clubhouse! Mari was recently named by Forbes magazine as one of the TOP 3 social media power influencers. With over 66,000 subscribers on her Facebook page alone, Mari is THE thought leader when it comes to using social media in relationship marketing.

Topic: The New Relationship Marketing: How To Build, A Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web

What is relationship marketing? It’s all the actions you take online and offline to nurture the connections you have with your prospects, customers, alliances and partners… even with your so called competitors.You’ve heard of B2B and B2C (business to business, and business to consumer). Mari talks about how it all comes down to P2P: People to People.

Many businesses have not fully embraced the power of today’s social technologies due to a number of reasons, including fear of exposure, fear of negative comments and fear of wasting time and resources. In her new book, Mari skillfully walks you through her proven nine-step program for building a large, loyal and profitable network using the social web.

I’m excited to share with you a brand new book that is a must-read. It’s The New Relationship Marketing (a proven nine-step program for building a sizable, loyal network comprised of quality relationships that garner leads, publicity, sales, and more) by my friend, Mari Smith. If you don’t know Mari, she’s one of the foremost leaders in the social media arena – with particular expertise in Facebook marketing.  In fact, I hired Mari years ago to teach me about a new social network called Facebook that was growing like gangbusters!  I can tell you from experience that she’s the real deal…she actually practices what she teaches and is a delightful, authentic, sparkly gal!

Mari wrote this book specifically for those business owners and entrepreneurs who have only just dabbled with social media marketing, or who have reached a plateau with their online marketing efforts, and wish to propel their business to the next level and beyond. The pressure is on to shift your approach to using social media marketing, to better understand the new soft skills required for success on the social web, and to improve your own leadership skills through emotional and social intelligence.

What is relationship marketing? It’s all the actions you take online and offline to nurture the connections you have with your prospects, customers, alliances and partners… even with your so called competitors.You’ve heard of B2B and B2C (business to business, and business to consumer). Mari talks about how it all comes down to P2P: People to People.

Many businesses have not fully embraced the power of today’s social technologies due to a number of reasons, including fear of exposure, fear of negative comments and fear of wasting time and resources. In her new book, Mari skillfully walks you through her proven nine-step program for building a large, loyal and profitable network using the social web.

Go pick up a copy now! http://marismith.com/relationship-marketing-book-trailer/

But wait, there’s more! As if that’s not enough, Mari is including a special FREE 4-part webinar series to dive deep into the principles she teaches in her book. When you get a copy of The New Relationship Marketing, you then simply sign up here to reserve your place: http://www.marismith.com/books-by-mari/relationship-marketing-free-webinars/

Now that’s value!

In true Mari-style, you get to register for the free four-part webinar series on the “honor system!” That is, you do not need to scan/fax/email/snail mail any proof of purchase before you get access to the online classes. Once you order your book, just register here http://www.marismith.com/books-by-mari/relationship-marketing-free-webinars/ and that’s it!

If you have not yet joined the Twitter party, you must! Twitter just reached the 200million mark. That’s users, not dollars. According to Mashable, Twitter processes 350 billion tweets per day!

For many, this just appears as noise. As an executive coach, it’s 350 billion possible conversations a day to play in. Where else in the world can you get your business, your ideas, your message in front of 200million people for free?

If you want a quick start guide, visit http://www.suzipomerantz.com/twitter-for-coaches/

And be sure to connect with me if you are a Twitter user! I’m on there as @SuziPomerantz and would love to see you there.

So, you’ve dived into social media.  Good for you.  You’ve played a bit with blogging.  Bravo!  You’ve loaded videos on YouTube and photos on Flickr.  You’re connecting with folks on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. For goodness sake, you have so many sites to log into and remember a password for, it’s a wonder you know where to send anyone to find you online!  Now, there’s a solution to all that.  On About.me, you can create a free profile that lets you consolidate your various online locations into one hub if you will.  Very smart.  You can have this online, dynamic business card that gives one place to send folks to find all your various links.

If you have not yet created much of a social media presence, don’t worry!  This tool is still a powerful resource for establishing an online brand.  It’s easy to set up.  I did mine last night (about.me/SuziPomerantz) if you want to check it out and let me know how you think I should tweak it. Here’s what my friend and colleague Janet Slack had to say about it:

“About.me opened to the public in mid-December so it is likely that you will be able to reserve your own name there. When you do, you will get a URL that you can use as your online business card. Mine is about.me/janetslack. Once you register, you simply add a photograph, a brief bio and connections to any websites, blog or social media profiles that you have. The setup process is so simple that I was able to set up my page without help in under an hour.

About.me pages are called Splash pages and are about personal branding rather than collecting connections to other people like other social media sites. The second important feature of the site is analytics that allow you to know how many people view your new page. Details include where the traffic came from and what they do while on your page. All this is currently free and I expect a premium version to be available for a fee in the future. For now, run over to About.me, reserve your own name and look around to see the amazing pages many have created. You will be glad you did.”

Ramon DeLeon runs 7 Dominos pizza shops in the Chicago area, and his number one tool for creating exceptional customer experiences is social media. 

Check out the details of how he does it!  http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/chicago-pizza-guy-creates-social-media-domino-effect/

For more clues about how your company can use social media right, check out the new e-book: Taming the Social Media Monster!

http://www.suzipomerantz.com/peek-inside-the-book-taming-the-social-media-monster/

1.) Sales – Your bottom line is one of your biggest indicators. In an era of multi-touch marketing (I heard about you from a friend, then saw your trade show booth, then stumbled upon your company on Twitter, and here I am), your sales shouldn’t be forgotten. But, remember, social media ROI isn’t visible instantly. It takes time. One of my favorite quotes comes from Jeff Bezos of Amazon. He said: “I always tell people, if we have a good quarter it’s because of the work we did three, four and five years ago. It’s not because we did a good job this quarter.” This is the KEY to social media marketing success.

2.) Higher Closing Ratios – If people trust your company; the chances are that they will move forward with you much more often than not. They will choose you over your competitors. Your closing ratio can tell you a lot about your marketing – not just your sales.

3.) Shorter Sales Cycle – The bigger the purchase, the longer the sales cycle. This is often true in the B2B world. A big part of the sales cycle is educating the prospect. And, as prospects get smarter, they do their own research. Social media should educate your prospects, making their decision easier. Measure your sales cycle. (Run a B2B business? I just did a video on b2b web marketing).

4.) Leads – This is perhaps the most obvious one. Are you getting more leads? Be sure to have a phone number and contact form easily accessible on your website.

5.) New Visitors – Are you attracting new people to your website? I talk about this as a key strategy in my book on social media. Not only should be strengthening relationships using social media marketing, ideally, you should be attracting an audience you couldn’t otherwise engage with as much ease.

6.) Brand Perception – What are people saying about you, your brand, your industry? Check it out http://www.SocialMention.com. How you are perceived can truly dictate the above.

7.) Lower Bounce Rate – This is what I call the sticky factor (much to our SEO department’s chagrin). They like to  call it your bounce rate, and it can be found using Google Analytics. This tells you how many initial visitors hit the back button to go to a different website versus delving deeper into yours. When visitors feel like your website is trusted and already have an introduction to you, the chances are they will stick around. It also signifies a higher quality of visitor.

8.) Site Specific Metrics – This is what most people measure, and there is a lot of controversy here. Is it quantity or quality? It is both actually. A quantity of quality Twitter Followers, Facebook Fans, and LinkedIn Connections are all viable metrics.

9.) Newsletter and Blog Subscribers – There are two types of conversions that happen online. The first is what people are familiar with – direct conversion to customers and clients. The second type of conversion is less well-known, but perhaps even more crucial. It is when someone turns into a consumer. They choose to consume your information. It is the first step towards becoming a customer or a client. I talk about this extensively in my book on social media as well. Measuring your consumers (e-zine and blog subscribers for example) is an excellent strategy.

10.) Good PR– Reporters like companies and individuals who are smart, authentic, and can strike a chord with the public. Social media makes it easy for reporters to find you. It makes it easier for you to showcase your company culture and personal brand. It allows you to build relationships with bloggers. Ignore this metric at your own peril.

More of Shama’s gems can be found at http://www.MarketingZen.com

1.) Measure Quantitatively and Qualitatively: The quantitative is the numbers part of the game. Website visitors, Twitter Followers, Facebook fans, etc. This makes for very pretty charts, and cool case studies. The qualitative is what can’t be measured by numbers. It is essentially what is being said about you and your brand. Reputation management, anyone?

2.) Keep in Mind the Non-Linear Benefits of Social Media Marketing: Small and medium sized businesses alike have the same power afforded to bigger businesses. How? R&D.  Research and Development was never this quick or streamlined. The feedback you can get from an online community when done correctly can be comparable to millions of dollars worth of “focus groups.”

3.) Build it Before You Need it: Social media marketing is akin to storing a box of band-aids in your medicine cabinet. You don’t think about it all the time, but when you have a cut, they sure come in handy! Let’s say you run a restaurant, and one customer has a bad experience and blogs about it. That can really hurt! Unless, you have 10 other customers who also blogged about their great experience. Build the networks and invest in social media marketing BEFORE you need it.

READ MORE at http://www.marketingzen.com

Pizza guy, Ramon DeLeon, who owns 7 Chicago Domino’s franchises, does a great job of creating an exceptional customer experience using the free tools available through social media! He uses Twitter, Facebook (but his customers do that for him) and blog and video tools to create exceptional customer service. Read how he does it here: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/chicago-pizza-guy-creates-social-media-domino-effect/

If you would like to find out what to do about the 5 biggest mistakes companies make around social media, you can find out in my new ebook, Taming the Social Media Monster!  Get a Sneak Peek here.