Why Small Business Owners Should Care About Social Networking. A MarketingMel presentation to some 30 entrepreneurs at a SCORE workshop, Erwin, Tenn.

1. Why small business owners should care about social networking
A presentation to SCORE
Mary Ellen Miller
November 4, 2010
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1. Why Should We Care About Social Networking?
2. Ways for business owners to Use Social Networking
3. Take Home Tips

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4. Seth Godin David Meerman Scott
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10. “Social media marketing eliminates the
middleman and provides brands with a
unique opportunity to have a direct
relationship with their customers.”
◦ 360i
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11. "Tough market
conditions mandate
small businesses to
think and act creatively
to sustain themselves,"
Connie Steele, Director
at Network Solutions
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12.  Four out of ten small
business owners are
actively using social
media to communicate
with their customers
and market their
products. (One year
ago: one in ten)
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15.  Company page on a social networking site
 Use social media for identifying and
attracting new customers
 Built a network through a site like LinkedIn
 Almost half expect social media to be
profitable in the next twelve months
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17.  Small business social media users say it takes
more time than expected
 Social media gives people a chance to
criticize their business on the Internet
 Only 6% feel that social media use has hurt
the image of the business more than helped
it
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20.  Learn by listening
 Your customers social media behavior
 Dialogue about your brand
 Monitor your competitors
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26.  More than 500 million
active users
 50% log on Facebook
every day
 More than two-thirds
of Facebook users are
outside of college
 The fastest growing
demographic is those
35 years old and older
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28.  User Engagement
 Average user has 130
friends on the site
 More than 700 billion
minutes per month
 It commands their time
and attention!
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40. “Oregon Farmer says twitter a business
necessity.”
The Rural Blog
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41. “I think that social media is so important to my
farm’s success that I have to make time for
it.”
◦ Heather Walters 7th generation farmer, Yamhill,
Oregon
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44.  Set goals
 What’s your niche?
 Let your personality shine
 Generate top of mind awareness
 Monitor your customers/competitors
 Put social media logos on all of your
materials
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45.  Listen
 Contribute to others’ conversations
 Post comments, pictures and videos
 Promote causes you care about
 Share valuable information
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46.  Integrate social media into everyday life
 Accept ownership (only you truly understand
your business)
 Real customers connecting with real company
representatives
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47. MarketingMel
1. Why Should We Care About Social Networking?
2. Ways for business owners to Use Social Networking
3. Take Home Tips

48.  http://marketingmel.com
 twitter @MarketingMel
 Facebook: MarketingMelPR
 LinkedIn: Mary Ellen Miller
 maryellen [at] marketingmel[dot]com
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