Drew Shope of Thrive Social Media explains why your web 1.0 site sucks and why blog-based sites are like, totally the coolest. And if all the Cool Kids are doing it, why aren't you? You want to be cool, don't you?

1. The Website is DEAD

2. Quick Commercial: Thrive is about empowering you. We get your new web presence off the ground. Instead of waiting around, we get you going with a running start. Instead of learning how to set this up, make it work, and then get it going, you can just get it going. Do what you do best, leave the other stuff to the rest.

3. First of All: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT. This stuff changes about every 90 days or so. We are all learning what does what, and how it can work, and what doesn’t work. By the time the dust settles, it’s probably too late to catch up. We consider it a huge part of our job to keep up to date with the changes, and pass along the change’s relevance to you.

4. What’s working? On your phone or computer, go to: www.thrivesocialmedia.com/survey Or fill out the hand out. What are you using now?

5. … And how’s that going? - Anyone getting leads from their website? - Anyone getting leads from their existing social media profiles? - Anyone getting leads from their network of friends/family/past clients?

6. The Biggest Problem: Traditional Web 1.0 Websites are based on traditional marketing tactics These tactics are becoming less and less viable The core concept here is pullvs. push marketing. Push marketing isn’t working like it used to.

7. Measuring Success Traditional Return On Investment methods tend to focus on “show me the numbers” kind of thinking that is rooted in traditional media. Social Media works differently because it is almost entirely CONSUMER CONTROLLED. How do you measure the power of word-of-mouth marketing? How do you measure social clout? “The appropriate metrics depend on the objective.”1 1. MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall 2010

8. How this Affects You: 90% of all business transactions start with a Google search. Without having a presence, you are deaf and blind – completely in the dark. What is it costing you to not be findable?

9. Nerd Alert!

10. The Speed of Business has CHANGED. Google indexes (on average) on the following timetable: Web 1.0 site – once every 30 days Blog – every 7 days Twitter/Facebook – every 15 – 18 MINUTES

11. Think of it this way Remember when websites first came out 15 years ago? Remember the resistance to doing business online? Now, can you imagine business without it?

12. Usability Who is controlling your message? Who decides what goes up? How hard is it to make changes? How hard is it for your users to share your information? Seriously, I’m asking…

13. Making it Work:

14. The Wheel

15. Success Stories Harvard Business Journal- Naked Pizza, New Orleans, LA In one day, broke sales record with 68% of customers saying they were Twitter followers. 85% said they came in that day because they saw post on Twitter Increased sales by 30% in 30 days Increased brand loyalty by 46% in 30 days

16. But what do I talk about? You don’t have to write an opus every day… www.dog-friendly-denver.com www.thrivesocialmedia.com www.karmayogacenter.com Reviews of articles are great posts Videos(visit www.thrivesocialmedia.com) Pictures (charts, maps) Doesn’t have to be about your core industry…

17. Ideas? What is an example of a time you provided great service? What is a question you get all the time? What is something you know particularly well? What is an aspect of your business you find fascinating? And the big one: What value do you provide?

18. Video Blogging:

21. The Ideal Blog… Is updated at least once a week Has good CONTENT Is conversational in tone Is 3 paragraphs long with a picture (per post)

22. How do I get Traffic? BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE Install Google Analytics. You need to be able to track this stuff! http://www.thrivesocialmedia.com/2010/07/15/installing-google-analytics-on-your-wordpress-blog/

23. Traffic Ideas: Here’s what we do- Use Twitter and Facebook to talk about your blog (remember that wheel?) Have Share buttons, Twitter widgets, and Facebook Badges. Allow users to share as they see fit Not ALL the time, but its ok to drop a line about the new blog post you wrote. Think A-Team… Once the blog post is up, it’s a lot easier to create content for Facebook, Twitter, etc.

24. Leave Comments! Piggyback your blog by using someone else’s hard work! When you get a comment… - That person very likely will be addressing a larger sentiment. - Feedback is awesome.

25. Traffic Tips Write interesting content. (Billboards are useless if there is no store) Read other blogs and leave comments (it’s a conversation, remember?) Put your Blog URL on everything-

26. The Point is This: Be available to be found, have great content, and engage with your clients and customers. Make a time commitment- whether it’s 15 minutes a week or an hour a day- to be active on Facebook, Twitter, or writing a blog post.

27. Even if you Don’t want to blog, Having a blog-based website will look really nice, and will show up on Google better. And will be cheaper. AND will be easier to use. AND AND will be easier to change and manage.

28. Need Help? www.thrivesocialmedia.com/events for our class schedule!

29. 303.376.6220 www.ThriveSocialMedia.com