The Enterprising Blog» Social Networking

Social Media Etiquette for Your Business

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:41:06 +0000

We’re pleased to share our first guest blog post by Enterprising Mom Eryn Gurnee Cadoff on using social media for business. If you’re going social, plan to join us on Tuesday, March 9th for our social media discussion and networking event. Get details and register today (early bird rate ends on 3/2).

by Eryn Gurnee Cadoff

As a Enterprising Mom – your time is valuable! After all, you’ve got a busy household to run, meals to cook, kids’ schedules to coordinate, laundry to do, and oh, yeah, a business! Whether you are a sole proprietor, run a franchise or direct selling business, or have a business with employees, entrepreneurial moms have only so many hours in a day, so you need to make the most of them.

Never fear – social media is here! You probably have a Facebook profile and a Linkedin profile as well, and some of you may even tweet. All three of these popular social networking sites serve a slightly different purpose, so here’s how I see them:

Facebook
These are the people you already know – a great way to connect and reconnect with present and past friends and acquaintances. You can also “friend” customers and clients you meet along the way.
Twitter
This is for the people you have yet to meet! It’s like a big cocktail party and it’s your job to meet people and engage in conversation with those that interest you.
Linkedin
This is a network comprised mainly of professionals and/or job seekers supporting one another in business.

Depending on what type of business you have and whether you are a service provider, a sales rep, etc., you may find one site more beneficial than another. But wherever you choose to connect with your clients/customers, there are some definite DO’s and DON’Ts:

Profile Picture / Avatar

DON’T have a picture of your dog, your child, something funny you saw that day, etc., as your profile picture.
DO have a profile picture of you, and make it a nice one, you might even want to consider hiring another Enterprising Mom (we’ve got a couple of photographers) to take a headshot of you. When people are doing business with you, they like to look you in the eye. They feel a lot more connected with those people online who have faces.

Update your “status” to keep your name out there

DO Provide good FREE valuable content that people appreciate
DO Post helpful information and links – especially anything you might be a subject-area expert on.
DON’T talk about your business all the time! This is a huge turn-off – people can defriend/unfollow/hide you in one click.

Be sure you engage with people and create a dialogue, instead of only talking about yourself. Make your posts about others, and become a matchmaker of sorts – give people helpful tips and refer business to others when you can. Think of social networking as the online equivalent of going to an in-person networking event – you wouldn’t just stand in a corner and shout at everyone who walks by “I sell ABC product!” “I’m the best at this!” “Buy from me!” Instead get to know people first and understand their needs! A great recipe for Social Media success – make your posts 80% about others, 20% about you.

It probably goes without saying, but….

When in doubt about a post, ask yourself: “would you want your mother/child/boss reading this?”
Remember, what you put on the web is permanent!

Follow these etiquette tips, and you’ll be on your way to being a social media star!

Eryn Gurnee Cadoff
Independent Stylist for Stella & Dot
Eryn discovered the incredible power and potential of social media while hiding out in her home office from her screaming kids. It’s probably been ~5 minutes since she commented on somebody’s status.

Connect with Eryn
Web Site | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

Interested in guest blogging for The Enterprising Moms? Please get in touch!

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Great Use of Twitter: Georgetown Cupcake

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:40:30 +0000

With The Enterprising Moms’ social media event coming up on Tuesday, March 9th, between now and then we’ll be sharing various resources and creative uses of social media. Please feel free to share your own, both here and on the TEM Facebook page

While I’ve never had a Georgetown Cupcake, I’ve certainly heard of them. My first exposure to them was on a discussion list where someone posted their secret flavor of of the day. GC uses Twitter to announce a secret flavor of the day to their followers and offers 100 of that cupcake flavor for free. Just mention the secret flavor. Wonderfully creative use of Twitter!

I would love to see the figures on how this has impacted the foot traffic and sales. The owners, two sisters, will be the subject of an upcoming reality series on TLC!

Check them out. Not on Twitter? Even if you’re not ready to jump in with both feet, start an account just to observe and get a sense of how others are using it based on your own interests. You may just be inspired!

They’ve also got a dynamite web site with a neat feature in their intro

Know of others that are doing a stellar job with social media? Please share them!

Carolyn
Chief Enterprising Mom

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EVENT: Coffee and Connections: Networking 1-2-3

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:54:52 +0000

What: Coffee and Connections – Networking 1-2-3
Where: Bus Boys and Poets – Arlington, VA
Date: Tuesday, June 9th
Time: 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Networking events, social networking tools, one-on-one networking … What kind of networking makes the most sense for your business? What’s the most effective way to network? How can you leverage your network? What’s the best way to keep track of your contacts?

For Jennifer Folsom, the DC Metropolitan area Director of Momentum Resources, a boutique staffing firm specializing in placing professionals in flexible and reduced hours positions, forming meaningful connections is critical to her business success. Jennifer, a dedicated and highly effective networker, will share her strategies and tools for building and sustaining a powerful network in a fun and interactive format.

At this event you’ll learn how to:

Select the appropriate type of networking events for your business and your goals
Get the most out of social networking tools
Make the most of one-on-one interactions and develop meaningful connections

Jennifer will also share tips and tools for managing your contacts and related information and will demonstrate the system that works for her.

Join us! Registration and details.

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Tech Tuesday: Digital Moms

admin — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:21:23 +0000

Do you consider yourself a digital mom? Are digital moms your target audience? Curious about what a digital mom is?

If so, you’ll be interested in a two-part study recently released by Razorfish, an interactive marketing and technology company and Cafemom, a community of online moms. The study examines how moms are using technology to manage their lives, parent, connect with others, shop and more.

Part one, ‘Connecting with Digital Mom through Emerging Technologies’ explores the technologies being adopted by moms and how the ages of the moms and their children affect their interests and behaviors and their shopping habits.

Part two, ‘Connecting with Digital Mom through Social Networks’ explores the role of social media in the day-to-day lives of moms and identifies five segments of socially connected moms: self expressor, utility mom, groupster, infoseeker, and hyperconnector. Which one are you? Read the study to find out.

Over the past few weeks, The Enterprising Moms discussion list has been alive with conversations about using social media for business purposes. While this study doesn’t explore the mom-as-business-owner angle, it does offer lots of insight into how we are using technology and social media and what makes us such a valuable audience to marketers.

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Social Media Plunge

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 04:45:35 +0000

At long last, The Enterprising Moms is taking the plunge and joining the social media revolution. A bit late to the party, for sure, but here nonetheless. We’ve been on Linkedin for a while, but really haven’t done much in that space. But, with a new social media strategy in hand, we are poised to take advantage of social media tools and the numerous benefits they offer for connecting with relevant communities for the benefit of our membership.

In addition to Linkedin, we’ve recently joined Facebook and are gently wading into the Twitter pool. Join us as we explore these new tools and ways of communicating and determine the best ways to harness their potential.

Connect with us. Grow with us . . .

Visit The Enterprising Moms web site
Subscribe to The Enterprising Blog
Join our LinkedIn Group
Become a fan of The Enterprising Moms on Facebook
Follow EnterprisingMom on Twitter

On a scale from 1 to 10, how immersed are you in social networking? What challenges are you facing? What’s been most successful for you?

: : @ The Enterprising Moms : :

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