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We have a new Facebook page for ARRiiVE Business Solutions. We will be sharing success stories, interesting entrepreneurial news, and more over at ARRiiVE's page, so if you dig the blog, but sometimes just want short snippets, make sure to be a FRIEND over there, and also at Twitter, while you're at it:

Facebook:
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Twitter:
http://twitter.com/arriive
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Copyright © 1999-2018 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

Social Networking Fad or Fabulous?

Is Social Networking a Fad or FABULOUS for local businesses?

For my answer, watch this:


"I know our business needs to be doing all that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube stuff, but we're just too busy doing our normal work to do it right." -- Local Business Owner

If your business is not on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, let me guess:

You do not have time for social networking.

Well, if that is you, you pretty much have three choices:

1. Keep doing what you are doing.

You remember that saying about the best definition of insanity, "to keep doing the same thing but expect different results"? Well, that is most likely not our readers, right? We know our readers are "take action" kind of people, most entrepreneurs are! So, most likely, you are asking "what's behind door number two and three?" Okay, so I will share...

2. Do it yourself.

Wait a minute. You just said you are too busy to post to social networks yourself, right? Do you have staff that can do it for you? If you do, that is great for you. If you don't, and you are already too busy, and the idea of sitting in front of a computer saying God only knows what on social networks does not appeal to you, then you probably already know what number three is. However, is you DO decide to go your own route, or have your employees do your social networking, then I advise you to get proper training on HOW to social network. I will be rolling out a new training program through ARRiiVE Business Solutions in the next month that will help you out. So, stay tuned. If you do not do it yourself, and do not have your people do it for you, then you are left with one last option - hire someone else to do it.

3. Outsource it.

Now, personally, I have mixed feelings about outsourcing social networking. Done wrong, it feels about as human as the way the Terminator talked when he first showed up in that bar. Done right, your social network can grow fast! I know, because we've been doing it right for SLO Jazz Festival, where our Festival's page grew from less than 40 to over 400 in just one month without a list to build from. Another reason to outsource your social marketing is that people who perform this service are EXPERTS at social networking and all the aspects of it: copyrighting, ideas to post, what types of tactics to use, why posts get interaction, and ways to expand the network. Think about it. You get hired because you are an expert. Well, so are they.

If you are an expert in your trade, which could be anything from running a local cafe to cutting down trees or painting, you are probably not a guru on Facebook, Twitter, My____, and YouTube. Right?

So, if that's you, you may be interested in the service ARRiiVE Business Solutions created to help meet this need, INTELLIGENT SOCIAL NETWORKING (for business success online).

To learn more, simply visit ARRiiVE's website. We can help. I hope you DO take action on your social networking. Do not just sit there and let your competition beat you online. If you have questions, feel free to call me and I will help out as I can - it may be worth a coaching session or two even if you decide to go your own way and/or train your team.

As you can tell, I feel Social Networks may change, but the smart businesses will be adapting along with the changes and build their company business social network in an INTELLIGENT way. That is why I call this service INTELLIGENT SOCIAL NETWORKING. The Internet landscape changed when Facebook created a way to market that is more powerful than your website. Now people SHARE what they LIKE with other people. In addition, this matters as much as a friend asking "Hey, who do you use to cut your lawn?" -- these questions and referrals are happening constantly on Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites.

Do not let social networking pass your business by any more. Especially, if you are in launch mode, your launch plan MUST consider social networking. As usual, we are here to help answer questions, and guide you along the path to greater business, team-building, sales, and marketing success. Contact me at 805-459-6939 with any questions - I am here to help!
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Best Time To Post To Twitter

As someone who advises people on their blogs, people often ask me "When is the best time to post to my blog" and now with the emergence of Twitter (micro-blogging) "When should I post to twitter."

I did a little research on Twitter and, yep, sure enough, it's pretty much the same answer for Twitter as for Blogging.

Best traffic days are TUESDAY through FRIDAY. If you post updates those days, you'll have highest exposure for re-tweets and shares, just like your blog.

Best time periods are between 10am PST and 2PM PST. This is because that's the highest period of people online to access your content, and their highest period of usage.

Now, that does not mean you shouldn't post during other times; however. I'll tell you why.

If you assume that the person who reads their blog posts and twitter updates is always online at 7:00 a.m., then you're assuming that everyone is a morning person. At the same time, if you assumed that the person who reads blogs and tweets is up at 1:00 a.m. because they're a night owl, then you'll miss the morning people. So, my advice is to post twitter tweets THROUGHOUT the DAY.

There is powerful software to help you post multiple times a day. It used to be called "Tweetlater.com" and now is called SocialOomph. Check it out - there's a PRO version that gives you even more control, and if you're going to be professional about sending email welcomes, and want to add other twitter management features, then upgrade and pay the money. Otherwise, the free version is fine for just tweeting later.

In addition, if you, like me, are busy and can't find time every week to add each follower to your twitter, one, by one, by one (tedious, huh) then I suggest you use Tweepular software, that let's you bulk add big chunks of Tweeps at a time. (Yeah, that's what they call Twitter users: TWEEPS). So, happy Twitting, Tweep!
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What Are You Doing? Grow Traffic To Your Blog With Twitter

Have you noticed a new trend in social networking? A quick-blog tool called Twitter calls the phenomenon of sharing what you are doing "twitting", which refers to the online social phenomenon of answering the question "What are you doing?"

Through Twitter, you can grow traffic to your blog, on top of inform followers what you're doing. Many bloggers, journalists, and individuals are using Twitter to share updates, ranging from eating coffee, walking the dog, watching a movie, or working on a new project.

What does TWITTER look like? Here's a screen shot that shares a few ideas about Twitter:


I, myself, use Twitter. While it is possible to post updates in the "What are you doing?" field, I don't use Twitter for that purpose. I use Twitter purely to share my blog feeds? Why? Heck, it's another way people can connect with me and know what's going on with the blogs, why not!? Notice the "Want to follow someone" comment I wrote by the "find and follow" menu option? When people sign-in to follow my twit feeds Twitter offers a way for them to know, instantly, when I've posted something new they care about. Some of these followers DON'T subscribe to blogs, so in my opinion, twitting, to the blogger, is a way of expanding your audience.



Notice the screen shot (above) from Facebook? I circled the question there "What are you doing right now?" provided by Facebook. You see, the "twitting" phenomenon has spread beyond twitter. The more common and easier to use function of twitting, to me, is through other established social networks, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Plaxo. I'll show you each of them. I've had many people respond to these TWITS when they follow me and various posts I make to my social networks.

I'm currently giving an answer to the question "What Are You Doing" on Facebook (below):


See how I answered Scott Andrews "is writing a post about twitter on the ARRiiVE blog (http://arriive.blogspot.com)? Cool, huh?! People are now directed from Facebook to my blog at ARRiiVE. Now, I'm using the power of twitting and social networking to use as a passive marketing tool (although I consciously made the effort). Sweet, isn't it?

I do the same thing with my band, BODY. MySpace uses things called "Status" and "Mood" to enable you to twit about your latest feelings and what you're doing. It's great for bands and I recommend you use it for business, too. Here's an example of one I posted for http://www.myspace.com/body last night:

You'll see under the status and mood menu my update there, "Body gets excited when people scream. Mood: rejuvenated" for kicks and giggles.

Now, as much as I'd ALSO like to update you on my Plaxo social network, for some reason Plaxo is having browser problems that offer up an unexplained error. While I've tried resolving this with their customer service for the past two months, you can imagine the frustration I felt when I tried to show you my Plaxo update:

Oh well. So Web 2.0 isn't perfect! I contacted Plaxo and their support team said the problem was my browser. I switched browsers to FireFox and still get their error. They say it is because I'm in too many groups. I thought that was the whole point of Plaxo Pulse! Oh well. So Web 2.0 isn't perfect! Perhaps, that's why they call their social networking site "beta" software, huh?

Anyway, if you want to maximize gaining quick following, use Twitter. Use the twit functions on social networks, too. I've found that people are interested in what I'm doing and they often read the stuff I put in there and comment on it. Make sure, too, to publish your blog's RSS feed through the social networks and twit feeds as it will grow your blog visitors and help you increase exposure that way, too.
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