Hangouts is a popular Google Plus feature where up to 10 people can video chat online together at one time. To get started, log into your Google Plus account.
Used to facilitate group video chat with a maximum of 10 people participating in a single Hangout at any point of time. However, anyone on the web could potentially join the ‘Hangout’ if they have the unique URL of the Hangout.
Create a Google Plus account.
Start your hangout from the stream anytime by whenever you want by clicking on “Start a Hangout” or go to plus.google.com/hangouts.
In the “green room”, adjust your camera and add others to your Hangout. No one can see you while you’re in the green room. Once you click the green Hang Out button your video feed will be broadcast to those you selected.
Everyone with internet access and sound can participate in these Hangouts. If you do not have a camera, your picture will not display.
Note, the first time you use Google Plus Hangouts, your computer will download and install Google voice and video plugin.
System requirements for Google Plus Hangout plugin are Windows XP+, Mac OS X 10.5+, or Linux.
FACEBOOK TIMELINES: Facebook is converting all Business Pages to the new Timeline format on March 30, 2012.
WHAT IF I DON”T UPGRADE MY BUSINESS PAGE? In the Cover Photo section of your page, you’ll get a white space with your profile picture floating in the lower left corner. Much of your new page will be have no content.
CAN CYBERLIFE TUTORS UPGRADE MY BUSINESS PAGE? Yes! We can upgrade your business page to the new format
WHAT WILL I GET WITH MY UPGRADE? After CyberLife Tutors upgrades your page to new Timeline for Business format, your page will have:
– Refreshed page look and feel
– Installed cover and profile with photo/image you choose
– Display apps: Photos, Videos, Likes, Events, and Map for Place Pages
– Add up to 4 milestones on your timeline
– Reviewed page and updated page setting for maximum fan engagement
– Your review before publishing
– Guide for “How to keep your Timeline Fresh”
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? Just $99 for your complete conversion, page review, settings updates and “How to Keep Your Facebook Page Timeline Fresh” guide.
HECK YES! HOW DO I GET STARTED? Reply to this email and let us know you are ready to start. We will send you an invoice and questionnaire to gather key information about your page. Your page will be converted to the new Timeline in a couple of days.
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT: Need a hand monitoring your Facebook page and engaging with fans? We can manage your Facebook page for you. Posts great content 4 times a week, engage and reply to comments from your community, answer basic questions when we can or we’ll contact you to get the right answer, monitor spam. Our responses are always geared toward cultivating customers and generating sales for you! Save $ with an annual subscription.
Questions? Just give us a call on our 24 hour voice mail 414-604-6635.
How do I use Twitter? To keep up with what is happening. Here is why I am an active Twitter @aprilmwilliams user.
Lists: My business is in McHenry County, Illinois and many of my customers and fellow businesses are located here. Monitoring my McHenry County Twitter list keeps my informed on what’s happening locally.
News: Top trending stories appear in my Twitter feed real time. Politics, finance, weather and celebrity updates are instantly available.
Retweet: Many tweets I read will interest my followers. I retweet or repost these Twitter messages.
Jobs: Some companies only post job openings on Twitter. If a client is interested in a company, I recommend they find out if Twitter is one of the company’s recruiting tools.
Networking: Through Twitter, I develop new connections with others both locally and around the world. We share resources and encourage each other from near and far. It is especially fun to meet IRL (in real life) after communicating over Twitter for a time.
Search: When I am looking for information on a topic, I’ll use Twitter as a search tool. Tweets include keywords and hashtags (#) to group topics.
Learning: My industry, social media marketing, is constantly changing. I follow industry experts like @hubspot on Twitter to keep up with what’s new.
Communicate: Twitter is a just in time messaging system for my updates on upcoming workshops, classes and presentations.
Business: It is not uncommon for one of my Twitter followers to contact me for proposals which lead to coaching or s0cial media work. Business happens on Twitter.
Are you a Twitter user? How do you make Twitter work for you? Let us know in the comments!
LinkedIn is a professional networking tools used by millions of members throughout the world. The power of LinkedIn increases with the size of your network. Ask your friends and coworkers to join your LinkedIn network so you can stay in touch.
I am often asked for suggestions when it comes to connecting with others. To ask another person to connect with you in LinkedIn, use the “Add Connections” feature under “Contacts.” LinkedIn creates a standard template email that most people use without a moments hesitation. They quickly click on the “Send” button without much thought. To improve your chances of a reply and to make a positive first impression, I recommend you take the time to customize your message to the receiver.
The standard message created by LinkedIn is “I’d like to add you to my professional network.”
I recommend including a sentence or two about how you know the person and why they may want to connect with you. This additional information will jog their memory and increase your acceptance rate.
LinkedIn launched a “Follow” button for companies this week. When you are logged into LinkedIn, just click on the Follow button to follow companies of interest. This is useful for job seekers, sales people, vendors and networking.
With over 2 million companies on LinkedIn this is bound to be a helpful feature for everyone. Click on the company Follow button to get updates on news, jobs or trends.
Visit LinkedIn’s Developer website to build your LinkedIn company Follow button. Put your Follow button on your website or other webpages.
A 100% complete LinkedIn profile attracts those with possibilities. Job leads, sales prospects or partnership situations are looking for you.
According to LinkedIn, “users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn!”
Find out if your profile is 100% complete by looking on the right side of your LinkedIn “Edit Profile ” page. As you make updates, notice the change in your profile completeness score. The feature may provide you with additional profile completion tips.
Do you know which elements make your LinkedIn profile 100% complete? To reach 100% profile completeness, you should add all of the following to your profile:
Industry and postal code
A current position with description
Two more positions
Education
At least 3 skills
Profile photo
At least 50 connections
Learn more about how to use LinkedIn to “Expand Your Professional Network” 7PM Feb. 29, 2012 at the McHenry Library. For more details, visit our CyberLife Tutors events calendar.
Facebook Profile Settings can be adjusted to restrict the amount of information you share with others. Some people are comfortable keeping a tight rein on their settings while others are less adverse to sharing. You can update your settings whichever way you choose.
To view or change your Facebook Profile Settings, start at your profile page.
Profile settings
Profile page, select “About.
Click on Edit to Restrict personal information in each “About You” section.
I recommend you do not show your year of birth. This information can be used in identity thefts.
Update “Contact info” to show only that information that you are comfortable displaying.
Facebook Likes appear when Facebook automatically connects you with Community or Business Pages based on the music, books and movie you enter on your profile. To remove these references, visit the page and click “unlike”.
When these settings are adjusted to your satisfaction, be sure to click on “save”.
Craft YOUR Social Networking Strategy. Register now for the Online Internet Marketing Intensive Workshop For Business and Authors starting April 2, 2012.
Professional Online Social Networking offers incredibly powerful
marketing potential! It can also be a bit overwhelming:
* Which tools are “right” for your business?
* Where do you begin and HOW DO YOU KEEP UP?
* How often should you blog, post video, “tweet” prospects & clients?
Those questions and more will be answered
The class runs 6 weeks with 2 lessons per week through a online system. Questions and peer-to-peer support through group features.
This course is full of detailed, practical information on internet marketing and social media strategy you can implement right now.
Benefits to participants
* Practical marketing techniques for rapid results
* In depth materials and chance to implement during the class
* Question and follow up with group discussion
* Learning and networking with peers
* Low cost, high return for students
* Join from home or office at a convenient time of day
* No travel time required
CLASS DESCRIPTION:
The Internet Marketing Intensive is a complete internet marketing series that will help businesses integrate various internet tools into an overall marketing strategy. We focus on small business, authors, sole proprietors or non profits and how to make the most out of small marketing budgets.
Strategies covered in this course are free or low cost to implement. Physical location or virtual storefront businesses can benefit from these techniques. With your new skills, you will be able to quickly implement effective social media marketing, attract new fans, customers and prospects and gain a unique competitive advantage.
This course will ensure you utilize the full potential of the internet to market your products and services. After the first session you can begin applying cutting edge strategy to your marketing efforts!
Attend class from the comfort of your home or office! Basic computer and internet skills required to implement learnings. Course starts April 2 with two lessons a week for six weeks. Ask questions and learn with participants through the group discussion.
The training materials are detailed class presentations provided twice a week. Support and communication through a private Google Group. This is how the lessons are distributed, information is shared, support provided and questions answered during the week. The students also get to know each other in this environment. Private groups mean neither the members or the content is visible to anyone but the group. Apply what you learn right away. Each class provides ample knowledge and tactics that you’ll want to implement. All for just $39.
FourSquare is a popular geo location based, mobile marketing app used by over 15 million people worldwide. “Geo location” means it uses the GPS capabilities in your smartphone, Ipad or tablet device to identify your current location. Membership is free and the app is free from the Apple ITunes store.
With Foursquare, you can keep up with your friends, find new places to visit and claim discounts at your favorite businesses. The company was founded by a couple of New York City entrepreneurs in 2007 and launched in 2009.
How often are people using FourSquare?
According to FourSquare figures as of January, 2012.
Over 1.5 billion check-ins, with millions more every day
Businesses: Over 750,000 using the FourSquare Merchant Platform
How does FourSquare work?
Members use their smartphones or tablet to “checkin” when they visit a location. The person who checks in the most often earns the title of “Mayor” for the venue. Some businesses offer specials for newbies or multiple visits. Checkins may be posted on members Facebook and or Twitter accounts to share with friends.
How can my business benefit from FourSquare?
Any business from solopreneurs to “mom and pop shops” to national chains can create a business account. Benefits include:
Get statistics on those who checkin to your business to make better business decisions.
Offer special offers to prospects and gain new customers.
Encourage loyalty with bonuses for repeat checkins.
Reward your best customer with a Mayor special.
Need help getting your business set up on FourSquare? Give us a call at our 24 hour voice mail 414-604.6635.
Keith Warrick, my friend and fellow LinkedIn evangelist, was interviewed on BDPA Blog Talk Radio about professional social networking. Keith was an early adopter of Linkedin, becoming a member well before I joined April 1, 2005.
In the BDPA interview Keith pointed out the benefits of LinkedIn goes far beyond an online resume. So many people turn to LinkedIn when they are in career transition only. LinkedIn is a powerful tool which can promote your skills, demonstrate creditability and build relationship.
Keith says, “LinkedIn is an unique marketing and advertising platform that promotes a product. That product is YOU.”
Keith suggests fully completing your LinkedIn profile to gain the most benefit. LinkedIn will prompt you to create a 100% complete profile and coax you along to do so. Keith says just 2% of LinkedIn 150 million members have a 100% complete profile.
To reach 100% profile completeness, add all of the following to your profile:
Industry and postal code
A current position with description
Two more positions
Education
At least 3 skills
Profile photo
At least 50 connections
As Keith says, imitation is the best form of flattery. Take a look at Keith’s or my profile for idea on how you can attract your target audience to find you through the LinkedIn search features.
Click below to listen to Keith’s interview with BDPA.
