My how time flies when you're having fun ::

Initially I signed up for this class to learn social media. I had every intention of helping my son and son-in-law with their businesses but that was too overwhelming. Instead I used a pretend business of my own to practice on and was so glad I did.

I discovered that Facebook is a wonderful tool for business. And I believe the analytics will help with planning. That said, I think the world of social media as a whole is in a constant state of flux. We have no way of knowing what the future for business online holds but the only constant is change and things are changing rapidly. From class I have learned that sophistication and polish are absolutely necessary, and our presentations should be consistent. We have been introduced to many social media platforms that have different strengths. Every business is unique and it’s our job to figure out which platforms would work best to support our particular business/industry.

“Time is of the essence” and I think we should all be putting forth the effort to do all that we can right now to make our online presence known. After the readings and attention I have been giving to online businesses and their social media presence, or not; I have come to the conclusion that social media must be a part of any marketing plan. I believe that people/businesses with only a static website will be missing the explosion of energy that the digital world provides, and will eventually be left behind.

I have had a lot of frustration trying to participate with class assignments. In spite of all that, I have learned a tremendous amount. Now I am trying to apply what I have learned to help my son and son-in-law. It will be fun, hopefully, and bring them into the digital world. And, BTW, their websites are now compatible with/for mobile! ☺

I’ve read several of my colleagues’ blog posts and I have enjoyed reading them as the semester has progressed. They have taught me a lot, thank you, and I wish you all much success in your endeavors. Also, I would like to say a special thank you to Prof Tracy, I so appreciated her time and patience.

This is an amazing, exciting time and I’m looking forward to using what I’ve learned and adding to my knowledge going forward!
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Week 14 :: More Social Strategy con't

Mine is a very small business and I would be doing all the work myself. I don’t have a huge advertising budget but done well, I think I could get by using the tools we have learned.

• The website, blog, and Facebook page should be well designed and complement one another.
• Complete an analysis on my target market; age, gender, socio-economic info, who they are and what do they enjoy, how and why do they use my products.
• Create a Facebook page; use Insights to monitor how well posts and campaigns are working, use that information to plan the marketing strategy.
• Create a Twitter account and connect to my Facebook page, I prefer the posts go from Facebook to Twitter.
• Create a YouTube account; I think this would be an invaluable tool for my business for passing on product knowledge and information.
• Create a LinkedIn account; connect with other business owners, and join communities.
• Create a blog; I would use this in conjunction with the Facebook page to keep contact with followers current, interesting and fun. Also, Google Analytics would help me determine who is looking at blog and website, their viewing patterns, how they found me, why they left the page. Another point I learned from Google Analytics is that your website MUST BE compatible with cell phones and tablets!
• Decide whether I have enough budget for online ads, if not, on the Facebook page I would develop campaigns or calls to action to visit the webpage. They can be written and set with future posting dates. 

I think I would spend an 8 hour day once a month planning the strategy. I would have to think about what I would advertise and/or comment on and when. I would start a calendar mapping out dates going forward. Then 2 - 4 hours per day implementing that strategy. As time goes by I would probably have a better idea how much time was actually spend on research, planning, analysis, and writing and could adjust my schedule. Facebook and the blog should be in sync. I would want to present a clear and professional image.

Part of the time would have to be spent analyzing the traffic to the blog and Facebook; the marketing plan would have to be fluid enough that it could be modified and updated.

I think I would start with a blog and Facebook post per week. I’m not certain I would try to push product every week. At the beginning of the month I would introduce a promotion and each of the following 3 weeks I could write about skincare or something fun and of current interest. The post could relate to the promotion in some way… I would have to play around with this and find out where I was getting the most response.

In addition to a website, I believe that Facebook, YouTube, and a blog would be a very good beginning for me. In the real world I am still learning and I think that would be enough for me initially. I know I’ve mentioned this already but I think the analytics and insights would be invaluable for the marketing plan going forward.
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Week 14 :: More Social Strategy

This class has been a challenge for me. I did not have any background with social media especially in the business arena. I had no idea that business could be promoted so many ways, and they’re all new and exciting. As I was exploring the internet looking at business like mine it became very apparent that social media is very dynamic.  Reading through the first few pages of the chapter on the entire customer experience I must agree, if I have a problem I want it solved. I understand that all employees are not trained in ‘Customer Service’ and I think that’s a mistake. Any employee that has the potential of coming into contact with a customer or client should be aware of what’s going on. We live in a world now where everything is almost instantaneous and we must be prepared to respond to people and meet their needs immediately.

I don’t have a webpage but I have in the past. As I’m learning more about Facebook I’m beginning to think that the almost daily interaction using Facebook is much more engaging than a static website. All things considered, I think it will be a lot of practice, practice, practice with the skills we have learned and trying different strategies to see what will work. Going forward we will have to determine our best target markets, use insights and analytics to determine who is looking at the posts and which ones they are interacting with.

I would make a marketing plan and schedule the posts on Facebook. Back in the dark ages I worked in the purchasing department at Sears. We were planning promotions 9 - 12 months ahead. I think most business have cycles and the campaigns could be scheduled, Facebook makes that very easy. If I used a blog in addition to Facebook, the blog posts could be scheduled to coincide with the Facebook promotions. Both the Google and Facebook analytics could be used to see which promotions were working the best.

As I mentioned earlier YouTube is great as well. Everyone I know goes to YouTube to learn how to do something. For skin care it would be a great addition, almost like having the client with you while you’re training them to use the products or care for their skin. I may use email too but I’m not sure. I’m not a huge fan of email because I get too many.
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The four classmates I commented on were ~

Shelby Gomez

Craig Stevens

Kalyani Ghosh

Stephen Wilson

Week 13 :: Optimizing Yourself and the Company

Google Analytic Goals -
For my fictional business I would check -

• Keywords - to see how people were getting to the site, what words/phrases were they using to find the site
• Events - to see how many people were responding to the site
• Pages per visit - to see what people were looking at specifically when they were on the site and how much time they were spending
• Which browsers or devices they were using - in the readings it became clear that the website should be optimized for mobile devices
• Demographics & Interests might be interesting to collect more data on your visitors to be able to target the marketing specifically
• Visitor Behavior were the visitors new or returning, how long did they stay

There is a tremendous amount of information you can learn from the analysis. You could plan your advertising, product release, and information updates. If you’re getting into paid AdWords you can determine their usefulness. I haven’t had much business but I would think all these tools would make it much easier to laser focus your marketing.
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Week 12 :: Using Other Social Media Tools

Coupon Deal

As I've mentioned over the years I have been advised not to put product 'on sale.' Although I think I could offer free shipping for a period of time. Or I could put together a 'package'... actually I have done that. One for Mother's Day and a Spring Time promotion.There are other add-ons I could use. Different products like a make-up brush, a sugar scrub, or something else fun. Maybe I could have a 'Trivia Contest', something to engage people.

For a limited time, receive complimentary ...

LEARN MORE >> (when they 'click' they would be taken to a new page, see below)

Enjoy Complimentary
Samples with Any Order!

-or-

I could start a newsletter, or email promotion...

Sign Up Now For The Latest News
We'll Update you with
New Products, Promotions,
Exclusive Beauty Tips
and More!

(when they 'click' to sign up I can respond via email)

At one time I was thinking that maybe I could have a rewards program. Points or something for a certain dollar amount over a specified period of time.
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Week 12 :: Using Other Social Media Tools

I think I would open a Google+ account if Healthy Skin was a viable business. The Circles are a great idea for sorting your clients/fans/friends. People have different skin conditions/concerns/interests and I could sort that way. I could separate the men and women, or even adults and teenagers. Posting to focus on one group might be very helpful. I could join communities on different issues that I feel would be of interest to my clients or me. I’m not certain about Hangouts. If there were enough interest in a particular subject it might be fun to have an online discussion or information session. Being live and interactive could be fun.

LinkedIn would be great for my professional self. I am an aesthetician and I enjoy interacting with my colleagues. Additionally I might be able to use it as a vehicle to talk about my work/product.

Feedly looks interesting. I might be able to ultilize it for information that is interesting to my clients, the latest trends in fashion, hair and make-up. Perhaps what’s happening in the skincare field.

When I asked about GroupOn and livingsocial I came to the conclusion that it would not be a good fit for me. Long ago I learned that I shouldn’t discount the skincare produicts and with both GroupOn and livingsocial you must deeply discount the offer.
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Week 11 :: Advertising Online

Okay, here we go, ta-dah!

I put this post up on my Business Facebook Page:

IMPROVING PEOPLE'S SKIN

Mother's Day Gift Set -

Begin the path to healthy, glowing skin... to repair and prevent the visible signs of aging!

Spring Time Promotion -

This trio of products is a must if you are concerned with the visible signs of aging!

Visit the website for free shipping this week!

www.HealthySkinDelMar.com

and this one on Twitter:

Mother's Day - the path to healthy, glowing skin, repair & prevent the visible signs of aging! www.HealthySkinDelMar.com  #MothersDayHealthySkin

I could generate different 'ads,' or notices at different times. I could even set them up in a que like we did for the Facebook Strategy in Week 6. In any event, I got them up and was able to put my 'website' (I do own the domaine name but the site is not live right now) link in both for followers to click on. Also, I put in a pretty cool hashtag in the Tweet!
And they were both FREE! So there you have it, that was the best that I could do given my level of understanding. :-)

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