Social Media Seminar Attracts Intrigued Business Owners

Hudson, NY – The April 22 Chamber of Commerce Social Media Seminar attracted 55 interested Chamber members who learned about what it means for a business to be LinkedIn or to Twitter, or how to have a presence on Facebook, YouTube and MySpace. “Social Media” is a rapidly growing low cost way for business people to network. The diverse panel of business professionals gave business owners insight on the new types of “Social Media” that are out there and how they work. By a show of hands a small majority of the room was actually using new media and the group as a whole was intrigued to learn how to use this new phenomenon.

The Chamber plans to follow-up with future seminars that will include a smaller more intimate group of attendees, which will allow participants to learn hands-on application on how some of these programs work.

Below are some important points from the panel of speaker at the Social Media Seminar.

Panelists:

•  Ken Blass, President & CEO of Blass Communications, LLC

•  Andrea Colby, Senior Account Executive of E3 Communications

•  Rob Johanson, Founder and COO of midhudsonmedia

•  Millie Rossman Kidd, Owner of MRK Design

The panel was moderated by Roger Coleman, Publisher of Hudson-Catskill Newspapers.

Questions and Tips:

Why is Social Media important to business?

•  It can be a valuable marketing tool

•  It is an effective way to pass information to many people

•  It builds relationships

•  It creates instant dialogue

•  It offers ways to grow your business

What are some ways for local businesses to get familiar with Social Media resources?

•  Look at what is out there (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc.)

•  Just try it

•  Find a community that works for you

•  Attend seminars on Social Media

•  Talk to professionals about how it can be effective for your business

How does Social Media differ from traditional media?

•  It's instant communication

•  It creates instant gratification

•  It's a new source of media

•  A new marketing tool

•  You lose the history compared to traditional media
•  Increased speed to spread your word
•  It reaches a broader network of people

What are some of the pitfalls of Social Media?

•  If you are not authentic, you are not credible

•  It can be obtrusive

•  There is a danger of becoming over “tweeted”

•  You will lack credibility if you don't do your homework

•  There can be a bias slant

•  You can lose control of your message

•  It can be time consuming

•  Verification can be difficult

•  It lacks regulation

What advice would you give to a business that wants to launch a Social Media presence?

              •  Know your target market

•  Know how to use it

•  Have a website

•  Have content management

•  Know your goal

•  Do research

•  Have a definite message

•  It is marketing 101

•  Research sites such as Blogger.com and wordpress.com

•  Authenticity is a must

•  Use it as a great human resource tool

How do you and your firm engage in Social Media? (give any best practices.)

•  Research for clients

•  Use as a new tool in marketing plan

•  You can monitor success of social media

•  You can research bloggers

•  It increases communication and speed of talking with clients

•  You can implement changes quicker

•  It helps to build a brand

•  It gets your message out quickly

•  It's a great way to spread information

For more information, please contact the Chamber at 828-4417.