You might be macabre if…your facebook page is a cemetery for updates and posts from years gone by.  No living souls post to it…only some ghoulish spammers.

You might be macabre if... you let your web designer handle your domain name and website updates. Then-YIKES- he disappears: dies, goes out of business, gets too busy. It’s been ___ weeks or is it months? Your in the Domain Dungeon and your content is getting very chilly.

You might be macabre if…your company sales rep accidentally tweets on the company profile that he hates the small town he is visiting today. He’s there for a sales meeting. Local news picks up the tweet and broadcasts it. It’s called Twitter Terror!

You might be macabre if...you didn’t measure your marketing efforts in 2011 and now you don’t know how to prove ROI on anything-web  site expansion, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Email Marketing or  _____.  You and the CEO are really SPOOKED.

You might be macabre if...your social media strategy document is covered in cobwebs. It hasn’t been accessed since February. You wish you had been #accountable. You wish your #ROI was clear. Your haunted by the 2011 #Sales reality.

Tired of being macabre on the social web? Don’t be.

Become a Magnificent Social Media Manager.

Join Michelle Cullison for the Social Media Magnificent Webinar Series.

Tuesdays Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 at 1 PM CT or 7 PM CT (Your choice)

Can’t make the session? Recording will be provided.  Learn more.

Register by midnight Nov 1st for an extra TREAT.

Peace, Love & LinkedIn - Be a LinkedIn Groupie

The 70’s are gone but being a groupie is definitely in-especially on LinkedIn.  So, today I’m asking you to be a groupie.

Here’s why: LinkedIn, unlike Facebook, requires that you clarify your relationship with a person before you can invite them to connect.  In other words, you have to have an existing relationship and prove it by indicating where you worked or attended school with the person.  If you simply claim to be a friend,  you will need to provide the person’s email address. You won’t be allowed to connect if you say you don’t know the person.   Growing your network with new contacts-people you don’t know-can be complicated on LinkedIn.

There is a solution become a LinkedIn Groupie!

Search LinkedIn Groups and identify which ones would position you with people you can build business with (prospects, existing clients, referral partners, colleagues, etc.)  In these groups, you can get to know people by joining and participating in Discussion, a feature of LinkedIn groups. In addition, once you are in a group, LinkedIn allows you to invite your fellow group members to connect. This opens up a brand new avenue for network growth.  I highly recommend that you engage in the group and offer value to its members. The more you do that, the more likely it is that group members will accept your connection requests when you make them and become valuable business connections.

Growing your network to 500 strategic connections (connections within your target market or industry) is one of the first steps to seeing ROI from your LinkedIn time investments. Using groups can help you get the job done!

If you want to learn more about how to develop business on LinkedIn, contact me on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/in/michellecullison or at  michelle@daystarnewmedia.

I’m a proud LinkedIn groupie. I want you to be. Peace.

“Mom, I’m getting old. The freshman class is saying Bing it!“

This quote comes from my 18-year old daughter, a high school senior this year.   SHE’s feeling OLD due to the changes in technology—the move from Google to Bing!  Maybe your business is in the same situation.   Are you stuck using old techniques that don’t work like they used to? 

Here are 5 ways to renew your business website traffic by leveraging search and social media:

1. Fully develop a content rich Bing.com/local Business Listing.  Show up locally.
2. Fully develop a content rich Google.com/Places Profile. Show up locally.
3. In your status updates on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, regularly link to the internal pages on your website. Take people and search engines deeper into your world.
4. Regularly add new content to your website or blog.  Be the resource of valuable information of interest to the audience you want to reach. Search engines-and people- LOVE new content.
5. Optimize your social profiles by providing links from each profile to your other websites/profiles, using keywords in your profiles that clients/prospect use to find you and keeping your profiles active with a steady flow of new content.

Search engine optimization is still critically important to business. People still google and bing for businesses they want to find.  But, people are also asking their friends and colleagues on social networks who they recommend.  Google and Bing now serve up those social conversations in the search results. Social media and search engine technologies are merging. To keep your business young and traffic flowing to your website, keep your business appearing on both search and social sites.  And, if you are still feeling old? Tell someone to Bing it!  

Michelle Cullison, a leading expert on helping companies expand from web site to web presence, offers fresh, ideas on using social media and web communications to reach business objectives. Michelle@daystarnewmedia.com, (504) 780-2113end_of_the_skype_highlighting, http:// www.daystarnewmedia.com

Two major changes are underway this week on Facebook that may affect the way your profile or page handles content that flows from Facebook applications. These changes were part of the Roadmap announced in Oct 2009. Here are the changes you should be aware of: 

1. Tab Page Width Allowances are changing from 760 pixels to 520 pixels. 

The Tab page width changes began rolling out yesterday.  The old page width of 760 An example of the 760 page width is the McDonald’s  McCafe tab, while the Happy Meal  tab page complies with the new 520 width requirement.  Apps such as FBML, Profile HTML and Welcome tabs, allow users to copy HTML code from a website into facebook. These apps are the ones to check for width compliance because the width is controlled by the code an user copies into each instance of the application rather than by a developer who manages the width inside the application itself. 

2.  The Boxes Tab is going away. Wall tabs will serve apps instead. 

The Boxes tab has historically been a container for facebook applications to flow content from multiple applications. 

 For example, Facebook  apps like  Social RSS, Slideshare, Discussions, Photos and Favorite Pages have stored content to the Boxes Tab on a page or profile.  More recently, applications have provided the option for a Wall tab for each application. So, pages or profiles will have a Tab for Social RSS, another one for Slideshare, another for Favorite Pages. You get the point. Anyway, Boxes are leaving. In preparation, add the Wall tab in your Application Settings for the apps on your page or profile. 

 According to Facebook Developers blog, these updates are designed to simplify navigation for users, reduce complexity for developers, and enable Facebook to build the next generation of tools for business with Facebook.

If you aren’t sure how to use Page Tabs for business, stay tuned for next week’s article: 5 Ways to Use Page Tabs for Business Growth.

If you have other questions about facebook or social media for business? Ask Michelle at facebook.com/socialmediaexplained. 

Twitter 101 for Business – You’ve heard of tweets and you have a profile, but you aren’t sure how to use it for business. If this describes your understanding of twitter, this Lunch and Learn is for you. We’ll look at how businesses are using it, some best practices and the latest new features such as location and specials.  #RRCLL This is the new hashtag for our lunch and learns!

 Presented by: Michelle Cullison, President

Daystar New Media, Inc.
DaystarNewMedia.com
Twitter.com/mcullison

Please Note: Seating is limited to the first 30 pre-registered guests.

Subway is offering lunches for this event at a cost of $5.00. 
Includes 6″ sandwich, 2 cookies and a bag of chips. 

Fax order to Janine @ 985-359-9778 – 1 day prior to lunch n learn. 
Lunch will await you at the event and payment will be due at the lunch n learn.

Last week at the National Speakers Association Annual Convention, Ico-presented a breakout session, along with two of my business partners, Myra Corrello, PhD and Jennifer Ledet. In the session, we shared our lessons learned from co-producing a major public conference.  In particular, we talked about how we used social media to gain major corporate sponsorship, fill the room (300 attendees) and keep them in their seats till the end of the day!

Ian Griffin, Freelance Speechwriter of Executive Communications, attended our session and asked for an interview afterward.

Read Ian’s article and hear the interview on Ian’s Blog, Professionally Speaking

Did you know that next Wednesday, June 30th, is the first official Social Media Day?
I’m celebrating and inviting you to do the same!

Join me for
Business on the Social Web-Where should you be in 2010?

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT

Location: Web Meeting

Register Now

We’ll look at the top 4 social sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & Youtube) to see what new features they offer for business and how your company can benefit by using them! From sales 2.0 to relationship marketing, this webinar will reveal which social networks are best for specific business processes. Don’t miss the chance to discover the best web location for your business.

Then, we’ll open up the lines for you to take the mic so you can share your questions, favorite new features, apps, success stories, stumbling blocks and hopes for the future of social business communications.

Hope to see you on the webinar on Social Media Day!
This is an open, no cost event. Invite your friends to attend this Social Media Day Celebration.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/424459515

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer