We’ve spent a lot of time this month discussing the importance of social media. This week we’re narrowing our focus to talk about one of the web’s most popular social media sites, Twitter. We’ve put together an easy five-step plan to get your business up and running on Twitter.

1. Sign Up

• Your first step is the easiest–go to twitter.com and sign up for an account!
• Use an email address you check often and select a password that is DIFFERENT from your email password.

2. Choose your Twitter handle

• Keep it simple and use your business name where possible.
• If it’s too long or already taken, get as close as you can to the business name while avoiding dashes and underscores that can confuse people. 

3. Follow people

• Following someone isn’t as creepy as it sounds. It just means that those people’s posted updates will appear in your news feed.
• You can add family and friends, but also follow other businesses and potential clients in the area.
• If someone follows you, it’s customary to follow them back as a courtesy (provided that they’re not a spammer, and you can be sure those do exist on Twitter. No worries though, if you follow someone and get sick of their tweets, you can always unfollow them at any time!).

4. Start tweeting

• Tweeting is simple and easy–don’t over-think it. All you have to do is write a sentence, how hard is that?
• The key to tweeting is balance–alternate between business related posts about specials, events and other activities going on at your business and some more informal posts. For example, you can comment on the weather, a local event you recently attended, a TV show you like, anything that your customers might connect with.

5. Let people know you’re on Twitter!

• Don’t overlook this step! Once you’ve signed up for Twitter, you need to get with us so we can put a Twitter icon and link on your website to let people know that you’ve got a Twitter account so they can follow you. 

We can’t dedicate a month to discussing social media without talking about the biggest social media site on the web, Facebook. Believe it our not, your business can really benefit from having an active Facebook page. How do you do that? Follow these four simple steps and you’ll find success.

1. Create a Profile.

Facebook currently features two types of profiles–Personal Profiles and Pages. Personal profiles are tailored to individuals while Facebook’s Pages (sometimes known as Fan Pages) are more business oriented. Fan Pages allow you to categorize your business, add your location, links to your website and other information that will help customers find you on Facebook. If you haven’t already created a page on Facebook, it’s easy to do–just follow the step-by-step instructions on the website. And the best part is, it’s free!

2. Make Connections.

Once you’ve added your profile and filled out all the necessary information, you need to start making connections with your customers. The goal of Facebook is to get customers and potential customers to “Like” your page, which will add your updates to the news feed they see each time they log-in to the site. You can encourage your current customers to “like” your page with a link on your website or an email campaign. To attract new customers, make your page visible by commenting or interacting with other pages that have a similar customer base.

3. Post Updates & Information. 

You should post a status update or photo on your Facebook page at least once a week, but preferably once a day. It’s all about staying current and getting your page into the news feed that each user sees when he or she logs into Facebook. You want to catch the attention of potentially returning customers or get them to share your information with all of their friends, who may become new customers for you.

4. Monitor your insights. 

On the left side of the page you should see a link that says “Insights.” Click on it and you’ll find updated statistics about the activity on your Facebook page. This information is critical to measuring your reach on Facebook. You can see which posts have been most popular, how many people are talking about your page on Facebook and so much more!

5. Advertise!

This is an optional step, but if you feel like your page isn’t getting enough attention on its own, you can advertise it through Facebook. Using Facebook’s incredibly detailed demographics you can specifically target your market with a variety of different types of advertising to boost the reach of your page.

Don’t have time to sign up for Facebook? We can create a page for you and add a link to your website! Give us a call and we can have it set up for you today!

By now you’ve surely heard of social media, but you might not know exactly what it is and what it can do for your business. Used in the right way, social media can drive traffic to your website and physical location, making it a critical key to prospering in today’s economy.

What is social media?

Social media includes all web-based and mobile technologies that are used to turn communication into interactive dialogue on a large scale . This includes Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Google +, Four Square, Pinterest and many other sites. Each of these sites allow individuals and businesses to communicate with one another, find friends with common interests and share information gathered on the web.

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How can social media help your business? 

There are two primary benefits to businesses from social media: 

1. Valuable customer feedback.

Getting feedback from your customers (both positive and negative) can help you improve your business and tailor your products/services to meet the needs of your customers. Use social media to engage your customers about what they enjoy most about your products/services, what they would like to see more of, etc.

2. Easy follow-up format.

Following up with clients after a purchase or inquiry is key to getting return business. By using social media sites you can keep your business fresh in the minds of your customers and offer incentives for returning visitors like discounts and daily specials.

Which social media sites are best for business? 

Social media sites are constantly adding new features that can change the impact they have on businesses. Facebook seems to be the most popular tool for businesses to interact with the general public, but LinkedIn is the best for business-to-business networking. Twitter is still widely used for quick messages and sharing links, while Four Square rules when it comes to getting people to your physical location. Pinterest and Google + are quickly growing in size and popularity (we’re going to talk more about both of those later in the month in case you’re not familiar with them).

Do you have links to your social media accounts on your website? 

If you’re active on social media sites, you need to let your customers know about it! Add links to your website so people can follow, friend or “like” you. Old City Web Services can do this for you, just ask! We’re happy to help.

Don’t miss anything going on in St. Augustine with the new OldCity.com Weekend Outlook Blog!

With so many festivals, events, concerts, art shows and more going on around St. Augustine these days, it’s getting difficult to keep up with everything! We’ve decided to make it a little easier by highlighting a few of our favorite events going on each weekend with our new OldCity.com Weekend Outlook Blog. Released each Friday, the blog contains event information from our community calendar as well as a few tips from our staff on how to get the most out of these events. Locals and visitors alike can plan their weekend off of the OldCity.com blog and calendar. Check it out today!-  Old City

Promote your upcoming event on the OldCity.com calendar.

Each and every day, almost two thousand people visit OldCity.com for information on everything St. Augustine has to offer. Imagine if all of those people saw your event posted on the OldCity.com calendar! From community events like dog training and charity fundraisers to popular festivals and concerts, visitors and locals alike use our blog to plan their days, nights and weekends in St. Augustine. Make sure that your event makes it into their plans!

Adding your event is easy and free!

Send a short paragraph describing your event to calendar@oldcity.com. Make sure to include all of the following:

• Date(s) – Include not only the date of the event, but the deadline to make reservations, purchase tickets or register.
• Time(s) – List the time the event starts and if applicable, the end time of the event as well. For some events, it’s helpful to list the time the doors open as well as the time when the program actually begins.
• Location – Provide information on where the event will be held and if necessary, what kind of parking is available for the event.
• Cost – Let people know what tickets will cost in advance, at the door, for different age groups, etc. If the event is free, include that, too!
• Event description – Give a brief description of your event. Be sure to mention if the event is family friendly, outdoors/indoors, etc.
• Contact information – This can be a website URL for the event or contact information where people can purchase tickets, get more information, etc.

To ensure that your event makes it onto the calendar in time, please send it no less than one week prior to the event itself (two or three weeks in advance is usually best). We also recommend sending your information in the body of the e-mail instead of an attachment.

Bonus: Twitter and OldCity.com Blog Promotions

In addition to be listed on the OldCity.com calendar, your event might also be included in our Weekend Update Blog and on our @OldCity Twitterfeed, which is followed by over 1,000 people.All of these features are completely free as our way of showing support for the St. Augustine community. Your success is our success!

Need more help? Call us!

If you you’ve got a big event coming up this holiday season, don’t take any chances. Maximize the turnout for your event by spreading the word with an advertisement on OldCity.com. We can also design print ads, fliers and more to help you promote your event around town.Call us today at 904-867-4112 or send an e-mail to letusmarketyou@oldcitywebservices.com.

What is Twitter?

Follow us on Twitter!

Twitter is an online social network–it’s like a 24/7 chamber mixer for people around the world. The conversation is constantly going on and you can choose to jump in and out of it as you please, posting your own information or commenting on other people’s information.

1) Customize your Twitter profile.

You can create a profile on Twitter for free. After you’ve signed up, you can customize your profile by adding your company branding (logo, colors, etc.). Create a small icon to represent your comments everywhere they appear as well as a background image for your Twitter home page. If you need help, call us!

2) Network with other local businesses.

Create a network of “followers” (Twitter’s word for friends/colleagues) to share and cross promote specials and events. Here are the Twitter handles for some of our favorite local businesses and news sources: OldCity, OldCityWeb, Neds_Kitchen, Karen_SJCVenues and HistoricCity.

3) Save yourself some time with HootSuite.

If you have a Facebook page for you company as well, you can update both profiles at one time with online programs like HootSuite and ping.fm. You can sign up for free and add multiple social networks to your account. You can also schedule Tweets to post later and easily keep up with all the latest trend topics.

4) Link your Twitter profile to your website.

Make sure your customers know how to find you on Twitter and tell them what kind of information you’ll be sharing there. If people know to look to your Twitter feed for upcoming specials and events, they will check back often for updated info. We can add a Twitter logo and link to your site for you in minutes!

5) Find followers with Twellow.

Twitter’s equivalent to the Yellow Pages is Twellow. Register your profile and search for people you want to connect with by location, category, profession and more. Find other businesses in St. Augustine and around the world.

Contact Us:

For more information on Twitter and other Internet Marketing tools, call your local source for web design, development and marketing–Old City Web Services.

904-867-4112

Follow us on Twitter!