Maximizing LinkedIn for You & Your Business

“Maximizing LinkedIn for You and Your Business”:  This 2 hr seminar on April 10^th is for users ready to leverage the power of LinkedIn Marketing with tools and applications to help you reach your personal and business objectives.  We will cover all of the latest profile changes introduced for 2013 and how they enhance your online brand. Learn how to optimize your profile for search engines so that you can appear in top search results. Bonus 30 minute session on marketing with LinkedIn Pages for your company follows.  4/10 from 2:00-4:00/4:30 at the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce.  For more info and to register click HERE.

C3 gifts one Free LinkedIn Profile Review each month. February winner: Chrissann Ruehle

Enter the monthly drawing  for a LinkedIn Profile Make-over and 30 minute phone consult HERE.

Visit our website for more information on strategic social media marketing services provided by C3:  HERE

Social Media Marketing Seminars Coming to the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce

C3 Social Media Marketing Seminars in Cincinnati

C3. Creating Connections Consulting, in partnership with the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce, is bringing two key social media for business seminars to the Anderson Center in March and April of 2013.

Join C3 and the AACC on Wednesday, March 13th for “Maximizing Social Media Marketing for your Business: An Introduction to Digital” from 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. at the Anderson Center in Anderson Township (7850 Five Mile Road, Cincinnati, OH  45230).

 “Maximizing LinkedIn” will be held at the same location on Wednesday, April 10th from 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. There will be a FREE 30 minute bonus seminar on Marketing with LinkedIn Company Pages from 4:00-4:30 p.m.

Join social media strategist and former P&G marketer, Michelle Beckham-Corbin as she takes the class from possibilities to execution steps.  Register early as space is limited. We will be in the large conference room of the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce located in the Anderson Center on Five Mile Road.

Register for the Social Media Marketing Seminar here: 

Register for the LinkedIn Seminar here:

 Or Call C3 at 513-445-2180 for more information.

www.CreatingConnectionsConsulting.com

Here’s what others are saying about Michelle’s seminars:

“Michelle is a high-energy person who is exudes a passion for business and personal development. Her enthusiasm for utilizing social media as a tool for strategic marketing is contagiously energizing.

Having graduated with an undergraduate and MBA degree from Xavier, Michelle is continually seeking opportunities to give back to the university. Recently she demonstrated her expertise in strategic marketing and social media by presenting her methodology to university students, alumni, faculty, and business partners during the 2nd Annual “Career Campaign” offered by the Professional Development Center in the Williams College of Business. As a strong and engaging presenter Michelle quickly connected with attendees as she walked them through a step by step plan for developing their on-line presence. Michelle’s outreach to attendees continues beyond the classroom when she offers her contact information and urges others to get LinkedIn with her.”

~Cheryl Wilson, Career Development Coordinator, Williams College of  Business- Xavier University.

Free Social Media Marketing Services in Cincinnati

C3 Gives Back Program:

Pro bono Social Media Services

C3.Creating Connections Consulting to offer pro bono social media marketing and speaking services for non-profits and community organizations in the Cincinnati region in 2013 via the C3 Gives Back Program. Founder Michelle Beckham is a former P&G customer business development and marketing manager who has worked in the digital space since 2005.

One resource that most non-profits and community organizations need, but might not have the budget for is strategic social media marketing consulting or speaker services.  C3 helps businesses and organizations create a strategic marketing plan that integrates the most effective social/digital tools for their call to action and target market and teaches them how to create content and engagement strategies for each platform to build customer relationships and business.

Michelle Beckham speaks all over the region on social media marketing topics, reputation management, online branding and internet safety for children. Follow this link for more information.

It is C3’s corporate philosophy to share knowledge and give back to the community whenever possible. Michelle has been a board member for several Cincinnati organizations including: Authentic Leadership-Cincinnati, New Media Cincinnati, IHM Job Search Group, St. Ursula Academy, the Institute for Social Media at Cincinnati State, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Communications Commission and the Procter & Gamble Global Alumni Network Speakers Bureau team.

C3 is instituting a formal request program to meet the needs of non-profits and community organizations in 2013.  Organizations can apply for an opportunity each quarter to receive free strategic social media marketing assistance or speaker services for their group.

Requirements:

• Must be a 501(c)(3) or community organization within the Cincinnati/Dayton/Northern Kentucky area

• Speaking segment limited to a maximum of two (2) hours

• Consulting services limited to a maximum of two (2) hours

• Deadline for first quarter 2013 requests is 12/31/12.

*See website for full information and to register (http://creatingconnectionsconsulting.com)

Share this information with a group that could use some pro bono services.  They will appreciate your gift of information!  Thank you.

 

Where did all the Facebook Page Fans go?

84% of your Facebook Fans Won’t See Your Page Posts

Facebook made a major move to increase revenue recently with Promoted Posts (not the same as a Facebook ad).  If you have a Facebook Page for your business, you may have noticed that your Page stats (number of new fans, reach and frequency, etc) have been edging southward.  For example, a typical Page post might have garnered a couple of hundred views on a fan base of 800 with a moderately engaged audience and above-average content several months ago.  That same Page is seeing reach numbers in the double digits (i.e. 63 views).

I just completed a Facebook Page Promoted Posts test in which I updated the same post about an upcoming C3 LinkedIn Training class as a regular post and as a Promoted post. I found a major difference in organic and viral reach with the paid post (much higher!).  In fact, the Promoted Post (a mere $5 outlay) brought in 851% more total views than the non-promoted post with identical content.  I had zero viral reach for the non-promoted post, only organic (original) Page fans, while the Promoted post had several hundred viral viewers.  (Check this out for information on the difference between organic, viral and paid reach.)  Post analytics will also point out how many of the views were paid views.  It’s interesting that my organic views (original fans) were much higher than the non-promoted organic views for the post, emphasizing the point that Facebook adjusted the Edgerank algorithm to allow more of my current fan base to see the post in their news feed as when the post was not promoted.

It’s really too bad that Page owners won’t be able to use Edgerank to drive frequency and reach with engaging content as they could prior to FB’s current quest to drive monetization.

I think this will have a huge effect on small businesses. Every business, regardless of size, will need to set aside part of their marketing budget to allocate to Facebook advertising or risk having only 16% of their user base see posts shared by the Page.

If this sounds like Farsi to you, then perhaps a Facebook Page Marketing consult should be in your future.  We are happy to get your business/organization up to speed on the recent changes to Facebook Page Marketing.  Just contact us here.

Yours in social,

Michelle Beckham-Corbin

President of C3. Creating Connections Consulting, LLC

C3 Facebook Page

www.CreatingConnectionsConsulting.com

TEDxXavierUniversity 2012

TEDxXavierUniversity

MC Intro for today’s TEDxXavier University Event:

I’m very excited to be here this afternoon for a number of reasons. First, I truly believe in today’s theme of touching the hearts and minds of others through innovation, service and leadership and passionately making a difference in the world. Secondly, it is my sincere privilege to be back on campus as a double Xavier alum and passionate supporter of the University. It was here as a pre-med and psychology undergrad that I first learned the Jesuit ideals of leadership, the pursuit of excellence and commitment to service that would later define my career at Procter & Gamble, my work with community organizations and my path to entrepreneurship with the founding of a local social media marketing consulting firm.

Take a moment to look around at the people sitting to your left and right. You all have the ability to inspire change. We organized this event because we know that YOU are the key to positive change and making a difference. This event is about all of you seated here. You have the ability to touch the hearts and minds of others. We are inspired by you and what WE can collectively accomplish as a result of this event.

 To help share the learning and exchange of ideas today, please use the hashtag #TEDxXavierU while tweeting and for tagging photos on Flickr or video uploads to YouTube. Part of the fun with TED is sharing your ideas in real time and we encourage you to tweet from your smart phones and iPads during the talks.

1 Day

9 Speakers

400 Seeds for Change Planted

LET’S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

*****************************************

Radio interview of me speaking with WNKU reporter Cheri Lawson about the event, which is the first TEDx Event ever to be 100% student-initiated and student-led. Listen to Interview.

I have been so impressed with the leadership team of Lyden Foust, Michael Farwell, Nick Turon and Sean Kallmeyer.  They have bright futures ahead!

Student Leadership Team for TEDxXavierUniversity- 2012. Photo via Nick Turon on TEDxXavierUniversity Facebook age

Cincinnati Social Media Marketing Training w/ C3

Upcoming opportunities for social media marketing education:

All courses taught by Michelle Beckham-Corbin.

Michelle Beckham-Corbin, President & Chief Digital Marketing Strategist of C3: Creating Connections Consulting, LLC has over 20 years experience in the Corporate, Non-profit and Small Business sectors.  Michelle is a former Sales & Marketing Manager for Procter & Gamble and holds an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Michelle specializes in Social Media Marketing Strategy and Brand Development.  She is a Board Trustee for the non-profit group Authentic Leadership Cincinnati and is the Social Media for Business Curriculum Creator and Instructor at the Warren County Career Center, a University System of Ohio Provider. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the digital networking group, New Media Cincinnati and is an active member of the Cincinnati Social Media (CincySM) Group. Michelle is a frequent speaker, lecturer and trainer.  Additionally, she is a published writer, co-author of Social Media book, Age of Conversation 3 (Channel V Books, New York, 2010), frequent commentator and Blogger. She brings great energy and passion as well as a keen ability to deeply connect with people in order to create business building social media opportunities for her clients.

April 16^th:  Surviving in an Online World: Reputation Management for Teens

Location: Forest Hills School District:  Anderson High School (closed to the public)

April 17^th:  Social Media Trends Rocking 2012

Noon-1:00 p.m.

Location:  Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce Marketing Roundtable

Register here: http://bit.ly/HC3B1e

April 18^th: LinkedIn Training

1:00-4:00 p.m.

Location:  Warren County Career Center

Register here:  http://www.mywccc.org/SocialMediaWorkshops.aspx

April 19^th:  Introduction to Social Media Marketing

9:00-11:00 a.m.

Location:  Deerfield Township Trustee Meeting Room, Mason

Register here: http://c3introsocialmedia.eventbrite.com/

April 23^rd:  LinkedIn 101 for Women

1:00-2:30 p.m.

Location:  C3 HQ, Anderson Township

Register here:  http://creatingconnectionsconsulting.com/social-media-training-classesmichelle-beckham/social-media-classes-linkedin-michellebeckham/

April 25^th:  Facebook Page Timeline Marketing

9:00-11:00 a.m.

Location:  Warren County Career Center

Register here:  http://www.mywccc.org/SocialMediaWorkshops.aspx

April 26^th:  TEDx- Xavier University

1:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

Location:  Cintas Center, Xavier University

Register here:  http://www.xavier.edu/williams/tedx/rsvp.cfm

Tony Robbins TED Talk: “Why We Do What We Do and How We Can Do It Better”

April 26^th: Living in an Online World: Internet Safety for Kids

7:00-8:30 p.m.

Callahan & Associates at Stir

Available to Callahan clients only

April 30^th:  Facebook Page Timeline Marketing

9:00-11:00 a.m.

Location:  Deerfield Township Trustee Meeting Room, Mason

Register here:  http://c3faceook4arts.eventbrite.com/

May 8^th:  Digital Branding & Job Search

12:30-2:00 p.m.

Location:  University of Cincinnati- Clermont

Open to UC students only

May 10th: Advanced LinkedIn Marketing Strategies

9:00 a.m.-noon

Location:  Warren County Career Center

Register here:  http://www.mywccc.org/SocialMediaWorkshops.aspx

May 16^th:  Google and Search Engine Optimization

9:00-11:00 a.m.

Location:  Warren County Career Center

Register here:  http://www.mywccc.org/SocialMediaWorkshops.aspx

May 16^th:  Marketing with Pinterest

1:30-3:30 p.m.

Location: Deerfield Township Trustee Meeting Room

Register here:  http://c3pinterest.eventbrite.com/

May 23rd: Advanced Facebook Page Marketing

9:00 a.m.-noon

Location:  Deerfield Township Trustee Meeting Room, Mason

Register here:  http://advfacebookmarketing.eventbrite.com/

Contact us with any questions:  info@CreatingConnectionsConsulting.com OR  513-445-2180

Cincinnati Social Media: LinkedIn LabTraining

Cincinnati Social Media Workshop Series with Michelle Beckham

Announcing: LinkedIn Basics Lab Class on Wednesday, 4/18/12  from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the Warren County Career Center in Lebanon, Ohio. LinkedIn is a professional networking site with over 140 million members around the world.

This lab workshop is for those who are new to LinkedIn or who have not been active with the platform. During the workshop participants will learn:

`Overview of LinkedIn & Role in Social Networking
`How to Set Up an Account Correctly
`Personal Branding Exercise
`How to Create a Winning Summary Statement
`How to Optimize Your Profile for Search Engines
`How to Find Contacts
`The Correct way to Send Introduction
`The Importance of the Status Update
`How to Find Key Groups
`How to Actively Participate in Groups
`How to Get Recommendations and Why This is Important
`How to Search Key Company Info for Contacts, Corporate Data, Hiring Managers,  Jobs
`How to Promote yourself and your business
Understanding Premium Accounts and knowing when to use them

Each participant receives a Training Guide with Key Steps

To register, visit http://www.mywccc.org/SocialMediaWorkshops.aspx
or call the WCCC at  513-932-8145

The Warren County Career Center is located at:
3525 North State Route 48 Lebanon, Ohio 45036

About Program Facilitator Michelle Beckham-Corbin:

Michelle Beckham-Corbin, President & Chief Digital Marketing Strategist of C3: Creating Connections Consulting, LLC has over 20 years experience in the Corporate, Non-profit and Small Business sectors.  Michelle is a former Sales & Marketing Manager for Procter & Gamble and holds an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Michelle specializes in Social Media Marketing Strategy and Brand Development.  She is a Board Trustee for the non-profit group Authentic Leadership Cincinnati and is the Social Media for Business Curriculum Creator and Instructor at the Warren County Career Center, a University System of Ohio Provider. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the digital networking group, New Media Cincinnati and is an active member of the Cincinnati Social Media (CincySM) Group. Michelle is a frequent speaker, lecturer and trainer.  Additionally, she is a published writer, co-author of Social Media book, Age of Conversation 3 (Channel V Books, New York, 2010), frequent commentator and Blogger. She brings great energy and passion as well as a keen ability to deeply connect with people in order to create business building social media opportunities for her clients. (http://creatingconnectionsconsulting.com/)

Setting a Personalized URL For Your Facebook Page

One thing that is consistent about social media is that it is constantly changing! It’s practically a full-time job just to keep up with these changes and process them into workable ways for a business to capitalize on reaching their intended target audience more effectively.

Today, I am sharing a quick tip that will make your Facebook Page more effective and boost your ability to be found online in search.

Here’s the tip:

Setting a personalized URL (PURL) for your Facebook Page

What does this mean?

Right click on your Facebook Page name and take a look at the URL or web address. Does it list your name and a series of numbers like this:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grandmas-Pizza/107667633562

If it does, you need to set it to a proper address. It will be helpful from an SEO (search engine optimization) stand point, as well as be a more concise web address for you to promote on your print marketing materials.

It should read:  http://www.facebook.com/GrandmasPizza

See this link to learn how to set your URL.  Be aware that Facebook has recently reinstated the 25 Likes Rule for PURLS.  This means that you MUST have 25 Likes (Fans) before the PURL can be set.

Additionally, your Page name does not have to match exactly with your PURL. Take a look at this Juvenile Diabetes example:

They opted for the smaller name for the PURL and in their profile banner (myJDRF), but chose the full name in the Page Title in order to take advantage of the key words: juvenile, foundation, research and diabetes as key search terms.

If you work for the biz or org of the Facebook Page, then make sure to add the link in the Info Tab of your Facebook Personal Profile.  So many people don’t realize that they have inadvertently connected a hyper-link to the community page for the business or organization and not the REAL Facebook Page.

If you need help with setting your Facebook PURL and Name, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 513-445-2180.  We are always happy to assist you!

~Michelle Beckham

President & Founder of C3.Creating Connections Consulting

Check out our FREE 90 minute 1-on-1 Consulting Session & 2011 Holiday Lunch Contest HERE.

Cincinnati Area LinkedIn Training

LinkedIn is a dynamic professional networking site and is used by over 120 million people around the world. Every professional and business or organization should have a profile on LinkedIn.  It is much more than a repository for your resume; rather, it’s a living, breathing community that can make a difference in your business or career. The benefits of being a member of LinkedIn include making professional connections; knowledge sharing with others in your industry; discovering business-building opportunities, networking and professional training events, as well as job openings and so much more!

C3, in partnership with the Warren County Career Center in Lebanon, Ohio, will be offering two different levels of LinkedIn workshops in November.  WCCC is a University System of Ohio Provider.

LinkedIn I Basics- Hands-on Lab Workshop

is for those who are new to LinkedIn or have a dormant profile and want to become active.  The course covers everything you need to know to have a stellar profile plus:

• Optimizing your Profile for Search Engines (SEO)
• Personal branding and the critical Summary Statement
• Key profile settings
• The correct way to send Introductions
• Maximizing the search function to find the information that you need
• How to successfully obtain personal recommendations
• LinkedIn Etiquette

This course will be held in our computer lab and access to a PC is included.  Remember to bring your log-in information.

• November 16^th: 1:30-3:30 p.m.
• Cost:  $99

Register here. Or call 513-932-8145.

LinkedIn II: Advanced Marketing Strategies

is an advanced class for those who have a completed LinkedIn profile and want to become proficient at leveraging all of the tools and applications that LinkedIn offers in order to build business and make strategic connections. Emphasis is on using Linkedin vs. creating a personal profile. The course also covers corporate use of LinkedIn from company profile creation to advanced search techniques for industry and business. We examine the paid membership options so you can make informed decisions about your level of membership and use of the platform.

Live demonstrations.

• November 30^th: 10:00 a.m.-Noon
• Cost: $69

Register here. Or call 513-932-8145.

Love to see you in one of the workshops!

Managing Online Communities

Community- image credit: Michelle Beckham

Connecting with people is my passion and always has been (hence the name of my company) and it always amazes me when businesses are apprehensive about connecting with their online communities.  I see this many times through the Facebook Page Marketing workshops that I teach in the Cincinnati area. Page administrators are a bit nervous to engage in conversations for fear that something may come up that they can’t handle.

A business owner in my most recent workshop asked if he should immediately delete negative comments posted to the wall of his retail company page.  My immediate answer was NO! One needs to step back and think about how they would handle the situation if the patron was at their place of business. The disgruntled customer would not be ignored or dismissed; instead, store personnel would ignite customer service 101 principles and handle the situation appropriately. This is the same thing with Facebook. A negative comment is a chance to put customer service into effect and to handle the situation publicly so that others can see how you operate.  Chances are the comment will have hit news feeds and the cloud before you can delete it anyway, and then you are left with a negative image that you will have to deal with later.

The exception to dealing with these types of comments in a professional and customer service oriented way is if the comments are clearly put out there by “trolls” . A troll is defined by Wikipedia as:

“..someone who posts inflammatory,^[2]extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response^[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.”

Troll comments should be deleted and the Page admin can still make some statements to the community to explain why the action was taken. Might even be a great time to set up some community Page rules and post them in the Notes Tab in order to stay static or if your budget allows, create a custom Tab where your rules will be prominently seen under your Page Profile Pic or Banner. Coca Cola does a great job of posting their “House Rules” as a custom Tab. Take a look here. C3 makes custom tabs at reasonable prices. Check our website for more information.

The goal to having an online presence should be connecting with your customers and potential customers by creating signature experiences and opportunities for needed content that only you can provide. There certainly is a lot that goes into managing a Facebook Page and its corresponding online community, but once an administrator receives training on how to  effectively market the Page and build a following, then a little advice from community managers who are rocking it out online would certainly be helpful.

I happened to stumble upon this great FREE eBook on Google+ (thanks Mike Alber for posting). It shares 60 tips from community managers across the globe that can help you to be effective with your online engagement. The eBook was created by Blaise Grimes-Viort and appeared in this blog post.  Blaise states:

“If you enjoy it, please feel free to share it with someone else you think would benefit from the pearls of Community Management wisdom found within.”

So in the spirit of sharing great work, here it is (click on image or link below):

eBook created by Blaise Grimes-Viort- photo credit: Blaise Grimes-Viort

60 Insights From Experienced Community Managers

Enjoy!

Michelle Beckham-Corbin

Social Media Strategist