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Wanted Wanganui Businesses Definition of Social Media from Wikipedia Social media is information content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologue (one to many) into dialog (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal and business. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM) There are many social networks, some of the best known in NZ are Myspace, Bebo and Facebook. These are primarily personal social activities, for keeping up with friends and family, a person's social activities and interests via on-line. They have millions of users worldwide. They are for hanging out with friends The Social Media is Twitter which also has millions of users but differs in that people use Twitter to find topics that are of interest to them and equally to find an audience which has an interest in what they say. It is about building an audience Twitter is a business tool Businesses can advise online in up to 140 characters, information pertaining to their business, what they have for sale and how they are able to assist the buyer. And as people follow only the people, topics or businesses that are of interest to them and the public wants information about what is available and where to buy, it gives people in business another marketing channel. It has been called real time advertising Objective The objective is to build a network of businesses in Wanganui using Twitter as the Social Media to communicate with prospective customers Why To quote from the Wanganui Referendum 09 "Wanganui residents know that the city is a great place to live and work - but we need to tell the rest of New Zealand. We need to attract more people to live and work here and combat our declining population" It's an opportunity to make a difference with 140 characters of text and show the rest of New Zealand that Wanganui businesses are facing the changes that are happening We have to step out of the walled garden, out into the world that exists today Overseas The social media is becoming very important and overseas; members of the business groups, chambers of commerce, governments and governmental bodies are using or working towards using the social media to reach people. See Hitwise for the Australian Governments approach There is no reason why it cannot happen in Wanganui, it will push us to the fore in New Zealand as a business community facing the future Sign up is easy Go to www.twitter.com select a user name (it could be your business or shop name) and password Fill in a Bio, the bit about your business. Eg. Gift shop in Wanganui specializing in……. or Home appliances TVs Washing Machines, have been in business in Wanganui for 40 years. (You can alter the bio at any time) This will give the person who wishes to follow an indication of your business purpose You are now ready to tweet (send message) You will need followers, people who are interested in what you have to say That is why a number of people are required for this social media experiment Initially you would be tweeting to them and they to you, about what is available in each others shop / business. Which is not strange, as an owner of a business is a customer in another In time because of people's usual social contact and interaction they will obtain knowledge about the service, more people will sign up to Twitter and follow you With your tweets/ messages you can advise specials or discounted items or the arrival of new stock, or anything about your business which is of interest to others, even jobs And if you wish, you can direct the tweets to your website which may have more information. Valuable for the tourist industry Start with these On the home page of www.firstsearch.co.nz halfway down the page, you will notice links to firstsearch, kiwihavoc whanganui river holiday park and almamotel, plus others, clicking on these will take you to past and present tweets made by these businesses. So once you are onboard not only will your tweets be seen by your followers as part of the network, visitors to www.firstsearch.co.nz will be able to see the advertising you have done. Giving them more reason to make contact and buy You may wish to follow these as a starter to get the feel of how it works, Twitter is different but effective. Tweet every day if you wish but don't to send multiple messages every day as this will turn your followers away. You will soon find the balance. You can tweet about almost anything you think people will be interested in. And people do want to know Hard sell is seldom successful; the social media is all about conversation Sign up: you have everything to win and nothing to lose 140 characters can make a difference to Wanganui and your business Real Time Advertising Do you have a mobile phone, can you send a text message, imagine you are in your shop or place of business and want to tell people about a product or service, just text it to Twitter. Immediately your followers have access to the information you wish to tell. This is real time advertising and who in this modern world does not know how to text. Other uses Organizations such as the Retailers Association or Main Street can use Twitter to advise dates and times of meetings. Sports clubs and organizations can use Twitter as a place to advise of events. Many other groups then come into being, some people in one, becoming members of another, this permitting retweets and so the information spreads which is good for Wanganui and your business Find people or interests Use www.search.twitter.com or the search box on your profile (mid lower right) to find people and businesses all over the world using Twitter. With a click you can follow people who have similar interests, read articles and link to the many subjects such as, how to build a successful business. It is not a popularity contest to obtain the most followers, although Celebrities have used it to their advantage. Who knows, Wanganui may attain celebrity status when it becomes known Wanganui businesses are wired and aware For more information about Social Media please read the articles and social media blog on www.firstsearch.co.nz home page Once you have signed up on Twitter, advise firstsearch and we will help spread the word. Its About Building a Network How the Social Media Works Let's start with one business in Wanganui. We will call it "Freds" Freds is a Café / Bar and they have entertainment. Freds use Twitter and each week they post a tweet saying the entertainment this week is such and such band. Now in Wanganui there are people who are interested in the entertainment around the town and these people use Twitter and they follow Freds. So each week these people receive advice as to what is on, and as they are likely to have friends whom they tell, the audience at Freds increases, which is good for Freds. What did it cost Freds, nothing, they just went to their computer, logged on to Twitter and posted a tweet. Now Sally has a Women's Fashion Shoe Business and she uses Twitter. Once a week she posts a message about the shoe special of the week or the latest fashion arrival, and she goes one step further, she puts in her tweet a link to her website which has more information about her business and the wonderful shoes she sells. Sally started out with one follower on Twitter, the lady across the road but as women network very well her following is increasing. People out of town follow her tweets because not only does she advertise her shoes she also keeps her followers up to date with the shoe fashion with tweets on Twitter Now a couple of the people who follow Sally's Fashion Shoes also follow Freds, so now these people know where to go and look good. What did it cost Fred and Sally to increase their business, time, time to log on to Twitter and post a tweet Now Mike is an electrician, he has a business but he doesn't regularly post tweets, he follows topics which are of interest to him, Skiing and Snowboarding and he receives tweets from other people on Twitter about the weather and snow conditions around the country, plus he follows writers of articles about Skiing around the world. He also follows Freds and late Saturday sees a tweet "need an electrician for maintenance work contact Freds" Mike logs onto to Twitter and sends a direct message to Freds that he is the person they need. These are just examples of the Social Media using Twitter, a very easy way to get your business message out. It builds a network of people who are interested in your products. Now the local Movie theatre uses Twitter to update their followers about the films now showing and those about to be released. Restaurants use it as a dining guide. More folowers want to know what is happening. The tourist industry is interested, it is great way to get the word out. And all it takes is 140 characters of text keyed on your computer or mobile phone It's advertising your business online without a website at no cost except your time It is real time advertising, you may say it is classified advertising on steriods. Quote: "Whether you love the concept of Twitter, or hate the idea of Twitter, if your business is not taking advantage of this opportunity, you are only hurting yourself. Yes, Twitter may not be a marketing method right for every type of business, but at the very least you should explore the potential opportunity. Twitter is a great resource for smaller or sole proprietorship businesses to get exposure with a minimal investment (time)" We use Twitter because it works, and whether it is Twitter or it is another such entity in the future, they have proved that the Social Media is here to stay Contact Firstsearch |
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