Social Media Workshop Part I

The workshop will be structured into two halves. The first half will focus on personal social networking and social media skills like tracking and search. The second half (next week) will focus on the business of social networking, tracking and analytics we will also dive into how businesses are using and quantifying the use of social technologies.

LESSON #1: Shortening your links to track their effectiveness. http://j.mp or http://bit.ly

The purpose of this format is to demonstrate the many parallels between personal and business use of social networking. This format also helps to show the differences for both personal and business social networking. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have at any time. Answering your questions and inquiries is my number one priority as your instructor.

more presentations from Kemp Edmonds.

Today's class will be rather straight forward and involve introductions to the course, one another and social networking. We will discuss the shifts that social media has caused and it's effects on communications. I always like to start off my classes with a simple survey. So please take this survey and be honest (it's anonymous).

This survey is an example of a feedback loop and just how easily and freely they can be created with free tools like Google Forms (part of Google Docs). Let's look at some of the ways that 'social' is transforming our world whether it's Twitter, Wikis or Linux people working together are changing our world.

Normally Twitter plays a large role in my classes but due to time restraints you will not be required to open an account for this workshop although we will be discussing Twitter and how it can be used for personal and business purposes. For those looking for some more information to learn the ins and outs of Twitter this free resource is the Twitter "textbook": http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/ (worth bookmarking). I am also available via Twitter, Facebook or email to answer your questions on any topic at anytime.

It is important to understand social networking in both an online and an offline capacity. The real benefits of digital social networking come when that digital connection becomes a face-to-face meeting.

We will now be discussing listening as part of social media including:

Two key components of successful Social Media are sharing and listening.

Mashable is one of the best sites on the web for examples of successful social media, textbooks for the major tools and updates on changes to major social networks or even ancient ones like MySpace. Be sure to check out Mashable before your take a well deserved break from class to grab a coffee or a bite to eat.

20 minutes - BREAK TIME

I hope you enjoyed a nice break. We are now going to talk about using Twitter, having goals and introduce LinkedIn. We will then go over the importance of having a completed Twitter profile and what it looks like to an outsider. Then we will move onto goals. Following that we will discuss LinkedIn. We will then discuss frequency and delivery a topic that is vital to long term successon social networks. First let's discuss Frequency and Delivery.

Twitter basics and measurement

View more from Heidi Miller.

On Twitter does your profile have an image? A bio? A link to a blog, website or LinkedIn profile? These are all elements of a completed Twitter profile. Using Twitter can be done on a daily basis although this is not necessary. It depends on what your goals are for using the service. If you are using it to listen and receive information then your participation is less important but sharing and engaging will yield more valuable results than just sitting back and reading.

Whether you are a business or an individual, having goals when using social media is incredibly important. Let's look at personal goals today and next we will discuss business goals in more detail. Try to write-up your short-term, medium-term and long-term goals for using social media and email them to yourself. These goals may change or evolve but once you've written them down they will give you more of an idea of what kinds of activities you should be focusing on. Below I have put a sample of my personal goals as a template to work from:

Short-Term - This week, this month

Write 3 blog posts on kempedmonds.com

Connect with a publishing site (IE VanObserver) to see if they are interested in a story

Attempt to connect with 3 people on LinkedIn by proposing the purpose of my connection

Answer 2 questions/week on LinkedIn

Follow 100 new and interesting people on Twitter by searching for keywords and evaluating the people.

Medium-Term - 1 - 3 months

Connect with 3 local thought leaders for coffee to learn from them and share ideas

Develop a strategy to secure more speaking gigs

Develop my website so that it more clearly tells visitors about the professional services that I provide

Begin implementing the strategy to get more speaking gigs

Work to develop MDIA 1045 into an online course

Attend 3 events/month that I don't normally attend

Long-Term - 3 - 12 months

Work to expand my online reach beyond Vancouver

Attend 4 large conferences each year and connect with others there

Use Twitter to 'virtually' attend one large scale chat or event each month

Develop new relationships with those in my field via long-term relationship building

Interview 3 new trendsetters for my blog interview series.

Note that goals don't all have to be directly related to social media but all of them are important to my work and the development of my social networks. Think of your own personal goals in the context of what you wish to achieve through your professional efforts over the next weeks, months and years. These goals will change. Some will disappear or be deferred while new goals may appear and things you didn't think of will provide great opportunities. Our world is changing quickly and so should some of your goals.

Let's now look at LinkedIn. I will use my own profile as an example for this one. if you have an account already take the next steps to bring your account to 100% completion. If you don't have a LinkedIn account please sign up here.

LinkedIn is the professional's social network. It is a place to meet and connect for future collaboration or business. It is a more complex social network than Twitter where connecting with someone is easier than on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is also perfect for demonstrating your knowledge or expertise and view the expertise of others through answers and groups.