Need A Little Help With Social Media?
If you have been fortunate to participate in Social Media Examiner’s online Success Summits, this post will be preaching to the converted. If you haven’t, then I guarantee you this, if you register for one, you will be a convert…and you won’t regret it if you are using or intending to use Social Media to engage with customers and market Your Business. And here are 5 reasons why…
Social Media Examiner have just announced their next online Success Summit – the Small Biz Success Summit 2012 – to be held in February next year . Will you be joining me online? A couple of years ago, as I was moving along my social media journey, I stumbled across Social Media Examiner and was instantly wowed by the potential of Social Media and the content from Mike Stelzner and his Team on their quality blog. But it was when I registered for one of their Success Summits that I was completely sold. Sure, their blog is always full of great contributor’s, great writers, fantastic content, and a brilliantly engaged community, but it was at the Success Summit that I began to really respect what they were doing. I have been to many massive “offline” seminars and conferences in my time, but to do one of this calibre online, was truly a new experience. So here is why, if you are in small business (or any business for that matter) you should check out Small Biz Success Summit 2012 and why, after you have experienced your first, you will probably come back again (just like me!). Note: this will be my 5th….
1 You can wear your Pyjamas
OK, so if you are in the States, that might not come across real well if you are still in your office at the end of the day, but for those of us here in Australia, the time zones for sessions means that we are joining online early in the morning. Personally, despite some of the sessions being an early start, I quite enjoy the chance to lounge around, listen to some great social media advice and have my first coffee for the day, and tweet a few friends doing the same. The login procedures are easy, their technology is good and there is great customer support. I have never had a problem logging into the sessions from my laptop and find it very user-friendly! Oh and if I switch my alarm to snooze….then I can refer to Reason 2:
2 You can take the presenters home
All sessions are recorded, so you can go back to download any speakers you have missed (due to the aforementioned alarm-problem in the case of this Aussie) and you can watch and listen to the full session, access slides, or download a full PDF transcript. For me, the mix of media options has been fabulous. I recently was away in Fiji on holidays during the second week of their Facebook Success Summit 2011, and I was able to read a couple of sessions on the plane…before I slipped into holiday mode and went completely offline and into blissful relaxation!
3 You can attend for a year
Furthermore, there is no ridiculous restriction on accessing the material, and no pressure or up-sells to go with their material. Mike and his team have been very generous in allowing access for up to 12 months - plenty of time to download and watch what you want and not miss a thing….or to review sessions that you found beneficial.
4 You are part of a great community
Social Media Examiner excel at building engaged communities – how else would Mike Stelzner and his team managed to grow their Facebook page to 20,000 likers and the blog to to 450,000 monthly page views with 40,000 email subscribers in just their first 12 months (nb: now exponentially higher than that). So it is not surprising that when you join up for a Success Summit, there are plenty of opportunities to share and learn from other participants and not just the Speakers. There are groups set up for LinkedIn, and the Twitter feed runs hot throughout the 2 week period under a pre-announced hashtag, Facebook gets lots of action from participants, and the team ensures that you have all the info you need in order to follow, engage and learn. And you get to benefit from a real mix of social media experts, business owners using social media, and those that are completely new to the whole thing….all with a supportive vibe.
5 You are valued
One thing that impresses me with every event, social media platform and piece of content produced by Social Media Examiner is their willingness to provide great service and respond – whether it is an email, a query or a comment, you will be responded to and promptly by one of their team (and often Mike himself – I’m not sure when the man sleeps!). And the Presenters really love answering questions, and will stay online in various forms after their sessions, many on Twitter or Facebook, to chat about all things Social Media, Marketing and in the case of the next Summit in February…..Small Business!
oh and one more thing
If you are in Small Business (whether you have dipped your toe into social media or have dived in completely), I highly recommend this seminar (as well as subscribing to the Social Media Examiner Blog) to be a great way to start or get more practical information. Why? Because I have never listened to one of the Summit Sessions where the information (at least some of it) was not immediately useful in my own business and in the small businesses of my clients. And if you grab a ticket before November 18th, you can take advantage of the 50% discount offer – what a great deal!
Hence why I am coming back for more, and will continue to do so.
So, are you joining me for a virtual drink, Online at the Small Biz Success Summit 2012? Say hi on Twitter at @sociallysorted, or find me in the LinkedIn Group. Have you participated before? Or would this be your first?
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.
Donna Moritz is a Social Media Strategist and Visual Marketing Specialist – and founder of Socially Sorted, in Queensland, Australia. Donna loves to help small businesses and companies use visual social media strategies to get more reach, referrals and results for their business. She has been a contributing author for Entrepreneur.com, Social Fresh and Amy Porterfield and has been featured on Forbes and Yahoo Small Business. Connect with Donna on Google+ and other social media networks below.
