Social Media for the Green Industry – Part One
This will be a multi-post all about Social Media and how it can help you improve your business. I would also like to hear your responses to this post. Have you used social media to your advantage? Has it worked? Has it failed? Enjoy!
So you decided to take the technological leap into social media, but are you doing it effectively? This article will be a great primer for anyone that has not taken their company to the next level online, as well as people who do leave an online footprint but just want a bigger one… Size matter for this one folks.
I know some of you reading this are skeptical on how social media can help your green industry business. Hopefully after you read this you’ll have a good idea on how to use it to your full advantage.
So let’s start with the basics.
What is Social Media?
Simply stated social media is any kind of online platform that interacts with its audience with the benefit of sharing information.
A two way street if you will. Magazines are a great way to get information but you cannot interact with it. Well, I guess you could but then you’ll be a crazy as my uncle Bob. Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.
Now there are many different types of social media;
Social Networking – facebook.com, myspace.com, hi5.com, twitter.com
Social Bookmarking – delicious.com, propeller.com, stumbleupon.com, digg.com
Blogging and forums – thelawnblog.com, thelawnblog.com/forum
So now you should have a good example of what social media is. Let’s move on.
I am going to touch on the most popular programs and sites as you should already know what they are.
Facebook.com
Facebook is a massive social networking website. I am sure most of you have an account already and waste the majority of your time on there playing those highly addictive games… Guilty! But there are more than games and keeping in touch with grandma facebook has to offer. You can (and I recommend) you create a facebook page for your business. I have made one for our landscape maintenance company. You can visit it here,
Murphy Property Maintenance Fan Page
If you like you can become a fan. Your support is appreciated.
A quick rundown shows that you can share photos, updates, hours of operation, articles and discussions. Fans can even chime in and comment on your work. If you already have a website you can add your link back to your website. Doing this adds to your online footprint making you a stronger competitor.
For more detailed instructions on how to create a facebook page visit their FAQ page here.
Twitter.com
to be continued…
Help The Lawn Blog grow add us to the Stumble!
Blog Posts Feed (RSS)
March 22nd, 2010 at 7:39 am
Facebook can also be useful for following industry leaders with new ideas, technologies and even projects which they announce daily. If one has someone they admire and one wonders whether or not they use Facebook, do a search for their name and look them up. Like Twitter, most folks don’t mind curious people who claim an interest in their work following them. Inside, you can also find others with similar ideas. Twitter and facebook are great for finding the best people at what we do.
March 22nd, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Looking forward to part 2 of this series. One key I found with all social media is when you stop thinking about it as a shout channel and start thinking about it as a way to meet new people and add value to their lives (that’s a big key) then you’ll get more return out of your social media sites.
March 23rd, 2010 at 3:46 am
Can;t wait to read part 2 of this article! Excellent article, and wonderful blog you have here! Thanks for sharing! Feel free to visit me back!
April 5th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
I actually found this blog looking for some blog opportunities for a client of mine. They do lawn care services in the Denver, Colorado area and they hired me over a year ago to work on web design and local marketing.
Just to give you all some ideas….social media marketing is huge for local marketing and promotions. With a reasonable budget and some time, we were able to increase her web traffic significantly – bringing almost 85% of her business from online methods last Fall. Not bad, for the first time out, right?
Follow this post and see what you can learn. It is valuable. Of course…if you want, you can call me and I can tell you more of what I do. I don’t want to leave links in here in case they are unappreciated. Just check my name link above (new company I just started – but I have been doing it for years for others).